Lore Discussion: Military Ranks of the Horde and their Realistic Functions

[Dayon]

Hello.

My guild is a heavy PvP guild, but we understand that being on Wyrmrest Accord, we share the server with many roleplayers. In addition, we count many of the server's roleplayers on our own roster. So I'm trying to flesh out a medium so that the roleplayers have another aspect of the guild to enjoy, and to intergrate ourselves with the community so that we can avoid the stigma of the "jerky PvP elitist" guild.

Considering that the guild is a PvP guild first, RP guild second, I felt that a military theme was appropriate, and I will be expected to find a way for roleplayers to understand the military heirarchy of the Horde. So I started taking a look at each of the ranks of the Horde, and it seems to me that it may work a different way than is spelled out in "Horde Military Ranks".

In "Horde Military Ranks"
-ENLISTED-
Scout
Grunt
Sergeant
Senior Sergeant
First Sergeant

-OFFICERS-
Stone Guard
Blood Guard
Legionnaire
Champion
Centurion
Lieutenant General
General
Warlord
High Warlord

Here's what I'm thinking:
-ENLISTED- (- denoting hierarchy)
Scout
Grunt
-Legionnaire
-Stone Guard
-Blood Guard
--Champion

-OFFICERS-
Sergeant
-First Sergeant
-Senior Sergeant
--Centurion
---Lieutenant General
----General
-----Warlord
------High Warlord
-------Faction Leader

I spoke to some service men, including my great uncle, who is a retired two-star, peace-time Admiral of the Fleet of the U.S. Navy. I have several friends and guildmates who are enlisted with the United States Marine Corps, and they were able to help shed some light on the topic. Here's what I've come up with so far. It's a kind of proposal, if you will.

ENLISTED
Grunt
The Grunt is most likely the most basic infantry unit of the Horde. Assuming such, those that are recruited are first made into Grunts.

Scout
Scouts may be on the same tier, but it's not clear on how Blizzard intended the functions of the Scout to be defined. For a while now, I've just assumed that they act to 'scout' out the land, find path, resources, and even report enemy movements. They might also be used for minor espionage, acting as couriers, and be used for combat surveillance. This strikes me as a bit more of a specialized skill set than the basic soldier.

Legionnaire
In the game, the Legionnaire rank is actually pretty high up. Though, considering that the title literally means "one of a Legion", it hardly seems logical to think that this is a leadership position. The Greeks had Legionnaires, and they were professional soldiers who had recieved premium training. They were essentially the elite infantry units. I figure either Grunts and Scouts could attain this rank.

Stone Guard and Blood Guard
I don't think Blizzard ever describes the functions or duties of the Stone and Blood Guard. One could assume that since "Guard" is in their name, that their role is to literally guard something. The difference between a Stone and Blood Guard could then be what it is that they're guarding. "Stone" sounds like a fitting title for a soldier who is guarding a location or point of interest, like a military outpost, or dispatched to hold a recently taken enemy base; Guarding the 'stone'. Blood Guards may then be those who defend special 'living' targets, like those that require a sort of escort, guarding personnel in combat like healers and officers; Guarding their 'blood'.

Legionnaire, Stone Guard, and Blood Guard, if their roles are really what I think they would be, would not be leadership positions, and would just be soldiers with specialized training, and be commanded by the officer ranks.

Champion
Few people hold the title of Champion, and it seems to be a less formal military rank, and given to those individuals who have achieved some great merit. It may just be a title granted for recognition of that achievement. Such Champions of the Horde are those who participated in the Argent Tournament and became the figureheads of their peoples, but then there are the Champions like Rexxar and Nathanos Marris, the Blightcaller. Their skill is legendary, and it's not a question that they would be counseled for military advice. It would probably not be hard for them to take on a leadership role, but all in all, I feel that the title of "Champion" is more decorative than for any kind of real function.

OFFICERS
Sergeant
If the Horde's military works at all like real military does, then it would have leaders overseeing the activities of a group of people, and those individual groups of people would be watched over by an even more superior officer, and so on. In that regard, I feel like the Sergeant is the most basic officer, and is responsible for the unit of soldiers he is assigned to. A Sergeant would command Grunts, Scouts, Legionnaires, Stone Guards, Blood Guards, maybe even Champions.

First Sergeant
Seems as if it's pretty straight forward. They command several Sergeants, and are responsible for all those soldiers under those Sergeants. The will of the First Sergeant would likely supercede that of the Sergeant.

Senior Sergeant
I have spoken to several servicemen, and from what I gather, Senior Sergeants would be comparable to the USMC's Staff Sergeant, which I am told carries out more administrative duties, such as assigning resources and making sure their soldiers are equipped with what they need. They might be the ones who oversee training, and in warfare, their word comes before that of the First Sergeants, I would assume.

Centurion
Centurion has a similar origin to Legionnaire, if I'm not mistaken. A Centurion is a professional officer who leads soldiers in groups known as centuries, which meant a tribe or company. The Greek Centurions lead 83 men, instead of the assumed 100. The Centurions would be the officers that fought alongside their Legionnaires and soldiers, and so would suffer a high casualty rating, but in the Horde, that may bring the position much honor. I would assume they would be about on equal footing as a Senior Sergeant in terms of precedence, or that the Centurion would interpret the will of their Senior or First Sergeants and direct the flow of battle.

Lieutentant General
Lieutenant Generals probably lord over far more men than a Centurion, but don't see as much combat. Lieutenant Generals are officers that would act in stead of a General, and answer directly to that General. That could mean there are several Lt. Generals to a single General, and that they are to carry out the will of the General in the places they cannot be. Lt. Generals are likely great tacticians in their own right.

General
Generals are master tacticians and strategists, and their duty is to their Warlords, interpreting their plans and seeing to their fruition in the theater of war. Of course, when both a General and a Lt. General are on the same site, the word of the General comes before the Lt. General.

Warlord
Warlords are the commanders of the Horde war machine, and probably would decide what is done on the battlefield, and give those plans to the Generals so that they can be acted upon. I figure that there would be a single Warlord (or more), to an Area of Conflict (AoC, I think this is a term in the USMC).

High Warlord
The right hands of the Horde's faction leaders, they hold supreme control over the military flow of the Horde. Their will is law, their word is final, and they answer only to those directly in charge of the Horde's affairs as a whole. They are probably rare, and there may be a High Warlord stationed in the cities of the Horde, or over entire continents (High Warlord of the Eastern Kingdoms, High Warlord of Kalimdor, etc).

At some point, I want to discuss and analyze which classes are likely to get put into which ranks, and the overall function of those classes in the military function of the Horde.

[Doctor13]

You might wanna add a TLR i mean i read it and what not but was bit much.

[The Madgod]

You might wanna add a TLR i mean i read it and what not but was bit much.

I diasgree completely, this doesn't need a TL;DR at all. It's an easily managable read. Plus, with this sort of thing, you can't make a TL;DR. If he did, he would leave out critical information for what he's trying to discuss.

As for your interpretation of the ranks, and their reordering in the chain of command, you might have been looking too deeply into it. The military ranks of the Horde that you found are the official ones in the Lore, therefore they should be in that order. Thouuuugh you can nix a few, considering a guild won't have enough space for all those ranks.

[Dayon]

I diasgree completely, this doesn't need a TL;DR at all. It's an easily managable read. Plus, with this sort of thing, you can't make a TL;DR. If he did, he would leave out critical information for what he's trying to discuss.

As for your interpretation of the ranks, and their reordering in the chain of command, you might have been looking too deeply into it. The military ranks of the Horde that you found are the official ones in the Lore, therefore they should be in that order. Thouuuugh you can nix a few, considering a guild won't have enough space for all those ranks.

I know that they're in that order, but I still feel like that hierarchy isn't truly functional. And these aren't ranks for the guild, it's just something for reference for those that want to roleplay with a particular title.

But back to the point, yes, an established order exists in WoW, both in that in-game book you find, and in the order in which you actually earn the titles. But Blizzard gives us absolutely nothing else more. They don't tell us what the Centurion, or Stone Guard, or Blood Guard is, or what they do. They've given us only the names.

To that end, I want to see what people think Stone Guard and Blood Guard might really mean.

[The Madgod]

Well in terms of functionality of the chain of command it's all about how you interpret it, isn't it? For example, a legionnaire is a professional soldier, a much more higher quality soldier. Based on that, their ability to lead, IE, be an officer, would be much greater than others.

As for what a stone/blood guard could be, it sounds like a position of honor, being a person in charge of defending a building / VIP, respectively.

[Dayon]

I figured it was going to be pretty much up to interpretation. I'm not a fan to taking such liberties with the lore, but considering that we've been given woefully so little, I have to be imaginative.

Also, I'm thinking that certain classes would be better for certain ranks than others, and that some other classes might be outside the chain of command entirely.

Lookin' to hear some thoughts:

Martial Classes
These classes, to me, are the Warriors, Rogues, Rangers/Hunters, Paladins and Death Knights. They're highly trained for the more 'martial' forms of combat, and are highly skilled with weapons, even if some of them utilize spells that have been granted to them. I see these classes taking leadership roles much more often than the other classes, considering they also probably make up the largest parts of it.

Warrior
The basic, nameless soldier is likely a Warrior-type infantry unit in most areas of Horde conflict. Given a weapon, armor, their directives, and head off into the fray. The Horde's greatest leaders are born from Warriors. It strikes me that most leadership positions are commonly filled by Warriors.

Ranger/Hunter
Rangers have always made up the bulk of the Thalassian forces of Silvermoon, who prefer to fight from afar. Silvermoon's Farstriders are possibly the Horde's most militaristically-minded rangers, and they likely have great leadership qualities. The more traditional hunter, with a bond to an animal companion and an attunement to nature is probably content to continue serving in his or her own element, as a leadership position would probably take them away from that.

Paladin
The Horde has Sunwalkers and Blood Knights, and both are held highly in amonst their peoples. Paladins have always made great leaders for their virtues, and though the traditional Paladin of the Silver Hand is not what we see with the Horde, they are still highly-trained individuals who follow the code of the order they come from. I see Paladins attaining leadership rather easily, and being formidible guardians.

Rogue
Seems pretty clear to me what a Rogue is good at and how they'd serve. On the field, they'd be assassins, spies, saboteurs, combat couriers, and more. Their unique skill set would easily allow them to conduct solo, low-profile stealth missions for the Horde, like keeping an eye on the enemy, tracking and mapping their patrols and keeping a tally of just how many soldiers are stationed somewhere. The rogues that are willingly serve the Horde are less frequently the scoundrels and thieves of those who are mercenaries or take contracts. Rogues might attain positions of leadership, unless they don't want that kind of attention on themselves. After all, they are probably aware how often military leaders are targeted for assassination. Rogues are likely very bright and witty tacticians and could serve as advisors.

Death Knight
Death Knights are probably still regarded with a fair amount of distrust. I'm not even certain how extensive their use is in the Horde's forces. Those that fight under that banner are probably very powerful. In any conflict dealing with undead and the Scourge, I'm sure they are sought for counsel, but as a whole would be used at an arm's length, and probably not see much chance for leadership. Still, they are what they are, highly-trained and very powerful. The typical warrior-type soldier would probably fare poorly against a typical Death Knight.

Spell Classes
Spell classes are obviously those who rely on their magical skills that have been sharply honed. I lump most healers in this section, barring Paladins. Priests, Mages, Warlocks, Druids and Shaman don't seem like typical soldiers of the Horde. Perhaps they'd work outside the established systems, considering that their skills bring them respect and reverence. It may also depend on the Horde's society places their values for leadership in, but these classes seem to be more of the figure-head types, more than anything else.

Priests
Priests are typically healers and boost the morale of the soldiers with their abilities and their chants. Priests within the Horde are often religious leaders (Forsaken Shadow Priest, Troll Witchdoctors, what have you). They're likely as revered as Paladins are. If they do take up leadership positions, it's more than likely they become religious figureheads and liasons.

Mages and Warlocks
Mages have always been utilized by the Horde, especially now that more of their people are able to practice the craft. The Horde's Magi are often used to open portals, provide support, and the like. I don't feel as if Mages would be given a formal rank, though, considering their skills are always so necessary. In Blood Elven units, perhaps their Magisters take up the roles of Sergeants and such.

Warlocks leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth, most of the time. The practice is acceptible among the Sin'dorei, and I'm unaware what the Goblin society feels about them, but Warlocks don't seem to be the most loyal of soldiers. They always seem far more interested in serving their own darker ends. In the Forsaken, their Grand Executor appears to be a Warlock. Putress may have been a Warlock, I am not certain.

Shamans and Druids
Shamans and Druids are both very highly respected for their connection to the world and beyond. They're often wised and well-learned of the world. I see them as being very necessary for battle, with the elements and nature at their command, but I don't see many of them attaining much leadership. Both would be very excellent advisors.

Mages, Warlocks, Druids and Shaman
Once again, these classes just seem like because of their special abilities, that they'd work outside the system, perhaps given different titles for their roles (Arcanist, Demonologist, Battle-mender, Earthcaller) and the like. Of course, they may still follow the directives of the presiding officer, but I'm certain might have more reserverations than the typical soldier about following a questionable order. At their core, though, they are still members of the Horde and probably very willingly give their aid to the Horde's conflicts, but their status puts them in a special place.