How Would You Defend A Mountain Fortress?

[smetzger]

The army regulars (mooks) are important to attack-

High level opponents WILL be brought back. No doubt about it. They will be Raised, Ressurected, etc. There's no way the Valloreans will leave that much experience and combat firepower go to waste. Assaults on the high level opponents will generate high-level losses on your side.

The Valorean's have been presented as fanatical do-gooders who are willing to die for their cause. I do not think death will cause moral problems. Moral problems will happen if you can get some Valorean leaders to defect.

As for the High level opponents and being raised and ressurected. Thats why its so important to take out the the high level Clerics. It will also be important to come up with ways to prevent True Ressurection. If you could get rid of all the Clerics able to cast 9th level spells they will be in a world of hurt.

 

[smetzger]

Since spells recover daily, and since magical healing is so easy, how much good does a non-decisive guerrilla strike really do? Magic items (and their charges) seem hardest to recover.

Let me go into further detail on the hit and run tactics. You should have teams of commandos going in once an hour targeting different high level Clerics, these strike teams should be ceaseless. Maybe use several strike teams at a time. What you want to do is constantly be sending fresh teams in where weak points have opened up. You go in and kill a high level Cleric and take his body with you. Next strike team targets a different Cleric somewhere completly different. Hopefully, the Valoreans will either spread themselves to thin to try and deal with the raids or they will concentrate themselves too much.

 

[Zenon]

The Valorean's have been presented as fanatical do-gooders who are willing to die for their cause.

Then we must oblige them.

I do not think death will cause moral problems. Moral problems will happen if you can get some Valorean leaders to defect..

Fanatic or not, morale can be broken. It's simply a matter of scale. Combat units are also most effective when they have trained together, rehearsed strategies, know how each other will react, etc. Generating massive losses in your "conventional" forces will still take it's toll.

As for the High level opponents and being raised and ressurected. Thats why its so important to take out the the high level Clerics. It will also be important to come up with ways to prevent True Ressurection. If you could get rid of all the Clerics able to cast 9th level spells they will be in a world of hurt.

Use things like Trap the Soul.

Hmm, nasty thought just happened! Might be worth it for us to make some of these for the fortress to stomp out those commando raids:

From the SRD:
Mirror of Opposition

This item resembles a normal mirror about 4 feet long and 3 feet wide. It can be affixed to a surface and activated by speaking a command word. The same command word deactivates the mirror. If a creature sees its reflection in the mirror’s surface, an exact duplicate of that creature comes into being. This opposite immediately attacks the original. The duplicate has all the possessions and powers of its original (including magic). Upon the defeat or destruction of either the duplicate or the original, the duplicate and her items disappear completely. The mirror functions up to four times per day.

Caster Level: 15th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, clone; Market Price: 92,000 gp; Weight: 45 lb.

Nothing like fighting the enemy with the enemy!

[edit - make sure to keep the mirror safe by placing it behing a Wall of Force to keep it from being broken, but still able to let the effect happen.]

 

[mmadsen]

Yes. Remember, this isn't standard infantry. These are "magic walkie-talkie" equipped troopies. If an assault happens, they're calling in fire support (their own high level guys) and fighting delaying actions and attempting to obstruct us from completing our goals unopposed.

I don't understand how this helps them hold ground and protect supply lines against teleporting commandos that can teleport wherever they aren't. Teleporting commandos don't have to go through your lines the hard way; they teleport. They don't even have to exfiltrate the hard way once discovered; they can just teleport again.

 

[Broken Fang]

So as has been stated before use the same tactics against them. Even with their magic communication devices they can't be everywhere at once right? Our evil strike teams do the same thing...hit in their towns/cities and tun away when the help arrives. If it won't work for us then it shouldn't work for them.

I like the make a bargin with a Demon Prince. That could really help when the invasion starts. Army moves in and demons pop in from everywhere! It is nice to get someone else to do the fighting for you.

 

[Kugar]

Don't forget to keep the spellcaster from resting.
A couple of lightning strikes to wake people up will put the troops on edge and keep the spell casters out of spells. Gorillla attacks every 7 hours. Lycanthropes during day, vampires at night. Wake up all the spellcasters then leave. Eventually level drains and lycanthopy will take hold as the remove curse and restoration spells become more precious

 

[Zenon]

I don't understand how this helps them hold ground and protect supply lines against teleporting commandos that can teleport wherever they aren't. Teleporting commandos don't have to go through your lines the hard way; they teleport. They don't even have to exfiltrate the hard way once discovered; they can just teleport again.

If teleporting bad guys can be everywhere, then why aren't ours tearing the heart out of the Vallorean Empire as we speak?

Answer: They can't because there's somebody there minding the store. Not that they're high level, but they can raise an alarm.

The near instantaneous communication package of the Vallorean infantry can be used to call in support within rounds if a threat is detected.

V. Army regular: "We have demons at Point Bravo!"
High Level Mage: "Wait One." Cast Mass Teleport on Epic Ready Response Team.
(Epic Team arrives within two rounds (12 seconds), kicks demon butt and takes names)
V. Army regular: "Wow, that was fast!"

How can we stop this from happening? The Vallorean army regulars are the intelligence gathering organs of the Vallorean army. Scry won't cut it. It doesn't last long enough. It takes an hour to cast. The Valloreans rely on real-time reports from the field to dispatch forces to deal with the threat.

You can't raise crops or settle an area if nobody is there to protect you from the more mundane threats other than teleporting death squads. Things like the werewolf, vampire spawn, our own low level troops, etc.

Does this explaination help any?

 

[Broken Fang]

I'm guessing the bad guys can't win.

It sounds like every V. regular is more than a match for anyone else. They are fanatically loyal, have more money then they know what to do with, have more magic than the rest of the world, and have near instant communication and transport. Is this really the case? If so the bad guys can kiss their butts goodbye.

If not how many quick response temas do they have? Can you be in more places than they have support for? How many demons could be brought in or other creatures? Other enimies? War on multiple fronts and in the own homeland? At some point they have to run out of response troops...if not you ain't going to win.

 

[Zenon]

It sounds like every V. regular is more than a match for anyone else. They are fanatically loyal, have more money then they know what to do with, have more magic than the rest of the world, and have near instant communication and transport. Is this really the case? If so the bad guys can kiss their butts goodbye.

Such is the nature of SHARK's world. Evil has a lot going for it, but his good guys have even more sometimes.

I can only assume he has asked us for some plotting here for his bad guys so they can do their best vs. his PC's, and maybe shock them with some things they haven't seen before.

Thus, even though we know it's a losing battle, we have to apply our wits and every little trick that we can think of for him to consider. Sometimes it hard being the DM with one brain with 5-6 players with brains on the other side. SHARK is utilizing his resources here.

I'm just hoping he posts us on how it goes when it finally happens in game. (Hear that SHARK? Keep us posted!)

 

[mmadsen]

If teleporting bad guys can be everywhere, then why aren't ours tearing the heart out of the Vallorean Empire as we speak?

Because no one's thought this all through that far?

Answer: They can't because there's somebody there minding the store. Not that they're high level, but they can raise an alarm.

The near instantaneous communication package of the Vallorean infantry can be used to call in support within rounds if a threat is detected.

I'm not sure about that. The legions may have magical radio-headset helmets, but the legions aren't everywhere. And those helmets aren't long range; they have to relay that message to a wizard in an ivory tower in front of his palantir or magic tele-scribe book. All the security precautions around these communication tools slow things down further.

And are the Champions of Vallorea always awake and in armor, waiting for the call?

It seems like our Vampires should strike dozens of locales at once, drawing out the Champions of Vallorea, while our Champions of Galleran sweep through their mundane forces.