Military Operations

Basic Concepts
Each nation will have a list of the types of units that they can recruit or build, the cost to recruit them,
the upkeep cost for them, and the training time required (if any). Once recruited, new troops go into
the “training pool”. Training occurs automatically each turn until the units are fully trained (or, in the
case of ships, built). Once fully trained, they may be assigned to an army or fleet that is located in the
same province or city – if they are not so assigned, they will automatically go into the garrison of that
province or city. Note that players may have as many training pools as they have provinces and cities,
and can have some or none of them with troops in training. Units not fully trained will fight as militia
should their city or province be attacked.

Each army unit will have the following attributes:

Name: What the unit is called

Designation: A four letter abbreviation that designates the unit by type
Description: A brief description of how the troops are equipped.
Cost: The cost to initially recruit the unit.
Upkeep: The per turn maintenance cost of the unit.
Missile AV: The unit's attack value with missile weapons
Melee AV: The unit's hand-to-hand attack value
Defensive Value: The unit's resistance to attacks.
Durability: How much damage a unit can withstand
Morale: A general morale rating of the unit.
Special: Any special abilities the unit may have (see below for a list)

Each navy unit will have the following attributes:

Name: What the unit is called

Designation: A four letter abbreviation that designates the unit by type
Description: A brief description of the unit.
Cost: The cost per turn of building.
Upkeep: The per turn maintenance cost of the unit.
Missile AV: Attack value with ballistae, catapult, and archers
Ram AV: Ramming attack value (if any)
Boarding CV: Combat value during boarding actions
Durability: Amount of damage the hull can withstand from missile and ramming attacks
Mobility: How well a unit can evade a ramming or boarding attempt.
Transport: The troops capacity of a unit if any
Morale: A general morale rating for the crew
Special: Any special abilities the unit may have (see below for a list)

Army units are generally about 500 troops, but this will vary somewhat – the smaller races will have
more than that, while the larger races may have considerably less. Naval units assume a small flotilla,
usually 2-4 ships. I will release a public document that has the Names, Designations, and Descriptions
for every unit, just so you don't go “what's that?” when you see your enemy has, say, a GOWR or a
HUHP in their garrison. Also, when you receive your listing of units (or an intel report on enemy units),
the combat and morale stats will be listed on a descriptor scale: Bad, Poor, Mediocre, Average, Good,
Excellent, Superb. Each descriptor will cover a range of values, but they will give you a good basis for
comparison.

Troops may be placed into armies or garrisons. Garrisons contain troops only – no characters are
attached – and are immobile and can only be used to defend a particular province or city in the event of
an attack. Armies must have a designated commander (usually a general) and may be issued move,
raid, patrol, attack, siege, or ambush orders (or anything else if you can think of something creative).
Both armies and garrisons will have an overall morale modifier that alters each unit's morale. Note that
armies are subject to attrition, while garrisons are not (see the attrition rules below).

Navies are either in a fleet (with an attached commander), or in drydock. As with armies, only fleets
can be given orders, and only fleets are subject to attrition. Fleets in drydock have zero combat ability,
but cost no upkeep while they are there and do not suffer attrition.

Movement
Each army has a number of Movement Points (MP) based on their composition. Armies with foot
troops have 2MP. If an army contains only mounted or flying troops, it will have 4MP. Armies that are
only flying units (very rare!) will further treat all terrain as “open” terrain, but cannot end their move in
a sea or lake province.

Terrain will be listed as either open, rough, or extreme. Open terrain requires 1MP to enter, and consists
of plains, steppes, farmland, gentle hills, etc. Rough terrain requires 2MP to enter and consists of hills,
forests, and marshy land. Extreme terrain is usually impassable and consists of mountains, deep desert,
jungle, and swamp. However, if an army makes its scouting roll (see special abilities below), it may
enter such a province at the cost of all of it's MP – not remaining MP, all of it. In addition, entering
extreme terrain will almost certainly cause some increased attrition.

There are a number of mountain passes marked on the map. Movement through such a pass is
considered rough terrain. Such passes are often narrow, and provide defenders with an exceptional
advantage even in the absence of any fortifications, so attackers beware!

Fleets have 2MP for galleys and 5MP for sailing ships. Each sea or lake province is 1MP. Galleys must
end their turn on a friendly coast or port – they simply aren't seaworthy enough to remain at sea for any
length of time. As such, galleys are almost exclusively found on lakes, or in the relatively protected
waters of certain bays. The one advantage to galleys is that they can conduct ramming attacks,
something sailing vessels cannot do. Fleets that have a mixture of sailing ships and galleys must obey
the rules for galleys.

Combat
I'm purposefully not going to give the algorithms that will be used for combat, because I don't want
people min-maxing the game (that seems to detract from the flavor somewhat). Suffice to say that
usually the cost of a unit is indicative of its combat ability, special abilities can be very useful in the
right circumstances, and leadership and morale are both very important.

In general, there are only a few broad combat orders you can give to the troops – the tactics and
battlefield selection is left up to the commanders on the scene. The basic orders are:

 Defend (Army). Orders the army to defend a particular city, or react to an invasion of a
province. Keeps the army concentrated for large possible battles, so not very helpful against
raids.
  Patrol (Army or Fleet): Actively patrol a province looking for threats. Works well to deter or
intercept raids, but as the units are dispersed, can be at a disadvantage in the face of an invasion.
 Raid (Army or Fleet): Has the units disperse and make raids into a target province looking to
loot and pillage, or raid commercial shipping. If successful it will garner some loot for the
treasury and increase troop morale while lowering the PCP and possibly the population of the
target region.
 Siege (Army): Reduce the defensive fortifications of a city or province.
 Assault (Army): An all-out assault on a city, attempting to storm the walls, batter down the
gates, etc. Very risky, as the defenders get a considerable bonus if there are still existing
fortifications, but it is certainly much faster than a long siege.
 Blockade (Fleet): Cuts off a city or province from all naval traffic. Can be quite detrimental to
trade. May also be used to bottle up an enemy fleet.
 Ambush (Army): A defensive measure best used by smaller armies only, the ambush, if
successful, can be devastating. The defender tries to inflict major damage on the attacker then
withdraw quickly. The success of an ambush depends on the size of the ambushing force, the
amount of scouting ability in both forces, and the type of terrain in the province.

You may well think of other orders if you get inventive. If so, discuss them with me and we'll see
where it leads (this is true of any order you might want to come up with). Note as well that there is no
“Attack” order. Moving into a province that is not yours or an allies will cause your army to halt and a
battle will commence with the defending or ambushing army – with one exception. If the moving army
is faster (all mounted or all flying for example) than the defending army, then the attacker may move
through the province into another province without triggering a battle if he wishes. This must be noted
in the movement orders for the army. For fleets, a no one controls sea zones, the fleet will only engage
in battle if it encounters a patrolling enemy fleet. If it survives the battle, it will continue its movement.

You may also, if desired, select a character that is attached to an army to designate as that army's
“champion”. In a set-piece battle (not a raid, siege, ambush, or assault), that champion will challenge
the opponent's champion to single combat before the battle ensues. If one side has no champion, the
challenger's army will receive a morale boot. If there is a fight, it will usually be to the death, and the
winner's side will get a morale boost while the loser's side takes a morale hit, possibly. The magnitude
of each will depend on the combatants and the outcome of the fight.

Fortifications
both cities and provinces have fortification values, but the operate somewhat differently in game terms.
For provinces, the fort level represents strong points such as castles, keeps, and watchtowers. As long
as an occupied province has fortifications that are not under siege, that province is considered to be in
revolt. All revenues from a province in revolt are halved, and any armies operating in the province will
suffer increased attrition. To fully siege a province requires 2 units per fortification point with orders to
siege the province. Further, for each engineering point (see special abilities below) in the besieging
army, one fort point will surrender and has a 50/50 chance of being eliminated or becoming “friendly”
to the occupier. Once all fort points that remain are friendly, the province is considered pacified, though
loyalty levels will likely remain very low.

For cities, the fort value represents city walls, towers, fortresses, and the like. If placed under siege, that
city will no long contribute any revenue to the owning ruler, and the fort level will be reduced by the
besieging force's engineering points minus the defending forces engineering points. If the defenders
have more points, there is no reduction at all, as the defenders are repairing the damage faster than it
occurs. A player may elect to assault a city that still has existing fortifications, but they should be aware
that the defender will be greatly enhanced by the fortifications. Only very well equipped and lead
armies should attempt an assault if there isn't at least three times as many attacking units as there are
defending units plus fortification points. Further, any mounted units involved in an assault have
considerably diminished attack capabilities (hard to get the horses, ponies, wolves, etc. to climb
ladders!). Once a city is taken, half of the original fortification points (minus any outright destroyed by
magical attacks) will be restored. If the attackers are beaten off and the siege lifted, two thirds of the
points will be restored.

Fortification levels can be built, though it is slow and expensive. For 1000gp, a character can build 1
fortification point in a province or city in one turn. 2 points will cost 3000gp, 3 points 6000gp, and 4
points (the maximum for a single turn) 10,000gp. Note that one could increase fortifications by 1 point
in 3 different cities/provinces for 3000gp, but that would require 3 characters (and 3 orders). The cost
will be reduced depending on the Engineering skill of the character overseeing the work, as well as for
characters with particularly high IN attributes. The amount will vary somewhat, as there will be
random factors at play, but significant reductions (up to 30% or more) are possible.

Militia & Levys

These are “free” units that may be raised in certain circumstances. Militia refers to citizens in cities that
will automatically turn out to defend the city. They have generally poor combat ability, but can be
dangerous behind adequate fortifications. Militia cost nothing to raise or maintain, but are only used for
city defense For every 3000 people (or fraction thereof) in a city, 1 militia unit will be automatically
generated in the event of an attack.

Levys are usually peasants, serfs, or conscripted farmers and villagers that may be raised in any
province that is a) loyal and b) doesn't have a nomadic population base. They cost nothing to raise, and
a minimal amount to maintain, but their combat ability and morale are very low – in essence, they are
really nothing more than targets that are apt to run away if given a chance. Each province will list how
many units of levys can be raised – the number will drop when you raise them, and slowly regenerate
over time. Each unit raised will lower the population base by 500, so there is an impact on the
economy. Levys may be disbanded into a province at any time – provided any of them are still alive,
that is!

Special Abilities
This is a listing of the special abilities of the various units and their effects.

 Charge: When fighting in open terrain, the unit may charge on every odd melee combat round,
tripling their attack values for that round.
 Mounted: This unit moves on horseback (or ponies, or wolves, or what have you), though in
rare cases such as mounted infantry it may actually fight on foot. Troops that fight wile
mounted gain a bonus in open terrain, but suffer penalties in rough terrain and when attacking
cities. They suffer enormous penalties in extreme terrain (if, indeed, they can even enter such
terrain).
 Pursuit: This unit can pursue routed or fleeing troops and inflict massive damage to them (in
most medieval and ancient battles, the bulk of the casualties occurred after one side broke and
the fleeing troops were ridden down). Units with the Pursuit ability are generally safe from
being pursued and will only take normal damage from routing.
 Scout x: Unit provides “x” scouting points to the army it is with. Scouting points are used to
determine the success of raids and ambushes, as well as determining how likely an amry is to be
able to enter extreme terrain. The total of the scouting points is divided by the total units in the
 army to give an army's scouting rating. (Attached characters with the Ranger, Druid, and Spy
skill may also aid in this calculation).
 Galley: Galley units have less movement than do sailing ships and are not very seaworthy. They
may only operate in the following water provinces: Lake Quag, Whyestil Lake, East Nyr Dyv,
West Nyr Dyv, Woolley Bay, Relmore Bay, Sea of Gearnat, and Jerlea Bay. Going into the open
ocean will almost certainly result in the loss of all galley-class ships.
 Negate Charge: Units equipped with pikes, long spears, and other polearms, and trained in
close-order drill. Each unit will negate the Charge ability of one enemy unit during a battle.
However, these units also tend to be slightly more vulnerable to missile fire due to their tight
formations.
 Engineer x: Provides “x” Engineering points for use in sieges; see the fortification rules above
for details.
 Flying: These units treat all terrain as open terrain for movement purposes, though they cannot
end their movement in a water province. They also tend to have scouting ability. Flying units
are rare and expensive and take a long time to train.
 Undead: Raised by foul dark arts, these troops are mindless and have perfect morale and are
very durable, though they tend to have low attack values. They are vulnerable to certain divine
spells, and if mixed into an army with living troops will tend to increase the attrition of said
troops (zombies and such being notoriously unhygienic)
 Construct: A magical construct of some kind. Constructs, like undead, have perfect morale.
They tend to be very slow, however, and as such are limited to city garrisons and armies
defending cities only.
 Magical: These troops are summoned or magically created in some fashion, and thus are
susceptible to certain banishment and dispelling effects.

Characters
As may characters as you wish may be attached to an army or fleet, and many of them will provide
some level of benefit. The most skilled General or Admiral will be considered to be in overall
command of the force and will provide significant advantages in combat. In addition, if the commander
has a high Charisma, the army may gain an overall morale boost as well. Rangers, Druids, and Spies
will all add to the scouting ability of an army, in that order of effectiveness. Warriors may be attached
for use as champions, though Rangers or Assassins could perhaps serve in this role as well. Assassins
and Warriors can serve as bodyguards for the other characters, while Spies can provide valuable
counter-espionage abilities. Magic using classes of all sorts will provide offensive and defensive
support if not ordered to cast a specific ritual magic spell (see the rules on magic for further details).
Engineers will add to an arm's siege capability, and Bureaucrats and Merchants can, aid in organization
and supply and thus help reduce attrition. Priests can boost morale by bolstering the faith of the troops.

Characters attached to an army or fleet that engages in combat do run a risk of being injured or even
killed. The chances of this happening are higher for the losing side, but even the victors may be come
hors de combat. The chances of a bad result are roughly proportional to the number of casualties taken.
Characters will not, generally, take damage from attrition. Having backup characters with an army or
fleet can be a good idea should the primary General or Admiral be slain or incapacitated. Should this
happen, the next lower-skilled General or Admiral will automatically assume command. If those skills
aren't present, a Warrior, Ranger, or Priest will take over, though they will not be nearly as effective in
this role.

Attrition
Let's face it – up until the 20th century, more soldiers and sailors were lost to disease, accident, and
extreme weather than ever were to enemy action. Armies and fleets not in garrison or drydock will
suffer some level of attrition each turn. This will be represented either by lost (eliminated) units, or
units with a “-n” next to them, representing levels of attrition that have occurred – in essence, the unit
acts as though it had already been damaged in battle. In ordinary cases attrition will be fairly mild,
usually 5% or less. However, lack of supply (upkeep), siege warfare, extreme terrain, and poor weather
will all cause this to increase. Beware of ordering an army into the mountains in winter, or the desert in
summer – you could well lose half of your force or more unless special preparations are taken. Even
then, you probably won't want to take the risk, lest your troops simply melt away. Attrition can be
“cured” by either putting the depleted army units into garrison or by putting ship flotillas into drydock
for repairs. As long as upkeep is paid, 1 level of attrition will be “healed” per turn thus spent. Certain
ritual magic spells will also increase, decrease, or cure attrition; see the rules on magic for further
details.