Battles Turn - SeriousConcentrate, Draignean, Darvi
SeriousConcentrateThe Master of Ashfire Outpost sees that war is coming, whether they want it or not, and his men must be prepared. His scouts have reported a new camp in the forest, too close for comfort to the Outpost. It is better to crush it while it's still new. The Knights are left home to handle the buying of new supplies.
[2] As they venture into the depths of the forest, it becomes apparent the savages are here in force, atleast two thousand men. Mountain Men scouts are spotted - meaning they have spotted Dolgorouki's men as well. There is no chance of launching a surprise attack any longer, but it matters little. They soon locate the camp, and a force of two thousand – an estimate, atleast – charges out to meet them! They begin to form up in their primitive way, and so do his men. There is still time for an old trick, if he's feeling up for it.
Both sides will receive a -2 Positioning penalty and a -1 Battle Roll penalty due to the thickness of the woods.
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Draignean[6] The Margrave doesn't want to waste any more men than necessary against these barbarians. He calls his captains around him and begins planning. It's a typical Hammer-and-Anvil strategy, requring the 'anvil' to stand fast against a superior force for long enough for the 'hammer' to arrive.
They get to work beyond any of his expectations, finding the perfect ambush positions on the hills. Draugnean takes a mere 1500 men and leads them in pursuit of the savage force. They find stragglers on the edge of the forest and follow them to the main bulk of the army – and spring out a good distance away to begin shouting insults at the Mountain Men horde. [1] The Mountain Man commander takes the bait without a second thought, and soon are in pursuit. The Margrave's men move faster, leading them to the hills over the course of the following day. He orders them to begin gradually slowing down, and soon the Mountain Men are upon them.
The 'hammer' force will not be able to join the fray until the first Phase of the battle. It is still possible to Disrupt Enemy Formation, if the Margrave is feeling up to it. The ambush will be an automatic Perfect Success because the Mountain Men are being tied up by the 'anvil' force.
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Darvi Lord Darvi gathers his freshly-trained pikemen to a host with which to destroy the Men of the North in the camp oh-so-near his lands. Northerner Pikemen are reknowned throughout the known world, and he knows he can count on them.
[6] They make record time across the snowy landscape, determined to bring these savages to justice. Before the Mountain Men know what's happening, they're at their door.
The enemy will receive a -1 to their Positioning roll due to the speed of the attack if Darvi continues on now. He can't get a greater penalty to them with Disrupt Enemy Formation because he has no Tactics bonuses of his own.
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Darvi Positioning Roll: [5] (+1 to first Battle Roll)
Mountain Men Positioning Roll: [6-1=5] (durr, same)
Darvi's men form a solid - more than solid, really - battleline, but are dismayed to see their barbarian enemies creating an excellent formation as well. This isn't going to be an easy fight after all, it seems.
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PRE-BATTLE TACTICS:Disrupt Enemy Formation – Difficulty -1 (
Sends one unit away to disrupt enemy positioning before the battle. Enemy receives -1 to Positioning roll on a 4 or a 5, a -2 on a 6.)
BATTLE TACTICSFlank Enemy Troops – Difficulty -* (depends on number of units attempting this, each one is a -1) (Gain a +1 per flanking unit to the next Battle Roll on a success, lose attempting units for duration of the next battle on a failure.)
Split Enemy Army – Difficulty -3 (Attempt to drive a wedge between two halves of the enemy's troops. Creates the same situation as a Positioning roll of 2 would. On a failure, enemy receives a +1 to next battle roll.)
Encircle Unit – Difficulty -4* (depends on the number of units attempting this, each one decreases it by 1) (Separate an unit from the enemy army into a mini-Battle before the next phase. On a success, the encircling troops attack the lone unit without their comrades being able to help. On a failure, the unit escapes and they are lost for the duration of the next battle. They may not participate in the main battle in any case even on a success, as their encirclement is going on at the same time.)
Feign Retreat – Difficulty -1 (Fool the enemy army into pursuing your 'retreating' troops. On a success, gives a +1 bonus to the following battle roll. On a failure, enemy receives a +20 morale boost and your troops receive a -1 battle roll penalty.)
The battle will go as follows;
-both sides roll for Positioning. These give a variety of penalties/bonii.
-the commanders may use Tactics here. I'll list them below.
-the first phase of battle will begin. Armies roll 1d___ (how many units (1000 men) they have), plus bonii and penalties. Both sides always inflict damage once, but whoever wins the dice roll also makes as many extra attacks as their roll exceeds the other's.
-if the armies are still in fighting condition, there is another pause and tactics can once again be used, or one army can retreat.
-then the next phase, with another pause if one side isn't down yet, and so on, and so on.
You're free to ignore tactics completely if you so wish. Attacking straight-on usually works just as well.
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Topic: RTD Testing Thread: 5 Positions open. Science doesn't die. (Read 59378 times)