World Revolution

[Rezantis]

"They seem to have enough to spare a few thousands, and you know what they say: ten thousand here, ten thousand there, and pretty soon you're talking about real numbers," Rez grins.

[Brian]

"Just the terain, here.  It's a good fifty meters of coverless snow between the last foothill and the supply route.  We've gotten men to work at piling up the snow, so we can hide footmen for a charge behind a levy.  More of our men can conceal themselves in the snow around the area, but not too densely.  I suspect you'll want to harry them with concealed archers, and while they try and rally to counter the archers, drive into them with the main body of our assault force?

"There's no doubt in my mind we'll win ... it's just a question of the Jotun.  I'm worried that the six of them might shatter the ice, and trap us all in the deeping prison."

"It's rare, on the snows, to encounter Jotun in such a number that it's a danger.  But this trench is dangerous," Liandrall adds.

[Dracos]

"how many archers do they have?"

Dracos

[Brian]

"Not possibly more than two thousand," Erik says, shaking his head.  "Even then, most of their number are not troops, save what would be needed to fend off wild animals.  Except for the Jotun, who I imagine are just being brought in late, they're essentially unarmed."

[Dracos]

"hmm...  Heres a thought.  Forget their men and their archers.  Let's get every able armed archer we can concealed nearby.   Instead of aiming at the army, let's aim at the Jotuns.  They may be huge, but several hundred arrows into their hides should be able to take them down, no?  If we can take them all down together while we're safely at a distance, they should shatter the ice, taking the entire force with them into a watery grave.  We wouldn't be able to salvage the supplies, but we have enough already, and if we can do a ton of damage with little risk to our men, that's the best action to take.  Do you think we could pull that off?"

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"Interesting," Rez pretends he knows exactly what a jotun is (norse mythology - giants or some such?), "What about dreadmarchers who turn to flee? Are we going to try and have people in position to cut them off, or just let them go?"

[Brian]

"An archer can cause pain to a Jotun," Erik says slowly, "but I've never heard of one falling to arrows.  Their hide is thick."  Shaking his head, he says, "It may be possible, however, and we lose nothing to try.  The worst that could happen would be that we lure them out of the trench, to where they are less dangerous."  He realizes what he just said, and rolls his eyes.  "For Jotun, at any rate."

Liandral looks thoughtful.  "I'm very good with a bow," he says matter-of-factly to Erik.  "I could put an arrow in a Jotun's eye -- would that kill it?"

"Even if it didn't, it'd blind it," Erik says thoughtfully.  "No real loss there."

The leaders of the other clans, realizing that a discussion is under way concerning tactics, make their own approach.  "There should be more than enough of us to run down any who flee," Sir Edward Durin says.

[Rezantis]

Rez stretches and tightens his fingers, looking at his right hand.

"You know, I could probably stand to get a little practice in with the bow as well, if we're letting them come to us.  I might be a tad rusty, but I reckon I can still shoot tolerably well."

[Dracos]

"Hum... True.  Then let's aim for an ambush, the archers blinding and stunning the jotuns, hopefully causing a few to fall over and the rest of us waiting in ambush to pick off the army as they come to us.  Hum, anything we can maybe slip onto the arrows to make them more painful to the Jotuns?"

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"How tall are the jotuns? Can they see out of the trench? Concealment could be a problem, in that case . . . and you could maybe use some of our supply of torches to improvise some fire arrows, but our archers wouldn't be trained to compensate for the unbalanced arrow, so . . ."

[Brian]

"Sir Shuker?" Erik asks Nathan questioningly.  "We hunted a band of three Jotun down some years ago, the caves near the black citadel...."

"They don't like fire," Liandral agrees.  "But we don't have what it takes to make a proper fire arrow -- for that you need cloth.  Real cloth -- hide and fur won't pick up something flamable well enough.  Then, of course, you need something that burns, like pitch.  The brands we carry are brittle, and the wrappings can't be re-wound around arrowheads."

[Dracos]

"Then we will make due with what we have.  Let's set out now to surround the trench.  The more time we spend preparing the ambush, the better we should be able to handle their offensive.  As planned, I want the archers to go after the Jotun, the rest of us will wait in guard on either side of the trench and smash into their forces as they try and clear the sides.  I will stay fight with the main force on the left side of the trench.  Nathan, Lord Roger, and Lord Durin, will take the right side.  Half the archers to either side to force them to split up.  Any other questions before we start moving?"

Dracos

[Brian]

There's a general agreement that everyone understands, as they all hurry into position.

[Rezantis]

Once everyone has cleared out, leaving Dracos and Rez alone again, Rez checks that nobody's in earshot before quietly poses the obvious question.

"So, giants?  Anything crucial I need to know about them, or just 'don't let them hit you'?"

[Dracos]

"They are big, cold, and wield giant clubs.  Also don't let them fall on you.  Also, next time stick with the I Know What I'm talking about routine, anyhow, let's get moving."

If Rez doesn't have more questions, Dracos heads out to help prepare and lead the ambush.

Dracos