Rolled 6 (1d100)

Winnifred nodded solemnly. “As long as you are certain of the face you want to present. The Revolutionaries may lack for complex morality, but their sort makes them dangerous in scenarios such as this. Their actions are simple, but unpredictable to a mind not poisoned by do or die ideology. They will not easily show weakness, not if they believe that no matter what, the ends justify the means.”

“I don’t think they’re harder than the Fallschirmjäger, no matter how much faith they have in their kooky idea of a Greater Vitelia,” you replied haughtily, before getting back to the Sergeant. “Dohdt. I’ve got a few more questions I want you to ask those villagers, slowly, who they were expecting again. I want a clear, real answer, not just you or whatever they said last time. The chances that the RAGV knew enough ahead of time to set this up just for this are about as much as it raining eels.”

“…Alright, I’ll ask, and get a firm answer,” Dohdt said uncertainly. You didn’t know if his nature was better or worse suited for a scout; he at least didn’t seem the sort to charge off and fight on his own. A few minutes passed; minutes spent anxiously looking about for any potential attack. If the RAGV did have an idea somebody could be coming, it was just as likely that they were using this delay to set up a well prepared attack. Thankfully, Dohdt returned to the radio before any such attack sprang. “They uh…” he started again, “They said…they don’t want to say. Just that the people in the village know who we are.”

“Right then,” you sighed, “Tell them they have ten minutes to tell the Revolutionaries to leave the village and all its people behind, or the place will get leveled by artillery. Wolfe, are you listening?”

“Sir.” Eidan Wolfe, your designated forward observer for the Aristocratic Union’s artillery, responded to your call.

“I want a creeping barrage steadily coming towards the village in two minutes. They’ll know we’re serious if we have ordinance coming down. West-southwest then towards the place; I want that thing coming from well away from us. You have the coordinates on the map, right?”

“I do,” Eidan replied, “But I’ll come up to a spotting position anyways. Two minutes, yes?”

“Yeah. Good.” You replied, then sat back to wait; rather, to wait while your driver took you and the other following formations closer north. From there you would have a better view of things as you could join the scouts, and part of your formation at least would be in a position to quickly react, whether you had to attack, or if there was an opening with which to dart about in.

As you were proceeding along, the crash of artillery came down; large, fifteen centimeter guns, their shells howling before incarnating their hate upon their unfortunate target…rather north of where you expected.

“Captain!” Dohdt near shouted into the radio, panicked, “Th-the village..!”

“What about the village?” you demanded.

“It just…” Another set of explosions. “Again!” he cried, “It’s been hit again!” A third set of distant hammer blows upon the earth, then a fourth. “Captain, sir, we need to…it’s wrecked. Almost all the houses, they were wood…the Revolutionaries,”

“The Revolutionaries?” Wolfe pursued, Dohdt apparently not speaking quickly enough.

“It looks like a lot of them were caught off guard. A couple of the tanks got hit real bad, and they’re…really reeling. But, the village..!”

>What could be done? Advance your unit and wipe out what was left.
>Not intended, but if the enemy was reeling, there was an opening. See if you could slip everybody around the area without being engaged.
>That wasn’t what you ordered. At all. The unit would hold for now; you had to deal with something. (What?)
>Other?

>Past Threads Archive Pastebin (Luftpanzer is at the top): https://pastebin.com/UagT0hnh
>twitter is @scheissfunker for updates and announcements.

>>3051183
>What could be done? Advance your unit and wipe out what was left.

If that strike hit them as hard as it seems like it did, we might as well attack with the advantage. Maybe we can even get some answers to what’s going on here. At the very least we won’t have to worry about any elements from her following us if we do.

>>3051183
>>What could be done? Advance your unit and wipe out what was left.
Must as well. We don't have to kill them the last man though, if they decide to retreat let's just get on our way.

>>3051183
>>What could be done? Advance your unit and wipe out what was left.
Was that roll just now for shell dispersion?

>>3051183
>>What could be done? Advance your unit and wipe out what was left.

Dammit, not what we ordered. We'll have to find out if this was Wolfe fucking up or the Bluebloods fucking us over.

Also this is probably the only chance to save anyone stuck in the wreckage or chase off the RAGVie.

I am here. An unexpected opportunity? Why not take it? Making preparations now.

>>3051952
It was for accuracy yes. Low rolls better.

>>3051982
>Dammit, not what we ordered.

Indeed not.

Wondering if Wolfe purposely ordered the shelling of the village because the RAGV was there

Hey, so sorry for the delay, I'll have something out soon, but not what I was originally planning. I was hoping to get the rules out next update, but as it turns out, working on rules is tedious and makes me want to die, so that's been...slow. So I'll write something, and thus want to die a bit less, and you can do something other than wait for me to screw my head back on. Bit of a change in plans, but not much of one.

You weren’t pleased by this outcome. It hadn’t been what you ordered- at all. Though now it was done, and if you delayed at all, you’d be handing the advantage to an enemy you’d loathe to show any favor to. “Covacs, Lieutenant Alterwald, I need both of you to rush up to Dohdt’s position immediately and prepare to attack the village and wipe out what’s left. The rest of the unit will follow behind, but from the numbers we heard earlier, you should be enough to deal with what’s there. Hurry, they won’t be punch drunk for long.”

Affirmatives were forthcoming, and as you had linked yourself to 2nd and 3rd platoon, led by Sergeant Schneider and Lieutenant Fischer respectively, you set yourself to reviewing terrain coming up, thinking about the situation, and perhaps more importantly; finding out what happened. If anything, your command had been clear to not simply immediately shell the village, yet this had happened. Who could be at fault, then? Did Eidan Wolfe screw up, like your trusted friend and officer Bartholomeu had, in the wake of the shock of losing somebody close to them? Or had the Aristocratic Union interfered, seeing a politically expedient target to erase with an easy excuse? Or worse, had it been a result of some trickery by the traitor Dolcherr had speculated on, still looming over you?

“Captain?” Sergeant Dohdt called for you once more, nervously, “The uh, villagers, that met with us. They ran off.”

“What do you mean, they ran off?” you asked back, “They just ran away as soon as the shells came down?”

“Er, yeah,” Dohdt said, “Should we…should we move?”

“Is there any reason you should move?”

“Well…I dunno.”

“Then don’t. Covacs and Alterwald will link up with you, then you can start your attack.” Once more, the Halmeggian army’s training was present but their lack of action made them lacking in confidence, uncertain, and slow to act on their own initiative. It gave you some cold comfort that Owl 3 had told you that Lieutenant Alterwald, said to be one of the Duke Di Vitelstadt’s personal dogs, was likely actually from Strossvald. Strossvald could be accused of many things, but its armies were hardened and skilled from the fights they constantly got into.

Alterwald aside, him being plenty suspicious but probably not a threat, you requested Eidan Wolfe on the net; she would be with the communications vehicle. When time came for a frontline fight, she’d probably be with Alterwald’s vehicle or manning a field telephone with one of the infantry units. As a forward observer, she would be one of the few able to properly correct artillery on how to adjust their fire, were it to be off target. Such as it apparently was here…or was it on target without you knowing?

“Pfc. Wolfe,” you addressed the forward observer, ”I was clear on where the artillery should drop, right? Not on top of the village? Was that relayed correctly?”

A moment of hesitation came before she responded. “…Yeah. You were. Maybe it got mixed up being transferred to the fire control. But if you ask me, those villagers were pretty suspicious. They just ran off instead of complaining- maybe it was all just a trap all along, and there weren’t any villagers. None that weren’t revolutionaries, at least.”

>That doesn’t matter. I want the artillery where and when I want it, not where they think is best. Remind them of that, and that I won’t be calling on any support if all that’s coming in is based on a matter of opinion.
>A fair suspicion. But I still want my requests made clear to Fire Control next time, and to not do any fire missions until I’m sure they know what I want and not what they think I want.
>It’d be awfully convenient if they turned out to all be revolutionaries, wouldn’t it? But what if they weren’t, Wolfe? If I call this Fire Control center myself, would they agree that they made a mistake or would they tell me a different story?
>Other?

>>3054131
>>That doesn’t matter. I want the artillery where and when I want it, not where they think is best. Remind them of that, and that I won’t be calling on any support if all that’s coming in is based on a matter of opinion.

If they start getting creative with my orders again I'm going to command them to aim 180 degrees in the air and to continue firing until nature runs its course.

We should question her, but not on the net. At some point in private, it will be much easier to see if she's lying then.

>>3054131
>>A fair suspicion. But I still want my requests made clear to Fire Control next time, and to not do any fire missions until I’m sure they know what I want and not what they think I want.

I kinda hope the order was changed up somewhere, the level of incompetence on display if this is the result of our actual order is much more disturbing.

>>3054131
>>A fair suspicion. But I still want my requests made clear to Fire Control next time, and to not do any fire missions until I’m sure they know what I want and not what they think I want.

>>3054131
>It’d be awfully convenient if they turned out to all be revolutionaries, wouldn’t it? But what if they weren’t, Wolfe? If I call this Fire Control center myself, would they agree that they made a mistake or would they tell me a different story?

>>3054131
>>It’d be awfully convenient if they turned out to all be revolutionaries, wouldn’t it? But what if they weren’t, Wolfe? If I call this Fire Control center myself, would they agree that they made a mistake or would they tell me a different story?

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Well that was awkward timing. Oh well!

Anyways I finally have a (second draft) of my rules ready. I'll go ahead and post them here; we'll have a good test for them coming up right away. If you have any questions or things that need to be specified, go on and ask them. This is, after all, a quite messy draft.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZvO-v_JnTO6bhSbsI9nUg8jhlqVowFR_/view?usp=sharing
You'll want to zoom in some

If you don't really want to check them out, don't worry about it; I won't say you need to know what's going on under the hood to make an educated decision on what to do, because most of the time such is quite likely to not be the case, and I'll make the moves for you. However, this is meant for there to be a concrete baseline for how things actually work; even if it's primarily for my benefit as to keep things consistent.

Anyways, I'll roll off this vote as to move things along (Why I didn't lock things in earlier considering the length of time I delayed...well, I'm silly)

1-A fair suspicion; don't put Wolfe on the spot.
2-It'd be awfully convenient; pressure Wolfe

“A fair suspicion,” you admitted; the villagers had been quite suspicious. Wasn’t it more likely for Wolfe’s theory to be the case? “But I still want my requests made clear to Fire Control next time, and to not do any fire missions until I’m sure they know what I want and not what they think I want.” Not that you weren’t suspicious of Wolfe, of course, but there would be a time and place to question her; that place was not on an open radio network. “Alterwald, how close are you to linking up with Dohdt?”

“Close enough,” Alterwald said dismissively, almost tiredly. “This terrain looks troublesome. We can count on swift reinforcement should we encounter trouble, right. Not that I’m not thrilled to be a meat shield.”

“Careful, you might give the Captain ideas,” Covacs said drily.

“We’ll be right behind you lot.” You reassured both of them, “But the risk of something coming in between us is just as much as anything lurking in the woods. The important part is we get a forceful presence moving on that target. Speaking of which. Dohdt. Can you see anything else out there? How about the status of the anti-tank guns in the village?”

“Uh, it looks like….most of them got messed up. A lot.” The uneasy scout sergeant reported, “I see one that one person’s looking at…I guess that’s what they’ll have. A couple of the tanks don’t look too bad off, but that’s only a couple, and we’ve got a lot…you don’t want me to go and get that, right?”

“Not yet, at least,” you said, trying to parse where on the map things would be. “Hey, honey,” you said to Owl 3, “You know the lay of the land decently, right? We’re here, not here, yeah? Alright, good.”

File: lp_villagefight1.jpg (1.2 MB, 2000x2000)

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Of course, you’d mostly be guessing at where your troops were, as well as any of the enemy’s, but you trusted your people to know what to do. The Halmeggians, on the other hand..? You’d have to see. Hopefully your opening event together wouldn’t be a disaster.

“Alterwald’s right,” Covacs spoke up, “This place is thick with woods. Can’t see too well into it from this hill, and especially not with it being as dark as it is. I don’t like the looks of them. There’s a lot of space to hide in those woods.”

“Could any impressive force hide in such, though?” Fischer asked, “A careful approach may allow the enemy time to recover. If any are foolish enough to attack, dare you not let them impale themselves upon you?”

“You can come up and impale yourself here, Fischer,” Covacs retorted harshly, “Not all of us can charge off as we please and come out just fine. You’ll have to trust that I’d rather not take your advice with these woods around.”

“What a great sense of unity the esteemed tankers of the Reich have.” Alterwald felt the need to comment.

“Nobody asked you.” Covacs snapped to that. “Unless this enemy is so weak that you Halmeggians feel the need to prove yourselves. I can cover your asses just fine from the edge of the hill, I think.”

>I agree with Fischer. Go right on up there, all of you; if anything comes up on you, then we won’t be far behind.
>Good idea. Alterwald and Dohdt, go up and finish off those enemies. It should be easy an easy first blood for you. Covacs will give you support.
>I don’t like the terrain either, to be honest. Advance, but do it slowly. We’ll gain on you in the meantime.
>Other?

File: companyplus_org.png (2.55 MB, 3000x1875)

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>>3057360
And since I know the text on those unit cards is going to be tiny, I'll reupload your company plus's stat card info.

>>3057360
>I don’t like the terrain either, to be honest. Advance, but do it slowly. We’ll gain on you in the meantime.

>>3057360
>>I don’t like the terrain either, to be honest. Advance, but do it slowly. We’ll gain on you in the meantime.

>>3057360
Might as well shell them once more while we advance slowly towards the town.

Actually why are we assaulting the town, regroup shell them again and breakthrough by that gap to the east of the town.

See if Dohdt can creep into the woods to his north east and get eyes on that hill and that group of buildings.

>>3057360
>I agree with Fischer. Go right on up there, all of you; if anything comes up on you, then we won’t be far behind.
>Other

“If the forest looks too scary, put some white smoke where you are worrying about Covacs. We will have support for you soon enough.”

We can probably call in artillery again, but Im not sure there still aren't real civilians in that town.

>>3057360
>I don’t like the terrain either, to be honest. Advance, but do it slowly. We’ll gain on you in the meantime.

Hell we could probably try the arty trick FOR REAL this time especially if we make it seem like we have no end to it just get them to run away.

>>3057360
>>I don’t like the terrain either, to be honest. Advance, but do it slowly. We’ll gain on you in the meantime.
If our artillery support has WP shells of their own, just set the woods on fire if there's any serious resistance.

I am up and at things now. Time to get things moving proper once more.

Choice looks to be to go slow and steady; potential trickery with artillery? Opinions on calling it down on the town again vary; we'll throw that up for vote next time due to concern of remaining civilians.

>>3057958
They wouldn't normally use those, no, but if you have a large and broad target you do have access to twin engine level bombers loitering about on high.

“I don’t like the terrain either, to be honest,” you shared Covacs’s sentiment as you scratched your chin and grimaced at the map. “Advance, but do it slowly. We’ll gain on you in the meantime. Sergeant Dohdt, there should be woods to your northeast, right? Go poke around in there. See if you hear or see anything, won’t you?”

“Okay, but…”

“You know what to do if you run into trouble.” You added quickly. “Alterwald and Covacs, go ahead and advance north.”

“We should arrive shortly at a small wood,” Alterwald put forward, “Those should guard us from flanking fire rather well, should we enter it. It will also allow us to put the village between ourselves and those large woods to the east.”

“It’ll also mean we might attract attention quicker from the west,” Covacs added, “There’s a space between the woods here where we can get fire over most of what’s in the clearing, and our flanks’ll be decently covered too from the obstruction.”

Both were alright proposals; though you lacked the information to make a well-educated opinion on which advice to follow. Instead, you waited for Dohdt’s report, making sure he didn’t forget to say it by nagging on him every minute or so until he responded.

“I think the people in the town know we’re coming now,” Dohdt said nervously, “I can see one of the groups aiming their gun this way…we’re out of its accurate range, I think. It’d take a good shot to get us, and we can probably run before they can get that.”

“Good,” you replied, “Though do you think you can shoot first, maybe?”

“Well, we’ve bigger guns, so, I guess.” Dohdt said uncertainly. “But…I hear…something moving around. Something with big motors, to the north east more. Maybe armored cars, dunno how many.”

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“On the note of spotted enemies,” Alterwald started speaking over Dohdt, “My huntress has spotted activity in the woods I told you would be a decent position to take up. She indicates they aren’t very strong looking, or numerous, but are armed and on foot. They seem to be watching us so far, but they would probably take issue with us storming in, especially were we caught unawares.”

“Good to know,” you replied. “Wolfe. If I want artillery this time, can I count on it going exactly how I ask it to go?”

“…Yes.” Wolfe said sullenly. “Of course you can.”

Well then; you had a few options.

>Plan out your next move The rest of the company will begin to arrive to the south in a turn, each platoon coming in from a column per turn.
>Should Dohdt engage or draw back?
-----
>Go with Covacs’ plan and go from between the woods; the enemy to the right, if they were footmen, were likely not a threat to your armored force.
>Take Alterwald’s advice from before and take the woods; one of your armored units should be able to dispatch a small infantry unit by itself, after all. (Which to do it?)
>Wait, for now
>Other?
Also
>Initiate a second artillery strike on the same position as before. You could stand to cause more damage to the enemy.
>Make the initially planned rolling artillery feint to try and drive the enemy to retreat from their positions
>Don’t call in anything
>Other?

I think we should clarify what our goal is here. Street fighting, even in a town will delay us from our real objective, and desu taking a town should be left for the AU to do.

I still think our best bet is to shell their guns either with direct fire or artillery while we concentrate our forces for a breakout north.

I dont think we should be using our medium bombers yet, save them for when were out of artillery range. Using them now woild take them off the table since theyd need to rearm back in Kaiser friendly airports.

>>3058203
>>3058370
>Go with Covacs’ plan and go from between the woods; the enemy to the right, if they were footmen, were likely not a threat to your armored force.

Have Dohdt draw back and hold off on any artillery for now. If we are waiting already and attacking the village is not something we want to do right now, then I say that we have the rest of the company move to fight through the forest to the east as they arrive.

The forces we have on the hill will do well for keeping the attention of the enemy forces, and we can push though the forest to move past the town while also maintaining our ability to threaten an attack on the town. If they let that happen then we just slip past after overpowering anything in the forest with Covacs and Alterwald following as rearguard

>>3058203
>>Should Dohdt engage or draw back?
Draw back, the odds are even whether that unit in the west will follow him into the woods.

He should head south and loop towards the road, to get eyes on what is heading towards us and gets him away from the town guns.

>Other?
The woods with the infantry are probably well sighted, and they'll just run if we go in there and get shot up.

We should head to Dohdts woods and put the RAGVie infantry in town in between us and that armor unit to the north.

>Don’t call in anything
They've already recovered by this point, and might even be ready for more arty so we should wait until we're ready to attack.

Took me this long to realize I mixed up west and east all throughout the last post. Course, that's the benefit of a map; you know where things actually are when they're being referred to.

Anyways I think I've sat on this plenty long enough. Time to update.

"Time to update" he said.

----

“Alright, here’s the plan,” you decided, “We’re going to maneuver to try and slip around this force, since we have the opportunity to suppress their covering position from the village and move beyond it instead of taking on anything in the woods. Sergeant Dohdt, I need you to pull away, and try to conduct what recon you can to see what we’re up against to our west. Everybody else move north and east, Alterwald and Covacs, keep a position on that town but stay far enough away that you’re not easy to shoot at. We can make it by this with no harm done to us, I know it.” Of course, that would mean you couldn’t investigate the town, see what its deal was, but at a certain point distracting mysteries led you too distantly from the objective at hand. All you’d have to take care of with this new plan of action was sweeping away the limited contact Alterwald’s companion had apparently sighted in the small woods to the north and east. You weren’t intimidated by such; they sounded like they couldn’t have been more than a squad, and no real threat to a tank platoon offensively, and they’d probably scatter if you threatened them.

Tempted as you were to call down more shelling, you abstained from that. Maybe it was out of apprehension that your orders would be misinterpreted again, or maybe it was consideration for villagers left in the settlement, be they actual civilians after all or even if they were sympathetic to the Revolutionaries, they were still noncombatants. Fighting between soldiers was at least a matter of defending yourself…

As you as well as 2nd platoon, and 3rd platoon as they were allowed to close with you, leaving the infantry trucks somewhat behind in order to keep things going as quickly as possible, came to the top of the quite wide hill, following the torn ground that lay in the wake of your allies. You couldn’t easily spot them yet, but it wouldn’t be long before you did, especially with them remaining stationary. No sooner had such progress been made that Dohdt came loudly back onto the radio net.

“Enemies!” he gasped, “A mob of Revolutionary troopers, and a pack of armored cars, right, right across the road. I have to-“

“Talk as you go, talk as you go,” you urged Dohdt, “What sort of troopers? What kind of armored cars? How many?”

“A…ah, the olive uniform ones, the ones that are proper dressed. The cars are like outs, the uh, seven tonners. I guess they’re a platoon…and a platoon?”

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Dohdt’s shaky testimony would be the best you were going to get, you wagered. You wondered if the enemy was preparing to outflank your main force, or if they were merely reacting to the sound of Dohdt driving about. It wasn’t a pleasant discovery; this already doubled the amount of enemies you were facing, but on the bright side, if the enemy didn’t actually know the composition of what would be heading up this way, you doubted they would have many more troops than what you discovered. It was still possible that if you put up enough of a strong front, the enemy would remain defensive and passive rather than risk provoking such a large and well-armed force as yours.

That, and they probably wouldn’t want to have more hell rained upon them by artillery either. If you could trust Wolfe’s direction to do one thing thus far it was to hit enemies. Should the posturing end and push come to shove, you’d well appreciate the extra help. What you didn’t want to have to endure, though, was the possibility of the enemy calling artillery down upon you. You’d kept mobile enough thus far for that to not be a strong possibility, but if you were going to be standing off against this enemy…perhaps it was best you just be quick.

“All of a sudden I’m not very comfortable here.” Covacs sulked, “It’ll be impossible to keep my front to the enemy if they’re on two sides of me. Requesting permission to reposition.”

>Permission granted. Go and slip over by Alterwald. Scare whatever’s in those woods out and take their place.
>Go ahead. I’ll give you discretion on where you want to go, but keep to the west of Alterwald.
>No, don’t move. We need you to keep there. I’ll have Dohdt help your flank so if it comes to a fight it’s not just you against them.
>Other actions/specific moves? (If not everybody’ll keep moving to stay out of fighting while moving north, and artillery will not be called, for example.)

>>3059943
>Permission granted. Go and slip over by Alterwald. Scare whatever’s in those woods out and take their place.

I would like to have Fisher's whole team move to keep an eye on the forest to the west. I would like if they could keep a bit of distance from it, but I want them to be there to respond if any surprises come out of those woods.

Have Dohdt continue falling back, and call in artillery on that road. I'm a little concerned about it coming down too close to Dohdt, so see if he can double time it before calling it in.

>>3060088
Seconding. Fischer's platoon should move to the northwest portion of the hill and provide security to the west to cover Covacs and Alterwald while they clear the forest to the east. Dohdt should pull back to the hill and help screen to the west, maybe watching the more southwest portion in case anyone approaches from the road.
If everyone's agreed on bypassing the town we should push the rest of our forces behind Fischer and move around the town to the east once the way is clear.

>>3060088
This works

>>3060088
Supporting

“Permission granted,” you approved Covacs’s request, “Go and slip on over by Alterwald. Scare out whatever’s in those woods and take their place. Meanwhile, Fischer, take third platoon and keep an eye on those woods westwards. Dohdt’s seeing folks moving around in there and I want to be ready to give them a warm welcome if they come out to see us.”

“Aye,” Fischer replied, “A stern watch shall be kept, and our flank secure against even the most daunting of foes.”

“If there’s any daunting foes I’d rather not face them,” you said to that, popping the top of the commander’s cupola and looking out with your binoculars. Doing your own spotting was a pain, sure; normally one of the foot components of the paratroopers would be doing it given the Luftpanzer’s standard role of being a support vehicle for Fallschirmjäger, but doctrine had been far sighted enough to require you to learn at least the basics. “Wolfe, call in some shells on…” you relayed the grid coordinates, “I want that road cut off if possible, or maybe even the woods shelled, depending on the wait. I don’t want another barrage on that village, got it? Dohdt sighted Revolutionaries there, and probably more than what’s in that place anymore.”

“…Fine.” Wolfe said back, “That’s a fair ways off. I’ll call in spotting rounds and you can send me any adjustments.”

“Of course.” You had considered asking for smoke barrages, of course, to set up lanes of passage, but that seemed premature. A smoke barrage was something set up for a relatively significant attack; you’d rather hide for now just how much of an effort was driving north. Though that would be to not exploit a rare luxury; part of the reason Luftpanzer II Eins carried white phosphorous smoke rounds was to be able to provide their own smoke cover. The WP shells served many roles; one wondered if you carried enough of them, to be honest. The dilemma of how to best economize the exceedingly small space within the Luftpanzer rearing its ugly head once more. If only the engineers didn’t have spite for anybody of even slightly above average height.

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From behind, the Halmeggian infantry finally came up; so long as no enemies sprang up from the north end of the road ahead or from the eastern lines, you would be able to move past this block. Normally you’d expect a reserve position as per typical for blocking penetrations into the lines, but you were in the midst of a fortunate environment for tanks, where all of the lines were still being formed, let alone any backups to them. Not that you didn’t expect to run into more enemies; just any ones that were properly prepared. Armored formations running around in the rear of lines were a commander’s worst nightmare, and were you set to it, you could cause extreme damage indeed, but you kept Owl 3’s advice in mind; to not frighten the Revolutionary command into withdrawing and making the decisions that would obstruct you the most.

“Not that I’m unhappy about this,” Covacs came on the net, “But that contact reported in the woods isn’t there. I don’t suppose your huntress knows where they went?”

“Hrm.” Alterwald, who had also been assigned to taking the woods, made a disapproving noise. “They must have fled, though there are few places where they could have potentially gone. The small clutch of huts ahead, perhaps.”

>Then don’t let them stick around. I don’t think they’re a threat but I’d rather keep any enemies far away and unable to do much about our movement.
>It’s only a few houses, right? Covacs, have your heavy section smoke it out, there won’t be any threat after that.
>If they ran off from the woods to a worse position, they’re no trouble. Take up positions and face west and east, we’ll be around soon so we can all pass by this block finally.
>Other?

Real sorry things have been so slow and sparse, I'm not sure what it is but I've just been tired a lot lately for no real good reason. Maybe seasonal disaffectiveness, who knows. I'll try to be better about it from here on for the thread though.

>>3061341
>Then don’t let them stick around. I don’t think they’re a threat but I’d rather keep any enemies far away and unable to do much about our movement.

It would be good to find them, they can't have gotten far. Really though if we can just be pretty sure they are not still hiding in the forest, or something else sneaky like. I would hate to lose a tank to some guy squatting in a bush with a bottle.

>>3061341
>If they ran off from the woods to a worse position, they’re no trouble. Take up positions and face west and east, we’ll be around soon so we can all pass by this block finally.

>>3061341
>>Then don’t let them stick around. I don’t think they’re a threat but I’d rather keep any enemies far away and unable to do much about our movement

>>3061341
>>If they ran off from the woods to a worse position, they’re no trouble. Take up positions and face west and east, we’ll be around soon so we can all pass by this block finally.

>>3061341
>Then don’t let them stick around. I don’t think they’re a threat but I’d rather keep any enemies far away and unable to do much about our movement

I am very worried that the enemy has artillery as well and would rather not stick in any one place too long, especially if their infantry can act as spotters.

Put some fire into that area a nd see what it flushes out.

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“Then don’t let them stick around,” you shot back, “I don’t think they’re much a threat but if they’ve got so much as a bottle of scotch I’d rather keep them far away and unable to do anything about us. Find those people. Covacs, cover from the woods, and make sure nobody’s hiding with you. I’m going to take Schneider and 2nd platoon into your woods. Once our infantry platoons’ trucks and the support vehicles with them come up, we’ll drive right by and have Fischer and Dohdt stick to our tail.”

As you approached the woods, you were quickly alerted once more to Alterwald’s droning, unconcerned voice. “Found them. Or rather, my huntress did. She has a way of eliciting less suspicion, after all.”

“She didn’t happen to also find out anything more, did she?” you asked.

“They appear to be militia. Conscripts. Their ability to fight effectively is doubtful, let alone harm our armor…unless we are exceedingly stupid.” Alterwald held utter contempt for this enemy; to be fair, you also did, for the conscripted members of the Revolutionaries’ ranks.

“Captain,” Fischer called, “There is movement in the woods I am watching. Likely the armored contact Doht spied earlier.”

“Do you have any shots?”

“I do not,” Fischer lamented, “If I were to draw closer, however, perhaps…or I could merely fire blindly, though I doubt it will do much more than waste ammunition. I believe they could be pursuing the Sergeant.”

“They do..?” Dohdt’s nervousness doubled, “You’re sure?”

“I doubt they are such fools as to attack my platoon,” Fischer said confidently, “As lacking in drama as posturing and dancing like this is, it will facilitate the Captain’s plan to pass through this area unmolested. The enemy should be thankful for such mercy.”

“Mercy that not all of them may receive,” Alterwald retorted, “Unless there are any objections, I will be bombarding the enemy in this group of huts. They appear to be otherwise uninhabited; such places as these, I believe, would not be a place any with sense whatsoever would linger in a time like this.”

>If they’re militia and hiding, let them hide. The risk of those places still having people in them is too great. If we don’t need to fight them, we won’t.
>Best be safe. Go on and engage them, and drive them out or flatten them.
>Maybe they’re not willing to fight. The enemy in the main village is disrupted and damaged, see if you can’t send them a demand to surrender to us.
>Other?
Also
>Artillery support comes down in one turn
>Have Fischer attack into the woods, or pull away, or stay in position?

>>3061751
>>If they’re militia and hiding, let them hide. The risk of those places still having people in them is too great. If we don’t need to fight them, we won’t.
I doubt they have a radio with them so if anything they're more harmless staying in the huts than getting chased off and running back to the town and calling for reinforcements to come deal with us.
>Have Fischer stay in position, make the enemy emerge from the woods if they want to engage

>>3061751
>>If they’re militia and hiding, let them hide. The risk of those places still having people in them is too great. If we don’t need to fight them, we won’t.
>Have Fischer stay in position, we need someone to spot for the artillery anyway.

>>3061664
The RAGV does have artillery of somesort, they shelled the AU forces with smoke during their assault over the bridge. If anything, we should take out those guns if we somehow stumble onto them.
>>3061751
>>If they’re militia and hiding, let them hide. The risk of those places still having people in them is too great. If we don’t need to fight them, we won’t.
Unless they see any heavy weapons then their no threat to us.

>Have Fischer attack into the woods, or pull away, or stay in position?
Have Fischer stay in position, getting him potentially bogged down in woods would mean having to help him out. Its safer where he is and if they open up on Dodht, Fischer should be able to return fire on them after they reveal their position.

wondering if Alterwald is Von Neubaum

>>3061899
Yeah, had that thought as well. The personality fits quite a bit.

As you were looking out over the scene, watching the village turn and shift as you sped by, you heard the rumble of distant guns, and after some pregnant moments, the crash of them falling down in the woods to the west southwest. Whether they were on target or not you wouldn’t be able to tell; the enemy within them had their precise position masked, though you certainly wouldn’t want to be anywhere close to the target area even if the shells weren’t hitting right on the mark. That shrapnel went a long way, even if the impressive explosion was what most thought of as the killing blow.

The battalion net activity flashed; you checked on it while you still could. Time would come as you proceeded toward the objective that you wouldn’t be able to speak directly with command; you would be able to relay it through the Aristocratic Union lines, potentially, but even then, there might have been things you’d prefer to keep between you and the Reich. Long range wireless was coded and ciphered even so, but it was best to make any potential rivals work for their interception and decoding. Thus, the current transmissions weren’t exactly compelling conversation; merely a coded confirmation that you were indeed the group heading north, spotted by observation plane. You answered that yes, that was indeed your group, and re-informed HQ of your unit’s current composition, before asking after any large enemy formations that might have been sighted heading your direction. The answer was a relief, yet unnerving; no significant movements in your direction. Everything was heading either west or east, not south. It made you wonder whether the enemy coming for you just wasn’t spotted yet, because counting on a plan going well, it was said, was a surefire way to be blindsided by unexpected tragedy. On the bright side, it meant that you’d near certainly not spooked the enemy too badly, though if forces were heading west…that most likely meant an escalation of conflict around the objective you were heading to, as even if the Royal Guards were still fighting, Wolfe’s militarists were seeking that same objective, it seemed. When it came time to finally assault the castle…what would you do? Make a truce with one side and try to get out before the ceasefire between one faction and you ended? Try and exploit the rear lines of one side? Or maybe that was when you could get the entire tactical bomber wing to dump their payloads to clear a path for you, ineffective as that had proven in Felbach in the past. You’d have to cross that bridge when you came to it, though if the enemy was going to be as passive as they’d been here, you might come to that point much more quickly. Again, a relief, but a nervous sort.

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“Any activity down below, Fischer?” you asked, as the village foe remained content to sit in their fortifications, collect themselves, and wait for you as you sped by them. A quick look to the smaller outpost showed a similar lack of open hostility.

“Besides the agitation of guns upon the woods, I see naught,” Fischer replied, “Shall I follow the rest of you up, then? Our charges appear to have all returned or passed us by.”

“…Yeah, go ahead, just watch for anybody nipping at your heels.” The enemy before the bombardment on the village probably could have dared to face you dispersed like this. You had planned to confront Wolfe on the matter, but would she bring up how the enemy hadn’t come to fight you? It was true that the fewer fights you had to endure, the better your chances of getting the Royal Family and bugging out, but how much death was that worth? Ah, if only you could get into that village and see what damage had been actually done, not knowing the cost of it all was nagging at you.

It wasn’t like you were a bad person. At least you tried.

Up above, you saw the flickering orange lights of tracer fire, and the dark shapes of planes zooming about one another. One of your heavy fighter covers diving down on a freshly appeared enemy formation? One of the enemies was stricken, and went down spouting flame. A parachute flopped open moments before it would have been too late, and the plane crashed to the ground and exploded behind the hill ahead of you, its pilot drifting off west. You had faith that the seasoned pilots of the Reich would make mincemeat out of any opposition, but their fuel was hardly infinite. Rather soon actually, you wagered, your support would have to return home to restock on fuel, and then you’d have to count on local assets; were you to have any faith in such.

You watched the parachute drift down; it would come down in the woods to the west northwest, by your wagering. Certainly nowhere near the crash.

“Captain?” you heard Sergeant Schneider speak up, “The enemy tanks in the village look like they’re facing north. Don’t know why, but if we want to adjust on that…”

>They want to visit a friend, I bet. Let them. We can keep going north and scram while they're distracted.
>Let them go out, but be ready to intercept them. If the enemy’ll come out of cover and divide themselves, I want to take out this village and see what’s in it.
>There’s a pilot coming down that they want to rescue, I’ll bet. I’d rather get that pilot myself. We can break off somebody to go after them. (Who?)
>Other actions as well?

>>3061899
>>3061921
Suspicious!

>>3062360
>>There’s a pilot coming down that they want to rescue, I’ll bet. I’d rather get that pilot myself. We can break off somebody to go after them. (Who?)

We might be able to learn something from them at least. I think we can send Alterwald and 1st platoon over, hopefully they will rethink their actions if they see such an intimidating force facing off with them. It is a large commitment, but we won't have to worry about another force showing up and rushing reinforcements over.

We can have the rest of our elements continue north and consolidate on this second hill, or maybe we can avoid it a bit to mitigate the chance of artillery being called in on such a static feature.

>>3062360
>>They want to visit a friend, I bet. Let them. We can keep going north and scram while they're distracted.
He must be one hell of a popular pilot to warrant redeploying their entire armor force to go rescue him, but I can't imagine what he could possibly have to tell us that would be worth redirecting our entire company.

>>3062360
Cant the armored cars race over while they egress north? The rear guard can provide cover.

If the RAGV want to move their armor to rescue that downed pilot, its a pretty open field, they'd get picked off from flanking fire by our entire formation if they move now. Unless they detour around the farside of the village.

>>3062602
Actually, if we were really curious, we could get on top of the steep hill (its likely presighted) and provide overwatch to the company while observing the town via bino's.

That way Alterwald and Schneider could resume heading north.

>>3062360
>>There’s a pilot coming down that they want to rescue, I’ll bet. I’d rather get that pilot myself. We can break off somebody to go after them. (Who?)
If the enemies in the wood are well and truly depressed by our arty, we can start making a diversionary assault on the village and pin down their armour. Allocate the armoured car section and one platoon of infantry to look for this pilot.

>>3062360
>There’s a pilot coming down that they want to rescue, I’ll bet. I’d rather get that pilot myself. We can break off somebody to go after them. (Who?)

Dohdts armored cars, Fischer to watch for tail gaters, group nearest the hills to watch for opportunity if any enemy hit field to intercept pilot.

>>3062360
>There’s a pilot coming down that they want to rescue, I’ll bet. I’d rather get that pilot myself. We can break off somebody to go after them. (Who?)
Us and 2nd platoon, we're closest.

>>3062602
>Cant the armored cars race over while they egress north?
According to the stat sheet, they have the same speed as the luftpanzers, but they're the furthest away.

“I was looking up at our folks in the sky sweeping the stars clear of a few enemies,” you told the company over the radio, “Saw somebody coming down to the north. Guessing that the folks in the town want to rescue whatever pilot came down. Or maybe capture him, I dunno. In any case, if they want that pilot, I want him all the more. We can break somebody off to go after them. Dohdt, Fischer, you’ll be up. The rest of us will stand by in case you need help, but otherwise I want to get out of the area right after nabbing the guy.”

Sergeant Schneider cleared his throat. “Ah, Captain, we’re a lot closer to the place he’s coming down on, right? Shouldn’t we go for him?”

“No,” you answered, “Not right now, at least. We’re keeping our exit secure for now. See the enemy coming out of the town? They’re scared of us. They thought about going north but they’ve gone west instead to avoid us. Seems they don’t want to risk provoking us if they don’t have to.”

“That’s good,” Covacs sighed, “I’m not about to complain about not having to get shot at any more than I need to tonight.”

“Remain where you are until Fischer passes you, then follow up. We’ll reform the formation we had coming on up once Fischer and Dohdt grab the pilot. Don’t look too long; we’re still keeping things quick here. I especially don’t want to become a target for any artillery. Who knows if there’s a wireless communication post at that place, but if there is one, then I doubt any artillerist would pass up the target we’d present.”

“Captain.” Wolfe spoke idly, “If you’re worried about enemy guns, I can ask for counterbattery action. By shelling the most likely positions of enemy guns, we can keep the enemy from targeting us for some time. I’d guess their guns are still decently far up, and even if they weren’t, our big guns are larger than ours. Or so I’ve been told.”

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“We’ll see,” you replied. The plans of movement were more or less executed without interruption; you and second platoon coalesced near the base of a hill to the north of the village you’d passed, and your route north appeared…more or less clear, from the surroundings. If any reinforcements were to come here they’d come from the east or from the road north, so if you were quick, you’d probably slip by any quick reaction force there was that was assigned to this area. On the other hand, if you wanted to go and grab that pilot without being pressured by the enemy force coming up, it might have been prudent to extend your line west, and to intimidate the two tanks from even coming close, or at least make them take a more circuitous route. Of course, that would put you over the road; and not only make you a direct threat from outright obstruction of lines of communication, but a clear target to any reinforcements blithely heading down the road.

Of course, you could also speed over to the pilot’s place of descent yourself, being closest and the head of the formation anyways, but 2nd platoon was also the weakest of your company, even including yourself. If the enemy coming up wanted to make a fight of things, they’d see the greatest opportunity in fighting you and 2nd platoon. Especially if the armored cars from earlier had been undamaged and rushed up to support their fellows. You’d have to keep a close eye out for that, once you ceased having tanks watching the place they’d last been.

>Maintain the current plan. 3rd Platoon and Dohdt would go for the pilot after the rest of the formation was ready to proceed.
>Extend your formation to stretch over and cover the approaches to the wood, hoping to scare the enemy away from trying to grab the prize.
>Rush on over yourself. A potential risk, but you could win the fight, you bet.
>Other?

Additionally,

>Continue barrage of current target
>Adjust target for artillery fire?
>Switch to counterbarrage tactics to threaten enemy guns

>>3064437
>Maintain the current plan. 3rd Platoon and Dohdt would go for the pilot after the rest of the formation was ready to proceed.

If they just dashed over they might have made it, but if they are giving us time we might as well take it.

Switch artillery to counter battery fire, anything we would need them to hit for now is too fast to hit reliably or too slow to be a threat.

>>3064437
>Maintain the current plan. 3rd Platoon and Dohdt would go for the pilot after the rest of the formation was ready to proceed.

Artillery can go back to supporting AU forces, having them fire wildly into possible RAGV batteries is just wasting ammo and opens up the possibility of the AU batteries being counter batteried themselves.

If anything, our air cover might be able to relay back the position of RAGV batteries through their flashes.

>>3064437
>>Maintain the current plan. 3rd Platoon and Dohdt would go for the pilot after the rest of the formation was ready to proceed.
Artillery to hold fire until another target of opportunity presents itself.

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“Hm.” You considered your options, “Wolfe, have the guns stop firing. We don’t need them right now. In fact, request that they just wait. Next time they fire can be at an actual target, I don’t need them wasting ammunition suppressing a foe that hasn’t even paid us any attention yet, let alone let us know where they are. They can shoot at something your friends would rather, on the actual front.” Artillery positions could be spotted by aerial observers anyways; though you’d be wandering out of communication range of your HQ, you hoped that HQ and the AUSC were swapping information by now.

“Something’s really booking it north,” Covacs commented, “Those tanks from earlier too.”

That was a pain; if they were to rush, it was possible that, given the relative proximity to one another this whole maneuver, the enemy’s force and your force would reach the given place at the same time. Granted, they could have reached there first, but apparently, the enemy tanks weren’t feeling confident.

“What do you think it was?” You asked Covacs. “Were they coming from past the village?”

“Too far and too dark to tell for sure,” Covacs answered bluntly, “But I would guess they’re the armored cars the Halmeggian saw earlier. Sergeant Dohdt.”

Ah, yes. The platoon of armored cars, of identical model to Dohdt’s own. If they were a whole platoon as you thought, and they were going to reinforce their northern brethren, to potentially go against 3rd Platoon and Dohdt’s section…that was 6 against 7. Not odds you liked, though you admittedly thought more of your own people’s ability than the Revolutionaries’.

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The enemy moved at the same time you did; the wait for the tail of your formation was agonizing, but from atop the hill, you could see the pilot descend into the copse you’d predicted he’d fall in, and saw no sign of the enemy moving to retrieve them yet. In the meantime, as your rearguard shifted into a retrieval element, you caught a glimpse of dark shapes moving north, and into the woods to join the tanks from earlier. The enemy was now assembled, but so were your people.

“The foe from earlier appears to trust their fate to the western woods,” Fischer declared, “With your permission, Captain, I shall enter the area of the bailed pilot, and bring our wrath upon the enemy when they enter. They shall come, I can feel their desire to do so, from having brought reinforcement. Surely by now they know we have no desire to fight them for the sake of it.”

>Wait. I want you to go in with another platoon, I’d rather this not be a fair fight.
>Go on in then. But be careful, remember that we’ll need you further on the way.
>Hold. Let them collect their prize, you can maneuver to ambush them in open ground instead. Let this be a trap for them instead of us.
>Other?

>>3065381
>>Wait. I want you to go in with another platoon, I’d rather this not be a fair fight.
Send Schnider's light section in with them.

>>3065381
>Wait. I want you to go in with another platoon, I’d rather this not be a fair fight.

Can we arty them now or has the chance passed? Hitting the woods and grounds right in the way of the enemy path to the pilot might let us snatch him without a fight.

I was initially going to vote that we just ambush them on the way out but it might be very helpful to learn where their airfields are and what the situation by the castle is.

>>3065507
I'm correcting myself, keep the arty on counter battery duty, this could easily be a trap by RAGVie for the enemy to Arty the pilots location when we go in to snatch. They've already shown ready to sacrifice themselves.

>>3065381
>>Wait. I want you to go in with another platoon, I’d rather this not be a fair fight.

I think we can just send all of second platoon, considering they are only the strength of one full light section.

We shouldn't have to much trouble with Alterwald making it up with us on the hill.

“Wait. I want you to go in with another platoon,” you arrested Fischer’s charge, “I’d rather this not be a fair fight. Schneider, you go over and help Fischer take out the enemy if they make this a contest of force.”

“Alright,” Schneider answered, “But that might be-“

“They advance!” Fischer declared, “I cannot wait any longer. Follow, or be left behind!”

“Lieutenant, wait!” Schneider protested, “I’m not as close-“

Lieutenant Fischer wouldn’t wait, you know. You could send your objections, but they’d fall on deaf ears- you knew this even as you ordered Fischer to hold his position.

“Waiting, waiting!” Fischer scolded you, “There is no more time for waiting, only for glory!” Your older lieutenant’s bravado must have been infectious, as Dohdt, who had been thus far rather skittish, followed along unquestioningly. It was something encouraged in officer training; this sort of independent initiative. Supposedly, it was what made the new army of the Reich so much greater, and yet…Perhaps it was because of what had happened earlier, where events had been out of your control. Certainly you didn’t know Fischer well, or consider him anything more than an ally, but there was still the temptation to drive after him. A temptation you couldn’t respect because of your position of seniority in the company.

There was also the matter of respect, you supposed. What Fischer did was plain, but why was beyond your knowledge. Maybe it was that respect for circumstances you didn’t know that kept you from reprimanding, from demanding and threatening, as a proper commander should have done. Covacs may have held his tongue for similar reasons- Alterwald, to the south, was presumably distracted, or uncaring, as he said nothing in spite of being the sort you figured would make sarcastic comment at a moment like this.

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Why so morose, though, a lighter part of you demanded, did you have no faith in your subordinate? What happened to your aura of invincibility? All men are mortal, but you were not dead until you died, as they said.

“You are troubled.” Owl 3 said blankly.

“Should I not be?”

“Don’t play coy.”

Winnifred’s severity grated somewhat. “So what if I am, then? Don’t bother me about it now.” You brushed her off irritably. “You should be looking out in case you have to hit the dirt, not checking me out.”

Owl 3 frowned more deeply than usual, and turned to the side, leaving you to stop fiddling with the radio and put yourself out the top once more, peering through binoculars, sweat on the back of your neck, to see what you could of the battle about to take place. Noise mingled together, dust clouds began to converge, and soon enough, you heard the opening shots…

>Roll one set of 3d100, three sets of 2d100, and one of 1d100 to calculate allied shooting.
>All Luftpanzer units have a combat skill of 80 due to Elite Rank, while the AU and RAGV units have a skill of 60 from Regular Rank; this is their base roll under DC to hit things.
The experience ranks and combat skill was listed in an earlier version, not sure what happened to it in the current one. Oh well. Ranks go Green-40, Regular-60, Veteran-70, Elite-80
>However, even though the crampedness of the map makes it not as clear as it could be, everybody’s shooting through or into heavy cover. This means all rolls have a penalty of 30.

Rolled 37, 83, 92 = 212 (3d100)

>>3067774
This pilot is going to get accidentally shot, I feel it.

Rolled 17, 79 = 96 (2d100)

>>3067774

>>3067774
Well, one more roll couldn't make it any worse I think.

Rolled 10, 76 = 86 (2d100)

>>3067842
Well done, me.

Rolled 97, 9 = 106 (2d100)

>>3067774

Rolled 36, 62, 43, 63, 20, 85, 28 = 337 (7d100)

Gonna handle all the rest of the rolls here.

First is for the remaining one from Schneider's, then the next four are enemy ACs, then two for enemy tanks.

80 then the rest are 60, same penalty of 30 for hard cover

>>3067956
So how it all calcs out is this:
> 67, 123, 122, 47, 109 (Fischer- 2 hits)
> 40, 106 (Dohdt- 1 hit)
> 127, 39, 66 (Schneider, 2 hits)
> 102, 73, 93, 50, 115, 58 (RAGV, 2 hits)

Considering that the RAGV's two hits were from different units...well, to put it shortly, the Luftpanzer II's evasion stat is shining pretty brightly.
For those who either haven't read or don't intend to read the print (even though I've ignored parts of it in this very test) the single evasion point the Luftpanzer has lets it ignore one hit from each unit that attacks it. Not many vehicles have this. It also means Fischer dodge tanked all the hits.

In the blot of woods, shaded scarcely by bald branches, you saw naught but moving shapes, puffs of smoke, and flashes of light accompanied by the crash of metal and fire. The opening moments were the tensest in any firefight- when one was most vulnerable as they exposed themselves to seek out their enemy. Luftpanzers were small and quick, which served them well in terrain like this better than most vehicles, but their armor was quite thin. If one were to be hit…

“I-I got one!” Dohdt cried out on the radio, inordinately proud.

“Focus!” Hissed Covacs, as the woods lit up with the flash of Luftpanzer Ein shells being sent out with their signature THUM-POW. There had been no orders to use the shaped charge shot; with the current opponent, you hoped that the additional armor piercing capacity wouldn’t be needed in the face of a ten centimeter high explosive shell’s effect on lightly armored vehicles, especially those such as the armored cars.

Schneider’s reduced platoon stopped, and engaged an enemy, shooting northwest. Soon after a couple volleys of shells and machine gun fire, Schneider reported promptly on the company network, “We engage the two tanks that departed the village. One knocked out, the other disabled and abandoned.”

A couple more exchanges of fire afterwards, and everything went quiet once more. Just another minute was all that was required for Fischer to proudly announce his victory. “They flee before our might, Captain, and we are no more worse the wear. We will proceed to search for this downed pilot with all haste.”

“No worse the wear?” you asked, “Can I get everybody confirming that?”

“We didn’t get hit,” Dohdt offered.

“No damage in 2nd platoon either,” Sergeant Schneider said. “May I ask what else of the enemy’s was taken out in the woods?”

“Two of their armored cars,” Fischer told the company, “Seeing half of their number dispatched caused the foe’s will to falter, and with the destruction of their iron allies to the south, they sensibly retreated. A victory the fatherland would not look down upon, if I do say so myself.”

You couldn’t help but breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

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“It went well, then?” Owl 3 asked.

“Yeah.” You were much easier to coax answers out of now, “Didn’t take a single hit. Must have been ‘cause it’s still dim and the terrain was difficult, and we were attacking from more directions. All by the book, took out four vehicles. I almost feel like I need to have a cigarette.”

“You don’t smoke.” Owl 3 pointed out.

An eyebrow arched upon your face. How would she have known? Eh, no, she probably could tell. Somehow. “I’ll do it socially. The good brands cost too much. Anyways, we’re going to find this pilot that crashed to the ground. Think he’s a Revolutionary?”

“Hrm. Perhaps. The group flew in from the west. It’s possible they flew in from Vitelia, but then…We will have to find this pilot and make sure. They aren’t necessarily of the local Revolutionaries.”

“Hold on,” you told Owl 3 as the company net activity light flashed and sound came over the headset.

“We have found the pilot,” Fischer announced, “He appears…surprised at who we are. When I informed him that we were of the Reich, he seemed indifferent.”

“Is he a Revolutionary?” you asked.

“I asked after such, but it appears not. This man claims to fly for Vormunderen Halmeggia. Whomever they are.”

“Guardians of Halmeggia,” you echoed to Winnifred, “Do you know who those are?” Winnifred shook her head. “Alright then. Go ahead and bring him over here. It’s time for us to get moving.”

>Continue north with all haste. You’d been delayed enough and you could dispense with caution.
>Start bounding north, dispersing the same way you’d done earlier. This had only been a skirmish; you could still evade greater notice from the enemy, and avoid provoking…or frightening them.
>Turn around and take out the enemy at the village. This had become a much easier fight to win, and it wouldn’t take too much time.
>Other?
Also
>Think of what to question the pilot about
And
>Praise Fischer for his win
>Reprimand Fischer for charging ahead without waiting
>Other?

>>3068009
>>Start bounding north, dispersing the same way you’d done earlier. This had only been a skirmish; you could still evade greater notice from the enemy, and avoid provoking…or frightening them.
>Praise Fischer for his win
As for our pilot friend, better find out who these guardians are and which airbase he flew out from. Ask the men to get his name.

>>3068009

>>3068048
Seconding this

>>3068009
>Start bounding north, dispersing the same way you’d done earlier. This had only been a skirmish; you could still evade greater notice from the enemy, and avoid provoking…or frightening them.

Also reprimand Fischer

Also also ask our new friend where he wants to be let off, how the situation is up in the air, and if he has any idea if there’s anything he saw up in the air we could avoid.

>>3068009
tanq was he shot down by Reich pilots?
Also I'm going to be difficult:
>Praise Fischer and Reprimand for his win

>Start bounding north, dispersing the same way you’d done earlier. This had only been a skirmish; you could still evade greater notice from the enemy, and avoid provoking…or frightening them.
Job's not done yet.

>Think of what to question the pilot about
Did he see what the situation further ahead looked like?
What kind of air conflict is currently going on above the region?

>>3069167
>tanq was he shot down by Reich pilots?

He was. A Reich heavy fighter dived on the formation and blew him out of the sky. Presumably, this pilot's flight was not one notified of where the no-fly zone was. Whether he knows he was shot down by the Kaiser's Luftwaffe is another thing entirely.

>>3068009
>>Start bounding north, dispersing the same way you’d done earlier. This had only been a skirmish; you could still evade greater notice from the enemy, and avoid provoking…or frightening them.
>>Praise Fischer for his win

“Reform our formation from earlier,” you ordered over the net, “I know we went loud here, but I think we can still keep a low profile.” The enemy certainly knew you where you were, but greater notice could be still be evaded, and potentially, the possibility of provocation…or spooking the Revolutionaries, could be avoided. While the formations spaced and stretched out once more, you’d have the pilot you went to such lengths to capture delivered to you; you’d already thought of some questions to ask him, but in the meantime, you addressed Fischer. “Lieutenant Fischer. I thought you were going to be in some trouble from charging on ahead. I suppose I didn’t have anything to worry about after all. Good work. You too, Sergeant Schneider.” A moment, before you realized you’d left somebody out. “Dohdt.”

“The enemy is but dry autumn leaves, and they are swept away by the zephyr,” you could practically feel Fischer taking a bow, “I live to exceed what is expected of me, Captain.” Fischer was certainly pleased; maybe it wasn't the best choice to indirectly praise insubordination, as he had rushed ahead against your orders, but he had succeeded. Was that not worthy of recognition, even with your thought to be critical?

“Oh, cool it,” Covacs grumbled. “Sergeant Dohdt. Come here across the road and get on point again. While Fischer’s here massaging himself we’ve got places to be.”

“Fischer, go on and bring me the pilot,” you said, “Everybody else, keep on moving.”

-----

The pilot was brought before you, and hastily dropped off; you had to hop off the side of your Luftpanzer…ow, bad idea, bad idea, and step over…slowly, to take a better look at the fellow.

His own dress was a warped reflection of your own, though instead of dark leather his jacket was made of pale sheepskin, stained with oil and scuffed with dirt from his rough landing, his collar hidden by a stark white, silk scarf. A pair of pilot’s goggles held back a flamboyantly coiffed head of well-brushed blonde hair, and from that styling alone you knew the measure of this man. The classical fighter pilot; at least, somebody who tried to emulate a gentleman of the skies. Men who sought to emulate those like Falkenstein; those who dreamt of reaching the pinnacle of manhood, and could smell the top of the mountain where the petals of cloudbloom fluttered in the wind. He looked completely relaxed, nonchalant, as though he hadn’t been shot out of the sky. As a Halmeggian, you could presume that this had in all likelihood been his baptism of fire, and was quite lucky to be alive; he didn’t have much right to look so cocky, but then, you’d been the same once, had you not?

“Nice jacket,” he looked you up and down, “Figured you’d be in something other than a tank from that style.”

“I appreciate it,” you nodded back, tipping your cap, “I’m Captain Roth-Vogel of his eminence the Kaiser’s Luftpanzer battalion, first company. We came and picked you up before the Revolutionaries could.”

“And I appreciate that,” the man near bowed, “I should tell my name as you’ve yours, shouldn’t I? I’m Lu Antonesci, humble servant of the Guardians of Halmeggia. Safeguarding the future of this fair country is a cause I take pride in; if you fight the Revolutionaries, then we must be brothers in this cause.”
Perhaps not so much, you thought uncertainly, if your fighter cover blew him out of the sky. Granted, nobody was supposed to be flying above your areas of operation at all, and the Royals had been informed of what areas of sky would be swept; Lu had been well inside the danger zone. Should you tell him this though, you wondered. Winnifred would probably have more than a few things to prod him about, but then again, you felt obligated to keep her away from this fellow; not that you felt intimidated. This man had no dueling scar, and his face was too round and smooth! A pretty look was far overrated compared to primal ruggedness.

“Hate to say, but I haven’t heard of you Guardians of Halmeggia,” you mugged at Lu with a slight grin, “You mind telling me what you’re about, besides the whole safeguarding the future?”

“Ah, well,” Lu straightened himself and adjusted his scarf around his neck, “That’s quite a story. You see, the Halmeggian Army has always been-“

“Give me the abridged version, we’re on a clock.” Admittedly you had hardly urged brevity from everybody you spoke to, but Lu wasn’t a woman. He could keep his words short and to the point.

“Parliament has been irresponsible with their power, as have the Royal family,” Lu sighed, seeming to be greatly disappointed with being unable to ramble on. He had caught himself well enough at least. “Halmeggia requires strength to survive, to maintain its independence and protect its people, its culture. Power must be placed in the hands with the knowledge and willingness to use it, and Gunmetal Wolfe is who can be trusted to guide us out of this war, and into a safe future.” There it was; Wolfe’s militarists, rebranding themselves as protectors of the people. “Far to the east in Netilland, the military took power over an incapable government, and restored strength and pride to their peoples. It was us who knew best the answer to every trouble that led to these terrible times, and we were ignored by those in power and used as a scapegoat. Something must change, or all of this, everything that caused this uprising, will happen once more.”

“Neat.” Your half dismissive answer prompted an irritated twitch of the brow from Lu, “So where’d you fly over from?”

“Von Rachtal Airbase, to the north and west. It hardly matters, no? The place is fairly distant from here. We were sent to investigate the status of the Santi Arrofini airfield, but it seems as though we have foes high in the sky already…Actually, how did you arrive here?” Lu scratched his chin, “You are from the Reich? I suppose you could have dropped from the sky, but…you have tanks. Tanks not of Halmeggian make, nor anything like I’ve seen before. Those certainly could not have been dropped from the sky…”

You guessed that Lu wouldn’t have seen much you had to be concerned about from the sky; for now, the Imperial Luftwaffe’s long range night fighter squadrons held complete control over the skies. Most planes did not fly combat missions at night; but the pilots assigned to the Luftpanzer project were well trained and diverse in capability. He could have seen something on the ground while flying over, perhaps; but you doubted how good his reconnaissance could have been in early morning, high up, and especially not from an observation plane. Though for now, maybe you could deign to answer his unsaid question of where you’d come from; maybe your purpose. Another link to Wolfe’s faction besides his daughter…speaking of, you had to go talk with her about that barrage from earlier.

>Share that you dropped in, and so did your tanks. Also share that your fighter cover blew him out of the sky. Apologies for the misunderstanding before asking anything else.
>No need for Lu to know anything. You were the one asking questions here.
>Other?
Also
>Go and confront Wolfe. This needed to be dealt with now, before she potentially caused any more trouble
>What harm had come? If anything, her actions had benefited you. Could you discourage performance by being critical? Would she listen anyways?
>Other?

>>3070599
>No need for Lu to know anything. You were the one asking questions here.
>Go and confront Wolfe. This needed to be dealt with now, before she potentially caused any more trouble

>>3070599
I should add that if you have any more questions then write them in; if you don't then I'll just assume you're leaving off and handling the next thing.

>>3070599
Here I thought he was a Rev. Huh.

>No need for Lu to know anything. You were the one asking questions here.

"The Reich has been preparing for this eventuality and to fight this Revolution."
>Questions
Ask what he's seen on the ground while he was flying over.

We want to avoid (at least for now) conflict with the "Guardians of Halmeggia" in our attack on the RAGVies, could he tell us where their closest contingents are?

Any more major RAGVie forces in this area we should be worried about?

Perhaps to help grease the wheels we can tell him that the Arrofini Airfield is in Revolutionary hands. Not the fact that we are retaking them but the enemy currently holding them should be fairly innocuous information.

>Go and confront Wolfe. This needed to be dealt with now, before she potentially caused any more trouble

We don't like killing civvies if we can help it.

>Other?
Lu will stick with the convoy until we can drop him off somewhere safe. Don't stick him with any Aristocrat platoons.

>>3070599
>No need for Lu to know anything. You were the one asking questions here.
>Go and confront Wolfe. This needed to be dealt with now, before she potentially caused any more trouble.
Should tell her about this guy anyway.

Updates'll resume once I get back from lunch in a couple hours.

To Lu’s question, you figured there wasn’t really any reason for him to be out of the dark on the matter of the Luftpanzer project; you were the one asking the questions here, though you decided to tease at speculation some nonetheless.

“The Reich has a habit of being well prepared, you know,” you said, “The Revolutionaries have got more enemies than they think, turns out. I have a few more questions to ask you, though, I think you ought to know,” you let some easy information slip, to maybe ease along any potential reciprocation of sharing, “Santi Arrofini and its airfield are firmly in Revolutionary hands, I hate to say.” You neglected to speak on the fact that Colonel Talmeier and the other airborne companies of the Luftpanzer project would likely be attacking that objective.

Lu clicked his tongue. “Damn. Figured as much considerin’, well, but it would have been nice to be wrong. I can’t say I know much you’ll be interested in, if you’re not in the mood for storytime, but…” The pilot shrugged, “The least I could do for you keeping me from being skinned alive by Revolutionaries.”

You shrugged right back. “The least we could do really. Don’t worry too much though, these won’t be hard questions. First one is, you didn’t happen to see anything interesting on the way over here before you got shot down, did you?”

Lu rubbed a finger on his chin. “Hm. Nah, not much, nothing remotely interesting or surprising at least. Some flashes, saw you bunch moving around while I was floating down, did pass near Delamil and the castle though. Gunmetal’s…uh, Gunmetal is Wolfe, our leader. He said he’d lead a charge to that place and damn was he going hard from what I saw. The Revs didn’t seem ready at all!”

Nobody had been ready for Eidan’s father to be making that sort of move, it seemed. That wasn’t good for you, though. If Wolfe managed to push the Revolutionaries away from Delamil entirely, that would leave the Royal Family in their hands, and it didn’t seem like the militarists had much higher an opinion of the royalty than the revolutionaries did. Whether they would put them to death or merely haul them away in chains was debatable, but you were near certain that you asking for them to bring back to the Reich wouldn’t be tolerated. Unless the Royals were independent, you counted on having to fight for possession of their persons. Hopefully if it came to that, it’d be worth it-

“Hey.” You suddenly thought, “Does the Halmeggian royal family have a princess? Or a few?”

“What? Oh, yeah, the Crown Princess Edelina Anna Von Halm-Auric.” Lu answered eagerly. “Halmeggia’s most eligible bachelorette. You’d think she’d be married already, given how the blue bloods do things, but nah. Maybe it’s cause she’s got awful funny ideas for somebody who’s first in line to be Queen Regnant.”

“Like what?” you inquired, “…She not into dudes?”

“God, I hope that’s not the case,” Lu choked, “No, I mean there’s a lotta rumors that she don’t want to inherit. Who knows why, but her younger brother’s a nut. Wouldn’t want him to be the next king, ‘specially given how the king scared a lotta people by getting real sick a year back. Almost kicked the bucket. See-“

“Moving along,” you didn’t want to hear about the King; you’d hear anything important from his majesty himself, preferably. “You don’t happen to know where the battle lines are drawn, and who’s where? We happen to be heading north, after all. I’d appreciate anything you could tell us. We’d like to avoid any accidents with your people, for example.”

“Can’t say I know past what I said about what I saw over Delamil. Sorry. Though I heard from other flyboys that the Ragvies’ve been bringing a lot of tanks and stuff over. Gunmetal’s a tank hero after all.” Lu said, though he seemed to have gotten some idea of something, and not something you wanted him thinking about, from the look on his face. “North, huh? Castle Delamil’s north, and the Kaisers’re supposed to’ve been good friends with the Halm-Aurics. You’re fixing to go and rescue them, aren’t you?”

You raised your shoulders and lowered them halfheartedly, readying to tell a lie. “Dunno. We were just told to go north.”

Lu was skeptical. “Right, sure. But if it turns out that you’re coming to get the Royal family, we’re gonna have a problem. Rather, you and Wolfe are gonna have a problem with each other. I’m not in much a place to do anything about it. A Halmeggia that’s going to last into the future can’t have a King. Not one like it’s had, at least.”

“That’s nice.” You said dismissively, “Listen, we’re gonna bring you along with us and drop you at the first place that’s safe for you along the way. Go over by that tank over there,” you waved a finger towards your Luftpanzer, “You can ride along for the time being. I’ve got to go take care of something.”

“…Yeah, sure.” Lu was still thinking, and hummed to himself in contemplation as you went off to talk to another troublesome Halmeggian.

Eidan Wolfe was found in the dimly lit interior of the communications truck, away from the rest of the operatives who had decided to loiter outside and stretch their legs; even when you trudged past them they remained lacking in proper caution, though you weren’t in the mood to boss them around. The forward observer, meanwhile, looked behind her instantly as you climbed aboard and sat on the bench. She had been poring over maps, and had a headset on her ears, her helmet put beside her, and her hairclip put inside of that; apparently she had had second thoughts on revealing her gender to her fellows after all. Or at least, making it obvious.

“Hey.” You said casually.

“Captain. Sir.” Wolfe’s reply was toneless.

“Nah, knock that off,” You said quickly, waving your hand down. “I don’t pull rank unless I have to. Listen, we have to talk about something.”

“Do we?” Eidan shot back, “None of our people even got hurt. That’s ideal, isn’t it? That the enemy dies and none of us get killed?”

Judge above. “Yeah, sure, but see,” you took off your cap and rested your arm on your knee while pointing with your other arm out the back, “Civilians ain’t the enemy. If we can help it, I’d prefer to keep them out of things.”

“I heard Dohdt just as well as you did,” Eidan Wolfe sidestepped your point, “Those people were trying to make us give up all our stuff. Alterwald ran into militia right near the village, close to where Dohdt was checking things out. Think that’s a coincidence? There’s nothing to regret. I know how to do what I do. I didn’t make any mistakes, and in the end, it seems like the batteries didn’t either.”

The rub there was that you weren’t particularly willing to believe that the Aristocratic Union artillerists had made any mistakes, and were equally skeptical that Wolfe was as innocent in this as she’d implied over the radio when it happened. Was it worth pursuing, though? Or would it just aggravate her more and harm her performance? If she’d turned out to be right, you really had no place to be critical of shelling militia dressed in casual clothing. You knew how partisans could use their plain appearance as a deadly weapon.

>You knew what Wolfe was up to. Demand that she cut the crap and tell you the truth, or else you’d have her dismissed, possibly worse. (Worse how?)
>Try to coax the truth out of her; try to be understanding. You needed her abilities, and certainly not her spite nor any condescending attitude.
>Could you do anything but let this pass, and believe her? Even if she was lying, trusting her would be more beneficial in the long run.
>Other?

The pilot will be mentioned after.

>>3072266
>>Could you do anything but let this pass, and believe her? Even if she was lying, trusting her would be more beneficial in the long run.
Obviously I don't really like her behaviour but I don't really see us changing her mind anytime soon.
Also as a side note wouldn't us removing the Royals from Halmeggia actually benefit the Militarists if they also want to overthrow the monarchy? Unless in the case that the Kaiser decides to escalate this war to ensure that the royals keep the throne I'd doubt they'd care as much as the Aristocrats would if they're in effect exiled to a faraway place.

>>3072266
>Try to coax the truth out of her; try to be understanding. You needed her abilities, and certainly not her spite nor any condescending attitude.

>>3072266
>Could you do anything but let this pass, and believe her? Even if she was lying, trusting her would be more beneficial in the long run.

>But don't believe her.

So we know who did it now at least.
Either we pull it out of her, thus potentially losing her trust and her abilities or we let this go and now WE know how far we can push her. And in the hopefully unlikely event we need to worry about civvie casualties again we don't give her even an excuse to cause trouble again.

And if she really pushes us we tie her up and toss her in a tank until she becomes more useful.

Intended to answer this much earlier.

>>3072276
Also as a side note wouldn't us removing the Royals from Halmeggia actually benefit the Militarists if they also want to overthrow the monarchy? Unless in the case that the Kaiser decides to escalate this war to ensure that the royals keep the throne I'd doubt they'd care as much as the Aristocrats would if they're in effect exiled to a faraway place.

Theoretically it would. However, the threat to power extends beyond the royal family themselves, and to both the supporters of the constitutional monarchy as it was before, but more importantly, the Aristocratic Union. The latter's claim to legitimacy is in support of the monarchy, after all. If Wolfe's Militarists (Guardians of Halmeggia, for their more vain moniker) think that they don't need to excise these influences permanently through erasure of the monarch and their line, or perhaps their leadership don't have the guts to do such, then they certainly could accept merely letting them go, but that would be a gamble. As Lu has hinted, there's parts of the faction that don't see allowing the King and family to go as beneficial to them.

Anyways, delayed quite long enough, I'll write now.

>>3072266
>>Could you do anything but let this pass, and believe her? Even if she was lying, trusting her would be more beneficial in the long run.

We need to be sure we can trust her though. First she runs off into the woods and gets us shot, now this with the artillery. Wolfe has not proven to be dependable, it seems like the only thing we can trust her to do is what she thinks is the right thing at the time. When it comes down to using the artillery again, we might not be able to afford another slip up. I don't want a confession, but I want it to be clear to Wolfe that if she can't follow orders we can't use her.

Your mouth hung open for a bit, not sure of what to say, before you closed it, sighed out your nose with a long breath, before scooting over from your seat and pushing the headset off of Wolfe’s head. “Hey,” you said as she turned around in puzzlement, and irritation. “I’ll need your undivided attention for a moment.” You saw a flash of fear appear on Wolfe’s face, and you could tell that she knew what you could say…though you didn’t. The reason why you held your tongue on revealing your hunch, you didn’t really know. Was it favor, or pity? You certainly wouldn’t have hesitated to speak a venomous reprimand in a case like this normally.

No, it was sympathy. You’d both had long nights, and you knew why Wolfe was just acting on her own initiative; you could hardly blame her, given that you’d only just met. She didn’t trust her father, she didn’t trust her allies, so why would she think any differently of some sleazy paratrooper who fell into her country and started rolling about atop a tank? If you were accusatory or suspicious, she’d only grow yet more wary of you. The only way you could form some sort of much needed bond, the mandatory trust needed between the frontline and the back, was if you didn’t pressure Eidan. You didn’t have to believe her tall tale about having nothing to do with anything; but you had to at least act like you thought of her as trustworthy if there was going to be any progress. If she never spilled the beans, then that would just be the way it was; in the long run, this would be of more benefit to everybody.

“So,” you said, “I’m gonna believe you. That you know how to do your job and you didn’t do anything wrong, or try to, at least. But uh, we have to make things straight here. When I call down an order, I want it done the way I ask, for good reason. I don’t ask things to be done my way just because I like it like that, I’ve got to watch over a whole bunch of people. My platoon leaders, the crews, you, I’ve got to try my best to keep their safety in mind, and I want them to know I’m looking out for them, so that when I have to ask them to do something they’re not sure about, they know I’m thinkin’ of what’s best for ‘em. What’s good for them, but also for their unit. That second part is why they can’t just do what they feel like, see? If I’m trying to help the unit and somebody does things on their own without thinking of the rest, then I can’t use them. Everything turned out…fine now, but that might not be the case next time. Next time, I just want to be real sure that, y’know,” you laid a hand out to Wolfe, “That I’m not having smoke blown up my ass for considering people.”

Wolfe regarded you with half closed, bemused eyes, and frowned. “That’s a lot of words to tell me I’d better watch my ass.”

Of course she took it that way. “No, no,” you insisted, “I’m saying, you can have some faith in me. We need you; I need you.” You said as you put your hand on your chest, “If I don’t trust you, I’m screwed. I just want you to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

Wolfe blinked, then bit her lip, before asking, slowly, “…So then, if something does go the other way-“

“Then that’s how it is.” You cut her off, “Sometimes things happen that we can’t help, but if it does, I’ll know it wasn’t any fault of you own.”

“No matter what?” Wolfe said, her usual disguised voice slipping for a bit.

“No matter what.” You said back.

Wolfe kept chewing on the corner of her lower lip as she squinted at you. “Mmokay,” she muttered, “Okay then.” She seemed to be holding herself back heavily from saying something, and you guessed that both of you knew what that thing was.

Hopefully this wouldn’t bite you in the ass.

“Anyways,” you moved to a less awkward subject, “We picked up a pilot who says he’s with the Guardians of Halmeggia; apparently that’s the name your father’s boys have picked for themselves. Any chance you might know who this guy is? Lu Antonesci. Fighter pilot.”

Eidan moved her head side to side in a tiny “no.” “I wouldn’t know. The Royal Army Air Force isn’t a place I’d know people in or even hear much of. Everybody knows my father though.”

“Does everybody know you, then?” you asked.

Wolfe coughed a bit. “No, well, I hope not. Nobody’s noticed until…well, recently. Why tell me about that though?” She looked down and to the side, “…I mean, I guess I get it. I’m not even sure how I feel about, well, my father doing…this.”

You looked at Eidan’s mess of maps, and rummaged through them for one that showed Delamil, and the castle. Eidan was confused until you started pointing and explaining. “According to our aerial recon and what the pilot we nabbed told me, your father’s making a move here. Maybe even leading the charge to take the castle, and probably not to relieve the siege.” If the siege was even still going on; you’d been cut off from communications for a while. If it turned out that the castle had fallen…that would really not be good. “We’re both heading for the same place.”

Wolfe averted her eyes from the map, before looking back at you, slightly. “…I guess.” She probably could guess what you were getting at; though maybe you would turn out to betray expectations. Again.

>There was a good chance Gunmetal was going to be right in your area of operations; with the way the situation was developing, you didn’t have a choice to not involve Eidan in that any more.
>Reassure her that you don’t expect her to do anything; or turn her coat for that matter. You’d find some way of keeping away.
>You doubted that you’d be able to work with the militarists; not with their conflicting goals to yours. You had to make sure Eidan would be willing to take action against her father’s men.
>Other?

>>3070596
>"Nice jacket"

Made a mistake here; just imagine he said "nice outfit" because your jacket is currently actually being worn by Winnifred, unless you want to reclaim it.

>>3073267
>>You doubted that you’d be able to work with the militarists; not with their conflicting goals to yours. You had to make sure Eidan would be willing to take action against her father’s men.

It's totally understandable that she feels conflicted right now; if she doesn't want to be forced to choose between the mission and family then we should allow her to step back and find someone else to do the dirty work.

>>3073267
>There was a good chance Gunmetal was going to be right in your area of operations; with the way the situation was developing, you didn’t have a choice to not involve Eidan in that any more.

We are pretty much guaranteed to have to confront Gunmetal now, at the very least Eidan has to be ready for that. Nothing is really set in stone but Eidan has to be ready to play a part in whatever might come up.

>>3073267
>You doubted that you’d be able to work with the militarists; not with their conflicting goals to yours. You had to make sure Eidan would be willing to take action against her father’s men.

They may be her fathers men, but in the highly likely case we go against Gunmetal himself we won't force her to fight. Maybe gently remind her that she had to know this possibility was coming when she chose her side.

>>3073267
>>There was a good chance Gunmetal was going to be right in your area of operations; with the way the situation was developing, you didn’t have a choice to not involve Eidan in that any more.

>>3073267
>>You doubted that you’d be able to work with the militarists; not with their conflicting goals to yours. You had to make sure Eidan would be willing to take action against her father’s men.

>>3073267
>You doubted that you’d be able to work with the militarists; not with their conflicting goals to yours. You had to make sure Eidan would be willing to take action against her father’s men.

Much as you’d rather not fight the militarists, it was a fact that working with them would be an unlikely solution to your conflicting missions. In fact, that difference would in all likelihood result in you coming to blows in spite of the amicable beginning to your relations with them. As the link between you and the most powerful of your supporting assets was directly related to the head of what was likely to be your most threatening opponents, you not only had to make sure that Eidan was understanding of what might come about as a result of helping you, but also to be sure (though you wouldn’t say this) that she wouldn’t change her mind about sticking around with you and the aristocrats. After all, you didn’t really know why she was here in the first place; from what you remembered it was almost entirely to protect her dead boyfriend, but now that he was gone, was there anything else? You certainly hoped so.

“I have to know,” you said suddenly, “If we run into your dad’s folks, the Guardians of Halmeggia, are you going to be alright with that? It’s perfectly understandable if you’re conflicted, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not going to force you to choose between mission and family. If you don’t think you can take that, then I won’t force you to do anything.” Though really, you weren’t sure what she expected if she went over to the aristocrats. Maybe she’d hoped that Gunmetal Wolfe wouldn’t do what he ended up doing, and would be swayed to take the side of the aristocrats. Not so, evidently; either the major didn’t know where his daughter had gone, or had decided his cause was worth abandoning family.

Wolfe’s frown deepened. “…You just said all that stuff about saying you’ll trust me, how could I just throw that in your face by refusing to fight? No, I’ll be fine.” Wolfe said that readily, but you could tell in her eyes she was still uncertain, and afraid. The body didn’t necessarily reflect, the soul, though. Just like how sometimes you put on a brave face just to keep your knees from knocking against each other.

“Well, if you change your mind,” you rose up, “I’ll be ready to listen.”

-----

The militarist pilot joined Winnifred on your tank, though he was forced into a less comfortable position. He briefly attempted to flirt with the slight and dark haired noblewoman, but he evidently wasn’t used to the sort of woman Winnifred Von Löwenkreuz was, so his advances fell flat from the get go and he didn’t attempt anything further. Not that he seemed too hurt by it. Space was certainly short on your vehicle, but there weren’t a lot of other places to keep Lu. He certainly couldn’t be kept around the AUSC soldiers, who’d find his mission and presence troublesome.

A whole bunch of heavy guns began firing abruptly, in a quantity that was surprising but from a distance that at least felt like you weren’t currently in more danger than usual. The impacts further away confirmed this; given your current trespassing without obstruction by enemies, were you merely giving battle, you would have been tempted to seek out and destroy the batteries (standard tank action was to run over guns, but you weren’t certain if Luftpanzer was stout enough for that to be effective) but your current mission was to continue moving. For now, you were a casual observer of the developing war; at least, until the Revolutionaries managed to ambush you with a prepared anti-tank position. As former General Hohenholz had once said, apparently, never expect your enemy to be incapable of what seems impossible.

“Somebody’s fighting to the front,” Sergeant Dohdt radioed in from the head of your column. Sporadic rifle fire had hardly been uncommon, but the quantity and distance was such that they almost came from every direction. Fire that seemed to the front could just as easily really be coming from a sudden bulge in the lines that you were skirting; you thusly asked how close Dohdt figured it was, since you figured he wouldn’t bring it up in particular unless he thought it was close. “Just over this little thing, I think…Ah, I see it.”

“Is it your people?” you asked. It actually wouldn’t be a good thing if it was; if the lines were shifting, that would mean that not only would the Revolutionaries be moving into your path, but that were you to change course to counteract such and avoid much fighting, you’d be straying further away from the artillery, who wouldn’t be able to move up quickly.

“No,” Dohdt reported, to your slight relief, “I’m taking a look, and…it looks like some Revolutionaries came after this town, but they’re running off. They left behind a car that’s painted like one of theirs, with the camouflage and all. These people just look like normal people. With guns. They don’t have the armbands that the Rev militia wear, so I’m sure that it was them defending against them instead of the other way round.”

The crude maps of the area were given a quick look; there actually was a marked town ahead; the land had been cleared and there was a decent plot of farmland. Open terrain, with minimal patches of depressions, a dry creek to the west. There was plenty of space, it seemed, to just go around the place if you wanted; but this was an independent settlement, if you were forced to guess from the location, and one not only hostile to the Revolutionaries but strong enough to fend them off, if only for a little bit. You did plan on dropping Lu off; would it be a good idea to visit?

>Best not to. You’d rather drop Lu off at a village that wasn’t a potential threat; if they could drive off Revolutionaries, then there was a possibility they could cause damage to you if they didn’t like you.
>If they were independent, maybe they simply disliked the Revolutionaries, and you could get their support, even beyond just safe passage. What was there to lose from going over and having a meeting?
>Draw close and see what happens; if they wanted to meet, they’d come to you.
>Shove Lu out by it and let him walk over there. You wouldn’t have to deal with him or the town.
>Other?

>>3075924
>Best not to. You’d rather drop Lu off at a village that wasn’t a potential threat; if they could drive off Revolutionaries, then there was a possibility they could cause damage to you if they didn’t like you.

>>3075924
>Best not to. You’d rather drop Lu off at a village that wasn’t a potential threat; if they could drive off Revolutionaries, then there was a possibility they could cause damage to you if they didn’t like you.

>>3075924
>>Best not to. You’d rather drop Lu off at a village that wasn’t a potential threat; if they could drive off Revolutionaries, then there was a possibility they could cause damage to you if they didn’t like you.

If we can't think of anything better, we can at least drop Lu off in the middle of nowhere and he could eventually make his way back to some civilization by backtracking our tracks in the morning.

>>3075924
>Best not to. You’d rather drop Lu off at a village that wasn’t a potential threat; if they could drive off Revolutionaries, then there was a possibility they could cause damage to you if they didn’t like you.

Time's a-wastin'.

>>3075924
>>Draw close and see what happens; if they wanted to meet, they’d come to you.

>>3075924
>>Best not to. You’d rather drop Lu off at a village that wasn’t a potential threat; if they could drive off Revolutionaries, then there was a possibility they could cause damage to you if they didn’t like you.

“Give that town a wide berth,” you said to Dohdt, and by extension the rest of the company and its companions, “I’m wary of anything that’s a big enough threat to be a problem, whether they like the Revolutionaries or not. We don’t know nothing about these people, so I don’t want to risk putting ourselves on a platter ‘cause of that. Keep moving along, and watch out for any Revolutionary troops staking the place out.”

“Roger.” Dohdt had little issue with keeping things safe.

It wasn’t that you weren’t curious, you thought as your own tank moved beyond the town in a wide circle about, accompanying second platoon. This town sat right near a road, and was presumably blocking an important line of communication. Had this place kept a truce with the Revolutionaries until recently? Had this place had an agreement like the village with the policemen back south had had? Or had this place been independent this whole time and had only recently become a priority? Was the advance of the Aristocrats making them flip sides to win favor with the next largest threat? The fact of the matter was that as long as the town itself wasn’t giving any problems, it frankly didn’t matter.

“I see a bunch of troops moving up the road, far,” Dohdt reported, “A few platoons or so, spread out, dragging gear. Not…not close enough to have anything to do with us, but they’ve got to be heading for that town. Just wanted to say.”

“…Captain,” you heard Eidan speak, “If I can get a look at these troops, I can get a good bead on them for an artillery barrage on their position, even if we don’t want to fight them ourselves.”

You were rather pleased that she was actually asking, but your answer this time would be disappointing. “Nah. I’d rather the enemy feel safe for now.”

“What do you mean?”

Covacs explained for you. “If accurate artillery starts falling on this enemy’s head, they’re going to know somebody’s got an eye on them, somebody with access to those big guns to the east. It’s not like we aren’t already rather visible compared to the average infiltrator, but Captain Roth-Vogel would rather not alert the enemy into looking for us in particular.”

“I see.” Eidan accepted that explanation.

-----

The company continued on at a good clip, and any enemy contacts were sparse, and far, or large enough that they were easily detected and maneuvered around. If the enemy had noticed your skirmish earlier, they didn’t devote significant force to deal with you as a result. It wasn’t as if what brief battle there was hadn’t been quite noisy; perhaps the trouble then was that your contingent moved too quickly for the Revolutionary’s available forces to react quickly to.

It would be nice if the Aristocrats and Wolfe were still considered a greater priority threat than you. From the looks of one significant movement that was detected, that consisted of a force of tanks near equivalent to your own in number if not quality (from Dohdt’s report at least) streaming to the west, that indeed seemed to be the case. You briefly pondered if you should perhaps slow your movement to avoid crashing into that group, but in the end decided against such, and merely resolved to keep your distance.

Besides the town, you encountered a couple of sparse villages, but both of them, after short investigation, turned out to be utterly abandoned. One with a few signs of a brief fight, the other simply empty as though its people melted into thin air, with the insides apparently looted thoroughly. Lu refused to be dropped off at either, citing concerns for his safety. No slight or cajoling would convince him otherwise. Similarly, you passed another town that was smaller in size, but it was even more heavily armed than the last, with a contingent of roughly dressed men wearing mixes of police and military uniform and more casual wear. That settlement was avoided for much the same reason as the first.

“I would like to remind the Captain,” Alterwald said over the radio after passing this other town by, his voice crackling with slight interference, “That in case he would like to remain cautious around unknown settlements, we do have access to less suspicious potential infiltrators. Though my huntress is too short legged to be as swift as tanks…” An indignant protest was heard in the background, “She would also well avoid particular attention. I know that you have your own homely companion as well, who I doubt would refuse intelligent suggestion. It is slightly more subtle than charging in with tanks, you see.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” you told Alterwald, before slipping your headset slightly off and saying to Owl 3, “Hey, this Strossvalder or whatever you think he is called you homely. You gonna take that?”

Your loader, Jalsen, snickered. “He would be correct.”

Owl 3 undoubtedly heard that, but remained expressionless. “He may say what he likes. He is the one sleeping with a forest creature, after all.”

“Careful,” you teased, “He might just be negging you, he likes your raccoon eyes, y’know?”

“Hmn.” Owl 3’s eyes flicked skyward for a moment. “Hm? Hm. Captain. Your pilot wants to speak with you.

“Aight,” you nodded, and popped out the cupola. With Owl 3 in possession of your jacket, the wind from popping out the hatch all the time was uncomfortably biting, but if Lu had questons, you would be there to answer. You turned slightly to him, and made a hand motion saying for him to talk.

“Not that I’m not comfortable out here!” he spoke loudly over the chugging of the Luftpanzer’s engine, “But why didn’t we stop back there? That looked like a fine place to drop me off.”

“Too many people, too much of a threat!” you said back.

“I know! That’s why it was such a good place, no? I’d like that sort of haven to hide from the Revs in!”

“I’m sure you’ll be just fine.” Your headset started talking in your ear again. “Just trust me! I’ll be back out in a minute.”

As you ducked back in again, it was easier to hear the communications occurring, and you slipped the headset all the way back on again. “…off to the south some. I know it’s not on the way there, but still, there’s-“

“Woah, hold on, say that again?” you cut off Dohdt’s rapid fire transmission.

“To the south, I see something that looks like a field headquarters…and what I think might be a place they’re holding prisoners, maybe potential conscripts, something..? I’m not close enough to tell for sure, but…Well, Captain, I mean…we could go there. Cause some damage, save people?”

“I like the color of this man’s ambitions,” Fischer said approvingly, “The enemy is weak and the rewards are great. What is there to even consider?”

“That we’ve managed to avoid running smack into a quick reaction force, for one,” Covacs gave a harsh retort, “We’re not here to play hero, remember? Even if these are captured militia, like Dohdt would like to think, are they mechanized? Do they have transportation? I don’t see any benefit besides feeling good about the matter.”

“It is a matter of pride.” Fischer said defensively, “What respectable warrior for the Reich would leave the innocent in peril? We know that these Revolutionaries are fanatical and violent, to leave the innocent when we could crash down upon our enemies like waves upon sand would be irresponsible!”

“I agree with Lieutenant Fischer, do we really do nothing in the face of this?” Schneider made his opinion known.

“Lieutenant Fischer, Judge Above be merciful, is not the company commander,” Covacs hissed, “We do not embark on foolhardy adventures merely because enough people agree. Will you brag of your deeds to the Kaiser when we fail to reach the Royal Family in time because of this?”

“I am near the tail of the formation,” Fischer continued to insist, “If we wish to maintain speed, I will not slow us. I can take any volunteers and conquer the enemy in time to line back up once more. Was my performance earlier not impressive, Captain?” he began to plead to you, “I feel that we must do this. It is what is right.”

>What’s right is to stick to the mission, Fischer. We’re moving on, and no slower than we’ve been going.
>It’s only a short sidetrack, then? A whole mechanized company plus against a dinky little headquarters and guard detail, that’s cake. We’ll go for it.
>If you’re confident you can take it by yourself, then go ahead. Just make sure not to slow the rest of us down with any delays. (Allow other volunteers or no?)
>Other?

>>3076548
>What’s right is to stick to the mission, Fischer. We’re moving on, and no slower than we’ve been going.
Mark down that place on the map; if the AUSC want to mop up the place later if they manage to advance this far by all means. Also taking out their HQs may signal to our Vitelian friends that there's something out there that doesn't want to be detected.

>>3076548
>What’s right is to stick to the mission, Fischer. We’re moving on, and no slower than we’ve been going.

If they were going to execute these prisoners they would have done it when they took them. For now we know that hasn’t happened and they were kept alive and moved to a holding area, so the RAGV has at least some interest to keep them alive. The same cannot be said if the royal family is captured. We might be able to double back with the royal family and save these prisoners, but we won’t be able to do anything if we save those prisoners and the royals get captured because of it.

>>3076548
>What’s right is to stick to the mission, Fischer. We’re moving on, and no slower than we’ve been going.

Part of me wants to both to kick teeth in but more importantly for their maps and a potential heads up for what is ahead of us.

On the other hand it's sounding like the Militarists are going to break through RAGVie at the castle so time is a-wastin'. Also as other anons have said, no reason we can't come back this way.

Let's NOT tell AUSC yet though. No telling if they're just gonna shell the shit out of it prisoners and all.

>>3076548
>What’s right is to stick to the mission, Fischer. We’re moving on, and no slower than we’ve been going.

Update soon, in about a half hour or so.

“What’s right, Fischer, is to stick to the mission,” you said to your subordinate trailing the formation, just ahead of the Halmeggian infantry complement you had been loaned, “If the Revolutionaries were planning to do anything too terrible they wouldn’t be waiting and holding the prisoners there. They want them alive for some reason, they have time, but we can’t say the same for the royal family if we don’t hurry.”

“But,” Fischer sputtered, but you continued.

“We can’t slow down for this. We’ll come back for them, alright, Lieutenant?” you had a sneaking suspicion Fischer would have tried to run off on his own, if not for this statement, this unsaid promise. “They’ll wait. Castle Delamil has been besieged by the Revolutionaries, and soon Wolfe’s Militarists will run over it too. We’re already late, come on. They need our help a lot more right now.”

“But…ah,” Fischer wanted to protest; you could tell how badly he wanted to charge off into a fight, but thankfully he relented. “Very well. We shall return, but swiftly!” Maybe your sigh of relief should have been made off the air. “Captain, I do apologize, but-“

“Save it, Fischer, it’s fine,” you said hurriedly, “Just keep an eye out for those tanks heading west. I’d rather not fight anything else until we hit Castle Delamil. We’ve managed to be real lucky, and I’d like to make that luck the new standard for this night, after how the damn drop went!”

-----

Avoiding provoking the enemy went quite well for you, though the further you went along, the more numerous traveling Revolutionaries became; and more disconcertingly, the more difficult it became to speak to your headquarters and support elements. You barely managed to send one last update back before interference and distance was such that long range wireless use turned from scratchy to near hopeless, with only snippets coming in or out, apparently even for the long range communications truck. For now, you were on your own, as the company powered on west, and the storm of battle around Delamil, as well as the castle, became louder and louder with your approach. The earth shook with the impact of artillery, and machine guns rattled off with such frequency that they seemed to blend into one another in an endless chain of buzzing and crackling, or was it density of rifle fire? What you recognized as tank cannons firing also echoed over like the sound of an old time naval gun battle, with rows of guns firing off in turn. The battle was such that even in this age of smokeless powder, there was practically a fog over where the fighting was most fierce. As the sky lightened, the sun doing its best to begin to prepare for its creep up in a few hours, flashes of explosions and burning tracer shot made the scene ahead the color of chaos in your imagination; even in Fealinn and Felbach, you’d never seen anything quite like this.

The feeling looking upon all that and being entirely ready to dive in was indescribable. Something like if tense anticipation for a celebration met with teeth chattering terror, swirling about each other yet not mixing, like oil and water.

The you that was buried deep below felt nothing. Perhaps a twinge of yearning, to go forth and lose yourself. You liked that, didn’t you, it whispered from below. The mirthful lake of alcohol you could immerse yourself in and care naught for the troubles of life, the pure feeling and pleasure of making love. The terrible contest of existence that battle offered, that was given nowhere else. Here, more than anywhere in the past. War in the past had been gusts and lulls of panic and boredom beaten down by pride and good humor; you hadn’t hated the Fealinn or the Felbachr. Yet here, beckoning, was a foe whose blood you could be drunk upon, and a monstrous twitch within did its best to accept that for the happiness it masqueraded as.

A hand stroked your face, and you blinked. Winnifred had run her fingers across your cheek, and you looked at her; her look was the usual. Flint, penetrable as a sea of quicksilver. “Captain.” She said firmly, “We are not even halfway. Keep alert.”

“I’m good,” you coughed, digging your binoculars out of their case that hung around your neck and scanning the surroundings. “Thanks.”

“Judge above,” Lu said in wonder as he looked over the turret and past you, the column having stopped for a moment to observe as the objective was in reach; only roughly ten minutes of full speed travel away. “That’s really heated up since I was over, and that wasn’t too long ago…”

“Having second thoughts about staying at one of those empty villages now?” you asked haughtily.

“Yeah, but, hey,” Lu stumbled over his words, “Don’t dump me off yet, yeah?”

“Real quick,” you asked Lu, “What color are your tanks, and what uniforms do your people have?”

“We’re the army. Well, army air force for me, but still. So we look like the army.”

“So…” you led off with no hope.

“Exactly like our own Aristocrat aligned troops.” Winnifred finished for you.

“Great.” You thumbed at the brim of your cap, “How thoughtful of this place. At least the RAGV have the courtesy to make it clear to everybody who to shoot.”

“Uhh,” Lu said cautiously, “You’re not thinking of shooting up my people, are you?”

“Unless they don’t give us a choice.” You said back. “Are you going to have a problem with it if that happens? You’re riding awfully comfy there.”

“No, no, no problems here!” Lu laughed nervously, holding his hands up, “Just saying, you know, we’ve got uh, common ground…”

“You’ll be hanging back with the communications vehicle and field workshop anyways,” you said, jerking a thumb towards the wooded reverse slope that would serve as their hiding place while the combat element went off to do their fighting; the battlefield ahead looked far too chaotic to guard a train such as them, small as they were, so they were to hide instead. Wolfe had said that some of the Aristocrat’s heaviest guns could reach out far enough to help you, though even now radio transmission was spotty; she would have to spool out cable to transmit by field telephone for any hope of keeping in contact. Such spools were laid out from the last truck carrying infantry for now, but the duties would be carried out by infantry on foot in time, once fighting began, in all likelihood. “Tell me what’s going on further up, people,” you said into the radio; it was about time for the most important push of this night’s operation. No longer night soon, really.
“The people to the north,” Dohdt reported, “They look like they’ll be diving straight towards the north side of the east face of the castle area. The approach there is more open, so it’s better for their load of tanks. There’s another armored force to our south. We could slip in through this bit of woods, maybe go between those two forks…”

Covacs gave his opinion next, close to the tip of the unit as he was. “It’s not really clear, but I think the militarists are pushing hard to the south, from the sound of the fighting. If I were to guess that’s where the Revolutionary lines are going to buckle first, if we want to take advantage of that to push to the castle, but we’d probably run into the militarists on an active battlefield, where they’ll be really jumpy and ready to fight. If we were to swing wide some, we might be able to meet with Wolfe’s people instead, if that’s an option you want to try. Getting at the castle from inside their lines. We have the resources to affect negotiation, after all.”

Covacs was naturally speaking of the captured pilot, but also of Eidan Wolfe herself. That was indeed a viable option, but the trouble was if you had time to be stuck in negotiations that had just as much chance of being fruitful as not, and if it were the latter, there was no doubt you’d have to fight your way out.

“Since the militarists are pushing to the south,” Sergeant Schneider put forward, “If we went north, there’s basically no chance we run into them, yes? If we shadowed the push north and sort of…followed the tide in.”

File: lpq_opmapcastleareasmall.png (145 KB, 605x404)

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“Maybe,” you accepted that potential plan, “So long as we get to that castle, and soon.” Castle Delamil poked out of the groves of stout, short and well-spaced trees surrounding it, the artificial forest that was more a decoration than a natural occurrence, that served to accentuate the white spires of the castle that looked more stone manor than fortress, though it was strong enough in construction that even from far away you could see that it had taken plenty of abuse; and still stood strong.

With spotty connection to your far off allies as is, and but a dim view of the tactical situation, if you wanted to keep things going in a timely manner, you had to make a decision and act on what appeared best at the time. It wasn’t ideal; in fact, proper doctrine heavily advised against an unprepared attack without recon or artillery support (which was also spotty), let alone the air support that was meant to support airborne troops (tactical bombers were certainly not meant to be the primary arm of air strike support, such was the duty of dive bomber attack planes which hadn’t had a field to land at thus far), but you had little choice but to go on with this anyways. Hopefully, luck would serve you well as it had in the past…as well as the sheer personal fighting ability of your unit’s members.

>Try to slip between the Revolutionary’s two prongs of assault from your direction; there would be less of a concentration to break through, though if the attack was redirected on you that would be…bad.
>Attack to the south, where the Revolutionaries and Militarists will be meeting in battle. You could slip through the chaos, though the Militarists would likely think you hostile on first contact, which was a risk with their momentum.
>Attack in the wake of the northern prong of the assault. You would have to delay for it to work properly, which was against your interests as far as time went, but you wouldn’t risk running into Wolfe.
>Skirt around south longways and attempt to meet up with the Militarists; maybe you could broker a deal and have a much easier time getting to the castle; maybe even ahead of them. If they weren’t already breaking in…
>Other?
Any questions as to the surroundings, your forces, and your capabilities will be answered to the best of your unit’s knowledge, so don’t feel pressed to make an uninformed decision. Calling in artillery and airstrikes will be unreliable due to the current radio transmission situation, so keep such in mind.

>>3077725
>>Attack to the south, where the Revolutionaries and Militarists will be meeting in battle. You could slip through the chaos, though the Militarists would likely think you hostile on first contact, which was a risk with their momentum.
We have our smoke shells so if we can let's race through.

>>3077725
>>Attack to the south, where the Revolutionaries and Militarists will be meeting in battle. You could slip through the chaos, though the Militarists would likely think you hostile on first contact, which was a risk with their momentum.

If we can keep the Aristocrat units mixed somewhat with our units, we might be able to give the impression that we are just some hotshot militarist unit wreaking havoc through the RAGV lines. As long as we are able to keep moving, I don't think the militarists would risk shooting at their own.

The only problem with that is if we run out of revolutionaries to shoot at. If it is just us and the militarists things could get nasty.

>>3077725
Before anything else, questions, sorry in advance:

Any gunfire coming from the Castle itself?
Shooting at both belligerents?

One castle gate with a big door? Moat with drawbridge? One entrance? More Stone Keep or Concentric type?
Any major damage to it? How long would it last against a sustained attack?

Any air combat in the skies above? Enemy arty dropping fairly evenly or concentrated somewhere?

That forest closest to us but next to the Castle, how big is that? Enough to sneak to it and springboard from there?

Questions maybe for Owl 3:
Codes for contacting the Royalists? Signal flares? Loudspeaker?
Just how much of the Royal Guard is in there? Are they combat capable?

>Dumb personal opinions:
If we can't contact the Castle and get them to let us in or not shoot at us then we're fucked as we are surrounded by whomever is closest and ripped to pieces. Regardless we should use whatever Arty or Bomber support to surprise and create an opening.

I don't think we should negotiate with Gunmetal. He seems determined in his goals, likely sees the Reich as an interloper unless we officially support his takeover. He ain't getting the Royals to reinstate them.
Or if we do talk, use it as a distraction to slow him down.

I don't think we should send the whole of our armored forces inside. Some to stay behind and surprise help us break out when we rush to retreat.
Regardless when we go for the Castle keep Eidan in the group charging in. If we need her to negotiate with Gunmetal better to keep her on hand.
And if we do decide to fight the Militarists tie up Lu and keep someone watching him.

>>3077842
>Any gunfire coming from the Castle itself?
Not from what any of your people can see; if there is anything, it would be rifle fire. Presumably any defenders are not on the more visible floors, or have been suppressed.
>Shooting at both belligerents?
You don't exactly have a good enough view to tell particular targets. It's not really known who's close to the castle at the moment.

>One castle gate with a big door? Moat with drawbridge? One entrance? More Stone Keep or Concentric type?
No moat, certainly an outer wall with only one entrance. It's not the most substantial fortification; the place was built as a home first and a fortress second, but even a relatively decorative stone wall is a stone wall. As far as the general shape goes, it's concentric, though the interior-most courtyard is open to the north.

>Any major damage to it? How long would it last against a sustained attack?
There appears to be plenty of hits from artillery of varying sorts, and stray gouges from cannon fire, but the structure itself isn't compromised. From what you can tell the siege thus far has either been inefficient due to lack of coordination, or there has been a lack of heavy guns and siege artillery; these sorts of fortifications would have been obsolete before the Emrean War, let alone sufficient to resist proper siege artillery now. A dedicated barrage by heavy artillery would probably demolish it in short order, but thankfully the Halmeggians don't have much of such as far as you know.

>Any air combat in the skies above?
Nothing too flashy. It seems any possible opposing air forces are wary of the Reich's cover, but this wave of heavy fighters is almost at the end of their fuel allowance so the dominance will be short lived; another wave would arrive in some time but there would be a period of time where squadrons were changing places.

>Enemy arty dropping fairly evenly or concentrated somewhere?
Evenly. The battle seems to be a colossal mess, though the most certainly is dropping down to the south.

>>3077842
>>3077867
>That forest closest to us but next to the Castle, how big is that? Enough to sneak to it and springboard from there?
It's possible to do that, yes, that's basically what Dohdt's proposal was to do, though it's not exactly ideal terrain for tanks to fight in since it's easy for infantry to hide in there.

>Questions maybe for Owl 3:
You do know these answers yourself.
>Codes for contacting the Royalists? Signal flares? Loudspeaker?
The initial plan was to use the wireless, but since the castle's communications have been dark since shortly after the landing, that's out the window presumably. There are prearranged signal flares, though.

>Just how much of the Royal Guard is in there? Are they combat capable?
Their precise starting numbers and what they have at the moment is unknown, but there's meant to be five hundred fifty in total. It's a healthy estimate to say that a significant proportion if not most of them have been responsible for defending the castle and the territory around it. They are indeed quite combat capable; the Aristocratic Union's retinues are inspired and based on the standard of the Royal Guardsmen, who are frequently either army personnel with remarkable performance marks, or veterans, and they are as well equipped if not better than a standard Halmeggian infantry unit of equivalent size, though they lack for heavy support assets.

The current fire that seems to be coming from around the castle does not indicate there are even one hundred defenders at most, let alone five hundred. It's safe to assume that over the course of the assault and siege they have taken heavy casualties.

The Royal Guards are also quite distinctive looking; you wouldn't mistake them for anybody else, for better or worse.

I know some of this is basically "you don't know and are making an educated guess" but such is the reality of the situation.

>>3077871
Thanks tanq, that helps, even if I'm mostly with the majority so far.

>Attack to the south, where the Revolutionaries and Militarists will be meeting in battle. You could slip through the chaos, though the Militarists would likely think you hostile on first contact, which was a risk with their momentum.

Sounds like time is of the essence, if the Militarists win they can just knock it down and get the prize.

Mix of the other anons suggestions with flares to fire as we approach the gates. I'd like to save the AUSC Artillery and Bombers for when we need to break out for maximum surprise.

Hopefully with our markings similar it will give us a little bit of disguise.

Do we bring the Infantry and Eins? Or leave them to clear the woods to give us an escape route?

>>3077725
>>Try to slip between the Revolutionary’s two prongs of assault from your direction; there would be less of a concentration to break through, though if the attack was redirected on you that would be…bad.
We managed to mostly avoid contact on the way here so the revolutionaries should have no idea who we are or what we're doing there. Our best bet is to force our way through their lines where they aren't expecting contact of any sort and reach the castle before they can coordinate to stop us.

Hey guys, so, this next encounter's gonna be a bit of a doozy I think, and I need to plan it out better, so I'm going to cut the thread loose here and have everything start happening again next thread, which'll be in about a week. Thanks for sticking through with things even though they've been intolerably slow!

I won't lock the vote in case there's any change in dispositions, but I expect things to remain as they are right now anyways. Any questions that are had I'd be glad to answer.

>>3079345
Works for me bossman.

>Questions?
How close are we to the Halmeggian capital?

>>3079687
Castle Delamil is actually only about fifteen kilometers to the east of the southern outskirts of the capital, Halmez. The situation in the capital is a bit of a microcosm of the whole country; it's just as huge a mess in a smaller area, though the most territory within is held by the Revolutionaries.