Darkness Rising

[MarbitChow]

Don't all the skeletons have x2 def against my fire? I think you should take your leadership off me though and give it to someone who can damage trogdor greater, I'm alright not affecting this fight since I can auto win others.

One of Bill's lesser uncroaked (which DON'T get the x2 defense) was generated against you last turn. Tod is assuming that at potentially one or two will be generated this turn as well. He's requesting that you target them instead.

[MarbitChow]

Turn 3
Five fresh uncroaked reconstitute in front of the annoying structures. Tod's instructions continue to be carried out as accurately as the slow-witted undead can attempt. The structures are cleared, and only a single champion remains partially standing when the group is done. The Bone Dagron backs himself into a corner and waits. He strikes at one of the weaker uncroaked, easily dusting it. Tod shakes his head as he realizes that the wounded uncroaked, while guarding the portals, have unfortunately clustered just in time for the Bone Dagron's Burnination to recycle. Bill's attention is focused almost entirely on the structures, which may also explain the unfortunate uncroaked cluster. Bill's eyes glaze as he stares at the magic behind the structures, and shouts with glee as the secrets make themselves clear to him...

(OOC : The uncroaked attempted to follow your instructions as accurately as possible, but the uncroaked are just not bright enough to keep multiple conditions in their heads. Attempting to optimize guarding the portals and simultaneously spreading out to avoid Burninate by choosing who acts first is beyond their abilities, and the layout you see is the final result.)



Player Stats

Spoiler: show

Rolf (Werebiscuit): Warrior {Lvl 3, 30.5xp} [ 15 Combat / 11 Defense / 32 Hits. Attack. Special: Heavy, Well-armed.] (Ward-8) Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits)
William Showend Tell (BLANDCorporatio): Archer {Lvl 3, 30.5xp} [ 14 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits. Fire. Special: Well-Armed, Mighty Blow x2] (Ward-8)
Yuri (Exate): Warrior {Lvl 3, 32.5xp, 2 AP Banked} [ 11 Combat / 12 Defense / 32 Hits. Attack. Special: Heavy.] (Ward-8) Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits)
Tod (Swodaems): Spearman {Lvl 4, 35.5xp, 1 AP Banked }[/color] [ 9 Combat / 9(+1) Defense / 23 (of 24) Hits. Strike/Lunge. Special: Leadership, Improved Leadership, Dance Fighting] (Ward-8) Ring: +1 Defense, Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits), Gem: 5000 Shmuckers, Gem: 2000 Shmuckers
Cupid (HerbieRai): Flier {Lvl 3, 31.5xp, 2 AP Banked} [ 8 Combat / 6 Defense / 16 Hits. Fire. Special: Fly] (Ward-8)
T. Coil (ETheBoyce): Caster {Lvl 3, 32.5xp} [ 7(+1) Combat / 3 Defense / 12 Hits. Fire. Special: Shockamancy (Hiya, Hoboken, TooGeeWonCee). 18 Juice.] (Ward-8) Ring: +1 Combat, Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits), Potion: Restore Juice (Restore 20), Scroll: Revitalize, Scroll: Renew
Triage (WaterMonkey314): Caster {Lvl 3, 33.6xp, +1Com/Def Banked} [ 6 Combat / 3 Defense / 12 Hits. Fire. Special: Healamancy (Revitalize, Renew, Minor Ward). 19 Juice.] (Ward-8) Potion: Restore Juice (Restore 20)
Bill (The Colonel): Caster {Lvl 3, 33.5xp, 1 AP Banked} [ 6 Combat / 4 Defense / 12 Hits. Fire. Special: Croakamancy (Reanimator, Bone Puppeteer). 0 Juice.] (Ward-8) Scroll: Revitalize x2, Scroll: Renew, Scroll: Lucky Streak, Scroll: Hoboken, Scroll: Groove, Scroll: Regenerate

Skeleton SK-1: Warrior [5 Combat / 5 Defense / 22 Hits / Attack. Special: Calcium Enriched, Dance Fighting.]

Lesser Uncroaked L02: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 2 (of 14) Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L03: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 9 (of 14) Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L05: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L06: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L07: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L08: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]

Lesser Uncroaked L10: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L11: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L12: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L13: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L14: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L15: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L16: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]

Portal Unit Stats

Spoiler: show

Bone Dagron : [20 Combat / 10 Defense / 244 (of 350) Hits / Strike. Special: x2 Def vs. Fire; Burninate ]

Skeletal Champion Bw3 : Warrior { Lvl 1 } [ 8 Combat / 9 Defense / 10 (of 22) Hits / Attack. Special: x2 Def vs. Fire; Heavy]

Burninate : Deal 3d6 to all units in a 3x3 square area. Ignores defense. Once used, cannot be used again for 2 turns.

Results

Spoiler: show

William declares Mighty Blow x2
Improved Leadership & Dance Fighting Stack (Green Man group): Tod, L02, L03, L05, L06, L07, L08, L09 (+8 / +8)
Dance Fighting Stack (Blue Man group): Sk-1, L10, L11, L12, L13, L14, L15, L16 (+4 / +4)
Dance Fighting Stack: Yellow L01, Yellow L02 (+1 / +2)

20:Bone Dagron : Move T2->U2->W4->W8, Readies an action

15:Rolf : Move to R9, Attack @ Bw3
Roll : 6. 21 Combat - (9 Defense) = 12 Hits.

14:William : Fire @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 6. 20 Combat + 6 Mighty Blow - (20 Defense) = 6 Hits.

11:Yuri : Move to W6, Attack @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 8. 19 Combat - (10 Defense) = 9 Hits.

9:Tod : Move to G9 (to clear for Bill), Strike @ Bw1, Lunge @ L01
Roll : 8. 17 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (9 Defense) = 16 Hits. (bw1:6)
Roll : 10. 19 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (5 Defense + 1 Dance Fighting) = 21 Hits. Target dusted. Team earns 2 XP. Team earns 1 Leadership XP.

8:Cupid : Fire @ Yellow L02
Roll : 4. 12 Combat - (5 Defense + 1 Dance Fighting) = 6 Hits.

8:T. Coil : Hoboken @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 6. 14 Combat = 14 Hits. (Dagron:249)

8:Skeletal Champion Bw1 : Move to I10, Attack @ Red LU2
Roll : 7. 15 Combat - (5 Defense + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting) = 2 Hits.

8:Skeletal Champion Bw2 : Move to L9, Attack @ Red L10
Roll : 7. 15 Combat - (5 Defense + 4 Dance Fighting) = 6 Hits.

8:Skeletal Champion Bw3 : Move to S9, Attack @ Rolf
Roll : 7. 15 Combat - 11 Defense = Ward damaged. (Ward-4)

6:Bill : Delays action until Portal is clear

5:Red L02 : Attack @ Bw1
Roll : 11. 16 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (9 Defense) = 15 Hits. Target dusted. Team earns 4 XP. Team earns 1 Leadership XP.

5:Red L03 : Move to K8, Attack @ Bw2
Roll : 10. 15 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (9 Defense) = 14 Hits.

5:Red L06 : Move to K10, Attack @ B2
Roll : 11. 16 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (9 Defense) = 15 Hits. Target dusted. Team earns 4 XP. Team earns 1 Leadership XP.

5:Red L08 : Move to O10. No target in range.

5:Red L07 : (No Pin. Portal Guarding Duty.)Moves to P2; Attack @ Yellow L2
Roll : 6. 11 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (5 Defense + 1 Dance Fighting) = 13 Hits. Target dusted. Team earns 2 XP. Team earns 1 Leadership XP.

5:Red L05 : Move to U8, Attack @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 2. 7 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (10 Defense) = 5 Hits.

5:Red L09 : Move to T6
Bone Dagron Strikes @ L09
Roll : 7. 27 Combat - (5 Defense + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting) = 14 Hits. Target dusted.

6:Triage : Re-wards Rolf
Rolf gains (Ward-8).

4:Bill : Moves to examine Portal
Roll : 12. CRITICAL ANALYSIS! Bill gains 1 Insight XP.
Bill gains INSIGHT : Bone Dagron is linked to the portals. Portals will cease to function when Bone Dagron is dusted.
Bill gains INSIGHT : Bone Dagron can use Hatamancy + Croakamancy to recreate any uncroaked dusted in the room at no cost.
Bill gains INSIGHT : Bone Dagron can use Hatamancy + Croakamancy to absorb any recreated uncroaked immediately, restoring lost Hits to Bone Dagron equal to the full Hits of the restored uncroaked. Uncroaked can no longer be recreated after used in this manner.

4:All Remaining Lesser Uncroaked & SK-1 move to avoid Burnination

As always, let me know if you see any mistakes.

[Swodaems]

Alright, I understand why the clustering occured, (Question: Had I specified that the leftmost units of the portal guarding group moved first, would my order to avoid clustering been workable?) but my orders to the uncroaked weren't obeyed in other ways.

5:Red L07 : (No Pin. Portal Guarding Duty.)Moves to P2; Attack @ Yellow L2

.

If Rolf got the pin on Trogdor early, then L09 and L05 will merely try to place themselves as far back on Trogdor as possible and L07 joins my Portal guarding effort as stated above. If he didn't, then L07 and L05 will try to place themselves on Trogdor's north and south sides.

My orders for L07 were to only join the portal guarding group in the very specific case of Rolf being able to pin Trogdor by staying still or moving to pin while Trogdor was still in S3. L07 should have still been part of the trogdor pinning effort, (preferably placing himself next to Yuri in V6.) Of course, since L07 dusted Yellow L02, this means that Yellow L2 should have gotten an attack off last round and could possibly still be around if it didn't get into L08's range. (Shouldn't it have gotten an attack off anyway since L07 and Yellow 02 both have 5 base Com?)

Members of the Blue man group are to do one of two things: If they are able to get to Trogdor to attack do damage this round, then they are to do so. If they can't, then they are to spread themselves out as loosely as possible while still staying within an 8 square range of the now-pinned Trogdor as to minimize burninate damage.

Two things: First, L11 could have reached column U from Column M this round to hit Trogdor and should have. (I guess L11 would be placed in U6 or U7.) Second, L12's and L13's current positions violate the staying within a 8-square range clause, meaning they should have compensated by clustering. (Or taking L11's vacant position. L15's and L16's positions are similarly annoying to me because Trogdor can move one square to the right at the start of next round and get out of their range, but I understand why that occured. Moving the entire formation forward 1 (and maybe down 2,) would be nice of you if you're making changes anyway.)

In summary, I think enemy Yellow L02 shouldn't have dusted like it did, and that there should be a 4 unit cluster consisting of Yuri, L05, L07, and L11 in the 3X3 area centered on V7. (Is the Dagron immune to his own burninate?)

4:Bill : Moves to examine Portal
Roll : 12. CRITICAL ANALYSIS! Bill gains 1 Insight XP.
Bill gains INSIGHT : Bone Dagron is linked to the portals. Portals will cease to function when Bone Dagron is dusted.
Bill gains INSIGHT : Bone Dagron can use Hatamancy + Croakamancy to recreate any uncroaked dusted in the room at no cost.
Bill gains INSIGHT : Bone Dagron can use Hatamancy + Croakamancy to absorb any recreated uncroaked immediately, restoring lost Hits to Bone Dagron equal to the full Hits of the restored uncroaked. Uncroaked can no longer be recreated after used in this manner.

(Wow, we really did pick the worst possible strategy for this situation. If I'd known what the portals did before we entered, I would have argued against bringing a zerg.) Does Bill think he has learned everything there is to learn about the portals? Did he get anything else like how high their Def/hits are or if they even can be destroyed? Any chance of him being able to take 1 of them down using magic?

[The Colonel]

CAN I LOOT IT!? ZERG, INSTANTLY ATTACK ANYTHING THAT COME OUT OF THE PORTAL!

[MarbitChow]

Question: Had I specified that the leftmost units of the portal guarding group moved first, would my order to avoid clustering been workable?

In general, uncroaked need simple commands. Ordering them to act after X, Y, and Z have gone will probably be interpreted correctly. Giving them complex conditional or spatial evaluations will not.

"Attack the dragon if you can, spread out if you can't" is ok, and I'll revise the ones that were in range to attack. (I miscounted the range and thought only the 3 nearest were able to close.) The rest will remain in roughly the same formation after front-filling the empty space; they didn't quite comprehend your instructions. "Spread out but stay within 8 squares of the dagron" is a bit too complex for them, since they have to spread out in relation to each other. "Space yourselves 1/2/3 squares apart" is something they can handle, though.

You can give the uncroaked simple commands, and a command order - Group X goes before group Y, Group Y before Group Z, etc. You can even specify per unit # who goes first, and what they do, and even a simple condition ("Attack closest enemy if one is in range, or move towards Bill if not.") Keeping your instructions simple and clear will make my job easier, and less likely that I (and thus the uncroaked) will misinterpret or fail to implement your intentions.

Shouldn't it have gotten an attack off anyway since L07 and Yellow 02 both have 5 base Com?)

Yes, and I'll add that in when I add the Blue Man Group attacks.

Moving the entire formation forward 1 (and maybe down 2,) would be nice of you if you're making changes anyway.)

I'll shift the format to account for L11's new spot, but those units that are furthest away may still end up outside the 8 square range; they're not that bright.

Is the Dagron immune to his own burninate?

Yes.

Does Bill think he has learned everything there is to learn about the portals? Did he get anything else like how high their Def/hits are or if they even can be destroyed? Any chance of him being able to take 1 of them down using magic?

Bill now has an intimate understanding of the structures. Structurally, they're similar to walls (Def 30, 40 Hits, 1/2 damage from shockamancy). The easiest way to stop them is to destroy the bone dagron, or to use siege weaponry. Destroying one will cause more uncroaked to cluster at the remaining locations, so all 3 must be destroyed to disable the functionality. Bill also notes that the recreated uncroaked will appear in the closest open space to the portal, so piling up friendly uncroaked in front of the portal will just push out the "spawn point" further south.

(Wow, we really did pick the worst possible strategy for this situation. If I'd known what the portals did before we entered, I would have argued against bringing a zerg.)

I did intentionally leave a whole lot of bodies and potions for you all, although I thought you'd have gone the route of creating high-defense (beefy/block & guard/interpose) skeletons assisting each other to tank the champions while the PCs tanked and finished off the dagron. The zerg was a pleasant surprise.

CAN I LOOT IT!?

There's nothing to loot in the structure. It's primarily a magical focus for the bone dagron's abilities, although you believe that, if you ever become a master croakamancer & master hatamancer, you'll be able to build similar structures. (A master croakamancer / master hatamancer / master thinkamancer link may also be able to pull this off.) Note that the structure is not mobile - you'll need to create it in whatever city it's going to end up in. The Capital (Tenebris) is probably the only place you'll be able to create this down the road.

[MarbitChow]

Turn 3 - Revised
Five fresh uncroaked reconstitute in front of the annoying structures. Tod's instructions continue to be carried out as accurately as the slow-witted undead can attempt. The structures are cleared, and only a single champion remains partially standing when the group is done. The Bone Dagron backs himself into a corner and waits. He strikes at one of the weaker uncroaked, easily dusting it. Tod shakes his head as he realizes that the wounded uncroaked, while guarding the portals, have unfortunately clustered just in time for the Bone Dagron's Burnination to recycle. Bill's attention is focused almost entirely on the structures, which may also explain the unfortunate uncroaked cluster. Bill's eyes glaze as he stares at the magic behind the structures, and shouts with glee as the secrets make themselves clear to him...

(OOC : The uncroaked attempted to follow your instructions as accurately as possible, but the uncroaked are just not bright enough to keep multiple conditions in their heads. Attempting to optimize guarding the portals and simultaneously spreading out to avoid Burninate by choosing who acts first is beyond their abilities, and the layout you see is the final result.)



Player Stats

Spoiler: show

Rolf (Werebiscuit): Warrior {Lvl 3, 30.5xp} [ 15 Combat / 11 Defense / 32 Hits. Attack. Special: Heavy, Well-armed.] (Ward-8) Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits)
William Showend Tell (BLANDCorporatio): Archer {Lvl 3, 30.5xp} [ 14 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits. Fire. Special: Well-Armed, Mighty Blow x2] (Ward-8)
Yuri (Exate): Warrior {Lvl 3, 32.5xp, 2 AP Banked} [ 11 Combat / 12 Defense / 32 Hits. Attack. Special: Heavy.] (Ward-8) Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits)
Tod (Swodaems): Spearman {Lvl 4, 35.5xp, 1 AP Banked }[/color] [ 9 Combat / 9(+1) Defense / 23 (of 24) Hits. Strike/Lunge. Special: Leadership, Improved Leadership, Dance Fighting] (Ward-8) Ring: +1 Defense, Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits), Gem: 5000 Shmuckers, Gem: 2000 Shmuckers
Cupid (HerbieRai): Flier {Lvl 3, 31.5xp, 2 AP Banked} [ 8 Combat / 6 Defense / 16 Hits. Fire. Special: Fly] (Ward-8)
T. Coil (ETheBoyce): Caster {Lvl 3, 32.5xp} [ 7(+1) Combat / 3 Defense / 12 Hits. Fire. Special: Shockamancy (Hiya, Hoboken, TooGeeWonCee). 18 Juice.] (Ward-8) Ring: +1 Combat, Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits), Potion: Restore Juice (Restore 20), Scroll: Revitalize, Scroll: Renew
Triage (WaterMonkey314): Caster {Lvl 3, 33.6xp, +1Com/Def Banked} [ 6 Combat / 3 Defense / 12 Hits. Fire. Special: Healamancy (Revitalize, Renew, Minor Ward). 19 Juice.] (Ward-8) Potion: Restore Juice (Restore 20)
Bill (The Colonel): Caster {Lvl 3, 33.5xp, 1 AP Banked} [ 6 Combat / 4 Defense / 12 Hits. Fire. Special: Croakamancy (Reanimator, Bone Puppeteer). 0 Juice.] (Ward-8) Scroll: Revitalize x2, Scroll: Renew, Scroll: Lucky Streak, Scroll: Hoboken, Scroll: Groove, Scroll: Regenerate

Skeleton SK-1: Warrior [5 Combat / 5 Defense / 22 Hits / Attack. Special: Calcium Enriched, Dance Fighting.]

Lesser Uncroaked L02: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 2 (of 14) Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L03: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 9 (of 14) Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L05: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L06: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L07: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L08: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]

Lesser Uncroaked L10: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L11: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L12: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L13: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L14: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L15: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]
Lesser Uncroaked L16: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]

Portal Unit Stats

Spoiler: show

Bone Dagron : [20 Combat / 10 Defense / 230 (of 350) Hits / Strike. Special: x2 Def vs. Fire; Burninate ]

Lesser Uncroaked Yellow L02: Warrior [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 8 (of 14) Hits / Attack. Special: Dance Fighting.]

Skeletal Champion Bw3 : Warrior { Lvl 1 } [ 8 Combat / 9 Defense / 10 (of 22) Hits / Attack. Special: x2 Def vs. Fire; Heavy]

Burninate : Deal 3d6 to all units in a 3x3 square area. Ignores defense. Once used, cannot be used again for 2 turns.

Results

Spoiler: show

William declares Mighty Blow x2
Improved Leadership & Dance Fighting Stack (Green Man group): Tod, L02, L03, L05, L06, L07, L08, L09 (+8 / +8)
Dance Fighting Stack (Blue Man group): Sk-1, L10, L11, L12, L13, L14, L15, L16 (+4 / +4)
Dance Fighting Stack: Yellow L01, Yellow L02 (+1 / +2)

20:Bone Dagron : Move T2->U2->W4->W8, Readies an action

15:Rolf : Move to R9, Attack @ Bw3
Roll : 6. 21 Combat - (9 Defense) = 12 Hits.

14:William : Fire @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 6. 20 Combat + 6 Mighty Blow - (20 Defense) = 6 Hits.

11:Yuri : Move to W6, Attack @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 8. 19 Combat - (10 Defense) = 9 Hits.

9:Tod : Move to G9 (to clear for Bill), Strike @ Bw1, Lunge @ L01
Roll : 8. 17 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (9 Defense) = 16 Hits. (bw1:6)
Roll : 10. 19 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (5 Defense + 1 Dance Fighting) = 21 Hits. Target dusted. Team earns 2 XP. Team earns 1 Leadership XP.

8:Cupid : Fire @ Yellow L02
Roll : 4. 12 Combat - (5 Defense + 1 Dance Fighting) = 6 Hits.

8:T. Coil : Hoboken @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 6. 14 Combat = 14 Hits. (Dagron:249)

8:Skeletal Champion Bw1 : Move to I10, Attack @ Red LU2
Roll : 7. 15 Combat - (5 Defense + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting) = 2 Hits.

8:Skeletal Champion Bw2 : Move to L9, Attack @ Red L10
Roll : 7. 15 Combat - (5 Defense + 4 Dance Fighting) = 6 Hits.

8:Skeletal Champion Bw3 : Move to S9, Attack @ Rolf
Roll : 7. 15 Combat - 11 Defense = Ward damaged. (Ward-4)

6:Bill : Delays action until Portal is clear

5:Red L02 : Attack @ Bw1
Roll : 11. 16 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (9 Defense) = 15 Hits. Target dusted. Team earns 4 XP. Team earns 1 Leadership XP.

5:Red L03 : Move to K8, Attack @ Bw2
Roll : 10. 15 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (9 Defense) = 14 Hits.

5:Red L06 : Move to K10, Attack @ B2
Roll : 11. 16 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (9 Defense) = 15 Hits. Target dusted. Team earns 4 XP. Team earns 1 Leadership XP.

5:Red L08 : Move to O10. No target in range.

5:Red L07 : Move to N9, Attack @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 6. 11 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (10 Defense) = 9 Hits. (Dagron:235)

5:Red L05 : Move to U8, Attack @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 2. 7 Combat + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting - (10 Defense) = 5 Hits.

5:Red L09 : Move to T6
Bone Dagron Strikes @ L09
Roll : 7. 27 Combat - (5 Defense + 4 Leadership + 4 Dance Fighting) = 14 Hits. Target dusted.

6:Triage : Re-wards Rolf
Rolf gains (Ward-8).

4:Bill : Moves to examine Portal
Roll : 12. CRITICAL ANALYSIS! Bill gains 1 Insight XP.
Bill gains INSIGHT : Bone Dagron is linked to the portals. Portals will cease to function when Bone Dagron is dusted.
Bill gains INSIGHT : Bone Dagron can use Hatamancy + Croakamancy to recreate any uncroaked dusted in the room at no cost.
Bill gains INSIGHT : Bone Dagron can use Hatamancy + Croakamancy to absorb any recreated uncroaked immediately, restoring lost Hits to Bone Dagron equal to the full Hits of the restored uncroaked. Uncroaked can no longer be recreated after used in this manner.

4:L11 : Move to U7, Attack @ Bone Dagron
Roll : 7. 12 Combat + 3 Dance Fighting - (10 Defense) = 5 Hits.

4:All Remaining Lesser Uncroaked & SK-1 move to avoid Burnination

As always, let me know if you see any mistakes.

[Swodaems]

Hopefully Trogdor goes for the nice 4 unit clump instead of the 3 unit one where he has a good chance of dusting two of the lesser uncroaked. Cupid and Rolf can use their actions this round to dust yellow L02 and Bw3. The only units that should reconstitute should be two bone champions and two lesser uncroaked, but with L02 and L03 likely to dust, the round after next is looking a bit scary.

I have 2 ideas. One is crazy stupid. The other is boring. I'm in the mood for crazy stupid.

Crazy stupid: We complete the zerg rush, but do it using 7 units I'm giving +8/+8 to. They'll do about 10 damage each and Yuri, T. Coil and William can add in another ~25 for about 100 damage. Round after that we hit Trogdor with it again. Round after that, he is eating his uncroaked to survive.

The down side to this one is that Will and the Casters will have to find a way to hide themselves from the portal hordes after the first round. (Trust me guys it will be fun. At least for me.)

Boring: We abandon the awesome Zerging plan and use my 8/8 stack to cover the portals. We pull all the uncroaked away from Trogdor and only left Yuri and Rolf near him. (Bw3 will need to be dusted by someone else besides Rolf next round.) Myself and a single uncroaked cover portal H and the other portals get 3 uncroaked each. (Cupid's and Bill's fire attacks could be useful here.) The uncroaked in the 8/8 stack will take about 2 damage from each attack from a champion or converted dancer and about 10 from burninate, so we'll need a good way to swap out damaged uncroaked for fresh ones. Rolf, Yuri, Will and T. Coil do about 42 damage a round to the dagron until it finally dusts. (We can cheat the last couple rounds by sending in the zerg after getting Trogdor down to double digits.)

[Exate]

I'm inclined to go for an all-out rush over a holding pattern. The latter is too vulnerable to unlucky Burninates, and we'll end up being hit with a lot of them. Let's just focus damage where we need it and see if we can get it done.

There is also this:

Bone Dagron can use Hatamancy + Croakamancy to absorb any recreated uncroaked immediately

I at least read this as meaning that the Bone Dagron can only absorb the recreated uncroaked immediately, that is, at the moment of their recreation. He can just spontaneously suck up as many of them per round as he wants; every time one respawns he makes the heal-or-unit decision. Admittedly this is just my interpretation and may not be correct, but either way if we can deal enough damage to him he'll want to start sucking up his units for heals, so they won't be menacing our squishies anymore.

[MarbitChow]

I at least read this as meaning that the Bone Dagron can only absorb the recreated uncroaked immediately, that is, at the moment of their recreation. He can just spontaneously suck up as many of them per round as he wants; every time one respawns he makes the heal-or-unit decision.

Your interpretation is correct. They are either recreated as units, immediately ready to fight, or they are used to heal. He cannot, for example, let the Bone Champions get their attacks in and then consume them for health.

[The Colonel]

I vote for reckless crazy stupid.

*drinks beer*

LETS DO IT PEOPLE!

[Swodaems]

I at least read this as meaning that the Bone Dagron can only absorb the recreated uncroaked immediately, that is, at the moment of their recreation. He can just spontaneously suck up as many of them per round as he wants; every time one respawns he makes the heal-or-unit decision.

Your interpretation is correct. They are either recreated as units, immediately ready to fight, or they are used to heal. He cannot, for example, let the Bone Champions get their attacks in and then consume them for health.

So he can only heal using units that were just destroyed? (He can't use already created units in the field to heal?)

I'm inclined to go for an all-out rush over a holding pattern. The latter is too vulnerable to unlucky Burninates, and we'll end up being hit with a lot of them. Let's just focus damage where we need it and see if we can get it done.

I would like to state that the full rush plan does have a certain amount of danger to it. If we dedicate half the players and the 8/8s to Trogdor, that leaves just me, Bill, Cupid and 5 2/2s to deal with what is coming thru the portals. (I'm expecting to strike and only wound a bone warrior coming thru portal H next round. Bill, this might be a good chance to get use out of the hoboken scroll.) The next round, the 4th, won't be so bad in terms of reformed portal units, but in the round after, we run the risk of losing a large number of those 2/2s provided that we can position them so that they prevent portal units from getting to Will and the casters. Trogdor also has a 21/36 chance of dusting any full hits member of the 8/8 with his strike. We'll have gotten about 200 damage out of the tactic at this point, so Trogdor goes down in the 6th round if he doesn't immediately eat about 70 hits worth of his units. (We may want Will and the casters to start a trek across the room so that they are positioned close to the 8/8 at this point.) If he does get units to eat we see another burninate in the 7th round, but should be able to put him down in this round or the 8th. I'm certain we will be able to use the plan to destroy Trogdor, but I worry about having inadequate squishie protection for rounds 6&7.

We can use a holding pattern that only allows 2 units at a time to be hit by burninate. I was thinking that I would stay in G9 and have a lesser stay beside me in H9 and we could stick the other 6 members of the pattern in K9,M9,O9,P9,R9, and T9. (The rest of the zerg spreads out ands stands ready to replace damaged members of the line on command.) I'm expecting Trogdor to dust 2 lesser uncroaked this round and we'll probably lose another 1 somewhere, bringing the recurring enemy total up to 9, (3 8/9/22 Bone champions and 6 8/8/14 dancefighters,) which will fit nicely into the 3 spaces in front of each portal. We'll probably see the enemy deciding to gang up on the uncroaked in H9,M9 and R9, so we might need to swap those ones out every other round considering that they be taking 3*2(avg) damage each round.

The way I see this plan playing out long term.
Round 4 (this one): Hopefully after backing into the corner, Trogdor burninates L02,L03, and L06. L02 and L03 aren't likely to make it, but L06 has a good chance of survival. Cupid shoots YL02, (it dusts if he gets a 6 or higher, so a 26/36 chance.) We use members of the 8/8 stack to chase down and destroy Bw3 and the soon to be reformed Bw1,Bw2,YL01and YL03. They do this from holding line positions if possible, but don't let that restrain them from the task of destruction. Those positions can can be filled by non 8/8 uncroaked if need be. (except for mine, but since I have 9 com, I can run off anywhere this round and be back in G9 before those enemies can act in the next round.) Rolf, freed from the task of dusting Bw3, moves to Trogdor's front to help Yuri with the pin. (Without leadership, Trogdor will do 10-20 avg 15 damage per strike to Yuri and 11-21 avg 16 damage to Rolf. I'm thinking Triage will be getting alot of use out of his regenerate spell and Bill should have orders to use a revitalize scroll whenever Yuri goes down to 4 hits or Rolf goes down to 5.) T. Coil, Yuri, Will, (actually Will may want to finish off the Bone champion I'm likely to only wound next round to help with set up) and Rolf do about 42 damage to the beast and it goes down to ~188 hits.
Round 5: Restack so that the 8/8 stack contains the units in the holding positions and start holding. We do another 42 damage and Trogdor goes down to 146.
Round 6: We do another 42 damage and Trogdor goes down to 104. With the exception of Player actions, which can take out an enemy before he can attack, we let the enemy units all move first. This allows us to use hits based conditionals to swap out specific members of the holding pattern with the 4 or 5 uncroaked outside of the pattern.
Round 7: We see another burninate. Trogdor hits another 1 or 2 uncroaked for about 10 damage and goes down to 62. The pattern could arguably be starting to fall apart here. We will have a choice between trying to maintain it for another 4 rounds or so while Trogdor eats his units, (probably taking another burninate in 10, but I don't think we'll need to worry about 13,) or abandoning it and using the 8/8 rush to bring him the rest of the way down in round 8 or 9.

I'd like to hear everybody's opinions on this, rush or hold? (votes for hold, then rush count as hold.)

[MarbitChow]

So he can only heal using units that were just destroyed? (He can't use already created units in the field to heal?)

Correct. Only units destroyed on the previous round can be used to heal.

[ETheBoyce]

T. Coil will move to A3 and Hoboken Trogdr.

Also Trogdor should be at 225 hits.

[WaterMonkey314]

What are people's thoughts on having Bill learn a basic healing spell now so he can heal the uncroaked? I can give him my juice potion too, as I sort of doubt I'll run out of juice (it'll take 9 rounds before I use my current juice, assuming I use only Minor Wards and Renews.)

I have no preference on strategy.

[MarbitChow]

So, do we have final orders for the next turn?

[Swodaems]

So, do we have final orders for the next turn?

I think we've yet to hear from BLAND and Herbie about what their characters are doing and what they think about our options, but, (unless both of them would prefer the holding pattern plan, or holding followed by rushing,) it appears we're doing the Zerg rush. The orders for Tod, Rolf, and specific zerg units for both cases are as follows.

If we end up just zerging:
Dance stacks consist of: Green man group: Me, L05, L07, L08, L10, L11, L14, and Sk-1. Blue man group: L02, L03, L06, L12, L13, L15, L16
Rolf smacks Bw3. I'll be Lunging things coming out of Portal H. Green man group moves to attack the dagron. Blue man group moves left, attacking targets of opportunity as they go, trying to place themselves where they can protect casters in the round after next.

Holding pattern:
Dance stacks consist of: Green man group: Me, L05, L06, L08, L10, L11, L12, L13. Blue man group: L02, L03, L07, L14, L15, L16, and Sk-1
Rolfs holds off acting until he has an unobstructed path to Trogdor's left side, then uses that path to attack. I'll still be lunging things coming out of portal H. Green man group will be attacking any non Trogdor targets they can reach. They try to attack from the H9, K9,M9,O9,P9,R9, and T9 positions if possible. Blue man group fills the vacant spots in the formation after Green man group has had its move.

[The Colonel]

Do I hoboken the dude?

[Swodaems]

Do I hoboken the dude?

I don't see why not.

[MarbitChow]

(Erfworld artwork and characters used with permission in accordance with the Creative Commons Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0.)

[Swodaems]

That is probably not a good thing. Tretcherous Flying XP hogs incoming. Probably the best use we could get out of Charlie would be to buy a good map of the surrounding lands off of him or use his thinkamancy services to coordinate with our ruler.

(Btw, do the casters (including Junetta) have any knowledge of the price of scrolls / items in the Magic Kingdom. I would prefer to have a 2 way hat that I can message our ruler with instead of having to pay Charlie for a thinkagram everytime.)