Arete Family/Averyll

Overview

As a mentor, I am responsible for teaching my students the following lessons:

• Recruitment and maintainance of units
• The chain of command - realm hierarchy, general and ruler
• Basic combat tactics
• Unit settings

In other words, I am here to teach you how to be a good soldier, and so this page is dedicated to my students for exactly that purpose. However, I will also try to answer any other questions you might have, such as how taxes work or what other classes will be avaliable to you, so please do not hesitate to ask (using the in-game messaging system, of course).

Units

Obviously, the first order of business for a soldier is to acquire a unit to fight battles with. You probably already have a small unit of 20 to 25 men with decent equipment and a little training. These you probably received from your family, extra guards from the family manor I suppose. Eventually, however, you are going to need to recruit more men. There are five (5) different kinds of units, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

• Infantry - Basic melee unit (can only attack units in the same column of the battlefield).
• Archers - Basic ranged unit (can attack units in adjacent columns, but very weak defense).
• Cavalry - Very effective against other melee units, but weak defense against ranged units.
• Mixed Infantry - A ranged unit that is significantly more effective in melee than archers.
• Special Forces - A melee unit that is very effective against all other unit types.

You cannot combine unit types. It's either all or nothing. Therefore, it is important to understand how to use each type effectively so that they don't get slaughtered at the outset of every battle. But before we get to combat tactics and military strategy, lets first worry about how to acquire a unit and, once acquired, how to keep them happy and ready for battle.

Recruitment

If tactics and strategy did not play a role in the outcome of a battle, than the only statistic you would ever have to worry about is Combat Strength (usually acronymed "CS"). But tactics and strategy do play a role. It may be helpful to think of combat strength like the term "par" in golf. Just like "par" is what you should score if you don't make any mistakes (such as hitting the ball into a pond), combat strength is an estimate of how well your unit is capable of performing in battle assuming you don't make any mistakes (such as ordering a unit of archers to charge a cavalry unit). Let us now take a look at how to recruit the best unit for the money, and later we will discuss how to use that unit to the best of its ability.

You can only recruit a unit in your realm's capital (unless you are a hero, but that's another lesson entirely). Below is the information you will be given when you are decided what unit to recruit.

• Troop Name - This is not an important factor. If you don't like the name, you can change it.
• Type - You can select any unit type you wish, so long as you don't already have a unit. if you already have a unit, you can only recruit men of the same type as the unit you already have.
• Train - The higher the better; however, training will improve over time with combat experience and training exercises. It is one of the most important attributes that factor into combat strength, but since you can improve it after recruitment, it is okay to recruit unit slightly less well-trained as you would prefer in order to save a few gold. (I tend to recruit men with training between 45% and 55%)
• Equipment - The first number represents the quality of the unit's weapons (their offensive statistic), the second number represents the quality of the unit's armor (their defensive statistic). These numbers will not change over time (but if are adding men to an already existing unit, the value will average out). Along with training, this is a very important attribute. (I tend to recruit men with at least 50% in both, preferably more like 65%).
• Home - The region from which the unit was drafted. This is not important until you are a region lord or are otherwise responsible for the administration of the realm.
• Mor. - Morale is an important factor (and reflects the morale of the units home region) but this will change over time, and is fairly easy to improve once recruited.
• Avail. - The number of men avaliable from this recruitment center. Since you can only recruit from one center at a time, and each time you recruit it costs one hour of your time, this factor is only important if you are short on hours and need more men than are avaliable.
• Cost - The cost in gold is per 10 men (though you don't need to hire 10 men at a time). Cost does not factor into combat strength, but higher cost generally corelated with higher combat strength. The other reason cost is important is because when you are done recruiting the men, you want to make sure you will still have enough money to pay their salaries.

It is true that with more men in your unit, the higher your units combat strength will be, but what many troop leaders don't realize is that with each man you add to a unit, the combat strength per man decreases. For example, let's say unit A has 15 men in it, and unit B has 50 men in it, but both units have the same training, equipment, morale, etc. Unit A may have as much as 25 CS/man, but unit B might only have 10 CS/man. The reason is that no matter how good a troop leader you are, it is easier to keep 15 men in order than it is to keep 50 in order. So don't worry too much about always having the largest unit you can get. Sometimes there are more important things to worry about.

In the beginning, there will be one more factor you should take into consideration, and that is your own personal honour. Recruitment centers will not allow you to have more men than your honour deems you worthy of leading. The maximum number of men you are capable of leading is therefore determined by your honour. As you prove yourself in combat, your honour will increase, and with it so will the willingness of the recruiters to give you more men. Eventually, your honour will reach a point that they would be willing to give you more men than you would ever want to lead, and so it won't be a problem. But in the beginning, you will only be able to lead about 30 men. I rarely bother with more than 40, and it is not uncommon for me to lead a unit of 20 really good men.

Maintainence

Once you have a unit, you can check on their stats by either clicking on your name or your units name (both located at the bottom of the screen). As you look at their stats (in the right hand column) you will notice three (3) statistics that were not present at the recruitment screen: Cohesion, Equipment Damage and combat strength (the latter of which we have already discussed above, and will discuss in greater detail later).

The Chain of Command

Realm Heirarchy

Every realm has two heirarchies: a feudal heirarchy and a military heirarchy. The feudal heirarchy is led by the ruler of the realm, whereas the military heirarchy is led by the realm's general. Most nobles belong in some way to both heirarchies. Every noble (except free and non-aligned nobles) has sworn alliegience to a particular region, which in turn is aligned to a particular duchy, which in turn is aligned to the realm as a whole. The chain of command follows this same path. Free and non-aligned nobles report directly to the ruler and general.

General

The general (often otherwise refered to as the Paladin Primus, High Marshall, or some other such title) is the noble responsible for determining the military strategy of the realm. He (or she) is usually also the realm's tactician, responsible for coordinating the efforts of the troop leaders on the battlefield. Most of the orders given to troop leaders will come from the general. The general works very closely with the ruler so that the military strategy and diplomatic strategy are not only consistent, but hopefully complimentary. Disobeying the orders of the general will often result in harsh penalties from the realm's judge.

The next position in the military heirarchy is the marshall. Every realm has one marshall for each duchy in the realm. Standing orders are provided by the marshall and, in the absense of the general, it is usually a marshall that will be in charge of military affairs. If your realm has more than one duchy, and therefore more than one marshall, than you report to the marshall assigned to your duchy (however, in the absense of the general, you should treat whichever marshall stands in as if he or she were the general). Disobeying the orders of your marshall will also usually result in a penalty from the judge, unless of course the marshall's orders conflict with the generals orders. The general's orders will always take priority over a marshall's orders.

Technically, the next in line in the military heirarchy are the region lords, but their role is very small. It is usually the duke or duchess that will fill in for a marshall if the duchy's marshall is temporarilly absent; however, should the position of marshall become vacant, the position is rarely filled by the duke or duchess. It is usually filled by a region lord, and usually from one of the regions belonging to the duchy. Until that time, except in exception circumstances, region lords will not give orders related to the military affairs of the realm.

Ruler

The ruler (often otherwise refered to as the Pontifex, Queen or some other such title) is the noble in charge of leading the entire realm, but many of these responsibilities are overseen in greater detail by others under his (or her) charge, such as the general (for military affairs), the banker (for taxes and trading), the judge (for legal matters) and the dukes and duchesses (for the adminisration of regions). Diplomacy, however, almost entirely depends on the ruler. Given the sovereignty of the position, many realms consider disobeying the orders of the ruler to be akin to treason; however, since most of the concerns of the ruler are non-military, the orders of the ruler do not often go to troop leaders but rather to region lords.

The next in line in the feudal heirarchy are the dukes and duchesses of the realm. There is one duke (or duchess) for each duchy (a city and its neighboring regions). They are responsible for overseeing the general good and welfare of those regions and thus spend a great deal of their time coordinating their efforts with the various lords of the regions that belong to their duchy. Disobeying the orders of the duke or duchess of the duchy you are aligned with will carry serious consequences, but such orders will be very rare, and you only have to answer to the duke or duchess of your duchy, no other.

The next in line in the feudal heirarchy is, again, region lords. Orders to troop leaders from rulers and dukes will be rare because most of their orders will go directly to the region lords. Region lords are as much the backbone of regional administration as troop leaders are the backbone of military affairs. Region lords will sometimes appeal to troop leaders for assistance, but usually their concerns are limited to the abilities of bureaucrats and traders, not soldiers.

Unit Settings

Conduct

• Evasive - drastically increases the chance to evade combat with enemy units.
• Defensive - only engages enemy units if they engage you.
• Normal - initiates combat with any enemy units in the region (and sometimes neutral units).
• Aggressive - engages all enemy and neutral units (and sometimes even allies).
• Murderous - will attack anyone in the region, possibly even realm-mates and peasants.

Designation

• Regular Army - Standard designation.
• Sentry - Higher combat strength than regular army, but slower travel times (most often used for militia units)
• Police - Diminished combat strength, but not as averse to civil or police work (the only designation avaliable to bureaucrats).
• Vanguard - Faster travel times than regular army, but lower combat strength.
• Mercenary - Higher morale, but 50% more expensive than regular army (the only designation avaliable to traders).

Field Position

The battlefield is divided into 11 columns (numbered 1 thru 11 from left to right). The attacking army starts on the left, the defending army on the rght. If the region has fortifications, then the 5 columes on the right will be colored gray and represent the area of the battlefield behind the fortifications. Which column your unit will begin in will depend on your field position.

• Front - If you are attacking, you will start in column 5. If defending, column 7.
• Middle - If you are attacking, you will start in column 4. If defending, column 8.
• Back - If you are attacking, you will start in column 3. If defending, column 9.
• Rearguard - If you are attacking, you will start in column 2. If defending, column 10.

Therefore, columns 1, 6 and 11 are always empty at the beginning of a battle (but they may become occupied as the battle progresses). If the defending units are dug in or are behind fortifications, it is not likely that they will move from column 7 to column 6 until all the attacking melee units are disabled (i.e. wounded, retreated, etc.). If the region has fortifications, it is very difficult for the attacking units to move from column 6 to column 7 without seige engines. Ranged units each have their own "range", which equals the number of columns their missles can travel. Ranged units will only move from toward the enemy if there are no enemy units within their range.

Unit Formation

• Line - Normal defense and attack against both ranged and melee units.
• Box - Improved defense against melee units, but decreased defense against ranged units.
• Wedge - Improved attack against melee units, but decreased defense against melee units.
• Skirmish - Improved defense against ranged units, but decreased defense against melee units.