The Golden Age of Veracia

With the conquest of the Galbini, the Veracians confirmed themselves as the main regional power. Hengist had been buried in a small graveyard outside a single-story palace of granite: his son Theodric was laid to rest under his statue in the marble Hall of Kings, in the new capital of Veracia. Much of the former Galbini heartlands was excellent farmland, already cleared and cultivated, and as such the Veracians population soared.

Conflict soon followed, however, with the barbarian tribes to the north, who still lived in forest settlements and raided Veracian lands. Faced with an enemy who used hit-and-run tactics rather than the usual head on charge, the Veracians were forced to adapt. The Veracian army was based around twenty-two tribal groupings, the original twenty-four tribes of Siegfried minus the Royal Household and the tribe of Myrmidos, who each provided a militia contingent to campaign for six months each year. Against the new enemy, this was of little use: the best tactic was to campaign through the summer, denying the barbarians food from raids, then attack their encampments during the winter months. This required a revolution in Veracian strategy and organisation.

In the year 38 NRG, Conrad issued the first "letter of mark", instructing an officer in his Household to recruit 200 veteran infantrymen for seven years service under the standards. This unit, the Company of the King, was swiftly joined by more until Conrad had around 5,000 regular soldiers under arms. Wearing light leather armour and fighting with long swords, bows, slings and javelins, these companies were responsible for driving the barbarians back into a strongly-fortified town called Brennus, high in the mountains.

The struggle that took place there was legendary: the Veracians managed to knock down the city gates, but they were held in the breach and only the comittal of the Myrmidons at the last minute decided the battle in the Veracian's favour. With Brennus conquered, the forests were soon cleared to create farmland and the barbarians turned to farming. The position of strength that Brennus offered also meant that the Veracians soon came to control the steppe to the north.

Soon these new companies were armed and fighting in exactly the same way as the militia, and by 100 NRG it was no longer common for the king to call the militia out for more than an annual inspection. The tribe of Myrmidos had also shifted: now, rather than being a hereditary organisation, it recruited along the lines of these new companies but selected its personnel more carefully and trained them more fully.

Domination over the Northern territories brought new enemies, in the form of the Ubii and Cheruscii tribes. These two tribes, closely allied through marriages of the nobility, fought several pitched battles in which the Veracian line was broken by a charge of heavily armoured horsemen. King Tancred II, impressed by the resistance of these tribes, offered them an armistice. From that time on, the Ubii and Cheruscii would hold their lands as a gift from the Veracian monarch, provided that they accepted him as their lord and provided military assistance when demanded.