Dwarven Non-Firearm WarfareLore - Culture Canon

After the Dwarven Weapons Act, the Dwarven Empire developed a strategy for fighting without firearms, while facing modern armies equipped with automatic rifles and field artillery. The Act caused major changes in land warfare due to the removal of all portable weaponry, though it did also have some impact on naval warfare.

Infantry Strategy

The standard non-firearm strategy was only theoretically finalized in 225, with minor changes made based on the 226 Green Fields battle reports.

Due to the widespread use of automatic firearms like assault rifles^[1] and the rise of light, mobile, and plentiful field artillery, packed formations had given way to spread-out units utilizing armored vehicles and preemptive shelling. Full-magic units did the opposite, however: since they relied on squad casters to grant them protection against enemy bullets and spells, packed formations (though much more spread-out from other squads than in earlier huge musket armies) once more became prevalent.

Squads

The smallest unit of an army were squads, anywhere between 20 - 80 soldiers strong. (In the Dwarven army, they were then grouped in battalions, regiments, corps, and legions/task forces/armies.) Squads operated as self-reliant units, deploying independently or in concordance with others. A squad leader had the authority to take objectives, but in larger battles could serve as part of a front-line assault troop.

Most squads relied on (magical) protective measures until they could get into melee range of enemies, at which point the advantage of firearms over traditional weaponry was largely negated. This was mostly offered by squad casters' protective shields. Once in range, squads would "fan out", fighting the enemy unit hand-to-hand until it was wiped out and the squad reformed to benefit from its protection again.

All soldiers had basic magical training. All could focus their minds and serve as channels drawing from the Weave for their squad casters, while some even had spellcasting abilities of their own and could cast useful cantrips like fire bolts, which gave them much more flexibility and some range. Each squad then had an attached squad caster, who was very useful during the close-formation stages of battle: they made a squad shield, smoke screens, offered devastating power against too-packed enemy units, and sometimes even provided medical assistance.

Types

• Orderly Infantry (50+ strong). Regular soldiers were equipped in thick padded armor, heavy chest armor that protected from smaller-caliber bullets, and helmets (often old medieval ones). They mostly used two-handed swords or similar longer weapons, like spears or warscythes. Since the enemy was rarely properly armored or equipped for melee combat, the goal was to cut quickly rather than pack a punch. Orderly Infantry was utilized as infantry in large battles, or as assault troops in general.
• Light Infantry (30 strong). Light Infantry had minimal armor, typically just padded, and used both bladed melee weapons and bows/crossbows or ranged spells. They served on the fringes of a main Orderly Infantry force, either harassing the enemy's flanks or rear, serving as scouts and flank protection, or keeping enemy skirmishers from doing the same against friendly infantry.
• Heavy Guard (40+ strong). These soldiers wore full plate armor and heavy two-handed weaponry. They also used defensive casters, but were able to resist small-caliber fire even on their own. They formed the rigid core of an army, storming the strongest enemy units.
• Ranged Spell Infantry (20 strong). Utilizing similar armor as and lighter weapons than Orderly Infantry, Ranged Spell Infantry was constituted of moderately able spellcasters who could send more potent spells against the enemy. They were used where it was difficult for regular infantry to get close, to give close support to an attached infantry unit, or to work in tandem with Light Infantry skirmishers.
• Medical Infantry (20 strong). These units had around 15 Heavy Guard-like troops and 5 clerics, at least one of which performed squad caster's defensive shield. These units were used on battlefields to give rapid magical healing to wounded soldiers so they could continue fighting; these squads only had limited success, however, as rapid healing was not powerful and also short-term.

Squad Magic

Squad casters distributed the load of their casting on the Weave through short Connections to their squad's soldiers, allowing them to draw much more energy than a normal caster would. Much of their attention and energy went into maintaining their squad's shield, however.

• Squad Shield. Shields were very effective, as they allowed magical units to safely get within melee range of enemy units. They were, however, very complicated to perform. They consisted of an energy wall (since bullets traveled too quickly for a caster to react individually to each and deflect them much more easily) that responded to strong kinetic energy by pushing the other way; this stopped bullets, even cannonballs if the shield was strong enough, and could to some extent be traversed by foot units (though this was difficult and generally not done). When travelling along obstacle-ridden courses, the caster had to make holes in the shield for these obstacles - trees, rocks - to pass through, as maintaining a shiled in solid matter was very energy-intensive. These were never perfect, and some bullets could sneak through gaps. When close to melee range, casters typically sent out area spells like fireballs before dropping the shield and letting melee fighting commence. Most shields, for simplicity's sake, were kept a straight wall facing forward, but could also be made circles to protect all flanks (though this cost much more effort and energy). Bullet-proof shields could be maintained by a 40-man squad with average squad caster for up to 1 hour, and an equivalent cannon-proof one for just about 15 minutes. Complicated terrain like forest also reduced shield time. Due to these obvious limitations, generals limited shield use as much as possible, typically to a single 10-minute approach run, so as to preserve casters' focus and their ability to cast other spells against the enemy.
• Smoke Screen. A much cheaper alternative to shields was magical "smoke", vision-impairing chemical reactions that could be caused a fair distance ahead of the squad. These were used to obscure line of sight and allow approaches in elongated battles. Equivalent magical "smoke bombs" propelled by catapults were also used.

Modifications

Many squads were integrated into other units to improve flexibility and logistics. This included armored personnel carriers, which greatly improved unit protection and mobility, and organically incorporated tanks (flame- or standard), which helped protect troops and gave them much greater striking force.

Anti-Squad Strategies

Non-full-magic units of course devised methods to counter or limit the effectiveness of full-magic squads.

• Antimagic effects could be achieved through the (rare) d'mert-ium metal or through friendly spellcasters. Often, the early stages of battle would involve mages trying to block each other from casting magic; it was notably easier to break shields than to maintain them (though non-full-magic mages rarely had power comparable to their more numerous opponent squad casters, who could draw from all their soldiers rather than just themselves).
• Some skirmisher units or whole maneuvers, and even better light artillery/mobile gun/tank fire from in front and behind) were made to apply pressure on all sides, which would force the squad casters to maintain strong shields on all sides and quickly drain them.
• Unit equipment was adapted to the likelihood they would have to fight close-range. Precision rifles were exchanged for assault rifles, submachine guns and pistols. Troops received shortswords or rapiers, and sometimes even breastplates. Many were also given grenades, and cannons used explosive shells: shields would stop their travel, but the explosion could nevertheless hit the enemy behind it. Mortars were also used, though ceiling shields could block them. "Antimagic foil" grenades became very popular, because these had a large effect radius and could completely inhibit casters from a certain zone, antimagic mines could permanently damage them, and antimagic bullets had chances of defusing part of a shield, getting through and allowing standard bullets to get through behind it. These methods were rather rare until 360 OW, however, by when d'mert-ium synthesizing was invented.
• Timing was important. Units were trained to perform "final volleys": aim for probable openings in shields while the enemy approached, then hold fire for a final volley at the moment the shield went down and the enemy covered the last few meters to melee combat. Soldiers with automatic weapons were told to never drop them and switch to blades, and instead rely on shooting down enemies in the short few meters they took to reach them without protection.