Path of Peace, Chapter 7 – Outlaw Camp
by Stratego
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MISSION BRIEFING:
Now you have cleaned up this territory, I want you to deal with those other rats, namely the Outlaws in the next estate. An old friend of mine, Sir Grey, tells me they have been extorting money from his people. You are to kill their leader, then destroy their camp.
Objectives:
- WIN – Destroy outlaw camp
- LOSE – Your Lord dies
Map size: large
Starting date: continues from end of chapter 6
Starting stats: continues from end of chapter 6
Starting goods: all the goods from the end of mission 6
Buildings added: church, beehive, chandler’s workshop
Buildings lost: none
Buy/sell: wood, stone, bows, spears, cloth, hops, ale, pitch, apples, meat
Starting units: Five swordsmen plus all your troops from previous mission 6
Available units: archers, spearmen, armed peasants
Now the time has come to get rid of those annoying outlaws who have been attacking persistently and incessantly for the three last missions. Your task is to destroy their camp which is located in the southeastern province “Whitle”. It’s your first militarily influenced mission within the Path of Peace campaign, where you have to deploy powerful offensive forces.
o worries about any restricted time, there is not any time limit setting you under pressure. Thus, there’s no hurry and you are able to plan your activities very calmly. Right in the beginning of this chapter Sir William will thank you for serving him well while he was absent, and therefore he will offer five swordsmen being at the player’s disposal. On the picture below you can see the reinforcements (swordsmen) coming from the north and walking across the bridge in order to serve you.
Before you start recruiting archers and spearmen, keep an eye on your economic situation: Make sure that a varied food supply is guaranteed, and set up extra rations in your granary that allow you to raise the tax rate up to “exorbitant” taxes (-8). If necessary, purchase a sufficient amount of ale barrels and compensate the negative tax burden by higher ale consumption.
he recruitment of soldiers usually requires people, gold, honour, and of course, weapons. As for weapons, your fletchers and pole turners have been busy since mission 3 and they should have constantly produced lots of bows and spears to fulfil the demanded military task. In that case, I recommend mustering at least 80 archers and 40 spearmen for an easier fight. To achieve a faster recruitment it’s advisable to shut down some workshops or industries (e.g. woodcutters/sawpits) for a short while. In doing so, you will avoid an unnecessarily increasing population, and your workers can be hired on their way back to the campfire.
Another special honour bonus
This chapter may be excellently suitable to test the efficiency of religion (churches) relating to honour and popularity. In this connection, I have to point out beehives and chandler’s workshops playing a major role here: Place a church (in case you haven’t done it yet), 4 or 5 chandlers and several beehives (3 beehives per 1 chandler) close to their workshops. Then chandlers will collect wax from a beehive to create candles being used by a priest in regular masses. Your people also appreciate churchgoing that will always give you a popularity boost. If you click on your Lord assigning him civilian duties, he is going to attend masses, giving you a small honour bonus, too. On the next picture let’s have a look into the interior of the church, and you’ll recognize the Lord actually taking a pew.
The offensive part
As soon as your offensive forces are completed, you are ready and the outlaws are in for it! Gather your army and advance eastwards until you reach the deserted estate “Whitle”. Stay there for a while waiting for one of the regularly (every 12 months) attacking enemy patrols. In the meantime, pick out a small contingent of about 10 archers in order to eliminate the two groups of guards at the path’s mouth and way up in direction to the palisades. As for my troops, I chose “close formation” as you can see on the following picture.
Weaker units (archers) in the middle, the others (spearmen and swordsmen) are forming a “surrounding shield” so to speak.
fter having successfully dispatched these counterattacks of the outlaws, you should tackle the final onslaught. As a diversion, quickly advance with your spearmen heading straight on to the gateway through enemy fire (crossbowmen!). Simultaneously, split up your archers, form two groups of equal strength, and move them to the left and right red marked points at the end of the narrow path. Eliminate these dangerous hostile crossbowmen up on the wooden walls.
While your archers are busy clearing the front wall, your swordsmen can slowly follow your melee troops. Unfortunately, you will reckon about 50% casualties, but sometimes things could be worse. Now, gather all your surviving archers (aggressive stance!), enter the camp passing by the inner palisades, and lead them to the edge of the map so that they will automatically take aim at the outlaws who are defending the central camp area.
At the same time, select all your spearmen and swordsmen in order to destroy the tent with covering fire by your archers. No enemy will be able to stop them, and after a few negligible struggles, the tent will finally break down. Victory!
Congratulations!
Stratego