Jade Warriors

"Chaos is anathema to harmony and so we must fight it with every measure of your flesh and soul. You shall give your life willingly if required, for the Dragon Emperor and Moon Empress must preserve and ensure that harmony is kept in balance."

—Decree of Yuan Bo, the Jade Dragon, Master of the Meteor Winds^[2a]

The Jade Warriors are the professional, heavy line infantry of Grand Cathay's Grand Imperial Army, and serve as the Celestial Empire's standing army, supplemented as needed by peasant militia forces. In times of war, they will march to battle armed in numerous possible ways to serve as infantry, ranged infantry or even heavy cavalry, and these units are collectively known as the "Warriors of Jade and Steel."^[2a]

Each city in Cathay maintains its own standing army of Jade Warriors. These troops are well-equipped, by the wealth of their city, with the finest weapons and armour. They carry banners bearing the symbols of their city, as well as the ruling Cathayan Dragon of their region to which their city owes allegiance, all under the icon of the Celestial Dragon Emperor who rules all Cathay. Given their place within the defence of the empire, they are known as Jade Warriors, a stone sacred to the Dragon Emperor, and one that represents the implacable nature of his realm.^[2a]

Role[]

Jade Warriors Total War Concept Art — Jade Warrior concept art for *Total War: Warhammer III*^[1]

Despite its understanding of technologies such as blackpowder, alchemy and steam-driven machinery, Grand Cathay does not rely upon them in battle in the way the Empire and the Dwarfs do. Rather, their technological advances are merely another tool in their vast arsenal, and one that cannot be replaced (in the eyes of the Dragon Emperor at least) by the strength of conventional soldiers. Soldiers like the Jade Warriors in the Cathayan armies fight in ordered ranks, each one trained to move in harmony with those around it, the entire army often fighting like a single organism under the direction of its generals.^[2a]

Whether they fight as melee infantry armed with swords and shields or polearms, crossbowmen, or heavy cavalry, the Jade Warriors serve as the Celestial Empire's standing army, expertly-trained and well-equipped to defend it from Ogres, Greenskins, rebels, Northmen, the forces of Chaos, Daemons or anything else that might wander into the empire across the western and northern frontiers. Each Cathayan city maintains its own regiment of Jade Warriors, and few make their home outside of one of the metropolises that dot the landscape of Grand Cathay.^[1]

The ranged firepower of Grand Cathay is what breaks the enemy, but the Jade Warriors, named after the Celestial Dragon Emperor's sacred green stone, must hold the line and cut down enemies who think them weak.^[1]

Jade Warrior Crossbowmen[]

Jade Warriors The Old World — Jade Warrior Crossbowmen and Jade Warrior melee troop concept art for *Warhammer: The Old World*.^[1]

While typically armed with either a halberd or a single-edged, curved sword and shield, Jade Warriors who show an aptitude for ranged weaponry may instead be equipped with a crossbow and a shield. These Jade Warrior Crossbowmen are a mainstay of Cathayan city defences, entrusted to outrange their opponents and defeat them before they get within striking distance.^[1]

Crossbowmen are the ranged backbone of the Grand Imperial Army of Cathay, comprised of Jade Warriors and even Celestial Dragon Guard who show an aptitude for shooting rather than stabbing or slashing. While Grand Cathay brings powerful magics and giant machinery and magical constructs to war, such units are less ever-present in their armies than other factions. Wizards are an important, precious resource, while the construction required for a Kongming Sky Lantern or Wu-Xing War Compass may be beyond the skills of the poorer cities.^[2a]

The crossbow is as close to industrialised production as the hand-crafted weapons in Grand Cathay get, though there will still be subtle differences between the direction and thus the standard of the crossbows of one master artificer and another. This makes the Jade Warriors equipped with crossbows a mainstay of city defence, entrusted to outrange their opponents and defeat them before they get within striking distance.^[1]

The Jade Warrior Crossbowmen's heavy lamellar armour and octagonal shield makes them difficult for other ranged units to trade fire with effectively. While not a melee unit, these crossbowmen are still Jade Warriors and thus will survive against and even defeat lesser foes in the midst of a close-range engagement.^[1]

Jade Lancers[]

Mounted Jade Warriors, known as Jade Lancers, are the mainstay heavy cavalry of Grand Cathay. Slower but hardier than the standard cavalry of other nations, they support the Cathayan army with heavy charges against infantry.^[1]

Jade Lancers are mounted soldiers of the Jade Warriors who are drawn from the Celestial Empire's great cities like their brethren. The wealthiest cities like Fu-Chow or Wei-jin can afford large contingents of Jade Lancers, though even the remote cities of the south and west can also usually muster at least a unit of these troops. In addition to being a potent tool in the open field, Jade Lancers train to fight in the constricted streets of their cities, and are able to launch devastating charges through narrow alleyways, across bridges and through the tunnels that pierce the city walls.^[2a]

Jade Warriors with Halberds[]

Grand Cathay is a land in harmony with the world around it, with every soldier knowing their place in the grand designs of the Celestial Dragon Emperor. Known as the "Harmony of Stone and Steel," this perfect alignment of purpose and will expresses itself in the discipline of the armies of the Cathayan Dragons. Armed with polearms such as halberds, with heavy armour and shields, Jade Warriors armed with these polearms are the bastion upon which the enemy breaks, be they defending their city's walls or at the very centre of the Cathayan battle line.