Mondert Armed Forces

Mondert has a strong warrior cuture but they don't have a strong military culture.  Mondarians are excellent warriors and small scale skirmishes but they are especially good at disciplined mass troop maneuvers.   The Mondarians have the technology to make metal armor fairly easily. Dwarves are going to dwarf after all. Mondarians more often than not fight with light armor or even no armor. Mondert has a very hot climate so wearing heavy armor for long can be fatiguing. Also, Mondarians swim and boat a lot. Wearing heavy armor near the water is a good invitation if warriors get knocked into the water.   Both humans and dwarves alike commonly fight with large shields paired with a spear or one handed battle axe. Crossbows and long bows are popular weapons. One thing that distinguishes Mondarians from Meckelorners and Stahlheimers is that they are very willing to fight dirty. Most Mondarians, not just the military, are trained in hunting, survival, and stealth.  With their stealth training and knowledge of local poisons, they will avoid straight up fights when a more pragmatic solution is possible.   I don't know if Mondert would need or want a blue water navy of warships. They are more into boats than ships. If they did have to deal with ships, they probably would prefer to wait for nightfall, using diving reeds or augmentation magic to sneak warriors below the surface of the water, board the ship stealthily and either stage a sneak attack or set the boat on fire.

Demography and Population

Mondert's demographics are aproxomately 55% humans 45% dwarves. Dwarves are a little bit more likely to bear arms with the army 50% of the standing army and reserves. About 5% of the adult dwarf population are full time soldiers (mostly royals and Champions). About a third of the adult population can be called up as reservists if needed and they tend to have four or five dice in their combat pools.       The Mondarian humans are very similar with only slightly fewer professional soldiers and reservists.       Human-dwarf hybrids, aka Man-dwarves make up less than 1% of the population, but they make up a disproportionately high number of Mondert's warriors.  About half the nation's man-dwarves are full time soldiers and the other half are reservists.   Man-dwarves are very strong and tough, so they are ideal warriors. Also, Mondarians are very family centered and man-dwarves are sterile. While man-dwarves are generally treated well by their human and dwarf relatives, there is unspoken truth that they are more expendable than humans and dwarves.   While it’s rude to say it outright, it’s generally understood that because man-dwarves cannot have children they are more expandable than humans or dwarves. Thus they serve their families by risking their lives for them.

Military

The Council of Elders make most leadership decisions and the two kings are only given the mantle of leadership in time of war. Thus the royal families train for war heavily. Mondert is less patriarchal than their northern dwarf cousins, and are less likely to discourage women from being soldiers, so the females of the royal families are usually well combat trained. This attitude carries over to the non-royals though men still dominate the military.   Mondert is not particularly militaristic but Mondarians do have a big machismo culture with a lot of full contact sports and various contests of strength. The winners of these contests are often recruited by the royals as Champions and the Champions, along with the royals themselves are the full time standing army and are Mondert's equivalent to professional soldiers.   Mondert does not maintain a formal military reserve, but they don't really need one.  in times of strife and war the Mondarian machismo will lead most of the nation's young men and more than a few young women to volunteer to take up arms.   More often that not, local leaders get more volunteers than they need.  Time permitting, they will use athletic contests or other trials to trim the recruits down to number and only bring the best.

Foreign Relations

Barring a few rare incursions by dark elves Mondert rarely has to deal with the armies and navies of hostile civilized nations.   Mondert does have to deal with a lot of monsters rising out of the sea.  It's mostly these monsters that keep the Mondert warriors in fighting trim.
Type
Military, Army


Cover image: Mondert Coat of Arms, simplified by me

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