Volsung Regiment
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Private military, intelligence and security services contractor |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Colonel Sigurd Olafsson |
| Headquarters | Keuland |
| Services | Private military force |
Number of employees | 3,600 military, 600 corporate |
The Volsung Regiment is a non-government armed force active in much of the world. It is legally a private military company incorporated and based in Keuland. As of 2020 it has some 3,600 'military employees' on its books, of which roughly 50% consist of defectors from the Valgtean military or security services. Prominent competitors of the Regiment include the Duklav's Legion and Awara Clan Incorporated.
Overview
Keuland has always been a destination for Valgtean defectors. The linguistic proximity between the two states makes it easier for such people to adapt to life in a radically different world outside of the theocratic totalitarian rule of the Supreme Prophet. A significant portion of these defectors consist of former members of the Blessed Army or the Ecclesia Guard, usually career officers and non-commissioned officers rather than conscripts. These people already possess military training but lack many of the qualifications needed to thrive in a modern capitalist economy. Accordingly, many turn to the only skill which they have thoroughly mastered, that being the employment of arms.
Whilst most defectors formerly chose to serve in the Keuland military, Sigurd Olaffson was the first to realise the potential of a fighting regiment with its core based on former Valgteans. Formerly a staff officer in the Valgtean Naval Infantry, he was forced to flee the country in the wake of Marcus the Purifier's purge of the Valgtean security system soon after the latter's ascension as Supreme Prophet. Whilst Olafsson survived, his family were hunted down and executed. Olafsson used his organisational talents to found a military unit which is run as a commercial enterprise, attracting the latent pool of skilled military personnel residing in Keuland and forged it into a formidable private military company.
Reputation
The Volsung Regiment has often been compared with another major Belisarian PMC, the Duklav's Legion. Compared to the latter, the Volsung Regiment is measurably smaller and less well-resourced. However, compared with the Legion's reputation for clinical professionalism, the Regiment is reknown for its ferocity and ruthlessness. In particular, whilst it will scrupulously adhere to the laws and customs of war when taking prisoners of uniformed personnel from 'regular' armies and other mercenary organisations, it has been known to execute insurgents or even insurgent-backing civilians out of hand, especially where they back a Valgtean-supported cause.
Organisation
The Volsung Regiment consists of three mechanised infantry battalions and supporting arms. Roughly 50% of its personnel are Valgtean defectors. The remainder is comprised of a mix of native Keulanders and recruits from around the world. For these reasons, Latin is used as the main command language, although Nordic is also widely spoken. The Regiment practices a mixed-gender recruitment policy.
Infantry battalions
Each infantry battalion is primarily mounted on XA-200 armoured personnel carriers. It comprises of three infantry companies, a mortar platoon equipped with six self-propelled 120mm mortars and a scout-sniper platoon.
Each infantry company in turn can be broken down into a company HQ, three infantry platoons, and a 81mm mortar platoon with three 5-men mortar teams.
Each rifle platoon consists of three eight-men squads, two two-men GPMG teams, a platoon sergeant and a platoon commander. Each squad is divided into two four-men fireteams. A platoon is provided with two launch units for Vesper missiles and, when defending against an attack by heavy armour, the third squad of a platoon would be used to form two dedicated anti-tank teams.
Supporting elements
The infantry battalions of the Regiment are supported by the following elements:
- Artillery Battalion (18x self-propelled 155mm Archer Artillery System in three batteries)
- Anti-air Company (12x ASRAD-R SHORAD systems mounted on XA-200 APC chassis plus Giraffe radar system)
- Fast Attack Company (22x Apollo Motors Battleaxe, armed with machine guns, grenade launchers or Vesper missile)
- Engineer Company
- Medical Company
- Signal Company
- Logistics Company
- Maintenance Company
- Drone platoon
Equipment
| Description | Origin | Type | Ammunition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M98 battle uniform |  Keuland |
Camouflage uniform | N/A | |
| Helmet 90 |  Ghant |
Combat helmet | ||
| Scalable Plate Carrier |  Belfras |
Body armour | ||
| Small Arms Protective Insert | Belfras |
Trauma plate | ||
| MOLLE | Belfras |
|||
| AN/PSQ-20 | Belfras |
Small arms
| Description | Origin | Type | Ammunition | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HG 85 |  Garima |
Fragmentation grenade | N/A | ||
| M/40 | Ghant |
Pistol | 9x19 parabellum | ||
| M/45 | Ghant |
Sub-machine gun | 9x19 parabellum | ||
| Model 870 | Belfras |
Shotgun | 12 Gauge | ||
| FA-4 rifle | Ghant |
Battle rifle | 7.62x51 | This is the Regiment's main service weapon. Some are fitted with claw-mounted scopes and used as marksman rifles. | |
| TRG-42 | Ghant |
Sniper rifle | .338 Magnum | Used in small quantities by dedicated sniper teams | |
| IWS 2000 |  Nachtmark |
Anti-material rifle | 15.2×169mm | ||
| MG 710-3 | Garima |
General purpose machine gun | 7.62x51 | ||
| CIL50MG |  Lion's Rock |
Heavy machine gun | 12.7x99 | ||
| GL69 | Ghant |
Underbarrel grenade launcher | 40mm grenade | ||
| MGL |  Tulura |
Multi-launch handheld grenade launcher | 40mm grenade | ||
| CIL 40 AGL | Lion's Rock |
Automatic grenade launcher | 40mm grenade | ||
| Crossbow |  Arthurista |
Disposable AT launcher | |||
| 84mm RCL | Ghant |
Recoilless Rifle |
Anti-tank guided missiles
| Description | Origin | Type | Ammunition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MBT LAW | Ghant |
Light man-portable ATGM | ||
| Vesper missile | Arthurista |
Man-portable ATGM |
Anti-air systems
| Description | Origin | Type | Ammunition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASRAD-R | Ghant |
SHORAD | Mounted on XA-200 APC chassis |
Artillery
| Description | Origin | Type | Ammunition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MM71 | Ghant |
Infantry mortar | 81mm | Company-level weapon |
| Cardom |  Yisrael |
Self-propelled mortar system | 120mm | Mounted on XA-200 APC chassis |
| Archer Artillery System | Ghant |
Self-propelled artillery | 155mm |
Land vehicles
| Description | Origin | Type | Variants | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Motors Battleaxe | Arthurista |
Light general purpose vehicle | ||
| HMATV | Nachtmark |
Light lorry | ||
| Bv 206 | Ghant |
Light bandtrack | ||
| DAF T-244 | Arthurista |
General purpose lorry | ||
| XA-200 | Ghant |
APC |
Aviation
| Description | Origin | Type | Variants | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hermes 450 | Yisrael |
UAV | ||
| RQ-11 Raven | Belfras |
Mini-UAV |
Radars
| Description | Origin | Type | Variants | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSTAR | Arthurista |
Battlefield surveillance radar | ||
| Giraffe radar | Ghant |
Air surveillance radar |