The Triumph(?) of the Boers: Yet another AoI Story.

[DJ Bonebraker]

I'm using Snoopy's Greener terrain.

Thanks for the tip on how to do umlaut charachters in Civ III

 

[Redman]

Have you stopped playing or is this one temporarily on hold?
Redman

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Have you stopped playing or is this one temporarily on hold?
Redman

It's on hold until my FF mod story (which nobody seems to be interested in) is done.

 

[tubaman]

Well if people aren't following that one and they are following this one... ? I'm kidding, do whatever story you like, but come back here eventually.

 

[502nd PIR]

Extremely good story, I'm enjoying it immensely. I like the start as the under dogs. Keep it up!

 

[Theryman]

Ahh I love this story. Nothing quite like a playlog with some theatrical flair to ignite my interest in civ. Imma check out the FF one now.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Pwhoof!! *cough, cough, WHEEEZE*

OK, I've gotten somewhat bored with the Final Fantasy mod story, so I'm taking a break from that and getting back to driving the British out of Africa. As a nice teaser, C.M.O.T. Dibbler of Treacle Mine Road, Pretoria, has drawn an updated map showing the Geopolitical situation at the beginning of 1907:

As you can see, Britain has almost complete control of North Africa, but we're slowly pushing them out.

Also, the US has taken over Jamaica, mon! and Italy has been pushed back to Italy proper (and Malta, too) and Germany has been taking odd sections of Russia's territory, while the Japanese have taken Eritrea.

 

[Auralia]

Japanese Eritrea. Hahaha. I've always said that Eritrea is the 2nd most useless country in the world.

Sorry to any Eritreans reading this.

 

[TheOverseer714]

Japanese Eritrea. Hahaha. I've always said that Eritrea is the 2nd most useless country in the world.

Sorry to any Eritreans reading this.

Who is the most useless?

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Now, now! I don't want to hear any of that kind of talk in my thread.

Anyways, before I get into the main story, A few things:

First, here's how the armies of the British Empire and the Boer Federal Republic (Boer Bundesrepubliek) stack up:

Land units (not including artillery, workers, etc):

Great Britain:

1 Corps (Army unit) of unknown composition
46 British Infantry
23 Maxim MG Battalions
320 British Colonial Infantry
43 British Indian Infantry
18 Home Guard
6 Royal Marines
7 British Cavalry
214 British Colonial Cavalry
5 Canadian Infantry
4 Canadian Cavalry
80 Australian Rifleman
22 Australian Cavalry
42 Colonial Sentries (really weak 1 HP unit with minimal attack and def)
6 City Guards

Total: 837 companies (including the ones in the Corps unit)

Boer Federal Republic:

1 Corps (The 1^st Light Horse)
3 City Guards
25 Maxim MG Battalions (export model)
59 Boer Riflemen
18 Boer Commandos
13 Boer Light Cavalry (3 of which are attached to the 1^st Light Horse)

Total: 119 companies, including those attached to the 1^st Light Horse.

The British outnumber us by about 7 to 1, although our general kill ratio is about 3 to 1 (in battles thus far, they've lost 3 units to us for every one of ours they've killed), and we actually have MORE Maxim MG Battalions than they do

Comparative Artillery strength:

British Empire:

1 3.7" Mountain Gun Battery
3 6" Howitzer Batteries
6 Horse Artillery Batteries
14 QF 13 Pounder Batteries
2 QF 18 Pounder Batteries
1 13.5" Railroad Gun Battery

Total: 27 Batteries... Not too impressive, especially when you consider:

Boer Federal Republic:

14 Field Gun Batteries (including 4 we captured from Portugal)
1 Horse Artillery Battery
1 Krupp 75mm Mountain Gun Battery
21 7.5 cm GebK 247(n) Mountain Gun Batteries

Total: 37 Batteries of Artillery, most of which are on the front lines.

Naval Power:

British Empire:

131 Steam Transports
2 Royal Sovereign Class BB
2 Majestic Class BB
13 Canopus Class BB
9 King Edward VII Class BB
38 Dreadnought Class BBs
6 Pearl Class Patrol Craft
31 Diadem Class Armored Cruisers
42 Cressy Class Armored Cruisers
3 Arethusa Class Light Cruiser
21 Quail Class Torpedo Boats
1 River Class DD (You can thank us for the numbers of River class DD's being so low )
10 Acheron Class DDs
1 A Class SS
17 RN Protected Cruisers
50 RN Torpedo Boats

Total: 246 Combat Ships and 131 Transports

Boer Federal Republic:

9 Steam Transports
6 Early Destroyers (SBB Paul Kruger Class )
5 Coastal Defense Gunboats (SBB Cape Town Class)
12 Protected Cruisers (SBB Petoria Class)

Total: 21 Combat Ships and 9 Transports. The only thing on our side is the fact that our Navy has managed to (somehow) achieve a 100% kill ratio against all Royal Navy assets thrown at us thus far: We have won every battle with the RN without losing a single ship (thus far)... Still, we're outnumbered about 12 to 1 in Naval combat capabilities.

As you can see, by the numbers, we should be getting our asses kicked, but somehow we're managing to win.

I still haven't managed to get a spy in Italy, so all I know about THEIR military is that it's "average" compared to ours, which means Italy is getting horribly PWNED right now.

Finally, here's an outline of the Boer Republic's OpPlan for 1907:

1: "Operation KILL-imanjairo": Take Rio Muni, Mombassa and Nairobi, possibly also "liberate" the former German colony of Cameroon.

2: "Operation De-Nile" or "Operation Cape to Cairo" or "Operation Cecil B. Rhodes" (I'll let you readers decide what to call it): Take Fashoda, Djibouti, Khartoum, Aswan, Cairo, Alexandria and possibly El Obeid and Aden so we have nearly complete control of the Red Sea and Suez Canal... Also, if resources and war weariness permit, We'll try to take Lefkosia (Cyprus) as well.

3: After making peace with Britain, launch "Operation Vesuvius" to wipe Italy off the map. Also will gain two VP locations so I can start ferrying Raw Materials from Pretoria to Roma and finally get some VPs!

4: "Operation Thermopylae": Take over the Balcans so we have a nice, large industrial base in Europe to work from.

Anyways, I'll play a few more turns and post a new chapter soon.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Yeah... Britain ALWAYS has insane troop numbers. Thankfully, as the strategy guide says, point for point, they're usually inferior. Not to mention, using industrial troops(the Third World countries get machineguns anywhere, as I'm sure you noticed) can really set them back.

But most importantly? Regional superiority is made of win. Wars with Britain get even better if you throw in some Mahdists...

But yes, good luck!


... And I still say "Run, Tommy, Run!" is the most epic title for those operations...

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Chapter 12: Operation Run, Tommy, Run!
Part I: The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny​

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!" - Rudyard Kipling

The year 1907 dawns with Operation Zanzibar, the biggest military venture ever undertaken by the Boer Federal Republic coming to a successful close, having liberated all the British-held former German East Africa territories, Zanzibar Island and the British-held Belgian Kongo. As a result of that particular campaign, two new provisional states, Tanganyika Prov. State and the Kongo Prov. State as well as two new sovereign republics, the Sultanate of Zanzibar and the Republic of Rwanda were added to the Boer Federal Republic.

It is now January, and the war with Britain rages on and the Republic is about to launch its boldest offensive yet: Operation Run, Tommy, Run! Originally it was going to be two separate campaigns, one called Operation KILL-imanjairo, which would focus on liberating Rio Muni and Kenya, followed by the second one called Operation De-Nile, which would focus on liberating Cameroon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Egypt. In the end, however, President Kruger and Chief of Staff Takayama agreed that they should be combined into a single operation, considering how the rugged terrain of West Africa, as well as the heavy rail network linking Alexandria, Cairo, Aswan, Khartoum, Djibouti, Fashoda, Nairobi and Mombassa would mean that we'd be hitting targets of Opportunity and defending against massive reinforcements until we could get reinforcements to the front.

So it was in the second week of January, that the Pretoria Battle Group and General Veer's Artillery was bombarding Mombassa, Kenya. The 7.5cm GebK 247n Mountain Gun batteries and Field Guns manage to land a few good hits, shredding the defenders with shrapnel. The 1^st Light Horse, under command of a newly appointed general, Sephiroth van Niebelheim, one of Defense Minister Voorhees' proteges, leads the assault on the city. Riding at the head of the column, his platinum blond hair and black greatcoat flapping behind him and his no-dachi held high, he meets the British Colonial Cavalry Corps under command of Lord General Tarkin head-on. Cutting his way through the British Colonial Cavalrymen, he charges on until he meets Lord Tarkin himself. After melee with the General, he separates General Tarkin's head from his body, after which the few troopers in the British Colonial Cavalry Corps who aren't dead surrender. After detailing a detachment to guard the prisoners, General Sephiroth forms up his column and runs down a company of Colonial Infantry, slaughtering them to the man, while suffering few casualties of his own men.

An elite Commando company leading a flanking maneuver wipes out the last company of Colonial Infantry and a Colonial Sentry company without suffering a single casualty.

The city is ours, along with five tons of Raw Materials, which are sent to the burgeoning warehouse complex in Pretoria until we can "liberate" Italy.

Shortly after the battle, Nobuo Uematsu, a Japanese composer and immigrant to Eritrea who witnessed the battle was inspired to write a piece about General Sephiroth called "One-Winged Angel"... He said the title was inspired by the way the general rode into battle with his black greatcoat flapping behind him like some kind of one-winged angel of death. The song becomes a #1 hit in the Boer Republics not long after its first performance.

In the Western theater, numerous Field Gun batteries are brought to bear on Rio Muni, and they blast all the defending companies to shreds, leaving few men in any who are still able to fight. An elite Boer Light Cavalry company catches a veteran British Colonial Cavalry company outside the city and wipes them off the map, capturing 6 tons of Raw Materials in the process. A regular Commando company single-handedly finishes off a company of Colonial Infantry and two Companies of Colonial Sentries. They are promoted to Elite for their valor in combat. Another regularl Commando company wipes out what's left of one of the Colonial Infantry companies and a Colonial Sentry company before getting cut down by a surprise counter-attack by a second company of Colonial Sentries. A regular Light Cavalry Company annihilates three companies of Colonial Sentries and is promoted to Elite status. The Elite Guard Cavalry (yes, I STILL have the unit that popped my Corps unit), another elite Light Cavalry company and a company of elite Commandos take out the last three Colonial Sentries defending the city.

Rio Muni is ours, along with 20 tons of Raw Materials! As part of the President's Afrikannization process, the town is re-named Rivier Munie and declared as part of the Kameroon Provisional State (which will include the actual territory of Cameroon)

The city of Moezambiek launches another Early Destroyer, the SBB Maarten Tromp, which is sent to take up an early warning station in the Southeast coast.

At the end of January, Foreign Minister Slegmond reports that Italy has made peace with Germany and Austria. That will be one less war to wear them down before we invade.

The Balkans want an alliance vs Brazil, but we decline and give them 100 Gilders per week instead.

In war news for the end of the month, a single company of British Colonial Cavalry and a company of Colonial Infantry move into the hills outside Rivier Munie, most military analysts in the Republic don't expect them to last too long.

On the International front, the Germans capture Astrakhan from Persia... With their control of Kazan, they've almost got Russia cut in half.

The first week of February, 1907 sees the British invaders outside Rivier Munie mercilessly shelled by the massive artillery division that was used to soften up the city a few weeks ago, after which an elite Light Cavalry company and elite Commando company wipe them off the map, capturing another ton of Raw Materials in the process.

Further South, Durban launches another Destroyer, the SBB Shaka Zulu, which gets underway for Minikoi Island off the coast of India to keep an eye on British Shipping. Port Nolloth also launches a Destroyer, the SBB Sephiroth van Niebelheim, which sets sail for St. Helena Island to spy on South Atlantic shipping.

Special Agent Reno's latest reports from Nairobi reveal that the city is only guarded by three Colonial Infantry companies, so all available Commando and Light Cavalry companies move out to attack the city at the end of the month. The siege column consists of seventeen 7.5cm GebK Mountain Gun batteries, four Field Gun batteries, four elite Commando companies, a veteran Commando company, two companies of Light Cavalry and a company of Riflemen to guard the column from attack.

Exchequer of the Treasury, Mr. Goudboer, shells out almost 5000 Gilder for rushing the remaining infrastructure improvements around the Republic... The President and Chief Adviser have determined that the only way we have a chance in hell of pulling Operation Run, Tommy, Run off is by mobilizing our economy for war....

Around the middle of the month, Foreign Minister Slegmond reports that Britain has back-stabbed its "ally" Italy! They had unwisely decided to sign an alliance with Chile against Italy... Good news for us, considering a war between the two will help weaken them both further. Scandinavia also comes asking for an alliance against the Japanese, but President Kruger tells them no, thanks.

Shortly after Valentine's Day, Minister Slegmond reports that not only has Britain made peace with Portugal, freeing up more of their army to smack us with, but they've also signed Brazil into an alliance against us! All Destroyers on the West coast of Africa are radioed orders to set course for St. Helena Island.... Once they form up, their job will be to make life hell for the Brazilian coastal cities.

The Central Americans ask for an alliance against the Ottoman Empire and a Right of Passage agreement. We say no to the alliance and yes to the Right of Passage... We have enough to deal with right now!

And as if having Italy, Britain and Brazil against us wasn't bad enough, Brazil signs on China in its war with us! President Kruger begins traveling around the country delivering speeches on the "Axis of Evil" represented by China, Brazil, Italy and Great Britain...

Then we get word shortly after that Russia has pulled Italy into its war with Portugal... Boy, talk about the loser's hit parade, there! You got a useless, dogpiled ally trying to fight a useless, dog-piled enemy... Way to go, Russia! No wonder the Germans have been pwning your sorry ass!

In military action for the middle of February, the Japanse take Mukden from Russia, AGAIN! Closer to home, the six Companies of Brazillian Riflemen on Madagascar are moving in on Fort Dauphin.

On February 20, 1907, President Kruger makes an announcement that is published in every newspaper in the Republic. The president states that, as a result of British, Italian, Brazilian and Chinese aggression, he is mobilizing the nation's economy for war. All factories and training camps are now working overtime to get new troops and weapons to the front, cutting down the replacement time by at least one third!

(Note: this is the first time I've EVER mobilized my economy in any Civ III game I've ever played )

Outside Nairobi, Kenya, 21 batteries of artillery open fire, blasting the defending units back to the stone age. An elite Commando company leading the attack gets hit by a round from the 3.5" Howitzer battery in the city, but manages to wipe out an entire company of Colonial Infantry without taking too many more casualties. Another elite Commando company attacking the British flank is fired upon by a British field gun battery, but their shots go wide and the Commandos wipe out two companies of Colonial Infantry without taking a single casualty! A veteran Commando company bringing up the rear wipes out the remaining defenders, a Colonial Cavalry company, and takes control of the city, along with three tons of Raw Materials, Unfortunately, the Colonial Cavalry managed to spike their guns, preventing us from capturing them.

Since we have a large number of artillery pieces that still have full ammo loadouts and a good number of fresh troops (including the 1^st Light Horse) available, Field Marshall Hikaro Takayama gets on the radio to Special Agent Rude in Fashoda. Rude reports that there are only three companies of Colonial Infantry and one company of Colonial Cavalry defending the city, so General Sephiroth is ordered to lead the attack.

The artillery blasts Fashoda, badly mauling the defending Colonial Infantry units, but the Colonial Cavalry escapes unscathed.... That is, until General Sephiroth and the 1^st Light Horse charge in and wipes them and a company of Colonial Infantry off the map. Unfortunately, the 1^st Light Horse sustains heavy casualties in the process, so General Sephiroth is forced to fall back while an elite Commando company charges on. The elite Commandos get into a fierce fire-fight with another Colonial Infantry company, sustaining heavy casualties but killing all the Colonial Infantry. Another elite Commando company goes down under a hail of bullet from the last Colonial Infantry company, but the last attacking Commando company finished them off and captures the city.

Along with the three tons of Raw Materials inside the city, a Light Cavalry company captures six tons left in the jungle outside Fashoda.

Ships and artillery on Madagascar bombard the Brazilian Rifleman stationed there, scoring several solid hits on the companies. A veteran Commando company wipes outa regular Brazilian Rifleman company on the hills outside Fort Dauphin, and only sustains a few minor casualties in the process. Unfortunately, we lose a regular Commanod company and a veteran Ligth Cavalry company to companies of Brazilian Riflemen outside Tamatave.

Field Gun batteries blast a British Colonial Cavalry company in the hills outside Rivier Munie, and an elite Commando wipes out the survivors, capturing a ton of Raw Materials. Several units also capture a total of 14 tons of Raw materials scattered throughout the Congo.

At the end of February and beginning of March, the British send a massive counter-attack against Fashoda. An elite Commando company and three companies of Light Cavalry are massacred in the battle, but another elite Commando company wipes out a Colonial Cavalry company, and the company of regular Riflemen that accompanied the siege train wipes out four entire companies of British Colonial Cavalry, and is promoted to elite status for their extraordinary valor in combat. The British also re-capture the 6 tons of Raw materials outside the city and would have captured two of our field guns, but the last surviving members of the Light Cavalry guarding the guns spiked them before the Brits slaughtered them.

A single company of British Colonial Cavalry also attacks Mombassa and wipes out a company of Riflemen before being driven back by the remaining Boer Rifle company.

If that wasn't enough bad news, British Colonial Cavalry also are spotted moving through the jungle towards Stanelyville, and we let them... The rugged terrain negates any speed advantage cavalry would have, and we still have all the artillery from when we took Rivier Munie in the area, and we have roads through the jungle.

Unfortunately, this piece of bad news is followed by two more: Italy makes peace with the Ottoman, and Britain signs a peace treaty with the US! Not good! Not good at ALL!!

In further military action, Russia re-takes Mukden from the Japanese, while losing the cities of Kharkiv and Saratov to the Germans at the same time, and Britain takes the city of Pontianak, completing their conquest of Borneo.

So it is, with major gains but increasing difficulty that this part of Operation Run, Tommy Run! comes to a close.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Here's a quick map to show the proposed invasion routes/objective for the Eastern theater of Operation Run, Tommy, Run!

Spoiler :

Objective 1: Capture Khartoum: Almost ALL of the British colonial conscript workers in E Africa are holed up in the city, meaning that even IF the British re-take it, we'll still have dealt their infrastructural plans a HUGE blow. ....Not to mention that from there, it's only 3 more cities until I hit the Mediterranean (Aswan, Cairo and Alexandria)

Objective 2: Capture Djibouti: The Brits have been using that lone port on the Indian Ocean/Gulf of Aden to safely land Cavalry invasion forces with which they've been harassing Mombassa... The sooner we can deny them that city, the better!

Objective 3: Once the Pretoria Battle group has entered the Gulf of Aden and pounded Aden, load the invasion force along with enough defensive units to hold the city and take Aden, denying the British easy access to the Red Sea.

Objective 4: Continue on towards Aswan, Cairo, and Alexandria. Once we have taken Alexandria, make peace with Britain and any other country who being at war with right now WON'T be any benefit to us (Brazil and China), and concentrate on wiping Italy off the map!

 

[The Loser]

Great to see that this storie hasn't died yet!

 

[Tani Coyote]

All hail the Großboer(I dunno what to say instead of Deutsches here..) Reich! Best of luck on controlling the Nile and crushing Britain's prominence as a colonial power! Two continents removed from Britain's sphere of influence!

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

All hail the Großboer(I dunno what to say instead of Deutsches here..) Reich! Best of luck on controlling the Nile and crushing Britain's prominence as a colonial power! Two continents removed from Britain's sphere of influence!

Die GrootBoer Gebeid (Great Boer Empire)

As for controlling the Nile... Things have kind of ground to a halt...Well, slowed down a good bit, but I'm still keeping the momentum in my favor.

 

[TheOverseer714]

Die GrootBoer Gebeid (Great Boer Empire)

GrootBoer sounds like a foamy sassafrass-flavored drink, so raise a mug

 

[Dumanios]

For the Boer!Slay the British Lion!

Shortly after the battle, Nobuo Uematsu, a Japanese composer and immigrant to Eritrea who witnessed the battle was inspired to write a piece about General Sephiroth called "One-Winged Angel"... He said the title was inspired by the way the general rode into battle with his black greatcoat flapping behind him like some kind of one-winged angel of death. The song becomes a #1 hit in the Boer Republics not long after its first performance.

I see what you did there.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Chapter 12: Operation Run, Tommy, Run!
Part II: NO! You guys are supposed to be running the other way!!!​

It is currently the middle of March, 1907 and the Tommies have finally gotten around to organizing a sizeable counter-offensive outside Fashoda. Despite the fact that President Kruger has mobilized the economy, replacements for troops and equipment lost in combat still hasn't come up to full speed yet. Chief of Staff Takayama and Defense Minister Voorhees both agree that our advance up the Nile should be halted until we can deal with the British invaders and reinforcements finally arrive.

In what will be remembered by history as the Second Battle of Fashoda, the crack Boer artillery opens fire, blasting the attacking units with HE rounds, reducing them all to a fraction of their full strength. A veteran Commando company and a company of elite Light Cavalry wipe out all four companies of attacking British Colonial Cavalry, re-capturing our Raw Materials, as well as two additional tons of Raw Materials.

President Kruger, tired of looking at the mountains of Raw Materials in Pretoria signs and executive order decreeing that no city should store more than 30 tons of Raw Materials at any given time. Therefore, freight trains begin moving the Raw materials, 20 tons at a time, out of Pretoria and into Bloemfontein, Maarepore, Moezambiek, Dodoma, Kilwa and other towns linked to the main rail line. All newly captured Raw materials are being kept in Nairobi, Mombassa and Fashoda in preparation for the completion of Operation Run, Tommy, Run. (Seriously, though... I had so many Raw Materials in Pretoria that it actually slowed the game down any time I had to go to the city screen, on top of which I had to spend almost a minute of scrolling to get to the "more options" if I clicked on the city when I was on the Main map view....)

In a skirmish outside Mombassa, our artillery blast the living crap out of the Colonial Cavalry, after which a Regular Boer Rifle company finishes off the survivors and is promoted to Veteran status for their valor in combat. Another ton of Raw Materials is captured.

On Madagascar, our ships and artillery in the region continue to bombard the Brazilian Rifle division camped out in the hills between Tamatave (New Granada) and Fort Dauphin. The obsolete Horse Artillery Battery and 75mm Krupp Mountain Gun Battery as well as the ships all miss their mark, so our troops dig in and wait for possible reinforcements from the mainland.

In administrative/infrastructural action this week, Admiral Maarten Tromp prevails upon the President and Defense Minister Voorhees to change the current ship designator, Skip van die Boer Bundesrepubliek, which is extremely cumbersome even as an acronym (SBB) to Federaal Republiek Skip (Federal Republic Ship) or FRS. Henceforth, all Boer ships are now known by the new designator. Leopoldville launches a new Early Destroyer, the FRS Friedrick Veers, named after the highly successful army joint chief of staff, General Veers. The Friedrick Veers is sent to rendezvous with the Jason Voorhees Destroyer Task Force at St. Helena Island, which will (hopefully) soon depart to make life miserable for Brazil.

In extremely good news from the infrastructural standpoint, our Civil Engineer crews have finally finished the rail line through the Rhodesian Mountains to Dodoma... Now all they have to do is extend it to the terminus at Mombasa and we'll have a rail link all the way from Cape Town to Fashoda! Cecil B. Rhodes' dream of a "Cape to Cairo Railway" will come true, all right, but not under British management!

In Diplomatic new for the end of March, Italy signs a peace treaty with Japan, but gets dragged into a war with La Plata... Looks like they're still managing to keep themselves too busy to bother with us. (Note: due to the general game of "silly buggers" that the AI seems to play with diplomacy in this scenario, I'm only including developments that impact us directly from here on out. ) Foreign Minister Slegmond also reports that Brazil has dragged Hispanola into its war with us... Talk about being desperate for allies.

Two companies of British Colonial Cavalry attack a complany of Boer Riflemen outside Fashoda. The Riflemen slaughter the first wave of attackers, and despite the fact that they made the second company pay dearly for it, they are killed to the last man. A third company of Colonial Cavalry finishes off a badly wounded company of Light Cavalry whose retreat the doomed rifle company was guarding.

We finally get some good news at the beginning of April... Doctor Frankenstein enters the President's office and announces that we've discovered Industrialization II:

Now we can drag people into our own pointless military alliances, but even better, we can now start research into Armored Cars I, which, once we capture the industrial centers of Italy, will allow us to start building powerful Renault Armored Cars (10,8,3). The president congratulates Dr. Frankenstein and has him start researching Armored Cars I (the funny thing is that we're in the middle of a war with a mobilized economy and our tech slider at 30%, yet we are still getting techs every 5 turns, which is the minimum research time )

The citizens of Nairobi take to the streets to protest Boer occupation, so Chief of Staff Takayama makes a trip to the city. When he arrives there, he pays a visit to a certain well-known hunting lodge on the outskirts of town. When he steps into the establishment, flanked by two bodyguards, the establishment's owner demads, "What do you want?! You 'ave 'Officious Gov'ment Type' writt'n all over you!"

Chief of Staff Takayama replies, "I am President Kruger's Chief of Staff, and I'm looking for Allan Quatermain."

The establishment's owner sneers, but before he could tell the Chief of Staff where he could go and what to do once he got there, an elderly gentleman sitting at the back corner stands up and says, "I'm Allan Quatermain, and I may be willing to listen to you, depending on what you have to say and whether or not you're willing to buy the drinks... But I'll only talk to you in private. You're brute squad will have to sit someplace else."

Hikaro nods, and motions for his bodyguards to take a table on the other side of the room, and he walks over and sits down at Allan's table. After ordering a bottle of the establishment's best champagne and paying for it with several Gilders (which happen to be real gold), he turns to Allen and says, "I'm Chief of Staff Hikaro Takayama for the Boer Republics, and I'm aware that ever since we've taken over administration of this region, people have gotten a bit... upset about it."

"And I take it you want my help in defusing the situation," Allan Quatermain replies, sipping his champagne, "Well, I may consider it, but first, you're going to have to be completely honest with me..." Before Hikaro can reply, he holds up his hand and says, "You can start by dropping that 'Chief of Staff' nonsense... You might be able to fool most people, but I happen to be good at reading between the lines: This whole campaign you people have been running, from the opening battles with the Germans in 1897 up to now, has a very consistent style, meaning that one person has been in charge of the overall strategy.... And your brute of a Defense Minister, Jason Voorhees lacks the finesse to pull this kind of operation off."

Hikaro grins and says, "I take it you've met the Defense Minister Voorhees?"

"Yes, back in '81 during the first Boer War... That man was quite ruthless and the scariest individual I've had the displeasure to meet," Alan Quatermain replies, "And you still haven't answered my request."

"Okay," Hikaro replies, "You're right... I AM President Kruger's Chief of Staff, but I also have the rank of Veld Marschall in the Boer Military, and yes, I'm the one in charge of the Republic's overall military strategy. The reason I'm coming to you now is because we have similar goals for Africa, and you're the only one I know of who can reassure the locals that THIS," he holds up one of the British propaganda pamphlets that British Intelligence has been passing around, "Is a bunch of horse-hockey!"

Allen Quatermain takes the pamphlet and lets out a low whistle after reading the first page and says, "Well, your soldiers have been civil enough for a bunch of murdering, thieving rapists... Yes, I can see why you want me to try to convince folks around here that this poppycock isn't true... I've been through your recently 'acquired' territories, and even your native-ruled 'sovereign republics' are better developed and more prosperous than even Egypt, and that's saying a lot.. As a matter of fact, I know of some EUROPEAN nations that are less civilized than your repuplics." Taking another sip of his champagne, he continues, "I'll help you out as long as you continue the same policies here, but I can only do so much."

"That's all I'm asking for," Hikaro Replies... President Kruger has arranged for some of the leaders of our more developed sovereign republics, including the Chief of Swaziland and the Sultan of Zanzibar, to come here for an open forum... The president plans to grant Kenya status as a Sovereign Republic once things settle down a bit."

Business having been concluded, Hikaro and Allan sit for a while talking over the bottle of champagne before the Chief of Staff takes his leave and hires some extra entertainers to help keep the people calm.

A new Civil Engineer team has been organized at Pretoria and they are sent to join another team trying to push the railroad through the Kongo Provisional State to the Kameroon Provisional State... The lack of railroads is currently the biggest factor holding up progress in the Eastern Theater of Operation Run, Tommy, Run!

Later in the week, Foreign Minister Slegmond reports that we've successfully planted a spy in Roma, Italy. Special Agent Solid Snake reports the Italian Military's disposition of forces is as follows:

Land Units:

20 companies of Italian Infantry
1 Home Guard company (Home Guards are really weak conscript units available to industrialized countries)
3 City Guard companies
4 Italian Cavalry companies
12 Italian Colonial Cavalry companies (probably all in Malta, since they've lost all their other colonies)
18 Italian Maxim MG Battalions
3 batteries of mixed Artillery

Their Navy is about the same size as ours, but they have a few more advanced ships than we do.

Looks like Italy will be a harder nut to crack than we thought....

On Madagascar, ships and artillery continue to bombard the Brazilian Riflemen menacing Fort Dauphin, and one of the ships' gunners actually gets lucky, landing a 6" shell into the middle of a Brazilian troop encampment, wounding and killing a number of riflemen.

The ship's captain radios Fort Dauphin and the troops in the city decide to take advantage of the confusion: A regular Commando company charges out of Fort Dauphin and wipes out an elite Brazilian Rifle company, getting promoted to veteran status as a result of this action. Another regular Commando company is wiped out attacking a regular Brazilian Rifle company, but a Veteran Commando company avenges them by slaughtering the Brazilian Riflemen to the last man. A regular Commando company finishes off the last Brazilian Rifle company in the encampment, and captures a ton of Raw Materials they'd stockpiled there. Now there are only two companies of Brazilian Riflemen left on Madagascar.

Special Agent Ocelot Revolver's report on Khartoum reveals that the city is currently guarded by 5 Colonial Infantry companies, 2 Colonial Cavalry companies and a British QF 13 Pounder battery.

Special Agent Rude's report on Djibouti reveals 4 companies of Colonial Cavalry, 4 companies of Colonial Infantry and a Steam Transport in the harbor.

Special Agent Reno's report on El Obeid indicates that the city is guarded by 7 companies of Colonial Infantry, 2 companies of Colonial Sentries and a Company of Colonial Cavalry... An entire regiment, in other words!

The last two spy reports finally reveal some good news: Special Agent Elena reports that Douala only has 1 company of Colonial Cavalry and 4 companies of Colonial Infantry defending it! We happen to have more than enough troops in Rivier Munie to take the town! Younde also has only 3 companies of Colonial Infantry and 1 company of Colonial cavalry defending it.

Chief of Staff Takayama, along with Defense Minister Voorhees and General Veers decide to authorize an advance in the Western theater of Operation Run, Tommy, Run since progress in the Eastern Theater has ground to a halt.

The Field Gun batteries and 7.5cm GebK Mountain Guns are moved forward and rain hot death down on Douala, blasting all the Colonial Infantry units. An elite Commando company leading the assault is gunned down by a full-strength Colonial Cavalry company, but an elite Light Cavalry company wipes out one of the defending Colonial Infantry companies, taking heavy casualties in the process. A company of regular Commandos is massacred in an attack on a fortified Colonial Infantry company's position. We lose an elite Light Cavalry company to that same company of Colonial Infantry before a second elite Light Cavalry company finally finished them off. A regular Commando company overruns the last Colonial Infantry's position, but sustains heavy casualties in the process. We lose an elite Commando company to the never to be sufficiently damned Colonial Cavalry company, but the elite Guard Cavalry wipes them out and captures the city:

We sieze 3 tons of Raw Materials awaiting shipment in the harbor. The city is added to the Kameroon Provisional State, along with Rivier Munie.

We bombard two companies of Colonial Cavalry outside Stanleyville with our Field Gun Batteries, reducing them both to 1/3 strength, and a quick strike by regular and elite Commando companies finishes them off without any casualties.

In other military actions, our forces remain on the defensive, bombarding companies of British Colonial Cavalry outside Fashoda and Mombasa, reducing them all to a fraction of their full strength. The 1^st Light Horse and an Elite Commando company wipe out what's left of the British invasion force with minimal casualties and capture several tons of Raw Materials.

In the middle of April, Foreign Minister Slegmond reports that Hispanola has signed the BALKANS into an alliance against us... President Kruger, Defense Minister Voorhees and Chief of Staff Takayama shelve the plans for "Operation Vesuvius" and begin drafting plans for "Operation Thermopylae," due to the fact that once "Operation Run, Tommy, Run" is concluded, we can load up our transports in Alexandria and drop a massive Invasion force outside Athini in less than a week's time and hopefully capture the city within two weeks!

The Balkans also stupidly decide to ally with La Plata against France... There might not BE any Balkans for us to take over by the time we can take Alexandria.... La Plata comes calling, asking for an alliance against the Japanese and a Right of Passage agreement. We decline the alliance (even though taking Eritrea would be nice), but agree to the RoP.

Some diplomatic news that plays directly into our hands is the fact that the Balkans pull Britain into their war with France... YES!!!! Now the British will have more than one war in Africa to distract some of their troops from attacking us!

The BEF attacks Douala and Rivier Munie with three companies of Colonial Cavalry. We lose one company of Boer Riflemen in Rivier Munie to one of the attackers, but our Maxim MG Battalion in Douala mows down both companies of Colonial Cavalry attacking the city.

During the last week of April, 1907, Chief of Staff Takayama is in the "special room" in the Presidential Palace of Pretoria, talking on the radio with several of his field agents.

"Flying Ace, Abeche in British-occupied Chad only has two companies of Colonial infantry defending it," special agent Reno reports, "Unfortunately, it's kind of out of the way, but we could easily take it if we can get troops there fast enough...."

"Roger, Reno," Chief of Staff Takayama, a.k.a 'Flying Ace' replies, "Rude, what does Khartoum look like?"

Special Agent Rude comes on and says, "....5 Companies of Colonial Infantry, 1 Company of Colonial Cavalry and one 13 Pounder battery..... Oh, Sir, Also looks like almost all British forced labor gangs are holed up in the city....."

"Copy that, Rude," Hikaro replies, "Snake, whats the situation in Djibouti look like, over?"

"Sir, Djibouti still has four companies of Colonial Infantry garrisoned, however all but one of the Colonial Cavalry companies have cleared out... Apparently they're the ones we slaughtered outside Fashoda and Mombasa last week," special agent Solid Snake reports, "Hopefully once the Pretoria Battle Group moves into the Red Sea, we'll be able to start sinking their damn transports before they can reach Djibouti..."

"Thanks, Snake," Hikaro replies, "Ocelot, What's the situation in Aden?"

"Sah, theyah is 4 comp'nies ah Colonial Infantray guardin' Aden raaht now," special agent Ocelot Revolver replies.

"Roger that, Ocelot," Hikaro says, "Elena, what does Yaounde look like right now?"

Special agent Elena replies, "Sir, they've moved an additional company of Colonial Infantry into town and have drafted a company of Colonial Sentries... I think our little smash and grab maneuver at Douala made them nervous..."

"Okay, thanks guys... Just stay tight and keep the reports coming. Flying Ace over and out!" Chief of Staff Takayama hangs up the radio handset and takes the latest reports to his briefing with President Kruger and Defense Minister Voorhees.

"Mr. President, based on the latest intel and the fact that the 1^st Light Horse is back up to full strength, I recommend that we shift to the defensive in the Western theater of operations and move to strike either Khartoum or Djibouti... Personally, I think Khartoum would be better due to the fact that if we liberate all those forced labor gangs, we'll severely cripple Britain's ability to improve the infrastructure in their African colonies," the Chief of Staff reports.

President Kruger replies, "I agree 100% about digging in on the Western front... Particularly in light of the beating the British gave us when we took Douala. As for the recommendation in the EASTERN theater of operations, I'm inclined to think that Djibouti would probably be a better target, since that will keep them from landing reinforcements behind our back... I'm tired of the way they've been hitting us from both sides at Fashoda, Nairobi and Mombasa! ...But I want to hear what Defense Minister Voorhees has to say, first."

Defense minister Voorhees speaks up, "I agree with the Veld Marschall's plan... Not only would liberating around 25 forced labor gangs be a HUGE propaganda coup, but it would also remove Britain's only remaining source of Coal in Africa... They'll no longer be able to build Coaling Stations for their ships, or construct any of their RN Protected Cruisers in Africa... That would be a significant blow to the British colonial war machine."

"Good point, Mr. Voorhees," the President remarks, "Very well, Veld Marschall Takayama, Radio General Sephiroth and tell him that he'll be commanding the assault on Khartoum."

"Thank you Mr. President," Hikaro replies with a grin, "General Sephiroth has been champing at the bit for an opportunity like this."

Once the orders are radioed to General Sephiroth van Niebelheim's field HQ, he moves all available 7.5cm GebK Mountain Gun batteries forward and has them start shelling Khartoum. After the massive bombardment ends, leaving all the garrisoned companies at less than half-strength, General Sephiroth leads the 1^st Light Horse into battle. They overrun two companies of half-strength Colonial Infantry, taking sustaining moderate casualties in the process.

In a cavalry battle on the West side of town, a veteran Light Cavalry company gets taken out by a regular Colonial Cavalry company, but one ouf our elite Commando companies finishes off the Colonial Cavalry before slaughtering a company of Colonial Infantry. Two more companies of elite Commandos wipe out the last two Colonial Infantry companies in a pitched battle and the city is ours!

We capture 1 ton of Raw Materials and liberate over a dozen forced labor gangs (Colonial Conscript Workers). In addition, we gain a source of Oil and cut Britain off from its last source of Coal in Africa!

In the Western theater, the four companies of British Colonial Cavalry that have moved into position to attack Douala are bombarded back into the Stone Age by our artillery. A regular Commando company wipes out two of them and is promoted to veteran status, while the elite Guard Cavalry takes out the last two, and we capture 3 tons of Raw Materials. The British have, once again, been driven out of our territory.

On Madagascar, we continue to bombard the remaning Brazilian Riflemen, but only score a single hit... A transport arrives from Kilwa and unloads two brand-new 7.5cm GebK Mountain guns, while our obsolete artillery units are loaded onto the transport.

Hopefully the modern guns will improve our artillery's dismal performance next week...

Foreign Minister Slegmond calls up the French ambassador and hammers out a Right of Passage agreement with France so that they can use our roads and rails to get troops from Libreville to attack British positions, and we can potentially use the rail network in Oubangui-Chari to hit El Obeid. This works to France's advantage since, even if the British DO take Bangui (and the rest of Oubangui-Chari), they'll have to go through the Kongo Prov. State and Kameroon Prov. States to get to Gabon, which will be incredibly slow going due to all the swamps and jungles in the area.

Meanwhile, the Jason Voorhees Battle Group has finally finished assembling at St. Helena Island and will depart for Brazil next week, and the Pretoria Battle Group gets underway to attack Djibouti and Aden.....

The first week of May sees the Italians come begging for peace... We agree to sign a peace treaty, since we've got other priorities now, and invading Italy would be far too costly, not to mention that it would help reduce the war weariness that many citizens are starting to feel....

In international military news, the Germans take the former Austrian city of Breslau from Russia... Looks like they're trying to start the Anschluss 30 years early. Germany also takes Odessa from Russia, giving them a port on the Black Sea.

The British, up to their old tricks, take Cagliari, conquering Sardinia! No wonder Italy wanted to sign a peace treaty with us!

UNESCORTED British transports are spotted off the Horn of Africaa, and they're within range of the Pretoria Battle Group, too! Looks like the numbers of British troops and Steam Transports will be taking a significant hit.

Thus it is with a few small gains and the war heating up that this part of Operation Run, Tommy, Run comes to a close.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

I see what you did there.

I'm glad SOMEBODY got the reference.

BTW, Tanicius Fox, about your comment on the British units "point for point" being weaker than mine, I'd like to point out the following:

Btitish Colonial Cavalry: 12,6,3, 380 shields

Boer Light Cavalry (the best Cav unit I can build): 10,6,3, 200 shields

British Colonial Infantry: 8,8,2, 285 shields

Boer Rifleman: 7,9,2, 200 shields

As you can see, that's pretty evenly matched... The only places where, in Africa, at least, that I've got BETTER units than them are

Boer Commando: 9,7,3, +1HP, 300 shields

Maxim MG Battalion, Export: 4(10),14,1, 600 Shields....

If it weren't for my massive doomsday artillery barrages, I'd be getting PWNED!

Edit: BTW, the stack of Brazilian Riflemen on Madagascar that I've been slowly killing off just happens to be the EXACT SAME stack that's in that screen shot of Madagascar that I posted on P. 3(?) after New Granada took it.