Warfare in Aelyria

Warcraft and the Empire "Building an Empire required fierce determination and a resolute discipline on the part of Aelyrian leaders. Once it had been forged to its natural limits, the vast military establishment and soldiering class had to be kept occupied, lest they lose their edge in training. Extensive garrisons were set across the realm, and regiments were routinely mobilized for wargames. Still, there was no substitute for the real thing, which is why Aelyria eagerly sought a war at all cost." -Prof. Sylvana Whelan. Imperia Aeterna.

The Aelyrian Way of War

Why did the Aelyrian Empire come to dominate warfare on the Medonian Continent? What factors led to the dominance of the Imperial Military establishment? How did a small island-nation of several thousand winged creatures manage to subjugate and conquer a continent of millions of people from dozens of races? These questions, and many more, form the basis for our study of Aelyrian Warfare. Never has there been a more compelling field of scholarly pursuit than that of Military Science, particularly given the unique philosophy with which the Aelyrians waged their conquests. Under Emperor Constantine, a new way of war was born that would forever change the rules on the battlefield.

Constantine led the fledgling Aelyrian Kingdom to greatness through his use of the Feudocratic Compact, a revolutionary style of territorial administration that eliminated graft and corruption from local magnates and transferred the core of political power to the center of the state. Even though Empress Michelle the Great undertook significant reforms of the military, warfare has remained generally unchanged since the Aelyrian Conquest. The primary emphasis that one must place when understanding why this is as such must be placed upon key factors for the emergence of the Aelyrian Way of War that was so incompatible and ultimately successful against the status quo that it had faced.

Discipline, Drill and Service
Military Discipline is the cornerstone of the Aelyrian Warcraft Ideology. Emperor Constantine would lead his armies with a cry that is now forever spoken, though with less finesse, by contemporary commanders: "Stand Fast in the Face of the Enemy!" The Ancient Aelyrians carried with them no fear, presumably derived from their immortality. Mortals, on the other hand, have with them a natural instinct to survive and this impulse must be overcome in order to engage opponents on the battlefield. Only a complete idiot would charge to his certain death, and so, discipline is used to create a collective mindset that overpowers fear. In order to strengthen discipline, practice and drill became integral and military war colleges, barracks and installations across the land were used to train men to fight as soldiers.

The Challenge and Response Dynamic, as it is known, compelled the Aelyrian army to alter its strategies, tactics and technology in order to adapt as the needs arose. While it was understood that the Aelyrian State could wage war, ultimately, waging war would be what would make the Aelyrian State. The occupation of foreign peoples and their integration into an emerging "Aelyrian Diaspora", as Empress Michelle called it, was a costly endeavour. The philosophy of "constant integration", that is, the continuing expansion of the Aelyrian identity to encompass new peoples, territories and principalities, kept alive the need for the "edge" in military training and tactics. Financial institutions emerged that would lead the way towards Imperia Mercatoria, the fiduciary system of supply and demand driven through goods and open, unregulated exchange, supported and bolstered by a sprawling system of banking and credit. The subsequent confidence in commerce led to the growth of the Imperial Bureaucracy and enabled the Aelyrian Empire to support larger armies than ever before imagined.

The Military Tradition
The kingdoms and city-states of the continent had predicated their military philosophy upon the complete avoidance of war. "War," the Daitternian Queen Katishandra would say, "is the horror that occurs when rational minds fail at the negotiating table of diplomacy." To the contrary, the Aelyrians embraced warfare as not only a rational but often essential mechanism through which to obtain objectives. The use of diplomacy to resolve conflicts was seen as overly effeminate and weak, and it was not until the Second Empire in the Age of Queens that did the Aelyrian Empire make use of diplomacy for political gains in a sincere fashion. Rather, to wage a war was seen as an "honest endeavour replete with truth and sincerity," according to Admiral Gorrel Angelico.

Military principles became engrained in the culture of warfare for the Aelyrian people. Military strategy was presented by Aeric, the White Knight of Arkdün, as eternal, citing that one could always apply ancient tactics in contemporary situations with little modification. Emperor Constantine in one of his greatest books, Tactics, cited that using advanced weaponry when combined simulacra (in tandem) with training, skill and drill would result in a devastating methodology of war. Indeed, it was the Emperor who created the field of Military Science and combined the Aelyrian love for knowledge with the overwhelming necessity of good wars.

One of the Emperor's greatest confidants and most loyal friends as well as a legend in Aelyrian warfare and politics, Lord Stuart de Marchant was known to postulate the Theorem of the Decisive Victory, wherein only through the use of warfare to completely and utterly destroy the enemy would conquest ever be successful. Of course, Marchant had derived this principle from his keen observations of Emperor Constantine's Conquests. Whereas the native peoples of the continent used war only to force a settlement and return to a negotiation standard, the Aelyrians would use war to attain their objectives with unrepressed brutality. The complete extermination of the enemy's fighting capacity became preferrable to any compromise with a designated foe, and this ideology of superiority being prerequisite to success was exported throughout the campaigns.

Military Innovation
The marriage of magic and devastating spellcraft with military science proved the formidable combination that had never occurred to the nations that Constantine would face. Consequently, the Aelyrians could field much smaller armies against overwhelming odds and remain victorious due to the use of magic and arcane weaponry. To a lesser degree, technology joined in the system of military innovation to develop new weaponry that bridged the gap between the physical and magical planes enabling weaponry that delivered calculated attacks with incomparable accuracy. Furthermore, despite the existence of inventors and mages throughout the known world, none of Aelyria's opponents made successful use of magic the way that Emperor Constantine did.

Weaponry for the Aelyrians would undergo considerable changes over the ages, but no single weapon would remain as central to Imperial victory as was the sword. Other implements of war would include striking weapons, thrusting, cutting and bludeoning devices, shock magic, and missile weaponry - such as slings, darts, bows, crossbows and other elements of distant-projectiles.

These volumes encompass an historical and methodological examination of Aelyrian Warfare through the ages, discussing possible answers to the questions above still hotly contested amongst numerous scholarly fields of study, while also describing general principles in leadership, strategy, tactics and warfare. While no substitution for a rigorous training regimen, I offer these perspectives in order to grant the wisdom with which to judge and assess the role of Aelyrian Military success in the future world regimes.