GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 5: The Charge of Mielikki

Characters:

Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster

Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Mielikki's Assault

The earthlings ran across the battlefield while Hugo's entourage held their ground and waited for them to arrive.  In front was Smugbrush, a pile of leaves with wooden arms, wielding a wooden spear and shield, and beside him Hawthorn, a chunky rock man with a large, wide "sword" covered in flame.  Bringing up the rear was Garmnrag, who wielded his iconic "long nunchaku".

Hugo readied and fired a piercing shot at Smugbrush, but the earthlings, forewarned by the stragglers of Granmarg's party, knew this was coming and had spread out.  Smugbrush dodged out of the way of the bolt, and charged towards the wounded Phillipe, who loosed an arrow at the last second, but missed the mark.  

Hawthorn followed his comrade in and charged Hugo, but his flaming blade went wide and a bolt from Petronilla's giant crossbow caused him to back away... directly into a waiting Marie, who slammed her bladed helmet into his midsection.  While he was still reeling, Hugo stepped forward and point-blank fired a pair of bolts into the gaps between his rocky body, causing Hawthorn to trip and fall down.  

Mielikki moved to distract Marie and swung his enormous tree trunk "club" into her side, breaking bone and armour.  Phillipe loosed another arrow, this time into the prone and helpless Hawthorn, apparently hitting something important as the earthling cried in pain.  As he tried to back away, though, Smugbrush's spear pierced Phillipe's thigh, and he now swayed on the spot, unsteady.  Hawthorn regained his feet just in time to see Hugo knock Mielikki to the ground with an oversized blunt bolt.

Garmnrag fought Marie in the battle of confusing weapons, with his long nunchaku overcoming her sharp helmet and bludgeoning her repeatedly.  Phillipe loosed another arrow into Hawthorn's chest, and he collapsed, unconscious.  Marie left Granmarg to box in Smugbrush and leave him trapped between 3 foes and a wooden barricade, though Granmarg simply turned on the spot and slammed her in the side with the nunchaku again.

Mielikki regained his footing and was knocked prone again, though at least he managed to back away slightly.  Phillipe finally collapsed from his wounds, allowing Smugbrush to run around and behind Hugo to put him between two foes.  Petronilla spun on the spot and fired a bolt from her giant crossbow which sent him stumbling back out of the way, and a second from Hugo left him seeing stars for a moment before he teetered over, unconscious.

Marie and Garmnrag returned to their duel, and an amazing defense with his nunchaku caught her by the neck and sent her over his shoulder, onto her back.  Mielikki stuck his tree trunk to the ground and attempted to knock Hugo over by flipping the stones of the bridge he was standing on into the air, but they proved too heavy.  At this point, the earthlings declared a retreat.  Hugo and Petronilla strode over to Mielikki, placing a trio of bolts in his midsection, and though he suffered great harm he was able to escape.  Marie, still prone, attempted to headbutt Granmarg's shins but instead slammed face-first into the flagstones and lost consciousness.

Despite their near-defeat at Hugo's hands, Mielikki's entourage had succeeded at their true goal of pinning the enemy commanders in place, and the earthling soldiers were able to carry their way to victory.  As they routed, the Lumenians were slaughtered by the score, and only a single company returned to their side of the bridge alive.  Felix's contingent attempted to assault Mielikki's troops, but were sent scattering with ease.  He was a child, and it seemed his understanding of strategy was expectedly juvenile.

The Tide Turns

Seeing Hugo's plight, Edelina sent in all of their reserves to reinforce his position, while Eremon ordered their mages to send another cloud of fire sweeping across the earthling held side of the bridge, killing dozens.  As the earthlings shuffled their formations around, Hugo charged back into Mielikki, looking for revenge.  Cognizant of how wounded he and his advisors were, Mielikki fled from personal combat and after a grinding engagement leading to many dead on both sides, the Lumenians broke the earthling formation, sending them into an ordered retreat.

Mielikki decided to ignore Hugo's rampage and instead charged the Lumenian lines, figuring none of their other commanders were a threat.  He managed to seize the bridgehead for the moment, driving the humans either off onto the shore or into the middle of the bridge where they sought to join Hugo's forces.  Thicket, meanwhile, revealed a secret order he'd given as a formation of earthling troops moved out from a stand of trees and arrived in the rear of their enemies.

Hugo, seeing the danger, left a small garrison on the earthling side of the bridge and rushed back and into Mielikki's troops.  They were badly battered, and this final charge left them utterly routed.  As the sun began to set, the earthlings were in a desperate situation.  With both their best commanders defeated, and a decisive victory seeming impossible, it was all going to come down to the luck of Pomegranite and Smugbrush.

Notes:

Only realized as I'm writing this that we entirely forgot that retreats existed in the fight last session.

Currently thinking about quite a few changes to the mass battles rules.  Some actions seems too good, and others too weak.

On that note, a new ruling, regarding healing and personal combat during mass battles.  Unless someone is severely injured (IE they've failed a death check), when they join a duel, regardless of whether their HP is 0 or lower, they do not need to make consciousness checks until they suffer further injury.

There is a single turn remaining in the mass battle, and it is likely going to end in a tie.  I have some ideas of what will happen in that event.