Under this Sign (40K-Maladar)

[Imperial Overlord]

Colonel Massed approached Maladar's position overlooking the battlefield. Smoke rose from countless wrecked and ruined machines that smoldered sullenly among the field of the dead. Healers and scientist-sorcerers searched through for machines and men they could save while in their wake traveled thousands of scavengers who would strip down the dead and the machines for anything useful. A fortune in industrial production lay on the field, the prize for the victor.

Maladar turned as his subordinate approached. Above the commanding general flapped his banner, the double headed eagle with the single bright eye. The aquila. Already it had become a talisman of good luck. Of victory. "How bad?" Maladar asked.

"Fifty thousand at least dead, probably more. Two hundred thousand seriously wounded, a hundred thousand of which will die or be seriously disabled."

"The enemy?"

"Rough estimate, more than three million dead. Probably higher."

"We stay for three days," said Maladar. "Allow some of the reinforcements and supplies to catch up. The walking wounded will augment fortress garrisons. Commanders of impeccable personal loyalty to the autarch, not me, shall continue to be appointed garrison commanders."

"Sir?"

"It is the nature of rulers to fear victorious generals. With the supply line and key fortresses under control of men the autarch can be sure are his, he will no that any attempt to turn against him will fail. Thus, he need not fear us. Loyalty proved by more than words."

"Uh, yes sir."

"Anything else?"

"No sir."

"You are dismissed." Maladar turned back to the battlefield. It was still a long way for his army to crawl to the atomics weapon factories at Hellspite. A prize he had to take to win the campaign. The northernmost field army of the overking had been smashed, but there would be time to assemble another and intercept him before he arrived if the Shazu were competent. And then there was the fortress-factory of Hellspite itself, which had to be taken mostly intact. That would not be easily surrendered. He had one the first battle, but it was merely the first of a long war.

Maladar was correct. Even as he considered the options Vornheld-Smythe, a cruel and ambitious general, heard the news of Kazu-Cheng's disastrous defeat. An entire field army wiped out by the northerners. Vornheld-Smythe knew this was the sign that he had prayed for. The Seven Gods of Fate had given their answer.

He began assembling is troops and stripping every training camp and garrison bare. He had few battle wagons and artillery to draw upon, but vast numbers of garrison troops including janissary soldiers from across the sea. The reports he was receiving told him that the northerners had fearsome cavalry at their disposal, cavalry that had not faired so well against the long rifles used so widely across the water. And, if the survivors, were correct, Kazu-Cheng had not employed his advantage of superior numbers effectively. Vornheld-Smythe would not make that error.

The lean and cunning warrior walked to the walls of his fortress and watched the army being massed below. Hundreds of silken banners fluttered in the wind, each representing two hundred fighting men. Sunlight reflected on polished steel of the janissaries or was drunken in by blackened metal of his heavy infantry. A quarter of a million fighting men and this was just the beginning. He shouted a cry of triumph. "Shazu!"

Banners fluttered, were raised and lowered in unison. "SHAZU!" the janissaries shouted back. "SHAZU! SHAZU!" shouted the westerners. The heavy infantry joined them a more ragged rumble. "SHAZU! SHAZU!" The south had been crushed, across the sea the west was failing. Only the north was left. Soon Shazu would own the world and history would make Vornheld-Smythe immortal.

[Chris OFarrell]

Yes. You will get close to owning the world.

Then Gix will pop in with the Eternal Will or something and roll out the lances

Seriously though it looks like this guy hasn't learned the lessons he needed to learn. You need LESS disposable cannon fodder infantry, not more! No battle wagons or arty either? This isn't going to look good on this guys record

[Imperial Overlord]

If all the Shazu generals made the right calls, this would be over pretty quick. Of course, you can do a lot with numerical superiority . . . .

[Chris OFarrell]

If all the Shazu generals made the right calls, this would be over pretty quick. Of course, you can do a lot with numerical superiority . . . .

And Nukes.

But they don't know just who they're up against. If the really knew just what Maladar was capable of, well I'm sure that he would START with carpet nuking the area he was known to be in and go from there

[Imperial Overlord]

If all the Shazu generals made the right calls, this would be over pretty quick. Of course, you can do a lot with numerical superiority . . . .

And Nukes.

But they don't know just who they're up against. If the really knew just what Maladar was capable of, well I'm sure that he would START with carpet nuking the area he was known to be in and go from there

Either that or surrender.

[Vehrec]

If all the Shazu generals made the right calls, this would be over pretty quick. Of course, you can do a lot with numerical superiority . . . .

Pin and Flank. Encircle. Seperate your forces to devide the enemy's attention. Human waves are such a waste of potential.

[Imperial Overlord]

If all the Shazu generals made the right calls, this would be over pretty quick. Of course, you can do a lot with numerical superiority . . . .

Pin and Flank. Encircle. Seperate your forces to devide the enemy's attention. Human waves are such a waste of potential.

One of the Shazu's problems is their C3 isn't very good for handling armies their size and the Shazu commanders tend to keep their subordinates on a tight leash. This limits them rather badly. Maladar has more radios and subordinate commanders that are trained in his tactics so he gets more out of his men.

[PeZook]

One of the Shazu's problems is their C3 isn't very good for handling armies their size and the Shazu commanders tend to keep their subordinates on a tight leash. This limits them rather badly. Maladar has more radios and subordinate commanders that are trained in his tactics so he gets more out of his men.

And tanks. Maladar has tanks and better training + more radios.

Meaning that his enemies are stuck in some bastard combination of medieval style warfare with relatively modern weapons, while Maladar only needs some flat plains and better logistics to jump straight into the XXIst century.

Fearsome cavarly? Hah! Try Panzerdivisionnen!

[Singular Quartet]

One of the Shazu's problems is their C3 isn't very good for handling armies their size and the Shazu commanders tend to keep their subordinates on a tight leash. This limits them rather badly. Maladar has more radios and subordinate commanders that are trained in his tactics so he gets more out of his men.

And tanks. Maladar has tanks and better training + more radios.

Meaning that his enemies are stuck in some bastard combination of medieval style warfare with relatively modern weapons, while Maladar only needs some flat plains and better logistics to jump straight into the XXIst century.

Fearsome cavarly? Hah! Try Panzerdivisionnen!

BLITZKRIEG!!!!!!1111

[Sidewinder]

It's interesting that Maladar is also a skilled diplomat, as demonstrated when he appointed men loyal to the Autarch as garrison commanders so the Autarch wouldn't feel threatened by him. I know too many historical figures who let success get to their heads, which resulted in these figures' superiors demanding their heads.

Good writing, Mr. Imperial Overlord. I'm curious if you're interested in selling the story to the Black Library.

[Imperial Overlord]

It's interesting that Maladar is also a skilled diplomat, as demonstrated when he appointed men loyal to the Autarch as garrison commanders so the Autarch wouldn't feel threatened by him. I know too many historical figures who let success get to their heads, which resulted in these figures' superiors demanding their heads.

Good writing, Mr. Imperial Overlord. I'm curious if you're interested in selling the story to the Black Library.

I am looking into it. As for Maladar, those that remember In the Image of His Father might recall that Maladar is both intellegent and a perceptive observer of human behavior, especially power interactions (although most would prefer a gentler education than his). Brute force and naked manifestations of power are his preferred methods, but he is wise enough to use other methods when those will not avail him.

[Imperial Overlord]

Maladar lowered his field glasses and turned to Dremelok Vuul. The tribune took them and peered at the line of troops massing at the horizon. "This one has a brain," said Maladar as he looked out over the edge of the basket.

Both men were standing in the basket of a hot air balloon tethered to the ground by a long rope. Neither were wearing their armour. "He's spreading his lines, going for a flank and envelopment," said Maladar.

Vuul frowned. "That doesn't work."

"Of course it works," said Maladar. "It's just not the way you're used to fighting. Conventional tactics are to crush the center of the army with a mass of heavy infantry and fighting vehicles. The concentration of force also makes command and control easier, not that it does much good. He has been deprived of the option of running a juggernaut column through our center so he's improvising. He's too smart to let live." Maladar made the signal for the balloon to be pulled down.

"Let live?" asked Vuul. The balloon began to descend as prisoners of wars began to pull it down. Mazenjar horsemen with automatic rifles guarded them.

"Command of armies in such states as the Shazu is awarded based more on political considerations and social connections than merit," said Maladar. "This allows for stupid and unsuccessful leaders to command armies. It is in our interest to let such men live in the hope they may squander future armies. This one can think. He must die."

"As you will, my lord. How do you plan to defeat them?"

"Crush their center with tanks while securing our flanks against envelopment. They are deficient in fighting machines. They'll break like glass. Then we roll them up."

"So crushing the center is good?" asked Vuul with a slight edge to his voice.

"Of course its good," said Maladar. "Victory is like . . ." he groped for the appropriate metaphor. It eluded him. "You need to defeat the enemy's army. Whether you starve it by cutting off its supplies, burn it by nuclear fire, encircle it in a cauldron of steel or crush its center the important part is that you win. There is more than one road to victory. Be mindful of them all."

Vuul grunted in agreement. The tribune was not an imaginative man, but he was no fool either. He could see the effectiveness of Maladar's methods with his own eyes and had no difficulty in believing the inquisitor's words.

The basket touched down. Maladar got out and began walking towards his command post, Vuul following in his wake. The inquisitor was already making out his plans. The paucity of radio communications would mean that effectively he was facing multiple armies working together to enact the same loose plan. Central control would be almost nonexistent. They would close, envelope, and attempt to destroy.

His senior commanders rose as he approached. "Emplace the artillery and the battle wagons to guard our flanks. Wounded are to join them. Engineers are to augment the natural defences in every way possible. Ditches, berms, walls, firing pits, everything. Cavalry is to remain mobile, harass the infantry, and prevent total encirclement. The tanks and the heavy infantry will crush the center and roll them up. Cavalry will then massacre them as they retreat. A bonus large enough to buy a modest estate will go to whoever brings me the head of the enemy general. Questions?"

There were none. "Get to work," said Maladar. "We have two or three days until they make it here, depending on how hard they push. Mere victory is unacceptable. We must utterly destroy them and our casualties must be light. Do not fail me in this."

[Ford Prefect]

Those tanks are like the ultimate equaliser. It's pretty hilarious, actually.

[PeZook]

Those tanks are like the ultimate equaliser. It's pretty hilarious, actually.

It's not hilarious when your staff is frantically running around trying to figure out what has just happened when they receive dozens of reports about tanks in the rear, tanks in the front, tanks in the tents, tanks in the toilet...

Which is what happens when an armored collumn breaks through your front line and starts rampaging in the back. The Shazu simply don't have any idea how brutal and fast a true mechanized offensive can be. And they won't learn it now, since Maladar didn't do it to them...yet

[Imperial Overlord]

Tens of thousands of men dug trenches and foxholes. Pits were dug for artillery and sandbags filled with dirt and used to reinforce defences. Wounded men and unhorsed cavalry officers manned the trenches along with half of the fit for duty heavy infantry and the gun crews who serviced and maintained the rocket batteries, field pieces, and heavy stubbers.

The battle lines stretched of twenty kilometers on each side, shielding the flanks of the army. Over flights had revealed the position of the Shazu army earlier, but now there was no need of that now. The great curved e-shape of the army was clearly visible from the high ground, a great dark mass of millions of men on the move, stretching over kilometers.

Maladar's autosenses painted range numbers in glowing numbers on his vision. Distant thunder told him the heavier guns were already firing. He activated his vox controls. "Tribune Dessler."

A scratchy reply answered him. "Yes my lord?"

"Drive your tanks through their heart and crush it."

"With pleasure my lord."

Clouds of fire rose to the sky as the Condors unleashed their cargoes of bombs over the enemy lines. Thousands died in those two passes, but that was just a drop in the bucket. Plumes of earth rose into the air as shells exploded near and among the ranks of the Shazu as they struggled closer. The range was still too great for the stubbers to be used. For now the big guns were the only ones reaping their harvest of flesh.

The tanks began to rumble forward, closing the distance the Shazu line. Behind them was the other half of the heavy infantry, moving up secure the rear of the armoured advance and finish off damaged formations. The surviving cavalry staid near Maladar, to be unleashed to harry and destroy the enemy when they broke and fled.

The tanks began firing when they were two kilometers from the Shazu lines, unleashing shell after shell of high explosives into the enemy ranks. Their smooth sloped armour and comparatively small profiles made them very difficult targets for the few heavy field pieces that the Shazu possessed. The tanks trundled forward and added their stubbers to the slaughter.

The Shazu wavered and then broke under the hammer. The tanks followed up, pushing through the shattered lines as a hundred thousand men in powered armour stormed through in their wake. The armoured spearhead then turned and began to roll up the left flank.

An army of millions dies slowly. The left and the right wings did not know the center was gutted as they closed to within a kilometer of Maladar's defensive lines. Rifles, heavy stubbers, and rocket guns began to add to the carnage. Limbs were blasted off and torsos were blown open as men fell in lines. Return volleys of bullets mostly missed and even the few that hit mostly deflected off armour.

The lines grew closer as the Shazu struggled uphill towards the defences, paying an awful price in blood and death for every meter. The single shot muzzle loaders that the western janissaries were armed with had an excellent range, but they could not match the rate of fire of the northern automatic weapons. The long, exposed lines of the Shazu were dying as they staggered forward.

"Zoltan," Maladar ordered. "Prepare twenty thousand cavalry to harry the enemy's left as they break. It won't be long now. The tanks are rolling them up. No Mazenjar, except officers."

"Understood," said the Voivode of the Mazenjar and Maladar's chief of cavalry. "And the right?"

"It will last a little while longer, I think, but the blood price they are paying will break them. I need the Mazenjar to go to the center and hunt the Shazu general."

"He will have a head start."

"On already tired horses. Catch him for me.""

"If he can be caught." Zoltan gave a fist to heart salute, ringing his gauntlet against his breastplate. He turned and left to convey his orders. Maladar remained behind to watch an army die.

[Ford Prefect]

*crunch*

Yeah, ouch.

[PeZook]

Yeah, tanks have that effect on people who never seen them before.
Though I wonder how much time it took them to drive through that mass of ablative mea...oh, sorry. Through the Shazu army.

[Chris OFarrell]

"And remember. A shiny new donkey for whomever brings me the head of Colonel Massed!"

[Vehrec]

20 kilometers on each side, say 850,000 men, that's about 22.6 men per meter of front. Most impressive. Of course, how many of them are sitting in tanks or resever is debateable, but that's still an impressive front. With numbers like that, any army would die slowly. With this victory, how long will the march to the Hellforges take?

[Imperial Overlord]

20 kilometers on each side, say 850,000 men, that's about 22.6 men per meter of front. Most impressive. Of course, how many of them are sitting in tanks or resever is debateable, but that's still an impressive front. With numbers like that, any army would die slowly. With this victory, how long will the march to the Hellforges take?

Only a fraction of that number. Maladar's been hemorraging troops to supply garrissons and has most of his cavalry and half his heavy infantry and all of his tankers in reserve. Say a little less than 200k on the defensive lines in trenches, foxholes, and gun pits. Of course that is still a very heavy concentration of defenders.

[PeZook]

To be honest, Maladar's tanks didn't really show their full potential here. It's probably because his supply train isn't really up to it, but with good enough logistics he could've outmaneuvered and destroyed to Shazu in detail long before any major battle would have a chance to occur by smashing their supply and command trains with tanks. Shazu cavalry would be unable to prevent an outflanking by tanks.

Though such maneuvers are a thing for the future ; For one, they require not only good logistics but also training, lots of radios and motorized/mechanized infantry as backup.

[Imperial Overlord]

Though such maneuvers are a thing for the future ; For one, they require not only good logistics but also training, lots of radios and motorized/mechanized infantry as backup.

All things the northerners lack at the moment. What the future may hold is another matter.

[Ford Prefect]

A bit off-topic, but IO, where is your newest sig quote from?

[Imperial Overlord]

A bit off-topic, but IO, where is your newest sig quote from?

"The Thousandfold Thought," the third book R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series.

[Dominus]

Very impressive. I like what you've done so far with this, IO, but I can't help but feel that the story is lacking something without a few of these running around to liven things up on the high seas:



That is, of course, assuming I haven't forgotten something important and that this world even has a large body of water, or a military-industrial complex capable of building and maintaining a fleet of my glorious dreadnoughts.

EDIT: Of course, one does not need battleships to crush one's enemy, as Maladar has so aptly proved throughout his campaigns. He's taken the natives very far indeed -- tanks are a far cry from medieval armor and weaponry, no?