Lorsh
Varlot
Politicals
Royalists: I am a bootlicker and I love the King no matter what, because his family has given me everything I have. Before I was some poor loser noble, but now I am a royal officer
Nobles: I can't even believe you're not a noble. Fucking peasant bastard. Who are you? Do you even have a surname?
Townsmen: We have crossbows and our town has a wall, what are you going to do you dumb bitch
Sergeants: Oi you can't talk his lordship like that. aye milord
Merchants: I love money, I love selling, I love towns, I love people who protect roads. I hate tariffs, toll roads, and piece of shit bandits. There are godsdamned illegal toll roads everywhere, because law and order has broken down. My business is destroyed and the economy is destroyed, this is total bullshit
Free peasants: I love being exempted from bondfolk's duties, except now I am subject to the draft because i have so much extra money that i can actually afford equipment...
Serfs: I have to pay money to use the lord's oven, I have to pay money to use the lord's mill, I have to pay money to the lord when my father dies to get his inheritance, I have to pay money and get permission to marry, I have to pay money to use the lord's pasture for my sheep, and all kinds of fucking shit. I am subjected to compulsory days of labor on the lord's fields, and pay money for the right to keep a field for my own subsistence, which I still have to farm when I'm not working for the lord. One day I didn't show up at the field and the village reeve arrested me. Such a power trip, fucking bastard charged me seven silvers
Warfare
Warfare can be waged on any scale, but the majority of engagements involve less than a thousand men, unless two parties are willing to risk losing their army in a pitched battle where the side choosing the terrain main get an advantage. The exception tends to be sieges.
Commander - The commander of your army.
Captain - The captain of a warband.
Knight: There's s
Sergeant: Always a commoner, but
Galdic
You may summon your vassals and levies to a gathering point, but unless you want to wait around for them to show up, you have to collect them yourself. Raising more men takes more time, and if widespread conscription is implemented, not all soldiers appearing at muster will be properly equipped. The worst-equipped men may be dismissed from muster to keep the army at a manageable size.
Soldiers bring along their own food and pack animals, but the amount they can carry is usually only enough to last for a short campaign. On a long march, men will need to draw Wages from their commander to cover their living expenses. If a soldier must be provided with food & drink by the commander, he usually forfeits a portion of his wage.
Otherwise, they will resort to Foraging to sustain themselves - living off the land by scavenging and stealing from the local populace. Depending on what is permitted by the commander, foraging could range from simply gathering berries in the forest, to stealing corn from farmers' fields, to widespread plundering, murdering and raping.
Carts and wagons can be used to carry supplies, but this becomes much more difficult on certain types of terrain, such as moors and hills.
Those on horseback cover more distance than those on foot, and due to the sorry state of the roads, carts move the slowest. A formation only moves as fast as its slowest component, so sometimes a commander detaches their army into 'Horse' and 'Foot', or temporarily leaves behind the supply train.
Other factors include weather and terrain, and the fact that a well-supplied army moves quicker than one that must spend time foraging.
Taking castles and fortified towns is necessary to gain a foothold in conquered territory, otherwise the enemy can never truly be driven out. It takes many more men to take a castle than to hold it, and the defenders will always be at an advantage behind their walls. Sometimes they can be starved out, overcome via ruse, or convinced to surrender.
Ladders and siege engines require specialists and time to build, but can be valuable assets if it comes down to taking the castle by storm.
Professional warriors that fight in the same manner as a Knight. The mount(s) and equipment of an aspiring man-at-arms is prohibitively expensive for most folk, so these higher-status soldiers are only reliably recruited from the highborn and silvery classes of society. Most men-at-arms are nobles, knights, squires, and retainers giving feudal service. Others are masterless robbers or mercenaries, depending on the state of the region. Wealthier freeborn commoners with lands are sometimes compelled to serve as men-at-arms in the levy, but can usually avoid it with a money payment.
Whatever their social origins, these heavy cavalry are well-versed in the use of lance, sword and shield, whether fighting on foot or from horseback. They wear tailored steel maille from head to foot, making them difficult to offend. Their preferred steed is the warbred stallion, protected by a padded horse trapper at the least. Men-at-arms often drape their warhorses in pretty caparisons. The richest usually have more than one mount, with fine maille barding for their most expensive beast, usually a greathorse.
A woman equipped as such is referred to as a maid-at-arms, or dame.
Sergeants are a class of relatively professional, but still lowborn soldiers; the word is rooted in 'servant'. Most are retainers, hailing from common families that have historically supported noble households in exchange for special rights and landholdings. 'Sergeant' can also refer to better-equipped mercenaries and levies with chainmail.
A full-sleeved shirt of maille with attached chain mittens and a coif, coupled with a helm, is considered a decent level of protection for this type of fighting man. Poorer sergeants make due with less coverage, like short-sleeved or short-skirted corselets of maille. Compared to men-at-arms, who are always fully-equipped, sergeants often lack chain stockings for their legs, making them more exposed when sitting atop a horse. Therefore, many sergeants dismount to fight, or go entirely on foot.
A regular saddle horse without caparison or barding is usually considered an appropriate steed for a Mounted Sergeant. They use a variety of weapons, but for Foot Sergeants it's usually just a spear (lance if mounted), sword, and shield. Most sergeants can reliably operate a crossbow, a weapon otherwise seen as dishonorable among highborn.
*Fully-armored sergeants atop a warhorse (usually an old or cheap one) may have the honor of riding alongside the chivalry in the front ranks, at which point these 'sergeants-at-arms' basically become indistinguishable from men-at-arms.
These troops hail from a particular settlement or locality, and tend to be freeborn people. The majority are levied from the countryside, though sometimes they are recruited or conscripted from towns and cities.
'Ordinary' footmen, horsemen, and bowmen are equipped according to the Ordinances. Due to the social class of most of these folk, this is usually limited to cheap and simple gear like iron helmets, padded cloth, and wooden shields covered with hardened leather. Sometimes they may have a bit of chain or 'patch-plate', but this is too expensive for most.
Footmen for engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Most use a spear (5-8ft) with a shield, while other footmen use longer (9-12ft), more two-handed spears. Others make use of mixed armaments, including picks, forks, cleavers, glaives, great axes, hafted clubs, swords and bucklers, etc.
Royalists: I am a bootlicker and I love the King no matter what, because his family has given me everything I have. Before I was some poor loser noble, but now I am a royal officer
Nobles: I can't even believe you're not a noble. Fucking peasant bastard. Who are you? Do you even have a surname?
Townsmen: We have crossbows and our town has a wall, what are you going to do you dumb bitch
Sergeants: Oi you can't talk his lordship like that. aye milord
Merchants: I love money, I love selling, I love towns, I love people who protect roads. I hate tariffs, toll roads, and piece of shit bandits. There are godsdamned illegal toll roads everywhere, because law and order has broken down. My business is destroyed and the economy is destroyed, this is total bullshit
Free peasants: I love being exempted from bondfolk's duties, except now I am subject to the draft because i have so much extra money that i can actually afford equipment...
Serfs: I have to pay money to use the lord's oven, I have to pay money to use the lord's mill, I have to pay money to the lord when my father dies to get his inheritance, I have to pay money and get permission to marry, I have to pay money to use the lord's pasture for my sheep, and all kinds of fucking shit. I am subjected to compulsory days of labor on the lord's fields, and pay money for the right to keep a field for my own subsistence, which I still have to farm when I'm not working for the lord. One day I didn't show up at the field and the village reeve arrested me. Such a power trip, fucking bastard charged me seven silvers
Warfare
Warfare can be waged on any scale, but the majority of engagements involve less than a thousand men, unless two parties are willing to risk losing their army in a pitched battle where the side choosing the terrain main get an advantage. The exception tends to be sieges.
'Armed Forces'
Camp:
Outpost:
Garrison:
Militia
Warband
Retinue
Host
'Ranks'
TheCommander - The commander of your army.
Captain - The captain of a warband.
Knight: There's s
Sergeant: Always a commoner, but
Galdic
Armies
Mobilisation
You may summon your vassals and levies to a gathering point, but unless you want to wait around for them to show up, you have to collect them yourself. Raising more men takes more time, and if widespread conscription is implemented, not all soldiers appearing at muster will be properly equipped. The worst-equipped men may be dismissed from muster to keep the army at a manageable size.
Logistics/Pay
Soldiers bring along their own food and pack animals, but the amount they can carry is usually only enough to last for a short campaign. On a long march, men will need to draw Wages from their commander to cover their living expenses. If a soldier must be provided with food & drink by the commander, he usually forfeits a portion of his wage.
Otherwise, they will resort to Foraging to sustain themselves - living off the land by scavenging and stealing from the local populace. Depending on what is permitted by the commander, foraging could range from simply gathering berries in the forest, to stealing corn from farmers' fields, to widespread plundering, murdering and raping.
Carts and wagons can be used to carry supplies, but this becomes much more difficult on certain types of terrain, such as moors and hills.
Speed
Those on horseback cover more distance than those on foot, and due to the sorry state of the roads, carts move the slowest. A formation only moves as fast as its slowest component, so sometimes a commander detaches their army into 'Horse' and 'Foot', or temporarily leaves behind the supply train.
Other factors include weather and terrain, and the fact that a well-supplied army moves quicker than one that must spend time foraging.
Sieges
Taking castles and fortified towns is necessary to gain a foothold in conquered territory, otherwise the enemy can never truly be driven out. It takes many more men to take a castle than to hold it, and the defenders will always be at an advantage behind their walls. Sometimes they can be starved out, overcome via ruse, or convinced to surrender.
Ladders and siege engines require specialists and time to build, but can be valuable assets if it comes down to taking the castle by storm.
Units
Men-at-Arms
Professional warriors that fight in the same manner as a Knight. The mount(s) and equipment of an aspiring man-at-arms is prohibitively expensive for most folk, so these higher-status soldiers are only reliably recruited from the highborn and silvery classes of society. Most men-at-arms are nobles, knights, squires, and retainers giving feudal service. Others are masterless robbers or mercenaries, depending on the state of the region. Wealthier freeborn commoners with lands are sometimes compelled to serve as men-at-arms in the levy, but can usually avoid it with a money payment.
Whatever their social origins, these heavy cavalry are well-versed in the use of lance, sword and shield, whether fighting on foot or from horseback. They wear tailored steel maille from head to foot, making them difficult to offend. Their preferred steed is the warbred stallion, protected by a padded horse trapper at the least. Men-at-arms often drape their warhorses in pretty caparisons. The richest usually have more than one mount, with fine maille barding for their most expensive beast, usually a greathorse.
A woman equipped as such is referred to as a maid-at-arms, or dame.
Sergeantry
Sergeants are a class of relatively professional, but still lowborn soldiers; the word is rooted in 'servant'. Most are retainers, hailing from common families that have historically supported noble households in exchange for special rights and landholdings. 'Sergeant' can also refer to better-equipped mercenaries and levies with chainmail.
A full-sleeved shirt of maille with attached chain mittens and a coif, coupled with a helm, is considered a decent level of protection for this type of fighting man. Poorer sergeants make due with less coverage, like short-sleeved or short-skirted corselets of maille. Compared to men-at-arms, who are always fully-equipped, sergeants often lack chain stockings for their legs, making them more exposed when sitting atop a horse. Therefore, many sergeants dismount to fight, or go entirely on foot.
A regular saddle horse without caparison or barding is usually considered an appropriate steed for a Mounted Sergeant. They use a variety of weapons, but for Foot Sergeants it's usually just a spear (lance if mounted), sword, and shield. Most sergeants can reliably operate a crossbow, a weapon otherwise seen as dishonorable among highborn.
*Fully-armored sergeants atop a warhorse (usually an old or cheap one) may have the honor of riding alongside the chivalry in the front ranks, at which point these 'sergeants-at-arms' basically become indistinguishable from men-at-arms.
Common Soldiery
These troops hail from a particular settlement or locality, and tend to be freeborn people. The majority are levied from the countryside, though sometimes they are recruited or conscripted from towns and cities.
'Ordinary' footmen, horsemen, and bowmen are equipped according to the Ordinances. Due to the social class of most of these folk, this is usually limited to cheap and simple gear like iron helmets, padded cloth, and wooden shields covered with hardened leather. Sometimes they may have a bit of chain or 'patch-plate', but this is too expensive for most.
Footmen for engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Most use a spear (5-8ft) with a shield, while other footmen use longer (9-12ft), more two-handed spears. Others make use of mixed armaments, including picks, forks, cleavers, glaives, great axes, hafted clubs, swords and bucklers, etc.
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