Buquoy's Bandits

Buquoys Bandits logo.png
Buquoy's Bandits
Affiliation Mercenary
Parent Command Independent


History[edit]

Buquoy's Bandits was one of several Age of War-era mercenary units hired by the Magistracy Armed Forces as part of a crash military buildup in the years immediately before the Reunification War. The mercenary trade fluctuated heavily in the years around the birth of the Star League, with the peacekeeping efforts of the Terran Hegemony drastically reducing the market for mercenaries, shortly before the mass demobilization of House forces in the wake of the formation of the Star League glutted the market with former House troops.[1] The Magestrix of the Magistracy of Canopus at the time, Crystalla Centrella, knew that war between the Star League and the Magistracy was inevitable; as a part of her efforts to increase the strength of the MAF, Centrella hired half a dozen mercenary units, including Buquoy's Bandits; Adam Buquoy was a Canopian by birth, and a skilled leader and tactician. The Magestrix recognized these talents, making him the commanding officer of the MAF for the duration of the war.[2]

Reunification War[edit]

When the phony war became a real war in 2577, Kincani's Dragoons were acting as garrison for the Magistracy world of Canopus IV; as a part of the elaborate shell game played by the commander of the MAF, Colonel Adam Buquoy, Kincani's Dragoons were moved between worlds several times during the war, deployments intended to keep the SLDF task force guessing as to where MAF units were. Kincani's Dragoons would garrison several worlds during the war.[3][4]

Meadowvale[edit]

Meadowvale was possibly the biggest success of the war for Buquoy and the other mercenary units employed by the MAF. Buquoy had deduced that the SLDF supply lines were vulnerable, partly because the SLDF supply worlds were all located either in the Capellan Confederation or the Free Worlds League and Captain-General Marion Marik and her advisors assumed that the war would largely be fought on her terms - which meant inside Magistracy space. In early January 2578 Buquoy dispatched a sizable portion of the Magistracy Armed Forces on missions inside the Free Worlds League; Buquoy led four of the mercenary units under contract to the MAF personally on a strike against the key world of Meadowvale. Buquoy's Bandits were accompanied by the Kincani's Dragoons, Mieselsen's Marauders and Samuelson's Slaughterers.[5]

Buquoy led the Bandits directly at a huge supply camp named Camp Torrence, a legacy of the Second Andurien War and the principal supply base for the SLDF on the world. The Bandits struck the camp and then continued to fight, deliberately drawing the defending garrison to them; the Bandits then held the garrison in place for five hours while the other mercenary regiments struck at other SLDF supply camps across the world before all of the mercenary units lifted off and retreated back into Magistracy space. The Meadowvale strike and the others across Free Worlds League space were an almost total success, and not only slowed the SLDF offensive down significantly but would then be emulated several times in the future.[5]

Gallis[edit]

The Bandits fought their next major action on Gallis in 2580, where they and the Third Canopian Light Horse stung the SLDF 59th Brigade and two supporting FWLM regiments, the Second Oriente Hussars and the Juggernaut regiment of the Stewart Dragoons before retreating to preserve their strength for later campaigns.[6]

Tellman's Mistake & Cole Harbour[edit]

Buquoy's Bandits followed their battle on Gallis with an attack on the occupied world of Tellman's Mistake in 2581, before returning to Canopus IV. In 2583 the Bandits raided Cole Harbour, one of a number of raids conducted by MAF units throughout Free Worlds League and Capellan Confederation space intended to ensure that the SLDF Task Force had to keep directing resources to protect garrisons, supply worlds and staging areas. The Cole Harbour raid was one of the last raids to be conducted by the MAF, if not the last raid, as the destruction of the bulk of the Canopian Navy at Thurrock later in 2583 effectively destroyed the ability of the MAF to redeploy quickly en masse and to stage deep raids.[4][7]

Candiear[edit]

The Bandits were defending Candiear alongside the Second and Fourth Canopian Light Horse when the SLDF tasked more than a division of troops to invade the world in 2585, a year after the conquest of Canopus IV. The SLDF landed the VII Corps' Fifty-sixth, Sixty-first Royal and Sixty-second Royal Brigades on Candiear along with the Fourth Marik Militia, Second Oriente Hussars and Third Regulan Hussars in support. The MAF troops contested the invasion but were forced to retreat.[8][9][7]

Harminous[edit]

After the capture of Candiear, the 2nd relocated to the world of Harminous along with Buquoy's Bandits, where in 2586 they faced the SLDF 56th Brigade for a third time. Once again, the Canopian troops could only harass the invading forces, lacking the strength to prevent the invasion, and both MAF units were forced to retreat. While the outcome of the war was largely a foregone conclusion by 2586 the 2nd Light Horse continued to fight, and by the end of the year the 2nd was the only active regiment left from the ranks of the Chasseurs á Cheval; the 3rd Canopian Light Horse had been lost in 2582 on Tetski, and both the 1st and 4th Canopian Light Horse were destroyed on Palladix in 2586.[8][9][7]

Wildwood[edit]

The Bandits fought alongside the Second Canopian Light Horse for the remainder of the Reunification War. The SLDF landed the Fifty-ninth Brigade and 401st Independent Regiment on Wildwood in 2587 with the Second Oriente Hussars in support. Despite being outnumbered almost three to one the Light Horse and the Bandits contested the invasion, but were forced to retreat to the world of Kossandra's Memory; with the capture of Cate's Hold and the defeat of the garrison there in April 2587, the Second Light Horse and Buquoy's Bandits were the only major units from the Magistracy Armed Forces still active within the remains of the Magistracy.[8][9][7]

Kossandra's Memory[edit]

The outback world of Kossandra's Memory had been settled shortly before the outbreak of the war as a redoubt for the MAF and as a base of operations for use after the fall of Canopus IV. The MAF managed to keep the existence of Kossandra's Memory secret for much of the war, and it was the world that the second Light Horse and Buquoy's Bandits operated from after the fall of Wildwood. Numbering just a few mismatched battalions, the MAF units still contested the landing in 2588; Marik landed the Sixty-second Royal Brigade on Kossandra's Memory, along with the First Marik Militia and the Third Regulan Hussars, in what would be the final campaign of the war against the Magistracy.[8][9]

Marik led three regiments personally in the battle against Buquoy's Forces; Buquoy tried to trick Marik into making rash attacks that he could capitalize on, but she 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.[8]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of Buquoy's Bandits
Colonel Adam Buquoy 2588

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

Unknown.

Rules[edit]

Reunification War[edit]

  • Each unit from Buquoy's Bandits has a 50/50 chance of being of either Canopian or Inner Sphere manufacture. Any Inner Sphere units should be generated using 2d6 on the SLDF Nationality Table to determine the appropriate RAT table to be used.[10]
  • Buquoy's Bandits gain a +1 Bonus on Random Experience Level rolls.[10]
  • Buquoy's Bandits gain a +1 Bonus on Morale Checks.[10]

References[edit]

  1. Historical: Reunification War, p. 59, "Adam Buquoy"
  2. Historical: Reunification War, p. 41, "Magistracy Armed Forces (MAF)"
  3. Historical: Reunification War, p. 94, "Reunification War: Magistracy of Canopus Front Deployments (2577)"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 150, "Magistracy of Canopus Front (Jump Off-2583)"
  5. 5.0 5.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 99, "Meadowvale (January 2578)"
  6. Historical: Reunification War, p. 101, "Gallis, Aspropirgos, Fanardir and Borgan's Rift (January 2580-October 2581)"
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Historical: Reunification War, p. 151, "Magistracy of Canopus Front (2583-2588)"
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Historical: Reunification War, p. 105, "Mopping Up (2584-2588)"
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Historical: Reunification War, p. 149, "Magistracy Of Canopus Front (2583-2588)"
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Historical: Reunification War, p. 183, "Buquoy's Bandits"

Bibliography[edit]