Northern Guard
The Northern Guard is the CNCS's multinational force, drawing from each Northern League's armed forces when a situation demands it and a unified command structure is needed.
Overview
Unlike the Allied Southern Territories, where the Southern Republic forcibly dominated its client-states, the Confederation of Northern City-States has always been a partnership between relative equals. This presented unique challenges when devising some kind of unified military command to defend the North against the aggressive AST.
Each League had its own military, with its own structures and traditions, and was loathe to abandon this heritage in favor of some uniform, efficient central command. Cycles of bitter warfare between the three Leagues didn’t help matters.
The Northern Guard (NG) was a compromise. Instead of establishing a new military or completely amalgamating their existing militaries, the CNCS created a small, multinational force dedicated to border patrols, anti-Rover operations in the Badlands, and other small duties outside the borders of the CNCS. Each League’s army would operate independently and, when the CNCS faced a threat that one of its three armies could not handle on its own, the Northern Guard would provide a unified command structure. [1]
Organization
Northern Guard Regiments are normally rather strict in their organization.
This typically breaks down after some time in the field, as the regiment will often pick up stragglers, be assigned backup from other divisions or simply be assigned to work with squads or companies from other divisions.
The integrated command structure ensures the combined arms work together as a cohesive whole, but in any Regiment, the officers from that Regiment remain in command over all those assigned to the Regiment. [2]