What would it feel like being on the front lines? (M2TW Edition!)

This game being set in the Middle Ages a.k.a. the Dark Ages, you could just imagine how tough the days were back then. Imagine yourself a soldier who trained in the arts of war since you were an adolescent and you were called to participate in a very decisive battle and surprise! due to your exemplary valour, you were assigned on the front lines! How would you feel when the hour of battle comes?

The Dark Ages are not the same as the Middle Ages - the early Middle ages (5th century to 11th century, or rather the fall of the WRE up until the conquest of Britain in 1066) are what is characterized as the Dark Ages. M2TW is set at the start of the High Middle ages, past the Viking age/Dark Ages.

That being said, it would be very different if i were of noble birth, or if i was a commoner. By your wording it would seem that i were indeed a noble, as they were the ones who trained in the martial arts since adolescence, while commoners took on the crafts or trades of their fathers. Being in a war is not romantic and pretty as movies might suggest - it's dirty, bloody, noisy and scary. It can and will scar your mind for the rest of your life, as many atrocities are commuted by the warring sides, and one can loose close friends in battle.

A nobleborn general has a higher chance of survival if he his captured and ransomed, as opposed to being coup-de-graced by the enemy if he is not valuable for his ransom. I'd be anxious and scared myself, as well as very prepared for the fight. If i'm on the front lines I must have made the right call and decided that the battle can be won and it is of strategic importance for me to boost the troop's morale by leading the charge.

I've never been in a war but anyone who has been says that it is horrible, so I guess it wasn't any better back then.

I would be frightened and probably more prepared to die than to see the day thru.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Myth

The Dark Ages are not the same as the Middle Ages - the early Middle ages (5th century to 11th century, or rather the fall of the WRE up until the conquest of Britain in 1066) are what is characterized as the Dark Ages. M2TW is set at the start of the High Middle ages, past the Viking age/Dark Ages.

That being said, it would be very different if i were of noble birth, or if i was a commoner. By your wording it would seem that i were indeed a noble, as they were the ones who trained in the martial arts since adolescence, while commoners took on the crafts or trades of their fathers. Being in a war is not romantic and pretty as movies might suggest - it's dirty, bloody, noisy and scary. It can and will scar your mind for the rest of your life, as many atrocities are commuted by the warring sides, and one can loose close friends in battle.

A nobleborn general has a higher chance of survival if he his captured and ransomed, as opposed to being coup-de-graced by the enemy if he is not valuable for his ransom. I'd be anxious and scared myself, as well as very prepared for the fight. If i'm on the front lines I must have made the right call and decided that the battle can be won and it is of strategic importance for me to boost the troop's morale by leading the charge.

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Quoted for truth.
War has always been a bloody messy affair for the actual soldiers on the front lines. As Myth has said, war in the Dark Ages was slightly different from war in the Middle Ages, only in the tactics used. Serfs were the ones used on the front lines, while nobles and noble kin were usually cavalry, sometimes foot soldiers but usually only inside a castle defending. Its kind of interesting that the Western European factions in M2TW kind of show this in that they produce hordes of cheap/crap infantry while their cavalry is almost second to none. Guess who were the hordes of cheap/crap infantry? And then guess who were the Lancing Cavalry? You don't necessarily have to be a noble, but if you are chosen from among your villagers/people as a knight FOR a feudal lord then you do reach an almost-noble status, in sort of an upper-middle class. Generals did have bodyguards, and castle guards and such ;-).

Just think of the medical techniques back then. I would think that recovery from injuries was a lot harder/almost impossible back then compared to now.