Medieval Era recon unit.

Encounters between small groups of soldiers are generally termed skirmishes. These are too small to warrant the definition of battle, and are characterized by low numbers of combatants on both sides. Skirmishes may precede a general battle, as reconnaissance edges into recon-by-force. In these situations, soldiers who are most effective fighting in small groups while remaining in contact with the larger army will tend to triumph.

As the late classical age edged into the medieval period, there was a general decrease in the size of fighting forces, in part because state-sponsored armies were less common, but also because of the rise of the personal retinue by the nobility as part of the feudal system. Viking nobles had personal households that accompanied them on raids. As the Hundred Years' War ground on, English soldiers practiced the chevauchee—a destructive pattern of raiding by small groups of soldiers (often without sanction). The skirmisher represents these kinds of forces. Tough, seasoned warriors, capable of living in the field, surviving on their wits, and ready to withdraw if faced by tougher foes.