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Orcs in the Hills
Issue 2 - Online Edition Return to the Contents Page
Go Back to the Last Article - Continue on to the Next Article Rules and background for fielding mercenaries
alongside your Royal Catalucian Dark Elves. The employment of mercenary units by various armies is well documented in the history of Valon. Indeed, looking back we can see that some races have made it into a valuable source of income. By the time Mordred came to power the hiring of mercenary forces had reached a stage in many kingdoms, that mercenary units actually formed part of the standing army's recognised strength and had done for many years.
This was especially the case with the Dark Elf Army which before the invasion by Mordred's forces had eleven such infantry regiments on its books, nearly one third of its overall strength. Guardias de Infanteria Genevise: The Genevise region of Amorica has a fine tradition going back over five hundred years of supplying mercenary troops to foreign powers. Over the last century the Cataulician Army has employed them to such an extent (mainly against their Goblin neighbours) that six permanent Infantry Regiments of Genevise American Elves formed part of the Royal Army of Catalucia. Following the invasion of Catalucia by Mordred many wondered whether or not the Genevise would stay true to their employers against the army of their homeland. If anything the Genevise fought even harder than normal, determined to maintain their own personal honour by not breaking their contract with the Dark Elves. The Genevise have had it clear that they will continue to fight under Catalucian colours until Catalucia surrenders to Mordred. Uniforms are identical to the standard Dark Elf uniform, with red cuffs, breast and tailcoat turnbacks. Guardias de Infanteria Genevise can be represented in Flintloque games by either Chasseurs of the Gardes (Code 51017 on Alternative Armies website) painted up appropriately or by the Dark Elf Regular Line (See below). Although part of the Dark Elf army, they should be treated as Regulars not as Militia like other Dark Elf Regulars. Guardias de Infanteria Guinelia: Guinelian Orcs have a long tradition of fighting under the banner of the Dark Elves, often in the past against the Orcs of Albion. Four Regiments of foot infantry are employed by the Dark Elf military and have proved themselves dogged fighters in the war against the High Elves. For gaming purposes treat them as Regular Bog-Orcs. Uniforms are of Dark Elf style with mid-green cuffs, breast and tailcoat turnbacks.
At present figures are not available for these Bog-Orc mercenaries; but they can be converted from the Orcs of the Line blisters by adding bicornes and epualets. Alternative Armies now produce the miniatures mentioned above, they are the Guardia Real Guinalea (Code 54018) and can be found on their website. Guardias de Infanteria Nepolise: Possibly the most gaudy troops in Valon are those of the Todoroni of the Kingdom of Nepolise. They are probably also the worst!
The Todoroni are remarkably ugly amphibians, individually dirty fighters, but some of the most cowardly and incompetent soldiers on the planet. For reasons no military thinker can quite fathom the Dark Elves employed one Regiment of Nepolise Line Infantry in their army. Their uniforms are some over the top that the Todoroni are often described as "chocolate box" soldiers, but the failures of the Todoroni to grasp fundamental military discipline even precludes their use as parade troops. The Todoroni wear a semblance of the standard Dark Elf uniform, dispensing with the breeches and adding gold braid epaulets and other finery to the standard white coats. Todoroni Statistics for Flintloque: Should any players or GM's wish to include the Todoroni either as Dark Elf mercenaries or as troops for the Kingdom of Nepolise then use the following stats and rules. As yet AA have not produced figures for the Todoroni, but do intend to do so later this year. Todoroni troops are essentially regular troops, but for the purposes of including them in the game treat them as Militia to reflect their inadequacies as soldiers. Their only real saving grace is their natural dirty approach to fighting in general and as a consequence they're pretty good in hand to hand combat (providing they haven't fled first!) Movement
Crawl 4cm
Walk 16cm
Run 24cm Defence Factor/Wounds 2
Hand to Hand Combat Modifier + 2
Morale Modifier - 2 Special Rules: Movement for Todoroni troops in torrential rain or in a river is only reduced by 25% not the standard 50%. Their movement rate in swamp is only reduced by 50% not the standard 75%. As stated Alternative have mooted Todoroni for late '96 release. In the mean time some of the old Citadel Slann could be impressed into service as makeshift models. Alternative Armies now produce a wide range of Todoroni miniatures available on their website and full rules for using them can be found in Flintloque - War in Catalucia (5025) on pages 38 and 39. Dark Elf Uniforms: Following the fall of the Northern Kingdom and the invasion of the Southern region of Catalucia, the Dark Elf military called upon the Goblins and Orcs for military help against the High Elves, which was soon forthcoming. Initial battles continued badly for the Dark Elves and their allies began to despise them, as time after time, the Dark Elves fled the field of battle.
Various attempts were made to reorganise the army to make it more efficient, one of the strangest being a wholesale change in the uniform! From the old style white uniform with bicorne, the Dark Elves tried to re-cloth its troops in a more sedate dark blue short waistcoat (with red trim), grey trousers and black shako (with red edging). The effectiveness of this change was minimal, especially as supply problems resulted in some units still wearing the old uniforms, others the new and some parts of both! That said, some Dark Elf units proved very brave on the battlefield, especially the elite Cazadores. When raising a Dark Elf force you can choose freely from either uniform style, using the Chasseurs of the Garde to represent the old style uniform (AA intend to release old style Dark Elves in this uniform cut later) or the newly released Dark Elf line that wear the less flamboyant new style uniform. The Mercenary Units tended to remain uniformed in the old style. The original painting notes of the Dark Elven unit 'Regimenta de Rosimonta y Inquisitato' which used Chasseurs of the Garde miniatures are near the bottom of the scenario "Over the Hills and Far Away" from Orcs in the Hills Issue 1. You can read it here. Orcs in the Hills
Issue 2 - Online Edition Return to the Contents Page
Go Back to the Last Article - Continue on to the Next Article Webmaster's Notes
This was originally published in the second issue of Orcs in the Hills in the Spring of 1996.
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