Round 8 has been processed, and it looks like the campaign has reached a fitting crescendo! There was much hard fighting, and finally, the prize of Bechafen has been claimed.
As per usual, the website will be updated tomorrow, when the Round 9 Conditions & Modifiers are announced.
Bechafen
In spite of stiff Middenlander resistance, Marshall Gernot's furious assault upon the town, led by the "Kaiserinn" corps guerillas, swept all before it. The heights of atrocity that have marked Bechafen for so many weeks have ended quite abruptly, as among Gernot's regiments march many Ostermarker volunteers. Recruited at Waldschmidt, no small number of them are former Bechafen residents, out to reclaim their homes and shops. Looters and infiltrators scattered before Gernot's relentless advance, and an armed peace has settled over most of the town. At the Rathaus, now Gernot's headquarters, the yellow-and-red flies proudly.
Talabecland gained 52,725 points
Middenland gained 8775 points
The RIOTS decreased by 30,750 points
Round 8 Control rates:
Stirland: 22,750
Talabecland: 75,475
Middenland: 33,825
RIOT: 0
Bechafen is now CONTROLLED by Talabecland!
The Uneasy Watchman
The Stirland war effort is crippled beyond repair. Soldiers and officers alike desert the province of Ostermark in great, somber columns. One by one, Graf Martin's allies withdraw their support. The Grand Theogonist and the Army of the Church - the size of which, it turns out, has been greatly exaggerated - have arrived at the Höhleburg; thus far, however, the army has remained encamped just South of the Burg, and Kurt has not yet left his chambers since he arrived.
In spite of these dark tidings, heroic efforts continue to be made. A handful of stubborn officers attempt to raise the spirits of the troops, reform decimated regiments into effective fighting formations, and make daring raids to procure desperately needed supplies from their enemies. Of particular note was the return of General Von Wensel to the ranks of the Stirlanders.
Having escaped from his captors, he made the dangerous trek South from Fort Grigory, past the Uneasy Watchman, back to the Höhleburg - alone and on foot. Upon his return, he immediately set about securing the ultimate withdrawal of the Stirlanders. Knowing offense to be the best defense, he had Martin's armoured siege towers stripped of their top sections, and, gathering about a brigade's worth of troops around him, used these as mobile cover while attacking the Uneasy Watchman.
The attack, as expected, was a tactical failure. However, the decapitated siege towers provided a solid rallying point for Von Wensel's brigade, offered them protection from the Alliance guns, and - being stocked with handgunners and light cannon - formed a firebase to keep the deadly Kislevite cavalry at a distance. The fighting occupied the Middenlanders and Kislevites to the point where they could mount no meaningful assault on the Höhleburg. When Von Wensel and his men retreated, having suffered remarkably few casualties, they had doubtlessly allowed many times their own number to escape South, to safety.
Stirland gained 11,000 points
Middenland-Kislev gained 6,000 points
Round 8 Control Rates:
Stirland: 88,800
Middenland-Kislev: 92,650
In other news:
Kaltenbach
Middenland gained 3,000 points, pushing the score up to 39,950
Udo's Fall
Stirland gained 1,600 points, to 52,350
Talabecland gained 1,850 points, to 69,400
Brüstenbruck
Talabecland gained 4,400 points, to 13,850
Stand by for Round 9: Closing Statements tomorrow!
