Drafn

Military History of Drafn

by Jarl Gregory of York

In the beginning we were somewhat less than terrifying-a half dozen people, only two of whom were experienced tourney fighters. We were regularly beaten by pick-up melee teams. The Abbey routinely tore us apart. Sometimes they laughed openly. It wasn't pretty.

Like good up-and-coming tourney fighters, we asked the Abbey how they were organized, how they maneuvered, what commands they used. We copied them shamelessly, and began to train every week. We got so that we could give them a fight if our flanks were anchored. We were as bad as ever in the open. Beer, blood lust and Tryggvi's Viking stories were all that sustained us for the two years it took to grow a little and train into a decent fighting force.

Experience began to tell. Huge shields kept the line alive. Short swords and aggressive shield pressing kept the enemy lines nervous and occupied. The great axes proved surprisingly effective at destroying enemy shield walls. The Abbey learned not to fight us at close range. So did everyone else. We weren't much good at charges, but heaven help the shieldwall that let us walk up to it and press.

The Atenveldt Dwarves along with Crimson Thunder tried a new approach-the human wave assault (sure, Dwarves are bigger than humans, but the idea is the same). With the armies of Caid and Atenveldt watching, we met them on a road with double ranked shields in assault order. We held-barely-against the heaviest charge I have ever seen. Our spears and axes picked off the survivors. We did it again next year.

We began to say "Ja, Ja, Ja!" with outrageous accents and to wear loud pants. We got along famously with Crimson Company and learned to drink Roga. (This may or may not have been a good thing.) We learned to make obscene suggestions in Finnish.

Our open field fighting became obsolete when the Atenveldters began to run around our flanks, like the Abbey had been doing for years. We learned to keep a reserve to deal with such tactics, but we were still best with anchored flanks. We felt we could hold our own with any one head to head.

We stormed a bulldozed earthen redout in Atenveldt and cut our way well beyond the Caidan advance, right into the heart of the Aten army. We were overwhelmed at last, but getting so far over the bodies of enemies was a thrill.

The most recent development in Drafn fighting came in 1987. with the advent of the war bands. Diving the 25 man unit into three separate groups presents a risk of being destroyed in detail, but gives the advantages of maneuverability and specialization. Crow pins or crushes, Vulture protects crow or exploits vulnerable flanks. Wolf scouts, skirmishes, threatens or swoops in to maul the unwary.

Learning from our mistakes this system proves successful as Drafn handily won the field in three successive Potrero wars. (Yes, we had allies, but our side came out the winner although the allies changed from battle to battle.)

To my mind Drafn has become a tremendously successful force. Through teamwork and initiative we continually do well against most foes in most scenarios. We still use what works, and we are not afraid to make sweeping changes to try out new methods.

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