Companions

Engineers may have learned to harness the power of nature itself and gained the ability to tear down city walls or set the very seas on fire, but let me tell you that nothing strikes fear in the heart of the common soldier like the deafening sound of the Companions entering the fray.

— Leon Argenteros, Lord High Marshall to Basil III Nikolaides

The Sworn Brotherhood of Companions the the Basileus, known simply as the Companions, is typical organization of young Laparan aristocrats whose parents have pledged their lives and services to the protection of the reigning basileus. Financially supported by their families, the members of the Companions spend their days not in the idle pursuits of luxury or wealth, but the tireless study of strategy, tactics, and warfare. Quartered in barracks inside the walls of the imperial palace, the Companions move freely through the halls of the imperial court and are among the closest, and possibly only, friends and mentors of the basileus.

Composition

Manpower

Due to its composition of volunteers selected from, and outfitted by, the wealthy elites from throughout the empire, the various orders of Companions throughout history have varied in number. The Companions of Basil III Nikolaides, for example, currently number 123 men, with an additional 14 currently involved in training. The famed general, Basil I Nikolaides, was accompanied by force of nearly 600 men whenever he ventured forth, if the tales are to be believed.

Weaponry

Typical tactics employed by the Companions rely on the unit’s responsibility to act as personal bodyguard to the basileus and, when engaged, tend to make use of their ability to deliver a decisive blow whenever and wherever needed. As such, the primary weaponry utilized by Companions are focused on making full use of their mobility.
Early Companions were commonly seen with short hunting lances and javelins, designed for repeated thrusting. With each successive generation, the lances grew gradually grew in length until the Siege in 602AFE, when they typically exceeded three meters in length. The modern lance used by Companions, the kontarion, is couched under the arm and used in cavalry charges.
As the kontarion is ill suited for combat in close quarters, Companion cavalry typically carry with them a smaller weapon, with which the combatant is well versed, and a pair of pistols.

Vehicles

As a unit of cavalry, the Companions would amount to little without the strong horses they ride. Selected from the largest and most agile horses available, a companion’s courser is trained to carry its rider into battle and not to shy from the murderous roar of discharging firearms. Riding into battle, no less protected than its rider, a courser will typically be covered from head to haunch in brigandine and scale.

Tactics

The discharge of so many firearms filled the field with the acrid smoke of black sand. Murmurs and small cheers could be heard among the ranks of men, struggling to see through the cloud they had created. Too soon, however, the thunderous sound of hooves on the packed earth betrayed that the Companions still approached, sending the men into panic even before emerging from the smoke.

— Justin .Skleros, advisor to placeholder 

In stark contrast to years past, infantry dominate the battlefield in tightly packed ranks to maximize the effectiveness of the firearms they wield. Cavalry are typically deployed in the flanks of a line of battle to maximize use of their mobility and to protect the exposed horses from the direct fire of the enemy ranks. The slow-moving, heavily armored, Companions are no exception, as their armor provides some, but not complete, protection against enemy fire.

Typically utilized as the ‘hammer’ in an ‘anvil and hammer’ attack, Companion divisions prefer to strike at an enemy that has been pinned in place by other forces. A massed charge in the wedge formation typically employed against a force already distracted is designed to break the opponents’ morale and send them into rout, where lighter cavalry units will break into pursuit.

Cataphracts by Mariusz Kozik

Type

Cavalry

The Lord High Marshall

The leader of The Companions of Basil III Nikolaides is the highly decorated general, Leon Argenteros, maternal uncle and acting regent to the young basileus. Recently returned to Metilene after an unsuccessful campaign in the province of Pandocheia, the Lord High Marshall has declared his intent to restore order to the imperial district.