Editing 3rd Marik Militia

{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image          = [[File:Marik Militia -Brigade logo.png|191px|Brigade Insignia of the Marik Militia]]
| Designation    = Third Marik Militia
| formed         = 
| Disbanded      = [[3015]]<ref name=HM2/>
| Previous Designation = 
| Nickname       = The Cannoneers<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp10"/>
| Affiliation    = [[Free Worlds League]]
| Parent Command = [[Marik Militia]]
| Sub-Command    = 
}}
<onlyinclude>
Among the first [[Marik Militia]] regiments formed, the '''Third Marik Militia''' was struck from the rolls after they fought on the side of the rebels during [[Marik Civil War (31st c.)|Anton Marik's Revolt]].
</onlyinclude>

==History==
=== Formation ===
The Marik Militia [[brigade]] was formed in the early [[twenty-third century]] as the primary offensive and defensive brigade of the newly-formed [[Free Worlds League]]. The '''Third Marik Militia''' would serve the League for centuries. Like the other regiments of the brigade, the Third was dedicated to serving and defending the people of the League, rather than serving the [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]], a distinction that separated the Militia from other federal formations such as the [[Atrean Dragoons]] and [[Free Worlds Guards]].<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp10">''Field Report 2765: FWLM'', p. 10: "Marik Militia"</ref>

===Reunification War===
The Third fought alongside the [[1st Marik Militia|First]], [[4th Marik Militia|Fourth]] and [[Fifth Marik Militia]]s in the [[Reunification War]] as a part of the Marik Auxiliary Corps assigned to support the [[Star League Defense Force]] [[VII Corps (Star League)|VII Corps]] during the invasion of the [[Magistracy of Canopus]]. VII Corps was the largest of the corps at the time, and was commanded by [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]] [[Marion Marik]]; the Marik Auxiliary Corps was commanded by [[General]] [[Ian Marik]], and while VII Corps took the lead on many of the planetary campaigns, elements of the Marik Auxiliary Corps were present on almost every campaign of the war between the [[Star League]] and the Magistracy. The 3rd were no exception to this, seeing service in no less than six planetary conquests.<ref name="H:RWp148">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 148: "Magistracy Of Canopus Front(Jump-Off - 2582)"</ref><ref name="H:RWp149">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 149: "Magistracy Of Canopus Front (2583-2588)"</ref><ref name="H:RWp95">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 95: "SLDF Task Force Canopus"</ref>

====Restitution====
At the end of the military buildup prior to the official declaration of war between the Star League and the Magistracy, the Third Marik Militia were stationed on the [[Free Worlds League]] border world of [[Rohinjan]] alongside the First Marik Militia and the [[2nd Fusiliers of Oriente|Second Fusiliers of Oriente Brigade]]. The First and the Third were each assigned to support SLDF brigades in the opening attacks of the war; in the case of the Third, they were deployed alongside the Second Fusiliers of Oriente Brigade in support of the [[Fifty-seventh Brigade]] for the invasion of [[Restitution]]. The SLDF task force would continue to deploy the Second Fusiliers and the Third Marik Militia together throughout the campaign against the Magistracy until the Second Fusiliers were redeployed to the Rim Worlds Republic theater.<ref name="H:RWp148"/>

Restitution was a world famous for its media industry - particularly the producers of dubious pornography and low-brow dramas. Restitution's media industry had given the planet experts in communications, data delivery and image and video manipulation and a planetary communications network as advanced as any in the [[Inner Sphere]]. The attack on Restitution was expected to be a tough fight; intelligence showed that the defending garrison consisted of the [[Third Canopian Light Horse]], one of the elite [[Chasseurs á Cheval]] regiments, and that the capital city of Magdeburg had been surrounded by massive defenses, augmenting the benefits of its location atop a narrow bluff.<ref name="H:RWp97">''Historical: Reunification War'', pp. 97–98: "Restitution and Cranston (October-November 2577)"</ref>

The Fifty-seventh Brigade were allocated the majority of the AeroSpace assets from the [[Fifty-eighth Brigade]] to assist them in achieving air superiority over Magdeburg so allow for the Fifty-seventh to make a direct assault on the city, bypassing the bulk of the prepared defenses. The plan was a complete success - in large part due to the fact that only token resistance was offered; the Fifty-seventh secured the city, only to discover that there was no sign of the Third Canopian Light Horse. While the SLDF had been preparing to conquer Restitution, the planetary defenders had redeployed and would appear two weeks later in the [[Cranston]] system, bloodying the Fifty-eighth Brigade badly.<ref name="H:RWp148"/><ref name="H:RWp97">''Historical: Reunification War'', pp. 97–98: "Restitution and Cranston (October-November 2577)"</ref>

====Ruschegg====
The capture of [[Ruschegg]] in [[2578]] was relatively easy for the Third and the other units involved; one of three former Free Worlds League worlds which had defected to the Magistracy in the 2550s, all three were conquered through a display of overwhelming force and agile diplomacy by Captain-General Marik. The defenders of Ruschegg effectively offered no resistance to the SLDF landings, although it would have been difficult for any local militia to contest an invasion which saw the SLDF Fifty-eighth Brigade deploy alongside the [[Sixty-second Royal Brigade]], the First and Third Marik Militia and the [[1st Fusiliers of Oriente|First]] and Second Fusiliers of Oriente Brigades. Within a very short period of time the planetary leader of Ruschegg had not only surrendered but was actively petitioning for Ruschegg to be admitted into the Free Worlds League. The relatively peaceful capture and annexation of Ruschegg, [[Payvand]] and [[Scheuerheck]] was a publicity coup for the Free Worlds League, one that the [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]]'s allies in the Parliament used extensively against opponents of the [[Star League]].<ref name="H:RWp148"/><ref name="H:RWp100">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 100: "Ruschegg, Payvand and Scheuerheck (August-October 2577)"</ref>

====Aspropirgos & Borgan's Rift====
Following the campaign for Ruschegg the Third spent several years supporting the Fifty-eighth Brigade directly, as did the 2nd Fusiliers of Oriente Brigade until the Fusiliers were deployed to the new front against the [[Rim Worlds Republic]]. The [[Magistracy Armed Forces]] had managed to surprise and outfox the SLDF task force several times in the opening years of the war, and as a result the SLDF timetable slowed as Captain-General Marik built up her forces for the next major invasions. In addition to refitting and rearming VII Corps and the FWLM regiments acting in support, Marik targeted two worlds each year for invasion, consolidating gains as part of a slow encirclement of the Magistracy capital world of [[Canopus IV]]. The Third was involved in two of these four campaigns; in September [[2580]], the Third landed on [[Aspropirgos]] alongside the Fifty-eighth Brigade and the Second Fusiliers, clashing with the [[First Canopian Fusiliers]] and the [[Second Canopian Grenadiers]]. In what would be the standard pattern of warfare for the MAF when defending worlds during 2580-[[2581]], the two Canopian regiments did their best to sting the invaders before retreating ahead of any effective retaliation, saving their strength for later battles. The same thing happened when the Third Marik Militia and the Fifty-eighth Brigade landed on [[Borgan's Rift]] in September-October 2581, although as the Second Fusiliers had been redeployed, the 3rd found themselves operating alongside the VII Corps' [[402nd Independent Regiment]]. This time the Third faced two of the mercenary units employed by the MAF, [[The Red Hand]] and [[Kincani's Dragoons]], but the campaign was a repeat of the battle for Aspropirgos.<ref name="H:RWp148"/><ref name="H:RWp150">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 150: "Magistracy Of Canopus Front(Jump-Off - 2582)"</ref><ref name="H:RWp101">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 101: "Gallis, Aspropirgos, Fanardir and Borgan's Rift (January 2580-October 2581)"</ref>

====Hastur====
In mid-[[2583]] the mood across the SLDF task force was buoyant; not only had the task force captured the important Magistracy world of [[Tetski]], the SLDF naval contingent had managed to ambush and destroy the bulk of the Magistracy Navy in the [[Thurrock]] system, leaving many Canopian ground units pinned to their current worlds due to a lack of transport assets. After two years of slow and steady progress of like the campaigns for Aspropirgos and Borgan's Rift, the SLDF was finally able to strike across multiple worlds in strength. A sign of the growing confidence of the SLDF was that smaller units and formations were assigned to planetary invasions; the invasion of [[Hastur]] in late 2583 is a case in point. Just two regiments were assigned to attack and occupy Hastur; the Third Marik Militia and the 402nd Independent Regiment, fresh from the operation on Borgan's Rift. No line regiments from the MAF were present on Hastur when the two regiments arrived, and they quickly occupied the world in defiance of any resistance offered by the local home guard.<ref name="H:RWp149"/><ref name="H:RWp151">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 151: "Magistracy Of Canopus Front (2583-2588)"</ref><ref name="H:RWp103">''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 103: "Endgame (2583-2584)"</ref>

====Canopus====
In [[2584]] the invasion of [[Canopus IV]] itself was ordered and landings began in early April; the defending [[Magistracy Armed Forces]] units put up a fierce resistance, and the Third saw heavy action from the very first day of combat operations - the [[3rd Canopian Fusiliers]] struck at both the Third and the [[Thirty-fifth Royal CAAN Marine Regiment]] who were operating alongside them and pressed both regiments hard. The 35th Royal took the brunt of the damage before reinforcements arrived, and ended up having to be withdrawn from combat ops and placed in reserve for several weeks. The 3rd continued to fight alongside the numerous SLDF and FWLM regiments involved in the campaign as the Magistracy defenders were pushed back to the capital city of Delphi and finally defeated, although the final day of the campaign resembled a meat grinder with forces on both sides taking heavy damage before the MAF lines were broken.<ref name="H:RWp103+">''Historical: Reunification War'', pp. 103–105: "Canopus (March-April 2584)"</ref> The battle for Canopus was the last major battle the Third fought during the Reunification War, and along with the First Marik Militia, the Third had served with distinction throughout the campaign; more than that, the two regiments had managed to capture enough matériel to allow the construction of the [[Sixth Marik Militia]].<ref name=HM1>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 92</ref>

===Star League Era===
When the [[Star League]] Council issued the [[Council Edict of 2650]] limiting the size of the military maintained by each [[Great House]] the Third was one of nineteen active regiments within the Marik Militia. Like the other regiments of the Militia, the Third remained a popular unit with both the commoners within the League and the peerage because of their public dedication to the people of the League, and like the other regiments of the Militia often acted as training grounds for troops across the League. A significant number of the personnel serving in other more prestigious federal units and various provincial forces within the League had actually begun their careers in the Third or another of the Marik Militia regiments.<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp10"/>

While the bulk of the Militia remained loyal to [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]] [[Bertram Marik]], the Third and [[Eighth Marik Militia]]s chose to support the cause of [[Oliver Marik]] during his [[2729]] - [[2734]] revolt. In the peace settlement that ended the conflict, the Third was granted a full amnesty and returned to normal duty.<ref name=HM1/> Following the amnesty, the Third and the Eighth both spent three decades doing everything possible to prove their loyalty to the ruling Captain-General.<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp10"/>

In [[2764]] the Third was deployed to the world of [[New Olympia]] on a peacekeeping mission by [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]] [[Kenyon Marik]] because rivalry between the two governments who ruled the divided world had reached the point where tensions were spilling out into the open. Also located on New Olympia at the time was the SLDF [[66th Infantry Division|Sixty-sixth Infantry Division]], which had been ordered to remain on normal duties by the SLDF chain of command, which had declared the problems on the planet to be an internal matter. Resentment on the part of the Third towards the SLDF for the SLDF's refusal to intervene in the Marik Civil War led to a battalion of the Third apparently going rogue and firing on a patrol from the Sixty-sixth after the Third had taken casualties during their peacekeeping operations. The Sixty-sixth promptly retaliated, nearly destroying the complete battalion - a battalion subsequently claimed by Kenyon Marik to have been acting against orders from the Colonel commanding the regiment. After the event the SLDF Intelligence Command was suspicious that Kenyon Marik may have used the incident as an attempt to wage a hidden war against the SLDF.<ref name="FR:2765FWLMp4">''Field Report 2765: FWLM'', pp. 4–5: "Goals of the State"</ref>

===Succession Wars===
Despite the best efforts of the Third and Eighth Marik Militia, the [[League Central Coordination and Command]] never fully trusted either regiments when the [[Succession Wars (History)|Succession Wars]] erupted. Thus both the Third and the Eighth was assigned to some of most difficult and dangerous missions during the early days of the Succession Wars, partly in the hope of eliminating potential troublemakers through attrition. Despite this, the Third would ultimately survive the meat grinders of the [[First Succession War|First]] and [[Second Succession War]]s.<ref name=FMFWL>''Field Manual: Free Worlds League'', p. 53: "FWLM Rosters - Marik Militia: Mailed Fist in a Velvet Glove"</ref>

==== First Succession War ====
When [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]] [[Kenyon Marik]] launched his famous "ten parsec-wide" invasion of the [[Capellan Commonality|Capellan]] and [[Sarna Commonality|Sarna Commonalities]] of the Capellan Confederation in February [[2787]], intending to drive a wedge to the important world of [[Sarna]], the Third were in the forefront of the invasion. The [[FWLM]] task force assigned to the invasion of [[Vanra]], one of the four first-wave targets, consisted of three regiments from the [[Marik Militia]] - the Third, [[17th Marik Militia|Seventeenth]] and [[Twenty-first Marik Militia]] regiments - escorted by a naval task force that included at least one [[battleship]], the [[Agrippa|FWLS ''Agrippa'']], two [[destroyer]]s, two [[squadron]]s of attack [[DropShip]]s and three [[Wing (Formation)|wings]] of [[aerospace fighter]]s. The garrison at the time, the [[First Capellan Chargers]], were heavily outnumbered, but had been in place on Vanra for almost twenty-five years, and [[Colonel]] [[Juliano Papadakis]] was determined to lead a fierce resistance against the invaders.<ref name="FSWp53">''First Succession War'', pp. 53-54: "A Path to Sarna: The League-Confederation Front"</ref>

Papadakis made the most of the Chargers' familiarity with the terrain on Vanra; as the Marik Militia DropShips began landing, he had his combat air group engage, hammering at the Militia forces. By the time his aerospace fighters had withdrawn, the Militia had lost more than two squadrons of fighters, and an ''[[Overlord]]''-class DropShip carrying a [[battalion]] from the Seventeenth Marik Militia had been crippled, crash-landing in the forests almost twenty kilometers south of Utrecht, the planetary capital city. Familiar with the dense forest and the networks of transient riverbeds in the area, Papadakis knew that the terrain would be confusing and difficult to negotiate for any forces sent to rescue the downed forces. Papadakis' prediction proved correct; he deployed the entire Third Battalion of the Chargers to converge on the site, whilst the remaining elements of the Seventeenth diverted away from their intended positions near Utrecht to try and rescue their comrades, weakening the enemy plan. With much of the forest floor concealed from view from the air, the Chargers' Third Battalion was able to pick off and kill the survivors from the DropShip crash that they found, as well as ambushing and destroying almost a full battalion of rescue forces from the Seventeenth.<ref name="FSWp53"/>

Whilst the Third Battalion was tying up twice its own numbers in the forest, leaving the Seventeenth effectively out of the battle for Utrecht, Papadakis had his remaining forces disperse as [[lance]] and [[company]] sized formations and launch numerous ambushes and feints within Utrecht itself, the city's dense urban sprawl helping the heavier Chargers negate the speed advantage enjoyed by the generally lighter Marik Militia units. Papadakis' troops had destroyed another battalion of Marik Militia forces within Utrecht before the senior [[FWLM]] officer, Colonel [[Udel Melville]], ordered the orbiting ''Agrippa'' to bombard regions of the city. Fires and huge explosions ensued, as one of the sectors targeted by the ''Agrippa'' contained a natural gas refinery, and the resulting refinery explosion engulfed half the city in flames due to the ongoing battle preventing efforts to contain the damage. Melville's forces were ultimately successful, but the Chargers fought to the last man before the planetary government finally surrendered, leaving Utrecht and the great forest to its south in ruins. Melville was forced to disband the remains of the Seventeenth Marik Militia, and use the survivors from the Seventeenth and a mix of salvaged Capellan and League equipment to rebuild the Third and Twenty-first Marik Militias.<ref name="FSWp53"/>

==== Second Succession War ====
During the Sixth Battle for Andurien in [[2839]] the Third Marik Militia arrived in August and was able to help fight the Capellan invaders to a standstill before they quit the world two months later<ref>''Second Succession War'', p. 51: "The Battles for Andurien"</ref>

==== Third Succession War ====
In [[2952]] during the [[Third Succession War]], the Third Marik Militia received a new commanding officer who spearheaded the invasion of [[Cavanaugh II]]. This commander had a masterful grasp of [[LCAF]] tactics, capitalizing on many small errors made by the Lyran defenders. To counteract this, the LCAF High Command sent the 5th Striker Battalion of the [[Eridani Light Horse]]. The Light Horse unit was able to kill the commander, and post-mortem identification showed that the Third's CO was Mikhail Tetren, a former LCAF officer who had defected to the Free Worlds League.<ref name=hs1>''House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)'', p. 73</ref>

Despite centuries of sterling service during the Succession Wars, the Third sided with their former commander [[Anton Marik]] during his revolt in [[3014]]-[[3015|15]]. In the fighting on [[Sophie's World]] the fighting between the Third and the Sixth Marik Militia was particularly savage, with the two units refusing to accept or give quarter.<ref name="H:BRWp23">''Historical: Brush Wars'', p. 23</ref> Anton then dispatched the Third to [[Berenson]], where they attacked the [[Fifteenth Marik Militia]], a unit that had been starved of supplies for months.<ref>''Godfather''</ref> This action wasn't successful, and the Third withdrew to [[Bernardo]].<ref name="H:BWp26">''Historical: Brush Wars'', p. 26</ref> The Fifth and [[Thirty-first Marik Militia]] pursued the 3rd to Bernardo, inflicting heavy casualties.<ref name="H:BWp31">''Historical: Brush Wars'', p. 31</ref> The Third retreated again, but was eventually defeated on [[Park Place]], where they surrendered after two weeks of heavy fighting.<ref name="H:BWp32">''Historical: Brush Wars'', p. 32</ref> Unlike the mercy shown by Bertram two centuries earlier, [[Janos Marik]] ordered the unit's officers executed or imprisoned, and the unit itself permanently disbanded and stricken from the Militia's history.<ref name=HM2>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 93</ref>

==Officers==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Rank
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Name
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Command
|-
| colspan="4" style="background: #efefef;" | '''Commanding Officers of 3rd Marik Militia'''
|-
| [[General]]||[[Gerald Marik (27th c.)|Gerald Marik I]]||[[2678]]<ref name="FSWp22">''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 22</ref>
|-
| [[Colonel]]||[[Udel Melville]]||[[2786]]<ref name="FSWp53"/>
|-
| Colonel||[[Mikhail Tertren]]||[[2952]]<ref name=hs1/> - [[2957]]<ref name="FSWp41">''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 41</ref>
|-
| Colonel||[[Anton Marik]]||[[2989]]<ref name="FSWp47">''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 47</ref> - [[2999]]<ref name="FSWp91">''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 91</ref>
|-
| Colonel||[[Gerald Marik III|Gerald Marik III]]||[[3014]] - [[3015]]{{cn}}
|}

==Tactics==
During the rebellion the Third was noted for its fanatical loyalty to Anton Marik, and would not retreat unless a battle turned dramatically against them.

==Composition==
=== 2765 ===
'''Third Marik Militia''' (Regiment/Green/Fanatical)<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp10A">''Field Report 2765: FWLM'', p. 10: "Regimental Status"</ref>
:- At this point in time the Third was stationed on [[Gibson]].<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp10A"/>

=== 2786 - 2821 ===
'''Third Marik Militia''' (Regiment/Green/Fanatical)<ref name="FSWp138">''First Succession War'', p. 138: "Free Worlds League Military (FWLM)"</ref>
:- At this point in time the Third was a light-weight regiment operating at full strength and was stationed on New Olympia.<ref name="FSWp138"/>In 2821 the unit was operating at less than a third of full strength and was stationed on [[Corey]].<ref name="FSWp138"/>

=== 2830 ===
'''3rd Marik Militia''' (Regiment/Green/Fanatical)<ref name=2ndSSp98>''Second Succession War'', p. 98</ref>
: Note: At this point in time the light-weight unit was stationed on [[Graham IV]] with an operational readiness of 98 percent.<ref name=2ndSSp98/>

=== 2864 ===
'''3rd Marik Militia''' (Regiment/Regular/Fanatical)<ref name=2ndSSp98/>
: Note: At this point in time the medium-weight unit was stationed on [[Andurien]] with an operational readiness of 52 percent.<ref name=2ndSSp98/>

==Rules==
<div class="gamerules">
=== First Succession War ===
* As a Marik Militia regiment the Third receives no modifiers to die rolls when generating forces on RAT tables during the First Succession War.<ref name="FSWp147">''First Succession War'', p. 147: "RAT Die Roll Modifiers by Combat Command Table"</ref>
</div>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: Free Worlds League]]''
* ''[[Field Report 2765: FWLM]]''
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)|First Succession War]]''
* ''[[Godfather]]''
* ''[[Historical: Brush Wars]]''
* ''[[Historical: Reunification War]]''
* ''[[House Marik (The Free Worlds League)]]''
* ''[[House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)]]''
* ''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)|Second Succession War]]''

[[Category:Free Worlds League Commands|Marik Militia, 03rd]]