Forenia, 912In the mountains, Arstotzka is ruling supreme. Whilst neither side are capable of actually getting to a battle with their full forces, due to the brutal ambush tactics employed by both sides, Arstotzka proves that it does not need to. When a handful of troops reach the last held Moskurger castle in the mountains, the defenders think themselves ready to fend off their weakened foe, only for a dozen of their mages to hurl balls of fire at the defenders, scattering and burning them, allowing them to press forward with their infantry. Under the devastating offensive power of fireballs, the castle is taken, and efforts by the beleaguered Moskurger forces are in vain against a castle now held in the mountains by Arstotzkan forces. Worse still for the Moskurgers, the inhabitants of the castle are forced into surrender and captured or butchered, costing them nearly all their troops in the mountains.
Arstotzka now holds the mountains. If they can maintain this hold, they will gain possession.A brilliant success from our glorious new pyromancers! Although they are far less effective in a defensive position, their lesser fireballs are excellent at blasting through defensive fortifications. A feast has been held in celebration, now that we have taken the last of our ancestral forts back from the Moskurger scum!
In the jungles, advantage has shifted decidedly to Moskurg. As clouds of rolling smoke move to conceal the position of Arstotzkan skirmishers, a strange and terrible noise fills the jungle, like the blaring of a poorly tuned horn or - flatulence. Roars of terrible flatulence fill the jungle as strong foetid gusts of wind blow the clouds of smoke away, revealing terrified and exposed Arstotzkans. Only a handful of skirmishes go the Arstotzkan way, and even with their new pyromancers their ability to fight back when so many troops are dead is limited. Moskurg seizes several jungle villages and have fortified their position, capturing local defenders.
Moskurg has gained territory in the jungle.The Moskurger scum have devised a spell to blow away our fog clouds, removing the shielding. Even though we should be all rights have a better force, their whittling of our numbers keeps giving them a worthless advantage even with our soldiers' bravery. Worst still, we have a disturbing report from Thane Osric, who informed us that he deliberately deviated from our intended battle plan at the last moment, having told nobody of his plans. The enemy somehow knew exactly what he was planning and were able to surround him with five squads; he alone escaped. It is as if they were reading his mind.
Fighting in the plains has ground down to a stalemate. Fire rains down on the battlefield whilst careful formations encircle and break up the army. Even with more pyromancers in the Arstotzkan line and the dissolution of Arstotzkan cloud cover, neither side is able to gain any territory, but neither are significant troops lost.
At sea, despite the advantages of pyromancers flinging fireballs and fire wasps, luck favours Moskurg for now. Neither side are able to make coastal gains.
The King has chosen to reinforce the jungle, now that we actually aren't losing more troops than we're recruiting, for once.
An exiled princess from Europe has arrived on the shores of Forenia, along with an armed retinue to secure her independence. She has been invited to and attended the courts of both Kings, and attracted by her great beauty and great wealth, both have made marriage overtures to her to persuade her to gain her hand in marriage.
Expense Credit: The side that produces a more persuasive gift, ode or other means of enticement for the exiled princess to marry their monarch will gain an expense credit the following turn.
It is 913, the Design Phase.Northern Taiga: 4/4 Arstotzka
Central Mountains: 4/4 Arstotzka, 0/4 Moskurg
Western Jungle: 1/4 Arstotzka, 3/4 Moskurg
Eastern Plains: 2/4 Arstotzka, 2/4 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.
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.
Conjuration Spellbook
Obscuring Mist: Cloaks a squad in a fog cloud, hiding their numbers and equipment, and making them harder to hit at range.
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. Currently useless in their intended role due to fragile cross-section. Expensive.
Webs: Conjures a sticky web, immobilising an entire squad and preventing them from moving. 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.