Gee, I wonder if we can finance England's expedition into France during a potential War..
A Reforged World (NO SV, You are King of Italy, in a Greatly Changed World)
- Thread starter Magoose
- Start date
- Original Alt. History
Gee, I wonder if we can finance England's expedition into France during a potential War..
- Location
- Reno Nv
[X] Plan War On The Horizon
There is possible improvements...
But at this point, the main limitation is funds and investment. As has been mentioned by the GM, we could theoretically dump a massive investment to arm our whole army with the best the nation could make and basically be invincible until others manage to get enough tech/money to match.
Though one funny tidbit historically. Remember the fall of the Spanish Armada? Well, that was immediately followed by the fall of the British fleet, which was equally devastating. Or in other words, funnily enough at the end of the day the fall of the Spanish armada changed very little, because the British got their own fleet mauled very shortly after.
Hmm..
You know, it will be interesting paying a bunch of mathematics and others to create the Time System, aka 24 Hour Clock etc.
A Mercenary's Bizarre Adventure II: Pike and Shot Boogaloo
- Location
- Hawaii
A Mercenary's Bizarre Adventure II: Pike and Shot Boogaloo
Ascalon, Levant
June, 1518
Following the Combat at Ascalon, the first Ottoman reversal in years, Vater had been placed in overall command of the Mamluk army. Or rather, what remained of it. "Eighteen thousand foot, and twelve thousand horse, and not a cannon or arquebus among them! Unarmored Pike levies, hastily assembled to match the Ottomans, large contingents of bowmen! A small core of lancers surrounded by teeming masses of light cavalry, including horse archers! Little wonder the Ottomans have been brushing them aside in every battle! Outnumbered nearly two to one, poorly equipped, led by warrior nobility with their heads up their arses, fighting the Crusades all over again!"
"Is the situation so unsalvageable Vater? We did see off the Turk at Ascalon quite handily."
"Do not misunderstand, my son. We baited them into a trap and their commander fed his vanguard to us on a silver platter. Likely one with little experience; he would have served us better alive and still commanding than dead and allowing a more competent one in his stead. And if he was as important as I suspect, a close confidant of their Sultan, he will be motivated to come after us, after he has grieved."
"Vati, I have the report on our supplies and ammunition stores. It's not looking good. We've expended just over half in that one battle, and we've been eating into our stores since Pelusium, going through supplies faster than expected due to the heat. And by your advice, local water sources without boiling or adding alcohol are not to be trusted."
"Aye, you wouldn't want to be marching into battle with the shits, or have half your force too busy emptying their stomachs from both ends to fight. Much as I'd prefer time to reorganize the army and await resupply, our esteemed employer has demanded we press the attack after the Ottoman reverse. Barely a skirmish and mostly inconclusive in my opinion, but the best result was the casualties we inflicted on their elite riflemen. Speaking of which, how many Graziani rifles did you manage to recover, Johan Joseph?"
"About a hundred. It doubled our stock, but several dozen were damaged beyond repair by cannonballs, and the enemy recovered the rest. They should still have three quarters of their rifles, even if only two thirds of their riflemen are fighting fit."
"We're a long way from Pelusium, and the Sultan has demanded we seize Jaffa straight away before he would consider resting the army."
"Vati, could you not ask to reopen the port here at Ascalon? Stress that our combat effectiveness will sharply degrade without further supply? If we cannot source powder locally, you will have to lean on your Italian connection, which will take time and treasure, and a secure port. Ideally you can capture a port closer to the fighting, but having a secure position to fall back and resupply from shall be invaluable."
"Ah, you are wise beyond your eighteen years, Helena Franka! I shall make our case before the Sultan."
"Vati? Is something the matter? You look a bit pale."
"Uhh... your argument worked. Better than expected, even. The sultan seems a bit eh... overly focused on the progress of the war. I suppose congratulations are in order then, Helena Franka, the new governor of the City of Ascalon and its surrounding environs."
"Eh?!"
"I got it in writing too, all official-like!"
"You mean, like an Imperial Free City Charter?"
"I guess that's a big deal?"
"Yes Vati, it's a big deal! That permits taxation and customs duties on trade! A safe port for pilgrims to the Holy Land in Christian hands! The implications are enormous and frightening, if rumors get back to Europe."
"Well, that's for later, I have a campaign to prosecute."
Jaffa, Levant
June 1518
The bright sunlight of the Levantine summer was wholly unsuitable for the events of the days past. Just yesterday, Suleiman had put his beloved, best friend to rest, having been killed by a precise, long-distance shot on the field of battle near the ruins of Asqalan. There was some commotion outside the city, and when his Janissary guards beckoned him to follow, he did not protest, so deep was his grief. It was only as Jaffa disappeared behind the dust clouds of his army's march that he arose from his misery. When he learned that his acting commander abandoned the city without a fight in the face of the Mamluk rabble, said commander quickly became a head shorter. "Ibrahim, after your departure the world seems to have turned upside down. It is ever so bleak here without you."
Jaffa, Levant
June, 1518
The day's events were quite shocking. Vater had drawn up the Mamluk army and arrayed them for battle outside the range of the city's walls, anticipating a hard fight. Instead, the Turk commander had evacuated the city without a fight. It was a puzzling development, but perhaps the Sultan was still grieving, leaving some incompetent subordinate in charge. A stroke of fortune for the Order and their army, but potentially worrisome for how Helena suspected the Mamluk Sultan would react. Still, an objective taken without loss meant a payday without grief. Still, Johan Joseph Severin dreaded the day they would have to fight the Turk Sultan in earnest. That would be a red day.
Acre, Levant
Late June, 1518
The army had arrayed for battle outside the city of Acre. The formation was simple. The Order would spearhead the center, the Mamluks echeloned on either flank. Break the center, divide the enemy, destroy one flank while holding off the other, then shift to the other flank. At first, things seemed to be going to plan. The Turk center was giving way before their advance. Johan only began to suspect a trap as they pushed past the Turk lines with little fight, while their flanks fought ferociously to hold back the Mamluk infantry. Then the Turk flanks counterattacked, sending the Mamluk foot reeling, closing the jaws around the Order. Fortunately, Dieter held his nerve, collapsing the Order's flanks back into an elongated square. The pike front charged forward, smashing the Turk center before it to break free of the trap. The Turk commander, suspected to be their Sultan, wisely relocated his command post out of the path of charging Switzers. Then in a maneuver complex to execute but beautiful to watch, the flanks of the Order's square peeled outward like a flower in bloom, turning to fall on the flanks and rear of our entrapping foe. The Turk flanks, focused on forcing back the Mamluk foot, were unprepared for the reversal. The surprise does not last long, the sultan himself racing into the fray, the Turk rear ranks swiftly dressed to face the rear attack, grinding the push of pike to a crawl while throwing back the Mamluk foot.
The battle looks to drag into a stalemate between the Order and the Turk rearguard, only for a lucky shot from one of the Order's riflemen to bring down the Sultan's horse. His Janissary guards carry him from the field to safety. The Order ruthlessly takes advantage of the momentary shock to push into the unbalanced Turk rearguard, even as their vanguard repels a reckless Mamluk charge. The commander of the vanguard managed to turn and face the Order before they can crash into his rear, only for the last reserve of Mamluk lancers to pummel into their newly turned rear, prematurely ending what would have been a slow grind of push of pike. Perhaps had Suleiman not been wounded at that crucial moment, the fighting may have continued, perhaps even turned to his favor, but he was not present. His vanguard commander, hard-pressed on both ends, works to extract his men, organizing a forlorn hope to cover the withdrawal of the army.
Acre, Levant
Late June, 1518
Johan Joseph Severin leaned against the doorframe to his Vater's temporary headquarters. In his hand, he fiddled with the Edelweiss medallion that identified him as a member of the Order of Solutions. On his father's desk, a hundred such medallions sat, candlelight glittering across the pile of bloodstained metal.
The butcher's bill had come due, and it was not a favorable exchange. Outnumbered as they were the Order and their Mamluk allies would need to exact twice their number of casualties to come out ahead of the Ottomans. Instead, the losses on both sides were nearly even, favoring the Ottomans. Without counting the captured members of the Ottoman forlorn hope, the ratio was even more dire. "Nearly four and a half thousand casualties for some four thousand, under three thousand if you don't include the prisoners of their rearguard action."
"That sultan of theirs is a crafty one. He anticipated our plan, isolated the Order in an attempt to destroy us, and if not for your quick thinking Dieter, he would have succeeded."
"Don't flatter me chief, it would have been impossible if the men weren't as experienced and willful as they are. We've fought our way out of worse spots."
"Now I know you're exaggerating. Theat was the most masterful trap we charged headlong into. If the sultan had been offset by two hundred paces, he could have directed the pocket to collapse on our men in the time it took him to relocate and reassert command. If not for the fortunes of war, he should rightly have won the field. Even now, I hesitate to call this a victory. Any more such victories and we shall go the way of Pyrrhus of Epirus; the army will bleed itself to death. We have to force the Ottomans into battle on our terms. We must hold every advantage and entrap and destroy his army if we wish to win this campaign and force them to the negotiating table. Should their empire mobilize fully against the Mamluks, the outcome is without doubt. Even managing a white peace for this war would be a victory in and of itself, though whether the Mamluks can win the next is another matter."
Ascalon, Levant
June, 1518
Following the Combat at Ascalon, the first Ottoman reversal in years, Vater had been placed in overall command of the Mamluk army. Or rather, what remained of it. "Eighteen thousand foot, and twelve thousand horse, and not a cannon or arquebus among them! Unarmored Pike levies, hastily assembled to match the Ottomans, large contingents of bowmen! A small core of lancers surrounded by teeming masses of light cavalry, including horse archers! Little wonder the Ottomans have been brushing them aside in every battle! Outnumbered nearly two to one, poorly equipped, led by warrior nobility with their heads up their arses, fighting the Crusades all over again!"
"Is the situation so unsalvageable Vater? We did see off the Turk at Ascalon quite handily."
"Do not misunderstand, my son. We baited them into a trap and their commander fed his vanguard to us on a silver platter. Likely one with little experience; he would have served us better alive and still commanding than dead and allowing a more competent one in his stead. And if he was as important as I suspect, a close confidant of their Sultan, he will be motivated to come after us, after he has grieved."
"Vati, I have the report on our supplies and ammunition stores. It's not looking good. We've expended just over half in that one battle, and we've been eating into our stores since Pelusium, going through supplies faster than expected due to the heat. And by your advice, local water sources without boiling or adding alcohol are not to be trusted."
"Aye, you wouldn't want to be marching into battle with the shits, or have half your force too busy emptying their stomachs from both ends to fight. Much as I'd prefer time to reorganize the army and await resupply, our esteemed employer has demanded we press the attack after the Ottoman reverse. Barely a skirmish and mostly inconclusive in my opinion, but the best result was the casualties we inflicted on their elite riflemen. Speaking of which, how many Graziani rifles did you manage to recover, Johan Joseph?"
"About a hundred. It doubled our stock, but several dozen were damaged beyond repair by cannonballs, and the enemy recovered the rest. They should still have three quarters of their rifles, even if only two thirds of their riflemen are fighting fit."
"We're a long way from Pelusium, and the Sultan has demanded we seize Jaffa straight away before he would consider resting the army."
"Vati, could you not ask to reopen the port here at Ascalon? Stress that our combat effectiveness will sharply degrade without further supply? If we cannot source powder locally, you will have to lean on your Italian connection, which will take time and treasure, and a secure port. Ideally you can capture a port closer to the fighting, but having a secure position to fall back and resupply from shall be invaluable."
"Ah, you are wise beyond your eighteen years, Helena Franka! I shall make our case before the Sultan."
"Vati? Is something the matter? You look a bit pale."
"Uhh... your argument worked. Better than expected, even. The sultan seems a bit eh... overly focused on the progress of the war. I suppose congratulations are in order then, Helena Franka, the new governor of the City of Ascalon and its surrounding environs."
"Eh?!"
"I got it in writing too, all official-like!"
"You mean, like an Imperial Free City Charter?"
"I guess that's a big deal?"
"Yes Vati, it's a big deal! That permits taxation and customs duties on trade! A safe port for pilgrims to the Holy Land in Christian hands! The implications are enormous and frightening, if rumors get back to Europe."
"Well, that's for later, I have a campaign to prosecute."
Jaffa, Levant
June 1518
The bright sunlight of the Levantine summer was wholly unsuitable for the events of the days past. Just yesterday, Suleiman had put his beloved, best friend to rest, having been killed by a precise, long-distance shot on the field of battle near the ruins of Asqalan. There was some commotion outside the city, and when his Janissary guards beckoned him to follow, he did not protest, so deep was his grief. It was only as Jaffa disappeared behind the dust clouds of his army's march that he arose from his misery. When he learned that his acting commander abandoned the city without a fight in the face of the Mamluk rabble, said commander quickly became a head shorter. "Ibrahim, after your departure the world seems to have turned upside down. It is ever so bleak here without you."
Jaffa, Levant
June, 1518
The day's events were quite shocking. Vater had drawn up the Mamluk army and arrayed them for battle outside the range of the city's walls, anticipating a hard fight. Instead, the Turk commander had evacuated the city without a fight. It was a puzzling development, but perhaps the Sultan was still grieving, leaving some incompetent subordinate in charge. A stroke of fortune for the Order and their army, but potentially worrisome for how Helena suspected the Mamluk Sultan would react. Still, an objective taken without loss meant a payday without grief. Still, Johan Joseph Severin dreaded the day they would have to fight the Turk Sultan in earnest. That would be a red day.
Acre, Levant
Late June, 1518
The army had arrayed for battle outside the city of Acre. The formation was simple. The Order would spearhead the center, the Mamluks echeloned on either flank. Break the center, divide the enemy, destroy one flank while holding off the other, then shift to the other flank. At first, things seemed to be going to plan. The Turk center was giving way before their advance. Johan only began to suspect a trap as they pushed past the Turk lines with little fight, while their flanks fought ferociously to hold back the Mamluk infantry. Then the Turk flanks counterattacked, sending the Mamluk foot reeling, closing the jaws around the Order. Fortunately, Dieter held his nerve, collapsing the Order's flanks back into an elongated square. The pike front charged forward, smashing the Turk center before it to break free of the trap. The Turk commander, suspected to be their Sultan, wisely relocated his command post out of the path of charging Switzers. Then in a maneuver complex to execute but beautiful to watch, the flanks of the Order's square peeled outward like a flower in bloom, turning to fall on the flanks and rear of our entrapping foe. The Turk flanks, focused on forcing back the Mamluk foot, were unprepared for the reversal. The surprise does not last long, the sultan himself racing into the fray, the Turk rear ranks swiftly dressed to face the rear attack, grinding the push of pike to a crawl while throwing back the Mamluk foot.
The battle looks to drag into a stalemate between the Order and the Turk rearguard, only for a lucky shot from one of the Order's riflemen to bring down the Sultan's horse. His Janissary guards carry him from the field to safety. The Order ruthlessly takes advantage of the momentary shock to push into the unbalanced Turk rearguard, even as their vanguard repels a reckless Mamluk charge. The commander of the vanguard managed to turn and face the Order before they can crash into his rear, only for the last reserve of Mamluk lancers to pummel into their newly turned rear, prematurely ending what would have been a slow grind of push of pike. Perhaps had Suleiman not been wounded at that crucial moment, the fighting may have continued, perhaps even turned to his favor, but he was not present. His vanguard commander, hard-pressed on both ends, works to extract his men, organizing a forlorn hope to cover the withdrawal of the army.
Acre, Levant
Late June, 1518
Johan Joseph Severin leaned against the doorframe to his Vater's temporary headquarters. In his hand, he fiddled with the Edelweiss medallion that identified him as a member of the Order of Solutions. On his father's desk, a hundred such medallions sat, candlelight glittering across the pile of bloodstained metal.
The butcher's bill had come due, and it was not a favorable exchange. Outnumbered as they were the Order and their Mamluk allies would need to exact twice their number of casualties to come out ahead of the Ottomans. Instead, the losses on both sides were nearly even, favoring the Ottomans. Without counting the captured members of the Ottoman forlorn hope, the ratio was even more dire. "Nearly four and a half thousand casualties for some four thousand, under three thousand if you don't include the prisoners of their rearguard action."
"That sultan of theirs is a crafty one. He anticipated our plan, isolated the Order in an attempt to destroy us, and if not for your quick thinking Dieter, he would have succeeded."
"Don't flatter me chief, it would have been impossible if the men weren't as experienced and willful as they are. We've fought our way out of worse spots."
"Now I know you're exaggerating. Theat was the most masterful trap we charged headlong into. If the sultan had been offset by two hundred paces, he could have directed the pocket to collapse on our men in the time it took him to relocate and reassert command. If not for the fortunes of war, he should rightly have won the field. Even now, I hesitate to call this a victory. Any more such victories and we shall go the way of Pyrrhus of Epirus; the army will bleed itself to death. We have to force the Ottomans into battle on our terms. We must hold every advantage and entrap and destroy his army if we wish to win this campaign and force them to the negotiating table. Should their empire mobilize fully against the Mamluks, the outcome is without doubt. Even managing a white peace for this war would be a victory in and of itself, though whether the Mamluks can win the next is another matter."
Suleiman reaction to defeat and losing his best friend
1/4: Angy
2/5: Sadge
3/6: Numb
D6 => 5
Does he continue the campaign?
Odds: Yes
Evens: No
D6 => 4
He pulls back to Jaffa to reorganize and reinforce.
Do the Mamluks press the attack after their embarrassing showing? DC 65
D100 => 95
Wtf? Well, the battle was won (no thanks to them), press the attack!
How much ammo does the Order of Solutions have remaining?
D60 +40 => 46: 46% ammo stores
Enough for one big battle. They will need a port to resupply, hopefully their purchase order from Luciano will arrive soon. Can they pretty please rebuild the docks of Ascalon and fortify it as a supply base? The Mamluks cannot source enough powder and shot to supply them. DC 50 + 15 (we razed it for a reason) - 25 (helped us win won a victory for us) = 40
D100 => 27
No, buy us dinner first Take Jaffa instead.
Seriously, if we fail, your tide-of-the-war-turning, very expensive mercenaries will lose half of their combat ability!
D100 => 95
D100 => 93
D100 => 60
Oh shit, you're serious! Uh, sure, you can build it up and fortify it. Do whatever, it's a ruin anyway.
Really? Can I get that in writing?
Sure, official memo from the office of the Sultan: "The ruins of Ascalon and all territory within such and such distance is remanded to Jon Charles Severin and his mercenary company, the Order of Solutions." There, done, end of story. Now go take Jaffa. You lead the army this time.
Ok, 'ere we go!
JC Severin command roll: D100 => 51
Ottoman defense roll (-10: The Sultan is grieving, he is not to be disturbed!): D100 - 10 => 0
Uh... JC marches up with the OoS at the head of the Mamluk army, arrays his cannons and pikes for battle... And theBottom sub (wtf autocorrect?!) Ottoman sub-commander orders the evacuation of the city, Suleiman is too depressed to countermand it, Ottomans abandon Jaffa and withdraw to Lebanon to Acre.
I cannot already. What the hell? I can't even blame Magoose dice, I rolled it all myself!
Edit: This is truly A Mercenary's Bizarre Adventure.
Round 2:
Suleiman Mood:
1/4/5: Angy
2: Sadge
3/6: Numb
D6 => 3
What the hell? Get angy Suleiman!
How goes the rebuilding and fortification of Ascalon? DC/Progress 60 - 30 (Mamluk land grant) +15 (not urgent, port of Jaffa is open, closer to the front) = 45
D100 => 6
Failure, narrowly avoids a crit fail. DC reduced to 39.
JC Severin command roll: D100 + 5 => 73 (+5 from campaign momentum)
Ottoman command roll: D100 - 5 => 80 (-5 from Suleiman mood)
Suleiman takes command, though not in top form, he arrays for battle outside of Acre!
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 5 => 28
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 5 => 49
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 93
Ottoman exploitation: D100 => 32 (crit explosion)
The Order of Solutions advances, only to be surrounded by the Ottomans and separated from the Mamluk army. The Mamluks attack but are beaten back. JC Severin attempts to rally his men and succeeds.
JC Severin rally roll: D100 + 10 => 51 (beats exploitation roll)
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 => 93
Order of Solutions exploitation: D100 => 38 (crit explosion)
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 34
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 42
The Order of Solutions main force attempts to break out of the encirclement. Rather than take the time to reorient and fight back the way they came, they attack straight ahead, directly at Suleiman! To avoid capture or death, he has to take the time to relocate his command post away from the mercenary advance.
Suleiman rally roll: D100 + 5 => 54 (beats exploitation roll)
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 22
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 => 66
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 83
In the time Suleiman takes to reassert command, the Order of Solutions punches through and about-faces, attacking into the rear of the Ottoman army while the Mamluks take advantage of the confusion to wear down the Ottoman flanks and front ranks.
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 83
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 => 84
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 42
Successfully reestablishing command, Suleiman is able to turn his rear lines to face and resist the mercenary attack, though the grinding push of pike favors the Switzers. His first line manages to repel the Mamluk attack.
Where does Suleiman focus his attention?
1: Rear ranks vs OoS
2: Front ranks vs Mamluks
D2 => 1
He focuses on halting the Order of Solutions, ignoring the Mamluks
Ottoman rear combat roll: D100 + 5 => 6 | natural one: 1
Blunder intensity: D100 => 10 (Not too serious)
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 => 81
Ottoman front combat roll: D100 - 5 => 45
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 18
Suleiman rides back to personally take command of the fighting against the mercenaries, only for a lucky shot to kill his horse under him. Pinned under his horse, his Janissary guards evacuate him from the battlefield, leaving the battered Switzers to collapse the rear lines. Despite the Sultan's personal attentions being diverted from the front, the local subcommander is able to see off another reckless Mamluk charge.
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 10 => 48
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 12
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 86
The acting Ottoman commander, having seen off the threat to his front, is slow to react to the mercenaries tearing into his rear, and by the time he turns to face them, he is caught by a renewed Mamluk charge in his rear.
Ottoman morale roll: D100 - 10 => 41
Perhaps if the Sultan was still on the field and uninjured, there may have been a chance for the Ottoman army to remain in the fight, but exhausted from hours of battle, repeated loss of command, and constantly being attacked in the rear while fixed to the front, their resolve crumble. In dribs and drabs, the Ottoman troops begin to rout.
Order of Solutions capture roll: D100 => 21
Mamluk pursuit roll: D100 => 44
Ottoman escape roll: D100 => 82
Despite being unable to keep his army in the fight, the acting Ottoman commander was able to maintain an orderly withdrawal and discourage pursuit. The Order of Solutions, lacking in cavalry and exhausted after many long hours of combat, were only able to capture the men close by. The Mamluks, after long combat and three failed charges, declined to offer more than token pursuit and harassment.
Battle of Acre, 1518
Ottoman casualties: D5000 => 2980
Order of Solutions casualties: D500 => 135
Mamluk casualties: D5000 => 4187
Ottomans taken prisoner: D2000 => 1095
And, stopping there.
Despite not getting the much-anticipated angy, Suleiman performs well in command, and if not for that lucky shot, might have turned things back around (again). He successfully isolated the most dangerous enemy unit early on, and if they were not implacably angy Switzers anticipating a big payday, it would have worked. He did pretty much everything right up until he was wounded, and his bodyguard understandably did their job. He focused on the biggest threat, gambled correctly that the Mamluks wouldn't be able to break his front ranks while his attention was elsewhere, only to take a golden bb that took him out of the fight. From there. the experienced and skilled mercenaries ruthlessly took advantage of every presented weakness, and even the Mamluks pounced, ending the fight earlier than it would have been decided. Still, the lack of aggressive pursuit means the majority of the Ottoman army gets away to fight another day. And manage to inflict (slightly) greater casualties than they took in the process. The Ottomans may be taking L's but it's much less punishing than they could have been, and the Mamluks have been draining away their fighting potential in the process. Also, the Order of Solutions is at roughly 7/8ths strength after Acre, but it could have got much, much worse for them; I was prepared to inflict potentially a quarter of their men as casualties (a third of their elite pikemen!) in the fighting.
1/4: Angy
2/5: Sadge
3/6: Numb
D6 => 5
Does he continue the campaign?
Odds: Yes
Evens: No
D6 => 4
He pulls back to Jaffa to reorganize and reinforce.
Do the Mamluks press the attack after their embarrassing showing? DC 65
D100 => 95
Wtf? Well, the battle was won (no thanks to them), press the attack!
How much ammo does the Order of Solutions have remaining?
D60 +40 => 46: 46% ammo stores
Enough for one big battle. They will need a port to resupply, hopefully their purchase order from Luciano will arrive soon. Can they pretty please rebuild the docks of Ascalon and fortify it as a supply base? The Mamluks cannot source enough powder and shot to supply them. DC 50 + 15 (we razed it for a reason) - 25 (
D100 => 27
Seriously, if we fail, your tide-of-the-war-turning, very expensive mercenaries will lose half of their combat ability!
D100 => 95
D100 => 93
D100 => 60
Oh shit, you're serious! Uh, sure, you can build it up and fortify it. Do whatever, it's a ruin anyway.
Really? Can I get that in writing?
Sure, official memo from the office of the Sultan: "The ruins of Ascalon and all territory within such and such distance is remanded to Jon Charles Severin and his mercenary company, the Order of Solutions." There, done, end of story. Now go take Jaffa. You lead the army this time.
Ok, 'ere we go!
JC Severin command roll: D100 => 51
Ottoman defense roll (-10: The Sultan is grieving, he is not to be disturbed!): D100 - 10 => 0
Uh... JC marches up with the OoS at the head of the Mamluk army, arrays his cannons and pikes for battle... And the
I cannot already. What the hell? I can't even blame Magoose dice, I rolled it all myself!
Edit: This is truly A Mercenary's Bizarre Adventure.
Round 2:
Suleiman Mood:
1/4/5: Angy
2: Sadge
3/6: Numb
D6 => 3
What the hell? Get angy Suleiman!
How goes the rebuilding and fortification of Ascalon? DC/Progress 60 - 30 (Mamluk land grant) +15 (not urgent, port of Jaffa is open, closer to the front) = 45
D100 => 6
Failure, narrowly avoids a crit fail. DC reduced to 39.
JC Severin command roll: D100 + 5 => 73 (+5 from campaign momentum)
Ottoman command roll: D100 - 5 => 80 (-5 from Suleiman mood)
Suleiman takes command, though not in top form, he arrays for battle outside of Acre!
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 5 => 28
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 5 => 49
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 93
Ottoman exploitation: D100 => 32 (crit explosion)
The Order of Solutions advances, only to be surrounded by the Ottomans and separated from the Mamluk army. The Mamluks attack but are beaten back. JC Severin attempts to rally his men and succeeds.
JC Severin rally roll: D100 + 10 => 51 (beats exploitation roll)
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 => 93
Order of Solutions exploitation: D100 => 38 (crit explosion)
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 34
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 42
The Order of Solutions main force attempts to break out of the encirclement. Rather than take the time to reorient and fight back the way they came, they attack straight ahead, directly at Suleiman! To avoid capture or death, he has to take the time to relocate his command post away from the mercenary advance.
Suleiman rally roll: D100 + 5 => 54 (beats exploitation roll)
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 22
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 => 66
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 83
In the time Suleiman takes to reassert command, the Order of Solutions punches through and about-faces, attacking into the rear of the Ottoman army while the Mamluks take advantage of the confusion to wear down the Ottoman flanks and front ranks.
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 83
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 => 84
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 42
Successfully reestablishing command, Suleiman is able to turn his rear lines to face and resist the mercenary attack, though the grinding push of pike favors the Switzers. His first line manages to repel the Mamluk attack.
Where does Suleiman focus his attention?
1: Rear ranks vs OoS
2: Front ranks vs Mamluks
D2 => 1
He focuses on halting the Order of Solutions, ignoring the Mamluks
Ottoman rear combat roll: D100 + 5 => 6 | natural one: 1
Blunder intensity: D100 => 10 (Not too serious)
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 => 81
Ottoman front combat roll: D100 - 5 => 45
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 18
Suleiman rides back to personally take command of the fighting against the mercenaries, only for a lucky shot to kill his horse under him. Pinned under his horse, his Janissary guards evacuate him from the battlefield, leaving the battered Switzers to collapse the rear lines. Despite the Sultan's personal attentions being diverted from the front, the local subcommander is able to see off another reckless Mamluk charge.
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 10 => 48
Ottoman combat roll: D100 => 12
Mamluk combat roll: D100 => 86
The acting Ottoman commander, having seen off the threat to his front, is slow to react to the mercenaries tearing into his rear, and by the time he turns to face them, he is caught by a renewed Mamluk charge in his rear.
Ottoman morale roll: D100 - 10 => 41
Perhaps if the Sultan was still on the field and uninjured, there may have been a chance for the Ottoman army to remain in the fight, but exhausted from hours of battle, repeated loss of command, and constantly being attacked in the rear while fixed to the front, their resolve crumble. In dribs and drabs, the Ottoman troops begin to rout.
Order of Solutions capture roll: D100 => 21
Mamluk pursuit roll: D100 => 44
Ottoman escape roll: D100 => 82
Despite being unable to keep his army in the fight, the acting Ottoman commander was able to maintain an orderly withdrawal and discourage pursuit. The Order of Solutions, lacking in cavalry and exhausted after many long hours of combat, were only able to capture the men close by. The Mamluks, after long combat and three failed charges, declined to offer more than token pursuit and harassment.
Battle of Acre, 1518
Ottoman casualties: D5000 => 2980
Order of Solutions casualties: D500 => 135
Mamluk casualties: D5000 => 4187
Ottomans taken prisoner: D2000 => 1095
And, stopping there.
Despite not getting the much-anticipated angy, Suleiman performs well in command, and if not for that lucky shot, might have turned things back around (again). He successfully isolated the most dangerous enemy unit early on, and if they were not implacably angy Switzers anticipating a big payday, it would have worked. He did pretty much everything right up until he was wounded, and his bodyguard understandably did their job. He focused on the biggest threat, gambled correctly that the Mamluks wouldn't be able to break his front ranks while his attention was elsewhere, only to take a golden bb that took him out of the fight. From there. the experienced and skilled mercenaries ruthlessly took advantage of every presented weakness, and even the Mamluks pounced, ending the fight earlier than it would have been decided. Still, the lack of aggressive pursuit means the majority of the Ottoman army gets away to fight another day. And manage to inflict (slightly) greater casualties than they took in the process. The Ottomans may be taking L's but it's much less punishing than they could have been, and the Mamluks have been draining away their fighting potential in the process. Also, the Order of Solutions is at roughly 7/8ths strength after Acre, but it could have got much, much worse for them; I was prepared to inflict potentially a quarter of their men as casualties (a third of their elite pikemen!) in the fighting.
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
+10 to the rolls.
A Mercenary's Bizarre Adventure III: Death Spiral
- Location
- Hawaii
A Mercenary's Bizarre Adventure III: Death Spiral
South of Tyre, Levant
July, 1518
"What! The campaign cannot sustain this breakneck pace! The men and horses need rest, and we are growing desperately short of supply. We need more fresh troops, or the army will melt away like a mirage in the desert!"
"Do not raise your voice to me, mercenary. I have already granted you the honor of leading my army. A great many soldiers are tied down retaking and garrisoning the cities you have bypassed in your pursuit of the fleeing dogs of Osman."
"A relentless pursuit that you ordered, Sultan. I shall say it again. The army must rest, resupply and reinforce. This war can be won, but not through reckless abandon."
"Such insolence! Destroy the army of that Osman brat and bring him before me, and I may consider forgiving your slight! Begone from my sight!"
Jon Charles Severin makes to reply, before visibly restraining himself and stomping out of the sultan's tent.
"Vater, I heard quite a bit of shouting. Are things all right?"
"No, our esteemed employer is a pig-headed fool monomaniacally focused on the Ottoman sultan. Send word to your sister that we may need to seek alternate arrangements. I'll not break our contract, but in the event things fall through, we'd best be prepared to strike out on our own."
"Then I'll see it done, Vater."
Now, how to trap and destroy a better equipped and led army twice his size?
South of Tyre, Levant
July, 1518
"I don't like the look of those foothills, Dieter. It's cover enough to conceal the whole of the Ottoman army from sight as we march up along the coastal road. Only five or six Roman miles of plain between those foothills and the sea? A perfect battleground for Suleiman, that crafty foe, to trap and destroy us."
"Is that why you sent Jojo out with the Mamluk scouts? Had a bad feeling about the situation?"
"If I were in Suleiman's shoes, it's exactly the thing I'd do. In fact, we'll have to figure out a good time and place to spring this sort of thing on him. But how to force him to give battle?"
"I'll leave that big brain stuff to you chief. Leave the pikemen to me."
"Speaking of which, how many regiments of Mamluk pike have you managed to equip with salvaged Ottoman wargear?"
"Just about two. Their training and experience might not compare to ours, but at least they will do much better in the push of pike, instead of just poking at them."
"Looks like the scouts are back."
Johan rides up and quickly dismounts to address his father.
"Vater... hah, we found them, just as you suspected. They were poised to fall upon our flank as soon as we committed to taking the coastal road."
"It makes sense. This was masterful bait. Every battle we've fought so far has been along the coast, no reason for him to think we'd change it up. Allowing us to anchor a flank on the sea has helped us mitigate his numerical advantage. But now that we know he knows, we can subvert his expectations and get around him. Maybe even try to cut his communication and supply line. Then we might be able to bait him into a similar situation."
"Vater, the one of the scouts was a local, he told me about the geography of the area. If we backtrack about a day's march, we can use a fairly low pass to cross the Mount Lebanon range and enter the Beqaa Valley. It's got a lot of fertile land, especially in the south, so we can more easily forage for the army and we march around Suleiman. Then we would have to cross the Homs Gap near Crac de l'Ospital to emerge on the coastal plain north of Tripoli. The scout mentioned that a handful of Roman miles south of Tripoli near Juniyah, the sahil narrows to less than two Roman miles."
"Good, good. Let's do that. Perhaps by cutting his supply and communication line, we can force Suleiman into battle on our terms."
Juniyah, South of Tripoli, Levant
Mid-July, 1518
The march to bypass Suleiman's army went smoothly, achieving total surprise. The first inking Suleiman had of the maneuver was when news and supplies from home stopped arriving. At this point, it was a race against the clock. Suleiman needed to reopen his supply line before it was too late, and his much larger army denuded the countryside of forage. Jon Charles Severin used that time to prepare the battlefield. Surveying the narrow point of the sahil, Astor measured how many regiments would be needed to span the plain, where on the sharply rising foothills to post his riflemen, and even constructed a crude floating battery of the local cedars to provide enfilade fire from offshore, safe from Ottoman cavalry.
When Suleiman arrived on the chosen battlefield, bristling with a hedge of pikes, he attempted to use his own artillery to break up the dense pike formations and give his men the advantage. Unfortunately for the Sultan, counterbattery fire, however inaccurate, drove off the gunners before they could unleash upon the Mamluk battle line. Suleiman, feeling the time pressure of his dwindling supplies, orders his vanguard forwards. Between ditches dug to break up formations and enfilading fire, the vanguard's attack devolves into a tangled snarl. Bravely riding forward into artillery fire, Suleiman quickly rallies his vanguard, getting them reorganized and resuming their attack. Even so, against prepared positions, the Ottoman vanguard's attack bogs down. The enfilade fire causes the Ottoman formation closest to the coast to lose cohesion, allowing the two up-armored Mamluk pike regiments to wedge open the flank of the Ottoman vanguard. Seeing the opportunity, Severin committed several reserve pike regiments to isolate the Ottoman vanguard from the rest of the army.
Observing the dire situation of his vanguard, Suleiman sends forth a second wave in an attempt to rescue them. They force back the Mamluk reserves, pressing them back to the Mamluk starting line just as the Order of Solutions butchers their way through the last of the Ottoman vanguard. At this time, Severin's trump card comes into play: A detached force of Mamluk cavalry, a mix of lancers and light horse, fall upon the Ottoman rearguard. Though achieving the element of surprise, the rearguard is able to rally and fight off the Mamluk horse, who take up a blocking position behind the Ottoman army. Severin, unaware of the failure of the rear attack, is content to let his cannons wreak a toll on the Ottomans.
Suleiman's men hold up remarkably well as they impotently suffer the shower of cannonballs. Receiving reports of the Mamluk cavalry in his rear, Suleiman knows his current situation is untenable. Rather than attempt another doomed frontal assault, He orders his rearguard to effect a breakout. And breakout they do. Cavalry is unsuited for holding a defensive position, and the Ottoman rearguard drives off the Mamluk horse for a time. The Ottomans begin to evacuate units to the rear, while formations facing the Order and Mamluk infantry demonstrate to fix their attention, feigning attacks before breaking off, engaging in skirmishing rather than committing to a push of pike which favors the infamous Switzers. However, the Mamluk cavalry musters a counterattack that closes the pocket once more.
As the Ottomans move to break out once again, they fall prey to tactics of the Mamluks' steppe nomad ancestors, lured out of position by a feigned retreat, then smashed with a charge of lancers. By this point, enough time has elapsed that Severin begins to grow suspicious of the Ottoman skirmishing under continuous bombardment, while more units move to the Ottoman rear. The rearguard, still reeling from the prior hammer blow, are unable to sufficiently coordinate their breakout attempt, being thrown back piecemeal.
His suspicions confirmed, Severin orders the attack resumed, shortly after the artillery is forced to slacken their fire due to crew fatigue and ammunition stores falling below the one third mark. The Order of Solutions presses forward, making slow progress, while most of the Mamluk foot is thrown back. Meanwhile, the increasingly exhausted and weakened Ottoman rearguard fails to hold open the escape route, preventing further evacuations. As the pressure on the pocket increases, the Ottoman situation grows ever more dire. If they are unable to break out soon, the army may well be lost. Then, a lucky shot by Hans from the heavy cannon captured at Milan finds an Ottoman powder wagon. Its explosions rattles the Ottoman army, fouling another breakout attempt. In spite of the bone-rattling detonation, the Ottoman frontline mounts a stalwart defense, slowing the implacable advance of the Switzers to a crawl and repelling wave after wave of Mamluk assaults.
As the battle works its way to its climax, the inevitable consequence of sustained fire on looted cannons of questionable- that is, not modern Italian models- quality becomes evident. One overheated cannon cooks off the powder charge in the barrel, exploding and wreaking havoc on the floating battery. While other guns remain operational and the battery itself is not in danger of sinking, the surviving gunners and their officers are no longer willing to risk the dangers of continued firing.
The Ottoman frontal units, badly depleted and exhausted, repel yet another Mamluk attack, only for their line to buckle, then break under the relentless press of the Swiss pikemen. Suleiman, understanding that this is the moment that will either save or destroy his army, commits what remains of his elite janissaries to the breakout attempt. After many long hours of cavalry attempting to defend a position and contain the Ottoman army, the exhausted Mamluk flanking force, is forced to give way. The remainder of the Ottoman army hastily evacuates the pocket which nearly doomed them. Lacking cavalry, the infantry force can only capture those directly before them, while the flanking force, fought out by the day's actions, lack the manpower, energy, or will to give pursuit. The Battle of Juniyah, alternately known to history as the Swiss or Mamluk Thermopylae, comes to its end.
Tripoli, Levant
Late July, 1518
The battle at Juniyah had been intended as a deathblow to the Ottoman army. Every conceivable advantage, from the terrain, the narrow frontage, the floating battery, the flanking attack, and Suleiman still managed to escape with the vast majority of his army. By now, the Mamluk army was fought out. The army's cavalry had been reduced by nearly half, the rest in no state fit to fight, men and mounts on the brink of collapse. The Mamluk foot, reduced by nearly a third, the bravest and most experienced suffered the most, as they fought longer and harder than their comrades, taking disproportionate losses in turn. As for the Order, if the pile of medallions was a mountain after Acre, then the heaps of medallions after Juniyah were like the Alps themselves. More than five hundred casualties. More than a third of the Order's pikemen dead or incapacitated. A disaster by any measure. Made worse by the fact that the reliability of the cannon was called into question, compounded by the caissons being nearly empty. Even dividing what powder remained from the artillery among the riflemen, ammunition was critically short, and all the men exhausted. Juniyah had been the last, best hope to decisively defeat Suleiman, and though the Mamluk army still held the field, it was a spent force. At most, the army could withdraw behind the walls of Tripoli to hire mercenaries and await relief, though none seriously expected it.
Ten days after the battle, and Ottoman banners were visible from the city walls. Severin, having dispatched Mario and the cannon by ship in attempt to purchase supplies from Italian Cyprus, were warned not to return. As the Ottoman army began investing Tripoli, the Mamluk officers, hardline traditionalists that they were, attempted to mutiny and turn over Severin to the Ottomans for clemency. The Tripolitanian sellswords, unimpressive at best and unreliable at worst, were either overrun by the mutinous Mamluks or turned on their employer for promises of better pay. Exhausted and bled out as they were, the Order of Solutions was more than a match for their former allies. Fighting their way free of both the Mamluk-held city and the Ottoman siege lines, the Order made a break for it, enacting an Anabasis in miniature. While the vast majority of the Ottoman army remained to keep Tripoli and the Mamluk army under siege, Suleiman and his Janissary guard pursued the Order of Solutions across Syria.
Jisr al-Hadid, near Antioch on the Orontes, Syria
Mid-August, 1518
Following their narrow escape from Tripoli, the Order of Solutions had fought dozens of skirmishes and rearguard actions against their Janissary pursuers over the last few weeks, leaning primarily on the Order's riflemen and a few allies. Shortly after their flight from Tripoli, they had been joined by a band of men from the mountains. Though few in number, these men from Masyaf were exceptional guides and scouts, extraordinarily stealthy. Without their aid, the Order would likely have been captured many times over. Now, Jon Charles Severin stood at the iron gate of a nine-arch stone bridge on the Orontes River. Downstream lay Antioch and its port of Soudin.
"Perhaps this place is an ill omen, retreating Romans were soundly smashed by the Rashidun armies here nearly a millenia ago after Yarmouk."
"Thanks for the history lesson Hytham. But with this bridge, I think we might be able to turn the tables on Suleiman. We know that he's after me, specifically, for the death of his friend. If I act as bait we can use the bridge as a choke point and funnel his forces. A Graziani can easily reach across the river, concentrated fire should be able to cut down his close escort and I can capture him. I'm not sure what you and your lads can do, but I'd best assume you have a trick up your sleeves you can use here?"
"You'd be right. We can use something to stall their crossing of the bridge, and several of my fe da'i would be able to hide under the bridge, then climb up to support you."
"Vater, this is unusually reckless. Even if the risks can be mitigated, you will be exposed. You are counting on Suleiman being blinded by rage to deal with you personally rather than have his riflemen shoot you where you stand."
"Aye, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Just make sure you and your riflemen don't miss. In fact, if you're so worried, take Speak Thrice. That way you have three shots to protect me, rather than one."
"Vater, you speak as if you are a man walking to his execution."
"Good thing I enjoy a bit of gallows humor, eh? But truly, risking my life for my men and their freedom is a cause worth dying for."
"That is what it means to be fe da'i, to place a cause above the value of one's life. The protection of your people is a worthy cause indeed."
"Despite my initials, I'm no messiah, but I'll do everything in my power to see my people home safe."
"Vater! Dust clouds on the horizon, they're almost upon us!"
"Get into position, we've only got one shot at this!"
Jisr al-Hadid, near Anitoch on Orontes, Syria
Mid-August, 1518
There on the bridge, stood his hated foe. Severin, the once-in-a-century master of war, who had humbled him time and again, Ibrahim's killer, now, Suleiman's prey stood alone on the bridge, his damnable pikemen on the far bank and not turning back.
"I'll have your head, Severin! For Ibrahim!"
"Come and take it then, if you think you're hard enough!"
Roaring with rage, Suleiman charged the lone figure on the bridge, his Janissaries hot on his heels. Smoke erupts from the foliage on the riverbank, the sultan's janissaries falling like autumn leaves. Choking clouds of smoke burst into being behind him. Suleiman notices none of this, his eyes fixed straight ahead on his nemesis, this devil of Shaitan in human skin. And then a hand wrests his sword from his grasp, as kicks take his feet out from under him. 'So this opportunity too, was a trap.'
And there, on the iron bridge, a disarmed Sulieman is forced to make concessions to his hated foe.
South of Tyre, Levant
July, 1518
"What! The campaign cannot sustain this breakneck pace! The men and horses need rest, and we are growing desperately short of supply. We need more fresh troops, or the army will melt away like a mirage in the desert!"
"Do not raise your voice to me, mercenary. I have already granted you the honor of leading my army. A great many soldiers are tied down retaking and garrisoning the cities you have bypassed in your pursuit of the fleeing dogs of Osman."
"A relentless pursuit that you ordered, Sultan. I shall say it again. The army must rest, resupply and reinforce. This war can be won, but not through reckless abandon."
"Such insolence! Destroy the army of that Osman brat and bring him before me, and I may consider forgiving your slight! Begone from my sight!"
Jon Charles Severin makes to reply, before visibly restraining himself and stomping out of the sultan's tent.
"Vater, I heard quite a bit of shouting. Are things all right?"
"No, our esteemed employer is a pig-headed fool monomaniacally focused on the Ottoman sultan. Send word to your sister that we may need to seek alternate arrangements. I'll not break our contract, but in the event things fall through, we'd best be prepared to strike out on our own."
"Then I'll see it done, Vater."
Now, how to trap and destroy a better equipped and led army twice his size?
South of Tyre, Levant
July, 1518
"I don't like the look of those foothills, Dieter. It's cover enough to conceal the whole of the Ottoman army from sight as we march up along the coastal road. Only five or six Roman miles of plain between those foothills and the sea? A perfect battleground for Suleiman, that crafty foe, to trap and destroy us."
"Is that why you sent Jojo out with the Mamluk scouts? Had a bad feeling about the situation?"
"If I were in Suleiman's shoes, it's exactly the thing I'd do. In fact, we'll have to figure out a good time and place to spring this sort of thing on him. But how to force him to give battle?"
"I'll leave that big brain stuff to you chief. Leave the pikemen to me."
"Speaking of which, how many regiments of Mamluk pike have you managed to equip with salvaged Ottoman wargear?"
"Just about two. Their training and experience might not compare to ours, but at least they will do much better in the push of pike, instead of just poking at them."
"Looks like the scouts are back."
Johan rides up and quickly dismounts to address his father.
"Vater... hah, we found them, just as you suspected. They were poised to fall upon our flank as soon as we committed to taking the coastal road."
"It makes sense. This was masterful bait. Every battle we've fought so far has been along the coast, no reason for him to think we'd change it up. Allowing us to anchor a flank on the sea has helped us mitigate his numerical advantage. But now that we know he knows, we can subvert his expectations and get around him. Maybe even try to cut his communication and supply line. Then we might be able to bait him into a similar situation."
"Vater, the one of the scouts was a local, he told me about the geography of the area. If we backtrack about a day's march, we can use a fairly low pass to cross the Mount Lebanon range and enter the Beqaa Valley. It's got a lot of fertile land, especially in the south, so we can more easily forage for the army and we march around Suleiman. Then we would have to cross the Homs Gap near Crac de l'Ospital to emerge on the coastal plain north of Tripoli. The scout mentioned that a handful of Roman miles south of Tripoli near Juniyah, the sahil narrows to less than two Roman miles."
"Good, good. Let's do that. Perhaps by cutting his supply and communication line, we can force Suleiman into battle on our terms."
Juniyah, South of Tripoli, Levant
Mid-July, 1518
The march to bypass Suleiman's army went smoothly, achieving total surprise. The first inking Suleiman had of the maneuver was when news and supplies from home stopped arriving. At this point, it was a race against the clock. Suleiman needed to reopen his supply line before it was too late, and his much larger army denuded the countryside of forage. Jon Charles Severin used that time to prepare the battlefield. Surveying the narrow point of the sahil, Astor measured how many regiments would be needed to span the plain, where on the sharply rising foothills to post his riflemen, and even constructed a crude floating battery of the local cedars to provide enfilade fire from offshore, safe from Ottoman cavalry.
When Suleiman arrived on the chosen battlefield, bristling with a hedge of pikes, he attempted to use his own artillery to break up the dense pike formations and give his men the advantage. Unfortunately for the Sultan, counterbattery fire, however inaccurate, drove off the gunners before they could unleash upon the Mamluk battle line. Suleiman, feeling the time pressure of his dwindling supplies, orders his vanguard forwards. Between ditches dug to break up formations and enfilading fire, the vanguard's attack devolves into a tangled snarl. Bravely riding forward into artillery fire, Suleiman quickly rallies his vanguard, getting them reorganized and resuming their attack. Even so, against prepared positions, the Ottoman vanguard's attack bogs down. The enfilade fire causes the Ottoman formation closest to the coast to lose cohesion, allowing the two up-armored Mamluk pike regiments to wedge open the flank of the Ottoman vanguard. Seeing the opportunity, Severin committed several reserve pike regiments to isolate the Ottoman vanguard from the rest of the army.
Observing the dire situation of his vanguard, Suleiman sends forth a second wave in an attempt to rescue them. They force back the Mamluk reserves, pressing them back to the Mamluk starting line just as the Order of Solutions butchers their way through the last of the Ottoman vanguard. At this time, Severin's trump card comes into play: A detached force of Mamluk cavalry, a mix of lancers and light horse, fall upon the Ottoman rearguard. Though achieving the element of surprise, the rearguard is able to rally and fight off the Mamluk horse, who take up a blocking position behind the Ottoman army. Severin, unaware of the failure of the rear attack, is content to let his cannons wreak a toll on the Ottomans.
Suleiman's men hold up remarkably well as they impotently suffer the shower of cannonballs. Receiving reports of the Mamluk cavalry in his rear, Suleiman knows his current situation is untenable. Rather than attempt another doomed frontal assault, He orders his rearguard to effect a breakout. And breakout they do. Cavalry is unsuited for holding a defensive position, and the Ottoman rearguard drives off the Mamluk horse for a time. The Ottomans begin to evacuate units to the rear, while formations facing the Order and Mamluk infantry demonstrate to fix their attention, feigning attacks before breaking off, engaging in skirmishing rather than committing to a push of pike which favors the infamous Switzers. However, the Mamluk cavalry musters a counterattack that closes the pocket once more.
As the Ottomans move to break out once again, they fall prey to tactics of the Mamluks' steppe nomad ancestors, lured out of position by a feigned retreat, then smashed with a charge of lancers. By this point, enough time has elapsed that Severin begins to grow suspicious of the Ottoman skirmishing under continuous bombardment, while more units move to the Ottoman rear. The rearguard, still reeling from the prior hammer blow, are unable to sufficiently coordinate their breakout attempt, being thrown back piecemeal.
His suspicions confirmed, Severin orders the attack resumed, shortly after the artillery is forced to slacken their fire due to crew fatigue and ammunition stores falling below the one third mark. The Order of Solutions presses forward, making slow progress, while most of the Mamluk foot is thrown back. Meanwhile, the increasingly exhausted and weakened Ottoman rearguard fails to hold open the escape route, preventing further evacuations. As the pressure on the pocket increases, the Ottoman situation grows ever more dire. If they are unable to break out soon, the army may well be lost. Then, a lucky shot by Hans from the heavy cannon captured at Milan finds an Ottoman powder wagon. Its explosions rattles the Ottoman army, fouling another breakout attempt. In spite of the bone-rattling detonation, the Ottoman frontline mounts a stalwart defense, slowing the implacable advance of the Switzers to a crawl and repelling wave after wave of Mamluk assaults.
As the battle works its way to its climax, the inevitable consequence of sustained fire on looted cannons of questionable- that is, not modern Italian models- quality becomes evident. One overheated cannon cooks off the powder charge in the barrel, exploding and wreaking havoc on the floating battery. While other guns remain operational and the battery itself is not in danger of sinking, the surviving gunners and their officers are no longer willing to risk the dangers of continued firing.
The Ottoman frontal units, badly depleted and exhausted, repel yet another Mamluk attack, only for their line to buckle, then break under the relentless press of the Swiss pikemen. Suleiman, understanding that this is the moment that will either save or destroy his army, commits what remains of his elite janissaries to the breakout attempt. After many long hours of cavalry attempting to defend a position and contain the Ottoman army, the exhausted Mamluk flanking force, is forced to give way. The remainder of the Ottoman army hastily evacuates the pocket which nearly doomed them. Lacking cavalry, the infantry force can only capture those directly before them, while the flanking force, fought out by the day's actions, lack the manpower, energy, or will to give pursuit. The Battle of Juniyah, alternately known to history as the Swiss or Mamluk Thermopylae, comes to its end.
Tripoli, Levant
Late July, 1518
The battle at Juniyah had been intended as a deathblow to the Ottoman army. Every conceivable advantage, from the terrain, the narrow frontage, the floating battery, the flanking attack, and Suleiman still managed to escape with the vast majority of his army. By now, the Mamluk army was fought out. The army's cavalry had been reduced by nearly half, the rest in no state fit to fight, men and mounts on the brink of collapse. The Mamluk foot, reduced by nearly a third, the bravest and most experienced suffered the most, as they fought longer and harder than their comrades, taking disproportionate losses in turn. As for the Order, if the pile of medallions was a mountain after Acre, then the heaps of medallions after Juniyah were like the Alps themselves. More than five hundred casualties. More than a third of the Order's pikemen dead or incapacitated. A disaster by any measure. Made worse by the fact that the reliability of the cannon was called into question, compounded by the caissons being nearly empty. Even dividing what powder remained from the artillery among the riflemen, ammunition was critically short, and all the men exhausted. Juniyah had been the last, best hope to decisively defeat Suleiman, and though the Mamluk army still held the field, it was a spent force. At most, the army could withdraw behind the walls of Tripoli to hire mercenaries and await relief, though none seriously expected it.
Ten days after the battle, and Ottoman banners were visible from the city walls. Severin, having dispatched Mario and the cannon by ship in attempt to purchase supplies from Italian Cyprus, were warned not to return. As the Ottoman army began investing Tripoli, the Mamluk officers, hardline traditionalists that they were, attempted to mutiny and turn over Severin to the Ottomans for clemency. The Tripolitanian sellswords, unimpressive at best and unreliable at worst, were either overrun by the mutinous Mamluks or turned on their employer for promises of better pay. Exhausted and bled out as they were, the Order of Solutions was more than a match for their former allies. Fighting their way free of both the Mamluk-held city and the Ottoman siege lines, the Order made a break for it, enacting an Anabasis in miniature. While the vast majority of the Ottoman army remained to keep Tripoli and the Mamluk army under siege, Suleiman and his Janissary guard pursued the Order of Solutions across Syria.
Jisr al-Hadid, near Antioch on the Orontes, Syria
Mid-August, 1518
Following their narrow escape from Tripoli, the Order of Solutions had fought dozens of skirmishes and rearguard actions against their Janissary pursuers over the last few weeks, leaning primarily on the Order's riflemen and a few allies. Shortly after their flight from Tripoli, they had been joined by a band of men from the mountains. Though few in number, these men from Masyaf were exceptional guides and scouts, extraordinarily stealthy. Without their aid, the Order would likely have been captured many times over. Now, Jon Charles Severin stood at the iron gate of a nine-arch stone bridge on the Orontes River. Downstream lay Antioch and its port of Soudin.
"Perhaps this place is an ill omen, retreating Romans were soundly smashed by the Rashidun armies here nearly a millenia ago after Yarmouk."
"Thanks for the history lesson Hytham. But with this bridge, I think we might be able to turn the tables on Suleiman. We know that he's after me, specifically, for the death of his friend. If I act as bait we can use the bridge as a choke point and funnel his forces. A Graziani can easily reach across the river, concentrated fire should be able to cut down his close escort and I can capture him. I'm not sure what you and your lads can do, but I'd best assume you have a trick up your sleeves you can use here?"
"You'd be right. We can use something to stall their crossing of the bridge, and several of my fe da'i would be able to hide under the bridge, then climb up to support you."
"Vater, this is unusually reckless. Even if the risks can be mitigated, you will be exposed. You are counting on Suleiman being blinded by rage to deal with you personally rather than have his riflemen shoot you where you stand."
"Aye, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Just make sure you and your riflemen don't miss. In fact, if you're so worried, take Speak Thrice. That way you have three shots to protect me, rather than one."
"Vater, you speak as if you are a man walking to his execution."
"Good thing I enjoy a bit of gallows humor, eh? But truly, risking my life for my men and their freedom is a cause worth dying for."
"That is what it means to be fe da'i, to place a cause above the value of one's life. The protection of your people is a worthy cause indeed."
"Despite my initials, I'm no messiah, but I'll do everything in my power to see my people home safe."
"Vater! Dust clouds on the horizon, they're almost upon us!"
"Get into position, we've only got one shot at this!"
Jisr al-Hadid, near Anitoch on Orontes, Syria
Mid-August, 1518
There on the bridge, stood his hated foe. Severin, the once-in-a-century master of war, who had humbled him time and again, Ibrahim's killer, now, Suleiman's prey stood alone on the bridge, his damnable pikemen on the far bank and not turning back.
"I'll have your head, Severin! For Ibrahim!"
"Come and take it then, if you think you're hard enough!"
Roaring with rage, Suleiman charged the lone figure on the bridge, his Janissaries hot on his heels. Smoke erupts from the foliage on the riverbank, the sultan's janissaries falling like autumn leaves. Choking clouds of smoke burst into being behind him. Suleiman notices none of this, his eyes fixed straight ahead on his nemesis, this devil of Shaitan in human skin. And then a hand wrests his sword from his grasp, as kicks take his feet out from under him. 'So this opportunity too, was a trap.'
And there, on the iron bridge, a disarmed Sulieman is forced to make concessions to his hated foe.
Round 3:
Suleiman mood:
1/3/4/5: Angy
2: Sadge
6: Numb
D6 => 6
Wut? Suleiman, you really doing the Russian roulette with these mood rolls, aren't you?
Injured, so -5 to command roll.
Attack or defend?
1: Attacc
2: Protecc
D2 => 2
Ok...
JC Severin, trying to convince Sultan to stop to reorganize and reinforce.
D100 + 5 => 22
The problem of using charisma as the dump stat... Sultan wants to press the attack. "The Ottomans are on the run!"
Rebuilding and fortifying Ascalon DC 39:
D100 => 81
42 overflow into stage 2: 42/100 (+5 bonus next turn due to "Lads, the Mamluk sultan is off his rocker")
JC Severin command roll: D100 => 26
Suleiman command roll: D100 - 5 => 74
Ottoman ambush roll: D100 => 55
JC Severin spot check: D100 => 71
Spring the trap (1) or avoid it (2)?
D2 => 2
JC Severin command roll: D100 + 10 => 27
Suleiman command roll: D100 - 5 => 11
JC somehow outmaneuvers Suleiman and cuts his line of communication. Suleiman must attack or his army will wither on the vine. With all previous battles occurring near the coast, Suleiman is fixated on movement there. JC Severin leads the Mamluk army into Lebanon through the Beqaa valley, then across the passes into the coast taking up position near Juniyah, just south of Tripoli.
Suleiman command roll: D100 - 5 => 86
JC Severin command roll: D100 + 10 => 105
crit explosion: D100 + 10 => 89 + 5 = 94
crit explosion 2: D100 + 10 => 53
Uh... Suleiman understands that the OoS is the most dangerous foe on the field, so he should avoid fighting them where possible and pressure the relatively weaker Mamluk forces. JC Severin knows that Suleiman knows, and forces an engagement on his terms. He picks out a narrow pass near the sea (only 1.5 km from the sea to the foothills, which sharply rise to 750m elevation within 6.5 km) where he can deploy his pikes. He also constructs a floating battery to allow his cannons enfilading fire onto the Ottoman army as it squares up against the Swiss pikemen while his riflemen, swelled with captured and newly-purchased Graziani rifles, take potshots from the heights. Mamluk troops harass the Ottoman flanks, funneling them into the narrow pass. Between the Mamluk pikemen and the Order of Solutions, the narrow coastal plain is a bristling hedge of pikes.
Ottoman artillery roll: D100 => 10
Order of Solutions counterbattery: D100 => 15
Suleiman orders his cannons forward to bombard and shatter the wall of pikes. Counterbattery fire from the floating battery drives off the gunners in short order.
Ottoman combat roll: D100 - 10 => 3 (bad position, frontal attack against prepared positions)
Complication roll: D100 - 10 => 53
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 15 => 54
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 59
In a bad spot, but knowing any action is better than inaction, Suleiman orders the attack. Almost immediately, the attack breaks down due to a combination of enfilade fire from both flanks and poor coordination.
Suleiman rally roll: D100 - 5 => 95 | natural 100: 1
Reorganization success intensity: D100 - 5 => 70
Ottoman combat roll: D100 - 5 => 43
Order of Solutions artillery roll: D100 + 10 => 76
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 15 => 62
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 98
Mamluk exploitation: D100 + 10 => 108
Mamluk breakthrough: D100 + 10 => 71
Still injured and feeling unwell, Suleiman rides forth into the tangled morass of his men and shouts them back into order. They rally miraculously quickly and launch into a second attack. Cannon fire from the floating battery hammers their left flank, and units veer off course, colliding with their neighbors. Seizing on the opportunity, A unit of Mamluk pikemen charge into the gap and wedge the flank open. Severin, seeing the opening, commits his reserve to breaking through the gap and isolating the first wave as the mercenary pikemen grind them down from the front.
Suleiman gets a free rally from his nat 100.
Ottoman combat roll: D100 - 5 => 61
He immediately orders a second attack to rescue the first wave.
Order of Solutions artillery roll: D100 + 10 => 45
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 15 => 90
exploitation roll: D100 + 15 => 17
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 45
Immediately launching a second attack to rescue to cut off first wave, the Ottomans force back the Mamluk blocking force step by bloody step under the barrage of mercenary cannon, only to reach the initial Mamluk line, where the Swiss pikemen of the Order of Solutions finished their bloody work in butchering the first wave.
Mamluk flanking roll: D100 + 5 => 45
Ottoman rearguard: D100 => 67
The Mamluk cavalry, having made a sweeping flanking maneuver, attempt to rout the Ottomans with a rear charge. The Ottoman rearguard, caught by surprise, nevertheless fight off the attack. The Mamluk flanking force, rebuffed once, settles for bottling up the Ottoman army.
Does JC press the attack from the front?: D2 => 2
No! Artillery bombardment: D100 + 10 => 89
Ottoman morale: D100 - 10 => 68
Rather than commit to a costly frontal assault, Severin settles for bombarding the Ottoman army with impunity. While inflicting casualties, Ottoman morale holds remarkably well, though they cannot simply stand still under bombardment. Suleiman must do something.
Odd: Frontal assault
Even: Breakout from the rear
D6 => 6
Ottoman rearguard attack: D100 => 49
Mamluk flanking force defense: D100 - 5 => 37
Being mostly cavalry, the Mamluk flanking force is naturally better on the attack rather than on defense. So the sudden Ottoman breakout attempt successfully dislodged them from their blocking position.
Ottoman evacuation of the pocket: D100 => 45
JC Severin roll to realize what is going on: D100 => 29
Mamluk counterattack to close the pocket again: D100 => 64
OoS artillery: D100 + 10 => 60
Ottomans manage to evacuate their rearmost units while their troops at the forefront maintain position under bombardment. A rapid counterattack closes pocket once more.
Ottoman breakout: D100 => 4
Complication roll: D100 => 66
Mamluk holding the pocket closed: D100 => 39
The Ottomans once more attempt to break out of the trap, but wise to their maneuver, the Mamluk commander, in the tradition of their steppe nomad ancestors, feign retreat, only to counterattack once the Ottomans relaxed their guard. The way out remains shut.
OoS artillery: D100 + 10 => 77
Does Severin notice what's going on? (their inactivity is getting suspicious): D100 + 5 => 47
Ottoman breakout (exhausted and depleted): D100 - 5 => 13
Mamluk containment: D100 => 43
Another failed breakout attempt. Severin notices Ottoman units being moved to the rear.
OoS artillery: D100 + 10 => 30
OsS combat roll: D100 + 15 => 57
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 32
Ottoman defense roll: D100 - 5 => 41
Ottoman breakout roll: D100 - 5 => 17
Mamluk containment roll: D100 - 5 => 51
After long hours of intense fire, the Order of Solutions gunners slacken their fire due to exhaustion and ammunition shortage, just as Severin resumes the frontal attack. The Ottomans, fighting for their lives, put up a stalwart defense, but give ground in the face of the refreshed Switzers. The Ottoman situation is becoming dire. If they cannot breakout soon, then they will be crushed or forced to surrender.
OoS artillery: D100 => 94
Artillery crit: D100 => 65
OsS combat roll: D100 + 15 => 77
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 29
Ottoman defense roll: D100 - 5 => 75
Ottoman breakout roll: D100 => 13
Mamluk containment roll: D100 => 74
Despite their slowed fire, a lucky cannonball from Hans' heavy cannon finds an Ottoman powder wagon. The explosion rattles the morale of the Ottoman army, causing their latest breakout attempt to fumble. In spite of the explosion, the Ottoman frontline fights determinedly to buy time for their brethren to escape, rebuffing Mamluk frontal attacks and slowing the terrible advance of the Swiss pikemen to a crawl.
OoS artillery: D100 => 5
Complication: D100 => 83
OsS combat roll: D100 + 15 => 65
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 17
Ottoman defense roll: D100 - 5 => 30
Ottoman breakout roll: D100 + 5 => 105 | natural 100: 1
Breakout: D100 + 5 => 84
Mamluk containment roll: D100 - 5 => 19
The consequences on sustained fire on looted cannons of questionable (not modern Italian) quality become evident. One overheated cannon cooks off the powder charge in the barrel, exploding and wreaking havoc on the floating battery. While other guns remain operational and the battery itself is not in danger of sinking, the surviving gunners and their officers are no longer willing to risk the dangers of continued firing.
The Ottoman frontal units, badly depleted and exhausted, repel another Mamluk attack, only for their line to buckle, then break under the relentless press of the Swiss pikemen. Suleiman, understanding that this is the moment that will either save or destroy his army, commits what remains of his elite janissaries to the breakout attempt. After many long hours of cavalry attempted to defend a position, the exhausted Mamluk flanking force, reduced to a mere blocking force, must give up. The remainder of the Ottoman army hastily evacuates the pocket which nearly doomed them.
Frontal advance force lacks cavalry, can only capture the enemies they are engaged with; Flanking Blocking force is too depleted and exhausted to pursue.
Battle of Juniyah, 1518 (Swiss/Mamluk Thermopylae):
Ottoman casualties: D5000 + 5000 => 9737
Ottoman prisoners: D2000 => 986
Order of Solutions casualties: D1000 => 528
Mamluk infantry casualties: D5000 + 1000 => 3956
Mamluk cavalry casualties: D5000 + 1000 => 3321
Between hours of grinding infantry combat and nearly unrelenting artillery bombardment, the Ottomans suffer hideous casualties, totaling more than ten thousand all told (nearly sixteen thousand in this campaign alone). Fighting from prepared positions in chokepoints, the Mamluk army suffered fewer, though still substantial casualties. For this victory, the Order of Solutions paid in blood. Previously at 7/8ths strength, they suffered more than five hundred casualties, more than a third of their pikemen, in addition to one cannon and dozens of artillerymen.
Round 4:
Suleiman mood:
1/3/4/5/6: Angy
2: Sadge
(I swear, Suleiman, if you roll a 2...)
D6 => 3
Reconstruction of Ascalon, part 2. 42/100:
D100 + 5 => 104
D100 + 5 => 82
With news of the bloody fighting up north, combined with the proprietor's note that their employer was single-mindedly pursuing the war without regard for the rest and well-being of his troops, the work crews at Ascalon throw themselves into fortifying and rebuilding the port with zeal. It helped that they were willing to pay the locals well for their labor. The wage for a day's hard labor was greater than most local households saw in a month. Whole villages would turn out to work, fed from the burgeoning fortress' kitchens. Fresh timbers went into restoring the docks for modern ships, while earth by the barrowload was heaped atop the ruins of the walls to form berms and slopes that would bounce cannonballs rather than crumble. Even a primitive capstan- and windlass-powered freight elevator was constructed to bring cargo from to docks up the bluff to the level of the fortress. Just in time for the first Italian merchant vessel to dock at the restored port. They brought a literal boatload of arms, ammunition and gunpowder, along with news of the latest happenings in Europe. In turn, they carried home holds full of Mamluk silver and lurid, exaggerated stories of crusade and reconquest of the Holy Land, and tall tales of a charter to reestablish a razed Crusader city.
Recruit quality:
Volunteers: D100 + 10 => 110 | natural 100: 1
D100 + 10 => 89 + 10 = 99
D100 + 10 => 81
Mercenaries 1: D100 + 10 => 24
Mercenaries 2: D100 + 10 => 16
Mercenaries 3: D100 + 10 => 27
The mercenaries were nothing to write home about, just to bolster the ranks and increase numbers. The volunteers, however, were men of the mountains, experts in stealth, climbing and getting into places their enemies didn't want them. They hailed from a mountain fortress by the name of Masyaf. While they wouldn't be of much use on the field of battle, they could serve as the eyes and ears of the army and could infiltrate cities and relay information back to him. Despite living half the Mediterranean apart, these men of the mountain, led by man of age with him by the name Hytham, strongly reminded Severin of Luciano's young friend Ezio.
World Rumor Mill roll
The Ottomans:D100 => 1
Suliman: D100 => 63
Severin and the Order of Solutions Escape:D100 => 80
I actually had to cut out a bunch of rolls and writing based on them to bring this series ending in line with the above World Rumor Mill rolls. They were even more unbelievable than this outcome, believe it or not.
Suleiman mood:
1/3/4/5: Angy
2: Sadge
6: Numb
D6 => 6
Wut? Suleiman, you really doing the Russian roulette with these mood rolls, aren't you?
Injured, so -5 to command roll.
Attack or defend?
1: Attacc
2: Protecc
D2 => 2
Ok...
JC Severin, trying to convince Sultan to stop to reorganize and reinforce.
D100 + 5 => 22
The problem of using charisma as the dump stat... Sultan wants to press the attack. "The Ottomans are on the run!"
Rebuilding and fortifying Ascalon DC 39:
D100 => 81
42 overflow into stage 2: 42/100 (+5 bonus next turn due to "Lads, the Mamluk sultan is off his rocker")
JC Severin command roll: D100 => 26
Suleiman command roll: D100 - 5 => 74
Ottoman ambush roll: D100 => 55
JC Severin spot check: D100 => 71
Spring the trap (1) or avoid it (2)?
D2 => 2
JC Severin command roll: D100 + 10 => 27
Suleiman command roll: D100 - 5 => 11
JC somehow outmaneuvers Suleiman and cuts his line of communication. Suleiman must attack or his army will wither on the vine. With all previous battles occurring near the coast, Suleiman is fixated on movement there. JC Severin leads the Mamluk army into Lebanon through the Beqaa valley, then across the passes into the coast taking up position near Juniyah, just south of Tripoli.
Suleiman command roll: D100 - 5 => 86
JC Severin command roll: D100 + 10 => 105
crit explosion: D100 + 10 => 89 + 5 = 94
crit explosion 2: D100 + 10 => 53
Uh... Suleiman understands that the OoS is the most dangerous foe on the field, so he should avoid fighting them where possible and pressure the relatively weaker Mamluk forces. JC Severin knows that Suleiman knows, and forces an engagement on his terms. He picks out a narrow pass near the sea (only 1.5 km from the sea to the foothills, which sharply rise to 750m elevation within 6.5 km) where he can deploy his pikes. He also constructs a floating battery to allow his cannons enfilading fire onto the Ottoman army as it squares up against the Swiss pikemen while his riflemen, swelled with captured and newly-purchased Graziani rifles, take potshots from the heights. Mamluk troops harass the Ottoman flanks, funneling them into the narrow pass. Between the Mamluk pikemen and the Order of Solutions, the narrow coastal plain is a bristling hedge of pikes.
Ottoman artillery roll: D100 => 10
Order of Solutions counterbattery: D100 => 15
Suleiman orders his cannons forward to bombard and shatter the wall of pikes. Counterbattery fire from the floating battery drives off the gunners in short order.
Ottoman combat roll: D100 - 10 => 3 (bad position, frontal attack against prepared positions)
Complication roll: D100 - 10 => 53
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 15 => 54
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 59
In a bad spot, but knowing any action is better than inaction, Suleiman orders the attack. Almost immediately, the attack breaks down due to a combination of enfilade fire from both flanks and poor coordination.
Suleiman rally roll: D100 - 5 => 95 | natural 100: 1
Reorganization success intensity: D100 - 5 => 70
Ottoman combat roll: D100 - 5 => 43
Order of Solutions artillery roll: D100 + 10 => 76
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 15 => 62
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 98
Mamluk exploitation: D100 + 10 => 108
Mamluk breakthrough: D100 + 10 => 71
Still injured and feeling unwell, Suleiman rides forth into the tangled morass of his men and shouts them back into order. They rally miraculously quickly and launch into a second attack. Cannon fire from the floating battery hammers their left flank, and units veer off course, colliding with their neighbors. Seizing on the opportunity, A unit of Mamluk pikemen charge into the gap and wedge the flank open. Severin, seeing the opening, commits his reserve to breaking through the gap and isolating the first wave as the mercenary pikemen grind them down from the front.
Suleiman gets a free rally from his nat 100.
Ottoman combat roll: D100 - 5 => 61
He immediately orders a second attack to rescue the first wave.
Order of Solutions artillery roll: D100 + 10 => 45
Order of Solutions combat roll: D100 + 15 => 90
exploitation roll: D100 + 15 => 17
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 45
Immediately launching a second attack to rescue to cut off first wave, the Ottomans force back the Mamluk blocking force step by bloody step under the barrage of mercenary cannon, only to reach the initial Mamluk line, where the Swiss pikemen of the Order of Solutions finished their bloody work in butchering the first wave.
Mamluk flanking roll: D100 + 5 => 45
Ottoman rearguard: D100 => 67
The Mamluk cavalry, having made a sweeping flanking maneuver, attempt to rout the Ottomans with a rear charge. The Ottoman rearguard, caught by surprise, nevertheless fight off the attack. The Mamluk flanking force, rebuffed once, settles for bottling up the Ottoman army.
Does JC press the attack from the front?: D2 => 2
No! Artillery bombardment: D100 + 10 => 89
Ottoman morale: D100 - 10 => 68
Rather than commit to a costly frontal assault, Severin settles for bombarding the Ottoman army with impunity. While inflicting casualties, Ottoman morale holds remarkably well, though they cannot simply stand still under bombardment. Suleiman must do something.
Odd: Frontal assault
Even: Breakout from the rear
D6 => 6
Ottoman rearguard attack: D100 => 49
Mamluk flanking force defense: D100 - 5 => 37
Being mostly cavalry, the Mamluk flanking force is naturally better on the attack rather than on defense. So the sudden Ottoman breakout attempt successfully dislodged them from their blocking position.
Ottoman evacuation of the pocket: D100 => 45
JC Severin roll to realize what is going on: D100 => 29
Mamluk counterattack to close the pocket again: D100 => 64
OoS artillery: D100 + 10 => 60
Ottomans manage to evacuate their rearmost units while their troops at the forefront maintain position under bombardment. A rapid counterattack closes pocket once more.
Ottoman breakout: D100 => 4
Complication roll: D100 => 66
Mamluk holding the pocket closed: D100 => 39
The Ottomans once more attempt to break out of the trap, but wise to their maneuver, the Mamluk commander, in the tradition of their steppe nomad ancestors, feign retreat, only to counterattack once the Ottomans relaxed their guard. The way out remains shut.
OoS artillery: D100 + 10 => 77
Does Severin notice what's going on? (their inactivity is getting suspicious): D100 + 5 => 47
Ottoman breakout (exhausted and depleted): D100 - 5 => 13
Mamluk containment: D100 => 43
Another failed breakout attempt. Severin notices Ottoman units being moved to the rear.
OoS artillery: D100 + 10 => 30
OsS combat roll: D100 + 15 => 57
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 32
Ottoman defense roll: D100 - 5 => 41
Ottoman breakout roll: D100 - 5 => 17
Mamluk containment roll: D100 - 5 => 51
After long hours of intense fire, the Order of Solutions gunners slacken their fire due to exhaustion and ammunition shortage, just as Severin resumes the frontal attack. The Ottomans, fighting for their lives, put up a stalwart defense, but give ground in the face of the refreshed Switzers. The Ottoman situation is becoming dire. If they cannot breakout soon, then they will be crushed or forced to surrender.
OoS artillery: D100 => 94
Artillery crit: D100 => 65
OsS combat roll: D100 + 15 => 77
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 29
Ottoman defense roll: D100 - 5 => 75
Ottoman breakout roll: D100 => 13
Mamluk containment roll: D100 => 74
Despite their slowed fire, a lucky cannonball from Hans' heavy cannon finds an Ottoman powder wagon. The explosion rattles the morale of the Ottoman army, causing their latest breakout attempt to fumble. In spite of the explosion, the Ottoman frontline fights determinedly to buy time for their brethren to escape, rebuffing Mamluk frontal attacks and slowing the terrible advance of the Swiss pikemen to a crawl.
OoS artillery: D100 => 5
Complication: D100 => 83
OsS combat roll: D100 + 15 => 65
Mamluk combat roll: D100 + 10 => 17
Ottoman defense roll: D100 - 5 => 30
Ottoman breakout roll: D100 + 5 => 105 | natural 100: 1
Breakout: D100 + 5 => 84
Mamluk containment roll: D100 - 5 => 19
The consequences on sustained fire on looted cannons of questionable (not modern Italian) quality become evident. One overheated cannon cooks off the powder charge in the barrel, exploding and wreaking havoc on the floating battery. While other guns remain operational and the battery itself is not in danger of sinking, the surviving gunners and their officers are no longer willing to risk the dangers of continued firing.
The Ottoman frontal units, badly depleted and exhausted, repel another Mamluk attack, only for their line to buckle, then break under the relentless press of the Swiss pikemen. Suleiman, understanding that this is the moment that will either save or destroy his army, commits what remains of his elite janissaries to the breakout attempt. After many long hours of cavalry attempted to defend a position, the exhausted Mamluk flanking force, reduced to a mere blocking force, must give up. The remainder of the Ottoman army hastily evacuates the pocket which nearly doomed them.
Frontal advance force lacks cavalry, can only capture the enemies they are engaged with; Flanking Blocking force is too depleted and exhausted to pursue.
Battle of Juniyah, 1518 (Swiss/Mamluk Thermopylae):
Ottoman casualties: D5000 + 5000 => 9737
Ottoman prisoners: D2000 => 986
Order of Solutions casualties: D1000 => 528
Mamluk infantry casualties: D5000 + 1000 => 3956
Mamluk cavalry casualties: D5000 + 1000 => 3321
Between hours of grinding infantry combat and nearly unrelenting artillery bombardment, the Ottomans suffer hideous casualties, totaling more than ten thousand all told (nearly sixteen thousand in this campaign alone). Fighting from prepared positions in chokepoints, the Mamluk army suffered fewer, though still substantial casualties. For this victory, the Order of Solutions paid in blood. Previously at 7/8ths strength, they suffered more than five hundred casualties, more than a third of their pikemen, in addition to one cannon and dozens of artillerymen.
Round 4:
Suleiman mood:
1/3/4/5/6: Angy
2: Sadge
(I swear, Suleiman, if you roll a 2...)
D6 => 3
Reconstruction of Ascalon, part 2. 42/100:
D100 + 5 => 104
D100 + 5 => 82
With news of the bloody fighting up north, combined with the proprietor's note that their employer was single-mindedly pursuing the war without regard for the rest and well-being of his troops, the work crews at Ascalon throw themselves into fortifying and rebuilding the port with zeal. It helped that they were willing to pay the locals well for their labor. The wage for a day's hard labor was greater than most local households saw in a month. Whole villages would turn out to work, fed from the burgeoning fortress' kitchens. Fresh timbers went into restoring the docks for modern ships, while earth by the barrowload was heaped atop the ruins of the walls to form berms and slopes that would bounce cannonballs rather than crumble. Even a primitive capstan- and windlass-powered freight elevator was constructed to bring cargo from to docks up the bluff to the level of the fortress. Just in time for the first Italian merchant vessel to dock at the restored port. They brought a literal boatload of arms, ammunition and gunpowder, along with news of the latest happenings in Europe. In turn, they carried home holds full of Mamluk silver and lurid, exaggerated stories of crusade and reconquest of the Holy Land, and tall tales of a charter to reestablish a razed Crusader city.
Recruit quality:
Volunteers: D100 + 10 => 110 | natural 100: 1
D100 + 10 => 89 + 10 = 99
D100 + 10 => 81
Mercenaries 1: D100 + 10 => 24
Mercenaries 2: D100 + 10 => 16
Mercenaries 3: D100 + 10 => 27
The mercenaries were nothing to write home about, just to bolster the ranks and increase numbers. The volunteers, however, were men of the mountains, experts in stealth, climbing and getting into places their enemies didn't want them. They hailed from a mountain fortress by the name of Masyaf. While they wouldn't be of much use on the field of battle, they could serve as the eyes and ears of the army and could infiltrate cities and relay information back to him. Despite living half the Mediterranean apart, these men of the mountain, led by man of age with him by the name Hytham, strongly reminded Severin of Luciano's young friend Ezio.
World Rumor Mill roll
The Ottomans:D100 => 1
Suliman: D100 => 63
Severin and the Order of Solutions Escape:D100 => 80
I actually had to cut out a bunch of rolls and writing based on them to bring this series ending in line with the above World Rumor Mill rolls. They were even more unbelievable than this outcome, believe it or not.
scout: D100 + 20 => 94
D100 + 20 => 46
roll: D100 => 32
roll: D100 => 65
roll: D100 => 96
Crit explosion: D100 => 7
roll: D100 => 69 (nice)
roll: D100 + 20 => 100
crit: D100 + 20 => 46
roll: D100 - 10 => 56
roll: D100 + 25 => 85
roll: D100 => 20
roll: D100 + 20 => 23
Complication: D100 => 61
roll: D100 => 95
crit roll: D100 => 25
D100 + 20 => 46
roll: D100 => 32
roll: D100 => 65
roll: D100 => 96
Crit explosion: D100 => 7
roll: D100 => 69 (nice)
roll: D100 + 20 => 100
crit: D100 + 20 => 46
roll: D100 - 10 => 56
roll: D100 + 25 => 85
roll: D100 => 20
roll: D100 + 20 => 23
Complication: D100 => 61
roll: D100 => 95
crit roll: D100 => 25
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
+10 to the rolls.
"Surrender the False Pope!"
Considering how the french king took the divine right to rule to a whole new level, that is probably in the cards somewhere.
And deep in the future, multiple groups are gonna be working on various media inspired by this mad journey aren't they....
Magoose has San Marino been annexed into Italy or is it still an independent microstate?
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
All I'm going to say is that San Marino is... kinda been forgotten.
The Liechtenstein of Italy.
Of course, the almighty San Marino still exists and will continue to exist until the end of time, it is not for nothing that it is the oldest state in the world.
- Location
- leiden (NL)
[X] Plan Foreign and Family Affairs
If we ever win a war..
Let's give the Buonaparte Family the right to rule France..
Definitely not going to bite us at the behind later
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Last edited:
- Location
- Italia
[X] Plan War On The Horizon
- Pronouns
- Reader
It's fine mate. Get some rest.