(A/R) An elite bn= regt consisting of:
THE LIFE GUARDS "Hobby Horse" (A/R) Now a mixed(-up) "cavalry" sqn.
1 TP (R) "Bay Watch" is still horsed! (bays, of course) and attached directly to GHQ as a ceremonial and security unit.
2 & 3 TP (R) are equipped with a variety of tanks (including 6 Shermans, 2 Stuarts, and 2 M-48s). They are attached to GHQ as part of a special reserve force--"Bear Necessity"--supporting 2, 3, 4, & 5 PLT The Grenadier Foot Guards with 4 & 5 TP The Household Horse Atillery.
4 TP (R) is a non-combat unit which maintains the Sergeant Joe Gunn Museum (Wotanberg's military museum) (where some of 2 & 3 TP's tanks belong).5 TP "Kifaru" (A) are equipped with Wiesels II. It is paired with 2 PLT The Dragoon Guards for operations and training. The TP were among the Wotanberger army units sent to the Mustela Islands when Germany and Britain transferred their respective holdings in the islands to the Grand Duchy in 1890. It remained in the islands until 1952, two years after the islands gained full independence. The current nickname of 5 TP reflects the fact that in its last ten years on the islands it was attached to the Kikundi cha Kifaru ("Rhinoceros Regiment") of first the Grand Duke's African Rifles and then the Mustela Rifles.
THE GRENADIER FOOT GUARDS "Bear Foot" (A/R) An infantry coy formed around the survivors of the Grand Duke's personal guard who had bravely defended the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchy in 1815. Most of its current soldiers are descendents of those in the unit at that time.
1 PLT (A) is attached directly to GHQ as a security and ceremonial unit. During special ceremonies, 1PLT still wears the bearskin hats that gave the coy its nickname. For a special update on these hats, click here.
2, 3, 4, & 5 PLT (R) are attached to GHQ as part of a special reserve force "Bear Necessity" and supported by 2 & 3 TP The Life Guards and 4 & 5 TP The Household Horse Artillery.
THE DRAGOON GUARDS "Saloon Dragoons" (A) Now a motorised infantry coy equipped with Wiesels, HUMMWVs, Land Rovers, Jeeps, and one M3 Half Track. Like the other dragoons in Wotanberg's Army, this unit was organized as a coy with plts (vice "sqns"and "tps"), in keeping with Sir Trevor's belief that dragoons were "mounted infantry" and not "cavalry". Unlike the other dragoons, however, as a "guard" unit, this unit has 3 vice 2 plt:
1 PLT is attached to GHQ to provide security and ground transport for the Grand-Ducal Family, Parliament, and other VIPs. Its 2 SEC is formed into FPT with 2 & 3 TP The Household Horse Artillery.
2 PLT is paired with the 5 TP The Life Guards for training and operations.
3 PLT "Wacht am Rhein" was organized in 1945 to serve as part of the Grand Duchy's contribution to the western Allies' occupation forces in Germany, securing the territory in and around Rothenberg am Rhein. Pursuant to a still classified annex to a generally unknown post-war treaty, the PLT (now essentially a HQ SEC with temporarily attached personnel utilizing the PLT's assigned Wiesel II's and other equipment) continues to "occupy" approximately 5 square miles surrounding the castle of St Hubert at Rothenberg am Rhein. 3 PLT works in close co-operation with Jäger Abteilung Rothenberg of the Wotanberger Order of St Hubert.
The coy's original conversion from horses to motor vehicles in the 1920's was accomplished with privately-owned "saloons", which is the "official" explanation for the unit's nickname. The unit's Half Track, which serves as the Grand Duke's "official" command vehicle, was a gift from the commander of the Free French forces who helped end the Nazi "quarantine" of the Grand Duchy in WWII.
THE HOUSEHOLD HORSE ARTILLERY "Pachebel's Cannon" (A/R) An artillery "bty" with:
1 TP (R) with 2 Napoleonic-era cannon for ceremonies and 2 Weasels for operations.
2 & 3 TP (A/R) each with 2 Weasels, attached directly to GHQ as a security unit and organized into FPT with 1 PLT The Dragoon Guards.
4 & 5 TP (A/R) each with 2 M109 Howitzers attached to GHQ as part of a special reserve force--"Bear Necessity"--and supporting 2, 3, 4, & 5 PLT The Grenadier Foot Guards and 2 & 3 TP The Life Guards.
The unit's first commander was Hieronymous Pachebel, reputed to be a great-nephew of the more famous German composer Johann Pachebel.THE HOUSEHOLD AERO-CAVALRY "Sleipnir" (or "Housefly") (A) A tp with 5 Puma HC1 helicopters, attached directly to GHQ and used for transporting the Grand-Ducal Family, members of Parliament, and other VIPs and other special missions. Originally, this unit was a mounted rifle plt--the Household Horse Jägers--(the rgt's "extra" plt), being converted to its current role and name in 1976.
REGIMENTAL TROOPS "House-Train" (A/R) The Regimental Troops is made of units--usually detached from the Support Regt--which provide administrative, logistical, and other support to the regt. They include a logistics support and catering plt "House Mother"; a military police plt "House Dick"; and a medical sec "House Doctor".