View source for Freeman's Fanatics

{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image =
| Designation = Freeman's Fanatics
| Formed = [[2800]]<ref name=FSW-36>''First Succession War'', p. 36: "Those Left Behind - Became Mercenary - Lyran Commonwealth"</ref>
| Disbanded =
| Previous Designation =
| Nickname =
| Affiliation = [[Mercenary]]
| Parent Command = Independent 
| Sub-Command =
}}
'''Freeman's Fanatics''' were a [[mercenary unit]] operating during the early [[Succession Wars era]].<ref name=FSW-140>''First Succession War'', p. 140: "First Succession War Deployment Table - Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces (LCAF)"</ref><ref name=SSW-100>''Second Succession War'', p. 100: "Second Succession War Deployment Table - Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces - Mercenary Combat Commands (LCAF)"</ref>

==Overview==
Freeman's Fanatics were an ad hoc [[battalion]] of former [[Rim Worlds Republic]] troops that chose to enter mercenary service with the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] during the middle decades of the [[First Succession War]].<ref name=FSW-36/>

In [[2815]] still under contract to the House Steiner, the Fanatics undertook a highly unusual mission - raiding the water-rich [[Capellan Confederation]] world of [[Westphalia]]. The defending [[First Chesterton Voltigeurs]] destroyed four of the Fanatics' ''[[Ostsol]]''s with their more mobile ''[[Wasp]]''s over a unique "island hopping" campaign that lasted for several weeks before the Lyran mercenaries withdrew.<ref name=HLTCC-83>''House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)'', p. 83</ref><ref name=FSW-108>''First Succession War'', pp. 108–109: "Oddities of the Succession War - Why, Westphalia?"</ref>

The history behind this engagement, the only recorded instance of [[House Liao]] forces fighting House Steiner forces prior to the [[War of 3039]],<ref name=HLTCC-83/> remains a mystery, with any [[Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces]] records that may have explained the reasoning behind the raid lost during the First Succession War. With the Lyrans and Capellans sharing no common border at the time, Westphalia had barely any strategic value and certainly no military industry or technological centers to draw such attention, the only reason it even merited a [[Capellan Confederation Armed Forces]] garrison was due to its proximity to both the [[Federated Suns]] border and the [[Chesterton]] region.<ref name=FSW-108/>

While lacking any evidence, Commonwealth historians have long debated why their realm would send Freeman's Fanatics on a mission so far from Lyran interests, by [[3150]] the most common theories being that the Fanatics were actually retrieving a high-value [[Loki (Intelligence agency)|Loki]] agent who had been sent to gather data in the region and somehow became trapped there, or that the raid was the aftermath of failed talks between Houses Liao and Steiner with an eye towards an alliance against the [[Free Worlds League]].<ref name=FSW-108/>

By the formal end of First Succession War in [[2821]], the Fanatics were still under Lyran employ and were stationed on [[Planting]], reduced to 61% of their full combat strength.<ref name=FSW-140/> Rapidly expanding in the lull between the First and Second Succession War, by [[2830]] the Fanatics had expanded into a [[regiment]] sized formation, still stationed on Planting. By the end of Second Succession War just over thirty years later though, Freeman's Fanatics had suffered heavy losses, battered down to less than a quarter of their regimental strength. Licking their wounds, as of [[2864]] the Fanatics were stationed on [[Zosma]].<ref name=SSW-100/>

==Officers==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Rank
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Name
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Command
|-
| colspan="4" style="background: #efefef;" | '''Commanding Officers of Freeman's Fanatics'''
|-
|}

==Tactics==
Unknown.

==Composition History==
===2821===
'''Freeman's Fanatics''' (Battalion/Regular/Reliable)<ref name= FSSp140>''First Succession War'', p. 140</ref>
: Note: In 2821 the light-weight command was reduced to 60 percent of its strength and was deployed on [[Planting]].<ref name= FSSp140/>

=== 2830 ===
'''Freeman's Fanatics''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=2ndSSp100>''Second Succession War'', p. 100</ref>
: Note: At this point in time the light-weight unit was stationed on [[Planting]] with an operational readiness of 93 percent.<ref name=2ndSSp100/>

=== 2864 ===
'''Freeman's Fanatics''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=2ndSSp100/>
: Note: At this point in time the light-weight unit was stationed on [[Zosma]] with an operational readiness of 25 percent.<ref name=2ndSSp100/>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)|First Succession War]]''
* ''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)|Second Succession War]]''
* ''[[House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)]]''

[[Category:Mercenary Commands]]