IC II

[PresGas]

Sumer

Sumer will continue to stick with the hasted archers, surveying the scope of her Haste spell and seeing if it should be cast in another area for maximum effect.

Not sure what hex all the archers are in. Also will be willing to move to a hex that would have mercs in need of Hastening.

[thirdkingdom]

Sumer

Sumer will continue to stick with the hasted archers, surveying the scope of her Haste spell and seeing if it should be cast in another area for maximum effect.

Not sure what hex all the archers are in. Also will be willing to move to a hex that would have mercs in need of Hastening.

All the infantry were hasted (it hits 24 creatures) so if you want the archers hasted you'll need to cast it again.

[PresGas]

Sumer

While staying with the archers, Sumer will ensure they are Hastened for increased rate of fire as the orcs approach.

Thanks for the clarification, my original intent was to haste the archers first, so at least I am catching them now.

[thirdkingdom]

Round Three

The adventurers continue to advance, slowing their pace. Sumer hastes the archers, who fire off volleys of arrows, eliminating the one band of orcs in range. The rest of the adventurers with bows also fire, although less effectively than the massed fire of the archers, and most of the orcs are still out of range. The orcish archers respond in kind, firing feathered shafts at Valru's riders. One of the ironskins slumps in his saddle, killed by an archer. The rest of the orcs continue to advance, as do the ogres and the mounted riders. Off in the distance, several more bands of orcs can be seen, stumbling out of their huts, rubbing sleep from their eyes!

There is a twang of bowstrings from behind the adventurers, and those that can risk a quick glance see a patrol of 8 orcs emerge from the brush from behind. They are likely the ones that Newton encountered, and they seem to have followed the adventurers! One of the infantry falls, an arrow in his back.

https://orokos.com/roll/821500: 2#1d6 3 2 Adventurers go first.
So, at this point I'm going to kind of abstract this. Each unit of archers can take out a unit of orcs in one round. PCs and henchmen I'll roll out as well. I'll likely make more specific rolls once melee is joined.
Newton: https://orokos.com/roll/821501: 4#1d20+7 12 18 16 19 4#1d6+2 3 7 7 3
Mardan, Sigmari, Wilter, Toma: https://orokos.com/roll/821502: 4#1d20 2 1 20 17 The orc unit in hex 20.17 has been reduced to 4/5.

Orc archers: Firing at Valru and her riders:: 5#1d20 12 14 10 19 3 5#1d6 4 4 3 6 6

The rest of the orc bands have 50% archers with them, instead of 100%, but only one band is in range of Valru: https://orokos.com/roll/821505: 3#1d20 8 9 11 None hit.

One of Valru's archers falls.
Patrol emerges from rear: https://orokos.com/roll/821504: 4#1d20 8 9 1 20 4#1d6 4 3 1 6 One of the infantry is slain!

Orc Fight End of Round Three.png (179.69 KiB) Viewed 1495 times

[PresGas]

Sumer

Sumer continues to be with the archers, observing the battlefield but confident in their leader's ability to direct these forces. She hopes that seeing the increased rate of fire will inspire them to direct their fire properly.

[shaidar]

Newton

"Beware behind, our infantry is exposed!"

He turns his attention to the orcs behind them.

[beniliusbob]

Zellar remains focused on the main line of enemies approaching from the village.

Sigmari An turns and looses her bow at the orcish patrol attacking from the rear.

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus continues advancing with the infantry (to 18.20). "Mardan, try to cover the rear...GARDO! Race you to take an ogre down!"

Mardan Cy dutifully turns on his horse and begins peppering the smaller group with arrows.

[VonAlric]

Gardo

Looking behind and seeing the small group of orcs, Gardo curses. "Hey Newto! Your friends followed you, probably want their arrows back! Someone take care of them!"

"Valru! Those riders are fast, keep at least one group off of us! Avenge your comrades!"

"Why race there, Feargus? I intend on having them come to me and die!"

Gardo move faster to 23.18 to begin flanking the orc line. As he goes, he starts crashing his sword against his shield and cries out to the enemy. "What? You only have two puny ogres? That's not enough to take out Gardo the Slayer of Chaos spawn! You might as well throw down your weapons now orges, no, half orges with a diseased kobold for a mother!"

He speaks to his female troop in a lower voice. "That might not have been a good thing to do just now. Be prepared, this is a test of our strength and mettle. Whatever happens, keep yourselves safe to fight another day if you have to."

[thirdkingdom]

Round Four

The adventurers advance with the pounding of hooves and the clashing of shields. The archers, moving with unnatural speed, fire volleys of arrows, wiping out two of the orc gangs. Two of the remaining gangs are undaunted, charging into the midst of the infantry and engaging in melee. Another gang quails at the onslaught; neither routing nor advancing, as the rest of their compatriots charge forward from the village to join the fray!

Newton, Mardan Cy, and Sigmari An wheel about to take care of the orcs approaching from behind; between the three of them they drop five of the eight orcs; the remaining three fire in return. Sigmari An is unlucky, and takes an arrow through the throat, and slumps forward in her saddle!

I'm back! And it looks like the forum has changed drastically since I was here last!
: 2#1d6 6 4
Adventurers win initiative.

Archers fire twice per round, each wipes out one group of orc.
Morale checks for three groups of orcs:: 3#2d6 6 10 5
Newton: : 6#1d20+7 26 27 18 9 12 16 6#1d6+2 3 6 3 4... Kills three orcs.
Sigmari An: : 1d20+1 13 1d6 5 Kills one orc
Mardan Cy: : 1d20+1 13 1d6 3 Drops another.


Orc Group 1: Need: 6#1d20 3 3 5 20 5 16 Two infantry are slain
Orc Group 2: Fail initial morale check, do not advance.
Orc Group 3: Need: 6#1d20 12 3 5 12 20 2 One infantry is slain.
Newton's Orcs: 1 Newton, 2 Sigmari An, 3 Mardan Cy: 4#1d20 2 2 20 14 4#1d3 2 3 2 1 4#1d6 2... Should have only been three shots, but the third still hits An.
Damn, Sigmari An takes an arrow, for maximum damage, and is slain.

Orc Fight End of Round 4.png (32.13 KiB) Viewed 1352 times

[shaidar]

Newton continues to fire at the remaining orcs, moving 'northwards' towards the infantry. (to 17.22)

"Marden, keep firing, we can help Sigmari once the orcs are dead"

[PresGas]

OOC - What groups have both of my haste spells? Would the archers fire more than 2/round on that?

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus
Feargus picks up the pace, waves the trailing infantry forward and engages the group on his left (with I1), swinging his new enchanted sword with abandon.

Mardan Cy
The young bard stares open mouthed at Sigmari's body as it topples. Panic in his brain, he fires as fast as he can at the rear guard. His head pivots again forward realizing he is drifting a bit from the front line. He steers his horse to close slightly with the melee. (move to 19.23)

[beniliusbob]

Zellar

The dervish howls in defiance and charges the attacking orcs!

[VonAlric]

Gardo

Seeing the line of orcs go down, he beckons to his comrades. "Let's stop them here!" He moves to 23.15 to engage the riders and attack.

[thirdkingdom]

Okay, so I'm still having difficulty getting time together to update this battle. I'm going to be out of town the first week in August -- and will ironically have *more* time to post, as this upcoming week will be spent getting ready to be gone. I'm going to go ahead and end this battle with the following assumptions:
*All PCs and surviving henchmen will end up at 1/2 hp: I'm not going to arbitrarily kill anyone else because I can't find the time to roll this out.
*Spellcasting PCs will have used all of their spell slots.
*1d8x10% of all mercenaries will have been killed (I'll roll for each unit: Infantry 1, Infantry 2, Horse Archer 1, Horse Archer 2). : 4#1d8 5 3 8 3
*1d6 of Valru's troops will be killed (on a result of 6) Valru herself is killed. : 1d6 5 Damn, that was close.
*3d6-3 orcs will have managed to escape and avoid being hunted. The adventurers can't do anything else for the day but *could* track them down the next day. I'm going to redact this roll.

The Conclusion of the Battle

The rest of the battle passes in a blur of blood and violence. One of the orcs proves to be a spellcaster, wielding an arcane form of wizardry Sumer is unfamiliar with, tossing bolts of eldritch enemy that burn bloody holes through its victims. She is slain, as are the ogres and an enormous orc warlord brought low by Gardo and Feargus. None of the other adventurers are slain, although all are injured. The mercenaries suffer heavy losses, especially the first unit of horse archers that suffer significant losses after one of the mounted boar units closes within melee range. Valru herself is the sole surving ironskin, her bronzed skin furrowed by scars and bleeding dark blood.

The fight likely lasted no more than a minute or two, but seems to have stretched out over hours, leaving the surviving companions panting, soaked in sweat, blood, and churned up mud. It is likely that some of the orcs survived and fled, but it will be the next day before they can be pursued, after wounds are bound and the dead put to rest.

[VonAlric]

Gardo

Flinging some blood off his sword, Gardo looks for his retinue. "Wulfka! Do what you can for the other injured out there, start with the mercs first." He looks to Feargus. "That was rather unexpected. This group of orcs had, what, four ogres in all? That dragon is serious about things. We better take care of our group and look to find those orcs."

He casts about for Valru. Seeing her, he moves alongside her, his face moist with a few tears. "Allow me to help you with your dead. I know not your customs but know valiant fighters when I fight by their side. Afterwards, let Wulfka help you with your wounds."

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

As the warlord stumbles and falls, Feargus goes to high five Gardo. "Well done, sir." He wipes his hand across his face and smears blood in the process. His head pivots until he takes in MC. "Nice job Mardan Cy. I heard you singing at one point and I swear 8 orcs fell over to sleep." He sees the young bard furiously scribbling in his book and shrugs.

"A few of you! Follow me to search these huts. Maybe there will be something of value here."

[PresGas]

Sumer

Sumer helps attend to the wounded in the archer group she was with. Then cleans her weapons and tries attending to her own wounds.

[shaidar]

Newton cleans his weapons on a dead orc, wincing as a wound pulls. He looks around and is relieved to see Wilter and Toma still alive, and heads over

"I'm glad you survived your first proper fight, it's not like the stories, is it? Come on, let's help Feargus search the huts. Clean your weapons first, you really don't want congealed blood getting inside your scabbard. "