Garudas
The Garudas are named for the birds venerated by the City-State of Helik, and are a force of elite charioteers. Selected from the best drivers, peltasts and archers throughout Helikan territory, they are used as shock troops by the Helikan League.
Composition
Manpower
As an elite force reserved for shock and awe tactics, there are relatively few Garudas. The current forces as of 469 TE include 100 chariots, with a crew of one driver and three soldiers.
Equipment
The chariot crew are equipped with coats of bronze scale to provide some degree of protection against enemy attack.
Weaponry
The three combat crew of each chariot are equipped with spears for close quarters fighting and either javelins or bows for long-range combat. Each crew member is also equipped with a melee weapon of their choosing (most commonly shortswords or shortspears) should they find themselves outside of their chariot.
Vehicles
Each Garuda crew consists of a heavy chariot manned by four horses. The chariot itself can be used in combat by running enemies underground.
Tactics
The Garudas are usually deployed to break up formations of infantry by scattering them and running them underfoot. They can also be used to take on other chariots in long-range combat using their ranged weapons.
Training
Garudas are taken both from veteran chariot crews and from particularly proficient infantry and archers. They are given specialised shock training for operating heavy chariots, including both ranged combat and close quarters fighting, and are also trained so they can fight effectively without their chariots if need be.
Logistics
Upkeep
The upkeep of the horses for the chariots is considerable, as the fastest and strongest horses are needed to provide the speed and power a Garuda chariot needs to strike fear into their enemies. The training for chariot crews is also quite expensive, and they require constant replacement of arrows and javelins.
History
When the city-state of Helik began to make its influence known in the southern Sapphire Coast from the first century of the Three Empires era onwards, it distinguished itself from its opponents by the quality of its chariot forces. When they began warring with some of the other Sapphran city-states, Archon Kastagas decided that to gain a further edge against its enemies, Helik would need to strike fear into the hearts of the enemies that opposed it. To this end, Kastagas sought to develop elite forces among his infantry and chariotry, selecting the most formidable members and deploying them against weak sections of enemy armies in a form of psychological warfare and to disrupt the formations of enemy forces. To this end, the Garudas were commissioned from the best chariot drivers, archers and spearmen, given elite training and placed in charge of the new heavy chariots that Helik had produced.
When the Helikan League was formed in 332 KE, the Garudas remained the exclusive force of Helik, but were regularly seen among the military forces of the League as a whole, often used to put down uprisings and see off non-League states encroaching on their territory. Their most recent military deployment was during the Mayokan Civil War, where they aided the Royal Army of Mayoka in striking down Archon Komon's forces and swayed the battle in Mayoka's favour, in exchange for joining the League.
So far, the Garudas have not been unleashed in the border skirmishes between the League and the Kalriv Empire, partially for fear of provoking the Empire into deploying their own elite forces. It is however understood it will only be a matter of time before the Garudas will be called into battle against the Legions, possibly the first force that could rout them.
Type
Cavalry
Founding
215 TE
Overall training Level
Elite
Assumed Veterancy
Veteran
Used by
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