Battle for King's Landing

[Annabelle1993]

===Update===

The first beta version is posted at #15.

Hi folks. Anyone here familiar with the fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire? I am currently working on a scenario set on one of the tide turning battles of the series, the battle for King's Landing, aka. the battle of Blackwater, which took place in the War of Five Kings.

I have the map and OOB ready. Now just a final touch on events and equipment stats tweaking. I have managed to recreate the special tactics employed in the battle from the original book including wildfire and great chains at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush. Any questions and suggestions are welcome!

The scenario will soon be ready for public testing. Anyone interested in a battle with me, please comment below!

-Annabelle

[gwgardner]

That's quite impressive. I laud your efforts. Do the towers have any special capability other than fortification? And the chains across the river, are those traversible by foot (assuming your using railroads to represent chains)?

[Annabelle1993]

Thanks:)

Those tower icons are actually watchtowers built along the city wall, roughly one mile apart from each other. Any Gold Cloaks stationed on the watchtower will be able to observe the field several miles out, giving them an early warning when the enemy approaches. Considering this scenario is set to 0 theater recon for both sides, the watchtowers are quite a deal.

The rail serves two purposes. One, it confines the movement of "Great Chain" unit, represented by rail artillery counters and equipped with armored equipment, to that small area of a choke point at the mouth of the river; second, it gives both sides a visual hint as to where the chains lie initially underwater, as described in the book (the Baratheon fleet noticed chains underwater, but did not react to it, and was later cut off by raised chains). They cannot be traversed by a ground unit, because of the deep water terrain feature.

Here is a picture of great chains raised. When raised, they cannot be destructed by ships, denying passage to the enemy fleet.

[Oberst_Klink]

Oops!

Klink, Oberst

[Annabelle1993]

Ouch! Wildfire!

[gwgardner]

So there are several rail artillery units on either end of the chain, and when moved out onto the river, it represents the raising of the chain.

Re the towers, I didn't realize that TOAW4 had the capability for increased recon, based upon elevation.

How does the invading force obtain victory? The city looks quite impregnible. Does it all come down to forcing the gate?

[DanNeely]

ORIGINAL: gwgardner

Re the towers, I didn't realize that TOAW4 had the capability for increased recon, based upon elevation.

The mountain peak terrain modifier gives it. You can see it's normal appearance on the top of Mt Etna in this image from one of warspite1's AARs.

[Annabelle1993]

Right, that is how the chains work.

The watchtowers are based on the built-in 'peak' terrain. I edited the graphics file so the icon looks like a watchtower.
It gives the one on the tower just about the right amount of extended vision so the city watch could scan for movement across the river. I do not know the exact amount of vision extension. But I am quite happy with the current playtest result.

According to the book, Stannis Baratheon (the invading force) had had a strong fleet and recently through a dramatic event gained great military strength by assimilating part of his brother's army. Now he was able to march upon King's Landing and contest the Iron Throne seated by House Lannister (the defending force) both by land and by sea, outnumbering the city defense 3 to 1. To make matters worse, the bulk of the city defense was made up of Gold Cloaks (police forces), while the Lannister army was fighting a northern force several hundred miles away.

Stannis's plan is to sack the city, kill the king and sit on the iron throne. So for him to achieve victory in this scenario, he has to take the Red Keep (north-eastern corner of the city) where the Iron Throne is located, while not losing his entire fleet.

King's Landing is not a perfect city to defend. Having two sides against open water, the invading fleet has quite some options as where to land. The recommended way to breach the city is attacking its multiple gates as weak points or infiltrating unguarded sections of the wall. Both strategies are viable given the severe shortage of manpower of the city watch.

It is only through the deployment of a secret weapon (wildfire, a tactical nuke by today's standard), the determination of the commanders and the courage of the fighting men did the Lannisters thwart the invader just long enough for its huge army to arrive and relieve the city on the second day of battle.

[Annabelle1993]

Thanks for the screenshot. Spot on!

[Oberst_Klink]

ORIGINAL: Annabelle1993

Thanks for the screenshot. Spot on!

Annabelle

Regarding the icons, etc. get in touch with sPzAbt653 (Steve). I recall a scenario he did about the 1500's colonial conquest in the Americas...

EDIT: Here it is - fb.asp?m=3413968

Gonna in fact test your piece... if you do a test of my (still in progress) Tutorial '50 scenario. Deal?
I'll play yours as Stannis though...

Klink, Oberst

[Annabelle1993]

Sure! You will regret ever taking on the Lion! The Lannisters always pay their debts!

On your tutorial '50, what's new?

[Oberst_Klink]

ORIGINAL: Annabelle1993

Sure! You will regret ever taking on the Lion! The Lannisters always pay their debts!

On your tutorial '50, what's new?

Well... I got a tad side-tracked (see my blog and other volunteer duties...); I still need to update the .EQP, for the sake of immersion/eye candy. The map Jose-Antonio (Josant) created is just breath-taking and one could write a whole book about the country and the Liberation movement (or the French colonial rule).

While doing some research for the other 'project, I was able to collect some interesting resources (see the blog, Hauptkampflinie).

Klink, Oberst

[Annabelle1993]

Your blog is... huge. How many hours have you dedicated to wargame development?

[Oberst_Klink]

ORIGINAL: Annabelle1993

Your blog is... huge. How many hours have you dedicated to wargame development?

I started blogging in 2012. Then, because of work-related issues, stopped it. I am not a dev though... I like creating/modding scenarios though. I hardly play the games as much as I used to; see the whole PBEM AAR series there... it was fun playing and reporting. Creating a blog with Blogger or WP is, at the beginning, time consuming, but also rewarding. One just needs to keep'em updated.

Klink, Oberst

[Annabelle1993]

The beta version is here! Ready for testing. I will post some challenges on PBEM++ system. Anyone interested in playtesting is also welcome to leave a comment here and we will start a playthrough.
-Annabelle

[Annabelle1993]

Hi Klink, ready for a playtest?

[Oberst_Klink]

PM sent.

Klink, Oberst

[Annabelle1993]

Here is a scenario briefing.

[Oberst_Klink]

I know the cost! Last night, gazing into that hearth, I saw things in the flames as well. I saw a king, a crown of fire on his brows, burning… burning, Davos. His own crown consumed his flesh & turned him into ash. Do you think I need Melisandre to tell me what that means? Or you?

Klink, Oberst