Drua returns to her estate and raises her husband's guard.
[2] You return to your estate in Miring to find that your husband and his guard have both been called to the capital to aid in their defence. [4] You take one of your husband's horses from the stables and although unused to riding are able to reach Miring not long after his guard make it there. [4] You arrive at Castle Sleen where you are led to understand that your husband, Lord Markan Drummel, has been taken into close confidence with the king as part of his new board of advisors. You return to review your husband's troops when you spot a familiar looking standard over some troops approaching the city.
Lord Terenos rallies a personal guard. He takes his guard, and the regiment provided by the King, to Miring.
[4] The journey through Miring is bleak, if untroubled. You and your scouts determine the signs of several small battles, but from the bodies and scattered equipment not scavenged it is clear these were peasant uprisings and small rebellions rather than the start of the real Preston advance. With a certain grim humour, you recognise the tattered banners and broken shields of Count Castor amongst the dead. It appears that the Count's former servants took unkindly to the King's efforts to unify the country again. [4] Nevertheless, the body count means you can do a little math. Based on the mass graves, pyres and littered small battlefields you pass and your scouts discover, you reckon somewhere in the region of six or seven regiments' worth of troops on both sides must have been killed in the conflict. You can't be sure what proportion were rebel and what number loyalist, though.
[1] Marching two regiments cross-country takes time - more time than you have. You arrive late at Miring to find smoke rising from the city. Troops are sacking the town itself, though the castle and port appear to remain intact! [1] The smoke, chaos and disparate nature of the troops makes it impossible for you to judge how many there are, or even what side they are on. They seem to be ignoring the castle in favour of looting the town, though. [2] You mutter a brief prayer to any gods, Cyclist or otherwise, that might hear you. No luck. Looks like you're on your own.
Terenos' troops have arrived to find the city under siege. Drua is trapped with her own troops (1 reg), 1 regiment of other noble troops and 3 regiments of royal troops inside the castle at Port Sleen. The king is unwilling to leave the castle to save the city, lest they lose their defensive advantage.Using treasury stipend, raise temporary force of 1 infantry, 1 guard.
You raise forces, drawing on the treasury's offerings. You are ready to proceed to wherever you wish, whenever you are ready.
Negotiate whilst preparing for a fight.
[4] The Baikovs essentially suggest 'anywhere but here', admitting that someone else will probably still try and kill you anyway. They suppose the Yevenov clan are pretty weak, to the northwest, but they don't really fight with them or they'd have wiped them out anyway. [3] The Baikovs have one regiment of clansmen that you can see, and they're right in front of you and armed. [2] It is becoming quite clear these negotiations are going nowhere. Your troops have been surreptitiously moving to encircle the raiders, but the Baikovs are swiftly losing patience and demanding you move on. There's no way you'll be able to complete the ambush before you or they attack or you are forced to leave.
Send scouts to search for wild mountain animals like moutain goats or something
Get the healthy clansmen to collect stone blocks
Send guards to watch the hunting tracks for hunters
if hunters show up attempt to convert them
send scouts down the track to look for hunting lodges
Lands:
Elspine +2 defence x1 [cave +1 defence][not improved][+3 defence total]
Troops:
Steppe raiders x1 [personal][infantry][Raider]
Treasury:
Empty for now
[6] Your huntsmen find a surprisingly large number of mountain goats. They quite happily hunt and butcher several, until the reason why there are so many goats becomes apparent when the goatherds arrive. [4-1] The goatherds are not happy about you raiding their herds, but your huntsmen are quite persuasively armed and they back off. [4] Several of the herders appear to have some skill hunting themselves and you are able to encourage them to visit your caves and trade, but there are not enough of them to form another regiment with. [1] Your attempts to watch the animal trails for more hunters goes awry when the hunters turn up, but assume your huntsmen are there poaching. Violence breaks out, [2] and your hunters are forced down the mountains to escape, [1] where they find the hunting lodges belonging to the hunters. [6] In a stunning act of diplomacy and silver-tongued deception, your own huntsmen manage to convince the hunters in the lodge that their fellows have been poaching their claims
and that they were after your men because they were coming to warn the others. The two groups of huntsmen turn on each other, giving your own men time to escape, but the net result is that the native hunters are completely wiped out in the melee. Nobody is left to convert. [5] On the bright side, you are able to loot
1 Ducat in goods and furs from the hunting lodges.
Reconstruct and demonstrate the ballista.
(Demonstration conducted already.)
Ballistae can now be constructed.[Suggestions on gunpowder.]
Sounds reasonable. Engineers don't get used up when producing gunpowder (the way they would when producing siege units or fortifications), so each engineer set to producing gunpowder will produce one (figurative) barrel per year, but be unavailable for aught else.
Prior to the invention of cannon and gonnes, gunpowder barrels can be used to provide a +1 to mining-related checks, or as a one-off +1 to a battle vs a walled fortification (attackers only). Other uses may be viable, but will still require the barrel of gunpowder to use.
I also realise I didn't put these in the OP, so I'll define the units here:
Catapults: Basic siege weapon. Requires 2 ducats + 1 engineer to hire, 2 ducats upkeep. Str 3 vs walled fortifications, Str 1 otherwise. No manpower requirement. Can take part in naval battles.
Ballistae: Siege weapon. Requires 2 ducats + 1 engineer to hire, 2 ducats upkeep. Str 2 vs walled fortifications; Str 2 in battles vs cavalry, ships or siege; Str 1 otherwise. No manpower requirement. Can take part in naval battles.
Rather impressive map.
That would do nicely, nicely enough we'll call it canon. Do you use a mapmaking program, or did you put that together in an image editing program?
Author
Topic: You are King! (Spring 315a) (Read 188749 times)