Desperate Units

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

Would you like this idea of Desperate units that becomes available under specific conditions. one that's not generally available under normal combat circumstances but certain constrains gave out the needs that otherwise wouldn't lead to?
And what's more on this actually

Unit​	Domain​	Type​	Enabling Conditions​
Shock Troops	Land	Melee (literally, they have minimum firepower)	- Too many failed land assaults against Infantry Units (At least ten land units casaulties against fortified enemy Infantry, without killing a single enemy unit successfully); Western Front of the First World War. - Weak Industry: China Fronts in the 20s-40s ... Japanese Empire and Soviet Russia (lack of munitions, Japan has always been lackings of good amounts of ammo to feed its large army and navy, to this end Army had to use feedstrip or box magazine based MGs which were inferior to beltfeds)
Battle Carrier (Including Aviation Cruisers)	Sea	Ranged + Aircraft Carrier	- Lost too many numbers of Late Modern era naval units within ONE TURN; Midway Aftermath, Imperial Japanese Navy had to add flight decks to the rear half of their TWO Dreadnought era BBs and assigned some torpedo bombers to the two. (Ise and Hyuga), this venture ain't help Japan in the end. - Diplomatic Constrains; Cold War. a treaty that denies a movement of CVs through Bosphorus Channel.
Kamikaze Fighters	Air	Fighter	- Lost too many aircrafts in one turn to enemy conbat. - Large numbers of Enemy Units are less than TEN tiles from Player's capitol.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

I like this idea. It also just gave me an idea for a Religious Belief or Civ ability (Afghanistan's, maybe?) that you can expend faith to spawn free units near the capital with the condition that enemy units are within your territory or within five tiles of your capital. Those units could be regular units or weaker versions.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

There is a huge potential for a mechanic like this in the game, from one end of the timescale to the other. Some examples that immediately spring to mind:

1. When Athens had to rebuild her city defenses - the "Long Walls" on short notice, the entire population of the city turned out, including women and children, to gather materials and pile up emergency fortifications. Workers/Productin out of Nowhere, basically. This could apply to either rebuilding walls destroyed in a siege/battle or the build new fortifications when the enemy is approaching - IF the city Loyalty is high enough, obviously. Perhaps implemented by an 'emergency' Worker generated in the 'right' situation just for Building Forts/Walls.

2. Rome famously recruited several Legions in various emergency situations from slaves or criminals. I don't think anybody called them Great Troops, but recruiting Outside the Norm is very common when the situation gets bad: both Nazi Germany and Soviet Union called up boys as young as 15 and men as old as 50 for their regular infantry before the end of WWII, because they had simply run out of any alternative manpower. This was in addition to Landwehr or Volksturm or People's Militia troops, who regularly included men as old as 60, semi-invalids, boys, semi-recovered wounded or sick (one German division was known as the "white bread" division because they all had stomach illnesses that required a special diet)

3. Suicide Troops of all kinds are another Last Ditch Measure: whether they are Bodyguards sworn not to survive their Leader/King in battle, or special parts of the population - women's battalions, students, youths, retirees brought back - sworn to "die in the last ditch" they show up - again, whenever the Loyalty is high enough or made high enough through hatred of the enemy or love of country/city.

4. Speaking of suicide troops, in addition to the official Japanese kamikaze aircraft, from the first day of the German invasion Soviet pilots, with inferior training and experience and inferior aircraft, resorted to ramming enemy planes to knock them down. They were called 'taran' (ram) attacks, and the thinking was that trading a semi-obsolete fighter aircraft and one pilot for a bomber with a crew of 5 or 6 was a Good Trade. It also scared the crap out of German aircrews, because there is not much you can do to stop a Manned Missile determined to take you down with him.

5. Which brings us to Fervor, religious, ideological or otherwise. When people are convinced that God is on their side, or something they love is threatened, they produce extraordinary results. Numerous military forces have been generated entirely by religious feeling, ranging from Crusades to Crusading and Religious military units (Templars, Assassins, Thugs – even Conquistadores sort of fit) - and with varying degrees of usefulness. The initial Mass Uprising of recruits for the French Revolutionary armies in 1789 - 1791 which virtually swamped invading armies is another example, of a secular Fervor which, when harnessed, was a war-winner. In July 1941, in addition to mass conscription of reservists, in the USSR 'militia' or Opolchenye volunteers were raised in numerous towns and cities - over 35 divisions of them. Some survived to become regular army units later, but all of t hem were in addition to the regularly-raised new units and manpower that the government planned for. Virtually the same thing happened in 1812 when Napoleon invaded: among other groups, the entire University of Kazan student body and faculty formed a militia regiment and marched off to the front - overweight. overaged professors, underaged students and all!

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

^ Do you count Battlecarriers and Aviation Cruisers among these?

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

^ Do you count Battlecarriers and Aviation Cruisers among these?

No. Both of those were planned constructions toy address specific tactical/operational needs: the Battle Cruiser for a faster capital ship to operate like the Japanese heavy cruiser squadron had at Tsushima, the Aviation Cruiser for extended fleet reconnaissance cheaper than a full-sized Aircraft Carrier.

Converting a Trade Route into an aircraft carrier to represent the conversion of passenger liners into small fleet carriers by the Japanese in WWII - that wuld be a Desperation Unit.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

Nah.
One option I do see is maybe converting population into military units. As mentioned. In Civ, City ranged attacks sort-of indirectly does this, as more populated cities put out more damage. I know Humankind can create militia-type units but only if a city is besieged.

Converting a Trade Route into an aircraft carrier to represent the conversion of passenger liners into small fleet carriers by the Japanese in WWII - that wuld be a Desperation Unit.

I know ships like the Queen Mary were turned into troop transports in the World Wars; maybe sea trade routes can be used as some type of ferrying service in lieu of gold income.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Nah.
One option I do see is maybe converting population into military units. As mentioned. In Civ, City ranged attacks sort-of indirectly does this, as more populated cities put out more damage. I know Humankind can create militia-type units but only if a city is besieged.

I know ships like the Queen Mary were turned into troop transports in the World Wars; maybe sea trade routes can be used as some type of ferrying service in lieu of gold income.

I would like to see a new basic definition of military units in the game: Amateur versus Professional.
Professional would be the permanent units, which require sometimes very expensive Maintenance but can gain Promotions and use weapons that require continuous training, like Swords, Lances from horseback, Nuclear Missiles, etc. They are like all units now except for the maintrnance cost, which would be prohibitive unless you have a large, bureaucratically-managed Empire with lots of lucrative trade and a sophisticated Taxation Apparatus - in other words, Rome or China or the Inca but very few others until much later.

Amateur are folks called up for the (military) emergency. These range from Warriors and civilians who brought their own weapons and showed up when called, like tribal warriors, Saxon Fyrdsmen or Greek Hoplites, to later militia (German Landswehr, Russian Opolchenye) organized by the State but with little training. What they all have in common is that they expect to Go Home as soon as possible, and the longer they stay 'in uniform' the more it hurts your economy, because they are also the people who work the fields and factories for a living. Keep them in service too long, and they have to be replaced somehow or your economy collapses.

Amateur does not necessarily mean Poor Troops: the pre-Marian Roman Legions were all 'draftees' called up as needed, and they crushed Carthage and largely conquered Italy. The Greek Hoplites (except for the Spartans) were all Amateurs, and nobody wanted to face them if they could avoid it.

Another point is that the Expensive-to-Keep Professionals can also be kept by Social Policy. The Feudal System basically provided land to a knightly class so they could maintain themselves while they trained and equipped for War. BUT, like Amateurs, they could not be away from their fiefs for too long or they got run into the ground, and of course it also meant the central State (you, da gamer) got no tax or income from the land directly, so it was a delicate balancing act to keep a central state operating and also get the most out of all those knights and potential knights.
Another example would be the Comitatus, the Bodyuard of a chieftain or king, sworn to stay with him in battle to the death. These were all professional warriors supported by the chieftain, so in game terms they were not necessarily a burden on the central State, but could be a seriously disruptive force if the chieftains decided to go their own way. The concept dates back to at least the Bronze Age, so it may be the oldest way to get Professional troops without draining the State of gold.

And virtually all the great passenger liners they could get their governmental hands on were turned into troopships by the Allies in WWII. One good reason was that they were all 2 - 3 times faster than the normal cargo vessels, so could sail outside of convoys and get to their destination much faster, and a really big one like the Queen Mary could carry an entire Division (15,000 men) all by herself. Another good example of the kind of 'benefit' potentially available from Trade Routes . . .

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

Just when I thought this stagnant forum might not see any fruitful discussion until Civ VII’s announcement, a gem like this pops up.

On the note of militias/amateur soldiers, I had the idea that converting certain specialists in a city to troops might have differing effects on your army. For instance, a priest taking up arms might have an impact on his comrades fervor.

If we wanted to extend this to Industrial Zones, there’s also the concept of civilian engineers repurposing their materials, knowledge, and equipment.

I’m no historian- these are just some vague thoughts on how to apply the existing specialty districts into the concepts discussed above. I doubt these examples are accurate (but would be pleasantly surprised if they were!).

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Just when I thought this stagnant forum might not see any fruitful discussion until Civ VII’s announcement, a gem like this pops up.

On the note of militias/amateur soldiers, I had the idea that converting certain specialists in a city to troops might have differing effects on your army. For instance, a priest taking up arms might have an impact on his comrades fervor.

If we wanted to extend this to Industrial Zones, there’s also the concept of civilian engineers repurposing their materials, knowledge, and equipment.

I’m no historian- these are just some vague thoughts on how to apply the existing specialty districts into the concepts discussed above. I doubt these examples are accurate (but would be pleasantly surprised if they were!).

I don't personally know of any specific collection of civilians using their civilian skills in combat with any major effect - the skills even for ancient or classical combat are simply too different, except of course for pastoral nomads, all of whom daily practice mounted archery to protect their herds: a skill notoriously hard for settled farmers or city-dwellers to find time for, or a place to keep the required horses.

On the other hand, there are groups of people that are readily available to 'call up' for military service. Rural peasant farmers being one, the basis for such 'militia' groups as the French medieval Arriere-ban and the Anglo-Saxon Great Fyrd. In both cases a percentage (1 in 5 to 1 in 10 were typical) of every group of farmers were required to show up for a campaign, while the other 9 to 19 supported his family at home, tilled his fields for him, and helped provide him with the required military equipment. The minimum of that I have found was from 9th - 10th century England, where each Fyrdman was required to have a wooden shield, a metal-tipped spear, and food for X days (the number varied wildly). In parts of France, the 'militia' were also required, some of them, to show up with a horse and act as light cavalry.

In classical Greece (and Etruscany and Rome, who also adopted the Hoplite system) only men from the upper middle class who owned land and had the money to buy their own armor, shield, spear, and helmet could be Hoplites, but that was still a much larger percentage of the population than the older aristocracy ('oligarchy').

In late medieval Flanders, with the textile and other Guilds firmly established, the city militia were largely taken from the Guild Apprentices, but supplied with equipment by the very rich Guild Masters. The result was an extremely effective 'Militia' armed with Pikes and equipped with link mail body armor and helmets and given time enough to drill with their weapons. Their effectiveness was demonstrated at the battle of Courtrai, where they butchered the Royal Army of France in 1302 CE (mounted knights basically impaling themselves on hedges of pikes) and afterwards hung up 700 pairs of gilded spurs in the city's cathedral as trophies - representing 700 noblemen with no more need for them on this earth.

To repeat, 'Amateurs' are not necessarily not as good as Professionals, but they are ephemeral - you have to send them home - and much cheaper.

To make it work in game terms, 'calling up' the Amateurs should have an Economic Effect because you are pulling workers in some or most categories (20th century militia took everybody but actual Weapons Factory workers, which meant the others had to be replaced to keep food and raw materials flowing). One cheap Game Way might be to temporarily remove a population point from working a tile for every 'amateur' unit you call up. That would put a distinct limit on the numbers available and also Immediately create a negative effect from relying completely on Amateurs.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

To make it work in game terms, 'calling up' the Amateurs should have an Economic Effect because you are pulling workers in some or most categories (20th century militia took everybody but actual Weapons Factory workers, which meant the others had to be replaced to keep food and raw materials flowing). One cheap Game Way might be to temporarily remove a population point from working a tile for every 'amateur' unit you call up. That would put a distinct limit on the numbers available and also Immediately create a negative effect from relying completely on Amateurs.

This is similar to my idea as when one might adopt Feudalism as an economic/political system. Though my idea was the "professionals" be the cavalry units (knights etc.) and any other unit land unit created (pike/spearmen, man at arms etc.) would be taken from a working tile.

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

I don't personally know of any specific collection of civilians using their civilian skills in combat with any major effect - the skills even for ancient or classical combat are simply too different, except of course for pastoral nomads, all of whom daily practice mounted archery to protect their herds: a skill notoriously hard for settled farmers or city-dwellers to find time for, or a place to keep the required horses.

On the other hand, there are groups of people that are readily available to 'call up' for military service. Rural peasant farmers being one, the basis for such 'militia' groups as the French medieval Arriere-ban and the Anglo-Saxon Great Fyrd. In both cases a percentage (1 in 5 to 1 in 10 were typical) of every group of farmers were required to show up for a campaign, while the other 9 to 19 supported his family at home, tilled his fields for him, and helped provide him with the required military equipment. The minimum of that I have found was from 9th - 10th century England, where each Fyrdman was required to have a wooden shield, a metal-tipped spear, and food for X days (the number varied wildly). In parts of France, the 'militia' were also required, some of them, to show up with a horse and act as light cavalry.

In classical Greece (and Etruscany and Rome, who also adopted the Hoplite system) only men from the upper middle class who owned land and had the money to buy their own armor, shield, spear, and helmet could be Hoplites, but that was still a much larger percentage of the population than the older aristocracy ('oligarchy').

In late medieval Flanders, with the textile and other Guilds firmly established, the city militia were largely taken from the Guild Apprentices, but supplied with equipment by the very rich Guild Masters. The result was an extremely effective 'Militia' armed with Pikes and equipped with link mail body armor and helmets and given time enough to drill with their weapons. Their effectiveness was demonstrated at the battle of Courtrai, where they butchered the Royal Army of France in 1302 CE (mounted knights basically impaling themselves on hedges of pikes) and afterwards hung up 700 pairs of gilded spurs in the city's cathedral as trophies - representing 700 noblemen with no more need for them on this earth.

To repeat, 'Amateurs' are not necessarily not as good as Professionals, but they are ephemeral - you have to send them home - and much cheaper.

To make it work in game terms, 'calling up' the Amateurs should have an Economic Effect because you are pulling workers in some or most categories (20th century militia took everybody but actual Weapons Factory workers, which meant the others had to be replaced to keep food and raw materials flowing). One cheap Game Way might be to temporarily remove a population point from working a tile for every 'amateur' unit you call up. That would put a distinct limit on the numbers available and also Immediately create a negative effect from relying completely on Amateurs.

some illustrations give these guilds pikemen shields. did they really use ones in battle?

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

some illustrations give these guilds pikemen shields. did they really use ones in battle?

For this battle, there is a contemporary illustration of the Courtrai militia and it does not show any shields. They were all required to have helmets, neck protection, metal-reinforced gloves and most had link mail shirts. Their weapons were primarily pikes, but they also had several hundred crossbowmen, and the rear ranks of the pike formation had goedendags, a regional weapon consisting of a 5 foot long heavy wooden shaft with a steel spike - useful for finishing off a knight once his horse had been piked out from under him.

Since a pike requires, by definition, both hands to use, they are not very often used with shields. Alexander's Pezhetairoi had shields with their pikes, but they were much smaller shields strapped to their left forearm to leave both hands free. The Diodochi, Alecander's Successors, frequently only issued shields to the first few ranks of the phalanx, and left the rear ranks without shields or armor. Swiss pikemen of the Renaissance are not shown with shields, but they had steel plate armor (at least, helmets and breastplates) which largely made a shield redundant.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

This is similar to my idea as when one might adopt Feudalism as an economic/political system. Though my idea was the "professionals" be the cavalry units (knights etc.) and any other unit land unit created (pike/spearmen, man at arms etc.) would be taken from a working tile.

My own idea for modeling the Feudal System in all of its 'glory' was to have the Castle be a Social Policy/Civic Improvement, available with Feudalism.

Every Castle, upon the start of a war, generates a (Feudal) Knight unit. This unit costs nothing to maintain, but you get nothing from the tile with the Castle - no Gold, Production, or Food, because that is all going to support the Knight. At the end of the war, the Feudal knights all disappear and none of them can be given any Promotions.

An even more restrictive variation would be to have the Feudal units all disappear after X turns, regardless of the state of the war, because in actual practice, they had to be sent home to take care of their fief after less than a year. That's why, fairly quickly, the King started accepting paid replacements for the feudal knights - mercenaries - who were professional soldiers and could be kept 'under arms' for as long as you could pay them. In game terms, you get a Mercenary Knight for each castle, but you have to pay Maintenance on them. You can keep them as long as you pay, and they can get Promotions.

Of course, if you stop paying them, intead of them disbanding (unit disappears) Someone else could 'hire' them by starting to pay their Maintenance costs. As the old mercenary song goes:

"We will rescue your land or destroy it
Depending on who pays the Bill."

 

[Quintillus]

This idea makes me realize that Civ VI doesn't really have an equivalent to a mechanic I take for granted in Civ III - the ability to draft troops. Cities with walls get a bombard attack, which simulates a militia defending the walls, but it's not really the same thing.

In Civ III, drafted troops often serve this "crisis situation" role, and the draft is enabled with the Nationalism tech, which also enables Riflemen - so essentially the 1800s, some time in the Napoleonic to U.S. Civil War time frame. Standard troops have 3 hitpoints, but by that time most civs will have barracks in most cities, so most troops will have 4 hitpoints, with elite battle-hardened troops having 5. Conscripts only have 2 - half of what most traditionally-trained troops have, and decrease the city's population by 1. In addition, you can only conscript the standard infantry types, no conscripting Cavalry or Tanks. How many you can conscript per city per turn depends on your form of government - none for Anarchy, 1 for Democracy/Republic, 2 for Monarchy/Despotism/Feudalism IIRC, and 3 for Communism/Fascism IIRC.

This ability is commonly used by both humans and AI to buff the defenses of border regions. You don't necessarily need great troops to defend a city with good natural or manmade defenses, but you need someone, and you can't always wait until your production queue creates a new unit (rushing in III produces a unit the following turn, if you have the means to do so, but drafting is instant).

But it can also be used for offensive maneuvers, such as what Lonecat referred to as "shock troops" but what I think of as human wave doctrines ("shock troops" makes me think of the German stormtroopers in the Great War, who were well-trained troops using innovative new tactics in a partially successful attempt to break the stalemate of trench warfare). Losses will be high if you draft a bunch and just send them in against fortified units, especially since the drafted unit types have lower attack than defense. But you can spread them out to form a screen against enemy troops, or send them into enemy territory to pillage tiles or strategic resources, or siege cities, and cause problems if the enemy doesn't have an adequate supply of stronger attack units such as Tanks or Cavalry.

I rarely go all-out on drafting, as it saps long-term city strength; indeed, over-drafting/rushing-troops-with-population is one of the top reasons the AI tends to perform poorly with fascism and communism as their government. I will use it situationally though, either sieging down a city that I don't have enough artillery to siege down quickly, or sending in stacks of drafted troops to try to pillage a key resource and weaken my enemy.

I know IV also has a draft system (dependent on having a specific civic enabled, IIRC), but I'm less familiar with its nuances.

----

Civ III also has an emergency "mobilization level", enabled at the same time as the draft. You can switch from "Normal Mobilization" to "War-Time Mobilization". This gives a boost of one shield per tile on every tile that produces at least one shield, before any factory/electric power/etc. boosts are factored in - a considerable boost in Civ III. The tradeoff is you can only build military units and military buildings (such as barracks and airports), and you cannot "return to normalcy" except by signing a peace treaty with at least one of your enemies. This is very powerful in the short term, but especially over the long term will be harmful if you are pursuing cultural or space-race victories.

----

So especially for the first category (infantry), yes, I think VI/VII should have an option to sacrifice long-term population to meet short-term needs via weaker but still usable troops. There is a long history of this being done over history.

I'm less enthused about it only being enabled in certain, fairly specific conditions, rather than as a strategic option. By having it be open to any civ with a certain technology level (and perhaps boosted/nerfed based on civics or even civ-specific bonuses), players could adopt it as needed. Lots of farms and a surplus of food but weak production? Draft half your army. Got a roaring industrial base? Maybe you use a "war-time economy" option a la Civ III, and build lots of aircraft, but hardly draft at all.

If there is a mod that already adds something of this sort in VI, I'd be curious to hear about it.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

This idea makes me realize that Civ VI doesn't really have an equivalent to a mechanic I take for granted in Civ III - the ability to draft troops. Cities with walls get a bombard attack, which simulates a militia defending the walls, but it's not really the same thing.

In Civ III, drafted troops often serve this "crisis situation" role, and the draft is enabled with the Nationalism tech, which also enables Riflemen - so essentially the 1800s, some time in the Napoleonic to U.S. Civil War time frame. Standard troops have 3 hitpoints, but by that time most civs will have barracks in most cities, so most troops will have 4 hitpoints, with elite battle-hardened troops having 5. Conscripts only have 2 - half of what most traditionally-trained troops have, and decrease the city's population by 1. In addition, you can only conscript the standard infantry types, no conscripting Cavalry or Tanks. How many you can conscript per city per turn depends on your form of government - none for Anarchy, 1 for Democracy/Republic, 2 for Monarchy/Despotism/Feudalism IIRC, and 3 for Communism/Fascism IIRC.

This ability is commonly used by both humans and AI to buff the defenses of border regions. You don't necessarily need great troops to defend a city with good natural or manmade defenses, but you need someone, and you can't always wait until your production queue creates a new unit (rushing in III produces a unit the following turn, if you have the means to do so, but drafting is instant).

But it can also be used for offensive maneuvers, such as what Lonecat referred to as "shock troops" but what I think of as human wave doctrines ("shock troops" makes me think of the German stormtroopers in the Great War, who were well-trained troops using innovative new tactics in a partially successful attempt to break the stalemate of trench warfare). Losses will be high if you draft a bunch and just send them in against fortified units, especially since the drafted unit types have lower attack than defense. But you can spread them out to form a screen against enemy troops, or send them into enemy territory to pillage tiles or strategic resources, or siege cities, and cause problems if the enemy doesn't have an adequate supply of stronger attack units such as Tanks or Cavalry.

I rarely go all-out on drafting, as it saps long-term city strength; indeed, over-drafting/rushing-troops-with-population is one of the top reasons the AI tends to perform poorly with fascism and communism as their government. I will use it situationally though, either sieging down a city that I don't have enough artillery to siege down quickly, or sending in stacks of drafted troops to try to pillage a key resource and weaken my enemy.

I know IV also has a draft system (dependent on having a specific civic enabled, IIRC), but I'm less familiar with its nuances.

----

Civ III also has an emergency "mobilization level", enabled at the same time as the draft. You can switch from "Normal Mobilization" to "War-Time Mobilization". This gives a boost of one shield per tile on every tile that produces at least one shield, before any factory/electric power/etc. boosts are factored in - a considerable boost in Civ III. The tradeoff is you can only build military units and military buildings (such as barracks and airports), and you cannot "return to normalcy" except by signing a peace treaty with at least one of your enemies. This is very powerful in the short term, but especially over the long term will be harmful if you are pursuing cultural or space-race victories.

----

So especially for the first category (infantry), yes, I think VI/VII should have an option to sacrifice long-term population to meet short-term needs via weaker but still usable troops. There is a long history of this being done over history.

I'm less enthused about it only being enabled in certain, fairly specific conditions, rather than as a strategic option. By having it be open to any civ with a certain technology level (and perhaps boosted/nerfed based on civics or even civ-specific bonuses), players could adopt it as needed. Lots of farms and a surplus of food but weak production? Draft half your army. Got a roaring industrial base? Maybe you use a "war-time economy" option a la Civ III, and build lots of aircraft, but hardly draft at all.

If there is a mod that already adds something of this sort in VI, I'd be curious to hear about it.

I had vaguely remembered Civ III's 'mobilization mechanics when I was writing the earlier post, but I don't have the game enabled in my computer anymore so couldn't check. Thanks for the update.

The trigger for 'drafting' troops out of the population would be a Civic/Social Polcy rather than a Technology in most cases - although, of course, those might be merged in Civ VII as they were earlier.

In fact, it might take a Civic/Social Policy or Tech to get Professional Troops, since the earliest military forces on record tend to be more of the Called Up For The War Only types - early Sumerian spearmen, peasant armies in the early Chinese Dynasties, converted hunters in tribal groups, etc. Warrior Aristocracies seem to show up along with Bronze, since it was inherently scarce and expensive, and so tended to be available as weapons and armor only to the more affluent Elite of the society - see Homer's Iliad, which is a good description of Bronze Age Greek warfare collaborated by Mycenean archeology of weapons and armor and chariots.

Another potential early Civic is Comitatus, the Chieftain's Bodyguard which shows up as elite, professional warriors sworn to live or die with the chief in battle, and traditionally numbering around 300 men. Which isn't that tiny, since the largest unit mentioned in ancient Mesopotamia is about 600 men, and anything larger uses a word roughly meaning 'host' , or Everybody Who Shows Up! 300 well-armed professionals could be a real battle-winner in those circumstances.

 

[GeneralZIft]

With some polish, it could be a good mechanic

 

[BuchiTaton]

In the model I want population is represented by Denizens(citizens) that have three identitarian parameters: Heritage(ethno-culture), Belief(religion) and Class(social caste), the later is a specialist like type determined by the slot they occupy in each district/improvement. So this way we have Labourers, Traders, Clerics, Artisans, Scholars and Warriors, these last ones are employed in Barracks, Fortifications, Airfields, etc. Then most of the militar units can be trained only from your Warrior denizens that already represent the professional forces.
While most of the militar unit lines need Warrior class denizens, there is also the Irregular line of units that include Commoner (II) > Levy (IV) > Militia (VI) > Guerrilla (VIII). These units are the ones that can be trained from your non-warrior class denizens and like was suggested by others they have the disadvantage that while movilized they dont produce the yield that their denizens are needed for, so they are mean to be used just in urgent situations.

On the related topics like Feudalism and Mercenaries, I have a model where instead of have a duplicate Tech Tree of many progressive Civics the Ideologies/Policies are more open and alternative like in CIV4. So here you can personalize your society with a selection of Policies, for example some relevant to this topic:
* Auxiliaries, can train armies from subjects.
* Lords, each Farm, Plantation and Pasture provide one Warrior pop.
* Mercenaries, can hire armies from your trade routes.
* Orders, each Temple and Monastery provide three Warrior pops.
* Conscripts, unlock most of the militar unit lines to be trained from non-warrior pops, but like irregulars when movilized they dont produce yield and is limited to 1/4 of your total non-warrior population.
The units obtained from these policies would have some clear sign of their special status (small icon/title/color shine) and some unique promotions and status bonuses.

Anothers example, the higher societal elements like the selection of Pastoralism at early game, here between others bonuses and uniques you get that every of your pops from Pastures are Warrior instead of the normal Labourers, also can train special units like Horse Archers and Camel Riders.