21.1 Introduction to warfare in Avalon.

Warfare in Avalon is conducted using legions of either city-loyal or guild-loyal troops. These troops are kept in barracks in the cities and the guilds about the land and, during times of war or invasion, they are equipped, brought out and sent into battle or siege. In order to interact with the military of a city you will need to either hold the post of Field Marshall or, more likely, be an aide to the Field Marshall or Colonel. In a guild you will need to be either the guildmaster or to have had the status of guild captain bestowed upon you. Much of warfare is restricted to those without pacifist, protected and duellist status - for the sake of fairplay since it is important the leader of a troop bent on battlefield action be able to be held culpable, personally, for their choices.

There has been a tendency in the past to launch invasions, with the expectation of carrying through to successful completion while the defending leaders are absent (taking advantage of timezone differences, for instance). This is no longer so easily achieved in modern times as the cities and guilds have a default defensive boost - a citizens-at-arms response - when their territory is threatened by largescale invasion. This means, in effect, that if an invasion is carried out with NO representatives of the target military to take to the field in defence, the citizens/guildmembers in-the-background will take up arms and augment fortified defences and, indeed, expand covert minefield and blockages to slow down the invasion. While this is unlikely to defeat a determined attack, the aim is to retard it for long enough to give an opportunity for the leaders to return. These effects do not last for more than Avalon month.

It takes quite some time to march a large army across the land and requires a great deal of rations to keep them fed; you should experiment with troop movement and feeding before you embark on any serious military exercise. For the purposes of legion movement, locations are divided into nine areas - as shown below. You will need to be aware of your legion's positions within a location, there is great advantage to clever attack and defensive formations.

The location "Meeting Place" is at sea-level.

          Northwest +2   NORTH +1     NORTHEAST +2

               WEST --   CENTRE +1    EAST +2

          SOUTHWEST -1   SOUTH --     SOUTHEAST +1