K09 - The Battle of Browek Bridge

Act 9, Scene 1 - Mopping up Browek Bridge

By 1500Z, the combined Ice and Slammer Lots poured through the defensive positions of the orcs. Drolf pressed on with the Ice-Herd into the ruins while the orcs opted for a Full Retreat option. The command post got a chance at a beheading operation on the orcs' leader. The setup was simple: catch/neutralize the leader in 6 seconds and grant +1 on the MASS combat resolution contest. Kalin, Herd-Lot of Ice ( +Alex Safatli ), Vadek, Sergent-Major of Ice ( +Arne Jamtgaard ) and Drolf ( +Justin Aquino ) , Attack-Lord of Ardacer had spotted the new  field-pomoted commander atop a ruin wall. They set on a charge through a downpour of arrows and a defensive line of spearorcs. To their right, one of the axdwarf suffered a major wound which weakened the PCs flank. Drolf, after a bit of encouragement, engaged on their left while Kalin and Vadek plowed towards the orc commander. 

Vadek eventually managed to strike the last standing orc in the defensive line. The orc, still standing but stunned got bypassed to be picked up by Kalin on Vadek's rear. Vadek slammed into the commander, who by then had started to recoil. He knocked him over, leaving him lying down and winded. By then, the orc archers had abandoned their high vantage points on the walls and were fleeing. Vadek, with cold determination, started to kick the commander until he croaked. As he applied himself to his craft, he beckoned the last remaining archer who decided to slip away while there was still an opening in the rear [ Intimidation-based influence check, MoS=+4, archer turned away ] [+]. Drolf, wanting the commander for an interrogation, dispatched his opponent with a great blow  [ Pretty cool end for this orc, he got slammed in the torso and sent flying due to a knockback. However, a tree was standing behind and the resulting slam damage on his head knocked him unconscious! ] [+]. Unfortunately, he arrived too late to save the commander. Both dwarves argued over the poor strategic value of killing this orcs before interrogating him [ Vadek has bloodlust, and no interest in strategic matters ] [+]. 

By then, the last of the orcs were scurrying into the woods to the West. Some 5 orcs were dead and about 10 left reeling from heavy wounds. The dwarves didn't pursue them as this would have caused a messy scatter [ Ooops, the GM forgot to check for spontaneous pursuit... ] [+]. By Kalin's estimate, about as many escaped. Drolf encouraged his dwarves to make grim displays with the corpses in an attempt to "dehumanize" the foes (de-orcanize?). Two dwarves had to be put on litters with major wounds (out of about 100 fighters) while 4 others had to be rallied after getting lost in the forest during the assault (and being mocked about it for the rest of the day).

Act 9, Scene 2 - Intelligence Gathering, Drolf Style

Option B for interrogation was not exactly commander-quality. Drolf picked the least dumb looking of the prisoner who still had teeth. He interrogated him forcefully and managed to pull a lot of good information [ Magin of Success of +8] [+].  The orcs called this location Browek Bridge and manned it as an advanced post against giant spider raids. He told Drolf the tale of 7m spiders coming in waves from the South to feed on his kin. He couldn't specify how many more orcs there were (he obviously was not a commander), but placed the number between 300 and 2000. He also specified that his kind were in the service of a terrible wizard living in a glass tower in Mirkwood mountains.

Drolf kept on using enhanced interrogation techniques until the orc could speak no more. He turned to the North and tried to spot the mountains through the trees. He couldn't, but earlier glimpses of them along the old forest road suggested a distance of 10-15 km. He looked south of Browek Bridge: the dwarves from the Ark-Lot had managed to ford in high water and had secured the southern approaches. A forest path to the south had been discovered on the Western bank. Drolf rallied his subordinate commanders for a quick command post chinwag.

Act 9, Scene 3 - Council of Dwarves and FRAGO* to the Ardacer 

Browek Bridge, just after the battle. Click to enlarge.

Drolf gathered the Lot-Herds and senior non-commissioned officers such as Vadek around him. He was in a bit of state of panic, but didn't let on any of it on the surface. There were spiders to the South and maybe up to 2000 orcs to the North. The Bridge would require 3 days of work to bring up to standards and two other sites to the East also required up to 12 hours of work. The Gate-Lot was stationed 25 km behind to make a quick ford over another of Mirkwood's murky streams.  Drolf wanted to reinforce the defensive positions, but Kalin advocated an emphasis on scouting. When asked for advice, Vadek proved rather unable to grasp the operational situation. He muttered grumpily only about what was in front of his eyes.

It was decided in the end that Ledge-Lot was to seek the Fire-Lot to the South, make contact and bring them back to Browek Bridge. Ark-Lot, the scouting unit including Khazek's rangers was to scout Northward until contact was made. Dispositions and numbers were to be reported back ASAP. The other Lots were to prepare defensive position on either side of the former bridge.

Act 9, Scene 4 - SITREP** at twillight

By nightfall, a small party of messengers from the Ark-Lot returned to the command post. Contact with orcs had not been made by the dwarves, but a report from the hunters of Thranduil Halls was passed along. The elves determined that the orcs living in the Mountains were new orcs, rather than orc spawned in the days of  the War of the Ring. This suggested that a new orcs spawning pit was active somewhere. They also reported that Sarn Goriwing, once an outpost of the Dark lord, appeared to be occupied again. The elves specified that the glass tower had been cleared when the Necromancer had been chased from Mirkwood. Its bridge was then taken down.

The messengers from the Ark then returned to the deep shadows of Mirkwood, on their way back to the Ark-Lot. Also, a dispatch from the Gate arrived late into the night to report on an engagement that occurred earlier in the evening. 

*FRAGO: Fragmentary orders

**SITREP : Situation report