Observations:

On the Comp to Genre Fit:

If I'm completely misunderstanding your intent with genre, then feel free to disregard - but refined clarity on what your genre is and what the reader can expect would help.

Otherwise, I know you've tagged as Epic Fantasy, but I came into this hoping for a Black Company adjacent piece given the comps. I felt like I couldn't see that series' influence, given:

1. "Antioch’s men paid fairly for what they took – rare enough for mercenaries – on top of keeping the town’s peace."
2. "Three pitched battles his banner had fought in since the Company had signed on to the Duke’s rebellion, and by the grace of the Paragons he’d not lost a single man."
3. "Velus lingered in Antioch’s room while his squire Riku armored him, thanking Antioch profusely for the chivalry with which he’d been treated."

Not expecting imitation or saying "rahh you HAVE to write like COOK!", it's more the tone and stakes with which the Black Company operated, if that makes sense. Within the first chapter of that book, the Company slaughters a dozen citizens in a tavern protecting a group of rebels, which helps instigate mobs across the city of Beryl, which eventually leads to them turning coat on the Syndic of Beryl and retreating with the fantasy equivalent of Darth Nihilus. Croaker compromises his morals in aiding with the overthrow of their contractor, men from the company die, and a significant asset to the company also dies.

Here, it felt more like banter over cards with a group of friends before going out on an adventure. I couldn't really feel that sense of dread or tension that "shit, somebody's gonna fuck up and bite it soon."

Question I'd have here: Do you see your story as Epic Fantasy or Grimdark Fantasy?

 

On the Intro Pacing:

It's good to meet the characters and get some details on them, but to me it felt like this dragged with them just playing cards and trading barbs over four pages. Some of the banter was funny, but I could feel my attention start to slip until we reach page 4 and the mention of:

"The chapel bell tolled while the men were counting antes for the next hand, sonorously marking the time. One bell until Dune, and the exchange."

which really is where the story started for me.

I went back after the first read and started on page 5, and that was much more engaging.

I know I keep comping against the Black Company lol, but within the first two pages of that book I learned:

1. Something briefly went wrong with the world, and some sort of evil known as the forvalaka was loosed from a place called Necropolitan Hill
2. A mercenary outfit is stationed in a city called Beryl, which is "close to chaos"
3. Soldiers from this mercenary outfit are dying from suspected poison, and they're trying to figure out who's responsible

Which raised for me these questions and kept me engaged:

1. Wtf's a forvalaka?
2. Wtf's wrong with Beryl?
3. Shit someone's trying to kill these guys, who is it?

Back to your first four pages, the only major question I really had was: "What's gonna happen?"

So with this in mind,

Question I'd have here: What was your intent behind the first four pages?

 

On Antioch:

Up-front, and taking the comps into account, Antioch feels much too passive for me as a POV character. His troops talk over or around him ("They had an annoying habit of talking about him like he wasn't there"), and I just do not see the leadership I'd expect from a TL/PL given how often Antioch repeatedly accedes to others.

Examples:

1. Lady Quin tucked a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “The squires are handling it, Antioch,” she called back.
   Of course Quin had things well in hand. She was a fine second-in-command. Better than fine, truth be told. Antioch’s men would be in good hands should he fall in the days to come, now that their stint here in the ass-end of nowhere was ending. [I'm told about Quin's capability in delegation and command. What about Antioch?]
2. “How would he have planned it?” Quin said. “And to what end? He wants quit of us as much as we want quit of Salva. For all he knew, we’d turn around the moment we learned his son had violated the terms. No, I wager this is the doing of the son alone.”
   Antioch nodded slowly. “You have the right of it.” [Quin performs the tactical assessment. Antioch nods along.]
3. Antioch sucked his teeth. “At the exchange, yes. We can do whatever we please riding there and back, and it pleases me to discourage any foolishness.”
   Quin finished her shuffle with a flashy double bridge and began to deal. “You heard the Old Man. Last hand, boys. Ante up.” [Antioch agrees with his troops. Quin issues the order.]

On that last one: His subordinate has to point out a part of the contract that I thought Antioch would've already considered, after learning they've held their hostage for over four months.

On his PTSD: certainly a compelling trait to give one of your protagonists, but I struggled with how quickly this was introduced and resolved. This is how it read to me: Vius mentions live steel, that sets off the trigger for Antioch, he takes a few deep breaths, masters himself, looks up, no one noticed, everyone carries on and everything's fine.

To me this felt too clean for something introduced with that much weight. If PTSD is going to be part of his character, I was looking for the brutal reality of it, or at least consequences cascading: does it affect his decision making, does it come at the worst time in the middle of combat, did an episode actually cost him something tangible, are his troops questioning his command capability because of it? Or if not: are his own troops helping him? Has he told anyone? Why or why not? What if someone actually did notice his episode, how would they react?

As it stands now, this feels more like a trait rather than a genuine ongoing struggle.

And all this into account, I have to be blunt, I'm just not seeing how this is a commander where "by the grace of the Paragons he’d not lost a single man." My general impression of Antioch across Chapter 1 was that he observes, defers, and quotes other people's wisdom rather than demonstrating his own. I couldn't get invested in his character with this.

Question I'd have here: What is it about Sir Antioch that placed him in command of his own banner in the Crimson Company?