Ground Forces: The Tyrannian Imperial Legions

The Tyrannian Imperial Legions (Tyrannic Latin: Legiones Imperialium Tyrannicarum) constitute the ground-based forces of the Tyrannian military. The Imperial Legions ultimately owe their allegiance to the Emperor of Old Tyrannia as commander-in-chief (Imperator); the government minister responsible is the Vice-Minister for the Imperial Legions (Prominister Legionum), who is answerable to the overall Minister of Defence (Minister Defensae). In practice the Vice-Minister is usually a professional soldier, generally holding the rank of legatus emeritus, whilst the Minister of Defence is a civilian politician appointed by the Prime Minister (Caput Imperii or Primus Minister). Both the Minister of Defence and the Vice-Minister for the Legions are members of the Imperial High Command (Summum Praetorium Imperialis).

As of 2016, the Imperial Legions stand at 81,249,000 soldiers strong, divided into 606 legions. Both men and women are able to serve in the legions, but women are barred from most combat roles and must pass the same physical requirements as men to become part of the legions, meaning that relatively few women are able to qualify; female soldiers account for around 21% of the legions' total strength. Female Tyrannian soldiers, especially officers, have a fearsome reputation due the (widely accurate) perception that only the strongest of body and will are able to break through the barriers of sexism within the military and rise to high rank. Each legion is largely administratively independent and responsible for its own recruitment, training and internal organisation; the commanding officer of a legion is the legatus or legate. This is the highest formal rank within the Imperial Legions other than that of Imperator, which is reserved for the Emperor; in campaigns in which multiple legions are participating, the overall operation commander may be granted the temporary position of induperator or summus legatus. In general, an induperator is given overall command of any military operation, including authority over naval units involved in the operation, whereas a summus legatus commands only the legions involved.

Current Tyrannian military doctrine largely originates in the Cold War era, and was strongly influenced by the military doctrine of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The Imperial Legions follows a doctrine known in Tyrannia as victoria discurrentia, "lightning victory," which was based on the Nazi "Blitzkrieg" and advocates overwhelming the enemy by attacking swiftly and unexpectedly with large mechanised forces and air support, breaking through enemy lines to separate and encircle enemy forces before pressing for a rapid victory. Based on this doctrine and Tyrannia's observation of the conflict between Germany and the USSR in the Second World War, Tyrannian strategists concluded that any future conflict would involve large-scale battles between opposing armoured units. As a result, Tyrannia has placed a significant emphasis on its armoured legions since the 1950s, maintaining one of the world's largest fleets of tanks. Nonetheless, the Tyrannian infantry has a reputation for being among the best trained in the world.

Infantry
Tyrannian infantry soldiers traditionally wear black military uniforms, leading to their acquisition of the nickname "blacks" in some nations, such as Imeriata. The standard equipment for a Tyrannian soldier, or legionary, consists of a Browning L9A1 pistol, a dagger (pugio) and a traditional Tyrannian shortsword or gladius for self defence.

The standard Tyrannian Mark 4 titanium galea or helmet resembles the iconic German Stalhelm in appearance, not least because it was based on the Stalhelm which were provided to the Tyrannian Empire by Nazi Germany during the late 1930s, when the two fascist states were still on friendly terms. More specialised weaponry used by Tyrannian infantry includes the Belgian-produced FN MAG 60.20 standard issue infantry machine gun and the British-built 7.62mm L96 sniper rifle and L85A2 standard issue rifle.

Anti-tank units use the M47 Dragon man-portable anti-tank missile system, though in 2010 plans were announced to phase out the M47 in favour of the more modern FGM-148 Javelin by 2020.

Ranks and Insignia

Armoured Legions

The Armoured Legions (Legiones Armatus) are the mechanised divisions of the Tyrannian Imperial Legions. As noted above, armoured vehicles have played a significant role in the military doctrine of the Tyrannian Empire since the 1940s and '50s, based on the assumption of post-World War II Tyrannian military planners that any future conflict the Empire might face would be fought in the same way as the Second World War, with engagements between large units of armoured vehicles playing a key role. Ironically, as a consequence Tyrannia used its communist nemesis- the Soviet Union- as a model, following the Soviet practices of mass storage of armoured units whilst not in use and stockpiling fuel in preparation for any unexpected conflict breaking out. The Empire's first tanks, however, were acquired in 1922 when Emperor Gaius Romulus II ordered twelve Renault FT tanks from France's Renault Automobile Company. The Renault FT was a First World War design, widely regarded as one of the most revolutionary tank designs in history, and was widely used following the war by countries that lacked the capacity to produce their own tanks. Following his ascension to the throne in 1935, Gaius Romulus III began to cultivate relations with the fascist leaders of Italy and Germany, whom his father had been wary of. As a result, from 1938-1945 Tyrannia purchased most of its tanks from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, with the consequence that although the official Tyrannic Latin name for a tank is "autocurrus armatus" (literally "armoured automatic wagon") the common term for a tank in Old Tyrannia is Panser, from the German word "Panzerkampfwagen."

The first major conflict involving the Empire in which tanks were used was the Brown Desert War between Old Tyrannia and its western neighbour, the Armed Republic of New Imperial Tyrannia, which had seceded from the Empire in 1907. This conflict, which broke out in the 1950s as a result of long-running disputes over control of border territories in the sparsely-populated, arid central region of the Tyrannian subcontinent, the Brown Desert (Desertus Castaneus). Both nations relied heavily on Second World War German and Italian tanks; the Imperial forces deployed thirty-five Panzer II tanks, eighteen Panther tanks, eighteen Panzer IV tanks, nine Tiger I tanks and twenty-five Italian P 40 tanks. The Armed Republic's force was smaller but better equipped, with thirty Panzer IV, twenty-six Panther and twelve Tiger II tanks. The Imperial forces performed well, triumphing over the New Tyrannian tank division by virtue of superior tactics, with a kill-to-loss ratio of 3:1 for the Empire. However both sides found themselves having to deal with frequent breakdowns due to overheating and fuel shortages due to poor transport links and infrastructure in the region. The Empire eventually emerged victorious from the conflict, and in the process gained valuable experience in modern warfare.

Today, Tyrannia uses four main classes of main battle tank (MBT):