[EX3] Battle group adjustments

[Heavy Arms]

I had intended to have "Dragonblooded commanders" cover that...

[Lioness]

I found that the easiest way to make an army 'matter' in the framework of the existing rules was to run additional Battle Groups.
People think the sidebar on page 211 prevents it but if you've got different formations, with different weapons and different training you don't stop to work out an average profile for the whole army.

[Astralporing]

The Realm isn't the dominant military force in Creation because of it's ability to field as many legions as it can; it's because those legions are lead by Dragonblooded commanders, to support Dragonblooded heroes fighting up close and personal with enemies, and to compliment Dragonblooded sorcerers bringing their own small units of supernatural fighters to add to the potency of the over military might in question.

Actually, it's because, barring supernatural interference, those legions are good enough to usually wipe the floor with an equal size opposing force. No, they don't depend on dragonblooded heroes fighting up close and personal - dynasts usually fill only the officer/commander roles and appear on the front lines generally only when situation really looks bad. If you look closely at Realm's military doctrine you will find easily that it actually cautions against depending on individual prowess and sorcerous support.
Those are the creation's equivalent of Roman legions. Those legions didn't win battles and wars because they had supernatural support, or because they were deploying some sort of supersoldiers. They did it because they were trained to be the best military machine around.

[Heavy Arms]

Actually, it's because, barring supernatural interference, those legions are good enough to usually wipe the floor with an equal size opposing force.

There's a huge difference between being the best military in Creation, and the dominant military in Creation. And the Dragonblooded are what makes the difference for the Realm. "Barring supernatural interference," which is a ridiculous thing to do in Creation, the Realm can beat any other military. But it would also allow the other major players in the Threshold that aren't being crushed to throw off the Realm's yolk.

Regardless of the Realm's preferred military doctrines, their military might depends on having Dragonbloods in large numbers, and putting them into their military in significant numbers. The Realm might know it's a weak position in the long run, but it's also the position they're in.

Those are the creation's equivalent of Roman legions. Those legions didn't win battles and wars because they had supernatural support, or because they were deploying some sort of supersoldiers. They did it because they were trained to be the best military machine around.

Yes, the Realm's military takes a lot of inspiration from the Roman legions. But the Roman Empire was smaller than the Blessed Isle, let alone the Threshold. Even at the height of the Roman military's power, their legions floundered repeatedly whenever the Roman Empire's borders actually got close to another major power of the time. The Roman Empire lucked out because of the significant geological obstacles keeping them away from getting into wars with the other major empires of their era who were generally bigger and equally well armed. The Romans couldn't beat the Parthians (keep in mind the Parthians were themselves a shadow of the Achaemenid Empire that Alexander managed to defeat) or the German tribes over centuries of conflicts.

The Roman legions lost frequently. Legions were regularly lost in revolts by peoples without armies of their own.

The strength of the Roman armies were not the elite forces within the legions. It was the infrastructure supporting them that let them control such a large area.

If the Realm was just the Roman legions, they'd struggle to control the Blessed Isle with frequent peasant revolts, and they'd never even be able to get a foothold in the Threshold for more than a decade or so before the local powers pushed them right back out again.