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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Maudlin" data-source="post: 290511" data-attributes="member: 86">Hi,Last week I participated in a 3-day fantasy wargame LARP (700+ people), and just like the last time we -the noble Kingdom of the Lily- got our arses handed to us rather horribly by the depraved and heretical League of Thistles (chhhk-ptooie). Now, we usually manage to hold more than our own in skirmish combat, where it's 15 vs 20 or so, but at the end of the weekend when all factions meet on the naked battlefield, those guys are solidly indestructible. I thought maybe some of the armchair generals on this board could share some of their strategic insight on how we can do better next time...I'll try to outline our problems:* Their shieldwall. This is a monster and a legend. Apparently, it hasn't broken even once in 10 years. Their entire first rank (which is a good 20m longer than ours, as they outnumber us by about 75 people, 225 to 150) carries tower shields in very close formation. 2nd rank are poleweapons, 3rd are wizards and archers. Ours is similar, but they are far more experienced and disciplined in this. * This brings with it the next problem... they apply enough pressure that their ranks can continually advance. That means whenever we cut someone down, they can be dragged back to their high-level healers in the rear and be back up on his feet a few moments later. When they cut someone down, more often than not they can reach him and take his 'dreamthread' (=dead). If we want to win, we HAVE to stop them from doing this.* Excellent communication. They really do move as one unit, which is a scary sight considering their number. We are often unable to react properly if their ranks suddenly shift.* Magical power. Because of their large number, their resources are more plentiful as well. They have several archmages and high priests, who can perform feats of healing and spells we can't. We've had some modest successes with * Our slightly larger amount of archers,* Sending quick, lightly armoured skirmishers around their flanks in groups of 3-4,* Siege weapons! Our engineers are far better, and shields don't help => We have 2 ballista's, a catapult and a trebuchet, while they only had 1 catapult.* Casting Terror on 2-3 people in their shield wall simultaneously (they run away for 15 secs),* Sending wizards with a version of Sanctuary to stand in front of their shieldwall, so they have to stop or move around,* Nightly raids on their encampment every 3 hours, to lower morale <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />* Alliances with the other factions. We served cheap beer all weekend <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />I'd be very grateful for any maneuvers, tricks, axioms and advice you could come up with. If you were our embattled Baron Bonvoisin, what would you do? How did medieval armies manage? Know any sites? Thanks.Since I just advanced to the next Circle in the Guild of Silence (which doesn't exist), I think I'm going to try prowling around their healer line next time, before I join ranks. Try healing a knife in your back, Thistle! (chhhk-ptooie)</blockquote>

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