Life Guard (Urcea): Difference between revisions

During the period between the First and [[Second Caroline War]], the newly formed unit gained significant prestige due to its proximity to the [[Apostolic King of Urcea]]. Throughout the 1750s and 1760s, new rules were applied to the unit. Ionian origin was made mandatory due to the longstanding association of [[House de Weluta]] with the region. In [[1784]], it was required that only [[Social class in Urcea|optimate]]s could be members of the Life Guard. Due to their high social rank, this meant the unit became predominantly made up of officers, with the 1795 list of personnel indicating a 3-to-1 ratio of officers to enlisted. Accordingly, within the Life Guard, it was proclaimed that anyone under the rank of Eptéi - the equivalent of a {{wp|Captain}} - would functionally serve in the same capacities and jobs as enlisted, a rule that exists through today. Most of the rules that govern membership and order of the Life Guard are still in effect today, although due to [[Urcea]]'s engagements abroad, [[Crona]] tours of duty are now essentially a prerequisite to join the Life Guard and distinctions of social class have been abolished.

Since their formation and reform into the current version of the unit, the Life Guard has served with distinction. It fought several successful rear guard actions during the [[Second Caroline War]] on behalf of King Brian III, preventing him from being captured on two occasions. It fought in the victorious [[Third Caroline War]] as well. When the [[Crown Regency]] began in 1889, the Life Guard mutinied from the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Regal Army]] and followed Patrick de Weluta, the legal heir, into exile, living at his court in exile until the beginning of the [['97 Rising]]. Due to the uprising and insurgent nature of the war, the Life Guard - as the best organized and equipped unit in the Legitimist Army - saw the most fighting in its history, forming the core of Legitimist forces in many key battles. Many defecting professional soldiers from the Regal Army, especially Royal Fusiliers, were temporarily added to the Life Guard, which by 1899 was recognized as the elite infantry unit on the Legitimist side. Accordingly, by the end of the war and restoration, the Life Guard "regiment" consisted of four cohorts of "true" Life Guards as well as an additional ten cohorts of additional professional soldiers, making the Life Guard effectively a small division. After the restoration, the "large" Life Guard persisted until 1910, when it was reformed back to a small, elite unit. During the period of 1902-10, the Life Guard not only served as guards of the Apostolic King and [[Government of Urcea]], but also served effectively as {{Wp|gendarme}} of [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] as order was gradually restored. The post-1910 Guard resumed its traditional duties, with one cohort fighting in the [[Second Great War]] in [[Urlazio]] with distinction. Since then, one cohort of the Guard is traditionally allowed to fight abroad as part of [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal and Imperial Army]] operations, with recent examples including engagements fought in the [[War of the Northern Confederation]] and [[Final War of the Deluge]].