Batavian Wars

The Batavian Wars, beginning in 1642 AN, were a series of conflicts fought in the territories of the Confederacy of Puritanian States against Jingdaoese inspired Siseran Cultists and smaller groups of Batavian separatists.

Siseran Uprising

The self-styled Confederacy of Puritanian States came about in response to the RasmOS robots that destroyed what was left of Batavia, leaving an apocalyptic wasteland in their wake. A number of those evil machines still roamed the countryside wreaking havoc, and they're followed by Siseran fanatics who fought with reckless abandon and a casual disregard for their own lives. Thus it was of little surprise that the Confederate Army was fighting a guerrilla war just to sustain itself.

Battle of Glastonburg

The city of Glastonburg had fallen on hardscrabble times. At one time it had been a major Puritanian city, capitol of the old province of Konnetigut, but after the fall of the Commonwealth and for well over twelve centuries it was nothing more than a forgotten backwater. Be that as it may, Glastonburg became a rallying point for the newly-founded Confederacy and those seeking to bring back the glory-filled days of Puritania. Thus the fledgling Confederacy made it their capitol, and for the first time in eons the city began to see life again. But then the robots arrived.

At first it was only a few spider drones, which were to be expected, as they were often seen probing about and were easily enough picked off by a round from a gatling gun. But then larger robots appeared - mechanoids, a random cyborg here and there, even an automech. It should have been a sign that an attack was imminent, but leadership was focused on dealing with the front near Davignon, and in recent conversations with Voltrue. They say hindsight is 20/20. Tell that to the dead.

The robots made a calculated attack. Waiting for a morning of heavy fog, with the sun behind them, they attacked the city in force. Roughly a hundred-thousand forces, presumably directed by the RasmOS or some remnant of it, thronged the city outskirts and began an endless barrage of its walls. The Confederacy had around 75,000 troops on hand, most of which were luckily on active duty. Four Mechbatavers were also present from the Dietsland Trekkers, and whose firepower alone was a major player in the battle. To the surprise of many the enemy force was augmented by about fifty-thousand human fighters. Until the time of the battle it had been assumed the fanatics were relying primarily on mechanical troops. Yet the arrival of these forces indicated that the Siserans still had significant sway over the population; likely through continued brainwashing.

As Confederate troops squinted to see through the fog, at the same time blinded by the sunrise, the Siserans attacked Glastonburg with heavy cannon, shattering the city walls in several places and allowing their infantry access to the inner city. While Confederate commander had originally hoped to confine the battle to a siege, the collapse of the walls turned the battle into a ground fight. The Mechbatavers moved out of the city and engaged the largest of the robotic Siserans, namely a huge mechanical spider roughly seventy feet tall (think arachnotron). Two of the four mechs were destroyed in the battle, but eventually the spidermech was destroyed, which seemed to put a damper on the Siseran's fighting spirit.

While the remaining two Mechbatavers engaged the other Siseran robots, which were much smaller than the Spidermech (presumably the Siserans had been counting on this as their big gun), ground forces battled it out in hand-to-hand combat in the streets of Glastonburg. What the Siserans were not counting on was the presence of the new backpack gatling gun, which transitioned a typically carriage-mounted gun to one that could be handled by an individual infantryman. Although the weapons were still in the prototype stage, around a thousand had been produced, and were quickly distributed to the soldiers. These guns allowed Confederate troops to mow down enemy infantry, turning the tide of the battle after several hours of intense fighting.

When the Mechbatavers engaged a Siseran command unit, which was essentially a metal box on wheels, they managed to destroy it, which in turn caused a number of the enemy robots to fail. A later analysis showed that the command unit provided control for the autonomous robots, and that without the link to the RasmOS they could not function. A good 25% of the enemy robotics relied on this link, and the victory turned the tide of the battle for the Confederacy. The Mechbatavers were able to quickly mop up the remaining robotic forces, assisted by three more Mech units that had arrived from the Puritan Corps. By the time nightfall had arrived the Siserans had been pushed out of the city and back into the surrounding fields.

Here the Confederate forces began to flank the enemy, corralling them into open area where the gatling guns could more effectively mow them down. Several contingents of the human fighters were surrounded and captured this way; but no such leeway was given to the robotic forces. By the time midnight rolled around the city had been secured and the Siserans either dispersed or captured. The next morning brought a dawn drenched in blood, but the Confederate flag still flew proudly over Glastonburg.

Battle of Battenburg

The Battenburg Oil Fields are a located on a plateau of the Battenburg Mountains, just west of Dietsland, where the altitude keeps the temperatures cold, the trees stunted and gnarled, and icy snow clinging to every crevice. As the fields lay in an area outside of Dietsland, and in such a harsh region, the Dietslanders and Puritanians struggle with the climate to keep any troops stationed in the area for very long. Despite these difficulties, the hardy Dietslanders dragged equipment up into the mountains and built oil rigs there. The sole reason being to gain access to much-needed oil - the essential ingredient to the industrial might of the Free State. But the Dietslanders and Puritanians weren't the only ones who needed oil - so did the robots and their Siseran controllers. Thus while the Battle of Glastonburg proved to be a major victory for the Confederacy, the war was far from over. New machines were appearing out of nowhere, apparently manufactured at hidden factories buried deep in inaccessible valleys. If blood is life, then oil is the blood of machines, and they wanted it desperately.

The first signs of conflict came when new spider drones appeared at the edge of the oil fields. Cavalry scouts could see the lights of their eyes glinting through the blur of falling snow and quickly alerted headquarters in Davignon. Seven spider drones quickly appeared, leaving little time for reinforcements to arrived from embattled Glastonburg or Davignon, forcing an engagement between poorly-equipped cavalry on horseback and the vastly-superior drones. The immense size of the robots and the fact that they wanted to preserve the oil derricks gave the cavalry an advantage in leading them around in circles, delaying them long enough for some additional troops to arrive. Darting in and out among the derricks or galloping around in circles the cavalry led the spiders on an awkward chase, even managing to force two of the drones to collide with one another. But the delaying tactic worked only long enough for several armoured carriers to arrive, loaded mostly with ground troops. Alas a force far too weak to deal with seven towering robots.

At this point the forces halted any further delays and tried a direct engagement with the enemy. No Siseran human forces were present, and it appeared the drones were acting as a vanguard assault unit, with the remaining forces still lagging behind, awaiting the outcome. Using bazookas the Dietslanders were able to rupture the legs of the two damaged drones, enough that they collapsed on the field, still somewhat functional but no longer mobile. This however left five working drones, who quickly formed a tight group and, assessing their losses, concluded saving the derricks was a secondary objective to defeating the Dietslanders. A dozen cavalry were stamped flat, the screams or horse and man cut off in a strangled cry under the heel of fifty tons of cold steel. Foot soldiers continued to make use of bazookas, but ammunition was limited, and further reinforcements had yet to arrive. As losses mounted the soldiers began a slow but steady retreat.

By the time a unit of reinforcements arrived the snow was spattered red with blood and the defenders all but slaughtered. Spider drones scanned the field over the derricks, standing tall in victory. The soldiers beat a fast retreat and ordered other incoming reinforcements to regroup at Davignon to plan a counterattack. The loss of the oil fields had dealt a powerful blow to the Confederacy - even though other fields existed, the Battenburg fields were the largest and most vital to the war effort. The Confederacy would need to plead with Shirekeep for more military intervention. For if the Confederacy falls, the Imperial Republic will surely be next.

Imperial Intervention

Whoever controls the Battenburg oil fields holds the only appreciable oil reserves in Benacia outside of Amarr in Lichbrook. While the CPS could rely on the purchasing power of the Imperial Republic to support its fuel consumption needs, for the Siseran heretics possession of those oilfields was a boon and a lifeline. Not only could they attempt to refine the crude into various petroleum distillates to meet their own needs but they could attempt to siphon off whatever excess they could extract from the captured derricks to sell on the black-market, particularly to their ideological kin in the occupied enclaves of 's Koningenwaarde and the islands of the Regenteneilanden. With that revenue they could, potentially, afford the mercenaries and munitions to sustain their rebellion, as well as the weapons of mass destruction with which they might seek to hold Shirekeep itself to ransom.

From the above considerations it followed, that while the Battenburg Oilfields were not essential to the Imperial Republic, they were critical to the Siserans. For this reason, it followed, they must be destroyed. For this reason the Imperial Shirerithian Air Forces bestirred themselves to react as news of the rout in the west reached them in their distant Mishalanese air bases. Heeding the lessons of the civil war in Goldshire - that too little, too late, would necessitate a greater effort later on - the ISAF went straight for the rebel jugular.

The remit of Operation Mockingbird was expanded to include planning and directing operations against rebel groups operating within the CPS whilst Operatives of S.W.O.R.D. and reconditioned Panopticon Horus blimps (providing an Airborne Warning and Control System and ground reconnaissance function) were moved into position to begin gathering target information.

The location of the oilfields, carefully noted by the comes sacrarum largitionum agents in the region for the purpose of wringing out every last Erb of tax revenue, were a known and immobile feature. A plan began to take shape accordingly at MoMA Station Tuulersbýur, the home port of a Coastal Command (Imperial Navy) flotilla and host to a rapidly set up ISAF planning centre. The Siseran drones however were an unknown and seemingly mutable opponent. Apparently similar in concept to the early iterations of the Red Bear 'walkers', these drones were scaled up leviathans (sometimes described in alarming terms) that - seemingly - could be reconfigured to best suit their particular assignments. It would be imprudent therefore to assume that these five or so mobile structures, as well as the remaining two undergoing salvage and repair respectively, could not be turned into anti-aircraft platforms. Accordingly the suppression of enemy air defences had to be the first priority.

Dietsland Crusade

• 1644–1646: Fiasco. Funds contributed by the Kaiser Dominus stolen by Ludovic Verion. Unpaid, the Crusaders degenerate into marauding and plundering mob, eventually turning their anger towards the Imperial Government. Suppressed by the Corps of Auxiliaries circa 1646.