Between the hills, and surrounded by small patches of broadleaf forest, lay the meadow. A quiet place; good grazing land; peaceful. Peaceful that was until the grizzled commander Piotr, general of the Covenant’s armoured battle group Seleucus, decided to stop running and turned to face the might of the Kingdom of Britannia.
Sealed orders had brought him this far, and his actions as a result had fired the anger of the British High Command. He had hoped to meet the second detachment, or at worst, make the coast and escape, his mission accomplished, but the British had been quicker to respond than he had planned, and like a horde of bees had descended on him full of blind fury. If he could beat them back here, he might be able to limp away and escape, if not… Field Commander Piotr had done his duty, and the orders he had satisfied would set more cogs spinning in the ever more deadly and complex machinery of international relations the Covenant were trying to steer. Either way he would be successful, but he would rather taste the success back at home in Antarctica, than go to his grave knowing it done.
Rising from his oak chair at the head of the grand strategy table in his Archimedes class heavy walker he raised his flask silently. Officers from across the battle group stood in accompaniment, raising theirs in response. No words were required, all that could be said had been; only action remained. He drained his flask, turned, and gazed out the bay windows across the meadows below. Today would mark the ascendancy or the termination of a glittering career, alea jacta est.
*****
The Covenant line up… across the fields the armoured might of the Kingdom of Britannia roll into position…
The Kingdom of Britannia Cromwell bombards open fire, raining shells down on the Covenant Atticus walkers…
Quick to respond, the Atticus walkers move into position and lay down fire on the Bombards. The first casualty is dealt.
Kingdom of Britannia Terrier tanks roll forward, dealing significant damage to the Covenant Atticus walkers, destroying one and crippling the others.
A squadron of Xenophon class small walkers charge across the hill to engage the British Terriers. On the broken ground one unit of Xenophons is wrecked. The others manage to make it through and lay down fire on the Terriers…
On the flank, Kingdom of Britannia tiny fliers assault the second squadron of Atticus walkers… more wreckage litters the field.
With a squad of Terriers joining in, the Covenant left flank begins to crumble…
The middle of the battle field is carnage, as shells are traded and the dead mount up…
A salvo from the British Cromwells causes a critical hit on one of the Covenant bombards… a sturginium flare erupts, destroying the model and teleporting into the hill ahead of the squadron.
Shells rain in from all sides… the Atticus and Xenophon walkers manage to wipe out the British Cromwell bombards, and lay waste to the terrier squadron. The MkIIs finish off the Atticus in short order afterwards…
The center has become a killing field. More than 15 units have perished in the intense firefight…
The carnage across the battlefield is intense. Blows are traded on both sides and the balance of the engagement swings both ways. On the left flank the British MKIIs move into position, and the Sovereign Class Landship hoves into view…
Suffering under heavy fire, crippled by damage from salvo after salvo, General Piotr of the Covenant of Antarctica decides on a last ditch assault, he commands the Archimedes Heavy walker to engage the unit of British MKIIs. A barrage of cannon fire lays waste to most of the unit, but the last tank is engaged machine to machine, with the Covenant’s giant walker trying vainly to tear the tank apart with it’s claws.
This claw attack fails uselessly however, with the giant walker flailing like a power rangers villain, there are sparks aplenty… but little damage.
With the Sovereign finally clearing the hill and bearing down on the Archimedes, with fire from every British unit within range, with aerial assaults from the last of the British tiny fliers, the Archimedes finally succumbs.
General Piotr put up a valiant struggle, but in the end, and only by the narrowest of margins, the British win their revenge…
As the smoke begins to clear, it is obvious that losses have been significant and heavy on both sides… it was a close fought battle. And the British won in the end.
*****
As an aside, this game was fought with a little less than what comes in the Armoured Battle Group boxes for both the British and the Covenant, and I have to write, that it was one of the best games I’ve played.
I wasn’t overly interested in the land side of the game, I have to be honest, but this one battle changed my perspective entirely. In this game their was manoeuvring, damage, and destruction on an unprecedented scale, and it was fantastic. A great game! Thanks Juzzo – hopefully next game my Covenant manage to pull across the line as victors!
Cheers,
Giles.
Element270 