Imperial Conoilithian Army (Modernised)

''NB: This page refers to the modernised Imperial Conoilithian Army at the time of the Conoilithian-Mittelrijkian War. For the Imperial Conoilithian Army prior to and during the Conoilithian Civil War, see *this* page.''

The Imperial Conoilithian Army was the ground force of the Conoilithian Empire's military. Riding on the victorious and glorious prestige of the many incarnations of the Conoilithian military before it, the Imperial Conoilithian Army was the single largest military in the world at the time of the Conoilithian-Mittelrijkian War, and unquestionably the most powerful and impressive on paper and on parade. However, despite this, or perhaps because of their hubris, the Imperial Conoilithian Army's performance in the field was less promising; nevertheless, it still remained a formidable force until its reformation into the Conoilithian Royal Army.

ORGANISATION
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Rank Insignia
Conoilithian Army ranks followed the traditional Conoilithian hierarchical order of bronze, silver and gold, combined with a mixture of different symbols. It should be noted that privates had no insignia to denote their position; their collar tabs were simply a plain colour.

NCOs:

Sergeant: Gold button collar tab, red sash during parades.

Corporal: Silver button on collar tab.

Lance Corporal: Bronze button on collar tab.

Recruitment and Training
The Imperial Conoilithian Army was the only nation in Eithlith to not practice conscription of any sort, following the 2900 reforms; despite this, the Imperial Conoilithian Army was still able to field the largest army in the continent at the time of the Conoilithian-Mittelrijkian War, as the massive Conoilithian urban population was generally very patriotic, and more often than not would volunteer for service. Recruitment stations could be found in every town and city, and those seeking to join the Imperial Army could turn up at any time in the day to file an application for enlistment. They would then be put onto a 'waiting list' of sorts. The Imperial Army trained a new 'class' of recruits 4 times a year - once per season - and those on the waiting list would be called up for service once the training period closest to their date of application had arrived.

Basic training in the Imperial Conoilithian Army generally lasted for around 2 months, during which time recruits were instructed in marching drills, had discipline enforced, and were given basic combat training. During this time they were allowed to go out only to whichever town or city the barracks were located in or closest to.

HISTORY
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UNIFORM, EQUIPMENT AND WEAPONS
The uniform and equipment of the regular Imperial Conoilithian Army as of the beginning of the Conoilithian-Mittelrijkian War were as follows:

UNIFORM (regular army):

 * Navy blue tunic
 * Sky blue pants
 * Sky blue greatcoat
 * Collar tabs: royal blue for infantry and artillery, navy blue for guards units, navy blue with silver lining for cavalry
 * Sky blue cloth field cap
 * Sky blue puttees
 * Dark brown leather boots
 * Dark brown leather satchel

INFANTRY EQUIPMENT AND WEAPONS:

 * Imperial Armoury "Year '88" rifle
 * Bayonet
 * Steel shovel
 * Imperial Armoury "Year '92" heavy machine-gun

ARTILLERY:

 * Imperial Armoury 75mm howitzer
 * Imperial Armoury 75mm mountain gun
 * Imperial Armoury 100mm field gun
 * Imperial Armoury 155mm siege gun
 * Imperial Armoury 280mm siege howitzer

TACTICS AND DOCTRINE
The Imperial Conoilithian Army's tactics were relatively orthodox, simple and unsophisticated compared to those of its contemporary rival, the Mittelrijkian Royal Army. By the middle of the Conoilithian-Mittelrijkian War, many of the tactics the Conoilithians had entered the war with were outdated. There was little real attention paid to tactical planning for anything lower than the platoon level, as it was viewed as unnecessary; Conoilithian military planners expected battles to be remniscent of the pitched battles of line warfare in the past; for the past several decades, the Imperial Conoilithian Army had only fought comparatively primitive enemies, such as the Southern Expedition against the Virgandian Trinity (2848), or its suppression of local warlords in Dai Kuok' (2896 - 2897, and again between 2902- 2904). This however is not to say Conoilithian military planners completely ignored the evolution of warfare. Conoilithian officers recognised the advances made in weaponry, particularly artillery, and focused on trying to increase the available firepower brought to bear against an enemy unit. However, Conoilithian military planners were more occupied by further developing old and current methods with new technology, rather than being innovative and developing new tactics, or investing in more breakthrough technology; for example, while the Conoilithian army invested a lot in producing far more artillery pieces than the Mittelrijkians could dream of, they almost completely neglected machine-guns, and continued focusing on massed riflemen as the main force of their army.

This lack of imagination meant that Imperial Conoilithian Army battle tactics were almost detrimentally straightforward at the start of the war. Platoons still travelled in rows and blocks, with only a metre between each man, and they trained to move and fire as a single large unit, led by officers with swords drawn at the front. The attack would be conducted by first arranging troops for the advance and setting up field artillery, and the attack would begin in earnest with a heavy artillery bombardment on the enemy position as troops approached the enemy; it would conclude with a bayonet charge that would drive the enemy from their positions and capture the objective. On the defensive, platoons would simply form firing lines at positions decided by their commander, and shoot with their rifles at the enemy while artillery provided support from afar; machine-guns were distributed sparingly. Cavalry would be used for rapid actions against the enemy if they were in the open, attack the enemy guns, or pursue withdrawing enemy.

These simple tactics proved inefficient and costly against Mittelrijkian troops with their high rate of fire, excellent aim over longer distances (compared to Conoilithian riflemen), and wide array of rapidly available support weapons and counter-batteries, along with their dug-in positions when on the defensive; Mittelrijkian tactics inflicted a strongly skewed casualty ratio during battles in the first year of the war.