Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 24

Thread: What're the jobs in an Army?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Somewhere in Idaho . . .
    Age
    31
    Posts
    1,104
    Rep Power
    3089317

    What're the jobs in an Army?

    What kinds of jobs would be found in an army?

    Right now I'm building a small army of mounted archers (see the attached file). I think I have a good idea of what combat skills I want them to have, but I'd like to know, what individual skills would I find in camp? I set asside 6 points per man to represent things that not every unit would have. I'm not going to actually write up every man, but I'd like to know what kinds of proffesions would be a good idea to keep an army running? I just want a list of proffesion packages at around 6 points (or 3 - 9, I'm not constrictive)

    Here's what I have

    Quartermaster
    2 SS: Logistics 11-
    3 Trading 12-
    2 PS: Appraise 11-
    2 KS: Camp Inventory 11-
    This is the guy in charge of supplies, both aquiring them and distributing them.

    Scout
    3 Tracking 11-
    3 Stealth 12-

    Batman
    2 PS: Servant 11-
    Apparently the servant of an officer is called a batman. I didn't know that.

    Cook
    2 PS: Cook 11-
    2 KS: Flora & Fauna

    Trainer
    3 Analyze: Combat Skill 11-
    2 PS: Trainer

    Horse Trainer
    2 PS: Horse Trainer
    3 Analyze: Horses

    Officer
    3 Tactics 11-
    3 Oratory
    2 KS: Military Science

    Medic
    3 Paramedics 11-
    2 PS: Healer 11-
    2 KS: Herbalism 11-

    And some obvious ones,
    Bowyer = weaponsmith: Bows
    Fletcher = weaponsmith: arrows
    guy to make swords, lances and axes
    guy to make leather armor

    Any other good ones I'm missing?
    Attached Files Attached Files
    Last edited by Sociotard; Oct 28th, '06 at 05:49 PM.
    My Flickr stream

    Please read "The Emergency State" by David Unger. It's a history of US foreign policy in the last hundred years, and I thought it was amazing.

    Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think
    --Niels Bohr

    I am the one true Sociotard

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Seattle, Wa
    Age
    44
    Posts
    1,306
    Rep Power
    50749

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    Military Policeman
    Chaplain
    Artilleryman
    Sapper/Miner
    Recruiter
    Messenger
    Bugler/drummer/piper (signals or morale)
    Driver (for supplies, if the army runs its own, or for combat vehicles (chariots/wagons) if it uses them)
    Engineer (probably an officer's job, with labor provided by infantry)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    6,077
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    165105

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    If feudal, the Noble - which includes Officer and may include Quatermaster, Recruiter, Engineer or Jack-of-all-Trades (Nobles being the best educated usually).

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    TimbukThirtyThreeAndAThird
    Age
    53
    Posts
    556
    Rep Power
    168

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    In any setting that depends on horse cavalry, you'll definitely need a farrier. In addition to shoeing the horses, he would also be responsible for maintaining the tack and harnesses.
    Dale A. Ward
    "Release me and we'll blow up the Baron's dirigible, escape by the skin of our teeth and then it's cocoa and schnapps all 'round!" - Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer (from Phil Foglio's Girl Genius)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Napa, CA
    Age
    43
    Posts
    2,657
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    602880

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    I was reading something in the man-at-arms series, during the late medieval period one page was required per four other men to tend the horses.
    "Do it?" Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome?

    I did it thirty-five minutes ago.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Lombard, IL USA
    Age
    39
    Posts
    3,065
    Blog Entries
    5
    Rep Power
    135262

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    Don't forget the workmen.

    Blacksmiths, Ferriers, Engineer (build them siege engines) along with his Carpenters.

    Now, a number of jobs will be held by the same guy. An Engineer will likely be an Officer as well as probably something else.
    "Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle merite [Every country has the government it deserves]." --Josephe de Maistre, Lettres et Opuscules Inedites (1851) vol.1, letter 53 (15 August 1811)

    "I've had a hell of a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it." --Errol Flynn, d. October 14, 1959

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Indianapolis, IN
    Posts
    7,098
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    4398902

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    Forager.

    He would have Survival, Tracking, perhaps Concealment.

    Maybe some interesting KS and PS skills.

    Lucius Alexander

    The palindromedary takes notes for the "Professions of Arms" series.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    11,387
    Blog Entries
    33
    Rep Power
    451043

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    The cook should be a fair to good butcher as well as a forager, unless the army is large enough for separate individuals in those roles. He might also be a barber, medic, and herbalist, though again those roles can and will be broken up if you have enough men.
    Quote Originally Posted by Cancer View Post
    The thing is, you often can refute a position with 100% certainty. What you cannot do is make an ignoramus recognize it, especially when that ignoramus is parroting something he read or heard and has never really understood...
    Quote Originally Posted by OddHat
    People tend to estimate the limits of Human Achievement by looking in the mirror.
    My new diet and exercise page and podcast

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Somewhere in Idaho . . .
    Age
    31
    Posts
    1,104
    Rep Power
    3089317

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    Barber would be a strange proffession to put into a skill slot in HERO. I mean, it is is a skill, but a medieval Barber often does more harm than good, even if he is a good barber. it seems like in most fantasy fiction and rpg's that gets glossed over and the healers actually heal things.

    Oh, and for what it's worth, the army I'm making is actually kind of small, basically a 144-man company, divided into 12-man squads (I like base twelve).
    Last edited by Sociotard; Oct 29th, '06 at 01:55 PM.
    My Flickr stream

    Please read "The Emergency State" by David Unger. It's a history of US foreign policy in the last hundred years, and I thought it was amazing.

    Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think
    --Niels Bohr

    I am the one true Sociotard

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    11,387
    Blog Entries
    33
    Rep Power
    451043

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sociotard View Post
    Barber would be a strange proffession to put into a skill slot in HERO. I mean, it is is a skill, but a medieval Barber often does more harm than good, even if he is a good barber. it seems like in most fantasy fiction and rpg's that gets glossed over and the healers actually heal things.

    Oh, and for what it's worth, the army I'm making is actually kind of small, basically a 144-man company, divided into 12-man squads (I like base twelve).
    Kind of depends on genre, time period and the historians you trust. The Greeks and Romans had some fairly good doctors, and the Chinese had some very good ones. There were also always plenty of quacks.
    Quote Originally Posted by Cancer View Post
    The thing is, you often can refute a position with 100% certainty. What you cannot do is make an ignoramus recognize it, especially when that ignoramus is parroting something he read or heard and has never really understood...
    Quote Originally Posted by OddHat
    People tend to estimate the limits of Human Achievement by looking in the mirror.
    My new diet and exercise page and podcast

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Lombard, IL USA
    Age
    39
    Posts
    3,065
    Blog Entries
    5
    Rep Power
    135262

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sociotard View Post
    Barber would be a strange proffession to put into a skill slot in HERO. I mean, it is is a skill, but a medieval Barber often does more harm than good, even if he is a good barber. it seems like in most fantasy fiction and rpg's that gets glossed over and the healers actually heal things.

    Oh, and for what it's worth, the army I'm making is actually kind of small, basically a 144-man company, divided into 12-man squads (I like base twelve).
    Not only barber, but perhaps Dentist too?

    I'm not sure when barber and dentist came together, but a number of dentists in the old west were also barbers. Shrug.
    "Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle merite [Every country has the government it deserves]." --Josephe de Maistre, Lettres et Opuscules Inedites (1851) vol.1, letter 53 (15 August 1811)

    "I've had a hell of a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it." --Errol Flynn, d. October 14, 1959

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Age
    50
    Posts
    1,257
    Rep Power
    1163928

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    If it's a certain kind of army, there's the political officer, whose job is to make sure everyone's staying loyal--and the right kind of loyal.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    6,077
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    165105

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    A number of barbers were also surgeons

    The barber's pole being a reminder of days when blood letting was common (in Europe).

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    SF Bay Area
    Age
    43
    Posts
    3,554
    Blog Entries
    6
    Rep Power
    1695389

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    Quote Originally Posted by Curufea View Post
    A number of barbers were also surgeons

    The barber's pole being a reminder of days when blood letting was common (in Europe).
    And strangely enough, Bonesetter was a different profession from the Barber-surgeon, usually a sideline profession of the blacksmith (who was often the stongest man in any given group).
    There are stories of faeries and banshees and the walking dead; but "the worst of them all," is the Fool of Forth, the Amadan-na-Briona, he whose stroke is, as death, incurable.
    As to the fool in this world, the pity for him is mingled with some awe, for who knows what windows may have been opened to those who are under the moon's spell, who do not give in to our limitations, are not "bound by reason to the wheel."
    Lady Gregory
    "Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland"

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Somewhere in Idaho . . .
    Age
    31
    Posts
    1,104
    Rep Power
    3089317

    Re: What're the jobs in an Army?

    Quote Originally Posted by AmadanNaBriona View Post
    And strangely enough, Bonesetter was a different profession from the Barber-surgeon, usually a sideline profession of the blacksmith (who was often the stongest man in any given group).
    Cool! I didn't know that!
    My Flickr stream

    Please read "The Emergency State" by David Unger. It's a history of US foreign policy in the last hundred years, and I thought it was amazing.

    Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think
    --Niels Bohr

    I am the one true Sociotard

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •