1st Canopian Grenadiers
Sarna News
- HEXTECH Review - Wave 3 Brings More Urban Options To Your Battlefield
- Your BattleTech News Round-Up For March, 2024
- Crashing 'Mechs With Jennifer Brozek, Author Of The Rogue Academy Trilogy
- Getting The Word Out With Rem Alternis, Catalyst Community & Marketing Director
- Bad 'Mechs - Yeoman
- Read more →
Contents
Overview
One of the two regiments that made up the Canopian Grenadiers within the Magistracy Armed Forces, the First Canopian Grenadiers were destroyed during the Reunification War.[1]
History
Formation
The 1st Canopian Grenadiers were formed at some point during the Age of War or the MAF build-up in the early years of the Reunification War prior to the invasion of the Magistracy by the Star League.[2]
Reunification War
The 1st Canopian Grenadiers spent several years during the Star League invasion moving from world to world within the Magistracy of Canopus, keeping the SLDF task force guessing as to where the various MAF regiments were, a form of warfare likened to an elaborate shell game. Some of the worlds garrisoned by the 1st Grenadiers included Lockton, Royal Foxx and the important industrial world of Tetski. The 1st Grenadiers would only be directly involved in two major engagements during the war.[2][3]
Cranston
The border world of Cranston was the site of one of the earliest battles in the war between the Star League and the Magistracy, and one that forced the SLDF task force to change tactics; initially expected to be a short and easy campaign by the SLDF, the Commander of the SLDF task force, Captain-General Marion Marik had assigned the VII Corps' 58th Brigade to take the world, with the 1st Marik Militia and 2nd Orloff Grenadiers providing support to the 58th. The 58th landed in 2577 and discovered that the 1st Grenadiers had been redeployed from Royal Foxx to Cranston; the Grenadiers promptly began fighting a mobile campaign, frustrating efforts by the 58th to pin them in place.[2][4][5]
The Grenadiers tied up the invading forces until the clandestine arrival of the 3rd Canopian Light Horse, who the SLDF believed were defending the nearby world of Restitution; the 3rd Light Horse arrived in-system via a pirate point close to the planet, slipped through the planetary blockade and deployed on Cranston, forcing the 58th to fight a war on two fronts. The commander of the invading forces split his forces, the greater part trying to concentrate on the Grenadiers while the lesser part fought to prevent the 3rd Light Horse from linking up with the Grenadiers; both Canopian regiments bloodied the SLDF troops before retreating from the world, establishing what became the watchword for MAF tactics during the Reunification War: a highly-mobile defence that played to their strengths.[2][4][5]
Canopus IV
The 1st Grenadiers were one of six MAF regiments defending Canopus IV when the inevitable SLDF invasion occured in 2584. The 1st Grenadiers were effectively lost in one of the opening battles of the campaign for Canopus; the 1st Grenadiers faced the entire 58th Brigade for a second time, and fought against three-to-one odds using their knowledge of the local terrain earned over the last year to try and hold the 58th back. The 1st Grenadiers were forced back against the Thetis River by the 58th, who ground the Grenadiers down; barely two companies of the 1st Grenadiers managed to retreat across the river after the brutal combat. The MAF commander, Colonel Adam Buquoy, chose to fold the remaining members of the 1st Grenadiers into the Canopian Cuirassiers, making good losses the Cuirassiers had taken against the 60th Brigade and effectively disbanding the 1st Grenadiers.[1][6][7]
Disbandment
All of the surviving MAF regiments from the Reunification War were forced to disband by 2588. The MAF rebuilt a number of regiments covertly in the buildup to the Amaris Civil War, but throughout the Succession Wars era the MAF would be unable to afford to rebuild regiments or create new units until the latter half of the 31st century; to date, there has been no sign of the Canopian Grenadiers being reformed, and it would seem more likely that other, more prestigious units such as the 4th Canopian Light Horse would be rebuilt ahead of the Grenadiers.[8]
Officers
| Rank | Name | Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commanding Officers of the 1st Canopian Grenadiers | |||
Tactics
Unknown.
Notes
It was confirmed that the unit the surviving two companies of the 1st Canopian Grenadiers were folded into during the battle for Canopus IV in 2584 was the Canopian Cuirassiers by one of the writers on the Catalyst Game Labs forum.
Rules
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 151, "Magistracy Of Canopus Front (2583 - 2588)"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Historical: Reunification War, p. 150, "Magistracy Of Canopus Front (Jump-Off - 2582)"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 94, "Reunification War: Magistracy of Canopus Front Deployments (2577)"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 97-98, "Restitution and Cranston (October-November 2577)"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 148, "Magistracy Of Canopus Front (Jump-Off - 2582)"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification war, p. 104, "Canopus (March-April 2584)
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 149, "Magistracy Of Canopus Front (2583 - 2588)"
- ↑ Field Manual: Periphery, p. 26, "Combat Formations"