The Kolloseaum: Team Go Hard or Go Home (DM: Iron Sky, Judge: Luinnar)

[Son of Meepo]

OOC: I'll take care of all of this tonight when I get home. I already have a token pic set up. As far as starting location, I have to say, that this objective set doesn't favor Dina at all. She likes having her allies close by and it looks like the initial setup favors us being spread out a bit. Also, I am limited in the number of ranged attacks I can make by the number of javelins I possess. I'd probably like to stick close to the Barbarian since he's my best target for lazylord goodness. Should I use my Punishing Eye and keep it hovering over the city? I'm not sure if Rilissa has anything better to do, but if the rule is that a district is lost for the entire encounter by having a monster end their own turn in it, then maybe she should be parked outside the wall and ready actions to Lightning Lure them back out. (Is that a valid tactic or do the walls block forced movement?)

 

[WEContact]

OOC: Punishing Eye only covers a burst 3 area, so if you put it in the city it wouldn't have much effect unless the goblins got over the walls, which we don't want to happen. I say save that one for another fight. I can ready Pressing Strikes to push things away from the wall, but I think I'm better off getting out there and just trying to kill as many of them as I can. Dina, if you need to get out there to follow me around and grant me attacks, I'm certainly not going to argue.

 

[Medina]

OOC: I think we'll end up all close together, for what it's worth. I think it won't be too long before we're all camped in the Plaza, making sure no-one can get in by occupying it ourselves. I certainely think we want 4 of us (3 if I use the toad) ready to step in there quickly if we need to. The Plaza is, I think, the only place where that works sensibly too, I think the other areas are all too big. It's a shame they need to end they're turn there rather than start their turn there.

 

[Son of Meepo]

OOC: My thinking is once they are in the city, we want to kill them quickly or else they will just take over another district on their next turn. I agree with Medina. Having them start their turn in a district to take it sounds more manageable to me. There's not much we can do to actually prevent any given creature from entering if they manage to roll well on their climb check.

 

[Medina]

OOC: I've had another look at the rules, and I think we're in real trouble. I'm really hoping we're facing a few tough but slow creatures. If there's 6 creatures with movement 4, we can lose on turn 1 on their initiative as they can take all territories except the Plaza and Bluffhold if they just move twice.

 

[Faraque]

OOC: I definitely agree that having the monster start their turn in the city to occupy makes more sense, due to simply being able to rush the city and win turn one.

 

[WEContact]

OOC: Under the current rules, we have to win initiative and kill every enemy within two rounds at most, UNLESS the enemy demonstrates poor tactics and chooses to fight back when engaged outside the city, instead of attempting to disengage and make a break for unclaimed districts.

 

[VanderLegion]

"This looks to be interesting. I believe I'll head to the forest on the northwestern edge of the city. I should be able to help pull people away from the city walls." She stares out at the model city, visibly impressed by the worksmanship.

[sblock="My plan?"]

OOC: Unless anyone has a better idea, I'll head to D-6. I plan to use Lightning Lure to pull enemies to me, and once I get a couple occupied there, shadow jaunt out and flame cyclone them.

[/sblock]

"That is a remarkable feat of craftsmanship," Sha'kar says, staring out over the miniaturized city. I'll stick with Rilissa and help ensure the goblins on our side die as quickly as possible.

OOC: This is where a controller would be handy... Anyway, best we can do is kill them as fast as we can and assume they have tactics set up that consist of more than just "rush into the city as fast as we can to occupy it ignoring everything else". Maybe there'll be minions so they die really easy...

 

[WEContact]

OOC: I'd like to second the suggestion that zones become claimed at the start of an enemy's turn, so that we have a chance to kill/bull rush things that try to occupy the city. Otherwise, if the enemy a)outnumbers us OR b)is tactically sound OR c)higher than level 1 OR c)we miss a few times in a row, we will lose, no question. Either way, a good tactic might be to try to set up a perimeter and ready actions to knock back goblins who attempt to climb the wall. We all have at-will forced movement, and they won't be able to trigger Goblin Tactics if we miss them on their turns. I can guard a 7-square stretch of wall, since Pressing Strike includes a 2-square shift before the attack. Ooooh, the problem then is if more than one goblin goes after the same stretch of wall. :/

 

[Iron Sky]

The Plaza is, I think, the only place where that works sensibly too, I think the other areas are all too big. It's a shame they need to end they're turn there rather than start their turn there.

GM: Good point. I'll change it to "start their turn in a district" so the group has a chance to react to them. Don't have time to get the round started until late tonight.