Samantha's School of K-nighthood/Chapter 1: Your Unit
Recruitment
Your're a k-night and it's your job to lead soldiers on the field of battle. So it's a good idea for you to know what kind of soldiers you can lead.
There are a lot of different types of soldiers you can recruit. What kind of unit you recruit is entirely up to you. Nobody can tell you what you have to recruit. You're a noble and that's your choice. If someone is flat out telling you what unit you have to have, tell 'em to mind their own business. However, there may come a time when certain units are better for the kind of war you are in, so the higher up muckety mucks may have suggestions for the type of unit you should get. Making suggestions is fine...but the final choice is always up to you. Here are the basic descriptions of the units:
Infantry: Good ole foot soldiers. You can't go wrong with a good strong unit of infantry. They can be used in open field warfare, when hunkered down behind the walls of a fort or when storming the walls of an enemy stronghold. These troops are always armed with close combat weapons; swords, axes, halberd, pikes and the like. Unfortunately, these guys can only hit what is directly in front of them.
Archers: Longbowmen, shortbowmen, crossbowmen...these are the guys that can hit you from a long ways away. Heck, I've even seen troops with javelins, spears and daggers that they would hurl at the enemy from a shorter distance. Units like these are great for softening up the enemy before the infantry, Cavalry and Special Forces units chop em to bits. Two drawbacks though: First...they are very dependent upon the wind. If it is a gusty and windy day, they're not going to be as accurate as they could be; Second: they're not that great when it comes down to hand to hand fighting. Normally, most bowmen will only keep a dagger or two on themselves to defend themselves if in close combat. However, that's not to say they can't fight up close. I've seen a couple of battles where all that were left at the end were archery units shooting the crap out of each other.
Mixed Infantry: Kind of a little bit of everything. These units are armed with both close combat and long range weapons. They can pelt the enemy from a long ways away or cut 'em up when they get in close. Now, you're probably asking yourself "Well, if they can beat em up from far away and beat 'em up when they get in close, why doesn't everyone just use a Mixed Infantry unit?"
And here's my answer: Cuz since they have to train using two sets of weapons, they are never quite as good at close combat as a straight infantry unit and never quite as good at ranged combat as a straight archers unit. However, they are fun to have (I admit it...I'm prejudiced) and can provide a lot of flexibility
Any of these three types of units can be commanded by any k-night. The following two units can only be commanded by experienced and prestigious k-nights. It has nothing to do with you personally, but...well...they can tend to require a steadier hand at the command reins. No pun intended considering the next group.
Cavalry: Simply put...guys on horses with lances. Cavalry units are usually the strongest units on a battlefield, having the ability to quickly reach and break through enemy lines. But, they're not that great against fortifications and the like (Have you ever seen a horse trying to climb a wall??? It ain't a pretty sight...funny as hell though). Another good side, being on horses and all that, they usually tend to get where they need to go faster than your usual unit. However, they are also usually more expensive than your standard units. So...like everybody else, they have their good sides and bad sides.
Also, never march behind a cavalry unit. Ruined a perfectly good set of calfskin boots that way.
Special Forces: These guys are the best of the best...of the best. Super soldiers that when they get the chance, can really stick it to the bad guys. However, they don't always get that chance. And they are really expensive when compared to your standard unit and can be pretty darned hard to find.
RULE NUMBER ONE (well...when it comes to recruiting at least): Don't recruit too many troops. A good number of troops to have is between 20-30. We've all been there and wanted to have the biggest and baddest group of soldiers around. But come pay day, you better have enough gold to pay those guys or they're gonna desert ya and you're gonna get a bad reputation, losing honor and prestige.
RULE NUMBER TWO You can only recruit troops in the capital city of your realm. The actual recruitment centers are in the various regions, but the soldiers themselves are only available in the capital. They must like Big City Life! Can you blame them? Also, you can't mix and match units. If you have an infantry unit, you can only recruit more infantry. If you have an archers unit, you can only recruit archers. To recruit a new kind of unit, you have to get rid of the old one first.
Paraphernalia
That's all the other stuff you can need when trudging to, onto or from the field of battle. All of 'em are useful.
Banners: Best bet is to get one for every 15-20 men. These can help you keep your unit on the battlefield longer. Everybody sees the banner and knows how to stay together and it helps keep their morale up. Each banner requires on man to use it. Banners are a one time purchase fee.
Scouts: These guys keep you on the road, getting where you need to go. They can help shave hours off your travel time. Also, they can get you detailed reports of the region you are in or those that are around you. However, each time you send a scout out, it uses an hour of your available time. Also, you can only send a scout out once per turn. (IE Once in the day and once at night...if you only have 4 scouts, you can only get 4 trained reports). Scouts get a weekly pay, like your soldiers.
Healers: These are the guys and girls who put your soldiers back together after a fight. The more healers you have, the more men you can heal. Again I would suggest one healer per 15-20 men. Healers, much like scouts, get a weekly pay.
Carts: If your healers can't get your soldiers back on their feet, stick em in a cart. These help keep wounded men from slowing your unit down and allow them time to rest and recuperate while healing. Each cart requires two men to operate it and drag it along, and like banners, are a one time purchase fee.
Siege Engines: These are very useful for busting up cities. They come in all shapes and sizes...everything from catapults and trebuchets, onagers to ballistae...heck...I even saw a group of siege towers rolling around the countryside. Siege engines need a unit of 5 guys to maintain and operate. Do not blame me if yours comes with a squeaky wheel. Siege engines have a one time purchase fee for them too. But...there is always a but...but siege engines can slow you down.
So...if your unit has 3 banners, a cart and a siege engine, then your unit needs to be at least 10 guys (1 for each banner, 2 for the cart and 5 for the siege engine). If you don't have enough guys, then you're gonna have to leave stuff on the side of the road.
Unit Statistics
Training: How well they can use their weapons. The higher the training, the better they are. Training can be improved with...well...with training. However, actually training your unit costs money and causes damage to your equipment. The action of training can be done under the Orders section.
Cohesion: How well organized your guys are. You can have the best equipped and best trained guys there are, but until they know how to work together well, then they're just a bunch of guys hanging out with each other. Cohesion can be increased with training (under Orders).
Armor/Weapons: These numbers show you how well made your gear is. The higher the weapons, the more damage your unit can do. The higher the armor, the less damage your guys will take in battle. You cannot improve your armor and weapons stats unless you recruit men that have a higher weapons/Armor than your current unit. It cannot be increased in any other way.
Equipment Damage: This is exactly what it says it is. When you use your stuff, it can get damaged. Training, travelling, combat....heck...even general wear can cause it to get damaged. The more damaged it is, the lower your Combat Strength (CS) will be. You can get damage repaired in cities and townslands where there are armorers.
Morale: This is how happy your troops are. Training, civil work, even battle can cause the morale of your unit to drop. Don't worry though, the men (and women) will recover the morale naturally if given time. If you are constantly training, doing civil work or in a lot of battles, your moral can get really low. If this happens, you can always pay for some entertainment for your unit (OOC: Under Actions when in a city) and then your unit will recover a lot of morale really really fast. Different types of entertainments are available, its up to you to find out which one your men really like.
And Finally:
Combat Strength (CS): This is the over all effectiveness of your unit. All the other statistics go into determining your units CS. The higher the CS, the stronger your unit is. But, the stronger your unit is, the more it costs for weekly pay.
