Amber maintains two large armies in near Shadow from which to reinforce its defenses or launch counterattacks against its foes. Although the 30,000 strong standing army is about all that Amber can comfortably maintain, in the wake of the Memphis War it became clear that the adequate defense of Amber required additional military forces that could be called upon on short notice.
These forces do not reside in Amber nor do any Shadow paths link them there. However, they are located nearby and can be brought through Shadow relatively quickly should the need arise. Nor are they part of Amber's regular force structure. They do not train with the Amber army and their commands are not integrated with Amber's. In the event they were called to duty, they would operate as independent units under their own commanders, with the Lord Defender setting overall strategy. The degree that they would be able to effectively cooperate with Amber's army is unclear.
Each of the armies is detailed below.
The Knights of Hesketh
Boreal VII, Duke of Hesketh
Hesketh is an isolated duchy located in a rich valley not dissimilar to Garneth. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the Dukes of Hesketh believe that Martin is their feudal lord. This arrangement doesn't seem to have conferred any significant obligations on Martin (Hesketh's Shadow is a small place and the duchy has no real enemies), but does require the Duke to make his troops available to Amber, should Martin ever require it. Since this only happens every few hundred years, the Dukes do not, perhaps, consider it a particularly onerous obligation, either.
The core of the Duke's forces are 1,000 knights. They are fully decked out, sporting heavy war horses, full plate mail, shields adorned with all manner of heraldic devices, lances, flails, and swords. They are highly skilled at all the important arts: Riding about in close formation, jousting, and gallant charges. The knights are a truly terrible sight to behold charging at you across open ground and not terribly useful for much else except riding around looking splendid. Backing up the knights are 2,000 longbowmen, highly-trained regulars who spend most of their lives guarding the walls of the castles belonging to the Duke and his vassals. Rounding out the army are some 10,000 peasants (the actual number that the Duke can raise at any given time may vary by a couple thousand) outfitted with pole arms and what they can remember from being drilled a few weeks a year. Their main virtue is that there are a lot of them.
Hesketh is a place of what might be called traditional values. Women sit at court, keep house, or work in the fields. They most emphatically do not serve in the military. The forces of Hesketh are exclusively male. They have difficulty enough dealing with the presence of even the small number of women in Amber's army (mostly by pretending they don't exist). Caitlin's nearly three decades to try to get them used to the idea of dealing with female Amberite commanders, but there remains some question of how well Hesketh's leaders would be able to deal with them under combat conditions.
The Horse Lords of Kharev
Varies
Living on a vast and empty steppe, the Horse Lords of Kharev could be characterized as Amber's enforcers. They are an aggressive people, riding around their plains trading with -- or pillaging from -- their neighbors and skirmishing with each other over a multitude of slights real and imagined. Like most things among the Horse Lords, their loyalty to Amber is personal. Martin apparently did them some great favor, under circumstances which remain unclear (speculation runs toward his saving them from a foreign conqueror, although nobody really knows for sure) and they believe they owe him a debt of service. Leadership of the Horse Lords is nominally hereditary, with the eldest child taking over from the outgoing High Lord. However, High Lords have a tendency to die -- along with their entire families -- on an alarmingly frequent basis. Regardless of who happens to be High Lord at any given time, however, the debt of the Horse Lords to Amber remains unchallenged. Also unclear is whether this debt will be discharged after the Horse Lords have been called upon a time or two or whether they remain at Martin's bidding in perpetuity.
Although it varies, depending both the strength of the current High Lord and on how many of the other Horse Lords her or she has angered and how badly, the High Lord can be expected to be able to raise something on the order of 10,000 warriors to ride to Amber's aid. All are cavalry, obviously, although their horses are light and fast and they are capable of operating in broken terrain. Although each individual is responsible for his or her own equipment, as a general rule they wear no armor and are armed with sword and short bow. Both men and women fight, with courage (or foolhardiness) being the primary criterion for judging the quality of a warrior.
The Horse Lords are unsuited, by both training and temperament, to formation fighting or defensive battles. They are best employed by pointing them at the enemy and getting out of the way. Although they are somewhat lacking in discipline and organized tactics, the effect of 10,000 screaming barbarians galloping across the field at their opponents should not be underestimated. The Horse Lords may not be particularly useful for defending Amber against an advancing foe, the traditional role of Amber's army, but they are excellent for mounting counterattacks. They are also not something that an intelligent enemy wants released in his rear area. In fact, the ability of Amber to bring the Horse Lords to bear unexpectedly behind enemy lines can, in some circumstances, be a powerful deterrent to attacking Amber. The only caveat being that it isn't a terribly good idea to unleash the Horse Lords against territory that you would like to remain useful after you've captured it. Because Amber tends to eschew scorched earth tactics (particularly when the fighting is taking place on their earth), unleashing the Horse Lords would be a last resort. So far, Martin has never found it necessary to do so, although he continues to maintain contacts with them just in case.