Bandits and Mercenaries

[KyodaiSteeleye]

i'm up - but unfortunately i won't be able to stab octavian in the back (damn!)

[octavian]

im afraid i have a very tough back as it is and on open ground, my HA can waste
however, if you want an extra militia sergeant V1, i might be prepared to lend it to you.

[Nigel]

Ahh, ok. It looks like the two big rivals will be there.
Let's see who else will come and if some Mercenaries show up to make money huntig for bandit heads.

[octavian]

Ahh, ok. It looks like the two big rivals will be there.
Let's see who else will come and if some Mercenaries show up to make money hunting for bandit heads.

looks like things are quieting down with RTW on its way, tell you what, you just give me all the money and we will call it even

Liao hasn't been around for a while either, so what is gonna happen with that mission that he and i have.

My raiding party looks like it isn't gonna have much opposition, what is going on with that?

[Nigel]

Just returned from a week offline. Things really are going quiet in the MTW world now. I guess, Octavian, as Liao has not responded, you get the money for that mission fair and square.

As for just handig over the rest of the money, Nice try
If no one wants to defend Arlington, I will take charge of the town guard myself.


As for the final mission, Guy sent me an email (he still cannot post here) and signed up, too. So that makes 3 players on the scene, and just to add to that, I have heared that Lord Longshanks, having been informed of the whereabouts of the treasure, is sending his army in march to surprise the bandits. However, his castle is faar and his heavily armoured men march slowly. So it remains to be seen how many of this men will manage arrive on the battlefield in time.


Steeleye, Octavian and Guy, lets see when we can arrange for the final battle. As it happens, I will be free most of this coming weekend. So how about Saturday, 19:00 GMT ? Alternatively, Sunday would work out too.

[KyodaiSteeleye]

no-can-do this weekend i'm afraid, i'm away. Maybe next week sometime (next weekend?)

[Axeknight]

Is it still possible to sign up for the last mission?

[Nigel]

Yes, Axeknight, you can still join. Shaka has also asked me to put his name down. So this could be a real big one.

Steeleye, I'd really love to have you in on this one (and should, as you were one of the first ones to sign up). How is everyone else for the next weekend (say Sat. 9th October 19:00 GMT) ?

[Axeknight]

Yeah, I reckon I could make it. 95% sure. But I can't be 100% sure until sooner.

Can I take a grant? There's no way I could do anything with my warband in this state

[Nigel]

Yes Axeknight, you can.
So far you have only taken 650 Fl of the 3000 Fl grant that is on offer. So there is still some money there for you. Currently we are standing 3 Bandits vs. 2 Mercs. So I may join leading some of Lord Longshanks troops and adjust to whatever makes a (halfway) balanced game.

oh, and could we do Sunday (10th) instead of Saturday ? That would actually suit me better.

[Nigel]

Whow, I see this place is quickly going Roman.
Well, time I guess for our last mission in the medieval B+M game.

A lot of people have said now that this coming Sunday is a good time. Some still want to confirm, but I think, in order to not keeping to postpone it, we should go for Sunday 19:00 GMT.

Signed up so far are Octavian, Steeleyes, Guy, Axeknight, Shaka. One big battle.

[Axeknight]

I can confirm that I'll be able to play on Sunday.

If a natural disaster or somesuch prevents me from doing so, I'll email Nigel. In fact, if anyone can't make it, then they should email him. If you then check your email right before you log on Nigel, then we won't be sat around waiting for anyone who can't make it. Its a big battle, so it pays to be prepared.

Details of my revised army to follow shortly.

[Axeknight]

Army now looks like this:

Mounted Sgts. v1 - General
x3 Mounted sgts. v0
x2 Longbowmen v0
x2 Arbalesters v0
x2 Feudal sgts. v0
x2 Highland Clansmen v0
x4 Feudal MAA v1

I took a 1,500fl grant. Added up, this is 2150fl taken in grant. Heh, and all because I missed a game back during the summer (and almost went under).

[KyodaiSteeleye]

Hello,

Well seeing that this is the last battle, I thought what the heck, lets get my army to where i wanted it to be - who wants to be rich anyway?

So....

I have increased the wages of my V1 Mtd Sergs to V2 - 208fl
I have increased the wages of my snivelling V1 clansmen to V2 - 476fl
and i have hired 2 val1 Billmen - 1020

Coming to a grand total of 1704 from my warchest.

I'm sure they'll be coming up against a seriously nasty army from Longshanks, in order to balance the sides, so i'm sure this won't affect the outcome of the battle, but will add to the fun.

[Nigel]

Well, Gentlemen,

the last battle in this game has been faught. As it happend, Axeknight and Steeleye were the only ones there in time to meet on the field. Guy, unfortunately, arrived too late and when his men entered the battlefield it was all over and all that was left for him to do was to tend the wounded.

It was a good battle. Axeknight recieved some support from Lord Longshank's troops (led by yours truely), but Steeleye still managed to beat us off, securing the 1800 Florins of McGregor's hidden treasure for himself. Nonetheless, in the battle Axeknight managed to kill 274 bandits and since Longshanks is paying him 10 Florins for each head, he actually gains more from this battle than the bandit who won the fight. 2740 Florins in his treasure chest will actually allow him to pay back all of the grant money he recieved from the Guild.

It will be a close call now, finding the winners. Octavian and Steeleye are going head to head in tbe bandit camp, while after this mission, Axeknight is standing strong and may even challange Guy for the title of the most successful mercenary.

I will go and work it out shortly. Meanwhile I will leave it to our players to tell the story of our last battle. Well done guys, it was a blast.

[KyodaiSteeleye]

Context

The Colt's army arrived at the place marked on McGregor's map during the small hours of the morning. They had travelled all night as soon as Guillaume had secured the location of the treasure hoard from one of the highlander's ex-followers. McGregor's man had indicated that other bandits may also have the location, and Guillaume was worried that other retinues may arrive and vye for the hoard. However, as morning broke and the mist hung over the rolling hills and woods, all looked calm and clear.

Guillaume ordered his men forwards, toward the hill top where McGregor's hoard was indicated to be found. His men moved forward carefully, wary that other bandits may have already arrived. Suddenly, from out of the woods to the front, men appeared. Many men:- armoured and flying the colours of Hugh Fitzjohn, the free company leader. Guillaume ordered the halt, eyes straining to take in the full extent of the force. Then to the left further companies of men appeared, bearing the arms of Lord Longshanks - he had been lured into a trap!

The Battle

The Colt, surprised by the trap, quickly ordered his troops to fall back, not wanting to risk an engagement with such a large force of mercenaries and ducal troops. The mercenaries quickly followed however, and Guillaume realised that he would not be able to avoid a fight. Instead, he ordered his troops to halt on a small, wooded hill, making the best of the poor terrain around him. The mercenary & ducal army was now arrayed on the grassland in front of him - he imediately saw that he was heavily outnumbered. Also, the mercenaries had over twice as many archers and crossbowmen - a slow battle could only be lost, even with the cover of the woods.

The mercenaries drew nearer, the ducal contingent off on the Colt's left flank, slightly back. Guillaume knew that his only chance was to take the battle to the mercenaries. He ordered his four feudal men at arms companies into a block and sent them to the right flank, and then forward toward a small tump covered with trees. Two units of mounted sergeants gave support. Meanwhile, the bandit archers and the mercenary crossbows began to trade fire. Fitzjohn sent a cavalry troop racing forward to attack the exposed archers on the left flank of the bandit army - however, as they charged home, a unit of the Colt's new billmen sallied out of cover from the hill, forcing the horsemen to turn tail back from whence they came.

Meanwhile, Fitzjohn's troops continued to form up, with Longshanks vanguard quickly making up ground to the Colts left. Knowing that time was of the essence, Guillaume ordered his advance right 'battle' to move up Fitzjohn's flank and attack the spearmen, crossbows and mounted sergeants there. The swordsmen ran forward, peeling off to attack the mercenary's flank, whilst the supporting cavalry charged Fitzjohn's opposing cavalry companies. Battle was joined. Fitzjohn, seeing the threat, rushed to move his centre and right flank over to support his troops. On seeing this movement, Guillaume ordered his clansmen in the bandit main battle line to charge them whilst their formation was disrupted and they showed their flanks to the bandit front. This left the bandit's left flank dangerously exposed, however, as his bow companies were now only protected by a single horseman and bill unit. Seeing this, Longshank's captain spurred his cavalry into a full charge of these companies.

On the bandit right flank, the sudden attack had gone well:- The bandit seasoned heavy infantry and veteran cavalry made grevious harm to the green mercenary troops. Although they had greater numbers, the surprise and violence of the attack sent the mercenaries reeling. The Colt's charging clansmen now smashed into the sides of the mercenary companies rushing to support their comrades. In a desperate attempt to force the battle, Fitzjohn's captain rushed into the fray. The mercenary flank started to crumble. At the same time the mercenary captain was hacked down. Seeing the army standard fall, the mercenary troops turned tail to a man.

Meanwhile, Longshanks cavarly were making merry with the weak bandit left flank. The Colt ordered his remaining archers to run forwards, towards the protection of their infantry and away from the threat. Knowing that heroes die young, Guillaume followed suit and arrived at the battle line just as Fitzjohn's troops broke. Sending his cavalry to pursue the fleeing mercenaries, Guillaume managed to control his remaining foot soldiers and began to regroup them to meet the ducal infantry troops, who had only just managed now to make up the ground. The few bandit swordsmen and clansmen units around their leader, fired from their victories, plunged into the ducal units. Meanwhile, other units rushed to support them. As more bandits charged into the new fray, the ducal troops lost heart - they had already seen the mercenary captain die and the main body of the ambush army flee. Disordered and harrassed on all sides by blood-soaked bandits, they too broke and ran for the cover of the woods.

Epilogue

The Colt's troops celebrated their glorious victory, amazed that most had survived the day and put to rout the best that Lord Longshanks and the mercenary guild had to offer. On finding McGregor's hoard, the Colt and his men retired to their wasteland demesne. Guillaume knew that he had been riding his luck. He and his men had survived five pitched battles. He now had countless enemies in a number of neighbouring kingdoms. Not only had he defeated most of the mercenary guild, but also his great bandit rival Octavian and now Lord Longshanks. He knew that if his men took the field again, it would be their last battle - too many parties would want them dead at any cost. Besides, his men were now proud, seasoned warriors - they had no need to steal merchant goods now, they would be welcome in any lord's retinue as skilled fighters. And he, Guillaume, with McGregor's hoard, now had a small fortune - but what was the use of such silver and gold if he continued to skulk in the forests, wanted dead by everyman, and hamstung by the funds needed to pay all these men?

He made his decision. He gave his men their final wages and wished them well in whatever paths they chose, then, with his right hand-man, Buiselm, he headed for the nearby port. Disguised, they hired passage on a ship to Spain. There, Guillaume knew exactly how to use his modest inheritance to achieve true wealth -

and was soon established as a successful merchant!..although he was always wary of entrusting his goods to the local good-for-nothing mercenaries...

[Axeknight]

Fitzjohn had propped himself against a horse. The thing had wailed before he had put it down. Now he sat against it, staring at the clump of trees they had emerged from. Langland jumped down off his horse and knelt beside him. The lance had gone through Fitzjohn's shoulder. With luck, Longshanks' sawbones would be able to clean it up without the need for any amputation.
"Langland?" his head turned, "The men, the butcher's bill... How many?"
"A frightful number, sir. But they took a fair share of the bandits to hell with them. You'll do well out of this."
"A frightful number... Damn it!"
"Just mercenaries, sir. We can replace them."
"No need. We're leaving the guild. You say we'll do well from this?"
"Sir?" Langland looked puzzled, but carried on, "Aye, around one and a half thousand florins, after we deduct the men's pay."
"That'll be enough. Pay the men off, arrange to pay the guild back over... two years? Yes, two years. I'm going back to France. Will you come with me, friend?"
Langland thought for a moment, then smiled, "Better weather down there... Yes. Now jump on the horse, you need your strength."

They traveled back towards the camp near Longshanks' estate, Fitzjohn riding, Langland on foot. Langland smiled. They had suffered a crushing defeat, but it didn't bother him. The mercenaries under Fitzjohn's command had rolled their dice. Fitzjohn and he had rolled theirs, and got sixes.
"What do you plan on doing in France?"
"Well, you remember that estate I had eyes on? With this kind of money, Langland, I reckon we could..."

[Nigel]

Nice writing, guys. Watch this space for an upload of the replay.


And good to see our heroes are coming well out of it and retire to a peaceful and happy live. I am sure Duke Fizjohn will find many new adventures in France. And, Guillaume, all the best for your mercant enterprise in Spain. Business there, I heared, is very rewarding and profitable, even with a lot of bandits around. If you need a good merc to protect your goods, give me a shout. I may yet saddle up and venture out once more myself, before I grow old and rusty behind my desk.

I wonder if we will learn what has become of our other friends.

[Nigel]

But finally I worked out the scores (Army Value + Treasury - Recieved Grants) and we have our winners (TATATATAAA) :

Yes, indeed, for the Mercenaries Axeknight is the winner. With a total of 4744 Florins he beats Guy with 4269 Fl. A close call, tipping the scales in the last battle. Well done Axeknight, but also well done Guy, who deserves a special mention for beeing the only Mercenray never to take a grant from the Guild.

In the bandit camp Octavian has long been the top man. His rival Steeleye got closer and ever closer, even defeated him in a pitched battle over Arlington Bridge. With a total of 8410 Florins Steeleye amassed quite a fortune indeed. But in the end, Octavian managed to keep his lead with a staggering 9008 Florins. Well done Octavian. Congratulations for winning the bandit's side and the whole game, too.





But well done and many thanks to all the other players who took part in this game.

Sulla and Dionysus, your comments and discussion helped this game get started, even if you yourselves had to retire all too early
Tiger, you fought hard, but it all could not save you from deptors prison. I know those walls could not keep you long and you are off to new adventures.
Socio, after a good mission still lost in the wilderness (=PC problems).
Shaka, almost starved to death in the forest to come back and show us great action with his swiss army.
Amatsu, who saved his skin after that raid on Longshank's castle with a most extraordinary story. That witchcraft trail is still pending.
Xiahou Liao, the viking bandit who became a mercenary,
and Chimpyang the mercenary who turned bandit and set up his own "horsemen for hire" business.

It was a blast. You all did your part to make this a really cool and enjoyale game.

Thank you for it all.
Nigel

P.S.
Steeleye, that silver decanter of mine you "aquired" in one of those missions - please do keep it as a present.
But do me the favour and serve some good wine from it, when I visit you some day.

[Rikdemedici]

is this going to be run agasin anytime soon?

[Nigel]

Hi Rikdemedici,

Good to see people are still having fun reading this thread.
Well, I myself am currently taking a bit of a break from online gaming. Also I want to see how RTW turns out after the patch. Then maybe I will start some game again and if I do, I will make sure I let you know.

But in the meantime, there are a few other groups doing online games of this sort, and as for Bandits and Mercenaries, if you or anyone else wants to pick up on the idea and be the gamemaster for a "Game 2" I certainly do not mind. On the contrary, I might even join and have some fun as a player

Enjoy the online world of the TW series,
Nigel

[octavian]

w00t i WON!!! :)

[Nigel]

Yes, Octavian, you won all right.
And a good victory too, thanks to your active gameplay.


Well, you all may wonder what is happening now in the world of Multiplayer Campaigns.
Rome in it's initial release did not really lend itself to this sort of thing. The recently released Patch 1.2 has improved the game a lot, but there are still issues with connection problems and the like. These may be Gamespy related, so there is hope to change for the better. But for now I am waiting before I start another game.


Edit :
In the meantime, there are other people starting up Multiplayer campaigns. One for example is ElmakOFear's Shogun Campaing aiming to start in a month or so. Here is the link.

Another Multiplayer Campaign in the theme of Rome TW has been announced by VorCid. It can be found here.

These games should be good fun.

[voo]

i like to sign up

[Abokasee]

are you using the expax on the web...or are using the orginnal because i have both

[octavian]

well first of all this has been over for some time... but while i was running we used VI

0ct

[Arkell]

I demand these peoples (yes all of you) to bring this back! NOW! I wanna have this experience. Demand demand demand!

[L'Impresario]

Hehe, Nigel did a good work there indeed.
I was actually thinking as well of a small "competition" of sorts, which would be somewhat story driven and pseudo-historical, with players assuming the role of generals interacting with each other (either as allies or enemies) in various scenarios set in 13th century Europe and Middle East. But it's still an idea that could be a complement to the mod we 're currently working on (as I find it more appropriate in many ways for all this) and I won't elaborate further until the time is ripe;)
Let's just say that the "Interactive History" threads in the Monastery have influenced my plans a lot:)