Alternative world map showing SanTheodor.
SanTheodor is a fictional island kingdom located in the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of a main island (SanTheodor) with the capital city Leandreas, plus three smaller islands (SanAntarsia, SanMerida, and SanBellota), has a total size of roughly 750.000km² and a population just over 110 million people (2021). As a former colony of Spain, it fought its independence in the years following the Anglo-Spanish War and became independent by 1610. But it should last until the late 1880 until the last colonists were driven off SanTheodor and its surrounding islands. Always in the need of fighting its independence against colonising nations such as Great Britain, France, Spain, the Dutch Empire, German Empire and others, the SanTheodorians became a nation of great and fearless fighters with a relatively strong army and navy. The only downside of living on an island in the Atlantic Ocean is its dependency on raw materials coming mostly from the African continent and other countries rich in natural and mineral resources.
To save its political and economical freedom, SanTheodor built up a sizable navy, consisting of 580 ships in different classes. The navy fields 10 nuclear powered assault carrier (1 class), 4 cruiser (2 classes), 32 destroyer (2 classes), 70 frigates (5 classes), 10 nuclear (2 classes), 30 diesel-electric (2 classes) and 20 micro (1 class) submarines, 62 corvette (2 classes, one class in 3 variations), 10 missile boats (1 class), 20 littoral combat ships (1 class), 200 patrol boats (2 classes), 40 river boats (1 class), 30 landing ships (2 classes), 20 assault ships (1 class) and 23 ships in their supply fleet (6 classes). In addition, the Navy fields 540 speed boats attached to their ships and submarines. In total, the STRN fields 199 blue water capable warships, 260 coastal defense crafts, 23 blue water supply ships, 40 mounted assault crafts and 560 mounted submarines and speed boats.
Since WWII, the flagship of the navy is SanTheodors super battleship Fearless, a 272m long and 48m wide giant with 12 heavy guns (8x 40cm in 4 dual turrets and 4x 38cm in 4 single turrets), plus additional 48x 15cm multi-purpose guns in 24 dual turrets.
To guard its territorial waters and various civil and merchant ports, SanTheodor also has a strong coast guard, consisting of 100 ships in 6 different classes. The forces of SanTheodors Navy and Coast Guard operate from 9 ports, 7 of those military and 2 coast guard. In addition, SanTheodor has a decent, state owned Merchant Marine and strong trade relations to Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the USA, India, and Australia to gain necessary raw materials. Oil, coal, iron ore and other materials essential to the efforts of defending their island were imported on a constant basis. As former cold war enemies and distrusted nations, SanTheodor has little to none economic bounds or trade relations to Russia and China.
To obtain a strong military, SanTheodor has not only a professional career army, but also compulsory military service. Every citizen (male and female) with A1 and A2 physical examination has to serve at least 2 years in the military as soon as he/she finishes school. They have the right to refuse, but need to do community service instead. Every male and female citizen that ist A3 and A4, and therefore exempt from military service, has to do compulsory community service. Compulsory military or community service starts with the lowest school graduation at the age of 17. If you graduated with university entrance qualifications, your compulsory service starts at the age of 19. As SanTheodor is a fiercely patriotic nation, military service is seen as an honorable duty and a lot of families can trace their military roots back to the bloody Indepence Wars against the Spanish colonists 1602-1610, some even further.
SanTheodor never joined NATO, but stood as ally beside the western nations during the cold war. Because they never joined NATO, SanTheodor refused to adopt the standard calibres 7.62x51mm or 5.56x45mm, but instead kept on using their WW1 and WW2 calibres 7.92x57mm IS and their proprietary 7.92x40mm assault rifle calibre. Not until late 2013, as SanTheodor adopted new weapons for the entire military, as they adopted different AR-15/AR-10 style rifles in 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51. However, the trials leading to the new system also included 7.62x39mm and 5.45x39mm AK-47/AK-74 style rifles.
Over the last century, SanTheodor built up a remarkable war industry with modern ship yards, tank and small arms manufacturers. In 1898 the war ministry made a deal with Germany to built the Mauser 1898 system under licence. By 1900 they than adopted their first smokeless powder rifle with Mauser system and the 8mm Mauser cartridge. Here were some of the weapons SanTheodor used before and during WW1, as well as in WW2 and beyond:
Moreno Rifles .12 Gauge Break-Action[]
As SanTheodor is an island nation with lots of lush rainforests, there were a lot of hunters. Double barrel .12 gauge shotguns were a common sight amongst SanTheodorians and they were used to the handling of their break-actions. Therefore the first militias ued these guns as first standardised military rifle. These break-actions used full brass shells and had an ejector that shoots out spent cartridges while breaking the action. SanTheodors Navy used these guns extensively till the end of WW1.
Moreno Rifles .577 Break-Action[]
This double barrel elephant gun also was a common sight amongst SanTheodrian hunters and was used to hunt down Dshungel Elephants and the infamous SanTheodor Forest Lion. As SanTheodor started to form militias and organize its armed forces, this weapon was chosen as a powerful and reliable system to standardise on. This rifle was built around the same reliable system as the .12 gauge break-action shotgun and has an ejector built into it.
Álvarez Clock Works .45 LC Rifle[]
This rifle was SanTheodors first step towards a modern military rifle, as they took inspiration from US cavalry units and their lever action guns in pistol calibre. Therefore, they sent a request for a rifle in a potent handgun calibre, that can be used in the future sidearm and rifle of SanTheodors armed forces. A small SanTheodorian manufacturer, that is well known for producing clockworks came up with the idea of a self-loading mechanism to be implemented into the rifle. As this would give the soldiers a great amount of firepower, SanTheodor army officials gave green light to produce and tweak this system. After a few years, they had working prototypes and started manufacturing them in the state arsenals of SanTheodor. In the field, there were a lot of issues at the beginning, regarding need of intensive cleaning and regular parts breaking. SanTheodor armed forces officials put out a training manual to remind soldiers to take good care of their rifles, but the fell relatively soon out of favour by the Army. The Navy however had much cleaner invironmant to use these rifles in and kept on using them until end of WW2.
Sherwood Mod.1889 S[]
The Sherwood Mod.1889 S is a development of the Mod.1874 Revolver ordered by the SanTheodorian war ministry as standard sidearm for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The changes made were first on the caliber, as the officials wanted .45 Long Colt instead of the .38 SCF. Another important change was done to the cylinder, as the Mod.1889 now has a swing-out cylinder to quick load via speed loader. However they insisted on keeping the loading gate to manually extract and load single cartridges. A more visible change was made to the barrel, as the war ministry and the military officials wanted to have a short and handy sidearm. The last and most complex change was made to the trigger, as the Army insisted on a double action trigger. The Sherwood Mod.1889 S became SanTheodors main sidearm prior to and during WW1. A lot of veteran officers and NCOs even used it during WW2 as they trusted it's firepower and reliability.
Marbelle Mk.2 Rifle[]
The Marbelle series of rifles was a domestically designed and produced rifle to use the 1888 pattern M/88 Mauser round nose bullets. These rifles were built to gave hunters a more lightweigt and easier to shoot rifle with yet a potent calibre. With a 5 round internal magazine, smooth bolt action system and a 24'' barrel it was a perfect rifle for hunters and military relatively early showed interest. However not semi automatic and with lesser magazine capacity, the Marbelle had a more potend calibre, greater ranger and way better accuracy than the .45 Long Colt rifle. The smooth action and the possibility to load the rifle with an en block clip made up for the speed defficiency and the benefits in range, accuracy and power were warmly welcomed by the troops. It was also obvious, that the bolt action was a more reliable system, than the finicky semi auto system of its predescessor. The .45 Long Colt rifle needed much more cleaning and maintanance than the Marbelle and some parts needed to be cared by the armourer. The Marbelle on the other hand was a strong and reliabale system built for the harsh treatment in the SanTheodorian wilderness. Another gimmick, that was welcomed by the troops was the addition of a full cleaning kit, that was stored in the stock.
Marbelle Mk.2 Carbine[]
As soon as the SanTheodorian Army decided to adopt the Marbelle rifle, it was also determinded, that all the rear echelon troops should receive a carbine version. Therefore Marbelle Rifle Works simply cut down the barrel from 24'' to 20'' and sold it as the carbine. Anything else on the rifle stayed the same, wich safed a lot of production costs and time. Marbelle Rifle Works only provided the SanTheodorian Army with the prototypes for testing, as all other carbines as well as rifles were than built by the state arsenals.
Mauser Mod.1900d Rifle[]
The Mauser Mod.1900d Rifle actually is not built by Mauser, but its key components as bolt, extractor and cartridge were licensed from Mauser. The rifle itself was then designed and built by state arsenals on SanTheodors main island. First rifles were issued out in 1900 and replaced the Marbelle in all branches of the SanTheodorian military, except from the Royal Cavalry and rear echelon troops, that continued using the Marbelle Carbine. The main goal was to built an even sturdier rifle than the Marbelle series for the infantry. In 1903, this step proofed to be a wise one, as Marbelle failed to rebuild their rifles to withstand the higher chamber pressure of the then new 7.92x57mm IS. The finished rifle has a total length of 46.5", a barrel length of 26" and weights 4kg unloaded. It has a 5 rounds internal magazine of 8mm Mauser ammunition and can be loaded via stripper clip. An interesting feature were its unconventional sights, as it has a three position rear sight (marked 100m, 200m and 300m) and a "split" triangular post in the front to shoot in 50m increments. The way this system works is, that you are shooting in 100m increments using the sights in the traditional way, and as soon as you pick up the white line half way down the front post, you are shooting 50m further. SanTheodorian Army and Marine Corps officials relatively soon figured out, that having complex sights marked out to 2000 and even more meters were kind of ridicules, as humans eyesight is not able to pick up targets so far away without any kind of magnified optics.
Mauser Mod.1909 Rifle[]
The Mauser Mod.1909 is the successor of the Mod.1900d and was built after the first battle experiences with the 1900d rifle. In SanTheodorians assistance in various campaigns of the Dutch Empire between 1900 and 1907, the Marine Corps and Army relatively soon realized, that their 1900d rifles were to long for fighting in jungle terrain or aboard ships. The request for a shorter and lighter rifle was sent to the SanTheodor State Arsenal and they instantly sat down on the drawing board. Result of this initiative was the 4" shorter and 0,4kg lighter Mod.1909 with 22" barrel issued out in 1909. This rifle than also should be the standard issued rifle during WW1. However, as WW1 started, only around 30% of the SanTheodorian Army and Marine Corps were equipped with this new model, as other branches were seen more important to be reequipped, as the Mod.1900d was a functional system and there was no need to phase it out as fast as possible. An important change was the use of the new 8mm Mauser IS instead of the round nose 8mm used by its predecessor Mod.1900.
Mauser Mod.1909 Carbine[]
As the Mod.1900d was seen as to long and heavy for practical usage in modern military conflicts, the new Mod.1909 still was to long and heavy for troops such as Navy troops, artillery guys, military police, POV camp guards or other rear echelon troops. To give those troops a decent, practical and lightweight self defense rifle in the new 8mm Mauser IS cartridge, the SanTheodorian State Arsenal designed the carbine version of the Mod.1909. This new Carbine is 38" long and has a barrel length of 17.5", weighting 3.2kg unloaded. As WW1 started nearly 100% of SanTheodorian Navy, artillery troops, military police and other rear echelon troops were reequipped with the new Mod.1909 Carbine.
Mauser Mod.1909 Cavalry Carbine[]
Another unit that was considered to be reequipped as fast as possible was the elite and pride of SanTheodorians Army, the Royal Cavalry. To give them a practical rifle, the SanTheodorian State Arsenal rebuilt the 1909 Carbine to be used with a 14 rounds detachable box magazine instead of the 5 rounds internal magazine used by the other Mod.1909 systems. This new magazine should simplify reloading on horseback and was welcomed by the cavalry troops. However, as soon as WW1 started, it became obvious, that with machine guns, artillery and entrenched enemies, cavalry was obsolete. Faced with this new tactical situation, SanTheodorian Army officials reorganized their elite cavalry units into assault/shock trooper battalions. As assault trooper basically had the same tactical task than cavalry, most cavalry trooper were fine with this kind of warfare, even though they now had to crawl through the mud instead of crossing no-man's-land on horseback. From than on they proceeded shock and awe tactics and surprise assaults against German lines with their Mod.1909 Cavalry Carbine.
Mauser Mod.1909 Sniper[]
Relatively soon in WW1, sniper became a game changer in infantry tactics. As Germany started deploying more and more sniper to the front lines, SanTheodorian Army also started to evaluate the usage of marksman in their frontline tactics. The first sniper program started in 1915 with the usage of 1909 rifles straight from the production line. As those rifles proofed insufficient, SanTheodorian State Arsenal started a separate production line to forge more precise barrels and smoother bolts. Combined with an excellent 1-5x50mm civil hunting scope, the Mod.1909 Sniper became a feared sniper rife.
Krieghoff Mod.1914-M[]
The Krieghoff Mod.1914-M is a licence built shotgun, that was bought from German small arms manufacturer Krieghoff shortly before WW1 started. This shotgun was intended to be used within the naval forces of SanTheodor, but as soon as trench warfare started, it became one of the most loved guns for assault trooper and defending own trenches against enemy assaults. As war proceeded, SanTheodorian soldiers and State Arsenal also adopted German updates to this gun they found on captured guns. One of these updates was the shell holding systems on the side of the receiver and on the stock. The Krieghoff Mod.1914-M was popular with naval troops, as well as assault troops and military police.
Mauser Mod.1916a Autorifle[]
This semi-auto rifle was SanTheodors first attempt to field a functional battle rifle. It proofed it's worth, but was to heavy and long to be used in trench warfare. Because of this, it relatively soon was withdrawn from the frontline and instead used as training rifle. These rifles stayed in training service till the end of WW2.
Mauser Mod.1916a Battlerifle[]
In desperate need of an affordable and easy to produce support fire weapon, SanTheodor state arsenals started a program to adapt the Mod.1916a Autorifle to fulfill their needs. To achieve the set goals for a lightweight, maneuverable, full auto capable suppressive fire weapon to secure trenches and support assault operations, state arsenals did a few tweeks to the Mod.1916a. Beginning from the front, they shortened the barrel a bit, dropped the bayonet lug, added a foldable bipod to the middle barrel band, created a 75 rounds rum mag, insert a full-auto only trigger system and added a foldable shoulder rest to the stock. In this configuration the so called Mod.1916a Battlerifle was used till the end of WW1 and into WW2.
Mauser Mod.1916b Autocarbine[]
In the same way, SanTheodor state arsenals chopped the Mod.1900d to adapt it to the modern battlefied, they also shortened the Mod.1916a Autorifle and created SanTheodors standard frontline rifle till the end of WW1 and during WW2. To field a practical, battle-ready rifle, SanTheodor state arsenals kept the 14 rounds detachable box mag already in use with the Mod.1909 Cavalry Carbine as well as the bayonet lug. In order to keep the operating system clean from water and mud, a sliding dust cover and draining holes were added. As it weight only 4kg, had 14 rounds of 8mm Mauser available, was easy to reload, handy and maneuverable, accurate and reliable, the Mod.1916b Autocarbine was well liked by the troops and therefore kept in service all the way till the end of WW2.
Mauser Mod.1916b Battlecarbine[]
As the Mod.1916a Battlerifle proofed to be an effective tool to defend own trenches, SanTheodor troops complained about its usage during assault operations. As the system is aircooled and has a rate of only around 400rpm, it is substancially ligther than other machine guns used during WW1, but troops stated, that it's to heavy and unhandy during assaults. Therefore state arsenals created the Battlecarbine version out of the Mod.1916b Autocarbine to give the infantry a lighter and more compacr LMG for assault operations.
Tubegun 9mm[]
With the upcoming of compact SMGs, SanTheodor also started a development program to create its own SMGs in 9x19mm. Relatively early state arsenals decided to built this guns as simple as possible. They saw the different approaches of other countries and realized, that fancy wooden stock and complex drums were the wrong way in building SMGs. What they came up with in the end was a simple design built by two tubes screwed together, and a screwed in endcap. A simple folding stock ist attached to the rear tube, fire controls, the striker unit and mag well were located in a welded on compartment on the bottom of the rear tube. In front of the mag well ist the linking part of the two tubes with the barrel trunnion. The free floating barrel is fully enclosed and protected by the ventilated front tube. As a closed bolt, striker fired, simple blow back system, the 9mm Tubegun had a rate of fire of around 800rpm and was capable of selective fire. Fire controls were located inside the trigger guard and with the paddle mag release the system was remarkably ambidextrious for its time. Therefore the Tubegun 9mm was used till the end of WW2 by all braches of SanTheodors armed forces.
Mauser Mod.1916 Ambush[]
The so called Ambush pattern was SanTheodors first true sniper rifle, built from the ground up to be a designated sniper system instead of a repurposed bolt action infantry rifle. It uses the same Mauser style bolt and extractor as the standard infantry rifle and is chambered in 8mm Mauser. The main differences were the new designed, precision maschined barrel, that also has threads for a suppressor, the embedding into the stock, the lack of the upper handguard, and the new precision trigger. The Ambush pattern never managed to fully replace the Mod.1909 Sniper during WW1, as it was only issued to elite snipers due to the low numbers caused by the extremely careful production. Even by start of WW2, the main frontline sniper rifle was the older Mod.1909 Sniper, but the Mod.1916 Ambush steadily increased numbers and by end of WW2 made up 70% of the sniper rifles used by SanTheodors sniper.
AL.18.7-9mmL[]
The AL (Auto Light) was SanTheodors first attempt on a semi automatic pistol in 9x19mm. They took some inspiration from already existing pistols like the Colt 1911 and the German Luger P08. Grip and grip safety were taken from the 1911, the front end looks similar to a P08. The AL-18.7 uses a Browning style locking mechanism and a large extractor. Even though it took six prototypes before a final refined version was selected, most SanTheodorian officers that these guns were issued out to, rejected them in favor of the firepower of their Sherwood Mod.1889 S. The AL.18.7 held two more rounds in its magazine than the Sherwoods six round cylinder, was easier and faster to reload, but the officers didn't trust the stopping power of the 9x19mm compared to the .45LC and mistrusted the complexity of a semi auto pistol. Younger officers welcomed the advantages of the AL.18.7 and favored the lower recoil and therefore faster shooting. By WW2 most of the Sherwood revolvers were replaced with the AL.18.7, but some veteran officers kept their Mod.1889 S.
Krieghoff Auto-33 M[]
In 1933 SanTheodor acquired the license to produce the latest Krieghoff shotgun in their state arsenals. The Auto-33 is the semi automatic successor of the pump-action Mod.1914 and this modernization was warmly welcomed by all SanTheodorian troops. With the same magazine capacity of 5 rounds in a tubular magazine and the two 5 rounds shell holder, same trigger and safety mechanism, it differs only in the cycle of function. Even though the Mod.1914 was still kept in service with rear echelon troops, the Auto-33 replaced it nearly completely in front line service.
Mod.1940 Paracarbine[]
As SanTheodor began the embattling of its paratrooper battalions in 1935, the new branch of infantry sent a request for a specialized rifle to fit their way of deployment. The standard infantry rifle at the time was the Mod.1916b Autocarbine and this was a well liked and prooven system. Therefore the new airborn infantry wanted to stay with this rifle, but requested the possibility to shorten the system for transport and deployment. SanTheodor state arsenals made a quick decission and simply cut off the stock, replaced it with the folding stock of the 9mm Tubegun an added a pistol grip. In this configuration it now was called the Mod.1940 Paracarbine.
SG.42b[]
As SanTheodor intelligence services gathered infomations about a highly secret new development in Nazi Germany, state arsenals tried their best to keep up with this new threat. They got whiff of the fact, that German engineers tried to shorten the 8mm Mauser cartridge for a whole new weapon system. Basically in the same year the first functional systems were tested by the German army, SanTheodor also presented their first rifles to the troops. In order to cut off development time and simplify production, state arsenals created the new SG.42 on the same blueprints than the 9mm tubegun. Due to this short cuts, SanTheodor was able to field a lot of their new assault guns by 1942. They were well liked by all troops and intended to replace the Mod.1916b and Mod.1940 carbines in the long run.
Mod.1916c Autocarbine and Mod.1940b Paracarbine[]
After WW2, in the late 40s, SanTheodor started its first modernization program on their aging Mod.1916b Autocarbines and Mod.1940 Paracarbines. Most of the infantry by than was equipped with the SG.42b and 9mm Tubeguns, but a few selected soldiers kept the heavier calibre rifles for long range accurate engagements. By 1947 SanTheodor state arsenals replaced the upper wooden handguard with a ventilated metal shroud to enhance cooling and reduce production time and cost. In this new version the Autocarbine was also kept as a reserve weapon.
Mod.1916c Battlecarbine[]
SanTheodor state arsenal also replaced the wooden upper handguard of the LMG and created a folding stock version for the paratrooper. In addition to the 75 rounds drums, state arsenals also produced a 24 rounds box mag, specially intended for the paratrooper battalions to give them lighter, smaller and therefore easier to transport options to the bulky drums.