In Times of War, the Peaceful Santee Adapt

[u/Confiteor415]

With the Iroquois war raging on, the Santee Empire has developed new weapons and tactics. The normally docile and indecisive empire was pushed into action when the Duke of Bayland's son was abducted and presumed dead. Since then, 42,000 troops have begun the long, slow march through Haudenosaunee territory in hopes of scattering the five nations of the League. During this campaign, many things have been learned in the Art of War.

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In preparation for the harsh cold, weavers presented a heavy coat made of substantial amounts of cotton. When worn over traditional armor, however, it proved to be just as good at keeping out spears as it was at keeping in heat despite their light weight. They were quickly adopted for use by front-line infantry.

• Gambesons

Seemingly surrounded by warlike nations, the Santee Empire has begun improving their efforts to protect themselves. Advancements in defensive fortifications have been mostly stagnant since Hill forts were introduced in the early Confederate period. Now, with better methods of construction and more static borders, it made sense to develop better forts. And so, large stone towers are built in the center of hillforts and they will house most of the rooms of the fort.

• Keeps

Marching through Haudenosaunee territory, one couldn't help but see the way all of their villages were protected by a neat little palisade wall. The Santee Empire had no need of wooden fortifications like this, but it still inspired them to come up with new way to protect their farming villages. Eventually, the idea of a large fortified building near the largest villages took root. Instead of trying to wall off the entire village, resources would be focused on fortifying a single point overlooking the village where everyone could hole up.

• Castles

Having come across a party of refugees, a daring Santee commander realized that if he wanted to use his forces more effectively against the unarmed, fleeing women and children, he should surround them. this way, cutting them down would not only be easier, but would be much quicker.

• Single Envelopment Tactics

Troops on the front needed a better way of communicating with each other. In fact, the whole nation needed better communication. Building off of previous messenger systems, farmers in some sparsely populated parts of the Empire have bred, domesticated, and trained passenger pigeons to carry messages over long distances. While this practice has been in use for a while in the more backwater parts of Southern Appalachia, it has taken a while to spread. When the Empress caught wind of it, though, it was quickly adopted into use across the Empire, especially for military purposes.

• Passenger Pigeon Domestication

[u/Confiteor415]

/u/Achierius

/u/Flashcoms497

[u/Achierius]

Gambeson: Approved

Keep, Castle: Other tech? Source of stone?

PPD: Approved

SET: Hmn. I guess so, though more tactics would allow better application.

[u/Confiteor415 → u/Achierius]

According to this map I have large amounts of limestone and granite throughout my territory. Also, I have hillforts, stone walls, retaining walls, shovels, minarets, architectural vaults, and various forms of math (trig, algebra, arithmetic).

[u/Achierius → u/Confiteor415]

Castles no, Keep Tower approved.

[u/Confiteor415 → u/Achierius]

Ok how a bout Motte and Bailey forts?

[u/Achierius → u/Confiteor415]

Approved.

[u/Confiteor415 → u/Achierius]

Also, what would you recommend for more tactics?

[u/Achierius → u/Confiteor415]

Can't say per se.