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Military

 

A grand scheme of the military careers available in Wessex can be found here.


Excerpt from the 2nd Fireside Chat.

 

The Duchy of Wessex is first and foremost a feudal state. Indeed, its feudal nature is the most unique and particular feature about it, and is the characteristic which distinguishes it from other gaming clans. Of course, the very focus and raison d'etre of feudalism is excellence and efficiency in warfare, particularly in a world where warfare is ongoing and does not cease. Feudalism is, in both Darkfall and in real medieval history, the answer of the practical to the uncivilized and turbulent circumstances presented.

As covered in the previous Fireside Chat, Wessex is divided into three social classes. The "feudalism" of Wessex is the descriptor for the bond between the main two classes - the gentry and the villeins. The third class, the freemen, is even defined as a class only inasmuch as it is the class that exists "outside" of this all-important feudal bond. The villeins' part of the bond is to supply labor, resources, and military rank and file to the society. The gentry's part of the bond is to provide leadership, administration, law, strategy, and devastating military power in the form of navies and heavy cavalry.

The military of Wessex, therefore, is the combination of both the gentry and the villeiny social classes. It is a substratum of rank structure that exists underneath but contiguously with the "social" class divisions. The military proper contains the entirety of the gentry and about half of the villeins, the half that has elected to become soldiers. Every member of the gentry is a member of the military, and every villein who elects to become a soldier is as well. Those villeins who do not elect to become soldiers may yet even be called into battle as militia under a ducal levy, so even they may be considered part of the military.

This means that everyone in Wessex will have both their social rank and then their military rank. You can see two sets of titles listed under the post headings for some of our members. Social rank is a matter of blood, title, fealty and land possession. Military rank is a matter of what duties you perform on the battlefield and what part of the regiment you occupy. The two are related quite directly- the gentry can take the officer ranks, while the villeins and freemen must take the enlisted ranks.

The Wessex military force will basically be composed of knights, soldiers, and specialty forces. Every officer is either a knight (or its variants, the baronet and thane) or an apprentice knight called an esquire, of course. (Lords are just super-knights with other knights sworn to them.) Every enlisted man is either a villein or a volunteer freeman and is considered a soldier. Specialty forces are part of that possible fourth social class, the clergy, and who will serve the Duchy directly and include some of our more exotic rank classifications which will be discussed below.

This is where the very important feudal bond comes in. Every soldier who is a villein will be sworn in fealty to a knight, and will follow that particular knight to battle. They will wear the arms and insignia of that knight, and all on the battlefield will recognize those soldiers as belonging to that knight's contingent...

...No matter whether a soldier is sworn in fealty to the House of a Knight or directly to myself, they will still train together with the entire military force of Wessex, under the Constable, or whomever is running drills that day. If the Duchy grows very large and training together becomes a problem, then the forces of various local knights will form local chapters for drilling so that travel is not inconvenient.

Below are some of the ranks that can be achieved militarily in Wessex, along with the different social class ranks that can attain them:

Infantrymen



Militiamen: Unenlisted villeins who are called up by ducal levy during emergencies and who have no practice at the combat drilling and formations that their true soldier counterparts have will be referred to simply as "militiamen".

Footmen: When a villein who prefers hand to hand combat first elects to enlist as a soldier, he or she will be considered a "footman". Footmen exist in both the ducal garrison and under the personal garrisons of knights. Footmen have just enlisted and have little combat experience, and since by default most troops will be expected to provide their own equipment, they will also have little in the way of armor. I suspect that I will make it mandatory that all footmen of my own Ducal Garrison train with pikes.

Men-at-Arms: As it says in the Ducal Court document, men at arms have a bit more experience than the fresh footmen and are more combat savvy and better equipped. Men-at-Arms also exist in both the Ducal Garrison and under various knights. Because these ranks are really about being able to keep track of the forces of our armies, when a soldier becomes of adequate skill, his new status will be taken note of by his liege lord and that lord's herald, who will report the numbers of men-at-arms to the central government.

Horsemen



Sergeants: When soldiers are able to acquire their own horses and the skills to adequately fight from them in battle along with significant accomplishments in arms and armor, they will be designated sergeants. A minor exam will be given, but very little in the way of bureaucracy and certification need be practiced. Often as little as a nod of acknowledgement from a liege lord and the note of it taken by a herald is enough for that soldier to then be known as a sergeant. Sergeants are the best candidates to be selected as esquires. Sometimes if a sergeant is sworn to a knight, the knight will leave the sergeant with the duty of leading the knight's villeins and soldiers to battle while the knight takes his place in a cavalry unit.

Cavaliers: The first officer rank for the soldier who has followed the melee path of skill. One cannot be considered a cavalier until he or she has at least been taken as an esquire to some knight, if not having become a knight himself. Being a cavalier means that this soldier will most often be charging with a unit of cavalry.

Lieutenants: A lieutenant is usually a knight that has been designated as a second or a stand-in for a captain or commander ( i.e. to lead "in lieu"). This person will most often be the favorite of a certain lord.

Lords, barons, and bannerets of Hyperion, that is to say, knights who hold tenure over large tracts of land and who have other knights sworn in fealty to them may sometimes be assigned the title of "Captain" or "Commander" over a particular campaign by the King or the Royal Constable. Under these circumstances the Commander would be in charge of directing an entire division which is constituted of several units. For instance, if a front which consisted of thirteen units into three wings each, a commander over each would be assigned with the example titles of "Far Right Commander", "Heavy Infantry Commander", etc.

Missile Infantrymen


Bowmen: Those villeins who first enlist who prefer the bow or crossbow to melee weapons may simply elect to become archers. They are roughly equivalent in rank to the footman, they are just identified differently so that their superiors can keep track of the capability of a particular force.

Archers: Archers who have had success in battle and have acquired an increase in both accuracy and equipment may be designated as marksmen by their superiors. Marksmen still usually occupy the same rank and file with their archer brethren.

Archer Sergeants: The archer sergeant is a designated leader over a squad of archers and bowmen.

Those ranged fighters who have not followed the ways of chivalry but who have attained the social rank of baronet are members of the gentry and are equivalent to knights. You may expect to see ex-rangers or even ex- (or current) assassins who have attained the rank of baronet acting on the field in the same capacity as their knightly counterparts, ordering troops, acting as stand-ins for captains, etc.

Rangers: Rangers are the best archers or marksmen who have been hand selected by the forester to serve in his landwarding force. Rangers no longer serve in the rank and file of the archery units in warfare. Under the forester, their main duty is to patrol the lands and wilds of Wessex in search of poachers and raiding clans. Rangers should be excellent sharpshooters but also be well armored and skilled in melee combat. In warfare, the ducal rangers will carry out reconnaissance missions and will act as scouts. I am considering declaring rangers to be freemen when they reach this rank.

Specialty Forces


Assassins: Those skilled stealthers and archers that the forester does not select may be selected to serve in a small specialty force of assassins. I expect only a handful will ever serve in this capacity, but those that do will be those legendary sorts of players who excel in PVP and not only revel in the kind of one man vs. many exploits that are a thrill to read about, but will actually succeed in them time and time again. The Ducal Assassins are on equal rank with the rangers, but they are more exclusive and there will likely be very few of them. And then, it's possible that those who have been selected for this position may be approached completely privately!


Chaplain: Those who have joined external holy orders of Auros but who have NOT yet achieved the rank of knight of their orders may find themselves serving a role on the field somewhat like a combat medic. These will be the acolytes, aspirants, etc. of those orders. They will collectively be known militarily as "chaplains". Regular footmen who have trained healing skill will not be known as chaplains unless they are not villeins but members of the clergy.

Thaumaturgist: All soldiers begin as footmen or archers, but those who focus on their skill at wonder working at the expense of their more mundane skills may find themselves called to give up their villein status and apply for membership in the elusive Ordo Solis et Lunae. The Ordo is a mystical (read: holy) order, and therefore its members will be considered clergy for the sake of the social class they occupy. The Ordo, in the future, will provide a military contingent of "thaumaturgists" for the battlefield who are highly and specifically trained for the more spectacular and effective aspects of magic in Darkfall. I use the word thaumaturgist because its connotation is only on the dynamic aspect of magic and not on the spiritual, which seems appropriate for a soldier. The Ordo will assign its own rank structure to the members of its Order and the thaumaturgists it provides to defend the Duchy.

The Navy



Much as for the regular Ducal Army, the Navy will consist of both men in direct service to the duke and those in service to ducal vassals. The maritime equivalent to the Ducal Garrison will be known as the Ducal Fleet.

Certain villeins who enlist and have a penchant for the sea will be assigned to one of the ships belonging to the Ducal Court. These ships will be monikered as "HGS" (His Grace's Ship).

The rest of the Ducal Navy will be drawn from the feudal array. In certain charters and fief grants there will be provisions for the providence of ships manned by certain numbers of men. These coastal fiefdoms will have reduced feudal responsibilities for land based forces. The ships provided and produced under these charters will be monikered as "WS" (Wessex Ship).

The navy's ranks are limitied to officer positions as footmen, men-at-arms, and other landfaring soldiers can dynamically serve on sea under the supervision of a few specialized, seafaring ship's officers.

Midshipmen: The midshipmen may stand as the ones giving orders to landfaring villeins on different decks of the ship while higher officers control navigation and other issues.

Mates: Mates are gentry and are stand-ins or replacements for the ship's captain should he fall. Mates could be esquires who received the title without being selected by a knight or could be baronets or knights who got tired of all that horseback business.

Captains: Those who are the commanding officers of ships will most likely be baronets, or could be successful merchant burgesses who voluntarily brought their berths into military service.

Commodore: There will be an eighth Cabinet position of Commodore to stand with the Constable and the forester.

While we are on the topic of the Navy, I should mention how private vessels will be manned. As it will be with shops, the villein who saves up enough money to buy his own merchant sailing vessel will be excused from villeiny and granted the social rank of burgess. From there, that burgess may people his merchant vessel with other freemen burgesses who are willing to be hired to serve in this capacity, or he might strike up special deals with liege lords to "rent" their villeins out to serve as sailors on his ship, paying a price per head, per voyage, or even a percentage of the profit from a successful trading venture. The individual villeins serving as sailors could also work out a deal with their liege lord to buy their way out of villeiny by paying to him their share of the wages they receive for serving on the merchant vessel. Of course, such deals are entirely up to the largesse of the liege lord!..

...If you would like me to go into more detail about anything discussed here, the forum is open to replies... Otherwise, until next time--

Yours,
Duke Wessex.