Atrean Hussars

Atrean Hussars.jpg
Atrean Hussars
Formed 2923
Disbanded Prior to 3130[1]
Nickname Phoenix from the ashes[2]
Affiliation Free Worlds League
Parent Command Atrean Dragoons

Founded in 2923, the Atrean Hussars were formed as an experiment by Captain-General Samuel Marik to try and get around the restrictions of the Home Defense Act. Despite their direct loyalty to the Captain-General, the relatively young age and the poor performance of the Hussars have led to the unit being close to disbandment for most of its existence.[3][2]

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

Facing a contentious Parliament, with the provinces beginning to make extensive use of the Home Defense Act to withhold troop support from the Captain-General, Samuel Marik attempted get around this situation by forming a new regiment directly loyal to him and equipped using captured Capellan 'Mechs. However the Hussars low origins and, until the FWLM's expansion in the 3040s, status as the youngest regiment in the League prevented them from attracting competent leadership. While not lacking in supplies or equipment, they also did not get the best opportunities for combat or booty.[3][2]

The Hussars appeared ready to throw off the lack of prestige when Janos Marik, then heir to the Captain-Generalcy, took command of the unit, but they spent more time combating general strikes, terrorism, rioting and antigovernment violence on their garrison world of Ling than fending off Lyran raids. In the end, Janos Marik's time as commander of the Hussars did nothing to improve the pedigree of the unit.[3]

Anton's Revolt[edit]


Fourth Succession War[edit]


Andurien Secession[edit]

True to their origins, the Hussars were one of many loyalist units that took part in the Andurien War. Being first committed to the assault on Shiro III, the overeager Hussars believed a 4-to-1 numerical advantage would carry the day against 5th Defenders of Andurien, but the battle-hardened Anduriens almost destroyed the Hussars until being pushed off-world by the 1st Marik Militia and 1st Fusiliers of Oriente. The Hussars then settled into a support role for these units against the 1st Defenders of Andurien.[4]

The near debacle on Shiro III was nothing compared to that of Conquista. Landing with the 2nd Free Worlds Guards to assist the 6th Marik Militia, the three regiments methodically corralled the 5th Defenders of Andurien. However Colonel Eleanor Wansi wanted revenge for the brutal fighting the 5th had inflicted on the Hussars on Shiro III and advanced too quickly, allowing a gap to form which allowed the Fifth to savagely maul the rearguard of the Sixth Marik Militia. With the Loyalist plan in ruins and tensions with the Sixth rising to boiling point, the Hussars were deemed a liability and rotated out of the Andurien theater.[5]

3040s to Clan Invasion[edit]

The Hussars poor performance continued when a raid on Solaris in 3043 ended in disaster. The final nail in the Hussars' coffin seemed to have occurred in 3045, when a stray round killed Eleanor Wansi during the Forger '45 exercises on Abadan. Already suffering heavy losses in the war games, unit morale collapsed and the LCCC began organizing the paperwork to disband the unit. It was the unit's then executive office Annya Baker who successfully argued for one last chance to reverse the Hussars fortunes, in the face of severe repercussions if she failed.[2]

Baker's response was the "Harrowing": a brutal purge of troublemakers and those unwilling to devote themselves to the Hussars. A third of the unit was dismissed within a month of Baker taking command, barely two battalions remaining, but those left were driven yet further by the "cast-iron bitch of highest order" to their limits and beyond. LCCC's trust in Baker was rewarded when Hussars faced the elite of the League forces in the Foresight '46 exercises, fighting like demons and taking down almost twice their number in Marik Militia and Free Worlds Guards regiments before being defeated.[2]

The first test of the Hussars after the "Harrowing" was a raid on Hsien to pin down the 2nd FedCom RCT long enough for SAFE operatives to access a research base there, which it ably achieved with only minimal losses.[2]

Operation Guerrero and FedCom Civil War era[edit]

The Hussars next assignment, the liberation of Talitha during Operation GUERRERO was also a success, but failed to garner any commendations from the other units taking part, the Iron Guard and Sixth Marik Militia, who specifically still blamed the Hussars for the losses on Conquista.[6] The Hussars became the main garrison force for Talitha.[7]

However by the 3060s the LCCC had recognized the Hussars had failed to forge a distinct identity in the FWLM beyond their poor reputation. After receiving the resignation of Colonel Reber Bennundo, in 3062 the Captain-General ordered the Atrean Hussars and Atrean Dragoons amalgamated under a common command structure. While retaining their own name, the Hussars effectively became a fourth Atrean Dragoon regiment under the general command structure of the Dragoons.

Initially the unit's reputation and morale plummeted back to pre-Baker levels, but the new commander of the combined Hussar/Dragoon brigade, Julian Langsdorf, made extensive efforts to integrate the Hussars, alternately helped and hindered by the Dragoons regiment's parochial views of Hussars. Of all the units of the combined force the Hussars have under gone the most changes and gained the most benefits, including extensive expansion of its rolling upgrade program which has resulted in the unit being rated as 70% upgraded, as well as receiving a company of Achileus battle armor.[8]

Jihad[edit]

During the Jihad the Atrean Hussars didn't serve in many front-line battles. Instead they trained alongside the 11th Atrean Dragoons for most of the decade and became a sort of secondary school for new troops loyal to Corinne Marik. These new troops were later used to rebuild other units.[9]

Service to the Marik Commonwealth[edit]

After the removal of the Word of Blake and posting of the 2nd and 8th Free Worlds Legionnaires off-world, the Hussars and 11th Atrean Dragoons were held back to serve as the primary defenders of the Marik Commonwealth's capital of Atreus. While having avoided any significant losses during the Jihad, many Hussar troops were stripped away to help rebuild the Commonwealth's other more shattered units.[10]

The intense skill the Atrean Hussars-trained troops demonstrated that the unit had finally shed its poor performance. As a result the unit was assigned as the main garrison force of Atreus and later the shipyards at Ionus. More importantly, the Atrean Hussars have been designated as the senior regiment of the Militie National, the Commonwealth's defensive command.[9] They were still guarding the Ionus shipyards in 3085.[11]

Dark Age[edit]

At some point between 3085 and 3130 the Atrean Hussars were destroyed in combat.[1] The unit was never rebuilt either by the Marik Commonwealth or the reborn Free Worlds League.[12]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Atrean Hussars
Janos Marik Prior to becoming Captain-General
Colonel Eleanor Wansi 3025 - 3045[13]
Colonel Annya Baker 3045 - 3048[2]
Colonel Reber Bennundo 3050 - 3062[14]
Colonel Said Berridge 3067[15]
Colonel Evelyn Panfili 3085[11]

Tactics[edit]

Being primarily a light-medium weight regiment, the Hussars favor offensive operations, where their speed and maneuverability can be used to best advantage, and to try and minimize being on the receiving end of return fire from other similar sized but heavier regiments.[6]

Composition History[edit]

3025[edit]

Atrean Hussars (Regular/Reliable)[13]

  • CO: Colonel Eleanor Wansi

3028[edit]

Atrean Hussars (Regiment\Regular\Reliable)[16]

Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on Ling.[16]

3050[edit]

Atrean Hussars (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[17]

  • CO: Colonel Reber Bennundo[17]
Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Ling.[17]

3054[edit]

Atrean Hussars (Regular/Reliable)[18]

  • CO: Colonel Reber Bennundo

3059[edit]

Atrean Hussars (1 Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[6]

  • CO/1st Battalion: Colonel Reber Bennundo

- One medium and one light battalion
- 30 percent 'Mechs upgraded

Atrean Hussars Air Wing (Shen's Dragons) (1 Wing/Regular/Reliable)[6]

52nd Armor Regiment (1 Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[6]

23rd Marik Regulars (Brigade/Green/Reliable)[6]

3067[edit]

Atrean Hussars (Regular/Reliable)[15]

Atrean Hussars Air Wing (2 Squadrons/Regular/Reliable)[15]

  • CO: Commodore Ts'ung Shen

52nd Armored Regiment (Regular/Reliable)[15]

  • CO: Force Commander Honet Lee

23rd Marik Regulars (Brigade/Green/Reliable)[15]

  • CO: Lieutenant Colonel Helen Walker

3079[edit]

Atrean Hussars (Regiment/Regular/Fanatical)[19]

Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Atreus.[19]

3085[edit]

Atrean Hussars (Regular/Fanatical)[11]

Atrean Hussars Air Wing (Veteran/Reliable)[11]

52nd Armored Regiment (Regular/Fanatical)[11]

23rd Marik Regulars (Brigade/Veteran/Reliable)[11]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Øystein's post on Atrean Hussars' fate
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 47: "Atrean Hussars"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 49
  4. Historical: Brush Wars, pp. 72–73
  5. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 77
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 48: "Atrean Hussars Unit Profile"
  7. Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 111
  8. Field Manual: Updates, p. 147: "Atrean Hussars"
  9. 9.0 9.1 Field Manual: 3085, p. 82
  10. Field Report: FWLM Military, p. 8: "Marik Commonwealth"
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Field Manual: 3085, p. 91: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3085"
  12. Field Manual: 3145, no mention of the Atrean Hussars in this book
  13. 13.0 13.1 House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 108: "FWLM Deployment Table"
  14. 20 Year Update, p. 56: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3050"
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Field Manual: Updates, p. 159: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3067"
  16. 16.0 16.1 Historical: Brush Wars, p. 86
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 20 Year Update, p. 56: "Free Worlds League Deployment Table"
  18. Objective Raids, p. 37: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3054"
  19. 19.0 19.1 Field Report: FWLM, p. 8

Bibliography[edit]