Well, hopefully that clears out the mage-issue. You also asked about composition of forces, etc., do you consider that part of your inquiry answered?
I know I wasn't part of the discussion... But this really simplifies things for me in my upcoming campaign, where I'm trying to figure out how much wizards and clerics would muck up standard "real world" war campaigning.
Well, hopefully that clears out the mage-issue. You also asked about composition of forces, etc., do you consider that part of your inquiry answered?
In part, but, I'd like to see a big more flavoring.
For example, we have Typical Human Kingdom Army pretty well hashed out, so, let's look at a few others.
Free-Ranging barbarian "army".
This would include mostly neutral-good or chaotic-good sorts on teh edge of an evil human Tyrant-style country. Fleet-footed, low-tech, good with savagery, who rarely need to have stand-up fight ssimply because they have no cities to take. They can just uproot camp and wander off, then come back later. For the rare time when they *do* mass up, however, how would they look?
Evil Barbarian Army.
SIMILAR to the above, but A) evil and B) humanoid. We'd need them for a Typical Orc Force, a Goblin force, and a much larger "Combined Horde" with Orcs, Gobbos, Ogres, maybe a couple of Hill Giants as "War Machines", and so on.
High Elf Army, which is different than:
Wood Elf Army, which is different than
Drow/Dark Elf Army.
And, last but not least, a Typical Dwarven Army, tho that likely comes in two flavors ... marching to war and defending a mountain stronghold.
__________________
Wakshaani is ten feet tall and has thighs the width of pine trees. He has no nipples. He breathes toxic green fire and slams men through tables with a single hand. He subsists on a diet of chili dogs and fried chicken, which is fine because he cannot boil water without burning it. Wakshaani can bench press a family of deer. He is our last, best hope against world terrorism.
This would include mostly neutral-good or chaotic-good sorts on teh edge of an evil human Tyrant-style country. Fleet-footed, low-tech, good with savagery, who rarely need to have stand-up fight ssimply because they have no cities to take. They can just uproot camp and wander off, then come back later. For the rare time when they *do* mass up, however, how would they look?
2. Evil Barbarian Army.
SIMILAR to the above, but A) evil and B) humanoid. We'd need them for a Typical Orc Force, a Goblin force, and a much larger "Combined Horde" with Orcs, Gobbos, Ogres, maybe a couple of Hill Giants as "War Machines", and so on.
3. High Elf Army, which is different than:
4. Wood Elf Army, which is different than
5. Drow/Dark Elf Army.
(...) 6. Typical Dwarven Army
Sorry I took my time getting back to this, let's see what I can think up. I took the liberty of adding numbers to the different army types. I'll go one post=one army
1. Barbarians might not be actual 'good' armies. Any army tends to be made of former civilians to some degree, so human armies would tend towards neutrality. Further, many of the more obvious barbarian gods in the D&D material I have tends toward neutrality (Domains: War, Nature. In my opinion, anyway). A human army fighting in Pelor's name might presumably be good. All this might be important if your heroes are doing something artifact-related to affect the fighting.
I don't know how you handle the battle itself. I tend to treat a 'unit' as a Huge to Gargantuan swarm, making it very easy to hit with arrows. Barbarians, to my thinking, won't march rank and file, so I'd treat them as being one size lower than their numbers would otherwise make them.
In terms of morale, I count rank and file formation as a bonus, having confidence that the guy next to you will stay there for as long as possible really helps you to hold your ground. Barbarians don't get that, but I imagine they can pull off a pretty decent intimidate. Also, better Con, Dex, and Str than average human soldiers.
Weaponry... Well, it's a bit of a trope that the barbarian is the guy using a twohanded weapon. It's up to you if they all do that, but I do believe that most would want a small to medium shield. If you go with 2H barbs, let them discard their shields as they charge. Maybe even use them as improvised throwing weapons, just before close quarters are joined. A shield is fairly heavy, so an enemy who takes one to the head is bound to be dazed for a few seconds. Range increment would really take most out harmless though. I'm imagining a scene more like the battles from Braveheart here, though. An army with pitifully few archers, low cavalry, and no war machines seems realistic. Traps and ambushes would be used by this army, but unless the leader is a former adventurer who's seen how the enemy works (look up Arminius on the web), these attacks will not be used to their tactical optimum. This also works the other way: supplies will quickly become a problem for barbarians, as they eat all the game it becomes painfully obvious that the supplies arrive only sporadically, and the barbarians might not realize how sensitive they are to ambushes on the few supply carriers they do have. A rampaging barbarian invasion army is driven forward in part by this mechanic, a defending one is in deep s*** after about two months of keeping too many people in too little space. The barbs will line up somewhere to put an end to it, cue my Braveheart reference. The Battle of Hastings, and the preceding Battle of Stamford Bridge, might make for good objects of research as well.
Being a fantasy setting, let's not ignore the troop build here: Mostly humans, as before, but barbarians would likely have wardogs and krenshars, and maybe a tribe of giants of some sort, ogres and hill giants make for profit-oriented brutish types that might share an interest in keeping their native lands free (read: barbaric) with the humans. If you're dealing with large areas of barbaric lands, wild orcs might not be excluded from a predominantly good/neutral army. They may not understand cammaraderie, but they understand "fight" "loot" "stronger than you" and "they intend to steal from you".
As for the "uproot camp" remark... Not all barbarians are nomads, far from. They have tribal territories where there is enough food for the tribe, and they might roam around a bit in there. But I can guarantee you that 300 Sun Bird barbarians can't just leave home and move in with the Moon Boar tribe in the next valley. In deserts and dry plains, where nomads are most common, the scattered watering holes might have plenty of water to feed all the local tribesmen. But the moment a strong outside force takes over or destroys a large oasis, it's war for survival, and most likely nomad on nomad, if the outside force isn't some prophesied malady of their mutual religion/folklore. Think Beduin and Eskimo for info on nomad-types in really harsh climates, maybe Mongols or some of the plain-dwelling Natives of North America for the milder climates. Which type of nomad you're dealing can approximately be summed up as: Do they move because their food moves, or because staying in one place too long exhausts the resources present, or otherwise makes them inaccesible (water recovery in desert wells, ice thickness in the Arctic).
Most Barbarians will tend to be (semi)-permanent, living in log cabins, caves, or large tents for the semis. Vikings had a definite station to return to, complete with farming and animal husbandry to feed them, still I'd count them as a form of barbarians. These people have a vested interest in defending their settlements, as building new quarters for an entire village (before Winter, mind you) represents a lot of work. A strong king might be able to call upon some chieftains to sacrifice their hometowns for a strategic advantage, but he'll need to promise them something in return.
Add, of course, "Sacred Ground". Even nomadic peoples might have someplace that you may not set foot upon, a graveyard or a really pretty rock formation. These places can make a fast alliance of habitual enemies if violated, and I imagine they would be the main reason for large groups of otherwise unorganized tribes to join forces.
Hope that gave you something to think about. Remarks?
Mostly solid pints! Looks like you were pulling a strong "Bravheart" vibe with a touch of Native American and Viking behind it, which is solid.
Barbarian, in this instance, means "Peoples with a semi-nomadic lifestyle and a lower level of "Civilization" as measured by the majority population." They probably have a very advanced *culture*, but they don't tame the land with stone houses and water wheels and castles and such, so are "clearly" a primative culture.
If going with a Viking mindset, then you get a basic farming culture with fishing and sheparding as additional food sources, but some years the crops aren't that good, so you boat up and raid a neighboring area. Braveheart's similar. A native-inclined group would obviously have less armor, far more archers, and a more nomadic lifestyle then the mostly-settled other two. (Native, here, qould equate a plains style, rather than the quite settled thank-you-very-much Five Nations or NW tribes or etc etc etc.)
So, you normally have small skirmishing units from these types who know well to raid and take some, but not all, of the targets. You don't raze the village after taking what you can carry, you just take a fraction, so that they'll be there the next year, and mainly you raid other "barbarian" tribes, since they're A) close and B) not as well defended, leaving to perpetual rivalries between clans and feuding over land. This has the advantage of giving you an "Evil" family or two, who signs up with teh big Lawful Evil Despot country to betray his kinsmen for power. And that's always a good story.
BUT, let's look at what the force itself is.
A chunk of the force will be young turks, youths just off their Test of Manhood and itching for battle, but most are those who've got a few raids under their belt, enough personal glory for now, and just want to get in, grab loot, and get out without being hurt. They're pretty much exclusively a "Light Raid" force and it shows.
Warrior (1) with studded leather armor, a light wooden shield, and a battle axe sounds about right. We can sprinkle a few longswords and spears in there for variety, but the axe is just a really nice, flavorful weapon. Light wooden shields allow the arm to be used to carry something, but you could upgrade to a heavy shield if you'd like. Leaders (Warrior-3) would have a heavy shield and a chain shirt, keeping that mobility high, and posibly a masterwork weapon.
There's a small archery section, using short bows, but most aren't very good shots, so stick to melee. Let's tack on a dagger for everyone, plus either a javelin or throwing axe, to give the horde some skirmish uses, and when a large scale battle is needed, skirmisher formations can form up.
We'll say the usual group of Viking-analoges is 25 men (12 oarsmen, 1 helmsman), with 20 being basic axemen, 4 archers, and 1 leader. Needless to say, they don't have a formation.
But now I'm away from my original intent, which wasn't a group of Nordic Raiders by Sea so much as "Peaceful locals who are holding off the invading Black Knight's army", so, a new post as I reboot.
__________________
Wakshaani is ten feet tall and has thighs the width of pine trees. He has no nipples. He breathes toxic green fire and slams men through tables with a single hand. He subsists on a diet of chili dogs and fried chicken, which is fine because he cannot boil water without burning it. Wakshaani can bench press a family of deer. He is our last, best hope against world terrorism.
You know, a few monsters are battlefield suitable as well.
An Iron Golem could cause quite a ruckus if one of the generals had command of it.
__________________ Lawpack & Transhumanist Guild's Future Civil Rights Attorney for Non-Homo Sapiens Intelligences
1 New Gods Point, 1 Awwwwh...! Point, 1 Awesome Point, 1 Succinct Point, 1 Laugh Point, 1 Guardian Legend Point, 1 Shh! Dammit Point, 1 I really DID make Old Geezer laugh out loud point, 1 Scroll of Fireball, Fuck. You're right. - Candelaris, Nice Achewood Reference Point If I'm in a PBP game with you, you may find my rolls here.
Formerly Known as WyzardWhately. But nobody else could spell it, and I didn't know how to pronounce it.
We're going to use the "Nation" of More-el (mor-EL) as our offering. Morel is a large, sparsely-settled area in the northern edge of the temperate zone, with high hills that eventually give way to a northern mountain range, lots of trees, but not much farmland due to the hilly terrain. Small communities form up in vallies when able, but most of the population just finds a spot, settles, and raises animals and scratch-farms. There's no king, and, in truth, no real nation, just that the assorted tribes have a similar enough language and culture that others have painted them as "Barbarians from More-el" and they're run with it rather than have arguements all the time. They don't have a king or a prince, just assorted tribes that each have a tribal elder. In times of trouble, they can call for a "Tribal Council" where all the elders can get together to hash out ideas.
More-Elians are used to their colder cimate, so normally where thicker winter-worthy clothes at home, with fur boots, fur-lined hats, and grow wild facial hair (Beards are good against the cold) while teh women style their hair longer and more free-flowing than the pinned up styles of southern "Society Ladies". When they travel south, however, the warmer climate there is uncomfortable, so the "barbarians" strip down to a level that the southerners find distasteful, with men commonly both bare-chested and bare-legged while the women barely add a half shirt. With their "Heathen" religion, strange accent, wild looks, and improper state of dress, it's little wonder that they're snubbed by the "civilized" people.
As the southern (nuetral to neutral-good) lands, and the south-easterm (lawful neutral to lawful evil) realms look to expand, More-El's lands, which look unsettled, are being pressed against, which is forcing the border tribes to fight back a bit. There's some negotiation with the southern nation, which gets confused by having to deal with lots of small tribes, rather than a central King, and deals are frequently broken as an agreement to not settle over *here* was sold by a tribe whose land is actually over *there*, and vice-versa. Retaliation raids "proove" that the natives are savages who can't be trusted and settlers, who have little high authority out on the frontier, have taken matters into their own hands, lashing out at some natives only a few years after being welcomed by others.
Again, we have large numbers of Warrior-1 types, again in studded leather, with wooden shield and axe, spear, or club, but there's also a high number of Expert-1 woodsman, hunters one and all, with some deadly archery skills coupled with sneakiness and woodland survival skills. Armed with short bow, throwing axe, and dagger, these men are clad in leather and camo, blending into the native treeline with ease. They tend to shoot, then retreat, rather than fight a pitched battle.
Most of the More-El tribes are individual Thorps, small groups of only a couple of family units, settled by a stream and with a small clearing for communal protection. 50 or 60 people in all, with only a couple of true "warriors", the rest being commoners with spear or shortbow proficiency. The larger tribes have larger communities, of course, and some areas are hugely settled riverbank communities or lakeside farming towns that can produce massive forces, but that's mostly unknown to the southerners.
To the southeast of More-El, and thus east-north-east of the SOuthern state, we have "Despotica" for lack of a better name. This is a lawful evil sort whose land is farm-poor but mineral rich, with a strong mining background, slave labor, and a heavy military that can shake down others for the food it desperately needs. They routinely raid into More-El for slaves, both the hardy menfolk, whose muscles make for great miners and porters, and the exotic women, which fetch a high price in the flesh trade. More-Elians have little recourse when a small thorp is raided other than running and dispersing into the treeline as the heavily armored, and much slower, Despots can't keep up. Counter-raids are sometimes made, to try and free captives and score a little payback, but this is made difficult by Despotia's heavy military, which defends extremely well and pretty much walls up every settlement with stone.
Despot forces are well-disciplined and martially-inclined, with the standard trooper sporting scale mail, a heavy steel shield, and a longsword. Archers are nearly nonexistant, with a small cadre of crossbowmen called up for seiges, but they have some devastating heavy cavalry. Despot forces have no use for light troops, which causes them no end of grief against the fleet-footed More-Elians, who tend to fire from trees, then retreat, regroup, and do it again, a frustrating cloud of nuisance.
__________________
Wakshaani is ten feet tall and has thighs the width of pine trees. He has no nipples. He breathes toxic green fire and slams men through tables with a single hand. He subsists on a diet of chili dogs and fried chicken, which is fine because he cannot boil water without burning it. Wakshaani can bench press a family of deer. He is our last, best hope against world terrorism.
You know, a few monsters are battlefield suitable as well.
An Iron Golem could cause quite a ruckus if one of the generals had command of it.
Very true. It'd be a one-man army, really, as the average force would have *nothing* that could defeat it.
Which would tie in well as the "Ultimate Weapon" of the just-shown Despotia.
It could be old, damaged, even rusted in places (Tho a TALENTED despot would take the time to fix it up and keep it looking imposing, if you go with a half-crazed spittle-flinging angry guy, he might want to rush it into battle untested, while a "Young son full of ambition and needing revenge for daddy's death" type would also demand it be put into battle early, to get his revenge NOW.
Luckily, MOST monsters aren't tameable enough for war use. They'f likely be more rare than war wizards, just to keep things honest.
Of course, that doesn't cover humanoids. Those ugys will fight anything.
__________________
Wakshaani is ten feet tall and has thighs the width of pine trees. He has no nipples. He breathes toxic green fire and slams men through tables with a single hand. He subsists on a diet of chili dogs and fried chicken, which is fine because he cannot boil water without burning it. Wakshaani can bench press a family of deer. He is our last, best hope against world terrorism.
While we're here, let's eyeball the standard fantasy fair ... teh Savage Humanoid Army, in two flavors.
First, let's eyeball Orcs On the March. This is an Orc Tribe gone to war, looking to raid and pillage a swath ofhuman controlled lands, maybe take over a village or even a small town for winter camp. They want to attack in fall, when the harvest is in, right before teh roads get bad from rain and help can't be readily sent for. Once snow settles in, no one risks their troops to drive out an orc camp, and by spring, teh orcs will be ready to move back home to plant their meagre crops (using human seed-stock) and will have new babies to feed. But first, they gotta conquer.
So, since we know a standard human army is about a hundred guys, we'll give a similar batch to the Orcs, using the "Band" size from the MM I.
1 7th level Orc (Warrior-6, Expert-1) This is the Chief, who gradually went up the ranks, earning glory in battle and offing a few commanders in the process. He's no middle-aged (-1 to all physical, +1 to all mental) and has started to develop some tactical skills after so many years as shief. Lots of sharp knives are looking his way, however.
1 8th level Orc (Adept-8) the old one-eyed shaman of the tribe who has provided advice for several generations of leaders. He's old (-3 to all physical, +2 to all mental) and fragile, but he's a potion maker and source of great knowledge, and mystical might, so he's too valuable to be let go.
1 7th level Orc (Commoner-7) the First Wife of the Chief. A stern taskmaster who runs the camp, asigns cooking duties, keeps the slaves in their place, and, overall, is the heart of the operation. The chief gives orders, the First Wife makes sure they get followed!
This command group is a tad different than the norm, but three 7th level warriors wth no clear leader is a DISASTER, and stick Barbarian and Cleric on casually undercuts the normal Orc and makes the PC classes more commonplace. To balance out this loss, we give them the 8th level for the head shaman.
3 5th level Orc Warriors. They all want to be Chief, but aren't able to work together due to ambition and are played against one another by the wiley chief. Each is given command of 20 warriors.
1 4th level Orc Barbarian. The Chief's eldest son and the token "Fist of Gruumsh", the sub-boss for a PC group to deal with and a feature character who the tribe could coalesce around in the future. He has a TERRIBLE temper and no head for subtle battle maneuvers, but he's an absolute force of destruction on the battlefield and has a large following because of it. The chief has to play a careful game of using his son to enforce the law and in giving him such a taste of power that he'll ursurp him as the Chief did the previous ruler. He has a personal command of 10 warriors but they are generally just told to stay out of his way and clean up the mess he leaves behind.
1 4th level Orc Adept, a second Shaman that's the right-hand of our Old Shaman. He's the assistant potion-maker and is generally asigned to whatever Warboss is currently favored. Moving him to another Warboss cuts off their flow of potions and magical aid, acting as a leash for when one gets too heady.
10 Sergeants, or "Bosses." 9 are Warrior-3s, one is a Half-Orc Expert-3 who leads the scouts. Each wants to become a Warboss someday, with some even imagining themselves a future chief, but none are talented enough yet. Each Boss has 10 Warriors under his command. Each boss adds "Weapon Focus" to his feat list thanks to years of experience in battle, and has upgraded to a chain shirt.
90 Warriors (Warrior-1), but we'll make this tribe a bit different than the standard MMI guys. A standard Orc here has toughness, rather than Alertness, wears studed leather armor, but adds a heavy wooden shield and a battleaxe, rather than a falchion. They're a bit tougher than usual, but still have enough raw strength to slaughter most foes in a single blow. Plenty dangerous. 20 are dedicated archery units, trading axe and shield for shortbow or light crossbow, depending on if they've looted a human village lately or not. The complex machinery of a light crossbow is beyond what a normal orc can upkeep, but, they're better weapons than their shortbows, so are used when captured until the break, then are discarded and shortbows used until the next raid. Orc archers use a club for a backup weapon.
20 warriors, the Chief's personal guard, are "Medium Infantry", trading studded leather for scale mail and their wooden shield for steel ones. The Sergeants for this group wear breastplates instead.
10 Scouts (Expert-1) who are wearing leather armor, using light crossbows (if able) or slings (if not), who get dispatched in small groups to look for raiding targets, lead night time sneak attacks, and, in general, are the sneakiest Orcs around. In a war footing, they skirmish the edges an dlook for flanking opportunities, to attack rear command lines.
150 noncombatants, which includes 100 females and 50 children. They are all unarmored and generally unarmed, tho spears, knives, and clubs are available in an emergency.
The nomcombatants march in the middle, protected by the Chief's own guard, with the son taking the front line, two Warboss units flanking one right and one left, while the current least-favored warboss brings up the rear guard. The scouts serves as a vanguard, reporting back to the Chief as opportunities develop.
Now, let's look at a Humanoid *Horde*.
__________________
Wakshaani is ten feet tall and has thighs the width of pine trees. He has no nipples. He breathes toxic green fire and slams men through tables with a single hand. He subsists on a diet of chili dogs and fried chicken, which is fine because he cannot boil water without burning it. Wakshaani can bench press a family of deer. He is our last, best hope against world terrorism.
We;ll have a goal of *roughly* a thousand Orcs, here, all united under a Great Chief's war banner. This is the sort of horde that demolishes villages with casual ease, but can raid small and large towns as well, possibly even putting torch to a small city. No threat to a capital, but, nonetheles, a major threat that happens only once every generation or so, when a truly awesome leader springs forth.
The basic Great Chief is a Barbarian-12, one of those "Chieftan's sons" who had more potential than expected and has gone on to huge success. You can also make him a Barbarian-4/Fighter 8 if you want one who learned to control his rage and learned battle skills to make him more dangerous (Weapon Specialization and improved critical GreatAxe is a scary thing!), or Barbarian-4/Marshal-8 for a true LEADER feel, or even a Barbarian-4/Sorcerer-4/DragonDisciple-4 if you're feeling frisky. You could also use a Lich, or a Wizard-12 in this position, but, a martial-inclined leader works best.
Every Great Leader needs Gruumsh behind him, so let's give him an actual Cleric-9 at his side. We could middle age this one (-1 to all physical, +1 to all mental), but older than that isn't as useful. You can also use an Adept-12 for this, advaincing them to ancient (-6 to all physical, +3 to all mental) if you'd like. Either way, this is someone that has Gruumsh on their side in a major way and has been drawn to the hugeness that is the Great Chief. He probably brings a magical GreatAxe with him as well as a WEALTH of knowledge and advice, which adds to the "Low cunning" of the Chief himself, resulting in a ferociously successful campaign.
You can add a Dark Wizard here as well, 7th or 9th level, something powerful but not a threat to the Great Chief, an advisor that can be used as a rival with the holy man or as the money interest behind the Horde's direction. Perhaps he had a band of Goblins under his command that was swept up into the Orc Horde and, knowing he couldn't win, swore fealty instead. He certainly has his own agenda and isn't trusted, but, his magics are useful, so he stays.
So, we have our 800 Orcs and our core command group, now lets add some fringe.
We'll start with a Goblin tribe, some 200 strong, that either A) works for the Dark Wizard or B) signed up rather than be stepped on. This gives you 160 Warrior-1 Goblins, 40 Expert-1 Goblin Scouts, 8 Sergeant Warriors, 2 Scout Sergeants, 1 Goblin Boss (Warrior-3/Expert-2), a Goblin Shaman (Adept-4), and either the Dark Wizard or a Goblin CHief (Warrior-3/Expert-4 or Rogue-6) as the head of the organization. With them are a couple of Dire Wolves and 20 Worgs for a light cavalry detachment and extra outrider-type scouts.
The Goblins aren't useful in a direct fight, but skirmish well at the head of the Orc line and, of course, are fantastic scouts. They're loyal to their own chief (or Dark Wizard) first, but are cowed by the Orcs and fall in line. They're expected to flee when any heavy resistance shows up but are great for sneaking into places and disrupting seiges.
Let's add some Ogres as well, to be the "Shock Troops" of the Horde and to serve as Heavy Cavalry, in essence, being fast and deadly on the charge. Ogrs come in small groups, however, so let's say we've got two bands of six and one band of eight, for 20 Ogres in all. They use up a lot of resources and are easily distracted, but, the raw punch that they bring make sthem ultimately worthwhile.
Better Hordes include a couple of giants as seige engines. We'll add an average-sized gang of 3 Hill Giants, since a single Giant is just *way* too easy of a target and more than three gets unweildy. The head giant hangs out with the war chief most of the time, while the other two, likely brothers, amuse each other by shoving Orcs around, making fun of the Ogres, and are general pains in the tush that nobody likes but everyone tolerates due to their raw power. If you're feeling frisky, you could add a fourth giant (Wife of the leader and mother of the boys) who doesn't fight but, instead, stays around the civilian camp as a protector of the women and children of the tribe.
We're avoiding the more lawful-inclined Hobgoblins, and teh Bugbears which serve as THEIR shocktroops, but if you wanted to splash in a touch more humanoid action, a band of 40 Gnolls and a hyena pack make for a nice exotic add-on, a pack of scavengers who follow along the main Horde, scavenging as they go. Gnolls, known man-eaters who are more feral than any Orc, give you an "Elite" group that's absolutely feared. Orcs will steal your food and burn your house, but Gnolls will eat your baby in front of you.
You can toss in something unusual as well, such as a DIsplacer Beast, Manticore, or an Owlbear, as a pet that was raised by the Great Chief or, more likely, a feral beast that was captured and kept a sa prize, which he sometimes pits against captives for his amusement.
The Orc Horde has little cavalry outside of the Worgs and, to a lesser extent, the Ogres and Giants, with only a handful of beasts of burden being used to pull wagons of supplies. This is a large, slow-moving force that sometimes breaks off smaller, fast-moving chunks for missions but largely is just a giant hammer that aims at a town with the intent of crushing it and give sthem several days, or even weeks, of fore-warning in the process.
__________________
Wakshaani is ten feet tall and has thighs the width of pine trees. He has no nipples. He breathes toxic green fire and slams men through tables with a single hand. He subsists on a diet of chili dogs and fried chicken, which is fine because he cannot boil water without burning it. Wakshaani can bench press a family of deer. He is our last, best hope against world terrorism.
Linear Mode
