Battlefield: Equestria Unit Reference Guide, Third Edition

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A human mercenary group bred and enlisted from the Foresters, specializing in special and maneuver warfare. Because their native homeland was destroyed by the forces of Chaos, these woodsman-turned-soldiers must  utilize their skills to buy new plots of land. Due to this, they are extremely expensive and work only for the highest bidder.

Special Faction Rules

Mercenary Army: Ghosts can only be deployed as support to another force, whether that be a government or another mercenary band.

History

The Foresters had long been experienced in survival and fighting. During the formation of the Shattered Empire, there were several groups reluctant to the reformation of, as they saw, corrupt and decadent human culture and refused to leave their land for the borders of Equestria, and chose to stay in their native forest land. They saw the destruction of the old empire as a sign they had strayed from Lord and they had grown weak because of it.

The different groups soon united and became known as the Foresters. From there they farmed and lived, passing ancient traditions and knowledge from generation to generation. Each are skilled in woodland survival as it is a passive right of initiation into the fullness of their communities. This is not to say that they were hunter-gatherers or refused scientific knowledge; they had large towns and research centers. They simply tend to move out along the frontier when population raises in density, and towns lean more towards self-sufficiency than reliance on the goods from foreign trade that Imperial cities demanded. They treated trade as something extra to their survival. However, on the world stage, they were insignificant as they occupied the forests neither the Empire, ponies, or Griffons wanted, and did not take advantage of large-scale industry that the other nations had a grasp of.

However, on one fateful day, Discord opened a gate to the other realm inside their forest, driving them out. The Foresters became nomadic and were forced to nearby lands. Unfortunately, this lead to them sharing a border with the much more powerful Griffon and Equestrian kingdoms. They were unable to safely remake their old way of life, resorting to roving tribes that kept in constant communication and strict social values to retain any sense of civilization. Dirt poor, hungry, and without possessions, these woodsmen must rely on other nations to keep their people and heritage. However, they came up with a solution: mercenarism. Their official military force is rented out to other governments at high prices and the money goes directly to the Forester government. Their military is trained to use every advantage and disadvantage against the enemy, and train in a variety of environments to be useful for any potential renter. They use the money to not only strengthen them themselves to protect against griffon bandits and the occasional Chaos warband, but also to build a fund to buy new land and set up a permanent home and become a truly mighty nation.

Government

The Foresters are led by a single First Elder, who is elected by the Elders, leaders of each individual tribe. Those Elders are, in turn, elected by their tribe. The Elders and their government agents do not have unlimited power over their tribe, but do lead as though they were military commanders. Although not officially written in a constitution, the general inalienable rights bestowed upon by Lord Himself are life, liberty, and property unless the particular citizen infringes upon those rights of another.

Culture

The Foresters are extremely religious, value self-sufficiency, and are extremely disciplined as a people. They are raised from birth to put the needs of the tribe above themselves. The men are encouraged to join the Ghost Division, their military force, and are conscripted into public services at adulthood for several years (exact number depending on the tribe). Women take care of the domestic upkeep of their communities, from home to business to hunting and even the militia in some tribes. Importantly, however, all mature members of the community are sworn in service to the ideals of the tribe, not necessarily those who lead it.

Units

Main unit: Ghost. Squads of five stealth specialists who are nigh impossible to detect. Armed with modified breech-loading rifles designed for longer ranges, they will travel for days undetected and engage at relatively extreme ranges and disengage once the enemy is able to fight back. They are unarmored; according to their combat doctrine, if they are in a situation where they need armor, they are dead anyway. No infantry is safe. Even in a prolonged firefight, soldiers must catch up to the effective range of their weapons to even fight back.

Main unit: Sapper. Squads of five armed with either traditional rifles (carbines to them) or carbine-length revolver rifles and satchel charges that penetrate enemy lines in order to destroy enemy hardware. They are averagely effective against light infantry but next to useless against heavier units. If they strike first, no vehicles or emplacements are safe.

Special unit: Sniper. Two mutually-supporting teams of two travel the skirts of the battlefield and sometimes enemy lines for reconnaissance and assassination purposes. Once used to kill an enemy, however, they must immediately escape and cannot be used again. For reconnaissance purposes, they utilize a magical pony-made communication gem to speak to their commander. If they are in range of an anti-magic field, they must retreat back to friendly lines to give reports, which may be days or even weeks old.