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Lore Breakdown: Who are the 21st?

The 21st, founded in 2017 as the 21st Royal North British Fusiliers, is a gaming group built around the indie videogame Holdfast: Nations at War. The regiment has routinely attended organized in-game events for the entirety of its existence, fighting along-side and against regiments like the 63e, 8thLR, 4thKG, and the now disbanded 49th.

The regiment was created by former Colonel Franklin and a small but dedicated group, including but not limited to MRBOSS390, a still active member of 21st staff and Whiskey Medic, who, while no longer a member of the regiment is stil active in circles with proximity to the Holdfast: Nations at War community.

After a devastating schism in early 2018 caused by officers with a greater allegiance to the now defunct War of Rights regiment, the 72nd Pennsylvania, the 21st was knocked off the pedestal of major regiments and would begin a reconstruction effort that would continue up until the present day.

Franklin would step down as Colonel, passing the torch, by vote, to Lt.Col Shrike. The regiment would serve under his leadership until late 2019, early 2020 when the rising officer Spitfire would take command of the regiment. It would remain under his command into the present.

In 2020, a targeted attack would take down the regiment's main discord. A meeting was held among the remaining members, and a resolution was made: They would try to get the regiment back on its feet. Every month, they would meet and discuss whether or not it was time to pull the regiment's "life support". Attendance did not significantly grow, but it did not shrink either, leading to the continuation of the regiment in this most perilous of times.

Later, in the same year, a peer regiment of the 21st Royal North British Fusiliers, the 57th Jagers, would begin to grow closer with the 21st. The two had worked together previously, serving together as a significant fighting force in the Anglo-Prussian Brigade, a coalition of multiple regiments, coordinated over multiple voice communication services with the goal to orchestrate a competitive match of Holdfast: Nations at War in the manner of a match of Napoleon: Total War.

The two regiments would discuss merging, a practice that historically meant annexation of one regiment by the other. Both agreed, though, to do things differently, to truly make a union of their regiments rather than maintain one and dissolve the other. As such, the two agreed to combine their names and adopt a new, shared identity. Based out of the imperial Russian city of Riga, in modern day Latvia, the regiment became known as the 21st Courland Jagers. Discussions have been had to change this identity in light of the recent conflict in Russia, though, as they maintain a clear stance against the modern Russian regime, they concluded not to change.

In 2022, former Colonel Shriker would pass away due to long lasting health complications. While there was no formal funeral among the ranks, the regiment will never forget the titanic impact the late Colonel had had on it. Without the influence and direction his years of dedication had given it, it is incredibly likely the regiment would not have survived. For all the years of laughs, for all the game nights, for all the friends the members have made, for all the family they have found, for everything that was, or could not have been, or has yet to be, the regiment owes this man an unpayable sum of respect.