[OT] Medieval Special Ops

[Azure Trance]

Whenever the discussion of fantasy wars come up, it's normally suggested that the PCs fight in a covert ops fashion instead of out on the battlefield for a variety of reasons. Insufficent amount of rules to wage mass combat, or that as the PCs are of higher level then NPCs they would best serve as a strike force to disrupt enemy lines.

I always feel uncomfortable when the PCs are spoken about in that way though. Strike Force (which I believe is the term the DMG uses) sounds a little too modern for me, as is the idea in general. It occured to me that I couldn't think of a historical medieval precedent for 'strike forces' so I couldn't use any real-world examples to look up for myself. During war I can't help to imagine anything but simple armies clashing a la Braveheart until one side surrendered.

Were there any real life medieval 'commando teams' running behind enemy lines during the various wars of that time period? If so, under what circumstances?

I can imagine spies conducting acts of edpionage, which I'm sure had happened back then in the courts but a 'MI6,' 'Delta Force,' or 'Green Beret' equivalent seems like a stretch. The closest thing my mind can equate it to are elite military units, say, like knights or reknowned archers/infantry, but nothing of a behind the enemy lines type.

 

[The Traveler]

"bandits", "marauders", "wayfarers", "scouts", "raiders", "saboteurs", etc.

Depending on your modus operandi, there are lots of names for those who practice guerilla warfare.

 

[Enforcer]

If the Trojan Horse wasn't a commando style raid, then I don't know what was.

 

[The Furious Puffin]

During the 100 years war with france the english army broke up into mercenary bands and ampled around the country side pilliaging etc.

This served to garner them a really BAD reputation.

This is kinda similar to what you are looking for, but not quite.


However, remember when deciding how D&D military would work, you can not rely heavily an real life examples. Due to the the presence of Magic and the high durablity granted to players because of there HPS compared to low-level soldiers, comparing the advantages of the players to the SAS is most likly the best comparison.

 

[Azure Trance]

Poisoning the armies food supply, intercepting letters or stealing the calvarys horses for your own use is totally plausible, but I was curious about any historical units as well - Teutonic Order, The Knights, whatever ...

 

[S'mon]

Historically, elite assault units were common enough, tasked with eg seizing a bridgehead into the enemy fortress, or killing the enemy commander in battle, but the absence of easy post-ops extraction in a non-magical non-technological world means that 'deep insertion' type missions would rarely be practical except as suicide missions. In D&D, magic makes post-op escape a lot more feasible. Also, in an area of one monotheist religion many special-ops tactics (eg assassination) would be seen as dishonourable and rarely employed.

 

[Norm]

knights

Back in the feudal times warfare was much like it was today. At the beginning of a war you would try to cripple the other nations economy, so that they couldnt finance a long conflict.

So,...
Back then the rulers got their money from taxes, and from selling goods, crops and such.

It was a common tactic for the raiding nation to send over a couple of knights to ride through the villages and kill as many peasants as possible. A highly trained group of warriors like that cutting down pesants was a piece of cake. That left the other ruler with few people to work his fields, and somewhat crippled his lands.

This technique happened in many different cultures, thus the advent of many peasant type fighting styles for having a chance at defending themselves versus a trained warrior.

Yeah Knights were all chivalrous back then,...they were bastards.

 

[Strider The Ranger]

Covert OPs?

Although I agree that the term "strike force" conjures up images of Rambo and whatnot, there were these types of groups during the medieval/renaissance period.
Take the Musketeers for example....if they weren't "strike-force-ish" than I don't know what is. Another group was the Teutonic Knights. They were a devoutly religious group of knights (before they degenerated into bloodthirsty bastards) who conducted all kinds of "Marines" type affairs. Robin Hood and his Merry Men were also a "delta-force" type group.
Hey, its your game! Make of it what you will! Not everything has to be based around actual history. Part of the fun of D&D is the imagination involved. How fun would it be if it was 100% realistic? The PCs characters would probably last a few sessions before they died (of battle or some disease). So here's my advice: make this stuff up. If you can't think of an actual medieval delta force, invent one for your gaming world. If it helps, base this group loosely off of a modern group. For instance, I have based a force after the Army Rangers..."leave no man behind" and all that. The fun part is making it as much "your own" as possible. While it would be cool to have the players make a loose connection to the real group, you still want to leave a little wonder..Hope this helps

 

[mmadsen]

Also, in an area of one monotheist religion many special-ops tactics (eg assassination) would be seen as dishonourable and rarely employed.

Except that the word "assassin" comes from a monotheist (Islamic) culture where, dishonourable or not, assassination was a potent political tool.

 

[mmadsen]

Re: Covert OPs?

Another group was the Teutonic Knights. They were a devoutly religious group of knights (before they degenerated into bloodthirsty bastards) who conducted all kinds of "Marines" type affairs.

I'm not sure I see the difference between "devoutly religious knights" and "bloodthirsty bastards". If we step outside our own culture for a moment (where we may see "religous" as "good"), think about holy warriors from other cultures (e.g. Majahedin).

How fun would it be if it was 100% realistic?

You already mentioned Delta Force. That could be quite fun, even with "grim" realism.

The PCs characters would probably last a few sessions before they died (of battle or some disease).

Most soldiers don't die in a battle, even on the losing side, so why would most PCs die in a few sessions? And if they're a highly-trained guerilla unit, they should be taking opponents by surprise. You don't generally plan on a mission becoming a suicide mission.