



The first Norse Kingdoms of the New World were fairly loose affairs and generally emerged in a rough pattern: a smattering of small norse settlements would establish themselves in a genera area displacing and assimilating the natives who's initial leader would become a Jarl. These settlements that survived grew through natural means as well as subsequent waves of settlers in for opportunities in raiding, trading, somewhat secure and supported land to claim and settle, refugees and artisans from Eurasia, natives (either of their own free will or as thralls) and increasingly after the 14th century thralls brought over from Europe and Africa. Satellite villages would grow around the initial settlement and soon enough the new Jarldoms would fight with each other. Eventually one would win enough that it's leader defeated its enemies, gained allies and emerged as a local kingdom. Even so, the authority of these local kings was for centuries fairly limited with the vassal Jarls having considerable power and autonomy within their domains, in particular the right to raise Leidanger levies and Huskarls which made up the bulk of the army any kingdom could muster and the funds to hire mercenaries. During the early history of the various Norse American kingdoms monarchs at most had a small host directly under their control from around their capital that was somewhat larger and somewhat better equipped than that of your average Jarl and a small elite bodyguard. It would take time for this system to change, in no small part because the Jarls were fiercely defensive of their right to raise troops. As cities and guilds rose guild companies added another block to the equation, though it was usually one that played into the hands of Kings as a rival to the Jarl nobility. Never the less, as kingdoms expanded the powers of their monarchs did as well.





The creation of a formalized navy was usually the first stage of the process, as it meant that taxes from both coastal and inland Jarls would go to the building of warships and (after their introduction) the casting of naval guns. By 1500 this was the cast for all kingdoms on the eastern seaboard of North America and elsewhere the process was well under way. Afterwards came the gradual refinement of the Royal Huskarls into the core around a more formalized fighting force would be built. Many of them would become the NCOs and Officers managing forces of soldiers recruited from the commoners of the capital trained for a couple of months which would be kept employed by the king for a few years before honorable discharge, usually serving as crossbowmen, artillerymen or medium to heavy infantry. Such programs were usually instituted during times of severe war when the need for solid troops was pressing and civil wars in particular. There were a few false starts in this process as Jarls would often seek to end these nascent armies before they could grow once conflicts had been concluded. By the time of the Shogunate's first invasion 20 out of thirty two Norse Kingdoms in North America had small royal standing armies alongside their more traditional forces, even if they usually accounted for less than 5% of all of a kingdom's military manpower.







Only a small number royal troops were deployed against the armies of the Shogunate during the first invasion, but those that were deployed served pretty well. Combined with the fact that they generally were reckoned to be better troops than noblemen the possible threat of a second shogunate invasion was enough to convince a fair number of Things (Parliaments) to support expanding royal armies. Experience with Ashigaru formations was also enough to get them to push for greater use of matchlock firearms and the adoption of gun infantry tactics. Between 1702 and 1740 the average size of a Royal Standing Army in a Norse American Kingdom went from about 2-3,000 to 15,000. Funds that would have been spent equipping field hands with third hand equipment was shifted to outfitting and maintaining professional troops. All the while boot camps, officer training and organization became more formalized and systematic.





The process of professionalization became self sustaining. Lingering doubts were gradually dispelled in wars between the Kingdoms in which Royal Armies beat off old feudal ones. During the Caribbean War they proved themselves quite capable against Tezemco Legions and Crusaders. When the Shogunate launched it's second invasion they were among the more effective forces and reckoned to be on par with Ashigaru, but the fact that so many of them had been deployed overseas or were tied up in other campaigns limited the number that could be deployed meant that the shogunate could overwhelm their forces. Coming back in dribs and drabs, suffering in casualties, harried as they did so, lacking in artillery when they did arrive and deployed in uncoordinated offenses primarily composed of levies and Huskarls the Royal Armies were unable to drive back the Shogunate from it's conquered territory. While it would take some time for the Norse Kingdom's to recover the losses to their coffers that were incured by this defeat, they would soon presue a new line of military reform. Laws were past to increase army funding and new forces were raised.





This fellow is part of that spurt of militarization of the 13th musket Company* of the Kingdom of Tjǫrnsland (OTL Wisconsin, Northern Illinois and Michigan) in 1756. Having incurred significant losses among the forces it had dispatched to deal with the Shogunate, it's Thing had authorized the creation of an Royal Army 40,000 Strong, marginalizing and assimilating much of the the remaining feudal elements in it's armed forces. They had a uniform of green jackets with a distinctive string crossed style of sleeves that had been in fashion in the aftermath of the war, dark grey pants, a leather jerkin with pockets with armor of munitions grade armor which got up to 3mm thick, enough to stop a musketball. Flintlocks by this point had largely superseded matchlocks, either by conversion or replacement, though as bayonets were at this point crude plug affairs swords remained the primary close quarters weapons. A Norse innovation which was a considerable help to said armies was that of paper cartridges with a per-measured load of gunpowder. Bread braids had come back into fashion as part of an increasing interest in romantic ideas of the past that had become popular among the Norse Kingdoms at the time. This was part of the gradually forming common idenity that the norse kingdoms were gradually developing in the aftermath of their defeat and in fear of what might come.







*Indo-Arabic Numerals were more or less directly adopted by Europeans and latter the Norse Americans.

