Combat for 926While neither side developed any new defensive tools to help against skirmishes, this year saw Arstotzka develop a frightening new weapon. Arstotzkan soldiers shed their noisy armor to creep close in the night, targeting our mages. They fire only a single salvo before retreating, but when our mages scramble to raise Cyclone Shields to defend themselves the spent arrows suddenly - and violently - explode. Being unarmored in the middle of the night means the resulting shrapnel leaves lacerations in everyone nearby. Several mages are blinded, and in the confusion the Arstotzkan raiders slip away. The shards are super-heated and cause minor fires where they land, all of which our men scramble to put out. This happens once more before our mages learn not to cast whenever these raiders attack, as the arrow explosives trigger on contact with magic. Curiously enough, the Staff doesn't cause the arrows to explode.
Both sides do massive damage during nightly raids, with Arstotzka coming out slightly ahead.
The melees have likewise increased in lethality. Our Theatre Commander quickly realizes that our new ballista's massive range can be used with Lucky Strike to accurately snipe enemy commanders and mages from far away. We manage to stake a considerable number of Arstotzkan commanders and mages to the ground before our ballistas either break or must be retired for repairs. It's delicious retribution to see a two meter shaft of wood punch through solid plate.
At medium range, however, the battle turns against us. Our arrows are still utterly useless against Arstotzkan plate and gambeson, and they've also deployed a newer fireball spell that hits with devestating effect. It's as if every enemy mage were equipped with their original fireball spell, and each blast wipes out squads at a time. They have fewer mages here due to our earlier ballista sniping, but they're still working to devestating effect. Our mages can't even cast Gust of Wind or Lucky Strike as their snipers are continuing to use their explosive arrows against us. They blast small holes in our pavise shields, and our mages are forced to stop casting and hunker down lest their cover be blown to shreds.
Things grow more even in pitched melee, at least - our new halberds are effective at punching through Arstotzkan plate armor. A single soldier is almost evenly matched with an Arstotzkan soldier, and our larger numbers
would turn the tide in our favor, but the Arstotzkans make effective use of their flame walls to channel our troops into killing zones. This, combined with how we can only use the Hammer half the year, means we come out worse for wear. Considering how we were on the back foot last turn, we are ultimately forced to retreat and cede our last section of jungle to the enemy.
Our Theatre Commander is frustrated. The ballista was a good idea, and the halberds were much needed, but Arstotzka has time and time again forced our mages to be a non-factor. If we can fix the ballista and produce more of them then we could kill their mages before they even got on the field and show them just how frustrating it is to be without magic. If we could equip our main army with pavise shields or better armor, we could march up the mountains next year and take back our ancient castles. Their explosive arrows are also a concern - we need to do something about them before they become a bigger problem. Perhaps the Staff could be modified to allow our own magic, letting us to cast in the field without fear of exploding arrows?
Arstotzka gains the jungle. If they hold it next year, they may exploit it for resources.Our ballista prove to be effective on the sea. We mount three aboard our finest ships, and use them to great effect until they eventually break. It can be difficult to get a shot off when the boat is rocking, but by using Lucky Strike in tandem with the ballista our strikes land true more often than not. The ballistas range and our ships speed is our saving grace; their new fireballs dominate close range, but if we stay at a distance we can chip them to death.
We manage to sink a couple of their ships before the last ballista snaps violently, killing one of the engineers and two nearby sailors. With our advantage gone, we are forced to pull back. It wasn't enough to take a section of coast, but another year like this and we can push them back.
The Theatre Commander is relieved to finally have a tool he can use offensively. If you can fix the issues with the ballista, then we will secure the seas easily next year.
Neither side makes coastal gains in the Western Sea.Expense Credit: As it turns out, Ma Tuan-lin has a knack for magic. We demonstrate the Gust of Wind wand to him, and after some practice he is giggling like a child as he sends leaves swirling through the air. He eagerly buys as many as he can, giving us enough to earn one Expense Credit. We also try to sell him our teletalk wands, but he reluctantly declines. The other treasures aboard his ship are from earlier trades in the southern seas and are already spoken for, apparently. He and his crew pack up and sail away, waving happily to our men as they disappear over the horizon.
Moskurg has gained an Expense Credit.It is 927, the Design Phase.Northern Taiga: 4/4 Arstotzka
Central Mountains: 4/4 Arstotzka
Western Jungle: 4/4 Arstotzka, 0/4 Moskurg
Eastern Plains: 4/4 Moskurg
Southern Desert: 4/4 Moskurg
Northern Sea: Arstotzkan
Western Sea: Disputed
Eastern Sea: Moskurger
Southern Sea: Moskurger
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.
Halberd: An axe, a hook, and a spear all rolled into one. Does well against armor and in formation. 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. Cheap.
Pavise Shield: A large, thick, high-quality shield to guard against arrows. Can be staked into the ground, or slung across the shoulders. Needs both hands to use while on the move. Very Expensive.
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. Obsolete.
Lamellar Armor: General infantry armour. Worn over padded armor. Thin plates of steel sewn together with string. Is comparable to Scale Mail, but easier to make and maintain. Cheap.
Elite Lamellar Armor: Officer armour. Worn over padded armor. Thin plates of steel sewn together with leather thongs. High quality, decent protection against arrows and melee attacks. 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.
Bodkin Arrows: Arrows with needle points. Can reliably penetrate plate armor at point blank range. Can penetrate less reliably further away.
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: 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.
Ballista: Large siege weapon. Can fire javalins or stone shot great distances accurately. Has a tendency to break and kill the operating engineers. Can be mounted on ships. Requires set up to use. Very Expensive.
Wand of Heroism: Makes a squad fight beyond human levels. A National Effort.
Teletalk: Short-ranged psychic communication between mystics. Enough beacons can be produced to outfit an army. Expensive.
Staff of Tubikh Rrahim: Area-of-affect spell centered around the caster. Prevents all magic from being cast within a short range. Spell contained within a staff of ivory. Expensive.
Dispell Enchantments: Dispells enchantments on items, including standard crystal weapons. Expensive.
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.
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.
Tubikh Rrahim: Area-of-affect spell centered around the caster. Prevents all magic from being cast within a short range. Cheap.
Dispell Enchantments: Dispells enchantments on items, including standard crystal weapons. Expensive.
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Topic: Wands Race - [Moskurg] {COMPLETED} (Read 203890 times)