The Camp

Conrad Hartgwing stood in formation alongside the other men. The rain falling from the sky making a slight ring as it struck the armor of the soldiers surrounding him. Conrad laughed silently to himself. None of these men could hardly be called soldiers, including himself. Sure, they could wear armor and strap a sword to their waist, but not a single one of them had ever seen battle or held a sword. They were all conscripts. Farmers mostly. With a rebellion raging in Reikland and greenskin tribes invading from the Black Mountains south of Solland, the empire found itself short of seasoned warriors. Conrad had been called up for service as well as most other able bodied men in wissenland. Having no family of his own and no prospects of rising above being a simple farmer, Conrad relished the opportunity presented to him. His first attempt at enlisting was denied due to the empire needing food more than it needed soldiers. Now the Empire needed both, but first the food sources needed to be defended. The letter of conscription stated as much. It said that once the greenskin threat had been dealt with, all conscripts would have the option to return home. Conrad had no such plans. War was his chance to prove himself.


Two days after being called up for service he had arrived at the encampment just outside of Pfeildorf. Conrad had been to the city on occasion, but. he had lived his entire life in the country. The city was different now then he remembered. The walls were taller, the garrison that manned them much larger and better equipped from what he could see. Outside the city, just past the gates, a large encampment had been established, and hundreds of men were trickling into it. Tables had been set up with letters indicating where each man should go to check in, receive his gear, and be given his living assignment. Conrad had to admire the efficiency with which the empire’s war machine could mobilise, even when it was in crisis mode.


Conrad made his way to the letter he had been assigned when conscripted. The man he found standing opposite of him asked his name, which he promptly checked off of a list, and then directed conrad to a large, apparently hastily built structure behind him. The building had the appearance of a stable, but inside the stalls were not horses. Instead, each stall was filled with weapons, armor, uniforms, and other supplies that one would expect to find in any military armory. Next to each stall stood a man calling out numbers or letters, as if at random. A long line of men snaked through the building and after observing further Conrad realized he was supposed to join it. Upon reaching the first stall he was given a large pack, and was instructed to leave it open but to put it on. He then moved to the next stall and the man nearby called out sharply “1”. Another man next to him then ran inside, grabbed a longword, and shoved it into Conrad's hands. Conrad held it awkwardly as he continued to move from stall to stall. He realized that letters being called out were actually sizes for his clothing, and the numbers determined what equipment he was given. Apparently the man at the second stall, where Conrad had been given the sword, sized up each man appropriately, and based on whatever criteria he had in his head would decide whether each man was to carry a sword, bow, or spear. Conrad guessed he looked agile but strong and this was why he was chosen for the sword. He noticed that many of those chosen to be bowmen were tall, while the people given spears tended to be older. He guessed that spearmen did not need to be as fast or agile as swordsmen, and that bowmen needed to be tall to shoot over the heads of the front line troops.


At each stall conrad would turn around as more and more gear was shoved into the pack on his back. The last piece of gear he was given was a shield, strapped to the back of the pack. He then exited the tent and was directed to the living quarters for those men who had been chosen to learn the sword. Each tent had enough room for twelve men, and he learned that heach company of swordsmen had ten tents. Again, the organization was very apparent, and Conrad wondered how any system so meticulous and efficient could still struggle to defend the empire against simple savages from the badlands. Conrad found a spot on the wood floor for the tent and began to unpack the bed roll he had been issued. He realized the floor looked like old shipping pallets and deduced that all of the pallets that the gear had been drug in on had been recycled to use as floors for the tents in the camp. Still the efficiency of the system surprised him.


Over the next few days Conrad and the rest of the men that joined him in the company began to train on the basics of swordsmanship. Slowly the shield was introduced into their training, and finally they began to train in full armor. The company commander, a man named Victor, only the gods knew his last name apparently, was a veteran of multiple skirmishes with the greenskins. He was also the only one of the men who had ever seen combat. He advised them that their training was rushed and that normal empire swordsmen took months to learn how to fight properly, they would do so in a matter of weeks. He was honest with them in a brutal and detached way. It was apparent victor did not expect many of them to survive. It turns out that the war with the Greenskins had been going worse then any of them had heard. Steingart had been captured by the black venom tribe weeks ago and the Empire had attempted to keep it a secret. To make matters worse, Fort Soll, guarding Winters Teeth Pass, had a large force of Savage Orcs encamped outside of it. Victor informed Conrad and the other men that the army they were now a part of was under the command of Balthasar Gelt himself, and that in three months time they would be marching to Steingart to recapture the city. Fort Soll was on its own. After Steingart was retaken the army would need to march into the Black Mountains and exterminate the Black Venom tribe. Hopefully after that was done the conscripts could be released from service and the real imperial army could take over in the defense of the region.


Now, three months later, Conrad stood in formation, rain pouring down, waiting for his first battle to begin.