The Commonwealth of Socialist Republics

[Beth Gellert]

Commonwealth of Socialist Republics (CSR)
Cymanwlad Gweriniaethau Sosialaidd (CGS/GGS)

Overview


Comrade Graeme Igo, Grandfather of The Revolution


Chairman of Council of State of the Socialist Commonwealth, comrade Chivo; General Secretary of the Central Committee of the League of Communists, comrade Sopworth ApGraeme; Chairman of the Council of Ministers comrade Aparajita

The Commonwealth of Socialist Republics is a large nation located in South Asia. Perhaps better known by its Geletian Celtic name Beddgelert (often anglicised Beth Gellert as per approximate pronunciation) it is one of the world's largest and strongest Communist states. Though the nation is often colloquially referred to as Soviet India the Commonwealth is notable for the fact that its Communist ideology derives not wholly from Marxian roots but also from the teachings of Comrade Graeme of the Cornitouti Clan Igo.

Beddgelert has counted itself a Soviet Socialist Commonwealth since 1982, prior to which an exclusive Geletian Celtic government held sway over a right-wing apartheid state.

Amongst the most populace of countries, the Commonwealth maintains one of the world's most highly-rated education systems, one of the fastest-growing economies, and some of the largest armed forces. At the same time Beddgelert is also beset by problems of over-crowding, creeping climate disaster, chronic substance abuse, and pariah status on the world stage. These contrasts are mirrored in a population comprised of towering Gauls and relatively diminutive Indo-Aryans and Dravidians, a landscape including burning deserts and vast floodplains, and a popular struggle between Socialist internationalism and both Celtic and Indian nationalism.

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*Geography
*History
*Demographics
*Economic Overview
*Culture: Religion and Mythology

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[Beth Gellert]

Geography

The CSR is located in and around the Indian sub-continent.

The Commonwealth's territorial extent is of some 5,801,151 square kilometres. It is easy to imagine, then, that the climate and terrain are greatly variable across a nation of such considerable size. Indeed, while the island of Ynys Hybarch (known previously as Taprobane, Salvador, Ceylon, and Serendib, amongst other titles) endures tropical monsoons in its northeast from December to March and its southwest from June to October, and the south of the mainland also experiences monsoon seasons, much of the mid-north is quite temperate, and parts of the northwest -where Iansislian prisoners were once infamously detained- are sometimes described as arctic. Large parts of the west are dominated by hot, dry deserts in which on-going irrigation projects occupy a large part of national economic activity.

The southern mainland is dominated by upland plains, while the mighty Ganga runs through flat to rolling plains and the north of the country collides with the Himalayas and runs into the great Indus plain.

Mountains such as Kanchenjunga (8,598 metres), Mynydd Igo (A.K.A. K2) (8,611 metres), and -on the northern border- Mynydd Sosialaeth (A.K.A. Mount Everest) (8,848m) feature impressively upon the Soviet landscape.

These vast and varied lands furnish the Commonwealth with a bounty in coal and with some of the world's finest iron ore. There is oil and natural gas to be found, though not enough for national needs, and the nation has significant hydropower potential. The Commonwealth counts its rich arable land very important, and also has a wealth of timber and of gemstones including diamonds and rubies. Further resources include titanium ore, copper, phosphates, mineral sands, graphite, mica, manganese, bauxite, and chromite. Limestone is widely found, and there are also clays and salt in useful quantities.

For all of its beauty and wonder, the Commonwealth also serves its people with challenges in the form of many natural hazards. Droughts afflict much of the nation, though modern technology and public works have drastically limited their impact, while other areas are subject to potentially destructive flash flooding. Earthquakes are severe in some regions, and the nation is quite often struck by cyclones.


The CSR, Andaman and Nicobar Islands seen under imperialist occupation

[Beth Gellert]

History

Pre-Geletian Celts:

Fourth Century BCE- The roots of Geletian ancestry can be traced back to Central Europe, from where 'proto-Geletians' join the Gallic invasion of the Balkans, establishing themselves first in the Pannonian Basin.

Early Third Century BCE- While a Celtic invasion of Macedon is defeated, the ancestral Geletians are amongst those to join Leonorius and Lutarius in their invasion of Thrace. Initially extracting tribute from Byzantium, they pass into Anatolia as mercenaries for Nicomedes I, and later establish their own domain, namely Galatia.

Second Century BCE- Roman influence is brought over Galatia after the expedition of Gnaeus Manlius Vulso, but the Galatians are not fully part of the Empire and much of their culture is preserved despite conflict with Pontus.

First Century BCE- During the Mithridatic Wars the Galatians side with Rome and afterwards Galatia becomes a true client state of the Empire though still being recognised as a Kingdom in its own right. In 25BCE, Galatia is made a Roman Province

The Great March:

First Century CE- Following the visits of St.Paul -who was stoned by a group of the Galatians and left for dead- a number of defiant Celts migrate east rather than accept Roman domination and creeping Christianisation. Styled Geletian, this small splinter community progresses through Armenia during the chaotic years of conflict there between Roman and Parthian empires, plundering Hellenic communities and selling services as renowned horse-mobile infantry in support of Parthian campaigns.

Second Century- With the Arsacids weakening after years of war with Rome and nomadic raiders, and the rise of the Sassanids impending, the Geletians are able to secure passage eastwards, moving their whole civilisation as their ancestors had in the migrations through southeastern Europe.

Early Third Century- After supporting the Sassanids in their rise to power in the Persian Empire the Celts reach the empire's eastern frontier in time to join the invasion of the Kushan Empire, announcing their arrival in South Asia with resounding victories, all be it as mercenaries in the armies of another nation.

Late Third and Fourth Centuries- Departing Sassanid territory the Geletians strike on against the reduced Eastern Kushan Kingdom and come into contact with a Gupta Empire that is expanding there. Storming deep into the sub-continent with a number of shocking military victories against that great power the Geletians experiment with new tactics incorporating Persian-influenced cavalry archers with compound bows alongside their traditional mobile infantry. The war elephant -which had so shocked their ancestors when encountered generations earlier and hundreds of miles to the west- proves less terrible and the Geletians more steady than in the past. A favourite tactic involves the use of massed bowmen as akin to artillery, walking a barrage across enemy positions in attempts to force particular manoeuvres or bar others.

Fifth to Tenth Centuries- Dividing into Clans based on extended family ties the Geletians settle in a network of loosely allied hill-fort communities and begin to extract tribute from local populations while raiding some neighbouring states and selling mercenary services to others. Exerting significant influence in the northwest of the sub-continent, they are amongst the rajputs and play a significant role in resisting Islamic invaders until, in several great battles -sometimes in alliance with various rajputs- the Geletians are defeated by far superior Timurid armies and pushed south, where they encounter powerful Tamil kingdoms and are -in their weakened state- unable to remain for long in the face of rising Chola opposition. With no other avenue of advance and threatened with the very cultural devastation that had motivated their great trek the Geletians take to the sea and are soon established in a number of loosely allied petty kingdoms across south India, Sri Lanka, and Burma. Finding numerous Roman trading posts the Celts avenge their ancestors with a thorough slaughter of those who had outlived the Western Empire, and take-over their position in the region.

Eleventh to Sixteenth Centuries- A relatively subdued epoch for the Indian Celts sees them endure as merchants, mercenaries, and craftsmen working for local powers, often operating client kingdoms in Chola orbit. The Geletian clans begin to develop new tribal identities as their numbers slowly increase and in isolated regions the Celts even begin to dominate political and economic discourse.

Colonial Age:

Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries- When Portuguese, Dutch, British, French, Spanish, and other explorers arrive in the Indian Ocean they are surprised to find vibrant white states amongst the natives, and exhibiting cultural practices familiar to the historically minded amongst them at that. Many -and the British in particular- are quick to embrace the Geletians as allies, all be it temperamental ones. Often the Geletians are used to attack other European powers in order that the British not have to take on the risk themselves. The region's Celts become a caste apart from their Indian peers and many progress far in British colonial society, though life for the majority apparently changes little.

Early Twentieth Century- Many Geletians continue to view the colonial powers as new Romans, and the proud British do little to discourage this notion. Countless missionaries are treated akin to St.Paul and stoned by their would-be parishioners even while Geletian forces are employed to put down 'coloured' revolts. Bounteous India -or Geletia, many are now calling it- becomes a land infamous for terrible famine and tensions continually run high.

Second World War- With the Imperial Japanese Army bearing down on British Geletia (the term suits the white invaders and now has official recognition) some 'natives' -Celts and Indians included- sign up to fight for the Empire. A young warrior -Celert- is engaged by the British to lead a Geletian National Army against the Japanese, which he does ruthlessly and with much success, while on the other side Japan sponsors an Indian National Army dedicated to driving out the Europeans.

The Independent Principality:

1945 to 1947- Though the Japanese are defeated Celert's GNA continues to fight, turning its weapons on the colonial powers, and is by war's end in de facto control of large swathes of the subcontinent. An exhausted Britain is little able to fight on and with British public will lacking, counter-revolutionary militias are armed against Celert, creating an undeclared state of civil war. The GNA's European trained and battle-hardened forces -with the ruthless leadership of Celert- repeatedly rout pro-British militias whose will proves frail as many are quick to turn their arms on the Empire that supplied them. There are mass defections to Celert's banner and on the fifteenth of August 1947 the flag of the British Teyrnasiad is lowered in New Delhi for the last time as Tywysogaeth Geletia -the Geletian Principality- is proclaimed.

1947 to 1982- Though many thousands of Indo-Aryan and Dravidian soldiers fought along side Celts in Celert's Geletian National Army the Prince's new Geletia quickly becomes an apartheid state in which power runs thickest through Celtic hands and millions continue to struggle against hunger and disenfranchisement. The Prince's Parliament is stacked with puppets, Ministers elected by the Celtic populace and able to take their seats only with royal approval. Celert becomes an international figurehead of the political and economic far right and even undergoes a Christian baptism, becoming Gelert. The era sees the building of great palaces and of giant slums, and is racked with insurgency as the GNA and Royal Constabulary battle insurgent groups such as the Indo-Aryan Maoist People's Liberation Army of New Bharat, the Fascist New Dravidistan National Army, the predominantly Celtic Geletian Red Army (Marxist-Leninist), the multi-ethnic Anarchist movement Liberation Tigers of Indo-Geletia, and numerous others.

Age of Revolutions:

May 1982- By the dawn of the 1980s it is clear that viable revolutionary energy is concentrated in the Left. Though the particular nationalisms of the Dravidians and others had some force after years of repression, the attendant authoritarianism and the on-going realities of grinding poverty as well as their inherent lack of shared strength across the continent mean that it is clear that they can never triumph. On the 20th of May, 1982, while the Princely Court is visiting the Porthmadog docks in Madras, Armorica, it is fallen upon by a large contingent fighting under an unadorned flag of red. Lead by a young man of the Clan Igo, Sopworth, son of Graeme (the latter a noted dissident intellectual), it consists of men and women from all the races of the sub-continent and calls itself the People's Army, identified as the militant wing of the new Amalgamated Communist Party of Indo-Geleita (Maoist/Leninist). The bodyguard of Prince Llewellyn MapGelert -who has succeeded his late father- is routed and the Prince narrowly escapes to the islands he calls Victoria and Salvador, renaming the Andaman and Nicobars and Ceylon to indicate his hopes for ultimate victory and salvation.

Mid 1982 to Early 1989- Taking the Principality by surprise the Communists not only cause the evacuation of the government to the islands but are positioned to declare a new revolutionary state on the mainland. This event is to be remembered as the May Revolution, and the new state becomes the Indo-Geletian Soviet Commonwealth of Beddgelert (literally ]Gelert's Grave, a reference to the royal MapGelert Clan), proclaimed on the very day of the victory at Porthmadog. It has no de jure principle, but it is the Clan Igo which quickly consolidates a de facto premiership at the head of the People's Army and the Communist Party of Indo-Geletia. A cold war between the new states of Beddgelert and Victoria-Salvadoria endures for six and a half years, erupting into violence on one occasion. On the 10th of October 1984 Iansisle's Shieldian Empire sends a warfleet to aid the embattled Prince but it is met by stronger than expected Communist forces which have received modern anti-ship missiles from Moscow. The Battle of Salvador is a total and humiliating defeat for Llewellyn and his allies.

Fifteenth of February, 1989- After the naval and aerial defeat off Salvador Llewellyn the warrior-prince loses the faith of his remaining Geletian supporters on the islands where already they are vastly outnumbered by Sinhalese, Tamils, and others, and are fighting an increasingly desperate counterinsurgency campaign against a united LTIG/GRA front. It is only by increasingly brutal measures that the ageing Prince maintains control. On the mainland meanwhile revolutionaries are disillusioned with the Party's own authoritarianism which is much at odds with Graeme Igo's original far-left -so called Igovian- Communist teachings. The the Soviets -or Councils- of the workers, peasants, and soldiers move to stage a coup against the Party. Many expect the fall of Indo-Geletian Communism as unrest grows in the USSR and Eastern Bloc countries, but the Indo-Geletian Soviets are more alike to earlier Eastern European rebels and desire a more genuine Communism. Graeme Igo convinces his son to step down peacefully, enabling his image as a revolutionary hero to be preserved. The Communist Party is abolished along with the People's Army as the cry, "All Power to the Soviets!" heralds the relatively peaceful passing of the February Revolution. With it comes reunification, Llewellyn's household retreating into exile in Andaman and Nicobar as Salvador rejoins the Commonwealth under the name Ynys Hybarch, the venerable island.

Early 1989 to 2000- The Second Commonwealth proves merely transitional as billions of Beddgelens seek to re-order their exhausted society. The threat of counter-revolution and the persistent spectre of the exiled Prince and his alleged plans to gather a Crusade against the Commonwealth remain. Third and Fourth Commonwealths are declared as Igovian reforms advance. The nation is reordered into millions communes known as Pantisocratic Phalansteries, housing an average of fifteen hundred citizens a piece. Democracy is instituted directly at the communal level and by democratically accountable representatives at regional, state, and national levels with no chief of state or head of government in evidence, and Igovian economics are practised. All Capital belongs to the state and is operated by democratic profit-sharing Soviet enterprises obliged to pay a fixed value tax on each unit of capital they require in order to turn a profit, and the revenues of this tax are at the disposal of the state in its development of more modern capital. The gigantic construction effort necessary to communalise the population and to utterly reshape the distribution of industry represents possibly the greatest sustained period of economic growth in history, making Beddgelert an ever-present feature in the top 0.3% of the world's top performing economies for two decades. After the brave step of disbanding the military, Beddgelert raises instead a Commonwealth Guard consisting of the people at arms. By the end of the first quarter of 2009 the Guard has on its register no less than five and one quarter billion names. The revolution is secure, advancing, but perhaps not entirely stable.

2000- The Chivo Doctrine takes hold amidst a great recovery of Celtic pagan sentiment and anti-foreign violence, and a further re-ordering of government sees the mysterious Chivo (assumed to be a cadre name, his original identity unknown) rise to power while the fortunes of Sopworth ApGraeme are reversed to similar effect. The 'civilian defence forces' are consolidated into a once more recognisable military that retains at least some of the Commonwealth Guard's democratic pretensions, and the Commonwealth (still nominally in its fourth constitutional manifestation despite these fundamental reforms) begins to take an increasingly hard revolutionary line at home and abroad, cracking-down on bourgeois hangovers in society while confronting Fascist nations in open warfare.

[Beth Gellert]

Demographics

Over-crowding -worsening daily- necessitates some societal upheaval, which is on-going. Efforts towards the more equal distribution of the population across the subcontinent are under-way but challenged by the desire to preserve certain natural environments.

The bulk of the population dwells in so-called Pantisocratic Phalansteries -democratic communes- averaging a population of fifteen-hundred a piece. These Phalansteries take various forms, some first styled after the ancient Celtic hill-forts of Europe while others resemble vast palaces such as Versailles, and others are essentially reorganised villages or city blocks. In all cases Indian and Celtic cultures have meshed and modern technology pervades.

Today a major issue facing the Soviets is how to house the expanding population in a sustainable fashion and without destroying a communal spirit essential to the survival of a revolutionary Communist society. There have been large-scale experiments towards eventual construction of floating cities in pursuit of an idea forwarded to the Commonwealth by the once-great nation of Wazzu, but many doubt that such measures can ever make a truly significant impression on the problem.

The peoples currently living in the Commonwealth are racially varied and -though current generations show an increased willingness to inter-marry- distinct ethnic groups remain for now as marriage between Celts and so-called 'coloured' Indians was legalised only following the revolutions of the 1980s. The single largest ethnic group claims descent from the Galatians and now self-identifies as Geletian.

These, a Celtic people, are noted for their towering stature and fiery temperament. In some republics adult Geletian males average around two metres in height.

The Igovian population is young, life expectancy having only recently begun to seriously recover after years of inequality and exploitation and the Soviet state's regard of the commune as the base unit of society embraces the communal rearing of children and enables the support of large families.
The communal nature of the Commonwealth also means that elderly people continue to live connected to their community and most continue limited economic contribution until they reach their deathbeds, in part-time work as carers, educators, guardians of traditional oral histories, and general caretakers of the communal property.

Teenagers and retirees work-share so that the elderly see their work-load reduced, the young are gently introduced to the world of work, and the experience of the elder is passed on to the younger.

[Beth Gellert]

Economic Overview

Beddgelert operates what Portmeirion calls a Chivo-Igovian Socialist economy, supposedly based upon the theories and teachings of the late Graeme Igo, Grandfather of the Igovian Revolution, and heavily modified in practice by the leadership of comrade Chairman Chivo of the Council of State of the Commonwealth of Socialist Republics.

Capital is owned by the state but its operation is by several different mechanisms. A strong State Sector holds sway over the so-called commanding heights while the Soviet Sector applies a form of autogestion in which Soviet Enterprises acquire state-owned Capital and operate it as the membership sees fit. A Fixed Value Tax -the only tax levied besides import tariffs against non-Igovian goods- is payable on each unit of Capital acquired by a Soviet and profit-sharing is practised amongst the Soviet's membership. As it is Capital and not income that is taxed, it is intended that Enterprises turning a profit with minimal state resources should pay less tax than those requiring more (taxable) state resources to achieve comparable output, thus rewarding efficiency.

Significant also is the communal lifestyle and habitation of the Soviet populace, which dwells chiefly in Pantisocratic Phalansteries, or democratic communes. Here Soviet Enterprises are based along with communal living quarters, recreational facilities, basic public services, and militia stations, and in addition to the primary industrial concern of a commune's Soviet Enterprise or Enterprises there may be communal agriculture and artisans' workshops that provide a manner of part-time work to those in want or need and produce some community staples and/or exportable and tradable luxuries.

Profit sharing mechanisms at Soviet Enterprises vary from case to case, and there is no single method indicated under Commonwealth law, though some regulations exist in defence of 'Comradeship', 'Mutualism', and 'Harmony'. Most Enterprises agree different percentage shares for various tasks, taking account of any number of factors including intellectual complexity, physical difficulty or danger, hours worked, seniority, need, and perceived value. Citizens are free to leave a Soviet pending completion of any pre-agreed commitments and seek membership of another, providing incentive for Soviets to properly reward their most operationally essential members for their loyalty and effort.

In the Chivo-Igovian model absolute financial equality is not the object of Communism, rather it is the removal of Man's motivation and opportunity to exploit Man that is central along with ensuring one's ownership of one's own work.

In the State Sector wages are centrally co-ordinated and change little over time but vary by as much as four fold from the least skilled to the most senior positions. This is viewed objectively by Beddgelens as a considerable difference, but compared with the several hundred fold differences that pervade Capitalist Free Market economies is virtually insignificant.

The Commonwealth's economy is a near autarky. Portmeirion imports only raw materials that do not occur in sufficient quantity domestically and likewise certain exotic agricultural products. Intermittent periods of wider importing have occurred -usually with other Socialist economies- and the League of Igovian Communists has met to decide tariffs based on the degree of compatibility of the particular nation's Socialism with that of Beddgelert. Raipur has no foreign debt except that amassed by the Principality and unserviced since the revolution.

The Soviet currency -the gwarthegion- is non-convertible and this combined with the relative autarky of the Commonwealth make estimates on the size of the economy difficult to come by. The World Assembly regularly reports impressive growth rates placing Beddgelert's economic expansion well inside the top 0.5% in the world but this is coming from an extremely low base: pre-revolutionary India was often unable to feed itself even in the middle third of the C20th, the Principality oversaw an explosion of inequality, and the revolutions and internal strife of the 1980s further disrupted development and lead to a complete collapse of old trading relationships. Much of the last twenty years' growth has been accounted for by regaining lost ground and developing basic infrastructure and so references to the strength of the Soviet economy generally refer to growth rates that have reportedly hit as high as 11% in some years and do not necessarily indicate high productivity in global terms. The World Assembly's description of the Soviet economy as, “frightening” is one example of this, it being the rate of growth rather than the over-all size of the economy that is so.

An academic paper published by the Andamanese-Nicobarese economists Samuel Reubens and Johnathen Tendulkar cautiously suggested that an approximate per capita figure by which to loosely understand Soviet GDP expressed in parity terms might be in the order of $17,500 per capita, though other estimates have ranged between $12,000 and $24,000.

In recent years growth has been gradually slowing and Portmeirion blames this partially on the repeated failure of the monsoonal rains, adding that the completion of many primary infrastructure projects necessarily means a slowing of the construction sector, while the League of Igovian Communists simply blames a failure of international revolutionaries to adopt Igovian models in their own lands and widen the Commonwealth's trade opportunities.

[Beth Gellert]

Culture: Religion and Mythology

The Commonwealth today is an officially secular entity and large parts of the population have long self-identified as Secular-Humanists or adherents to a Cult of Man's Species-Being. Owing to historic aggression and in particular the MapGelert dictatorship of 1947-89 Christianity is amongst those designated an Imperial Faith and legislated against as an agent of hostile foreign powers.

The early twenty-first century has seen a hastening in the recovery of Geletian Druidism, which has even made some inroads with the non-white population, while Hinduism and -to a lesser extent- Buddhism remain fairly strong in the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian communities despite 'soft power' efforts to diminish them. Islam is popular in parts of the north and some newly-incorporated regions but while not actively legislated against its adherents often allege an official bias against the faith.

Beddgelert's folklore retains all the cryptids known to the cultures of the Indian sub-continent and a great many of those remembered by the Celts.

Recently it has become standard practice for the Commonwealth Air Guard to accept aircraft into service under the name of such cryptids, a tradition continued with the likes of the Korrigan light fighter and the Hobgoblin air superiority fighter.

It is also notable that many religious identities -including both mythical deities and semi-mythical historic figures- have increasingly come to be seen in the same light as secular cryptids, and parents have been known to caution children against the threat posed by -for example- the Zombi Lord of the Christians. The Geletian martial habit of taking the heads of slain enemies and fallen comrades alike and of building the skulls into door-frames or carrying them into battle has blended with the supposed re-animation of Christ to convince many in the Commonwealth that a Christian isn't necessarily dead until his head's off.

[Beth Gellert]

Warfare in the Triarchy Era

Annhangnefedd Annwn -the war of the otherworld- is a term referencing the semi-sacred regard in which Geletians perceive warfare. This is not directly equivalent to the notion of the Christian Crusade, in which a religious leader assigns a target against which the faithful must vent their fury, nor the Islamic Jihad in which believers struggle -sometimes with force of arms- in a holy cause. To the Geletian Celts it is the general act of making war and not the particular cause driving a given war that is sacred. Geletians do not pray but many lead spiritual lives, which they express in part through fighting.

The Great Migration and the varied allies and enemies encountered along the way did much to influence Geletian warfare for the next centuries. The Geletian Celts made the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian peoples their allies and subjects and while these peoples adapted ably to Celtic cavalry traditions they also enabled the Geletians to master the use of war elephants, which in centuries gone by had shocked Celtic pioneers and caused several terrible routs.

Traditional Geletian tactics had seen warriors ride to the scene of battle and then dismount for combat, sometimes retaking their saddles (horses being attended by grooms, usually too young or otherwise unable to fight) to redeploy across the battlefield, creating an early sort of mobile infantry without ever widely utilising cavalry as a direct weapon in its own right.


Ancient Geletians ride to battle only to dismount and fight in their favoured style- the Geletian 'highland charge' would later prove capable of breaking the lines of European musketeers, at least in favourable terrain

As pictured above the Geletians typically wore chequered or striped trousers and tunics in bright colours, crested helmets often representing highly stylised animals, long hair -which was often lightened or spiked with lime- and heavy moustaches, and entered combat to the chilling shrieks of the carnyx war-horn. Though their ancestors are credited with the invention of chain-mail, most warriors were unable to afford such effective armour and so chose to fight partially or wholly naked until such time as their status or spoils could provide them with worth-while protection.

The broadsword was perhaps the defining tool of Geletian combat and warriors preferred to fight singly, utilising their agility and momentum to over-come individual opponents. Defeats against disciplined, ordered Roman armies taught the Geletians a grudging lesson and though inter-tribal or clan warfare was often characterised by traditional modes of personal combat outside enemies would be met in relatively good order, slashing two-handed swords becoming secondary to thrusting spears and large shields.
The falx was also an important weapon and to this day there is disagreement as to whether the ancestral Geletians introduced this weapon to the peoples of the Balkans and Eastern Europe or adopted it from them. This weapon was deployed in several forms. Smaller sorts were wielded with shields in tight formation to strike over the top of enemy defences while two-handed polearm-like falx were used to drag enemy horsemen from their mounts or deployed as powerful battleaxe-like swinging weapons in single combat.

The migration through Parthia and service in Sassanid armies taught the Celts the construction of the compound bow and the use of cavalry archers and though rarely used in local conflicts these skills were kept alive in hunting and in sporting competitions between warriors, enabling the deployment of mounted bowmen against early Christian invaders and colonists in the sixteen-hundreds. Commonly tactics would be blended: horse-mobile infantry would spend some time skirmishing and probing enemy formations from the saddle using compound bows before dismounting to meet them with sword, falx, or spear. War elephants, though highly valued, were typically few in number but still featured in a minority of the subcontinent's battles.

Another important part of pre-gunpowder warfare in Geletia was the tried and trusted hill-fort, with even small villages commonly being fortified to a rudimentary degree and centres of trade being surrounded by enormous earthworks from which defenders could fight with powerful bows, slings, and javelins while sustaining a population for some considerable time. These defences become more sophisticated in response to Roman siege engines, and would further evolve after the introduction of gunpowder, their deep, multi-tiered, and sloped earthen ramparts and ditches being difficult to reduce.


Defenders of a hill-fort sally against a besieging force

The Geletians as a whole have never been keen mariners but some tribes naturally prove exceptions to the rule. In South Asia Islamic traders were encountered and some Arabic sailing technology incorporated into already large and exclusively sail-powered Celtic warships. Tribes such as the Venetii conducted amphibious operations against their enemies, but despite the relative sophistication of their ships were completely unable to stand in line of battle against gun-armed European warships when they arrived and resistance at sea faded more quickly than on land.