On June 5th, 1916, Arab irregulars attacked the city of Medina under the orders of Hussein bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca. This offensive operation was the first in a series of events that would stretch out of World War I, the Arab Revolt. In the months prior he had contacted representatives from the British Empire, who had promised aid in the form of gold, weapons and ammunition if the Arabs joined them against the Ottoman Empire. Many prominent leaders in Istambul were supporters of a radical Turkish-nationalist wing in the Ottoman government, and the state was undergoing a process of "turkification" which greatly angered its minorities, including the Arabs. Though that action was unsuccessful, five days later another group of irregulars attacked Mecca, putting the city under siege. With the aid of British regular troops from Egypt, Mecca was seized on July. Ottoman artillery fire had greatly damaged the holy city, an act which Hussein capitalised on to rally Arabia's devout population. British high command sent a number of officers to assist the Arabs with contemporary military tactics and strategy, as well as to act as liasons and information-gatherers. The most famous and influential of these was Captain Thomas Edward Lawrence, whose friendship with the revolt's leaders and knowledge on irregular warfare helped shape the Middle East's borders.

Medina and its railway were abandoned early in the revolt, as it became clear that British troops rampaging through Palestine would soon cut them off. The real breakthrough occurred when British forces seized Baghdad in February of 1917. As they kept pushing north, and it became clear that the Entente would likely lose this war, British high command authorised one last plan of revenge. On September 27th, 1917, and with full recognition from all remaining Entente nations, Sharif Hussein bin Ali proclaimed the Hejaz Caliphate, challenging the Ottoman claim to that title on the basis of descending from the Hashemite family (direct descendands of Muhammad) and controlling the three holiest cities in Islam. By this time, the Istambul government was collapsing from Armenian, Greek, Assyrian and Kurdish insurrections, despite genocidal campaigns against these groups. Largely with American weapons and British officers, the Regular Arab Army was established, mostly under the command of Hussein's son Faisal, who had T. E. Lawrence as his right hand.

In November of 1918, with only Britanny and the surrounding regions holding out against German attacks, and the Royal Navy decimated, an armistice was signed. Entente troops in the Middle-East, however, did not surrender their arms as the terms dictated, they simply handed them over to their insurrectionist allies and then gave themselves up. Thousands of French, Oceanykan, American and British volunteers chose to remain with the Regular Arab Army or similar movements, adopting local-sounding names (including most infamously T. E. Lawrence). They held a line from Adana, though Kayseri, to Trabzon and were recruiting every able-bodied male for an attack on Ankara.

This attack began on March of 1919, with over 240,000 deserters, conscripts, guerillas, irregulars and tribal fighters racing for the Ottoman Empire's second largest city. Istambul's government tasked Mustafa Kemal Ataturk with stopping them, granting him command of the best-equipped and most capable troops in the Ottoman Army, a mission which he succesfully accomplished at the Battle of the Salty Lakes. Discontent in the Turkish population had reached a boiling point, and protests erupted demanding peace with the other nationalities of the Empire, which were sure to begin performing crimes against humanity against the Turks for actions such as the Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish and Greek genocides which Ottoman troops had carried out during World War I. When the Turkish Revolution broke out, Ataturk's Ankara-based forces immediately sought a ceasefire with the insurrectionists to protect his rear, promising independence and a stop to all massacres, deportations and death marches. The rebels agreed, thus peace was finally achieved on May 8th.

During the late phases of the Revolutionary War, aboriginal engineers from the city of Bomnan attempted to improve traditional repeating crossbows, using technology from the Girardoni air rifle, which was in service with some elite assault units of the time. The result was a type of handheld automatic crossbow, which allowed aboriginal infantry to unload numerous bolts at short range and with considerable power. Automatic crossbows are fed from a magazine which also contains just enough compressed air for all 25 shots. This weapon offered unparalleled firepower for the lucky few that it was issued to, being effective until the advent of affordable repeating firearms in the 1860s.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, better known worldwide for its universal acronym NATO, is an international military and political alliance of states aligned with the United States of America. Its mainstay principle is found in Article V of the Treaty, which mentions that "an attack against one is an attack against all". Most of its members are at least some degree of democratic, and practice free market capitalism. Though its main theatre of operations is undoubtedly Europe, NATO has a worldwide reach and maintains a number of missions throughout the planet, including within Oceanyka. With the creation of the Canton Protocol, NATO leadership has sought to internationalise its reach, perhaps resurrecting the original United Nations.

Oceanyka's entry into the war, a result of the Anglo-Oceanykan Alliance which was negotiated in the 1911 Imperial Conference, was a daring bet to flip the nation's international standing. The Oceanykan Council's young republic was seen amongst western elites as bandit country, a pariah state, underhanded and savage. By joining the British sphere, now as a (nominally) equal independent nation, the Council hoped to foster global trade with Oceanyka and gain legitimacy, while the British hoped to once more gain access to Australia's resources (though now they'd have to pay for them). In August, as soon as war was declared, the Council declared Article V of the Constitution and ordered the Federal Army to mobilise; the 100,000 man strong Oceanykan Expeditionary Force began to sail towards Egypt, albeit a few divisions at a time. The first two divisions, which saw combat against Ottoman troops on the Suez, were the following;

• 3rd Mixed Combat Division
  • 11th Light Horse Brigade (Volunteer)
  • 13th Light Horse Brigade (Nomadic)
  • 3rd Mobile Artillery Regiment (K'ith Clansmen)
• 4th Volunteer Rifles Division
  • 12th Infantry Brigade
  • 13th Infantry Brigade (Tasmanian)
  • 18th Marine Infantry Brigade (Farenday)

These troops were joined by the New Zealand Infantry Division, together forming the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. This ad-hoc formation's trial by fire was in the defence of the Suez Canal, which came under assault by Ottoman troops, led by German officers. Recognising the value of Oceanykan soldiers as shock troops during their first encounters, British high command decided that the ANZAC would step head-first into the amphibious operations which would begin the Gallipoli campaign. 

Next: World War I - The Gallipoli Campaign

The 2B1 Oka is a Soviet super-heavy self-propelled artillery vehicle armed with a massive 420mm cannon. Though primarily designed to fire atomic shells, it is more than capable of raining high explosives at an impressive range of up to 45km away. While obsolete in the Soviet Army, replaced by mobile ballistic missile systems, the Oka has found a new home in Oceanyka as an overengineered bunker buster and a hard counter to Kalayn walls.

The Yoperkuz tarantula is a massive tarantula, at up to 50cm wide. It is aggressive and territorial, with venomous 2 inch long fangs for hunting prey. Oceanykans have a deep hatred for the species, and many extermination attempts have been made over history. But somehow, there is always another lair.