Invasion of Naedio!

         Having found myself out of WWII Skirmish gaming for a while due to the lamentable sale of my figures, I have returned obliquely through the guise of the cantankerous Quar.
You can find these squabbling, well armed creatures at Zombiesmith; they make perfect 20th Century combatants. 

Though there are excellent rules for the Quar, both company and skirmish level with great scenario books, I have always wanted to use the SkirmishCampaigns scenario book 'Norway!' Whereas later books focused on linked campaigns, this has an algorithm ladder campaign - You went onto a next scenario based upon the results of the previous battle. There could be 3 to 4 scenarios in a campaign. With varying attachments and credits this gives unlimited replay-ability. Unfortunately, we never saw this exact system repeated in future books. 

I have found that 'TAC Skirmish: Arc of Fire' really works well with the SkirmishCampaigns books (same authors,really). The rules seem to work very well with imbalanced forces and focus on morale and training of the combatants. (Also card driven and D10 based). What is most delightful about these rules is there has never been a game where a good narrative does not develop. Somehow, they always seem to tell a good story. 

    

So, for a real history of the Norway 1940 campaign I might recommend (on YouTube):

Norway 1940: Operation Weserübung by Historigraph or the book 'Norway 1940 The Forgotten Fiasco by Joseph Kynoch. One of the reasons to like this book is because it was written by someone who actually served in 148 Brigade.

So onto our actual campaign....

Being a True Account of the Perilous Invasion of Naedio in the Year of the Crusade -1766.

There are many things that marked this Campaign. One is the large scale tactical use of Airmobile forces in restrictive spaces to drop Paramarines behind enemy lines to seize airfields and delay reinforcements in the Gud-Drabsal Valley. Another is the weather (not the good Southern fighting weather we were used to along the borderlands of Toulmore, but the sea-wet and oppressive cold of the North - though it was late 'Spring'. And lastly, the Crusade had mustered up all it's Naval Reserves and carried six entire Is-Adran to those rocky shores despite overwhelming Royalist naval superiority. 

Why would we do such a thing - besides the obvious of spreading the Crusade, of course?

Well, the Royalists could feed their armies from just the spoils of the sea off the Naedio coast - chasing the Red Herrayng through those rocky shoals up through Sleveen. We could deny them this, and also, my little Kits, this is a little known fact at the time- we knew there was hidden tungsten, cobalt and nickel in those Northern climes, and we needed them to power our growing war machine. So the die was set. We had to go....

Crusader General Pel Engar of the 196th Is-Adran, 2nd Expeditionary Field Y'Fiddin

General Wil Steff, 4th Is-Adran, Royal Naedian Y'Fiddin

Syrnol Hyrn Morg'n, 148th Coftyran Foreign Volunteers.

One of your Great-Grandquar's first critical campaign was driving up the Gud-Drabsal Valley from the capital Oshmyr where we had taken terrible Naval loses to steam driven torpedoes. We needed to get to the coast and the port of Andrasvyl to stop Coftyran reinforcements from denying our Northern progress. We had some well trained men, an airborne drop planned north of our position to cut the enemy off, and some much needed armor and kite support. It was at the critical crossroads of Rya'l that we, of the 196th, 12th Catrawd, first met the enemy...

SCENARIO THE FIRST.

Below:  From the Naedian side (left). The Crusaders enter the road(s) from the opposite side:

Below: The objective Naedian house and hill at Rya'l. The bridge is the only way across the swift, ice-melt waters:

Is-Caerten Tin Hynar drew one last time from his cigarette holder, held the smoke in for a few seconds, then let it out to blend with the damp mist surrounding him. The engine of his staff car ticked softly behind him. His batman stepped forward, took the holder from the Is-Caerten's partially extended arm, then stepped smartly back. Tin Hynar lifted his glasses and tried to penetrate the gloomy veil in the valley below, sighed, lowered them and gave a perfunctory wave of his arm. A section trudged passed him on either side, five meters apart, staggered, Bogens facing out. He waited for them to pass. His Machine Gun and Anti-Tank teams formed just ahead of him. Master Yawdrahl Henzel came alongside. Tin Hynar remounted his staff car. 

"They're ready Sir. They'll not disgrace their ancestors"

Tin Hynar nodded once and thought: "What a miserable place to die". 

"We shall certainly see Top, shalln't we? "

Just then it started to rain. 

In the Gud-Drabsal Valley below, Jantus Hraf heard the cough of the engines coming down the valley road. He was determined to stop the Crusader invader at the bridge. 

"Hold them up Jantus, like a good chap, give the Coftyran's time to land their reinforcements".

Jantus had only a handful of militia , a medium machine gun, and a few petrolatum bombs to stop a modern armored force, but he had the advantage of ground and a burning hate for the trespassing foe. We will hold...or sell this ground dearly".

Hynar's forces advanced cautiously. He had sent a flanking force across the river at a small, rickety, wooden bridge they had discovered in the woods a few klicks back. Hynar hoped to catch any enemy force at the main bridge in a pincer movement; and deny the enemy the opportunity to pour flanking fire into this infiltrating force from the hill to his left that dominated his main advance.

The armored car moved ahead of his main force; which hugged the side of the road after sweeping the woods to their front. His command team took the lead as his first section 'beat the brush'. Now it really started to pour. Sleet slashed the Quar's snouts as they pushed forward making the advance all that more miserable, and more importantly, the visibility worse. The armored car was almost blind - he slowed down, not daring to poke a snout out of the hatch, Yawdryl Bael peered through his misted up periscope-nothing, at least he was dry though. 

In the woods ahead, at the bend in the road, the machine gun team crouched lower. They couldn't harm the iron beast creeping towards them, so they hoped the commander would pop his hatch for a look-see. The gunner gripped the guns handles waiting for his chance. Water dripped down his collar from the branches above, but he held steady.

On the dirt track across the river, the lead Crusader scout rounded a corner. Fifteen meters back his section followed. Through the downpour he thought he could see something ahead...looks like fallen trees.. a roadblo....

A crack, followed by a ragged volley and the unnamed Rhfler dropped lifeless in the road. A lucky round had hit him directly through his helmet as he turned to signal his squad of the danger ahead. 

The rest of the squad, froze for a second, then dashed for the cover of the woods to either side of the road. The Yawdryl went left, his light machine gun team to the right of the lifeless body whose blood streamed into the ditch at the side of the track. 

More rifle shots as this movement was spotted. The attackers could only see the flashes coming from behind the log barricade, but they began to return fire as they dashed forward. 

Yawdryl Kippo cursed. A nervous conscript had fired at the first sight of the enemy, not letting them all get into the bag. He peered through the branches of the barricade and saw movement to either side of the road. "Here they come! Keep firing" he yelled. His Kits were game and didn't need the encouragement. Fear drove them on, firing blind into the oncoming foe. Chunks of wood started to splinter from their barrier. A nervous trooper crawled away from barricade, shocked at the amount of fire coming from the Crusader line, he was oblivious to Kippo, waving his revolver and yelling at him to "Get back in line!"

Suddenly the barrier seemed to explode in shards of wood and sawdust. The distinctive barking sound of an H11a drowned out all other noise. Rhyfler Yist had finally managed to get his machine gun set up with a clear view of the barricade. Gufred's head seemed to just leave his shoulders on it's own accord, Kippo took a round to his shoulder and staggered back, Yalf was hit twice in the chest and was spun around by the force. Ultf took a richocet that grazed the length of his snout. The quar next to what was left of Gufred panicked, dropped behind the logs, hugged his knees, mad-eyes riveted on the headless Quar to his right. 

In less than a few seconds Kippo's command had almost vanished. Naedian Fire slackened then ceased. Suddenly, as if on cue, the rain stopped.

Crusader forces lay panting in the forest detrius, steam rose from the cooling H11a. The threat had been silenced. Cautiously they got to their feet and began to creep forward. 

Kippo lay back against the barricade, taking deep, sucking,breaths. Quar to the left and right of him groaned, rocked themselves, or just lay in a heap. His hand shook as he reloaded his revolver, dropping rounds in his lap as he winced at the pain in his shoulder. He caught the nervous, but determined looks of the only three troopers still holding their Harlech's. He nodded, they nodded back, and in one seemless motion, chambered rounds, stood and fired. The lead Crusader was only a few meters from the roadblock when a revolver round ripped into his throat. A spout of blood shot out, splattering the quar next to him. The rifle rounds slammed into trees centimeters from Yist and his loader and ripped the canteen from the Yawdryl's belt. 

This was to say the least, unexpected. Quar instinct trumped Crusader training, and those closest dropped to the ground crawling frantically to better cover; those furthest, including Yist, and even the Yawdryl, ran. 

Kippo and his three surviving conscripts stared on in disbelief.

Hynar heard the bark of the HS11a and realized that this was not going to be an easy day. The enemy were here. His two sections continued down either side of the road. The Anti Tank Rifle team leading on the left, and the Light Machine Gun team on the right, following closely behind was his first section. He was neatly sandwiched between the two. All eyes were on the back of the Sothwyr and the looming woods ahead. Up ahead, and around the corner, was the bridge they needed to cross to get to the objective; the hill that overlooked the crossroads. 

The shooting slackened from the North just as the rain stopped. 

Up ahead, the Sothwyr slewed back and forth as it abruptly braked. The lead units took a knee and peered ahead. The armored car had obviously seen something it didn't like. 

Yorik swore colorfully. They couldn't touch that beast with their M3-B; and they couldn't see what was coming up behind it through that rain. He had orders to stay in place, but he also knew that didn't include dying for no reason. The commander of that tin can was too smart to poke his head out, instead slowly swinging the turret back and forth. They had no opportunity to take him out. He muttered "Let's go" to his crew. Unfamiliar with the weapon, his crew took their time clumsily breaking it down. They backed away from the wood-line and stumbled through the wet undergrowth looking for a better place to set up. Yorik cursed again. He realized he would have to cross the bridge to get to a better place. Here he was too close to the stream to get good concealment - especially if this rain lets up. The rain stopped. They froze; they were meters away from the bridge, but worse, starring down the business end of the stopped Sothwyr in the road. Behind this they could just make out what appeared to be the infantry they were expecting to have ambushed. They could run for the bridge and hope they wouldn't be cut down, they could try to fire on the infantry behind the Sothwyr, but it was blocking much of their view, or they could run southwards, deeper into the woods -and away from the fight. Yorik had to make a decision, and fast...

The Sothwyr's turret swung left and right looking for the hidden foe; the E4 HMG remained menacingly silent. Yorik grabbed the collar of his gunner and tried to pull him deeper into cover. Just then the Sothwyr's indecision ended and a hail of lead lashed the trees around the hapless gun team. As Yorik was hit in the calf, the force caused him to pull his gunner down to the ground saving him from the lead storm that showered them in branches. His assistant gunner had already beat feet through the woods ahead of them. Yorik and his gunner followed dragging the heavy tripod between them. They reached the steep stream bank and followed it south away from the fighting. For now they were safe. 

The Sothwyr hesitated, still afraid to unbutton in the face of unseen dangers, he surveyed the destruction in front of him and decided to move closer to the bridge - and the waiting enemy. 

On the north road the 2nd section fled back into the cover of the wood; they had received their first taste of battle - it was not to their liking. They hunkered down, pretending not to hear the exhortations of their Yawdryl. They would wait and assess the situation for a while. 

Behind the barricades Kippo wrapped his wound and tried to bring some order to his ragged defense. The Longri brothers were nowhere to be seen, they were here just a few moments ago, Kippo would have to have words with their father when (if) he got back. 

On the road, emboldened by the noisy Sothwyr demonstration, the 1st Section picked up the pace and followed (very closely) behind the armored car;  until, clouds of choking exhaust smoke poured out of it as it bolted forward, leaving them all a little nonplussed, mobbed together, and terribly exposed. 

The Sothwyr crept closer to the bridge, awaiting support, he stopped and went on the defensive, fearing crossing without infantry support. [The colored cotton balls are used to show various things in the game - blue, green, and no marker represent Defensive Mode, Confused Mode, and Advance Mode respectively. Red means killed, Pink wounded, Black broken or routed, Yellow is a Petrolatum Bomb, and Purple means Hero (no Morale Checks -can be for an individual or a Section].

Yelling down to his driver, to hold position, the Sothwyr commander attempted to peer down his periscope to see if there were enemy lining the banks up ahead. Instead, he was rocked back in his seat as the Sothwyr lurched forward again racing for the bridge. His driver, hard of hearing from years of working with vehicle engines, had misheard. 

 "Stop, you moth-eared imbecile! Stop!" This the driver heard, clanking to a stop a few meters from the bridge. Ulgrum and Sven-Tor could not believe their luck. Tucked under the bridge, out of the earlier rain, sure they hadn't confused their petrolatum bombs for their home made murkberry brandy, they heard the vehicle , which they had seen creep towards their position by taking a peek every now and then, stop, engine rumbling a feet meters away.  They stuffed petrolatum soaked rags into their bottles and prepared to light them off Ulgrum's pipe which he was puffing furiously on to create a spark. 

 "You first, my lad, my bones are too cold to move in this weather - up and at 'em"  Ulgrum touched the rag with the pipe, Sven-Tor nodded ran up the bank clutching his lit bottle. From a few meters away he couldn't miss...Until he saw the entire Crusader Army (at least in his mind) just down the road to his left. They, though, unbeknownst to Sven-Tor had not spotted him. He hurled the bottle with more strength and less finesse than he ought, sending it arcing over the helpless Sothwyr. It hit the opposite side of the road and exploded in a mess of glass and home made brandy. "Crickey". 
Sven-Tor stood there transfixed. 

 "Out of the way, lad." Ulgrum lit his bottle, tapped out his pipe, sighed, shaking his head as Sven-Tor shrugged defensively. Ulgrum, casually tossed the bottle onto the Sothwyr, grabbed Sven-Tor by the sleeve and yelled "Leg it!" [rolled a 10 to damage and had a double phase so could run away]. They sprinted over the bridge before the Crusader infantry could react. The effect on the Sothwyr was catastrophic. The concoction had hit the front glacis blinding the commander and pouring into the driver compartment. Thick, choking smoke filled the cabin. The commander didn't need to tell his loader to follow him out of the hatch as the two sooty crew rolled to the ground before the vehicle became an inferno. The moth-eared driver mercifully did not last long. 

"Hey! Look!"  a Crusader Squad member pointed at the conflagration, quite unnecessarily. Hynar, rolled his eyes, looked down and shook his head. "Move it, First Section!' he yelled. It looked like the bridge was completely blocked now, and he had no idea what his Second Section was getting up to. Shots and cheers chased the fleeing Sothwyr crew from behind a bramble thicket across the river, covering Sven-Tor and Ulgrum's miraculous escape.

Crusader training and anger took over. Elements of First Squad lined the opposite river bank and lay down effective fire on the jubilant militia behind the thicket. Killing one and wounding two others. The survivors fled for the hedge behind them to resist the enemy crossing. Some, however,  kept going. 

Meanwhile Yorik felt like the tale of this heroic defense needed to be told as he led his section along the river bank, away from the fight, to safety.

At the barricade things were not going any better for the Naedian Militia. Though they had held the Crusaders at bay, sending them running away or to ground with every volley, they were confused, and down to one or two Quar effectives. Jantus Hraf, in the house, choked back tears - these were his neighbors and friends. He had seen the wounding and death of his kithood friend, Kippo. He could not suffer any more to die. He shouted to the two cowering kits outside the house to go up the hill and wait there.  He was about to try to order the others back too when shooting erupted from the window facing the bridge. "Here they come!" 

The Crusaders prepared for another rush against the barricade, just as the  First Section found a path around the flaming wreckage, pulled themselves over the bridge parapet and ran hell-for-leather towards the house and hill - their objectives. [As captured by this Naedian Scout Kite (unfortunately unarmed) - Special Event -Plane shows up slowing down the Crusader advance for one turn]. Here we see the rifle team of First Squad racing across the bridge. They have just been fired upon, very effectively, from the building, dropping the lead Quar but in an ensuing Morale Test the Section goes 'Heroic'. The Quar at the barricade have fled, as the Crusaders move forward under cover of their machine gun. 

The Second Section finally reaches the abandoned barricade and starts trading shots with Jantus' Miltia. The Machine Gun tears through the old wooden building causing panic inside, and death to the fleeing Quar, outside. 

[Stylized view of the building. Jantus is by the door with four other Quar -one wounded by Second Sections MG. Two Quar are at another window facing the barricade, and one Quar is wounded,and one dead by the window facing the bridge -gunned down by the machine gun team across the stream covering First Section's mad rush.]

Not stopping to fire, First Section's mad rush takes them into close combat with the militia guarding the bridge. SMG fire rips into Ulgrum as he takes the brunt of the assault, Sven-Tor is wounding by bayonet and hobbles to the rear. Though dead or grievously wounded, these two also wounded both the Assistant Yawdrawl and the Yawdrawl in the melee, holding up the Section and giving time for his fellow Quar to attempt to escape down the road. Sven-Tor will have to tell his Aunt of his Uncle's heroics if he can escape this carnage. 

At the barricade, Yist steadies his H11a on the barricade and lets loose steady 6 round bursts into the house. Fire comes back, wounding a Quar that got too far out of cover, but the weight of fire is beginning to tell. 

The bridge situation is beginning to crumble as the command group now crosses. Though the wounded Quar at the window keeps the heads down of First Section allowing Militia (including Sven-Tor) to escape, the end is seemingly near. A final burst of HS11a fire from the covering MG team and the wounded Quar spins backwards onto the floor.

Jantus makes a quick decision. Having more of his kith and kin die here would be useless. They will melt away into the forest and fight from there. Leaving the dead, he opens the trap door that his cousin's grandfather installed when he smuggled Murkberry Brandy back in better times and hurries his militia out. Frith refuses to go. He points to a gut wound. Both know he's done for. "I'll cover you. Go now, you old fool". Jantus could only nod curtly. They will emerge behind the hill and melt away leaving the Invaders incredulous when they realized that they had  faced only three Quar in the building. 

The last of the heroic bridge defenders flee. Their first test of battle, but not their last. They live to fight in the Forests of Naedian - but that's a later story. 

The victorious 12th Catrawd of the 196th have also been battle-tested. Though shaky at times they proved their mettle and swept aside the rebellious Naedians. Though if they were honest with themselves, they would realize that these were just militia - farmers, foresters and fisherquar and they should have fared better. But victory and survival have a way of clouding better judgement. Only Hynar sensed what lay ahead -short days and cold nights of continuous battle with no end in sight and no succor besides rest, for the dead. 

North of Ry'al, Paramarines of the Crusader Air Fleet Infantry land to block reinforcements from coming down the Gud-Drabsal Valley. The fight now goes there. In the Campaign the Crusaders scored 5pts for winning the battle, the Naedians lost 11 Quar killed or heavily wounded, -11pts, and the Crusaders lost 7 Quar. The Crusaders go into the next fight with a +9 advantage. 

In a far away nondescript place, Quar have died, perhaps for no reason. Such is the agony and monotony of Quar history.