>>4088146
>Dissolve them, but hire some of them as mercenaries for your army first

>>4088151
This

>>4088151
>>4088436
The warlords all returned to their clans, and sent you some of their men as mercenaries, with you managing to amass a force of six hundred light cavalry from the wasters, with most of the troops being the younger men, still eager to prove themselves. You watched as your great army dispersed back into the red waste, and then went back to Urizen to talk strategy. The king was satisfied that the invasion was over, and sent some of his greener troops back to the various towns, while he gathered his veterans to Berkeran. Urizen wanted you to return to your town, and saw it as more beneficial for you to administer your new realm rather than aid him in the upcoming siege, but he wouldn't mind if you came with him:
>Go with your king to the siege
>Loan him Deaths-Head for the siege
>Do as the king wishes, and go to your town
>Or write in

>>4088538
>Go with your king to the siege
We have the mercenaries. It'd be wasteful not to use them.

>>4088546
You traveled with Urizen and his army, marching for days on the war-torn roads of the desert, reaching The Flats in the early morning. Urizen knew that Berkeran was the empire's 'beachhead' for a possible future attack, and was vital in its defensive position against them. A large garrison was expected in the town, and it would not be easy to take. It had been a week since you departed with Urizen to reach the enemy town, with the king taking it slow on the journey to replenish men and morale. The generals proposed a few options of attack:
>Storm the walls with Deaths-Head, destroying the gate with the truck
>Make siege towers and battering rams to attack the town's walls
>Sap under the walls, and pour into the town through the hole
>Starve them out (don't need to roll)

Roll 1d100

>>4088564
>Make siege towers and battering rams to attack the town's walls
>Sap under the walls, and pour into the town through the hole
We'll use the siege as a distraction to sap under the walls, and when our sappers emerge they'll open the gates for the main force. Deaths-Head will stay in reserve: if the sappers don't make it we barrel through the gates.

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>4088568
also, dice

Rolled 79 - 30 (1d100 - 30)

>>4088568
>>4088569
40 -60 (Iron armor, great general, a plan of attack, Deaths-Head, flamethrowers, guns are way better than bows [-10], superior ranged weapons, inhuman accuracy, Urizen's veteran troops, and vastly outnumber your enemy [-10]) = -20

Enemy gets -30 (full steel armor [-15], superior melee weapons, reinforced steel walls, and fortified position)

>>4088663
-20 vs 49 = Absolute victory

Urizen agreed to the plan, and so you set it: making siege towers and rams to keep the enemy troops from finding the sappers, who got to work immediately. The problem with sapping is that it takes a really long time, and two weeks passed before you reached the walls, with the enemies distracted by the visible construction of the other siege works.
You launched your assault at the night, going with your five hundred wasters through the tunnel as Urizen attacked at the front. You dug upwards, and found yourself just behind the walls, bringing your men up with you to take out the many guards. You had almost reached the gate when you were spotted, though it was too late for the defenders, with your men taking out the close ones with their bows. You reached the device to open the gate, and activated it, revealing the men and battering ram on the other side.
You brought in the new troops led by Urizen to take out the remaining enemies on the walls, and pushed the defenders to the town center. The enemy troops dropped their weapons, and gave themselves up as prisoners. After filling in the sapped hole, and burying the dead, Urizen garrisoned many of his men at the town, and prepared to depart to Urzenthus, declaring that peace had now been achieved. You were dismissed after being thanked for your aid, and you left with your men to Black-Hands-Deal.

The trip was short due to just having horsemen in your army, and within a few days you reached the gates of Black-Hands-Deal. The townsfolk there did not even stop to hail you as their lord, and were busy rebuilding the houses and parts of the wall that both Yurtherik and you destroyed. You came to the center of the town, and saw the keep there, half destroyed by the truck you were still driving. You had a lot of work to do here, and your treasury here was almost empty, with your personal money being spent on the mercenaries:
>Tax the nobles
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants
>Spend money on rebuilding your keep and walls
>Spend money on rebuilding the houses
>Search for advisors and overseers in the town
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Go mingle with the townsfolk disguised

Choose two options

>>4088675
>Tax the nobles
>Spend money on rebuilding the houses
The nobles can take it best, and the people need it most. Once their houses are rebuilt business will pick up, so we'll get more from both people and merchants without levying extra taxes on them.

>>4088675
>Tax the nobles
>Spend money on rebuilding the houses
Nobles might get angry, but if the townsfolk like us then we probably won't have to worry about it too much.

>>4088680
>>4088731
You observed the state of things, and came to the conclusion that you would need a lot of money to fix things, luckily the nobles had plenty to spare. You spent a few days using your mercenary force to muscle heavy taxes off of the nobles, with them calling in favor's with their diplomatic allies to no avail. You paid your five hundred troops well, and kept them loyal, away from the bribes of the nobility. A week passed before you were able to fill your treasury to a desired amount from your vassal's coin, able to now fund the rebuilding of your town's houses. Though you had gained the ire of your upper class, your peasantry, and middle class celebrated your name, making them more willing to help you with your future endeavors. For another week you watched your people use the materials and expertise of the builders you hired, opening once more your gates to migrants and visitors. Your treasury had suffered from the hiring of the builders, but you had enough coin to keep your town afloat:
>Tax the nobles again (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants
>Spend money on rebuilding your keep and walls
>Spend money on building more houses
>Search for advisors and overseers in the town
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Go mingle with the townsfolk disguised

>>4088970
Pick two options btw

>>4088970
>Go mingle with the townsfolk disguised
>Search for advisors and overseers in the town
Things will pick up soon. We should prepare for that.

>>4088997
>Go mingle with the townsfolk disguised
>Search for advisors and overseers in the town
Maybe we'll find some good advisors in the peasantry that the last ruler passed over.

>>4089147
Meant for >>4088970
I apologize for the accidental (you)

>>4088970
>Go mingle with the townsfolk disguised
>Search for advisors and overseers in the town
Fuck yeah we civ (post apoc city) quest now

>>4088970
>>Tax the merchants
>Spend money on rebuilding your keep and walls

>>4088997
>>4089147
>>4089153
>>4089236
>>4089706
You dressed in the clothing of the middle class, and went to the tavern disguised, sitting in the back to listen to the chit chat of your people. Many of them were talking of you, and your waster background, with some talking of the still existing previous family that owned the town. The previous family had owned this town ever since the kingdom of Kurrlon took it, completely destroying the dynasty that had been there previously. Legitimacy was a big deal with these people, and a waster raider had none. You managed to join a game of poker with some townsfolk, and played the game till the sun went down.

During the night the tavern got rowdier, and soon some men stepped up to deal with the drunkards. These men were scarred from war, and looked to be retired from combat, veterans who now spent their days drinking in some tavern. You saw that one amongst them was particularly effective at kicking out the bums, and even disarmed a man that pulled a knife on him. The man's name was Yhulme, and you knew he would make a perfect quartermaster.

You walked through the town center the next day, and observed the various merchants selling their goods, with some more effective than others. The merchants, from what you gathered, all revered Phulcis: a barterer who was able to get many powerful and influential people in his debt, and under his thumb. This Phulcis would be an excellent steward.

Next you went to the keep and surrounding houses, still in disguise. The nobles here were upset by both your lack of legitimacy, and your taxing on just them. There was one noble, though, that had remained on your side in the arguments and debates, an old counselor of the previous lord here named Dericus. The old man argued that you were the one who saved them from an oppressive foreign rule, and that Urizen, who had peacefully gained the town, wished for you to be ruler here. The nobles all nodded, but they still protested your inadequate diplomacy, and Dericus agreed, stating that every good king needs a second opinion. This man was made to be a counselor.

The last role you had yet to fill was that of the marshal, which you had two options for:
>Fletcher
>Or Shortaxe, the most prominent and loyal of your mercenary band

Once you brought all these people together, you ceremonially presented them the roles, which they all agreed to, and soon they were given rooms in the half-destroyed keep as their own:
>Tax the nobles again (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants
>Spend money on rebuilding your keep and walls
>Spend money on building more houses
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Go into the town disguised
>Spend money building a training barracks (Quartermaster)
>Spend money investing in certain goods (steward)
>Try to gain an alliance with another town (Counsellor)
>Make a war camp for your men (Marshal)
>Read the history of Black-Hands-Deal

Pick two options

>>4090113
>Fletcher
>Spend money investing in certain goods (steward)

>>4090139
You spent the remaining money in your treasury, following the advice of Phulcis, who showed you the imports and exports of the town. The main things your town imported was wood, metal, stone, oil, and grains. The main thing that Black-Hands-Deal exported was gunpowder, weapons, bullets, and refined oil. You, under the guiding hand of your advisor, put money into the production of weapons, with you even hiring some of the women to speed up the production of manufactured weapons. Phulcis was certain that the town's reliance on imported grains weakened it, and if you were to lose your trade connection, the people would go hungry:
>Spend money on some granaries, so the extra storage avoids possible starvation
>Bring some peasants out of the town, and into the surrounding country, giving them farming jobs
>Fortify the roads by using your mercenary troops, increasing the flow of grain and avoiding a loss of connection to the eastern towns
>You do not see this as a major issue, and Phulcis shouldn't either
>Or write in

After you spent the week with the steward in the realm's finances, you returned back to ruling from your keep. You don't currently have any money in your treasury, but a realm can be in a deficit for a remarkable amount of time:
>Tax the nobles again (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants
>Spend money on rebuilding your keep and walls
>Spend money on building more houses
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Go into the town disguised
>Spend money building a training barracks (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Try to gain an alliance with another town (Counsellor)
>Make a war camp for your men (Marshal)
>Read the history of Black-Hands-Deal

Pick two options

>>4090692
>Bring some peasants out of the town, and into the surrounding country, giving them farming jobs
The raiders shouldn't bother them because they're mainly interested in weapons.
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants
Split the bill between both groups so each person pays less but the total is the same.

>>4090708
You brought some of the townsfolk out, mainly the younger ones that were willing to move, and had them get to work on the fields before the rivers flooded.
You had a money problem and, secure in the knowledge that you had a decent military force loyal to you, you taxed both the middle and lower class, as well as the merchants, making both upset. You spent two weeks slowly extracting money from your denizens, promising that it would not be kept in your treasury for long, and would go towards their well being. Many of your peoples didn't believe your good intentions, and talk of a rebellion against 'the illegitimate rule of the greedy tyrant' was reported to you. This new level of animosity was beginning to make you lose face, and soon you had to spend these people's money before they would rise up. Luckily, due to you taxing a large amount of money off of your people, you could invest in large projects:
>*Build another village to expand your borders*
>*Hire another band of mercenaries*
>*Cobble the roads of your town*
>*Upgrade the housing of your people*
>*Make a great work in the town center*
>*Fund a tournament*
>Tax the nobles (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk (could lead to a rebellion)
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Spend money on rebuilding your keep and walls
>Spend money on building more houses
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Go into the town disguised to track down the plotters
>Spend money building a training barracks (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Try to gain an alliance with another town (Counsellor)
>Make a war camp for your men (Marshal)
>Read the history of Black-Hands-Deal to find

Choose three options (but only one if it's one of the expensive options)

* = Very expensive

>>4090892
>Spend money on rebuilding your keep and walls
>Spend money on building more houses
>Try to gain an alliance with another town (Counsellor)
Let's try to get more trade to keep the money flowing naturally.

>>4090895
First, you paid the masons and stone cutters to rebuild the damaged walls, then you got the carpenters and smiths to rebuild the reinforced gate. The people seemed happy with this. Then you moved on to the keep, funding for the reconstruction of the front side of the place. This was all expensive and hard work, but the builders said they could get it done in a month. You saw that people had been migrating into your town, and many had to shack up and make shanties on the outskirts. You decided to make these new peoples houses, and filled up the remaining space within the walls with new wooden and thatch houses. This new project would take two weeks, which kept the townsfolk busy and happy. While you waited for the projects to be completed, you sought an alliance with one of your neighbors, settling for the newly retaken towns of The Flats, or Berkeran. Both had new dynasties, and both were experiencing troubles, so you sent messages asking for a securing of trade and some sort of defensive pact. Both were receptive to your alliance offer, but both had one condition: a royal marriage. You had not anticipated this, and now you were forced to choose a side, with both of the kings wanting you as their partner and ally:
>Berkeran will be your ally
>The Flats will be your ally
>A royal marriage is out of the question

A month passed from when you began the new projects, and now your town was thriving, with migrants and merchants coming in from even as far east as Y'arak. Problems came up in the month of building though, with word of a clan of canyon wasters called the 'Boar-Felchers' attacking caravans in the easternmost part of your lands. Everytime you sent out a force to engage them, they retreated out of your lands, making it hard for your merchants to reach you with their goods:
>Tax the nobles (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk (could lead to a rebellion)
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Spend money building a training barracks (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Organise a meeting with the nobles, and talk to them about their concerns (Counsellor)
>Make a war camp for your men (Marshal)
>Read the history of Black-Hands-Deal to find out about the previous dynasties

>>4090914
>Organise a meeting with the nobles, and talk to them about their concerns (Counsellor)
>Read the history of Black-Hands-Deal to find out about the previous dynasties
Can we wait on the marriage question or do we have to choose now?

>>4090922
You can choose to wait if you want

>>4090924
Then discuss it with the council. By the way, what are those towns' main exports?

>>4090914
>>Berkeran will be your ally
>Organise a meeting with the nobles, and talk to them about their concerns (Counsellor)

>>4090914
>The Flats will be your ally
Oil is a major import for us and I'm not sure Berkeran has anything that matches easy oil.
>Organise a meeting with the nobles, and talk to them about their concerns (Counsellor)

>>4090922
>>4090926
The Flats are the only exporter of crude oil for the whole kingdom, and Berkeran exports mainly wood and water, also trinkets and exotic goods that come sometimes from the west.
>>4091143
>>4091339
Need a consensus on the alliance choice

>>4091773
For the sake of not holding up the quest, I'll change my vote to
>Berkeran will be your ally

>>4090922
>>4091143
>>4091339
>>4091851
You sent a message back to Berkeran, agreeing to the lords condition. The marriage would be in a month, and you would have to impress the other lords of the kingdom in this grand ceremony:
>Invite all the lords, and the king to the marriage
>Invite only Berkeran's house to the marriage, as well as your own
>Same as option 2, but you would invite Urizen also
>Or write in

You next had Dericus organize a meeting with your vassals, so as to talk to them about their concerns, bringing in tables to the main hall of your newly rebuilt keep. Your vassals all owned surrounding villages or real-estate within the town, with many of them being old and well set in the politics of the old town. The nobles all started talking amongst themselves, and you observed the groups that had formed within the meeting, with the older and more prestigious nobles talking to each other, with their sons and daughters around them, while the younger lords were engaged in both shows of strength, and of mind. You had Dericus signal the beginning of the meeting, and watched as all the men sat down to hear your word: "I have been granted this land by our king, and I believe he knows what is best for this realm. However, I am new to this realm, and I wish to hear the concerns of you noble families, so as to deal with them as adequately as possible." For a few seconds the vassals looked at each-other, all seeming to think the same thing. One of the younger nobles stood up, saying: "Forgive me my lord, but the one concern we all have is with you: You are a waster, and you have no house. We all trace our lineages hundreds of years back, and we all bear our symbols proudly." Before you could respond, an old noble stood up, and said: "what possesses you to talk to our liege in such a way? Sit down boy, before you get slung from the balcony!" The older nobles all started nodding their heads to each-other as the young man was pulled back down into his chair, with the old man still standing to adress you: "my lord, I have served loyally four rulers of this town, and all of them were good. I believe that our only concerns are those that we both share: war. If you are able to ready this town for it, then I have little to worry about."
You spent the day talking with the nobles about various minor grievances, but those two points stuck in your mind: your lack of legitimacy, and a possible future war to prepare for:
>Tax the nobles (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk (could lead to a rebellion)
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Spend money building a training barracks (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the nobility (Counselor)
>Make a war camp for your men (Marshal)
>Read the history of Black-Hands-Deal to find out about the previous dynasties (for legitimacy)

Choose two options

Self bump

>>4092355
>Invite all the lords, and the king to the marriage
It'd give us an opportunity to make friends with some more lords.
>Make a war camp for your men (Marshal)
>Read the history of Black-Hands-Deal to find out about the previous dynasties (for legitimacy)

>>4092703
You sent a messenger to all of the lords of the realm, and invited them all to your wedding, though the few that were far away would most likely decline. You even sent messengers to Varkus and other lesser nobles that you knew of, and some waster warlords that you knew from your raiding days. This would be a momentous occasion, and a celebration of peace. You began preparing the town square with festivities and assorted luxuries, with the keep being outfitted with beds and living areas for the guests soon to come.

You ordered Fletcher to make a camp on the outside of the town, one made for war. This camp would house your mercenaries for now, but in times of war, it would be made to house the levies and nobles of your realm, as well as the possible ally troops soon to come. After two weeks of construction of the fortified camp, you now had a base to plan attacks, raids, or defenses. This made your nobles happy, and some even devoted their time to training up their own forces from their villages in case of an attack.

During this time of building, you secluded yourself in study, reading through the three main histories of your new town: with them being 'The Black-Hand of Mashuk,' 'The first lords of the dunes,' and 'the great wars of Kurrlon and their kings.' You began by reading the first book, which told of a legendary figure, one which escaped the old ruins with a few hundred others, and settled in a site which provided enough soil and water for his people. Drought hit the village early on, and raiders on its undefended farms were crippling, making the first lord almost lose his realm. The lord then met a figure believed to be Mashuk, or his prophet, who granted the lord his realm, in exchange for his soul and worship. The lord agreed, and shook the burnt-black hand of the stranger, with the drought lifting in a good flood season, and the raiders ceasing their attacks. The lord went on to build walls on the town, establish villages on the riverbank, fight a great serpent of the river, and live one hundred years. When he died, it was said that his soul was added to Mashuk's army in his realm, and forevermore he would be a servant to the great lord.

Next, you read the slightly more historical 'the first lords of the dunes,' which was focused on the several rulers in the first dynasty, who strengthened their realm to become a commercial hub of the wastes, with them allying with Berkeran and Guryon to form what was called 'the alliance of the dunes,' which sought control over the trade from east to west. When Kurrlon attacked Guryon, Black-Hands-Deal helped their ally, only to have all three town's forces brake at the onslaught of the up and coming power. After Guryon was taken, the kingdom set it's eyes on Black-Hands-Deal, with the town putting up a formidable defense, only to be taken when someone from inside opened the gates with a bribe, leading to a sack of the town. The book ended there, as the last ruler of this dynasty fled south into the red wastes with his remaining loyal men, never to be seen again.

Lastly, you read the rather dry and boring 'great wars of Kurrlon and their kings.' Which dealt with the constant intrigue, assassinations, and campaigns that the realm experienced, with only a small chapter being dedicated to your town, talking about it's debauchery and large well-trained mercenary bands, which had all disappeared due to Urizen hiring them all. You finished the books, and thought of how you connected to all of this, then you returned to your main hall, to administer your prosperous realm. Unfortunately, the Boar-Felcher clan had raided one of your villages, and were returning to their safe wastes with your goods:
>Tax the nobles
>Tax the townsfolk (could lead to a rebellion)
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Spend money building a training barracks (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the nobility (Counselor)
>Lead your mercenaries to deal with the Boar-Felchers (Marshal [roll 1d100])
>Look more into the lord who fled south from the first dynasty (for legitimacy)

Choose two options

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>4092763
>Lead your mercenaries to deal with the Boar-Felchers (Marshal [roll 1d100])
>Spend money building a training barracks (Quartermaster)
I want to let go of those mercenaries ASAP.

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>4092763
>>Spend money building a training barracks (Quartermaster)
>Lead your mercenaries to deal with the Boar-Felchers (Marshal [roll 1d100])

Rolled 48 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>4092766
>>4092767
42 -45 (Iron armor, Deaths-Head, flamethrowers, guns are way better than bows [-10], superior ranged weapons, superior melee weapons, inhuman accuracy, and outnumber your enemies) = -3

Enemy gets -10 (traps set for the truck, and element of surprise)

>>4092786
-3 vs 38 = Absolute success

You rounded up your cavalry force, and had them follow you to the easternmost part of your border, tracking down the waster raiders to their lair. You waited for two days observing the enemy camp, and watched as small amounts of them went in and out, until the main force finally entered the mass of tents, with you calling your somewhat over-eager men. You ordered a charge, and drove Deaths-Head right towards the enemy. The wasters were quick though, and managed to escape the camp with all their men before you got there, leaving the goods they couldn't carry to be taken by your men, who you allowed to keep the items instead of giving them their monthly payment.
As you tracked down the wasters once more, you entered the lands of Kurrlon, with you technically bringing in an unauthorized army into their lands. You followed the tracks of the raiders to a rocky desert outcropping, where you heared their warhorns blare, and you saw them spring their desperate trap. You had the men deal with the smaller cavalry force, and chased down the main troops of the enemy with your truck, with them lifting up spikes and going through hard terrain to damage the giant death machine, only making you angry in doing so. You finished off the enemy forces, and brought some of their bodies with you on the back of the truck, with you not losing a single soldier from your side.
You returned within the week to your town, and celebrated your victory by hanging the wasters scalps on the walls of your keep, disgusting the nobility, but winning you the favor of your mercenary troops. You Boasted to your townsfolk that under your rule, there would be no attacks from wasters, and you would use all the power given to you by Mashuk to punish them should they try.

This reliance of foreign mercenaries distanced you from your peoples, and limited you in your armies composition. You funded the building of an inclosed training barracks attached to the side of the keep, installing archery, infantry, and cavalry training sections, leaving Yhulme to oversee the place. Due to the cost of your many projects, you were again a bit low on funds, but the interest you showed in the various goods of your realm helped offset this:
>Spend extra money on the marriage, so as to impress the other lords (could put you in a deficit)
>Tax the nobles
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Train up some militia (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the nobility (Counselor)
>Plan attacks on some of the surrounding waster clans to strengthen your rule, and to pacify your borders (Marshal [roll 1d100])
>Look more into the lord who fled south from the first dynasty (for legitimacy)

Choose two options

Next week is your marriage

>>4092798
>Train up some militia (Quartermaster)
>Look more into the lord who fled south from the first dynasty (for legitimacy)
I don't think we should risk a deficit for the wedding.
In better news, we can soon let go of the mercenaries and put our own troops in charge.

>>4092815
You had some willing young men train up in the camps under the quartermaster, starting with just teaching them the basics of fighting for now. Yhulme predicted it would take him a month to train up a hundred men, but if the manpower was there, the speed at which the men were trained would be exponential. While you waited for the marriage arrangements, you looked into the last fleeing member of the old dynasty, finding a few older folks that knew of the story, and who said where he was said to have gone: "the black canyons." This hazardous place was many miles south of here, and beyond the borders of the kingdom. What could the lord have wanted from there? This all intrigued you, but it also all sounded expensive to investigate further.

A week passed, and soon the lords began flooding into the town, with you greeting all of them as an equal. You saw Rathadu (Urizen's right hand, and one of his best generals), Balak, Mazgrund, and Murdas Brukus all enter right behind the king, and all of them were both holders of towns, and generals of Urizen. You had all the men come into your halls, and you presented them with food and drink, and soon the lords relaxed as they drank, and casual talk was heard between the landowners. Urizen pulled you to the side, and said: "I see you have settled quick into the ways of a ruler, and your realm seems to prosper under your guiding hand. I have heard news of the west, with the empire of Yurtherik slowly crumbling without his rule, and of his few sons being lame and inadequate. We still hold him in our dungeon for bartering, and he does not speak to the men who question him, even if he is tortured as a result. The emperor only wishes to talk to you, Longshot, but he does not give his reasons why. In a few months, I will be back here, and it will be with the emperor in tow, this is when I wish for you to talk to him." You nodded, and the king patted you on the shoulder, returning to his seat as you returned to yours.

After a day or two of partying and talking, you finally got to the actual marriage, first talking to the rather young lord of Berkeran named Irlig, who seemed to be hardly older than Hildimar, who was just barely a man. The lord then presented you with his older sister: Ada, who was around your age. Ada was beautiful, certainly more so than the waster women you had in your Warband days, and she dressed in some softskin outfit that looked ineffective and cumbersome, but pretty nonetheless. You were not a beauty however, covered in scars and only having one working eye, with the clothing (though made by the craftsmen of Black-Hands-Deal) of a waster, and you still wore the same iron armor chest-plate with its dents and scratches, and your bullet-belt slung across your shoulder. This woman was a fine treasure, and she would give you strong children, though they would probably resemble softskins rather than wasters. Irlig then gave you the hand of Ada, which the nobles told you was symbolic of him passing her to you in law, and finally, Irlig said a few words and walked back, leaving you with the woman soon to be your wife. You kissed her, then presented her with a thin golden wristband that you had taken from the west in your travels, and she gave you a white clear glass ring from the ancient days, with the knowledge of how to perfect glass-making lost to us now, making this ring precious. After a few words from Urizen to finalize the marriage under the guidance of the king, the ceremony ended, and the marriage was sealed.

A few more days were spent now with your wife at the party, with you saying goodbye to the various lords, and bringing your new woman into the keep to actually 'finalize' this whole marriage thing. In the wastes a man could have as many women as he wanted, but the politics of the kingdom made that harder, with only some men having more than a few wives, and most of them being wasters before they gained a title. After spending another day or two with Ada, you returned to administering your realm. Hildimar, who was waiting in the main hall of the keep, wanted to ask you whether you could devote some of your personal time to training him in war and combat:
>Put time into training Hildimar
>Spend more time with your new wife
>Tax the nobles
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Buy better equipment for your men (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the nobility (Counselor)
>Plan attacks on some of the surrounding waster clans to strengthen your rule, and to pacify your borders (Marshal [roll 1d100])
>Send out a group of men south to locate the black canyons (for legitimacy)

Choose two options

>>4093017
>Put time into training Hildimar
>Send out a group of men south to locate the black canyons (for legitimacy)
This news of the black canyons is intriguing. A lead on Mashuk's sword, maybe?

>>4093022
You had a dozen trackers and soldiers sent south to investigate this sem-mythical place, and to mark where exactly it was. After sending these men off, you focused the next week on training Hildimar sword-fighting and war tactics, beating the man to the ground in the barracks until he learned to dodge and block. You took the training of Hildimar as an opportunity to show your expertise to your militia and mercenaries, impressing all of them with your skill in the blade. After this week, your apprentice had learned much, but the bruises and cuts that he received made him reluctant to train anymore. In other news, a champion has arisen in the arena here, named Alcazar. Apparently Alcazar has issued a challenge to you, considering you were the previous champion of this arena:
>Put time into training Hildimar again
>Spend more time with your new wife
>Fight Alcazar (roll 1d100)
>Tax the nobles
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Buy better equipment for your men (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the nobility (Counselor)
>Plan attacks on some of the surrounding waster clans to strengthen your rule, and to pacify your borders (Marshal [roll 1d100])

Choose two options

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>4093872
>>Fight Alcazar (roll 1d100)
>Buy better equipment for your men (Quartermaster)

Rolled 70 - 5 (1d100 - 5)

>>4093953
That's a terrible roll anon, let's hope that modifiers will win you this match

91 -25 (Iron armor, master swordsman, superior ranged weapon, superior melee weapon, and inhuman accuracy) = 66

Enemy gets -5 (Iron armor)

>>4094460
Holy shit, he won by 1 point. The chances of this are astronomical

66 vs 65 = Incredibly close defeat

You went to the arena, where a current match was taking place, and saw the man who challenged you beating senseless some unarmed slave. When you looked closer, you couldn't believe it: it was the same axeman that had beaten you for control of Vorvin Qan's warband. He must have been captured by slavers. You both locked eyes, and a rush of emotions (mostly anger) went through you. The warrior called you down to the pit, and so you jumped down, and drew your sword to meet his axe. The informal way in which you started the fight surprised and enticed the crowd, with many coming to see the lord put this upstart in his place. Alcazar ran at you axe swinging, and you ducked under his first few blows, seeing your inferior opponent as a tool to build up a crowd and to show him how far you had come compared to him. You lifted up your arms to the crowd, and called for them to chant your name, which started to fill the arena as you turned back to your opponent. You again dodged the enemies slow attacks, and when he overextended himself this time, you tripped him over on his face, making some of the crowd laugh as he lifted himself back up. You laughed with the crowd, and your hubris left you open, allowing Alcazar to grab your legs, and using his lower center of gravity, he picked you up and slammed you on the ground.

The air left your lungs as you rolled on the ground in pain, with Alcazar standing now on top of you axe drawn. You tried to reach for your sword, but the man was too quick, kicking it out of the way as you readied yourself for his next attack. The axeman swung down, and with a swift maneuver, you grabbed Alcazar's lower legs, pulling yourself through his legs on the ground, and getting up behind the opponent. You jumped to your sword, and drew it towards Alcazar before he could reach you. This is no longer a show of your skill, you weren't gonna let this upstart slave get the better of you again.

You went for a draw-cut on Alcazar's neck, but then switched to a thrust to his thigh, making the enemy open his guard. You stabbed right into his leg, and even had your sword's tip come out the other side, with the man roaring in pain, and dropping his axe. You went to pull out your sword for a finishing strike, but Alcazar grabbed it with his bare hand, now covered in blood, and with his other hand he grabbed you by the neck. You felt the enemy's hand turn to a claw around your jugular, and you had to drop the grip of your sword to keep him from tearing out your windpipe with both hands. Alcazar slowly pulled out your sword from his thigh as you began to pull off his grip, holding the blood-covered blade to your neck as you just managed to release yourself from his hold. You saw the blade to your throat, and went to your knees in front of your opponent: defeated. Your people who had gathered around the arena were all amazed and horrified by the outcome of this fight, now looking at their lord defeated by just one man.

Alcazar looked at you with disdain, and prepared to remove your head from your shoulders, but was stopped by your people's screaming for mercy, with many of them now coming out of the arena entrances to surround both of you in a circle of people. Perhaps moved by the devotion of your people, or by the fact that if he killed you now he would surely be mounted on a spike, Alcazar dropped your sword, and threw it to the side. Before your opponent walked off, he spat a gob of blood to the ground, picked up his axe. You left the arena that day defeated and dishonored, and thought of the fate of Alcazar:
>He will be executed (write in whether publicly or in secret)
>He will be made a soldier of your (write in whether as a free man or a slave)
>You will free him, in exchange for finding out the fate of your old clan
>He will be tortured for the remainder of his days
>Keep him as the champion of Black-Hands-Deal
>Or write in

You spent a week recovering, and during this time you also funded your militia to have iron chestplates and strong shields. A month had passed since their training had started, and as Yhulme promised, a hundred men were trained. It would take some effort on your part to find more willing soldiers though:
>Put time into training Hildimar again
>Spend more time with your new wife
>Tax the nobles
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Train up more militia (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the nobility (Counselor)
>Plan attacks on some of the surrounding waster clans to strengthen your rule, and to pacify your borders (Marshal [roll 1d100])
>Disband the mercenaries

Choose two options (keep in mind that if you have a large amount of money, you get given more project options)

>>4094506
>Keep him as the champion of Black-Hands-Deal
We're coming back for that title. Watch your ass, Alcazar
>Spend more time with your new wife
>Disband the mercenaries
They can stop draining our money now.

>>4094515
You kept the warlord as your champion, as your advisors recommended, but you promised to Alcaraz that you would not be playing around next time.
This loss to Alcaraz made you seclude yourself in your keep, and in turn, you sought the company of Ada, who you had learned more and more of in the months since the marriage. The woman was smart and was educated formally as a child, unlike you. She even taught you the ancient arts of math and music, though you hardly tried to learn it. As is her duty, she manages the servants and soldiers of the keep, and maintained the various nobles that visited the halls in their travels across the realm. Though you preferred the vast desert dunes, freedom, and constant warfare that came with being a waster, the things that you could now experience as a noble was something altogether different, with fine wine, good books, and other luxuries being abundant, with a wife that's sole purpose was to please you, and give you an heir. Before you returned to administering the realm, Ada told you that she was with child, and that the priest of Mashuk in the temple saw in the signs your future baby being a boy. You embraced your wife, and celebrated with your men a possible male heir, drinking through the night.

The next day you ordered the disbandment of your mercenaries, now relying on the militia that you have already trained up to defend the realm. The mercenaries returned to the red wastes, and your treasury grew from the lack of men to pay:
>Put time into training Hildimar again
>Tax the nobles (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk (could lead to a rebellion)
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Train up more militia (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the nobility (Counselor)
>Plan attacks on some of the surrounding waster clans to strengthen your rule, and to pacify your borders (Marshal [roll 1d100])

Choose two options

Taxing the people will again lead to armed resistance due to your small army

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>4094625
>Train up more militia (Quartermaster)
>Plan attacks on some of the surrounding waster clans to strengthen your rule, and to pacify your borders (Marshal [roll 1d100])

>>4094625
>>4094627
+1

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>4094625
>>4094772
Forgot to roll.

Rolled 94 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>4094627
>>4094772
>>4095012
58 -40 (Iron armor, Deaths-Head, flamethrowers, guns are way better than bows [-10], superior ranged weapons, superior melee weapons, and inhuman accuracy) = 18

Enemy gets -10 (outnumber you, and hard to track down)

>>4095444
18 vs 84 = Absolute success (no losses on your side)

You levied out townsfolk and farmers, managing to gather two hundred men of age, and sent them to Yhulme for military training. The quartermaster wasn't wrong about the exponential nature of the training, with the first hundred militia helping him train the next two hundred, with the work being estimated to be done again by the end of the month. You pulled out the trained hundred soldiers from the barracks, and put them in the war camp, mounting many of them on Deaths-Head for your upcoming mission.

You spent weeks traveling around your realm, tracking down many of the raiders that attacked, and destroying their many camps in the dunes. A few engagements were hard-fought, but your advanced weapons and tactics won you the day every time. You were able to get a feel of how the militia acted in battle from these small skirmishes, and used various tactics that supported their spear formation against the cavalry charges of the enemy. Deaths-Head was a good deterrent for any flanking maneuver the enemy tried to pull, but soon enough you would have an army that couldn't rely on just one vehicle to act as their shock force. You saw the effect of your campaign on the fields and villages, with your people working now twice as hard to keep your militia in the field, and their realm safe. You returned to your town fourteen days after you left, and found the place well maintained, thanks to Ada and your advisors. When you entered the keep, you saw Dericus talking with a beaten and bloodied soldier, who you recognized as one of the men you sent south. When the soldier saw you, he ran over, and started rambling about the horrors in the canyons, and the men all around him dying. You tried to shake information out of him, but all you could gather from his words was that the Black-Canyons existed, and from what he said they were the gates to the underworld. You had the man put in house-arrest, and returned to your throne:
>Put time into training Hildimar again
>Tax the nobles (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk (could lead to a rebellion)
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Build more houses, this time beyond the town's walls
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the military of the nobility (Counselor)
>Have Fletcher or Hildimar go with your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty (Marshal)
>Go with Deaths-Head and your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty

>>4095674
>Put time into training Hildimar again
>Build more houses, this time beyond the town's walls
I think we'll be ready to try something big soon.

>>4095674
>>Put time into training Hildimar again
>Go with Deaths-Head and your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty

>>4095700
>>4095965
need a consensus

>>4095998
Backing >>4095700

>>4095700
>>4095965
>>4096051
You had Hildimar train with you again, and now that he had learnt a few things, you were able to spar properly with him, sometimes even being hit on the off chance he got behind your guard. This time you taught him the various guards and grapple stances, and then proceeded to play a game of 'first to go to the ground,' managing to make your opponent land flat on his back within a few seconds. You also taught him the art of using bow and sword on horseback, even teaching him the act of shooting backwards, though he could hardly even hit the target full gallop facing forwards. The last part of the week you went over tactics with the young man, using war-games and figures on a board to demonstrate the most effective maneuvers in every situation, with the boy picking up the art of generalship most out of the things you taught him. You felt that just another week of intense training with Hildimar would give him enough knowledge and skill to be one of your generals, should he want the position.

During your training, you set the workers to building houses for your town, now having to build many outside of the walls due to the size of Black-Hands-Deal. Once you finished the training with Hildimar, you oversaw the construction of the houses, and found that it would take them to the end of the month to finish their work, though the future inhabitants of the abodes helped them with the labor and costs. You received word from Yhulme that he had finished training up the two hundred militia at the month's end, and he would wait for you to round up more men as levies to continue his duty:
>Put time into training Hildimar [finish]
>Tax the nobles (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk (could lead to a rebellion)
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Start construction on an outer wall, to encompass the new houses
>Train up even more militia (Quartermaster)
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the military of the nobility (Counselor)
>Have Fletcher or Hildimar go with your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty (Marshal)
>Go with Deaths-Head and your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty

>>4096085
>>Start construction on an outer wall, to encompass the new houses
>>Train up even more militia (Quartermaster)

>>4096085
>Start construction on an outer wall, to encompass the new houses
>Train up even more militia (Quartermaster)
I think after this turn we can train Hildimar, then go to the Black Canyons.

>>4096267
>>4096275
You rounded up three hundred more men who, seeing the effectiveness of your militia on the field, were all too willing to join. Due to having three hundred men to help him, Yhulme estimated the training to take only two weeks, then you would have an army of six hundred men.

While waiting for your men to train, you set about constructing a wooden palisade around the houses you were still building, with the woodworkers estimating the fortification to take two weeks at most. You spent a week overseeing the construction, but when the plans were all set in stone, you looked to other possible projects:
>Put time into training Hildimar [finish]
>Tax the nobles (could lead to a revolt)
>Tax the townsfolk (could lead to a rebellion)
>Tax the merchants (could lead to a complete loss of goods and trade)
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Enlist Gladiators for your army, with freedom as their reward
>Pay for a mercenary band
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the military of the nobility (Counselor)
>Have Fletcher or Hildimar go with your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty (Marshal)
>Go with Deaths-Head and your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty

Choose two options

>>4097593
>Put time into training Hildimar [finish]
>Enlist Gladiators for your army, with freedom as their reward, if they agree to accompany us to the Black-Canyons

>>4097670
You had Hildimar again train with you, this time finding an opponent worth sparring with. You first showed him complicated binds and sword techniques, which he managed to understand (though he didn't use them effectively when sparring commenced), then you taught him how to fight many opponents at once, using the militia as assistants to beat up the young noble till he learnt. You spent the nights teaching Hildimar tactics and maneuvers on the battlefield, focusing more on the footmen as that would be what he would be leading should he become one of your generals. The week was long, and by the end of it Hildimar was exhausted, but he was now a capable swordsman, and competent as a tactician, worthy of being in your army.
Before the week ended, you had an enlistment take place in the arena, promising the gladiators freedom should they fight in the black-canyons with you. Only a scant few joined, but their worth as soldiers made them an instrumental tool in your army. Of these men, Alcazar signed up, leaving you with a choice:
>Allow him to join, with many other gladiators joining behind the champion
>Don't allow him to join, and show your weakness to your men

When you went back to your realm, a few things had finished: the militia had trained up and joined the others, and the new fortifications had been completed:
>Tax the nobles
>Tax the townsfolk
>Tax the merchants
>Send a message to Urizen asking for a loan
>Pay for a mercenary band
>In secret debase your currency, so as to pay for improvements (steward)
>Fund the military of the nobility (Counselor)
>Train up militia (Quartermaster [finish])
>Have Fletcher or Hildimar go with your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty (Marshal)
>Go with Deaths-Head and your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty (write in whether you take Fletcher and/or Hildimar)

>>4097896
>Allow him to join, with many other gladiators joining behind the champion
>Train up militia (Quartermaster [finish])
>Go with Deaths-Head and your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty (write in whether you take Fletcher and/or Hildimar)
Take Hildimar, but Fletcher has to stay behind as our Steward.

>>4097915
This

>>4097896
>>Train up militia (Quartermaster [finish])
>Go with Deaths-Head and your militia to the Black-Canyons to find out about the last member of the old dynasty (write in whether you take Fletcher and/or Hildimar)
Take both.

>>4097896
>>Allow him to join, with many other gladiators joining behind the champion
Forgot about this one.

>>4097915
>>4098223
>>4098845
>>4098846
You let Alcazar join, boosting your number of enlisted gladiators to forty, though they listened to him over you for anything but tactics and orders. You took the six hundred militia with you on your mission, and Hildimar, leaving Fletcher in your stead as the administrator of the realm. Before you left, you managed to round up four hundred men to be trained by Yhulme, though with the missing six hundred assistant troops, it would take him almost two months to train them. You took Deaths-Head, and led six hundred troops south through the deserts, using the truck to supply them with food and water (makes it so you don't need to set up a major supply line).

You already had two choices in how to reach the canyons: you could travel along the river that runs south-east and have an easier time with your men's supplies and morale, but suffer a major detour, or go straight south through the desert, relying on your ability as a desert-born waster and leader to get through the vast sand-seas that reside outside the borders of man:
>River
>Desert

>>4098959
>>Desert

>>4098959
>Desert

>>4098978
>>4099036
You went straight south, with your lines of footmen following close behind. You had exterminated the waster bands in your realm, and your borders in the south were the borders of the kingdom, meaning that the first part of this trip was without worry or care. You had heard of a few bands of wasters living in the southern deserts beyond the borders of the kingdom, but none of these tales were good, even from fellow raiders, with all of the outer-waste warbands being cannibalistic, and all of the men in those lands being mutated in some form.
You traveled for days through the dunes, coming to bends and turns in the vast open sands on occasion, using your waster pathfinding abilities to avoid being turned around, making great time in your journey. As you drove, you noticed some of the men were lagging behind, slowing down the whole army in the process. This was to be expected, with Hildimar recommending taking the men tired of marching onto the truck to give them a rest:
>If they are not fit to march, they are not fit to fight (have them sent back)
>You would make an example of these men (send them to the front and keep them marching)
>The path is long, and you are merciful (slow down for the men)
>Go with Hildimar's suggestion
>Or write in

>>4099260
>Go with Hildimar's suggestion
fucking softskins man
Once they're rested they get back down and march.

>>4099260
>>Go with Hildimar's suggestion

>>4099264
>>4099315
You went with Hildimar's suggestion, and had the weary men jump on board, with them sleeping while the soldiers behind them marched through the soft sands, watching in envy as the weakest of the militia got rewarded. When you made camp, you had the weary soldiers disembark, and observed the effectiveness of your troops. You walked through the set-up recreational and training yards hands behind your back, seeing the various young men talk about troubles and the harvest. They were not yet soldiers, merely clay to be sculpted. A few days march on foot is nothing to Urizen's and Yurtherik's army, and you saw your peasants with their spears and armor hardly even try to train while you weren't watching, preferring to talk shit about each other. Once the camp had been fully set-up, you went to the war-tent, and leaned forward with both hands on the table in the center, thinking about the future to come. At this time Hildimar came into the room, laughing and talking to some soldier that had shared a drink with him. This man was to be a general of your status, and he's sharing drinks with inadequate soldiers? You said in a side glance to the westerner: "in my army, we reward the strong, not the weak." Hildimar stopped in his tracks, and began walking to your side, not saying a thing. You stood up straight, and said to Hildimar's face: "a general who wishes to control his men, does not drink with them." You picked up Hildimar's bottle that he was still holding, and emptied the components on the packed-dirt floor, throwing the container to one of your servants, who caught it and ran off. Hildimar showed remorse, and apologized for acting foolish, but you knew his true feelings and what he wanted to say, though he probably couldn't put his feelings of being wrongly told off into words. You dismissed him, and slept through the night,

You woke up before the sun rose, with your army rising soon after, and packed up the camp. As you were leaving on the truck, Hildimar didn't board, instead, he chose to stay on the ground to march with the men. Though this was somewhat of a defiant act in front of your army, you let it slide, to show the noble the true meaning of the wastes. At the latter part of the day, some men were slowing down on the back again, with you bringing them on board the truck as before, though you weren't sure whether they were actually tired, or just trying to get out of walking the last mile. Hildimar had fallen from the front to about the middle of the armies lines, and was now stumbling, with the militia helping him up every so often without breaking their own formation.

When you camped this night, you observed glances from the men that were not warm or welcoming to you, with these soft-skins unhappy with the amount you were pushing them all together:
>Keep going as you are
>For this they will march twice as much, Mashuk wills it!
>Slow down, and show mercy, but also weakness

>>4099355
>Slow down, and show mercy, but also weakness
Once again, "fucking softskins man"

>>4099364
You slowed down your march, and had the soldiers ease on their formations, getting the non-verbal signs of an unhappy army. This bending to your troops will did not go unnoticed, and you would have to keep a close watch over your men in case they began talking of more pay and other demands. After a few days of marching had passed, you finally reached the lands where the cannibals and mutant-wolves resided, using your large army to deter most of the possible threats, and keeping a constant shift at night for the red eyes of the enemies. You marched now in full formation with the truck leading, now walking down towards the edge of the world, where the gates of the underworld resided. Some of your men even reported packs of mutant wolves in the twenties and thirties, much larger than the one that mauled thirty of your men who wielded machine guns and rifles.

close to the horizon, your men spotted a huge sand-storm, one that seemed to move towards you with incredible speed, with your men panicking from the oncoming hard weather:
>Try to hunker down, and camp through the weather
>March through the harsh sands, so as to get through this quickly

Roll 1d100

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>4099405
>Try to hunker down, and camp through the weather

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>4099405
>>Try to hunker down, and camp through the weather

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>4099405
>Try to hunker down, and camp through the weather

Rolled 56 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

>>4099412
>>4099414
>>4099451
54 -35 (Severe morale and organization troubles in the storm [+10], Iron armor, Deaths-Head, flamethrowers, guns are way better than bows [-10], superior ranged weapons, superior melee weapons, outnumber your enemy, and inhuman accuracy) = 19

Enemy gets -15 (element of surprise, used to fighting in the storms, and fear factor)

>>4100595
19 vs 41 = Absolute victory

You quickly had your men set up camp, and sheltered behind a particularly large dune, with your men calmed by your firm commands. You watched as the storm enclosed your position, and soon the sounds of the sand were heard hitting the tents of your men, with many of them struggling to keep the things from flying off in the winds. You stood with your men through the harsh sands, and through the hot winds, securing the patrols and watching for any possible attack from a hidden enemy. After an hour of darkness within the storm, a messenger came to you, reporting an attack from wasters at the other end of the camp. You mounted Deaths-Head, and drove to where the attack was taking place: witnessing something that you had not anticipated: wolf riders. The giant mutant wolves that had attacked you before were larger than horses, and these mutants had learnt somehow how to ride them, attack with amazing speed and ferocity your unprepared men. You drove into the mass of attackers, and though you did find some wolves atop the truck, your gladiators were quick to burn off the monsters, with you raising the morale of your footsoldiers, who fought bravely the cannibals. Once you were gaining an advantage on your enemy, they withdrew their riders, off into the dark storm before it passed. If you let them escape, they could rally their kin to attack you again, but the only thing that would be able to catch the fleeing troops would be Deaths-Head:
>Hunt them down (roll 1d100)
>Leave them to escape

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>4100725
>Hunt them down
Best to ride while the getting's good

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>4100725
>>Hunt them down (roll 1d100)

Rolled 2 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

>>4101521
>>4101581
Two rolls with the exact same number must mean something.

24 -30 (Low visibility [+5], Iron armor, Deaths-Head, flamethrowers, guns are way better than bows [-10], superior ranged weapons, superior melee weapons, and inhuman accuracy) = -6

Enemy gets -15 (morale damage [+5], element of surprise, used to fighting in the storms, outnumber you, and fear factor)

>>4102128
The modifiers are actually:

24 -35 (Low visibility [+5], Iron armor, Deaths-Head, flamethrowers, guns are way better than bows [-10], superior ranged weapons, superior melee weapons, and inhuman accuracy) = -11

Enemy gets 2 -10 (morale damage [+5], used to fighting in the storms, outnumber you, and fear factor) = -8

(added up your modifiers properly and removed the element of surprise modifier from the enemy)
-11 vs -8 = very close victory

You took the gladiators with you on the back of the truck, and drove after the escaping wolf-riders, with your troops mounting the flamethrowers and turrets on the sides. You chased the silhouette of the enemy riders through the storm, following their every turn and change in direction, until you began to reach them, burning the ones that were lagging behind. Once escape was not a possibility for the enemy, their leader called for them to regroup, with the riders turning in a circle to attack you at your flank. Your men fought off the wolves that jumped onto the back, and you drove over the ones foolish enough to get in front of you. Some of your men were devoured or cut down by the enemy, but your troops ensured the cannibal's losses were more substantial than yours. For an hour you chased down every one of the wolves and mutants you could find, until finally, the storm parted, and you returned to your army. You had the soldiers bury the dead, and pack up the camp, with many wounded being placed atop the truck until they could march again.

After many days of trecking through the desert sands, you saw on the horizon the canyons of the south, stretching for miles in both directions. As you saw this, your men also spotted another great sand storm, this one coming from the west, leaving you with two options:
>Wait through the storm, camping as you did before
>Or march quickly to the canyons, seeking shelter in its jagged rocks

>>4102278
>Or march quickly to the canyons, seeking shelter in its jagged rocks
Not another furfest. Not again.

>>4102293


New thread has next post >>4102425