Appendix: Military and Maritime Organization of the Velaryon State - 113 AC

Military and Maritime Organization of the Velaryon State – 113 AC

Foreword

“Your Excellency, Lord Jacaerys, here is the report that you requested of me detailing our military capabilities. I hope that the information I have meticulously compiled will prove useful in all your endeavors. For House Velaryon! Velaryon and Victory! The Old, the True, the Brave! – Ser Jaremy Gottwell, Lord Commander of the Tide Guard.

The Population of the Velaryon State

As of the year 113 AC, the noble and esteemed House of Velaryon rules over an impressive domain that is spread out across the world. These territories straddle between an independent portion and a portion held in fealty to the Iron Throne and thus the common name for the domain as a whole is the Velaryon State.

The first of these is of course, the island of Driftmark, which rests astride the Gullet at the boundary between Blackwater Bay and the Narrow Sea. South of Driftmark is the lands of Massey’s Hook where the Houses Bar Emmon of Sharp Point, Sunglass of Sweetport Sound, and Wendwater of Wendwater Bight, are House Velaryon’s primary vassals alongside scores of petty lords and landed knights. The castle of Stonedance itself, once the seat of the now extinct House Massey, is held directly by the Velaryons. Together, these territories are classified as the Domain of Driftmark within the Velaryon State.

Technically speaking, the island of Bloodstone within the Stepstones archipelago is also legally part of the Domain of Driftmark but for the purpose of the distribution of armed forces, it is included with the much geographically closer Tyrosh.

With the recent census last year in 112 AC, it can be concluded that there are approximately 585,000 people within the Domain of Driftmark. An estimated 75,000 souls currently reside on the island of Driftmark itself, with a third of that number being in Spicetown itself. Massey’s Hook and Wendwater have 500,000 people and Bloodstone a little less than 10,000.

The Archonate of Tyrosh, made up of the Free City of Tyrosh itself, the island of Pryr, and the mainland territories, have a total population of about 3 million with 400,000 of that 3 million residing in the city of Tyrosh itself.

In the east, the territories of Velos and Viserria, made up of each respective island group under the jurisdiction of the regional capital, have a combined population of 1.5 million. 500,000 reside on the Isle of Cedars and its smaller surrounding islets while around 300,000 dwell on the island of Viserria and within the city bearing the same name, while the bulk of the remaining 700,000 live on the large island of Ghaen to the north of Viserria.

The Isle of Cedars was of course entirely unpopulated before we took back possession of the island and the former islands of New Ghis are still recovering from our expulsion of many of the freeborn Ghiscari, even with the influx of many freed slaves from the mainland. Nonetheless the populations are stable and growing.

Total Population of the Velaryon State: 5,085,000 (estimated)

Domain of Driftmark: 585,000
City of Spicetown: 25,000
Rest of Driftmark: 50,000
Massey’s Hook: 500,000
Bloodstone: 10,000

Archonate of Tyrosh: 4,500,000
Core Territories: 3,000,000
-City of Tyrosh: 400,000
-Pryr and Tyroshi hinterlands: 2,600,000
Eastern Territories: 1,500,000
-Velos and the Isle of Cedars: 500,000
-Viserria: 300,000
-Ghaen: 700,000

The Velaryon Army

Population is important as it allows us to determine what our total manpower is.

House Velaryon’s feudal vassals in Massey’s Hook can provide 3,000-5,000 levies as auxiliaries but because Massey’s Hook is part of the Iron Throne’s domain and these vassals pay scutage in peacetime, these levies would never be raised unless Massey’s Hook itself was under threat. Furthermore, these levies would have minimal effectiveness on the battlefield being untrained and lightly armored peasants. Their main use during war time if raised would be to act as either foragers or skirmishers harassing the enemies supply lines.

Therefore, I will not consider the levies of Massey’s Hook directly for any further calculations on our army size. However, my lords should note that while we no longer directly levy soldiers from our feudal vassals, the Velaryon Army recruits not insubstantially from the region and many Hookmen find themselves in the ranks of regiments stationed on Driftmark or further abroad in Tyrosh or the east.

The true pride of our armed forces is not the levies but rather the Velaryon Army which stands at exactly 64,972 strong as of the writing of this report. The three subcategories which the army is divided into are the Tide Guard, the Unsullied, and the regular army.

First on the list is of course the Tide Guard, which I, Ser Jaremy Gottwell, am Lord Commander of. While officially classified as part of the Velaryon Army, we in the Tide Guard exist entirely outside the normal chain of command. We answer only to House Velaryon and its protection is our most sacred duty. In times of war or other missions we may be assigned command over the regular army however and that is why for simplicity’s sake, we are officially considered part of the army even though we do not function as such in day to day running.

The Tide Guard currently stands at a proud 512 strong. Our armor and equipment is of the finest make, ocean-blued plate armor and mail with sea-green undershirts and gambesons and fine sea-green cloaks. We have a dedicated support staff tending to our horses, armor, weapons, logistics, and injuries that numbers around 250, which brings our total number to around 760 with support staff included.

The second category are the Unsullied. These are 10,000 former slave soldiers that were recruited from the ruins of Astapor during the Slaver’s Bay campaign of 98-99 AC. No more Unsullied are being made after Astapor’s sack, and the uncut boys whose training was not yet complete were discharged into the civilian populace or the regular army. Consequently, the Unsullied are a limited time special unit that will eventually whittle down in number until their eventual disbandment. For the time being however, they remain crucial in the defense of the eastern territories and the training of the regular soldiers that will eventually replace them.

Inspired by the Lockstep Legions of Old Ghis, the Unsullied fight in formation as light infantry, wielding short spears, swords, and round shields. They are highly disciplined and specialized soldiers though how they acquired that discipline is rather tragic. Their uniform is plain and without ornament, a quilted tunic, gambeson, mail, and brigandines. They carry a short sword, three spears, and distinctive spiked bronze caps. One spike indicates a low rank, while three spikes going from front to back indicate an officer.

Highly disciplined and efficient, the Unsullied require much less in the way of dedicated logistical support, and thus all ten thousand Unsullied are supported by a staff of around 2,000 only, bringing the Unsullied category to a total of 12,000.

The remainder of the Velaryon Army is recruited from across Driftmark, Massey’s Hook, Tyrosh, Velos, and Viserria and has replaced the feudal levy system used by backwards Westeros with an advanced and modern professional standing army of elite soldiers. There are in total about 40,000 soldiers and some 12,000 support staff.

These men are divided into a chain of command and an army structure. The basic unit of the Velaryon Army is a squad of ten soldiers, commanded by a Sergeant and with a second in command Corporal. Ten squads make up a company of 100 men, with the two best Squad Sergeants serving as the Company’s Captain and his second in command, the Lieutenant.

The next unit in the hierarchy is a regiment which is made up of ten companies, 6 companies of infantry, 3 companies of bowmen, and 1 company of cavalry. The regiment is commanded by a Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel with the possibility of an intermediary rank of Major granted to a captain who is temporarily in command of multiple companies.

The Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Majors, Captains, and Lieutenants, will jointly serve as the command staff on the battlefield. Note that Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels are high ranking officers and do not personally command individual Companies but are whom the Captains and Lieutenants report to and are responsible for overseeing general battlefield command.

Attached to a regiment is a support staff which in peacetime is made up of logistical officers, blacksmiths, engineers, healers and medics, chefs, quartermasters, barbers, and the like. These support crews are responsible for the health of the soldiers and the maintenance of their equipment, including siege equipment whenever that is necessary. This averages out at around 300 support staff per regiment though in wartime this number can increase significantly, sometimes being as many as the number of actual soldiers.

In times of war, regiments along with along their armaments can be broken up and reorganized into specialized brigades for combined arms warfare such as Infantry, Bowmen, Cavalry, Artillery/Siege units depending on the task they are needed for. Brigades of 2,000-3,000 men may be formed from wartime regiments depending on the need. These brigades would be commanded by a Brigadier General, brevet promoted from a Colonel or appointed by House Velaryon.

The largest unit within the Velaryon army is a division, which usually consists of multiple brigades or regiments and is commanded by a General with a second in command Lieutenant General. Divisions are rarely formed in peacetime however which is why most Generals and Lieutenant Generals are often brevet promoted Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels or they are direct members of House Velaryon and the Tide Guard. To fill in any gaps that form in the chain of command, the brevet promotions of lower ranked officers as well as the appointment of members from both House Velaryon and the elite Tide Guard will be done at need.

A standard division would be around 5 regiments of 5,000 solders, consisting of 3,000 infantry, 1,500 archers, 500 cavalry, and 1,500 support staff, as well as a command staff consisting of 10 regimental commanding officers and 2 divisional Commanding Officers for a combined number of 6,512 men. Of course, this is flexible depending on the needs of the campaign and divisions and brigades may have other sizes and structures, and of course the number of command staff may change as a result.

House Velaryon as of 113 AC has the ability to raise 8 standard divisions from its peacetime standing regiments, consisting of a total of 24,000 infantry, 12,000 archers, 4000 cavalry, and 12,000 support staff. There is also a standard command staff of 80 regimental commanding officers, and 16 divisional commanding officers, for a total of 52,096.

When multiple divisions are gathered together, they would either be commanded by the Archon himself if he is present or by an appointed Field Marshal given the authority to command all divisions, a rare honor granted to only the most skilled and loyal Servants of House Velaryon.

Given how the support staff and command staff would increase during wartime as well as the possible direct levying of the auxiliaries from Massey’s Hook, altogether, at least 70,000 men could be involved in the land armed forces during wartime be it as soldiers, command staff, or support staff.

During peacetime however, it is much different. There are 40 standing peacetime regiments. These regiments keep the peace and defend the territories in which they are stationed, serving as castle garrisons, town and city watches, and patrol groups.

Tyrosh has 20 regiments. One is dispatched to garrison Bloodstone while the remainder are spread out across the territory of Tyrosh to protect it. At least six regiments garrison Tyrosh at all times and serve as the Tyroshi City Watch and regiments are in general rotated from patrol to garrison duties and vice versa every six months.

Five are assigned to Driftmark and Massey’s Hook at all times, with three on Driftmark and two at Stonedance. The territory of Velos has 5 regiments and the territory of Viserria 10, on top of their 10,000 Unsullied.

Estimated Breakdowns (rounded to nearest hundred)
Total Manpower in Peacetime: 65,000
Tide Guard: 500
Driftmark and Stonedance: 5000
Tyrosh: 20,000
Velos: 5,000
Viserria: 10,000
Unsulled: 10,000
Support Staff: 14,300
Massey’s Hook and Wendwater Levies: 3000 – 5000 (not included in normal calculation)

Ranks, from junior to senior going downwards. () indicates a rank that is not normally used.
Private
Corporal
Sergeant
Lieutenant
Captain
(Major)
Lieutenant Colonel
Colonel
Brigadier General
Lieutenant General -> Brigadier Generals may also serve as Lieutenant Generals and vice versa.
General
Field Marshal: A ceremonial rank usually held by the Archon of Tyrosh with complete operational command of the entire Velaryon Army and all auxiliary forces.

As mentioned above, Velaryon regiments are divided into companies of infantry, bowmen, and cavalry.

Cavalry companies are made up of mounted knights and kataphracts and they serve as shock heavy cavalry and also as scouts and outriders. They were recruited out of the Velaryon household and landed knights of Driftmark initially but have since expanded to include other soldiers.

They have a mix of equipment and arms and armor and the knights can afford good equipment for themselves but in general cavalry in the army will have at least two horses which are armored with fine mail and even plate barding and they will have kite shields, lances, longswords or maces and other weapons. Their armor can vary but they are in general equipped with bascinet helmets, mail coif pauldrons, gambesons, chainmail, steel breastplate, gauntlets, vambraces, greaves, and cuisses and the like, and tabards proudly displaying their allegiance to House Velaryon.

Infantry companies are made up of two main kinds. The first is heavy infantry which are halberdiers or pikemen armed with polearms and armored in partial to full plate and mail with gambesons since they cannot have shields. They also carry bascinet or full helmets, and other armor pieces for their arms and legs such as gauntlets, vambraces, counters and the like.

The other is light infantry, which wields javelins and darts and swords or axes and other one handed weapons and they carry kite shields and are armored with bascinet helmets, mail coifs, pauldrons, and other armor pieces for their arms and legs such as gauntlets, vambraces, counters and the like. They are armored with gambesons, mails, and brigandines, and the usual tabards with the sigil of House Velaryon.

Some infantry companies also rotate duties to train how to operate siege equipment when on garrison duty, such as scorpions and trebuchets. In times of war they would operate these along with the engineers from the support staff.

Lastly are the archers. Per the old laws decreed on Driftmark which have been followed in Tyrosh as well, every common man is required to attend archery training and drills weekly, which has given our army and navy a large recruiting pool of archers to draw from.

Our archers are equipped with longbows, quivers, daggers, buckler shields, and arming swords. They wear kettle helmets, mail, gambeson, and boiled leather wrist bracers with finger tabs for the draw hand, and once again the normal tabard with the sigil of House Velaryon.

In times of war, our infantry companies are trained to deploy in pike square formations. The heavy infantry will take point at the front of the line, using their polearms to keep the enemy at bay while beside and behind them, the light infantry will cover any gaps in the line and use their javelins and one handed weapons to strike down approaching enemies. The archers will control the center of the formation and rain death upon our enemies from afar.

Of course while a mainstay of our battle tactics, this is only one of many formations our army is drilled in and versatility is key for our combined arms warfare doctrines that have been taking the best methods from across the Known World.

In peacetime, there is less need for massed companies. As a result, down to the company or even squad level, heavy and light infantry and archers are reshuffled from their official companies into temporary squads and companies for patrol purposes, ensuring that any patrol group that encounters bandits or other threats to the peace will be equipped with all the weapons needed to put down the threat.

The Velaryon Navy and Merchant Marine

Now at last we come to the pride of House Velaryon, our navy. Truly, House Velaryon rules the waves. As a result of our own shipbuilding from two Arsenals in Hull and Tyrosh and our capture of the fleets of Tyrosh and Slaver’s Bay, the Velaryon Navy has exactly 821 ships of various classes, shapes, and sizes.

21 of these ships are stationed in Driftmark, 100 in Tyrosh, 50 each in Velos and Viserria, and the remaining 600 are on patrol and convoy duties and also carrying trade cargo to help pay for the enormous expense needed to maintain such a large fleet.

Furthermore, we have a merchant fleet made up of ships privately owned by House Velaryon or by merchants who are subjects of House Velaryon and pay fees for protection as part of the Velaryon Merchant Navy/Marine. According to our ledgers there are, as of writing, 5,027 ships registered as part of the Velaryon Merchant Navy and we believe that this number is equal to that of the rest of the Seven Kingdoms combined or only slightly smaller.

Our ships are made up of many types including galleys, galleases, dromonds, caravels, carracks, xebecs, galleons, holks, whalers, fluyts, cogs, junks, and many more.

Our warships are armed with scorpions, spitfires, and onagers and also carry complements of marines and harpax grapnel catapults for ship to ship fighting and boarding actions.

Some tactics for fighting include the use of wildfire spitfires, onagers, and scorpions for damaging enemy ships’ hulls, riggings, and masts, the use of harpax grapnels for boarding, and also the throwing of containers of lye and lime to blind enemies and make their ship decks slippery, as well as the deployment of archers and other ranged marines on ship aft and forecastles to kill enemy crews.

While all sailors in the war fleet are trained to fight, some crew members are trained extensively for combat roles and do little sailing. These marines are equipped with thick gambesons as any heavier armor is untenable at sea. They wield heater shields javelins, longbows, slings, axes, swords, and other such weapons, designed for killing enemy sailors and marines and fighting in the congested close quarters of combat onboard ships. Spears are rarely used by marines for this reason, unless they are thrown.

The total manpower of the Velaryon Navy is an estimated 220,000. Unlike our army, the sheer size of the navy and the vast variety of ship types and crew requirements and their vast deployment range makes it hard to know for sure. An average of 30% of those onboard a Velaryon naval ship will be its marine complement, which brings the composition to an estimated 63,000 marines, 147,000 sailors and command officers, and around 10,000 shore personnel and command and support staff (such as shipwrights and dockworkers and logistics officers) at the naval bases and dockyards.

The Velaryon Merchant Navy utilizes ships with much smaller crew requirements, averaging thirty per ship and so only require 150,000 sailors, with very limited combat training. Merchant ships often travel in convoys with armed Velaryon Navy warships escorting them.

In times of war, Velaryon Merchant Navy ships, especially those directly owned by House Velaryon, may be commandeered for the wartime navy. They would undergo refits and modifications at House Velaryon’s shipyards to prepare them for war, adding aftcastles and forecastles and other modifications as necessary.

In terms of construction, we are not lacking either. As mentioned before, there are two Arsenals in both Hull and Tyrosh and we are not lacking in wood from the Hook, the Tyroshi hinterlands, or even imported from the North. We have many shipyards and dry docks across our territories for maintenance and repair of our ships. The pioneering of new methods of shipbuilding and repair such as the admittedly expensive copper sheathing and Velaryon Blocks – which I have heard His Excellency Lord Corlys refer to as Seppings Methods in the past – makes me confident that we are in good hands for our shipbuilding and maintenance capabilities.

Total Maritime Manpower: 370,000 (approx.)
Velaryon Navy: 220,000
-Sailors: 147,000
-Marines: 63,000
Velaryon Merchant Navy: 150,000

Total Ships: 5848
Velaryon Merchant Marine: 5027
Velaryon Navy: 821
-Driftmark: 21 (including the Sea Snake as the 21st)
-Tyrosh: 100
-Velos: 50
-Viserria: 50
-Patrol/convoy/trade duty: 600

Velaryon Navy Ranks
Seaman: Basic enlisted rank for all naval personnel
Corporal: An intermediary rank for both sailors and marines
Midshipman: General ship officers who oversee discipline and ensure sailing is smooth.
-Sergeant, a Midshipman appointed to command the marine squads onboard according to the Army squad system, with Marine Corporals as their seconds.
-Purser, a Midshipman appointed to command and oversee the logistics, supplies, cooks, barbers, and other such support roles.
-Quartermaster, a Midshipman appointed to the ship’s helm and serves as the helmsman and the third in command of the ship.
Lieutenant: First mate and second in command of the ship.
Captain: Commander of the ship
Commodore: A captain entrusted with command of a squadron of as many as three to ten ships. Is often a brevet rank and not permanent.
Rear Admiral: A high ranking naval officer who commands twenty to twenty-five ships and does not personally command any ship but rather oversees the fleet as a whole.
Vice Admiral: A high ranking naval officer who commands forty to fifty ships and does not personally command any ship but rather oversees the fleet as a whole.
Admiral: A high ranking naval officer who may command any number of ships and does not personally command any ship but rather oversees the fleet as a whole.

The Admiralty Board is the governing body that oversees the Velaryon Navy and is made up of the Lord High Admiral of the Velaryon Navy (His Excellency, Corlys Velaryon) and the various Fleet Admirals and other high ranking officers, including from the support staff such as the Master Shipwright and the Paymaster.

Note: The support staff for both the Army and Navy vary wildly in number during both peacetime and wartime, making estimating total sizes difficult. Their chain of command is also slightly different with many unique ranks and positions.

The Velaryon Army, Navy, and Merchant Marine, do not recruit exclusively from the Velaryon State as the manpower requirements are simply too great for the entire state to support. Rather instead, they recruit from across the world as well, from Westeros, Essos, and the Summer Islands, incentivizing enlistment with high wages and other benefits.

Per the orders of His Excellency, many of these foreign recruits are often offered citizenship and residence in Tyrosh or the Eastern Territories with aid given to help move their families in order to remove any conflict of loyalties and increase our population further. Veteran benefits can include plots of land on Velos, Ghaen, or in the Tyroshi hinterlands.

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Author’s Note: Check out this Imgur link for the collection of images attached to this appendix - https://imgur.com/a/BA1EMOp

Links to harpax and Sepping Methods: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpax
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Seppings

Thanks to Jordan Redstark for his help in writing this appendix, brainstorming the details with me and helping to find a lot of the images. Couldn’t have done this without you mate.

Anyway just a heads up, I am posting this appendix instead of Ch49 because I haven't been able to make much progress in 49 this past weekend so I wanted to tide you guys over in the meantime since this appendix was always going to have to be written sometime in the coming weeks anyway for the Basilisk Isles campaign. I intend to spend the next three days writing Ch49 so I can post it on Friday morning (Thursday evening/night for those of you in the Western Hemisphere) as I will be busy this coming weekend as my brother is graduating in another city so I will be away from the computer. Hope you guys enjoyed the appendix and stay tuned for the posting/unlocking of the next chapter.