Long Live the Queen (all groups) [Boddynock judging] Completed

[B4cchus]

"Hey Hans! We should join forces with other group, Ah' think a well placed trap will do for tha' third entrance. We could roll a boulder over there, and obliterate it. Tha' way we could be more offensive in our mission. Other way, we will be short of arms to hold the ants."

Hans thinks about this suggestion for a short while "Hmm. So you think it best to face the ants form a single direction instead of cornering them from multiple directions? I'm not much of a tactician but those mine tunnels can get crowded with an eleven man team. If everybody thinks that is the best plan, do so by all means. Ask around during the rest of the journey if everybody agrees. We'll decide when we get there."

 

[Dargon]

“As a team I believe we could hold our own” looking at the two clerics and Jamilee. “But there is a reason armies attacks in big numbers. It might take much longer time if we are one group, but as a fighting machine we will be a lot more effective. If my observation is correct there are not so many frontline fighters that it should be a problem of crowding, and archers and in the case my self a spell caster should not have problem figthting beeing in a crowd. The only danger I see is that when they learn of us they can strike with their full force at one place, but again her should the space issue work to our advantage as we have ranged weapons and they have not.”

 

[Wik]

OOC: Looking at it Meta-game, and in-game, it makes more sense to fight in small parties. Narrow tunnels, no more than ten feet wide (and probably narrower) mean that if we fought in a group, we more or less have only one or two people in the fight, while the rest of us sit and watch. Not my idea of fun.

I'd much rather break off into small groups. It's more fun, and we'll do fine. If we came in as a huge party, well... it's going to be a long game, and a confusing one. I don't relish the idea of each round of combat taking us a week to resolve.

I vote for smaller groups. We can do it.

 

[B4cchus]

I vote for smaller groups. We can do it.

ooc: i'm not going to railroad you guys into either approach...i'm fine with either decision. But i wouldn't send you off in smaller groups if I thought you couldn't do it.. would I?

 

[Phoenix8008]

"I would vote for multiple groups fighting independantly." Saithnar says simply.

OOC: For the meta-game reasons Wik posted most of all. 11 people in a 10' wide tunnel equals lots of bored people waiting their turn.

 

[thegreyman]

ooc:Agreed. And since the overall reward is dependent on the total number of ants killed, the more spots we can hit them, the more dead ants. Of course, tactically, it might also mean that we get split and defeated in detail, but that's the risk and fun!

 

[Robichaud]

As Landers moves outside to the wagons, he mentions to Jamilee, "Following up on the tactics discussion from last night....the way I see it, you smash the bugs while Possum and I fill in with healing or smashing as necessary while Nura blasts them. Either Possum or I can be in the back rank to make sure that nothing sneaks up on Nura and starts munching on here leg unexpectedly! I'm no tactician but how's that sound?"

She twists her scarred face into a grin; her ears seem to perk up somewhat, even the one that's barely more than a scrap of skin. "Mh. It sounds so natural I find myself having already agreed with it. I would prefer you in front, though, if you're up for it."


Jamilee listens in on the larger tactics discussion in progress as well; then edges in some comments, somewhat less gratingly than usual, with a contemplative look on her face. "I have given this some thought as well, hnh. In short, from a strategic point of view, we stand to gain by splitting up. If each of our front men, supported by a rear rank is superior to one of these ants, enlarging our front will be to our advantage, especially since I have trouble seeing how deeper ranks will help instead of merely firing missiles in the backs of the front-line fighters. Also, a single group might be surrounded if the enemy splits his force in two, whereas if we divide he will have to split his forces three ways to merely engage us, and six to surround. If we deploy intelligently, or the enemy fights stupidly, it might not even be possible for him to do that."

She then smirk/snarls, less pleasantly. "Of course, if one of our groups runs into a force that's superior, they will need a way to escape or seek aid. A lot will depend on our ability to do just that, and that depends on the terrain. Hans..? Do we have maps of the mine, or even just an idea of how it's laid out?"

 

[B4cchus]

"Alas, no maps. We know the general lay-out of the mine. With that i mean very general. We know there is one main entrance, one secondairy entrance and an entrance that was later added to increase the air supply when they dug deeper into the rock. The first layer is more or less at ground level. They dug more or less straight into the rock. Later, a few tunnels were dug in a more downward slope, creating a second layer. Eventually a rich vein was discovered that led the miners straight down. This all results in about two layers near the surface and a large shaft downward into the lower layer.
That lower layer runs across different depths but is recorded as a single layer.
The general size of the whole thing is difficult to estimate since we have no maps and only second hand information.
The first layer should stretch about 300 feet into the rock at it's furthest point.
The layer beneath that is about twice as big.
The central shaft goed about 120 feet down and there's no telling how big the deeper layer is."

 

[Ximix]

Ximix sits, staring off into the far wall, listening? When there is a lull in the discussion, the slim Elf speaks in a suprisingly loud voice for such a small man.
"Two issues have been raised and not satisfied to my reasoning. Firstly, the group sizes, while very true that a Large group would be less effective, having such small groups that we take casualties is certainly not the answer. To use the example of armies, the ants will not be fighting with all of their forces in one wave, they will be fought as they are encountered. However that presents two advantages to our foes: One they can fight while on the walls, ceilings Or floors, and two, each foe we meet shall be fresh and ready for battle, while our line will constantly be in danger of damage which divine energies may not keep pace with. The way armies fight, is to rotate troops to the front, to maintain a level of freshness to their battle prowess and to allow the recovery and repair from battle.
I do not propose one main group but perhaps two, more evenly formed, with whatever means can be determined in the coming week to solve the issue of the third tunnel.
Your thoughts?"

 

[Wik]

"My thoughts," Possum says, "are that we're not making any money sitting here. Hans thinks we can do it in three groups, and I'm inclined to agree with him. They are, after all, just ants. Unintelligent, ANTS. And I would rather we keep ourselves in three mobile groups, as opposed to two rather larger groups."

She licks her lips for a moment, and scratches her tanned nose. "If we do find ourselves in trouble, why not use a whistle system to communicate with one another? One group blows the whistle three times, or something, and we all pull back outside the cave. And we mark our passage with string, so one group can easily find the others."

"It seems the safest route"

OOC: Meta-game, again, but even two groups of six is going to be a lot less fun than three groups of four. And I think it makes sense in-game to follow Hans' idea as well. Also, we're almost done page 3 of the adventure, and we haven't even REACHED THE MINES yet, because of a debate. If we're in large groups, this is going to be what the whole adventure is like. And I shudder at the thought.

Why not just vote on it? In such a case, I vote for three groups.