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The Complete Canal Priests Of Mars is now available!
The original publication of Canal Priests Of Mars cut slightly over a third of author Marcus L. Rowland's manuscript to fit GDW's adventure format.
The Complete Canal Priests Of Mars restores the cut material, features all new artwork by Paul Daly, and adds many useful player handouts. Enjoy the "author's cut" of a classic Space 1889 adventure, or experience it for the first time!
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The French Foreign Legion on Mars
by R. H. Cartwright
as told to
Brian Kendall
It was spring of last year when I had the privilege to make the
acquaintance of some unique soldiers of France. I was on a hunting
trip when, during a sudden stampede of a huge herd of Ruumet Breehr,
I became separated from my party. After wandering the Martian
deserts for a week with no food or water, my trusty gashant "Cromwell"
finally gave out, but I staggered on. Time seemed to stand still,
interrupted only by several hallucinations (I rather enjoyed the one that
included a large reptile named "Herbie" manning a fish and
chips wagon), and I finally fell upon the baked Martian soil to die. Slowly
my eyes closed, and I said good-bye (or so I thought) to the world.
"I think he must be English," said a voice in the darkness in,
of all languages, French.
"Why?" asked another voice
"Because only an Englishmen would be alone in the middle of
this god-forsaken desert."
I remember first thinking "My god, how rude, disturbing my
eternal rest like this." Then almost immediately my thoughts switched
to, "Oh no! I'm in Hell, for surely if there is a language of Hell, it
would have to be French!"
I opened my eyes, expecting to see the horned head of Satan
himself laughing at me, but to my surprise (and relief) I saw ten
soldiers standing around me.
"Would you like some water?"
said the young officer leaning over me. "Bloody right, mate" was
the only words my parched lips could get out.
So having meet young Sous-Lieutenant Henri Dagino, we
started off back to his posting, at a place called Fort Zinderneuf. I was
surprised to find out that my saviors were members of the 2nd
Bataillion de Marche, drawn from the world-famous French Foreign
Legion. What had started out as being polite interest soon became
fascination as I began to grill the young officer on his unit as any good
newspaper man would.
It seems that on March 9th, 1831, King Louis-Philippe waved
his kingly scepter and created a Foreign Legion to serve outside of
France. Since then the Legion has grown and shrunk. It has served in
every hemisphere and was even called upon to violate its charter and
serve in France during the Franco-Prussian War. In all its battles the
legion has maintained itself with the highest standards of bravery and honor.
The soldiers of the Legion on Mars are mostly veterans of
the Sudan and Tonkin. Their experiences serve them well on
Mars. Most of the soldiers know how to ride and have been trained to
serve as mounted infantry; however, the current lack of mounts
hampers their ability to function in this capacity.
As for their uniforms on Mars, the standard field dress is white
cotton linen shirt and trousers. Most men have been issued the
new khaki colonial coat which has a small collar. For the most part
the men wear sun helmets, although most officers and NCOs wear a
kepi covered by a havelock (a white cloth
that covers the neck).
One of the most surprising things to me was the way the
men were armed. It seems once the Legion arrived on Mars they
received the new Modele 1886 rifle or the "Lebel" as the men call it. Its
most unusual feature is its 8-round tubular magazine, but "being a hell of
a lot better" than their old Gras rifles, you'll hear no one
complaining about this 8mm weapon. To carry more ammo for these
weapons, many legionnaires have taken to wearing homemade cloth
ammo pouches that are worn across the chest. No two are alike, and
quite frankly it takes away from their soldierly appearance.
Unlike English garrisons, however, the Legion has troops
trained to man their fort's small howitzers and Maxim guns. This in a way is
a strong point because it cuts down on chain of command
problems. I'm told for the types of duties the Legion carries out it is effective.
The main weakness of the Legion on Mars as I see it is
distance. Each company is given a huge area to patrol. This makes it quite
impossible for them to consolidate and present a formidable
defense like our grand British columns.
After being in the company of young Dagino for three days I
departed with a new respect for these troops of France (words I thought
I would never put to print). As the song La
Boudin fills the air and the French tricolor is hoisted high
into the morning air, my mind swims with the romantic legacy of
the Régiment Étranger. So to
these forgotten sons of the world, it is to you I dedicate this story
Long Live The Legion!
Posted Monday, 04-May-2009 19:50:20 EDT
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