this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2026
164 points (100.0% liked)
History Memes
2084 readers
1384 users here now
A place to share history memes!
Rules:
-
No sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, assorted bigotry, etc.
-
No fascism (including tankies/red fash), atrocity denial or apologia, etc.
-
Tag NSFW pics as NSFW.
-
Follow all Piefed.social rules.
-
History referenced must be 20+ years old.
Banner courtesy of @setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world
OTHER COMMS IN THE HISTORYVERSE:
- !historymusic@quokk.au
- !historygallery@quokk.au
- !historyruins@piefed.social
- !historyart@piefed.social
- !historyartifacts@piefed.social
- !historyphotos@piefed.social
founded 9 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Explanation: In Early Modern Europe, elite units often wore large headgear that would be noticeable on the battlefield to make their presence more apparent and intimidating. They were also often picked for size and strength - in part, again, for the intimidation factor - but also because they were expected to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, in which size and strength are very useful. Also, sometimes they were expected to throw 'grenades' resembling the classic cartoon bomb, which were pretty damn heavy.
Which is why they were called Grenadier.
Ha, I remember this unit type in Cossacks :D
C&C: Red Alert, had them, modern. Pretty good units.
What a game that was! I totally forgot about it