There's at least some restrictions, because he didn't really explained most of them. We can infer some of them from context (Lustria is probably the Slaans, Dark Land something to do with Choas Dwarfs, the southern one Nagash), but Mathilde has no way of knowing that. These ones weren't explained by Regimand.
So imo, all those informations in the packages are restricted on a need to know basis, and we shouldn't reveal the Skavens to Eike without reason (or at least asking our colleagues about that).
If we're her master, then we have the right to teach her about Skaven. Not revealing it to the general populace, ok, but I have no idea why you would keep it secret from your own damn disciple. I'm confused over Regimand keeping it secret, but if we have the choice and it's possible to do it legally, I'd reveal it almost instantly.
Also, as our apprentice, what are we gonna do when she comes over to Mathilde's home in K8P? Hide Qretch from her the entire time? I'd prefer that she knows about him at least.
I mean, she's not our apprentice, so that's all somewhat hypothetical. And please don't imply I said anything either way about telling her about Skaven at some future point in time. We've read a lot of people in, but not children still in the first stages of their junior apprenticeship.
Heck, she might not make it.
What I said was we shouldn't tell her about Queekish.
As the Tsarevich, Boyars, and Rotamasters confer with the Tzar, you and Johann hold your own little conference off to one side with the Ice Witches, with Ljiljana translating for Milica and Nadezhda. Ljiljana and Milica are both capable of the Ice Witch equivalent of Battle Magics, summoning blizzards to freeze a few or to hinder many, and freezing the river to make it easier to cross or to severely inconvenience anyone midway through fording it. And while Nadezhda isn't yet fully comfortable with all but the least of Battle Magics, this battle taking place in a forest gives her an unexpected advantage: a tree rapidly frozen will explode, potentially causing all kinds of damage with wooden shrapnel and falling branches, thus allowing her to have battlefield-scale effects with more reliable magics. And, of course, Ljiljana has the ability to turn into some sort of... giant ice bat? Which certainly looked like it could do some damage in a fight. Unfortunately, it seems like an encore of her performance at the Kul camp is not a possibility.
You share the most relevant of the capabilities of Johann and yourself, and spark a brief and confusing debate over whether the Mystifying Miasma actually interferes with the flow of time or just mortal perception of it, which then evolves into an even more abstract argument over whether there is a meaningful distinction between the two. Ljiljana looks quite relieved when the debate she'd had to translate every word of is interrupted by the approach of Kovnik Loza, who is doing a fair job of masking how intimidated he is.
"The path to Ryazan is a narrow cart-path along the Shirokij River," he relays to you. "The Kreml Guard and the rotas of Resvynhaf, Rakhov, Volstara, and Resov will clear-cut the trees alongside it to enlarge the path, and will use the logs to build fortified positions along it. The krugs will scout in force through the forest within horn's blow of the path. The other rotas will patrol the expanded path and stand ready to respond to any contact with the enemy along it."
You nod to yourself as you consider that. Strategically, it reshapes the would-be battlefield into a form more suited to the Kislevites and less for the enemy, and puts the enemy in a position where the longer they hang back, the stronger Kislev's position becomes. If they refuse to engage at all, then the Shirokij will soon be cut in half by a fortified and enlarged road all the way to Ryazan, at which point the enemy must either engage or lift their siege of the village and withdraw to one half of the Shirokij or the other. And in terms of morale, responding to a warband from Athel Loren by cutting a swath through the heart of a forest is likely to make them want to react. It's a strategy that will either provoke a quick reaction or punish the lack of one, and either scenario is a win for Tzar Vladimir.
It also plays to the individual strengths and avoids the most prominent weaknesses of the involved forces. Resvynhaf, Rakhov, Volstara and Resov are all woodcutting stanitsas, so they would have a familiarity with forests that the other rotas would lack, so they would be the ones most able and equipped to act as lumberjacks and the ones most likely to be able to deal with any reaction their clear-cutting might provoke. The krugs of the southern oblast are likewise used to the forests that hem in their lands, and would have honed their ability to be able to negotiate the forest on horseback while hunting in them. And the rotas from the city and from the unforested stanitsas are, like most Kislevites, largely ignorant of acting in forests, so they will be patrolling the cleared path and otherwise being kept in reserve until battle is joined, at which point they can travel along the path most of the way and dismount and engage the enemy on foot.
For a strategy formed with little information about the enemy and for terrain so far removed from what the average Kislevite is used to, it's certainly sound. The only remaining question is what part you and the Ice Witches will play in it. You begin to discuss it with them, and though they don't come right out and say so, it quickly becomes apparent that the Ice Witches are holding off on making any decision until you give your own perspective. Considering the enemy and the terrain, you suppose that makes sense - if you were about to go into a battle against Norscans on the steppes and had an Ice Witch on hand to advise you, you'd definitely listen.
Mathilde
[ ] [GREY] Scouting the forest with the krugs
[ ] [GREY] Guarding the forest rotas as they expand and fortify the path
[ ] [GREY] Patrolling the path with the city rotas
[ ] [GREY] Standing ready to respond with the Tzar and Boyars
[ ] [GREY] Investigate Boyar Kalashinivik
[ ] [GREY] Other (write in)
Johann
[ ] [GOLD] Scouting the forest with the krugs
[ ] [GOLD] Guarding the forest rotas as they expand and fortify the path
[ ] [GOLD] Patrolling the path with the city rotas
[ ] [GOLD] Standing ready to respond with the Tzar and Boyars
[ ] [GOLD] Other (write in)
Ice Witches
[ ] [ICE] Scouting the forest with the krugs
[ ] [ICE] Guarding the forest rotas as they expand and fortify the path
[ ] [ICE] Patrolling the path with the city rotas
[ ] [ICE] Standing ready to respond with the Tzar and Boyars
[ ] [ICE] Other (write in)
- There will be a twelve hour moratorium - to consider the new information, to allow for any write-in strategies to develop, and to give people enough time to look up from Total Warhammer and notice an update has happened.
- The possibilities I've given only allow for supplementing part of the forces according to the Tzar's plan. Anything more creative will be the domain of write-ins.
There's at least some restrictions, because he didn't really explained most of them. We can infer some of them from context (Lustria is probably the Slaans, Dark Land something to do with Choas Dwarfs, the southern one Nagash), but Mathilde has no way of knowing that. These ones weren't explained by Regimand.
So imo, all those informations in the packages are restricted on a need to know basis, and we shouldn't reveal the Skavens to Eike without reason (or at least asking our colleagues about that).
Well, you conveniently skipped over him explaining the "Mummy Gold" incident in detail. We don't know where the Skaven sit on that scale. It seems very weird to me that the Grey Order would restrict Masters from teaching their disciples about the Skaven.
There's at least some restrictions, because he didn't really explained most of them. We can infer some of them from context (Lustria is probably the Slaans, Dark Land something to do with Choas Dwarfs, the southern one Nagash), but Mathilde has no way of knowing that. These ones weren't explained by Regimand.
So imo, all those informations in the packages are restricted on a need to know basis, and we shouldn't reveal the Skavens to Eike without reason (or at least asking our colleagues about that).
If we take her to Eight Peaks, a place that is filled with veterans of the Skaven wars, the packet will trigger as soon as she walks into a tavern where some Udumgi is telling war stories
Trust needs to be earned, and to the Grey Order, the process of a Wizard earning that trust is the same process as that of reaching Magister. Until that point it's need-to-know, and most don't.
In terms of the actual contents, not much to analyse, but the tactics look very sound to me. Of course the Tzar would be an accomplished tactician. He's certainly made it his life's work to be fighting in military endeavours.
And yet we did not know from Regimand until we got a pop up in middle of Expedition
Mathilde did tell other wizards about skaven when they were just journeymen, but thats because they were literally in middle of warzone and set to be in direct battle with them soon enough.
If we take her to Eight Peaks, a place that is filled with veterans of the Skaven wars, the packet will trigger as soon as she walks into a tavern where some Udumgi is telling war stories
There isn't really any rush to tell her though, so why just not wait until that happens.
Don't know about the strategy, scouting seems sorta risky though considering the terrain. Maybe wizards on patrol considering they are indefatigable and ice witches on guard since they can explode trees.
Though my shipper heart wants to place a ice witch in particular with Boris.
Anyway, I think we want Johann with the forest rotas: there's a good chance they'll get attacked, and the tree clearing team includes the Kreml Guard which I think is the natural unit for him to join. Maybe a write-in to clarify that he'll be with them in particular?
For the rest, not sure. Sending Mathilde to scout seems pretty natural, but she could also be with the responding forces, using Rite of Way to make any response as quick and devastating as possible. Still not sure about the Ice Witches.
What is the Shirokij river like? To what extent is it fordable, is this operation confined to one bank, could Rite of Way possibly make crossing easier (if the horses wade rather than swim)?
For that matter, how clear cut will this clear cut road be? Could we make a material difference to the response times of the Tsars reserves with Rite of Way over the brush and scrub?
and spark a brief and confusing debate over whether the Mistifying Miasma actually interferes with the flow of time or just mortal perception of it, which then evolves into an even more abstract argument over whether there is a meaningful distinction between the two
What is the Shirokij river like? To what extent is it fordable, is this operation confined to one bank, could Rite of Way possibly make crossing easier (if the horses wade rather than swim)?
Fordable, but not easily, and anyone attempting it under enemy eyes would be very easy prey for arrows. The operation is confined to the east bank, where the existing path is. Rite of Way would make it easier to cross, and so would the Ice Witches who could freeze it.
For that matter, how clear cut will this clear cut road be? Could we make a material difference to the response times of the Tsars reserves with Rite of Way over the brush and scrub?
Well, you conveniently skipped over him explaining the "Mummy Gold" incident in detail. We don't know where the Skaven sit on that scale. It seems very weird to me that the Grey Order would restrict Masters from teaching their disciples about the Skaven.
The mummy gold isn't probably as sensitive information. And wasn't Mathilde a magister by that point? I don't remember. The Grey Order is extremely paranoid, so they probably prefer to be absolutely sure a member will not accidentally blab about the Skavens in front of other people.
If we take her to Eight Peaks, a place that is filled with veterans of the Skaven wars, the packet will trigger as soon as she walks into a tavern where some Udumgi is telling war stories
Okay, i am not as afraid of scouting now that we have someone to fall back to properly and bodies to distract, so
[][GREY] Scouting the forest with the krugs
Sounds like best Mathilde option for us. I am not up for hanging back and be glorified army carrier when we can do something in the field again for once without too much risk.
[ ] [ICE] Guarding the forest rotas as they expand and fortify the path
These rotas are most likely to get jumped as the forest spirits get really angry at the transgression of fleshbags cutting down wood, so its best they have a wizard nearby. Totally why i want this option
[ ] [GOLD] Standing ready to respond with the Tzar and Boyars
Undecided on what to do with Johann. Either this, or cover the patrolling rotas, but i don't feel its really that important. The city rotas should be tough enough to withstand assault, and will already be on fortified and clear patch of the road.
As the Tserevich, Boyars, and Rotamasters confer with the Tzar, you and Johann hold your own little conference off to one side with the Ice Witches, with Ljiljana translating for Milica and Nadezhda. Ljiljana and Milica are both capable of the Ice Witch equivalent of Battle Magics, summoning blizzards to freeze a few or to hinder many. And while Nadezhda isn't yet fully comfortable with all but the least of Battle Magics, this battle taking place in a forest gives her an unexpected advantage: a tree rapidly frozen will explode, potentially causing all kinds of damage with wooden shrapnel and falling branches, thus allowing her to have battlefield-scale effects with more reliable magics. And, of course, Ljiljana has the ability to turn into some sort of... giant ice bat? Which certainly looked like it could do some damage in a fight. Unfortunately, it seems like an encore of her performance at the Kul camp is not a possibility.
Their descriptions weren't overly... detailed. I can't tell if Liljiana and Milica are talking about Ice Sheet, Ice Maiden's Kiss, Heart of Winter, Death Frost or Blizzard. I assume they're talking specifically about freezing and not slicing with shards which is more of a Tempest ability, so I think the both of them are more Ice oriented. Makes sense, since Liljiana can turn into a Frost Fiend, which strikes me as more Ice than Tempest. Same with Nadhezda. She came in her not confident over her battle magic abilities. I'm thinking she was really blinded by the prospect of riding Boris. It's fine, Mathilde only knows two Battle Magic Spells and both of them are low power. Johann also only knows one basic BM spell. We're all friends here.
You share the most relevant of the capabilities of Johann and yourself, and spark a brief and confusing debate over whether the Mistifying Miasma actually interferes with the flow of time or just mortal perception of it, which then evolves into an even more abstract argument over whether there is a meaningful distinction between the two. Ljiljana looks quite relieved when the debate she'd had to translate every word of is interrupted by the approach of Kovnik Loza, who is doing a fair job of masking how intimidate he is.
Love it when Wizards get caught up in tangents. It just really shows the tendency of experts who understand each other to latch on to terms and start discussing the etymology and descriptiveness of the words used to understand them and start questioning the theoretical underpinning behind the mechanisms. I don't imagein the Ice Witches have many opportunities to interrogate other magical disciplines that they're in good standing with. Can't exactly ask a Kurgan Shadow Shaman how he creates slits in reality.
It also seems like Nadezhda and Milica were the ones more engaged in it, which makes this even sillier. Arguments where everyone understands each other are already crazy, adding another layer with translation makes it downright wacky. Shout out to Liljiana for being a good sport. I will also never get over the sheer genius of Loza being relegated to a consistent role in this miniarc. Boney could have just as easily shoved any character in there, but having him keep coming back as his usual terrified self is endlessly entertaining. Helps freshen up what would normally be a dull endeavour. I guess the Kislevites are under the impression that he gets along with the Witches even though he's terrified of them, and he's way too scared to say no to his superiors.
"The path to Ryazan is a narrow cart-path along the Shirokij River," he relays to you. "The Kreml Guard and the rotas of Resvynhaf, Rakhov, Volstara, and Resov will clear-cut the trees alongside it to enlarge the path, and will use the logs to build fortified positions along it. The krugs will scout in force through the forest within horn's blow of the path. The other rotas will patrol the expanded path and stand ready to respond to any contact with the enemy along it."
You nod to yourself as you consider that. Strategically, it reshapes the would-be battlefield into a form more suited to the Kislevites and less for the enemy, and puts the enemy in a position where the longer they hang back, the stronger Kislev's position becomes. If they refuse to engage at all, then the Shirokij will soon be cut in half by a fortified and enlarged road all the way to Ryazan, at which point the enemy must either engage or lift their siege of the village and withdraw to one half of the Shirokij or the other. And in terms of morale, responding to a warband from Athel Loren by cutting a swath through the heart of a forest is likely to make them want to react. It's a strategy that will either provoke a quick reaction or punish the lack of one, and either scenario is a win for Tzar Vladimir.
It also plays to the individual strengths and avoids the most prominent weaknesses of the involved forces. Resvynhaf, Rakhov, Volstara and Resov are all woodcutting stanitsas, so they would have a familiarity with forests that the other rotas would lack, so they would be the ones most able and equipped to act as lumberjacks and the ones most likely to be able to deal with any reaction their clear-cutting might provoke. The krugs of the southern oblast are likewise used to the forests that hem in their lands, and would have honed their ability to be able to negotiate the forest on horseback while hunting in them. And the rotas from the city and from the unforested stanitsas are, like most Kislevites, largely ignorant of acting in forests, so they will be patrolling the cleared path and otherwise being kept in reserve until battle is joined, at which point they can travel along the path most of the way and dismount and engage the enemy on foot.
This is excellent and well thought out. I'm impressed. It's also a good thing Mathilde took the time to analyse it because I'm not sure I would have realised how in depth this strategy was otherwise. The Tzar is playing to his strengths and ensuring that the battle is had on his terms with him on the advantage, while also implementing psychological tactics knowing who his enemy is. I do have a question that I'll ask in the end though, because I think there are more significant implications that can arise from this action.
For a strategy formed with little information about the enemy and for terrain so far removed from what the average Kislevite is used to, it's certainly sound. The only remaining question is what part you and the Ice Witches will play in it. You begin to discuss it with them, and though they don't come right out and say so, it quickly becomes apparent that the Ice Witches are holding off on making any decision until you give your own perspective. Considering the enemy and the terrain, you suppose that makes sense - if you were about to go into a battle against Norscans on the steppes and had an Ice Witch on hand to advise you, you'd definitely listen.
This is very nice. Mathilde being respected by peers who view her as an ally and respect her opinion and are willing to hear her out is lovely, but it's even more so because these aren't people that she's spent literal years fighting alongside. I have a feeling Mathilde also likes it very much. It's like a headpat, knowing that your opinion matters.
From an OoC perspective, this was probably motivated by Boney wanting to let us have agency in terms of the vote while also not blatantly placing Mathilde on top as a leader. It wouldn't make sense for Mathilde to be elected as the leader in this situation, so Boney found a way for the voterbase to have agency here without erasing the agency of the other characters, which I find neat.
Mathilde
[ ] [GREY] Scouting the forest with the krugs
[ ] [GREY] Guarding the forest rotas as they expand and fortify the path
[ ] [GREY] Patrolling the path with the city rotas
[ ] [GREY] Standing ready to respond with the Tzar and Boyars
[ ] [GREY] Other (write in)
Johann
[ ] [GOLD] Scouting the forest with the krugs
[ ] [GOLD] Guarding the forest rotas as they expand and fortify the path
[ ] [GOLD] Patrolling the path with the city rotas
[ ] [GOLD] Standing ready to respond with the Tzar and Boyars
[ ] [GOLD] Other (write in)
Ice Witches
[ ] [ICE] Scouting the forest with the krugs
[ ] [ICE] Guarding the forest rotas as they expand and fortify the path
[ ] [ICE] Patrolling the path with the city rotas
[ ] [ICE] Standing ready to respond with the Tzar and Boyars
[ ] [ICE] Other (write in)
To me, I would say Mathilde should scout with the Krugs. Her Shadowsteed ignores terrain and is pretty fast so she can keep up, Rite of Way is excellent for consistent mobility, and she'd have some backup so she wouldn't be slaughtered like if she had went alone into the forest. I also think the Krugs would naturally be stealthy. I have confidence that they know what they're doing. This might seem weird since I was very vehement against scouting earlier, but that's because we had no support back then. Now, I'm far more confident over Mathilde's safety.
As a side note, I've noticed that Johann didn't seem to be included in the conversation between Mathilde and the Witches at all, which I suppose makes sense. He wouldn't have much to add that Mathilde couldn't say herself, and the Ice Witches probably respect her authority more. Also, I don't know if Johann has much input to add on the mechanics of time vs mortal perception of time. If I were to guess his response, it would be "it works either way doesn't it? Stop making it complicated".
Ok, finally, here's a question to those much more knowledgable about forests and trees and economy than I am. I have very little knowledge about the lumber economy and the health of forests, but will clear cutting the forests to this extent cause significant negative effects? I'm mainly asking if they can make use of all the trees so they don't go to waste and about market prices crashing/economy distabilising. These towns primarily acquire their wealth from woodworking, so it seems like this might have significant negative effects to their livelihood. I also want to know if clear cutting this many trees will have any long term harmful impacts to the surrounding environment.
I mean, obviously, not much of this matters to the Tzar because he came here for a fight, and the consequences of Drycha doing whatever are probably more severe than an economic crash, but I do have to wonder at the long term damage her. I remember Stirland cutting down the Ghoul Woods south of the Hunter's Hills caused an economic crash and that was a small wood in a place that had lots of woods. Shirokij is kind of a big deal, and this seems to be a long stretch between four to five villages. Please educate my uninformed self on the consequences please.
