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PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:16 am 
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Sheriff
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I was doing a bit of research on the Hussars and came across the article below. It's rather interesting as the Szekely were still somewhat nomadic, and lived in the kingdom of Hungary. Seems to fit the Hodiri a bit to me, nomadic types living side by side with an agrarian culture. Apparently their subsistence was based on their selling of cattle and horses.

Quote:
Through out this period the Szekely remained a semi-nomadic people who made their living from horse and cattle breeding. As such they were regarded as some of the finest light horsemen available to the Kings of Hungary. This in some way goes to explain why the Szekely were able to retain their unique life style while other ethic groups like the Cumans (see below) became absorbed into Hungarian society. The only obligation the Szekely had to the Hungarian Crown was supplying troops for military service.
The Szekely were divided into six tribes, each subdivided into four branches. These divisions were purely political and military in origin and spread over the entire Szekely lands. Each branch was obligated to provide the Hungarian Crown with 100 horsemen for military service. This gives an obligated total of 2400 horsemen. This appears to have been further supplemented by a militia only obligated to serve for 30 days.

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Hmm Gurthang. What a nice name for a sword....


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 1:30 pm 
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Beadle
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Turin wrote:
.....The only obligation the Szekely had to the Hungarian Crown was supplying troops for military service.....

Interesting.
I always felt that the mounted archers of the Hodiri, would dominate any battlefield with "Open" terrain [Parkland/Heath/Cropland].
Easily able to out-manuever Heavy Knights, and probably able to decimate poorly led infantry without breaking a sweat.

Should Chybisa ever get a deal like the Hungarians had......
Pagaelin Genocide! :twisted:

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:44 am 
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Reeve
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Shady Dave wrote:
Turin wrote:
.....The only obligation the Szekely had to the Hungarian Crown was supplying troops for military service.....

Interesting.
I always felt that the mounted archers of the Hodiri, would dominate any battlefield with "Open" terrain [Parkland/Heath/Cropland].
Easily able to out-manuever Heavy Knights, and probably able to decimate poorly led infantry without breaking a sweat.

Should Chybisa ever get a deal like the Hungarians had......
Pagaelin Genocide! :twisted:



Lots of grass fires, set on purpose. Not so much to burn them up, but to deny them grazing for their live stock. Obviously the weather would need to cooperate.

But yeah, if a force has
--Superior Mobility
--Ability to Engage at range
--Superior knowledge of the enemy's location(s)
AND
--the ability and WILLINGNESS to disengage when needed

it becomes a recipe for frustrating doom for their enemies.


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:18 pm 
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Beadle
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Derfman wrote:
Lots of grass fires, set on purpose......to deny them grazing for their live stock.

Scorched Earth! :twisted:
Definitely Pagaelin.
I figured they'd probably get pretty nasty defending their turf.

Had a PC that Hired some Hodiri Mercenaries.
They came in VERY HANDY.
Combined with mounted knights it was scary.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:37 am 
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Sheriff
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Quote:
Should Chybisa ever get a deal like the Hungarians had......
Pagaelin Genocide!


I've thought of modifying Chyssbia a bit with some "Hodiri Settlers".

Something along the lines where a few disaffected Hodiri, perhaps a tribe that has been absorbed by another and there are some refugees from this, or even just a tribe being pushed to almost extinction by competition for prime land strikes a deal with the Chysbian crown.

They get a handful of manors, and provide a horseman per 600-800 acres.

They would have more horses of course than the average manor, and probably more livestock than the average manor, but less cropland.

And I'd think the "manor lords" at least would wear mail armour - and over time, maybe a few generations become more as "knights" than light horse, though their accompanying horse would still be the light horse archer types.

Of course, the ridiculously high cost of the warhorse in Hmanor would have to be modified. The other thing - the Hodiri are really only constrained from wearing heavy armour by the carrying capacity designated in the rules, which is not accurate. Cavalry mounts could easily carry 25-30% of their body weight historically, this was considered a normal load. Ponies, such as what the Hodiri are to have could actually carry a higher % of weight with their shorter backs, similar to Arabic and other hotblood horses.

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Hmm Gurthang. What a nice name for a sword....


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