Attempt to buy a 1000 fire bombs with profit factor.
Firebombs are plentiful +30
A 1000 is major -10
Profit factor is 59 I think?
"We should head back to the ship sir. We should be planning our next more against the Orks. Also I want to find out how this axe burst into flames. It could give us a further advantage" Lax say to the two council members.
"Aye, we have war preparations to finish."
What Happening with the Axe...
The tech priests check the axe over and initial tests suggest it is a normal axe using indigenous materials. Some wonder if the command crew were exposed to hallucinogens as there is no sign of burn marks on it.
Next they expose it to blood and it combusts producing a flame. Next test the expose it to dried blood with no effect. Liquid blood of varying blood types instigates ignition. Various other liquids are used to no effect.
A request is made for live xenos to be provided for further testing. If this can not be provided disassembly will commence.
Scouting
Most of your scouts come back.
-They report about various orkish settlements some built on older crude non orkish settlements. All have xenos warriors.
-Several formations of orkish combatants are noted operating outside these. They range in size from a dozen to several thousand warriors. Some are seemingly hostile to each other with various iconography and heraldry, others are clashing with other xenos and human forces.
-Some of the Ork Warbands seem to be conquering primitive indigenous tribes. The ork territory.
-The orkish bands include primitive pre industrial vehicles pulled by warbeasts.
-Smaller Orks are often present as other xenos.
-Large non orkoid pink humanoids are often seen fighting with or alongside them.
-Ogryn sized humanoids are seen in the larger warbands using extremely primitive weaponry and no armour of any kind.
-There is a report of one ork warband near your outpost using firearms of musket level technology against another warband.
-One group of scouts was approached by an ork who seemed to be trying to trade with them, speaking Reikspiel, eventually the ork grew frustrated headbutted a scout and walked away.
-Various reports for orkoid witches being sighted using their powers.
-Several reports of orkoid warbands comprised entirely of smaller orkoids. One made heavy use of arachnid war beasts.
-Crude catapults sighted.
"Can we find the markings of the greenskin who was willing to trade? Where there was one, there may be more. And when different tribes of greenskins are near each other, we can trick them into fighting each other. It seems to not need much provocation."
Your scouts were not able to discern the markings due to the erratic nature of ork attire it's usually only when seeing a large number such a pattern becomes apparent.
"Any plans for tricking the greenskins? Assassinate leaders? Shoot at them from a distance?"
"Our scouts reported Orks conquering primitive tribes. Perhaps liberating those would be a good place to start. After that I would suggest eliminating the leaders to the larger groups before launching any attacks".
Lax will go looking for a needle rifle clip and two inferno pistol clips.
"Good thinking Lax. Let it be done. We will strike personally at the harder targets. Be prepared."
Gizzard will wander off looking for Bolt Pistol Ammo.
Gizzard is able to track down a single stray bolt round after several hours of searching.
Are you going after a group of orks based on their size, physical location? What's your determining factor.
Garm tries to work out where the greenskin leaders are based. He will accept aid from anyone with relevant skills.
"Perhaps we should go after the ones who lead the groups ruling native tribes. We could kill the leaders, cause chaos, start a revolt and have our troops mop up the rest"
"Also it would make infiltration easier"
Garm doesn't know for sure but likely with their armies or in their settlements.
"In their armies, or their settlements. Let us probe with scouts, find the weakest paths to either."
It's going to take another two weeks for the scouts to get any information. About half the armsmen designated as scouts don't return. The Ork leaders are noted to be quite large compared to their followers but they aren't really noted to wander away from their armies either in their fortified locations or warbands when out on location. Though hardly a unified front a greater number of ork forces are noted to be constructing ships. Some smaller groups are heading east along the coast.
"Let us go through those ships first. It wouldn't do for orks to reach us easily."
High Factotum Erwin furrows his brow "We have a few shuttles with precious fuel and one wet navy vessel. You want to start attacking a great number of ork warbands constructing ships. I can understand the desire of going on the offensive but this is a rather broad operation that will eat into our resources. I'm just trying to understand Captain, the profit of this is purely to stem the tide of orkish wet navy before they can start to attack us yes?"
Gizzard will pipe after running through the daily checks on the idle helmsman station.
"Could we build a wet dock on our big ship? We can always tear it down when we get the big fella moving again.
We'd get some trade going with the natives. Some tasty docking and warehouse fees."
"With our limited fuel supplies and our current situation wet ships might be our only means of transporting our men and food to and from the ship. Sizing the Ork docks would secure our ship and enlarge our navy, which we can use for anything from defense to fishing.
An over land attack along the coast could work well, preferable attacking coastal towns that have oppressed native tribes, which we can exploit later"
"On the eastern side of the ship, it would let our boats stay in this port under the protection of our working guns. Against loan ships it'd be a waste of macrocannon shells and turrets could get them if an attacker is noticed. A large fleet would be doable, even a grazing shot would obliterate a few wet navy ships, make them reconsider." Erwin adds before continuing "We'd need a lot of construction material."
"Then we obtain the construction material! Can we buy it Lax? Or must we seize it?"
"Since we also need land to grow food on seizing some costal area would probably be best."
"Perhaps focusing some of our initial assaults near our outpost is best, it's not too far from the coast. Expand from there. It seems to be at the edge of ork territory and there numbers aren't as concentrated."
"I can live with that. We strike the nearest shore."
"I'll begin readying the necessary supplies and connecting with our men on the shore"
You have a total of 4,538 armsmen currently almost all of these on your ship. Deploying large numbers swiftly with your shuttles isn't too costly time wise but will eat into fuel supplies.
Using your wooden ship you can get say twenty men a week to the shore near your settlement.
The teleportarium is the swiftest means but somewhat dangerous of course. Ten armsmen being sent in a transport would be fairly standard but up to thirty could be sent but would be densely packed so vulnerable. The teleportarium could be used once every hour but this would be very strenous and increase the risk to sustain such a pace. Your tech priests would advise once every three hours so they can properly placate the machine spirit. Once every three hours would be Code Blue (0.25% chance of critical failure) and once every hour would go from Code Blue to Code Green (0.5% chance of critical failure) and after twelve uses would likely increase to Code Yellow (5% chance of critical failure).
How many armsmen and by what means do you wish to start mustering?
"So are we agreed? Us and thirty men on the ship to assault the ork docks?"
Lax will order our forces to keep their distance and use their shotguns at range
Garm makes sure that he is in the front of the vanguard, striking orcs down with his agoniser lash and distracting them from his men.