Star Wars Fanon
Advertisement
Old Republic era

Exercitus Occidentis, "Army of the West" or "The Armies of the West" in Galactic Basic Standard, was a book written by Morsian writer and historian Pollo Bra'dus about the militaries faced by the First Morsian Republic, then known as just the Morsian Republic, on the continent of Magnum Spatium on Mors. The book was written some point after the Second Morsian-Sparti War and explains in as much detail as was known about the various armies the Morsians either faced or were likely to face in their unending bid to expand their lands.

The book was actually a compilation of various volumes that were released separately and later compiled together into one cohesive book. Each volume gave background on the nation about to be spoken about, the military units commonly found in the army, unit sizes, army compositions as well as tactics and other useful information. The first volume was written about the Morsian army of the time period, and the mention of Morsian hopliarii allowed historians to place at least the initial beginnings of the book in no earlier than 16,075 BBY.

Legio 0
Military of the Morsian Empire
(From 20,000 BBY onwards)
Structural history
Rutilarian reforms · Farranaxian reforms · Reforms of 3,920 · Cracian reforms · Unit types and ranks · Equipment · Legions (Canon · Legends) · Navy (Canon · Legends)
Campaign history
Wars and battles (Canon · Legends) · Civil Wars and rebellions (Canon · Legends)
Strategy and tactics
Infantry tactics
Borders and fortifications
Castellum · Castra · Escensio · Finibus Galacticus (Finibus Septemtrionis Galacticus (Finibus Otega ad Qiilura · Finibus Thanium ad Ashicus · Finibus Meram ad Quelii · Finibus Kanz ad Raioballo) Finibus Coruscanticus · Finibus Teraab ad Trax · Finibus Meridionali Galacticus (Finibus Chommell ad Brema · Finibus Arkanis ad Cadavine · Finibus Lambda ad Bothanicus))
Under different political systems
Royal Morsian Army · Morsian army of the Dictatorship
Morsian army of the First Republic · Imperial Morsian Army (Canon · Legends)
Flag of the Morsian Empire Morsian fanon continuity

Subsequent volumes were focused on the enemies found on the Morsian borders, and then those further away, ending in the peoples found on the other side of the world to the Morsians. As such, the second volume focused on the Kingdiomi Di Sparti and Royal Sparti Army, then a third on the Myapian tribes who were found to the south.

Due to its contents and in-depth examination of the various armies of the nations on Magnum Spatium, it was assumed that the book was written as something of a reference guide for the army to aid with planning later wars.

Origin and contents[]

The exact date of the book, at least being started, was not known however it was generally accepted to be at least after the end of the Second Morsian-Sparti War due to the mention of hopliarii which only appeared in the Morsian army following the Reforms of 3,920 midway through the war. Hopliarii only remained in the Morsian army for twenty or so years after their creation as well, which gave historians a narrow period of time to place the beginning of writing the book.

Due to its comprehensive nature, the book became the go-to encyclopaedia on the various enemies of the Morsians. Each volume spoke about nearly everything a military planner could want to know about the army they might be facing, down to the weapons, tactics, formations, and even what terrain best suited the enemy. Volume releases were staggered, being released as each part was finished, and it was also unclear where Pollo got some of his sources and information, as some nations mentioned were almost on the opposite side of the planet to the Morsians. It became assumed that his information was garnered from spies and traders who had travelled from the far west. As such, reliability of the information Pollo wrote about each nation became more dubious as they became farther away from the Morsians, and later historians came to disregard his information more and more as the years went on. However, the information Pollo wrote particularly on the Morsian army, the army of the Kingdiomi Di Sparti as well as the tribal nations that would eventually be embroiled in the Myapian Wars, was invaluable to later historians to allow them to understand at least those parts of the nations of the past.

The volumes were organized as follows:

  1. Respublica Morsianum - Morsian Republic
  2. Regnum Sparti et Vasalli - Kingdiomi Di Sparti and Vassals
  3. Tribus Myapiae Regionis - Tribes of the Myapian Region
  4. Regnum Volk'aar - Kingdom of Volk'aar
  5. Regnum Des'ariet - Kingdom of Des'ariet
  6. Regnum Jerras'ulm - Kingdom of Jerras'ulm
  7. Regnum Pellopas - Kingdom of Pellopas
  8. Civitatibus Occidentalibus Independentibus - The Western Independent Cities
  9. Regnum Tari'barr - Kingdom of Tari'barr
  10. Meridionalis Barbari - Southern Barbarians

Drawbacks of the book mostly stemmed from the fact that it was focused on the land armies of the nations mentioned. Naval or marine forces of these nations were mentioned only in passing or not at all, and this extended to the Morsians themselves who had a well established marine force and navy. There had previously been books written on the Morsian navy, however these were outdated by the time of Pollo, with no other Morsian writer or historian looking at the naval power of other nations around the Morsians.

Another criticism of Pollo was his lack of citations and other sources. While he did mention the names of people he garnered information from or resources he used, these were rarely other historical texts or had any way to verify their reputation. Later historians and studies done on Pollo's volumes had little to no way of verifying any of their claims or details as not much of what Pollo used was properly written down or documented. Fragments or isolated manuscripts had been uncovered that Pollo used, but these accounted for a very minor amount of his text.

Volume details[]

Respublica Morsianum[]

As it was in Pollo's day, the Morsian Republic was the first volume in order to make the reader familiar with how the proceeding volumes would appear. It also was there to give some sense of familiarity to the reader, as they would be primarily and almost exclusively Morsians rather than a member of a foreign nation. Under the Morsian Republic volume Pollo discussed its formation and existence up to the point of war with the Sparti, giving some historical context to the rise of the nation. It also helped to explain the cause of the war, which historians sometimes referenced when discussing the First Morsian-Sparti War as it gave near first hand recounts of the war.

Pollo described in depth the military hierarchy of the Morsian army at that time, listing officer ranks and their holder's status all the way from the Morsian Senate down to a clerk or new recruit. With each rank and unit type, Pollo described their armor, weapons, and general appearance which gave historians some idea as to how Morsian soldiers of the time period may have looked. Battle tactics were also discussed, including the triplum linae and other newer (at the time) battle tactics using the new unit groups.

Regnum Sparti[]

Due to the ongoing conflict and historical poor relations between the kingdom and republic, Pollo was unable to get direct, first hand information about the Kingdiomi Di Sparti. However, there were plenty of reports to be read from Morsian army units and traders who previously travelled through Sparti lands. Naturally, these resulted in a very Morsian-centric and Morsian bias view of the Sparti army which prevented Pollo presenting it in a neutral way or giving accurate descriptions of their capability. Since the Sparti were the bordering force of the Morsians as well as the new public enemy number one since the demise of the Sicc'orax Republic, he was eager to begin compiling information about their military capabilities once he had finished with the republic's own military.

A full military hierarchy was worked out though later study, both by historians of the Morsian Empire and its predecessors, identified several misinterpretations of ranks and incorrect placements of officers, leaving Pollo's hierarchy an artifact of its day. However, his work on the uniforms and weapons of the army remained invaluable in piecing together how the main Sparti army operated. Hoplitas formed the heavy infantry bulk while Pollo managed to identify several different heavy infantry groups comprised either of local mercenaries or regional forces. Lighter swordsmen were xifomachoi and akrovolistis were skirmishers, more lightly armored and armed but faster moving, much like the Morsian luxarii. He noted that, at least the akrovolistis, utilized slingshots to harass and cause minor casualties. Toxotis (pleural toxoti) were archers who supported the melee infantry from the second or third line of battle, though they might have been supplemented or replaced by akontismos (pleural akontistes) which translated literally to "javelineer". Army flanks were guarded by mounted units, which the Sparti favored far more than the Morsians did. The topothemenos (pleural topothemeno) were the light mounted units, utilizing shorter spears, round shields and the same light armor of the xifomachoi or akrovolistis. Heavier mounted units came in the form of mesaippiki, a transitional mounted unit that carried a longer spear with a secondary long sword, and wearing scale-like armor with hoplitas-type helmets and a slightly smaller hoplitas-style shield. The heaviest, and often considered elite, mounted units were the syntrofus. These wore hoplitas equipment and armor, with a long spear, large round shield and secondary long sword, as well as various plumes on their helmets. They were often employed as bodyguard units for either the king or commander of the army.

Tribus Myapiae Regionis[]

A generalized volume that didn't focus on the tribes individually but rather as a collective, due to both Pollo and the Morsians viewing the tribes as one large barbarian clump to the south of Magnum Spatium. Some trade flowed between the Morsian colony and the tribes which was where most of the information Pollo used came from. More military-focused information came from skirmishes fought when a raiding party crossed the border and ran into Morsian troops in settlements that they tried to raid for quick loot. As was a theme across the book, it painted non-Morsian nations in a poor light, with the tribes being looked on as particularly uncivilized and barbaric.

As was common practice for tribes during this period and prior, especially when contact with larger or more "civilized" nations was limited, there was no central military force for each tribe. Instead, each chieftain had a selection of regular soldiers who were trained and acted as bodyguards or small military forces. Names of these soldiers varied from tribe to tribe, but would either be spearmen, swordsmen, or cavalry. The former two would be armed with a shield that was either ovular, elongate hexagonal, or somewhere between the two, and a long sword or spear. The cavalry often used kite or elongate hexagonal shield as well as a long pike. All members of these groups wore either chainmail or padded thick leather-like armor. The vast majority of a warband was formed of ordinary citizens who took up arms to fight for their chieftain, either willingly or under duress. Many of these would be hunters or people who had experience at least carrying and using a weapon, who would form the irregulars. Sword or spearmen were the main irregular forces, with most tribes forming up large bodies of spearmen due to their hunting lifestyle, where spears were far superior for hunting animals over swords. Names for these irregulars similarly varied from tribe to tribe, but all wore either little or no armor, and carried anything between ovular to buckler shields. Mounted units were also common and widely used alongside the infantry, though a vast majority was light mounted, using shorter spears, round shields and wearing little armor. Ranged units of many types were employed by these warbands, usually formed of bow or sling armed hunters, with less emphasis on javelins.

Advertisement