There were four armies in service of the Alááshu in 1013 CE, two of which had a long history of service. The oldest unit was the Tágwa Bóràò, the Blonde Regiment, but the Afìna Akòsan or the Palatial Guard was bigger and stronger. The two new armies were the Wégwa Ùbèmè, the Yellow Banner, and the Òjété Ubèmè, the Orange Banner. Their four commanders were preparing for war against Soyofàn, a campaign that would make or break the Alááfin's strength, because if they succeeded, few regional powers would be able to threaten Uwára again, but if they failed, the land would be easy prey to would-be vultures.

Afìna Akòsan

• Commander: Nanò Inùfen fa Ugbèàchi
• Strength: ~6,000 men (10% female)
• Type: Mainly heavy archers, well-trained nobility

The Palatial Guard originally was a small regiment tasked with the protection of the Alááfin and the Great Mudbrick Palace. As the standing armies of Tozàn slowly disintegrated and deserted, the guardsmen took over the protection of Uwára and eventually became the biggest fighting force of the Alááshu. The members are all drawn from the lower nobility who are responsible for their own equipment. It typically consists of a set of chainmail and/or gambeson armour, a longbow, a steel sword and a kente or kitenge garb. They were a colourful army courtesy of their kente and kitenge, but this honour guard of the Alááfin was fearful enough never to be mistaken for a circus.

Tágwa Bóràò

• Despot: Patroklos III Atreidos
• Strength: ~3,000 men
• Type: Mainly heavy infantry, tall and experienced Obi-Hellenes

The Blonde Regiment was the Obibo name for what the Hellenes in Uwára called the Tagma Boreoi, the Zueime Division. In ancient times, those northern warriors had abandoned house and home to serve the kings of Byzantion. When Mithridates VI, last of those kings, departed to Tozàn, he brought the guard with him. By now, there was no distinction between Zueime and Hellenes, and though most current members had black hair and this would continue to increase as the community lived under the African sun, they were still called "blonde", a word derived from the Hellenic name for the Zueime.

The Blonde Regiment was all-white, because the law prohibited marriage between the Hellenes and the Obibo, and the Hellenes could not serve in the Afìna Akòsan. They had an impressive service record and were regarded as fierce soldiers, but the unit was plagued by its very limited pool of manpower: in times of war, almost every Hellenic man was either under arms or involved in the organisation of the community. However, with all the economic restrictions placed upon the community, soldiering was the best way to make money - and the Alááfin paid them well.

Foghòrùn Wégwa Ubèmè

• General: Akávò Ekuwài fa Elé
• Strength: ~10,000 men
• Type: Light infantry drawn from common people

The Yellow Banner, officially the Army of the Yellow Standard, was created by the young general Ekuwài. It was intended as a more regular force composed of common men instead of nobles, using light infantry instead of archers or heavy infantry, they were the largest army of the lot. The soldiers were armed with assegai spear and shield, the latter light and made from light wood and animal hides, which made this force faster than everything but cavalry.

Ekuwài had divided his army in three classes: the skull, the tusks and the body. The skull were his strongest and they were armed with an additional javelin to throw at the enemy before charging. The tusks were his fastest and they were often at least slightly drugged before battle to increase their morale. Their job was to envelop the enemy in a pincer movement, which is why they were greater in number than the skull. The strategic concept was risky, Ekuwài knew, because if the skull fell apart before the tusks could outflank the enemy, his army was divided and condemned to defeat. That is why he had the body, consisting of one-third of the soldiers. They were in the reserves and either joined the tusks or the skull depending on the situation. If the skull was wavering, the body joined them, if the tusks were pressuring the enemy succesfully, the body joined them to crush the enemy.

His strategy had glaring weaknesses, such as having no good way to deal with any considerable force of cavalry. Luckily, there was no such thing as cavalry in southern Tozàn.

Foghòrùn fa Òjété Ubèmè

• General: Akávò Iosu fa Tadóbí
• Strength: 2,000 men
• Type: Light infantry composed of slaves

The Orange Banner, officially the Army of the Orange Standard, was developed and recruited by General Iosu, close friend of Ekuwài. Known as a man of cunning plans and not specifically a hero on the front lines, Iosu had created a small army of slaves. He had taken young boy slaves, all around his own age, and took them through a recruitment process filled with abuse and beatings. They were made to respect and depend on their commanders, to worship the Alááfin and to fear everyone else. Iosu filled the lower officer positions with slaves, but made all higher-ups noblemen. The slaves would know to always follow orders, beaten and trained into discipline as they were, but the connection between them and the officers would be weaker than their loyalty to the state itself. This way, Iosu hoped, his fighters would be immune to rebellion and that was frankly the greatest danger with putting slaves under arms.

Most of the soldiers were light infantry armed in much the same fashion as the Yellow Banner, but Iosu gave much more leeway to anyone with archery experience. This gave him a small number of bowmen and those could always come in handy. The light armament and small size of his army gave them a low profile and because the Orange Banner had not been included in the war plans against Soyofàn, Iosu would be free to move without constraints and attack whatever, whoever and wherever he wanted.