Guards and militia [Archive] - Wizards Community

Guards and militia [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Charlym_Zuardan
05-23-07, 05:29 PM this may be a noob question but i cant seem to find any guidelines as to how many guards there should be compared to the rest of the population of a town or city.

so in a town of say 5,000 how many full time guards should there be, and how many should belong to the militia?
Lazulli
05-23-07, 06:52 PM This is actually quite difficult to answer if we're talking realistically (and I don't know if that's what you mean), details are sketchy and not very consistant, and differs from period to period. And from place to place. There are some numbers in the DMG II if I recall correctly, and maybe Cityscape, though they aren't to hand atm, but I doubt they are accurate if you're going for realism.

In the feudal period, it was mainly those who were considered "citizens" who were expected to perform militia duties and such. The number of actual citizens could be like 50% of the population or less. It depended on a lot of variables (like in some places, to be considered a citizen, you had to be in a guild, but that wasn't all places). So it's safe to assume that a sizable proportion of the population would be expected to defend the city or town in times of crisis.

Some militias were raised as a whole, expected to equip themselves, sometimes required to train semi-regularly. Sometimes, such as in places like the Holy Roman Empire, they were raised by quarter, usually overseen by merchant guilds that kept their own arsenals. But militia were just part timers (if that).

To be honest, I have a hard time finding any real useful figures for full time city-guard. In a city of 5,000, in my setting, assuming an english-like mid-medieval economy I would probably say maybe a hundred or so full time guards on various shifts. But I cannot say how accurate that is at all.

However, it's worth checking the DMG II or Cityscape and seeing what they say on the matter.
Haruspex
05-23-07, 07:09 PM According to the holy SRD, the full-time military should be 1% the adult population and militia/conscript soldiers should be 5% the population. Guards are part of the full-time military. The militia/conscripts are only for actual attack.
queenfange
05-23-07, 08:22 PM Don't worry; it's not a n00b question. Heed Haruspex's wise guidance; the SRD is the source of all truth, and you would do wise to follow its advice.

So, yeah, like 50 full-time guards and 250 militia members. :)
Charlym_Zuardan
05-23-07, 11:42 PM awesome,

before checking back with this thread i had set my full time military at 3% of the population and the militia at 7.5%

this is for a kingdom that is slightly above average in warlike nature so it looks like my guesses worked out pretty good :)

thanks for the info guys
Naderion
05-24-07, 09:27 AM I think 1% of the adult population as full term guards should be a good figure.

With the militia, it can depend drasticaly upon the community. In a small frontier village, the militia can easly be made up of "all able-bodied men and women".
GoriceXII
05-24-07, 10:10 AM Those are about right. Alternate systems are these:

2nd Ed D&D: divide the population by 1000, then multiply the result by 25. That is the number of guards/standing army available.
the militia is 5% of the population. Somewhat arbitrary but it works for me. :)

Pendragon: roughly speaking 150-300 people are required to support the services of one ordinary knight (ie chainmail, med warhorse and packhorse, squire, lance, spear, sword, dagger) or 10 men at arms (archers/spearmen). This is also not a bad system.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Charlym_Zuardan 05-23-07, 05:29 PM	this may be a noob question but i cant seem to find any guidelines as to how many guards there should be compared to the rest of the population of a town or city. so in a town of say 5,000 how many full time guards should there be, and how many should belong to the militia?
Lazulli 05-23-07, 06:52 PM	This is actually quite difficult to answer if we're talking realistically (and I don't know if that's what you mean), details are sketchy and not very consistant, and differs from period to period. And from place to place. There are some numbers in the DMG II if I recall correctly, and maybe Cityscape, though they aren't to hand atm, but I doubt they are accurate if you're going for realism. In the feudal period, it was mainly those who were considered "citizens" who were expected to perform militia duties and such. The number of actual citizens could be like 50% of the population or less. It depended on a lot of variables (like in some places, to be considered a citizen, you had to be in a guild, but that wasn't all places). So it's safe to assume that a sizable proportion of the population would be expected to defend the city or town in times of crisis. Some militias were raised as a whole, expected to equip themselves, sometimes required to train semi-regularly. Sometimes, such as in places like the Holy Roman Empire, they were raised by quarter, usually overseen by merchant guilds that kept their own arsenals. But militia were just part timers (if that). To be honest, I have a hard time finding any real useful figures for full time city-guard. In a city of 5,000, in my setting, assuming an english-like mid-medieval economy I would probably say maybe a hundred or so full time guards on various shifts. But I cannot say how accurate that is at all. However, it's worth checking the DMG II or Cityscape and seeing what they say on the matter.
Haruspex 05-23-07, 07:09 PM	According to the holy SRD, the full-time military should be 1% the adult population and militia/conscript soldiers should be 5% the population. Guards are part of the full-time military. The militia/conscripts are only for actual attack.
queenfange 05-23-07, 08:22 PM	Don't worry; it's not a n00b question. Heed Haruspex's wise guidance; the SRD is the source of all truth, and you would do wise to follow its advice. So, yeah, like 50 full-time guards and 250 militia members. :)
Charlym_Zuardan 05-23-07, 11:42 PM	awesome, before checking back with this thread i had set my full time military at 3% of the population and the militia at 7.5% this is for a kingdom that is slightly above average in warlike nature so it looks like my guesses worked out pretty good :) thanks for the info guys
Naderion 05-24-07, 09:27 AM	I think 1% of the adult population as full term guards should be a good figure. With the militia, it can depend drasticaly upon the community. In a small frontier village, the militia can easly be made up of "all able-bodied men and women".
GoriceXII 05-24-07, 10:10 AM	Those are about right. Alternate systems are these: 2nd Ed D&D: divide the population by 1000, then multiply the result by 25. That is the number of guards/standing army available. the militia is 5% of the population. Somewhat arbitrary but it works for me. :) Pendragon: roughly speaking 150-300 people are required to support the services of one ordinary knight (ie chainmail, med warhorse and packhorse, squire, lance, spear, sword, dagger) or 10 men at arms (archers/spearmen). This is also not a bad system.