Canopian Grenadiers

Canopian Grenadiers.png
Canopian Grenadiers
Formed 2531-2575
Disbanded 2584
Affiliation Magistracy of Canopus
Parent Command Magistracy Armed Forces


History[edit]

The Canopian Grenadiers was a brigade within the Magistracy Armed Forces consisting of two regiments and which were formed at some point during the Age of War or the MAF buildup in the early years of the Reunification War prior to the invasion of the Magistracy by the Star League.[1]

While little is known about the activities of the Canopian Grenadiers prior to the Reunification War, the Magistracy Armed Forces were little more than a paramilitary security force than a national military for much of the early history of the Magistracy of Canopus; the beginnings of the Reunification War hardened attitudes within the Magistracy, and a crash militarization program began.[2] Younger than other formations within the MAF such as the Chasseurs á Cheval and the Canopian Fusiliers, it's likely that the Canopian Grenadiers were a product of this crash militarization.[3]

The Canopian Grenadiers fought in relatively few battles during the war between the Star League and the Magistracy, instead acting as garrison forces on Magistracy worlds such as Lockton, Nobel, Royal Foxx, the important industrial world of Tetski and even the capital world itself, Canopus IV.[1][4] That isn't to say that the Grenadiers saw no combat action at all; the First Canopian Grenadiers were a part of the elaborate shell game played by the commander of the MAF, Colonel Adam Buquoy, that saw the SLDF confused and bloodied on Cranston in 2577. The First Grenadiers fought more than a brigade of troops from the SLDF task force, including the entire Fifty-eighth Brigade, long enough for the Third Canopian Light Horse to enter the system via a pirate point and join the fight, executing a style of deceptive, mobile warfare that became a watchword for the MAF tactics when fighting the vastly more numerous forces arrayed against them. The Second Canopian Grenadiers fought on Aspropirgos in 2580, working with the First Canopian Fusiliers to sting the invading SLDF troops and make sure that as many campaigns were contested as possible.[5][6][7]

Ultimately, the Canopian Grenadiers were wiped out during the Reunification War.[2] The Second Grenadiers were captured during the disastrous raid on Thurrock in 2583, where an SLDF naval ambush saw the bulk of the Magistracy Navy wiped out and three regiments of Canopian troops captured;[8] the First Grenadiers ceased to exist less than a year later, with the bulk of the unit destroyed during the defense of Canopus IV in 2584 when the Fifty-eighth Brigade pinned them against the Thetis River and systematically reduced the regiment. Two companies of the First Grenadiers managed to retreat, but the First was disbanded by the MAF to provide reinforcements for other MAF units.[9][10][11]

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 thirty-first century; to date, there has been no sign of the Canopian Grenadiers being re-formed, and it would seem more likely that other, more prestigious units such as the Fourth Canopian Light Horse would be rebuilt ahead of the Grenadiers.[3]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Canopian Grenadiers
Colonel Chloe Zaske [12]

Tactics[edit]

Different per Unit.

Units of the Canopian Grenadiers[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 150: "Magistracy of Canopus Front (Jump-Off - 2582)"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 41: "Magistracy Armed Forces (MAF)"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Field Manual: Periphery, p. 26: "Combat Formations"
  4. Historical: Reunification War, p. 94: "Reunification War: Magistracy of Canopus Front Deployments (2577)"
  5. Historical: Reunification War, pp. 97–98: "Restitution and Cranston (October-November 2577)"
  6. Historical: Reunification War, p. 101: "Gallis, Aspropirgos, Fanardir and Borgan's Rift (January 2580-October 2581)"
  7. Historical: Reunification War, p. 148: "Magistracy of Canopus Front (Jump-Off - 2582)"
  8. Historical: Reunification War, p. 103: "Thurrock (July 2583)"
  9. Historical: Reunification War, p. 104: "Canopus (March-April 2584)
  10. Historical: Reunification War, p. 149: "Magistracy of Canopus Front (2583 - 2588)"
  11. Historical: Reunification War, p. 151: "Magistracy of Canopus Front (2583 - 2588)"
  12. Era Report: 2750, p. 88: "John Raventhir II Profile"

Bibliography[edit]