[@Willy Vereb]And I will type in some more info about the Stoludians, and why your older tech might not be so bad after all. [hider=My Hider] The Army The Regular Force The Regular Force is the standard infantry unit of the Stoludian Military. Made up of about 250,000 enlistees, these men and women are a fairly well-trained, devoted, poorly-armed force. They use smoothbore muskets with a dog-lock firing mechanism and small steel daggers as their melee weapons. They are required to serve for ten years, more if they want. Leaving the Force without pardon or dismissal is punishable by a year in a royal dungeon or aboard a prison ship. This is the oldest normal army in Stoludian history. They have been around since the Solidification Era, and even still existed during the dark days of King Tinnham. They were the main reason why Tinnham fell... because the Force turned on him, and left him without most of his force. The Regular Force has a decent sized artillery unit of smoothbore, muzzle-loading cannon, and some mortars. Children of the Righteous Thunder These are men and women picked from the other parts of the Army, for good reason. The Children are the surgical tools of Stoludi, able to perform many dark tasks without regret, remorse, or pain. They are expert assassins, spies, saboteurs, and survivalists. Every soldier in the rest of the military is watched after they first join. Most, however, are ignored after a while. Some are noticed. Those are narrowed down even further, and then, after a few years, the special ones vanish in the middle of the night. After a brutal training course over many months that has been rumored to kill some recruits, they become the dirty tools the Stoludian Queen needs. If a person needs to die, a Child of the Thunder will escort them into the Beyond. If something needs to be destroyed, the Thunder will strike. If a ship needs to be sunk, a child of the Thunder will smite her. These people are nearly nonhuman. In fact... many say that they never die. They just transcend this world. They use whatever equipment is necessary. Guns, knives, clubs, swords, explosives, poisons... nothing is off the table for these fellows. Their exact number is not known but no more than 600 exist. Her Majesty's Guardians An elite strike force. These are the top graduates of the standard program in the Regular Force. They are less numerous at about 80,000 soldiers, but they are better armed, armored, and trained than the Regular Force. This part of the Army is the nutcracker of the Queen. They are equipped with snaphance carbines, wheellock pistols, and long, sharp bayonets. The Guardians wear suits of light armor, with various carvings and decorations to make the soldiers look like predators and hunters. The Guardians came about after the end of King Tinnham. It was decided that Stoludi needed a special force that was loyal to the grave, and one that could ensure the rightful heir to the kingdom would be put into power. They swear an oath of loyalty to the Queen, and desertion is punishable by banishment or even execution. The Tribals The Tribals are, in fact, not tribesmen at all. They are actually cavalrymen that ride fast, lean horses and carry belts of wheellock or snaphaunce pistols, along with spears or rapiers. The Tribals are named as such because of their whooping war cry and savage behavior, where they will indiscriminately raze an enemy army to the ground. The Tribals are farmers, bandits, traders, anyone skilled in riding a horse and willing to douse their thin, multicolored uniforms in blood. They have been around even before Solidification, and the unit might have been the unit that brought the Tribes together. The Navy While the Stoludian Navy is not the best in the world, it's sailors are exceptionally skilled and extremely devoted. However, Stoludian shipbuilding is unorthodox. For the most part, the Stoludian Navy has no huge capital ships. Most of their fleet are made of fast Sloops-of-War and caravels, with quick-firing cannons and tactics meant for speed and precision. Their largest ships might be considered corvettes in other navies. All of their ships have triangular lateen sails, with black dolphins painted on their sails. [/hider] The Stoludian Regulars are the ones most likely to see combat in any war, and while they are a proud force, they lack significant armor and the Stoludian people tend to be somewhat smaller than average for your normal human. As well, due to Stoludi's sluggishness to industrialize, equipment can be of varying quality. The Stoludian Regulars carry smoothbore dog-lock long guns, which is all well and good, but the quality of the powder and the weapon itself can be iffy at best. Some weapons will fire spot-on, and others will simply never hit a thing. They use the normal tactics of volley fire, advancing in lines and firing on command to try and counter-act the horrific accuracy problems presented by the outdated weapons tech they possess. They never charge unless circumstances are dire. Their steel daggers are to be used for defence only, if a charge meets the volley line. Their artillery is not much better, with old-fashioned, muzzle-loading iron ball cannons being the norm, and not in large numbers at all. The cannons are typically small caliber, and not fast to reload. Stoludi has yet to adopt a true sniper force in its regular members. The Queen's Guardians are much better trained and equipped, but unless there is a major threat to the Kingdom itself that is considered to be an immediate emergency, they will never be sent far from the capital. Their armor is not just for aesthetics, but it is doubted that it can take a sustained battering. Their weapons are of finer quality and their powder is as well, but they carry carbines more often than true long-guns, and as such they do best at medium to close quarters, where they can also make use of bayonets. These soldiers, when they are seen on a battlefield, will often form an old-fashioned shield wall with their carbines resting in special indents on the top of the shield. These shields can be dug into the ground and essentially turn a team of Guardians into a mobile bunker. Their fire rate is still slow, however, and often they will use ranked fire with kneeling, standing, and even sitting troops. Again, while better trained, they are far less numerous, and far less likely to be seen on the field. They do not usually work with artillery support, and when they do, it is with the Regulars' artillery. The Tribals lack organization and they do not have a shred of armor. Some Tribals will ride into battle almost totally nude with a spittle-laced cry, firing their bandoliers of pistols in all directions. They work well as a psychological shock weapon and can break a weakened line of enemies, but they do not do well in a situation that requires teamwork, and they are very vulnerable to being wounded. Once they are out of ammo in anywhere from four to nine pistols, they usually do not take the time to reload everyone, and instead, go to their swords or maces. They ride the stocky horses that Stoludians favor, but again, there is not a lick of armor in sight for their steeds. Their idea of artillery is horse-mounted longbowmen, who are skilled at their craft, but use outdated weapons. The Children of the Righteous Thunder are never going to be seen in regular combat. They often lurk in the shadows performing espionage, sabotage, and assassinations, although they have been known to engage in guerilla warfare from time to time. From rocks to black powder, it seems nothing is out of the question for the Children to use. What use they will be, is up to the Queen. The Stoludian Navy consists mostly of smaller vessels that are built to be light and fast but utilize their speed as their armor. They rely entirely on sail power, as steam engines have not yet been thoroughly researched in Stoludi. Their naval vessels are well-manned, but again are fragile, and have weak armament that is best at sustained fire rather than delivering a massive punch in one go.