Creta Border War

The Creta border war plays out on the western edge of Amestris, where the country faces the neighboring state of Creta. Amestris fields only the Western branch of its military, a deliberate limit that still proves enough to wear its opponent down, since throwing the full weight of the Amestrian army at Creta would almost certainly overrun the smaller nation outright.

The struggle is defined by attrition. Both sides commit roughly comparable numbers of soldiers, but because Amestris holds so much larger a military overall, Creta must pour a far greater share of its total strength into the fighting just to keep pace. To sustain morale among its troops, Amestris treats the western town of Pendleton as a rallying symbol, prizing it as the first settlement it captured in the war.

Under the direction of King Bradley and the Homunculi, the conflict has cost heavy casualties on both sides, with blood spilled steadily as it drags on. The imbalance in resources keeps favoring Amestris, leaving Creta bleeding a disproportionate portion of its forces simply to hold the line.