The Royal Armies internal matters

Each of the Royal Armies has recruits of all kinds and specialities, but varied terrain and duties across Arginet mean each Army has a reputation for being good at certain things. Banter both within and between armies about the relative quality of their troops is a staple of Army humour, with varied and unflattering nicknames for every division.

The three Armies

Given the difficult terrain and the amount of uninhabited land it is unsurprising that the scouts of the Army of the North are the best in Arginet, known for vanishing into the Northlands for weeks on end without contact until they appear out of the trees to assist a merchant travelling the Northern Pass. The beasts of the interior mean their heavy infantry are also fairly good, as their other main duties are defending villages and guarding those who travel the roads.

In the South the land tends to be fairly open with only small pockets of wilderness so the Army of the South mostly deals with human threats: bandits, peasant unrest, noble family squabbles that endanger the populace, and (before the Breaking) pirates and invaders. Heavy troops tend to take a sideline here as threats need fast responses and fast talking to navigate. Unsurprisingly the Army of the South has the highest proportion of cavalry as well as younger children of noble families - though saying to their faces that they use family connections to smooth things over is a sure way to have a duel on your hands.

The Army of the Centre has to deal with everything from guarding the Midland Road to dealing with mercantile chaos in Aulin and are considered the most versatile of the Armies. A division must have the flexibility to change tasks overnight, the ability to work with their Northern or Southern compatriots as necessary, and the fortitude to deal with threats from any quarter. The heavy infantry of the Army of the Centre, not restricted by speed or terrain, make up the solid backbone of the Army and are (reluctantly) acknowledged to be essential when the worst happens even by the other Armies. Since the Breaking they’ve become even more important, holding the line against strange rift creatures when they didn’t even know what they were fighting.

Chain of command

• General: Each of the three Armies - North, South, and Centre - is commanded by a general. All three are members of the Royal Council and report directly to the Crown, and when a general dies or retires it is the Crown who selects their replacement.
• Colonel: Several colonels, each having command of a regiment, report to each general.
• Captain: The basic unit of the Armies is the company, which comprises fifty to a hundred troops commanded by a captain. Each company usually has a distinct identity and is often raised from a single area, but it may include people from different branches of service. (It is possible for a PC to be promoted to the rank of Captain for successful service.)
• Lieutenant: Each company has at least one lieutenant to assist the captain in their duties. They may be given command of a platoon - a detachment of troops from the company assigned to a specific task. (PCs who are Army members may start with the rank of Lieutenant.)
• Ensign: The most junior commissioned officers are ensigns. They are effectively lieutenants in training, but may also have particular duties such as carrying the company standard. Anyone who has joined the army with a commission through bribery or patronage starts at this rank; how acceptable this is depends very much on the branch of service concerned. An ensign is sometimes given command of a squad of about ten troops. (PCs who are Army members may start with the rank of Ensign.)
• Sergeant: Promoted from the ranks for competence and good service, sergeants are responsible for many of the practical duties of a company, and those who distinguish themselves can often look forward to commissions as they are promoted to Ensign or even straight to Lieutenant. Each company has several sergeants. They may support a company officer (captain, lieutenant, or ensign) or be given independent command of a squad. (PCs who are Army members may start with the rank of Sergeant.)
• Private: The bottom rank of the armies, and the most numerous. Most people join at this rank and must work their way up through courage, discipline, and persistence. (The degree of responsibility given to private soldiers is low, so PCs who wish to have full Army membership should not choose this rank.)

Higher ranking officers may have a personal guard no bigger than a single squad over whom they have direct command. This often includes people who have served with them since joining the Armies.

Internal disputes

One thing all soldiers have in common is discipline. Hierarchy is more important for the Armies than for any other faction and each stage of the hierarchy is expected to be followed by those below. In return for this obedience those above provide for them and accept responsibility for their mistakes.
For example: A carter may be the one to take insufficient swords to a unit and a logistics private may have calculated it wrongly, but the sergeant who gave those orders will takes the punishment as they failed to check the numbers were correct. This won’t stop the logistics private getting hell from the sergeant - but they won’t get the official punishment.

Official punishments are set and given by the direct superior officer in the chain of command. In the example above the logistics lieutenant punishes the sergeant, but the infantry sergeant who didn’t get enough swords only knows the details about the sergeant and has no say on what the punishment is, though they or their superior can attempt to lean on the lieutenant to give a harsher punishment. That said an officer who lets their troops off too lightly too often will face their own series of questions.

Disputes between individuals or groups causes mistrust, and the damage to fighting strength this produces is considered utterly unacceptable. Matters of this nature are settled by duels in order to get things dealt with cleanly, letting out all the anger so that soldiers can get on with their duty. Duels must be non-fatal, not leave permanent damage (such as mutilation or amputation), and are advised to have a medic in attendance. The duel is not considered over unless all participants have nothing more to add physically or verbally, though this may mean pausing for healing mid-fight. As all grievances are considered void at the end of the duel, this encourages fighters to air everything, including things they might otherwise have kept hidden such as secret affairs.
For private soldiers this tends to be a relatively informal matter and is usually overseen by their sergeant. For commissioned ranks, however, a duel is much more formal and is often both very serious and very public, especially on the rare occasion that it is between officers of differing rank. Such a dispute will usually be of great interest to wider society.

Oddly, the nature of the military means that this tends to work and the fighters generally leave with no resentment towards the opposite party and occasionally go to duel a third after new information comes to light. After a duel ends the matter is officially resolved and any further actions taken against someone for the same matter are considered not only punishable but highly dishonourable, risking expulsion from the Army.

Part of a series about the Royal Armies.

Branches of service - Internal matters - Attitudes to others - Religion and spirituality - Costume - Archetypes

See also: Arginet - Factions - The Noble Houses - The Reform Coalition