Forced Conscription
"You're in the army now."The real strength of the Sassanid army was, primarily, heavy cavalry and seasoned skirmish troops. The Savaran cavalry were led by the 'great' families of noble Persian and Parthian blood. This mounted corps was also often reinforced by mercenaries. Infantry, by contrast, were not usually held in much regard, with some even referring to the levied Paighan – from which the vast majority of Sassanid infantrymen were drawn - as 'a crowd of pitiable peasants'. These poor quality levies were raised by the aristocracy, conscripted from the lands they owned to act, in most cases, as little more than ‘meat shields’ for the Sassanid advance. This social aristocracy bled quite clearly into the military, and remained as the basis for all military recruitment and conscription until the reforms of Khosrow I, who altered the system so that lesser nobility, primarily farmers and land-owners, could be drawn into the army. This dramatically reduced the aristocracy's power, as the armour and weaponry was provided by the state, meaning the newer forces swore loyalty to the Shahanshah himself, and not his local feudal lords.
Node Set Military Tier 2 |
research_points 0 |
cost_per_round 0 |
Effects
Recruitment cost: -5% (all forces)Requires | |
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Requires Technologies | Kataphractoi |
Enables | |
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Enables Technologies | Cavalry Recruitment Reforms Equipment Law Persian Military Legacy |
Enables Units Upgrade |
Desert Levy
Cost 81 Upgrade To
Desert Spears Persian Bows Cost 119 Upgrade To Persian Bowmen Persian Levy Cost 113 Upgrade To Armenian Spears |
Enables Buildings |
Infantry Quarters Levy Centre |
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