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Shabazik — Polforian Skirmish
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Published: 2017-03-30 16:11:26 +0000 UTC; Views: 10868; Favourites: 203; Downloads: 254
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Slaver-Knights of Roccasone falling into an ambush: upon the retreat of an Ozcura grey orc formation, the Roccasonian, used to face retreating, undisciplined enemies thought they where routing and followed them into a Swamp: only then for them to turn back and reinforcements emerge from the mist.
Their armors, a great adventage they enjoyed in the battlefield, became their doom as they sunk in the mud.
The Slaver-Knights of Roccasone where used to fight the disorganized rabble of the mountain tribes of the eastern slopes of the Dargoina, and at best what the remnants of the dark legion threw at them where some hastily recruited, poorly trained "legions" -legions that would be often a mockery of the Dark Legion of old, of the days of the Demon Lords.-
When the rumours began that the Demon Lords had returned and that they where unifying once more time the Confederation of Free Peoples of old, gathering Polforia again under their banners, the Gate Kingdom of Roccasone, the last of the Polforian States of the Outregam, they disregarded them as rumours: but as was seen indeed the demon servers where unifying, they accepted in the end it could mean that finally one of the demonic remnants and their petty demon princes had achieved enough hegemony to gather around his figure the weaker remnants.
Decided to act and disband this new remnant of the Dark Legion, the Slaver-Knights of Roccasone gathered their armies and marched eastwards, to Polforia:
However there, they will face the armies of the Demon-Orc Voltigern: but Voltigern wasn't only other petty demon prince, but indeed a general of a reunified Dark Legion, reunited under the returned Demon Lords.
The army of Roccasone will fall in battle to the point that no survivor was able to return to Roccasone to warn them of the Catastrophe or confirming the rumours of the return of the Dark Legion.
Instead, what will march to the walls of Roccasone will be the same demon servers that killed their fathers and brothers, disguised in their bloodied uniforms for the Roccasonian to open their gates.
Commission for Anonymous Deviant
Originally was going to make the Ozcuras be facing instead some knights of the Order of Nortender, but seeing as birthday is coming soon, I decided to give a nod to one of the factions he have created for the world of Aiers, the Gate Kingdom of Roccasone and his demon-orc general, Voltigern.
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Comments: 35
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Top-notch artwork right there, in both detail and fluidity. Mind if i download some of the works?
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of course not, that's why I have available the download button! Glad you liked it! : D
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Well done! And if that war horse is well trained, it'll lash out his fore hooves and take out the spearman.
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Come on you get let female elves pretending to be Orcs kill you! Kick their asses!
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Hard to fight guerrilla tactics on an enemy's home turf....
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Reminds me of the trap tactics I used when war gaming. It worked like a charm against knights in DBA.
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it's a good trap, if the enemy is fool enough to fall for it! XD
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It worked every time. You would think people would pay closer attention.
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Very nice battle scene. 
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Doom! Doom! Doom!
Hey, I was wondering something: I think to remember the forces that attacked Roccasone where between 20,000 to 40,000 demon servers... but how strong do you think where the "Slaver Armies" that where out there? Under who's command? They where send to face the gathering demons -as I wrote here-, or they where just on the yearly raids?
I don't remember too if they were recalled or were to return, when Pumori's second rebellion came!
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I found this quote from King Tibal during a council meeting I described in "The Fall of Roccasone":
"I have always claimed there is no demon army, just a roving band of bandits, misfits and orc scum that is a little bigger than usual. My son, Prince Valerian, has informed me that our raiding columns in Polforia are banding together and may even be sufficient to deal with them on their own!"
In my opinion, this indicates that Tibal, despite what he's saying, was aware of a growing threat in Polforia, on the other side of the mountains and that he had ordered his raiding columns to unite and deal with the threat. I do not think he believed there was a true new "Dark Legion" out there, but still, he considered the threat big enough to have it dealt with before it became too dangerous. So, what you described in your story seems pretty accurate to me. They had originally sent to do raids, but their mission was changed and became a campaign to destory this upstart 'Demon prince'.
However, Prince Valerian later in that same meeting, answering a question of the king about what the troops in the field are doing, suggest the following to his father, who agrees with it:
"Maybe they could handle that demon army, father, but I think it would be safer to get them back over here. It is easier to unite the columns here, instead of hoping they will find each other in the field. If we haven’t found Pumori and that band of werewolves and rebels by the time they get here, they can help in combing the city. When that’s done and the city’s morale has risen because of the execution of that pest, we can combine all our forces, raiding contingents and city guard, and decide to fight the enemy in open battle or watch them bleed to death against our walls."
So, in conclusion, I think the columns noticed bigger resistance, were already uniting by themselves and by earlier orders of the king, but were later issued orders to stop the campaign against the new demon prince and all come home, reform, destroy any source of rebellion and then return as ons strong army to annihilate the demon prince. of course, it never came to that.
I have not found a name of a leading general in my notes. So, that's still open.
As for the size ... I'm not sure. We're talking about several raiding columns, to grab slaves and pillage villages. Each, I suppose a few thousand strong, to make sure they were powerful enough to deal with warbands of the enemy. So, if they all united together, maybe some 5 or 6 thousand in total? At most? Or is that too much?
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IT largelly depends in the end really of the size of Roccasone city and their dominion... but I think the Roccasonian raiding columns that where crushed by Voltigern maybe could have been some 3,000-4,000 warriors in total, and the city defenders maybe where some 2,000 ones?
Maybe in total the Kingdom of Roccasone -counting other castles and such- had some 6,000 warriors total?
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I think that's a reasonable and fair amount of soldiers, especially for what is essentially a city state and the surrounding villages and countryside. With maybe 500 or something like that, being mounted warriors or knights?
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500 knights and cavalry sounds well to me!
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For myself, I imagined Roccasone with a core of professional army footmen and an order of knights, but with large numbers of auxiliaries who often acted as the slavers for kingdom. The 'Slaver-Knights' not being real knights at all, but dragoons who might ride to battle, but more times than not fighting on foot as they didn't have good horse training and were intended to get close to their opponents as they wanted to capture some of them. Dragoons and mercenary slaver footmen also being cheaper to maintain.
I'm not sure how strong the Roccasone army was in numbers. As it had lands in the mountain valleys and annexed or reclaimed lands of the surrounding, fallen outregam kingdoms, it had a fair amount of territory for a petty kingdom, it also had the stipendum reviving its military before the Sargonic Wars, so imagined it was one of the stronger, maybe the strongest of the Outregam Kingdoms before independence. It may have declined as an independent petty kingdom, but the rulers would have done everything they could to mitigate the loss of the Stipendum.
The rulers did indeed know that an unusually strong Dark Legion army opposed them, the king was worried, but did not seem to believe that the army could be defeated, let alone annihilated. My understanding was that the main army was dispatched to fend off Vortigern, with remaining auxiliaries and some garrison forces trying to deal with Pumori's werewolves and loose ozcura raiders. The army was indeed (supposedly) recalled to defend the city from Pumori's forces from without, and from infiltrators within the city. However, Prince Valerian had been corrupted and set up sabotage at the gates and essentially helped set up the Roccasone army to be crushed somewhere. The army being 'recalled' a means of relaxing the guards and populace and allowing Vortigern's forces to get close.
The Dark Legion held their main body of legions back, and Vortigern himself did everything he could to hide the true size of his own army. He avoided engagement of the main forces, and drew back so as to draw the Roccasone army far away from the city, and to finally lure it into a trap so it could be utterly destroyed.
The scenario is somewhat complicated by the Amazon battle-maidens of the Order of Nersan. Their headquarters castle being cut off and presumably destroyed eventually. They were probably ignorant of the fall of the Roccasone main army as it happened, but seemed to be cognizant to the arrival of Dark Legion forces, with a company in the field retreating to Roccasone, arriving too late, and they went through the Degoland Pass ahead of Vortigern who spent a good couple of days looting and regrouping.
Additional Order of Nersan forces were also posted in little castles within the Pass, some were collected, but at least one Order of Nersan castle remained half staffed to delay Vortigern. Indeed, other fortifications within the pass, staffed by Roccasone or Degoland soldiers also remained to hold up the Demon-Orc with reasonable success.
The Order of Nersan forces that had gotten through would be ultimately destroyed by Merrick as you know. The question might remain if messages from the Order of Nersan, scouts and the observations of the army of the true nature of Vortigern's army were never sent, or if Prince Valerian used his position to hide or suppress any such message coming through.
Anyway, the Roccasone army was destroyed in the field, it is good to finally see a pic of it happening!
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Oh, I use the term Slaver-Knight, not as the knights being slavers, but more of a term that the enemies (and not so friendly!) from Roccasone would say!
Indeed, being a mountain kingdom I don't think the core of the Roccasonian army would have been heavy cavalry, but instead hardy infantrymen -mostly light, but as well heavy infantry-, and along with the knights mostly light cavalry, used for being raiders of the lowlands -and slavers-.
I don't see them much as still having Knightly Orders.
I think, due the economic needs of the cities -and opportunities-, the armies of Roccasone, once enjoying the Sargonic stipendium and having been great, had reduced in size, strength and discipline and instead had become more and more a raiding force of slavers, rather than a proper army -but due their victories against the peoples of the mountains, they failed to see this-, used more to smaller cale actions and a sort of chevauchée.
I wouldn't say it was numerous... maybe only some thousands -maybe some 3,000 - 4,000 ? And that could be much? I don't really know neither the size of the city to judge, really!-
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Great scene, so many characters all beautifully composed.
Nice work!
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