Year 302For 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 Fronts 1, 2 and 3 in a 5:3:2 ratio. Front 1 is receiving our National Effort, the Spitters. Of our 2544 manpower, all of it reached the fronts. We have no ships and no overseas fronts to supply.
]It is now the Design Phase. You have 5 dice remaining.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
==The Hive==
Production: 0/0 ore, 0/0 timber
Manpower: 3817.3/7200 {2544/turn} {2544 reinforced last turn.}
Menotos [Hive]: [Queen] 4 base food
Sends 2544 manpower to Hive Node 1.
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
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
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
Hive Budget
Spitters 5% National Effort.
Soldiers 25%
Workers 75%
HIVE
Units
Worker Caste Cost: 1.1 Manpower. Cheap and plentiful, more suited for day to day operations but a cheap and available design to churn out. Six-limbed insectoids about the size of a large dog, using four legs for balance and possessing two arms with four-digit graspers. The middle legs have serrated ridges that double as weapons and saws for cutting wood and butchering meat; the front and back limbs also have small barbs that aid in climbing and provide a desperate back-up weapon. Workers possess multi-faceted eyes, with six dark eye-spots that flank the compound eyes providing limited Infra-Red light vision that acts as a heat detected. Workers are excellent for holding and claiming territory. Competent in melee combat, acceptable in nocturnal ambushes, vulnerable to most other forms of attack.
Soldiers Cost: 6 Manpower. Heavy duty drones, a dozen times the size of workers and consuming consumate amounts of food to deal even more damage. About the size of a shire horse, soldiers have four short, heavy supporting rear legs and a pair of pincered front limbs with sharp, reinforced points and serrated edges, designed for piercing, slashing and cutting with the approximate strength of an ox. Massive plates of heavy chitin protect the soldier drone from damage and its low, squat (if massive) form gives it a beetle-like appearance. Soldiers are not fast, but they are difficult to stop. Its multi-faceted eyes are hooded for protection and forward-facing for better depth perception. These drones have two main downsides; they need a lot to eat and cannot hold territory as effectively as their metabolic weight in Workers. Well-armoured against most types of damage, but excels in melee.
Spitters Cost: 12 Manpower. National Effort. Drones with massively engorged abdomens, atrophied limbs and tiny heads composed of a pair of massive, globular compound eyes and a thick, barrel-like proboscis. The spitter expectorates gobbets of slime-encapsulated stomach acid hundreds of feet away to splash against companies of troops. Terrible in melee combat and susceptible to charges, but potent at range.
Redoubts Dug out warrens with piled timber supports for defence. A level 1 fortress.
Technology
Neolithic Toolmaking - Drones are capable of constructing crude wood and stone tools where needed, but these are usually superceded by the natural tools of worker drones.
Hunter-Gathering - The Hive does not currently practice any kind of stable agriculture, instead hunting or denuding local resources for food.
Construction - Despite their relatively limited tools, drones are natural diggers and can create simple structures. Can create Level 1 Forts (Redoubts).
Gene Bank
Worker Carapace Light, strong chitinous exteriors. Deflects close up blows but susceptible to piercing from arrow fire. Metabolically cheap. By default, Workers have these carapaces.
Heavy Carapace Heavy, reinforced chitinous exterior. Deflects blows and arrows effectively. Metabolically expensive. Soldiers and Elites have these carapaces by default.
Hexapod Limb Array All drones currently employ a six-limb configuration, making them stable if bulky.
Hypocarnivorous Digestive System A digestive system that is best suited to metabolising meat but can digest other foods such as fruits, roots and fungi, or even milk and milk products. Generally cannot digest grains or cereals. By default, Workers are spawned with this digestive system as it allows the greatest flexibility in diet.
Obligate Carnivorous Digestive System A digestive system that can only metabolise meat or similar products, including bone marrow. While this digestive system limits food choice and is therefore expensive to maintain, it provides the most metabolic power. Soldiers and Elites are designed to be Obligate Carnivores; they consume more food but can support more body mass.
Vomiting Not yet implemented. Workers would be able to vomit up their semi-digested food if needed.
Acid Glands Repurposed duplicated stomachs serve as acid generators. Once sufficient quantities of acid are produced, they are encapsulated in phlegm.
Long-Range Expectoration Repurposed mouthparts serve as a crude artillery barrel, backed up by powerful modified jaw muscles that serve to create sufficient pressure to spit whatever is in the proboscis up to hundreds of feet away.
Compound Eyes Wide compound eyes produce composite images from tens of thousands of photoreceptors (ommatidia) on their surface. This produces excellent perception of motion and typically allows close to 360' vision due to their large view angle. Resolution is not comparable to humans, so our drones cannot see in as fine detail and cannot see out to the same range. Our drones have a comparative advantage in close combat situations, but a disadvantage at long range.
Infra-Red Eye Spots: Small black eyespots that flank standard compound eyes, these pits sense the presence and absence of IR light, allowing for limited heat detection and nocturnal operation.
Antennae Foot-long antennae perceive a variety of local sensory effects, such as sound and smell. Senses are comparable to human.
Telepathy All drones in the hive are linked via short-range telepathy, acting as relays for other drones further away. They do not communicate verbally or by writing.
Author
Topic: Hive Race: The Hive (Read 40247 times)