fandomhigh | Macro-Tactics, Monday

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Macro-Tactics, Monday

"Good morning," Kerrigan began, shooting an irritated glance around the class. "Most of you were absent last week. I'm sure that as a mitigating factor, you'll suggest the invasion and the fact that all of you came out alive--" Try to sound even less impressed, Kerrigan. "--but the honest truth is that I don't care. You will be tested on last week's material."

She had a stack of tests lying next to her on the desk. "You have the full hour to answer all of these questions," she said. "Be as comprehensive as you can be. Use your own home situation as the basis of every case, unless you don't have a home, in which case I suggest you use the United States', seeing as how that's where we're based."

"Any questions?" She didn't wait for questions. "Good. Get writing."

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Like you have a test you might not have had time to study for.

Leia Organa

Prince Alexander of Daventry

Cloud Strife

Emma Frost

Karla

Triela

Shane Gooseman

Lion-o

Blackagar Boltagon

Cally

James of Krondor

Nibble on your pencils, or whatever it is you do.

Leia wasn't too worried; she knew most of this kind of stuff like the back of her hand, really.

Cloud had read something, so he wasn't extremely worried. Just kind of worried.

Right, so Emma'd spent the entire week kidnapped, magically brainwashed, and out of her mind on hallucinogenic peaches.

She wasn't going to beg Kerrigan for a later test-date so she could at least view last week's lesson; she knew it would have no effect. Instead? She was going to gleefully make shit up. She had a good grasp of the material for the rest of the class, and anything she missed last week, she could pull out of the head of someone who had been here.

Alexander listened intently to the instructions, his mind already working with his determination to do well. How fortuitous (he hoped!) that he might not only be able to use his home situation as an example, but could perhaps add a little extra by bringing in the situation he was in while in Llewdor.

Perhaps Kerrigan would accept kidnapped as an excuse for missing last week's class?

Ahahahahahahahahahaha. Yeah, right.

Well, Karla had no idea what she was supposed to do about last week, but she thought she had a decent grasp of the rest of the class--that she'd been here for anyway, eesh--and figured she could just wing it.

If Cally were the sort to feel smug about such things, she'd feel smug about having studied. Since she wasn't, she simply felt relieved, and a bit grateful that she was taking this class and the revolutions one at once, since she could certainly bring to bear some of the things she'd learned in the other class to answer these questions as they related to her home situation.

James had read the material in his downtime. He was ready for any test she could pull.

For every question, you can use your home situation as the basis of the case unless noted otherwise.

1. Consider your budget an even 100%. What percentage of it would you spend on what, in terms of vehicle procurement, maintenance, troop care, R&D, and like fields? Feel free to be as detailed about the direction of your plans as you feel you have to be.

This question, Karla answered two ways. The first was if she only had the resources of Kaeleer at her disposal, which meant the majority of her funds went into troop care and maintenance, along with a bit left over for things like bribes for the Arcerians to help defend her borders and Coaches for troop deployment. As the darkest Jeweled witch in Terreille, her troops could use a faster Wind than Hobart's troops and hopefully keep their advantage that way.

However, if Karla had access to worlds outside of Kaeleer, then things changed. Now most of her resources went to alliances and tech from other worlds. Even something so simple as handguns drastically changed the face of warfare, never mind weapons more complicated than that.

James made a list, allocating the best as he could recall to mimic the Kingdom's disbursement, remembering some documents Arutha had to sign. He had about a tenth of the budget spent towards defense, with half spent to train new troops, keep troops fed & housed, and on weapons and armor for the armies.

2. You've built up a reasonable military force. An enemy nation has now invaded your country across a land border. Where are your bases? What strategies would you choose to take care of your enemy?

Glacia was a cold and mountainous Territory. Assuming that her enemy wasn't completely stupid and invaded during the winter (which would really be convenient), she couldn't just evacuate her people up to the mountains and let the weather do a lot of the dirty work for her. Instead, she decided she would once again open relations with Arceria, as anyone who invaded Glacia probably wouldn't stop when they hit a Territory people only by giant cats, even if those cats were devastating hunters and witches.

Then, as much as she hated doing so, she began to tally how the landscape itself could be used as a weapon. Mountain lochs meant flash floods, especially in the lowland areas, like around the capital. Avalanches and rockfalls. If they had to, they could employ a scorched earth policy and burn everything behind them in a retreat to the mountains.

Kerrigan would be able to notice that Karla's strategies pretty much ran to: defend, protect, and then mount an offensive. Get her people out and safe, and then employ guerrilla tactics against the invaders, using the terrain to their advantage.

Shades of his past.

James sketched a report of how things were handled out of Armengar, down the pass through Sethanon, down to the forts used and casualties sustained.

It was very detailed, as it was only a year or two ago.

3. What would be the best way to end a siege on your own capital?

There were a few answers to that, and Karla wasn't really fond of any of them. Her capital was in the lowlands, at the base of the mountains, surrounded by wheatfields and farmlands. So unless the defenders burned everything as they retreated, her enemies would eat well while the city starved.

Assuming the Winds hadn't been cut off--and Karla wasn't sure anyone could cut off the Winds--the best idea would be to evacuate the city and then do something else. A flood, like she'd thought of before. A bomb, if she had access to such things. Her other idea would be to put a shield up around the entire city itself. It wouldn't last for more than a few hours, not without something stronger than the Sapphire to draw on or people to bolster her, but if she could shield the city and then have her troops come down from the mountains and circle the besieging troops, they could trap them in between themselves and the shield. There wouldn't really be anywhere for them to go. Later, she could drop the shield and have the city's own defenders go out and fight as well, kind of like a pincer.

He made a list:
1. Using up all the food stores.
2. Surrender.
3. Overrunning the walls.
4. Truce.
5. Magic.
6. Summoning the Armies of the West, the Armies of the East, the Elves, and the Dwarves.

4. Bonus question. An enemy island has attached itself to Fandom, and it has attacked via a few minor excursions. You decide to strike them preemptively. How would you go about it, taking into consideration that in this example, you do have executive power over your fellow inhabitants?

Karla was stumped. Her first idea was to find a way to detach the enemy island, and then the next...? There were too many possibilities.

The first thing I'd do would be to assemble those who had scouting capabilities--trackers, empaths, mind-readers, people who are good at sneaking, intelligent animals, folks who can talk to animals, ninjas, etc--and send them over to gather intelligence about our enemies. I can't decide what kind of preemptive strike I'd use until I knew more about them. What kind of force do they have? Weak points? Bipedal or not? Tech level? Sapient or just sentient? Defensive capabilities? Magic? This past week, the invader was capable of nullifying our magic without affecting his own. Knowing whether or not this is something this new invaders can do is going to change my overall strategy. Can they only go out after dark like vampires?

I can't give you an idea of what I would do for a preemptive strike until I know more about the kind of enemy we're dealing with. Even if they're humans with weapons, knowing their numbers and capabilities is imperative to any plans I make. Proficient with just martial weaponry, magic, or both? Swords, guns, or plasma rifles? I'm not going to make plans until I have enough intel to justify it.

He provided a list of orders, with those with flight or speed to scout the enemy unseen (and that was not a sentence he imagined himself writing a year ago), with those able to heal and protect in squads with those who could fight. Squads were mixed between those with long range weaponry and those with short range capability, trying to mix the fire weapons ('blasters' and those glowing swords) with those of steel and wood. Another lesson from the siege of Armengar.

Provided they're here.

Emma was indeed there, although she was not likely to help you with your final. If she was on her own, so were you.

If you think she'll care.

I'll be gone for the evening, so SP warning is in effect!

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Macro-Tactics, Monday

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