[UNITS] The Britons

**Willhelm123** · October 05, 2015, 01:47 PM

Introduction and Explanation

The Britons were a people inhabiting the British Isles from the Iron age onwards. They inhabited all of modern day England, Wales, and some of lower Scotland. They were a Celtic people who spoke a Celtic language called Common Brittonic. However their culture was not identical to the Celts of mainland Europe, such as Gaul. This was primarily due to being isolated from the mainland, though not totally isolated as trade and travel occurred, but isolated enough to create a difference in culture. It's believed that the Britons represented a more traditional Celtic culture from the earlier La Tene period, whereas the mainland Celts, no doubt with influence from the Romans and Greeks, had a slightly more advanced and less traditional Celtic culture. This means that for the Britons in our period their culture is still heavily divided on the old Celtic class system, and militarily with a heavy influence on champion combat and ritual warfare.

The class divisions of the Britons Celtic culture were the Unfree, the Free, and the Nobles. The unfree were what today you'd call peasants or serfs, they weren't slaves in the traditional sense, but they were tied to the land and had to farm it for their lord, who in turn offered them protection. The unfree were not warriors but could fight if the need was great enough. The Free Class were men who were not tied to any land or lord, and could do as they wanted, hence the name. They would be the tradesmen, the smiths, and other similar occupations of the period. Freemen would form their own warbands and fight together but they didn't have as much emphasis on being a warrior as the noble class. The Nobles were the final class, these were the land owning wealthy tribal chiefs, leaders and their extended families. This class was actually quite large. Some people believe that traditionally only this class were allowed to be warriors, and while this isn't true for our period it's still true that they had a huge warrior culture, with every noble aspiring to become a great and famous hero through many battles. Nobles, and occasionally Freemen, would become patrons to other nobles, sometimes called a retainer. These men would follower the higher ranking noble as bodyguards, while he in return would provide them with better equipment and chances for glory and honour in battle.

The name Briton was originally with a P, something like Priton, which survived in the name of the Picts who lived in modern day Scotland. Briton means "Picture, Painted, Tattoo", and it's likely that the modern word "Picture" shares the same origin. They have this name because the Britons used to paint their bodies with woad and other dyes, into elaborate and no doubt religious patterns. This was one of their defining traits and comes up in many ancient accounts. This does not mean every warrior was Painted but certainly a good amount. The Britons also liked to fight naked, like many other Celts. This also seems to have had religious reasons, or perhaps a show of bravery. If not naked most Britons will wear their regular Celtic clothing into battle, wealthier warriors can afford armour such as chainmail, which is native to the Celts. It may have been imported to Britain or made locally, probably both. Helmets were fairly popular, generally being quite simple Celtic designs such as the Coolus or Montefortinos. The most common weapon was the spear, but the most prized weapon was the Longsword, with religious meaning tied to it. Most nobles could probably afford a Longsword, perhaps choosing between getting the sword or getting armour, whereas most freemen and probably all unfree would have to settle for spears.

The Units

Unfree Class

Levied Spearmen and Spear Militia
The basic troop provided by the Unfree classes would be simple spearmen, little to no armour, spears and celtic shields, they can't afford nor deserve swords. As Briton society advances they would develop into a more permanent militia.