Estmerian

The Estmerian people are a collection of largely nomadic tribes that became the auxiliaries and support forces for the old empire in its expansion westwards. They were given the northern lands between the empire and the remainder of the world, forming a protective buffer for the old empire. This system was utilized to great effect for several hundred years, some scholars argue this is what extended the life of the empire for as long as it was.
The byproduct of this system is that the Estmerian people became very warlike, constantly battling the strange foes and enemy forces of the old empire, but also stedfast. They were never fond of calling on the old empire for help, as the local lords of the empire would usually seize their land when they came to aid them, forcing them to build new towns and fortifications farther into the uncharted wilderness than it already was.
The Estmerian skirmishers became some of the most prized troops and organizations within Estmerian culture. One of the few troop regiments (them and the Estmerian cavalry) were the only forces permitted to work in conjunction with old empire troop formation, and they benefited from this in gaining training and funding of the old empire. These troops would rank themselves off of accomplishments, be it through number of troops killed, or successful operations.
The skirmishers function on the edge of Estmerian culture. They are usually trained in tandum with old empire forces, upon completion of training they are sent to the outer edge of the Estmerian lands to do a combination of helping protect the fortifications and towns there, and to go into the wilderness in small groups to hunt or harry enemy forces found there. Their goals were to whittle down enemy forces, and to especially target commanders or leadership figures