After establishing a beachhead in Goza the Harkovian army had become bogged down. Supplies were limited, but the Knights fought on nobly and held the ground despite overwhelming Jendari numbers. It was clear to the Baronor commanders that a second front needed opening up to split the defenders. They chose to strike at Khef:
The push itself came from the House Guards – what they lacked in training and tech they made up for in numbers as House Baronor required each adult male to complete three years minimum of military service between the ages of 18 and 30 within the Guards or face imprisonment.
The invasion of Khef while not unexpected had not been anticipated at this early stage in the war by the Jendari Collective. As such only a simple force of Collective troops were stationed in Khef to defend it from invasion as most forces were in Goza in the north attempting to repel the Harkovians.
To play the game I used a modified version of my own Simple Toy Soldier Game rather than a version of Deathzap. Since I was playing with units instead of individual figures I modified the rules a little. The main difference being that when a unit failed to cancel all of its fire markers it took a number of casualties equal to any remaining markers. Also I went with an alternate activation system instead of using the cards.
It was at this point that I forgot how quick and brutal the Simple Toy Soldier game can be and the game ended with the Collective pushing the invading forces out of Khef. On the positive side however STSG games always give you some good decisions to make even with such simple forces – just an infantry platoon per side.
The commander walked down the line of men attaching medals to chests. He shook the hands of each, but only occasionally looked up at their young faces. The Jendari Defence Army were mostly young volunteers, kids from bad places that needed an escape or that had chosen military service over prison. They had held their own in the defence of Khef and the Commander was proud of them, but he was angry at the lack of foresight that had pushed such young lives to the frontline.
The room filled with advisors, ministers, generals. The Prime sat back in his large red leather chair and watched all of the faces, looking for weaknesses, looking for rebellion.
Orso Verral arrived late and pushed his way into the room. A hand gripped his shoulder tightly and span him around.
“I hear you have bloodied your men” Ko smiled.
“Bloodied my boys” Orso countered.
“I can’t wait to see my Tigers tear up some Royalists.”
Orso bit his tongue.
“Let’s begin” called the Prime, and the room turned to silence. “ I should say first of all Commander Verral, you and your men’s bravery in the defence of Khef is exemplary, and we would all be having a very different meeting now were it not for your excellent work.”
Orso nodded.
The Prime continued “The counter invasion will be difficult. The capital of Haerkalia is within reach, however the northern route will undoubtedly be better defended. The southern route will cost us time and man power. We could attack over the mountains, but that will force us to rely on drop troops. Which option is best?”
Deathzap 