Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Plans, operations, and intentions

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Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Matt » Sat Nov 09, 2019 3:38 pm

The promised thread.

Part the First: a list of troops on the raid, NPCs. I'm expecting all PCs will be present, though not necessarily combatant.

Part the Second: Disposition of forces. The map in the DB will be invaluable here.

Part the Third: Orders to NPCs, overall plan, and any other details.

Be verbose! 8)
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Lord Ewen » Mon Nov 11, 2019 6:40 pm

The following is from my session notes last time, and is subject to correction:

Company knights (15 knights, 11 squires) Ewen, Prehil (NS), Baris (NS), Lady Aldaya Pulgarty (NS), Sir Cardiel, Sir Paquin Dezaler (NS) Sir Telek Sunsby, Sir Rald Ertaner, Sir Ercamber Odasart, Sir Bereden, 5 knights Lady of Dolithor. Medium horse knights, light horse squires

Sir Dickon’s company medium foot
Sir Blakka and Lord Prehil’s guard make one company
Sir Beredan Pawade’s longbow company
Olokand Light foot
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Matt » Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:20 pm

The Olokand LF are two companies, so by my count, this is approximately 100 men at arms in addition to the mounted troops.
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Cekiya » Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:25 pm

I recall us talking about putting those on horse in the small northern woods. If we are not bringing the light horse that only leaves the knights and squires on horse and they don't split up according to JMR. Should we bring the light horse so that K's and S's surround the kill zone?
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Matt » Tue Nov 12, 2019 12:56 am

Sir Daxton steps forward and offers his counsel.

"My lord, I have seen how the vikings fight at my manor of Huxley. They will seek an eminence for their best troops. There they will form a shield wall to take the brunt of the knights' charge. Then they will destroy them in hand to hand combat. Cavalry cannot attack unsupported.

"I say, let them pass by and spend against the infantry. Keep the knights in reserve. The vikings will charge against the men at arms. Our archers can take them in the flank. Once the battle is engaged, the horsemen can fall upon the viking rear and we can crush them between the two. You, my lord, should command from some eminence, perhaps the manor tower, and with signals, keep the army in focus. You may even be able through a reserve force, to attack at a critical juncture.

"We must turn their tactics against them." The valiant knight bows.
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Matt » Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:59 pm

I've been looking at the Dux B rules, and the system limits on a practical level to three field commanders. Logically, these are Ewen, Baris, and Prehil. I would let Megan run Prehil for that purpose unless someone else prefers.

That would mean Ewen in overall command, and the command of the foot to Prehil or Baris, with the other taking the cavalry. That choice is the group's.
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Matt » Wed Nov 13, 2019 9:30 pm

The cards in the DB rules seem critical. The Kaldoric forces will be using the British Dragon suit and the vikings the Saxon Boars.
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Lord Ewen » Fri Nov 15, 2019 10:26 am

I failed to include Sir Daxton above. Any other errors detected?

My recollection is that we only intended to include one of the two Olokand companies, in the interest of not stripping the castle bare. Thoughts?

The disposition of forces was painstakingly hammered at at the close of last session. I believe Cheryl created a diagram at the time. Do we need to recreate this?
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Matt » Fri Nov 15, 2019 12:28 pm

I had understood some 100 foot plus mounted troops. With only one Olokand company, that's 80. Or did you bring the other Thardan Lads and I missed that? Captain Keene.

I'll check Cheryl's notes and comment later this afternoon.
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Lord Ewen » Fri Nov 15, 2019 2:22 pm

Pretty sure it was only one company of Lads, so you might be correct re the Olokand troops.
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Matt » Fri Nov 15, 2019 5:14 pm

I looked at Cheryl's notes and I may not have realized how few troops you were planning on bringing.

I recommend at a minimum:

25 knights/squires
10 light horse
20 longbow
40 medium foot
40 light foot

As to worrying about Olokand, there are still over 100 troops left.

The viking warbands have been around 200 troops. This is a scouting party, so expect about half that.

As to the dispositions, everyone is in buildings or behind obstacle terrain. They'll be coming our one by one into troops in formation and picked off piecemeal. Who may not even march into the town center if they spot anyone beforehand.

So yes, I think dispositions need rethinking. Cheryl is working on a some suggestions and will post that map soon.
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Cekiya » Fri Nov 15, 2019 7:32 pm

So GM thinks our idea of a diversion in front of the manor for a surprise attack is a recipe for suicide. :cry: Why? ... well apparently while our men trickle out of the buildings and from the manor, they are just going to slice and dice us. So after some discussion I've pulled together a new disposition and some potential scenarios. I'm no great military mind, but hopefully they provide some food for thought and we can quickly head into action rather than dither. :wink:

Having issues uploading the PDF, but it is in the Dropbox in the maps folder, title: Loban scenarios.pdf
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Re: Meanwhile, at Loban, Center of All Things Harnic

Postby Matt » Sat Nov 16, 2019 2:05 am

We will revisit this in the morning.

A couple of things.

While all PCs will have a bonus roll of an extra die, it is important to note where they will be. Some should be near Ewen (Goreg) but others can be elsewhere. Any PC attached to a unit will add 2D6 to that unit's attack. We’ll determine such locations in the morning.

It will be necessary to decide at least three groups. Ewen will command overall and Baris and Prehil will command the other two. If there are other groups, they will not be capable of independent action, but if a PC is with them, then that person does have independent action.

Let's discuss this during the bagel phase tomorrow.
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