The Infantry

Infantrymen carry pikes and short swords, and travel by foot with the army. They form the base of the army, and actually make up most of its manpower, though the cavalry play a crucial role in battle.

Conscript: a serf forced into infantry duty of the army, these are below Privates, who were not conscripted.
Private: comes from 'private soldier'; this refers to the infantrymen who joined of their own accord, for the pay.
Sergeant: commands a troop of infantrymen. A troop is made up of 50 men.
Lieutenant: commands a platoon of 500 men.

The Cavalry

These are the mounted soldiers, all wealthy enough to be able to afford a horse--and the title of a knight at the least. Further titles are bought with either money or family prestige.

Knight (referred to as 'Sir'): the basic unit of the cavalry, a man of noble blood, usually petty nobility, or someone knighted for previous valor. Higher nobility would gain a better position simply by blood. The Lord of a fiefdom would usually hold the rank of a captain, commander, or higher, depending upon the size of his fiefdom; his sons, too, might be given elevated rank, or they could fight as knights.
Captain: commander of a regiment, that is, 50 knights.
Major: commander of a brigade: mixed cavalry, infantry, and artillery (cannons). Flexible numbers, between 50 and 100 knights and between 50 and 500 infantrymen; 10-50 cannons depending on terrain.
Colonel: commander of a column, that is, 250 knights
Major General: commander of a division, that is, 1,000 knights. The major fiefdom leaders (Cullen, Newbury, and Lawley) are all Major Generals.
General: commander of the entirety of the King's army, the largest in the country; the three fiefdom leaders or their appointed commanders take over the position of Major General of their own armies, and answer to the General.
Marshal: This position goes only to the king. He rules over the general.


We are still waiting for input from our military commanders as to what formations they would like for the military, i.e. how we ought to arrange ourselves for a full-on attack. At the moment we only have a rotating command at the border garrisons, with most of the Army back in their home fiefdoms/Thiasa Keep. Each major fiefdom will have a military garrison, where some of those whose only occupation is that of a soldier may stay and everyone in the army--infantry and cavalry--may train. The garrisons are also where the training of young infantrymen and knights takes place, under stationed Drill Sergeants. The inhabitants of smaller fiefdoms and country knights, who live on small manors or farms, must send their sons for training on one of the main fiefdoms or at the Keep.

The King's Army is that which answers only to him.
His Lordship _______'s Army answers to either Lord Heaton, Lord Newbury, or Lord Lawley. Minor fiefdoms may command up to a regiment of 50 knights.

How To Advance in the Ranks: See this announcement for information on sparring, by which method you can elevate your rank. You can join as anything up to a Major General--but why would you want to? There's more fun to be had playing the lower infantry ranks, I think, and certainly more people to play with; besides, you can get your rank elevated if you wish fairly simply. Still, it's up to you.

NEW

Thiasa City Guard

The City Guard is based only in the city around Thiasa Keep. A rather small organization, their job is simple: they police the streets, fine wrongdoers, imprison criminals for trial, and break up riots. They have only one building, the Guardhouse, in one of the poorer districts of the city, which has a training yard, bunks for sleeping, and a few jail cells. The prison proper is a larger, abutting building.

The Guard has three shifts, the Day Guard, Middle Guard, and Night Guard: Day Guard runs from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Middle Guard from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Night Guard from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Guardsmen generally rotate which shift they take.

Guards do not carry swords, only nightsticks, and crossbows for use on those resisting arrest. In times of civil unrest, they will carry swords, but not in the course of mundane duty.

Commander: He holds the position of power, deals with logistical matters, and sometimes gets his hands dirty on the streets himself.

Sergeant: Just below the commander, in charge of ordering the guards themselves, dealing with recruit training--he deals with people.

Constable: The basic unit of the guard, they patrol the streets and do the everyday work of apprehending criminals, etc.

Recruit: Not actually recruited: anyone who likes can join the Guard, but they have to get through the training.

Abridged exerts from the guide to Combat with Baskar issued by General Laurent West of His Majesty's Royal Army.

Strategy for dealing with Baskar in normal combat on open terrain:

-Infantry spear/pikes center with the first lines forming a spear wall and the lines immediately behind them forming shield wall. This protects from a infantry/cavalry charge and archers.

-Two flanks composed of similar troops in the first few lines but then turn into light infantry. In the event of an enemy charge the two flanks will close in on the sides of the attacking enemy and drive them all towards the center. The light infantry will prove better handled for close quarters fighting.

-Cavalry on the extreme flanks and rear watching for enemy flank attacks and running down charging infantry.

-The Baskar infantry are easily faster than ours so our strategy should not be to outrun them or to charge them but to wait for them to come to us. The Baskar quickly break ranks and charge heedlessly towards our spear wall and are brought down. Occasionally a competent leader may lead the baskar and this strategy needs to be changed. A slow in time march or a charge-feint should work well. A charge feint involved a charge, where the enemy would of course break into their own counter- charge. Before contact the army will stop completely, form a spear wall, and shatter the incoming charge.

Strategy for dealing with Baskar in unfavorable terrain (forests, swamps, eta)

-regular infantry or cavalry should by no means engage Baskar in terrain of their own choosing that is not open. Rangers and scout cavalry, are trained to fight in these kind of conditions. These units should move into the covered area and attempt to root out the hidden Baskar. If they refuse to be driven from cover the best strategy is to burn them out.

-While marching in covered areas the main column should be flanked by rangers and scout cavalry on the extreme flanks. These units should be spread out all around the column (including in front and behind) in groups of 5-10. These units are to worry less about engagement and more about preemptive spotting of the enemy, unless it is established the enemy are in the area or unless given specific orders.

Ballistic weapons:

-Crossbows (properly called 'arbalests') are standard-issue for knights and the occasional infantryman with the money. You can't use them on Christians, but on the barbarians? Why not? Crossbows are essentially small bows mounted on a stock which you crank back, to fire a bolt (the technical name of the short crossbow 'arrow') with great speed and accuracy. Unfortunately, because it takes time to crank the crossbow, longbows are still more efficient, if difficult to use in close combat. Crossbows are also favored amongst lawbreakers throughout Thiasa--and some lawmakers. Here a picture of a crossbow:


-Trebuchets and mangonels are handy for tossing flaming balls of Greek Fire onto the enemy, but very difficult to transport over the hilly Thiasan terrain, or any of the varied landscape on barbarian lands. Catapults are used to throw spears or other heavy bolts. Here's a picture of a trebuchet:


-Cannons are always nice, though it's rather hard to travel with them, and the horses have to be trained not to spook at the noise. On the upside, the barbarian horses are more likely to spook, though the keen barbarian horsemen often don't allow it to throw them into disarray.

Here, a 1326 illustration of a cannon firing a large arrow:



-Matchlock, or Handgonne: a recently invented Scalian weapon, it consists of an 8-to-16-inch tube ignited by a complex trigger system, first invented in Duain. Many don't trust this new weapon, and its accuracy isn't as good as that of a crossbow, but it may catch on...

Here's an illustration of real-world 15th century soldiers firing matchlocks:



-Longbows, quick to reload, may be used to send a hail of arrows raining down onto the enemy.

-The shorter, stronger recurved bow is a knight's weapon, though most use crossbows.

Edged Weapons:

-The longsword is the basic weapon for any knight. The sort used in Thiasa has a wide, double-edged blade and a cross-shaped hilt; it's about 4-4 1/2 feet long and weighs about 3-4 lbs. It's often wielded two-handed, meant to cleave enemies in two, or behead them from horseback. Originally designed to combat the thick armor of the Scalian forces, it's a bit more than is strictly necessary against the ill-armored Baskar, and some enterprising knights have taken to using lighter swords, instead. Here's a picture of a longsword:


-The sidesword resembles a longsword, but tapered, with a wide wrapped hilt (that is, round coils of metal placed around the hilt) to protect the hand. It is about four feet long. It's most often used by infantryman who want to fight the barbarians directly, in close quarters; it's very efficient at ripping through the bronze of their shields. The Thiasan sidesword is wielded one-handed, and permits the simultaneous use of a shield, so it's a very handy infantryman's weapon, provided he can afford it.

-The dagger: every knight and infantryman would have at least one. The dagger is basically a long knife with both pommel and guard, very like a sword, though the dagger may be double- or single-edged. Daggers range in blade length from 6 to 18 inches.

-The throwing-dagger is not a reliable weapon of war, but it has become a bit of a cult weapon amongst Thiasan commoners. They use daggers instead of darts in inns, etc. It does, however, take a great deal of skill to master, and it's hard to aim, as it needs to fly end-over-end to its target.

-The axe: not many Thiasans carry these, as they're the weapons of the barbarians (who frankly know how to use them better), but some knights and infantrymen make use of them when they're on the ground; it's an efficient way to quickly cut down enemies. The huge Thiasan axes are wielded two-handed and have a double blade.

Polearms:

-Spear: the basic long-handed thrusting tool, with a tip like a broad arrow; sometimes infantrymen take basic spears and modify them, including a glaive-like scythe blade. The plain spear isn't standard-issue, but many prefer it, as it's lighter and shorter than most other polearms. Some spears, like the angon, are specifically designed to be thrown rather than used as stabbing tools.

-Traditionally, the pike is the infantry's main weapon. It is incredibly long, and thus best used in formation. Since the guerrilla tactics of the barbarians often fragment formations, the pike is increasingly being abandoned in favor of the hache. Here's a picture of a pike:


-Hache (also known as 'Pollaxe/Polaxe'): a five-to-seven-foot-long pole with a hammerhead or a curved spike on the butt and a rather serious business end: an axe-shaped blade at the tip, surrounded by spikes. Almost all infantrymen are trained to use the hache now. Here's a picture of one variety of hache, this one with a spike at the end:

Blunt Weapons:

-Mace: picture a spike-topped steel ball on a short, thick steel pole. That's a mace; it's very effective against armor, and can destroy barbarian shields and axes. Some knights use maces, but only very few infantrymen.

-Flail: two or three spiked balls attached to a pole. This descendent of the agricultural flail has little in common with its benign cousin. It takes a lot of skill to wield a flail properly, and it's not the ideal weapon against the barbarians (like many, it's suited best to armored combat) so it's not a common weapon. Most flails have two balls; here's a picture of one with three:



Armor:

-Aketon: the quilted fabric worn underneath armor.

-Arming cap: worn beneath the helmet.

-Armet: a light helmet with hinged cheek-pieces, a relatively new invention. The armet is worn by knights only.

-Bascinet: this open-faced helmet is part of the infantryman's uniform. It doesn't protect the face or eyes, but it doesn't generally need to; in formation, they're massed very close together, a natural defense against arrow attacks.

-The cuirass, or platemail, is comprised of a breastplate, backplate, and sometimes, tassets (plates covering the hip and thigh). Only knights wear platemail, which allows for a little less freedom of movement and (more importantly) is too expensive for infantrymen. A full suit of armor, including the pauldron (shoulder armor), poleyn (plate for the knee), couter (for the elbows), rerebrace (for the upper arm), gauntlet (for the forearm and hand), cuisse (for the thighs), greaves (for the lower leg), and the sabaton (for the foot) would weigh about 60 lbs, and allowed for very free movement; plate mail is also impervious to many weapons. The only issue, of course, is the care it takes to maintain, the expense... and, in a climate like that of Thiasa--the heat.

-Mail: the armor of choice for infantrymen, mail is made up of up to 20,000 tiny rings. Mail is flexible and comfortable, and it'll protect against lighter blows (particularly as the barbarians use chiefly bronze weapons), but it is no good against very forceful blows or steel weapons, unless worn with a great deal of padding beneath (this is highly inconvenient in Thiasa's climate). Fun fact: never refer to mail as 'chain mail'; that name only became popular in the real-life 1900s.

-Jack: a cheap defensive coat of fabric or leather, worn by some of the poorer infantrymen, with small plates stitched between its layers.

-Infantry shields are tall and oblong, with a pointed bottom and a convex, and are often used to create interlocked patterns to deflect arrows or push forward against the enemy. This technique, however, works less well against the guerilla tactics of the barbarians, and some infantry platoons have taken to using the smaller, round shield known as the 'target.'

-Knights also use the small, round target as their shield. It may be set on the arm so that a sword can be wielded two-handed, and often act as its own weapon, used to bludgeon the enemy.



SOURCES:

http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/War/War.html

http://www.historicalweapons.com/swordsanddaggersterm.html