Arthemisian Ulfsarks

Battlefield Role: Heavy Infantry

Weapons: A battle-axe/Great Sword, a high-poundage War Longbow and 2 quivers of 32 bodkin arrows.

Outfit: The pelt of a dire wolf as a hood, partial plate and heavy chain mail armour. They also paint themselves in runes.

Skill level: Mastery in close quarters and in long-range Archery.

Affiliation: Arthemisia

Doctrine: Artemis' Way of the Huntress

Strengths: Outstanding bravery, physical might and skill at arms makes them very dangerous from afar with their bows, and even more dangerous from up close with their two-handed weapons.

Weaknesses: They move rather slow due to their heavy gear.

Ulfsarks always wear direwolf pelts, skulls and fangs to adorn their heavy armour, often from wolves that they slayed all by themselves. However, unlike the Alendrian Berserkers, Ulfsarks never kill animals for sport, only in self-defense or to cull down the number of direwolf packs that prey on their forests, which tend to multiply quite fast within Arthemia's dense woodlands.

The Arthemisian Ulfsarks are one of the very few melee-focused amazon warrioresses who are adepts of Artemis' Way of the Huntress instead of one the many others actual melee-focused fighting styles of Arandolia. At first, this might look like a weakness, as the Way of the Huntress is indeed heavily focused on archery, but it can actually be a very deadly fighting style at close quarters too.

That's because this particular military doctrine is quite pragmatic and objective in achieving a quick and decisive victory out of any confrontation, prioritizing hitting the enemy in the most incapacitating spots without ceremony, just like a hunter would do to their prey. Many see this as a dishonorable way of fighting, but its effectiveness is unquestionable, just as deadly as their longbows are at a distance.

And speaking of their longbows, Ulfsarks also excel at range, wielding the heaviest War Bows Arthemisia can produce with deadly bodkin arrows that can pierce through anything but thick steel plating. That, along with their sharp accuracy, long reach, high rate of fire and high number of arrows make any regiment of Arthemisian Ulfsarks utterly terrifying foes on ant battlefield. Specially sieges and irregular terrain.

However, as the Ulfsarks ranks are actually composed exclusively of Arthemisian Nobles due to their expensive gear and intense training, their numbers tend to be both short in units and few in the overall regiments each Arthemisian Clan can muster. Nonetheless, Ulfsarks are very strong heavy infantry units who often shift the tide of battle despite their scarce numbers. Just one well positioned regiment of 60 Ulfsarks can snipe out half the units of a charging enemy cohort, thinning them out so much that the rest of them is easily cut down by the Ulfsarks own devastating counter-charge once they get too close. They are famous for breaching their way right through the enemy lines, cutting formations in half and spreading panic among both halves as foes begin to rout at the fearsome sight of the painted faces under Direwolf Pelts that are about to enclose them.

Their only weakness is wide open and flat battlefields. As they lived all their lives within the cold and densely forested hills of Arthemisia's islands, the Ulfsarks make best use of their formations and skills at uneven terrain with plentfull cover from sturdy trees. And as the Arthemisian Clans relly so much on their ranged infantry, they lack cavalry units within their own ranks to counter enemy cavalry charges. When fighting within or near forests and hills, there is always favorable terrain to shield them. But when caught out in the open, the encumbered Ulfsarks just lack the mobility and speed to get out of the incoming enemy horses' way.