“Russian military command has just announced the capture of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, as well as other regions and cities in the Baltics and Eastern Poland. Representatives of the Lithuanian government insist that they have not surrendered and are still fighting".
"Spanish forces are already on the ground in Poland, but weather or not they are already involved in combat at this time is unknown due to reporting restrictions.”
Polish forces have captured the town of Bagrationovsk in Kaliningrad. Russian forces were driven from the town with heavy casualties as parts of the 11th division crossed the border. The government insisted that not an inch of Poland will be given up and our forces will take the fight to the enemy.
Yesterday, Russia released images of what it claims are French soldiers captured in fighting around Oleko in north east Poland. The soldiers are alleged to be part of the 3rd Hussars Regiment which has been involved in combat near the Polish-Lithuanian border. There has so far been no commend from the French government.
“The armed forces have just announced that several attacks and sabotage attempts by Russian agents in Germany were stopped during the night. Several of the perpetrators are thought to have got away and members of the public are warned to be alert and report anything suspicious."
The above images are the start of turn 2
Russia's initial missile attacks all failed. Its SoF raids were able to reduce the SAM and Detection tracks and destroy a polish airbase, but failed in all other missions. However, only 1 team was lost.
Russia has total air control and inflicted losses for little damage. Later strikes also mostly fail
NATO SoF raids reduce SAM track and inflict 4 strike 2 hits on Russian airbases. Strikes also add to the damage a little and cause collateral damage amongst ground attack aircraft and some of Russia's most advanced aircraft.
Russian initial attacks are generally successful in the Baltics and Northern Poland, some losses are taken, but more are inflicted. Follow-up attacks are less successful with losses general even amongst both sides. Russian air support suffers damage, but some intercepting NATO planes are also lost.
NATO's naval push into the southern Baltic is successful and a Russian sub is forced away after failing to stop them. On land, a single NATO counter attack near Goldap is a disaster losing 2 for 1.
In the southern Baltic 2 Russian SAGs and a SUB take on a Polish, Danish and German SAG with Polish and German subs. The polish ships are point detected. The result is a disaster for Russia. The end is a total loss of both SAGs and a Sub marker for just a strike 1 on the Polish SAG.
Russia continues its land advance taking cities and generally inflicting more damage than it takes.
Late last night, Russian forces added Białystok to the list of cities they claimed to have captured. While some sources in Poland claim that fighting is continuing around the city it appears that, for the moment, Russia is in control of the city centre. Other cities Russia claims to have captured in the 3 days of fighting so far include Braniewo and Goldap as well as parts of Latvia. According to military sources, British forces may already be on the ground in Poland.
“Yesterdays naval confrontation in the Baltic was huge victory for NATO according to sources involved in the action. It is reported that much of the Russian Baltic fleet has been sunk or severely damaged as well as several Russian submarines. Though information is limited at this time it appears that the only NATO ships to suffer any damage were those from the Polish coastal defence force. We asked the the Defence minister about this earlier but he said he was unable to comment at this time...”
“Yesterday, forces of the Russian Federation began a mission of liberation to free fellow Russian from the abuses they have endured over many years. This day marks the birth of a greater Russian and a union of all Russian speaking peoples. The forces of the West will swiftly crumble before the might of....”
“We have some braking news. Reports arrived just moments ago that air raid sirens are sounding across Poland and the Baltics. Already, there have been explosions at various locations across Poland, but whether these were caused by missile strikes or sabotage is yet unknown. Russian troops are said to be crossing into the Baltic nations while Belorussian forces have entered Poland. We hope to go live shortly to our correspondent in Warsaw, but for now we bring you these images from....”
“NATO made the unprecedented announcement today, that it expects a Russia attack within the next 48 hours. The announcement, which was made remotely by the head of the alliance, indicated that the attack will come from both Russia and Belarus and target Poland as well as the Baltic states. Despite the fact that article 5, NATO's collective defense agreement, has yet to be triggered, armed forces from several states have already been seen entering Poland. Many states have warned their citizens of possible Russian missile or sabotage attacks. People have already been been seen leaving both the border areas and large cities.
The US president, who is beset by domestic troubles, only said that “it is not America's problem.”
The president of Hungry announced just hours ago that Hungry was leaving NATO and accused the west of fanning the flames of war.”
"Today, Europe stands on the brink. At 10am, US eastern time, the European Union rejected an ultimatum from Russia demanding self determination for the Russian speaking minority in the Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Pressure has been building since the end of the War in Ukraine and the departure of the US from NATO last year. We now go live to our correspondent in Poland...."
The military exercises announced by Russia in October have come to an end 1 week earlier than planned. The exercises, which were supposed to last 20 days, appear to have ended last Friday. They took place in western Russia, less than 100 kilometers from the borders of Latvia and Estonia. The Baltic nations, which placed their armed forces on alert at the beginning the exercises, have confirmed that this will continue as the Russian forces which gathered for the exercises appear to still be in place.
It is unknown whether a second set of joint exercises with the Belorussian armed forces, which were announced for next week, will still go ahead.
During his visit to the new Rheinmetall facilities in Oberhausen the chancellor addressed recent comments by the BSW. In an unusually combative speech he focused on the need for European defence and refused any hint of abandoning the Baltic nations. “The fate of Europe is at stake and we will not shirk our responsibilities in its defence.” was his final comment before continuing the tour.
“In a shock development today, President Trump announced the United States exit from NATO. The announcement was made just hours ago, with the president stating that “NATO was an anti-American gang focused on ripping off the United States.” The president has had a number of disagreements with NATO counties over tariffs, the ICC, Ukraine, Iceland, Israel and others, but few expected he would go this far. What is next for the battered alliance remains to be seen.”
Setting: It is Spring 2028. The US has withdrawn from NATO and is focused on major internal and economic difficulties. Europe is part way through a major military building program, while Russia is still recovering from losses taken during the Ukraine. While these processes are no where near complete, the possible return of the US to traditional positions in the coming years means that the window to take the Baltic for Russia is closing. Since the Autumn of 2027 Russia has been holding exercises and building up forces near the western borders. These things have not gone unnoticed by Europe.
Extended build up
Next War: Poland uses the Air restrictions, Refugees, Chemical Weapons, Article 5 Trumped (a).
Roll for weather 1 turn in advance.
Reduce Russian efficiency by 2 for everything except defense and clearing which are reduced by 1. Reduce NATO and Russian supplies, missiles and cruise missiles by half. Reduce NATO nuke points to 5 and reduce air-moble, sea and air transport. Reduce Russian special forces modifier to -1.
Russia and its allies have been attempting to influence European politics to reduce countries will to get involved. I have applied an arbitrary bonus for each nation to show its propensity to get involved and different levels for the results. A dice will determine the result. If a unit is already involved (such as air policing) then there is a -1 modifier.
0-3 Aggressive, 4-6 Normal, 7-9 Late, 10+ Withdraws from NATO
Aggressive – The nation has been actively building up its force to immediately react to a Russian attack.
Effect – At the start of the game place one random air unit in the ready box (and another in the flown box if the nation has 4 or more.) Place one special forces marker in the ready box. Add all other units (except one Naval) to a reinforcement cup, draw one a turn, starting from turn 1(if that nation has 7 or more starting units, draw 2 from turn 5). Also place 1 naval unit during the reinforcement step of turn 1.
Normal – The nation has been preparing, but domestic or political considerations have meant that it can only start serious actions once the conflict starts.
Effect – At the start of the game place one random air unit in the flown box and a special forces unit in the used box. All other units go into the reinforcement cups, draw one from turn 3. (if that nation has 7 or more starting units, draw 2 from turn 7).
Late – The nation's politics have been a problem for its military planning, and while part of Nato, there has been no major forward preparation.
Effect – Place all markers in a cup, draw from turn 5
Withdraws from NATO
Effect – All units do not take part. If a major nation, (more than 4 units) reduce starting supplies by 2. If France reduce nuke points to 0.
NATO Rapid Reaction Corps
The whole corps arrives as reinforcements on turn 1 unless the nation is late or has withdrawn from NATO.
Air policing mission: Denmark, starting units: 37/10 German mechanised (Latvia), 3 hus/fg French (Lithuania)
Nation Scores result
UK 0 6 Normal
Canada 0 6 Normal
Belgium 0 4 Normal
Denmark 0 1 Aggressive
Netherlands +1 6 Normal
Sweden + 1 9 Late
Finland +1 7 Late
Italy +2 9 Late
Spain +2 2 Aggressive
France +2 6 Normal
Other +2 7 Late
Germany +3 3 Aggressive
Hungry +8 11 Withdraw
