Legion Logistics

The Legions of the Realm are required to fight wars against all manner of foes across the length and breadth of Creation. This requires a complex system of logistical support and operational procedure, unmatched by any other army in Creation, based as with most Imperial Legion policies on the maxims of the Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier.

Supporting the Legions while Deployed

Legionnaires need to eat, they need to be watered, they need to be equipped, they need to be paid, and they need to fuck. These are the Five Needs of Military Logistics according to the Thousand Correct Actions. There are several ways that a Legion campaign can approach the difficulty of supplying those needs.

Ravaging & Looting

A systematic campaign of loot and rapine is a valid tactic for breaking a foe, with a number of other benefits: all food and supplies from the area go to meet the needs of the Legion force, enslaved locals provide funds to pay soldiers and loot adds a bonus to reward them for service, and rapine satisfies the lusts of soldiers far from wives and husbands.

Heavy Loads

A Legion soldier moves with his own support. Each Legionnaire carries with him several days of rations, plus stakes for his camp palisade, tools for constructing fortifications, weapons and armour, and other tools totaling some 60lbs. The baggage train of a Legion carries further supplies including food, leather tents, and sometimes even herds of livestock to be slaughtered for food, as well as camp followers to see to the myriad needs of the army.

Foraging

Not so lucrative as Ravaging, foraging can assist in supplying a Legion marching through the wilderness where there are no settlements. The Thousand Correct Actions advises that hunting parties bringing back venison and fowl to add to rations are important both for the food they supply but also because such food is flavourful and increases morale. Such meats are supplemented by gathering plants, roots, and other natural supplies.

Requisition

A well-funded Legion force, or one passing through friendly territory, may obtain supplies through commercial channels by bargaining and purchasing goods and services from local suppliers. The Thousand Correct actions advises that such deals ought be 'fair', which some interpret as paying full price and others see as license to force sales at reduced rates or even to demand goods be donated without any payment. More rarely, manual labour and even new recruits may be conscripted to fill the needs of the Legion force.

Settlement

Where a Legion force is garrisoned for some time, soldiers may engage in practices to supplement their resources, such as engaging in agriculture and herding or homestead industries. Some will marry and raise families, who either join the force when it moves out as camp followers, or more commonly remain behind awaiting the soldier's retirement.

Legion Camps

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