Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide

PACIFIC CYCLONE
PA RT 1
O p e r at i o n s i n t h e pac i f i c a n d e a s t i n d i e s - o c to b e r 1 8 7 1 to f e b ru a ry 1 8 7 2

Welcome, seasoned commanders to the third Dystopian Wars

Campaign Guide! After the transformation of the tranquil
Caribbean into a major warzone, and the explosion of the World
War into Belgium and the British Isles, our attention now turns
to the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, and the impact of the great
conflict upon this region of the Dystopian world.

The Empire of the Blazing Sun had long maintained an

agreement with the Hawaiians to use the great harbour as a key
staging post, the outermost eastern stronghold of their Pacific
dominion. But with Oahu in their hands, American forces could
dominate the Pacific
However, several events had conspired to prevent that venture
taking place. The first had been the accidental engagement
between American and Russian naval forces off Alaska the
so-called Bering Incident of summer 1869. A flotilla of the 18th
Federated Fleet had been engaged in Operation Midnight Sun,
scouting out favourable routes for the planned offensive against
Hawaii and the neighbouring Midway Atoll.

Unlike the battlefields of northern Europe, the Pacific theatre is

an area of vast contrasts. Great fleets sought to locate and strike
one another across the immense, trackless waters. Yet the battles
on land, mostly confined to small island chains or narrow slices
of mainland Asia, saw clashes as ferocious as any in Belgium or
the British Isles.
The operations in the Asia-Pacific region saw several key events
that would influence the course of the wider war. The earliest and
most important was the official ending of the so-called Northern
War which had existed in spirit if not reality between the
Federated States of America and the Russian Coalition since
the accidental attack on a Russian naval flotilla by American
forces in 1869.

Unfortunately, the flotilla ran into bad weather just south of the
Aleutian Islands, territory of the Russian Coalition. Amid this
confusion they encountered a Russian Far East Fleet taskforce
sailing out of Archangelsk-Novy.
Ironically, as the American intelligence services later learned,
the Russians had an almost identical objective to the Americans.
However, with both sides trying to maintain a low profile and
expecting to run into hostile forces at any time, both fleet
commanders chose to shoot first, ask questions later. The actual
engagement was very short, but still long enough to cause
significant diplomatic and physical damage.

Although events elsewhere had precluded the slide into general

war between the two powers, relations had remained tense in the
theatre. Only the potential of the Empire of the Blazing Sun as
both a threat and a target, combined with intense mediation by
the Kingdom of Britannia, allied to both powers, had prevented
an escalation.
The second major event was the entry into the war of the great
Chinese Federation, with the Russian Coalition their primary
target. For the Blazing Sun, full Chinese commitment would
help a great deal in reducing the Russian threat to their home
islands, allowing them to pursue other objectives elsewhere.

FEDERATED STATES OF AMERICA

THE REPUBLIC STRIKES BACK
It had been an American objective to launch a large offensive
across the vast Pacific since the nations declaration of war upon
the Empire of the Blazing Sun back in 1868. While President
Adams public motivation had been to act in support of the
Kingdom of Britannia, he and his government also had less
altruistic intentions. Action against the Blazing Sun offered the
chance to win a significant prize the nominally independent
kingdom of Hawaii, home to one of the largest and finest deepwater harbours in the world on Oahu Island.

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A Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide

likened this to placing a foot on the throat of a sleeping man,

and gently shifting ones weight not enough to provoke a savage
response, merely to make him squirm and struggle.

Although never officially declared by either side, the Northern

War was not entirely bloodless, as rogue elements fought several
skirmishes in what was then a thinly-held region for both
powers. Relations had been so icy that the FSA chiefs of staff had
realigned the bulk of American forces in the west northwards to
deal with any possible Russian reprisals.

The Empress and her Council agreed in principle. However,

High General Kojima stated that the Blazing Sun could not
carry such an operation of this scale alone. Defensive measures
against any aggressive moves by the FSA had to be maintained,
especially around Hawaii.

The early part of 1871 had also seen a much more serious event
for the FSA military command. A joint Blazing Sun - Prussian
offensive came crashing into the Caribbean. The fierce clashes
that had ensued had demanded a rebalancing of American
forces. The Caribbean situation, though contained, remained a
running sore for the FSA military.

To some degree, this installation would soon benefit from

outside help, from a most unusual quarter - a fleet from the
League of Italian States, allies of the Prussian Empire and an
Imperial Bond partner, was en route from South America, having
resupplied in Chile.

Surprisingly, Hawaii had not been employed by the Blazing

Sun as a staging post for the forces sent across the Pacific prior
to their Caribbean assault. The FSA intelligence services could
only surmise that this had been to avoid any premature enemy
detection of force build-ups.

There were mixed feelings on the Council about this

development. Unlike the Prussians, the Italians had a reputation
for politicking and self-interest, and the Blazing Sun had had few
dealings with them. Nonetheless, the Empress and her advisors
were pragmatic; any assistance was appreciated, no matter how
dubious the source.

Although this had meant that there had been no increase in the
Hawaiian garrison, continued delays to H. Matthew Godwins
Panama crossing zone project meant that the Americans still
lacked a means for rapid cross-ocean transfer of surface forces.
This was further complicated by the Caribbean conflict and the
loss of the Falkland Islands by the Britannians. The only option
left had been to delay action until fresh independent forces had
been built up in California.
However, by late 1871, not only had this build-up gone better
than either Adams or his senior commanders thought possible,
diplomatic relations with the Russians had thawed considerably.
The Prussian assault on FSA territory had given both powers
a common enemy. Although neither truly trusted the other,
the normalising of relations between them was simply a very
practical idea.

THE EMPIRE OF THE BLAZING SUN

BAITING THE BEAR
In Edo, the Empress Shinzua and her Council of Seven had been
deliberating on the means by which they could further aid their
allies. Honour demanded that the Prussian intervention in the
Caribbean, which had ultimately proven vital to the continued
Blazing Sun occupation of territory there, be repaid.
The attack on Britannia by the French had further aided in
stabilising the situation in south-east Asia. However, with the
Prussian Empire now beset on two fronts by the Russians, the
Empress felt that some means had to be found of striking at the
Tsars Asiatic territories.

However, a single Italian flotilla would not alter the balance of

power closer to the Asian coast. For that, a far more powerful
ally was required; the Chinese Federation. The Council knew
His Celestial Majesty had not forgiven the Russians for their
attack on the Federation in the 1830s and 40s, and the Federation
already supplied considerable economic aid to the Blazing Sun.

Surprisingly, it was the normally cautious High General Shinji

Takeda of the Army of the Shield who suggested a plan, a
limited offensive against three key targets, within easy reach
of the Japanese home islands. These were the southern Kuril
Islands, Sakhalin, and most significantly the major fleet base of
Vladivostok.

By December of 1871, the Empress and her court had indeed

managed to secure Chinese support for operations in the Yellow
Sea and around the Korean Peninsula against the Russians.
Although negotiations had been ongoing since mid-1870, and
by the middle period of 1871, the Blazing Sun position had been
greatly strengthened by their success against the Americans in
the Atlantic.

With the bulk of Russian forces engaged in Europe, the High

General of the Shield maintained that this would both ease
pressure on the Prussians by creating a threat the Tsar could not
ignore, while also making retribution very difficult to achieve
due to the immense distances involved, and the favourable
geographical position of the Blazing Sun heartlands. Takeda

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A Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide

With the possibility of war between the FSA and the Russians
seeming more unlikely with each passing month since the Bering
Incident, the cautious Guangxhu Emperor noted that his realm

might in future be placed at risk of further Russian aggression.

However, direct military alliance demanded the Emperor
sacrifice a key asset to avoid potentially serious disputes with the
Blazing Sun. That asset was the fugitive Blazing Sun General Oni.

waters around Alaska, provided that they did not engage in

actions that could be interpreted as aggressive towards Russian
assets. Furthermore, no aggressive patrols would be mounted by
Russian warships near the FSAs Pacific north-western coast.

ONIS ODYSSEY

Vladimir added one further caveat that neither the Britannian

or American governments were to make this message generally
known. His hope was that the Imperial Bond would believe that
higher tension still existed between two of the partners of the
Grand Coalition, which would in turn influence Blazing Sun
defensive dispositions.

Since early 1869, the Emperor had played host to Oni and the
remnants of his army, hiding them from the Blazing Suns search
teams. They had been a great asset in the early modernisation of
the Chinese forces.

However, he made no proposal of a formal agreement for military

co-operation, as the Russians had made with the Britannians,
having no desire to lock his empire into too many treaties. For
the Americans, surprise was total suddenly, at a stroke, the
Northern War was over. Some FSA commanders, including
Admiral Hilton, Federal Navy commander-in-chief, suspected a
ruse, but Adams, assured by the Britannians, decided to take the
Russian monarch at his word.

However, with Chinese-Blazing Sun relations growing closer,

the Emperor realised that Oni would soon become a political
nightmare. Knowing that any discovery of his deception by the
Blazing Sun might damage his reputation, the Emperor advised
Oni that he would have to find another sanctuary.
However, he agreed to provide Oni with a flotilla to carry the
remainder of his army. The dissident General was disappointed,
but unsurprised. He had no quarrel with the Chinese who had
provided vital shelter, and knew that with the political tide
turning, the Chinese Federation was no longer a safe sanctuary.
He led his remaining followers south once more, taking a ship
under cover of darkness and heading south. The Emperor
advised him to head for Free Australia, but had no idea if Oni
would heed his words.

Although he did not instruct Marshal Gorshkov, commander-inchief of Far Eastern forces, to move any additional reinforcements
to the area, the Tsar did decide to tighten up discipline among
the front-line commanders by dispatching a substantial morale
team from his Oprichnina political guards. In time, this decision
would have a dramatic effect on the Russian situation in the Far
East, but not the one the Tsar intended.

The departure of the last Wani renegades was a huge relief for
the Celestial Court. Unfortunately, it did leave the Chinese
armies without the crack troops they had come to rely on for any
aggressive military requirements. But the Emperor considered
it a fair swap. He was confident his armies were now in a much
better position, and the Blazing Suns official military could
provide far more significant aid than a smattering of renegades
from its ranks.

PACIFIC CYCLONE
While also dismissing the possibility of a formal treaty with the
Russians, President Adams considered the unfortunate Bering
matter resolved. Soon after receiving the Russian assurance,
he ordered the Federal Navy and Air Force to reactivate
preparations for the long-delayed American Pacific offensive
Operation Cyclone.

And so Oni remained at large, but the Chinese-Blazing Sun pact

remained strong. However, unbeknownst to the High Generals,
the Tsar had his own plans in hand for the Pacific, which was
destined not only to collide head-on with their own, but also
compound their problems with the Americans.

It would not just be the Empire of the Blazing Sun who would
end up on the receiving end of the FSAs wrath. Ever since the
mysterious and devastating attack in June 1871 on Guantanamo
Bay in Cuba, American authorities had been investigated who
could have perpetrated the night time raid.

THE RUSSIAN COALITION

THE END OF THE NORTHERN WAR

The assault had crippled the defences located there, allowing the
Blazing Sun Sword Army 8th Division forces to land on the island
against little opposition and triggering a gruelling conflict that
had cost both sides dearly.

Tsar Vladimirs ambitions had always been focused on attaining

Russian Coalition dominance in the west, humbling the Prussian
Empire and Ottoman Dominions in the process, before turning
his full attention eastwards. However, he had never neglected his
eastern borders, realising that his long frontier with the Chinese
Federation, together with the Federations links with the Blazing
Sun, meant that the risk of an attack here was growing.

Investigations of the area after the evacuation of Blazing Sun

forces had turned up a number of damning clues, the most
compelling of which was a thin coating of Sturginium dust
present on the remains of some structures that had been attacked
by weapons described as blue-green light beams. Inevitably,
suspicion had fallen rapidly upon the Covenant of Antarctica.

While he could do little about the situation on his land borders,

other than ensuring that the garrisons in key areas were kept
well-manned and supplied, the cities of Vladivostok and
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, with their vital links to the Alaska
Oblast, were potentially much more vulnerable to a Blazing Sun
attack.

The Americans had submitted a formal complaint in August

1871 to the Covenants one remaining foreign embassy, in the
city of Canberra in Free Australia. Fully aware that they would
not get any response, the FSA State Department also used the
opportunity to plant agents of the Staverton Security Company
in Canberra. What they gleaned between August and their secret
crossing of the border into Britannian-ruled Royal Australia
was highly significant.

A Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide

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Such action required as much security as possible, so in October

1871, the Tsar sent an extraordinary message to Adams through
the Britannian ambassador in Washington: American warships
would be permitted undisturbed passage through Russian

Shortly after the end of the major fighting in the Caribbean, a

strange new island, reportedly of a similar size to Puerto Rico
and almost entirely snowbound despite the local climate had
been reported some six hundred miles south of the Cook Islands.

Sturgeon had ordered the immediate formation and dispatch

of an expeditionary fleet to claim and occupy this bizarre place,
dubbed Hookes Reach. The fleet, travelling part of the way by
teleportation from the Newton Pinnacle Static teleportation
arrays, would convey a large research team, as well as several
large prefabricated fortifications to begin investigating this odd
new landmass.

This landmass had apparently been occupied and installations

set up on it. Warships and other craft of unfamiliar configuration
had been sighted nearby. Stranger, the islands location was in an
area of the Pacific previously noted as totally empty. Rumours in
Canberra spoke of mercenary contingents under contract to the
Covenant preparing to sail to the region.

War Master Schneider had already activated forces of the 5th

War Fleet Cogent Paradigm in preparation for a special mission
to the north. This was named Operation Mistweaver, aimed
at acquiring technology developed by Markov for his Russian
masters. Schneider had determined that the best target for such
a raid was the Russian Far East Fleet, which had undergone
significant modification, but whose remote bases offered the best
chance of a clean getaway for the raiders.

Back in Washington, the FSA chiefs of staff made the assumption

that the strange island was indeed a new Covenant asset and a
potentially perfect target for a punitive reprisal raid. The Cyclone
plans were revised to allow for such an operation, which was
named Operation High Jump.

However, Cogent Paradigms prime mission remained the

defence of Hookes Reach against outside aggressors. The effect
of the American protest to the Covenant told Sturgeon and his
advisors in no uncertain terms that at least one great power
was now actively out for retribution against them, and while
Antarctica itself might be beyond the means of any outside force
to assault successfully, Hookes Reach certainly was not.

THE COVENANT OF ANTARCTICA

PIERCING THE VEIL
The American assumptions about the odd island were more
accurate than they even realised, other than that its appearance
was the deliberate doing of the Covenant. Scout units from the
Antarctican Vigilance continental defence forces had in fact
discovered the island in the July of 1871, before anyone else had
become aware of it at all. What astounded Lords Sturgeon and
Leonidas were the circumstances in which the island had been
spotted in the first place; the scout aircraft crews had watched
the island appear from thin air!

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A Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide

And so, in the dying days of 1871, all the great powers set their
plans in motion, as a great cyclone swept over the vast waters of
the Pacific.