Exercise Tamara [Comintern, IC]

by **Altpeak** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:55 am

Exercise Tamara

Briefing

Objectives

Comintern Forces

Projected Cost

by **The Free Territory of Makhnovia** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:42 am

5th Zaporozhie Motorized Rifle Regiment approached the abandoned airport on the outskirts of town that was supposed to serve as their headquarters. They arrived in black jeeps and transport trucks and started filing out of the vehicles. The local populations, made mostly of Tatars in this part of town, was calmly watching their approach as they moved their vehicles into hangars. Several soldiers, together with interpreters, started migling among the locals trying to gather as much intel as they can about the places that are considered areas of risk.

Elect Colonel Pilip Harun walked out of his jeep and walked towards Captain Genady Petrenko. Petrenko was browsing intelligence from his smartphone databases.

"So what do we have on the general populations, Captain?"

"Our designated area is working-class suburbs.", said Petrenko, never taking eyes off the screen. "About 58% of population is Tatar, 35% Hattic and 7% of the other two groups. It seemed that the Tatar's People Militia is the dominant military force in those suburbs, however they are expecting hostile activity from Hattic terrorist groups. Still waiting for the info about the areas of possible terrorist activity."

Soon, people who were spekeaking to local population said that there are two churches in the vicinity that could be possible targets of terrorist groups. One of them is used mainly by Tatars and the other mainly by Hattic population. Colonek Petrenko assigns two platoons, together with interpreters to the neighbourhoods in which those churches are.

by **Altpeak** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 3:22 pm

The 1^st brigade of the 19^th Infantry Division arrived at the cluster of abandoned compounds that was going to serve as their base of operations for the duration of the exercise. They arrived in AFVs, each of which was heavily armoured to guard against the roadside bombs frequently used by the capitalist tribes that the Proletarian Republic was fighting in the Second Tribes War. Likewise, the troops who emerged from the AFVs wore comparatively heavy body armour, although thankfully their heavier pieces of kit were still in the AFVs for the time being. When they emerged from their AFVs into the daylight, the troopers saw the ground they would be patrolling for the first time. It seemed like quite a rich area, with fancy houses like you'd find in capitalist nations. However, in some of the allotments where there should have been houses, there was nothing but rubble.

Rather than simply stand around, groups of soldiers, accompanied by interpreters, began to introduce themselves to the areas inhabitants. Their objective was to get the inhabitants used to them and start to build trust with the community. As the first step to doing this, many took off their helmets and took their hands off of their guns to show the population that they were there to keep the peace, not to fight.

As his soldiers did this, Major Attila Kovács walked over to his intelligence Officer, Captain Aranka Halász. Lighting up a cigar, he asked her "What's the situation look like Captain?".

Without looking up from her wrist mounted tablet, she replied "Rich area with a majority of the population, 87%, being Crimean Gothic. Of the remaining 13%, most are either Tatar or Pontic. Practically no Hattic presence whatsoever" reading further she then added "Apparently the area is thought to be a stronghold for People's Gothic Army's elite troops and their leaders, so PGA personnel in this district are going to be well armed".

"Well that's just fantastic" answered Major Kovács, breathing out a lungful of cigar smoke as he did so. In his late 30s, he had started service as a conscript but eventually had found the idea of returning to civilian life unappealing and so had volounteered to stay on permanently as a career soldier. He hadn't regretted a day of his service since then.

"Nothing worse than what we face when we're fighting the tribes sir" pointed out Captain Halász. Unlike the Captain, she had been a career soldier from the beginning, signing up when she was 18. She had quickly been selected for the Inteligence Corps and had steadily risen through the ranks since then with a steady, if undistinguished, service record.

"Fair point" the Major grinned, looking around again the buildings around them. "Who's covering the districts around us?"

"The 5^th Zaporozhie are to our south, the two Kihdis regiments are covering our east and north" she replied, still organizing the information so that she would be able to access it quickly if he had to.

"Great" grumbled the Major "militiamen". Then, louder, he said "Well we'll see what they're made of at least. See if they're worth anything. Who's covering our west?".

"The 2^nd brigade sir" the Captain replied.

Blowing a smoke ring, the Major said "Well that's something at least. Now let's see about getting ourselves established here".

Arslan looked dispassionately at the arriving Makhnovian troops, although he was somewhat surprised that they had come vehicles as lightweight as jeeps. He was on his 3rd year as a conscript in the Armed Forces of Altpeak and, as a Tatar, he had been selected to play the role of a rebel in this pan-Comintern exercise.

Predictably, as soon as the Makhnovian soldiers left their jeeps, they began to try and interact withe civilian populace. Most of the Tatars and Hattics who made up the bulk of this district's population gave the Makhnovian's a cold shoulder. However, the soldiers had more luck with the Pontics and Crimean Goths. As a minority in this district, it was in the Pontics and Crimean Goths interests to talk freely to the troops. Arslan had no doubt that in districts where those to groups were the majority, it would be them giving the peace keepers a cold shoulder and Tatars or Hattics cooperating with the troops. As the troops talked with one group, Arslan saw one of the civilians point in the direction of the majority Hattic church. So they'll probably establish guards around the churches then he thought. However, Arslan couldn't stay much longer. If he looked too long, the troops would begin to suspect him instead of just brushing off his attention as curiosity. So, as the rest of the civilians who'd gathered to see the soldiers arrive dispersed, Arslan went with them, walking down the winding streets back towards his flat.

by **The Free Territory of Makhnovia** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 5:04 pm

Platoon Commander Mykola Kolysnik arrived in the vicinity of Hattic crurch with his platoon. As they went out of their jeeps he looked around himself. Most of the houses were simple, one or two story buildings. There was also a soccer field tjat looked rather unkempt and a small, modest church with brick domed steeple. He distributed several of his men in the small alleys around the church, and he also put several of them, armed with SVD rifles on the sniper positions.All of them used their binoculars to survey the area.

"Traffic is low commander, several personal vehicles, most people going on foot. Nobody sporting any visible weapons, there is a small crowd gathered in front of the church. It seems that service is about to begin soon."

Mykola gave this report a casual "All right", then he turned towards two of the soldiers. "Ostap and Irina, I want two of you inside the church. Both of you dress in local civilian outfit, conceal a pistol and earpiece and report on everything you see. I will take two fire teams in the alley opposite the church."

Ostap and Irina came after couple of minutes, dressed as locals. Of course, they had to keep their conversation at minimum to hide the fact that they know just a couple of everyday phrases of local language. They walked and mingled within the people waiting for the service. Then the bell sounded and people started filing into the church.

by **The Free Territory of Makhnovia** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 5:04 pm

Deleted (double post)

by **Kihdis** » Mon Jun 05, 2017 7:36 pm

The Aleppo Regiment and Qamishli Regiment arrived together in lightly armored technical vehicles, followed by a small convoy of Humvees, freshly plated with custom armor from whichever city they came. The vehicles' decoration were resemblant of graffiti art - the military had always been very nontraditional, and the militiamen were allowed to customise their vehicles to their desires. As for the soldiers themselves, they were very lightly armored, dressed in thin, urban camouflaged clothing.

They convoys assembled into an old industrial area of the city, where the 2nd Division would regularly convene to meet for briefings, Tekmil, and other celebrations.

The elected leader of the 2nd Division was Qumutan Abdullah Sulêman, a young man, mid-thirties, who would be fighting alongside one of the two regiments every week. He was respected for his levelheadedness during actual conflict, but also beloved for rousing speeches and honesty.

After everyone had finished convening, Abdullah climbed on top of his Humvee to address the Division, who had assembled by sitting atop of their vehicles as well.

"Friends, welcome to exercise Tamara, and to this beautiful city of Nugrad."

Muffled laughter spread through the Division at his tone.

"As you can see, were not exactly in a great part of the city. We're dealing with four different ethnic groups, they're not to keen on one another," he paused, and then continued. This part of the city was reported to Abdullah as being 68% Tatar, 19% Hattic, 7% Pontic, and 6% Gothic.

"Now friends - I know that sounds quite familiar to most of us. And as we did during the revolution, we'll be doing the same here! We'll be dealing with a Tatar liberation group, and we also have reports of a Hattic rebel group as well, although in much smaller numbers."

"Friends from Aleppo, you'll be dispatched to the easternmost neighborhood of the area, which looks to be the worst of our sector. Surely you all are used to hell. As for Qamishli, you all will be handling the northern areas. These are more spread out, middle class neighborhoods."

Taking a cigar from a nearby soldier, he lit it and began smoking it. He then announced to the Division that they would have one hour to celebrate and boost morale, but then it was all business until the end of the week's Tekmil. Loud singing and traditional music soon filled the air, as the soldiers danced together and ate together.

After ceremonies wound to a close, he ordered the regiments off to their regions, and offered to come with the Aleppo Regiment for the first week. The militias spread into the neighborhoods and began speaking with the locals, attempting to build trust.

by **Altpeak** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 5:30 am

Arnuwandas looked at the two-last people to walk in. They were dressed in civilian clothing, as was everyone else but, unlike everyone else, they weren’t talking to anyone and Arnuwandas thought he saw something in one of their ears. It’s probably nothing he thought Still, probably best to keep an eye on them. During the service, he occasionally glanced in their directions and saw blank looks on their faces, as though they weren’t understanding much of what was being said.

Once the service was over, as people began to file out of the church, Arnuwandas walked over to one of them and extended a hand, saying “Hello, I don’t think I’ve met you before” in Luwian. He was met with a look of slight panic and asked again “Are one of those who speaks a valley dialect of Luwian?”. Once again, he was met with a look of incomprehension and panic.

Private Csaba Bakó wandered through the marketplace alongside the rest of his fireteam. So far it had been a boring first day in Nugrad, with nothing more exciting than routine searches. And to make matters even better, it was raining, not the pleasant, cool, clean rain that Csaba had grown up with on the plains but a dirty, acidic, industrial rain like you found all over the industrialized areas of Altpeak.

Like all of his fireteam, Csaba was walking around without his helmet on. While he accepted the purpose of it, at the moment , with his head getting soaked by the rain, he resented the order more than any other he had ever receive. Knowing my luck nothing except rain is going to happen in all the 60 days we’re here Csaba thought glumly.

by **The Free Territory of Makhnovia** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 6:29 am

Irina was first to gain some composure. Remembering few words of local language she had picked up she said something that could be translated into: "Apologize. We are late-ing. Gotta go." Then she pulled still confused Ostap into one of the alleyways from where they continue to subtly keep an eye on dispersing crowd.

Meanwhile, observers from the roof notice that a man had approached Irina and Ostap and they radio to Mykola's fireteam to be ready.

Mykola's people prepare themselves and they are keeping a close eye on anything suspicious that might be going on on the square. Mykola himself radio's the other platoon that is keeping watch on Tatar church:
"Lenka, what is the status back there?"
"Everything quiet for now Mykola, the service is over and people are dispersing."
The thunder struck tje ligting rod on top of the steeple. The rain begins to fall.

by **Kihdis** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:00 am

Aleppo Regiment, Eastern Nugrad

Commander Sulêman took charge of a squad of ten, called the Squad Maqsudiye. Fellow commanding officers in the squad were selected to be Yuxanna Bêzan and Biheşt Abqas, a man and woman, as is tradition among Kihdite formations.

The group moved through the quiet streets of eastern Nugrad, taking note of the dilapidated buildings. Two technical vehicles' guns were removed so that they could move through the streets without raising too much suspicion. They pulled into a lot in an abandoned factory, in order to brief for their specific mission.

After parking up, Sulêman approached the group, holding a large package and said to them, "these are your new civilian costumes. Notice that they're all dark, it's so you can holster a small weapon inside without being seen. I know you've only been briefed on the language here for about a week, so hopefully you remember some words in Crim Tatar."

Rolling his eyes slightly, he said, "and if you don't, let someone who does do the talking."

While the squad was changing into their new outfits, Sulêman passed out earpieces that are hidden inside the ear, in order to be able to communicate with them, and then passed out what appeared to be smartphones.

"Heval," a private asked, "why are you giving us cellphones?"

"These aren't useful as cellphones, they're only good for speaking. I requested something from Qewmsh that would look normal enough to be able to be handled openly, without gathering attention, and we got these. You'll be using these to communicate with one another."

"Now, we're doing simple recon here. We're going to move up and down the streets, and meet at the marketplace a few blocks down from here. Anything out of the ordinary, you mark it down."

With that, they broke into groups and went to their pickup trucks, each pulling into a different street. The team that contained Sulêman stopped just one block from the marketplace, where they came across a smaller shop, and stopped out front. Sulêman ordered the three other men into the building, while he sat in the truck waiting, taking out another cigar to smoke. He looked out the window at the dark puddles forming from the dirty rain, remarking, "just like the old times in the oil fields."

by **Tegrad** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:09 am

2nd Prokolensk Brigade, Northern Nugrad

In the distance, a sizeable Tegradian People's Army convoy was visible. Dark green Humvees stretched across the landscape. This area of Nugrad was just beyond the cities densely populated regions, with large open green spaces. This gave the Tegradian forces a helpful overview of the city, and a good point of reference to form their plans.

The convoy came to a stop behind a small forested area, giving them enough coverage from the trees to not raise too much suspicion. From one of the leading Humvees out stepped Colonel Lysenko, a man in his late 30s with a thick brown moustache covering his upper lip. He exchanged a few words with another officer as the 2nd Prokolensk Brigade assembled before him.

"Comrades," spoke the Colonel, "this exercise is invaluable experience which will not only make you better soldiers, but better people. Being in combat scenarios shows sides of our character we never knew we had. Our love for our motherland will drive us to go where no others can! Our love of the people will drive us to the greater good! We Tegradians will put all we have into the realisation of the communist ideal and the safety and security of all peoples!"

The soldiers briefly cheered before Lysenko continued: "Now, to the task at hand. We are coming in from the North. The 3rd Volokhovo Brigade is coming from the South, the 5th Yazvi Brigade is coming from the East and the 1st Mungrad Brigade is coming the West. Naturally, as we have a good view of the city, our initial focus will be on reconnaissance. Before we can resolve the situation in Nugrad, we have to be 100% sure of what said situation is.

"Thus, we need soldiers both in the city, and outside to monitor the place as a whole. Pontic insurgents are apparently active here, and if there's an explosion we have to respond immediately. There is no time to waste, so let's get mobile. I want Squad Tepanov and Yuri to make their way into the city and see what's about. Other Comintern Forces are already active, but it's best to ignore them for now. We don't want to raise suspicion. Squad Waclaw, Mikhailov, Premek and Chernov, I want you to scout the northern perimeter of the city. Take note of suspicious activity.

Colonel Lysenko cleared his throat, then asked: "So are we clear? Excellent." The Colonel finished his speech, roaring "Glory to Tegrad, unbreakable and free!" resulting in rapturous cheers from the troops, before they split off an prepared for their assigned tasks.

Squad Tepanov and Yuri were dressed in civilian attire, as to not raise suspicion. Each member of the squad was armed with a CZ 75 pistol, concealed on their person. Their task was to intermingle with the locals where possible, and obtain information regarding the area.

Squad Waclaw, Mikhailov, Premek and Chernov where armed a little more heavily. Each member was kitted in camouflaged gear, armed with a standard VH-98 assault rifle (Tegradian gun similar to the AN-94). Their task was to covertly investigate any suspicious activity on the city's northern perimeter, and rapidly respond if a situation was to occur inside of the city.

by **Altpeak** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 10:34 am

In the Makhovian Zone

“They will be expecting us to attack the Hattic civilians” explained Captain Timer “So we will, but that won’t be our prime objective. During the next service, about 60 fighters will launch an all-out assault on the Hattic church. The soldiers will react, call for reinforcements most likely. But we will be waiting” he said, casting a glance around the room to emphasise his point. “While the soldiers are distracted by the attack, we will have moved into positions in the surrounding buildings and when their reinforcements arrive we will open fire with everything we’ve got. Our objective will be to take out as many troops as possible and weaken the force that they can put on the streets”.

In the Tegradian Zone

“Fire, Fire, Fire” Konstantinos muttered under his breath, keeping his weapon trained on the Tegradian troops walking down the street. However, he didn’t have permission to start shooting at them, yet, and so he held his fire, putting his weapon down and instead observing them. Sooner or later they would set patterns. Then the Pontic People’s Army would hit them like a ton of bricks. Then they could turn their attention towards establishing their dominance over the rest of the city.

by **Tegrad** » Tue Jun 06, 2017 12:09 pm

Squad Tepanov, Northern Nugrad

Sergeant Hristov is the commander of Squad Tepanov. He's a man in his early 20s, who grew up on the Duratov Isle, the son of a family of farmers. He volunteered to join the military, like most soldiers nowadays, as conscription is no longer widely enforced. He blended in with the civilians, acting as if he was casually browsing the goods on offer at a market. He picked up the Pontic language relatively well, better than the majority of his comrades, so had some confidence he could communicate effectively.

He wandered over to a salesman who didn't have much custom, viewing him as a good start to gain some information. In the most nonchalant manner he could manage, Hristov greeted the salesman. "Hello friend, what can I get for you?" questioned the salesman.

"Just passing through. New to area. I moved from Rodna." replied Hristov.

"Oh, I see! Well watch yourself round here. Not many like the types of you... not that I'm one of them," he chuckled.

"Thank you. Have any information on them?"

"They're the Pontic People’s Army. Real scary bunch of guerrilla fighters. They swarm on people in seconds, then disappear into what seems like thin air. I hear their main base of operations is just south of here, so be careful. Although I've definitely said too much. They have eyes and ears everywhere."

"Thank you, friend. I be careful," remarked Hristov, before he continued walking.

Hristov, who was closely followed by his squad, looked vigilantly around, desperately looking for something out of place. However, everything seemed relatively normal and calm. "I don't like this," commented Corporal Korsakov, "Everything seems too... quiet."

"The calm before the storm, perhaps?" remarked Private Czerny.

"Heh... exactly," chuckled the Corporal.

by **The Free Territory of Makhnovia** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:32 am

The acrid, smelly rain fell down heavily as the people walked out of church. It seemed tht everything went alright for now. Mykola reported back to Petrenko: "Mykola here, Colonel. Both services have ended. There was nothing suspicious. People are walking home from them."

"Copy that." Petrenko's voice was muffled. "I will send four more platoons in jeeps to patrol our neighbourhood and look for any cases of suspicious activity. Any large group of people gathering in this hell of a weather might be up to something. You stand by and look for the same."

Three more batallions in Jeeps cruise the designated neighbourhood looking for unusually large crowds. Meanwhile, Mykola's platoon stays next to the Hattic church observing sings of any suspicious movements.

by **Kihdis** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 5:06 am

Aleppo Regiment, Eastern Nugrad

The squad walked into the shop, and pretended to look around for a few minutes. After surveying the shop, the squad walked up to the counter to speak with the owner. One private stepped forward to talk to the man.

Figuring that the man would be a Tatar as well, the private opened in that language.

"Hello, sir, how's your day?"

The shop owner, upon hearing Tatar, noticeably tensed up, and responded primly,

"I'm well."

The two privates standing behind him glared over at one another when he said this, with one remarking,

"He didn't answer the question," in Tatar.

After a brief pause, the leading private walked closer to the counter.

"Sir, we would like to know a little bit about - "

"I don't have your money this month," the owner said, interrupting the soldier.

"What do you mean?" the soldier asked, while motioning for his two squad-mates to move closer.

The man slowly reached under the counter and grabbed onto a pistol. He then quickly raised it and pointed it at the leading soldier, yelling:

I'm not paying you Tatars anymore!

The soldiers behind him drew their weapons, but not before the man fired three shots at the frontman. The two squad members returned fire, striking the owner several times before he dropped.

Outside, the sounds cracked through the empty streets, loudly interrupting the quiet noise rainfall that Sulêman had been relaxing to. He jumped at the gunfire, but quickly pulled his AKM rifle from inside the truck, and burst into the shop.

What happened?

Startled, one of the two soldiers responded, "he drew a gun."

Sulêman sighed quietly, and calmly responded, "I figured that out, heval. I want to know why he drew it."

"He must've taken us for Tatar racketeers, it seems. The Tatar People's Militia must be extorting local businesses."

"That would explain why this part of the city is so damn empty," the other soldier added.

"Well," looking at the "dead" militiaman, Sulêman said, "anyone around here definitely heard that. I'll radio in help - and you, take this shop owner over to the medical facility. Hopefully you two aren't the first casualties, that would be embarrassing. I'll see you in four days, heval."

"You two, go onto the roof and scout for me."

Sulêman picked up his radio, and called to the six other members in trucks first.

"Come over to the main street shops, a block from the marketplace. We have casualties."

Then, he radioed back to base camp.

"Attention, attention! We're going to need a couple hundred men down here now, we have casualties and I'm sure this place is crawling with militia. Do not remove the guns from the techs, we're gonna need them."

by **Victores** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 6:22 am

Victoresian Central Command
Northwestern Nugrad
4:00 After Start

As the rainstorm began to subside the Victoresian convoy slowly crept its way into the city of Nugrad. The higher ups in Nova Victoria had volunteered to handle the Hattic district of Nugrad. It wasn’t really a district per see. The area encompassed about 10% of the whole city with a large Hattic population concentrated in an urban ethnic enclave near Nugrad’s North Square. They formed a plurality but hardly a majority in the rest of the district. Of course all the troops knew that. It was standard procedure to show troops films about their deployment area.

The convoy largely consisted of almost 1000 trucks, APCs, and other transports. Despite being a rifle/infantry division the convoy also bore 80 tanks.In the Victoresian method of military organization the largest unit of the military was the Army. This was thus subdivided into corps, consisting of an infantry corp, and armored corp, a support corp ,and a mechanized corp. Each corp then consisted of divisions such as the 3rd Nova Victoria Rifles. This scheme was great for the massive, carefully planned and concerted assaults of the Great Wars of the second half of the 20th century. However, these days the Victoresian army is primarily focused on smaller low-intensity conflicts and policing. As such, the number of armies has been cut from 57 to just 9, and the corp system loosened. The 3rd Nova Victoria “Rifles” consisted of the 10,000 soldiers of a standard Victoresian regiment and 6000 detached regiments from other divisions in their army and corp.

Also worthwhile to mention is the deployment of the newest generation of Victoresian advanced weapons system from the VT-12M Assault Rifle to the T-016 tank and the MT-10 APC and MT-13 IFV. In addition to the weapons system they were equipped with multiple mobile command vehicles and medical centres.

As the convoy wound its was to the middle of a blown out area featuring a small raised plaza in the center, the overall commanders of the operation, rose from their respective tank hatches. These being Commissar Jasa Svinska and Major General Uras Prsk. As the army began to arrive and disembark from their trucks it set to rebuilding the area into livable conditions, constructing barricades in the alleyways, setting up checkpoints along the streets and sentry posts on the surrounding buildings. A regiment of engineers was tasked with clearing out rubble of the area. All this had been pre-planned on the transport planes carrying troops to Nugrad. As each company finished its task it gathered up in front of the plaza where the commanders and command staff and stopped their tanks. Commissar Svinska took a drink of her cup of tea before turning to her soldiers and speaking.

“Welcome to the city of Nugrad! This square shall be our home for 90 days where we will keep the peace and suppress general revolts from the populace. As you all have watched the videos provided by the government, you certainly understand the strategic situation."

Most soldiers silently nodded their heads, a few looked nervous.

"Now for you assignments; the tank regiments are dispatched to the main streets to guard checkpoints against potential terrorist attacks. All mechanized infantry except the 3rd regiment is to remain here and defend the central base. The infantry first regiment is to dispatch to the checkpoints to serve as security guards, the rest of the first brigade is to remain at base and work on setting up a communication station and setting up barracks and medical zones. The Second brigade is to scout the surrounding around alongside the 3rd mechanized regiment. Report to your commanders for more specific orders”

Jasa then dove out of her tank and proceeded towards the command center. The command center was a large black box like building mounted on the back of a large truck. The truck portion had detached and was parked a few meters away. Within the command center general Prsk sat on a chair looking over a detailed satellite map of the region on his computer . The surround few blocks to their encampment was equally bombed out as if there were some kind of massive explosion in the area. As he zoomed out on the map the bombed out area slowly turned into a large circle, clearly some kind of explosive weapon. He had already dispatched the translators to the various units dispatched across the small district.

“So, how should we get the locals to like us” asked Jasa

“Free stuff, people harmed by conflict and war love free stuff” responded general Prsk

“We could distribute our rations amongst any needy people that go to the checkpoints”

“That would certainly be helpful” responded Jasa, “but we need to know the situation on the ground amongst the local Hattic population better, they are a small minority of Nugrad”

She then left the command vehicle to order some soldiers to deliver army rations to the checkpoints being assembled from pre-fabricated building materials on the end of the streets. One hour into the deployment most the checkpoints were merely colored roofless boxes with a long crossbeam with a tank parked behind it. Of course, she didn’t know what to expect, this being her first deployment in an actual war zone and being tasked with setting up there. She had grown up in the Nova Victoria Capital Republic, one of the safest parts of Victores. After being conscripted into the military 2000 she had been shipped of to the First and Second Lyreshi Wars, but those were fast military encounters and she never served on the frontline. However, the military was still fun and payed well in addition to two extra ration coupons on the public distribution system, so she stayed and served as a medium level officer. This was also her first high level post as a commissar in charge of a whole division, she was elected just last year in a bit of a surprise victory. Often she herself couldn’t believe that she won that election. She then walked outside to inspect the troops.

by **Altpeak** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 10:26 am

Private Csábo heard the high pitch whistle a few moments before the simmulated round hit the building corner just a few centimetres in front of him, the round disintegrating into a chalky blue powder. Acting on instinct, Csábo dived into the relative cover of the building's doorway. When he was in the doorway, he unhooked his helmet from his webbing and put it on his head. Quickly he glanced out from the doorway to try and locate where the fire had come from. Thankfully, the rain meant that most civilians were indoors and weren't there to get in the way. "WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?" he shouted

The Kihdis Zone

Grabbing his weapon, Alaric ran to his window. Those were gunshots he thought Who's shooting?. Opening his window, he crouched down in a practiced firing position and gazed down the sights of his rifle. It was an RM90/01, standard Altpeakian army issue. Cheap and easy to produce but surprisingly accurate compared to its rivals, AKs of any type, at ranges of 150 metres or less and with little recoil. He was a Crimean Goth, meaning that in this neighborhoud he was in a minority and as a member of the People's Gothic Army it couldn't hurt to be too careful. As he crouched down, he heard some language he didn't recognise and then something that was recognizably heavily accented Tatar. Then he saw several armed men beginning to emerge and get into a truck, carrying AKM rifles and the Gothic shopkeeper, one of the only ones in this district, emerge with the bluish chalky stain of a simmulated ammunition hit on him. Well Alaric thought They're clearly not intending to make friends. Fine by me. Take a deep breath, he opened fire with a short, three round burst. A hit he thought grinning, shifting his position slightly to take aim again.

The Makhnovian Zone

Arslan looked at the Makhnovian jeep driving down his street. Inside his first floor apartment, he checked that his rifle was loaded. Further down the street there was another Tatar with a light machine gun. The plan was, he would come out from around the street corner and open fire on the Makhnovians, distracting them and hopefully "killing" the jeep's driver and some of the other Makhnovian's in it. Then, Arslan and several other Tatars would emerged and attack the jeep from its relatively open rear. Their goal was to inflict as heavy casualties on the Makhnovians as possible, try and get them to stop patrolling in large numbers. That would make it easier for the Tatars to move around without getting spotted.

Down the street, Arslan heard the telltale chatter of a light machine gun and grinned to himself. Right on time he thought as he emerged from his flat and stepped out onto the street.

by **Kihdis** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 1:49 pm

Aleppo Regiment, Eastern Nugrad

Alaric's shots did in fact hit. They struck a second militiaman twice, with the third round ricocheting off the roof of Sulêman's truck, evaporating into blue dust as it went. Quickly, Sulêman grabbed onto the last squadmate and pulled him into the truck, and rapidly reversed, turning into the alley behind the shop before Alaric could fire again. He picked up his radio.

What's the status on that convoy?!

"Heval Sulêman, the eta is fifteen minutes."

Shit. You, get out and look for the shooter.

The other soldier got our of the truck and peeked around the corner, down the block where the store was. On the left, he noticed a building with its window open.

Bit strange to keep your windows open in rain, he thought to himself.

"Sulêman, look. It's that building, on the left of the street, right across from the store. The window's still open."

Sulêman peered over at the building, and nodded. He then opened the truck's door and reached into the glovebox, pulling out a flare gun, and then tossing it to the other soldier.

"Heval, I'm going to radio in a strike. When I'm finished, I'll need you to fire that straight up, understood?"

He nodded.

Base Alef, do we have any mortars prepared?

"Sulêman, we have a few samovars, but we'll need a few minutes to calibrate them. Where are you?"

Look at the map of the neighborhood we're in, do you see the large marketplace? Then, find 1st Street, it should cut directly down the middle. We are one block up that street from the marketplace, so about 400 meters.

"I see it." the sound of rustling paper overpowered the man's voice for a few seconds, before he resumed, "it's marked."

"Excellent. We will mark the spot with a flare when you're ready. When you see it, you'll need to fire three meters left, and fifty meters ahead of the flare, since we're not exactly there."

"Understood."

After a tense five minutes of watching the building, Sulêman's radio echoed one word.

"Ready."

"Shoot the flare, heval."

The soldier fired the blue flare directly above them, and watched as it flew far above the city, slowly arching with the wind as it went. A few seconds pass, and then they heard the distinctive thump of the samovar back at camp.

"Well, they definitely know we're here," said Sulêman, checking his AKM.

The round screamed as it flew over the two men, and struck just in front of the building. It smacked into the ground, spreading a thick cloud of blue dust through the street.

Meanwhile, the two other squads - Squads Baa and Caf - began to rapidly approach where they heard the strike land.

by **The Free Territory of Makhnovia** » Thu Jun 08, 2017 6:35 am

Danylo was driving along the narrow gravel road. Ten more soldiers were in a jeep, with rest of the platoon following some 100 yards behind in tvo more jeeps. The rain was falling and tge visibility was horrible, that's why he didn't sense anything wrong untile he heard the shots and felt the bullets strike the front of his shirt,

"Chort vazmy! The bastards got me! "He exclaimed, managing to stop the jeep in. the middle of the street. Other soldiers managed two get out and find cover from th heavy machine gun fire. However two of them got hit as the rest of the Tatars started shooting. Makhnovians, however managed to return fire, finding some cover, behind and within the jeep. A long couple of seconds later, two other jeeps showed up. Tatar insurgents were now surrounded and were subdued with ease.

Elected platoon commander Natalya Onichenko cringed as she gathered report of the casualties. Three of her men were dead, and one of the jeeps could be regarded as out of commision, at least for a while. This won't look good when time comes for her platoon to reelect her. She screwed up this exercise and went right into a trap. But then again she decided to fix the bad situation. She gathered her platoon and spoke:

"Alright, people go in teams of two and search the nearby buldings. use tear-gas granades inf you need to to smoke the rest of them out if you find them. And make sure to get all the civilians to safety."

The platoon dispersed, and started searching the premises for further signs of suspicious activity, also gathering civilians in couple of safe spots to make sure that they don't get caught in the eventual crossfire, disarming those of them who had firearms. Meanwhile Natalya called for two more platoons to get to the neighbourhood. Two nearest ones were those gathered around the, now empty churches.

by **Victores** » Fri Jun 09, 2017 5:39 pm

Victoresian Checkpoint
Northwestern Nugrad
5 Days After Start

Lieutenant Mavel was relaxing in the condoned of, sandbag surrounded base camp when the order came to expand the quarantine Zone by 30 meters in all directions. This of course, meant that yet another set of checkpoints would have to be built. So far their had been very few incidents. The only meaningful one being a Tatar courier getting gunned down at a checkpoint after pulling a gun on the infantry platoon stationed there. In the Eastern part of the Victoresian Control zone several patrols had taken fire, sustaining some minor injuries.

Complying with the order, Mavel clambered into an APC while this platoon, part of a mechanized platoon, and a tank headed towards their old checkpoint. The control zone currently covered the entire bombed out area now just known as “The Crater”. On the Western side it also extended out another 90 meters into the non-devastated zone. By this point in time Victoresian engineers have concluded that this crater was caused by heavy fighting, not by a single weapons deployment, and the whole thing was burnt down at a later date. All bullet holes appear to filled with ash.

As the Mavel’s force gathered to guard their checkpoint until it could be torn down, a truck approached from down the street. Mavel gestured at the Terminator IFV to aim at the truck. The tank followed the terminator and also raised its gun. This was relatively standard procedure for an unexpected delivery. The truck stopped at the “slow” sign posted 10 meters in front of the checkpoint. A squad of six soldiers backed with two machine guns approached the vehicle. The driver rapidly clambered out of the vehicle and presented his identification. One of the soldiers motioned for the driver to sit at a chair while another soldier prepared to search him. The remaining four soldiers searched the vehicle. Mavel had been through this a dozen times, being a Lieutenant, he didn’t have to do much during one of these searches. The soldier in the back of the truck climbed out and turned to the commander, declaring himself to be a Tatar.  
‘This truck is fuel, its got a few barrels and some bags of coal back there. Why would it be carrying this stuff“ said the soldier.

Mavel motioned to a translator. “Ask him why he’s carrying these materials”

Than translator strolled towards the man. They had a brief exchange, the translator then returned. “This man says that he is brining coal for his family on the Western edge of the city and is brining oil to sell to the remaining citizens of this district in the Hattic enclave”

The soldier inspecting the truck was looking through the cargo, he took aside the coal, and the oil meticulously weighing each package. He punched the value into a calculator and sent it back to central command where it would be put into the data files. The commissar had ordered that everything coming in and out be recorded. She also ordered that any large loads be sent of the special inspection to prevent insurgents hiding bombs and weapons in packages. As he lifted up the last bag of coal he two tanks of what appeared to be natural gas in the back.

“Looks like he's also got some nat-” he stopped as he noticed small metallic tube nestled between to the tanks. “Take cover”
There was an earsplitting sound and a massive cloud of blue dust erupted from the vehicle. The entire forward unit inspecting the truck was completely coated in blue dust. Mavel dove into his personal carrier, he was alive at least. He waited in the APC for 10 seconds before climbing back out to observe the casualty count. The entire forward patrol was “killed”, as was the squad guarding the checkpoint, the commander of the tank, and the soldier climbing out of the Terminator to interrogate the prisoner who was also dead. That would make 16 dead, 17 including the Tatar prisoner.

They had been car bombed; Mavel quickly ordered his platoon to follow the protocol, pulling a telephone out of the side of the APC, “We need support in this sector immediately, we have been attacked by a vehicle-based explosive weapon. I want 3 platoons and as many medics as possible. We have 17 casualties, we don’t know if this is a distraction or not. ”

Victoresian Central Command
Northwestern Nugrad
One Week After Start

“So it begins” muttered Jasa as she poured over the map. Every incident involving Victoresian troops was marked on it. There had been 4 car bombings in the last two days starting with the one against Lieutenant Mavel’s platoon. There had been a shooting attack on a checkpoint in the East. Most worryingly was the pair of gun attacks within the second line of checkpoints suggesting that terrorists were able to make it through checkpoints. She pulled out a radio and ordered more soldiers to be stationed at the checkpoints with more armor. She had a feeling these attacks would continue for the next few days.

by **Altpeak** » Sun Jun 11, 2017 3:27 am

1 week into the exercise
19^th Infantry Division headquarters

"So far, the heaviest casualites have been taken by Makhnovian forces here" said Intelligence Colenol Geza Farkas pointing at a map of Nugrad to indicate where the Makhnovian forces were deployed "Just south of our position in the city centre". Surrounding the map were the commanders of the Altpeakian deployment to Nugrad, four brigadiers and a Major General.

"Any news on why?" asked Major General István Kemeny, commander of the 19^th Infantry Division.

"It seems like the Tatars are being particularly aggressive in the south of the city but nothing more than that. Anything else is pure speculation" replied Geza.

"Such as the Makhnovians being militiamen, not proper soldiers" murmured Brigadier János Katona.

"The Makhnovians are also our allies" said Major General István Kemeny sharply "So you will keep your views on their effectiveness or not due to their being militiamen to yourself". Then, turning to adress all of the officers gathered around the map he said "I think part of the problem is that each force is approaching its sector differently". Turning to his signals officer, he said "Send a message to the commanders of the other contingents in the city requesting that they all attend a command meeting here. We need to come up with a combined strategy that we apply across the city".

by **The Free Territory of Makhnovia** » Sun Jun 11, 2017 10:44 am

19th Infantry Division headquarters

A week into the exercise, Pilip Harun had no reason to feel particulary bad. Yes Makhnovian soldiers took the brunt of casualties, but his area also saw the brunt of combat. Also, among the casualties, there were no civilian casualties. So he shot down any criticism that delegates of regimental Rada directed towards him. They confronted any terrorist activity head - on, every action was a success. Peace was kept in their district. With these thoughts he had enterned joint meeting almost joyfully, whistling some traditional cossack tune.

by **Kihdis** » Sun Jun 11, 2017 11:11 am

19^th Infantry Division Headquarters

After the debatable success of subduing activity around Main Street, Commander Sulêman reported to the meeting with mixed feelings. His Aleppo Regiment had not fared much better than the Makhnovists, but his spirits were lifted by the fact that the Qamishli Regiment had much fewer causalities in their attack in the northeast, being able to successfully locate high ranking rebel locations near the marketplace.

by **Victores** » Thu Jun 15, 2017 6:03 am

WIP for the 19th infantry headquarters meeting.

by **Altpeak** » Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:25 pm

"Comrades" began General Istvan Kemeny "I called you here for this meeting for the reason that I believe our efforts are hampered by a lack of coordination in both tactics and command amidst our units. We all take different approaches and because of that there is little unified pressure on the insurgents and militias. Now I believe this situation could be improved if we had a unified HQ which had overall command of all Comintern elements in Nugrad rather than each detachment having its own independent HQ. What do you think of this idea?"

by **The Free Territory of Makhnovia** » Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:32 pm

Harun shook hands with other commanders as they entered. He listened carefully to what Kemeny had to say, then he lit the cigarette: "I agree with you, Kemeny. We have been responding to localized threats and we haven't tried to utilize any common strategy. Sure, let's set up the common HQ, that will help us to plan better. Maybe now would also be the time to share intel on insurgent and militia activities in our respective quadrants. "

Exercise Tamara [Comintern, IC]

Exercise Tamara [Comintern, IC]

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