Staying ahead of someone who is ahead - Tacticians needed

[TJByrum]

I'm in this roleplay on another site, and it's pretty cool. I won't bore you with the specifics lest you're interested. It's a tactic/strategic setup where about 1200 allied forces are trying to hold a mountain pass against insurmountable odds. Everyday we get attacked so we have to formulate a plan that ensures our survival. I was the commander during the first battle and I attempted to shower them with arrows until they draw in, then engage them with infantry while our cavalry circled around from our rear and attempted to hit them from the flanks. Unfortunately, the enemy threw in warhounds who practically disrupted my archers, but I was still able to flank them and win. The second battle one player brought some mages who managed to shield us from enemy arrows, but they brought a magical Urn to the battlefield that rendered the mages useless. The commander of that battle decided it best to charge forward with our only cavalry battalion, and he's in a pretty tight situation right now. My own forces (of mainly Viking-esque infantry) was late to the battlefield, but I am about to bolster our own ranks and break a hole in the enemy formation to allow our cavalry to escape. Thing is, the GM is cleverly finding ways to exploit each and every plan we have. He's one step ahead of us - which is how you win battles/wars. So my goal is to stay one step ahead of the GM. I'm seeking to formulate a plot in the IC like we usually do, but secretly have anotherplan going on that the GM doesn't know about, so when he tries to counteract our strategy he will be foiled. We can't win, just so you know. It's already been decided we'll lose, we just gotta see how long we'll last on the mountain pass.

[Dinh AaronMk]

I read mountain pass, and then read maneuvers that would be executed in open field. You don't really flank anything when you're held up in a pass. You can't move, and neither can the other guy. Passes and narrow valleys such as this are really good at funneling people in one direction. Maybe you could scale the rock on either side, but that's a vulnerability issue. So frankly: your cavalry would be useless. The advantage of holding a pass is that a defensive force can hold back another army ten times its size. You just don't break rank while you do it. That said, you could feign retreat and just crush the other force with rocks from the side once they advance to gain ground. This'd probably narrow the pass even further and make it more of a grinder. The loosing scenario though would be if he managed to find an alternate route to get at the army's caravan in behind and box you in.

[TJByrum]

I asked a lot of questions before the RP began Dinh. The pass is actually wide enough for our small army of 1200 soldiers to fit comfortably in it, and allows up ample room to maneuver such units as cavalry. That's not an issue. To pull off something like you see in the Battle of Thermopylae isn't viable either, as our forces would be stretched way to thin in order cover the width of the pass. One of the other player's did scale the rocks and spied inside of the enemy's base successfully, but I'm afraid the GM is going to use the landslides against us (yes, he said landslides are possible). Also, this pass is significant in that it is the only sure way to pass through these mountains which separate the east and the west (the east has been conquered and that empire is now marching on the west, and the players are military leaders from the west who band together to delay the invasion while our actual armies can mobilize to meet the bulk of the empire's forces as a whole). Because of this, I'm not really afraid of being attacked from the rear. Imagine a moderately-sized battlefield, but when you left said battlefield you can only march east or west - not north or south. It should be noted that I arrived to the second battle late because: 1. My second-in-command killed my commander in combat, and then assumed control of my forces, and 2. Some of my soldiers were sent into the wilderness and successfully returned with pigs (farmland pigs). I had thought of a phantom strategy to goad the GM into deploying a mass of archers; I would send out light skirmishers to disrupt the enemy... but the real strategy is to not move the skirmishers and instead send out a large group of warriors who can form a shield wall, rendering the arrows useless. As the enemy archers retreat, our cavalry will go around the shield wall and flank whatever infantry they may have.

[Dinh AaronMk]

How much functional control can you get of the weather? Or is that GM controlled in some way? I'm thinking something Red Cliff-like now. And I'd link the scene for reference but I guess no one's got to posting Kaoming's apt ability to predict the weather. But while I'm reminded of Red Cliff... Steal his arrows? Provided you can't manipulate the weather and still want to do this, and provided you got the opening, you could set fire to the field ahead of you, just to cloud it with smoke. Then do something to goad him to fire at ghosts, like playing war-drums to feign a call to charge them. Get their arrows and your shields, stop the drumming, and then leave before the smoke clears.

[Keyguyperson]

The only way to stay ahead of someone who is always ahead is to make bad decisions. Make a list of all of the stupid things you could do, then think about why it's a stupid idea and how the enemy would exploit your blunder. Then take what they'll do to exploit it and set your forces up to directly counter that action (Out of sight, obviously). When the enemy takes the bait, you pounce on them and rip them to shreds. It's a costly strategy, and a risky one as well. If you don't know your enemy well enough, then they'll do something you didn't expect and you'll lose right there. On a side note, is this RP still accepting or does it restart after you lose or something? It sounds really interesting.

[VKAllen]

Why not strategise by listing every single option that you have, list the possible ways that it could become obsolete in mind with the GM's control over the situation and somehow utilise a last-stand instead of trying to smash them? This seems simpler said than done... But it's sort of my strategy.

[clark]

It's difficult to strategize when I still don't know how wide the pass is. Can you post a link to this RP or giving us the info that you have? I don't know how steep the slopes are. I don't know how high the mountainside goes. I don't know the terrain. I don't know the enemy's composition or position. I don't know if the GM is able to whip out a super convenient item whenever he feels like it (or if the urn is singularly unique). I don't know the effective range of the urn. I don't know if your goal is ultimately offensive or defensive. I don't know how powerful your magic can get. Because I don't know these particulars, these suggestions may be dumb: That Urn has Got to Go Do whatever subterfuge you need to steal or destroy it. Disrupt their Supplies Send out spy-mages on covert missions. Climbing up or down the slopes, circle around to their camps, behind enemy lines. Block off their supply route with a landslide or an avalanche. Poison their food sources. Set fire to the forests on their side of the mountain: no local supplies for them. Shapeshift or use the armor of fallen enemy to sneak into their ranks for recon and sabotage. Give their warhounds rabies, strike them with madness and let their own people deal with them. Make Pass Impassable Use mages or explosives to destroy the pass If the pass is "too large" to destroy outright, you could at least constrict the surface area of the battlefield to make it easier to deny flanking maneuvers and mitigate their advantage in numbers. Bonus points bring an avalanche directly into their forces, or to crumble away the stone beneath them. Create massive ice slicks that slope towards the cliff edge. Or just use ice slicks to restrict their cavalry. Dig out a trench that spans the width of the pass, using temporary bridges until it's done. Then fall back, removing the bridges. If you've burned down the forests on their side of the pass, they won't be able to build proper bridges any time soon. Booby trap the trench for extra points. If the situation is truly un-winnable, your best bet is to find some way to destroy the only avenue they have of getting to you. But yeah, this RP actually sounds very interesting. I might have to rip off this idea.

[VKAllen]

A friend of mine, @Eisenhornhas given his insight in the matter. The following was what he said;

"Frankly? Assuming the enemy is without numbers here, which I assume is the case?, and attrition is the goal, booby trap and create a sheer meatgrinder for any who enter, and hold the narrowest point of the pass. Pungi sticks, rockslides, pitfalls, free fire zones for archers utilizing flaming arrows, cause as much death and discord amongst the enemy ranks. Only reason to make a braekthrough attempt would be to kill the enemy commander if he was foolish enough to be within reach and then that can be considered schmuck bait, since one would assume a last effort would be made to cripple the enemy. Oh, and seal the pass behind you if at all possible. Men fight hardest when they've no chance of survival, there is no reason to hold back in the hopes of seeing another day and it'll slow the enemy progression after the 1200 men are finally slain."

Nothing much that hasn't been said before, although it seems that it is the most voted course of action.