Here is an overview of details to keep in mind:

Kahan has used one spell for raise dead.

STRENGTH OF ARMY:

Krugoth is providing you with the following:

55 Level 1 Warriors
15 Level 1 Rogues
5 Level 1 Clerics
5 Level 1 Mages

(The mages and clerics will memorize and cast first level spells as desired.)

NIMITH: Incarcerated (unavailable)

ANLISADE:  12 dwarves:  Anlisade and his 11 sons are loyal to Kahan's commands, and secondarily to Borimer; they will be unwilling to listen to Arthure.
1 Level 5 Warrior (Anlisade)
8 Level 2 Warriors
3 Level 1 Warriors

POLYANTHAR: 10 dwarves: They follow Polyanthar, who in turn will answer to Flint, Grizz or Grung; but they will listen to anyone's commands.

1 Level 7 Rogue (Polyanthar)
1 Level 5 Warrior (Cynth)
1 Level 5 Ranger (Duanthar)
3 Level 2 Warriors

Anlisade and Polyanthar's men will stay together throughout the fight as one group.

This message was last edited by the GM at 20:22, Wed 05 Oct 2011.

Here is your basic fighting force.  Typically, you will have 5 people to a square, but up to 10 is allowed for the sake of space.  You can keep reserves back near the wall and bring them out in later waves.

(OOC: I thought he used a Raise Dead spell from his scroll? Is Kahan actually sacrificing one of his daily spells before the battle begins?)


(OOC: Don't you mean Flint? I don't think Anlisade was mad at Arthure, it was Flint who he was angry at for killing his sons.)


(OOC: It was actually Naj who met with Polyanthar, not Flint. I think Naj is the one you meant.)

Yes, Kahan is actually sacrificing one of his daily spells, as I said IC and to which Adaran said nothing. :)

Yeah, what Adaran said.  I must have mixed our three new guys up.

Anlisade and Polyanthar's people will always stay together in one group.

The other 80 can be split amongst yourselves.  For example, I assume Adaran would want to control some or all of the rogues, Borimer, Grung, etc. would want warriors...but whatever you want.

Divide them among:

Adaran
Arthure
Borimer
Flint
Grizz
Grung
Kahan
Naj

Notice how they evenly divide up by 8?  :)

Two more items to clear up:

1) You have a cart full of things that is just sitting around.  What is in the cart, if anything?  Or are you transferring everything out of or into the cart?  I want to know what you are each carrying and what you are not.  If not, where is it?

2) What about Kahan's dog?  Is it going to be in the fight?  I think Kahan keeps forgetting about the poor thing.  ;)

It's not that I keep forgetting about it, it's more like we haven't had a chance to use him very much. Yes, I would like him to be with me during the war, preferably with a leash and collar so he doesn't run off without me (not that he would, he's trained after all).

Grung will take warriors, but one cleric in his group would be nice.  As well it would be good to have as many as possible with missile weapons.

borimer has already retrieved his three barrels of exploding powder from the cart. he has a list of other miscellaneous items in it, and no need to use them until after the fight.  unless anyone else needs the cart, we should leave it in the dwarven compound where it is.

according to the mass combat rules, borimer's armor class and thaco can make a group of dwarves better if they follow him. perhaps borimer should have the lions share, and be posted whereever the fighting will be thickest.

*edit*

perhaps grung should be in the middle with borimer, or he and grung could divide up the lions share of the dwarven warriors?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:19, Thu 06 Oct 2011.

Well, with 80 soldiers total, we can each have a unit of 10. Giving Borimer, Grung, and Grizz a unit of 10 warriors each would make for a unit of 33.

I was thinking I could take a couple of warriors and lead Polyanthar and Anlisade's group, maybe with a spellcaster or two to have a more ranged unit.


Using a flaming trebuchet or three might also be a good idea.

(OOC: Rogues are really more of a special forces type unit. Incorporating them into units with Warriors wouldn't make much sense - they'll worsen the overall unit's THAC0 and AC, and won't be able to make use of the abilities that make them worthwhile combatants in the first place. So I think Adaran should take command of the 15 Rogues as a separate unit and employ guerrilla tactics (hide in niches/caves and ambush orcs from behind as they charge past, sneak behind enemy lines and backstab the siege engine crews/sabotage the war machines, then retreat back to concealment, etc) for best effect. A bunch of level 1 Rogues will be virtually useless as a defensive force due to poor armor, so we're better off if they avoid making themselves a definable target altogether.

I think the Clerics should sit in with Kahan when he uses the Incense of Meditation so that they all get the maximum spell-effects benefit. Then Kahan should take command of them as a group, since he's the only one with an IC sense for what sorts of spells they can cast and how they can make themselves most effective from round to round.

I also think Kahan should have Augmantium ready, so that he can unleash its anti-magic upon the orcs at the start of the battle just in case they have any magical weapons or assets. Then he can immediately shut the box and stash it in his Bag of Holding (assuming he wants Adaran's, since Grizz decided he'd prefer to hold onto his).

Flint should take command of the Mages as a special unit for the same reasons Kahan should lead the Clerics. Each one of them is a valuable asset, so they should be kept out of harm's way as much as possible - up on ridges and behind cover/concealment.

Borimer, Grizz, Grung, Naj, and Arthure should split the 55 Warriors - 5 groups of 11 would seem sensible. However, I noticed that our biggest advantage here seems to be the potential to capitalize on the terrain in conjunction with many small groups of infantry from multiple locations and directions rather than focusing strength in larger bodies of troops. Remember that we're badly outnumbered here so if it were to come down to a battle of sizes, we'd lose anyway. Our best chance is to spread out our forces as much as possible - giving the orcs harder and less tangible targets for bombardments, curbing our losses from direct melee (since there'd be fewer troops per unit to suffer casualties whenever they're hit), allow more open space for our ranged weapons (including Anlisade's sun ray device) to cut a swath through the approaching orc hordes without our troops being in the way, and allowing for much better offensive capability due to numerous tight assault units each attacking the orcs independently (i.e. each one gets a separate attack/separate chance to hit) instead of a more concentrated force with an all-or-nothing hit and damage ratio.)

If you have a group of rogues, I am not opposed to having a mass ambush -- i.e., a mass backstab after they come out of hiding.

You can similarly use clerics in a group to heal 1 HD per round (essentially, this is like throwing out one death per round in that group).  They can stand in the back to be hit last (unless some AOE attack takes them out).

Same with mages.  They can stay in the rear to avoid getting hit first except by AoE attacks.

(OOC: I think it would be much wiser for us to keep the clerics and mages out of harm's way entirely - up on the north and south ridges of the gorge. As Heath said, the orcs are going to be attacking with bombardments too, so keeping clerics and mages in the back does not ensure their protection from AOE attacks. I think it would be smarter to keep the spellcasters "on hand" so to speak - safe from the battle until they need to be dispatched to heal wounded or get in closer for short range spells. They're too valuable to risk losing them to enemy bombardments.

This brings me to my other thought - I think we should endeavor to make the whole gorge essentially one giant trap and keep our forces out of it. Spread caltrops, bear-traps, snares, and hidden pit-traps over the ground as much as possible, have groups of archers sitting up on the ridges, have the bombardment engines stationed in the elevated grass patches and other high points, have the sun ray device ready to fire straight down the mouth of the gorge, have the clerics prepared to use Entagle spells on any orcs that make it through, have the mages prepared to launch AOE spells at them once they're immobilized in condensed masses, have the rogues hidden in niches and caves ready to jump out and backstab or sneak further down the gorge and take out their bombardment crews, have the skeletons ready to attack after the initial bombardment, have dwarves fly out on earthrocs and dump greek fire oil over the orcs and then have the archers shoot barrages of flaming arrows at them to set them aflame, and then charge at their remnants with our troops after we've won the upper hand. Until then, I say keep our men out of the gorge completely and make it one giant trap for the orcs to walk into.)

The only main thing I see wrong (well, not wrong, but potentially wrong) is I'm not sure Krugoth would let us use the earthrocs; they might already be used elsewhere.

As far as keeping the clerics out of combat, I would normally say this is a good idea, but if they're wearing heavy armor, I think they could be able to handle themselves behind a group of warriors after the orcs' siege weapons are dealt with. While they are still firing, I agree they should be kept out of range, perhaps staying by Anlisade/Polyanthar's men to keep the Sunray firing (and the orcs away from them with entangles). Looking at the spell list, honestly Entangle is the only spell I can see having any real tactical use for a first level cleric.

Another concern is do we have enough traps to actually do what you have planned? I like the idea, but resources are a major concern here, not to mention time. It would likely take hours to put up all those traps, and I'm not sure we have the time.

I do think those are all good ideas, but I'm not quite sure if they're feasible... (and yes, I know, I should be coming up with a plan to counter your plan with, but honestly, I think your's is a good idea; if we can actually do it).

You will be given 10 earthrocs.  Earthrocs are extremely valuable to these dwarves, and to your potential escape, if needed, so I suggest you use them sparingly.

(Sorry, I should have put those in the initial post.)

(OOC: I agree that my plan depends partially on whether the traps are feasible. However, caltrops and bear-traps at least are cheap and quick to set. It's the snares and pit-traps that would take more time. But we do have the rest of the evening before the battle to do this, so we do have several hours to work with.)

You have time, but you do have limited traps and caltrops, so I'd use them wisely.

Flint puts his thinking cap on, "Five frist level mages, humm...  this should prove intresting, I'll see what kind of tatics I can come up with."

(OOC: Heath, I had asked this before but didn't get a response:


This message was last edited by the player at 22:56, Thu 06 Oct 2011.

Sorry, didn't see that.

This is an outer wall.  It does not lead to the compound itself.  But yes it is a limited area enclosed by the mountainous terrain.  Think of it like a dam, but instead of keeping out water, it keeps out the enemy.

Yes, as to what you see in the gorge.  That was preprinted in the sample I took, so I kept it.

The huge boulder is in the center walled area, toward the north (just north of the grass area).  It can be pushed off into the eastern or western small inlet.

I don't know about the traps.  We'd have to count them.  You guys have some dynamite, some bear traps, etc.

Grizz can set a trap in each of the three north inlets.  That's all he'll have time for and traps in the large open area will be difficult to conceal and use in the marsh.