Imperial Army in the 20th Century

The **Imperial Army** of the Nesarian Empire underwent several key developments in the 20th century, adapting to the changing circumstances and challenges of the First and Second World Wars, the War of Independence and the numerous Decolonisation Wars. Much like armed forces across the world, the Imperial Army transitioned more towards mobile warfare and small unit tactics over the 20th century, and made increasingly extensive and sophisticated use of combined arms warfare.

## Service Rifles

The Imperial Army transitioned through four main service rifles during the 20th century, which can be neatly divided into two groups of two; in both cases, a firearm was introduced and then underwent a major upgrade some years later without changing the fundamental characteristics (or name) of the weapon. These service rifles continued a long-standing Inecurian trend of giving firearms metaphorical or poetic names rather than naming them after their creators or their technical classification.

### Volador G3399

The Volador rifle, designed by Legan Faleira of Astorna Arms in Saveria, entered service in 1899 AD, or 3399 INC. Originally just named the Volador - a portmanteau of *vola* (thunder) and *elador* (marker, designator, targeter) - it was retroactively given the designation of G3399 (*Gelte* 3399 - Type 3399) when the rifle underwent an upgrade at the tail end of 1915 AD (3415 INC). From this point onwards, all Imperial arms would be have a model designation based on the year they entered service.

The Volador G3399 was the Imperial Army's first standard-issue repeating rifle; the rifle it replaced, the Basumenor G3358 (or "Long-Slayer Type 1858"; typically referred to as the "Basu" or "Bamen" by its users), was a single-shot rifle. As well as the development of a magazine, the other major changes from the Basumenor were superior rifling resulting in a better gas seal, substantially improved iron sights and a permanent fixture for a telescopic sight, switching to smokeless powder from black powder for the cartridge propellant, as well as shrinking the calibre - down from 9mm to 7.8mm - which allowed for greater muzzle velocities and made handling the weapon easier.

The Volador is a bolt-action repeating rifle fed by a fixed magazine that can hold six rounds, making use of six-round charger clips for a full reload and individual insertion for topping up a partially-filled magazine. The magazine design underwent a minor revision in 1902 AD (3402 INC), adding a fixed charger guide to make using charger clips easier and more reliable; almost all extant Volador G3399s have this feature, since relatively few were produced before 1902.

An estimated 1.8 million Volador G3399s were produced over the lifespan of the rifle. Approximately half of these were eventually upgraded into G3415s and remained in military service, and the rest found their way into civilian hands, largely through the issuing of arms to civilians as an emergency measure in the final stages of WW1. Because of their inferiority to the G3415s, they were cheap to acquire until the early 2000s when they began to gain value as antiques.

### Volador G3415

The G3415 (or "Type 1915") model of the Volador was designed by its original creator, Legan Faleira, who by this time was an employee of the state at the Imperial Arms Foundry. The design was formulated over the course of 1915 in response to feedback from soldiers in the First World War, and entered full production near the end of the year.

The most significant change from the G3399 to the G3415 was the magazine; it was doubled in size, raising its capacity to twelve rounds, needing two six-round charger clips to completely fill. This made the Volador the highest-capacity service rifle in the world at the time. Such a magazine size was resisted by some military officials, who thought that it would encourage soldiers to waste ammunition, but this prediction was never proven true by evidence.

Another notable change was a slight shortening of the barrel, which both saved on material costs and made the weapon less awkward in confined spaces such as trenches, thick forests and urban areas - where much of the fighting was being done. Rigorous testing did show that the reduced barrel length compromised long-range accuracy, but this was considered a non-issue since battle reports from the war were showing that almost all engagements were happening at far closer distances than the G3399's effective range of 520 metres. The G3415's effective range was considered to be 500 metres - shorter, but not impactful for the kinds of battles actually being fought.

More minor changes were simplifying the sight adjustment mechanisms (including the total removal of the windage adjustment mechanism - though this would be re-added on the best rifles for use by snipers), altering the design of the front sight for improved visibility, and changing the bayonet lug to fit the newly introduced G1915 bayonet, a double-edged blade which was shorter than the single-edged G1902 sword bayonet to make it more practical in close confines.

From the perspective of the manufacturers, however, the most major changes were in production techniques. The original G3399, whilst generally regarded as a high-quality rifle, was expensive and complicated to produce. The immense demand for rifles, as well as the Empire's relatively limited industrial capacity compared to its population, necessitated changing manufacturing processes and swapping out materials; this was particularly the case now that the expanded magazine demanded more material and production time.

Most noticeable to the soldiers was a simplier and lower quality finish on the wooden stocks; while not necessarily rough, the finish of the original G3399 was considered excessively fine. Incidentally, it was found that the slightly rougher texture made the rifle easier to grip when wet. The aforementioned removal of the windage adjustment was also a cost-saving measure, as it had no practical use in the kind of fighting Imperial soldiers were doing; the same change was made to the SMLE MkIII\* rifle by the British for the same reasons. Less critical metal components that did not bear the brunt of the weapon's forces were also swapped to lower and cheaper grades.

The Volador G3415 remained in production for the rest of WW1, the entirety of WW2 and most of the War of Independence. It was not completely retired from service until 1988 AD (3488 INC), as it continued to be used as a sniper rifle. Estimates for the total number of G3415s produced vary significantly, particularly as some counts consider Southeast Asian copies of the weapon that went under different names to also be G3415s. Low estimates place the figure at approximately 50 million, whereas the highest estimates claim 110 million. In any case, the number of Volador G3415s that were produced was vast - on a comparable scale to the Gewehr 98, Mosin-Nagant and the AK-47 and its derivatives. G3415s remain common civilian weapons, and are frequently used by militias across the globe. Many Southeast Asian police forces also continue to make use of G3415s.

### Lantuvetta G3448

The Lantuvetta rifle, sometimes also referred to as the Vedon-Tenashi rifle, was designed by Moriga Vedon and Ekiro Tenashi Kanete of the Imperial Arms Foundry and entered service in February of 1948 AD, or 3448 INC. It was not lost on the government and the public at the time that this release came exactly ninety years after the adoption of the Basumenor G3358; propaganda media compared the two rifles to show off Imperial technological development. The Lantuvetta bears a resemblance to - and was certainly heavily inspired by - the StG 44 and AK-47 assault rifles developed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union respectively.

Its name literally translates as "rapid fire", reflecting the much faster fire rate of the rifle compared to the Volador it replaced. Whereas the Volador is bolt-action, the Lantuvetta is self-loading and, when in the automatic firing mode, is capable of shooting 600 rounds per minute at an effective range of 800 metres - though this was rarely utilised in combat, as accurate semi-automatic fire was always prioritised and engagement ranges ended up being almost never longer than 500 metres. The Lantuvetta G3458 served not only to replace the Volador, but it also replaced submachine guns across the Imperial armed forces, as the select-fire rifle could fill the battlefield role of both. This substantially simplified Imperial logistics going forwards.

The Lantuvetta uses a 26-round detachable box magazine as standard. A larger 32-round magazine was produced, but was not standard issue to soldiers as its size was considered awkward. The rifle is chambered for the 7.2x45mm Imperial intermediate cartridge, a smaller round than the 7.8mm cartridge used by the Volador; this change was chiefly made to reduce the weight of carried ammunition and to make the recoil more controllable, though continuous automatic fire is still erratic.

Experiments were performed with prototype rifles re-chambered for smaller rounds, which were found to have much more controllable recoil and a greater "tumbling" effect on targets (and therefore greater damage potential), but the 7.2x45mm was favoured for its penetration and reliability - of particular concern was that the weight and force of the cartridge made the rifle far less susceptible to being jammed by mud and dirt, and it performed better in the highly abusive tests Imperial inspectors put the weapon through.

An estimated 2.2 million Lantuvetta G3458s were produced over its lifespan, most of which were made from 1948-1956; production slowed down with the exit of the Communists from the War of Independence. Despite this number, few survive to the modern day; all G3458s that remained in Imperial service were upgraded to G3467s, and all surviving un-modified G3458s are those that were sold to foreign countries or to civilians - though those that were sold to civilians were legally obligated to be modified to remove the automatic firing mode. They are valued today as collector's items, but those who use firearms for hunting or self defence near-universally prefer the upgraded G3467.

### Lantuvetta G3467

The G3467 ("Type 1967") model of the Lantuvetta was developed by one of its original creators, Moriga Vedon; her chief co-worker on the original, Ekiro Tenashi Kanete, had died of tuberculosis in 1961. This upgraded version of the Lantuvetta was a response to feedback from users and manufacturers which sought to improve reliability and quality of life and reduce the complexity of manufacturing some parts.

The two most significant changes between the G3458 and G3467 were the furniture and the firing mode selection system. All wooden components were swapped for plastic; not only did this save on weight, improve resistance to damage and reduce the need for maintenance, but it also eliminated the known issue of the wood warping in hot, humid climates - in other words, where the Lantuvetta was mainly being used. However, wooden stocks remained available for models configured for civilian purchase (which, as before, were only available in the semi-automatic firing mode), and eventually a laminate stock became available in 1983.

The selector switch was altered to put more of a distance between the semi-automatic and automatic firing modes and the switch was deliberately made slightly stiffer, as there had been some complaints that it was easy to accidentally switch modes. The switch also gained a new option, as a three-round burst capability was added to the rifle. Like some other rifles with burst fire capabilities, the three-round bursts deliberately did not neatly match with the 26-round magazine; eight bursts of three could be fired as normal but the ninth would be two rounds, indicating to the user that the magazine has emptied. The larger non-standard 32-round magazine also ends in a burst of two.

There were minor adjustments to the shape of some components for improved ergonomics (particularly the charging handle and safety switch), and the considerably over-engineered sling loops were redesigned to be simpler - much to the relief of the manufacturers, who had complained about it from the beginning. The mount for sight attachments was also redesigned, partly to be simpler and more durable and partly to accomodate a new model of telescopic sight that had been adopted a year earlier in 1966. Some parts also had their manufacturing processes changed to be easier to produce - in particular, the milled steel receiver was replaced by steel stamping, a development that was almost certainly inspired by the Soviet AKM. Later in 1969, as a weight-saving measure, the bolt carrier began to have lightening cuts and the bolt itself became partially fluted - another change that is highly likely to have been inspired by the AKM.

The G3467 is by far the most ubiquitous version of the Lantuvetta, not only because most G3448s were upgraded into G3467s, but because the production of the Lantuvetta ramped up to new scales with the adoption of the upgrade, in order to supply the Imperial interventions in the ongoing Decolonisation Wars and to provide Imperial allies with weapons. Due to better record-keeping, estimates for the total number of G3467s that were produced are more precise than the Volador, but are still somewhat vague; the figure typically ranges from 25 to 30 million, with the variation mainly coming from whether one considers foreign copies or derivatives of the weapon produced under different names to also be Lantuvetta G3467s.

The Lantuvetta G3467's design proved to be highly effective and reliable, and was beloved by the soldiers who used it. Though it underwent several minor modifications over the years to accommodate new technologies and further refine ergonomics and reliability, the weapon remained in use up until 2013, when it was finally retired from service and was replaced by the Delumelor G3513 ("New-Archer Type 2013") - a rifle that shares many fundamental characteristics with the Lantuvetta and is generally regarded as a development of the Lantuvetta rather than an entirely new firearm; the main change in the Delumelor is switching to the smaller, more controllable 6x45mm Imperial cartridge. The Lantuvetta is no longer manufactured for military use, but the civilian semi-automatic variant continues to be produced to this day, and it is the second-most popular civilian firearm in Inecuria after the much cheaper Volador.

## Non-Standard Rifles

The Imperial Army in the 20th century also developed and deployed two non-standard rifles that were never widely adopted. These were typically given to special forces or to elite units, or were only available in limited theatres. Whereas the number of service rifles produced numbered in the millions, these non-standard rifles never exceeded more than 1 million units produced.

### Mortelor G3417

The Mortelor was put into production in 1917, as armour became more prevalent on the battlefield. The Mortelor is an anti-tank rifle - though Imperial terminology has always preferred the label of "anti-armour" to anti-tank - firing a large 14mm anti-armour bullet at very high velocity. The Mortelor was one of the few areas where the Empire was technologically ahead of its enemies; it was the first anti-tank rifle to be see service in the First World War, and the only one in the entire war besides the German Tankgewehr M1918.

The rifle's name of Mortelor translates as "dread-breaker", though both the Americans and British tended to translate this as "hell-breaker". This name not only refers to the rifle's impressive penetration power, but is also said to be derived from the extremely loud noise and strong recoil produced by the weapon.

The rifle would continue to be used through subsequent wars in the 20th century, though with some modifications. The first change to be introduced in the WW2-era variant of the Mortelor was a soft buttpad, soon joined by a muzzle brake, which made handling the substantial recoil much easier. A specialised scope also entered production in 1944, as it was found that the Mortelor was an excellent long-range sniper rifle that could pierce through light fortifications, fitting it into a new role as its effectiveness against contemporary armour began to dwindle.

The rifle operated on similar principles to the Volador, being a bolt-action rifle fed by a fixed magazine. The Mortelor had an ammunition capacity of only three rounds, which had to be individually inserted as they were too large to make a charger clip practical. The heavier weight of the ammunition and all of the rifle's components made operating the rifle noticeably slower than operating the Volador. The ammunition's weight also necessitated that the Mortelor be operated by a team of two; one to fire the rifle and one to carry ammunition and spot targets.

Estimates for the total number of Mortelor rifles are generally in the region of 100,000. Almost all of these were scrapped in the 1980s, as the Empire moved to new anti-material weapons. Only 131 Mortelor rifles are known to still exist, most of which are held in museums in the Empire, some of which were captured by the Empire's enemies and are held in museums or private collections overseas.

### Thentura G3443

The Thentura rifle was put into production in 1943, mostly as a reaction to the semi-automatic battle rifles beginning to be fielded by the Empire's enemies at the time. The name Thentura translates as "metal-storm", reflecting the higher rate of fire the rifle could achieve with semi-automatic, self-loading fire. The Thentura began development as an attempt to convert the Volador G3415 to semi-automatic, but most elements of the firearm had to be redesigned to accommodate the functionality.

The most significant change besides the self-loading, semi-automatic functionality was to the magazine. It was designed on similar principles to the Volador's and held the same number of rounds - that is, 12 - but it was altered to be fully detachable, reloading the firearm by removing the magazine and inserting another. The Volador also had a detachable magazine, but this was for maintenance purposes; detaching and re-attaching the magazine was a lengthy and somewhat awkward process, certainly not something to be done mid-firefight.

The Thentura was never rolled out en masse, mostly due to challenges of cost and logistics. Though superior to the Volador on paper, in practice the Thentura was not as reliable nor precise as the Volador. It has long been discussed whether these issues were inherent in the design or were due to faulty manufacturing. The Imperial state did keep the Thentura in production at a small scale, but it did not become the new service rifle of the Imperial Army as the additional cost of production - and the more complex spare parts that needed to be circulated - combined with the reliability and precision issues was considered to outweigh the battlefield advantage the weapon granted.

Thentura rifles were mostly deployed against American soldiers, who had held a firepower advantage from the beginning with the M1 Garand. Against Commonwealth and Soviet soldiers, who were still chiefly equipped with bolt-action rifles at the time, the Thentura was seen as unnecessary. By the time that the Volador became a truly, utterly obsolete rifle with the transition of the war from WW2 to the War of Independence, the Empire was already developing a more advanced assault rifle inspired by the European StG 44 and AK-47 rifles, which became the Lantuvetta G3448. With the transition to this new service rifle, both the Volador and Thentura ceased production. A count of how many Thentura rifles were produced is hard to determine, but estimates range from 400,000 to 600,000.