Battle Report 2, 1901This year was admittedly an eventful one. Our engineering team had quite a few holes in it after the incident with the
Zuu Tsokhilt Rifle, but those vacancies where swiftly replaced...replaced with people who actually know what they where doing no doubt, as they made their worth shown quickly in the form of our little project known as the
1901 rifle improvement, which we have found is actually quite good compared to the guns the Nafunans have, and needless to say it has proven its worth just like the engineers who made it did. Still, we should see better work done now that we and the Khan has separated the wheat from the chaff, so hopes for next year's work is fairly high.
Meanwhile, the Nafunan's seem to have made only a single thing we can tell and that is advancements in
Naval Cannon Technology, or rather, they took a few transport boats of varying sizes, and put a varying number of cannons on them. Depending on the boat, they can fit two to six cannons on it, the smallest having one at the front and one at the back, and the largest having two at the front, two at the back, and two in the middle. These boats with guns, or rather, gunboats, are still just retrofitted transport boats though, and obviously far from proper warships, but it does mean the days of being able to ward the enemy's ships away with arrow fire is past...and we don't have proper warships either, or gunboats.
Battle Report, Naval Combat: Unfortunately, as one might be able to guess, the battle here is not one that goes well for us. The enemy, while using refitted transport boats, are still effective due to the boats refit being surprisingly intelligently designed. If any ship gets in range of their guns, the only hope one of our ships has is to try and dodge their shots until they run out of ammo, or simply try to take their boats crew out, this is mostly due to the front facing guns. Needless to say, both of these things are much easier said than done. So, since summer, our transports just sail away whenever they detect a boat on the horizon, and annoyingly, they can even sail away from our own. Luckily, they don't sail away from ships that have smoke coming from them, so neutral shipping doesn't do much to hinder them outside a few rare instances, but plenty of delays happen and quite a few ships where sunk early in the year,
leading to the enemy having a Major Advantage at sea.Battle Report, Island Mountains. Attackers, Nafuna: Considering what the Nafunan's made, its no wonder why they decided to attack here. Our soldiers have to deal with delays in shipments of important goods such as ammo, food, and most importantly more soldiers. The mountains here are unstable and highly prone to avalanches, but our soldiers still can bring up our cannons through most paths, although at a very slow pace. The enemy can too, and most of the time, cannons are used to trigger avalanches at defensive positions and choke points, but most of the time cannons don't actually engage each other here outside of the rare ambush. Most battles here aren't won through artillery however, as its main use is merely to stop battles before they even begin really. Instead, battles are mostly won by soldiers with good aim, and our guns are more accurate then our enemies, and faster to reload to boot. However, for every soldier we kill, they have two more, as the year went on, the forces the enemy had compared to our own grew, and so too did the lack of important equipment due to hampered logistics. So, our soldiers had to do everything in their power to make do with what they had, be it their rifles, cannons, or even the good old reliable bow and arrow. But, by the end of the year, we found our soldiers bruised and battered,
but still holding on barely by a thread. We may have a better rifle, but its only useful when we have the ammo to shoot it. [Karikhita 2/4, Nafuna 2/4]Battle Report, Villages. Attackers, Karikhita: Unsurprisingly, the Nafunan's didn't try to make the most of their advantages and strike here again, so our forces didn't have to think about anything other than attack. And needless to say, their faster reloading is extremely useful here. However, unlike the mountains where their cannons are relegated mostly to defensive positions, just like last year they can bring their cannons fully to the fight. A few of our soldiers have taken to going after Nafunan cannon crews from a fair range away, but usually this is difficult to actually pull off as their crew usually responds. Still, its about as effective as using our own cannon against the Nafunans own with half the risk involved, but it does mean that their cannons are still an issue. Needless to say, them having a good amount of control at sea means very little as most of our logistics here can be transported on land and not sea, they sometimes can mount a minor raid at our forces near the coast but it is very ineffective and only is a minor annoyance at best. With our better guns, the Nafunan's usually have a hard time keeping up in a battle, the only reason why losses are similar are usually due to their cannons making up for what their smaller guns cannot,
however, it would be a lie to say that we don't have a moderate edge they do not, even if we didn't manage to gain ground [Karikhita 1/4, Nafuna 3/4]Battle Report, Swamps. Attackers, Karikhita, Nafuna: Our attack here started off quite well, the big hurdle of an issue our soldiers had in the villages is few and far between here with the ground as muddy as it is. Of course, thats not to say we don't encounter any of their cannons here, we do on the ground that is actually solid enough to hold them, but that land is not common here, and we have developed a tactic of simply surrounding these positions and waiting them out, be it until they run out of ammo, or food. However, there is another time we encounter their cannons. Very rarely, when near some of the rivers in this place, one of the smallest gunboats the Nafunans have will sometimes sail by. They are quite easy to spot in the water and even if someone doesn't see them until it fires, so long as the soldiers scatter and get under the cover of plant life they should be fine. Though it does certainty give a few ideas as to things that can be done in the future. It should be noted, that this place is another area our new lesser engineers have shown their competence, as the gun is fairly reliable here too. Of course, we don't actually have a proper cleaning kit like the Nafunans do, but its good enough in reliability that it doesn't really matter so long as the one who owns the gun properly maintains it.
From all of this, our forces are able to push the line back to where it started last year, taking back the ground lost last year. [Karikhita 2/4, Nafuna 2/4]Outside world and Internal affairs: Its fairly obvious that many soldiers are worried what will happen to the art of archery and seem annoyed that they mostly have to be on foot to use a ranged weapon and can only use their horses for charges and melee. The former however, where addressed by Khan Khan, and archery is still to be used ceremonially and in battle when the needs arise for it. In other news Queen Victoria's funeral takes place in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England. In Bremen an assassin attempts to kill Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid rob train of forty thousand dollars at Wagner, Montana. The first claimed powered flight, by Gustave Whitehead in his Number 21 in Fairfield, Connecticut, happened. And Guglielmo Marconi attempts to send the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland, Canada using a 500-foot (150 m) kite-supported antenna for reception.
Mongol Sabre: A old sword design that has served us well even after all these years, It can be used on horseback just as well as it can be used on foot. Costs 1 Ore -Cheap
Composite Bow: A favorite antique of both our own troops and our enemy, it is a simple bow that is able to pack a good punch, it comes a quiver. They aren't really used anymore outside of ceremonies and ammo scarce situations. Costs 1 Wood -Cheap
Karikhitan Flintlock Rifle: A domestically produced rifle, apparently obsolete elsewhere, but much more powerful than anything else we have. It is however faster to load and more accurate then the Nafunans gun thanks to the new ammo. Sadly, its still not efficient on horseback. 1 Ore -Cheap
Shonkhor 4kg Cannon: A heavy and powerful cannon that's only real issue is its weight, which is only an issue in combat. Its fairly reliable now that we have made versions of it that don't explode. Costs 2 Ore, Cheap
Khopesh: A classic short sword design we have still fought against even after all these years, the major difference between it and the original ones we faced is the use of steel instead of iron or bronze and it is much sharper then what we had to deal with before.
Composite Bow: A favorite of both our own troops and our enemy, it is a simple bow that is able to pack a good punch, it comes a quiver. Our enemy doesn't really use them anymore.
Thoth Mk.1 Flintlock Rifle: A domestically produced Nafunan rifle, that luckily is still obsolete everywhere, even here, just as luckily, its highly inaccurate on a chariot. Comes with a cleaning kit and a few other things can be added to it from what we have seen. Costs 1 Ore, cheap
Seth Demi-Culverin: A cannon like our own, but lighter and seems to work even in harsh conditions. Fires about two or so shots per minute and is a pain for our troops to deal with at the moment.
Armed Merchant Ship Boat: Its a boat with guns on it, a gunboat. Comes in a bunch of sizes and with anywhere between two to six cannons on it, usually on the front or back.
It is now the Design Phase. Prove to the Khan that there will be no more delays in our victory.
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Topic: The Ameliorate War, Karikhita, 1902, Strategy Phase. (Read 3928 times)