Combat Report 1960The first month of the year sees a formal declaration of war between Aratam and Mereth. Everyone knew it was coming, but this formalizes it. Soldiers give their farewells to their families and military convoys already begin leaving their bases. Despite the best efforts of both sides, news and pictures of their new weapons and "innovations" quickly make their way to the populace. People may not know the specifics, but they know that there's something strange with this war.
The Mountains(Note: This large single battle after action report is largely a one-time thing. I've tried to make it representative of all the factors, but not everything will be mentioned.)A squadron of Aratamian soldiers trudges through the snow on a mountain pass. Behind them lies a convoy of M3T1A1 Raiders and behind them antique trucks. Snow gently falls from the sky and as far as the group knows, their winding path ahead is clear. The convoy frequently stops as the cargo trucks repeatedly break down in the snow. Miles ahead, underneath the ground, several UT-56 Burrowes steadily move along, their own Merethan convoy trailing them and spraying thetunnel walls with reinforcing concrete.
With seemingly nothing to provoke it, the Goldeneye Aratamian at the front of the convoy raises his hand and stops moving.
"Underground", he whispers.
His observation is quickly relayed to the rest of the convoy, and weapons are readied. Most of the soldiers switch their HMKR-59 'Osprey's to powered mode, and the Fury soldiers quickly inject. For a while, it still seems blissful. But Merethan scouts eventually pass the next turn in the path and the two parties make contact. Magnetically-assisted shots from Ospreys quickly eliminate the small scouting group, but not before they radio into the Merethan convoy below. The Burrower drivers tap the UF-SM-57 'Earth Ear' display cube, annoyed that it didn't give warning of the Aratam presence.
Oh well, they think to themselves as they pitch upwards. The other Merethans follow behind them in the tunnels.
As the Burrowers surface just out of sight of the halted Aratamiam convoy, SARUKH-fired ICE missiles rain down on the radioed-in coordinates. As the missiles impact the ground, instead of exploding, they freeze the area. A Raider gets hit directly by a missile, rendering it completely nonfunctional while killing its crew. Bits of the frozen Raider fall off as other missiles impact nearby ground. Many other soldiers suffer the same fate, and others eventually collapse from the cold.
But the majority of the Aratamiams survive the barrage. Mostly by luck, but also thanks to the few Goldeneye soldiers quickly moving their comrades out of the way of incoming blast sites (though not all Goldeneye soldiers manage to be so succesful).
With Aratam's forces scrambling to recover, the Merethans make a confident stride towards the last known location of their enemy. While they don't have any vehicle support, the front of their advance is marked by numerous men clad in powered Bear Armour. A few have ICE Throwers equipped but the rest have the semiautomatic Stalwart rifle.
Before they round the turn, most of Aratam's forces manage to regroup under the leadership of the Goldeneye soldiers. They quickly become aware of the Mereth's coming presence, and barrage the Merethans with powered shots. The Merethans are stunned to see Aratamian bullets piercing Bear Armour. Most of the shots end up being nonlethal and inflict only minor wounds thanks to the extensive armor, but the Merethans were told that nothing could pierce their armor. They quickly adapt to using cover again, but their expected advantage is no longer with them.
Leading Aratam's defensive are Fury soldiers, with massively improved reaction times and unhealthy amounts of rage. Their red bulging veins (plus their entire demeanour during combat) makes them easy to spot, but Fury soldiers often manage to down many more Merethans before falling. A few electromagnetically-thrown grenades end up detonating in Merethan lines, but the overall time-to-fire of the Jumper grenade launchers means these grenades ultimately have a small impact.
The no-longer-scattered Aratam soldiers start pushing forward. As they advance, some get horrifingly frozen by ICE throwers held by Bear troopers, but the automatic Ospreys allow Aratam to keep most from getting in range.
By the time the sun sets, the Aratam convoy continues moving forward. They don't make it much farther, but the slim majority of land battles go similar ways. Merethan SARUKH ICE artillery helps significantly, but their effectiveness isn't as great as they could hope for in the mountains. Merethan ambushes amongst the mountains are frequent thanks to the Burrower, but the proximity to the surface combined with the Goldeneye soldiers' awareness means they can be often "spotted", and the still-primitive Earth Ear means navigation beyond staying underground is difficult. A few SARUKH positions are bombed from air by the Aratam Spearhead-B, but the Merethan Lightning Streak keeps its skies clear for the most part. Aratam Parrot prop air superiority planes buy some time for the occasional bombing run, but instances of Lightning Streaks being succesfully eliminated are rare.
While Mereth's ICE Throwers and Bear Armour pose formidable threats, Aratam already finds themself with an automatic weapon that can at least reliably pierce the power armor. With the ICE Throwers limited to short range and to use only by Bear Armour users, Aratam's enhanced soldiers and upgraded standard issue weapons secure a victory.
Mereth holds an overall advantage in the air - their Lighting Streak is just flat-out superior to the Spearhead-B which has to split its time between bombing runs and intercepting. Aratam Parrots flood the sky and occasionally enough are sacrificed to buy enough time for bombing runs, but succesful bombings are rare.
Aratam
just barely advances in the mountains, at a high cost. Next year their already-worn-out force will have to face entrenced ICE SARUKH positions which, unless something changes, will prevent further advancing.
Aratam advances in the Mountains.
[M: 1/4; A: 3/4]The SeaThere's no question here. Aratam brings the Corsair and the Santos-class carrier, while Mereth just brings the Cataphract.
One on one, the Cataphract easily wins. Its massive guns and generally everything about it secure victory, but that's not the only factor. The Cataphract's Very Expensive, while the Corsair's just Expensive. Mereth
would still secure victory on the seas, but there's one very major difference.
Aratam has a carrier.
Mereth does not.
The Santos-class along with the Spearhead-B (and kind of the Parrot) cement Aratam's sea-based victory. But they still haven't eliminated all Merethan resistance, and their transports are unable to make it to the other side.
Aratam advances in the Sea.
[M: 1/4; A: 3/4]Challenge: Diplomatic RelationsBoth Forenia and Cannala feel that with their technology being seen present in these wars, they need to have a more seemingly "peaceful" relations with their informal allies and have made this clear. A proper embassy would facilitate this, and Forenia and Cannala have made the decision to fully fund the creation of one.
Aratam and Mereth must each vote for a single Embassy design that includes the location, architecture, and more. While neither Forenia or Cannala are offering anything for the "best Embassy", the opportunity to somehow use the embassy funding to advance current technology has been presented. But if your sponsor nation feels that they've been tricked, there could be consequences.
(Vote on a single
Embassy design in addition to the regular design this design phase. The Embassy design may advance your technology, though if your side's sponsor nation feels that their funding has been misused, they'll be angered.)
[M: 2/2; A: 0/2]
Mereth: The majority of Mereth's population live in this area in the Tundra, surrounded by a plethora of natural resources making the climate much easier to bear.
2 Ore 1 Oil[M: 4/4; A: 0/4]
Tundra: A frozen landscape with few features. The more northern land starts to be more populated with features facilitating human life, allowing the development of a bustling civilization.
[M: 4/4; A: 0/4]
Taiga: A large snowy forest. Cold, but full of life.
[M: 4/4; A: 0/4]
Plains: Largely flat terrain full of grass and the occasional hill.
[M: 1/4; A: 3/4]
Sea: Relatively shallow water with beaches next to the Plains and Swamp perfect for ports. Control over this region allows ship-based support (not cargo or troop landing) to be rendered to your forces everywhere but the
Taiga and
Desert.
1 Oil[M: 1/4; A: 3/4]
Mountains: Treacherous (and often narrow) mountain paths with extreme height differences, the coldest weather on the continent, and only the rare passage viable for anything above small-scale movements.
1 Ore[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Desert: Desert terrain facing little rain and fairly hot temperatures.
[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Swamp: A swamp, filled with large stretches of shallow still water, lots of bugs, and lots of swamp-y plants and fauna.
[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Jungle: A hot and humid jungle (and rainforest) filled with trees obscuring the sky from the ground. The northern land begins seeing a few clearings, perfect for human habitation.
[M: 0/2; A: 2/2]
Aratam: Cities surrounded by jungle with plenty of natural resources and conditions fit for relatively comfortable living.
2 Ore 1 Oil