The Arkentool War - Prologue: "Gathering Clouds"

[tigerusthegreat]

Scouting Orders:

Roo's scout: H7 I6 J6 K5 L5

Yenniw's scout: K9 K10 K11 L12 M 12

[HerbieRai]

Scouting:

S1: F7 - F8 - G8 - F9 - E9
S2: G7 - H8 - I8 - J9 - K9
S3: H7 - I7 - J8 - J7 - I6
S4: H6 - I5 - J5 - K4 - L4


Popping: I'm going to pop as many archers as possible. I can't pull up the doc where I am, so I am unsure their cost/ how many I can pop

[WaterMonkey314]

@Herbie - Archers are 171 each; BLAND allocated 500 pts to Neufchatel, so that gives you 2 Archers. (if someone gives you 13 spare points, you can get a third.)

[BLANDCorporatio]

I can give those 13 points. Pray tell how many are left (remember I also popped a horse) at Bailey.

About Scouting orders, exactly like last time for Bailey. In fact, though maybe I didn't check closely, nobody popped extra scouts. That's a shame. Anyway, if that's true then same orders as last time would be fine.

Do not make that official until everyone sent in their scouting orders, so we can do a check for overlaps then.

EDIT: Outpost (Nihila) is thinking about 4 Scouts. Good idea. Maybe make it 3 scouts, and see what extra troops can be worked in. You have the extra points from tigerusthegreat (135) to use as well.

Outpost will need some new scout orders in that case, maybe something looking westward over the water or south over the hills and such.

[WaterMonkey314]

The Alkimian contingent also has a few scouts - they're based in Neufchatel as well.

I'll check your pop point status shortly.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Right, that gives 3 extra scouts. That's quite good actually for covering Neufchatel's eastern surroundings, so that tigerusthegreat's scouts can inspect more of their own surroundings instead. We'll see.

So far, though, Bailey has scouting orders like last time.

[Stryke]

Ok i'll pop two new archers and a new piker,
171*2 900
+ 153 -495
= 495 =405

I'll save the rest for now, BLAND i have two scouts where do you want them.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Just as the previous turn would be fine.

It will be Neufchatel, Outpost and Castlenau where some tweaks will be needed.

[tigerusthegreat]

reassign my scouts as you like cw

[BLANDCorporatio]

reassign my scouts as you like cw

Ok, noted. I'll plot some scout orders for you when we figure out what to do with scouts from the capital.

[WaterMonkey314]

A summary of popping orders and who's proposed scouting orders:

Outpost (900)
+4 Scouts (780) (120 remain)

Castlenau (900)
Scouting orders proposed
+5 Pikers (765) (135 remain)

Newcastle (900)
Scouting orders same
+2 Archers (342)
+1 Piker (153) (405 remain)

Neufchatel (500)
Scouting orders proposed
+3 Archers (513) (-13 remain)

Bailey (347)
Scouting orders proposed - same as prev
-13 pts to Neufchatel
(334 remain)
==================

994 pop points remain in aggregate

BLAND, you don't have enough points at Bailey to pop a horse, so I haven't listed it there. You could seize the other players points, but that's a bit... out of your normal playstyle. But who knows - maybe the Titans will smile on you!

I'll be able to resolve scouting orders Wednesday or Friday, but not Thursday this week. The weekend would also work fine if you guys need that long.

[Stryke]

BLAND i onlt need 395pp next turn as i'm after a horse myself, so if you assign the same 900 to me next turn i'll take the 395 and you can use the rest to pop your horse.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Gah, just checked- Horses are 800 points a pop. Okay, that means Joan needs 466 extra points. (Leaving 660 points remaining, spread out among our cities).

Ok, then, uh, I'll swipe 84 from Outpost, 98 from Castlenau and 284 from Newcastle.

After much trial and tribulation, Joan finally can witness the popping of a horse at Bailey. And there was much rejoicing.

Next, I'll look into compiling a list of our current scout orders. I see no new orders were sent, which is a shame. I'll try then to post a few myself.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Scouting orders, compiled from available ones, newly minted for as yet unordered scouts, readjusted to remove, as much as possible, overlaps. Some overlaps present (Neufchatel has 7 scouts so no way without causing an overlap, one of its neighbouring hexes is already scouted by virtue of us having troops there). Also, as far as I can tell, Yenniw does not have a scout. Roo and Tigger do.

Neufchatel
S1: G7 - G8 - G9 - F10 - G10
S2: H7 - H8 - H9 - H10 - I9
S3: H6 - H5 - I4 - J4 - K3
S4: H6 - I5 - J5 - K4 - L5

Castlenau
Roo's scout: I7 I8 J8 J9 K9
Tigger's scout: I6 J7 K7 L8 L9

Bailey
wa-Had: G1->F1->E1->D2->C1
Zwei: F2->E2->D3->C2->B2
Trois: F3->E3->D4->C3->B3
Tetra: G3->F4->E4->D5->C4
Pancha: H2->I1->J2->K2->L3
Hat: H3->H4->I3->J3->I2

Newcastle
S1: C6 - C5 - B5 - B4 - A3
S2: B7 - B6 - A6 - A5 - A4

Alkimian
S1: G5 - G4 - F5 - E5 - D6
S2: F6 - E6 - D7 - D8 - D9
S3: F7 - E7 - F8 - F9 - E9

Outpost
S1: B10 C09 B9 C8 B8
S2: C10 D10 E10 F11 G11
S3: A10 A11 B12 A12 B13
S4: C11 D11 D12 C12 C13

Covering: (___: gap; OWN: we own this city for now; TRP: we have troops there; ???: interesting gap in our scouting; notice I scouted water hexes as well this time. Ominous warnings and all.)

___ ___ A03 A04 A05 A06 ___ ___ ___ A10 A11 A12 ???
___ B02 B03 B04 B05 B06 B07 B08 B09 B10 OWN B12 B13
C01 C02 C03 C04 C05 C06 OWN C08 C09 C10 C11 C12 C13
___ D02 D03 D04 D05 D06 D07 D08 D09 D10 D11 D12 ???
E01 E02 E03 E04 E05 E06 E07 TRP E09 E10
F01 F02 F03 F04 F05 F06 F07 F08 F09 F10 F11
G01 OWN G03 G04 G05 OWN G07 G08 G09 G10 G11
___ H02 H03 H04 H05 H06 TRP H08 H09 H10
I01 I02 I03 I04 I05 I06 I07 I08 I09
___ J02 J03 J04 J05 ___ J07 J08 J09
___ K02 K03 K04 ___ ___ K07 OWN K09
___ ___ L03 ___ L05 ___ ___ L08 L09

[WaterMonkey314]

Updated Unit Listing (includes new pops)

Spoiler: show

Castlenau (K8)
7 x Piker, Lord Yenniw Hoop (1)
Courtyard: Lily, lvl 6 (LSFT) - orders to go to Tower to lead AA if needed

H7:
6 x Archer, Scout, Sir Tigger the Spring (4)
6 x Archer, Scout, Lady Rookang (2)

Outpost (B11)
7 x Archer, Cdr. Betia (4)
5 x Scout, Horse

Bailey (G2)
== Outer Walls: 3 x Archer, Joan of Arc (6)
== Courtyard: 6 x Scout, Horse

Neufchatel (G6)
3 Archers
Cmdr. Pwnd (5)
4 x Scout
The 75th Royal Alkaline (14 x Dance-Fighting Piker, 1 x Dance-Fighting Horse, Cmdr. Ziegfeld Tiller (3), 3 x Scout)

E8:
8 x Piker, Cmdr. Leroy Jenkins (1), Ex (L2)
6 x Archer, Deus (4**)

Newcastle (C7)
5 Archers (L2)
2 Archers
7 Pikers
2 Scouts

Pop Point Status:
Outpost: 36
Castlenau: 37
Newcastle: 121
Neufchatel: 0
Bailey: 0

[WaterMonkey314]

Scouting Results

King Albert always marveled at how much gum Miranda chewed. Every time he saw her, her jaws were working, quickly but silently, and yet she always looked as if she were choking on something. When she had first popped, he had thought she really was choking and rushed to the rescue with a Heimlich maneuver... only to end up with gum on his nice tapestry and a very grumpy Thinkamancer. Since then, he'd never worried about Miranda chok-

"Urk! Ach arhhh..."

The King turned to see Miranda clutching at her throat, her face frozen in shock and fear. He dashed over and administered a Heimlich again to his Thinkamancer, hoping that he was right this time. As Miranda lay gasping for breath in his arms, he wondered what could have discomposed her enough to choke on her gum.

The answer came soon enough as a messenger dashed into the room.

"My liege! The scouting reports. You should see them."

D8:
Feral Horse! Move a Knight into the hex to tame it!

E7:
Barbarian Archers!
=== 3 x Longbowman
=== 1 x Archery Warlord Adam the Red, lvl 2

More Barbarian Archers!
====3 x Longbowman
====1 x Archery Warlord Daniel the Red, lvl 2

Dwagons of Doom!
==== Pink Dwagon {Hobgobwin Knight, Hobgobwin Knight}
==== Pink Dwagon {Hobgobwin Knight, Hobgobwin Knight}
==== Red Dwagon {Knight Lady Sylvia Lazarus, lvl 7}

More Dwagons of Doom!
==== Yellow Dwagon {Archer, Archer}
==== Yellow Dwagon {Archer, Archer}
==== Purple Dwagon {Knight Sir Loves-a-laugh, lvl 4}

C10:
Infantry Column (following are each stacks):
8 x Piker
8 x Piker
6 x Piker, Battle Bear, Warlord Capt. Price, lvl 3

D11:
Support Dwagon
=== 1 x Pink Dwagon
Another Support Dwagon
=== 1 x Yellow Dwagon {Warlord Capt. Sale, lvl 2}

More Infantry Column:
8 x Piker
8 x Piker
2 x Battle Bear
8 x Archer

D12:
Even More Infantry Column:
8 x Piker
8 x Archer
8 x Archer

I6:
2 x Feral Horse! Move Knights in to tame them!

L3 (Oldcastle):
Item! (Gem - 2000 pop pt equivalent)
Item! (Gem - 2000 pop pt equivalent)
Item! (DEM MED)
Hidden Item! Have a unit spend an entire turn here to find it!
Abandoned Ballista x 3 - spend just 400 pts to repair!


K9:
ANOTHER Column!?:
8 x Stabber
7 x Stabber, Battle Bear
7 x Stabber, Battle Bear
7 x Stabber, Warlord Capt. Discount, lvl 3

Unit Stats:
Piker, Stabber, Archer, and Knight are the same as Camerian units.

Warlord:
Hits 5, Attack 10, Defense 3, Move 2 (Walker), Commander
Longbowman:
Hits 5, Attack 10, Defense 2, Move 2 (Walker), Ranged
Archery Warlord:
Hits 5, Attack 10, Defense 3, Move 2 (Walker), Ranged, Commander

Hobgobwin Knight:
Hits 6, Attack 10, Defense 2, Move 2 (Walker)
Battle Bear:
Hits 15, Attack 20, Defense 0, Move 2 (Walker), Siege

Yellow Dwagon
Hits 20, Attack 40, Defense 0, Move 10 (Flyer), Cargo 10, Ranged, Siege
Red Dwagon
Hits 25, Attack 75, Defense 4, Move 10 (Flyer), Cargo 10, Siege
Purple Dwagon
Hits 25, Attack 60, Defense 0, Move 10 (Flyer), Cargo 10, Ranged, Siege
Pink Dwagon
Hits 20, Attack 40, Defense 0, Move 10 (Flyer), Cargo 10, Shockamancy

Item Details:
DEM MED (Deus Ex Machina MEDicine) - Apply to a croaked named character to miraculously restore him/her to life! Amount sufficient for one dose only.
Gem - Move a unit into the hex to claim; return it to the capital (or to a caster) to cash it in!
Hidden Item - Claimed when a unit starts the turn in the hex!

OBJECTIVE CANCELED:
2) Assess and eliminate the barbarian threat!
Cameria has other problems to deal with now...

NEW OBJECTIVE:
3) DEFEND THE HOMELAND!!!
This is the greatest threat Cameria has ever faced... Sacrifices must be made; battles fought; and heroes fall. Above all, the side must survive!

NEW SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:
B) The Fail-safe Option:
Oldcastle was abandoned to serve as a secret fail-safe in Cameria's darkest hour. That time may have come...

[WaterMonkey314]

Map.

Spoiler: show

[Nihila]

Air defenses: Insufficient.
Walls: Pathetic.
Troops: Inexperienced.
Enemy: At the gates.
Situation: Excellent.

"Chief, I would politely request you to flee Bailey to Oldcastle, perhaps bringing a caster with you to arm the Ballistae. I can either sally out and attack the invaders, flee Outpost and attempt to rendezvous with another force, or dig in in Outpost but dispatch the Horse to other locations so it is not lost when the city falls. Unless I receive further orders, I will remain in the Tower with my Archers but send the Horse to Neufchatel. Our enemies are powerful, but they do not realize that our deaths will provoke a stronger will among the rest of our side. We will stand united!"

To himself, Betia murmured, "As good a last speech as any... I can at least hope for a place in the City of Heroes..."

[BLANDCorporatio]

{Knight Lady Sylvia Lazarus, lvl 7}
...

{Knight Sir Loves-a-laugh, lvl 4}

Heh-heh. Nice, nice.

(EDIT: would've been even nicer if Sylvia appeared commanding a Diwigible though I'd think that monstrosity would be as costly as everything else on the map put together )

Any shred of remorse Joan felt for snatching some pop points from the other cities was instantly dispelled by finally being able to pop a horse at Bailey. At last, efficient transport! She climbed onto the saddle, took hold of the reins, and commanded the horse to walk around Bailey a bit.

"Look at my horse, my horse is amazing!" she sung, as the horse trotted proudly through the courtyard.

"Give it a lick!" she sung cheekily at a somewhat dismayed wa-Had.

Pause. Apparently wa-Had didn't know the lyrics to this one.

"Well, it tastes just like raisins," Joan continued, "at the stroke of its mane it turns into an Otto Motor and then it turns back again when you tug on its-"

*weeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnn*

In another world, what went through Joan's head would be described as feedback; on Erfworld, it was a sign that the side's Thinkamancer was having a tiff. And as Joan was finding out, with very good reason.

After a minute or so, Joan was back in the top room, looking at a map of Cameria. She wished the horse, now peacefully chewing some hay in the courtyard, would somehow be able to turn into a company of Dwagons. There was very little chance to repel the enemy force with Cameria's army. Live to fight another day, the saying goes. So first, she would have to see to that.

"Miranda, what is so special about Oldcastle? What chance would we have, should some of us retreat there? Won't the enemy just pursue us next turn and finish the job?"

Miranda had not yet responded when Joan heard Betia's stance. He was ready to do a final stand, as knights dream to do. Either way, Outpost was going to fall, and Joan wondered whether abandoning it was a better idea. Last stands were going to happen, but one could sell their skin much more dearly when among friends than when alone.

In any case, I think I know what's expected in terms of priorities from us: get some character to Oldcastle so as to be able to claim that the King and Miranda made it there, get Lilly to that same place because not being able to pop anything is no fun, and generally have our units get to that place. Those who can't shall join the Heroes in the city by making some final stands against enemy stacks.

Fine.

But I want to know why/how Oldcastle would be anything other than a delay of the inevitable. Meanwhile, Lilly has some interesting abilities. So I wonder ...

PS: aaargh, I've been meaning to get this out of my head, already- but every time I see the title of this scenario, I can't help but read it as "Gathering Clods" Maybe later we can do a parody campaign. "A Conspiracy of Dunces", "Ship of Fools", "Gathering Clods", "The Book of Moron", "Surrounded by Idiots", "Monty Python's Quest for the Daily Mail" ... it would have to take place in Stupidworld, of course.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Not btw, but I see Dwagons have 10 Cargo, and Hobgobwin Knights have 6Hits. By regular rules, a Dwagon couldn't carry 2 of those. Just sayin'.