Has anybody in these forums run any War conflicts? I’d love to hear about them and how you handled the details.
I’m imagining that in order to receive the benefits of any of the War “weapons” the entire conflict would have to be mapped out pretty clearly… “OK, I’ve got this command structure, I’ve got 3 regiments… Regiment A is on the hill overlooking the field, Regiment B is hiding in the forest, ready to flank…” ETC.
Just wondering how y’all might have done this type of conflict.
Thanks!
Don’t think that’s necessary, as with any other Mouse Guard stuff. You wouldn’t have to prepared, specifically, a regiment in the bushes, to make the Feint action. Those things are introduced into the scene after the Test. Like how players can easily justify many reasonable props to happen to be there in their description of actions during regular Tests.
The Weapons of War says specifically that they must be prepared before the battle, either as part of Tests during the Player’s Turn, or some event during GM’s turn before the battle. Maybe you’ve established a safe path using Pathfinder, giving you the Command Structure weapon. Maybe you’ve carefully regulated supplies and equiments with a successful Administrator, giving you the Supplies and Ammunition weapon.
The idea is they’re acquired before the Conflict starts so there’s no need to keep tabs on these things during the Conflict itself - You have a good command structure and plenty of supplies that will stick until the end. On appropriate situations, you include these ‘weapons’ as edges in your operations when describing the action.
I’m getting ready to unleash a military conflict of sorts any day now with my PBEM group. Here’s the details: in the prior mission, the patrol failed to pour the scent border after being attacked by a mother fox. They overwhelmingly scared off the fox but in the confusion of the fray, the patrol leader, Cal went missing and was found dead later…slain by weasels! The players scouted around and found evidence of encroaching weasels but returned safely to Pebblebrook.
Now, in this adventure, they will be forced into a modified military conflict to defend Pebblebrook against the attacking weasels while the inhabitants flee to safety. I haven’t worked out the exact details, but the skills will go like this:
attack=militarist
defend=administrator (organizing the defenses etc)
feint=militarist
maneuver=administrator (helping to organize and evacuate the civilians)
I envision a story driven abstracted cinematic battle where each action will cover hours of the battle, not just one specific action. For example, let’s say a character chooses ATTACK. He would describe how he gathers a few guardmice and tasks them to attack the weasel encampment just before dawn to catch them off guard and buy time for the evacuation to begin. Let’s say the weasels choose maneuver. They send a warband across the river by night to observe and report on the movements of the mice in Pebblebrook. Then they roll and narrate their specific results following the theme of what they hoped to do. How did the pre-dawn raid go? What happened with the warband scouts? What advantage do they gain next round from their gathered intel?
Stuff like that. If the weasels win, Pebblebrook is overrun and captives are taken. If the MG wins, the weasels could be fended off and the civilians evacuated safely.
This is slightly off-topic, but I just want to point out, zzzman, that the MG Goal in the War conflict is not a good one! The mice will automatically fend off the weasels if they stymie the invasion. What else do they get out of the conflict if they win? If I was playing, I’d ask to either capture an important weasel warlord, or to have enough time to securely pour the scent border.
Matt
Excellent point! We’re not there yet in the game. Ill be curious what the players choose as their goal.
OK cool! Just making sure.
Matt