Re: Men-at-arms

From: Trotsky <TTrotsky_at_blueyonder.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:59:49 +0000


Simon Phipp:

>I always wondered about the men-at-arms or soldiered militia of the Malkioni
>armies. Would these be of the Knight caste, in which case are there
>sub-orders of the Knight caste, or are they Farmer caste who have to fight at
>times? It would seem difficult to maintain a standing army of Knight caste
>soldiers,
>

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). OTOH, in medieval Europe the knights were also the nobles and had ruling to do when they weren't fighting - in Malkioni society there is a clear distinction between warriors and nobility which will naturally have an impact on their society and their military.

>so do they have militia who are officially of Knight caste but
>don't fight that often, doing other things in the meantime? Is it different
>for each of the Malkioni types?
>

I think it is different for each. Many Malkioni, in my view, have a peasant militia of sorts drawn from the Farmer caste, but these are, by and large, pretty hopeless. Real non-knightly soldiers may be lowly members of the Knight/Warrior caste, martial members of the Farmer caste, or something in between, depending on the sect being followed. The Loskalmi, for instance, use IMO the 'something in between' approach, although I view their soldiers as closer to the Farmers than the Knights in terms of social status, if not in duty.

-- 
Trotsky
Gamer and Skeptic

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Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/



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