Stratioti

Kaðlín Quickdraw, a Merkismaðr of the Vanic Temple Guard, in the parade uniform of a Stratioti.

Stratioti are light cavalry and reconnaissance scouts, usually of Tellian ancestry, recruited by the various agencies and armed forces of the Elwynnese Union for service in the Vale of Angularis against the brigand-like Kossars of Ashkenatzim ancestry and the partisans of the Dark Orchid Society.

Their dash and elan in combating the insurgents in remote and difficult terrain where the UDF and even the Longship Guard have previously floundered, has earned them a reputation that many seek to emulate. Indeed in 1639 Kaðlín Quickdraw, the commander of the Vanic Temple Guard garrison at the Worship Water of Jolly Loch near Azeroth (associated with the Shinyspring Temple) reformed the detachment under her command as a squadron of stratioti before subsequently going on to earn a fearful reputation during the assize conducted by Thorgils Tarjeisson in the Vale.

There are reports, firmly denied, that the Stratioti groups have received training, funding and equipment from agencies within the Imperial Government.

Methods and tactics

Well versed in guerrilla warfare, they employ hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, feigned retreats and other complex manoeuvres. In addition to conventional firearms the stradioti used javelins, as well as swords, maces, crossbows and daggers. Although they are noted for their distinctive hussar style parade uniforms, inspired by their occasional - and conspicuously undocumented - encounters with the Lord &zeter's Hares, the stradioti have no standard field service uniform and tend to wear a mixture of Babkhi, Kossar and Elw garb: such body armour as they normally acquire is usually looted from the dead or purchased on the sly from the isolated garrisons of UDF troops or the Cudgellers. This body armour is also typically supplemented by a simple mail hauberk; the reason for this being the fondness of the Stratiots for getting in close to dispatch their enemies with knife-work during the night raids that are their noted speciality, and the occasion for dread amongst their foes.