The War for the Rose: Book One Complete

[OnBackorder]

I'd like to see if Laughing Spire will go through with shooting his twin.

[Koffie In Blik]

Hiding Spire: Tag along with your sister.

[alexthewhite]

>Frowning Sage: Dawdle a little longer, then go see Towering Spire.

Hiding Spire: Tag along with your sister.

HIDING SPIRE: I'll come with you. Father quickly rushed me out when he saw me earlier. He seems worried about something.

FROWNING SAGE: War with Honit, most like. If I know father, he's already making wartime preparations. Just look at what you're eating.

SHRINKING SPIRE: What? This is a regular lunch.

FROWNING SAGE: ...Oh. Never mind, then.

The three of you, plus Sage's guards, head up to Towering Spire's office. On the way, you pass several messengers, who bow their heads but keep running when they see you.

FROWNING SAGE: Looks to be a war council. Father has to inform his oathbearers of the battle, I suppose.

HIDING SPIRE: So what's the plan?

FROWNING SAGE: Leaping Granite is going to keep the fleets back, apparently, and send in some sorties to check how well-defended the walls are. If he thinks he can take them with the men he's got, he'll go ahead and start the siege. Otherwise, he'll wait for the Spiremen to arrive.

HIDING SPIRE: But the Keep's out of time. They're out of food, and the Mudmen are laying siege as we speak. The Keep might have already-

Frowning Sage slaps you.

There's a coppery taste in your mouth as you stumble back a step. You weren't expecting the slap; it was really more surprising than painful.

FROWNING SAGE: Falling Spire will not let a group of brigands and rapists get the better of him.

Shrinking Spire notices your hands balling into fists, and she quickly inserts herself between the two of you.

SHRINKING SPIRE: Please don't fight. Save your anger for those who deserve it.

FROWNING SAGE: Absolutely right, Shrinking Spire. Now, where is my dear twin?

It turns out that Laughing Spire is with Towering Spire in the office. Striking Shield is there, and Setting Sun is sitting in the corner with his arms folded.

TOWERING SPIRE: And if a ship goes down?

LAUGHING SPIRE: Survivors are trained to fortify and hold the position until they're rescued by another vessel. However, unless a ship is running low on men, it is to ignore any destroyed vessel and focus on overwhelming enemy positions. Men overboard are, in most cases, an after-battle priority.

TOWERING SPIRE: And if a vessel sustains severe damage?

LAUGHING SPIRE: The captains are to pull back and fire a streamered crossbow bolt straight upwards to alert the rest of the fleet that their vessel is in danger of being downed. When this happens, the surrounding vessels are to provide as much cover as they can, blocking the damaged area with their own ships if the damaged vessel in question is of strategic vitality.

TOWERING SPIRE: Good, good. Now...ah, it seems the other side of the family is here.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Other side? What do you mean...oh. The insane side.

SHRINKING SPIRE: Hey!

LAUGHING SPIRE: I stand by my statement. Hello, Frowning Spire.

FROWNING SAGE: Frowning Sage, you dolt. Lady Sage, if you're feeling honorable, which you never are.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Now, now, that's no way to talk to the commander of the Spire fleet as it rescues the Sages from annihilation. Of course, I might decide saving my own vessels is more important than the survival of those, so who knows?

FROWNING SAGE: Bah, as if my husband's fleet will need rescue. They'll have won the battle by the time you manage to pull the ships in.

TOWERING SPIRE: Enough, you two. I was hoping a few years of separation would cease your bickering, but it's clear that isn't the case. In any case, Laughing Spire, loyalty to our allies is paramount. Never forget that.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Only a jest, father. A Spire doesn't leave his friends behind, you taught me that much.

By the way, alexthewhite, your dedication to this fanadventure is impressive. Thanks.

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>mellifluousMastermind: Triple post. Compliment author of this stupid story.

The author is very happy that you enjoy the story! He has a great time writing it, and wants anyone who reads it to know that he appreciates them and thinks they're basically the best!

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Except OnBackOrder.

[OnBackorder]

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Thank you, Alex that made my day.

Hiding: Ask what crew you're going with.

[mellifluousMastermind]

Triple post has been corrected. But now it would seem the repetitive posting is on the other foot, heheh.

>Laughing Spire and Frowning Sage: Whatever you do, do NOT stop bickering.

[Koffie In Blik]

==>

Also, a minor note:

It turns out that Falling Spire Laughing Spire is with Towering Spire in the office.

[alexthewhite]

Hiding: Ask what crew you're going with.

TOWERING SPIRE: Well, that answers your question, Setting Sun.

SETTING SUN: Hmmph.

HIDING SPIRE: What?

TOWERING SPIRE: Setting Sun was of the opinion you might not want to return to Southflight. Something about a...mental breakdown.

HIDING SPIRE: Oh, yeah, that. No, I'm fine, I swear. Ready to fight.

TOWERING SPIRE: In that case, you'll be with your brother on the flagship, the Spire's Revenge. It, the Heavens Piercer, and the Sky Tower, along with my six fifty ships, ten twenty ships, and twenty ten ships will all sail to Southflight tonight. I've already sent messengers to my oathbearers, the mobilization will begin shortly.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Exactly a thousand men. And these are Spiremen, each worth ten Northerners, easily.

FROWNING SAGE: Hmmph.

SETTING SUN: I'll be accompanying Laughing Spire in an advisory position. I'm in no condition to fight, though, so don't expect me to bail any of you out.

STRIKING SHIELD: Then I will guard the young hyena. My lord?

TOWERING SPIRE: My shield protects all that is important to me, and that includes my son, the future Spirelord. Yes, Striking Shield, you have permission to leave my side for the duration of this campaign.

FROWNING SAGE: Then it's settled. Provided my husband and Lord Granite have not retaken the entire city by the time your men arrive, of course.

TOWERING SPIRE: I expect everyone in this room to return unspoiled when the campaign ends. I await your return.

You recall that Setting Sun has your stolen letters. Should you ask for them back now?

[Cadorean]

Get your letters back then TO THE SPIRE'S REVENGE!

ALONZE ALONZO

[OnBackorder]

Does her father already know about the blackmail situation? This could be awkward, unless...

Towering Spire: Be perfectly okay with your daughter's life choice.

[alexthewhite]

Get your letters back then TO THE SPIRE'S REVENGE!

TOWERING SPIRE: Letters?

SETTING SUN: Stolen from the Roselord at the behest of Lord Marble, who wanted blackmail material.

TOWERING SPIRE: I see. Let me read them.

Does her father already know about the blackmail situation? This could be awkward, unless...

Towering Spire: Be perfectly okay with your daughter's life choice.

You are now Towering Spire.

You are totally okay with your daughter's life choice.

But you aren't going to let her keep this letter you wrote...you'll keep this one from Spear, too. The less people know about that, the better.

TOWERING SPIRE: Well, here you are. Letters from Lord Flame and Lord Skull.

HIDING SPIRE: I don't get your letter or Spear's letter?

TOWERING SPIRE: No. Marble will make do with these two, I assure you.

HIDING SPIRE: Urgh...fine.

You are now Hiding Spire.

You're kind of kicking yourself for letting your father know about the letters. You should have waited until he was out of earshot to get them back.

[alexthewhite]

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No suggestions? Alright.

TOWERING SPIRE: I am going to convene a war council in a few hours. In the meantime, get some rest, those of you who are heading to Southflight. Everyone besides Setting Sun and Frowning Sage, out of my office.

You leave, then say goodbye to the others. You decide to head back to your room and sleep until the war council.

You know the way, and are there in minutes. There's a warm familiarity to the unspectacular room; you don't think you've ever been so happy to see your bed before in your life.

You take off the armor and rest it on your dresser, then sink your head into the pillow.

>Hiding Spire: wake up.

How can you wake up if you aren't sleeping?

It's been two days since the ships left Tritower, and you're just one more day away from Southflight. You, Laughing Spire, Setting Sun, Whispering Dune, Striking Shield, and a thousand other Spiremen have been flying south to join the Rose and Sage fleets.

It's been a quiet journey, highlighted mostly by your return to sparring. You've regained most of the weight that you'd lost, and have found that you can last nearly twice as long in a straight fight with a fully-grown man now. He still beats you in the end, of course, but these are fair, one-on-one fights. A silent walker specializes in misdirection and stealth, which you can't utilize here.

One person you haven't dueled is Whispering Dune, who seems to be actively avoiding you. You did manage to duel your brother, on your request. He dispensed of you after five minutes, which is a lot longer than how quickly he beat you before you went to Southflight. After the fight, he smiled and said that he shouldn't be giving you the chance to better formulate the best way to kill him.

Laughing Spire doesn't seem to care very much that he's about to lead hundreds of men to what could be their deaths. He, Setting Sun, and several knights and lords meet daily to formulate plans and account for possibilities. The question on everyone's mind has been if the Sages and Roses went ahead with attacking the walls or if they waited for the Spire reinforcements.

The answer came earlier today, when The Spire's Revenge's fiveship returned. The Tip of the Tower, which was manned by four priests and a knight, returned after a nonstop flight to tell Laughing Spire that, indeed, the Roses and Sages had taken the walls without too many casualties. Two fifty ships and seven or eight ten ships and twenty ships were lost, but the Muds had given up one of their three main points of troop concentration.

The priests also came with the news that the gates leading to Granite Keep had been destroyed, making it impossible for a large army to march upon it. The men in there were safe from Mudmen; they were not safe from starvation and one another.

Evidently, while the larger ships patrol the city and shell Mudman targets, the smaller ships have let their crews form search-and-destroy parties. The fighting has been quite one-sided, so far; the Mudmen are no match for the better-fed, better-armed, better-organized, better-trained Northerners. The prison and the barracks still stand, and the Mudmen hold a surprisingly strong position on the gate that leads to the Waterfront; a location that, if you recall, was under the control of Malamaran mercenaries.

The priests said the Rosemen on the walls knew nothing about the Waterfront. The Mudmen let no one in or out, and seemed very dedicated to keeping things that way. The Northerners had elected to not waste their resources investigating the waterfront while there were Mudmen in every other building.

You are now Laughing Spire.

With the wealth of information your priests have brought to you and the information Setting Sun and Hiding Spire had, you've now formulated a plan for the assault.

The Mudmen have concentrated in three locations: the waterfront gate, the prison, and the barracks. This is what you know of the three.

The Prison: central command for the Mudmen, Biting Mud's own personal base of operations. The locals call it the Hole in Whitesky, because it's a massive underground structure, making an airship assault worthless. Fighting there will be close-quarters, one-on-one affairs, in a downwards climb through entrenched Mudmen positions. The prison is thought to have the largest portion of Mudmen soldiers, as well.

The Barracks: Once the field command for the city guard, now a massive military encampment under the traitorous Lord Sandstone. The Mudmen have created a giant wall of cannons to defend it from airship assault, so an air-and-ground combined attack is the best way to overwhelm the Mudmen. The fighting here is under far less restrictive conditions than the Prison.

The Gate: The waterfront gate has a dozen doors leading to the city's poorest district, but the Mudmen have concentrated their forces on top of it, making it perfect for an aerial assault. The Mudmen here are odd in that they are, apparently, supported by an unpredictable and varied group of mercenaries. However, even with the mercenaries, the Mudmen here are the least numerous of all.

Your fleet consists of three hundred ships, six fifty ships, ten twenty ships, and twenty ten ships.

The Rose fleet consists of five hundred ships, seven fifty ships, seventeen twenty ships, and twenty one ten ships.

The Sage fleet consists of two hundred ships, four fifty ships, nine twenty ships, and ten ten ships.

You can deliver a message to Southflight with the Tip of the Tower and get a response as soon as your ships arrive at the city walls. Leaping Granite and Commander Parsley might not do as you say, but they'll definitely listen to you.

What will you do?

[OnBackorder]

Are we talking three simultaneous attacks, Or one really good one? The Prison seems the least threatening; send a few ships to clear the ground and let the prison starve itself out. Going in on foot sounds like a deathtrap. The barracks poses a nice threat with cannons able to hit flying ships, but those cannons are also entrenched so anything out of their range is safe. Then again, once inside that wall the cannons could be turned on them then possibly lugged to the other battlefields. The Gate would be the easiest to take but also the hardest to hold, also there must be a reason the other fleets haven't tried it yet.

> Take the Barracks, preferably after dark or with the sun to your back (Damned cannons).
PRO: Taking out the air defense is really important, and it may as well happen while the fleet is in top form. The Barracks can be easily defended once captured making it a good airfield. Able to Re-purpose the cannons, pending their destruction.
CON: Its the only position that has air defenses that fight back.

What are the advantages of all the different Ships again? We will want a joint attack.

[Koffie In Blik]

It should be relatively easy to lay siege to the Prison, assuming the majority of Mudmen are inside the structure as opposed to patrolling around it. It'd be a protracted affair, but anything else is likely to be costly.

Is it possible to outrange the Barracks cannon battery? If so, we can take them out and pave the way for a real assault without it costing us anything but maybe patience. We could tell the airships to fly high and fire down at the battery: Gravity's on our side that way, though it does depend on the angles at which we can aim our own cannon. Actually, do the airships carry bombs? We could just hover far above their reach and smash them.
The battery will need to be taken out some other way if none of that works out. Dropping/bombing parties, maybe, if the ten ships are fast enough to evade cannon fire so they can get close and drop their charges; it'd be suicide otherwise. ...Unless there's blind spots in the cannon wall that can be taken advantage of. A ground assault to take the battery might still be necessary.

There's definitely some weird things going down at the Waterfront. Not sure what to do with that. Is it even a good idea to take the gate, even if it's the easiest target? It might better to investigate before acting there, though that'll no doubt be dangerous. Aren't the Knives active around there, too?

Regardless of the assault options, though, we really need to:
>Organise relief for Granite Keep. They've been starving and cabin fevering in there for how long now? Also, direct the Rose and Sage fleets to hold off on the major assaults until the Spire fleet arrives and the entire force is assembled. Can't let them have all the fun.

[alexthewhite]

You have a variety of questions and ideas, and as your main advisor, Setting Sun is happy to hear them all.

Are we talking three simultaneous attacks, Or one really good one?

SETTING SUN: Either is possible, I suppose, but sending all our forces after one target could let the enemy to further entrench while our men are bogged down fighting. Worst case scenario, the Mudmen could spring an ambush and surround us when we're all in the same place.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Mmm...and spreading our forces thin has its own problems; namely, we might not have enough men to take the position.

SETTING SUN: Right. Find a balance, I say.

The Prison seems the least threatening; send a few ships to clear the ground and let the prison starve itself out. Going in on foot sounds like a deathtrap.

It should be relatively easy to lay siege to the Prison, assuming the majority of Mudmen are inside the structure as opposed to patrolling around it. It'd be a protracted affair, but anything else is likely to be costly.

Taking the prison by force does sound costly, but you seem to recall Frowning Sage being very clear in her point that the Roses and Sages do not want to get bogged down in a prolonged conflict. A siege is just that, and you have no idea how much food they've got down there. A prolonged campaign of attrition is probably not an option.

The barracks poses a nice threat with cannons able to hit flying ships, but those cannons are also entrenched so anything out of their range is safe.

Is it possible to outrange the Barracks cannon battery? If so, we can take them out and pave the way for a real assault without it costing us anything but maybe patience. We could tell the airships to fly high and fire down at the battery: Gravity's on our side that way, though it does depend on the angles at which we can aim our own cannon. Actually, do the airships carry bombs? We could just hover far above their reach and smash them.

The battery will need to be taken out some other way if none of that works out. Dropping/bombing parties, maybe, if the ten ships are fast enough to evade cannon fire so they can get close and drop their charges; it'd be suicide otherwise. ...Unless there's blind spots in the cannon wall that can be taken advantage of. A ground assault to take the battery might still be necessary.

SETTING SUN: Aye, the cannons are dug in, but they're city defense weapons, designed for range and power over accuracy. Any ship that strays too close to the camp will be harassed by cannon fire nearly shredding its hull. Ship cannons, meanwhile, are lighter and more accurate, so they can hit us while we can't hit them.

LAUGHING SPIRE: What about the bombs?

SETTING SUN: I don't know how the Roses do it, but it's rare for airships to contend with entrenched positions on the ground. Some men like to carry small explosives into battle, but nothing that would be effective against dug in cast-iron cannons. In a straight-up fight, airships against the barrack's cannons, the barracks will win ninety-nine times out of a hundred.

There's definitely some weird things going down at the Waterfront. Not sure what to do with that. Is it even a good idea to take the gate, even if it's the easiest target? It might better to investigate before acting there, though that'll no doubt be dangerous. Aren't the Knives active around there, too?

SETTING SUN: We have very little information. Perhaps we ought ask our Northern allies to send a ten ship to investigate; or perhaps we should wait until we can arrive and do it ourselves.

Then again, once inside that wall the cannons could be turned on them then possibly lugged to the other battlefields. The Gate would be the easiest to take but also the hardest to hold, also there must be a reason the other fleets haven't tried it yet.

SETTING SUN: Waiting for your reinforcements, my lord. The Northerners know they're outnumbered, they're hoping you can help change that.

>Organise relief for Granite Keep. They've been starving and cabin fevering in there for how long now? Also, direct the Rose and Sage fleets to hold off on the major assaults until the Spire fleet arrives and the entire force is assembled. Can't let them have all the fun.

SETTING SUN: Agreed. They have yet to act, so we can have the priests request the Roses load up a fifty ship with spare food. We could do it ourselves, as well.

LAUGHING SPIRE: They can't deliver it by foot?

SETTING SUN: The Granites collapsed the gate, the only way in or out of the Keep outside of landing a ship on the roof. Besides, a ground-based caravan would be much less efficient than a fifty ship.

What are the advantages of all the different Ships again? We will want a joint attack.

Every lord has his own little quirks and variations to how he runs his fleet. However, the most commonly-accepted method of ship assignment is as follows:

Hundred ships: Massive weapons that are symbolic of the might of any Whitesky lord, Hundred Ships are designed to be small, mobile fortresses. With an array of artillery and a plated hull, the hundred ship is designed to pound enemy defenses into submission.

Fifty ships: Despite the name, fifty ships are not simply smaller hundred ships. Rather, they serve as troop transports, with much lighter armaments than their larger counterpart. Fifty ships also serve support roles as medical vessels or stores of supply, due to an abundance of space in the design. A fifty ship could conceivably carry as much as seventy five men; this is just an extremely cramped and uncomfortable way to travel, and is only used when there aren't enough ships to go around.

Twenty ships: Twenty ships come in two main variations: the "Winged Cannon" and the "Winged Womb".

Winged Cannon: Fast, light, and absolutely bristling with guns, the "Winged Cannon" earns its name. The entire crew consists of a captain, priests, and men to man the cannons and crossbows. While the hundred ship draws enemy fire, the Winged Cannon is the one that forces a breach in enemy lines for footsoldiers or troop transports to pour through.

Winged Womb: A smaller version of the fifty ship, Winged Wombs are troop transports, often coming in pairs with a Winged Cannon to draw enemy fire.

Ten ships: Despite having little offensive capabilities, ten ships serve the purpose of skirmishing the enemy; firing at their officers with crossbows, dropping animal carcasses or vats of blood, whatever it takes to annoy or anger the enemy. Being small and agile, they are excellent at dodging cannon fire, and excel at disorganization and confusion.

SETTING SUN: So, what do you want the priests to tell the Roses and Sages to do?

LAUGHING SPIRE: Well, we need an initial plan of attack, some sort of sortie to go to the waterfront gate and investigate, and some way of giving support to the Granites.

SETTING SUN: Correct. How will you handle all those?

[Cadorean]

Send a pair of Winged Cannons to the prison to do a fly by inspection of the fortifications immediately surrounding it. If it is deemed logical by the crew, do a little harrassment, maybe throwing some firepots and blowing a few holes in their above ground supplies.

Fly a convoy of three Winged Wombs and four Winged Cannons to Granite Keep for humanitarian relief. Send somebody you trust to gather information for you.

Send five ten ships, two Winged Cannons and a Winged Womb to the Waterfront gate. Try and launch a geurilla assault as best you can with the ten ships, throwing firepots and shooting arrows, just creating general chaos. When your men run out of harrassment utilities, drop water out of the Winged womb to douse the fire as best you can, then drop shock troops in to clean up, getting aerial support from the Winged Cannons.

[Koffie In Blik]

The Barracks should be the largest assault priority: It's got a good amount of Mudmen and has some serious offensive capability. We'll need a strong plan of attack indeed to wipe it off the map. As Setting Sun stated, their cannon are inaccurate but heavy-hitting; the nimble tenships should be able to evade their fire whilst disrupting activities on the wall. Unpredictable flight patterns are key here; enemy cannon can't be allowed to get a lead on the ships' trajectories.
These tenships might be able to disrupt cannon fire long enough for say, twentyships to land some of our own forces on the wall as well as get some good shots on the disrupted cannon, to keep them suppressed once the tenships have gotten them to stop firing (in the direction of the rest of the fleet.) This way we can establish a foothold on the wall which we can use to bring in larger forces. The only problem is that more Mudmen can continuously come up to reinforce those on the wall. The key is to bring down the cannon battery; once we can safely bring in our larger ships we can simply gun down the Mudmen from where they can't reach us.
Though, our forces on the wall will be vulnerable to reinforcing Mudmen until we practically own the wall, and the sky over it. A diversion could be useful: Walls have gates. Through the same method as before we could perhaps take the gatehouse and open it for a ground force. Mudmen can't climb the wall if they're already under attack from the ground.

An alternate strategy involves use of the hundredships and depends on their ability to shrug off incoming fire. With the cannon focused on uselessly pounding the hundredships our other forces can simply swoop in and take the wall. I doubt the hundredships can take this sort of punishment for long, though. A combination with something else might be in order.

Both of these are contingent on my view of the cannon battery being correct: A giant wall lined with cannon on a deck open to the air, so as to allow 360° swiveling and near 90° upwards firing angles. This would make sense because Whiteskyian military antics seem mostly based on air combat. If this isn't the case, this entire section of the post can be disregarded...

As for the Prison, we should divert a couple of ships to patrol the entrances and harrass any emerging Mudmen, or simply sit a ground force atop them. We need to keep them entrenched in their hole so they can't do anything to interfere with the rest of the campaign. Basically, siege them until we've dealt with the other targets. We can utilise our entire force to deal with the Prison then. A possibility is to simply seal them in there, provided all the ways out are known. That way the earth can do the prolonged sieging.

Let the Spire fleet take care of the waterfront investigation. Given Towering Spire's reaction to the news of strange things there and his letter to the Roselord, it seems best that anything regarding that part of town be kept between the Spires, unless there's need for greater manpower.

On relieving Granite Keep, use whatever gets them what they need. Send food, healers to oversee treatments for starvation and disease, and some sort of peacekeeping capability. That last one just in case things get ugly.

[OnBackorder]

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Shorthand, mostly so I don't have to scroll around while I'm thinking.
Spire: 3 hundred ships, 6 fifty ships, 10 twenty ships, and 20 ten ships.
Rose: 5 hundred ships, 7 fifty ships, 17 twenty ships, and 21 ten ships.
Sage: 2 hundred ships, 4 fifty ships, 9 twenty ships, and 10 ten ships.

Totals: 10 hundreds(H), 17 fifties (F), 36 twenties (T), 31 Tens(X)

Convoy: Least priority, requires a minimum of one fifty ship. Doable, get a few tens and possibly one mobile fortress as escort to ensure no problems. [1H, 1F, 3X]

The Prison: Ships are a bit useless here, unless there is an equivalent to a bunker bomb on one of their ships. Still wouldn't hurt to soften the structure, and the foot soldiers could take charges in with them. One or two hundreds to clear the ground, and almost all of the fifty ships to resupply troops and pull out the wounded. Ten and twenty ships are mostly useless here.[2*H, 12F]

The Gate: Every hundred ship available, including the ones initially sent to the prison, to just rail on them. It is troubling that the last time Hiding was at the waterfront there was a storm. I just don't want to go there, and my paranoia is telling me to send the hundreds in gradually. A dozen or so ten ships to hit stragglers, and maybe a fifty ship or two for when it comes time to secure the position. [8*H, 2F, 10X]

Barracks: Every Twenty ship possible, Winged Wombs are to drop their troops as close as they can while Winged Cannons prepare for the worst. A few Fifties worth of men could be used as well, but they will need to march all the further as I don't trust a fifty's air mobility to dodge fire. Every available ten should be in there just causing problems, and distracting the enemy. Attacking ships should fly as close to the ground as they can to reduce the effectiveness of arcing shots, the buildings are surely flat enough for this.
Hitting from as many angles as possible will abuse their inaccurate fire most. Ships should only cluster to draw fire away from foot-soldier heavy areas, and even then it shouldn't be for long. Maybe one hundred ship should be around just to draw fire, one with extra priests borrowed from the grounded fifties around The Prison. And now that I'm thinking about it, a few fifties just doing ghost drops would be nice too, not much use having ships sit empty outside The Prison.
[1H, 2F, 36T, 18X]


Really, I hate the Barracks. Coordinating that many troops is going to be hell. However, the need for fast, fancy-flying firepower seems the perfect situation for Twenty ships to be a part of. I'm also thinking about pulling a few dreadnaughts from The Gate and using them just for issuing orders, but ten ships may do. If the former, then send a squad of Twenties to help at The Gate.
All of this requires the full cooperation of the three fleets, which is a logistical nightmare. Trusting whole units to unfamiliar generals with wholly different battle signs, cues and strategies may be the dumbest thing I've ever suggested. No, screw that, the attack on the Barracks may work better with three varied attacks going on at once. The Prison will be all officers making the calls anyway, and both the Gate and Convoy barely require strategy. All three commanders are then free to focus on the wall of death.

[Cadorean]

How sure are we that the barracks are a nessecity? I'm not sure that an early assault would be a good idea. Let scouting ten ships seach for all the exits from the prison, and load fifty ships up with rubble from destroyed buildings to then drop onto said exits, thus creating an artificial cave-in. No need for gunpowder, no need for a man based seige. Keep the exits under surveillance, and if it looks like any of them are close to breaking free, drop more rubble. You'd probably want to put three of Sage's fifty sips and five of their ten ships to this task.

Once you take the gate, which will likely be the easiest, keep ten Rose twenty ships there, about half and half Winged Womb and Winged Cannons. Also keep a Rose hundred ship there. We can use this way station as a meanso of flanking the barracks. Speaking of...

Wait a week after your initial sealing of the prison before heading to the barracks. Begin your seige just after dark. Start by dropping festering corpses, and human waste, and a bit of rubble. Once you run out of two of those three resources, retreat for the night. The following night, drop the last of the harrassment resurces along with firepots. In the blaze of the barracks, start throwing small wooden canisters filled with gunpowder and metal shrapnel. Once you've completely run out of those, retreat again for the night. The third night, load all your fifty ships with sea water have all the human waste of the day mi mixed in with the water. Flood the barracks as best you can. Take the three Spire hundred ships and barrage the gate. Once there is a clear path into the barracks, sart dropping as many soldiers as you can just outside the gate. Once all your soldiers are inside, bring the ships over from the waterfront way station and break another hole in the wall for the enemies to retreat out of, but assault them as they try to escape.

[alexthewhite]

CADOREAN'S PLAN, SIMPLIFIED: Take the gate with a small force of ten and twenty ships. Once that is done, drop rubble on the exits from the prison, trapping the Mudmen inside. Then, start sieging the barracks with rubble, corpses, and other manners of harassment before hammering them with as many men as you can spare.

SETTING SUN: A siege? I thought we agreed on no siege.

LAUGHING SPIRE: But-

SETTING SUN: If the Northerners lose patience and go home, which they very well might do, we're truly fucked up the arse. I do like the rubble idea, your father used a variation of it, but this is not the time or place for a siege. We need quick, decisive action.

KOFFIE IN BLIK'S PLAN, SIMPLIFIED: Use a nimble assault of ten and twenty ships to capture the barrack's cannons, then start dropping in troops from the foothold. Then seal off the prison's entrances and exits so their forces won't attack while the other two Mudmen positions are being overwhelmed.

SETTING SUN: Twenty ships are well-suited to take the cannons, aye. But there are a lot of Mudmen, and I wouldn't be surprised if they've got anti-ship weapons prepared.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Like what?

SETTING SUN: Pots of oil is a popular one; fire is a fleet's worst nightmare. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea, but our ships aren't immune to harm. Twenty ships can't take very much before falling to pieces, and when enough of them die, the Mudmen will get creative. Ideally, ten and twenty ships should always keep moving; speed is the one advantage they have.

ONBACKORDER'S PLAN, SIMPLIFIED: Hit the prisons with a massive infantry assault from the hundred and fifty ships, with the wounded returning to the entrance for treatment. The waterfront gate will take the firepower of the hundred ships, with some ten ships to pick off stragglers. The barracks, meanwhile, should be swarmed by twenty ships that are being supported by another force of tens.

SETTING SUN: Hmm, interesting. A three-pronged strike might stretch us too thin, though, and it would require a lot of fleet cooperation.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Will that be a problem?

SETTING SUN: Can be. If you were a Roseman, and some lordling you didn't know or even like ordered you to fly into the most heated, dangerous part of the battlefield, would you do it?

LAUGHING SPIRE: Ah, I see your point. If I'm going to launch anything as complex as these, I ought to try and keep the different fleets distinct.

SETTING SUN: Good, my lord. Those are bright ideas, I'm just not certain that they'll work as well in practice as they do when you say them aloud. Plans rarely survive actual combat; keeping your field strategies simple and easy to follow is key.

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You guys should talk to each other, in addition to me. Your plans all have flaws and strengths, and only through teamwork and critical thinking will you find the best way to proceed.

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Now I know how that Art of Domination guy feels.

[OnBackorder]

The only plans that survive battle are the chain of command and the spirit or idea of the mission. With three mingling armies, the chain of command is all screwed up. So, to each their own. Am I using that right? The Spire fleet is enough to take the Waterfront and deliver supplies to plus defend the keep, and the combined force of Rose and Sage could take the Prison. The Barracks will fall when they realize the war is over, and if they don't then we raze it to the ground.

I like the various hole filling and fire bombarding on the Prison, but that's Northerner problems now. Also, if Laughing spins it right Granite will think it was his idea. Best yet, if we keep our ground troops away from the Prison they can go search for the golden head-thing. Yay, screwing over the Roselord!

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Communicate how? Does that mean we have a week to debate before the story continues?

[Cadorean]

I like your idea of putting Rose resources to the prison, but we might need their ships if we launch a major assault. I'd say to have them running that play, but keep them on standby in case things get frisky elsewhere.

As for the Sage resources, since they're going to be fighting Honit long before the Spires, put them on duty caring for the Keep and capturing the waterfront gate. They're going to need all of their resources.

I still think a demoralization of the Mudmen is necessary before we actually assault the barracks. Though a seige is not preferable, the Roselord signed up for his troops to be here for more than a single day. A three day assault is not out of the question, plus it gives the Granitemen a chance to regroup before they get thrown onto the fray. I'm going tp push for the harrassment pelude, but I'll settle for a shorter attack.

[Koffie In Blik]

If the Sages need most of their men intact for a war with Honit, why send them to the waterfront? We seem to have a general agreement on burying the Prison under whatever rubble we can find. Once this is actually done, it'll only really need a caretaker force to ensure the buried Mudmen don't dig their way out again. It'd arguably be the lowest-risk station in Southflight. I get the idea the Mudmen would sooner retreat into their hole than fight at its entrance, so combat shouldn't be too much of a problem. Send the Sages to deal with the Prison, then maybe redirect the majority of their forces to elsewhere once the Prison's suppressed, if that's viable.
Speaking of the Prison, what exactly are we going to do with it after everything else has been cleared of Mud?

I still think putting the Spires to the waterfront is the best idea. I don't really trust the other fleets to handle that area with due care. Though, I doubt the entire Spire fleet will be necessary for whatever they end up doing there; We could split it up, have the other part of it accompany the Roses for their assault on the Barracks. I put the Roses to the Barracks mainly because their fleet is the largest, and as noted, fleet cohesion is a relevant issue. Having the largest unified force on the biggest battleground in Southflight would be a good idea. If it's deemed necessary, supplement their forces with whatever the Spires and Sages can spare. Cooperation between multiple fleets might be problematic, but it can be dealt with. We could, for instance split up a battlefield and have each participating fleet deal with a set piece of it, under a unified strategy agreed on by all commanders involved.

[OnBackorder]

That's just it, setting up a chain of command in the middle of battle is worst than having three commanders invade the same city. Too much confusion and stepping on each others toes. Giving absolute command to the largest fleet is no good either. Granite is kind of a prick and I don't trust him with Southern troops. Last we heard his battle plans they involved using ships as shields for other ships, this time around it will be Spire ships dying for Roses. Remember the Southpark movie; remember Operation Get Behind the Darkies?

Anyway, the Northerner's together make a solid pair because neither wants for fuck the other one over that hard. They could take either the Barracks or Prison with little difficulty. If we do Split them, then yeah, Sage will take the Prison solo. It's all groundwork when they have the least flying ships and it is cramped hallways while they have the fattest men. The Barracks just looks like such a deathtrap, it's like they took Southflight's real wall defenses and compacted it. Now if there were some secret tunnels directly under there that could be collapsed just like the first wall then we would have something solid. All we know about it now is that it is fully manned, heavily armed, and incredibly fortified.

But now I'm playing devil's advocate and wondering about the range of the cannons. Since they were built to defend a whole city and have a long range, what is the possibility they can hit anywhere in the city with those things? If they can then all other plans are void until they are taken down.

[Cadorean]

WWI trench warfare tactic #1. Once you're in the enemy's trench, you stop caring for yourself and quietly kill as many people as you can. If done properly, a single person can build up a body count into the three digit range.

I say we pull a tactic out of the WWI play book. Only instead of it being the enemy trench, it's tunnels beneath the barracks (Viet Cong strategy), and instead of human body counts, we're destroying cannons.

Hiding took a tunnel from outside the city to somewhere closer to the middle of it. If we can get back into those tunnels, we can probably find a few that lay under the barracks, load those tunnels with gunpowder, and blow up some cannons and mudmen. You should try and disable the cannons before you use ships, then immediately start blowing shit up yo.

[Koffie In Blik]

I wasn't advocating just handing the reins over to Granite, to be clear. I do agree, though; mixing the fleets is asking for trouble. I just think that some degree of cooperation is unavoidable: one fleet alone might not have enough forces to deal with, say, the Barracks. And we can't just ignore it, either. The Barracks is essentially the only Mudman base of operations that has offensive capabilities. They'll mess up everything else while they're still active whether by cannon or by troop.

If the Sages bury the Prison alive, that'll free up the majority of their fleet to help the Roses out at the Barracks. They could use the help on a high-risk assault and, like you said, it'd be Northerners plus more Northerners, so we don't have to worry as much about their cooperative struggles.
If we're talking a direct assault, I think the Sages alone won't have enough men to take the Prison. The fortifications are against us, and the Mudmen are thought to be most numerous there, too.
We could perhaps ignore the Prison while the Northerners demolish the Barracks, and turn our attention to it after that.
The Spires in the meantime, would deal with the Waterfront and whatever insanity is happening out there. I'm not entirely sure, but I get the feeling the Waterfront and its gate won't need the attention of the entire Spire fleet, so we can direct whatever isn't busy there to patrolling the rest of the city. The Spires would also be in the best position to relieve Granite Keep. Alternatively, we could split the Spire fleet and have one half tackle the Gate and the other suppress the Prison. Or keep it entirely simple and have the whole fleet at the Gate regardless of whether that's necessary or not.

I'm in favour of doing some serious investigation on all of these targets. If we're to devise specific plans of attack, we'll need detailed information. If we bumrush with ifs and maybes we'll just get everyone killed.
...On the other hand, we can't take too long either. If the Northerners pack up and leave we can forget the whole thing.