Southern Rebellion 2009

[Uranaga]

Game Description: River Crossing

The Quick Take

Weeks of opening skirmishes have finally created a key opportunity for the North: they have pushed the Southern forces back to the mighty river that marks the borders of the South’s core lands. If the North’s assault is to continue, it must breach this barrier with as much strength and speed as possible. The success of this crossing will decide how easy it to siege the main Southern capitals beyond.

Each side will again field four armies for this game. As before, each gets one appropriately marked banner. The North also has a set of six siege engines, and the South several small fortified positions built to help defend the river. A timer will be running in the background, and time will be marked by regular announcements.

The goal for the North is to move as many of its banners and engines across the river as possible, and as quickly as possible. The goal for the South is to destroy as many of these units as possible, or at least stall them. Points are therefore scored by both units and time.

For units, each Northern banner is worth one victory point, and each Northern engine is worth two victory points. The North scores these points by moving the units off the Southern border, and the South by destroying them (unscored units have no value if time runs out). Units are out of play until entered by the North. Banners have one respawn; engines may not respawn. Total unit points are therefore 20.

For time, the North starts out with 20 victory points, and the South with zero. For the first 10 minutes of the game, these points do not change. For the next 20 minutes, the North loses one point per minute, and the South gains one point per minute. For the last 10 minutes of the game, these points do not change. Total time points are therefore 20.

The game ends when all Northern units are scored, or after 40 minutes have passed, whichever comes first.


The Fine Print

Fortifications
The South has managed to build two small but primitive fortifications on their side of the river. Each structure can hold four players, and has the effect of granting one luck point to its inhabitants, usable only against projectile or spellball fire crossing its front. A fortification takes damage and can be destroyed in the same manner as a siege engine.

River
There are two ways for the North to cross the river.

The first is the bridge. This is treated as normal terrain, with the exception that people who go off the edge suffer negative effects. If they are in the center (middle 60%), they are treated as drowned. If they are near the edges (end 20%), they must go to their knees and wade to the nearest shore, after which they are treated as recovering (stunned) for a ten-count. Siege engines move at full pace on the bridge.

The second is the ford. This is treated as shallow water, meaning anyone crossing it must drop to their knees (unless aquatic, large, or flying). If a player is heavily armored – defined as three or more points – he must also move at a moderate pace while crossing. Siege engines move at a slow walk in the ford.

The river is otherwise impassable by foot.

Other
Please refer to the “common rules” for additional details on specific mechanics.


Story Consequences

If the North managed to win the first game decisively, the South loses one of its fortifications. If the South won decisively, it gains one additional fortification.

[Uranaga]

The Southern Rebellion wiki page is now up and active: <http://amtwiki.org/amtwiki/index.php/Southern_Rebellion>. Please stop by and take a look.

AmtMarketing is also underway: a description was added to the wiki's Upcoming Events page, and at Clan, I asked Randall to announce the event; asked a member of the Desert Winds monarchy to announce it at their own court; and passed out many fliers. A number of outlanders have expressed interest, and will hopefully attend.

[Uranaga]

Game Description: Capital Siege


The Quick Take

Weeks of hard-fought battles have brought the North deep into core Southern lands: they have finally pushed the Southern forces back to defend their very capitals. If the North can break these mighty strongholds, it will all but ensure the Rebellion is doomed. If the South can hold and rally, they may be able to throw the North back. This assault may decide who wins and loses the war.

Each side will again field four armies for this game. As before, each gets one appropriately marked banner that acts as an optional respawn point. The North also has siege engines and ladders, and the South a large castle.

The goal for the North is to shatter the capital by penetrating as far into its structure as possible, destroying forces as they go. Each layer of the castle that falls is worth victory points: five for the outer wall, five for the inner wall, and ten for the tower keep, for a total of 20 structure points. Each Southern banner routed along the way is worth five victory points, for a total of 20 unit points. The goal for the South is to survive to the end of the battle, hopefully by retaining the castle. Victory points are identical to Northern ones, with one exception: the unit points may also be earned by escaping off any corner of the map; however, this option is not available until both the outer and inner capital walls have fallen. Neither banners nor engines respawn.

However, there is an important additional wrinkle to the fight: each side has managed to secretly recruit one or more traitors from the others’ side, and these individuals can switch loyalties at a key moment to try and turn the tide of the battle.

The game ends after 45 minutes have passed.


The Fine Print

Castle
The Southern castle is a three-layer-deep structure. It has a large outer wall, a small inner wall, and a small tower keep and barracks at its center. The gates to each layer are rotated by 180 degrees (e.g., first layer has a North gate, next layer a South gate, then back to North). Ownership of a level is indicated by the color of the four flags spaced around it: majority rules.

Projectile fire is permitted over all walls, and to the roof of the keep. Melee, however, varies by layer: the outer wall permits only spear and pole, the inner wall permits only short and above, and the keep (as a closed structure and the desperate last stand) prohibits all hand to hand. Note that the use of a platform or ladder will negate this rule; see below.

Gates have been magically forged such that they can only be damaged by four items: a battering ram (melee siege engine), a heavy catapult (single-shot siege engine), a penetration arrow, or a Sphere of Annihilation. Each of these inflicts one point of damage. Each gate can take 20 points. A gate can also be opened from within after a 120 count by anyone touching the door and not engaged in combat (“opening one”….). This progress can be undone by a defender given the same conditions (“closing one”….). Note that as game items, gates are immune to effects that would remove them from play or reasonable access (such as Circle of Protection, Commune, Entangle, Iceball, Petrify, Teleport, etc.) and cannot be affected by class abilities, magic, or relics/items except as noted above. They may not be repaired or respawn.

Engines and Ladders
The Northern siege engines include three types: assault platforms, battering rams, and heavy catapults. Assault platforms are giant towers that allow melee with shorter weapons than normal by up to three people. Battering rams inflict damage to gates by knocking against them until they break. They must pull back at least three feet between strikes. Heavy catapults fling giant boulders through the air to inflict long-range damage.

In addition to engines, the North will have one ladder for every army. Ladders allow melee with shorter weapons than normal by one person at a time.

Both assault platforms and ladders allow closer combat after a count of ten (“raising one”….spoken at the wall). Their occupants may then combat using any weapon, and once all opponents within ten feet are killed may cross the wall at the spot where they were raised. If a platform or ladder is destroyed before its occupants disembark, they are considered stunned for a ten count, after which they may move normally.

Other
Please refer to the “common rules” for additional details on specific mechanics.


Story Consequences

For units, the North has as many engines as it scored in the last game, plus at least one ram and one platform. The additional engines can be of any type the North chooses, with the caveat that they must have at least one of each type. All engines start on the side of the battle where they crossed the river.

For time, if the North managed to end the game significantly early (30 minutes or less), they reduce their traitor count by one. If the South held out to the end, they reduce their traitor count by one.

[Staccatto]

Ping. Any opinions on this idea?

One of the new ideas that Southern Rebellion 2009 will feature is a North vs. South Bardic.

In addition to a general “heads up” to encourage participation, I would like to ask for a bit of feedback on content. I would like to offer multiple categories for the bardic, each of which will have a winner and a runner up (who will each earn victory points for their side). So far I’m leaning towards offering three categories: two traditional/serious and one nontraditional/amusing. This encourages different styles, but keeps the event fairly short overall.

For the traditional categories, contenders include “song,” “story,” “recitation,” and “physical performance.”

For the non-traditional category, contenders include a “dance off” (see Doogan’s challenge earlier in this post) and “jokes.”

Would people have any preference among these? Any suggestions to add that would be cool enough to drag more people out to the event? And, most important of all, do we have any volunteers for specific categories on either the Northern or Southern sides, to get this rolling? (Non-Westmarch folks can freely choose a side for the contest.)

Thank you,

I like the idea; there are rarely enough bardics for my taste. Giving points for good bardics will be a nice twist... let's say it's beacuse it's boosting the morale at camp. The pants-off-dance-off should go a long way in keeping spirits nice and... uh... up.

I'll start preparing a period entry or two, for something more traditional.

[Uranaga]

The Southern Rebellion Gate List is up and seeking volunteers; please access it here.

[Uranaga]

A printable version of the directions, containing detailed pictures of most turnoffs, has been attached to the first post in this thread as a PDF.

[Uranaga]

One of the new ideas that Southern Rebellion 2009 will feature is a North vs. South Bardic.

In addition to a general “heads up” to encourage participation, I would like to ask for a bit of feedback on content. I would like to offer multiple categories for the bardic, each of which will have a winner and a runner up (who will each earn victory points for their side). So far I’m leaning towards offering three categories: two traditional/serious and one nontraditional/amusing. This encourages different styles, but keeps the event fairly short overall.

For the traditional categories, contenders include “song,” “story,” “recitation,” and “physical performance.”

For the non-traditional category, contenders include a “dance off” (see Doogan’s challenge earlier in this post) and “jokes.”

Would people have any preference among these? Any suggestions to add that would be cool enough to drag more people out to the event? And, most important of all, do we have any volunteers for specific categories on either the Northern or Southern sides, to get this rolling? (Non-Westmarch folks can freely choose a side for the contest.)

Thank you,

Hmm. In other options, I wonder if anyone has a battery-powered karaoke machine?

[Azus]

For people's GPS:

Far as I can tell
Too many roads have different names.

The campsite is on Forest Service Road 3n32 (Mendenhall Ridge Road) just off of 3n17 (Mt Gleason Rd/ many other names)

Approximately
N34 22.326
W118 10.911

Uranaga, does this look like the right spot on google maps? (green arrow, not the (A) marking the road)

[Uranaga]

While I appreciate the shot at additional directions, I'm reluctant to sanction anything beyond the PDF pack at the beginning of this thread. Too many small roads with too many names and too many conflicting addresses -- and no way to make a cell call to straighten it all out should any alternate directions prove wrong.

The most common name for 3N17, BTW, is still "Santa Clara Divide Road."

[Azus]

You must realize that I'm very good at making wrong turns onto the obviously wrong road, or missing neon signs pointing the right way, hence my desire to stick a pointer on a map instead of written directions. I'm very well practiced at finding an alternate route to destinations from the entirely wrong place...

USGS topographic says I was close....

Lat 34.3681889 Long 118.185511

[Uranaga]

LOL! OK, fair enough. From your link I came up with something almost exactly the same (Location: 34.3729119, -118.199673), so go for it!

For anyone else, the Official Disclaimer: I have tested no route beyond the one I put up on the first page, so use these coordinates at your own risk. Cell/data service is spotty in the mountains, so you may not be able to access map updates or call our site for assistance.

[Azus]

So I should rely on a compass more than a GPS for when I take the 3rd wrong turn...

[Uranaga]

Look for tree moss. Works every time.

Or, if we don't see you by Sunday, we can make it a new as-you-leave battlegame: rescue Azus, earn extra VPs.

[Collin the Red]

Looks like Clan MacAbee will be coming down.
Issues to resolve: Van needs new engine mounts and tune-up.
Motel (Tamara can't camp)
additional driver

[Uranaga]

Glad to hear that, the more the merrier!!!