The Hakurei Liberation Army was formed right after the start of the War of the Rice, in an attempt to organize a group to combat the rising threat that the Kappa were posing, and bring about a swift resolution to the conflict. Their army consists of a large number of infantry - Fairies which follow Reimu and Marisa's command; Village Militia which, after the initial attack on their villages, decided to follow the HLA, and attack using any blunt object as a weapon, be it pitchforks or shovels; Zephyr Fairies which are highly skilled in the art of Danmaku and can use their skills to strike at Airborne Targets, and many other various odds and ends to their army.
The Commanding Hero Units of the Hakurei Liberation Army consist of:
- Reimu Hakurei, an all-purpose unit capable of doing various tasks
- Marisa Kirisame, a unit with a destructive laser attack that can cripple most units and buildings in seconds.
- Suika Ibuki, an oni which can rip apart buildings and units with relative ease
- Alice Margatroid, a magician who utilizes her Shanghai Interceptors to bombard a target from afar
The Hakurei Liberation Army is composed of two sub-factions, the Hakurei Shrine Division, and the Forest of Magic Division. Each faction comes with their own unique benefits and disadvantages.
- Hakurei shrine: The Hakurei Shrine can erect a more powerful version of the Force Shield than the other teams, the Duplex Sealing Barrier. it covers more of an area, however the power drain is much longer. They also possess the ability to call in bombardment with Fantasy Heaven, and cause Reimu's orbs to attack a designated target. With Suika's mass control over density, she can use Pandemonium to summon a copy of herself and break it down a large number of times into micro-versions of herself to attack targets.
- Forest of Magic: The Forest of Magic can utilize "Shanghai Dolls", made by Alice herself, which use Lances that are extremely effective against most infantry units. Upon death, however, they explode, dealing significant damage to most units - friendly or foe - with them. If one prepared the right qualifications, then a local field commander can summon Alice's grand doll, the Goliath Doll to wail on an enemies base. While using Marisa's devastating magical prowess, one can call down one of Marisa's most deadly spells, the Dragon Meteor-Class Master Spark, to envelop an area in a giant laser which causes definite damage.
One of the main drawbacks of the Hakurei Liberation Army is, due to Reimu's stubbornness in refusing to use advanced technology to win the war, the HLA is stunted when it comes to technology. This leads to some very basic vehicles and aircraft that are fueled by a mix of magic and science. All of their tech is very simplistic in nature, and normally utilizes magic in some way or another. However, while they are not the best when it comes to armor or defense, their infantry is some of the finest around, as well as how they utilize their infantry, being the only faction with a Defense Shelter from which they can fire out of, and a Troop Transport from which they can do the same as the Defense Shelter.
