Combat Report Fall 1962As an official response to the crime-riddled lower slums of MAGMA, Mereth has begun equipping their police force with serious firepower.
As MAGMA expands, so do the roads. The original roads - carved into the sides of MAGMA to allow trucks to pass through - still exist, but large tunnels winding through the stone around central MAGMA allow for the MAGMA PD's new Grizzly Enforcers to move through. The Mechanized Assault Strategy & Tactics teams - MAST Teams - empowered with Drop Bears and Grizzlies carve their way through lower MAGMA as they fight with entrenched gangs.
Fighting will continue into Winter and for who-knows-how-long, but the Mereth government is reportedly very proud of the MAGMA PD's newfound progress. Already, police departments across Mereth are beginning the formation of their own MAST divisions to deal with heavy crime.
That is, until the prominent gang from MAGMA assassinates the President of Mereth using a stolen Grizzly. Though "assassination" may undersell what happened at the President's speech. Mereth City's MAST quickly moved in to intercept the gang Grizzly before it could escape the city, and the ensuing battle resulted in damage to large parts of the city. It only ended when Officer Nix Gelus used his Drop Bear suit to jump onto the back of the criminal Grizzly, where he climbed across the suit, using maintenance hatches and brute strength to disable Electrogel motor conduits and disabling the Grizzly, allowing for arrest.
Nix Gelus' heroics only came into the public light when he was let go from the department, scapegoated as the one responsible for the damage the Merethan Police created themselves. Thanks to both his actions and surprising amounts of charisma, he has already begun and made significant progress in a political campaign to elect himself as the next President of Mereth in the upcoming Emergency Election.
Back at Aratam, the Necrostate has finally come to a conclusion in their deliberations that began with the revolutionizing of the CryoStat tanks.
When the Design Bureau presented what they had done with the tanks, several Necropoliticians realized that this could mean effective clinical immortality for nearly the entire populace of Aratam. Others realized this eventually, and the concept of the
CryoState met extreme resistance within the Necrostate as several rising Necropoliticians feared for a loss of power.
The
deliberations ended when the B.E.O., bolstered with the new SEEM operatives, raided the offices of several Necropoliticians and dispatched their security details without any casualties. With the prominent Necropoliticians against the CryoState out of the picture, the Necrostate began implementation of the program.
New
Cryo Clinics opening across the jungles of Aratam have effectively eliminated many medical conditions. Though not everything. As cheap as the CryoStat may be, there are limits. Computers keep track of the CryoStat usage of every citizen in the nation, and usage is budgeted based on influence and status.
The upper-middle class and above get their clinical immortality and experience the effective end of disease. Most of Aratam "just" get significantly-increased lifespans and the removal of wounds once thought impossible to fully heal. The dregs of society still get their CryoStat usage and their lifespans do increase, but not by much.
With the power of the CryoState wielded in the hands of the Necrostate, public resistance falls to an all-time low. Anybody arrested by the B.E.O. for crimes against the state receives a significant decrease in their CryoStat allowance for the year, and those higher-up in the government can change anybody's budgets at a whim. Fearful of their allowance being revoked and thankful for their newfound lifespans, the populace of Aratam remains passive, yet arguably happy.
The Desert/MountainsHere, the Grizzlies don't see that much of a use.
The mountain passes barely fit them, and on the Desert they have to deal with constant sinking into the sand. But they're still effective, and present a new obstacle to the Hydra and Ettins.
Penguin and Sarukh bombardment effectiveness is also at an all-time low. With Goldeneyes spread throughout the military, nearly any given group of Aratamites moving in the battlefield can be warned of a bombardment before it strikes. Sure, casualties still occur frequently, but nowhere near the level of before. Counter-bombardment from the Red Sky also ensures an overall decrease in the volume of bombardments Mereth can put out.
The Red Sky continues to exploit the "weakness" of COMBAT Plating. Grizzly pilots fear bombardment, as the thermal component quickly melts through the armor. Grizzlies do possess STABIL-ICE cooling, though, and that does mean that Red Sky missiles often don't manage to completely melt through the armor unless it's a particularly direct hit. Though direct hits
do happen, just not all the time.
But really, it comes down to infantry; in the desert the Hydras and plenty of Ettins devote most of their time to fighting the Grizzlies, even if they do often get stuck in the sand. In the mountains, neither side can really deploy enough armor for it to matter significantly (Mereth does have tunnels and this helps travelling across these theatres, but as soon as a Grizzly emerges from a tunnel it has to immediately deal with the tight mountain passes or the loose sand).
Drop Bears are impressive, but are not extraordinarily useful in this context. Merethan commanders hoped that Drop Bears could be used for strategic positioning, but the lack of control over the direction, altitude, and the like, means that this is both possible and that use of the Drop Bear flight at all in such uneven terrain is rather risky.
But Mereth still has COMBAT Plating, and Aratam's weapons still struggle to pierce it.
Goldeneyes find it easy to use their automatic coilgun-assisted Ospreys to pierce the same spot multiple times. Not
trivial, but easy. With their increased prevalence, they can enjoy more of a role in active combat instead of as glorified artillery canaries. Whenever Merethans spot the Goldeneyes (a now frequent sight) by their, well, their golden eyes, they immediately attempt to focus fire before real damage is done.
Tesla Rifles are given to (among other people) SEEM commandos, who utilize them to extreme effectiveness.
Some Merethan soldiers find that they tend to be innately aware of a SEEM Commando being nearby. When questioned by officials from the Design Division, they can't explain why. Just that they do. This awareness doesn't really help them do anything other than scream a warning to the rest of their comrades. Because SEEM Commandos are something to be afraid of. Hiding is useless, as are surprises. No matter how quiet Merethan soldiers are, SEEM Commandos just
know. They even seem to dodge bullets (though investigation by Merethan officials determines that this is merely them sensing a soldier about to fire a gun, and
not superhuman agility/reflexes)! They know exactly where to hit, and appear to anticipate tactics before they enter play. So far, Merethan commanders' favored tactics for dealing with Goldeneyes is
extreme amounts of people and consecutive ICE, bullets, and explosives.
Ultimately, Mereth finds itself retreating through the mountains along with the civilian mining operations. They're not losing by a great margin, but it's certainly notable. As they retreat, a Merethan soldier can only hope that they don't encounter a SEEM Commando.
Aratam advances in the Mountains.
[M: 3/4; A: 1/4]Mereth has lost the +1 Ore from holding the mountains.The PlainsDirt flies with every step as the Merethan Grizzly runs across the plains. The ground is covered with scorch marks and frozen bits of dirt and holes burned through by Red Sky missiles, but this is of no consequence to the Grizzly. Tesla blasts hit its armor, scorching large portions yet not breaching the COMBAT plating. A Hydra shell blasts straight through its right shoulder, cutting the Electrogel conduits and disabling the use of its weapon. The right arm flies backward from the force of the impact, but the pilot manages to keep the entire Grizzly steady as he continues to move forward.
Then, the Grizzly jumps into the air, with the shield held by its left hand raised. As the Grizzly lands, the shield swings to the left, bashing off the turret of a Ettin tank. Undeterred by the Osprey fire now piercing the depleted COMBAT plating and disabling portions of the mech, the Grizzly repeatedly bashes the Ettin. It falls on its knees as conduits to the feet are cut by bullets, but every bash of the shield renders the Hydra more and more nonfunctional, until it lies a heap of scrap metal. The pilot takes off his motion suit as he glances to the right. A hologram-cube (the same type employed by the Earth Ear) shows a very crude diagram of the Grizzly, with flashing red portions indicating complete loss of control amongst the entire vehicle. The pilot kicks open the emergency hatch, grabs his Heartstopper, and, after calling for reinforcements on the radio, jumps into the dirt below, where he will continue fighting.
Contrails streak through the air with a resounding roar as Drop Bears catapult themselves from the trenches to the combined metal hulks of what was once an Ettin and a Grizzly. Frozen dirt flies from their impact sites, and they advance as they fire AC18s and Stalwarts. Grizzlies from behind join the advance started by the original Grizzly; rockets and autocannon fire put the Aratamite tanks out of commission before much damage can be caused.
Of course, not all battles are like this. But the Battle of Reach's Hill serves as an example of the Merethan advantage in this region. When actually deployed in full force, the Grizzly is an extremely intimidating opponent. It isn't
invulnerable to Aratamite weapons -- especially the Hydra -- but in a 1v1 scenario it easily comes out on top thanks to its weaponry, (relative) agility, and COMBAT plating. Drop Bears are at their most effective here, where the lack of control barely matters and the flight can be used to quickly cross dangerous sections of land to close in with the enemy before they realize whats happening. After all, the Tesla Rifle isn't particularly great in close quarters combat.
Goldeneyes and SEEM Commandos do their best to stem the tide. There's even one documented instance of a SEEM Commando managing to climb onto the underside of a Grizzly, where he then emptied the magazine of his Osprey into a weak point, killing the pilot. Goldeneyes still massively decrease the effectiveness of bombardments, and do well against COMBAT Plating. But in the vast expanses of the plains, the Grizzly reigns supreme.
Despite the tough resistance, Mereth's Grizzlies lead the way towards the sea.
Mereth advances in the Plains.
Plains: [M: 2/4; A: 2/4]Challenge Conclusion!Both sides release persuasive propaganda, including Aratam's new Arahuaca ration and declassified reports of B.E.O. agents, and surprisingly persuasive statements from Merethan organizations and the release of stolen intelligence from Aratam. But Mereth, especially with the awe-inspiring propaganda videos released of its new weapon -- the Grizzly, pushes its citizens into a newfound patriotic fervor.
The new (and likely temporary) President of Mereth honors the plans of the former President, and uses the influence for a boost of funding to the Design Division;
Mereth receives a Research Credit.
[M: 2/2; A: 0/2]
Mereth: The majority of Mereth's population live in this area in the Tundra, surrounded by a plethora of natural resources making the climate much easier to bear.
2 Ore 1 Oil[M: 4/4; A: 0/4]
Tundra: A frozen landscape with few features. The more northern land starts to be more populated with features facilitating human life, allowing the development of a bustling civilization.
[M: 4/4; A: 0/4]
Taiga: A large snowy forest. Cold, but full of life.
[M: 2/4; A: 2/4]
Plains: Largely flat terrain full of grass and the occasional hill.
[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Sea: Relatively shallow water with beaches next to the Plains and Swamp perfect for ports. Control over this region allows ship-based support (not cargo or troop landing) to be rendered to your forces everywhere but the
Taiga and
Desert.
1 Oil[M: 3/4; A: 1/4]
Mountains: Treacherous (and often narrow) mountain paths with extreme height differences, the coldest weather on the continent, and only the rare passage viable for anything above small-scale movements.
1 Ore[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Desert: Desert terrain facing little rain and fairly hot temperatures.
[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Swamp: A swamp, filled with large stretches of shallow still water, lots of bugs, and lots of swamp-y plants and fauna.
[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Jungle: A hot and humid jungle (and rainforest) filled with trees obscuring the sky from the ground. The northern land begins seeing a few clearings, perfect for human habitation.
[M: 0/2; A: 2/2]
Aratam: Cities surrounded by jungle with plenty of natural resources and conditions fit for relatively comfortable living.
2 Ore 1 Oil
Author
Topic: Mad Arms Race - Core Thread (Fall 1965: Final Design Phase) (Read 18170 times)