>>12627604
Let's go into the archives and do some research on the gods and elementalists. See if there are any type of artifacts that would boost our powers, or training manuals that may have survived from the First Age.

And we should probably ask Jayne what's wrong.

>gah, got pulled away from my computer, I'm back.
>confirmation?

>>12627743
Doesn't look like there's anyone else.
Maybe they haven't seen this thread.
Or maybe they thought it wasn't running since this didn't get started till 11:00PM 4chan time.

Didn't see the thread since I was expecting 9. Talk to Jayne and then hit the archives.

>>12627768
>fair enough
"Whats bothering you Jayne?" you ask, turning towards the archives.

"Dont expect things to change much with the other noble houses Commander. It seems most of them have decided that our feat was not very impressive, in fact they see you as incompetent for having taken so long to achieve. Of course the Houses out of Highpass and the surrounding cities are grateful towards you, but they all either lack house wings to offer you, influence to aid house Garlian, or are currently engaged and can help neither of us. I hate it when my sisters socializing beings her information... it makes her feel justified, and the news is seldom good. How did your debriefing go?" Jayne replies, following half a step behind you.

"Well, my requisition funding was increased, and I will be able to ensure Kahlless sees justice next week, so well. I dont know how long you will want to keep following me though. I intend to see what information I can gather on the stranger things we faced in the north." Jayne simply nods and continues to follow you, she must be curious as well then.

>roll for archive surfing

rolled 56 = 56

>>12627894
Huzzah

We should also look into that commander in Sansa's past. See what the archives say about things related to him. As well, let's see if we can clear Sansa's old papers about her crime.

Maybe we should also tell Jayne that we decided on what she has to do for us:

She has to invite ourselves and Cornelius over for dinner with her and her sister. She has to cook.

Should we bring Sansa too, or would that be bad manners?

After a few hours you manage to find Sansa's service records, as well as those of Quintus Seventus, the latter seeming to be at the end of his career. Laelith has found a score of scrolls and tomes from the musty, abandoned 7th wing of the Imperial Archives. Jayne busies herself helping Laelith work out the last of the chaff in her search. At the end of it you are down to three large books, one on either of the two pantheons, and one that seems to be a primer on the arcane, and elemental. In addition to that there are several scrolls listing off the known works of most of the gods and their chosen servants.

>what do you want to go after first then?

>>12627918
Seconding this, we need to figure out what that chucklefuck has been doing and if there's a pattern of "incidents" like what Sansa mentioned.

>>12628005
Service records of Sansa and Quintus.

Service records first, those probably can't be checked out. The books and scrolls we can probably take with us back to the barracks right?

>>12628019
Seconding this.

>>12628005
Service records. Also look for other female soldiers leaving Rapus Molestus' unit.

>>12627974
Oh the look on her face. Think we should?

I'll also vote for service records.

Sansas career was a fairly normal one, upon further inspection. If she had not had her run in with Quintus she would likely be moving towarrds being the captain of her own Hunter battalion by now. A handful of commendations and laurels that one would expect a soldier to acquire over 3 years of service; but nothing special. The flow of normality of course violently interrupted by being found guilty of desertion and attempted murder of a superior officer, a year-long trial procedure, the ordeal dragged out by... Quintus, interestingly, then two years of fighting academy tests; and finally your recruiting of her.

Quintus is an old dog, he graduated the officers academy 3 testing cycles after your mentor, and being assigned to the command of a regiment along with a different graduate, both of whom were placed under a maniple commander to ensure they did not waste any troops.

He was distinguished for his service in the first three campaigns her served in, receiving a nearly crippling wound at the successful end of the third. After that he was promoted to a full commander, about 4 years before his run-in with Sansa. That is also where the chain of attempts on his life and desertions from his unit begin. While his service record continued to be excellent, the list of punishments ordered, soldiers deserting and attempts on his life increases at a rather rapid rate. About a month after Sansas trial was completed Quintus was promoted to his current post as Commander-General of the IV Cohort in the VII Legion. The stream of malcontents and murderers has leveled off, but it will take more than a bit of work to suss out which charges are legitimate and which are the results of his lust.

>>12628198
Interesting. It'll take time but we should see how many other trials were dragged out by Quintus and find out who. Perhaps they are people we could also speak to. Other than that though, I don't see much use from this...

>>12628198
Also, it doesn't look like there's anything we need to clear up with Sansa's records at the moment. Not until Quintus' actions have been revealed will that be likely I think.

>>12628198
Well, if he's a superior ranking officer right now we can't do much other than investigate.

>>12628219
if you want you can roll to work through the charges to try to find some of Quintus' victims.

and what do you want to do next then?

rolled 41 = 41

>>12628262
Let's find some other victims.

>>12628262
Check for breakerstones? If anywhere has them, it would be the capital.

>>12628262
After, I suppose we can read up on the primer on the arcane and elements. Honestly, I want to see if we can find a way to disrupt the use of them or make it harder for a foe to use them.

Also on a side note, are there records on the campaigns Quintus went on? I'm curious on how he distinguished himself and what kind of a leader he was in combat. Maybe a little paranoid but worth considering in the worst case scenario.

Think we can send a couple thousand worth of supplies north to the orc clan to speed their recovery and regrowth? It would be nice to have a source of recruits and maybe a foothold into the north if we want to start some kind of political or military powerbase.

You manage to scratch out the legitimate criminals fairly easily, but getting through the female 'criminals' takes some time. You find yourself looking for similar career irregularities to the ones you saw in Sansas career, and that takes time. After several hours you manage to find 3 live potential victims. One is currently fighting for academy tests, one is on trial, and one has yet to be caught. You have leads, but there is not much else you can do with this information right now, and it is beginning to grow dark outside.

>what now?

>>12628306
Well, the orcs (modern) will be no good as fighters, but as support personnel producing agricultural products and leather supplies, they might be useful.
Definitely something to consider mentioned to the Praetor, unless you meant sending our own personal resources to create a private powerbase.

>>12628340
Private powerbases are what commanders thrive upon. And we have requisition funds. Nobody will notice, it's just supplies after all....

>>12628319
Dark eh? Perhaps we should call it for the night then. It might look odd if we spent all our time in the archives the day we got back. Besides, we still have to have a real party for our men.

Later on during our off time, we should see if we can contact the woman on trial and the one doing the academic trials. And find out if the one who hasn't been caught yet has family in this city.

>>12628319
We should make note of all three, and maybe figure out a way of getting the one in academy trials out alive. She could be a useful witness if we wish to pursue legal recourse.

Otherwise, let's see what records we can have copies made of, or taken out. Including the material on the gods and the primer.

>>12628351
Those are supplies we're going to need for war though. We went through the 30 we had initially really easily only spending on Jayne's troops (At a discount mind you), food and actual money for bribing. We shouldn't spend too much on it and it'll take a long time for the orcs to really get at a level where it'll benefit us.

Let's go see to our men and commanders. We've hit the books enough for one day, we can do it at our leisure some time later. We have a whole month. Thank Jayne and Laelith for keeping us company and helping, it's boring doing that crap alone.

>>12628383
That's why I just said a couple thousand. That's enough to hire a merc company for a campaign, it should last that little orc tribe for half a year or more. And we have 60k. It's a drop in the bucket.

So what are we going to make Jayne do for the bet?

>>12628445
I can't really think of anything that would be useful. Maybe ask her to join us in a campaign at the same price again? Part of me is tempted to see if we could get our own bear cav to keep but it'd be hell and time consuming to replenish their numbers and breed them.

Gathering the books and writing down the names you intend to follow up on you leave the archives, eyes sore and fingers cramping. Laelith looks introspective, and Jayne apprehensive about something as you leave the Legionary Clerks office with a small coffer full of coin. No one says anything as you leave the palace gates and make your way towards your barracks complex.

>what kind of shindig do you want to throw? take your captains/command staff to an eatery again and have a service cater for the men, or another big group celebration?

>>12628463
Oh come on, you don't turn a friendly bet into a 10k dragon leverage opportunity, even if it was unfair. Think the bet Sansa and Jayne made, that level.

>>12628484
True. Guess I'm considering it bigger than it is.

>>12628483
I think we should do the big celebration thing again. If we're trying to be the kind of commander that his men looks up to, than separating our captains and the men wouldn't help us achieve that.

>>12628483
A little later let's ask Jayne what her plans are after we pay her for this campaign, and how her sister fared while we were gone.

For the party, I think we should have good eats/drinks for the men and maybe some entertainment while taking the commanders and our (non-animal) retinue out to a decent place.

>>12628530
We should also ask her why she looked apprehensive.

Actually I'll agree with your idea now. I'm curious to see how the interactions between our captains has changed and that'll be harder to do in a large group.

>>12628525
Officers mostly fraternize with other officers for a reason. You need to keep discipline and to do that you can't just be everyone's friend all the time. I imagine we're already known as a real down to earth commander who likes his troops for throwing these parties, fighting with them, and eating last and such. But a huge party where ranking and enlisted mingle? Faux pas.

>>12628525
I agree with the big party, but we also need to meet with our captains again in a bit more intimate setting to make sure they have everything they need.

>>12628558
>>12628582
Indeed. As I stated in a later post, I've changed my mind. You bring up good points.

>>12628558
Or as they say in training, familiarity breeds contempt. It's hard to look at someone as the strategic planner whose orders you should follow to the letter when you've learned a lot about him and gotten on friendly terms. Friends want to give and be given advice, not take orders from a superior. This is also why upper bosses don't mingle with employees.

Right, so a nice eatery with an open bar for our officers, and a good meal, some average beer/wine, and some entertainment for the enlisted men.
Sound good?

We should also have a talk with Sansa tomorrow morning. She really stepped up and does a lot for us, I'd like to see how she is handling that. It's a big step from regular footsoldier to con-captain to right-hand of a maniple commander.

>>12628699
I think we should take her to a meal at one point and have a long talk to her. She wasn't taking it well after our first battle as our aide and I'm interested in how she's adjusted to being our aide since.

>>12628719
>>12628699
Maybe take her out of the city and go hunting together or something? Something to take the workload off of her. I doubt she's had much time for recreation in prison.

I wonder what she enjoys doing. Hunting was just a guess.

"Something seems to be troubling you Jayne, care to tell me what that would be?" you ask your hired noble as you turn the corner to the Nobles Causeway, mercenary bands crying their battalion history out into the dying light, fat nobles sitting on their chairs waiting to be approached.

"As I mentioned I doubt that either my house not your maniple will gain much renown in the eyes of the other nobles from this last campaign. While I will have no trouble keeping my wing together thanks to your pay, I am unsure as to whether I will be able to get another contract for some months after this one expires. I was hoping you would be willing to extend the contract for this next campaign as well? No changes to the deal, the same rate and agreement for an additional campaign?" Jayne asks, nervous and... hopeful. Laelith stops at a stall claiming to have magical trinkets for sail, feigning interest while you negotiate business with Jayne.

>>12628745
How is the weather down south? We should know that from our training and memory and crap. Ask her how Uursans would fare in that terrain and climate.

Also ask her if she can replenish her unit before we leave in a month, or even expand it.

>>12628745
Accept Jayne's offer, though warn her that we are most likely being sent East, and there's going to be heavy fighting that way.

We're going to need to make sure that Laelith has quarters and a small stipend. She's part of our retinue now, and we take care of our people.
Oh, and before anyone forgets: check up on Wulf, our protoge.

>>12628778
Seconded on all counts.

>>12628778
Taking Sansa out for some R&R would be a good chance to give Wulf some responsibility. He can try handling affairs for the day while we are out doing whatever. Just in case we should put Gaius over him, and ask him to make sure Wulf doesn't do anything too stupid.

>>12628794
>>12628778
>>12628767
Nothing I can disagree with here.

>>12628778
>>12628792
I don't know guys. Before accepting we should at least get an assessment of how effective they will be. We don't want to be driving heavy tanks through soviet mud swamps, if you know what I mean.

>The fighting is happening on what is essentially the great plains.

"How do Uursan fair on open plains and in warmer climates?" you ask Jayne, seriously considering her question.

"They shed like mad, but since winter will be in full swing by the time you deploy that wont be an issue for some time. WE may not be as fast as horses, but unlike horses the loss of momentum is not a death sentence to us. I was my fathers second during the last war against Uurlanth if your worried about effectiveness, we did well for ourselves. If your worried about numbers, I can bring up enough of my reserves and trainees to have a wind of 75, but I would have to ask 15000 of you then. What do you say... Justinian?" she asks, looking hopeful.

>>12628778
Second, though add that she ought to thank her sister. With her temper, finding out the news from some other source, probably a Noble or Commander, might cause even strained relations.

Intelligence before going into battle, that is quite favorable. Ply it in military terms, suggest to Jayne that perhaps her sister is not so incompetent in handling the house after all. Ask about Cornelius. :D

>>12628870
I say accept, and then spend two or three days while we're resting to look through the archives on how uursan cavalry have been used on the plains in the past, especially against Uurlanth.
Don't copy the tactics, because enemy commanders will undoubtedly have read the same books, but read about the difficulties we should expect and how to counter them.

>>12628870
Look at what 50 did for us in the last campaign. Increasing their unit size by 50% is pretty nice and I think we should do it. They were able to rip heavy duchy troops after the charge. I think it's a good investment.

>>12628870
Add, a bit jokingly, that her cavalry is probably the most cost-efficient you can find right now. Add some extra bonus? Her troops did very well in the first campaign after all.

>>12628870
Sounds good, we should probably make it 175000. Well paid soldiers are better fighters, and we got the company for half price both times.

>>12628939
I think you put in one too many zeros there.

"Very well, consider the contract extended for 1500. Now what sort of entertainment do you think would be appropriate for the larger celebration I promised the men? you reply, Jaynes face lights up at your acceptance, and once Laelith rejoins you the three of you go about planning the celebration for the soldiers of your maniple, and discussing which eatery the command staff will be going to. As the sun finally sets you and your companions enter the barracks complex to... peace, at first. Then Wulf walks up to you, slightly sheepish for once, almost like he's hiding something. Since the peasant archer battalion he had been leading left to receive proper training shortly after you reached the city you haven't been able to talk to the boy.

>>12629049
Let's see what's going on with our young protoge.

>>12629049
>slightly sheepish for once, almost like he's hiding something
"One of the first things to learn, is to always look unperturbed, ESPECIALLY if there's trouble. What did you break."

"I, well, this will be easier to explain if you follow me." Wulf says, before heading off towards one of the empty stable complexes. What you see there genuinely surprises you "I found them down an alley of the Nobles Causeway, their mother was dead and they looked like they could use some help... and maybe be useful in a year or two." the young man says, inclining his head at a trio of pups. You arent very good with dogs, but you can tell that these have wolfs blood in them on either the mother or fathers side, the counterpart almost certainly Degnarian IceHounds, preferred war-hound of the empire "I'd look after them myself, feed them out of my own pay. I could probably sell them to a kennel-master if you'd rather I not raise them, but I know these beasts could be an asset to the maniple given time, just look at the help your Aurachnospecs provided in the last battle."

>>12629126
I say let him do it. He's too young for super serious responsibilities but this could be a nice initial test if we leave it all in his hands. We might want someone to help him train them more when they're older but for taking care of them? I have no problem.

Jeez, our maniple is going to be full of animals at this rate.

>>12629146
>he is 17, a year older than you when you joined the legion

>>12629146
I second this proposition.
At this rate, we should nickname Justinian 'Commander Dolittle'.

>>12629146

second

also , by how many units is our command gonna grow?

and how many weeks do we have left before redeployment?

>>12629126
Do we still have to roll for their training, or will it go up slowly and automatically over time?

>>12629177
Oh. I thought he was younger. Guess he's going to have to join it soon then after we've mentored him a bit.

Regardless, I stand by it. Let him raise them.

>He'll do it all, so no rolling
"Very well. Move the pups to the kennels, make sure they are clear of my Aurachnospecs... we do not want any accidents." you reply, Wulf lights up, and gathers up two of the pups, holding one in each arm, and motioning for you to take the third. It immediately starts nipping at you once you lift it, and judging by the size of its paws it will have its first growth spurt soon. "So Wulf, aside from finding more creatures for my menagerie of a maniple, how goes your training?"

The youth shrugs as best he can before responding "The swordplay and archery practicing are difficult, Sansa and Collin are very through with me. I do wish that I had more opportunities to try my hand at tactics and strategy however, it is quite interesting in my opinion." After depositing the pups in a room in your maniples kennels the two of you head towards the command staffs barracks. You hear the side door to the complex close behind you, turning you see Cornelius walking to the same destination that you and wulf are, his steps light and happy, his garb the casualwear of a citizen.

>>12629282

"going to go see jaynes sister then?"

>>12629282
Methinks the young man has forgotten that he erred greatly before departure, and his punishment was merely put on hold rather than forgotten.

Let us see where he is going, shall we?

>>12629292
>>12629298
he's on the return, and you DID say he was to do his best to maintain a respectful correspondence.

>>12629282
"I'm sure we can work on getting you some practice with tactics and strategies." And I imagine we could do this by making scenarios of previous battles in the past or battles we make up and have him strategize and then we can critique him on it. Not as good as a real life thing but it'd be foolish to let him try it in a real war.

And yes, let's see why Cornelius is so happy.

>>12629292
>>12629298
Agree with these, and we should warn him to be a little more careful with Jayne's sister.

>>12629282
Look if Aurelius is around. Did the scrub archers disband?

>>12629321
Scrubs are getting real training so they won't be scrubs anymore.

>>12629310
Oh? Perhaps we should just say "Respectful correspondence, Cornelius. Remember." then.

can we get a hand bow?

a repeating hand bow?

with poison bolts?

>>12629396
We should likely focus our abilities. We already have sword, spear, shield, and elemental.

>>12629327
Wulf still their command? Switch with either Sansa or Aurel, if so. At that time it was because he stepped up to the plate, but now the archers might resent that.
Do they?

Give Sansa the name of the other victims. Give her time off to track and convince them to join our place...

"I'll see about getting you more opportunities to practice your tactics then. Now get some rest, I have a bid task planned for you tomorrow." you tell Wulf, as you turn to see what Cornelius is so happy about.

As you meet your captain in the courtyard, he salutes, and waits for you to speak. "Where are you returning from then, Captain?" you ask point blank.

"I had a lunch with Lady Bela, commander. I had interpreted your orders to mean that I was not to treat Lady Garlians younger sister as just another harbor to dock my ship at, sir. And since there were not many opportunities to write DragonsReach I took the initiative to ensure that anyone who may have discovered our... transgression, would not spread further, untoward rumors about Bela or house Garlian" Cornelius replies as you acknowledge his salute and allow him to leave his 'at attention' posture.

>>12629450
Let's ease up on the investigations. We have a month and personally, I think we should do it ourselves. We'd have a little more sway as a commander and we probably shouldn't have Sansa being constantly reminded of her past. Especially if it doesn't work out. It might be a little bad for her morale.

>>12629473
"I presume by your walk that lunch went very well?"

>>12629450
they are no longer under your command (you already have 6 battalions, a full maniple, so they were absorbed by the imperial war machine), Wulf is part of your Maniple as a member of your Retinue, so he is no longer their commander.

>>12629473
"Very good, Cornelius. I understand that mistakes can be made, but perhaps this might work out as something quite different for you in the end. If not, so be it. So long as you do not approach the situation lightly I will have no problem with whatever outcome occurs."

That way we aren't forcing him to get involved with someone he never liked but still resolved the situation without making trouble for all involved.

>>12629473

" Cornelius , i dont care where you dock your ship at , as long as it doesnt destabilize house garlian."

reiterating>>12629191

can we check out some other stalls and see about getting some light cavalry?

maybe those elves on the lizards?

When the units are reforming and training let's see if we can work the reserve units up to full rotational unit strength. But that's not an immediate need.

>>12629543
We have a month of leave so I assume that means 4 weeks. I also think we shouldn't invest in another unit of cavalry. It'll be killer to invest in two units and we might be better served to use that money on getting light/medium infantry mercenaries if we're not getting any more units to our command, which I think we are not as 6 is the size of our maniple apparently.

>>12629543
I don't know about light cavalry. I would go for heavies if given the chance, considering our planned battlefields. The more the better. But I doubt we can afford more than one more company, maybe two. Plus we should look into a couple heavy merc companies since it was our heavies that did most all of the actual work last campaign. All of that is hired on a per-campaign basis, so it wouldn't be permanent.

"Very good Cornelius. It is not that I particularly care where you 'dock your ship' its that I do not want any of my men destabilizing House Garlian or any noble house at that. As the former is this Maniples ally, and a noble house can make a powerful enemy. I feel you have obeyed my orders, so your are free to proceed or not as you see fit, but keep what I said in mind wither way." You respond as you turn to make for your room in the barracks. Luckily no one else seems to need your time tonight, and most of the men are already asleep, glad to be in beds with stone roofs over their heads.

>So, stuff with Sansa, look into mercenary contracts, organize the celebrations for your men? what will you do when you wake up?

>>12629558

the second praetorian said he wanted us with more at our disposal so im guessing that means more units for our maniple or a prommotion.

>>12629594
Merc contracts. The later we do it, the less options we'll have and the more it'll likely cost.

>>12629558
Honestly, I don't see a lot of use for the lights or mediums. They just got chewed up and spat out in the last campaign and didn't move appreciably faster than our superheavy warlords.

Practice Life Magic.

Oh, a question that has been in my mind: Are Neyeti and Neisha in opposition to each other? Each birth brings a death into the world with it. Maintaining contact with either doesn't sound too bad.

>>12629594

sansa can take care of the organisation for the party , we should go check into mercenaries , see what we can afford

and the reason i want light cav is because we're gonna be fighting elves , and from rex's story from when we first met him , our biggest threat is gonna be from their archers and skirmishers , so if we get some light cav they can chase the archers away or ride them down

>>12629636
If we were facing the duchy, I'd agree with you but this time we're dealing with the elves. I doubt heavy troops will be the norm for them, although I could be wrong, and that's likely something we should look into. Actually, would we already have an idea based on what we learnt in the academy/history on what kind of troops the elves specialize/use a lot?

Regardless, light infantry always has a role. It'd let them keep up with scouts we send ahead in battle or scouting. They got chewed up in our last campaign because they were used to hold the line. If we could of used them to flank, like in our very first battle for graduation, they likely would of done better.

>>12629594
I'd say Sansa in the morning. We can take her out and do stuff leaving Wulf in charge with Gaius over him. Then in the afternoon we can bring her with us to look at mercs, get her opinion on them. Finally in the evening all the captains will gather for dinner at a place and the men have their feast. Hopefully planning a party for the soldiers is not beyond Wulf's (+Gaius) capabilities.

>>12629636
Probably for maniple general strategy of positioning. Remember when the heavies weren't fast enough to get into the fray?

>>12629601
you didnt get promoted, but you have been noticed. 6 IMPERIAL battalions, the pay-raise was made with the expectation that you would hire more mercenaries/noble house cavalry

>>12629641
Neshai is only pantheon of mood because she isnt "nice" enough to fit in with the Sun pantheon, and if she decided to fly solo she would have been killed by one of the other gods. while they do not oppose, there is only so much life between the two of them to control, so they compete, but are not necessarily in opposition

>>12629648
It's a fair point but we're investing heavily in cav already. 1/4 of our funds are already gone and if we put money into supplies, which I will suggest now we do, we'll likely be up to 1/2 of our funds being used already. If we got another cav unit, that'd put us at least at 3/4 and that might be too much. Besides, the bear cav aren't tooooo bad at speed I believe. They're just not going to catch other light cavalry if it came down to a chase.

>>12629686
that 6 is how many make up a maniple, in case I wasnt clear enough

>>12629697
But only one unit of cavalry on the great open plains man? Seriously? I would say one more at least, possibly two. It depends on what we find and can hire, though.

And since when will supplies for the orcs take 10k+? They are a tiny tiny tribe. Unless you mean supplies for our men. Those should only be purchased after we know how many men we will have.

>>12629697

we're talking about elves here , im assuming they can run pretty damn fast and i think we should see what the cost of more cav is before we do anything

also , the price of supplies would be nice

The kingdom is mostly humans, though. Not elves. Sure they will HAVE elves, but it was said they weren't the majority.

>>12629724
Supplies for our men is what I meant. As Napoleon and others have noted, an army marches on its stomach, so we have to ensure our logistics are maintained. Better to rely on our own then rely on being resupplied in the field where it might get taken by the opposing army.

Plus, I think we should also keep money in hard cash. It helped in the last campaign with getting the mercs on our side but I think it might be more useful in this next one to hopefully get help from cities taken over by the elves. Any intel or help we can get from them would be key and money might be needed to do that. But yes, we should look at prices before we make solid decisions.

>>12629682
I'll second this.

>>12629724
Expanded bear cavalry. Against the probably more lightly armored elves they are going to eat them.

Problem is if elves got archery cavalry. THAT gonna shit up our maniple. How soon and how many can Kiarra and D make those crossbows?

>>12629685
That was more because the commander was sitting there and we were botching our command rolls than they were slow.

You wake up late, but most of the Maniple is still asleep, so you quietly clean yourself up, eat, and leave for the Nobles Causeway to see what mercenary units are available. It seems nothing has moved from last night, but that isnt all that uncommon. A column of crimson passes you, most likely it is the first part of your maniples replenishment forces. After a few hours of walking up and down the road and asking about the different bands you think you have a pretty good feel for what each band is like.

>units inbound

If we can get some spear mercs, I don't think cavalry will be a huge problem to fight. We're a range heavy maniple and that'll really hurt cavalry if we can pepper them as/before they charge. And rapidfire crossbows will murder cavalry unless they're decked out in armour, which means they'd be heavy cav and our bear cav can match them I imagine.

Mercenary Units
>each "+" denotes a successful campaign the unit was a part of
>each "-" a failed campaign

-Nebelhold Irregulars 150
Leathers, combat axes and circleshields, javelins
(ambushers)
++++
--
5500
-Hastius Hammers 200 (Dwarf)
Platemail, hammers
++
---
4000
-Gratius Mymidons 150
Surecoat over mail, bastard swords
++++++
--
9000
-Impetus Marauders 200 (Elf)
Chainmail, twin combat axes
+++++
--
6000
-Cornwal Mercenaries 175
Chainmail, spear and shield
+++
---
5500
-Dasius Following (Lacerta) 1500
Warhammers
++++
--
5000
-Sunbow Regiment 150 (elf)
Composit Bows, cloth
+++
-
6000
-Kyriona Pavise Bowmen 100
Pavise shields, crossbows, chainmail, broadswords
+++
--
4000
-Esperitus Raiders 60
Horse, spear, chainmail, javelins
++++
-
12000
-Gestat's Lancers 50
Horse, full plate, lances
++++++++
---
19000
-Borlan riders 75
Horse, leather, bows
++++
-
16000
-Gestius Preyherds 60
Velociprey, chainmail, bastard swords
+++
--
15500
-Kyrtosh RapidRiders 50 (elf)
Velociprey, leathers, shortbows, longblades
+++++
-
19000

>>12629799

yes , they would eat them , IF they get close enough to do so

im thinking that the uurlanthian armies will consist of elven super-archers and human heavy infantry with some lighter units sprinkled around

>>12629832

Kyronia pavise bowmen
>crossbowmen , range is aleays good
>chainmail , pavises , and swords i think these guys can double as medium infantry

Esperitus raiders
>cheap light cav unit good for chasing down enemy archers and skirm.

and for only 10000 denarii or whatever the empire currency is

I'm thinking we grab:
Kyriona Pavise Bowmen 4000
Cornwal Mercenarie 5500
Impetus Marauders 6000

Which will be just over 1/4 of our funds. Two melee units that are light I believe, one with spears for anti-calvary and I just have a love of pavise crossbow men...

>>12629891
The price is under the unit. The riders are 12k. Way too much.

-Impetus Marauders 200 (Elf)
Chainmail, twin combat axes
+++++
--
6000

-Esperitus Raiders 60
Horse, spear, chainmail, javelins
++++
-
12000

These two are our best buys, but I really like:
-Gestat's Lancers 50
Horse, full plate, lances
++++++++
---
19000

Experienced, heavy cavalry. I'm wondering what makes velocipreys so awesome that they command such ridiculous prices for inferior forces.

by the way, after paying for Jayne and dropping 10k on rations (will last 3 months) you have 35000 dragoons left

>>12629911
>>12629891
Guys, no way on the pavise bowmen. One, they are slow. They have to carry those pavises. Two, they are expensive and don't have an amazing record. Three, we already have a ton of archers. Half our force can launch bolts or arrows, and soon our rangers will put out a veritable hailstorm of them. We do NOT need more archers. We need more lineholders and cavalry.

>>12629934
fast as hell, can jump over most obstacles, a bitch to train and breed well. And the combat records of the units available compound that

>>12629957
Yeah... You're right. I should stop being silly. Alright. Let me change it.
Cornwal Mercenarie 5500
Impetus Marauders 6000
Esperitus Raiders 12000
Total: 23500

I say we save the rest for other supples like fortifications supplies and hard cash for bribing/using for other things. I assume there will be Imperial towns taken and if we can get scouts into the cities further in taken territory, maybe we can fund some resistance to spy on the invaders.

>>12629934
and their scent freaks the fuck out of horses, which are the most common mount on the continent

>>12629934

change those maurauders to kyronian pavise bowmne and you got a deal

to repeat , ELVEN SUPER ARCHERS

a unit with no shields probably wont survive long in the open plains where the uurlanthians will have all the room they could posssibly want to run away and pepper our troops from a distance

the kyronians however have pavises , the biggest fucking shields around

>>12629952
Okay so that means we have 27000 to spend and a 8k reserve for resupply and field expenses.

=27000
-6000 (Impetus Marauders)
=21000
-12000 (Esperitus Raiders)
=9000
-9000 (Gratius Mymidons)

Bam. Two heavyish lineholders and a cav unit. We are set.

>>12630007
I like this. Good, heavy hitters to go with the light units we've been using.

>>12629995
Dude, you are GUESSING. And elves are a minority there. Why are you saying OH MY GOD SUPER ELVES EVERYWHERE. You have no idea how many elves they will have.

If we were fighting the elven nation, sure. But I don't understand where these super elves come from. We can have the legions use the testudo formation and our cavalry to run them down.

>>12630020
We shouldn't blow all our money now. It's the second day of our leave. Who knows what else we might need cash for in the future.

>>12630023

if you remebered rexs story , he put his unit into a testudo and they fucking sniped their asses , shooting between shields and into visors of helmets

>>12629989
How do they interact with Uursan?

Practice Life/Earth magic each night?

>>12630040
And it was only effective because they were understrength, without support, on a narrow roadway.

>>12630044
We should really focus our magic capabilities unless we are some kind of magic savant. I don't want two moderately useful abilities when we could have one that is GGKTHXBYE.

You guys seriously don't want any spearmen? It's one of the best defenses against enemy cavalry and they can be used to hold the line decently well.

>>12630044
Uursan treat them with the standard bear mentality of "don't fuck with my food and I don't fuck with you", while velociprey are off-put by the size of uursan.

Also, velociprey are the only land mount that can outrun flying mounts

>>12630088

velociprey sound fucking perfect for running down archers but the're so damn expensive

>>12630073
We have two full legions of spearmen at 200 head each. I wouldn't be adverse to switching out one of the units for the spearmen, but I figured we needed the Myrmidions and Marauders for heavy line fighting. Mostly considering that half our force is light fast attack troops with a ranged option.

>>12630114
Indeed but they're heavy units that we've used to hold the line. The Cornwal Mercenaries could be used to match the movements of enemy cavalry a little and used to assault people from flanks since they're lighter and we won't rely on them to hold the line.

>>12630109
Any cavalry will run down archers fine, even Uursan. Light cavalry gets to them super fast whereas heavy cavalry just shrugs off the arrows until they get there, while also moving pretty fast.

>>12630109
remember, you can always try to re-negotiate the price, these mercs need to work to eat too...

>>12630138
Not arguing with you, I think it would be fine to exchange the expensive-as-fuck Mymidons for the Cornwall spearmen. But I also recognize they wouldn't be nearly as good against heavy infantry.

It's really a coin flip IMO.

>>12630114

>light fast attack troops

wat?

we have three heavies(2 units of legionnares , one of warlords)

and three ranged(hunters, rangers , who are kinda medium troops with crossbows , and then a unit of scouts)

scouts got their shit torn up in close combat and i wouldnt expect anything differant from the hunters. the rangers on the other hand , could put up a good close quarters fight , but not for long.

>>12630146
I assumed we would be bartering with all of them.

No wonder Jayne's unit is out of work despite being so powerful. For 75 head she charges 30k as the regular price!

>>12630158
Hmmm... We can re-negotiate then eh? I think that makes the Cornwall mercs even more tempting then. Their record isn't too hot. Negotiating with them might be easier. If we negotiate well enough with all the people we hire, we might be able to squeeze in a fourth unit.

But yes, I see your point. How about this guys - let's hire the units we've all agreed on first and try to re-negotiate. Then we can see how much we have leftover and decide from there and so far, we've all agreed on Esperitus Raiders so let's do them first and see what price we get.

>>12630179
thats standard for noble houses... do you wanna see the nobles looking for work too?

>>12630165
Scouts and hunters are light troops, and while rangers are not light I wouldn't go so far as to say they are viable as medium infantry either. They don't have the numbers. They are mainly ranged with some close combat ability for a pinch. Effectively ranged units like the other two with fast attack ability when needed to flank.

Speaking of which, did we get that awesome prestige for raising a unit of Rangers in the field?

>>12630193

yes please

>>12630207
Dude, no way are we hiring more nobles. Unless they're dirt cheap, we can't afford to.

>>12630193
Well it doesn't hurt to look, but I'm not sure we can afford it. Who hires the nobles for such ludicrous prices? It can't be maniple commanders. And such a unit would hardly be a drop within the bucket of a cohort or legion sized force.

>>12630182

okay then , the raiders are definitely a must buy

>>12630193
Only if it won't take up even more time.

>>12630202
the second praetorian is reproting you to the Emperor, so i would say so.

Noble Cavalry Wings
>more "*"s = more prestigious
House Deshtius
Heavy Cavalry 50
*****
30000

House Eztius
Heavy Cavalry 50
***
20000

House Caspius
Peagusus Riders 50
*****
45000

House Beskud
Light Cavalry 75
**
22500

House Yeailbe
Valkyrie Riders 30
****
40000

>Valkyrie = giant fucking eagle

>>12630234
Gentlemen. We need introductions to some of these houses at some point. We must become friendly with them and get cheaper prices because I want some goddamn flying cavalry in the future.

>>12630234
Yeah that's a bit above our pay grade. Who buys such expensive troops, anyway?

>>12630234

yeah we can definitely leave more nobles alone for now

btw , which house was jayne fighting with when we first met her?

If we have money left over after the campaign, what happens to it? If we are successful with the mission do they just like... not ask questions?

I mean, it would make sense. Legion commander and all. In it for the power, glory, money, and bitches.

rolled 18 = 18

Okay, no one has said no to it so I'm saying let's go into re-negotiations with the Esperitus Raiders. Making my roll.

>>12630290

what should that fourth unit be Maximus?

rolled 12 = 12

>>12630290
Nice. Rolling for the Marauders.

>>12630303
I want to see how much money we've saved before making that kind of choice. I'm still hoping people agree with me that we should save some money for a just in case situation.

rolled 67 = 67

Last the Cornwall Mercs.

We might be able to squeeze another unit out of this...

>>12630272
Baltarius is the House that Jayne was arguing with when you met her,

And Noble cavalry are the most professional cavalry the Empire can provide, since mercenaries are a bit of a... mixed bag when it comes to that, to put it lightly

>>12630304

hell yeah

>>12630304
Very nice indeed.

>>12630319
Our luck couldn't hold up forever but I rather get a better price on the good units than the crap ones.

If the commander of the force gets to keep any money left over on a "If you won we don't ask questions." basis then I would say the less force we can use the better. It makes for a great balancing act. We do need to get rich as well as famous, and our last campaign was woefully short on loot.

>>12630338
Only because we need to find a way to open that chest of ours. Oh snap, that's another reason to save money then. If we can find a breakstone... That chest could be full of awesome.

>>12630007
This reminds me: What's our maniple's current status?

I assume that we no longer have the two devastated mercenary formations. In which case we DO need to a couple of line-holder infantry in addition to an additional cavalry formation.

Though we may want to consider the archer cavalry:

-Borlan riders 75
Horse, leather, bows
++++
-
16000

I'm thinking it would open up some interesting tactical opportunities in the fields.

>>12630338
>>12630350
Speaking of last campaign's loot, what was our Commander's Share of it? Usually Roman commanders got very rich from campaigns, and either had a rough percentage of all loot recovered claimed as their own or had first dibs and took a percentage off the top. Soldiers did pretty well too, and loot from pillaging was often a driving force for them.

>>12630381

at the moment the maniple is being refreshed with new recruits into our existing units

and if you want horse archers , then depending on how much money we save the kyrtosh rapid riders sound much better than the borlans , who sound like theyd get raped in close combat with other light cav

I wonder if Pax collapsed into sleep with our long debating.

You approach the Captain of the Espiritus Raiders first "Captain, would you like to talk business?" you ask, cutting off his bragging mid-sentnce.

"That depends boy" the large, gruff looking man replies, the wind catching the patch over his left eye-socket "Are you headed east this time? No decent bragging rights in another internal fight."

"Indeed I am." you reply politely "Commander Justinian Trentz, and you would be?"

"Kurt Dorias, I shipped in from the Three Sisters with my men the other month, so if you have the gold we have the blades. 12,000" Kurt replies, stepping off of the box he was standing on to reach eye level with you, his wild graying brown hair giving him a few inches on you.

"8000" you reply quickly, trying to look offended by his offer.

"10" comes the counter

"8500 or I look elsewhere" you state as authoritatively as you can.

"Deal, where can I shack my boys up?" Kurt replies, looking more or less pleased. A few minutes later you are moving on to your second mark, the Impetus Marauders.

For such a highly recommended unit, you are surprised by how much thinner than your average elf the captain of the unit is. After the opening pleasantries, the haggard looking elf who identified himself as Aernistus Beztia opens the negotiations at 6000, you manage to negotiate his price down to 3500, he calls you a miserly bastard, but accepts your offer.

The success you have been encountering all day catches up to you ehn you attempt to enter negotiations with Buckmoore Kystris, the clean shaven, well groomed and self-sbsorbed captain of the Cornwal Mercenaries. You get off on a good foot, but when he reveals that he has another commander looking to hire him on to leave at about the same time you will be your negotiating is cut off at the knees, and you hire on his unit for 4750.

Feeling good about your negotiating skills, you tally up how many dragoons you have left to throw around, 18250. A good amount all things considered

>>12630470
had to keep your roster updated as well, hehe.

And yea, once you get a breaker stone, you can fairly claim one of the chests, the requisition is Empire money, and doesnt carry over, and the rebels didnt have a whole lot of material possessions, the Uurlanthians, being a feudal society will have plenty of shiny bits to snag.

I think we should hire the Gratius Mymidons and leave the rest in cash. Four units isn't bad. We'll get some more infantry to round us up and we'll have two cavalry units and the raiders can harass since they have javelins.

>>12630476
What happens to the money afterward now has a direct impact on what we do with this leftover cash.

I say we keep a 10k field reserve regardless. It served us very well last time.

>>12630499
Actually I say leave it for now and see if we can find a breaker stone. I want what's in that chest more than another unit. If we can't, then we go back to hire a unit. Although maybe we should leave that for next time since it's damn late and I'm sure we could go on and on.

>>12630454
You're probably right, but they also only have shortbows.

So, yeah.

But then, I don't think we can afford any more, so I'm just gonna back the current choices. Though I feel that we ought to take some good mobile firepower when the chance presents itself.

rolled 49 = 49

>>12630476

damn , i guess velociprey will have to wait for another campaign

hire the borlan riders and we'll be done here

i'll roll for their negotiations

rolled 78 = 78

>>12630497
>the requisition is Empire money
Damn it. Where's the fun in that? Oh well. I just can't imagine that graft is anything but commonplace with merc fees negotiable and such.

Hire the Gratius Mymidons. Rolling for negotiations.

>>12630513
I honestly don't think we need them. They'll only be good for harassment and we can use the raiders for that. That unit will just be another ranged unit in our already ranged saturated maniple. An expensive one at that.

rolled 1 = 1

>>12630508

do we even know where we can get a breakerstone?

and cant we buy it using our own money instead of imperial funds?

or just get wulf to steal it?

>>12630513
>>12630532
consensus? right now its 2 for the Gratius Myrmidons and 2 for the Borlan Riders

I protest any more ranged units. We already have three entire ranged-centric units.

>>12630543
That's why we look for one in the city, if that's even possible, and I don't even know if we have money, which is why I didn't suggest using our own.

>>12630556

i roll'd a one

YOU MUST OBEY ME

Guys, remember how fast the forces closed before. Sure the archers dropped a good number of units, but the battle was decided in the melee afterward. And those were pretty lightly armored lizard we were fighting. They don't even wear armor.

>>12630575
They don't wear armour because their hide is naturally tough. Pax - would it be possible to find a break stone in the city? That potentially determines what we'll do at this point.

What are our personal fortunes like? Do we have an estate or funds or something? What is our financial and prestige setup? Any contacts in government or the armed forces? ect. ect.

If we want to be a political climber we need all these things.

>>12630556

the myrmidons are expensive as fuck

and we havent even negotiated yet so we may be able to get another unit

if we absolutely have to have another infantry unit then hastius' hammers seem like a better deal to me

>>12630591
Based on numbers? Maybe. Based on record? Eww. Unreliable drunkards with low morale.

>>12630556
I'll side with the Borlan Raiders.

>theory, ofixer

You know, if we eventually have to give all that funding back then why are we trying to hire Jayne for cheap? When the campaign is over let's just pay her a bonus of whatever is left over. It's the best use of our funds, after all. We might even get a kickback.

>>12630620
We've never had leftover money and I doubt we will after a campaign. Right now, I'm trying to argue saving money for other things we could use it for rather than just troops.

And FFFFFFF if we get those stupid horse archers.

>>12630607

WHAT DO YA DO WITH A DRUNKEN DORF

WHAT DO YA DO WITH A DRUNKEN DORF

WHAT DO YA DO WITH A DRUNKEN DORF

EARLY IN THE MORNING

PUT 'IM IN THE BRIG UNTIL HES SOBER

PUT 'IM IN THE BRIG UNTIL HES SOBER

PUT 'IM IN THE BRIG UNTIL HES SOBER

EARLY IN THE MORNING

I think infantry is better. Do we really need another expensive cavalry unit that can't even engage in melee? If the enemy does have super archers they are just going to get raped and our money will be down the drain. If they don't then the horse archers will still not be able to charge or break enemy units from the rear.

yea, a breaker-stone would be findable. As far as your own holdings, you only recently left the life of a soldier, so you have this really awesome barracks complex, and the cloths on your back. Sure you get your pay but your a doting commander (so far), and you have yet to get your hands on your share of the recovered arcana so... yea.

And if it helps you can always check for mercs again before you deploy if you dont particularly like what you see right now.

>>12630628

we havent negotiated yet , we could get both

>>12630646
And have zero reserve cash? Are you crazy?

>>12630645
I'm all for not buying right now and finding those breaker stones people. A chest full of arcana sounds a lot better to me than another unit which we might not use well (horse archers) or the infantry, which we might be able to get better picks later.

>>12630645

negotiate then we'll decide

(please use the one!!!)

Let's just go breaker stones and come back before we leave to see what is new at the end of the month.

It's day 2 of our month long leave guys. We do not need to spend everything right now. We have a fair amount of money left over, let's let things calm down for a bit and pass by. New mercs will reach the capital as the month goes on and we might find new things we want to spend money on. What if Kyria later comes up to us and says she needs funds to outfit the entire unit with auto-crossbows? Or something else? I think we should back off for now. The 3 units we got at low prices is good enough for now.

On that thought... Maybe we should look into ways to upgrade our units rather than hiring new ones next session.

You decide to look for mercenaries again later. After a few hours of searching you are able to find a _real_ breaker-stone for 1250 dragoons, which seems to be a fair price considering that it will allow you to open any magical lock you want to in the future.

>yes or no? and once you guys decide on this, I'm gonna crash. the next session will be monday at 8pm (9pm server time)

>>12630702
I say yes on this.

>>12630639
No no, see right now he have TWO cavalry units capable of melee. One heavy the other light and fast.

Getting the horse archers gives us a mobile long-range unit to harass enemy melee infantry from various angles.

>>12630702

yeah , magic items here we come

Someone roll for discount!

>>12630702
Buy it.

Thread archived. Go vote people.

>>12630719
A unit that will likely get peppered by elven archer units. Assuming Pax's archers are like traditional archers, that will be one of their specialty units and unarmoured cavalry is even more vulnerable to archery fire than infantry. Plus, our light cavalry have javelins so they can harass enemy melee units from a distance as well. Just not as far.

Hell, we could use these funds to buy ourselves and retinue all kinds of junk. Armor, meteoric iron for weapons, an engagement ring for our lady of choice. Just write it all off as campaign expenses.

>>12630736
Pax's elves are like traditional elves... Gah. Not thinking straight at this time of night.

After a quick exchange of gold and a pouch, which you are allowed to verify the contents of and their functionality you begin to make your way back to your Maniples Barracks complex, arriving by late afternoon to a scene of more or less quiet and peaceful training, Kurt and Gaius looking over Wulfs shoulder as he battles Cornelius in a game of strategy, men from several units betting on the exchange. Sansa, Aurelius, Finian and Kyria seem to be having some sort of accuracy and trick shooting competition, more betting is taking place on this. In all, it seem that your men are enjoying their leave.

>cya guys... I hope I dont fall over between my computer and my bed; because thats where I'd end up sleeping, haha. archive please

>>12630736
>>12630744
The same thing could be said of any cavalry units that aren't in heavy armor.

Horse archers would help round-out our cavalry forces. We have a heavy and light already. Getting ranged cavalry would give us more tactical options.

That said, I'm willing to hold off getting another unit for later. Maybe one with composite bows. Or the skills to fire on the move. (Yes, I am thinking Mongols here.)

Personally, I think that if we have to go for heavy infantry, we should go for some sword and board guys.