The impressment of the foot soldiers was called "utskrivning" (literally "writing out"), and was based on a grouping, called a "rote" (similar to an English "file" or "ward"; in the eastern parts of the Swedish realm, this became the Finnish "ruotu"), of ten men from an estate or a few farms, fit for military service and between the ages of 15 and 40. One randomly chosen man from each rote was forced to serve in the province's or county's regiment in case of war.