The Great Battle for Cez (IC)

Spoiler:

As the rain was subsiding, the forces grew more anxious. The final battle would be at hand. And it would be fought for the control of Cez, the city that proudly bore the cultural heritage of the old Baccus Empire. Much was at the stake for the forces present: Immortals, local nobility and Shadow legion with their Silvermist allies. Opposing them was the vile green tide, the snake cult, that was thought to be banished from Pendor by King Mordred.

There would be no mercy, no giving ground, no surrender...

...As is ordered by the Baccus Empire...

...So shall it be.




OOC: We'll duke it out with the map. Inform me of your moves each turn in this thread. I will make dots for your troops if you wish to have them (you'll need to inform me of the unit sizes though). While realistically Laisha and others are separated, I have no real power to deny your conversations if you use PMs or your back-room. Do as you see it fit. The cult is in a disarray at the moment, destroying Theo's traps. You hold the initiative so you go first.

The capture of Armada, Johan's movements and the battle inside Cez will be RP'd in the actual IC thread.


Forces:

Snake Cult:
Count them.

Silvermists:
- Theo and 50 Rangers going to Cez
- Caranthir, 40 Clarion calls and 70 Rangers are with Marcus
- 5 Rangers are with Johan and 5 medics
- Laisha has 8 Clarion Calls, 500 Halberdiers and 1000 Militia
- Camp has 10 Rangers, 5 Clarion Calls and 100 Halberdiers

Shadow Legion
- Marcus has 40 Centurions, 200 Legionnaires and 300 Retainers
- 10 Centurions, 100 Marines and 400 militia are going to capture ships


- The rest are inside the city. I haven't mentioned the casualties suffered by the people in the camp.

Lieutenant Arundel was racing along the lines on his heavy hunter, the green caparison with the golden fleur-de-lys waving in the head wind despite the rain.

Ready the lines, he bellowed to his sergeants, halberdiers in front, archers behind, split the militia reserves to the flanks and get the ballistae and their rain shelters ready!

He turned to his adjutant: Correl, head south to the Legion's main force and inform them that we are going to take the enemy under fire and will wait for their signal to charge. When you come across Clarion Call rangers send them to me, the Silvermists are to support the Legion. Then hurry further south, collect all idle troops you come across and have them join the closest of our or the Legion's active forces. Also send some men to man the water trap above the beach and await my signal: a triple clarion blow, two long, one short.

Correl saluted and sped off, while Arundel distributed the remaining seven Clarion Call rangers among the troops as officers with clarions ready for signalling. The army moved into place and took position at the forest edge from where the beach sloped down to the sea, with the water trap to their left.

Let's hope these wooden hedgehogs and stakes do some good, he murmured to himself as he eyed the slightly disordered forces of the cult on the beach below.

Ready? he demanded of his officers.

[OOC: Army deployed with halberdiers (500) in front, archers (600) behind and spearmen (2 x 200) on the flanks above the beach, water trap manned (10 militia soldiers from the left flank, one mounted ranger), Arundel waiting for everyone to get in position and the ballistae readied to fire, i.e. waiting for Pravenstern to tell us we can start killing.]

Ready! the call was carried along the lines to Arundel. He looked around, to the mass of archers and behind that a row of ballistae. The arrows would not be able to reach the enemy yet, but the ballista bolts would.

The ballistae are to aim for knights and commanders, he told the messenger beside him who passed on the order.

He raised his clarion to his lips and blew the signal for the artillery to open fire. For a moment the sound hang in the rain heavy air, some of the cultists looking at the army dumbfounded, but then it was drowned out by a loud 'thrum' as the first ballista went off and the others quickly followed.

The bombardment had begun.

Spoiler:

The start of the battle is rather quiet safe for the ballistae sending several cultists into the afterlife. The army from the north has clearly been noticed and the other sect of Snake Cultists is holding them for now. The rest have started to move south.

In the southern bay, the Shadow legion prepares to capture the ship.

Arundel watched the enemy forces approach. His archers were still out of range and the slope was not steep enough on the street to offer a proper advantage. 'Lets make them fight an uphill battle', he thought.

Shift the whole army to the right, he told his sergeants, away from the street onto the higher ground. As soon as we are in position give orders to open fire on any enemies in range. Make sure the spearmen on the flanks guard them well, they are not to face the enemy directly but to align in an angle of 45° backwards relative to the front line and close ranks with the halberdiers at the sides. And call the men back from the water trap. It's too far away now.

While the cult forces approached the Silvermist army moved to the right to take the high ground above the beach.

Army Deployment:

Spoiler:

The battle continues without much incidents. Armies moved to positions in attempt to outmanouver each other.

In the south, Theo has finally arrived at the gates and finds them completely shut down.

Arundel watched the enemy approach. They had their cavalry on the flanks he noticed.

The outer most regiments of halberdiers and militia are to swap positions, he said to the sergeant near him, and tell the ballistae to concentrate fire on their cavalry, five on each flank. As soon as the enemy gets in range I want a barrage from the archers with the outermost regiments targeting the cavalry on their respective sides.

The orders were passed on and Arundel fell silent again, looking towards the cult's army with grim determination.

[OOC: Waiting for Marcus and the decision on Theo's forces.]

Note: Just in case it is not clear: Swap of said regiments would result in the u shaped front line looking like this: (H = Halberdiers, M = Militia Spearmen)

Code:

H            H
 M          M
  M H H H M

Spoiler:

The battle doesn't see much action aside from the confused ballista-fire. Half of the ballistae fail to see their targets and shoot randomly into the mass, The other half had only slightly more luck, as a hit was scored against the small group of knights.

That was about to change though, the archers are in range...

In the sea, the captured vessel, Severus, is approaching the armada. The Legion is surprised to find a captured Clarion Call Ranger within the ship. He is in no condition to fight though.

Theo finds the gates closed. There is no one near. Ordering his troops to hide, he shouts.
"Anyone there"
No one answers but the troops remain wary. Seconds pass with nothing happening.
"Let's move to the beach, there is nothing here."

Their cavalry is on the left, Arundel barked to the ballistae commanders, take them down!

Meanwhile the officers of the archer regiments had their men ready themselves for an initial volley.

Ready! ... Notch! ... Draw! ... Loose!

600 bowstrings cracked and with the sound of a swarm of angry insects the same number of arrows rose into the air to descend on the snake cult.

Barrage! the officers commanded after the volley. Loose at will!

Spoiler:

In the north the fighting fully erupts. The arrows of the Militia find their targets and fifth of the Snake Cult Armsmen now lay dead. Meanwhile the ballistae have no luck in finding their targets with a single confirmed kill*. The counter-fire is also destructive as the Cultist bolts and Javelins claim the lives of early 100 Halberdiers (OOC: 90).

In the south Theo's forces find the approaching Snake Cult army and steel themselves for the confrontation.

Marcus' troops make progress through the area. The scouts report that the Snake Cult army is split in two. Johan can already see the Silvermist lines.

In the sea:
The Ranger only mutters:
"I won't break... I won't break..."

One of the centurions notes that the nearest ship is a barque. He also notices silhouttes of at least one Caravel and a couple of Barques.


*OOC: I use dice. It was quite hilarious to see the rolls...

At the sea:

There came repeated shouts of "Ship spotted!", and soon Catullus get to see the silhuettes himself. A single boat was fully in his sight, and as he asked a Marine standing close by about it, he told him it was most probably a barque: a ship with usually three masts, a small ship altogether. It was a fast scouting ship, usually not used for naval combat. He also added that in the distance he could see a caravel, a heavy war ship designed for naval warfare: it usually only had two masts, but it had an increased range of travelling to complement that. Catullus thought for a moment and then gave his orders.

"We shall take the closest ship first. A third of the men shall board and capture ship, which will then continue boarding and capturing yet others. Meanwhile, after we have successfully boarded the first ship, we shall move to the caravel and capture it. The caravel we will use to search for others of its kind." He was proud of his correct usage of terms, although he knew nothing of naval warfare. The Marine listened closely, nodded a few times, shook his head slightly but then smiled. "It shall be done, Centurion."

"Good. And meanwhile we shall treat this poor soul, our ally. Give him calming medicine if there is any, and arrange for someone to comfort him. Move him into a safe place, where he is protected from the weather." Smiling, he then walked over to the front of the ship. He folded his hands behind his back and looked proudly onwards as his ship newly captured ship rolled on the waves, getting closer to the Snake Cult's armada by the seconds. Finally he drew his sword, and the hundreds who saw him followed his example. Catullus knew that nothing needed to be said anymore.

Another volley went up in the air, but before it went down the enemy's bolts hit the line of halberdiers, taking a bloody toll.

Get the medics here, bellowed Arundel, then wheeled his horse around to get the whole situation. The enemy cavalry was flanking on the left.

Halberdiers from the right flank to the left, form a wall of halberds, swap places with the militia, more weight on the left flank! he commanded and the men rushed to comply. Archers, keep up the fire!

"We have a higher rate of fire", he thought, "and their crossbows must have been damaged by the rain. Hopefully they will snap or break soon."

The volley went down on the enemy and already another was in the air. Arundel gave his horse the spurs and galloped over to the left flank to command the halberdiers there himself.

[OOC: Pikemen perk applied - Enemy cavalry looses charge bonus and halberdiers get first strike in melee.]

Code:

                H
              H
 M          H
  M M M H H

Spoiler:

The ranks of halberdiers are devastated by a rain of javlins as the horde of Cobra Warriors charges. However, the discipline of the Halberdiers proves to be effective and lessens the blow of the charge. The fight turns into a giant hack and slash broken by the devastating charge by the Anaconda Knights who kill Halberdiers equal to their number.

(Left: 330 halberdiers, 71 Cobra Warriors, 20 Anaconda Knights.)

The cultist force continues to exchange fire with the militia while slowly advancing. Both sides suffer heavily.

(Left: 360 cultists, 290 melee militia, 600 archer militia)

Johan arrives at the back-lines in the north.

In the south, the Silvermists led by Theo use the farmlqnd surrounding Cez to their adavntage and take cover for an ambush. Meanwhile, the lone messenger arrives at the end of the forest and sees the Snake Cult Force.

'Severus' continues to carry the Legion toward the armada. The action would start soon.

The snake cult cavalry crashed into the orderly lines of the halberdiers, many of the footmen dying with a javelin through their torso. But they held the line. Many a mounted snake warrior was impaled by a halberd and even the netherworld chargers were unable to fully break the formation of the Silvermist's most trusted foot soldiers.
Arundel looked around. The halberdiers had suffered severe losses but still vastly outnumbered the enemy cavalry.
He put the clarion to his mouth and gave a triple blow that was taken up by the other Clarion Call knights commanding the halberdiers.

Charge! the call was carried along the lines as the Clarions sounded above the fray and the halberds closed in around the snake cult cavalry, the flanks of the halberdiers attacking them from the sides.

The militia commanders took up the command and ordered their men to attack the snake cult armsmen in orderly formation, while arrows and bolts kept pouring down on the enemy ranks from the militia archers and the ballistae.

[OOC: Halberdiers attacking the cavalry, encircling the vastly outnumbered foes to keep them from retreating and charging again, archers and ballistae firing at armsmen while militia charge them. After they engage the archers and ballistae will concentrate fire on the thick of the mass of armsmen away from the immediate melee. Militia kept in orderly formation to gain maximum protection from a line of board shields and strengthen their morale under fire. - I am a bit tired by giving obvious orders, so I hope you will allow me to roleplay what is happening and give the details of the orders ooc.]

Spoiler:

The battles in north continues as the cavalry and halberdiers continue pounding each other with the Silvermist soldiers gaining the upper hand. Neither side was willing to give ground however, and the fight would rage on.

The militia archers and ballistae unleash a hail of arrows and bolts into the ranks of Snake Cult Armsmen, significantly ctting their numbers. The armsmen, however, had unleashed a volley of their own into the ranks of militia soldiers attempting to charge them before taking out their bardiches to meet the enemy head on. The tight ranks of the militia hold up the morale but the lack of discipline prevents any noticeable improvement in survivality from the shields. The melee itself sees the equally skilled opponents kill each others in droves. Still, the cult was more numerous, and the militia commanders found themselves losing.

Geoffrey and Johan manage to get a hang of the situation from the leading ballista commander. It would seem that any help would be appreciated here. Especially, soon, from the medics.

Some of Marcus' scouts return with news of the second part of the cultist army heading for Cez. They also claim to have heard an approaching army from west but the scouts there had not yet returned. Meanwhile, Severus has reached the armada with a barque as the nearest vessel. This would be the last chance to make adjustments to the assaulting plans.

In the south, Theo's forces launch a volley into the tightly packed armsmen and disturb their movement.


OOC: North: 600 militia archers, 170 militia and 300 halberdiers. 210 cultists, around 70 cavalry.

Spoiler:

In the north, the combined effort by the militia and the archers finally tip the melee to Silvermist’s favour. The lines still hold but the defeat of the Armsmen is imminent.

The Halberdiers and Snake Cult Cavalry continue the grinding. While the Cobra Warriors realize that they are going to die, the presence of Anacondas keeps their morale strong.

The scouts look nervous. Their failure to please the grandmaster might even spell doom to them! One of them offers himself up for sacrifice.
”Sir, we weren’t the ones to notice the host. One of the other scouts told us to bring a note of possible complication. He remained to gain more information.”

In the sea, the assault begins. The opposing barque had not expected an attack, and the crew was caught unprepared as the men charged the ship. The crew is obviously not very well-trained in armed conflict due to the ease they fall to the Legion weapons. The main deck is quickly cleared, with some lanterns illuminating the the blood on board, but the mast and insides remain.

Theo’s forces continue delaying the Snake Host. Two companies of Armsmen are dispatched to hunt these rangers.


OOC: 140 militia, 130 cultists, around 50 cavalry, 280 Halberdiers.

(OOC: Due to a request, I'm fastforwarding the battle outside of Cez)

The battle was brutal. While the cultists had been beaten, the cost had been high. Although, Johan and his medics managed to save several wounded from their injuries, the toll was still enormous. Now the commanders found themselves wondering what to do next.

Slightly south from that position, the army marched by marcus came midway to the road. The scouts had scurried off, terrified of the possible punishment for failure. Many were the agonizing minutes before one of the scouts returned with a friend of his. The man semed to be happy and immediately gave the report.

"Reinforcements, sir! Immortals! It is Cassian Dux!"

Even more south, Theo's forces start a slow retreat through the fields, while shooting the pursuing cultists. Theo himself oversees the last ranger leaving after shooting down a sergeant. However, before he can leave, a stray bolt from oe of the cultists hits Theo through his lung. With a gasp he falls to the ground, dead.

Even further south, the lone messenger finds a unit of halberdiers and a couple of rangers. The group leaves the camp to north in order to meet with the main group.

sea
The third bargue of the ever-growing Shadow Legion fleet is succesfuly captured with the momentum of surprise. The joy is short-lived as Catullus sees one of the sails of the second barque catch fire from unknown sources.


OOC: I'll give the casualties if you want to. I would like to keep them away until the final compilation, though. Clarity issues and all that... Sea battle will continue in normal time.

Arundel looked around the bloody mess the fight had left. Hundreds of dead armsmen littered the ground alongside similar numbers of militia and halberdiers. A few hissing anaconda and cobra warriors were vainly struggling against their fetters and two netherworld chargers had been tied to a nearby tree with the strongest ropes and chains they had found.

Reassemble the troops, he ordered and the remains of his force got back in formation. With a grim smile he noticed that his archers were still at full strength and the ballistae unbattered.

We will move south along the road, he announced. I want 50 halberdiers, 100 spearmen and 100 archers to take those boats the cult left on the beach and row back to the closest of their ships to capture it. Humphrey, you will command this force with your squad. Use the passage through the underwater traps created by the cult to get to their ships without problems. Once you captured the ship use it to capture the others.

The knight saluted and organised his force.

Sir Noaidi, are the injured ready for transport?

Johan wiped his hands clean out of blood, not the enemys but friends.

"Yes, and no. I fear that some of them won't survive, but that is in the hands of gods. I have done what I can."