Year 1911 AC (After Colonization) Hot Season, Combat Phase
Salviosi Successes
First and foremost, we've changed our infantry helmet design to the Stahlhelm. This Hot Season Salvios opted to fortify the Lowlands, uncovering a cave system with readily available
Ore to exploit. This brings
Salviosi Ore Resources to Three (3). The construction of a number of small forts and military checkpoints in the Lowlands also brings
Lowands Entrenchment to One (1).
Utilizing a new Ore Resource has the following results:
The
SMG-12 becomes
(CHEAP).
The
LGG-12 becomes
(CHEAP).
The
GA1 Cannon becomes
(EXPENSIVE).
-Note: The
GA1B was already
(EXPENSIVE) but mislabeled. This has been corrected. It is still
[complex].
Lowland Summers
The Lowlands are peaceful and quiet now that the fires of rebellion have been extinguished. The Hot Season here is likely as pleasant as a Salviosi Summer can be. Dry winds blow off the Badlands to the North East which keeps the Lowlands from getting too humid, while plenty of shade can be found, and creeks and streams swell with runoff from the Plateaus and Volcanic Range to the west.
Blood in the Desert Sands
The blistering heat in the Desert was, for the first time in the history of Harren Island, very manageable thanks to the properties of the Gavrilium Rods and the GavEngine. Gunner crews became very popular, often running their weapon's motors enough to cause a comfortable amount of cooling. Steam rose off the engines in the high heat, and was visible to the Selicate Agents far in the distance. They'd gathered their forces, but the wide open Desert allowed the Salviosi forces to observe the movement of their enemy much as they were being observed, and so they prepared for battle.
Unfortunately for the Selicate forces nearly every weapon in the Salviosi arsenal outranged their weaponry. Camps fortifications spotted by the Salviosi were hastily shelled to oblivion by the combined
GA1 and
GA1B batteries. With places to defend being destroyed, the Selicates had no option but to attack. And that turned out to be no option at all. A number of
GGG-12s forced the Selicates to move forward cautiously, using any difference in elevation as cover. It helped until they got in range of the
LGG-12s that had been positioned throughout the line. The absolutely withering volume of fire forced the Selicates to crawl like snakes, grinding sand into flesh as they pulled themselves slowly forward. Retreat was no longer even an option - the
GGG-12s and zeroed-in artillery would just cut them down as they ran. Slow targets proved easy for marksmen with
Senapang rifles, and so the Salviosi forces absolutely dominated the Desert battlefield. The wide-open land has proven to be the perfect environment for Salviosi weapons.
Assaulting the Plateaus
The Plateaus are very dry, with only the occasional plant poking out from between some rocks, or jutting off the side of a cliff. The landscape was pierced by a sea of spires thrust from the ground. While most could only be scaled by climbing a sheer cliff face, a small handful had narrow trails that allowed ease of movement to the level ground overlooking everything beneath it. Scaling one of those cliffs was a man by the name of Antero Sahay. He was one of five men responsible for climbing the cliff with no support while securing lines for the rest of the troops to follow. At the top of this plateau was a complement of Selicate forces and supporters holed up in shoddy fortifications. But they held the pass up, and to attack directly would be to lead the men into a meatgrinder, so the Salviosi officers came up with this plan instead. Five volunteers were to set up lines for a portion of the men to climb while the rest feigned a frontal assault. Sgt. Sahay wanted to try out the new
SMG-12 in combat, and was the first to offer his services.
Fighting at the pass began when the climbers were nearing the end of their climb and drew any soldiers near the cliff towards the battle. Sgt. Sahay was the first over the edge and found himself inside the defenses of the Selicate forces staring at the backs of a half dozen enemy soldiers. One turned for seemingly no reason, as seems to happen, and cried out in alarm, but Sahay had already readied his
SMG-12 and began furiously cranking as he swept the gun across the enemy squad. Two were still standing thanks to the
SMG-12s unreliability, and so Sahay made another pass in the opposite direction. By this point more soldiers had begun to appear over the edge of the cliff. Enemy soldiers began to fire frighteningly close to Sahay, but he was unfazed. Sahay turned to pull a squadmate up, but as soon as he was over the edge and on his feet a handful of rounds struck his chest and sent him back off the cliff. Luckily for Sahay the man's Senapang had fallen from his grip and landed at Sahay's feet. He loosed a few rounds into the backs of some Selicates and pushed forward with a grim smile using a weapon he could trust.
A command post and a pair of bunkers proved to be the final stand for the Selicate forces of the fort. Sahay snuck into one of the bunkers, silently dispatching the soldier guarding the door with a couple of punches and a snapped neck. A machine gun and two particularly frustrating riflemen had been laying fire into the forces pushing the pass from this bunker, and Sahay opted to deal with it by bouncing a pair of
M2s into the firing room before rushing out. The twin blasts pushed a wave of heat out of the bunker doors enough to make Sahay uncomfortable and, he discovered upon his reentry to the bunker, had melted or ashed anything unlucky enough to be in the blast radius. By clearing the bunker he relieved pressure on the Salviosi forces on the pass and so they were able to push forward heartily and link up with the exhausted men who had scaled the cliff. The second bunker wound up surrendering, and the Command Post burned to ash when the men inside refused to surrender as well. Sergeant Antero Sahay earned a promotion to Staff Sergeant for his decisive actions and dominant battlefield presence. SSgt. Antero Sahay didn't mind the promotion, but all he was looking forward to was the next step in warfare.
------------
The Selicate Empire is no longer fighting us through our own people, and we still prove better than them. As we've defeated our enemies handily so far, we now seek to land a decisive blow across all three fronts: the Badlands, Rolling Hills, and Volcanic Range. To aid in an offensive this wide we give you
two designs and
request a vehicle design meant to support our infantry as well as
a design for support equipment, something to fill a non-combat support role to, for example, facilitate communications, or improve the quality of life of our soldiers. The reward for
one satisfied request will be a Design Credit for the Revision Phase, while
fulfillment of both requirements will grant that Design Credit a Research Credit.
Remember, you are also to
finalize your vote on the new Resource this Design Phase. This season the rumors from Abbera speak of a bountiful wheat harvest, as well as some sort of heart?
IT IS NOW THE DESIGN PHASEInfantry
Senapang Pattern Rifle: A 110 cm, 4 kg dark wood masterpiece. 7.7mm rounds are fed via 5-round stripper clip into the 10-round internal magazine, which can also be loaded with rounds individually. It has an adjustable rear sight with 100 meter increments. It also has a bayonet lug and comes with a bayonet. Padded for operator comfort, extremely dependable and reliable. The Senapang outclasses many rifles of our time. Costs 2 Ore and 2 Wood. (CHEAP)
SMG-12 Sub-Machine Gun: Essentially a low-powered hand-cranked personal Gatling Gun fired from the hip and fed 10mm pistol rounds through a box magazine under the weapon. Difficult to aim, as there is a crank mounted on top of the thing. Occasionally fails to load chambers, resulting in the nickname "The Stuttergun". Still, it's a big step in personal automatic firearms. Costs 4 Ore and 2 Wood. (CHEAP)
M2 Dispersion Grenade: A fantastic incendiary weapon. Effectively a canister on a stick that explodes in a burst of heat and molten metal. The sudden burst of wilting heat causes intense burns out to three meters while the flying molten Gavrilium can inflict serious wounds out to ten. Costs 1 Ore and 1 Gavrilium. (CHEAP)
GGG-12 Gavrilium Gatling Gun: A tri-barrel gatling gun that uses a small GavEngine to rotate the barrels. Fires up to 600 rpm with a range up to 2200m thanks to the 7.7G rounds which use a GavPowder load. A heat sink helps provide equilibrium between the heat caused by the Gavpowder load and the freezing caused by the depletion of Gavrilium rods in the engine. Uses a dial to adjust rate of fire. Effective and reliable. Costs 5 Ore and 4 Gavrilium, making it (VERY EXPENSIVE).
--LGG-12 Light Gatling Gun: A GGG-12 without the Gavpowder. Range drops to 1500m but Rate of Fire is increased to a possible 1200 RPM. Is also much lighter, allowing it to be redeployed very easily by a crew. Can also be deployed with a small artillery carriage. Costs 4 Ore and 2 Gavrilium. (CHEAP)
GA1 Cannon: A 150mm piece of artillery that uses a mixture of cordite and powdered Gavrilium to fire rounds fairly accurately to six kilometers but potentially out to nine if accuracy isn't really a factor. The barrel warps from extended use so teams are asked to restrict themselves to six rounds at a time before needing to cool for an extended period. Costs 5 Ore and 3 Gavrilium. (EXPENSIVE)
--GA1B Cannon: By modifying the powder, barrel, and alloy used in the GA1's construction, the GA1B can fire 5 rounds a minute accurately up to 10km. The use of Chemical Compounds in the powder formula complicates things. Costs 4 Ore, 2 Gavrilium, and 1 Chemical Compounds. (EXPENSIVE) [complex]
BSU: The Berani standard uniform is made of light cotton dyed khaki. A wide brim steel helmet offers some protection, and leather patches on the elbows and knees provide a level of comfort and protection when kneeling or leaning on something. The uniform has a large number of pockets, belts, and satchels made of cotton webbing in order to carry large amounts of equipment such as ammo and grenades. Entrenching tools are provided to all soldiers.
Vehicles
Gavrilium Engine: An engine run by extracting electromagnetic energy from Gavrilium rods and converting it to mechanical energy. Much more powerful and cost efficient than standard combustion engines. The engine's only flaw is overcooling in very cold environments as the rods freeze as their stored energy depletes, seizing the engine and shutting it down. The Depleted Gavrilium rods must be handled with proper protective equipment. Glows blue. Adds 1 Ore to the price of the base vehicle design and converts Oil cost into 1/2 the cost in Gavrilium
Specialty Resource
Gavrilium: A wondermaterial with many unknown qualities. So far we know that low applied heat produces a slow burn with results similar to coal, a sudden explosive force agitates it until it becomes a molten blob, electromagnetic energy can be drawn from it, and depleted gavrilium has a dangerously low temperature.
Caelium: A metallic substance capable of affecting gravitational fields. When a current is applied it rises above the ground at a level proportional to the strength of the current, and will move if tilted.
Chemical Compounds: Represents the industry required to maintain a high demand of chemicals.
Salvios: 3 Ent., 2 Ore, 2 Oil, 2 Wood, 2 Gavrilium // 100% Control
Lowlands: 1 Ent., 1 Ore (1/3 Resources) // 100% Control
Desert: 0 Ent., (0/3 Resources) // 100% Control
Plateaus: 0 Ent., (0/3 Resources) // 100% Control
Ore: 3
Oil: 2
Wood: 2
Gavrilium: 2
Caelium: 0
Chemical Compounds:: 0