The enemy's tower looms on the edge of the mountains, it's influence reaching just into our desert sands. The ominous ivory tower betrays the enemy's intention to make another foray into our homelands. Our men prepare defenses.
Otherwise, nothing interesting happens in the mountains this year.
No battles occur in the mountains.A row of Moskurg forts stare silently across at a row of Arstotzkan forts, sitting on both the edge of the plains and tangia respectively. Our men complain of wet weather, leaky boots, and mediocre rations. The year goes by quietly.
No battles occur in the plains.Fireballs streak through undergrowth at soldiers charging through wet, dense undergrowth. Explosions rock the trees, and enemy longbows rip through leaves with deadly force. Our men run screaming into battle, hacking and slashing with a wild frenzy as our calvary thunders through the trees into enemy positions. Arstotzka returns the favor with arrows of their own - far more than what we're used to. Rain pours, pours, and pours - for the first time in memory, the weather doesn't let up. For the entire year thunder booms overhead and lightning arcs downward at random. The jungle is marred with dead, splintered, burning trees from the incessant bolts of plasma that come streaking towards the ground. Storm Strike is easier to cast now, and we make good use of it. Our men stay relatively dry, but Arstotzkans are bathed all year long. The rain makes maintaining equipment difficult for the enemy - steel rusts, boots fill with water, and men sink up to their knees in mud. The Hammer of Allah smites the enemy with alarming frequency, though the jungle isn't the ideal place for its use. We succeed in most of our skirmishes, but the more frequent use of enemy fireballs means battles are more or less even. Our skirmishers have noticed that attempting to read theatre commanders minds results in them raising the alarm, so have instead simply begun lulling enemy guards into a state of zen before charging into enemy positions to wreck havoc. Enemy caltrops do their job, but we've learned to travel single-file. This seems to mitigate loses, but it's not great. By the end of the year, the jungle is filled with blasted trees and corpses. We outnumber the Arstotzkans here, and that's our only saving grace - that, and our hero wizard al-Mutriqa. Arstotzka does better in melee's, generally.
The fighting is bloody; both sides lose several companies in the viscous combat. The bloodiest part comes after the battles, though.
The Arstotzkans decline to ransom back troops who surrender. Dread fills the stomach of every man who wears the banner of Moskurg.
Neither side gains ground in the jungle.We have great success in skirmishes prior to battles in the desert. We hit enemy positions nearly every night, and by the time the battles occur their men are tired and angry. They win one battle initially and score a good number of prisoners, but the following fights go in our favor. We push them back to the mountains, stopping just outside of range of archers standing atop their Tower of Frost. We capture a number of enemy soldiers during the battle, and as usual we disarm them before sending them back to their side. We wait for the ransom demand for our captured troops from Arstotzka, but none comes.
Up above, at the top of the Tower of Frost, we see them.
They hang every last one of them from the parapets of the Tower. Myark personally kicks the last soldier from the stony heights. They hang there for the rest of the year where all can see them.
Moskurg repels Arstotzka from the desert.The seas are a game of cat-and-mouse. We threaten their ports whenever we sail, but are forced to flee whenever Arstotzkans threaten boarding or ramming action. Battles are all fleeting skirmishes with no clear winner.
Neither side makes coastal gains in the Western Sea.It is 922, the Design Phase.Northern Taiga: 4/4 Arstotzka
Central Mountains: 4/4 Arstotzka
Western Jungle: 1/4 Arstotzka, 3/4 Moskurg
Eastern Plains: 4/4 Moskurg
Southern Desert: 4/4 Moskurg
Northern Sea: Arstotzkan
Western Sea: Disputed
Eastern Sea: Moskurger
Southern Sea: Moskurger
Mundane Equipment
Sabre: Officer weapon. A single-edged blade that favours cavalry combat over infantry combat. Requires training to wield, one-handed. Expensive.
Spear: General infantry weapon. Essentially a dagger on a long stick. Very cheap, requires minimal training to use. Can be used double-handed, or single handed with a light shield. Cheap.
Buckler: General infantry equipment. A small iron shield, held in one hand. Only protects a small area, but can be wielded alongside a shield. Moderate cost, requires training to wield properly.
Padded Armour: General infantry armour. Very cheap, just layers of cloth, but doesn't protect against much. Well ventilated in hot conditions, though. Cheap.
Scale Mail: Officer armour. Scales of steel on a leather backing. Expensive, but lighter than chain mail. Expensive.
Recurve Bow: General infantry weapon. A light bow composed of laminated wood and horn, curved backwards to provide more force. Inexpensive enough to equip many troops with, with very reasonable medium range and power. Can be wielded by horse archers. Tendency to break limbs when strung.
Arabian Horse: A light riding horse, from short-lived Iberian settlers in the past. Very fast and maneuverable, but not too strong. Expensive.
Horse Breeding Program: Mass amounts of horses available. Tend to do poorly in the desert, and aren't quite as high quality as the Arabian Horses. Cheap.
Lances:[/i] Essentially a heavily upgraded spear. Has a tendency to splinter after the first use. Cheap.
Sailing Ship: Wind-propelled wooden ship. Fast, requires minimal crew, cannot carry many passengers, but does carry at least one wizard - so long as they don't make puns. Very Expensive.
Magical Equipment
Wand of Heroism: Makes a squad fight beyond human levels. A National Effort.
Detect Ambush: Reveals non-magical ambushes prepared by enemy troops or physical traps.
Lucky Strike: Magical guidance makes a squad shoot or strike true far more often than usual. Expensive.
Detect Thoughts: Read the mind of an enemy commander to determine their tactics ahead of time. Expensive.
Zen Inception: By putting enemy soldiers in a zen-like state, we can use their minds as a relay system to read minds further away. The spell is easy to disrupt, but simple to use.
Teletalk: Short-ranged psychic communication between mystics. Enough beacons can be produced to outfit an army. Expensive.
Gust of Wind: Evokes physical force to create a heavy gust of wind, sufficient to disperse fog and most minor concealment, as well as disperse irritating swarms. Expensive.
Cyclone Shield: Protects the beneficent from most arrows and some blows with a sheath of wind. Expensive.
Storm Strike: Summons heavy rain and winds over the course of a day. Expensive.
Clear Weather: Negates inclement weather within the given area. Nests within Storm Strike for protection.
Hammer of Allah: Induce lightning from summoned storms. Strikes indiscriminately, so can't be used in "danger close" situations.
Spear of Allah: Call down an individual bolt of lightning to target enemy commanders. Difficult to control, has a tendency to hit the caster as often as not. Our mages refuse to use it.
Author
Topic: Wands Race - [Moskurg] {COMPLETED} (Read 204076 times)