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    Commonwealth Territorial Service

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    Government Organisation

    The Territorial Service is a constituent organisation of the Ministry of Defence.

    The Territorial Service is the ground warfare component of the Armed Forces of Vekllei, administered through the Ministry of Defence. It is the closest thing the Commonwealth has to a conventional army, though its soldiers train as marine infantry and deploy across island republics by sea and air – there is no meaningful distinction between “army” and “marines” in Vekllei. Every infantry regiment is expected to conduct amphibious operations, and the service draws its expeditionary character from the Commonwealth’s geography: 83 island republics that can only be reinforced by water or helicopter.

    The professional force numbers around 50,000 active soldiers, including roughly 6,000 commandos. This is a modest army by any standard, but the Commonwealth supplements it with a federal militia system in which every adult who completes Compulsory Service remains a trained reservist. In wartime, the Commonwealth General Auxiliary and local militia forces swell total strength beyond one million, functioning as a partisan home guard under municipal officers. The professional regiments are the expeditionary spear; the militia is the distributed shield.

    Vekllei does not maintain separate infantry, armoured and airborne branches. Instead, every regiment is a self-contained combined-arms formation capable of operating independently on any island. The service forms interarmes task forces – combined-arms formations assembled from sections of different regiments and services – for specific operations. The establishments within the service exist to organise these formations: pulling Marine Rifles sections from one regiment, Armoured Rifles from another, and Aero Rifles from a third to create a tailored battalion for a specific mission. A single interarmes task force might draw sections from four different regiments and combine them with Air Service aviation and Maritime Service transport, all under unified command.

    In Vekllei, the regiment is the primary unit of identity. Honours, colours, traditions and ceremony attach to the regiment – and not the battalion, or the section, or the number. A soldier in the Demonic Guards will always be a ‘Demon’ regardless of which battalion they serve in. Battalion numbers are administrative and change regularly as battalions rotate sections where regiment names endure across generations.

    Sections of approximately 100 personnel are both the basic operational building block and the link to Vekllei’s federal structure. Each section corresponds to a federal component – a block of ~100 servicemen drawn from a particular republic through Compulsory Service. Small republics like Sude or Helena raise a single component; large ones like Oslola raise many. A component is the recruiting identity (the ‘Habacoan Component’ is 100 people from Habacoa), but the regiment determines how that component is trained and employed – Marine Rifles, Armoured Rifles, Aero Rifles or Fire Support – based on operational need. Over time, certain republics develop informal traditions in particular specialties, especially where geography favours it (e.g. island republics naturally produce strong marines; republics near armoured depots tend toward mechanisation), but this is cultural, not structural.

    Territorial Service Outline

    Personnel

    • ~36,000 Line Regiments (35 regiments)
    • ~6,000 Commandos (6 regiments)
    • ~3,000 Provosts & Patrol
    • ~5,000 Support & Training
    • ~50,000 Total Professional
    • 1,000,000+ Mobilisation Strength

    Establishments

    • Expedition Guards Establishment
    • Fortress Guards Establishment
    • Commonwealth Rifles Establishment
    • Special Activities Establishment

    Regiment Structure #

    Every Vekllei regiment is a self-contained combined-arms formation of approximately 1,030 personnel, designed to operate independently on isolated islands or integrate into larger interarmes services. This unusual system is a product of geography and doctrine – a regiment deployed to Sude or Hetland may be the only unit on the island, and must be capable of all-arms operations without reinforcement.

    Headquarters (30 personnel)

    Regimental headquarters provides command, planning and communications. The commanding officer is typically a colonel-equivalent, with a small staff covering operations, intelligence and logistics coordination.

    3Γ— Combat Battalion (324 personnel each, 972 total)

    Each combat battalion contains five integrated sections:

    • Battalion Headquarters (22)
      These are the regiment’s core infantry, trained for amphibious assault and island warfare. They comprise 2 Assault Groups, amounting to

      • 1x HQ Command Detachments (4)
      • 1x Signals Detachment (3)
      • 1x Logistics Detachment (5)
      • 1x Medical Detachment (5)
      • 1x Transport Detachment (5)

    • Marine Rifles Section (80)
      These are the regiment’s core infantry, trained for amphibious assault and island warfare. They comprise 2 Assault Groups, amounting to

      • 2x Assault Command Detachments (4)
      • 6x Assault Detachments (60)
      • 2x Anti-Air Detachments (6)
      • 2x Support Detachments (10)

    • Armoured Rifles Section (102)
      Function as shock troops, mounted in infantry fighting vehicles with organic tank support.

      • 2x Javelin Command Detachments (4)
      • 2x Tank Detachments (6)
      • 4x Mechanised Rifles Detachments (80)
      • 2x Anti-Tank Detachments (6)
      • 2x Support Detachments (6)

    • Aero Rifles Section (60)
      These troops deploy by helicopter with Air Service crews, providing air-mobile capability organic to every regiment.

      • 2x Aero Command Detachments (2)
      • 4x Aero Rifle Detachments (40)
      • 2x Aero Support Detachments (18)

    • Fire Support Section (60)
      Provides the regiment’s own fire support without relying on external artillery.

      • 2x Artillery Command Detachments (2)
      • 4x Field Artillery Detachments (20)
      • 2x Anti-Air Artillery Detachments (10)
      • 4x Mortar Detachments (20)
      • 2x Engineering Detachments (8)

    1Γ— Support Battalion (100 personnel)

    • Logistics Section (30)

      • 2x Supply Detachments (30)

    • Medical Section (30)

      • 5x Medical Detachments (30)

    • Signals Section (20)

      • 4x Signals Detachments (20)

    • Maintenance Section (20)

      • 4x Maintenance Detachments (20)

    Regiments #

    All 35 line regiments use the same combined-arms structure. What distinguishes them is their station, their readiness level, and their name. The Territorial Service divides its regiments between two traditions: Guards and Rifles, roughly analogous to line infantry and light infantry in other armies. Guards regiments garrison the Commonwealth’s permanent fortress complexes – strategic chokepoints, naval stations and forward positions – and maintain the highest peacetime readiness. Rifles regiments cover broader regional defence zones, often spanning several republics, and maintain lower peacetime strength but provide strategic depth. In wartime, both operate identically.

    Expedition Guards #

    The Expedition Guards Establishment maintains Vekllei’s rapid-reaction force: four regiments at the highest readiness, prepared for overseas deployment at short notice. These regiments led the interventions in Haiti (2045) and the Congo (2065). They draw their sections from across the Commonwealth but are concentrated at major bases with access to strategic airlift and naval transport.

    Expedition Guards Establishment (4 regiments)

    Fortress Guards #

    The Fortress Guards Establishment oversees garrison regiments at the Commonwealth’s permanent fortress complexes. These regiments defend strategic positions – island chokepoints, naval stations and forward bases – and maintain the highest peacetime readiness after the expedition force. Each fortress anchors a defensive zone, and its regiment is the most visible symbol of Commonwealth sovereignty on that island.

    Fortress Guards Establishment (12 regiments)

    Commonwealth Rifles #

    The Commonwealth Rifles Establishment manages regiments with broader regional responsibilities, often covering several republics. These regiments maintain lower peacetime readiness than the Guards but provide strategic depth and can reinforce any theatre. Where Guards regiments are anchored to specific fortresses, Rifles regiments are mobile – their battalions spread across barracks, naval stations and air stations in their region, and their sections can be detached to reinforce other formations more easily.

    Commonwealth Rifles Establishment (19 regiments)

    Commonwealth Commandos #

    Commandos are Vekllei’s most highly trained professional soldiers, with an expeditionary and unconventional warfare character. While often trained for remote and tactical operations – polar, jungle and high-altitude environments – they are also commonly used to lead interarmes services that include regular Rifles and Guards infantry. Commando regiments are structurally distinct from line regiments: they do not follow the standard combined-arms template, maintaining instead a lighter, more specialised organisation suited to their particular environment.

    The Special Activities Establishment manages the commando force and coordinates special operations.

    Special Activities Establishment (6 regiments)

    • Polar Commandos
      Polar and cold-weather specialists, operating across the Arctic and Antarctic theatres. Trained for sustained operations on glaciers, pack ice and in extreme cold.
      Kala

    • Equatorial Commandos
      Equatorial and jungle specialists, operating across the Caribbean and West African theatres. Trained for dense vegetation, riverine operations and high-humidity environments.
      NS Kairi Kairi

    • Insular Commandos
      Island and maritime specialists. Trained for cliff assault, small-island seizure and operating in Vekllei’s unique volcanic and coastal terrain.
      Fortress Lola Oslola

    • Airborne Commandos
      Parachute and high-altitude insertion qualified. Provide the Commonwealth’s only strategic airborne capability.
      Fortress Occident Caicos

    • Marine Commandos
      Ship-boarding, beach assault and underwater demolitions. Work closely with the Maritime Service for direct-action naval operations.
      NS Antigua Antigua

    • 6th Special Activities Regiment
      Unconventional and psychological warfare. Existence is acknowledged; activities are not.
      Classified

    Special Warfare #

    Two specialist regiments handle chemical and nuclear defence, providing decontamination, detection and consequence management capabilities across the Commonwealth. Given Vekllei’s nuclear-powered fleet and strategic nuclear arsenal, the Nuclear Defence Regiment maintains a permanent readiness posture.

    Commonwealth Federal Components #

    Every republic contributes federal components – blocks of ~100 servicemen drawn through Compulsory Service. The federal component is the bridge between Vekllei’s civilian republics and its military structure: each component represents one republic’s contribution to the armed forces, and their existence is the practical expression of Vekllei’s citizen-soldier ideal.

    All Territorial servicemen are simultaneously members of a Commonwealth Guards regiment under the federal militia system. In regular service they are assigned to active regiments and trained in whichever specialty the regiment needs. Only reservists, trainees and officers remain attached to the Guards while it is federalised. Guards units are numbered in context to their home republic: Oslola has Guards regiments numbering 1st-12th, for example.

    This system means every republic maintains an administrative connection to the Territorial Service, reinforcing the Commonwealth’s distributed defence model. A serviceman might be recruited as part of the 3rd Habacoan Component, serve in the Marine Rifles Section of the Sugar Guards, and retain a reserve affiliation with the Habacoan Guards – three overlapping identities reflecting the federal, operational and civic dimensions of military service.

    Commonwealth General Auxiliary #

    The General Auxiliary is the volunteer militia found across the country. They reflect Vekllei’s concept of the citizen-soldier and are distinct from regular guards and reservists by their lower level of formal training and looser organisation. Strictly volunteer, they are raised and organised by gendarmes of the Commonwealth Constabulary and function under the authority of local constables or military officers.

    If mobilised totally they would number perhaps a million, and would function as a saboteur and partisan force in the event of war – operating among communities they have grown up in, on terrain they know intimately. The General Auxiliary cannot deploy overseas, and exists solely for home defence.

    Commonwealth Provosts #

    The Commonwealth Provosts are the military police, providing base security, criminal investigation and policing for enlisted servicemen. Unlike the civilian Constabulary, Provosts operate exclusively within military jurisdiction – bases, vessels, training areas and operational zones. Their officers hold military rank but may also carry a police endorsement under the Constabulary’s commission system, allowing them to exercise civilian arrest powers when required.

    Provost Regiments

    • 1st Parliamentary Provost Regiment
      Government and parliamentary security. Provides close protection for the Directory and the Parliaments.

    • 2nd Industrial Provost Regiment
      Security for critical industrial infrastructure, including Ministry of Light and Water facilities and nuclear sites.

    • 3rd Fortress Provost Regiment
      Military police functions across all Commonwealth fortress complexes.

    • 4th Naval Provost Regiment
      Shore-based security for naval stations and dockyard facilities, coordinating with the Maritime Service.

    • 5th Strategic Provost Regiment
      Security for classified facilities, missile sites and strategic defence installations.

    • 6th Investigative Provost Regiment
      Criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and internal affairs within the armed forces.

    • 7th Field Provost Regiment
      Deploys with expeditionary forces to provide military police functions in the field.

    Commonwealth Patrol Service #

    The Patrol Service is the armed border force. While all Vekllei borders are at sea and involve the Littoral Service, the Patrol Service provides onshore security and policing at ports, airports and naval stations. Patrol servicemen hold a police commission under the Constabulary’s endorsement system, which grants them the legal authority to enforce customs, immigration and criminal law – making them simultaneously soldiers and constables. This dual status reflects the absence of a clean civilian-military divide in Vekllei: a patrol officer enforcing customs at a harbour is exercising police powers, but could be federalised into a combat role within hours.

    Some professional servicemen in the line regiments also hold police endorsements as part of the Constabulary’s Rifle Company system, allowing them to serve part-time in police functions. This is a practical consequence of Vekllei’s small, dispersed populations: on a remote island, the same person might be the only trained authority available, whether the situation calls for a soldier or a constable.

    Patrol section headquarters are referred to as stations, while individual posts are known as outposts.

    Patrol Sections

    Equipment #

    The Territorial Service equips its regiments with domestically manufactured vehicles and weapons. The emphasis is on amphibious capability and air-transportability – equipment must be able to move between islands by landing craft, helicopter or transport aircraft. This constrains the size of the armoured fleet: Vekllei operates relatively few main battle tanks compared to continental armies, but supplements them with large numbers of infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers suited to island terrain.

    Territorial Service Equipment

    Main Battle Tanks

    • 310 No. 4 Sekhmet MBT
    • 21 No. 3 Ordoria MBT

    Infantry Fighting Vehicles

    • 300 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (ASLAV)
    • 1,600 Infantry Fighting Vehicles

    Armoured Personnel Carriers

    • 3,500 Armoured Personnel Carriers (Commandos)
    • 1,400 Tracked APCs
    • 800 Amphibious Armoured Vehicles
    • 600 Armoured All-Terrain Carriers
    • 460 Armoured Cars

    Watercraft

    • 30 Amphibious Cargo Vehicles
    • 24 Mechanised Landing Craft

    Trucks & Cars

    • 3,600 Multi-Purpose Utility Vehicles
    • 3,560 Military Trucks
    • 30 High-Mobility Transporters

    Mine-Resistant and Ambush Vehicles

    • 240 Protected Combat Support Vehicles
    • 180 Armoured Personnel Support Vehicles

    Engineering Vehicles

    • 30 Armoured Combat Engineering Vehicles
    • 80 Combat Recovery Vehicles
    • 20 Vehicle-Launched Bridges
    • 72 Armoured Tractors
    • 15 Amphibious Bridging Vehicles
    • 6 Demining Vehicles
    • 12 Mine Detection Vehicles
    • 20 Bulldozers
    • 8 Backhoe Loaders