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[NUKE9.13]

It IS alright. But let's assume the WORST. You can never be disappointed if you assume the worst. So, what do you think? Combine the two ideas? Or are we going to try something different? I can't read minds, certainly not over the internet. Is the final vote for JUST the gale stone, or can we start we the flaming pottery and THEN make it explode into winds?

I mean, a one is a one is a one. No matter what we design, a one isn't going to lead to anything that works. Unless we get a +1 for designing something real simple/something we already have experience designing.
Magic can backfire, but so can mundane things. Your flaming pottery might burst too quickly, setting fire to the ballista. It might be a really weak fire that is easy to put out. It's all up to the dice.

That being said, if the vote is still tied when evictedSaint wants to start rolling, I wouldn't mind supporting flaming projectiles. Like I've said, I think both options are roughly equal. (Bolded so eS notices it)


Regarding the revision credit, well, we can wait until we've seen the results of our design/revision before finalising our decision, but my tentative proposal is to send:
-One unit of our army. This will impact our fighting ability, but we could really use that revision credit.
-A herd of our (cheap) horses. We have enough to spare- they aren't having as big an impact on combat in the jungle.
-A bunch of our (cheap) recurve bows. Again, we have enough to spare- their armour makes them almost useless.
-Veteran horse-archers who can teach the locals how they too can become horse-archers.

[Madman198237]

Then I rescind my earlier offer of switching votes, since if you're willing to switch votes, but I'm willing to switch votes, we end up at a dead tie. Again.

Good job, my friend. We've succeeded in being so chivalrous as to metaphorically shoot ourselves in our metaphorical feet with metaphorical exploding ballistae bolts. Bonus points to morale, eS?

I forgot to mention---the three ships I'd like to send, ONE should be armed with a ballistae of the newest type, sporting the newest equipment. But if the new bolts end up being A National Effort or something silly like that, don't send any. And yes, we assume that our guys will be used in an advisory capacity. Training a couple of mages and some horse archers over there ought to work fine. But they want immediately useful army guys. So send cavalry---it's the desert we're sending them to. So make them cavalry, horse archers mostly, supported by some lancers and a unit of the Black Phantasms---just a couple of them. Three ships' worth is a tremendous fighting force, and they're backed up with the ships themselves. Should be perfect. We want overwhelming power to send, regardless of what it *might* do to our war effort. We can take the losses-they'll return, or they won't. That revision credit, though, it'll be excellent. Exactly what we need to pull further ahead next turn.

[Devastator]

My thoughts on sending troops is we can probably send a good number of cavalry, as they aren't super important in the current environment, and if their opponents aren't as heavily armoured as Arstotzkans are, they'll still be effective.  We could probably also spare the general on the plains, or some officers from there..we haven't been fighting on the plains for some time, and don't have any immediate plans to invade the tundra, and those officers would probably be the most experienced with our cavalry.  Sending one ballista and one lucky-strike mage would probably also be prudent, it'll make a hell of an impression on our employers, while not being too costly, especially if we revise the ballistas to be cheaper this turn.

(Now that they're not blowing up, we can probably speed up the training of crews because we have surviving veterans to train the newbies.)

[Madman198237]

That's the thing----they don't, probably anyway, need officers or generals. We send the mages and members of the Black Phantasms, and we're set. They're basically officers, capable of commanding our troops sent in whatever necessary. Besides, once they're in-theater, they'll certainly be winning---the place they're going to PROBABLY, from what it sounds like, does not have any magic at all. We seem to be an isolated island of magic. Pun intended (Since we're on an island...with magic.....hahahaha).

Remember where they're coming from: THE DESERT. We rule the desert. The Arstotzkans can't take the heat. They don't have horse archers/cavalry to spare. We do. So, send JUST cavalry. They'll be effective all over the place in the desert. So point out the Arstotzkans' inability to fight in the desert, and point out our homeland being very much desert-y.

Oh, and please casually inquire after their religion. It'd be fairly instant-win if we shared a religion with them. But don't point it out unless they DO share it xD

[Devastator]

You always need officers, and even if you don't need brilliant ones, it'll be good experience for those who are there.  They get to see a different kind of warfare, and keep from getting lazy.  But yeah, our desert horses haven't had to fight in a desert for some time now.  I think all we need for infantry is enough to cover the ballista and a few for camp guards, but it'll show off what we have available.

[Madman198237]

That's the thing: What a cavalryman at night?
An infantryman.

Maybe not as skilled, or equipped with halberds, but that's not too much of an issue. The ships come with crew for the one ballista. Heck, the ships should also come with their marines as well, giving us a small infantry force. Don't forget, we shouldn't be fighting on our own. These guys should have an army of their own. So I leave my vote with this:


4 al-Mutriq's guards (Black Phantasms, I believe)
2 Mages and their apprentices
Three ships, with one ship armed with a ballista that can be dismounted if necessary
Fill the remainder of space onboard the ships with:
Some horse archers (As many as will fit) and
A squad or so of lancers.

[Devastator]

I think our archmage is in the field, so I'd rather not take away his bodyguard.  Lets send cavalry officers to command the cavalry units we're sending, we'll have a few from the plains where we aren't attacking from anyway.  Sounds good otherwise.

[Madman198237]

We're not. I'm assuming he's guarded by, from the reports, something like a company of 60-90 cavalrymen. Probably around 60. 4 is intimidating, and plenty deadly for any and all situation. After all, there's the unit he's riding with at any given moment, the reserves, off-shifts, and trainees.

[evictedSaint]

Based on what I'm reading, it seems like Gale-Stones are winning?  Is that correct?

[Madman198237]

They are, but I'm really hoping that when the others read and reply, they'll be open to a change, since my proposal encompasses both and doesn't run the risk of being nullified by counter-magic.

WAIT: Does the Turikh whatever spell/staff/whatsis nullify our own enchantments?

[evictedSaint]

The Staff has never dispelled the enchantment on a wand before, although that's never been a goal.  Crystal weaponry seems like something else other than an enchanted item.

[Devastator]

They are, but I'm really hoping that when the others read and reply, they'll be open to a change, since my proposal encompasses both and doesn't run the risk of being nullified by counter-magic.

Mostly I want that because we do have wind spells, but we don't have incendiaries, so incendiaries seem like they'd be a bit harder .  And we've got gale shield for localized wind spells that spin, so it seems easier.  I'm also pretty sure that a localized waterspout would be just as good, if not better at sinking ships.

[Happerry]

I'd still like to invent Ballista Bolts that act as lightning rods, calling down the thunder on themselves, sometimes. But Gale Stones should be fun too.

[evictedSaint]

Design: Gale Stones [1, 6+1-1, 6+1-1]

Well...they're cheap.

Gale Stones are just enchanted rocks, so they're not hard to come by.  Since we have a very thorough understanding of how wind works, we're able to enchant them despite having done very little mundane enchantment before.

The problem is...well.  They're just rocks.

They have wind stored in them, we know that for sure.  The problem is that it doesn't do much.  We were hoping that upon impacting the ground the stored wind energy would tear the stones apart, sending rock shrapnel in every direction in a deadly hail-storm of death.  Instead they hit the ground and...fart.

This is extraordinarily confusing for our Researcher Priests.  We thought we'd fixed that problem a long time ago, but it's very audible and there's no mistaking it.  The wind energy is simply expelled from the rock upon landing and it goes back to being a rock.

On the bright side, we have a slightly better understanding of enchanting mundane things now.  Cheap.

[Devastator]

Welp.

Oh well.

Standardized Ballista Training Put more ballistae on the field by using our veterans to help train more recruits.  Also, with a year of experience making the parts for the more effective ballistas, the following batches should come more quickly than the previous ones.

Revisions
Standardized Ballista Training: (1) Devastator

Also..

Orders
Attack in the Mountains as well as the Jungles.  (1) Devastator.