>>920754
>>"Keep going and put an permanent end to any potential threats."

>>920754
>"Not yet. I want to see how things go first."
If they mange to retreat in good order the possibilities will be more limited than if they disintegrate in a rout.

>>920754
>>"Not yet. I want to see how things go first."

>>920754
>"Not yet. I want to see how things go first."

>>920754
How DOES Reagan expect to get back her full authority?

>>920754
>"Not yet. I want to see how things go first."

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>>920754
"Not yet," you say. "I want to see how things go first. It's never a good idea to plan before knowing exactly what your available resources are going to be."

"No plan ever survives contact with the enemy?"

"Something like that," you say. "It's impossible to anticipate the enemy's movements, but so long as you know your own capabilities, you know how you can respond to a given situation. It makes things easier than just going in blind."

Which is the problem you're facing at the moment. You have received regular updates from Delyth and Olwen, so you know the battle is going well, even if they haven't achieved the decision victory you have yet. However, you don't know the current state of things, and it's unlikely you'll be able to find out soon enough. The enemy will have retreated all the way back to their central force in a day or two, which doesn't give you enough time to ask for another report and then make an informed decision.

You're already on course for a flanking manoeuvre, so there's a limit to how much you can change your plans. The safe option is to just keep going at this rate and attack the enemy once they join forces with their allies. However, you think you might be able to overtake the straggling Olstren force. This would allow you to pre-emptively attack the forces currently fighting Delyth sooner rather than later. You could tend turn your focus on the more tired soldiers that retreated away from you.

However, doing this would put you in a dangerous position. If the timing is a bit off or if the battle doesn't go in your favour, you're the one who'll end up surrounded.

>[Military/Autosuccess] Just keep going at this pace.
>[Military/1d8] Overtake the enemy force and launch a pre-emptive attack on their allies.

>>920931
She mostly expects to inherit it, and hopes she'll be able to consolidate her power afterwards without too much of a fuss.

>>920970
>>[Military/1d8] Overtake the enemy force and launch a pre-emptive attack on their allies.

>>920970
>[Military/1d8] Overtake the enemy force and launch a pre-emptive attack on their allies.

>>920977
Right, so no taking over Olstren territory....as such.

>>920970
>[Military/1d8] Overtake the enemy force and launch a pre-emptive attack on their allies.

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>>920970
Despite what you told Eleri, waiting isn't always the best approach to take. No, the important part is seizing whatever opportunities present themselves while you wait.

At the rate you're going, you can reach the battlefield before Duke Ferrid's forces do, which would allow you to attack before their numbers increase. The retreating force would have no where to go, and would have no choice but to disband or surrender.

It'll be difficult, no doubt about it, but if you can pull it off…

>Roll 1d8, best of three.

Rolled 3 (1d8)

>>921108

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>921108

Rolled 3 (1d8)

>>921108

Rolled 8 (1d8)

>>921108

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>>921108
"Sir Connor!" You yell at your advisor and he rides up towards you, maintaining his distance from Eleri. "After further consideration, I'd like to reach the next battlefield before the enemy does. If we're lucky, we'll be able to clean up their main force before they can merge. Victory will be ours by default at that point."

"If we're lucky," Sir Connor says. "If we're unlucky, we're going to get crushed."

"We can do it," you assure him. "Even if we can't, it's not like the ragged mob we're hunting down will be able to do much about it."

"If you say so, your highness," Sir Connor says. "I'll spread the word and have the scouts look for a path that's out of the way. We wouldn't want them to catch on to what we're doing."

Sir Connor leaves to relay your orders, while you push your horse a little faster.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Eleri asks.

"It might not be wise," you say, "but it is daring and sometimes, daring is what matters. I don't want to drag this out any more than I have to."

The soldiers march as fast as they can without tiring themselves out and you rest only for the bare minimum amount of time required during the night. The enemy is tired to the bone, but they still have a head start on you, so you need to make up for lost time. Fortunately, the scouts and foragers have found a few trails that will make the going faster. You'll need to split your army more than you're comfortable with, but in the interest of speed, you have no choice. Besides, your forces aren't so separated that you'd lose track of them.

At dawn, you've already surpassed the force you were stalking. You keep moving, eating while on the march, and at around noon, you're informed that you're within striking range of the Olstren's main force.

"We're looking at an army of four thousand men," Sir Connor says. "That should be just under half the invading army's numbers."

According to the reports, Delyth is using the terrain and a wedge formation to keep the enemy spread out. They don't have enough space to mass against one side of the wedge or to circumvent it, while Delyth can quickly move soldiers around to reinforce any weaknesses as necessary.

"How long until the enemy learns about our arrival?"

"No more than a few hours," Sir Connor says. "We could send a message to our own army to coordinate our attack, but we'd lose the advantage of surprise."

>[Military/1d10] Contact Delyth before attacking. You'll need her support for this.
>[Military/1d10] Attack immediately and trust Delyth to act accordingly.

>>921269
>[Military/1d10] Contact Delyth before attacking. You'll need her support for this.

>>921269
>[Military/1d10] Contact Delyth before attacking. You'll need her support for this.

Always keep good communications.

>>921269
>>[Military/1d10] Contact Delyth before attacking. You'll need her support for this.

>>921269
>[Military/1d10] Contact Delyth before attacking. You'll need her support for this.

>>921269
>>[Military/1d10] Contact Delyth before attacking. You'll need her support for this.

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>>921269
"We'll need to send a message to Delyth," you say. "If she can use her wedge to keep the enemy's numbers split, it'll make things easier for us. Even if they prepare a defense in anticipation of our attack, they won't be able to commit all their men."

"That seems like the wisest course of action," Sir Connor says. "I'll send word immediately."

You climb off your horse and let Eleri take the reigns. You have a battle to oversee, but there's no safe place for her here at the moment.

"It should be fine if you head south and then turn back towards Delyth's position," you say.

"Be careful," Eleri says.

>Roll 1d10, best of three.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>921436

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>921436

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>921436

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>921436

>>921458
>>921455
>>921444
well now that interesting, also nice trips and dubs

>>921464
I for one am disturbed by this....

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>>921436
You immediately order your men into an echelon formation to match Delyth's wedge and Olstren's inverted wedge. Olstren should have a camp farther back if the scouts are correct, but you're confident the attack will begin before they can mobilize enough reinforcements.

The more immediate problem is the way Olstren is rearranging its infantry to face your own troops. Fortunately, they can't move troops between each side of their wedge, and the side closest to you is pinned against Delyth's forces.

Then shots across the battlefield and smoke begins to rise above the farthest side of the wedge. Delyth is beginning her distraction. With her help, suppressing Olstren's army should be a simple matter.

The first order of business is to crush the enemy in front of you. A standard pike advance will be less effective since you won't be able to use your muskets and bows to their full potential for fear of hitting your own troops, but it would allow you to quickly merge with Delyth's army. Conversely, a rain of bullets will make short work of the Olstren soldiers, but you won't be in a position to immediately join with Delyth's forces.

>[Military/1d10] Send in a pike charge.
>[Military/1d10] Stick with arrows and bullets for the moment.

>>921525
>[Military/1d10] Send in a pike charge.

>>921525
>[Military/1d10] Send in a pike charge.
The bows/muskets can keep watch of the back, incase the earlier force made doubletime to flank us.

>>921525
>>[Military/1d10] Send in a pike charge.
SALLY FORTH

>>921525
>>[Military/1d10] Send in a pike charge.

>>921525
How about a few salvoes to say hello and kill some enemies, followed a pike charge to mop up?

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>>921525
You order the musketeers and archers to stay back and point their weapons north just in case reinforcements arrive.

The bulk of the attack will be made by your infantry.

"It's probably better this way," Sir Connor says. "If we can put down the left wedge and join our allies, we can directly move on to the right wedge."

"That is the idea," you say. "Now let's get going."

Since you'll need to confer with Delyth anyway, you'll be joining the charge as well.

>Roll 1d10, best of three.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>921680

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>921680

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>921680

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>>921680
Your infantry crashes into the side of the Olstren inverted wedge. Both sides of the wedge are getting ground down, while the poor bastards stuck in the middle are swivelling their heads back and forth, trying to figure out what they should be attacking.

Or if they should be attack at all.

You left them an out, of course. The fork of the wedge isn't covered, so they can escape if they want to. The exodus hasn't started yet, but it's just a matter of time.

The sooner it starts, the better, actually. Sure, it's better to kill your enemies in order to deal with them permanently, but peasant conscripts aren't exactly on par with your uncle, and killing them takes quite a bit of effort and energy; there's a reason why most battles end in a rout.

On the other hand, losing an entire army tends to be bad for morale.

>[Military/1d12] Let the battle take its course and join the melee personally.
>[Military/1d10] Push the battle towards a rout.
>[Military/1d6] Kill as many Olstren soldiers as possible.

>>921769
>>[Military/1d10] Push the battle towards a rout.

>>921769
>>[Military/1d12] Let the battle take its course and join the melee personally.
Meirion needs some personal action, even if it's against smallfry

>>921769
>[Military/1d10] Push the battle towards a rout.

>>921769
>>[Military/1d10] Push the battle towards a rout.

>>921769
>>[Military/1d10] Push the battle towards a rout.
Then we can crush the army that is still fleeing from our first battle to pulp, that's also bad for enemy morale. Or we crush the third army.

Captcha: Select all squares with street signs. One sign says "no outlet". It's a sign!

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>>921769
No need to be excessive. All you need now is a good rout.

You rotate your soldiers in and out of the battle line to maintain a constant pressure of attack. Since you're not going out of your way to kill the enemy soldiers, you don't need to risk your own troops much. You just need to make the Olstren soldiers wish they were somewhere else.

>Roll 1d10, best of three.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>921921

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>921921

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>921921

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>>921921
The rout is such a chaotic mess that you have to pull your troops back to let it happen. It's the soldiers closest to you who lose their courage first, so those closest to the wedge fork don't quite realize what's happening on time. The enemy formation seems to bulge as pikemen desperately run towards the safety of the north.

There are more losses on the Olstren side as men are stabbed in the back during their flight, but your own infantry is doing well. They're tired and lightly wounded, but they're still fit for battle.

At this point, it's just a matter of time before the other side of the wedge collapses as well. Since they're not squeezed in between two forces, they might fall apart even faster. The downside, of course, is that if they make it out without suffering some casualties, they'll become a problem later.

>[Military/Autosuccess] Let the rest of Olstren's army retreat on its own.
>[Military/1d12] Go support the rest of Delyth's troops.
>[Military/1d8] Flank the rest of Olstren's troops to make them bleed as well.

>You have an active crit on military.

>>922017
>[Military/1d8] Flank the rest of Olstren's troops to make them bleed as well.
xp

>>922017
>>[Military/1d12] Go support the rest of Delyth's troops.

>>922017
>>[Military/1d12] Go support the rest of Delyth's troops.

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>>922017
As before, there's no point in pushing too hard. You take command of the situation - most soldiers here know of you, at least, so there are no objections - and divide your forces to establish a defensive line to the north in case your ranged soldiers need additional help.

Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers will move to reinforce the other side of the wedge once they've had some time to rest.

>Roll 1d12, best of three.

Rolled 12 (1d12)

>>922157

Rolled 11 (1d12)

>>922157
roll
>>922165
noice

Rolled 1 (1d12)

>>922157
Dice

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>>922157
With fresh reinforcements on their side, Gwyrddarfordir's troops are bolstered by a second wind, while Olstren's flag falters. They put up a decent fight towards the end, but you still watch with pride as their army just dissolves and makes a break for it. Not all of them will be heading towards their main camp.

Your army cheers your victory. This is a major point in your favour, but it's not over yet. Olstren still has armies in the area. That need to be dealt with.

You head towards the command tent just in time to see Delyth. She smiles and practically jumps into your arms.

"Your highness, you're safe! I was so glad when Eleri came and told me you were coming!"

"Everything is proceeding as planned," you say, "so I decided to come and help you a bit. How are things here?"

"It should be fine for now," Delyth says. "If you want, you can come back to my tent. You're a little dirty so…" She blushes and looks awkwardly at the ground. "Eleri and I can help you clean up if you want."

You suspect there's more to it than that.

>"I could use a bath, since things around here should be quiet for a bit."
>"I'd rather focus on the war for the moment."

>>922253
>>"I'd rather focus on the war for the moment."
>After this is done, though. Well I hope you're up for treating walking as an occasional thing.

>>922253
>>"I could use a bath, since things around here should be quiet for a bit."

>>922253
>Let's make sure Olwen's doing fine first, before we clean up.

>>922253
>>"I could use a bath, since things around here should be quiet for a bit."

>>922286
I could be wrong, but I don't believe Olwen is here with us. Just Eleri and Delyth.

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>>922253
"The war takes precedence at the moment," you say, "even if things are going well. What do I need to know?"

"As far as I know, the situation with Olwen and her father hasn't changed," Delyth says. "Olstren has three thousand troops on that side, but they're spread extremely thin, so they're easy to deal with. There were four thousand troops stationed here as well, although it should be less now."

And then there are the enemy troops you left behind during your fast march. They'll be here in a day at most though, and while numbers will still be narrowly in your favour and their morale is utter shit, that's not a huge point in your favour.

You could send a message to Olwen and tell her to finish off her side of the war as soon as possible so she can reinforce your position, but that would still take a few days. Finishing off the wounded remnants of the eastern front would be faster and easier, but the advantage to you wouldn't as great.

>[Military/1d6] Tell Olwen to crush her enemies and join you.
>[Military/1d8] Send out a small force to eliminate the Olstren stragglers heading your way.

>You have an automatic success on this roll.

>>922369
>>[Military/1d6] Tell Olwen to crush her enemies and join you.

>>922369
>>[Military/1d6] Tell Olwen to crush her enemies and join you.

>>922351
....that's the point.

>>922369
>[Military/1d6] Tell Olwen to crush her enemies and join you.

>>922369
>>[Military/1d6] Tell Olwen to crush her enemies and join you.

>>922369
>>[Military/1d6] Tell Olwen to crush her enemies and join you.
What is best in life? The Victorious Prince knows!

>>922385
I took that to mean an immediate check (hunt her down, or something), not getting a report/update like we have been.

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>>922369
"We're going to need more soldiers," you say. "Send a message to Olwen and her father. They need to clean up and join us here as soon as possible."

The Olstren soldiers here are fatigued, confused and demoralized. You should be able to keep them back long enough for Olwen to get here with reinforcements. In the worst case, you'll just commit to a full defense and survive.

With the western front under control, Olstren's numbers cut down even further and Olwen's troops, making a push into Duke Ferrid's territory should be a simple matter. The invasion will be resolved quickly and you'll be able to decide where to go from there.

In the meantime, it's time for you to "clean up."

Rolled 7, 9, 9, 8 = 33 (4d10)

>>922434
And now it's time for the bonus round, with Sovereign, Intrigue, Merchant and Alchemy.

Rolled 2 (1d12)

>>922458
Enchantment.

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>922470
Dilettante.

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>922482
And Military.

So that's it for today. Beleaguered Prince Quest will return on Friday December 16th at 7PM EST. You can follow me on twitter @beleagueredqm for updates.

Good night and thanks for playing.

>>922492
Thanks, QM!

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>>922492
cheers, boss