Kobold Tactics

[Tvtyrant]

So for a low level campaign I decided to use Kobolds as an enemy.

My current idea for how to make large numbers of basic or low level Kobold Warriors useful is to make a series of 5 kobold deep squares, with a ring of Kobolds cowering behind tower shields on the outside (total concealment) and Kobolds with reach weapons behind them. The central Kobold would be a level 2-3 Warrior with a weapon proficiency and a group of exotic throwing weapons (bolas, Nets, Harpoons, etc.) A 6/6 square would be identical, but with more Exotic throwers.

For crack troops I was thinking Deinochyus riding warriors with lances and a few adepts on the backs of Fleshrakers.

Kobold 5/5 square: T for Tower Shield, P for Pike (longspear), E for exotic.
TTTTT
TPPPT
TPEPT
TPPPT
TTTTT

Kobold 6/6 square
TTTTTT
TPPPPT
TPEEPT
TPEEPT
TPPPPT
TTTTTT

Thoughts on improving this? The Kobolds on the outside cannot be attacked, so it should make the squishy Kobolds take longer.

[Callin]

1 Alchemist Fire later.....

Serious note. All sound tactics but i would add some skirmishers. A low level Sorc in there would also be viable. Specially in your 6x6 group. He would feel safe...

[Yogibear41]

Could always stick a kobold sorcerer in the middle, or even have some dragonwrought kobolds that can fly zoom by and attack from above while flying.
(throwing spears or something)

[Tvtyrant]

1 Alchemist Fire later.....

Serious note. All sound tactics but i would add some skirmishers. A low level Sorc in there would also be viable. Specially in your 6x6 group. He would feel safe...

Light crossbow type skirmishers? I wish there were some good effect throwing weapons that weren't exotic....

[Deophaun]

These tactics are more appropriate for a hobgoblin led goblin army than kobolds.

Kobolds are, first and foremost, clever. They will avoid direct confrontation whenever possible, seeking to use terrain and traps to their advantage.

Kobolds have dragon blood. Because of this, kobold warrens should be lousy with minor spellcasters. Give them sorcerers to help tilt the battle. Illusions work well, as does grease, web, and stone shape to dig out small tunnels or create impromptu traps (stone shape the ceiling of a cavern under a lake, for instance). You can also give them bards with dragonfire inspiration. A few kobold rangers with access to woodwisp arrow can scare the heck out of PCs when arrows start shooting out of solid wooden objects.

Look up dither bombs. A kobold won't be a suicide bomber, but he will be every bit as crazy as a gnome, and his risk-reward ratio goes haywire when the warren's under attack. Desperate kobolds are dangerous kobolds.

Kobold tactics should seem chaotic, but that veneer of chaos conceals well thought out plans to deny the enemy any advantage and keep them guessing. You're free to use more structured regiments, as it's your game. Just be aware that doing so could blur the distinction between kobolds and other mooks.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Depends on the terrain.

One thing to bear in mind is that - by some pretty justifiable sources - Kobolds have Slight Build. Among other things, this lets them fit through spaces as if they were one size smaller.

So, in an underground setting, they can have spaces not even the Hafling can fit in, and use them to retreat from the party until buffs wear off, hit and run, circle back and set up traps to hit the party on the way out, while they think they're safe...

Combine all this with Reduce Person (one of my favourite spells for Kobolds) and it gets even better.

Try one 6th level Kobold Sorcerer, casting Power Word: Pain, and using Reduce Person and Shape Stone to make sure he's never followed. Every time he does that, he's probably dealing an average of 35 damage, with no save. It's done slowly enough that the party can heal, but it cuts into resources pretty quickly.

Also, don't forget traps. My notion of a Kobold lair always had one central tunnel that medium creatures could fit through, lined with traps; flanking this on either side are smaller tunnels, that the Kobolds move through to keep up with the party. The moment one of the traps goes off, the Kobolds swarm in to take advantage, before the party can recover.

[Tvtyrant]

This would all be above ground. In a warren the Kobolds would lock off or collapse all but the kill tunnels and set them on fire while rolling boulders down greased slopes and dropping poisoned caltrops down murderholes.

Kobolds are all part of a greater civilization in my campaign, maintaining quasi-independence by providing massive numbers of forced laborers to the Yuan-ti and dragons far above them. Keeping track of Kobolds is a pain, so to continue to gain more Kobold workers the Yuan-ti give tribes occupied conquered lands and leave clearing the local population to the Kobolds. The squares and riders are the method by which Kobolds attack farms and villages, leaving cities to slowly starve out without their farm networks.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

This would all be above ground. In a warren the Kobolds would lock off or collapse all but the kill tunnels and set them on fire while rolling boulders down greased slopes and dropping poisoned caltrops down murderholes.

Kobolds are all part of a greater civilization in my campaign, maintaining quasi-independence by providing massive numbers of forced laborers to the Yuan-ti and dragons far above them. Keeping track of Kobolds is a pain, so to continue to gain more Kobold workers the Yuan-ti give tribes occupied conquered lands and leave clearing the local population to the Kobolds. The squares and riders are the method by which Kobolds attack farms and villages, leaving cities to slowly starve out without their farm networks.

Aboveground Kobold tactics are a lot trickier, but I still don't imagine that those roman-style formations would be the way they'd go... Kobolds instinctively strike me as guerrilla fighters.

Were I the leader of a Kobold group pursuing such aims, my focus wouldn't be on attacking the towns en force - I'd go twofold. First, I'd try to infiltrate the cities, and assassinate key ruling officials, to break the back of the local government. Secondly, I'd assault the farmland itself - poison crops, kill chickens and cattle, etc.

If you want to go your route, I'd also suggest not killing the villagers, but driving them before you (the way the mongols did.) That way, not only do the cities lose their food sources, they have a whole bunch of refugees to feed.

[Clericzilla]

www.tuckerskobolds.com

Don't go to crazy...

[Humble Master]

Kobolds try not to engage in a straight fight. They never do and shouldn't. They rely on ambushes, traps, magic, more traps, terrain advantages and of corse more traps.