How Would You Defend A Mountain Fortress? (Volume II)
Welcome, Rhiannon.
Lord Malloran will feed SHARK to the dogs for his tactical blundering.
That is so SHARK.
Again, I think that one's all SHARK. Someone did suggest lightning-shooting triceratops "tanks" though, I think.
D-Day+1.In game time, our attack is less than 24 hours old so I know much more fun awaits us.
I feel a bit...dirty just reading that.
Keep fighting the good fight, Rhiannon!So not everyone in SHARK'S campaign is a Vallorean sycophant.
SHARK
First Post
Greetings!
Well, mmadsen, it's good to see you again! You have to tell me about your trip! E-mail me!
As for the assault on the fortress, well, there are many things going on!
(1) There are squads of archers that fly about, constantly sniping away at range-of-sight with enchanted bows, causing a constant stream of casualties.
(2) There are numerous boobytraps throughout the fortress, including teleportation traps that have taken more than a few troops to the magma chamber, there to die in burning agony!
(3) The vampires have begun to isolate the incursion to a limited sector of the fortress, while adding additional reinforcements! The vampires attack at night under cover of magical darkness, fog, and the use of Mirror Image when they do strike, before fading back into the night.
(4) The Wang-Liang, along with the force of Ogres, continue to operate as elite striking forces, attacking the lead Vallorean elements while being healed by their clerics who march behind them; after a few savage attacks, they retreat, heal up, rearm, and attack again and again. Of course, the Wang-Liang appear to be Ogres, too, so they aren't especially targetted. Half of the 300 Wang-Liangs are 12th level Sorcerers, and they make liberal use of Mirror Image spells to increase their apparent numbers—which reduce their actual casualties when the Valloreans unleash Chain Lightning spells, or Firebrand spells. Their spells also greatly augment their fellow Wang-Liangs, and Ogres as well, that increase their lethality, as well as their survivability.
(5) The Werewolf forces work closely with Wizards who teleport them into close range to grapple with Vallorean wizards, thus fixing them, while the Vallorean Wizards are targeted en masse by groups of archers, waiting especially to slaughter them with targeted barrages. Meanwhile, out in the frontier, groups of Werewolf Rangers have organized elite groups of human warriors and evil human Druids, who coordinate numerous animal allies in forming ambushes against Vallorean forces in the southern sector, and in the central sector of the front. Because these forces are intimately familiar with the surrounding terrain, their effectiveness is quite out of proportion to their numbers.
(6) On the northern frontier of the front, groups of Bulette/Blue Dragons continue to make devastating assaults upon the advancing Vallorean forces, as they leap into them from underground ambush points, attack and rampage amongst the densely packed ranks of Vallorean cavalry and infantry, before taking flight and escaping! These ambushes are often coordinated with attacks by the Chimeras and the Manticores, who are Improved Invisible/Hasted/Energy Immunity/Mage Armoured.
(7) The two northern cities have been fortified and prepared for sieges. In both cities, 25,000 people were sacrificed in great ceremonies that opened up gates to the Nine Hells, where there are several hundred Devils pouring into the cities, and enhancing the fortifications! In each city, 10,000 people have been made into vampires, and another 25,000 people have been made into skeletons, and enhanced with magic. The remaining civilian population has been harnessed fully into the defenses of the city. Each building, each street, house-by-house, has been booby-trapped and fortified. Elementals have been summoned to augment the defenses, by digging new tunnels, building new walls, kill-zones, barbed towers, and so on. 10 Juggernauts have been deployed; 300 Nimblewright Golems have been deployed with mobile strike forces to make raids against the Vallorean forces; 6 Iron Colossi march towards the Vallorean forces, along with the highly mobile Hobgoblin forces, to intercept the Vallorean armies before their arrival at the cities.
(8) At the fortress, 10 huge Ragewinds have been formed and harnessed by the Demi-Lich commander; These Ragewinds proceed to take a fearful harvest of Vallorean soldiers! 25 Runic Guardians have been deployed, and operate with various wizards in support of the Wang-Liangs; 6 Huge (82 HD)Adamantine Golems and 12 Huge (54 HD) Mithril Golems continue to serve well, fighting alongside the group of Fire Giants.
(9) The forces of Galleran have received some 80,000 Beastmen as reinforcements, and they have been distributed throughout areas needing extra support. Also at the fortress, hordes of Dire Tigers have been used to assault the Vallorean alongside the human defenders.
(10) General Khang-Rhann, the Wang-Liang/Half-Fiend, has used the Rod of The Undying Emperor to transform 240 fallen soldiers into the Regiment of Damnation—a force of relentless Winterwights, who have since deployed throughout the fortress to hamstring Vallorean attacks, and grind them to dark shattered piles of ice! The Regiment of Damnation is commanded by three 30th level Wizards, of which one of them, along with 80 of the terrifying soldiers, have already died. Still, the remaining members of the Regiment of Damnation seek vengeance for their fallen brethren!
The Vallorean forces have managed to hold onto a small toe-hold, and have fortified three large towers that they have captured. The two Legion Standards have kept two of these towers relatively safe from attack by Undead forces, but they have not been taken outside, because the standard bearers have all been slaughtered, and the Standards have been beaten down, and nearly captured by the hordes of Galleran forces that pour forth in fanatical fury to kill all who come near with the Standards, and of course, they seek to capture the Standards!
In the fortress, the Galleran forces have poured so many troops and maintained so much of the high-ground, that they continue to keep the onrushing Vallorean forces closed off, and packed into a smaller space, preventing them from spreading out. The Valloreans are barraged constantly with clouds and clouds of deadly missile fire, which further restricts their mobility, and ability to deploy effectively in the cramped quarters of the fortress courtyards.
The Fire Giants and the Cloud Giants have maintained their ferocious assault, striking, healing, moving, striking again, moving, and so on. Meanwhile, the 500 Vallorean Cloud Giants, brought together as reinforcements, have been cramped together by phalanxes of human warriors wielding halberds, who slow them down, while the archers, from a dozen towers around, and out of reach, proceed to hammer the good Cloud Giants with clouds of deadly missile fire, which in turn has caused the good Cloud Giants to retreat back into the small Vallorean sanctuary, and make more selective attacks. Indeed, while thye have been successful in keeping the Valloreans from being swept off the fortress entirely, they have suffered significant casualties.
Well, there is certainly more to come!
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Well, mmadsen, it's good to see you again! You have to tell me about your trip!
E-mail me! As for the assault on the fortress, well, there are many things going on!
(1) There are squads of archers that fly about, constantly sniping away at range-of-sight with enchanted bows, causing a constant stream of casualties.
(2) There are numerous boobytraps throughout the fortress, including teleportation traps that have taken more than a few troops to the magma chamber, there to die in burning agony!
(3) The vampires have begun to isolate the incursion to a limited sector of the fortress, while adding additional reinforcements! The vampires attack at night under cover of magical darkness, fog, and the use of Mirror Image when they do strike, before fading back into the night.
(4) The Wang-Liang, along with the force of Ogres, continue to operate as elite striking forces, attacking the lead Vallorean elements while being healed by their clerics who march behind them; after a few savage attacks, they retreat, heal up, rearm, and attack again and again. Of course, the Wang-Liang appear to be Ogres, too, so they aren't especially targetted.
Half of the 300 Wang-Liangs are 12th level Sorcerers, and they make liberal use of Mirror Image spells to increase their apparent numbers—which reduce their actual casualties when the Valloreans unleash Chain Lightning spells, or Firebrand spells. Their spells also greatly augment their fellow Wang-Liangs, and Ogres as well, that increase their lethality, as well as their survivability.(5) The Werewolf forces work closely with Wizards who teleport them into close range to grapple with Vallorean wizards, thus fixing them, while the Vallorean Wizards are targeted en masse by groups of archers, waiting especially to slaughter them with targeted barrages. Meanwhile, out in the frontier, groups of Werewolf Rangers have organized elite groups of human warriors and evil human Druids, who coordinate numerous animal allies in forming ambushes against Vallorean forces in the southern sector, and in the central sector of the front. Because these forces are intimately familiar with the surrounding terrain, their effectiveness is quite out of proportion to their numbers.
(6) On the northern frontier of the front, groups of Bulette/Blue Dragons continue to make devastating assaults upon the advancing Vallorean forces, as they leap into them from underground ambush points, attack and rampage amongst the densely packed ranks of Vallorean cavalry and infantry, before taking flight and escaping! These ambushes are often coordinated with attacks by the Chimeras and the Manticores, who are Improved Invisible/Hasted/Energy Immunity/Mage Armoured.
(7) The two northern cities have been fortified and prepared for sieges. In both cities, 25,000 people were sacrificed in great ceremonies that opened up gates to the Nine Hells, where there are several hundred Devils pouring into the cities, and enhancing the fortifications! In each city, 10,000 people have been made into vampires, and another 25,000 people have been made into skeletons, and enhanced with magic. The remaining civilian population has been harnessed fully into the defenses of the city. Each building, each street, house-by-house, has been booby-trapped and fortified. Elementals have been summoned to augment the defenses, by digging new tunnels, building new walls, kill-zones, barbed towers, and so on. 10 Juggernauts have been deployed; 300 Nimblewright Golems have been deployed with mobile strike forces to make raids against the Vallorean forces; 6 Iron Colossi march towards the Vallorean forces, along with the highly mobile Hobgoblin forces, to intercept the Vallorean armies before their arrival at the cities.
(8) At the fortress, 10 huge Ragewinds have been formed and harnessed by the Demi-Lich commander; These Ragewinds proceed to take a fearful harvest of Vallorean soldiers! 25 Runic Guardians have been deployed, and operate with various wizards in support of the Wang-Liangs; 6 Huge (82 HD)Adamantine Golems and 12 Huge (54 HD) Mithril Golems continue to serve well, fighting alongside the group of Fire Giants.
(9) The forces of Galleran have received some 80,000 Beastmen as reinforcements, and they have been distributed throughout areas needing extra support. Also at the fortress, hordes of Dire Tigers have been used to assault the Vallorean alongside the human defenders.
(10) General Khang-Rhann, the Wang-Liang/Half-Fiend, has used the Rod of The Undying Emperor to transform 240 fallen soldiers into the Regiment of Damnation—a force of relentless Winterwights, who have since deployed throughout the fortress to hamstring Vallorean attacks, and grind them to dark shattered piles of ice! The Regiment of Damnation is commanded by three 30th level Wizards, of which one of them, along with 80 of the terrifying soldiers, have already died. Still, the remaining members of the Regiment of Damnation seek vengeance for their fallen brethren!
The Vallorean forces have managed to hold onto a small toe-hold, and have fortified three large towers that they have captured. The two Legion Standards have kept two of these towers relatively safe from attack by Undead forces, but they have not been taken outside, because the standard bearers have all been slaughtered, and the Standards have been beaten down, and nearly captured by the hordes of Galleran forces that pour forth in fanatical fury to kill all who come near with the Standards, and of course, they seek to capture the Standards!
In the fortress, the Galleran forces have poured so many troops and maintained so much of the high-ground, that they continue to keep the onrushing Vallorean forces closed off, and packed into a smaller space, preventing them from spreading out. The Valloreans are barraged constantly with clouds and clouds of deadly missile fire, which further restricts their mobility, and ability to deploy effectively in the cramped quarters of the fortress courtyards.
The Fire Giants and the Cloud Giants have maintained their ferocious assault, striking, healing, moving, striking again, moving, and so on. Meanwhile, the 500 Vallorean Cloud Giants, brought together as reinforcements, have been cramped together by phalanxes of human warriors wielding halberds, who slow them down, while the archers, from a dozen towers around, and out of reach, proceed to hammer the good Cloud Giants with clouds of deadly missile fire, which in turn has caused the good Cloud Giants to retreat back into the small Vallorean sanctuary, and make more selective attacks. Indeed, while thye have been successful in keeping the Valloreans from being swept off the fortress entirely, they have suffered significant casualties.
Well, there is certainly more to come!
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
(Whistling, stomping feet and throwing popcorn while waving the Evil flag)
"Go! Go! Go!"
I can't believe that we (The Evil Guys) are managing to hold our own so far!
Winterwights! 240 of them! Wo-hoo!
Juggernauts!
Iron Colossi!
10,000 vampires!
Hundreds of Devil reinforcements!
Yeah!!!
BTW, I love the teleporting the werewolves to grapple spellcasters.
I told you they'd try right away for the fortress. Time to make them pay for it.
We've got to capture those two Legion Standards that are in jeopardy. They are irreplaceable to the Valloreans! Break them, give them to the Devils to take to the Abyss, something. We have to get as many of those out of the equation as we can.
Keep us posted, SHARK!
"Go! Go! Go!"
I can't believe that we (The Evil Guys) are managing to hold our own so far!
Winterwights! 240 of them! Wo-hoo!
Juggernauts!
Iron Colossi!
10,000 vampires!
Hundreds of Devil reinforcements!
Yeah!!!
BTW, I love the teleporting the werewolves to grapple spellcasters.
I told you they'd try right away for the fortress. Time to make them pay for it.
We've got to capture those two Legion Standards that are in jeopardy. They are irreplaceable to the Valloreans! Break them, give them to the Devils to take to the Abyss, something. We have to get as many of those out of the equation as we can.
Keep us posted, SHARK!
sword-dancer
Explorer
Hello SHARK
Rhiannon and LairdRuari
Welcome
SHARK said:
Steak valnorrea tasty.
Rhiannon and LairdRuari
Welcome
Always good, but with a little leadership (and some decent intel), they can concentrate their fire on Vallorean officers. A few dozen archers with Unholy whatever-Bane arrows can take out just about any Champion.(1) There are squads of archers that fly about, constantly sniping away at range-of-sight with enchanted bows, causing a constant stream of casualties.
If only they could see what happened to their comrades! Actually, a magma pool magically disguised as an icy lake sounds like a fun idea -- with "Frost" Giants wading about in it.
Sounds good. Since the Valloreans are just establishing their "beachhead", I guess they don't have all their anti-Undead defenses in place yet.
And they regenerate too!
I'll take credit for that one!Of course, the Wang-Liang appear to be Ogres, too, so they aren't especially targetted.
Good tactic.
Ooh, I like it!
Ah, Bulette/Blue Dragons! As long as you don't try to imagine where they came from, they're great.
Imagine how quickly you'd volunteer to become a Vampire if you knew they were drafting people into the Skeleton Corps!
I don't think I even know what those are, but they certainly sound scary.
Frankly, I can't imagine a horde of cooperating Tigers cresting the hill to attack my unit. Now let's make 'em 35 feet long!
Ooh...
How do you find volunteers to "slow down" Cloud Giants? "Men, take a good look at those 18'-tall Giants. Right, the silvery fellows with 8' morningstars. Our job is to slow them down. Let's get to it!"
Really now, they swing their morningstars for 32 points of damage, multiple times per round. It's suicide to engage them in melee combat. I'd try to blend in with the archers, m'self...
SHARK
First Post
Greetings!
My good friend Dragonblade came to town and stayed with us the previous weekend, and he brought into the game two characters that were very interesting! One was a LVL 20/LVL 20 Monk/Sorcerer, and the other was a LVL 10/LVL 30 Fighter/Paladin. Very cool characters! It was a blast! Dragonblade did an excellent job of role-playing, tactics, combat and everything. It was a great time had by everyone! I will post a more detailed account a bit later.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
My good friend Dragonblade came to town and stayed with us the previous weekend, and he brought into the game two characters that were very interesting! One was a LVL 20/LVL 20 Monk/Sorcerer, and the other was a LVL 10/LVL 30 Fighter/Paladin. Very cool characters! It was a blast! Dragonblade did an excellent job of role-playing, tactics, combat and everything. It was a great time had by everyone! I will post a more detailed account a bit later.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
SHARK
First Post
Greetings!
Indeed mmadsen! He wanted to experience what epic-level campaigning in my world could be like, especially since his own DM often ends their campaigns when they reach 14th or 15th level, and they have to start all over again. Thus, Dragonblade had never played in an epic-level campaign, so I obliged him by having him join the epic-level campaign I have going. I have several other campaigns going, but the characters in those groups are less than 20th level. Everything was very fun though.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Indeed mmadsen!
He wanted to experience what epic-level campaigning in my world could be like, especially since his own DM often ends their campaigns when they reach 14th or 15th level, and they have to start all over again. Thus, Dragonblade had never played in an epic-level campaign, so I obliged him by having him join the epic-level campaign I have going. I have several other campaigns going, but the characters in those groups are less than 20th level. Everything was very fun though.Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
