Civil War Military Developments

The unusual nature of the Imperial Civil War led to radical depatures from the standard military wisdom of the time in military strategy and tactics on both the land and the sea. Whilst the early years of the war were typical of an early-to-mid 19th-century conflict, the re-introduction of magic soon caused significant doctrinal shifts, and the eventual transformation of the war from a conflict between mortal armies to a desperate defence against demonic invasions forced the armies of Inecuria to completely overhaul their military thinking.

The military forces of Inecuria, especially the Imperial Army, transitioned to a much more melee-centric way of war. On land, the relative ineffectiveness of gunpowder line infantry against demons and mutants led to the core of the army shifting to pikemen and halberdiers, with gunpowder moving to the role of specialist light infantry. At sea, the near-universal use of magical shielding and the newfound explosive power of magically charged rams led to most naval engagements being decided by ramming and boarding actions rather than gunnery, even as guns rapidly became more technologically advanced. In general, Inecurian military forces were forced to turn back to antiquated technologies and ways of war that would normally be completely obsolete against other mortal forces.

## Land Army

### Ineffectiveness of Gunpowder

The greatest change the Civil War brought to the land army was in the infantry. Though line infantry armed with muskets were the most effective means of defeating mortal armies, they proved to be ineffective - and often actively detrimental - against demonic opponents.

The tactical strength of gunpowder small arms lay chiefly in their shock value. Though they fired slowly and were often not terribly accurate in battlefield conditions - with that accuracy quickly degrading over the course of a battle due to fouling - each successful hit was devastating. Even if a gunshot wound was non-lethal, it was certainly going to cause a severe and incapacitating wound, and those on the receiving end of musket fire knew this well. Marching into a hail of lead was, therefore, an extremely frightening prospect; making men stand their ground when under fire took great courage from the men and great effort from skilled officers, and marching directly into fire was an even greater challenge. Though they were extremely deadly weapons, the true power of firearms was their ability to destroy the morale of even the most hardened veterans.

However, against most forces of demons and mutants, shock value was often largely irrelevant. Artificial mutants - such as those crafted by the Festerkin - were typically too mindless to be affected by fear, as were the most bestial victims of natural mutation. Demons and the more intelligent mutants could be driven off if they believed the battle to be hopeless, but doing so took extraordinary effort; forcing retreat was a matter of rationally convincing them victory was impossible rather than merely terrifying them, since their sense of fear was often heavily dulled or absent.

Against armies of foes who were either practically or literally immune to morale shocks, the disadvantages of gunpowder small arms became far more apparent. Their slow rate of fire was absolutely crippling against the large hordes that mortal armies were often forced to take on, even when the men were instructed to fire as quickly as possible in their own time rather than in regular volleys. Though each successful shot resulted in the target being crippled or killed, this mattered little when there were many more to take their place. The problem was compounded once the more magically powerful demons began flooding in to Inecuria, as they were capable of casting shields that only artillery could shatter.

Imperial forces were completely incapable of halting charging demons and mutants before they were overrun, so the decision was made to radically overhaul the entire tactical framework. Since the enemy could not be prevented from coming into a bloody melee, the Imperial army would not bother to do so, and would instead train and equip their line infantry to give them a chance at surviving and winning the inevitable clash.

### **Melute**

Taking inspiration from the military manuals of earlier centuries, the Imperial army undertook major reforms, re-equipping the soldiers and re-training them in the art of fighting in *Melute* (singular *Meluta*), a concept that had been previously abandoned around the turn of the 18th century. *Meluta* is often translated as "square", though a more accurate literal translation is "block". A *Meluta* formation continued to be officially referred to as a "regiment", but the term *Meluta* came to replace "regiment" in the common vernacular. *Melute* could either be formed up in a straight line or in a staggered, "toothed" arrangement - to provide enfilading fire - depending on the nature of the terrain and the kind of enemy being fought.

The *Melute* of the Civil War were somewhat smaller than the historical formations which inspired them, mainly due to the fact that the organisational culture of the army had grown used to smaller units and the general density of officers and NCOs was much higher. Each *Meluta* consisted of 1000 fighting soldiers (supplemented by musicians, standard-bearers and so on) divided into 10 companies of 100, which were themselves further divided into two sections of 50. These sections are sometimes referred to in English as platoons, but a literal translation of the Nesarian name - *Pina* - is "section" or "segment".

A *Meluta* had six companies of "Holders", one company of "Responders", and three companies of "Shooters". The Holders were those responsible for maintaining the hollow square formation of the *Meluta*, with one section consisting of pikemen and the other consisting of halberdiers. The shorter but more versatile halberds held the front, while the longer pikes reached out from behind them to keep enemies at bay and cover the halberdiers.

The one company of Responders was armed with a variety of melee weapons; swords, axes, war-hammers and pollaxes were all recorded, with some opting to carry a shield in their off-hand and others carrying a pistol. As the name would suggest, the Responders were tasked with responding to the heaviest attacks on the formation, particularly if the square was breached, and so they were equipped for combat in close quarters. For greater flexibility, their sections were further subdivided into two squads of 25.

The three companies of Shooters were armed with firearms and were tasked with taking out high-value enemy targets at range before they reached the formation. Initially they used muskets, but came to be equipped with rifles and were eventually outfitted with the bolt-action Basumenor in 1858 - though the adoption of this fast-firing rifle led to dramatic changes in the *Meluta* and eventually its abandonment. The Shooters moved around the hollow square as needed, and like the Responders they were subdivided for greater flexibility, with each section consisting of five squads (sometimes alternatively referred to as "fireteams") of ten.

Each *Meluta* was supplemented by mages, though the number and type of mages was not consistent. The most sought after were mages capable of shield magic, and at least one was a requirement for a *Meluta* to be considered ready for battle. Shield mages were useful for warding against enemy projectiles, but their main focus was blocking enemy magic, which remained a devastating vulnerability of the *Melute*. Healing mages were also greatly desired, as they could restore wounded soldiers to fighting condition in minutes rather than days or weeks.

Contrary to expectations, offensive mages - i.e. plasma, air and frost mages - were generally not used in *Melute*, mainly because their magic - especially that of plasma mages - could be just as dangerous to the *Meluta* itself as it could be to the enemy. In order to avoid the possibility of friendly fire, offensive mages generally had to place themselves outside of the *Meluta*, defeating the whole point of the hollow square. These battle-mages were instead almost exclusively mounted and rode with cavalry formations.

*Melute* proved to be far more resilient against assaults by demons and mutants than line infantry, as both the equipment and the nature of the formation made the soldiers able to respond effectively to melee engagements. The hollow square shape was also far more effective at protecting the essential battle mages than a line formation. Though primarily a defensive formation, it was capable of surprising mobility and aggression provided that the soldiers were drilled well - which was not always the case, especially later in the war when conscripts had to be levied en masse.

## Navy

Naval warfare changed dramatically with the resurgence of magic, even before the Demon Ships of the Black Navy entered the scene. Magic's defensive and offensive capabilities radically changed how ships engaged with each other, sharply limiting engagement ranges and making ramming and boarding some of the most decisive actions. The "line of battle" formation fell out of use as the effectiveness of gunnery alone quickly dwindled, though it would not completely disappear, and the term "ship of the line" remained in use despite it not being a technically accurate descriptor of what large warships were now doing.

### Shield Magic

Perhaps the most important change to naval warfare was the introduction of shield magic. Loyalists, Republicans and Witch-Pirates alike saw the value of magical shielding immediately, and shield mages became an extremely valuable commodity at sea; ships of the line were rarely allowed to sail without four shield mages aboard. Magical shields could resist enemy barrages to some extent, able to deflect many shots before breaking under the strain. This forced ships to come much closer before beginning to fire; shots fired at closer distances retained more of their velocity and therefore more of their force, breaking through the shields more quickly.

It was soon discovered - first by Republican fleets, but quickly followed by Loyalists - that the most effective way to deploy shields on a warship was to layer them, rather than have the mages concentrate on one single stronger shield. Putting maximum effort into resisting force protected the hull, but was not effective for long engagements as it would tire the mages very quickly. Having the mages create layers of weaker shields which were intentionally allowed to break would rarely stop shots altogether, but would significantly slow them down, sapping the force out of shots and therefore minimising damage to the hull and making splinters - the real killer of crew - slower and less likely to occur. A weak shield required less effort from the mages and could be re-established quickly after breaking, making them able to keep a ship continuously shielded for hours on end.

The key vulnerability of magical shields was that they needed to be lowered for the ship to fire. A ship that fired into its own shield could break it and deliver a painful shock to the mage sustaining the shield - or worse, the shot could ricochet off the shield and hit the ship. Though one-way shields - which permit objects to pass through in one direction but not another - were possible, they required a great deal of training to create and sapped away at a mage's stamina much quicker than a standard shield. Creating normal shields and lowering them when firing was a far more efficient use of a mage's limited strength, but would make the ship far more vulnerable for a few critical moments. Ships often tried to time their shots to land just as the enemy's shield was lowered, occasionally leading to tense stand-offs where two ships both waited indefinitely for the other to fire first - usually resolved by another ship intervening.

Shots fired as close as possible were most likely to break through magical shielding - and would retain greater force after doing so - but the most effective way to break shielding was to send the entire ship through it, as the force of an entire ship crashing against a shield could not be resisted by any mage. This was initially an extremely risky tactic - it all but guarantees a collision with the ship sitting just behind the shield, highly destructive to one's own vessel as well as the enemy - but it soon became one of the most dominant battle tactics with the adoption of Magic Rams.