Highguard military concerns

“We are the thunder on the earth, we are the steel tide that drowns the foe.”

Highguard has a military heritage of which it is justly proud. Most Highborn serve a tour of duty with one of the two Highborn armies as part of their “coming-of-age”. This service is considered necessary to the formation of Highborn character, and maintains the connection between the people of today and their warrior ancestry. Most skills can be put to use in a military context, although those serving as medics, quartermasters and ancillary troops do not earn as much respect as their more warlike colleagues.

Most Highborn return to their chapter after graduating from the army, the most skilled soldiers become part of the elite guards that protect the chapter against Barbarians and other threats. These warriors, called guardians, train daily with their brethren learning to fight as a unit in close formation. Chapters outfit their guardians with weapons and armour and most provide a surcoat adorned with the chapter’s heraldic device, usually in black and white or similarly contrasting colours. Some groups of guardians choose to specialise, training to become Cataphracts or Unconquered, in line with the oldest martial traditions of the Highborn.

In the earliest days of Highguard, the Cataphracts rode into battle on mighty warhorses, devastating their enemies. Today the horses are gone, but the Cataphracts remain embodying a warrior tradition that embraces the highest virtues of the Imperial Faith. Heavily armoured, they serve as living standards, encouraging and supporting those who fight alongside them with their commitment to achieving victory. The best of them burn with fervour, filling them with righteous fury when they face the enemies of the Empire in close combat. Likewise, when an army must fall back, it is the Cataphracts who guard the retreat.

The counterpart to the Cataphracts are the Unconquered, the deadly archers and agents of the Highborn Synod. The Unconquered are trained to find ways to defeat enemies without engaging in melee. They undertake scouting missions, employ sabotage and terror as weapons to weaken their foes, and seek out specific targets on a battlefield. In contrast to the archers and skirmishers of many other Nations, the Unconquered favour medium armour and short bows, but are not shy about engaging in close combat with hand weapons if the tides of battle make retreat-and-fire an unappealing option.

The Unconquered are used to operating with a high level of autonomy, often behind enemy lines or in unknown territory. Despite this independence, the best of them know that they operate as one part of a larger plan, that their duty is to ensure that the forces they accompany achieve victory. Unconquered who arrogantly assume they can win the day all by themselves generally meet unpleasant ends.

Highborn generals and soldiers alike embrace the concept that the best defence is a strong offence. Exponents of the philosophy of total war, they maintain that a single swift and decisive victory which removes an enemy’s ability to fight is both the most practical and moral solution to the matter of war. On the battlefield their troops work together to utterly overwhelm their enemies as quickly as possible, Cataphracts driving them from the field while the Unconquered deny them any chance to regroup and counter-attack.