Combat for 927The jungle isn't as bare as we'd expect this year. Patches of newly-sprouted trees and bushes dot the land, in curiously non-natural formations. In fact, our men must march through brambleweed and thornbushes to reach the enemy, hurting our moral and causing superficial scratches. It's off-putting, and it prevents us from using our formation bonus to full effect.
Nothing much has changed during skirmishes; Our men still shiver in the cold when they charge into our camps and snipe us in the night, and their men still scramble when our horse archers ride through their camps spewing arrows.
As always, Arstotzka's assault makes heavy use of fireballs. They make their way through the semi-bare land, marching slowly and in the open. They are perfect targets for our ballistas. Our mages cast Lucky Strike and the shots fly away. Plate armor can't stop an arrow from God, and the first shot ends up pinning one of their commanders to the ground like a pin through a butterfly. We don't have as many ballistas as we'd like, sadly, but unlike last year they don't taper off and stop firing as they break. They keep coming, sniping their mages and commanders with terrible accuracy. By the time they get to our lines we are already wheeling the contraptions out of their range, stopping to spit stone shot into their troops. It's clear now what the future of warfare is; artillery. Their men hurry along, doubled over, shields held high against death that not even their fantastic armor will stop, but they charge on like the foolish Arstotzkans they are. They have only a few mages and apprentices left by the time the battle is joined, but when they're in range they cast their fire with fabulous effect. Their archers begin their volleys as well, but our men don't wither before our arrow fire like before. Many are skewered by the deadly rain, but more than a couple manage to shrug off the heavy ashwood shafts. Our Elite Lamellar Armor saves many lives today. Both we and the enemy attempt to get our calvary into play, but they're used to limited effect and neither side has the advantage. For the ground forces, our halberds are just as effective as our new armor, managing to punch through the weaker sections of Arstotzkan plate. Our soldiers work in tandem; one soldiers will grab an Arstotzkan fighter with his hook and the other will carefully line up the killing blow. Their armor is superior to ours in terms of protection and their troops are more highly trained, but they've had to march through artillery fire to meet us. Still, the fighting is relatively even, but they might have pulled ahead had new Staffs of Tubikh Rrahim Albarq not snuffed out the their magic. Giant glowing fields extend outwards from our lines and envelop what's left of their wizards, once more causing magic to fizzle on their fingertips. Their snipers do their best to kill our casters, but their anti-magic bomb arrows fail to detonate once inside the glowing field and thud harmlessly into our pavise shields. With equal troops, limited commanders, and no effective mages, their forces are forced to pull back to their fortifications.
We don't advance on their emplacements - not right away, at least. Our artillery sends deadly accurate javelins and stone shot into their troops all day long. We hammer them relentlessly until they're forced to sally forth and destroy the siege weaponry...only for the same battle to occur. Their mages can't cast, their snipers can't kill, and their men are slaughtered. A cheer goes up through our men as we take back the section of jungle bordering our homelands and send those fucking cowards back north!
Our Theatre Commander is in love with his new ballista. The ability to hold Arstotzka at range was crucial to our success this year - without it, we would have surely been forced back onto our desert sands. He urges you to develop newer and better applications for the device - perhaps exploding stones like Arstotzka's arrows, or even longer ranges - hell, simply more of the damn things would be welcome! Our men are happy to finally be clad in armor worth wearing. It's not uncommon to see our men taking uncharacteristically good care of their armor after that battle, carefully mending split straps or polishing the gleaming scales.
Moskurg gains a section of jungle. Our artillery is equally devastating on the high seas. They can't catch us or match us for range, so we slowly chip our ships to death. They pull back and ceding a section of coastline to the us.
Our Theatre Commander asks for flaming shot to load into our ballistas to set enemy ships alight. If that is not possible he understands and says he will make do.
Moskurg gains a section of coastline in the Western Sea.Revision Credit!!! Foreigners land on our shores. They are dark skinned and clad in simple garments of rough cotton and furs, and their accent is thick and difficult to understand. They approach our king and beg for assistance. It seems they are from across the ocean from a small country in a hot desert land and their home is under attack by invaders. They are a poor people, and in their desperate search for mercenaries to help them hold their land they come to Forenia. They cannot afford to pay for mercenary services, but if we help them they offer the wisdom of their mystic, an old man by the name of Barbushe. Because Moskurg and Arstotzka are unwilling to cooperate, they will go with whichever nation can offer more troops, weapons, and other equipment to help them beat back the invaders.
Whatever troops we send will be unable to fight for our nation next year, and may not return if the fight goes poorly. Yet their offer is enticing, as their mystic seems knowledgeable and may offer more insight into magic.
What should we bid?
It is 928, the Design Phase.Northern Taiga: 4/4 Arstotzka
Central Mountains: 4/4 Arstotzka
Western Jungle: 3/4 Arstotzka, 1/4 Moskurg
Eastern Plains: 4/4 Moskurg
Southern Desert: 4/4 Moskurg
Northern Sea: Arstotzkan
Western Sea: Disputed
Eastern Sea: Moskurger
Southern Sea: Moskurger
Sabre: Officer weapon. A single-edged blade that favours cavalry combat over infantry combat. Requires training to wield, one-handed. Expensive.
Spear: General infantry weapon. Essentially a dagger on a long stick. Very cheap, requires minimal training to use. Can be used double-handed, or single handed with a light shield. Cheap.
Halberd: An axe, a hook, and a spear all rolled into one. Does well against armor and in formation. Cheap
Buckler: General infantry equipment. A small iron shield, held in one hand. Only protects a small area, but can be wielded alongside a shield. Moderate cost, requires training to wield properly. Cheap.
Pavise Shield: A large, thick, high-quality shield to guard against arrows. Can be staked into the ground, or slung across the shoulders. Needs both hands to use while on the move. Very Expensive.
Padded Armour: General infantry armour. Very cheap, just layers of cloth, but doesn't protect against much. Well ventilated in hot conditions, though. Cheap.
Scale Mail: Officer armour. Scales of steel on a leather backing. Expensive, but lighter than chain mail. Expensive. Obsolete.
Elite Lamellar Armor: All-purpose armor. Worn over padded armor. Thin plates of steel sewn together with leather thongs, backed by more leather. High quality, decent protection against arrows and melee attacks. Cheap.
Recurve Bow: General infantry weapon. A light bow composed of laminated wood and horn, curved backwards to provide more force. Inexpensive enough to equip many troops with, with very reasonable medium range and power. Can be wielded by horse archers.
Bodkin Arrows: Arrows with needle points. Can reliably penetrate plate armor at point blank range. Can penetrate less reliably further away.
Arabian Horse: A light riding horse, from short-lived Iberian settlers in the past. Very fast and maneuverable, but not too strong. Expensive.
Horse Breeding Program: Mass amounts of horses available. Tend to do poorly in the desert, and aren't quite as high quality as the Arabian Horses. Cheap.
Lances: Essentially a heavily upgraded spear. Has a tendency to splinter after the first use. Cheap.
Sailing Ship: Wind-propelled wooden ship. Fast, requires minimal crew, cannot carry many passengers, but does carry at least one wizard - so long as they don't make puns. Very Expensive.
Ballista: Large siege weapon. Can fire javelins or stone shot great distances accurately. Reliable enough for consistent use. Can be mounted on ships. Wheeled. Very Expensive.
Wand of Heroism: Makes a squad fight beyond human levels. A National Effort.
Teletalk: Short-ranged psychic communication between mystics. Enough beacons can be produced to outfit an army. Expensive.
Staff of Tubikh Rrahim Albarq: Area-of-affect spell anchored to the caster. Prevents all magic from being cast within a short range. Spell contained within a staff of ivory, field of effect controllable. Produces a glow. Expensive.
Dispell Enchantments: Dispells enchantments on items, including standard crystal weapons. Expensive.
Detect Ambush: Reveals non-magical ambushes prepared by enemy troops or physical traps.
Lucky Strike: Magical guidance makes a squad shoot or strike true far more often than usual. Expensive.
Detect Thoughts: Read the mind of an enemy commander to determine their tactics ahead of time. Expensive.
Zen Inception: By putting enemy soldiers in a zen-like state, we can use their minds as a relay system to read minds further away. The spell is easy to disrupt, but simple to use.
Gust of Wind: Evokes physical force to create a heavy gust of wind, sufficient to disperse fog and most minor concealment, as well as disperse irritating swarms. Expensive.
Cyclone Shield: Protects the beneficent from most arrows and some blows with a sheath of wind. Expensive.
Storm Strike: Summons heavy rain and winds over the course of a day. Expensive.
Clear Weather: Negates inclement weather within the given area. Nests within Storm Strike for protection.
Hammer of Allah: Induce lightning from summoned storms. Strikes indiscriminately, so can't be used in "danger close" situations.
Spear of Allah: Call down an individual bolt of lightning to target enemy commanders. Difficult to control, has a tendency to hit the caster as often as not. Our mages refuse to use it.
Tubikh Rrahim: Area-of-affect spell centered around the caster. Prevents all magic from being cast within a short range. Cheap.
Dispell Enchantments: Dispells enchantments on items, including standard crystal weapons. Expensive.
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Topic: Wands Race - [Moskurg] {COMPLETED} (Read 185977 times)