Royal Guard of Rohan

This formation was between 30 and 50 people. But due to their high pay and duty, the Kheshig formation was a very desired post. Thus, it grew rapidly after Ghengis Khan formed it – peaking at 12,000. Since that is as big as the entire Rohirrim, that seems a little impractical for our purposes. Instead, the initial size is much more likely. This was set at 70 day guards and 80 night guards, divided into 4 groups. This means the total we can expect for Rohan’s Kheshig would be a total of 150 men. It did not take long for it to expand to a total of 1,000 – also during the reign of Ghengis Khan.   I would modify this a bit. The standard unit of the Rohirrim is 120. So I would standardize the day and night guards at 60 each, divided into two groups of 30. Then, I would suspect that the 10 Éored around Edoras or of the nobles with the highest standing in the eyes of the King would fill out the rest of the battlefield guard.

These guys were the only real professional unit in Rohan. Also the only one with standardized training and equipment.   In terms of armor, they had a sleeveless shirt of scale armor. Shoulder and forearm plates were made from steel and covered in red leather. The helmet appears to be iron with bronze and leather. Mail was hung down from the back of the helmet to protect the neck. It had a crest in the shape of a horse head with horse hair added to form a sort of mane. The rest of the neck area was covered with with a steel collar with decorative bronze elements. A green cloak was attached to the scale armor and had red and gold edges. The gold sun emblem on the back marked them as guards.

The Kheshig had four generals that outtanked pretty much anyone else in the army. Each one led one of the four teams. I would imagine that this would be borrowed by Rohan.

Their role was primarily protecting the king in battle. In peace, they were guards at the Great Hall in Edoras. Essentially then they were doormen for the King. As such they were primarily defensive. We can assume then that they were what passed as the infantry of Rohan. But, Rohan is a horse based culture, so the king would need to be able to fight on a horse and even lead men into battle mounted. Like what we see at Minas Tirith. Which means the Royal Guard would need to function as both cavalry and infantry. Their role then would be more mounted infantry than purely one or the other.

They were all paid by the Royal Family directly, not out of the government treasury. Essentially, a cheap ruler typically becomes a dead one.

These men were all hand picked by the King. Skill appeared to be the main criteria used in the selection process. Typically the Kheshig were sworn to particular monarchs. So they did not transfer their loyalty or job past the death of that particular individual. Instead, new kings had to find a new group while the old ones took care of the family of the deceased.