Morton Militia
In one form or another the Morton Militia traces pits roots back to the earliest days of the Duchy - even into the period before the The Legend of Carron's Daughter, though it seems that it only became an organised force in the reforms following that.
Over the years the form and composition of the militia has varied considerably but its responsibilities have always focused on local defence and the maintenance of order.
Its current form sees three arms - the City Militia which serves as the town guard. The Volunteers and the Reserve make up the remainder. The differences is mainly of the degree of involvement: the City Militia are full time, the Volunteers part time (a day or two a month being typical in peaceful times) and the Reserve are former members of the City Militia, the Volunteers or others with military experience who are called on in exceptional times.
Composition
Manpower
The City Militia stands at some 200, the Volunteers around a thousand and the reserve a further thousand.
Equipment
The militia is equiped as infantry, with both light and heavy units distinguished by the degree of armour worn. Armament is split between shield and spear and Atmospheric Projectors depending on assigned duty. Most will also carry side arms of some form. As troops primarily intended for town defence they are not equipped for the march or campaigning.
Structure
Reporting ultimately to the Duke, the Morton Militia has separate commands for it’s three arms. The Volunteers and Reserves are organised by wards; the City Militia maintain a similar structure but with three or four wards usually grouped together and the town gates and walls as an independent command. Although the militia's official lines do not link directly to the civil authorities, in practice the @Berman and the City Militia commander are usually in close touch and the ward commanders for the volunteers have similar links with the Aldermen of their wards.
Tactics
The military role of the militia in peaceful times does not call for much in the way of tactics. The City Militia's role means that they have some skill in patrolling and operations in urban areas but most will require significant training for tactics of any complexity. In practice this is seldom an issue and the last time that the militias were called upon to serve as regular troops was in the Covrin Wars - now over 200 years ago.
Training
The training varies according to the arm; in practice the Volunteers are usually the most proficient at military tactics for the City Militia are more orientated to policing activities (small scale patrols, manning of the gates for tolls and security checks) and ceremonial duties whilst the reserve are normally rather out of practice, out of shape and on the aged side. The Volunteers typically train one evening each week and one Dundy per month with the focus on skill at arms and defensive operations from the town walls. The reserves seldom train and in a typical year will be called to muster three times to show their equipment present and in good order; on one of these they will do a brief exercise to demonstrate continued competence in forming a shield wall and operation of the Atmospheric Projector ,
Type
Infantry
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