>If we can agree on a broad timetable of events, we can then overlay the
>basic calendar with more detailed descriptions: events in Lunar command,
>food and food shortages, heroquests, blockade runs, whatever. There are
>obviously alternative ways of conceiving the siege, if this attempt by me
>seems to off-beam in a way that can't be fixed by tinkering, I'd certainly
>welcome folk to put up their own, alternative timetables.
There's nothing major I can see wrong, I would leave the siege machinery building until later as I don't see the Lunars taking WW seriously for most of 1619. The initial reaction is more "Oh there's a bunch of Orlanthi holed up on top of a hill, let's bypass them." A week or two later they realise it's King Broyan so decide they'd better besiege it. Then a Shagashi leader persuades the Lunar general to make an assault - several hundred Shargashi use magic to get into the citadel while the rest of the army assaults across the bridge to Tarkalor's gate. I'm thinking of a Shagashi HQ which allows them to open a route from hell directly into the fortress. Nice closely fought start to the siege with a force of Humatki just managing to kill the Shargasi and sever the route to hell before the rest of the army can threaten the main walls.
After that failure the next serious attempt is to use the bat, it's only after that fails [1] that they realise there's a tough nut to crack and seriously start siege works. Even then throughout 1620 they are short of troops and equipment to make a serious assault with units, officers and heros being diverted elsewhere at just the wrong moment. Even with Tatius's arrival attacks are more to achieve a local success than really try to take the citadel. Only in 1621 with a large build up of forces and the completion of siege works do the serious planned attacks occur. This is of course the Lunar view, the Orlanthi may have quite a different take on which events are important.
[1] I agree the bat should do some serious damage to the walls but in a place which can't be exploited by the Lunars until 1621. If Tarkalor's gate is being fought over all the time, the citadel wall just behind it seems a good place - it makes a good reason for the Orlanthi to keep fighting over the gate rather than withdrawing to the more easily defended citadel.
Thanks for everyone's suggestions about how the fortress could be taken, between them I can see how it could be achieved without requiring more troops than the Lunars could actually keep supplied in the area.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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