Grenadiers

"So, when'cha lack quality an' quantity, ya make it up for in quakin' 'xplosives? Brilliant." -Victor Vanhal

"Through icing steel and burning lead, we ride on till the foe is dead. By blackest powder say your hails, for kingdom, queen and holy faith. Before a spark ignites the shell, heathens hear their mourning bells." -Grenadier chant

Composition

Manpower

The Grenadier units most often consist in either 40 or 60 riders within one corps.

Equipment

Most of the Diestrian grenadiers use their own equipment and tools, like special bombs, clothing and colours, yet the most common uniform ranges from thick leather coats and long tophats to gambesons and spiked steel helmets, along with protective glasses and masks to prevent vapours and smoke to harm eyes or lungs, with additional heavy duty pants either with studded leather or plate attached to them to cover the more exposed legs.
The most expenses go into a good saddle and armour for the horses, along with their highquality fodder and over the top lunchboxes for their riders.

Weaponry

The grenadiers weaponry consists of grenades, swords, grenades, pistols, grenades, bombs and even more grenades... Ohh, and almost forgot! Explosive charges.
I mean, what did you expect, really?

Vehicles

Each rider has their own choice purebreed Diestrian warhorse that they ride into combat, thus granting them a strong height and speed adventage against most other beasts and monsters that may roam the battlefield. The horses usualy engage in shoal formation or spearheads.

Structure

Grenadiers follow the orders of Knight-captains of Di'estra.

Tactics

As a ranged chock cavalary unit, the Grenadiers mostly charge through enemy lines while throwing barrages of explosives through lines of units that mainly consist of heavily plated troops wielding shorter weapons like shields, axes, swords and smaller spears. They are also infamous for circling around fortifications, machines and warbeasts with deadly barrages that often leave no escape, or proper way to fight back without ranged weaponry.
The Grenadiers also try to keep a meters distance inbetween themselves, but as close as possible to the guarding knights, in order to lower the potential casualty rate in attacks to such a small number as possible.

Training

Diestrian grenadiers often have the most basic training consisting of basic tactics and drills to follow chain of command. They are also well versed with the effects and ranges for the toys they rock on the battlefield.

Logistics

Logistical Support

Carts with food and rations for the men and horses are brought along to the fieldcamps. If goods run out the Grenadiers themselves as a very swift cavalary are often the ones to harass nearby villages for supplies, unless a raven is sent to call nearby nobles for their support.

Auxilia

Knights most often back the Grenadiers up while canons and ranged units provide them with cover.

Upkeep

Medium cost.

Recruitment

The Diestrian upper classes are the main source of manpower to join the Diestrian Grenadiers, but it happens that other people join in, if the need arises.

History

The Diestrian Grenadiers, often wrongly associated and confused with the Empiran or Graycogs Grenadier divisons, were acctualy the first to carry the honorary title. As an even less well known fact, the first riders were angry farmers and locals that had enough of their abusive rulers. On top of grand horses that they bred, along with homemade bombs and explosives, the Grenadiers wreaked havoc and on the guards and soldiers.
Only by riding down and peppering the renegade workers with firearms could they be stopped. Now, their tactics have been taken up and improved by military tacticians, as well as be a strictly only for upper classes.

The steel needle:

Most Grenadiers carry a form of large steel needle on their chest which makes them a medical priority of the fourth level in a case of combat injury or even to retrieve the body of a diseased.

Coat of Arms:

A lot of the Diestrian houses have experimented wildly with different powders and materials to create the perfect explosion. Ofcourse as this is Diestria, several issues have popped up regarding what type of effects, radius and role makes this godly blast as good as it can get. This debate has gone on for more than twohundered years and only seems to heat up worse and worse, but some bombs which most agree on being an A-tier explosive are the following:
House McKingsley, Whiteflame bomb
A powerfull explosive often covered by a gold painted shell and known as the holy grenade weigh little and can thus be thrown further than most other bombs. At blast it can blind those who look right into it so bad that they turn momentarely blind and recieve vicious headaches, that can result in permanent weakened vision. The white fire itself that is left after impact is however incapable of burning foes.
House Di'estra, Crimson fog
A small fuse that evaporate a dark red cloud of smoke into the air. The gas is both is both dangerous to the heart if breathed in and causes mayhem on the brain in the forms of blind bloodlusted hysteria. This vile trickery turns brother on brother with such zeal that it's victims often fight tooth and claw while still mortaly injured.
House Chasseur, Reapers guile
A non-lethal bomb that ejects a highly efficent toxin that renders foes paralyzed if they breathe in too much of it. It's so effective that even the slightest intake can cause powerfull hallucinations based on fear and dread. The paralysis remains for twenty to thirty minutes while the hallucination can keep on for up to three hours, and even hardships in sleeping can follow weeks after exposure.
House Wyld, Wyldfire
An extremely volatile concoction with high radius but low explosive power that sends cascades of burning flames all around it. The fire doesn't die out easily either, and if it lands on skin it can remain flamable even after a bath, unless there are special soaps and liquids involved in the scrubbing.

Type

Cavalry

Overall training Level

Levy

Assumed Veterancy

Trained