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The Stories of a Dreamlander

My Little Pony: Warfare is Magic

North Equus Independent Group of Herds Treaty Orgaization: Ranks



NEIGHTO has a universal rank system. While the names of the ranks may change across nations, reflecting local languages, and the responsibilities might change, the ranks themselves follow structured order. Some nations don't assign certain existing ranks at all, while others make liberal use of them.


Kingdom of Equestria
As the largest NEIGHTO member - more or less a Fantasy United States - Equestria sets the tone for all the NEIGHTO partners, and since General K is the only real expert on warfare, much weight was given to his initial guidelines. Equestria makes liberal use of "Warrant Officer" ranks, as anyone with a rank of General or above can create someone to the rank of Warrant Officer 1 through 5, or spot-promote anyone below WO-5 up to that rank without Royal consent. Commissioning an Officer requires a Commission from the Royal Defense Advisor, Princesss Luna, or Princess Celestia.
(Click here to open) Equestrian Rank Insignia



Crystal Kingdom
The Crystal Kingdom is largely behind the times, and working out a proper rank structure took a little doing. Within the archaic rank structure of the Crystal Kingdom, existed "Ordinance Ranks" or, "Ordinance" in the Crystal Kingdom means "by Royal Ordinance (law), this designee is elevated above their peers." Thus, they were, by Ordinance, superior to others of the same rank. With the NEIGHTO standardization, these became separate ranks on their own. The tradition remained, however, and "Ordinance Ranks" are generally reserved for Team Leaders or administrative duties.

Interestingly, the Crystal Kingdom made use of something similar to "Warrant Officers" in antiquity, though they bore a different title - "Keeper." Keepers in ancient Crystal Kingdom culture were those that, literally, kept control of things. Before universal education in 807 B.C., the first Keepers were educated ponies largely from Equestria, Ambleion, and Prance. Since then, the title of "Keeper" in each major unit ("Lines" or modern Regiments) went to educated Ponies in charge of specific administrative affairs - lodgings, pay, equippage, recruiting, medicine, and so on. The tradition continues, with "Keepers" in the Air Navy retaining the title, while the Aero Marines, Army, and the newly formed Provincial Guard (Militia), would use the term "Warden" (Warden of Knowledge).

Considering that the first Crystal Kingdom only existed from about 682 B.C. to about 3 C.S., under Princess Amore, the level of martial culture that arose is rather well entrenched, even if the rank insigna are a little unusual. The officer ranks follow the precedence of gemstones - Sapphire to Emerald to Ruby, then all three with gold appointments, and finally, the Crystal Heart itself for the Lord General.

For obvious reasons, the Crystal Kingdom does not have a seperate Air Force - the Air Navy performs the functions of both an ocean-going navy and an Air Force.
(Click here to open) Crystal Kingdom Rank Insignia



Kingdom of Ambleon
As the second largest NEIGHTO member by military force contribution (virtually tied with Prance), Ambleon has had a long standing martial tradition. Both a small free standing army, and their "honourable troops," combined with Shetland Yard national police, and even a Territorial Guard (Town Guards), Ambleon already had a military force in place. They were, however, small before the war, and relatively poorly armed. The ranks that existed in the Ambelonian Forces were unequal, with some units even having their own rank charts within them entirely independent of the rest of the force. NEIGHTO standardization changed all of that.

Ambleon Warrant Officers were originally integral to the Enlisted or "Other Ranks." Seniormost NCO's would perform Warrant Officer-like functions and have a specific job, while still holding a senior NCO rank. Again, the NEIGHTO standardization changed this, and forced them to separate. The terms invented by the Ambleonian Air Force were partly replicated by the Equestrian Air Force and vice versa. Note that the Ambleonian Navy has different rank insigna.

The "Honourable Troops" of the Ambleonian Military include: The Royal Horse Guards Regiment, The Honourable Regiment of Artillery, The Grenadier, Coldstream, Ironish, Scots, Welsh, Manx and Cornish Guards Regiments, and finally, Her Majesty's Own Troop of Pony Guards (a Regiment as well). It should be strictly noted that the Royal Horse Guards, Grenadier, Coldstream, Ironish, Scots, Welsh, Manx, and Cornish regiments are front line combat units. The Honourable Regiment of Artillery and Her Majesty's Own Troop of Pony Guards perform the same functions as the Equestrian Royal Guards - defenders of the palace, Princess, and royal properties. They are, however, combat ready.
(Click here to open) Ambleonian Rank Insignia



Kingdom of Prance
Prance does not invest as much responsibility into its NCO classes. At the start of Prance's involvement in the war, Prench Combat Companies of 60 Ponies were led by a Lieutenant Colonel or Commandant, with a Capitane-Major or Commandant beneath them, then a Capitane, and two Lieutenants. Regiments are led by Colonels, and Battalions by a Colonel en Chef. Brigades are commanded by a Général de Brigade, and Divisions by a Général de Division - any superior formation is commanded by a Général de Division, but with a special designation (Général de division commandant un corps or commandant un groupe d'armées.) Prench Foreign Legion Companies would be staffed with both Legion and regular army officers, and nominally of one rank superior to the normal billet (Companies commanded by Colonels), as the Legion was initially not organized any higher than the Brigade level.

Prance's Gendarmerie uses the same ranks as the Army and Militia.

Prance is one of several European nations that doesn't make use of the Warrant Officer ranks except in Administration and Specialist roles. A Combat Regiment will have 2 Warrant Officers in the Headquarters Unit as Administrative Specalists overseeing logistics. Engineer Regiments often substitute junior Lieutenants for senior Warrant Officers. Medical Regiments will often rank Doctors with less than 2 years experience as an Officer Designate or OF-(D), and nurses with more than 8 years experience as Warrant Officers or Officers.
(Click here to open) Prench Rank Insignia



United Kingdom of Germaneigh
Germaneigh has a martial tradition, but one primarily maintained by what used to be parade formations and peace keepers. As with much of Europe, Germaneigh led a very peaceful existence the last several hundred years. They did maintain a professional police agency - Polizeigewerkschaft Deutscher Länder - that covers the greater German kingdom and its smaller political entities (Archduchy of Austridia, Archduchy of Danemark, Duchy of Bitvaria, Duchy of Sireaxony, Duchy of Markingsburg, Duchy of Harnesse-Rhine). Germaneigh itself may be a unified political entity on the top level, but much power is ceded to its constituent Duchies, and smaller local independent cities and counties.

Royal "Germane" land spans 65% of the nation's territory, but with the remaining 45% being quasi-independent, semi-autonomous entities, certain functions being strictly the domain of the Royal government are rare. Even the Germane Army wasn't initially an entity that covered all the Duchies and independent regions. It wasn't until War Day 512 that ALL of the semi-independent territories agreed to contribute to the unified Germane Army and Air Force. The Duchies still insisted on fielding their own "home" regiments and brigades, raised and funded entirely within those Duchies and ostensibly independent of the national command structure unless mobilized. They did, however, agree to recognize only one Admiral or Marschall der Konigsreich - provided that a sub-rank of "General der [Duchy]" also existed, as an OF-10+ rank, superior to the unified Royal rank of "Generaloberst."

The Germane Navy has always been a Royal institution. With the creation of the Germane Marines (Marinekampftruppe) and Air Force (Luftwaffe), they, too, became Royal level entities, though the Archduchies of Danemark and Austridia did create their own Air Corps Reserve (Herzogliches Fliegerkorps Reservetruppen) commanded by an OF-09 (General der Herzoglichen Flugkorpsreserve). The independent town militia forces were organized into regional Städtischer Grenzschutz (Town Border Guards), and each Duchy and each County of Royal Germaneigh has their own command structure. The Germane Royal Guard is an independent, unified entity that provides close protection to both the Prince and the Dukes/Duchesses of the Realm, and Royal properties. They are not a front line combat force, though they are combat trained and ready.
(Click here to open) Kingdom of Germaneigh Rank Insignia



Roaman Empire
The Roaman Empire is a little odd. For them, all "special operations" type missions - amphibious landings, paratrooper assault, alpine assault and so on - are performed by the Legions of Rome. Thus, they replace the Marine Forces as well as special forces and Airborne troops. The Legion has its own rank titles, as a result. The Air Force, Army, National Guard, and National Police (Carabinieri) all use the same rank system. Unlike some other European nations, Roam made use of something similar to a Warrant Officer Corps - the "Marshals" (Maresciallo). Formerly named "Camp Marshals of Order and Keeping" (Marescialli del campo di ordine e mantenimento), the Camp Marshals once had the duty of ensuring everything from lodgings, to food preparation and management, paymasters, and so on. This used to be a system of 24 different ranks with different orders of precedence, but NEIGHTO standardization reduced this to 5 ranks, while retaining the titles.

Roam has always had far less responsibility placed in its NCO Corps than it did Camp Marshals and Officers. Even in front line combat units, it's very likely that a Maresciallo will be in a leadership position, instead of a Sergeant or Corporal. Only the senior-most Sergeants are entrusted with any serious leadership responsibiliy. Again, the Legions are different, where the Tesserarius are assigned only to administrative and logistical roles, while the upper six NCO ranks take on senior leadership responsibility over the Enlisted troops, and even an OR-5 is capable enough to command a Squad.

Vastly different from every other European nation, Roam does not have a seperate Royal Guard. Unlike Earth's Rome, where the Legions were forbidden from entering the City of Rome itself, the Praetorian Guard of Rome is a Legion Cohort in the Empire of Roam. As such, they use Legion ranks.
(Click here to open) Roaman Rank Insignia



Principality of Vulpesylvania
Taking most of their cue from Poleland, and observing their NEIGHTO standardization, Vulpesylvania prepared itself to join NEIGHTO by aligning its force and rank structure with the NEIGHTO standard before ever coming to Canterlot in 1004 C.S. to request membership. An interesting division of rank and department, is that the Commanding Flag Officer of the Vulpesylvanian Military inherits their department's specific "Chief" title, but is the only flag officer of that grade (OF-11). Upon induction of the Vulpesylvanian Military in 1004 C.S., the military as a whole was commanded by Ordained Knight Sienna Sharpeye.

The "Regulator Corps" within the Vulpesylvanian Military are an interesting study in the "Warrant Officer" concept - any Fox from any Branch promoted to the rank of Regulator for being and advanced or highly experienced specialist in their field of study, may be assigned to ANY Department (Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, National Police or Royal Guard), regardless of their Department of Origin, based on a required need of such a technical specialist within that unit. Several "Joint Offices" such as the Miltary Judge Advocate Corps, Miltary Central Arsenal Corps, and Military Corps of Engineers and Fabricators, also exist that mix personnel from multiple branches, based on what's needed at a specific location. As such, "Regulators" command a great deal of respect, and while they are not afforded an Officer's seniority automatically, they may be placed senior to Officers equal to or lesser than their comparitive "WO-0#" number (i.e. a WO-04 Chief Regulator can be placed senior to an OF-04 Captain Prime or below), for very specific and narrowly-defined reasons. Examples include a WO-04 Senior Regulator from the National Police serving as a Judge in a Disciplinary Hearing, where the Prosecutor and Defender are both Army OF-04 Captain Primes or below, the two Army Officers must treat the National Police Regulator as senior to them while in the court room, during proceedings.
(Click here to open) Vulpesylvanian Rank Insignia



Griffon Kingdom
One of the later entrants to the NEIGHTO Alliance, the Griffon Kingdom had a very eclectic mish-mash of Town Guard forces that functioned as everything from a local militia to a police force. The Royal Guards were a collection of 102 of the toughest birds in the flock - the former Council of Lords each having an entourage of personal Royal Guards and Attendants all to themselves. When the Griffons joined NEIGHTO, King Gorcat I aligned the officer ranks with Equestria's, as no actual "officer class" existed, other than designated leaders of town guard formations, and the Lords or Ladies being the "commanders" of their individual guard teams. The terms "Hatchling," "Aviant," "Tectrix" and "Hunter" were generalized slang terms for Town Guards at different levels of experience, but not official ranks by any means. "Filoplumers" were an old term used for inspectors and administrative advisors to Royalty, and the term was re-used for the Warrant Officer ranks.

Since the Griffon Kingdom is land-locked and did not develop a seperate "Air Navy" like the Crystal Kingdom, it has no equivalent of, nor did it organizationally require, thus, a "Marine Force." The doctrinal responsibility of shock troopers, specialized assault forces, and so on - the nominal job of a Marine force - instead fell to the Army's Airborne Regiments. With such a consolidation, the Griffon Kingdom didn't bother to establish multiple seperate rank systems, instead using a single unified one. Royal Guards append the suffix "of the Guard" to their rank, to denote their elite status, but are entirely reserved to close protection duties for the Royal Family, Royal Palace, and Royal Estates, making them a very small force component. Former Town Guards add the prefix "Municipal Guard" and newly-designated Gendarmes add "Gendarmes" or "Detective" (if so assigned) to their ranks for similar reasons - to denote them as the equivalent of Miltia or Law Enforcement.

A civilian law enforcement organ exists within the Griffon Kingdom, that of the "Marshal of the Courts." These special deputies are Griffons of high reputation that are granted the position of "Deputy Marshal" or "Marshal" by the Supreme Court of the Griffon Kingdom. Besides the designation of "Deputy Marshal" or "Marshal" (specifically for leaders of Deputies within specific court circuits), no other rank exists.

The Officer, Warrant Officer, and the two highest NCO ranks use collar insignia, while the lower NCO and Enlisted use sleeve insignia.
(Click here to open) Griffonic Rank Insignia