[OL-MRCA] Cliffs of King’s Port

[Keymonus]

Landing Point Charlotte, Terraversa, 17 August 620 (T-DAY)

"Hell is waiting where the ocean meets the sand"



The soldiers of the first wave got onto the small rowboats, that were immediately lowered into the water. Somebody whispered a short prayer to Poseidon, others hummed a popular tavern song, most remained silent... only the platoon of legionnaires assigned to the ship continued chatting and laughing till the last moment, as if their assault was nothing more serious than a pleasant walk.

 The cliffs in front of them started appearing from the morning fog. It was almost the hour. In a few minutes, they would have started rowing as madmen towards Plage Charlotte, one of the designated landing points... not thehardest target, but still well under the crossfire of forts and batteries! Everybody knew that a lot of things could go very, very, wrong: according to the plan, they would have reached the shoreline immediately after the first artillery barrage, overwhelming the shoreline fortifications and opening a safe passage for the second -and more consistent- wave; meanwhile, their artillery would have hammered the remaining forts, turning them into ruins.

Suddenly, the capital ship shot the first volley, immediately followed by hundreds of other cannons. On the shore, a battery exploded, immediately followed by another one. With a savage yell, the soldiers started rowing, while dozens and dozens of cannonballs flew over their heads. Small clouds of smoke announced the first return volleys. A few seconds later, jets of water exploded from the sea, and a nearby ship received two blows.

As the artillery duel continued, the small boats reached the shore. The bigger coastal batteries continued their barrage against the fleet, but the mortars and the small culverins were waiting for them. One of the boats was annihilated, directly hit by a grenade. After what seemed an eternity, the keels of the boats hit the sand and the soldiers jumped forward.

The rain of iron and fire began immediately, as the soldiers arrived in the range of Terraversan blockhouses. Organ guns and wall muskets started firing, giving rise to a hellish concert of bangs and rattlings. In just a matter of seconds, dozens of bullets were flying in every direction.



Some soldiers fell after a few steps, mowed by mortar fire and organ guns, but most charged forward, taking shelter and starting a strong cover fire with their muskets. One of the organ guns fired again, but those damned weapons were inaccurate and slow to reload... with the soldiers moving and scattering along the beach, this time most of the bullets hit only the sand.



An officer of the Zouaves, the  tirailleurs from New Oleon,  started yelling orders, reorganizing the soldiers for the charge: if they took the fortifications before the Terraversans could reorganize, the first bridgehead would have been taken! Only a few dozen meters and they would have reached the blockhouses... a run through the Tartarus, towards the guns of their enemies, but also the road towards King's Port and the victory!



 

A few more pics of the battle:

 



 



The Terraversan organ gun:



 



Obvious credit to @Khorne for the foreign legion and the zouaves, something I never had the chance to depict.

Ps So it begins... as soon as possible I’ll add a link in the AMRCA thread!

Edited September 15, 2020 by Keymonus

[JintaiZ]

Great build!

[Khorne]

As I've said before: a gorgeous build! It's packed with action, from the explosions in the sand (and on the water) to the soldiers storming the beach and the smoke of the musket fire. The forced perspective from the Terraversan fortification is a great opening shot for the post and immediately sucks you in the story. 

The organ gun is well-made too. A design our army surely should copy! 

Beautiful build all-around and great narration to accompany it!

For Oléon!

[Professor Thaum]

Really nice render of the starting war.

The roundshot splashes in the water are terrific !

[merc]

The story really encapsulate the build very nicely. The action shots and the poses make really make the build stand out. 

[NOD]

Great scenario that was presented realistically. I especially like the first photo. The view of the attackers through the opening in the wall is impressive. The perfect location for the organ gun.

[Count Vroskri]

Another great moc from you, I really love the minifig posing and facial expressions. 

[Darnok]

Great scenic build, gives me quite the D-Day vibes.

[Ayrlego]

Great action scene - it really helps bring the invasion to life. I like the design of the organ gun and as Darnok says, the bunker definitely evokes the opening scenes of 'Saving Private Ryan'!

[Keymonus]

Thank you, guys! The battle scene was (quite obviously) inspired to the landing scene in "Saving Private Ryan" and more in general to Normandy landing. Without machine guns and tanks to block with anti-tank obstacles... well... I had to improvise! 

Now let's crush the tyrant's militia and conquer set King's Port free!

[Darnok]

1 minute ago, Keymonus said:

Now let's crush the tyrant's militia and conquer set King's Port free!

By the way: would Oleon be willing to pay for some counter propaganda factual information spread in their name? Working on the next WTCM, open to bribes, just sayin'...

[Bodi]

21 hours ago, Darnok said:

By the way: would Oleon be willing to pay for some counter propaganda factual information spread in their name? Working on the next WTCM, open to bribes, just sayin'...

Yes, please insert keywords like "welcome the invaders liberators with open arms, tears of joy, ", etc.

[Darnok]

2 minutes ago, Bodi said:

Yes, please insert keywords like "welcome the invaders liberators with open arms, tears of joy, ", etc.

How favourable the coverage is depends entirely on how well you pay...

[Mesabi]

I like you're build @Keymonus, I think it all came together pretty well.

I would say though, I'm disappointed by the subject matter of the build. It's similar to what I posted on @Bodi's mcra build, but we've had so many beach invasion scenes (A whole category of Era I challenge 5 comes to mind) and the KPA actually gave you guys a pretty interesting hook in my opinion.

Quote

Under heavy fire, the bluecoats narrowly managed to launch longboats carrying hundreds of men ashore. The local regiment, as well as troops from the royal fortress, have taken up positions around the upper city and government buildings, and have so far kept the bluecoats at bay. But the streets are running red with blood as the fighting is fierce, and both sides appear to have taken considerable losses. Archduke Oldis has put out the call for reserves to reinforce the city, and we hear reports that the native Atwi are mustering their tribes inland. Meanwhile, the Oleonder fleet has anchored at bay and blockaded the port.

I really would have loved to have seen this scene, or something more interesting than 'Bluecoats on the Beach' x2. If anything, it feels like ya'll just had this too prepared.

Again, no negative comments on the actual build, or even story, mostly just complaints on the subject matter.

[Keymonus]

1 hour ago, Mesabi said:

I really would have loved to have seen this scene

The reason you haven’t seen this part (yet) is that we could be sure about the landing, but not about the aftermath (we were not sure at all to arrive to the urban fighting without being repelled). Honestly I didn’t expect at all the stalemate (I thought we would have taken KP, or we would’ve died trying)... but wait a little and you’ll see a lot of blue and something-else-possibly-blue-too coats slaughtering one another in the streets, on the hills, in the woods etc... and hopefully the flag with fleur de lis waving over Oldis’ palace!

[Mesabi]

20 minutes ago, Keymonus said:

The reason you haven’t seen this part (yet) is that we could be sure about the landing, but not about the aftermath (we were not sure at all to arrive to the urban fighting without being repelled). Honestly I didn’t expect at all the stalemate (I thought we would have taken KP, or we would’ve died trying)... but wait a little and you’ll see a lot of blue and something-else-possibly-blue-too coats slaughtering one another in the streets, on the hills, in the woods etc... and hopefully the flag with fleur de lis waving over Oldis’ palace!

I suppose that's a good point. I eagerly await your builds in the city!

[Bodi]

19 hours ago, Mesabi said:

really would have loved to have seen this scene, or something more interesting than 'Bluecoats on the Beach' x2. If anything, it feels like ya'll just had this too prepared.

As Keymonus said above, what we were allowed to do was to build up an invasion fleet as large as possible, and let the GMs decide the outcome of the landing, through a series of calculations. Now the results are out, I'm sure we'll see some land combat scenes.