Quote from Aelas >>

"So it's viable to pick off their patrols to weaken their forces.. hit and run to thin the herd? Hmm but it might cause them to buckle down even more. If we wait for them to leave we'd have to deal with their full force potentially in open ground, that would be worse no?" Horros questions

 "The way they are set up suggests they're expecting trouble to come from the East, across the river. If one or two of us bait them from that side it may leave the SouthWest corner relatively undefended."

"How about, someone scouts the east to see if there is anything coming? We came from the east? Didn't we?" Taya asks. "If we could time our attack from the Southwest with whatever they expect from the East, we would have them in a pincer."

Quote from cyreon >>

"How about, someone scouts the east to see if there is anything coming? We came from the east? Didn't we?" Taya asks. "If we could time our attack from the Southwest with whatever they expect from the East, we would have them in a pincer."

 "That's along the line of my thinking, but I hadn't considered a third party being involved. It might make things easier, or more complicated."

"I'm quite happy to go and see if there's something coming this way from the East. The only real problem for me going to be getting wet. I don't suppose any of you have some way to magic me across the river?"

Combat tactics weren’t really Zyzix’s specialty, so he keeps to himself as the rest of the group comes up with a battle plan. This lot seemed like a pretty straightforward group, but Zyzix didn’t mind too much. His area of expertise lies in infiltration and subterfuge, and the more straightforward things, like tactics, didn’t come easily to him. He couldn’t really offer too much in combat, but seemed like the direction their future was leaning towards. If they decided to stick to infiltration, then we would be able to be useful to the group. For now, he just waits and listens as the everyone offers suggestions on what course of action they are to take.

“Here's what I'm thinking so far.  I propose that we break up into three teams.  The first team, Taya, Drax, and one of the guards, eliminates the watcher of the north west tower. Simultaneously the second team, myself, Haj, and Cal, does the same at the southeast.  Meanwhile the third team, Horros, Bell, and the other guard will attack and frees the prisoners to the south.  This will have to be timed so that none of the patrols are in sight of the south wall.  Each of these positions have only one hostile each so we can hopefully take them out quickly with minimal noise.  After that, teams 1 and 3 converge on the western patrol as they round the southwest corner.  Meanwhile team 2 engages the southeast ballista.  Once the western patrol is defeated, team 1 climbs the wall and engages the northwest ballista while team 3 travels north along the west wall and engages the next patrol, eliminates them quickly, then does the same to the final patrol.  Then teams 1 and 2 converge on the northeast ballista.  Then team 3 also climbs the walls, so our entire force will have the high ground over the interior forces.  Someone can use one or more ballistae to try and eliminate the bridge guards.  Beyond that point, it's hard to predict how the interior forces will respond, so we will have to deal with that as it comes, but I'd say we don't need to enter the fortress, but hold our positions on the walls and make them come to us.  We need to take Riggs alive, because he's the only one with the answers we seek.  As far as I can tell, this plan also allows us for a decently quick retreat if needed.  Each team can flee in different directions if necessary and we can regroup here at camp.  What does everyone think?"

"It's an interesting plan, although I'm tempted to say it's a little over-complicated as it requires teams to be able to synchronise."

"I think your plan to free the prisoners and then take out patrols at the SW corner is sound, but I also think a distraction from the East would work."

Haj sits and looks at the map and suggests an alternative combined plan.

"We begin with the distraction at the East. I can attack from here (BC16) and take out the SE tower, while someone else fires at the bridge from here (BC4). We fire once and move to new positions using the foliage for cover. That should draw the attention of the ballista crews.
Once we open fire the rest of you can take out the guard here (W23). You can then take out any patrols which come around the corner (P27), you'll have ready made holes to put the bodies in. When you're happy that the patrols are out of the picture you can scale the wall and engage the ballista crews and anybody else in the courtyard. As for the NW tower you can probably ignore that until you're on the walls."

 [OOC} Solid lines are moves, dotted is line of fire.

“Also a viable plan. I only push back slightly about your concern about synchronization. I feel that if we have a priorly agreed upon time to strike, sunrise for example, for our initial strikes, we should be able to accomplish our tasks at relatively the same time. After that it should be easy to see each other to know what’s happening. It sounds complicated because of all the moving parts but the jobs of each team are fairly simple. But I like your plan as well and would be willing to follow it if that’s what the group decides. What say the rest of you?”

Horros chimes in agreeing with both sides to an extent, hoping to offer a simplified version (Though his player makes no promises :) ) "I think attacking at the same time makes the most sense, if one group doesn't hit their mark in time, we could be screwed... I'm happy to go anywhere, I'm more of a defensive fighter than an offensive one so I can provide a proper distraction on the bridge if someone can take out the guard tower. I'm happy to come from the south side too. I'm thinkin we won't need to worry about both towers for initial assault, just the one if we get our angles right. If we use the bridge as the distraction point and the rest attack from the south we could make do with two groups to start, once the larger attack force gets into the castle they can split to take out the ballistae...Haj, I think you would best serve moving independently, take out the tower, then provide support from range, picking off enemies one at a time. Me and one or two more  can hold the attention from the bridge, I don't gotta kill em all, just keep them occupied until your work is done no? Hardest hitters cut through the castle and I'll do my happy dance for my friends outside. My only request that I'll probably need to boost my own armor for this one Taya, if that suits you of course."

“I also like better a version with two teams, the simpler the plan the less can go wrong.” Taya opines. “Feel free to boost your armor, Horros. I’m grateful for the protection it provided but I understand that you will also have much need. Also, as one of the healers, you need to stay alive to bring others back.”

Taya in her heavy armor isn’t the most agile climber and prefers to stay on the ground but she also doesn’t hide very well. “I’m unsure which part I should play in this ploy. I could help hold the ground with Horros and protect Haj from anyone that crosses the bridge but I can provide little assistance should they decide to stay put. On the other hand, I can lead the charge against the patrols but I might be out of my depth to scale a castle wall without stairs or ladder.” 

Haj surveys the group in a calculating manner before speaking.

"Thank you for your offers of support but I believe that both of you would be better suited to the assault with Galdric and our two guards. I would suggest one of our more magically inclined members could support my distraction, providing they can use a bow or crossbow, whilst the other two give second line support for the main group."

Cal comes over looking like he got into a fight with a hairdresser, he now has long shaggy black hair and bangs, fully mullet-adjacent. "Okay but when do we use the wigs? And the costumes?" He asks in a mock gruff voice, clearly trying to do the impersonation of a seasoned mercenary.

“I’ll contribute to the distraction, with or without a costume.”

Indeed, Bell is unsure how he will fare in combat, should it come to that.

Quote from Ravnodaus >>

Cal comes over looking like he got into a fight with a hairdresser, he now has long shaggy black hair and bangs, fully mullet-adjacent. "Okay but when do we use the wigs? And the costumes?" He asks in a mock gruff voice, clearly trying to do the impersonation of a seasoned mercenary.

 Haj tries to frame a response, but is unable and simply sits there looking completely confused.

Cal wraps one of the merc garments over his shoulders to mock up the look. "Think about it! What is a better distraction then some of their own guys returning to their door? While they're distracted with us, the other team does their thing. And when the chaos starts, they won't even have the time to vet us properly! We'll just be in. Sabotaging them from within. I'm certain I can get inside. Just look at this hair. This is trustworthy hair." 

Quote from Ravnodaus >>

Cal wraps one of the merc garments over his shoulders to mock up the look. "Think about it! What is a better distraction then some of their own guys returning to their door? While they're distracted with us, the other team does their thing. And when the chaos starts, they won't even have the time to vet us properly! We'll just be in. Sabotaging them from within. I'm certain I can get inside. Just look at this hair. This is trustworthy hair." 

 Haj rolls his eyes.

"You actually may have a valid point. If you run towards the bridge screaming and shouting about being chased while I take out the tower and shoot at the guards it would make the diversion more believable."

Quote from Vedar >>

Quote from Ravnodaus >>

Cal wraps one of the merc garments over his shoulders to mock up the look. "Think about it! What is a better distraction then some of their own guys returning to their door? While they're distracted with us, the other team does their thing. And when the chaos starts, they won't even have the time to vet us properly! We'll just be in. Sabotaging them from within. I'm certain I can get inside. Just look at this hair. This is trustworthy hair." 

 Haj rolls his eyes.

"You actually may have a valid point. If you run towards the bridge screaming and shouting about being chased while I take out the tower and shoot at the guards it would make the diversion more believable."

 "Of course, you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make" says Haj in jest.

“Sounds like we have a plan. Shall we begin?”

Haj calls the group together and explains the plan........

Pre-encounter

• Everybody moves start position just South of the map (below W/X )32.
• Haj & Cal then move to starting positions East of the bridge. Haj in cover at BB17, Cal at BC4.
• Once in place Cal starts running toward the bridge shouting for help.

 Battle start

• Haj makes the first strike from BB17 to take out the SE watchtower AQ26.
  Dread Ambusher gives +2 on initiative, plus an additional shot with 1d8 extra damage.
  If the 1st shot misses the 2nd should hit. 🤞
  If the 1st shot is a kill the 2nd shot will be at the nearest bridge guard AP16.
• When the other team see the watchtower guard fall or hear shouting they will attack the guard at W23 before moving towards the SW corner P27.

At this point reality takes over and anything could happen!

Quote from Vedar >>

Haj calls the group together and explains the plan........

Pre-encounter

• Everybody moves start position just South of the map (below W/X )32.
• Haj & Cal then move to starting positions East of the bridge. Haj in cover at BB17, Cal at BC4.
• Once in place Cal starts running toward the bridge shouting for help.

 Battle start

• Haj makes the first strike from BB17 to take out the SE watchtower AQ26.
  Dread Ambusher gives +2 on initiative, plus an additional shot with 1d8 extra damage.
  If the 1st shot misses the 2nd should hit. 🤞
  If the 1st shot is a kill the 2nd shot will be at the nearest bridge guard AP16.
• When the other team see the watchtower guard fall or hear shouting they will attack the guard at W23 before moving towards the SW corner P27.

At this point reality takes over and anything could happen!

 If it helps people visualize, you can position PC tokens on the map. Will initiate this encounter tonight if there are no arguments