Bandits and Mercenaries

[octavian]

GAH, i will sign up for Bramston if i am allowed

[Nigel]

lol, Octavian, you sure are keen on making a name for yourself as our most active player.
OK

The shock was great when the news reached the town. Hearing that their rival city had managed to secure the services of the lands most feared and famous bandit, the people of Arlington increased the promised revard to 1200 Fl plus 1000 Fl for victory. They are also promising the support of their militia to any man brave enough to take on the feared bandit.

[octavian]

hey, whats the point of doing something if you dont do it well and give it your all? btw, i think Bramston may have increase my bonus if i should be so fortunate as to win... otherwise i may decide, to um... let me see, withdraw my support shall we say? perhaps even work for their wealthy neighbors...

hey, who ever said bandits had to be chivalrious?

also, it would appear that there is no merc brave (or perhaps foolish) enough to take that dried fish through my lands, shall we say, give them 5 more days, then say that i am either A) the winner or B) going to be faced by the town militia?

[Nigel]

That's ok, Octavian. I am actually quite happy about players as active as you are.


As for the fish, 5 more days (10 days after you signed up) is the idea. After that we see what we do. It could be eigther A) or B).

How are you and Xiahou Liao getting on with mission #12 ?
Perhaps you can suggest a few battel dates to him.

From the people of Bramston, I have not got a definite response yet. But at the moment they are so anxious to obtain posession of the bridge, that they would promise you almost everything. We shall see

[KyodaiSteeleye]

Guillaume looked at the parchment. 'hmhmmmhhmm...control of bridge.....hmmmmhmmhmhmm...1200 florins!'. 'Boy! - send a reply to the alderman in Arlington, tell him The Colt will secure the bridge for him'. 'oh, and tell him that i've heard that that scoundrel Octavian has been contracted by Bramston, and as such as well as the payment, i will require support from the town militia'.

'That Octavian has been far too successful for my liking, as of late, the local urchins have started telling glorified stories about him! - i won't have it, he's trying to steal my well deserved reputation!'.

'Buiselm! Tell those goodfornothing, whinging, stinking scotsmen that they can stop cursing and giving me the evil eye and start sharpening their swords instead - we've got a job to do.'

[Nigel]

Emergincy meetings are called at the town halls of the two cities. While the alderman of Arlington debates with his advisors how many men of the city guard he can spare to support Steeleye, the councillors of Bramston are debating how serious to take Octavian's threats and how much addtional money they should offer to please the powerful bandit.

[octavian]

hey Nigel... i just need to check on something for some of my calculations... has my money from bramston already been added to my supply of florins?

[Nigel]

no, Octavian. It has not been added yet. Still to come after the mission.

[octavian]

1200 Florins on sign up are offered by Arlington. Bramston offers only 600 Florins on sign up

Signed up for Arlington : Steeleye
Signed up for Bramston : Octavian

ahem

[Nigel]

Yes Octavian,

Arlington had originally only offered 800 Fl on sign up. But when they saw that their rival got you under contract, they feared - knowing that you had the strongest army around - that they would not be able to recruit a fighter for their cause and increased the money (as well as promising a little support from the town militia).

Now the councillors of Bramston have had a long debate about this matter and hoping to assure your continued services, they have decided to increase the reward on successful completion to 1600 Fl (giving you both an equal total on victory).

The stakes have surely risen in this gamble. Now it is time to arrange for the battle time.

If I am to take part commanding the militia, it would have to be next week, since I am away for the time 18th - 29th September. How about next Tuesday at 20:00 pm GMT?

[octavian]

i believe you said in that post however... upon sign up perhaps i misread that to mean that once i sign up i would get that money... and you really meant that that was the garuanteed amount that we would get. doesn't really matter though, just clearing things up in my own mind.

Liao would this Saturday or Sunday work for you. with school starting up, it is very hard for me to get on the computer at a specific time of day (homework and such) could you get back to me with a few times if saturday or sunday would work for you.

Nigel and Steeleye... see above

also, it twould appear that as of today, it has been ten days since i signed up for that fish... could we resolve that mission before monday as well (i would hate to go another week with just beer to survive on.

[Nigel]

Octavian, weekend days are usually not too good for me. However, I should be able to make it Sunday at 20:00 GMT. Well, I'll try to log on to MSN and see if I find you there and hopefully Steeleye, too.

Ohh and you know what they say: beer is a liquid form of bread.

[octavian]

ok, 3:00 sunday works for me as far as i can tell right now. now all we have to do is confirm it with steeleye.


also, it twould appear that as of today, it has been ten days since i signed up for that fish... could we resolve that mission before monday as well (i would hate to go another week with just liquid bread to survive on.

[Chimpyang]

Hi,
Sorry i havent been very active of late.....i'm wondering, is it possible to liquifdate all my men ito cash....for when rome comes out?

[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]

Wellcome, Silver Rusher.

Well, the Mercenaries certainly need support, so that is ok.
You should know, however, that with Rome beeing released soon, this game is rapidly nearing conclusion. There are at best another one or two missions to be played. But if you dont mind joining for just a battle or two, you are very wellcome.

Here is a bag with 3500 Florins. Coose your army.

[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

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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 )

[Nigel]

the.arrogant.worm .... interesting email address Octavian. I'll send you the map. Either hotmail or there.


About the Hungarians, you summed that up nicely (in one single sentence - Rusher, could you follow? ). In principle you are right, I excluded them and only let you have a restricted Hungarian army to compensate for an error I made earlier. However, at this late stage in the game (I am just planning out our final mission), belive me it will not make a difference anymore, so I am not intending to make a fuss about it.

As for a 17th unit, why not. If you recon the option of selection is worth the money of a unit sittig at home and drinking tea (which it may well be) then that is fine. I'll update your army shortly.

[octavian]

aye, although if i end up playing a mission with another bandit, i would like the option of having him command that other V1 MS (or whatever unit i decide not to take)

[Nigel]

-------------------------------------------------------------- Mission #20 -------------------------------------

The old bandit finally decided to retire. Duncan McGregor had lived a life full of action and adventure but now the battles, the wounds and the long time spent in the prison of his enemies were taking their toll on his strength and stamina. He did collect a fair amount of money during his lifetime, though, and so with his favourite wife and a few trusted friends he set off to a location in the highalnds, unknown to everyone.

He did, however, leave behind the map of his hidden treasure. A map of which rough copies were quickly drawn on parchments and papers, which rapidly distributed through the community of brigands and bandits. The treasure is estimated to amount to the considerable sum of 1800 Florins and many bandits are setting out to find it - and fight over it if necessary.

Mc Gregor's old enemy, Lord Longshanks, ever watchful, got word of the treasure hunt too. He is calling upon the mercenaries to join forces and move to strike on the bandits while they have their eyes on the money. He will pay 10 Florins for every bandit killed. And, remembering the raid of his castle, there will be a revard of 1000 Florins for the General Banner of Octavian's army (and should Amatsu show up and someone should happen to throw him out of the saddle, he might be similarly generous even towards a bandit).


Signed up as Mercenary : Guy, Axeknight, up to 2 more places open
Signed up as Bandit : Octavian, Steeleye, Shaka, 1 more place open
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Map details :
4v4, flatinland03.
Autumn, Western European, no limit, Bandits = defenders side, last man standing

[Nigel]

This will be the final mission of B+M in its current form. It may be sad in a way, for the game is really good fun. But on the other hand it is good to end on a high. Rome:TW has gone Gold and it won't be long now, that we follow the eagel standard and build new empires.

For now, however, here is a grand final battle. Signup is open now and may well last a few weeks (knownig a 4v4 can take time to fill). But perhaps we can play it on one of the weekends early October. Then, when all "personal arguments" have been settled on the battlefield, we can sit over a beer and talk of our adventures - and perhaps make plans for new ones.

[octavian]

awright awright, sign me up :)