Four Front War
As the snow melted in the Spring of 903, coded messages intercepted during the winter foreshadowed a brutal year on the battlefield. "The attacks are to come from Sandal to the south, the Tang from the west, the Wolfshaunt from the east, and the demons from the north," General Axeworthy lamented.While the party adventured to the Oculus at Nevermind and the Forbidden Library and managed to significantly lessen the demon threat to the north and the Wolfshaunt threat from the east, it was still a four-front confrontation.
Knowing the location of all enemy deployments, a decision was made to abandon the assault on Sandal - although this almost assuredly meant that the Baron's grip on the nation would continue. Dwarves prepared to fight in the north. Dragonsford and Teufeldorf both prepared their armies for invasion - with the big question being the route of the undead moving north from the Sands of Time.
March 903 found the Tomb King moving to the northeast, presumably to help the emerging Wolfshaunt forces. However, the entirety of the small Wolfshaunt brigade was quickly surrounded by the men of the Eastern Reaches. The Battle of Dreadfield quickly vanquished the wolves and removed the major threat to Dragonsford. Meanwhile, the dwarves moved onto the demon at the Pass of Lar with unprecedented authority. In a complete route, the dwarves quickly dispatched the much-weakened demons that had teleported from the south. It would be many more months before the Forces of Good would have another reason to celebrate.
April saw the largest naval battle in Realm history as dozens of Tang warships ambushed the combined Elven, Orcish, and Human fleet loaded with ground troops off the coast of Teufeldorf. It was a decisive route that cost the Forces of Good their entire fleet and enabled the Tang Armada to provide coastal support and raid villages all along the seaside for the remainder of the season.
With its allies defeated, the Tomb Kingdom turned northwest and sacked the dwarven stronghold at Southgate Tower - and the western entrance to the Moradin's tunnel was captured. Meanwhile, the battles were already starting to turn for the Knights as Sandal sacked Lechlade Keep on their push north into the Southern Reaches.
June was a bloody month with the Knights almost breaking after losing three consecutive battles - starting with the Sandal siege of Crossgate Castle, continuing with the Undead siege of Admunfort, and ending with the Tang ambush of the Knights south of Teufeldorf. Thousands of men were slaughtered in the worst losses in Reaches history. The dwarves managed to retake the minimally fortified Southgate Tower and free the dwarves and men trapped within.
As the Forces of Evil coalesced for a battle at Nevermind, the Knights managed to retake the Admundfort in July.
In August, the Tomb King, having left the protection of the desert, sieged Grunfeld Keep - taking another garrison of Knights to an early grave. Meanwhile, the Tang navy - marauding up and down the coast - sacked Timberway Village - the farthest north a battle had taken place since the Orcish Wars.
And finally, in October, Sandal with the help of the Tang and Tomb Kingdom, sieged and conquered Nevermind, the new gnomish capital. Victory for the Forces of Evil! Although the gnomes took an open field victory battle the Tomb Kingdom in retaliation as the campaign season came to an end, it was a hollow victory.
The Knights are in unrest, and they are financially broken - deep in debt to the elves and dwarves. Meanwhile, Sandal is brought back from the brink of revolution. It was a good year for killing. But what will happen when the mountain giants arrive?
Battle Plan
The Thursday and Friday D&D adventures are aimed at providing a noticeable result in Witenagemot this year (i.e., failure to stop the demons puts demon counters on the board). The Saturday D&D adventure will determine the number of units available to the Wolfshaunt for MC33.
Thursday – finding a gnomish teleporter will allow the gnomes to teleport one-way 32 hexes (counts as their movement for the turn). A second teleporter is discovered in the Land of Bogs and the Little People. A second power source can be created for a mere 100,000 gold pieces. Teleportation between devices is permitted regardless of distance. The teleporter is stationary and cannot be moved.
Saturday – only a few wolves have gotten through the gate this year. They regenerate! This will introduce new units and monsters. Three possibilities – portal open (maximum), portal closed but few silver tokens found (normal), portal closed lotsa tokens found (minimum). Tokens are the “starting gold” for the Wolfshaunt.
The theme for the year is – the four-front war. The Wolfshaunt will attack from the east. The Tang will attack from the west. The Sandalese and Tomb Kingdom will attack from the south. The demons are in the north.
Sandal can be conquered if: all its cities and castles are sacked, no more than 30 defense of Sandalese troops are in the country, no stacks of 4 or more Sandalese troops are in any one hex. Silvarious, priest of Sarth, has commanded Fuzzwort to become the Priest King of Sandal.
- Three armadas of Tang ships:
- one 9 hexes out from Hex 1014 (just north of Azgarde)
- one 9 hexes out from Hex 1219 (Crystal Castle) – fake armada
- one 9 hexes out from Freeport
- Demons are in Hex 2006 – Pass of Lar – will try to take out the fort there – spreading east or west as possible.
- Wolfshaunt to the east.
- Sandal to the south.
A Message Decoded...
The puzzle this year provides the location of the demon tokens and the Tang ships.
If you are feeling bored, General, here is a game to keep you occupied.
Tang Armada at 1014 and 0524. Demons at 2006. Wolfshaunt coming. Sandal and Tomb active.
1(6)-1(9)-1(6)-2(3)—1(9)-1(6)-3(2)-1(9)-2(4)-1(9)—1(9)-1(6)—1014—1(9)-1(6)-2(4)—0524. 2(4)-1(12)-3(2)-1(8)-1(6)-1(4)—1(9)-1(6)—2006. 4(2)-1(8)-1(4)-4(2)-1(4)-4(2)-1(9)-1(4)-1(6)-1(6)—3(2)-1(8)-3(2)-1(9)-1(6)-2(3). 1(4)-1(9)-1(6)-2(4)-1(9)-1(4)—1(9)-1(6)-2(4)—1(6)-1(8)-3(2)-3(2)—1(9)-3(2)-1(6)-1(9)-4(2)-1(12).
1-1-1-2 - - 1-1-3-1-2-1 - - 1-1 - - 1014 - - 1-1-2 - - 0524. 2-1-3-1-1-1 - - 1-1 - - 2006. 4-1-1-4-1-4-1-1-1-1 - - 3-1-3-1-1-2. 1-1-1-2-1-1 - - 1-1-2 - - 1-1-3-3 - - 1-3-1-1-4-1.
6-9-6-3 - - 9-6-2-9-4-9 - - 9-6 - - 1014 - - 9-6-4 - - 0524. 4-12-2-8-6-4 - - 9-6 - - 2006. 2-8-4-2-4-2-9-4-6-6 - - 2-8-2-9-6-3. 4-9-6-4-9-4 - - 9-6-4 - - 6-8-2-2 - - 9-2-6-9-2-12.