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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The_Universe" data-source="post: 1849010" data-attributes="member: 8944">More Force Planning, or Why You Probably Need the BluestarThat's about right. I don't have the exact numbers with me.  The Noble's council doesn't really have any troops to offer, because Nobles no longer maintain their own personal armies. Their contributions to the defenses of the kingdom come in the form of taxes and the like, rather than in providing Knights for the King's service, as might have been true in an earlier age. Sylvanus is a large city, with around 28,000 residents. About 80% of those are adults, but even with that many people, you're only talking about a full Company (240-250) of Guardsman, with about 1200 more trained militia. You might be able to add another 2000 able-bodied males without families to support.  Any fair elves that you hope to bring to your cause that will be of any use, apart from the ones already there, would probably have to come from the Royal Army, or Mercenary forces upon which you already depend. At best, I think you can hope for some insubordination from within the King's ranks if they're forced to fight against you. You might get more, but that's all you can realistically expect.  Jansten's rebellion can't be all that numerous, since there just aren't that many living people in the North at all. But, let's be optimistic, and say we can get another 2000 troops from the north, and that some of them are mages. That means that, in total, assuming you can hire 4000 mercenaries, you could bring your total forces up around 13-15000 men. That's a decent number of soldiers. However, even with those high and hopeful aims, it's still probably not enough to effectively oppose Tain, even if you're carefully choosing your battles.  Here's why: Even with the King's Army of the Watch and the Army of Prydein having been sent above the wall to fight the Bluestar (and probably to have been defeated) the king controls the Army of the West and the Army of the East, each totaling approximately 76860 trained and armed men. That's right around 153,720 armed and armored soldiers, up against your (at MOST) 15,000 soldiers. Furthermore, that does not include the King's Navy or Marines, of which you have no comparable force. Still more, it does not include any of the Draconid forces, which are extremely numerous. In addition to being more powerful on an soldier-by-soldier basis, the draconids are not small in number.  Oceanus alone saw an initial force of around 6000 troops of varying types. You know that a force of at least that size attacked Atur and Arutha's Forge, at least, and now another besets Caer Albion. That's AT LEAST another 24000 powerful troops that must be opposed. That brings the king's numbers to in excess of 175,000, while your unassisted forces remain at 15,000 - all of whom are outclassed and outpowered by the competition. And remember that that is only the forces that you KNOW of.  Additionally, the draconids are able to convert captured civilians into troops quickly and easily, which means their number grow (rather than fall) with every victory, no matter how costly. The ShadowPath means you cannot win by numbers without assistance.   Caer Albion does not have a large number of defenders (since the Army of Prydein was sent North) but those it does have are relatively powerful. It would be a boon, regardless.   Good idea, although with each battle, even the ones you win, you're losing troops and they're gaining them.   If you can make all of it happening without bringing down the ward, you won't have to fight the Bluestar, at all. But you'd still have to partner with him to win, I think.  I took care of most of this above, but.... You have 3 beasts (Ohtar, Yoshi, and Thane).  You have about 300 mages, I think. I'll check when I get home.  You have 4 steeldrake cannons, and no other siege weaponry.  All of your fighting able men are either dead or hardened veterans. You'll need to wait a generation before you can get more, without getting men from other geographic areas.   I think that's a mischaracterization of what the Bluestar has, but so be it. I've tried to answer as accurately as possible. At the very least, it should make things clearer. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  --Kennon</blockquote>

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