Blackvale Military

Force Projection

Blackvale has a standard military training regime, as well as the Blackvale Archery martial art, which focuses on rapid fire and trick shots.

Weapons

Blackvale troops prefer the longbow, but they also are known to wield the battle ax, throwing ax, dagger, longsaex, quarterstaff or iron-banded quarterstaff. These troops excel at guerilla combat, and they can skirmish among the best of them.

Armor

In terms of armor, Blackvale troops wear quilted gambesons, or no armor at all. If they employ a shield, it will be a buckler, but they don’t wear helmets. Higher-status soldiers will wear quilted gambesons under mail hauburks, and use bucklers or heater shields (if they use a shield at all), and wear open salet helmets over a maille coifs and padded coifs. Boiled leather armor is impractical in most countries, but here it is much more common.

Warfare

Blackvale natives are not overly warlike, but they are staunch defenders of their homeland and rights. They display a high aptitude for asymmetric, guerilla-style warfare, but little for traditional field warfare. They have the standard military hierarchy with an earl marshal for the country; a marshal for each army; a captain for each unit; and assorted lieutenants for internal divisions. When used as intended, their morale is good.

Military Forces

Blackvale can field an army of 12,000 to 14,000 troops, and its infantry is 20% light war staff, and 20% light spear; its cavalry is 15% heavy lancers (nobles and their retinues its mounted skirmishers make up about 10% (bow and spear and the vast majority of the fighters (40%) are light longbowmen

Navy

The prince keeps one fortified cog plus three escort fortified cogs for his personal use. Their home port is Garlionne, and these vessels have about 80 marines per ship plus the crew.

Siege Warfare

Blackvale can engage in minor sieges, making scaling ladders and rams on site, but it is not prepared for larger operations. If they win an enemy castle, it’s through stealth and subterfuge, not force.

Knights

Knights and knighthood of the more general sort are practiced here among the nobility, but Blackvale has no native military orders of knighthood. Its yeoman archers are held in high esteem, both locally and regionally.