Military Rations

An army marches on its stomach, and this necessarily entails provisioning that army in some way. Whether this takes the form of pillage or rations is a question of tactical feasibility, strategic goals, and economic capacity, but the trend is increasingly towards centralized ration distribution among both the Horde and the Alliance. This page, though a WIP, will be gradually expanded to examine what a soldier might eat depending on branch of service, theater, and even time. The rations issued by the Orcish Horde differ significantly from those in use by the True Horde, for instance.
=Alliance Rations=
==Arathorian Rations==
===Legion Rations through History===
*Grain, wine, vinegar, etc.
*None during much of the Warring Kingdoms period except for on active campaign.
Enriched rations.
==Azerothian Rations==
Dried mushroom field rations in Outland.
===Northrend Campaign Rations===
Stormwind provided the bulk of the rations issued to Alliance troops in Northrend in conjunction with the Dwarves and Gnomish innovators. Most of these supplies took the form of raw foodstuffs intended for cooking and supplementing for forage in the early stages of the war, but following the press into the Dragonblight forage became increasingly difficult. Northrend rations were often bulky and heavy, but were extremely energy dense due to the high energy expenditure necessitated by the arctic chill.
====Mess Rations====
The most prevalent supply ration issued during the conflict was the mess ration, consisting of enough food to feed a platoon at a time divided evenly. This ration consisted of a pound of meat of some variety when possible, two pounds of bread, flour or parched wheat, and a pint of beer, supplemented weekly by ten ounces of beans, a pound of sugar, and three pounds of potatoes. This ideal supply was expensive to maintain but ensured the troops were suitably fed for survival during basic activities, and was to be supplemented in combat. By the end of the war, this ration alone had resulted in the slaughter, preservation, and consumption of nearly 110,000 tonnes of beef, lamb, and other meats.
====Field Ration====
The Northrend field rations varied somewhat, but broadly followed a simple recipe. One pound of meat, tinned or dried, served as the main focus of the ration, supplemented with biscuits, hard candies, nut-and-syrup bars, hot tea and bullion cubes for making broth, and dehydrated or tinned beans. When possible, these rations also included butter, cheese, plain sugar or molasses, tinned and condensed milk, and dried sausage. Difficult to carry individually in large amounts, Northrend field rations were nonetheless a vital part of the war effort and provided both high caloric content foodstuffs but morale boosting items - especially tea and coffee and hard candies.
The goal of the field ration was not just to nourish the troops, but to remind them of who and what they were fighting for in order to counter the terror and despair endemic in the ranks, leading to an additional effort during the war to package rations with an additional foodstuff from home for troops from outside the Kingdom - usually oatmeal for the Dwarves, pine nuts or dried peaches for the Kaldorei, and gum for the Gnomes.
====Expeditionary Rations====
One of the later developments in the war, as more and more forces were committed to fighting in the Dragonblight and Icecrown itself, was the expeditionary ration, manufactured by a number of groups. Built with raw energy density as its goal, these rations were comparatively unappealing following the field rations and mess rations. A peculiar form of pemmican was created for the purpose, inspired by the use of this rich foodstuff by the native peoples of Northrend; however, it held no great resemblance to that foodstuff. Instead, the expeditionary pemmican was created in industrial quantities in Ironforge by the Dwarven firm Riknussun & Mountainblood by combining four ounces of dried and powdered beef with an equal amount of chopped oats, eight ounces of beef suet and an ounce of sugarThis particular recipe is derived, loosely, from one referred to in 'Antarctic Trail Diet' by Ernest E. Lockhart in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Issue 1, Volume 89. An extraordinarily dense, fatty and protein-rich 'bar' was the result, packaged initially in metal boxes and then later in wax-paper individual packages. This 'pemmican' was unfamiliar and broadly unpopular with troops, though it was usually consumed readily despite its poor reception due to its excellent survivability and energy density. Joining the pemmican in the expeditionary rations were tea, hardtack biscuits, a chocolate ration (extremely well received by nearly all troops), and a ration of powdered milk when available, added by the magi of Dalaran.
With the pemmican bar serving as the centrepiece of the ration, it was not uncommon to see forces issued it trading for variety with those troops receiving alternative supplies, or resorting to forage or trade with Argent forces to secure variety. Despite this shortcoming in popularity, the expeditionary ration remains in use today among explorers in Northrend and other frigid regions of the world.
==Kaldorei Rations==
*Dried fruit and meats.
==Dwarven and Gnomish Rations==
*Beer and haggis, at least on the home front! A fine meal!
*Dried or smoked fish for the Silithid War.
*A staple of Dwarven explorers and soldiers is the mushroom biscuit, a hard and unpalatable ration that will keep to the end of days and which contains proteins, carbohydrates, and fat in a convenient package. The mushroom biscuit is prepared by shredding cave mushrooms and boiling the 'mince' for several hours into a gruel, into which oats and beef tallow are mixed. It is then dried, either by air, or more frequently, by intense dry heat (also serving to 'bake' the mixture), wrapped in paper or foil, and stored in welded tins for longevity. Unappealing, but nutritious and portable, the mushroom biscuit remains in service even with the innovations of recent years.
=Horde Rations=
==Orcish Rations==
Orcish rations have undergone an extraordinary evolution during the last fifty years. From the primitive supplies issued to hunting parties writ large to modern, Goblin-aided efforts, the oldest Orcish veterans have tried them all and experienced fundamental paradigm shifts.
===Hunter's Rations===
The earliest Orcish 'military rations' were the supplies carried by hunting parties and the early forces assaulting the Draenei. These foodstuffs usually consisted of dried fruits and meats, crisp flatbreads baked thin and hard, and sometimes nuts and dried mushrooms. Usually palatable, if tough and dehydrating, these rations were bulky for their level of nourishment. This continued to be the paradigm of Orcish rations during the Draenei Genocide and the first months of the Orcish Wars, though production shifted to a near industrial scale.
===The First War Ration===
The first major change came during the early years of the Orcish Wars. Rather than carrying a selection of disparate ingredients and flatbread, small pouches were filled with a mixture of ground nuts and shredded smoked or dried meats, sometimes with shredded fruit added, and then filled with syrup and dried. The resulting mixture was hard and durable, resistant to spoilage, and both nourishing and a source of quick energy. It could be produced in mass quantities, carried in single-meal quantities in convenient pouches, and stored for long periods. It served largely to supplement food gained by pillage, which made up the bulk of the Orcish war machine's diet, and to provide emergency supplies to patrols.
===Fourth War Rations===
The inclusion of the Goblins as an actual arm of the Horde, rather than associated mercenaries, saw a fundamental shift take place in the concept of provisioning. Food, previously reliant on drying and smoking, could now be preserved, and more importantly, transported in a number of new and novel ways. Tinned goods became a common feature from the earliest days of the War, and increasingly novel solutions appeared towards the end of the conflict.
====The Highlands Ration====
The first attempt to provide a unified ration for the Orcish, and greater Horde, forces was an unpopular failure. Bulky and heavy, packaged in thick tins, the Highlands Ration was used primarily in the Twilight Highlands but also saw limited use in remnant Northrend garrisons and Tol Barad expeditionary forces. The meal inside was intended to feed individual troops for a day, and consisted of a thick vegetable soup with salt beef. Often spoiled or inedible due to poor ingredients, the Highlands ration was often swiftly discarded in favour of local forage and the Goblin contractors responsible were severely reprimanded for their attempts to cut cost.
====True Horde Rations====
*Kodo, Ready-to-Eat, Scorpion Crunchies, and Freeze-Dried Hyena Jerky
==Troll Rations==
Aside from the Darkspear Tribe which has banned the practice, all troll tribes are known to be cannibalistic.
Forest trolls: Banana bread, in the second war.
==Forsaken Rations==
*The enemy's dead, of course. Why bring food when you're just going to make some on the field?
=Independents=
*Dark Iron grain rations
*Iron Horde rations are, early in the war, dry and bland. Presumably they are bread based. Later in the war, they take to 'fel smoked hams' and presumably other meat products in a larger role.
=Rationales and Disclaimers=
As usual for the food articles, the bulk of this will be fanon, drawing from RL examples, both contemporary and historical. Expect more historical than contemporary. Also, Dwarf Fortress was fun.
Category:Food
Category:Military