Darkness Rising

[HerbieRai]

We can confirm this idea by having Vinny and Comet use their delayed actions to fire on the 2 uninjured warlords. They won't do damage, but we will get to see their def and bonuses. The information could worth the use of 2 low com units' actions.

Or we could taget a couple of spearmen with the attacks. Should prove the same thing but with more damage (since if proven true, they have a lot less def)

[Swodaems]

We can confirm this idea by having Vinny and Comet use their delayed actions to fire on the 2 uninjured warlords. They won't do damage, but we will get to see their def and bonuses. The information could worth the use of 2 low com units' actions.

Or we could taget a couple of spearmen with the attacks. Should prove the same thing but with more damage (since if proven true, they have a lot less def)

If we did that, we wouldn't be sure if all the spearmen (and the gumps) actually lacked leadership or we just got lucky with our choice of targets. We would also find out if either of the two warlords targeted were in the same stack as the warlord we croaked.*

(*I'm pretty sure the two warlords targeted weren't in the same stack. Rolf eliminated his target phases before Yuri shot at his. If those two warlords were in the same stack, the dance-fighting bonus would have decreased on the second one. And I just realized that the fact that we've proven that those two warlords were in seperate stacks makes the testing idea semi-purposeless. Two separate fully bonused stacks means all 16 dancing units were in 2 stacks at the start of the round. (Unless the enemy used actions on switching stacks around in between Rolf's and Yuri's attacks.) All the spearmen and the gumptons are likely leaderless. Spearmen will have 15(4+5+6) def while dodging, and gumptons will have 20(15+5). Assuming 2 warlords per dancing stack, half the enemy's warriors will be at 21 def and the others will have 22. All testing the warlords will tell us is which warlord was was in the same stack as the croaked one.)

And I was wrong about the enemy warriors being limited to 6 attacks on any of the heavies if the heavies stood on the line itself. To limit them to 6, the heavies would have to stand in a line on the 17 row.

[MarbitChow]

Since only the spearmen and altruistic elves remain on the Elven side, and the spearmen have no valid attack targets this round, what are your orders for the remainder of the round? You can safely assume that the spearmen will shuffle around to protect new targets, but will not get into range of your melee this round.

[Werebiscuit]

OOC Guys , if we don't deal with the gumptions this round then we can expect to take another 15 hits this round and since they'll be com 25 for next round they'll go before we get the chance to act next round. ( Will excepted - he's our last hope , if we fail to kill them this round) ~ Note there are Alt elves closing in on them for healing next round also
At that point the tower will have 16 hits left on average and they will cause 14 on average with their seige attack but since they're the same com as the towers def they'll actually be better off hitting it normally if the archons can down any more alt elves. Some good rolls either this round or next will see Yuri's tower fall and since Yuri has acted...Yuri with it.
Our window of opportunity to take the gumptions out is closing. !
We don't know if the spearmen are providing guard/interpose for +6 or bodyguard for hit soak. If it's hit soak then ( does T.Coils Shockamancy get soaked , Marbit ?) Our safest policy is to eliminate the spearmen before hitting the gumptions with Coil's last ickypron.
To do that will take most of our garrison archers and most of our skellie archers...as well as hitting the gumptions wth heck pups.

So it's a lot to commit but I think it's at least worth it. I'll bet exate does too. /OOC

[ETheBoyce]

Well technically we'll also have next round to take them down as they'll be stunned then too, also who do we want my third Ickypron target to be? I'm thinking either leadership or one of the Spearmen guarding the Gumps, though how the damage would interact is a question.

[Werebiscuit]

Well technically we'll also have next round to take them down as they'll be stunned then too, also who do we want my third Ickypron target to be? I'm thinking either leadership or one of the Spearmen guarding the Gumps, though how the damage would interact is a question.

Unless you stun them again this round they'll recover from stun on phase 13... so technically, no, we won't have next round. Unless you were meaning that you stun them again this round. And you go before all of the archers so we won't have a lot to hit them with. Which means they'll recover and thus hit before anything but our heavy hitters can take them out. Yuri and Rolf may have to move instead of shooting to avoid falling with their towers.

.

Turn 9 - Assault on Dis City - Round 2 (revised) plus Round 3 to Phase 14

Will, Cupid, Yuri and Rolf continue to unleash devastation upon the elves, although the inspired elves are not dropping quite as quickly as before. Buffy smacks Faith around a bit, and the Gumptions start to come around. Sadly, two more Altruist Elves perish as well.

If you make the 3rd target one of the spearmen guarding the gumps then you've a good chance of killing them (on a roll of 8 on 2d6). This could save us the 3 com 19 garrison archers who can target the other spearman...or Bill's skellies.
The trouble is if you target the gumptions with both spearmen intact then it's possible they may be bodyguarding the gumptions and soaking their damage.

Its best if you let the archers do their work first and kill 2 spearmen and you target a 3rd spearmen. At least then the remaining spearman can only soak 1/2 damage.

[MarbitChow]

does T.Coils Shockamancy get soaked , Marbit ?

The damage from it does. The stun still applies to the original target.

I'll probably end up changing how shockamancy stuns work after this fight, so that it's the units that take shockamancy that get stunned, and if the original target takes no damage, they don't get stunned, either. I'd also like to have stun cancel all basic combat modifiers and prevent guards from guarding further. That way, bodyguards that full absorb one of Coil's blasts take themselves out of the picture completely for a round.

[WaterMonkey314]

If we conclude that we need to evacuate the tower, can we make sure us casters get off? Our Com scores are way lower than the heavies, so we'll have to bail or delay move the round before them.

[BLANDCorporatio]

It is flattering to be thought of as the side's ... well, the tower's ... last hope, but MY hope is that our other units can dent/croak the Gumps. If necessary, send the infantry there too. What's easier to replace, a couple of spearmen or the walls and tower, should they fall?

[WaterMonkey314]

It is flattering to be thought of as the side's ... well, the tower's ... last hope, but MY hope is that our other units can dent/croak the Gumps. If necessary, send the infantry there too. What's easier to replace, a couple of spearmen or the walls and tower, should they fall?

If the tower goes, won't all of us standing on it go? And there's more than just us PCs - there's several NPCs on the tower too. So I see it as unit losses no matter what. (And I really really don't like falling.)

[Werebiscuit]

It is flattering to be thought of as the side's ... well, the tower's ... last hope, but MY hope is that our other units can dent/croak the Gumps. If necessary, send the infantry there too. What's easier to replace, a couple of spearmen or the walls and tower, should they fall?

If the tower goes, won't all of us standing on it go? And there's more than just us PCs - there's several NPCs on the tower too. So I see it as unit losses no matter what. (And I really really don't like falling.)

We're currently at Phase 14.. the gumptions will by phase 13 either be active and able to hit the tower or re-stunned.
The units on the tower get their moves between phases 7 and 3. If the gumps are active by the time their move comes along I suggest they actually move a few squares off the tower before taking their action. If the gumps are stunned then these units have a choice they can stay or move ( they don't need to be on the tower now that there are no ememy fliers). So I suggest we move NPC's on the towers, off the towers...THIS TURN.

Yuri has already acted THIS TURN...so is left without a choice. If we do not re-stun the gumps he is liable to fall with the tower. He is the one current possibility of a unit loss ( we currently do not know the falling mechanic).

[BLANDCorporatio]

Yuri has already acted THIS TURN...so is left without a choice. If we do not re-stun the gumps he is liable to fall with the tower. He is the one current possibility of a unit loss ( we currently do not know the falling mechanic).

Ah-hem. There's also yours truly standing right next to Yuri. Then, there's also Triage and Bill nearby.

So really, it seems pretty obvious. Hit the Gumps with everything we can on phase 14. Stun them if possible (so far Ickypron was able to stun them both, I presume).

[Werebiscuit]

Ah-hem. There's also yours truly standing right next to Yuri. Then, there's also Triage and Bill nearby.

So really, it seems pretty obvious. Hit the Gumps with everything we can on phase 14. Stun them if possible (so far Ickypron was able to stun them both, I presume).

Sorry Bland ...all you archers look alike to me

Triage gets to act on Phase 3 or 4 similarly for Bill.

Next turn you get to move before the gumps can bring down the tower , if they're still active. That's your chance to get out. You can then fire your bow
It seemed obvious to me too for ages but I*'m not sure we're all operating with the same agenda.

[BLANDCorporatio]

It seemed obvious to me too for ages but I*'m not sure we're all operating with the same agenda.

"What do you mean by that, explain yourself."

[Werebiscuit]

It seemed obvious to me too for ages but I*'m not sure we're all operating with the same agenda.

"What do you mean by that, explain yourself."

I think that some of us are more willing to risk a tower going down..than risk sending out ground troops that we'll have to replace. My problem with that is that at the moment, with atlruistic elves providing boosts, it's not just one tower we're risking but the whole level 3/level 2 city improvement if both towers are collapsed.
I am willing to admit that I would have had melee troops and heck pups out taking some elven archery last turn before we could dispose of their ranged combat thus adding to protecting the towers.

Sallies are all well and good....but sometimes you have to take and hold the field...and thus risk damage/death.

[MarbitChow]

Other than the altruistic elves closing on the Gumptions, the next time the elves move is on 25. You've close to 6 stacks of units that are awaiting orders, including 2 stacks who are able to make double-moves this turn. Swodaems appears to be MIA, so if someone else wants to step up and execute a battle plan, please feel free.

[0beron]

I'll try and do that when I get home from work in about 6 hours, unless someone else does in the meantime. I suppose now is as good a time as any for Vinny to get troop-command experience, given that he's about to start popping and commanding Golems after this fight :p

[Swodaems]

I'm actually not comfortable giving orders for the entire round because the situation on the field could change alot based on how the elves react to my plan. I'd prefer to merely have the next update run thru phases 13,12, and 11.

On phase 13, using delayed actions, the 5 dancing heavies will position themselves in a line between M17 and Q17. (In those squares, they can be attacked by all 12 warriors.) They are ordered to maintain dodge even if attacked from adjacent squares. The song they are dancing to is Gangnam Style. They will be shouting "Hey, Sexy Lady!" at Armolad and her ass (aka. Amandaria).

With luck, the enemy warriors rise to the bait and attack. This gives us an opportunity to hit the warriors with melee and ranged while they are not dodging.

If they don't go for it, then we'll just have to find ways to be a bit trickier. (Using the 16 move afforded by a delayed action and an upcoming action, one of the SA spearmen could use 14 move to get to square S8 (the enemy spearmen are dodging and don't block adjacent units), and then Bull Rush the warlord in R9. (The enemy warlord automatically loses the bull rush if he is dodging.) Assuming the Warlord goes straight back into Q10, this makes him unadjacent to the units guarding him.)

If we can't be tricky, then we'll have to start exploring the less useful options at our disposal, like using the melee's delayed and upcoming actons to meet the enemy at their current positions this round. The archons and alt elves are making this a harder fight over time, so we should consider acting as fast as possible. We send the melee in with orders to abuse the right side of the enemy's warrior formation as hard as possible and hope for the best. (We go for the right side because this keeps them from being able to go after Yuri's tower in the next round.) It's a simple and ugly plan, but it might be what we're stuck with if the enemy doesn't make mistakes.

I agree that it is time to start a general evacuation of the towers. Neither should fall this round, but Yuri's may be in danger in the next round if the warriors don't attack the heavies. Aside from Rolf and Yuri, none of the units up there are gaining any benefit from being on the towers now that the faeries are croaked. I think it currently costs one move to go down the ladder a level, so every ranged unit up there should be able to reach a position on the walls with RLOS to the ground. We may have to move a few of the units already on the walls to new positions in order to make space for everyone, but that is acceptable.

MarbitChow, does a bull rushing unit need the move to actually reach the square his target is in, or can he bull rush if he can merely reach an adjacent square?

plan for dealing with gumptons:
If we're right about the spearmen next to the gumptons using bodyguard to soak damage off the gumptons, then T. Coil should consider using one of them as the 3rd target for his Ickypron spell. (Preferably the one closest to the door, SE05 I believe.) Taking direct and body guard damage from the spell will ensure the spearman croaks and open up new possibilities.

One of the Heck pups (HP01) can't reach a square adjacent to the gumptons to attack from, so it will be using Pyrohalitosis to hit both SE08 and Gumpton5, hopefully taking SE 08 out if it was bodyguarding Gumpton5. (If SE05, or whoever is in the AB15 square, wasn't bodyguarding, it could still be alive. In that case, HP01 hits him and SE08 instead.)

The other 3 heck pups will be blasting both of the remaining gumptons. Between T. Coil and the Heck pups, Gumpton5 takes 70+6d6 and gumpton6 takes 57+5d6. If gumpton6 is being bodyguarded by both spearmen, this is enough damage to croak both of the bodyguards. Because we took care to remove its guards, Gumpton5 is likely gone and Gumpton6 has been stunned again. Without guards, gumpton6 goes down hard in round 3 without getting another chance to attack the tower.

[MarbitChow]

MarbitChow, does a bull rushing unit need the move to actually reach the square his target is in, or can he bull rush if he can merely reach an adjacent square?

The unit needs to actually reach and end up in the square. He is attempting to physically occupy the space that the unit being bull-rushed is currently in.

[ETheBoyce]

Before I make my third target a bodyguard, I want to clarify how the damage from such an instance is determined; will the bodyguard take the full damage from the bolt hitting him before he takes hits from the one hitting the Gumption?