Combat for 931It does not snow in the jungle this year.
Freezing rains still pelt Arstotzkans, and a chill still permeates the air, but snow doesn't touch the ground and Moskurg soldiers survive - albeit uncomfortably. No longer shivering at their posts they do a better job of stopping Arstotzkan raids, whereas Moskrugs new policy of firebombing sleeping soldiers is still effective. Both sides still lose men, but Moskurg loses fewer and has a clear advantage.
A warm wind blows from the south, meeting the cool air from the north. This causes light, warm rain to fall on the Moskurg side of the battle lines, but the truly freezing rain is still on the Arstotzkans. The jungle quickly turns to mud everywhere and battles resume with a wet, bloody intensity. We make limited use of our new Equalizer Anti-Magic shells; only a single HC1-E can use them, and if the shell jams then the cannon is ruined. We manage to land one close enough to a Moskurg artillery piece that the magic powering it falters and it falls comically short of our lines, but that's about it for effect. The barrel cooling enchantments are far more beneficial; with a cooler barrel we can fire our HC1-E's even faster. They still don't make up for being fewer in number than Moskurg's ballistas, but they do close the gap. The regular HC1's struggle to match range and are often doused with their disgusting, primitive fireballs, killing crew and burning down the wooden carriages. Our Mage Hunter troops are ordered to get close during the shelling and use their specialty arrows on the ballistas [Order: 1, 3 = 1] but the jungle is too sparse for decent cover and once our elite troopers are out in front of our lines ballista bolts home in. They're slaughtered, and it hurts the moral of our men to see them fall so easily. It's a close battle, and we might have fought them to a stalemate and ended on the back foot, but their skirmish advantage ultimately sees our battlelines crumble and we are forced to pull back, especially with al-Mutriqa leading his Black Phantasms against our troops. Our towers are disassembled and reassembled further back to prevent Moskurg from claiming them, but we're now constructing defenses on frozen taiga soil. We've been pushed out of the jungle.
The Theatre Commander once again asks for more HC1-E's. They're good guns, and the frost enchantments make them better than Moskurg's artillery, but we just can't field enough of them. If that's not enough, then perhaps you could find some way to claim the ocean and use our ships to bombard their lines from the shore? Any way you can find some advantage or change the nature of the battle would be welcome, because our men are now constructing barricades on our home soil.
Moskurg has gained control of jungle. If they hold it for one turn, they may harvest it for resources.The mountains are still a frozen hell hole. The warm desert winds howl up the sides of the mountains, but they are dissipated before they can swim through the peaks. Moskurg makes a vain attempt to charge up the mountain sides, but our height advantage and freezing cold keep them at bay. We may now utilize the mines deep underground, and Myark stands firmly atop the castle overlooking the Moskurg desert sands.
Our Theatre Commander is proud to report he has taken back the mountains and kept it secure. He hopes he's done his homeland proud. Glory to Arstotzka!
Arstotzka now controls the mountain. They may harvest it for resources.We are pushed back out of the plains this year.
Skirmishes are much more even; with the wide open plains we can generally see Moskurg horse grenadiers coming and scramble a defense. Fire still hurts, but we kill more when we see them coming. Our own men still creep into Moskurg camps and snipe away. Over all, it's fairly even between the two of us.
The desert winds howl across the flat ground, and snow now only falls in the winter. It's not as cold now, and though Moskurg soldiers still shiver like terrified cats they still fight and survive the night. Across the open fields artillery reigns absolutely supreme. Charges across the flat ground result universally in death for both side, and soon the land is marred with craters and trenches. Wooden stakes line the land between the two sides and men hide below the ground. It rains freezing rain non-stop on our side of the line, flooding our trenches and making our men sick. Their artillery still outranges most of ours, so the HC1-E's are used primarily to maintain as large a distance between the two lines as possible. The raid from last year in the nearby village hurt our food supplies, and our Dogwood mages resort to growing vegetables and grains non-stop to help feed our hungry troops, mitigating that effect. Fire blasts and ballista bolts have a tendency to kill men who don't hug the southern wall of the trench, and after a year we're run ragged. Another year of this and we'll be forced to retreat back north. Arstotzka is on the back foot.
Our Theatre Commander is not happy. This 'hiding in holes' business is for cowards, but he can't charge men to their deaths. Longer-range artillery would let us creep south, but at this point he'd just settle for more HC1-E's.
Neither side gains ground in the Plains.To the north, Moskurg's ships find themselves cut off from their home. Their ships make a valiant effort to sail back south, and only a few make it. We chase them out and sink the majority of their ships.
Arstotzka gains control in the Northern Sea.In the western and eastern seas, our battles stall. Our Steam Ships can hold their own, and they're just a bit faster than Moskurg's ships so they can get into favorable positions, but the range is equal between the two sides. Once most of the Steam Ships are gone, the advantage shifts towards Moskurg. At that point their fleet is too depleted to win the day, so battles generally end in stalemates.
Neither side gains ground in the Eastern and Western seas.It is 932, the Design Phase.Northern Taiga: 4/4 Arstotzka
Central Mountains: 4/4 Arstotzka
Western Jungle: 0/4 Arstotzka, 4/4 Moskurg
Eastern Plains: 1/4 Arstotzka, 3/4 Moskurg
Southern Desert: 4/4 Moskurg
Northern Sea: Arstotzka
Western Sea: Disputed
Eastern Sea: Disputed
Southern Sea: Moskurger
Broadsword: 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. Removable pommel for throwing.Cheap.
War Axe: 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. Cheap.
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. Obsolete.
Gambeson: A leather armoring doublet designed to go with plate armor. Helps protect against arrows.
Chain Mail: Officer armour. Expensive, due to the steel required. Very effective against most weapons. Expensive. Obsolete.
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. Cheap.
Shire Horse: A heavy riding horse. Survives and rides well in cold weather. Powerful charge. Normal Cost.
Longship: Oar-rowed wooden ship. Slow, but sturdy, and can carry large numbers of landing troops. Very Expensive.
Steam Engine: A highly expensive and enormously heavy steam engine. Uses a steam turbine to generate power. Uses PSF's and a steam recycler with enchanted gold etchings to manage heat. Very Expensive.
SPB "Fog-O-War": Boat using two steam engines for power. Slightly faster than Moskurg ships. Tends to sink after the first hit. Very Expensive.
HC1: AKA the "Extreme-Range Hybrid Cannon". Arstotzka's first cannon. Uses a fireball and steam to propel a fist-sized iron ball Long-Range. Inaccurate, but can be loaded quickly. Has a tendency to crack. Expensive.
HC1-E: The Elite version of the HC1. Fires at Extreme-Range. Uses rifling, ballistics, and an overall better and more consistent design. Utilizes enchanted gold etching for barrel cooling. More expensive to produce. Very Expensive.
Equalizer: Anti-magic shell. Dispells all magic around it. Difficult to produce and fire, dangerous to use. National Effort.
HC2: A failed attempt to upgrade the HC1 with auto-cooling barrel and ambitious steam recycler. Explodes or breaks after every shot. Very Expensive. Obsolete.
Arzotskan Academy for Adequate Apprenticeship: Basic magic training for apprentices. Allows them to be more useful on the offensive. Very prestigious. Actively recruits new apprentices.Expensive.
Wand of Fireballs: Hurls fireballs at a distance, able to destroy whole squads at a time. A National Effort. Obsolete.
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. Can induce snow in the jungle during the winter, freezing rain in the summer. A National Effort.
Anti-Magic Charm: A magically enchanted quartz crystal. Hums loudly in the presence of magic, and prevents magic from being conjured inside the very limited range. Expensive.
Anti-Magic Bomb Arrows: Arrows that explode on contact with magic into red-hot, razor-sharp crystal shards.
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. Expensive.
Dogwood Wand: Wand that allows the user to accelerate the growth of a single plant to a limited degree. Wands are cheap to make, but don't last very long. Cheap.
Anti-Mages: Mage hunters equipped with longbows, anti-magic charms, anti-magic arrows, and the best armor we can give them. Excel at sniping enemy mages.
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 harass foes. Expensive.
Variant (Fire Wasps): Conjures stinging wasps that can start small fires. Expensive.
Webs: Conjures a sticky web, immobilizing 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. Obsolete.
Minor Fireball: Smaller version of fireball. Doesn't cause collateral damage, but doesn't explode on impact. Expensive. Obsolete.
Streamlined Fireball: Hurls small balls of fire that explode on impact. Devastating against massed troops. Cheap.
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.
As inspired by the "Behavior Rule" attached to Sensei's new Arms Race thread, I've decided to adapt them to Wand Race. Most of these are blatantly copied from his thread, and I expect them to be followed. After running this game for a few weeks now and following the last Arms Race, I'm aware that they're prone to attracting bad attitudes. Keeping the game smooth, on schedule, and argument free is probably a greater concern of mine than whatever you are arguing about: I expect you to be mature and adopt the same attitude.
1. Don't be salty! If at any time you find yourself having an urge to mouth off at another player, step away from the keyboard, go outside, and take a breath. Seriously. Players who repeatedly get angry or passive aggressive will be asked to leave. If you have an issue with the way the game is being run, DO NOT expect a tantrum to get you what you want.
2. Keep in mind that I am not a historian, so there will sometimes be mistakes and inaccuracies. Even in the best of circumstances, minor inconsistencies are a common occurrence. If some piece of equipment is imbalanced/unrealistic, I might consider changing it if you bring it up once -AND ONLY ONCE- and politely state your argument. However, I will err on the side of consistency with my own game, I do not like to go back and change things. Sometimes it is more important to simply keep the game running smoothly than other concerns.
3. Do not accuse me of being biased. Do not accuse me of being biased. I put a lot of effort into being objective and fair and being accused otherwise is pretty fucking irritating. On multiple occasions this has nearly derailed the game and made me want to abandon it all together. I have absolutely no more patience for this, and if you do it YOU WILL BE BANNED.
4. Do not spy on the other team's private thread. Trust me, playing fair is more fun for everyone! If you suffer from a lack of self-control and cannot stop yourself from spying, keep it to yourself. Do not use it to metagame. And do not post what you saw in the central thread. This has happened multiple times now, and if you do it you will be banned with no warning.
Author
Topic: Wands Race - [Arstotzka] {COMPLETED} (Read 393592 times)