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Outlands Campaign History - Part 1

Capt_Harek

Meteorite
Joined
Jul 26, 2018
Location
somewhere at sea
The following is a record of the solo wargame campaign I've been conducting over the past several years. If you're looking for erotic tales, I'm afraid you won't find much hear. Although, there's probably enough behind the scenes material to spark a romantic entanglement between a trooper and a peasant girl or two. ;) Be that as it may, the moderators say this is the forum to post solo adventures, so here they be. Feel free to comment. I welcome all input, be it positive or negative. (y)(n) :coffee:

A (Brief) History of the Outlands Campaign (1897 ~ 1925)
Col. F. Scott McLeod, Ft. Littleberg Battle Group, Commanding

The wilderness region, commonly known as the Outlands —or Оуаргитан, (Ouargistan)¹ in the Vulgarian tongue— forms the heart of the frontier bewtween the dual kingdom of Corinth & Ruritania, to the east, and the Импорюм на Вулгария, (Vulgarian Empire)² our chief adversaries. The area was originally surveyed during the Expedition of 1886 - 1889. Landmarks were erected, which eventually became the forts guarding the region. Benchmark 5, located at longitude 40° North by 104° West,³ is the current site of Fort Littleberg, home of the
7th​ Mounted Rifles.

The region is divided in two by the Dunnigan River, known to the local peasants as the Utsendari, which runs from the Craggenmoor (Kraken Myr) in the southwest to the Fenmarch in the north, where it is joined by the Greenwood.⁴ The latter river cuts off the eastern third of the territory. There are several peasant tribes in the region, the two principal being the Morris and the Tuamach. It is from the second named peoples that the infamous Morlock⁵ bandits have arisen. Despite the efforts of missionaries, the majority of peasants remain “Culdees” or Ðruids, a pagan religion combining Gnostic heresy with heathen superstition.

NOTES:

  1. The name was borrowed from Maj. Gen. Tremorden Rederring’s website, dedicated to colonial wargamming. (The website has long since been archived, but I can post a link if interested.)
  2. See Don’t Drink the Water (1969), starring Jackie Gleason.
  3. The map in question is from the board game Outdoor Survival. An error in the original survey listed the meridian as 105° W. (Actually, I screwed up while editing one of the maps.) o_O
  4. River names were taken from the principal authors, Jim Dunnigan and Tom Shaw. Don Greenwood and Randall C. Reed were, I believe, the map designers. The map was used in early editions of Dungeons & Dragons.
  5. A bit of serendipity; meirleach is the Gaelic word for bandit. I don’t know whether it inspired H. G. Wells to create his Morlocks.
EARLY BATTLES

The following report illustrates one of the typical missions, undertaken in the early days of the campaign. On 3 April 1897, the garrison at Ft. Hallowell¹ received signals that Morlock bandits had raided a nearby village.² At dawn the following day, a small detachment of the Life Guards headed out, under the leadership of Lt. J. S. Morley and Sgt. H. Robinson.³ Around 11 AM, the patrol overtook the raiders, a small band of eight horsemen, half of whom appeared to be Vulgarian cavalry, and apparently under the leadership of a Vulgary officer! By 1 PM, the Guards had the situation well in hand, capturing two of the Morlocks along with their leader, and suffering only one casualty, Trooper W. Allison.⁴ On 8 April, the detachment arrived at Ft. Littleberg, turning over their prisoners to the Frontier Office.

This battle marked the first recorded incidence of Vulgary troops openly assisting the Morlocks. Naturally, the Vulgarian Imperial High Command denied any involvement. The raiders were most likely wearing cast off uniforms, and the officer, identified as Maj. Ivan Ogareff (Йван Огарев), was obviously a renegade. But two of the captured horses bore the imperial monograph brand, and the Morlocks’ rifles were of Vulgarian manufacture. The Vulgarians were clearly lying, but the Frontier Office was unclear as to why the Vulgary Empire was so keen on aiding the Morlocks.

NOTES:

  1. Garrison 1, located at HEX 2322.
  2. Most likely Jarnbrun Holt, located at HEX 2525.
  3. All names are taken from Boer War battle records, c. 1902.
  4. The battle is believed to have occurred in HEX 1920, near the village of Anni Bend. (The original Outdoor Survial map did not use hex coordinates, so I've had to do some guesswork here.)
ADDENDA
Ivan Ogareff appears courtesy of Jules Verne's Michael Strogoff.
 
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