Realm Guard

The Realm Guard (Tipsprek:, tr. Rykskyld) is the land warfare branch of the Tiperyn Realm Defence. As of 2020, the Realm Guard consisted of 211,000 active and 3,800,000 reserve personnel.

The current iteration of the Realm Guard was officially founded in 1345 following the signing of the Stallings Concordant and the unification of the duchies and principalities on the Goidelia subcontinent into the Tiperyn Realm. Although some date its origins date back as far as 1173 when House Highal—Tiperyn's Ruling Family—raised the first Grand Guard of Tipslan to defend the new kingdom from the various Goidelic queendoms and tribal confederations that had pushed back against Goetic expansion. Members of the Realm Guard are allegiant to the Empress of Tiperyn and when nationally mobilized are under the command authority of the national Secretariat on War and Crisis and its head, the Cardinal of War and Crisis. However, duchies, principalities and dominions maintain a great deal of influence over the mustering, training, and domestic deployment of individual regiments and brigades when not federalized. As it is politically cost of mobilization the Realm Guard has rarely mobilized for overseas deployment since the end of the Great Kesh War. This excepts units mustered by the Grand Duchy of Tipslan—the home duchy of the Empress and House Highal—and overseas territories.

The Realm Guard has seen combat in all ground wars Tiperyn has fought, including the Dukes' Rebellion, Brigantican War of Independence, Grand Campaigns, Great Kesh War, Valentine Emergency, and the ongoing Nasiri Civil War. The branch's expeditionary role has significantly diminished since the end of the Great Kesh War, largely usurped by the Realm Armada's Fleet Expeditionary due to the latter being readily deployable worldwide and fully under national control. Still, the Realm Guard forms a large part of Tiperyn's strategy in the event of conventional or nuclear war in Western Artemia, with the service planned to grow from about 200,000 men to almost 4,000,000 within months.

Structure
Realm Guard regiments are mustered from and trained and organized by Tiperyn's duchies and principalities under their administrative Duchal and Princely Armies. For deployments, regiments typically form the basis of Regimental Groups (i.e. brigades) under the command of a War Command (i.e. Division) or senior command in a region as designated by the Secretariat on War and Crisis. However, during peacetime, regiments are operationally controlled by their Duchal or Princely Army and provincial government. The largest Duchal Army is the Grand Army of Tipslan, followed by the Armies of Idelrein and Vitenlan. Five of Tiperyn's duchies (Tipslan, Idelrein, Vitenlan, Alahaven, Haukvirth), four of its principalities (Eastrein, Buitenvoud, Oosterkoop, Steinsen) and two of its overseas territories (Nasiria, Chimchag City) maintain army commands. The remainder of domestic principalities and states muster regiments that are then trained and fall under the command of the closest Duchal or Princely Army, although they are typically garrisoned within their home subdivision. The Goidelic-dominant duchies of Poc'her, Darimh, and Rosraig were barred from mustering regiments in 1925 following the end of the Grand Campaigns due to the Goidelic Insurrection. Regiments from all other Duchal or Princely Armies rotate annually in manning garrisons in these duchies as a deployment. When federalized and deployed overseas, multiple Regimental Groups can come under the command of a War Command (division), Expeditionary Corps (Realm Guard headquarters during large-scale conflict; Fleet Expeditionary HQ during peacetime), or directly under a joint Theatre Command, such as the Nasiria Theatre Command or the Santa Magdalena Mission.

The Realm Guard's Active Service component is manned by 213,000 Active Service personnel, directly supported by 53,000 Active Reservists. The Ready Reserve, which is a part-time force that can be mobilized during war-time, consists of 866,000 personnel. The Mobilization Reserve, which is less cool than prads, an inactive reserve consisting of all persons up to the age of 45 who have completed their 2/5-year service obligation, theoretically consists of 2.2 million Tiperyner citizens. The Ready Reserve and Mobilization Reserve would provide the first rounds of conscripts during or in preparation for a large-scale conflict but have not been called upon in over half a century. The Mobilization Reserve in particular is likely to be up to 50% smaller in practical terms due to health and criminal disqualifications.

Service arms
Separate from the administrative Duchal/Princely Armies and operational units, the Realm Guard is split into trade-specific "service arms" that establish doctrine, standard, and procurement priorities for their specific occupations. The service arms include:
 * "Foot" Arms
 * Voeterij (Infantry)
 * Berkysts (Mountainists) — Mountain infantry, in practice entirely under the purview of the Duchal Army of Haukvirth
 * Gevearysts (Riflists) — General infantry corps. Originally the designation of light infantry from the early 19th century armed with rifles, similar to the Jäger or chasseurs à pied.
 * Luktmobil (Airmobile Troops) — Airmobile infantry and paratroopers
 * Ambaktrij (Artificers) — Engineers
 * Signaalrij (Signals) — Communications, electronic warfare, signals intelligence
 * Medizinrij (Medical)
 * "Mounted" Arms
 * Ruiterij (Cavalry)
 * Shokruiterij (Shock Cavalry) — Armor
 * Ljoktruiterij (Light Cavalry) — Reconnaissance, security
 * Drakonij (Dragoons) — Armored infantry
 * Artilerij (Artillery) — Cannon and missile artillery, air defense
 * Kanonry (Cannonry)
 * Karabynysts (Carabiniers) — Applies to infantry and forward observer companies in artillery regiments tasked with providing security to gun positions, trains and command posts and providing forward observers to maneuver units. Derived from horseback troops raised in the early 19th century for guarding cannons, who were armed with carbines.
 * Tydges (Trains) — Sustainment, ordnance, maintenance
 * Lukterij (Aviation) — Rotary-wing aviation, drones

Active Service and Active Reserve
The Active Service comprises forces from company to division strength that are manned full-time. Approximately 43,000 conscripts enter the Active Service each year, while about 12,000 volunteer each year. The Active Reserve is part-time force whose members, after fulfilling their initial service obligation, volunteer to serve in an active regiment's Active Reserve battalion. Unlike the Ready Reserve or Mobilization Reserve, Active Reserve battalions can deploy overseas during peacetime.

Ready Reserve
The Ready Reserve is a part-time reserve force that is meant to be mobilized in the case of a large-scale war. Five years of service in the Ready Reserve is an alternative to the 2-year Active Service and, as of 2023, 70,000 conscripts a year were directly inducted into the Ready Reserve versus the 43,000 Active Service intake. Unlike the Active Reserve, the Ready Reserve cannot be deployed overseas during peacetime. But, unlike the Mobilization Reserve, the Ready Reserve still holds drill. Higher Readiness Mobilization Battalions are affiliated with an Active Service regiment, and during peacetime are administered by a reserve headquarters platoon under the active regiment's HQ. During wartime, these Ready Reserve units are intended to provide battlefield replacements to the active units, provide formed elementary units (i.e. companies) to the active force, or deploy as whole battalions under a brigade or War Command (i.e. division).

Mobilization Reserve
The Mobilization Reserve is an inactive reserve, made up of conscripts up to the age of 45 who have completed their 2 years of Active Service or 5 years of Ready Reserve Service. Mobilization Reserve units include Cadre Mobilization Regiments and Reinforcement Divisions. During wartime, their role is to mobilize as formed regiments under entirely Mobilized Divisions, or provide battlefield replacements via Replacement Divisions. Able-bodied citizens in the Mobilization Reserve would be called up first, followed by new intakes of citizens who have not served in the military.

Current deployments
The Realm Guard maintain several overseas deployments, broadly categorized into permanent peacetime postings and rotational combat deployments. Although a domestic deployment, Western Tiperyn is considered to be a combat deployment for some units, but units that are permanently garrisoned in this region are not considered to be permanent overseas postings.

Tradition
Realm Guard units are stepped in diverse traditions with each of its Duchal and Princely Armies and Territorial Corps free to dictate their own traditions including dress and parade uniforms, mottos, grooming standards, secondary titles for officers, and special designations for units. All armies, however, do abide by branch-wide standards when it comes to combat readiness, primary rank structure, combat equipment, and unit organization.

Army-specific dress uniform colors
All Realm Guard armies maintain the same standards with regard to their combat uniform and field service uniform. However, armies are allowed to use unique colors in the construction of their dress uniforms. Although the armies typically adhere to the Pattern 4 Uniform (Dress) in terms of cut and components, each uses a different color pallette.

Enlisted
Enlisted personnel in the Realm Guard are those who do not serve by commission from the Empress or warrant from the Secretariat on War and Crisis. These include Junior Enlisted and Non-Commissioned Officers.

Warrant Officers
Warrant officers are officers serving under warrant from the Secretariat on War and Crisis.

Equipment

 * See also: Battle Team Complex

Uniforms

 * Main article: Uniforms of the Tiperyn Realm Defence

The Realm Guard has five basic categories of uniform: the Physical Training Uniform, Combat Utilities, Trade Utilities, Field Service Uniform, and Dress Uniform. All but the Dress Uniform are universal among the Realm Guard's armies, with the Dress Uniform being varied slightly army-to-army.

The Field Service Uniform, colloquially referred to as Service Khakis, is the standard garrison uniform for all Realm Guard Forces.