Re: Small unit augmenting...

From: flynnkd2 <flynnkd_at_...>
Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 22:01:32 -0000

> I'm in this kind of situation at the moment. I'm running my group
through the cradle scenario and I've just completed the first assault with the Axe Brothers and Longspear Slayers. Now these soldiers, one on one, were no match for the heroes and they were more than capable of defending six ladders between four of them - I spiced it up by using allied spirits in hawks etc casting magic and using the AP to cause them hurts - which made the ladders more difficult to defend.
>
> It all went quite well and they got the idea that they were in a
drag out fight where small beer hurts were going to matter over the long term.
>
> However the next assault will be over dwarf assault ladders and I
want to get the idea of an organised unit pushing their way onto the ship. The first assault will be dispersed by the heroes - the second will be tougher where the marble phalanx use their magic to be more cohesive. I'm expecting this to _just_ fail. The third assault will be supported by peltasts and dragonewts and force them to take cover inside the cradle.
>
> I'm just looking at how I'm going to represent the phalanx magic
to the players and then put that into play. I was going to go the gang route and have a higher ability to represent the front people on the ladders and then give them excessive amounts of AP to represent the hundreds following on behind them. I'll continue to dish out hurts with each AP I take - I've found a taste for it! :-)
>

Strnagely enough I am also running the cradle story and that was what prompted my query. I decided from the start to form the attackers into 6 man squads (a size the lunars use apparently, plus keeps to the 6vs1 rule). I there for cut out large squares to represent a group of men and gave them a pre-augmented score. The first wave of mercenaries were still no match for the players and they were driven back. I used a simple contest for each ladder

Complete success - enemy destroyed
Major - enemy disrupted, got to rear and reform Minor - enemy pushed back (back onto the cradle or back down the ladders).
Marg - ne

When the cradle was written (for RQ) allied spirits and bound spirits were a lot more common, so I would take references to such somewhat reservedly. My players are quite protective of their daimons and allied spirits, so I am assuming everyone is a little more circumspect.

The other unit to bear in mind is the Guardian unit (elite squad of 6 men with guardian) who can be used for crunch situations...

The result of this was that my players were more than a match for the units in melee... they are built for melee. So even with all the augmenting it got me know where without making the melee values of the mercenaries unrealistic. This prompted me to think about using magic, as some of my players are weak in magic or other related defence abilities.

I have assumed that a warrior (balanced) with 10w2 melee has spent 33 HPs on melee, and thus will have spent 33 HPs on magic, which for theists is +11 or 8w1... add in 5 augments and you end at 3w2, which is a nice score. Add in the guardian, an elite unit here and there, an officer, a priest and your options open up.

>From a game play point of view, I want to be able to quickly build
small units to fight my players, as the enemy realise the fight they are in. So as a test I will be using cardboard squares with skill and augment noted, and then just stack them together when they form a small unit. Easy to handle, visually suggestive and quick.