>>29415538
You’re sitting in what will be your war room shortly, in Castle Niorte, with Maloric pacing back and forth in a distracted fashion. The rest of your cabinet will be joining you shortly, including over sending, but Mal wanted to talk in private first. Not that’s he’s talked – mostly he’s just paced.

“What’s got you so worried, Mal? Grey hairs?” you ask.

“Nah,” he says, tone light. “Nobody’s commented on the black dye.”

“Balding, then?”

“I’m impressed you noticed, I thought I’d mastered the comb over.”

“Did Neir tease you, causing you to fear for your masculinity?”

“That’s a constant whenever she’s around. I’ve learnt not to show it as it just encourages her more.”

You sigh. He’s clearly worried about whatever he needs to tell you, as although he answered lightly he didn’t bite back even once. You stand up and walk around the table to lean on it.

“Spill, Mal. The war meeting’s shortly and if this is so important as to have you acting like this, I’d rather be able to digest it privately first.”

He gives you a glance, runs a hand through his hair and continues pacing, but at least starts to speak, “I’ve been talking to Neir about what’s happening on Gauron at large – she hasn’t been adventuring or trying to build an empire, so she’s been more in touch with reality. I also sent a sending to my old tower to get some information.”

>continued

>>29415560
“Hold on,” you interrupt, “you said we’d need a mage tower for that first, due to the covenants.”

“We would have, and will in the future, but it was more about holding off on resigning from the Tower of Sacrament. Now that I’m heading up your tower, the next time I contacted them I needed to notify them – otherwise our new tower will be in disrepute the second it starts. If I held off for a bit because I was busy, I figured I could use my last request to get some useful info or goods.”

“So, what caused you to use that up now?”

He shrugs, still pacing, and it’s clear he’s just stalling. “The enchanter that arrived let me know my activities have been noted. If I held off for too much longer it’d be bad, so I figured I might as well get some info now before they become impolite.”

You nod. “Alright, so what’s the news?”

“There’s some stuff on the Lords, which is unimportant and distracting right now-“

“Tell me it anyway.”

“There’s some gossip about the Magi League,” he continues as though you didn’t interrupt him. “And finally, some interesting rumours from within the RSK.

“What do you want to hear first?”

>1. Astral Adepts news
>2. Magi League gossip
>3. RSK rumours

>>29415587
>2. Magi League gossip

>>29415587
>3. RSK rumours
Ones we are bordering directly.

>>29415538
Sadly I have a quest to run today, so I'll have to catch up in the archives. But in the mean time, I just wanted to say this:
Good luck to all, and hope this thread goes well.

Great job on the FTB scene! It was really great, and surprisingly meaty too in size. I think I have become an even bigger fan of your writing style.

And finally, keep being awesome Aspirational.

>>29415587
>1. Astral Adepts news

>>29415629
are you program0?

>>29415587
Not an easy choice
>Magi league gossip

>>29415587
>>3. RSK rumours
Yay, I made a thread!

>>29415587
Have him tell us all 3 in whichever order he wants.

>>29415587
>1. Astral Adepts news
>2. Magi League gossip
What he said about the adepts is interesting and we need to keep in the know about the magio.

>>29415587
>>1. Astral Adepts news
>>2. Magi League gossip
>>3. RSK rumours
Ask him to tell us in the order of importance relative to our situation.

>>29415587
1 then 3 then 2

>>29415705
Fuck it I'll second this. Tell him to start will the worst news a work back towards the most easily dealt with or ignorable.

>>29415587
you know we will askk for all three of them, why bother going through all the voting?

Alright, as the RSK stuff is the most important right now, we'll start with that.

Then we'll do the Magi League, followed by the Adepts. Update in a few minutes.

>>29415768
Because I'm stalling for a little bit whilst I prewrite the huge amount of meeting updates after this scene. Also, wow, lots more people got here at 5pm than expected. Usually takes an hour to get busy.

>>29415768
1.In which order of asking
2. Interactivity
3.to have him tell us later since a war meeting is coming up.(might be bad, but it depends.)

>>29415788
People usually don't schedule classes around this time near the weekend.

>>29415788
>Also, wow, lots more people got here at 5pm than expected. Usually takes an hour to get busy.

I don't know about the others but this is my favorite quest atm so I am accompanying it closely

>>29415810
fuck you! you are not op. mind your own damn business.
he already answered my question

>>29415788
its all that early notification you gave us, I set up an alarm clock
Also, awesome update to the map. I started working on it last night only to notice your update.
Anyways, I am guessing you used the source files I posted earlier, will you post the updated files somewhere?

>3.

“Tell me about the RSK,” you say.

He nods, looking relieved for some reason. “You know the Farloun?”

“RSK wiped them out.”

“That’s right. Except they missed one. There’s tale of a Farloun sorcerer giving them a lot of trouble on their western-most front. It’s making the king antsy, apparently. Not sure how one mage troubles them, but that’s the word.”

“Not sure that’s too important, Mal.”

He shrugs. “The next part is. Grand Magister Darvui, said to be the most competent mage in the world after Archmage Alyce, is in open rebellion. Apparently he’s incited not just mage towers but a lot of the south-eastern nobles. If the king can’t quash that rebellion, he’ll lose his south-eastern provinces.”

“Opportunism? I’m guessing he’s not a League sympathiser.”

“Wouldn’t have a clue. Darvui’s an enigma – he stays out of the limelight, but whenever he turns up he makes a splash. The strangest rumour is that he supposedly has some hellishly powerful black dragon helping him. I doubt it’s Lairos, but it’s troubling if true.”

>Magi League next

>>29415862
Eh i was giving reasons, plus right after i submitted he already replied.

Question, during the war meeting will be discussing troops and bolstering our forces? Because I have a few ideas and questions to ask about them specifically.

>>29415914
but i did not ask you for your reasons, i asked him for his. so... shut it.

>>29415931
The current agreed plan was to bolster our forces and try to politically take over the regions to our east.
>>29415788
I do have a question as well on how we can improve provinces, and if we should upgrade the fort(in olmn) into a fortress.

>>29415931
Yeah, it'll be a reasonably important meeting. Lots of updates first, then some discussion and decisions.

>2.

“And the Magi League?” you ask again.

“Pretty generic stuff. A bunch of the towers don’t like continuing the rebellion – they’re playing along in hopes of magocracy, not to bring peace to the continent. I doubt it’ll amount to anything, though, at least not until the RSK is likely to sue for peace.

“The really big news is that Alyce is creating knightly orders that are attached to mage towers. It’s her way of trying to avoid the status issue that’s arisen – knights can’t get anywhere in a magocracy, so she’s instead making them honourary mages. Naturally, the traditional knightly orders are furious, even though she’s invited several of them to join with the larger towers. She’s also promoting a number of their combat magisters to knighthood.”

>AA next. This is the biggest update

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>>29415943

Is mal the only one we have that can detect thralls?

Also, he purged the thralls, we should have kept some locked up because the only way for a mage to learn how to detect a thrall is by interacting with the aura of one.

If mal is the only one then our top priority is to either hire mercs with vamp experience or get a mage tower for some more highly trained mages.

Also, I have been posting some strategy plans but got few few comments on it in previous threads.
Anyone interested in discussing it now?

>>29415989

I know that. Been following the quest. It was more about the people that we bring in, not the plan itself.

>>29416018
If I remember your old strategy plans I disagree with pretty much everything you said.

>>29416085
why?

>>29416018
>Is mal the only one we have that can detect thralls?
Lynn has some experience(could be because of dragons though) and it seems like the elemental sisters might know something.
>Also, he purged the thralls, we should have kept some locked up because the only way for a mage to learn how to detect a thrall is by interacting with the aura of one.
The thralls from what we know is only linked to 1 day walker and they seem impossible to find, but a day walker is almost as hard unless you physically contact them and are purposely trying to find them.(we could try inventing a few things though)
>If mal is the only one then our top priority is to either hire mercs with vamp experience or get a mage tower for some more highly trained mages.
We already have a mage tower, and i doubt there is any mercs around that can take on a night walker and not be thralled.
>Anyone interested in discussing it now?
Go ahead.

>>29416005
>3.

“And the adepts?”

Mal stops pacing and doesn’t meet your eyes. “Are you sure you want to hear this? It’s not really pertinent to our-“

“Mal. I’m not going to stick my head in the sand, even if the Lords are halfway across the continent.”

He sighs, and take a seat now, even as you lean against the table.

“You’re from the north-west aren’t you? Currently League lands, bordering the Lord of Ember’s territory?”

You nod, not sure where he’s going with this.

He lets out a big sigh and rubs his head. “Well, might as well make it quick,” he says.

“The Lord of Ember has gone insane. As have most of his knights. Apparently it happened months ago but it’s been kept under wraps for a whole host of political reasons. The League doesn’t want to appear vulnerable. The Mage Guard wanted to try to take him out. The Lords just didn’t like the idea of anybody knowing.

“His knights have overrun most of the land, slaughtering and burning much of it. They’ve crossed territory borders a fair bit. The RSK and the League are in a slight lull in the fighting – not a ceasefire, but they’re trying to work out if this will be a repeat of the Great War from four hundred years ago.”

“I-,” you try to speak, your head spinning. “The Lord of Ember has gone insane? How?”

“We don’t know. Apparently he just snapped. And his knights went with him. Naturally, the rest of the Lords could be just as likely to go under. His lands are apparently more wasteland than anything else now and they haven’t been able to do anything. The other Lords might be able to stop him, but they won’t move for whatever reason.

“As I said, this isn’t terribly important right now but it’s a big bit of world news.”

>Strategy meeting posts next. About 4 updates in a row, all pre-written. Then discussion for a bit.

>loads of updates incoming
>sorry about all the WORDSWORDSWORDS
>should be the last super big meeting for a while, I hope

Your cabinet members troop into the room and those elsewhere sound off over the magitech communication device. They’re all present, if only in voice, including Felix.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

“The mage tower extension is done,” Gnome tells you over the device. “There’s the possibility of extending it further, but that will take a lot more effort as we’ll need to create new barriers and wards rather than extend the keep’s existing ones.”

>Mage tower [X] - An extension from the existing mage workshop space in the keep has recently been completed, resulting a decently sized tower. You estimate that the tower (including the former workshop area) can hold roughly 50 mages. Gnome and Bartom left some room for further extension, too, though it will be more time-consuming than the extension was due to the addition of structural supports and a need to construct new barriers/wards rather than just extend the old ones.

“The outer walls are also nearly complete. A few days more effort. The inner walls will be another week.”

PROVINCE UPDATES

“The locals are beginning to realise that we’re their news lords now,” Arail tells you over the device. “The patrols are reporting that there seems to be no real issues in most provinces, though we’re still not reaching everybody in Mier. Not that we have the administration facilities to make use of it yet, but we’ve got almost a year before we need to collect taxes. We’ve also been driving out the few remaining robber barons – nothing too serious.”

>Harrowmont (province) control improved to Moderate
>Mier (province) control and order improved to Low

>1/4

>>29415902
Personally I like the RSK, but this secessionist movement only helps us. By weakening one of our major future rivals, it'll make them easier to conqour in the future.

>>29416143
I suggest sending some one to rescue our family.

>>29416174
Cormann talks to you about Olmm, “Not much difficulties around here, either, Imperator. With Taour on their doorstep, the former Darlesians here are happy to have us around. Most of the soldiers here are busy acting as garrisons though – I doubt you’ll be able to convince many of them to join your standing army until you make the province safe from Taour.”

“I’ve driven the Vitrian forces out of Vale as you commanded, Imperator,” Felix’s voice tells you. “That’s making it a bit easier to move around freely, but a lot of the populace aren’t convinced it’ll be permanent – they’re also uncertain how this relates to the civil war. We’re not flying the House Hawkins banner, after all.”

>Vale (province) control improved to Low)

MILITARY UPDATES

“Our new enchanter has completed a new batch of equipment for the archers,” Gareth says from Harrowmont. “He’s currently doing some research into ways to improve them further, but he’s happy to keep working on enchantment if you wish.”

>100 archers have been promoted to arcane archers

“Recruitment is also going well – using supplies from Toulon from before Darlesia’s fall, we’ve recruited and equipped three hundred more men.”

>you have gained:
100 archers (Green)
200 men-at-arms (Green)

>2/4

>>29416198
THE VITRIAN SITUATION

“Although I’ve driven out the Vitrian forces in Vale, they appear to be slowly massing outside Vitria itself,” Felix warns you. “If they choose to mobilise some of the houses’ standing army we could find ourselves fighting against two thousand veterans.”

You focus sharply on that. Something about that doesn’t seem right – consulting the map, you see why. “Hold on, if they did that, wouldn’t they be leaving Vitria wide open? Or are they gambling on Craol’s forces to reinforce the city in case of attack? Sarah?”

“Ah, yes,” Sarah speaks up. “I mean, no. I’ve received General Habell’s word that he’ll stay out of the conflict until we talk to him so long as we don’t attack Vitria – he commands the standing forces in Craol. I disagree with General Felix’s assessment – if they were mobilising their standing army, they would already be attacking. As you saw when they besieged Harrowmont so quickly after you took it, they can mobilise professional forces quickly. I suspect they are mustering from the smaller houses and the general populace – they may assault us with numbers and perhaps equipment, but their veterans will remain behind until they can guarantee Craol’s assistance, in my view.”

>3/4

>>29416174
>magitech communication device.
do we have a smaller version of these for giving commands on the battlefield? if not we must make some right this instant

>>29416227
Those are sendings. They don't really make super-small ones as most commanders can use sendings (but you can't), though you could try once you get a machinist.

>>29416222
THE TAOURAN SITUATION

“Taour still hasn’t been able to bring Darlesia itself under control,” Cormann tells you. “Word from one of the resistance cells in the city is that the city is in open rebellion – they’ve flooded the place with thousands of troops but the mages are resisting strongly. With that said, the sheer number of soldiers there means we can’t really assist them – they may not be able to control the populace but they can beat off an attack.”

“Speaking of which,” Glynn adds, “that cell also tells us they’re peeling off a sizeable force to try to take us out. They really dislike you, Imperator, if they’re willing to risk the occupation to battle you.”

“How big of a force?” you ask.

“We don’t know yet. The resistance thinks they’ll pull maybe one or two thousand troops at most.”

“So they’ll still have a few thousand troops in the city.”

He nods. “We don’t know whether they’ll pull their veterans to fight us, and risk the city, or send out the less experienced soldiers in hopes to overwhelm you with numbers while we’re overextended.”

“Well,” you say, “we can reasonably expect a large contingent of mage knights and some siege equipment. They can’t reasonably hope to unseat us without that.”

>Some time for discussions before I call some votes on what to do next
>I'll post updated military numbers and relevant province data next

>>29416283

///6.1. Current Army

TOTAL FORCE = 2,262 soldiers
Overall Military Presence = Low
Overall Military Experience = Moderate

40 Flying Mage-Knights
>40 Veterans
50 Heavy Mage-Knights
>50 Green
404 Medium Mage-Knights
>259 Veterans
>145 Regulars
150 Arcane Archers
>150 Veterans
345 Archers
>245 Veterans
>100 Green
1050 Men-at-arms
>190 Veterans
>290 Regulars
>570 Green
23 Battlemages
>23 Regulars
Satisfactory support and logistics corps

File: 1389393394533.png-(559 KB, 3100x1050, worldMap.png)

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New map attached.

>>29416325

Name: Vitria
Owner: Vitria
Control: High
Order: Low
Population: 700,000 (220,000 in city)
Military Presence: Moderate
Military Experience: Strong
Resources: N/A
Notable Locations:
>Vitria - an enormous port city. After Vitria was freed, the extravagant nobles had much of the city rebuilt in western fashion - tall, winding spires and bridges between towers hundreds of metres in the air. The city itself is not walled but the design makes it highly defensible nonetheless.
>Gimbon Falls - Gimbon Castle's sister fort, Falls is smaller but was built recently. It is positioned so that it can be bypassed on a march to Vitria but it enables easy mustering and protects arable land in the hills. As such, bypassing it could make for supply chain difficulties.

- - - - -

Name: Darlesia
Owner: Taour
Control: Very Low
Order: Nonexistent
Population: 600,000 (250,000 in city)
Military Presence: High
Military Experience: Strong
Resources: N/A
Notable Locations:
>Darlesia - A city in ruins, once a great capital. The vampires are no doubt tearing down much of the city and trying to maintain order. It unknown what the true state of this city is.

>>29416325
Build up the fort at Olmn then and see if we can weather their attacks and then retaliate once they are over extended.

>>29416325
Can we train our green soldiers to get their rank go up?

rather then just working off of pure memory.

Current strategy:
1. Fortify olmm
2. (optional) raid Darlesia for pockets of resistance (potentially mages from the mage towers in it?) and rescue them. Bring them back to Olmm to fortify it. DO NOT hold darlesia.
3. Leave our current army here in olmm to help fortify it and have our cabinet fast travel to the vitria border
4. As per sarah's suggestion, appear in person in Craol to speak to their nobles who are honor bound to defend the border against the vampires, get them to recognize you as a contender for vitria's throne meaning they remain neutral and do not reinforce count Oaln
5. (optionally before 4) conquer port temby in surprise attack by having gnome build us some bridges from harrowmont. This gives us our first established mage tower (good against vamps, allows better enchantment), also vitria is purchasing from RSK through it, we might capture mageknight plate bound to them, find proof against their RSK allies, or just disrupt their trade.
6. Capture Vitria
7. Capture Darlesia
8. Advance on the great crece wall from both Olmm and Darlesia to close it off, but don't engage, just seige.
9. Have gnome tunnel from the olmm mines to the crece mines to take their mining town from the inside.
10. Through said tunnel (or if needed extend it), seige crece from the other side of their wall. Seiging them from both sides gets them to starve there.
11. Fortify crece yourself.
12. You are now fortified on both fronts with Taour and can hit Taour capital or Raupe or the surrounding territories at will

>>29416134
>We already have a mage tower
We have an empty tower shaped structure.
At the moment it has 4 mages. A real tower has about 100, with political status, a spy network, etc.

>>29416222
We can't attack them yet, but i suggest we try winning over Craol.
>>29416283
We have to weather this storm of soldiers.

>>29416373
Why would we focus on the fort? The castle is a much better position.
>>29416402
Think near term.

>>29416401
Not really. Green soldiers are trained but inexperienced. You need them to fight to rank up - you can only get so good just from sparring and training, nothing compares to the heat of battle for experience.

>>29416402
>At the moment it has 4 mages
You'll have another 20 or so over the next fortnight or so thanks to Neir.

>>29416402
>At the moment it has 4 mages
Wrong we have 27 magoi(mal,enchanter,barrier guy, old man.)
Also i'm not a big fan of using magoi as spies especially now when they are doing a rebellion and people would be cautious of them.

>>29416176
>Personally I like the RSK
the RSK is one of the most genocidal and unreasonable powers, the only ones with more war crimes to their name is Taour, maybe. They are obsessed with the birthright of nobility and are total pricks.

So a few questions.

How do our men fight? Is it in formation or just general rabble? I understand the order, Mage-Knights to break lines, then Men-at-Arms to hold and fight it out. We currently have little of the former compared to the latter, and when we factor in our lack of enchanting we'll mostly be building more mundane arms and armour, so more MaA. My thought is if we're creating a professional army then they should learn formations, specifically one to better fight off superior armed foes. Phalanx comes to mind, personally, having our men fight in coordination just seems smart.

Second, how many of our men(MaA) have enough magical ability(outside of mages) to learn Empowerment(or currently use)? I ask this because we lack some serious Land to Air frontlines, mages are low and only a handful of Arcane Archers can't handle a large amount of Flying Mage-Knights or other aerial threats. I had the idea(after the thread with the HMKs jumping over the wall) of using men that can use Empowerment to jump and take out FMK and other threats with a long hooked spear, using mundane equipment and just their own abilities to bring threats down, then land on the front lines and fight with a sword and shield(probably lighter weight maybe a gladius and light round). Essentially I'm thinking of creating a dragoon-hoplite. Doesn't require enchanting, just hoping we have men with some magical ability. Thoughts?

>>29416440
>Why would we focus on the fort? The castle is a much better position.
Its a better wall for them to hit and the castle is full of civilians, and miltia.

>>29416448
So Taour is moving on us soon with siege equipment (assumption) and several thousand troops, possibly Vets?

That tells me we need to find out where and when they're attacking NOW. They are the biggest threat to us, and if we can get them to wear down their forces on our walls? Then that is excellent news indeed.

>>29416402
>build us some bridges from harrowmont.
this was argued against a lot last thread.

>>29416402

That is your current strategy, not everyones. Also, it is a lot longer term then we need right now.

>>29416544
They would attack the fort first(or a majority would) and it is assumed to be mostly greens that are thralled.

>>29416544
Perhaps we should get some scouts/ small teams to get some actual numbers and harass their troops.

>>29416580
No fucking kidding, I couldn't figure out by the fact I posted it
How about you actually critique it and maybe suggest some improvements?

>>29416508
>Second, how many of our men(MaA) have enough magical ability(outside of mages) to learn Empowerment(or currently use)?
Next to none. There's a reason that mage-knight suits are so popular.

>hoplites etc
Technology levels are considerably further along than that. Pikes are popular-ish but relatively ineffective against MK plate.

>>29416544
>That tells me we need to find out where and when they're attacking NOW
Right. Times - estimates for their mustering (which stupidly forgot) are around 2-3 weeks for both fronts. Taour is likely to attack before Vitria. As for when, you won't be able to know unless the resistance cell gets lucky or until they start marching. As for numbers, you can only guess right now that there'll be a thousand or two on each front.

>>29416508
>Phalanx comes to mind, personally, having our men fight in coordination just seems smart.
I think that is already assumed to be done, since it would bogg the quest down, plus Aspirational said they are trained, but need experience.

>>29416544
I agree with this, this is the ideal time to make a pre-emptive strike and disperse their forces

>>29416475
>Spies
The mages spy anyways, its what they do.
I think for spies we should tap multiple sources and corroberate it.
Get info from mage towers, get info from mal's girlfriend from the RSK who is a spy, get info from sarah's underling minor house that specializes in spying.

Okay, we're apparently going to be facing the minor houses attacking from into Vale and an assualt by Taour into Olm. First thing to do is push the Arcane Archers in Harrowmont up to Vale to reinforce the general. Sarah needs to continue pulling favors and slapping backs. Emphasize that she's accepting outside help just like Olan does, but her source of help is trustworthy enough to actually keep his promises, and who knows what Olan agreed to, much less what his sponsors will actually demand?
For Olm, have our mage buddy focus on converting as many archers to the arcane version Asap. We'll fortify the castle and make our stand there.

>>29416448
thanks for clarifying, i guess this really is going someplace then.

>>29416611
>>29416607
Exactly, and for that reason I agree with the first part of >>29416616's plan. Fortify our borders. Send out some scouts looking for Taour's army, and where it's coming from, we NEED that information. They will fucking steamroll us if we're not careful.

>>29416643
2-3 weeks? Shit that's not a lot of time. Alright so let's think- which front would the Vampires want most?
I personally think it's the one bordering two vampire territories (forgot the name) It has two points of reinforcment, and they might try to use that to overwhelm the territory. On the other hand the other territory is much closer to Harrowmont. Still, the weakest one is the one that has two borders to Tauor territory. I want those walls up and barriers active asap. Get some serious defenses down there

>>29416665
Sarah and Mals girl should work together.

>>29416643
>Technology levels are considerably further along than that. Pikes are popular-ish but relatively ineffective against MK plate.

It was more using the momentum of the fall and jump itself, but yeah that makes sense.

Disappointing but alright. Good to know.

>>29416656
It was a minor curiosity, never really been mentioned how our men fight.

>>29416643
How many arcane Archers can Mal and his buddy at Harrowmont make before the storm breaks?

>>29416402
we should somehow spread the word in old Darlesian provinces that we aim to end the vampire menace at that anyone who seeks shelter form them can find a safe haven in our domain. this messages should also be generally know to the world so anyone harbouring hate for vampires are drawn to our banner.(are vampire hunters a thing?) also this might gain approval from craol

We also need to know if felix can dig in and hold Vale on his end and if so for how long, we need to at least have one stable front before we commit further to the other.

>>29416564
>this was argued against a lot last thread.
Not particularly
one guy said that he imagines we will get caught by an overwhelming enemy force and couldn't retreat across them.
And there are other methods we could probably use to get there

Oh didn't we mention starting a Knightly Order ourselves in Harrowmont? Since a lot of our men are Men at Arms wouldn't now be an opportune time to start training some stronger mundane men.

>>29416707
>2-3 weeks? Shit that's not a lot of time. Alright so let's think- which front would the Vampires want most?
They're mobilising troops currently sitting in Darlesia, so they have to be assaulting Olmm, where you currently are. Unless they're also mobilising a force in Raupe, but Sarah thinks that the Craol Vitrians would intercept such an attack (as Sarah's partially convinced them Vale is still kinda Vitrian territory).

>>29416723
100 or so if it's 2-3 weeks.

>>29416720
>It was a minor curiosity, never really been mentioned how our men fight.
I've more or less just been using Middle-Age style methods in my mind, coupled with magic.

>A few ideas on Olmm. I'll call a few votes momentarily.

>>29416707
The fuck? Their marshaling from Darlessia. Unless they want to march around the mountains their coming strait at us.

>>29416733
this might mean they Darlesian would be in better control, but it does help bolster our army.

>>29416643
>>29416661
if we know where they are going to hit we have two freaking strong elementals capable of making major traps along the way and destroy moral long before they hit.

>>29416733
this is actually a good idea. We could see about tapping our contacts abroad.
Is there a knightly order opposed to vampires?
Famous magisters who have a hate for vampires? etc.

>Darlesia in open revolt, but too many taour vamps there to suppress.

So... how CAN we help them.
Some ideas
1. Raid the supply lines between Darlesia and crece.
2. Arm the rebellion - problem is, how do we even GET it to them.
3. Since core of the rebellion in Darlesia is the mage towers, we should try to contact them via sending, at least try to start coordinating better.

>>29416820

But on the flipside it also means:

More mouths to feed and house during wartime.
The possibility of a Vampire/thrall getting in during the mass exodus.

We have to be careful with that.

>>29416815
Thats actually a good plan to do with gnome, the other earth familair and some mages, since most people would ignore the mountain route.

>>29416803
Olmm it is then!
We should fortify that place as well as we possible can and prepare for the incoming march. Set up ambush positions all the way into our territory-everything from pitfalls to archer arrow volleys and retreats all the way to the Fort, where we have all our elementals ready to reign down savage natural fury on them like the dogs they are.

...

Sound good?

>>29416830
Yeah, also whats the terrain look like? Could pull some Spartans in a valley, or at least set up under a cliff with the archers above sniping their officers/ thrall masters.

>>29416855
>Thralls sneaking in
A big concern of mine. Actually the thing is, they can sneak in anywhere, into mier, into harrowmont.
Daywalker can just walk into harrowmont pretending to be a human and start causing trouble, which is why it is so important we get more mages

>>29416874
I would like to stall the harrowmont improvements to try and better the Fort in olmns a bit.

OLMM

Name: Olmm
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: Low
Order: Low
Population: 500,000
Military Presence: Very low
Military Experience: Moderate
Resources: Mine network; quarry
Notable Locations:
>Fort Locke - a small fortress that overlooks the mines and quarry of the province.
>Niorte - the largest town in Olmm. It lies close to the southern border, on the highway to the RSK ports. It was the largest town in the former Darlesian territory and has high walls and a sturdy castle.

A few votes

WHERE TO DEFEND
>1. Wherever Taour attacks
>2. Fort Locke
>3. Niorte

PULL GNOME
>1. Bring Gnome come to Olmm, abandoning Harrowmont construction
>2. Have Gnome join Felix to defend Vale from Vitria
>3. Leave Gnome in Harrowmont for construction

>I'm going to leave actual strategy against them for a bit, as you don't know their numbers and can't exactly assault them until they start marching (unless you want to invade Darlesia itself)

>>29416902
>which is why it is so important we get more mages
Well mal is already such a great mage and he needs to be physically in contact with them(which is bad for squishy mages), so i think we either need to find a spell/ward to used against them or build something that can detect them.

>>29416934
>1. Wherever Taour attacks or 3 Niorte
>2. Have Gnome join Felix to defend Vale from Vitria

>>29416934
WHERE TO DEFEND
>1
PULL GNOME
>2
It's best to keep our flank safer, there is a slight chance that the Daywalkers have infiltrated parts of Vitria too and have some measure of influence there.

>>29416934
>2. Fort Locke
1. Bring Gnome come to Olmm, abandoning Harrowmont construction

>>29416922
NO! Niorte is already the best defensive position.

>>29416934
1. Wherever Taour attacks
4. Raid their supply lines between crece and darlkesia

2. Have Gnome join Felix to defend Vale from Vitria

>abandoning Harrowmont construction
Construction will still be ongoing thanks to that other earth elemental we got there. Just slower without gnome

>>29416954
Which is what towers would help with.

>>29416934
>1. Wherever Taour attacks

We really can't decide this, unless we make the route easier to lay into Fort Locke first with Niorte next. If that is possible then, >2. Fort Locke.

>1. Bring Gnome come to Olmm, abandoning Harrowmont construction

I dislike doing it but it needs to be done. Gnome is powerful enough on her own to manage Fort Locke, and she is a commanding presence so she can lead if need be. I do worry about putting way too much effort into a fort that won't be used beyond this and isn't a major choke point otherwise though.

>>29416934
>1. Wherever Taour attacks
>1. Bring Gnome come to Olmm, abandoning Harrowmont construction
But have Sala join Felix instead.

>>29416934
Wouldn't it take Gnome like 2 weeks to get here?

>>29417019
A bit under a week.

>>29417019
nope a week at max though.

>>29416934
>3. Niorte
>2. Have Gnome join Felix to defend Vale from Vitria

>>29416934
How long will it take just the core party (talon, lynn, mal, and elementals) to fast travel to vale from olmm?
Because if its fast enough we can have our underlings fortify it while we personally deal further with vitria, then come back before the fight to defend olmm

>>29416934
>1. Wherever Taour attacks
>2. Have Gnome join Felix to defend Vale from Vitria
I seriously don't understand why people have this massive boner about fort Locke OP HAS SAID IT IS THE WORSE DEFENSIVE POSITION. THE FUCK?

>>29416934
>1 our elementals should be able to create an appropriately favourable battlefield anywhere but somewhere by a river or lake would be great

>2. Have Gnome join Felix to defend Vale
the wall should be done before any attacks even without her

>>29416934
>WHERE TO DEFEND
>1. Wherever Taour attacks
>PULL GNOME
>1. Bring Gnome come to Olmm, abandoning Harrowmont construction
We have 3 elementals lets send either sala or udine to the other side.

>>29416934
Where: >2 They want us dead might as well chill in a fortified position.

Gnome: 3 Take too long to get here and our heart needs defense.

>>29417054
I kind of wish we didn't have to use Fort Locke, but since we decided to keep it and now raze it and it is a major staging point now it has to be fortified first. Otherwise they will occupy it with ease and just dig in again.

>>29417054
Because its the first wall of defense and by letting them take it over a good chunk of the region would be gone, plus if we leave it then they would have the resources to make more stuff.

>>29417100
>now raze it
?
Didn't the QM say that razing it would make things worse in the long run?

>>29417138

Typo *not raze it my mistake.

And he suggested it. Yes.

>>29417052
It'd take you a week+ to get from Vale to Olmm, plus whatever time you'd take in the fighting. Sala could carry one person and make it in about 5 days.

DECISION

>1.

"We'll fight Taour wherever they assault us. We can't afford to let them just charge around the province whilst we hole up in one location."

>2.

"Gnome, I need you to head to Vale to assist with defences there. Your skills will be vital to the defence."

VALE


Name: Vale
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: Low
Order: Moderate
Population: 500,000
Military Presence: Low
Military Experience: Weak
Resources: Small mine network; quarries
Notable Locations:
>Argyle Estate - House Argyle is the largest non-ruling house in Vitria. They maintain a sprawling estate with a large castle - one of the few remaining areas in Gauron with serfdom.
>Castle Gimbon - a castle built by Vitria at the same time as Harrowmont - it was much less ambitious and is better maintained. Even so, its age and quality shows and it will not the hold the pass through to Vitria very well. Gimbon Valley is the only way to Vitria that doesn't involve travelling through much of Vale itself.

WHERE TO DEFEND
>1. Engage them in the open of the province
>2. Hole up in Gimbon Castle
>3. Felix's prerogative

TALON'S POSITION
You do not think it probable that you could fight on both fronts, unless you get very lucky and Taour attacks first and Vitria takes to long to muster.

>1. Move to Vale and have another general defend Olmm
>2. Defend Olmm and leave Vale to Felix

>>29417138
it would loosen control and have to be rebuild at a later date to regain said control and order.
a better plan would be to have it defended maybe lightly but if it were to fall have our men retreat and raze it on the way out

Couple of ideas for increasing our military in the two weeks we have.
1. RSK recently took over some ex Darlesian territory. I imagine there are some Darlesian vets that haven't been coopted yet. Maybe someone should let them know that the Taour are going to attack Olm soon?
2. Smuggler. Mage-Plate. Find one now.
3. Arcane archers. Already been suggested, but bears repeating. get as many as we can before the battle.

>>29417185
>3 Man on the Scene
>2

>>29417185
>3. Felix's prerogative
he has shown more than capable, we need to put our trust in our generals

>2. Defend Olmm and leave Vale to Felix

>>29417185
WHERE TO DEFEND
>3. Felix's prerogative
Let's delegate a bit

TALON'S POSITION
>2. Defend Olmm and leave Vale to Felix
Felix seems competent enough and our particular skills are better put to use against the Vampires

Also I don't recall, where is Sarah in all this ordeal? Maybe we should send her to the Vale if she is not there already

>>29417185
>3. Felix's prerogative
>2. Defend Olmm and leave Vale to Felix

>>29417185
>WHERE TO DEFEND
3. Felix's prerogative
>TALON'S POSITION
2. Defend Olmm and leave Vale to Felix
3. Raiding the Taour supply lines between Crece and Darlesia

>>29417185
Where to D: 3

Talon's: 2

>>29417185
>2. Hole up in Gimbon Castle

Our forces and main strength(Arcane Archers) do best in well fortified positions. It'll have to do.

>2. Defend Olmm and leave Vale to Felix

We have Arail handling things well at home, no need to move him out here. And the daywalkers fear Talon the most, so his presence will likely lead to them delaying the attacks longer so we can fortify better.

>>29417191
Yes this, I agree with this. But we actually retreat this time.

>>29417272
> delaying the attacks longer so we can fortify better

You know that logic works both ways, they are delaying to prepare themselves better too. Actually the ideal would be to maintain Talon's presence concealed from there

>Talon's char sheet
>Unknown Astral Power ? - somehow you are able to channel astral power. Although it has come unbidden previously, you believe you may be able to use it consciously
>believe you may be able to use it consciously
We should totally spend talon's time training this.

Also, I want to ask felix if he has any experience with vampires, I am worried about a daywalker subverting vale while we fight them at Olmm

Actually this whole "turtling" thing worries me. We should be more proactive and define the enemy movements. If they feel their soft back is threatened it could draw their troops away...
What if we convince Farun to take over Deodain? This will cause Taour to shift troops which leaves them more vulnerable to us

>>29417307
> they are delaying to prepare themselves better too
I would like to remind everyone that Taour owns a fully functional heavy mageknight plate factory which is mass producing those, and a broken medium mageknight plate factory. as well as being 2x our size. So they are going to build up their force faster than us.

>>29417329
>Actually this whole "turtling" thing worries me
We are far from doing that in just under 3 months we have taken over 3-4 4 provinces, and are preparing to protect our selves from attacks on both fronts.

>>29417307

Valid point and I thought of it after I posted. Could possibly lead to a stalemate though as well. Which depending upon the situation may make them either lax and easier to attack or turtled up as hard as we are.

>>29417185
>3
>2

>>29417329
And this is why I mentioned before we should per-emptily strike them before they can muster they full strength, every second it passes they are making more mageknight plates and thralls, if we wait too much they can start to snowball us.

>>29417245
>Sarah
She is in Harrowmont. It is doubtful she's be able to help in a battle.

DECISION
>3. and 2.

"General Felix, you're on the ground there and you've done excellently so far - I'm leaving you in charge of the defence of Vale. Defend the province how you see fit and ensure it holds."

"Thank you, Imperator. It should be glorious fun to match wits with the Vitrian general and crush his otherwise superior force."

MILITARY SPLIT

You need to determine how you will split the forces between Vale and Olmm. Olmm has a better garrison (600 regulars), but Vale has a larger one (1200 green). Furthermore, Taour's attack will contain more veterans than Vitria's.
///6.1. Current Army

TOTAL FORCE = 2,262 soldiers
Overall Military Presence = Low
Overall Military Experience = Moderate

40 Flying Mage-Knights
>40 Veterans
50 Heavy Mage-Knights
>50 Green
404 Medium Mage-Knights
>259 Veterans
>145 Regulars
150 Arcane Archers
>150 Veterans
345 Archers
>245 Veterans
>100 Green
1050 Men-at-arms
>190 Veterans
>290 Regulars
>570 Green
23 Battlemages
>23 Regulars
Satisfactory support and logistics corps

>Some discussion on how to split your forces and how you might use them. I'll try to find a consensus or call a vote otherwise once there's some thoughts..

>>29417235
>>29417245
>>29417240
>>29417256
>>29417257

i don't dissagre with this but we should remember that felix is from an order of knights that seek battle

>>29417395
> per-emptily

WELP

I meant prevently strike

>>29417399
Oh, I just realised I forgot to boost the number of green MAA. That's 1250 MAA with 770 Green.

>One of the astral lords went insane
I wonder if it has anything to do with us claiming the source.

>>29417399
>She is in Harrowmont. It is doubtful she's be able to help in a battle.

Well yes but someone who knows Vitria well may be useful for diplomacy and strike last minute deals

>>29417399

We'll need more of our heavies; HSK, Battlemages, Arcane Archers, then Felix as it'll be significantly harder to rout them then general forces. Otherwise, I was 65/20/15 split, majority Olmn(two possible warfronts), second to bolster Felix, and last to lightly garrison home.

>>29417445
she has been doing that, she got us the vale and she convinced the Craol knights to not join the battle until we can meet with them in person... unless we attack vitria itself.

>>29417399
60-40 in favour of Olmm.

Also, send the entire contingent of HMKs to the Vale, while make sure more flying knights are sent to Olmm. We want to be able to raid the supply lines of the less mobile and probably larger vampire force (as it is likely that that will be employing many HMKs again)

>>29417474
Yeah I know, that exactly why I said that. If she is actually in the place she may be able to strike deals faster on our behalf, and by this I mean a joint-defensive agreement with the Craol Knight in case Taour tries also to launch a sneak attack through that area.

>>29417399
I suggest splitting the arcane archers 50/50.
That way both armys have some ability to counter mage knights, and it'll give the greener recruits a moral boost knowing that.
In the end this is going to come down to how long one army holds while we route the other and then send reinforcements to aid.

>>29417530

Mostly it is out of fear for her safety in Vitria itself. As even the big man there is hidden away deep in his castle. So it is unlikely she can do much more there then she does at home.

>>29417503
that is a really good idea.

>>29417534
>50/50
I like that

... I just had an idea, what if taour and oaln are communicating? they could coordinate their strikes to occur on the same day.

>>29417399
See if we can recruit any old Darlessian vets from the RSK provinces. That should help fortify them.
>>29417534
Not sure about that, Remember, we plan to enchant as many more Arcane archers as possible on scene.

>>29417503
>>29417534
I agree. Pretty much what i was thinking.

>>29417556
More blood for the dice gods.

>>29417579
Quick question would it be better to have improved Arcane archers or more arcane archers?

>>29417579

Which likely won't be too much, but still. I'd favor more with us, they can depend against the likely heavier armed forces Taour will send.

>>29417616
Probably more, though as the number increases that will change obviously.
>>29417631
OP said 100 given two weeks.

>>29417616
it depends on the exact costs and benefits of each, if we know the exact values we could calculate mathematically the ideal upgrade point.
But we don't know so we have to guess.

Worth noting that it is possible that any improvements he researches will allow for faster, cheaper construction, so in the long term it will get us more arcane archers.

I am leaning towards some sort of split time between enchanting and designing improvements

A big difference is that felix has just gnome while we have a whole bunch of heavy hitters.

>>29417443
>months back

>>29417584
Alright, 50/50 split on arcane archers. A couple of small matters.

Heavy Mage-Knights

>1. Deploy them all to Olmm to fight the Taouran vets
>2. Deploy them all to Vale to crush the Vitrian recruits
>3. 50/50 split. This may leave you with too few HMKs to make a difference on either battlefield.

Flying Mage-Knights
>1. Deploy them all to Olmm to harry Taouran supply lines
>2. Deploy them all to Vale to harry Vitrian supply lines
>3. 50/50 split. This may leave you with too few FMKs to make a difference on either battlefield.

Otherwise, I'll probably favour a 55/35/10 split (Olmm, Vale, Harrowmont) plus your garrisons. I'm assuming that other than moving Gnome you aren't moving any other of your heavy-hitters (Undine, Sala etc) from Olmm.

>>29417726
>Heavy Mage-Knights
2. Deploy them all to Vale to crush the Vitrian recruits
>Flying Mage-Knights
1. Deploy them all to Olmm to harry Taouran supply lines

We also have to remember that the Taour forces are most likely to strike at night, very possibly in more than one spot. Having our AAs who have the enhancements to see at night will really lead those battles to our favor.

>>29417726
Oh, and recruitment wise:
+100 Arcane Archers from your vet archers
+200 Reg. Men-at-arms over the next fortnight from spreading the word of the coming battles and general recruitment. I'll include them in the split for simplicity.

>>29417726
>1. Deploy them all to Olmm to fight the Taouran vets

>2. Deploy them all to Vale to harry Vitrian supply lines

>>29417726
>2. Deploy them all to Vale to crush the Vitrian recruits
>1. Deploy them all to Olmm to harry Taouran supply lines
How long would the Arcane archer improvements spread and how long would they take?

>>29417756
>>29417726
Actually, consult with felix first and ask what he suggests.

>>29417726
>>2. Deploy them all to Vale to crush the Vitrian recruits.
I'd like them to get some experience instead of going head to head with Vet HMKs.

>2. Deploy them all to Vale to harry Vitrian supply lines

>>29417726
>2
>1

>>29417726
>2. Deploy them all to Vale to crush the Vitrian recruits

We had SERIOUS issues against them with our trained men, those light weights and conscripts will be destroyed.

>1. Deploy them all to Olmm to harry Taouran supply lines

Other then the few that Arail likes to keep.

>>29417726
2
1

>>29417778
>How long would the Arcane archer improvements spread and how long would they take?
Research is difficult to judge - it's possible you get no breakthroughs in the next fortnight. It's highly probably that any research wouldn't be able to be used in enchantment for the coming battles.

>>29417786
Felix isn't too concerned with what you send him - he is happy to make use of whatever you give him to crush the Vitrians.

>2 & 1

HARROWMONT
50 Archers
>50 Green
200 Men-at-arms
>200 Green

OLMM
40 Flying Mage-Knights
>40 Veterans
255 Medium Mage-Knights
>255 Veterans
125 Arcane Archers
>125 Veterans
100 Archers
>100 Veterans
850 Men-at-arms
>190 Veterans
>250 Regulars
>410 Green
13 Battlemages
>13 Regulars

OLMM GARRISON
400 Men-at-arms
>400 Regular
200 Archers
>200 Regular

VALE
50 Heavy Mage-Knights
>50 Green
95 Archers
>45 Veterans
>50 Green
400 Men-at-arms
>240 Regulars
>160 Green
10 Battlemages
>10 Regulars

VALE GARRISON
800 Men-at-arms
>800 Green
400 Archers
>400 Green

>Are there any other matters for this meeting? Otherwise I'll timeskip to when the first of the armies start to march so you can strategise against them.

>>29417399
>404 Medium Mage-Knights
how will we find them all?

>>29418019
Oh, and I missed Vale's 150 MMKS

>>29418036
Sorry?

>>29418019

Not for this meeting but can Talon train something during that time? Or since you mentioned it, see if he can find any of his men with some magical powers, and train them himself? Or just one, Talon doesn't have a page/squire. But be nice to take one on, especially if it is a commoner lad.

>>29418100
Does he learn our ways in pleasing a women as well?

>>29418061
404 file not found.
>>29418019
Could we throw Lynn at our vet mage knights to improve a few of them to elite or something? Also, Sarah does diplomacy things, someone looks for people to sell us mage plate.

>>29418019
maybe have it know that helping you defend against tour is defending humanity against the evil of the vampires. countless humans have already been killed in their feeding camps. at least give a recruitment speech and make sure to do the whole vampires are like Nazis spin, thematically mind you, like if we don't stop them who will and all that jazz

>>29418144
Apparently anyone who spends too much time around that learns that as a matter of course. Regardless of whether or not we're actually teaching.

>>29418144

I thought that was a given. Or he'd be a prodigy like TV GoT Podrick Paine. Either way, hysterical.

>>29418019
Do we have many mounted unit capabilitys?

Sending out runners for recruitment amoung our lands might be worth while.

>>29418100
Having a page/squire? I like that idea

>>29418203

Mounted units aren't too common given that magic can out class them minus the effort that horses take. Our FMKs usually do those sorts of things though.

>>29418100
It depends on what you're looking for in a page/squire. It's doubtful you'd find somebody with anything close to Talon's skills, but you might be able to find somebody with the ability to match, say, Felix after a fair bit of training. If you're interested, I could through up a DC for finding somebody who might fit that.

>>29418151
>Lynn training
You can more or less assume your men actively train.

>>29418203
>Do we have many mounted unit capabilitys?
Mostly replaced by MKs.

>Sending out runners for recruitment amoung our lands might be worth while.
Already happening. You gained 200 soldiers over the two weeks.

>>29418144
>>29418100
>>29418221
I will find it funny if we make a version of Kronos from AI quest.

>>29418144
Maybe we could get Caitlyn to SS him.

>>29418246
>It depends on what you're looking for in a page/squire. It's doubtful you'd find somebody with anything close to Talon's skills, but you might be able to find somebody with the ability to match, say, Felix after a fair bit of training. If you're interested, I could through up a DC for finding somebody who might fit that.
Can we look for some one that has potential to be great?

>>29418246
>I could through up a DC for finding somebody who might fit that.

Do it! Why not! Besides, the lad might always improve(and not many will ever be Talon level anyway) and a males voice might help in our harem every once and awhile.

>>29418246
Sure. Mind you, its probably effectively a recruitment roll for our guard.

>>29418291
>>29418292
[DC19 Find a squire]

If you don't meet it, you'll get somebody who can fight but isn't tremendously capable beyond your average officer (e.g. Nate or Moss).

>>29418246
seems like somewhat of a waste, we recruited lynn because she was already up to par, so was mal and the others, its too much of a time investment to train someone up ourselves, especially when we could be using that time to train ourselves.
For example, that astral power we unlocked, we can try to learn to use it consciously

>>29418257
Can you elaborate? I never took part in AI quest

>>29418305
>>29418292
>>29418291
Plus it should give Lynn a proper rival, instead of a goal to achieve.(us, her father)

Rolled 5

>>29418316

Rolled 8

>>29418316

Rolled 7

>>29418316

>>29418292
>a males voice might help in our harem every once and awhile.
ha, you are assuming our "squire" will be male.

>>29418336
>>29418340
>>29418346
And, no such luck. You can roll again in a few threads time once you've recruited more people, but for now:

SQUIRE
>1. Accept a sub-par squire
>2. Hold out for a better one in the future

>>29418336
>>29418346
>>29418340
Welp.

Though I would prefer us not getting a squire now and try again in the future

>>29418318

I don't know. We can do both, besides Lording usually involves some squiring anyway, he'll be good practice, might lead up to something some day, despite him being average tier because loldice.

>>29418358
>>2. Hold out for a better one in the future

Rolled 3

>>29418358
>2. Hold out for a better one in the future

>>29418358
2

>>29418358
2. Hold out for a better one in the future

>>29418358
>2. Hold out for a better one in the future

>>29418358
> 2 hold for a better one
if we are to spend time in threads on a squire it has to be worth it

>>29418358

>2. Hold out for a better one in the future

Darn. Well I guess we can dedicate time to training our Astral Power.

>>29418323
Its a VI that has the personalty of the murder hobos from when the quest began and the players know they are walking on a tight rope when ever we upgrade him and improve his small army.(he has a decent following on the quest.)

>2 weeks pass

You’ve received word that Taour’s finalising their mustering and beginning to march. You call your cabinet to a meeting, excepting those in Vale and Harrowmont. Felix and Sarah estimate that Vitria are well behind in their mustering and it could be another fortnight before they’re ready to march. If the Taourans start marching in the next day or two, they could be on your doorstep within two days.

TAOURAN FORCE
2000 men in total

100 Flying Mage Knights
500 Mage Knights
300 Archers
50 Battlemages
1050 Men-at-arms

You notice that the Taourans haven’t brought any siege equipment, which likely means they have some mages along to enchant anything they build or otherwise believe their mages could break through your walls.

Interestingly, although Locke is wide-open, the force appears to be moving directly for Niorte.

STRATEGY

>some discussion now, but obvious options are to try to harry them with your mages and elementals, try to cut off supply lines, try a pre-emptive assault on them as they march or to simply hole up. You could also decide to meet them on an open battlefield before they besiege you.

>>29418358
Hold out.
When things are a bit more peaceful we could probably do a little contest for the best.
Either gender allowed.

>>29418358
>2.

So yeah, no squire yet.

>>29418444
>When things are a bit more peaceful we could probably do a little contest for the best.
>Either gender allowed.
That's certainly an interesting idea. I might note that down and bring it up when things are more peaceful.

>>29418431
>Interestingly, although Locke is wide-open, the force appears to be moving directly for Niorte.
They are probably coming for you directly... probably because you killed that daywalker. You could probably use yourself as bait.

>>29418431
>Interestingly, although Locke is wide-open, the force appears to be moving directly for Niorte.

IT'S A GOD DAMN TRAP. Or, desperation, maybe they need more human cattle. Who knows.

Raze the forests around Locke and Niorte. If they want the siege equipment, they'll have to work for it.

>>29418444
>Either gender allowed.

Yes because we need more females to bang and possibly bang. ALWAYS MORE.

>>29418431
That's a lot of mage knights. Have we confirmed the lack of heavies?

>>29418519
Oh, sorry, that should say Medium Mage Knights. HMKs are rare and expensive, so you could very well have taken out all the ones they had deployed in Darlesia at Fort Locke.

>>29418519

Yeah do we have a rough guess on the mix? L/M/H?

>>29418515
Maybe one of these days someone should do an Warlord Quest where we play as fantasy version of Genghis Khan on /d/ or other NSFW board that allows quests

What do you guys think of having our Flying knights, Sala, and Undine staying out of the battle and sneaking around behind and slaughtering their Archers then bugging out after it gets thick and either regrouping or harassing them from behind.

>>29418431
Use the mages and elemental to harry them. In particular Salamander is to try to bait the Flying mage knights into running her down. Into the arms of our waiting arcane archers. Since FMKs skimp on defense it should be a turkey shoot.

>>29418538
I'd play the hell out of that.

So... For Locke is possibly out of the equation. I have a weird feeling it isn't. BUT, we could feign believing they are focusing on Niotre and send out a larger force to Locke, only to have them swing around, and take the forces from behind while they siege.

If they are going after Locke, then we can just have the larger force beat them there and then dig in. So I mean it seems like a win win.

>>29418431
>try to harry them with your mages and elementals
>try to cut off supply lines
Both are good things to do anyways
>try a pre-emptive assault on them as they march or to simply hole up.
This depends on terrain, if they are going to pass through somewhere where we can use the terrain to our advantage.
It might also be possible to divert them from current path and into such an area, heavily trapping it first.

>>29418431
Prepare traps, hit and run ambushes (limited, with arcane archer back up to take out flying knight retaliation forces in trap ambushes) and to take or ruin any supply's along their route.

As for the battle when it reaches the city. well, must plan for that when it comes.

>>29418584
Sounds awfully risky.

>>29418598
no. Stop obsessing over fort Locke

>>29418584
Sala's thing is mass destruction. she is basically artillery.
The ideal usage for her is to just fireball the center of their force from afar.

AMBUSH/TRAPS
With your current force set-up and the time you have, you can only really attempt one of the following options.

>1. Use your mages, FMKs etc to assault their supply lines
>2. Attempt to lay traps, delay them and generally harm them and their morale using your more mobile soldiers (FMKs, mages, archers, elementals etc).
>3. Set-up a solid ambush with a sizeable part of your force to damage the outlying elements of the Taouran army
>4. Custom

>>29418633

I'm clearly not. I'm giving two options that give way to attacking them, Fort Locke can be entirely used as bait by both us and them.

>>29418305
I agree! We have really been lax in regards to our recruitment efforts for our personal guard!

>>29418647
>2. Attempt to lay traps, delay them and generally harm them and their morale using your more mobile soldiers (FMKs, mages, archers, elementals etc).

>>29418647
Anything but 3, I have a bad feeling about this and am wary of organizing a large ambush against them

>>29418647
1 or 2.
not sure which would be more harmful to them

>>29418647
>2. Attempt to lay traps, delay them and generally harm them and their morale using your more mobile soldiers (FMKs, mages, archers, elementals etc).

I feel like their supply lines are them. Vampire armies likely compose of more beaten down men fighting for survival then professional soldiers like ours.

>>29418647
>2. Attempt to lay traps, delay them and generally harm them and their morale using your more mobile soldiers (FMKs, mages, archers, elementals etc).

>>29418647
Their forces don't have seige weapons, they want to end this quickly.

2. would be best.

>>29418647
>>29418702
Actually in retrospect, if we take out their supply lines they might be able to loot locally.
So I am switching to just 2

>>29418647
2

>2.

You elect to engage in a series of magical traps and assaults, without drawing into a major engagement. Do you want to join your archers and elementals as they do this or would you prefer to remain behind and train yourself and bolster your defences more?

>1. Join the hit-and-run attempts
>2. Stay behind

>>29418647
2.

Both 1 and 3 could easily go against us.

Guys notice their FMK count.
We need to be harass-proof, some sort of anti-air from Sala+our FMK would be nice.

>>29418769
>1. Join the hit-and-run attempts

>>29418769
>2. Stay behind

The one time we really don't need to be frontlining it.

>>29418769
Join
>train archery on live targets

>>29418769
>2

>>29418789
Seconding.

>2

Hit and run isn't our style.

>>29418888
Yeah, hit & keep hitting is more like us.

>2.

You elect not to join the hit-and-run team and instead work with your men in preparing for the coming siege and battles.

The first part of the plan Moss and his team came up with involved using Undine and Salamander to use their abilities at range to try to scatter the enemy, to be followed up on if the enemy slips up. The first attempt involved a trap laid as the Taouran forces crossed a brook in the midst of a forested area.

[DC14 First Attempt]

Rolled 14

>>29418962

Didn't know both of them would be going too. But alright.

Rolled 1

>>29418962

Rolled 14

>>29418962

>>29415538
why did you become a vampire?

Rolled 12

>>29419011
I AM SO SORRY GUYS

>>29419025
didn't i mean.

>>29419036

YOU SHOULD BE DAMN IT ALL

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57 KB JPG

>>29419011
All right, I;m going to bet.
Thanks anon.

What's stopping us from making magic mine's, or do this already exist?

>>29419077

Brought up way back in the Second Siege of Harrowmont. I don't remember the exact specifics, but they aren't too common. We kind of made them though.

>>29419077
Mages can do it themselves with spells, no mines needed, but actually creating the mines is a lot more effort than it's worth.

>Dramatic failure

Unfortunately, the sendings you received tell you that the first attempt failed right at the beginning, as the enemy mages detected Undine’s attempt to enchant the stream and countered it. Sala was then spotted and forced to retreat before she could light the forest on fire.

The enemy had fought off the first attempt with little difficulty, and your men had to reposition themselves a lot, costing them at least one other attempt. With that said, they did manage to find one more, as the enemy marched on the highway to Niorte by a large set of bluffs.

[DC14 Last Attempt]

Rolled 10

>>29419133

Rolled 11

>>29419133
Time to redeem myself

Rolled 1

>>29419133

Rolled 10

>>29419133

Rolled 13

>>29419152

You have got to be kidding me.

I'm starting to side with the guy who hates d20s more and more each thread.

>>29419152
oh come fucking on

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8 KB PNG

>>29419152
It seems we forgot to make sacrifices to the dice gods

>>29419175
Each roll counts for more in a quest than a D&D game. Anyway, OP said he was working on a crit negation system at some point. Hopefully that point is now.

>>29419175
But d20s dramatic failures are fun

>>29419175
>>29419216
You'll be getting DH-style fate points, rather than the burn-style points, at a point. I've worked out their mechanics and when I want to introduce them now. Not yet, though. And you'll want to be very certain before you spend one.

>Dramatic failure

Once again, though, the enemy spotted your men. The Taouran flying knights spotted them from above and directed arrows and spells at them. Your forces were suddenly forced to flee under enemy fire.

[DC12 Army Rout]

>>29419216
none of the other rolls succeded anyway, how would the crit be negated.

>inb4 elemental kill

Rolled 2

>>29419252

Rolled 12

>>29419252

Rolled 10

>>29419252

Rolled 19

>>29419252
God dammit work

Rolled 20

>>29419252

>>29419282
>>29419283

god damn, these had to come after the first 3

>>29419301
At least we succeeded this time, and the 19 wouldn't have been any better than the 12

>>29419252

>>29419313
don't reply to me you namefag

Rolled 8

>>29419317

Well good thing Talon wasn't there at least. Maybe? I don't know. Those two nat 1s hurt a lot though. Enemy now has better morale and zero casualties.

>target met

The returning men are in poor spirits, but not as heavily wounded as the sendings had indicated. Moss steps up to you with a salute, looking grim.

“Losses aren’t catastrophic, sir. No more than twenty archers dead, though we did lose some of their equipment. They’re exhausted though, and some of the injuries are bad enough that our healers may not be able to restore them in time for the battle. Those Taourans are no doubt in high spirits now, to see us fail so easily against them.”

>You have lost:
10 Archers
10 Arcane Archers

>Unavailable for the next battle
5 Battlemages
30 Archers

You need to decide what to do now…

>1. Visit the wounded to try to boost morale
>2. Track down Undine for her report
>3. Continue with your work
>4. Custom

>>29419416
>1

>>29419416
>2. Track down Undine for her report

>>29419416
1

Rolled 4

>>29419416
>1. Visit the wounded to try to boost morale

>>29419416
>2. Visit the wounded to try to boost morale

>>29419416
>we did lose some of their equipment.

That is the absolute worst fucking news out of this entire thing. No one else had our tech before, no the enemy does. And they aren't stupid, they ripped the HMKs. Fuck.

>2. Track down Undine for her report

>>29419416
>3. Visit the wounded to try to boost moral

>>29419416
>4 Devise a trap!

The vampires will be overconfident now, thinking that we are weak, let's use that! Make it appear that out force is smaller than it is and have one hate be more lightly defended than the rest.

We let a significant portion of their army into a city square and then fall on them with elements first (ignite oil barrels) and then with our troops)!

Rolled 12

>>29419416
>1. Visit the wounded to try to boost morale
>2. Track down Undine for her report
Both of these are important.(the former for better DC.0

>>29419416
>1. Visit the wounded to try to boost morale

>>29419500
>We let a significant portion of their army into a city square and then fall on them with elements first (ignite oil barrels) and then with our troops)!

We did that at Harrowmont basically. I don't think it'll work nearly half as well this time.

>>29419500
>thousands of soldiers falling from the sky
I know that's not what you meant, but I think it's funnier

>>29419529
Why not? It's a different enemy after all - and they should be overconfident as our two ambushes failed.

>>29419574
A dividing barrier (aka Harrowmont), would also work very well.

We should really use barriers more often, given how good we are at them.

>>29419574

They have fliers and mages, both able to cope with our main ways of separating the army. Which was using the walls to our advantage and snapping barriers close. We could try but they have a lot more ways to counter then the Vitrians did.

>1.

You wander in to the field hospital your men have set-up, and spend some time with the men, trying to lift their spirits. You talk a bit of how Taour still doesn’t have a chance and that they’ll be joining you in the campaign in no time. It goes down well, and despite the general catastrophe that was the ambush attempts, you think that morale won’t be as poorly as it was otherwise. If only you could do the opposite for the Taourans…

Then, oddly enough, you come across Salamander in one of the beds, a healer tending to her. You can see why though, as it appears she took either an arrow as thick as your arm or a mage hit her with some powerful magic. The healer looks to be futilely attempting to use his magic to close up her insides, which are a gory mess around her torso, while Sala tries to shoo him away, not looking to be in much pain.

>1. Leave them be.
>2. Stand there and let the healer do his job, and talk to Sala afterwards.
>3. Step in and try to work out why the healing isn’t working.
>4. Custom