Darkness Rising v2.0 - 'Tenebris Unleashed' Campaign

[MarbitChow]

Could not find up to date versions of all the golem designs; I'm pretty sure spending AP on things like Block is now not a thing, since as they are based on the Warrior they will start with the Military special automatically instead. Guessed at what they should be accordingly.

Don't have time right now to review the entire list - I'll do that tonight - but I'll note that golems and uncroaked don't get Military unless they're led by a Dollamancer or Croakamancer with the appropriate ability. They CAN take Skilled to give them more access to Combat Modifiers, but won't be able to use Combat Modifiers or anything that requires the Military special until they're led by the appropriate caster.

Edit: And it looks like the Leadership Level 2s should have 18 Hits, while the Heavies have 22.

[Nnelg]

Nah, the Scarlet Hills thing is really just a pipe dream... We could try something with Rainbow Springs, though; not to take it, but just to probe and figure out the extent of its defences.


As for Logan's Run, however, I really think the trick is to not let the enemy shoot at us at all if we can avoid it. Every Turn the enemy archers don't get to shoot is worth an extra ward on every one of our units, since we're denying the enemy the chance to do damage to our forces.

We have two tools we can do this with: Foolamancy, and siege structures (specifically, Covered Rams and Assault Towers). At the moment though, Nemo's Foolamancy is rather limited, so I suggest we try some Covered Rams.

If we pop 2 Covered Rams in Dis City on Turn 14, we can get them to the battle by towing them with Naughty Kitties. (One of them can be Melissa; if we use the Balrug we can get her to Dis City Turn 13, and Anex/ZedToo can get ferried on Turn 14 in time for the Mercenary mission departure... We can do these both by having the unit in question move out partway, then the Balrug carrying the unit(s) the remainder.)

Once at the city, we send forwards only those units under the cover of the Rams, and hold back the rest until they breach the walls. When they do, then we send forwards everything else and storm the ramparts.


(By the way, Marbit, Rudy should have taken the fourth slot on the Balrug to Dis City. I just noticed you'd left him behind.)

[MarbitChow]

(By the way, Marbit, Rudy should have taken the fourth slot on the Balrug to Dis City. I just noticed you'd left him behind.)

If you need him there by Turn 13, I can retcon him onto the Balrug, but otherwise I assumed he'd help escort any New Batch and Mercenaries that needed to walk from Tenebris to Dis City by Turn 14.

[bob the 6th]

Not like anything might happen on the road... dun dun DUN!

Rudy will complain of the walk, but ooc I see nothing wrong with him getting there a turn later.

[Nnelg]

Rudy will complain of the walk, but ooc I see nothing wrong with him getting there a turn later.

Other than the fact that he won't be able to participate in the Battle of Logan's Run. (Although if you want to go on the mercenary mission, that's fine.)

If you need him there by Turn 13, I can retcon him onto the Balrug, but otherwise I assumed he'd help escort any New Batch and Mercenaries that needed to walk from Tenebris to Dis City by Turn 14.

He wouldn't be able to do that anyways, since it takes 4 turns to get from Tenebris to Dis City and the New Batch only arrives on Turn 12. It is my intention to use clever scheduling of the Balrug to get the entire New Batch to Dis City.

(Also, I did mention that Rudy should have the extra slot on the Balrug a few times before you locked in the Turn 10-13 production orders.)

[bob the 6th]

Oh, in that case it makes sense.

[MarbitChow]

Exate, some additional notes on the roster list:

Potion: Minor Ward is now Potion: Damage Ward (8)
Potion: Revitalize is now Potion: Revitalize (8)
Scroll: Revitalize is now Scroll: Revitalize (8)
Scroll: Renew is now Scroll: Revitalize (16)
Bill's Lucky Streak scroll has been used (on Dave (GA04): Garrison Archer (Lucky Streak:1), which is now (Greater Boost:1))

Starting on Turn 12, Fortunes Chance can add (Lesser Boost:2) or (Lesser Curse:2) on up to 12 units.
(Hint: If you want to start increasing the side's Karma, you'll need to start cursing some of your own units.)

Junetta has begun stockpiling Potion: Revitalize (32); by Turn 13, she has 6 available.

[BLANDCorporatio]

I kinda think that Logan's Run has more than Archers defending it, and there's no way the GM would allow it to be taken by the simple exploit of "your archers can't hurt the rams".

But that's meta 'knowledge'. In character, we see only archers. Do we have reason to suspect any other troops being present? Meaning, could our Imps have seen into the courtyard, but they saw no one there? Could we suspect that more infantry is hiding somewhere else?

If not, the IC it makes sense to try and pop a ram or two.

[ETheBoyce]

Clearly we should pop a bunch of excess imps and curse them

[Lord of Monies]

Works for me!

[Nnelg]

I kinda think that Logan's Run has more than Archers defending it, and there's no way the GM would allow it to be taken by the simple exploit of "your archers can't hurt the rams".

IC, it's not the GM that's allowing the simple exploit, but the Elves. They could have popped ranged siege if they wanted to. (And they might still do so. But if they do, Coil can smash them or Nemo can smoke them.)

Anyways, I expect that as soon as the elves spot our army moving in, they'll start popping more garrison troops. And there's always the chance of enemy reinforcements coming up from the rear...

[MarbitChow]

Clearly we should pop a bunch of excess imps and curse them

Curses only increase your Karma when it actually makes a difference. Read the Foolamancy spot check rules, and note that imps are effectively level 1 casters.

[Werebiscuit]

I kinda think that Logan's Run has more than Archers defending it, and there's no way the GM would allow it to be taken by the simple exploit of "your archers can't hurt the rams".

IC, it's not the GM that's allowing the simple exploit, but the Elves. They could have popped ranged siege if they wanted to. (And they might still do so. But if they do, Coil can smash them or Nemo can smoke them.)

Anyways, I expect that as soon as the elves spot our army moving in, they'll start popping more garrison troops. And there's always the chance of enemy reinforcements coming up from the rear...

...And a level 1 can pop how many garrison troops per turn, exactly ? Hmm... looks like we need to worry more about them upgrading or having reinforcements than popping garrison. Besides we're well beat if we have to fine tune our attacks such that we're not able to adjust our force to accomodate anything bar forces we've scouted x turns prior. We have to build in x turns of garrison growth to our attacking force... with X being the number of turns between us starting siege and us last scouting the target.

[ETheBoyce]

Maybe we should treat Imps the same way Transvilitto treats Bats, we pop a bunch of them and use them to screen our fliers. For instance we could do the Flying Coil Siege and have him surrounded by Imps that provide cover from the archers!, pop enough and we could have another group try and attack the archers. Really we should just fill the sky with Imps as I siege the walls/Shock some archers to death

[Exate]

I've updated the listing based upon MarbitChow's recommended changes (full edit log at the bottom); none of them are that significant to our plans. This did bring to my attention that the casters' spell selections as listed in the reference page are in some cases wildly out of date/using spells which no longer exist. Since I'm not sure where to find their actual spell selections these have not been updated for now.

MarbitChow, random question that came up- do Mobile Structures require upkeep? If we pop a ram or assault tower, does it cost us money every turn? Or can we stockpile catapults and such in our cities as a useful and upkeep-free way of spending UP?

Can Altruist Elves heal Brickabat Swarms? I seem to recall that the Brickabat Swarm's ability prevents targeting them with spells, but the Altruist Elves' healing abilities don't actually target anything- they work on an adjacency basis, which is effective AoE- and the Brickabat Swarms are specifically vulnerable to that.


I can't help but feel that Bill is significantly underutilizing his available juice, and I'm not sure that maintaining the current batch of skeletons until their last gasp is the right way to use even the fraction that he is using right now. We have no lack of corpses, so he could spend his time and juice raising up an entirely new and less-decayed archer batch en route to Logan's Run.

We could also have him scrap the whole skeletal archer thing entirely and raise Minor Uncroaked, then give them mining picks for a bum rush. He can raise 17 minor uncroaked per turn and they take 5 turns to decay- so raise 17 one turn, 17 the next turn (letting the first batch decay once) and then spend juice maintaining them on minimal decay until they crumble. Sure, their stats will be crap and there's no ranged attacks- but that's a lot of units to throw into the fray, they do have (22-decay+16 ward) effective Hits each, and large numbers of units with fairly high Hits are exactly what you need to force a wall with picks. We're looking at a basic archer taking 3 shots minimum to bring them down- likely more with Bone Warlord in play and a healer throwing re-wards. With a relatively small number of supporting units I'd say this could storm a small city- like Logan's Run or Scarlet Hills- when combined with Bill's leadership bonuses and ability to raise even more uncroaked during battle. The inability of archers to precision target can really pay off here- particularly when combined with Brickabats.


Anyway, I wanted to come up with a solid force distribution, but I also dream the same pipe dreams as Nnelg and wanted to see if arranging our forces to take both Logan's Run and Scarlet Hills was possible. This was the best I came up with to that end- it's clear that our full forces for Logan's Run are overkill, but splitting them in two might not be enough for both locations. Still... I'd appreciate you guys taking a look over this and pointing out if you see any way to tweak it and make it work.

Logan's Run
-3 Casters
-2 Warlords
-9+ Golems (~20 expected)
-9+ Skeletal Archers (Or possibly ~34 Minor Uncroaked)
-4 Naughty Kitties
-4 Brickabat Swarms
-1 Gobwin Artisan
-1+ Ram(s) (for uncroaked use, deliver en route via Naughty Kitty haul)

Spoiler: show

Based on our intelligence, the city is only lightly held. We use primarily non-XP-gaining units to maximize experience for those units which do gain it. The core of the force is our unit-spawning casters, with Junetta included so that their generated units can be warded up; be aware when looking at this that the listed forces below are wildly inaccurate because one way or another the casters will massively change the troop demographics en route. This force has two key weaknesses- ranged combat and a general inability to deal huge amounts of damage precisely to critical targets. The most likely failure scenario is getting mired in a chokepoint for numerous turns while the enemy archers gradually work their way through the swarm's relatively huge number of Hits. Second most likely is having squads of Faeries peppering them with fire from an untouchable position, forcing them to kill all ground units and take the garrison while under continuous fire- or die trying, of course.

Bill: Caster {Lvl 4, 64xp} [5 Combat / 3 Defense / 16 Hits / 8 {8} Move. 52 Juice. Fire, Quick-shot. Special: Croakamancy (Reanimator, Bone Puppeteer, Uncroak, Pall Raiser, Bone Warlord)] (Ward-16) Scroll: Revitalize (8), Scroll: Revitalize (16), Scroll: Regenerate, Potion: Restore Juice (Restore 20)
Junetta: Caster {Lvl 4, 55xp} [3 Combat / 1 Defense / 16 Hits / 8 {8} Move. 68 Juice. Fire, Quick-Shot. Special: Healamancy (Revitalize, Damage Ward, Revitalize Group), Flower Power (Space Out)] (Ward-16) Potion: Revitalize (32) x6
Vinny Starcall: Caster {Lvl 2, 8xp} [3 Combat / 1 Defense / 8 Hits. 8 {8} Move. 28+8 Juice. Fire. Special: Dollamancer (Craft Minor Accessory, Craft Lesser Golem)] (Ward-16) Stewart’s Rod: Max Juice +8, Cloak: Negate Fire (worn), Cloak: Negate Shockamancy

Wandereus: Warrior {Lvl 3, 26xp, 1 AP Banked} [6+1 Combat / 8 Defense / 36 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Military, Leadership, Regent] (Ward-16) Magic Sword: +1 Combat, Potion: Damage Ward (8), Potion: Revitalize (8) x2
Rudy Eye: Archer {Level 2, 7xp} [8 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Military, Leadership] (Lesser Boost:2)

Steadycrow 1: Steadycrow [5 Combat / 8 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Construct, Well-Protected] (Ward-16)
Steadycrow 2: Steadycrow [5 Combat / 8 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Construct, Well-Protected] (Ward-16)
Steadycrow 3: Steadycrow [5 Combat / 8 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Construct, Well-Protected] (Ward-16)
Scarycrow 1: Scarycrow [8 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Construct, Well-Armed] (Ward-16)
Scarycrow 2: Scarycrow [8 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Construct, Well-Armed] (Ward-16)
Scarycrow 3: Scarycrow [8 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Construct, Well-Armed] (Ward-16)
Scarycrow 4: Scarycrow [8 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Construct, Well-Armed] (Ward-16)
Scarycrow 5: Scarycrow [8 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Construct, Well-Armed] (Ward-16)
Scarycrow 6: Scarycrow [8 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Construct, Well-Armed] (Ward-16)

Skeleton SA1: Archer [9 Combat / 2 Defense / 7 Hits / Fire. 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Skeletal, Well-Armed, Extended Decay 1] (Ward-16)
Skeleton SA2: Archer [9 Combat / 2 Defense / 7 Hits / Fire. 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Skeletal, Well-Armed, Extended Decay 1] (Ward-16)
Skeleton SA3: Archer [9 Combat / 2 Defense / 7 Hits / Fire. 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Skeletal, Well-Armed, Extended Decay 1] (Ward-16)
Skeleton SA4: Archer [9 Combat / 2 Defense / 7 Hits / Fire. 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Skeletal, Well-Armed, Extended Decay 1] (Ward-16)
Skeleton SA5: Archer [9 Combat / 2 Defense / 7 Hits / Fire. 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Skeletal, Well-Armed, Extended Decay 1] (Ward-16)
Skeleton SA6: Archer [9 Combat / 2 Defense / 7 Hits / Fire. 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Skeletal, Well-Armed, Extended Decay 1] (Ward-16)
Skeleton SA7: Archer [9 Combat / 2 Defense / 7 Hits / Fire. 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Skeletal, Well-Armed, Extended Decay 1] (Ward-16)
Skeleton SA8: Archer [9 Combat / 2 Defense / 7 Hits / Fire. 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Skeletal, Well-Armed, Extended Decay 1] (Ward-16)
Skeleton SA9: Archer [9 Combat / 2 Defense / 7 Hits / Fire. 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Skeletal, Well-Armed, Extended Decay 1] (Ward-16)

Naughty Kitty 1: Naughty Kitty {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [9 Combat / 12 Defense / 24 Hits / Assault. 10 {12} Move. Special : Beast, Mount.] (Ward-16)
Naughty Kitty 2: Naughty Kitty {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [9 Combat / 12 Defense / 24 Hits / Assault. 10 {12} Move. Special : Beast, Mount.] (Ward-16)
Naughty Kitty 3: Naughty Kitty {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [9 Combat / 12 Defense / 24 Hits / Assault. 10 {12} Move. Special : Beast, Mount.] (Ward-16)
Naughty Kitty 4: Naughty Kitty {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [9 Combat / 12 Defense / 24 Hits / Assault. 10 {12} Move. Special : Beast, Mount.] (Ward-16)

BS 1 - Brickabat Swarm [0 Combat / 1 Defense / 8 Hits. No attack. Special: Screen, Inhuman]
BS 2 - Brickabat Swarm [0 Combat / 1 Defense / 8 Hits. No attack. Special: Screen, Inhuman]
BS 3 - Brickabat Swarm [0 Combat / 1 Defense / 8 Hits. No attack. Special: Screen, Inhuman]
BS 4 - Brickabat Swarm [0 Combat / 1 Defense / 8 Hits. No attack. Special: Screen, Inhuman]

Gobwin Artisan 1: Craftsman {Level 1, 0 XP} [1 Combat / 2 Defense / 6 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Fabricate.] (Ward-16)

Escort Mission
-1 Warlord
-2 Warriors
-2 Spearmen
-2 Archers
-1 Altruist Elf

Spoiler: show

It's important that this succeed for obvious diplomatic reasons- but at the same time, I can't help but feel that it's a waste of valuable military personnel. I've avoided including anyone with Dance Fighting and took a mix of other capabilities, including an Altruist Elf for healing just in case. Since we know that the Ixian delegation is coming in from the northwest I'm inclined to send the entire escort group along with the Scarlet Hills assault group up until the point at which they need to break off. If the Ixians are late, this group can attack alongside the others.

Yuri: Warrior {Lvl 4, 64xp} [14+2 Combat / 18 Defense / 35 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault, Rage. Special: Military, Heavy, Leadership] (Ward-16) Ring: Combat +2, Potion: Healing Ward
Brick Wall: Warrior {Lvl 2, 8xp} [9 Combat / 10 Defense / 34 Hits. 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Military, Bodyguard, Heavy] (Ward-16) Cloak: Negate Assault/Strike
Donovan: Warrior {Level 2, 12xp} [8 Combat / 14 Defense / 29 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Military, Heavy, Beefy] (Ward-16)
Gobwin Spearman 2: Spearman {Level 1, 0 XP, 3 AP Banked} [5 Combat / 4 Defense / 12 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special: Military] (Ward-16)
Gobwin Spearman 3: Spearman {Level 1, 0 XP, 3 AP Banked} [5 Combat / 4 Defense / 12 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special: Military] (Ward-16)
Archer 7: Archer {Level 1, 0 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Archer 8: Archer {Level 1, 0 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Twilight: Altruist Elf {Level 1, 0xp} [0 Combat / 5 Defense / 4 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Special: Healing Touch, Dying Cry] (Ward-16)

Scarlet Hills
-4 Casters
-5 Warlords
-12 Warriors
-9 Spearmen
-2 Dark Fliers
-13 Archers
-1 Altruist Elf
-1 Bad Ass
-3 Naughty Kitties
-2 Heck Pups
-1 Gobwin Artisan

Spoiler: show

We don't have good intelligence on Scarlet Hills yet and it's closer to Rainbow Springs than to Dis City- it'll be tough to take no matter when we move against it for that reason. Given how relatively lightly held Logan's Run is, however, and our own need to expand and gain the associated UP and shmuckers, I'm willing to take a gamble. Hit Scarlet Hills with as much force as we can pull off our other important duties, and I think we should be able to crack it. That means our Chief Warlord leads, a potent blend of casters back him, and they take the bulk of our best. At the moment T. Coil and Warriors with picks provide for siege damage, but there may be better options. I'm not incredibly happy about the relatively small size of this force, but their caster power should make up for a hell of a lot.

Triage: Caster {Lvl 4, 64xp} [6 Combat / 4 Defense / 22 Hits. 8 {8} Move. 35 Juice. Fire, Quick-shot. Special: Healomancy (Revitalize; Renew; Minor Ward; Ward)] (Ward-16) Staff of Er: Allows caster to cast a 2nd Healmancy spell in the same turn with casting cost of the 2nd spell doubled, Potion: Restore Juice (Restore 20)
T. Coil: Caster {Lvl 4, 63xp} [10+3 Combat / 1 Defense / 22 Hits / 8 {8} Move. 32 Juice. Special: Shockamancy (Hoboken, Grounding, TooGeeWonCee, Ickypron)] (Ward-16) Staff of Locockus: Combat +2, Cloak: Negate Strike/Assault, Ring: +1 Combat, Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits), Potion: Restore Juice (Restore 20) x2, Scroll: Revitalize (8), Scroll: Revitalize (16)
Nemo: Caster {Level 2, 7xp} [3 Combat / 1 Defense / 8 Hits. 8 {8} Move. 28 Juice. Fire. Special: Foolamancy (Glamour, Baffle)] (Lesser Boost:2) Cloak: Negate Fire
Fortunes Chance: Caster {Level 2, 5xp} [3 Combat / 2 Defense / 8 Hits. 8 {8} Move. 24 Juice. Fire. Special: Luckamancy (Lesser Boost, Multi-Target, Lucky Streak)] (Lesser Boost:2) Cloak: Negate Fire

Tod: Spearman {Lvl 4, 67xp} [9 Combat / 9 Defense / 24 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike, Lunge. Special: Military, Leadership, Improved Leadership, Paragon, Trainer, Chief Warlord] (Ward-16) Ring: +1 Defense, Cloak: Negate Shockamancy, Talkie Bracer: Thinkagram 2x/day; +1 Effective Level for Leadership purposes, Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits)
Rowan (WL01): Warrior {Level 2, 12 XP} [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Leadership] (Ward-16) Potion: Damage Ward (8), Potion: Revitalize (8) x2
Tyler (WL02): Warrior {Level 2, 12 XP} [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Leadership] (Ward-16) Potion: Damage Ward (8), Potion: Revitalize (8) x2
Lian (WL03): Warrior {Level 2, 12 XP} [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Leadership] (Ward-16) Potion: Damage Ward (8), Potion: Revitalize (8) x2
Sto: Gobwin Tribal Leader {Level 1 Warrior, 0xp} [5 Combat / 5 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Military, Leadership, Natural Ally Tribal Leader]

Rolf: Warrior {Lvl 4, 62xp} [25 Combat / 16+2 Defense / 32 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault, Rage. Special: Military, Heavy, Well-Armed, Paragon, Berserker] (Ward-16) Potion: Healing Ward, Armor of Eckrich: Defense +2 and Mighty Blow/Interpose/Coordinate penalties are halved, Cloak: Negate Shockamancy

Erick (WH01): Warrior {Level 2, 12 XP} [ 11 Combat / 11 Defense / 22 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Heavy] (Ward-16)
Colby (WH02): Warrior {Level 2, 12 XP} [ 11 Combat / 11 Defense / 22 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Heavy] (Ward-16)
Joe (WH04): Warrior {Level 2, 12 XP} [ 11 Combat / 11 Defense / 22 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Heavy] (Ward-16)

Sergio (W01): Warrior {Level 2, 6 XP, 3 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting] (Ward-16)
Marvin (W02): Warrior {Level 2, 6 XP, 3 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting] (Ward-16)
Chris (W03): Warrior {Level 2, 6 XP, 3 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting] (Ward-16)

Ruben (WB01): Warrior {Level 2, 6 XP, 2 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Bodyguard] (Ward-16)
Edgar (WB02): Warrior {Level 2, 6 XP, 2 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Bodyguard] (Ward-16)
Salvador (WB03): Warrior {Level 2, 6 XP, 2 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 5 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Bodyguard] (Ward-16)

Casey (WA01): Warrior {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 8 Defense / 26 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Beefy, Well-Protected] (Ward-16)
Phillip (WA02): Warrior {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 8 Defense / 26 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Beefy, Well-Protected] (Ward-16)

Tony (SA01): Spearman {Level 2, 10 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 7 Defense / 24 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Beefy, Well-Protected] (Ward-16)
Jeffrey (SA02): Spearman {Level 2, 10 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 7 Defense / 24 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Beefy, Well-Protected] (Ward-16)
Devon (SA03): Spearman {Level 2, 10 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 7 Defense / 24 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Beefy, Well-Protected] (Ward-16)
Jonas (SA04): Spearman {Level 2, 10 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 7 Defense / 24 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special : Military, Dance Fighting, Beefy, Well-Protected] (Ward-16)

Larry (S01): Spearman {Level 2, 10 XP, 3 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 4 Defense / 16 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special : Military, Dance Fighting] (Ward-16)
Jaydon (S02): Spearman {Level 2, 10 XP, 3 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 4 Defense / 16 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special : Military, Dance Fighting] (Ward-16)
Jimmy (S03): Spearman {Level 2, 10 XP, 3 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 4 Defense / 16 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special : Military, Dance Fighting] (Ward-16)
Brett (S04): Spearman {Level 2, 10 XP, 3 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 5 Combat / 4 Defense / 16 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special : Military, Dance Fighting] (Ward-16)

Gobwin Spearman 1: Spearman {Level 1, 0 XP, 3 AP Banked} [5 Combat / 4 Defense / 12 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special: Military] (Ward-16)

Cupid: Dark Flier {Lvl 4, 60xp} [20 Combat / 13+2 Defense / 20 Hits / 12 {18} Move. Fire, Quick-Shot. Special: Military, Fly, Heavy] (Ward-16) Ring: Defense +2, Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits)
Comet: Dark Flier {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [ 4 Combat / 4 Defense / 12 Hits. Fire. Special: Military, Fly] (Ward-16)

William Showend Tell: Archer {Lvl 4, 59xp} [32+2 Combat / 6 Defense / 22 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire, Quick-Shot. Special: Military, Well Armed, Heavy, Paragon, Call the Shot] (Ward-16) Hazardous Bow of the Duke: Combat +2, Cloak: Negate Strike/Assault, Potion: Renew (Heal 16 Hits)
Eduardo (ZA01): Archer {Level 1, 1 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Brendan (ZA02): Archer {Level 1, 1 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Terry (ZA03): Archer {Level 1, 1 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Malik (ZA04): Archer {Level 1, 1 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Darius (ZA05): Archer {Level 1, 1 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Byron (ZA06): Archer {Level 1, 1 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Archer 1: Archer {Level 1, 0 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Archer 2: Archer {Level 1, 0 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Archer 3: Archer {Level 1, 0 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Archer 4: Archer {Level 1, 0 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Archer 5: Archer {Level 1, 0 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)
Archer 6: Archer {Level 1, 0 XP, 2 AP Banked} [ 7 Combat / 3 Defense / 14 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special : Military] (Ward-16)

Dusk: Altruist Elf {Level 1, 0xp} [0 Combat / 5 Defense / 4 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Special: Healing Touch, Dying Cry] (Ward-16)

Bad Ass 1: Bad Ass {Level 1, 0 XP} [16 Combat / 18 Defense / 30 Hits / 14 {24} Move. Strike. Special : Flight, Beast, Mount]

Melissa: Naughty Kitty {Level 2 Beast, 5xp} [9 Combat / 14 Defense / 28 Hits / 10 {12} Move. Assault. Special : Beast, Mount, Imprinted(Nemo)]
Naughty Kitty 5: Naughty Kitty {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [9 Combat / 12 Defense / 24 Hits / Assault. 10 {12} Move. Special : Beast, Mount.] (Ward-16)
Naughty Kitty 6: Naughty Kitty {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [9 Combat / 12 Defense / 24 Hits / Assault. 10 {12} Move. Special : Beast, Mount.] (Ward-16)

Heck Pup (HP03): Heck Pup {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [6 Combat / 6 Defense / 20 Hits / Assault. 14 {12} Move. Special : Pyrohalitosis, Agile, Beast.] (Ward-16)
Heck Pup (HP04): Heck Pup {Level 2, 6 XP, 1 AP Banked, 3 Combat Stats Banked} [6 Combat / 6 Defense / 20 Hits / Assault. 14 {12} Move. Special : Pyrohalitosis, Agile, Beast.] (Ward-16)

Gobwin Artisan 2: Craftsman {Level 1, 0 XP} [1 Combat / 2 Defense / 6 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Fabricate.] (Ward-16)

Dis City Garrison
-1 Gobwin Artisan

Spoiler: show

It's not an attractive job, but someone has to do it. That someone is... Random NPC Garrison Warlord Man! Really, I've basically ignored this- there are some garrison units in Dis City, and if we get word of incoming enemies we can pop more. This will leave us at a severe disadvantage if the Breatheairians have enough troops together to launch another large-scale attack in the immediate future, but I don't think they will; losing nine stacks of field units and another stack of heavies simply has to have left a serious dent in their forces in this theater and there hasn't been enough time to gather many more troops.

Gobwin Artisan 3: Craftsman {Level 1, 0 XP} [1 Combat / 2 Defense / 6 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Fabricate.] (Ward-16)

Charlie's Mercenaries
-1 Warlord
-2 Warriors
-2 Archers
-1 Spearman
-Unknown Others (anyone bored)

Spoiler: show

This is basically "anyone we are willing to have die to bring us money". Copied the first few units from MarbitChow's listing a few pages back and added some more. The high level of aggression inherent in the "assault two cities at once" strategy leaves us critically short on units, though- to be honest, I'm more than a little inclined to decline Charlie #1 entirely and haul these guys into one of the city fights instead. It should be noted that I expect everyone to die on any Charlie mission where we don't include at least one warlord as a command element.

Thomas the Tank (bob the 6th): Spearman {Level 1, 0 XP} [ 8 Combat / 6 Defense / 20 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Strike. Specials: Heavy, Military]
Blackbeard (WhirdCheese): Warrior {Level 1, 0 XP} [5 Combat / 11 Defense / 18 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Assault. Specials: Heavy, Military]
Sekan (ETheBoyce): Archer {Level 1, 0 XP} 2 AP Unspent...

Regus the Great: Spearman {Level 2, 7xp, [1 AP Unspent, 3 Combat Stats Unspent]} [5 Combat / 4 Defense / 16 Hits. 8 {8} Move. Strike. Special: Military, Leadership] Throwing Spear: Requires Strike. Grants Fire (1 Charge) limited 8 square range
Zed-Too: Warrior {Level 1, 4xp} [5 Combat / 8 Defense / 22 Hits. 8 {8} Move. Assault. Special: Military, Well-protected, Beefy, Skilled] (Lesser Boost:2)
Anex: Archer {Level 1, 4xp} [10 Combat / 3 Defense / 10 Hits / 8 {8} Move. Fire. Special: Military, Well-Armed, Skilled] (Lesser Boost:2)

Random Encounter
-No one!

Spoiler: show

Scrap this. Its purpose is to gain us experience, but we can successfully assault cities for that.

[MarbitChow]

MarbitChow, random question that came up- do Mobile Structures require upkeep? If we pop a ram or assault tower, does it cost us money every turn? Or can we stockpile catapults and such in our cities as a useful and upkeep-free way of spending UP?

No, structures do not require upkeep in the current rules. They can't be popped as Garrison, either, by the way - that designation only applies to Units.

Can Altruist Elves heal Brickabat Swarms? I seem to recall that the Brickabat Swarm's ability prevents targeting them with spells, but the Altruist Elves' healing abilities don't actually target anything- they work on an adjacency basis, which is effective AoE- and the Brickabat Swarms are specifically vulnerable to that.

No, they can't. I mentioned early on that Brickabats would never be able to be healed, and I'd immediately errata any rule loop-hole that allowed. Brickabats are completely immune to Healamancy of all types.

Also: Regus the Great is not available to go on any missions. The player has put the character on hiatus; it cannot be placed in danger in tigerus' absence.

[WaterMonkey314]

...minor uncroaked ... their stats will be crap and there's no ranged attacks- but that's a lot of units to throw into the fray, they do have (22-decay+16 ward) effective Hits each, and large numbers of units with fairly high Hits are exactly what you need to force a wall with picks.

(emphasis added)

I don't think I can ward uncroaked.

Also, I really don't like the idea of attacking Rainbow Springs blind - sure, we can send most of our top-flight units, but going in blind is just asking for trouble.

[Nnelg]

Maybe we should treat Imps the same way Transvilitto treats Bats, we pop a bunch of them and use them to screen our fliers.

Not a bad idea, actually. However, since an imp will die to even a zed archer's arrow, it would probably be best to keep this somewhat costly tactic in reserve. At a later level, Nemo could conjure up some phantasmal Imps (which probably wouldn't be as effective as real Imps, but at least they'd be something).


As for popping, we can't afford to slow down our production significantly. We need every unit we can afford to fight the elves, whom will be popping units at a faster rate than us. If we start to produce more units than we can afford, we can always start using tactics that are more costly in lives.

However, I would like to suggest that from now on, we reserve Tenebris for popping high-value units with higher move, since we can pop the slower infantry closer to the front. That would limit our choice of what to pop there to the following:

• Imps (16/Turn)
• Naughty Kitties (2/Turn)
• Heck Pups (2/Turn)
• Balrug (2 Turns)
• Bad Ass (2 Turns)
• Dark Archon (4 Turns)
• Bone Dragon (5 Turns)

We have 4 Turns worth to allocate there. I suggest that we look into a Dark Archon, a second Balrug, and more Naughty Kitties.

Anyway, I wanted to come up with a solid force distribution, but I also dream the same pipe dreams as Nnelg and wanted to see if arranging our forces to take both Logan's Run and Scarlet Hills was possible. This was the best I came up with to that end- it's clear that our full forces for Logan's Run are overkill, but splitting them in two might not be enough for both locations.

I would like to propose a modified version of my previous plan. Instead of attacking Scarlet Hills, we do recon-by-fire of Rainbow Springs.

We wouldn't be trying to take the city: instead are objectives would be the following:
1.) To determine the extent of enemy forces there.
2.) To croak as many elves as possible before retreating.
3.) To delaying any attack they had planned to launch from there.
4.) To distract from our real target, Logan's Run.
5.) Possibly to build good Karma (we can curse all our skellies).

The attackers would likely be mainly skeletal (and other) archers and expendible (or durable) units. This force would attack the city, but pull back any non-expendible units before they croak. Any melee units would probably be occupied with dragging corpses off the battlefield, for Bill to uncroak later. The force at Logan's Run would save as many corpses as they can using Bone Carts.

The upsides of this plan is that we only have to send enough troops to keep from being overrun in a counter-attack, and don't have to waste troops guarding Dis City (the probing force can fall back in the slim chance of an attack from Scarlet Hills). The downside is that there'd be some risk involved for the attackers, and the commander thereof will have to be clever about how he goes about it. We'd probably send Tod this direction, leaving Yuri in charge of the Logan's Run offensive.

EDIT:

MarbitChow, random question that came up- do Mobile Structures require upkeep? If we pop a ram or assault tower, does it cost us money every turn? Or can we stockpile catapults and such in our cities as a useful and upkeep-free way of spending UP?

No, structures do not require upkeep in the current rules. They can't be popped as Garrison, either, by the way - that designation only applies to Units.

We'll want to have some ranged siege weapons in every city regardless, to prevent the exact "covered ram" trick we're going to pull on Logan's Run. Consider them as a standard part of any defence force from now on.


By the way, Swodaems already dispatched 8 imps for the Escort Mission. We could send more units that way, but if we do it will be to the neglect of something else. The way I see it, we can do two missions other than the mercenaries, and have to choose which two those will be.

Also, an important question: can Bill keep the skeletons from dusting before the end of Turn 18? (EDIT: It looks like he can, but they'll be at sigificantly reduced strength compared to Turn 17. Oh well, it's probably better that he saves his Juice for uncroaking units in-battle, anyways.)

EDIT2:
This is how I was thinking that we'd split our forces:

@Logan's Run:

Spoiler: show

Yuri, Rolf, and probably most of our Melee PCs not going mercenary.
Nemo, Junetta, Vinny (w/golems).
Rudy with a stack of the fresh archers.
A fair share of infantry.
The Naughty Kitties (to pull rams & bone carts)
The Artisans (to make bone carts)
2 Covered Rams

@Rainbow Springs:

Spoiler: show

Two stacks of archers mixed 50-50 with infantry: one led by Tod, the other by Will and Wandereus. Each including an Alt Elf.
Bill (w/Uncroaked), Triage, Coil (on BA), Fort.
Probably our fliers, and some imps to screen maybe.
Enough infantry to fight off a possible counter-attack.

[Exate]

Also: Regus the Great is not available to go on any missions. The player has put the character on hiatus; it cannot be placed in danger in tigerus' absence.

...do we still have to pay upkeep for units we can't use?

I don't think I can ward uncroaked.

Hmm. You might well be right- although given that I'd thought that "ward all units" meant all units and put Wards on everything in the listing, and MarbitChow didn't object, perhaps not? Uncroaked do say "immune to ... Healmancy", not "immune to Healmancy which restores Hits", but the rules as written don't always reflect the rules as intended. MarbitChow, a call on this one please?

Also, I really don't like the idea of attacking Rainbow Springs blind - sure, we can send most of our top-flight units, but going in blind is just asking for trouble.

I don't like the idea of attacking Rainbow Springs blind, either. That city is way too high-level for that to work. Scarlet Hills, though? That I'd risk, particularly as we're likely to get more intel en route.

I would like to propose a modified version of my previous plan. Instead of attacking Scarlet Hills, we do recon-by-fire of Rainbow Springs.

Unfortunately, I can't support this. There's just no point in spending ten turns of Bill's time (not to mention others') and the massive risk inherent in walking right up to a high-level enemy city on anything less than taking it for our own... and we don't have the forces to do that at the moment. Scarlet Hills I can back because the potential reward justifies the increase in risk; the potential reward from this does not. It just ties up a massive blob of our best units in a situation where they can't attack without being slaughtered and where the enemy has vastly superior intelligence and lines of supply.

By the way, Swodaems already dispatched 8 imps for the Escort Mission. We could send more units that way, but if we do it will be to the neglect of something else. The way I see it, we can do two missions other than the mercenaries, and have to choose which two those will be.

The Ixian Queen asked us to "spare an escort to help see them safely to one of your cities". The imps are useful, don't get me wrong, but they're not an escort- they're just guides. Sending a single combat-capable stack seems like the minimally acceptable force from a diplomatic standpoint.

We'll want to have some ranged siege weapons in every city regardless, to prevent the exact "covered ram" trick we're going to pull on Logan's Run. Consider them as a standard part of any defence force from now on.

But they're not standard unless we devote multiple turns of production to building them, more's the pity. That's production that we need to keep our offensives rolling.

[MarbitChow]

do we still have to pay upkeep for units we can't use?

Yes - all units in Tenebris are part of Creperum's guard, for example, and are not available for defending anything other than Tenebris (the city) itself.

Hmm. You might well be right- although given that I'd thought that "ward all units" meant all units and put Wards on everything in the listing, and MarbitChow didn't object, perhaps not? Uncroaked do say "immune to ... Healmancy", not "immune to Healmancy which restores Hits", but the rules as written don't always reflect the rules as intended. MarbitChow, a call on this one please?

Uncroaked cannot be warded. Never could be, never will be. No healamancy spells of any sort can be cast upon them.