Marines

"Marines never play fair, they just play to win."

―Adage of the Malazan marines

"It ain't our job to react [to the enemy]--it's our job to hit first and make them do the reacting."

―Antsy, quoting Marine doctrine

The marine corps were infantry forces invented by Emperor Kellanved and unique to the Malazan Empire. In the Malazan Military, they were the most versatile combat forces, called in to fight in many different situations. With the addition of sappers, they often acted as shock troops, first to assault enemy positions; as skirmishers, screening heavy and medium infantry's advance; or sometimes taking part in covert and sabotage operations.

Their signature weapon was the crossbow and they were also armed with both short swords and long swords, which were sheathed at belts or shoulder harnesses. Some marines carried shields or more exotic weapons as a matter of preference. For secondary weapons, they used all manners of knives and daggers.

Unique to the 7th Army's marines, every third soldier was also armed with a large, round shield made of thick, soft wood. These shields, studded with spiked iron, were used to catch and hold enemy weapons and discarded after the first few minutes of fighting.

The marines had a great variety in terms of armour. Although the standard Marine armour was studded boiled leather with iron bands over the shoulders and hips, others wore blackened chain underneath leathers or on its own. Less common but still worn by various Marines were scaled breastplates, scaled hauberks, standard army leather hauberks (sometimes riveted with rows of blued steel lozenges). Other members who came from different tribes or newly conquered territories, however, could choose to wear their traditional armours. For example, some Wickans wore studded boiled leather hauberks with mailed sleeves and likewise at least two marines from Seven Cities wore mail shirts under long surcoats.

Marines built strictly regimented camps, digging defensive trenches and raising banks about them even if the camp was intended for a single night. Refuse was burned and buried.

They could silently communicate with each other using hand-signals known as the Marine Cant.

Marines who died in battle were usually buried where they fell, unless they died in large numbers. Then the bodies were gathered and a barrow built over them. It was said "at least one dead Malazan marine guards every border of the empire."

Selected marines

Captain Lull Lieutenant Ranal Sergeant Borduke Sergeant Gesler Sergeant Strings Corporal Hubb Corporal Stormy Corporal Tarr Balgrid Bottle

Cuttle Galt Ibb Koryk Limp Lobe Lutes Masan Gilani Maybe Pella

Ruffle Sands Sa'yless Lorthal Skim Skulldeath Smiles Tavos Pond Throatslitter Truth

Notable marine units

• 4th squad of the Bonehunters
• Adjunct Lorn's bodyguards - a group of elite Jakatakan marines, assigned to protect Lorn during the Genabackis Campaign. They used tulwars instead of the straight swords more typically used by Malazans.
• Bridgeburners
• Sialk Marines of the Chain of Dogs
• XIVth Legion

In The God is Not Willing

(Information needed)

Trivia

According to author Steven Erikson, the Malazan marines were "kind of a mix between crossbow-equipped shock troops and the Roman Legionnaire", who possessed short-bladed weapons. "It's all about the discipline, it's not about reach, it's not about all these things the barbarians brought against the Romans, which all failed. It's actually about being very disciplined and infighting, lots of infighting" to get inside an opponent's guard.

Notes and references

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