war bands
Tribal fighting units
War bands are small, loosely organized groups of warriors who raid, fight, or travel together under a leader's command.
The term appears most often in historical and fantasy contexts, describing the armed retinues of chieftains or warlords before the rise of formal armies: Viking war bands terrorized the English coast.
A war band implies loyalty to a person rather than a state.
- raidersThose who plunder
- raiding partyGroup making sudden attack
- shield wallLinked defensive barrier formation
- clansRelated family groups
- tribesAncestral social groups
marauders · pillage · plunder · scorched earth · Viking · skirmish · chieftain · horde · mercenaries · swords · shields · conquest · looting · nomads · barbarians · fierce · battle cry · loyalty
war bandsstanding armies
Permanently maintained military forces
conscript army · legions · defense forces · regular army · career soldiers
war bandsdiplomatic missions
Official foreign state offices
relief workers · humanitarian organizations · peacekeeping forces · aid convoys · peace corps
war, band, wars, warring, warred, warfare, warrior, warriors, warlike