Dwilight University/Military Studies/Sejieda Doctrine Letters

The following is a series of letters that Sejieda originally penned to Vice Marshal Lancelot Vaughan of the Wolves of Aegir. They've been edited and may continue to be edited as appropriate for the military situation.

Letter on Unit Formations

Well, there is much to say. It often depends on your opponent. I will give a brief overview on the various formations. Feel free to ask questions.

Line formation lines the men up. It allows archers to fire more rounds in combat than in other formations. It is more effective in offense, but weaker to close combat. It is also more resistant to archer fire.

Box creates a tight formation that is resistant to close combat, but weaker to archer fire because they are packed together.

Wedge allows one to break into enemy formations easier, but you tend to receive casualties and break apart easier too.

Skirmish allows one to take virtually no casualties against archer fire, but they will be massacred in close combat.

Generally, you want to give archers as much time as possible to fire at enemies, so you place them at the line that will accomplish that. I usually find that to be middle. Infantry is important for stopping archers from being damaged. I tend to place them in situation where they step through archers at the last minute to protect them. However, if you have walls, it is often better to put them at front initially to repel any invaders. Cavalry is best for charging and causing overkill damage. Special Forces all have unique bonuses and it is best to know the situation with each before placing them. My older brother speaks of a special forces unit by a duke that single-handedly protects the realm from monsters. Mixed infantry are a combination of archers and infantry, but not proficient in both. They used to be looked down upon other than as TO units, but recently they've been becoming more used. I don't know much why they've become more accepted though.(ooc: Tom made some changes, haven't been bothered to check them out).

Good references in the library are Unit Settings and Overkill in the library.

Letter on Offensive Marshal Formations

As you may know, increased leadership gives you the ability to use more advanced formations. This letter will focus on offensive formations. I will follow up with a letter on defensive formations next.

Infantry charges are a basic formation that forces all people's units to a certain position on the battlefield. Infantry are in front, archers behind them, and cavalry are behind them. They are best with light fortifications and in the open field.

Cavalry charges are another basic formation that puts cavalry on front, infantry behind the cavalry, and archers behind them. It is best for fights on an open field.

Archer opening is the last of the basic formations. It puts archers on front, infantry behind them, and cavalry last. It is the generally accepted formation for most any battle.

Waves is an advanced formation that puts your men in roughly equal strength combat lines of mixed forces. It is best against a force with the majority of their force on one line because it uses overkill to kill them piece by piece without challenging their entire army at once.

Soften and Charge is an advanced formation that starts with with an archer opening, followed by a cavalry charge, with the infantry coming in last to finish them up. If your enemy is mostly an infantry army and you have plenty of archers and cavalry, this is a good setting to severely weaken the enemy before the close combat begins.

Careful Attack is an extremely advanced formation where infantry charge in waves with archers supporting them and cavalry joining in the melee. This and the next formation both change more than line placement of units in your army.

Weakening Skirmish is an extremely advanced formation where units charge in groups for maximum damage, but withdraw quickly to preserve strength. It is useful for weakening an enemy before a battle. This setting also changes unit's withdraw settings.

Letter on Defensive Marshal Formations

Like offensive settings, basic and advanced formations change line placement, advanced change formation(box, line, wedge etc.), and the last one changes withdraw settings.

Infantry Wall is a basic formation where infantry and mixed infantry stand together at the front to stop the enemy in its tracks. As the enemy approaches, the mixed infantry and archers(in the middle) fire. The cavalry join the melee from the back. This is vulnerable to cavalry charge though. It is generally only used when there are no fortifications.

Fortification Deploy is a basic formation where everyone but the cavalry(who charges out to break apart enemy lines) are deployed on the wall to stop the walls from being breached. This is often used on fortifications as the name implies, but some commanders use it in place of infantry wall too.

Mixed Lines is an advanced formation where you attempt to stop the enemy over time. The first few lines are doomed to death and wounding, but by the time the enemy reaches the other lines they are too weak to continue fighting.

Delay and Wound is an advanced formation where you don't try to win, but to cause lots of damage to the enemy by fighting as long as possible. This is often used when an ally army is coming or when you have a short refit and the enemy has a long refit. This way you can break any potential takeover attempt easily after they have been damaged so bad.

They Shall Not Pass is an extremely advanced formation where it deploys everyone in box formation and in staggered lines. The goal is to last as long as possible and is consider a more advanced version of Mixed lines. It is useful for breaking charge formations, but weak to archer fire.

Strategic Withdraw is an extremely advanced formation where archers are deployed in the front with other units behind them. The idea is to cause one large melee where every unit withdraws quickly without being slaughtered.

Letter on Marshal Formations and a Marshal's Role

You may have noticed from your time in my army that I have not used marshal formations a lot. I will tell you why. Most of the formations I have access to are quite basic and don't offer what I wish to accomplish. Springdale's enemies consist of rogues. My family have passed down some formations to be used against monsters and undead that the marshal settings don't help with. I do experiment with different settings, but I generally keep the same ideas as they tend to work the best.

In addition, marshal formations are useful for making sure everybody is in position as they should be according to their settings, but it doesn't allow me to see who is following orders or not. It also teaches laziness among nobles who don't see value in setting correct settings if my formations are going to be used anyway.

A key element of being a marshal is knowledge. Most marshals tend to use the same settings consistently. This is because certain ones usually always work in certain situations. I am guilty of this too. But if you learn of a weakness in an enemy(through careful observation over time), you can learn to exploit it to your advantage. And often, they won't change their settings until a new commander. Few commanders analyze battle reports with any intensity. In a war among humans, every advantage you can gain count. And there are many factors in a battle. Size is often the most important, but at the same time it is the most relied upon. Springdale has the largest army by far, but we could easily be defeated by a smaller army should they learn how to defeat our settings appropriately. And that is why we must continually adapt to the situation and seek to exploit any weakness of our enemies.