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Message: <blockquote data-quote="s/LaSH" data-source="post: 799476" data-attributes="member: 6929">The important question is this: how much of the formian command structure is known to the Cresians?Myrmachs have big bronze helmets. That's a given. Thus, they're pretty visible targets. There's just one problem - SR 25. You'd have to have 5th level casters to take one out at all, and even then they have a better chance of unloading their arsenal into the myrmach without it being scratched than to beat that SR. A 50/50 split is achieved at 15th level, the legendary heroes of this round.The myrmachs are obvious targets. It won't take more than a day for everyone to figure out that they're the net that holds a formian army together. Doing something about it, however, is completely different. A myrmach is highly maneuverable, and is likely to show up behind the lines amongst the taskmasters (who have long-range domination attacks and are fairly spell resistant themselves) to relay orders. Drop a Call Lightning on his head, and he normally shrugs it off and 'ports away - possibly behind you. Where he either charms you, drops a Dictum or Order's Wrath on your formation (I don't see large numbers of Cresians being lawful; they're druidic, after all, so many of them are likely neutral something rather than lawful), or tears your head off with his gnashing mandibles (2d6+2 rivals even a Stempan khopesh, which I'm guessing approaches a greatsword). Then they 'port out again, before a concerted military response can catch them.Thus, after a couple of days the Cresians discover that they need special tactics to take down the myrmachs. They 'port, they have fast healing, and they're nearly invulnerable to offensive magic. The solution? Bodyguards for the casters. The biggest, toughest troops hang around with the casters and use them as bait for myrmachs. Using a dimensional anchor is very difficult, largely because it's 4th level - only a few of the Ta'jinn Godsbloods will have access to it. The other solution is to keep the myrmach off balance with a constant barrage of attacks, breaking its concentration. Grappling it is probably stupid (it's the size of a horse), but myrmachs have no ranks in concentration. I checked. The only bonus they have is +4 from Constitution. Teleport without error is a 7th level spell. The base DC for the check is 17 + damage dealt. A couple of hits on a myrmach will keep it in place even if they're dealt by a level 1 commoner. Unfortunately, it has AC 28, so only high-level (buffed?) guards can do this reliably. They could well be all over it the moment it 'ports in, but their blows would just bounce off...Anyway, through use of myrmach-baiting, the cresians put the fear of counterreprisal into the formian elite. Now, although they might sacrifice a few myrmachs every now and then to test the waters, the myrmachs stay back and operate away from enemy casters. In turn, the most elite Cresian battlefield units are held in reserve, guarding the heavy artillery. I think the formians may have come off best in this tactical exchange.Mist in battle: This is a perfect counter for the formian reliance on teleporting elites. Cresians have long since learned to coordinate by shouted orders (they have skilled bards) and rely largely on their other senses for coordination. Formians can still 'port, but they don't know where to 'port if they can't see what's going on. Mist slows down the order of battle for them, and unless they're in the hivemind radius, they're completely thrown out by it - taskmaster domination of their troops only goes to the extent of understanding what's happening to them, rather than where or who is doing it.The misty rennaisance is in full force...</blockquote>

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