Preview dHRR 0.8: Western European mercenary and regional units
Introduction
These are the Western European mercenaries and regionals. In dHRR 0.8 there would only be little difference between mercs and regionals: all mercenaries will be recruitable from barracks inside your settlements, while the majority of the regionals will be available from the map additonally. The only exception would be the Crusader units.
The 'Mercenary Gleve'
A Gleve would be a knight with his retinue serveants. While the term did not appear in the sources before the Late Middle Ages, the principle is as old as knightly combat itself. These units are available everywhere in Europe and also for the East Roman Empire in Constantinopolis.
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Solidarii Milites (Mercenary Knights)
In a time in which terms like 'patriotism' or 'nationalism' were unknown the knights formed an international class. They were professional full time soldiers, and whenever the liege-lord would not demand their service they would feel free to leave their lands and travel at will across Europe and the Near East to find themselves a profitable war. 'Foreign' knights were a common sight in any European army of the Middle Ages; and the fact that the knights were always a mixed force lead to the development of the pan-European chivalresque nobility that formed a homogenous class from the Scottish Lowlands to Sicily and form the Baltic woods to central Spain.
In fact the differences between a 'feudal' knight and a 'mercenary' knight were rather limited. Even the knight who fought due to feudal obligation would expect some kind of payment, and often enough the feudal lords, in particular the prince-bishops, preferred to hire knights to meet the demands of the king. Beginning as early as the 12th Century the feudal service became more and more limited in a way that the knight was only required to serve for a fixed amount of days (most commonly 40 days). This did not follow that after 40 days the knights would have been sent home, but after this time the knight became a 'mercenary' and would receive a payment for further service. If his lord failed to pay him this salary the knight was in fact allowed to leave the army and go home, without consequences for his status, titles and lands.
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Equites (Mercenary Horsemen)
These men are mounted mercenaries. Typically for western Europe, the 'light cavalry' preferred heavy horses and anyone who could afford it would have at least a helmet and a padded gambeson. They are well suited to support knights in battle and would be a useful addition to the noble servants and squires when it comes to fight down light cavalry and foot soldiers. Of course, they should not be placed against knights, but would also be of a rather limited use against Oriental light horsemen. Together with the Stratores these men would have made the major part of the non-knight European cavalry.
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Solidarii Scutarii (European Mercenary Spearmen)
These men are the mercenary 'rank-and-file' of each European army. They are armed with spears and shields, and can afford at least helmets and gambesons as armour. They are hired in larger groups, not as single soldiers, what gives them the advantage over retinue spearmen that they are used and drilled to fight as a tactical unit, ready to form a shield wall whenever needed and much more disciplined than any feudal or militia force with the same equipment.
Not much is known about the composition of the early mercenary warbands. Recent surveys on the social composition of the later 16th and early 17th Century mercenary bands have shown that they would have not been a distinctive class 'outside the civil society' but, different to the traditional image of them, were composed of part-time members of all groups of society. For a young citizen there had been nothing unusual in taking the spear and earning his living as a mercenary for some time, and after that to return into his civil life. It would only be logical to assume that also in the High Middle Ages some young citizens of the towns, who were required to own arms and armour anyways, would join a band of mercenaries for some time, seeking wealth, fame - and also adventures: besides a pilgrimage, going to war would have been the only chance to ever leave place they had been born for most people in the Middle Ages.
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Solidarii Arciarii (Mercenary Archers)
These men are professional archers. They would be part of the retinue of a mercenary knight or troops of volunteers that hired themselves out in small groups; another group that would have fought as mercenary archers would have been retinues of knights that were killed in battle. Even though they earn their living as archers they don't reach the expert marksmanship of lifetime hunters or herdsmen. Their bows made of a single piece of wood would be well suited to be used in the wet European weather, but would not have the same reach as the Eastern composite bows. In short, they are well suited to fight foot soldiers in dense formations, and thanks to their swords and shields would also be able to defend themselves against enemy spearmen, but they would be outclassed by many other missile troops.
German and Lowland regionals
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Brabancones (Lowland Pikemen)
These professional mercenaries hail from the country of Brabant and the surrounding areas. They have a fearsome reputation, especially among knights. They are one of the few units of their time able to withstand a cavalry charge, thanks to their long spears.
While hiring oneself out as a foot soldier was usually done by the poorer people on the edges of the Catholic world, the Brabancones from rich central Europe formed a new class of professional soldiers. They were excellently equipped, well armoured, highly disciplined and to a hitherto unknown degree - greedy for plunder. They were the forerunners of the later Swiss and Landsknechts' armies of the Late Middle Ages.
At Bouvines (1214) the Brabancones gave a good account of themselves when forming a defensive circle and offering the victorious French a last stand that allowed most of the coalition army to escape. Besides their famous pikemen the Brabancones were full army, including missile units, light and heavy cavalry and true nobles who commanded them.
These professional mercenaries hail from the country of Brabant and the surrounding areas. Their crossbow is a potent weapon ready to be used with minimal training unlike other archery weapons. It is slow to reload and lacks the distance of drawn bows but makes up for it in power. Mercenary crossbow units are popular throughout the known world as they provide ranged punch for those that need it. These are even better as they wield deadly axes in close combat, and know how to use them.
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Lotharinger (Lowland Mercenary Spearmen)
These mercenary spearmen hail from Lorraine. With the de facto disappearance of the levy host from the European roster in the 12th Century the feudal armies were often lacking a suitable infantry. Apart from the poor border regions of the Catholic world, from where light troops could be hired at any time, in particular the overpopulated, but comparable rich, Rhineland offered a good ground for recruiting. These men are excellently equipped and well disciplined. Under good conditions they even would be able to stop a charge of knights.
French and Italian Regionals
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Archèrs Gasconas (Gascon Crossbowmen)
Even though the crossbow is usually associated with the Middle Ages, it is in fact an Ancient weapon. One of the regions from were the crossbows never completely disappeared during the Dark Ages was southern France. There crossbows were still used in large numbers by peasants for hunting. A good ground for recruiting crossbowmen as mercenaries!
The Gascons were recruited in large numbers by the English kings as an answer to the Welsh longbowmen. Even though having many crossbowmen is better than nothing when facing large numbers of skilled archers, it turned out that the crossbow was far better suited to shoot down knights than fighting a war of ambushes in the hills and woods of Wales. Nevertheless, until they were finally able to replace the French crossbowmen with Welsh archers (against France), the English armies made much use of crossbows on both sides of the Channel.
As a matter of irony, Richard the Lionhearted, one of the foremost supporters of the usage of French crossbowmen, was killed by a crossbow-bolt in France.
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Balestrieri Genovesi (Genoese Crossbowmen)
Men from Genoa would have been among the first to fully utilize the lethal military potential of the crossbow in the Middle Ages. Genoese Crossbowmen are attested since the early 11th Century, they played an important role in the conflicts between the Italian communities in the 12th and 13th Century and finally appeared in huge numbers on the battlefields of the Hundred Years War until the 15th Century. As long as the crossbow played a role in European warfare the Balestrieri Genovesi did too.
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Exercitales (Italian Picked Spearmen)
These men are picked soldiers deployed by the Lombardian cities. Even though the armies of northern Italy were centred on knights and their retinue, like those of all western Europe, urban militias often played a vital role in the Lombardian armies. This was also a result of many nobles living in the towns, something that would have been out of question for the German or French nobility.
While huge cities like Milan would have been able to field hundreds, if not thousands, of militiamen, the true contingents deployed by individual communities stayed rather small. At Legnano (1176) the corps of foot soldiers of all allied cities present did not number more than about 500 picked men, deployed around the Carroccio. But these 500 men had been able to withstand the charge of thousands of German knights, command by Emperor Barbarossa himself, long enough to allow the already routed Italian knights coming back to the field and turning the already lost battle into a victory.
Spanish Regionals
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Caballeros Villanos (Spanish Militia Horsemen)
These men are the famous Caballeros Villanos, the famous "Brown Knights", so called for peasant clothing. They are not nobles but peasants that were given land by the king in return for their service as horsemen. Different to the rest of Western Europe, the rural levy in Spain maintained a high degree of readiness as a result of the constant border wars between the various Christian and Muslim kings and petty kings. The Christian kings also abstained from the European customs to instantly divide the newly conquered lands amongst their vassals and made free farmers, like these men, and knights orders the base of the Reconquista.
Almughavars
The name Almughavar comes from Arabic, 'al mughavir' meaning raiders. Originating from Aragon, from both Christian and Muslim backgrounds, these professional warriors are elite light infantry skirmishers armed with javelins and spears, and sometimes armour. Despite their light equipment, they have a fearsome reputation.
Gaelic Regionals
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Saigheadair (Gaelic Archers)
These men were levied of the clan’s herdsmen. While they would be certainly outnumbered and outclassed by the more professional English archers they would be a decent addition to any Scottish army, at least when the enemy would be similarly poorly armoured as the Highlanders themselves.
Schiltrom (Gaelic Pikemen)
These men fight in a very traditional, but also very effective way. Not being able to afford any armour, blade weapons or even shields using a long spear to keep the enemy at bay can be a good way to survive the day. In fact this kind of fighting was known since the Celtic times. While it might have been of limited use when facing armoured foot soldiers it turned out to be very useful when the Scottish kings needed anything to counter the superior English knights.
Men like these had been hired and levied in huge numbers during the centuries of Scottish-English warfare. While the English knights in fact had not been able to overrun the Schiltroms, as they were used to so with any other infantry, the completely unarmoured spearmen proofed to be an easy game for the Welsh longbowmen that quickly became the most important part of the English armies.
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Gall-Gaedhil (Norse-Gaelic Nobles)
These men are nobles from Ireland and Scotland. Both regions were heavily influenced by Norse invaders since the Viking times. While the newcomers, small in numbers as they were, would have quickly adopted the Gaelic culture, they themselves brought their style of fighting and their typical equipment to their new homes. That way the nobility from Ireland and the western Highlands would not have looked much different to the Norse Hersar. In fact the typical Viking helmets with their nose- and face-protections stayed much longer in use in Scotland than in Scandinavia itself.
The Gall-Gaedhil fight in a traditional shield wall. Even though this formation would be easily crashed by modern European knights, it is much better suited to fight the spear-walls of the Highland peasants than rushing on horseback into the pikes.
Ceathairne (Gaelic Warband)
These men are ordinary clansmen. In times of war a clan would marshal all his male population fit for warfare. Commanded by the clan leaders, these levies would have often counted several hundred men per clan. The clansmen themselves would provide their own equipment. While the leaders might be protected by mail and would be using excellent Norse and English weapons, the commoners would have padded clothing, war axes and small shields - at best!
Despite their poor equipment, what is on the other hand well suited for warfare in the Highlands, these men form a fierce force that can be a useful addition to any feudal army.
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Marcshluagh (Gaelic Horsemen)
The Highlands are probably not the best ground for mounted warfare and the Highlanders never were exceptional horsemen. Nevertheless having a few men mounted would always be needed to do the necessary recognition, chase off enemy archers and steal the neighbour's cattle. Riding small ponies and wielding rather simple spears these men better keep away from anything that even looks close to a knight.
Norse Regionals
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Hersar (Early Norse Nobles)
These men are the Hersar, the Norse lesser nobility, and their retinue. The Hersar are ranking next under the jarls, and like the jarls they are required to provide the king with a certain amount of men (usually 20 or more).
Despite the western European nobility had turned into an army of horsemen for centuries, the people in the north, from Ireland to the Baltic shores, still preferred to fight in the old fashioned shield wall. In a shield wall these men would make the first lines, the central lines being composed of lesser armoured men with spears and the last lines being made of archers and javelinmen. A formation like that had been able to withstand William the Conqueror's knights at Hasting for a full day and only was defeated because the men left their positions and started running behind the seemingly fleeing enemy. But that was a generation ago. More modern tactics, in particular the massive charge of the knights with crouched lances, should nowadays make short work out of any shield wall.
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Konungsdrengir (Norse Retinue Archers)
Those young Norse that seeked fame and wealth in the armed service of the king or another high noble were called 'konungsdrengir'. These men are armed with a bow, a short sword or an axe, and a shield. Unarmoured men with ranged weapons like these would form the rear lines in a traditional shield wall.
Because herding and hunting played a large role in Scandinavian economy the Norse archers with their long bows were often able to outclass their German and French opponents. Nevertheless using, rather young and inexperienced, archers in the rear lines of a shield wall was not without problems, and the full armoured warriors in the front ranks often lost not few men to what generals call 'friendly fire' nowadays.
Huskarlar (Norse Retinue Axmen)
Literally meaning 'house man', Huscarls are the household troops of Scandinavian nobles. They are full armoured in mail, and their huge axes, with which a skilled Huscarl would be able to kill a charging horse at full run, had become legendary on Europe’s battlefields, and a nightmare to those who oppose them. In a shield wall these men would form the front lines, together with the nobles. Men with this kind of equipment and style of fighting had been adopted, hired and copied from the British Isles, the Baltics, Russia, down to the Varangian Guard in Byzantium.
As a loyal and entrusted servant of his lord a true Huscarl would not just be a soldier, but also be occupied with duties of the same importance in peace times, such as collecting taxes, making visitations on remote possessions of his lord and the like.
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Fardrengir (Norse Mercenaries)
Those young Norse men that go on overseas journey to earn themselves fame and wealth were called 'fardrengir'. They were the same people that a century ago had been called ''vikingar', Vikings. Those men fight for everyone who is willing to pay them and traditionally make no difference between a Catholic king, a pagan chieftain, the Orthodox emperor in Byzantium or a Muslim emir in Spain.
Some preview-picks from the internal version showing the new units in battle.
A view glitches to be fixed and some new skins, for example for the knights, still to be implemented, but otherwise dHRR is now "turned around" from featuring "mostly vanilla units" to featuring "hardly any vanilla units".
Preview dHHR 0.8: Faction Previews Sicily and the Iberians
dHRR 0.8 Faction Previews Sicily and the Iberians (Aragon, Castile, Portugal)
Sicily
Tancred d’Hauteville certainly not was the most important of the Norman lords in France, but he was very successful in one thing, guess what…..
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To find all those children, grand-children and great-grand-children a new home the Normans came to Italy, quickly subdued the local lords, expelled the Arabs and founded themselves a kingdom of their own….
….Well, that would be the short version. The longer version would include that in 1080 neither was all of southern Italy conquered by the Normans…
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….nor had all the Arabs been expelled….
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…and certainly no one was a king.
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And even though there had been more urgent things to do in Italy, adventurous Normans already crossed the next sea to find themselves a new fight….
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But those Normans not only were bloodthirsty berserkers, they also adopted what they thought useful from their Byzantine and Arabian forerunners and out of that formed one of the best administrated states in Medieval Europe. This state was a strange mixture of western feudalism and Byzantine and Arabic centralism. In fact the feudal lords were really suppressed in Sicily, what resulted in several uprisings and mass executions of nobles, right into Staufian times. So some special rules will apply when playing this faction:
When playing with Sicily you can appoint Emirs as governors for your towns. Emirs cannot be members of your family tree, but need to be generals recruited in southern Italy. So, whenever you need an Emir, recruit a general in one of those cities and he will acquire the title of an Emir. An Emir has a bonus in Tax and Law, but a penalty in Troop Moral.
The most able of those Emirs can be promoted to Kaid. This promotion is triggered by a simple "liked-by-the-king" system:
- When the king is chivalresque (i.e. has chivalry) an Emir with chivalry has a certain chance to be promoted to Kaid. The higher the Loyalty of the Emir, the higher the chance for promotion.
- When the king is dreaded (i.e. has dread) an Emir with dread has a certain chance to be promoted to Kaid. The higher the Loyalty of the Emir, the higher the chance for promotion.
- When the king is opportunistic (i.e. has neither dread nor chivalry) an Emir with no dread or chivalry has a certain chance to be promoted to Kaid. The higher the Loyalty of the Emir, the higher the chance for promotion.
The minimum age is 40.
Being Kaid makes them eligible to one of the two highest offices in the state: Ammiratus Ammiratorum, the “emir of emirs”, who is the principal counsellor of the king, and Megas Logothetes, the Sicilian equivalent to a chancellor (yes, this wild mixture of Greek, Latin and Arabian titles is intended).
Both officers are Familiaris Regis, member of the royal household. The Familiares were the 'inner circle' of the government of Sicily. This was a very exclusive club to which noblemen and archbishops only had access occasionally. In dHRR besides these two only the faction heir will always be a member of the Familia. Besides that, any family member who is holding a title (either worldly or clerical) can acquire the status of a Familiaris. The lower the Authority of the faction leader the lower is the required Loyalty of the nobles to become Familiares. In return, all holders of titles that are not Familiares Regis can get a penalty in Loyalty.
Iberia
Welcome to Spain, where the Moors have disappeared from the south, the King of Aragon is not holding a single town in Aragon, the King of Castile and Leon has to do with everything north of the Duero, and no one is King of Portugal.
In Spain there are only two feudal titles that can be acquired by everyone: that of a Count of Coimbra on the Atlantic coast, and that of a Count of Barcelona on the other end of the Peninsula. All other lands in the north are kingdoms. There are six of them: Aragon, Pamplona, Castile, Leon, Galicia and Portugal. These titles are usually held by the faction leader, what is fine for him because it can give him a boost of Authority, but is not so good for the faction, because only one character might be able to get the local feudal in all towns.
A royal title in Spain is either held as faction leader-title or as “secondary royal title”. The faction leader-title is what it says: the title that is always held by the faction leader. For example, the faction leader of Castile always holds the title of a King of Castile. Besides this he can acquire any other royal title in Spain if his faction holds all towns belonging to that title (exception: Castile only needs to hold Leon to get that royal title); this is called the “secondary royal title”. Once acquired, a secondary royal title can be inherited in direct (father to son) lineage. This heir must not be identical with the faction heir. In case Alfonso had sons when he died but the faction heir would be his brother, this brother would only acquire the title of a King of Castile, the other two titles would be inherited by Alfonso’s sons. If he died without sons all three titles would pass to the next faction leader, provided Castile still holds Leon and Oviedo (Galicia).
That way it might happen that you have a character who is faction leader as king of Leon, Castile and Galicia; next generation the faction leader will be King of Leon and Castile only, while someone else is king of Galicia; and in another occasion someone will hold the crowns of Leon and Galicia while the faction leader is King of Castile only. Things like that were rather common in Medieval Spain.
This only applies to the three Iberian factions (and to Portugal only after becoming a kingdom). All other Christian faction will have normal counts’ and dukes’ titles available in northern Spain instead. In detail it looks like that:
Blue, County of Barcelona:
- All Christians: Count of Barcelona (Comes Barchinonensis)
Provinces: Barcelona (Katalan)
Orange, Kingdom of Aragon:
- Faction Aragon: King of Aragon (Rex Aragonensium), faction leader
- Faction Castile & Portugal: secondary royal title
- Other Christians: Comes de Aragone
Provinces: Huseca (Aragon), Zaragoza (Aragon)
Red, Kingdom of Navarra:
- Faction Aragon: Rex Pampilunensium, secondary royal title
- Faction Castile & Portugal: secondary royal title
- Other Christians: Dux Naverrorum
Provinces: Pamplona (Navarra)
Yellow, Kingdom of Castile:
- Faction Castile: Rex (totius) Castelle, faction leader
- Faction Aragon & Portugal: secondary royal title
- Other Christians: Comes in Castella
Provinces: Burgos (Castille), Toledo (Castille)
Purple, Kingdom of Leon:
- Faction Castile: Rex Leonum, secondary royal title
- Faction Aragon & Portugal: secondary royal title
- Other Christians: Dux Leonum
Provinces: Leon, Salamanca
Grey, Kingdom of Galicia:
- Faction Castile: Rex Gallecie, secondary royal title
- Faction Aragon & Portugal: secondary royal title
- Other Christians: Comes Gallecie
Provinces: Oviedo (Asturias) + the Count or King of Galicia also gets his bonus in Porto, but the title can only be acquired in Oviedo
White, County/Kingdom of Portugal:
- Faction Portugal: Comes/Rex Portugalensis, faction leader
- Faction Aragon & Castile: secondary royal title
- Other Christians: Comes Portugalensis
+ Coimbra (all Christians): Comes Eminio
Provinces: Porto (Portugal), Coimbra (Portugal), Lisbon (Portugal)
Another title that can be acquired by a Spanish faction leader is Imperator (totius) Hispaniae. To acquire this title a faction leader of a Spanish faction must hold three or more Iberian royal titles, and all lands belonging to the respective titles, of which one must be that of a King of Leon. That way the King of Castile might be the first one to acquire it after the conquest of Salamanca and Toledo. The Imperator Hispaniae also is the only one to get a local bonus in the green territories too. Otherwise this would be no-man’s land.
Each of these kingdoms has its own court. That way the faction leader of each Spanish faction is able to appoint officers for all his courts. There more royal titles he holds the more officers he can appoint. Our Alfonso, for example, would be able to appoint three constables, one for each kingdom he has.
The two highest ranking offices are that of an Alfaréz Mayor and of a Maior Domus. Each faction can only have one of that:
These are also the only two offices that are held by lifelong appointment.
Below that we have the offices of an Arm-Bearer (Armiger), Constable (Stabularius), a Butler (Botellarius) and Cup-Bearer (Pincerna). Of these offices there is one for each royal title, but this royal title must be held by the faction leader. The promotion happens by winning a battle (the military offices) or finishing a building (the administrative offices). When a character who already is holding an office acquires a new one he loses the old offices, giving him a bonus in Popularity. Requirement to become Alfaréz Mayor or Mairo Domus is to have held one of the lower ranking offices before.
Faction Portugal can only acquire secondary royal titles and appoint officers after becoming independent.
Portugal becomes a Kingdom
At the beginning of the game, Portugal is a county subjected to the King of Galicia. Portugal can become independent as soon as one of these three events became true:
(1) Portugal and Castile are at war with each other
(2) Castile is destroyed by a third party
(3) Castile is no longer holding Oviedo, but Portugal is still holding Porto.
Last edited by konny; November 15, 2009 at 08:29 AM.
Retired
Re: Preview dHRR 0.8: Western European core units
Artifex
Originally Posted by Nakharar
Otium cum dignitate
supersonic
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