*redacted*

[Zero Credibility]

Also,

Try to ignore any anachronism.

Waves crossed the sea, driven west by strong winds. The captain of Zeus awaited for Angartýr orders, while he observed the papal banners at the distance with a looking glass, pondering on how to make through such a vast legion.

Must. Resist.

 

[Stygian Lurker]

2

 

[Rumsfeld]

2 - risks seem worth it to hopefully avoid conflict

 

[Monty]

1. I've been in favour of the risks we've taken recently, but have a feeling we're due a bit of bad luck. Assuming we are going to be intercepted then daylight gives us a bit more range (and communication options) to work with.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Updaten!

 

[Cassidy]

Near consensus is uninspiring. Just saying.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Yeah, I know. Still, just make 2 the answer!

 

[Cassidy]

*redacted*

 

[Zero Credibility]

Tough choice. I want to see our colony finally, but maybe we could do some raiding before that to get us some more spending money for the campaign ahead of us. We do have mercenaries to pay after all. Just what is the status of our treasury anyway? if we are low on funds, then definitely a raiding we should go, and while we still have the element of surprise. And we should not waste it on Vinland, but on the big prize.

Yeah, I'm thinking 3 right now. We are here to stop the flow of gold to Europe anyway, so let's start at it. But we should avoid getting bogged down in prolonged fighting at this point. Just rush in, bust some heads, burn their ships, steal anything not nailed down and run to safety. Just don't forget to leave clear instructions of what our troops should do in case of our "death". A fighting retreat with our body, no burial at sea or anything like that.

Edit:

Just how much info do we have on those mines anyway? Do we know their exact location or is all we got just rumors? And do we have any information on the possible numbers / composition of the opposition?

 

[Jester]

2 3 for me pls if I am correct its not heavy guarded

 

[Major_Blackhart]

3 for me.

 

[Monty]

1 For me.

I was tempted by 3, but a few factors changed my mind:

- We have a better army than I thought we'd get at Constantinople. Before we went there I thought we'd end up with a few mercenaries to do a bit of raiding and guerrilla warfare, but with the troops we have and some local recruitment from our colony we can hopefully kick this lot out of the New World entirely

- But, we don't have much information on the forces opposing us as we've come directly from Europe. Instead of charging in blindly let's dock at our settlement and find out what we can

- I think most of us want to do a full offensive at some point, I think doing a raid first will just make them more prepared for when we launch our full offensive. Maybe they've been a bit slack with their fortifications, not expecting to be attacked out here, and we can gain an advantage. A raid will be a wake up call for them

- We've got an army of mercenaries, motivated by gold (and the promise of a new life for some of them). I'd rather the gold was a carrot for later in the campaign, once we've properly defeated our enemy. If we seize some gold now they'll probably want an immediate cut. Then they might start thinking that it would be a good time to quit while they're ahead, to spend their gold or start their new life. These are mercenaries, we can't take their loyalty for granted indefinitely. As long as the gold mine is still to be taken I think they'll remain motivated and keep fighting.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

We don't know the state of the colony we left behind tho.
It could be overrun by the christ worshippers.

 

[Jester]

1 For me.

I was tempted by 3, but a few factors changed my mind:

- We have a better army than I thought we'd get at Constantinople. Before we went there I thought we'd end up with a few mercenaries to do a bit of raiding and guerrilla warfare, but with the troopse have and some local recruitment from our colony we can hopefully kick this lot out of the New World entirely.

Think the same still we cant be sure how well our PR or state of colony is, so maybe we have to do it on our own. We had some info on state of our opponents from king, but not out settlement. They might be on defense in New World boosted by information of victory in their homeland for now, but still in bad shape after all we were main force encouraging the migration to those lands. We can't be sure that there were bright minds who followed in our steps.

- But, we don't have much information on the forces opposing us as we've come directly from Europe. Instead of charging in blindly let's dock at our settlement and find out what we can

But can we do it without them finding out that pagans had received some kind of reinforcement? We can loose perhaps the most important edge for no gain by doing so.

- I think most of us want to do a full offensive at some point, I think doing a raid first will just make them more prepared for when we launch our full offensive. Maybe they've been a bit slack with their fortifications, not expecting to be attacked out here, and we can gain an advantage. A raid will be a wake up call for them.

- We've got an army of mercenaries, motivated by gold (and the promise of a new life for some of them). I'd rather the gold was a carrot for later in the campaign, once we've properly defeated our enemy. If we seize some gold now they'll probably want an immediate cut. Then they might start thinking that it would be a good time to quit while they're ahead, to spend their gold or start their new life. These are mercenaries, we can't take their loyalty for granted indefinitely. As long as the gold mine is still to be taken I think they'll remain motivated and keep fighting

I think you look at this in wrong way. We do not intend to, nor try to take control of mine. We will just go in, gut miners and administration with soldiers and torch the place, get new shipment of gold if they prepared such and go out. No occupation so gold mine still will be needed to be conquered later, but that not the objective for us now. We must lock the mines in order to sabotage the funding of offensive in Old World giving our brothers in cause advantage. its unlikely that they can prepare any major defenses or increase their standing army in such short time, we will raid get to our settlement and launch offensive after getting to terms with its state they still will be limited to New World military. If they try to get reinforcement our forces in Old World gonna get a breather and even if they will call nothing changes for months before they are shipped if Old World can spare any troops. We will not leave a card so we can confuse enemy as of who attacked them, majority of our force doesn't look like vikings to me.

As for mercenaries they got contract for now i doubt they will break it. Judging from our meeting with them they all are honorable bunch used to conflicts and fresh spills of war can give them morale boost on start of this campaign.

 

[Stygian Lurker]

Voting 1.

Reinforcements aside, we can probably get some fresh information from our colony.

 

[Esquilax]

I would have gone with 5), but the problem is that we used up all of our greek fire on our way here, so attacking fortifications and sieging with the army we have in tow (heavy cavalry + light infantry) sounds like madness. We've got no siege weaponry, so forget it. We brought ores, so we can arm locals pretty quickly given that the colony has the proper infrastructure of furnaces we established sixty years ago, but if we do launch a surprise attack, it needs to really fucking hurt them.

As helpful as the element of surprise is, we came here to conquer, not to raid. A raid will might result in a situation where we win the battle, but end up losing the war because we neglected to take our time. I understand, it's costly to give up that element of surprise, but we are here to crush the dogs of Christ in the finest of Black Metal traditions, so I don't see how launching raids, even successful ones, is going to help us achieve that goal. We need something lasting, even if it means giving up the element of surprise.

Other than recruitment of locals (which should go well thanks to the resources we've brought), I think that the most important thing we can do is create more bolts:

"That one is with ten mega median fire bolts. The one I loaded has fifty regular bolts... if naphtha exists wherever we go, I can make more as soon as you find it. Give it a try!"

If we can create more bolts, then we are in great shape. Really, I would be all for a full-scale assault with our superb army if we hadn't used them up in the ship battle on our way here, but hey, hindsight is always 20/20.

1)

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Changing my answer to 1 as well.

 

[Esquilax]

Yeah, I'm thinking 3 right now. We are here to stop the flow of gold to Europe anyway, so let's start at it. But we should avoid getting bogged down in prolonged fighting at this point. Just rush in, bust some heads, burn their ships, steal anything not nailed down and run to safety. Just don't forget to leave clear instructions of what our troops should do in case of our "death". A fighting retreat with our body, no burial at sea or anything like that.

I disagree, I thought we were here to conquer. Before we set sail to Miklagrad:

Eventually make his way back to Vinland, accepting the King's request for aid, but first make his way to the great city of Miklagard to purchase the best possible military equipment, plus hire as many mercenaries as the leased fleet can carry, with the gold received as reward, and maybe, maybe try to gain the loyalty of part of the legendary Varangian Guard, to, once all is done, launch a bold attempt to conquer all of the New World in the hands of the Catholic Norse kingdoms and gain control of those valuable gold mines in the south of Markland.

We've assembled a hell of an army, and it'd be a shame to use it for raiding. No, we brought this army across the ocean to fucking win, and that's what we need to do.

I am still considering flopping to 4, because I think that gaining a foothold off the coast of Newfoundland would really put us in a great position to strike their more well-defended areas in Labrador. Consider this: we brought a lot of extra boats along, so if we gain a foothold over the less-defended areas of our enemy's colonies (not hard to do, we have light infantry and elite heavy cavalry that are very suited to tactics requiring speed and maneuverability) then we have a staging point to launch raids on Labrador with impunity.

Really, 4 seems great and we ought to consider it. Conquer Newfoundland, then use it as a staging point to strike the more defended areas of Labrador once we consolidate and hopefully acquire more greek fire for a siege.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Well yes, but I was kind of thinking of raiding while we still have the element of surprise to soften the opposition for the coming campaign (and get us some more gold to spend). Plus, it seems like a viking thing to do - get there by ships, storm the place, pillage and loot - that kind of thing. Though 1 is also a fine choice - it trades our element of surprise for better preparations, more men and (hopefully) better info.

Edit: In any case, whatever we choose our primary target should be their ships. This is even more important then the gold - without ships they have nowhere to spend the gold. We would have them immobilized, while we could move and strike with our full force at each target separately. Maybe we could find some supplies for our greek fire in our colony ... that would help a lot.

 

[Jester]

each choice have +/-
1 we trade surprise to preparation and potentially recruits.
2 we destroy their settlement used as staging ground for gold, high probability of success but its not important place.
3 we lock down mines for some time so enemy cant use gold to mess up with us, probably quite secured place so resistance will be problem.
4 we gain base with can severely help us in conquest, but can we hold to it with 2 companies of mercenary surrounded by enemy? (civilian included) Not sure if we are on our own after taking control of it.
5 full all assault with lets us to basically destroy the command structure of enemy, but can be crippling and victory is not certain especially without the siege weapons and supply route.

 

[oscar]

4

 

[Cassidy]

Just how much info do we have on those mines anyway? Do we know their exact location or is all we got just rumors? And do we have any information on the possible numbers / composition of the opposition?

All Angartýr knows is where the ships are docking to be loaded with gold and the rough location of the mines. An immediate offensive will have the element of surprise, but will be a blind one with little knowledge about what to expect.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

2

 

[aleam iacis]

I think you guys should raid the gold mines before mounting your main offensive. If it means anything, mines are typically meant to be fought over early on, judging by Baldur's Gate and NoX.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Why no update?