Welcome to Gaia! ::

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DM Edit: Since the start of the plot of this session is the group planning for the coming battle, simply translate all the OOC discussion that takes place in this first post into IC. Matty seems to be the leader when it comes to combat situations, and he begins the discussioin. Cheshire chimes in, while Mercy and Johan mostly keep quiet, at least to start out with. Greymere also keeps quiet, seeing that the group seems capable of planning and only responding when someone asks him directly about something.

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Victorious nations win first and then go to war, whereas defeated nations go to war first and then seek to win.

-Sun Tzu, The Art of War

With these words of wisdom, I would like to inaugurate what I hope will be a regular feature before large battles-The War Room. Here, we can discuss our strategy. Obviously, without details, we can only do a general plan, but it would be better than nothing. So, onwards!

The Analysis


The Blues:

Cheshire: Our super-fast super-sweeper. Capable of running in and hitting all the bad guys and running out before they even realize what is going on(and I recommend she does just that-see below). Only needs to be within hearing range or LOS or the party starts.

Johan: Sadly, his healing powers are wasted under this plan-it calls for inflicting the most injuries possible, not treating them. Still, he has value as a harasser, possibly even drawing off enemy forces from the main conflict. Needs to have LOS, preferably at ranges less than 110 feet, when the battle commences.

Matty: Yours truly has the biggest issues in this scenario. With neither movement powers nor a good ranged attack, Matty has to be really close (60 feet if an open line is available for charging (unlikely), otherwise 30). On the other hand, when he gets his hands on the shaman, he lock him in a full-nelson without even trying, at which point, just watch him try to cast anything. Between the loss of his magic and the loss of his defense, he will not make it another round after that. As mentioned earlier, needs to be within 60 or 30 feet with a clear movement line to the shaman when we start trading injuries.

Mercy: Similar tactical profile to Cheshire, but with more limited option to inflict mass casualties. Also responds a tad slower. Compensates with the ability to ignore intervening obstacles, thus being able to strike ‘guarded’ targets. If the bodyguards form rings around their charges, she will be vital in order to get at the VIPs. Like Chesh, only needs LOS or hearing range when the fun begins.

The Reds:

The Shaman: I have rated the Shaman a Priority 1 target for the simple reason that he controls the dragon. If he gets whacked, then the Dragon goes free, and presumably starts making some Kentucky Fried Orc. Both of the plans I have outlined below focus on removing him from the picture in the minimum possible time.

The Warlord: Is likely to make life rather unpleasant for whoever is trying to hit the Shaman, because he probably knows the same thing I mentioned above. Nevertheless, the need to keep the Dragon out of the picture overrides most else, and so he only gets Target Priority 2.

The Bodyguards: Will probably be OSKs, and accomplish little individually. Still, anything is dangerous if you can assemble enough of them, and a dozen can make life rather unfun for anybody nearby. Hit these if you get the opportunity to do so while hitting either of the above. I am going to assume most of these will be clustered around the Shaman, who is the ‘softer’ target of the two.

The Objective:

The objective is very simple-kill the shaman as fast as possible. Strip away his defenses, force him into a stand-up slugfest (in which he will probably fare poorly), and bury him six feet under. After that, we paste the Warlord. When he buys it, if the guards have an ounce of sense, they will surrender rather await their dose of the same.

The Plan

I have provided plans for two cases. Case A assumes that it is possible to get to the Shaman on foot. Case B assumes the guards are arranged such as to make this impossible. In truth, only the opening few moves differ.

Plan ‘A’

Cheshire runs into the middle of the formation and uses rapid strike to hit all the Orcs, then just phases out in the middle of the formation (ideally doing so while standing next to the shaman, to reduce the number of guards that can come to his aid). This opening gambit should kill, disable, or at least stun most of the bodyguards, as well as soften up the two primary targets. Mercy can them ‘Port in, strike a promising target (the shaman or one of his still-active nearby guards). Matty then runs in and slugs the shaman, improved grabs him, and then pin (try casting some spells NOW, be-yatch!). Johan should make his presence known by sniping the Warlord, giving him something else to worry about. The Orcs will probably respond by trying to pry Matty off the Shaman-this will not be fun for him, but I think he can take it. Subsequent rounds should consist of Matty holding the shaman down while the rest beat the snot out of him. When he goes down, rinse and repeat for the warlord.

Plan ‘B’

Instead of running into the middle of the formation and hitting everybody, Chesh will instead rush (see page 158 of 2e Core book) one of the Orcs forming the part of the perimeter closest to Matty into his (the Orc’s) neighbor, opening the needed gap (do not worry about your poor strength-the Super-Speed will pick up the slack). While the same Rapid Strike tactic could be employed, there is no guarantee that it will drop the correct Orcs-this is not a chance I want to take. If this does not work (well enough) Mercy can try to open the gap further by either KOing one or grabbing him and then ‘Porting him out of position. Then the plan proceeds as above-Matty pins the Shaman, we all beat him to death (Edit: The shaman, thank you very much) etc. The main difference is that the Orc counter-attack will have more teeth to it, as most of them will not be crippled or dead.


This is my thinking. If you have comments, questions, concerns, a better idea, hate mail, flames, death threats, etc., please post them. On Saturday I want to place a poll where we can all vote on which plan we want to use. One thing in particular I would like to see is a contingency plan for dealing with the dragon in case the above plans fail.

One more thing-this is a brainstorm session. Therefore, no idea is too silly, weird, or implausible. Likewise, please do not make fun of anybody else’s ideas. Thank you.

EDIT:

Chesire has proposed:
PLAN C: Plant bombs, wait for the Orcs to stumble into them, then set them off. Rush the Orcs while they are still coming to their senses.

((This was intended to be OOC-as might occur if we actually all sat down at a real table somewhere instead of playing over the web. I was going to ask later if you people wanted future War Rooms IC or OOC, but you are getting ahead of me. I will proceed IC.))



"In that case, reference the alternate opening for Plan 'A'-you stay in the middle of the enemy and phase out to add to the confusion factor."

((And the read the PM I sent you.))



"DOH! I knew I was forgetting something. If you have any ideas for incorporating them, please, by all means, share."

((TBH, I do not see them helping much-smoke works both ways, and only you can see through it. That would prolong the fight, which is the antithesis of my plan. Of course, I do not know what else you got in there. I will get back to you on the magic.))



"Traps give advance warning-let me stress the whole point of the plan here is to kill the Shaman before the dragon (and other reinforcements) enter the picture. Plus, traps cause frustration, and frustation is often vented on the nearest available targets-since we will be out of reach, this will be the townspeople. I consider this unacceptable."

((Yeah-what he said. stare ))



"No offense or anything, but I just do not trust you magic as far as I can thr-" *Pauses and considers.* "-as far as you can throw me. It is just not strong enough.

"However, there is a use for it I thought of, and it is amazing I forgot to mention it earlier, for it covers the second-weakest link in my plan-getting me into striking distance. I was sort of hoping you had an invisibility spell in the repertoire. The other idea involves me hiding behind a wall or soemthing similiar, and then going around (or through) it to attack."

((Yeah-if my deductions are correct, you have 5 ranks in magic, which, besides the snare, is unlikely to be effective against anything except mooks. I really did hope you had an invisibility spell, because that would make my life a lot easier (unless they have a see invisibilityi spell, in which case I am screwed. Looks like the second option for me.))



"I must admit, relying on a weakness that may not even exist the the part of the plan I like the least. Even so, pinning somebody has a way of getting their full attention. biggrin "

((Again, what he said.))

"Yeah-I noticed, the way you held down that giant bone-monster and all."

((I am quite aware of the way snare works-actually, I make it a point to know how every power works-it is easier than DnD magic. smile ))



"We would have to be very precise in timing-we go in too early, we blow ourselves up too. Too late, and we lose the element of surprise-plus, of course, if they do not go to the right spot, it is more difficult (read: impossible in a tactical sense) to move a minefield, whereas a couble of ambushers can move with some annoyance, but it is not impossible."



"Hey, I know, I know. I am not criticizing you-I am just, ahhhh-" Damnit, what is sensitive way to put this "-trying not to overestimate the resources at our disposal."

*Thinks for a moment.*

"You know, maybe Greymere kept one of his companion's spellbooks or something. I would ask him."

((And if he does not go for that, there is always Hero Points.))

"I should have said this better frm the start-I like the idea of bombs, we just have to be real careful to make sure we get it right."

"Hey Greymere, I forgot to ask-how do those guards split up? Do most of them guard the Warlord, the Shaman, or do they split about equal?"

Mercy has been mostly quiet up until now, but she shrugs and adds what little she can.

"Your plans seem pretty solid, Pulverizer. Only thing is - I can hit all the orcs at once. Or, I can try to move the shaman to somewhere more accessible to you if you're really itching to clock him one - but that requires me getting in there and pulling him through a portal against his will, which is, well, tough against opponents that are physically tougher then me. Which I expect these things ought to be...that is, if they're anything like how they are in the movies.

But if he's not, I'd gladly give it a shot. Unfortunately, me stationary against a horde will likely have a bad result...for me that is. So, if I can...I'd prefer to keep blinking about and doing what damage I can to the lot of 'em. As for the bombs...we can always put them in a spot...and Chesh and I can try to herd the lot of them in. Again, if they're like how they are in the movies...well, they'll probably fall for something like that."

She shrugs, and falls silent again.

"We can use that as an emergency fallback, Mercy, but it would probably be easier if you repeated the hit-everyone stunt and cleared my path. You would be more likely to succeed, and there would be fewer Orcs to try and pull me off the Shaman.

"So I guess we are agreed on something like this: We set up bombs, I find a good hiding place nearby, Johan finds a sniper perch, Mercy and Chesh find good observation points, we set the bombs off when the orcs stmble across then, Chesh and Mercy add to the misery, I grab the Shaman, we all beat him, and then work from there.

"This sound good?"

The com doesn't appear to be working. It turns on, and appears to try and send a signal, but it seems it's trying to rely on something else... a satalite uplink, perhaps... that just isn't there anymore.