Druthenian Military

The armed forces of Druthenia is divided into the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Mage force.

The Army
With its lack of population and manpower, Druthenian doctrine has been one of quality over quantity during its existance. With the enormous material wealth available in the northern and north-eastern mines, indigenous high-quality designs have been cheap and desireable enough to mass-produce for the armed forces.

Infantry
Boots on the ground; merry men armed with guns, ready to fight in wars for glory. At least, that was the general image of war before the trenches of the Great War showed a different reality.

Riflemen
The backbone of any military, the Rifleman has existed in various forms ever since the introduction of handheld gunpowder weapons.

The riflemen of Druthenia are, compared to their international counterparts, better equipped and trained; for example, Druthenia is the only nation who has equipped all their soldiers with steel helmets by the outbreak of the Great War. Druthenian riflemen are also equipped with lever-action rifles, rather than the standard bolt-action rifles used by most of the world. This is because the lever action allows for a faster rate of fire, while also making it easier for the user to remain with their sights on target during cycling. It is however more difficult to use in prone or otherwise cramped positions.

Automatic riflemen
The advent of machine guns changed warfare forever. But heavy machine guns are large, unwieldy, and requires multiple people to operate efficiently. Enter the automatic rifleman.

While the sheer firepower of a full-size HMG is impossible for one man to handle, experimentation for a lighter automatic rifle began in the early 1900's. The resulting weapon was a 20-round box fed rifle with an attached bipod, which, whilst heavy, is easy enough for one man to handle alone. This automatic rifle is given to soldiers who display an ability to remain calm in pressing situations, and are stronger than average.

Shock troopers
Trenches are tough nuts to crack, but never tell a Shock trooper the odds.

Only the bravest and nimblest of soldiers are selected to become Shock troopers. These men are equipped with lighter gear and weapons for close quarters combat in trenches, usually sporting a sub-machine gun or a shotgun. They are also equipped with grenades, and when necessity calls for it, explosives for sabotage or similar disruptive operations.

To maximize the efficiency of Shock troopers, they usually advance whilst something else is distracting incoming enemy fire. This could be a regular assault by other riflemen, advancing vehicles, or accompanying mages. It's also common for Shock troopers to attack in the cover of smoke screens, emerging from the mist close enough to engage any enemy fortification that would pose a danger.

Marksmen
Sharpshooters and snipers were used extensively by Satí militia to stem the tide of Radovians in the outbreak of the Satímaa war. Druthenians, observing their use, had the Satí help with setting up several baronies' worth of Skarpskyttar (sharpshooters). Initially armed with older (but no less accurate) single-shot rifles, the marksmen proved their worth in the conflict, picking off dangerous foes and important officers alike. As the war ground to a halt, most sharpshooter baronies were disbanded and the marksmen attached to regular infantry groups, though two manors remained as special units.

Royal Sentinels & Royal Guards
The kings' finest, the pride of the armed forces, are ready to defend their monarch and their country with their lives.

The most experienced soldiers (either with 5 years of service or 1 year of combat service) are selected for a chance to become Royal Sentinels. They are given increased training and better equipment, most notably self-loading rifles and personal handguns. To complete the set, they are also given a blue cape, to signify their status as the forefront guardians of Druthenia. This cape is simpler in design that that of a mages, making it easy to discern who's who on a quick glance.

Royal Guards are Royal Sentinels that have the honour of defending the monarch and the royal house. These soldier forego the cape for an all-white uniform adorned with golden details. While essentially just people on guard duty who rarely see combat, the Royal Guard can and will fight with the same skill and ferocity as their Sentinel brothers, something the Red Revolutionaries would learn during their uprising.

HESU
Härens Enhet för Särskilda Uppgifter ("the Army's Unit for Special Tasks"), also known internally as Skalpellerna ("the Scalpels") and more informally as Erikssons Galningar ("Erikssons Madmen") is one of (if not the) first special operations units in world history. Set up in secret in 1919 under the leadership of Major Alfred Eriksson, it is tasked with performing highly specialised operations in war and internal security matters. While they were used to great effect against the Vangerist insurgents throughout the 1920's, their first truly successful mission occured in august 1925, when HESU units successfully landed and took control of key coastal cities in Oltavia with few casualties on either side, as part of the Oltavian crisis. The year after, they were publicly acknowledged by the Druthenian government, though much secrecy surround the units

Vehicles
The first industrialised wars in history would take place during this time, and it's easy to see the use of vehicles in combat.

Armoured cars & trucks
WIP

"Land Crawlers"
Land Crawlers, or Tanks as we know them, make their first appearance in the Great Eidoran War. These armoured vehicles, equipped with caterpillars to traverse uneven ground, would tremendously change warfare by being able to so easily breach the enemy's lines and exploit the new opening itself. Equipped with machine guns, and later cannons, these steel monsters are lethal to any infantry in range, who do not usually possess any means to engage the Crawler with. Some variants even had flame throwers installed, making them literal nightmares that roam the battlefield.

Radovians were the first to deploy tanks on the battlefield, one year after the war broke out. The Commonwealth quickly followed suit, and Druthenia, observing from the distance, followed the development of armoured warfare with great interest, deploying their own designs in the occupation of western Satímaa.

Armoured Trains
The railroad would become the lifeblood of the new industrialised world, and trains would become vital parts (and targets) of the supply lines required to support advancing armies.

Most industrialised nations would experiment with Armoured trains, and develop their own designs catering to their different doctrines. Druthenian armoured trains are equipped mostly with machine guns and automatic 20mm cannons, with a single short-barreled cannon in a front mount at the frontmost carriage. Additionally, the modular design of trains allows for different carriages to be added at need. Armoured trains fighting in the Red Revolt would pull soldier compartments with infantry for additional support, while the Northern War saw extensive use of railway artillery and mortar carriages, though the lack of infrastructure in Satímaa would limit the use of armoured trains.

The Great War would see intense use of Armoured trains, due to the prevalence of railway infrastructure in the warzones. Special "Rail regiments" were set up by both sides to quickly repair damaged rail or even lay new track when necessary.

The Navy
With the lack of large colonial overseas empires, the navies of the Age of Turmoil are smaller than our real life counterparts of the era. However, since Druthenia is one of the few states with overseas possessions, their navy is quite large for their size, even including several battleships.

All Druthenian naval vessels use the prefix HMF - Hans/Hennes Majestäts Fartyg (His/Her Majesty's Vessel/Ship). "Fartyg" generally denotes larger vessels, and as such, smaller boats such as torpedo boats lack the HMF prefix alltogether.

Vessels
HMF Dain is an older type of battleship, launched in 1905. The only one of its class, HMF Dain was a revolutionary leap forward (meta: like the british HMS Dreadnought) which sparked a sort of naval arms race in Eidora. It performed admirably in the battle of the Druthann strait, which saw the Commonwealth supply fleet cut off from Druthenia.

HMF Nåden (the Mercy) and HMF Vreden (the Wrath) are twin battleships of the Syskon (sibling) class, the most modern battleships in the world in 1914, having been taken into service the same year. HMF Nåden is sunk in a naval ambush in the early stages of the Satímaa war, but not before inflicting terrible losses for the Radovians, who lost several heavy ships in the action. HMF Vreden was then, befittingly of its name, used for several punitive expeditions that saw the Radovian navy crippled and bottled up in their ports for the rest of the conflict.

Army
5 soldiers are organized together into a Eldgrupp ("Firegroup", or "Section"). Equivalent to a squad.

5 Firegroups are organized into a Säteri ("Manor") (25 soldiers). Equivalent to a platoon.

4 Manors are organized into a Baroni ("Barony") (100 soldiers). Equivalent to a company.

Up to 10 Baronies are organized into a Grevdöme ("County") (1.000 soldiers). Equivalent to a brigade.

Up to 10 Counties are organized into a Hertigdöme ("Duchy") (10.000 soldiers). Equivalent to a division.

Up to 10 Duchies are then organized into a Här ("Army"), though important, long-standing armies are sometimes called a Rike ("Realm" or "Kingdom")

A example of a Duchy is the modern Matun Duchy, made up of both volunteer Xhitali and Druthenians from Xhis, comprised of 6,000 soldiers (6 counties).