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A couple of things:
-The hills are respawning undead for several go overs. We want to see whats up with that. Why are some restless dead appearing immediately, some on the second go, and then some on the third? This shouldn't be happening for feral undead unless some of them are respawning as we go, or something binds them and erodes after a number of disturbances. You need a wizard to know what the heck.

-Command tent would be more valuable once we know what's going on in the field. Mathilde is no tactical genius.

-Mathilde however CAN conduct advanced recon using her speed to push ahead of the rest of the horde. There may be necromancers or enemy eyes staying just ahead of the army. Best to find out early.

-This is how we get enough work done on field testing of spells to Master more spells. I'd prefer to try to Master Burning Shadows while we're still in the Easy Modo part rather than later, and we won't be using the spell nearly as much outside the Purge.

-Our Attaches hadn't reported anything back yet. Might just be the time lag due to being on Purge turns, but if there's something up we won't see it from the command tent.



If he isn't a patriot then there's still SOMETHING in there that led him to just surrender without a fight when he realized the Elector's personal boogeyman just showed up. We can use that to manage him.



Uh, as per our QM statements, they are vastly more powerful, but they're much less sane and stable than most wizards. Basically wizards specialized for a lot of output, with low expected service lifetime.
I tend to agree with what you're saying we need to figure out... I just disagree with your supposition that we're better placed to figure out what is going wrong from fighting with a particular division. Which division? What if nothing much of consequence happens to it? How do we hear what is going on with other divisions?

p. We can use that to manage him
That, and the fact he's kind of spooked by us.
 
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I tend to agree with what you're saying we need to figure out... I just disagree with your supposition that we're better placed to figure out what is going wrong from fighting with a particular division. Which division? What if nothing much of consequence happens to it? How do we hear what is going on with other divisions?
We got attaches from two divisions but neither reported in. Want to see if we messed it up or if it's just snail mail delay.

Also note we're fast enough to go through multiples.
 
We got attaches from two divisions but neither reported in. Want to see if we messed it up or if it's just snail mail delay.

Also note we're fast enough to go through multiples.
The option says 'pick a regiment to attach to'.

Our speed also means we're fast enough to respond to troublespots from command. As the option says, be present for anything interesting that might happen and keep a finger on the pulse of the war.

I am making the assumption that this includes specific offensives if Van Hal wants to clear out a barrow or whatever, as well as the second clause giving us intelligence. Which I maintain is our job here. Chess player, not a piece.

Edit: When the vote drags us to the front, we better bring our damn squad of Greatsword bodyguards. Second most powerful person in Stirland (remember that?) running around the frontlines in Shadow armor that lasts one minute... and we called Gustav reckless.
 
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[X] Attach yourself to the general staff, so you can be present for anything interesting that might happen and keep a finger on the pulse of the war.
[X] Bound Spells: Though the corrosive Dhar made them high-maintenance, the design of the bound spells in the castle's infiltrators has fascinating possibilities. The memories had faded but you've managed to refresh them. Try to adapt it for use with Ulgu.
-[X] Ranald's Blessing
 
Edit: When the vote drags us to the front, we better bring our damn squad of Greatsword bodyguards. Second most powerful person in Stirland (remember that?) running around the frontlines in Shadow armor that lasts minutes... and we called Gustav reckless.
We're bringing the greatswords. It was mentioned.
That said our main defense is being on a tireless horse. As long as we focus on recon except at dire need it should be fine.
 
We're bringing the greatswords. It was mentioned.
That said our main defense is being on a tireless horse. As long as we focus on recon except at dire need it should be fine.
Well, recon involves going past your lines. And relying on our speed precludes the Greatswords. It might be fine. Maybe. Maybe not. A lot of undead shit in Sylvania. I'm not sure riding off on our own into Sylvania is a risk we should be taking.

But, aside from that, this is going back to being Spy and not Spy Master again. We have both informants and attaches in the army, right? Officers will make reports, those will get to HQ. We just need the attaches to report the same way... which they can if they know where we are. That is a problem of Mathildes riding around so fast- no one knew how to contact her until we set up the house in Wurtbad.

Same thing will happen if we're scouting the hills of Sylvania and flitting from unit to unit. Sure, we can probably help some units win fights more easily. And maybe stomp a hotspot or two. Tactical wins. But, we'll be failing to utilise our pre-arranged sources of intelligence. Strategic loss.
 
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Well, recon involves going past your lines. And relying on our speed precludes the Greatswords. It might be fine. Maybe. Maybe not. A lot of undead shit in Stirland.

But, aside from that, this is going back to being Spy and not Spy Master again. We have both informants and attaches in the army, right? Officers will make reports, those will get to HQ. We just need the attaches to report the same way... which they can if they know where we are. That is a problem of Mathildes riding around so fast- no one knew how to contact her until we set up the house in Wurtbad.

Same thing will happen if we're scouting the hills of Sylvania and flitting from unit to unit.
A little personal experience wouldn't hurt, I guess. We shouldn't lock ourselves in scout/combatant role, but it's a thing we'd better be familiar with.
 
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A little personal experience wouldn't hurt, I guess. We should lock ourselves in scout/combatant role, but it's a thing we'd better be familiar with.
No. No. I don't want to become a better chess piece. Pawn to Knight to Rook- that's completely the wrong focus for this war.

We need to become a better Chess player. A Grandmaster. That's how we'll deal with other Spymasters. That's what Stirland and Van Hal needs from us. That's what he asked from us.

Sigh. People are going to want us to lead squads of Sewer Jacks personally to hunt Skaven, aren't they... :)
 
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I foresee, sometime in the next few years, Jack Albright briefing Abelhelm Van Hal on 'the war below' while we eavesdrop from under our perception-filter spell to try and figure out WTF has been happening with our watch.

I'm also waiting for a polite letter from the Collage informing us that A) they know we somehow figured out how to travel at the speed of night and B) if we don't share they aren't going to send us any more spell books.
 
No. No. I don't want to become a better chess piece. Pawn to Knight to Rook- that's completely the wrong focus here.
Getting field experience is a thing people to better understand how to manage boots on the ground. A lot of organization require their managers to have practical expierience, and this applies double to wizards who are very secluded in their apprenticeship and are sent to be journeymen with an explicit goal of gathering experience. There is nothing wrong about spending a month with the army to get some understanding how army works for the rooks.
 
Getting field experience is a thing people to better understand how to manage boots on the ground. A lot of organization require their managers to have practical expierience, and this applies double to wizards who are very secluded in their apprenticeship and are sent to be journeymen with an explicit goal of gathering experience. There is nothing wrong about spending a month with the army to get some understanding how army works for the rooks.
Yes, but the organisation is the Watch, not the Army. Spending time with those guys... would be more relevant. I'd rather see how Van Hal strategises, commands and sends men to their deaths and learn from him (and how Gustav does it and do otherwise ;)).

But, I think I've said my peace and belaboured my points more than sufficiently, so I'm going to leave it here, unless anyone tags me with a specific question.
 
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be present for anything interesting that might happen
@BoneyM seeing as we have you, does this mean 'happen in the command HQ specifically' or 'happen out there in the Purge in general and have a chance to go to it' (like a specific major planned offensive, Van Hal arranging to clear a barrow of wights, a particularly nasty patch of respawning undead, etc)? Thanks.
 
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Our enemies are the also tireless undead.
All the more important that we can outpace them on a horse and bugger back to the lines.
It also helps that Take No Heed helps distract the undead and any brain guiding them. That we can air-run for short distances

...also send up a beacon for Dragon support I suppose.
Getting field experience is a thing people to better understand how to manage boots on the ground. A lot of organization require their managers to have practical expierience, and this applies double to wizards who are very secluded in their apprenticeship and are sent to be journeymen with an explicit goal of gathering experience. There is nothing wrong about spending a month with the army to get some understanding how army works for the rooks.
Personally my main objective of personal recon is to find any issues on the front that a wizard could recognize on sight. We have senses others don't have, but we don't have a deep understanding of the terrain and personnel, which are tertiary objectives to understand whats going on.
The secondary objective is field testing Burning Shadows.

As already mentioned, you can't master a spell without using it in a real environment, and we're basically never going to be using it except on the Purge.
 
All the more important that we can outpace them on a horse and bugger back to the lines.
It also helps that Take No Heed helps distract the undead and any brain guiding them. That we can air-run for short distances

...also send up a beacon for Dragon support I suppose.

Personally my main objective of personal recon is to find any issues on the front that a wizard could recognize on sight. We have senses others don't have, but we don't have a deep understanding of the terrain and personnel, which are tertiary objectives to understand whats going on.
The secondary objective is field testing Burning Shadows.

As already mentioned, you can't master a spell without using it in a real environment, and we're basically never going to be using it except on the Purge.
Thirdly it also allows us to check and see how our Intelligence Attaches work out in the field, since while they are sound on a theoretical level there could be some practical hiccups that we don't know about.
 
Thirdly it also allows us to check and see how our Intelligence Attaches work out in the field, since while they are sound on a theoretical level there could be some practical hiccups that we don't know about.
...you know it could well be that the supply train forgot to include enough paper and ink for the front line. Nobody would have thought twice about that.
 
@BoneyM seeing as we have you, does this mean 'happen in the command HQ specifically' or 'happen out there in the Purge in general and have a chance to go to it' (like a specific major planned offensive, Van Hal arranging to clear a barrow of wights, a particularly nasty patch of respawning undead, etc)? Thanks.

In the HQ tent specifically. There's no option for 'wait around to hear about any possible fight you could throw yourself into and then do so' because that would be stupid.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to try to puncture the perception that as the protagonist, you are the only one that can ever achieve anything. Yes, there's unusual goings on with the campaign that is causing progress to slow. What, apart from being the protagonist, makes you think you're more qualified to address this than Van Hal? He's been doing this for longer than Mathilde's been alive. He's got priests of every Cult of the Empire assisting him. He's got the Knights of Morr. He's got Asarnil. He's got thirty thousand men. Yes, Burning Shadows is a neat trick, but you know what else is a neat trick? Thirty cannonballs.

The only legitimate reason to attach yourself to this campaign so you can get experience. Your contribution to the overall campaign would be, at best, utterly negligible.
 
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Yeah until we effectively qualify as a wizard lord and can with some degree of safety cast battle magic we aren't going to be affecting campaigns by ourselves except through the information we provide.
 
The only legitimate reason to attach yourself to this campaign so you can get experience.
And this is why I want to be in the command tent. Van Hal knows what he's doing. We don't. We should learn.

Shame about not being able to respond, but given the next bit, I'm going to presume here you mean stupid in the sense of 'stupid to expect we'd swing the balance' so I'm not too worried.
 
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The only legitimate reason to attach yourself to this campaign so you can get experience. Your contribution to the overall campaign would be, at best, utterly negligible.
Mastering Burning Shadows is a pretty neat trick! I mean we figured out how to cast a big shadow, so I want a shot at actually getting more.

But I believe the main motivation is wanting to know whats going on down at the front. We didn't get any updates there, so we're going down there to be nosy.
 
[X] Hire some printing press time and a translator, and start selling Reikspiel versions to anyone who's interested.
[X] Hire some printing press time and find a merchant willing to ship and sell as many copies as they can to Ulthuan.
 
What, apart from being the protagonist, makes you think you're more qualified to address this than Van Hal?
Mage Sight.

The perspective of a Grey Wizard is different to that of a Which Hunter, Priest or Knight. Whatever Van has been doing hasn't worked. Perhaps a different approach, however less experienced, will have better results.

More importantly I want experience of combat, not of leading armies. We are going to have more things try to revoke our vitals via gross structural rearrangement. We are most likely not going to be organising large scale military campaigns.
 
[X] Jack Albright, career criminal.
[X] Have a scribe transfer them into book form - one copy for you, one for the Imperial College, one for Asarnil.
[X] Hire some printing press time and a translator, and start selling Reikspiel versions to anyone who's interested.
[X] Hire some printing press time and find a merchant willing to ship and sell as many copies as they can to Ulthuan.

[X] Plan Get Stuck In
 
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