Final soldier design type: Anache pathfinders. Female and male designs. Any feedback is most welcome!
The Anache are a creation of my own for First Empress; I think of them as sort of an amalgam of the heavy skirmisher soldiers and the D&D ranger class. They wear dark colors to blend with the night and woodlands, including dying their linen cuirasses green, brown, or grey. Their tunics are usually dark grey and they wear leather bracers and greaves instead of bronze. Lastly, their helms are blackened, dull bronze to keep from reflecting sunlight. They carry unadorned, dark colored shields and 2-3 javelins. They're often known to paint their faces in dark colors for additional camouflage. Kopis and xiphos short swords are standard issue, though some carry axes or short spears as well.
The Anache were formed as part of Queen Viarra’s generals’ efforts to counter barbarian raids from the Vedrian Highlands. Generally recruited for forestry and scouting experience, they’re trained to move quickly and quietly through wooded or otherwise rugged areas. Working in squads of 8-20ish, the Anache aid the main army by scouting, screening, patrolling, and infiltrating enemy territory. They may be involved in small-time raids or may lead larger groups of soldiers in larger-scale actions. In battle they may be deployed for flanking, skirmishing, suppressing enemy ranged units, or harrying enemy reinforcements.
The Anache are named after the wraith Anache, a figure from Tollesian folklore. Anache is a trickster figure and favored minion of Orova, the goddess of night, shadows, and darkness.