We have about 6 weeks until the next game, which gives me plenty of time to plan and strategize, but I'm always interesting in learning new tactics and tricks, so I thought I would share the situation with you folks, my readers, and see what you think.
Here's the layout of the earthworks and surrounding area:
The green is the surrounding forest. The gray line represents the former road, overgrown in the woods. The brown represents about a 100 yard diameter area where the Inn used to be and is now enclosed in a wood palisade. Two gates - one to the east (the direction of the main Orc army), one to the west, facing the direction of the human town, Enonia. The white is a cleared out area of about 100 yards from the palisade to the woods edge. The orcs felled trees to construct the palisade and provide an area to see around.
The grey circles are two crude "towers", little more than the rubble of the inn piled up, with wooden platforms on top. These are manned by 1 to 2 orcs as lookouts watching to the west. The gates are fairly robust, as is the palisade itself - the walls of the earthworks look as below.
Here's what the humans know:
- There are "dozens" of orcs in the earthworks, maybe up to 100. There may also be an unknown number of goblyns.
- The orcs have some number of horse-mounted cavalry. They maintain patrols of up to 10 at a time, and it's been known that they've sent 20 at a time to face human cavalry probes.
- There is a secret way into the palisade, through a series of tunnels that lead into the basement. They don't know what is in the basement, if it's been sealed over, or is open, but it would lead into the middle of the area inside the palisade.
- There is probably a shaman and orc war chief in the group.
The noble would like the adventurers to sneak inside and blow the western gate open. He believes that when he shows up in force, the orcs will probably send the cavalry out the eastern gate and sweep around on both sides to attack. ("At least, that is what I would do!" he says.)
Here are the available human forces:
- 20 Military Knights (including two higher level nobles - the Marshall and Sir Reynald, plate/sword, more HD in these bunch than the levy knights)
- 60 Levy Knights (levies are nobles and hired mercenaries, plate/sword)
- 20 Cavalry (chain/sword)
- 100 Light Footmen (Leather/spear/sword)
- 20 Light Archers (Leather/bow/shortsword)
The objective for the humans is to get the orcs attention and possibly to commit forces while the adventurers get into the palisade and blow open the door. At which time, the mounted forces would sweep into the fort. If the adventurers fail, the human forces would withdraw.
So... armchair wargame generals... here's your chance to influence my campaign. To be the Marshall and inject some randomness and unpredictability into the campaign. I know what the orcs' response will most likely be, but I'd like the human plans to be unpredictable.
How would YOU have the Marshall prosecute the battle from the side of the humans? How would you use your forces to give the adventurers enough time to blow open the gates (one of the PC mages pretty much sold his soul for fireball scrolls) and then be able to crash into the fort? How would you factor in the orcs cavalry and unknown size? The fact that orcs are not stupid, but extremely cunning, willing to fight to the death in many situations and completely committed to the annihilation of the human race, so that this will be a difficult battle?
Ask me questions (I'll put answers in the post as edits for future readers) and let me know what you think!
As an aside, I'm going to be mixing 1:1 D&D standard combat with Delta's Book of War for the mass-combat portions, when we have this fight on the tabletop in November... and I will have the palisade in miniature!
Edited to add:
1. In my campaign, orcs and goblyns are not affected by sunlight.
Edited to add:
1. In my campaign, orcs and goblyns are not affected by sunlight.
0 Yorumlar