Combat ReportNogrania has elected to push the
Badlands and
Mountains.
Toskesh has elected to push the
Badlands and
Fjords.
Combat in the MountainsIt’s summer, and the miserable rain has tapered off in the mountains to the west. This is good news for the soldiers fighting there; no more wet socks, slick rocks, or weather talk. The mountain passes are more traversable during this time of the year, which allows Nogrania to easily move their Paradigm artillery and Hippo walker tanks forward. Toskesh’s hovercraft, though no longer flaming-out in the rain, still struggle with the steep, winding passes. They’re used very little here, if at all; unable to make progress in this theatre, their role is the same as their cheaper stationary 50 mm Sunrise cousins.
The roads are narrow here, often one lane wide and even more often unpaved. Nogrania’s walkers must hug the mountainside as they progress and soldiers often hitch rides rather than march uphill. Ambushes can shut down entire columns with a single well-placed grenade; Toskesh soldiers crawl into rocky outcroppings overhead and drop Model 24NG grenades onto the mechanized walkers below. With the Hippo’s Thin leg armor it takes a couple well-placed grenades, but with the unarmored Paradigm it just takes any damage at all. Once immobilized, progressing forward means repairing the walker or dropping it down the side of the mountain to let the rest of the column through.
Despite this, Nogrania is able to get a large number of their artillery and armor forward to support infantry assaults on Toskesh positions. Toskeh’s new Xi-52 Dài-I Zha-Buqiang out-classes Nogrania’s hastily-modified Enfield in both fire rate and reliability, but with Hippo’s firing HE into their positions Toskesh soldiers are forced to fall back. Nogrania proudly plants their new Uaine Glas flag on top of Toskesh’s last camp in the mountain theatre, claiming it as their own.
Nogrania has pushed far enough north to claim the Mountain Theatre! They will generate +1 point on their Economic Development Track for each turn they continue to hold it.
Combat in the BadlandsIn the flat and open plateaus of the badlands, the Qi-Chu remains king. The high speeds, combined with their new more reliable skirts, means they are impossible for Nogrania to catch. Even return artillery fire struggles to knock them out; HE rounds can wound and damage the craft, but artillery crews must get extraordinarily lucky to get a critical hit. Qi-Chu’s harass Nogrania’s lines day and night with their hit-and-run tactics, and for the time being Nogrania doesn’t really have an answer. The Paradigm, on the other hand, has the same fragility as the Qi-Chu but with none of the speed. It’s role is strictly to provide artillery support for infantry assaults, which have seen some mixed successes with the invention of Toskesh’s Xi-52 Dài-I and their own Hippo tank walker.
Toskesh’s Dài-I is a powerful rifle, able to out-shoot Nogrania’s Kotow in most engagements. It’s more reliable, easier to handle, and has a larger magazine. It’s a bit heavy, and the cloth wrapped around the stocks gives it a decidedly undignified look, but even Nogrania soldiers admit it’s a very nice gun – though they don’t envy Toskesh infantrymen carrying the heavy thing in the hot summer sun. The gun packs quite a punch at 8 mm's, able to shred most light cover while still having a low enough recoil for extended firing. It's shorter length also makes it more maneuverable, though that's undercut by the weight somewhat.
The Hippo performs the valuable role of close infantry support, fulfilling the role of “light tank” for the first time on Serouda since the Geneva Conventions were put into effect. Since it doesn’t have any anti-infantry machineguns it can’t stray very far outside of the infantry platoon it’s attached to; at close range it is vulnerable to being overrun. However, it does excel at hurling HE rounds into enemy pillboxes and other hardened positions that would be a nightmare for infantrymen to clear by themselves. The new hydraulic turret allows it to quickly change targets and even track nimble Qi-Chu’s off in the distance (though landing a lucky shot is an entirely different matter). The fact that it can’t deal very well with close enemy infantry means it can’t reach its full potential – Toskesh’s long-handled grenades can be thrown from fairly far away, and a couple explosions will be enough to rupture a hydraulic piston hidden beneath the Thin armor on the legs. The redundancy in the limbs means it can limp along at a reduced pace, but the damage often hurts its responsiveness to new threats.
Nogrania has elected to keep Ellis Green on the front lines here in the Badlands, throwing him into their new Hippo tank walker and promoting him from the temporary rank of “Acting Corporal” to an actual “Corporal”. He performs admirably, making the best use of the Hippo as he can to support the boots on the ground. Newspapers in Nogrania’s capitol tell of his heroic capture of a lightly-defended plateau ridgeline of questionable strategic value. He receives numerous care-packages in the next few weeks, most of which he gives away to fellow soldiers in his platoon.
Toskesh’s new Dài-I is very nice and does a good job in narrowing the gap, but their upgraded Qi-Chu doesn’t see a huge boost in its already-solid performance. Nogrania’s Hippo tank walker helps in infantry support and fulfills the role of a light tank, even despite its struggles with survivability. It largely makes a difference because Toskesh doesn’t have any anti-tank equipment they can bring to bear, or any armor of their own they can use to contest it. Ellis Green’s heroic performance in the capture of the “Battle of the Ridgeline of Questionable Strategic Value” is enough to tip the war in Nogrania’s favor, allowing them to secure their control of the Badlands.
Nogrania has pushed far enough north to claim the Badlands Theatre! They will generate +1 point on their Economic Development Track for each turn they continue to hold it.
Combat in the FjordsThe change in seasons in the Fjords sees the weather turning primarily to sunshine. Now that the spring rains are gone the dense vegetation has dried out - this is good news for both Nogrania’s Paradigm and Toskesh’s Qi-Chu. The Qi-Chu still struggles with the hilly terrain in the Fjords, but it performs admirably on the water. They are still primarily used to drop infantry between the channels to flank enemy lines, and now that Toskesh’s infantry are outfitted with Xi-52 Dài-I they can hold their own in most combat. Civilians doing their best to survive the war tend to their crops, which make excellent places to hide in the low-vegetation landscape. Limited line-of-sight in the hilly terrain means the Hippo often finds itself in close-quarters with enemy troops; it’s still a frightening weapon to go up against, but Toskesh soldiers can occasionally get the better of it.
Despite their ability to out-flank and get in close, Toskesh troops are still frustrated by the lack of supporting armor and artillery. The Qi-Chu’s available are almost entirely relegated to the water for troop deployments, and a solid semi-auto rifle can only do so much. The Hippo and Paradigm have their own struggles, but they’re both pieces of hardware that can operate in this hilly terrain. Even worse for Toskesh, their advancements in the Fjords means they’re now fighting in Nogrania-controlled waters. Nogrania’s Herald-class Destroyers patrol the calm waters between the fingers of land. Their 2” cannons are far too short range to provide support inland, but they can guard vulnerable beachheads and chokepoints in the labyrinth of water channels. Qi-Chu’s are too fast for them to catch, and their 2” Ironcaster turrets don’t have the range or accuracy to do more than scare them off, but they do frustrate Qi-Chu crews.
However, the dry weather means the Qi-Chu’s don’t have to worry about their engines flaming-out, and their new skirts means they can afford rougher waters further out at sea. The Herald will win any fight with a Qui-Chu, but the Herald is expensive enough they can’t guard everything. Toskesh’s hovercraft may need to reroute, but more often than not their troops are deployed behind Nogrania’s lines.
The fighting is close – Toskesh doesn’t have the same infantry support as Nogrania, but their infantry are better equipped and they can get them behind enemy lines. The combat seems doomed to be stalemated, but…
[Head=Toskesh, Tails=Nogrania; Result=Heads]
Private 1st Class Jin Na peered through the dried reeds to the Nogrania position up ahead. It was mostly infantry, with a single 2" Ironcaster artillery piece set up behind a mound a sandbags. She and the rest of her squad had been dropped off by a Qi-Chu not too long ago; they'd been forced to land further back than they'd planned when her platoon of hovercraft had spotted a Herald guarding the mouth of the channel. This part of the Fjords was relatively unknown, and they'd gotten lucky they'd spotted the Nogrania position first. Going behind enemy lines did not have a particularly high survival rate, despite the obvious strategic value. Her squad commander gave a few hand signs and they dropped to their bellies. Slowly, they crawled forward through the dry grass, Xi-52's held tight in hand. A bird called out nearby, and as one the squad popped up and opened fire.
It was over as soon as it'd began. With the artillery nest cleared out the squad rushed forward to destroy whatever equipment they could before retreating back to the shore. Jin Na was planting a bundle of Model 24NG grenades on the Ironcaster when she heard it. The unmistakable sound of an engine turning over, and the "pssssh-kch, pssssh-kch, psssssh-kch" of mechanical feet. As one, the squad turned to look as a NAF-AFW-51 "Hippo" Hexapod moved out from behind a nearby barn and slowly turned its turret towards them.
Jin Na, unlike the rest of her squad, found herself running towards Hippo. She'd closed the distance just as the cannon BOOMED, blowing a chunk out of a line of sandbags and narrowly missing the rest of the squad. Jin slid under the tank walker and instinctively raised her Xi-52, firing as rapidly as the gun would allow her at the three exposed hydraulic pistons. They hissed as the pressure gave out, and once the three legs were out the Hippo began to sag - downhill. Jin scrambled back just in time keep her legs from being crushed by the falling hull, and watched as the Hippo slipped, tipped, and finally tumbled end-over-end down the hill and into the water below.
Due to the actions of one woman, the scales have tipped in Toskesh's favor and allowed them to make progress in the Fjords.
Toskesh has pushed far enough south to claim the Fjords Theatre! They will generate +1 point on their Economic Development Track for each turn they continue to hold it. Toskesh has gained a War Hero: Jin Na!
Foreign Interests: The war in Serouda has caught the interest of quite a few foreign countries. Though relatively poor and unmodernized, both Nogrania and Toskesh are able to both build new weapons from scratch
and immediately test them in the field of battle. This manner of rapid development and battle-testing represents the potential for highly-effective weaponry. We've been contacted by a diplomat from the Soviet Union who claims the USSR is interested in helping us defeat the capitalist pig-dogs to the south. The USSR has adopted a policy of "plausible deniability" when it comes to Serouda, so any aid they lend us will be rather covert - for now. That being said, if Toskesh were to sell one of their weapon designs to the Soviet Union, that would be a convenient excuse for us to gain another resource as payment...
Choose one design to sell to the Soviet Union to gain a
Resource Credit.
Other News:Douglas MacArthur is relieved of Command of Korea by Harry Truman and ends his military career. The UN army reaches Pyongyang, Korea. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, spies caught selling atomic secrets to the USSR, are sentenced to death in the U.S. Treasonous British diplomats Guy Burgess and Domand Maclean flee to the USSR. France, West Germany, and Benelux form the European Steel and Coal Community. The International Olympic Committee agree to allow Russia to participate in the 1952 Olympics. The UNIVAC 1 enters service at the Census Bereau. China seizes the Asiatic Petroleum Company's assets. The worlds first color TV broadcast occurs, CBS' Arthur Godfrey from NYC to 4 cities.
Theatre Progress:Mountains:
Nogrania - 3/Toskesh 0
Badlands:
Nogrania - 3/Toskesh 0
Fjords:
Nogrania - 0/Toskesh 3
Eastern Sea:
Nogrania - 2/Toskesh 2/Neutral 1
Jungle:
Nogrania - 3/Toskesh 0
Frozen Swamps:
Nogrania - 0/Toskesh 3
Author
Topic: Arms Race: Iron Behemoths - Toskesh - GAME OVER (Read 47875 times)