totheknife.com

Ok I brought this over from the enjin site so that are new members may read it and understand the Honor and traditions of the 4th RH.


Until the disbanding a whole regiment in 2973 the Regulan forces were loyal to House Marik, since then however they have shifted their loyalty, supporting Cameron Jones's family. During Anton's Revolt Regulans fought against their brother regiments. However when Thomas Marik sought to re-organize the FWLM they stood together as a unit against his military reform policies.

During the Jihad the Hussars didn't join the Coalition, but instead preferred to fight the Word of Blake on their own. They were also infamous for using nuclear weapons in several assaults on Blakist strongholds. They also capitalized on the confusion caused by the Jihad by occupying the systems of the Regulan Free States and the Principality of Gibson. In some cases this pitted them against other units of the FWLM. At this time the Regulan Hussars brigade also underwent a massive expansion. By the end of 3079 there were twelve Regulan Hussar units on the rolls, but all were under-strength. Interestingly most of the newer units (6th-8th, 10th-14th) were formed around soldiers and units that had served the Word of Blake, including the Sirian Lancers, Protectorate Militia, and 3rd Free Worlds Guards.

In the wake of the Jihad, the Regulan Hussars were a ferocious but poorly-equipped organization. Years of fighting against the Word of Blake had made the Hussars excellent strategic raiders, insurgents and guerilla fighters, tenacious to the point of being rabid. However, despite the ferocity and experience of the individual troops and units, the Hussars were desperately short of equipment and manpower, a legacy of both their destructively genocidal campaign against the Word of Blake and a continuing border war with the Duchy of Oriente. By 3081 many of the battalions within the Hussars were formed from a mix of RetroTech 'Mechs, captured armor, artillery and foot infantry. The Hussars were badly in need of a command reorganization at this point in time, but while each unit lacked any operational organization their willingness to use any means necessary against those they considered to be sheltering Blakists - including the use of tactical nukes - combined with the increasing paranoid of Prince Titus Cameron-Jones helped make the Principality a dangerous rogue state

Hussar ( /həˈzɑr/ hə-ZAR, /hʊˈzɑr/, or spelling pronunciation /həˈsɑr/ hə-SAR) refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary during the 15th century. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen was subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry regiments in European and other armies. A number of armored or ceremonial mounted units in modern armies retain the designation of hussars.

History

[edit] The hussars of medieval Hungary

The first written mention of the word "huszár" has been found in documents dating from 1432 in Southern Hungary. (at the time the Ottoman military frontiers of the Hungarian Kingdom)[1] A type of irregular light horsemen was already well established by the 15th century in medieval Hungary.[2] Etymologists are divided over the derivation of the word 'hussar'.[3]

According to Webster's the word hussar stems from the Hungarian huszár, which in turn originates from the Serbian хусар (Husar, or гусар, Gusar) meaning pirate, from the Medieval Latin cursarius (cf. the English word corsair).[4] A variant of this theory is offered by Byzantinist scholars, who argue the term originated in Roman military practice, and the cursarii (singular cursarius).[5] Origin of the word is also attributed to old Italian.[6]

Through Byzantine Army operations in the Balkans in the 10th and 11th centuries when Chosarioi/Chonsarioi were recruited with especially Serbs,[7] the word was subsequently reintroduced to Western European military practice after its original usage had been lost with the collapse of Rome in the west.[8] According to another theory, the word is derived from the Hungarian word húsz "twenty", suggesting that hussar regiments were originally composed of twenty men.[3] Or the term huszár probably signified 'one in twenty' as selected for service by ballot.[9]

The hussars reportedly originated in bands of mostly Serbian warriors [10] crossing into southern Hungary after the Turkish invasion of Serbia at the end of the 14th century. The Governor of Hungary, Hunyadi János – John Hunyadi, created mounted units inspired by his enemy the Ottoman Turks. His son, Hunyadi Mátyás Matthias Corvinus, later king of Hungary, is unanimously accepted as the creator of these troops. Initially they fought in small bands, but were reorganised into larger, trained, formations during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus.[11][12]

So the first Hussar regiments were the light cavalry of the Black Army of Hungary. Under his command the hussars took part in the war against the Ottoman Empire in 1485 and proved successful against the Turkish Spahis as well as against Bohemians and Poles. After the king's death in 1490, hussars remained the preferred form of cavalry in Hungary. The Habsburg emperors hired Hungarian hussars as mercenaries to serve against the Ottoman Empire and on various battlefields throughout Western Europe.

[edit] Hussar light cavalry





Depiction of Serbian cavalry in the left section of Pavle Jovanović's work The Migration of Serbs
Gusar light cavalry forces were part of the medieval Serbian military. Armed with spears and pentagonal wood shields padded with metal, they supported the noble knights as their second line on the battlefield.[13] In the middle of each wooden shield, there was a round metal knob that held the shield together.[14]

Gusar light cavalries were a traditional Serbian force, which meant that they usually were not hired as mercenaries from Spain or Germany. Their style of fighting was similar to the noble knights. They used the eastern style of fighting: they would charge into the enemy ferociously, and try to cause mass havoc. As for their role with the foot soldiers, they were more like support cavalry. When the foot soldiers were losing the battle, the Gusars would charge into the enemy's flank, hoping to cause them to rout. They would repeat this charge from different angles while the infantry kept the enemy from chasing the Gusars.

Later on, after the fall of the Serbian Empire, these troops were used as "Krajišniks" meaning frontiersman in Hungary (Croatia and Vojvodina) which southern parts later on became the military frontier, defending and liberating as they believed Christendom from the Ottoman invasion. Their military tactics of engaging combat, as well as pillaging and looting of Ottoman ruled territories, were similar to the ones of the Ukrainian Cossacks.


This is also apart of the History of the Hussars, showing what the tactics of the 15th Century Hungarian Hussars can be translated to the 4th Regulan Hussars as well as the rest of the RH Battalions. I should also add this is from the Wikipedia entry for Hussars.

Very interesting. Especially since I went to Croatia 3 years ago and was able to see many artifacts from the times you describe. I probably saw weapons and armor used by Hussars but didn't realize what it represented yet.

Fun read !

Nice thanks Vince...