While the fighting was already hot and heavy on the Russian side of the board, the Dutch side had been fairly quiet as the Nederlanders slowly made their way through the jungle, inching their way towards the temple. Finally they emerge
The normally stoic parrotmen have a crazed look in their eyes as the sacred temple comes into sight
The British centre finally see the whites of the Dutchman's eyes and prepare for action
Dutch Marines, Sailors and Jagers prepare to emerge from the jungle
The Americans guarding the temple are waiting for them, raining fire down on the Jagers, decimating the squad to two.
The remaining cavalry, fresh from their success in their great charge, tries to replicate their success against the final group of sailors (who had thus far spent the game huddled behind a steam tank) guarding the British/American left flank. This time they are soundly rebuffed, and while not broken are forced to move towards their lines and regroup. One Panther is captured by the British.
The parrotmen, filled with a beserk rage, ignore the bullets whizing around their heads and charge the American's guarding the temple
Unfortunately, in their fury the parrotmen are fighting poorly, savagely attacking the temples defilers without thought for their own personal defense. After the initial flurry of battle only one parrotman is left against six attackers. Amazingly he goes into an almost trance like state as the spirits of the temple fill him. One after another he cuts down five of his enemies cooly and efficiently until only one American is left - General George Armstrong Custer......
The battle between the two is epic. Custer hurls insults as his avian opponent, seeking to distract him in vain. (the dice rolling was fairly amazing here - the two tied over and over and over again) Finally Custer was able to slide his calvary saber though the heroic parrotman's guard and the last parrotman, bleeding the last of his blood over the sacred ground of his people....
Custer screamed in victory, raising his saber in triumph! Finally he looked around to see why no one was cheering with him. While he was in combat Dutch troops were moving into the temple complex. Princess Wilhemina's Women's Brigade calmly and methodically removed the remaining two squads of Americans from the hill. On the other side of the temple the British in the center were decimated by a combination of Russian and Dutch fire. Custer was alone. It was his last stand. Frozen in his state of victory, Custer watched as the entire squad of black Dutchmen raised their riffles opened fire, his old civil war comrade Harry Flashman watching him slump to the ground from wounds in a half dozen different places..... The dying parrotman smiles as his spirit leaves his body. Vengeance has been served....
On the opposite end of the battlefield the Russians were moping up the remnants of the British forces. After Colonel Roosevelt's earlier setbacks he had fought a careful battle and emerged with most of his men intact, having acquitted themselves admirably. Hearing of Custer's folly, Roosevelt ordered a general retreat, determined to fight again another day. The remaining British on the field under General Haig followed suit.
Colonel Flashman was the first one to reach the Parrotmen temple and was awarded with admiration from his fellow soldiers and a commendation from the king. Little did they know that Sir Harry's main motivation was to avoid the final sniping from the vanquished foe. King Willem and his general staff inspected the temple, dedicating the battle to his Venusian subjects
The battle was a resounding victory for the Dutch -Russo alliance. While colonel Roosevelt handled himself well and with honour, the incompetence of Custer erased any chance of glory from the battle for the aspiring politician. The British and American forces were forced off of the continent and their Unobtanium mines were taken over by the alliance.Political turmoil by the Netherlands Venusian subjects was averted and the king is more popular than ever. A portrait of the King and the saviour of the Temple, Sir Harry Flashman is very popular and hangs in many parrotmen homes....
Some cracks in the Dutch-Russo Alliance have appeared though, as they each eye each others share of the Unobtanium mines. How this is played out in time is anybody's guess......
A line of weary looking American and British marched towards the positions that their respective aeroneff squadrons would pick them up for the long ride to friendly soil. A great deal of the soldiers were wounded, limping along supported by comrades or clutching battered arms to their sides. Bandages were everywhere, the white cotton turned red and black from a combination of the wounds received and the acrid coal smoke that seemed to follow them from the battlefield like a sentient fog. One battlefield reporter noted that day "The choking presence of smoke embodied the weariness etched onto the faces of all the brave men leaving the field today. It is as if metaphorically and physically they have all been through a Dutch Oven...."
08 April 2015, 09:55:40 AM