Medieval/Fantasy Military Organization

[Abbas-Al-Morim]

Pretty much what slip.knox said!

Also, those "battlefield" commissions were more frequent in the early middle ages (the feudal system actually came into being because Charlemagne - unable to rule his vast territory alone - gave lands to his most trusted warriors to protect and rule). Later, these elevations mostly disappeared (when feudal lords had most of the power and didn't want more rivals) and after that they disappeared altogether (when the feudal lords lost their power).

 

[Queshire]

My setting isn't medieval but it is fantasy so it's on topic for this thread.

In my setting there's oh, five different factions I suppose? Each of which has different military structures.

First are the Celestials. This is the smallest faction, but they have access to advanced magi-tech and they have Gifts, part magic part natural talents. For instance, someone with the Blade Gift would be a supernaturally gifted swordsman, deadly with anything even remotely resembling a blade and able to fire off Sword Beams. They are the most powerful, but they are also the fewest and most disorganized. Most often they'll only send one Celestial because they only need to send one Celestial. The Gifts also have drawbacks. They can't control what Gifts they have so they might not have any Celestials with Gifts appropriate to the situation at hand on their roster, and because of how specific the Gifts are, they can have trouble adjust to new situations.

Next is the Human Kingdom whose pending name is Avalon. Their standing army, such as it is, consists mainly of Knights. These are basically Adventurers, you know, fighters, clerics, rogues, wizards, etc, sponsored by the government. They learn their craft at various Knight Academies and by serving under established Knights as Squires (They're more like superheros and sidekicks than traditional knights and squires by the way) Their primary job is to keep the horrible-deadly monsters in the wilderness between towns to a manageable level. Noble birth helps in becoming a Knight, but is not required. When it comes to actual war, the Knights serve of course, but the majority of their forces are the soldiers of their vassal states (who submit to becoming a vassal state for the protection of the Knights stopping them from ending up in some monster's belly) who they call to fight.

Thirdly is the currently unnamed Orcish Empire. They have the largest standing army in the world, actually, according to them the whole Empire is a standing army. Even if you don't actually fight, if you're just a mailman or a construction worker or a farmer you are considered part of the army. After serving a mandatory decade in the army you're free to retire, but considering that the only jobs available in the Empire are with the army, few do. Unlike the Kingdom which just reduces the monster population to a manageable level, the Orcish Empire focuses on completely eradicating monsters, which requires constant work and due to the land they cover, has slowed their conquest to a slow leisurely crawl. Despite all that, they don't actually have formal ranks. The Orcs in my setting were created as a Soldier race. They have a natural instinct for superiority so they don't need formal ranks. It's more confusing for other races in the empire, but it's generally agreed that you'll either pick it up the knack for it in a year or two, or you'll spend your life digging latrines.

Fourth is the Beastman Federation, which I think I'm gonna call something like the Free Beastman Trade Federation. They don't have a military so much as City Guards and Caravan Guards, but when they're guarding the cities and the caravans from the horri-nasty monsters in the woods between the cities, they tend to be suitably bad ass. Furthermore, they know that you can't spend money if you're dead so they spare no expense in equipping and training their guards. They also aggressively recruit ex-Knights and retirees from the Orcish Army to their guard. Finally, the Beastmen, who naturally make up the majority of the Federation, are, technically, monsters. Like the monsters, they were plants, animals, elements, etc changed and mutated by the magical taint infusing the landscape. While the races that are part of the Human Kingdom and the Orcish Empire come from a time before the apocalyptic war that ended the golden age of Magi-tech, the Beastmen were born from the monster infested post-post apocalyptic world so they know all the tricks and tips to get about without being eaten.

Finally, there's the independent cities. This isn't so much a faction as a lack of a faction. All the small towns, city-states, kingdoms and so forth living on their own amidst the monster infested dark forests. While the names vary, they tend to have pretty similar military organization. One person who through force and intimidation can do just about whatever he wants in order to keep the peace of the city as he sees it, little more than a bully more often than not. A couple dozen guards conscripted from the townsfolk to protect the city from any monsters that might attack but who are utterly ****ed if attacked by a very powerful monster or an organized band of monsters, and several small groups of around four or so hunters who go out into the dark forests outside the walls to hunt or forage what resources they can.

 

[Wolfram]

Thanks guys