Levies, Mercenaries and Standing Armies

**m_1512** · August 30, 2012, 08:19 AM

Levies

Levies are the most basic of troops. As per the new system, levies shall not be determined by the ranks, but by the the demesne held by the royal. Every land shall provide a number of men as per its tier. How the player decides to arm the men (with spears or axes or bows) is up to them. But in each provinces, the archers can only be 1/4 of the levy mustered from each province. For example if a province "A" has 2000 men for levies, then only 500 of them can be archers. Levies cannot be cavalry, for if farmers could afford horse and other equipment, then they would not be levy at all.
-> Tier 1: 2,000 men
-> Tier 2: 1,500 men
-> Tier 3: 1,000 men
Also, as a final note, Levies cannot be raised and kept without being in any war. You could still do it, but not without consequences. The longer you hold levies idly, or without any action, the more impatient your men will get. To be determined by rolls.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries will be of 3 types.
-> Rabble: Soldiers relying on numbers, brute force, and shock tactics.
-> Professional: Relatively well trained soldiers. Fight according to orders, but might also flee if battle seems to be lost.
-> Veteran: The old swords or the experienced men. These cannot be scared and made to flee easily, but might sometimes charge without orders.
To prevent players from hoarding mercenaries, they will come on a contract basis.

Standing Armies

Standing armies will be available gradually as time progresses. Initially, only basic troops will be easy to come by. As time goes, troops will evolve and more variety will be available. For the purpose of understanding, there will be two types of troops.
-> Regular: The mainstream army. These are ordinary troops who are trained to fight under orders. These troops might rout when facing superior forces or in face of certain defeat. This is the backbone of any standing army and should comprise the majority of any army.
-> Elite: These are the finest troops available to you. These troops will not rout easily, but may even fight on to that last man. However, these troops are difficult to control, especially if the commander is of a lower ranking in the feudal structure. Sometimes, troops like knights may even charge without your orders.
Standing armies will have an upkeep of 10 % of their cost of recruiting. If 5000 is their recruiting cost, then 500 is the upkeep. Standing armies must be garrisoned in castle holdings only. Garrisoning in urban holdings might cause the people to protest.

**m_1512** · August 31, 2012, 01:55 AM

Feedback welcome now.

**Bastard Feudalism** · August 31, 2012, 02:07 AM

I agree with this. It fits for the age too.
Only things I can see that might be changed are things that will be revealed through trial-and-error in the future for balancing.