The Warp

"You may have realized that there is a civil war in Bretonia. One that is different from the ones that were before? One that threatens the fabric of our society?"
"You have enough of this war in forests. Yes, we know about it.
"So?"
"So what? It is a Breton civil war."
"So you do now care that the Bretons were always your first line of defense? That the Breton Kings did never disputed your borders and that they never demanded recompense when the Wild Hunt killed their subjects? Or that the Germans are very friendly with the Rebels, the same Germans that killed your husband and blackmailed you with the remains?"
"The Breton Kings defended their own borders and subjects. They have no choice but to respect Athel Loren`s borders and your people have killed more serfs during the last year than any Wild Hunt during the last hundred years. There is no debt that we need to repay."

"And that a German ally might be your new neighbor is not a problem in your mind."
"The Germans are dangerous if they are our neighbors or stay where they are. Whatever they desire from Athel Loren they gain in trade, it is far cheaper for them."
"You are afraid of them."
"We respect them, as you should. Their dealings with Athel Loren have been honorable, we have no quarrel with them."
"And that they killed your husband and humiliated you is not interesting at all? Have you sunken so low?"

"Mother, you are the one who attacked Athel Loren, long ago as it might be, not the Germans. It was you who conceived me and who gave me away as a price so that you might be spared when you failed. Don`t talk about losing to me and about being humiliated either, you are not in a place to do so. So, if you have come here to call the Asrai to aid you in your fight, the answer is no. Neither the Elves nor the Forest will have any part in this."
"Ariel, I am your mother, I am a Goddess of the true kind. You will do my bidding."

The voice that answered changed. It was not louder, as much as anything in the Warp could be louder, it changed. It was hard to describe, yet there was a creaking in there, a background noise that could be the sound of wind that passes through leaves and the howling of predators.

"You gave away any such claims when you made me to serve those you hate Mother. Go now and do not bother us again with such folly. You may need allies to do your fighting to you, but you need another enemy even less. You are close to making one."

Inside Artois Castle

Pierre Troisieme was counting his sins, of which were many. That was the life of a soldier in the Rebel army as in any other, but that usually did lead to his commanding officer wanting a word with him. And not Marcel Gaudoin, the Captain commanding his Century, or Jean of Dubois who commanded the Terico. It was Andy Thrope who wanted to see him, which surprised him more than a little. And surprises, in the Rebel army as in any other, were usually not good surprises. It was not that he had any choice and so he stood before the room that served as the General`s office, watched the officers come and go and tried to hide his nervousness.

And while he was pretty sure that he waited since Giles de Breton was King he was eventually called into that office. There was a desk in that office, filled with paper and a glowing magical device non-Bretons insisted was not magic. There was a rifle and several chairs which probably did not belong to this room. And then there was the General. By Pierre`s standards he was huge, had a face with lots of lines and the shadows under the eyes that spoke of too few hours of sleep.

"Private 1st Class Pierre Troisieme, 2nd Century, Liberte Terico reporting as ordered Sir."
"Very well private. Please have a seat. You`d like something to drink Private?"
"Err..Yes Sir."
"Well, then grab that mug, pour yourself one and listen. I hear good things about you Private. You stood at Grasgar when the Royals played their little trick on us, or so I hear. Managed to make it through sword training and still have it I see. And then you were one of the first in Castle Artois. Did I get it right so far?"
"Yes Sir."
"Fine. That makes you a good soldier Pierre, and I need you and your likes. But as you probably have worked out for yourself this is not why I asked you to come here. Can you think what that is?"

"Err Colette Sir?"
"Is that her name? If so than yes, that is why you are here. Pierre, so you see any others in this room."
"No Sir."
"And right you are. So what I want to do is that you tell me what happened when you stormed the servant`s quarters."
"Err..yes Sir. Well, we went into the quarters there was no soldier around, only Colette and a couple of the other maids. When we had searched the rooms we heard the pipes and then we knew that we had done it. We escorted the servants from the quarters and…"
"Pierre, this is why I told you we are alone here. I need to know what happened, not what you told Captain Gaudoin."
"Uh.."
"Pierre, you did nothing wrong as far as I am concerned. No inquest will follow, neither for you or your comrades. BUT I NEED TO KNOW."
"Yes Sir. When I came back to the room some of the lads were pressing the maids Sir. Very much so."
"So?"
"I kept them from that Sir."
"The way I hear it you knocked some heads."
"Only one Sir and not too badly."
"Why?"

"Uh, Sir?"
"Why did you do that?"
"Sir, there were the kids Sir. You do not do that in front of the kids, err you do not do it at all Sir."
"Yes, we do not do this. I know you have been told that a couple of times, as everybody else. Any other reason?"
"Well, there would be no way to see Colette again. And she looked like somebody I very much wanted to see again."
"Oh my, to be that young again. Well, that does not sound too bad. So how are things now?"
"Well, Colette needed somebody to protect her obviously and we have some empty tents Sir, so she, the other maids and the kids went in there."
"And they lived happily thereafter. Seriously though, what are your plans?"

"Sir, I do not know. Colette was a maid, we do not have much need for that. She would follow the army, but easy this won`t be."
"Well, it would be a bit easier for a corporal than for a private, wouldn`t it? Might she be interested in medic`s training, or I have a look at the Lizard`s fund and find some cash to set her up as. Well, good things can happen to you, provided that you tie the knot."
"Sir, what do you mean?"
"I suggest you get hitched, take the vows, marry her, that`s what I suggest."
"Sir, that will be a bit difficult?"
"Why for god`s sake? Even a thick oaf like me can see that you love her."
"Err, yes Sir. But marriage was performed by the Lord of the Castle, our liege. And most of us avoided it anyways as they often insisted on first nights. So who is going to marry us?"
"Bollocks. Do you think I can stand in as your liege, and no not for that bloody "First Night" thing?"

"Sir, yes Sir. But why. Generals should not take note of..this."
"Normally you are right. But normally you do not have Englishman from another world lead a rebellion after drinking from the Grail either. But truth to be told, we do this as part of public relations. You can expect a German reporter shoving a camera in your direction while you do it, at least during the public part. And before you ask, public relations come between pestilence and pustules in my dictionary, but we have to make an effort at it."
"Sir, if you say so sir."
"Yes I do Corporal Pierre Troisieme I do."

Plains before Middenheim

The low-slung assault gun moved into position behind an earthen wall it had erected itself using its simple dozer blade during the last minute. A cannon barely cleared the position and threatened everything east of it. Dragoons took positions besides it and clustered around the machine gun teams. A hundred meters behind them mortar teams set up shop. There was a lot of that going on, establishing a wide, but thinly held perimeter. The reasons for that became clear when several big-bellied turboprops deployed stick after stick of paratroopers who could take their time to shake themselves into their respective units.

They were still doing so when no less than three huge airships landed inside the perimeter and offloaded a company of tanks. It was very impressive and would have shaken any enemy to the core if one were available. There was infanty and cavalry some kilometers off, all of them denoted by red cloth affixed to their uniform, but they could hardly do more than watch. Their "attack" was scheduled in an hour, for now they were as much spectators as anybody else.

Another, slightly more august, group of spectators enjoyed the view from Middenheim`s walls. Since the city was high up on the "Faustschlag" rock and there were several video feeds available they had a very good look at things. The exercise was called "Drachensprung" (Dragon`s Leap) this year and heavily choreographed. That said so far things had worked moderately well and impressed the group. The small problem was that "impressive" was not the same as "good" in some of the minds present.

"So isn`t that thing, this assault gun made in your manufactories Countess"
"Yes, we assemble the parts and make some of the components. This year we finally received the certification to weld the hull, we might make the armor next year or the one after that. Eight out of ten parts still come from Germany."
"Still it is a marvel, a terror for our enemies."

"Yes Boris, if you are a Greenskin or a Chaos Knight this thing is death itself. If the Chaos Dwarfs want a rematch this can take down their Golems and withstand their weapons. Compared to a Leopard or a Tiger tank this is a toy. Simple steel armor and the 105 mm gun is the same as the infantry gun we use in the line regiments. It is better armored than the armored cars, more maneuverable because it has tracks, not wheels and much cheaper than anything the Germans make. And the production run of this year, next year and the one after that is already spoken for the Reiksguard. We can have their armored trucks, thank you very much."

Emanuelle von Leibwitz was Nuln`s ruler and she prided herself for knowing her realm`s products, at least those with a certain amount of "bling".

It was remarkable how much "f" was in her "thank you". The tent held just five people presently, their aids and guards had discretely retreated for the moment. Boris Todbringer, Emanuelle von Liebwitz, Wolfram Hertwig, Valmir von Raukov and Albrecht Haupt-Andressen had two things in common. They were Elector-Counts, among the most noble beings the Empire had, and they were unhappy with the state of the Empire. More precisely, they were unhappy with their position inside the Empire`s power structure as they saw their position eroding.

"Looks like this little exercise is going well, doesn´t it."
"Oh it does. Hardly surprising when the exercise is as staged as this one. And by the looks of it, it already fulfills its main purpose."

"And what might that be dear Wolfram?"
"Don`t play coy Emanuelle. This exercise is sending a message right at us and the other Elector Counts, not to speak of people like Manfred von Carstein. The message reads: Yes, you have upgraded your armies impressively. Yes, any Greemskin or Beastman that shows its ugly head is yours for the taking. But if we ever get the bright idea to copy Marienburg we can expect a visit by these."

An expansive gesture encompassed the armed might that moved below them.

"And with the railroads growing every year the Reiksbund does not even have to use expensive airships. They can dump one of their tank divisions on our doorstep in a week or two."
"A good thing if the next Chaos invasion is about. Tell me, what exactly are we complaining about?"
"We…"

There was a loud, screeching noise that swallowed all speech for the moment. It was followed by an explosive surf that went on for long seconds before it faded. A long line of smoke indicated where several Tornado`s had unloaded their MW-1 bomblet dispensers.

"No need to complain about tanks when these are about. As I was about to say we all feel the push from above and below. We feel the push from the commoners, the ones who have most of the money these days, who want to have a say. And we feel the push from above as our dear Emperor is now able to rule much more directly, thanks to railroad, telephone and e-mail. And since the wish from more trade below meets the greed for power from above we have to accept that we have lost the right to mint our own coins, have the final say in court or define our own weights. In the past we could rule much as we wanted as Altdorf was so far away. An army needed months to reach any of our provinces and it ruined the land it traversed by foraging. Nobody cared if the Nuln pfennig had more cooper in it or the Hochland pound was 443 grams instead of 500. Now we all bow to the mighty DIN. And yes, we still have our armies. But if I want to equip it with nice rifles and mortars I have to say "please" and "thanks" even for second-line equipment. And I have to fork so much money over that I have no choice but to go for the guilds and talk about taxes. Or accept German aid which come with such stipulations as universal schooling and no torture allowed, even for witches."

"Well said Boris, well said. Soon we will no longer be masters of our own realm. And we should act fast, lest we lose any chance to change that."

"So you believe we can beat..this?"
"No way we can, even if we act tomorrow. And if we do, we push the Empire into a long civil war which we all lose. No Valmir, we can preserve what is left by pushing for a constitution."
"Boris, you want us to join..them?"
"Look, our problems come from that nobody bothered to write down our rights as nobody was going to infringe on them, or only with a sword. Now the ones who would go after us with a sword would meet this mess down there. Anybody can get through that is entitled to my royal arse anyway. But the people who are really dangerous to us now, they care for such niceties as the law. And so we have a chance to write our own laws, to suit us. We channel the commoners into a system we can influence and we can make sure that we still matter in ten years."

"You want this mess, you want us to sit down in a parliament with commoners and decide what is right by counting heads?"
"Of course not. But I have a proposal here, have a look. Let the commoners and Karl-Franz have a parliament if he so likes. Actually we should support this, so we can earn enough credit to get our ideas through. Lets tell them we like the German ideas. Lets tell them we want the same, or at least close. We have an Imperial government, a parliament to pass the laws. And then we have a second chamber, the one that holds the representatives of the federal states. The chamber that makes sure that the laws and edicts the parliament passes does not infringe the rights of the federal states."

"What federal states are you talking about?"
"The Federal states that make up the Empire. The Federal State of Ostland, the Federal State of Wissenland, the Federal State of Middenland and the others. The Federal States that are constitutional baronies lead by us truly. The Federal States that have National Guards, which answer to us and which can only be used by the Emperor in a real emergency..."
"You have got it all figured out haven`t you?"
"No, but I payed people to figure it out for me. Look Emanuelle, we can stand before the wave and try to hold it back with our hands. Or we can put ourselves in the boat and have us lifted by it. What is it going to be?"

"Uh."
"Federal State, yes?"
"Me before a parliament. Well, beats being a head on the tip of a pike in a few years."
"Maybe you are on to something Boris. Let me think about. Doesn`t mean I say yes, only means that I think about it."

Boris Todbringer, Elector count and warrior, politician and a man who saw the others reach for the same hope he had been offered when his own wits were at a loss in a world he barely recognized any more dared to hope. Hope for himself, for his family and Middenland. He made a mental note to pay his adviser a nice extra, it looked like that worthy had earned his keep.

Berlin, Germany, two weeks later

Donald Trevayne used his pocket knife to open the letter that was closed by the personal seal of Boris Todbringer, Elector Count of Middenland. He pulled the handmade paper from it and took his time to read through a script close to the old German Sütterlin. It wasn`t that easy and he still had to make a conscious effort at deciphering it correctly. Given his line of work getting the precise meaning was crucial. His forehead developed a couple of creases while he worked through it.

"We herewith commend our trusted servant Donald Trevayne for the services rendered to our realm…..Wise counsel and insight. It pleased us" ups, no that is certainly..that bloody count did not...oh yes, he had.

That was when the former American opened a drawer and extracted a bottle of whiskey that rarely saw the light of day. Two fingers of amber fluid went into a deceptively simple shot glass and disapreared before he reread the last passages.

"It pleases us to elevate our subject to Freiherr Donald von Fassburg, may he govern his fiefdom with wisdom…."

Donald Trevayne was an clever man who had made his business gathering intelligence and advising the various Reiksbund institutions as best as he could. He had done so for more than a decade now and had a well deserved reputation in the circles he frequented. He had no idea how to get out of this one.

"We the People of the Empire, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Empire and its peoples."

Introduction of the Empire`s constitution proposed by Donald Trevayne to Boris Todbringer as part of his assignment.

Close to Deserte, Bretonia, five weeks after storming Castle Artois

The Rebel army had dived itself into three divisions that marched through the nearly trackless forests that made up the wilderness between Castle Artois and the River Sannez. They would meet up with a small Rebel flotilla there and resupply before using the river as their highway towards Couronne. The Royal army was between them and the river somewhere. The Rebels had beaten them like a drum during this campaign season, so they were not overly worried. Their general had stressed the need to move fast so they might gain the open ground of the Sannez floodplains. A battle in the woods did not suit them well, they would be hard-pressed to hold their formations they needed so much and their range advantage would be lost.

The army faltered several times along the way, but their general pushed them every time that happened. St. Hellier`s famed yeomen foiled all enemy attempts at recognizance and so the Rebels were able to force the fords of the river Vite in two places. It cost the first Terico, a loss that would be made good in the Battle of the Floodplains.

9950/10.000 points
Replay in realistic mode?

Ahrensburg, Germany 2635

Dominic Müller pulled the headset off and set it on the shelf besides his bed. He opened the bottle there and gulped half a liter of a drink with far too much sugar in it. Hey, that was really not bad, wasn`t it. "Generals, The Bretonia War" was really hot, but he was good. He had played the predecessor, "The Storm of Chaos" several times and knew how things worked. He had known it could not be so difficult, the Rebels should have pushed harder. Checking his watch he found that he had at least another hour before he would have to shut his VI down. Realistic mode could not be so much harder, couldn`t it. The headset went back up and again he found himself immersed in a vastly different place. Just that this time he was not offered the eagle-eyed view from 20 kilometers up the arcade mode had provided. This time he found himself in a tent or on the ground staring at a paper map. His virtual arm drew lines with a pencil. His orders went out via a scratchy wireless, via riders and written instructions. The enemy did appear in places he did not anticipate and he heard about it half an hour after his troops were engaged.

This time there was confusion, this time the supply lagged and this time the first Terico broke after having been ambushed and suffered 20% losses. The fighting was drawn-out, hard to control and brutal. And this time a series of fires consumed the brushwork that still held lots of casualties from both sides burning them to death. The headset was good enough to give him a smell and render their cries with a fidelity he could have done without.

He tried again the next evening and the evening after that. The next weekend was a binge of trying to beat the Battle of Deserte. With each replay he got a better idea how things worked and by Sigmarsday he had finally been able to breach the Royal lines with acceptable losses.

He was very, very pleased with himself. At the same time he had gained a different appreciation of Andy Thorpe, General of the Rebel army. Just clashing with the Royals, inflicting losses greater than his own and then retreating in good order was as good a result as he could have hoped for. His army had simply given up too many advantages when they fought there and they had stretched their supply lines to the limit. Too bad, they would have won that next battle easily. Instead…..