Military Strategies

[Squall255]

20 Symbol of Insanity (pass triggered) someone has been reading OotS. haha. yeah, i realized that the spells were kinda high level, but didn't look too much into them. it was a rough plan. but whatever.

I'm thinking antimagic field through the gates. Judson can eldritch blast the prying eyes. I have the maximise metamagic feat, and can apply it to scrolls and to the staff, if that does any good. from my memmory, it won't do much if anything. too bad I don't have twin yet. twin heal... that would kick ass. Will think this over tomorrow, more planing to come.

[Zanaikin]

well, they're also the only effective symbol I could use, the other ones are either not right for the situation, OR they're just banned for Misalinians (Symbol of Death & Pain). Not to mention starting fights between various goblin groups would cause misunderstandings

[littleangryman]

Some of which are guaranteed to be VERY entertaining.

[Sajuuk]

Well, I managed to solve Judson's fire support problem

The Guard ground units will have floor plans of the tower that are grid-squared out. The gunnery crew will have either a 3D representation of the tower or maps that are grid squared out. This allows for accurate firing of Phase Shots into the tower.

[Mr_Praetorian]

[littleangryman]

[Squall255]

[Zanaikin]

[TheDude51]

Trap location ideas:

If we can locate the entrance to that Mage's Private Sanctum on the walltop, a Symbol of Insanity right there would sow havoc with any troops they have inside it when they try to deploy. Similarly, the main gates to the inner Keep should be Symboled to hit any troops that try to deploy from the inside to the walls. Any lesser entrances to the inner Keep should be mined and/or arcane locked.

I feel that arcane lock would be the best choice for the doors to full barracks, as it will neutralize ALL the troops inside, rather than just killing/injuring some of them. If the barracks has enough soldiers in it to be worth it, a Symbol of Insanity would also be a valid option. For example, the barracks of the elite orcs and/or ogre/troll troops should be Symboled.

If the Keep has an armoury that is in use, filling it with explosive runes and gylphs of warding would make it much more difficult for the troops to become combat-ready. A Symbol of insanity would also work.

I disagree with eric's idea for the library/mage gather place. A will-save effect is not the most effective for dealing with casters. If such a location can be identified, explosive type traps would be better.

Trapping the main dining area could also be an excellent idea, depending on the time of day. However, if we go in at night, which I feel would be best, it is unlikely that there would be significant numbers inside the dining area.

Stairways between levels of the inner Keep and from the courtyard to the walltop are prime targets for mining.

Any corridors that lead from where troops are inside the keep to the outside of the keep should be mined just in case they escape from their barracks.


If this goes off as planned, the bulk of the enemy troops will be locked into their barracks for the entire battle. The commanders will be taken out with a blast from the rune cannon, while troops on the wall will kill each other under the effects of the Symbol of Insanity. Any hostiles that do manage to deploy will be caught in the web of traps that will fill the interior. The Keep will fall with barely a fight, and the barracks can be cleared out at our leisure. If things don't go according to plan, it could be a disaster.

Force composition:
As many casters as possible, particularly tactical spell squads. A few general casters and field healers will accompany the infiltration teams, while a large number of illusionists, each protected by a couple of skirmishers, will deploy the phantom army. A group of aerial cavaliers protect the sky galleon from any counter-attack from the keep would also be helpful. Otherwise, just as many blasters as is possible.

Possible Screw-Ups:
Early Detection: if the infiltration teams are discovered before the wards are in place, the original plan falls apart. The Keep floods with hostiles, making movement extremely difficult. Further, the commanders are put on alert and will not be surprised. In this case, the best option would be for the strike team to move as quickly as possible directly to the command center, trying to avoid detection by enemy soldiers and killing those that cannot be avoided. With luck, the enemy commanders will still be taken out. This leaves the entire enemy force deployed to their defense positions. They will be pounded repeatedly by rune-cannon shots and tactical spells, while the infiltration teams will move out of the keep and prepare to engage any enemy forces that try to close with the sky galleon. If the sky-galleon can be protected, the enemy forces will either be routed or simply annihilated by the sheer mass of firepower they are confronted with. The deployement of an illusionary army should help with damaging enemy morale.

Imperium Anti-air battery stationed in the Keep: If the infiltration teams discover one of these inside the keep, they should make every effort to destroy it (Disintigrate on sight). Such a battery would prevent the approach of the Sky Galleon and thus cut off the main source of fire support for the attack. If the gun is destroyed, the plan can proceed as normal. If for any reason the battery remains operational, modifications will have to be made. The Sky Galleon should be immediately notified, and will then land and deploy its contingent of blasters, who will approach on foot. The infiltration teams will have to take out the enemy commanders without fire support, and the second wave will be significantly weakened. However, if all else succeeds, the impact will be minimal and the infiltration teams will be the only ones to really be hurt by it.

Illusionists killed/disbled/dispelled/otherwise negated: While unfortunate, this would not really set the plan back that far, barring other unforseen circumstances. While it would make it harder to break enemy morale, the sky galleon and its crew of blasters should be able to make short work of any enemy troops that manage to deploy to their battle stations. The skirmishers attached to the illusionists should be able to prevent their death, either by killing or avoiding threats.

Sky Galleon attacked:
An enemy strike force that manages to land on the galleon would be a terrible blow to the attack. If the enemy can engage our blasters and tactical spell squads in melee range, they could inflict horrendous casualties, and even do significant damage to the ship itself, possibly disabling the entire second wave if their assault is lethal enough. Thus, this possibility merits further consideration.
The galleon is anything but helpless. Any approaching enemy will be targeted by as many staff gatlings as possible, regardless of invisibility, thanks to the ships scanners. Use of faerie fire by the ships innate defenses would allow all the blasters on board to target the approaching foe. Lacking this, as many casters as possible should have See Invisibility active so that they can hit an approaching stealthed enemy. If the enemy is immune or resistant to magic, the squad of aerial cavaliers will move to engage them while the casters do whatever they can to support. SR ignoring effects as well as dispels to try to negate enemy buffs, and hopefully their flight, would be advisable. However, despite our best efforts, their is still the possibility that the enemy will pierce the galleon's defenses and begin to wreak havoc on board. The casters should each have one or two spells prepared to defend themselves, and as many as possible should be able to fly.
In addition, the infiltration teams should be equiped with word of recall insignias that teleport them back to the Sky Galleon. If a Misalen command post can punch through a lockdown effect, the ship's energy core should be able to also. This serves the dual purpose of allowing the ship to be quickly and effectively defended as well as giving the infiltration teams the option of an immediate retreat should their situation become untenable.

If enough of these factors combine, the infiltration teams should be ready to teleport out, or otherwise retreat if that is impossible, and the entire attack called off. For example, if the infiltrators are discovered early and there is an Imperium anti-air battery present that they are unable to destroy, chances of success would plummet and retreat would be the best option. Retreat should be saved for a last resort, as it will be much harder to attack the keep once they have repelled our first attempt.

[Zanaikin]

Mage's Private Sanctum is an abjuration ward, you might want to look at that spell (its a dam good defensive spell if you have time to lay it down before a battle). There is no 'entrance' for that thing since it doesnt blockade people in the first place.

the 'barracks' is spread throughout the lower three levels of the Keep. There's no particular entrance, unless you want to shut off the entire Inner Keep building. The stuff aren't in separate buildings, they're in the same building just separate areas inside it (the Inner Keep building is darn huge).

Where you getting the idea of an Imperium cannon here oO

one of the prereqs which will be expected before launching the attack is Kovis reporting drawing out their 'anti-air' troops, most probably their mages. This would mean when the attack proceeds, there are few counter-air capable troops still garrisoned within the Keep (plenty of crossbows, but they lack the range and power to deal with long range attacks). However, the Keep has a moderate number of siege weapons, although they should only pose a threat if the Sky Galleon get too close.

[TheDude51]

I must have been thinking of mage's magnificent mansion.

In that case, we would want to spread explosive wards/glyphs throughout the first three levels of the keep, with symbols of insanity on the main entrances and main stairwells. Arcane locks on key doors would also be good.

A tactical cloudkill spell, perhaps more, would be good to saturate enemy defenses, killing, weakening, and demoralizing.

[Zanaikin]

Judson you are SO getting credit for the tactical cloudkill, cause I completely never thought of that xD (Rules of War on Earth must have embedded into my mind too much). Not to mention this'll make the overall phase2 of the attack MUCH easier. I'll figure how much bonus xp to give after the fight.

Thus far, that has not been a tactic used by the Misalin troops. Although hearing your suggestion and analyzing the fortress, they notice its quite an ingenious idea indeed. The inner keep's glass windows have long been broken after the fortress was abandoned by the elves. The orcs and Norinth troops never bothered to try repair it all, so they just covered it up with not-so-airtight things. Thus the cloudkill effect conjured outside would penetrate through all the layers with ease and slaughter most of the garrison. With most of their mages either asleep or away, they won't be able to counter the spell so easily and by the time they manage to dispel it the damage will be done.

[Zanaikin]

Ok, I'd like to inform people some of these strategy discussions are ACTUALLY taking place ingame, just that the Player-to-In-Character Roleplaying is kind of informal. So effective participation on your part in these discussions will get you boons ingame in terms of XP and promotions in the long run. (and like I just told marty that his lack of contributions this time doesn't quite help his char )

although, sometimes the bonus XP I'll award your char may take a penalty if your char doesn't have the mental scores to justify certain brilliance (Int/Wis). Although sometimes it seems like even people who read military tactics cant think of it (like here).

so far, Drew will definitely be getting credit for the Illusionary army plan (although I kinda drafted it up at the same time he gave me it, I think I'll let a PC take the credit this time ), and Judson for his scenario planning and tactical cloudkill idea.

Squall: not sure what I might give you credit for but nice job on starting the whole process . Next time make sure you consider both effectiveness of a plan as well as things like... its consumption of resources, the difficulty of carrying it out, and such.



another thing ingame, Kovis' air scouts also report sighting a corpse collector west of the Keep, salvaging the uncleaned mess left behind by the last Misalin assault. They're not sure how the enemy got hold of one (they're typically under the control of Norinth necromancers), but its working full time to process corpses, increasing its own size while it works on slowly building Behemoth units. So far they already sight one Behemoth, which will make any ground assault extremely dangerous.

His scouts also report that they watched as a group of several hundred goblins leave the Keep, only to be chased down by the Behemoth outside and slaughtered. It would seem the enemy commander isn't taking nicely to clans who are trying to desert. This would probably mean most of the remaining goblin clans will either have their leaders controlled by Romish and his green draconic orcs by means of compulsion, or be too frightened to leave in fear of being annihilated.

[Laharl]

About the only thing I can think of to add is as follows: Assuming we have any illusionists left (high level, though), Hallucinatory Terrain has uses that are fairly obvious: Cover up pits, create terrain to lure the second phase where we want it, use Nightmare Terrain to scare the shit out of them (I think that spell exists, SC probably, though iirc it's very high level). Illusion-covered pits/mines have a far better chance of being useful than those in plain sight.

My other idea is to use a green dragon illusion to insult them and attempt to psychologically devastate their morale because as green draconic orcs, they would greatly admire a green dragon.

[Squall255]

combining that with Judson's idea, have the AIRSHIP look like a green dragon. THe 250d6 beam will definately demoralize if shot from a Green Dragon. As for the enemy mages, we deffinately need to put something there. Arcane lock is no good cause they can dispell it. symbol of insanity is will save isn't it? otherwise insane mages are dangerous. especially to themselves.

I'm kinda worried that tactical cloudkill would hurt US though.

SO units:

I'm thinking
40 war wizards (if possible) with focus on illusion
40 skirmishers
20 field Clerics
15 warmages
and the rest being elite foot soldiers. roughly 35 of them.