Taldor and Qadiran Military breakout

[NeoFax]

I am designing a campaign for my players based on Taldor invading Qadira. I have the Taldor and Qadira books, but they don't really explain the military breakouts for these countries. I am assuming Taldor is based more on a system similar to Templar Knights. Many mounted knights and supplemental regiments of archers, foot soldiers and siege weapons. Whereas Qadira would be more of a arabian flair. i.e. Mounted camel warriors, archers, assassins and elite fighters Does anyone have knowledge of what they are built up of? Is there a book out there that explains this?

[Pyrrhic Victory]

I believe that Taldor is almost like a medieval Macedon. They break units down into phalanxes and it looks like they use a lot of pikes. So I see it as if Alexander had access to heavy armor. Big foot formations with pikes, heavy cavaly knights, supporting troops like archers and light infantry.

For Qadira there is definitely an Arab or perhaps Persian feel. Light cavalry and infantry, lots of archers, etc.

[Lab_Rat]

Taldan Stuff

Taldan Phalanx:

The Taldan Phalanx constitutes the bulk of Taldor's army. They use a potent strategic combination of archers and spearmen. The spearmen wield long pikes, wear light armor, and carry a short sword at their sides. They march as one unit and are trained to quickly form attacking and defensive formations. Each spear unit is led by a knight-captain atop his charger. Archers wield fine longbows, wear light armor, and carry various weapons. A unit of archers accompanies each unit of spearmen. One of the strategies they use against the Qadiran horse and camel charges is a protective square formed by spearmen around the archers, who fire hails of arrows from inside the living fortification.

Taldan Horse:

Taldor's cavalry is comprised of both horse and elephant units. The horse legions are used to break the lines of enemy advancement and to outflank the enemy units. The elephant legions are used to move supplies and, in some cases, crush the core of the enemy army. The horse legions consist of heavily armed knights, led by a knight-captain. The elephant legions are led by knights but consist mainly of regular soldiers. The horses are raised in huge horse farms in southern Taldor. The elephants comes from a breeding stock brought from Garund during one of the expeditions of the Armies of Exploration, thousands of years ago.

Maybe throw in some espionage and assassination with the Lion Blades and some Naval action too.

[FallofCamelot]

I always see it as somewhat like Constantinople or Byzantium. I reckon you would probably see plenty of units of cataphract and pike/phalanx with supporting elephants, archers, horse archers and catapaults.

Tactics wise I would say that the army would likely hit hard but be slow moving. Quadira on the other hand would likely be a lot more mobile but less able to withstand a battle of attrition.

[WRoy]

The fortress-city of Omash also mentions carpet cavalry for the Qadirans. When it comes to mobile units they probably have the advantage over the Taldans, particularly in open terrain.

The Qadirans greatest weapon, however, is their global mercantile power and wealth. Taldor is still suffering the fallout from the Grand Campaign, and if all-out war were again declared with Qadira then the Taldans would find themselves economically hammered by embargos and disruptions of imports. Such a hit to the Taldan's vast but fragile economy (described as the only thing holding Taldor together in Taldor, Echoes of Glory) could not only blunt any invasion aspirations but cause what remains of their crumbling empire to utterly collapse. Honestly, a new Qadiran invasion of Taldor is much more likely than the opposite.

On a related note, due to their mercantile dominance I'd expect the Qadirans to have access to some units of exotic seige weapons and firearms, plus be able to call in favors/hire a variety of mercenaries and irregulars.

[Lab_Rat]

I don't know much about Qadira but I would like to add to the horse / camel calvalry something else....

Flying Carpet Calvalry

[NeoFax]

WRoy wrote:

Honestly, a new Qadiran invasion of Taldor is much more likely than the opposite.

The only problem with this is I enjoy the Arabian Knight genre and think of them as the "good guys" and we all know the good guys don't invade unless provoked. Everyone thanks for the info! I will look into the Byzantium military. I didn't know Taldor had elephants though.