The Book of Armies

[Yahzi]

The Book of Armies



Posts: If you post an army, please use the same format I have, so that cross-referencing is easy. In the second post of this thread I will put links to each army post.

Goal: To create believable, cost-effective, armies for DMs to use in their worlds, as either invasion or defense forces or just political random encounters. The rules laid out here are so that all of the armies are (allegedly) at the same power level. Obviously you can fudge the numbers when you use them in your world, but I think it is fun and instructive to see what different people can do with the same resources.

Rules: Preferably using Core, but one or two splats would be ok for flavor.

Assets:
1 9th level ruler (any class)
1 medium castle
400 square mile fief (barony, county, or even kingdom)
5,000 townspeople
15,000 peasants

Budget:
Capital: 1,000,000 gp to build your army.
Support: 100,000 gp a year to support it.
Adjustments: You can buy 1 gp of support for 20 gp of capital, or 5 gp of capital for 1 gp of support. This is to give some flexibility while keeping the armies centered around this budget.
Manpower: Maximum of 500 full-time soldiers. Any more than that and your society will starve.
Militia: Maximum of 5,000 militia. You don’t have to pay or support militia, but they are only available for 20 days a year. Otherwise they will only muster to defend their homes and fields. If you want them armed with anything other than clubs and slings (or trained any better than 1st level commoners), you have to pay for it.

Remember that militia tend to run away at the first set-back. They would rather be slaves of their new masters than dead. Even against monsters they tend to hope that the creatures will be satiated with others and overlook them if they go and hide somewhere.

Weapons and Armor (Capital): All prices are per the book (retail price for all items, even if you make them yourself - this exercise is about measuring total resources expended). 100 arrows/bolts will be considered sufficient for archers and comes out of the capital budget, not support. Other ordinary equipment repair is already abstracted out (but not magic expendables - see later).

Commoners are granted the ability to use clubs, light armor, and shields (that you pay for), in addition to their 1 simple weapon.

Salary and Food (Support): Assume 50 gp a year per full-time soldier man. This assumes 3 common meals a day at 1/2 the book rate because you buy in bulk. For this price you don't have to worry about hiring cooks, servants, etc, since that is part of the price. Since they live in your castle, you don't have to pay rent either.

Horses cost 25 gp a year to feed. Riding and Draft horses are only for transport; you can’t fight from them.

Daily pay is roughly 1 sp for a commoner, 2 - 6 sp for an NPC class, and 1 gp per level for a PC class (with some discounts for holidays, providing room and board, equipment, etc.)

The cost to pay and feed soldiers is shown in the table below.

Training (Capital): 1st level commoners are free to recruit. Training a soldier to the 1st level of an NPC class costs 100 gp (usually Warrior, but you can use any NPC class). Training them to the 1st level of a PC class costs 1,000 gp. After that, it costs 5 gp per XP to buy them levels. The highest level you can hire is 8th (one lower than your ruler).

Monsters and Level Adjustments: Use ECL for figuring support and recruitment costs. Treat all monsters of 1 or more CR as PC classes. Creatures with 1/2 CR are equal to 1st NPC classes; creatures with less HD are equal to 1st Commoners.

In addition, Small creatures eat half as much food, so deduct 25 gp from the support of NPC classes. However, you have to pay the PC classes the same amount of money.

Ruler: Your ruler lives off the non-military budget. If you want to equip your ruler, you can assume the standard 36,000 gp WBL for a 9th level character. Assume your ruler has Leadership, which the DM has ruled is fulfilled by being able to hire an army in the first place (so you don't get any free followers).

Magic Items: You cannot buy any magic item or spell that is beyond an 11th caster's ability. Permanent magic items come out of your Capital budget. Scrolls, Potions, Wands, and other consumables come out of your Support budget. Assume you fight 4 battles a year, so that means you need to pay for 4 alchemical items, 4 potions, 4 scrolls, or 1 wand per year. (Lowering this number will make every battle about one-shot items, not about armies.)

Statistics (if you care): Commoners are straight 10's. 1st (any class) uses the Standard array; 2nd and use the Elite array.

Logistics: For bonus points, prepare your army for a 3-month campaign in the field. Assume you’ve saved up 100,000 gp to pay for it.

You can buy siege engines, hire engineers to operate them, and recruit additional mercenaries. You only have to support them for 3 months, but you still have to pay normal recruiting costs.

You can assume that you can re-supply once a month (either from home or by raiding in the field – but raiding doesn’t save you any money: remember this is about measuring resource allocation), so you only need transport for 1 month’s worth of supplies. That’s 60 lbs of food per man and 300 lbs. of grain per horse. If you want your men to carry their own supplies, use the weight limits and overland movement rules.

Don't worry about water: medieval armies marched from water-hole to water-hole, and it’s assumed you have a route planned out, or you wouldn’t even be thinking of invading. Or you could just by a Decanter of Endless Water.

You can spend a maximum of half of this extra money on consumable items like potions, scrolls, and wands.


Rank......................Capital...Support
1st Commoner................0...........75
1st NPC class..............100.........125
1st PC Class.............1,000.........250
2nd PC Class.............5,000.........500
3rd PC Class............15,000.........750
4th PC Class............30,000......1,000
5th PC Class............50,000......1,250
6th PC Class............75,000......1,500
7th PC Class..........105,000......1,750
8th PC Class..........140,000......2,000

(subtract 25 gp from NPC class support if they are small)

Treat creatures CR as equal to PC level.
1/4 CR = 1st Commoner
1/2 CR = 1st NPC
1 CR = 1st PC
etc.

Treat NPC classes as PC-1.
2nd NPC = 1st PC
3rd NPC = 2nd PC
etc.

Animals
Riding Horse....................75.........25
Draft Horse...................200.........25
Light Warhorse..............150.........25
Heavy Warhorse............400.........25
Military Saddle……........….20……....….
Other animals as CR

[Yahzi]

Links to the armies posted so far:


Yahzi's Armies
The Party (Any) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2175786&postcount=25)

Orc Tribe (CE Orc) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2176680&postcount=28)

The Barony of Mont St. Pelor (LG Paladin) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166907&postcount=3)
Citadel of the ShadowLord (NE Rogue) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166909&postcount=4)
Monastery of St. Costello (NG Priest) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166912&postcount=5)
Castillion of Heronimus (LG Priest) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166914&postcount=6)
The Crypt of Amontidillo (CE Priest) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166916&postcount=7)
The Academy (LN Wizard) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166919&postcount=8)
Kingdom of Rus (LE Wizard) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166920&postcount=9)
Mongolia (CN Barbarian) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166923&postcount=10)
The Tower of Sorcery (CG Sorcerer) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166927&postcount=11)
District of Canterbury (LN Priest) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166931&postcount=12)
Wildflower Grove (N Druid) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166934&postcount=13)
ScantyNavia (CN Barbarian) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2166937&postcount=14)
City of London (LN Fighter) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2174700&postcount=21)
Cirque De Soleil (Gnome Druid) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2195218&postcount=78)

Annarrkkii's Armies
The Brotherhood of Talon and Fang (Monk/Druid) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2177426&postcount=33)
Watchers on Cragbolt Spire (Stormlord) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2181056&postcount=49)
The Bladewind Brigade (CN Halfling) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2188720&postcount=62)

Winterking's Armies
The 7th Cavalry Banner (Ranger) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2188848&postcount=63)
The Troika (Dwarven) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2272815&postcount=90)
Le Brigade du Ciel (The Sky Brigade) (Half-Elven) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2273699&postcount=91)

FoeoftheLance's Armies
Scaly Champions (NG Kobold) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2180278&postcount=41)

Beren One-Hand's Armies
The Watchwood (N Gnome) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2183379&postcount=50)
Reginauld's Legion (LG) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2225497&postcount=88)

Meynold's Armies
The Militia King (Cleric) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2167015&postcount=16)
The Army of Blitz (L- Diplomat) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2176113&postcount=27)
Deserts of Desolation (Fremen!) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3418334&postcount=131)

jaquese's Armies
Ghosts of the Marsh (Medusa) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2189072&postcount=68)
Fury of the Mind (Goblin Psychic) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2189699&postcount=76)
Kingdom of Selsh (LN Snooty Elves) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2189699&postcount=76)
Troops of the Derelict (Dwarves) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2218647&postcount=68)

PaladinBoy's Armies
House Lyrandar: Kraken's Arms (Half-elven Airships) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2947890&postcount=106)

raspberrybadger's Armies
(Listed despite not being in the standard format... :smalltongue: )
The Infernal Legion (devils) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2861301&postcount=97)
The Horde of Slaughter (demons) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2862053&postcount=99)
The Celestial Guard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2863348&postcount=101)

Elana's Armies
(Listed despite not being in the standard format... :smalltongue: )
Randomly generated town (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2863152&postcount=100)

Altharis's Armies
Kramak's Desert Raiders (Dragon servants) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3322968&postcount=120)

Belkarseviltwin's Armies
Pax Illithica (Mind-flayers!) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3408978&postcount=127)

Benejeseret's Armies
Hive Sparin (Formians) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3419061&postcount=132)

AsianCross's Armies
The Iron Nail Tribe (LE Hobgoblins) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3420388&postcount=133)

[Yahzi]

The Barony of Mont St. Pelor (LG)

Militia
5,000 x 1st Commoner
Spear, Sling

Guardia
200 x 1st Warrior
Heavy Crossbow, Longsword, Large Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt

Jongleur
5 x 1st Bard
Harp, Longsword, Large Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Chevelar
30 x 3rd Paladin
Lance, Longsword +1, Mighty Composite Longbow(3), Large Steel Shield, Full Plate +1
Heavy Horse + Saddle, Scale Barding

Capitan
4 x 5th Paladin
Lance, Holy Longsword +1, Mighty Composite Longbow(4) +1, Large Steel Shield +1, Full Plate +1
Mount + Saddle, Scale Barding
Wand of Dispel Magic (5th)

General
1 x 9th Paladin
As per DMG

Capital: 995,055
Support: 99,725

Organization:

4 Foot Companies
50 Guardia, 1 Jongleur, 1 Chevelar, 1 Capitan

1 Cavalry Company
26 Chevelar, 1 Jongleur, 1 General

Tactics:

Foot companies: The Guardia are trained to disperse and seek cover, or to form a tight knot that will be protected by the paladin's auras. They know the Capitan can dispel magic, and will trust him to protect them from fireballs.

The Jongleur mostly sings Inspire Courage. He/she is not expected to fight.

The Capitans will liberally use their Wands of Dispel to protect their troops from magic (they get a new wand every year, so they don’t need to be stingy). However, if the don’t feel they can block magical attacks with a wide margin of safety, they will fight in dispersed formation.

Cavalry company: They depend on the General’s personal magic to protect them from fireballs (either a Wand of Dispel or Rings of Counterspells). Failing that, they trust to speed. The cavalry will hang back until the Foot companies have identified and pinned down the enemy leaders. Then they will charge in and crush them.

They can also operate as horse archers, but they prefer not to do that against foes of unknown capabilities.

Militia: The militia has long spears, not short ones, to defend the walls. The city has piles of sling stones every 10 feet, so expect to storm the walls under a constant hailstorm. The militia can form tight phalanxes behind the protection of paladin, but the General doesn't like to do this. Dead peasants don't grow food. He will spend his troop’s lives before he spends his peasants.

Medical care is managed by Lay on Hands and Remove Disease.

[Yahzi]

Citadel of the Shadowlord (NE)

Thug
200 x 1st Commoner
Shortspear, Large Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Slayer
100 x 1st Rogue
Heavy Crossbow, Rapier, Small Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor of Shadow, Boots of Elvenkind

Chaplain
4 x 5th Priest
Rapier, Small Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor of Shadow, Dagger, Boots of Elvenkind

Winged Slayer
4 x 5th Rogue
Rapier, Small Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor of Shadow, Boots of Elvenkind
Ring of Invisibility, Wings of Flying
Wand of Fireball (6th)

ShadowLord
1 x 9th Rogue
As per DMG

Capital: 999,984
Support: 100,000
Adjustment: 40,000 purchase converted to support (those wands are expensive!)

Organization:

4 Gangs
50 Thugs, 25 Slayers, 1 Chaplain, 1 Winged Slayer

Tactics:

Gang: The Thugs are cannon fodder, and they know it. Their only job is to slow down the enemy (like speed bumps) while the Slayers snipe at them. They have poor morale, but are unlikely to disobey a direct order, since they are terrified of their commanders.

The Slayers are adept at coordinating their fire on the same target. They know about healing magic, so they will try to kill one target rather than wound many (even to the point of shooting bodies that are lying down and not moving). They operate like modern infantry: shoot, then move. With their maxed ranks in Hide/Move Silently and the +10 to those skills from their armor and boots, they can find cover in an open field. If you don’t kill the Slayer on the same round he fires, you will have to find him all over again.

The Chaplains are priests of Olidammara, with domains in Luck and Trickery. This gives them Hide as a class skill, and they have cross-trained in Move Silently. They do not normally fight, but they will provide support from a safe position. In addition to standard healing and divinations, they like to cast Entropic Shield, Protection from Elements, Invisibility, and Non-detection.

The Winged Slayers will reserve their attacks until they are maximally effective, waiting for the enemy to reveal their strengths and weaknesses through fending off the snipers. Then they will bombard the enemy with shock and awe from their Wands of Fireball. If it is considered necessary, all 4 Winged Slayers will fire in the same round at the same target to utterly destroy high-level individuals. Then they will activate their rings of invisibility and fly to a different location. Their Thugs and even Slayers are easily replaced, and will be spent freely, but the Winged Slayers know they are valuable and will take virtually no risks.

Shadowlord: Chances are he’s sneaking around spying on his commanders. He is known to adopt disguises and impersonate various people, so almost everyone keeps their disloyal comments to themselves. The odds of him getting personally involved in a battle are slim. He will wait until virtually all of his troops are dead first.

Militia: The militia will only fight to defend themselves against monsters. Faced with human invaders who aren’t slaughtering them wholesale, they will probably just hide in their hovels and hope for the best. After all, their next master can hardly be any worse than this one. They will not, however, offer any aid or comfort to the enemy, since they are terrified the ShadowLord will discover their disloyalty.

[Yahzi]

Monastery of St. Costello (NG)


Militia
5,000 x 1st Commoner
Club, Sling, Small Wooden Shield

Novice
260 x 1st Cleric
Heavy Mace, Crossbow, Large Wooden Shield, Splint Mail

Prelate
10 x 3rd Cleric
Heavy Mace, Crossbow, Large Wooden Shield, Splint Mail
1 x 1st lvl scroll, 1 x 2nd lvl scroll

Curate
10 x 5th Cleric
Heavy Mace, Crossbow, Large Wooden Shield, Splint Mail
1 x 1st lvl scroll, 1 x 2nd lvl scroll, 1 x 3rd lvl scroll

Abbot
1 x 9th Cleric
As per DMG

Capital: 998,920
Support: 98,250

Organization:

10 Prayer Circles
26 Novices, 1 Prelate, 1 Curate

Tactics:

Prayer Circle: The monks of the Brotherhood are very egalitarian. They all dress alike and wear no obvious signs of rank. Thus in combat it is difficult for the enemy to tell who the leaders are.

Their crossbows shoot prodds – small lead bullets instead of quarrels. But they prefer to use their maces, whenever possible. They will gladly (and slowly) march into enemy fire, counting on their healing magic to shrug off the effects. Most foes, watching their bolts and quarrels landing to no apparent effect, will break and run before the Brotherhood’s maces can start breaking skulls.

Their morale is extremely good, since at any dire moment they expect their brothers to heal them. Even if they die, they expect the Abbot to raise them, so these men will never break for ordinary reasons. Only the death of the Abbot or fear magic can shatter their spirit and force them to flee.

The Curates will save their 3rd level spells for countering hostile magic.

Note that they are equipped with scrolls: remember that this is per average battle (so they actually have 4x as many scrolls as listed). It is likely that the Curate’s 3rd level scroll is Dispel Magic.

Abbot: The Abbot will attach himself to a Prayer Circle. He will probably use his magic defensively. Unlike many other rulers, he is not afraid to let the enemy know where he is. Surrounded by his Brothers, with 28 Cure Light Wounds available at a moment’s notice, he is not particularly afraid of being hit.

Militia: The militia will only be called out for the defense of the town. Although they lack the courage of the priests, they will stand longer than most militias, expecting the Brotherhood to undo their injuries.

[Yahzi]

Castillion of Heronimus (LG)


Militia Crossbowman
2,500 x 1st Commoner
Crossbow, Club, Padded Armor

Militia Spearman
2,500 x 1st Commoner
Shortspear, Large Wooden Shield, Padded Armor

Minstrel
10 x 1st Bard
Harp, Longsword, Large Wooden Shield, Splint Mail
Feat: Heavy Armor

Novice
200 x 1st Cleric
Domain: War
Longsword, Crossbow, Large Wooden Shield, Splint Mail

Prelate
10 x 3rd Cleric
Domain: War
Longsword, Crossbow, Large Wooden Shield, Splint Mail
2 x 1st level scrolls, 2 x 2nd level scrolls

Curate
10 x 5th Cleric
Domain: War
Longsword, Crossbow, Large Wooden Shield, Splint Mail
2 x 1st level scrolls, 2 x 2nd level scrolls, 1 x 3rd level scroll

Abbot
1 x 9th Cleric
Domain: War
As per DMG: but must have 1 scroll of Raise Dead.

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 99,374
Adjustment: 6,249 support converted to capital.

Organization:

5 Reserve Companies
25 Crossbowmen, 25 Spearmen, 1 Minstrel, 1 Prelate, 1 Curate

5 Line Companies
40 Novices, 1 Minstrel, 1 Prelate, 1 Curate

Tactics:

These priests of Herinomous worship the value of martial skills.

Line Companies: The priests all use the same weapons and armor, because they believe valor is about the man, not the equipment. This similarity of dress makes it difficult for the enemy to tell who the leaders are.

They don’t hesitate to use quarrels in their crossbows, but they prefer to close to melee where their free Weapon Focus makes their longswords a deadly threat. Being LG, capable of immense amounts of healing, and expecting to be raised from the dead, these priests will fight fearlessly. Only magic can break their morale. Even killing the Abbot will not shake them, since they know one of the Curates will take his scroll of Raise Dead and bring him back.

The Curates will save their 3rd level spells for countering hostile magic. Because of this they are not afraid to fight in a dense mass. However, if that looks like a bad tactic, they are fully prepared to disperse and fight as skirmishers. Each priest is a champion of martial combat, after all.

Note that they are equipped with scrolls: remember that this is per average battle (so they actually have 4x as many scrolls as listed). It is likely that the Curate’s 3rd level scroll is Dispel Magic.

The Minstrels sing Inspire Courage on the battlefield and ballads of glory in the mess-hall.

Reserve companies: The priests have armed all of the adult males in the county (at great expense!). They regularly draft each man for his 20 days of service, on a rotating schedule. This duty is onerous, and only tolerated because the monks are generous with healing and dispensing justice, but it means they always have 250 militia working full-time.

Abbot: He will attach himself to a Line company. The Abbot will use his Reserve companies to secure and hold defensive positions. Advancing or taking ground is the job of the Line companies.

Militia: The full militia will only muster to repel a major assault on the town, since they fulfill their feudal duties throughout the year.

[Yahzi]

The Crypt of Amontidillo (CE)


Skeleton Archer
250 x 1HD Skeleton
Heavy Crossbow, Scale Mail

Skeleton Infantry
250 x 1HD Skeleton
Morningstar, Large Wooden Shield, Scale Mail

Novice
100 x 1st Cleric
Domain: War, Evil
Morningstar, Heavy Crossbow, Large Steel Shield, Splint Mail

Prelate
15 x 3rd Cleric
Domain: War, Evil
Morningstar, Large Steel Shield, Splint Mail
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (1st)

Necromancer
15 x 5th Cleric
Domain: War, Evil
Morningstar, Large Steel Shield, Splint Mail

Lord of Flies
1 x 9th Cleric
Domain: War, Evil
As per DMG

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 99,932
Adjustment: 33,682 support converted to capital (to pay for all those 5th level priests!)

Organization:

15 Crypts
15 Skeleton Archers, 15 Skeleton Infantry, 6 Novices, 1 Prelate, 1 Necromancer

1 Mausoleum
25 Skeleton Archers, 25 Skeleton Infantry, 10 Novices, 1 Lord of Flies

Tactics:

Worshipers of Erythunl, these vile monks are the terror of the countryside.

The War domain gives them a free Weapon Focus with their weapons.

Crypts: Used for scouting and flanking, since each individual unit is too small to be effective on its own. The Lord of Flies likes it that way – people who work together aren’t working for him.

Still, morale is reasonably high, since the troops are all PC classes – and they know the penalty for failure or cowardice is a demotion to the rank of skeleton.

They smear their quarrels (and the quarrels of the skeleton archers) with unmentionable substances, the better to spread disease and infection. Their free Weapon Focus with the Morningstar makes them a fearsome threat in melee. They will heal, of course, and even use spells to repair the skeletons, if it seems appropriate to do so.

The Skeletal infantry will be squandered without hesitation, always the first into battle to soften up the foe. (If the archers are forced into melee, they will use their claw attacks.) Replacing them, after all, is easy. The necromancer’s favorite trick is to animate the dead of their foes, the better to instill horror and fear.

Mausoleum: Run by the Lord himself, this is usually the van of the army, with at least five Crypts filling out his lines. The Lord will not hesitate to sacrifice his Crypts to protect himself. He also compels the Novices in his squad to prepare Cure Light Wounds for him.

Militia: The Lord of Flies doesn’t bother with militia – an armed peasant is a troublesome one. And the glory of slaughter is reserved for the anointed, anyway. The only time a peasant can take up arms is after he dies.

The peasants will defend themselves with clubs and slings, but they would have to be convinced that the entire town will be eaten alive before they would make common cause with the necromancers.

How to create so many undead: Clerics can control 4 x caster level of undead created through Animate Dead. Because they take the Evil domain, their effective caster level for evil spells is +1, which yields 24 x 1HD creatures for the Necromancers. They then animate another 6 x 1HD of skeletons and Rebuke them until they fall under their Command (this does not count against their Animate Dead limit). However, this later process is time consuming, so they won’t be able to do it while replacing units lost in the field.

Because the undead are raised in their Desecrated Temple, they have +2 HPs.

[Yahzi]

The Academy (LN)


Militia
5,000 x 1st Commoner
Quarterstaff, Sling

Mace
180 x 1st Warrior
Heavy Mace, Large Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Bolt
180 x 1st Warrior
Crossbow, Club, Small Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Cup
10 x 1st Bard
Harp, Heavy Mace, Large Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Rod
10 x 1st Cleric
Heavy Mace, Large Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Stave
15 x 3rd Wizard
Quarterstaff, Spellbook

Pentacle
14 5th Wizard
Quarterstaff, Spellbook
1 x 1st level scrolls, 1 x 2nd level scrolls, 1 x 3rd level scroll

Magus
1 x 9th Wizard
As per DMG

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 98,491
Adjustment: 8,491 support converted to capital.

Organization:

15 Decks
12 Mace, 12 Bow, 1 Harp, 1 Rod, 1 Stave, 1 Pentacle (one Deck is run by the Magus)

Tactics:

Decks: The wizards have a dim view of any non-arcane individuals. They will use their warriors as cannon fodder, to locate and pin down the enemy, so that the Pentacle can fireball them. Then they will retreat until the wizard has regained his/her spells.

However, their disdain for physical combat does not equate to stupidity. The wizards are intelligent and well-trained. If they make a mistake or fall for a ruse, they will only do so once. They work well together, and will coordinate their actions and spell selections for the day.

The Rods provide healing and the Cups provide morale. The Staves assist the Pentacles.

Note that they are equipped with scrolls: remember that this is per average battle (so they actually have 4x as many scrolls as listed). It is likely that the 3rd level scroll is Dispel Magic or Fireball.

Magus: He leads one of the Decks, filling the position of Pentacle.

Militia: The militia is considered to be a source of replacement soldiers, not a combat force. They will fight to defend their homes, but the wizards won’t rely on them to accomplish anything. In imitation of their masters, they use quarterstaffs instead of clubs.

[Yahzi]

Kingdom of Rus (LE)


Spearman
180 x 1st Commoner
Shortspear, Large Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Bowman
300 x 1st Commoner
Crossbow, Club, Small Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Morale Officer
12 x 1st Bard
Harp, Light Mace, Large Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Colonel
6 x 5th Cleric
Light Mace, Large Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Lieutenant
12 x 1st Wizard
Quarterstaff, Spellbook
2 x 1st level scrolls
Wand of Magic Missile (1st)

Commissar
6 x 7th Wizard
Quarterstaff, Spellbook
2 x 1st level scrolls, 2 x 2nd level scrolls, 2 x 3rd level scroll

Supreme Leader
1 x 9th Wizard
As per DMG

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 99,167
Adjustment: 1,367 support converted to capital.

Organization:

6 Divisions
30 Spearmen, 50 Bowmen, 2 Morale Officers, 1 Colonel, 2 Lts., 1 Commissar

Tactics:

Division: Rus society is rigorously regimented, with arcane casters at the top.

The poorly trained common soldiers do what they are told out of habit and fear. They are help in open contempt by officers.

The Morale Officers use Inspire Courage to hold their units together. They also spy on and report any disloyalty. Sometimes this position is held by a 1st level priest, in training to become a Colonel.

The Colonels are of the second layer of society – divine spell casters. They are well treated and cooperate with the wizards. Because this society is so poor, they often use their magic to feed the officers of the realm (and their families), preferring summoned food to the plain barley the peasants subsist off of.

Lts. assist the Commissars, as apprentices. They are armed with wands of magic missile, as much to cow their own troops as to hurt the enemy.

The Commissars are 7th level casters, and will behave accordingly. They know their magic is the greatest strength of the army, and they will use it intelligently. They will remain well hidden and protected on the battlefield, until they can achieve victory in a single strike.

Note that they are equipped with scrolls: remember that this is per average battle (so they actually have 4x as many scrolls as listed).

Supreme Leader: He will be surrounded by his most loyal Division at all times.

Militia: This country’s manpower is stripped to the bone to feed the Divisions. Hunger is a constant problem. During planting and harvest season, the army is usually working in the fields. The militia will fight to defend their homes, but the wizards neither expect nor receive anything else from them.

[Yahzi]

Mongolia (CN)


Tribesmen (Militia)
5,000 x 1st Commoner
Shortspear, Sling, Small Wooden Shield

Raider
120 x 1st Barbarian
Mighty Longbow(2), Battleaxe, Lance, Large Wooden Shield, Hide Armor
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Toucan
120 x 2nd Barbarian
Mighty Longbow(4), Masterwork Battleaxe, Lance, Large Wooden Shield, Masterwork Hide Armor
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Singer
5 x 1st Bard
Harp, Shortspear, Large Wooden Shield, Hide Armor
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Healer
15 x 2nd Cleric
Shortspear, Large Wooden Shield, Hide Armor
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Khan
1 x 9th Barbarian
As per DMG

Capital: 999,565 (includes a double allotment of arrows)
Support: 100,000
Adjustment: 30,000 capital converted to support. (Those hungry horses!)

Organization:

5 Tribes
24 Raiders, 24 Toucans, 1 Singer, 3 Healers

Tactics:

Suggested Race: Half-Orcs

Tribe: The Mongols are first and foremost horse-archers. They can use their longbows from horseback, and their strength means they inflict terrible damage. They prefer to shoot and run. However, when the enemy is weak, or there is no where left to run to, they will Rage and charge.

Raiders are the younger men who have not yet had many battles. Tocuans are the experienced warriors who have earned wives and masterwork equipment.

Singers and Healers are female. They are armed, but not expected to fight. They will be defended to the last man.

Horses are valuable, and will be treated well. The warriors will spend healing magic on their horses before themselves.

Khan: The Khan is elected from all the tribes and elevated to Chief Over All. If he does a lousy job he’s liable to be un-elected in a permanent way. He will ride with his own tribe. While he won’t show cowardice, neither will he expose himself foolishly. Honor is important, but victory is more important.

Instead of a castle, the Khan has land - land to use his mobility. He has 200x200 square miles of fief, with small villages eking out a living from the tundra.

Militia: The Khan does not employ militia. Instead, he extorts wealth from the tribesmen, in exchange for not letting anyone else extort wealth from them. If the tribesmen have to fight to defend their tents, cattle, or property, then the Khan isn’t doing his job. They will only deploy for their own defense, against monsters or the threat of total annihilation. However, they will fight with savage strength, at least for the first battle.

[Yahzi]

The Tower of Sorcery (CG)


Guardian
234 x 1st Warrior
Longbow, Longsword, Large Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt

Healer
18 x 1st Cleric
Light Mace, Large Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt
9 have a Wand of Cure Light Wounds (1st)

Apprentice
99 x 1st Sorcerer
Quarterstaff, Crossbow

Witch
9 x 4th Sorcerer
Quarterstaff

Warlock
8 x 6th Sorcerer
Quarterstaff

Sorceress
1 x 9th Sorcerer
As per DMG

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 99,312
Adjustment: 13,062 support converted to capital.

Organization:

9 Covens
26 Gaurdians, 2 Healers, 11 Apprentices, 1 Witch, 1 Warlock (one Coven is run by the Sorceress)

Tactics:

Coven: 13 is considered significant number, so the coven has 13 arcane casters. Two Guardians are normally assigned to each arcane caster, but in battles they will operate as a cohesive unit. The Guardians are fiercely loyal to their coven (thanks to all that charisma!). They will hold the line, protecting their casters from physical attack at the cost of their own lives.

One of each team of Healers are equipped with a Wand of Cure Light Wounds, which they will use to keep the Guardians standing during the battle.

Apprentices, Witches, and Warlocks all know the Magic Missile spell, and will coordinate their fire to kill enemy casters or armored targets in one round (before the target can be healed). They will cast Dispel first to rob the target of defenses.

Apprentices are equipped during wartime with crossbows, for when their spells run out.

Witch and Warlock are titles, not gender identifiers. All of the arcane casters of the Tower are female. All of the Guardians are male. Healers are either.

Sorceress: She leads one of the covens. Although the Tower is disorganized, they are not stupid. She will try diplomacy first, but she will not be fooled or tricked by any diplomatic initiatives.

Militia: The militia use quarterstaffs instead of clubs. They will gladly defend the Sorceress if called upon, but they are a disorganized rabble.

Options: If you promote the Guardians to 1st Fighters, you can only afford half as many of them.

[Yahzi]

District of Canterbury (LN)


Crossbowman
200 x 1st Commoner
Heavy Crossbow, Club, Small Wooden Shield, Leather

Pikeman
300 x 1st Warrior
Halberd, Club, Buckler, Splint Mail

Choir Leader
10 x 1st Bard
Harp, Heavy Mace, Buckler, Splint Mail (4 x Tower shield)

Novice
20 x 1st Cleric
Heavy Mace, Large Steel Shield, Splint Mail
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (1st)

Curate
4 x 5th Cleric
Heavy Mace, Large Steel Shield, Splint Mail

Bishop
5 x 8th Cleric
Heavy Mace, Large Steel Shield, Splint Mail

Archbishop
1 x 9th Cleric
As per DMG

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 99,574
Adjustment: 10,824 support converted to capital.

Organization:

6 Squares
50 Pikemen, 1 Choir Leader, 2 Novices, 1 Bishop (one Square is led by the Archbishop)

4 Rounds
50 Crossbowmen, 1 Choir Leader, 2 Novices, 1 Curate

Tactics:

Square: Protected by the Bishop’s ability to dispel magic, the Pikemen form a knot ten men wide and five men deep. The first two ranks can strike at anything in their way, with the heavy halberds chopping through enemy like weeds. As men get tired or wounded, they cycle to the back of the line.

The novices dispense Cure Light Wounds with abandon. The Bishop will not hesitate to take a spot on the front line, knowing his Novices will not let him die.

The Choir Leader occupies a safe spot in the middle of the knot, leading war chants to bolster the men’s courage.

Rounds: These men fight in a dispersed formation. They will run away rather than fight in melee. However, their morale is very good, because they have their own Curate assigned to them and 2 Novices with healing wands. Their Choir Leader will hide behind something solid (like a Tower shield) and bolster as many archers as he can.

Militia: Only the Cleric’s ability to produce food allows them to siphon off so many men. The peasants accept the justice of their priestly overlords, but lack the time or energy to practice defense. If mustered, they will fight as well as they can.

[Yahzi]

Wildflower Grove (N)


Militia
5,000 x 1st Commoner
Shortspear, Sling, Small Wooden Shield

Ranger
100 x 1st Ranger
Longbow, Longsword, Large Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Minstrel
10 x 1st Bard
Harp, Longsword, Large Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Initiate
20 x 1st Druid
Scythe, Leather Armor
Light Warhorse + Saddle
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (1st)

Curate
5 x 5th Druid
Scythe, Leather Armor
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Druid
5 x 8th Druid
Scythe, Leather Armor
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Archdruid
1 x 9th Druid
As per DMG

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 99,322
Adjustment: 33,322 support converted to capital (to buy those high-ranked druids!)

Organization:

Troop
20 Rangers, 1 Minstrel, 2 Initiates, 1 Curate

Circle
5 Druids, 1 Archdruid

Tactics:

Troop: Scouts, horse-archers, and light cavalry. They like to strike and withdraw until the Initiates heal them up with the wands, then repeat.

The Curate will defend them from magic while the Minstrel boosts their attacks.

Circle: Once the enemy has been identified, analyzed, separated, pinned down, and softened up, the Circle will shape-shift in CoDzilla and crush them. Night attacks are certainly acceptable, as is hit-and-run spells or overrunning melee assaults.

Militia: They’re armed but not particularly dangerous. The Druids ask little from them, so when they are mustered they will try their best.

[Yahzi]

ScantyNavia (CN)


Militia
2,500 x 1st Commoner
Short spear, Large Wooden Shield, Leather Armor
2,500 x 1st Commoner
Shortbow, Club, Padded Armor

Viking
300 x 1st Barbarian
Longbow, Battleaxe, Large Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Bard
10 x 1st Bard / 1st Cleric
Harp, Battleaxe, Large Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt

Jarl
9 x 1st Bard, 4th Barbarian
Harp, Longbow, Masterwork Battleaxe, Large Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt +1
Longship

King
1 x 1st Bard / 8th Barbarian
As per DMG

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 98,268
Adjustment: 7,018 support converted to capital.

Organization:

Longship
30 Vikings, 1 Bard, 1 Jarl (one ship is run by the King)

Tactics:

Longship: The usual – rape, pillage, and burn. In that order!

They have weak healing, but only weaklings need healing. They prefer to make hit-and-run raids, carrying off slaves and valuables. If desperate, they will converge in one solid, raging mass and try to overwhelm the enemy. In this state they are oblivious to casualties.

The Longships are assigned for free – instead of the medium castle. The King lives in a wooden longhouse like everybody else.

The King rules by diplomacy, not by divine right or force. This means he is sometimes limited in what he can ask his army to do, but it also means that once they do decide to follow him, they will do so willingly and courageously.

Militia: They are well-armed (for militia) and motivated. They expect no mercy, so they will fight fiercely. They only defend their homelands, however: invading other people’s homes is the job of the Vikings.

[lordmarcoos]

Wow... cool.

[Meynolds]

Agreed. I'll try to make an army.

EDIT - Here it is:

THE MILITIA KING

Militia:
2,500 Longspearman
Longspear, Padded Armor

2,500 Spearmen
Spear, Padded Armor


The Guard:
400 1st level fighters
Greatsword, Splint Mail

The Cavalry
50 1st level fighters
Light Warhorses
Lances, Breastplate, Longsword

The Commanders
4 Level 3 Fighters
+1 Greatsword, +2 Full Plate

The King:
9th level Cleric
As DMG

Working calculations:
Capital: 834,250
Support: 113,750
165,750 Capital converted to support.

I may have miscalculated, sorry if I did.

Organization:

Guard Division:
100 Guard, 1 Commander

Cavalry Division:
50 Cavalry, The King


Tactics:

Use the regulars to give the militia the advantage, minimal healing so every life is precious.

Plays battles very cautiously, because any soldier lost is going to do more damage to public opinion. The cavalry is used very effectively however, and has mastered the full speed charge. They use it in the opening moments of battle, hoping to drive off one flank if they can.

Militia: Best militia, every soldier has a good weapon and a set of armor. The militia is a major weapon, and can probably win against the average enemy militia.

[Beren One-Hand]

I have a quick question:
It seems that the support costs in your table are off. A first level PC has a support cost of 250 for the year, but you also said they should be paid 1 gp per day (365gp for the year). Which is correct?

This isn't the only one that is off, just the easiest to represent.

[Yahzi]

I have a quick question:
It seems that the support costs in your table are off. A first level PC has a support cost of 250 for the year, but you also said they should be paid 1 gp per day (365gp for the year). Which is correct?

The table. I'll fix the text. PCs don't actually make a gp a day, since they don't work every single day. And the ruler is giving them free rent, and buying their equipment - so he deserves a bit of a discount. It just makes the numbers add up a little easier.

[Yahzi]

THE MILITIA KING

A classic Medieval army! I detect one problem, however: no missile weapons... :smallbiggrin:

Maybe the peasants should be longbowmen, ala King Henry.

[Meynolds]

I was going to do that, but I figured how well can militia use ranged weapons?

Besides, the idea is to scatter the enemy archers with the cavalry within the first hour or so of battle.

I'll work on another one when I have time.

[Yahzi]

City of London (LN)
(inspired by Meynolds' Militia King)

Yeomen (Milita)
2,500 x 1st Warrior
Longbow, Club, Small Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Footman
400 x 1st Warrior
Halberd, Buckler, Splint Mail

Knight
100 x 1st Fighter
Lance, Longsword, Large Steel Shield, Half plate
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Captain
10 x 2nd Fighter
Lance, Longsword, Large Steel Shield, Half plate
Light Warhorse + Saddle

Minstrel
10 x 1st Bard
Harp, Dagger, Leather Armor
Riding Horse + Saddle

Novice
30 x 1st Cleric
Heavy Mace, Large Steel Shield, Splint Mail
Riding Horse + Saddle

Bishop
1 x 5th Cleric
Heavy Mace, Large Steel Shield, Splint Mail
Riding Horse + Saddle
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (1st)

Court Wizard
1 x 5th Wizard
Quarterstaff, Spellbook
Riding Horse + Saddle
Wand of Color Spray (1st)
Wand of Magic Missile (3rd)

King
1 x 9th Fighter
As per DMG

Capital: 994,727
Support: 100,000
Adjustment: 1,500 capital converted to support.

Organization:

5 Yeoman Companies
125 Yeomen, 1 Minstrel, 3 Novices, 1 Captain

4 Foot Companies
100 Footmen, 1 Minstrel, 3 Novices, 1 Captain

1 Cavalry Company
100 Knights, 1 Minstrel, 3 Novices, 1 Captain, 1 Bishop, 1 Court Wizard, 1 King

Tactics:

Yeoman Company: The militia are well-trained and equipped. Assuming 4 battles a year, this allows the King to muster ¼ of the militia for any given battle. That’s 625 Yeoman, divided into 5 companies. If forced to melee, they will defend themselves, but that is not really their role, and the King will not use them as such.

Foot Company: Forming dense lines, they protect the Yeoman.

Cavalry Company: They will engage and destroy the enemy leadership, or flank the enemy lines.

Notes: This army suffers from a lack of high-levels and magic.

[Meynolds]

How much would it cost to recruit a magical creature into the army or a nonmagical with an LA of -? The obvious for mounts and such, but what of Elderich Giants (for example)?

[Yahzi]

How much would it cost to recruit a magical creature into the army or a nonmagical with an LA of -? The obvious for mounts and such, but what of Elderich Giants (for example)?
Doesn't the book usually give prices on flying mounts and stuff?

Otherwise I would assume 1 CR = 1 Level.

1HD creatures are basically the same as 1HD NPC classes. I guess lower level critters are the same as Commoners, although Small ones should eat 1/2 as much food (so 0 to recruit and 50 to pay). I'll make a note in the rules about that. I haven't tried to make any non-human armies, although I think my Mongolians are obviously supposed to be Half-Orcs.

[Meynolds]

I'm working on one based on WWII armies, so I wanted to see about some kind of tank.

The book provides info on mounts and such, I was mainly asking about other non-mount creatures.

Thanks.

[Yahzi]

The Party (Any)



Palace Guard
30 x 1st Warrior
Heavy Crossbow, Halberd, Buckler, Chainmail

Castillion
1 x 3rd Fighter
Heavy Crossbow, Longsword, Large Steel Shield, Chainmail

Party Member
8 x 8th Any Class
As per DMG (27,000 in equipment)
+900 gp to buy extra scrolls and potions for the 4 battle requirement

Party Leader
1 x Any Class
As per DMG (36,000 in equipment)

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 99,947
Adjustment: 72,247 support converted to capital.

Organization:
1 Palace Guard
30 Palace Guard, 1 Castillion

1 Party
8 Party Members, 1 Party Leader

Tactics:

This is the army that demonstrates how broken PC classes are. An inefficient use of resources (since most of their support is converted to capital), this is still arguably the most powerful army possible.


Palace Guard: Their mission is to prevent the servants from stealing the furniture out of the castle. They also salute the Party a lot, call them “Sir” and “Ma’am,” and run errands.

Party: The usual – kill other people for their stuff.

[Yahzi]

I'm working on one based on WWII armies, so I wanted to see about some kind of tank.
Cool. I *think* CR is the right number - a CR 5 creature is supposed to a challenge for a CR 5 party, but that challenge only depletes their resources by 1/4. And there's typically 4 members of the party, so that roughly implies that a CR 5 monster is equal to a CR 5 player.

And presumably your special monsters require special care and feeding, which explains the increased support cost.

So ya, just treat them like levels.

[Meynolds]

ARMY OF BLITZ (LG/LN/LE)
(Based off of WWII armies, especially Germany.)

2,000 Militia
Light Crossbow, 100 bolts, Leather Armor
55 gp each

3,000 Militia
Morningstar, Hvy steel shield, Scale Mail
78 gp each

Snipers - 50 2nd level fighters
Musket, 100 rounds, Leather Armor
540 gp each

The Light Tanks - 100 1st level fighters
Light Warhorse, Lance, Longsword, Scale Mail
225 gp each

The Heavy Tanks - 100 1st level fighters
Heavy Warhorse, Lance, Longsword, Banded Mail
675 gp each

The Superheavy Tanks - 18 Medium Earth Elementals (CR 3)
No Equipment
0 gp each

The Commanders - 4 2nd level Bards (Instrument: Oratory)
Heavy Warhorse, Lance, Longsword, Half Plate
1025 gp each

The Diplomat - 1st level Expert (Mainly diplomatic Skills, high mental Stats)
49 Candles of Truth

The Chief of Staff
9th level Wizard
As DMG


Capital: 1,107,600
Support: 94,625
Covert 5375 support to Capital


Organization:

25 Sniper Pairs
2 Snipers

2 Light Tank Divisions
50 Light Tanks, 1 Commander

2 Heavy Tank Divisions
50 Heavy Tanks. 1 Commander

1 Superheavy Tank Division
18 Superheavy Tanks, Chief of Staff

Diplomat
1 Diplomat


Tactics

Sniper Pairs do just as the name implies, they snipe. In pairs. They primarily go after the leaders (150 ft range anybody?), and can have a quick extraction via tank.

Light Tank Divisions are mainly skirmishers, they hit the edges and can strike the flank.

Heavy Tank Divisions are used to A: Exploit Weakness, B: Create Weakness, C: Rescue Endangered Divisions, or D: Take down enemy cavalry

Superheavies are used to devastate Infantry and Cavalry. Plain and simple.

Diplomat handles diplomacy with other nations, thus the Candles of Truth.

Militia: Fairly powerful, and sign a 3 year contract to fight, rather than the normal 20 days.

[Yahzi]

Orc Band (CE)
This is my best estimate of a a typical Orc tribe from the SRD Monster Tables. Note that they do not add up to a full budget according to my rules.


Non-combatants
150 x 1st Commoner
Club, Sling

Orc
100 x 1st Warrior
Falchion, Javelin x 3, Studded Leather Armor

Sergeant
10 x 3rd Barbarian
Falchion, Javelin x 3, Buckler, Studded Leather Armor

Lt.
5 x 5th Barbarian
Falchion +1, Javelin x 3, Buckler, Scale Mail

Captain
3 x 7th Barbarian
Falchion +1, Javelin x 3, Buckler, Breastplate
Capital: 784,224
Support: 31,500

Organization:
5 Squads
20 Orcs, 2 Sergeants, 1 Lt.

Ruling Council
3 Captains

Tactics:

Squads: Hit things.

Ruling Council: Each member rules 1 or more squads. They hate each other, but they will cooperate for the good of the tribe.

Each Sgt, Lt., and Captain, has a 10% chance of being a Bard, Rogue, Cleric, Sorcerer, or Druid instead of a Barbarian.

[Meynolds]

The Chief of Staff is the leader for the army by the way.

Got any requests? I'm low on ideas right now.

[Yahzi]

The Superheavy Tanks - 18 Medium Earth Elementals (CR 3)
Those aren't... Titanium Elementals, are they?

:smallbiggrin:

[Yahzi]

Got any requests? I'm low on ideas right now.
Gryphons.

Or something that mixes rogues and arcane casters.

Another alternate rule might be: you can only have the magic items you can make. But that seems to give too much power to the magic classes.

Also, I'd like to see what SRD magic items we're overlooking.

[Meynolds]

Nonono. They are clearly Plutonium Elementals. Exelant backlash when they explode you know.

Gryphons it is. I'll make them tomorrow, I have no time right now.

[Annarrkkii]

THE BROTHERHOOD OF TALON AND FANG

Residents
500 x 1st Commoner
Club, Sling, Small Wooden Shield, Leather Armor
Procurement: 17,000 gp; Support: Free

Guardsmen
100 x 1st Warrior
Halberd, Studded Leather Armor
Procurement: 13,500 gp; Support: 12,500 gp

Acolytes
141 x 1st Monk
Procurement: 141,000 gp; Support: 35,500 gp

Initiates
50 x 1st Adept
Morningstar, Spell Component Pouch
Procurement: 5,650 gp; Support; 6,250 gp

Brothers
100 x 1st Druid
Leather Armor, Small Wooden Shield, Shortspear, Sling
Procurement: 101,400 gp; Support: 25,000 gp

Elders
18 x 3rd Druid
Sickle, Leather Armor, Large Wooden Shield, Wand of Flaming Sphere
Procurement: 360,414 gp; Support: 13,500 gp

Wardens
6 x 4th Monk
Gloves of Dexterity +2, Boots of Striding And Springing
Procurement: 215,000 gp; Support: 6,000 gp

Giant Owl
1 x ECL 6 Giant Owl
Helm of Telepathy, Figurine of Wondrous Power (Marble Elephant), 3 Eversmoking Bottles
Procurement: 125,200 gp; Support: 1,500 gp

Abbot
9th Druid

Capital: 999,166 gp
Support: 100,000 gp

Organization

3 Claws: 24 Guardsmen, 40 Acolytes, 10 Initiates, 30 Brothers, 5 Elders, 1 Warden

2 Wards: 250 Residents, 12 Guards, 10/11 Acolytes, 10 Initiates, 5 Brothers, 1 Elders

Observance: 4 Guards, 3 Wardens, 1 Elder, Abbot

Flight: Giant Owl

Tactics:

The tactics of the abbey brethren differ depending on whether they’re fighting in the fields and scrub around their abbey, or defending its granite walls. The below are fairly universal.

Claws: The claws use fairly standard tactics. Given sufficient preparation time, the Initiates cast magic stone to give themselves useful ammunition. The Savants space out behind the guardsmen, who form ranks with their halberds set against the enemy on foot, preparing to use their repertoire of healing spells to keep the guards and monks on foot. The acolyte monks likewise fan out, somewhat behind the guardsmen, and a portion of them receive magic fang spells from the brothers. If caught outside the abbey, they try to make a fighting retreat to the abbey. The brothers save their spell slots for combative and buff magic to aide the acolyte monks.

The Elders reserve their magic for buffs and summons. They bring in nature’s allies to provide flank attacks on the far side of opponents, and make use of their wands of flaming sphere to rip through enemy ranks. They use their buffs primarily to tank the warden, and coordinate buffs when given the chance to give the warden as many different buffs as possible.

Wards: In times of threat, they gather those peasants from the surrounding areas, as well as the fewer townsmen who live inside the abbey’s sweeping granite walls. These fighting units are poorly disciplined, but motivated and well supported. Wielding slings, augmented with magic stones, they defend the walltops of the abbey. The wardens guard the stairs, supported by healing initiates and buffing brethren. Directing combat, the elders use their wands to control the enemy lines.

Observance: The mobile unit, lead by the abbot, moves to wherever it is needed. The abbot uses his powerful magic, with the addition of wildshaping to powerful, Large-sized foes. When rapid mobility is necessary, he takes to the skies as a dire bat or smaller creature.

Flight: The giant owl flies around above the combat, relaying combat information back to the abbot, one of the elders, or a warden. He takes sweeping attacks at stragglers behind the ranks when absolutely necessary, but he prefers to fly high above the enemy. He carries 3 eversmoking bottles, which he drops, unstoppered, into the enemy ranks to create confusion. He also carries a potent talisman—a marble elephant figurine. He squawks the command word when near the ground, releasing the elephant to assault the enemy.

[Foeofthelance]

I have to ask, what's to prevent the use of leadership to expand an army? Considering each NPC ould come with their alue of 900+ gp, it shouldn't be too hard to support/construct them as well.

[Annarrkkii]

I direct you to this clause in the first post:



Assume your ruler has Leadership, which the DM has ruled is fulfilled by being able to hire an army in the first place (so you don't get any free followers).

[Foeofthelance]

Right, but then you can buy more level six charcters, and continue to expand it to the Nth degree. Just putting it out there, and if it's banned, so be it.

[Yahzi]

Right, but then you can buy more level six charcters, and continue to expand it to the Nth degree. Just putting it out there, and if it's banned, so be it.
The point is to try and measure the total resource value of the army, so they are all (allegedly) equal. I'm not saying that in-game you couldn't get away with not paying a few of your followers; I'm saying that for figuring out how your army stacks up to another one, we should count all the resources used.

Also, Leadership is just broken. Suggesting that every Barony has an infinite number of 6th level soldiers being fed by the infinite number of 5th level clerics summoning food sort of ruins the "this is my castle and these are my peasants" feel. :smallbiggrin:

[Yahzi]

THE BROTHERHOOD OF TALON AND FANG

Wow - monks and druids!

And the Owl with Telepathy is just... brilliant. I may need to rework my ShadowLord to use that (and because the price of Wings of Flying has dramatically changed from 3.0 to 3.5)

[Annarrkkii]

Thanks! Yeah, monks seem an excellent choice as low-level minions, as they have reasonable AC, passable attack bonus, and some useful tricks (Stunning Fist), without having to be equipped with anything. Druids make sense, since animal companions thicken your ranks heavily, as well as their already being able to field summoned creatures and some nifty buffs--esp. magic fang for the monks and magic stones for themselves. I made 0 use of Wild Shape, which is unconventional of me, but I wanted to save on buying higher-level PCs. Plus, Wands of Flaming Sphere are absolutely brutal against hordes of low-level foes. I can create a wall of flaming spheres with 1 charge from each of the Elders' wands.

The Owl with telepathy and a few strategic "bombs" is a pretty neat idea, if I do say so myself, but it's immensely expensive to field.

EDIT: Thinking about it, an Eagle would be a better choice, what with its high daylight Spot-bonus, and more warlike feel. Or, if you wanted a cheaper base unit, you could go with casting Awaken on an eagle or something and outfitting it that way. Or just grabbing some lower ECL flying critter from the Monster Manual. I personally was only going to go in for the giant owls or eagles, as they can speak command words and are passable combat monsters if times get rough. They can strafe enemy archers and the like.

[Person_Man]

Um, you you might want to know Heroes of Battle has already done a really good job of publishing all this. It's one of my favorite supplements. You might want to look at it.

[Foeofthelance]

Scaly Champions
NG Kobold Army

Digger Brigade

293 Level 1 Commoners
Profession: Miner
86 Heavy Heavy Picks and Shovels (about 43 each)


Defenders of the Nest

240 Level 1 Warriors
Spears, Slings, Studded Leather

Guardians of the Warren

60 Level 1 Adepts
Spears

Leaders of the Champions

15 Level 2 Fighters
Spears, Slings, Chain Shirts

Kobold Fighter Substitution Levels 1,2 (RotD 108)
Dragonwrought Feat (RotD 100) Bronze, Survival Class Skill

Lords of the Tunnels

5 Level 4 Sorcerers
Slings, Spears

Spells Known
0- Presdigitation, Resistance, Acid Splash, Daze, Detect Magic, Message
1- Create Trap, Armor, Power Word Pain
2- Steal Size

Spells Per Day 6/6/3

Shadow Friends

40 Level 1 Kobold Rogues
Kobold Rogue Racial Substitution Level 1

Sky Friends

2 Level 2 Kobolod Rangers
2 Drakkensteeds
Military Saddles

Gods Child
Fang Dragon Wyrmling ECL 6

God's Favored

1 Level 9 Kobold Sorcerer
Drakkensteed, military saddle, Ring of Dragonshape (personal finances)

Spells Known
0- Presdigitation, Daze, Flare, Detect Magic, Acid Splash, Message, Resistance, Read Magic
1- Create Trap, Armor, Magic Missile, Power Word Pain, Shield
2- Entice Gift, Wings of Cover, Steal Size, Scorching Ray
3- Dragon Breath, Least Dragonshape, Power Word Maladroit
4- Wings of Flurry, Firestride Exhaltation

Organization

30 Squads, 15 Platoons, 5 Divisions, 4 Special Forces Units, 2 Recon Unit

1 Squad = 4 Warriors, 1 Adept

1 Platoon = 2 Squads, 1 Level 2 Fighter

1 Division = 3 Platoons, and 1 Level 4 Sorcerer

1 Special Forces Unit = 10 Level 1 Rogues

1 Recon Unit = 1 level 2 Ranger, mounted on Drakkensteed.


Tactics

This is really meant as more of defensive army, designed to hold a particular position, in case the castle. The Fang Dragon Wyrmling is actually a cohort of the sorcerer, who took the Draconic Cohort feat at level 9. For story purposes, he has been entrusted to the kobold clan by his mother, who had to depart to fulfill an obligation of her own.

In reality the castle is all but abandoned. The kobolds took possession of it as part of their agreement to safeguard the wyrmling. They promptly turned it into one massive stable for the Drakkensteeds and wyrmling, then began excavating their tunnels, using the basement as a focal point. They still maintain the outer defenses, but are unlikely to use them. They have, however, heavily trapped the lower levels of the castle, to prevent the curious from wandering in.

Should they take to the field to engage in open combat, they use several nasty tricks.

The Militia

The militia is not intended to enter combat for any reason. Instead they pitch large barrack tents at the rear of the kobold positions and commence digging. Eighty percent of their efforts is geared towards undermining the enemy lines, as well as digging into the supply areas at the rear of the enemy positions. The other twenty percent of their work is on completeing retreat routes for the kobolds above. Being smaller then most races they aren't quite as fast, but then most of the larger races don't fit in a kobold's tunnel.

The Army

While the militia does its thing the army grandstands above. They use their spears to hold the enemy at bay, using squad based tactics to break up larger enemy formations, as well as to allow them easier to coordinate retreats. They aren't cowards, but understand they can get more done by killing their foes rather then getting killed in some gloriously gory manner. The adepts serve as combat medics, while the spellcasters blast away. A favorite trick is for one of the sorcerers to target the biggest of their enemies with Steal Size, then enlarging one of the front line fighters.

The special forces units all specialize in different areas. The first group is used to gather information about the enemy position and strengths. The second group follows the militia, trapping and sabotaging any portion of the tunnels the enemy might get into. The third group also follows the militia, but instead of preventing enemy contact they willingly enter the enemy encampment to steal supplies and to sabotage what ever they can't steal. The fourth, and last group, is the worst of the lot. Generally comprised of those who refused to work with the clan or comitted some crime, they are seen as entirely disposable, and are sent out on semi-suicidal missions, including kidnappings and assassinations. Unfortunately, they tend to be rather good at what they do, and have a high survival rate.

The Recon Units

Everyone knows kobolds are subterranean creatures. So who expect them to be spying on their enemies from above? The rangers and their mounts normally hide amongst the clouds, ducking only so low as to gather information on any threats that might be approaching the colony. They rarely attack, but may be used in battle as bombing units, mostly dropping heavy rocks on slow moving targets.

The General

His job is the simplest: Keep the wyrmling alive at all costs! To that extent he can fly away with him on his drakkensteed, should retreat prove necessary. On the battlefield he tries to be in as many places at once, using Firestride Exhaltation to both incinerate his enemies as well as teleporting himself about the field. He normally casts Armor and Shield on both himself and the wyrmling before any encounter, and will cast Wings of Cover to protect them both if they find themselves in over their head. Otherwise he flies above the battle firing Scorching Rays at vulnerable targets or strategic ones, depending on which are available. When attacked by only small numbers, or when facing a far superior foe he will activate his Ring of Dragonshape to Polymorph into a Young Gold Dragon.

Cost
Capital 984,030
Logistic 97,310

[Meynolds]

Question on the Griffons: They are very expensive to buy, so can it be assumed that they are within the kingdom, with no need to be bought?

[Yahzi]

Scaly Champions
NG Kobold Army
Bonus points on the diggers, the story, and figuring out how to work a dragon into this. :smallbiggrin:

[Yahzi]

Question on the Griffons: They are very expensive to buy, so can it be assumed that they are within the kingdom, with no need to be bought?
I don't think so - we want to measure resource allocation. However, if buying the Griffon as a ECL character is cheaper than buying it as a mount, go ahead and do that.

[Meynolds]

Much more expensive as a ECL character (They are CR 4 after all).

I guess I'll go by the book then.

30,000 gp by ECL vs. 5,000 gp by the book (From egg)

[Foeofthelance]

Does that count the training cost though? When I took the Drakkensteeds for the kobolds I counted the cost of a trainer against capital, as well as their logistics for being a cr 3

[Meynolds]

Base cost: 3,500 gp (each). Training cost: 1,500 gp (each). Being to ride it: 1,000 gp (each). Watching your foes quake in fear as you fly down among them an slaughter them all: Priceless.

[Annarrkkii]

@ Person Man. Yeah, we know. But it's more fun and more personal this way. If you like the material in Heroes of Battle, you might want to give this a go. It find it immensely amusing.

Apology in advance for the double-post, but I don't want this reply included in my linked army post.

[Annarrkkii]

WATCHERS ON CRAGBOLT SPIRE

The Faithful
2,000 x 1st Commoners
Slings, Clubs, Small Wooden Shields
Procurement: 6,000 gp; Support: Free

Shield Bearers
160 x 1st Fighters
Warhammer, Heavy Wooden Shield, Scalemail Armor
Procurement: 171,360; Support: 32,500 gp

Lancers
100 x 1st Fighters
Longspear, Scalemail Armor
Procurement: 105,500 gp; Support: 25,000 gp

Thunderbringers
45 x 2nd Cleric
Domains: Weather, Destruction
Heavy Mace, Heavy Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt, 10 Shortspears, Bag of Caltrops
Procurement: 230,490 gp; Support: 23,500 gp

Stormlords
4 x 5th Cleric/2nd Stormlord
Domains: Weather, Cold
Wand of Lightning Bolt, 20 Shortspears, Full Plate, Large Steel Shield
Procurement: 469,160 gp; Support: 7,000 gp

High Priest of Storms
5th Cleric/4th Stormlord
Domains: Weather, Destruction

Capital: 1,030,510 gp
Support: 99,453
Adjustment: 48,000 gp spent on Orb of Storms (I know, I know, it’s over CL 11—but it’s necessary for flavor.), 6,453 gp of Support converted to Capital , and 5,000 gp of Support converted into material components and hard cash.

Organization:

4 Stormclouds: 30 Shield Bearers, 25 Lancers, 10 Thunderbearers, 1 Stormlord

10 Hailstorms: 2 Shield Bearers, 200 Pilgrims

1 Eye of the Storm: 20 Shield Bearers, 5 Thunderbringers, 1 High Priest of Storms


Tactics

Cragbolt Spire is a massive, lone mountain—an anomaly in an otherwise rugged but flat plain. The mountain towers high over the landscape, made of dark stone, traced heavily with deposits of iron. Around its base, a dismal town of dark stone houses and some scattered stones looks like a poor excuse for a village—but in fact, the spire draws numerous pilgrims, who seek to revere Obad-Hai, Ehlonna, or other deities of nature’s power. However, high above the ground, the Forge of Thunder sits inside the behemoth, staffed by pilgrims and worshippers of a darker religion. The fall of their hammers echoes through the mountain, sounding like incessant thunder.

Carask, a near-forgotten deity of storms and destruction, has a loyal priesthood and an array of followers within the catacombs that twine their way up the inside of Cragbolt Spire. Metal rods in the walls channel lightening strikes throughout the building, illuminating the halls and sending surges of heat to the forge, as the peak’s highly-conductive peak draws frequent strikes at such altitude. The mystery to the town below, and to many of the pilgrims, is the persistent awful weather. Snow and wind in the winter, and near-constant rain otherwise. It is unsurprising that the rivers nearby swell as the pass the Cragbolt Plains, as the runoff from the localized bad weather is formidable.

The mystery lies with an 8-inch, dark orb that is set in an ornate alter of flaring, spiked iron. The thing is set atop the peak, surrounded by constant fog that even the potent winds fail to dislodge. No pilgrim dares approach the summit, which has kept the altar safe, for any who attempt to reach it have a tendency to be hurled from the peak by savage winds, stuck by lightning, or caught in driving rains or swirling snow. The keepers of the Forge of Thunder and the Altar of Carask are the dedicated dwarves and humans of the cult called The Watchers.

Only on a few occasions has the cult ever had to take military action, but their highly disciplined and well-armed group of dedicated soldiers, supported by a brutally faithful horde of dark devotees and a magically potent clergy of dark priests. They use convention military tactics, wielding Carask’s favored weapon, the spear, and the dwarven-made iron hammers and maces, crafted in the Forge of Thunder.

The Watchers rarely have reason to the leave the Spire, and, as such, they wage war there in preference over anywhere else. If on the Spire, their tactics are roughly as follows.

The Stormclouds space themselves out, staggering their ranks into a wedge, with Shieldbearers in front, the Lancers behind them, and the Thunderbringers and Stormlord in the center. These wedges find choke points in the few routes plausible up the sides of the mountain. There are only a few entrances into the catacombs, well-concealed, on the steep, jagged slopes of the spire, and these tend to by slightly off the beaten path. The Stormclouds don’t venture very far from these entries, as mobility on the steep slopes is limited and potentially dangerous—especially in the downpours the High Priest ensures. The Stormclouds hold their ground, but are willing to retreat into the tunnels, where they can form solid walls of spears and shields. The front rank often fights completely defensively, allowing the rank of spearmen to do the attacking, and acting instead as buffers. The Shieldbearers have Phalanx Fighting, from Complete Warrior, if that book is allowed in your campaign, and are thus hard to dislodge when group tightly. The spearmen’s reach allows them to continue to contribute through the wall.

The Thunderbringers and Stormlord hang behind on the ranks. On the slopes, outside the tunnels, the ranged ranks fall back several yards behind the front ranks, using the greater altitude to get clear shots over the ranks’ heads. Preferring to attack from a range, the Stormlords are heavily equipped and more than capable of holding an opening the front ranks. If such an opportunity is necessary, they will slide in to fill the gap, and make liberal use of their wands of lightning bolt. At the opening of any combat on the slopes, the stormlords immediately make use of call lightning, to rain potent lightning bolts on key enemy positions lower down on the slopes. Such action forces quick enemy movement, as few armies have enough soldiers to expend one a round to lightning while trying to figure out what to do. The thunderbringers are willing to prepare 1st-level healing spells, generally devoting most of their slots to them, but saving one or two for Magic Weapon, to cast on their own maces or those of a few nearby lancers.

The Hailstorms live up to their names. They space out at slightly higher elevations, above the ranks of more skilled warriors. Directed by their leading Shieldbearers, they rain slingstones in great volume on foes at lower elevation, and dealing considerable damage with the chunks of iron from the forge as ammunition. They withdraw if foes approach them through the enemy ranks below, retreating to some of the larger indoor caverns where they can still use their slings. Their captains avoid fighting—two shieldbearers would make little difference in any fighting.

On the peak, the High Priest of Storms always uses the orb to ensure a storm is raging during any battle on or near the spire. The slick rocks and lightning give the defenders a huge advantage, as well as empowering the clerics’ call lightning spells. The High Priest avoids fighting when it isn’t expressly necessary, preferring to use his spells over any other combat method. He typically uses Summon Monster V to call in a handful of Small Air elementals, to plague his enemies from afar, and always has a Call Lightning Storm Spell prepared to smite his enemies. He waits just below the altar, outside the fog that surrounds it, to have a line of sight to the battle, using his message orisons to communicate with the Stormlords, and defended by the toughest (highest hp-roll) of his Shieldbearers, and a select group of Thunderbringers. These clerics each have a cure light wounds spell prepared for him, as well as a spell of Summon Monster I to add their own Air Elementals to the flight the High Priest can conjure, when necessary. He uses Ice Storm on clumps of enemy soldiers, as do his Stormlords, and he occasionally prepares Blinding Winds, which he casts into enemy ranks to prevent them from firing or making progress uphill.

The High Priest typically, if allowed to prepare, sets several symbols of pain about the base of the more obvious paths up the spire, and he often casts Freedom of Movement on himself. The stormlords do likewise, casting either Freedom of Movement or Airwalk to ensure maneuverability in the inhospitable, stormy conditions around the mountain. The Thunderbringers make their own preparations, flinging bags of caltrops across paths upwards to make the climb even more treacherous for would-be attackers. The only asset that they lack in their defenses is a single word. The High Priest has used all the divination he can, as have the Stormlords, but they have completely failed to discover the command word that unlocks the [I]storm of vengeance power of the Altar of Carask. The word was likely in some holy text long since destroyed.

The Watchers are nowhere near as effective if encountered outside their favored terrain, and, as such, rarely leave the Spire. They have only vague dreams of conquest, as their cult is too small to have a hope of widespread success. If caught in the open, they use similar tactics, though the Altar of Carask is immobile, and the weather favors them far less. The Stormlords take to the skies with Airwalk, surrounding themselves with a vanguard of flying air elementals, and raining lightning bolts from their wands and call lightning spells to blister enemy ranks. The High Priest hangs back, surrounded by his elite guard, flinging his class-ability-enhanced shortspears to great effect, and conjuring lightning bolts.

The Stormclouds merge into a stormfront, as it were, into a solid wall of spears, shields and hammers. The Thunderbringers keep the fighters buffed and on their feet, while flinging shortspears over the ranks into the foes, though it is highly unlikely that the entire force would ever be encountered outside the Spire. The Hailstorms typically are only available when the cultist residents are available—meaning at the Spire—but if they should be in the field with forces, they seek higher ground, behind the protective Shieldbearers, and reign slingstones on the enemy en masse.

If the Complete Divine book is unavailable for your campaign, replace the Stormlords' and High Priest's Stormlord levels with straight cleric, and convert a the remaining amount of support into enough money to buy the four Stormlords +1 Returning Shortspears.

[Beren One-Hand]

The Watchwood (N)
All units are Forest Gnomes.

Militia
4,900 x 1st Commoner
Short Spear, Sling, Padded Armor

100 x 1st Warrior
Long Spear, Shortbow, Studded Leather Armor

Bounder
160 x 1st Warrior
Shortbow, Shortspear, Light Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Gorilla
40 x 2nd Ape Totem Barbarians1
Chain Mail Armor, Short Spear, Shortbow, Light Wood Shield
Ape mount + Double Military Saddle2

Healer
40 x 1st Adept
Light Crossbow, Short Spear, Holy Symbol

Gibbon
80 x 1st Expert
Studded Leather Armor, Light Crossbow, Short Spear
Monkey trained to home to Outpost3

Dazzler
60 x 1st Sorcerer
Light Crossbow, Spell Pouch

Confounder
20 x 1st Sorcerer
Light Crossbow, Spell Pouch, Helm of Halucenation4

Sender
40 x 1st Commoner
Trained to send messages to/from Outpost

Builder
50 x 1st Commoner
Trained to construct pit traps, snares, and other rudimentary delaying tactics

Basher
9 x 4th Druid
+1 Scimitar, +1 Dragon-hide Breastplate, +1 Heavy Wooden Shield
Animal Companion is an Ape Mount + Military Saddle

Smasher
1 x 5th Druid
+1 Scimitar, +1 Dragon-hide Breastplate, +1 Heavy Wooden Shield
Animal Companion is an Ape Mount + Military Saddle

Totem
4 x Clay Golem in the shape of Apes

The Watcher
1 x 5th Diviner Wizard/4th Divine Oracle5
36,000gp per DMG

Capital: 1,068,460
Support: 86,308
Conversion: 13,692 Support to Capital

Organization:

20 Watchmen
4 Bounders, 2 Gibbons, 2 Dazzlers, 1 Healer, 1 Gorilla, 1 Sender (who stays in the Outpost)

20 Hiders
4 Bounders, 2 Gibbons, 1 Dazzlers, 1 Confounder, 1 Healer, 1 Gorilla, 1 Sender (who stays in the Outpost)

5 Workers
10 Builders

1 Apemen
9 Bashers, 1 Smasher

Tactics:

Watchmen and Hiders: Each unit patrols an area about 9 square miles, keeping a watch for intruders and the like. Since all Forest Gnomes can communicate with animals (to a basic degree) they are well aware of the goings on around their Outpost. The Gibbons use their messenger monkeys to keep constant communication with their base of operations, The Outpost. If anything warranting intervention is found, The Outpost warns those nearby sending a chain of warnings to The Watcher. If he thinks there is need for the Totems to be present he will arrange it. The Watchmen and Hiders do not directly confront an enemy, but use their innate illusion abilities to set up ambushes and delaying tactics until greater forces can arrive. If the Workers are needed, a Gibbon will ride with a Gorilla to one of the Worker’s five central locations and he will direct the work to be done. Facing an invading army the Confounders use their helm’s ability to shift the look of the woods to allow time for the gathering of the Militia and placement of the Totems.

Apemen: Using their nature born spells and ferocious mounts they tear wide swaths in the enemy. They reside with The Watcher and are usually considered to be his personal guard – but he does send them out in the field when necessary.

Militia: The militia uses slings to fight from behind illusion and Builder made fortifications. Each unit is lead by a commander with a bow and long spear. When direct confrontation is unavoidable, the main force is ready with their short spears as well.

Notes:
1) Ape Totem Barbarians can be found at www.d20srd.org (http://www.d20srd.org/)
2) Since the Ape is Large and the riders are small I made a saddle that would hold two riders, and priced it as two saddles
3) These Monkeys are trained to return to their own Outpost and the several around them. Other animals could be used as messengers if they are willing, but these ones are specifically trained to do so
4) Helm of Hallucination is a helmet that uses Hallucinatory Terrain once a month upon command (as such I priced it 30% below the once a day cost)
5) If you do not have Complete Divine available, The Watcher could be a Divner Wizard 7 / Loremaster 2.

[Annarrkkii]

Wow. That certainly appears a potent force. However, how'd you price the Clay Golems?

Nevermind. I guess those aren't one of the "never sold" golems... odd.

[Yahzi]

30,000 gp by ECL vs. 5,000 gp by the book (From egg)
Arg! That's terrible! D&D lets you buy a 4th lvl character for 5,000 gp!

If I redid the chart to reflect those prices, every barony would be full of 20th level wizards... :smallbiggrin:

I wonder how much elephants cost?



Does that count the training cost though? When I took the Drakkensteeds for the kobolds I counted the cost of a trainer against capital, as well as their logistics for being a cr 3
That's excellent! I think we have to make an exception for Gryphons, because they're in the book (I guess Gryphons are produced in such mass quantities you get a discount :smallbiggrin: ), but for all other animals we should use your method.

[Yahzi]

The Watchwood (N)
All units are Forest Gnomes.
Ewwww... gnomes!

:smallbiggrin:

I would have never thought of ape-riders. That sounds cool - they can travel through the trees as easily as across the ground.

Later I'm going to try and do some lizard-man/dinosaur combos.

[Dr._Weird]

I'm thinking of making an army, I've got HoB which should help a lot what with all the handy feats and whatnot, not to mention my large library of other sourcebooks.

So watch for it later.

[Yahzi]

WATCHERS ON CRAGBOLT SPIRE

This isn't an army, it's a whole adventure! :smallsmile:


If the Complete Divine book is unavailable for your campaign, replace the Stormlords' and High Priest's Stormlord levels with straight cleric,
That's perfect advice. I hope everybody follows your example when presenting splat materials.

And I agree with the StormOrb exception - you've made it an artifact that is the focal point of the keep, not something they buy on a yearly basis from their friendly neighborhood 20th lvl wizard.

[Yahzi]

I'm thinking of making an army, I've got HoB which should help a lot what with all the handy feats and whatnot, not to mention my large library of other sourcebooks.

So watch for it later.
I haven't bought a D&D book in years, but I'm going to get HoB. It sounds interesting.

Does it address morale checks and the Leadership feat?

[Morgan_Scott82]

I haven't bought a D&D book in years, but I'm going to get HoB. It sounds interesting.

Does it address morale checks and the Leadership feat?

In some ways it does. I have this book and I very much enjoy it, however you should be clear about what to expect from the book. This is a book about running wars in D&D, sort of. It contains no massed combat system, no way of mechanically arbitrating a battle between two opposing armys. Rather, it focuses on the PCs and the battlefield as an environment or setting for encounters, and the roll the heroes play in the conflict, abstracting out all the elements of both the PCs army and the Opposing army, and focusing only on the contributions the PCs make to the battle.

It includes a methodology for narratively plotting out the course of the battle and the outcome if the PCs weren't involved and then estimating the effect the PCs efforts would have had on the overall battle using Victory Points. For instance in the current OOTS storyline Roy, Elan, Haley, et. all have been tasked with taking down Xykon as soon as he shows himself, HoB would call this disrupting enemy command, and the Hobgoblin army would be in disarray until another leader stepped up to take control, and this would be worth some victory points for the Azure city. Having already plotted out narratively how the battle would play out if the PCs did nothing the DM is able to, using the number of victory points earned throughout the battle estimate the PCs effect on the battle see if they've had an effect on his predetermined outcome, like turning a pyrrhic victory into a minor win, or a rout into a fighting withdrawl, etc.

I think this is an excellent approach as it mechanically streamlines things by not having to roll for the outcome of the battle, allowing the DM to use the battle as a narrative element to drive his story rather than a random event he can't entirely plan for, and simultaneously keeps the focus on the PCs where it belongs. If this is the kind of thing you're looking for, its a wonderful resource, however when it was first released many (not I, but many) were disappointed because it was not what they were looking for.

I hope this brief review has been helpful. Oh, and I'll be throwing up a few armies for this thread a little later, you've piqued my interest.

[Annarrkkii]

Thanks! The Watchers are pretty deadly on their own turf, but otherwise, not impressive. The Spire is the substitute for their castle. And I nerfed the orb some by making the High Priest not know the command word(s) for the storm of vengeance power.

I think it's only fair, by the way, that griffons are priced the same as anything else. Otherwise, attack griffons suddenly become a ridiculously potent idea. CR 4 flying creatures for the price of a 2nd level character?

[Meynolds]

I wonder how much elephants cost?

105,000 gold each from capital, 1,750 gold piece each from support.

The Griffons are coming along slowly, building an impressive force is slightly difficult.

[Annarrkkii]

Or, you could just by Figurines of Wondrous Power: Marble Elephant, each one costing only 17,000 gp.

[Beren One-Hand]

Does that count the training cost though? When I took the Drakkensteeds for the kobolds I counted the cost of a trainer against capital, as well as their logistics for being a cr 3

What I did for my Apes was to take the capital price of a Heavy Warhorse (since they are the same HD and CR) but doubled the logistics since they need meat as well as plant matter. The Monkeys were a bit harder, I based them off the Light Horse, but cut the upkeep by about a quater due to them being tiny. I also fudged the numbers slightly down to represent the forest gnomes ability to train the animals easier due to them being able to directly speak to them.

[Annarrkkii]

THE BLADEWIND BRIGADE
(CN Halfling Mercenary Band)

Bladewind Caravan Halflings
989 x 1st Commoner
10 Daggers, Leather Armor
Feats: Toughness, Self-Sufficient, or Persuasive
Procurement: 29,670 gp; Support: Free

Slashers
150 x 1st Warrior
Feats: Dash (Combat Expertise if CAdv is unavailable)
Scimitar, Small Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor
Procurement: 21,450 gp; Support: 15,000

Razors
100 x 1st Warrior
Feats: Point Blank Shot
Leather Armor, 20 Daggers, Small Wooden Shield
Procurement: 15,300 gp; Support: 10,000 gp

Carvers
50 x 1st Barbarian
Feats: Extended Rage (Power Attack if CW is unavailable)
Falchion, Studded Leather Armor
Procurement: 80,000 gp: Support: 11,250 gp

Rippers
50 x 1st Fighter
Glaive, Banded Mail
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Stand Still
Procurement: 62,900 gp; Support: 11,250 gp

Shredders
30 x 1st Warmages
Feats: Spellcasting Prodigy: Scorching Ray (Toughness if CArc is unavailable)
Sickle, Studded Leather Armor
Procurement: 30,930 gp; Support: 6,750 gp

Gutters
30 x 1st Rogue
Feats: Acrobatic
Shortsword, Leather Armor, 5 Daggers
Procurement: 30,900 gp; Support: 6,750 gp

Bladewind Bards
30 x 1st Bard
Feats: Dodge
Rapier, Studded Leather Armor
Procurement: 30,825 gp; Support: 6,750 gp

Healers
10 x 1st Cleric
Feats: Weapon Focus: Scimitar (B), Shield Specialization (Self-sufficient if PHB II is unavailable)
Studded Leather, Large Wooden Shield, Scimitar
Procurement: 10,490 gp; Support: 2,250

Maulers
20 x 2nd Fighter
Feats: Mounted Combat, Ride-by-Attack, Spirited Charge
Scimitar, Large Wooden Shield, Scalemail, Riding Dog, Military Saddle, Lance, Chain Shirt Barding
Procurement: 108,690 gp; 10,000 gp

Gutter Elites
10 x 2nd Rogue
Masterwork Shortsword, Leather Armor, 5 Daggers
Procurement: 53,300 gp; Support: 4,750 gp

Ripper Elites
5 x 2nd Fighter
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Power Attack, Stand Still
Masterwork Glaive, Banded Mail
Procurement: 27,790 gp; Support: 2,375 gp

Carver Elites
5 x 3rd Barbarian
Feats: Extend Rage (Cleave if CW is unavailable), Power Attack
Masterwork Falchion, Chain Shirt
Procurement: 77,575 gp; Support: 3,625

Mauler Captain
1 x 4th Fighter
Feats: Mounted Combat, Power Attack, Ride-by-Attack, Spirited Charge, Weapon Focus: lance
Masterwork Scimitar, Chain Shirt, Large Wooden Shield, Riding Dog (advanced 2 HD), Military Saddle, Gauntlets of Ogre Power +2, Masterwork Lance
Procurement: 34,919 gp; Support: 1,000 gp

Carver Captain
1 x 4th Barbarian
Feats: Extended Rage (Cleave if CW is unavailable), Power Attack
Masterwork Falchion, Chain Shirt, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Gauntlets of Ogre Power +2
Procurement: 36,475 gp; Support: 975 gp

Shredder Captain
1 x 4th Warmage*
Feats: Obtain Familiar (Toughness if CArc is unavailable), Spell Penetration
Masterwork Sickle, Chain Shirt, Wand of Magic Missile (CL 3), Raven familiar
Procurement: 32,756 gp; Support: 975 gp

Gutter Captain
1 x 4th Rogue
Feats: Dodge, Acrobatic
Masterwork Shortsword, Gloves of Dexterity +2, Leather Armor
Procurement: 34,320 gpl Support: 975 gp

Ripper Captain
1 x 4th Fighter
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Stand Still, Weapon Focus: Glaive, Weapon Specialization: Glaive
Masterwork Glaive, +1 Banded Mail, Amulet of Natural Armor +1
Procurement: 33,658; Support: 975 gp

Whirlwinds
2 x 5th Fighter/1st Dervish*
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Weapon Focus: scimitar, Weapon Specialization: scimitar
2 +1 Keen Scimitars, Masterwork Chain Shirt, 2 Potions of Cure Moderate Wounds (CL 3)
Procurement: 185,430 gp; Support: 3,000 gp

The Bladewind Marshall
9th-level Warmage*

*This army makes regrettably considerable use of splatbooks to pull off its strategy. It’s spellcasting tactics change noticeably if Complete Arcane is not available, and the Whirlwinds are significantly changed. If Complete Arcane is unavailable, replace any Warmage levels with Sorcerer levels, and remove any armor from the casters. If Complete Warrior is unavailable, replace the two Whirlwinds’ levels with another level of fighter, and change them from dual-wielding scimitars to single-wielding +1 Keen Greatswords and wearing +2 Chain Shirts

Capital: 1,000,731 gp
Support: 99,876 gp
Adjustments: Instead of a castle, the Bladewind Brigade has a 500-wagon caravan, each wagon manned by a single heavy horse. These wagons serve as supply and lodging for the 1500-odd halflings that form the Bladewind Caravan. Also, 51,563 gp was set aside to purchase a Staff of the Abjurant Commander—able to cast blade barrier, lesser globe of invulnerability, and dominate person, each for 1 charge. 600 Support was converted to Capital to purchase 20 additional riding dogs, whose cost and support is included above. In addition, 12,000 gp was spent on the purchase of enough scrolls of sphere of invisibility to equip 8 Bladewind Bards. 126 support was converted to Capital to pay for some stuff, too.

Organization:

2 Blades: 50 Slashers, 12 Razors, 10 Carvers, 1 Carver Elite, 5 Shredders, 5 Bladewind Bards, 2 Healers, 1 Whirlwind

1 Hilt: 50 Rippers, 20 Slashers, 10 Razors, 5 Ripper Elites, 1 Ripper Captain, 15 Shredders, 1 Shredder Captain, 10 Carvers, 2 Carver Elites, 7 Bladewind Bards, 2 Healers, 1 Bladewind Marshall

1 Wedge: 20 Carvers, 5 Bladewind Bards, 2 Healers, 2 Carver Elites, 1 Carver Captain

8 Daggers: 3 Gutters, 1 Bladewind Bard (w/ scroll of sphere of invisibility, 1 Gutter Elite

1 Saber: 30 Slashers, 24 Razors, 6 Gutters, 5 Shredders, 3 Bladewind Bards, 2 Gutter Elites, 1 Gutter Captain

2 Salvos: 16 Razors, 3 Shredders, 2 Bladewind Bards

1 Scythe: 20 Maulers, 1 Mauler Captain, 2 Healers (on riding dogs), 2 Bladewind Bards (on riding dogs)

The Bladewind Brigade are an infamous band of mercenary halflings, whose reputation for frightening titles, names, and appearances is superceded only by their reputation for tactical brilliance and military superiority. While hard to take seriously on first sighting, the horde of sub-three-foot soldiers is a deadly fighting machine, compensating for their lack of size and strength with clever tactics, underhanded magic, and brutal training. Their ranks are highly diverse and divided into a variety of complex sections, but used to great effect with relatively simple, straightforward tactics.

The mind behind the Bladewind Brigade is a warmage by the name of Seth Bonesaw, who took his first step into the military world at age 17, when he organized his large but peaceful caravan to defend itself from gnoll raiders. From then on, the Bladewind Brigade has only grown in complexity and effectuality, until it is now recognized as one of the more dangerous mercenary units available. Famous for his purchase of around 12,000 knives over the course of a few months, Bonesaw’s taste for blades and brutality have fermented over the past four decades, and the sexagenarian commander is now as brutally effective as ever. He employs such grim lieutenants as Gill Skullgrater, Saral Swordsleeves, Jillian Ribsplitter, Ephram Boartusk, and the Skinflense twins. Though the Bladewind Brigade are more wild than evil, they have an undeniably… savage bent.

Highly disciplined for all their savagery, the Bladewind Brigade uses straightforward and effective combat tactics. Gill Skullgrater, a grillzed veteran pikeman, leads the heavily armored, glaive-wielding Ripper division in the head of a formation called the Hilt. Known as an anvil in more conventional tactics, the anvil spreads out to form a line, one or two ranks thick, depending on the ground they have to cover, that curves upwards slightly at either end. This semi-circle rank of razor-edged pikes is made even more deadly by a score of lighter skirmishing soldiers, known as “Slashers,” wielding scimitars and light shields. The Slashers take the Dash feat, typically, if Complete Adventurer is available, and the Combat Expertise feat if it is not. They dart through the ranks of glaivemen, using their scimitars to slash at foes pinned down under the glaives. The glaivemen themselves typically take the Combat Reflexes feat and the Stand Still feat, if it is available. If not, they instead take Weapon Focus. The line is willing and disciplined enough to take unified steps backwards, allowing them to retreat and take maximum advantage of their reach—but they prefer to stand their ground, allowing those caught by their Stand Still feat to by slashed and kept at bay by the dancing Slashers. In the meantime, the Anvil’s third component—a group knifethrowers affectionately called Razors—flings volleys of knives from their extensive bandoliers into the next rank beyond. Though knives are not the most effective weapon, they allow the halflings to take advantage of their natural predilection for thrown weapons, as well as allowing the Razors to recover their ammunition when the line advances over the bodes of the fallen. The halflings in front of the Razors are too short to give sufficient cover to the taller beings they typically fight, meaning the Razors can fling knives to their hearts’ content. Their knives rarely fell their opponents, but they do allow the Slashers to finish off the injured foes. The forbiddingly named Shredders are another component of the Anvil. 15 Warmages, all trained personally by Bladewind himself. These soldiers are exceptional spellcasters, and take the feat Spellcasting Prodigy if it is available. The feat allows them to cast a single 2nd-level spell 1/day if they make a spellcraft check. They typically choose Scorching Ray. These warmages use their magic missiles and orbs of energy to deal significant damage with great precision to selected targets. Their magic missiles can finish off those enemies who managed to weather the polearms of the Rippers, the knives of the Razors, and the scimitars of the Slashers.

The Anvil is by far the most extensive formation in the Bladewind strategy. Its secondary ranks are directed by Bonesaw Himself, who makes use of his fearsome Staff of the Abjurant Commander to ward himself against his enemies spells, and to evoke massive blade barriers to disrupt enemy formations and direct their movement. His spellcasting accomplice, Derek Flametongue, wields a wand of magic missiles to great effect, supplementing the device with his own spells—ranging throughout the spectrum of damage-dealing charms. The versatility of the Brigade’s spellcasting is limited, but its damage-dealing capacity is formidable indeed. Several of the Brigade’s scarce clerics—of no deity save war and adventure—stand by to heal the critically wounded and provide such spells as Bless and Bane. To support the healers’ efforts, a handful of the wild-hearted Bladewind Bards stand by—inspiring confidence, adding buff and healing spells, and occasionally tumbling in to aid the Slashers in their jabbing. Adding to the icing, the lines are supported by the savage, falchion-toting Carvers—berserking warriors whose strikes carve swathes through the kneecaps of their foes. A few man the tip of each end of the curved Hilt, and close in along the edges, cutting down those foes that pose the greatest threat. Another pair stay back behind the lines, using their swift movement to support the line where it is needed. They typically take either Extend Rage of Extra Rage, if the feats are available, or Power Attack if they are not.

The Hilt, supported as it is by Bonesaw and some of his most powerful cronies, is a truly difficult force to break through—but the feat could be easily accomplished through sheer manpower if it stood alone. Unfortunately for the foes of the Bladewind Brigade, the Anvil is only a portion of the extensive force. As the Anvil holds the foe in place, the Blades close in from either flank. Each of the Blades is led by one of the Skinflense twins—Jaim and Harl. The slim, boisterous halflings bost countless kills, becoming whirlwinds in the battles with their twin blades—often felling four or five foes in the space of a few seconds. Their tumbling, swift movements carry them through enemies easily, but they serve only as the leading edge of an equally potent formation. At the beginning of the conflict, the Blades swing wide to either side—sometimes even digging in to ambush the enemy if they have time to choose their ground. Each Blade consists of numerous Slashers, sprinting in at top speed to close with the enemy. They charge into the flanks of the enemy—as their foes are locked in place by the Hilt, and cut their way in with a flurry of scimitar strokes. The Skinflense Whirlwinds break up any knot of enemies with ease, opening the way for their compatriots. Each Blade is fortified by several Carvers, who add firepower, and is supported by several bards, Shredders, and clerics. A handful of Razors lob knives over the heads of the leading ranks, to soften up the enemy as the Blades close in.

The kill is executed rapidly. Once the Blades have swung in place, the Hilt pushes forward, and the Slashers fall back behind the Rippers. The Rippers in the center pull back, opening a gap for the next formation—the Wedge. The Wedge consists of a score of Carvers, in a Wedge formation. At its tip strides Ephram Boartusk, a reknown berserker, wielding a falchion with deadly skill. Flanked by his best men, and leading a squadron of savage berserks, Ephram charges through the gap, leading the Wedge to drive firmly home. The falchions of the Wedge carve into the enemy ranks, each member raging and frothing at their foes. At the core of the Wedge, clerics and bards stand by to add spells to the Carvers and heal those that drop back for healing. The Hilt pushes forward as the Wedge advances, and the Blades continues to hem inwards. The only route out is back the way the enemy came.

Here, the Bladewind Brigade’s tactics vary. Bonesaw often casts Blade Barrier across the enemy’s retreat, trapping them like livestock for the slaughter. However, such tactics often precipitate fervent last stands and the like, which Bonesaw finds irritating. He sometimes opts to cast the barrier in the middle of the enemy formation, if they are tight knit and none of his troops have penetrated that far. He may also use it to hem in and separate the more dangerous-looking foes from their allies while the weaker foes are slaughtered, meaning the more powerful foes have to face the Brigade alone. He tends to have already expended several Sculpted fireballs, burning huge holes in the weaker enemy troops. On some occasions, if the opposing force is small enough, the Blades extend and thin out, completely surrounding the foes. On others, the Brigade simply allows the foes to retreat in disarray, and then sends out Ribsplitter and her Maulers to tear down the survivors bit by bit.

The Hilt and Blades are the standard, but just about any other conventional tactic could see use in Bonesaw’s campaigns. He possesses several assets not featured in the Hilt and Blades—a tactic designed for conventional combat against massed, uninspiring troops:

Cloak and Daggers: Up to eight bards are issued scrolls of invisibility sphere. They then group with three of the combat-savvy rogues known as Gutters, as well as a more experienced Gutter. Some of these “Daggers” often mount the spare Riding Dogs. The spheres turn the four rogues, their mounts, and their support invisible. The rogue and their bard slip undetected across the battlefield, maneuvering to locate important enemies—spellcasters, bards, siege equipment. They take up position around their enemy—and attack. The four rogues work to flank, while the bard chants away to inspire confidence, while watching out for enemies. The rogues use their tumble to avoid enemies other than their target. Once the target is removed, the Dagger bails out. Typically, if they are not operating relatively near to the safety of an existing formation, they have riding dogs to quickly reposition. But, if they are stranded, they total defense, cluster together, and the bard sounds his horn. Notified of their distress, Bonesaw immediately casts a Blade Barrier spell to ring the Dagger with spinning blades, as per the circle function of the spell. This barrier soundly isolates them from all but the toughest of soldiers—buying time for the Jillian’s Maulers, the Skineflense twins, or some other force to work their way toward the Dagger.

The Maulers themselves are a truly deadly force. Each fighter is equipped with a lance and the Ride-by-Attack feat. A few of their number’s mounts are typically graced with the Expeditious Retreat spell, provided by their friendly bards, allowing them to lead the attack. Their ferocious captain, Jillian, is a deadly solider, riding Fellmaw, her massive steed—seemingly more black bear than mastiff. Few enemy soldiers can face them when caught in the open—the riders line up in two parallel lines, each containing a roughly even number of riders, with the bards and clerics trailing out to the sides. The riders sweep through, mowing down foes caught in the middle of their line, or on the outside. Very few foes can stand up to a Spirited Charge Ride-by-Attack from as many as 21 lance-wielding riders. The Maulers sweep past, swing wide, and charge again. Any injury sustained result in a pause while the clerics or bards sidle up and heal the mount or rider in question. All the while, they are spurred on by the bards’ chanting.

In addition, Saral Swordsleeves’s “Saber” often slashes home from an exposed flank. This formation is staffed by a large number of Razors, who line up and rain precise volleys of daggers—using the “volley” option—into crowded enemy positions. These projectile rains deal damage often used to soften up a target before a surgical strike by one or more Daggers, or by the Maulers. Saral is the captain of the rogues in the Bladewind Brigade, and he leads his Gutters in flanking maneuvers, along with a significant number of Slashers, on anything that tries to close with the Razors and Shredders that make up his Saber. The Saber roves the battlefield at a stately pace, picking off stragglers or disrupting formations with equal ease.

Operating independently from the Saber, but never too far, are the two “salvos.” Each one is a loose grouping of Razors, lead by a few Shredders and a pair of bards. These units work in conjunction with the Saber, or with any nearby melee formation that seems in need of aid. Typically, the Salvos take up positions at the corners where the Blades meet the Hilt as they close in, during the Hilt and Blades maneuver, and rain in projectiles and spells from there.

The militia of the Bladewind Brigade are only used when the caravan itself is under attack—an unusual occurrence. Typically, the Brigade operates far from the caravan on mercenary contracts, but any retributive strike or pre-emptive attack on the caravan had best be wary. Though untrained, warfare is a daily part of carvan life. The combat-ready members of the caravan—around 80% of the available halflings—swiftly break open the store rooms, donning armor and raiding the massive stock of knives, arming themselves to the teeth. They fight using the wagons, horses, and terrain for cover, often feinting, flanking, and using the Aid Another action in enough volume to enable even these low-level commoners to hit reliably—albeit for minimal damage. When fighting with the Brigade, the commoners are generally tacked on to the Salvos and Saber, raining in knives, or take up clubs and the like to add strength to the Blades or Hilt.

[Winterking]

The 7th Cavalry Banner of the Border Legion, nicknamed the "Manticore Soldiers" by the inhabitants of the frontier region they patrol.
(N or NG Human Patrol Army)

Troopers:
400 x Warrior 1
-Equipment: Light warhorse, heavy crossbow & 100 bolts, studded leather armor, light wooden shield, lance, handaxe.

Sergeants:
15x Fighter 2
-Equipment: Light warhorse, heavy crossbow & 100 bolts, studded leather armor, light wooden shield, lance, masterwork light mace.

Medics:
15x Cleric of Pelor 2
-Equipment: Light warhorse, studded leather armor, light wooden shield, light mace, pearl of power 1, 4x scrolls of Bless, 4x scrolls of cure light wounds

Lieutenants:
5x Ranger 2
-Equipment: Light warhorse, +1 heavy crossbow & 100 bolts, chain shirt, light wooden shield, masterwork longsword, Silver Raven of Wondrous Power

Signal Officers:
5x Bard 2
-Equipment: light warhorse, heavy crossbow & 100 bolts, studded leather armor, longsword, masterwork bugle, pearl of power 1

Fire Support
2x Sorcerer 6
-Equipment: Minor Ring of Spell Storing, Ring of Protection +1, Bracers of Armor +1, light warhorse, heavy crossbow & 100 bolts, light mace,

Divine Support
2x Cleric 5
-Equipment: light warhorse, +1 breastplate, ring of protection +1, Pearl of Power 2, Pearl of Power 1, Periapt of Wisdom +2, heavy crossbow & 100 arrows.

Bannerman:
1x Fighter 2
-Equipment: light warhorse, breastplate, heavy wooden shield, ring of protection +1, mwk longsword, Standard of the Galloping Steed*

Color Guard
7x Fighter 1
-Equipment: light warhorse, breastplate, light wooden shield, masterwork lance, longsword, 4x potion of cure light wounds.

Artillery Support Capital: 31,228 Support: 3200
2x Teams which consist of the following:
4x Expert 1 (siege engineer)
4x Warrior 1
-Equipment: light warhorse, studded leather armor, light mace, light wooden shield. Warriors only--heavy crossbow & 100 arrows.
1x +1 Distance Scorpion*
-Additional: chassis (cart) for Scorpion, cart for stones, 16 heavy horses, 60 stones, 100 bags of shot, (160 ammunition units total, or 40 per battle)


Ballista Support:
2x Teams which consist of the following:
1x Fighter 2
2x Expert 1 (siege engineer)
3x Warrior 1
-Equipment: light warhorse, studded leather armor, light mace, light wooden shield. Warriors only--heavy crossbow & 100 arrows.
1x +1 Distance light ballista*.
-Additional: chassis (cart) for ballista, cart for bolts, 12 heavy horses, 200 bolts (50 per battle)

Command Retinue
4x Expert (clerk, cartographer, aides-de-camp)
-Equipment: light warhorse, leather armor, light wooden shield, light mace
4x Ranger 1
-Equipment: light warhorse, studded leather armor, heavy crossbow & 100 bolts, masterwork longsword, light wooden shield.
4x Warrior 1
-Equipment: light warhorse, chain shirt, heavy crossbow & 100 bolts, longsword, light wooden shield.

General
Ranger 5/Legendary Leader* 4
Variety of arms & equipment; items of note: Rod of Command*, +2 elven chain.


Conversion: 76,000 gp Capital to Support.
Total Capital: 887,271 gp.
Total Support: 103,800 gp.

(*Items with an asterix are from Heroes of Battle; for those who do not own the book, replace the banner with a cloak of charisma, the scorpion--an advanced catapult--with a normal catapult, and the light ballista with a normal ballista. The rod of command can be exchanged for support items ~25,000 gp.)


Organization

Squad (8 soldiers)
8 Troopers (one of which is command rating 1, corporal)

Section (42)
5x Squads
1x Sergeant (Fighter 2) (command rating 3)
1x Medic (Cleric 2)

Company (88)
2x Sections
1x Lieutenant (Ranger 2 command rating 4)
1x Signal/morale/bugler (Bard 2; cost 5150, sup 775)
1x Sergeant cost 5150 sup 525
1x Medic (cleric 2)

Banner (493)
5x Companies
1x Banner-Captain Ranger 5/Marshal 4
1x Command Retinue
2x Fire Support (sorceror 4)
2x Medic support (cleric 5)

1x Bannerman
7x Color Guard

2x Artillery Support
2x Ballista Support

Tactics

The Seventh Cavalry, despite its name, most commonly fights as mounted infantry, riding to the battlefield and dismounting to fight. Typically, 4 of the 5 companies will form an extended skirmish line, taking advantage of hills, trees, and other terrain. In each squad, two out of the eight troopers will hold the others' horses, well back from the battle-line (the troopers selected for this duty vary each day). The front-line troopers, meanwhile, use the Rapid Reload feat (allowing them to reload heavy crossbows as a move action) to cut the enemy apart with a hail of bolts. Each Captain typically keeps his/her retinue, along with one or two squads, in reserve, to support weakened parts of the line.
The 5th company is withheld from initial combat for the same reason, and is generally kept mounted, ready to counter-attack with their lances. Such charges are generally accompanied by the Color Guard and the standard bearer. The various support units--Clerics, Sorcerors, war machines--are deployed as necessary along the battle line to deal with particular threats--the artillery and ballista crew are trained in rapidly redeploying their siege engines, even in open field battles.
However, the 7th is not just a mounted infantry force. They are equipped and ready to make mounted attacks with lances, or use those lances as impromptu pikes as the situation warrants. Each trooper has the feats Rapid Reload and Mounted Combat, to facilitate this. Additionally, individual sections can serve as scouts, rear-guards, or main-line troops as needed, since each is interchangeable. In the case of serious warfare, the Banner will act as the core of an army, supported by 2-4,000 militia spearmen (Commoner 1; longspear, padded armor).
The prime asset of the banner is, ultimately, their flexibility. They are able to maneuver and deploy to their best advantage. Against lightly equipped infantry, they make lance charges. Against heavier, slower infantry or enemy cavalry, they provide a deadly hail of crossbow bolts. Against enemy armies too large to face directly, the banner is able to split up, executing hit and run attacks, ambushes, and other guerilla tactics. And when necessary, the 7th's crossbows and war machines are just as deadly from inside the walls of their fortress.
On campaign, the army is joined by supply trains, just as mobile as the Banner itself, carrying food and additional equipment. If sieges are expected, sappers and extra mercenaries are hired; when possible, the Banner avoids protracted sieges, capturing/destroying targets of opportunity and any food reserves to starve out or provoke out the beseiged foe.


Notes:
This force was inspired by the tactics of US Cavalry in the West after the Civil War--the name "Manticore Soldiers" is a reference to the nickname of "Buffalo Soldiers" that two all-black cavalry regiments were given by Native Americans. The Manticore, of course, has a primary attack reminiscent of a volley of crossbow bolts, so I thought the name quite fitting. In my game world, a much larger force of almost-identical soldiers, divided into first Legions of ~4000 and Banners like the one above, guards the long, high-plains border between civilization and the barbaric wilderness. (There's more territory covered, and PC classes/levels beyond first are far more common than in the DMG, so my version is a little better than this, but the gist is the same.)

Also, my Capital costs might be a bit off; I realize now that I did not include mundane expenses such as saddlebags/saddle/bridle and waterskin/backpack/bedroll/tent for the soldiers, maps/order-papers/ink for the officers, etc. As I have over 100,000gp spare, please assume that they are automatically included.

[Necromas]

The armies of the Castle of Blackrock Island.

100 Spartan Warriors: Level 2 Human Fighter 1/Barbarian 1's.
Feats*: Spartan Training, Formation Expert, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Balanced Longspear
Abilities: Whirling Frenzy 1/day, Fast Movement
Equipment*: Balanced Longspear, Kopis (scimitar), 5x Javelins, Breastplate, Heavy Steel Shield, Cape

Cost: 522,500 Upkeep: 50,000

These guys are the well trained badasses of Sparta inspired by my having recently seen 300, using all three of the formation expert maneuvers to form a powerful phalanx formation with both a shield and spear wall, and quickly step in to replace fallen comrades to hold the formation together. But if the formation ultimately is broken, they can fall back on their swords and go into a killing frenzy ala 300 (awesome movie). Fighter reflects their expertise on the battlefield from their training, and barbarian reflects the raw power and fearsomeness. The breastplate more accurately reflects the armor they actually wore, as opposed to just leather briefs, not to mention adding a lot of survivability. Ya they're expensive, but oh so worth it.

*Spartan Training is a feat I made up to allow them to qualify for formation expert without having the BAB needed, and the Balanced Longspear is a longspear balanced with a counterweight so that it may be wielded with one hand (there are similar exotic weapons with one handed reach, just they're not spears so I had to make one up)

200 Longbowmen: Human Warrior 1
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot
Equipment: Longbow, 100x Arrows, Buckler, Longsword, Studded Leather

Cost: 49,000x# Upkeep: 25,000x#

These guys are your rather basic longbowmen, the human bonus feat is by far a huge boon, allowing them to get rapid shot. I figured since the cost to upkeep ratio was so low on these guys I didn't have to go cheap on the gear.

20 Artillery Support: Human Warmage 3
Feats: Bloodline of Fire, Spell Focus: Evocation, Sudden Widen
Abilities: Warmage Edge, Armored Mage
Equipment: Buckler, Chain Shirt, Shortspear

Cost: 312,400 Upkeep: 15,000

These guys would be spaced out just behind front lines, throwing around fire spells to maximize their bloodline that gives them +2 caster level with fire. Also, a barrage of 20x2 magic missiles would be ideal for sniping targets of oppertunity like commanders and player characters. They even have Hail of Stone for the AOE role, dealing 3d4+int at long range and decent AOE with sudden widen to hit up to 16 squares.

20 Special Forces: Kobold Rogue Substitution Level 1/Fighter 1
Feats: Dragon Wings, Weapon Finesse
Abilities: Rapid Retreat, Shrewd Trapfinding, Sleight Build, Sneak Attack +1d6
Equipment: Masterwork Chain Shirt, Masterwork Buckler, Rapier, Shortbow, 100x Arrows, Various Traps

Cost: 112,300 Upkeep: 10,000

Being kobold rogues, these bad boys are expert at setting and finding traps, being an asset for defending the castle and disabling enemy traps when infiltrating an enemies base. With the fighter level they gain a bit more combat survivability if they get caught sneaking around, and it lets them keep weapon finesse. The dragon wings feat allows them attack from the sky as long as some means is used to elevate them to an extreme height so they can glide into the enemies base unnoticed for assassination and spy missions. They even lay traps to cover their escape route when fleeing an enemy after completing their mission.

1 Spartan General: Goliath Fighter 4/Barbarian 2
Feats*: Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Balanced Longspear, Weapon Focus: Scimitar, Weapon Specialization: Scimitar, Weapon Focus: Balanced Longspear, Formation Expert
Abilities: Whirling Frenzy 1/day, Fast Movement, Uncanny Dodge
Equipment*: Balanced Longspear, Kopis (scimitar), Composite Longbow, Breastplate, Heavy Steel Shield, Cape, all items enchanted as appropriate for a 7th level character.

Cost/Upkeep: None, Cohort

A spartan on steroids, with the massive strength and constitution of a goliath and his fellow Spartans to back him up, this guy isn't afraid to mix it up on the front lines with his bretheren.

Commander: Human Dread Necromancer 9
Feats: Tomb Tainted Soul, Corpsecrafter, Extra Turning, Leadership, Landlord
Abilities: Controls several undead through animating and rebuking minions for expendable troops that cost nothing to upkeep. Powerful necromancy spells.
Equipment: Scythe, sorcerer type gear appropriate for a level 9 character.

Dread Necromancers are one of my favorite classes, so it's no surprise I choose one for a commander. This leader can personally lead his undead minions into battle and heal both them and himself while harming enemies with negative energy bursts and wreaking havoc with the enemies using his powerful spells. The landlord feat is just an excuse for having the funds to build and staff an entire stronghold.

Total Cost: 996,100 Total Upkeep: 100,000

Bah, I'll somehow scrounge up the extra 12,000 in capital.

The Spartans should be hardcore enough that the mages and archers will be able to bombard the enemies with spells and arrows without much fear of the enemies army breaking through to route them. The fortress is stationed on a clifftop island with a single bridge leading to the gate. Through the use of tunnels from the castle, towers on otherwise unacessable mountains on either side of the bridge have been built to provide a good vantage point for archers and even a takeoff point for the kobolds. Should the kobolds need to retreat rapidly, they can simply jump off the bridge/tower/cliff and glide under a ledge for safety. The undead can literally be buried outside of the castle to come up in the middle of an attacking army when vulnerable ranged or support troops are over them, maybe even manually setting off some negative energy traps provided by the kobolds.

P.S. No militia, all spartan men are bread warriors, we have no commoners to form a militia!

[Annarrkkii]

I think we went over that the Leadership feat doesn't allow cohorts. I also think it's... tenuous to invent your own feats etc. to enable your strategy. But I like the idea of a Spartan Army a great deal—and goliaths are a perfect way to go about it. I was actually considering building goliath army next.

[Yahzi]

you should be clear about what to expect from the book.
Ok, what you describe is what I thought it was about.

I guess I don't see what that book has to do with what we're doing here. HoB tells you how to abstract the battle; our goal is to describe who is fighting in the battle. When the players encounter a advance party or a rear-guard element, what do they encounter? Using our handy army lists, the DM will know.

:smallsmile:



I think it's only fair, by the way, that griffons are priced the same as anything else.
You're right - I agree. We are measuring resource allocation here, not PC gold expenditures. So those poor gryphons should be 30,000 GP.

One thing I have discovered - NPC classes are supposed to be -1 compared to PC classes. So my prices for 2nd and 3rd lvl nps should change. Nobody's used them yet, so it won't change any existing armies, but maybe people will find 3rd lvl Warriors to be more attractive.

[Yahzi]

Or, you could just by Figurines of Wondrous Power: Marble Elephant, each one costing only 17,000 gp.
(sigh.)

Man... D&D is broken. :smallbiggrin:

[jaqueses]

Ghosts of the Marsh

Air Recon
10 Harpy: 300,000
Light Crossbow, 50 bolts - Weapons = 400
Feats: Rapid Reload, Ability Focus(Captivating Song), Hover

Water Assault
30 Medium Water Elementals: 450,000

Heavy Force
10 normal 5-headed Hydras: 300,000
Splint Barding - Armor = 16,000

Skirmisher
125 Lizardfolk: 125,000
Morningstar, Longspear, 25 Javelins - Weapons = 4,750
Heavy Wooden Shield - Armor = 875


Leader: Medusa
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Leadership, Negotiator


Capital 2975
Support 48750 left before conversion
Convert 45000 of Support to Capital to pay for 15 extra Elementals
Support after conversion 3750

Organization

1 Tail = 4 Lizardfolk

1 Leg = 16 Lizardfolk, 1 Harpy, 3 Elementals

1 Arm = 32 Lizardfolk, 2 Harpies, 6 Elementals, and 2 Hydras

1 Body = 64 Lizardfolk, 4 Harpies, 12 Elementals, and 4 Hydras

Head = 25 Lizardfolk, 2 Harpies, 6 Elementals, 3 Hydras, and the Medusa

Eyes = 36 Lizardfolk, 4 Harpies, 12 elementals

Calvary = 3 Hydras

Tactics:
The majority of the swamp has been riddled with tunnels allowing the elementals to move rather freely. The lizardfolk serve as skirmishers and frontline troops due to their capability in holding their breath. The army rarely all fights as one, prefering to lure off small units into ambushes. The Harpys are seen patrolling the skies during the day time while the elementals attack sentries during the night with their vortex. The lizardfolk act with the harpies to find weaknesses in the enemy and to prepare daytime ambushes. They will use the tunnels to appear near the enemy, throw their javelins then sink back into the tunnel to swim under the army, pop up on the opposite side and hit again before running. When not being held back the Hydras charge straight into the enemy ranks snatching and eating their way through the army until there is no one left or they have to turn around. The Medusa is almost never seen on the battlefield and instead leaves the fighting in the hands of the Hapries. Each individual is trained in their particular task and are always on the defense. Due to their liquid nature it is almost impossible to pin down the army on their homeground.

[Winterking]

Yahzi:
Heroes of Battle actually does give some suggestions for DMs in line with the questions you raised. One section, which I think is one of the strongest parts of the whole book, talks about breaking an army down into "maneuver elements"--basically, squads of different kinds of soldiers, at various CRs. Using these, a DM can look at a sketch map/outline of the broader battle, and say "okay--the PCs are over in this stretch of woods, near these units. They're likely to meet Maneuver elements 1, 3, 17, and 8; if they cause a lot of trouble, element 10 is the nearest heavy support that their foes will call upon." This section also provides suggestions for one-hour army creation: making a fairly believable, fleshed-out army in an hour, by creating a handful of maneuver elements, figuring out how they fit together, and statting the elements out.
It's followed by maneuver elements from several sample armies (an undead host, a druid-led woodland host, demons, devils, and a "Free Peoples" army--dwarves, humans, halflings, elves.

Additionally, and I'm suprised that nobody's mentioned it, the book has an appendix with force organizations and NPC statistics for armies of Orcs, Goblinoids, Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Undead, and Giants--very similar to what we're doing here. With that and the monster manual (for basic troops--orc 1st-level warriors, for example), you can make up an army with very little effort.

That said, this thread is an awesome idea (as the hours I spent making my sample army attest); more data is a good thing for any DM.


Also, a plea to other people posting (Necromas, jacquess, I'm lookin' at you)...PLEASE use Yahzi's suggested templating--bold and underline headings and numbers and titles. It makes your armies MUCH easier to read.

[Annarrkkii]

Bolding numbers is tedious coding, in my opinion. But if it really makes that much of a difference, I can note it in the future. Or was that not meant for me?

Anyway, I think I'm going to try a more monstrous army tomorrow-ish. Nothing better to do with my spring break. But before I move on, any comments on tactics or build for the Bladewind Brigade?

[Yahzi]

Yahzi:
Heroes of Battle actually does give some suggestions for DMs in line with the questions you raised.
And it's back on my "want-to-buy" list... :smallbiggrin:

The other thing I am going to do is completely re-write the Leadership feat, along the lines of Giant's Diplomacy skill.

[Yahzi]

Ghosts of the Marsh

...normal 5-headed Hydras...
Isn't there something oxymoronic about that? :smallbiggrin:

A very monstrous army!

[Yahzi]

The 7th Cavalry Banner
Great flavor text - and bonus points for including clerks! Your army should get command point bonuses for proper organization. I would love to wargame my Mongols against them, and see who wins the mounted archer fight. :smallcool:

Weren't soldiers that rode to battle and dismounted to fight called "Dragoons" at some point in history?

I think you can assume normal gear (like uniforms, blankets, mess kits, etc.) are part of the "recruit" cost for troops. Commoners don't have a recruit cost, but commoners sleep on the ground and eat with their hands. :smallbiggrin:

Pearls of Power are one of the most broken items in the game. The only controlling factor is that they require a 17th lvl caster to make - and what caster of that level is gonna spend all his time making 1st level casters happy? :smallbiggrin: That's why I didn't include any in my armies - but of course, equipment substitutions are easy. DMs can replace or add such items as fits their worlds. (For instance, my ShadowLord army uses 3.0 Wings of Flying that are 5,500 GP instead of 3.5 ones that are 55,000 GP... Oops! Hehehe...)

[Jothki]

Are there any restrictions on having your troops fight to the death? A point of XP costs 5 gp, while commoners (or weaker monsters, if you're feeling slightly more moral) are free to recruit. Since commoners cost money to maintain, wouldn't they be more useful for their XP than for their actual ability in combat?

[Winterking]

Annarrkkii: I like the Bladewind brigade (although I am a fan of tedious-to-do-yet-makes-it-easier-to-read coding...); one thing that I see is that it looks like it'd have some difficulty against armies either more mobile/ranged-based (my mounted infantry, or Yahzi's horse archers), or far more solid (something along the lines of plate-armored-pikemen--a dwarven regiment of which is to be one of my next postings here). Sieges I could see also posing a problem (but a siege would be hard for any 500-strong army) That said, it would not be fun going up against all those sneaky dagger-using rogue-types.

Yahzi:
Glad you liked the flavor, and the clerks! That's one thing that irks me about most fantasy armies--people forget the (admittedly, not flashy, but still important) paper-pushers and beancounters. Without beancounters, you don't get beans, and without beans, you don't get bean soup. Or bubble baths, but that's another matter entirely. :smallamused:

I think the mounted infantry might do well against mongol-type forces--heavy crossbows have a wonderful range (the main reason I chose them), and could probably hold their own in archery. But your horsemen are far more maneuverable, and could out-cavalry mine. I'd have to find a way to make your mongols sit still...

I hadn't realized pearls of power needed a level 17 caster--doesn't quite make sense for the effect (at least at level 1).

[jaqueses]

Fury of the Mind


Frontline
50 1st lvl Hobgoblin Psychic Warriors - Recruitment = 50,000
Powers Known: Claws of the Beast
Power Points: 2
Feats: Wild Talent, Dodge
Weapons: Claws (1d4)
Armor: Chainmail - 7500
Support = 12,500

Air Recon
25 1st lvl Blue Goblin Nomad Hippogiff riders - Recruitment = 175,00
Powers Known: Catfall, Missive, Bolt
Power Points: 5
Feats: Mounted Combat, Psychic Talent
Weapons: Light Crossbow, 50 bolts = 1225
Armor: Exotic Military Saddle = 1500
Skills: Ride 9, Handle Animal 1, Concentration 4
Support = 18750

Scouts
50 1st lvl Xeph Soulknifes - Recruitment = 50,000
Feats: Weapon Focus (Mind Blade)
Weapons: Mind Blade
Armor: Studded Leather = 1250
Skills: Hide 7, Listen 7, Move Silently 7, Spot 7
Support = 12,500

Shocktroopers
25 2nd lvl Hobgolin Psychic Warriors - Recruitment = 125,000
Powers Known: Claws of the Beast, Force Screen
Power Points: 6
Feats: Wild Talent, Dodge, Psychic Talent
Weapons: Claws (1d4)
Armor: Chainmail - 3750
Support = 12,500

Air Assault
25 3rd lvl Blue Goblin Kineticist Hippogiff riders - Recruitment = 500,000
Powers Known: Catfall, Energy Ray, Bolt, Inertial Armor, Force Screen, Energy Missile, Mass Missive
Power Points: 15
Feats: Mounted Combat, Psychic Talent
Weapons: Light Crossbow, 50 bolts = 1225
Armor: Exotic Military Saddle = 1500
Skills: Ride 7, Handle Animal 2, Concentration 6
Support = 31250

Leader: Phrenic Goblin Wilder(5) Thrallherd(2)
Powers Known: Vigor, Inertial Armor, Biofeedback, Body Adjustment, Mindlink
Power Points: 50
Feats: Empower power, Expanded Knowledge(Mindlink), Extend Power
Weapons: +1 Speed Morningstar
Armor: +1 Mithral Chainmail
Items: Boots of Stomping, Gauntlets of Orge Power, Necklace of Adaptation
Skills: Knowledge(Psionics) 10, Diplomacy 9, Concentration 11
Psi-like Abilities: 3/day - defensive precognition, empty mind, mind thrust
1/day - force screen, body adjustment, brain lock, aversion, psionic blast
Power Reistance: 17

Capital Left: 14,550
Support Left: 12,500

Orginization

2 Snakes
25 Xeph 1st lvl Soulknifes

2 Platoons
25 Hobgoblin 1st lvl Psy Warriors

1 Dragoon
25 Hobgobin 2nd lvl Psy Warriors and Leader

1 Orision
25 Blue 1st lvl Nomad Hippogiff riders

1 Fortress
25 Blue 3rd lvl Kineticist Hippogiff riders


Tactics:
The Line is formed around the Dragoon with a platoon and a snake on either side. The psychic warriors go in with claws on and the dragoons keep their shield up. Each unit is only 3 lines deep with at least 5 feet inbetween each memeber. The leader buffs himself before leading the charge into the enemy. The snakes boost around and into the backs of the enemy while the Orision showers bolts down and calls reports to the Fortress. Using reports from the Orision the Fortress fires energy missiles to the enemy spellcaster and commanders, focusing on healers first. If things look bad the Fortress will sound retreat and help harry an enemies keen on following. The Snakes withdraw first, followed by the platoons, then Dragoon, then Orision. The Leader will use his abilities as needed.

[Annarrkkii]

Yeah, small-sized creatures are at a general disadvantage against more mobile types. They'd be able to run circles around me. I'd like to think that, between a fistful of warmages, a few blade barriers, and enough strikes by the dog-riders or rogues, we could handle a less mobile unit. After all, in that situation, we're the more mobile of the two armies, and can use hit and run tacitcs of out own.

Blade barrier is just an awesome spell...

[Yahzi]

Cirque De Soleil (Gnome)



Clown
400 x 1st Warrior
Shortbow, Shortsword, Small Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Juggler
15 x 1st Bard
Harp, Shortsword, Small Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor

Lion
36 x 3 CR Lion
Saddle
Chain Shirt Barding

Elephant
4 x 7 CR Elephant
Howdah
Chain Shirt Barding
Horseshoes of Speed

Lion Tamer
30 x 1st Ranger
Shortbow, Shortsword, Lance, Small Wooden Shield, Chain Shirt Armor

Mountebank
32 x 1st Rogue
Mighty Composite Shortbow(2), Shortsword, Chain Shirt Armor

Ringleader
30 x 4th Druid
Sickle, Small Wooden Shield, Hide Armor
Spy Hawk

Mahout
4 x 5th Druid
Sickle, Small Wooden Shield, Hide Armor
Spy Hawk

Ringmaster
1 x 9th Druid
As per DMG

Capital: 999,383
Support: 100,000
Adjustment: 25,000 capital converted to support.

Organization:
8 Clown Companies
50 Clowns, 1 Juggler

3 Pouncer Divisions
12 Lions, 10 Lion Tamers, 1 Juggler, 1 Ringleader

4 Oliphaunts
1 Elephant, 8 Mountebanks, 1 Juggler, 1 Mahout

Tactics:

These Forest Gnomes are small, but ludicrous.

Clown Company: Their job is to ensnare and divert the enemy, while the animal handlers do the hard work. Each company is lead by a Juggler, who inspires them with his antics.

Pouncer Division: Guided by the spy hawks and capable of natural stealth, they flank and destroy enemy units with lightening thrusts, withdrawing before a counter-attack can be organized. The lions like to pounce on things while the Tamers stab them with lances. The Ringleader will use his animal companions as additional combat, and will cast buffs or defenses as appropriate (like Resist Energy).

Oliphaunts: The howdah provides %50 cover for the archers, 4 of which can fire in any given direction at a time. The Mahout will buff the archers with Bulls Strength and cast Protection from Energy and Magic Fang on his Elephant, then reserve his magic for healing the Elephant. The Horseshoes of Speed are special Huge versions that cost 6,000 GP.

Ringmaster: Usually rides one of the Elephants. His favorite trick is Animal Growth.

[Yahzi]

Are there any restrictions on having your troops fight to the death? A point of XP costs 5 gp, while commoners (or weaker monsters, if you're feeling slightly more moral) are free to recruit. Since commoners cost money to maintain, wouldn't they be more useful for their XP than for their actual ability in combat?
I have to confess... I don't quite understand your question.

We're measuring resource allocation here, so it's not really important where the XP for your troops come from, as long as its roughly the same amount as everybody else's army.

[Yahzi]

50 1st lvl Hobgoblin Psychic Warriors
Psychic hobgoblins?!?

You people are just... strange. :smallbiggrin:

The only problem I see is that there isn't a lot of cannon fodder in your army - every casualty will hurt.

On the other hand, small armies are easier to maneuver, and you have some pretty tight tactics there. So that should work well together.

[Necromas]

I think we went over that the Leadership feat doesn't allow cohorts. I also think it's... tenuous to invent your own feats etc. to enable your strategy. But I like the idea of a Spartan Army a great deal—and goliaths are a perfect way to go about it. I was actually considering building goliath army next.

Somehow I'd feel a bit more inclined not to bend the rules if we were actually using these armies for something....

I was just bored and in a particularly spartan mood. And there was no way I was going to pass over the phalanx formation.

[shaddy_24]

OK, this looks really cool. Give me some time, I'll try to put this in my schedule. I want to make an army for a cult to a god of fire (from my current campagn). Should be interesting.

[jaqueses]

Kingdom of Selsh (LN)


Light Militia
400 Human Commoners - Recruitment = 0
Weapons: Longspear, Club = 2,000
Armor: Chainshirt = 40,000
Feats:
Support = 30,000

Militia Crossbowmen
400 Human Commoners - Recruitment = 0
Weapons: Clubs, Light Crossbow = 14,000
Ammunition: 50 Bolts = 2,000
Armor: Padded Armor = 2,000
Feats:
Support = 30,000

Infantry
200 1st lvl Human Warriors - Recruitment = 20,000
Weapons: Longspears, Longswords = 4,000
Armor: Studded Leather, Heavy Wooden Shield = 6,400
Feats:
Support = 25,000

Forest Watcher
30 1st lvl Half-Elf Bards - Recruitment = 30,000
Weapons: Longswords = 450
Armor: Chainshirt = 3,000
Spells Known:
Feats:
Skill Ranks: Perform (Oratory) 4
Support = 7,500

Priest
20 3rd lvl Elf Favored Souls* - Recruitment = 300,000
Diety: Vandria Gilmadrith**
Weapons: Longbow, Longsword = 2,250
Ammunition: 100 arrows = 125
Armor: Scale Mail = 1,250
Spells Known: Create Water, Purify Food and Drink, Cure Light Wounds, Entropic Shield, Deathwatch, Sanctuary
Feats:
Skill Ranks: Concentration 6, Heal 6
Support = 15,000

Stave
5 5th lvl Elf Wizards - Recruitment = 250,000
Weapons: Dagger = 10
Spells Known: Dispel Magic, Fireball, Flaming Sphere, Web, Summon Swarm, Mount
Spells Prepared: Dispel Magic, Fireball, Flaming Sphere, Web (2), Mount (1)
Feats:
Skill Ranks: Concentration 8, Spellcraft 8
Support = 6,250



Kith Serth - 9th lvl Elven Favored Soul*
Alignment: LN
Diety: Vandria Gilmadrith**
Weapons: +1 Silver Keen Longsword, +1 Keen Longbow
Ammunition: 40 silver arrows, 20 cold iron arrows, 40 arrows
Armor: +1 Mithral Breastplate
Items: Gauntlets of Orge Power, Cloak of Charisma +2, Boots of Striding and Springing
Spells Known: Greater Magic Weapon, Dismissal, Freedom of Movement, Magic Vestment, Dispel Magic, Cure Moderate Wounds, Deathwatch, Cure Light Wounds, Entropic Shield
Feats: Weapon Focus (Longbow), Endurance, Diehard, Combat Casting
Skills Ranks: Concentration 12, Spellcraft 12

Stats

Wizard: Str 8, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 10
Favoured Soul: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 15
Warrior: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 8
Crossbowmen: Str 14, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 8
Light Infantry: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 8


Capital: 47515
Adjustments: Convert 275,000 Capital into 13,750 Support
Support: 113,750

Organization

10 Flanks
40 Commoners, 3 Bard

10 Center
20 Warriors, 1 Favored Soul*

1 Support
5 Wizard

2 Medic Squads
5 Favored Souls

10 Militia Crossbowmen
40 Commoners

The Humans are seen as simple cattle by the Elves. As such even the best Human Warrior is lower than even criminal and exiled Elves. The Humans resent this opinion but are willing to put up with the Elven attitude in exchange for protection. The Elven Diety has ordered the elves to protect the land and its inhabitants until they are given a new assignment. The outer edges of the barony is a small plain surrounding a forest. The humans are permitted to harvest on the plains and have some areas of the forest for lumber.

Tactics
When being threatened, the Elves call up all the militia and use them to cover the flanks and to possibly encircle the enemy force. The bards are dispersed amongst the militia so as to boost morale and keep order.The Warriors form up in a double line so as to switch units when one tires. Half of the favored souls provide healing to the warriors. The other half is split into 2 groups and spread along the flanks to help the militia. The Wizards are kept in the back to provide fire support by incinerating the enemy or simply slowing them down. The crossbowmen are the last line. They shower their bolts onto missile troops, calvary, or heavy infantry. Kith stays near the front healing the priests and hunting down enemy leaders.

*If not using Complete Divine replace with Clerics with the Protection and War Domains.
**If not using Races of the Wild pick an apporpiate LN diety with the War and Protection domains.

[Yahzi]

As such even the best Human Warrior is lower than even criminal and exiled Elves.
Haha! Snooty elves! I knew we were missing something. :smallbiggrin:

[Yahzi]

THE BLADEWIND BRIGADE

The halflings in front of the Razors are too short to give sufficient cover to the taller beings they typically fight, meaning the Razors can fling knives to their hearts’ content.
Hehe... just noticed this.

A good way to take advantage of halfings!

[jaqueses]

Troops of the Derelict

Private, Infantry
96 1st lvl Dwarf Warrior - Recruitment = 9,600
Weapons: Dwarven Waraxe = 2,880
Armor: Splint Mail, Heavy Wooden Shield = 19,872
Feats: Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe)
Skill Ranks:
Support = 12,000

Corporal, Infantry
24 1st lvl Dwarf Fighters - Recruitment = 24,000
Weapons: Dwarven Waraxe = 720
Armor: Splint Mail, Heavy Wooden Shield = 4,968
Feats: Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe)
Skill Ranks:
Support = 6,000

Sergeant, Infantry
12 2nd lvl Dwarf Fighters - Recruitment = 60,000
Weapons: Dwarven Waraxe = 360
Armor: Splint Mail, Heavy Wooden Shield = 2,484
Feats: Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe)
Skill Ranks:
Support = 6,000

Lieutenant, Infantry
6 2 lvl Dwarf Paladins - Recruitment = 30,000
Weapons: Dwarven Waraxe = 180
Armor: Splint Mail, Heavy Wooden Shield = 1,242
Feats: Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe)
Skill Ranks:
Support = 3,000

Captian, Infantry
3 3rd lvl Dwarf Paladins - Recruitment = 45,000
Weapons: Dwarven Waraxe = 90
Armor: Splint Mail, Heavy Wooden Shield = 621
Feats: Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe)
Skill Ranks:
Support = 2,250


Corporal, Calvary
16 1st lvl Human Fighter - Recruitment = 16,000
Weapons: Lance, Scimitar = 400
Armor: Chain Shirt, Heavy wooden shield = 1,712
Feats: Mounted Combat, Weapon Focus (Lance), Weapon Focus (Scimitar)
Mounts: Light Warhorse = 2,400
Barding: Chain Shirt, Saddle = 6,720
Skill Ranks:
Support = 4,400

Sergeant, Calvary
8 2nd lvl Human Fighter - Recruitment = 40,000
Weapons: Lance, Scimitar = 200
Armor: Chain Shirt, Heavy wooden shield = 856
Feats: Mounted Combat, Weapon Focus (Lance), Weapon Focus (Scimitar), Trample
Mounts: Light Warhorse = 1,200
Barding: Chain Shirt, Saddle = 3,360
Skill Ranks:
Support = 4,200

Lieutenant, Calvary
4 2nd lvl Human Paladin - Recruitment = 20,000
Weapons: Lance, Scimitar = 100
Armor: Chain Shirt, Heavy wooden shield = 428
Feats: Mounted Combat
Mounts: Light Warhorse = 600
Barding: Chain Shirt, Saddle = 1,680
Skill Ranks:
Support = 2,100

Sergeant, Archer
40 2nd lvl Elven Fighter - Recruitment = 200,000
Weapons: Composite Longbow, 100 Arrows, Longsword = 4,800
Armor: Chain Shirt = 4,000
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Coordinated Shot**
Skill Ranks:
Support = 20,000

Saboteur
4 5th lvl Elven Ranger - Recruitment = 200,000
Weapons: 1 Composite Shortbow, 100 arrows, 8 Daggers, 2 Short Swords, 1 Longsword, 5 Blast Disks* = 18,524
Armor: Chain Shirt = 400
Feats: Self Sufficent, Stealthy
Skill Ranks: Hide 8, Move silently 8, Listen 8, Spot 8,Knowledge (geography) 6, Knowledge (Architecture and engineering) 4, Survival 2
Support = 5,000

Runners
6 1st lvl Human Barbarians - Recruitment = 6,000
Weapons: Greataxe = 120
Feats: Run
Support: 1,500

Military Intelligence
6 4th lvl Experts - Recruitment = 90,000
Skill Ranks: Decipher Script 7, Sense Motive 7, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 7, (geography) 7, (history) 7, (nature) 7
Support = 4,500

Major
9 lvl Human Paladin
Weapons: +1 Silver Greatsword
Armor: +1 Mithral Full Plate
Items: Necklace of Adaptations, Gauntlets of Ogre Giant Strength, Cloak of Charisma +2, 4 Elixir of Fire Breath

Capital: 178,663
Support: 29,050

Organization
3 Infantry Companies
32 Privates, 8 Corporals, 4 Sergeants, 2 Lieutenants, 1 Captain

2 Calvary Squads
8 Corporals, 4 Sergeants, 2 Lieutenants

2 Archer Squads
20 2nd lvl Sergeants

4 Saboteur
1 Ranger

6 Runners
6 1st lvl Barbarians

Command
Major and 6 Experts


Tactics
The Dwarven Infantry companies form up the main body of the army. Their Warriors are almost incapable of being moved, while their Paladins keep them motivated and in line. The Dwarven line sees itself as a rock and the enemy as the waves of an ocean breaking upon them. While largely immobile the dwarves stick to tight ranks because of their naturally reduced mobility. The Humans serve as light calvary, harassing and flanking the enemy. Though small they usually take down more than their number. Command usually gives them free reign unless facing a more mobile opponent. The Elven archers are kept in the back but serve equally well as light infantry as they do as archers. The saboteurs are used in the night to destroy enemy supplies, siege engines, and animals with their blast disks.The Command unit stays behind the archers. The Major makes the final decisions but is advised by 6 experts who act as a intelligence operation. They generally deal with intercepted communiques, interrogations, and knowledge on the battlefield conditions as well as historical battles and fortifications. Runners are hired to send reports and orders to Infantry Lieutenants.



*If not using Heroes of Battle then replace with flasks of Alchemist Fire
**If not using Heroes of Battle then replace with Weapon Focus (Composite Longbow)

[Yahzi]

Troops of the Derelict

A mixed bag... elves, dwarves, and men. Hehe.

Low magic, but bonus points for the runners. People always skip those details!

[Beren One-Hand]

Reginauld's Legion (LG)

Regular Troops:
Soldiers - Level 1 Human Warriors
Shortsword, Heavy Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor
Backpack - Shovel, Waterskin, 3 ten-foot poles (Cut into segments a little more than 3' long & sharpened on one end), Bedroll
Feats - Weapon Focus (Shortsword), Phalanx Fighting*

Captains - Level 1 Human Clerics (Domains: War, Bravery*)
Shortsword, Heavy Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor, Wooden Holy Symbol
Backpack - Shovel, Waterskin, 3 ten-foot poles (Cut into segments a little more than 3' long & sharpened on one end), Bedroll
Feats - Divine Cleansing*, Divine Resistence*

Scouts - Level 1 Human Warriors
Shortbow, Arrows, Studded Leather Armor, 4 Caltrops, Bedroll
Light Warhorse w/ Military Saddle
Feats - Mounted Combat, Mounted Archery

Officers:
Centurions - Level 3 Human Warriors
Halberd, Shortbow, Arrows, Buckler, Breastplate, Bedroll
Light Warhorse w/ Military Saddle
Feats - ???, ???, ???

Decturions - Level 1 Human Warmages**
Halberd, Buckler, Mithril Breastplate, Spell Component Pouch, Bedroll
Light Warhorse w/ Military Saddle
Feats - Skill Focus: Concentration, Weapon Focus (Halberd)

Pilus Prior - Level 4 Human Marshals***
Halberd, +1 Buckler, Breastplate, Bedroll
Light Warhorse w/ Military Saddle
Feats - Weapon Focus (Halberd), Quick Reconnocence****, ???

Primi Ordines - Level 4 Human Marshals***
Halberd, Shortbow, Arrows, Buckler, Breastplate, Bedroll
Light Warhorse w/ Military Saddle
Feats - Weapon Focus (Halberd), Quick Reconnoiter****, ???

Princeps Secondus - Level 5 Human Cleric (Domains: War, Bravery*)
Halberd, +1 Buckler, +1 Breastplate, Silver Holy Symbol, Bedroll
Light Warhorse w/ Military Saddle
Feats - Divine Cleansing*, Divine Resistence*, Combat Casting

Primus Pilus - Level 6 Human Warmage**
Halberd, +1 Buckler, +1 Mithril Breastplate, Spell Component Pouch, Bedroll
Light Warhorse w/ Military Saddle
Feats - Skill Focus: Concentration, Weapon Focus (Halberd), Spell Focus (Evocation), Extra Edge**

Tribunes - Level 3 Human Cleric (Domains: War, Bravery*)
Halberd, Buckler, Breastplate, Silver Holy Symbol, Bedroll
Light Warhorse w/ Military Saddle
Feats - Divine Cleansing*, Divine Resistence*, Combat Casting

Camp Prefect - Level 6 Human Warmage**
Halberd, +1 Buckler, +1 Mithril Breastplate, Spell Component Pouch, Bedroll
Light Warhorse w/ Military Saddle
Feats - Skill Focus: Concentration, Weapon Focus (Halberd), Spell Focus (Evocation), Extra Edge**

Legate - Level 9 Human Marshal***
As per DMG

Capital: 984,976
Support: 100,750
Adjustment: 15,000 capital converted to support.

Organization:
40 Maniples
9 Soldiers, 1 Captain
Goods - 1 Bugle

4 Scouting Maniples
10 Scouts
1 Centurian (Leader of the Maniple)
Goods - 1 Bugle, 1 Tent

6 Cohorts
5 Maniples
5 Centurians (Leader of the Maniples)
1 Decturian
1 Pilus Prior (Leader of the Cohort)
Goods - Iron Pot, Manacles w/ Average Lock, 7 Tents

1 Millarian Cohort
10 Maniples
5 Primi Ordines (Leaders of 2 Maniples each)
1 Princepes Secundus
1 Primus Pilus (Leader of the Cohort)
Goods - 2 Iron Pots, 7 Tents

1 Legion
1 Millarian Cohort
6 Cohorts
6 Tribunes
1 Camp Prefect
1 Legate (Leader of the Legion)
Goods - 8 Tents, 14 Continual Flames


Tactics: Favoring tight formations each Maniple works somewhat independently. The Centurions receive direction from their Pilus Prior (who is aided by his Decturions) when they are leading their Maniples far from their Cohort. Messages are sent and received via their bugles.
The Millarian Cohort is the main fighting body containing the best soldiers of the Legion. As such they are the anvil upon which the other Cohorts smash their foes. When on the march the Legion moves in several lines, with the Scouting Maniples riding North, East, South, and West of the main body. When a foe is discovered they announce it with their bugles and harry them with their arrows. If they need to delay the foes advancement further they employ their caltrops before fleeing.
When expecting attacks on the march the Captains ready survey the area as they march, ready to call upon ? to protect the Maniple from elemental dangers (Such as Fireballs). The Pilus Priors, Primi Ordines, and The Legate are also ready to call out formation changes at the first sign of need. (Reading an action to use his Grant Move Action ability if there is need to alter the formation before the enemy reaches them, such as an imminent cavalry charge.)
At the end of every march, whether in peace or not, the soldiers dig a wide trench around the camp. They pack the earth next to the trench, creating a large berm around the camp except for the two entrances left clear, they also incorporate their sharpened poles to detour foes from scaling the berm. To enter the camp outside of the "gates" a foe will have to travel down hill into the trench (5' square), then immediately uphill trying to avoided the spikes (2 5' squares essentially filled with caltrops), and then back downhill (5' square) if they can fight past the Legion. To facilitate the night watch, they have 14 Everburning Torches placed around the berm. Each officer has his own tent, while the Soldiers and Captains sleep in the open air.
Often sent to capture renegades and bandits, each Cohort (except the Millarian) carries a pair of manacles to bring the band's leader to justice.
* If Complete Warrior is unavailable replace the Bravery domain with Healing, Phalanx Fighting with Combat Expertise, and the Divine Feats with Combat Casting and Augment Healing (if available).
** If Complete Arcane is unavailable replace with Battle Sorcerers from www.d20srd.org, and the Extra Edge with Combat Casting.
*** If the Miniatures Handbook is unavailable replace the Marshals with appropriately leveled melee characters like Paladins.
**** If Complete Adventurer is unavailable replace Quick Reconnoiter with a combat feat.

[Yahzi]

Reginauld's Legion (LG)


Very nice detail, Beren!

But what makes you think of Romans as Lawful Good? Don't you watch that HBO show, Rome? :smallbiggrin:

[Winterking]

The Troika
(Dwarven, Lawful Good, Warriors/Fighters/Clerics)

Shield-Soldiers
72x Dwarf Warrior 2
-Equipment: Masterwork Full Plate Mail, Tower Shield, Dwarven Waraxe, light crossbow & 100 bolts.

Spear-Soldiers
96x Dwarf Warrior 2
-Equipment: Masterwork Full Plate Mail, Awl Pike*, light crossbow & 100 bolts, Warhammer

Axe-Soldiers
40x Dwarf Warrior 2
-Equipment: Masterwork Full Plate Mail, Masterwork Dwarven Waraxe, Heavy Wooden Shield, light crossbow & 100 bolts. 8x bags of Caltrops.

Comissars:
6x Cleric of Moradin 3
-Equipment: Holy Symbol, Masterwork Full Plate Mail, Tower Shield, Masterwork Warhammer. Scrolls: 8x Bless; Wand of Cure Light Wounds.

Polkovniks (Captains)
3x Dwarf Fighter 2
-Equipment: Mastework Full Plate Mail, +1 Dwarven Waraxe, Tower Shield, light crossbow & 100 bolts.

War-Hymn Singers:
3x Dwarf Bard 1/Cleric 2
-Equipment: Masterwork Full Plate Mail, Warhammer, light crossbow & 100 bolts. Wand of cure light wounds. (Perform: Singing)

Spell-Caller Malachi Songwind
1x Gnome Wizard 5 (Conjurer)
-Equipment: Ring of Wizardry I, Bracers of Armor +1, Amulet of Natural Armor +1. 8x Elemental Gems (Air).

Wall-Breakers
1x Clay Golem
2x Fighter 2 (Golem-tenders)
-Equipment: +1 Full Plate Mail, +1 Great-axe, Golembane Scarab. Potions: 4x Cure Moderate Wounds, 4x Shield of Faith +2.

Spell-Enders
2x Halfling Rogue 3
-Equipment: Ring of Invisibility, +1 Spell-storing (inflict serious wounds) Short Sword, 2 daggers, masterwork studded leather armor. 4x Potions of Cat's Grace, 4x Potions of Fly.


Voivode's Escorts:
2x Cleric 2
-Equipment: Masterwork Full Plate Mail, Warhammer light crossbow & 100 bolts.


Voivode (commander) Mikhail Kutuzov
Dwarf Cleric of Moradin 9
-Equipment: (part of standard WBL): Wand of Dispel Magic (caster level 9), +1 Full Plate Mail, various other protective items.

Capital: 998,200 gp
Support: 97,970 gp

*Awl Pike: from Dragon Magazine #331; D10 Piercing, Crit 20 x3, 10gp cost, 10 lbs. Reach of 15', damage doubled vs. charge


Force Organization
Company:
32x Spear-Soldiers
24x Shield-Soldiers
2x Comissars
1x Polkovnik
1x War-Hymn Singer

Flank Square:
16x Axe-Soldiers

Command Group
8x Axe-Soldiers
Voivode Kutuzov
Voivode's Escort
Spell-Caller

Troika:
3x Companies
2x Flank Squares
1x Command Group
Spell-Enders
Wall-Breakers

Tactics
Each Company is a block of Dwarves ten files wide and six ranks deep. The outer edge consists of Shield-Soldiers (10 in front rank, 10 in back rank, and 4 others on each side)--the 4 officers which command the unit are deployed in the front rank of Shield-Soldiers (making up the 28 dwarvens on the unit's outside edge). Inside this shield-wall, the Spear-Soldiers are formed into 4 ranks of 8 pikemen.

This formation is solid on its own merits--the company can fight enemies on any and/or all sides (though the officers would redistribute themselves in that event), and the tower shield/plate armor combination of the Shield-Soldiers offers considerable protection against enemy archers. The Spear-Soldiers, meanwhile, are able to use their unusually long reach weapons to support the front rank warriors--a foe attacking the Company would first face an attack of opportunity from the forward Spear-Soldier in front of him, then be engaged in combat with the Spear Soldier in rank 3, as well as the Shield-Soldier in front of him. With Commissars and War-Hymn Singers healing everyone they can reach, each company, and the Troika as a whole, is almost unstoppable in combat, even against cavalry. If the foe withdraws and maneuvers too swiftly for the dwarves to match (a normal occurrence), they can always halt, relatively secure from attack, while the Shield-Soldiers use their crossbows from behind the cover of their tower shields. Ideally, the Company halts in an area of decisive terrain--near a bridge, pass, or similarly important location--to provoke enemy attack; the pike-and-shield-wall formation is difficult to dislodge.

The full Troika typically deploys in wedge formation--the Voivode (and his retinue, forming a full 12, or, 2 extra files of width) joins one Company, and the other two form up on either side. Each Flank Square then deploys to the rear flank of the outer Companies, for additional support against enemy skirmishers or elites. (The ends of a company are its most vulnerable spot, as fewer soldiers can bring their weapons to bear) This formation then advances against the enemy line, aiming at the strongest point in hopes of striking a decisive blow. If fighting on the defensive, on the other hand, the Troika will remain in position, preferably just behind the crest of a hill or somewhere less vulnerable to ranged attack.

Before a battle, the Spell-Breakers are dispatched to deal with enemy spellcasters--wearing their rings of invisibility, the rogues infiltrate the enemy formation, pinpoint the most threatening casters (wizards and sorcerors, generally), and drink their potion of flight. A single sneak attack, coupled with an Inflict Serious Wounds stored in the shortsword (thanks to the Voivode), will likely be enough to slay most wizardly foes--more powerful casters will be faced with two rogues' attacks. The Rogues then soar out of reach of the first combat round, before reactivating their invisibility and getting out of the area. They are, of course, quite handsomely paid for their vital service--magic is the Troika's greatest weakness, which also explains the Voivode's Dispel Magic wand.

Voivode Kutuzov will spend much of the battle with a readied action to dispel any spell that is cast against his army. (if you have access to Heroes of Battle, he regularly prepares two or three castings of Battlemagic Perception) The gnomish conjurer, on the other hand, is the Troika's aerial defense system--if the enemy has many flying foes, Malachi not only looses the air elementals from his gems, but summons flying monsters of his own. Otherwise, the elementals may disrupt rival archers, seek out enemy casters, or simply wreak windy havoc.

The golem, named Wall-Breaker, and its tenders act as a reserve, only moving against excessively powerful foes, or against fortifications. A berserk golem is a frightening possibility, hence the golembane scarabs worn by the dwarves who accompany it. In the event that Wall-Breaker turns upon its owners, they are to destroy it. When not in combat, Wall-Breaker is usually found strapped to a large supply wagon, carrying the heaviest of the army's supplies.


Notes:
Kutuzov's Troika is a brutal, indomitable military formation developed and perfected by a force of Dwarven mercenaries who found that their short stature and slow movement left them vulnerable to swifter foes from agile elves to wolf-riding goblins. Their response was to deploy and fight in marching fortresses--surrounded by heavy shields, bristling with pikes. Axes and hammers, though dangerous in close quarters, are not quite as fearsome in the open or against cavalry, and the pikes were adopted to counteract this effect. Kutuzov also hired additional allies--the halfling rogues and the conjurer to deal with magical or airborne enemies. After a series of successful jobs, the Golem was purchased, replacing the army's less-effective siege engines. By now, the Troika has its own fortress, but is still available for anyone willing and able to hire them--More gold, after all, is hard to turn down.


As you can probably tell, I've given this army a Russian flavor. Too often, I think, Dwarves are automatically given either a Norse or a Scottish character & accent. I personally think that the common conception of dour and hearty Russians--enduring, pessimistic, heavy drinkers of strong alcohol--fit Dwarves far better than the seafaring Norse and jig-dancing Scots. Additionally, the accent is equally fun to adopt, whether you're a GM or player, and Russian culture has rich, deep, and very interesting possibilities. (Bonus fun facts: Dwarves live in mountains, as did the Incas. Who are responsible for the potato. Which is the ingredient fermented to make vodka. Drink up, comrade!)

[Winterking]

Le Brigade du Ciel (The Sky Brigade)
(Half-Elven--mostly--Eagle-Riders)

Eagles
42x Giant Eagles, raised from chicks by professional trainers (as per Monster Manual entry). Equipment: +1 Studded Leather Armor.

First Squadron Chevaliers d'Aire
9x Half-Elven Expert 2/Sorceror 1
-Equipment: Ring of Protection +1, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Masterwork Composite Longbow & 100 Arrows, shortsword, saddle, harness, etc. 3x-Wand of Molten Strike (2nd Level, 2d6 fire, long range, 5' radius burst. From Heroes of Battle). 6x-Wand of Magic Missile (caster level 5). Feats: Mounted Combat, Skill Focus: Ride (Giant Eagle). Spells: Mage Armor, Featherfall.

First Squadron Capitaines
3x Half-Elven Expert 2/Sorceror 1/Ranger 1
-Equipment: Ring of Protection +1, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Masterwork Composite Longbow & 100 Arrows, shortsword, saddle, harness, etc. Wand of Molten Strike. Feats: Mounted Combat, Skill Focus: Ride (Giant Eagle). Spells: Mage Armor, Featherfall.

Second Squadron Chevaliers d'Aire
9x Human Expert 2/Fighter 1
-Equipment: Chain Shirt, Masterwork Composite Longbow & 100 Arrows, shortsword, Bag of Holding I, rocks, saddle, harness, etc. 12x Catapult Stones (75lb, 6d6 damage, 2gp). Feats: Mounted Combat, Skill Focus: Ride (Giant Eagle), Improved Initiative, Iron Will.

Second Squadron Capitaines
3x Half-Elven Expert 2/Ranger 1
-Equipment: Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Chain Shirt, Masterwork Composite Longbow (Str +2), Bag of Holding I, rocks, saddle, harness, etc. 12x Catapult Stones. Feats: Mounted Combat, Skill Focus: Ride (Giant Eagle), Improved Initiative.

Third Squadron Chevaliers d'Aire
9x Elven Warrior 2/Ranger 2
-Equipment: Elven Chain Mail, Ring of Featherfall, +1 Distance Composite Longbow of Strength (+2), rapier, saddle, etc. Feats: Mounted Combat, Skill Focus: Ride (Giant Eagle).

Third Squadron Capitaines
3x Elven Fighter 2/Ranger 2
-Equipment: +1 Elven Chain Mail, Ring of Featherfall, +1 Distance Flaming/Shock/Frost (1 each) Composite Longbow of Strength (+2), rapier, saddle, harness, etc. Wand of Cure Light Wounds, 4x Potion of Cat's Grace. Feats: Mounted Combat, Skill Focus: Ride (Giant Eagle), Longbow Focus, Quickdraw.


Ground Crew
24x Human Commoner 1
-Equipment: 12x Wagon, 24x draft horses, individual quarterstaves, misc. supply gear.

18x Human Expert 1 (Eagle Caretaker)
-Equipment: Spear, light horses. Feats: Skill Focus: Healing, Animal Affinity.

3x Human Druid 2
-Equipment: Scimitar, eagle animal companion, light horse. Wand of Cure Light Wounds. Feats: Skill Focus: Healing, Animal Affinity.

Bernard, Human Cleric of Kord 4
-Equipment: masterwork full plate armor, heavy warhorse, +1 Spell-storing Greatsword, Periapt of Wisdom +2. Feats: Greatsword Proficiency & Focus, Combat Expertise.

Colonel Maurice Du Fée
Half-Elven Ranger 6/Sorceror 1/Expert 2
-Equipment: Giant Eagle bearing +1 Studded Leather Armor, +1 Ring of Protection, +1 Amulet of Natural Armor, +1 Distance Shock Composite Longbow of Strength (+2) & 100 Arrows, Gloves of Dexterity +2, wand of cure light wounds. (as WBL guidelines.) (Feats are: Point Blank Shot, Far Shot, Longbow Focus, Skill Focus: Ride-Giant Eagle )

Capital--Support Conversion: 67.760
Support: 103.388
Capital: 999,468 gp


Organization:
Each Squadron has 3 Flights, each with 3 Chevaliers, & 1 Capitaine.
As a whole, the Brigade also includes a support crew, their supply wagons, and the commander. However, the main fighting force is the three squadrons:

Escadrille Premiere: (The First Squadron, called the Fire-Wings)
Escadrille Duxieme: (The Second Squadron, called the Meteors)
Escadrille Lafyrenne: (The Third Squadron,* called the Windlords)

*General Lafyrenne led a force to aid the elven lands during a serious crisis many decades ago. The Escadrille which is entirely composed of Elven volunteers is named in his memory.

Tactics:
The Brigade du Ciel is a highly effective, if small, military force which uses air superiority to rout and destroy enemy forces. Each Escadrille specializes in a particular variety of weapon, and serves distinctly different purposes during a battle. Mobility and firepower are the squadron's particular specialties, and it is the rare enemy that can outmaneuver 36 elite soldiers on giant eagles. They are weakest when engaged in a seige, lacking signifcant numbers. However, during an enemy's advance on their fortress, the castle serves as an excellent base for destructive air raids on opposing marchers.

The Escadrille Premiere is the elite, air-to-ground assault squadron. The long-ranged wands carried by half the squad cause small, fiery explosions where they strike, and the wands of Magic Missile, at closer range, are accurate and reliable. Generally, the squadron begins a battle high in the air; either the Colonel or the ranking Capitaine in the squadron will determine a target or targets, particularly spellcasters and other enemy VIPs. Each rider casts Mage Armor on him/herself, followed by, perhaps, another 1st-level protective spell. The eagle-riders then make strafing runs at their targets, flying in pairs--one Molten-Strike user and one wingman. If the enemy has a great many archers, the Escadrille will instead circle above at maximum range for the molten-strike wands, targeting archers first. If, however, the enemy has its own air support, the squadon's wands will be first directed at that air support. Here again each flight is split into pairs of leader & wingman--one to shoot, one to keep an eye out for both.

The Escadrille Duxieme is the most specialized squadron. The eagles' harnesses are designed to reflect their primary means of attack--boulders. Generally one catapult boulder is carried at a time by each eagle. Once the enemy is sighted, the ranking Capitaine, or the Brigade's Colonel, will select a target or series of targets. Optimal targets are seige engines (catapults, trebuchets, towers), ranked-up infantry, and transport wagons/boats. If attacked or fearing attack by enemy fliers, the Escadrille will delay their assault until the airbone foe is eliminated by one of the other two squadrons.

In their flights of four, the squadron flies over the target area, staying out of effective archery & spell range whenever possible. On their Capitaine's command, the stones are dropped, hopefully to great effect. Sometimes, if the enemy's archery/spellcasting has been reduced or is naturally limited, the Escadrille's eagles will make dive-bombing runs, swooping low in a dive upon the target, shrilly shrieking, before dropping a large stone with pin-point accuracy. Once the boulder is dropped, the flight returns to its encampment to pick up more ammunition. Once per battle, generally, the riders will open their Bags of Holding, which are strapped to the eagle's underside such that when opened, the contents fall out. In this case, the bags are filled with smaller stones, campfire ash, sand, or a variety of other harmful materials. This can often be an effective weapon (the stones serving as shrapnel), or as a disruption of the enemy.

The Escadrille Lafyrenne, while still effective against ground forces, is best trained to deal with flying foes. The highly effective longbows carried by the squadron's riders can cause significant damage to any airborne opponent. During a battle, this squadron, when not engaging enemy flyers, will provide support for the other two. When with the Escadrille Premiere, a flight's arrows will prove at least as potent, if not more so, than the wands of Magic Missile. When with the Escadrille Duxieme, on the other hand, the Lafyrenne riders circle the target area, pinpointing and eliminating any threats to the stone-droppers, then adding their firepower to the fight. The Colonel often flies with this squadron, at least for the early stages of a battle.

The ground crew remains miles away throughout the battle. Generally, at least one flight of eagle-riders is at the camp with the ground crew, and the druid's eagle companions are also trained to warn of approaching enemies. The crew's main job is to take care of the eagles--they being rarer and slower to train than their riders, although healing is available to the riders as well. The commoners generally just carry supplies, although they also have the enjoyable job of refilling the Bags of Holding with rocks in between battle. Bernard, the Cleric is both a healer and a guard--in the event that foes threaten the ground crew, he will attempt to hold them off long enough for the crew to escape or for the Escadrilles to return.

Notes:
In this force's country, an elven & half-elven aristocracy is in charge. Humans can advance, but with their longer lifetimes, the elf-blooded are able to maintain a grip on most positions of real power. Thus, the squadrons are commanded by half-elves (and elves), and humans are only involved in the 'bomber' squadron.
Incidentally, this army was inspired by stories of the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron of American volunteers in France during WWI. The squadron, named after the French nobleman who fought beside George Washington during the American Revolution, became quite famous. (I think the recent movie "Flyboys" was about this, though I haven't seen it, so I can't be sure.) The third Escadrille above is, obviously, named/themed in homage to that historical squadron.
An amusing side effect of this army is that, like the modern air force, the equipment (eagle, magic gear, wands, bows) used is far more expensive than the hiring and training of the Chevaliers themselves.

Hope you enjoy reading this! Coming sometime in the next week will be something more Irish in flavor, I think, or possibly infantry inspired by British colonial troops, or maybe...

[Kobold Kreeper]

I have a few ideas, but one involves crude explosives (gunpowder bombs/grenades, some crude incendiaries, etc.). How much would that kind of thing cost?

[Yahzi]

I have a few ideas, but one involves crude explosives (gunpowder bombs/grenades, some crude incendiaries, etc.). How much would that kind of thing cost?
Guns in D&D are just too expensive to even compete. Which actually reflects RL pretty well; guns were toys for a long time before they became effective battlefield weapons.

[Winterking]

The DMG has price guides for renaissance-era firearms, which you could use. And there's certainly alchemist's fire flasks and flasks of oil for incendiaries. It's true, the gear would be expensive, but I don't think gunpowder equipment would be prohibitively so. You couldn't have the full emergency militia equipped with muskets, but then they'd be lousy shots so you wouldn't want to anyway. But if you cut back on magic items and on higher-level officers, there'd be enough gp spare to pass out grenades and incendiaries.

[TheWarBlade]

Bah! Gunpowder gets wet. (Magical) Arrows will lead us to victory!

[shaddy_24]

Hey, this thread is alive again! Give me a few days, I had a great start on my fire cult army before this disappeared. I just need to find my notes again and make a few changes to them.

By the way, Winterking, your armies are absolutely amazing. Your attention to detail and tactics is simply outstanding. Do you have a job involving the study of armies and military tactics?

[raspberrybadger]

The Infernal Legion (devils)

200 Lemures, CR 1
30 Imps, CR 2
Edit: bearded devils removed since I reallized devils can't teleport and take others along. Replaced with: 3 cleric 1 with wands of cure light wounds, kept back at base in case someone valuable gets injured, at which point that demon can just teleport back for healing for a few rounds.
3 Chain Devils, CR 6 each with 8 potions of mage armor, 8 potions of shield of faith, 4 potions of cure light wounds, and gauntlets of ogre strength, a +1 chain, and some extra mundane chains. Make sure they take combat reflexes instead of improved critical, chain, and a cape of the mountebank
3 Erinyes, all with a cloak of charisma +2 and some mage armor potions, and one with a ring of invisibility. Make sure the erinyes have feats Empower unholy blight and Quicken minor image.
Commander: Bone Devil. Make sure it has Quicken invisibility. It also gets equipment to

That requires converting some 60k of support to capital

Peasants and townsfolk are not supplied with weapons that aren't free - they might use them to rebel anyway. Lemures keep order visibly, but the true threat is the invisible imps scouting both countryside and town for problems internal and external. Imps can cause trouble or prevent rebellion with their suggestion power, and infiltration using magic is made much more difficult by the fact that an imp can constantly be detecting magic.

In the event an invasion is reported by imps, imps will be dispatched as messengers (a function they can also play in a large battle, as well as invisible scouts and chain of command disruption/sabotage using suggestion), the erinyes and possibly the bone devil as well can teleport in to cause serious havok. In some cases, only the invisible erinyes and the bone devil (also invisible) will teleport in and make use of illusions and the like to delay the enemy and force waste of resources.

In a large battle, as many chain devils as possible will dimension door in to take down high value targets such as spellcasters, while the bone devil commander uses ice walls from invisibility to keep the bulk of the enemy force from being effective, and to prevent the chain devils from being overwhelmed when the enemy responds. The erinyes can offer fire support with unholy blight, diversions with quickened illusions, and detection with true sight. Alternatively, especially the invisible one can disrupt enemy command or difficult to kill creatures with charm monster. Also, if at all possible, one of the greater devils will create an illusion of the chain devils appearing out of no-where at some completely different point to where they are ordered to strike, so as to waste or reveal whatever surprises the enemy has in store for them, and potentially delay response to the real strike.

The lemures are mostly for keeping order among the populace, and providing bodyguards for the larger devils. In a large battle, some number of them can form up in a line to give the enemy an obvious target, so that the teleporting squads and the casting devils can (especially with the aid of illusions) truly confuse and trap enemy generals. If there is time, the line of lemures can be saved from destruction with some ice walls, especially if this allows the lemure force to fight only a small portion of their intended attackers.

In a defensive campaign, if the enemy spreads out this is vulnerable to a quick teleport in, cause havok, teleport out. Even worse, the enemy may end up with multiple charmed commanders. If the enemy sticks together in one massive invasion force, this is vulnerable to mass battle techniques as above. A tight battle formation is vulnerable to repeated unholy blights into one sector while much of the army is prevented from using ranged weapons by icewalls and confused by illusions, while a spread out formation is vulnerable to being hit from one end, and then the other, by similar area of effect tactics.

In an offensive campaign the devils will probably hire a Wizard and or a Cleric as mercenaries, especially focusing on one capable of scrying, and ideally teleporting. Remaining funds will purchase scrolls specific to the environment to be conquered. The entire invasion force is small enough to be teleported over, 3 by 3, in a reasonable amount of time, to a reasonably defensible point near or in enemy territory. Lemures will be used for holding captured territory while the rapid reaction squads are used to force the enemy to split forces to protect a variety of villages or other points worth holding. The Erinyes may be able to charm enemy forces, or enemy peasants, for some particularly nasty tricks. Once losses force the enemy into a siege situation, icewall and or teleport will be used to use enemy fortifications against the enemy, isolating a group of defenders from all the rest of their allies and then slaughtering them, then repeating this at a completely different point.

[Skjaldbakka]

Sweet. This is awesome. I'm going to stat up an Incarnum force.

[raspberrybadger]

The Horde of Slaughter (demons)

Leader: a Vrock, CR 9. Make sure it gets the quicken mirror image feat.

Force commanders: Babau x4. Cr 6. These can teleport themselves around, see invisible, and most importantly dispel magic. At need, they are alble flankers. They should be equipped with a variety of potions (mage armor, shield of faith, and cure light wounds), and perhaps defensive gear such as an amulet of natural armor +1 and a cloak of resistance +1

Air support: Half Fiend Satyrs, advanced to 9 HD (CR 4), x4. These can Blasphemy for 4d8 against good targets, and in melee against other fliers they can charge a natural attack with a Poison or Contagion spell to deal massive Con damage. They also need longbows +1 of distance, composite +2 str.

Scouts and random spell support: Quasit x10, CR 2

Ground troops: Dretch x100, CR 2. There may not be many of them, but DR, stinking cloud, and scare allow them to be more than a match for much larger groups of enemy ground troops.


Tactics: A full group consists of 25 dretches, a quasit, a satyr for air support, and a babau in command. At need, the babaus can teleport back to base to report or get instructions.

One group guards the vrock, who tends to have himself and a babau teleport behind enemy lines, especially at concentrations of enemy healers and the like, so that the babau can dispel magic and flank, and the vrock can kill whatever it was he wanted to kill, and then everyone can teleport out if the enemy is maneuvering in overwhelming opposition.

The other groups tend to work much more cautiously, being led by babaus, though at times the vrock will order them into combat by attrition. When forming their own tactics, they tend towards waiting for cover of darkness, using the half-fiendish Satyr and their own at will darkness ability to put out lights, and rushing enemy encampments, using a wave of stinking clouds to prevent effective opposition, dispelling any attempts at magic (babaus can dispel magic at will), and saving the Satyr's unholy blight until the first credible attempt to rally around a leader or strong unit, hoping to turn the rally into a rout.

The remaining quasits serve as roaming scouts. Moreover, their use of commune spells allows the demons to know much about their enemies, and to rarely be surprised.

On a defensive campaign, half the army tends to guard the fortress, and the other half tends to attack enemy leadership (with the vrock and a babau teleporting in while the other babau dispels magic from afar, and a quasit or two provides distraction), or to stage night attacks on groups of less powerful enemy troops (two groups just led by babaus). If the enemy ever starts winning an engagement, the demons can summon reinforcements with their summon ability.

On an offensive campaign, the demons spend their entire 100k budget on poisons of various kinds, so that they can poison drinking water, dretch or babau claws, or even toss inhaled poison in the air.

This army is in some ways weaker than other armies, but an unprepared enemy might find it more than a little annoying to fight. Concentrating fire on the larger units tends to run into damage reduction or SR. The army's biggest problem though is its low overall damage output. A variant of this army with half as many dretches, and an awful lot of CR 1/4, 1/2, and 1 fiendish creatures, might work better, though it would be much harder to manage. Say, as 'militia', 5000 fiendish small spiders, 2000 fiendish dire rats, and 50 fiendish medium scorpions. Just figure they follow the dretches around looking for something to eat... They at least have fire resist and SR so that spells don't work quite so well to clear them out, and they are vaguely the equal of enemy combat troops. That version makes them more of a ravening horde, than a cruel slaughtering band. At least until the little fiendish creatures are lost (which they will be because they can't really retreat), the pace of battle would be furious.

[Elana]

Let's see the start post gave me a town of 5000 people, that results in not too much fighters generated

So my army consists out of

91 commoners level 1, with slings and shortspears.
8 fighters level 1 in studded leather with lonbows, 20 arrows, longsword and shield
8 warriors level 1 in studded leather with lonbows, 20 arrows, longsword and shield
8 Paladins level 1 in studded leather with lonbows, 20 arrows, longsword and shield

for lack of other people (using a randomly generated town)
as seargents (armor increaded to chainmail)
4 fighter level 2
4 warriors level 2
4 Paladins level 2
2 fighter level 3
2 warriors level 3
2 paladins level 3

Lieutenants (Equipment what ever they want, officers have to get their own :P )
1 Warrior Level 5
1 Fighter Level 6
1 Paladin Level 6

Other positions
2 Clerics level 2 Chainmail, Mace and Shield. Wand of Cure light wounds
2 Wizards Level 2 Wand of Magic Missele, Eternal Wand of Cure Light Wounds (MagicItem Compendium, any Arcane Caster can use the spell stored, even if it's not on his spell list)
4 Adepts Level 1 Sling, Shortspear, Wand of cure light wounds
2 Adepts Level 2 Sling, Shortspear, Wand of cure light wounds
3 Ranger Level 1 Scouts (Standard Soldier equipent)

1 Bard Level 4 in studded leather, Longbow, 20 Arrows, Longsword, instrument of his choice


Special equipment
10 Field provision Boxes (Magic Item Copendium, generates all the food the army needs)
3 candles of invocation(Alignment depending on the religion of my clerics)
Stored to gate in outsiders, in dire emergencies



I haven't bothered to calculate the costs, but since there were bigger armies in the thread it should be okay :)

[raspberrybadger]

The Celestial Guard

Leader: Ariyeh the Scion of the Cherubim, a griffon advanced to 13 HD and given the half-celestial template. That means it is huge, and can use things like holy word and holy aura. Equip it mostly with defensive gear (chain shirt barding of fortification, amulet of natural armor, etc) to give it serious AC. Its DR 10/magic and SR 23 should keep it alive. Switch out weapon focus and iron will for power attack and cleave.

Liaisons with the people: CR 7 Half Celestial Wyrmling Gold Dragon x1, Half Celestial Wyrmling Silver Dragon x1 - these can make use of a wide variety of the celestial abilities, and they can move around the peasantry and townsfolk in human form. It keeps people honest, it gives the celestials an idea what is happening, and it makes sudden raids on the populace a little riskier.

High Counselor: Lamassu, CR 8. Equipped with a cloak of resistance +1, chain shirt barding +2, and an amulet of natural armor +1. Used mostly for buff spells, invisibility purge, and dispelling.

Air Bombardment and mascots: Half Celestial Brass Wyrmlings, x2. CR 4. Mostly used for their cone of sleep gas, and their ability to bless.

Healers: Adept 1 x100. 10 of them have wands of cure light wounds, all have slings. They memorize all curing spells, except a single burning hands in case the enemy gets to melee range.

Sergeants: Warrior 1 x400. Heavy crossbow, rapid reload, leather armor, club.

Private: Commoner 1, x5000. Light crossbow, leather armor, club

Lieutenants: 4 Warrior 2, equipped as sergeants, only with chain shirts.

Angelic light scouts: Lantern archon x65, CR 2.

Tactics: The archons are split between a reserve force, scouting, and trios in major villages to give warning and carry messages. In the event of battle, they can use Aid to bolster the front line militia, while keeping enemy melee at bay with their aura of menace.

The militia are split into squads with 20 Privates using light crossbows, and a sergeant with a heavy crossbow and rapid reload. The sergeants are on full time duty in watchtowers amongst the villages and in the castle. The lieutenants coordinate the training of squads, and their maneuvers.

In battle, 20 squads share two archons and five healers, leaving 15 archons for longer range scouting and aiding the greater celestials. Each squad is trained to form a wedge made of a single rank, so that a group of squads together can easily form a sawtooth formation. There are 400 squads, and 50 battle groups of 8 squads each. Small villages tend to have one or two battle groups, while larger villages will have perhaps five.

The gold and silver wyrmlings will concentrate on taking out centers of substantial enemy resistance, especially bunched up charging enemy melee. The brass wyrmlings will choose weak points in the line and bolster them with bless spells and breath weapon protection against enemy melee.

Meanwhile, along with a few lantern archons, the Lamassu and the Cherub (mechanically, a griffon) will try to smash the most dangerous part of the enemy force, especially enemy wizards or the like. With Holy Aura covering the Lamassu and a few archons, very little in the way of magic from evil invaders can touch this strike force, which has more than a little damage capacity against small groups of elite enemy. If swarmed by elite melee or fighting the enemy leadership, the cherub can use its Holy Word ability to devastate any nearby resistance.

Overall, the army will attempt to preserve the peasants by throwing the dragons with their breath weapons at enemy melee, and the top leadership at enemy casters. If faced with a swarm of level 1 wizards, lantern archons can be quickly teleported in to dispatch them, though the archons are more than a little vulnerable to many magics as well.

Note: Unlike with the demons and devils, there weren't really good celestials to use, so I put some together. The Griffon is the closest I could come to a credible Cherub, and the gold and silver wyrmlings preserved the idea of angels walking in human form while maintaining some degree of dangerousness. The good thing is that a number of the larger units have substantial DR and SR, and even the archons have some DR and an aid spell permanantly up. Still, some of the more dangerous armies could tear this one apart, and it is utterly unsuited for an offensive campaign, unless you count teleporting 65 lantern archons somewhere to aim 130d6 damage which doesn't respect DR or SR or most AC at a target or three.

[Winterking]

Thanks, shaddy_24! I'm glad you enjoy the armies I posted. Sadly, I don't have a job dealing with military history (maybe someday...); I just love it. And even though I've been away from Internet for a while, I've been working on some other armies for this. Hopefully I can get them posted soon.

Raspberrybadger, those are some impressive forces, especially the very imaginative Celestial list.

[LordVader]

I have a question. I have a pretty good knowledge of D&D, although I do not play. I'm just not sure about the costs. I'm probably going to make some kind of Lizardman force with trained attack beasts. In homage to Fortress of HoMM III. And because Lizardmen are awesome.:smallbiggrin:
((This thread is also awesome.))

[shaddy_24]

Thanks, shaddy_24! I'm glad you enjoy the armies I posted. Sadly, I don't have a job dealing with military history (maybe someday...); I just love it. And even though I've been away from Internet for a while, I've been working on some other armies for this. Hopefully I can get them posted soon.

Raspberrybadger, those are some impressive forces, especially the very imaginative Celestial list.

Cool. Sorry it took so long, but the sheets I had planned it out on had gone missing and I just found them recently. Give me a day or two, I have a few new ideas I want to work in (did you know a level nine cleric with the feat improved turning and the fire domain can control a five-headed pyro-hydra? :smallbiggrin: I just found out too). I'll try to get it up by saturday.
Also, I'm yoinking the rules for making armies (such as costs and that) and using them to make any armies I need in my campagn. I might also yoink a few of these armies, as long as no one has any problems with that.

[LordVader]

I'm thinking of creating an altered version of Dominate Monster that limits it to the beasts that would be found in the Lizardmen swamps, but in return increases the duration. I'm working on the army now, it's going to rely on Dominated and trained monsters as the spearhead of its attack.
Also, what would be the ratio of lizardmen and Dominated monsters to the alloted number of troops you gave us, since they're human?

[PaladinBoy]

A very large number of the special abilities or tricks that this army uses focus on the magic of dragonmarks from the Eberron Campiagn Setting. I also use items and PrCs from Eberron's Explorer's Handbook and Dragonmarked.

House Lyrandar: Kraken's Arms
(Airship force, entirely half-elven)

Airship 1: Defiant Storm
100x crew (expert 1)
-Equipment: None
24x marines (fighter 1)
-Equipment: Composite longbow (+1 Str), 100 arrows, greatsword, chain shirt armor
6x healers (cleric 1)
-Equipment: Chain shirt armor, (only 3 healers) wand of cure light wounds
20x siege engineers (expert 2)
-Equipment: None
4 heavy ballistae, 400 ballista bolts
1x captain (bard 7/windwright captain 1)
-Equipment: Masterwork instrument
Wheel of Wind and Water
15 tons of 100lb. stones

Airship 2: Kraken's Sword
100x crew (expert 1)
-Equipment: None
24x marines (fighter 1)
-Equipment: Composite longbow (+1 Str), 100 arrows, greatsword, chain shirt armor
6x healers (cleric 1)
-Equipment: Chain shirt armor, (only 3 healers) wand of cure light wounds
20x siege engineers (expert 2)
-Equipment: None
4 heavy ballistae, 400 ballista bolts
1x captain (bard 7/windwright captain 1)
-Equipment: Masterwork instrument
Wheel of Wind and Water
15 tons of 100lb. stones

Airship 3: Storm's Wrath
100x crew (expert 1)
-Equipment: None
24x marines (fighter 1)
-Equipment: Composite longbow (+1 Str), 100 arrows, greatsword, chain shirt armor
6x healers (cleric 1)
-Equipment: Chain shirt armor, (only 3 healers) wand of cure light wounds
20x siege engineers (expert 2)
-Equipment: None
4 heavy ballistae, 400 ballista bolts
(Note: The ruler is the captain of this ship.)
Wheel of Wind and Water
15 tons of 100lb. stones

Intelligence
1x diviner (elven wizard 6)
-Equipment: Spellbook, spell components, Serpentine Mirror
10x bodyguards (fighter 1)
-Equipment: Greatsword, chainmail armor

Ruler: Admiral Elina d'Lyrandar
Half-Elf Wizard 4/Dragonmark Heir 5
-Equipment: (this is out of the capital budget, not her WBL) Crown of High Dominion, other equipment appropriate for level 9 character

210 gp capital converted to 1,050 gp support
Capital: 996,760 gp
Support:101,050 gp

Organization:
Each airship has 5 shifts of 20 crew. The ships run 4 shifts, each 6 hours long; the fact that 5 shifts are available decreases the likelihood of being undercrewed and ensures that different people get the night watch each night.

The bodyguards for the diviner do essentially the same thing with 2 of them being on duty at all times.

Tactics:
The force uses remarkably unsubtle tactics: Fly together over the enemy army and start emptying the cargo holds of the rocks they brought along. The diviner uses his Serpentine Mirror (a special magic item from Eberron) to scry the borders of the nation, with an eye towards catching incoming enemy forces before they get too close to inhabited areas. If he detects something that needs stopping, then the force flies out to meet them, over wilderness if possible. The ruler then uses her dragonmark, in connection with the Crown of High Dominion, to drop a control weather power over a 6-mile radius for the next 48 hours. She basically engulfs the enemy army in a hurricane, or similar bad weather. The marines, healers, siege engineers, and nonessential crew all stay belowdecks; what crew needs to be exposed in order to do their job are tied to the ship to prevent from being blown overboard. The captains (which by the rules in Stormwrack are capable of flying in a hurricane) fly high over the enemy army and batter what survives the weather to pieces with falling rocks.

If the enemy is capable of dispelling the control weather, then the airships fly low for increased bombing accuracy, and the marines and siege engineers use their weapons to shoot down air threats; if none are present then they fire on ground targets. The goal is to destroy anything capable of damaging the airships. If it's possible to identify the spellcaster that dispelled the effect, then two ships keep up the pressure on the enemy while the third lands and off-loads marines and some healers. The airships then fly cover for the marines while they fight their way to the enemy spellcaster and kill him. Once he's dead, the ruler uses her second and final use of control weather to reestablish favorable conditions. If the marines fail, then all bombing, siege weapon fire, and volleys are aimed in the spellcaster's general direction. The second use of control weather is not used while there is still a chance of it being dispelled unless it is necessary to do so to protect the airships from attack.

If the force begins to run low on rocks and the enemy isn't dead, then two airships will remain to menace the enemy while the third returns to base and gets more supplies.

[LordVader]

Alright, what I'm probably going to do is have the attack beasts be a Swamp Gorgon, which trades off petrifcation and several HD for acid breath and a death-gaze that drops anyone who fails the save to -1 HP(this way, it's not instant death and victims can still be saved). Also, a custom Basilisk that has legs and stone gaze, a modified Wyvern, and one or two Hydras. How do I accurately measure how many beasts I can take in place of the allotted soldiers?
(Darn, looks like someone already did a type of Swamp army. I'll try my best to make this unique.)

[shaddy_24]

Ok, sorry, there's been a few problems (mostly me not being at home). I have a DnD session tomorow, but it shouldn't last all day and I'll be sure to get the army up by tomorow night.

[Yahzi]

The force uses remarkably unsubtle tactics:
15 tons is 30,000 lbs, or only 300 rocks. Hitting people with individual rocks is pretty hard, even with magic bonuses to aiming. On the other hand, it would be awesome for destroying supply trains like wagons or boats.

I'm not sure you can rely purely on airpower to defend your borders; but as an addition to a ground force, it would probably have the same effect modern air superiority has on ground combat. :smallbiggrin:

But if your kingdom was an island, this would be an awesome defense. As good as when the RAF held off the entire German army. Man, that's an adventure hook right there: 1 small kingdom holding off a massive evil empire thanks to a few miles of water and three airships. Talk about a situation begging for sabotage and counter-intel operations... exactly what D&D parties are about. :smallcool:

[PaladinBoy]

15 tons is 30,000 lbs, or only 300 rocks. Hitting people with individual rocks is pretty hard, even with magic bonuses to aiming. On the other hand, it would be awesome for destroying supply trains like wagons or boats.

I'm not sure you can rely purely on airpower to defend your borders; but as an addition to a ground force, it would probably have the same effect modern air superiority has on ground combat. :smallbiggrin:

That's what the control weather via dragonmark bit is for. With the Crown of High Dominion, it affects a 6-mile radius and lasts 48 hours. And the dragonmark can be used to activate control weather 2/day.

Using that to create a hurricane or powerful thunderstorm means the enemy army can't advance with any reliability. The weather itself would cause devastating casualties if they tried. And if they hunker down to lessen the storm's effects, then we batter them to pieces with carpet bombing. What the weather and the rocks leave behind won't be in any condition to fight.


But if your kingdom was an island, this would be an awesome defense. As good as when the RAF held off the entire German army. Man, that's an adventure hook right there: 1 small kingdom holding off a massive evil empire thanks to a few miles of water and three airships. Talk about a situation begging for sabotage and counter-intel operations... exactly what D&D parties are about. :smallcool:

If it was an island, a control weather-summoned hurricane would probably finish them without any bombing at all. And since that problem can be lessened by something as simple as stealing a single magic item, and completely nullified by assassinating a single high level character...... yeah, that's custom-built for PC intervention.

[shaddy_24]

The Cult of Infirnum (CE)

Militia

4 800 x 1st commoner
club, sling
Cap: 0gp Sup: 0gp

200 x 1st adept (20 000gp)
light mace (2 400gp)
Cap: 22 400gp Sup: 0gp

Army

Foot soldier
100 x 1st warrior (10 000gp)
heavy mace (1 200gp)
light steel shield (900gp)
scale mail (5 000gp)
Cap: 17 100gp Sup: 12 500gp

Bowmen
100 x 1st warrior (10 000gp)
longbow (7 500gp)
light mace (500gp)
studded leather (2 500gp)
100 arrows (500gp)
Cap: 21 000gp Sup: 12 500gp

Sub-clerics
100 x 1st adepts (10 000gp)
light mace (1 200gp)
1 x 1st divine scroll (10 000gp sup)
Cap: 11 200gp Sup: 22 500gp

Singers
10 x 1st bard (10 000gp)
rapier (200gp)
leather armor (100gp)
mwk musical instrument (1 000gp)
Cap: 11 300gp Sup: 2 500gp

Sergeants
4 x 4th fighter (120 000gp)
+1 greatsword (9 400gp)
+1 half plate (7 000gp)
Cap: 134 400gp Sup: 4 000gp

Captain
1 x 6th fighter (75 000gp)
+1 greatsword (2 350gp)
+1 full plate (2 650gp)
mwk shortbow (330gp)
100 arrows (5gp)
Cap: 80 335gp Sup: 1 500gp

Guard
40 x 1st fighter (40 000gp)
greatsword (2 000gp)
scale mail (2 000gp)
Cap: 11 200gp Sup: 10 000gp

Initiate
20 x 1st cleric (20 000gp)
heavy mace (240gp)
bone armor (400gp)
heavy crossbow (1 000gp)
heavy steel shield (400gp)
100 bolts (200gp)
Cap: 22 240gp Sup: 5 000gp

Novice
10 x 2nd cleric (50 000gp)
bone armor (200gp)
heavy mace (120gp)
heavy steel shield (200gp)
heavy crossbow (500gp)
100 bolts (100gp)
1 x 1st divine scroll (1 000gp sup)
Cap: 51 120gp Sup: 6 000gp

Hand of Infirnum
4 x 4th cleric (120 000gp)
+1 bone armor (4 680gp)
+1 heavy mace (9 248gp)
mwk heavy steel shield (680gp)
heavy crossbow (200gp)
100 bolts (40gp)
1 x 1st divine scroll (400gp sup)
1 x 2nd divine scroll (2 400gp sup)
Cap: 134 748gp Sup: 6 800gp

Magmin
8 x CR 3 magmin
Cap: 120 000gp Sup: 6 000gp

Pyrohydra
1 x CR 6, 5-headed pyrohydra
Cap: 75 000gp Sup: 1 500gp

Spies
10 x 1st rogue (10 000gp)
shortsword (100gp)
buckler (150gp)
shortbow (300gp)
100 arrows (50gp)
leather armor (100gp)
mwk thieves tools (1 000gp)
Cap: 11 700gp Sup: 2 500gp

Spy master
1 x 8th rogue (140 000gp)
2 x +1 daggers (4 604gp)
+2 leather armor (4 160gp)
+1 shortsword (2 310gp)
mwk shortbow (310gp)
100 arrows (5gp)
2 x potion of cure light wounds (400gp sup)
wand of cat’s grace (4 500gp)
Boots of Elvankind (2 500gp)
Cap: 153 889gp Sup: 6 900gp

Leader
Heart of Infirnum
1 x 9th cleric
domains: fire, evil
feats: improved turning, others are unimportant
equip: 36 000gp
+1 blessed armor: this armor was blessed by Infirnum. It has been crafted from the bones of enemies slain by the holy fires of Infirnum. Its max Dex bonus is decreased by one, but it provides a +1 to caster level for fire spells and bonus to AC and saves equal to half the wearer’s cleric level (rounded up). I priced this as +3 armor.
+2 heavy bone shield (treat as heavy steel shield, but use bones hardness and hp)
+1 flaming heavy mace
+1 heavy crossbow
ring of protection +1
periapt of wisdom +2
cloak of resistance +2
elixir of fire breath
scroll with 4 burning hands spells
wand of burning hands
potion of owl’s wisdom

Organization

4 line squads: 20 foot soldiers, 20 bowmen, 20 sub-clerics, 1 singer, 1 sergeant.
1 command squad: 20 foot soldiers, 20 bowmen, 20 sub-clerics, 1 singer, 1 captain

4 Faithful of Infirnum: 8 guards, 4 initiates, 2 novices, 1 Hand of Infirnum, 2 magmin
1 Centre of the Church: 8 guards, 4 initiates, 2 novices, 1 Heart of Infirnum, 1 5-headed pyrohydra

spies: 10 spies, 1 spy master

Tactics
The line squads are deployed to cover the flanks of the army, while the command squad and the Faithful to Infirnum hold the centre. The Centre of the Church holds the very centre spot in the army. The magmin are sent if first to damage the enemy and destroy their weapons. They are commanded by the clerics, who can command them because of their fire domains. Each level 4 cleric can control 2 2HD magmin, and they order them into battle, keeping them far away from their own troops. When all the magmin have been defeated, the entire army begins its march forward, everyone relying on the divine casters to heal any damage they take. The Centre of the Church takes the lead on the charge, using the pyrohydra to lead them. The pyrohydra is controlled by the Heart of Infirnum, who can command fire creatures with his fire domain and is treated as having 10 cleric levels because of Improved Turning. This allows him to command the 5HD pyrohydra.
When the Faithful of Infirnum and the Centre of the Church have engaged the enemy, the line squads circle around and start flanking the opponents. The command squad stays behind the Faithful and Centre and moves forward if they see a weak point, as well as watching for anyone trying to sneak up behind them.
Since this army is actually centered in several separate towns, the army rarely gathers into one force. One Faithful and line company are in each town, while the Centre and the command squad travel from town to town, converting new followers. The militia actually represents the civilians in different towns who are loyal to the cult. Because they are not an actual militia, they are active whenever the Heart arrives in the town they live. As long as he remains there, they are expected to be on call and ready if needed.
The spies are used to convoy messages between the towns and gather money for the cult. The spy master travels with the Heart and acts as a body guard/ information font to him.


Ok, I finally have this up and ready. I would have had it up before midnight (where I am at least), but the forum seems to hate me because whenever I try to write out a long post, it logs me off when I go to submit it. Otherwise, here it is!

[LordVader]

On the subject of the air force, whoever said it before was right, you're going to need a ground army to actually hold ground while the air force attacks and severly weakens the enemy army.

[Winterking]

This is true. But on the other hand, an air-based military would be able to repel invasions quite effectively, by destroying supply lines, encampments, and so on.

[LordVader]

It would be very effective. Ideally, you have the defensive ground army, perhaps relatively small. The air army continuously weakens and demoralizes the ground troops so that when they finally make contact with your ground troops, they barely pose a threat.

[Kioran]

It would be very effective. Ideally, you have the defensive ground army, perhaps relatively small. The air army continuously weakens and demoralizes the ground troops so that when they finally make contact with your ground troops, they barely pose a threat.

Problem, as is with current day aerial forces, casualties are very expensive and painful. That sky brigade has about 80% of their assets in little more than 40 troops. Everytime one of them gets shot down, it´s going to excruciatingly expensive and hard to recover from. An army heavy on sorcerers or crossbowmen/longbowmen could conceivably rip your air force to pieces.

Fighting with airforce, even today, is binary: either your opponents is almost helpless against you, in which case they take tremendous losses with little of your´s in the tradeoff, or your army is taking casualties, in which case attrition almost always works in the favor of your enemies.

Add in the risk of a "ninja army" coming in the night to your basis of operation and killing you in your sleep.........

[LordVader]

I was referring to the army that consisted of 3 airships, not the one that was the bunch of eagles.:smalltongue: And to prevent the "ninja army" tactic, you could always use your ability of flight to camp somewhere otherwise inaccessible.

[Kioran]

I was referring to the army that consisted of 3 airships, not the one that was the bunch of eagles.:smalltongue: And to prevent the "ninja army" tactic, you could always use your ability of flight to camp somewhere otherwise inaccessible.

But that one is more expensive than any other army here and originally comes from the "I (tippy) rule the entire world with my amnesiac Wizard + Shadesteel golem army" thread. It´s powerful, granted, but here´s what you do:

-Teleport abord the ships with some mid-to-high lvl PCs
- Kill everything aboard
- ?
- Profit

Problem is that in the two-digit lvls, many things that are rolled out to combat high lvl PCs are plain cheesy and nearly undefeatable if the logics of availability and mass production are applied to. It´s nice, but cheesy......

[Citizen Joe]

Over reliance on superior tech (or magic) can lead to problems. If your defenses can only be beaten by your own technology, don't bring that technology to the battlefield. There is a small chance that it will fall into enemy hands. Then suddenly, where your army was invulnerable to the enemy before, now it can be hurt. Likewise, you need to watch out for friendly fire.

[LordVader]

Well, my army should be able to handle PCs fairly well, the lizardmen, not so much, but the basilisks, gorgons, and hydras will be handy for that.:smallamused:

[Altharis]

Yes! An awesome thread that allows me to combine my roleplaying fanaticism and my wargaming fanaticism! I'll have some armies up before no time!

Love the armies everybody, keep up the good work.
Altharis

(P.S. Winterking, as a half frenchman I can truly say that....your real french needs work, but your fantasy rip-off french is excellent.)

I'm posting my army here because I hate to double post:

Kramak's Desert Raiders

Militia
5000x 1st Lvl human commoner.
Gear: Quarterstaff, Sling.

Swarm
270x Diminutive Monstrous Scorpions (CR 1/4)
Capital: 0 Support: 937 (assuming Tiny size halves support again, and Fine again, and Diminutive again.) (4.69 each)

Reavers
20x Tauric Medium Monstrous Scorpion/1st Lvl human rogue
Gear: Studded Leather Armour. Feat: Multiattack.
Capital: 100,500 (5025 each) Support: 10,000 (500 each)

Disciples
20x Tauric Medium Monstrous Scorpion/1st Lvl human cleric of Kramak
Gear: Morningstar, Heavy Wooden Shield, Scale Mail Armour, Wand of Cure Light Wounds. Feat: Weapon Focus (Morningstar).
Domains: Strength, Destruction
Capital: 101,300 (5065 each) Support: 25,000 (1250 each)

Chosen
20x Tauric Medium Monstrous Scorpion/1st Lvl human blue dragon shaman
Gear: Morningstar, Heavy Wooden Shield, Scale Mail Armour. Feat: Weapon Focus (Morningstar).
Capital: 101,300 (5065 each) Support: 10,000 (500 each)

Tyrants
20x Tauric Medium Monstrous Scorpion/1st Lvl human marshall
Gear: Morningstar, Heavy Wooden Shield, Scale Mail Armour. Feat: Weapon Focus (Morningstar). Aura: Master of Tactics.
Capital: 101,300 (5065 each) Support: 10,000 (500 each)

Ravagers
5x Human Fighter Lvl 4
Gear: +1 Light Repeating Crossbow, Chainmail, 4 Potions of Cure Light Wounds, 4xSlashing Sand (for the whole group to use).
Mounted on: 5x Very Young Blue Dragon (CR 4)
Capital: 313,500 (62700 each) Support: 51000 (10200 each)

Overlord-Kramak of the Dusty Delve.
Juvenile Blue Dragon Sorceror Level 1 (in addition to his inherent levels of sorceror)
Gear (Over and above normal 9th level gear.): 1xRing of the Scorpion, 5x Figurine of Wondrous Power, Large Fiendish Scorpion (Based on Giant Stag Beetle figurine.).

Total Capital: 854600 gp (Buying 7270 of support to balance it out.)
Total Support: 99996.3 (Including above payment.)

Organisation
Stealth Team: 4 Reavers.
Combat Cadre: 54 Swarm, 4 Disciples, 4 Chosen, 4 Tyrants.
Flight Wing: 2 Ravagers. (One Flight Wing has one Ravager and Kramak.)

Tactica Kramaka

Preparation:
Ravagers and hidden Reavers scout a good battlefield, and harrass the enemy to force him there. Ravagers drop Slashing Sand just before the battle in front of the enemy battle lines. The also make note of this, so that the rest of the army can move around the patches.
Kramak uses his Ring of the Scorpion to enlarge ALL the Swarm. This takes 27 minutes.

During the Battle:
Disciples cast Bless on as much of their Cadre as possible, then Enlarge Person on a Chosen or a Tyrant. Then cast Sanctuary on themselves when they are in danger and there are many of their Cadre wounded. They use their domain powers on the toughest engaged enemy.
Reavers take adavantage of 270 large size flankers to sneak attack with their claws and tail attacks. They hide and scuttle away if targeted.
Tyrants coordinate attacks with Chosen and Disciples, while keeping Aura constantly on.
Chosen use their Energy Shield and Power auras early on, and their Vigor aura later on when the cadre is quite wounded. They also coordiante attacks with the Tyrants and the Disciples.
The Swarm does what comes naturally to it. Killing and eating. They are led by the Fiendish Large Scorpions who relay Kramak's instructions through pheremones.
The Flights fly very high, then swoop down, shoot some crossbow bolts, breathe some breath weapon, cast some destructive spells, and frightful some presence; then they swoop back up out of range again.
The Militia (i.e. Captured Slaves) are just there to die. Nothing more demoralising than having to kill your kinsman.

Like it?
Altharis

[Winterking]

Altharis, that's a very cool army.

I'm away from my splatbooks right now, but I assume that tauric is a template that basically makes man-whatevers or whatever-men, so that your host is all scorpion-men?

And thank you for your critique of my French, both real and fantasy. Alas, very little of what I learned in french classes actually stuck in my brain. Certainly, not enough to speak french, beyond the hello and where is the bathroom level; but at least it's enough to give a french flavor to things. (I could make unkind remarks about snails right now, but I will refrain.)

[shaddy_24]

Altharis, that's a very cool army.

I'm away from my splatbooks right now, but I assume that tauric is a template that basically makes man-whatevers or whatever-men, so that your host is all scorpion-men?

And thank you for your critique of my French, both real and fantasy. Alas, very little of what I learned in french classes actually stuck in my brain. Certainly, not enough to speak french, beyond the hello and where is the bathroom level; but at least it's enough to give a french flavor to things. (I could make unkind remarks about snails right now, but I will refrain.)

tauruk is from the MM2. You have the idea exactly.

And that is really fun looking Altharis. That army is quite unique.

[Altharis]

Thankyou, thankyou both very much. I'm just doing what I love to do.

The army is based of a small adventure in a little known WoTC supplement that inspired me to love blue dragons. This awesome supplement is The Slayer's Guide to Dragons.

Yes, Tauric is the template from the MM2 that I'm using to create Kramak's foul scorpion-men, and is the result of years of crossbreeding. (Animorph and Anthromorph, people. Definately NOT what you're probably thinking.)

But now I need your help: I have a large amount of surplus capital, and I need some help spending it. What should I add to keep the flavor, but shore up something the army needs? Any suggestions? or Suggestions? (*shoots self for bad pun, then contingent True Resurrection takes effect.*)

Thanks in advance for the suggestions,
Altharis

[Leon]

House Lyrandar: Kraken's Arms
(Airship force, entirely half-elven)


Love the Airborne Navy

[Winterking]

I would encourage you to bring along some small catapults--buy a wagon with each one, and count it as a chassis for easy transport. Not only are catapults educational devices fun for the whole family (force=Mass*Acceleration; fire burns, falling rocks hurt, etc), but a certain class of smaller medieval catapults were known as "scorpions". (they had a whole lot more ropes and complicated parts than your average catapult; as a result, they were more expensive but also more compact, and lighter. Heroes of Battle mentions them briefly.)

Otherwise, perhaps convert some of that capital to support, and buy some wands/scrolls of summon monster, which can provide even more scorpions. Or, if you wanted to be really reckless, you could get magical support that didn't involve scorpions...

[Altharis]

Catapults eh? That could be a good idea for sieges, but not only is there not likely to be any siegable cities in the desert but I can't find any rules in any of my books about the cost of scorpions.

Also the theme is not just limited to scorpions, but a general "armies of the desert king" theme. (The fact that the "desert king" is a dragon just adds flavour.

But the idea is good! I need ideas!
Altharis

[Belkarseviltwin]

Pax Illithica



Dear Leader
Mind Flayer Wiz2 (nonassociated class) with Mage Armor
Leader- no cost

3x Inquisitors
Standard Mind Flayer (as per Monster Manual)
420kgp capital, 8kgp support

5x bodyguards
Trolls- as per MM
250kgp capital, 6250gp support

200x Hammer Thralls
Duergar War1 with warhammers
200kgp capital, 25kgp support

100x Sniper Thralls
Goblin War1 with light crossbows
10kgp capital, 5kgp support

20x Scout Thralls
Kobold Rog1 mounted on dire weasels
120kgp capital, 14500gp support

TOTAL: 1 million gp capital, 58.5kgp support (before items)
The remaining support cash is converted to capital, giving 41500 gp. This buys: a Wand of Magic Missile for each scout (activated using UMD)
A ring of protection +1 for each mind flayer
A Wand of Mirror Image for the Dear Leader.

Organisation:
4 units of 50 Hammer Thralls and 25 Sniper Thralls, led by a Mind Flayer. Each Mind Flayer has 1 bodyguard, except for the Dear Leader, who has 2.
The Scout Thralls operate independently.

Tactics: The Mind Flayers lead from the back, using their Psionics on anyone who looks like a PC class with a weak Will save. The units of duergar advance under cover of fire from the goblins among them, and enlarge just before they charge. Periodically, they will open a pathway for the mind flayer to Mind Blast the enemy. The kobolds move around behinde enemy lines hunting spellcasters. If thinkgs look like they're going badly, the mind flayers plane-shift away, leaving their thralls to die. There are plenty more where they came from...

[Laurellien]

Army 1: The Dread Horde of Nagrabhein Heidenhoeb

Nagrabhein Heidenhoeb is a mean necromancer, and it is his ambition someday to conquer the world. He has enlisted a cohort, Manny, to help him run the army.

Character: Nagrabhein Heidenhoeb
Race: Bone Human
Class and Level: Wizard IX
Divine Rank: -
Size/Type: Medium undead (humanoid human augmented)
Hit Dice: 9d12+18 (86)
Initiative: +10
Speed: 40 ft (8 squares)
AC/touch/ff: (10 base, 4 natural, 6 dex, 4 deflection) 24/20/18
BAB/Grapple: +4/+9
Attacks: Club +9 melee
Damage: 1d6+7 +1d6 cold (two-handed)
Space/Reach: 5*5/5
Special Attacks: Spells
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft, undead traits, immunity to cold, 1/2 damage from piercing and slashing weapons, +4 turn resistance, destruction retribution
Saves: Fort: +3, Ref: +9, Will: +10
Abilities: Str: 20, Dex: 22, Con: -, Int: 18, Wis: 18, Cha: 16
Skills: Meh?
Feats: Corpsecrafter, Bolster Resistance, Deadly Chill, Destruction Retribution, Hardened Flesh, Nimble Bones, Leadership, Close cohort
Climate/Terrain: Evil
Organisation: -
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: Ring of Protection +4, club, wand of magic missile (5th)
Alignment: LE
Caster Level: 9
Ld: 15(19 undead)

Character: Manny Damneheim
Race: Bone Human
Class and Level: Cleric of Orcus VIII
Divine Rank: -
Size/Type: Medium undead (humanoid (human))
Hit Dice: 8d12+16 (68)
Initiative: +8
Speed: 25 ft (5 squares) in heavy armour
AC/touch/ff: (10 base, 8 full plate armour, 2 large steel shield)
BAB/Grapple: +6/+11
Attacks: MW heavy mace +12/+7 melee
Damage: 1d8+5+1d6
Space/Reach: 5*5/5
Special Attacks: Rebuke/bolster/command undead
Special Qualities: Dark vision 60 ft, 1/2 damage from slashing and piercing, undead traits, immunity to cold, destruction retribution
Saves: Fort: +6, Ref: +4, Will: +10
Abilities: Str: 20, Dex: 19, Con: -, Int: 15, Wis: 18, Cha: 16
Skills: Meh?
Feats: Necromantic presence, necromantic might, Fell animate, divine metamagic (fell animate)
Climate/Terrain: -
Organisation: -
Challenge Rating: 8
Treasure: Masterwork full plate armour, large steel shield, 3 night sticks, divine scroll of create greater undead
Alignment: NE
Caster Level: 8

The army:
Manny and Nagrabhein took over the peaceful town of Shadygrove by force. They ambushed a lone shepherd and brutally murdered him. Manny then used his scroll of create greater undead to turn the man into a wraith. He then commanded the man with his unholy clerical power. The hapless shepherd raided the town one night, slaughtering innocents. The victims rose up as more wraiths, and the slaughter continued, night after night, until not a living soul remained in Shadygrove.
The army then stormed Lord Ludwig's keep, and killed the guards of the noble Lord of the Land. Ludwig himself was severely weakened, and on the floor, dying. Nagrabhein lifted him up and choked him to death. Immediately Manny set to work, he built a shrine to Orcus costing 100,000 gp, and he laid the body of Ludwig in there. He prepared the body with special unguents and balms from rare creatures totalling another 100,000 gp. He then burnt the shrine to the ground in a ritual to Orcus, and in that instant, Lord Ludwig became a death knight.
Ludwig is still the defacto ruler of the realm, but he does not recognise any authority other than his commander, Manny.
Several warbands have spied Shadygrove during the day, and have tried to invade. But each night, the wraiths hem them in, and the three lords of Shadygrove stalk the streets killing. Nagrabhein then animates the dead as skeletons, and sets them to work mining onyx, which he then trades or uses to make more skeletons. Other skeletons plant trees, and now most of shadygrove is in the woods, allowing the dark denizens to stalk the streets in the day.
Lord Ludwig supervises the skeleton workers in the mines, and Manny does the same in the forests. Nagrabheim sits in his castle, studying new ways to kill and create undead. A beacon and watchtower system manned by skeletons and wraiths keeps an eye on the borders. These relay warnings of approaching armies to Nagrabhein, who then uses beacons to alert Ludwig and Manny.
If they are attacked at night, then the wraiths swarm the foolhardy enemy. If they are attacked during the day, then the wraiths withdraw to the dark forest, and the skeletons stay in the mines. If they are needed outside, then they sprint to the required location. The army invariably heads towards the keep in the heart of the forest. There the wraiths ambush them and defeat them that way.
If Manny were ever to be killed, then Ludwig would be left in charge of an army of skeletons, and the unlucky farmer who was the first victim of the attack would be the leader of an army of wraiths. Nagrabhein would have to try and deal with the situation.

Nagrabhein Heidenhoeb: Bone human wizard IX
Manny Damneheim: Bone human cleric VIII
Lord Ludwig of Shadygrove: Human Death Knight Fighter VI with 20,000 gp of equipment.
20,000 wraiths
4000 medium human/elf skeletons (chainmail, light wooden shield, longsword, longspear)

All upkeep money goes towards creating and outfitting new skeletons (200 gp each so c. 500/year).
Any large animals that are either fast, battleworthy, or both are hunted (but not to extinction) and animated at a cost of 25 gp/hitdice as skeletons (8 HD of skeletal animals reduces the skeleton warrior output/year by one).

In the case of mobilisation for campaign. 50% of the 100,000 gp is spent on a few scrolls of revive undead (or whatever their equivalent of true resurrection is) with the rest spent on potions of inflict critical wounds.

[Beren One-Hand]

Also the theme is not just limited to scorpions, but a general "armies of the desert king" theme. (The fact that the "desert king" is a dragon just adds flavour.

But the idea is good! I need ideas!
Altharis

It's been a while since I looked at the cost equasions of this exercise so I'm not sure how much capitol you have floating around, but a Ring of the Scorpion (a Custom Magic Item: Command Word activated Giant Vermin) costs 79,200 gp (4*11*1,800) and it gives you an unlimited supply of Large Monstrous Scorpions under your control (provided you can supply the normal versions - shouldn't be too hard in a desert)

[shaddy_24]

Sandstorm provides couple cool ideas. What about the Figurine of Wonderous Power, Gold Beetle? It turns into a giant stag beetle (pg 285 of Monster Manual) with 6 int, the ability to understand common and terran and mmove accross any waste terrain (such as sand) at normal speed. It's also a magical beast. It works for 24 hours a week, but doesn't have to be continuous. If it doesn't fit your fluff, have it turn into a large monstrous scorpion. You might have to advance it to count for CR differences, but in the end, it would work. This costs 11,500, and is 11th caster level, so it fits in by the rules.

For 2,000, you can have slashing sand. It's a handful of glittering dark sand stored in a small sack. If flung onto the ground, it produces a spike stones spell in a 200 square foot area that lasts 10 hours. Not useful directly in a fight, but good for setting up a battle field beforehand or to try to escape.

If you have the book, look on page 103. It has a couple of ships that travel on sand and the rules for them. I don't want to put it all here because that would be a lot of typing.

Let me know if any of this helps any.:smallsmile:

[Meynolds]

You've inspiried me, shaddy_24.

NOTE: This army relies heavily on Sandstorm!

NOTE 2: Lowered number of militia represents the lower poulation in the wastelands.

Deserts of Desolation
Commander: Shaper of Sand

Capital Spent: 1,254,500 (rounded)
Capital Max: 1,255,000

Support Spent: 49,000
Support Max: 49,000

Militia (500)
Desert Outfit in place of normal clothes (5gp extra each)
Quarterstaff (Cost - each)
Total Cost: 2,500gp

Scouts (10)
Rng 2 (Waste Variant)
Scimitar; Eagle’s Claw; Desert Outfit; Sun Lenses; Filter Mask (52 each); Amulet of Nat. Arm. +1 (2,000gp)

Ambushers (20)
Rog 2
Desert Outfit; Great Falchion OR 33x Desert Throwing Knife; 4x Filter Mask; Shovel (112gp each); Amulet of Nat. Arm. +1 (2,000gp)

Main Combatants (50)
Fgt 2
Desert Outfit; Great Scimitar; Heavy Chitin Shield (Homebrew, equal to Hvy Wooden Shield); Sun Lenses; Filter Mask (224 each); Amulet of Nat. Arm. +1 (2,000gp); Bracers of Arm. +1 (1,000gp)

Wasteragers (10)
Brb 2 (Waste Variant)
Great Falchion; Falchion; Desert Outfit; Filter Mask; Sun Lenses (192 each); Amulet of Nat. Arm. +1 (2,000gp)

Disciples of Water (3)
Clr 3/Lord of Tides 3 (Sand Domain; Thirst Domain)
Desert Outfit; Distillation Kit; Filter Mask; Sun Lenses (57gp each); Amulet of Nat. Arm. +1 (2,000gp)

The Shaper’s Servants (3)
Sorc 5/Sand Shaper 1
Slashing Sand; Sandals of the shifting sand; Figurine of Wondrous Power, Gold Beetle; Deck of Illusions (26,100 each); Amulet of Nat. Arm. +1 (2,000gp)

Shaper of Sand
Sorc 5/Sand Shaper 4*
(As DMG for Sorc 9); Figurine of Wonderous Power, Gold Beetle (11,500); Traveler’s Oasis (4,000) DIRE CIRCUMSTANCES ONLY!

Organization:

Out of combat, this army is highly nomadic, finding sources of water to survive, and failing that; calling upon the spellcasters for help.

Before combat begins, the Scouts are sent out to, well, scout. They try to get an accurate assessment of enemy strength, then retreat. They report their findings to the group, which then creates a plan of action.

Usually, this begins with the ambushers setting up an ambush in the sands. The Sand Shapers use spells to shape the battlefield favorably, then use illusions to draw in the foe. When the time is right, a surprise attack is launched, from near and afar, for mass sneak attack damage.

The main combatants are lightly armoured, and try to stay mobile, striking only when an opportunity for a kill arises. They are far more akin to skirmishers in normal armies.

The Wasteragers are used for killing potential, raging before entering combat. They are akin to medium infantry.

The Disciples of Water are primarily support units, helping to clean up after battle, and some terrain control in battle.

The Shaper’s Servants and The Shaper of Sand are crucial to battle, controlling the battlefield with spells and magic items.

[Benejeseret]

Formian Raiding Party: Hive Sparin


Formian Sparin Workers
450 x 1st NPC (1/2 CR)
Feat: Phalanx Fighting, Equipment: Heavy Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor
Capitol: 70650 Support: 45000

Formian Sparin Warriors
50 x 3rd PC (3 CR)
Feats: Phalanx Fighting, Blind-Fight, Equipment: Heavy Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor
Capitol: 75285 Support: 37500

Advanced Huge Ankheg's
4 x 5th PC (5 CR)
Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Equipment: Splint Mail Barding, Wagons
Capitol: 206540 Support: 5000

Formian Sparin TaskMaster
1 x 9th PC (7 CR plus 2 Marshal Levels)
Feats: Leadership, Kaia Shout, Ability Focus (dominate monster)
Equipment: Cloak of Charisma +4, Eversmoking Bottle, Heavy Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor
Auras: Watchful Eye (+7 to reflex saves to all within 100'), Resiliant Troops (+1 to all save boni to all within 100')
Special: Comes with a CR4 Advanced Giant Wasp (an EX ability, support paid but not capital as this is reflected in his 7 CR)
Capitol: 21457 Support: 0

Advanced Giant Wasp (dominated)
1 x 4th PC (4 CR)
Feats: Alertness, Arial Reflexes, Flyby Attack, Diving Charge
Equipment: Eyes of the Eagle
Capitol: 2500 Support: 1000

Extra Equipment
70 x bottles of Magic Fang spread among Warriors and TaskMaster.
Capitol: 3500

*11500 support converted to Capitol.
3 Capitol to spare. 0 support to spare


Organization:

4 x Raiding Companies*
Each with 10 Warriors, 1 Ankheg, and 90 workers

Command Company*
10 Warriors, 90 Workers, 1 TaskMaster, 1 Giant Wasp

* Each Company further divided into 10 Squads of 9 Workers and 1 Warrior. 1 Raider Squad per Raider Company is a 'Heavy' Squad supporting the Huge Ankheg. 1 Command Squad is the 'Command Guard' supporting the Taskmaster and Giant Wasp


Tactics

Movement: With the Huge Ankhegs working in shifts the army can effectively build up to 18 miles of tunnels a day (10 feet across). Of the 450 workers, 200 are profession (miner) +5 and can build an additional average 50 x5' squares in siderooms and defences (or houseruled to help speed up the ankheg progress. If burrowing at full speed the ankheg's (in shifts) could dig up to 36 miles of tunnels a day.

Thus, the army is effectively never above ground unless necessary to resupply , raid, or avoid un-diggable regions. Occassionally the Giant Wasp is send surface-side to circle and scout out directions, targets to raid, fortifications with its +21 to spot.

Tactical Assault: The location targeted for a raid is undermined from below and undermined politically.

Options of Preference:
1) From below the earth, the TaskMaster contacts telepathically the leader of the town/fort and convinces them to lower their defences and join the formian empire as a vassal (diplomancy check is +20)

2) Telepathically Dominates (DC 23 will save and ignores spell resistance) the leader or secondary figures of authority. Use them to take over the town/fort without resistance. If the leader is resisting, uses telepathic Kaia shouts to shake the mental strength and then dominates.

3A) If necessary dominates some, and causes havoc and infighting to weaken resistance

3B) Ankheg's dig up inside defence perimeters. The Eversmoke bottle is uncorked to fill the above surface area with 50' of total concealment smoke. Raiding Companies form a tight Phalanx Wall around Command Company and begin pressing outward as the fog advances. The 'heavy' squads with Ankheg's smash through defences and the support squads rush into the gaps and seal off, closing a tight phalanx shield wall. Taskmaster's Kaia shout causes most foes within 100'** to be shaken (DC 21). Taskmaster then uses the early rounds to Dominate enemy leaders and cause tactical blunders, all out routes, or surrenders.
As the fog expands it fills a 100' spread by round 5, most of the enemy leaders should be Dominated. Anyone charging into the fog finds a solid wall of phalanx fighters (lowest AC is the Workers with AC 25). Any area spells like fireball do little damage as with a reflex save of +13 Worker, +16 Warriors (due to Marshal Aura) and resistance to fire 10, sonic 10, and electricity 10 plus immunity to cold, petrification and spell resistance 18 among Warriors. (total concealment means targeting by spells cannot happen anyway) Plus, within the fog even if you hit AC 25+ there is a 50% miss chance. The Warriors have BlindFight and 3 natural attacks to hit back. Large foes may be overcome by massive poison ability damage even before dying of hitpoint damage.

Any damaged front line fighters and pulled to the back ranks where 8 workers use their special abilities to cast Cure Serious Wounds. The ankheg's has its unit (or others will join when lacking) to ensure a Cure Serious Wounds is available and readied every round if necessary. Unless flat out killed to -10 (hitpoints to inta-kill workers 15, warriors 36, taskmaster 62, ankhegs 79, wasp 49) the rear ranks have a Cure Serious Wounds readied. Although unlikely, that is a total of maximum of 56 Cure Serious Wounds every single round.

Also, no formian is flanked nor do they loose dexterity so long as other are not. The ankheg's have tremorsense and so always know what squares to attack in the fog. They also have AC25, and a +13attack 3d6+14+1d4 bite with great cleave followups. If faced with large groups the ankheg's will use Acid Spray.

Basically, this group is very, very hard to damage. Every round of futility means another powerful PC, monster, or leader falls to the DC23 dominate monster. And if you want to target the Taskmaster...well, he has total concealment somewhere within a mass of 501 formians. He is the same size at the other 50 warriors, wearing the same armor and the same shield...but he has a cloak...so it's like 'where's waldo?'.

On the defensive, the Companies define where combat happens. They can build tunnels, flanking around in 3D to 1) cause caveins upon the enemy and 2) to flank the enemy progressions. With the high AC, high saves (definately high reflex) and resistances the enemy can make slow progress. Again, all the while their leaders are dominated until their force surrenders or collapses.

If against creatures with DR/magic or really hard to hit fights all Warriors have a supply of Magic Fang Potions for themselves and the Ankhegs.


Weakness: No ranged ability (unless dominated). No area spells (unless dominated). Earthquakes or similar ground effecting spells. Relies on relatively small numbers. Against flying units....well.....they would just go underground and ignore them.

Strengths: Great Defence and saves. Domination takes away the best resources from the enemy, and even turns them on themselves. So much Burrow/Mining ability adds tactical depth.

Moto: (Domination) All Your Base Are Belong To Us


**Finally, I believe it is a reasonable combination of the rules (likely a reasonable houserule) that the TaskMaster's feats, and Marshal Class features should work at 100' range due to his telepathy. Thus he can telepathically Kaia Shout at foes 100' and his commant auras and orders affect all of the hive mind within 100'

[AslanCross]

The Iron Nail Tribe (LE Hobgoblins)
I fell in love with the monstrous hobgoblins from Monster Manual V, so this is my attempt at putting them together into an army. This uses MMV and Tome of Battle.

Militia
5,000 x 1st Commoner
Club, Sling

Bloodpaws
200 x 1st Warrior
short sword, longspear, heavy wooden shield, light crossbow, scale mail, 100 bolts

Mythfangs
10 x 3rd Duskblade
Longsword, light steel shield, chain shirt

Shadowfangs
8 x 1st Rogue
Rapier, leather armor, light crossbow, 100 bolts

Bloodchanters
8 x 3rd Cleric
Heavy mace, heavy steel shield, splint mail, holy symbol, wand of cure light wounds
Mount: Light warhorse + saddle

Warcasters*
5 x Hobgoblin Warcaster (CR 4)
Staff, spellbook, scroll of web x2
Mount: Light warhorse + saddle

Spellscourges*
2 x Hobgoblin Spellscourges (CR 5)
mwk spiked chain, +1 chain shirt

Direjaw
10 x Hobgoblin 3rd Fighters
+1 heavy lance, +1 full plate, mwk bastard sword, +1 heavy steel shield.
Mount: Dire Wolf + exotic saddle, scale barding

Warsoul*
1 x Hobgoblin Warsoul (CR 8)
mwk quarterstaff, daggers x3, spellbook, headband of intellect +2, bracers of armor +3, amulet of natural armor +1, ring of protection +1, cloak of resistance +2, brooch of shielding, scroll of fireball, scroll of haste
Mount: heavy warhorse + saddle

Alpha
1 x Hobgoblin 9th Crusader of Maglubiyet
+2 greatsword, +2 full plate, amulet of natural armor +1, ring of protection +1, gauntlets of ogre power +2, mighty composite longbow(2), 100 arrows, 35 GP
Mount: Dire wolf + exotic saddle, chain barding

*The warcaster, spellscourge and warsoul are monstrous hobgoblins that appear in Monster Manual V. I was a bit confused whether I should use CR or ECL, but CR seems to make more sense in this case. Warcasters are ECL 7, and yet only have 4 HD and Caster Level 4th. Hope you don't mind if I bend this rule. In any case, Warcasters and Warsouls can be easily replaced by 4th-level and 8th-level Wizards, respectively. Spellscourges can be replaced by 5th-level Fighters.

Capital: 1,000,000
Support: 100,000 (26200 converted to capital. Man, those wolves cost a lot.)

Organization:

4 Bloodhunts
50 Bloodpaws, 2 Mythfangs, 2 Shadowfangs, 2 Bloodchanters, 1 Warcaster

1 Magekiller Squad
2 Mythfangs, 2 Spellscourges, 1 Warcaster, 1 Warsoul

1 Direjaw Cavalry
10x Direjaw, 1x Alpha

Tactics:

Bloodhunts:
Each bloodhunt is commanded by a Warcaster. Shadowfangs will scout ahead while the rest of the company hunkers down for cover. Ambushes with crossbows are a favored tactic. However, Bloodpaws know the Phalanx Fighting feat and can create a formidable wall if need be. They also carry longspears, which they can employ against cavalry.

The Mythfangs fire area-effect spells like burning hands to neutralize multiple enemy fodder.
The warcaster will lay down a web on enemy leaders while the bloodpaws fill them with holes. Warcasters can then finish off the webbed enemies with flaming sphere. Mythfangs and Warcasters posses the Battle Magic Tactics feat, which makes cooperative magic strikes on multiple enemies very devastating. Against arcanists, Warcasters can project their Pillar of Magic ability, giving nearby allies spell resistance.
Bloodchanters use their wands to provide ready healing to injured allies, although they will give priority to the warcasters and mythfangs.


Direjaw Cavalry: The Direjaws are meant to be a swift, decisive strike force meant to tear through the enemy lines and lay bare the way to their spellcasters and leaders. These competent warriors can even fight alongside their mounts, attacking enemies who are tripped by the wolves. The Alpha uses White Raven stances and strikes to bolster his allies, and Devoted Spirit maneuvers to heal them. He may have a few Stone Dragon maneuvers for rapidly eliminating enemy leaders.

Magekiller Squad: This is a highly specialized squad that follows the Direjaws closely, penetrating deep into enemy lines and eliminating spellcaster threats. The Spellscourges have the Mage Slayer feat, making defensive spellcasting impossible for any casters they threaten. Mythfangs then close in and cooperate with the Warcaster and Warsoul to eliminate caster threats with hold monster. They are also competent at eliminating masses of enemy fodder with the web + fireball combination, or with cone of cold. Like the Mythfangs and Warcasters, the Warsoul knows the Battle Magic Tactics feat.

Militia: The Militia are last-resort fighters. They will tend to use their slings to defend the keep, but most of the fighting will be done by the heavily-armed Bloodhunts.

[GoC]

These are awesome!:smallcool:
I'll make one of my own and upload it tonight...