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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 170157" data-attributes="member: 3146">When considering the differences in military organization between medieval Europe and the much larger scale militaries found among the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Incas, Japanese, Chinese, etc it's also important to consider that warfare was conducted differently by the medieval Europeans as well. As I understand it (not being as well read in the subject as SHARK, but having some knowledge of the subject), many wars in medieval Europe were fought according to strict codes whereby generals would agree to the field of battle beforehand, (the origin of the phrase "pitched battle" IIRC), etc. I would imagine that these "rules of war" had a significant effect on the structure and operating procedures of medieval armies.This is also something worth considering for fantasy settings. Perhaps, the rules of war are thought to forbid flying or perhaps even the use of wands. Such rules would not always be adhered to, of course, but when a side that defied them lost anyway, they would be subject to much harsher treatment from their victors. (If tradition ordinarily required mercy for defeated foes (and the families of defeated foes) but required complete and total destruction (every man woman and child, perhaps even buildings and cattle) of a foe who used wands, most leaders would give serious thought to their actions before allowing their troops to break the tradition). Such traditions might not be as obvious or as harsh but could explain some of the idiosyncracies of war in campaign settings.</blockquote>

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