Orcs in the Webbe

Orcs in the Hills
Issue 2 - Online Edition

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The first look at the Confederation of Finklestein from 1996.

A report on the Confederation of Finklestein by our Special Correspondent
Excerpted from the Illustrated Londinium Tymes Vol. 46 No. 659)

"No doubt our readers will hath been moved by thee terrible accounts of the ill fated Witch-Lands campaign led by the Evil Tyrant Emperor Mordred. The deprivations suffered by our noble enemies the Elves against the unnatural forces of the undead doth bring even this Ore near to tears. Mayhap our readers have also read the accounts of the brave (if misguided) troops of the Confederation of Finklestein, who fought as noble comrades of thee Elves against the Vampyre hordes. These soldiers far from their small principalities and petty kingdoms, may hath wondered what on Valon they be doing caught up in the grand scheme of Mordred's madness, yet by all accounts they did fight bravely and many did die well.

The rise of the Confederation of Finklestein mayhap be unfamiliar to many of our readers having only been a recent creation under the auspices of the Elven Tyrant. For thy benefit, this correspondent have doth researched it's creation.

The Confederation be n loose collection of over a hundred small kingdoms, comic opera duchies, baronies, petty principalities and city states bordered in the main by the Amorican Empire, the Krautian League and the Ostrary Empire. Historically, these lands hath been fiercely independent and thee area was continually one of much bloodshed and woe. Indeed many of our Officer Orc corps cut their teeth as mercenary commanders in the pay of one of the many protagonists.

The impetus towards the creation of thee Confederation cometh with Morgana's flight to Krautia. Certain Dwarf barons, notably Dôrrin IX whose barony bordered thee Elven kingdom and fearth the might of the Elven Usurper being launched after the fleeing Empress, thus demanding Dwarf isolationism in this purely Elven internal dispute. Even thee gift of how to maketh black powder weapons was not enough for Dôrrin and other border barons. The League staunchly refused the demandth and Dôrrin and his supporters withdrew from the League.

These rebellious barons sooneth realised the vulnerability of their position and immediately formed an alliance, ledeth by Khâlli-dumzva IICXVI, Baron of the large barony; Khämmelaxstadt. Thee alliance soon started to court favour with neighbouring states as well as the Elven Empire.

Meanwhile to the north, the Ostrary Empire began to flexeth its muscles as it saw the threat of thee High Elves begin to rise. The Dog Soldiers of  Ostrary soon annexeth number of small semi-independent principalities between it and the Elves to form thee buffer zone. The remaining principalities and duchies fearful of falling under the ancient despotic Ostrary regime doth soon settle their differences, signed allegiance and looked towards the Elves and rebellious Dwarves for future assistance.

The Ostrarian invasion of the Duchy of Pedigreechumzberg plungeth the whole region into turmoil and led immediate to the Elves bringing the area under their sphere of influence. Duke Otto-Krieg XVIII and his Pedigreeian Dog Soldiers bravely resisteth the much vaunted Ostrarians who fought with a rather dogmatic approach, however as weight of Ostrarian numbers sooneth began to tell, neighbouring states doth found themselves dragged in, notably thee Dwarf Alliance and then the Elves. After a number of climatic battles (see Tymes editions Vol. 43 no. 604 to Vol. 44 no. 621) the Ostrarians were thrown back over the border.

The signing of the Treaty of Friedzfudlande ledth to a series of alliances between the Dogs, Dwarves and Elves. Under Elven instruction, thee small states created a combined military force, capableth of undertaking the defence of the region, as well as providing the Elven Tyrant with more cannon fodder for his nefarious plans of empire.

The final twist that ledth to the creation of the Confederation was thee assimilation of the neutral Ograre-Hunvarian states, some of thee Ogres there welcoming the base machinations of Mordred, others leaving their homelands to join thee noble fight under Albion's colours.
The first military expedition of the newly formed Confederation doth be against the Krautian League and as previously reported by thy correspondent (see Tymes edition Vol. 44 no. 625), this minor skirmish resulth in all Confederation aims being secure and an embarrassing defeat for the noble Krautians. Subsequent, a legion of the Confederations' finest fought against the Undead in the Witch-Land disaster and of late thee Confederation now supplied troops to the Cataluccian War."

The Confederation Army:

Introducing the Confederation of Finklestein into Flintloque is relatively straight forward. The stats for the Ogres and Dwarves are included in Flintloque, those for the Dog-Soldiers (Gnolls) in Deadloque. The only major differences are in some of the weapons carried (see below) and in Unit organisation.

Dependent on which Confederation Regiment is under consideration, Unit organisation differs considerably. A number of the largest Confederation states provide complete Regiments with their own distinct uniforms formed entirely of their own race. However a number of the smallest states cannot provide enough troops to do this and they are often combined with other small detachments resulting in racially mixed units. In many respects this adds a useful degree of flexibility which is much appreciated by their commanders. This usefulness has been noted by both single race Confederation commanders and the Elves themselves, and the Hunvarian Ogres find themselves much in demand to beef up units for particular missions, so don't be surprised to see an Elven section with a couple of Ogres in tow on occasion.

Confederation troops are generally regular, although some Jager units will be Elite and some of the comic opera states should really be treated as Militia.

Uniforms of the Confederation:

Although united by Treaty, the states of the Confederation are technically all independent and this is often enforced by each having its own uniform. Generally these are of an Elven cut and Green or White is often the predominant colour. That said almost any variation of colour or design exists and as such, gamers can literally let their imaginations run wild painting and converting their miniatures.

Also given the small size of many of the hundred odd members of the Confederation, it is quite possible for even Flintloque gamers to draw up the complete complement of the states that can only provide a Company to the war. When Empire is released, the complete complements of even the largest Confederation members will be easy to collect.

Confederation Weapons:

Given their access to Elven developments in black powder weaponry, the Confederation has developed a number of unique weapons for some of its troops eg. Ogres, and improved upon older traditional designs eg. Dwarf Musket.

Finklestein Confederation Weapons Table:

Special Weapons Rules:

Multiply the wounds caused the Double Musket if target successfully hit by two.

The Kannonderbuss can fire two different ammunition types. When firing Kannister will hit any other figure the edge of whose base is within 1cm of the edge of the declared target. Roll for all targets separately. Roundshotte can only hit the target it is aimed at. The player must note what he is loading the weapon with as reloading starts.

Both weapons take two turns to reload, four if prone.

Confederation Dwarves have on occassion double shotted their muskets, in essence putting a double charge of powder down the barrel. This dangerous practice unfortunately results in a -20% modifier to misfires, but adds +2 to weapon's Attack Factor. A Double Shot takes two moves to load (four if prone) and must be noted when reloading commences. Other races muskets cannot be doubleshotted.

Sample Confederation Units:

To give Flintloque gamers an idea of what the Confederation is about, what follows is a selection of different Confederation units from a variety of Confederation states.

7th Nassla-Hunsdormstadt Line:

Primarily a Dwarven unit, the Nassla Dwarves have forged close links with the Hunsdormstadt Ogres to form a combined line infantry regiment. Regular troops, each section comprises of a mix of up to four Ogres (carrying double muskets) and twenty Dwarves (with muskets), except the Grenadier Company whose sections are made up purely of Ogres carrying Kannonderbiiss and the Light Company whose sections are made up purely of Rifle armed dwarves. Uniforms are green faced with yellow.

Codburg-Dunderkopf Co. 3rd Confed. Regt:

This small two state company forms part of a combined state regiment, typical of the contributions of the smaller Confederation states. The company comprises of a roughly equal mix of Regular Dog Soldiers and Dwarves. Uniforms are white with blue turnbacks and red epulats.

Altkopf-Nexe-Wildenberg Regiment:

A Regular three race Regiment of Dwarf Line, Dog Soldier Light and Ogre Grenadiers formed by a coalition of states. For certain missions an ad hoc section will draw from all three company types. Uniforms are black jackets faced yellow with pale blue trousers.

Orcs in the Hills
Issue 2 - Online Edition

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Webmaster's Notes

This was originally published in the second issue Orcs in the Hills in the Spring of 1996.

The above article was the first time Flintloque gamers read about, and were provided rules for, the Confederation of Finklestein. They were revised and incorporated into Flintloque Reloaded. The current rules and background for the Confederation can be found in Flintloque: Death in the Snow (5026) which is available from the Alternative Armies website. Full rules for the Confederation Double Musket and Kannonderbuss can be found in Flintloque: Grapeshotte (5027) also available from the Alternative Armies website.