GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 8: War With The Usurper

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

 

The Battle of Gebirg's Pass

In the hills north of Kaskorata, the joint army of the earthlings and Imperial College looked down from their camps on the far larger "Imperial Army" below.  The Magisters of the College were directed to prepare bombardment magics, which would be of great effect in the narrow passes they'd soon be fighting in.  The earthling efforts to spy on the Usurper's Army proved largely fruitless, which was to be expected; Ulrich had been the old spymaster after all.

At dawn, the forces marched toward into the passes, and battle was met.  The geography resulted in the Commanders being split off from each other, with Granmarg and Thicket taking one pass, and Mielikki and Pomegranite the other.  Other than fully routing the foe in the field, the deciding factor of the battle would be if an army could break through to the enemy camp.  From there, they would be able to march around and pincer the foe from behind, which would surely result in a massacre.

 

The night before, Thicket had ordered a contingent of earthlings to prepare a path underground by which they could perform a flanking maneuver, but for now he held his ground.  Granmarg ordered a charge, but the steep slopes and rough terrain led to his own troops falling and almost being trampled, keeping them stuck in place.  In the other pass, the Magisters in Mielikki's formation launched boulders over a cliff, crushing the soldiers commanded by the mysterious elf and forcing them into a rout. Seeing this, Dietrich's mercenaries balked at an order to charge into the earthling lines where more Magisters stood ready.

Ulrich had made a mistake as well, delaying his orders until the last possible second, which left his troops disorganized as Thicket advanced towards them, and Granmarg's troops finished falling in and rushed toward Hans Hessen.  The Imperial Marshal had prepared for this, however, and Granmarg's charge was blunted by a shieldwall, then hit with a hail of arrows from bowmen concealed on a nearby slope.  The Striking Vanguard and his few stragglers were forced from the field.

 

Notes:

During the discussion of who would lead the earthlings into battle, and determine deployment order and initiative, serious weight was given to who had been luckier in the earlier Planning Phase.

 

Due to being shut down by Ulrich, the PCs had no intel on what skill specializations any of the enemies have outside of stuff like "Well Ulrich is a spymaster, so he's probably Tricky" before the battle.  Due to the actions taken, they now know who's what type, but they don't know combat skill, and they still don't know skill levels, which is what cost Granmarg his battle with Hans Hessen.

 

A new ruling: if one army moves into an enemy army that is locked in a dead end with nowhere to retreat on a loss, they must continue fighting until either the defender wins or their army is destroyed. 

Another ruling: if multiple Commanders Feint in the strategy mode, the order in which they decide their actions is determined by which army is acting first, and then by skill level.