**RULES**

Fog of War is a short, one-shot military strategy quest about playing as an military leader in the age pike and shot. In this quest, although there is in fact a system in the background with stats and numbers, you, the player, will not see any of this. Besides the information you are given, and any occasional rolls you may be asked to make for certain situations, you will not be certain over the events of the battle; no matter the situation, there will be no complete certainty you are able to win. As a commander, it is your job to judge and presume from the information you have.

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>>6124057
COMPANIES OF FOOT

>[Pikemen]
Cost: 1
Manpower: 1,000
Defense: Very High
Offense: Normal
Ranged Power: N/A
Protection: Low
Speed: Very Low
Hint: Drilled to Protect
Pikemen are drilled to work in conjunction with other units, and are drilled expertly to this end. Allied units are capable of passing through a pike formation without any downsides.

The building block of the militaries of this age - hardy men, wielding long staves of ashwood with sharp iron spearheads at their end. They are decent, they are defensible, and most of all, they are cheap. You would be wise not to charge one of these head-on.

>[Halberdiers]
Cost: 2
Manpower: 1,000
Defense: Normal
Offense: High
Ranged Power: N/A
Protection: Normal
Speed: Low
Perk: Can Opener
Halberdiers are especially effective when placed against heavily armored targets.

Similar to their cousins, and yet different in many ways. Wielding far shorter poleaxes instead of the long pikes, the Halberdiers are far more suited for offensive matters, their arms designed with special hooks that are able to grab the weapons of enemies before cutting them down. This, however, makes them slightly more expensive.

>[Greatswordmen]
Cost: 2
Manpower: 500
Defense: Low
Offense: Very High
Ranged Power: N/A
Protection: Normal
Speed: Normal
Perk: Linebreaker
Greatswordsmen are trained to break defensive lines of enemy infantry - when attacking another unit, they ignore their defense rating.

Dressed in fine clothings and even finer armor, these fearless soldiers wield man-sized blades suited for chopping apart the shafts of pikes and axes. On foot, ther are none as capable as them in a charge

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>>6124057
COMPANIES OF SHOT

>[Arquebusiers]
Cost: 2
Manpower: 500
Defense: Low
Offense: Very Low
Ranged Power: Normal
Protection: Low
Speed: Low
Hint: Massed Fire
Arquebusiers are trained to accurately fire at distant targets in massed volleys. When firing, they ignore an enemy's defense rating.

Fresh from the tools of the gunsmiths, this company wields the arquebus gun, showering the enemy with their deadly iron pellets - though this drilling leaves them with very little in terms of personal protection and melee combat.

>[Culverins]
Cost: 3
Manpower: 25
Defense: Very Low
Offense: Very Low
Ranged Power: High
Protection: Very Low
Speed: Very Low
Hint: Iron Balls
Culverins hurl heavy metal spheres at enemy formation, tearing through armor flesh and bone as if it were mere tissue paper. Culverins completely ignore protection ratings

The smallest of all guns, and yet nonetheless more powerful than anything a single man could wield. These cannons possess considerable range, unparalelled power, and would die in mere moments if attacked by another. Take care not to let these fall into the hands of your foes...

>[Mortars]
Cost: 4
Manpower: 500
Defense: Very Low
Offense: Very Low
Ranged Power: Very High
Protection: Very Low
Speed: N/A
Hint: Arched Shot
Mortars, unlike all other ranged weapons, are capable of firing over other units even without an incline.

The mightiest of guns saved for the siege cannon, these large ironworks weigh so greatly they are completely immovable in battle. Despite that, their range and power are unparalelled by any others.

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>>6124057
COMPANIES OF MOUNT

>[Hussars]
Cost: 2
Manpower: 350
Defense: Low
Offense: Normal
Ranged Power: N/A
Protection: Low
Speed: Very High
Hint: Strike and Retreat
Hussars and their light horses are the fastest of all units. They can choose to avoid any non-ranged engagement by retreating, even when they are succesfully charged.

Lightly armoured, lightly armed, and lightly harmed - such are the words to describe the swift hussar horsemen, armed with light spears and swords that make them ideal for attacking poorly protected enemies.

>[Skirmishers]
Cost: 2
Manpower: 200
Defense: Low
Offense: Low
Ranged Power: Low
Protection: Low
Speed: High
Hint: Caracol
Despite their low overall abiltiies, skirmishers are trained to harass the enemy rather than to maintain prolonged fights. They are able to move while and even after attacking an enemy.

Horsemen and firearms, a strange and yet fearful union. Though they are not as capable in matters of combat, their ranged abilities coupled with their speed makes them better than any others at pestering the careless foe.

>[Knights]
Cost: 5
Manpower: 150
Defense: High
Offense: Very High
Ranged Power: N/A
Protection: Very High
Speed: Normal
Hint: Flower of Chivalry
Knights wield long lances and ride strong armored horses capable of trampling men under their foot. During a charge, their offensive power increases by half!

Noble men of the sword in gleaming armor and colorful plumes, there are none who can deny the glory of a knight in full plate armor. Their armor and weapons are unmatched by any others in the field. Just be sure not to charge them headfirst into a wall of spears.

SELECT YOUR ARMY

You have twenty five company tokens.

>[Write in]

Damn, those were some sorry mistakes. Anyway, welcome to my first attempt at an quest. This is supposed to be a 'test run' of sorts for my system for an eventual proper quest i would like to run. To that end, I would appreciate it if you, the reader, were to point out any 'issues' you believed existed in my system, in order to allow me to fix it for the final version.

>>6124057
Would there be any point in saving tokens or should we just spend them all on this?

>>6124072
You will be fighting a single battle this time around, so feel free to spend all your tokens. As I said, this is merely a test run to see how well the system can hold up.

If you have any other questions or are having trouble choosing, feel free to ask.

>>6124067
>>6124072

Alright then with that in mind

>7 Pikemen
>1 Hussar
>1 Knight
>2 Arquebusiers
>1 Culverin
>2 Greatswords

I think this works? Strong pike body, with greatswords for banzai work.

A bit light on gunners maybe, but having some field artillery could make up for that to a degree. The punch of the Knights is something I'd like to have, even if they are costly, and the hussars provide a valuable light cavalry element.

>>6124067
Oh man, late 1500's pike and shot, my beloved.
Where are my homies the pistol-armed cuirassiers though?

>Pikemen x3
>Arquebusiers x4
>Culverins x2 6
>Hussars x2 4
>Skirmishers x2 4

Ranged firepower in all fields

>>6124084
Proper listing should be
>Pikemen x3
>Arquebusiers x4
>Culverins x2
>Hussars x2
>Skirmishers x2

I'm going to be letting the vote cook for now, but I'd like to remind anyone reading that the 'army' will be decided by a vote majority. So the template that gets voted the most will be chosen.

>>6124067
Pike and Shot armies with floofy hats and amazing uniforms, my beloved.

6 Pikemen
2 Halberdiers
2 Arquebusiers
1 Mortar
2 Skirmishers
1 Hussar

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>>6124067
>pike and shot era quest
It’s peak


>Pikemen x4 (3 points)
>Arquebusier x5 (10 points)
>Skirmisher x3 (6 points)
>Culverin x2 (6 points)

>>6124570
Sorry, x3 pikeman

>4 way tie in my first vote
I'm impressed.

Anyway, i'll give it another hour, but after that i'm just using dice so we can move on.

>>6124085
+1

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>Allied Captain's Army
- Pikemen [x3]
- Arquebusiers [x4]
- Culverins [x2]
- Hussars [x2]
- Skirmishers [x2]

Indeed, that is your force - rather balanced, if you would say so, though many of your contemporaries would scoff at your skewed ratio of pike to shot. It is needless to say that your force is a rather mercenary one, raised from free men hired through individual contracts of soldiership and drilled before battle. Without the support of the nobility to aid you numbers, you are completely lacking in heavy cavalry. Hopefully, it won't be an issue.

Your task was simple - to bring these reinforcements to your liege lord and his force as the fighting continued deeper into enemy territory. The theater in which you fight is a patchwork of minor states and republics, their allegiances as varied as their colors. It was of little surprise to you, then, when you had heard reports from your scouting parties that a sizeable enemy force had begun to move to intercept your reinforcements before they could succesfully join with your allies., and even less so when it became clear they intended to wait on one amidst the most vital of bridges over the treacherous and often murky river Riedgen, a stone pass known by locals as the Kuften Bridge.

It is clear to you that you have little choice but to engage this enemy - there is no other bridge over this dangerous safe for those even deeper into hostile territory, and you have little doubt that your current foes would waste no time to lay fire upon you were you to attempt to cross through boats or pontoons. Though there are a myriad of crossings in the river where the water is calm and shallow enough that even a company of men could march by unaided, your heavy and yet so highly valuable culverin guns would not be capable of such a feat.

No, there is little choice but to meet the foe here, and so, whatever your feelings, you must prepare for the imminent battle.

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>>6124605
Your arrival upon the field of battle reveals to you much already - found within a narrow stretch of the Riedgen, the territory of the crossing is marshy and muddy, filled with small trees and uncertain bog-like where an unlucky man could fall to a rather wet fate when not properly prepared. It sits at the foot of a hill bearing the marks of civilization, the long ridgelines of the terracettes on its side giving you tale of herds of livestock marching past, no doubt to a neighbouring village or grazing land. It seems that your enemy, should they remain on the other side, will possess the higher terrain over you. You should keep note of that.

Nevertheless, for now, you must not waste time. In what must be your first stroke of luck in these past few weeks, it would seem as though the rather light character of your army, lacking as it may be in mortars and siege weaponry, you have arrived slightly earlier than the enemy to the field of battle, though by how much you are not sure. Thanks to this advantage, you will be able to make the first move. You should spend it well.

Hint: In Fog of War, you are free to order your troops to do as you please; write-ins are encouraged, and may very well be the only way to achieve victory depending on what path you take. Though they can also lead to your doom...

Choose your next move
>We must not waste any time, take the bridge and pass through before they arrive, better an uphill battle than to fight upon a crossing.
>We can use this to our advantage, take the bridge, but do not pass through yet, take defensive formations and wait for the enemy to arrive.
>This could be a trap, we should remain in battle formation and slowly approach the bridge to make sure of it.
>[Write-in]

>>6124606
Before that, however, you must make another choice; shall you attach yourself to an unit, or will you merely remain with your own bodyguard's retinue?

>[Retinue]
Manpower: 50
Defense: High
Offense: High
Ranged Power: N/A
Protection: High
Speed: High

Your personal host of armed guards, you are indeed very little in number, but the safety of a noble is one that requires skill. You could use these in battle, but is that truly a wise idea?

>Better to be safe than sorry; attach yourself to an unit (This company will not be able to leave you until the end of the battle)
>Your retinue will do enough; you need the freedom of movement more than the safety. (Gain 1 Retinue Company)

>>6124606
>[Write-in]: send out the companies of mount to scout the bridge and to harass the enemy if coming into contact. (first a caracol and if there is a gap the hussars are allowed to do a quick strike) use a marching column to march the rest to the bridge at a steady pace.

>>6124607
as for retinue.
>Your retinue will do enough; you need the freedom of movement more than the safety. (Gain 1 Retinue Company)
It's one extra unit and us being mobile is quite damn important if battle size would increase.


HELL YEAH. PIKE AND SHOT QUEST.

>>6124624
This but send the hussars forward and don't have them slow down to keep pace with the skirmishers. The faster we detect a trap the better.

>>6124624
+1 Supporting this. We bought light cav, we may as well use it for light cav stuff. And if nobody turns out to be there, great! Free bridge.

>>6124606
Tactical:
> We 're next to a river
> The level marks are pointing uphill
> The bridge is an obvious choke point
> Enemy expected from uphill at a FIRES advantage between 2 and 3 o'clock
> Early gunpowder era means that FIRES load speed is slow, and accuracy is slower. (Scatter, wait for them to fire, then shock charge with light cav. units)

>This could be a trap, we should remain in battle formation and slowly approach the bridge to make sure of it.
>[Write-in]
Hussar company Alpha move ahead and scout the bridge
Hussar company Bravo move ahead and scout the crossing

Others keep in formation, and eyes peeled.

>>6124607
>Your retinue will do enough; you need the freedom of movement more than the safety. (Gain 1 Retinue Company)
I don't want to bog down any units

>>6124684
Supporting this.

Man it's nice to see a Pike and Shot quest.

>>6124690
+1
>Your retinue will do enough; you need the freedom of movement more than the safety. (Gain 1 Retinue Company)

Scouting the bridge and marching forward wins. Also, own retinue wins unanimously.

Writing.

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There is little doubt about what you must do next; to allow the enemy the advantage when they have not yet seemingly arrived to the field of battle would be giving them the chance to trap on this side of the river. You signal to one of your courier men to relay the orders to your colonel of horse, whom you shall, for the purpose of this battle, refer to by his rank; he is to advance forth and scout the bridge for signs of the hostile forces.

You have also decided you shall remain within your retinues, a small yet with no doubt strong group of guards from your very own household that have accompanied you so ever since you had first left your fief; they are armed with armor that could rival even that of a company of knights, and their capabilities are no less impresisve. You have no doubt you will be quite safe within the field of battle, so long as you do not find yourself surrounded, or under the aim of enemy shot. You have heard more than enough tales of captains far greater than you being taken in a moment by stray bullet or cannonball.

As your cavalry begins to shrink in the distance, you order your companies of foot to continue their march in double column and at full pace, looking to arrive at the Kuften Bridge as soon as you are able to. You look at the river besides you as you trot upon your horse; your forward parties had made no mistake when they called this river treacherous, seeing its water pass by with violence as you go, curving off the rocks and mud of the riverside. This manner of terrain could take down a man, much less so a horse or piece of gun. ***You are almost certain that there is no shallow crossing to be found within these regions***

Your train of thought is broken, however, as you hear the telltale sound of gunfire, turning your head only to see the rising clouds of smoke besides the distant form of your cavalrymen; you are under fire by artillery!

>>6125199
The message from your cavalry is quick to arrive, and it is not a good one; the hostile forces have arrived to the field of battle from the northern road! It seems that the reason for their lateness was the presence of a company of mortar, a most grim sight to be sure. In this very moment, their forces march downwards through the hill, no doubt intent on taking Kuften before you are able to! Important as this bridge is, you doubt that they intend to destroy it with mortarfire; to do so would destroy their own chance to strike at the heart of your mostly unprotected liege's lands should they defeat you. ***You believe that as long as defeat does not seem imminent or the prospect far too beneficial, they will not destroy the bridge.***

You have little time to waste, you must make a choice now! What shall your cavalry do?
>Cross the bridge before they are within range of it maintain the bridgehead, we must not allow ourselves to be forced into a chokepoint!
>Cross the bridge, and move west! That mortar has to be silenced if we are to win, and I don't want our cavalry to be caught by the enemy infantry.
>Retreat! It's better to fight through a chokepoint than to be possibly divided.
>[Write-in]

And after that, what of your main forces?
>Advance towards the bridge as fast as we are able! We need to take the bridge before the enemy!
>Advance towards the bridge, but do not cross it, set up positions on the other side of the river and wait for the foe; though we will be in a chokepoint, so will they!
>[Write-in]

Finally, what about your artillery?
>If they seek to bombard troops, then so will we! Unlimber your guns and begin to fire at the enemy infantry from this same position.
>We must take down that company of mortar at any price, move the artillery south so they may be able to return fire to the mortar company
>This position is far too poor, we must move our artillery to a new place before firing on the enemy soldiers! (If so, Where?)
>[Write-in]

>>6125199
>Cross the bridge, and move west! That mortar has to be silenced if we are to win, and I don't want our cavalry to be caught by the enemy infantry.
even if the enemy would make it earlier to the bridge they would be harassed by our cav forces and be at risk getting flanked.
>Advance towards the bridge as fast as we are able! We need to take the bridge before the enemy!
our distance is similar
>If they seek to bombard troops, then so will we! Unlimber your guns and begin to fire at the enemy infantry from this same position.
The enemy is in a collum currently so a perfect formation to try hitting.

>>6124057
So does the enemy artillery have line of sight to our cavalry at the moment? Is that who they are shooting at?

>>6125263
The enemy has a mortar company, and is in the top of a hill. If you'll remember the unit descriptions, Mortars don't need direct line of sight to fire.

That's all i'll say. The rest is for you to discover.

>>6125200
>Hussars attack the mortars, skirmishers slow down the infantry
The mortars are protected only by a company of knights. We have two companies of hussars, they can't intercept both at once, and the intercepted one can easily disengage. The skirmishers, meanwhile, can force the infantry to reform into battle order and slow down their movement.

>Advance towards the bridge as fast as we are able! We need to take the bridge before the enemy!
>If they seek to bombard troops, then so will we! Unlimber your guns and begin to fire at the enemy infantry from this same position.
It's not really a good position, but if they can't come under the mortar fire here, here they should stay.

>>6125360
+1

>>6125360
Supporting this.

The enemy only seems to have one cavalry unit, and they nailing it down for artillery protection duty, so we may as well make them pay for that fact.

>>6125360
>>6125394
>>6125397
Attacking the mortars while slowing down the infantry wins, as well as taking the bridge and unloading the culverins, wins.

Writing.

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You give the orders, and they are relayed—you shall take the bridge quickly! Throughout the main company, orders are shouted, flags are waved, and soon enough, the drummer boys begin to beat in frantic pace as your company takes off in full pace, only barely keeping their formations as they begin to run down the dirt road of the riverside. Behind you remains only your artillery pieces as they unlimber from their transport wagons and are slowly turned towards the enemy. Though their firing position is hardly ideal and restrict them to targetting only the hostile infrantry corps, it shall do for now.

Meanwhile, the allied cavalry corps make their move, gallopping across the stonework bridge in full gallop as they move to take the crossing before the enemy is able to reaching their range; yet as their numbers pass, they divide, the hussars turning westwards and north as they move upwards throughout the hill while the skirmishers continue to follow along the road, their eyes intent on harassing the enemy for long enough that their reinforcements can arrive and the mortar guns can be silenced.

As they begin to approach the effective range of their calivers and pistols, the skirmishers have already chosen their target, the unit of greatswords in the enemy vanguard that had advanced too quickly and become separated from their forces; the foe's arquebusiers were far enough that they would be able to attack this first time without fear of receiving counter-fire. They raise their arms, light their matches, and a stacatto of pops and echoes through the field, the unlucky men of the greatsword company falling to the ground wonded or dead as the bullets find their mark. The first company turns, gallopping away as they are replaced by the second, and the visage soon repeats. The skirmishers had done their job - the greatsword companies soon slowed their advance, moving backwards toward the safety of the quickly following hostile battle line.

>>6125705
You take a breath of relief, knowing you shall have the time you need to cross the Kuften before the hostiles reach your positions.

It does not last.

Behind you, the earth shakes as the mortar barrage finds its mark in the very center of your advancing line of arquebusiers, crushing men with it's force and showering even more with splinters, the pained scream of your soldiers signaling the very first casualties on your side. You need not look to see the after effects of such a well-timed hit; the corpses of hundreds littering the grouund, some torn beyond recognition and some sporting new pieces of shrapnel embedded within them. The unlucky ones remain alive, their blood and organs spilling as they are left behind by their comrades who turn their march into a sprint, their formation just barely maintaining its shape as they move towards the bridge. You do not expect the wounded to survive.

Soon, you yet again hear the thundering clap of firing guns, yet it is not one you fear; your culverins have finally made ready, and begun to fire! You see the impacts on the hillside, the iron balls denting the hillside with their strength as their hit around the slowly retreating greatswords. The first barrage has missed, but there is soon another one, and amidst the many shots, one finds it's mark! It tears through the men, cleaving a path of bloodied meat amidst the formation that brings it to a mere fourth third of it's numbers, answering in kind to the previous slaughter of your men by their battery.

>>6125706
In the hill, your hussars continue to make their way upwards, ready to silence the mortar guns; yet one foe remains in their way, and it is no small one; their armor gleaming in the morning sun, banners flying amidst the wind, the armed Knights of the hostile forces stand ready to meet their charge. Though your hussars outnumber them almost five to one, it is almost certain to say that whichever of your light horsemen meet with this force will meet an early grave. **Although your hussars can very easily disengage in battle, you must maintain them in combat with the knights long enough for the others to take out the mortars.*** At the same time, however, defeating the knights would give you total superiority of horse in the battle. What will you do?

>Sacrifice a company to engage the knights, the other shall go around and take out the mortars.
>Engage the knights with both your companies, with such numbers they are sure to win!
>[Write-in]

Meanwhile, there is yet another decision: will you keep your skirmishers in combat, subjecting them to fire from the arquebusiers, or will you retreat, which will give your troops less time to cross the bridge and set up defensive formations?

>Maintain the attack, even if it costs them!
>Retreat, they've done enough! (If so, where?)
>[Write-in]

>>6125705

We have to deal with the knights.

I think we have to accept that our Hussars are going to take casualties, but I wonder if we can take advantage of the relative lack of maneuverability of the Knights? The most dangerous thing about them is their lance charge. If we can make them worry about their flank or rear they may hesitate to commit.

>write in
>Try and position one Hussar unit on the flank of the knights, and then have both attack them. If the Knights charge first, just have the attacked unit lead them on a chase, while the other attacks the artillery.

As for the other situation.

>Retreat, they've done enough! (If so, where?)
>have them stay on the far side of the bridge, but get out of range. One unit can split to the right, the other to the left.

Having them just flee across the bridge seems like a poor idea, and this way we can get them out of immediate danger while having the enemy worry about their own flanks while approaching the bridge.

>>6125707
>Charge then enact a false retreat to lure the knights away from the mortars
Let's see if they have the discipline IRL knights famously tended to lack

>Retreat west and make their way to the mortars in case the hussars can't

>>6125723
+1

>>6125707
>Sacrifice a company to engage the knights, the other shall go around and take out the mortars.

They can use the false retreat method C3AEju5t mentioned, but the mortars have to go.

>Maintain the attack, even if it costs them!

Our mission is to take that bridge, and we must have that bridge!

>>6125723
+1

I'll give you people some more time since this is an important vote.

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Though you'd like to deal with the mortars, those knights too remain a threat, and thus, it shall be that you have decided to engage their knights with both of your hussars. Approaching the formation from both sides, your hussars break out into a charge, bugles blaring as they raise their swords against the plate-armored gendarmes, who in response raise their shields and lances. The two formations crash, and already the difference in equipment can be seen, many of your hussars falling to the far longer lances of the knights. Those who pierce their formation have no easier a time, their swords bouncing and twisting off the expensive plate. Yet hussars they are nonetheless, and little by little, their numbers begin to fall as your men swing at their horses and holes in the armor, falling well over a dozen knight in this first moment of conflict while suffering only double the number of deaths on your own side, a rather impressive feat given the disparity in power.

However, because of this choice, the enemy's mortars continue yet free - and you soon pay the price dearly. Yet again, the sound of thunder echoes. For a moment, you fear they may target the bridge, and you retinue drives you back as you men continue to rush across the Kuften, but in the end, their target is another. You hear the crushing sound of an impact to your left, and a far more dastardly fear comes true; your artillery has been hit, and in full! The rain of lead leaves no mercy to it's rival, and as the wind begins to pick up the cloud of dust, your hand clenches in anger at the sight.

Your culverins have been utterly destroyed.

Your failure to silence the mortars has cost you the most valuable pieces in your army.You curse yourself for making such a mistake, your liege will most certainly not be pleased by this. ***Perhaps if you drive off the enemy, you will be able to seize their mortars instead to repay for such a loss***, but for now, all you can do is attempt to finish the battle with what you have.

>>6126454
In less grim matters, because your mortars did not target the bridge and your skirmishers remained close enough to remain a threat, the enemy's advanced stopped as they began to move into battle formations, giving your troops time to cross the bridge and enter their own formation. As you stare them pass, you finally see the extent of the damage of the previous bombardment; of your wounded arquebus companies, nearly a third of each are gone. Despite this, however, they seem to remain steadfast in their morale. Which brings you to your next decision; what shape shall your battle line take? You notice that the enemy has formed a simple main line of battle, alternated between shot and pike, standing at the hillside. Though this gives them the advantage of terrain, it also exposes their backlines; which you can clearly see contain the greatsword companies that had been harassed by your infantry.

What formation you choose?
>We should match their alternating battle line! Though our arquebusier companies are damaged, we should not give them the opportunity of taking our shot unprotected with a charge.
>The enemy formation is uneven! Take advantage of this by putting our fresh arquebusiers in the right, where they have less shot, and our pikes and wounded arquebusiers in the left, where they have more
>[Write-in] (If you have an idea for a formation, a drawing of any kind would help)

And what of your skirmishers?
>They shall remain at the side to dissuade any flanking attempts
>We must use all we can! Have them harass the enemy's flanks.
>The enemy have no cavalry, let us send our skirmishers around their sides and towards their backline to divide their attention!
>[Write-in]

Finally, will you maintain your hussars in combat, or will you do something else? It should be reminded that you do not believe you can attack the mortars unless one of your company remains to keep the hostile knights in combat.
>Continue fighting the knights, despite the disadvantage!
>We will have to make sacrifices to stop even more losses, keep an company fighting while the other attacks the mortar!
>[Write-in]

>>6126457
>>The enemy formation is uneven! Take advantage of this by putting our fresh arquebusiers in the right, where they have less shot, and our pikes and wounded arquebusiers in the left, where they have more.

Then

>write in
>Have the Skirmishers on our Right flank hook around the enemy and harass their rear. The Skirmishers on our Left flank will remain out of range until the enemy shot engages our lines.

A bit conservative, maybe, but my logic here is that if we just gallop around them, that Shot posted on the Enemy Right is going to get a volley off and kill a lot of cav on that unit. Best to keep them in effective reserve. If something goes terribly wrong with the Knights I wouldn't want to be caught naked of cavalry out on our left either rlly. Wait till they've engaged our own shooters next turn. Then we can move in once they've committed and can't just snap fire at us.

Then

>We will have to make sacrifices to stop even more losses, keep an company fighting while the other attacks the mortar!

Best option at this point. We arrested their momentum and killed a decent number of them. Now we need to handle the mortars before they get a lucky shot and blow us to bits.

>>6126504
Supporting this
Fucking mortars

>>6126504
Support. We need to silence those mortars.

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You had hesitated earlier, but no more; whatever the sacrifices, their mortarfire must stop! As the brawl between the companies of horse continue, half of your hussars pull back, their lack of armor allowing them to easily outmaneuver the well protected yet heavier horses of the Knights, and because you outnumber them, they have little way to pull through without endangering being utterly surrounded by the light horsemen and meeting their end from a hundred blows, a fate of which even their plate armor could not save them from.

With them out of the fight, they turn towards the company of mortar; when the masters of artillery realize this, they try uselessly to take up arms to fend them off long enough for aid from the knights to arrive, but it is not enough to save them. The hussars ride them down, horses streaming amidst the mortars as their curves words cut down the panicking gunners, reducing in mere minutes the numbers of the company to ashess. Though the mortars themselves remain intact, their crews have been slaughtered, and their cannisters are silenced; you have succesfully defeated the hostile mortars. With the mortars silenced, you are finally able to cross the Kuften without fear, allowing you more quickly give out orders. You cannot help but think, however: If only you had taken less time...

Nonetheless, this victory does not come without price, and the knights tear through the number of your hussars who had stayed behind, reducing them to over half of their initial numbers. What can you do now that the mortars are silenced, however? Though they still outnumber them, your hussars have shown little skill in being able to take down the knights; should they continue their efforts? If you retreat, the Knights would very well be free to charge down your infantry.

Though your battlelines form, and shall soon enter arquebus range, proper combat has not yet begun, so you have some free time.

>>6126944
Choose your next option
>Retreat already! We can use our skirmishers to help hold off the knights
>Turn around and charge them from the rear! We must keep them far away from the battle line, even if it costs us our hussars.
>[Write-in]

Sorry for the really short update, am busy today

>>6126945
>Retreat already! We can use our skirmishers to help hold off the knights
We also have pikes.
A question: do we have anyone qualified to man those mortars?

>>6127011
You had.

>>6126944
>>Retreat already! We can use our skirmishers to help hold off the knights

We kept our skirmishers over there in place for a reason. Shoot em to pieces boys.

>>6126944
>Retreat already! We can use our skirmishers to help hold off the knights

>>6127013
:(

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It's regrettable, but you cannot continue to face such losses with our situation as bad as it is; the horn is sounded, and soon, your hussars retreat from the line of battle against the armored knights, who begin to give chase to them, but quickly realize they cannot catch up. Their objective failed, their only option remaining is to aid in the confrontation about to begin in the foot of the hill. They begin to gallop downwards towards the battle lines, your hussars accompanying them their gallop. As they most certainly intend on crashing against the flanks of your infantry, however, they are met with their first roadblock; the skirmishers you had thankfully left on your first flank move to meet them, passing beside as they unload a barrage of inaccurate fire upon the charging horsemen.

Most of them pass through, the shots either missing or plinking off their fire-proofed armor - but not all of them. Whether it be by a bullet finding its aim on an joint or an impact that throws them off their horse to be trampled by their fellows, several dozen knights more fall, reducing their numbers to just below a hundred. Yet despite this, their charge does not stop, hellbent on crashing on your sides to regain their lost honor.

At the same time, at the head of the crossing of Kuften Bridge, the battle continues to develop. Approaching them from their eastern side, your remaining skirmisher company lays fire upon the company of pike left on the hostile flank, soldiers falling as they are hit by bullets only to be replaced by others. You know that many of these men; most, perhaps, continue yet to live, though not for too long, and that some may even survive if they hold on for long enough. If you were to retreat at this very moment, or if your defeat were to be swift, then perhaps more of them would be saved by their fellows; but your sympathy cannot help but be small, knowing the similar fate that your own men had met.

>>6127460
As your two battlelines finaly reach the range of the arquebus, the rhythm of battle takes a far faster beat; you, who had been waiting for them, gain the advantage of the first volley, clouds of powder emerging from your lines as they deliver their first volley on the enemy. In your right, it takes the most effect, felling nearly half of the enemy formation before they are even able to fire. Your arquebusiers in the left are no less accurate, yet the losses they had suffered before greatly limited the amount of fire they could put forth. Without wasting time, they begin to reload their arms, some more frantically than others, knowing what awaits next; the enemy too, fire their volley.

Even from behind the lines, you can see and hear it, the whizzing of bullets and the scream of men as they are hit, men falling to the ground only to be replaced by another at the front of the line; the lucky ones are dragged out of the way by a comrade, the less so merely stepped over. None, however, were hit as hard as your leftmost unit, the hostile bullets finding themselves true in their ranks; by the second volley of the enemy they are reduced to almost none, men scrambling as they flee their broken formation, some carrying the wounded as they go.

You have no doubt these men are as good as gone; if they bother to remain long enough to dress their wounds, they will most likely desert sooner or later, despite the penalty of death that awaits them should they be found by the sheriffs of your land.

The situation, although not as bad as it could be, remains to be dangerous; what shall you do now?
>Continue the exchange of fire, once their right side falls, their entire flank will be free targets for our arquebuses!
>We cannot let them destroy our leftmost company, pull them back and replace the gap with our pikemen.
>Send our hussars and rightmost skirmisher to attack the muskets from behind, this is extremely dangerous for the horsemen, but will take pressure off our infantry.
>[Write-in]

And what of the knights coming down the hill?
>There is little we can do, continue firing on them and tell our pikemen to prepare our flank
>Send our hussars to intercept them again, we must slow them down!
>We have no choice but to intercept them ourselves, prepare to lead the retinue into personal combat!
>[Write-in]

>>6127462
>Continue the exchange of fire, once their right side falls, their entire flank will be free targets for our arquebuses!
>We have no choice but to intercept them ourselves, prepare to lead the retinue into personal combat!
Who dares wins.

>>6127462
>We cannot let them destroy our leftmost company, pull them back and replace the gap with our pikemen.
>Send our hussars and rightmost skirmisher to attack the muskets from behind, this is extremely dangerous for the horsemen, but will take pressure off our infantry.

>There is little we can do, continue firing on them and tell our pikemen to prepare our flank

>>6127462
Cool quest, just started reading, pity I wasn't around here earlier. While pike and shot is a bit earlier timeline wise, Swords around a throne: Napoleon's Grande Armee chapter on Strategy and tactics is chock full on material that would have been useful here. What you want to do when light cavalry goes up against heavy cavalry is the following
>Light cavalry charged by cuirassiers was usually overwhelmed. Caught in such a situation, De Brack recommended rapidly massing the light cavalrymen into one or more closed columns to break through the enemy line by sheer weight, then to wheel and take it from behind. Another useful maneuver was to give way to the right and left and attack the flanks of the heavy cavalry as it drove in to the gap thus opened. Both of these maneuvers depended on the light cavalry's superior speed and mobility, yet there is also an account of French cuirassiers using the second maneuver effectively against hussars of the King's German Legion at Waterloo.

You guys are kind of fucked, but I would suggest that we basicly do this

Knights situation
>Combine hussars as above into column for repeated charges through and through, AND lead retinue into personal charge. Essentially this makes it two continual cyclical attempted flanking attacks until their knights are destroyed. Or at the least the retinue acts as the anvil for repeated hussar flanking charges

>We cannot let them destroy our leftmost company, pull them back and replace the gap with our pikemen.

If we had our artillery still operational, with their artillery neutralized we could just pull back to the bridge and destroy them at our leisure. Sadly, that's not happening. We could still pull back to the bridge and hold there for reinforcements, but this is a oneshot. And this is more fun.
If the knights are out of the way we can relatively quickly win. And most likely they will have to retreat just because they don't have cavalry or artillery support anymore
Also, it's good if our skirmishers continue thinning/pulling the enemy eastwards as they are doing.

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>>6127950
My Concern with a supposed mass cavalry interception on our left is that we will get bogged down and charged by that greatsword unit. And I'm not really sure stationary light cavalry want zweihanders swinging at their horses legs and necks.

The Knights have lost a good number of riders, are probably tired, and will in all likelihood lose at least a few more dudes to potshots before they make contact. Is it honestly too much to ask of our pikemen that they ready their spears to stop them? Kind of the whole point of them being here.

I think a better option might be to let the Knights do their suicide run and then have the Retinue sweep in from the side to pick off guys being held at a distance by the pikes.

Maybe have the Hussars mount a fake charge on the swordsmen to keep them from coming to help?

I'm open to dialogue here.

>>6127950
I think your mistake is trying to beat the knights with hussars at all. We're numerically disadvantaged in infantry; we have more cavalry but it won't do us any good just butting their heads against a knight wall. Let the pikes stop the knights and the shot finish them off, have our cavaly give them this chance by hitting the enemy foot.

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>>6128102
You cannot risk having another one of your few and precious companies break; you order the ragged remnants of your second company to retreat as the leftmost pikemen shuffle rightwards to cover the hole left by their departure, ready to meet a charge from either the greatswordsmen jogging along their left or the host of mounted knights rolling down the hill. The nearby corpses of the arquebusiers left on the ground tell them a grim tale, however, and one they soon experience as the enemy's arquebusiers level down their sights on them and fire off another volley, picking off a scant few unlucky men from both their and their neighbour companies.

This is accompanied by a volley of the remaining arquebusiers of the hostil army, which thankfully seem to have little effect this time around, as you can tell by the rather decreased number of pained yells coming from your side of the line. As your men finally finish loading, however, the time for retribution has come, and you pay it with interest; your rightmost units fire off an accurate volley that decimates the number of the enemy's arquebusiers, who soon begin to rout, their ragged remains turning back and fleeing in what can barely even be called a formation; though their numbers aren't quite so thin that you believe there is no chance of them returning, should their commander be able to rally them again.

With the rout of this unit, however, the enemy's advantage in numbers of firearms shrinks, and they should know very well what little hope awaits them should their knights be defeated; the time for action must be now. With the beating of drums, the hostile pikes begin to march down the field, lagging behind the greatswords running towards your flanks yet holding the same intent nonetheless; the enemy aims for a push of pike! Such fights are as deadly as they are dirty, and with your disadvantage in firepower remaining as long as your arquebus unit stays in reserve, they have the advantage.

>>6128104
Meanwhile, the knights continue their charge, and though the continued fire of your arquebusiers takes yet another sliver of their numbers, they remain with over half their original manpower, and show no signs of stopping; with no other choice left but to risk your own life, you down your helmet and ride out with your retinue to meet them in the field. Your hussars continue to encircle the knights carefully, waiting for your order.

>Charge all at once and surround them! If our hussars attack from their flanks and backs while my retinue holds them at the front, they will fall quickly.
>Let the hussars nip at them first before charging with our retinue to smash them where they stand like hammer and anvil!
>Thinking again, we would be wiser to retreat. Let the skirmisher and the pikes deal with the knights, let us instead attack their unguarded arquebusiers and greatswords!
>[Write-in]

And how will you meet the enemy infantry?
>Meet them pike to pike, continue to focus our shot on their arquebusiers! We need only hold on until our cavalry is free!
>Break their charge with our arquebusiers, pull out our reserve too, just to be sure!
>[Write-in]

>>6128105
>Let the hussars nip at them first before charging with our retinue to smash them where they stand like hammer and anvil!

Slow them down and deny them effective use of their lances.

>Break their charge with our arquebusiers, pull out our reserve too, just to be sure!

Make them pay for it

>>6128105
>Let the hussars nip at them first before charging with our retinue to smash them where they stand like hammer and anvil!
>Break their charge with our arquebusiers, pull out our reserve too, just to be sure!
We break the knights and we win.

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You may be riding out to fight these knights, but it's no reason to be suicidal. You'll not run headfirst into their lances as a fool. With a few signals of your signaling banners, your hussars receive the message; they are to attack the knights from behind. They pick up their pace and rattle their sabers; soon they are at the heels of the heavy horsemen, their light lances flying out to meet their backs! Outsped, thave no choice but to stop their charge lest they be torn apart by the mob of hussars that greatly outnumbers them.

It is when this happens that you strike! Though you have attempted to avoid personal combat in this war, you find that the motion comes off as almost automatic, lowering your visor and couching your lance under your arms as your small force crashes into the exposed side of the knights. For once in the battle, the knights find their match when it comes to equipment. In but a few minutes more, the seemingly unstoppable formation of the knights seem to crumble; though they do not yet yield, headstrong and proud as nobles often are.

You pull back from the heat of the battle to see the developing scenario at your right, and it seems the situation had not gotten much better. Your skirmisher at the far right continues to fire off at the pikes with little effect, and the greatswords of the enemy left finally reach the line; your injured company, despite their attempts, was unable to stop their charge, and their long blades soon fall upon the pikes, methodically chopping them as they slowly clear their way into the formation, slaughtering the then defenseless pikemen before being pushed back as another line of the formation began to throw them back.

Their compatriot company, however, does not fare so well. Already weakened by your skirmishers and your culverins before, a combined volley from your third company is all it takes to break their charge, cutting their numbers to a few straggling survivors far too few in number to even count as an unit.

>>6128809
There is something else that has quickly been brought to your attention, however, and it is the fact that you can barely see anything! The thick powder released by the volley fire of the arquebusiers has conglomerated into a thick cloud that hinders your vision, and no doubt theirs too. It is only by seeing the number of flashes through the cloud that you are able to determine that the enemy's latest volley has done little towards your arquebusiers, no doubt because of the poor visibility and the threat of hitting their own comrades in this powder-made fog.

You begin to feel in your very being that this battle is reaching it's apex; the moment of truth that shall decide the victor and the loser soon approaches! You must make the correct choice and take this fate for yourself, no matter what the choice might be. You must seize the opportunity if you wish to win!

Though you cannot yet use your cavalry while they remain trapped fighting the knights beside you and your infantry has little choice but to fight out this push of pike, there is something else you can use; your skirmishers! But the question remains: how? ***Because of their agility, you believe any of your two units could fullfill any of these tasks; unless of course, you desire to put them both in the same place.***
>We must hunt down the routing arquebusiers before they decide to return to combat!
>Quickly, attack their shot companies while they're unprotected!
>Our lines will not hold unless we support them! Harass those greatswordsmen and pikes!
>[Write-in]

>>6128809
>Quickly, attack their shot companies while they're unprotected!
They're already out in the open, and if they begin to break all the better.

Question. When you say attack their shot units with the Skirmishers, does that mean they are gonna go over there and shoot into the smoke at them? Or is this more of a saber charge thing?

>>6128810
>Quickly, attack their shot companies while they're unprotected!
Charge them sword in hand, at that

>>6129029
Both units do this, btw

>>6128985
It can be either way, though the standard vote implies shooting.

By the way, since i'm a bit busy today, and this is an important vote that needed some things clear, i'll be waiting until tomorrow to lock it in.

>>6129029
Supporting this. Blast them once and then give them steel.

>>6129245
One shot at close-in, second in reserve, charge and give point, Swedish style!

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It is not often that one thinks about the sheer effort that goes into the making of a mounted knight. At first, comes the knight himself; raised from childhood on the training of the martial arts, taught to ride a horse and wield a lance, sword and hammer, and in some countries, the ability to shoot a bow from horseback as well...though in these late years there have been states who have begun to introduce regiments of commoners in the arms of heavy cavalry, and mercenary companies too begin to fill that role; none quite possess the lifelong training of a mounted noble at arms: when one kills a knight, they create a debt of power that shall take a man's lifetime of effort to refill.

And then there is their equipment; their horse, which must be bought from the finest vendors of the steppe lands to bear their armored barding and still maintain a rapid pace and must rather often be replaced multiple times during a war, their weapons, which are built by hand and often made to fit their personal preferences, and finally their armor, which must be made for them and for them alone of the finest steel. Though modern production methods have made this far faster and cheaper than in the times of old, a full suit of 'bullet-proofed' noble plate armor costs far more than most men will see in a lifetime.

So when you see, upon the field of battle, the battered remains of the final stand of the enemy's knights, it is you alone, amidst your men, who truly understands the vastness of wealth that has been lost. Though they had fought bravely, they were far too outnumbered, their numbers too reduced by the skirmishers to be able to fight off the conjoined attack of your hussars and your retinue; they had died to the last, and only took with them a few more of your hussars. By some manner of providence, you can only guess, not a single men amidst your retinue has perished with but a few being wounded lightly such that their survival is most certain; perhaps the first shred of luck you have had today.

>>6129909
With the knights defeated, at last, the tide of the battle shifts over to you; the enemy holds no more cavalry, and their pikemen have left their arquebusiers unprotected. You waste no time in ordering your light horsemen to charge at them and cut down their shot companies standing at the edge of the cloud of smoke.

The hussars, though wounded, are the first to arrive, crashing at the backs of the surprised arquebusiers, who, having little time to pull out their sidearms, begin to be all but slaughtered, stopping them from firing further at your own men. Your skirmishers are second, though only by a little; they fire their pistols and calivers, and then, raising their swords, crash into the enemy with abandon. It is a success; your charge had been unexpected, the enemy's hindered covered by the cover of smoke. Though they had known your cavalry was in the western field, they had little idea of the extent of damage the knights held, most likely believing they could easily protect their flanks. It is only your second skirmisher company that suffers; having spent a long time harassing the enemy's flanks, the hostile arquebusiers had enough time to turn around and let off a volley that tore through their ranks, killing several dozens of mens and horses and hurting their charge.

Meanwhile, the enemy's charge continues, the blinding powder fog only further slowing down the already slow pikemen, their men falling dead left and right as volley after volley hits them, leaving a veritable trail of the dead and dying throughout the field. Left without the support they expected from the knights, and having advanced too far to receive help from the Pikes, the hostile greatsword unit soon finds itself shot from the sides at point blank range, where even the inaccurate arquebus can nearly always find its target. Their formation crumbles, and their men soon begin to turn around and flee, routing through the smoke.

>>6129910
The winds of conflict howl; the wails of the dying have begun their overture! The battle at last is in your favor, but it is not completely won. You must shatter the arquebuses for once and for all and finish the conflict, and from the east, the pike of the vanguard approaches the skirmisher unit that had for most of the battle harassed them with viciously ill intent. What will you do?

>Retreat the cavalry; have them reposition, then charge again! Do not let them rest, but do not let the pikes reach them either!
>Keep them in place; we cannot allow the arquebusiers the chance to fire even a single more volley, sacrifices be damned!
>Pull off only your skirmishers; have them fire even through the thick fog while your hussars continue to fight the arquebusiers
>Safety be damned - you'll charge them yourself and finish this once and for all! (This option can be chosen as an addition to any of the above)
>[Write-in]

And what of your companies of the foot? What shall they do?
>They must hold their ground! Victory is within our grasp!
>Do not let ourselves get locked into a push of pike, pull back before they hit our lines, continue to fire upon them, and wait for support!
>Defense be damned; order a general charge of the infantry yourself! Through this fog, they will not expect you until it is too late!
>[Write-in]

>>6129911
>Pull off only your skirmishers; have them fire even through the thick fog while your hussars continue to fight the arquebusiers
>Do not let ourselves get locked into a push of pike, pull back before they hit our lines, continue to fire upon them, and wait for support!

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>>6129911
>>Pull off only your skirmishers; have them fire even through the thick fog while your hussars continue to fight the arquebusiers
>>Safety be damned - you'll charge them yourself and finish this once and for all! (This option can be chosen as an addition to any of the above)

Hussars should keep fighting until the pikes get close enough to stick them, really. No reason to leave prematurely.

....

>Defense be damned; order a general charge of the infantry yourself! Through this fog, they will not expect you until it is too late!

Looking at the map, we aren't gonna have enough time to break them all with shot.

No disrespect to the gunners, who we love and respect very much(!), but if we give ground now I have an ill suspicion the baddies may just take the chance to dash for the bridge or turn around and see off our cavalry once the chance of us shooting them in the backs is gone.

We have them on the ropes. We should attack now. It is time. They probably expect us to just shoot. Once the gunner units on the Enemy Right go down, we can charge into the backs of the enemy pikes with cavalry too. Less shooting may also clear the smoke up.

>>6129964
I like this. Support!

>>6129911
>>6129964
+1
Fuck it we ball.

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As you consider your options, your mind can only reach but a single conclusion.

Screw it.

You order a general charge - not only of your infantry and pikemen, but of your own retinue as well. You take up your lance, and, gesturing forth, lead your guards into the fray. Your livelihood may be at risk, but you know very well it shall be forfeit anyways should you lose and still escape. When your retinue closes in on the fleeing arquebusiers, already hounded by your hussars, it is like a butcher's knife cleaving through a pig. The utterly unprotected arquebusiers are skewered by your lances, some crushed underfoot by your horse's charge, and the next falling soon after by your swords. Whatever resistance they still could oppose is null, and their formation is all but broken, the raggard remainders fleing into the hills as they dropped their heavy muskets to the ground in a panic.

Not too far east, however, the situation is not so easy; with the pikemen approaching, your hussars and skirmishers retreated from their attack. The arquebusiers wasted no time in running behind the safety of their allies, their formation shaken yet unbroken, and soon enough, they were able to fire off an ragged volley into the ranks of your retreating horsemen, tearing through their ranks once more. Their numbers far too diminished, this volley is too much for the skirmishers, who begin to rout, retreating further upwards through the hill. You'll have to hope their sargeants can wrangle them before they desert the field of battle altogether and you are forced to hunt and execute them.

Your decision to retreat the skirmishers, too, has allowed the last other arquebusier company some breathing space; and seeing this stand, they begin to take off in full sprint towards the safety of the pikes, no doubt inteding to make a manner of square formation to hold off attacks from cavalry while the arquebusiers fire off at them. You'll have to deal with them quickly if you wish to win.

>>6130920
Meanwhile, your pikemen, following your order of charge, begin to advance uphill as they rush to meet the enemy's pikemen face to face. Their pikes lowered, the formations crash upon one another, jabbing their pikes at the other as they attempt to push through and break their formation, every rank of the formation push more and more forwards as they attempt to gain any edge over the enemy.

The push of pike is a messy, bloody affair. The men jab their long arms any way they can, some outright dropping to the ground in as they pursue the sole goal of killing the other. Pikes snap or are left stuck and tangled in the corpses of fallen enemies, men dropping their polearms as they switch to their secondary blades and axes, cutting the wooden shafts where they can. The threat of dying not to an enemy, but to suffocation as one is left stuck between the mass of hundreds of foes and allies alike, remains a real danger all the time.

You know how these conflicts go; by the end, the winner can be hardly called such, being more often than not just as wounded if not more as the loser. You'll not have your men suffer the same fate.

>Wheel the arquebusiers around and havve them fire at the enemy from their backs!
>Have the cavalry disengage and charge at the pikemen while their rear is unprocted!
>We cannot help them yet, they'll just have to bear with it for a while longer.
>[Write-in]

And how will you break the enemy formation further north?
>Have the skirmisher press fire on the pikemen while the hussars flank at the arquebusiers from the back; if the arquebusiers try to escape or the pikes turn to meet them, charge at their backs yourself!
>Have our arquebusiers from the south move past the fight and engage them; our cavalry can't risk facing a pike wall!
>[Write-in]

>>6130921
>Wheel the arquebusiers around and havve them fire at the enemy from their backs!
>Have the skirmisher press fire on the pikemen while the hussars flank at the arquebusiers from the back; if the arquebusiers try to escape or the pikes turn to meet them, charge at their backs yourself!

>>6130955
+1

No update today either, i'm too busy. Sorry

>>6130955
I'll support to speed this up

>>6131535
Oh, no rush. I don't know about other anons but I'm pretty used to quests being slower on work days compared to weekends!

>>6130955
Support. We have this in the bag.

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You mustn't let the push of pike come to its conclusion; not when the casualties it shall bring will be barely higher than that of the enemy. Your arquebusiers, free of the threat of Cavalry or enemy flanks, are able to easily march to the sides of the enemy and unleash upon them a barrage of short ranged volleys. Their bullets tear into the flanks of the enemy; many are thrown back already dead, others wounded, and your pikes waste no time in making use of this support to jab and prod at their enemy, finishing off any man injured or distracted by this maneuver.

But though hundreds have surely perished by these volleys , the enemy still yet remains in formation, refraining from descending into an panicked mob running for their lives as many armies do in such situations. They hold still in an impressive feat of discipline and moral; your hostile counterpart must have drilled them very well so. You wonder if your foe, by this point of the battle, remains yet alive; you had not seen any sign of a retinue like your. Had he been embedded within a formation? Does he remain yet on the field? These questions remain often unanswered amidst the chaos of battle, receiving their conclusion only when the fight has settled and prisoners are taken.

Nevertheless; the foe still holds, even if the gesture will not save them...

Your situation further north is much better. Your hussars, seeing the retreating gunners, waste no time running them down, sabers flashing at their backs as they try fruitlessly to reach the safety of the pikes. If they had retreated earlier, they might have had a chance; now, their formation is picked off with ease by the men in horseback. For all the power of the arquebus, all the advances made in firearms technology during this war, their wielder remains their greatest weakness, and for so long as they do so, cavalry, and the pikes needed to counter them, shall remain a mainstay of the battlefield.

>>6132874
Yet even pikes can be defeated by cavalry, if one is wise enough, and so, you order your skirmishers to fire off into the enemy's pikemen as your horsemen begin to surround the two companies. Amidst the growing cloud of smoke, however, the already inaccurate pistols and calivers that your skirmishers wield are hardpressed to find their mark. Yet it distracts them enough for long enough. Your hussars crash at the sides of the unprotected arquebusiers before they can turn and let off another volley, catching the attention of the pikemen as well; as soon as they turn, however, you make your move, and charge the company of pikes at their flanks yourself! Though you stay at the back of the formation to ensure your safety, it's a danger nonetheless.

Their allies scattered and their formation crumbling, it does not take long for the spirit of bravery to leave the enemy. Within moments, their formation begins to crumble, men dropping their arms as they begin to scatter out into the hill, most certainly hoping the gunpowder fog and those too close to the fight to turn around and leave will serve as a sufficient cover. The battle is already at it's end; it is time to finish it once and for all!

>I won't let them escape! Have our horsemen hunt down every last straggler!
>Pull back your cavalry and hit the enemy at their backs, shatter them and let none escape!
>We'll not lose any more precious horsemen, let the arquebusiers finish off the job and watch!
>[Write-in]

>>6132875
>We'll not lose any more precious horsemen, let the arquebusiers finish off the job and watch!

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>>6132875

>write in
>>Pull back your Hussars and hit the enemy at their backs, shatter them and let none escape! Have the skirmisher block the road and shoot at anyone trying to use it.

Happy Halloween!

The enemy rear is exposed. I say we finish this now, and if they break, we have the chance to totally wipe out several pike units! The Skirmishers could be useful for guarding the road back, and they should shoot better outside the cloud.

Final post will be this saturday since i want to give it a little bit more effort and that's not possible on weekdays.

>>6132875
>Pull back your cavalry and hit the enemy at their backs, shatter them and let none escape!
Neat quest QM, I'd love to see you put this into a long format thing.

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It's better to be safe than sorry; with a whistle, your hussars are signaled to pull back, your retinue continue to tear their way through the ranks of the pike unit aided by your remaining skirmisher company. In a twist of irony, the arquebus company that had not that long ago been saved by these pikemen wastes no time in fleeing with desperation, leaving their fellows behind as they stumble their way upwardds in a mad dash to save their lives.

Abandoned, whatever semblance of order may have still remained in the ranks of the pikemen crumbles, and they soon fall to your swords like chaff upon the farmer's scythe. Knowing your personal work to be done, you turn to see the final movements of the battle; your hussars, though already weary, tired and wounded by this time of the battle, seem to gain a second wind as they spot the light on the end of the tunnel, galloping through the cloud of smoke and crashing at the rear of the unsuspecting foe.

It is total encirclement; from the front, your pikemen continue to jab and prod, your hussars continue to slash and trample, your arquebusiers pick off those attempting to flee at the sides with their heavy firearms. There is little mercy to be found in their eyes; not when they had seen thousands of their comrades perish. The enemy, surrounded, is left as cattle to the slaughter, and piece by piece, their formations are destroyed, utterly and completely.

As the last wilting stands of these enemies perish and pikemen and hussar meet eye to eye, none than your men are quicker to begin letting out roars of congratulation; the rays of mid day's light begin to break through the thick, gray fog of gunpowder smoke.

The battle has been won.

...
...
...

>>6134381
The wave of celebration does not last long; amidst the wails of the dying and wounded, there is much, much to do. Your men rush to find the wounded and the dying, to save those they can before it is too late. As the smoke continues to dissipate, you remember to order a group of your soldiers to seize the enemy's now unmanned mortars. You'll need to take them to make up for the grave loss of your culverins, though it does not please you to think how slower it'll make you.

Over the river yonder, you finally see it aswell, the welcome sight of your bagge train; your camp followers, your supply wagons, all guarded by a light force not even great enough to form a regiment. Many a commander would chide you for such carelessness with your supplies, but you dare not think how much worse today's massacre would have been had your enemies dug themselves amidst the riverside and taken the much contested bridge.

For the next several hours, your men continue to realize the duties of the afterbattle, hired medicians more carefully tending to the wounded and the wretched peasantry taking the corpses to be burnt. You remember your first battle, when you, still of grim temperament, had expected the dead to be buried, as proper faith demanded. You quickly found out that reality was far more practical, and that save for men of the noble robes or those posessing still living comrades eagle-eyed enough to find them, most men would receive but a simple blessing before being carted off by the wretched to be stripped of their valuables and burnt in a pire. Whatever remained would be left for the locals to deal with.

The cloud has by now fully dissipated, and you can see the hillside in it's entirety. Although you wish you could set up camp in this place for the night, camping so close to a field full of fresh corpses that already begin to decompose under the sun is to invite the miasma they create to bring disease and wreck your already fragile forces.

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>>6134382
As sunlight begins to take an faint orange tint, your army has returned to marching shape. From amidst the dirt road in the hillside, you stare down at the force beneath you, assembled back together by your sargeants and colonels. Staring at the banners, you see the colors of the skirmishers that had fled between them, and utter a silent thanks that they had been brought to hell before passing the martial limits that would have demanded their execution. Though some generals would punish them still, you decide to forego such judgements this time around.

What you see is...not pleasant.

You have, over the course of this battle, lost over a thousand and five hundred of your infantrymen; many hundreds more if you were to count your horsemen as well. And worst of all, you had lost your culverins, these valuable pieces of technology that dwarfed all other of your companies in cost individually.

Your liege will be most displeased by this. You had meant to bring him reinforcements, fresh reinforcements with complete companies, wielding high morale and shining banners. What you have is an army that has lost a third of its numbers and it's most valuable possession, with but three measly siege guns and the pitiful ammunition left by the enemy in the field to use it. Though you remain alive, there is no doubt that this victory is far from ideal

Yet at the same time, not all is bad.

Though you have lost much, indeed, the enemy has lost more. Even now you see the ragged remnants of their force strewn across the field as the wretched collect them, their blue colors dotting the blood and powder soaked grasslands at far greater quantity than yours. The foe, too, had to raise this army, and now it remains scattered to the four winds.

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>>6134383
You wonder how many more you could have saved had you been a wiser man; what paths could have been taken, what mistakes could have been avoided. Had there been an easier path to victory you could have missed? Information you had wrongly parsed? The questions are never ending, yet you know the answers shall never come. They never have, in your past battles, and they never will, in battles to come. Perhaps one day, when you are older, you shall reminisce upon these days, and damn yourself for mistakes brought on by your lack of wisdom. Perhaps in the distant future, when this great war is played and done, and all that remains are the memoirs of men who had once seen these sights and heard these sounds, there shall be those who shall mock your thoughts, pointing the blemishes amidst your plans for all to see and hear.

Yet today remains today, and the mystery of what could have been shall remain your weight to bear. Through this Fog of War, your path is uncertain, but it is indeed the path you chose....

>THE END, FOR NOW
>THANK YOU FOR PLAYING FOG OF WAR
>PLEASE LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS AND CRITICISM
>I WILL COME BY LATER TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS

>>6134384
6:1 K/D ratio is pretty spiffy desu. I expected worse. Good quest. And congrats Gents.

>>6134384
Based. I don't know anything about strategy, so I just +1ed, but nice one-shot.

>>6134384
Thanks for running!

>>6134384
Thanks for running, eager to hear your thoughts and what was going on with the mechanics behind the hood. Feels like it could work very well for running something in the Napolonic wars era, too.

The only thing I felt was "random" was the early one shotting of our entire artillery (critical hit?), the enemy had the advantage from that point on and we did pretty decent all things considered. In retrospect it seems as if our hussars could have just run around/outran the knights and cut down the mortar crew instead of fighting the knightly retinue head on.

What did you think were the biggest surprises yourself?

Look forward to reading more of your work, tied to an overarching story. And someone archive this thread if it isn't archived yet

>>6134384
Thanks anon, it was a fun well written quest. I like the use of the maps and unit icons, something you don't see too often with quests here. Battles felt fair, and other than the mortar hit on our culverins, which I assume was from not getting them in time/crit I think we did a good job of it overall. Looking forward to anything you do next!

Alright,, that was one busy week..i probably should have done this earlier when people were still checking the thread. Anyway...

This quest was, as I've said before, supposed to be an 'test run' for my system so that i wouldn't run into difficulties when making a real quest, and i'm glad it was, because my system...had flaws.

See, my idea for a system was i didn't want to leave a lot to dice - but since some randomness is necessary in these kinds of combats, i decided to use dice mostly for casualties. Each unit had a score when it came to offense or defense, amd this score would determine the multiplier for the casualty roll. Ideally, this would result in there being some randomness that would allow for interesting moments - say, an unit holding out pretty well or failing spectacularly - while still giving the advnatages of each unit.

The problem, of course, comes with the start of the battle, and then all of a sudden you have to make fifty rolls for each turn of combat because you have to go through each and every unit, all while keeping track of casualties and whatnot. That became pretty tiring, pretty quickly. The fact that paint.net seemed to be somehow reducing the resolution of my unit squares with every update didn't help. So much so, that by the final turns, i was pretty much just doing it at random in order to get the turns over without procrastinating.

I will try to think of a better way to run this system whanever i ever think of making a full quest, but i'd certainly appreciate some advice. Here's a few questions that would help, if anyone wants to

>What did you think of the artstyle for the maps? Do you think colored would have been better? Were the unit squares too confusing?
>What do you think could be improved in the system?
>What would you like to see in an eventual full version of this quest?

>>6135565
>The only thing I felt was "random" was the early one shotting of our entire artillery (critical hit?)
In a way, yes, but also no. It's also part of the system issue. You see, In order to calculate period-accurate artillery in my system, i'd have two rolls: one would be for whether it'd hit in the first place, and the other for casualties. I also gave culverins and mortars an 'explosion range' wherein units close enough, that is to say, under that range, would be also hit by the attack.

In the case of the mortar attack, they managed to roll pretty well on the accuracy, and the culverins were close enough to be under the range of one shot. And because they have so few 'soldiers', which in this case are basically your HP, they were pretty much gone. You could, however, have taken them out before that happened with your skirmishers, but since you chose to engage the knights with both your hussars first, they got to fire.

>>6137345
>What did you think of the artstyle for the maps? Do you think colored would have been better? Were the unit squares too confusing?
The maps is perfectly serviceable, and color is not needed. What would be good is short pointers on the height lines that point downhill.
Unit squares were a bit confusing. It was hard to tell apart pikemen, halberdiers and greatswordsmen.

>What do you think could be improved in the system?
I don't know if it's what you're going for, but the amount of casualties the units are willing to take before breaking and running seems inconsistent with the historical reality
>What would you like to see in an eventual full version of this quest?
Armored reiters!
Mounted archers!
Rodeleros!
Field fortifications!
Wagenburgs!
Sieges!

>>6137345
Is there any way you could tell us what the dice rolls were in future combats? Even if u don't want to use the roll feature.

>>6137345
Thanks for the explanations. And yeah, it's difficult doing something simulationist. It's a difficult dream in a way.

>Artstyles
I liked the art style, I just had to double check a lot to make sure what units were what types of units. But I do think it's well handled, don't know if there's anything way to do it. No complaint.

Also, the resolution thing, possibly might help if you used GIMP? Just a thought, not sure if it's better

>What do you think could be improved in the system?
Hard to tell since we didn't see what's going on behind the hood, except your explanation now, so to speak, but whatever makes it easier for you to run. This make me video gamey, but one consideration could be to divide battles clearly into three stages. Pre battle/early skirmishing, main battle, aftermath/post battle maneuverings?

>What would you like to see in an eventual full version of this quest?
Well, anon mentioned unit variety, that is one thing, but I think the important thing would be to have a character that fits some kind of character arc depending on the progression of war. I don't know if that means being a potential condottieri who can take over a city state as is classic as a final story arc, or a Bayard like figure who goes from squadron commander to leading an army and then can become a Eugene of Savoy style commander, but it definitely needs something. Even mass warfare needs character for people to care, after all.
On that note, multiple character background options could be interesting, for example a defining battle where you pick the deed that made you stand out. Artillery commander, madlad cavalry charge, last stand on a brige, stuff like that.

With that said, I wish I could give a better answer to your question.

>>6138347
>a character that fits some kind of character arc depending on the progression of war
OP might want to check out Black Company Quest, which had large battles with a focus on military tactics (albeit fantasy-infected rather than historical)

I should probably archive this, but i have no idea how to. Any help?

New quest coming soon

>>6153366
Go here: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/requestqstinterface.html?

>>6153369
Yeah, see, i'm trying to get those instruction, but i'm pretty much stumped after the 'save complete page' part.

>>6153374
I've just tried archiving it myself, but it was already archived
In any case, you should skip the whole "saveing manually" section and just fill the request form at the bottom

>>6153378
What do you mean? You can just put the thread number?

>>6153381
Thread number, title, description and tags