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Message: <blockquote data-quote="txwad" data-source="post: 1532182" data-attributes="member: 12509">Two points:One, I have a paperback book called "The Monks of War:  the Military Religious Orders" by Desmond Seward.  It is fairly straightforward and not that long.  If you are trying to create a fantasy order, you could give it a quick look on amazon.  It focuses on the military orders in the Baltics, the Holy Land, the Reconquista and the Mediterranean (Lepanto, Malta).Two, one thing that does matter a lot is that as Keegan says "War is a continuation of culture."  For example, when you create an elite military force that is not tethered to the society (say by constitutional democracy), then it will tend to try to dominate its own host society and will ultimately undermine its own effectiveness.  In other words, each army tends to reflect its society (or aspects of it).  In other words, the early Janissaries were created out of christian child taxation in the balkans.  They were an elite military force for a time and very loyal to the Jihad expanding Ottoman domains.  They later become rambunctious domestically for the Sultan who ultimately dissolved them by force.  Similarly, The Praetorian Guard in Rome were an elite guard that became kingmakers.  The 'Mayors of the Palace' usurped the authority of their kings in 8th century france.  The Shoguns usurped the power of the Emperor in Japan but continued to proclaim obeisance.  Similarly, the Caliph in Baghdad's authority was usurped by local potentates who continued to pretend to be loyal.  Another example, of war being a continuation of culture is that codes of honor, battle, etc. can reflect religious rituals, and priorities of the domestic society as much as practical fighting techniques (e.g. Aztec Flowery War aimed at capturing potential human sacrifices).In a fantasy society, with magic, you could do some interesting things reflecting culture with military.  For example, make the soldiers motely mercenary humanoids and the nobles "above" physcial violence and focusing on destructive or charming magic.  Think of Thay in the Forgotten Realms or Glantri in old Basic for some example of non (real) but quite plausible fantasy societies that are magic-centered.</blockquote>

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