Medieval SBS / SEALS ?

[Coppernerves]

So I've been playing this RPG/Strategy/Politics game lately, with a setting of roughly medieval technology and aesthetic.

At the moment, whenever the navy needs intelligence on an island they're planning to assault, they have to get the intelligence agency to do it.

So I thought it'd be really cool to get the intelligence agency to train 12 experienced marines in infiltration, stealth, wilderness survival, assassination, escape and evasion, that kind of thing.

They'd also get fencing training like the officers, instead of the usual grunts sword drills, and learn precision marksmanship.

Did commandos like that exist before infantry firearms? Any ideas for what to call them?

Actually I suppose they'd be like ninjas, except western instead of eastern.
Did pre-gunpowder Western Europe ever have ninjas?

 

[Orange12345]

Spies or Agents I guess? I don't think there was a word like "ninja" for covert jobs. Or hell just make them assassin's for assassin's creed

 

[Frungy]

Okay, first off a little history. The word commando comes from small groups of farmers in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer wars (the Brits vs the Dutch farmers). A small group of farmers would get together, take a few shots at the marching Brits, and then duck back to their respective fields and pretend nothing happened. This made it impossible for the Brits to figure out who was shooting at them... the solution was kindof tragic, they rounded up all civilians, including women and children, and stuck them in the world's first concentration camps without sufficient food, clean water and medical supplies. Naturally countless died.

What I'm getting at is that a "commando" is any small group of individuals engaged in covert action. The South African commandos weren't the first, Japan had the ninja, India the thuggi, the Middle East had the Hasshashin (Assassins on hash... I kid you not!), Europe had sappers (sappers didn't just tunnel under walls, they also inflitrated castles silently took out guards... the leather bag filled with rocks or later lead shot called a "sap" comes from the sappers), etc.

These are just the formal military incarnations of much, much earlier tactics though. If you go further back you'll find similar tactics and unit formations being used for cattle raids, and even further back than that you'll find the first hunting parties looked a lot like modern commandos. In fact there are still small groups of mountain-men in modern Japan who use ancient tactics for bear-hunting - no rifles, no modern equipment - instead it's a group of 5 men who go out with spears and hunt bears.

So yeah, if you want to call this group something then I'd suggest a "hunting party"... but without the bright red jackets and hunting horns, because honestly that's just modern sillyness.

 

[Albino Boo]

There was no special name or training for this kind of thing in western Europe. Some castles where taken by stratagem or ruses but most fell to direct assault. As for assassination, that was very uncommon in the medieval period. The preferred method was open warfare, with the respective leaders in the front line. When you get to the mid 1400s assassination starts appearing in Italy but the killers where just ordinary people. Mostly ex soldiers that did it for the money, but not always even that. In the Pazzi conspiracy, one of the killers was a priest. His family where supporters of the Pazzi against the Medici, so he was more than happy to stick the knife in.

I think the closest thing I can think off for what you want is intelligencer. Its from the tudor period and basically means spy but does not sound modern

 

[Albino Boo]

What I'm getting at is that a "commando" is any small group of individuals engaged in covert action. The South African commandos weren't the first, Japan had the ninja, India the thuggi, the Middle East had the Hasshashin (Assassins on hash... I kid you not!), Europe had sappers (sappers didn't just tunnel under walls, they also inflitrated castles silently took out guards... the leather bag filled with rocks or later lead shot called a "sap" comes from the sappers), etc.

The Thuggi was not a covert operational force but much more like the mafia. They where basically a thieves guild which worshipped one particular aspect of Kali. The Hasshashin again where not really a covert military force but a sect of Shia Islam, this sect was rather small and persecuted by mainstream Sunni Islam. Their method of protection consisted of hard take take fortress and sending one guy out stoned out of his mind on a one way trip to kill the leader of the attacking force. Its more like the medieval equivalent of the suicide bomber rather than an elite force. They lost their fortress with the coming of the mongols and where driven further and further east. They are now know as Ismaili and now they are, ironically, the most liberal sect of Islam. As for sappers they where just disposable peasant, with only on the job training.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Spies are described in The Art of War, written several centuries BC. I think it's fair to say every great historical army has had a small(er) dettachment of spies/units dedicated to ordeals requiring a bit more finesse than usual. Whatever they were called.

 

[Coppernerves]

While looking up the ninja, I found this:

Anyone else reminded of Ezios' outfit?

 

[Frungy]

What I'm getting at is that a "commando" is any small group of individuals engaged in covert action. The South African commandos weren't the first, Japan had the ninja, India the thuggi, the Middle East had the Hasshashin (Assassins on hash... I kid you not!), Europe had sappers (sappers didn't just tunnel under walls, they also inflitrated castles silently took out guards... the leather bag filled with rocks or later lead shot called a "sap" comes from the sappers), etc.

The Thuggi was not a covert operational force but much more like the mafia. They where basically a thieves guild which worshipped one particular aspect of Kali. The Hasshashin again where not really a covert military force but a sect of Shia Islam, this sect was rather small and persecuted by mainstream Sunni Islam. Their method of protection consisted of hard take take fortress and sending one guy out stoned out of his mind on a one way trip to kill the leader of the attacking force. Its more like the medieval equivalent of the suicide bomber rather than an elite force. They lost their fortress with the coming of the mongols and where driven further and further east. They are now know as Ismaili and now they are, ironically, the most liberal sect of Islam. As for sappers they where just disposable peasant, with only on the job training.

Just a quick correction, but if you re-read my post you'll note that the original commandos weren't part of any official military organisation, and were considered criminals by the Brits. This makes the line between them and people like the Thuggi, Hasshashin, etc a lot blurrier. Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men could be considered proto-commandos by some, and a bunch of thieving bandits by others. The line between criminal/military/random hooligans is a lot less distinct than one would think.