Grand Army of Voxelia
The Grand Army of Voxelia (also known as the Grand Army or the GAV) is the official military force of the nation of Voxelia.
Composition
Weaponry
Every soldier in the Grand Army must be proficient in the grease gun and the elledjet as well as being comfortable in a suit of neo-gambeson.
Vehicles
The Grand Army of Voxelia fields the most extensive force of motorized units of any faction the Manifold, with airships, auto-armor, light tanks, autogyros, scout motorcycles, and fixed-wing aircraft being the most common types of vehicles fielded. The Voxelian fast attack doctrine requires a higy mobile force of inexpensive vehicles, though this does not mean that the Grand Army lacks for heavy equipment as well.
Structure
The Grand Army of Voxelia has a merit-based command structure where a vertical heirarchy of combat veterans and trained officers oversee the conduct of units below them. The top-level leadership of the Grand Army answers directly to the Council of Liars.
Civilian control of the military (in the form of the semi-representative Master Harlequins in the Council of Liars) is maintained through a combination of government-funded incentives for current and former soldiers, additional incentives for voluntarily entering into a military carreer after recruitment, political commissars integrated into the command structure, and the famously all-encompassing nature of Voxelian cultural influences. Even during periods of budgetary shortfalls, the Council of Liars holds the Grand Army as sacrosanct and promulgates the stories of its heroes through public relations campagins. This is both out of gratitude for what the GAV does and, less obviously, because the Council of Liars itself gained power in part as the result of disfavor among the civil and military services towards the Old Voxelian Emperor.
Tactics
Because the territory of the voxel state is less exploitable for mineral wealth than the Coalition of Breakaway Colonies territories, Voxelia must seek to preserve - or reclaim - their mineral reserves. On the other hand, because their territory is wet and therefore conducive to the use of biodiesel reactors, Voxelia's military units seldom want for fuel. With these logistical factors in mind, the Grand Army's overall military doctrine focuses on stealth, ubiquitous intelligence, and high mobility, with fast attacks against identified enemy soft points supported by heavier units well to the rear. Voxelian units must be specially trained and equipped for homeland defense, as otherwise hunkering down does not come naturally to them.
Training
Raw recruits are put through a three month basic training course. Because the unique geometry] of the Manifold Sky, soldiers sent to different fronts in the War of Reunification can be expected to experience radically different conditions from those on other fronts. To this end, if the need for reinforcements at a given front is growing and time permits, a given recruit will be trained in the season best fitting the weather conditions of the front they are headed to. Otherwise, basic training can occur during any three month period of the year.
During the course of basic training, all recruits are assessed on a number of factors, such as intelligence, agility, endurance, strength, and degree of dedication to the Voxelian cause. Observers from the Voxelia College of Bards are secretly embedded among the recruits and training staff to vet potential recruits for conflicting loyalties or, in contrast, for induction into the intelligence services after basic training. Recruits found to already have secondary education or certain types of professional experience will be directed into the officer's training corps after completion of their basic training. Finally, otherwise uneducated troops with professional experience or unique aptitude will be put into an additional training course for specialist roles (i.e. dieseltech maintenance).
Logistics
Recruitment
The Grand Army of Voxelia draws most of its number from conscripted Voxelian citizens, though some do volunteer for service out of patriotism or at the promise of a lifelong military pension.
History
The Grand Army of Voxelia boasts one of the longest unbroken histories of martial tradition in all of human history, with some units as of the year 10,000 AR being able to trace their origins all the way back to the formation of the Voxelian Empire. Famously, the Old Voxelian Emperor was so unpopular at the time of his deposition that the Grand Army rejected him and immediately declared affiliation with the jesters upon their rise to power - a token of respect that the Council of Liars has always tried to earn and repay.
Vehicles Used
Founding
6117 AX
Overall training Level
Semi-professional
Used by
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