Blackhorse numbers from Mikko Rintasaari on 2002-12-30 (HeroQuest RPG)

From: Mikko Rintasaari <mikrin_at_...>
Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 08:05:03 +0200 (EET)

I've been going through the Dragon Pass area material, wondering what will happen when war does break out. One of the things that didn't seem to make much sense was the new material on the Blackhorse Troop. Nice flavor, but way too many troops.

So for those that are interested in such things, here's a bit more realistic take on the forces of Sir Ehilrist. (The "element" below refers to the terminology of a wargame called DBM, feel free to ignore.)

-Adept

Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 07:20:42 +0200 (EET) From: Mikko Rintasaari <mikrin_at_...> Reply-To: GloryGeeks_at_yahoogroups.com To: GloryGeeks_at_yahoogroups.com Subject: [GloryGeeks] Blackhorse numbers

Going with some historic numbers, and some excellent H�rnmaster supplements I've come up with these numbers.

Blackhorse County: Feodal, population 20 000.

Ignoring for a while the "capital" of Muse Roost, a knight driven feodal society like this should be composed of 200 villages of about a hundread people. Every village has a knight as a manor lord, and the knight has a fev squires with him.

>From this we get an elite body of 200 knights and 400 of the less
armored and less skilled cavalry.

In a village of 100 there should be about 20 men that can be raised as militia. This gives the the county a theoretical potential of 4000 militia.

In practise I would think 2000 militia would be the absolute maximum that can be trotted out for war for any lenght of time.

For a standard contract, of maybe a seasons fighting I'd say:

1 element of knights:
200 blackhorse knights, led by Ehilrist himself.

2 elements of cavalry:
400 riders of armored cavalry, also mounted on demonsteeds. (possibly qualifying as superior or heavy cavalry)

6 - 8 elements of of spear.
1400 - 1600 men of cheaply equipped but somewhat trained spear levy, led by professional soldiers hoping to make it to the cavalry / knighthood.

***

A tidy little army, and one well worth hiring I'd say. Especially in a time and place where cavalry is scarse and knights a terrifying and almost unknown thing.

[I think Ehilrists troops don't have stirrups, and don't engage in cavalry charges with crouched lances. Mounted on steeds that terrify horses, and heavily armed and armored, they still easily count as knights]