Arcane Legions

The Han archers of the Grand Army of the Crusade are some of the most disciplined troops anywhere. While the Roman legionary can claim iron discipline and the respect of his peers as his greatest strength, the Han archer is supremely confident in his team’s skill with the longbow, because he knows he is skilled with his. While the fearsome monsters that accompany them are terrifying to the enemy and the Han soldiers both, the terrible grim confidence of the Han archer is one of the Grand Army’s most potent advantages.

The zen practices of the Han archers are the real strength of the Han formations. Each soldier is supremely confident in his skill, and knows that his comrades are likewise skilled. In direct fire the precision of a zen sharpshooter is fearsome, but the concentration requirements needed to use this skill make it unwieldy in large battles. The archers must be protected from the enemy—because they tend to concentrate on their archery to the exclusion of their surroundings, they are sometimes easily overrun. Han infantry units are often placed to block the enemy’s access to the archers’ assembly areas. Terracotta spearmen are also sometimes used to encase a bulk of infantry into a pike square.

In all the Han forces it is the archer that gives the Yamato contingent a challenge for the title of supreme haughtiness. A Han archer knows that he is the pinnacle of his field, and feels no remorse in expressing it. To make matters worse for the rest of the army, Himiko often rewards her archers’ prowess with pampering.