H. G. Wells and the future of war

I have pretty much completed my 'Land Dreadnoughts' board game and I would like you all to critique my alternative 20th Century history based around his 1903 short story 'The Land Ironclads'. The game itself is a 2 player tactical game based on my history. If any of you are interested, I will be happy to send you a copy of the rules to look at. Here is the first part of my history:

1.Early Days
Britain had been embroiled in the grinding war of attrition against the Boer Republics since the last years of the nineteenth century. Increased tensions with Imperial Germany and possible unrest in India caused issues with sending reinforcements to finish the Boer rebellion in South Africa. By the end of 1901 there was a push in Parliament to finish the war so that preparations could be made to directly confront Germany over their ship-building and obvious designs of French conquest along with reports of diplomatic overtures to both Mexico and Turkey. Due to the panic beginning to affect many politicians, previously ignored technical advances were once again considered.
The almost forgotten ‘wheeled foot’ ideas of a certain Mr. Dunbridge caught the eye of one military consultant. While his rather odd idea for transportation was dismissed years earlier, when teamed with the road steamer designs of Robert Thomson and the addition of a powerful steam turbine as demonstrated in 1897 by Charles Parsons’ ‘Turbina’, it had all seemed to ‘come together’. Due to the fortuitous timing of all these elements, it was deemed of sufficient interest for several prototype ‘Land Dreadnoughts’ to be tested in the field against the Boer lines outside Ladysmith. In the early summer of 1903 these 9 prototypes advanced along with bicycle troops from Canada and supported by some Yeomanry cavalry, completely defeated the troops holding the line and caused panic and dismay amongst other enemy troops. Within the next two years, British forces finally broke the back of Boer resistance and a peace treaty was signed.
2.Development
Although the success of the Dreadnoughts was complete, there were worries about their deployment outside of South Africa. The wheeled foot design was certainly of benefit in dry and fairly gentle country, but suffered greatly in unstable or rough ground and in wet or poor weather conditions. It was the development of the ‘continuous track’ allied with the drive mechanism of Mr. Dunbridges’ idea that proved the saviour of the Land Dreadnought program. It was also found that better weapons would be needed, especially as other countries began their own developments and anti-dreadnought guns were developed. When the use of tracks became more prevalent, smaller ‘carrier’ vehicles were developed to give accompanying infantry and artillery the mobility to keep up with the dreadnoughts. By 1910, internal combustion engines replaced the unreliable, heavy and inefficient steam turbines and made the dreadnoughts a more mobile force.
 
Armoured Might

1.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]The First Storm
The Great 20th Century War began in late 1913 when the Russian Empire decided that NOW was the time to take control of the Dardanelles while Turkey was embroiled in the Balkan Wars that were slowly tearing its European empire apart. Unfortunately, this caused the entry of Austro-Hungary and Germany into a war with Russia and, as this triggered other alliances, the entry of France into the fray. Britain and its Empire stood aloof from this, as they saw it, European ‘fracas’, and issued various warnings to the Central Powers about widening the war. However, once Germany sent its fleet to sea and German submarines were spotted off Scapa Flow, it became more and more difficult for the British to stay out of the war. When proof was found of German interference in the Middle East threatening the Suez Canal, it was too much and Britain declared war in early 1914 – the Empire following suit within the next few days.
The easy German victories against the over-extended Russian armies made them over-confident and the high command decided to place the Schlieffen plan into effect and invaded Belgium and France in August 1914. The initial attacks were led by their new dreadnought units that sliced through the poorly defended French lines and appeared to be within an ace of securing Paris when the BEF counter-attacked with its superior dreadnoughts and more mobile infantry. The superior firepower of British units unnerved the Germans and caused them to retreat beyond the Marne and dig in. The next two years saw much attacking on both sides but no lasting advances. The Russian Empire withdrew back towards Moscow and concluded an armistice with their enemies, but retained control of Constantinople although losing much of Poland and the Ukraine. Luckily, the allies had wind of the event and were well prepared for the huge German assault of March 1917 which broke against the massive concentrations of artillery and dreadnought units that seemed to be everywhere. After another eighteen months of fruitless attacks, a truce was declared and Europe settled into an uneasy peace.
2.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]No War, No Peace
In the 17 years after the Truce of Amsterdam was signed there were no large scale military adventures anywhere within Europe or North America, but state sponsored conflicts kept Africa, Asia and South America ablaze. The main conflicts in Europe were more political than military but changed the face of the continent nevertheless. The German non-victory in the West brought the far-left and far-right of the political spectrum together and a nasty and brutal power struggle erupted between the socialist and nascent fascist groups mainly in Munich and Berlin. By 1922, the monarchy was overthrown (the Kaiser fleeing to Holland) and a new socialist German state emerged led by the National Socialist party of Soldiers and Workers led by Rosa Luxembourg and her cronies. It was said that the ‘power behind the throne’ was a fugitive Russian socialist agitator living in Switzerland by the name of Lenin. The emergence of a revolutionary state in the middle of Europe sent shudders though the spines of the Royalist states surrounding the new Germany.
Britain kept itself absorbed in various ‘bush fire’ wars within the Empire and thus kept out of European squabbles. The French – ever anti-German, turned towards right-wing policies and a succession of army-backed politicians kept the military spending high and the anti-socialist sentiment in its population constant. The building of the Maginot line opposite the main German positions across the French border and the expectation of a large British contingent with its land dreadnoughts able to provide a mobile striking force across Belgium gave them a sense of security.
It was mainly the actions of the Russian Empire that determined the flow of European politics until the inevitable explosion in 1935. The closing of the borders and the hardening of international relations meant that Russia soon became a closed state and the rumours abounded about the direction and fervour of Russian imperial ambitions. It was thought that their gaining of Constantinople and their unhindered access to the Mediterranean would satisfy them, but it wasn’t enough. It rankled that they had to pay to use the Suez Canal and that they had to pass under British guns to transit Gibraltar. It was the military revolution of 1925 that finally started the world on its way to ruin. A right-wing revolt against the Tsar backed by the army deposed the Romanovs and installed a virulently anti-socialist and expansionist regime that was cruel and rapacious, not only to its enemies but also to its own people. The figurehead leader of this repressive state was a little known (outside of Russia) minor functionary who took the name of Stalin -no one knew his real name, although the German adviser, Lenin, said he knew who he was.
Within a few years, the Russian regime had started revolts in Mexico, Panama and Egypt and even, it is said, started the Spanish revolutionary war by aiding General Franco in moving troops from Africa to Spain in 1935. The German state, for its part did it’s best to ferment revolution in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the various still squabbling Balkan states. The military actions started by Russia provided excellent areas for the German socialist policies to take root and caused the creation of socialist regimes in Mexico, Italy and the remnants of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East. Due to these actions, the USA once again withdrew into itself and tried to leave to world to itself and was totally taken by surprise when the Empire of Japan began to exert its political, financial and military muscles in China and throughout the Pacific.
There were two seemingly unrelated actions that made Europe a battleground again. The German political victory in Austria (as it was known after the revolution) and the joining of Italy and socialist Syria to the ‘Axis of Power’ , as the Germans liked to call it, upset the delicate balance of power that had kept peace since 1918. The socialist revolution in the new Polish State almost ignited a war between the German led Axis and the Russian behemoth to the East. However, much to everyone’s surprise the Russians showed remarkable restraint and left Poland to the tender mercies of German Socialism. The Axis powers advised that they were only bound together by the anti-socialist policies and threats of the French and Russians and that the’ surrounding’ of the German and other European socialist states would not be tolerated. Most countries ignored the blustering that they had heard for years and the creation of this new ‘superpower’ went unhindered. In 1935, the beginning of the Spanish war caused by Russian plans to control Spain and Gibraltar allied with their fermenting of right-wing revolts in Egypt (the king was assassinated) aimed at controlling the canal made even distracted Britain sit up and take notice.
 
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