Prologue

FSA-occupied Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

The bulk of the Baton Rouge trundled along the well-worn patrol route,exhaust smoke enveloping the land ship like a morning fog.  General Tume had always enjoyed the mountains, and the Sierra Maestras were no exception.  He briskly walked along main deck, crew snapping salutes as he passed, he returned the gesture with a chuckle: “I thought we had agreed on no-salute Sunday.  Carry on.”

The young comms officer sprinted toward Josef, and tripped on the stair way.  She stopped once her shoulder slammed into Tume’s stomach, nearly sending him over the rail.  He took a moment to recover, then helped her to her feet.

“Wendy, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but slow it down. I have more than enough paperwork as it is, no need to add a near-miss report to it!  What’s the rush lass?”

She straightened her uniform and snapped to attention, trying to catch her breath: “S-s-s-ir” she stammered  “We’ve received an urgent communique from CINCARR and RADM MacCannon.”

She continued, “It seems the Prussian and Japanese coalition acquired technology that allowed ships to ‘jump’ locations, bypassing defenses.  His battlegroup was able to destroy most of the fleet support, but not before an invasion force made it past the defense network, and they are heading straight for Guantanimo Bay and Fort Duley.”

Tume took a long, slow drag from his pipe and headed toward the nearest vocalizer:

“BATTLESTATIONS!  A vanguard of Prussian and Japanese warships are approaching Guantanimo with ill-intent.  Their fleet support has been cut-off, but stay alert and remember your training. Foes are most dangerous when cornered.”

The claxons rang out and the Baton Rouge steamed towards the fort.

SMS Brandenburg, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

The sleek, deadly shape of the Brandenburg glided through the pre-dawn darkness almost effortlessly. From his bridge, Vizeadmiral Hans Von Koester cut an imposing figure, with his rough features barely constraining the aggressive eagerness he was known for. Suddenly, a messenger appeared at his elbow. “We have a communique from the Blazing Sun ground force commander, Herr Admiral” the messenger stated in professional, clipped tones. Koester arched one eyebrow as he stared down the messenger, replying, “Oh, do we? Very well, I’ll take it in my sea cabin.” As he left the bridge, the nervous messenger visibly relaxed.

Koester wrenched open the hatch to his cabin, shutting it behind him as he entered. Opening the small metal box on the starboard bulkhead of his cabin, he removed the small radio telephone handset concealed inside and keyed in his personal cypher. After a brief moment of static, he heard the accented German of General of the Sword Yamashita Nagano of the Blazing Sun Carribean Expiditionary Force, his ground force counterpart in this expedition. “Greetings and salutations, dear Admiral” the General began. “And to you, General,” Koester replied. He searched his memory for the appropriate Japanese greeting, finally coming up with it and adding “Ohiyou Goziamasu.” To be honest, Koester found all this fastidious attention to protocol rather tedious, but he had quickly learned that the level of cooperation he could expect from his Blazing Sun counterparts was directly proportional to the correctness of  his manners around them.

“Herr Admiral,” Nagano began, “My forces are fully manned and ready to disembark. Have you had any contact on American naval forces?” “We have not, Nagano-Kakka. My forces are likewise at full alert, and every sailor under my command will do their utmost to ensure the success of our glorious joint endeavor,” Koester replied. No sooner had Koester released the transmit button on his handset then a voice from the gleaming brass voice tube in the overhead of Koester’s cabin that led from the bridge alerted him to the fact that American cruisers had been spotted on the horizon. Keying the transmit button once more, Koester  stated “Correction, Nagano-Kakka; we have sighted American ships and will be moving to engage presently. I fear I must go now.” Koester didn’t wait for a reply from the Japanese general before he returned the handset to its box and raced for the bridge.

Introduction

Andy: At long last, we have made it to Game 6! The long-threatened Japanese invasion of Cuba is about to begin. The last game didn’t go quite as planned for the Blazing Sun, but the overall score coming into this game is so close that it could still go either way. Time to storm the beach!

Matt:  It’s taken far too long to complete this write-up, but life gets a bit crazy when managing a 3 year old and newborn.  The previous game went very well for the FSA thanks to Andy’s dice coming up with a couple of clutch 1s for me.  The last time I was in control of a bunker Miami didn’t fair so well, hopefully Cuba will be a different story!

Forces

FSA (Matt)

Land Forces

• Group 1:
  • 1x Land Ship FSLS Baton Rouge
• Group 2:
  • 3x Medium Tanks
  • 3x Medium Tanks
  • 5x Small Tanks
• Group 3:
  • 5x Small Tanks
  • 3x Bombards
• Group 4:
  • Bunker Complex

Naval Forces

• Group 1:
  • 1x BB FSS Portsmouth
  • Reinforced Cruiser Squadron (2x Heavy Cruiser, 1x Gunship)
  • 4x Destroyers

EotBS Landing Force (Andy)

• Group 1:
  • Heavy Walker
  • Large Landing Barge
• Group 2
  • 3x Medium Walkers
  • Medium Landing Barge
• Group 3
  • 3x Hover Tanks
  • Medium Landing Barge
• Group 4
  • 3x Bombards
  • Medium Landing Barge
• Group 5
  • 5x Light Tanks
  • Small Landing Barge
• Group 6
  • 5x Light Tanks
  • Small Landing Barge

PE Naval Support Force (Andy)

• Kampfflotte Brandenburg
  • Elbe Fleet Carrier w/ 2x Escorts
  • Kaiser Karl Heavy Battleship
• Schnellgescwader Danube
  • Konigsberg Battlecruiser w/ 3x Escorts
  • 4x Frigates

Deployment

Andy: Although the Americans were required to deploy first, most of Matt’s forces were required to start off the table. That complicated my problem somewhat, since I wasn’t sure exactly what would show up where. So, I tried to put my carrier on one flank and my battleship on the other, hoping that would cover the bases. I put the landing force right on the line of their deployment zone, in an attempt to minimize the amount of time it would take the landing barges to reach the shore.

Matt: As Andy stated I had to deploy first, I had 3 units to deploy, and the scenario determined one of them.  My Naval reinforcements were showing up turn 1, and I could pick my fight(s).  Outside of that, I just had to hope my land units showed up when I needed them.  I rolled it up, the Baton Rouge would be arriving Turn 2, and group 2 would be arriving Turn 3.  Off we go!

Turn 1

Initiative: Andy

Andy: Although I  had initiative this turn, that really didn’t help me out much since Matt had enough activations to force me to move all my warships before he brought on his naval forces. I took a few shots at the small robots, downing one, and also managed to damage the large American bunker. In return, the bunker managed a critical hit on my battle cruiser, which resulted in a Hard Pounding. Matt’s battleship came on the board on what was arguably my weaker side, focusing on my carrier. On my left flank, his reinforced cruiser squadron managed to put a point of damage on my battleship. This reinforced cruiser squadron is a very dangerous unit; its proven to be a handful in previous games, so I knew I would have to deal with it ASAP.

Matt: My Naval reinforcements would get an alpha strike thanks to the disparity in activations, I decided to split my forces for a bit of a pincer move.  My Battleship and destroyers entered closest to me, and I sent the reinforced cruiser squadron on Andy’s side.  The mix of rockets and gunnery throughout my fleet would give me the ability to cover most of the board.

As it went in previous games, my Freedom robots proved to be a pretty lackluster unit.  We’ll go ahead and give them credit for lighting up the Konigsberg with tracer rounds and warming up my dice.  The rest of the turn went extremely well, the bunker landed a crit on the Heavy Cruiser. The rockets from my destroyers blotted out the sun, tagging the carrier with a chaos and disarray.  I suppose it’s hard to fight in the shade when you are floating in the ocean. =P

Turn 2

Initiative: Matt

Andy: Matt had the initiative, which enabled him to do significant damage to my battleship and large landing barge. I was able to do some damage to his cruisers in return, though they were definitely still combat effective. On the other flank, my carrier was getting pounded hard by the American battleship. I did have some success against Matt’s lighter units, however, downing the two remaining small robot flyers and a couple of the American destroyers.

Matt: I opened with my reinforced Cruiser squadron, I knew they were Andy’s priority number 1, so figured I would activate them while the activating was good.  As expected they put in work, but the dice definitely helped me out.  The gunnery landed a punishing crit on the Battleship, I followed up with a rocket barrage on the Battlecruiser, sinking it with a crit.  The combined fore guns landed a crit on the large landing barge.  Fort Duley put another couple of points of damage on the Carrier, and we exchanged some small ship kills

Turn 3

Initiative: Andy

Andy: The Blazing Sun made landfall at last! My small transports got close enough to drop my small tanks onto the beach, where they were quickly engaged by the American small tanks. Thanks to a mine detonation that destroyed one of the American tanks, I was able to hold my own! At sea, however, I was continuing to have troubles. My Prussian naval forces were getting cut to shreds between the combined hammering provided by Matt’s fleet and his fortifications ashore. I lost my fleet carrier, my battle cruiser, and one of the medium landers and its cargo of medium walkers!

Matt:  Andy had the first activation this turn and unloaded his first group of small tanks.  He had landed near the mines, but it would be easy enough for him to avoid them, so I took matters into my own hands.  I activated my squadron and drove one of my tokens into the closest mine, hoping to do some damage.  The only thing I succeeded in was destroying my own tank.  Luckily the rest of my squadron picked up the slack and knocked out 3 of the Blazing Sun tokens between guns and assault.

My reinforced cruiser squadron sailed around the rear of the Andy’s fleet and took whatever shots were available.

FSA battleships have always been good at dishing out the pain.  This time around, the Portsmouth sank the medium barge eliminating the Blazing Sun walkers.  My destroyers knocked out the remainder of Andy’s frigates.  Andy took what shots he could; I lost my last freedom, one of the bombards, a destroyer and the aforementioned tank token.

Turn 4

Andy: This turn, I got ashore in force. I managed to land my heavy walker and the squadron of Bombards. However, Matt managed to sink another heavy walker, which had my hover tanks on board, before it could unload. The Americans targeted my heavy walker, which promptly resulted in a critical hit that teleported it to the very doorstep of the American fort! It was soon downed by shots fired from Matt’s armored forces. Meanwhile, at sea, I managed to finish off Matt’s destroyers, but I was down to just a handful of escorts and my heavily damaged battleship.

Matt: This turn would end up being a pretty brutal affair for Andy, my remaining land forces would join the battle proper, and Ft. Duley was still in good shape.  The Blazing Sun would lose the two remaining small tanks from his original squad, combined fire from the Ft Duley and the Baton Rouge destroyed the large walker, and my medium tanks destroyed a bombard.  Three of my tank tokens were removed.

At this point, most of Andy’s naval forces were in bad shape, so I went after the barge, sinking it along with the hover tanks it was carrying.  I put the last couple of points of damage on the Elbe, it looked like the seas were firmly in control of the FSA.

Turn 5

Initiative: Andy

Andy: I was now heavily outnumbered at land and sea, but I was determined to make the best of the situation! My small tanks and bombards managed to take a toll on their American counterparts. At sea, my heavy battleship, which was prevented from boarding due to a Chaos & Disarray critical effect it had been suffering since Turn 1, attempted to make a last-ditch ramming attack on its American counterpart. However, the ram attack did no damage to Matt’s flagship, and instead my battleship lost it’s last hit point and sank!

Matt: Not much to note here, I knocked out a bombard and a pair of tank bases.  As you can see from Andy’s report above, things went from bad to worse as his Heavy BB managed to sink itself.  If nothing else, Koester went out on his terms rather than mine!

Turn 6

Andy: This was pretty much a sweep-up turn for Matt. He had no problems dealing with my remaining naval and ground forces in this turn.

Matt: Nothing to add.

Result

With a final total of 10 CP for Andy and 65 CP for Matt, this was a major victory for the Americans!

Post-Battle Thoughts

Andy: Whew! This was a tough scenario. While on the face of it, it seemed like I would have an advantage, what I forgot to take into account was the fact that Matt would be able to use his fort and his bombards from the start of the game, whereas my ground forces were just passengers until they were landed. In addition, the fact that Matt started most of his naval forces off the table worked in his advantage, as it made it difficult for me to predict where his forces were going to be and how to protect my vulnerable landing craft from them. On top of all that, I had really bad luck this game; every time I got a good number of AD together, I flubbed the rolls. Oh well! That’s just how it goes sometimes. It’s nothing a little bourbon can’t fix!

Matt: Andy and I had discussed this battle for a few minutes following the previous scenario, I was of the opinion that this was going to be a tough one for Andy, but dice so who knows?  As previous, we decided to to leave the scenario pretty much intact, adjusting forces where it made sense.  As in previous scenarios, the reinforced cruiser squadron were superstars.  Some of it was luck of the dice, but overall they are a very solid specialist group for the FSA.  The early hits on Andy’s large naval assets were clutch, as it really hampered the firepower they could bring to bear against my land units and Fort Duley.  This was a solid victory for the FSA, but at least Andy had some bourbon to fix it! =)

Conclusion

The complete destruction of the combined Prussian-Blazing Sun invasion force in Guantanamo Bay effectively brought to an end the Imperial Bond’s Caribbean Incursion. All sides had suffered greatly; the Imperial Bond lost a large number of capital ships, including 3 carriers and two heavy battleships. The Americans had also lost a large number of vessels, but perhaps the most grievous wound of all had been the near-complete annihilation of Miami. As the smoke cleared from the waters surrounding Cuba, it was nevertheless clear that the Americans had been successful in denying the Blazing Sun’s ambition to change the status quo in the Caribbean, at least for now.

Epilogue

Prussian Airship SZ8, Eastbound over the North Atlantic

The commanding officer’s cabin on board the SZ8 was fairly spartan, even by Prussian standards. Even so, Oberst Ewald Bruning could barely bring himself to leave it since the ship had received the news of Admiral Koester’s death, followed in short order  by orders from the Prussian High Command to depart the area of operations and return to Europe. Bruning felt the shame and grief of both losing his mentor and failing in his mission like a large stone hung from his neck. Standing up from his narrow bunk and looking at himself in the small mirror mounted on the bulkhead, he hardly recognized the man that looked back; a full day’s worth of beard growth, hollow-looking eyes, and a disheveled slept-in uniform were a far cry from his normal smart appearance. “This will never do,” he grunted to himself, as he bent down and pulled out his shaving kit from the cupboard beneath the mirror. A short time later, he was shaved and in a clean uniform as he emerged from his cabin and headed for the airship’s control gondola. Rather than become overwhelmed with his grief and self-pity, Brunning had instead decided to channel those emotions into a new determination. “We may have lost the Admiral, and we may have lost this battle, ” he said to himself. “But, this war is far from over, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to do my part to win it for the fatherland!”

FSLS Baton Rouge, East Coast, Guantanimo Bay Cuba

The smoke of battle mixed with misty morning fog.  The sun peaked over the Sierra Madres, shedding light on the chaos of the day’s events.  In their death throes, hulking forms belched smoke and filled the air with burning sturginium.  Josef stepped from the bridge into the morning air, stepping to the rail-mounted telescope to view the aftermath.  His crew performed admirably.  Thanks to the herculean efforts of Commader Wales and the FSA Navy, the Baton Rouge had taken a few hits, but remained largely undamaged.  The artillery and light tanks did not fare as well, but were integral in preventing the Blazing Sun from securing the beachhead.

The day was won, but Tume had a sinking feeling that, this would not be the last he heard from the Prussians or Japanese.  Perhaps this was only probing attack, designed to test the defenses, perhaps they had managed to get their hands on more than one jump orb.  What scared him most was the potential of the Covenant supporting the Coalition’s war efforts.  The most dangerous enemy is the one you can’t see…

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