Military Forces
Military Forces in TKoM are formed of basic units known as Companies, of which there are ten to a Regiment. Companies are only ever referred to during an Expanded Battle or Siege Report (used in calculating and describing blow-by-blow losses), however, and the smallest unit that you as a player will refer to is the Regiment. TKoM is a STRATEGIC - not tactical - wargame, and with several hundred soldiers to a Regiment, individual troop types would be superfluous to the game system and, indeed, would in actual fact unbalance the movement rules to no great advantage. A "Regiment" may therefore be considered to include perhaps a variety of troop types, depending on its race, with the vast majority of warriors marching to war on foot - except among the Human "Horseclans" of the plains and some elite Elven noblemen, perhaps? - and bearing largely traditional mediaeval weapons such as the bow and sword, spear and mace.
As Warlord of a growing kingdom, you must accept that the fate of some things is bound to be in the hands of someone else, and never more so that in the case of your Regimental officers and Army commanders. While you give the orders as to troop dispositions and military objectives - even down to armies marching by routes assigned by yourself - when it comes to the battle itself matters are largely out of your hands. True, you will have ordered the Army Commander to adopt a particular overall battle strategy in keeping with your STRATEGIC plan as a whole, but regimental tactics on the actual battlefield will be his decision, or perhaps even that of his subordinates.
A regular army cannot exist without a population to defend: without a population to feed, clothe and arm it; or without a population from which recruits may be drawn. A strong tribe numerically means a strong army in every sense. As much as it may go against the grain, therefore, the best way to achieve and maintain a powerful, loyal army is to first ensure that you have a powerful and loyal populace, and then the one will take care of the other. Such is the first lesson of Kings, and the first failing of fools who would be Kings.
Guard Regiments
In Medokh the base military regiment from which all troops are initially drawn is the part-time peasant militia regiment of the Town Guard. Often poorly-equipped and ill-trained, Town (or City) Guard regiments are raised automatically as and when the Town Elders feel there is need for greater protection, and providing there are sufficient volunteers of course. Low Town morale may significantly reduce the number of volunteers coming forward on a regular basis, though in times of urgent LOCAL need (eg. the threat or actuality of their own or a nearby settlement coming under siege), the Town Elders will automatically decree that emergency action be taken; in the form of attempting to raise mor Guard regiments to bolster defences.
As Warlord of your tribe, you are required to help maintain all Town & City Guard regiments every turn, in whatever numbers the Town Elders feel safe with, from the tribal coffers. The cost to you per Guard regiment is shown on your Race Reference Card beneath the heading of Troop Maintenance, since this varies from race to race depending on local and racial customs and traditions.
The Warlord has no direct control over how many Guard regiments the Town Elders choose to raise (except by devious methods, which we won't go into here), and if there is money in the coffers then he must pay them. However, in return for this, as the tribal Warlord he is also empowered to call upon any number of Guard regiments at any time to serve in the regular forces, and their tour of duty can last INDEFINITELY since the Warlord can always come up with some legitimate reason for needing the troops "in the interests of the tribe".
Providing the tribe continues to prosper, there will be no problems.
It should be noted, however, that there is a physical limitation as to the percentage of any population who are both able and willing to volunteer for a Guardsman's lot, a 'well' of potential recruits if you like. Should you dip into the well too often or take more than it wishes to give, you may find that the well soon dries up. In practical terms, and without the dreadful puns, the lower you push the level of guards-to-population ratio, the longer it will take for it to recover. Flatten it completely and it will have serious difficulty in getting off the ground again.
Garrison
In order to "call up" militia Guard regiments into the regular army, and therefore be placed directly under the Warlord's command, you will need to perform the "Muster Regiments" Order - with reference to the Town or City from which they will be drawn - as described later in this booklet under the chapter on Miscellaneous Orders. Such regiments will then become Garrison regiments at that Town or City and automatically undergo rudimentary training to become full-time professional soldiers. Garrison units may be given orders directly, unlike the Town or City Guard, but not receive full-time pay (as per Race Card) and will also require rations and some replacement equipment every turn. They may be transferred to armies, new or existing ones, located at the start of the Turn at or adjoining the Town or City where the Garrison are based.
Garrison troops are on average significantly more experienced than the average Guardsman, since their ranks will be stiffened with veterans of past campaigns and courage is contagious. In addition, a Town or City may hold a number of Garrison regiments (variable, depending on Fortification level) entirely in addition to the number of Guard regiments it also contains.
Alone of the three Regiment types, Garrison units may spend a significant amount of their time training (since wall walking doesn't tend to be very taxing) whereas Field regiments in armies have to remain constantly alert when away from the protective shield of their settlements, and Guard units have neither the time to spare from their civilian duties nor the inclination for mad sprints around the town walls just to relieve the boredom.
Regiments transferred from Armies into Fortifications or Shrines will revert to being Garrison units also, and are treated in every respect as if they were Garrisoning a Town or City.
Field Regiments
Field regiments are simply Garrison regiments which have been transferred from their cozy barracks into mobile field camps (Armies), for one reason or another.
Field regiments are, however, paid significantly more than their cozier counterpart; partly danger money and partly to get the best. Professional soldiers to a man, Field regiments often form the front-line defences in times of war, and in peacetime carry out border patrols and/or exploratory and colonisation missions.
Only Garrison regiments or other Field regiments may be transferred into an Army. To transfer Field regiments from one Army to another, the two Armies must be camped at either the same location or adjacent to each other at the start of the Turn. Transferring Field regiments from an Army into a Town, City, Fortification or Shrine will revert their status to that of Garrison regiments.
Transferring ALL of the Field regiments out of an Army will result in that Army effectively ceasing to exist, and its listing will be removed from your Turn Results.
Field regiments may only undergo training when encamped outside (at the same location as), one of your tribe's Towns or Cities, since anywhere else is too dangerous in this troubled land.
Field regiments will also require rations and some replacement equipment each Turn, as for Carrison regiments. The exact figures for your race may be found under the heading "Troop Maintenance" on the Race Reference card. In addition, see also the section entitled "Army Maintenance" beneath "Troop Maintenance".
Troop Ratings
Regiments controlled by the Warlord - Garrison and Field regiments - each have ratings which in various ways combine to determine the effectiveness of such troops during movement, scouting and, of course, combat. These are Morale, Experience, Lore and Leadership, for which all Garrison and Field regiments will have a rating, as described in full later in this chapter.
It is possible to also train regiments for combat within a specific type of terrain, eg. the forest-dwelling Elves may train a force specifically for Mountain combat, and the mountain-dwelling Dwarves a force specifically for combat within forestlands, etc.
When regiments are transferred between Armies and settlements, each regiment takes with it its current ratings, and these are then combined with the ratings of the regiments it is joining and a new average produced for that Army or Garrison as a whole. For example, if 1 regiment with a morale rating of 100 was transferred into a settlement Garrison where there are 4 regiments at an average of 50 morale, the new Garrison would consist of 5 regiments with an average of 60 morale each (1 x 100 plus 4 x 50 = 300, divided by the new Garrison total of 5 = 60 morale each). If you then transferred a regiment our of that Garrison, it would join the new Army at 60 morale, but averaged again with the morale of that Army, of course.
All regiment factors, not just morale, are averaged in identical fashion whenever regiments are transferred between different locations. Thus you must be careful not to "water down" your veteran troops by transferring in poorer regiments to that particular Army or Garrison, unless of course your intention is to produce just such a larged, better-averaged force.
Regiment Morale
Morale is the single most important factor to take into consideration at all times. You will never know any regiment's exact ratings, however, since on your Turn Results the Garrison and Army officers will report in words of course.
They will use such descriptions as "Good" and "Poor", and it is up to you to ascertain the condition of your troops' morale and decide what, if anything, needs to be done about it is any particular case. Morale is affected by many things to varying degrees, but all quite logically, and it is best that you learn of such things through experience. However, don't underestimate the effect of RELIGION on morale, since the peoples of Medokh are highly religious and, by association, generally superstitious as well.
Morale is by far the most crucial factor in combat, since no matter how powerful, numerous, experienced or well-equipped an army is, if it doesn't have the WILL for a good scrap it won't stay in one piece long enough to bring its advantages to bear.
Regiment Experience
A regiment's Experience, or SKILL, is simply its efficiency in combat. An Experience of Nil is a regiment with rudimentary training in the martial arts, but one that has neither battle experience nor has undergone further training.
Training Garrison or, in some cases, Field regiments, will have the effect of increasing their Experience/Skill level marginally, dependent on the actual number of regiments in the Garrison/Army being trained (the fewer regiments there are, the more intensive and beneficial the training may be). Naturally, regiments will also gain in Experience (and more so) as a result of combat, dependent on how bloody the fighting was and how long the battle lasted. Even losers will gain valuable experience which will stand them in better stead next time; if they survive, that is.
Field regiments will also gain slightly in experience over a prolonged period of time from simply being out and about in an Army, since camp discipline is necessarily tighter than when part of a cushy garrison, and discipline is the backbone of any effective fighting force.
In general, the more experienced a regiment is, the better will its morale hold up in tight situations. And never more so than on the battlefield.