Angel Team: Revision Phase T4TURNTURNTURNWyvern Riders
Wyverns have the potential to be truly effective combatants, with their size and strength and capabilities; however, their crucial flaw is the fact that they are effectively wild animals, if easy to direct ones; when not given specific directions they default to their natural behaviors, which while adequate for fighting the enemy's birds, means that wyverns deployed before combat won't much help in the actual encounter. Thus, we need to give them orders in the air.
Wyvern Riders: Hard: (1+3)-1=3: Buggy Mess
Important fact about humans: they are not great at surviving long falls.
The first challenge was getting the wyverns to accept someone riding on them. They will obey orders, but their natural reaction to someone getting on their back is to throw them off. You were able to train them to accept riders... sometimes. They still don't feel too keen on the idea, being reluctant to follow directions whilst saddled, and may at times try to move their rider about into a more comfortable position (for the wyvern). Which is a problem due to the second challenge: making a saddle for a wyvern. A regular horse saddle doesn't work. Extensive modifications were needed just to get a saddle that would
fit on a wyvern. Questions of comfort (for the wyvern or the rider) were not addressed, nor- more importantly- was the question of safety dealt with sufficiently. As a result, some light turbulence- or the previously mentioned wyvern wriggling- is enough to knock someone out of the saddle. On the ground, this results in a painful fall. In the air, this results in a dead cultist.
While technically you have got yourself wyvern riders, who can give the wyverns direction mid-flight, the decreased performance caused by the uncomfortable saddle and the high fatality rate of the riders renders this unlikely to see much use. One piece of good news is that adding a saddle and training a rider do not increase the rarity of a wyvern.
Infiltration Technique: Inquisition
Unfortunately, at times it is not enough to push men and women towards good. The agents of Evil infest the cities and towns of the world, sinking their talons deeper and deeper into the people. It would be a grand world where the light alone was enough to bring them back to the fold. But instead it's the real world. To fight corruption, it's not enough to excise the symptoms, for they will always return; instead, sometimes one must go to the source.
This tactic instructs the Shadow Walkers (or other suitable agents) to hunt down the operatives of the Demon's cult and interfere in their infiltration efforts, especially by way of assassination of lead operatives; it's easy enough to replace cultists, but it's hard to replace leaders. While this isn't directly gaining our own influence, disrupting the Demon's activities can only help the overall cause of Good.
Infiltration Technique: Inquisition: Easy: (2+2)+1=5: Average
There's not much to say about this. Your agents see no issues with the concept, and have developed tactics and strategies to help them weed out the demonic leadership.
Inquisition will target high-value demonic agents for elimination, reducing the efficacy of Magoc's infiltration efforts wherever we have agents to perform these feats. Due to the careful planning and execution needed, Inquistion is
Rare
It is now the Strategy Phase. Choose where to send Heliel.
Heliel: The benevolent leader of your faction, a being of immense power. There is very little they cannot do. Needless to say, they are Unique.
Mundane Units:
Armed Cultists: Equipped with fairly respectable equipment- a well-made gambeson, padded iron cap, sturdy spear, shiny dagger, and a solid shield-, combined with rudimentary training, mean that while these are not elite warriors, they would stand a chance against a real soldier. More importantly, they're cheap and plentiful. Like regular cultists, their dedication (and communal singing) makes them more resilient mentally than civilians. Common
Cultist Archers: Cultists who have some experience and training with a bow are valuable assets in combat, harassing the enemy from a distance. Their bows are not high-draw war-bows, but they've received training from experts that renders them better and faster shots- the equal of the average archer in a human army. Also provided with gambeson and iron cap. Like regular cultists, their dedication (and communal singing) makes them more resilient mentally than civilians. Extended training programmes also increase the number of archers available, doubling the size of each unit.Uncommon
Acolytes: Cultists who have begun their exploration of the magical arts, studying under the Angel. They can cast any Common spells (unless noted otherwise). Their physical strength leaves something to be desired, but their mental fortitude is even greater than regular cultists. Wear a gambeson, but forgo iron cap. There are not many Acolytes in a unit. Uncommon
Cultist Officers: Featuring a whole two tiers of military hierarchy, the sergeants and captains impart a modicum of organisation upon their fellow cultists. While not massively better than self-organised troops, it's still noticeable. They are distributed amongst all cultist units (eg Armed Cultists, Cultist Archers, Acolytes).
Summoned/Mutated Units:
Bright Shadows: Souls of fallen cultists (or other Good people), empowered with Good such that they may continue to serve in death as they did in life. Invisible and incorporeal, with an uncanny ability to find whatever they are looking for, they make for excellent spies and capable scouts. Immune to physical attack (but not magical attack). Not useful in actual combat. Uncommon
Bright Shadow Acolytes: Bright Shadows with magical potential, who have been further empowered to enable them to utilise such. Their spellcasting ability is rather weak, and they are easier to detect. Nevertheless, invisible spellcasters are nothing to sneer at. Rare
Shadow Walkers: Former criminal types, who found redemption under Heliel, and now serve her cause fanatically. They have been augmented with minor mutations that improve their stealth ability, and are skilled in all manner of underhanded activities. Uncommon
Chosen Apostles: Acolytes with a companion Orator Cherub bound to their souls. The Orator Cherub is a very minor angelic being with mastery of rhetoric, which both provides the Apostle with a script and augments their voice with angelic energy. Rare
Monsters:
Wyvern Harriers: Large (horse+ size) reptiles, their front limbs are powerful wings that (combined with inherent magic) enable them to fly. They can augment their breath into gale-force winds, though only once every few minutes. Scales provide moderate natural armour, though their wing membranes are vulnerable. Not particularly intelligent. Each 'unit' consists of a single Wyvern. Uncommon
Wyvern Riders: An uncomfortable saddle (for both rider and ride) with simply awful safety, combined with a wyvern's unease at having a rider, render these unlikely to see much use.
Spells/Rituals:
Magic Missile: Known by many names, the simple technique of blasting your opponent with raw Magic/Good/Evil is a tried and true method of making things go away. Efficacy increases with caster's mental might, and decreases with the target's. Common
Major Missile: A more powerful, but also more draining version of Magic Missile. Produces a stronger blast than the standard Magic Missile, but can only be cast a few times (depending on strength) before the user is drained of their spellcasting reserves. The user has a limited ability to direct the missile in flight. Common
Heliel's Love: A very efficient basic healing spell. A slight touch and channelling of angelic love initiates a self-sustaining healing process that can heal up to moderately serious injuries and diseases fairly rapidly. The magic has lingering effects even after healing is complete, leaving the subject healthier and more resilient for a few hours afterwards. Heliel casts this magic automatically on all in her vicinity (unless specifically choosing not to). Common
Mass Heliel's Love: A markedly less efficient variant of Heliel's Love, that affects all targets in a small area (~15 at a time). The healing effect is reduced, to the point where even stabilising moderately serious injuries is a gamble- sometimes doing enough for the patient to survive until more personalised healing can be applied, other times only giving the appearance thereof. It cannot be cast as often as Heliel's Love, but is still Common
Song of Soothing: A spellsong developed to heal and fortify the mind. The song must be initiated by a magic user, but once sufficient numbers are singing along it becomes self-sustaining. Cannot be used by or affect the undead. Common
Refrain of Regret: An inverted version of Song of Soothing. Listeners are compelled to sing along, thereby weakening their minds. This includes friendly targets. It is also not self-sustaining, as continued exposure renders one incapable of lending energy to the music. Common
Infiltration Techniques:
Proselytise: Cultists go forth and spread the Good word, finding those sympathetic to their cause and slowly winning them over. Not the fastest way of gaining converts, as baseline cultists are not expert missionaries, but it keeps the cult growing. Common
Travelling Medics: Acolytes accompany proselytising missions, curing the sick and injured in order to win over the local population. Uncommon
Spy: Agents of Heliel travel the land, seeking secrets, while going unnoticed themselves. Does not directly increase influence, but aids in most other infiltration endeavours. Bright Shadows are most suitable for this role (Shadow Walkers can also help). Common
Exploit Intelligence: Using information gathered by other infiltrators, agents go forth to advance the Good cause while hindering Evil. Covers all manner of activity; theft, sabotage, blackmail, intimidation, even murder- all at the expense of the unrighteous, of course. Not extremely effective due to lack of specialisation, but not bad either. Shadow Walkers are most effective at this. Uncommon
Inquisition: More specialised towards the uncovering and elimination of demonic agents, especially high-value targets. Does little to actively advance the Good cause, but can throw Evil operations into disarray. Rare
Infrastructure:
Basic Training Camps: Rudimentary facilities, where cultists learn the basics of combat and warfare. Singing is integrated into the training programme, serving to boost morale.
Basic Officer Training: A stumbling, amateurish step towards proper military organisation, the officers trained thus are still better than leaders chosen in the moment.
Military Workshops: A series of mines, smelters, forges and workshops that provide the forces of Good with arms and armour.
Monks of Minos: Half man, half bull, all pacifist. Strong, tough, and capable of channelling small amounts of Good into their strikes, these monks are built for war- but their minds have, over many generations, been honed for peace. Very effective warriors, despite their reluctance to cause unnecessary suffering and their rigid adherence to their brand of martial arts. Fight in tiny squads of 3-4 minotaurs. Uncommon
DARRIN (Combat)Dry Plains:
4/4 |
0/4Mountain Passes:
4/4 |
0/4Rice Terraces:
0/4 |
4/4LESIMOR (Influence)Fortified Frontier:
3/5 |
?/5Lawless Capital:
2/5 |
?/5Scholarly Towers:
2/5 |
?/5XA-NAM (Combat)River Delta:
4/4 |
0/4River Crossings:
4/4 |
0/4Light Jungle:
0/4 |
4/4DOLGOTH (Influence)Trade City:
2/5 |
?/5Ostentatious Capital:
1/5 |
?/5Wartorn Wastes:
1/5 |
?/5
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Topic: Angel Team - Chiaroscuro Arms Race: Strategy Phase 10 (Read 32403 times)