Military Traditions of the Five Duchies

[Wolfie]

“Can anyone be so indifferent or idle as not to care to know by what means, and under what kind of polity, almost the whole inhabited world was conquered and brought under the dominion of the single city of Rome?” – Polybius, Greek historian

This guide is to help me even out some historical details in regard to the military traditions and advances of the different regional areas. As I am going to be writing on the major engagements of the Consolidation, I needed to have the details of the various armed factions on hand. The military details will be based off of my understanding of their areas and combinations of historically close societies.

It is not canon, nor is it the end-all for the topic.

Infantry

Infantry is the polite word for people killing each other face to face on foot. They are the backbone of any military engagement, and as such, sustain the greatest casualties. Their flanks are susceptible to cavalry and must be protected in kind, either by polearm units (pikes, spears) or by other cavalry units. Each infantryman requires a certain clearance around themselves in order to fight effectively. If the formation is broken, the soldier’s personal flanks become open. If the formations is compressed, as against a battlement or geographic feature, they have no room to fight back and can be easily killed.

In the middle ages, a good deal of a soldier’s kit was defined by their social station. Infantry was commonly composed of levies taken from the fiefs. These ‘soldiers’ were often farmers. They were strong, used to working in the fields, but they were untrained. They broke easily under pressure in combat. Their arms were usually what they could bring with them from their farm. Pig hunting spears and farm implements such as axes, wicker or wooden plank shields. Their armor was non-existent. They were, as a part of the feudal system, fairly cheap to maintain and field. They were expected to supply their own gear.

A middle tier of infantry emerges after the establishment of cities. The City Guard, reevery and militia would have access to arms and be familiar in their usage. While not front line troops, they are well-paid and well-armed. Their discipline outmatches the rude levies by miles. The mid-tier infantry would also be populated by what we might see from the PC Mercenaries. These are well-trained, for-hire soldiers that a ruler does not have to pay for after the engagement is over. Once the campaign is done, the mercenaries go to other jobs while the Guard goes back on duty in whatever city they are employed in. Their arms would usually be leather or chain with various arms ranging from pikes and halberds to maces. With rising expenses associated with siege engines, these superior forces are easier to hire

Higher levels of infantry would be more cohesive units, marked by better weapons, armor and training. We will see in my version of history that formal military training and the concept of a standing army emerges after the Consolidation, influenced by Farin practices. Dedicated soldiers, a far cry from the warriors found in nearly every other culture, would be well drilled and familiar with battle tactics and formations. Northern soldiers, such as the Lithmorran and Vandagan, would be kitted with a padded gambeson, chainmail hauberk, steel bracers, greaves and helmet. Common arms would be swords for the nobility, axes, spears, and warpicks or axes. Kite shields and round shields are also common.

To mark the epitome, I would use the Knights Lithmorran. Armored in articulated steel plate (whose heritage comes from Vandagan design), armed with broad shields and swords. A dismounted knight, while not as mobile, is a commanding unit on the battlefield and able to anchor formations of soldiers. In engagements for the Crown, the Knighthood often takes command over the lesser units. They are usually responsible for letting unit know what formation to be in, who is where and who is next to each soldier. Their lifestyle and kit are very expensive. It takes many years of training to make a good knight. Their armor is equivalent to ownership of a house. Their horses and weapons are likewise very expensive, requiring constant upkeep and maintenance.

Common formations for infantry:

Wall: Wall of shields, either touching edges or interlocking to provide cover from the top of the knee to the shoulder. Good for repelling arrows and standing up against charges, especially if it is a polearm unit.

Circle or Box: When faced with cavalry, it is common for infantry pockets to fall in to a 360 degree defensive formation to help counter the mobility of cavalry.

Wedge: Though sacrificing a pointman in the process, this formation allows for the division of careful formation. By rapidly dividing and compressing a formation via a charge, the enemy is unable to provide support to itself. Broken formations are more susceptible to flanking and routing.

Cavalry

While infantry is generally slow moving and well-armed, cavalry is generally the opposite. Mounted soldiers have become more common across the kingdom since the Consolidation. Many Charalin palfrey, Tubori jennet and Vandagan/Hillmen rouncey were spread out across the kingdom after the war, making it a more accessible unit type. The destrier and courses of Darav/Farin lineage is favored for heavily armored combat by the knighthood as they are both swift and strong.

Light cavalry, on an open field, is good for initial skirmishes and testing of formations. It is generally used for the protection of friendly flanks or the harassment of others. Light horses, such as the Tubori jennet, are good for outpacing infantry and peppering them with bows, spears, light darts or javelins. Light cavalry is also an effective scouting unit. The Charali are essentially made up of light cavalry units.

Heavier cavalry would be characterized much in the way that heavier infantry is. Sturdier horses allow greater stamina and staying power in a fight. Stronger animals allow for heavily armored riders. With enough weight upon a horse, a team of lancers in a wedge formation can split infantry formations with ease. In this period of history, with few counters to the Knight weapon system, they more or less dominate the battlefield as long as it is open and relatively obstacle free. As we shall see, arriving at this point took several hundred years and was aided greatly by the Consolidation.

Common formations:

Wedge: As with the infantry, though with the added speed, is often called the flying wedge. With heavy horse, this will break an infantry line with ease. A good counter of long spears and shields made fighting on foot more reasonable.

Support/mixed units:

Archery is a common practice that came into warfare from a tradition of hunting. Variations of the bow may make it more suitable for mounted or infantry use. Longer bows allow for greater range, but the ‘pull’ of the bow requires great reserves of strength. Anyone can pick up a bow, but it takes considerable investment to make a strong army archer with the strength and discipline to fire in mass formation. Skirmishers, on the other hand, if mounted on horseback would use a smaller bow for the sake of maneuverability. Archers often pepper the enemy formations to support charges.

Region specific military traits.

Tubori

Tubor was founded early on in the history of TI. They are a naval powerhouse, growing up in a boat the way that the Charali grow up in the saddle. Their climate is tropical, with the inland being mountainous, possibly inaccessible jungle.

Before the Consolidation, the Tubori also had mainland holdings. During this time, they were able to control Vandago through their navy and control of the coast. While not known for their open field dominance their control of ports allowed for an economic grip. The tensions were high between Jaren’s mainland camp and the Tubori.

When forced to defend themselves, the Tubori employed light cavalry armed with spears and javelins to support their relatively lower grade infantry. A straight fight is never their answer, preferring to stage hit-and-run raid along the coast using their ships. It is speculated that because of their tropical clime that many of their darts were riddled with poison. They prefer easily maneuverable thrusting weapons.

Vandago

The Tubori coastal presence forces the further Vandagans inland during the first hundred years of the Sun Cycle, allowing for exploration in the mountains. Iron is discovered in large supply, making steel development easier. Trade between the two countries becomes more balanced over the years as the Vandagans gain a foothold and more superior weapons tech. Still, as mentioned before, with the shifting balance the tension between the two nations grows.

Their infantry is one of the first to be inundated with quality arms. Padded gambeson, chainmail hauberk. Steel bracers and greaves. For the head, helmet and chainmail veil. Commanders and nobility may wear the more ornamental masked type with chainmail veil. Kite shield or round wooden shields with steel bosses. Long sword, long dagger. War pick.
Vandagan riders, though rare in the mountains, would use round shields for ease of use on horseback. They would carry their bows in a holster at their hip or back.

The cold north, magically opposite to Tubor in season, allows the Vandagans to create a total body armor system. With the help of the ore deposits to give them a foot up in the arms race with the Tubori, Jaren’s mainland lords are able to push the Tubori back and eventually invade the island itself.

Later, with the unification of the Consolidation, Vandago is the first country to engineer beyond coats-of-plates and mail into the popular articulated ‘gothic’ style.

Farin

Farin military tradition might have its roots in a regimented, austere lifestyle, possibly attached to early monotheistic beliefs (a common point with the Lithmorrans), creating groups of disciplined men and women that could be quickly organized. Legally, these people were servants of whatever household they were assigned to, neither completely free men or slaves. They were subject to harsh discipline, but were also paid and free to marry. However, they would renounce the outside world for the sake of their Lord. Beards were shaved, denying them a place in the social order as men. And no profession but war could ever be pursued. This drastic difference between them and the baseline Lithmorran militia would make all the difference.

The Barons, prior to the Consolidation, would spend a part of their coffers on the education of the brightest of these ranks. General education may not be priority for Farin today, but their dedication to discipline and warfare are second to none. The organization and chain of command, potentially the field tactics that Allard ab Harmon encountered prior to the founding of Lithmore, were probably adopted by the Lithmorrans, Vandagans and Vavardi.

The Farin arming tradition is one of precision craftsmanship. While they do not have the climate that the Vandagans do, enabling the construction of complex full body armor systems like articulated plate. The arid areas of Farin force them to travel lightly between water sources, creating a solid environment for the construction of chainmail.

With strong horse breeds, the Farin, with their size and height, were able to command both light and heavy cavalry early in their history. Though use of light horse archers, the Barons Warsalus were often able to direct and control the timing of major engagements. Often times, feigned retreats into Farin territory would draw out Lithmorran forces for days before they were ambushed. King Pinalo ab Harmon died in one such ambush. His charge halted by a wall of shields, his cavalry compressed together on both sides. A rain of arrows managed to kill him before the Farin footsoldiers could.

The Farin scimitar and falchion are ideally suited for cavalry engagements as well.

Vavardi

In history, the Vavard are known for their use of money and guile to get their way in the field. If they cannot utilize geography to their advantage, they rebuild it as they would like it as they did with Nimrock and the border outposts in the east. If they cannot raise the troops themselves, they purchase them.

Vavardian arms and armor are going to be well-made. Technology is acquired from Vandago with ease. Trade pressure has been on them for many years to locate new sources of ore and wood. Trade caravans into the Charalin Plains are to this end, trying to separate themselves from Vandagan arms market control. As such, much of their gear is similar in make and style to Vandago and Lithmore.

However, with the inundation and adaptation of Charalin influence, their late mounted units have become a thing to fear in a full charge. Heavy Vavardian lancers are easily on par with the armored horse charges of the Lithmorran and Farin regions.

Charali

Charalin military is derived immediately from their hunting lifestyle. Most of their combat is mounted. As it is said, they live and die in the saddle. Their units are not cohesively trained like the armies derived from the Farin tradition, but instead are made up of hardened men and women. They are all warriors but it is rare that any of them ever become soldiers.

Charali are lightly armored and lightly armed. They prefer spears, knives and bows for their hunting. Whatever warfare they engage in is usually hit-and-run because of the materials they use. With no armor and weapons commonly composed of natural materials, their attacks are much less effective against modern weaponry. A flint-headed arrow will shatter on a curved piece of plate steel. These hunting heads are meant for flesh. Charali have not developed the long armor-piercing heads that the Vandagans and Vavardi have. Leather shields, if any, afford little to no protection against modern iron arrow heads.
The Charali’s technological gap caught up to them in 117 when modern Lithmorran knights sweep through their camps in less than a month killing 6 of every 10 Charali.

Lithmorran

The history of the Lithmorran military is probably the most well-known and the tradition to see the most evolution throughout the Sun Cycle. Early military history revolves around the warring barons before the city-state of Lithmore is founded around 17-32SC. The tactics of the Lithmorrans are little more than warbands at this point in history. Powerful warriors that are a little bit stronger and a little bit more well supplied begin to pull together men from the surrounding countryside and form roving armies to pit against the other barons.

Land consolidates over time and the resources of Lithmore expand. Eventually, in the reign of Pinalo, just before Dav comes onto the world stage, the Lithmorran barons under the Harmon banner begin to challenge a similar coalition of Barons in the Farin territories. The Barons Warsalus. The superior training of the Farin knights results in a war of attrition, spanning nearly five years for a single campaign. Pinalo is the first Lithmorran king to encounter an institutionalized military force. He eventually dies from this encounter, but his generals and Lithmorran historians are quick to take note of the tactics and organization of his adversary. These lessons are absorbed by Crown and the Knighthood, helping to consolidate all of the local knight orders across Lithmore into the Knights of the Chalice under the rule of Dav. This knight elite trained and fought together, passing their organizational lessons on and acting as the first command staff for a newly forged military.

To bolster the ranks, King Dav sends an ambassador to the Hillmen, promising them blunder in exchange for their soldiers acting as shock troops and the vanguard of the Lithmorran assaults. They agree. Over 60% die in the ensuing battles until around 140 when Dav turns on them for not honoring their charter and trying to reclaim valuable mining lands. By 142, with his overwhelming forces and military knowledge, he pounds them into submission.

The tension between Vandago and Tubor was already palpable in. Knowing this, Dav merely presented his soldiers upon the border of Vandago and Jaren yielded his sword. After years of being a vassal land to Tubori, the Vandagans had begun to develop superior weaponry and armor from the rich bounty in their cold, mountainous home. By doing so, Jaren was able to avoid the bloodshed he knew would come to the rest of the world, he also gave Dav one of the best equipped armies on Urth. Between the Lithmorrans and the Vandagans, they fielded the largest army in history. Dav and Jaren fought for months to wear down the Tubori mainland holdings. When the searats were broken and back upon their ships, Jaren pursued. However, the Tubori were not beaten. Using hit-and-run tactics with light mounts and javelins, the Tubori were able to strike out in a guerilla fashion. They assaulted supply lines and took to targeting field commanders with poison in the form of blow darts or ‘gifts’ of poisoned women.

With Jaren’s army busy in the north, struggling with the inhabitants on their own ground, Dav was at the mouth of the Bren contending with his first encounter with the Merchant Princes. He camped in the far eastern settlement of Yarsith upon the banks of the Kirulean. His Poet Laudate, Gweran, is mysteriously absent. It may be a later addition to history, but Thandok is apparently present at this battle. With the Merchants able to hire out a considerable amount of coin and with the many refugees that Dav has already left behind in both Vandago and Tubor, the King is – for the last time – out of his element. He is routed by subterfuge. Merchant vessels sail up the Bren to feign an attack on Lithmore in order to strike from further north on the Kirulean coast. With Jaren’s trouble in the north, he turns his sights toward the Plains via Vandago.

To counter these guerilla threats and corner the Tubori, Dav had to import his own cavalry forces onto the island. He gained them from the Plains, taking every horse he could and not sparing the people there. With more horses under Jaren’s command, Dav turned his attention back to the enemy that had slain his predecessor.

After a generation of change in warfare tactics, Dav revisits the high savannah of northern Farin with legions of Charalin horse and new Vandagan arms. Dav, a student of history, recalls Pinalo’s fall and refuses to give chase into the feigned retreats of the Farin horse archers. Under Gweran’s suggestions, he moves between sources of water through the spring and oasis country, marching steadily into the central South over five years. The battles are long and bloody, attesting to the single-mindedness of the Farin soldier. Whole detachments are diverted from the Marches to meet the army of the Supreme Commander head-on. When they finally find Dav’s army, it appears weaker than initial reports suggest. Under the cover of darkness, Dav has divided his forces. Jaren, faithful general, takes a detachment of heavy horse miles away into the savannah to engage the cavalry of Warsalus on their own terms. On the arid plains outside of Farin the next morning, Dav creates the largest kill zone in the history of warfare. By creating a weak line of spear infantry in the middle of his formation, he draws the Farin infantry back between two heavily armed sections. The formation, the shape of a giant Cup, is quickly sealed from the bottom by a charge of armored lancers. The Farin’s superior training accounts for nothing as their formations are compressed until men can no longer swing their swords. Just as Pinalo fell to them in 107, so Dav returns the gesture to them less than thirty years later in 130.

After these battles, with nearly the entire known world allied and integrated at his fingertips, Dav finally turns his wrathful eyes upon the Principality of Vavard. They are twice damned fools. Once, for abandoning his city. Twice for being the only force ever to defeat him on the field of honor at Yarsith. In 133, the year before the birth of Dav’s son Iain, he turns the might of the world upon the merchant capitol and their mighty fortress Nimrock.

The campaign is brutal and Dav, after over twenty years of fighting, is far too wily to stage a direct assault. Over the next six months, he strategically destroys all of the supply lines around the eastern side of the Kirulean. With no food or fresh water, the denizens of Nimrock try a desperate sortie. Within a day, Dav’s overwhelming force smashes them against the great walls like a tidal wave. With Nimrock a smoking ruin, Dav’s forces make their way into Vavard city and slay every nobleman or woman that does not swear direct fealty to the king. No mercy is shown them. Their bodies are hung upon the city walls as one last gristly reminder to the population. He installs a council of the remaining loyal Merchant Princes.

In 140, with the Consolidation coming to a close, Dav diverts his attention from matters of state to launch an attack upon the Hillmen that have begun to try and reclaim mining rich country outside of the clauses in their Charter. It takes him another two years to pummel them into the ground, searching the mountains for their hideouts. In 142, Dav hangs up his sword.

The Modern Lithmorran Army

As we have seen from the brief history of the Consolidation above, the forces that the Crown commands come from a robust composite of useful elements from all Five Duchies. Vandagan arms and armor, Farin military training and tactics, Vavardi guile and funds, Charalin horses, Hillmen shock troops and Tubori navy and guerilla warfare. Like the Romans before him, Dav was able to adapt the best portion of each of the cultures that he conquered, producing one of the most organized and well-supplied military institutions on Urth.

I would like to open this resource post for comments. Feel free to add or comment as you see fit. This is simply my view on the subject, as with all of my resource posts.

[beatrix]

This is totally, ridiculously awesome. Thanks for writing it!

I would assume privateering/a strong navy would be a big thing in Vavard, since it's a coastal area and Vavardi are primarily merchants (so sending goods out by ship would be fairly typical?)

[Kinaed]

I have to second Beatrix's post - totally awesome.

I'd like to move to make this canon and create an IC book of it.

There's only one point in the whole thing that I genuinely question - Tubor's internal geography being mountainous... this may have been added recently, but they're meant to be a bit like the Carribean and have a lot of plantations with a sort of bourgouis-style noble as opposed to the "high nobility" of other cultures. I'd think they'd have vast fields for crops like sugar cane, but... I'm not certain. We've had multiple people write on the topic.

Oh, the other things is - Romans? Hehe. But a minor point.

[Wolfie]

I'm glad that it struck a few cords. The guide was meant to be OOC, not IC, hence the Roman references.

It will need some editing and grammatical tweaking before I submit it in-game. But with your glowing praise, I can start making those changes.

If anyone else has something to add, please post it here. The naval power of the Vavardi is a good point. I will add a Hillmen section at some point, too.

[Kinaed]

Awesome!!!