The Orcish Soldier

Unlike the soldiers of other races, Orc Soldiers are battle possessed, creatures of slaughter and war. These warmongers have been trained under the leadership of Orcish Knights. They care little of the rules of warfare; for them, only the moment exists, with their foe before them and the knowledge that the next moment will hold death for one of them. The majority of their skills and training are directed toward developing weapon proficiencies, hand to hand combat, laying siege, raiding, and operating as part of a combat group. Their Hand to Hand training focuses on inflicting lethal damage to one's opponent as quickly and accurately as possible and aimed at where they'll inflict the most pain or do the most harm in an attempt to quickly kill, cripple or incapacitate an opponent in the most brutal and demoralizing fashion possible. These brutal warriors are savage, with a thirst for blood, and woe to those who face their rage.

The life of the Orc soldier is hard, cruel and petty. They are required obey orders, and show respect toward their superiors. The soldier cannot pick or decline an assignment, or the location where he is to be stationed. Nor can he pick his commanding officer or fellow teammates. He is told what to do, how to do it, and where to go. They are expected to obey orders without question or hesitation or be punished. Punishment can include assignment to the worst (or most dangerous) posts and missions, beatings, torture, or death.

The Orcish army includes pikemen, swordsmen, crossbowmen, sappers, scouts, and berserkers.

• The berserkers are generally larger and more vicious orcks. They often shave their heads and fill their helmets with human blood, so that when they put on the helmets the blood runs down their backs and its scent sends them into a killing frenzy. They carry double-bent swords. These swords are feared by their enemies for good reason. First, they had double spikes on the end (used for hamstringing or disemboweling horses). Second, the tremendous strength of the berserkers can easily take the head off of any human. Last, they had a keen cutting edge that can easily cut through the leather armor (for the massive swords were powerful enough to cut through even steel armor).
• The sappers are responsible for crewing the ballistae, handling the ladders and tunneling under fortifications.
• Pikemen, as the name suggests, carry pikes and, likewise, crossbowmen carry crossbows. Normal infantry wield swords and shields. These swords maximize the brute strength of the soldier, being able to cut off limbs and heads very easily. The upward-pointing spike on the end can pull a rider from his horse with minimal effort and either kill or disable his mount. It also served as a terror weapon, sending many shivers down the spine of even experienced soldiers. They also sometimes use broad bladed shields, made of durable iron that can defend well against incoming attacks and will provide an alternative weapon by using the bladed side, should the soldier lose his other weapon.
• Scouts wear light, leather armor and have leather helmets with no crests or brims, and wield short swords, axes, daggers, and powerful bows of yew with a tremendous draw weight. Their armor is grey and is made up of large lames. Underneath is a layer of chainmail that covers the torso. They are typically mounted on Wargs and also function as cavalry in many cases.

  Weapons and Armour

  It is said that the most powerful orc is a close combat orc. They carry powerful weapons, and heavy armour, and they also have Shields. There are also Orkcish Archers but they are generally considered weak, because the best why to kill is to look the enemy in the eye as you gut them. Despite this abominable nature, orcs are not dim-witted but clever and craftyin their approuch to battle. They make weapons to be savage tools of war that produce fear and dread in their oppenents. Intimidation is a weapon as keen as any blade and the Orc knows this well. It is for this reason that no beautiful things are produced nor do they trade or share anything with others, unless for the purposes of war and conquest. Their tools and weapons, however crude in appearance when in comparison to those of the other races, are brutally effective and of the highest quality. Armour is often cobbled together from various pieces of leather, hide, fur and metal as well as pieces scavanged from the battle field. This armour is rather protective, as well as being a point of pride to its owner but because the piecemeal suits are trophies of victories. Their helmets vary. Heavy helms are metal caps with an eye slit, horizontal crests and two smaller crests at either side of the mouth. Crossbow helms are a simple metal cap that covers the top half of the head (just the eyes on the face) and have huge brims at the bottom. Berserker helms have two circular eyeholes and an empty space for the mouth.