The Great Fence is the name of the professional Army of The Responsible Outrageous Fences and its supplementing militias, mercenary companies, and peasant levies.
Force Composition - Vampiric Wars[]
The Great Fence was a great military machine during the hieght of this near-global conflict. It's soldiers were well trained, lead, and armed, and of superb quality. While the individual Infantrydwarf couldn't hold a candle to the great heroes such as Daraen, Tehsid, and Nemo, they were still of a much greater quality than the army the dwarven nation fields today.
Most of it's might was in it's massed Pikedwarf phalanxes that formed between 60% and 75% of it's forces. These were backed by smaller, swifter units of hammer, sword, and axedwarves. Providing fire support were the Peasant Levies, who formed the vast majority of marksdwarf units.
An anomoly occurs in that The Great Fence completely lacked any sort of cavalry. While most dwarven armies are of course composed of Infantry, even dwarven nations that were far poorer fielded some form of mounted troops (usually mounted on giant olms or giant cave frogs.) However the strategic ability of its generals and captains seemed to have rendered it a moot point. It's greatest victory in the war was during the Battle of The Smooth Points of Pride, near the great ashfields of Boatmurdered.
Force Composition - Present Day[]
The Great Fence is a pale shadow of it's former glory several decades after the war. It's massed Phalanxes have long since become a faded memory and long gone are the large companies of dwarves who fought for The Responsible Outrageous Fences professionally. In its place are now often little more than poorly trained and armored militias, though some mountainhalls can still field small companies of professional infantrydwarves. Often the most some dwarven settlements can hope for are massed crossbow fire and arrays of traps, but even these are not always effective deterrants.
Currently the largest proper force is in the nation's capital, and even that is a badly managled trainwreck of an army that has suffered horrificially thanks to regular night creature and minotaur attacks coupled with repeated famines. The fact that the capital even has a military to speak of indicates great skill on the part of it's current general's ability to hold the soldiers' willingness to fight together.
The Great Fence at Spearbreakers[]
Until very recently, the Army of Spearbreakers, commanded by Col. Fischer Strifefulrope and assigned by Duke Splint was considered part of the Great Fence. Given Spearbreakers' relative autonomy as well as it becoming a Duchy, the army is not part of the Great Fence anymore.