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Nightstar The Bright
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The Alethi employ a wide range of tactics. One popular tactic that is often used by the Alethi is the hammer and anvil tactic.{{book ref|sa3|3}} The Alethi are also practiced at executing a fake rout, often leading to an ambush.{{book ref|sa4|41}}
The Alethi infantry is usually employed in large block like formations, these blocks can get very large, with some of them being five thousand men strong.{{book ref|sa4|64}} These standard spearmen blocks engage enemies as much as to position them as to do harm.{{book ref|sa3|26}} The Alethi infantry blocks are also extremely mobile, far more so then infantry blocks from other militaries.{{book ref|sa4|47}} The Alethi infantry uses their shields, forming a canopy of sorts, to protect from arrows and throwing spears.{{book ref|sa3|26}} In these spearmen blocks, the front row of soldiers rotates to the back every ten minutes.{{book ref|sa4|64}} This means that for every minute you're fighting, you also have a minute to rest.{{book ref|sa4|49}} For most of Alethi history, due to lack of horses, light infantry was used to harry enemy armies.{{book ref|sa3|52}}
{{sidequote|All wars are games. The greatest kind, with the pieces lost real lives, the prizes captured making for real wealth! This is the life for which men exist. To fight, to kill, to win.|The [[Sadees|Sunmaker]], who shaped modern Alethi militarism{{book ref|sa1|24}}|side=right|size =300px}}
The Alethi are also excellent, by modern standards, at using their surgebinders. Windrunners are used to launch aerial assaults on the enemy, defend the Alethi armies against other [[Surgebinding#gravitation|lashing]] surgebinders and aid in conventional ground attacks.{{book ref|sa4|64}} Besides this, the Windrunners scout the surrounding landscape and aid in moving troops, mostly generals or other high ranking officers, around.{{book ref|sa4|111}} The Edgedancers are mainly used as medics, with their use of the surge of Progression the Edgedancers can heal anyone in a matter of seconds. In contrast to these surgebinders, the Lightweavers don’t enter combat, instead they serve mostly as spies.
The Alethi generals are constantly trying to get an edge over each other, ensuring that Alethi warfare rapidly evolves. During the Unification of Alethkar, around the year 1145, the Kholin army implemented new tactics. These tactics saw the Kholin army dominate other Alethi armies, such as the one commanded by [[Kalanor]]. The army would largely be made up of lighteyed heavy infantry and lightly armoured but fast archers. The middle of the army would contain the heavy infantry, which served to keep the enemy infantry busy, while mobile archer units deployed to the sides, firing down upon the enemy flanks. The enemy infantry would often attempt to engage the archers, but the heavy infantry prevented this, threatening to break through the central block.{{book ref|sa3|26}} A number of years later the Alethi began to make use of smaller more mobile squads.{{book ref|sa3|66}}
Sieges are rare in Alethkar, and often last only a short time. This is due to soulcasters, which make it almost impossible to starve a city out. Instead, the Alethi break down the walls quickly, seize the high ground to pound the city for a while or simply attack, attempting to scale and conquer the walls.{{book ref|sa3|19}}{{book ref|sa3|11}}
▲Sieges are rare in Alethkar, and often last only a short time. This is due to soulcasters, which make it almost impossible to starve a city out. Instead, the Alethi break down the walls quickly, seize the high ground to pound the city for a while or simply attack, attempting to scale and conquer the walls.{{book ref|sa3|19}}{{book ref|sa3|11}} A general also has to make a difficult decision, widely regarded as a conundrum, does he choose the best position to weather storms, or does he seize the high ground. Most generals choose the former.{{book ref|sa1|22}}
==== Shardbearer tactics ====
=== Fortifications ===
==== Shardbearers ====
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