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[Urist McDwarfFortress]

Didn't Sir Lope say something about Owen firing a bunch of the old guards? Or maybe just demoting them? Anyway, I think these guys would be prime recruits for our takeover. They're trained soldiers and presumably well-respected in the city, we need should send Lope out to get as many of them as possible on our side.

I agree that we need to secure the armory as soon as possible, but I think we also need to secure the rest of the city, especially the gatehouses, if we control the walls of the town, we'll leave Owen trapped in the keep or his manor house with no way of contacting any allies he may have. If we just stick to the gatehouse all night, chances are someone will notice and raise the alarm, and then we'll have a fight on our hands!

[Gervassen]

I daresay there are disaffected members of the old regime on all levels. To a certain extent, we need to simply provide Uriel and Arthur an armed escort to the places and people which Uriel probably knows much better than we do at this point.

Taking other gatehouses is a good idea, but without garrisoning our own men and diluting us too far, so we can hit those while doing the rounds with our small escort to other places. I just want be absolutely certain of the one gatehouse on the Feroshire road, in order to ensure an escape option if our plot fizzles. The city is tucked inside a river bend, so the number of gates is probably limited. With the additional twist of there being a large dockside to secure. Perhaps a good use for the Rat's thugs.

As for fortifying inside the armoury, it may be attacked during the night by whatever forces the panicked loyalists can muster, but I think that dislodging an armed forced from the armoury would take some doing. Our men need to sleep like other people, so we can't all be moving all night. Even our leaders ought to be back to the safety of the armoury for a bit of sleep. The morning will be action-packed.

[GreatWyrmGold]

We definitely need priorities.

Priority 1: Gather support. Let Uriel get his soldiers on his side, find the laid-off guardsmen, don't act like an invading army, etc.
Priority 2: Prevent Owen from getting support. Possibly by keeping him in his house, possibly by getting the messengers on our side or something, possibly by getting this over with before he can think of who to send for (if anyone).
Priority 3: I'm not sure. Ideas?

[Gervassen]

The third priority is an unforgiving one that has broken many an army. Logistics. Our men are not robots and need a fortified place to sleep tonight. If this is the armoury, fine, or the townhall, fine.

[Urist McDwarfFortress]

Our men need to sleep like other people, so we can't all be moving all night. Even our leaders ought to be back to the safety of the armoury for a bit of sleep. The morning will be action-packed.

If we secure the town well enough tonight, maybe they can all sleep easy in the morning.

[Gervassen]

And if the town isn't secure enough? What do you do with worthless men that you've run into the ground? Most of our troops have no purpose in recruiting others. They're here to be the hard bits in the mob that we arrange.

[Origami_Psycho]

And if the town isn't secure enough? What do you do with worthless men that you've run into the ground? Most of our troops have no purpose in recruiting others. They're here to be the hard bits in the mob that we arrange.

Exactly.  They are the anvil against which our mob smashes, with the metal being the counts forces.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Alright.

So...
1. Gather support.
2. Prevent Owen's support.
3. Care for the man.
Correct?

[Gervassen]

Sounds right. Unless the Owen has unwisely taken residence outside the keep, in which case, I suppose we do a smash and grab operation first thing.

[Origami_Psycho]

Also he trounced us last time we fought, and that was when we weren't injured.  We ought to keep a fair sized guard on hand at all times.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Aye, aye. Avoid fair fights almost as much as we avoid looking like we're avoiding fair fights.

[Maldevious]

With the gatehouse secure, you begin to make your moves. You send out for Oswald and the Rangers, who take up the defense of the gatehouse with the town's guards. You touch base with Sir Lope as a rider goes to fetch them, laying out your plans.

Your first question is where Owen has been residing, which unfortunately has been the keep. Your first bad break, but you have contingencies planned. You ask him about the town's main armory, but you are informed that it is also located in the keep. You curse the run of bad luck you seem to be encountering, but you are committed to action at this point.

Knowing that the town is much too large to totally secure given the size of your force, you ride out with Luther, Arthur, and Lope towards the main barracks in the city. You leave orders to bring the rest of the men into the gatehouse and get some sleep in shifts. Lope leads the way, and quickly gets your group in front of the Captain of the Guard. The man seems to have been expecting something along these lines, and quickly pledges to support the Marshall in this endeavor.

You go to the mayor's house. Lope tells you that the man has been getting paid handsomely for his cooperation by Owen, and expects a difficult situation to unfold. Arthur offers to speak to the man himself, and you wait impatiently outside for what seems like half an hour. When Arthur emerges, he tells you that the mayor has reluctantly agreed not to interfere or raise an alarm. You have to consider this a victory.

Around this time, well before dawn, you hear a horn sounding from the keep. It appears that your actions have been noticed. What now? Do you march on the keep, or wait for first light? Owen could hole himself up tightly, or possibly escape through one of the other gates or the harbor.

[Gervassen]

Fair enough about the armoury. Makes sense.

The keep is not something that you can just bum rush without a method. Let's catch some sleep in the guard barracks. Being among them is good for their morale. They can get a long look at whom they're fighting for. Short speech on accustomed themes before the nap.

All of our forces are secure now, and I'm mildly in favor of allowing him to escape and stoke suspicions about his claim and his guilt in the murder. If he holes up, we have ways of making him regret that.

The siege engineers and carpenters that we brought along can be awoken near dawn and told to construct mantlets with arrow loops for advancing under bowfire from the keep. Tear apart some wagons, and take planks off wooden houses. There is nothing being done from scratch here. We also need a welsh cat, or steeply angled mobile roof for the soldiers that will be advancing on the gate. If the trusses on this construction are sturdy enough to support the weight of a battering ram swung on ropes, then so much the better. The battering ram needn't be fancy. It's a wooden pole.

At first light, we send the mayor as a go-between to offer our terms. We can meditate on what those are. I would say renunciation of his acting status as Count, quitting the castle and disarming any men-at-arms to await arbitration of the competing claims, and cooperation with an inquest into Count Foles' murder.

When he rejects, things can turn interesting, I suppose.

[kahn1234]

Fair enough about the armoury. Makes sense.

The keep is not something that you can just bum rush without a method. Let's catch some sleep in the guard barracks. Being among them is good for their morale. They can get a long look at whom they're fighting for. Short speech on accustomed themes before the nap.

All of our forces are secure now, and I'm mildly in favor of allowing him to escape and stoke suspicions about his claim and his guilt in the murder. If he holes up, we have ways of making him regret that.

The siege engineers and carpenters that we brought along can be awoken near dawn and told to construct mantlets with arrow loops for advancing under bowfire from the keep. Tear apart some wagons, and take planks off wooden houses. There is nothing being done from scratch here. We also need a welsh cat, or steeply angled mobile roof for the soldiers that will be advancing on the gate. If the trusses on this construction are sturdy enough to support the weight of a battering ram swung on ropes, then so much the better. The battering ram needn't be fancy. It's a wooden pole.

At first light, we send the mayor as a go-between to offer our terms. We can meditate on what those are. I would say renunciation of his acting status as Count, quitting the castle and disarming any men-at-arms to await arbitration of the competing claims, and cooperation with an inquest into Count Foles' murder.

When he rejects, things can turn interesting, I suppose.

I second this.

Although i think we should have sent a small contingent to take the gatehouse of the keep first, to make sure we can gain entry easier. Although they might have been attacked by any troops loyal to Owen.....

[Gervassen]

I'm not sure we could have been as persuasive at the keep's gates, but yeah, had it gone off well, probably fewer casualties would ultimately accumulate. Fortunately, we can make sure the casualties are low among the troops that really count.

If fighting begins during the next update, our priority is conserving veteran retinue troops. Let's blood the regular archers in real battle first; make use of the ranged abilities of the town guards; and as for who can the crew the ram, it seems to me that the city militia may not have access to their weapons in the armoury, but weapons just get in the way of heaving a ram, so that's not a big deal! We go down to the town square in the morning after the parley, ring the bells, announce the criminal scofflaw Owen has refused to disarm and cooperate with a murder investigation and we are calling the militia to bring him to justice in what is clearly almost an admission of guilt. Then off to the ram the militiamen go.