Southland: The Frontier Service

THE SOUTHLAND

A Fantasy Core Setting

© Jerry Harris 2014

Published here as Open Game Content.

(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Index.)

Southland Index

Colony Index

Colonial Defense Index

The Frontier Service

The multitude of convicts in the colony have an option to hard, menial labor, and can do so, retiring with a plot of land and a pension.  They may volunteer as a trooper for the Frontier Service.  Convicts make up about ¾ of the ranks.  Even the hard time convicts are given the option to join.  They are trained and armed as the regular army, though they are given a different uniform.  Discipline and morale are, let us say, continuing issues of concern.  All units are lead by Commonwealth officers and regular army NCO’s, usually of the harshest and strictest sort.  (Many have been assigned this post as punishment for various types of transgressions.  Performing well here is only way out of the outfit.) 

The other quarter of the troops in the Frontier Service are comprised of all sorts of individuals.  Joining the Frontier Service wipes out any incurred debt.  There are an unsurprising number of failed entrepreneurs and barely legal con men who need this clemency.  There are sole survivors of settlement massacres burning for revenge, idiots joining while drunk, thrill seekers, madmen, and some genuine patriots. 

Troopers may attain up to the rank of sergeant, though this is somewhat rare.  More often, anyone displaying any trustworthiness is immediately promoted to corporal.  The bulk start and finish as privates.  A ten year enlistment entitles the trooper to a plot of land on the frontier along with a military pension.  Convicts are still exiled to the colony, but may live anywhere within it. 

As the name implies, frontier troops are stationed outside of the major cities.  They garrison forts, guard caravans, patrol around endangered settlements, and form expeditionary forces into dangerous areas.  In short, they are used wherever expendable troops are needed for hazardous situations.  There’s no escape from the Frontier Service.  Not only is there no where to go, deserters are usually hunted down and immediately executed by their own unit.  Working together is their only option to survive and finish their service.

Due to the mixture of troops, there is a real threat of mutiny.  Units are rotated into different posts and duties constantly.  Frontier troops are never deployed in units larger than a platoon, unless there are militia or regular army troops with them.  These forces are also always kept on the frontier.  Squads performing meritoriously in action may be granted a short leave in a coastal city, but only with an escort.  Otherwise, leave is only granted for the nearest frontier town, also with an escort.  As the Frontier troops are hard-bitten combat veterans and actually outnumber the Regular Army forces, insurrection against the colony is a possibility.  But, that sort of action would take a powerful, charismatic leader and some cause to rebel. 

These guys are a bunch of scary bastards.  The Frontier Service troopers are a danger to themselves, a threat to the colony, but, most importantly, a fearsome foe to any invaders.  The Humanoids in the Outback have learned not to attack a frontier fort without overwhelming force.  

Frontier Service Trooper  

+2 Str, +2 Con, +2 Dex

HD 1 (d10), Hp 7, AC 16 (Leather, Heavy Wooden Shield)

Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0

Melee: Spear +3 to hit 1d8+2, Reach, Longsword +3 to hit 1d8+2

Ranged: Longbow +3 to hit 1d8, L

Charge: Max dam + stun, breaks Spear

Mounted Archery Skill

Usually the Frontier Service is assigned to areas where metal armor is a poor choice for daily protection.  The Service favors agility and speed in combat.  Troopers are expected to be adept in any type of combat role: formation, single combat, cavalry, and archery. 

Frontier Service Sergeant

+3 Str, +2 Con, +2 Dex, +1 Int, +1 Wis, +1 Cha

HD 4 (d10), Hp 28, AC 16 (Leather, Heavy Wooden Shield)

Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +2

Melee: Spear +7 to hit 1d8+3, Reach, Longsword +7 to hit 1d8+3

Ranged: Longbow +6 to hit 1d8, L

Charge: Max dam + stun, breaks Spear

Mounted Archery Skill

Intimidate (Physical) +4

Intimidate (Psychological) +3

A promoted from within Frontier Service Sergeant is a truly fearsome individual.  Whatever background they came from, they end up as hard-bitten, no nonsense tormentors of their own men and terrors to their enemies.  The two unofficial qualities necessary for promotion to sergeant are absolute loyalty to the Service and complete sadism.  Their prime weapon proficiency is cruelty, which they turn on everyone around them.  Who else could keep a bunch of murders and thieves in line?  You may imagine what they order done to actual enemies. 

There are only two things keeping these men from being killed by their own subordinates.  One, fear.  While only an officer can order an execution, an sergeant can, and often will, hand out any extreme punishment up to that.  Two, respect.  It is a strange paradox, but in combat, the sergeant is the most likely individual to sacrifice himself to the keep the men alive.  With the officers in charge often callous and indifferent to the troops’ survival with regard to their mission, it falls upon the sergeants to set the example for bravery. 

There is an unspoken NCO code that they are ultimately responsible for the lives of their men, up to even sacrificing themselves to save them.  It would be considered a mark of shame amongst their peers for a sergeant to be the sole survivor of a massacre (an unfortunately common occurrence on the frontier).  The model NCO trooper was the legendary Sergeant Major Lejaune who defended his fort single-handedly (creatively using dead men to man the battlements), while his men escaped to get help.

As Frontier officers come and go, the sergeants are usually the most experienced men in the unit.  The smart officer leans on his NCO’s for advice, as they often have an intuitive understanding of any combat situation in their area.