The FHRDF, Doctrine and Organization

The FHRDF, Doctrine and Organization:

Line Infantry:
Most infantry are armored in the half-plate made with possibly the highest quality of steel on the continent, manufactured in bulk in the forge city of Denza. Line infantry are organized into formations of Storm infantry and Pike infantry. Storm infantry are armed with the “Chopper” sword, designed for cutting and hacking with brute force, as well as fighting shields and grenades. Non officers will usually have only a single grenade, while higher ranks can bring as many as 3-4 of the powerful explosives. The primary purpose of Storm infantry formations is to break deadlocks and shatter formations, the hammer to the Anvil of the Pikemen. Pike infantry are armed with pikes, surprisingly enough, and in place of a proper shield, their left arm brace is enlarged, providing additional armor coverage while sacrificing some arm movement, though as pikemen, it’s not expected they would need as such. In case of close quarters engagement, they are also armed with “Cutter” short swords as a backup weapon. For tertiary armament, many of the left hand gauntlet has spikes welded to them, providing yet another level of offense in the case pikes are rendered ineffective. All line infantry are also given standardized equipment, such as a leather rucksack, mess kits, entrenchment tools, and other miscellaneous gear. The racial makeup of these forces is overwhelming human, half elf and moon elf.
Ranged Infantry:
Armored mostly in chainmail, with few select forces given supplementary plate on par with line infantry, the Ranged forces make up another core part of the tactics employed by the FHRDF. Crossbowmen are armed with arbalests, crossbows with metal bows, which while taking slightly longer to reload, provides better ranges, more power and better armor penetration overall. This all helped by decades of bolt development and refined steelworks giving the bolts fired better striking surfaces to further increase penetration into targets. In the case of close quarters engagements, they are armed with short swords. Often used in conjunction with Pike infantry to bring to bare the formerly discarded tactics of Pike and Shotte, the Shock riflemen are a formation unique to the FHRDF, never having deployed under the FHS. Utilizing honed Magics and advanced weaponry, the shock rifle itself is theorized to be even more powerful then old hand cannon, though truthfully it’s been so long no one in the republic has ever seen a handgun actually in use. Doctrinal developments have lead to the use of firing by rank, and seeing as there is little time that needs to be waited between shots to ensure little chance of overheating the steel barrel, only around 20 seconds, Shock-riflemen can lay down withering hail fire upon the foe. Finally, the newest addition, and the closest ranged of the Ranged formations are Flame Sprayer troopers. Armed with the most advanced military technology able to be deployed full scale by the FHRDF, the troopers rely on the full protection of line infantry half-plate to get in close where their devastating weaponry can take full effect. Able to unfurl great bursts of sticky flame, they are the ultimate line breakers and morale busters, able to let forth 3-4 5 second bursts of flame before needing to change out air cartridges.
Specialized Infantry:
Within the FHRDF, there are shared formations with the private militaries of the Clans, and thus are specialized forces. Clan Vay provides Battle-Priests, soldiers in full plate armor that wield blessed Halberds and whom can call upon Vaygr himself to grant them holy battle Magics to enhance their already proficient training they have done from birth. They are the finest warriors in the FHR, possibly the whole world, though that is yet to be seen. Various prayers and chants adorn papers sealed to their armor with dark red wax, and while marching their battle cant fills the air with prayers to the Warrior God of Humanity. From the zealous clan Belde comes their guerrillas. Lightly armored advance skirmishing infantry armed with crossbows and clad in cloaks in the hues and colors of the environment around them, the Beldens utter silent prayers to the Pantheon as they lie in wait for marching soldiers, loosing a volley of deadly bolts into their backs before they flee into the forests to regroup and set up another ambush. Their tactics are long, drawn out engagements where they strike, then wait for the foe to continue on, before striking again. Many times the bolts they fire are coated in poisons, both those of nature and of....more common toxins. After all, a grazing hit from a bolt may not be able to kill, but the festering of the wound of a poisonous bolt may be enough to take a combatant out of the fight. The guerrillas are the premier stealth infantry the FHRDF can call upon. Next are the Varke engineers, whom wield all kinds of advanced weaponry, from Flame Sprayers to prototype repeating crossbows to bags full of grenades. Their purpose is both to wreck havoc among the enemy and to establish sturdy fortifications, as well as siege engines. Their purpose is straight forward, as are their methods. The most prevalent of the specialized infantry goes to Awoo Shock Troopers. Clad in heavy armor, wielding five foot long great swords as one might a light blade, they are the absolute premier line breakers in the ranks of the FHRDF. Able to cleave a man in half in a single strike, the foot long spikes on either side of the tip of their blades serve well to catch the underside of horses, and wrench open thick armor or shields. While some looking in from the outside may criticize the overwhelmingly female Awoo troopers, in battle they are a horrifying opponent to face. After such come the ocean faring Caldathi Marines. Armored with leathers to prevent their immediate drowning if they were to go overboard and armed with blades, the Caldathi Marines are among the best of the sea bound soldiers of the FHRDN.