The Arkentool War - Prologue: "Gathering Clouds"

[tigerusthegreat]

I really want to know cost of croaked dragons vs cost of lost stabbers.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Yeah, it would make an interesting comparison.

Our 37 Stabbers cost around 3700 pop points. One Red Dwagon costs around 17000.

Anyway. So far, this has gone swimmingly. But for next move, I want to know something. Is there any chance/possibility that we may capture Cmdr. Kirk? Game-wise, it makes no sense, agreed. For the story though, "in char" as it were, it is conceivable that Cameria might want to take a high value prisoner, either for some kind of exchanfge, or turning, or just interrogation. Hey, until I see what capture costs, it looks like more or less a free action. It's not like the survival of Cameria (which looks compromised whatever we do) hangs on NOT trying to capture a unit.

One more thing. What about the corpses? Can those be moved?

[WaterMonkey314]

You can attempt capture of Kirk... especially since he's incapacitated.

That said... he IS wearing red and black...

As for moving corpses, I'll have to check the comic for canonical references.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Well, ok then. What's the minimum requirement for capture? Bringing a Commander and say 2 horses?

Whatever it is, the next order of business is to capture Kirk. Hopefully that dungeon will remove the incapacitation-will-kill-ya thing, just like it does in Dungeon Master.

Some Dark Mistresses would come in handy right now. Kirk will be very disappointed to not find them.

[WaterMonkey314]

A Commander and cargo sufficient to transport him. So 1 horse should do it if your commander walks.

You do also have that DEM MED magic item if you need some Titanic Healomancy.

[Nihila]

I'll take the liberty of capturing him.
Cdr. Betia to mount Betia's Horse & stack with one of the normal Horses, move to H6, capture Kirk, drag him back to Neufchatel. The Horses are left in the Dungeon, Kirk is brought to the Tower for interrogation.

[WaterMonkey314]

OOC: Hahahaha - this is a contingency I hadn't expected at all!

After being freed from the remains of his plated red, Captain Kirk is no longer incapacitated... but he's certainly not grateful. He glares at the Camerian warlords that surround him...

[tigerusthegreat]

Okay, so in Castlenau I now have 19 archers, 3 scouts, 3 warlords, 3 horses, and 7 pikers. With 4 move minimum on my units, and with 19 ranged units, I can do some decent damage.

I7 and K9 are within quick reach and retreat range.

Proposed action possibilities:

Attack K9's stack of Battle bears + commander and spiders + commander

*or*

Attack the command of I7 (yellow dragon, archers + commander, and stabbers + discount)

Attacking the I7 stacks means being able to take out possibly 3 sets of commanders. There's no way for us really to withstand the support columns coming in, especially not castlenau, but taking out some of the command stacks might help the king to survive.

Proposed Series of Action:
Stack of 10 archers + Tigger attack Captain Morgan
Rookang + 7 archers attacks support dragon
Yenniw + 7 pikers attack Captain Discount or K9's Captain General Specific

[BLANDCorporatio]

Proceed as you intend. As long as you think that, at the end of it, you'll have enough units left to not be pushed out of Castlenau easily, give 'em hell.

[tigerusthegreat]

Been running simulations all morning, and can't find a satisfactory outcome for my troops. There is no way to deal significant damage to the enemy *and* maintain enough fighting capacity to defend castlenau. I believe holding the city is more important...I will continue looking into attacking the weaker parts of the army to see if that provides better results.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Do what seems to bring best results.

On another front, how is the Kirk situation resolved? There are several more Stabbers in Neufchatel and they are just itching to give their lives felling more enemy units.

But first, what's going on with Kirk?

[WaterMonkey314]

Kirk is glaring at you in the comfort of Neufchatel... presumably your warlords are glaring back, as I haven't noticed anyone asking a question.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Oh. Really? Excellent. I thought you were implying a combat started or something.

Ok then, this calls for some in-char stuff. May I delay such until tomorrow though, I'm getting empty-fueled for today.

[WaterMonkey314]

Anyone want to ask the captive any questions? -looks at BLAND-

[Nihila]

Ah, I'll have Betia ask a quick question:
"What side are you, who has so many Dwagons to spare?"

[tigerusthegreat]

Okay, I found the relevant rules. If a piker unit attacked an archer unit, they would get hit by the arhcers, then the survivors would attack the archers. Makes sense.

Oooooh boy, still not liking my prospects.

How do mounts count into combat calculation? Are they considered a unit for stacking, or not?

[WaterMonkey314]

Mounts count towards the stack number (for the stacking bonus), but don't affect the stack's ranged / melee status. (That is, 4 archers mounted on 4 horses would still be ranged; the horses would just fight with 0 attack. Also, 4 pikers mounted on 4 fire-breathing ranged horses would also be ranged; the pikers would fight with 0 attack.)

An answer to Nihila's question will come shortly.

[WaterMonkey314]

"What side are you, who has so many Dwagons to spare?"

"I am Captain James T. Kirk, of the Sta-ahem, of Battlegroup Red of the 4th Flying Division of the Gobwin Knob Expeditionary Force," the prisoner spits defiantly. "But my only m-"(OOC: this is not in red b/c that makes my eyes hurt)

His tirade is interrupted by a sudden Thinkagram from Miranda: "Sorry to interrupt, warlords, but there's been a number of... new developments. Please have Commander Tiller stand by. We've had a number of incoming messages here in Oldcastle; excuse me, I have to go - please route any calls through Lily until I call back."

[BLANDCorporatio]

There were times when Joan thought Cameria deserved its fate. Like now. What kind of Thinkamancer drops in to break the momentum of an interrogation, all in order to say ... nothing much. New developments. What new developments? And that King of theirs, sitting on his throne forgetting to mention that there's another Castle somewhere in the forests, equipped with Dwagon-croaking constructs ... surely at least the Chief Warlord should know about such capabilities, if for whatever reason the King was too paranoid to trust his Knights. Why didn't the King trust his Knights?

Nevermind. Hoping the prisoner did not notice any startling caused by the Thinkagram, Joan approached.

"Your mission, you said, what is it?"

[WaterMonkey314]

The prisoner just glares defiantly at Joan. For now, at least.

Presumably some "enhanced interrogation techniques" are applied, as Capt. Kirk eventually begins to start talking again:

"It wasn't supposed to be this hard; we thought we'd blow through here in one turn; two at most.

But they- I mean, we- lost all our scouts in the south, fighting me - them - I'm sorry, this is confusing, my rebirth.

We charged north, blind - we figured on little resistance, and maybe we'd pick up a few scouts - on our way to assimilate Alkimia.

That was our goal, to unite the entirety of the Western Continent. Alkimia was the last great power left, and we were ready to convert them or conquer them. We knew they'd expect a fight at Maginot, so we decided to flank them and strike straight for the heart. It was supposed to be easy, with Fate on our side.

But now? We've lost far too much - a whole battlegroup of Reds, a max siege stack! We're bogged down in this quagmire! My Commander is baffled and angry; she says she's sure she hasn't strayed from the path, that only Titanic Fate could hamper us like this.

I guess I should tell you now - you can join us on our quest to unite the Tools. Declare that Royalty is obsolete, that the new Titanic mandate lies with the Titans, and join us as we march to Alkim-"

"Please inform Commander Tiller that the Royal Alkaline are being recalled immediately to Alkimia. He is to proceed ahead on his horse and continue ahead on foot to Auria.

By a 7-2 vote, the Privy Council of Alkimia has also formally requested our help in fighting Gobwin Knob. Apparently the bulk of their forces are in Maginot, leaving minimal garrisons in the heartland. They are currently recalling their troops, but it will take several turns for them to arrive. I quote, 'Alkimia has protected Cameria for thousands of turns, and we count the Camerians among our closest friends. Where our other allies have risen and fallen, only Cameria has been loyal to us, and us to them. For the sake of this exceptional friendship, we ask that Cameria help the Federation in its time of direst need. We ask that you use every available measure to prevent the enemy forces from continuing north until such time as our own troops can come to the defense of our heartland.'

They also hinted that it might be beneficial to abandon Oldcastle and evacuate our critical forces to Auria or Argenta. The King is furious.

And in the other major development today, our attacker's Thinkamancer contacted me shortly after Commander Betia's capture attempt. They are willing to negotiate a truce with us: they get safe passage through Cameria, and they stop attacking us, if we only return Captain Kir- oh my gosh! He's awake, isn't he?!"

Kirk groans affirmatively.

"... I'm afraid the damage has been done, so there's no further harm in continuing. The King... is tempted by the offer. To preserve the...erm, kingdom, and the... um... city, especially after Alkimia's request. But he wants to hear your thoughts, too."

OOC: If you haven't already done so, please discuss what you'll be doing in the next chapter with me. Of course, exactly what happens has not been set yet - it depends on what Cameria does - but you know the basic idea.