Can you make a full itemization of the troops we have at our disposal, and the approximate battle experience of each.
[ul][li]100 head of men-at-arms; lightly armored, shield-bearing spearmen. These men are also trained to use longbows[sup]1[/sup].[/li][li]50 head of men-at-arms; lightly armored halberdsmen. These men are also trained to use longbows. [/li][li]100 head of woodsmen; untrained, unarmored and lightly armed (axes)[/li][li]200 head of conscripts, Bull Group; untrained, unarmored and lightly armed (spears, clubs, short swords, the occasional pitchfork), led by Cyrus Faramond.[*]200 head of conscripts, Ram Group; untrained, unarmored and lightly armed (spears, clubs, short swords, the occasional pitchfork)[/li][li]200 head of conscripts, Stallion Group; untrained, unarmored and lightly armed (spears, clubs, short swords, the occasional pitchfork)[/li][li]25 head of light cavalry; lightly armored, mounted and armed with spears.[/li][li]25 head of light cavalry; lightly armored, mounted and armed with spears.[/li][li]20 head of heavy cavalry; armored, mounted and armed with lances and short swords.[/li][li]200 head of Arcadian pirates; lightly armored and armed with javelins (all have one, half have two) and various light weaponry (short swords, daggers, etc), led by Opek and Henry Faramond.[/ul][/li]The men-at-arms and cavalry have all received formal training including drilling, banner communication and simple martial combat exercises. It’s likely that only the oldest among them have actually served in war. The Arcadians, while having never been drilled in formations or battlefield maneuvers, are hardened killers all.
1 - The longbows have not yet been divided up among the men-at-arms. They can either go to the spearmen or the halberdsmen.
The fortress would only need a minimal garrison to ward off siege and delay long enough for the 350 men coming down the Ironway to be handled. I would think they would need bows to defend to fortress, however. I would suggest the 50 halberdsmen left behind with longbows.
Cavalry would obviously be useless there, so they can assist in the field. And I would advise that the Arcadians be used as a flanking force so as to adhere to their demand not to be fodder (though they should be heavily involved).
Overwhelm the 350 and scatter them. Bait the main force into besieging the fortress and bring about our full force behind them to trap them between a rock and a hard place, as it were.
That sounds good to me. We should try to find somewhere where we can make a show of resistance with our own men-at-arms and Cyrus’s conscripts while circling the Arcadians to flank or rear of the enemy to fall on them with a volley of javelins. Take the light cavalry as scouts and also as pursuers so that when the enemy break and run they are kept on the run, hopefully with heavy casualties or many prisoners. Use the heavy cavalry in a group to the rear of the men-at-arms so that if our force is flanked, the flankers themselves have to receive a cavalry charge in flank or rear. We have too few heavy horse to break 350 men-at-arms by themselves but they would be unpleasant for an already engaged force to have to deal with.
Hrothgar is happy to lead the men-at-arms. Can we arrange an interception somewhere where the Arcadians can be temporarily concealed (in woods, behind a hill-crest or similar)?
So far I know that Keiron is staying behind and Henry, Cyrus and Hrothgar are leaving. I’m giving everyone else a brief chance to let me know if their character is leaving or staying behind as well. If I don’t hear from someone I’ll try to reasonably distribute them among the force that is striking out to the east.
Dang I can never tell when God is sleeping or awake. Anyway, I’ll be posting Baldur and Týr’s intentions within the next few hours.
Baldur begins bickering with himself, his head cocked to one shoulder where there happens to sit a large squirrel.
“No way, no how, now is not the time.”
“I know you have the knowledge; you got all top marks in war theory, but you have no more real battlefield experience than I, that is to say, none!”
Baldur begins to notice people taking notice of his strange actions and retreats to the nearest clearing.
“I said no. It’s too risky. I know you can do it but it’s just too dangerous.”
“I know performing bravely well in this battle will get us in good with Ironhall, but it’s not worth it. Listen… I can’t lose you again!”
“Oh, there you go, playing the brother card again. It’s always the brother card. Even when I’m right, it doesn’t matter, because you are older. What a load of auroch-shit!”
“…No, it’s not that. Of course I want to see you human again. How can you even say that?”
“Look, stop pouting! It’s unbecoming of you! …Fine. We’ll do it. But stay hidden! This is foolish enough already without the need for heroics.”
Baldur returns to the main group. “I’ll lead these men,” he says as he gestures to the Ram grouping. “How we shall be of service I shall leave to the capable mind of Sir Harrow.”
“Now you’ve gone and done it,” Baldur whispers into his pocket to a resting Týr.
Naimar will follow Baldur and make sure he doesn’t get killed.
Henry approves of Keiron and Hrothgar’s ideas.
“By the way. Anyone have a better trained horse I can borrow for this? Last time my horse felt threatened, it took all my ability just to stop it from running away.”
:Sohan will stay behind:
“Unless you have need for me, my Lords. I can fight if you want, but only with bow and arrow.”
“If we do not have to stand a siege, so much the better,” adds Hrothgar, “but just in case, how are we provisioned for a thousand men?”
*Sir Harrow takes Keiron’s advice to heart and orders those men-at-arms with longbows and halberds to remain at Ironhall along with the Stallion group of conscripts, leaving Keiron with a garrison of 300 soldiers. They will take up defensive positions in the keep proper should an enemy force arrive. Loshessa and a single of Opek’s men are given lodging in the castle. The remaining 820 men are set to march along the East Ironway.
Sir Harrow and Henry ride at the head of the army.
Hrothgar rides at the head of the available men-at-arms, which marches in a column down the center of the road in double-file.
Cyrus and Cutter ride at the head of the Bull group directly at Hrothgar’s rear, Brute happily trotting alongside.
Baldur and Naimar ride at the head of the Ram group, directly at Cyrus’ rear.
The cavalry rides directly at Baldur and Naimar’s rear. Though they are quite capable of riding along the road they will encounter difficulty in the rough, wooded region where the engagement is expected to take place.
Opek rides at the head of the Arcadians, directly at the cavalry’s rear. They are a ragtag mob who Opek doesn’t bother keeping in file.
Sohanux and Choke ride at the rear of the force with the woodsmen. *
*The army marches through the afternoon and evening until they encounter a suitable ambush point: There is a pair of steep hills positioned about two hundred yards apart through which the road passes, likely the site of an ancient, long-dried riverbed. This flat area would give the cavalry a decent ground upon which to charge, though they'll be less effective if they're drawn back into the thick woods.
Sir Harrow orders everyone to take positions. The **Bull** and **Ram groups** each settle into place on the northern slope of the northern hill. The men-at-arms take up similar positions with the woodsmen on the southern slope of the southern hill. The cavalry are left on the road a few hundred yards west. **Choke** is to ride to fetch them once the combat has started.*
"Where you have us?" *Opek rides to meet with the Faramonds and Harrow, who are making war council.*
"Move an hour east under the cover of night. Stay off the road. When you see them pass follow at a distance. When they arrive you'll engage them from behind." *Instructs Harrow.*
*Opek gives Harrow and the party the Arcadian farewell* "Fair winds" *before leading his men off the road and into the night.*
"Ancestors help us. Pray they don't give up our positions."
*The night is cold and made even more uncomfortable given that the soldiers aren't permitted to light fires or even sleep. The army lies in wait as the hours pass silently. Sometime around midnight there are short showers; enough to chill the men to the bone without turning the ground to mud. Those soldiers who dare to hold hushed conversations with one another are rebuked angrily lest they give the ambush away.*
Keiron doesn’t sleep easily at Ironhall. After weeks of harsh imprisonment he thought he’d be happy to be back in his warm bed but there is an unease in the air. People seldom talk in the halls of the keep and those peasants remaining in town stay shuttered in the homes they occupy. Wilfred, still gravely injured from his duel with Cyrus, is hardly able to stand and so he is moved, bed and all, to the dungeons along with his men. Though it’s unlikely anyone has spoken to him regarding the current situation it must be obvious to him what is happening and the threat of an impending siege lifts his spirits. Only the Lord Ironhall himself seems unaffected by the tension.
“With you and Sir Harrow at the helm I fear nothing.” Boasts the Baron to Sir Keiron. “Let all of Pordeaux come at us!”
*Dawn eventually arrives after hours of painful apprehension. Every movement and sound of the forest only worsens the anxiety. Finally, in the very early morning with the Sun still obscured by the treeline, there comes the sound of marching. The Shedlund men-at-arms are moving in rows of ten, each man about five feet away from his neighbors to the front, back and sides. Though unarmored beneath their tabards, about half of them are armed with pikes, the rest with shorter spears. The force's number is closer to 400 than 350, with three mounted individuals at the head, two obviously noble.*
*One of the noblemen at the front is a greying, massively-broad-chested man riding on a tall black horse with a white face. Chainmail extends over his shoulders and down his arms from beneath his tabard and he has a longsword at his belt. The second noble is younger, likely in his early 20s, and is similarly armed and armored as his companion and rides atop a smaller brown horse. While the men-at-arms they lead wear Shedlund's purple the noblemen's tabards are bright yellow with black stripes. Their horses are draped in similarly-decorated caparisons. **Naimar**, peering over the top of the hill alongside the Faramonds and Harrow, informs them that he's pretty sure they're noblemen from Roland northeast of Little Shedlund, just south of the Chokemire. Roland was once a barony-town in its own right but as Little Shedlund grew more powerful it swallowed its neighbor and now Roland is merely a district within the larger Barony. The noble house has been in service to Shedlund for nearly a century and is a trusted pool of allies.*
"All right. The time has come." *Harrow creeps back down the hill and mounts up, turning to the **Faramonds**, **Naimar** and **Cutter**.* "Hrothgar *(and **Sohan** and **Choke**)* waits with the men-at-arms and woodsmen on the other side. They await our signal."
I'll take battle orders from everyone (except **Keiron**) now. Remember that the army itself will need instruction as well. If contradictory orders are given they'll listen first to Sir Harrow, then any Faramond, then the others in the party. In order to make them actually ignore Harrow's orders a successful social check (intimidate, persuasion, expression, etc) must be made. Without instruction they're likely to simply go with the flow of the battle.“Not long” is Harrow’s reply. “With a thousand men we could last maybe two weeks if we rationed them to the last crumb of bread. Thankfully some of them will have brought their own food.”
Unfortunately you would have only gotten another dirt. The only finebreed encountered thus far is Sir Harrow’s frostbred.
We need my men-at-arms in a block, four deep and tight together, spear and shield. They’re to drive with the slope behind them straight for the centre of the Shedlunds and fix their front. That lets the conscripts have at their flanks once the Arcadians have done their part. Keep the light cavalry clear until the enemy formation breaks, the heavies can look for a chance to drive in on flank or rear once the melee develops. The woodsmen to stay a couple of chains behind the men-at-arms and if the latter are enveloped by the Shedlunds the woodsman are to charge, but otherwise I want to keep those axes in reserve for if we have to fight armour some time.
Hrothgar will stay with the men-at-arms, horsed initially. He will use his normal axe to begin with.
The men-at-arms quickly get into formation, about twelve men wide. The woodsmen mob up behind them, axes at the ready. Choke nods his understanding to Hrothgar and rides off into the woods to the west towards the waiting cavalry, keeping well south of the road to avoid being spotted.
Results to be posted once I have orders from everyone.
Cyrus, to Cutter - “Don’t tell Henry I said so, but I don’t want to take those Shedlund nobles alive. Kill the young one, and I’ll take out the big one.”
Cyrus will lead the bull group to charge upon a signal from Harrow or Henry, or if any other Ironhall unit attacks. Cyrus will prioritize attacking the older Shedlund noble, using willpower every round against him.
Cutter sheathes his sword and equips the Nutcracker.
:Sohan waits for orders:
Sohan, stay out of melee range and heal as many as you can.
To Harrow:
I will ride with you for now. Combat is not my strength, but persuasion and communication are. If there is a change in plans for any group, I will relay the orders to the various groups. I will still fight as necessary, but don’t expect the same results as you’d get from Hrothgar, Cyrus, or Baldur on that front.
“Fine, my Lord. I will do so.”