Troop movement speed is actually pretty good as one end of the continent to the other is less than 20 days. Mechanized and Armored formations (and the Rough Riders) tend to be faster than foot infantry, and you would have access to them once spaceport facilities are available.
The smallest operational unit I'm using so far is a battalion at roughly 2 000 men. We can go smaller if we need to, but for the sake of my record keeping, mapping (and sanity) please don't do it if it's not needed. I'm making the same appeal to my filthy traitor, who will be undoubtedly amused when he hears what happened in Torton.
Jene is alone? Has 2000 men, etc... So 2000 traitors vs. how many loyal?
Assuming no losses since arriving in-system, against 10 000 loyal members of the 9th Culara. Obviously there were a few losses, so there aren't as many but still the vast majority are loyal to the Emperor.
In this case Jene is alone; I rolled to see whether she was trapped inside with the regiment or outside with freedom of movement and that's what came up (and it did make more sense that she'd have stayed in the headquarters instead of going in with the attack).
Vehicle or no? Jeep, atv, bike...
Let's say yes. Some kind of light vehicle normally used by medicae that need to rush between units in need, light enough to be landed by Valkyrie. An ambulance or the equivalent, slightly shot up in your thrilling escape.
Now, you're just reading my mind!
Alright, who was going to support Torton's assault this time? Who's landing there again?
I'll be home a bit late from work this evening, but should be in a position to write things forward if we have an agreed plan.
I understand what's presently discussed is attacks toward Wilton and Ardent, with the 9th Culara continuing to fight it out in Torton?
I understood Jene was not in communication with anyone, not even the loyal 9th Cularan. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't know what options there are.
I understood Jene was not in communication with anyone, not even the loyal 9th Cularan. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't know what options there are.
Quite the opposite; although the 9th Culara are out of contact, Jene is in contact with everyone except Arvitus/O'Hern by vox (although I can think of a few ways Yorke and Firmianus could get word to and from them).
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@Lucien: The latest plan sent to you was that the 117th Cadian Shock (your Heavy troops) would land in the vicinity of TF1 to support the attack against Ardent.
If you wanted to drop with your troops is your decision.
Torton is kind of a quagmire at this point. Even if we attacked, we've no idea of what kind of enemy is there now, and there is no reward for taking it over, unlike Argent that has a SpacePort.
Once we have two Heavy units working in concert and take over Ardent, we'll be able to drop some mechanized troops to then attack Torton.
I honestly don't understand the single mindedness of Ardent thing.
I don't either, I thought the whole 'land at Maxapra' was so we could build a spaceport, land armor/arty so we could have support when we made the attack. Not so we could walk a distance before sending waves of infantry at a heavily defended hive... maybe it's just me.
((also, if you'll remember, Kimes specifically said he wouldn't commit troops under his command to an unsupported attack on a heavily defended position. Which is one reason he ignored Arvy and went north to Maxarpa))
Then say just that... In character!
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I'm sorry if I've not been clear. I'll try to be more clear.
1) We don't know that Ardent is heavily fortified. We've had no contact. But we have taken over a city of a few million people and had no difficulty once the enemy troops were killed. That lends credence to theory that there will be no heavy defenses other than the enemy regiments. It's a city, not a milbase.
2) Maxarpa was a "proof of theory" attack. Take one city to gather the minimum of "common knowledge" for the planet.
3) It will take a week to build a base, during which time we are vulnerable because the enemy gets to concentrate against us, and we can not bring down armor to repel superior numbers of infantry.
4) The attack isn't unsupported. It would be five (six with Kimes) regiments acting in concert. BK has said that each regiment has its own artillery, and right now air is coordinated in orbit.
5) Taking over Argent lets us bring down superior forces immediately. That will give us the advantage we need as the enemy concentrates against us.
To sum:
A) The SpacePort at Agrent solves all our problems by allowing us to drop more troops, faster, including armor, which will let us fight better.
B) We've no clear evidence that it is heavily defended, but we do have evidence that cities can be taken.
C) No other city is doing us any good (Maxarpa is vulnerable by water, and Torton has no assets to use).
Does that make sense? =)
I'm thinking that we might risk redirecting another lander over to Jene and the Cularans, because according to that map there's another fresh regiment heading her way, and we don't want to watch them get mulched to pieces. I'm going to say that the attack on Ardent would be a go... tentatively, but only if the O'Hern feels his flank is secure. I'm all for cautious, but we DO have to be bold here or we risk making this a defensive war, and that we cannot win at the moment.
As a result, the Cadians are coming down to the position I indicated prior, but Yorke will be forcing the 821st Penal legion to instead drop down on Torton out of range of Ardent's GOW's in order to support Rodriguez.
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By "The position I indicated prior" you mean they're dropping on me, yeah? Just to clarify.
In that case, I don't like it, but I see the reasoning behind it, and it's a go.
O'Hern's Longspears are the largest Line regiment we have, so he should have numbers a plenty to secure his attack.
My Death Corps will get beaten to a pulp until the Cadians plow in, but it's for the greater good.
I might be late to this but Arvitus and O'Hern are cut off from comms.Firmianus can't hear you.
Yep, Cadians are dropping in on you Arvitus. Even if comms are down to Arvitus and O'Hern, it's still good sense to send the message in case it spikes through the enemy jamming. Good luck to us all.
Wilton? Who said anything about Wilton?But now the Highlanders are in perfect position to strike West into Ardent's Eastern flank, which is exactly what the plan calls for. So, um, I hope they do that. =)
I couldn't see any other cities to the east they could have been driving for, so I guessed ^^
Incidentally, the 821st Penal Legion - being out of contact from orbit last turn - very nearly didn't move but fortunately the word was relayed through to them or Jene would have had a very lonely update in the west.
At the moment there are conflicting requests for the day's drop; hopefully one of the players in orbit can decide one way or the other, as well as if there are any requests for the Navy.
I have to poke my pet traitor for some plans as we didn't get a chance to meet today; should be ready to move on tomorrow.
Incidentally, the 821st Penal Legion - being out of contact from orbit last turn - very nearly didn't move but fortunately the word was relayed through to them or Jene would have had a very lonely update in the west.
Chasing fireflies.
You're a great writer, I'm sure you'd have found a way to make that both exciting and tactically advantageous ;)
Awww... shucks. Thanks!
Awww... shucks. Thanks!
"And that is how the Genie stormed Torton on her own, persuading the enemy that the fireflies were the tell-tale signs of sniper scopes targeting each of them wherever they may hide." ^^
Alright, well that's Yorke's choice, he's coming down to see what can be done up in the frozen north! Hope you have the tea on Kimes!
1 squadron Shark assault boats, starships or wet-navy?
Drop on Wilton or west, you're the Flank!
Wilton it will be I suppose! Just modify my post to reflect it I suppose. We're going in! I'm assuming that you mean that the sharks would be turned into wet-navy vessals, correct? In which case, I'd suggest leaving them as starships myself.
Regarding Wilton, just so we're not always coming from the same direction and marching two days... Totally up to you where you land or how you support.
They were mentioned under the Navy spoiler in campaign tab.
Sorry if I confused things.
My character is still going north to Maxarpa, but Gene wants one of her regiments to land near Wilton to take Ardent, yes, if I'm reading it right.
Nope, I confused you.
I'll decide when is my regiment's turn to drop. Let me know what day.
Ah, my goof then!
As I understand it, Yorke and the naval labor battalion are landing at Maxarpa - or are you suggesting landing a regiment near Wilton instead? I note Arvitus wants backup for his drive on Ardent as well.
Jene, the last four squadrons (including the Shark assault boats) are space attack craft, and aren't really atmosphere-capable.
Got it.
Arvitus requested one of Firmianus' regiments, so that's up to him. I'd give him the 82nd Magellans from my own forces, but I was under the impression that we can only land one regiment from each task force at a time, and I'm coming down to Maxarpa with the labor force and the Chevaliers (Or the Rough riders if I can't get them.)
I'm still hoping for today's drop to be the engineers for today so we can get our starport up and running. Sorry but I don't see anything good coming from endless infantry waves against a fortified hive. For major cities you want tanks n stuff.. unless you want to accept massive losses...
If we're landing the engineers today (and it seems that's agreed) along with their equipment then we aren't landing any other regiments.
If we can establish a planned drop schedule for a few days in advance, that will help iron out some of this confusion I think; believe we're settled for today, with either Firmianus' regiment tomorrow (if he oks it) or possibly the Rough Riders (if he doesn't).
I know it's RP, but do we need engineers? Or is the port bring built anyway?
Engineers can be damn handy, and speed things up a lot. They bring the equipment that will actually be needed to build and run the starport proper. I don't see any of us having brought a ton of spare circuit boards and sensor arrays after all. We're not orks, we don't just cobble things together from scratch (No matter how much easier it would be to do so.)
Also, they can build us some far better defences such as fortified bunkers and tank-shrouds, as well as automated defences so that we're not just fighting them off with only our regiments.
I suppose I'll have my regiment come down later then, but I'm still going down to the planet with Kimes there to check out the area. I have a feeling that that zone isn't scot-free yet...
I get all that, and appreciate the breakdown.
But, I'm asking about the game mechanic. I remember the GM stating a spaceport could be built in 7 days, by a regiment. Didn't catch that it needed to be a specific type of regiment.
I said the spaceport could be built in 7-9 days by the naval engineering battalion; I don't remember saying anything about combat infantry being able to do it, but I have zero problem with creative problem solving and the Harakoni work will have and will continue to help as long as they're free to do so.
The engineers are needed for the actual equipment and infrastructure to make it a spaceport rather than a packed down landing field.
I see... I must have been skimming, getting a handle on the game.
Makes perfect sense then, ENGINEERS!
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If I might, could we hold off the engineers until next turn, and drop the 82nd Magellans now?
I mean, does it seem to make sense to wait on a non-combat drop that will have something ready in 7-9 days, when, with a properly supported attack, we can have a SpacePort now?
And cities don't always need tanks. In fact, due to the close quarters, tanks and vehicles are at a disadvantage in city fighting. We took Maxarpa, a city of a few million, with one regiment, and discovered that the populace isn't fanatically loyal. Hence, it's reasonable to think that a properly supported attack of five regiments would succeed at Ardent.
In fact, it's been said that we can't do both the 82nd(14,000) -and- the engineers.
What if we dropped the 84th (13,000) and, because it's a smaller unit, dropped 1000 engineers down?
Then we get both: The attack on Ardent is still supported, and Maxarpa can get a start on a second SpacePort.
Sound good?
Sorry, I'm as in favor of creative problem solving as the next GM but despite their varied size I'm going to stick to the 1-regiment-or-engineering-battalion-per-day rule for landings at the moment.
Once a spaceport is secured there's a good chance you'll be able to land more elements each day, although the first couple of bonus landings will probably be used reattaching larger artillery pieces to the infantry regiments already on the ground.
I have Lord Davias' orders, but I'll hold off on the update for now. Partly to give the players a chance to agree on a united plan, partly because it's late and I have an assessment tomorrow. I will progress the day tomorrow though, with whatever the agreed or majority plan may be.
Jene is focused on liberating the 9th Cularan Rifles, with the help of the 821st... she's not thinking about the next drop and her choice would most likely be overlooked or even ignored. Boys will be boys.
Honestly, Engineers should have been day 2 once Maxarpa was secured from Jene's perspective... and using the logic of "well why land Engineers when their benefit isn't until 7-9 days later?" means you'd never land Engineers, or we'd land them so late they'd have less impact (once you already have a spaceport).
At that point, they're icing on the cake. Also, using them to build a spaceport and not going on the offensive so early would/could have meant less casualties before we were ready with "arts and crafts". But, that's all just one perspective.
Another thing we should keep in mind is, although this is a military/warfare type game... we're playing against another player (most likely without decades of warfare experience).
That said, although sound military tactics are lauded, there is still a "poker" element to the game.
Jene would secure all surrounding infrastructure... Torton, Wilton by surrounding and fighting individual units (pockets of enemy)... while building a spaceport in Maxarpa.
Throwing men at Hive Ardent... just loses more men that is required for this campaign from her perspective.
Hoping the spaceport would allow 2 drops a day. One of course required to be to the spaceport.
Looks like you're getting your reinforcements from Firmianus there Arvitus. I don't think we really need to have yet another combat regiment drop down when you already have now three-five regiments to take the city. We'll stick to the plan we've got now, as it should be good enough. I realize that it isn't what you would consider ideal, but in all honesty ideal never happens in war, and I am worried about that naval force. Not just because I think it would be a beach-front storming, but it might also be something else... I want us to be ready to either attack or defend from there, so I'm setting up my shop in the north before expanding west.