[D3, any] The King's Justice: Warfare and Personal Combats

[Reader]

Peace is not forged by words alone. Swords and deeds are needed to bring at least temporary respite to Battle Valley and beyond. Those charged with delivering the King’s justice must choose which of their skills to rely on to bring peace to the region, or which abilities to use to enrich themselves in the chaos.

Cross post from: viewtopic.php?f=191&
t=1935 to tidy things up.

Increased the number of battles to three to increase the commander positions.

Commanders
I'll leave sub-commanders up to the players, but I've decided to choose commanders based on warfare &
status. Apologies to those who missed out - there's always the Offseason for warfare and acting as a subcommander.
- Ser Kevan Lyras
- Ser Jorah Holt
- Ser Theomore Tullison

Warfare

Major battles – two identical battles, characters cannot participate in the both battles. Hopefully you lot can come to an allied conclusion on who leads these, otherwise I step in.
o Commander 3D +1B: Merrick the Red and Steffon the Reaver.
o Infantry Fighting 3, Athletics 3, Endurance 3 – Upgraded armour. AR 4, CD 5. Damage 4.
o Cavalry (Stots) Athletics 3, Endurance 4 (mount), Fighting 4, Animal Handling 3. AR 5, CD 4. Damage 6.
o Archers Marksmanship 4, Agility 3. AR 2, CD 6. Fighting damage 1, marksmanship damage 5.
o Victory adds two to Peace. Victorious commander earns 2 glory, to allocate as he sees fit. Only houses contributing a commander or military units may be allocated glory.

- Extra Minor skirmish (1 glory)
o Commander 3D
o Infantry Fighting 3, Athletics 3, Endurance 3 – Upgraded armour. AR 4, CD 5. Damage 4
o Archers Marksmanship 4, Agility 3. AR 2, CD 6. Fighting damage 1, marksmanship damage 5.

Personal Combats - all secondary characters, can take injuries
- Ser Raynald Dulver v Brandon the Wild Woodsman: a large man with a two handed axe
- Ser Jorah Holt v Ser Wyll Rivers – a hedge knight prone to issuing “challenges” and disrupting trade at key bridges and passes.
o Begins on horseback using jousting rules. Non-knights have reroll this choice – he prefers to challenge knightly opponents!
- Athelstan Pyke &
Luecian Longbow v The Brothers Wylde – disgraced knightly cousins of Lord Jasper Wylde, the master of laws. Accused of a sexual assault, the three fled the Stormlands to live as robber knights.
o Three opponents: you can volunteer for this one and may reroll if allocated it by the dice) [I may allow a second PC to join this if we’re oversubscribed]
- Loreia v The Demon Raho - A foreign mercenary with an exotic fighting style.
- Lord Dunstan Tullison v Derrick the Sergeant A veteran fighter who favours the poleaxe to pierce heavy armour.
- Ser Walton Dulver v Black Jack – a miner who lost his livelihood in the fighting and has turned his strength to claiming a living with the aid of his mace and large shield.
- Lord Baelon Drakeson v Ser Jon Rivers – a bull of a hedge knight who has felled Blackwood and Bracken alike with his mighty ball &
chain. Both houses would rejoice at his defeat.
- Ser Theomore Tullison v A face from the past: Ser Hugo Rivers, defeated by Kevan Lyras in the lists at Riverrun. Investigated by Edmund Lyras for his part in some unknown scheme involving the Blackwoods at Riverrun.
o He is unruly and failing to recognise the royal peace, you may wish to merely subdue him.
o Can be faced with lance or on foot, player’s choice.
- Lord Benedict Marsten/b] v [b]Ser Mikael Strong House Strong has a minor fiefdom held by Ser Mikael - he intends to take advantage of the chaos by annexing new lands.
o Can be faced with lance or on foot, player’s choice.
o He is unruly and failing to recognise the royal peace, you may wish to merely subdue him.

- Please create a thread for the mass battles and your personal combat.
- I'll post stats and tactics for the NPCs, but PCs should "
buddy up"
for combats and run NPCs to resolve them more quickly.
- Start the warfare immediately, don't wait for personal combat results. If your opponent triumphs, they leave your corpse and seek safety (at least your death prevented them taking part in the battle!)/head off to ransom you etc.

Brandon the Wild Woodsman
Athletics 4 (Strength 1B), Awareness 3, Endurance 4, Agility 2, Fighting 4 (Axes 2B), Will 3
Equipment: Long axe, Breastplate
Tactics: Knockdown and attack! Second round attempts to shatter his opponent's shield unless his opponent is on the ground or he achieved 2 DoS or more in round 1.
Battlefield quality: takes place on a bridge above a thirty foot drop in to rocks and water.

Ser Wyll Rivers
Agility 2 Endurance 3 Fighting 5 (Spears 1B) Awareness 3 Animal Handling 3 (Ride 1B), Athletics 4
Equipment: Shield, Longsword, Half-plate, War Lance, Courser
Tactics: joust! Note that he has a war-lance - shorter than a tourney lance (strikes afterwards) but less likely to shatter. Draws

The Brothers Wylde
Agility 3, Fighting 5 (Long Blades 1B, Shield 1B) Endurance 4, Athletics 4 (Strength 1B), Awareness 2, Will 2
Equipment: Brigandine, Large Shields, Bastard Swords
Battlefield quality: they're holed up in a stout wooden watchtower constructed by House Blackwood. An archer could set fire to the building (not destroying it, but damaging it and flushing the occupants out). TN15 Marksmanship Test, imposes 1 fatigue on all foes before combat starts due to smoke fumes. Only one shot per archer before combat begins.
Tactics: Knockdown attempts and lesser attacks. As they take injuries and begin less effective combatants, switch to assisting uninjured brother who attacks. Against archers, sprint to close the distance (start 80 yards apart) and then grab.

The Demon Raho
Agility 4, Athletics 4, Endurance 3, Awareness 4, Cunning 4 Fighting 4 (fencing 1B), Will 3
Equipment: Left-hand Dagger, Longsword, Splint armour
Braavosi Fighter I
Tactics: Open with a knockdown attempt and a standard attack. Then attempt cunning and lesser attack followed by greater attacks (two-weapon)
Battlefield quality: Bystanders

Derrick the sergeant
Agility 3, Endurance 4, Awareness 3, Fighting 4 (Pole-arm 2B), Athletics 3 (Strength 2B)
Equipment: Pole-axe, Splint armour
Battlefield quality: Bystanders
Tactics: Knockdown and attack! Second round attempts to shatter his opponent's shield unless his opponent is on the ground or he achieved 2 DoS or more in round 1.

Black Jack
Agility 3, Endurance 5, Fighting 4 (Bludgeons 1B, Shields 1B) Athletics 4, Awareness 3
Equipment: Large shield, Mace, Splint Armour
Expertise (Fighting - Bludgeons)
Tactics: Knockdown and attack!

Ser Jon Rivers
Agility 2, Athletics 4 (Strength 2B), Fighting 4 (Bludgeons 2B), Endurance 4
Equipment: Splint armour, Shield, Ball &
chain
Expertise (bludgeons)
Battlefield quality: Raging fire to "
maneuver"
each other in to.
Tactics: Knockdown and attack! Second round attempts to shatter his opponent's shield unless his opponent is on the ground or he achieved 2 DoS or more in round 1.

Ser Hugo Rivers
- existing stats already used by Theomore, thanks!

Ser Mikael Strong
Agility 2 Endurance 3 Fighting 5 (Spears 1B) Awareness 3 Animal Handling 3 (Ride 1B)
Equipment: Tourney lance (as a result of Lord Marsten's succesful simple intrigue), Brigandine, Shield, Courser, Longsword
Tactics: mounted combat - tilt with joust (remember to catch your breath after the first pass) then switch to Longsword and attack from horseback

[Luecian LongBow]

(OOC-Being we are one of the few(maybe the only, not sure what House Bartheld brought) houses with 2 units of troops now non-represented in the command(with it expanded to 3), House Dulver might ponder needing some assurances before committing troops to this endeavor.)

[Theomore Tullison]

(Such as?)

[Yoren longshore]

- Please create a thread for the mass battles and your personal combat.
- I'll post stats and tactics for the NPCs, but PCs should "
buddy up"
for combats and run NPCs to resolve them more quickly.
- Start the warfare immediately, don't wait for personal combat results. If your opponent triumphs, they leave your corpse and seek safety (at least your death prevented them taking part in the battle!)/head off to ransom you etc.

does anybody need assistance? Preferably not Athelstan, for obvious reasons.

[Theomore Tullison]

Currently we're trying to hash out what forces to bring under who's command. Assuming Dulvers/Kytleys are coming to the party.

[Athelstan]

- Please create a thread for the mass battles and your personal combat.
- I'll post stats and tactics for the NPCs, but PCs should "
buddy up"
for combats and run NPCs to resolve them more quickly.
- Start the warfare immediately, don't wait for personal combat results. If your opponent triumphs, they leave your corpse and seek safety (at least your death prevented them taking part in the battle!)/head off to ransom you etc.

does anybody need assistance? Preferably not Athelstan, for obvious reasons.

Raynard wanted help with personal combat, in regards to Warfare we will see, like Theomore says, it's all in the works right now.

[Luecian LongBow]

(I put it for internal conversation but my initial thought is a subcommander role and an assured share of glory in a successful battle.I can handle any discussion via PM if needed expressing our thoughts/concerns.)

[Baelon Drakeson]

I'm fairly sure that House Coldbrook could handle one of the major battles on our own, though that would be non-ideal from a participation standpoint. The point being that I don't think Dulver forces are needed enough for demands to be made. The addition of a third commander position also means that everyone who wants a subcommander spot can have one if we divvy up the troops appropriately, so the guaranteed subcommander request is easily met. Take out the two Dulver units and we are down by one subcommander position, so even that won't inconvenience any of the other houses.

[Theomore Tullison]

Well, Coldbrooks can, Marsten probably not. Tullison, no.

We're kinda looking at something like Coldbrooks (and maybe Kytley) for one big battle, Marsten or Tullison plus Dulver for the other big battle, then whoever out of Marsten/Tullison that doesn't do the big battle for the skirmish. Unless we split up the Coldbrook (and maybe Marsten/Tullison/Dulver armies as well) over two battles, that's how the puzzle needs to go.

[Athelstan]

(I put it for internal conversation but my initial thought is a subcommander role and an assured share of glory in a successful battle.I can handle any discussion via PM if needed expressing our thoughts/concerns.)

You are not indispensable, and you need someone to do battle too so you best cooperate with another House that has 2 or 3 units to fill all sub-commander and commander rolls.

[Luecian LongBow]

I'm not being uncooperative. I'm being cautious of our resources.

[Septon Arlyn]

We are just being conservative. Last time there was a large battle we almost lost one of our units. And that was 2 units for only the price of one additional wealth from house baratheld. And we didn't have any people in the commander rolls for that battle. We don't want the blacks to squander our precious green resources lol

[Athelstan]

Well the problems was the lack fo commander, and now you seem to have plenty.

[Luecian LongBow]

I personally didn't have any problems with the commanders. I posted internally my suggestion for a comprise on the commander issue to address my greater concern. I just want an agreement on shared glory for a guaranteed shared risk. I don't see anything unfair with that given the circumstances. I'm not certain why some people seem so upset by it. :?

[Baelon Drakeson]

It's war. People die. At the scale we are looking at, unit are weakened or destroyed.
To put it bluntly, risking units is the cost of doing business.
For that matter, it's not like your units suffered from the clan battle - they all came out intact.

The reason that people might seem upset by it is that it came across as a threat that you would withhold participation if we didn't pay up. It is natural to get upset when that occurs.

The fact of the matter is that with 5 total glory and 4 (assuming no Kytley presence) houses, the odds are good that you will get a glory... and if you don't, the commander that denies it to you is going to face Dulver wrath IC.... is that good enough?

Assuming Dulver participation, we have 8 units over 2.5 battles. The most even split would be 3 - 3 - 2, but that would only get us 3 commanders and 3 subcommanders. Instead, 4-2-2 gets us the fourth subcommander - with the four weakest units in one battle, the two strongest in the other, and the remaining two in the skirmish, I'd say. Of course, we are still waiting to hear from Ben on whether or not he even wants to be involved, 3/3/2 might just be the way to go, or even possibly 4/3/1.

Based on a very underdeveloped notion of the various unit strengths, I would parse the 4-2-2 arrangement as:

Battle 1:
Tullison/Dulver - Theo (Commander) &
Athelstan, Walton (subcommanders)
1 cavalry, 2 archer, 1 infantry

Battle 2:
Coldbrook - Jorah (commander) &
Baelon (subcommander)
1 personal guard, 1 archer/cavalry/personal guard

Skirmish:
Marsten - Kevan (commander) &
Ben (subcommander)
1 cavalry, 1 archer

[Luecian LongBow]

I don't think the language was strong enough to be worded as a threat but if it was taken that way well it was not the intent. The intent in my very not strongly worded phrase was to spark a discussion to address concerns. I don't think I came across in my exchange with the commander that reached out to me as being threatening rather than ensuring equality.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Sometimes nuance is lost online. That's why these discussion threads are so important.

[Baelon Drakeson]

I generally interpret a phrase such as "
needing some assurances before committing troops to this endeavor"
to mean that a price has to be paid or the troops will not be committed. In fact, I'm not really sure how else to interpret it.

But, as Gwyn said, that is why we need these discussion threads.

[Luecian LongBow]

Well to be fair you left off the "
might ponder"
directly in front of your selected quote. But none theless, more conversation and not jumping to conclusions I agree with.

[Baelon Drakeson]

I fail to see how that significantly changes the meaning of the remainder of the text.
Compare "
I need a payoff or I'll burn down your store"
to "
I think I need a payoff or I'll burn down your store"
. They say the same thing (pay up or suffer), one just has an additional rhetorical flourish. That's why I didn't bother to include it.

But, water under the bridge - you can negotiate directly with Theo or whomever ends up commanding the Dulver troops.

Now that we know we have Ben as a subcommander, are there any objections to my proposed arrangement(see below)? 4/2/2 is the only arrangement that maintains 7 total command positions (3 commander 4 subcommander), so the only question would be how the units are distributed and assigned to battles. Also, where the two heroes (Loreia and Luecian) are assigned - I presume Luecian with the Dulver troops, but because both Coldbrook units are personal guard, there would be no effect from a hero above and beyond what an attached commander already grants.

Battle 1:
Tullison/Dulver - Theo (Commander) &
Athelstan, Walton (subcommanders)
1 cavalry, 2 archer, 1 infantry

Battle 2:
Coldbrook - Jorah (commander) &
Baelon (subcommander)
1 personal guard, 1 archer/cavalry/personal guard

Skirmish:
Marsten - Kevan (commander) &
Ben (subcommander)
1 cavalry, 1 archer

[Kevan Lyras]

What you are proposing is pretty much what the same set up I have discussed with Theo via pm. House Marsten would be happy to have anyone participate as a hero

[Ser Walton Dulver]

Luecian's major concern is that he doesn't want to be one of archers used as bait for cavalry or something i heard things like that sometimes happen, so i also don't understand the upset around Luecian's posts. Good chance of getting something is also chance of losing- someone will have to be sent back home without glory. Best way of getting thing done would be to deal it IC, as. I don't really much care, but. I believe my PCs would care.

[Luecian LongBow]

My last post on this as I think its resolved. Could my original post been slight better, perhaps I'm not going to pretend given enough time I could have wordsmithed something better. Reality is I posted it right before leaving work to head home on a long commute to try to get the ball rolling on conversations.

The interpretation of posts works both ways however. For instance, those that post responses with a seemingly strong negative tone give off a feeling to me of possibly having their own plots,machinations going on at our expense as they doth protest too much. Again given the background and circumstances I think our request is completely reasonable and fair.

[Reader]

[OOC: updated with opponents and combat tactics.

Delighted to see everyone establish the IC/OOC boundaries on the disagreement: I like this as long as it stays as an IC conflict (maybe even kick around some fun ideas on this OOC - competing in defeating raiders/in warfare scenes, a horse race and a bet against each other etc), as long as it stay at the IC level!]

[Reader]

All opponents for this are secondary characters - can take injuries as noted on front page.

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