Lessons learned

  Felix looks around at the few students he's admitted to his estate's Hall. 

Young but not impertinent. A resourceful bunch they've made it this far.

  "Your duty to the Realm, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is of the utmost importance. 

Without us the realm falls, without the realm, we fall. We stand as one and we will rise victorious as one. Many of you don't like taking orders. 'You are nobility and only commoner's take orders.' Indeed you are. Regard such with the understanding that there are those who know more than we and they have not the time to ask, weedle, and cajole. A request from a Baron is a polite order."

  He brightens and grins.
  "That said; to business! Some of you already have estates, having found a Lord or 

Lady to sponsor you. Estates must be set to produce- don't let the common masses lie about doing nothing! They do take orders. Get them to producing. You'll be able to issue that instruction under your *COMMAND* options to that effect. I strongly advise you increase the size of your estate to large. You'll need to increase the estate to medium first for 25 gold, then large for an additional 75. It will come back to you in over the course of a few months. This too is found as a *COMMAND* option.

  Felix takes a sip of draught from a horn- a trophy from a clash with some 

monster or other.

  "The troops. You are Knights and Dames. You will be called upon to choose men 

and women to lead. You can only recruit troops in the Realm's Capital of Aja. To get there from here you will need to look at your options and select *TRAVEL*. You will have a scribe with you who can find the best route across the realm and he will plan that route complete with an estimate of time. It may be off somewhat but weather is not easily predictable even in these modern times. You can select a region to travel to as your whim takes you or follow the scribe's advice. Once done you may choose follow on travel orders so you need not bother when you arrive at the next region. Should you come across unrest in that region you will halt automatically.

  "Once you reach the Capital you can issue the *ORDERS* to *RECRUIT* and you 

will receive a list of all the men and women available for hire. The list can be somewhat confusing. There are infantry and archers, mixed infantry and cavalry and even special forces. My brother's first unit was Mixed Infantry. I do not recommend it as they are not terribly effective and easily confuse their orders. When your bowmen chhose to suddenly advance, unarmored, into melee you will understand why I don't commend them..."

   Felix coughs slightly and hides another grin by taking a drink.
    

"Moving on: You'll see several pieces of information across the top of your list. In no particular order here they are.

    *Weapons/Armor*  This is how much damage they can inflict and how much they can 

endure. For archers and mixed infantry you'll note a number 1-4. This is their range of engagement. 4 is the best, of course. I've not yet seen a successful use of anything less than 3 although the damage they can inflict in that volley looks impressive on paper. Archer's need not concern themselves overmuch with armor. Infantry on the other hand are in the fray, usually shielding the archers from the brunt of it and they need a strong armor.

    *Morale* An important attribute- this is how much your men will endure before they 

break and run. Or desert. Yes, there are those who will cravenly slink away. High morale is important and you can increase this with castle wenches and beer. Some military like a quiet, staid setting to quaff while other's are looking for a fight. You will need to discover what your boys and girls most enjoy.

    *Training* is another important factor. This will increase with time spent sparring 

and in actual combat- nothing trains better than combat but a little time at the stiles should whip the greener recruits into shape. Once you hit about 50% you should save your coin. They'll not learn much more without the fear of death to temper them and that is found in battle!

     "So now what shall we discuss?"
     A few students fidget under his steady gaze and he shrugs. 

"Line settings, then."

     *Line Settings*  Select *ORDERS* then click *UNIT SETTINGS*.

The first drop box determines how your unit will react. You can be *murderous* and cause all sorts of hate and discontent for your realm, its allies and yourself.

   * Aggressive* is a dangerous setting, but not nearly so much so as murderous. 

Your troop will attack anyone and anything not allied with your realm.

   * Normal* will attack only the enemies of the realm, including monsters.
   * Defensive* will keep your men back from the general melee, fairly good for archers, 

not so much so for infantry.

   * Evasive* This order will keep your men from engaging anything, unless the enemy goes 

out of their way to corner you. In the event you lose a battle and must withdraw, this setting will reduce the possibility of losing what few survivors you have and being captured yourself.