Imagine the earth shake as it stomps towards the enemy. The absolute pride and sureness of the mage-general behind it. And the utter terror of those poor sods standing in its way. They with only the steel in their hands to fend off the charging horde of giants shaped of clay, stone, and metal.
Though very difficult to procure even more so to create if not impossible, the Golem Army is an option in fantasy warfare worth exploring. It can provide an overwhelming force to overcome. As well as a goal of a campaign or long quest, or a powerful war machine that requires care in its assemblage and handling.
This military machine or collection thereof could run down most infantry and even Calvary units. The only unit that the golem army would have any disadvantages against would be flying units such as dragons. We will get to those later. A golem army is a collection of animated creatures, magical constructs, and generally golems, which are mostly semi-autonomous. That is when given an order they fulfill it without further instruction. The potential of such a force even a single unit of golems is too great to ignore.
Reasons to assemble or even make the attempt are numerous. However the main points being it can be a line-breaker, shield-breaker, or sap unit. It is an army of war-engines. They can be extremely effective against such battlefield tactics as the Shield Wall or the Tortuga. Golems can easily break skirmish lines or push the enemy line back allowing a clever general to maneuver the enemy into positions beneficial to them. They can also break sieges just as easily as forming them and smash through fortifications and walls like battlefield miners. In these situations, moats may only serve to delay them rather than completely stopping them or limiting the effectiveness of such barriers.
Golems can also lob boulders depending on their raw strength like true siege-engines. The only real question here is where to get the ammo if it is not already lying about on the field of battle. Essentially adding to the logistics of the golem force should the general want the projectile option open.
The golem army poses a few new interesting angles for the GM. From providing the McGuffin to providing the main threat used by the villain of a campaign. The creation of such an army by the PCs is often not a problem as the game system itself probably has many controls regulating the production of golems and animated objects often limiting the number that a single mage can create and/or control. This does complicate things but nothing a smart and resourceful group or organization of characters can accomplish. This allows for a set up that is its own series of adventures for the builder and those wanting to obstruct them. However, system specifics are beyond the scope of this discussion.
The ability to assemble such a magnificent and wondrous engine of destruction will vary from system to system and game-world to game-world therefore this essay will focus on the finer points of the Golem Army leaving the system and setting specifics to individual GM’s and Players.
In the terms of this work, a Golem is a magical construct. Essentially in RPG terms, a magical construct is a magical device that mimics the most basic features of a living being barring reproduction. An RPG golem is an animate, semi-autonomous magical construct created for the purpose of guardianship or protection, in this case as a military war-engine, accomplished through its shear might and durability. It is powerful wizards and those who are privy to powerful magical knowledge that create these creatures for such purposes. The constructs often lack the ability to speak and to think for themselves though they can understand, follow, and execute their master’s orders (More thoroughly discussed in Tabletop Meditations #15: The Golem).
Types of Golems
There are different types of golems based on the materials from which they are constructed. The most common being clay, stone, metal, and flesh among other less common materials. However, we will focus on the basic concept of the golem. The aspects of a different type of golem should be taken into account if they are used. An example would be a unit of flesh golems marching unarmored against a fortification that is hurling fire-pots, sling bullets, and arrows at them.
They would be much more vulnerable to damage than say if the same unit were of clay or stone golems. Why a general would settle for flesh golems instead might include such considerations as cost, time to create, or even availability, perhaps they are just easier to make ne masse. Of course, the general then has to assess their vulnerabilities and equip them to try to mitigate the weakness of animated flesh. In this case equipping the flesh golems with heavy weapons and plate armor would definitely be an option that should be considered.
Animated statues and armor can also be included in this discussion and are in basic terms magical constructs but are much less powerful though just as if not more durable than true golems. These lesser types however are most likely not semi-autonomous and require formal controllers for every move that they make. In this case the vulnerability that must be accounted for are the controllers whom need protection. The range that their control extends is a part of the logistics that cannot be forgotten. The enemy surely will try to exploit any obvious weaknesses, which would be glaring in juxtaposition to such a brutally strong force.
After assessing the essentials, cost, creation, and any profound weaknesses, the golem general needs to figure out where his golems fit into his overall military organization. The basics of a medieval military force formation are the Vanguard, the Core, the Flanks, Rear Guard, and the Skirmish line or Skirmishers. Each section of this overall battlefield organization is broken down to military units such as a certain number of archers counting as an archery unit, horsemen with light armor and lances as a cavalry unit etc. On top of that is the command structure to keep all of that under control and maneuver it on the field of battle.
The Vanguard is the forward force leading during the march to the battle and stays in the rear center ranks consisting of elite and command units where the lord of the army may be sitting to oversee the battle. The Core or middle ranks is the central body of the army its battlefield formation consisting of all of the regular army units and their officers. The Flanks are to the far right and left side of the Core or middle and consist of smaller but strong units in order to secure the flanks from attack limiting the vulnerability of the core of the army from unexpected attacks from different angles.
The Rear Guard is the units at the rear of the main force and behind the Vanguard securing the entire army from an attack from the rear. The Skirmishers are often irregulars that form a battle line in front of the main force a few lines deep and are sent ahead to test the enemy’s defenses and strengths. These troops are typically equipped to balance speed and attack power as they are also used to exhaust and harass the enemy prior to the engagement of any units from the main force. There are also Scouting Parties which are either formed from certain main units or are their own specialized light units which are more use on the march than on the actual battlefield. Scouts might be of more use to guard the camp during the battle. However, golems are pretty much useless as scouts.
In a typical medieval force, the controllers and masters of the golems would most likely hold the rank of sergeant over their own unit even if not ranked formally within the normal command hierarchy based on their functions. Golems and constructs are seemingly best as skirmishers or heavy units kept at the core of the army until used like war chariots. The ranks part and the tight ranks of these war machines are unleashed to ram through the lines of the enemy preceded by a charge of skirmishers and followed by the advance of several other core units. However, if the golem units are small they can be useful as flank guards.
The Battle Formations of a Golem Army
Golem units need controllers though those that are true golems would be semi-autonomous requiring a commander as a normal military unit but that still has control access. Of course, such a unit can simply be ordered to advance leaving their commander in the rear but if tight control is not maintained they could just continue in a straight line forever. They would roll over fields like a tank or full armored division ruining pastures, flattening crops, and carving ruts into the land that could last centuries.
Although, being a military unit forged by mages and being nearly unstoppable as it is the Golem army would have no need to use fancy formations but instead would be a solid wall or bludgeon of stony limbs and stamping iron shod feet. Instead, the Golem Army would be a core unit marching as one and would be of more strategic use as the spearhead of the regular military units. The most useful strategies when directing this force would be either to run down an enemy force thus breaking through its lines and wreaking untold havoc and devastation or to have it smash straight through a solid barrier. Either tactic would not have any use for advanced maneuvers aside from forming a line or a tight/loose rectangle or wedge.
A golem army would serve well as the advance force of a larger traditional army, as you cannot conquer territory without an occupying force only destroy or delay with a golem force. This advance force would fit into the standard military formation as a tight unit ahead of the skirmishers. This advance unit could work as the head of the spear or the horns of the ram in order to break through enemy lines or even pummel through walls.
The appearance of a golem army unit would be patchwork and improvised at best due to the range of types of golems; magic constructs, and/or animated statuary/armor not to mention a variance in quality and power from golem to golem. This considering that building a golem unit would be difficult at best and require the work of several different mages.
A prime arming strategy when dealing with such a patchwork unit being to arm as many as possible with magic or enhanced weapons to increase their effectiveness on the battlefield should they hold that capability this adding to the makeshift appearance of the army. Although equipping a unit in this manner would make the strengths and weaknesses of that unit a bit harder to pin down for the enemy. Though a golem army can move like a machine, it will have a sloppy, patchy appearance depending on the quality of craftmanship.
Building it In Game
Equipping and enhancing an already assembled force of constructs is one but building it in game is another. Actually having the PCs (or NPCs) assemble such an army within the game is another matter aside from questing to recover a lost army of golems and the ancient artifact to control it. The main problem is the mass of differences found within the multitude of available rule sets and game systems even settings. Therefore, in lieu of a strict list of directions let us discuss a few general points about the construction of the Golem Army.
It will probably require a central high-level mage, their apprentice, and several low to mid-level mages as allies to help create and perhaps control the different units of the army. It is a pressing issue for the would-be general of a golem army to recruit and befriend mages of all types and experience levels in the hopes of gaining allies that can collectively produce the needed number of constructs.
This brings us to the controllers/masters of the golems who may or may not be the aforementioned mages. The deaths of these controllers may not stop the golem part of the army who will continue to carry out their last instructions until actually stopped by force. Essentially, there is a certain responsibility in bringing such a weapon of perpetual destruction to the battlefield. This also forces the general to keep the logistics of defense in mind concerning potentially the most powerful part of their military forces.
Although it might not be an option for the PCs to forge such a war-machine in game, it holds quite a treasure trove of material for the wary Game Master. If it is a potential in-game build then it should be the first half of a larger campaign. There needs to be a reason for the PCs to either find it or build it. This would take up the first half of the overall campaign, the second dominated by the PCs learning to wield their newfound power to complete the campaigns main objective i.e. conquering an objective locale or confronting an enemy force and stopping it in its tracks.
A Tool of War and the GM
The golem army is absolutely a tool of war but it is also a tool for the GM to use to shape their campaign and the constituent adventures. Adventures can swirl around the construction, discovery, or operation of the golems. It could be the PCs trying to create it or it could the characters trying to thwart certain NPCs from achieving the same goal. Perhaps in a time of war it is both. Either way the golem army is a mythical level thing.
A golem army is certainly a thing of legends and after a big battle involving such a force there will be rumors, stories, and legends about it. If an army is built during one campaign, it can carry over to another afterwards as relics or artifacts to be discovered. In a discovery-quest, clues would come from histories, epic poems, and bard songs as well as local legends and stories as well as the scars on the land. Note that these legends and stories can also vilify the creator(s) of the army for all times especially if a disaster occurs due to mismanagement of such a weapon.
The golem army may be the Ultimate Weapon on a medieval fantasy battlefield and is definitely the equivalent of a heavy armored division in a modern army. However, it is not anywhere as fast and may actually be harder to stop. The weapons that could destroy them being the ammunition of alchemists, some sorts of spell fire (useless if golems/constructs are immune to magic), and other fantasy super-weapons such as dragon-riders which themselves are just as hard if not impossible to obtain as well as control.
The golem army is also useful as a major impediment to the PCs when facing their arch villain. They are faced with the ultimate enemy and have to use their wits as well as their shear brute strength in defeating the villain and his golem army. Golems are also great as an element in the final battle and make a great set piece especially when efforts to directly counteract or oppose them come into operation. Such a war-engine can ratchet the tension to near snapping when acting as an unstoppable force that must be stopped at all costs. In the opposite vein, the golem army can be a tool that requires epic management by the PCs to maintain, control, and direct.
The Final Word
A golem army can fulfill multiple purposes in an RPG campaign. It can give PCs wanting to carve out a piece of the campaign world for themselves a direction in the quest to build, assemble, or recover such a thing. The GM on the other hand, can use it as a treasure of legend with a story behind it including the discovery of an item that controls the full army, a single unit, or a single golem. The army can also be used as the ultimate (or penultimate) barrier between the PCs and their final goal. It is also an excuse to use Mass Combat and pull out the minis as well.
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