also maybe check out the Tau Air Caste. If your warband is just twenty orks, you probably have Da Boss. Remember though: as unit sizes get smaller and more spread out, an army needs leaders at lower and lower levels to lead those micro-units. Each rank has a corresponding pay grade. In cultures that hold the best fighters in high esteem strength and skill might rule. This subreddit is dedicated to those of us who are writing in the fantasy genre. Count on veteran soldiers to ask those questions, even if they’re too afraid to ask out loud. You are not the arbiter of what is considered good or not, much less what is valuable to another user's world. Addionally, it’s normal for recruits to be insignia-less. I appreciate your extensive post TAS, but I apologize for wasting your time writing it as I already knew everything that you covered in it. This article attempts to guide writers away from two of the most common, yet most easily avoidable, mistakes in presenting military events in fantasy: oversized forces and modern ranks. Cheka Man. While Richard II never led an action against his brother, King Edward IV, he seized the throne from Edward’s young heirs after his death. Anybody can flatten and sharpen metal. In my previous post I discussed some of the disruptive effects of adding magic and/or advanced tech to your fighting forces: consider how access to and control of those factors might change not only who is in charge, but what they need to know, how they learn it, and what they do with it. Here are a few possible ideas: Unless it’s a small army, your general needs some help. An English soldier's daily pay was 25-40% greater than he could earn as an unskilled or semiskilled laborer; other parts of Europe paid soldiers at least on a par with civilian life. I tried to streamline everything as much as I could. Some of the ranks aren't real, in terms of being used or having ever been used by a military, but they still fit very well within this category. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I am curious about astronaut or space-goers rank. Responsibility for personnel, equipment and mission grows with each advancement. If all things were equal -- and, as we'll see below, they're not -- we would just use a table of ranks, rather like the modern armed forces. Enter human nature: you’ve constructed a situation ripe for a coup. Which army? Have they earned the respect of their soldiers? This issue provides fertile ground for growing subplots. Beyond these four books, try reading general histories until you come across a battle that sounds "right" for your plot, then study the battle with more-detailed sources. The French army at Agincourt demonstrates what happened instead. There's a mostly standardized army where rank tells you chain of command and the general level of responsibility of your soldier. Table 2 doesn't look too bad to veterans of Dungeons and Dragons, but a little context is quite sobering. This factor would act in the first stage, when determining the size of the "draft pool.". No European medieval society obligated or even allowed serfs, slaves, and other "unfree" men to serve in an offensive force. As a Sergeant, you play one of the most critical roles. […] of a guest post for my Science in Sci-fi, Fact in Fantasy series. Inaccurate -- even just plain bad -- military concepts abound in speculative fiction. If you liked this article, please share it with your writing friends using the buttons below. This would be most typical in smaller units fighting with more varied tactics. All rights reserved. struggle against the nations of the Aurelian faith. I have a degree is linguistics, and Geldor my passion.. I am trying to find badass, funny ridiculous rankings. Read Sample. You can make it playful. There may be other specialty positions such as Docking Pilot. It’s not common, but it happens on a fairly regular basis.) Paying a full-time professional force for a full year would cost the same for about 1,000 soldiers, who aren't producing food by toiling in the fields. Ensuring that the army's owner can pay his soldiers or otherwise coerce their service. Science Fiction, or Speculative Fiction if you prefer. I really like the initial look of your ranks up to the full Omega and full pillar, however I think from a practical sense the moment you started adding the bars and Crosses the Insignia become too complicated. But if your army isn't regimented in an old Roman or modern fashion, where you have no standard size or authority in your military because your component groups of soldiers are nomadic warrior tribes or the individual forces of feudal lords or agglomerations of mercenary irregulars, then you're going to have ranks that reflect that. In the medieval era, subordinate leaders were almost always vassals of the primary general. The problem expands when you consider the common fantasy trope of a young ruler. However, Sir Thomas was known just as the Captain of the archers, which merely leads us back to Table 3. There are any number of ways to build effective leadership for a fantasy army. Rank Systems. Articles Setting Building Citadel Help. They might be pressed into service to defend a siege, but even that was unusual. Includes. Please join the mailing list to be notified every time new content is posted. If you look at real world examples like in the United States military you'll see common themes but also very separate and distinct insignias which Aid in identifying who would be in command or who has Authority in a given scenario. Each week, we tackle one of the scientific or technological concepts pervasive in sci-fi (space travel, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, etc.) A basic understanding of biology, physics, engineering, and medicine will help you create more realistic stories that satisfy discerning readers. Immediately prior to battle, the French nobility argued over who got to command whom, and the results depended upon the prestige of the noble's title. In this post, I make a distinction between ranks and titles. However, there’s not going to be NCOs without a standing army and a fairly sophisticated one at that. For artists, writers, gamemasters, musicians, programmers, philosophers and scientists alike! In this post, I make a distinction between ranks and titles. Click on the big red X on the top right to close this box. Perhaps that’s why so many fantasy novels have war either as a main premise or a backdrop. In Gielinor, only the gnomes and aviantese have a sort of air force. Perhaps that’s why so many fantasy novels have war either as a main premise or a backdrop. O-7 Fleet Admiral (Highest Navy/Marine Rank). For example you want a clearly defined rank structure but from more than a few steps away it might become difficult to the distinguish between the higher Echelon ranks. since this is a setting that doesn't exist, using ranks that adhere to a real country doesn't make sense either. the Warhammer 40K universe has some great flavor, if you want to use that for inspiration. Each battle followed a single trusted commander with their own mounted knights that may have acted as subordinate leaders as well, but often formed their own autonomous auxiliary force. The empire is located to the northeast of Eorzea, and is one of the main antagonist groups, having sought to annex the realm as one of its territories for the last fifteen years. A traditional medieval army used three battles (big formations): Vanguard, Main, and Rear. Ranks are positions in an army's hierarchy (a battalion has a commander), while titles refer to what the person occupying that position is known as (the man holding this position is known as a colonel). That’s your non-commissioned officer, even if you don’t call them that. with input from an expert. Is it important to have a believable rank structure/organization in a fantasy setting? Have they had time to learn strategy and tactics for every kind of force they will need to deploy or counter? There may be other specialty positions such as Docking Pilot. While these share some ranks of the previous 3, most are unique to fantasy worlds. In Geldor, Parthelian exists as a psuedo-latin created by the genius-first emperor Exthelius Primus Parthus, "Midlandish" being the old English/Germanic that I have made to be his vernacular. Further incidents like this will result in a ban. I’m not going to explore the viability of Tolkien’s military structure, because I don’t want to spontaneously combust into flames for committing fantasy heresy, but this post will explore how to build a realistic army for your society. Civvy: A conscript, barely trained and fresh from the farmer, a civvy is shown little respect. If you're into writing, publishing, or reading fantasy & science fiction, I'm glad you're here. Nobles are also your subordinate leaders and for the most part, the lower ranks aren’t going to kick too much given normal treatment. If ten soldiers guard a gate, one of them is probably in charge. Here's the Imperial Navy rank hierarchy. I took varying ranks from the different branches and mixed them into … Then over time those countries and armies changed and rose and fell and little bits were kept or forgotton and now we have ranks and names from various languages with different spellings with storied pasts for each leading back to the Romans and before. Star Trek, Battlestar, Star Wars, etc. My point is at some point someone just made up names for ranks and some survived and stuck. I think that is only possible due to modern technology and record keeping. The basic calculations are in Table 1, both to show the effects of individual factors and to enable you to vary them for your own fantasy world. Thanks! Building a Fantasy Army Part 1: Leaders. The "draft dodgers" noted are simply able-bodied individuals who choose not to go to war. That doesn't stop them from appearing in fantasy stories. Ruritania parallels medieval sub-Scandanavian Northwest Europe -- Ireland, England, France, and the various Germanic realms north of the Alps and west of modern Poland. Welcome to the ITL Army Sergeant and thank you for supporting independent Podcasters! Each rank has a corresponding pay grade. A flockleader commands a flock consisting of two groups. War makes a good source of conflict. The key factor to keep in mind is that whatever you choose, it should fit the society from which it comes. Copyright © 2020 by Moira Allen. All materials on this site are the property of their authors and may not be reprintedwithout the author's written permission, unless otherwise indicated. So they are always out of date but have a long history of meaning. We'll assume that the campaign begins shortly after planting and ends a couple weeks before the harvest, or else begins after harvest and ends a couple weeks before winter. Ummm... swords exist in the real world. If so, you can use whatever rank structure you want, whether real-world or made up. The use of leaders at a low level affords an army an opportunity for independent thought and action in the absence of officers. Conversely, the rich and easy food supply of Rome and Byzantium both increased each city's value to invaders and made possible permanent professional armies for defense, and eventually for conquest, over 1,000 years before it was possible to do so in Northern and Central Europe. As we've seen, you can make your fantasy armies more realistic -- absent the effects of magic -- by: John Keegan, The Face of Battle and A History of Warfare.
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