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Military Lore

Practical Military Lore is quite simply the quality and effectiveness of the weapons, armour and miscellaneous equipment used by regiments, and the troops' knowledge and application of this equipment. For simplicity in comparing the Lore ratings of different regiments to see where improvements are most required, this rating will be shown as a simple number (0-100) for all Garrisons and Armies.

Practical Military Lore may be researched by tribal scholars and craftsmen should the Warlord choose to invest from the treasury in this, but may also be learnt from captured enemy settlements, equipment picked up on battlefields when the enemy has routed, or even from ancient manuscripts written by masters of the long-forgotten arts. However, such increases in Tribal Lors are by no means general knowledge, and to put such Lore to practical use it is then necessary to upgrade an Army or settlement's regiments from their own to the current level of knowledge - and this costs hard cash in both replacing equipment and in training the troops in the use of the new equipment.

Your Turn Results will detail not only each Army and Garrison's current level of Practical Military Lore, but also the level of knowledge which your scholars and craftsmen possess, which is the level to which Field and Garrison regiments may be upgraded. See the chapter on Miscellaneous Orders for exact details of how to both research Practical Military Lore and upgrade regiments to the researched level.

Since Armies spend much of their time away from settlements, and the fact that an Army must be located at a Town or City in order for its regiments to be upgraded to the current researched level of Practical Military Lore, Field regiments will tend to be less well equipped, on average, than their Garrison counterparts. The easiest way around this, without having to continuously march Armies home in order to be upgraded, is simply to send out smaller Armies of "reinforcements" to the forward Armies on a regular basis. When merged by transferring in the new regiments, the averaged Military Lore for the Army will be higher due to the stiffening of better-equipped troops. Repeat ad infinitum.

Regiment Leadership​

Each regiment is led by veterans of earlier campaigns, with the sole exception of Town or City Guard regiments, which are commanded by influential citizens (but under the overall command of the highest-ranking regular Garrison officer in the event of a siege or other local emergency).

Leadership - the quality and skills of regimental officers - is an important factor in maintaining morale and discipline among the troops. Unlike Practical Military Lore, however, the average Field Army will tend to have better skilled officers than Garrison troops, since it is in the field that the skills of leadership and battle command are most easily forged. However, military-minded shcolars of the tribe may, with funding from the Warlord's treasury, also be directed in researching the Lore of Military Theory: the art of effective battlefield command and leadership. Your Turn Results will also inform you of your tribe's current researched level for this Lore, and of course it may also be improved upon with the discovery of ancient Manuscripts authored by great Heroes and Champions of old. Naturally, a Garrison or Army's regimental officers may then be instructed in this increased Lore where their own knowledge is less, and as with upgrading a Garrison or Army's Practical Milit ary Lore, there is an Order available to do this.

Combat​

Field Armies may be assigned an overall Battle Strategy, from a basic selection of four, any time after it has been mustered. All regiments transferred to the army thereafter will also adopt this strategy, under their new commander. The four overall Battle Strategies are as follows:

All-Out Attack​

This strategy is a favourite of less-civilised races, and is designed to overwhelm enemies with sheer numbers or ferocity and to drive them from the field before they are able to recover,. Losses are usually high for all concerned since resulting battles are noticeably fierce and bloody, with very little tactical manoeuvring except for outflanking or encirclement. A useful strategy if one's army is full of raw-recruits, since the swift attacks give them little chance to dwell on the matter and wonder if they'll survive.

Limited Attack​

As its label suggests, this strategy is somewhat more cautious in nature, and does not commit a force to do-or-die tactics on the field. It allows the commander and officers of the Army to greatest flexibility of any of the four Battle Strategies, and places the outcome of the battle more on their skills and failings than on any preset tactics. Good commanders and tactics often need good men to carry them out properly, though.

Defend​

This strategy is useful when one does not know if enemies are about, or if you don't want to commit the army to battle unless actually attacked by an enemy force. It does tend to limit the commander's options somewhat, however, and is basically a very reserved approach to battle; as if one would really rather not fight if given any choice in the matter. Good quality men hold up best under such "wait and see what happens" tactics, whereas raw troops are much more unlikely to be able to just stand and take each charge as it comes.

Retreat​

The basic Battle Strategy of "don't fight if you can get out in one piece" goes against the grain of some belligerent races, but is nevertheless a handy strategy to employ if an army is weak, was recently beaten but held together that time, or when it simply has more important things to do than fight petty skirmishes with every enemy force that fancies its chances.

Each race has different ideas and philosophies about exactly how one should fight a battle - if at all - and on your Race Refecence Card beneath the heading COMBAT STRATEGIES, you will find the four strategies listed in order of preference for your race. Ordering that an unfavourable strategy be used will most certainly affect the morale of the Army to your disadvantage, and in some cases being able to use their favourite strategy will actually benefit morale.

Changing an Army's Strategy will also adjust that army's Experience and Leadership ratings to reflect their respective skill in the new Strategy, but when you change the Strategy back again the 'lost' skills will be recovered.

When an army undergoes training this training will invove the current adopted Strategy, so training an army when it is using Limited Attack Strategy will concentrate training techniques on the practical use of this Strategy in actual battle. However, an army trained to 100% proficiency in Limited Attack will retain this level of skill only if it retains this Strategy: if the army then adopted a Defend Strategy (whether for training or not), when it later returns to Limited Attack you may find that it has lost some of its previous skills in this Strategy. Ideally, an army would be trained with a specific Order in mind (defensive, offensive, etc) and would resort to other Strategies only if absolutely necessary.

When first mustered, each army will have the default Battle Strategy which is most preferable to your race, and you will need to use an Order to change its Strategy then or at any time in the future. See the chapter on Miscellaneous Orders later in this booklet.

Combat Strength​

Each regiment has a basic Attack and Defend numerical factor, ranging between the two extremes of 3 and 8 for each, as shown on your Race Reference Card beneath the heading of "Combat Strategies". The Attack factor determines the degree of damage inflicted upon an enemy, and the Defend factor modifies the damage that the enemy's Attack factor inflicts upon your own troops. These basic values are modified according to the Battle Strategy adopted.

The new values are then further modified by an Army's Experience, Practical Military Lore, Leadership and Terrain Combat Bonuses. Morale in battle, modified by losses inflicted and taken during each of the twelve combat rounds, (but helped by an Army's Experience and Leadership also), will determine when the army breaks if at all. The first army to break and rout will be subject to a final attack as it is pursued.

Tribal Relations​

Regardless of his ordered Battle Strategy, no commander will actually INITIATE an attack unless the Warlord has previously declared that your tribe is Hostile to the other, and then only if his Strategy is either of the two Attack options: armies on Defend or Fighting Retreat strategies will initiate combat only in the rare situations where the odds are well in their favour.

There are four levels of Tribal Relations, as follows:

Neutral​

Your armies will not engage in combat, even if assigned an "Attack" Battle Strategy, with the armies of a tribe to whom you are declared neutral.

But they WILL be on alert, since the other tribe may be declared Hostile to your tribe and its armies have Attack orders! In such an event, your army will revert to its own Battle Strategy for the clash.

Hostile​

If you declare your hostility toward another tribe, or if another tribe attacks you without provocation, then your tribe will thereafter be considered Hostile toward that tribe. This means that any Army which has a Battle Strategy of All-Out or Limited Attack, and which encounters an enemy army in an adjoining hex belonging to the tribe to whom you are declared Hostile, then that Army shall march from camp and attempt to join battle.

Similarly, you may order an Army to lay siege to any settlement belonging to a tribe to whom you are declared Hostile, providing that the Army begins that Turn in a hex adjoining the enemy settlement and does not have an enemy army reported to be within scouting range that is more than about 50% the size of its own forces. The enemy Army and settlement need not be of the same tribe to have this deterring effect upon your Army's siege plans, and indeed, the army need not even be Hostile to your own: "neutral observation" will often suffice to worry your commander sufficiently so as to not risk committing his forces to the siege, but not always.

Allied​

Declaring your friendship with another tribe is good for morale and your armies will gain morale from seeing allied settlements and armies in their area. Allied armies in the field, when either is threatened with attack by Hostile forces, may be able to join together against the threat: to do so they need to occupy the same location and therefore be able to form a Battlegroup against any mutual enemies in adjoining locations.

Naturally, your own Armies are considerably more than just "Allied" to each other, and there will be no reservations between your own commanders as to helping each other out as, when and how the local situation dictates.

Parleying​

By declaring your wish to parley with another tribe, your armies are instructed not to make threatening gestures against this tribe even if their Battle Strategy is normally one of Attack. Similarly, this tribe will become aware of your peaceful overtures and therefore consider the possibility of alliance: if agreeable, will probably instruct their own forces to parley with yours in return. There is of course the risk that the tribe may turn Hostile instead and attack without warning, perhaps catching your own commander largely unawares.

Except among the most belligerent races, most troops would expect their commander to Parley with a newly-encountered tribe before deciding what future tribal relations should be (unless of course the other tribe is of a race which your own despises), and they may be a little dismayed if you do not.