Republic of Drothnak Citizens' Militia
A fairly standard example of a CGI militia: a semi-formal defence force consisting of all able-bodied adult & near-adult citizens of the (crowned) Republic of Drothnak, itself a member-state of the Commune of the Great Islands. Mostly a land force, but they do have a few skilled hackers, and access to a flotilla of cutters and some armed aircraft (mostly privately owned in both cases - in fact, most of their land vehicles are also privately owned, and either loaned to the militia, or brought by their owners when called up for training and service).
Ranks
The rank titles are 'close enough' translations, rather than exact names. Rank insignia are marked on the shoulders of the harness, and on the helmet.
Rank 5 [20]
Colonel (two double-point leaves) (Held by the Earl of Drothnak)
Rank 4 [16]
Captain Major (one double-point leaf)
Rank 3 [12]
Captain (three single-point leaves)
Lieutenant (two single-point leaves)
Cornet (one single-point leaf)
Courtesy Rank 3 [3]
Student Officer (one round pip)
Rank 2 [8]
Militia Senior Sergeant (w/Courtesy Rank 3 [3]) (four hash-marks & one filled lozenge)
Militia Colour Sergeant (w/Courtesy Rank 2 [2]) (four hash-marks)
Militia Staff Sergeant (w/Courtesy Rank 1 [1]) (three hash-marks)
Militia Sergeant (two hash-marks)
Rank 1 [4]
Militia Corporal (one hash-mark)
Rank 0 [0]
Ready Militier (one lozenge)
Militier (one hollow lozenge)
Junior Militier (no insignia)
Notes
Militia Rank is 4/level due to the very limited resources that the militia has available.
A 'hash-mark' is a thick, curved line with an outline in a contrasting colour.
The difference between a Junior Militier and a Militier is largely one of age and physical development: a Junior Militier is promoted to Militier when both full grown and able to show the community that they have the maturity of an adult (this is fairly common in the region). A Ready Militier is one who is not only full-grown, but skilled and able to show sufficient military discipline for the militia.
'Uniforms' generally consist of a personal (often non-uniform) harness with militia markings and rank insignia, sometimes armour (either home-made or military surplus), and a (generally non-uniform) hat or helmet with militia markings. Armour, armaments, and other equipment tend to be 'whatever is available' (most often supplied by the user or a member with more property), though most members will have an axe and a survival knife. For Drothnak Island, this includes a lot of hunting weapons, like bows and crossbows, though sometimes with non-hunting arrows. In parade uniform, they carry spears or other polearms, and try to otherwise look fancier.
This militia has a few PatLabors, mostly owned and used by the islander's nobility, and one fully combat-rated walking machine, owned and operated by Baroness Rask, the heir of the island's Head of State (but not Head of Government), Earl Jorss. Militia PatLabors tend to be more heavily decorated than Gendarmerie mobile police PatLabors, though at least on Drothnak, the decorations do not interfere with their ability to be used in combat.
All members of the nobility are socially obligated to be active with the militia as long as they are old enough and able-bodied, and all of them are expected to be officers. Most often, they lead militia units made up of their own tenants, though the pre-Final War militia was less medieval about it (a noble
could end up leading such a unit, but was far from assured of it). Like the militia ranks, 'Baroness' and 'Earl' are not perfect translations, but they're generally agreed to be close enough. The Earl's father was adopted into the island's leading family when the last Gormellian members knew that they were dying.
Prior to the Final War, the Earl was roughly equivalent to a
Colonel-in-chief, with the professional commanding officer of the militia often being someone else (generally still a member of the nobility, though). The militia at the time was also smaller in terms of regularly-active members, and more ceremonial, as it was mostly seen as unneeded for several generations by the time the Final War happened.
Thoughts?