Military of The Reanian Empire

Structure

The Reanian Empire has no standing army itself for the most part. Instead it relies on noble retinue and militias in times of peace, and a Levy system in times of war. In peace, Its up to local rulers to decide how many men the area requires - this normally consists of Thegns or retainers loyal to the local lord/Minor provincial Nobles and their own retinue of Housecarls. The combined military of the Reane in times of war is known as a Fyrd.

Housecarls

Housecarls are the backbone of the Reanian military and the only full time soldiers employed on mass. Housecarls are loyal to Thegns and are divided into Scylds - each of which is lead by a Gedriht or Veteran. Housecarls tend to be heavily armored and carry their fabled Housecarl Ax, A heavy bearded Greataxe traditional to the Empire but a Housecarls individual equipment varies from Scyld to Scyld. There number roughly 6000 total Housecarls within the empire.
Notable Housecarl Variants:

• The Hippocarls - The Emperors Personal Hippogriff Cavalry Lead by the Crown Prince of the Empire
• The Cullan Guard - The Wolf Pelted Elite Guard of Castle Cullis
• The Butsecarls - The Elite Naval Guard

Fyrd

In Times of War, All the peoples of the land would be required to submit when the Fyrds were called. Each Noble of the land would have to raise their Warband and join the Emperor's banner. The Warbands would contain both professional Housecarls and raised Fyrdmen. Fyrdmen within the warband would be split into three classes of warrior:
The Gedriht who normally lead the Scylds would be put in command of the Fyrdmen. There would have been few of them in each warband. They would have been well armed and the majority would have worn a helmet and chainmail armour. The main weapon was the Gar, a 2.5 m long spear with an ash shaft. Many would have carried long slashing swords. The Geoguth, or young warriors. They would have formed the bulk of the warband and would have carried a shield, spear, and Seax (a single edged dagger or short sword). Few would have had helmets or defensive armour. Finally, The Duguth, or old warriors, appear later in this period. They would have carried the same equipment as the geoguth and served mainly to provide a stabilising element in battle. In addition, there would have been skirmishers armed with either a bow or sling. The now leaderless Housecarls would directly be commanded by the Noble and with the Thagnes, form the Center of the Reanian Battlelines.

Type

Military, Army

Alternative Names

The Fyrds