The mountains see another half-hearted poke from Moskurg. To the men deployed there it's a bit of a disappointment; battles consist of raining arrows down on troops who scurry back down the slopes as soon as the fighting breaks out. Our officers, eager to try out their new axes made of shining crystal, grumble at how the cowards can't even make it up to the gates. Boredom is the name of the game here, and our men are winning.
Arstotzka maintains control of the Mountains.The plains are a disaster, as they'd been last year, and the year before, and the year before. Our men march forth in steel suits of armor, only for their calvary to crash into our lines with devastating effect. Even worse, our guards have grown complacent with the crystal caltrops that surround our encampments at night! More than once we've caught filthy Moskurgs lurking just outside our camps and raised the alarm. When questioned as to
how they got so close without anyone noticing, the guardsmen standing watch are unable to answer. Clearly they were asleep at their posts, but after executing the first few offenders for dereliction of duty our commanders have had to stop - it seems to be a chronic problem with our men that no amount of discipline can fix. Complacency is a disease we must excise from our men, let future battles go just as poorly. Our soldiers are stronger and better equipped than Moskurg, but the desert snakes are such cowards that they'll retreat just before we can spring a trap, or charge when we're at our weakest. It's infuriating, and our Theatre Commander screams himself into a drunken rage each time we are forced to march back home. We lose one unit in the plains during a route, but they are returned to us as usual through Moskurg chivalry.
There is dissent talk among our men - they are frustrated with trying to take back the plains, and sick of losing so many with each failed push.
Moskurg maintains control of the plains.The fighting in the jungle has slowly started to progress against us as well. Again, our men grow complacent and fail to notice when Moskurg ambushers creep into our camp at night - they instead doze off, or daydream. If anything, the screams of Moskurg ambushers who step on caltrops are better guards than our men. The battles during the day go just as poorly. When they can get close our officers hack through swaths of men with their crystal razor axes, but in the jungle that's difficult to do. We're pushed back bit by bit, until we're hanging onto the very edge of the jungle. Compound bows, storms, and bolts of lightning are hell in the dense foliage - and without Myark to make up the difference, we can only just hang on. Another year like this and we'll be pushed back out entirely. Fancy axes are great, but they don't do enough.
We capture several Moskurgs during one of their night raids, but lose more during the day. Trades and chivalry see us both replenished to full strength.
Neither side gains ground in the jungle.Myark, ever the patriot, doesn't complain when he's sent to the seas to fight. His presence does much to embolden our men, and despite their control of the weather we manage to halt their progress. The seas are fought to a stalemate, and both sides lose a fleet in the bloody fighting.
Neither side makes coastal gains this year.Things look bad - we got lucky this year. Had Moskurg committed more to the jungle, we would be building barricades on our home soil. Realizing the dire nature of the situation, the King has offered to dip into his private treasury to give us an extra
Expense Credit this year.
It is 920, 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
Broadsword: Officer weapon. An iron age classic. A double-edged blade designed for speed, flexibility and force. Requires training to wield, can be used one or two handed. Expensive.
War Axe: General infantry weapon. Can be used as a tool in a pinch, this is a single-handed weapon that does well against heavily armoured foes. Can be used with minimal training.
Wooden Shield: General infantry equipment. Couples well with an axe, cheap, easy to replace. Works best in heavy melee. Can be used with minimal training. Cheap.
Hide Armour: General infantry armour. Cheap, thanks to the plentiful sheep in the taiga. Turns aside weak blows. Cheap.
Chain Mail: Officer armour. Expensive, due to the steel required. Very effective against most weapons. Expensive.
Plate Mail: General infantry and officer armour. So well designed it costs surprisingly little to make. Normal cost.
Longbow: General infantry weapon. Difficult to find wood and requires a lot of training, but long ranged and powerful. Expensive.
Shire Horse: A heavy riding horse. Survives and rides well in cold weather. Powerful charge. Expensive.
Longship: Oar-rowed wooden ship. Slow, but sturdy, and can carry large numbers of landing troops. Very Expensive.
Magical Equipment
Wand of Fireballs - Hurls fireballs at a distance, able to destroy whole squads at a time. A National Effort.
Tower of Forever Frost: An astoundingly expensive tower that has to be assembled in place and requires the skill of a master wizard to operate, as well as countless other skilled wizards. Creates a very powerful cold evocation and then channels it directly into the air, consistently lowering temperatures within a radius of about fifty miles. A National Effort.
Anti-Wizard Guard: Guard thanes against mind-readers and other threats by shooting them. Also partially negate spell support of other units.
Conjuration Spellbook
Obscuring Mist: Cloaks a squad in a fog cloud, hiding their numbers and equipment, and making them harder to hit at range.
Variant (Channeled Fog): A denser form of Obscuring mist, continuously generated.
Summon Swarm: Conjures a swarm of stinging wasps to harrass foes. Expensive.
Variant (Fire Wasps): Conjures stinging wasps that can start small fires. Expensive.
Magic Lance: Conjures a set of lances for a cavalry squad. Thick enough not to break on use, and lasts long enough to be useful in combat. Expensive.
Magic Axe: Conjures a set of long axes for officers. Weapon is anchored to a small gem in the handle, allowing it to exist longer than 24 hours.
Webs: Conjures a sticky web, immobilising an entire squad and preventing them from moving. Very Expensive.
Fireball: Hurls fireballs at a distance, able to destroy whole squads at a time. Damaging side effects harm morale. Very Expensive.
Minor Fireball: Hurls small balls of fire that explode on impact, not as devastating as full fireballs but much easier to cast. Expensive.
Firewall: Creates static walls of fire. Long casting time, concentration sustain. Very Expensive.
Crystal Caltrops: Jagged crystals designed to lay in the grass and catch enemy troops unaware. Good for defense. Normal Cost.
Author
Topic: Wands Race - [Arstotzka] {COMPLETED} (Read 393612 times)