A Crown Reclaimed

[Orsocinghiale]

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A Crown Reclaimed

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It has been more than two hundred years since the fall of the Molossian Empire; and since then war has reigned supreme. First came the various plagues, then the many civil wars: and in the last century invaders from the sea and across the old borders have entered the already ravaged land. What was once a rich land, full of monuments and blessed by God is now a place of despair and sorrow, where brother kill brother for a bite of rotten bread, and few children see their tenth birthday, laid low by hunger or blade.

But even in this dark times hope remain, for there will always be people dreaming of the old days, and people willing to try to make this world a better place. So while the majority of the people in power are little warlords that only cares for their pride, power and pleasure; you are different, you have sworn to build a new world from the ashes of the old, maybe it will not be grand and magnificent as the Old Empire, but will stand over anything currently existing.

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Character Creation

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[] Insert Name



In which part of the Old Molossian Empire were you born?

[]In the Heartland: The region around the old capital, now little more than a shantytown, this region has suffered heavily under the reign of the so called Successor Emperors, a group of military officers and later petty nobles that claimed for themselves the Imperial Crown and fought constantly among themselves; destroying the already cracking infrastructure and bringing famine and plague to the countryside. Yet is still the centre of the Old Empire and despite the raiding there are still many treasures to be found, and the people living there are proud of their inheritance. (People from this region have Modern Greek names)

-True Blood: Despite the raiding and settlement of peoples from across the borders, the majority of those living in these lands still carry the blood of Molossi in them, and still dream of the Old Empire

-Land of Plains: Except for a few outcrop of rock, most of the land is an endless plain, both good for farming and for pasture, giving its ruler an near monopoly on food



[]In the East: The last region to be annexed by the Molossian Empire, it took over a century and fifteen wars before the chieftains submitted to the imperial crown. This region, once called Gwlad y Mynyddoedd, is a region of tall mountains covered in deep forests, with great rivers flowing at the foots of the peaks; despite over two century of Molossian rule the region was never truly developed and the power of the chieftain never broke. The region as seen less invasions by the raiders that have destroyed the Empire, but despite this the feuds between the clans haven't allowed the region to prosper. (People from this region have Modern Greek/Welsh names)

-Fiercely Traditional: The inhabitants of the region cling to their past and dislike the news ideas, new for them while the rest of the world has been aware of them for centuries

-Wood and Stone: There is little else in the region other that this, sure there are the few tin and copper mines but still. Most of the food is hunted, gathered of fished; building farms is time-consuming and few chieftains have the manpower to spare



[] In the South: The Cities of the South consider themselves the true inheritor of the Molossian Empire; this because the raiding they suffer come from the sea, and while they may suffer from that, the raiders always go back from where they came, and thus the culture and operas of old remain to give the people pride in who they were. The land it's not rich, being covered in rocky hills, but on those they grow vineyards and olive groves that they trade with the Heartland. This semblance of peace is constantly destroyed by the fighting both inside and outside the various cities; because the cities always gangs on the one that look like ready to expand. (People from this region have Ancient Greek names)

- Independent: A ruler of a City State want to rule them all the others, and know that all the others rulers want the same, so there has never been a long last alliance between two cities. Bribery and exchange of favours are more common than bread

-Land of Commerce: Because the region occupy the most developed and largest coast of the Old Empire, is maritime trade is well developed, and so are the intern land routes to the other region; what the City States cannot produce, they can always buy



[]In the West: This region as suffered more than others since the fall of the empire, people from across the sea landed there and decided to make the land their new home; now, after a century of occupation, little remains of the Old Empire, just stories passed from father to son and a few decrepit buildings. Few lords of Molossian blood remains, and they are scorned by their overlords for having been conquered. The region is situated on the Western Sea, or as the invaders call it the Hav af Blod, the land is wet, covered in mist and the forest loom darkly over the settlements. (People in this region have Modern Greek/Old Germanic names)

-Embers: After a century the will to fight the invaders is almost disappeared, and it would take great effort in order to convince the people to take up arms

-The Riddle: Even after a century of civil wars the invaders would not have conquered easily the land, they did so because unlike the Molossian they don't wield bronze, but iron



[]In the North: The northern region of the Old Empire is a great lifeless desert; civilization can be found only around the various oasis that dot the land. Around those, cities were erected and life sprung; the region survived pretty well during the civil wars that brought low the Molossian Empire, but were unprepared for the invasions that came from across the desert. Those slaver tribes conquered just a few settlements, but they demand tribute from all others; and the ruler that don't pay will have to suffer their wrath. (People from the region have Moder Greek/Arabian names)

-Survivors: The harsh land, the continuous raids and uncaring rulers have forced the population that this is their new way of life and changing it will only bring destruction

-Master of the Horse: Marching an army composed mostly by heavy infantry, such as the Molossian way, is hard is such land, so the locals prefer smaller and quicker forces, helped by their great herds of saddle animals



Your life was not an easy one, you had to endure harsh winters and even as a Lord' son sometimes you went to bed hungry, but found happiness playing with your brother and sister, chasing geese and chickens in the courtyard of your keep and learning to fight. Then disaster struck, during a cold winter some disease took hold of your family; and one by one your brothers and sister were taken away from you, only your father, mother and you were left. Seeing as you were now the heir your father put you through rigorous training in order to make you a worthy Lord; you trained hard, both in order to impress your father, that since the death of your brothers and sister had turned in a cold and uncaring man, and to become a good ruler for your people.

One day your father, already old, lead a force of your men against a group of raider that had sacked an hamlet under your rule, you heard that was a trap and only a few levies returned from the battle; the survivors told you that your father was killed in the moment the trap was sprung. So now it was up to you to avenge him and rule what was now your land.

 

[Orsocinghiale]

Spring 542

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Battle of Kalivakia

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Your gaze lay on the field of the coming battle with hatred; in front of you stand a small army of raiders, raiders that dared to come to your land in search of riches and plunder; not only they have attached your people and killed many of them, enslaving the rest, but they also killed your father. Your heart burn in righteous fury at the thought of your father's killer still walking the earth, you sworn to yourself, before the day's end you will have his body as a foot rest.

"Archon, our man are ready, they only awaits your orders" said your trusted friend and Lochagos Aikat, standing ready in his armour, with is shield resting on one of his legs while in is right hand he grasped a spear, after a few moments he too looked at the enemy force and gave you a bitter smile "Not that I doubt you Zacheriah, but we are outnumbered and we have only a little professional forces, the rest are levies. I hope you have a great strategy for this battles or we are going to meets the gods this day".

You rest your eyes once more on the enemy force and observe their composition; the enemy numbers just shy of 1000 men, with a core of 100 armoured infantry located in the reserve, the battle line is composed by light spearmen numbering 800, finally in front of the army there are around 100 skirmisher armed with javelins. As army they are well rounded, they have a smaller elite force than you, but this is compensated by having double your own militia, thus having an edge in melee combat

In contrast your force are composed by a core of 200 hoplites, the best infantry under your command and the inheritor of the Molossian way of war, then you have 400 militiamen, armed with a large shield and a bronze spear but no armour, you also have 200 archers acting as your skirmisher. Looking over the two forces you quickly come up with a battle plan

Melee: The majority of your forces are trained to fight as spearmen, more or less armoured; they will surely suffer the majority of casualty in the coming battle, but how to position them will change the course of the battle.

[] Form a solid line: you are outnumbered, you know it, your men know it, and surely the enemy know it; this will give them the security to attack; so you will form a phalanx to hold them at bay and slowly kill them all

[] Spearhead: place the hoplites at the centre of the formation and when the enemy reach you have them push forward, trying to break the enemy formation in two and then destroy them piecemeal, note that this tactic will mean more losses among your elites

[] Encircle them: if many raiders survives they could reform in another band and continue pillaging your land, position your militia in two extended flanks with the hoplites in the centre and when the clash begin have the heavy infantry slowly giving ground while the militia advance, if this is execute correctly you will be able to completely encircle the enemy and destroy them, but is very difficult to execute and the militia may not be able to keep fighting for long without the support of the hoplites



Archers: Your archer are superior to the enemy, both in number and in effective range, so they are perfect to kill the enemy forces before the clash of blades and spears begin, but you must choose on how to use them

[]Skirmish: have them focus fire on the raiders armed with javelins, while this will not kill many of the enemies, it will ensure that later in the battle you will not have to be troubled with enemy incoming missiles

[]Cut the chaff: you could concentrate your fire on the enemy infantry in order to maximise the casualties inflicted, while this will help in the melee clash, it will not gave you much tactical flexibility

[]Sniping: Alternatively you could choose to fire on the enemy elites, while this will inflict the least casualties it will both demoralize the enemy, and give you a chance to kill the enemy leader

 

[Orsocinghiale]

Spring 542 Result

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Battle of Kalivakia

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At your order your forces marched took position on the slopes at the foot of the small hill that served as your command centre and then, encouraged by Aikat, started to offend the enemy and mock their masculinity, inviting them to come and die at their hands; after a few minutes the enemy started marching towards you, the skirmisher running in front of the main body. Soon they entered in the range of your bows and you gave the command to loose

Archer DC 50

2D100= 93, 80

Your archers loose their arrows in synchrony; causing a rain of death for the enemy infantry, disrupting their lines and bringing mayhem through the ranks

Raiders Morale DC 50

1D100= 27

As soon as the first body fell on the ground their advanced stopped and huddled behind their shields; then you see movement in the enemy rear line, a few raiders started running from the battle, soon joined by dozens more

Raider Chieftain Morale Save DC 50

1 D100= 62

Then from the enemies elites came a cry in their barbarous tongue and the deserters stopped in their track, then after another cry they reluctantly returned to the fight

86 Raiders killed, 43 routed; remaining 671

The enemy resumed their march against your forces despite their losses, until the enemy javelinmen reached their range and let loose their volley

Raiders Javelinmen DC 50

1D100=41+10(Piercing)=51

The javelins fell a bit short of your line but nonetheless caused casualties among your men, although not enough to disrupt the phalanx

40 Militiamen killed, 5 Hoplites killed, remaining 360, 195

In response your archers loose a volley at the enemy infantry

Archers DC 40

2D100= 37, 44

The volley is not very effective, many arrows embedding in the enemies shields and killing only a few men

44 Raiders killed, 627 remaining

Finally the lines clashes with each other and the butchering begin, the left flank and the centre are composed by your militia while the hoplites, as is traditionally, compose the right flank

Left Flank

Militia 2D100 Vs Raiders 2D100

80, 31 Vs 46, 45

On the left flank the battle is not going anywhere, the difference between your militia and the raiders is nonexistent and there are few casualties among both forces

10 Militiamen killed, 170 remaining

20 Raiders killed, 189 remaining



Centre

Militia 2D100 Vs Raiders 2D100

80, 5 Vs 72, 16

Even worse in the centre, there the battle is at a standstill, with both groups pushing against the enemy's shields

3 Militiamen killed, remaining 177

1 Raider killed, remaining 208



Right Flank

Hoplites 2D100+10(Skilled) Vs Raiders 2D100

103, 104 Vs 64, 78

On the right flank the skill of the hoplites is making a difference, killing four raiders for each of their own that fall

15 Hoplites killed, 180 remaining

66 Raiders killed, 143 remaining

Archers

2D100- 10 (Melee)

79, 8

1D3=3

The archers let loose a volley above the heads of your men, aiming at the enemy left flank and killing a large group

87 Raiders killed, 56 remaining

Raiders Morale DC 80

1DC100= 70

Under the hail of arrows the raiders broke formation and fled leaving your hoplites free to engage the enemy elites or to attack the centre from behind, trap the enemy and then slaughtering them

Raiders Javelinmen

1D100+10-10

100

1D3=3

And then tragedy, the enemy skirmishers launch all their remaining ammo at your left flank and kill over half of your militia

100 Militia killed, 70 remaining

Militia Morale DC 80

1D100= 51

The remaining militiamen started running from the battle, leaving both your archer and the centre exposed

Zacheriah Morale Save DC 80

1D100= 2

You tried to rally the fleeing men but to no avail, they kept running until they disappeared in the distance



Left Flank

189 Raiders

With their opponents broken the enemy right flank converge onto the centre in order to quickly slaughter the militia left in the field



Centre

Militia 2D100 Vs Raiders 2D100

89, 9 Vs 9, 68

The fight in the centre is a stalemate, with both forces plunging their spears into the opening of the shield wall, but while more raiders are killed than militiamen with the coming reinforcements this will change in the enemy favour



Right flank

180 Hoplites

Seeing that the enemy is massing on the centre, and knowing that your militiamen will not be able to hold against such number you give the order to the hoplites to reinforce the militia

Archers 2D100-10

79, 66

The archers desperately let loose another volley into the mass of enemies raiders, killing many and helping equalize the field

145 Raiders killed, 252 left

Raiders Javelinmen

Having used all of their ammunitions the javelinmen join the melee

Centre

177 Militia 2D100, 180 Hoplites 2D100+10 Vs 352 Raiders 4 D100

99, 7, 83, 104 Vs 41, 94, 44, 31

The melee is horrifying to observe, hundreds of men clashing with each other, stabbing, slashing and kicking the enemy in order to survive, but your forces come up as the winners for the moment

40 Militia killed, 137 remaining

10 Hoplites killed, 170 remaining

83 Raiders killed, 269 remaining

Archers 2D100-10

88, 22

The archers then let loose another volley into the remaining raiders killing almost half of them

110 Raiders killed, 159 remaining

Raiders Morale DC 80

1D100=94

But despite the losses the enemy kept fighting, but now they are outnumbered

Raiders Elites 1D2

1D2=2

Is at that moment that the enemy elites started marching away from the battle, their leader deciding to let his men die in order to cover his retreat, soon they were out of range of your archers. Noticing this the raiders left behind dropped their weapons and started asking for mercy. The battle has ended

You are drinking a cup of wine; but the sweet flavour doesn't keep away the ash taste you keep feeling. Yes you won but suffered heavy casualties in doing so and the enemy leader, your father's killer, as gotten away. Now you must decide what to do with the prisoners

[]Kill them: they raided and raped your land, they deserve death, and both your men and other ruler of Molossian heritage will find this a rightful action, but this will give you a bloodthirsty reputation and few enemy would surrender to such man

[]Give them to your subordinates: another action would be to give them to your free men, to do as they please; surely some will be killed but others would be used in the farms. This will gave you the goodwill of your people. +1 Right to Rule

[]Keep them as slaves: alternatively you could keep them as your properties and make them work in your farms, this would free some of your farmer from work and gave you more men to recruit in your army. +100 Manpower