>>31281947
Standing a short distance from the roaring blaze of the farmland, the heat brushing your face, you note idly that the day had been rather nice before all the smoke had choked up the sky. Your logistics mages are currently fighting the blaze in order to prevent it from impeding your march much further. The Taouran army has been trailblazing the way to Hiien for you, quite literally as they burn everything that may be of use to your army as you march. Having done as much during your times retreating from enemies, you had expected this and brought plenty of food and ensured your mages would care for it properly in the cold weather. It may only be a few days march between Hiien and the closest resupply point but if the Taourans have flyers they could make even that perilous in a siege.

An enormous crash sounds further away, and you look over to see that the local windmill has finally collapsed from the fire. Most of the village had already burnt down by the time you arrived, the crop fire spreading much further in the hour or so between you and the Taourans ahead. Thankfully the winds had been absent and there was little danger of a much larger forest fire, especially with Undine being flown around by Salamander to keep a lookout. If this was anything like the previous villages, the occupants would have been whisked away to Hiien to rob you of any desperate volunteers. You’re not sure whether being slaughtered here or fattened up and left in the blood farm that is Hiien is the better fate for them. Probably Hiien as you’re about to capture it, you think.

>continued

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>>31281954
Turning on your heel and marching back into camp, you take in the sight of your enormous army. More than five thousand soldiers stand at your beck and call, making this the largest army you’ve commanded since leaving the RSK. Despite your knack for command, you’re not so foolish as to try and command them all yourself particularly against the much larger force awaiting you at Hiien. You brought one of your generals with you to Raupe, leaving the other to command the front near Darlesia. Stepping into the command tent you find…

>1. General Parras. He is an expert at sieges and excels at nation-building, making him very useful at pacifying the province and Hiien after your conquest. He has strong and particular morals, which may limit your decisions at Hiien.
>2. General Malaine. Loyal and talented, Arail Malaine excels at raids and swift open battles. He will make it easier to contain the Taourans within Hiien and be of greater assistance if they sortie to battle you in the open.
>3. Nobody. This is a dream and you are in Niorte, having left the conquest of Raupe to both Parras and Malaine while you hold down the Darlesian front.

>>31281978
Province Info:
Name: Raupe
Owner: Taour
Control: High
Order: Moderate
Population: 480,000
Military Presence: High
Military Experience: Moderate
Resources: Salt mine
Notable Locations:
>Castle Dalrec - named after the vampire who had it constructed, this castle and the town surrounding it aren't actually part of Taour land. An independent vampire lays claim to it and so far has had their claim upheld.
>Hiien - despite its extraordinary size, this town is clearly not a city. It is instead a huge blood harvesting station of humans for the rulers of Taour. It is heavily guarded - probably the most heavily guarded site in Taour aside from the city itself.

>>31281978
>3

>>31281978
I'd just like to say I think attacking this soon is a mistake.

That said, carry on and good luck to all.

>>31281978
>>1. General Parras. He is an expert at sieges and excels at nation-building, making him very useful at pacifying the province and Hiien after your conquest. He has strong and particular morals, which may limit your decisions at Hiien.

>>31281978
Hard choice, but let's see how good General Parras is.

>>31282095
I disagree about the attacking this soon, the guys that called for the attack had really good reasoning for it, but I think that attacking Darlesia instead of Raupe would be better.

>>31282095
so do I, but what can you do?

>>31281978
>1. General Parras.

>>31281978
>1. General Parras. He is an expert at sieges and excels at nation-building, making him very useful at pacifying the province and Hiien after your conquest. He has strong and particular morals, which may limit your decisions at Hiien.

Arail got a chance to stretch his legs in Vitria. He knows we need him more on other fronts given how much trust we've placed in him.

Let's give this newer acquisition a try and get a better sieging perspective.

>>31282122
Oh I understand why people picked it. But they still have a bigger army then we do, and/or can crush us with said army if we fuck up too badly.

Like I said. May luck be on our side. We're gonna need it.

Still slowly making my way through the archives, and I'm a eurofag so generally don't see threads pop up before I go to bed.

So I just wanna say, as an archive-reader: great job so far aspirational, really liking the quest, even if some of the "advanced" nationbuilding goes over my head a bit.
I also really like the smut.

>>31282193
>But they still have a bigger army then we do
They do? Considering how "small" was the attack against Olmm that supposedly had most of Taour troops in Darlesia and that they really want to kill us there, I kinda doubt that they army bigger than our right now.

>1.

“Imperator,” General Parras greets you, standing around a table with a map of Raupe on it.

You nod to Parras, giving a general greeting to the assembled officers as they greet you. A dozen officers are in the tent aside from Parras and yourself, many of whom you didn’t recognise before conquering Vitria. They’re all bearing the slightly different insignias that mark the new officer rankings you introduced recently.

Arail’s voice crackles over a sending device next to the map, “Imperator, just a short update on the Taouran troop movements. They’ve stopped moving soldiers from Darlesia to the Wall of Lesia, but that still leaves less than two thousand men in the city with minimal defences and supplies. Given that there is at least six thousand soldiers in Crece, now, compared to my own two and a half here in Olmm I was going to limit my actions to harrying the supply lines into Darlesia.”

The officers begin to talk a bit amongst themselves, discussing a few ideas. You pick out Glynn, now a Lt General, arguing with Parras about trying to take Darlesia now while you threaten the capital via Raupe. It’s not completely unsound – the fact that Taour is moving so many troops out of Darlesia means they’re clearly worried about you threatening the capital if you take Raupe. They wouldn’t so easily throw away their recent control of Darlesia otherwise. It would leave Harrowmont far too open should your assault on Hiien go lopsided, however, as the army at Crece could crush Arail’s if he was in the open.

>continued

>>31281978
>1. General Parras. He is an expert at sieges and excels at nation-building, making him very useful at pacifying the province and Hiien after your conquest. He has strong and particular morals, which may limit your decisions at Hiien.

>>31282317
Your soldiers at Raupe: 5,000
Your soldiers at Olmm: 2,000 (plus garrison of 500)
Taouran soldiers at Raupe: 7,000
Taouran soldiers at Crece: 6,000
Taouran soldiers at Darlesia: 1,500

>1. Agree with Arail’s decision to be defensive but with raids. That will leave you in a good position to advance along that front if you take Raupe but not too open if you fail.
>2. Order Arail to take Darlesia. You don’t intend to fail at taking Raupe so it doesn’t matter how open it leaves you.
>3. Order Arail to remain strictly defensive – no raids against Darlesia. There’s too many troops at Crece to risk inciting them into attacking.
>4. Custom

>>31282193
>>31282122
If we succeed here, then they are screwed, and are gonna become desperate.

>>31282331
>1

>>31282331
>2. Order Arail to take Darlesia. You don’t intend to fail at taking Raupe so it doesn’t matter how open it leaves you.

>>31282331
>1
Let's not get ahead of yourself.

>>31282331
>>1. Agree with Arail’s decision to be defensive but with raids. That will leave you in a good position to advance along that front if you take Raupe but not too open if you fail.

>>31282331
>>1. Agree with Arail’s decision to be defensive but with raids. That will leave you in a good position to advance along that front if you take Raupe but not too open if you fail.

Flyers are pretty much made for harrying supply lines. If Moss is around, allow him to converse with Arail about it and give ideas since he seems so effective at it.

>>31282331
>1. Agree with Arail’s decision to be defensive but with raids. That will leave you in a good position to advance along that front if you take Raupe but not too open if you fail.

>>31282345
And if we fail WE'RE screwed.

Hey, Aspirational, any ETA on Sarah FTB pastebin?

>>31282345
Darlesia have a factory even if it's broken, allowing Taour to have it and build more control in the city is not a very good move.

>>31282475
Not completely screwed, but waiting on them to get stronger would had been a bad idea.

>>31282496
Probably not until sometime between the 19th and 26th - I have time off work then. Sorry it's taking so long, but I've been hurrying my plans for the continental phase in case you guys smash Taour.

>>31282515
>but waiting on them to get stronger would had been a bad idea.
Agreed, now explain why in hell we attacked Raupe instead of Darlesia, the place with a fucking magic factory.

>>31282331
2

>>31282551
attacking this place cripples the whole empire and forces them to withdraw troops from Darlesia, and will make them desperate.

>>31282541
Ok, no problem man. Take all the time you need. Was just curious.

>>31282581
And letting they have Darlesia allow them to build power in the city and repair the factory, allowing them to make their army stronger.

>1.

“That’s a good plan, General Malaine,” you say, breaking through the noise of your officers. “If Taour gets more aggressive, I trust you to handle it. We’ll still be available to provide advice whilst we march.”

Arail gives an acknowledgement then falls silent, though the device still hums to indicate he is still on the line. He probably intends to speak to you or another officer after the main meeting is finished. Which doesn’t take too long, as it’s mostly to fill in the time while the mages put out the fire – the morale of the men is still high and there’s been no problems between the Darlesians and Vitrians. Parras is as adept at keeping the men in high spirits as you are.

Arail opens up a dialogue with Parras and Moss after the meeting as you step out and find your elementals. There you find...

>Multiple votes here to determine who you brought along. Undine, Salamander, Lynn and Felix don’t need votes, I figure.

MALORIC
>1. You brought Maloric to fight. He excels in long range anti-mage attacks and long-range barrages.
>2. You left Maloric behind to continue his research.
>3. You sent Mal to help Arail.

GNOME
>1. You brought Gnome to fight. She excels at setting traps and fighting mages and may be useful in a siege.
>2. You left Gnome behind to help with construction.
>3. You sent Gnome to help Arail.

VADORIC
>1. You brought Vadoric to fight. He excels in short range anti-mage attacks and long-range barrages.
>2. You left Vadoric behind.
>3. You sent Vad to help Arail.

>>31282541
We probably won't go after the capital if we take this place.i want to go after every other place before then to get rid of thralls

>>31282641
>2. You left Maloric behind to continue his research.
>1. You brought Gnome to fight. She excels at setting traps and fighting mages and may be useful in a siege.
>1. You brought Vadoric to fight. He excels in short range anti-mage attacks and long-range barrages.

>>31282641
1
1
1
We will need all our power here.

>>31282683
I can get behind this

>>31282643
Going straight against the capital is bad idea, Taour itself proved it with Darlesia, let's take at least Darlesia, Crece and Deodain before taking Taour.

>>31282683
agreed

>>31282641
>2. You left Maloric behind to continue his research.
He has a lot of projects that need time dedicated to them. i.e. Magic crystals and as a resource for our Machinist.
>1. You brought Gnome to fight. She excels at setting traps and fighting mages and may be useful in a siege.
For sure. Bartom has got it, we'll be in the field for awhile.
>1. You brought Vadoric to fight. He excels in short range anti-mage attacks and long-range barrages.
He'll be a solid hand, and we haven't got a true taste of his combat style.

>>31282641
>1. You brought Maloric to fight.
>3. You sent Gnome to help Arail.
>1. You brought Vadoric to fight.

>>31282641
>2
>1
>3

>>31282683
+1

>>31282641
1
1
1

We are outnumbered and the enemy is fortified, and we are going after their biggest asset. We need every scrap of power we can get. Besides which, with all our key players in one spot we can put forth tremendous pressure as well as reduce our losses should it come to that.

Gnome alone we already know can't take all the enemy mages out at once. And mal is needed to detect thralls

>>31282770
PS. we also have Arail fight defensively AND he outnumbers his enemies greatly as they are rushing towards us. So, as tempting as it is to send him help, we need him.

>>31282770
>And mal is needed to detect thralls
Mal trained some of your mages to detect thralls so he's no longer the only person who can do that. Vad can also detect thralls and can do so at a short distance (rather than needing contact) as he'll explain in the next post (as it seems the vote is to bring him). Sorry for not mentioning this before the vote.

>>31281947
>Timeskip since last thread
Weren't we going to stop by the source personally and see if we can recharge our astral powers there (eg, FR points) before going on the assault? (I am asking because I am not sure. I remember suggesting it, but I don't remember if people agreed or disagreed with the notion)

>>31282641
>2. You left Maloric behind to continue his research.
>1. You brought Gnome to fight. She excels at setting traps and fighting mages and may be useful in a siege.
>1. You brought Vadoric to fight. He excels in short range anti-mage attacks and long-range barrages.

>>31282814
I remember that being mentioned, but even if you did go there in the timeskip it had no real effect. Looking at the Source doesn't have the same effect it did at first and you don't really know how to commune with it otherwise.

>>31282808
Excellent news!

>>31282814
We don't really have anything to recharge, since we have not used them yet.

>>31282808
oh, that is good to know.

Actually. did we remember to bring in some chains, nets, manacles, and other such equipment to capture some thralls alive for our dethralling research? (did I even remember to suggest it?)

>>31282844
>We don't really have anything to recharge, since we have not used them yet.
When we first entered the source room, a massive amount of astral power grounded itself into talon.
We have been using astral power quite often since then.
If astral power recharges passively, then we might be at max and the FR points will recharge back up to 3 over time.
But for all we know we are capable of storing 10 or 20 points and 3 is just all the power left in us after having spent it with abandon since that time when it grounded into us.

>>31282877
>Aspir giving us 10 free nat 20s
Thanks anon I needed that chuckle

I have been wondering about the history of the region...
The region is ccalled "Darlesian Region". Darlesia was a kingdom in decline. Vitria used to be part of it until it became independent. I am betting Taour also used to be part of it until the vampires took it.
How big was Darlesia at its peak?

>>31282932
The region is called "Darlesia Region" for a motive, anon.

>>31282877
3 FR points is your max right now. There's a new section in the general pastebin right now. FR points will not be easy to regain given they're very powerful (as rolls aren't that common).

>>31282932
At its peak, Darlesia controlled its own region (including Taour) plus part of the two regions to its south (using the continent map). It also held some of what is now League territory to the west.

>>31282919
that is a reasonable point you raise... meta as hell, but reasonable.

However, I posit that talon is not unique. That whatever made talon become an Astral-Adept has made several others. And even if it didn't, there are surprisingly large amount of creatures our tier or higher.
And in such confrontations we would have to spend the astral power like its water.

>>31282955
thanks for both answers

>2 & 1 & 1

You had decided to bring along most of your comrades, but left Mal behind to continue his research. As much as your friend generally enjoyed adventuring, he’s obviously missing his time spent researching so you left him to his own devices.

All three of your elementals would be here if Undine and Sala weren’t off firespotting, but Gnome lay on her back, staring up at the sky through the fading smoke. Lynn, Felix and his friends are nearby doing some light sparring. It seems that their mutual love of fighting keeps your personal guard in good spirits, though Felix is still as hard to read as ever. Your excitable fox friend on the other hand is… waving his tails around and focusing on something? You don’t really know so you decide to find out.

“What are you doing, Vad?” you ask bluntly.

He doesn’t answer you for a few seconds and you feel that odd warping sensation that signals his use of power. Nothing seems to happen though.

“I’m practicing projecting force over a long distance,” Vad answers, turning to you with a light grin on his face.

“Nothing was happening Vad. Where were you projecting it?”

“Over at the village. Some of the buildings were still upright and its not like anyone needs them. I got a good shot at that windmill, earlier. Took a few hits, though,” he answers.

>continued

>>31283065
You blink. Well, that was new. Turns out it wasn’t the fire that brought it down.

“How hard can you hit?” you ask him.

Vad pauses to think for a bit. “I could probably hit a few mage-knights hard enough to break their ribs at about two hundred metres. My real talents are in taking out mages, though. My abilities punch straight through their magical defences. I need to get up close though.”

“And you mentioned on the way here something about thralls, didn’t you?” you ask. “I thought they could only be sensed when you come into contact with them.”

“That’s for mages, probably. We foxes can pick up the wrongness in them a bit further away. Not more than a few dozen metres away, though,” Vad says.

Well, it seems the fox will make a good addition to your force. At least as strong as your average magister, which you currently lack in your army, but with the benefit of throwing around limited astral power.

>Anything you want to talk to your comrades about before timeskipping for the march?

>>31282964
>Talon isn't unique
Oh, no I know. I figured we'll be fighting our shadow self at some point. Still, FR points are probably like, MASSIVE expenditures of power, since they alter reality on a far larger scale. I doubt we'll ever get 10. Maybe 5 if we spend time developing it? Or we learn how to recharge it? Something like that.

>>31283082
Can Vad teach us how to project force? I can imagine that being useful

>>31283126
"Any chance you can teach me that, Vad?" you ask, half jokingly.

He chuckles. "You plan on growing some tails? Or asking Tsucchi to transplant some on to you? All of spiritual techniques use these - what I can teach you about your powers is more limited to focusing your energy than projecting it."

>>31283082
Let's talk a bit with Gnome, see what her think about what we are doing.

>>31283174
Don't we already know the power?
>Astral Projection I – you may project raw magical energy up to melee distance of minor strength. This projected energy may be used as a barrier, to deflect magical attacks or to propel oneself a moderate distance at high speed. Your usage of astral power for this means you are likely barely scratching the surface.

>>31283174
>Or asking Tsucchi to transplant some on to you?
Mentioning tsucchi by name is an oddly specific way of phrasing it. Does she actually have such an ability?

>>31283220
>up to melee distance
Vad's hitting things further away than that

>>31283228
"Why would Tsucchi be transplanting tails, Vad?"

He shrugs. "It was a joke. She's a scholarly type, like Ren. Most of us foxes don't know a huge amount about what we are but they know a ridiculous amount. if anyboy could do it, she or Ren could."

>Gnome talk next

QUESTION: Do people have difficulty spotting my posts when I do ones like this? I may start using pictures of a specific theme with my posts to make them easier to pick out if you are.

>>31283220
yea, but we have a mental block or just lack of knowledge that is limiting us to melee range even though we should be able to cast at range.
And honestly I am kinda ok with it. We chose to play a knight not a mage at the first thread. My own personal choice was mage > monk > knight (although all 3 were cool as hell and I was really hard pressed to make that choice). But now that the choice is made I would rather stick with it.

... we are able to make WEAK attacks at greater range though, like we did when we used magic to knock the antimagic bomb out of the hand of the assassin. And we apparently make our arrows curve in flight or something since our stance is all wrong yet somehow we hit every time, but only when focused on "our technique", when trying to focus our magic on buffing the arrow's power we instead miss by a LOT

>>31283278
Using pictures is always a good idea to catch attention. I can find you just fine, but others might not.

>>31283278
A little bit of difficulty, yes. You could also add titles to identify your posts easier.

>>31283278
Images help

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I’ll be using setting pics like this so that people can easily pick out my posts in the future.

>Talk with Gnome

You leave Vad to his practice, remembering what he said about needing to spend a lot of time practicing his techniques to use them reliably. Instead you sit down next to Gnome, who redirects her eyes to yours when she spots you.

“Are you always so rash?” she asks before you have a chance to say anything. “Charging off without a chance to rest?”

“I take it this is about this march?” you ask, receiving a nod. “No risk, no gain. We’ve crushed Taouran forces of greater size before. I’ve routed armies that were supposed to cut through my own with ease in the RSK. Taour can build momentum faster than we can so we can’t afford to lose ours.”

“And what if you lose?” she asks.

“Then we retreat, rally and fight them again,” you say. “I don’t intend to lose, however. Do you really think I’m being too rash?”

She falls silent then sighs. “I think you’re being too rash. I know Sala thinks otherwise though. It’s not often she argues with me – which she did when I mentioned it to her and Undine. I also know my former master would probably agree with you, seeing how he certainly never hesitated during the rebellions to fight a superior force. It was his undoing eventually, though, so I hope you are serious about retreating when the time is right.”

>Timeskip post next

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>Timeskip for march

It’s not until the next day that you receive any news of import about Taour, but when it comes it certainly is of importance.

“Imperator, the scouts report that almost the entire army at Hiien has sortied to join with the soldiers we’ve been chasing,” Captain Illon reports to you.

“How many?” you ask, frowning.

“Combined with the rearguard we’ve been chasing, at least six thousand men. I can provide more specifics on numbers within an hour,” Illon answers. “I’d guess their troops won’t reach us until late afternoon if they march hard.”

You have him call a meeting with Parras and your Lt Generals when he has that information. Whoever is commanding the Taouran force obviously thinks their superior numbers will be enough. The advantage of them sortieing is that you’ll be able to choose the battlefield. You’re close to the Marnn range, meaning you can move south and take the high ground. It might be better to rely on manoeuvrability in the open plains, however, as the hills would tire your men faster if you tried the same. They’ll be here in about six or seven hours, but it’s also unlikely they’ll immediately attack after a hard march.

YOUR FORCE
5000 soldiers
50 Flying Mage-Knights
40 Heavy Mage-Knights
900 Medium Mage-Knights
250 Arcane Archers
1000 Archers
700 Heavy Men-at-arms
2000 Men-at-arms
60 Battlemages

>1. Order your army to move into the hilly terrain with the intention of taking the high ground.
>2. Move into the plains for a battle on flatter terrain.
>3. Hold your immediate position, which is somewhere in between, and spend more time building makeshift fortifications.
>4. Custom

>>31283278
I just search the thread for your trip and focus on the highlights.

>>31283558
>1. Order your army to move into the hilly terrain with the intention of taking the high ground.

>>31283558
Take the highground. Get our archers into favorable positions, with the sun in the enemy's eyes. Make like xerxes on them when they try to attack us and blot out the sun.

>>31283558
>1. Order your army to move into the hilly terrain with the intention of taking the high ground.
High ground when we have Undine and time to build traps is too good, even better with Gnome control of earth.

>>31283558
>3

>>31283558
>1. Order your army to move into the hilly terrain with the intention of taking the high ground.

>>31283558
>1. Order your army to move into the hilly terrain with the intention of taking the high ground.

This perfectly sets up Undine and Gnome to set up something like we did at the Second Siege of Harrowmont. Waves of water crashing down the hills, rough terrain, and possible snapping the army in two for a moment of time with Gnome's earth manipulation.

The higher ground battle is our friend and something we've used to great effect before, our men know it and we can do it with even more effectiveness this go around.

>>31283558
>1. Order your army to move into the hilly terrain with the intention of taking the high ground.
The hills would tire our forces AND their forces... the advantage we have in the hills is that of traps. We can repeat the undine icewater traps we used on forces that marched on Harrowmont. And gnome can set up nonmagical rockslides which could be triggered by our troops without even using magic

Also, our general of choice here is the one who specializes in fortifying, we left our maneuverability specialist general on the other front.

>>31283558
To clarify, if we do go for the hills, will have an avenue of retreat or would our back be against the wall?

>>31283738
Gnome could probably carve us a path. And if our backs are against the wall, good. our old friend Sun Tzu said there is no better time to bring out a soldier's strength when the situation is win-or-die.

>>31283682
Agreed and let's see if we can do the same barrier trick that we did in the Second Siege of Harromont.

>>31283738
Depends on how you set up. I'll be trying something a little different for this battle given its size. We'll see how well it goes.

>>31283790
I didn't say either one of them is bad, there are advantages and disadvantages to both, I am curious as to which one it is.

Main disadvantage to the "back against the wall" is if they bypass us entirely to go towards our territory, forcing us to abandon our fortifications and move at them.

>>31283979 replying to self
although alternatively we could proceed to their undefending farms and ruin their day while they ruin ours... so its really a lose-lose approach

>>31283979
>>31284007

But the intention here is clearly to wipe us out with their superior numbers. They're not going to let us leave here to mess with their blood farms. If they decide to take that gamble, they're going to hurt a lot more than we are. No, they're hunting us down here.

>>31284056
Yea, I figured.
Although their numbers are not THAT superior. 6000 vs 5000 troops... I am sure they have a bigger plan here,

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>1.

You give the orders to march into the hills. It takes you a few hours to get the men into a position that will be suitable given the approach vector of the Taourans. You’re about on the edge of where the Marnn range gets almost mountainous and you can see that a half-hour’s march from your current position would give you even higher ground but cut you off from an easy retreat.

As you step into the meeting, you notice that a rough map has been drawn of the surrounding area, cutting off much of the detail. The Taouans are coming from an east-northeast direction. Illon gives you the numbers of their force:

100 Flying Mage-Knights
100 Heavy Mage-Knights
1300 Medium Mage-Knights
2000 Archers
2300 Men-at-arms
200 Battlemages

He estimates that they’ve left mostly archers and battlemages behind at Hiien. With the number of mage-knights here, it seems Taour must have dedicated their magitech foundry to nothing but mage-knight plate. Though you’d guess there’s probably considerably fewer of them in Crece and Darlesia. Luckily, the Taourans have made camp some distance from you and won’t assault until they’re rested. Most likely it will be a night assault before dawn, so that they don’t need to worry about the sun.

The hills have mostly dried since the last rain several weeks ago, and it’s falling below freezing of the nights now. What battle-plans and positions shall you take?

>discussion and question time

>>31284152
they've got a 20% greater headcount than us, that's nothing to sneeze at at all. Wars have been won because of a numerical difference like that. They've probably got some Vampires mixed in there from the main army, too, so being on our A-Game is going to be imperative here. That's why we take the high ground and trap the fuck out of it. Our Arcane Archers are going to destroy them, too.

>>31284209
How's our distance from them? Are our Arcanes able to harry them from this distance? Our main goal needs to be harrassment tactics until the morning, so they didn't get the rest they needed from the march, and they've got the sun in their eyes. In the meantime, Gnome needs to set up some bottlenecks and rockslides, and Undine needs to get the uphill climb as treacherous as possible.

>>31284209

Question. Can we have Sala and Undine focus together to make scalding hot water traps? People mentioned the flood tactic again and I like that. But only this time just use a different temperature. It would possibly by a system shock to many, and could it even make some of the frontliners armours weaker due to the rapid temperature change and assumedly shoddier build?

>>31284209
As always, we should make the foot of the hills a slogging mud slide.

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Last time we accepted a partial surrender we completely fucked it up.
We let the escaping force get away (and reinforce the enemy) AND we let them take with them a bunch of mage plate. It was a disgrace... (IIRC I explained the proper way to accept the surrender but I missed the first hour of the next thread when it actually happened, sadness).

Anyways, if this happens again where we accept a partial surrender, I want to do it right this time. So here is a step by step of the process.

>>31284338
I rather like that, actually. With the downhill slide, we could just have them channel mana constantly and turn their downward position into a boiling floodplain. that'd fuck them up massively.

We should get Undine to make lots of that traps from the Second Siege of Harrowmont, considering how cold the place is at nights, if we can get the traps in the right places we could cut the effectiveness of the Tauron army by a huge amount.

I think that we should also see with Salamander if se she can make traps.

>>31284209
Have Gnome and Undine start work on traps focused on the Northeast front while half the army rests and the the other half works on fortifications with only a light amount on the NorthEast side to attract attention to it have the men take sifts so that they are rested for the fight

>>31284334
They're literally miles away from you. At least an hours march, maybe two. You'll at least have plenty of warning before they assault you, but you'll find it difficult to harass them.

>>31284338
>Can we have Sala and Undine focus together to make scalding hot water traps?
Yes they can, but it will mean that Sala will go into the fight with lower mana reserves (about 75%) as she'll need to actively maintain the high temperature against the freezing temp.

>>31284209
>Most likely it will be a night assault before dawn, so that they don’t need to worry about the sun.
Aha... I think I see (a possible) plan of theirs now. I bet their 6000 troops are human and are carting around lots of "supplies" I bet those "supplies" are actually vampires inside sunproof containers.
Once night falls, they can burst out and swell their numbers

>>31284446
Wait. Are you saying she'll have 75% to use, or she's losing 75% maintaining against the cold?

>>31284338
I disagree with this, the place is cold as hell I think that we should use that and get Salamander to do other things.

>>31284240
I think they have a mage-plate adventage over us too.

>>31284446
>>31284338
I think freezing water traps are more effective use of our resources than scaling water.
Sala can just shoot fireballs when the battle starts.

>>31284500
Exactly. They've got us on almost all fronts, so we have to force them to play by our rules. Gnome raises a bottleneck, we trap the fuck out of it, and force them to march through mud and slime into our killzone. big-ass boulders knocking them back down the hill will be advantageous as well.

>>31284525
Oh, shit. using undine on the ground to flood it would just turn it into Ice, wouldn't it?

That's even better than the mud! they'll be slip-sliding all the way up to our position! easy pickings for archers!

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>>31284485
The former. 75% remaining.

>>31284426
>Salamander traps
You'll need to think of some of your own. Sala's fresh out of ideas, being a 'fly in and fry them' kind of girl.

>>31284439
>Gnome traps
Given the terrain, Gnome has almost limitless ability here. Rockslides are an obvious one, but there's also tricks that you tried when defending Castle Gimbon back in Vale (chasm, quicksand traps). She can also make fortifications.

Guy, how we should use Gnome in this? Make her do rollings stones and drop in them when they get close? Make the place harder for them to use? Hole traps? Wall?

>>31284551
>Exactly. They've got us on almost all fronts
well, not all. We should have a serious advantage in special individual count (talon, sala, undine, gnome, lynn, etc).
It is a huge fucking shame we left mal behind though. gnome is NOT going to be able to single handedly depower the 200 enemy mages. Gnome and Mal working together probably could.
The result would be more casualties for us, (even if we win, we still lose some men probably)

>>31284578
Ask Sala if she can can compress a huge amount of fire in a trap similar to Undine's, but with the objective of exploding and launching flames everywhere.

>>31284578
well, with quicksand traps we know enemy mages can stop that. If we had mal here to depower them at range that would work, but we left him behind...
Rockslide on the other hand, I don't think they can stop, its just way too much force.

>>31284578
Hey, Aspir. How about we combine Gnome and Salamander together for traps, and create some firespurts out of the ground? sorta like the Fire Swamp in the Princess Bride?

>>31284578
what was the chasm thing? I don't remember a chasm

>>31284635
Honestly, I think sala should just conserve her power to rain fireballs on the enemy when they get to the end instead of making more traps.

BUT... what we can do is pour large quantities of vegetable oil over certain surfaces. so when sala throws a fireball there, it doesn't just burn the initial troops, but starts a fire.

>>31284638
Agreed, Gnome should make a lot of rocks for rockslide and do some chasm to make things harder for the enemy.

>>31284684
>I think sala should just conserve her power to rain fireballs on the enemy when they get to the end instead of making more traps.
I don't think that making a trap or two is going to take so much mana that she can't regain it before the start of the battle, especially considering how much shit we make Undine and Gnome do and they yet get to wreck lots of shit in battle.

>>31284578
>Gnome
Rock slides
Fortifications
Harder to climb terrain

>Udine
Freeze the ice/slippery ground
Hail/icicles rain down
Flood goes down the hill(might need gnome)

>Salamander
Spraying fire balls
Causing a wall of fire to be near them to draw out the oxygen
molten rock slide(will need gneom)

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>>31284635
Well, she could but it would be no easier for her than just summoning a fireball but would burn a lot more mana. Unlike with Undine's water and Gnome's earth, she would need to actively maintain the fire which takes a bit out of her. Sala throws around more raw power at once, but has difficulty maintaining it for long periods.

>>31284684
>what was the chasm thing? I don't remember a chasm
A wide and deep chasm around the gatehouse stopped their battering ram at Castle Gimbon.

>>31284662
Gnome could probably create pitch/tar geysers with Undine's help and Sala could light them as the enemy charges past them.

>>31284580
Gnome + Sala = Flaming Rockslide

>>31284749
Throw in some bigass walls leading up to us so they're not able to simply walk around the traps, and I vote for this.

>>31284723
So far I am pretty much the only one who suggested a plausible trap for sala... in the same post you quoted.
Where we cover certain areas with vegetable oil for her to set on fire at range when enemies are on top of it

>>31284754
>>31284684
>>31284749

I think these are the best uses of everybody. let's do this, and get some fortifications built for our archers while we've got time.

>>31284749
Agreed.

>>31284749
>Hail/icicles rain down
we were repeated told that undine cannot control the weather in any way shape or form.

What she can do is toss conjured icicles at small groups or individuals once the battle has started (at a limited range)

>Causing a wall of fire to be near them to draw out the oxygen
why make a wall of fire next to someone to indirectly hurt them, when you can fireball them?
Also, she conjures fire. as such it will have 0 effect on the oxygen content of the air (you need to actually combust a material in order to use up local oxygen)

>molten rock slide(will need gneom)
that is lava and it is less effective than a regular rock slide. It fixes rocks in place instead of loosening them and adding them to the slide, and it moves slower

>>31284754
>A wide and deep chasm around the gatehouse stopped their battering ram at Castle Gimbon.

Side note, did we ever find out how deep that was? I remember it being somewhat frightening.

>>31284861
Fucking this.

>>31284846
>>31284830
please remember that we have a limited amount of time and mana.
If gnome makes a chasm, she will make fewer traps. If sala helps with traps, she will have less mana once battle started.

As such, I think we should focus on spamming a few highly effective things rather then saying "DO EVERYTHING!"

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>>31284877
Around 10m deep, IIRC.

I'll basically be going with this >>31284749 for traps unless there's any complaints. Gnome's traps are rockslides, building fortifications. Undine will do flood traps and freeze a lot of the ground. Two votes are below, though.

FLOOD TRAP VOTE
>1. Scalding water. This will use 25% of Sala's power.
>2. Cold water.

BURNING PITCH
>1. Spread pitch/tar/vegetable oil around the ground for Sala to light mid-battle. Minimal usage of time by Gnome and Undine.
>2. Set up pitch/tar/oil geysers that can activated mid-battle to spray all over the advancing troops so Sala can light them on fire mid-battle. This will reduce the amount of other traps Gnome and Undine can create.
>3. Don't use this trap.

>>31284861
Alright, so, scratch these ideas. Can somebody put together a combo list of all the viable ideas so far?

>>31284861
>we were repeated told that undine cannot control the weather in any way shape or form.
You get the idea, plus i figured she would have an easier time in this weather.
>>31284861
>why make a wall of fire next to someone to indirectly hurt them, when you can fireball them?
Noted, i was really reaching for that one.
>>31284861
>that is lava and it is less effective than a regular rock slide. It fixes rocks in place instead of loosening them and adding them to the slide, and it moves slower
Worded badly, meant to say something akin to a rocks slide but covered in fire, or if you want the literal version make the ground painful to walk on and slowing them down.

>>31284926
>2. Cold water.
>1. Spread pitch/tar/vegetable oil around the ground for Sala to light mid-battle. Minimal usage of time by Gnome and Undine.

>>31284926
>2. Cold water.
>2. Set up pitch/tar/oil geysers that can activated mid-battle to spray all over the advancing troops so Sala can light them on fire mid-battle. This will reduce the amount of other traps Gnome and Undine can create.

>>31284926
>2. Set up pitch/tar/oil geysers that can activated mid-battle to spray all over the advancing troops so Sala can light them on fire mid-battle. This will reduce the amount of other traps Gnome and Undine can create.

>>31284926
2
2

>>31284926
>1. Scalding water. This will use 25% of Sala's power.
The weathers freezing so it will have the twice the effect.
>>31284926
>1. Spread pitch/tar/vegetable oil around the ground for Sala to light mid-battle. Minimal usage of time by Gnome and Undine.

>>31284926
FLOOD TRAP VOTE
>2. Cold water.
BURNING PITCH
torn between 1 and 2

>>31284946
>Worded badly, meant to say something akin to a rocks slide but covered in fire, or if you want the literal version make the ground painful to walk on and slowing them down.
that is better, but still seems unnecessary. anything hit by a rockslide is dead. if the rocks are covered in burning oil it doesn't really help. and wastes a burning oil trap which would have been deadly effective if done elsewhere

>>31285024
I was thinking that when the rocks hit they explode in fire and rock.

>>31285064
this is really not necessary. rock slides are extremely ridiculously deadly.

>>31285123
why not more deadly?

>>31285142
We don't need to be wasting time and resources on overkill. In this instance, regular dead is good enough.

>>31285172
We used it last time, and it was a success.

>>31285123
>rock slides are extremely ridiculously deadly.
In the real world, but in this world things like the MM exist and we don't know how effective the rockslide is going to be, but I agree with that his idea is not really necessary.

>>31285142
1. anything hit by a rockslide is dead (except maybe vampires), you are seriously udnerestimating how much power it has.
2. how exactly will your proximity thing trigger? because if it is on impact then it will explode right away rather then when it hits an enemy. at which point the rabble has less displacement power and more surface area resulting in the slide petering out sooner.

>>31285123
not really.

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>2 & 2

GNOME TRAPS
Rockslides (main focus)
Fortifications (with help from soldiers)
Creating pitch geysers with Undine

UNDINE TRAPS
Freezing ground on hillsides
Cold water flood traps on hillsides
Creating pitch geysers with Gnome

Sala keeps all her energy for the fighting.

TACTICS DISC

Map and enemy troop list at >>31284209

Troop list at >>31283558

You are currently positioned on hilly terrain that the Taourans must advance up. Do you want to relocate to higher ground? This will limit your ability to retreat, except further into the mountain range.

Also, you need to decide what role you want Gnome, Undine, Sala, Vad and yourself to play in the battle as well as what positions you’ll place your troops in.

Talon’s thoughts: “The enemy has a lot of battle-mages and archers. Even with Mal, it would be difficult to fight back against a constant long-range barrage. Without him, we’ll need some way to neutralise them. We’re also short on flying knights compared to theirs. Vad and Gnome are good against mages, as are the HMKs. Sala will find it difficult so long as those mages are active, however. It also may be a good idea to remain in command, rather than joining the battle itself, at least at first.”

>>31285231
>in this world things like the MM exist
what is MM?

>>31285251
Medium-Mage.

>>31285244
250 arcane archers? wow...
i am imagining them sniping the enemy airforce out of the sky, the enemy mages who think they are out of range... the enemy heavy mage knights who think they are safe... hehehe.
better not play out that card too early in the fight

>>31285251
I think he's talking about the Medium Mageknights.

>>31285244

How are we going to deal with these mages, guys? they're going to be a pain in our ass unless we kill them quickly.

>>31285314
I think that we should get our mages, Vad and Gnome to focus in them. The Arcanes Archers would focus the Flying Mage-Knights at first and in the mages later.

>>31285244
The Arcane Archers, with the benefit of higher ground and longer base range then regular archers, will open fire on the regular mage knights at maximum range. Talon meditates and charges an exploady arrow before the fight, which he will fire into the mass of enemy mages when they advance. Gnome and Fluffy tails will disrupt and target enemy mages. Sala will be on Flying mage knight duty, while Undine will trigger hidden drenching traps on the Archers. Have you ever tried to shoot with a wet bowstring>

>>31285392
Yeah, our Arcanes are going to fuck up those Flyers. We should hold back on ours until they're been swatted down, then we'll have air superiority in the fight.

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>>31285392
>Vad and Gnome to focus in them
Both Vad and Gnome need to be in CQC to take down mages easily. They're disruptive abilities at a distance are relatively minimal, as you saw with Gnome when you were under magical barrage at Castle Gimbon.

Also, talented battlemages can probably match the range of your AAs, though not all of them. Said battlemage would also make a mess of your archers if he got a good shot in and his protective barriers would block most AA shots. Also remember that Taour's faced your AAs before so don't count on having the element of surprise. Your AAs could obliterate their flyers easily, though.

>>31285488
AA to focus in the flyers and after that in the MMK then, out of ideas jn how deal with the enemy mages.

>>31285488
Alright. First task is to gain air superiority through AAs. We'll use our flyers to harass their battlemages and keep them off our artillery until Vad and Gnome are in position to counter them directly.

>>31285590
Add Salamander to help the AAs.

>>31285488

It's a shame we've never confirmed if the Source had something to do with Talon's Astral stuff being amplified or not.

I only say this because of an off hand remark about how the Source in Harrowmont would mess up some of the magic if we tried to build a Magitech Factory there. I assume it's some sort of aura effect. If Talon could replicate it would be... Useful.

>>31285488
>We get screwed over by mages in several fights because we don't have mal to suppress them at range
>We keep on choosing to not bring him with us
well that was a brilliant idea.

>>31285633
Hey, don't look at me, that decision was already made when I got here.

>>31285633
Yes, that was really dumb and I yet don't know the reasoning behind not bringing him.

>>31285621
it's not really an aura effect. The Source emits large amounts of ambient energy into its surroundings. Magitech factories rely on drawing relatively controlled amounts of energy - if you place one in a different area it would need to be calibrated for the higher amount of ambient energy.

>>31285647
I'm assuming people wanted him to research more.

Alright, so unless there's any new ideas I'll call a few final votes.

BATTLEFIELD VOTE
>1. Remain on the lower hilly terrain to maintain an escape route and more maneovrability.
>2. Move to higher ground, potentially cutting off your escape route and reducing your responsiveness but causing the enemy to tire more easily, giving your archers greater range and maknig your traps more effective.

SORTIE VOTE
>1. Prepare your HMKs, Vad and Gnome for a sortie mid-battle to eliminate the enemy mages if an opening emerges.
>2. Keep your HMKs, Gnome and Vad on the frontlines to help your men.

There'll be a short break for any new ideas to be proposed before I do the opening post of the battle.

>>31285633

I think it's more of a clear misuse of our own Battlemages and a total lack of focus on bolstering that side of our army or training/outfitting them like we do with the more physical side. Mal is just one man, he can't do it all. Even with his pimping new staff.

>>31285703
>2
>1

>>31285703
>2. Move to higher ground, potentially cutting off your escape route and reducing your responsiveness but causing the enemy to tire more easily, giving your archers greater range and maknig your traps more effective.
>1. Prepare your HMKs, Vad and Gnome for a sortie mid-battle to eliminate the enemy mages if an opening emerges.

>>31285724
Note to self, train our mages more.
>>31285703
2
1

>>31285703
>2
>1

>>31285703
>2
>1

>>31285703
>2. Move to higher ground
>1. Prepare your HMKs, Vad and Gnome
But make Vad attack the enemy flyers and MMK while they wait.

>>31285703
2
2

Also, what can we do to prepare against vampire infiltrators guys?
I am thinking put some mage knights near soft targets (mages / archers). And have a mobile reserve force that can aid against such an attack (or any other surprise)

>>31285703
>1. Remain on the lower hilly terrain to maintain an escape route and more maneovrability.

Keep your promise, guys.

>1. Prepare your HMKs, Vad and Gnome for a sortie mid-battle to eliminate the enemy mages if an opening emerges.

>>31285812
Get a Flyers or two to pay attention to that.

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>>31285768
One thing you might consider doing is trying to butter up the mage towers in Vitria so as to recruit more battlemages.

Also, as it's safe to say this now, if you'd focused on Darlesia rather than Vitria you'd be mage-heavy rather than magitech heavy.

>>31285815
>Keep your promise, guys.
I was wondering if somebody would remember that.

I'll probably be doing the first post of the battle in about 20-30 minutes. After that it will be constant posting and rolling for about 5+ hours.

>>31285815
Also, taking both 1 options means that they synergize, considering that we get bonus maneuverability for reaching the mages.

>>31285815
Shit, you're right. changing >>31285768
to
1
1

>>31285703
>1
>2

>>31285815
what promise?

>>31285844

>spoiler

At this moment I'm alright with that, mostly because it helped free up a lot of resources wasted on straight enchanting.

>>31285815
Changing my vote(>31285790) to this.

>>31285900
The one we made where we wouldn't be rash.

>>31285844
>Also, as it's safe to say this now, if you'd focused on Darlesia rather than Vitria you'd be mage-heavy rather than magitech heavy.
good point. we would have all the mage-rebels from darlesia. but wouldn't have such a strong arcane archer force

>>31285918
when did we promise this and to whom?

>>31285960
This thread and to Gnome.

>>31285960
This promise to Gnome here >>31283426

>>31285960
>>31285900

The promise to Gnome me made this very thread.

>>31285978
>>31285982
that wasn't a promise, that was an answer to a question "Q: what if you lose" "A: I retreat"
that being said, it is worth sticking to it rather then making it into a lie.
So... I am changing my vote from
>2. Move to higher ground
to
>1. Remain on the lower hilly terrain

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Alright, with all these vote changes, I'm going to just call a revote on the higher ground option. Contentious voting rules to get it done quickly.

Option 1
Move to higher ground

Option 2
Stay on lower ground

Rules for voting are to make a post with a link to this post and the number you are voting for. No other text, no greentexting the number. All informal votes will be discarded. Voting window will be five minutes after the first vote.

>>31286093
2

>>31286093
2

>>31286093
guys by voting 2 we'll be making it more likely we'll have to retreat
why u wanna give them the high ground when they have 20% more than us already

>>31286093
2

>>31286093
1

>>31286093
1

>>31286093
1

>>31286093
2

>>31286120
It's called "don't lose all of our goddamn men trying to beat down one army".

Plus, should we get the opportunity to pounce on their mages, we have the maneuverability to make it happen.

And if they go uphill to take it, we'll just activate the magical traps there and fuck 'em up.

>>31286141
don't greentext or it doesn't count

>>31286120
We still have the high ground, it is just not QUITE as high

>>31286093
2

>>31286093
1

Calling vote here.

>>31286185
my bad I'm used to the green text only votes

Rolled 2

>>31286208
Tie-breaker roll, numbers correspond to options of last vote. Funny how even after two votes it's still not decided.

>>31286093
2

>>31286244
Well, at least we're all now more aware of the things we tell our subordinates. I'm happy for this.

>>31286309
Agreed.

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Rolled 1

>Lower ground and sortie chosen

The hours pass quickly as Gnome, Undine and your men work hard. You only have a number of hours to make preparations if you want your men to be rested for a before dawn attack. Gnome still finds the time between setting her traps to erect some sturdy fortifications and direct the men to reinforce them. Although there is nowhere near as much hillside to cover with ice and traps, the sisters still do a good job of doing so. Below the hill line Undine and Gnome set up a well of pitch that Undine can trigger to burst up in a number of geysers. It took more time than they expected, reducing the number of flood traps, but if it works it should cover most of the advancing army and make easy picking for Sala’s fire.

After posting watches for any surprises, you rest and are awoken several hours later by Lynn. The Taourans are on the march and you need to rally your men.

It doesn’t take long for everybody to get into position and the enemy is still a half-hour away from you. You’ve grounded your fliers, so scouting is limited except for Vad’s scrying attempts. If they’ve got any nightwalkers or a daywalker in their army, you won’t know until they hit you.

As they march, you decide now is the time for an inspiring speech. Your men are a little tired and facing a greater foe. They could use a boost to morale.

[DC12 Inspirational Speech]

I’ll try to incorporate write-ins if offered.

Rolled 1

>>31286375

Rolled 12

>>31286375

>>31286448
welp

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Rolled 3

>>31286375

Rolled 12

>>31286375

>>31286448
Now how do we fuck a speech up THIS badly?

>>31286448
Fuck you.

Rolled 19

>>31286375

Someone please come up with a really good speech, fast.

Rolled 9

>>31286448
Oh, god this is going to be a great night.

>>31286488
How about we purposely come up with hilariously bad speeches?

>>31286526
Even better.

Rolled 13

>>31286463
>Now how do we fuck a speech up THIS badly?
We focus too much on how they outnumber us?
Also, the men are mostly not people who have served with talon before so they don't believe we can do as good a job?

>>31286375
>>31286488
>>31286526

"I know they outnumber us heavily, and many of you will die in this battle, which we will probably lose and end up retreating from. But there is an upside! If one of you could think of that upside and tell me I would be much obliged."

>>31286526
this could be interesting end it with something about us knowing they are more than capable of winning this try to make the speech humorous

Rolled 5

>>31286557
oooh... some vampire infiltrators attack mid speech!

>>31286557
So Talon gives what he thinks is a fine speech, walks into a tent, and then Gnome slaps him in the face because he just made the entire inexperienced company depressed.

Thanks, nat 1.

Rolled 4

I am reminded of the speech Elan gave in OOTS about how "they may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom!" and then "unless they raise us as undead... or ... or..."
In this case "sure they outnumber us, but will never lose the will to fight... err, unless they capture us and turn us into thralls and or feedstock"

>>31286607
That actually would be hilarious. The speech would have worked perfectly fine with hardened veterans who know us...

Oh, we use magic to make sure everyone hears us, right? well, maybe the magic malfunctions and the guys in the back don't hear anything?

>>31286631
Maybe some smartass soldiers will yell those comments out during our speech.

We'd at least be able to chew them out afterwards, maybe make examples out of them.

>>31286670
>maybe make examples out of them.
that is going too far and a might harm morale further (what a tyrant!)
Chewing out is fine though.

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>>31286448
Our first fucking roll...

>>31286670
>Maybe some smartass soldiers will yell those comments out during our speech.
thralled spies?

>>31286686
The question is, will the rest of the rolls continue this thrend. I remember one thread we had 3 rolls total in that thread... first was a nat 1, next two were nat 20.

>>31286721
Nah, just dicks who think they're being hilarious, and they just cancel our positive speech out with their dissent.

>>31286462
>Nat 1 pic
Sigh, I just knew this would happen... I should mention that I did NOT see the nat 1 roll when I posted that reply.

>>31286721
We can only dream. In the meantime, Talon continues his hysterically infuriating trend of not being able to talk to anybody for shit.

>>31286721
Last time that we got bad rolls at beginning we ended absolutely wrecking the enemy army and ended with 0 loses total, the enemy was also Taour.

>>31286746
Oho... I got an idea... we plagiarize some really good portions from an old historical speech we thought was obscure... but turns out it is well known in vitria... maybe due to some trashy romance novel (after all, there are some of us) "Nice speech there Eugh Hefner *snicker snicker*"

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>dramatic failure

“Soldiers, one and all,” you shout into the silent air. “This morning we shall fight with all our vigour. All of our valour. The vampires that come for us, their slaves, their servants – they shall fall no matter their ferocity. We hold the high ground, the ability and even though they outnumber us, I have faith you. Many of you are the elites that have held Vitria from all foes since its independence, so I know you are capable. And the Darlesians are just as capable, having fought the vampires countless times in the last few years.”

You let your voice die down, sensing that things are getting worse from your speech. You’re not entirely sure why, really.

“Were they this depressed yesterday?” you ask Phrace who is next to you.

“A lot of the Vitrians are worried about the vampires, I think. They’ve been antsy. The veterans from Craol have only fought minor skirmishes with Taour and never against a vampire, unlike us Darlesians. Things kind of went backwards overnight, too, as we tried to talk them up. Given we did lose in the end…”

>continued

>>31286758
>We can only dream. In the meantime, Talon continues his hysterically infuriating trend of not being able to talk to anybody for shit.
mmm, well we have been doing most of our stuff through astral power (as our enfeeblement and archery has shown). So maybe our charisma and speakgood also has a magical component, and ever since our exposure to the source and sudden growth spurt in astral power, it has been in flux between failure and success?

>>31286845
Oh. Maybe you shouldn’t have underestimated the morale effect of fighting vampires. Not everybody is experienced against them as yourself or Salamander, and a lot of these Vitrians know little of you beyond having just… conquered Vitria. Lovely. You shake your head and let your officers know to try to raise morale a little more directly.

The march of the enemy can be heard for almost twenty minutes as they approach and your men maintain a level of quiet, broken only by the occasional cough or mutter, a dire signal of their morale. If the opening stages of the battle go well, hopefully they’ll recover.

The Taourans advance cautiously, leading with the mage-knights with shields up, at the front. If you’re not wrong, they’re screening for the archers. The mages also appear to have broken up into smaller units. The men who fled from Niorte have obviously told their masters of how you fought them. Still, if the mages are spread out that will prevent them from casting any truly powerful rituals to wreak havoc. It will just be a matter of picking out any magisters that might pose a major threat.

Suddenly, their knights break ranks and retreat around the sides, leaving more than two thousand archers and mages finishing their advance into position. They’re all well in range of your men, thanks to your height advantage. You give the order for everybody to prepare a volley, with the arcane archers targeting mages seeing that the flying knights aren’t present.

[DC11/17 Archery]

Rolled 10

>>31286868

Rolled 12

>>31286868

Rolled 9

>>31286868

Rolled 17

>>31286868

Rolled 16

>>31286868

Rolled 20

>>31286868
pls dice gods

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>>31286891

Rolled 14

>>31286891
>>31286892
>>31286897
oh you have got to be shitting me!

well, at least it wasn't a fail or a crit fail

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Rolled 1

>>31286897
I THINK THEY HEARD YOU, BUDDY

>>31286897
WHY DIDN'T YOU POST SOONER!?!?!

>>31286897
>>31286892
>>31286891
Holy shit, fuck you /tg/ dices.

>>31286912
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!?!!

Rolled 3

>>31286912
I THINK THEY HEARD YOU TO BUDDY

Rolled 3

>>31286917
tg dice work off of a timer, had they rolled sooner they would have gotten a different result

Rolled 12

>>31286912
NAT 1 PLS

>>31286960
I care not for the excuses!

Rolled 4

>>31286960
it occurs to me, that this means it is likely possible to cheat tg dice

Rolled 3

>>31287050
easy enough if you knew the exact formula it uses.

>>31287050
With a script accurate to the millisecond and using the same RNG system, sure.

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>>31287050
>>31287075
>>31287092

Are you contemplating what I'm contemplating, Pinky?

>>31287092
And once you know what exact time you want to post to get that result, you'd have to hope the post gets through at the same millisecond you want.

>>31287125
is the answer pie brain?

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>Target met

The first volley of the night is yours, as is first blood, and a hail of arrows and magic hurtles across the battlefield against the ill-prepared foe. You attempt to pour some astral power into your arrow in order to give it that extra punch, but your focus is disrupted by the odd warping sensation of Vad using his spiritual techniques. Even so, you manage to focus yourself in your own odd way and drive an arrow through the skull of a mage wearing rather ostentatious equipment. Your men quickly ready for a second volley, as screams and shouts echo from the Taourans. Fire lights the night briefly before being put out.

The Taourans are nearly ready to fire themselves when your second volley launches. And is stopped dead by a large magical barrier. The mages, spread out across the archer ranks, have managed to focus and erect a barrier in front of the archers that repels your arrows, even the enchanted ones from your elites. Several of their men still fall though, presumably from yours and Vad’s assault.

Then the barrier falls, the patterns and lines beneath the mages dulling, and a counter-volley is launched. Your own battle-mages are ready and they trigger their own barrier, stopping their arrows dead. You hadn’t thought it would help much, but if the Taourans are busy using their mages defensively then they cannot penetrate your barrier – except they certainly don’t need all their mages on the barrier but you will.

You need to counter those mages somehow before they start to shatter your barrier and fortifications. There’s so many of them spread out that even your idea of a sortie won’t be too effective.

>How will you try to break this impasse? Or will you try to wait out the Taourans?

>>31287168
are they in the range of our traps? Lets see how well their mages maintain composure while being flooded and rockslided.

>>31287168
Do any of our flyers have ranged capabilites? if so, can't we circle around the barrier and pick at the mages maintaining it?

Or, if we really want to be tricky about it, we could have Gnome set off some kind of localized Earthquake around their forces. I bet that's too much for her power level right now, though.

Rolled 13

>>31287168
1, They drop their barrier right before shooting.
Have arcane archers each aim at an enemy mage and fire EXACTLY when it happens
2. Are they in range of a rock slide? I would like to see their shield try to block that :)
3. Maybe we could try to use our barrier break with an arrow instead of a melee strike?
4. We could just turtle up behind cover against their volleys for a little while... this will get them a false sense of security, eventually they will drive forward, and their own mages would waste their power on shields against non existent attacks.

Also... are their fliers in the air or still grounded?

>>31287273
the mages are spread out throughout their forces instead of being in a single group.
If our fliers (who are few) tried that they would be decimated

>>31287298
This, except for 2, let's wait for the moment when the rock slide is more effective.

>>31287168
have gnome rock slide them

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>>31287268
They would probably be affect by the rockslides and flooding but not at maximum effect, but most of their troops aren't in range.

>>31287273
Your flyers can bombard them, sure, but they leave themselves vulnerable in doing so.

>>31287298
>Also... are their fliers in the air or still grounded?
Grounded.

>4. We could just turtle up behind cover against their volleys for a little while... this will get them a false sense of security, eventually they will drive forward, and their own mages would waste their power on shields against non existent attacks.
The risk here is that their mages start bombing you and punch through your barrier.

>3. Maybe we could try to use our barrier break with an arrow instead of a melee strike?
Possible.

>Have arcane archers each aim at an enemy mage and fire EXACTLY when it happens
Possible.

>>31287342
>>31287298

Let's not blow our load on the Rockslide yet. We need to wait until their melee forces are in range of it before it's used.

>>31287298
actually, rockslide is bad idea, we want them to get closer before we start springing traps.

>>31287298
Let's do 1 and try using the 3 and fuck 2.

Rolled 4, 9, 1, 20, 12, 17, 15, 1, 18, 12 = 109

>>31287347
Don't worry guys. No matter how high the DC the dice gods love me!!

>>31287347
Barrier break sounds like a plan. If it doesn't work, we've only tired ourselves out, if it does, we've got their mages in firing range.

>>31287347
Barrier break with an arrow.

Make it happen.

>>31287347
We'll barrier break the barrier with our arrow, while simultaneously the AA will target the mages and regular archers will go for their counterparts.

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RESPONSE VOTE
>1. Rockslides
>2. Time your arcane archers' shots against the mages for when they drop their own barrier.
>3. Try to use Barrier Break with an arrow.
>4. Wait them out.

>>31287347
>>4. We could just turtle up behind cover against their volleys for a little while... this will get them a false sense of security, eventually they will drive forward, and their own mages would waste their power on shields against non existent attacks.
>The risk here is that their mages start bombing you and punch through your barrier.
I meant by that to get off the walls and wait behind them without using a magical barrier while they pound on the walls. they will certainly break through, but their mages will wear themselves out doing so. and when it finally goes down we are back to exchanging volleys and erecting mage shields. Only now their mages are considerably tireder.
This would have the downside of costing us if they reach melee range since we would no longer have walls to block them

Rolled 1, 1, 2 = 4

>>31287433
>31287433

>>31287453
2 until they adapt to it
when they adapt to it, THEN do 3.

>>31287453
2

>>31287453
2 and 3 aren't necesarily mutually exclusive. I vote 3 and then 2 if it doesn't work.

>>31287453
>2. Time your arcane archers' shots against the mages for when they drop their own barrier.
>3. Try to use Barrier Break with an arrow.

When their mages drop they'll probably charge to deny us from exploiting the opening further, trigger the landsides once they're fully in range

>>31287453
first >2

then >3

>>31287479
ooooh, I like that. going with this.

>>31287453
Why not 2 and 1 at the same time?

>>31287453
Just something to mention, but shouldn't the limit to use our arrow sorcery thing be lower now that our magic has increased?

>>31287453
>3. Try to use Barrier Break with an arrow.

>>31287471
That is impressive.

>>31287516
well, doing that reveals our hand on the rockslides early and they could perhaps trigger them at range before proceeding. Or even decide to take this engagement elsewhere. If we wait until they are further up the hill, more of them will be hit by the slide

Rolled 12

>>31287453
>2. Time your arcane archers' shots against the mages for when they drop their own barrier.
>3. Try to use Barrier Break with an arrow.

>>31287531
it is, yes... remember that DC 11/17 roll earlier this thread?
11 was for our archers to do well. 17 was for us to make a super shot (we didn't manage to).

>>31287531
... you are right it should have been 11/16. The char sheet I was running off in my notes still had Magic and Res at 3. My bad. At least it'll come in useful for the this roll

>Results looks like 2 followed by 3.

>>31287574
he's saying the 17 should be a 16 due to our magic going up, I think. It wouldn't have mattered anyways, but it's something to be sure of anyways.