Mechanus War Strategy? (3.5)

[~xFellWardenx~]

I had a game idea where something really powerful (like, say, the divine spark of a deity level powerful) was used to make a "planar trait virus" sort of thing that infected Mechanus and caused all beings who are currently and in the future would be spawned from the plane or turned into the monsters of the plane to be re-assigned a single (though fairly complex) command, that being "engage in warfare with the Prime Material Plane in the most efficient way possible that does not take [insert a bit longer than realistic world conquest timeframe here] or longer to result in utter victory, and when this line of action becomes feasible, wipe out all non-Mechanus-originated life on the planet."

Assuming that extremely few of those in the army of Mechanus have class levels, what types of offensive and defensive strategies would Mechanus likely use in its war against the Prime Material that are more time-efficient than "insert self-destructive metaphorical chink in enemy armor, wait thousands of years for enemy to destroy themselves, mop up." Espionage and deceptively causing backstabbing ARE technically allowed if they provide quick benefits, but it's highly unlikely that a plane composed of the universal energy of Lawfulness would utilize those strategies.

I don't really know what level of NPCs they should expect to face on the Prime Material. If it's relevant to your argument, just point out any assumptions you're making so we're all on the same page in regards to what you're trying to say.

Assume that the other planes are otherwise preoccupied (maybe with preventing their own infection, say) or don't care or something, to the point that Outsiders of other planes are (while not actively ignoring the conflict) only getting involved in this about as much as they tend to get involved in your standard mortal affairs. They'll be about as much a factor here as if you were thinking of a war between two regular large kingdoms with no planar influence, basically.

Also, please tell me if I need to clarify anything, I'm a pretty dumb person and I make lots of grammar and vocabulary mistakes that can make what I say hard for people to read. Sorry about that.

Any and all contributions are appreciated, thanks!

[Honest Tiefling]

Not 100% sure, as I don't know the settings this thingy has appeared in, but there are some thoughts: As beings of utmost law and justice, how would they enact this? Perhaps instead of outright invasion, appeal to more lawful societies and help hunt down criminals. Or even areas of extreme chaos and strife and offer a better, more lawful, more organized way. This way, learn one's enemy. Or rather, have your enemy become you. Become so ingrained in people's lives they cannot imagine life without these agents. Mold the thinking over generations to become more and more lawful. Perhaps even go as far as to eliminate the following of less rational and lawful gods and convert to the glory of Primus. Perhaps even replace powerful leaders with Modrons, or even change them into lawful beings themselves.

It is not espionage. It is reforming the societies into perfect expressions of law. When the society is changed, the individual will follow.

[Thealtruistorc]

Mechanus I view as having a very direct strategy pre-battle: giving their foe the terms and then meeting on the battlefield with no strings attached. Once the fighting starts, this is where they become deadly. I envision immense, tightly knit formations in the style of Roman legions or macedonian phalanxes. If the enemy comes at them, they are AoOed to death faster than you can say "suicidal charge." Brute fighters like maruts will be at the head, with artillery in the rear and casters in the middle. If the enemy has an equally powerful force, the Mechanus army would likely attempt to box them in by having their numbers roll with the attacks until the for is surrounded. Dirty fighting is a huge no-no, and the forces of Mechanus will always play by pre-established rules. I hope this helped.

[Vaz]

Send Visilights to get Sky High Disguise and Diplomacy checks by draining the Charisma of all they come across. Use these to break enemy armies of the Prime to your will.

[BWR]

The wya I envision this:
Modrons will be the unstoppable army that eradicates everything, formians will be the plague that denies the Primes their land resources, the inevitables will go for all high-value targets (since just about all of these will have done something to trigger an unstable inevitable).

Considering the strict chain-of-command society of the modrons, they will need to ensure that all parts of the army can effectively communicate with their next in line ranks. For this reason, they will have very regular and orderly armies, very predictable set-up and maneuvers.
Modrons are lawful in the extreme, but not so strict they are entirely incapable of adjusting to new information, just a bit reluctant. Any battleplan they have will be a set of projections of the enemy's capabilities and an immense set of predetermined responses to given circumstances. In short, "if...then" on a massive scale. The various ranks of the modrons will likely have an increasing number of preset reponses depending on how high up the chain they are, which they can use independantly of orders from above if they lack communication with superiors.
The best way to mess up modron armies is cut out the mid-level modron commanders. Go too high up the chain and the modrons are powerful enough to be a problem and the remaining lower-rank modrons have enough intelligence and autonomy to still do a lot of damage. Go too low on the chain and you're stuck trying to kill too many pointless sub-commanders, leaving more powerful units around to take out the attackers and react to the disruption of attack.

Inevitables are independant of other organized groups like the modrons and formians, but I envision their trigger points to go waaaay down. Anyone who has come back from the dead in any way is suddenly the target of maruts, and once those are taken care of, anyone who has used magic to avoid death, etc. Anyone who tells a lie will be fair game for kolyaruts, anyone who breaks a law will at some point meet a zelekhut.
They probably won't work together, unless they somehow target the same being, and I can't see them working with the modrons or formians in any special way.

Formians are clean-up and peacekeeping troops. Once the other two groups have cleared out the most of the initial resistance, the formians take over and start colonizing. They clear out the remaining Prime life and guard against attempts to take back the conquered areas.

Oddities like moignos are aides and possibly special ops since they are practically invulnerable and there isn't really much that protects against paradox.

[~xFellWardenx~]

The three answers I've gotten so far have been fantastic! Does anybody else have some ideas? Anything would be appreciated!

[PraxisVetli]

I don't have much, but I'd think using the Anhydrut before Formians would work.
They could alter the climate of Prime, making it more Formian friendly.
My 2 cp.

[Vhaidara]

BWR more or less got it. Remember the higher level inevitables from other books.

Fiend Folio introduces the Quarut (Keeper of time and space) and the Varakhut (defender of the gods), at CR 17 and 19 respectively. Quaruts have Time Stop 1/day, and Varakhut's have it 3/day.

[~xFellWardenx~]

... With the introduction of CR 17-19 Outsiders from Mechanus with Time Stop SLA's, my concern is suddenly far more geared towards how the Prime Material fights back at all.

This actually just got more interesting. Then again, it is pretty safe to assume creatures of that stature are less than common. Hm.

[VoxRationis]

I wasn't aware the plane of Mechanus was unified. The description of the Fortress of Law or some such from the DMG had a description that depicted the inevitables as being at least potentially hostile to the formians.