Royal Army

The Tierran Royal Army is the land arm of the Unified Kingdom of Tierra's armed forces. Although it has been traditionally been subordinate to the Royal Navvy, the land forces have become more of an equal after its impressive exploits during the Dozen Years' War

Early History
For the first seventy years of the Unified Kingdom's history, the Royal Army was almost non-existent, composing completely of House Eduria's private armies and manned completely by peasant levies built around a small core of professional men-at-arms. Following the model of most contemporary northern kingdoms, this semi-professional force was mostly made up of archers and similar light infantry. Most of these troops were poorly trained and unpaid, having to be called up from their homesteads in times of rebellion or war.

King Edmund's Army
In EDY 74, the ruling monarch, King Edmund II, attempted to form a more professional land force by introducing sweeping reforms along Takaran lines. He discarded the idea of peasant levies and recreated the men at arms into a "Royal Guards Regiment". He also introduced an official ranking order, a near carbon-copy of the labyrinthine system of unit command ranks and ceremonial command ranks used by the Imperial Takaran Army. This move was decidedly unpopular with both the tradesman classes who made up the professional army, and the Tierran Parliament, who saw the reforms as loss of Tierran individuality and as a way to concentrate land military power to the area around the capital, and away from their fiefs.

King Alaric's Army
When King Alaric Spitfire came to the throne in EDY 84, one of his first moves was to provoke the Pirate King's War with Antar. As a contingency, he ordered the reactivation of the old peasant levies and the mobilization of the Tierran army. The full process of mobilization was so inefficient and slow that it did not officially "finish" until a month before the end of the war itself in June EDY 86 and two thirds of the nominal units remained at three quarters or less of their official strength. Using the proceeds from the treasure looted from the Antari merchant fleets, King Alaric ordered a complete reorganization of the Royal Army. The "standing army" was established as a fully professional force and divided into regiments. A militia was formed for home defence, and the Court Nobles were given the right to recruit their own private armies. In addition, he rid the army of the unwieldy Takaran system of ranks, and substituted his own.

King Miguel's Reforms
At the height of the Dozen Years' War, King Miguel retooled the army around the organizational system put down by King Alaric two generations earlier. He increased emphasis on heavier infantry and gunpowder weaponry, establishing an artillery corps and doubling the size of the regular army. Although this move has proven unpopular amongst the nobility, it was generally supported by the army itself.

Organization
The Royal Army is divided into three tiers, the Regular Army, the Militia and the Noble Levies.

Regulars
The Regular Army is the professional core of the Royal Army. Consisting of the House Guard units of each of the five duchies and two regiments devoted to the protection of the capital, the regulars are recruited from the noble levies and sign up for a twenty five year term of service, with the promise of a hefty retirement payout at the end. When these troops are recruited away, their liege lords are given a relatively large stipend for each man in direct service to the crown, one that is considerably larger than the taxes lost. This encourages nobles to train their levies well in hopes of gaining a secondary income from the Royal Army's "compensation fund". These forces were the ones which saw the most action during the Dozen Years' War, and are now mostly made up of veteran and hardened soldiers. In addition, several individual units like the Centauri Highlanders and the Royal Dragoon Regiment have fearsome reputations for bravery and ability on the field. The regular army is divided into seven regiments totaling a full strength of 7 200 fighting men, led by the Councilor Militant, the army's representative on the [Privy Council.

Militia
On islands too small to warrant a full garrison, a militia is usually maintained by the local fief holder. These vary widely in quality, randing from barely armed farmers with pointed sticks and improvised bows to well trained skirmisher units manned by retired veterans and advised by the finest tacticians money can buy. Most militia garrisons range from twenty to one hundred men in strength and are funded at least partially by the crown. Monarchs are not permitted to call up militias for overseas service. There are approximately 4 000 militiamen spread throughout the Unified Kingdom.

Noble Levies
According to law, court nobles are required to provide one trained soldier at a time of war for every three hundred taxpayers on their fief. This conscripted forces are the noble levies, part-time soldiers arrayed around the personal guard of the noble responsible for recruiting them. Although they are not required to adhere to any standard of training or equipment, the quality of levies are kept up by the chance that a particularly well trained unit will be incorporated into the Regular Army, netting the lord in charge a substantial second income for the duration of that unit's service. Theoretically, if all court nobles were to meet their requirements, they would be able to field about 26 000 armed soldiers, though several nobles, notably the dukes of Cunaris and Centauri are well known for massively overrecruiting their fiefs.

Units
The basic operational unit of the Regular army is the Regiment, a force of about 1 400 fighting men. These are in turn divided into battalions, companies, platoons and squads (infantry) or squadrons, troops and sections (cavalry). During times of war, particularly large formations; armies, are formed and led by a properly qualified court noble. These are divided into Brigades for each of the three categories of units; light infantry, heavy infantry and cavalry.

Enlisted Ranks
The enlisted men of the Royal Army are an anomaly among the Norther Kingdom's military. The respect and responsibility given to non-commissioned officers are disproportionately high compared to the militaries of other nations. This encourages increased professionalism and ambition amongst the rank and file, something which is often cited as the secret behind the Royal Army's effectiveness.

E-1: Armsman E-2: Senior Armsman E-3: Corporal E-4: Sergeant E-5: Senior Sergeant E-6: Colour Sergeant E-7: First Sergeant E-8: Sergeant-Major

Commissioned Ranks
Those who join the army may pay an exorbitant price for a "commission", which enters them into the ranks of the commissioned officers. Theworld of the officer is based on money and birth, the only two things which can allow promotion. Although particularly rich commoners may reach relatively senior ranks, regimental command and higher are reserved completely for the court nobility.

O-1: Coronet O-2: Junior Leftenant (platoon/troop commander) O-3: High Leftenant O-4: Captain (company/squadron commander)

-This is usually the highest that a commoner or a magedead officer might aspire to. Anything higher than this is reserved for the high nobility, as promotion above this rank requires the recommendation of the Councilor Militant.

O-5: Major (battalion commander O-6: Colonel (regimental commander) O-6a: Brigadier (senior colonels, appointed in times of war) O-7: Leftenant General (Dukes only) O-8: Lord General (The Councilor-Militant)