Topic: RTD Testing Thread: 5 Positions open. Science doesn't die. (Read 60317 times)

Taricus · « **Reply #195 on:** November 25, 2011, 06:15:16 pm »

Good one Derm XD

Just use my username for me.

Draignean · « **Reply #196 on:** November 25, 2011, 06:21:45 pm »

This just seems to be the thread that would not die.

Margrave Draignean for the sixth in the experiment.

Digital Hellhound · « **Reply #197 on:** November 26, 2011, 09:49:11 am »

Grand Strategy System and Player Thinking Test - TURN 1

The Borderlands, Spring, First Year

MAP OF THE WEST (Spoilered, for your own good.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

SeriousConcentrate

Pasha Dolgorouki, Master of Ashfire Outpost, is worried. The North is awakening. More and more Mountain Men patrols have been sighted moving around Scuvne and in the forests above his keep. He has been tasked with the sacred duty of keeping the border safe from these savages, and he has a good six thousand men at his disposal, but he remains anxious. The southerner Duke in Kardrun does not care for their struggle. Every day, Dolgorouki fears he will end the pact of support to Dolgorouki's Ashfire Outpost and the eastern Towers. Without the resources from that pact, Pasha will have no gold to buy food with it, and without food, he will have no troops to fight with. Even worse, he's executed Lord Alwond of Thore Castle - for treason! - and installed some southerner half-wit in his place. And yet the king refuses to speak with you about him!

The west is poorly defended, only Margrave Draignean in any way willing to fight the barbarian hordes of the three petty lords in the area. Dolgorouki must rally them together to destroy the savage hordes that are to come.

If the Mountain Men take the road connecting Ashfire Outpost to Kandrun, Dolgorouki will no longer receive upkeep from his liege-lord.

Spoiler: SeriousConcentrate (click to show/hide)

---

Draignean

Three months. Three months have they been hunting the barbarian raiders that attacked Greene last year. Three months away from Two Kings, spending the winter in the wilds. At last, Margrave Draignean has located the camp of the Mountain Men. He has eyes and ears everywhere, and knows the locations of all the others - none of them are this far south. If this camp is not destroyed, the Mountain Men can bypass the defenses of the realm.

He has just received word that a messenger from Lord Thundis of Greene has arrived in Two Kings. His men have failed to discern the purpose of his visit or the message he carries, but the messenger does not intend to venture into the wilds to find Draignean's army. He will have to deal with him after the camp has been destroyed.

His scouts report the Mountain Men army - two thousand men, at the very least - have reached the edge of the forest. If he wishes to attack them before they reach their camp, now is the time.

Spoiler: Draignean (click to show/hide)

***

MAP OF THE EAST

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Taricus

Ah, it is good to be Duke. Even in this frozen wasteland they call the Northern Border, even with the savages in the mountains, even though your vassals are getting more and more uppity every passing day. Kardrun is barely a city, nothing compared to the jewels in the south Taricus has spent most of his life in.

Taricus is just returning from Thore Castle. He's given the new lord, a cousin of yours by the name of Sir Derm, the grand tour. It's a pretty bleak place, to tell the truth - no wonder the old lord went mad and ran off into the north against his explicit orders. He had him executed upon return, of course, but the mood got ugly for a moment there.

While he has considerable funds and income, Ashfire Outpost and the North and South Towers are eating a good 6000¤ of it every season. He's only let the situation continue because it gives him something to use to keep their envious vassals in line.

Everybody is constantly warning Taricus about the 'Mountain Men' or something. Like a bunch of savages from the north could do anything against the realm. No, the real point of interest to him is the conflict brewing over the regency of young King Theodelphus. The boy's mother and the late king's brother have been vying for control of the throne for years, and the situation is finally threatening to spill into open war. The support of a powerful Duke such as him could tip the favor in either's direction, which they'd surely remember later on...

Both the Lord of Salan's Crossing, Sir Aaron, and the aforementioned Sir Derm are relatives of the Duke, and hopefully good allies if the situation comes to that. He wouldn't bet on it.

Spoiler: Taricus (click to show/hide)

---

dermonster

The northlands have not been terribly hospitable to Sir Derm so far, to tell the truth. His family said this would be an important - and comfortable - position for him, close to his cousin, the Duke. But everybody here seems to hate him, especially the people and servants here in Thore Castle. Why, yesterday someone dumped a bucket of cold water on him and claimed it was an accident! He'd had him whipped, but anyone willing to do so seem to have left already.

Still, he is one of the most powerful men in the Borderlands at the moment. And one of the richest, the old lord having left a sizeable treasury behind him. He has plenty of troops - eight thousand, even - even if they aren't terribly loyal to him. Once they've forgotten about the unfortunate death of his predecessor, he'll be fine.

Of course, there are these 'Mountain Men' everybody except the Duke seem so worried about. Apparently, any of these days, the Winter King will lead a host forth from Varangamn to conquer the northlands. Duke Taricus doesn't seem to think some 'hairy barbarian chieftain' can cause any trouble, but some of the northerner lords are seriously worried.

Spoiler: dermonster (click to show/hide)

---

adwarf

Sir Aaron really, really wishes these fabled 'Men of the North' would come already.

Life in the North, and more specifically here in Salan's Crossing, isn't as glamorous as it was made out to be. Duke Taricus, his half-brother, rules the only city, and Aaron's stuck with a small river town near the North Tower. Nobody talks about anything else than the Mountain Men these days, and more and more camps have been sighted beyond the border, but this promised attack has yet to manifest. Sometimes Aaron thinks he ought to go to the north on his own to test his blade against some of these people. The lord of the North Tower, Darvi, seemed pleased when he mentioned this when they last met, so he could probably convince the man to come with him.

He doesn't have an awful lot of soldiers yet, though, only the three thousand that he brought with him when Taricus was granted the Duchy all that time ago. Raising more is expensive, of course, but the town brings in gold nicely.

Spoiler: adwarf (click to show/hide)

---

Darvi

Lord Darvi, Master of the North Tower, knows he isn't as young as he once was. His body seems to ache with every step now, old wounds flaring up at any real physical activity. His wife wants him to retire to bed, but damned if he'll let simple old age beat him! He's anxious to prove his worth again, fighting these Men of the North like in his youth. He's began creating a new host to accompany him when he finally goes to crush Varangamn once and for all. And he'll be a hero, at last. The young southerner from Salan's Crossing seems to have much the same ideas in mind, but that would mean sharing the glory.

The Duke might have a problem with that, but... pfft. He can take on some cowardly southerner, even alone if need be. Still, it might be a good idea to start gathering support for his cause... discreetly.

Spoiler: Darvi (click to show/hide)

---

Explanations for things in the next post, this all must look pretty confusing right now.

Digital Hellhound · « **Reply #198 on:** November 26, 2011, 09:51:06 am »

Right, explainin' time.

TRAVEL AND TERRAIN

The travel speed of troops is displayed below unit types. This is the average, on plains, snow fields and other terrain that has no penalties. However, most do have a variety of effects;

Plains, Grasslands, Farmlands etc etc. - No movement penalty, no battle penalty, cannot be hidden in.
Light Woods - -1 hex movement penalty. No battle penalty.
Heavy Woods/Swamp - -2 hex movement penalty, -2 Positioning penalty, -1 Battle Rolls penalty.
Broken Lands/Badlands - -1 hex movement penalty, -1 Positioning penalty, -1 Battle Rolls penalty.
Villages - -1 Positioning penalty
Towns/Cities - -2 Positioning penalty
Hills - -1 hex movement penalty, can be hidden in.
Mountains - -4 hex movement penalty, -3 Positioning penalty, -2 Battle Rolls penalty.
Shallow River Crossing/Bridge - -1 Positioning penalty, -1 Battle Rolls penalty

Hex movement penalties mean it takes longer to pass through this type of terrain. A -1 movement penalty indicates moving through will take 2 moves instead of 1, a -2 3 instead of 1, and so on and so on. Positioning penalties and battle penalties are related to combat in this type of the terrain, and will be explained once the first battle begins.

BUILDINGS/IMPROVEMENTS

I could've just included what these mean as acronym tags or whatever, but oh well.

Recruiting Centres - A Recruitment Centre adds another Yearly Recruitment Slot to wherever it's built. This allows you to recruit more troops at the same time.
Expanded Stables - Expanded Stabls allow you to recruit more advanced and powerful cavalry types
Derm's Order Chapterhouse - Allows him to recruit Knights of the Welheilmian Order once constructed.
Grand Market/Mines - Increases income from wherever it's built by +1000¤ every season
Thieves Guild - Allows you to hire spies and create spy networks (not really useful in this test)
Military District - Troops wherever it's built do not cost any supplies while stationed there
Castle - A fortress, helps with defense and allows you to recruit knights

RECRUITMENT AND ARMIES

You can recruit as many troops yearly as you have Recruitment Slots and funds.

Each full-strenght unit (1000 men) consumes 1000 Supplies every season. As said, you can buy 1000 Supplies for 300¤, which is probably a bit too little.

Combat rules, damage, etc. will be explained when the time comes.

TURNS, SEASONS, ETC

The year is split into four seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Each season is 3 turns in this test, most likely more if I make the actual game. Units consume supplies at the end of each season, new recruited units are completed in a single turn.

AMBUSHIN'

You can choose to attempt an ambush in any non-plains/grassland/etc hex. If an unsuspecting enemy enters your hex or any adjourning hex, you may attack with a bonus to Battle Rolls and a severe penalty to enemy Positioning. Larger armies are more difficult to hide. Enemies using scouts are more difficult to ambush.

Feel free to question me without mercy, I tend to be pertty confusing. You may ignore all management and budget control if you want to, but please give it atleast a cursory view.

Dermonster · « **Reply #199 on:** November 26, 2011, 09:53:44 am »

What the hell did I get myself into. *Gapes at admittedly shortish wall of text.*

Darvi · « **Reply #200 on:** November 26, 2011, 09:55:57 am »

Welp since I'm the northern-most outpost (Wheee), I should probably concentrate on defence or something.

What do mines do?

Dermonster · « **Reply #201 on:** November 26, 2011, 10:01:34 am »

So my current train of thought is to pre-emptively invade the northern mountain men before they can do similar to us.

Darvi · « **Reply #202 on:** November 26, 2011, 10:02:25 am »

Send all the pikeneers to the nearest camp and have them attack it.

Quote from: dermonster on November 26, 2011, 10:01:34 am

So my current train of thought is to pre-emptively invade the northern mountain men before they can do similar to us.

On it already. Eheheh.

Adwarf should send his men to the southern tower to keep anybody from crossing the mountains.

Taricus · « **Reply #203 on:** November 26, 2011, 10:04:54 am »

Duke Taricus marches his army back to Kardrun, to prepare for the trying times ahead.

Darvi · « **Reply #204 on:** November 26, 2011, 10:07:35 am »

Quote from: Darvi on November 26, 2011, 10:02:25 am

Adwarf should send his men to the southern tower to keep anybody from crossing the mountains.

Actually, no. Derm is closer so he should be able t get there faster. Adwarf will lead the offense, and I will keep anything from crossing the river.

Taricus · « **Reply #205 on:** November 26, 2011, 10:11:32 am »

South tower I presume has an NPC noble. No need to worry about them for a bit.

Dermonster · « **Reply #206 on:** November 26, 2011, 10:13:17 am »

Sensing something amiss, Lord Derm sends a scouting team to the Northeast.

Digital Hellhound · « **Reply #207 on:** November 26, 2011, 10:21:36 am »

@Darvi: Mines increase income by +1000¤ like Grand Markets.

If you're in the mood for some plotting and intrigue, you can also PM actions you don't want folks to see.

Darvi, are you going to lead the pikeneers or send them off on their own? They'll have less morale without you.

EDIT: Also added information about ambushes to the second post.

Darvi · « **Reply #208 on:** November 26, 2011, 10:23:05 am »

ARE YOU IMPLYING I'M TOO MUCH OF A WUSS NOT GOING OUT MYSELF?

Also, I'm digging the idea of constructing a mine.

Digital Hellhound · « **Reply #209 on:** November 26, 2011, 10:28:20 am »

Quote from: Darvi on November 26, 2011, 10:23:05 am

ARE YOU IMPLYING I'M TOO MUCH OF A WUSS NOT GOING OUT MYSELF?

Yes, and I'll take that as a 'no, I'm not going'.

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Author Topic: RTD Testing Thread: 5 Positions open. Science doesn't die. (Read 60317 times)

Taricus

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Draignean

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Dermonster

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Taricus

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Dermonster

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Digital Hellhound

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Darvi

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