Bowker Family/Myrnia/MentorNotes

Lesson One: "The difference between IC and OOC"

Playing and interacting in an IC (In Character) fashion is the norm in the world of battlemaster. In IC you communicate and roleplay with the other characters of the world. It is encouraged that your characters have traits and twists and should have quite a different personality from you as a player.

At some time for clarifying things, you might need to interact with the other players directly OOC (Out of Character), in OOC you do not address the characters but the players behind them. It is useful at times, but it's usage should be kept to minimum in order for us all to enjoy the game.

So our relations as characters, grudges, affection IC are not the same in OOC. You might have a vendetta against an enemy character in an IC fashion. However, you should always be respectful to the player behind him when interacting in OOC.

This is the end of our first lesson, feel free to send me your questions.

Lesson Two: "The inalienable rights "

You as nobles have some inalieanable rights. This means that you have some rights that no one can interfere with.

Right #1: "Play at your own pace"

If you feel, that you (as players) do not have the time to log on as often. Then by all means do not, regardless of what others might think. However, it is part of courtesy to let your marshals know when you are not able to be very active.

Right #2: "Choosing your unit"

You as a noble have the right to choose what type of men to recruit. No one should force you to choose a certain unit. However, if you wish to learn what kind of units your army currently needs. Then you are allowed to ask for advice, which you do not need to stick to either.

Right #3: "Going to tournaments"

If there is a tournament, you as a noble have the right to attend tournaments whenever they are held. As with activity, it is part of your etiquette as a noble to let your marshals know. However, if they refuse, you should have them reported.

Right #4: "Pausing your character"

Being noble is a difficult thing at times. Therefore, should you wish to temporary retire your character then by all means do so and have a rest (if too busy at real life). You should take no one permission here. Though again, it is part of courtesy to at least let your Lord (not marshals) know about this, so that he can get replacing knight.

Right #5: "Choosing your Class"

Nobles can choose of variety of classes. No one should tell you what to choose and not to choose. If anyone does then have him/her reported to titans. However, like recruitment you can seek advice and switch to a class that might be needed.

Lesson Three: "Recruitment and maintenance of units"

Paraphernalia and Tips

Scouts represent the eyes of every army and it is needed that every troop leader has at least a few. Besides their obvious use for getting reports, scouts also add to the flexibility of your unit which reduces your travel times. It is recommended to have 3-5 scouts. You should get more if you know that you will be deployed for a longer period and will not have chance to buy new ones.

Healers can save a lot of your men and their help will make your unit be more cohesive. 1 healer per 20 men. It is especially advisable to recruit more healers (but no more than 3) before difficult battles and battles against Daimons, and they can later be dropped to reduce the cost of maintaining them.

Banners keep your men staying on the field of battle for longer and as such will retreat later. They are mainly only useful for close combat troops; archers will rarely if ever need them. 1 banner per 20 men is recommended.

Carts can carry your wounded men after a battle and you need to move out from the region. 1 cart per 20 men. Carts will also help in regard to travel time with wounded.

Siege Engines are useful only for infantry units when attacking fortified positions (walls), so you need to take it only if ordered by the Marshal. 1 SE per unit.

Caravans are used by traders to buy and sell food, also for regular knights if your army will be looting it slightly increases looting efficiency, looted food can be stored in your caravan and you can sell it back home. They cost money to buy and upkeep so acquire them only if ordered by army Marshal.

The army left standing after the battle is in most of the cases the trained army. There is nothing as valuable as a trained unit. Train your unit whenever you can. Having as many hours as possible at your disposal every half a day is the attribute of an elite noble.

Lesson Four: "Units Settings "

Part I: Encounter settings

In our lesson today, we are going to talk about encounter settings, which you can change in the orders’ tab under unit settings. There are five options when it comes to encounter settings.

First, you can set your unit to “Defensive”. We usually instruct our Archers commanders to set their men to “Defensive”. This way we can insure that their archers will not charge headlong into melee. “Defensive” is especially useful when fighting behind fortifications. Setting your unit to “Defensive” will ensure that your men will not leave the fortifications.

Second comes “Aggressive”. We usually instruct our Cavalry commanders to set their men to “Aggressive”. This will ensure that they do charge ahead into the enemy and rip them apart. Otherwise our cavalry would stay behind the lines, which is not really useful.

As for “Normal”, this is a setting in between. The unit will not actively chase the enemy as in "Aggressive" nor will it stick behind the lines indefinitely like in “Defensive”. We usually have our infantry commanders use these settings. Though, since they are the most flexible units. Infantry sometimes find themselves ordered to act either “Aggressively” or “Defensively”.

There is also “Evasive”. This is a very useful setting, when your unit is massively outnumbered but you had no time to escape. You can in such a situation set your men to “Evasive”. This way they will attempt to avoid combat with the enemy units in the region. It is worth noting that “Evasive” fail at times, and the odds of failure increase the bigger the size of the unit.

Lastly is “Murderous”. This is a dangerous setting, so please make sure that you do not set your men to it unless ordered. While in “Murderous” your unit will ignore the treaties your realm has signed and attempts to attack units of peaceful realms and in some case those of allied realms too. Wars can be caused by nobles mistakingly setting their units to “Murderous” so please be careful with settings.

Lesson Five: "Units Settings"

Part II: Formation settings

In our lesson today, we are going to talk about formation settings, which you can change in the orders’ tab under unit settings. There are four options when it comes to formation settings.

First, you can set your unit to “Line”. This is a standard formation that keeps the offensive and defensive capabilities of the unit as it is.

Second comes “Wedge”. We usually instruct our Cavalry commanders to set their men to “Wedge”. This formation maximises the unit's damage score, however it comes at the expense of it's defensive capabilities.

As for “Box”, this is a defensive formation. The unit's defensive capabilities will increase at the expense of it's offensive capabilities. It is said that "Box" is the most vulnerable formation to archers fire.

Finally, “Skirmish”. This is especially useful against archers, as their fire will have minimum damage. Units employing "Skirmish" will suffer a penalty to both their offensive and defensive capabilities, and are especially vulnerable in melee.

Lesson Six: "Realm hierarchy, allegiance and oath "

The feudal hierarchy of Sultanate of Asena: The Sultanate of Asena is a monarchy situated in the Omskian Penisula. The Realm has its origins from Fontan, and now seeks to make a name for itself. Currently, we are increasing the strength of all of our armies to better prepare for the challenges before us, which are mostly battles with the Sirionites. All armies are advised to recruit larger units and cooperate with their sponsors to receive the financial help if needed.

Council:The Sultanate of Asena has four positions on its high council. The realm is led by the Sultan, its military commanded by the Pasha. Law and administration is led by the Grand Vezir. Trade and Economic management is headed by the Defterdar.

Allegiance: As a newly arrived noble you need some source of income. For the first days your family will send you some gold but after that you need to find a Lord whom to swear an Oath. This will give you regular income and you will be a knight of that region. If you are not happy with your Lord you can always choose another one and offer him/her an oath.

Estates: Your Lord will probably ask you to go to your region as soon as possible to enlarge your estates. This will help your region to product more or will help to mantain authorithy over the peasantry.

Our Sultanate Hierarchy

The Crown

Sultan David

Duchies

Kazakh - Duke Edmund

Gadlock - Baron Gama, 1300 peasants per noble Sibyllla

Juazeiro - Count Viper, 2666 peasants per noble Leandros, Rattle

Kazakh - Duke Edmund, 3447 peasants per noble Alparslan, Amulius, Jango, Parker, Superior

Kazan - Baron Murphy, 1224 peasants per noble Hetdrow, Luarin, Nicholas

Salta - Count Khan, 2479 peasants per noble Genghis, Tanya

Oroya - Duchess Vanya

Obando - Baron Viseslav, 175 peasants per noble Quintus, Sebastian

Oroya - Duchess Vanya, 3955 peasants per noble Adalfieri, Eddard, Lyanna, Rawulf, Willheim

Pedrera - Baron Omar, 599 peasants per noble Joseph

Pucallpa - Marchioness Myrnia, 1198 peasants per noble Conrad, Dagnarus, David, Delta, Zachnafein

Imperial Regions

Caqueta - Baron philip, 219 peasants per noble Natasha

Lesson Seven: "The military chain of command - armies, marshals, and the general"

Hierarchy

Obedience is expected in the army. The Marshall of your Army (or occasionally the designated Vice Marshal, will be almost exclusively responsible for issuing day to day orders. Overall plans regarding expansion and major conflicts will be given in the Council and subject to discussion. As a Knight, you need to follow orders constantly doesn´t matter if given by your Lord or your Marshall or the Sultan itself.

As a Knight, you owe obedience

• To your Lord, Dame.
• To your Duke, Duchess.
• To our Sultan.
• To our Pasha.
• To the Marshall.

From time to time, usually near taxes income or right after a battle, everyone will be asked to send units reports. This is important to give to the Pasha information about the strenght of the whole army and to help on the decision to attack or not any other region. Our Sultanate has a tradition to work as a team and everything is shared with the whole realm. The reports are a important part of this tradition.

Our Sultan, Dukes and Duchesses, Counts and Countesses, provide good units to all knights, no matter the region they belong. Everyone work together to the good of the Sultanate and everyone report any action to the whole realm.

If a knight is instructed to loot, he need to report the looting. If a knight is ordered to manage his estate, he need to obey and understand that the orders of this matter are above all others.