Bonus Content - The Structure of the Legion (Patreon)

Hey all!

A fun little bit of bonus content for you all while I'd working on Admin Week.

The Legion!

The Exterreri Legions are modeled after the late Roman legions, and most of them include a light cavalry regiment. The Sixth is specifically focused on heavy infantry, and is one of the only Legions to NOT include a cavalry wing - instead, they've got specialized alchemists, and their siege division is larger than normal.

Bottom up:

The basic unit of the Legion is the 'line' - 8 men and women soldiers who live and work together. A 9th non-combatant is also a member of the line, and their job is a thousand and one mundane tasks to make everyone else's job easier. It's not to say the line members don't do anything non-combat, they do, just there's a ninth person to make it easier. Each line has a single nodosaurus for transport, and they share things like a tent, cookware, fires, etc. They're all close to each other, and one member of a line is the leader.  

Less-fun fact: The Roman Legions had lines be 10 people, and the word "Decimate" comes from the practice of when they really fucked up, they'd select one person from each line for the rest of the members to kill. With their bare hands. 1 in 10.  

Eight lines come together to form a century, headed up by a Centurion. The Centurion has his own line, including a standard-bearer. Standard-bearers are responsible for communications within the line - the leader makes the decisions, and the standard-bearer is responsible for having the elements and classes to communicate it to the troops, against hostile interference. A really good one will communicate AND interfere with the enemy.  

A Centurion's line will not only have the full set of soldiers, but also a few scribes, messengers, and other administrative staff. This is separate from the Legion's main administrative staff.  

8 centuries makes a cohort, headed up by a Tribune. Same deal at the tribune level with them each having their own line, standard-bearer, and support staff.

8 Cohorts of infantry make up the Legion. There's a 9th 'cohort' made up of specialists, but they don't march and fight in formation.  

At the top is the Legatus/Legata. They have their own staff. The second-in-command handles most of the internal affairs. The camp prefect is responsible for forts, camping, and organization in that respect. The standard-bearer is responsible for communication, etc.

For the Sixth:

Legata: Katerina
Second: Leonidus
Standard-Bearer: Reed
Camp Prefect: Robin

This is also roughly the chain of command, although if Robin's in command everything's gone to hell and they're going to try to get out of there. The various Tribunes are also in the line, and it goes allll the way down. Most of the Tribunes are named in my notes, but I doubt will come up.

That's the structure of the basic footsoldiers. The Legions have an entire second set of specialists, organized into their own 'cohort' - nevermind that there aren't enough troops to form a full cohort, they're not meant to march and fight in formation. Each group of specialists is headed by an Optio (This is a place where I'm differing from the traditional Roman structure, since an Optio was a Centurion's second - but you all would die if I tried to get into that level of detail IMO).

In order:

Tribune: Hazel, in charge of all the specialists
Medical: Henrietta
Chaplain: Beatrix
Alchemist: Maxlin
Enchantment: Petra
Armor/Smith: Stella
Quartermaster/Scribe: Coral
Communication: Ardenus
Scouting/Recon: Apollo
Artillery Mage/Siege weapons: Rhoda

Each one has a varying number of lines under their command, depending on how much they're needed. Beatrix only has a single line of priests, while Rhoda is pretty much in charge of a full century worth of troops.

Each Optio naturally has their own line, like a centurion, and each line of specalists is organized just like the regular troops, at a baseline. Optio Maxlin's lines, for example, have multiple wagons under their command because brewing and storing that many alchemicals is one heck of a chore - and nobody wants to drop a match near what they're brewing. Similarly, the siege weapon lines have more nodosauruses than normal for all their equipment, but the artillery mages basically have nothing special. It depends on what they have and need.

Robin also has a few lines under her command, dedicated to bringing the important hard-to-replace defensive camp items around, mostly relating to a 'weak' barrier they set up each night to help protect the fort.

Lastly is a special role, the Primus Pilus. The 'first spear', AKA the strongest soldier in the Legion. The soldier's soldier, it's a fancy title to the highest-level soldier in the Legion, who's also tapped when they need a flat-out strong classer. Also good for morale, the epitome to look up to, etc. etc. On one hand, he's 'just' a soldier, on the other, he's far more than that.

For example, during the Saturnalia, he was invited to be one of the judges, and he declined, saying he should be participating as one of the members. The expectation would be that he WIN every event he's in.

Sort of a paragon, sort of a very very mini Sentinel for the Legion in the hearts and minds way. Most (Core) Sentinels who come from the army have been the Primus Pilus for a time.

That's about it! My research into the Legions to properly structure them had so, so much more depth, but I axed some of the deeper complexities to not make it impossible to follow. (Like, there should be one more tribune who's a political appointee, or the sub-structure within each century and cohort, etc.)

Cheers, hope you enjoyed!