​Battlefield Role: Light Infantry
Weapons: A heavy-hitting mace and a sturdy shield.
Outfit: Steel open helmet, partial plate and a brigandine corset over chain mail.
Skill level: Average proficiency in melee combat.
Affiliation: The Kaiserin Southlands
Doctrine: Hera's Way of the Righteous
Strengths: Their maces are unrelenting against armour and shields, making them highly efficient against heavy opponents.
Weaknesses: Even though they compose the bulk of the Royal Armies and do most of the fighting, low-born titleless footsoldiers are often overlooked and underpaid. Their morale is quite low.
Southlander Footsoldiers
The Kaiserin Royal Crown of Arandolia certainly has a vast number of Dames in their mighty and loyal cavalry regiments, but a well-balanced standing army simply can't be uniquely composed of heavy cavalry and elite infantry. Not even a queen would be able to afford the costly outfitting and upkeep of an army composed solely of high-born noblewomen, so the commoners also have their own important role in the Queen's personal armies.
​
That's where the Footsoldiers of the Kaiserin Southlands come into play. They form up the very bulk of the royal armies, serving as the main front lines on the battlefield at holding the enemy at bay, while the cavalry outmaneuvers the enemy forces and strikes from the flanks and from the rear, wreaking havoc on anyone to ever stand on the Queen's rightful path.
​
Of course, most of the glory and the renown always go to the cavalry itself for shattering the enemy to pieces and achieving ultimate victory, but none of that would ever be possible without the humble and trustworthy masses of Footsoldiers doing their part just as well. Without them holding their grounds and pinning the enemy down in place, the outflanking maneuvers from the cavalry would be rather useless, and the Dames wouldn't be so sure to achieve a glorious victory as often as they do.
Therefore, one can definitely argue that a footsoldier of humble origins might be just as brave, or perhaps even braver, than a noble dame, given the circumstances of their even more dangerous role at the exposed front lines. They are the ones to get their hands most dirty and take the heaviest casualties, while earning less than a tenth of a dame's payrate and never getting songs sang about their great deeds.
​
Just like the peasants toil the land while the nobles get most of the harvest, the footsoldiers are those who fight the fiercest while the very same nobles get most of the glory. World isn't fair indeed, but at least they are free women who enlisted out of their own free will, fighting for an enlightened Queen who actually cares about the lower classes' well-being. They always have food on their tables, as well as a roof over their heads and enough coin to get by in relative comfort. Queen Althea is a kind and wise woman at providing for the poor, and in exchange the poor often stand for her too.