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Old Republic era
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

The Reforms of 3,920 were a group of reforms conducted to the Morsian army of the First Republic during the Second Morsian-Sparti War. The reforms aimed to pivot the army to better fight the armored hoplitas of the Kingdiomi Di Sparti rather than the lighter armored tribal warriors that the Morsians had previously been fighting on Virconis. The reforms were not spearheaded by a particular person, and instead named after the rough date they appeared in the Morsian calendar, with 3,920 being equal to 16,080 BBY.

Background[]

The Morsian Army up to that point had enjoyed a large amount of success using heavy sword infantry to dominate over the tribal warriors found on their home continent of Virconis. The Farranaxian reforms had reformed the army around forty years prior to these reforms, and had successfully rebuilt the army from near non-existence after the end of the Third Morsian Civil War. However, when the First Morsian Republic turned to the Kingdiomi Di Sparti and declared war to get their colony back which had been taken in the First Morsian-Sparti War, they found their army struggling against the formations used by the Sparti. Not only were the Morsians struggling to successfully naval invade the continent of Magnum Spatium where the ex-colony was located, those landings they did made were often beaten back with high casualties from the extreme range afforded by the hoplitas and their spear. Reform was required, if only for the duration of the war, which would make the Morsian Army better at dealing with the Sparti army.

Attributed reforms[]

The reforms were not the brainchild of one person like they had been previously. Instead these were collective reforms pushed for by the Morsian Senate itself in response to various reports from both army and navy officers. They aimed to make the army better at fighting the Sparti on the ground and making the navy better at supporting a naval landing as well as fighting the Sparti at sea.

New units[]

Morsian Hopliarii with shield pixel art

A Morsian hopliarii

The primary creation of the reforms was the replacement, or supplication, of the existing hastarii currently used in the Morsian Army. These spearmen were a blend of the Morsian medium infantry mediares and the tribal spearmen used by the Sicc'orax Republic, using mostly the same armor of the mediares with a chainmail tunic but also using a short infantry spear and more ovular shield that was inspired by the weapons of the Sicc'orax. Despite their success against the tribes of Virconis, the spears just didn't have the range to fight the hoplitas head-on. As a result, the Morsian Senate decided to create a new unit of heavy spearmen known as the hopliarii, which were copies of the Sparti hoplitas. They featured a heavy chainmail tunic underneath a moulded cuirass, much like the hoplitas, as well as a helmet that covered a large part of the face for extra defense. At a glance, hopliarii were very similar in appearance to the hoplitas of the Sparti, including down to the extremely long spear which the Morsians named the hasta Sparti. It was hoped that the hopliarii would be the answer to the hoplitas to allow the Morsians to secure a port and continue an invasion of Magnum Spatium.

New naval weapons[]

Prior to these reforms, the navy operated via using ships mounted with frontal rams below the waterline, where the ships would row or sail at high speed towards their target before smashing into them with a metal tipped ram to create a large hole below the waterline and sink their target. Due to the relatively poor quality of naval ships for the tribes of Virconis, light and medium ships were perfectly suited to the Morsians needs, and so a requirement for larger battleships was not there. Individual examples of larger ships in the Morsian navy had appeared prior to the second war with the Sparti, however these were used mostly to attack ships of the Sicc'orax or their vassal state the Xikk'lac Tribe who had the most comparable naval powers on Virconis.

The Sparti, on the other hand, had a tremendous navy featuring ships of all sizes due to their vast empire that spanned much of northern Magnum Spatium. The Morsian Navy was tiny in comparison and the lighter ships of the Morsians were unable to damage the larger battleships of the Sparti without taking massive losses. The navy was also unable to properly support naval landings due to a lack of proper artillery ships, which had been previously created ad-hoc during the Second Morsian-Sicc'orax War, but were not properly supported.

To remedy this, the Senate authorized conversions of some existing medium triremes to mounted an onager catapult on the deck mounted towards the bow, which would be able to fire munitions to support a naval landing by the Morsian Marines and army. It could also be used to fire at incoming Sparti ships, with hopes that it would be particularly effective at targeting the slow and large heavy ships used by the Sparti. Some triremes were also mounted with ballistae, large crossbow-looking artillery pieces that could fire large bolts and potentially kill sailors or soldiers on the boats.

Marine expansion[]

The marines had been mostly forgotten about when it came to reforms in the past, having been stuck to medium infantry who were trained in beach landing tactics and warfare at sea. However, with the losses being sustained in the failed landing attempts as well as the ship boarding actions taking place at sea against the Sparti navy, expanding and retraining the marines was on the list of things the Senate wanted to address in these reforms. They expanded the marines with more soldiers and better equipment, giving the marines both medium and heavy infantry. They also added archers to the marines, allowing them to add their own bombardment when approaching the shore or port to keep the defenders in cover rather than amassing to repel the marines.

Legacy[]

The reforms of 3,920 were far less impactful than those that came before it, or indeed occurred after it. They were very much a decision made for the moment rather than creating conscious decisions that would be carried on into the future. The expansion of the navy remained for much of the rest of its existence as a water-restricted force, and deck-mounted artillery would advance to become more useful as the years progressed. Likewise, the expansion to the marines was welcomed for combined land-sea operations such as seaborne landings or difficult river crossings.

However, these reforms were only of use if a large body of acid was present, as a lack of acid meant the navy would be unable to get the range to support land troop movements, and likewise the marines would be no more useful than a legion of the army if a river was not present. This limited the army usefulness of the reforms to the hopliarii, which did manage to eventually help the Morsians in gaining several landings and successfully combatting the Sparti troops that they came up against. They only remained in service for twenty years or so, however, due to having limited effectiveness against the lighter, faster tribal warriors of the tribes on Virconis where the shorter speared hastarii proved far more effective. The hopliarii were only useful against the armored spearmen of the Sparti, who the Morsians only ever fought during the second Sparti war.

As a result of this, the reforms are largely forgotten unless discussion expressly brings up the Second Morsian-Sparti War or perhaps early reforms for the marines or navy. The ultimate short term gains of the reforms prevented them from making a long term impact on either branch of the Morsian armed forces during the period before new reforms came in.

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