>annd, heres an updated intel map

>>14332182
How important is the iron to the empire/region? Roughly how long would it take to get there and is there any rough estimation on how large a force was being sent?

>>14332182
Pax has confirmed in the IRC channel he meant they're marching west rather than east. Making the map make much more sense.

Didn't we hire a guide back at that one town? Maybe he knows a quick safer route to the mine

>wow, I'm speshul, their marching West

You do the math in your head, and, provided the main roads to the mine are in good order, and you leave before noon today, you should be able to beat the elves to the mine by half a day at best. And you know that you will have to, that mine is one of the principal feeds for the smithies in Stonefoot. "Any estimate on their numbers?" you ask the scout.

"No more than 500, sir." the captain replies. "Though, the fact that their valkeries havent made an appearance yet is making me nervous."

>>14332324
Bleh. Let's call our guide over and see if he can cut down that travel time or at least get a smaller force to the mine ahead of time.

>>14332353
Seconding

Commander Quest, Omnipotence Quest, AND Dragon Quest all on the same night?

It's like Christmas up in here.

"The guide we hired, where is he?" you ask no one in particualr.

"Left with Blackbird after our last battle, that scouting mission you set them to before it started. They left as soon as they had finished eating, didnt even wait for the crab." Sasna informs you, matter of factly.

"The scout did leave some scribbled maps in here somewhere before they left however, if we can read them I'm sure we'll be able to find a better path." Gaius replies, motioning to the pile of papers on one of the side tables.

>>14332469
Oh yeah thats right. Well then lets take a gander at them maps

>>14332469
Then we best start going through those maps as we start to prepare the maniple to move out. I'm hesitant to move the entire maniple though since it gives the enemy free reign on the cities around the forest while we're gone. At the same time, I dislike the idea of splitting up when they still have around 800 men in that forest. Thoughts on splitting up guys?

Also, when was the last time the enemy air units have been spotted? Just when we first saw them arrive at the forest?

>>14332508
I dont know, right now numbers are our greatest asset. It doesn't sit well with me to divide our forces.

>>14332571
They are but if we bring the entire maniple, the enemy has free reign on the forest region. Furthermore, it's entirely possible the enemy will notice us leaving and just tell the force attacking that we're all coming and tell them to retreat after a few days. At that point, we'd waste about a week just to get back to where we are with no gain. It's risky as hell but it might be necessary... Still need to debate this myself though.

Although I'm leery of splitting up, that gold mine to our south seems vulnerable as well.

My suggestion:

1. Move our main force to the iron mine. Avoid being spotted if at all possible. Set up ambush at the mine or perhaps even along the route.

2. Valks harass the enemy column with rocks and such.

3. Leave a token force (perhaps some of the mercs) to guard the gold mine. Have them put up extra banners, tents, and campfires. Make the force look much larger than it actually is from the air. (Maybe even some strawmen in uniform to bluff their numbers.)

>>14332684
If we do split our force, I was more thinking of leaving a majority of them here in this camp while we take a smaller force to deal with the guys heading to the iron mine. A smaller force means we can move quicker in theory and there's no reason to leave our other forces on top of the gold mine since they should be able to scout out any attacks on it and get there in time. I'm just worried if this is what the enemy is hoping for and intends to attack the men we leave behind hard. We still have no clue what they have up their sleeve in terms of units.

>>14332684
I'm behind having the valks harass the marching elves as long as they stay above the effective range of their arrows; against elven archers, the valks would be flying into concentrated AA fire.

Also, it will let us know how dedicated this force is to taking out this objective.
Ideally, I would like to use an ambush, preferably where we can cause a landslide via earth elementalism.

>>14332782
I was thinking of leaving the valks behind myself. Harassing from a range where they can't be hit by arrows effectively won't do them much good and they'd be more useful scouting in this area for the people we leave behind.

"Lets have a look at them then." you offer, heading over to the table. All of the maps are hand-scrawled on multiple peices of old parchment, more than a few labeled as to how they should be placed next to another. After more than a little frustrated argument you have a vague idea of what the maps are representing. "I still think 'wide' is wide for a man, not wagons." Cornelius argues.

"That writing is new" Sansa counters "Its on top of the... _stain_ on the original." she carefully brushes at the spot in question, which flakes off nearly transparent, and takes half of the label in question with it.

"So you think 'wide' is better for taking the wagons than 'smooth'?" Jayne asks "Because I dont think a wide, overly steep trail will be much better than one that ruins our wagons in some other fatal manner."

Gaius huffs "Fuck it, we take the most direct rout he showed drew in, and hope for the best. This mine is too important to this front to let fall."

After nearly an hour of arguing you have a path set out that _should_ give you a day to prepare for the enemies attack on the mines, the only thing left to do is to get on the move.

How do you sabotage an iron mine anyways?

Oh yeah. Earth elementalism. Dammit.

>6 columns
6 units

>3 on foot in the lead
3 elementalists

Take our dwarves at least. They probably get some bonus fighting in mountains. The rangers can set up fortifications at the mine entrance if it came to that.

>>14332811
We really need to craft shaped projectiles for more accurate air-to-ground attacks from high altitude. A contingent of elven archers is a very effective air defense; one that we need to find a way around.

>>14332845
We should bring along, at least, the warlords and one of the legionnaire units, as well as the rangers.
I think the scouts will also be a help, but I think we'll have to leave the siege weaponry behind.

Also, there hasn't been much time, but has there been improvement among the elementalist teams? Has the water arcana been examined, and is it safe for our water elementalists to use?

>>14332845
Well we need to settle this. I say if we leave men behind to hopefully keep the enemy in the forest in check and so we can move quicker with a smaller force. Take Cornelius' legion, the rangers, Jayne's cavalry (bears are good in mountains I believe Pax said), Sunstorm elves and Dentrus' Raiders. A little light in ranged units but I figure the repeaters can make up for it. Leave the rest to hold the fort and keep in check any attacks the enemy attempts.

>>14332867
Or maybe the miners have some spare explosives on hand if were lucky

>>14332773
500 elven elites is not something half of our force can take care of with acceptable casualty rates, I think.

>>14332978
Oh I know it won't be a clean battle. It'll be damn messy. However, I see no other way to stop the enemy from taking cities or mines unopposed.

My vote is:
Dwarf Warlords
Dwarf Scouts
Dwarf Rangers
Garlian Uursan Cavalry
Celtron Guards (dwarf)
Sunstorm (elves)

>>14332978
No, but the enemy commander knows that we can't afford to lose that iron mine.
If we dont' send defenders, then he takes it and weakens the entire Northern Front.
If we defend it, then he is free to raid other choice targets with his 800 remaining men, knowing that we're pinned to defending the mine.
There's no good option, especially since there's no targets nearby that he needs to defend that we could attack.

>>14333046
Well the forest is the only place we can really attack. However, since we cannot ignore the mine we don't have the best chances on taking the forest with the leftover forces.

As Sansa sets about rousing the men to provide whatever marching orders you decide on, you begin to go over Tomas' maps in more detail, trying to bleed more information from them.

>brown are trails, width is roughly scale (the huge ones are bigger trails)
>any white area away from the one ringed off past the black circle (the mine) is too mountainous to travel
>The grey lines are cliff faces/dropoffs, assume the elevation is below and to the left of any line
>your path is next, and merges with the main trail on this map

>>14333085
Assuming I'm reading it right, I don't see many places where we could ambush them until they're approaching the mine.

What if we use our earth elementalism to block off all routes except one?

>>14333028
I'll back this but I'm worried about a lack of units with shields and if we do do this, we leave Lena behind since she'll need to help with the valks if the other units are hit by that.

>>14333187
We'd need to get there in time to do that. Not likely to happen.

>had a brain fart and did the elves approach first, yours is coming up

>>14333227
Sadly this doesn't help us much until we have a better idea on where they are when we get closer. Any other ideas on splitting our force or not?

I'm looking at the map of the area, and I don't see another big target that the other half of the Uurlanthi force could attack in a timely manner, without us also being able to get there before him and defending it.

I'm going against what I said before, and thinking that we mobilize our entire maniple. Make it big, and make it obvious. If this was a ruse to get us to defend the mine while the enemy attacks elsewhere, this will make him think it worked and call off the attack on the mine.
Also, it could cause the mine attack force to reconsider and withdraw, which would effectively defend the mine.
And if he DOES attack the mine, then we will crush his force and reduce the Uurlanthi's numbers even further.

>aand your approach
>red dots denote the path you currently have planned
>also, consensus on splitting or not, and if you are splitting, who are you taking?

>>14333319
I'm pretty sure they could hit the gold mine to the south before we could make it to them if they waited a few days. Or take out the town north of our current position. Which is why I want to split up with what was posted in >>14333028.

>>14333381
Yes, they could hit another target with the 800 remaining troops. But don't forget, after the attack, they still have to march back to their forest stronghold.

If we can knock out this 400 strong force, and the enemy commander tries to take advantage and attack another target, yes, they will get through. But, we will be able to hit him while he's out in the open, without the protective cover of the forest.

>>14333434
To speed this up, I'll agree with you since it's way too quiet tonight. Let's just make sure we have valk's watching the forest area and the mountain approach for their movements. Hopefully then we can react as necessary.

Seconding/thirding the motion to take the whole mantiple.

If we split our force evenly, we give the enemy a chance to hit part of our force with roughly 1:1 numbers.

To boot, the enemy may have the ability to move troops to the ruin SE of the iron mine to bring his whole force to bear.

>>14333468
Oh yes, we will have aerial overwatch; that is a given.
I only wish we could have set up an aerial heliograph relay to be able to get near-radio speed recon updates.

You guys do realize that letting the enemy sack the gold mine counts as critical mission failure, right? It's why we are defending the iron mine in the first place.

At least leave a merc unit behind to implement my idea:
>>14332684

>>14333522
Yes I'm aware. That's why I didn't want to move all our men in the first place but I'll have to accept just using air units to keep an eye out for forces approaching it so we can send people out to meet them if it happens.

>>14333522
Which of the mercs we hired has the highest defense value?
We don't need them to defend the gold mine completely on their own; we only need them to hold out long enough for us to arrive.

>>14333531
Send who though? Everyone would be committed to the mountain roads. Hard getting in means hard getting back out.

I think we need to at least leave the heavy cavalry behind. Horses do not do well in mountains.

>>14333555
That's true. The heavy cav won't be of much use, and they can always ride to meet us if we find an opportunity to attack the elves out in the open plains.

>>14333583
Now that I think about it, we kind of have to split up. Our manogel and heavy repeaters will only slow us down in the mountain as well as the fact our heavy cav isn't effective in the mountains.

You know what - while we continue to debate, why not ask our captains for their thoughts on what we should do? That might help.

Sansa walks into the tent "Justinian, are we mobilizing the entire maniple or-"

"Yes" you cut her off "and for a professional guide, Tomas is terrible at drawing maps." Sansa chuckles and walks back out of the tent. Within another hour the maniple is back on the move, Lena nearly holding up the deployment with her stubborn insistence on moving Wulf herself. Within a day you reach the end of the foothills, and are able to camp at the mouth of the trail you plan to take. The next day passes quietly, save for Degrian jumping from wagon to wagon shrieking curses and insults to no one in particular in his native tongue at every rock and imperfection in the trail you roll over.

Early on the third day, however, things take a turn for the, interesting. The Captain of the skywings comes screaming down into the camp, landing directly outside of your tent, waking you up rudely. "Commander!" he shouts, bursting in, not even apologizing to the still not fully dressed Jayne and Laelith "The enemy columns just disappeared. In the blink of an eye they were gone, just one elf collapsed on the trail. He's dead, but..." outside you hear even more commotion, and Kyrias voice shouting for whoever is in her way to move out of it.

>>14333607

We can either earth vault them at the base of the mountains or remove key components and leave them hidden in some bushes/woods.

>>14333645
Sigh. Now they can make illusions eh? How frustrating. Let's find out what Kyria's going on about.

>>14333645
Have one of the Skywings go check his body for anything interesting (possibly arcana to boost illusion ability?), and the rest go check if the enemy are making for that gold mine.

DID THEY BLOODY ILLUSION ARMY ON US! I THINK THEY DID! GADDAMMAT!

>captcha says: bring ynamp
i dont think music is gonna help here

Goddammitgraah-

Loot the body. Arcana get.

Listen to what Kyria has to say. Have the maniple start marching back out of the mountains.

Send out the valk unit to find out where the hell the main enemy force is; send 2 valks to the gold mines to be sure.

See if the House Morlan gryphon riders will let us ride with them to check out the body, and see if there's any arcana.

>>14333723
>Have the maniple start marching back out of the mountains.
Wait. In IRC, Pax said that the mystic couldn't have been keeping the illusion up for this entire time; that means there's still a force out here. Before we move, we need to know where we're going.

You sigh "Did he have any arcana on him?" You hear Laelith and Jayne snipping back and forth at each other behind you as they finish dressing, something about who was ogled more, and who has more right to be insulted by it, you think.

The man shakes his head "Nothing of note, but there was no guarantee that he didnt have support hiding in the mountains, so we headed back here to warn you."

Kyria bursts in "Uurlanthi column down the main road, spears and blades, two of each. Fast march, half a day ahead of us, by their pace."

"The mine was still operating when my men went to warn the miners, and again when they checked it for sabotage earlier this morning..." Damian offers, sounding confused.

>>14333798
I think what he meant was that's why he suddenly died. He killed himself maintaining this illusion.

>>14333804
Is there any way we can intercept the Uurlanthi force? Can we catch up to them?

"Headed towards us?" you ask Kyria

She shakes her head "They moved past us, headed south along the arterial road that leads to the town at the foot of the mountians, though, there is a gold mine between the town and our position."

"So, blademasters, light infantry, any sign of their archers or cavalry?" you ask

Kyria shakes her head in a negative "None, Commander."

>>14333844
Well then. Unless they have another mystic, this might be time to harass them with our air units. We also need to chase them down... Bear cavalry time as well as some melee and ranged units I guess. It's along the main road so it should be doable to use the wagons to catch up.

You shake your head "The mine isnt that close to us, Kyria."

She takes a deep breath "Along the same road, but further south. They could very well be planning on going through the town, and continuing down the road to the mine. Or, this force is to catch and kill any civilians running from their siege of the town, or-"

"Easy love, I know what they may be up to, the question is, what are we to do about it?" you cut her off, letting an easy, calm, authority into your voice.

>>14333885
Also, harassing with our air assets will force the elves to either reveal any archers they brought along, or simply take the AtG punishment.
Have the valks begin their strafing runs, but make sure that they know to be careful, there may still be elven archers about.

Also, we need to make best speed to try to intercept them before they get to either the gold mine or the town.

Lets kick ass and chew bubble gum

>>14333921

Ok, i now officially need a map of where Trentz is and where this enemy force is.

To start, Valks need to send a scouting party to the town south of us. preferably a double-strength scouting party flying in two groups. Keep eyes on eachother and high tail it if the enemy valks attempt to hit them.

Another valk scouting party needs to recheck the iron mine, but DO NOT LAND.

No input on ground forces movement until we get a map of where other things are.

>>14333952

oh, and we need to know if the force Kyria just reported could have marched to the mine and then to where they were spotted in the time since our Valks saw it in the morning.

"Captain Corinth, send a few of your best to make a low pass on the mine, and half to check the town at the foot of the mountains. Kyria, is it possible that this force is on its way down the main road from the mines?" Corinth salutes, and briskly walks from the tent after your command.

Kyria shakes her head "I had rangers along the road all night, not even elves are that stealthy."

>so roll out? if so, in what way/with whom?
>also, you are the red star, the elves blue
>once they hit the bottom of the map, assume they are within visual of the town

>>14333952
seconding this

>>14334090
Have the maniple make best speed down the main road.

Also, I have an idea: Have Justinian ride either a valk or a gryphon to ahead of where the elves are. Then use earth elementalism to cause a landslide.
At best, we cut their numbers in half.
At worst, we slow them down enough for our maniple to catch them.

>>14334140

I like it. Seconding.

rolled 4 = 4

Test Roll

>>14334140
Not sure if we want to do this landslide. We might block the main road and cut us off for awhile until we can clear it. Doubly bad if they have other troops heading to the cities. Worst case scenario is we miss them and block us from chasing them.

>>14334282

as long as we do it before the cliff above them goes away, our forces can always detour to the top cliff path.

Trentz would be flying ahead, after all.

>>14334282
Also, are we still going to harass them with the valks? That should slow them down a bit since I doubt being hit by giant birds will let you keep your pace.

>>14334324
Hit them with the valks as they're recovering from the landslide; they'll be more disoriented and easier to hit then.

Also, since we're flying ahead ourselves, the valk force will arrive a little later than us. The valks still have to find and pick up boulders of appropriate size.

>>14332624
I think we should have as many of the valks that can be spared to scan the countryside for any other enemy troop movements. Part of me thinks that this force is being sent to tie us up while the rest of the enemy force takes their next objective

I assume our maniple is moving to chase them while we fly ahead? As well, I believe we should have the archers in the lead so they can start to harass the enemy with ranged attacks before we catch up to them. Have the legionnaires behind them so they can retreat behind them once the enemy decides to engage.

Our maniple should move out before we fly off to stop the enemy; no guarantee we'll effectively stop the enemy and we don't want our maniple to be late.

Have the warlords and legionnaires in front, then the Sunstorm and the rangers for close range repeater fire, then the scouts and Deadeyes to provide support fire, and followed up by the rest of the maniple.

March with our highest strength legionary unit up front with the sunspear merc unit. in the row behind them, the warlords.

Can we have the griffons grab rocks instead of the valks not sent scouting and have the remaining valks watching for any enemy forces attempting to ambush from the higher ground?

>>14334421
Gryphon unit is a non-combat, observational unit. We can't give them combat orders.

>>14334396
Taking back my suggestion, after some thought, supporting Maximus.
We need to give our Deadeyes as much time as possible hitting the enemy.

>>14334450
I see no reason why our men won't have the time to fall back behind our melee units after the enemy decides to engage us. Might as well give them a few free potshots on the enemy.

>>14334396

changing my vote to Max's plan

>>14334396
seconding this

"Jayne, you and Sansa get the maniple marching, ranged units to the fore, then the legionary battalions. I'm flying ahead, hopefully with the house Morlan riders, to stop the enemy advance." you order as you don your armor and step out of the tent. The camp is all controlled chaos, as Jayne is shortly behind you, and Sansa joined with her shouting by the time you negotiate the strike with the Morlan riders.

By the time you are in the air, the Daimus Skywings are already ready to make their harassment runs on the advancing elven column, and you are in the heart of the formation when the trap is sprung. Elven Valkerie riders rise up from caverns, under crevices and overhangs, and anywhere else you could hide an overgrown eagle and an overly pompous rider. The man your pigybacking on is suddenly struggling to hold his mount on course, and you can feel the griffon staining to get to grips with the nearest elfish rider, his plate armor the glinting yellow hue of un-dyed mithia. Your mount begins to swoop down towards the head of the enemy column, allowing you to get a feel for the stone face. A stream of off-target or stray repeater bolts almost catches the house Morlan man in the side, and causes him to accidentally give his griffon the order to swerve for no reason. The beast shrieks out angrily, fighting the command to halt its dive as you topple the stone face, missing the enemy force, but managing to cut off any hope of advance they may have. As your ride begins its path back to your maniple you see the mad combat between the mercenaries and elven knights. The repeaters barely keeping it even, though it is incredibly bloody on both sides. To the north you can already see your maniple advancing at nearly a full run, archers in a fairly tight formation at the fore, though they will all be able to fire at least one volley into the enemy force before combat is joined.

>any last minute commands before the fight begins?

>>14334665
... How the hell did they get all this set up here without our scouts noticing? Bleh. I say have the archers focus on the knights instead of the oncoming forces if they can. We need to bail our mercs out of the trouble they're in and perserve as many of them as we can.

rolled 43 = 43

>>14334665
In this mad aerial furball, I want to try something foolhardy:
Earth elementalism, all elven armor implodes inwards.

Trying an elementalism roll.

rolled 63 = 63

>>14334687
Damnit. If only you got the 4 from earlier.

rolled 28 = 28

Order our valk knights, and our rider, to drop down to support range of our archers. We need air power more as a recon asset than as a direct combat unit.

We need to get our ride to climb so we can fire off a string of signal ring bursts, in the hope that our valks sent on scouting missions spot them and converge.

Hopefully, they're wise enough to come in high and hit the enemy with diving attacks as they arrive!

>>14334769
>>14334746
Combine these two.
The valks here will drop down while we go high up to signal the other valk riders.
If the elven valk riders come after us, then they'll expose themselves to an attack by the our valk riders here.

>>14334804
They're a little far away though. It might be too risky to do that just now. Hopefully they're smart enough on their own to realize they need to go up and attack from above when the arrive. I think we should head down with the rest of our valks myself.

You motion to the man you are riding with to rise above the fight, and he grimaces, fighting his griffon to rise above the battle, even as it struggles to get to grips with an enemy flyer. You fire off a series of signals from your ring in the direction of the town, but are disheartened to see smoke rising from it. You get a reply signal, and motion for your transport to take you to your maniple.

You jump the last few feet to the ground, allowing the rider to join the rest of his observation team all the sooner. Within minutes you can see the uurlanthi force, standing prepared to receive your charge, and die, a shieldwall formed, spears presented. Before you, Sansa is shouting insults to the elves, and commands to the ranged units to make damn sure they are accurate. They are almost in range, if you have any last commands, now would be the time to give them.

rolled 46 = 46

>>14334901
They're prepared to die, are they? And likely hope to take some Degnarians with them.
I have no intention of doing so.

Legionnaires and Warlords prepare to move forward to replace the ranged units on the front line when the elves charge.

Elementalism to create a chasm amongst the front line of the enemy.
We will kill them, and present no chance for them to return the favor.

rolled 17 = 17

>>14334901

Concentrate fire on the blademasters. No point wasting ranged fire on a shield wall.

Spike the enemy infantry forming the shield wall.

Elemental roll

>>14334901
Were the town in the distance not under attack, I'd say let's just sit back and let the arrows deal with it. We cannot afford that. Ranged units focus on the blademasters or help out the valks in the air. Then begin our march towards them.

rolled 68 = 68

>>14334936

wouldn't that fissure cut off our path to the city that we just noticed is burning?

>>14334965
I was going to use earth elementalism to fix it once we're done.
We'd have to do the same with the spikes as well, if we're to ride our wagons through.

Not to mention clearing off the landslide.
Jayne's going to have to be our battery for this series of battles.

rolled 72 = 72

>>14334901
We can crush these bastards against the rocks. Or, use our elementalism to bring the rocks to them.

Rolling to try to start a rockslide onto the enemies rear.

>>14334952
second

Above you the shrill cry of more Valkeries joining the battle can be heard, and as you look up, you see a few more mad seconds of aerial combat, before both sides break off to lick their wounds, the Uurlanthi to the east, your mercenaries north. "FIRE!!!" you bellow, and are satisfied by the excellent accuracy of your troops as they tear through the blademasters. However, the bandaged, battered elven archers at the top of the sheer cliff to your east rising and firing into your ranged units at the same time quickly removes all satisfaction from the moment. Forward you rush with the 454th Legionary, ready for battle as you tear fissures through the ranks of the light infantry before you, though it is not as accurate as you would like. Mere seconds before your battalion impacts the enemy, you contemplate how you will respond to this last threat, and wonder how it is they defeated your stonesense.

rolled 58 = 58

>>14335055
Elementalism.
Send a row of spikes straight through that elven archer formation.

rolled 60 = 60

>>14335055

Ranged units need to return fire on those archers. Merc units should move to the center of the road to prevent additional enemy forces from dropping rocks on them.

As for the elves we trapped...

Death!

Combat

rolled 18 = 18

>>14335055
Command roll.
Lena and all ranged units, redirect fire and focus on enemy archers.

You unleash a chain of stone spikes into the archers above the mountain road, and can hear their screams, a fraction of a second before a brilliant barrage of white-hot energy, arrows and bolts lances into the formation. Then, the cry of steel on steel erupts seconds before it should. You look ahead to see the decimated unit of blademasters recklessly charging forward, splitting to combat both legionary battalions. Their Zweihanders darting and weaving, gliding through armor joints, and around shields, weaving death and pain, even as your men charge onward, callously avenging every man felled and more. As soon as that madness is resolved, a gout of flame courses through the eastern unit of elven infantry, and the elves not incinerated hurl themselves into your lines. As the battalions collide, and the men next to you at the back of the 454th cast sidelong glances at you, while Collin shouts insults and spills blood at the fore, you realize just how determined to bleed your maniple this group of elves are, the reckless, hopeless abandon they fight with.

rolled 49 = 49

>>14335188
Elementalism Roll.
Spikes amongst the front line of enemy infantry.
They're going to bleed us dry at this rate.

>>14335188
Can the 98th get into position between the 454th and 196th?
We'll need them for the second Blademaster unit.

>>14335239
>roll command to re-form in combat

rolled 86 = 86

>>14335269
Command Roll.

rolled 53 = 53

>>14335279
Goddamnit. I blame Generic for this.

Will this, if let go, just cause us to re-roll Command next turn to try again, or will there be command problems unless we botch?

rolled 5 = 5

>>14335188

If no one objects, we should probably get in the fight and start hacking some elves apart.

rolled 66 = 66

Fuck everyone else, I'm calling for a botch.

Recruit bears to fight your enemies.

>>14335309
Seeing as we need to cut them all down, supporting moving to the front.

Err, no, we are not going to botch on 86 53 66 for a command roll.

rolled 100 = 100

>>14335316

botch sounds good.

rolled 68 = 68

>>14335368

>>14335309
If we can use this as the combat roll, then sure. Otherwise, I vote staying behind and hitting the elves with more spikes.

VETO. I VETO the botch! :(

To your left a great blinding white-yellow flash replaces the remnant of the archers, as well as a good portion of the cliff face, and the battle freezes for a second. You try to shout for your men to reform, to allow Uurists Warlords to meet the swordmasters head-on, but by then the battle had picked up again, and your men are unable to shift, and too close to see the signals you launched. Frustreated, you shoulder to the front of the formation as Laelith incinerates another group of uurlanthi elves. As Uurists warlords roll to a cursing stop, you unleash a small quake on the blademasters, delaying their charge hopefully long enough to get the 98th into combat. Once you reach the front line you vent your frustration on the soldiers in front of you, your blade quickly red with blood. "Why can nothing ever go slightly wrong?" you ask one of the soldiers as you take his head off "Its always some divine cock up my ass! Or stacked uurlanthi ambushes!" you run your blade through an elfs gut, and through another ones midriff as you continue your rant "Even after I lay careful godsdamned dragon-loving plans, SOMETHING fucks it all up!!" you bellow, not even noticing your men laughing as they join your slaughter "And, I'm blaming... YOU!!!!" you scream, pointing to a random enemy soldier, who you are fairly sure wets himself before you finally finish pulping his skull.

rolled 4 = 4

>>14335457
Alright, one more time, with feeling!
Elemental roll.

Spikes all along the rear line of the elven light infantry.

rolled 56 = 56

Archers, into their rear ranks.

Legionnaires, make way for the 98th!

Warlords, CHARGE!

Command roll.

rolled 54 = 54

Rolling for combat.

Nice roll. Ngodom. Might want to save that hot hand for when we need to clear the blocked path again.

>>14335478
see that roll, right there?

that's called they are fucked.

>>14335576
I'm hoping that rolling won't be necessary, since it'll be post-battle.

You rip a line of spikes through the block of spearmen before you, your rant petering out into a disjointed, colorful curse chain. However, it would seem that your maniple has taken to your example, and all three battalions at the front of the battle are now full of men screaming out their frustrations to the elves before them. Laelith continues happily burning elves, and Collin just lets out a big, throaty laugh. Uurist starts going through his list of problems as his Warlords impact the baldemasters, and as the dwarfs list goes on, the volume at which he shouts it at increases... and the blademasters begin backing away from him as his swings get larger, more powerful and faster. At this rate, you'll have these doomed elves backing into the wall, you muse to yourself as you eviscerate another uurlanthi soldier.

rolled 87 = 87

>>14335596
And now for the finale: Elemental Roll.
Spike wall to kill the entire rear half of the blademasters.

You see, gentlemen? Every combat problem can be solved with angry dwarves!

rolled 3 = 3

>>14335620
>87
FUCK!

rolled 100 = 100

>>14335596
PUSH THEM

PUNCH AND PUSH THEM WITH SWORDS AND SHIELDS

SMASH THEM AGAINST THE ROCKS

rolled 32 = 32

Ooo. Dwarf tantrum. I've read about those. :)

Combat roll.

rolled 87 = 87

>>14335633
>>14335620
>87
>3
Why, damn you?! Why do you do this?!

rolled 9 = 9

>>14335620
>>14335640

rolled 9 = 9

>>14335640
>100
We've still got a botch, I think.
And now seems like a good time to use it.

rolled 68 = 68

Command roll.

"Into them, men! I want the enemy smeared on the stone walls! Like JAM!"

rolled 42 = 42

Command Roll

Archers resume their support fire against the blademasters.

Uurists ranting quickly dissolves into a wrathful, wordless howl, and he rushes forward, his soldiers forced to move with him. The Legionary battalions, to well trained to let the line dissolve, begin pushing forwards as well. You try to shout out to push the elfs off the cliff, but are drowned out by a chours of laughter after Collin finally manages to shout "An'I never git'ta fight a halfway decent opponent! Its always some damned cultist'ur horde'a pathetic wads'a dragonscum. Or even better, I git'ta babysit some poor, doft bastard'oo cant keep em'self in one cohe'sv peice on'a battlefield, I dont evin'git ta warmin up when that hap'ns. An YOU uurlanthi peices'a shit certainly aint'up ta snuff!" Taht finally breaks a few of the elves, as one turns to run, only to be impaled on one of your stone spikes. The battle is all but over you realize, suddenly feeling much better about being you.

>>14335745
Okay, finish cleanup. Then we can try to clear the road.

rolled 79 = 79

Mop up time.

Legionnaires kill the last spear-elves, and then converge on the blademasters.

Command roll.

One thing I've noticed, Pax. Do these enemy units not have morale?

rolled 24 = 24

Elemental Roll, specifically for after the action.
This is for attempting to clear the road and make it passable again.

rolled 28 = 28

>>14335794
To be fair, WHERE would they run?

>>14335794
Not tonight they don't.

Let's load the wounded into the wagons, and get the maniple ready to move asap. We got a village/town to save.

>>14335875
Agreed.
Also, make sure that the valk riders are all equipped with repeaters, if possible, and regular crossbows if not. I think the value of a repeater-equipped valk rider has been shown in AtA engagements.
We also need them to be flying ahead of us to give us intel on the forces attacking the town, and if they've gone ahead towards the gold mine.

>>14335875
indeed

>A stream of off-target or stray repeater bolts almost catches the house Morlan man in the side, and causes him to accidentally give his griffon the order to swerve for no reason.

Somebody should keep track of how many times we almost get killed by friendly fire. I think it's at least twice now.

The last few elves dont last very long, the best of them only lasting a minute. Your men begin collecting the wounded and moving them back north along the trail. You however, saunter right up to the collapsed mound of boulders, and begin working to shift them off of the trail. After nearly an hour you have most of the top layers of stone shifted clear of the trail, however, enough large stones remain to keep the road impassable. You send for Lena, who quietly walks up to the wall, steps small, arms covered in melted arcane designs yet, face sad. She sighs, and after a few minutes the trail is cleaner than it has ever been you suspect, but the girl is gone before you can thank her.

"You need to talk to her." Jayne observes, walking up to you "I know I'd feel horrid if I caused something like that to you, even accidentally, but she's taking it harder than she should be, I think..." The autowagons begin trundling past, Spite and Stormcloud ambling up to the two of you, waiting to be mounted.

"I'll deal with it as soon as I'm able to." you promise, climbing onto the massive uursan and spuring him forward.

>seems like a decent place to stop for the night
>someone archive please
>I'll be back thrusday at 9pm server time
>if you have any CQ/setting questions just e-mail me at [email protected]

So, it's been brought up in the IRC that Magnetism is one of the upper tier Earth elementalism powers.

Justinian could start wearing a red helmet, and we could put our mystic in a wheel chair.
"We are the future, Rufus! Not them!"

Another 500 elves down.

800 remain.

Session has been archived.

>>14336011
It has also been pointed out that some of the old guard seem ready to prosecute elementalists. :)

>>14336060
After one more boost to spikes, which I think will give a general earth elementalism boost, I think we should move towards getting that Magnetism power.

Justinian Trentz, Pimp Master of Magnetism.

>>14336011
HAHAHA! Urlanthians! WELCOME.....TO DIE!