Gnomeregan Military

The **Gnomeregan Military** was, prior to the collapse of the city-state, the single most technologically advanced military on Azeroth. Incorporating technologies at all levels and with a deep underground city as its industrial base, it was believed to be essentially undefeatable by the 'primitives' beyond the gates. This belief was never questioned prior to the collapse of the city due to the Trogg uprising and the subsequent Gnomish Civil War.

Today, it is a pale shadow of its former glory. Its numbers are vastly diminished, its industrial base largely crippled or outright destroyed, and its once impregnable city-fortress lost. This has resulted in a marked doctrinal shift. The Gnomeregan Military now largely functions as an arm of the greater Dwarven Military, only rarely undertaking individual operations, or as a technical support arm for the Grand Alliance in its various complexes. It remains, however, the most technologically advanced army in the world despite this and continues to innovate and to seek means to level the field against the larger armies of the enemy.

## Gnomeregan Armoured Corps

The former pride of Gnomeregan, the Armoured Corps was the strongest and most feared branch of the Gnomish military. Equipped with a wide variety of mechanized vehicles, the GAC was built around the concept of swift and hard assaults on enemy weakpoints. Gnomish spider-tanks, heavy battlesuits (light suits largely being the domain of the Gnomeregan Guard and GCO combat teams) and completely automated combat-robots all served valuable roles in the GAC. Today, like much of the Gnomeregan military, it is a devastated shell of its former self, consisting largely of battlesuit troops and a small spider-tank brigade, with the majority of the Corps armour having been lost to the enemy's possession or in battle during the Gnomish Civil War.

## Gnomeregan Covert Operations

The current lynchpin of the Gnomish military, Gnomeregan Covert Operations - informally, Gnomeregan Covert Ops. - is a special operations and spy agency directly answerable to, and commanded by, the High Tinker. Originally a relatively minor part of the Gnomish military, its role has rapidly expanded since the fall of the city. With the limited resources available to the Gnomish military, surgical strikes and specialized units operating in conjunction with the Great Alliance have taken on an increasingly important role for the Gnomish military and accordingly, the GCO divisions receive the lion's share of funding and glory.

## Gnomeregan Sea Patrol

One of the least recognized branches of the Gnomeregan military, the Sea Patrol is often confused with GCO Division 1870. Its mandate was to secure the territorial waters around Gnomeregan city from all threats, but since the collapse of the city it has been defunct and its personnell have either joined the Royal Navy of Azeroth, the Ironforge Coastal Guard or GCO Division 1870's submariner units.

## Gnomeregan Guard

The only conventional infantry component of the Gnomeregan military, the Gnomeregan Guard suffered the heaviest losses during the Gnomish Civil War. Its members made up the bulk of the Holdout troops and frontline anti-Trogg troops and despite their valiant efforts, were gradually and bloodily forced back and almost completely out of the city by the combined forces of the Troggs and Sicco Thermaplugg's Leper gnome armies. Following their almost total defeat, the Guard gradually rebuilt and today stands as a proud force once again, actively involved in the reclamation of Gnomeregan's surface structures and the defence of the temporary capital, New Tinkertown. The elite Guards, the A.C.E. Regiment, took part in the failed assault on Domination Point in the Fourth War alongside regular Guardsmen.

Unlike the bulk of the world's infantry, the Guard utilize advanced body armour and firearms at the basic level. While still trained for melee combat, the size of the Gnomes puts them at a marked disadvantage and so Guard doctrine is to keep the enemy at as long a distance as possible. Accordingly, some of the finest firearms in any service are seen in the hands of the Guard, including six-barelled pepper-pot pistols and equally sized pepper-pot shotguns, advanced particle weaponry, and automatic weapons.