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[Jilladilla]

Let's do that now. They could break through this turn and start fighting for that.

We'll have at minimum next turn as well, the added reinforcements could allow us to hold the line just a little longer. And the extra timber in the meantime wouldn't help with new ships, as training is the bottleneck there.

[Nirur Torir]

I think I want to see how well transporting goes this turn, then reassign just what ships we need to front 1, +1 to account for growth.

[stabbymcstabstab]

We should secure that lumber, we can use it for more things then ships plus traing should gained more exponential y while lumber is more linear and harder to get so we should stay ahead of the curve.

[Jilladilla]

We should secure that lumber, we can use it for more things then ships plus traing should gained more exponential y while lumber is more linear and harder to get so we should stay ahead of the curve.

The only other things we can use timber for at the moment are bowmen and ballistae, again, the thing that's holding us back is training, and our timber is at 1095/2100, and with 6 new transports per turn our rate of gain is only at +330 (we're losing bowmen faster than they can be reinforced, so they don't factor in at the moment). We will need more before we lose that source next to Nippi, yes, but that can wait until next turn.
And I've already mentioned that re-arranging how our transports are distributed might just let us stall their advance for a turn or two, especially if they re-allocate their troop distributions themselves to kick us off the front door of their capital. And Fleet One doesn't need too much more in the way of boats, but the other two are a bit more starved in what they need versus what they have...

[Tack]

Iituem, is there a tech level you want us to stay at? Would crossbows be kosher in the current setting?

[Iituem]

There is no hard and fast tech level; just look at Wands Race for an example of what happens when magic is included.  But if you try and go too far, too fast, you'll run into stumbling blocks - you can't invent rocket launchers without inventing a whole lot of other stuff first.

There seems to be a very slight voting preference towards colonising the forest.  I'll do the turn later today based on that unless anything changes.

[Iituem]

Strategy: Colonise Latadan Woods  [4]

Timber will no doubt be a long-term need for us, as we seek to bring more forces across the sea.  With this in mind, the Council has provided tools, supplies and tax breaks to those souls willing to settle the Latadan woods.  Several new villages have been established, and we can look forward to fresh timber arriving at our shipyards.


Year 302


For the first time since the Sack of Menotos, League troops have reached its walls.  They were expecting to find the population enslaved, or else to see grim standards of the impaled dead as a terror tactic (something the aphrokemae have been known to do in war).  Instead, as the army set up its ballistae to begin trying to knock down the city gates, they were greeted by silence.  Empty streets, no sign of slaves, no sign even of the dead.  No mass graves, no sign of pyres for burning them.  The realisation began to dawn upon the soldiers; the citizens of Menotos has been eaten, down to the last man, woman and child.  Even horses and beasts of burden were gone.

Then, as the archers moved forwards to begin firing on the handfuls of dark shapes that moved up from the very earth to begin repairs to the damaged city gates and walls, an unexpected volley answered in the form of gobbets of acidic phlegm - the spitters had been pulled back from the siege of Dromio to the Menoton walls.

The army laid into siege, firing artillery shots and taking cover when shooting at the repair crews with archers, at least during the day.  At night, their camps were assaulted by shadowy worker drones, laying ambushes or encircling isolated camps and attacking them, seemingly at ease in the near total darkness.

Eventually the skirmishes and long siege are too much and, after one last push to try and take the walls, the League forces are pushed back to Western Menotos.

The Hive pushes the League back out of Menotos.


The second front at Dromio sees the spitters pulled back to the Hive's city, but the Aphrokemae return and seem to be instrumental in holding the beleaguered fort.  The Hive does not prevail upon this front this year.

The third front at Antipholus is less successful, as might be expected, and the simple watchtower is overwhelmed by soldiers and workers, also employing night-based ambushes.  Despite a lack of obvious siege weaponry, the drones manage to latch onto the wooden palisade walls (albeit loosely) with the barbs on their limbs.  It isn't enough for a drone to actually climb the tower's walls, but it locks them in place and several dozen drones can climb onto one another, supporting themselves and 'locking in' with their limb barbs to form a living stepladder for the rest of the army.  The Hive seizes the watchtower for itself and pushes the front back to unclaimed land.  From their new coastal position, Hive scouts can spot the ships bringing Leaguish troops in from abroad; a mix of two-tiered oar-rowed galleys and single-deck oared/sailed galleys with wider bellies to accommodate more passengers.

The Hive occupies Eastern Menotos.


Credit!

The war on the 1st Front has resulted in some fairly extensive ballista bombardment, and has opened up a previously sealed part of the Labyrinth on the border between Menotos and its western provinces; about where the front is currently fighting.  Scouts report from both sides that the chamber is a tomb of an Archaean scholar or figure of importance, and may contain elements of her writing.  There is also proof that her favoured slave drone, a peculiar form of Hive worker, was mummified with her as a companion.

This presents an opportunity for both sides; the League might gain valuable magical knowledge from the scholar's notes, the Hive Queen could potentially extract lost genetic data from the mummified drone.  Right now neither side controls the tomb; the first to push the 1st Front, either towards or away from Menotos, will gain possession of the tomb and a Die Credit (that is to day, 1 extra die to roll in any phase).


Current Reinforcement Strategy:  We are reinforcing Front 1, Front 2, and Front 3 equally.  Front 2 is receiving our National Effort, the Aphrokemae.  Of the 11,388 men we can raise for war, only 4886 reached the front this year.  We have a total naval transport capacity of 1482 men, split between our three fleets.  Our three fleets are reinforced equally from our shipyards.


It is now the Design Phase.  You have 5 dice remaining.

Spoiler: Front Report (click to show/hide)

1st Front

1st Front [League 1st Front vs Hive 1st Front]

1200 fortification power vs 200 siege power.

Territorial Control: 366.25 vs 1569

League 1st Front
  12 skirmishers
  6 bowmen
  20 hoplites
  6 cavalry
  2 ballistae
  1 apprentices
  0 mages
  137 spearmen
  729 slaves
1677 manpower spent, 16 skirmishers, 8 bowmen, 10 hoplites, 5 cavalry, 1 ballistae, 0 apprentices, 0 mages, 144 spearmen, 1914 slaves reinforced.
League 1st Front Deaths: [ranged] 8 skirmishers, 4 bowmen, 1 hoplites, 3 cavalry, 58 spearmen, 898 slaves, [skirmish] 1 skirmishers, 2 bowmen, 4 hoplites, 45 spearmen, 410 slaves, [melee] 15 skirmishers, 7 bowmen, 4 hoplites, 4 cavalry, 120 spearmen, 1613 slaves

Hive 1st Front [National!]
  79 soldiers
  467 workers
  23 spitters
1272 manpower spent, 11 spitters, 40 soldiers, 817 workers reinforced.
Hive 1st Front Deaths: [artillery] 40 workers, [ranged] 55 workers, [charge] 47 workers, [skirmish] 21 workers, [melee] 9 soldiers, 579 workers, 6 spitters

---

2nd Front

2nd Front [Hive 2nd Front vs League 2nd Front]

500 fortification power vs 14 siege power.

Territorial Control: 764 vs 522.0

Hive 2nd Front
  0 spitters
  66 soldiers
  698 workers
763 manpower spent, 27 soldiers, 547 workers reinforced.
Hive 2nd Front Deaths: [artillery] 41 workers, [ranged] 24 workers, [charge] 34 workers, [skirmish] 15 workers, [melee] 4 soldiers, 333 workers

League 2nd Front [National!]
  9 aphrokema
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  9 hoplites
  2 cavalry
  1 ballistae
  0 apprentices
  0 mages
  15 spearmen
  0 slaves
1191 manpower spent, 4 aphrokema, 11 skirmishers, 6 bowmen, 7 hoplites, 4 cavalry, 1 ballistae, 0 apprentices, 0 mages, 102 spearmen, 1355 slaves reinforced.
League 2nd Front Deaths: [skirmish] 1 skirmishers, 2 bowmen, 4 hoplites, 44 spearmen, 398 slaves, [melee] 2 aphrokema, 15 skirmishers, 6 bowmen, 4 hoplites, 5 cavalry, 1 ballistae, 1 apprentices, 108 spearmen, 1431 slaves

---

3rd Front

3rd Front [Hive 3rd Front vs League 3rd Front]

200 fortification power vs 18 siege power.

Territorial Control: 965 vs 187.0

Hive 3rd Front
  67 soldiers
  898 workers
509 manpower spent, 18 soldiers, 365 workers reinforced.
Hive 3rd Front Deaths: [artillery] 20 workers, [ranged] 18 workers, [charge] 24 workers, [skirmish] 8 workers, [melee] 2 soldiers, 183 workers

League 3rd Front
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  4 hoplites
  0 cavalry
  1 ballistae
  0 apprentices
  0 mages
  0 spearmen
  0 slaves
881 manpower spent, 8 skirmishers, 4 bowmen, 5 hoplites, 3 cavalry, 0 ballistae, 0 apprentices, 0 mages, 76 spearmen, 1005 slaves reinforced.
League 3rd Front Deaths: [skirmish] 2 skirmishers, 2 bowmen, 5 hoplites, 51 spearmen, 411 slaves, [melee] 19 skirmishers, 7 bowmen, 5 hoplites, 7 cavalry, 123 spearmen, 1455 slaves

Spoiler: Map, 302 (click to show/hide)

Spoiler:  Current Status (click to show/hide)

==The League==

Production: 326/1500 ore, 1426/2100 timber, 771/1666 training
Manpower: 1548/56940 {11388/turn}  {4886 reinforced last turn.}

Kroton [League]: [City] 4422 population, 3 base food, 122 training
  Sends 884 manpower to League Node 1.  Grew by 364 last year.
Sybylan Woods [League]: 1 base timber
Sybylos [League]: [City] 2948 population, 2 base food, 81 training
  Sends 590 manpower to League Node 1.  Grew by 243 last year.
Epidaea [League]: [City] 3502 population, 3 base food, 96 training
  Sends 700 manpower to League Node 4.  Grew by 454 last year.
Nippi [League]: [City] 2948 population, 2 base food, 81 training
  Sends 590 manpower to League Node 3.  Grew by 243 last year.
Nippan Woods [League]: 4 base timber
Kydessan Woods [League]: 2 base timber
Kydessos [League]: [City] 4670 population, 4 base food, 128 training
  Sends 934 manpower to League Node 2.  Grew by 606 last year.
Latada [League]: [City] 3502 population, 3 base food, 96 training
  Sends 700 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 454 last year.
Paphessan Mines [League]: 2 base ore
Paphessos [League]: [City] 3415 population, 2 base food, 94 training
  Sends 683 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 215 last year.
Antespiae [League]: [City] 3502 population, 3 base food, 96 training
  Sends 700 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 454 last year.
Samai [League]: [City] 5123 population, 3 base food, 141 training
  Sends 1025 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 323 last year.
Dorytos [League]: [City] 6831 population, 4 base food, 288 training
  Sends 1366 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 431 last year.
Chersera [League]: [City] 3415 population, 2 base food, 94 training
  Sends 683 manpower to League Node 5.  Grew by 215 last year.
Arteiros [League]: [City] 3502 population, 3 base food, 96 training
  Sends 700 manpower to League Node 6.  Grew by 454 last year.
Lissona [League]: [City] 2335 population, 2 base food, 64 training
  Sends 467 manpower to League Node 6.  Grew by 303 last year.
Borolis [League]: [City] 3415 population, 2 base food, 94 training
  Sends 683 manpower to League Node 6.  Grew by 215 last year.
Cumida [League]: [City] 3415 population, 2 base food, 94 training
  Sends 683 manpower to League Node 6.  Grew by 215 last year.
Theros Isle [League]: 3 base ore

League 1st Front
  12 skirmishers
  6 bowmen
  20 hoplites
  6 cavalry
  2 ballistae
  1 apprentices
  0 mages
  137 spearmen
  729 slaves
1677 manpower spent, 16 skirmishers, 8 bowmen, 10 hoplites, 5 cavalry, 1 ballistae, 0 apprentices, 0 mages, 144 spearmen, 1914 slaves reinforced.
League 1st Front Deaths: [ranged] 8 skirmishers, 4 bowmen, 1 hoplites, 3 cavalry, 58 spearmen, 898 slaves, [skirmish] 1 skirmishers, 2 bowmen, 4 hoplites, 45 spearmen, 410 slaves, [melee] 15 skirmishers, 7 bowmen, 4 hoplites, 4 cavalry, 120 spearmen, 1613 slaves

League 2nd Front [National!]
  9 aphrokema
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  9 hoplites
  2 cavalry
  1 ballistae
  0 apprentices
  0 mages
  15 spearmen
  0 slaves
1191 manpower spent, 4 aphrokema, 11 skirmishers, 6 bowmen, 7 hoplites, 4 cavalry, 1 ballistae, 0 apprentices, 0 mages, 102 spearmen, 1355 slaves reinforced.
League 2nd Front Deaths: [skirmish] 1 skirmishers, 2 bowmen, 4 hoplites, 44 spearmen, 398 slaves, [melee] 2 aphrokema, 15 skirmishers, 6 bowmen, 4 hoplites, 5 cavalry, 1 ballistae, 1 apprentices, 108 spearmen, 1431 slaves

League 3rd Front
  0 skirmishers
  0 bowmen
  4 hoplites
  0 cavalry
  1 ballistae
  0 apprentices
  0 mages
  0 spearmen
  0 slaves
881 manpower spent, 8 skirmishers, 4 bowmen, 5 hoplites, 3 cavalry, 0 ballistae, 0 apprentices, 0 mages, 76 spearmen, 1005 slaves reinforced.
League 3rd Front Deaths: [skirmish] 2 skirmishers, 2 bowmen, 5 hoplites, 51 spearmen, 411 slaves, [melee] 19 skirmishers, 7 bowmen, 5 hoplites, 7 cavalry, 123 spearmen, 1455 slaves

League 1st Navy
  7 biremes
  2 pentekonters
379 manpower spent, 2 pentekonters reinforced.

League 2nd Navy
  7 biremes
  2 pentekonters
379 manpower spent, 2 pentekonters reinforced.

League 3rd Navy
  7 biremes
  2 pentekonters
379 manpower spent, 2 pentekonters reinforced.

Spoiler:  Budget (click to show/hide)

League Budget

10% of League manpower from all cities is devoted to constructing and staffing ships.

Ships      10%      (Pentekonters)
Skirmishers   10%
Bowmen      5%
Hoplites   10%
Cavalry      5%
Ballistae   5%
Mages      5%      (3% Apprentices, 2% Mages)
Aphrokema   5%      National Effort
Spearmen   45%
Slaves      Excess Manpower

Spoiler:  Current Units (click to show/hide)

LEAGUE

Units

Slaves      Cost: 1 manpower.  Poor unfortunate souls, these 'draftees' are sent into war without training or even real equipment to plug the holes in the lines.  Extremely cheap, but cannot be counted upon to hold or capture territory, as they will flee unless watched constantly.
Spearmen      Cost: 1 mp, 1 training, 1 ore.  Given leather armour and a bronze-covered shield, these militia forces have gone through some training in the simplest of weapons (but still an effective one).
Skirmishers   Cost: 1 mp, 2 training.  Lightly armoured and lightly equipped with slings and darts, these men have better stamina than most and are mobile, able to attack at short range.
Bowmen      Cost: 1 mp, 2 training, 1 timber.  Unarmoured but equipped with fine shortbows, these archers can engage the enemy at distance, thinning their ranks before the melee closes.
Hoplites      Cost: 1 mp, 3 training, 3 ore.  Well-trained troops armed with spear, shield and heavy bronze armour, these are the shock troops of a League army.  They don't move quickly, but when they get there nobody gets past them.  Unless they go around.
Cavalry      Cost: 3 manpower, 1 ore, 3 training.  Armed with spears and riding light, fast horses, these cavalry form a powerful skirmishing force that can harry foes and take advantage of the less mobile.
Aphrokema   Cost: 1 mp, 10 training, 3 ore.  National Effort.  Costs lots of training, some ore.  Hoplites, but hoplites trained from birth in a gruelling manner that costs the lives of the weaker.  These men are deadly beyond measure and will not break, fighting to the very last man.

Apprentices   Cost: 1 mp, 20 training.  Capable of casting Lesser spells.  Can cast up to 3 spells.
   Spell List:  Daze, Magic Weapon, -
Mages      Cost: 1 mp, 50 training.  Capable of casting Greater spells.  Can cast up to 5 spells, including Lesser spells.
   Spell List:  Daze, Magic Weapon, -  //  Webs, -

Biremes      Cost: 20 manpower, 10 training, 50 timber.  Passenger Capacity: 50 manpower.  Combination cargo ship and battle ship.  Limited passenger capacity, but reasonable ranged combat with bows and a ram.
Pentekonter      Cost: 23 manpower, 10 training, 55 timber.  Passenger Capacity: 72 manpower.  Dedicated cargo ship; better transport capacity than the standard bireme, but suffers in battle.

Ballistae   Cost: 6 manpower, 20 training, 10 ore, 10 timber.  Negates siege bonuses, some extreme-range anti-personnel effects.  [Siege stat counteracts fortification bonuses on a flat level.]

Palisades   Simple palisades for defence, on a natural hill.  A level 1 fortress.
Walls      Stable stone walls, built high, to defend cities and towns.  A level 2 fortress.
Keeps         Constructed wooden castles with stone supports, typically within a larger wall.  A level 3 fortress.


Technology

Bronze Working         -   The League is most familiar with the art of smelting and shaping bronze from copper and tin.
Slave-Farmed Smallholds   -   Agriculture is farm-based, with high productivity from slave labour, although technological advances are limited.
Shipbuilding         -   The League is particularly capable at crossing the sea, even compared to the nations of the Continent.
Architecture         -   The League has a functioning understanding of architecture and construction, allowing it to build up to Level 3 Fortresses (Keeps).
Family Education      -   Close-knit groups of kin or kith are responsible for training and educating their own.  Knowledge is preserved, but the quality of troops and scholars alike is highly variable.
Military Training Camps   -   Bog-standard troops are trained in semi-formal camps, led by veteran trainers.  Corruption amongst the trainers is a continuing problem.
Militia Service         -   Armies are nominally part time, but citizen militia can spare time to train and prepare for battle without draining the resources a professional army would.


Spells

Lesser Spells

Daze: Befuddles an enemy squad, making them easier to kill.
Magic Weapons: Hardens and balances melee weapons.


Greater Spells

Webs:  Sticky webs immobilise a squad, rendering them easy to kill.

[Khan Boyzitbig]

We appear to be down an apprentice. We need a magical training school ASAP.

And the 3rd front gets sod all troops, it now has 4 hoplites and a Ballista, its going to fall.

[Tack]

Freedom for Service
Our slave soldiers are a constant drain of resources, not having the training or equipment to be useful, and having morale issues which ruin their ability to hold territory.
Under a new scheme, instead of conscripting slaves for the war effort, eligible slaves will be offered their freedom after the war concludes. Slightly less slaves might join the war effort, but this means the sub-par fighters will be staying at home to breed new soldiers.

Spoiler: not my actual submission. For shelving (click to show/hide)

Battlefield promotions
There's one thing Humanity has in which we outclass these insects: our ability to learn from our experiences, and our military system is failing to capitalise upon this.
A change needs to be made so that exceptional troops can be recommended for promotion by their peers, and have that promotion made possible by the general.
Therefore, any troops known to have a penchant for survival can be referred upward- equipment can be shipped in, or more likely, sourced from the dead.
This includes provision for a slave to be given his freedom for exceptional bravery too, something which is sure to inspire the masses.

[Jilladilla]

We need to majorly change something soon, we're just getting overrun, probably the best we can do right now is to actually make our slaves actually worth something, I think.

Levy
Recent combat has shown that even the weakest of the foul insectoid menace can easily rip through our unarmed, unarmored, and untrained slave fighters. As a result, we have decided to finally do something about this. The Levy will be armed with a crude wooden shield that likely would only protect against a single hit (if they're lucky) from a 'Soldier' drone before shattering into splinters, a shoddy spear gathered from hastily made rejects and less successful apprentice work, and an absolute bare minimum of basic training conducted while still on the move with their new army (Said training mostly involves 'How to not stab yourself or the guy standing next to you').

Even though the Levy only carries extremely basic equipment and training, it'll still be a major step up in combat effectiveness for the formerly dubbed 'slaves', as they'll actually be able to fight back against the horde, instead of merely trying to stall it with their bodies praying assistance will arrive.

Alright, there's my proposal, I tried to make it so it would more or less let us keep an absolutely dirt cheap unit, but one that doesn't suck so much... To be fair, this was also built with the assumption that slaves are completely unarmed and more or less there to meatshield for our actual combatants.

[Madman198237]

I'm surprised this doesn't have any sort of Discord yet.

Anyway, if we throw the elites and all at that first front, followed by almost every ship we can throw at it, we should be set to get that die credit.

We ought to make a stratagem soon. I'd vote for all-hoplites infantry, meaning a focus on deploying elite troops supported by heavy cavalry and large numbers of weak archers (To chew through the enemy's zerg-rush units before they reach the shield wall).

I like the free-the-slaves idea. Perhaps instead integrate it into a camp upgrade, where WILLING slaves are trained in the camps instead of being deployed as slaves? We could probably also kill corruption in the same design, since "Slaves in camps" seems a bit less than a full design's worth. Perhaps a revision to make a second-tier spearmen (Perhaps call them legionnaires? What's the Greek word for "spear", anyway?) unit with slightly better equipment.

[Terenos]

So.. we have production going towards mages and apprentices, but none have reinforced any lines at any point so far. Are we just..unable to train them? Do we need to devise and deploy a magical academy immediately?

Take note, Front 1 pushed, it had an apprentice. Front 2 buckled, but they had their spitters there, and front 3 got butchered, not even an apprentice there. Currently our mages are acting as a powerful force multiplier, and getting a few of those out may be the difference between losing Nippi, or not at this stage.

[Khan Boyzitbig]

The ships don't have much impact on the 1st front. More ships there is simply wasted ships.

[NAV]

Crossbows are very valid technologically. They were used in 6th century BC by China and 5th century BC by Greece.

[Jilladilla]

Anyway, if we throw the elites and all at that first front, followed by almost every ship we can throw at it, we should be set to get that die credit.

Doing this would give us a net loss in a die though, as reallocating everything we have would cost one, and setting it back the way it was would cost another. I don't think we can breach Menatos's walls either, even with an all-in, not without majorly changing something... Not to mention that we would be ceding ground on the other two fronts to the Hive if we do this and they don't follow (and if they do follow, it won't go well for us at all...)

Best option I see to get that die is doing whatever we think would best get us the upper hand now, but wouldn't be as fleeting as a simple redistribution of troops that would be reverted the next turn...

Still, regardless of the bonus die, we seriously got beaten badly this turn. Something needs to change now, before Nippi and Kysdessos are completely overrun! (The southern fort likely won't hold another turn under current conditions, and we've already lost the eastern one. I estimate 2 turns until they're at both cities gates, at this rate..)

(To Terenos, I think the success of Front 1 is that it has the full might of 2 cities backing it, in addition to the reinforcements that our fleet ships in, rather than the presence of apprentices... Still, working on magic for our design and shifting the budget towards mages would count as a major change occurring...)