bserving the docile and reasonable nature of the high-elves, or the international disinterest shown by wood-elves, one might come to think that these people are not warlike. The truth though, cannot be farther from that idea.

The history of elven peoples is a history of war, a history of conquest, and a history of sacrifice. And through war, these brave elves keep their culture alive.

The concept of warfare, for high-elves and wood-elves is a very different concept. For the wood-elven tribes, it's a way of life: a necessary duty to protect one's borders from enemies sapient or feral, for the greater clans it's a struggle for absolute power, and for the monarch it is a chance to establish unquestioned loyalty across all the rebellious fiefs.

For the high-elves of Alinor on the other hand, war is most often waged to spread their ideology. Even as a lesser House of the grand Red Elven Union, they make up for it with their military nature.

For both peoples, though only a small fraction of the population is truly battle-ready, nearly everyone, man and woman, has some basic training. For both, reasons are different.

The wood-elves are a feral people, used to hardships and fending off attacks regularly, thus they have to promote martial culture. Of the several million inhabitants, roughly a million can be called to arms, although the true 'military strength' of the Forest Kingdom is one hundred thousand.

The high-elves on the other hand dwell under the constant threat of an invasion by enemies known or unknown, and even in general have to make up their muscles to live the hard lives they do. Though they can field armies as great as two million, their immediate numbers never exceed a hundred thousand (directly under the king of Alinor).

nless you're one of those of those eusocial insectoid monsters from distant worlds we dare not colonise yet, nobody is born a soldier, you are bred into one. And like all things in life, you need to prove yourself fit to serve before you get handed the cloak and shipped to the borders.

And lastly, even if you prove yourself able, there is little chance of you being assigned to hazardous locations; they say you must keep your friends close but your enemies closer, but they forget to defend against those enemies you need to spend a good chunk of your military.

Amongst the high-elves, there are two main types of armies: static and dynamic. Static armies are mostly made up of conscripts, ill-equipped and untrained, meant not to wander too far from the province. Dynamic armies are made of hardy legionnaires, whose job is to go out and fight in the name of their motherland.

Should you show interest in joining the military but lack training and combat experience, you can be expected to sign up with the static army stationed at your provincial capital.

Whilst there, you'll get a basic pay in exchange for acting as a town-guard, as well as defending the province's villages from bandit raids and sieges (if any arise), whilst being subject to the whims of your province's defence minister. Is trading safety, stability, and closeness to family in exchange for better pay, better equipment, a share of the spoils of war, and great honour a good trade? You decide.

If you aspire for more, you can enlist in the local military school, where you'll be battle-hardened. Once you have graduated from military school, you can expect to sign up with a dynamic army to serve under the king and be considered a true soldier.

In times of inaction, you'll still be a part of the static army, albeit with greater pay. But when campaign season comes up, you can apply to join one of the ten legions under the ruling king, and perhaps be selected, in which case you have to show up in one of the recruitment camps, after which you and thousands of others like yourself can finally get some action.

But be wary, for life as a soldier is harsh and unforgiving. You may need to carry a hundred pounds of gear, walk as much as thirty miles a day, and build a camp at night ere you retire.

Depending on the situation, you may also need to build roads as you go along, forage for food or water, be left behind for lazing or succumbing to pain, or spend the night awake watching the woods for movement. This may seem harsh, but such is life with the high-elves.

Now, if you feel tired just by thinking about all of this, you might want to be a wood-elf and enlist the army from their side. Unfortunately for you, their lives aren't much easier either.

If a parallel to the high-elves is thought of, the wood-elven static armies involve every man and woman able to bear arms, whilst their dynamic armies are a small force, usually all male. In intertribal warfare, it is up to the smaller tribes themselves how many forces they want to spare. For the bigger clans and the kingdom as a whole though, there is a certain precedent that has to be met.

Each tribe has a unit called a ward, which is a unit of around ten people, often created by the chieftains. When the draft comes, each of these wards must send one person, usually the strongest and fiercest, to fight for the tribe.

It is the ward's task to feed, clothe, and arm this warrior to their best ability, and in exchange this warrior fights on behalf of all ten. A note to state: this draft is not a request, but an order. When the draft comes, each ward has to send one man, and the one who is voted by the majority in the ward must go to war on behalf of the ward, there is no denying.

On the other hand, there exist military-only tribes, whose main trade is to serve in the army, and as such they may send as many as five or eight warriors from each ward, although that requires a lot of legal proceedings, and if often up to the chief and a majority vote.

In an absence of war, however, this tenth force may still be active for the leader of the tribe and clan, usually for other errands or to be garrisoned in forts or castles. When war comes, and these soldiers alongside their chieftain are off to war, the ward votes for a second warrior, usually the second most able, to make up for that guarding castles or borders.

This second soldier has almost equal needs as the first, just in case the ward's warrior falls sick or dies in combat, or there arise dire situations where each ward has to send two warriors off to battle.

But hey, at least in such tribes, both men and women can have equal chances to get recruited (although these forces are overwhelmingly male anyway), but best of all: you can hope to be spared of the exhausting marches and overburdened beasts, although you're much likelier to die of attrition if not near friendly territory. Whatever works for you.

egardless of how many soldiers you have, they are of no use if not armed and armoured properly; the high-elves know this, and so do their factories that focus on mass-producing goods for their soldiers at insane rates. The wood-elves on the other hand prefer instinct over industry, not like they have any other choice in those jungles anyway.

The high-elves have better equipment, this is without question. Each legionnaire by default is issued with a standard wear: red full-sleeved tunics, brown trousers, hauberks, military belt, segmented cuirass, gauntlets, greaves, and a pointed helm.

In winters they may wear additional gambesons, and in summers omit the trousers. Those who can afford or craft it may choose to wear a veil of chainmail over their mouths, whilst centurions often wear an eagle plume. Those without segmented plate may opt for scale armour or heavier chainmail.

The standard soldier carries with him a shortsword, a dagger, a large scarlet pavise shield and two short-spears with extendable iron heads so they may be thrown like javelins.

Other than that, each soldier is supposed to carry a knapsack and/or bindle (depending on the length of the campaign), stuffed with all essentials: a week's worth of rations, medical supplies, dry clothes, utensils, and anything else the soldier may need on the march.

On his person, every soldier carries a canteen filled with water or wine, most have biscuits for emergency purposes. Those who march at the front also carry with them road-building tools, whilst those at the back may have to drive herds of animals along, or may be left behind to reinforce their camps and ensure supplies keep coming.

That is one more interesting aspect: when marching through questionable territory, the soldiers might instead of dismantling the camps and moving on, may instead choose to erect semi-permanent camps and leave behind a couple troops to fortify them, so supplies can be transported between allied cities and the military units.

Overall, the high-elves are often well-prepared, better-supplied, and well-equipped, and this can prove a turning point for them, especially when fighting ill-trained or ill-equipped forces. However, this is not always true as sometimes despite all of this, the soldiers of Alinor return home empty-handed, and this fact the wood-elves will be quick to point to.

Unlike the high-elves, the wood-elves do not have standardised equipment. For most, it is to use whatever they find and can use the best. Even then, there are some things common.

For example, the apparel of the wood-elf depends on the season, usually for camouflage reasons. In months of spring or summer when the forest is green and young, the soldiers prefer to garb themselves in green and brown, in autumn they wear red and browns, and in winter they wear black and blue.

As for choice of fabric, it depends on the local availability and season, and can range from linen to wool and everything in between, including metal when it is available. The best equipped troops are those who fight on the front lines, often garbed in armour as heavy as those worn by the high-elves, whilst those who fight behind might wear nothing more than simple tunics and aprons.

The standard soldier in this case can have one of two sets of arms: either the archer set (a hunting bow, two sheaves of arrows, and a shortsword or dagger) or the infantry set (a short-spear, round shield, an axe or sword as backup weapon).

There also exist some unique sets available to experienced soldiers: some veteran warriors tend to dress like the soldier of Alinor, training in combat with sword and pavise shield, armoured in heavy armour; others carry long spears and kite shields, for those were the weapons of the woodland guards of yore. There also exist heavy-archers, bow-laden yet armoured, carrying small triangular shields on their backs with short-spears.

Owing to their experience in forests, most of such soldiers carry little to no supplies with themselves, preferring instead to live off the land, although there are many who use pack animals and bindles for emergency rations and supplies, especially waterskins.

The wood-elves do not build roads, but instead tread the forest as it is, for their link to nature is strong. As such, supply lines are an issue for them, which is why they often rely on neighbouring tribes for additional supplies.

Overall, wood-elves function more than properly in their own territory, whilst the high-elves have mastered a number of more open territories like grasslands or deserts, but lack expertise in forests. On the other hand, the wood-elven tactics fail almost entirely if not for the forest terrain they are born and bred in.

hen talking about soldiers, a common mistake many do it to assume it's the individual units that matter. In a legion where the total number of fighting men can number anywhere between five thousand and ten, the lives of hundreds or even thousands can simply be reduced to blocks on a map.

Amongst the high-elves, these divisions are a matter of victory and defeat, as war for them is a synchronised dance. And even outside battles, it is a matter of support and balance.

The smallest unit is the contubernium: made up of eight legionnaires, two slaves, and one or two mules. All ten men in it are equal: they share sleeping quarters, hunt together, fight together, eat together, and do everything else together. The legionnaires fight whilst the slaves and mules ease the burden, doing the brunt of the foraging and camp-building too.

Ten contubernia make a century: the smallest unit able to function autonomously. Each century comes with its own standard-bearer, a camp-prefect, a second-in-command, and a centurion at the head. Depending on the situation, they may also have a ballista with them.

Six centuries make a cohort, led by a grand-centurion, often distinguished from regular centurions by their plumes and black blades. And ten cohorts, plus an auxiliary force, make the biggest unit of them all: the legion.

The legion's symbol is the sun, borne aloft by the flag-bearer. The cohorts in a legion are numbered I to X, with Cohort I having six double-centuries of all elites, each of the six centurions a grand-centurion.

The leader of this cohort is a step above grand-centurion: the First Blade. Outranking him are nine men: the auxiliary-leader, six staff officers, the second-in-command, and the highest rank in the whole army: the legate.

There are ten legates in the Kingdom of Alinor, including the king, who is the legate of Legion I, a legion of all elites, also called Legio Prima or Legio Praetoria. The other nine legions are led by folk of the king's household. The king, his nine legates, his kindred, and their grand-centurions together make up the Tribunal, the only semblance of pseudo-nobility in an otherwise Red state.

Back in Alinor, these people hold a place in the senate, concerned with military matters and protection of the state. But in the field, these legates command their armies of some six thousand men. But whilst these enlisted soldiers make up the backbone of the army, the auxiliaries are the specialists. These auxiliary troops: mercenary forces armed differently and uniquely, employ their various skills in the service of the empire. One such field is horsemanship.

In most legions, there are cavalry-only regiments populated with either knights (elite heavy-cavalrymen ably trained with lance and composite bow, used mostly to break through enemy lines or to flank) or reavers (able hussars and horse-archers nursed in the saddle, usually folk of the Hsíldär Clan, used mostly to device hit-and-run tactics or to chase off retreating enemies).

These soldiers ride together in pairs of two, the duo called a companionship. Five duos and two cavalry slaves form a squadron, ten squadrons (ten dozen in total) form a thunder, and five thunders for a regiment, the cavalry equivalent of a cohort.

Other than that, there are also part-mounted cohorts, and simple all-foot cohorts of light infantry (usually archers or javelinmen), or even those of heavy infantry (common in legions far from home, that have suffered significant losses). They are led by auxiliary-centurions, who may or may not be a member of the legion directly.

Should the auxiliary-centurion be an auxiliary himself, the cohort is called an 'ally cohort' instead of 'auxiliary cohort', as is the case with most Hsíldär troops. Many armies may simply be multinational, as is the nature with those in untamed lands or joint colonies.

But to be fair, not all these auxiliary forces are 'mercenaries' in the truest sense, as many of these forces (for example the knights) are citizens of Alinor fighting at the discretion of their governor, but still are not a part of the main legion.

Such forces instead are made up of ex-legionnaires who enrol into specific military guilds and fight on behalf of that guild. Such guilds are often funded or created by the local government, aimed at crafting specialists out of seemingly ordinary soldiers. In exchange for the funding, the guilds may supply the legions with troops they train.

Although mostly a tradition of courtesy, every student of the guild is expected to serve one thousand years on behalf of the guild, after which they are free to leave and act as mercenaries, although a great many choose to still serve the legions where they had been a part, until they are relieved of duty or taken by the scythe of Death.

ompared to the system implemented by the high-elves, the wood-elven armies may seem far more flexible and lenient, and these observations would be true to a great extent, but fact is these armies are still well organised with subdivisions.

There are two main types of soldiers: irregulars are diverse self-equipped warriors selected by their respective wards, whilst guardians are professionals trained in specialised guilds.

The smallest unit proper of the irregular forces is the hunt (also called platoon): a group of roughly one hundred individuals (called hunters), all from the same tribe, each of them armed and armoured similarly yet diversely. Like the high-elven centuries, these too are led by prime-hunters, marching alongside a banner-carrier and a second-in-command.

Amongst the wood-elves, there are no specialised military slaves. Every man must carry what they need by their own hands, although there are mules, and some choose to bring their own slaves with them on the march, but those slaves are counted as livestock instead.

Anywhere between five to ten hunts make a brigade, commanded by a war-chief, who usually happens to be the chieftain of a tribe. In theory, a brigade is supposed to be a collection of all fighting men from a tribe, and thus bear the same name as the tribe. But for tribes that are larger, a numeral suffix is added, with lesser generals being selected from lesser chieftains.

Ten brigades make a regiment: the collection of all fighting men under a clan, with the Jarl of the ruling clan being the commander, called a hunter-general. As you guessed, for larger clans the Jarl's next-in-commands lead their own regiment whilst the Jarl leads Regiment I.

Regiments can be considered the wood-elven equivalent of a legion: a large force of roughly ten or twenty thousand troops, with the greatest Regiments belonging to the King of the Forest Kingdom.

There are forty-one regiments in service of the Forest Kingdom, which in total when adjusted for extras and guardians number to a million, although most of these forces are usually inactive. The immediate force is a tenth of the total force: a hundred thousand soldiers, in the form of six regiments; this active force is called the Great Forest Army.

When the forest is in danger, the woodlands gods call in their forest armies and all the other unbound tribes to join this army, forming the Wild Hunt, which is a step above the Great Forest Army but still basically the same.

When the Wild Hunt is formed, a ritual called The Voting is performed, in which all the woodland gods and the king converse and decide who should lead the Wild Hunt. At the end of the ritual, a shaman interprets the will of the gods and appoints a leader (who is usually the king, but can be any other person), this person is called the Leader of the Wild Hunt.