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unscratchedfoot
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Love me tender. Love me sweet.
May 2002
time: 14:35
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Where else would the world's greatest meatgrinder occur than around Boulogne?
Around these 2 Dutch cities is where the flower of British youth has bled away its vitality in the endless meatgrinder which began with the French, then the Prussians, next up the Russians and now the Spanish are taking their turn in massacring the hapless British lads.
But it has not been for nothing. The Dutch have survived the most heathen disregard for life the world has yet had to endure. All thanks to the battered and bruised British army.
Boulogne is on the edge of perishing. Anytime now those Spanish Line infantry are going to finish reducing the defenders of the tortured little town. Just last turn the bull fighters succeeded in breaking through the protective screen of redcoats and cannon around the perimeter and are going to funnel through scores of cavalry and troops to hammer it into submission. Next to London are some of the survivors who were shipped out to avoid annihilation in the latest Spanish combined infantry and cavalry attacks. Before there is no one left to hear it, I guess we should now say Austa la vista Boulogne 
In a last ditch attempt to relieve the town, a few British reserves have been scraped from the barrel and were just dropped off behind the advancing Spanish, hopefully to distract them from the town long enough for another defence to be formed around Boulogne. Most British cities are defended by a lone obsolete musketman unit which have a hard enough time taking on the local rodents invading their tins of biscuits, let alone any sudden amphibious invasion from a powerful enemy.
In Portsmouth, the idolized Man O War 'Victory' is in for repairs after barely surviving another huge naval battle with the Spanish. It went toe-to-toe with the Santisimo Trinidad and limped away barely afloat (1 hp left!). We've had several Trafalgar-sized naval engagements so far with the Spanish and given and taken some henious punishment.
Why is the war going so badly and why are most of the British troops chilling out enjoying the local vice of Amsterdam instead of fighting the Spanish in the south? Because of the Russians. If those troops move out and Russia attacks again like it did before - austa la vista Amsterdam. Actually those defences are vastly reduced from earlier, having sent many regiments down to their violent ends in the Boulogne meatgrinder. A couple of Russian infantry units man their observation posts infront of the British fortifications, waiting for an opening to declare war and bust through suddenly with hordes of well trained, dangerous troops.
This is Britain's 2nd much smaller but just as strategically important meatgrinder. The Spanish are busy trying to turn the Portugese into pork chops and are right on the verge of completing that messy task. Scores of cavalry have smashed the ranks of redcoats who once manned a solid and well ordered defence line of squares infront of this town. One redcoat regiment mowed down so many Spanish attackers that it was named "The Butcher of Oviedo" by British High Command. Unfortunately those brave heros pursued a scattering enemy force too far into the darkness of the mountains and never returned again. The last their comrades heard of them was a storm of musketfire echoing through the mountain passes
With such heavy losses, this Portugese town is on the verge of collapse. Portugese defenders have fallen in heaps during cavalry charges. One more big cavalry rush supported by the Spanish line infantry already in place and the pork chops will be cooked.
Is this picture finally some good news from the battlefront? No.
About 100 or so Russian infantry units here have just finished mopping up about 30-40 Spanish infantry and cavalry regiments in a pitched battle in the open fields with only light losses to themselves. Once these waves have finished clearing the Denmark peninsula of all traces of Spaniards, their columns of troops are likely to march down to the Amsterdam area and possibly open up another war on the beleagured Dutch. There could only be one outcome to this
The reason a significant part of the Royal Navy is stationed near Denmark is in the event of a Russian declaration of war, those ships will prevent Russian amphibious attacks on the poorly defended British homeland. And also to incurr the maximum amount of carnage as possible upon the Russian navy before it can escape.
The Russians are tough. And the indolent Turks are not lifting a finger to help anyone ever since they joined Russia in brutalizing the Austrians and Prussians (Austria and Prussia were in a locked alliance so they did a good job of dying together).
Any good news at all? Not really, except for a small but potent battlegroup led by the legendary "Muscles from Brussels" redcoat regiment (please note: this is not a civ army, just one elite unit cause I have not gotten any leaders yet ). Muscles orginally fought extensively around Brussels and would likely have taken it from the Spanish when a ceasefire was unexpectedly called by the Portugese and the British army units there were forced into the dead zone far to the south by the treaty conditions.  The dead zone is a dark and foreboding territory where lay the remains of many French cities razed by the evil Spanish. The Muscles battlegroup, now too far away from Brussels to get there, is now moving south through Spanish countryside turning the land into a moonscape with 2 batteries of 6 pounders (light but accurate well trained artillery, historically preferred by the British over the big 12 pounder cannon which the French used, also called 25mm cannonbore).
To conclude this report, in the early stages of the war, the British Chiefs of Staff chose to protect their allies instead of simply conducting their own invasion of France and/or Spain. This objective has been achieved at a high cost. Originally they had hoped to send an invasion force to land in Gallipoli and teach the Turks a lesson in British military superiority, but those plans are no longer on the commander's desk at this time mainly due to the realization that we are in fact not superior.
This is where British Supreme Commander Unscratchedfoot's after action report ends. Whether either city falls will be seen in his next report. The fate of the empire depends on those cities surviving. If the Portugese and Dutch fall, the British will be left isolated on their island.
This photo was attached to the Commander's report. This cuirass metal breastplate, typically worn by Spanish militia, was taken from the battlefield on the approaches to Boulogne. It provides grim evidence of the kind of damage a 6 pounder cannonball does.
Last edited by unscratchedfoot on 11-04-2004 at 19:56
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unscratchedfoot
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Love me tender. Love me sweet.
May 2002
time: 14:35
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*OOC (out of character): It's good to see you folks are enjoying the story. Here's a little info about the mod changes. Barracks and harbors are modded so that new units are 'regular' not veteran. This allows 2 levels of combat experience on the field. Also, elite units get an extra +2 hit points to make them double the strength of a new recruit (a regular with 3 hp +1 vet +2 elite = 6 hp for normal or 7hp for guard troops like Britain and Russia have). Also, each turn is one week of time. Artillery is modded to be far stronger and 3 times as expensive with 5 new types added. The navy is completely modded and too complicated to be worth explaining here, except to say ships are much stronger, 3 times as expensive and 8 new ship types have been added.
Six Pounds of Pork Chops
The Portugese town of Corunna has fallen!! A British 6 pounder churns up the local roads to slow down the Spanish from reinforcing their new prize.
Four British redcoat units have just landed, perfectly too late to help. Spanish cavalry easily overwhelmed the Portugese garrison with no unit losses to themselves and moved about 7 units into the town to hold it. Flags fly at half-mast across Britain, mourning the loss. Now Portugal is left with only 2 cities which are most probably also under heavy attack.
Before the Corunna fell, throngs people in the British isles filled cathedrals to pray that Spain would not burn down the town. Their prayers were answered and the Spanish mercifully let the citizens of Corunna off with only some terrorizing. Typically, when the Spanish elect not to raze a city, they instead unleash maddened bulls to run rampant through the streets chasing down citizens trying to gore them. The ferocious beasts are only further enraged by the feeble attempts of the people to fend them off.
Corunna used to be a Spanish town before the British took it and gave it to the Portugese after spending heaps of money on its infrastructure with hurried construction. The Spanish claim the bull treatment is to punish the inhabitants for not properly resisting the British which is hardly fair to say. Many a redcoat will attest to the horrible way the Spanish civilians would heave the contents of night potties out their 2nd story windows onto the heads and shoulders of British patrols walking through the streets in the morning. It happened so much that redcoats in Corunna jokingly referred to themselves as 'browncoats'. Unfortunately most of those funny lads are now helping to fertilize the poppies decorating the hills and fields around Corunna.
Finally something sortuv good happened. The seige of Boulogne has been broken with a flimsy redcoat defensive perimeter dug-in around it. About 10 Spanish units were destroyed for the loss of 2 redcoat regiments. Upper Command believes this break became achievable owing to the pressure the Russians are putting on the Spanish from the north. Thank you Ivan. On a darker note, the picture shows a small stack of Ivan's frigates keeping an eye on the area most probably in preparation for declaring war on us.
Speaking of Russians...
Overkill supreme: using a huge Siberian bear to squash an overripe avocado to make guacamole. Russian hordes advance on the last Spanish stronghold in Denmark. The shown list of soldiers is only 1 of about a dozen such stacks heading up the peninsula. Upper Command estimates approximately 200 Russian military units are involved in the slow moving attack. There may be even up to 300 units but a lot of the area is out of view of the navy. Some of the stacks are hidden in the fog of war and Russian frigates are blocking the waterways so British ships cannot scout the area properly. Privateers are being constructed to deal with this rude gesture.
At this time, Portugal again decides to spring a sudden peace treaty with Spain, no doubt requested by Spain to end the 2-front war they were having. Thus ends the Second Anglo-Spanish War. This of course forces peace between the British coalition and the Spanish. The British fully intended on retaking Corunna and also had 4 seperate groups performing 'Operation Agent Brown' which is the cratering of Spanish countryside to weaken their production and food supplies. All this came to an end and the units will be expelled from Spanish territory back to the dead zone.
To make matters worse, with the Spanish ceasefire, the politicians in the British parliament have decided to send all the latest recruitments of redcoats, light brigades (cavalry) and artillery to beef up the Amsterdam fortifications to counter the considerable Russian military presence nearby. Supreme Commander Unscratchedfoot referred to these tactics as the pinnacle of stupidity by 'pear-shaped fools wearing wigs who've never had to stand tall infront of columns of well armed enemy troops'.
When queried on what would be the wisest choice of action during the ceasefire, the Commander said all new units should be shipped to the dead zone which used to be France just north of the Spanish homeland and when war is redeclared, launch a devastating invasion from which Spain will never recover. Britain needs those cities! This will be made much easier by the Russian 'distraction' which is forcing the Spanish to send most of their units to the northern front to replace the heavy losses being inflicted on them by the Russians. Only by doing this will Britain ever gain enough power to stand up to Russia. Instead, all the politicians are achieving by reinforcing Amsterdam is a prolonged death. If the Russians want Amersterdam, nothing is going to stop 200+ battle hardened units.
On with the build-up to an unwinnable war... Unwinnable that is, as long as the politicians refuse to listen to the sound advice from the army commanders. Hopefully in the meantime, Russia and Spain will grind each other down a fair bit.
A Swedish Love Affair
It may seem odd that Sweden has survived the Russian bear despite a long war. This again is because of British support, though they have never actually been an official ally. Constant supplies of saltpeter, horses, luxuries, money and technology have kept Sweden alive and able to produce its powerful Swedish rifle regiments and devastating 5 barrelled cannon to defend with. They lost one city to Russia before British aid came pouring in to save them. Over 20,000 gold pieces have been sent so far to Sweden.
Sweden is no longer at war with Russia and are still being supplied with resources from their British friends. Their allegiance will likely come in handy someday.
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unscratchedfoot
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Love me tender. Love me sweet.
May 2002
time: 14:35
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The 3rd Anglo-Spanish War: The Tie-Breaker
The disagreement between the army and the politicians over the deployment of recruits is finally settled with a compromise: half of the units will be placed in the Netherlands and the other half will be sent to Gibraltar far to the south to guard the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. The compromise will mean a half-strength southern army group so Unscratchedfoot supports this plan only after parliament agrees to ship the Muscles From Brussels Battlegroup down to lead the new forces and put some steel into their spines. At the time, the famous regiment was sitting in the dark zone of burnt out France hoping and praying for another war to start.
They got their wish.
Naples, an ally of Britain, was talked into reopening the war against Spain by the cunning Russians. This drags Britain and her allies all back into the tussle with Spain and the Turks jump on the dogpile as well. Spain is taking a real licking from so many enemies, especially from the Russians who are poised to gobble up Spain's holdings in France. The evil Spanish reap what they have been sowing for so long.
The deployments to Gibraltar, however, have not been completed. Two galleons ship down the Muscles From Brussels and land them next to Gibraltar before the war starts but 2 more galleons of new recruits are just passing by Portugal. Thanks to the sizeable naval force stationed at Gibraltar, neither of the galleons is harmed during a fight with a group of Spanish frigates trying to sneak through a troop transport ship.
This picture shows the initial deployment. Frothing at the mouth with battlelust, the Muscles From Brussels Battlegroup made up of 20 units is waiting next to the Spanish city of Seville for permission to attack while a group of 6 new redcoat infantry recruits hold position nervously above Lagos to the west. Muscles has been joined by the Gibraltar's two 6 pounder batteries and one older cannon to beef up its own 4 batteries for a total of 7 batteries to support the elite redcoat squares. The Gibraltar artillerists are astonished at just how badly the Muscles troops want to tear into the Spanish, like wardogs yanking at their chains for a chance to tear some flesh apart.
The plan is to take the cities Seville, Lagos (originally Portugese), and Medrid and then consolidate to repulse counterattacks. Once the campaign is underway, Supreme Commander Unscratchedfoot expects no more support from the politicians who have little interest beyond the half-hearted buildup. The 'pears' back in London seem mesmerized by the gathering Russians in France, perhaps fearing the threat which is physically closer to them and forgetting about sound tactics.
Once authorized, the Muscles From Brussels battlegroup wastes no time at all in savagely attacking the Spanish who are clearly weak after fighting the Russians. Caught by surprise, the Spanish reserves counterattacking are few and inexperienced so are easily cut down by volleys of musketfire and case shot from the cannon. Garrisons holding the cities have not the slightest hope for mercy. Having been denied the spoils of Brussels by an unfair treaty, the Muscles troops take out their frustration in a passionate fever of raw, unbridled violence.
Three Spanish cities fall like dominos to the blitzkreig before British forces stop to rest and refit. The few Spanish militia foolish enough to surrender are forced into the bull-fighting stadiums to meet their own bulls, swordless and easy targets for the beasts bred to gore. After this messy bit of entertainment, the British then saddle up for the march on Madrid itself, the heart of the hated hooligans' empire.
Hurray!! The Duke of Wellington is here!
"Little Dukey, make sure you eat all your brussel sprouts so you can grow up to be a big boy." Sage advice from the Duke's mother to him when he was 4 years old. The legendary leader of the Muscles From Brussels battlegroup took these words to heart in his campaign against Brussels and it made him and his troops strong just like his kind mother had promised.
It surprised no one that while leading the Muscles From Brussels regiment in gunning down Spanish troops on a hill, the Duke of Wellington was promoted to be Britain's first army general, a great leader he had become! Crowds in the homeland had finally gotten some desperately needed good news and celebrated with a frenzy of ecstacy. Naturally the new Army Group is named 'Muscles From Brussels', the same as the founding regiment. A couple of other elite regiments from the same battlegroup join the Duke's unit in forming the new army. And to add to the jubilation, soon after the Duke's promotion, a second leader is made by another regiment during the battle.
During the British onslaught, bad new comes from the Netherlands. The Russians are pouring through France in endless hordes.
This list of Russian troops only shows one of many stacks moving south of Boulogne. It is troublesome to note that this list continues on below the page and that although this is one of the biggest stacks, many other smaller ones move in and out of the fog of war working over the Spaniards. Adding to this bad news was the failure of the privateer operation which resulted in 6 privateers lost and the Russians lost one frigate and captured 3 privateers for a net gain of 2 ships. The last thing we need to do is donate units to the Russians A spy unit was killed on the border outside of the Amsterdam fortifications after killing one Russian jaeger unit and wounding another, dangerously risking a full out military response from the Russian bear. Which foolish captain was it who ordered that bit of nonsense?
Amazingly, this ugly news causes little stir at home, such is the confidence British civilians have in the once again proven Muscles From Brussels Battlegroup. The musket warriors seem to be messiahs of case and shot inflicted trauma, black smoke avengers for whom there is no greater joy than the conduct of unrestricted warfare.
Crowds of happy people in the streets carry big banners with the word 'GRONK!' on them, referring to the slang name given to the Muscles Battlegroup.
To be sure, during the campaign in southern Spain which was so reluctantly authorized by the skitterish politicians, 37 Spanish ground units including infantry, cavalry and artillery were destroyed along with 5 frigates and one troop transport. The British lost only 2 inexperienced redcoat regiments, one new light brigade (cavalry) and one frigate, and made up for the frigate loss by capturing a galleon.
The Muscles From Brussels Battlegroup formed up to advance towards Madrid to grab the rich and abundant capital of Spain. Then comes the hammerblow worst of all: King George III calls off the operation saying all objectives were already completed!! Unscratchedfoot has some words to say about that which the King doesn't feel too comfortable with. George's white, braided wig slips to one side of his beet red head in his anger. He calls Unscratchedfoot a 'war mongering pest' and the Commander retorts by saying George doubtfully even knows the difference between a muskrat and a musket! Such was the terrible language used between the noble holders of the reigns of British power!
George storms out of the conference room and takes the discussion up in a parliament meeting. Army officials also attend and speakers from both sides present their arguments in an intelligent, speaker-controlled environment.
First the politicians explained the halt in moves towards Madrid. First of all, no more support could be afforded to the Muscles From Brussels Battlegroup which is dangerous considering the Spanish can still outproduce the British by 2:1 threatening dangerous counterattack potential against the overextended British position. Secondly, the bulk of the southern army group was sorely needed to prop up the weak defences around Boulogne which would surely be overrun in a moment should the Russians decide to drop the gloves. It is imperitive to make peace with Spain before it is overrun by Russia to maintain a strong enemy of Russia. Although Britain and Spain are anything but friends, they should at least work together to avoid assured destruction at the hands of Ivan. And finally, the 3 Spanish cities already taken should be handed over to the Portugese who could make far better use of them, particularly Lagos which was originally a Portugese city lost to Spain during the 1st Anglo-Spanish War so the people yearn to join their homeland.
Then the army presented its argument. Unscratchedfoot explained that the production power of Madrid was such that it almost equaled that of all 3 cities already taken combined and would be an excellent city either in British or Portugese control. He did not contest the logic of handing the Spanish cities over to Portugese control and agreed with the King on this point (and this point alone). The Commander then restated the casualty figures of the campaign so far and predicted not more than 2 or 3 regiments at most would be lost in taking out the Spanish capital, especially with 2 new armies formed up. Finally, he stated that Russia was not likely to declare war for some time yet considering we have a right of passage agreement with them and their attitude towards us is still gracious which is incredible considering the pirate and spy attacks recently conducted against them. These good relations would allow the Muscles Battlegroup time to get back to the Netherlands before a war with Russia started. Therefore Madrid must be taken! While the initiative is strongly in favor of the British!
A vote is taken and the result is exactly 50% for each side. A perfect tie. The King decides to take a public referendum and here it is.
Hear thee! Hear thee! Dear readers, you must decide the next move of the British: to attack Madrid or make peace with the Spanish and move the bulk of the southern army up to join the northern army in Amsterdam to face the Russians. Please decide!
Here is the latest map of Europe. Somehow Spanish Paris is still holding out against the Russians. Maybe Ivan is just toying with it. It may have even changed hands several times while the Commander's eyes were on the Gibraltar wingding. Brussels has fallen to the Russians and Ivan has total control over the countryside of France. A grim situation it is.
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OCC: I will try to post an army listing of units each nation has. My spies are already in place in most nations, I just never get around to checking the stats due to the intense nature of the conflict taking all my attention.
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KuriousK724
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why make peace with spain, give portugese their city back, keep the other two spanish cities as for yourself. and move forces up to the north once things are settled?
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KuriousK724
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i vote peace with spain... i knew what he meant... there was a typo in my post that made me look ignorant...
here is what i meant to say...
why "NOT" make peace with spain, give portugese their city back, keep the other two spanish cities for yourself. and move forces up to the north once things are settled?
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unscratchedfoot
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Love me tender. Love me sweet.
May 2002
time: 14:35
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Muscles From Brussels marches on Madrid. A redcoat escort protects the battlegroup from flank attacks by Spanish cavalry. In the following action, a highly decorated elite light brigade was lost to Spanish defensive fire. Their comrades in Muscles were furious over the loss and promised ample retribution. The 2nd Spanish war veteran cavalry received full military honors.
And retribution was served...
The Turkish and British race each other to grab as many Spanish cities as possible in their weakened state. The Spanish defenders are mostly conscripts who are easily smitten by the well disciplined, accurate fire from the elite British redcoat squares of Muscles. The less experienced Turks throw stacks of infantry against cities and suffer huge losses in the process.
In the above photo, most of the Muscles Battlegroup waits outside Barcelona for 2 reasons: (1) They are enjoying watching the Turks bleeding themselves against the Spanish defenders and Muscles will have an easier time smashing the already hurt defenders once the Turks are repulsed, and (2) thanks to no support from the homeland, the British are suffering from an acute shortage of troops to garrison captured cities with and were not helped by the loss of 2 redcoat units during recent fighting, hence, the Duke's famed Muscles Army is holding the city to the west of Barcelona until units are relieved from duty down south to take over the security position. Captured cities are having buildings rush built in them and then are being systematically transferred to Portugal to free up the redcoats guarding them.
Note how the Turks and British are intermingled. Although no gunfire has ever been traded in anger, elite British sharpshooters add frustration to the Turkish recruits by shooting the fez caps off their heads for fun while waiting to attack. This happened so much that the Turks got into the habit of removing their caps when passing by British infantry units. The witty Muscles troops responded by removing their own bearskin hats and bowing deeply in sarcastic displays of respect. It is also rumored that King George III was inundated with letters from Muscles soldiers begging him to declare war on Turkey so they could fire on the Turks for real. King George came dangerously close to granting their requests and he praised the soldiers for their fierce warrior spirits.
The Swedes are kept happily supplied all the while, in preparation for the Russian war in the future.
Swedish rifle regiments hold the fort while the British have a look around.
Instead of supplying the Muscles campaign with badly needed infantry to garrison cities with, the British political pears send shipments of troops to Sweden to prepare a defense there against the Russians. Unscratchedfoot commented that if they are going to send military units to Sweden that they should send enough to enable an assault force to break through Finland and into the heart of Mother Russia. Instead, the pears are still sending half its new recruits to the Netherlands fortifications. A typical weak comprimise and half-hearted effort which will produce half-hearted results.
Just west of Denmark a strong British naval group is in place to force the Danish straights and clear them of the Russian frigates which are there permanently blocking the waterways.
Vultures circle the cities, anticipating a hey baby feast once the mutual slaughter between Britain and Russia begins.
While the campaign in Spain continues, the above photo shows the build-up in the Netherlands defences. Based on Hannibal tactical theory, the forts are each heavily garrisoned with cavalry, troops and cannon with weakly held gaps between them. The idea is that the Russians will either be cut down trying to breach the forts or they will move into the gaps to be slaughtered by combined arms flank attacks from the forts. Readers may note both the unique Dutch infantry dug-in at Amsterdam as well as the dotted borders which are far less imposing than the solid previous borders.
The biggest worry is the nearness of Brussels to Boulogne will make defending a nightmare just like it was during the 2nd Spanish War. Unscratchedfoot drew up a post-3rd Spanish War battle plan which will move the potent Muscles From Brussels Battlegroup, the cream of the British armed forces, into the wheat fields between Brussels and Boulogne. Once war is opened, the Duke of Wellington will get his childhood dream of 'eating' Brussels up and becoming yet stronger. Once Muscles is entrenched in Brussels, the Russian hordes will shatter themselves against the phenominal power of that battlegroup and be bled white in a horrific meatgrinder battle. At the same time, the northern front in Sweden will try to break through Finland and into Russia, driving towards Moscow. Unscratchedfoot, however, expressed doubts that the recruits in Sweden would make it out of Sweden and will likely be pinned down by massive Russian counterattacks after taking only 2 of Ivan's cities.
The last stand of the Spanish. Vultures around Valencia pick at the many Turkish and Spanish carcasses left rotting on the battlefields around the city.
Supported by Portugese forces, Muscles From Brussels makes the killing blow and the Spanish become extinct. The British decisively beat the Turks to the Spanish prizes, leaving them only a couple of small Spanish cities in the north including Corunna which was once so bitterly defended by the British from the Spanish so long ago. Note the path of British conquests was performed in a sweep north from Madrid then east and finally south in order to control the number of Turkish forces in the area. This allowed through just enough Turks to weaken the Spanish so the British could easily step in and take the cities after the Turks were left broken and bleeding on the fields outside the cities.
Muscles achieved perfect timing to generate maximum Turkish and Spanish casualties while minimizing the redcoats' own losses to almost nill. A total of 2 light brigade and 4 redcoat units was the British bill in the entire Spanish campaign, a gaspingly a light price to pay for so many fine cities. Between 70 and 80 Spanish units were destroyed by the British, plus countless more by the Turks, Portugese, Dutch, Russian and Naples forces flooding Spanish territory. The best prize was Madrid which boasts quite possibly the best production of any city in Europe.
Russia reacts to the British spies capturing about 30 workers trying to build roads just east of the Netherlands for moving military units during battle. Also, 2 more Russian jaegar infantry units are killed by spies. Russia followed up this unpleasant meeting with a threat, and with its forces still deep in Spain, Britain was forced to pay up 68 gold pieces to appease the furious Russian bear. This humility was the deepest the British royalty has ever experienced during its reign. Due compensation must be exacted.
A military academy has been constructed in Nottingham and is now producing a 3rd army which will be loaded and sent to Sweden to join the northern army forming up for an assault on Russian-held Finland. Also a general staff school will be built so that the Muscles armies can be expanded and also special agents will start to be trained.
The Ottomons show some interest in a mutual protection pact, though at quite a high price in gold. The quote from the Turks at top is interesting because his metaphor would quite likely become a reality should we sign. Note the minimap in the bottom left showing the powered up Portugal is now about equal to the British isles in cities, or wlll be once the last Spanish city is handed over to them.
Although the contract was rejected for the moment, oddly enough the King, a diligent hater of Turks, expressed keen interest in the alliance, especially considering the extreme danger that Russia may well pay off the Turks to join it in a war against Britain. The King is excited by the thought of so many Turks and Russians gunning each other down by the hundreds. Unscratchedfoot, however, rejected the alliance based on the logic that Britain together with Sweden, Netherlands, Naples and Portugal now had enough combined power to take on Russia in a meatgrinder war, though Russia still enjoys a decisive numbers advantage. But numbers are not everything... muscles count too.
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So what do you readers think? Does Britain need to ally with 'the devil' to defeat Russia or can it preserve its honor and take on the bear without the Turks? Supreme Commander Unscratchedfoot strongly prefers no alliance while the King and the pears in London are very eager to get it signed.
What if the Turks join up with the Russians against Britain?  That would mean all the yellow and green on the map would be fighting the rest of the countries (the little guys, the good guys!) outnumbering us by up to 4 to 1 in military forces! Would the staggeringly powerful Muscles Battlegroup be enough to stop them or will those fearless black smoke avengers go down in a hero's end?
Please give your opinion. The fate of the British empire depends on a wise decision being made here. And any other insight on the strategical deployments would be appreciated as well.
Last edited by unscratchedfoot on 14-04-2004 at 07:49
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Shyrramar
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Great story! 
That's a tough call, Unscratchedfoot! Both options have their pros and cons, but whenever it is between doing something rational and preserving your honour, I say: go for the honour! Leave them prissy politics to save their skins by abandoning principles, let all Russia be perished in the fury of Muscles From Brussels!
Well, yeah, and it would be more fun to see you struggle...
I do not know, but I guess Moscow could be taken by stressing the northern front. It isn't such a long walk from Finland, although your maps don't show the exact location of Moscow. It's a whole another matter if you can stress it enough and still maintain your positions in northern France. Anyway, this story is great and I would not want to see it become dull with the alliance with Turks. 1:4 you say? Disband some of your units to make it more even, I say! 
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unscratchedfoot
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Love me tender. Love me sweet.
May 2002
time: 14:35
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A decision has been made by the British regarding the opening of hostilities. The gloves are coming off. You'll have to read the next part to see the decision.
Just a couple of notes...
Thanks for your interest people. First of all, let me make one thing very clear for you: the Russians are POWERFUL. Not only do they have 600 ground units but they are steadily pumping out more all the time with a 40% discount on production prices (Diety skill level). This means that although the British are outnumbered about 5:1 we need a kill ratio more like 8:1 to just hold them in balance given the production differential. Now if the Turks join in the fun with their 500+ units, then we need at least a 15:1 kill ratio just to hold them off, not win, but to hold them off. And Britain's allies are WEAK. Portugal is defending half its cities with 2 hitpoint musketman conscripts so Britain is on its own. Also you should note that the Russian infantry have stats 6 attack/6 defence with +1 hp compared to our previous enemies the Spanish who were 5/5 with no extra hitpoint meaning the Russian troops are much stronger.
Britain will never stop supporting its allies, even risking its own survival if necessary.
Chrisius, your suggestion would definitely produce the highest body count for the Russians and Turks but that proposal was not considered for 2 reasons: (1) Britain does not want to jeopardize its relationship with Sweden with a tarnished relationship (2) It still involves allying with 'the devil' which goes totally against the warrior code of the Muscles Battlegroup (there's a cost to being strong and brave). A lot of this anti-Turk animosity is not just going back to the Crusades but also the unacceptable Turkish control over the city Corunna where so many young British soldiers fell trying to defend it from Spain. As you may know, Turkey took Corunna from the Spanish.
And another topic, making barracks produce only regular units and elite units get +2 hp has made the game a lot more interesting since elite units are very rare and very valuable. I'm saying this so that when elite units die in the story like one did at Madrid, you can appreciate that it is a keenly felt loss for us. Instead, barracks now reduce war weariness just like they do in real life (cities with army bases are the biggest supporters of the US military in Iraq).
Skypie, I'll read your story tonight. I got a little too into this story so its hard to break from it and the cool game I'm having. 
Story coming up...
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Shyrramar
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quote:
Thanks for your interest people. First of all, let me make one thing very clear for you: the Russians are POWERFUL. Not only do they have 600 ground units but they are steadily pumping out more all the time with a 40% discount on production prices (Diety skill level). This means that although the British are outnumbered about 5:1 we need a kill ratio more like 8:1 to just hold them in balance given the production differential. |
Sounds like Finland against Russia to me. In WWII when Russia invaded Finland, we were completely overwhelmed with Russian troops - not to mention the scrappy technology we had those days. The kill-ratio was 10:1 in favor of us Finns and we stopped The Bear of the East in its tracks  In the end, we got a bit "carried away", so we ended up losing some lands (which have not been returned to us) after marching deep into Russian territory - this of course involved allying with Germans to some extent; one of the not too popular events in our history...
quote:
Now if the Turks join in the fun with their 500+ units, then we need at least a 15:1 kill ratio just to hold them off, not win, but to hold them off. |
Now this is more like some epic battles from Lord of the Rings, or even better, Silmarillion. Well, the elves did it, so why shouldn't the British? The elves didn't even have Muscles From Brussels, for one thing!
Good luck in your struggles - keep us informed!
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11-04-2004 19:21
Is this story no good or something? Why no one else vote? 
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