The Rebels of Westwall (IC Thread)

[tigerusthegreat]

Round 1 Continued

Ethan casts his invisibility spell and flies above the battleground. Between the fourth and fifth legions, he spots the wagon with the pay chest on it. Also onboard are four soldiers, and a fifth with golden armor, who seems to be in command.

Adam casts his spell and bolsters the frontline defenses.

The battle commences, arrows flying down from the sides of the canyon. The arrows pepper the legionaires, decimating the back ranks of the first legion. Twelve soldiers fall with arrows puncturing their armor. The Cuthbert soldiers behind the front ranks fire their bows, bringing down another handful of soldiers (17 total soldiers have been removed as casualties).

The Hammer group is in a bit more trouble. The initial charge of group A meets legion 8, inflicting only three casualties on the unit.

Legion 1 decides its best course of action is to try to break through Ambush A, attacking. The readied soldiers hold fast and stab hard at the enemy soldiers as they come at them. Nine front-line soldiers drop at the spears, leaving only 24 left in the first legion. Armed with only longswords, very few of the legionaires get attacks in, and none manage to strike a Freeman. The legion, in disarray, seems to falter for a moment, but an NCO orders the men to hold, and they reform, ready to turn the combat around.

Legion 8 turns to face the Hammer. Hammer A holds its own, a single shortspear soldier falling to a legionaire's sword. The battle there is far from decisive, and neither side seems to have the upper hand.



Allied Units
Ambush:
Unit A: 25 Spearmen (with long and short spears) + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless, +3 from Prayer]
Unit B: 20 Bowmen [+1 to attack from bless] [+2 Dex, -2 Str, +1 attack and AC from size]
Unit C: 10 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless]

Hammer:
Unit A: 24 shortspearmen + 25 Longspearmen + Cuthbert NCO [1 shortspear casualty]
Unit B: 1 Animal Handler (on Riding Dog) + 20 Dogs
Unit C: 10 Swordsmen
Unit D: 30 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO


Enemy Units:
400 Legionaires Divided into 8 Units of 50 men:
Legion 1 (24/50) [-3 from prayer]
Legion 2
Legion 3
Legion 4
1 Wagon with Pay Chest and 4 soldiers (Also has a Command Officer)
Legion 5
Legion 6
Legion 7
Legion 8 (47/50)

The legion is in a column stretching 400 feet long (80 squares)

[esorscher]

Adam joins the front line of the ambush and begins attacking (buffs factored in): (1d20+15)[18], (2d8+10)[21]. "By Cuthbert!" he cries.

Hammer A continues to attack.

Ambush A readies against charge, unless there is an enemy adjacent in which case they attack.

Ambush B, C, continue to pepper with arrows.

Ethan casts Fireball, empowered with the metamagic rod, centered on the wagon. (10d6)[39]+50%=[58] damage to anyone in a 20' radius circle. He then flies 30' toward the Hammer.

[tigerusthegreat]

Round 2
Adam easily kills a pair of soldiers. In the back of the line, Hammer A continues to slog it out with Legion 8. 6 Legionaires go down in a flash of spears.

At the front of the line, the ambush units continue their attacks. Arrows rain down, the unit on the side of the canyon felling 11 men, and the Cuthbert soldiers behind Unit A dealing 2 casualties. The Unit of Legionaires holds together, until Ambush A finishes them off with a final series of spearthrusts.

Ethan's Fireball destroys the wagon and the paychest. Gold coins litter the ground around the middle of the canyon, some beginning to melt from the intense heat of the fireball. The four soldiers are gone, and the commander is still alive, clearly angered by the attack. He begins to issue orders to the legions around him, who have lost a few men to the fireball.

Barlenor joins his unit with Hammer A, ready to take up position in the front line should the shortspears all fall.

Legion 2, seeing the fall of Legion 1, charges at Ambush A. The charge is a flop, only one spearmen falling to the sword of a legionary.

Legion 8 continues fighting Hammer A, with 2 spearmen falling to the swords of the legion.

The Commander orders Legion 3 and Legion 7 to loose a volley of javelins into the units blocking the canyon. 7 soldiers (4 longspears and 3 short) fall to the ground in Hammer A, and 7 more (3 longspear and 4 short) fall in Ambush A. The good news is the legionaires seem to have limited amounts of javelins.

Ethan can see from his vantage point a dark figure approaching the edge of the canyon. He is hard to see, as if the light around him is distorted somehow.

Allied Units [Total remaining: 152/170]
Ambush:
Unit A: 25 Spearmen (with long and short spears) + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless, +3 from Prayer] [5 shortspear and 3 longspear casualties]
Unit B: 20 Bowmen [+1 to attack from bless] [+2 Dex, -2 Str, +1 attack and AC from size]
Unit C: 10 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless]

Hammer:
Unit A: 24 shortspearmen + 25 Longspearmen + Cuthbert NCO [6 shortspear and 4 longspear casualty]
Unit B: 1 Animal Handler (on Riding Dog) + 20 Dogs
Unit C: 10 Swordsmen [joined to unit A,] + Barlenor
Unit D: 30 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO

Unknown
Dark Figure

Enemy Units:
400 Legionaires Divided into 8 Units of 50 men: [Total Remaining: 329/400]
Legion 1 (24/50) [-3 from prayer]
Legion 2
Legion 3
Legion 4 [44/50]
1 Wagon with Pay Chest and 4 soldiers (Also has a Command Officer) Destroyed, soldiers killed, Command Officer Injured (58 damage)
Legion 5 [44/50]
Legion 6
Legion 7
Legion 8 (41/50)

The legion is in a column stretching 400 feet long (80 squares)

[esorscher]

Ethan throws a fireball at the border between Legion 2/3 (the backside of Legion 2/ the frontside of legion 3 from the perspective of the ambush). (10d6)[34]
Adam continues to attack. (1d20+15)[31], (2d8+6)[15]; (1d20+10)[14], (2d8+6)[13].

Ambush A repeats its maneuvers from last round--ready against charge unless there is an enemy adjacent.
Ambush B attacks Legion 2 with arrows. Ambush C also attacks with arrows, unless they need to take the place of a fallen Ambush A (I don't think any of them do)

Hammer A repeats its maneuvers from the last round--attack Legion 8.

[tigerusthegreat]

Round 3
Ethan's fireballl wipes through the enemy forces, decimating a large portion of legion 2 and 3. (44 enemies killed total, 22 from each legion)

Adam leads the attacks of Ambush A, bringing down one legionaire. Ambush A brings down another 2 soldiers.

Ambush B and C fire into legion 2. Their shots bring down the last of that legion.

Hammer A continues to attack legion 8. Their spears find 6 legionaires, and bring them to the ground. Hammer C joins the fight, launching arrows over the heads of their allies. The volley fells 10 legionaires.

The two available legions fight back. Legion 3 charges forward to fight Ambush A, their swords felling 5 shortspears. Legion 8 fights against Hammer A, but their swords fall short of their marks. Legion 4 and 7, seeing the dangers of the archers, loose a volley of javelins into Ambush B and Hammer D. 9 bowmen of Ambush B fall to the javelins, wiping out most of the northern B group. 3 Cuthbert soldiers fall to javelins in the Hammer D group.

The dark figure continues to approach.

Map:

Spoiler

Show

Allied Units [Total remaining: 135/170]
Ambush:
Unit A: 25 Spearmen (with long and short spears) + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless, +3 from Prayer] [10 shortspear and 3 longspear casualties]
Unit B: 20 Bowmen [+1 to attack from bless] [+2 Dex, -2 Str, +1 attack and AC from size] [9 dead]
Unit C: 10 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless]

Hammer:
Unit A: 24 shortspearmen + 25 Longspearmen + Cuthbert NCO [6 shortspear and 4 longspear casualty]
Unit B: 1 Animal Handler (on Riding Dog) + 20 Dogs
Unit C: 10 Swordsmen [joined to unit A,] + Barlenor
Unit D: 30 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [3 dead]

Unknown
Dark Figure: 300ft distant

Enemy Units:
400 Legionaires Divided into 8 Units of 50 men: [Total Remaining: 258/400]
Legion 1 (24/50) [-3 from prayer]
Legion 2 [25/50]
Legion 3 [28/50]
Legion 4 [44/50]
1 Wagon with Pay Chest and 4 soldiers (Also has a Command Officer) Destroyed, soldiers killed, Command Officer Injured (58 damage)
Legion 5 [44/50]
Legion 6
Legion 7
Legion 8 (25/50)

The legion is in a column stretching 400 feet long (80 squares)

[esorscher]

Ethan flies down to a position where he can catch the Armored Commander, Legion 4, and the tail-end of Legion 3 with a Cone of Cold, and then does so, not bothering to substitute cold for fire. (13d6)[40], 60' cone. His priority is the legions, not the commander, and if need be he will ignore the commander to catch more of the Legions.

Ambush B, C fire arrows.
Ambush A attacks (if enemy in reach), else readies against charge. (In my mind the first row is readied against charge with longspears, second row is attacking through the first row with longspears)

Hammer A follows same orders as Ambush A.
Hammer D fires a volley of arrows at Legion 8.

[esorscher]

Adam attacks as usual: (1d20+15)[32], (2d8+6)[13], (1d20+10)[22], (2d8+6)[15]

[tigerusthegreat]

Round 4
Ethan attacks Legion 4 and 3 with the icy cold of a cone of cold. 10 legionaires of legion 3 and 20 of legion 4 are caught in the cold.

Ambush B and C fire arrows into legion 3, felling 7 legionaires.

Ambush A presses the attack, killing another 6 legionaires, and Adam kills another 2. After the contant attacks, the unit breaks, scattering back to their lines, as broken men. Legion 4 also panics, fleeing back to the burnt wagon.

Hammer D fires arrows into Legion 8, felling 12 legionairies in a volley of arrows. Hammer A follows the volley with spearstrikes, bringing down 2 additional legionairies. Legion 8 breaks and flees through its own lines to its commander.

Legion 7 charges forth in Legion 8's place. It attacks fiercely, killing 3 shortspearmen. Legion 6 looses the last of its javelins at Hammer A, killing 5 longspearmen.

The dark figure continues to approach.

Map:

Spoiler

Show

Allied Units [Total remaining: 123/170]
Ambush:
Unit A: 25 Spearmen (with long and short spears) + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless, +3 from Prayer] [10 shortspear and 3 longspear casualties]
Unit B: 20 Bowmen [+1 to attack from bless] [+2 Dex, -2 Str, +1 attack and AC from size] [9 dead]
Unit C: 10 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless]

Hammer:
Unit A: 24 shortspearmen + 25 Longspearmen + Cuthbert NCO [9 shortspear and 9 longspear casualty]
Unit B: 1 Animal Handler (on Riding Dog) + 20 Dogs
Unit C: 10 Swordsmen [joined to unit A,] + Barlenor
Unit D: 30 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [3 dead]

Unknown
Dark Figure: 250ft distant

Enemy Units:
400 Legionaires Divided into 8 Units of 50 men: [Total Remaining: 196/400]
Legion 1 (24/50) [-3 from prayer]
Legion 2 [25/50]
Legion 3 [3/50]
Legion 4 [24/50] *Broken*
1 Wagon with Pay Chest and 4 soldiers (Also has a Command Officer) Destroyed, soldiers killed, Command Officer Injured (58 damage)
Legion 5 [44/50]
Legion 6
Legion 7
Legion 8 (11/50) *Broken*

[esorscher]

Ethan flies up, and hurls another fireball, this time at the center of Legion 7. (10d6)[28]
Adam leads Ambush A to press against the fleeing units. While Ambush A attacks routed soldiers, Adam charges for the commanding officer (PA -2): (1d20+15)[20], (2d8+9)[21]

Ambush A is attacking the Legion 4. Ambush C moves forward, still firing arrows overhead at Legion 4. Ambush B moves its movement speed toward the center, staying on the canyon walls, and fires down at the broken Legions below.

Hammer A readies against charge.
Hammer D fires a volley at Legion 7.

[tigerusthegreat]

Round 5
Legion 7 crumbles around the blast from Ethan's fireball. The Commanding officer exchanges blows with Adam, not getting hit yet.

Ambush A attacks the broken Legion 4, causing 7 men of the retreating army to die to spearthrusts. Ambush C follows the attack, raining arrows down on Legion 4, felling another 4 soldiers. Ambush B focuses on Legion 5, loosing a volley of arrows that downs only 2 men.

Hammer D fires arrows into Legion 6, killing 8 men.

The commander, still dodging attacks from Adam, bellows out. "Parley! Parley, damn you! I can see when I've been beaten, and there's no need to loose more men."



Allied Units [Total remaining: 123/170]
Ambush:
Unit A: 25 Spearmen (with long and short spears) + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless, +3 from Prayer] [10 shortspear and 3 longspear casualties]
Unit B: 20 Bowmen [+1 to attack from bless] [+2 Dex, -2 Str, +1 attack and AC from size] [9 dead]
Unit C: 10 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless]

Hammer:
Unit A: 24 shortspearmen + 25 Longspearmen + Cuthbert NCO [9 shortspear and 9 longspear casualty]
Unit B: 1 Animal Handler (on Riding Dog) + 20 Dogs
Unit C: 10 Swordsmen [joined to unit A,] + Barlenor
Unit D: 30 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [3 dead]

Unknown
Dark Figure: 250ft distant

Enemy Units:
400 Legionaires Divided into 8 Units of 50 men: [Total Remaining: 175/400]
Legion 1 (24/50) [-3 from prayer]
Legion 2 [25/50]
Legion 3 [3/50]
Legion 4 [13/50] *Broken*
1 Wagon with Pay Chest and 4 soldiers (Also has a Command Officer) Destroyed, soldiers killed, Command Officer Injured (58 damage)
Legion 5 [42/50]
Legion 6 [42/50]
Legion 7
Legion 8 (11/50) *Broken*

[esorscher]

Ethan's Belt of Battle glows, and he is able to throw two fireballs, one at Legion 5 for (10d6)[37] and the other at Legion 6 for (10d6)[39] (using all three charges for a standard action).

Adam scowls at the commanding officer. "Your tyranny is at an end," he shouts. "The only thing you have left to offer Cuthbert is your life." He brings his club down with all his might. (1d20+15)[22], (2d8+6)[16], (1d20+10)[17], (2d6)[9]

Ambush A, B, C continue to attack Legion 4.
Hammer A attacks Legion 8. Hammer C attacks 8, and Hammer B looses the dogs to attack 8, or the survivors of 5 and 6. Hammer D attacks the survivors of 5 and 6 or 8.

[tigerusthegreat]

Your forces make short work of the remaining enemy troops. Adam cannot seem to harm the commander in any way.

"If you won't listen to parley, then there's nothing left for me here. I will give the King your regards." With a twirl of his red cloak, the general seems to step into the garment, which pulls itself into itself after him, in a dimensional paradox. It clearly was a magic item of some sort.

As if sensing the end of the battle, the dark figure that was running towards the battlefield simply vanishes as well. There are many unexplained things going on.

All told, you have lost 19 shortspears, 12 longspears, 9 longbows, and 3 Cuthbert soldiers. Early guesses are that about half will recover, if given time, but there are a good number of dead or crippled among your men now. The vast majority of the Legionaires are dead, a few still cling to life, and several have surrendered outright, being taken prisoner by your men. The Ambush seems to have been a complete success.

Allied Units [Total remaining: 123/170]
Ambush:
Unit A: 25 Spearmen (with long and short spears) + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless, +3 from Prayer] [10 shortspear and 3 longspear casualties]
Unit B: 20 Bowmen [+1 to attack from bless] [+2 Dex, -2 Str, +1 attack and AC from size] [9 dead]
Unit C: 10 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [+1 to attack from bless]

Hammer:
Unit A: 24 shortspearmen + 25 Longspearmen + Cuthbert NCO [9 shortspear and 9 longspear casualty]
Unit B: 1 Animal Handler (on Riding Dog) + 20 Dogs
Unit C: 10 Swordsmen [joined to unit A,] + Barlenor
Unit D: 30 Cuthbert soldiers + Cuthbert NCO [3 dead]

[esorscher]

Ethan flies down next to Adam and whispers many things to him before his invisibility ends. Before his invisibility does end, he flies up and stands on the cliff on one side of the canyon, then stands on the ground so that when the spell ends he appears to have been there the whole time. He then takes his time getting down from the canyon. Once on the canyon floor, he goes about the process of creating 16 zombies out of the corpses of the imperial soldiers.

1 Cuthbert NCO oversees the looting of the imperial corpses. "With their equipment we'll be much better prepared for the next fight," Adam says as he orders the man to do so.

2 Cuthbert NCOs and a handful of the Cuthbert soldiers take count of the surrendered prisoners and strip them of their gear (they are stripped to their underwear).

Adam converts his 5th level Plane Shift to a Cure Light Wounds, Mass, and targets the 10 Freemen closest to death.

Adam himself converts his 0-level spells to Cure Minor Wounds to stabilize the imperial soldiers clinging to life. Other cuthbert soldiers prepare them for transport using 10' poles and bedrolls (carried standard on their person).

Fremont the cleric of Yondalla converts all his 0, 1st, and 2nd level spell slots to cure spells to administer additional healing to the Freemen.

The other cuthbert soldiers gather up the gold from the paychest and give it to Adam.

[tigerusthegreat]

From the Legionaires you recover 400 sets of short swords, breastplates, and large steel shields. Most are in good repair, but a good number have damage to straps and other flammable parts from the fireballs. They can be repaired in short order with the craftsmen that you brought with you to camp.

With the pay chest, and money found on the corpses and looted from the soldiers that still live, you've netted 20,000 in gold, mostly in Imperial Crowns (though some of the Legionaires had coins from other lands, the entire paychest was in the Imperial Crown).

Your efforts to heal the wounded help greatly. You have lost 5 freemen, all shortspearmen, badly trampled during the fighting, but the rest of them are in no danger of dying, and will recover from the battle in the next few days (if not already).

You have captured (with healing) twenty five legionaires, including one that is marked as a First Legionaire, the equivalent of a squad commander. He is not pleased at being captured. He is even less pleased at seeing a handful of his comrades rise as zombies.

You have gained 16 Medium-sized Zombie (stats are per MM 1). You have lost Onyx Gems worth 400gp

[esorscher]

Ethan speaks to the captured prisoners. "You are lucky to have survived. Do not spit in the face of your good fortune. What seems like chance is in fact Cuthbert's divine will, offering you a chance to redeem yourself. You do not want this Empire. You want freedom. That is what we offer. Swear fealty, or die. Either way you will have your wish."

Diplomacy: (1d20+7)[8]

[tigerusthegreat]

The soldiers seem very willing to die, instead of becoming traitors to the Empire. One goes so far as to actually spit into Ethan's face at the mere thought of joining you.

[esorscher]

Meanwhile, Adam goes to Barlenor. "I have a few questions, now that the battle is over and the men are tended to. Cuthbert's glory and favor be upon us and our cause. Now, to practical matters. Where can we spend this coin? I know my squire will want to acquire more arcane ingredients, and and I know my men will thirst for ale and women. As for me, I seek simply a map of the region, or as accurate a description as you can provide, with notable geographical features and settlements and with attention to size and allegiance. If this is not possible, as near as you can provide."

[esorscher]

Ethan coup-de-grace's the prisoner that spit in his face with his longbow, firing an arrow casually, almost flippantly, into and out the back of the man's throat. Blood sputters from his lips and trickles out the hole left by the arrow. With a gesture Ethan signals to the Cuthbert soldiers to execute and they do so, bringing down longswords on the skulls of the Imperial soldiers.

"Cuthbert bows to luck," Ethan mutters as he walks over to listen to Adam and Barlenor's conversation.

[tigerusthegreat]

"I have a map at the camp, but I am afraid it isn't very detailed. The largest settlement near here is the small city of Amonsfeld, you will be able to find just about anything you'd need there, and the Imperial Coin spends well anywhere in the Empire, there included. Most merchants will take it as a matter of course, especially with the empire expanding as well as it can. As per the rest of the area, Amonsfeld is the largest settlement. There are scores of smaller towns and villages around, but you'd have to go fifty miles in any direction to get a larger city than it. Besides settlements, there are two major rivers nearby, one to the west and one to the east. The forests continue to the west of here, and much further to the south are the barrier mountains, and far to the north there are hills and the plains that eventually lead to the frozen waste."

Ethan's cruel execution of the prisoner startles some of the men, and clearly terrifies the remaining prisoners.

[esorscher]

"Let's head back to camp, then." Adam says. "I'll head to Amonsfeld in the morning."

[tigerusthegreat]

The way back to camp is much slower than trip out to attack. It takes several hours to return to camp, dragging so much looted money and equipment. The escape of the command officer, and the dark figure that was approaching the battle, only to break off once that command officer disappeared, are both strange events, and they fill your mind as you head back.

Once back at the camp, the men are exhausted. Some of the Freemen take to questioning the captured legionaires, but get little out of the enemy soldiers.

[esorscher]

The smiths set about the process of repairing the damaged legion armor and weapons.

Adam speaks to the legionnaire commander, away from sight of the rest of the prisoners. "Do you want to die?" he asks calmly.

[tigerusthegreat]

"I wish I had died in battle. I do not fear you. You have beaten a legion, but many more will come for you. You have too few men to defeat an empire, and the King will see you hanged for this treachery."

[esorscher]

Adam talks to Barlenor. "How do you feel about taking prisoners?"

[tigerusthegreat]

"Prisoners in general will be trouble, but if we just slaughter them instead of taking those that surrender, then the enemy has no reason to honor our surrender should anyone get captured. Its a dangerous line, as a single escaped prisoner can reveal the location of our camp and other valuable details, but killing them all just means no mercy from the empire....not that we'd get much in the first place."

[esorscher]

"The kind of mercy they'd show us would likely be a life of slavery, or worse." Adam says. "We have Cuthbert's mercy." He nods to a Cuthbert NCO, who leads the prisoners with the Cuthbert soldiers away from the camp to execute the prisoners one-by-one. "Heartless, but the heart has no place in justice." Adam says coldly, darkness in his eyes.

"The legionnaire raises a good point. We need more men. Are the people of Amonsfeld amenable to our cause? What about the other villages and towns--which of them support the Freemen, and which support the Legion? Also, regardless of distance--what is the largest city on the continent?"

Ethan, now that they are back at camp, tries to find the disaffected youth. If/ when he does so, he watches him from afar before approaching.

[tigerusthegreat]

"The problem is, those that have been under the King's control for a little while have seen the benefits of it. They have roads, armies to protect them, hospitals, universities....they King invests quite a lot to keep the people happy, but he still has no right of rule here. People seem to forget that fairly quickly....I'm not sure if they can be shown, or how..."


Ethan finds the boy off to himself. Other seem to avoid him, and he appears to be arguing with himself. It is very hard to hear the conversation (listen and hide checks if you want to eavesdrop)

[esorscher]

Listen: (1d20+1)[18]
Hide: (1d20+3)[19]

Ethan attempts to overhear what the boy is saying without being seen.

"Are there any loyal to our cause? Where did these men come from?" He gestures to the other freemen. "If we were to conquer a small town, would we have to stay and govern?" Adam asks Barlenor.

[tigerusthegreat]

"Most of the people around here have given up, those that haven't are already with us. Perhaps word of our exploits today will get more support for us, but that is uncertain. Taking a town back from the legion would be the best option."


The boy seems to be talking to himself. he doesn't know you are watching him. "The storm is brewing. How can I face it, father? How can I face the tyrant?" He nods to himself, as if he is talking to someone else. "Yes....yes that is right. Killing anyone who gets in my way will be the best course."

[esorscher]

"Alright, then. Let's look for a town that is nearby and conquered by the legion." Adam says.

Ethan continues to listen unobserved.