>
>
>Jamie
>
>
>>>> > I don't think that the West, by and large, tends to have much in
>>>
>>>
>>> > the way of standing armies. Loskalm is an exception, of course
>>> > (although not the only one, IMO).
>>
>>
>
>Peter
>
>
>>> The only idea for the west not generally having standing armies
>>> comes from the received medieval parallel. And even that is
>>> largely inaccurate being formed from medieval literature which
>>> was written by hacks that lavished attention on the knights and
>>> ignored the poor bloody infantry.
>>
>>
>
>I think Peter is spot on the nose here. The concept of medieval armies being
>feudal and unprofessional has come under increasing attack since the war
>years. Oman and others of his era who applauded the art of war during the
>days of the ancients, tended to denegrate the medieval period as being
>lacking in military skill. Part of this was the belief that their armies
>were not standing and therefore not professional.
>
>While it is true that standing _state_ armies (as in those armies recruited
>and maintained constantly all year round - various military orders and
>special organisations did exist as standing forces) in Western Europe were
>not truly systemic till the late Hundred Years war, the definition of
>'professional' needs some examining.
>
Well, yes, clearly the Malkioni have professional armies in that the
Warrior caste don't have anything else to do, and are obviously
therefore professionals (I thought I already said that?) Likewise, IMO
individual nobles, including the king, will have private organisations
of Warriors to do their bidding. What I'm saying doesn't exist in most
Malkioni countries are standing national armies. That is, the king has
his troops, and the other nobles have theirs, but there's no single,
over-arcing entity that can be called a national army in, say, Seshnela
- although one can, and will, be created in time of war as the king
calls in his feudal obligations. In medieval Europe, a substantial part
of the knighthood worked as mercenaries rather than as feudal levies (at
least in post Norman times), but I don't think this is such a good model
for most Malkioni - it could well fit, for, say, Safelster, though.
--
Trotsky
Gamer and Skeptic
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Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
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