Table of Contents ( of sorts ):
Turn 1: Expositiony goodness
Let's get started.
The land Tserkov is a dangerous place. While there were men who were trying to advance the cultures, the arts, most men would prefer banging rocks on the heads of their enemies. Your original tribe was full of the latter people. They had refined this art of enemy bashing, and you learned it all. At 26 years of age, you set out into the world, filled with a sense of destiny, courage, and malevolence.
At first, your initial campaign was astounding. With what little troops you had, you defeated larger ( but often poorly led ) armies and warbands. With a wisdom rare among the so called savages of Tserkov, you realized that it was better to spare and enslave your enemies, instead of just killing them for amusement.
Beneath that wisdom, however, was a sadistic streak, aimed mostly at women. It's probably related to some childhood trauma of your mother leaving the clan, with your only sister, but it doesn't really matter now. In just a few months, you'd crushed 5 tribes, taken their armies, did unspeakable things to their women-folk, and burned their villages. No more would the petty ties of clan, tribe, or land make any difference. All would live to serve you. The rest would die.
Alas, great success is usually hard to come by without some misfortune. The heinous lack of medicine and village doctors took it's toll on your men. A massive plague took hold. The other, thankful, tribes, proclaimed that it was the punishment of the gods, brought to wreak vengeance upon you for your atrocious deeds. The gods obviously missed then, for you lived, and so did a number of your men.
Out of a good 5000 strong men, only 900 men are left. Surprisingly, a lot of the women survived, about 1500 of them. No children, but that's never really been a problem. So you have a small army ( which developed a resistance to the plague ), no headquarters, only the normal supplies, in the middle of wild territory.
This is gonna be fun.
Right now, you're in a forest, your men have set up camp. It has few defences, chief among them the spikes placed in the ground to prevent cavalry charges ( bonus when attacked by cavalry dominant army ). To the North is a village, average garrison, actually has less men than you do, men must be off on a raid.
To the East and West are just unexplored forest. To the South is unknown, you can send some troops as scouts.
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 900 heavy human infantry ( Status:Perfect )
Other: 1500 camp followers ( women slaves )
6000 rations
Exposition-y
Turn 2: Okay, this time we start
First True Turn!
The village seems tasty, doesn't it? You send 850 troops, leaving only behind a very, very small guard of 50 infantry, to keep the many chained women in their place.
Ahem, anyway, you try to keep a low profile, but considering you have several hundred big, sweaty men using clanky helmets, shields and armor, it's kinda difficult. Despite your best efforts, your men are found by scouts, who rush back to their village. Luckily, your own scouts ( who actually, you know, have metal swords ) literally run them down and execute them.
You manage to get the army to the village. It is sound asleep, with only a small guard keeping watch through the night.
You can:
Just have your men charge in.
Divide your men into various squads and go house by house?
Something else?
I hope NUKE.19 doesn't sue me...
Turn 3: I have a pathological need for approval
No sense in wasting lives and the element of surprise. Dividing your 850 strong attack force, into squads of about 20 each, you scour the village. The guards rush to see what the commotion is, but are instantly charged by two squads that you sent to deal with them. The guards are 60 to your strike force of 40, but numbers aren't everything. Superior discipline and weapons win the day, with only 4 casualties. 17 injured guards surrender.
The rest of your squads break in the doors of each house, slaughtering the women who are not of childbearing age, the male children, and the too old. Only the young men who weren't old enough to go raiding, but are strong enough to hold a sword, are captured. Unfortunately, many of them rebel.
The foolish boys throw themselves at your men with nary a thought to their own survival. They know bravery at least, or maybe stupidity. They were just unarmed teenagers, none of your men died, or were even gravely injured, but your men kill them too quickly before you can order them to stop. About 100 adolescent corpses litter the ground. Only 20 were either cowardly enough, or smart enough, to surrender. Welp, no point crying about it.
The entire village is brought to heel. Your scouts tell you of a large number of human tracks going to the north, probably the raiding party that left their village defenseless. The village itself has little in the way of defenses, your camp was better. Stupid barbarians.
Total gains:
20 adolescent males.
17 injured adult males ( 2 turns till full recovery, then the "training" can begin )
70 adult women.
2000 rations ( no wonder these people needed to go raiding ).
STATUS
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 896 heavy human infantry ( Status: warmed up )
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 17 injured adult males.
8000 rations
Not too bad, huh?
Well, what now?
Turn 4: I really, REALLY apologize.
You know what I said about the few hours? Never mind.
A new day dawns, and the raiding party of the village has not yet returned. This is good. They'd probably outnumber your forces, anyway. It is time to prepare.
You gather 15 strong, young men, whose skills as trackers did not dull when you integrated them into your legions. Giving them 150 rations, you send 3 groups of 5 of in the Eastern, Northern, and Western directions. Hopefully this reconnaissance shall prove useful.
Anyway, back to the village. You gather the women and the potential recruits back to the camp. It was a good thing, because the barbarian women at the camp began to realize that their captors were only 50 in number. Had you stayed at the village longer, you could have had a revolt on your hands.
Standing up on a high stone pedestal that you procured for yourself, you shout to the women-folk to begin chopping some trees. With what?, they ask. You tell them to figure it out.
You did this partly out of a desire to see the women fail, you sadistic jerk. Amazingly, by using their combined strength, a team of about forty women could tear down a single small tree. That...is somewhat worrying. While a few hundred of the women get to work, you set your slightly tired soldiers to..."pacify" the other women.
I won't get too graphic here, let's just say that even if you denied your troops any chance for plunder, or glory, they would still follow you if only for this. The shrinking morale of the women are palpable. A dozen or so trees are torn down in the meantime, and your soldiers hack them apart.
With this new supply of lumber, you set up the foundations for a palisade, interspersed with spikes. It'll take a while to get it up, but the result will be well worth it.
Your then order your sated soldiers to begin digging a ditch outside the wooden foundations, enough to stop a bunch of crazy footsoldiers without ladders. It's somewhat easier work, and your men's loyalty for you has skyrocketed thanks to their misogynistic reward, so they manage to finish it quickly.
So much sexist cruelty...well, what now?
I lathered it on a bit thick, didn't I? An apology to any female readers.
Well, the palisade will be done in three turns, the ditch is already done, the scouts will be back in either one or two turns. A waiting game really, might as well do something productive with the time.
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 896 heavy human infantry ( Status: ecstatic )
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 17 injured adult males.
Holdings: 1 palisade ( at camp, 3 turns ), 1 ditch, 1 camp ( with spikes )
5800 rations
Turn 5: Administrative matters
Dividing up some of your men once more into squads, you order them to stand guard on the outskirts of the camp. Their job is to watch for an enemy army, any threat really.
Going among the slaves with a small retinue of soldiers, you ask one elder woman which one of them was the bowyer of the village. With extreme reluctance, the matron tells you of her sister, who is indeed the only woman with knowledge of bow making. Approaching the extremely big, muscled sister, you order her to begin making longbows. She staunchly refuses.
Normally, you'd have ordered your men to..."pacify" her, considering how strong she looked, none of your men would probably be brave enough. So you threaten her sister, the older woman. This works immediately, and the sister takes some spare lumber and grudgingly begins work. Everyone has a weak spot.
Next, to prepare some more equipment. Shouting to your men who were loitering about, you bark at them to produce some shields, for new recruits. With absolutely no complaint, they set out on their task. Brainwashing troops through hellish training does have its benefits. On a side note, you declare that a few shields must have a blue sun with an arrow on the center. You're not really sure why, it just seems really cool. This gets done pretty quickly, and you give the five painted shields to five of your most loyal men.
Now, in Tserkov, it wasn't uncommon for leaders to reward their underlings with a decorated weapon or shield. But this gives you an idea. Taking your five newly gifted men aside, you proclaim that each man shall be your lieutenant. They react expectedly, with thanks and proclamations of fealty. That should give you some flexibility when leading an army. Even so, it's never a good idea to give a man more men or resources than you have. That can only lead to trouble.
Talking to two of your lieutenants, you assign one to be the "High Recruiter", responsible for recruitment, training, and breaking in of new slaves. The other, your "Spymaster", shall be responsible for intelligence gathering, whether it is reconnaissance or just gathering information from other people. He seems a bit confused by the latter task, but swears to get right on it.
Well, that's that. The palisade continues to be built, and the injured slaves have been taken care of. Time to give your High Recruiter some on the job training.
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 896 heavy human infantry ( Status: Perfectly normal )
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 17 adult males.
Holdings: 1 palisade ( at camp, 3 turns ), 1 ditch, 1 camp ( with spikes )
2600 rations
Thauldar's Legion need food badly.
Turn 6: Yeah, you know where I stole that line from
The food situation is getting serious. Gathering what bows you have you manage to equip only 200 men, to go on a hunting party. At least you'll have more men to guard the camp. The men set off with no celebration, stoic as ever. Hopefully they'll gather enough food to keep most of you from starving.
It is quiet. Not many decisions to be made. The female slaves are looking pretty restless, each one realizing that even if you could draw your sword, they could corner you and snap your neck if they all mobbed you. See, it's that sort of paranoid thinking that got you this position as a warlord in the first place.
Gathering your four physically most powerful and imposing men, you declare them to be your personal honor guard. That should dissuade any conventional assassination attempts.
Wow, so little to do, no point except to rest. By the time the hunters come back, and the palisades are finished, then you're gonna need to resume work. You settle on a simple mat, to sleep, surrounded by your alert honor guard, when suddenly...
"The enemy! The enemy are here!" shouts one guard before getting shot by an arrow through the neck.
The raiding party! Curses!
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 687 heavy human infantry ( Status: Perfectly normal ), 200 hunters ( out hunting ), 4 honor guard, 5 lieutenants ( Spymaster, High Recruiter, etc )
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 17 adult males.
Holdings: 1 palisade ( at camp, 2 turns ), 1 ditch, 1 camp ( with spikes )
2600 rations
Turn 7: The First Battle
The enemy is here. Your men were just about to sleep, a single bark from you snaps those nearby awake. That's the purpose of unquestioning discipline. Almost instant reaction to your orders. The enemy appear to be marching towards you, men with swords, shields and axes in the front. Crude stuff, but dangerous, if your men slip up.
A shout from one of your unranked lieutenants makes you look up. A volley of arrows, just a preliminary shot, sails above your head. It hits the middle of your men's ranks, causing some to fall. No sense wasting time to get their bodies. It's time for battle.
They have archers, they have the advantage of all skirmishers. The ditch will slow the main vanguard of infantry down, but your palisades are only partly down. Gritting your teeth, you order your men to form up in a straight, solid line just behind the skeletal wooden wall, in 3 rows.. "Shields up!" you bark. As one, your men raise their leather shields and draw their swords.
You smile, darkly. The enemy look to have greater numbers, but they were foolish in only attacking from one direction, when they have so many men. And what good are numbers, when against men of superior discipline, leadership, and caliber. The odds are somewhat against you. Can you beat them?
Battle Stats
You:
680 heavy infantry. 7 dead. Posted behind palisades with shield's ready to take arrows.
4 honor guard, posted by your side.
5 lieutenants, interspersed in your men's ranks, ready to fight.
You, behind main line.
Enemy: About 1000ish ( can't tell from you're position ), About 800 light infantry, the rest archers. May be more enemies in the area.
Turn 8: CHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGEEEEE!
Your men are on guard, but the arrows could be a problem. "Shields higher! Protect your faces, you dogs!". Like well trained dogs they obey, and they have this rather awkward position where their torso is unprotected and their faces are almost completely covered, but not to the point where they can't see.
The enemy advances. The archers are just behind the infantry of the enemy, which may be good or bad. They can't see through their own men, and so their line of site is limited. On the other hand, if they fire and hit your troops' line, the concentrated force of arrows is gonna do damage. You hope the shields of your soldiers stand firm.
Battle is just about to commence. Too late for any tactical maneuvering. You just hope the ditch will slow the enemy enough for your soldiers to butcher them as they crawl out.
With a savage roar, the enemy warriors break into a run. This would have fazed any other army. Not your soldiers though. The fear of anything except their master was drilled out of them. You're glad to see that they lowered their shields to fighting position. At least your brainwashed troops have some common sense.
The warriors on the other side pause for a second when they notice the ditch, it slows their momentum considerably. Good. With their animalistic, predatory gazes never leaving your men, they cautiously approach. As the first few dozen men get up from the ditch, that's when your men charge.
The enemy warriors recoil, as if they saw statues come to life. They must have thought they were fighting inanimate objects, the way your men stood at the ready. Still, despite their shock, their overwhelming numbers give them courage. They hammer at your men, who still stand firm, but cannot fight their way out of such a mess. Both sides push at each other, like some gigantic pushing contest. Even though your men are killing more, there are just too many. And the enemy's morale certainly isn't breaking anytime soon, unless you do something.
Turn 9: I use the word rage a bit too much
The battle rages. Your men are standing strong. Here is where your brutal training regiment shows. You have managed to turn these men into little more than ants, ready to die, fight, and kill for you.
It seems roughly equal, the battle does. The enemy's number is kept in check by the ditch and by your mens' line, it's good. At least they didn't try to flank you.
It rages on. About a hundred on your side have died, a few hundred of theirs. It still won't be enough. You only have roughly 500 men left, they still have probably almost twice that number. A retreat probably wouldn't work here, your men would be slaughtered if they gave ground. Your men would never flee, but neither is the enemy.
Turn 10: Tide turning for dummies
Things aren't looking well. You can't pull your men back, but they aren't completely un-maneuverable ( is that a word? ). Sacrificing your outer line to reinforce your center, you order your troops to start hammering away at the enemy's middle position.
The enemy is caught significantly off guard by this. Their wave of warriors doesn't exactly collapse, but the feel of the battle is changing. The enemy is no longer certain of their numbers, with that kill zone you set in the middle of both army's formations. Many are pausing, wondering if they should pull back, and this hesitation only causes more death on the enemy's side.
You roar, yes literally roar, with fury, and your men take courage from this. Unfortunately, this doesn't shatter the enemy's morale, if anything, they grow more defiant. No matter, your own soldiers are unfazed. The battle is slowly turning in your favor.
Estimated casualties:
150ish for your side ( unconfirmed )
350ish for enemy's side ( unconfirmed )
Turn 11: Mid-battle maneuvering
The concentration of men is getting deeper and deeper into the enemy's line, without going into the ditch completely. Once again, you're at a standstill. But now, at least, some of the pressure has been taken off of your men.
Calling a nearby lieutenant, you bark at him to gather 50 men, and attack the archers. Run around the battle if he has to, he must do it. With a stiff bow, he runs off, taking some of the uninjured men in the back line. This has the side effect of making the enemy think that some of your men are retreating. They howl and dash themselves at your men further. Fools.
You wait anxiously while your men fight and die, constantly wondering if your surprise attack worked or failed. Suddenly, you hear a scream. Several men, behind the line, sound like they're dying. The barbarians in the back of the enemy wave turn around, and are shocked to see a group of your soldiers butchering their almost defenseless archers. The bowmen have knives, some with swords, but none with any armor. They're as good as dead.
You expected the men to rush to the aid of their brethren. They don't, and continue fighting. Hmm...perhaps there is less loyalty in their ranks than you realize, or at least more common sense. Still, while this has not completely turned the tide of the battle in your favor, at least now you can do some real damage. And for all the enemy warriors' common sense, little do they realize that once your troops have either butchered the archers or driven them all away, they can easily charge the enemy's rear.
Turn 12: It's really short
You can smell the blood in the air, it rejuvenates you. From what little you can see, the archers are trying to run, and succeeding. Once they go too far, you bark at your men pursuing them to halt. You always had a good set of lungs, braying orders at your soldiers only strengthened them. Your voice is heard all over the battlefield, and your troops stop.
The rest of the battle rages on. Your troops have almost broken the enemy line in half, but if the "barbarian" commander, whoever he is, is smart, he'd flank your boxed in men in a heartbeat.
Turn 13: I thought this number was supposed to be unlucky...
The archers are no bother, not for now. It'll take them a while to get over the panic, and maybe about half as long to get over the shame of retreating without orders. Now is your opportunity.
With a very grandiose hand signal from you, your lieutenant orders his strike force to charge the rear of the enemy. They are too pre-occupied by fighting your main forces to notice the hammer that's about to pound them into oblivion.
Like bulls, your strike force charges right into the center of the enemy's formation, which has already been worn thin by the central attack of your main force. This charge literally splits the enemy army in half, and now you see the beginning of victory. The troops at the enemy's rear, they start retreating in the face if this new assault. If any of the "barbarians" actually stopped to think, they'd realize that the still have the advantage in numbers. Their retreating, and the panic ensues, seals their fate.
The enemy warriors still locked in desperate battle, unable to retreat, continue fighting, maybe to the death. And the archers may return soon. What shall you do?
Turn 14: And it's done
The enemy is almost completely broken. Only the truly loyal, or completely surrounded, fight on. Mustering all the strength in your lungs, you shout a demand for surrender.
"ENEMIES! LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS! SUBMIT TO MY RULE, AND YOU SHALL NOT DIE LIKE SAVAGES. SERVE ME, AND YOU SHALL HAVE GLORY BEYOND COMPARE!!!"
Well, probably not, but best not to mention that.
In a second, as the dust settles, you see the doubt in the eyes of the enemy, the ones that you can get a good look at. With a sharp bark, your own troops stop. You wait and see, anxiously, if the enemy will resume their attack. As you expected, the enemy throw down their arms. You have your soldiers escort them, to the slightly wounder High Recruiter. "I'll have them broken in within a month, my lord". You'd best hold him to that.
RESULTS:
173 of your men dead
580 of the enemy dead, 200 captured, 240 fled
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 514 heavy human infantry ( Status: Tired ), 200 hunters ( out hunting ), 4 honor guard, 5 lieutenants ( Spymaster, High Recruiter, etc )
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 200 adult males ( trainable ).
Holdings: 1 palisade ( at camp, 2 turns ), 1 ditch, 1 camp ( with spikes )
2600 rations ( that's gonna be a problem)
Turn 15: Lousy hunters
The broken and humbled warriors, whom you learn are called the Eostavi, are herded through your camp, placing their pathetic copper spears and rawhide shields in a pile. They are separated from the women, no need for the prisoners to mingle with each other, that's digging your own grave right there.
While you are busy with your lieutenants, you hear a din of footsteps heading your way. You are struck by an urge to quickly assemble your men, but relax when you see the armor of your own men. The hunters have returned, and much to your worry, they do not look happy.
After a few minutes, you are briefed on the situation. The hunters only managed to bag enough food to be broken down into 50 rations. Great. Apparently, luck was not on their side, and game was scarce. If they actually had any skill at shooting or tracking, perhaps that would have compensated, but alas, they did not.
What now?
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 514 heavy human infantry ( Status: warmed up ), 200 hunters, 4 honor guard, 5 lieutenants ( Spymaster, High Recruiter, etc )
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 200 adult males ( trainable ).
Holdings: 1 palisade ( at camp, 2 turns ), 1 ditch, 1 camp ( with spikes )
2650 rations ( that's gonna be a problem
Turn 16: Return of the
Jedi scouts
The food supply is dwindling like there's no tomorrow, and once it runs out, there really will be no future for you or your army. Talking to your High Recruiter, he barks at the slaves. All able bodied women and men, in small unarmed groups, will go and forage for food.
*5 hours later*
Waiting a bit impatiently, pacing across the hard earthen ground, you are glad to see the slave groups come back, and with what appears to be a good number of provisions. None of them died, or were even injured, which is a bit of a double edged sword.
Apparently, the slaves ( former tribesmen ) had often gathered berries and roots when game was scarce, and so they knew a lot of good spots. You feel rather annoyed by this, but you didn't bother to ask them, anyway, so it's your fault. Nonetheless, the slaves have carried as much as they could, gathering 1190 rations worth of edible plants. At least now you know that they know what they're doing.
While looking over the inventory list for general supplies, you hear cries coming from your men. Going to see what the commotion is, you find the scouts having FINALLY returned. Only 5 are left, the ones you sent east.
Questioning them, you learn that they found what appears to be a temple, made by the Rurikovan empire as a place to worship the current "God-King". It makes a promising target. Probably lightly defended, although you could be wrong, most likely there will be food and other valuables in it. But then the empire wouldn't take too kindly to an upstart massacring one of their holy temples...
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 519 heavy human infantry ( Status: warmed up ), 200 hunters, 4 honor guard, 5 lieutenants ( Spymaster, High Recruiter, etc )
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 200 adult males ( trainable ).
Holdings: 1 palisade ( at camp, 2 turns ), 1 ditch, 1 camp ( with spikes )
3840 rations
Turn 17: Debriefing throughout the ages
A new day dawns, and the food supply is running rather low again. Calling together the slave teams, you order them to go search for food. They can't claim that they don't know where any plants are, and if they lie, they will be punished.
After you brusquely send them off, you go over to your High Recruiter, who is already drilling the new "recruits". Those that are being difficult and obstinate are whipped, and those that do so for a second time are impaled on spikes, twice as long as a man. They're not so stupid as to incur your wrath twice, so the number of impaled miscreants remains disappointingly low.
All seems well, time to gather some information.
Entering a crude ( but spacious ) tent you erected for yourself and for the lieutenants, you find the scout, sitting as still as a stone on the floor, flanked on either side by your Spymaster and a rankless lieutenant. Time to begin the debriefing.
"Soldier, you know very well our situation. I need to know what lies to the east, other than the temple." You neglect to mention the fact that you can't attack it without incurring the wrath of the empire, which you can't face yet.
"On your expedition with your four other comrades, what did you see? Lakes, hills, any landmarks of note?"
"My lord, we did see a lake. It was far from the temple, no sign of human life nearby, sir. We gathered water plants there when our provisions wore thin."
"Is that all?"
"No sir, there was also a hill, made of solid rock, sir. Just slightly south of the lake."
"Good. You are dismissed". He bows, and leaves.
Going outside, you have another idea. Going to some of the recruits resting ( for just a minute ) you bark at him to tell you where large sources of game, fish, or anything else noteworthy are. The man's will is already eroded, he answers in a slightly hushed voice, that there is a lake, to the east. You are about to tell him that you already know that, but you are surprised when he tells you about the "Scale men" who live in the lake.
Pressing him further, you learn that a group of scaly looking men somehow live in the lake, coming out to trade with and raid the tribes nearby. According to this man, the scale men worship a nearby large mound made up of various stone, but with a high concentration of metal.
He must mean the hill.
You hear footsteps coming, and see the slave teams approaching. They have all come back, none are stupid enough to run when their families and friends are your slaves. They have brought a good supply of food, enough to sustain you for a day.
Food gathered: 2790
What to do now?
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 519 heavy human infantry ( Status: warmed up ), 200 hunters, 4 honor guard, 5 lieutenants ( Spymaster, High Recruiter, etc )
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 200 adult males ( trainable ).
Holdings: 1 palisade ( at camp, 2 turns ), 1 ditch, 1 camp ( with spikes )
4430 rations
Turn 18: They're like some weird reptilian mafia
The sun rises over your camp, which you have realized is sorely lacking in both defenses, and sustainability. Gathering the female slaves, and some unoccupied male slaves, you order them to begin work on fields. The ground isn't the best for planting, and no one really knows how to farm, but hopefully it'll work out for the best.
Without tools, the work is slow going, to say the least. But, there are a lot of strong slaves, in a few days, your camp will take its first steps to becoming some sort of stronghold.
No sense wasting time. Every aspiring commander knows that he must learn about his surroundings. Gathering four teams of, once again, five men with two days worth of rations, you order them to explore the four cardinal directions around you. They do not need to be reminded of the dangers of the forest, and of unwashed barbarians, but you do so anyway. As a side note to the group going east, you remind them of the scale men, and to be extra cautious. And with that, they set off, without any pomp or celebration.
Leaving only the outward guards to warn of any impending attack, you order the majority of your men to widen the pit. That saved your army's life during the battle, might as well make it more useful. The rest of your soldiers reinforce the palisade. It'll be done soon enough.
As you lay down to rest in your tent, going over your supplies, a soldier runs in, telling of a scuffle to the east. You rush outside, and immediately a putrid smell assaults your nostrils. Your troops are bringing in some men, four of them to be exact. You bark at a soldier for a situation report.
The agitated ( that's not a good sign ) soldier tells of how some reptilian bandits assaulted the outlying guards while they were rotating shifts. The men actually killed one of the scaled men, the rest fled. The soldiers only received cuts from the enemy's knives, but as it turns out, the knives were poisoned. The men died within minutes, just from cuts.
You ask if there was anything else. Well, the soldier says, the scaled men left...a package. He gestures to it, and when you take a look, you are shocked to see the mutilated remains of the scouts you sent east.
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 495 heavy human infantry ( Status: normal, 15 scouts away ), 200 hunters, 4 honor guard, 5 lieutenants ( Spymaster, High Recruiter, etc )
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 200 adult males ( trainable ).
Holdings: 1 palisade ( at camp, reinforce in 2 turns ), 1 ditch ( reinforce in 2 turns, 1 camp ( with spikes ), furrows ( 2 turns )
2230 rations
Turn 19: Adventure time
You just stand there, almost frozen, in mute rage. Your soldiers stand around, wondering what you're thinking. Abruptly, you strut to the center of the camp. Everyone, including the slaves, instinctively gathers around you.
Taking a deep breath, you speak.
"These scaly bastards have chosen their fate. They have chosen death over survival, by killing these men. If they want to meet the cold embrace of death so soon, I shall gladly oblige them."
A tad cliche, but hey, none of these people can read or string together that many sentences, so who cares.
"I want 300 soldiers and 100 archers ready to march at the crack of dawn. Slaves, bury my men in the fields." You can sense that the last order shakes them up a bit, but you don't care.
"Any who disobey me shall be killed and turned into mulch with them". A discreet glance at the body of slaves gets the message across.
The camp sleeps, the slaves fearfully, the soldiers indifferently. You are thoughtful, at your most dangerous, in a sense. The reptiles can kill with just scratches of knives. You must be vigilant and cunning if you are to crush them.
*6 hours later*
You wake, just as the sun is peaking out, and you smile ever so slightly when you see your attack force already up and prepared for march. The lizards won't know what will hit them.
Before you depart, you order your Spymaster and High Recruiter to work together in order to keep the camp safe. It will be more vulnerable than ever, so they'd better be careful. They'll hopefully be able to gather enough food and train enough recruits to be okay until you get back.
Breathing the cold forest air, you march at the head of your vanguard. The lizardmen will pay.
STATUS
Name: Thauldar the Mighty
Age: 26
Gender:Male
Equipment: Iron Sword, Hide shield, Leather ornate armor, Steel helmet.
Army: 195 heavy human infantry ( Status: normal, 15 scouts away ), 100 hunters, 4 honor guard, 5 lieutenants ( Spymaster, High Recruiter, etc )
Vanguard: 300 heavy human infantry ( status: pumped ), 100 hunters ( status: pumped ).
Other: 1570 women slaves, 20 rebellious adolescent males, 200 adult males ( trainable ).
Holdings: 1 palisade ( at camp, reinforce in 1 turns ), 1 ditch ( reinforce in 2 turns, 1 camp ( with spikes ), furrows ( 2 turns )
30 rations ( -2200 per turn without food gathering )
More updates to come.
Author
Topic: Warlord: Tserkovian Chronicles - Jump in Whenever You Want (Read 17868 times)