AAR: Time of the Ice Giants

[sachmo]

Turn 11
Late Winter, Year 1

Godzilla Blitz and his host met the little folk of Hoburg outside of a village on the outskirts of Bithyne. Some of the giants laughed when the saw the wee folk dressed in armor and wielding tiny weapons, but Godzilla Blitz was wiser than that.
“See the commanders, you fools? They have weapons of power! Do not take these foes lightly!”
Most of the giants with him were humbled. They could see the magical glint from the pike held by one of the Hoburg Champions leading the enemy forces. That pike would cut through a giant quickly. The time for mirth was over, and the giants formed a battle line, growling and shouting war chants as they prepared to take on the Hoburg forces.
But the Hoburg’s proved to be just as fierce. The Burgmeister Guard charged, shouting high-pitched warcries in their own language, but the intent was clear. They would fight these giants to the death, and were not to be counted on to flee from battle. They swarmed one of the Hirdmen, raining blows upon him with their small maces. The Hirdman chopped the Hoburg soldiers to pieces, but they were many. Finally his shield was smashed, and as he went to throw it away, the Hoburg Champion appeared with his magic pike and slashed at the Hirdman, taking his arm at the shoulder. The wounded Hirdman fell, but before he could be overwhelmed, the rest of the giants broke through the ring of tiny men and rescued their fallen comrade.
The battle quickly turned against the Hoburgs, as they soon found themselves surrounded by giants, and were slaughtered.
Finally, all that stood were the Hoburg Champions and a few crossbowmen. Godzilla Blitz stepped into the ring and offered to accept the surrender of the little men.
“You have fought bravely, but you will surely die if you continue to resist. Surrender now, or die.”
The Hoburg Champion with the magic pike spit at Godzilla Blitz and swung his weapon at his head. The Jarl avoided this blow and swung his own sword at the Champion. He used his pike to parry the blow, but the force of the Godzilla Blitz’s blow sheared the magic weapon in half and carried on into the chest of the Hoburg. He fell instantly, his lifeless eyes staring into the sky.
Godzilla Blitz lowered his sword and pointed it at the remaining Hoburgs.
“No more chances! Drop your weapons or die!”
A few of the crossbowmen dropped their weapons, but the remaining commander and his men would have none of it. They charged Godzilla Blitz, screaming their war cries and unleashing a Last, desperate missile attack against him. The giants moved to protect their commander, and took down the remaining Hoburgs, leaving the Champion to face the Jarl. The Hoburg commander fought with fury, but the giant was much too powerful for him. In moments, Godzilla Blitz ran him through. As he looked down at the lifeless body, he noticed that the commander was wearing a ring that seemed to radiate power. This ring Godzilla Blitz took for himself, and the magic writing on it told him that it was a Ring of Tamed Lightning, which would give him almost total protection against shock attacks. As he put it on his finger, he smiled. The spoils of war were indeed sweet this season.

Treasury: 431
Income: 519 (+87)
Provinces: 15 (+2)

Rhyvinter found no magic sites in Pholothras.

Brigands have taken up residence in the Farseer Mountains. This increased the unrest in the province to 33. Coffee Warlord was dispatched from Pholothras to deal with the scum. The tax rate in this province was also reduced to zero, to help combat the unrest.

Rexor and his barbarians took the province of Lithia. They were faced with a force of mixed infantry, at least two hundred strong. The barbarians won the day, losing twenty (two) of their own number. The province was claimed for Jotunheim. Once the battle was over, Rexor was released from his contract, free to seek employment elsewhere.

Horvan the scout was caught in Pangaea, and killed as a spy by their forces.

Rhyvinter went north into the province of Inarime to search for magic sites.

Kaspar the spy headed west from Inarime to scout the lay of Mictlan lands.

Gunnhild the hag began forging a Skull Talisman for use by one of the commanders in the upcoming battles.

Kingfc22 was ordered to assist in researching.

A Sage was recruited in Pholothras.
Visbur began construction a Fort in Pholothras.

Fjollvitner the scout discovered that the pretender of Ermor was a powerful lich.

Havok the Jotun Herse joined the cause in Jotunheim. He was ordered to join Coffee Warlord in the bandit hunt in the Farseer Mountains.

A spearman was recruited in Jotunheim.

[ July 30, 2004, 05:10: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[sachmo]

Turn 12
Early Spring, Year 2

Havok and Coffee Warlord destroyed all of the brigands in the Farseer Mountains. These bandits were the remains of the forces defeated in the neighboring independent provinces. They had hoped to wage a guerilla war against Jotunheim, but were unprepared for the strength of the belief of the population in Rhyvinter’s cause. In the end, their agitation of the citizens was but a flea bite to the cause of the giants…

Treasury: 358
Income: 463 (-56)
Provinces: 15


This was a pretty uneventful month.

Rhyvinter arrived in Inarime. He began to search for magic sites. He was again very tempted to assault the Mictlan capitol, but not until the frontier was strengthened and the fortress was finished in Pholothras.

In Phholothras, a sage was recruited. His specialty was Air Magic. He immediately began researching in the Lab, allowing Kingfc22 to search for magic sites in the province which Rhyvinter had been unable to uncover.

Coffee Warlord and Havok marched on the independent province of Kratas, which was defended by a medium sized force of Barbarians. Vitiges the Priest marched from Ard with a force of 3 light infantry to lend his holy spells to their fight.

The defense in Old Man Mountains and Halemyer was raised to 11.
The defense in Lithia and the Forest of Gun was raised to 10.

Two light infantry and two archers were raised in Inarime.

If Kratas were taken, it would be the Last independent province ripe for conquest. Soon, war with one of the major nations would begin.

[sachmo]

Overview of the game so far:



As you can see, we're going to have to take something from someone other than the indies soon.

[ August 01, 2004, 05:08: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[sachmo]

Turn 13
Spring, Year 2

With the new season came hot blood. With the winter frost fully shaken off, the forces of Man decided that they needed to expand their borders, and so declared war on the nation of Jotun...

Treasury: 484
Income: 590
Provinces: 15
Gems: 1 Fire, 11 Water, 13 Astral, 6 Death, 26 Nature

Man declared war on Jotun.
Kingfc22’s search for magic sites was fruitless in Pholothras.
In Inarime, Rhyvinter found 2 magic sites:
Well of White Water- 1 Water gem per turn
Gem Deposits- 40 gold per turn
In Halemyre, the citizens have volunteered for the local defense, increasing the province defense to 10.

In the province of Kratas, the forces led by Coffee Warlord and Havok met a huge band of barbarians. The young commanders showed inexperience, however, and Havok was cut down by the numerous enemies. The rest of the giant forces fled the field, and the province remained in enemy hands.

In Bithyne, Godzilla Blitz prepared to go on the offensive against the forces of man. He quickly organized the citizens of the province into a fairly effective defense force, and took his army into Ireme, a province held by man. The province was thought to be lightly defended by militia, and so would hopefully be an easy target for his forces.

Rhyvinter immediately abandoned plans to attack Mictlan, and took his army back to Jotunheim for reinforcements.
Kingfc22 and Visbur also moved back to the capitol, and would join the offensive against Man.

A Sage was recruited in Pholothras.
A Herse was recruited in Jotunheim.
Two Jotun Spearmen and a Jotun Hurler were recruited in Jotunheim.
A priest and three light infantry were recruited in Temiglia.

[Zen]

Long Live Sachmo.

Good to see you back, seems that SE:IV unhooked it's claws from you long enough to get back

[sachmo]

Zen said:
Long Live Sachmo.

Good to see you back, seems that SE:IV unhooked it's claws from you long enough to get back

I've neglected this story too long, and just when it looked to be getting interesting.

[sachmo]

Turn 14
Late Spring, Year 2


Not to be outdone for trechery, the heathens of Mictlan declared war on Jotunheim in the next season. However, Rhyvinter was fully devoted to crushing Man first, and so strengthened his defenses in the west, while marching his armies into the east.

Mictlan declared war on Jotunheim.

In the Forest of Gun, blizzards devastated the land, killing 5% of the population. Commoners whisper that it was called down upon them by Rhyvinter himself, to punish them for their lack of production.

In the province of Inarime, Godzilla Blitz led his troops against the forces of Man. Their forces consisted of less than one hundred mixed slingers and militia and four huge Horned Serpents. They were commanded by two Castellans, heavily armed and armored noblemen. Upon spying the giants approaching their lines, the human commanders unleashed their forces.

The militia met with the giant spearmen first, quickly followed by the Horned Serpents, even as rocks pelted the giants from the slingers positions. The giants met the attack, reaching further than the humans could with their large spears and axes. The charge was quickly turned, and the humans died to a man, as did the serpents. As was their custom, the giants then bellowed warcries and charged the remaining forces, cutting down anyone in their path. All of the slingers were slain, as was Berthwald the Castellan, while some twenty militia and the remaining human commander were able to flee. The province belonged to the Jotun, but more importantly, they were but a single province from the enemy capitol.
A few days later, the humans launched a counter-attack in Temiglia. The human force consisted of seventy axemen, twenty spearmen, and forty longbowmen. This force was led by two monks. Opposing them were twenty militia, and a priest. Thankfully, the local militia was able to join this force before the battle, adding twenty giant militia to the Jotun forces along with a Herse to lead them.
The humans moved toward the town in a battle line, covered by the swift arrows from their longbowmen. The giants and milita hid behind their shields, but a few of the arrows got through, killing about five men and wounding a few of the giants. The giant militia watched in disgust as their human counterparts broke and ran as the Axemen and spearmen came closer, but it helped to strengthen their resolve.
The din of war rose over the field as the two forces clashed. The giant line bent as the humans crashed into them, attacking with great ferocity. These men were experienced soldiers, and their skill was apparent. The priest for Jotun, Albert, took an arrow in the chest, and the wound was great. He continued to fight with the Jotun militia, trying to heal who he could even as the battle swirled around him. Where a giant fell, he moved to try to offer them comfort.
Finally, the Men broke and began to run. Sensing victory, the giants gave chase, cutting stragglers down as they found them. Albert moved along with them, but eventually his wound proved too much for him to overcome, and he fell dead on the field. Seeing their brave companion fall enraged the giant militia, and they completed the slaughter. Of the forces of Man who entered Temiglia, not a single on mad the trip back to their lines.

Danpner, a Jotun Herse, left for the Mictlan frontier. There he was tasked to hold the line until the war could be won in the east against Man. Kingfc22, Rhyvinter, and Visbur moved into Temiglia to prepare an assault on Man.

In Ireme, Godzilla Blitz prepared the defense of the province. He was expecting some sort of counter-attack from Man, and would need all of the help he could get.

In Pholothras, a Gode was recruited to lead the defense force, or a counter-attack force to take advantage of any weakness shown by Mictlan.

A human commander was recruited in Halemyre.
Two (20) light infantry were recruited in Worshin.
Five light infantry and a militia were recruited in Inarime.

Coffee Warlord and the priest Vitiges were ordered to invade the Man province of Lettia, which scouts reported as unmanned. To back up this claim, the scout Fomiraghist also pledged to join the attack, lending his quite limited battle strength to the cause.