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Army of Burgundie: Difference between revisions
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==== <span id="Great_Prince's_Own_Horse_Artillery"></span>Great Prince's Own Horse Artillery ==== | ==== <span id="Great_Prince's_Own_Horse_Artillery"></span>Great Prince's Own Horse Artillery ==== | ||
[[File:Guidon Great_Prince's_Own_Horse_Artillery.png|right|250px|thumb|Guidon of the Great Prince's Own Horse Artillery]] | |||
First formed in [[1557]], the unit that is now the Great Prince's Own Horse Artillery ([[Burgoignesc language|Burg]]: ''Artillerie a Cheval della Gran Princep''), has a long history of excellence. Due to the nature of warfare prior to the [[Great Confessional War]] in [[Levantia]] ([[1555]] - [[1575]]), most principalities and duchies did not have standing armies. This meant that they did not have training programs and so when men-at-arms ([[Burgoignesc language|Burg]]: ''gendarmes'') and their peasant levies were called to action they could only provide a limited scope of rudimentary battle tactics. The introduction of gunpowder to [[Levantia|Levantine]] warfare in the 15th century was assumed to begin a revolution in warfare. However, outside of sieges and castle/fortification defense, these {{wpl|Artillery#Smoothbores|bombards}} were determined to be too immobile and unreliable for set-piece battles. They were only used by well-resourced, large armies controlled by kings or those armies raised by the [[Emperor of the Levantines]]. | |||
''The use of the word "cannon" marks the introduction in the 15th century of a dedicated field carriage with axle, trail and animal-drawn limber—this produced mobile field pieces that could move and support an army in action, rather than being found only in the siege and static defenses. The reduction in the size of the barrel was due to improvements in both iron technology and gunpowder manufacture, while the development of {{wpl|trunnions}}—projections at the side of the cannon as an integral part of the cast—allowed the barrel to be fixed to a more movable base, and also made raising or lowering the barrel much easier.'' | |||
These innovations allowed for the more widespread use of cannons but added the requirement for trained, professional soldiers and logisticians. Artillery was one of the areas requiring the most training to be conducted consistently and with any real effect. As such artillery companies were among the first professional standing army units to be formed in [[Levantia]]. In the coastal areas of the [[Kingdom of Dericania]] this was first recorded in the first few years of the [[Great Confessional War]] when the need for an organic (not mercenary) corps of artillery was realized by some of the armies on both sides. Few dukes, counts, and lesser princes, could afford a permanent military much less the specialized equipment that went along with artillery batteries. However, the [[History_of_Burgundie#Vilauristre_Conference|Vilauristre Conference]] (Protestant) and the [[History_of_Burgundie#Duchy_of_Marialanus|Duchy of Marialanus]] (Catholic) were wealthy merchant states with trade routes and thus direct access to the metallurgists who had served the [[Oduniyyad Caliphate]] until its collapse in [[1517]]. | |||
These gunsmiths were brought to [[History_of_Burgundie#Vilauristre_Conference|Vilauristre Conference]] and the [[History_of_Burgundie#Duchy_of_Marialanus|Duchy of Marialanus]] and grand manufactories for cannons and later early musketry were formed, these wares were not only produced for the armies of these states but for their allies. The [[History_of_Burgundie#Vilauristre_Conference|Vilauristre Conference]] created predominantly iron cannons for the Protestant Union and the [[History_of_Burgundie#Duchy_of_Marialanus|Duchy of Marialanus]] created primarily bronze cannons for the Holy League. | |||
[[File:16th_Century_Artillerie.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Examples of Marlialanian "field" artillery.]] | |||
The [[History_of_Burgundie#Duchy_of_Marialanus|Duke of Marialanus]] formed the Company of Cannoneers in [[1557]] with three cannons. It is from this Company of Cannoneers that the ''Artillerie a Cheval della Gran Princep'' draws its heritage. During the Burgoignesc Unification War, more widely called the [[Second Fratricide]], the Ducal Corps of Artillery fought with honor against the Principality of Burgundie, but ultimately the Duchy lost and was subsumed into the new nation of [[Burgundie]]. The unit was disbanded from [[1875]]-[[1896]] when it was reformed as the 4th Regiment of Horse Artillery, to fight in the [[First Great War]]. They served in the [[War of Faskano Strait]] with distinction despite staggering loses and were. At the end of the war when the Metropole Forces were being disbanded again, to honor their service and sacrifice they were reorganized as the ''Artillerie a Cheval della Gran Princep'' and made a permanent bodyguard unit for the royal family. | |||
They currently use the {{wpl|CAESAR self-propelled howitzer}} and a variety of mortars when in combat. | |||
==== Fire Seneschalcy ==== | ==== Fire Seneschalcy ==== | ||