Lord of the Manor - Sample Army - Poppenheim

(This is a continuation of my thoughts about a mapless Medieval campaign supporting tactical medieval rules, such as Chainmail.  This is the first version of the random generation of lands and troops.)

In the past, some of my wargaming with Imaginary Nations (or Imagi-Nations) has featured a number of substates and states in a fictional region called Balkania.  In 19th and 20th century conflicts, I have used the two states of Furstenberg and Rumpwhistle.  Earlier conflicts have been between the two medieval states of Poppenheim and Bombastia (they were baronial lands that became part of Furstenberg).

Here is the treatment that a medieval Poppenheim receives, when using the Lord of the Manor method to determine the army.

 So, the demesne of Poppenheim has 12 lands. The first is automatic (a Manor), the other 11 were generated using the dice method presented in the earlier article.

First is the Manor, which we will call Schloss Romfels, and is the seat of Poppenheim power. It provides two units to the army, a unit of Crossbowmen, and a unit of Knights.

Schloss Romfels

• Three Farmlands, which the player chooses to provide 2 units of Spearmen, and 1 unit of mounted Sergeants.
• One Forest, which the player chooses to provide one unit of Archers
• One Pasture, which the player chooses to provide one unit of Slingers, and 100 bezants.
• Two Towns, which provides 2 units of Billmen, and 200 bezants.
• One Port, which provides 200 bezants, and access to hire Foreign Mercenaries.
• Two Highlands, which the player chooses to be 2 units of Highland Pike units.
• One Fish Pond, which provide 1 unit of mounted Men at Arms, and 100 bezants.

 This gives a family consisting of:

1 unit of Knights (9 figures, heavy horse, lance)
1 unit of mounted Men at Arms (9 figures, heavy horse)
1 unit of mounted Sergeants (9 figures, medium horse)
2 units of Spearmen (each, 18 figures, heavy infantry)
2 units of Billmen (each, 18 figures, heavy infantry, polearms)
2 units of Highland Pike (each, 18 figures, light infantry, pike)
1 unit of Archers (12 figures, light infantry, longbow)
1 unit of Slingers (12 figures, light infantry, sling)
1 unit of Crossbowmen (18 figures, light infantry, crossbow)

And the player has access to 600 bezants, and has access to hiring Foreign Mercenaries.

This is a very interesting army, and should provide a lot of interest to the player who is commanding it.  There is a lot of strong infantry, although the Highland Pike are going to be tough to manage (they hit very hard, and might be a terror, if the enemy army lacks any pike units - but they are light infantry, and would be susceptible to flank attack, and archery).