Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-39133133-20200423205640/@comment-35614398-20200504193629

UK May-Aug 1917

- Prime Minister Lloyd-George announces before a crowd of reporters the American attack on Scotland. He confidently downplays the American invasion. "Whatever the power of the American force may be, we are the masters of warfare. Our cavalry, our cannons, our planes and our ships are the best in the world. This is nothing for anyone to be concerned about."

The Home Front:

- The failure by the Americans to capture the Faroe, Orkney or Shetland Islands gives the Allies plenty of forward naval and air bases, plus Britain itself. Ship after ship of American soldiers is sunk by British destroyers, submarines and naval bombers. the bodies of American marines turn up on beaches as far away as the Netherlands.

- Contrary to American propoganda, the landings at Elgin are a complete failure. After being bombarded by coastal batteries along the Caithness coast, the surviving American troops come ashore in the face of machine gun installations and mustard gas, which chokes and kills hundreds of the landing troops. After ten exhausting hours pinned down on the beach - crouched in foxholes in soaked uniforms, lungs burning and skin blistered from mustard gas, surrounded by dead soldiers - the surviving American force, less than a tenth of what landed, surrenders and is captured.

- Much like the Italian campaign in WWII, the invasion of Scotland will not be easy sweeping. The American landing forces fight for a beachhead against admittedly undermanned Scottish forces. After finally securing a perimeter, the Americans push south but are rebuffed by a fierce Scottish defence along the River Oykel, which is soon reinforced by the armies of the Home Guard carted up from the Antonine Wall. In the subsequent months as the Americans push down through Scotland, they meet mountainside bunkers, gas attacks, strafes by planes and determined counteroffensives by the British. By August, the Americans have only reached the River Conon, though back in the States American media lies about having reached Arbroath and Oban already.

- Desperate times call for desperate measures, and so the opportunity to enlist is offered to women, and the age limit raised to 65. The new "Womens' Legions" flood north to reinforce Scottish forces.

The Western Front:

- The victory at Messines preludes a frantic push east as the British scramble to take advantage of the hole in the German lines. Forward squadrons of tanks are able to reach Roeselare before the Germans get the situation under control, creating a salient that threatens to overrun the Germans at Passchendaele. This provokes the Germans to withdraw, and the British achieve an admittedly hollow victory at Passchendaele. Thousands of bodies lie in unknown and unmarked graves amongst the mud of Ypres. At home, British press hail this as the offensive that marks the beginning of the end of the war.

- In the central front line, the Allies continue to press the initiative, but their ambitious plan to reach Rochefort seems doomed to fail as yet another attempt to take Gedinne fails against stalwart German resistance. Both sides grow tired.

- In the southern front, British forces are recalled to aid in the Home Front, leaving the Swiss and French to defend the progress made at the River Rhine. Predictably all advances end. More north, the French continue their counteroffensive from Verdun, with the aim of driving the Germans from Verdun and back across the Moselle River, perhaps even liberating Luxembourg.

The Balkan Front:

- At the coast, Portuguese forces take Mount Cika, but still are held up at Kendrevices. An increasing number of Greek soldiers are being recalled to aid in the defence of Paralia, and this further frustrates attempts to continue the advance north.

- Stalemate at the central frontline.

- In the east, continued Turkish assaults buckle the Paralia defence line. The British and Greeks withdraw now to the Mount Olympus mountain range, surely a challenge for any attacker.

The Middle East Front:

- “MECCA FALLS” scream the newspapers, but this is far from the truth. True, Ottoman military forces have now been kicked out of the city, continuing resistance in the outskirts of the desert. However, the city is in anarchy. Civilians fight openly with the invaders. Building are burnt down, cars are overturned and camels and horses slain. Numerous public executions which the British generals believe may reinstall order serve only to fan the flames of outrage.

- The Battle of Medina turns in favour of the Ottomans as a largely civilian-lead counteroffensive retakes the city centre. The Anzac commander General Hamilton holds off on using the mustard gas given to him, not wishing to perpetrate a war crime by slaughtering civilians. Increasingly however the distinction between fighter and civilian is blurred.

- Order is restored in Nazareth, though the damage is already done and the Ottomans have retaken much of the last year’s progress. The British again find themselves fighting for Haifa.

American Front

- The defence of the Avalon Peninsula continues. If FloweyFan READ MY GODDAMN TURNS he’d see that I only control that bit of Newfoundland.

- The British mine the waters around the peninsula to try and prevent American ships from intercepting the British reinforcements.

- Emboldened by the lack of a response, further raids are carried out on the Gulf Coast. In one attack the bridges to Key West are destroyed and the city bombed heavily. The naval base at Galveston TX is bombed and burns partly down.

Other stuff

- The five other aircraft carriers are launched. Two go to the Mediterranean, two to the North Sea and one to patrol the Atlantic alongside destroyers and stuff.