"Although the Pacific Federation was formed out of the South Pacific Treaty Organisation, itself created in the 21st Century in response to the threat posed by the expansionist Indonesian Republic, it must be confessed that the attack by Indonesian Armed Forces on the Federation and the invasion of Papua New Guinea came somewhat as a surprise.
"Our complacency had arisen out of nearly a century of peace and the switch in emphasis in Indonesia's expansion to the west following the seizure of the Phillipines in 2037. We had watched as the leaders of the Indonesian Republic in Djakarta clashed heads with the Chinese Democratic Socialist Union in Vietnam and the South China Sea, rolled up Thailand and Burma and finally carved a chunk out of the Indian sub-continent. Yet despite this we felt that their designs of empire did not include Micronesia or Melanesia, and certainly not Australia or Papua New Guinea.
"However we were caught cold when on Friday, 8th May 2099 when Indonesian Aerospace Forces launched a preemptive strike on our facilities at Darwin and Port Moresby. They rapidly followed up these airstrikes with a major ground offensive along both the northern and southern coasts of Papua catching our forces cold and easily rolling them up.
"The first month of the war was one of near unmitigated disaster with the Indonesians maintaining the initiative in the war and our own forces showing a naivety of thought that in retrospect beggars belief. May 25th saw our 6th Infantry Brigade decisively beaten at Aitape by Indonesian forces who used the sea going capabilities of their GEV and Grav vehicles to outflank a force still fighting a war along twentieth century lines! Much has been made of the reluctance of Indonesian forces to operate over water, but as can been seen in the early stages of the war that they were more than willing to bypass PacFed strongpoints on land by moving their forces over the Bismarck and Coral Seas.
"Following the disaster at Aitape, further reverses followed in the north as the Indonesians overran the Admiralty Islands and landed Naval Infantry on New Hanover and New Ireland having outflanked our 12th Infantry and 3rd Armoured Brigades. However these gains were soon offset as our military started to come to grips with the nature of the conflict and on 16th June PacFed grav tanks and patrol boats smashed an Indonesian Armoured Brigade in an two pronged attack in Southern Papua at the Battle of the Mouths of the Fly River.
"Bolstered by the success in the south, PacFed forces then caught the Indonesians cold on 29/30th June at the Battle of the Vitiaz Straights, hammering two Indonesian Armoured Brigades attempting to capture our listening post on Long Island.
"From this point the war took on a quiet phase as both sides took stock of the situation and although major actions took place in the Saint George Channel during the week beginning 15th August when the Indonesians attempted to invade New Britain and throughout all of October in the Ramu Marshes in Northern Papua, neither side seemed willing to launch any form of major offensive action.
"This was all to change on 5th January 2100 when the PacFed military took the war to the territory of the Indonesian Republic itself. Launched from North West Australia across the Timor and Arafura Sea, PacFed forces launched assaults on Trangan, Jamdena and Timor, as well as attacking Indonesian facilities on Irian Jaya at Merauke and Wanapiri. Within weeks PacFed forces had successfully accomplished their aims having captured a number of the Maluka and Flores Islands notably Tragan and Timor.
"Following these successes, the war concentrated by and large in and around the Banda and Flores Seas as Indonesian forces fought tooth and nail to hold back further PacFed thrusts into the Republic. Over the next six months some of the largest battles of the war were fought in this region notably the Battle of Kepulauan Banda on 26th May as the Indonesians successfully beat of a concerted attempt by PacFed 15th & 21st Armoured and 1st Airmobile Brigades to seize the strategically important island of Seram the capture of which could have meant that Indonesian forces in New Guinea were cut off from the rest of the Republic. Following this the war went into a second quiet phase as both sides took stock of their positions.
"The last major action of the war took place over the week 16th to 23rd September as the Indonesian Republic launched a succession of attacks on PacFed positions on Timor suffering heavy casualties for no discernible gain. Their failure to regain the initiative in the war following the Battle of Timor led the Indonesian Republic to the negotiating table with the Pacific Federation and following three months of hard bargaining and pointless debate over territory lost and taken, the Osaka Accord signed on 2nd January 2102 brought the war to an end.
"In retrospect, although the war seems to have had little point to it with no clear winner, the PacFed military learnt a lot of valuable lessons at the hands of the Indonesians and these led to changes in attitudes unchanged in nearly a century, changes which were to serve us so well at a later date..."
Condensed from The Pacific Territories in the 22nd Century - Volume Three: Australasia by Lt. Col. F.D.Stuckey D.S.O, Oceanic University Press, Wauchope, Van Diemen 20.04.2143
Having read through Iron Cow again I realised that it didn't need much tweaking following the feedback Some I took on board so there are subtle changes to the artillery rules and targeting under firing but others such as set-up instructions I ignored as Iron Cow is not a balanced force competition game (it's a put what you have on the table, come up with a scenario and start playing game).
(photos copyright Brigade Models)
