Commands
Line up! – When this order is called, all guardsmen
should line up one pace away from the commanding guardsman, keeping
the line central to them. If an officer is calling the line up
please be sure to arm your parade weapon.
Right/left flank strong! - All the higher ranked
guards stand to the commander’s right, all Trainees and Footmen
stand to their left.
Attention! – All guardsmen stand to attention
(commonly this order is followed by guardsmen emoting *Snaps to
attention* – i.e. stood up straight, shoulders back and legs
shoulder width apart).
At ease! - Guardsmen are to remain in a line up but
can relax their position from ‘Attention’.
Stand ready! – Guardsmen are to draw their
preferred weapon and stand at ease ready for the next order.
March! – Guardsmen are to ‘march’ (walk) behind the
patrol leader.
Quick/Double March! – Guardsmen should now run to
the designated area, but still remain behind the patrol leader.
Forced March! – Guardsmen should run as fast as
they can to the designated area; they do not need to stay behind the
patrol leader.
Hold/Hold position! – Guardsmen are to stop exactly
where they are stood. Nobody flees, nobody pursues.
Take cover! - All guardsmen find a nearby location
to hide instantly, ready their backpacks for battle and assess the
foe to come.
Draw arms! – Guardsmen should arm their weapon of
choice.
Draw bows! - All guardsmen able to wield bows or
crossbows should arm them.
Ready arms! – Guardsmen should stand ready to fight
(go into war mode).
Charge! – All guardsmen should all charge towards
the foe! (This order is typically used in battle or against a large
quantity of enemies/monsters)
Spear/Target [Name]! - All guardsmen attack the
called target. This could be a description of a single foe, a group
of foes, (“Spear the Archers!”) or the name of a known foe. If the
commander doesn't mention a target, their current target should be
attacked.
On [Name!] – [Name] is being targeted by a strong
foe or group of foes. All guardsmen should look at the health bar of
[name] and make sure that they are kept healed up.
Form up! – Guardsmen should cease whatever they are
doing and form up on the commander, roughly forming a ‘square’
around him.
Fall back! - After giving this order the commander
will fall back away from the enemy. All guardsmen run the same
direction, and form up around the commander once they stop, unless
other orders are given.
Dismissed! – Guardsmen should salute the leader and
are then free to resume their other duties/return home.
Parade Orders
By Lieutenant Sineal Walker
It is sometimes commented by the more idle lower ranks that parade
drilling serves no practical purpose. This is not the case; a
guardsmen that can follow parade orders swiftly and accurately can
be expected to follow battle orders similarly well, and it is the
Yewish militia's ability to parade which solidifies our reputation
as the most disciplined force in all Britannia. Therefore, it is
your duty as a guardsman to hone your skill in acting in
synchronisation with others whilst drilling.
The most important thing to remember to do well is whatever you do,
act on three. That means, when you hear an order, you count to three
in your head (Something I hope you all to be able to do...) and act
when you reach the third number. It's not that difficult, but seems
to cause some people no end of trouble.
If you really distrust your sense of timing, yet believe yourself to
have extremely quick reflexes, you may ready yourself to act and do
so the instant the other men do. However, this is a novice's
technique, and clearly only a minority can do it without ruining the
whole system.
Line up! - If you don't know this one by now,
you're hopeless. However, some guardsmen forget that when lining up,
you should try to keep the leader central in relation to the line.
Don't force them to move.
Parade, attention! - Stand as straight and tall as
possible, arms at your sides and your heels together. You must stare
directly forward; do not look your commander in the eye.
Parade, at ease! You may relax your posture, feet
shoulder width apart. This is no excuse to stand however you choose,
and you may certainly not move more than absolutely necessary.
Parade, saluting to the front, to the front salute!
- In one smooth yet swift movement, raise your right arm to your
chest at a right angle, hold it for a second, and then drop it
straight back to your side. The 'saluting to the front' section of
the order is to prepare you to perform this action, so no excuses
for being off time. It may or may not be used along with any of
these commands.
Parade, front/right/left/about face! - Turn to face
the indicated direction, knees locked, only lifting your left foot
to do so.
Parade, ready arms! - Lower your halberd so that is
almost horizontal, blade down and facing ahead, and place your right
leg forward in a battle-ready stance.
Parade, hold arms! - Raise your halberd upwards to
its standard vertical position against your side, and step back with
your right leg, returning to normal parade stance.
Parade, column up! - Form into the specified number of files, one man behind each other. The 'file leaders' at the front should ideally be experienced in parading. Columns have special rules concerning marching and turning.
Parade, by the right/left, forward march! (From column)
- Whilst this may seem complicated on paper, practically it is very
simple. The respective file leader first takes a step forward,
followed by the other file leader(s). Only once these have moved may
the next rank step forward, which allows the file leaders to each
take another step. The remaining ranks follow in suit, only taking a
pace when those in front have done so already to give them space.
Parade, turn left/right! (From column) - The
respective file leader turns to face the direction and marches,
whilst any other file leaders take one more step forward before
doing the same, the men behind following their file leader closely.
Parade, halt! (From column) - The file leader(s)
halt, any trailing file leader catching up so that they are aside
each other before he does so. The rest of the ranks must close all
gaps before halting.
Double line! - Again, fairly self explanatory. If
there are odd numbers, so that two full lines are not possible, the
back line must suffer one less man and yet not leave the formation
untidy by missing said man at either end. Ideally, the empty space
in the back line will be one space inward from the right end.
Parade, sound off! - Starting from the left of the
line by default and going rightwards, the guardsmen shout out their
respective names after one another.
Parade, number off! - Same as sound off, except the
first man shouts "one!" the next "two!" and so on for the whole
line. This gives the commander the precise number of guardsmen on
parade, if he happens to find counting into double digits
challenging.
Parade, dismissed! - On parade, this is slightly
more formal than standard dismissals. Guardsmen salute to the front,
before turning to the left and dismissing from that end of the line.
They do not run off in all directions like headless chickens.