Bandits and Mercenaries

[octavian]

ang, i believe B & M as we know it ends with the release of Rome... of course, it is possible that we can convince Nigel to start another (different theme prolly) once Rome comes out.

[KyodaiSteeleye]

I should be able to make 8.00 tomorrow. See you in the foyer.

d.

[Nigel]

The battle over the toll-bridge has been fought yesterday.

I'll leave it to the heroes of the day to tell their story. Suffice it to say that in the late hours of the day the fight was decided in favour or Arlington. Octavian's soldiers fought well and also managed to cross the river and set foot on the bank held by Steeleye's men and some Arlington city troops. But in the end they had to surrender the field to them. The city of Bramston still expresses their gratitude for the support and hands over the agreed sign up fee (attached a note that their Sherif might just happen to look the other way if Octavian choose to waylay some Arlington merchant wagons).

[octavian]

aye, waylaying Arlington merchants is something i would like to do very much. perhaps you could come up with a mission along those lines for me, perhaps even a raid into the farms surrounding (assuming there are a few) Arlington to burn and destroy crops and livestock.

[KyodaiSteeleye]

Mission 18 Battle Report

Well, here was a sorry tale. Neither Arlington nor Brampton could secure a mercenary commander to secure the bridge for them, so both made dealings with the Devil. On hearing that Brampon had secured the brigand Octavian, whose army could not be matched in number, Arlington sent messengers to the only other bandit captain likely to stand a chance against him, Guillaume, with promises of substantial payments, and the services of the town militia.

So it was that both bandit armies lined up on either side of the river, with only the narrow pack-horse bridge between them, and the rising sides of the valley making any leeway once a unit had crossed very hard. Guillaume sent his archers forward first to soften up Octavian's front line. Octavian's pavise crossbow companies in turn opened up on the archers. The Colt's archers came off the worse, although Octavian's front ranks of men at arms suffered significant casualties. Once their arrows were spent, Guillaume withdrew his archers and lined up his infantry to storm the bridge. First across were his best unit of men-at-arms. They reached the far side, but no sooner had they gained the far bank, were engaged by a number of Octavian's companies, who with overpowering numbers and the slope behind them, cut the attackers down quickly.

The remaining troops fled, even before they could be reinforced by a second unit of The Colt's infantry crossing the bridge. Octavian's pursuing troops crashed into these reinforcements on the bridge, and so ensued the start of a brutal battle for control of the narrow crossing. Guillaume ordered the Arlington militia arbalesters to support the troops fighting on the bridge, meanwhile Octavian's crossbowmen poured quarrels onto Guillaume's attackers in turn. The men on the bridge could not hold any formation and scrabbled to keep their feet as they were pushed forward by more troops charging in. This was not helped by the increasing number of bodies underfoot and the gore of battle. Men that fell were quickly crushed or butchered. Soon the bodies were lain two or three deep and troops in the back ranks started throwing the bodies of the dead and dying into the river to try and aid their progress.

Although the initial missile and melee battle had gone Octavian's way, the meatgrinder of the bridge meant that no side could gain control and neither side was making much ground. The Colt relied on his superior numbers of infantry, fed slowly in to reinforce the melee, whilst the militia's arbalests did grevious harm to Octavian's packed units on the far end of the bridge. After 20 minutes of butchery, the last of Guillaume's men at arms were retreating and he knew that his less reliable clansmen would not hold true in a straight fight. He therefore allowed his final troops on the bridge to run without support. By this stage, Octavian had spent nearly all of his infantry and he had been forced to engage his cavalry, who impetuously pursued the Colt's retreating troops over the bridge and into the arms of the spearmen of the Arlington militia, flanked by scots clansmen.

With his cavalry in an unwinnable fight, and his army outnumbered through the bloody attrition, Octavian knew that eventually he would be forced to submit. In order to save his remaining troops, he ordered the withdrawal, leaving the field to The Colt and the mightily relieved Arlington militia, who had thought themselves doomed due to countless accounts of previous battles where Octavian's men had butchered militia units to the man.

Although Arlington gained the bridge and the substantial toll revenues, this was a sad day for the kingdom - it is said that the river ran red for two days. Not that neighbouring towns and the mercenaries guild were too bothered - after all, everyone is safer if brigands and murderers kill each other, right?

[Nigel]

Excellent writeup, Steeleye.

Maybe some more bandit v. bandit missions can save the kingdom yet

I have uploaded the replay here.

[Silver Rusher]

Hey, can I join? You may consider joining The Crusader League as well, check it out.

I'd prefer to be mercs, playing as the Hungarians (if that's ok)

And Btw, congrats on 500 posts.

[Nigel]

aye, waylaying Arlington merchants is something i would like to do very much. perhaps you could come up with a mission along those lines for me, perhaps even a raid into the farms surrounding (assuming there are a few) Arlington to burn and destroy crops and livestock.

Nice idea, octavian.
Here you are:

-------------------------------------------------------------- Mission #19 ---------------------------------------------------

Seeking revenge for his defeat at the toll bridge, the brigand Octavian sets our to raid the fields and surroundings of Arlington (bachs_farmlands01). He makes preparations to raid and plunder the goods which are ready for transport in wagons standing and waiting to be collected. There are 12 wagons in total, 7 of them well protected in the village and 5 of them less protected and scattered around the farms in the area. Each wagon contains 150 Fl worth of goods and the raiders have to reach the wagons and plunder them for at least a few seconds to take the goods away (I'll judge that by the replay).

Arlington, however, is quite alert to the thread and seeks to hire some swords for protection. Wanting to promote itself as a law-obedient city, mercenaries will be hired with preference, but if none can be found, the city will - again - turn to rival brigands for help and protection. They will hire up to two fighting groups and the sign up fee will be 600 Florins each plus a bonus of 80 Florins each for every wagon that does not get looted.

Signed up defending Arlington : 2 places still open
Signed up as raider : Octavian

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------

Map details :
2v1, (ml)_bachs_farmlands01.
Summer, Western European, no limit, Octavian = defenders side

The map is a popular custom map. If you don't have it, you can get it from the MP mappacks or I can email it to you.
If 2 opponents sign up, I would not expect Octavian can actually "win" this, but with his fast army still raid some of the wagons and in any case cause a lot of hassle to the Arlington people.

[octavian]

ok, i dont have that map, so could you email it to me? if there is no room in my Hotmail account, send it to the.arrogant.worm@gmail.com plenty of room there

Arlington, however, is quite alert to the thread

they have internet in Arlington?!? maybe i should move there, instead of raiding and killing

also, iirc, you said after you made the mistake with my huns, that nobody else would be allowed to take huns. i was only allowed to keep my faction because you didn't notice it at first, and only realized your mistake after i had done a good number of missions. (not that i have a problem with Hungarian mercs, just a matter of principle you see )

[octavian]

as well, i have some upgrades that i would like to make to my army.
all 3 Militia Sergeants to V2 (should cost 534, not sure what that does to my support costs)
i may have some more upgrades soon, but we shall see, i dont have many unit left where i can reasonably afford to upgrade their valour.

as well, if im allowed to have a seventeenth unit (only sixteen would be brought onto the battlefield, but it would give me a bit of selection) only upgrade two of the MS and give me a Bulgarian Brigand V1.

another thing i just noticed (Shakas comment on pg one about fanatics brought it to mind... aren't Turcopoles crusaders?) not that i have a problem with Ang having them (although i cant say i like his lending them out to my enemies )