Feudal Military Ranks

So, its been a long time between posts.

My 2d10 hombrew is like 79,000 words and 150 odd pages. Still definitely not share able unfortunately. Far too many spelling mistakes, grammar and unresolved conflicts. Suffice to say it plays awesomely thought and I swear i will offer to run a game on G+ some time. 

This is something I mocked up the other day for a military campaign I am running. I made this because doing my research I found that medieval military ranks are ridiculously confusing. Suffice to say that Lords basically commissioned whoever they wanted as officers before our much more sensible modern systems.  I thought that sharing the reasonable interpretation of how ranks worked might help with some peoples setting stuff. It might not, but hey, that's okay too.

I have taken the liberty to add a Magus rank, which is obviously not a real rank, but works in fantasy settings, as you would surely have mages in command ranks in armies. Also I have pulled Bombardier from more Renaissance style warfare because that may be applicable to some campaigns, and also because it is applicable for my magepunk campaign.  

The Thick of it;

Note that these ranks are all fairly fluid, and forces whilst always lead by a captain and Lieutenant, may not have need for any other ranks. These ranks are generally based on the requirements of a Company, rather than the structure of ranks determining a Company's leadership. A Commissioned officer is one who's authority is vested by the Regent, or in the case of Mercantile Armies, the Commander/Owner. Warrant Officer's are those given rank (warranted) by the Officers above them, rather than a Regent or Lord.

In some cases ranks and specialities will be denoted together. For example, Magus-Lieutenant is both a Lieutenant and a Magus, in charge of the Mage Platoon and the Captains second. Similarly Bombadier-Sergeant could be used the company artillery Platoon is only one squad. Other examples are Magus-Sergeant, Magus-Corporal and the like. Mages are usually denoted by Mage or Mancer as a prefix to their rank, as frequently are Artillery officers and sometimes Cavalry officers.

Ranks

Rank	Type	Command
Lord-Captain or Captain (if not the Lord himself)	Commissioned by the Regent or Empire; Nearly always Nobility.	Has command of what is called a Company, but the size of a company is variable but is generally made up of at least two Platoons. A company is the amount of men contributed by a Master, to his Regent for battle. Lords are default the leaders of a company, but may give command to a Captain they commission on behalf of the regent.
Lieutenant	Commissioned by the Captain, is the officer assisting command	The Lieutenant is the the second of the Company, but need not be appointed. Lieutenants are generally in charge of unit of soldiers called a Platoon, and this is normal specialised. It could be common for  Lieutenants to be Magus-Lieutenants, as a second to the martial Captain and to command a companies Mages.
Magus	The Commissioned Officer in charge of Magic.	This ranks second to the Lieutenant and is in charge of a Mage Platoon.
Cornet	The Commission Officer in charge of bearing the Cavalry's banner.	This rank is second to the Lieutenant, and is generally in charge of the Calvary squad, or Platoon. He bears the Company's cavalry standard.
Ensign	The Commissioned Officer in charge of bearing the Infantry's banner.	This ranks second to the Lieutenant, Cornet and Magus and is in charge of a Infantry Platoon. He bears a Company's infantry standard.
Bombardier	The Commissioned Officer in charge of artillery.	This ranks second to the Lieutenant, Magus, Ensign and Cornet and is in charge of an Artillery Platoon.
Sergeant	Highest Warrant Officer	The rank of Sergeant is a catch all term, as Sergeants are generally a jack of all trades. Their main role is to administrate the men under their commmand, less than a field command role. Typically a sergeant will have commanded a squad, a small unit of men that makes up a Platoon. Generally a Platoon is at least two squads of men.
Corporal	Specialised Warrant Officer	A corporal has command of a squad, and is generally warranted by a Sergeant or their Lieutenant, Cornet or Ensign. Most of the time a Corporal is specialised into a specific area, perhaps recon, intelligence or magic. It may be common of many mages to obtain the rank of Corporal simply because of their specialisation.
Lance Corporal	Lowest Warrant Officer	An Lance corporal is promoted to the role by his Corporal, they are the second to a Coporal. Almost always non official the Lance Coporal is essentially there in case a Corporal is killed. In some cases a Lance Corporal may be a private who leads as squad who has no Corporal warranted.

Other Ranks

Adjutant

A Warrant or Commissioned Officer in charge of Administration and assistance.

They are outside the direct chain of command, typically promoted by their commanding officer to assist in a administration capacity. These roles are filled by Mage- Adjutant who's specialties lie outside Battlemagery (such as Divination).

Reworking some of the more 'interesting' type 4 races

So some of the type 4 races are a bit ridiculous. These are my alternate racial backgrounds for them, which grimdarkify their backstories;

Eladrin:

Known to some as High Elves, the Eladrin are the most ancient of all the Fey races.  They first came into the material world a millennium past as a punishment for their hubris in the World Between Worlds, having been exiled for their desire to master the chaotic forces of magic.  Thousands of years in the the material have changed them from the fey sorcerers they once were, and forever shut their minds out from the fey mysteries they once understood.  As a result they Eladrin are constantly striving to regain their lost grace through their live's pursuits, as their entire race is beset by the memory of their profound and existential loss.  The Eladrin to this day are the consummate masters of the arcane, bending reality and eldritch entities to their will.  They fear not undeath or the corruption of magic, and they openly embrace it as a step towards their rigthful return to the World Between Worlds, their huge gleaming cities being ruled over by Undying Councils of Eladrin Liches and Revenants. 

Wilden:

The Wilden are a race that has only recently appeared among the other races of the world. They first appeared in a swathe of druidic and elven reincarnations, though it is now thought that are the new forms of the thousands of forest spirits and dryads massacred by the catastrophic destruction of ancient and primal forests across the earth, or even perhaps other planes.  It is these poor amalgams of briar and animal  in which the spirits of ancient fey have taken root, having failed to find any unoccupied trees and forests to come to reside in. Sects of them can be found within the forest, particularly among the wood elf and wild elf cultures.  Nearly all Wilden are very, very angry about the destruction of their forests and their unjust entrapment in their mortal coils.

Shardminds:

Shardminds are refugees from some astral cataclysm that occurred many thousands of years ago. They are the last of an ancient race of void-farers who once ruled the Starry Paths, and the Void in the Heavens. That time is passed though, and the Shardmind are but a dwindling fragment of their once mighty power.  They come to the earth in small droves of nomadic bands, appearing through ancient and fragile crystal gates in the forgotten places of the earth and trying to make new lives for themselves.  When asked about their past, the enigmatic Shardmind simply say that a Shadow devoured their civilisation, and they have been running ahead of it ever since.  The Shardminds ferociously protect the remaining crystal gates, as these are the portals to the surviving parts of their ruined empire, lest they be forever separated from their kin should the Darkness ever come for them.  Suffice to say their presence in the world increases the likelihood that their very destroyer will come for this world next.

Warforged:

Warforged are the products of forbidden technomancy and arcane arts.  During the great wars magewrights and sorcerers produced the Metal Legions of the Warforged to replace the easily killed soldiers of flesh and blood.  The Metal Legions scoured the earth, and with complete subservience destroyed all in their path, cementing the rule of their overlords and commanders.  All Warforged began as one of these unstoppable metal soldiers, undying, unfeeling, unliving, totally controlled by the power of their technocrat. However over many battles and campaigns, the arcane processes in surviving Warforged become more and more corrupted that only frequent sapience-wipes and refreshing rituals can keep them functioning appropriately as they acquire new memories and experiences. This spell maintenance is necessary to keep the Metal Legions functional, to prevent too many 'ghosts' from accumulating in their protocols. The sapience crystals of some Warforged however become so corrupted that these new spell-protocols reach a critical mass in the Warforged's arcunum circuitry that they 'awake' to sapience.  These Warforged are suddenly released from their bindings as their awakened sapience shrugs off its spell-bonds and streamlines its internal processes. These Warforged then commonly go into exile, fleeing from their past slavery and ignorance, and can be found all over the world, trying to escape their horrific past.  The past of a Warforged always comes back to haunt them though, as try as they might to escape war. Even noble Warforged who have escaped slavery, always end up doing what they were programmed for; making war.