Wednesday, May 31, 2017

OPFOR Army List #1 Vikings



     These far-ranging sons of Scandinavia reached Neulandia over  a thousand years ago. Finding the rugged coastlines and weather strongly reminiscent of home they settled down and established colonies all over the continent. They prefer trade but are not the least bit shy about a bit of piracy if the opportunity arises. Cavalry and Bondi archers are found in the home provinces almost exclusively. Giants and seidhr (wizards) are rumored to be found among the "Dark Norse" who worship evil gods and practice unspeakable rituals.

Monday, May 22, 2017

A Challenge Met

   Having heard the stories of their erstwhile Viking allies about "dark things" prowling the northern end of the island the Murican commander demanded proof. The Vikings brought forth a humanoid skull of such dimensions that a man could fit inside it as proof that giants served the dark Masters that ruled the Northern Realms. Seeing this monstrosity the Murican commander, G. A. Custer, saw that this was a perfect job for the newly finished Steam Fighting Suit MK I.
     Possessed of some understanding of the Viking culture Custer made discrete inquiries as to whether or not the classic "hazelled field" was still considered an honorable challenge. Delighted to find that it was he promptly delivered the challenge to the enemy, a fight between his Steam Giant and any two giants in their service.Unsurprisingly the Northern Warlords boldly accepted the challenge and set a date and place. An open fight between the Steam Giant and the two giants currently in service of Sigmund the Harsh, to be fought in the market field in front of Sigmund's Hall.
     The Muricans appeared at dawn on the appointed day and off-loaded the Steam Giant, the two Viking Giants strode boldly forth from the compound and crowds streamed in from afar to watch. The Murican battleship stood by to ensure that no shenanigans were afoot. All was ready for a truly titanic battle.

     (Apologies to our gentle readers for the unpainted figures, I misplaced my Frost Giants and we had to go recruiting amongst the Fantasy troops. This sort of thing will not happen again)

opponents size each other up as crowds approach from all directions

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Duplicity Abounds!!!

     In a stunning display of underhanded violence the Khalsa have attacked the British exploratory mission on the Island of Vectis. The British had sent a small force upriver on a Goodwill Mission to demonstrate the benefits of interacting with Her Majesty's Empire and to assess the local peoples and resources. As they camped peacefully on the shore they were vilely attacked by the armed forces of the local governor.

as dawn breaks the British sentries notice that there is 
more than the local wildlife in the distance 
no local bandits these, they have artillery!

Monday, May 15, 2017

British Island Malagassy part 1.

THE ANCIENT AND SECRETIVE LAND OF MALAGASSY
 
    Founded uncounted centuries ago by the losers of a dynastic struggle on the mainland the island kingdom of Malgassy has long shunned contact with the outside world. The people display a fanatical devotion to their king and his family. Trading only occasionally with the Caliphate and the Slaver Kingdom the Malagasians have had little contact with the European interlopers.
    The island chain was once entirely controlled by the Kingdom. The southern half of the main island and the southern islands first broke away as part of a dynastic struggle within the ruling family and then fell under the sway of the dreaded worshippers of the Thuggi sect. This has led to a complete breakdown of order in the South, a circumstance that has allowed the Her Majesty to plant a colony with the avowed aim of crushing the "devil worshippers" and restoring order.
    The northern half of the Kingdom remains rich and densely populated. The centuries of isolation have allowed the Malagassians to carefully exploit every natural resource and rigorous management of these resources has made the Kingdom rich beyond what would be expected for such a small area.
    Relations with the British colony are aloof and coldly polite, with just enough hostility to discourage any attempt at commercial or social contact. Secretly the Malagassian ruler fears the new colony and has been feverishly collecting modern weaponry to help stave off any attempt to establish "order"  his lands. The most concerning point is that the colonial troops crushed the Thuggi in just one year, something that the Kingdom had not been able to achieve in fifty!
    Outsiders see the Kingdom as a mysterious land of temples and rituals, adorned with the wealth of centuries and only mildly aware of the progress of the modern world. This is only partially true, the Kingdom is intensely conservative but both the government and the religious orders place a high value on education and intellectual discourse and understand and can apply most scientific principals. The desire to avoid upheaval and the unpleasantness of sudden change has caused the powers that be to use a gradualist approach to modernization.

GOVERNMENT: The island is ruled by a semi-hereditary king. The "royal" family consists of about four thousand bloodlines grouped into five tribes. These tribes take it in turn to choose a new king upon the passing of the old. The next ascendant tribe provides the King's ministers, the third provides the provincial governors, the fourth the bureaucrats and religious ministers and the fifth the leaders of the military. This way there is constantly fresh blood being injected in all branches of government and all of the tribes must educate their children to fit into any role, assuring a well-rounded education.

ARMY:  The Malagassian military presents a confusing spectacle to outsiders. How does one try to understand an army that has Gatling guns but still insists that chariots are not only a valid but an entirely necessary piece of military gear?  The appearance of elephants and chariots may confuse western commentators but the hard core of the army is the long-serving infantry drawn from the military caste. The armaments of these troops have been carefully upgraded with the passing of time. While the costume and drill may be amusingly archaic the troops are deadly professionals at the time of battle. The cavalry is similarly drawn from a specific caste but has declined in importance as the power of the infantry has risen. Still they are useful for scouting and the occasional mad charge. The chariots and elephants are the most obvious relics from ages past but even these have been subtly adapted to more modern methods. the chariots have been armed with light guns firing out of the back and experiments have been conducted with mounting a machine gun to fire out the rear. The elephants are used mainly to transport guns through bad terrain and special armored ones have been trained to batter doors down or attack modern steam transports.

NAVY: Until recently the navy had lagged behind the other services. Using only sailing vessels for combat and transport their only real challenge until lately was keeping the pirates away from the inter-island trade. With the appearance of the Europeans the navy has reconsidered its role and is now rapidly developing a blue-water capability. The recent acquisition of modern guns and steam engines from the western powers has made a radical impact on both the design of the ships and their competitiveness with other powers.




Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Daring Plan Results in a Stunning Prussian Victory

    Having narrowly defeated the rebel forces the Prussian Governor-General, Victor von
Schimmelpfenning, decided upon a bold plan to run the rebel army to ground and finish it off. He allowed the rebel forces to retreat back to their camp and collect their belongings.

     While this was going on a punishing force-march put the Loyal forces in a position to cut off the retreating rebels. The rebel army, thinking that they had gotten away cleanly, were surprised to find the Loyal forces (and their Prussian allies) astride the line of retreat.

     Surprised or not the rebels recognized that the only path to safety was to fight their way through the Loyalist ambush and they flung themselves at their enemy in a bold fury.They were hampered again by some very unlucky Command rolls that caused their attack to become disjointed. Ultimately the rebel army was shattered and the remnants dispersed into the hills.


this game was played using the "Run For The Hills" scenario from the rulebook
the rebel army was made whole again to represent the collection of bivoac guards 
and outlying units as they decamped. The Prussians carried over any unsaved casualties but were graced with abnormally good Command rolls in the first two turns which allowed them to close the gap and prepare for the rebel assault