Death on the Steppes

This story should convince most of you that nukes are the plague of modern warfare. It was around 1850, and the glorios empire of Alexander the II of England was flourishing. I had gone from the British Isles.(I was playing an Earth map; Europe.) and easily expanded to France and the Nordic lands, but I was beggining to get cramped between the sea and Germany, with whom I had established an uneasy peace. Attempts at Southern expansion were blocked by the untrustworthy Zulu, who had a huge empire. stretching from Gibralter to the Gobi desert.

Once I got Tanks, I switched to Communism and began a massive build up of ground, air, and sea forces. 14-16 Tanks, 6 Paratroops, 5 Helicopters, 10 Fighter planes, 8 Marines, 2 Battleships, 2 Transports, 4-6 Bombers, and 1 Carrier. I was ready. I swept across the Seine R., and before the end of the turn, Berlin was in my hands, along with the other major German cities; Hamburg, Dresden, Munich, Leipzig, etc. Another force had been pushing South, and they encountered a large Zulu presence in Spain. My Navy quickly neutralized them, and the war with the Zulus had begun. Meanwhile, in Europe, I was steadily advancing, moving through the Alps, past the Rhine, and eventually eliminating the feeble German resistance. At this point, I was in Zulu territory.

After stopping momentarily to rest and reinforce my Grand Armee, I commited the classic blunder of every military commander. I thought I was strong enough to invade the russian steppes. At first everything went well. A few outposts here and there and the occasional city and I was happy. Then I noticed there was a sudden lack of armor in my advancing forces. All of my fighter support was gone, and I had 1 Helicopter left. I had advanced to the Don. Visions of Stalingrad danced in my head. The Zulu had started to counterattack. Their bombers combed the countryside. Any thing outside of the cities wasn't safe. Assault after assault raged acros the pixel stained plains between the Don and the Volga. It was resembling the Marne. I stopped to consolidate my position(forts, etc.) and connect my forward cities with roads. All of my engineers were devoted to the war effort. It was a stalemate.

Meanwhile, In the hot sands of the Sahara, the battle was going in my favor. Resistance was weak and scattered, and my forces quickly went on to Turkey, slicing across the thin band of cities. The survivors procedded up the coast to my belaeguered forces in Russia. With their numbers I thought I could push on through the tight cluster of huge Zulu cities, and take their capitol. My onslaught began. Hah.

After a constant barrage of bombers and Howitzers, and Tanks, Their central city capitulated. This put two cities to my South, one city to my North, and about five to my East Bad situation. While I built up my forces to push on, they sent an emmisary. I decided to see him. During all of his blustering, I noticed this chilling phrase;Our words are backed by NUCLEAR WEAPONS!!! This was looking bad. I immediatly started to build SDI Centers, but it was to late. the next turn, the nukes rolled out. My precarious position over the Volga was turned into a nuclear playground. One of my minor positions was also hit , but I was in too much shock to notice. Not only had most of my Helicopters and all of my armor been taken out in one blow, but my pride and joy, my brand new, fresh from the rear Stealth Bombers had all been wiped out. Now their machine geared up. Three of my forward cities were taken immediatly, later followed by my main transportation hub and most of my front line engineers. Luckily, my new Mech. Infantry and my control of the skies(Jet Fighters!) helped to stop the Zulu. After that fiasco I abandoned all aspirations of Global Domination, and built my Spaceship, therefore winning anyway.

By Sunny365