Tancredi Warriors Brigade

Tancredi Warriors Brigade
Formed	2400s
Disbanded	2540
Affiliation	Federated Suns
Parent Command	FPF

The Tancredi Warriors Brigade was a major Federated Peacekeeping Forces brigade and was the core of the combat brigade fielded by the Draconis March Principality of the Federated Suns until the end of the Davion Civil War.

History

Formation

The origins of the Tancredi Warriors Brigade lay in the planetary defense force of Tancredi IV, a world of wide open plains and temperate climate settled predominantly by descendants of the aboriginal tribes of Terran North America in the late twenty-fourth century. The settlers managed to retain their cultural roots despite increasing commercial investment in Tancredi IV, and as a result the population maintained a warrior culture and highly martial society that believed in individuals proving their worth through both physical feats and combat.

As a consequence of the nature and traditions of the population a strong planetary defense for formed on Tancredi, and this was acknowledged by the Federated Suns when Tancredi joined the fledgling nation; shortly after joining, Tancredi IV was made the capital world of the Draconis March, and the planetary defense force became the source of the Tancredi Warriors Brigade, forming the core of the Draconis March combat forces.

Davion Civil War

The prelude to the Davion Civil War was marked by internal politicking and purges initiated by various members of the Council of Regents, who ruled the Federated Suns after the death of Prince William Davion in 2512. Although the Council of Regents was intended to rule until the grandson of William, Alexander Davion, was old enough to rule, a power struggle quickly began between Laura Davion, Prince of the Draconis March Principality and aunt to Alexander, and her sister, Cassandra Davion, and Cassandra's husband David Varnay, rulers of the Capellan March Principality. This power struggle resulted in the abduction of Alexander by the Varnays in 2523 and then an attempt to have Alexander assassinated in 2525 after his wife, Cynthia Varnay, gave birth to their son Vincent.

Laura Davion had allied herself with Field Marshal Dmitri Rostov, a famed and highly skilled FPF officer and Prince of the Terran March Principality and when Alexander disappeared from the planet Sekulmun in May 2525 Laura launched the first attack of the Davion Civil War by striking at the world of Kluane. This was just the first attack of the opening campaign, with Rostov leading forces drawn from the Terran, Draconis and Crucis Marches against a line of Capellan March worlds from Kluane to Royalston. The campaign initially went well until Rostov's death on Quittacas, at which point the Varnays attempted to capitalize on the sudden shock of Rostov's death by bribing away personnel and units under his command.

This led to a lull in the intensity of the war as the Capellan March forces lacked the strength to make a large assault out of the Capellan March, while Laura Davion refused to back down and the son of Nikolai Rostov, Dmitri Rostov, attempted to extract himself and those troops loyal to him from Capellan March territory. The next major change came after Alexander Davion emerged from hiding to gain the allegiance of Crucis March troops on Nahoni. Alexander's forces met with initial success but were mauled during a battle between Laura's troops and Capellan march troops, forcing Alexander to leave Nahoni, but he began a period of intense activity to recruit followers to his banner, swiftly gaining the support of units across the Crucis March and subsequently the support of Dmitri and his forces.

By 2528 both Laura and Cassandra Davion soon declared themselves the legitimate First Prince of the Federated Suns, putting them in direct opposition to Alexander and his followers and effectively ruling out any form of peaceful solution. The three major factions rebuilt their strength until 2530, when the death of David Varnay during riots on Ashley left the Capellan March in disarray and gave Alexander the leeway he needed to concentrate on Laura and the Draconis March forces.

When Alexander launched his offensive into the Draconis March the majority of the Tancredi-born warriors within the Tancredi Warrior Brigade ended up declaring themselves for Alexander's cause and joined his forces. The campaign to conquer the Draconis March still took two years, with the last battle being fought on Tancredi IV in November 2533, and a significant factor in the length of the campaign was the minimal support offered to Alexander by Dmitri Rostov, who was more interested in securing his hold over the Terran March. The support Alexander gained from the loyalists within the Tancredi Warrior Brigade was much needed, and Alexander rewarded their loyalty when he reformed the FPF into the new Armed Forces of the Federated Suns by renaming the Tancredi Warriors Brigade the Tancredi Loyalists and according them high status within the AFFS. All four surviving Tancredi Warrior Brigade regiments were incorporated into the Tancredi Loyalists and would continue to hold that high status even after the capital of the Draconis March was moved from Tancredi IV to Robinson.

Officers

Rank	Name	Command
Commanding Officers of the Tancredi Warriors Brigade

Tactics

Different per Unit.

Bibliography

• Era Report: 2750
• Field Report 2765: AFFS
• Handbook: House Davion
• House Davion (The Federated Suns)