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

• 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 more effective in melee than archers.
• Special Forces - A melee unit that is very effective against all other unit types.

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.