All Things Vargr

[Grav_Moped]

For those who like that sort of thing: no mater how anthropomorphic they might seem, they've got weird digitigrade feet (that is, their feet are what would otherwise be toes, and their legs have an extra bend at the not-ankles). Not shown here, though.

Downside: weird legs, feet, and perhaps footwear.

Upside: OMG Puppy Toe-Beans!

 

[Condottiere]

Mein Doge.

 

[Condottiere]

The great thing about the Vargr?

When they do finally catch a car, they can drive it to the chop shop.

 

[Condottiere]

Jack Terrier, better known as the Artful Doger, is a character in King Charles Spaniel's 838 novel Colliver Twist.[1] The Doger is a pickpocket and his nickname refers to his skill and cunning in that occupation. In the novel, he is the leader of the gang of cub criminals on the streets of Regina, trained and overseen by the elderly Faux.

 

[Condottiere]

Vargr: Military Organization

1. I sort of promised, ye, many moons ago, that I'd do a write up of Vargr military formations.

2. Never really got around to it, since I was chasing other cars.

3. Also, terminally lazy.

4. When I thought about it, again, I sort of realized it was rather more complex than I initially thought.

5. In a way, higher formations are easier to give an organizational chart to for the Vargr, than the unit that essentially defines them.

6. The pack.

7. Even the Mongols eventually divided themselves up into formations of ten, and figured out logistics.

8. But that was one culture.

9. And I bet that there are as many cultures of Vargr communities as there are grains of sand on a beach,

 

[Condottiere]

Vargr: Military Organization

A. If we try to find human equivalents, mid tier military organizations are platoon, company, and battalion, or their equivalents.

B. Our monkeysphere is about one hundred fifty persons, about the size of a company, which tends to number between a hundred and hundred fifty.

C. What's the wolfsphere?

D. If I had to speculate, probably fifty and down.

E. Which could be partially responsible for their lack of cohesion.

F. But also, reinforce their sense of attachment.

 

[Condottiere]

Vargr: Military Organization

G. Our practice is twenty to forty guys per platoon.

H. That doesn't mean that a pack would be the equivalent of one.

I. Maybe at the lower end, it does function like a platoon.

J. But at the higher end, am understrength company.

K. So, I'd say that militarily, a Vargr pack is some form of hybrid platoon-company.

 

[Condottiere]

Vargr: Military Organization

L. Next tier would be the band.

M. I was very tempted to have the commander termed the band leader.

N. But I'll stick to war chief.

O. He's sort of first among equals, chosen, usually, from a bunch of pack leaders, whose packs the band is composed of.

P. Selection method varies.

 

[Condottiere]

Vargr: Military Organization

Q. Span of control is basically how many pack leaders that the war chief can impose his will upon.

R. And the size of the band tends to be how many packs are willing to remain in close proximity to each other.

S. The Vargr word for band probably translates as camp group.

T. Leonidas's guard and the Theban Sacred Band numbered three hundred, probably not a coincidence.

U. Which I tend to think is the minimum size for a battalion.

 

[bookwyrm]

Vargr: Military Organization

L. Next tier would be the band.

M. I was very tempted to have the commander termed the band leader.

N. But I'll stick to war chief.

O. He's sort of first among equals, chosen, usually, from a bunch of pack leaders, whose packs the band is composed of.

P. Selection method varies.

Wouldn't a Band Leader... I mean a War Chief, rise to their position on a combination of Charisma & Merit, just as the Pack Leaders got their positions? I can see this choosing of a Leader happening amongst Humans & Hivers, and maybe Aslan, but not Vargr. It might be necessary for the Vargr to choose based on Merit if Charisma is about the same, and if the chosen Leader does well, their Charisma will rise also.

 

[Condottiere]

It's something that I'll get into later.

But like I mentioned above, the longer I thought about it, the more complicated it became.

I was going to introduce the concept, and characteristic, of Authority.

And that would be a combination of lots of aspects that allow Vargr tell other Vargr what to do, especially in possibly physically dangerous situations, likely the possibility of getting shot and potentially dying.

 

[mike wightman]

Striker:
"C. Vargr: All Vargr recruits have a morale of 2 instead of 4; all Vargr regulars have a morale of 6 instead of 7; all Vargr veterans have a morale of 11 instead of 10; all Vargr elites have a morale of 15 instead of 13. All Vargr NCOs and officers have a morale modifier 1 greater than normal."

 

[Condottiere]

I agree with Striker, it's harder to break a well led Vargr pack.

However, Vargr bands are going to be more fragile.

 

[Condottiere]

Vargr: Military Organization

V. It's a general truism, that for human militaries, it's the non commissioned officer corps that keeps them cohesive and functioning.

W. For Vargr, it's the war chief.

X. The war chief doesn't micromanage the individual packs, since both because he couldn't, and there would be a natural resistance to that, from both the pack, and the pack leader.

Y. What he does is figure out what the tactical objectives are, hand out missions to the attached packs, and assign extra assets to help them fufill them.

Z. The war chief does need to know what's going on, and how far the pack has accomplished it's objectives, so may attach a liaison officer, with a radio.

 

[Condottiere]

Vargr: Military Organization

1. I would bet that the Vargr word for war chief would translate as herder of cats.

2. The war chief would be the equivalent of Colonel, as the senior field officer.

3. I'm not sure if the term superior officer actually reflects the war chief's relationship, between him and the next command tier up.

4. For lack of a better term, I'd say it would be a warlord, the equivalent of a flag rank.

5. If we would assume that Vargr will rally around the flag, or a flag, the lowest tier could be termed a banner.

6. Which is an actual military formation, though more pack sized.

7. It's an interesting question as to how many command tiers you can go up with Vargrs, and still be able to direct a cohesive force.

8. Horde seems the natural progression.

9. Host would be the equivalent of an army.

 

[Condottiere]

Vargr: Military Organization

A. A host would be somewhere between a division and an army group.

B. At this point, it's probably fuzzy logi/stics.

C. With no one having a clear oversight on what's actually going on.

D. Doge seems too civilian to be the rank of the commander of a host.

E. Imperator seems about correct, but too entwined with nobility.

F. After all, the point is to conquer everything within reach.