Italian Quest: A Mercenary Boot
- Thread starter KlinkerKing
- Start date
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Plan Ambitious
-[X] Have something to add to the Duke's plans (write-in)
--[X] Suggest to the Duke that we should send a handful of our best scouts to gather information on Cesare's army numbers, composition and siege progress and confirmation of whether Cesare is unaware of us
---[X] If the scouts confirm the above then suggest the idea of ambushing Cesare. After we capture the city we can have an Urbino guard sent to San Marino and tell Cesare we have arrived at the city with a smaller army than we actually have. Should Cesare march south we can ambush him in favorable terrain of our choosing(A river crossing/hills)
-[X] Yes
--[X] Food (960) (-30% cost while in Urbino)
--[X] Support (140)
-[X] Have something to add to the Duke's plans (write-in)
--[X] Suggest to the Duke that we should send a handful of our best scouts to gather information on Cesare's army numbers, composition and siege progress and confirmation of whether Cesare is unaware of us
---[X] If the scouts confirm the above then suggest the idea of ambushing Cesare. After we capture the city we can have an Urbino guard sent to San Marino and tell Cesare we have arrived at the city with a smaller army than we actually have. Should Cesare march south we can ambush him in favorable terrain of our choosing(A river crossing/hills)
-[X] Yes
--[X] Food (960) (-30% cost while in Urbino)
--[X] Support (140)
Hey @KlinkerKing can we have information on how combat works? Or do we have to wait and find out?
KlinkerKing
Man bites dog?
- Location
- The Lion's Den
Combat is a set of opposed rolls, where both sides roll 1d100s with added modifiers. Different skills give different modifiers, as do terrain, flanking and ambushing. Number of degrees of success (i.e. per ten over the other roll) determine casualty ratios.
The combat itself takes place (generally) in a Scouting Phase, a Skirmishing Phase, an Engagement Phase, and finally an open game state where any of the other phases may repeat, or the two sides disengage entirely.
We have captains that have descriptions that should give bonuses in battle in lots of situations. Our crossbow captain is an experienced scout. One of our Pike captains is tactically gifted and probably has bonuses to terrain and the last is nothing special but not terrible at anything. And we are also no slouch.
Then don´t tell Cesare that the city has fallen, at all.
Send cavalry out before seizing the city to prevent leakers, and to spread rumors further afield that Duke Urbino has besieged the city of Urbino with something like 500-1000 men (including a hundred or so cavalry, with actual 400 on the task; That can also be combined with them foraging to supply this thousand of men) - high enough that the garrison won't hold out or long, low enough that an assault straight from the march is likely to come at a too heavy a price, and again - low enough that just a part of Cesare's forces would be enough to crush the besiegers against the walls of Urbino.
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Nice idea, right now I can't edit the plan but if you want you can add that part to my plan post it and later on I'll edit my plan to include it. Or you can also wait until I can edit it later.
Rolen von Keng
Sleeping Green Bear
- Location
- The Wilderness
[X] Plan Proactive Defense
-[X] Yes
--[X] Food (960) (-30% cost while in Urbino)
--[X] Support (140)
-[X] Suggest to the Duke that we should send a handful of our best scouts to gather information on Cesare's army and seige progress.
-[X] Yes
--[X] Food (960) (-30% cost while in Urbino)
--[X] Support (140)
-[X] Suggest to the Duke that we should send a handful of our best scouts to gather information on Cesare's army and seige progress.
So its seem like proactive defense is going to win. The scouts shouldn't take too long to report their finding. @KlinkerKing what's going to happen afterwards? Will we simply wait and see what for our enemy to siege us? Or will we be able to make further suggestions/action once we have more information?
KlinkerKing
Man bites dog?
- Location
- The Lion's Den
Rolls happen, the motivations that guide each character are taken into account, and then the turn is handed back to you.
As a general rule, I try not to make decisions for the players. I like the freedom of write-ins and I try my best to get the intent behind a vote when I resolve it mechanically and narratively. For a vote like this one which suggests scouting, I think the idea is fairly clear: you only really scout if you want more information in order to make a more informed decision.
Vote closed
KlinkerKing
Man bites dog?
- Location
- The Lion's Den
Early November, 1503 Pt.2 - City of Urbino, Duchy of Urbino
KlinkerKing
Man bites dog?
- Location
- The Lion's Den
Early November, 1503 Pt.2 - City of Urbino, Duchy of Urbino
City of Urbino
City of Urbino
"I'd like to suggest that we send some of our men to scout the Borgia camp in San Marino before we make our way towards the city," You say, picking up a small piece and moving it across the map to indicate your scouts. The Duke looks unsurprised by your suggestion, and gives you the go-ahead immediately.
"Very well, Iacopo. I'll leave that particular bit of business to you."
"I'll see to it as soon as we finish up here, then."
"Excellent. Now, I believe the easiest route to the city is to avoid the hill by Castello di Cavallino, and to move on the eastern road…"
Eventually, the Duke's more detailed plan is made clear to you, and it is remarkable only in its simplicity. The fact that Guidobaldo knows the area like the back of his hand makes it a fairly short and uncontested planning session, where the man lays out the roads suitable for marching with wagons and you more or less acquiesce to his suggestions.
A couple of hours later the meeting is adjourned and you speak to Johannes, your foremost scout commander, delegating the details of the mission to scope out the positions that Cesare Borgia has taken up outside of San Marino to him. The Duke orders the march to begin early next morning, and the camp tucks in for an early night.
On the morning of the march, you wake up to the sound of an argument in the commander quarters. The source of it is the German Pike captain who is having a disagreement with a chaplain, the specifics being that the Pike captain is convinced that the crow seen flying overhead is a bad omen, while the chaplain disagrees, saying that the crow was flying towards the city, which implies it is a good omen.
You tell the two of them to kindly table the argument, since you do in fact need to get a move on towards Urbino. The two of them agree in short order, but both of the men look troubled as you break camp.
The eight hour march sees you arrive in Urbino just after noon and though the men are a little tired, they are in overall good spirits. Starting things out is the march of some 1500 pike and the Duke's cavalry, up to the city gates under a flag of truce.
"I am Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino and, as my father before me, the rightful ruler of this city. Open the gates!"
Negotiations are short thereafter, as the garrison is too small to really inconvenience the number of men you've brought along, and the white flag is raised as soon as the men are promised clemency. The surrender and opening of the gates goes by without much fanfare, but you hear the German Pike captain and the chaplain from before having another hushed argument over the crow they saw at the start of the march.
Their positions have seemingly reversed, with the Pike captain arguing that the crow was clearly a good omen, hence the surrender of the city. The chaplain has changed his mind, and says that the surrender has changed the circumstances. With no deaths in the city due to a siege, there must now be deaths to satisfy the omens, and those deaths could be us! Giuseppe rolls his eyes and comments that the two are talking like an old married couple.
A few days after the city has been taken, the scouts return. They estimate that Cesare Borgia has assembled between 4000 and 5000 troops, including a small number of heavy cavalry. The remainder of the army appears to be foot soldiers of all kinds, but the Borgia's lack of light cavalry and artillery is fairly apparent.
As the day comes to a close, you start preparing for the upcoming fortnight...
Inventory | Arms | Food | Support | Coin | Capacity | Capacity |
Upkeep | 150 | 240 | 70 | 365 | Taken | Remaining |
Reserves | 164 | 1029 | 206 | 5338 | 1399 | 1001 |
[X] Resupply (Gain 978 Coin)
-[X] Arms
-[X] Food (-30% cost)
-[X] Support
After your supply duties are firmly in hand, you receive word that the Duke has ordered a meeting early next week, where you can discuss the findings of the scouts. This is an opportunity to come with your own suggestions.
The Duke's current thoughts are conveyed to you via a small agenda:
- Discuss the results of the scouting, and what the information means
- Preparations required should Urbino come under siege
- News from Pesaro, where the Duke's allies have triumphed
[X] Preparations for the Duke's meeting
-[X] Write-in
-[X] You have no input.
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Well it seems we will be outnumbered and the enemy has heavy cavalry. But luckily they have not light cavalry or artillery meaning a siege isn't going to be easy for them. Some good news form Pesaro which is a short distance form both Urbino and San Marino.
Unfortunately we cant make earthwork defenses. The way I see it is we can hunker down and go through a siege which will most likely be a win for us, but we might be subject to an assault and the Duke might not like his city being a battle ground
Or we can exploit their lack light cavalry and their bigger army size(lower speed compared to us) and raid them and bait them into a battle. We have allies to our north east that can reinforce us if we decide to leave the city.
Unfortunately we cant make earthwork defenses. The way I see it is we can hunker down and go through a siege which will most likely be a win for us, but we might be subject to an assault and the Duke might not like his city being a battle ground
Or we can exploit their lack light cavalry and their bigger army size(lower speed compared to us) and raid them and bait them into a battle. We have allies to our north east that can reinforce us if we decide to leave the city.
[X] Plan Options
-[X] Resupply (Gain 978 Coin)
--[X] Arms -450
--[X] Food (-30% cost)- 100
--[X] Support -150
-[X] Preparations for the Duke's meeting
--[X] Inform the Duke that Cesare's army numbers between 4 and 5 thousand, a small number of heavy cavalry but no artillery or light cavalry. Whether in a siege/battle we would be outnumbered. Should we prepare for a siege the enemy has no way of breaching the wall but this same lack of ability to breach the wall might push the enemy to assault the city. Their lack of light cavalry robs them of mobility and speed.
--[X] Should the Duke decide to endure a siege arms, food, and support should be stockpiled from the surrounding area so as to deny them to the enemy.
---[X] Advise against a siege, we would be outnumbered and we don't have the ability to properly fortify the city with earthwork and ditches. The lack of defenses would only serve to make an enemy assault more likely and effective.
--[X] A better alterative would be to use our advantages, our light cavalry and smaller army gives us more mobility and speed. A raid on their camp with the regiment of light cavalry would be possible, they wouldn't have anything to counter, their heavy cavalry would be to slow to react, and the dukes men should have intimate knowledge of the terrain.
---[X] If the Duke is receptive to the idea of a raid then go even further, and propose luring the enemy into a battle, our allies in Pesaro are a short distance away. We can link up the 2 forces while the light cavalry raids their camp and if the enemy pursue we can ambush them with the combined forces. If they don't we can still proceed to the camp, the enemy wouldn't be expecting an attack so soon after a raid. Tell the Duke he has good commanders in Johannes(tactics/terrain specialty) and ourselves. The Duke also has intimate knowledge of the terrain and knowledge of where an ambush/battle would most favor us.
I spent some time thinking about the situation and this is what I cam up with. I don't really fancy a siege I forgot its September and the conditions aren't in our favor. I'm sorry its so long I wanted to make sure things were properly articulated. If anybody has any thoughts/suggestions/questions please share.
-[X] Resupply (Gain 978 Coin)
--[X] Arms -450
--[X] Food (-30% cost)- 100
--[X] Support -150
-[X] Preparations for the Duke's meeting
--[X] Inform the Duke that Cesare's army numbers between 4 and 5 thousand, a small number of heavy cavalry but no artillery or light cavalry. Whether in a siege/battle we would be outnumbered. Should we prepare for a siege the enemy has no way of breaching the wall but this same lack of ability to breach the wall might push the enemy to assault the city. Their lack of light cavalry robs them of mobility and speed.
--[X] Should the Duke decide to endure a siege arms, food, and support should be stockpiled from the surrounding area so as to deny them to the enemy.
---[X] Advise against a siege, we would be outnumbered and we don't have the ability to properly fortify the city with earthwork and ditches. The lack of defenses would only serve to make an enemy assault more likely and effective.
--[X] A better alterative would be to use our advantages, our light cavalry and smaller army gives us more mobility and speed. A raid on their camp with the regiment of light cavalry would be possible, they wouldn't have anything to counter, their heavy cavalry would be to slow to react, and the dukes men should have intimate knowledge of the terrain.
---[X] If the Duke is receptive to the idea of a raid then go even further, and propose luring the enemy into a battle, our allies in Pesaro are a short distance away. We can link up the 2 forces while the light cavalry raids their camp and if the enemy pursue we can ambush them with the combined forces. If they don't we can still proceed to the camp, the enemy wouldn't be expecting an attack so soon after a raid. Tell the Duke he has good commanders in Johannes(tactics/terrain specialty) and ourselves. The Duke also has intimate knowledge of the terrain and knowledge of where an ambush/battle would most favor us.
I spent some time thinking about the situation and this is what I cam up with. I don't really fancy a siege I forgot its September and the conditions aren't in our favor. I'm sorry its so long I wanted to make sure things were properly articulated. If anybody has any thoughts/suggestions/questions please share.
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[X] Plan Options
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Plan Options
Another issue that might need to be looked at or resolved soon is the dispute between the German Pike captain and chaplain over the crow. It might not be serious but any arguements within the ranks could lead to serious problems down the line .
Another issue that might need to be looked at or resolved soon is the dispute between the German Pike captain and chaplain over the crow. It might not be serious but any arguements within the ranks could lead to serious problems down the line .
Possibly, I'm surprised that omens like birds flying are still taken seriously in this time period lol. It was kind of funny reading them argue about its meaning. Let's hope it doesn't spiral out of control. And if it does hopefully QM let's us deal with it.
KlinkerKing
Man bites dog?
- Location
- The Lion's Den
It is currently Early November, Borgia can at earliest arrive in Late November (should he set off immediately).