The Battle for Mine Island (Turn 7, I.A.R.)

[BLANDCorporatio]

Check a PM. Blooper there. Easy to fix though.

Anyway. Random seed 1848, attacker gets 75%.

Attacker stack (16 units) is Dancefighting, so they keep their 1.7 stack bonus.

Defender keeps their 4 defense. After all, most units are fine.

Until the battle that is, in which I.A.R. decides to teach the Scots about engaging units with 0 Attack. I.A.R. do 85 damage, enough to croak Bugsy and the scouts.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Ok, quite a bit of stuff's been going on at F2, so here's how it stands now:

(Stacking notation as in unit status reports)


Stack "I.A.R. 1":
Christmas Critter L2.2 WilAtt
4x Storm Trooper L2.1 WilAtt UseShock
2x Storm Trooper L2.2 WilAtt UseShock

Stack "I.A.R. 2":
Storm Trooper L2.0 UseShock WilAtt
Nacl Aq L2.1 UseShock WilAtt

Stack "I.A.R. 3":
12x Christmas Critter L1.1 WilAtt
2x Christmass Critter L2.2 WilAtt
Acid Legionnaire L2.1 WilAtt LayTrap*
Nacl Aq Commander "Ethanoic" L2.2 WilAtt UseShock


Stack "Generic Scots 1":
8x Fast Archer L2.0

Stack "Generic Scots 2":
8x Fast Archer L2.0

Stack "Generic Scots 3":
8x Fast Archer L2.0

Stack "Generic Scots 4":
8x Fast Archer L2.0

Stack "Generic Scots 5":
7x Fast Archer L2.0
Fast Archer L2.0 (Bag of Poop, Drum Machine)

Again, I've used TBf2C convention of items "dropping" to friendly units in the hex.

*: I've been instructed that the Acid Legionnaire at F2 loudly and ostentatiously lays a trap there.

[BLANDCorporatio]

The I.A.R. units at F2 begin to leave:

12x Christmas Critter L1.1 move NW.
all the rest move S.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Combat at F12!

From the NW, a chilling wind brings forth

Attacker
3x Warm Front L1.0 {Storm Trooper L2.0}, 2x Warm Front L1.0 {Storm Trooper L2.0}, Warm Front L1.0 (Thumbtack) {Storm Trooper L2.0}

vs.

Defender
Clansman L2.0 2/3H, 14x Clansmen L2.0, Chieftain McGregor L5.2 (Doughnut Gap)

Unit stats:
StormTrooper: 3H 9A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Siege Shockamancy (275 cost)
Warm Front: 3H 0A 0D 5M Flier Ranged Shockamancy Healomancy Siege Dancefighting Sapper (126 cost)

Clansman: 3H 4A 4D 5M Walker Ranged Dancefighting (93 cost)
Chieftain: 5H 6A 4D 5M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Commander (354 cost)

Items:

Thumbtack: a cylinder of some kind of material, two wider discs at the side, with a metal pin portruding outwards on the direction of the cylinder's height. You have no idea what it could be used for. At least it seems to add a meager 1 to a using unit's Attack (unless that unit is already capped in Attack).

Can be used by any unit.

The carnage was unbelievable. I could never have thought that one piker could croak so many stabbers in one turn. Then again, when we later discovered what they were armed with, it all made sense. We got a whole load of these pins that day. Here's one.

Rating: joke item. Or is it?

Doughnut gap: it's ... a gap. That somehow exists on its own. Can be thrown at a stack to reduce its average defense by 1 for the duration of the battle. Must be reclaimed after each use.

Can only be used by Commanders.

Let's put a hole in one.

Rating: moderate.


In what is becoming a pattern, I.A.R. uses Shockamancy on the Generic Scot troops. To make it clear, the Fronts rattle thunder and lightning, but their Shockamancy is ineffective (0Dmg*); it's the Storm Troopers that deal 54 Dmg, enough to stun the 49 worth of Hits of the Clansmen and McGregor.

EDIT: ahem. One of the Fronts (the one bearing the Thumbtack) could do 1 Shock damage. It chooses not to.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Random seed 3626. Attacker gets 75% roll.

We have 49H, and no defense (stack is wholly stunned) vs. 6*9 + 1 (from the Thumbtack) = 55 Dmg. 12 units in the stack, but lacking any Commander, the stack doesn't Dancefight. And leaderless, it seems not too keen on croaking defenseless units, as their middling 75% roll shows. They deal 43* damage, croaking all but one Clansman (who's left at 1/3H) and McGregor.

*EDIT: wait a sec, need to check rules on roads.

EDITx2: right, "Roads" give Walkers -1Defense "bonus"; nowhere in the rules is it explicitly said Defense cannot go below 0 even with "bonuses" (it is said that it cannot exceed 7). However, the spreadsheet interprets this in the spirit of Defense cannot be negative. So 43 damage it is.

[Sihoiba]

Random seed 3626. Attacker gets 75% roll.

We have 49H, and no defense (stack is wholly stunned) vs. 6*9 + 1 (from the Thumbtack) = 55 Dmg. 12 units in the stack, but lacking any Commander, the stack doesn't Dancefight. And leaderless, it seems not too keen on croaking defenseless units, as their middling 75% roll shows. They deal 43* damage, croaking all but one Clansman (who's left at 1/3H) and McGregor.

*EDIT: wait a sec, need to check rules on roads.

Oops I forgot about about that whole leaderless doesn't dance fight bit. Though I'm not sure how the rules on roads affects a light forest hex.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Right, well, the above post answers that. I should've double checked the count when I looked for F12 on the map (just skimmed and thought you counted on the "bonus" to nudge annihilation into a certain outcome). Yes it is Light Forest.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Combat at F12, again!

From the NW,

Attacker
3x Boogyman L2.0, Christmas Critter L2.0, 2x Hydric Warriors L2.2, Storm Trooper L1.1

vs.

Defender
8x Fast Archer L1.0

Unit stats:
Boogyman: 8H 8A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Healomancy Dancefighting (608 cost)
Christmas Critter: 3H 6A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Sapper (117 cost)
Hydric Warrior: 5H 10A 4D 5M Walker Ranged Dancefighting (300 cost)
StormTrooper: 3H 9A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Siege Shockamancy (275 cost)

Fast Archer: 3H 6A 4D 5M Walker Ranged (90 cost)

The Storm Trooper uses Shockamancy to disable three of the Fast Archers. And then-

[BLANDCorporatio]

Average battle is average, as neither side excels in the battle; both get 75% roll.

(Note, the Fast Archer stack has 5 functioning Archers; these determine level, stack bonuses, defense avg etc)

I.A.R. troops do 46 damage to the Fast Archers; the Archers do 16 damage, but all of that is negated by two of the Boogymen.

So the outcome is that all 8 Fast Archers are croaked, while I.A.R. takes no damage, in the first time (in public anyway) that we've seen Healomancy actually be useful. Yay!

[BLANDCorporatio]

Several turns have passed without notable incidents, but this one is hellbent to make up for that as more battles occur at F12! From the NW,

Attacker
Hydric Warrior L2.2, Christmas Critter L2.0, Christmas Critter L2.2, 2x Storm Troopers L1.1, Commander Jeepers Creepers (Boogyman) L3.2

vs.

Defender
8x Fast Archer L1.0

Unit stats:

Boogyman: 8H 8A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Healomancy Dancefighting (608 cost)
Christmas Critter: 3H 6A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Sapper (117 cost)
Hydric Warrior: 5H 10A 4D 5M Walker Ranged Dancefighting (300 cost)
StormTrooper: 3H 9A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Siege Shockamancy (275 cost)

Fast Archer: 3H 6A 4D 5M Walker Ranged (90 cost)

The two Storm troopers disable, by means of Shock, six of the Archers, and then-

[BLANDCorporatio]

Random seed 1818.

It seems I.A.R. is getting bored with easy battles, as they get a mere 75% (again); the Generic Scot morale seems to falter a bit more though (70%).

Again, two Archers are kicking, so they determine level bonus, stack bonus, defense etc.

I.A.R. troops do 38 damage. Fast Archers do 5, but this is negated by Jeepers Creepers. All Archers are croaked while I.A.R. suffer no casualties.

[BLANDCorporatio]

I.A.R. seems determined to eliminate all that got near its territory. More combat ensues at F12, where from the NW arrive

Attacker
Acid Legionnaire L2.1, 5x Storm Troopers L1.1, 2x Storm Trooper L2.1

vs.

Defender
<baffled>10x Scout L1.0, Chimaera L1.1 1/3H, Foolomancer L1.1, Commander "Ernie" L3.0

Unit stats:

Acid Legionnaire: 5H 15A 4D 5M Walker Ranged Siege Dancefight Sapper (638 cost)
StormTrooper: 3H 9A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Siege Shockamancy (275 cost)

Chimaera: 3H 6A 4D 3M Walker 3C Ranged Dancefighting
Commander: 5H 0A 4D 5M Walker Commander (207 cost)
Foolamancer: 3H 1A 4D 3M Walker Foolamancy
Scout: 5H 0A 4D 5M Walker Scout

61 points of Shocking damage needed to shock the Generic Scot units (I tally max H, not available at the time for Shocka damage), which the 7 Storm Troopers can provide (7*9 = 63).

Baffle still stays active though, so the Generic Scot unit has that defense remaining. Then-

[BLANDCorporatio]

Despite their lack of casualties, the I.A.R. units can't seem to get their act together (60%).

Still they deal 72 damage, enough to croak the Scout stack and all among it.

[Sihoiba]

Question for Bland: Does Shockomancy work against a units total hits or it's current hits? As the stack does contain a wounded unit.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Lots of stuff been going on at F12, (and I think a bit more's forthcoming), but status now is:


Stack "I.A.R. 1":
Acid Legionnaire L2.2 WilAtt
5x Storm Troopers L2.0 UseShock WilAtt
2x Storm Trooper L2.2 UseShock WilAtt

Stack "I.A.R. 2":
Boogyman L2.1 WilAtt
2x Boogyman L2.1 WilAtt UseHeal
Christmas Critter L2.1 WilAtt
2x Hydric Warriors L3.0 WilAtt
Storm Trooper L2.0 UseShock WilAtt

Stack "I.A.R. 3":
Hydric Warrior L3.0 WilAtt
Christmas Critter L2.1WilAtt
Christmas Critter L3.0WilAtt
2x Storm Troopers L2.0UseShock WilAtt
Commander Jeepers Creepers (Boogyman) L3.3UseHeal WilAtt

Stack "I.A.R. 4":
3x Warm Front {Storm Trooper} L1.1 {L2.1 UseShock WilAtt} WilAtt
2x Warm Front {Storm Trooper} L1.1 {L2.1 UseShock WilAtt} WilAtt
Warm Front {Storm Trooper} L1.1 {L2.1 UseShock WilAtt} (Thumbtack) WilAtt

Stack "Generic Scots 1":
<fatigue 0.5>
Clansman L2.0 1/3H
Chieftain McGregor L5.2 (Doughnut Gap)

Question for Bland: Does Shockomancy work against a units total hits or it's current hits? As the stack does contain a wounded unit.

Total Hits.

[LTDave]

OK, wow, so they spotted us. Dagnabbit!

I'm wishing at this point that I had read the rules more thoroughly, and or that my allies had argued more forceably about shockamancy. That stuff is powerful. And without any units that can compete with it, it might be times for the Genericans to quit the field, and send all our points to the Escotians...

[Sihoiba]

OK, wow, so they spotted us. Dagnabbit!

I'm wishing at this point that I had read the rules more thoroughly, and or that my allies had argued more forceably about shockamancy. That stuff is powerful. And without any units that can compete with it, it might be times for the Genericans to quit the field, and send all our points to the Escotians...

There are counters to Shockomancy, but I don't see any reason to give you help. Even if I do feel a little sorry for your Fast Archers in F2, stranded without leadership, unable to move for fear of walking into an ambush, or finding themselves knee deep in a hidden pool of acid. Just afraid to take a step less they get crushed by giant candy canes or garotted by wires strung with coloured lights...

I also have a question for Bland: Are you using the if you kill a flying mount and leave the rider alive they fall to earth with the 1/3 chance of death or incapacitation or injury? Considering in the comic any fall has the same effect (though height may play a factor), would this also apply to a rider whose walker mount dies? Similarly a rider on a flying mount grounded by storm?

[BLANDCorporatio]

I also have a question for Bland: Are you using the if you kill a flying mount and leave the rider alive they fall to earth with the 1/3 chance of death or incapacitation or injury? Considering in the comic any fall has the same effect (though height may play a factor), would this also apply to a rider whose walker mount dies? Similarly a rider on a flying mount grounded by storm?

Storm is easy to answer. In my imagination, it was a Flier forced to ground by inclement air currents or such, but the descent could be more or less controlled. So the landing, itself, doesn't cause damage.

Croaking a flying mount, the rider falls, then what? Good question, there's nothing, as far as I recall, in the rules about this case. And "height" is a useless factor as I've never kept track of it, where "height" is a flight trajectory height. Let's be reasonable here. "Height makes no difference" is about "a 100m drop is much the same as a 200m drop", and not about "a 2m drop is much the same as a 100m drop". So Walker mounts being killed don't cause their riders to fall a significant amount.

But what about Fliers? Nyeah, I'll keep things easier and traceable-er by saying riders falling from the sky pull a Scarlet and survive unscathed always. I'd need to insert a proper random number generator roll otherwise, and I'm already wary of having put one (random.org for Commander levels) that isn't confirmable by the players.

[Sihoiba]

I also have a question for Bland: Are you using the if you kill a flying mount and leave the rider alive they fall to earth with the 1/3 chance of death or incapacitation or injury? Considering in the comic any fall has the same effect (though height may play a factor), would this also apply to a rider whose walker mount dies? Similarly a rider on a flying mount grounded by storm?

Storm is easy to answer. In my imagination, it was a Flier forced to ground by inclement air currents or such, but the descent could be more or less controlled. So the landing, itself, doesn't cause damage.

Croaking a flying mount, the rider falls, then what? Good question, there's nothing, as far as I recall, in the rules about this case. And "height" is a useless factor as I've never kept track of it, where "height" is a flight trajectory height. Let's be reasonable here. "Height makes no difference" is about "a 100m drop is much the same as a 200m drop", and not about "a 2m drop is much the same as a 100m drop". So Walker mounts being killed don't cause their riders to fall a significant amount.

But what about Fliers? Nyeah, I'll keep things easier and traceable-er by saying riders falling from the sky pull a Scarlet and survive unscathed always. I'd need to insert a proper random number generator roll otherwise, and I'm already wary of having put one (random.org for Commander levels) that isn't confirmable by the players.

Just checking because 2 Cities does use the falling rules as I described to be in keeping with the comic.

[BLANDCorporatio]

ANyway, the last battle at F12 is about to begin, as from the NW there come

Attacker
Warm Front L1.1 {Storm Trooper L1.1}, Warm Front L1.1 {Christmas Critter L2.2}

vs.

Defender
<fatigue 0.5> Clansman L2.0 1/3H, Chieftain McGregor L5.2 (Doughnut Gap)

Unit stats

Christmas Critter: 3H 6A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Sapper (117 cost)
StormTrooper: 3H 9A 4D 4M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Siege Shockamancy (275 cost)
Warm Front: 3H 0A 0D 5M Flier Ranged Shockamancy Healomancy Siege Dancefighting Sapper (126 cost)

Clansman: 3H 4A 4D 5M Walker Ranged Dancefighting (93 cost)
Chieftain: 5H 6A 4D 5M Walker Ranged Dancefighting Commander (354 cost)

In a shocking development, the Storm Trooper stuns the Scot stack, which now has 0D.

Ok, damage sum for I.A.R. is 6+9=15, which is taken to 19.5 by the stack bonus alone (level bonus will also nudge it up slightly). So on the worst of rolls, they'd do 9 damage, enough to croak McGregor and the weakened Clansman.

The entirety of the Scot forces at F12 have been eliminated, and what remains in the hex at the exact moment that the last battle ended is

Stack "I.A.R. 1":
Acid Legionnaire L2.2 WilAtt
5x Storm Troopers L2.0 UseShock WilAtt
2x Storm Trooper L2.2 UseShock WilAtt

Stack "I.A.R. 2":
Boogyman L2.1 WilAtt
2x Boogyman L2.1 WilAtt UseHeal
Christmas Critter L2.1 WilAtt
2x Hydric Warriors L3.0 WilAtt
Storm Trooper L2.0 UseShock WilAtt

Stack "I.A.R. 3":
Hydric Warrior L3.0 WilAtt
Christmas Critter L2.1WilAtt
Christmas Critter L3.0WilAtt
2x Storm Troopers L2.0UseShock WilAtt
Commander Jeepers Creepers (Boogyman) L3.3UseHeal WilAtt

Stack "I.A.R. 4":
3x Warm Front {Storm Trooper} L1.1 {L2.1 UseShock WilAtt} WilAtt
2x Warm Front {Storm Trooper} L1.1 {L2.1 UseShock WilAtt} WilAtt
Warm Front {Storm Trooper} L1.1 {L2.1 UseShock WilAtt} (Thumbtack) WilAtt

Stack "I.A.R. 5":
Warm Front {Storm Trooper} L2.0 {L2.0 WilAtt UseShock} WilAtt
Warm Front {Christmas Critter} L2.0 {L3.0 WilAtt} WilAtt

The Doughnut Hole is here (and unclaimed*).

EDIT: *: the rule on items as it was put in the first post was that items need to be claimed with that whole process (one commander, ends turn in that hex, mustn't be disturbed by enemies); no provision was made specially for the case when they are obtained from an enemy player side as opposed to a critter side. In hindsight, this wasn't the wisest thing, as it's possible for one side to harass the claiming process when getting near a spawn point. But it's the choice I made. I.A.R. will have to pry the Doughnut Hole from McGregor's cold dead hands.