The Fallout Wasteland Board

The Barren Remains of Wasteland Alive

The Kingdom of Acadiana of Praal

Edited

Fall of the Federation
It was, perhaps, inevitable. The shining beacon of hope and liberty on the Eastern Seaboard has collapsed, and all its dreams with it. In the end, it seemed, the Federation's unity of purpose and identity was merely a facade, something that only existed on paper, an illusion projected to those watching from without. Truly, within, the Federation was wracked with severe cracks that, in recent months, broke through the surface and caused the whole thing to collapse.

The main actors were, of course, the Navy. A good majority of the officers of the Navy were dissatisfied with Admiral Jones' decision to abandon the Reclamation project and form the Federation of Maritime States. They also did not hold Jones' rather young and inexperienced daughter in high regard due to her youth and inexperience. A small cadre of the Navy's highest officers plotted against her - and in May of 2290 launched a coup to remove her from her post, as well as dismantle the Federation. Unfortunately, she survived, and a brief but brutal civil war began between the reactionaries and Admiral Jones' the Younger's reformists. A battle raged in Norfolk between the two, one that quickly racked up casualties in both equipment and manpower. Jones, supported by militias from the member states, eventually gained the upper hand, trapping the reactionaries in the Original Bunker. She seemed on the cusp of victory - but then, in an act reminiscent of the Great War, the Reactionaries unleashed every missile they had available on the city, obliterating both Reactionary and Reformist, as well as the entire city of Norfolk.

Without the Navy, the Federation quickly fell apart. The various towns and states had little love for each other and quickly got involved in a power struggle. Many simply seceded, preferring to walk their own path anyway. All of the Navy's outlying territories and outposts were abandoned, their forces either withdrawn or left to starve as the supply lines failed. Many of the mainland towns fell prey to warlords and their like, as the remains of the Federation fought over ever-dwindling scraps. For all intents and purposes, the Federation of Martime States was no more - another state, fallen prey to the wasteland.

Ardentus and Latter-day nauvoo

Edited

Operations Room.
Arnold AFB, TN.
2290.

Though the eyes of HIGHCOM had wandered to the southern reaches, the Enclave still yet kept a finger on the pulse of the region. It was simply common sense, to remain aware of news surrounding one's capital - and it was ever so useful to know the goings-on of the outlying settlements in the vicinity. Such was the case today, for news had reached the fledgling New States that the township of Savannah had come under siege from a large raider band; traveling merchants had brought the news with them. LTC Fox, of course, spies an opportunity for expansion - perhaps if he were to dispatch forces to scatter the barbarous scoundrels, the settlers would be amicable to joining the New United States. With that in mind, he speaks with Major Cook to form an expeditionary force; one VB-02 gunship and three VB-01 transports should be more than enough, carrying a total of ten shocktroopers and twenty-seven infantrymen, all armed with top of the line laser and plasma weaponry.

As the first rays of sunlight break over the distant Cumberland mountains, the four aircraft lift off from Arnold - their flight to Savannah should take only a handful of hours. The citizens of the small settlement are shocked to view such technological marvels, and as they swoop in low for a landing, many of the more paranoid civilians cry out in fear and run for cover in decrepit buildings; the local militia, though, are made of slightly sterner stuff. Though they tense at the sight of the deadly machines, and tremble when the shocktroopers in their foreboding power armor - the unique design of APA-II makes them look devilish in appearance - they stand their ground. One of their men, clad in surprisingly well-maintained prewar Army fatigues, takes a hesitant step forward.

"You's them New Americans we heard tell of, yea? We got ourselves a raider problem, and if'n you're wanting to talk business you'll be needing to wait til they're dead and gone."

"Sergeant Gideon of the First Shock Company; with me is Delta Squad and elements from Alpha Platoon of the NUS Army. We're under orders to help stamp out your local marauders - point us in the right direction and we'll turn them to ash."

Taken aback by the candor of the Sergeant, and the offer of assistance, the militia commander recovers quickly and informs Gideon that most of the raiders have been charging Carpenter Bridge; over two hundred men for the last six days. No matter how many casualties they incur, it seems the raiders have endless numbers - they simply don't stop. Grinning maliciously under his helmet, Sergeant Gideon replies that the New Americans will take care of the problem permanently.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Within thirty minutes, the soldiers of the Enclave have set themselves up with prime firing positions along the bridge - k-rails have been dragged into position, replacing the sandbags and boxes that the militia had been using. The four Vertibirds remain out of sight, hidden away deeper in Savannah; only to be used for the finale - a demonstration of overwhelming firepower on the heels of combat effectiveness will certainly drive the locals into the arms of the Task Force.

Mere minutes after the last k-rail had been dragged into place and the last soldier took his place, they heard it - the crazed shouts of bloodthirsty scum, quickly followed by the first cracks of gunfire. Ineffective .38 rounds ping off the armor of the shocktroopers, who stand their ground with easy nonchalance - their fellow professionals remain in cover, calm as can be, while the militiamen are concerned at the inaction of their unexpected reinforcements. Once the horde grows close, though, the power armored behemoths surge into motion. Almost faster than the locals can see, all ten of the shocktroopers jump over the barricades, gatling lasers spooling up even before crossing over - only for their barrels to unleash scarlet hell once the troopers' boots hit the asphalt. Hundreds of laser bolts pierce the air, before burning their way into their new homes - the leathered bodies of the raiders. Dozens drop as the scorching energy turns their insides to ash and smoke; and now with the hostiles preoccupied, the regular infantry stand and open fire of their own accord. Acidic green fills the air, as plasma rounds reduce dozens more to naught but puddles of goo - and now emboldened by such acts, the militia join the fight; their simple ballistic rounds less impressive but no less effective than their new comrades-in-arms.

In record time, the majority of the raiders have been felled - laser dust and plasma goo mix together in a disgusting array of color; the survivors starting to run back across the bridge. Alas, such an act cannot and will not save them - Gideon radios over to the VB-02, requesting fire support.

And support it gives.

One moment, the bridge is intact, raiders nearly reaching the far side. The next, a miniaturized mushroom cloud blossoms, as the bridge itself is cut in half by the powerful explosive. Not a single raider had managed to make it intact - in fact, most had been atomized in the explosion. Only a single man survives, many of his bones broken by the shockwave, crying out in agony and mewling for his mother on the far side.

Naturally, the people of Savannah rejoice - and pledges of fealty are swiftly made to the New United States of America.

(MD

+500

150 sets football armor
200 sets metal armor
250 pipe rifles
50 combat rifles
50 combat shotguns)

Restoring Order, pt. 1
The sudden collapse of the Federation and the destruction of the Navy caught the Brotherhood by surprise. Not that the Citadel had had any sort of good intelligence on the Navy, but it had not seemed, from the outside, that there was any danger of this happening. Not that that stopped many senior Brotherhood officials from smirking like they told them so.

Still, that left Taggerdy on the back foot to deal with the aftermath. The city of Baltimore had fallen into chaos with the Navy’s withdrawal, with the Navy-propped government collapsing in the wake, leaving the city to be fought over by various factions. The violence was threatening to spill over into the Capital Wasteland, necessitating a Brotherhood intervention.

2,000 soldiers and 60 Paladins were redeployed from West Virginia for the campaign. Transporting them went a lot faster thanks to the new rail lines, which by now had reached Hagerstown and gone into the mountains. Vertibirds only had to ferry the soldiers a much shorter distance, meaning they could do it faster.

While the army assembled, recon elements went into the city to get a more complete view of the situation. The picture they painted in their subsequent reports wasn’t pretty - much of the city’s population was either dead or had fled. The remainder of the population was huddled up inside Fort McHenry, blockaded by a group of Marine deserters that had finished off all the other groups (in the time that it took the Brotherhood to mobilize) and were now running rampant through the ruins. The situation inside the fort was desperate, by all accounts - food was running low and clean water was almost completely gone. Taggerdy would have to act fast if she wanted to save them…

The Raveners of Gravelton

Edited

Götterdämmerung

The Navy, yet another decaying extremity of the rotten corpse that was America, was no more, betrayed again by those sworn to protect the people beneath their banner and utterly shattered in one final act of vicious, petty spite. Its holdings across the East Coast were either in full secession or torn apart between the various factions who had survived the cataclysm that had plunged all their hopes and dreams, in the form of their young, reformist leader, into blackest midnight. Mother did not care how or why or what could have been, for it did not ultimately matter as what did was that the Navy was gone and Philadelphia, the last and greatest of the eastern cities in Sylvania, was open for the taking now that its defenders had fallen in on themselves. The itinerant priests who had been allowed into the city to tend to those who were the Freistaat's kin and secretly identify areas where the Navy's forces gathered in preparation for a single cleansing strike in the opening to a great war; now had the task of rallying their flock to safety within the city's metro as the disparate remains of the Navy seemed content to tear each other apart on the surface. Mother had other ideas.

It had been the work of thousands to move the colossal siege engines near the border with Philadelphia and it was wonder that the Navy made no mention or gave any indication of their existence since it had been impossible to disguise the war machines for what they were. Forty had been built in preparation for the hypothetical siege of the city, a waste of good metal and time in the eyes of some, but they would serve a new purpose as the quickly mobilized vestiges of the Freikorp not campaigning in the west marshalled themselves in silent ranks before the blowing of the whistle. Ensconced within the small castle of Reading, Mother's closed eyes snapped open and she quietly gave the go-ahead in her characteristically dramatic fashion, "All batteries fire. Let the city burn.". A whistle blew and thousands rose to begin the long march even as the sound of thunder erupted behind them as the forty colossal guns hurled steel death at the city while two hundred smaller howitzers lent their strength to the orchestra of destruction.

The Freikorps was coming to Philadelphia in a storm of iron.

Edited

Restoring Order, pt. 2
The rogue Marines' disorder was their undoing - that, and the fact that they were not expecting the Brotherhood to act, at least so soon. When the Brotherhood launched its assault up I-95, they caught the Marines completely by surprise - penetrating all the way to Morrell Park before the Marines were able to put up any meaningful resistance. Even then, the Brotherhood only stopped to consolidate their gains and establish a rear depot at BWI airport. They quickly resumed offensive operations - spreading out from Morrell Park into the rest of the Baltimore ruins, rooting out the various deserter packs and anybody else that might raise a gun to a Brotherhood knight.

As happens often in these campaigns, some of the hardest fighting happened in and around an ancient hospital complex - the St. Agnes hospital, in this case. A full company of heavily armed Marines had holed up inside and resisted every attempt to clear out. They'd mined the entrances, which combined with machine gun overwatch of the entrances meant that approaching for a clearing operation was near-suicidal. The Paladins had to be redeployed from other areas of the front in order to make the breach, their power armor the only thing that could safely approach and deal with the machine gun nests. Liberal use of missile launchers destroyed the nests, allowing demolitions teams to make their approach and deal with the hallway mines - then the hard combat began, the Paladins leading the charge to clear the hospital, room by room. It was a process that took a couple of hours, taking the assault to its first nightfall.

Night, however, did not mean the end of combat - both the Brotherhood and the Marines had teams equipped with night-vision equipment, and these spec-ops units clashed frequently throughout the night. When the morning came, however, the offensive resumed, sweeping the Marines from the city all the way to Parkville, after a brief but intense battle for the Morgan State University - or what was left of it, anyway. Their position in the ruins already precarious, someone in the Marines' higher command did the wise thing - they withdrew from even those positions, retreating to the other side of the Susquehanna River, where they hoped to be able to better hold off a Brotherhood assault.

Fort McHenry was liberated, its survivors - a paltry 600 - thankful to the Brotherhood for their rescue. They gladly accepted the protection of the Brotherhood - not that Maxson would have given them much of a choice anyway, and not that they would have been able to do anything about it. For all intents and purposes, Baltimore had ceased to exist as a city - and it would be up to time to decide whether that remained the state of affairs or not. While the Brotherhood consolidated their positions and readied for further offensives against the Navy Deserters, Taggerdy ordered that relief supplies be brought in for the civilians, including (and especially) Aqua Pura.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baltimore annexed to the Bailiwick.
Pop added: 600
Equipment recovered:
- 200 suits of Marine Combat Armor
- 10 T-51b PA

The Swiss Confederation of The Arthurian Brotherhood

Beyond the Walls
Since the bombs fell in 2077, the world has been frozen in time. The march of progress, once revered as the salvation of mankind, has been stopped in its tracks. Humanity has spent the last two hundred years trying to catch that spark once more in the ruins of the old world to create a new one. Old forces try to bring back dead nations, new factions try and bring back the ideas of old, and a scant few attempt to create something new out of the twisted world they now live in. However, beyond the blaster wasteland of the former United States, past the radioactive jungles of Mexico and the pirate infested waters of the Caribbean Sea lies a kingdom that seeks to abandon the pursuits of the old world and the ideals that it once held. Located in the former Panama Canal Zone, not much is known about the faction other than outsiders are seldom let in beyond the watchful gates at the kingdom’s entrances, and those who do pass through tell stories that most pass off as the rambling of madmen. They talk of a land that is akin to paradise, a great lake with clean fresh water surrounded by a wall of lush green jungle on the mountainous slopes that surround it, isolating it from the outside world. They say it is a land without radiation where the only reminders of the war are the carcasses of rusted ships scattered around the shoreline of the lake. However, it is the people who reside within the land which garner the most scrutiny from these stories. Talks of them having strange and unnatural abilities has led to the idea of the inhabitants of the unknown Kingdom being mutants of some sort, but those who have seen them swear that the people are human, at least in appearance. This has led many to try and enter the Kingdom and breach the gates on both sides of the old Panama Canal to try and either see the wonders for themselves or to plunder the wealth beyond the gates. However, no one has ever entered the region by force of arms and only a handful of merchants have been allowed to sail through the gates unharmed. All that is known for sure is that this Kingdom is real and those who have ventured close enough to the shoreline have seen the great black stone walls that surround the gates to the Canal and a group of warriors clad in armor guarding it.

However, something may be changing within the kingdom as for the first time activity is occurring beyond the gates. Workers have been seen clearing roads in the ruins of the town of Colon and there have been what seem to be construction crews attempting to build a small wharf on the Atlantic side of the Kingdom. This indicates to some that the isolation the Kingdom has endured for nearly two hundred years could be ending to some degree or at the very least some outreach may be occurring. The construction in the city ruins is being accompanied by the construction of something else atop a hill opposite the wharf. Sections of black stone have been seen being transported to the area and a land clearing operation has begun. Based upon the size of the site and the materials being brought to it, passing ships have begun spreading rumors that the kingdom looks to be building a defensive structure of some kind to defend the gate and the under construction wharf. Whatever the case, the shoreline is now being patrolled by the kingdom’s military to prevent any landings by raiders and pirates during the construction, causing many to avoid the area to prevent a possible confrontation.

*Road (9/18), Wharf (9/30), and Medium Castle (10/4) begin construction*

The Raveners of Gravelton

The Swiss Confederation of The Arthurian Brotherhood

Against the False Prophet Part 5

"A wicked person earns deceptive wages,
but the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward."
-Proverbs 11:18

Exhausted, battered, broken. Waynesburg was a pyre upon which the wicked had been burned like the chaff they were, but the righteous had not left that city of sin without wounds of their own, and even with the end in sight, so many of their brothers would not see it nor could most of those alive say it had been a worthy deed. The Pitt loomed like the herald of d*mnation that it was to the rest of wasteland over the surviving Freikorps, the very air, land, and water turning against them the further they went into the polluted outskirts of the accursed city. A mysterious illness began to ravage their ranks, skin weeping crimson tears from wounds spontaneously appearing, while their camps were continuously menaced by raiders madder than any seen before, little more than beasts in human skin, but the worst were the disgusting mutants who emerged from hidden dens to attack at random.

Voryer Van Kleiss sighed, an expressive sound given his gas mask, and turned away from the surgery table that had been used for the task of dissecting one of the mutants who had been harrying his men ever since they had drawn close to the Pitt. From interrogated prisoners it had been learnt that a strange pestilence afflicted the lands of the Pitt, its sufferers condemned to insanity and devolution, but also word of a potential cure. More concerning to him was the cause being a combination of ambient radiation and industrial runoff, such a thing ringing in his ears as his mind turned to the steadily industrializing core of the Freistaat, and so Voryer made a decision that could earn himself a swift execution. The Lord of the Pitt was no fool and his forces were undoubtedly shot through with the bloody march of the Freikorps, so he dispatched a trusted messenger to the one named Ashur with a single offer: a meeting.

For once, Van Kleiss was not the tallest man in the room as Ashur, Lord of the Pitt, loomed in his suit of functional, if battered, T-45 power armor. He mostly seemed content to glare a hole through Voryer's skull while the woman he had brought along, evidently a scientist of some skill, explained their solution of developing a cure from the single immune baby born in the Pitt, a girl named Marie. When he had asked whose child she was, there had been a minute of stony silence before it clicked in his brain and a hand came up to facepalm as he muttered, "Oh for God's sake, that's why you haven't gone all the way yet.", as ignorant he may be of science's greater depths, he did reckon that a cure could be found sooner from more...invasive procedures. Judging by the bristling of the two, they had absolutely zero desire for him to know Marie was their daughter or that such procedures even be considered. Voryer loosed a deep sigh before stating, "We came here to stop the slave raids and that is what I intend to do, but a case can be made for leniency provided the cure is distributed freely and....potentially remaining somewhat autonomous.". Ashur's glare deepened but a hand on his arm by the doctor made him eventually grumble down to a bitter agreement, to which Voryer decided to not gloat and simply nodded.

Losses
Freikorps: 1,100
F1 Tanks: 7
Trucks: 3
Gains
Counties: Chambersburg, Bedford, Somerset, Waynesburg, Pittsburgh
Population: 10,000
Misc.: TDC Cure?

Ardentus, Ivan, and Latter-day nauvoo

The Kingdom of Griezelland

230 days ago

The Blue Rose Company expands: Buying coal mines

It was a calm, sunny day in Hopeville. Cecilia could see her town growing, but it was only the Blue Rose that was expanding. Recently, she had forbidden the locals to go near the ports, having bought or forced the locals to give them up, which now belonged to them.

The Hopeville conglomerate had been dissolved between a lack of funds and the overwhelming power of the Blue Rose, which continued to expand within the city.

Cecilia was powerless.

It had been a while since she had seen Sullivan. She went to the Blue Rose HQ, but instead of Sullivan, she found a strange man, very thin and clean-shaven. His three-piece suit was just as well put together.

"Hello, is Sullivan here?" asked Cecilia.

"Hello, Madam Mayor, the Headmaster is currently away on business and won't be back for a few days," said the man, smiling slightly.

Cecilia was surprised, Sullivan had left? "Where has he gone?"

"At sea," the man said, keeping that little smile.

Cecilia felt that the man was mocking her. "Well, if you don't want to tell me..." she said calmly, before closing the door violently.

Meanwhile, north of Vancouver.

Sullivan was on his first ship, the Midas. He was smoking a cigarette as usual as he watched the shore approach. He was about to disembark in a settlement he knew well: Blackwater.

Blackwater was a dirty but free settlement. Trade was based on pleasure, slaves, and smuggling, but also on coal mines run by slavers. Slavery was not forbidden.

The Midas docked on the settlement's small pontoon. Once ashore, Sullivan sent one of his men to request an audience with the town's highest authorities, Madame Ava Debruyère and the co-owner, Jean de Motte.

Sullivan had not come empty-handed; chests and crates were being unloaded when Jean de Motte arrived at the port.

"Sully, you little bastard, I see you're making good use of the Midas," friendly shouted the Afro-Canadian man in French, dressed in the flashiest red colours you could see in the wastelands.

"Mr. de Motte, it's a pleasure to see you again, under the best of circumstances", Sullivan replied in French with a slight American accent. "How's business?"

"Straight to business, hm?" replied Jean, "Not too bad, and you?”

"Not too bad either, the Blue Rose company is booming. In fact, that's why I'm here, to trade."

"What kind of trade?" asked Jean, he hoped he wasn't dealing with a potential competitor in prostitution and slavery.

"Coal mining... Do you still have access to the coal mines?" asked Sullivan.

"Yes, but nobody works there, it doesn't pay. What do you plan to do with these mines?" replied Jean.

"You'll see, let's go and see Madame Debruyère, if she's still holding the town... "

"Oh, believe me, nothing will dislodge this old carne, she has the longevity of a ghoul and the ferocity of a deathclaw when provoked," said Jean before laughing. Sullivan smiled.

The Blackwater town hall was an old building repainted red with neon lights and used as a brothel. Sullivan took the time to appreciate the view but continued without stopping towards the stairs that would lead to the owner's office. Jean entered first, announcing Sullivan as he passed.

"Ah Mr. Sullivan, it's been a long time since we've seen each other", said a very old woman in French, dressed glamorously in a frilly jacket. She held out her hand, decorated with four rings and two bracelets. Sullivan approached, leaned over, and kissed the woman's hand.

"I see that the wastelands have not made you lose your manners," she continued.

"The education I received from Blackwater could not be forgotten, madame."

"But I imagine it's not for nostalgia that you've returned."

"Indeed, madame, I'm here for the coal mines."

"The mines? We closed them some time ago".

"Mr. de Motte told me the same thing, but I'd still like to buy them, after checking of course that they have potential. I'd like to avoid buying a depleted mine," Sullivan said with a smile.

The old woman and Jean laughed a little, "I understand, you probably have something in mind. I'll agree to sell you the mine. I'll ask someone to take you to the mine and give you the records. Is that all ?"

"No, I'd also like to buy a parcel of the docks."

"Mhn, it won't be cheap, but if you've got the caps, there's a way to work it out."

"The caps won't be a problem, madame," replied Sullivan, very confident.

"Well, I'll need details of the land you want to buy, and I'll give you a price".

"Thank you," Sullivan leaned over to pay his respect to Madame Debruyère, "I'll get back to you once the documents have been finalised."

"Go, go, I'm not going anywhere," the old woman said with a smile, gesturing with her hand to chase away her guests.

Sullivan and Jean went outside.

Jean spoke to Sullivan, "Well, Sully, the mines and then the docks, I don't know what you've done since I gave you my boat, but it seems you've made a fortune."

"It's partly thanks to you, Mr. de Motte. You offered me a great opportunity and I simply took it," replied Sullivan, placing his hand on Jean's shoulder. "Now I'm offering Blackwater an opportunity, and I hope the town takes it."

"You haven't changed a bit," Jean smiled. Sullivan smiled back.

The two men continued to talk afterward, making up for the lost time.

Over the next few days, Sullivan had the mines surveyed and prepared the documents for the purchase of the mines and the docks. The total came to 30,000 for the mine and 10,000 caps for the docks, which Sullivan agreed to pay. He also set up a small post for the Blue Rose Company.

With the mine reopened, Sullivan bought slaves, from the city, to work in the mine. This cost him 100,000 caps. They were still cheaper than miners and he gained a good reputation with the Blackwater slavers.

After saying goodbye to Madame Debruyère and Jean, Sullivan set off again for Hopeville, where the Blue Rose company was expanding. The coal would be used for the trains that Sullivan wanted to operate.

----

Metadata
Paying 140.000 caps for an outpost in the tile north of Vancouver.
Buying 1 scrap and 2 BM (reduction from the perk applies)

Building a BM landfill (11d)
Building a Scraps landfill (11d)
Building a medium refinery (11d)
Building a large foundry (14d)
Building a port in Hopeville (14d)
Building a Bazaar (14d)

Making trains (10/week)
making bicycles (10/w)
Replacing Springfield by Colt M1911

3 boats are used for the buying of resources, 1 will be used for the coal from Blackwater to Hopeville.

229 days ago

Restoring Order II, pt. 1
The battle with the Marine Deserters - who by now have taken the moniker Devil Dogs - is far from over. They seem to be in control of Wilmington, and Taggerdy knows that not dealing with them now will only let them grow into a crisis later on. Once operations to consolidate the Brotherhood's control over Baltimore is complete, Taggerdy redeploys her forces to attempt a crossing of the Susquehanna River - a defensive line that the Marines have well-fortified by this point.

Indeed, the fortifications are so massive that any assault over the river would likely be suicidal, or at least costly. As Brotherhood forces gather on the western bank of the river, Brotherhood recon teams move out to scout around for another way across. Teams are also sent into the Delmarva peninsula in order to assess the situation there. They return with both good news - and bad news. The good news is that there is still a more-or-less intact bridge still standing over the Chesapeake Bay between Annapolis and Delmarva, and its opposite terminus seemed to be undefended. The bad news was that the Devil Dogs apparently controlled a much larger area than had previously been assumed - there were DD-aligned garrisons in most the major settlements in Delmarva. Apparently, the Devil Dogs were much more powerful than had initially been believed.

However, their forces were thin on the ground. They had but a thousand guarding the opposite bank - more than enough to defend it from a Brotherhood assault, but by no means a horde. The rest were scattered throughout the peninsula, adding maybe another 500 that couldn't really be brought to bear without leaving vital supply lines exposed and restive communities independent. It was a no-win situation - and Taggerdy was ready and willing to exploit it.

The opening move was to launch a feint assault on the forces guarding the Susquehanna crossings. The Brotherhood's four artillery pieces pounded the opposite bank day and night, trying to pin the Devil Dog defenders down. The bombardment was supplemented by regular Vertibird sorties that pounded the positions with rockets and machine gun fire - inflicting little real damage on the well-dug-in defenders but keeping their heads down. The Brotherhood did manage to score a small strategic victory when they (accidentally) blew up a critical HQ, along with its comms - meaning that the commander of the defense force was now blind to what was happening in the rest of Delmarva.

In the meantime, Brotherhood Paladins made an aerial assault on the far end of the bridge, dropping down from the vertibirds and completely obliterating the tiny checkpoint that sat there. Once they'd cleared the far end, Brotherhood light infantry moved carefully across the ancient structure, vertibirds shuttling arms and supplies by air (the weight of the supplies would undoubtedly collapse the bridge). The crossing was made completely unopposed - either the Devil Dogs didn't notice the Brotherhood's incursion, or they were unable to respond, both of which worked in the Brotherhood's favor.

With that in mind, Taggerdy revised the battleplan. Instead of simply striking the Devil Dogs in the rear, the Brotherhood would move straight into Wilmington, taking out its tiny garrison and completely upending their command and control and logistics. They moved fast to execute this, practically running the entire way up US 301, smashing right through the few roadblocks the Marines had set up. While artillery and vertibirds continued to pound away at the Susquehanna defensive line, the Brotherhood rolled right into the ruins of Wilmington and right over the small force that was guarding the Devil Dogs' main headquarters. Their commander, one Commandant Saguire, was captured, and most of his staff liquidated.

It wasn't as complete a surprise as Taggerdy had hoped, unfortunately. The Devil Dogs at the Susquehanna caught wind of the Brotherhood in their rear and panicked, abandoning the defensive line and withdrawing southeast. Tied up in the city, the Brotherhood was unable to interdict them in time, and the entire force - minus 200 in casualties from the previous days of bombardment - managed to escape all the way to Ocean City. There they began gathering up the garrisons, drawing together every Devil Dog in the peninsula, to make a last stand - or to run for it. The latter was an idea proposed by the Commandant, who had stated that it was "standing orders" to return to Norfolk should the worst happen.

Taggerdy wasn't about to let that happen, so she left a small garrison in the city to try and consolidate it - and look for civilian survivors - while she hurried after the Devil Dogs, like a hound hot on the trail. She wouldn't have to go very far to find them, at least some of them...

Latter-day nauvoo

229 days ago

Edited

229 days ago

Restoring Order II, pt. 2
Taggerdy's progress south along Delaware 1/US-13 was almost immediately checked upon arrival in Odessa, mere miles to the south of Wilmington. There she found an entrenched force of 500 Devil Dogs holding the ruins and blocking her progress - apparently, the new commander of the Devil Dogs had had the foresight to set up a rearguard meant to delay the Brotherhood as long as possible. They were rather easily outflanked and forced to withdraw, but they made another stand at Blackbyrd, and then at Smyrna, costing the Brotherhood precious time and delaying their advance by nearly a week as they continued to push the rearguard all the way to Dover.

In Dover, Taggerdy actually had to try and fight to get through. The ruins of Dover were big enough that simple outflanking wasn't a feasible option, neither could she leave it in her rear to deal with later. She didn't like it - no commander actually likes urban combat, and who knows what the Devil Dogs were getting up to in the meantime - but she didn't really have much of a choice. So, after a day to consolidate her forces and make a plan of attack, she and the Brotherhood plunged into the ruins of Dover to root out the Devil Dogs.

The Rearguard was making its stand deep within the ruins, at the downtown area. They'd set up a perimeter stretching from the St. Jones River Greenway to a hotel overlooking Delaware 1 where they could fire on it with a handful of rocket launchers and a Fat Man launcher. They'd managed to scatter some mines about - not heavy mines, just your standard timed proximity mine - creating fairly effective obstacles that, theoretically anyway, funneled attackers into kill zones overwatched by machine guns and gatling lasers. All in all, it was a pretty impressive defense for such a short amount of time.

If only they'd had more men to man it, however. Despite the maze-like ruins and the effective use of kill zones, the Devil Dogs were simply too few - and too poorly supplied - to be able to hold off Brotherhood assaults for long. In response to the kill zones, Taggerdy simply sent her Paladins down the open corridors, allowing them to soak up the machine gun fire while the regular infantry walked in slowly behind them. The point of this thrust was around the Courtland Manor, which because of its openness had been left as a kill zone; however, the Paladins simple charged through, quickly followed up by light infantry to exploit the gap. The Brotherhood penetrated deep into the Devil Dogs' center, destroying a number of command posts and throwing the Rearguard into disarray. Though the fighting still took a whole day, by the end of it, the Brotherhood was in control of Dover - and the Devil Dogs' Rearguard had withdrawn further south.

In fact, they withdrew all the way south to Berlin. Once Taggerdy had regrouped and continued her advance, she encountered no more than sporadic, ineffectual resistance all the way south to Milford, and then all the way to Berlin along US-113. Even then, when she arrived in Berlin, she found the town abandoned; the evidence suggested that the Rearguard had been planning to make a stand, but something had changed their minds, leading them to abandon the trench network they'd been setting up in front of the town. Ocean City was similarly abandoned - even the civilians were gone, if there had been any in that mostly-sunken spit of land prior to the Brotherhood's arrival. There was only one conclusion to be had - they'd retreated all the way to Cape Charles, just as the Commandant had suggested they would.

Vertibird recon indeed found them there, in the middle of an evacuation. They had hundreds of civilians with them, crossing through the partially-repaired Chesapeake Tunnel, people that presumably were the families of the former Marines in question. They were obviously trying to make for Norfolk - or at least to cross out of Delmarva, since Taggerdy had no idea what people would want with a twice-bombed location. She was almost tempted to let them go - but who knew where they were actually going, and whether or not they'd become a problem down the line. She forced-marched her forces down the peninsula to the Cape in order to try and catch them - one last time.

Now the Devil Dogs' rearguard finally showed its teeth, after having been missing in action. They'd had the time to construct a rudimentary, but effective, system of earthworks from Kiptopeke all the way to Cushman's Landing. The defenses were bristling with every heavy weapon the Dogs could get their hands on, and the land in front of the trenches had been sown with anti-personnel mines. The defensive line stopped the Brotherhood advance in its tracks as Taggerdy wasn't about to go blindly rushing into a minefield. She set up her headquarters in Cheapside and proceeded to perform aerial reconnaissance.

The defenders' numbers weren't all that great for the amount of territory they were trying to hold. The Rearguard had been reinforced, but they were still not up to the numbers they had had pre-Dover - only about 300. It was barely enough to man the entire 3-mile stretch with barely enough coverage to still be able to sweep the entire field. Nevertheless, a good concentrated push would no doubt be able to breach them rather easily - but it would still be costly, because of the mines. Even T-60e power armor didn't like mines, and Taggerdy knew at this point that this battle wasn't going to be the last she heard of the Devil Dogs.

She had to get clever in order to breach the minefield. They'd recovered a couple of Sentry Bots from Dover Air Force Base on their way past - they'd been locked in a hidden storeroom that the Navy had apparently overlooked - these would become the breachers. Scribes hastily threw on some applique armor (read: bits of thick-gauge steel they took from various locations) on the legs and body and sent them rolling over the fields an hour before dawn. They rolled right down County 600 and through the minefields, making it most of the way through before their legs finally got too damaged to continue. The rest of the way was covered by some protectrons that had also been at the base that the Brotherhood did not care for.

Through this newly breached gap in the minefield, right at the crack of dawn, poured the Paladins. In the grey of the early morning, they punched through the Rearguard defensive positions, creating a gap in the defensive line that the Brotherhood's light infantry quickly exploited and widened. The fighting from this point got messy as the Rearguard fought with all they had - they had nowhere to run, at this point, and they were defending the final retreat of their comrades. The Brotherhood had to get down into the trenches and foxholes and clear them out, bit by bit - a process that took the entire day, and part of the next. In the end, all the Devil Dog Rearguard lay dead, for a significant amount of Brotherhood casualties.

They died having achieved their goal, at least - just as the Brotherhood was about to approach the tunnel, a loud explosion rocked the earth, and the mouth to the tunnel collapsed. Taggerdy's face upon hearing this was grim - that meant that she was going to have to see them again in Norfolk, which if the Brotherhood thought this fight had been tough, it was going to be nothing compared to navigating the blasted ruins of the former Capital of the Navy...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wilmington, DE and the rest of the Delmarva Peninsula annexed to the Bailiwick (4 tiles).
Population net gain after casualties: 2,000
Equipment recovered:
- Marine Combat Armor: 1,000
- Laser Rifles: 200
- T-51b Power Armor: 20

From Dover Air Force Base:
- 6 C-130 Hercules transports (inoperable)

227 days ago

Restoring Order III, pt. 1
Taggerdy's troops were exhausted after the battle for Delmarva, the fighting having been difficult against an enemy they weren't really used to fighting. That unfortunately meant that she wasn't able to move against Norfolk right away - she had to rotate out her men, sending the tired and wounded back to garrison duty while bringing those from garrison duty into the active formations. This took more time than she'd like - not as long, since the railroad had reached Cumberland, but still long enough to ensure that whatever was left of the Devil Dogs would have time to dig in and make the eventual assault miserable.

Still, it was unavoidable, and she made the best of the time in the meantime. She and her staff took the opportunity to study the after-action reports from the campaign, identifying their enemies' tactics - and their own mistakes in countering them. The need for anti-mine equipment and/or personnel was apparent - ideally meaning more power armor, or perhaps formalizing a design for a mine-clearing robot for breaching operations. There was also a need for more indirect fire - the artillery had proven surprisingly effective during the bombardment of the Susquehanna Line at causing casualties and destroying fortifications. Taggerdy would have to try and convince Maxson to start investing in more howitzer pieces, or perhaps infantry mortars. She knew she had the Fat Men launchers, but they were few and far between, and the stockpile of mini-nukes was fairly finite, and were really worth only sparing usage. More conventional means of indirect fire would be needed.

While they were making these determinations, Maxson himself paid them a visit. It was always hard to tell with him, but he seemed pleased with Taggerdy's performance so far, and had arrived to personally congratulate her on the campaign. While she had him there, Taggerdy briefed him on the upcoming campaign and strongly suggested that she needed reinforcements in order to do this job right. Much to her surprise, Maxson agreed to send her reinforcements - 2,000 light infantry, along with four additional vertibirds. Apparently, with Liberty Prime online and the campaign about to come to a close, Maxson felt safe in transferring such a large portion of his force down to the Capital Wasteland. If only Taggerdy could have Liberty Prime as well...

Still, beggars can't be choosers, and 2,000 was a significant boost to her combat capabilities. The 2,000 infantry arrived a week after Maxson's visit, arriving on the FMS Northern Star. The vertibirds had arrived earlier, having flown directly from the Commonwealth empty. With these in hand, Taggerdy more confident about invading what was left of Norfolk and Hampton Roads. As her troops assembled on the southeastern outskirts of Richmond, she and her staff began planning the invasion.

Latter-day nauvoo

226 days ago

The Boston Enclave of Long Bills

223 days ago

The wheels of progress begin to turn
The trade generated from the blubber has led to the tempory closing of the profitible money making scheme in Jakarta where the production of crops such as tea, tobbaco and other such plants has made a good amount of money, however the more pressing need to continue the industrialisation of the country had begun to rear it's difficult head.

The single foundry in town simply couldn't meet the demand for steel, however any effort to build more simply wasn't econmical. It would waste time that could be spent building factories, shipyards, warships and the like. The realisation to simply import scrap and cut out one of the jobs in the process of making steel, that is of course, finding suitible scrap. This allowed the nation to stay on par with foundry production time, with 2,000 workers producing one amount of steel. This steel was then poured into the construction of another 3 warships and a medium factory, which would be used to produced Avgas when completed as the next stage in the production step was the production of an old british floatplane, which would be able to fly between the differing outposts and supply them, much in the same vain as the current sailboats were doing, just with less threat from pirates.

The first two destroyers layed down for the Singapore navy were also completed, with their sea trials passed and signed off on, the navy has quickly fired them up on Ethanol and began to patrol. One has been sent on a tour towards Hong Kong and then onto Seoul (Such is the range of the ships), while the other one has been kept closer to Singapore, patrolling between Singapore and Jakarta.

---------------
2x Admirality-class destroyers finished

3x Admirality class destroyers Started (8/10)
1x Medium-factory started (8/10)
7x Small boats ordered (1/10)

The Knights of Polaris of Ardentus

The Knights of Polaris of Ardentus

Foundations: Legacy

Syracuse. Empire State Senate

Over Marshal Aster Crenshaw took a deep breath as he looked out through the crack in the door to the Senate that sat in a semi-circle before him. He knew what waited for him. Octavia Cromwell and her reformists hated him, saw him as reinforcing the traditional power of the Over Marshal, while Supreme Justicar Theodore Hargreaves was ready to swear him in, not to mention the nearly dozen generals outside that would be furious once he had announced his Blade Bearer. He took another deep breath and stepped out into the senate floor to applause, even the restrained claps from the Progressive Caucus. The Justicar stood in his flowing black robes, warhammer at his side. Crenshaw knelt before him as Hargreaves leveled the massive hammer over his head, his heart rate increasing as he felt the cold steel on the back of his neck.
“Aster Crenshaw, do you swear to uphold the values of the Empire State?” Hargreaves asked.
“I so swear.” Crenshaw responded.
“Do you swear to protect and preserve the Empire State from all enemies, foreign and domestic?”
“I so swear.”
“Do you swear to accept the judgment of the citizens of the Empire State and the judgment of their representatives?”
“I so swear.” Aster took a deep breath as the hammer was lifted from the back of his head and he heard the clang of it’s base against the hard floor.
“Rise, Over Marshal Crenshaw, and name your Blade Bearer.”
Aster turned to face the dozen generals before him. Some men, some women, some old and a few young, just out of their first skirmishes with Raiders to the east and south. He took another deep breath and pointed at one towards his left, a young man with a stern face and sleek black hair etched with a scowl.
“William Irons. Step forward,” the Over Marshal said. The young man obeyed as the Senate filled with whispers.

Octavia Cromwell watched in shock and horro as Irons stepped forward. She had heard the stories of William “the Fist” Irons already, but heard them again as they were recounted by Irons. Ten raider gangs smashed, their leaders executed by military justicars attached to his division, twenty settlements integrated, only the first resisted, and it soon found itself under a siege. Once it had ended, the young were taken and given to the Young Marshals League, a penalty for resisting.
“I name him General Irons my Blade Bearer, the sword of the state and my will made manifest.” The other generals watched, barely restrained fury in their faces.
“Does he swear to uphold the same oaths you have taken Over Marshal?”
“I do,” Irons answered. The senate applauded, even Cromwell as she thought to herself;
what has he done?

Crenshaw stepped before the Senate, Irons behind him on the right.
“I will keep my remarks brief. I thank you for choosing me as the Over Marshal. When I stood for the position, I said I would push the boundaries of our land, something not done since the days of Over Marshal Bradford. Today, we stand as a united force, the greatest in the known wasteland. Today, the march begins! Order! Unity! Victory!” The Senate repeated the cry as the Over Marshal exited, followed by his new Blade Bearer.

Over Marshal’s Office

The room was sparse yet clear in its purpose. A pair of flags flanked the desk of the Over Marshal, while a portrait of the great Oliver Bradford hung behind it. The Over Marshal took his seat as Blade Bearer Irons and a woman stood opposite him.
“Who is this?” Irons asked.
“I am Charlotte Steele,” she responded before Crenshaw could even open his mouth. “Director of State Intelligence, and your equal.”
“I am…”
“Enough,” Crenshaw said, slamming a heavy book down on the table with a thud. “I promised during my campaign that we would push the boundaries of the State. What I didn’t say is how far I want them to go.” Irons narrowed his eyes while Steele’s widened.
“Don’t tell me..”
“Yes,” Crenshaw said. “I want the Empire Wasteland.”
“Over Marshal, with all due respect…that’s impossible,” Irons said, his steely demeanor gone.
“Blade Bearer, I chose you because you are unrelenting and yet brilliant. Director Steele, I want you in this room because you have eyes everywhere. What is the status of Rochester?”
“I don’t have the…”
“What, is the status of Rochester?” She sighed.
“Rochester, or the Upstate Union is largely our opposite. A decentralized confederation along the lake that includes both Rochester and Buffalo. They have a large raider problem, notably the Headless Riders. But I don’t see how they…”
“The Union is a potential rival. The rural areas suffer from the raider problem and we suffer from it too. They are a house of cards, and we need them if we ever want to take The City. That is your first job Blade Bearer Irons, topple the Union.”
“Sir, that…that could be considered an act of war…”
“One that will gain us popularity with the locals who are sick and tired of seeing their crops and wealth go to ignorant governments in Buffalo and Rochester. Do what you do best, make an example of their leaders and let the people of their frontiers know the Empire State is ready and able to bring them in, to give them a voice and safety.” Irons smiled and nodded.
“Yes, Over Marshal.” He saluted.
“Dismissed. Both of you.” The pair walked out and down the hall of Capitol. Crenshaw sat back in his chair, looking out the window on the city that he planned to make secondary to his true capital. A knock at the door came, likely a senator or some of the oligarchs. He stood, starting to understand why he needed a Blade Bearer.

Santiago AU and New Decandsor

The Nuka World Tyrants of Raiders of Ragnarok

Forge of War I

Syracuse

Over Marshal Aster Crenshaw sat across from two oligarchs; Sofia Blackwood and Gideon Powers. Both had built their fortunes across the generations thanks to collaboration with the Military and Civilian governments. While not fully their responsibility, they were a large portion of the reason the large settlements of the Empire State had running water and electricity, why they sat in fine chairs freshly made and not relics scavenged from whatever nice office building had remained standing. But they were also the youngest of the Oligarchs, children playing in a world of alliances and politics, people he knew would instantly agree to the deal he was about to offer.
"Congratulations on your recent election Over Marshal," Blackwood said. "And our condolences for your mentor's passing."
"Thank you Ms. Blackwood," Aster responded.
"I am somewhat curious though, as is my colleague," Sofia asked, "as to why you asked us here." Aster smiled and stood, walking over to the window, running his hand along the wood panel walls as he did.
"I see a city that stands as a beacon for civilization, and a target for other threats we may not even know about. I've already set my Blade Bearer to integrate the Union to our West, but there may come a day when we face another faction, one with more blood and treasure than we have. I am contracting you to build up our industrial capabilities here in Syracuse, just small salvage yards that lay the groundwork for future progress." The two oligarchs exchanged looks, Aster smiled.
"Two yards?" Gideon asked, leaning forward and knitting his hands together.
"One for materials and one for scrap. We need to make sure we have all our bases covered." Aster responded. "You two are the ones I can trust most right now. You each have business interests in such an advancement. So, are you in?" The two Oligarchs exchanged looks again, then nodded.
"Excellent," Aster said.

1 Small material yard under construction
1 Small scrapyard under construction

New Decandsor

Night Terrors: Part One

David eyes fluttered open, peering in the dark gloom of creaking ceiling above him. He tried to move, only to find the effort impossibly strenuous. His body felt heavy and sluggish, as if he was weigh down with iron chains and cement blocks. Panicked crept onto his heart as he tried to will his body to obey, for even a finger to move, but it was all for naught.

“No… not again!” He thought to himself, his breathing quickening and his heart racing. Terror filled his mind, and horror made his heart sink like a heavy stone. Faster and faster his heart raced, until it was like a massive drum pounding in his ear. His eyes darted madly, searching for the terror he knew hid in the shadows.

His heart was pounding almost deafeningly, but then he heard the step of a boot, causing the wooden floor boards to creak. Then another and another, each one louder than the one before. David’s breathing grew harder, sweat and tears rolled down his face. His eyes widen, trying to find the source of the noise. He wanted to run, to hide, to scream, but his body was immeasurably heavy. All he could do was watch, as the hideous, smiling face loomed over him.

David stared in utter horror at the hideous visage, its blank, eyeless sockets staring back at him. The figure beside his bed stood like a man, but its body was all but impossible to make out, as of it was cloaked in shadow. The only feature David could see clearly was it’s horrific face.

The face was a grotesque parody of a humans, its smile stretching far beyond what was possible. Its hollow eyes leered down on him in glee. The monster did nothing, simply watched David, in its malicious joy.

Every second felt like an hour to David, trapped with the creature. Desperately he struggled to move, to say anything. His heart boomed louder and louder, as if it was going to burst. Finally, he was able to let out a low, pitiful moan, still unable to force his mouth open. The creature, simply held one finger up to its thinly stretched lips before David’s eyes shut once more.

—————

Light filtered through David’s closed lids, stirring his conscious once more. Remembering the events of the previous night, he jolted from the bed, wildly searching the room. It was morning, sunlight shining into the room from the window.

“David?” A gentle voice called, while a hand was placed on his shoulder. David startled, grabbing the hand’s wrist and suddenly turning to face its source. A young woman laid beside him, propping herself up on one arm, the other reaching out towards. Her dark eyes, which matched her curly hair, looked at him with concern and worry. Realizing who it was, David released the woman’s hand, and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Sorry love.” David apologized, rubbing his tired eyes. His body felt stiff, as if he had spent the night plowing the fields. He rubbed his sore neck, still covered in sweat.

“Another nightmare?” The woman asked, propping herself up further.

“Yeah.” David responded, his mouth terribly dry.

“That’s the third one this week. Maybe, we should see the new doctor? I hear he’s quite good, perhaps he’ll be able to help?” The woman suggested, Tsing to rest her head on his shoulders.

“I’m fine, Layla. They’re just nightmares.” David shrugged.

“David, look at yourself. You look awful. Please, just pay him a visit. Just for my sake?” Layla asked, a pleading tone in her voice.

David would let loose a long sigh, before nodding his head, “Suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”

He gave Layla a small grin, before they kissed. A small cry from a crib beside the bed separated the two.

“Want me to get that?” David asked.

“You need to get ready for your first day, Mr. Chief of the Town Watch.” Layla responded, pushing herself up from their bed.

The morning passed quickly, the couple falling into their normal routine with ease. Soon, David was out the door, wearing the flak armor and badge of a watchmen of the town of Prosperity. Although his neck and joints still ache, and he felt exhausted, he left his humble home with a smile. He was greeted by the townsfolk as he passed, as they went on their normal day to day business.

“Today will be a good day.” He grinned, looking at the busy streets as the town woke up.

The Knights of Polaris of Ardentus

The New California Republic of Empire Confederation

Edited

Foundations: The First Seal

Fort Drum War Room

“What are the Headless Riders?” Irons asked as he and Charlotte Steele looked over a map of the western regions. She looked up, her raven black hair up in a bun that was gradually fraying at the edges.
“They’re a cavalry focused raider gang, based on an old legend about a headless horseman.” She replied. “They have four leaders: war, famine, pestilence and their leader, death. The one closest to us is famine. His operations are centered between the towns of Seneca Falls and Ithaca.”
“Alright...so he’s our first target. We get the Vertibirds to scout out their position. No need for artillery. Set up garrisons in the two towns…that can work.” He grabbed his long coat.
“The Over Marshal is going to give a speech to the troops, rally their spirits, assert his authority part two.”
“He thinks you’d betray him?” He turned to her, fire in his eyes.
“I serve the State. The Over Marshal is the State. The generals angered by my appointment as Blade Bearer though? They might consider it. Their soldiers are their strength.” he put on a pair of leather gloves, completing his uniform. Steele too grabbed her gloves and put them on, following him.
“Hold up,” he said. “You’re not coming with me.”
“I beg your pardon?” she said. “I am the director of State Intelligence, I am a general in the military and I have just as much right to be standing next to the Over Marshal as you, Blade Bearer.” He glared at her but remained silent as they walked out of the building.

Outside, Over Marshal Crenshaw stood facing a full division of troops in black combat armor, heavy coats and gas masks, rifles across their chests. Once he saw William and Charlotte arrive, he shook their hands and turned to the podium, raising his hands to draw the attention of the soldiers before resting them on the podium.
“Soldiers of the Empire State!” He called out. “For too long you have been held back, defending our frontiers but never pushing them. You are called to defend a grand nation but never to make it grander, to sacrifice your blood to protect scraps of a greater land from petty tyrants and raiders. Today, no more! Today, you become true guardians of order in a sea of chaos. Today, I promise you that your names shall be forever etched into the tomes of history as the first men and women in generations to march outside of our borders not to put down some raider, but to bring order to another corner of the world!” The soldiers let out a cheer, and Aster smiled, he knew he had their loyalty, but decided to cap it off. “I stand before you not ordering this, but asking you, soldiers of the Empire State, do you accept this mission? To earn your place in history?!”
“YES OVER MARSHAL!” the soldiers called out, slamming their fists into their chests and then raising them to their Over Marshal. Crenshaw turned back to face Irons and Steele.
“I think your army is ready for battle Blade Bearer,” he said, smiling. William smiled back.
“Then battle they shall have Over Marshal. Your word is my order, I am your sword and your executioner. The Union shall fall without us ever declaring war.”

Seneca Falls

The Vertibirds landed in the town with a few squads of soldiers in Power Armor. Once they had secured the immediate area, Blade Bearer William Irons stepped out and made his purpose there clear; to integrate the town into the State. The citizens were uncertain at first, after all they and their mayor had sworn loyalty to the Union in Rochester. That changed once Irons made it clear his mission was to break the Riders, at which point the town rapidly agreed to join the State and break ties with the Union to their west. A few members of the central government, advisors sent to train up the settlement guards were expelled without a fight, although their presence and their ability to inform their central government was less than ideal, it did not change the fact that the governments in Rochester and Buffalo were unable to deal with the raiders in their territory.

Once the rest of the army arrived by foot, the Vertibirds were deployed again, the first to scout for the Riders, the second to inform Ithaca of their northern neighbor’s deal and offer them the same. Upon hearing of the army that had arrived to finally protect them, Ithaca too agreed to the deal and joined the Empire State, leaving the Empire State to finally crush the Raiders of Famine. After two hours of scouring, the Vertibird had spotted the Riders moving towards Seneca Falls, and that they would arrive at the town in another three. Irons was not willing to wait for them to come to him. It was time to break their spear.

The two forces met in a forest south of Seneca Falls, the Riders appearing on horseback along the road, right into prepared defenses. The horsemen charged into a set of square formations bristling with bayonets. Horses fell, as did their riders, although the Riders were quick to adjust, pulling back further away, but Irons had already considered that option. Soldiers descended from the forest, appearing behind the Riders and encircling them. From there the move was simple, as the line closed in on them as Irons would close his fist. Some raiders dropped their weapons in surrender, begging on their hands and knees for mercy. Some received it, for now. They weren’t the target, Famine was. The Horseman himself stood in the center of the collapsing line, desperately trying to hold. The morale of the Riders was breaking, and the State drove a wedge into the line, breaking into the center and rushing the commanders, wounding a few and forcing them to surrender, but Famine was their greatest prize. With his capture clear, the remaining Raiders surrendered.

Famine was brought with his lieutenants to Ithaca, while the majority of the force was taken to Seneca Falls and paraded through the city in chains as citizens cheered and threw objects at their tormentors. Irons however was in Ithaca with Famine, where a gallows had been erected, and four nooses readied for Famine and his three lieutenants.
“This is the penalty for harming the citizens of the Empire State!” Irons declared as the trap doors opened and the bodies swung. “Today, you have cast off the shackles of your corrupt overlords and embraced the might of the Empire State! Never again shall you know fear of hunger, fear of raiders! Your food will not go to feed the wealthy, but the soldiers who keep you safe! Unity! Order! Victory!” The assembled townspeople cheered as Irons smiled and looked over to the bodies. Soon, they would be hung from posts along the main roads, a warning to other raiders and a symbol of the justice that had finally arrived in the region, and it was not the end. Irons was already drawing up plans to march west and make the Headless Riders true to their name. As he did, his army made themselves at home in Ithaca and Seneca. A few citizens chaffed at the more autocratic nature of the Empire State, but made it clear that they would have representation in the Senate, while the smaller settlements they had nominal influence over would be clustered together for representation. The population was tallied, children were organized into new chapters of the Young Marshals by senior officers, and the local arsenals confiscated and shipped to Fort Drum by Vertibird. The region had been truly secured, at least for now.

Metadata:
Seneca Falls and Ithaca annexed.
3,000 pop gained
3,000 suits of forged metal armor recovered
500 Pipe rifles recovered
300 R91 Assault rifles recovered
100 Combat shotguns recovered

221 days ago

Canadian Aviation and Space
With the front having slogged down to semi-trench warfare between the kingdom and republic, some scavengers and engineers had begun to pick through the area that has been absorbed by the royal guard. While most of the rural land had been left barren of important resources Ottawa had become the focus for many royal engineers looking to recover any material. Along the north of the city layed a smaller regional airport which contains a collection of aircraft that had caught some attention thanks to the pure number of the collection. While most had been stripped and studied a number of advanced and old models were collected for further study, ranging from a very large Lancaster that took center stage in the front of the museum along with a few biplanes that were in decent enough conditions to repair.
30x Vechicles scrapped for 150 tec docs
Vehicles Recovered:1x Avro Lancaster, 1x Bristol F.2B, 1x De Havland Mosquito, 1x p-40 Warhawk, 1x Curtis JN-4 Canuck, 1x Avro Avian IVM

The Swiss Confederation of The Arthurian Brotherhood

221 days ago

The Sun Rises
In the years prior to the Great War, Japan had been a turbulent nation. A forced US ally due to the nation never leaving after the end of the Pacific War, Japan had been under occupation for over 100 years. Its strategic position in the Pacific as well as its proximity to the growing threat to Communist China made it the ideal location for the US to control. The US made Japan an extension of itself and transformed the nation into its personal forward operating base in Asia. While many Japanese resented this, the reconstruction and prosperity the followed under American rule placated many for a time. Then the Resource Wars occurred, and Japan was plunged into chaos. The constant supply of American goods, vital for the Japanese economy, disappeared and the nation fell into a depression. To top it all off, the Sino-America War brought Japan into the front line of the largest conflict they had ever seen and saw a Chinese invasion occur both on the Home Islands as well as a few of the outlying territories in order for the Chinese to have a clear path to attack Alaska. American forces would eventually dislodge them, but the cost to Japan was high. Before the nation could rebuild, the nuclear flames of the Great War ended any hope of a return to prosperity. The American anti-ballistic missile systems took out large numbers of nuclear weapons, but enough breeched the air defense system to create a new wasteland in Japan.

Since the end of the Great War, Japan has returned to the clan system and much of the nation is divided into groups of people who rule via control of the few plots of land that could grow food. These clans, governed by warlords who enforce their will through stockpiles of American arms and power armor, are harsh places where only the strong survive. A total of twenty-four clans now command the ruins of Japan and they fight one another to control the remaining strategic resources spread across the islands. However, one group has remained separate from this system and has operated from the shadows to build up their influence for nearly a hundred years within the ruins of the former city of Kyoto. Under the command of Commander Jimmu, the last member of the Imperial Bloodline, the remnants of the former Japan Self Defense Force began to gather information, equipment, and citizens to create a new force to challenge the warlords. This force unveiled itself to the people of Japan when it launched its first operation against the Kyi Clan in the ruins of Osaka in 2267. The Battle of Osaka lasted for three days and by the end of it, Commander Jimmu stood atop the city’s castle victorious with an overwhelming victory. On that day, the Japanese flag flew above the city once more and the Japanese Reclamation Front (JRF) announced that it would be ending the era of clan rule once and for all.

Since then, the JRF has launched multiple reclamation operations in the Osaka and Kyoto wards to consolidate their claims, effectively splitting the clan-controlled regions in two and preventing a joint front from forming. Additionally, attempts by the clans to strike back against the JRF have all been repelled with heavy losses thanks to the extensive use of the T-51J power armor by Jimmu’s forces. With the clans now separated and licking their wounds, the JRF now prepares to launch the next series of attacks upon their enemies before they can once again reorganize and learn from their past mistakes.

The 2nd Unification War of Japan has begun.

The First Step
With the JRF now in a committed war to reclaim the Japanese Archipelago, it was vital to ensure that food and materials were available both to the population and to those serving on the front line. To ensure the demands of the population and military could be met, Commander Jimmu ordered the construction of four farms and three small scrapyards to be built. While this would not be enough to defeat the clans, it was a step in the right direction. In addition, the establishment of the Kyoto Institute jump started the JRF’s attempts to recover knowledge from lost technologies from before the Great War. While Jimmu and the JRF had plenty of military knowledge, industrial demands and technologies were well outside their skillset, including those needed to build large scale factories. With that in mind, the Institute began researching how to expand the industrial base of the JRF to better support the war effort.

*x3 Small Scrapyards (9/30) and x4 farms (9/30) under construction, research on Industry 5 has started

The New California Republic of Empire Confederation

220 days ago

Having been struck by their success, the royal guard had still been stuck in their trenches that were dug in opposite of the republicans own. The last few months had become a slog of both sides probing each other to little success. With most of the republican conscript having been reinforced by more veteran units and the artillery guns of the royal guard dedicated to the siege of montraul, much of the regular infantry on the western lines had no more support than the rifles and machine guns they regularly held. Though the King's orders to end the republic once and for all, the war would only end now with the surrender of montreal. Dam the cost to those under the crown was what many had begun to feel with the casualties that trickled in from the front.

Having been sitting in a dugout, the captain was looking over the coming assault. Considering that only recently had the king seeded command to the officer core once again after another failure of an assault on the city. The recent breakthrough by Prince Elois on the St.lawrence having taken the small island of Grand Eli, has caused General Laffayette’s plan on encirclement to finally get approval. Now here he was preparing his men for the assault on Hawkesbury, hoping to break the fortification and push into the rest of the Ontario river bank. With most of the defenders having been moved south to counter the assault there the fort had been short of a good bit of the more veteran units from scouts reports, though the fact his unit was one of the more fresh regiments had his concerns that he was heading out first. Though considering the grim face of his lieutenant having appeared at his doorway, he stood with his Thompson and helmet in hand to head to the front of the line. Passing through the dirt bottomed trench over a few planks of lumber and scrap lining the bottom he finally came upon the front trench. With plenty of young and old faces lined along the front he took position a good distance away form another captain, with two regiments set to assault the town they had begun to organise as two prongs for assault. And with the distant sounds of two guns starting from the north he looked down at a watch to see the three minute mark before going over the top, closing his eyes for only a moment to lead for the time to pass in a blink. Looking at the other captain he grabbed his whistle as one last distant boom could be heard and blew, the fusiliers around him yelling about as they ran up the angled trench towards the Hawkesbury line. Following along after the first like had charged out, he only focused on keeping hsi men moving towards the distant rapport of rifle fire.

………

Captain Vernier was surprised at how well the initial charge was, but the following slog of madness had left him wanting to be done with the whole day. While he was able to get to the republican trench without much casualties the republicans had shaken out of theri stupor right when the first line of his men jumped into their trench, leaving a very bloody and physical morning. Though now all sense of organisation had failed with both sides pushing and fllong in a constant struggle forward. Himself taking command of a band of different regiments, taking the town the trench started in was the priority considering he was now stuck in it till the end of the assault. Fires were breaking along the tops of some homes as he watched another group of fusiliers take the republican HQ based in the town. With runners paign align what information they could figure out sounded like the assault was a success for now. While the general troops had become a blind assault forward and had pushed past the planned objectives the break here had mounted voltigeurs running south on horseback to chase down and harass the rearline of the rest of the area. Another fresno regiment that was in reserve had already passed and was heading towards the Prince Elois regiment to relieve them and surround the city. Though with a good amount of men continuing the assault by following the advancing forces most of the area would be cleared of resistance in the next two days. The Prince secured Vaudreuil-Dorion with the assistance and finished the encirclement of the republican capital.

Casualties:533
Civilians: 2,300