The Spear of Allah goes relatively unused this year, as all but the most foolhardy mages are too nervous to draw the ire of the storm on themselves. Only a couple dare to try it, one managing to successfully call down a bolt onto an enemy commander sitting atop his horse. The other, unfortunately, manages to fry himself after trying to reign in a too-powerful blast. No other wizard attempts the spell afterwards.
The lack of a concrete advantage this turn means our assault on the mountains is turned away with laughable ease. Commanders only send a few forays into the stony heights before pulling back. The men who return are weary, and sick of their failed attempts to take back the castles that dot the landscape high above. Things continue to remain unchanged in the mountains, but at least the Arstotzkans seem content to stay there rather than march onto our home sand.
Arstotzka maintains control of the Mountains.The plains are our forte, however. Our highly maneuverable and plentiful calvary excel in the wide-open spaces. Oddly enough, though, our skirmishes have become less effective - our horses have begun tripping in the dark as they harass enemy positions. It's as though the grass itself was stabbing at their hooves. Though our skirmishes have been less successful, our defense of the plains has been as solid as ever. Coordinated assaults, precisely timed calvary charges, and a withering hail of arrows has kept the enemy at bay for yet another year. Oddly, though, our men have noticed Arstotzkan apprentices have begun appearing in melee combat. They aren't very resistant to arrows, but they do spout mist - typically only seen in skirmishes.
Regardless of the northerner's throwing their valuable apprentices into combat, we turn them away once more back into the cold forests from whence they came.
Moskurg maintains control of the plains.The fighting in the jungle has ground to a halt. Even with Myark gone, combat has remained as viscious as ever. We've been failing skirmish after skirmish as our horses stumble during assaults - of every skirmish we attempted, only one was successful. Everyone suspects Arstotzkan trickery, but noone is
quite sure what the nature of it is. Our assaults during the day suffer without the success of our nightly skirmishes, and we are forced to retreat as heavily armored Arstotzkans fight at full force. Even our calvary can't help - the dense jungle makes things tricky to begin with, and every time an Arstotzkan apprentice does a hand signal that doesn't result in fog another one of our horses trip. Our horse riders claim the two are related, but it's difficult to separate coincidence from correlation in the dense, rainy jungle.
The bright side is that the Arstotzkan's are piss-poor at skirmishing to begin with. Their skirmishes uniformly result in failure, and their assaults never make it far. They too are forced to retreat rather than press any of their assaults. Neither side manages to gain prisoners this year, as combat seems limited to probing assaults and failed nightly raids.
Neither side gains ground in the jungle.The combat at sea isn't as drastic as we would have liked, but a change is very noticeable. Weather magic makes life at sea more tolerable, which is nice, and gives us a wind advantage in combat, which is even nicer. It's difficult to use wind against Arstotzkan ships as they use rows for locomotion, but our increased speed and the ability to make the seas roil or calm at our command gives us a definite edge. We sink two of their fleets in the western sea, scoop up the sailors, and return them back to dry land. In the eastern sea we lose a fleet in an ambush, but those filthy Arstotzkans seemed content to let them drown. There's a sense of justice as we push up the western coast, securing one more section of the coast.
Moskurg gains territory in the Western Sea.We've had few casualties this year - most of which came from the sea as the combat there increased in intensity. With our land forces still at full capacity, our Sultan orders more boats constructed for naval combat.
It is 918, 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: Disputed
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 manoevrable, 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. Very Expensive.
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 concealments, as well as disperse irritating swarms. Expensive.
Cyclone Shield: Protects the beneficient 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. Very 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.
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Topic: Wands Race - [Moskurg] {COMPLETED} (Read 203860 times)