econ21
02-27-2003, 13:20
I am still a little confused about the variations between troops in the Medieval period. Differences in "hard" factors of arms, armour and mounts are documented and visible, but I am not clear on the "soft" factors.
One way of posing this is to say, what was special about a "knight" beyond them having the best armour available at the time? Is a knight in the 12th century any different in battlefield performance from another fighter in a mail hauberk (which was probably quite common)?
I wonder what distinctive types of troops, defined by training, morale and other factors, there were in the period?
One possible classification:
Class A: "Knights" in the sense of relatively well-born fighters trained for warfare from a young age. These would correspond to the knights in MTW, with elite stats such as an exceptional morale of 8.
Class D: "Peasants" the other extreme - essentially, untrained, unmotivated farmers of low status (tied to the land) coming from no military tradition and drafted in to fight in emergency (or revolt). Again, these correspond to the fairly useless peasant unit in MTW.
But what gradations lie between?
Class B: full-time professional soldiers. These could be the household troops of rich aristocrats or mercenaries in companies; or soldiers in genuine standing armies such as those of the Byzantines and Ottomans etc. One might expect these troops to be proficient fighters, but may be with morale that varied from case to case (depending on whether they were fighting for duty or purely for coin). In MTW, I suspect the MAA (sword) troops are closest to these for Catholic factions. These could be viewed as units having the equivalent of 1 valour advantage (+1 attack, +1 defence, +2 morale) over the default troop type.
Class C: part-time semi-professional soldiers. These might be feudal troops called up to fight for their liege or urban militias. Most would be of fair social status - perhaps "free men", working as comfortable farmers or as craftsmen in towns. I suspect many come from families with a tradition of carrying out this role and so should be fairly well trained and equipped, and fairly staunch. Some may be very well practicised and proficient like, for example, English longbowmen. Some may be less well trained or less motivated. In MTW, I suspect the sergeants (spear) are closest to these. I would regard these as the default troop type, with say, morale 2.
I envisage these classes lying on a fairly continuous spectrum from A to E and ultimately merging into one another.
In addition to the above generic differences, one could also allow for superior troops within each class - ones that were acknowledged by contemporaries to be particularly effective, like the Swiss pikemen or English longbow. In MTW, this is well-captured by unique units.
Is this plausible or are there other dimensions to it?
I am little uneasy about where to put the retainers who would accompany knights and often be equipped and fight like them, but not be "knight" per se. I guess they would go in B but am a little uncomfortable since - like knights themselves - they are not necessarily being full-time.
Anyone got any thoughts on this?
One way of posing this is to say, what was special about a "knight" beyond them having the best armour available at the time? Is a knight in the 12th century any different in battlefield performance from another fighter in a mail hauberk (which was probably quite common)?
I wonder what distinctive types of troops, defined by training, morale and other factors, there were in the period?
One possible classification:
Class A: "Knights" in the sense of relatively well-born fighters trained for warfare from a young age. These would correspond to the knights in MTW, with elite stats such as an exceptional morale of 8.
Class D: "Peasants" the other extreme - essentially, untrained, unmotivated farmers of low status (tied to the land) coming from no military tradition and drafted in to fight in emergency (or revolt). Again, these correspond to the fairly useless peasant unit in MTW.
But what gradations lie between?
Class B: full-time professional soldiers. These could be the household troops of rich aristocrats or mercenaries in companies; or soldiers in genuine standing armies such as those of the Byzantines and Ottomans etc. One might expect these troops to be proficient fighters, but may be with morale that varied from case to case (depending on whether they were fighting for duty or purely for coin). In MTW, I suspect the MAA (sword) troops are closest to these for Catholic factions. These could be viewed as units having the equivalent of 1 valour advantage (+1 attack, +1 defence, +2 morale) over the default troop type.
Class C: part-time semi-professional soldiers. These might be feudal troops called up to fight for their liege or urban militias. Most would be of fair social status - perhaps "free men", working as comfortable farmers or as craftsmen in towns. I suspect many come from families with a tradition of carrying out this role and so should be fairly well trained and equipped, and fairly staunch. Some may be very well practicised and proficient like, for example, English longbowmen. Some may be less well trained or less motivated. In MTW, I suspect the sergeants (spear) are closest to these. I would regard these as the default troop type, with say, morale 2.
I envisage these classes lying on a fairly continuous spectrum from A to E and ultimately merging into one another.
In addition to the above generic differences, one could also allow for superior troops within each class - ones that were acknowledged by contemporaries to be particularly effective, like the Swiss pikemen or English longbow. In MTW, this is well-captured by unique units.
Is this plausible or are there other dimensions to it?
I am little uneasy about where to put the retainers who would accompany knights and often be equipped and fight like them, but not be "knight" per se. I guess they would go in B but am a little uncomfortable since - like knights themselves - they are not necessarily being full-time.
Anyone got any thoughts on this?