Interim report of the archaelogical expedition to Sosisum Sinistra

[JWW]

952.7.3 AA

Report of the archaeological expedition that returned recently from the dwarf planet [small moon] Sosisum Sinistra orbiting the A5 star PX54021.

Sosisum Sinistra is a moon-sized dwarf planet orbiting PX54021 at 32.9 AU. This young (0.6 billon years) planet has 0.1 gravity and an average temperature of -91 degrees celsius. It has large ice fields encompassing the upper and lower third of the planet.

Before the Dissolution War, it was a valuable mining planet with a population of 27.2 million. The Dissolution War, as with many planets, was a great disaster, with the planet emerging with a population of 282,000 and with three recognizable major settlements and two minor settlements.

In 540 AA a war started among the settlements that resulted in the settlement called Dystopia by its inhabitants conquering the planet militarily. This brought some stability to the planet, but in the end their culture collapsed with the last inhabitants dying by 600 AA.

During the recent expedition to the planet, archaeologists discovered the personal tablet of an important commander in the war of 540-544 AA and, remarkably, were able to recover its contents, which included among other information a personal diary. Presented here is the personal diary of Colonel Fanny Thallilight, which will shed some light on the events of the war of 540 AA.

The first entry shows the flag of Dystopia, a clenched first on a vertical banner split in dark and light red, with words below it:

Meritocracy
Enforcement
Fist.

There was also a map of the political and military situation at the start of the conflict, 540.12.1, winter.

And there is Colonel Thallilight's personnel record brief summary for the same date.

[JWW]

We have excerpted diary entries as follows:

540.1.1 [round 1]

The most wonderful thing has happened. I have been appointed commander of the new 1st Machinegun Infantry Brigade of the Dystopian Army. I could not be prouder. Big Brother himself appointed me before the entire council. I did not know it until that moment, but the meeting was called to discuss Big Brother's decision to conquer Sosisum Sinistra in the name of Dystopia. I have long dreamed of such a moment. My father and mother were both officers in our army. My grandfather fought to secure Dystopia in the wars after the collapse. I never dreamed that my own career would result in me being ordered to lead the attack on Castelnau, our first step in ruling the planet and all its resource. I look out the viewing window from my quarters now and see the icy stillness surrounding us. I will leave the blood of our enemies frozen on the ice.

The plan is for a lightning advance with my five machinegun battalions, an attched artillery battalion, and the Militia. Castelnau is close. It will not take long.


540.7.5 [round 3]

Castlenau is ours. They fled before us. It was magnificent to see them running away into the cold wastes to die, those who chose not to face us. Big Brother was wise to move so fast. The Nassau Imperium had the same plan, but we beat them to Castlenau. For a brief moment our forces faced the forces of Nassau across a rocky plain, but Big Brother and the leader of Nassau chose not to engage.


541.8.3 [round 6]

We have defeated Reichenau. I have been awarded the Order of Merit by Big Brother. We are engaged in mopping up operations. For a moment I had a brief doubt when we advanced to the border and Reichenau matched our forces all along the lines. But just as Big Brother said, their forces were weak and ours were strong. We pushed through them to the city and took it and are now engaged in hunting down and destroying the last of their forces, while Big Brother ponders which way to move, toward the minor settlement Torona in the west or Nassau to the east. Torona actually threatened us and demanded payment. Big Brother refused. I learned in one of the meetings that we were experiencing a food shortage but that rations to the Army would be maintained. There was a delay in building agridomes, but that seems to have been worked out. I await my next orders.

[JWW]

543.6.17 [round 11]

We will invade Nassau. Big Brother introduced an analyst who was apparently using ancient technology to analyze courses of action and make predictions. It has something to do with population and planetary control and maybe other factors. The analyst said we stand at 48.9. Nassau is at 29.5. And the remnants of Reichanau are at 4.2 The rest of the planet is controlled by the minor settlement Torona and unaligned scavengers. The analyst said that if our number goes above 50 and Nassau's below 25, there is a 98.7% chance that Nassau will surrender and that Torona will also agree to our rule. I don't understand the analysis, but it led Big Brother to order an immediate attack on Nassau. He told us that even before they are defeated, they will surrender if we just make a big push. So the plan is to invade on a broad front, take as much land as we can, and threaten their capital. It is to be launched immediately. Most of my forces are already on their border. We also know that Nassau has positioned its forces near their settlement rather than along the border. I don't know whether to believe this analyst, but I believe Big Brother.

[JWW]

544.6.12 [round 14]

Victory is ours. Nassau has surrendered unconditionally. The fighting was not even heavy. I am told that Torona has also made overtures to accept our rule. My orders are to occupy Nassau town and follow the instructions of the commander-in-chief of Supreme Headquarters in establishing a planetary occupation. My parents would be proud. There is nothing we cannot achieve now as masters of the planet. Our future is finally secure.





This was the last entry in the tablet. It was at some point placed in a safe with some other tablets from which we were unable to obtain usable data. Most of you will know that in conditions such as those on Sosisum Sinistra, that even when well protected, the electronics in products of the 500s does not usually survive. We hope this provides those interested with some new information on the history of the post Dissolution War on one of the various scattered outposts that failed to survive until the present.

[JWW]

Hi. I wanted to try something a little different and also do a different kind of AAR. I hope you found it at least slightly interesting. I had been wanting to try a small moon. Let me just say that the action is immediate and intense. This was actually my second attempt. The first time I was locked in a much more difficult fight against two major powers at once and non-aligned forces were strong.. The reason I didn't show that one is that someone really stupid -- okay, me -- failed to realize that the reason crops weren't growing in my agri domes was because I had no water. That created a huge food shortage that bled me dry of funds and other resources as I tried to balance things and buy food. I also tried playing focused on autocracy and role played a lot of decisions that cost me most of my support. Finally some units rebelled and I was fighting myself. I lost my focus on other things and bungled the game, and the AI took advantage of it. I really should have posted that but I quit the game in disgust at my horrible play. Not a rage quit but a shame quit. I will grant you though that it was more fun than the game I posted. I really should have saved it and written it up as an example of what NOT to do.

So I decided to try again and got this icy moon that I thought would be interesting. Really it was too easy. I just rolled over everyone. But I thought I would post it for those who have, like me until today, not tried a small moon game. What I will say is that, as others have mentioned in some past posts, resources are scarce and the action starts immediately. In both games I felt it necessary to go on the offensive immediately with everything I had. There are also fewer cards, and there are fewer opportunities to raise support on your staff or to use other stratagems. You just have to watch everything very closely fromt the start. On the other hand, I did not have any logistics problems. The playing area is so small that you just have to keep your supply routes from being overrun, and you are good to go. And the game is over so fast that research really doesn't matter at all.

Was it as much fun as playing on a regular planet? I didn't think so. But each of the two games I played only took a couple of hours, so it is something you can do quickly. And based on my two experiences, it appears you can get vastly different starting positions and challenges even on a small moon.