Most numerous of these are the Ironsides, regiments of handgunners made up from apprentices and retainers of the School, who are fitted out in a panoply of black-enabled iron plate armour reflecting the wealth and status of their patrons. The current field commander of the Ironsides is Jubal Falk, an engineer with a flair for tactical matters who many see as a rising star and future Guildmaster of the school. Born a cooper's son on the river wharfs of Nuln, Falk's natural talents and dogged enforcement of discipline have seen him rise rapidly in the ranks of the Ironsides, and he is respected by those under him both for his skills as a military engineer and as an honourable man if one notoriously unforgiving of slackness or incompetency.[1a][1b]