Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-39133133-20200423205640/@comment-35614398-20200503110857

Right right ignore my last thing, I've changed my mind, the only good campaign is one stuck through to the end.

UK Jan-Apr 1917

Western Front:



- A major German assault caves in British and Swiss lines at Strasbourg, and the Central Powers advance a whole bunch of miles before their advance is halted at a line running from Belfort through Epinal to Nancy and Verdun.

- In the Sedan area, British and French troops finally take Charleville after four months of heavy fighting. With a foothold over the Meuse now secured, the Allies attempt to advance and liberate Belgium, but predictably fighting devolves into trench warfare south of the town of Gedinne.

- At the coast, battle for the Somme remains as fierce and brutal as ever. The Allies cling on doggedly to western Belgium, and fierce fighting takes place at Ostend, where the British first use the newly developed Mustard Gas, to great effect.

Balkan Front:

- Despite the arrival of several Portuguese divisions, the Allies find themselves forced out of Thessaloniki. A managed retreat stops at the small port of Paralia, the town chosen to be the new defensive point, and the battle rages on.

- Greek resistance against attacking Danubian forces at the town of Kozani is fierce. An initial Danubian breakthrough is plugged by the timely arrival of several newly designed Mark IV tanks, and the Greeks retake the town to continue the defence of their homeland.

- A Greek/Portuguese assault at Sarande drives off Danubian forces, but then grinds to a halt in the Mt. Cika/Mt. Kendrevices area against dug in Jagdkommandos.

Middle Eastern Front:

- The situation in the Middle East is complex; Militarily and strategically, the Allies are winning, with numerous technological advantages and numerical superiority allowing the British to gradually take the city. HOWEVER, ideologically the British are being crushed. Public support in occupied Arabia has dropped through the floor; the complete destruction of Jeddah - which has some critics muttering darkly about war crimes - coupled with the continuing destruction of Mecca and Medina has Islamic communities across the empire outraged. The British forces in Arabia face constant attacks by Muslim peasants as well as sabotage and general disruption. Insurrection brews in Islamic colonies, especially Pakistan and Sudan. At this rate, the British need a victory quick, or may face a political defeat.

- Mark IV tanks and Mustard Gas champion Omani and Indian offensives in Mecca. British tanks reach the Great Mosque of Mecca, and British generals are photographed in front of the Kaaba (the holy Black Cube has been evacuated from the city by Ottoman Bedouins, who fled into the desert north to Baghdad). The Ottomans stick doggedly on to the north of the city.

- At Medina, Anzac forces fight furiously for every block against fanatical Ottoman resistance. A New Zealand battalion is cut off from its unit in the city centre and massacred by a mob of furious Muslims. By March, the Prophet's Mosque has been overrun, with Ottoman forces still inside. These troops, who go down in Islamic scriptures as the 403 Martyrs, defend the holy mosque for two weeks to the last man.

- An uprising of Ottoman peasants in Nazareth cuts off supply lines long enough to make a difference: Ottoman troops drive the British out of Tyre and back to Acre, the latter losing an entire squadron of tanks when they became encircled and destroyed. An army of mostly Colonial troops, which has by now overrun most of the Transjordan, reaches Al-Qurayyat

North America and the Atlantic/Med:

- The Battle of Avalon continues as the Americans throw thousands of troops at the Canadian defensive lines. American offensives breach the first fortification line in February, though advance only a few kilometres before reaching the next line.

- Mainly Irish reinforcements make the dangerous crossing to reinforce Avalon. 1 in 5 transports are sunk either travelling to or from the peninsula. A cargo ship carrying two regiments of tanks is torpedoed and sunk on Newfoundland Bank, also costing the lives of 1200 crew and soldiers.

- Test trials in February for the first British aircraft carrier, HMS Courageous, are a success, and in April the ship goes into service manning the North Sea blockade, with nine other aircraft carriers in construction.

- An incident involving a Danubian cargo ship and a Portuguese war vessel ends in the loss of 3000 Danubian lives. Britain stresses that any ships attempting to run the Adriatic blockade, military or otherwise, will be boarded or sunk. The same goes for the North Sea one. The ultimate aim of the blockades is to starve the Central Powers into submission, which does sound kind of harsh when you think about it but it happened both world wars so I don't know

- Discreetly, as not to cause a panic, things of historical value or economic significance or moved south from Scotland, and previously overlooked forts and roads in the region are refurnished. Work begins on turning the Antonine into a fortified line.

Right that's it that's the turn.