You know what this reminds me of? Mass Effect 2's Suicide Mission
, with the difference that we have to choose both the task and the units, not only the latter. Or XCOM 2's guerrilla ops; ideally you go in fast and hard, get the VIP and scamper.
As you said,
The plan is a hard-hitting lightning raid based on using the harbor to bypass any outer fortifications and hit the town directly, focusing on street-by-street urban combat rather than formation fighting.
A contested landing will be very difficult though, and liable to cause heavy losses. So, how to do such a landing?
First, we need Shock & Awe when landing, to avoid getting tossed back into the water. Will this shock be melee-based or gunfire-based?
The guns are more disciplined, but remember that if it rains, the guns will be mostly useless.
Melee would be the Basher Ogres punching a hole in the Norscan line for the Frostseekers to follow through. Or for the Dwarves to support them, maybe.
Gunfire would be the Coinshields (we can shoot above them quite safely), followed by the Goblin Hewers (that I prefer to the Nuln Ironsides because they can defend themselves better in melee).
The Maestros of Magritta are a well-balanced force with multiple uses, we need some "standard infanty".
The Silver Prophet could give us some flexibility, and the possibility to counter Chaos spells. But why allow the shamans to leisurely set up behind a Norscan shieldwall, when we can do a
lightning raid and give them no space?
A good argument can be made for the Pale Spirits, to have some of them go on a commando mission with us to find and free the prisoners. They are the best individual fighters.
So, we have to pick 6 among:
2 special units: Arabyan Mage and Pale Spirits.
2 standard infantry: Coinshields and the swordsmen from Magritta.
2 ranged-that-can-defend-themselves: Goblin Hewers, 8th Grim Bears.
2 shock infantry that will reap a bloody toll: Bashers and Frostseekers.
Ultimately, you know what I'd go for?
[X] Plan Lightning Raid
-[X] The Bashers
-[X] The Frostseekers
-[X] The Coinshields
-[X] The Goblin Hewers
-[X] The Magnificent Maestros of Magritta
-[X] The Pale Spirits
We abandon the Silver Prophet, because we want to have the forces to execute the
best shock & awe action possible:
- on landing, the Bashers smash a hole in whatever shieldwall(or barricade) the Norscans manage to put up on short notice; the Frostseekers follow through the gaps in the line and mess them up.
- Then it depends on the how the battle is shaped; if we need orderly formations, we have the Coinshields shieldwall and GoblinHewers polearms-with-gunfire. If the battle devolves into racing through the street and fighting in small groups, we have the Pale Spirits. The Maestros swordsmen can acquit themselves honorably in both cases.
Basically the only differences with the
[] Plan Everyone Has a Plan Until they Get Punched in the Face
are:
- I include the Coinshields because I don't trust gunpowder-only units, and you include the 3rd Nuln Ironsides because you trust gunpowder but not the Dawi.
- I include the Frostseekers to have a strong landing and get the situation in enough disarray that a special mission with Swordmasters and some Pale Spirits can be attempted in the first place, whereas you include the Silver Prophet for flexibility and spell-countering.
