Sunday 1 February 2015

Huiha Esoyatre - an Aslan Minor State Part 3

I needed to create new Aslan terms to describe some of the larger formations deployed by the Trekhyair of Huiha Esoyatre. Using Space Corsair's Word Generator, I added to the word list I had already found:

Trokh Word List
aikoho"many ships", fleet
afeahyalhtowpopular Aslan pet; flying carnivore/killer
ayakyuircarnivore native to Kusyu, noted for speed and ferocity
Akoaft"Far Throwing" - artillery
Khoiayaarmor
Soarl"elite"
Trekhyair"land protector" clan military force
Areiale"they who sprint" – marines
Hraye"wanderer" – scout
Ekho’ear"armed family" – squad
Ahr’eah"armed pride" - platoon or company
Hryo"half dozen" - a squadron
Huih’eal"armed clan" – battalion or regiment
Ahr'ekhaoa"pride brotherhood" – brigade
Huih'aisai"dewclaw of the clan" – division
Kheheasoikhir"gathering of warriors" – corp or army

With terminology established for the higher echelons of the Trekhyair, and a basic plan of unit assignments worked out, I began thinking how large Aslan forces might be mustered.

While I otherwise enjoy and use the material in GURPs: Traveller Alien Races 2, I am reluctant to accept that the Aslan military is essentially based around Light Infantry formations. Perhaps this is how clan military units operate in the Aslan Hierate, but in the RimWorlds, Aslan ground forces face opponents who do not follow the Rules of War and Honour. Consequently, the Aslan of the Huiha Esoyatre have evolved formations that match those that they come into conflict with.

Given that Aslan forces are clan based, and that Aslan culture shares parallels with Medieval and Early Renaissance Japanese culture, I had a brief look at some famous Japanese battles of the Edo Period, such as Sekigahara. I also looked at another clan-based military culture, that of the Scots and their order of battle at Culloden. It occurred to me that the name of the officer who leads a formation might be significant in Aslan culture, as names accrue power in a culture that values individual prowess.

This made me consider a culture in transition between the individual prowess of heroic feudal leaders
and the mass produced, die stamped military of the machine age of total warfare. If the Huiha Esoyatre is currently working its way through this process, we might see the numerically inferior, but dominate, Esoyatre Clan producing the numbered regiments of a modern society, while the numerically superior clans that owe fealty to the Esoyatre muster battalions or regiments of various sizes under the personal names and banners of their Colonels. And even the Esoyatre, in their elite formations, may still know their brigades by the Brigadier-Generals who take control of the groupings of battalions, much as Americans recall the brigades of their Civil War.

So, a first pass at part of the Huiha Esoyatre's elite formations:

1st TL14 Elite Amoured CorpKheheassoikhir Soarl fyo Esoyatre Khoiaya
1st Armoured DivisionAlr Huih’aisai Soarl Khoiaya fyo Yuwe
Ahr’ekhaoa fyo Ye'oa'ai (Ye’oa’ai’s Brigade)
1st Elite Regiment Scouts of YuweAlr Huih’eal Soarl Hraye fyo Yuwe
Taulauh’s Elite Armoured RegimentHuih’eal fyo Taulauh Soarl Khoiaya fyo Yuwe
Waoeha’s Elite Armoured RegimentHuih’eal fyo Waoeha Soarl Khoiaya fyo Yuwe
1st Elite Infantry Regiment of YuweAlr Huih’eal Soarl Khir fyo Yuwe
1st Elite Artillery Regiment of YuweAlr Huih’eal Soarl Akoaft fyo Yuwe
Ahr’ekhaoa fyo Khteaes (Khteaes' Brigade)
2nd Elite Regiment Scouts of YuweHlai Huih’eal Soarl Hraye fyo Yuwe
Koaaiea’s Elite Armoured Regiment of YuweHuih’eal fyo Koaaiea Soarl Khoiaya fyo Yuwe
Hkehealr’s Elite Armoured RegimentHuih’eal fyo Hkehealr Soarl Khoiaya fyo Yuwe
2nd Elite Infantry Regiment of YuweHlai Huih’eal Soarl Khir fyo Yuwe
2nd Elite Artillery Regiment of YuweHlai Huih’eal Soarl Akoaft fyo Yuwe
Ahr’ekhaoa fyo Ealeiktyes (Ealeiktyes’ Brigade)
3rd Elite Regiment Scouts of YuweKheh Huih’eal Soarl Hraye fyo Yuwe
Uikhaiw’s Elite Armoured Regiment of YuweHuih’eal fyo Uikhaiw Soarl Khoiaya fyo Yuwe
Eariylu’s Elite Armoured Regiment of YuweHuih’eal fyo Eariylu Soarl Khoiaya fyo Yuwe
3rd Elite Infantry Regiment of YuweKheh Huih’eal Soarl Khir fyo Yuwe
3rd Elite Artillery Regiment of YuweKheh Huih’eal Soarl Akoaft fyo Yuwe
Syehoiye's Brigade Artillery Ahr’ekhaoa fyo Syehoiye Akoaft
4th Elite Artillery Regiment of YuweHryeh Huih’eal Soarl Akoaft fyo Yuwe
1st Elite Esoyatre COACC Regiment of YuweAlr Huih’eal fyo Esoyatre Soarl Afeahyalhtow fyo Yuwe

The First Armoured Division, Alr Huih’aisai Soarl Khoiaya fyo Yuwe, is an Elite formation raised from E'kho Hleahayaou on Yuwe. As E'kho Hleahayaou is a progressive family, and is the dominant family within Huiha Esoyatre, the Huih'aisai has adopted the progressive fashion of numbering individual battalion-regiments, at least within their elite formations. Brigades are still known by the name of their commanding Brigadier.