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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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Boney said:
This battle was a really strong example of the importance of information. Drycha's forces flubbed their scouting rolls, and then Drycha didn't know enough about Kislev to pick up that something was off. She thought that her plan was still working like she had hoped, and that she was up against either Bretonnian peasant archers or Empire huntsmen, where the presence of the Kreml Guard would have been a massive 'oh fuck' moment for anyone that knew Kislev's military. The match-up she thought she was in was one she could easily win even with the disadvantages of being so far from home and in an unfriendly forest. The one she actually ended up fighting was one that she never would have knowingly walked into.

Drycha lost this battle before it started. Know the enemy and know yourself, defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win, and all that jazz. If she had succeeded in just one of the scouting rolls things would have been very different.
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You know, it's kind of funny how Mathilde keeps ending up in situations where enemy preparation is completely out of whack with the forces she's with. Castle Drakenhof? It was built before the invention of cannon, and she's leading the largest dwarven concentration of artillery in history. Clan Mors in the tunnels? They're set up to face Eshin, and suddenly a bunch of dwarves and mercenaries march up and kick their teeth in. Clan Mors in the under-tunnels? They're set up to face dwarven tactics, and Mathilde goes full horror film on them. Here? Drycha was prepared for a peasant levy with a few men at arms, when instead she was up against probably the best infantry in Kislev, with full magical support from not only ice witches but a college magister.
 
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NSMS said:
You know, it's kind of funny how Mathilde keeps ending up in situations where enemy preparation is completely out of whack with the forces she's with. Castle Drakenhof? It was built before the invention of cannon, and she's leading the largest dwarven concentration of artillery in history. Clan Mors in the tunnels? They're set up to face Eshin, and suddenly a bunch of dwarves and mercenaries march up and kick their teeth in. Clan Mors in the under-tunnels? They're set up to face dwarven tactics, and Mathilde goes full horror film on them. Here? Drycha was prepared for a peasant levy with a few men at arms, when instead she was up against probably the best infantry in Kislev, with full magical support from not only ice witches but a college magister.
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It just goes to show that if you prepare your forces to counter paper, someone's going to come swinging with a really big rock.
 
Codex said:
By the way, as a point of comparison, Drycha was carrying around a -20 penalty, which is equivalent to our Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma. I have to wonder how she survived this long if she's carrying around a Battle Magic level debuff while deciding to hunt down an Ice Witch.
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That would be because she didn't come here to hunt down an Ice Witch. She planned to ambush a single Boyar and his guards. For that purpose, she wouldn't even have to show up. Her forces would have been more than enough to tear her targets to shreds.

Mathilde stumbled on Drycha completely by coincidence, and we picked the right options to use the knowledge by informing the Ice Witches, the fuckmothering Tsar and the latter's elite royal guard, before using our unique spell to accelerate the army's march massively. Drycha could have adapted to all of this (primarily by retreating and trying another day), but she botched her scouting rolls, so she didn't know the Tsar was on his way, or that there was a Lady Magister with a spell that could make said Tsar reach the forest in time to make a difference. All she knew was that some group of doods may or may not be in the area while she's carrying out the ambush. That's fine, she thought. Before they even get there, I'll kill the target and leave.

But everything changed when the invisible wizard attacked and smacked her in the face with a sword-shaped cannon.

The rolls in the recent update weren't Drycha going "all according to keikaku"; they were her going "I don't like this Keikaku anymore" and desperately trying to salvage the situation despite the terrible conditions, because suddenly she realized her brilliant plan got wrecked by bad luck and a meddler who doesn't even know her name stumbling on her.
 
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Always Late said:
As Boney's said already, Kislev really hates her. The forests of Brettonia have more in common with Athel Loren than many would admit. The dark corners of the Empire where Beastmen roam, necromancers huddle, and Dhar roils like a thick mud, are also homely to an evil being like her. Not Kislev. Never Kislev.
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I'm pretty sure this is something about the Forest of Shadows, which respects no borders and spreads over a decent chunk of the Empire.

[x] Counter
 
NSMS said:
You know, it's kind of funny how Mathilde keeps ending up in situations where enemy preparation is completely out of whack with the forces she's with. Castle Drakenhof? It was built before the invention of cannon, and she's leading the largest dwarven concentration of artillery in history. Clan Mors in the tunnels? They're set up to face Eshin, and suddenly a bunch of dwarves and mercenaries march up and kick their teeth in. Clan Mors in the under-tunnels? They're set up to face dwarven tactics, and Mathilde goes full horror film on them. Here? Drycha was prepared for a peasant levy with a few men at arms, when instead she was up against probably the best infantry in Kislev, with full magical support from not only ice witches but a college magister.
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We've practically made a career off of it, yeah. Mathilde very much specializes in being an Outside Context Problem.
 
Akasha said:
The rolls in the recent update weren't Drycha going "All according to keikaku", it's her going "I don't like this Keikaku anymore" and desperately trying to salvage the situation despite the terrible conditions, because suddenly she realized her brilliant plan got wrecked by bad luck.
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Was that really luck, or a friend giving a helping hand?🤔
 
The Forest of Shadows is one of the nastiest forests in the Old World. I have no idea why it hates Drycha so much, but don't be fooled into thinking it's some sort of patriotic space. Some of the most vile creatures in the Empire live there. From Melkhior and Zacharias to Ragush and Dieter Helsnicht.
 
[X] Dragonflask

[ ] Pursue
Really tempted to see what this would lead to.... if we hadn't got a lesson on why you don't chase unknown magic users into their prepared ground.
 
Codex said:
The Forest of Shadows is one of the nastiest forests in the Old World. I have no idea why it hates Drycha so much, but don't be fooled into thinking it's some sort of patriotic space. Some of the most vile creatures in the Empire live there. From Melkhior and Zacharias to Ragush and Dieter Helsnicht.
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Dieter Helsnicht would be the Drakwald, no? Given he was always focused on Middenland/heim.
 
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