The City StatesArmy Book

Much of a City States bureaucratic apparatus is selected through a rigorous civil service exam, but the Aristarch is an exception. Handpicked from the pool of Aspirant Polemachoi by the ruling power of a City State; be it a Council, a Tyrant or even a God, an Aristarchos embodies all of the virtues of a city State and is thus chosen to lead its forces on campaign.

Tested and trained to a standard even higher than that of the Polemarch, his studies focus instead on strategy, philosophy, politics and economics, allowing him to serve the role of general, ambassador or governor as needs dictate to further the power and glory of his City.

This unit's Retinue is Agema. When included in your Warband, the Retinue Regiment counts as a Mainstay instead of a Restricted Regiment.

Phalanx, Shield, Bravery, Battlefield Orders, Warrior Scholar

Each [Character] in your Warband may purchase a single Upgrade; a Warlord may instead purchase up to 2.

Raised almost exclusively within the walls of the Scholae, aspirant Polemarchs are selected from the teeming multitudes of the City State through the rigorous yearly exams that feed the City State's administration.

Chosen for their leadership skills and physical proficiency, their exhaustive, ten-year curriculum is rounded out with at least a decade's worth of actual combat experience before they can claim the title. Leading from the front lines and inspiring their troops, Polemarchoi have become iconic figures epitomizing the martial strength of the City States.

This has led ignorant northern scholars to translate the title of Polemarchos as 'Warlord'. This is wrong, the correct title is 'Lord of War'.

This unit's Retinue is Minotaur Haspists. When included in your Warband, the Retinue Regiment counts as a Mainstay instead of a Restricted Regiment.

Phalanx, Shield, Support, Fearless, Overwhelm, Army of Lions

Each [Character] in your Warband may purchase a single Upgrade; a Warlord may instead purchase up to 2.

The Ipparchos is a gifted commander and powerful combatant, whose nature is deemed too aggressive to entrust overall command of an army to. He is instead given tactical command of the fastest and most elite units on the battlefield where his direct leadership and natural aggression allow him to shine.

This liberates the Polemarch or Aristarch to focus his efforts in the thick of combat, locking the enemy formations and creating space for his subordinate to size the initiative and deliver the killing blow.

This unit's Retinue is Companion Cavalry. When included in your Warband, the Retinue Regiment counts as a Mainstay instead of a Restricted Regiment.

Impact 1, Brutal, Elusive, Overrun, Ekdromos

Each [Character] in your Warband may purchase a single Upgrade; a Warlord may instead purchase up to 2.

Every army of the City States that marches to war, does so under the supervision of at least one Mechanist. One could be forgiven for believing he is there to ensure the smooth operation of the army and the countless machines, both big and small, that are so vital to the smooth operation of a City State's army. What many fail to recognize is that they are there to ensure that reality itself operates along the rules and parameters laid out in their Lexicons by their Divinity.

This unit's Retinue is Clockwork Hoplites. When included in your Warband, the Retinue Regiment counts as a Mainstay instead of a Restricted Regiment.

Aura of Death 2, Spellcaster 3, Imperative Schema, Quintessence

Each [Character] in your Warband may purchase a single Upgrade; a Warlord may instead purchase up to 2.

The Eidolon are everything that the Inquisitors are not. Unlike those twisted crude vessels, an Eidolon represents the pinnacle of the Scholae's techne. With its body enhanced in every way imaginable; its flesh reinforced to handle the phlogiston bonded blood that has been decanted into it, its limbs annealed with the strongest and lightest alloys the city states can manufacture and its lungs enhanced to power the blistering furnace that is its metabolism.

Even so, all of these changes pale to the masterpiece that is its mind: a blank slate, with not an ounce of will or thought of its own whose autonomic functions are perfectly preserved. The perfect host for the Scholae to download itself into and execute its will.

Cleave 2, Flurry, Oblivious, Terrifying, Sentinel Directives, Annihilation Protocols

Each [Character] in your Warband may purchase a single Upgrade; a Warlord may instead purchase up to 2.

The Lochagos is critical promotion for a veteran Hoplite who has taken a permanent position in his City State's military. They quarter and fight on the frontline with the troops, but are present in all of the staff meetings an army on the march may have. This insight into the Officer's thinking allows them to quickly relay orders and adapt to the flow of battle, making sure the army fights as a unified whole.

Phalanx, Shield, Student of War, Inspiring Presence

Each [Character] in your Warband may purchase a single Upgrade; a Warlord may instead purchase up to 2.

Hoplites know that the difference between victory and defeat lies with the strength of the Phalanx and focus their efforts on the integrity of its shield wall.

The canniest veterans among the Hoplites know that pure defense will see a phalanx buckle under uncontested enemy pressure, thus they turn their eyes to the Dorilates, the spear masters among their number, to set the tempo and angle of their thrusts, complimenting the sheer defensive power of the Phalanx with increased aggression.

Shield, Support, Relentless Blows, Phalanx, Battlefield Acumen

Each [Character] in your Warband may purchase a single Upgrade; a Warlord may instead purchase up to 2.

First among equals, an Andromarchos leads by example. These champions and those brave few who follow them into battle can be seen charging ahead of the main battleline in search of a worthy challenge.

Flawless Strikes, Flurry, Parry, Vanguard, Promachos, First to the Fray

Each [Character] in your Warband may purchase a single Upgrade; a Warlord may instead purchase up to 2.

Unlike the feudal obligations of the Hundred Kingdoms, the City States have embraced a higher ideal for their people and armed forces. The bulk of their army is composed of Hoplites, citizen soldiers mustered to protect their city and its interests.

Armed and equipped from the advanced foundries of their City State and drilled relentlessly, a phalanx of Hoplites is an almost immovable obstacle on the battlefield, capable of holding their own against the best any challenger might throw at them.

Recruitment: 4 Warriors — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Shield, Support, Phalanx, Defensive Formation

While Hoplites are the citizen soldiery of a given City State, the Phalangites are its professional army. Hardboiled and scarred veterans of countless campaigns, Phalangites take everything that makes a phalanx deadly, and kick it up a notch.

Eschewing the use of the hoplon (shield) their daily drills allow them to employ their pikes, the dreaded sarissa, while holding formation. This turns them into both a hammer and an anvil, allowing them to retain their defensive nature while crushing the opposition behind an impenetrable hedge.

Recruitment: 4 Warriors — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Bastion, Support, Phalanx, Pike Formation

While unmatched in formation combat on an open field, Phalangites and Hoplites do not fare well in constrained spaces and rough terrain. Thorakites are the answer to these problems. Trained to a higher physical standard, but without the rigid formation and drill of the phalanx, Thorakites allow an enterprising commander to exploit gaps and developments on the battlefield that the traditional phalanx would be too cumbersome to address.

Recruitment: 4 Warriors — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Shield, Dodge, Skirmishers

Nowhere in the society of the City States is their ambivalent relationship with the Bred more evident than with the Selinoi and Satyroi. A nigh seamless blend of man and goat, these Bred ultimately proved to be the hardiest and most adaptable of the Bred who survived.

Intelligent, fast and tough, they quickly excelled at their tasks, putting them at odds with humans and painting a mark on their back when the purges started during the Fall. Today, those who survive have done so by learning to coexist with humanity or avoiding it as much as possible.

Unlike the more peaceful Selinoi, Satyroi have turned to anger, hate and violence. Kidnappers, extortionists, consummate thugs and dangerous gangers the most dangerous of Satyroi are often press ganged into the army where their combat skills and unbridled ferocity make them skirmishers without peer.

Recruitment: 4 Warriors — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Impact 1, Shield, Support, Opportunists, Capricious

Nowhere in the society of the City States is their ambivalent relationship with the Bred more evident than with the Selinoi. A nigh seamless blend of man and goat, the Selinoi ultimately proved to be the hardiest and most adaptable of the Bred who survived.

Intelligent, fast and tough, they quickly excelled at their tasks, putting them at odds with humans and painting a mark on their back when the purgest started during the Fall. Today, those Selinoi who survive have done so by learning to coexist with humanity or avoiding it as much as possible.

Selinoi Hunters shun the crowded streets of the City States, choosing instead to roam the deep forests and wildlands that the invariably form around the City States. Their woodcraft and hunting skills making them invaluable scouts for the City States and their presence is tolerated and sometimes even encouraged if only to secure these capable scouts in a cities force.

Recruitment: 4 Warriors — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Vanguard, Capricious, Barrage 1 (12"), Sureshot

Agema are, without a doubt, the best fighters available to a City States commander. They are invariably the personal guard of rules, tyrants and council members alike. Armed, armored and augumented to the highest standards that a ruler can afford, the notion of failure or defeat is anathema to these elite soldiers, who are trained to fight and win on any battlefield under any circumstance.

Recruitment: 4 Warriors — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Bodyguard, Shield, Flawless Strikes, Parry, Martial Prowess

These automata represent the current pinnacle of the Tekne developed within the City States. While the creation of the bodies and their power source had long ago been theorized and even tested, the method of control on a battlefield is what eluded even the brightest minds of the Scholae.

The current advances within the field of Phlogiston engineering have allowed the Scholae practicals to synthesise crystals that somehow retain communication even when separated. Ensconced deep within the body of these mechanical warriors, they allow a skilled Mechanist to convey orders to his regiment through the careful modulation of the energies he applies to his own master crystal.

The result is a formidable, if inflexible, formation of fearless warriors who deliver death without fear, conscience or fatigue. In many ways, the perfect soldiers.

Recruitment: 4 Warriors — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Oblivious, Shield, Support, Tactical Automatons

Hearkening to an ancient time of divine warrior brotherhoods long disbanded by the Dominion, the Sacred Band are devoted champions of their city states' Divinity.

By longstanding tradition these brotherhoods are composed only of men who must compete in the Pan Kratian Games, honing their body and skills to the utmost edge for the glory of their City.

Clad in hand crafted suits of armor that eschew the modern comforts and simplicity of the hoplites gear, these Champions are invariably found in the heart of the fighting, singing paeans to their God even as they deliver his judgement upon His foes.

Recruitment: 4 Warriors — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Blessed, Cleave 2, Bravery, Spellcaster X, Combat Theologians

Those minotaurs that have somehow escaped the sad fate of their Thyrean kin can look forward to a quiet life of agrarian work. Their prodigious strength and legendary stamina mean that even with the odds stacked against them, most can look forward to buying their own emancipation writ within a decade or two.

As citizens, however, they are duty bound to serve in the army much like their human counterparts. Most do so as Haspists, consciously standing apart from their fallen Thyrean kin, specializing in defense and bolstering the line where the weaker humans might falter.

Recruitment: 1 Warrior — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Brutal, Juggernaut, Shield, Cleave 1, Fearsome Brazen Bulls

When the Bred were originally conceived and gifted to the Dominion, Minotaurs were intended to be docile, tractable agrarian workers. It did not take long for man to look upon this mountain of muscle and decide to put it to a different use.

Purposefully bred and conditioned for aggression, Minotaur Thyreans and their double handed weapons are an unstoppable presence of the battlefield, delivering unstoppable charges and wielding massive weapons that make a mockery of enemy defenses and formations.

Recruitment: 1 Warrior — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Impact 2, Cleave 3, Unyielding, Fearsome, Bull Rush

Looming almost twice the height of man, these lumbering monstrosities bear little resemblance to the men they once were. Now little more than empty vessels that the Scholae can unleash at will, Inquisitors are the red right hand of this shadowy consult.

Now a twisted amalgam of flesh and steel, the sole purpose is to embody the wrath and will of that shadow consult on the battlefield and beyond. Piston driven limbs cleave through flesh and steel with alarming ease, their limbs powered by the traces of phlogiston that courses through their veins, even as it burns their stunted lives short.

Recruitment: 1 Warrior — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Deadly Blades, Flurry, Terrifying, Oblivious, Aggression Protocols

Companion Cavalry are rather an outlier in the City States forces, mainly because they do not, in the strictest sense of the word, belong to the citizen soldiery army of most armies. The Companions are rather a voluntary force drawn from among the wealthy Oligarch and noble families of the City States.

Armed and armoured in the finest weapons money can buy, these impetuous scions of nobility are trained by retired Polemarchs and Aristarchs in the private gymnasiums of the wealthy while their horsemanship is honed in the massive hippodromes that tend to dominate the skylines of each City State.

Despite their eclectic training and impetuous nature these horsemen are a valuable enough tool that the City States have diverged from their orthodox army organization to incorporate them.

Recruitment: 1 Warrior — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Impact 1, Brutal, Elusive, Overrun

While the effectiveness of the Flogobolon and the Skorpios have long been known to the City States, they have long struggled to find a way to deploy them on the battlefield in a cost effective way.

In a stroke of pure genius, the Gerousia of Helias invited the merchant and noble houses to sponsor the construction of these deadly vehicles. The frenzy of spending and overengineering that followed has since then spread to the other City States and their noble patrons.

The weapons themselves are a marvel of engineering which nobody but the Dweghom could hope to match, the chariot bodies are crafted of sturdy wood and sheathed metal to keep both rider and weapon from harm… The lions are there simply to proclaim the wealth and power of their patrons.

Recruitment: 1 Warrior — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Impact 2, Overwhelm, Elusive, Fearsome, Weapon Platform, Cheirosiphon, Barrage 3 (8"), Torrential Fire

While the effectiveness of the Flogobolon and the Skorpios have long been known to the City States, they have long struggled to find a way to deploy them on the battlefield in a cost effective way.

In a stroke of pure genius, the Gerousia of Helias invited the merchant and noble houses to sponsor the construction of these deadly vehicles. The frenzy of spending and overengineering that followed has since then spread to the other City States and their noble patrons.

The weapons themselves are a marvel of engineering which nobody but the Dweghom could hope to match, the chariot bodies are crafted of sturdy wood and sheathed metal to keep both rider and weapon from harm… The lions are there simply to proclaim the wealth and power of their patrons.

Recruitment: 1 Warrior — the minimum size of this Regiment.

Impact 2, Overwhelm, Elusive, Fearsome, Weapon Platform, Stinging Salvo, Barrage 4 (12"), Rapid Volley, Armor Piercing 1

When one gazes upon the wonders of a City State; its cyclopean walls, its towering cranes and smokeless foundries, one cannot help but suspect that these wonders cannot have been built by mortal hands alone. And they would not be far wrong.

Deep within the bowels of each Acropolis reside the Prometheans, ancient Titanic allies of the Scholae and their founder, whose deep primordial knowledge is responsible for many of the wonders that allow the city states to stand. Rare and fell is the need that rouses one of these ancients to war, for their every blow cracks the enemies will even as it empowers it's allies.

Cleave 2, Hardened, Spellcaster 3, Terrifying, Battlesmith, Sunder

While the Titans were convinced of the need to aid the Scholae and their Founder in their efforts, not all of them agreed how. The Prometheans chose to aid them by sharing with them the secrets of Creation, the Hephaestian chose a different path: that of Destruction.

Looking upon mankind and worried of what they would make of the weapons they had been gifted, the Hephaestian's chose instead to become the weapons bringing their overwhelming power onto the battlefield on behalf of their mortal allies.

Cleave 3, Aura of Death 2, Spellcaster 2, Terrifying, Aetheric Blood, Born of Fire

The Scholae of the City States do not know what to make of the Talos, who run counter to most things they know of the Titans. From time to time these towering warriors appear before a City State and take upon themselves the role of protector to the City and its citizens.

Tireless and almost impossible to kill, these giant warriors have served their City States as guardians for centuries, leading to a close bond of camaraderie and friendship with the armed forces of each city as they all share the burden of its protection.

More loquacious than their kin as a result, what secrets they may have shared with their fellow defenders have remained closely guarded for none wish to betray such stalwart allies.

Cleave 2, Shield, Vanguard, Terrifying, Iron Discipline, Vigilant Guardian, Gilded Bulwark, Titan's Wrath

Prometheans from the southern Firelands have started appearing in the northern lands, preaching visions of the return of their mother and the release of their father.

Such is the passion of their conviction in their visions that they have cast away their affiliation, gouging out their own eyes that their next vision will be their mother returned and healing them and elevating them to her side as her most favored children and the keepers of her lore. T

heir words have touched a cord and long dormant hope in the Titans and Jotunn alike, fanning the flames of a feeling long lost to them: Hope. This powerful new motivation has seen the Seidr (or Oracles as they are known in the Southlands) become leaders among their kin, a post long abandoned by the Ice Jotnar following their humiliation.

This Monster Character fills both a Monster and a Warlord slot — it does not bring another unit; this one unit uses both slots.

Cleave 3, Terrifying

Each [Character] in your Warband may purchase a single Upgrade; a Warlord may instead purchase up to 2.