Scaffolding for a domain wargame set in future-medieval Michigan. Imagi-nations style.

Assumptions

  1. Land can support 20 people per sq mi.
  2. A mounted combatant (a “knight”) requires 300 peoples’ / 75 households worth of productive capacity to support.
  3. Feudal retinues can be as large as ~two dozen (25) direct subordinates (barons to kings, knights to barons).
  4. Maximum military mobilization during the fighting season is 5% (one male per per sqmi).
  5. Urbanization rates of 5%. 4% in small towns, 1% in large towns.
  6. Small towns have a population of approximately 2,000 people. Large towns have 4,000 people.

Resultants

  1. A knight requires 15 square miles to support himself, and can have a retinue of 15 men
  2. A baron can muster up to 25 knights and 400 men, and he and his enfoeffed lords rule over 400 sqmi.
  3. A king or earl rules over up to 25 barons, 650 knights, and can muster an army of 10,000 men. His kingdom is approximately 10,000 sqmi in size.
  4. One small town is present for every 2,000 sqmi. It has a population of approximately 2,000 people and can field a militia of approximately 100 men.
  5. One large town is present for every 10,000 sqmi. It has a population of approximately 4,000 and can field a militita of approximately 200 men. It is likely a free city pledged directly to the king.

Michigan Townships & Counties

Michigan has 68 counties in the Lower Peninsula, and 15 counties in the UP.

A township in Michigan is a square 6 mi to a side (36 sqmi). It can thus support…

  • 720 farmers
  • 36 fighting men
  • 2 knights

A county in Michigan is generally 24 mi to a size (16 townships or 576 sqmi). It can thus support…

  • 11,520 people
  • 576 fighting men
  • 38 or so knights
  • 1 or 2 barons

A king could rule over a substantial part of Michigan (12 to 25 counties). Likely…

  • 3 or 4 kings in the Lower Peninsula
  • 1 king in the Upper Peninsula

Michigan Kingdoms

Kingdom of… Area (sqmi) Counties Small Towns Large Towns Population Fighting Men Knights Barons
Detroit 9,428 16 3 1 198,564 9,929 629 22
Grand Rapids 8,661 15 3 1 183,216 9,162 576 19
Grand Traverse 10,508 20 4 1 222,154 11,105 700 22
Marquette 16,228 15 6 2 344,570 17,229 1,082 41
Saginaw 9,914 17 3 1 208,288 10,417 661 22

Kingdom of Grand Rapids

Counties: Allegan Barry Berrien Branch Calhoun Cass Eaton Ionia Kalamazoo Kent Montcalm Muskegon Ottawa St. Joseph Van Buren

Large Town: Grand Rapids
Small Towns: Benton Harbor Kalamazoo Muskegon

Kingdom of Grand Traverse

Counties: Antrim Benzie Charlevoix Cheboygan Clare Emmet Grand Traverse Isabella Kalkaska Lake Leelanau Manistee Mason Mecosta Missaukee Newaygo Oceana Osceola Otsego Wexford

Large Town: Grand Traverse Small Towns: Cadillac Ludington Mount Pleasant Petoskey

Kingdom of Detroit

Counties: Clinton Genesee Hillsdale Ingham Jackson Lapeer Lenawee Livingston Macomb Monroe Oakland Sanilac Shiawassee St. Clair Washtenaw Wayne

Large Town: Detroit Small Towns: Ann Arbor Flint Lansing

Kingdom of Saginaw

Counties: Alcona Alpena Arenac Bay Crawford Gladwin Gratiot Huron Iosco Midland Montmorency Ogemaw Oscoda Presque Isle Roscommon Saginaw Tuscola

Large Town: Saginaw Small Towns: Alpena Bad Axe Tawas Bay

Kingdom of Marquette

Counties: Alger Baraga Chippewa Delta Dickinson Gogebic Houghton Iron Keweenaw Luce Mackinac Marquette Menominee Ontonagon Schoolcraft

Large Towns: Marquette Sault St. Marie Small Towns: Calumet Copper Harbor Escanaba Houghton Iron Mountain Menominee

Surroundings

Barbarians in surrounding states (Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio), natually. Friendly but distant relations with the principalities of the Ontario Peninsula. Sea raiders from Thunder Bay cross Lake Superior to raid the copper mines of the Keweenaw Peninsula.