by General
Angolin
with an Afterword by Barek Storm
Taken with permission of Skavenblight
The following is an account of a portion of a battle strategy planning meeting between General Angolin and some of his aides. It involve an object lesson on both out-thinking your opponent and the use of mutual supporting fire arcs.
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The meeting was drawing to a close. Firelight glinted from polished blue steel armour, and long bearded faces were cast in shadowed relief, only their bright intent eyes glistening.
Eleven figures sat around the campfire, while a twelfth squatted in their centre, indicating to a scratched out map in the dirt with an ornately inlaid dagger. Rocks and twigs laid on the map to represent various squads and placements.
"So its agreed then. You all know what's t' be done, an where the lads is goin'?" A murmur of consent ran around the group.
"Then make it so. Tomorrow we'll gi' the Lizzies a bloody good hidin' an no mistake!"
The group was in the process of rising when a hesitant voice came from one of their number. He was younger than the others, and his beard not so long. It still held a good deal of dark brown as opposed to the silver grey and white predominant in most of the others.
"Excuse me, General Angolin, but you've made a mistake." There were more than a few sharp intakes of breath before a heavy dangerous silence descended.
The crouched figure rose and pursed his lips. He regarded the speaker with a critical eye. "An' would ye be so good as to share this insight wi' the rest of us lad?" he inquired in an even voice.
Nervously eyeing the rest of the assembly, the younger dwarf took a step forward and cleared his throat noisily.
"Well Sir," he started slowly, "its with the deployment." He paused to check the look on the face of his General. "I believe you've left this flank dangerously week and open to attack. Were almost bound to loose that organ cannon on the first assault. Sir."
"Lieutenant Girrim, isn't it lad?" Inquired the elder General. "First, never be so nervous about speakin' out, the best of us can make a mistake, me included. An' I'll be a damn site more angry if you don't point it out as do. But the second thing is, have ye considered all the factors, or have ye just taken a glance at the deployment an' made a leap o' faith?" he said waving in the direction of the scratching on the ground.
The younger dwarf said nothing, but would not meet the gaze of his leader.
The white bearded one sighed, and then sat on his haunches again. "Come over here, lad, an' learn somethin'." Reluctantly, the younger dwarf came over to squat across the map from his General.
"Right lad, if you was in charge, how would you deploy?"
The young dwarf gestured to one of the etchings. "Well sir, on first indication, that hill would be the ideal sight. Place artillery up top as it gives a good field of fire, then missile troops on the slopes with our line regiments guarding the bottom."
"The Castle formation, eh? Good textbook stuff, an' under most circumstances I'd agree with ye. But the Castle has a flaw lad, what is it?" the General eyed the youngster critically.
"Once and enemy has breached the defences, our war machines are virtually undefended. It is also particularly brittle against flyers who can attack from high and then turn to attack our other regiments from the rear." The Lieutenant realised he had forgotten to take into account the Lizardman Terradons.
"Right lad. An' I can see from the guilty look on yer face ye forgot the Lizzies has fliers, but lets face it, they ain't strong enough to really be a worry unless its in overwhelmin' numbers. Now, lets ask ye another. Assumin' ye are actually worried about the flyers, how would ye deal to 'em? Still stayin' with yer formation mind."
The youngster thought longer, now suspecting a trap. "Well", he started, "there are a number of things that would be useful. The Talisman of Ravensdark would be good, or the Orb of Thunder could delay a whole army of flyers. A Scarecrow banner might be nice." He trailed off, racking his brains for more suggestions.
"Good suggestions lad, at least ye know yer stuff. But tell me this, when would those precautions NOT be of any use?"
"Well, Sir, I suppose when the flying creature was too big, like a dragon or wyvern I suppose."
"Aye lad, but also when the flyers are not goin' t' be numerous enough to warrant it. But there's one thing ye missed, and that's magic. What happens if one o' they big fat froggy buggers teleports into the middle of us, eh? He ain't a flyer, so yer precautions aren't worth a rats fart!"
He paused, letting the words sink in. " Allright, I'll summarize what we knows so far. One, we'll be in a defensive formation, that's a given. Two, we knows the enemy can get into the middle o' that formation at will by one way or t' other. Three, there's not a lot we can do about stoppin' it. So what does we do?"
No answer was forthcoming, so he continued. "Allright then, I'll phrase it different. What does the text book say on fightin' a defensive battle?"
The younger dwarf answered easily, almost able to quote his teachers word for word. "When fighting a defensive battle, use the terrain to your advantage. Plot out the most likely approaches of the enemy and attempt to channel them so that they clash with the strongest part of your force. Half the battle can be won by predicting at which point the enemy will attack."
"Very good lad. Now, ye fell into exactly the same trap as I hope the Lizzies will in the morn'. Ye looked at the deployment, an ye spotted what seems to be a mistake. An organ gun, out on the flank, in a good position with excellent field of fire, but with no protection. Or rather the protection is a wee ways to far forward, so is just too far away to be able to do its job. A mistake waitin' to be exploited, right? Now look again, lad, an look longer. Ye know I've taken it into account, an' ye know that I know the Lizzies will attack at that point, tryin' to take out that war engine. So, lad, knowin' all this, how have I got it covered?"
The lieutenant gazed at the map. Seconds stretched into minutes, and still the answer was not forthcoming. The canon stood alone, there were no other units that could reach it in time if it were attacked. It could possibly just be a sacrifice, with explosive runes etched onto the barrel, but the youngster knew that was not the way his General was thinking. So where was the support?
Stand the problem on its head. Don't think where the help is coming from, but what that help could be. The General isn't all that worried about flyers, but he did mention the Mage Priests. One of those with its guardians loose in the rear ranks would cause havoc. So what could kill a Mage Priest?
And then the answer dawned, and with a smile, he pointed to a small stone on the other flank of the army, so much like the one that represented what he was trying to defend.
"Aye lad, the other organ canon. Placed slightly forward of the first but well defended and with a clear line o' sight across the front of the other. Our engineers are already pacing the distance. If some bugger does land there, they'll have 5 balls up their arse in quick succession." The General grinned. "Still reckon I made a mistake then, Girrim?"
**note** a lot of people forget the rule about firing a war machine into units already in combat. They assume that in the same way as shooting, casualties are divided eqully between the 2 forces, but that is not the case. As long as the template or path hits ONLY enemy troops, your forces are safe. So with good positioning, you can use your own machines to defend each other.
Remember, when deploying for fields of fire, don't just check forward, check the flanks and rear as well!
Regards
General Angolin
Afterword
There is one thing to remember when preparing to use your war machines to cover each other. Only template weapons can be fired into a melee with any degree of safety. Cannons, organ guns, and such can only be used safely if they are played as a template weapon. (As in, you play that the cannon ball has a template as long as the bounce and everything under it is hit) So a Flame Cannon is perfect for burning the rear of a unit off once it is in combat. Just make sure you don't hit any of the models in the fighting rank or the hits will be applied to both units. Also useful would be the Fire Thrower teams of times gone by, if you were able to find such a device. So if you are going to use a non-template weapon to cover your war machines, your only option is to have your crews flee when they are charged blast the enemy once the crew is in the clear.
Barek Storm
Paladin of Valaya