NationStates Jolt Archive

I never said it tripled their range. I said it tripled your range, so I can shoot you even when you can't hit the base of the cliff. So ideally whilst your shooting the cliff (and taking ages to bring it down) I'm shooting your trebuchets and it would only take one or two shots at most (when they hit) to destroy a trebuchet. You just can't sticky-tape the arms back together after its been hit by a large rock. Ok I admit that the springs wouldn't cause the whole section of rock to slide to the side, but it would cause sufficiently large quantaties of rock to slide to the side that a ramp would be impossible. Even without my spring you have to knock down at least 2 segments of rock to create one ramp, since it has to be at least twice the width of the cliff section and the same height.

I'm telling you, shooting up isn't gonna increase the range, so technically, all of your catapult rounds are landing far in front of my guys. If you have it shooting at a high angle, its not going to go forward very far. I think what your thinking is to create a mortar-type thing, which isn't possible with the tech back then. Even if you manage to kill off this army, you know I'm gonna send one twice as big and kill you even worse, but you still probably won't survive. I lost a third of my guys trying to go up the hill, let's just take it from there, and stop this endless debate.

Agreed

In the words on the people in monty python and the holy grail : "GET ON WITH IT!"

Well lets assume it does cut my range, it would increase my accuracy as a slight change in angle at a low angle would make a large difference in where it lands, compared to a high angle. And since I am 700 meters higher than you I still have a higher range. And I have been testing my catapults down in my city so it should work.

And if you want to continue quibbling about the physics of this RP how do you form a ramp? To decrease the gradient of the cliff you need to increase the width of the triangle forming the hill. When you increase the width then clearly you increase the area as well. Where do you get all that rock for the extra area required for your hill? The collapsing cliff isn't going to just form a hill just because you want it to.

So lets compromise. I only destroyed some of your trebuchets and you only got up to a small fort half-way up the cliff and killed all the men there.

IC: The Novan commander shouted in rage. The Novan scientists back downstairs had gotten it all wrong. The range was not increased, although admittedly it did increase the accuracy by tenfold. As a result the Doomingsland trebuchets managed to collapse enough of the cliff for them to climb up to a small fort they had positioned half-way down the cliff in preperation for an assault on the Doomingsland position. Ten of the new anti-infantry catapults were destroyed or captured, it was not possible to tell which. 200 archers and 1000 cavalry and infantry were killed.

Agreed

In the words on the people in monty python and the holy grail : "GET ON WITH IT!"
NI!!!!!!!!!!

OOC:Meh, whatever.

The forces had managed to take a foothold in the small fort, taking it intact, and preparing to use it as a spring board for the next assualt. Smaller catapults had been constructed in addition to the trebuchets, and were brought to that point, and began hitting it at point blank range. Only a small portion of the force stayed up there, as they would be buried when the cliff finaly collapsed.

To destroy this cliff, large amounts of greek fire had been concocted to soften up the rock. Next, the catapults were wheeled up(losing a third of their number, I might add, only 12 remained) the hill, and begn pelting a big hole. The men manning them were obviously suicidal.

Finnaly, the greek fire was rolled inside of the hole, and set ablaze. The sheer concusion from the explosion severly weakened the rock in addition to the heat. With another barrage from the two remaining catapults, another section of the cliff came tumbling down, burrying everyone on that hill.

Losses-23 catapults from archers and bombardment, two from the collapse. 300 men from the archers and catapults, 20 from the collapse. I figure I should be getting fairly close to the top by now. And I only have 8 trebuchets left, more under construction(should be finished within two more moves).

The Novans threw over all their waste, including bathwater and latrine water ;) to disorientate the enemy, but also because they didn't want to keep all that crap up on their cliff. They then threw down acid and greek fire (lit of course) and poisoned spikeballs. They began to shoot arrows at their old fort. When the enemy was either hiding or dead their anti-ground catapults opened fire to scare them further. The high angle catapults then used this cover to weaken the support of the fortress further whilst the enemy was occupied. The fortress collapsed uder its own weight crushing many legionnaires. The Novans slowly picked off any visible survivors with catapults and archers.

After the battle they set up entire rows of high angle catapults to ensure another Doomingsland catapult raid would not bring down their cliff further.

OOC:Count those losses I just stated to your attack. And were did you get greek fire? I'm Roman based, and only they had it.

"Sir, the cliff still stands!"

"I can see that. Reinforcements are probably on the way by now."

Meanwhile...

Another legion, 10,000 strong, marched out of Doom, and headed to link up with the weaker legion. This legion had over 100 trebuchets, in addition to catapults and balistas.

Back at the valley...

The army was now very pissed. They saw how the Novans moved most of their catapults over near the fort, and decided going up that way would confuse them, so they began bombarding another area of the cliff.

OOC: Greek fire was a flammable liquid that couldn't be put out by water. it was composed of simple chemicals like saltpeter and sulfur. What was kept secret was the exact method of making Greek fire and making it so hot that water could not put it out. Other races used crude oil they found bubbling out of the ground in its untampered form, set fire to it and used it that way. It was less effective, but I'm sure you didn't haul gallons of water up the cliff with you so it doesnt matter. BTW how many men do you have left? I recall you had some 50,000 scattered throughout your whole nation. 20,000 in the original army, some 15,000 reinforcements so far, with another 10,000 coming. that leaves 5000 at home?

IC: The Doomingsland forces had moved down the cliff a little to attack another portion of the cliff. A few of the long-range catapults continued to fire (inaccurately, but you don't need to be accurate to hit a 10,000 strong army) near the enemy, occasionally hitting them.
sidenote: catapult range would be abou 400-500 meters on flat ground. Since I'm higher than you, I estimate that I could hit maybe a kilometer with reasonable accuracy. Maybe one and a half inaccurately. You would need to be 400 meters from the cliff so you'd need to move around 1km down hill. This would take around 15 mins for a person to walk, but this is across rough terrain dragging a fair few pieces of trebuchet with you, under enemy fire.

A small portion of the Novan catapults moved down the cliff, following the Doomingsland forces and harrying them. A swift cavalry charge attacked from the rear. They formed 5 lines side by side and charged through the rows of legionnaires. Even though vastly outnumbered (only 1000 cavalry attacked), the heavy armoured legions were easily knocked down by the rampaging horses, and didn't get back up again since they were trampled by those cavalry following. Those two heavy balls (do you know their name i forget =P)on the end of a chain also proved invaluable as they incapacitated many legionnaires without much trouble as the legionnaire would be knocked down, then trampled. Either way it was easier than stabbing them and coming into close contact.

For obvious reasons all the cavalry were lost. However, in combination with the heavy catapult and archer fire, as well as the fact half the army had already left, they inflicted severe casualties and even destroyed some trebuchets which were just about to leave.

Since some of the legionnaires had rushed from other parts of the column (since you're moving you'd be spread out rather than concentrated) to help fight the cavalry, a second cavalry charge had attacked the part of the army that was slightly weakened as a result. The legionnaires had not completely abandoned their defence of that area, but with the weaker defence, some of the horses reached some trebuchets and managed to destroy it. This second cavalry charge had only 750 men.

OOC:My main force on the cliff left about to posts back, and you wiped the rest out with your last attack, so your basicly attacking nothing. And my army at the bottom of the cliff was waiting for a counter attack... If you read all my posts, my army's around 400,000, so its no big deal to deploy another 10,000.

"Here they come!" yelled the centurion as the abandoned cliff was overrun with enemy cavalry.

"Kill them all!"

1,000 cavalry followed by 3,000 infantry swarmed up that part of the cliff, with the rest of the men preparing for another attack. A barrage of greek fire preceeded the charge, and the men swarmed the enemy ranks...

Word of the Artican defeat at Nova Cartago, the new emperor was not pleased by this. 3 days later, imperial preatorians went out into all corners of the empire and posted signs. They read

"By order of his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Kellerman, the empire hearby declares war on the small country of Nova Cartago and it's people. All legions are hearby called back to active duty starting immeadiatly.

For Country and Emperor!"

Within another day of the notice being up, all 300 legions were active. The navy was being prepared. Word of the Doomingsland troops being held back from the Holy City of the Novans put a small fear in the weaker men, making them think that god favors the Novans instead of Articans. 100 transport galleons were loaded with 25 legionnaires for guards and lots of supplies. The other ships that would be sent were being prepared to recieve the troops. The first wave of forces to be sent to the Imperial fort on the Doomingsland coast was the 25th, 89th, 243rd and 156th legions were preparing to depart. The legions all have the following forces(thus why they were all picked for the first deployment.)

7945 Swordsmen
5934 Pikemen
2345 Cavalry Knights
4200 Longbowmen
50 Trebuchets
200 Seige Onagers

The Legions boarded the galleons and departed. They were predicted to arrive in 2 weeks.

Withing 2 days ahead of schedule the galleons arrived at the stone port which connected the rest of the Imperial fort with the empire. The men and supplies were unloaded and prepared to march towards the captured fortress where the black army was stationed. With increadible speed the legions had caught up with the new Doomingsland force that had just disembarked from their capitol and marched behind them to meet up with their allies.

NI!!!!!!!!!!

We found a witch, can we burn her?

Please don't turn this into a monty python rp.

If you read all my posts, my army's around 400,000, so its no big deal to deploy another 10,000.

As I recall I said that 400,000 was a ridiculously large number of troops to have for a country which you say is almost entirely lava plains and blasted lands. On the other hand I have always stated that my valley is very fertile and full of various livestock and wandering herds that I can butcher at will.

My main force on the cliff left about to posts back, and you wiped the rest out with your last attack, so your basicly attacking nothing.

You said that you were going elsewhere along the cliff to attack, so in response to your "withdrawal" or whatever I sent cavalry in to harass your flanks as you were moving downhill.

So before we continue with this battle could we just clear up what's going on? I have currently got around 15,000 archers, 5,000 cavalry (erm 3500 if you don't include those I sent to attack you) and 10,000 infantry, as well as about 200 war elephants and close to 500 assorted war engines. About one quarter of my army has gone downhill, following your army to stop it from breaking down my cliff and coming up. The rest are holding steady, defending the fortress at the top of the cliff on either side of the canyon which is the entrance to my valley. Furthermore this canyon is blocked by a giant wall about 250 meters down the canyon, around a corner.

Where are all your troops? I don't really want what types of people you have, just your location. I am terribly confused.

As I recall I said that 400,000 was a ridiculously large number of troops to have for a country which you say is almost entirely lava plains and blasted lands. On the other hand I have always stated that my valley is very fertile and full of various livestock and wandering herds that I can butcher at will.

Remember, me and Doom are great allies and I have lots of fertile land and he has lots of precious metals to trade for food so it works out.

OOC:What's there not to understand? I only sent a small group up that cliff, and you wiped them out, the rest of my guys are at the bottom of the cliff. And when the hell did you get all of those guys? Last time I checked, you only had a few hundred, and don't go saying you reproduced, because you sent all of your women to Commarogh. I moved my TREBUCHETs to attack the other cliff, you cavalry and such would still have my line to break through, so there wouldn't be any visible flanks to harras.

The Artican legions arrived at the captured fortress in the Novan mountain side. They waited outside the large gates for the Doomingsland troops to open them and allow them passage.

The Doomingslandians were exuberant at the arriving reinforcments, and let the marching Articans in without stopping them.

The gates opened and the Articans entered. The troops broke formation and went exploring their new dwellings while the 61 officers(15 for each legion and I sent 4 legions) rode over to the stables, tied up their horses and walked over to the command centre. Cpt. Morricle commanded the 25th legion, Lt. Tondor commanded the 156th legion, Commander Fable commanded the 89th legion and Cpt. Versety commanded the 243rd legion. High Commander Augustus had the ultimate authority however. He was the commander of the Moonmoth legion fort that each of the previously said legions were stationed. They went to the Doomingsland commander and asked for a report on the situation, a map showing allied and enemy troop locations and a report on how many casualties each side has had so far.

"So far, we've had 25% casualties. But we've killed everything in our path, we estimate we must have killed around 5,000 by now." marching could be heard in the distance, "That'll be the reiforcments. Our total strength is now 18,000 strong. But that's just my men. What is your total strength?"

"We have four full legions making a total of 82 696 troops total. Tomorrow we request that we march out with your troops so you can escort us to a position of attack. With our total amount of men and supplies we should be able to break through the mountains and arrive at the foot of the valley leading to their city. There we will make camp for the night and attack at first light the next day. The siege of the city should go swiftly."

OOC:Nova Cartago, you should rp your people(the ones that escaped on the Commoragh ships) setting up a new settlement or something cause it's most likely that your Holy City will fall to me and Doomingsland.

The next day the Artican troops prepared to move out. Each legion was in its own line. The 15 officers of each legion rode at the front of his respectable line and the High Commander rode in front of all of them. They waited for the Doomingsland troops to get ready.

OOC: Articas, thanks for reminding me of my Commoraugh pop, completely forgot about em. BTW that fortress they capped has been destroyed. And Doomingsland you never quite made it clear that you only sent trebuchets to attack, it seemed like you sent your army down with it. Is it too late to undo my cavalry charge?

To Commoraugh: "Again Commaraugh we thank you for your generosity. We will send our old people, wives and youngest children with you, with your most profound thanks.

That quote is from page 12, down the very bottom. I didn’t send all my women over to Commoraugh, I just sent my wives aka the older women, I’ve still got plenty of women to breed an army for me. Secondly most of those reinforcements are newly trained, they’re either adults who were never militaristically trained, or children who are just growing up. I had a small army initially, but clearly its grown by quite a bit with constant reinforcements, which are mostly inexperienced. Of course yours are equally inexperienced since you haven't waged any wars yet.

And I have a pop of like 200,000. I have an army of about 50,000, and pretty much everyone else is a farmer or some other helpful thing. The way my society works, is that the men are soldiers up to the age of 45, they then retire and become farmers until they are unable to work. The women, on the other hand, are farmers their whole lives, or scientists.

How can you have an army of 400,000 if you have a population of 200,000?

OOC: How exactly did you transport 80,000 men across the ocean? It’s half the width of the world, that would take at least a year to reach Doomingsland from either Articas or TIOR. Assuming 5 boats per legion, being 1000 men, that’s 400 boats. If you came across the slightest of storms you would have lost around a quarter of your boats just from crashing into each other or getting lost.

As soon as night fell the Novans once again snuck out of the canyon. They crept around the camped army (took a while to walk past 100,000 people) then snuck out to where the Elite forces were camped. They rallied the forces and informed them of the new Doomingsland position. They brought only minor reinforcements. One anti-infantry catapult and two flaming wall catapults, 200 cavalry, 250 infantry and 100 archers, as well as 200 more Elite Guards. The Elite Guards already out there numbered around 500. They had built 5 relatively primitive catapults and had gathered around 100 horses. Under the cover of darkness they crept up behind the enemy position where it was practically unguarded with most of the army still near the canyon and those that were there facing the cliff rather than their rear. Only half the Elite Guard attacked.

Meanwhile 15 long-range trebuchets were gathered and moved to the cliff. A larger attack force moved from the cliff side of the trebuchet encampment. It boasted two elephants, 5 flaming wall catapults and 15 anti-infantry catapults. It had 1000 cavalry, 500 infantry and 200 archers. Ten Elite Guard snuck into the encampment first, quietly assassinating the guards then slaughtering the half-asleep forces surrounding the trebuchets. After fifteen minutes, or on the sounds of battle the rest of the cliffside forces attacked. With the elephants wrecking havoc in the front whilst archers and some infantry killed those attempting to flee. The cavalry formed one long column and charged straight through the camp. With their speed they quickly reached the trebuchets and destroyed many before having to do serious fighting. The catapults rained fire and stones upon the camp, causing serious damage.

When the Elite Guard saw the fire, they too attacked, this time from the relatively unguarded rear. The cavalry formed another column with the Elite Guard following closely behind. The cavalry also went straight for the trebuchets, with the Elite Guard following behind, killing those who survived the cavalry charge. The infantry and archers supported each other and did a more thorough annihilation of the camp.

Losses:
Elite Guard:
200 Elite Guard
45 Archers
3 catapults
200 cavalry
150 infantry

Cliffside:
2 elephants
20 catapults
800 cavalry
350 infantry
75 archers

This time, the men had been expecting the attack. After the last raids, they got fed up, and increased security tenfold. When the cavalry attacked, they ran into a wall of legionaires who stood fast, and halted the onrushing cavalry. Then, when the enemy catapults opened fire, the trebuchets came to life, and began dropping greek fire down on the soldiers on the cliffs, then 10,000 men charged up the hill...

OOC: Don't say I wouldn't expect this, becuase I definately would, after all of the raids on my camp.

Losses-1112 infantry, one trebuchet

Of course you prepared for another night assault. But I used different strategies than normal. I attacked from both sides, I’ve never done that before. My cavalry charge wasn’t designed to fight your centurions, only break through them, again a strategy I haven’t employed before. If my cavalry charge in rows of five then even if you kill the first five, the second row will just trample over you whilst you’re removing your sword or whatever from the dead body of the first row. I’m not really engaging your troops, I’m just rushing past them to destroy your catapults and trebuchets. The few infantry are there to engage your troops and distract them. And because they attack in rows of five even if you kill a few of the ones on the outside as I am rushing past I will still reach the trebuchets. So it’s ludicrous to suggest that I only destroyed 1 trebuchet considering I have two attacking forces and 1300 horses, or 260 rows. And those two war elephants I sent up first were specifically designed to defeat shield formations and such.

Just saying they stood fast doesn’t mean that they would be able to stand fast. A horse running at high speed with full armour is damned hard to stop. If you tried to form rows of centurions just to block me I could just trample over the first four of five rows before slowing down to a reasonable pace.

And lastly how did you get up the hill? It would take a whole day to move your trebuchets downhill away from my catapult fire. And it would take at least a month to even begin doing enough damage to the cliff to bring it down.

BTW I was just looking at the map. Should we assume that Sarmatia, Atarkos, Fortestan and Port Voxman are not coming back? And FYI the cove I’m talking about is on the map on the first page, right in the middle of that uninhabited island.

The Novan refugees on Commoraugh had become restless. Sitting around whilst their homeland was being overrun was not something they could stomach lightly. With the help of the Commoraughians they sailed south to an uninhabited island. There they built a small settlement and farmed the land. They settled in the little cove, a very defensible position.

After a short tie they sent a few boats back home to search for the remains of their nation. To their surprise the Novans had survived and flourished, holding back the Doomingsland Legion at the canyon entrance. They requested that 500 archers and another 1000 colonists return with them to build a second base in secret.

When the new colonists arrived they set about building a great fortress. They located it in the middle of two coves so there would always be an escape route. They erected great dirt mounds around both coves and hardened them by packing it down. Then they covered these mounds with concrete and built a tall wall over them, enclosing the whole city, including vast tracts of farmland. At the entrance to both coves they built two giant watchtowers equipped with a ballista each. From these watchtowers you could see ships that would take another 5 hours to reach the island, even with favourable winds. Another watchtower was built on the headland facing Articas. These could see ships up to 2 days journey away and transfer this information to the city. Henceforth they named this city Nova Spes.

Summary: My new cities abroad have built a fleet as well as a few supply posts around the world on little islands. The fleet is now blockading Doomingsland but is out of sight of land. Its about a years journey to Doomingsland from Articas so this blockade should go unnoticed to Imperial Articas itself for over 2 years. The purpose of this blockade is to stop food supplies.

After the construction of the new city they began the construction of the largest fleet the world had ever seen. Hidden away in their little corner of the world they worked day and night testing new ship prototypes and building a giant fleet. They built smaller fortresses on the little islands dotting the world, with the biggest two off the west coast of Nova Cartago and to the west of Imperial Articas. (see map) Unlike their other cities these supply fortresses were designed for stealth, hidden in the middle of the island, out of sight and with only a small dock. They acted as small supply depots for their growing fleet. They cleverly built spyholes on the tops of hills, either natural or manmade, which could not be seen from the ocean. Thus they were able to watch the maritime movements of their enemies.

They watched as boats constantly flowed from Articas to Doomingsland fullen laden and back only half-laden. When word reached them of the terrain of Doomingsland and its high population they realised that the Articans must be supplying them with food.

They sent two fleets to Nova Cartago and at night they sailed into a small harbour two days journey to the south of the front line. They already had 1000 archers (in addition to sailors) and a thousand ships. They requested and got 1500 archers and 500 infantry to join their attack. Another 1000 civilians were transferred to the City of Nova Spes for training as sailors. The soldiers slipped in and out of the valley through the canyon at night in groups of 100, with hour-long minute intervals between them. It took a week to request and transfer all the soldiers from the valley to the fleet. They brought with them a months worth of supplies.

The fleet split up and each went to a different side of the Nova Cartago/Doomingsland headland (is that what its called… it’s the little piece of land jutting out with our countries on it) and blockaded Doomingsland. They stayed just out of sight of land (say 30 kilometers out) and fanned out in groups of three, with 5 kilometers at most between each group, spread out in an approximate line.

I’m estimating my boats can go around 15 km/h in good conditions, 5-10km in worse conditions. So my fleet can cover 1500km (750 km on both sides), whilst still being able to clump into groups of nine ships within 20 mins or so. I reckon I can see some 15 km away during clear skies so I can reasonably assume that I can assemble 15 warships to meet any fleet of supply ships Articas sends. Another 15 ships would arrive 20-5 mins after the initial fighting. That means 30 ships to fight transport ships and any accompanying warships you may send. It is unlikely that you will send many more than 10 warships given the weakness of your navy and the fact I have yet to reveal my fleet. I guess it would be a year long journey to reach Doomingsland from Articas so you wouldn’t expect to hear back from your supply ships for over two years. So with the fact that most of the food is already going to the army Doomingsland would quickly be in a famine (say half a year).

OOC:That post is old, that was in the previous age. You realize charging your cavalry in such a small comlumn would only get your men killed, right? If they tried something stupid like that, they'd have people tripping them off their horses left and right. I doubt the cavalry charge would work well running into a bunch of well concentrated spears, too. It only takes about six months to sail from Spain to China, so why would it take a year for me to sail to Artica? You can't change it, BTW, that would be godmodding, so my supplies aren't gonna stop. How are my men inexperienced? Weren't you paying attention to all of those barbarian purgings, which still go on? I use them as training exercises. And you also completely ignored Artica's navy, he probably would have met your ships on the way to my country. And were did you get this term 'headland'? Its a penninsula.
OK, now I'll post crushing your cavalry in detail,


IC:

"Triarii, form up!"

The long line of Triarii spearmen lined up, and upon seeing the concentraded rush, put a huge amount of spears in front of them...

The cavalry hit the front row, running into the wall of spears, and killing themselves, but more cavalry kept coming, and went right over the spearmen. More men began to pour into their flanks, knocking the riders right off of their horses, and the spearmen continued to reinforce the main line, keeping a thick wall up. Finnaly, the horn was blown, and a swarm of Hastati(swordsmen, armed with a scimitar and two pila) rushed the halted enemy cavalry, throwing their pila, then charging. After the cavalry had been thouroughly curshed, they moved on to the charging soldiers coming after the cavalry.

OOC:Now for the other side,

The men had spotted the men coming down the hill. They waited to be in range, and the archers opened fire with lit arrows, scaring the elephants, and setting men alight. The trebuchets also began to fire, loaded with greek fire, causing massive casualties. When the cavalry drew closer, the spearmen held their ground, and knocked many riders off, but a second row of riders would come and destroy that row of spearmen, but another row of spearmen would take those riders out, ect. This all but stoped the cavalry, and as the enemy infantry arrived, the swordsmen hurled their pila, and charged at them.

OOC:You also forget you are charging an army with superior numbers.
-------------------------------

Meanwhile...

The emperor had decided that reliance on Artica had become to costly. He immediatly ordered expansion northward, into the rish farmlands. An army 10,000 strong headed out north, and found it to have rich soil, and dense forests, but no settlements. They immediatly began farming the land, and harvesting food. Massive communal farms were constructed, manned by soldiers and their families. In another year, Doomingsland would be producing its own food.

Construction of a navy to crush the blockade also began.

OOC: Sorry, so it would take a year for Articas to respond. My knowledge of how long it takes to sail from one side of the world to another is faulty. Also sorry that I said you were inexperienced, I must have forgotten that post.

Articas himself has admitted that he has a relatively weak navy, I never ignored his navy I merely noted that unless he sent all of his navy to guard one transport then I would most likely destroy the whole transport fleet. It would be impractical to send an entire fleet of ships at one time, it would make much more sense to send a few ships several times per year. And the term headland is more appropriate than peninsula, a peninsula is an island chain. I just thought headland was for smaller pieces of land jutting out.

Have you heard of armoured knights? The Romans etc didn’t have all that many cavalry and their horses weren’t as thoroughbred as Medieval horses and thus couldn’t stand the weight of an armoured knight as well. Besides my horses are also heavily armoured and so they wouldn’t be crushed by a simple line of spears. The whole idea of charging in a column five horses wide was so that if you dragged off the two at the sides the three in the middle would continue charging. And pila are Roman in design aren’t they? You’re the one who’s living in the past. They weren’t designed to work against heavily armoured opponents, they were designed to it shields and snap off making that shield unwieldy. That doesn’t work quite as well against armoured knights who rely less upon. I guess my elephants were a bit antiquated. I guess next time I should blindfold em.

I may be fighting superior numbers but I have heavily armoured horses and you do not. In addition I have catapults which you forgot to mention. Ones that can fire flaming bales of hay to both disrupt your formations and destroy your night vision.

And lastly how can you afford another 10,000 troops? I thought you had some 5000 left guarding your homeland. And just remember my fleet still hasn’t made itself visible yet, we still need to wait for the ships to arrive and there’s an inaccuracy of about a month for any sea voyage generally, so even if I do ambush a ship you might not notice for a week or two.


Ok just a few stats for my fleet:
There are three main classes of boat in the blockade fleet. There is the Whale Class and the Dolphin Class of warships and they are supported and supplied by Turtle Class transport ships. The Whale Class ships are larger ships that are deep-bottomed and therefore are well suited to deep waters. In event of a storm the Dolphin Class ships can be latched onto them to help avoid being destroyed. They are equipped with a catapult on one side and a ballista on the other. It can also ram enemy ships and board them. They are manned by 15 (armed) sailors and can hold another 100 soldiers. It can travel at about 40km/h at best (with good winds and with the slaves rowing full speed) It would travel about half that during flat conditions. Each of these is accompanied by two smaller Dolphins which travel at 60km/h with wind, only around 20km/h rowing. These mainly shoot flaming arrows at ships and for boarding. They are manned by 10 sailors and can hold 20 soldiers. The Turtle ships are quite slow moving and have no slaves to row. They can be rowed by the sailors. It carries only needs 5 sailors for smooth sailing, but can carry up to 500 soldiers and 5 tonnes of supplies. It moves around and supplies ships with food. It moves at only 20km with wind, 10km/h rowing.

There are 700 ships on the Artican side of the headland. They are most concentrated near the Front Line and near the Doomingsland capital. They are most spread out at the southern tip, with 10km between each group of 3 ships. There are 300 on the other side, with a small supply area in the cove to the south of the Front Line.

These are just the ships in the blockade fleet. Other ships are defending and exploring the ocean.

BTW please write the size, location and defences of any forts, cities ports etc you have on the coast Doomingsland. You might want to do the same Articas.

OOC: 1. No problem for reminding you about your other people 2. I never said my navy was weak, I said it was weak compared to my army, I have enough transport ships to transport all my legions, have 50 others transport food and supplies, and I have a large number of war vessels. 3.I only send ships with supplies to Doomingsland once a year and all of the food is pickled so it doesn't spoil and 4. sorry, didn't know the Doomingsland fort was destroyed, I'll just say my troops met up with his.

IC:The Artican troops marched forward into the battlegrounds. Thanks to the Doomingsland troops all the enemy was cleared out of the way creating a highway for the troops. The plan was to allow the Doomingsland forces to take out the Novans and once the city was reached, the full power of the Artican attack force could be unleashed upon it.

OOC:Here is a description of my embassy/fort I have on the coast of Doomingsland.

IC:The waters were calm that morning. The dock that was the only available spot to land ships because of the mountains was heavily fortified. First there was the dock leading out of the water, about 100 yards away from the docks was a large stone fortified wall with a single iron gate. There were 2 guard towers at the dock and another 4 at the wall. Inside the walls was the small settlement. It consisted of a market, 8 houses, a barracks, archery range, stable, siege workshop and a castle was being constructed in the middle. The century in one of the guard towers at the dock watched the 7 frigates sail around patrolling as usual and the other 3 frigates at the docks. He thought it was boring being stationed at the base for it would be crazy to attack it. An invasion from the sea would be nearly impossible for the frigates would destroy most ships and the archers in the 2 towers would hand out heavy casualties. Even if the ships did land there were 10,000 legionnaires stationed in the fort as well as 5,000 archers and javelin men. 2 trebuchets also faced the waters. An attack from land would be just as crazy for the invaders would have to go throught the Doomingslanders first.

Back at the empire

The emperor felt troubled and had trouble sleeping. Since he declared war on Nova Cartago he wondered about what would happen. If he won, the empire would split the land with Doomingsland and would have an unforgiving people probable plotting to rebel. And not to mention how many men he would lose. If he lost then the empire would be humiliated and once again, there would be many men lost. If both sides fought each other to a stand still then the empire would be open to attack from others. It was a difficult situation. The next day a rumor was spreading that some fishermen had spotted large warships heading to a small, remote island near Artica. The closest fort to the island, Fort Hawkmoth, sent out scouts on the fishing ships undercover. They did not land on the island but had noticed bizaar activity for an uninhabited island. No sooner than 2 weeks later, ships returning from a diplomatic mission in Commauragh told of the Novans that had escaped from their homeland. They had herd that the Novans were constructing a seamingly superior naval fleet rivaling that of the empires. Naturally the emperor did not like this and, fearing an attack on his people, ordered the construction of several more ships to be constructed. Large shipments of wood were being taken from TIOR and helped keep the supply of good wood available for the ships.

OOC:Just realized, were about in the 3rd age now.

IC:Because of the war in Nova Cartago, the Emperor ordered all longbowmen to train most of the day to prepare. At a newly opened archery range in the mountains of sand, 30 longbowmen were preparing to release their arrows. They all lit the arrows with fire, took aim, and released their arrows so they made a huge arc in the air and came plumeting to the ground. As soon as the arrows hit the ground, the sand exploded. The troops were terrified at this but at the same time amazed. They went back to their barracks and word of this was sent to the emperor. The area was closed off and 20 of the empires best minds were sent to study the phenomenon.

OOC: No worries about the captured fort thing, its no biggie, as long as your troops are looming somewhere out of range of my catapults. Oh we skipped straight past the Dark Ages from the Ancient Era and went straight onto the Medieval Times. rofl I just noticed I use different names for each time period. Just out of interest what new technologies were introduced during the age of enlightenment etc? I have a rough approximation of scientific discoveries but not of any specific weaponry developed during this time.

The Novan scientists were now researching what they termed “cluster bombs” (Yes I know it’s a bit early but even early projectiles did a bit of exploding). These were specially made catapult projectiles that when they hit the ground would explode and shower the enemy with flaming sharp metal fragments. It was basically a vase full of Greek fire within a tough leather bag full of sharp stuff. Thus far it was not a great success as the Greek fire-based chemicals they were using did not throw the shrapnel far enough or exploded when fired, damaging precious catapults. They were however experimenting with combining chemicals such as saltpetre and sulphurous compounds into that mixture to provide a more explosive effect. Smaller “cluster bombs” were loaded onto the ships for use against enemy ships.

In another coup from the Novan scientists they had managed to steal the basic principle of the trebuchet (of counterweights etc) and adapt it to an easier to use (well at least for sailors who are good with ropes) treb-apult on ships, rather than the mechanical wind-up thing they used to have. The range was only marginally better than that of a catapult, but a bit more accurate when moving.

The Novan fleet was not yet equipped for launching attacks against the largest fortifications on the Doomingsland coast, but it could begin to raid the smaller settlements along the coast. Four small band of reinforcements (only ten Whales) swept up and down each coast, meeting roughly in the middle, with help from 30 nearby blockade ships. They targeted any obvious docks and other related buildings first. They mostly ignored any anti-land defences, but tried to at least temporarily incapacitate anti-sea defences by throwing flaming hay bales at them. For those larger unassailable ports that were sheltered in bays (most large ports are… in fact almost all ports are) they threw rocks into the bay entrance to stop any sea-going vessels entering or leaving. Only smaller coast-hugging boats could enter/leave.

In their scouting they encountered the Doomingsland farming settlements to the north. They sent a small recon party, only 1 man of 50 made it back alive. He reported seeing no massive defences but a large body of troops.

They also began to expand their network of seabases. They established a small embassy in Scimar and made two small outposts on the islands to the NW of Articas. These each boasted 500 civilians and 50 soldiers. Again it was hidden from sight. Scoutships also brought news of the lost civilisation of Sarmatia (This is Universalist Totality, he’s definitely left for sure). If you have no objections I’d like to colonise Artarkos at a later date.

The first expeditionary ships were also sent to Imperial Articas, only small boats, that could be mistaken for tribal fishing boats, launched from the fort just south of Articas. After preliminary scouting (only very basic at this point) a few unarmed troops crept into very small villages and talked to the inhabitants. They offered them small amounts of food and a bag of gems (if you recall Nova Cartago is rolling in gold which is why you’re invading) to convey this message to the Emperor.

“We the peoples of Nova Cartago have done you no harm. If you want gold or food or other resources we are more than happy to trade with you for them. Nay we may even give them to you in time when our friendship grows stronger. We have no quarrel with you, it is with the Doomingsland barbarians that we wage war with. However if you continue to threaten us our diplomatic stance may change somewhat.”

OOC: Articas when will your yearly food shipment arrive? And how many warships are accompanying it? I was going to just outright blackmail you by making small raids, burning fields and kidnapping a few people but I decided on this approach after your last post =P.

OOC: No worries about the captured fort thing, its no biggie, as long as your troops are looming somewhere out of range of my catapults. Oh we skipped straight past the Dark Ages from the Ancient Era and went straight onto the Medieval Times. rofl I just noticed I use different names for each time period. Just out of interest what new technologies were introduced during the age of enlightenment etc? I have a rough approximation of scientific discoveries but not of any specific weaponry developed during this time.

The Novan scientists were now researching what they termed “cluster bombs” (Yes I know it’s a bit early but even early projectiles did a bit of exploding). These were specially made catapult projectiles that when they hit the ground would explode and shower the enemy with flaming sharp metal fragments. It was basically a vase full of Greek fire within a tough leather bag full of sharp stuff. Thus far it was not a great success as the Greek fire-based chemicals they were using did not throw the shrapnel far enough or exploded when fired, damaging precious catapults. They were however experimenting with combining chemicals such as saltpetre and sulphurous compounds into that mixture to provide a more explosive effect. Smaller “cluster bombs” were loaded onto the ships for use against enemy ships.

In another coup from the Novan scientists they had managed to steal the basic principle of the trebuchet (of counterweights etc) and adapt it to an easier to use (well at least for sailors who are good with ropes) treb-apult on ships, rather than the mechanical wind-up thing they used to have. The range was only marginally better than that of a catapult, but a bit more accurate when moving.

The Novan fleet was not yet equipped for launching attacks against the largest fortifications on the Doomingsland coast, but it could begin to raid the smaller settlements along the coast. Four small band of reinforcements (only ten Whales) swept up and down each coast, meeting roughly in the middle, with help from 30 nearby blockade ships. They targeted any obvious docks and other related buildings first. They mostly ignored any anti-land defences, but tried to at least temporarily incapacitate anti-sea defences by throwing flaming hay bales at them. For those larger unassailable ports that were sheltered in bays (most large ports are… in fact almost all ports are) they threw rocks into the bay entrance to stop any sea-going vessels entering or leaving. Only smaller coast-hugging boats could enter/leave.

In their scouting they encountered the Doomingsland farming settlements to the north. They sent a small recon party, only 1 man of 50 made it back alive. He reported seeing no massive defences but a large body of troops.

They also began to expand their network of seabases. They established a small embassy in Scimar and made two small outposts on the islands to the NW of Articas. These each boasted 500 civilians and 50 soldiers. Again it was hidden from sight. Scoutships also brought news of the lost civilisation of Sarmatia (This is Universalist Totality, he’s definitely left for sure). If you have no objections I’d like to colonise Artarkos at a later date.

The first expeditionary ships were also sent to Imperial Articas, only small boats, that could be mistaken for tribal fishing boats, launched from the fort just south of Articas. After preliminary scouting (only very basic at this point) a few unarmed troops crept into very small villages and talked to the inhabitants. They offered them small amounts of food and a bag of gems (if you recall Nova Cartago is rolling in gold which is why you’re invading) to convey this message to the Emperor.

“We the peoples of Nova Cartago have done you no harm. If you want gold or food or other resources we are more than happy to trade with you for them. Nay we may even give them to you in time when our friendship grows stronger. We have no quarrel with you, it is with the Doomingsland barbarians that we wage war with. However if you continue to threaten us our diplomatic stance may change somewhat.”

OOC: Articas when will your yearly food shipment arrive? And how many warships are accompanying it? I was going to just outright blackmail you by making small raids, burning fields and kidnapping a few people but I decided on this approach after your last post =P.

OOC:The next age is like muskets and cannons. About the time the americas were found.

IC:The Novan message had been delivered to the emperor. Almost immeadiatly he knew that the small island that his men saw was a Novan base. He sent 3 galleons with 15 legionnaires in each to the island. The legionnaires disembarked from their ships and in about an hour, found the fort. They went up to it and asked to come in. They said it was a reply from the emperor.

Back at the battle

The Articans continued to follow the Doomingsland troops to the city. They only had to participate in small skirmishes so far because the Doomingslanders were destroying everything. It would only be a matter of time before they reached the city.

The people sent to the Hills of Sand had discovered that the powder was very explosive. It was told to the emperor and was seen to have great militaristic properties. All arrows were then fitted with bags of the powder that were set to explode when the arrow makes contact. This new technologie was being sent to Doomingsland with the new shipment of food. Considering all the mountains and hills in Doomingsland there would be plenty of the powder. Because of the great importance of the new technologie, 56 galleons, 62 galleys and 35 fast fire ships(ships specially designed to shoot greek fire.) as guards.

OOC: Just FYI Doomingsland is currently stuck against my giant cliff as he has been for the past few centuries. He’s managed to destroy about half a kilometre it just by bombarding it with catapults and trebuchets. But I seem to have stalled him somewhat with my own catapult assault that stops him approaching close enough to actually damage my cliff further.

The small fort, now nicknamed Nova Novae (officially just called Outpost #3) looked out at the three galleons and forty-five legionnaires. The leader of the small settlement was surprised by the Emperor’s wisdom in finding them here. He ordered his men to be fully prepared for an attack, but invited the legionnaires in. He invited them into the central court and provided as great a banquet as he could muster in just a few minutes. He had a small guard of 10 men wearing ceremonial armour and wielding short swords. He allowed the Articans to retain their weapons and armour. Another hundred troops remained within earshot. The other (300) troops watched the sea and the boats for further troop landings. A ship was sent to bring better ambassadors from Nova Spes, as well as a contingent of guards.

“Greetings ambassadors of Articas. It is good that you have agreed to talk. As you can see there are many weak points in the defence of your shores. With such a large coastline you could not possibly guard all points. We have known this for a long time and have not taken advantage of it. Likewise you could have wiped us all out, but have not taken advantage of it. This is a good point to begin our negotiations. Enough with the preamble, we have stated our cause, what have you to say?”

Another small set of reinforcements arrived from Nova Spes. This was a flotilla of only 150 ships, 50 of them transport ships. Their most important cargo was a new weapon in their famine war. Archaeological digs in Sarmatia indicated that the entire population was almost wiped out by a famine caused by a plague of “locusts” Locusts are common in Nova Spes, but not in plague proportions due to the equatorial climate. The reinforcements brought 20,000 locusts for release on the Doomingsland farmland. Given the nature of Doomingsland the scientists deemed it unlikely that such small creatures would fly over 200km of unfertile areas so Nova Cartago would be unaffected.

The new cluster-bombs were proceeding nicely. The saltpetre was working well and could fling the shrapnel up to 10 meters. Work was now underway to test its effectiveness in replacing catapults as the main way of launching projectiles long distances. In addition they had discovered that melting sand produced a clear substance, hard to see from far away. They named it “glass” since the scientist who discovered it was dyslexic and tried to call it grass.

They conceived a clever trick to provide ample warning of the next Doomingsland attack. They built a thick sheet of glass in front of the cliff, extending for some 2 kilometers. It was not straight, but rather, it curved over the top of those standing underneath it. The curve was only around 10 meters high. Of course you couldn’t see that it did curve above them. So when the first troops attacked and ran into the wall they would be afraid of course. Until they figured out the wall could be broken… easily. Then of course the whole thing would collapse on top of them. It extended overhead for some 200m. It was placed right up near the cliff so unless it was unlikely that it would be anything other than a full-scale assault. Either way the noise of the falling glass would quickly alert

The Articans went into the courtyard but even tho they were allowed to keep their armor, it was against good manor and they removed their armor and longswords so they wore just their white tunics and daggers. They sat down at the table and looked at the pittiful feast put before them. "We have recieved your message. Our emperor also agrees that there is no need for further bloodshed. He has authorized me to tell you our terms." Another legionnaire spoke "You and your countrymen will surrender to the empire. Your land will be devided giving Doomingsland the top half leading up to the foot of the valley of your Holy City. The other half shall become a province of the empire. You shall receive food, supplies, technologie and troops to guard your people, those are the benifits of being a province. We think this seems fair. Your people will survive, you get to keep most of your land that must mean so much to your people, and you will have a more efficient government" The first legionnaire spoke again "And you will be safe from any further Doomingsland agression."

At the Novan Mountains

"Sir, the Doomingsland army is pinned down." "Send 300 legionnaires around the cliff in secret and flank those catapults on both sides. Once the catapults are out of the way we can continue on. Have our longbows fire upon the enemy siege units also."

The legionnaires went quietly around the cliff and split into 2 groups to flank the catapults. They each got to the foot of the cliff and started charging up the paths to the catapults. The men sliced into the enemy and started pushing the startled Novans away from their siege weapons. They then proceeded to destroy the catapults allowing the Doomingslanders to proceed on the way to the city.

OOC: The cliff extends right around my nation. One of the reasons I refuse to give any territory at all.

At Doomingsland:
Fifty of the ships from the latest reinforcements joined ships nearby in an assault against the Doomingsland farms. Each ship landed a few kilometres from each other on the most accessible landing points. They offloaded their troops, which consisted of 10 light cavalry and 25 recruits from Nova Spes. Each of the cavalry carried 20 locusts and was ordered to penetrate as deeply into enemy territory as possible without being seen. They were to release two locusts every kilometre or so. When spotted they were to release all their remaining locusts. They held their hand over their little locust box so if killed they would drop it and all the locusts would be freed. The remaining locusts were handed out amongst the infantry who had similar orders (8 each). They however were to move more slowly and systematically burn as many fields as possible.

The warships distracted the enemy by attacking their ports and harbours. This was not an entirely futile action. They continued to throw rocks into the bay entrances and they continued bombardment of unfortified ports. In the fortified ports they sent suicide ships, ships with long curved spikes on the top which would position themselves in the middle of the bay entrance and catapult anything within range. When these were sunk they too would effectively blockade the entrance to the bays. In unsheltered ports they simply bombarded the seawalls and other such constructions so the entire fort would just collapse during the next big storm. Considering the strong winds that would exist up in the north it would be awfully silly to build ports in unsheltered areas.

The blockade against ships going in or out was now much more centralised. They stopped blockading the parts of the coast which did not have ports to land sea-going ships and those ships formed a much thicker blockade of the remaining ports. They continued patrolling these uninhabited coastlines with fast ships which could reach the nearest blockade within a half hour.

At Nova Novae:
The leader of the Novans was displeased.
“These are very similar terms to those that Doomingsland has given us. And we have been very clear on this matter. The Novan nation would rather die than surrender half of what is rightfully theirs! We will defend our nation to the last. With our giant cliffs we have held off the Doomingsland legion for centuries, how will another 500,000 troops help? We have asked for a simple treaty, not a surrender from you or us. Return to your emperor and convey our message. We will provide plenty of food for your return journey, much more ample than this meagre feast we have made in fifteen minutes.”

OOC:You know each day equals a couple of years or so so it still gives my legionnaires time to go around and up the mountain to attack your troops.

IC:

Nova Cartago

The troops continued to slaughter their ennemys and destroy their siege units.

At the Empire

More improvements in swords, armor and missile units continued to come. A new technologie know as the hand cannon(this is not a musket it is a very early weapon that was used during the middle ages.) The device was a small metal tube that was fitted to a shaped piece of wood so the explosion would not hurt the hand. There was a small metal ball that was fitted into the barrel with a bit of the explosive powder now known as cannon powder. The user would then take a torch and light the powder which made the explosion and caused the ball to shoot out of the barrel at high speeds. Of course this weapon was very inacurate but that was being worked on.

On the seas

The Artican ships managed to get through the Novan blockade with the help of the powder that they used on the arrows, ballistas and catapults. They weren't major battles but minor skirmishes, no ships on either side was sunk or heavily damaged. They ships arrived at the port and unloaded the food, powder and books containing the information about the new technologie.

At Nova Novae

The officers looked stressed at the rejection of the very fair offer. They were given orders to negotiate so that messages would not have to be taken over seas and then return with a reply. "Well the emperor will not accept any terms of peace unless it donates land to the empire. How about this: We will pack up and leave your homeland and use our influence to try and have Doomingsland look the other way, and in return, you give us all your new colonies outside of your original home.(a.k.a all the new colonies and fortresses that your people set up outside of that place below Doomingsland.)

OOC: After your last surprise attack against my capital I set up 1000 scouts watching the entire perimeter. They can see up to a days march away and can signal each other with huge contained bonfires.

At Nova Cartago:
There were two men assigned to each watchtower. A third man would go to the first watchtower, replace a existing watchman who would then travel to the second watchtower the next day after informing the third watchman of his duties. In this way the watchmen would guard the cliff for over two years without being tired of seeing the old scenery day after day as he would be transferred after 2 months. There were 400 towers and at any one time there would be three watchtowers with three guards.

In addition two patrols of fifty men continuously made the circuit around Nova Cartago Valley, taking two months to make the circuit.

The towers had occasionally spotted an unusual number of shapes moving around down below so an increased guard had been mounted, with five men posted at the twenty towers. The patrol nearest to the trouble spot was boosted to 100 men, with a special contingent of 20 cavalry.

Finally one day one alert watchman noticed a small contingent of Artican legionnaires just over the horizon (I assume you would stay out of the cliff's line of sight for as long as possible) and heading straight for the cliff between two towers. He reported to the other watchman who then set up the bonfire. The alert watchman set off by horse to alert the other watchtowers. The 100-strong patrol was a weeks forced march away, so the watchmen assembled a lightly armed 30 man squad to fight the Articans.

It was nighttime by the time the 300 Articans had marched to the bottom of the cliff. The watchmen could not fire arrows down as it was too dark and the angles were all wrong. It took three hours for the Articans to climb the cliff. The watchmen, armed with hunting bows, spears and short swords fought valiantly against the elite (well i presume you would have sent elite forces) legionnaires, who were of course very tired after marching for a day then climbing in full armour. The watchmen, outnumbered ten to one were defeated. Another fifteen watchmen held the fortified watchtower 1/2km away from where the Articans had scaled the cliff.

At Nova Spes:
Those are indeed very fair offers. But we do not with to hand over the Island of Nova Spes, and wish to remain on the islands where we have discovered the remains of ancient civilisations. We will however allow Artican control of the archaelogical settlements to some degree. We will also cede all control of lands outside of Nova Cartago valley to Articas and we will place no onus upon you to negoitate with Doomingsland on our behalf. We would wish to retain a sea port/fortress near the entrance to our valley as well as a highway towards it.

If you want more concessions in addition to the territory we are offering we are given permission to offer limited military assistance and food supplies for up to twenty years. We will have to ask Nova Spes and Nova Cartago if you request additional concessions.

"Are you offering all the land outside of your original valley to become part of our great empire? If so we will accept and of course our troops will be removed from your territorry and your people may stay on the already settled islands." said the legionnaire.

At the Empire

Because of the increadible success of the cannon powder, more technologies with it were discovered. A full legion was now outfitted with muskets and cannons. Chemistry was also a new tech.

OOC:Before I pull my troops out of your valley, you should let me and Doom reach your city. It will be great for a siege of the city. Good RP and makes your people seem goldy for standing up against such overwelming odds.

OOC: Alright I guess I can live with that. How about you find a secret cave system that allows you to take a few thousand people into my valley. That way you can sort of bypass my surrounding cliff and avoid the majority of my army. Be warned. I have multiple booby traps around my city, although it is only defended by an Elite corp of 1,000 elite soldiers. In addition to official defenders there would be some 5,000 recruits (including war elephants being trained) with assorted weaponry being tested.

Nova Cartago

While waiting for the other troops to clear the path 2 legionnaires went exploring. They found an elaborate cave systeme that led them to the entrance of the valley. It was wierd that the pass was unguarded. They went back hastily and assembled the troops. Half would go through the pass and the other half would help the Doomingsland troops fight at the cliff.

The Novans prepared for another assault. They had discovered that powdered glass could blind people quite easily. So they made 2 tonnes of it, from a large sandstone mine to the south of the capital. They used their newly built trebuchets to scatter bags of the powdered glass over the enemy. The trebuchets had a range far in advance of a catapult and since the bags of glass were much lighter than rocks they could fling them as much as twice as far as their catapults could fire rocks. They sent their attack force down behind the gate to the wall and waited until the time was right. One night, just before dawn when the wind was strong and pointing towards the enemy encampment, they moved out the gate (it took an hour for the whole force to exit the canyon) just as the trebuchets prepared to fire. In addition primitive cannons had also been recently invented. They helped by firing very small cannonballs and bags of glass into the fray.

They wore safety glasses, fashioned out of… glass! They charged the blinded enemy who was unable to form into coherent lines or even see their enemy.
The attack was preceded, as was customary by fifty heavily armoured war elephants. They ran in and caused confusion amongst the enemy who could still see. Archers fired arrows from the tops of the elephants whilst their riders guided the blindfolded elephants (to stop them from being frightened by fire) into the largest crowds. Some soldiers also threw more powdered glass at the enemies.
Several columns of cavalry followed the elephants. It used the same tactics as before, but it was just as effective, if not more since the enemy could barely see. This time they formed 5 10 x 50 columns, each of the 5 columns heading for a different group of trebuchets.

Another 5,000 infantry followed up behind, lead by an Elite force, 1000 strong, the largest contingent of Elite troops the Novans had sent into battle at one time. These infantry were backed up by almost 10,000 archers, slingers and javeliners who stood from afar and shot deserters and confused enemies. Fifty catapults filled with burning hay also joined in the attack. They lined up into 5 lines and shot their bales into an approximate line, effectively forming a giant inescapable wall of fire.

They were organised into groups of 200 archers, 50 pikemen, 50 swordsmen and 20 elite guard. Two catapults, armed with bowling ball sized rocks accompanied each of these groups. In addition to these groups highly mobile cavalry archers encircled the blinded Articans and Doomingland forces and shot them down.

The cavalry penetrated deeply into the enemy base. A few were killed as the enemy managed to swing swords despite their lack of sight. But as the front and sides of the column were killed the cavalry from the middle took their place so it did not slow them significantly. They headed straight for the trebuchets, knowing where they were because they had seen it from the top of the hill using telescopes fashioned from glass.

The infantry did not attempt to penetrate, but rather just caused massive damage to the side enemy camp nearest to the cliff. The attack went exceedingly well, it was as though half the enemy force was not there.

The Novans avoided the heavily fortified areas since they had no catapults mobile enough to reach the fortifications readily. They simply attacked those troops camped outside the fort. (I’m not sure if you even made one, but I’ll assume you have one for your command.)

The cavalry and war elephants were all annihilated eventually. The Elite Guard suffered only minor casualties as they were well-experienced and sounded a retreat efficiently once non-blinded troops began appearing. The infantry took heavy losses, losing some 2000 men. The archers lost only 1700. All the catapults were set on fire and destroyed before the enemy could reach them.

Once out of the caves, the trebuchets were set up, the troops put into formation and shields raised to block the oncoming glass. They would not attack until the walls were destroyed by the trebuchets. Most of the massive siege units targeted the walls while a few of them targeted the enemy trebuchets.

The Novans were greatly surprised when they saw the Articans invading their city. "Their massive defeat outside the cliff was just a giant ruse!" shouted General Caius. "How did they get in?" He ordered another patrol to check the integrity of their outposts surrounding the valley whilst calling for reinforcements from the cliff. The few trebuchets the Novans had available were lifted to the highest towers and began firing at the enemy. More trebuchets were being built from stockpiled wood and more would come from the cliff.

There was one trebuchet of note. It was fixed permanently into the top of the huge tower overlooking the Main Gate. As such it could fire a bigger load without fear of collapsing. It was also protected by almost a meter of well supported rock with a foundation 10 meters deep. In addition a great stone ceiling that could open and shut at need protected it from enemy fire.

OOC: Is it ok if I come and reinforce the Novans army? After all, it could be assumed that the exploration fleet would have told me that there was a war on and that they needed all the help they could get. And they probably would have been sailing most of this time. Is that ok?

Stats of the Army that might have been sent to reinforce the novans:

2.5 thousand (and one if you count the head of my army) men total

Leader:

Field Commander Cerin Zael
Skilled at:
Swordsmanship
Throwing kinfes and other like weapons
Inspiring his troops

About 6' 2.5"
Shoulder length dark hair
Ambidextrous
Tatics aren't the best as most of the army has little tatical experience, though fighting to defend your homes against roving bands of nomadic savages helps.
Equipment:
2 shortswords
5 throwing knifes
Mail similar to that of a soldier, but minus the breastplate.
2000 infantry
Armed with:
A large, curved sword, usually wielded in 2 hands
Light Mail armor (A breastplate, a small bit of chainmail, rest is leather)

500 archers
Using:

A bow, about 4 feet tall, arrows about 25 inches long
A small knife
Leather Armor

(You may be wondering why I have no cavalry or spear armed men. It is beacause riding a horse or other thing liek that is an alien concept to my people, and so they have no riders or spear to defend against riders. Also, my army was sent out awhile ago, so their tech is old)

The arrival of the Scimarians was met with great celebration. They sent the most eager warriors off first with an accompaniment of 500 troops, meagre supplies and 5 trebuchets and 10 catapults. The remainder they sent the next day after a rest with 20 trebuchets, 10 catapults and 2000 troops, including 500 cavalry, 20 war elephants and 200 Elite Guard. Now that the Articans had breached the cliff the patrol was halved with only every second tower manned. The watchmen were sent to the former front line to relieve troops there for defence.

The Scimarian force was timed so right that it seemed just like one of their classic dramas, "Arrival of the Allied Forces Just In Time To Help Win The War." As such they sent a small token force to bring the fight to the Articans, in response to the god's portentuous gift. The catapults began firing flaming boulders (that would roll along) whilst the trebuchet threw powdered glass overhead. Now that the Articans had raised their shields they had to wait for the wind to be blowing towards them so it would hit the front line.

Ten war elephants and the entire cavalry force (500) used typical Novan tactics to reach the trebuchets and destroy them. Only 500 infantry were sent to back them up.

The enemy forces came and tryed to get throught the men in the tortoise formations around the trebuchets. The Articans slashed and hacked at the enemy and kept them at bay. However, the war elephants took them by surprise for they had never seen such beasts. 2 groups of men and trebuchets fell to the elephants but the men adapted quickly and the pikes did great damage to the giant gray beasts. They managed to repel the attack and concentrated their artillery fire on the massive walls of the city this time. After 2 hours off concentrated fire on one section of the wall, an opening was formed. Immeadiatly the men broke formation and ran to the oepening flooding into the city. To avoid capture, the siege engineers disassemble the trebuchets and took them to a small easily defendable position on the cliff, where 30 legionaires stayed to guard them. Once inside the walls the men formed into a giant square with the infantry on the ouside, and archers inside. The pikemen were actually in the front off all the others in the square, with the swordsmen just behind them jumping in beside their comrades when enemies got to close for the pikemen to fend off. The archers continually rained stormes of flaming arrows on the buildings and people alike of the city. Even tho it was midday, the sky was black from all the arrows whizing above. The square moved to the center of the city, which was just outside the palace of the Novans. There they held their positions until the signal was given.

OOC: Don't forget about that maze I put up ;)

Several trebuchets were annihilated and many casualties were inflicted upon the Articans in a single raid. Astounding success considering it was only a minor raid. On the other hand the Articans had concentrated all their fire on a singular section of wall. The Novan trebuchets continued aiming at the enemy trebuchets causing some damage, but not enough unfortunately to stop them breaching the wall in one section.

Fortunately the Articans had attacked from the side and not directly at the thickest section of wall in front. Thus they entered into a confusing maze of walls and ramps leading to walls that lead nowhere. In addition the various pitfalls the Novans had constructed for the first Artican invasion were still active and had been added to. This prevented a singular line of troops charging at once, and slowed movement so they either had to bunch up and be easy targets for catapults, or they had to go singularly and be easy targets for archers.

The trebuchet fire now concentrated on the Artican forces moving into the city. They fired alternating shots of powdered glass, shards of red hot glass and melon sized boulders. As the Articans came into range catapults, ballistas and archers began firing too.

5000 archers were sent to harass the Articans at close range within the maze itself. 1000 archers were sent to guard the walls. Yet another 1000 archers waited at the Inner City Wall where the maze met the actual inhabited city. 1000 veteran infantry from the cliffs were sent in very close formation to engage the enemy. They had great experience fighting in cramped conditions with covering fire. An additional 100 Elite Guard were also sent in.

Meanwhile the last of the cliff reinforcements had arrived. This brought the total troops to:
Scimarian division (now equipped with state-of-the-art Novan armour)- as stated above by Scimar
250 trebuchets
500 catapults
500 war elephants
1000 light cavalry
1500 Elite Guard
5000 heavy cavalry
10,000 infantry
20,000 archers (or light infantry at need)

Cliff forces stand at around 100 trebuchets, 1000 infantry and 2000 archers, give or take.

OOC:hehe, forgot about your maze. Let me clerify.

IC:When the first wall fell, the trebuchets started to concentrate fire on the other walls of the great mazes, vertually clearing a straight path into the city for the troops. (OOC: Don't want to repeat all my previous post of moving into the middle of the city but ya you know, that's where they are now.) As had been instructed, the Articans held their positions at the palace and waited. Their formation proved sucessful for they dealt with the troops the Novans had sent to harass them and their shields proved well to defend against all the missiles exept the giant boulders. 5 minutes later the Articans saw the sign. Out of the cave came 5000 heavy cavalry storming down the valley and into the walls of the city. They slashed and cut down nearly everything and everyone in their way as they joined the infantry. They continued to move in a straight line moving towards the infantry square making it look like they were going to trample their own men but about a meter away they split in two and went in opposite directions. The square then broke and the men broke out of rank and started engaging anything they could see. The archers, helped out by their shield barrers, stood by a building that would protect them from attack from above and still rained arrows on the enemy. High Commander Augustus, who had led the cavalry charge along with the rest of his officers, was in the middle of severing a Novan head when he looked up and saw on the cliff the reinforcements the Novans had recieved. He thought to himself for a moment and then ordered 50 swordsmen who where nearby to go directly to the city gates and take control of them. He ordered another 500 troops to go up on the walls and slay the Novan archers. The battle on the ground was pretty well over and Augustus left whoever was still fighting in their positions to finish off their opponent. The rest of the cavalry, and infantry alike went to the destroyed part of the wall and the infantry formed a giant line so to keep enemy from entering. Another 2 minutes past before the city was taken, but would it last? 10 legionaires were to round up all the people and prisoners and keep them in the palace for now until the larger threat on the cliff was dealt with. Learning much from the Novans on the technologie of glass, they used it on the Novans in their own trebuchets. The Artican longbows went up on the walls and waited until the enemy came into range.

OOC: Don't worry, I may have taken your city but I'll loose it fairly quickly ok? I think this just makes for a better rp. I will retreat out of the city later. O and my total losses are:

All the men on the cliff place with the Doomingsland troops are dead.
losses:34 724
still remaining in the city:47 972 plus all your captured siege weapons.

The Articans saw the maze so only a few unwary soldiers ran straight in. When they began unpacking their trebuchets after packing them to move in the Novans knew they were in trouble. The infantry would be rendered practically ineffective if they cleared a large path through the middle of the maze. In order to make the path somewhat smaller they weakened parts of the walls, whilst strengthening the parts of the walls next to it so only a small path would be created. Infantry were sent to combat the enemy cavalry. Their pikes and shields were ineffective against the Artican armoured horses who could run into a pike without too much damage - taking a leaf out of our strategy books I guess. The infantry therefore made a scattered formation to prevent a singular charge, minimising the damage.

Nova Spes and the other colonies had mustered a small invasionary force of 10,000 infantry, 5000 archers and 5000 cavalry, with an accompaniment of 1000 Marines, the Spesian equivalent of the Elite Guard. This combined with the small Elite Guard contingent to the north of the cliff and remaining forces on the cliff to take the remaining Artican and Doomingsland forces by surprise as they attacked from the east, north and south all at once. They suffered heavy losses but eradicated the enemy from the cliff. They hurried asap towards the city with the surviving soldiers to help defend the city.

Losses:
5000 men, including 400 Elite Guard/Marines at the cliff
2000 infantry against the cavalry charge
300 men (so far) in the maze

OOC:Hey, why are you sending troops from Nova Spes? Remember we made a truce but my messangers haven't arrived at my other force to tell them that yet. And I took your city, your not still defending it, your trying to take it back.

OOC: Well you can't just ignore all my walls... At least let me keep my citadel. I'll take back the troops from Nova Spes, forgot about the truce.

Once the Articans got their trebuchets within the maze it was incredibly difficult to damage them owing to the confined spaces of the maze and the high walls preventing the Novan trebuchets from doing anything. The Novans decided to abandon the city, with only the Elite Guard defending
the Citadel. By Novan law no building was to be within trebuchet range of the citadel so enemy trebuchets could still be shot down. The troops who couldn't fit into the citadel burst out the front gates, following the elephant and cavalry charge whilst a rearguard of 1000 infantry blocked all the alleyways from the maze nearby preventing Articans from following the retreating Novans. They encamped in the woods nearby with the reinforcements from the cliff.

OOC: Well you can't just ignore all my walls... At least let me keep my citadel. I'll take back the troops from Nova Spes, forgot about the truce.

Once the Articans got their trebuchets within the maze it was incredibly difficult to damage them owing to the confined spaces of the maze and the high walls preventing the Novan trebuchets from doing anything. The Novans decided to abandon the city, with only the Elite Guard defending
the Citadel. By Novan law no building was to be within trebuchet range of the citadel so enemy trebuchets could still be shot down. The troops who couldn't fit into the citadel burst out the front gates, following the elephant and cavalry charge whilst a rearguard of 1000 infantry blocked all the alleyways from the maze nearby preventing Articans from following the retreating Novans. They encamped in the woods nearby with the reinforcements from the cliff.

OOC:I didn't ignore your walls, remember, I changed my post, my trebuchets fired at concentrated parts of each wall till they cleared a path into the city. And ya you can keep your citadel.

IC: The Articans set up their trebuchets in strategic positions so that if the Novan artillery fired upon them, they would have a 80%chance of hitting their own buildings. The trebuchets kept firing at the base off the citadel that the Novans entrenched themselves in. The novan architecture was outstanding tho, and barely resembled being damaged by the siege, but they still fired. The longbows fired at any Novan head that popped up while the infantry used a battering ram to attempt to break down the door.

At the Empire

The Emperor sat ill in his bed. He was now 89 years old. His 2 sons, Marcus, and Aurellius, sat at his side. 2 days later, the emperor died. Not knowing who was to become the new emperor, the 2 sons started disputing. After another month, each one went to a seperate part of the empire and gathered the troops. Marcus took the west and Aurellius took the east. All the colonies in the empire still kept up their positions incase a foreigh power might come but they swore fielty to one of the 2. The 2 new empires split Artica in 2 and another civil war was born. By this time every single legion in the empire(with the exception of the ones in Nova Cartago) had muskets and cannons. The galleons had cannons and stronger hauls.

TIOR

The people of TIOR heard about the civil war and all agreed to stay neutral. Even the garrisons there stayed neutral. All ressources gathered on the island stayed there for once since the war was on. It made the people happy.

(OOC: o by the way, Doomingsland told me he's not in this rp anymore so)

IC: After the defeat that the Novans put on the Doomingslanders, the people started revolting. After 2 years, the entire civilization was destroyed, leaving only ruins in it's place.

The Novans encamped outside of their former capital began panicking. Their Holy City was been ravaged by the heathen Articans. They sent news to Nova Spes for aid. (OOC: yes I know we have a treaty- but the Cartagians don't).

They began construction on a basic wooden fort and prepared battle plans. The elephants were becoming a burden on the Novans limited supplies so all of them would be used in the next assault. The trebuchets that still survived would be preserved for later. The catapults likewise. Those soldiers who were injured or too old to survive much longer would also be used in the assault. The Elite Guard who could not enter the fortress would lead the charge, along with a contingent of injured warhorses. The Novans could not spare able-bodied men in an assault and they could not provide enough food for everyone. So this, despite the ethical morality of it was the only solution.

OOC: If you've got nothing else planned can we get the messengers from the negotiations to arrive?

OOC:They will arrive shortly. It's going to be funny.

IC:A galleon pulled up to the docks at the Doomingsland outpost that the Articans had. They unloaded the muskets, canons and other new technologies they had. 3 scouts also came on the ship. They unloaded and asked the commander of the fort to tell them where the others where. They raced for the Novan city.

OOC:Attack now please, and do it from the front gate. Trust me, it will be great, you'll practically push open the gate.

OOC: Alrighty then, lets give it our all.

IC:The Novans began to rally their troops with a giant pep talk.
"ALL RIGHT FELLAS WE HAVE LOST OUR CAPITAL AND WE WILL RECAPTURE IT." So the Novans rushed in. Tactics were abandoned- a very rare occurance for the Novans so very used to making maximum advantage of tactics. The Scimarians (Hope I'm not being too liberal with your army there) rushed in with them. Trebuchets and catapults were also abandoned in the Novan's fervor. The Elite Guard within the citadel were likewise whipped into a frenzy (if you have some plan with them just ignore this sentance) and they too rushed out of the citadel wrecking havoc on the surprised Articans.

As the Novans reached the gates of the city, they managed to just push it open to their surprise. The Novans poured into the city ready for anything, but to their dismay, the city was empty exept for the elite guards coming out of the citadel. The messangers had arrived in time and the Articans abandoned the city, marching back to the embassy to set sail home.

OOC: Lol lets party like its 1789!

The Novans decided they wanted to celebrate the retreat of their enemy. Knowing full well they were in peace time many riders set off after their former enemies to capture them, and bring them back to the city to celebrate their imminent peace.

The Novans thanked the Scimarians for their assistance and sent them home loaded with gifts and men to help them build up their civilisation. Meanwhile the more serious of them decided to begin the slow process of rebuilding their walls.

They also sent scouts towards Doomingsland to report on rumours of its collapse.

OOC: This is just a lot of dribble about what's happened. Basically what I want to say is that now we're no longer in war Nova Cartago will revert to its old ways of preaching civil rights and political freedoms above all else. And henceforth we shall be known as the Novan Federation.

State of the Union Report:
With the war over, many Ancient Novan traditions could now be continued. Amongst these were emu farming, crocodile racing, hunting competitions, normal trade and the State of the Union address. The first two were summarily abolished. The latter two were upheld and organised in due process.

The Supreme Commander of the Novan Combined Forces abdicated his power to the great descendant of the Kings of Old. The King, traditionally one of the Chiefs (who were voted into power by the people) of the Five Villages of Nova Cartago, had to, by tradition, make a speech on the State of the Nation once a year. Since the power of the King was suspended a few years into the war, he had over 200 years of updates to catch up on.

He dusted the layers of dust off the old reports...
"Nova Cartago is based upon the premise that all have equal rights and must therefore be treated equally. Centuries ago, our predessesors determined that the Doomingsland Empire, ou neighbours were in breach of our strongest law. After great debate we sent messengers of woe, only to be met with grim anger and frustration. I must say it was not the greatest idea. It is estimated that over 100,000 Doomingsland soldiers died in that war. And perhaps as many as 10,000 Novans, almost 3/4 of our total forces today.

But today we have seen the end of that war. The righteous have triumphed. Doomingsland has collapsed from centuries of mismanagement whilst we, urged on by our common belief in equality live on. Even now we are sending over men to bury the great lava fields that once surrounded the Doom Fortress and Citadel. We are sending our greatest agriculturalists to settle the blackened lands. We are sending some of our best engineers (of course we need them to help rebuild Cartago) to build a great trade route between the former land of Doom and the great state of Cartago. Already the Spesians are constructing two great seaports to connect Doomingsland and Cartago and Spes. We will prevail.

Yes, that small colony we founded at the beginning of the war has flourished into a fortress city with the greatest navy the world has ever seen. Its Marines are the equal of our prided Elite Guard. But we must strive ever further. We are establishing diplomatic and trade channels between our two major cities and the Artican Empire. And small scientific and archaelogical outposts dot the whole ocean. The fortresses built around the world will become trading ports and supply docks for the Novan civilisation. This is my vision. The vision of the Novan Federation united under a triumvirate of leaders, The Cartagan King, The Spesian (and Islanders) Supreme Commander and The Doomingsland (and other annexed territories) Guardian. This is my vision."

Then the crowd applauded and returned to their celebration.