Small Fort Gif

The Thardic Republican Army

Jonathan M Davidson

An Alternative Army

Alternative Army: [Overview-Structure][Equipment][Cohorts in Peace][Legions at War][Accounts][Cohort Composition][Draft][Troop Table][Glossary]

Contents of document: Introduction | About this article | Documents | Compatibility

Introduction

The Thardic Republics legions are unique on Harn and quite contrary to the established feudal armies of the surrounding human kingdoms. This is the result of the removal of the area's nobility during the Theocracy of Tekhos resulting in "an ethic of protection by and for extended clan arose in north eastern Tharda. This had its routes in the ancient social structures of the Corani Tribes." (Tharda 2). The organisation of defence by these tribes fell back on the equally ancient band of mixed troops known as the Cohort. This structure has carried forward through the Coranani and Shiran republics into the Thardic republic. The burden of history is particularly strong within the republic. It is reflected in the army attempting to regain and emulate some of the lost glories of the "golden age" before the Balshan Jihad. This leads to structures, troop types and procedures that are obviously far too complex to have evolved in the half-century or so that the Thardic Republic has existed. This article presents that complex organisation.

About this article

If you have been reading my posts to Harn-L and are hoping for a thoroughly Romanised Thardic Legion you are in for a big disappointment. Very little of this article has anything to do with the actual Roman legions of any period, but I hope that some of the flavour of the milieu has carried forward. Nor is this article an attempt to write up the legions as an early medieval feudal army with a few strange names. What I hope to achieve is something that is unique, combining bits from various cultures and time periods (but leaning towards ancient and dark age practices), but for the whole to be in keeping with Harn.

Acknowledgements are due to Rebecca Downey and Jerry Holland-Hibbert for constructive comment, editing and work on the Estates of the republic.

Note:

throughout this document the masculine gender is used. This is not meant to imply that the document only applies to the masculine sex. As far as I am concerned the Republican army is open to both men and women. However, I do believe they are likely to be separated into single sex sub-units.

UK English spelling has been used for the article, but I have tried to avoid expressions which are ambiguous in other parts of the world. Measurements are given imperial and money in pounds and pennies. I have made no reference to any particular games system.

The documents

There are four main documents

Part 1: Overview and Structure [html 59kb]
Introduction, Composition, Service Conditions, Red Guard, The Provincial Legions.
Part 2: Equipment [html 21kb]
Equipment, arms and armour, used be each rank with the Legions
Part 3: Cohorts in Peacetime [html 38kb]
Fortifications, Supply and manufacture, Troop rotation, Garrision troops & patrols, Law & order, and Recreation
Part 4: Legions at War [html 43kb]
The Army muster, Marching order, Combat Formations, and Combat Tactics.

In addition there is a glossary [html 17kb] with pronunciation guide and links to other sections.

As well as text documents there are a number of tables and graphics as follows:

Table of the composition of the Cohort and sub-units [gif 1247x589 30kb | html 3kb]
Table of the composition of the Legions [gif 1247x591 35kb | html 3kb]
Summary Table of Troop Types [html 6kb]
Table of the general accounts of the Republican army [gif 1305x521 24kb | html 4kb]
Table of the muster statistics of the Estate Draft [gif 888x1071 28kb | html 6kb]
The cloak and saddle cloth colours of various ranks [gif 845x500 12kb]
Diagram of a Cohort drawn up in battle order [gif 338x335 4kb]
Diagram of a Cohort drawn up in skirmish order [gif 456x318 5kb]
Diagram of a Cohort drawn up in marching order [gif 1047x319 5kb]
Diagram of three Cohorts drawn up in marching order [gif 2398x315 11kb]
Diagram of the Eidel Legion drawn up in conventional battle order [gif 1548x747 8kb]
Key to symbols used in above diagrams [gif 240x580 5kb]
Fort Helar the newest fort in Eidel Province [gif 1516x1084 89kb]
A Marching Camp typical of the genera [gif 1227x1103 49kb]

These graphics are described with supplementary information in the main body of the text from where they are referenced. Where both a GIF and a HTML file are referenced it is rare for them to contain the same information, often the HTML is a cut down version of the GIF.

Compatibility

This article adds detail, and complexity, to the Thardic Republican Army. With the exception of the points noted below, I am not aware of any contradiction with any CGI published work as of April 1998. However, the publishing of HarnMaster Military will probably contain material very much at varience with this article.

I would recommend sticking to one version or the other.

CGI Cohorts are the troops which from an entire provincial district, where as mine are based round the garrison of a single fort. Therefore, the article's cohorts are approximately 60 men strong, CGI's are between 60 and 220 men strong.
CGI is based round a company of 20 men. Though the 20-man company appears in the article it is not the prime military unit.
The wording of the draft rules in CGIs document are considered by some to be ambiguous. I will the meaning that I believe was intended, they raise only one third of the required reservists, the rest being volunteers. I have choosen to change the draft procedure to have the majority of reservists serving through the draft. I have also slightly changed the qualifying land requirement for the different troop types.
I have raised the land tax from CGI's figure of 1d per acre to 2d 2f per acre.
The CGI legions build mobile forts which are of square plan which have continuous palisades surrounding them. Since the Cohort will not have enough stakes to build a continuous wall, I have described encampment techniques using less stakes which are based round circular marching camps.