With the vote now open:
[X] Plan: It will be bad for our enemies!
Nothing wrong with taking the middle of the road option here. Additionally, fighting on the plains should allow our shock cavalry to shine compared to sitting behind a river.
A hefty summary of the feudal society of pre-Revolutionary Arné has been added to the Lore post. While not necessary to read, those who enjoy lore deep-dives may find it interesting. Another bit commenting on elven gender lunacy will follow in a bit.
Geeze, racial castes? Ugh, what a mess. You know, that puts the Constitutionalist vision of "Arné as a nation where each race has its place and purpose, working in unity for the benefit of all" in a particularly sinister light. Crypto-casteists, one and all.
The idea of a mixed species unit is kind of unpopular for cultural reasons as discussed earlier, but there's also practical concerns. Formation warfare is tough enough with one race, having every other guy have a different length of stride and different height just makes it even messier. Add to that different diets, clothing fits, and so forth.
Minority regiments will certainly get formed in the future and a few do already exist in Arné. We'll learn more about those races when we meet them.
[X] Plan: I said no rush 15 min
-[X] Withdraw to the Vaud River.
-[X] Intense drill. There's no time for rest or leisure on this march. The troops need a taste of discipline and grueling drill. Lose Munitions equal to number of Units (-14). Gain +2 Drill. Lose 2d100 troops as Casualties.
-[X] Recruit locals. It's a fact of war that an army bleeds warm bodies constantly, in and out of battle. We could try recruiting from the local population to fill our ranks. Gain Reserve Manpower. Recruitment in hostile territory has an Influence cost. Available in La Durance: elves, humans, hobgoblins, halflings, dwarves, devils, nymphs.
--[X] Hobgoblins. Gain 5d100+100 Reserve Manpower.
--[X] Halflings. Gain 5d100+250 Reserve Manpower.
-[X] [-50 Influence] Acquire intel on enemy forces. Gold, well-placed friends and clever agents can usually yield useful intelligence on the enemy movements and disposition. Learn enemy Units, their XP rank and equipment.
Manpower for minority species units is hard to come by, so if we get the choice we will want to make sure that their unit is superior to a Halfling one where it is around 3 time cheaper to get them.
Using them as artillery crew is ideal for this purpose of course, because it takes 20 times less for a unit.
Let's think about the Devil's:
They get double cohesion from xp, so +5 at elite status. They also do not lose xp, so they will always end up as elites someday. Their drawback is that they are a minority race and hard to get.
This means that they are pretty bad as artillerists, being superior only to Hobgoblin Artillerists.
Their XP ratchet system means that they would be superior in the thickest of the fighting, where they would devastate enemies with superior cohesion and experience without losing their edge from large casualties. But Devils cannot sustain large casualties because of their minority population - this is a contradiction that makes it hard for them to find a place where they truly belong (thematic).
With Devils being mediocre Artillerists and worse infanterists, I think their best branch would be the cavalry, where the sharp bonus of their xp would confirm cohesion kills and casualties would not be as severe as Infantry.
What about nymphs?
They have advantage in wood, forests and wetlands and disadvantages in Village, Urban, Bridge and Fortified Terrain. They also give every unit resting near them extra cohesion.
Cavalry does not enjoy being in these rough terrains and as a result a nymphs cavalry unit is terribly conflicted - Unable to operate out of what should be the safety of fortified hexes and only getting into the nymphy preferred terrain with difficulty, nymph cavalry seems like a match made in hell (flooded and unlivable).
The most obvious use case is of course their use as rangers, securing woods and wetlands, where they are in their element and able to destroy foolish cavalry and infantry trying to match them. It should still be kept in mind that they are a minority race though and a simple advantage will not make them unbeatable!
That's why I think the superior unit for nymphs would be the artillery. Their preferred terrains are nearly inaccessible, but if we can place them in a forest at the beginning of the battle they will absolutely murder people with permanently advantaged barrages.
Being artillery and in the backline means that routed units can take advantage of their rest trait too, with infantry in the frontline running away towards them and resting with the nymph bonus before entering the battle again.
A forced march with the Army in this shape seems like more trouble than it would be worth. You put aside dreams of glorious ambush and triumph on the Via Peregrina. Retreating behind the Vaud does not feel right, either. It gives the enemy far too much time to build up its strength. You've no wish to make an enemy of the Convention, either.
It will be a battle somewhere on the Plain, then. Not that the enemy will simply come to the place of your choosing. There's kilometres of field between you. If the Volunteer Army does not simply withdraw, both of you will seek to maneuver the other into a position that most benefits your side - or at least grants no great advantage to either side.
As the Army receives your orders - in good cheer, hungry to take the fight to the enemy - you ponder the pace of your march. There will be time to work the men before it comes to fighting. The shameful state of their training in formation warfare and the general lack of discipline in the ranks is a severe liability, despite their devotion to the cause. As such, you plan a regimen of harsh drill, vigilant discipline and relentless training to take place at camp after each leg of the journey.
Army Drill increased to 4. 135 Casualties taken.
It starts to have results quickly, but the weakest of your soldiers cannot keep up with the pace. Disease, injuries and training accidents take their toll, mostly on the infantry. There are deaths, but you hope to see many of them recover in time for future campaigns. Your own harrowing experience with salt lung in 1731 and the agonizingly long recovery it demanded makes you sympathetic to their plight, but that is the soldier's lot. The Army cannot wait for every man.
Regional garrisons contribute some reserves to your camp after a few choice letters sent to the appropriate people. The influx of trained and tested manpower covers for the losses suffered on the march and grants a measure of additional experience to the ranks.
-50 Influence lost. Intel received on enemy army.
Other letters head for other recipients. There are enough souls along the Volunteer Army's path with loyalty to the Revolution, need for gold or loose lips to provide a fair picture of its disposition. The reports cannot be exact, but you study the mess of sightings, rumors and eavesdropped conservations with your staff and formulate something of a picture.
It appears that the strength of the enemy lies in its cavalry. Four regiments of well-trained and battle-tested elven horse - royalist units which fled Arné in the aftermath of the risings of the last summer. Your adjutants identify their standards: the 1st and 2nd Royal Elven Volunteer Lancers, His Majesty Clotaire VIII's Regiment of Hussars and the Prince de Parvain's Regiment of Hussars, named after the King's second son.
The rumors of foreign units appear to be true, as well. Surly dwarves in brand-new royalist uniforms have been spotted in the Volunteer Army camps, speaking in harsh Nordisch rather than singsong Arnése. Their banners are new as well, declaring them the Schwarzberg Dwarven Legion and the Heidenheim Dwarven Legion. Though they fly the King's colors, you'd bet your hat on them being Nornish regiments given a new varnish of Arnése paint.
This appears to be the extent of foreign manpower raised by the Volunteer Army. You suspect that you would have seen more of their kind if you had let the enemy gather its strength all the way until the Vaud. It doesn't quite constitute a Nornish invasion, but it's hardly suitable behavior from a nation at peace with yours.
Their remaining forces are made up of two elven infantry regiments, one hobgoblin infantry regiment and one halfling infantry regiment, all of them evidently rather new to the business of war. Two batteries of artillery follow in their wake: the 10th and 25th Royal Elven Batteries, as they style themselves.
Their commander, Antoine-Vincent de Choisy, Marquis de Guerrand, is a familiar figure to you. He led the I. Army in the War of the Grand Alliance (against his present Nornish allies, ironically). The man's known to favor intense artillery barrages followed by massed cavalry to breach enemy lines.
***
La Durance: First March
Morale Event (d20): [3+4=7], no effect
Drill Event (d20): [12-2=10], no effect
CO Event (d10):[7], Sophie Tasse; [2+2=4]: Neglect of Command (Unit starts coming battle with -2 Cohesion.)
Things go fairly well, all things considered. Despite the harsh discipline and increased drilling of the march, there are no significant incidents among the troops. Indeed, you feel as if the drilling pays immediate dividends. The Army advances at a steady pace, with none of the incidents of columns getting lost and units dispersing in disorder that plagued your hurried march through the Maisons du Roi.
The only issue that arises is one of leadership. Almost all of your officers are some type of new and inexperienced. The young leader of the 19th Halfling Pathfinders, Sophie Tasse, comes in sheepishly at the end of your trek to report disciplinary issues within her ranks. It's the usual nonsense of thieving, jealousy and the stress of a thousand soldiers living side by side for days on end. The causes of the rot are not concerning, but Tasse's response is. Or rather, the lack of it. From what you gather, she lets the bad blood fester without acting until it's spread across much of the regiment. The end result is bruises, vendettas and the intervention of military police. It leaves discord within the unit right on the eve of battle.
"I take full responsibility, sir," Tasse says at the end of her confession, her shame making her already diminutive stature seem even smaller before you. "It will not happen again, sir."
You hope she takes this as a lesson, but it's not a sin worthy of greater censure. Tasse seems like a competent officer, despite her blind spots.
19th Halfling Pathfinders begin the battle with -2 Cohesion.
***
On the 15th of Garandiale, the enemy is sighted. They come marching at a steady pace down the Via Peregrina, as expected. A series of maneuvers sees both of you turn off the road and onto the Plain proper. These hardy pasturelands and scattered hamlets have seen war aplenty across the centuries. The Mauvais forms the borderland between Arné and Norn. The scars of the War of the Grand Alliance are still visible on her skin.
Both sides make their commitment to battle clear. You sigh in pleased relief. It would have been tiresome for this to turn into a chase. As the enemy begins to assemble across the field, you survey the battlefield and consider your own deployment...
The battlefield at Mauvais.You may deploy your Units in the blue area as you like.
The enemy will deploy in the white area.
The tower at the Monastère des Armelides (Monastery of the Armelide Order of Mauvais) is considered a Fortified Hill, as is the windmill in the north. Otherwise, all Hexes with buildings are Village.Some Hexes hold multiple Terrains, in which case the highest modifiers of each type are applied.
[] Deploy Units. Write-in where you wish your Units to form up. Please also indicate where you would like your HQ to be: this acts as a supply depot and the location of Raka during the battle, unless otherwise specified. The HQ has a Move of 1.
Fifth Army
Morale
Drill
Supplies
Munitions
Influence
Current
7 (la patrie is in danger!)
4 (amateurish but passable)
43
110
55
Projected
Supplies are expended every March equal to the amount of Units under your command (double for Hobgoblin Units).
Bayonets, Sabres: Wounding +0 Lances: Wounding +1, Concealment -1, Movement -2, additional Charge Advantage, Cabot Musket: Wounding +0, Range 100m/200m/400m Field Artillery: Wounding 3, Range 200m/700m/1400m Canard Rifle: Wounding +0, Range 200m/300m/500m Horse Artillery: Wounding +2, Movement +4, Range 200m/600m/1200m
***
Volunteer Army
Morale
Drill
Current
5
4
Our Units
Unit
XP
Str.
Coh.
Att.
Mun.
Spl.
Con.
Spt.
Mov.
Equipment
Traits
CO
1st Roy. Elv. Lan.
Professional
500/500
11/11
+20
?
2?
5?
7
Lances
Elven
Cavalry
?
2nd Roy. Elv. Lan.
Professional
500/500
11/11
+20
?
2?
5?
7
Lances
Elven
Cavalry
?
HM's 1st Elv. Hsr.
Professional
500/500
11/11
+20
?
3?
5?
9
Sabres
Elven
Cavalry
?
HM's 2nd Elv. Hsr.
Professional
500/500
11/11
+20
?
3?
5?
9
Sabres
Elven
Cavalry
?
Schw. Dwa. Leg.
Professional
1000/1000
15/15
+20
?
?
3?
3?
3?
Erlkönig Musket
Bayonets
Dwarven
?
Heid. Dwa. Leg.
Professional
1000/1000
15/15
+20
?
?
3?
3?
3?
Erlkönig Musket
Bayonets
Dwarven
?
1st Elv. Vol.
Trained
1000/1000
9/9
+0
?
?
3?
3?
3?
Cabot Musket
Bayonets
Elven
?
2nd Elv. Vol.
Trained
1000/1000
9/9
+0
?
?
3?
3?
3?
Cabot Musket
Bayonets
Elven
?
1st Half. Vol.
Trained
1000/1000
9/9
+0
?
?
5?
3?
3?
Cabot Musket
Bayonets
Halfling
?
1st Hob. Vol.
Trained
1000/1000
9/9
+0
?
?
3?
3?
3?
Cabot Musket
Bayonets
Hobgoblin
?
10th Roy. Elv. Art.
Regular
50/50
10/10
+10
?
?
3?
5?
1?
Field Artillery
Elven
?
25th Roy. Elv. Art.
Trained
50/50
9/9
+0
?
?
3?
5?
1?
Field Artillery
Elven
?
Bayonets, Sabres: Wounding +0 Lances: Wounding +1, Concealment -1, Movement -2, additional Charge Advantage, Cabot Musket: Wounding +0, Range 100m/200m/400m Erlkönig Musket: Wounding +0, Range 100m/200m/400m Field Artillery: Wounding 3, Range 200m/700m/1400m
Replacements and how the influx of higher-Ranked manpower influences Unit XP may be tweaked going onwards. Right now, higher-Ranked replacements can boost the receiving Unit's XP by small amounts, though it's the same regardless of how much higher their Rank is. Requisition of artillery, cavalry and infantry trained recruits will probably also be divided up for the future.
[] 19th Half. Pfd SW of Nearest East Forest Tile
[] 28th Half. Pfd 2 SW of Nearest West Forest Tile
This places them close enough to dart into the forests before the enemy can actually spot them. Of course, this means at least partially dividing our forces into two, but that's probably necessary.
Incidentally, are there any particular laws or rules about the possibility of us setting up our Horse Artillery (once we get it moving, that is) in the Monastary, @Photomajig ?
Your primary goal is to defeat the Volunteer Army in the field and prevent it from approaching the King's residence in the Maisons du Roi. Your secondary objective in this battle is to capture the enemy HQ and any sensitive royal correspondence it might hold...
Incidentally, are there any particular laws or rules about the possibility of us setting up our Horse Artillery (once we get it moving, that is) in the Monastary, @Photomajig ?
You can deploy artillery in any Hex (but there are usually drawbacks). The tower Hex in the monastery is Fortified like Beaume House, but it is also considered a Hills Hex. This mean that it provides an additional +1 Spotting and line of sight over non-Hill Hexes (in mixed Hexes, the highest modifiers and effects of either are applied). The windmill in the north is another Fortified Hill Hex.
Your primary goal is to defeat the Volunteer Army in the field and prevent it from approaching the King's residence in the Maisons du Roi. Your secondary objective in this battle is to capture the enemy HQ and any sensitive royal correspondence it might hold...
You can deploy artillery in any Hex (but there are usually drawbacks). The tower Hex in the monastery is Fortified like Beaume House, but it is also considered a Hills Hex. This mean that it provides an additional +1 Spotting and line of sight over non-Hill Hexes (in mixed Hexes, the highest modifiers and effects of either are applied). The windmill in the north is another Fortified Hill Hex.
Oh shit. So it can fire over those forests at units on the other side?
In that case, there's no way that they don't take the Windmill and we don't put something on the Monastery. If we did 'field' Artillery it would have a wider field of fire but it'd also take three rounds to set up, instead of two, because of its low move.
