Twenty-six wars, west to east
It starts where the real war started, at Campion and Walgoolan in the Western Australian wheatbelt, and it finishes at Parliament House. Every area in between is its own war, taken outpost by outpost at whatever pace you like. Ground you conquer stays yours.
- 01The Campion Incident
- 02The Walgoolan Line
- 03The Chandler Dam Ambush
- 04The Merredin Withdrawal
- 05The Swan Valley Vintage
- 06The Fremantle Wharf Affair
- 07The Siege of the Perth Approaches
- 08Southern Cross Junction
- 09The Golden Mile
- 10The Long Straight
- 11The Kimba Grain Line
- 12The Gawler Bread Basket
- 13The Barossa Vintage Offensive
- 14The Wimmera Grain Belt
- 15The Melbourne Approaches
- 16The Gippsland Corridor
- 17The Bass Strait Incident
- 18The Riverina Grain Campaign
- 19The Battle of the Passes
- 20The Siege of Sydney
- 21The Darling Downs Grain Rebellion
- 22The Sugar Coast Offensive
- 23The Channel Country Campaign
- 24The Alice Springs Wire War
- 25The Top End Aerodrome Affair
- 26The March on Canberra
26 areas across 5 acts, with optional detours through Queensland, the Top End and Bass Strait. Canberra is the one area you have to take, and it waits until tier 10.
Act 1 · The Wheat Incident
Hunger and discovery
The emus are eating, which the humans decide to treat as an invasion. Farmers, scarecrows, and one borrowed Lewis gun that jams on schedule, which is what it did in life. The act closes the way the real war closed, with the army going home embarrassed and the mob working out, slowly, that it has won something.
- 01 · WA WheatbeltTier 1
The Campion Incident
Golden wheat farmland (harvest-season, dry)
3 outposts · difficulty 1/10
- 02 · WA WheatbeltTier 1
The Walgoolan Line
Fenced wheat farmland with barbed-wire corridors
4 outposts · difficulty 1/10
- 03 · WA WheatbeltTier 2
The Chandler Dam Ambush
Dry stubble plain with dam and waterhole
3 outposts · difficulty 2/10
- 04 · WA WheatbeltTier 2
The Merredin Withdrawal
Wheat-town rail hub — silos, yards, dusty streets
4 outposts · difficulty 2/10
Act 2 · The Goldfields Push
Momentum and myth-making
The newsreels find a phrase they like, "the emu menace", and recruits turn up on both sides. State militia now, trucks with guns bolted to the tray, a spotter biplane, and Meredith hauled out of disgrace and handed one more chance at the thing that ruined him.
- 05 · Western AustraliaTier 3
The Swan Valley Vintage
river-plain vineyards & orchards
3 outposts · difficulty 2/10
- 06 · Western AustraliaTier 3
The Fremantle Wharf Affair
harbour docklands (urban-industrial)
4 outposts · difficulty 3/10
- 07 · Western AustraliaTier 4
The Siege of the Perth Approaches
urban-fringe market gardens & rail yards
4 outposts · difficulty 4/10
- 08 · Goldfields & NullarborTier 3
Southern Cross Junction
wheatbelt-goldfields transition: salt lake scrub, granite domes, rail corridor
4 outposts · difficulty 3/10
- 09 · Goldfields & NullarborTier 4
The Golden Mile
arid goldfields: red dirt, mullock heaps, industrial mine infrastructure
4 outposts · difficulty 4/10
- 10 · Goldfields & NullarborTier 5
The Long Straight
treeless limestone desert: saltbush, bluebush, rail corridor, no cover whatsoever
4 outposts · difficulty 5/10
Act 3 · Crossing the Nullarbor
Endurance
Nothing grows out here. Food runs down, so the ground you already hold has to feed you, and the army works that out too: blockades, garrisoned water holes, a slow squeeze in place of a fight. Somewhere in the heat Meredith starts to respect his enemy.
- 11 · South AustraliaTier 5
The Kimba Grain Line
wheatbelt-mallee
4 outposts · difficulty 4/10
- 12 · South AustraliaTier 6
The Gawler Bread Basket
irrigated-plains
4 outposts · difficulty 5/10
- 13 · South AustraliaTier 6
The Barossa Vintage Offensive
vineyard-hills
5 outposts · difficulty 6/10
- 14 · Victoria & TasmaniaTier 6
The Wimmera Grain Belt
wheatbelt-plains
4 outposts · difficulty 5/10
- 15 · Victoria & TasmaniaTier 7
The Melbourne Approaches
urban-fringe-farmland
4 outposts · difficulty 7/10
- 16 · Victoria & TasmaniaTier 7
The Gippsland Corridor
wet-forest-dairy
4 outposts · difficulty 6/10
- 17 · Victoria & TasmaniaTier 7
The Bass Strait Incident
coastal-strait-orchards
4 outposts · difficulty 7/10
Act 4 · The Eastern Front
Federal panic
Artillery. Searchlights, armoured cars, biplanes coming in low over the wheat. The Minister promises Parliament total victory within the fortnight, then promises it again across four more areas, by which point the mob has worked its way up to thrown spears and rifles it did not buy.
- 18 · New South WalesTier 7
The Riverina Grain Campaign
irrigated wheat plains and rice paddies (bog tiles along the canals)
4 outposts · difficulty 6/10
- 19 · New South WalesTier 8
The Battle of the Passes
eucalypt highlands, sandstone cliffs, fog-choked passes (canyon terrain blocks Searchlights' line of sight)
4 outposts · difficulty 7/10
- 20 · New South WalesTier 8
The Siege of Sydney
urban fringe — market gardens, tram lines, wharves, bridge deck (open kill lanes, no crop cover)
4 outposts · difficulty 9/10
- 21 · QueenslandTier 8
The Darling Downs Grain Rebellion
temperate grain plains / escarpment edge
4 outposts · difficulty 5/10
- 22 · QueenslandTier 8
The Sugar Coast Offensive
tropical cane fields / wetlands
4 outposts · difficulty 6/10
- 23 · QueenslandTier 9
The Channel Country Campaign
arid outback / channel floodplain
4 outposts · difficulty 8/10
- 24 · Northern TerritoryTier 9
The Alice Springs Wire War
arid red-centre range country
4 outposts · difficulty 6/10
- 25 · Northern TerritoryTier 9
The Top End Aerodrome Affair
tropical savannah / termite plains
4 outposts · difficulty 8/10
Act 5 · The March on Canberra
Desperate absurdity
Emu decoys. Ostrich double-agents, a giant net, and a ceremonial Wall of Wheat offered as a bribe. Meredith disobeys an order so he can fight one honourable rearguard, and after that there is only Canberra.