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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1635012" data-attributes="member: 3146">So let me get this straight, you're sending convoys UP-river? No wonder you're getting slaughtered. Unless it's an extraordinarily slow river, you'll have a lot of trouble getting supply barges upriver and it'll be very slow moving. (IRL, I believe most upriver traffic was actually pulled by animals on the side or rivers or canals and that's obviously not an option in this situation--you'd just get the animals shot). About the only thing to recommend this is that you shouldn't be hitting the chains or vines very hard (considering you're going against the current and aren't going very quickly to begin with) and should be able to get unstuck just by stopping poling, reefing the sails, or otherwise removing the energy pushing you forward. The current should carry the boat downstream away from the obstruction rather quickly.In this situation, you'e going to have to bite the bullet and settle in for the long hard work of building up an overland supply route. Unfortunately, you'll have to be almost as predictable and easy to find as the river since the forest is moving around in service to the elves. You'll need to make a road. How long is the journey from the edge of the swamp you control to your siege works?Now the advantage of making a road is that you can steer it away from natural ambush points. If the river goes between two cliffs or rounds a high promontory, there's nothing you can do about it. When building a road through guerilla infested territory, however, you can avoid such natural ambush locations. (The other advantage is that you're able to travel more quickly with carts or on foot than poling a barge upstream or being pulled by animals). So, how to go about it? We know that the forest moves around and though I think it's worth trying to intimidate and negotiate with the spirits of the forest, I wouldn't be particularly optimistic about winning them over. About the best you'd be likely to do--since the spirits appear tied to individual trees--is make it clear that it's unhealthy for any of them to come next to your road--especially when there's an ambush. (So, after any ambush, make it a policy to ring or cut down the nearest 100 trees and announce that policy to the forest--pretty soon, while the forest as a whole may want to move around to hurt you, very few trees will be interested in being the individual trees to move and help set up an ambush. This might even be a better tactic against trees than against people. People can hope to run away and escape. Trees aren't going to be getting away so any trees coordinating in an ambush or who are just near the area of an elvish ambush will know that there is not just a risk of their dying, it's a certainty).But back to the road. It'll take some time but you'll probably want to pave it with stones like the Romans did. You won't lose a stone road just because trees are moving around and trees may not be able to cross over it. Cut down or ring the trees for a fair distance on both sides of the road. Depending upon the distance, you may want to build a series of forts one day's travel apart. That would give your supply train somewhere safe to spend each night and would give your forces secure bases from which to patrol the forest and route out the elves. If that doesn't work (there are risks I'll discuss in a moment), you'll probably want to have each orc in your supply train and a wagon or two carry a log and build a palisade fort every night (again, like the Romans did). That should help your defense. (Contrary to some belief, low-light vision is actually BETTER than your darkvision at night since your orcs can only see 60 feet, but the elves can see just like it was day on moonlit nights--which is a lot further than 60 feet so your disadvantages are actually at a minimum during the day. Your troops won't like it but you've got to live with that).So, what were those disadvantages of the fort thing? The main disadvantage is that you are splitting your forces. You outnumber the elvish guerillas in the grand scheme of things but what matters is who outnumbers who in any particular engagement. If there are 500 elves and you have a bunch of forts with 50 men in each, you're looking at being outnumbered 10 to 1 in any particular engagement at the forts should the elves coordinate together. While you might want to create the appearance of such weakness in order to lure the elves into gathering together, it's not a good idea unless you can be sure to catch them before they fade into the forest. So, I would recommend that your roadside forts have a minimum of eighty to one hundred orcs in them. (80 orcs is enough to send out patrols of 30-40 orcs into the forest and still have a significant garisson in the fort; you might be able to get away with 40-60 but that doesn't leave as much force for patrols). You'll need to keep a significant portion of your force at the Keep of the Cataracts in order to maintain the siege and you'll want to have a large force ready to relieve any keep that comes under attack (preferably cavalry or mounted infantry so that you can travel quickly and reach the battle before it's over). So, if your supply chain is longer than eight days' travel or so, this may not work. (8 forts with 80 soldiers=640 soldiers on garrison and patrol duty in the forts which leaves you 860 for both the siege and your relief cavalry patrols. I would want at least one cavarly force of 200-300 orcs--maybe two. (In that case, you might station one at a larger fort halfway along the road). That would only leave 400-500 orcs to maintain the siege which should be sufficient (I imagine that the forces in the keep don't have any easy way to assault you directly but there is a danger of the guerillas and the defenders of the keep attacking the besiegers in concert and lifting the siege if you thin your siege troops too much). While they're there, set them to building trebuchets with longer ranges than whatever catapults the defenders of the keep have. Make sure to toss boulders and flaming pitch at the keep every day. (Barrels filled with sawdust and fire could be good too). Even if you only kill one defender every two days, you should decimate the force within a year. While you're catapulting things at the keep, make sure to catapult any rotten animal corpses or feces at the keep too. The defenders will burn them or toss them outside, but they can't really dispose of them without leaving the keep and getting picked off by your archers. In fact, it might almost be better to have them land at the base of the walls outside the keep than inside. That way, they'll still fester and attract flies and vermin and they'll still stink but the defenders won't be able to do anything about it without getting shot.</blockquote>

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