While watching Affairs Ep 3, something Joro kept saying stood out to me... the "dryad on a horse" while funny, made me think that it's not really an accurate representation of what's going on in a province.

Each province has an over-arching race, but the actual military units are not actually of that race. They are more like sub-races that exist within the lands of the main race. I think this concept gets lost on a lot of folks and should be given a little more distinction and awareness to truly make these things more meaningful in the game.

For instance, take the Orc race. Not a single "Orc" ever rides a horse into battle. That is left to Goblins and Ogres. While the Orcs are the leaders of the province, the Goblins and Ogres are the ones that go out and fight the enemy, while the Trolls (and sometimes the lazy Ogres) stay domestic and defend against the enemy. These Goblins, Trolls and Ogres could also be said to be part of the general peasantry as well, since the peasants are the ones being drafted into the military to become these Goblins, Trolls and Ogres that are fighting for their Orc leaders.

So let's really distinguish the different races of a province. When a player chooses their main race, it should be a specific race that then has sub-races or different types of ranks within its population that become military (and as I'll discuss later, maybe even the thieves and wizards of the land).

Here are my thoughts...


Avian

This is not a race. An Avian is defined as a bird; in fantasy, at best any myriad of flying creature. This race needs to be renamed to a specific airborne race of beings, preferably superior as they are the leaders of their population. I suggest Sylph or Djinn; hear me out. The Sylph is a faery of the element of air, the Djinn a being of the same. These are intelligent beings that fly and could easily rule a population of air-based beings.

The Sylph/Djinn leaders send their Harpies into battle and keep their Griffons at home to defend; these choices are decent for military units. The Drake, however, is more akin to dragons than they are to beings of air. I'd suggest replacing the name with something more like Roc or Wyvern, less intelligent beasts of flight that are quite physically formidable.


Dryad

A good choice for ruling race, but the military units are way off in terms of followers and subordinates.

Will o the Wisps are the opposite of big strong elite military units. They are more befitting of defenders of the Dryad's lands and should be the defense specialist, not the elite. I mean honestly, fighting Nymphs? Come on.

Treants are by far the strongest military units of the Dryad's army. This should be the elite.

Huldra are also very non-militant beings; they have no place in an army, let alone the offensive side. The main force of a Dryad's army should be something aggressive, like a Centaur or a Dire beast.


Dwarf

This is actually a pretty solidly set up race. As Dwarf is a civilized (eh) race, their military consists of lesser dwarves with ranks instead of separate sub-races like the more exotic main races.

Dwarven Warriors are the offense, Dwarven Axemen (though something with a shield feels more accurate) are the defenders, Dwarven Berserkers are the elite units. Good choices here.


Faery

Another non-race (sorry Palem). Faery describes many different races. Let's give Faery some distinction. Honestly, why have Faery (generic term) and Dryad (specific race) at the same level? It's sloppy realm substance.

Whereas the Sylph is suggested above as the "air/flying" race, I would suggest we rename the magical Faery to Sprite or Pixie, or dare I suggest, Elf (yes, Elves are considered faeries in some cultures). While the Dryad is being touted as the "attacking" faery in this game, their "magical" faery counterpart should be one that reflects strong ties to magic and magic use. All three suggestions are viable. I'd even go as far as to further define the Elf as a Sun Elf or High Elf, just to give the Dark Elf a clear counterpart in the war of good vs evil.

You can easily have Rangers and Archers stay the same. "Elf Lords" on the other hand has always felt like a cop out to me. It's not very definitive of "the best the race has to offer" in any case. A magical warrior of great power should be a Druid, especially with the high defensive nature of this elite.

I've always thought Magician was just plain silly as a military unit. Though Beastmaster is not that bad, I think Druids are more formidable as the elite unit in a woodland army.


Human

Another good (albeit generic) race concept. The most civilized (ha) of races, their military also consists of lesser humans with ranks.

Swordsmen, Archers and Knights are all ideal names for military units of a Human-lead province.


Orc

A third well fleshed-out concept. The superior Orcs lead the lesser Goblins, Trolls and Ogres into battle. Nothing needed here.


Undead

Probably going to cause the most uproar with this one, but Undead is not a specific race. As with Avian and Faery, it covers many different types of beings/creatures. If the goal is to get away from vague generic names for races, this broad concept needs more distinction. The most powerful of undead beings are Liches and Vampires. I'd go with the latter if you want to build a racial concept that has a distinct hierarchy.

The military units, however, are perfectly fine once you define them as subordinate beings to the main race. Vampires often lead undead armies made up of lesser undead, so Skeletons, Zombies and Ghouls are a fine fit.



As for Dark Elves and Bacons, not sure what the devs have planned for their unit names, but the same concept of main race/subordinate race or rank should apply in this situation.

As Dark Elves are the "evil" elven race, their units should be similarly rank-based or role-based in Dark Elven society. The Ranger counterpart could be the Sorcerer. The Archer counterpart could be the Arbalist (crossbowman). The Druid counterpart I love as the Warlock.

The Bacon I just can't wrap my head around, especially as a "main race" type of being. I'm honestly too tired to suggest anything for this race, other than the offspec being Pigs, the defspec being Sows and the elites being Boars. Yes, no pork pun is safe anymore.



So that's my idea for giving some distinction and substance to the races of the realm... hope you enjoyed the read at least.