The Great War: Whitesaber v. Gnimmelar

The Whitesaber Concordat that defeated the Gnimmelar Empire was an alliance originally between the Rikkish Dwarves and the Human kingdoms, later joined by the Dagalves and Månalves. The Svartalves remained officially neutral, although individual dark elves did join mercenary groups, paramilitaries, and such. Having no nation of their own, most Orcs fought on either side depending on circumstance. The Cracked Tusk Irregulars, an Orcish mercenary group modeled after the warbands of old, did manage to distinguish themselves in service to the Empire. This changed overnight when the Concordat bought them off, delivering the service of the CTI (along with several key fortifications under their control) to the Concordat.

'''Work in progress follows! Contents subject to change.'''

The Pre-War Era
The Gnimmelar Empire (GE) had spent decades honing the craft of magically-enhanced warfare, due to the influence of a certain Baron Markbiz. Markbiz was a genius strategist and canny politician, who had the ear of successive emperors. The Gnimmelar army, once merely adequate to stand among its peers, ballooned in size seemingly overnight. Magical instructors were brought in from the Elven lands. Rikkish smiths worked with Gnimmish engineers. Of course, it wasn't until much too late that the uses these experts had been put to were revealed. What is known is that they were paid very handsomely and went home with nothing but good things to say about the Gnomes.

The result of this effort was an empire bristling with might. The finest armor, the sharpest weapons, the finest tacticians, and the deadliest mages. And yet, the GE appeared to want nothing more than to maintain peace through strength. The other powers were busy occupying themselves with petty wars and land disputes, and so the quiet giant went for the most part ignored.

Casus Belli
That is, until a minor duke of the empire found himself on the wrong end of an explosive glyph, delivered to his hotel room in the Principality of Rukfjordia. It was, perhaps, no coincidence that the duke had been an outspoken opponent of Rikland's domination of Mordanic dwarves. The empire demanded compensation. In fact, it demanded the Principality! Or might as well have. The list of demands was almost deliberately humiliating, and if that weren't enough, the Principality was given mere days to respond!

The other powers intervened, resolving that the Principality should be given at least more time. Rikland wasn't terribly angry about the murder of a pro-Mordanic nobleman, so their efforts to defend Rukfjordia were lukewarm at best. The elven kingdoms were aghast at the precedent being set and the brazenness of the demands. It was the Federation of Humanity, comprised of several small-to-medium sized Human kingdoms and city-states who swore to come to Rukfjordia's aid should the Empire declare war. The halflings, of course, abstained due to their traditional neutrality.

The Empire dismissed these protestations like so much idle gossip.

War!
Receiving no acceptable answer, the Empire was faced with the decision of where to strike first. Of course, the Empire had long since drawn up its plans for war, and those plans lead straight through Bonnechance. Striking as swift as a serpent, imperial forces fell upon the halfling lands like a rain of steel. The other nations were horrified; the halflings were traditionally off-limits. Their lands were neutral; a place where kings and emperors went to negotiate peace over wine and delicacies.

The Gnimmelar forces marched straight through, though, capturing towns as they went. Supplies were ransacked and innocent halflings pressed into service, little better than slaves. The Empire's diplomats regretted the "necessity" of this move and promised that reparations would be paid once the war was satisfactorily completed.

No possible move could have galvanized opposition to the Empire more than this. The elven kingdoms were scandalized and immediately mustered troops to liberate Bonnechance. The Federation, already spoiling for a fight, mobilized forces immediately. Rikland, seeing the matter handled (probably), sent a stiff letter deploring the Gnimmish action and demanding that the Empire remove its forces from Bonnechance immediately. Rikland had more pressing matters to which they needed to attend; the Mordanic dwarves were still quite agitated over the killing of the duke and sectarian violence was swelling. In hindsight, this was almost certainly the Empire's plan all along.

That's Not How You Do That...
The Gnimmish approach to the prosecution of this war can be likened to bringing a greatsword to a bar brawl. Swift and overwhelming force, sacking and looting villages, pressing peasants into service, things that were unheard of in war before. Prior wars had usually left the peasants out of it, with the idea being that you wanted the lands you conquered to be profitable to you without a lot of rebuilding, and preferably not to have the conquered people seething for a chance at revenge later. Baron Markbiz's strategy was one of total war, utter indomitability, and accountability to no one.