Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment

Почетный Лейб-гвардии Александровский Полк Alexander Leib-guard Honourary Regiment
Regiment Commander: His High Excellency Duke Nethair Kiltharan, Polkovnik of the Leib-guards Battalion Commanders: 1st "Silence And Death": His Excellency Count Mstivoy Vseslavny, Captain of the Leib-guards 2nd "Pride and Honour": His Excellency Duke Jarogniew Volodyesvki, Captain of the Leib-guards 3rd "Glory and Courage": His Excellency High Count Alexander Kentarith, Captain of the Leib-guards

“With Honor, Pride and Loyalty shall We serve the Dynasty, and when the final hour comes, with Glory shall We meet it, and We shall not run or flee, but We shall stand Victorious, and should We ever fall before and enemy, than We shall not fall in vain and Our sacrifice will safe the Dynasty! And the Glorious Duke shall rule safe and unhindered while One of Us remains!” - Excerpt from the "Oath of Loyalty"

The Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment (Alexander Leib-guard Honourary Regiment, Alexander Guard) is the personal guard unit of Grand Duke of Tarasovka and of his family, also charged with defending and protecting the lives of other members of the Dynasty.

Brief History

The first “roots” of this elite unit go back to the rule of the Grand Duke Alexander the Ist, who took several most valiant warriors from his army and made them his personal bodyguards. The measure was taken following his victory over the Order of Zynthris and the Treaty of Uiliath. Yet, this measure did not prevent him from dying in a mysterious hunting incident. During his rule, the Guard got richer by new warriors, to reach a total of 30 Guards. Under the Grand Duke Namel'lar Shakhovskoy , the Guard received its official name of the “Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment” and was made the official ceremonial and personal guard of the Ducal family. Grand Duke Namellar decided to complement the Guard with the sons of the highest Taraskovyan nobles, and decided that the color of the uniform will be deep blue – the color of Honor and Nobility.

As centuries went by and new technology became available, the Honourary Regiment constantly changed and adapted to the new times. The Alexander Guards always received first every new technological weapon and armor and were always battle ready to defend the Grand Duke's family. At its peak, the Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment comprised a total of around two thousand Guards. It consisted of the finest sons of the highest Taraskovyan nobility – the pride and future of the Grand Duchy. Serving in the Regiment is the greatest honour of a young Taraskovyan noble, and to get demoted from it is worse than death by execution.

Requirements for admission

Due to the particularly delicate position of an Alexander Guard and his closeness to the Grand Duke, all candidates are first screened by a special committee of the National Security Ministry, to avoid any “dangerous” elements of getting into the unit. Once the candidates received the approval of the committee, they are admitted to the Palace Academy. There, they undergo harsh and very exhaustive physical and mental training, which turns months of their lives into a nightmare. Not many make it through the entire course, many fail and resign.

Moreover, all candidates are to be at least of the age of 23 and be bearers of some higher education diploma. Since the Leib-guards often accompany the Grand Duke on his foreign trips, they have to speak several languages, have knowledge in tact and ethics, culture, sciences.

Situation of the Regiment nowadays.

After the fall of the Grand Duchy, the Alexander Guard, quite diminished by its direct participation in the Aphyr Conflict, refused to bow to the Ruling Council and enter pledge allegiance to the new government. The Leib-guards furthermore refused to abandon the Vigvar Winter Palace, the official residence of the Grand Dukes, and swore to fight to the last in case of an assault by Federal forces.

However, with the return of the Grand Duke and the reemergence of the Grand Duchy, the Leib-guards once again assumed their role of protectors of the Grand Ducal family.

Composition

As of today, the Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment is comprised of three distinct battalions, each having its own function and specialisation.

1st "Silence and Death" Battalion

The "Silence and Death" battalion is believed to be the first ever appearance of the Alexander Guard, created by the Grand Duke Alexander the Ist himself. The story tells that the 30 Bodyguards of the Grand Duke were trained to be deadly and stealthy assassins. The story also tells a slight paradox - these assassins were to never kill anyone but to guard the Grand Duke from any attempts on his life.

The members of this battalion often serve as guards inside of the Palace Complexes and accompany the Grand Duke on most of his ceremonial visits. Although it is believed that their assassin training has stopped long ago, these guards tend to show extreme prowess in certain skills when it is needed.

2nd "Pride and Honour" Battalion

The "Pride and Honour" is also known as the Cavalry force. Indeed, members of this unit usually serve on horsebacks and guard the exterior of the Palace Complex as well as serve as ceremonial mounted escort for the Grand Duke during various events (such as horse promenades, greeting of foreign leaders during their state visits to the Grand Duchy, et cetera).

The 2nd Battalion is believed to have been created by Grand Duke Nikolay, who was a very skilled horseman and wanted his bodyguards to be as skilled as him. And so he created a new regiment, called the Winged Hussars, which he modelled after the Polish Winged Hussars. Later on, however, the regiment was integrated into the Alexander Guard Regiment and became the "Pride and Honour" Battalion.

Taraskovyans, due to certain specifics of the Taraskovyan landscape, usually preferred to move on foot and not on horse back. Grand Duke Nikolay entirely changed the mentality of most of his subjects and was the one to have created the first separate cavalry regiments (the latter being integrated into standard infantry regiments before the reforms).

3rd "Glory and Courage" Battalion

The "Glory and Courage" battalion is composed of the so called "Heavy Assault Guards". This unit is the most recent in the regiment and was especially created to accompany the Grand Duke into battle. Even if all of the Guards are to accompany the Grand Duke into combat and defend him to their last drop of blood, the 3rd Battalion members are the ones the most fit for a intensive combat, due to their heavy armour and armament.

These guards sometimes accompany the Grand Duke to certain of his ceremonial trips but most of the time they keep guard outside of the Vigvar Winter Palace.

Ranks

The ranks of the Alexander Guard compared to those in the other branches of the armed forces.

• It should be noted that nowadays the lower ranked members of the armed forces use these forms of adress only on official occasions. Indeed, the soldiers and lower ranking officers shall more often use the word 'Pan' followed by the rank of the officer they talk to when adressing that officer. A soldier shall adress his lieutenant as 'Pan Poruchik', for example.