Pendragon
Out of Character => Game Discussion => Topic started by: Arne on January 08, 2018, 07:51:18 PM
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So here's an interesting question:
Cedwyn's proposing to use his Irish mercs as the front line. Now I can see the Cymric reasoning for that . . . not only are they pikemen, but they're also mercs. Would the Nords, however, see taking the position of the front line as a post of honor?
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His Irish mercenaries are semi-feral knifers, similar to the troops that first landed on shore when you guys arrived. He probably wants them in the front so they don't run away. :)
The right flank in a Cymric formation is the position of honour, reserved for the best troops. You generally put your weakest troops in the centre of any formation, to make it less likely they will be able to run away.
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Hence the war-cry "Right of the line". ;) Okay, that will play into Nord pride.
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His Irish mercenaries are semi-feral knifers, similar to the troops that first landed on shore when you guys arrived. He probably wants them in the front so they don't run away. :)
The right flank in a Cymric formation is the position of honour, reserved for the best troops. You generally put your weakest troops in the centre of any formation, to make it less likely they will be able to run away.
Also so they die first...
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Maybe Sir Artaigne will boost their morale. ;)
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Just so I have it (fairly) clear, we're a force of about 250 right?
Winterbourne Stoke - 40 knifers, 60 militia
Falt - 60 knifers, 40 militia
Northmen - 40 total
And then the 5 of us?
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That’s my count. 245 in our battle line. Basically, two companies and a reserve platoon.
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I know Arne and Valka do, but does Artaigne speak Saxon? It would be nice to have a translator with each group.
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I don't think so.
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Can we tell which god/goddess/gods the church is dedicated to?
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Answered in my OOC reply in-thread.
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Given that we're the invading army, does 'pacify the populace' mean try to be nice and make friends or if we encounter resistance to squash it? I would think the latter, unless we were a liberating force I can't see a reason for the locals to be happy we're here.
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It's open to interpretation.
Sometimes, occasionally, if the populace may pose a hazard an invading army will be kind and offer gifts and otherwise try to help the locals. More often, pacify means to kill, beat, or frighten them into submission.
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Okay thanks. Just wanted to verify before I posted IC.
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Would there be any good reasons to capture and hold/ransom anyone of value? I don't know if plunder also includes nobility.
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Absolutely, plunder includes prisoners for ransom. Nobles, squires, anyone of any kind of rank or importance is likely to have someone somewhere willing to pay a ransom. Peasants are unlikely to be viable, costing more in food and upkeep than you'd ever get back as a ransom. But anyone of noble blood or high office would be worth taking prisoner.
The noblewoman (presuming she is such) has attacked Sir Cedwyn. That alone removes any oblige noblesse. At this point, taking anyone inside for ransoms would be expected, though they appear to have thoughts on that happening as well and may force you to take them on the point of a sword. Given the attack against his person, Sir Cedwyn would be well justified in simply killing everyone in the castle and putting their heads on pikes as an example to pacify the countryside. It would not do if the Frankish nobles started getting ideas about getting uppity.
Not that Sir Cedwyn leans that way, reputation-wise. But I suspect that, for example, Sir Geoffrey (or most other knights for that matter) would not show Sir Cedwyn's forbearance. Sometimes the ransom is not worth it.
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"...although I cannot promise gentle treatment for those crossbowmen if they seek to feather me again."
I might just be that over tired this morning that I found that funny enough to laugh out loud, but regardless, it did make me laugh. Thanks Darren. :)
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Man I wish Valka was there just to have heard the woman. Lol
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Corey, I wanted to remind you of something Arne said to Cedwyn in case you missed it or forgot.
"...Either the lady of the manor is a foul-mannered fishwife, or one of her maids is speaking to buy her lady time for escape. This manor might have an escape tunnel."
I think Darren might be on to something here, they have to know that resisting a group this size more than likely means their deaths.
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Man I wish Valka was there just to have heard the woman. Lol
That would have been funny to watch. Either Valka would have been laughing her head off at the Frankish woman's skill with insults, or she would've torn the manor down with her bare hands. ;D
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"...although I cannot promise gentle treatment for those crossbowmen if they seek to feather me again."
I might just be that over tired this morning that I found that funny enough to laugh out loud, but regardless, it did make me laugh. Thanks Darren. :)
I was thinking of Deadpool when that comment came out. ;) Actually, I was thinking of paraphrasing one of the movie's more famous lines out to the crossbowmen . . .
"Fellas! Hey! Hey! You only work for that shit-spackled muppet fart. So, I'm going to give you a chance for you all to lay down your weapons ... in exchange for preferential, bordering on gentle... possibly even lover-like treatment!"
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I snorted.
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Tripping over his own feet while running into the house. Wow, I felt like Nux from Fury Road. I'm surprised that Sir Cedwyn didn't shake his head and say, "Ahh, mediocre!" :P
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Oh man, Cedwyn is possibly about to have his ass handed to him by a couple of women!
Yeah yeah, I know, it's not PC, but this is Pendragon so it's okay to make a comment like that. :P
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LOL
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Darren, why isn’t Arne using his axe?
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His skill with the sword is only 1 pt. less than his skill with the great axe (actually they're equal, but Arne has a blessed great axe that gives him +1 on hit rolls), and swords don't break.
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Awareness roll of 12 vs 13, success.
I can always count on the Irishman to succeed in his check when everyone else fails. :)
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May not be able to do anything about it, but I can see it :o
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I think the dice roller is just built for DnD where ya want high rolls. ;D
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They're currently (as of 9 March) running 7.9994+ bits of entropy per byte of data, so the numbers are about as close to random as you can get, even if it doesn't feel like it. :)
Mandatory Dilbert comic: http://dilbert.com/strip/2001-10-25
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Nope, it doesn't feel like it. ;) I think I can give Wil Wheaton a good run for his money in cursed die rolls.
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How both Arne and Darren are feeling after 4 consecutive fail rolls on a skull of 15 . . . :P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKDlLAVEoGA
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LOL!
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Arne misses and gets knocked down one too many times . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dNVmnPJaHI
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So I feel like the scene is about to be Connor channeling Conor ... and the song that came to mind?
My love for you is like a truck, Berserker
(https://i.imgur.com/qb5PImm.png)
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Hello, Dolly? ;D
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Hello dolly my old friend...
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Geoffrey sent Artaigne, Valka and six other riders so the odds are definitely in our favour.
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Unless the die roller site strikes again . . . ;)
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lol.
As long as you're not the one initiating the rolls I think we'll be just fine. :P
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+1 to Ken
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I am considering awarding "Cruel" checks for Artaigne and Valka for attacking the Frankish knights 8 on two.
Thoughts?
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Not sure Cruel is justifiable for this era of the game. Later yes. But might makes right currently.
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That's what I am thinking. But coming after a couple of knights with 8-2 odds seems a little excessive, hence my question.
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If it was strictly for combat's sake, then I would agree that four-to-one odds would be excessive. However, Valka and Artaigne were given orders to stop the knights from escaping. And, given the odds, I suppose the Frankish knights could've done the prudent thing and signaled a surrender . . . ;)
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Would Northmen and the Irish follow the same rules of engagement as Cymric knights?
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Northmen no, but that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve the check. In this game, knights are shaped by their actions, and someone who may be trying to be kind and gentle can find themselves forced into the role of a cruel tyrant, albeit reluctantly. Such things are a recurring theme of the Arthur saga.
Irish knights, ostensibly, are bound, and just as loosely, by the same customs Cymric knights are. But this sort of this has almost as much to do with reputation as character.
For example, it would have been merciful to offer the knights a chance to surrender, and I would have declared a Merciful check in that case.
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After Ken said it was 6 assisting us I thought it made a lot more sense to split up. 8 on 2 is just a bloodbath with everyone clamoring to get a cut in. No glory in that. I did debate it when we thought it was only four.
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Seeing as Valka’s IC post didn’t say anything about attacking, a case could be made for letting her off the hook.
And seeing as she did mention taking 3 of the riders that would put Artaigne’s odds at 2-1.
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Yeah, I came to that conclusion as well, but I still wanted to have the discussion. :)
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Then how about we mark this as the 'now everyone is aware that if you do this' discussion, and next time there will be no discussion on the matter.
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Fair enough.
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(Arne Orate roll: Skill of 5 vs. roll of 3 = SUCCESS! Holy crud! Arne mentally dances a jig.)
He can woo the others, just not the ladies? XD
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(Arne Orate roll: Skill of 5 vs. roll of 3 = SUCCESS! Holy crud! Arne mentally dances a jig.)
He can woo the others, just not the ladies? XD
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Somebody needs to go talk to Cedwyn who knows approximately where the Lord has gone...
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Other than Cedwyn and Arne, no one knows the Lord is gone.
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So...my vote here would be to find a defensible spot with good lines of site, preferably with another like it near by. We set up camp; no fires...cold meal. We also set up fires in the other defensible spot and keep a good watch. I want to lure anyone trying to attack us to the spot with fires and then we pounce and take them out...if we need to.
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Do we need to go that far? We're about 1000 strong, I don't think anyone who poses any significant threat is going to be able to sneak up on us.
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I think we’re around 300 at best...
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Three hundred of us. Damn, I remember another story that involved three hundred warriors . . . ;D
If we're going to set up camp, then it would be best if we at least set roving sentries at least as far as bowshot range from camp. If even a dozen archers get within range with fire arrows, they could mess us up good and proper.
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Didn't we take our 300 nords plus Cymric?
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Not all of your 300 Nords are part of the mercenary group. The Nords only field a little less than a hundred, if memory serves. Cymric men number about 200, including a bunch of Kerns.
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Well then, we are not the all might force I thought we were. In fact it appears we are only about 1/3 all mighty. :)
If we're going to do the mock camp thing, let's at least cook meals on the fires and then bring them to the cold camp. We'll probably have fewer grumbling soldiers on our hands that way.
The other option is small fires surrounded by tents so their light isn't visible.
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Arne and Valka fielded a host of 43 Nords (N/I including themselves).
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"little less" - I was going from memory. :)
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In general, each manor is expected to field 100 militia for the army. Some manors do not have the population to support that, so they either conscript their peasants, or hire mercenaries to fill out their obligation, or beg the indulgence of their lord. So a landed knight going to war is expected to bring 100 peasant militia with them, equipped and supplied for war.
When a manor goes to way and is short, it is Earl Rodrick's responsibility to make up the difference with mercenaries.
Valka and Arne are a little different. They and their people are working as mercenaries in the employ of Earn Rodrick, helping cover the shortfall from Roderick's landed knights.
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"little less" - I was going from memory. :)
We may not be a hundred strong, but we make up for it where it counts. We are dashing.
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What skills are involved for scouting terrain?
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Awareness is the biggest one.
Hunting is valuable too.
Recognize is important for detailed information (specific people, etc).
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Well, those criteria definitely count Arne out. ;D
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Yeah, no. Nords apparently suck at being clever. Just point us in the direction of something to kill. Lol
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Skol! ;D
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Geoffrey, Geoffrey, he's our man if he can't do it, maybe the Norse scouts can?
:o
Oh look, a Hibernian random...excuse me while I hunt it.
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Those wascally Fwanks . . .
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I was starting to think I'd have the second PC death before anyone else even got to their first.
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He turned next to the senior knight. "Sir Cedwyn, do we have any læknar . . ." he shook his head irritably and fought to remember the Cymric word, ". . . chir-urgeons with our host that could tend to Gunnolf?"
And how much does it cost :-\
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Soooo...I’m on the fence. My gut says we should attack from the front since we have numerical advantage. No need for fancy measures here just go for the jugular. That feels right for Cedwyn.
Thoughts?
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Not bad. If we give them an escape route, though, they might withdraw or run after the first few exchanges. We wouldn't wipe them out in one fell swoop that way, but we'd take less casualties and hopefully still force them to be herded and at a disadvantage.
The disadvantage to the herding tactic, though, is that they know the land better than us, so they could (with some good rolls from their commander) lure us into some crappy terrain where they gain the advantage, or sucker us to a place where another Frankish force could be close by.
That being said, I'm leaning toward smashing them here and now so we won't have to worry about them later on.
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A frontal attack sounds good, so long as we don't chase them into a trap.
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You could do the frontal attack, but send a force of knights to flank. Charging knights would greatly disrupt their lines, but the mission would be very risky for the knights themselves. Great opportunity for glory, so high-risk, high-reward.