3rd Regulan Hussars

History

Reunification War

Formed before the Reunification War, the Third Regulan Hussars served as a part of the Marik Auxiliary Corps assigned to support the Star League Defense Force VII Corps during the invasion of the Magistracy of Canopus. VII Corps was the largest of the corps at the time, and was commanded by Captain-General Marion Marik; the Marik Auxiliary Corps was commanded by General Ian Marik, and while VII Corps took the lead on many of the planetary campaigns, elements of the Marik Auxiliary Corps were present on almost every campaign of the war between the Star League and the Magistracy. The 3rd Regulan Hussars were no exception to this, seeing service in no less than seven planetary conquests over the course of the eleven years of the war.

Whereas the Free Worlds League Military units were generally regarded by the SLDF as being used to operating alongside foreign troops and therefore having a better mindset for operating within or alongside the multinational SLDF than the troops from many other nations, the 3rd Regulan Hussars were determined to prove Regulan might and displayed an abrasive attitude towards other FWLM units that would cause problems during the war, particularly during the campaign to capture the Canopian world of Candiear.

Umka

The invasion of Umka by the VII Corps 56th Brigade was the second combat action of the war against the Magistracy and began in August 2577. The 56th Brigade were assigned both the 3rd Regulan Hussars and the Juggernaut regiment of the Stewart Dragoons as auxiliaries, with the 63rd Royal Brigade providing support. Despite outnumbering the defending garrison by a considerable margin, the strike force was forced to fight a three-month campaign as the defenders refused to surrender. The bulk of the defending force consisted of two battalions of troops from the 1st Canopian Light Horse, but even when these two battalions had been forced off-world the local irregulars continued to fight. The 56th held the main industrial complexes and settlements on Umka easily, but as Umka was a water-rich world where the bulk of the landmasses were island chains the local garrison simply switched to guerilla warfare, relocating rapidly from and around islands and archipelagos and forcing the Task Force troops to winkle out numerous small camps and groups across the world.

Scheuerheck

The capture of Scheuerheck was relatively easy; one of three former Free Worlds League worlds which had defected to the Magistracy in the 2550s, all three were conquered through a display of overwhelming force and agile diplomacy by Captain-General Marik. The defenders of Scheuerheck effectively offered no resistance to the SLDF landings which saw the 56th Brigade and the 3rd Regulan Hussars deploy together again, joined by the VII Corps' 401st Independent Regiment, the 2nd and 3rd Orloff Grenadiers and the 1st Defenders of Andurien. Within a very short period of time the planetary leader of Scheuerheck had not only surrendered but was actively petitioning for Scheuerheck to be readmitted into the Free Worlds League. The easy acquisition of three systems and their relatively peaceful incorporation back into the League was a propoganda coup for the Captain-General, and was used to great effect by her allies in the League Parliament.

Bethonolog

The invasion of Bethonolog in 2578 was relatively easy, albeit unconventional. The VII Corps' 59th Brigade landed ahead of the 60th Brigade and prepared to assault the Canopian positions on the planet, only to receive a message from the local militia Colonel stating that while he intended to resist the invasion, he wanted permission to wait until the 26th of December so that the people of Bethonolog could enjoy the various religious holidays falling at that time of year. General Mancini of the 59th agreed on behalf of the invading forces (including the 2nd Orloff Grenadiers and 3rd Regulan Hussars), and sent the militia colonel a Christmas pudding as a gift; the Colonel reciprocated by sending General Mancini a bottle of local wine and a turkey. A week of half-hearted clashes between the militia and the 59th began during the New Year period, satisfying the honor of both sides, and the 59th took control of Bethonolog on the 9th of January 2579.

Afarsin

Afarsin was an agrarian world of little strategic importance and which hadn't merited a MAF garrison so far during the war, but its location as one of the most anti-spinward worlds in the Magistracy made it a stepping stone to other worlds, particularly those lightly defended worlds in the Canopian outback. The SLDF moved in force to capture the world in April 2583, deploying the 55th Brigade along with the 3rd Regulan Hussars, the 4th Marik Militia, the 2nd Oriente Hussars and the 2nd Orloff Grenadiers. The assembled strike force captured the world quickly, and the Regulan Hussars would be deployed alongside the 4th Militia in their next campaign.

Marantha

In comparison to the previous battles the 3rd Regulan Hussars had fought since the Reunification War began, Marantha was by far the toughest fight yet. In addition to the Hussars, the strike force used against Marantha in 2584 consisted of the VII Corps' 56th Brigade, who the 3rd Hussars were fighting alongside for the third time, and the 4th Marik Militia. This time, the 3rd Hussars would face more than just a detachment from the elite 1st Canopian Light Horse - the entire regiment was stationed on Marantha, as were the mercenary unit Mieselsen's Marauders. Both Canopian units bitterly contested the invasion of Marantha, and when the 1st Light Horse finally retreated from the planet the Marauders had already fought until the unit had been effectively been destroyed.

The deployment to conquer Marantha instead of being called forward to fight in the invasion of the Magistracy capital world of Canopus IV rankled with the Regulans, who felt they'd been slighted by the Captain-General; the resulting tension within the unit and between the Regulans and other FWLM units as a result would reach boiling point the next year.

Candiear

By the time the SLDF task force moved against Candiear in 2585, the ultimate fate of the campaign was already certain, but the remaining MAF units continued to resist. VII Corps dropped an ad hoc division of troops consisting of the combined forces of the 56th Brigade, the 61st Royal Brigade and the 62nd Royal Brigade on Candiear. Augmenting the SLDF troops were the 3rd Regulan Hussars, alongside the 2nd Oriente Hussars and the 2nd Orloff Grenadiers. Although the defenders were heavily outnumbered, some of the best units in the MAF were on Candiear; the SLDF troops had to face both the 2nd and 4th Canopian Light Horse as well as Buquoy's Bandits. Although the SLDF strike force outnumbered the Canopian regiments, they couldn't pin them down and destroy them, and all three regiments escaped to fight again on other worlds.

The campaign was marred by the bitter argument that erupted between Colonel Anupan Shah, CO of the 3rd Regulan Hussars, and Westy McDowell, the 2nd Oriente Hussars' CO, regarding the performance of their respective regiments. The war of words was a direct consequence of the general feeling amongst the 3rd Regulan Hussars that they had been slighted by not being selected for the assault on Canopus the year before, and resulted in the Captain-General smoothing the Regulan's feathers by assigning them to the assault on Kossandra's Memory, the final battle of the Canopian campaign.

Kossandra's Memory

Settled shortly before the outbreak of the war by the MAF for use as a redoubt and base of operations should Canopus IV fall, the outback world of Kossandra's Memory was the site of the final battle between the SLDF task force and the Magistracy Armed Forces. The MAF had managed to keep the existence of Kossandra's Memory secret for much of the war although it hadn't been able to evacuate the Magestrix to the world when Canopus fell in 2584; when Captain-General Marion Marik finally invaded in 2588 the 2nd Canopian Light Horse and Buquoy's Bandits were the only surviving major MAF units and were both present. Numbering just a few mismatched battalions, the MAF units still contested the landing, fighting under the command of Colonel Adam Buquoy himself; Marik landed the 1st Marik Militia, the 3rd Regulan Hussars and the 62nd Royal Brigade on Kossandra's Memory and led them personally into battle.

Marik used three regiments drawn from those who had landed in her assault against Buquoy's positions, and while Buquoy tried to trick Marik into making rash attacks that he could capitalise on, the Captain-General kept her cool and used her superior numbers to grind the Canopian forces down. With the last of the Magistracy forces finally defeated after eleven years of campaigning, the war between the Magistracy and the Star League finally ended when Marik accepted Buquoy's surrender with a firm handshake.

Officers

During the Reunification War the CO of the regiment was Colonel Anupan Shah.

Rules

Reunification War

• The 3rd Regulan Hussars may use the Overrun Combat ability.
• The 3rd Regulan Hussars may use the Zone of Control ability.
• The 3rd Regulan Hussars have an abrasive attitude towards other FWLM units and impose a -1 Initiative Roll penalty when fighting alongside non-Regulan units from the Free Worlds League.

Bibliography

• Historical: Reunification War