Imperial Peacekeeper Army

After the conquests of Emperor Athdus the Great, the Imperial Army of the Nesarian Empire had to rapidly transition its role from a force designed to invade and conquer to a force designed to enforce the law and keep the peace across the massive expanse of Inecuria - not only against mortal threats of banditry and rebellion, but also warbands of mutants and invasions of demons.

Although it had already begun to transform towards the end of Athdus's rule, it was not until the reign of his granddaughter Empress Rixa that historians consider the army to have fully transitioned into what is known as the Peacekeeper Army. Though the transformation mostly occurred under Rixa, it was actually Consort-Emperor Eron - her husband - who was responible for organising the reforms; a common trend of their shared reign was that Rixa cared little for the minutiae of administration but Eron was exceptionally effective at it.

The Peacekeeper Army would remain in existence until the Time of Troubles (940-960 AD), and was restored by Emperor Amelos once the turmoil of that period was over - with some key reforms to the command structure that sought to limit the power of individual commanders and centralised the army under the control of the Emperor. The Peacekeeper Army was not truly done away with until the Empire began its grand multi-century campaign to conquer Asia, which necessitated different modes of warfare.

## Challenges of the Post-Athdusian World

The Imperial Army was facing many crucial problems that its old model of organisation was simply not equipped to face. First and foremost amongst them was the sheer scale of the new Nesarian Empire and the gargantuan population it now controlled, which could easily overpower the Imperial Army if the new subjects decided to revolt. The extreme fragility of Imperial control was well-understood at the time, with Consort-Emperor Eron writing at length about Imperial weakness and how their authority was currently only enforced by the reputation of Imperial military dominance and not true strength.

The Imperial Army had to scale accordingly with the new territories, and had to be able to rapidly respond to a military threat anywhere within Imperial borders, which in turn necessitated the establishment of military bases near key population centres and areas of strategic importance. However, the current organisation of the Imperial Army was not designed for this. The army of Athdus was built on the concept of a relatively small but well-trained and well-equipped elite force which had the capacity to attack and defeat enemies several times their size whilst only using a fraction of the supplies; it was an army designed for a single man to command on a decades-long campaign to conquer the world, not an army designed to maintain control over tens of millions; an army designed to invade, not an army designed to protect.

This first problem of scale was intrinsically connected to the second problem of cost. The old model of an elite army, though highly effective in its role, was extremely expensive relative to the number of soldiers it actually fielded. Scaling this up to the necessary size would be financially challenging at the best of times, but even during the generation of Empress Rixa, much of the state budget was still going towards reconstruction efforts to restore Inecuria after the apocalyptic devastation of the War for the World, and tax revenues were a long way from recovering to pre-war levels.

The state simply lacked money, and trying to improve the balance sheet by increasing taxes was seen as both morally objectionable and politically impossible. This was once again written about by Consort-Emperor Eron, who firmly argued against raising taxes, writing that "in the best case, these taxes simply would not be paid - but in the worst case, it would give our innumerable subjects reason to take up arms against us, and an opportunity to test how real the myth of Nesarian invincibility really is".

The third key problem was again related to Consort-Emperor Eron's pressing concern of never giving Imperial subjects a reason to test the strength of their overlord - the issue of what the Imperial subjects would be willing to accept. Conscription, the most simple cost-effective answer for bolstering Imperial might, was certain to cause disaster if attempted; the common people would certainly furiously object to a foreign empire forcing them to take up arms. The opinions of the local aristocrats also had to be considered; they would not take kindly to a heavy Imperial military presence on their doorstep, seeing it as eroding their authority over their own lands.

Less immediately important - though far from insignificant - was the opinion of Nesarians themselves, who were frustrated at their taxes going towards controlling distant foreign nations, and who bemoaned the scaling-up of the Imperial Army and the subsequent focus on quantity over quality as wounding their national pride. Nesarian resentment over having to sacrifice so many resources and lives to maintain the Empire in places they believed did not concern them would in fact be a near-permanent thorn in the side of the Imperial State which, to some extent, still persists to this day.

## Organisation

The model of organisation that the army eventually settled upon - or, more correctly, that Consort-Emperor Eron settled upon - was to divide the army into three distinct groups; the *Damore*, the *Megane* and the *Géalogane*. Whilst the latter constantly kept on the move, the *Damore* and *Megane* operated out of static military bases which were supplied with food, arms, armour and other miscellaneous equipment through the newly established Windway network.

### Damore

The Damore (meaning "defenders"; singular *Damor*) were intended as peacekeepers. They were largely static, being stationed in military bases, in forts, and in major cities to maintain the presence of the Empire and to enforce Imperial law. Though they were mainly envisioned as a garrison force, in an emergency they could be - and often were - brought on campaign to engage in battles and sieges.

The Damore were almost entirely infantry supported by archers and crossbowmen. What little cavalry they had operated as light horse, mostly acting as scouts rather than combat cavalry, with riders that were armoured similarly to their infantry counterparts. Unlike the other two groups of the Megane and the Géalogane, the Damore were almost exclusively local to the area they protected - a matter of both practicality and politics, as the image of Nesarian garrisons enforcing the law in foreign lands would be disastrous.

Though sometimes regarded as undisciplined and poorly trained, the Damore were not untrained amateurs; they were taught how to use their weapons and were expected to regularly train in combat, and the officers in particular were expected to memorise a remarkably large corpus of law so that they did not enforce it incorrectly - after all, they essentially doubled as a primitive police force. Where their reputation for poor training comes from is that they were generally not well-trained in battlefield formations or drill; the Damore were expected to fight criminals, bandits and mutant warbands, and as their name would suggest, were intended to defend cities and forts rather than besiege them. Their reputation for poor training came from their underwhelming performance in large pitched battles - a task they were not trained, equipped or suited for.

### Megane

The Megane (meaning "warriors"; singular *Megano*) were the true mobile forces of the Empire, acting in an offensive role rather than merely as a defensive garrison. They were paid better than the Damore, and subsequently were equipped to a higher standard. They were stationed in military bases dotted across Imperial territory, which were generally located near population centres - but deliberately just far away enough to separate them from civilians. This separation served two purposes; it was believed to help maintain discipline and a general air of professionalism in the bases (of particular concern was restricting access to prostitutes), and it calmed the nerves of local governors and aristocrats who may have otherwise felt intimidated or angered by the presence of a foreign power on their doorstep.

The Megane were mostly foot soldiers, but were supported by both light and heavy cavalry that were expected to serve a battlefield function in addition to their reconnaissance roles. The Megane were mostly made up of locals, but each force usually had a large component of foreigners - especially amongst the officer class - in order to concentrate experience and skills.

The Megane undertook larger-scale operations than the Damore; their role was to bring order to rebellious territories (a task which could involve pitched battles and sieges), to engage larger mutant warbands, and to respond to demonic invasions. It was also understood that they could bring order through their mere presence, to a greater degree than the Damore; a subjugated people may feel confident against a garrison, but the apperance of a large, disciplined and highly professional army was often enough to discourage rebellion. To this end, Megane forces that faced no active threats often uprooted from their home base to march around their assigned territory, which both honed the marching abilities of the men and reminded the locals of their existence.

### Géalogane

The Géalogane (meaning "journey-knights"; singular *Géalogano*, though often simply referred to as *Logane/Logano*) were the Empire's rapid response unit, entirely mounted on horseback. They were entirely made up of the newly reformed Imperial Knights, most of which belonged to the Brotherhood of Lady Calisa. The Géalogane were constantly on the move, patrolling across the continent and travelling between military bases and major cities. Although they could also join forces with the Megane to put down rebellions and defeat warbands, the Géalogane were mostly concerned with supernatural threats, and their most common ally was the Imperial Inquisition; indeed, Inquisitors usually rode with them.

The purpose of constantly moving was twofold; it allowed Géalogane forces to observe all corners of the Empire to respond to threats at any time - particularly demonic threats, which rarely came with any warning - and it also lightened the logistical burden the force put on the areas it marched through, as the sheer quantity of horses in each force required an immense volume of food. Each knight typically had four horses at minimum; a war-horse, a pack-horse (occasionally substituted for a mule), and two riding horses, often with additional spares - not to mention the horses for the knight's servants. It was imperative to not drain the local lands of food and compromise the food security of the local peasantry by staying in one area for too long.

## Infantry

### Armour

The first change made to the infantry was their armour. Imperial armouries ceased mass production of the mail hauberks that had characterised the army of Athdus; although plasma smiths could produce mail cheaper, faster and to a higher standard than mundane smiths, a hauberk nonetheless remained a substantial investment that simply could not be afforded on the necessary scale. Production of mail did not cease entirely - it remained in use by officers and cavalry - but it was not expected that the common soldier would wear it.

Whilst producing mail for the newly enlarged army was impractical, advancements in smithing techniques were quickly reducing the cost of producing military-grade steel plates. This was mostly a result of Saverian smiths teaching their craft to foreigners out of necessity during the War for the World, spreading the knowledge of how to produce plate armour across the continent - though it was not until the industrial revolution that overseas smiths could truly match the quality of armour made in Saveria. Consort-Emperor Eron quickly seized upon this and established armour factories across the continent, working with local armour-smithing guilds to mass produce helmets and cuirasses.

A gambeson with a steel helmet therefore became the standard body protection of the *Damore*, and the *Megane* had the addition of a steel cuirass. The helmet underwent some changes to reduce the cost of production; the ridge across the forehead was dropped and the neck guard was shortened, and in some examples not present at all. Many helmets also lost the protuding ear-guards, making the ears somewhat more vulnerable, but later examples of the design enlarged the cheek-flaps to cover the ears to compensate. The basic construction of the helmet also changed; the cap was no longer made of a single piece of metal, but rather two half-bowls united by a longitudal ridge, a design that was much cheaper to produce. Whilst some historians have suggested that this reduced the integrity of the helmet, there is no suggestion from the sources that these helmets were more vulnerable to damage, and modern testing has not shown statistically significant differences.

Many soldiers, particularly officers, adorned themselves with additional protection. Pauldrons, gorgets and laminated tassets were the most common additions, becoming more frequent as time went on, as economies of scale steadily reduced the cost of these armour pieces; from approximately the fifth century, almost all *Megane* wore additional armour plating besides their standard cuirass, and even most *Damore* wore a cuirass. High-ranking officers continued to wear mail, frequently in the form of small pieces such as aventails and standards, though those who could afford it usually continued the old practice of wearing a hauberk, wearing it between the gambeson and the plate armour. Scale and lamellar armour - though infrequent - was present in regions that had historically favoured it, such as Rulkhar.

### Weapons

A spear and shield combined with a shorter weapon - such as a sword, axe or mace - had been the standard Imperial infantry equipment under Emperor Athdus. Though a highly effective combination, alternatives came to be favoured and eventually adopted. The newly-developed halberd - a combination of pike, axe and billhook - proved to be a highly effective and versatile weapon that was also cheap to produce, and so it was rolled out en masse at Consort-Emperor Eron's order.

Being a two-handed polearm, the adoption of the halberd necessitated abandoning the shield, which to some extent compromised the protection of the soldiers - especially against projectiles. However, this was considered an acceptable trade-off for the greatly increased versatility offered by the weapon, which could effectively deal with infantry, mounted soldiers, armoured opponents and large monstrous mutants or demons. Effectiveness against the latter was of particular concern, and experimental tests clearly showed that halberdiers performed better against mutants and demons than shielded spearmen.

The infantry also carried a sidearm. Much like the earlier Athdusian soldiers, the choice of sidearm was mostly left up to the individual soldier. Most carried a short arming sword, though some wore longswords or alternatively maces, axes or hammers. *Damore*, who did not expect to fight in full-scale battles, often just carried a dagger which doubled as a tool. The sidearm was intended for use in close spaces or when pressed tightly against the enemy, where the long reach of the halberd would be a hindrance rather than an advantage.

### Ranged Weapons

The crossbow soon came to replace the longbow as the favoured missile weapon of the Imperial Army. Though longbowmen could shoot much faster, an effective crossbowman took far less time (and, consequently, less money) to train. They were also more consistent in battle, able to continuously maintain powerful shots for hours, whereas a longbowman using a high-poundage bow could tire quickly. It became increasingly obvious to Imperial officers that consistent power was preferable over speed when facing monstrous mutants and demons who could shrug off lighter shots. Concentrated high-power volleys were also more effective at breaking magical shields than continuous shooting.

Towards the end of the reign of Rixa and Eron, the crossbowmen began to adopt large pavise shields. These offered protection not just to themselves, but also the halberdiers. The pavise shields were not just useful for protecting against enemy missiles, but they were also highly effective at obstructing the enemy and disrupting a charge, making enemy advances - especially mounted ones - lose much of their momentum before actually hitting the Imperial lines.

The ratio of crossbowmen to halberdiers was approximately 30-70 in the early decades of the Peacekeeper Army, but the proportion of crossbowmen steadily increased as improved armour-smithing increased the protection of the individual soldier, and as officers adapted to the new way of war and found innovative ways to use the halberd-crossbow combination. By the turn of the 4th century, the balance was closer to 40-60, and armies often neared the 50-50 zone on the eve of the Time of Troubles.