Crystal Caltrops make a huge difference this year. Their calvary, already a thorn in our side, are weakened by these subtle traps. A new pass-time of Arstotzkan troops is watching approaching Moskurg calvary and betting on which horse will trip on the jagged crystals first. Since most of their assaults occur at night, the crystals are all but invisible to their riders.
The mountains remain ours with with laughable ease. Enemy commanders only send a few forays into the stony heights before pulling back. Our troops sit high above, pelting them with arrows from the mist and driving them away time and time again. The only problem is their damnable storms and the lightning that comes with it - at one point a blast struck the company commander, frying both him and the guards around him. This seems like a fluke, though - if anything, their control of the storms has gotten worse! Our men reported seeing a foolish Moskurg wizard being struck by lightning from the very storm he helped conjure! This is no doubt good news for our men, and clearly cracks in their understanding of magic. Though things continue to remain unchanged in the mountains, at least the Moskurgs seem tired of marching up and down mountains every year.
Arstotzka maintains control of the Mountains.The plains are not our forte, however. The enemy's highly maneuverable and plentiful calvary excel in the wide-open spaces. Thankfully, their skirmishes have become less effective - our caltrops keep our positions safe at night, and Moskurg calvary is wary of further assaults. Their defense of the plains has been as solid as ever, unfortunately. Caltrops are hard to use on the offense, and the coordinated assaults, precisely timed calvary charges, and a withering hail of arrows has kept us at bay for yet another year.
Thankfully, the Moskurgs seem content to sit in the plains rather than press further north into our homelands.
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. The Moskurgs have been failing skirmish after skirmish as their horses stumble during assaults - of every skirmish they attempted, only one was successful. Their assaults during the day suffer without the success of their nightly skirmishes, and they've been forced to retreat as our heavily armored Arstotzkans fight at full force.
Unfortunately, we don't have enough of an advantage to push back. Skirmishing has never been our strongest advantage, and here they uniformly result in failure. Our assaults are likewise unsuccessful, and we are forced to retreat rather than press further. 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.An ill wind blows in from the sea - almost literally. For the first time at sea the wind seems to favor Moskurg forces - this isn't an end-all for us as we use rows for locomotion, but their increased speed and the ability to make the seas roil or calm at their command gives them a definite edge. We sink one of their fleets in the eastern sea in an ambush, but are unable to scoop out any sailors from the roiling seas. In the west two of our fleets are sunk as they struggle against the violent ocean, but once their hulls sink below the waves the sea grows calm once again. Our men are scooped out of the drink and returned to us, then promptly put aboard new ships and returned to the ocean. We've lost ground here, though - Moskurg has secured another section of coastline.
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 King 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
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.
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 394091 times)