The High Kingdom of Albion: Initial Demographics
This post presents the initial overview of the demographics of Albion, an ACKS campaign setting based on England from the 9th through 12th centuries, and on Arthurian myth.
Albion is composed of roughly 100 24-mile hexes, each of a hair under 500 miles, for a total of 50,000 square miles (modern England is ~59,000 miles). The population density is roughly 20 peasants per square mile, for 1 million souls and 200,000 families, plus urban dwellers. Because of the barbarians on its western and northern borders, and the sea-raiders who menace all of its coast (but especially the east, where they have conquered a small realm to the north), Albion is, on average, classed as borderlands, with civilized territory roughly equaling outlands. However, its people have a strong martial tradition, along with a fierce sense of local pride. Half of all of their land is owned directly by their yeomanry, and they maintain a militia of 2 persons per 10 families (the ACKS maximum).
Of that militia, all are footmen, lacking the money to equip themselves as cavalry. One-quarter are equipped as longbowmen, Albion’s national pride. One quarter have the aim for shooting but not the strength, and they are equipped as bowmen. If equipped as crossbowmen, these troops could be far more effective, but the national fixation on the longbow and lack of funds for equipage among the peasantry conspire to preclude this. One quarter are equipped as Heavy Infantry C/D, in ACKS terms. Heavy Infantry A/B is, on paper, more effective, but struggles fighting Loose Foot units, and, again, has more equipment to pay for. The remaining militia are equipped as Light Infantry of various types. Together, these yeoman soldiers constitute the Great Fyrd, which provides a passive garrison value of 2.1gp per peasant family.
The Select Fyrd constitutes the fighting men who have made war their profession, but are not counted among the nobility. Per ACKS, these number one per ten peasant families, replacing the number of men who could be conscripted in the base rules. Of them, one in five has lost his life, while one in four of the remaining has attained 1st level. Well, actually, some of these are 2nd level, but those soldiers are mostly middle-aged, and their ability score penalties give them combat characteristics of, roughly, a 1st level soldier. Their numbers are in any case few enough that they are excluded from further consideration.
Thus, there are 16,000 men under arms in Albion, not counting the nobility. 12,000 of them are 0th level, 4,000 1st level. Per Discord discussions extending the Domains at War rules, roughly one in nine of the permanent men under arms must be 1st level men or the troops will lose heart for lack of command presence. Thus, there are 13,500 “0th level” fighting men, when recruited as units, and 2,500 veteran troops who fight together as units. The great fyrd does not need veterans, as their horizontal bonds of fellowship replace the solidity of experienced officers in providing their unit cohesion.
The Nobles: The Knights Bachelor
The nobility (self-named) of Albion are a permanent warrior caste. While throwing fireballs or closing wounds will earn one entry, the vast majority are fighting-men, who live by the sword.
(Please note: the inestimable Arbrethil pointed out on the Discord during development that I was ignoring the rule that says that henchmen vassals deduct their henchman wage from their campaign xp. After some discussion, I decided to leave things as they presently are, for a more Arthurian feel of vassals who level beyond the ability of their fiefs to support them, generating resentment and ambition. Perhaps someday I will build out a midsized realm with the default rules.)
The bottom-tier noble is the Knight Bachelor. Ruling over just 20 peasant families, his domain covers an average of 5 square miles. Each month, he will, for each family collect 2gp in taxes, 2gp in service revenue, and an average of 3 gp in land revenue (recall that half of the land is owned by the farmers). He must spend 0.5gp of this on each of maintenance, liturgies, and tithes. In addition, his liege, of whom he is a henchman, demands 1 scutage favor each month, for 30gp. He need keep no garrison, because, after adding the militia (all four of them) to his scutage, he is spending more than enough for a borderlands realm. However, his realm tribute, as determined by the Precise Realm Tribute equation, is 108.6gp, which his kindly lord rounds to 100gp. However, as the landowner of only half of the land, he is liable for only half of the tribute cost! Thus, he earns a net of (7-1.5-1)*20-50, or 40gp per month. He earns still more campaign xp, adding the value of the land and service revenue earned by the yeomen minus the value of the tithes, liturgy, maintenance, and tribute they must pay, (5-1.5)*20-50, or 20xp. With a total monthly campaign xp income of 60 xp, his son, on inheriting his seat, could level to 1st in 10 months, and 2nd level in just under another 40 months. They will not level past that. Thus, we approximate the Knight Bachelor as a 2nd level Fighter. His 40gp per month compares poorly to his expected henchman wage/living expenses of 50gp, so he lives in the style, and with the personal authority, of a 1st level fighter. He then can hire a Heavy Infantry A/B as his squire, and save a little. With his domain having an effective (pre-freehold) domain income of 60gp, he has a personal authority of -1 (bearing in mind he lives as 1st level), but the +1 for a partial freehold cancels this out.
When on campaign, the Bachelor fights as Heavy Cavalry. Composite bows have an unfortunate tendency to become unlaminated in Albion’s damp climate, so cataphract cavalry is impractical. The typical Bachelor will have taken Fighting Style Specialization: Shield as his first-level class proficency.
The Nobility: The Knights Banneret
Just above the Kight Bachelor in the feudal hierarchy is the Knight Banneret, named for the banner he is permitted to carry. He is lord to, and leads in battle, 3 bachelor knights (his fourth henchman is either his wife or his steward; if he has a CHA penalty he will need to give an Office to his non-henchman vassal). He is himself 4th level, can serve as a lieutenant of a platoon or commander of several platoons, and usually takes Command proficiency as his second class proficency.
His Knight’s Fee is the same size, but his realm receives a base tribute income of 300gp. However, his lord in turn charges 250gp in tribute. By the rules as written in the JJ, his peasants will pay half of that, at 6gp per family. This would leave them with almost nothing, an absurdity.
AXIOMS 3 rules that the ruler should both pay and collect tribute, but, unfortunately, this actually would bankrupt our Knight Bachelors, even with its ruling that half of the service revenue goes to the governor (this exercise left for the reader). The rules for separating land and lordship have usually been some of ACKS’s less well-playtested… As such, I could rule as follows: the landowners of a domain that receives tribute must pay for an amount of the tribute equal to the fraction of the total domain assessed tribute that is part of their realm. However, this is convoluted, and, for larger domains, rapidly irrelevant. I will instead rule that the ruler of a middling domain pays the full sum of tribute. This also represents the higher-level vassals choosing to be slightly kinder to their peasants.
Thus, the Banneret’s monthly income is 50gp from net tribute, plus 90gp from his personal fee (since his fee does not cost him tribute). He thus receives 140gp, more than a 3rd level henchman but less than a 4th. From his non-tribute paying peasants, he earns an additional 70xp. He gets 230xp per month, which, after the campaign xp threshold, is enough to level him to 3rd level from 2nd in just one year. As a 3rd level character, he will have personal authority of 0, +1 for his freeholding ways. His domain, including his vassals, will give 16 militia when fully mustered, 4 of each type. Since he spends the upkeep for a 3rd level character, he can afford to hire 40gp of troops in his personal retinue. Note that he, too, is required to kick his scutage income upwards.
The Nobles: The Barons
Next up is the Baron. He rules 4 knight’s fees personally and has 4 bannerets as vassals. His tribute is assessed at 650gp, and his tribute income is 1200gp. His super-sized fee grants 360gp and an additional 280xp. He nets 910gp and 1,190xp. That is pay enough for a sixth level henchman, and enough campaign xp to hit sixth level. He won’t advance beyond it, though. At sixth level he will have personal authority of 0 for a total for +1 after the freehold bonus. As a newly promoted banneret, though, he’d have a negative base morale of -1. In order to combat this, he learns Leadership via training, and gets something fun for his 5th level general proficency. This also assures him enough henchman to save a slot for the home front. Once he reaches 6th level, his domain morale is a formidable +2. In fact, this is so high that he chooses to only spend the expenses of a 5th level character, 400gp, leaving 510gp to organize a platoon or two.
The barony extends for 100 square miles, or 3 6-mile hexes. The baron is truly “on the map” as a notable local power player. The baron can command multiple platoons, serve as the lieutenant of a company, and potentially command multiple companies of troops. However, he lacks the funds to do so. He also keeps moving his scutage higher…
The Nobles: The Counts
The county is a full 24-mile hex, consisting of 4 baronies and a personal demesne of four 6-miles hexes, a bit bigger than the biggest barony. In that personal demesne lies a village of 200 families, a Class VI settlement. It earns him a net of 1gp per family (he must pay scutage on them, and does not train a militia among the soft city-dwellers, instead funding a small city watch). His net urban income is 200gp, his net income from farmland is 2,250gp (25 knight’s fees at 20 families each), and his revenue from tribute is 2,600gp. He is assessed for tribute on the 2,700 families under his purview, for 2,000gp (he rounded down). Net income is 3,050gp, and another 1,750xp on top of that. He will level up to 8th level.
He chooses to live the lifestyle of a 7th level character, spending 1,600gp on himself. This gives a personal authority of -1. With Leadership and the freehold bonus, he has a base morale of +1. With his free cash, he could man and field around 5 platoons of Light Infantry. Alternately, he could keep a smaller standing army and try to hire mercenaries when war threatens, for higher peak numbers. He also has 200gp of troops from the city watch… all 20 or so of them. He could, had he the cash, run a battalion as several independent companies, or as part of a larger army (because of his restrained spending, though, he can’t commander multiple battalion). Speaking of larger armies, he has a duty to kick his scutage up another level…
The Nobles: The Earls
Each Earl rules 4 counties, and a 24-mile hex as their personal demesne. Tribute revenue is 8,000gp. The 24-mile hex contains 2,000 peasant families; at 4.5gp net income per, this gives 9,000gp. He also earns another 7,000xp from the landowning peasants. The center of his domain is a Class V settlement of 400 families. It earns him a net of 600gp. He also has 4 Class VI settlements of 200 families each that stand on the trade routes between his vassal’s settlements and his capital. These each yield 200gp. Total urban income is 1,400gp.
His tribute is assessed as follows: he rules 3,200 families, each of his 4 vassal counts rules 700 families, and each of his 16 sub-vassal barons rules 400 families in their entire realm, counting their own sub-vassals. Thus, there are 12,400 families in his domain. The tribute for this is 5,000gp (technically, a bit more, but the Earl is decent at tax evasion). Thus, his personal income after all expenses is 1,400+8,000+9,000-5,000=13,400gp. His campaign xp earned is 20,400xp. He will level up until he is 10th level. However, as is common in Albion, he could only barely afford the 12,000gp per month to live in the style of a 10th level character. Instead, he rules as a mere 9th level character, spending 7,250gp on living expenses.
This gives him personal authority of -1, while Leadership and freehold bonuses combine to give a total of +1. However, he now has 6,150gp to spend on raising a private army. That’s a few companies, or 4 times as many platoons. He uses Calls to Council his direct vassals during campaigns, compensating them with an Office to keep their vassals loyal while they are gone. His vassal counts, in turn, serve as the commanders of his divisions. His scutage keeps going higher.
The Nobles: The Dukes… or Kings?
As the name “High Kingdom” implies, it was not too long ago that these were independent realms of their own. If (when) the current king falls, perhaps they shall be again.
Each Duchy rules 3 earldoms, and a direct realm of 3 24-mile hexes. The Duke keeps two henchmen bound to him personally, one a steward or wife, as in the lower ranks of nobility, one a personal friend and boon-companion, often a Mage or Crusader. The tribute income from these realms totals 15,000gp, while the Duke directly rules 7,500 peasants, for 33,750gp from them. They also return another 26,250 xp each month.
At the center of his domain lies a Class IV settlement, the first time we’ve seen one of these in Albion. It has a population of 800 families and yields a net income of 1,200gp. It has 6 class V settlements feeding into it, each with 400 families and net income of 600gp. Thus, he rules 3,200 urban families that give him 4,800gp.
With each earldom having 12,400 families total, his total domain size is 47,900 families, leading to a tribute demanded of 11,500gp (the High King rounded down). His net income is 41,050gp, and his extra xp pushes his xp per month to 67,300xp. That will level him up to 13th level eventually. However, he can’t afford to live like such a lord. He lives instead like an 11th level character, costing 32,000gp. This sets his personal authority to -1, for a net domain morale of +1. The Duke now has 35,300gp to spend on his army. He hires his high-level friend for 12,000gp (he is a 10th level character), and spends the rest on his army. He fields 3 companies of Crossbowmen (for home defense), 3 companies of Longbowmen, and 3 companies of Heavy Infantry C/D, for a total cost of 18,810gp. The remaining 4490gp go into his rainy-day fund.
The scutage, meanwhile, moves up one last time.
The High King
High King Uthulred is the sole sovereign of Albion, its defender and champion. As of the beginning of the campaign, he is also dead in a ditch, slain by foreign invaders, succeeded by no-one, but that doesn’t matter yet. Just his personal domain covers a staggering sixteen 24-mile hexes, and he is overlord of 7 Dukes. He has CHA 18 and Leadership, and a max-level Nobiran Wonderworker as his final henchman.
With a personal demesne of 32,000 peasants, his agricultural income stands at 144,000gp, plus another 112,000 campaign xp. His tribute income is 80,500gp, and he keeps it all. He rules the sole Class III market in the nation, Donlodium, located at the extreme southern edge of his demense, with a population of 4,000 families and income of 6,000gp. He has a number of lesser settlements equivalent to 5 Dukes combined (Donlodium dominates his 16th and last hex), for 24,000gp from 16,000 families. Total urban income: 30,000gp from 20,000 families.
That is a staggering amount of money: 254,500gp. Needless to say, he is 14th level. He lives a modest lifestyle, burning 150,00gp in his court of Malcomet. His personal authority is at -1, but his Leadership, Charisma, and freehold bonus push this back to +4. His vassals roll with +2 on their loyalty checks. He pays his Wonderworker well, giving him a direct subsidy of 50,000gp (more on him is a follow-up). This leaves 54,500gp for the army. On top of that, he has the scutage from every domain in the realm. That amounts to a total of 387,300 (the population of Albion thus is technically almost 2 million, counting the urban families). The personal army of the High King of Albion could cost up to 441,800gp.
The Huscarls of Albion: Composition
The High King knows that cheap masses of soldiers are difficult to supply, and thus he prefers to recruit the hardened veterans of the nation. As mentioned near the beginning, in Albion there are 2,500 veterans who will fight as all-veteran units. Albion has no composite bows (or elephants), but does know of the crossbow, though it is not used by the great fyrd, only the select fyrd. The High King recruits all of these veterans, and trains them to the maximum that they can achieve. This makes their average cost per man a hair under 38gp, however, the cost to then hire specialists and deploy them pushes this up to an average of 43.83gp. Hiring all of them costs the High King 110,000gp (rounded up to allow for graft).
The Regulars and Locals
The remaining scutage is 331,800gp. An average man, trained to the maximum but not with composite bows, will cost just under 22gp, plus deployment costs. I built a spreadsheet summing the free cash across all ranks of nobility (ignoring the sample retinues, but not listed henchmen), and I get a total of 12,088 troops hired by the king. Across the entire realm, a total of 37,563 troops are hired, meaning that the King’s regulars are outnumbered two to one by the locals they supplement.
This also means that Albion does not have enough local military forces to meet the demands of its rulers. It will import troops from the neighboring clanhold realms of Llewas, Cotsland, and the western island of Laegiclan. This is a historically accurate result! Many civilized realms throughout history have found themselves with more money than troops they could recruit locally.
As always, discussion and feedback highly valued.
Note: This post was revised on the same day it was originally posted. I had previously had more very small urban settlements. I cut them, recalculated the numbers, and improved the section at the end of troops deployed.