Kingdoms of Men consist many different societies and realms.
About[]
Of all the Noble Peoples, humans are the most numerous, found everywhere, from the most verdant valley to the harshest environment, anywhere a living can be scratched from the land.
Men are as likely to fight shoulder to shoulder with the elves and dwarfs as they are to oppose them, and on many occasions men have fought on both sides of the battle in these grand alliances. Men, however, most often fight other men, whether through greed or hatred or honour or just through misunderstanding. Humans are hot-blooded, and not always wise.
The Successor Kingdoms are the homes of engineers and wizard-scholars, and their armies often reflect this. The venerable bow is the most common ranged weapons in human kingdoms, although some human rulers equip their troops with crossbows.
Basilean models painted by Joe Neet to be Kingdoms of Men
Shieldwall formations are still favoured by many human armies and civilisations through the ages. Warriors are equipped with chain mail or leather armour and carry a sword or axe and a wide shield that they can lock together to adopt a defensive barrier.
Human noblemen tend to equip the elite warriors making up their foot guard with the best armour and weaponry that their wealth can afford.
Many city states have a militia to varying degrees of professionalism and training. These conscripted soldiers are there to show strength in numbers, and are sacraficed so that the real soldiers can escape in an orderly fashion.
Humans have forever used horses as beasts of burden, tools of war, or simply creatures of leisure. Across all the human lands, units of cavalry may vary wildly in their appearance and training, but fundamentally any military scholar would categorise them in a similar way: heavy horse, light horse, and skirmishers.
Elite household guard, templars, knights, or noblemen, heavily armoured cavalrymen make fearsome shock troops.
Lightly armed compared with the knights, mounted sergeants are swift cavalry units used most often on the wings of a battle line to pursue and cut down enemies that are retreating from the battlefield.
Mounted scouts are deployed in skirmish or reconnaissance roles. They are fast and flexible warriors that form the eyes and ears of an army as it advances.
Chariots are one of the most devastating weapons deployed by the Kingdoms of Men, and only the finest warriors are permitted to use them. Training hard to acquire the expertise to handle the warhorses which draw them, as well as to gain the skill to make use of their weapons on the jolting, shifting platform, charioteer units are the pride of any army and the bane of many foes.
War engines of mankind have been adopted, borrowed or stolen from all over the world. From seige catapults to devices firing explosive shells or rockets. Balistas, Scorpions and other giant crossbows that fire large bolts to skewer enemy warriors.
Cannons still are the most cost effective war machines used by men.
The most successful hunters in the world are considered to be the humans, so much so that they are seen as a ravenous plague that strips the land of its resources, rather than a celebrated Noble Peoples. Tribal hunters hunt and capture huge creatures like the mammoths, Giants are harried allong by ranks of human pole-arms. Not all beasts live in servitude, notably the Goliaths of Keretia and the Cyclopean Swamp Lords of Khopacati offer their services for a fee.
From elf lords and princes, dwarf kings and Salamander clan lords, to snow troll primes, orc Krudgers and undead pharaohs, the great leaders of the world are often equally as fearsome in battle as they are in political scheming and the running of empires. Human nobles and generals, however, are not always the most powerful warriors, but they are the best battle-leaders.
Recognising that devolving the actual fighting to their champions and trusted heroes while they lend their intellect to logistics and strategy. When human generals do take to the field, only the richest noblemen can afford to ride a hippogryph, manticore, or similar winged beast.
Magic is regarded with superstition and fear, as well as a source of power. Humans learn magic quickly as they do not have the lifespan to master it over centuries, as such they are hot headed, impatient, quenching thirst for more. Many take dangerous risks to short cut the mastery, or head into necromancy. Competent and trustworthy wizards are rare and valued addition to the army.
Mankind has a fascination with sorcery. Magic is regarded with superstition and fear and is also a road to power and prestige. Human wizards must learn their trade quickly, for they do not have the centuries that the great.
Army List[]
- Shield Wall
- Pole-Arms Block
- Spear Phalanx
- Foot Guard
- Militia Mob
- Fanatics
- Bowmen
- Crossbow Block
- General
- Army Standard Bearer
- Hero
- Assassin
- Fanatic Instigator
- Wizard
- Knights
- Mounted Sergeants
- Mounted Scouts
- Charioteers
- Siege Artillery
- Ballista
- Cannon
- Mammoth
- Giant
- General on Pegasus
- General on Winged Beast
- Hero on Pegasus
The Kingdoms of Men Armada[]
Kingdoms of Men Armada is the combined forces of the Kingdoms of Men which include kingdoms like Genezan
About[]
For the navies of the Kingdoms of Men and the merchant fleets that constantly ply the Infant Sea, a life at sea is precisely that – some seamen live and work aboard their vessels for most of their lives, stopping only for small spells of shore-leave and ship refits, before setting sail again.
On the Seas[]
The life of a common sailor is a hard one: conditions aboard a wooden ship are cramped and squalid, and the work back-breaking and often dangerous – from swabbing the decks and rowing the ship’s boats, to ‘going atop’ to lower the sails and operate the rigging.
In such a closed environment, discipline aboard ship is imperative, and the punishments for even minor infractions of the seaman’s code are severe – anything from cleaning out the latrines to being confined to quarters; from clapping a sailor in irons to administering a flogging. Despite this, a good ship’s captain must understand that there’s more to running a successful ship – especially a warship – than strict order and discipline.
The key to exceptional performance has ever been morale – the sailors aboard ship understand that there will be repercussions for transgressions and slovenliness, but also that exceptional performance and good behaviour will be recognised and rewarded. Unhappy sailors perform poorly, and this reflects badly on the commanders.
All sailors are therefore afforded leisure hours to distract them from their arduous duties, where they sing forbitters and dance jigs to the sounds of pipes, carve scrimshaw, and drink copious amounts of rum (a practical as well as recreational activity, for when flavoured with lemon and sugar, rum was a sure way to ward off the dreaded scurvy). By maintaining a careful balance aboard ship, a captain would turn their sailors into a close-knit and well-organised fighting unit, to which morale and teamwork were key to victory
External Links[]
- Armada Rulebook - https://www.manticgames.com/armada/getting-started-armada/armada-digital-rulebook/
- Pious Digital- https://www.manticgames.com/fiction/tales-of-pannithor/pious/
- Pious Paperback- https://www.whpsupplyroom.com/fantasy/p/tales-of-pannithor-pious-1#gsc.tab=0
  This wiki is not an official Mantic Games publication. |
| This wiki is not an official Mantic Games publication. |