{JAMMERS! GOOD ONLY!} Alright, so what's the situation here? I've been trying to more or less follow the battle, but it's been ... eh ... time-consuming, to say the least. Any suggestions on what I should do with my troops, how to position them, etc?
The day of prosperity makes one forget adversity; The day of adversity makes one forget prosperity.
OOC: They shot a lot of arrows, and there are other things coming that they will do.
I'm afraid that you don't understand. I'm shoving rocks onto the Haradrim outside the keep.
As Haradrim climb a stairway, they are pelted by arrows at very close range. These powerful arrows cause serious injuries, but by the time the Haradrim reach the top of the stairwell, the archers are gone.
OOC: A lot of arrows that missed
But they are all inside the keep, or were at least
*The Red Shields lead the way up, blocking most of the arrows with with their shields. They move quicker than the archers expect, and reach several of them before they can escape. They are smashed.* *The half-trolls light the first and second floors on fire and charge out of the hole in the keep in a testudo formation. They shelter behind the outer walls, on the side away from the archers so they can't be shot. They watch for any escapees to attempt to flee the burning keep, with some of them hiding behind their shields to peek out without being shot*
OOC: They hit their targets. Your Red Shields are holding some very nice pincushions right now.
The fire burns out rather quickly, as stone floors and walls are not flammable.
OOC: Indeed OK, fair enough, but they would be a little distracted
You are using normal troops to operate the siege weapons, with no training Presumably some form of infantry, as your archers were free to fire at my (non-existant) cavalry attack Unless you forgot that you have to pay for the crew in some way... Since it would be your troops first time firing the ballistae there is a much higher chance that they will mess up somewhere and not achieve the desired range (They would probably destroy at least one trebuchet with the ammo too, given the flaming rags and oil, but we'll ignore that ) Anyway, I've seen foliage burn first hand, and even the fierecest fire struggles to cross fresh, green plants and foliage, and often fails to burn it. I've also seen people attempt to light it with the aid of diesel, but even then it struggles to light and burn more than a plant of two. Although it will light the oil, it is unlikely to burn for more than 1-2 minutes given how flammable it is and how thinly the layer of it would be spread (The shattering of it would spread it out quite far, as you said, and thus quite thinly)
My horsemen would not have been caught in the fire because they charged before the siege weapons moved, and thus would be well away before yours fired.
I looked up some samples and it looks easy enough after some classes on it (I doubt that's true ) I managed to get 6/10 in a sample English test and I got them right the second time. American English writing is different to normal English writing it seems. While English seeks to embellish it as much as possible American English wants it to be as basic and to the point as possible Or is it just the ACT people? I should get a job, but meh. I mean, I "work" here, and I help out with other things too, but all for free
OOC: I think they'd notice 10 large trebuchets coming towards them, not to mention all the other siege weapons. That's a very real threat, whereas cavalry prancing along parallel to their lines well out of range isn't.
Oh? And I don't seem to recall any of your troops being siege specialists, or having such training. So whatever inabilities mine might have, those also apply to yours. But you are correct in assuming it's some of my infantry. But they aren't firing ballistae. They're firing trebuchets. I was merely comparing the trebuchets' ammo to that used by the ballistae at Tolfalas, only much larger. Essentially ceramic spheres around 3 feet in diameter containing oil. And I remember KK saying that infantry are capable of manning siege weapons. Certainly not as efficiently as those trained to do so, but they wouldn't be nearly as incapable as you presume. Also, the foliage isn't all lush and green - there's bound to be dead foliage as well. I've seen wildfires that thrive in foliage as there is here, and those start from a small source. With the addition of oil, that fire would grow very quickly. I'm not sure if you've heard of this, but there are fires raging in the state of Florida, where it is very humid and the foliage is lush, just like this. And yet there are fires. It's not unreasonable, nor is it impossible. Far from it, actually. I might as well get some expert opinion on this. KitKat , what's your thought on this?
So you're saying your cavalry was within the maximum range of the trebuchets before they fired, so the projectiles landed between your cavalry and siege weapons, correct?
Samples are always deceiving, don't trust them. No, I think you're right, American English seems to only require a basic understanding for the standardized tests. I'm waiting for you mods to get demanding and require us to pay you to moderate our posts. I wouldn't put it past you guys to do it, either.
OOC: Aye, but still a little distracted I think this bit is slightly pointless at this point
Actually, I payed for the specialised crew that comes with the siege weapons, hence why I payed 15 for each trebuchet instead of 8 (?) Eh, they're operating the scorpions too, and those are just small ballistae Alright. Infantry would be great at hitting large, stationary objects (Castles ect. ) with trebuchets, but reasonably small, moving objects will be a nightmare for them. Y'know, we can't really talk about the foliage here as I don't think Tolkien talked about it And actually, I just remembered the rules on fire... You can't burn regions down, or forests ect. I think that means we shouldn't be using this type of fire ammunition when we aren't on ships Or at least we shouldn't have it spread at all.
Yeah, but they can run around them
Mmmmm Don't give us any ideas
One mod to rule them all and in the darkness ban them - Lord of the Mods "I am the Mod Reborn!" - masterlegobuilders I'm the real boss
But they are all inside the keep, or were at least
*The Red Shields lead the way up, blocking most of the arrows with with their shields. They move quicker than the archers expect, and reach several of them before they can escape. They are smashed.* *The half-trolls light the first and second floors on fire and charge out of the hole in the keep in a testudo formation. They shelter behind the outer walls, on the side away from the archers so they can't be shot. They watch for any escapees to attempt to flee the burning keep, with some of them hiding behind their shields to peek out without being shot*
OOC: They hit their targets. Your Red Shields are holding some very nice pincushions right now.
The fire burns out rather quickly, as stone floors and walls are not flammable.
OOC: Are your trolls outside of the castle walls?
OOC: I think we're talking about different troops here I'm talking about your Wardens
IC: *The fire destroys the bottom floor and much of the scaffolding, making it harder for your archers to get out of it* *All siege weapons in range of the castle open fire on the bottom of the keep, attempting to knock out the base of one of the walls*
OOC: Yes, not the Keep's, the castle's
One mod to rule them all and in the darkness ban them - Lord of the Mods "I am the Mod Reborn!" - masterlegobuilders I'm the real boss
{JAMMERS! GOOD ONLY!} Alright, so what's the situation here? I've been trying to more or less follow the battle, but it's been ... eh ... time-consuming, to say the least. Any suggestions on what I should do with my troops, how to position them, etc?
Anyone? Sorry, I'd like to know what's going on before rushing in.
The day of prosperity makes one forget adversity; The day of adversity makes one forget prosperity.
{JAMMERS! GOOD ONLY!} Alright, so what's the situation here? I've been trying to more or less follow the battle, but it's been ... eh ... time-consuming, to say the least. Any suggestions on what I should do with my troops, how to position them, etc?
Anyone? Sorry, I'd like to know what's going on before rushing in.
Yeah, I dunno, everyone seems to have disappeared Basically I outnumber every force in the region, and I can't be bothered to expalin where and waht they are doing
One mod to rule them all and in the darkness ban them - Lord of the Mods "I am the Mod Reborn!" - masterlegobuilders I'm the real boss
{JAMMERS! GOOD ONLY!}Alright, so what's the situation here? I've been trying to more or less follow the battle, but it's been ... eh ... time-consuming, to say the least. Any suggestions on what I should do with my troops, how to position them, etc?
Anyone? Sorry, I'd like to know what's going on before rushing in.
{JAMMERS! -Good- ONLY!}Rex is fighting MLB near my castle with some success. You'll have to ask him for more information on that.
MLB has stormed my castle with his Troll-men and I have 500 Archers trapped in a collapsing keep. The bulk of his forces were engaged with a small force of cavalry from Pelargir, but they retreated.
You're a lot better at this then I am, so I would leave this in your hands. He has a lot of Pikemen, a lot of siege weapons, and 10 Mumakil. Otherwise, he has lots of basic troops with a couple hundred to a thousand elites here and there.
OOC: They hit their targets. Your Red Shields are holding some very nice pincushions right now.
The fire burns out rather quickly, as stone floors and walls are not flammable.
OOC: Are your trolls outside of the castle walls?
OOC: I think we're talking about different troops here I'm talking about your Wardens
IC: *The fire destroys the bottom floor and much of the scaffolding, making it harder for your archers to get out of it* *All siege weapons in range of the castle open fire on the bottom of the keep, attempting to knock out the base of one of the walls*
OOC: Yes, not the Keep's, the castle's
OOC: In that case, your Pikemen are holding some very nice pincushions.
The bottom floors are completed. They are solid stone, and have no scaffolding in them any more.
OOC: Thank you. I almost made a move that would have looked very stupid if I hadn't asked that.
OOC: I think they'd notice 10 large trebuchets coming towards them, not to mention all the other siege weapons. That's a very real threat, whereas cavalry prancing along parallel to their lines well out of range isn't.
Oh? And I don't seem to recall any of your troops being siege specialists, or having such training. So whatever inabilities mine might have, those also apply to yours. But you are correct in assuming it's some of my infantry. But they aren't firing ballistae. They're firing trebuchets. I was merely comparing the trebuchets' ammo to that used by the ballistae at Tolfalas, only much larger. Essentially ceramic spheres around 3 feet in diameter containing oil. And I remember KK saying that infantry are capable of manning siege weapons. Certainly not as efficiently as those trained to do so, but they wouldn't be nearly as incapable as you presume. Also, the foliage isn't all lush and green - there's bound to be dead foliage as well. I've seen wildfires that thrive in foliage as there is here, and those start from a small source. With the addition of oil, that fire would grow very quickly. I'm not sure if you've heard of this, but there are fires raging in the state of Florida, where it is very humid and the foliage is lush, just like this. And yet there are fires. It's not unreasonable, nor is it impossible. Far from it, actually. I might as well get some expert opinion on this. KitKat , what's your thought on this?
So you're saying your cavalry was within the maximum range of the trebuchets before they fired, so the projectiles landed between your cavalry and siege weapons, correct?
Samples are always deceiving, don't trust them. No, I think you're right, American English seems to only require a basic understanding for the standardized tests. I'm waiting for you mods to get demanding and require us to pay you to moderate our posts. I wouldn't put it past you guys to do it, either.
OOC: Aye, but still a little distracted I think this bit is slightly pointless at this point
Actually, I payed for the specialised crew that comes with the siege weapons, hence why I payed 15 for each trebuchet instead of 8 (?) Eh, they're operating the scorpions too, and those are just small ballistae Alright. Infantry would be great at hitting large, stationary objects (Castles ect. ) with trebuchets, but reasonably small, moving objects will be a nightmare for them. Y'know, we can't really talk about the foliage here as I don't think Tolkien talked about it And actually, I just remembered the rules on fire... You can't burn regions down, or forests ect. I think that means we shouldn't be using this type of fire ammunition when we aren't on ships Or at least we shouldn't have it spread at all.
Yeah, but they can run around them
Mmmmm Don't give us any ideas
Not sure which part exactly you wanted my input on, Rex, so I'll just respond to all of this stuff. First, yes, Rex's troops would see the artillery coming in. It's kind of hard to miss that kind of stuff. Second, on the trebuchets, MLB is about right. Now, the infantry will get better as the battle goes on at aiming and operating their artillery, but they still won't be particularly good at it. Hitting small, fast groups of moving troops won't go very well for them. However, I wouldn't call what I believe to be their target (MLB's artillery) small or fast. Given the wide range for a "hit" in the area that Rex is going for, his infantry would be able to make it fairly well (though there might be a few stray shots, perhaps even one right in the middle of MLB's troops).
As for the raging fires, I see two parts to this: feasibility and legality. While Tolkien didn't directly say much about the landscape around here, there is a good bit that we can derive given the geography and subtle hints. Going mostly off of the Atlas of Middle-earth (which is probably the best and most realistic extra-canonical source on geography), the Gondor area consisted mostly of deep alluvial river-valleys, leading into fair green coastlands. Gondor's got at least six rivers flowing from down from the mountains, so water isn't likely an issue for growing plants. At the same time though, the large amount of runoff that the area would get from the mountains could result in frequent flooding, meaning that you won't have a whole lot of the large, perennial plants (like trees). That leaves you with grassland and bushes, which seems likely to me. How well will this stuff burn? I don't know. As you both brought up, you can have bright greenery that spontaneously bursts into flame, or fields of dead grass that somehow extinguish any fire in sight. If it did burn, however, that wouldn't be a big deal for the region as stuff would likely grow back pretty well within a few weeks (maybe less). Under legality, I think you guys are fine. What we really want to avoid is massive, long-term, region-altering damage, like burning down all of Mirkwood. Burning down small portions (like a single battlefield) is okay, because the relatively small size of the area burned means that we can just meld the area into the rest of the region and forget it ever happened (unlike if the entire region was destroyed). What Rex is doing here, burning the foliage around your troops, is also okay (at least in my mind) given its small size and also the fact that this stuff should grow back pretty quickly.
OOC: I think we're talking about different troops here I'm talking about your Wardens
IC: *The fire destroys the bottom floor and much of the scaffolding, making it harder for your archers to get out of it* *All siege weapons in range of the castle open fire on the bottom of the keep, attempting to knock out the base of one of the walls*
OOC: Yes, not the Keep's, the castle's
OOC: In that case, your Pikemen are holding some very nice pincushions.
The bottom floors are completed. They are solid stone, and have no scaffolding in them any more.
OOC: Thank you. I almost made a move that would have looked very stupid if I hadn't asked that.
OOC: Not if your Wardens were barely in range
I have yet to see a building where the scaffolding doesn't run from the bottom to the top Anyway, I don't really care anymore. That Keep is going to fall from my siege weapons with all 1000 archers in it And by the bottom floor, I mean the wooden floor, not the walls *Bombardment continues. The wall onto which all the firepower is concentrated is close to collapsing*
OOC: What, dropped rocks on my troops that aren't there?
One mod to rule them all and in the darkness ban them - Lord of the Mods "I am the Mod Reborn!" - masterlegobuilders I'm the real boss
OOC: In that case, your Pikemen are holding some very nice pincushions.
The bottom floors are completed. They are solid stone, and have no scaffolding in them any more.
OOC: Thank you. I almost made a move that would have looked very stupid if I hadn't asked that.
OOC: Not if your Wardens were barely in range
I have yet to see a building where the scaffolding doesn't run from the bottom to the top Anyway, I don't really care anymore. That Keep is going to fall from my siege weapons with all 1000 archers in it And by the bottom floor, I mean the wooden floor, not the walls *Bombardment continues. The wall onto which all the firepower is concentrated is close to collapsing*
OOC: What, dropped rocks on my troops that aren't there?
The bottom floor is made of stone. Not wood, stone.
The archers run out of the keep and onto the walls. At least some of them make it, and they fire shots at the heads of the troll-men at every opportunity.
{JAMMERS! -Good- ONLY!}Rex is fighting MLB near my castle with some success. You'll have to ask him for more information on that.
MLB has stormed my castle with his Troll-men and I have 500 Archers trapped in a collapsing keep. The bulk of his forces were engaged with a small force of cavalry from Pelargir, but they retreated.
You're a lot better at this then I am, so I would leave this in your hands. He has a lot of Pikemen, a lot of siege weapons, and 10 Mumakil. Otherwise, he has lots of basic troops with a couple hundred to a thousand elites here and there.
{JAMMERS! GOOD ONLY!} Alright, thanks for the info. I'm guessing that, since Rex came from the northeast, MLB's troops fighting him wouldn't be able to stop mine from aiding at the castle. So that's what I'm thinking to do.
Well, IDK about that. Anyways, Mumakil can be dangerous, but they're less so given your fortifications, however weak they are. The Pikemen and siege engines, I should be able to take care of those. I'll advance on the castle, and see what he says.
The day of prosperity makes one forget adversity; The day of adversity makes one forget prosperity.
Guess I should post what troops I have. 
![[fp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/npbLCuGzrLApxWtWqy0u.png)
