The soldiers, mercenaries, and other professional warriors of Weintäler are not the finest in the world, or even on the continent. But like everyone else in Weintäler who fancies themselves an expert in something these fighters have an arrogance and haughtiness normally reserved for describing elves. They are good at what they do and on any battlefield where they appear they command the respect of their enemies as well as their allies. Nobody would ever dare to suggest that a Weintälern soldier was going to be easy to deal with, though.

Some of the dwarven lords that interact regularly with Weintälern merchants, nobles, and mercenaries have a derisive term for them that translates roughly to “the men that prefer wine.” No where is this more evident and infuriating than with those that are trained to fight for and defend Weintäler. They are extraordinarily well trained and are supplied with the finest weapons and armor that gold can buy. The soldiers hired by the wealthy nobles and tradesmen of Weintäler are always clean-shaven but will have long, unbraided hair much like the elves they are unfavorably compared to. Their appearance is from a distance the same as if they were heavily armed elves, and their mannerisms only reinforce this attitude. Conversations with officers make outsiders feel as though they are being ignored even in the middle of an interaction and with lower ranked troops this feeling might be lessened but it is never fully extinguished. Even powerful lords have been frustrated by this attitude among their hirelings. One prominent Geldenreich Count was once so infuriated with a hired Weintälern bodyguard, who seemed utterly disinterested in the instructions being given by the Count, that the lord bellowed “HAVE YOU SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT TO DO?” To this the hired guard merely yawned. These sorts of encounters do rather a lot to frame the mindset of Weintälern mercenaries and to a certain degree those that opt to hire them.

One of the most visually impressive aspects of Weintälern military personnel is their metalwork. Frequently the armor and even weapons are tinted via magical and/or metallurgical means with subtle colors to make the soldier’s units distinctive even when engaged among other units in battle. Colored metals are almost always in soft pastel-like shades of greens, blues, reds, purples, and yellows. Banners of these units will coordinate with the colors of the associated metals making the Weintälern soldiers among the most visibly stunning in the little states. This is the sort of difference that money can make, and there is a lot of money to be made in the wineries. Which is why some men prefer wine.