Combat ReportNogrania has elected to push the
Fjords and
Eastern Seas.
Toskesh has elected to push the
Fjords and
Eastern Seas.
Combat in the MountainsNogrania's control of the Mountains goes uncontested this year, meaning they have generated +1 on their EDT this turn.
Nogrania maintained their hold on the Mountains Theatre! They generate +1 point on their Economic Development Track.
Combat in the BadlandsAfter the harrowing combat from the Spring, Ellis Green happily enjoys the calm in the Badlands this turn. No push is made here, so Nogrania continues to hold the Badlands.
Nogrania has maintained their hold on the Badlands. They have gained +1 point on their Economic Development Track!Nogrania has gained enough points on their EDT to begin importing an additional Oil Resource!
Combat in the FjordsIt's summer in the Fjords again, and the vegetation has dried up. This is good news for both sides, though mostly for Nogrania. The flatter ground means Toskesh's Qi-Chu's can move about between the hills unimpeded (especially since their skirts are now robust enough to keep from deflating) and perform "shoot and scoot" artillery barrages. Nogrania's Paradigm artillery walkers with their new 4" guns can likewise move about freely, although much more slowly and with greater freedom. Most notably, Nogrania's Hippo is now a National Effort due to the temporary reparations withholding, meaning they can afford to field only a single one in the Fjords this year. Toskesh manages to knock it out of commission early on with a combination of Jin Na SMRL ambushes and a follow-up 'Huā zi' rocket barrages. Curiously, the 'Huā zi' can't be used as frequently in the Fjords this year as an artillery piece, as the back-blast frequently and repeatedly sets the dry foliage on fire. There's one case of a grass fire spreading wildly enough to reach a rocket dump, annihilating a Toskesh position. From then on crews take care to douse the nearby ground with water before firing.
The Qi-Chu is able to avoid this problem thanks to the metal exhaust plating the 'Huā zi' mounting comes with, and their barrages are relatively unimpeded. Toskesh infantry make good use of their small-arms advantage over Nogrania's soldiers, who are now forced to fall back on their Kotow rifles. The older weapon isn't necessarily bad, but it's certainly less reliable and heavier than the Rabid or the Xi-52. On Nogrania's side of the front line, their Herald-class destroyers make good use of their new 4" guns to hit further inland and provide off-shore support. Nogrania certainly needs it now that their armor support is gone. Without the Hippo (and the NMG mounts that come with it), Nogrania is severely out-gunned by Toskesh. It comes as a surprise to no one that Toskesh has managed to push south and force Nogrania out of the Fjords, even with Nogrania's new and improved Duke mounted on the Paradigm and Herald.
Toskesh has pushed the frontline south and gained control of the Fjords Theatre! They will generate +1 point on their Economic Development Track for each turn they continue to hold it.
Combat in the Eastern SeasThe Eastern Sea is an interesting battle. Nogrania's Herald-class Destroyer is now Very Expensive, and Toskesh has them out numbered since their Dogbite-class Destroyer is merely Expensive. However, Nogrania has Toskesh out-gunned with artillery mountings twice the size of the Dogbite's meager 50 mm Sunrise cannons. This means they have greater range, and they hit twice as hard when they do hit. That being said, a Herald can only shoot so fast, and the Dogbite is no push-over. The combat seems doomed to be stalemated, but…
[Head=Toskesh, Tails=Nogrania; Result=Heads]
Commander Zhao De of the T.S. "Dragon Leaf" wiped the sweat from his brow. The battle had been raging for hours in this narrow channel off the coast of the Fjords. The Nogranian devils were holed-up on the bottleneck between an island and the mainland, and their 4" guns were long enough to keep them at range. Most of the combatants were either at the bottom of the channel, beached on the shore, or capsized in the water. It was the Dragon Leaf and a single Herald left; they desperately needed to get through the channel. A Nogranian dock awaited them on the other side, vulnerable and enticing. If they could wreck that dock, then Nogranian naval influence would all but disappear from the Fjords. The Dragon Leaf wasn't intended to engage in combat. It was loaded up with 'Huā zi' rocket artillery; useful for shelling down large areas and providing off-shore support, but less useful for ship-to-ship combat.
He could see the last remaining Herald poke out from behind the corner of the island, and a boom echoed out across the water. A sizable splash washed the side of the Dragon Leaf, making up Zhao's mind.
"Flank speed ahead," he ordered. "'Huā zi' to the starboard side, hold fire until my command!"
The boilers chugged and the Dogbite surged forward. The rocket artillery cranked over to the right side of the ship, patiently awaiting Commander Zhao De's order. In the distance, he could see the Herald poke out a little further from beyond the island in order to bring its rear turret to bear. Another boom echoed out, followed by an ear-splitting screech as the shell tore away a good portion of the bridge. Zhao was knocked against a consol, and he vaguely realized he was bleeding from somewhere.
"Hold fire!" He shouted, hauling himself upright again. The room was filling with smoke, and he could see several fellow sailors on the floor. "Maintain course!"
The Herald, seeing that the Dogbite wasn't about to stop, threw itself in reverse to hide behind the island in case of counter-fire. This bought them the time the needed; by the time the Herald realized what the Dogbite was trying to do, it was too late. They'd cleared the corner of the island, and all three rocket emplacements were facing the Herald. At this range, they couldn't miss.
The Herald didn't stand a chance.
Three hours later, a report buzzed into the Toskesh High Council.
"Nogranian Naval Forces In Fjords Theatre: Eliminated."
Due to the actions of one man, the scales have tipped in Toskesh's favor and allowed them to make progress in the Eastern Seas.
Toskesh has pushed the frontline south and gained another section of the Eastern Sea Theatre! They may now apply their naval advantage to the entire Fjords Theatre - one more section and they may cut off Nogrania's Naval TC! Toskesh has gained a War Hero: Commander Zhao De!
Olympics: The 1952 Summer Olympics is held in Helsinki, Finland this year.
Nogrania has entered Dylan Mcfinnigan, an Irishman carefully selected from the finest bars in Nogrania, chosen due to his many victorious bar fights. With a mean Left Hook (scientifically proven to be the hardest hitting thing in Nogrania), most of his training involved teaching him how to fight fair and square and in accordance with official Olympic rules. Naturally, he has been entered into the boxing competition. Due to his large size (being build like a "brick shithouse"), he will be boxing in the Heavyweight circuit.
Nogrania High Impact alcoholic fume Boxing:
A search went out over the various bars and pubs across of nogrania, with the goal of finding the man with the nastiest punch they could find, This was accomplished in a two-step plan.
First, the Nogranian Agents would provoke a bar fight, With almost all of the Bar goers quickly getting in on a chance to get in a fight.
Afterwards, the last few standing Barfighters would be stopped, before being asked to participate in a few test. This was in exchange for a complete paying off of their bar tab, Of course, Most of these Irish drinkers accept in a heartbeat.
Afterwards, the Barfighters are told to punch the bag filled with sand and held by a boxing coach. The men could take as many Swings at the bag as they wanted, and the goal was to hit it as hard as they could.
Finally, after the search was completed, a candidate for the position of Nogranian Olympic boxer. A man Named Dylan Mcfinnigan. A man who could throw a left hook that was, Indeed as proven by very scientific tests (PUNCH HARDER YOU SISSY!!) The hardest hitting in Nogrania, and he could damn well take one too if the barfight we had pulled him out of was any indications.
After the selection, The main bulk of his training revolved around making him actually Fight like a boxer. The man was already Built like a brick shithouse, and He had a damn near killer punch. The most important part was ensuring that He would actually fight like a boxer, and not resort to any dirty bar-fighting tricks in the ring.
As such, over the last few months, boxing coaches worked with him every day, Driving the basic rules and techniques of boxing into his head, Ingraining it into his body so that he wouldn't fall back on un-sportsman like behavior out of instinct.
Dylan Mcfinnigan was a man who could already throw a punch, and take more than His fair share of knocks. And with the last few months of training, his bodies in better shape than ever with a firm understanding of whats Acceptable in a boxing ring drilled into his head and form. Dylan Mcfinnigan is a champion fighter, and he should be a Damn good champion Boxer now.
Representing
Toskesh at the Olympics is Ernesto Davidson y García, a Filipino man. Rescued from a destroyed ship being towed by a half-dead whale, his harpoon-throwing skills were quickly capitalized upon and he was bribed into participating in the Olympics for Toskesh. In the little time available he is quickly trained in how to "properly" throw a javalin, rather than a harpoon. Several other minor details are taken care of, such as officially making him a Toskesh citizen and
replacing his blood with better blood.
With all our able bodied men fighting in the war or slaving away at the factories, our Olympic team was struggling to find a someone moderately skilled to send to compete under our flag. The dragons favored us when that whale became stranded in the Fjords, with an unexpected object attached. A barbed harpoon pierced the back of the whale, linked to a battered ship by thick rope and metal chains. The ship was full of foreigners and hoisted a colorful flag.
Through an interpreter from the Philippine Embassy and the offer of strong liquor, we managed to communicate with the crew. They said that they were soldiers from another war, left to the whim of the sea when their engines were destroyed in battle. While they had enough water for months, boh food and “ram” were running out. Fortunately, their captain, an old sea dog with arms the size of small trees and one eye less than normal, had been a whale hunter before enlisting and managed to mortally wound a cetacean who passed near the ship during a storm. The beast knew it was dead and used its last strengths to join with the skeletons of its relatives in the whale cemeteries of the Fjords coast.
Fortunately, the Minister of Health and Sport was on holiday near the are and saw an opportunity there. He offered the captain thirty barrels of “ram”, whatever that was, food and housing for his crew if he just decided to train and participate in a “friendly sports competition”. Ernesto, who was quite drunk at that precise moment, signed his application for the Olympic Games without reading it, and was promptly carried to the nearest Intensive Training Center, for extensive preparation for the javelin throwing event.
While at first the intern was uncooperative and threatened to make the physicians “walk over the plank”, he was more or less subdued and agreed for a primary medical examination when promised some Baiju, although he keep whining about how “real alcohol is watered down”. Ernesto, while in his early forties, is still a prime candidate for the podium. He has the muscle of a life of hard work at a ship, excellent balance and enough strength to throw harpoons who are designed to be fired with a harpoon cannon. While his eye, or lack of it, presented some concern among the staff, it seems it doesn´t affect his accuracy.
However, our athlete is severely lacking on the technical aspects of javelin throwing, because of having no formal training. As such, we have opted to to cram into him all the rules and regulations imposed by the Olympic technique, as well as working on his sprints and throwing technique. While the Olympic javelin is new to him, he had no problem in adapting after a few throws and his bad habits are mostly gone.
However, even if the specimen involved is top notch, training time is both our most precious and scarce resource. But we might have some solution around that. While cheating at the Olympics is clearly below us,blood transfusions from compatible sources (like universal donors among those of the recent Nogranian conspiracy) would reduce the overall level of fatigue Ernesto experiences by improving oxygen flow in his body. This would make us able to intensify the training, making better use of the little time we have to prepare. I leave to the People´s Sports Committee to decide if we are going to implement this last part of the training.
As it turns out, there is quite a difference between bar-brawling and Olympic boxing. With Dylan Mcfinnigan entered into the Heavyweight boxing circuit, he's going up against the toughest, strongest, most well-trained boxers the world has to offer. His first fight was against Tomislav Krizmanić, a Yugoslavic brute. Surprising everyone, Mcfinnigan lasts far longer than anyone thought. He managed to land a solid left hook in the first round, briefly putting Tomislav down on one knee, but by the end of the second round he'd been fatigued by the prolonged fight - barfights rarely lasted longer than a few quick punches and a broken barstool. As soon as his guard sagged, Tomislav Krizmanić landed a quick right that put him down for the count. If it was any consolation, Tomislav Krizmanić managed to last until his fourth match, meaning Mcfinnigan wasn't up against a push-over.
Ernesto Davidson y García turns out to be an excellent choice for the Men's Javelin Throw. With years of harpoon throwing under his belt and plenty of fresh blood pumped into his veins, he manages to succeed in the qualifying round (bumping out Vladimir Kuznetsov from the Soviet Union). During the finals he managed to throw an average of 71.92 meters - a truly impressive amount, and just enough to put him in third place. Having never participated in the Olympics before, our nation celebrates our first Olympic medal; Bronze, for Men's Javelin Throw.
With the 1952 Summer Olympics finished, Nogrania has conscripted Mcfinnigan into the military and put him to work. Toskesh has attempted to do the same for Ernesto, only to find the Filipino sailor has disappeared with his crew, sailing away aboard a pirated Zìyóu-52 Merchant Vessel! The High Council is understandably furious, and a bounty has been put out for the filthy deserter. Despite his embarrassing disappearance, Ernesto has at least left behind his Olympic Bronze Medal, which means Toskesh has one and Nogrania does not.
Other News:Hugo Ballivian's government is overthrown by the Bolivian National Revolution, starting a period of agrarian reform, universal suffrage and the nationalisation of tin mines. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Commander of NATO. The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is published by Geoffrey Dummer. Steel mill workers in the US go on strike all over the country amid talks of nationalizing the steel industry. US airplanes bomb energy centers at Yalu Korea. Dutch social democratic party wins 2nd-Parliamentary election. The USSR declares peace treaty with Japan invalid. Mr. Potato Head is introduced and is the first toy advertised on television.
Theatre Progress:Mountains:
Nogrania - 3/Toskesh 0
Badlands:
Nogrania - 3/Toskesh 0
Fjords:
Nogrania - 0/Toskesh 3
Eastern Sea:
Nogrania - 1/Toskesh 4
Jungle:
Nogrania - 3/Toskesh 0
Frozen Swamps:
Nogrania - 0/Toskesh 3
Nogrania: Level 3, 0/4 -> Unique Resource
[color=000099]Toskesh[/color]: Level 1, 1/3 -> Ore
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Topic: Arms Race: Iron Behemoths - Toskesh - GAME OVER (Read 47285 times)