Convoy escorts - SPOILER for SNIPPET 8 of HFQ

How you keep that from working without looking like you're getting direct demonic aid is a bit of a poser, too. "I want a dragoon regiment today" is something the Empress can perfectly well say, but it's going to produce "how did she know?" questions.

Pretty simple: we could always change routes of the Queen travel. And left the "ambush" in forest.

What's the queen doing wandering around in the forest anyway? Whatever the temple might think, Shaleyan is more than adequately protected and the few people schooners might land on the coast of Chisholm would be rounded up soon enough. Edyard and Sharleyan can't tell anone about snarcs, but they can tell their loyal henchmen to check out and verify rumors and intel.

Don

n7axw wrote:What's the queen doing wandering around in the forest anyway?

Colleague, in the situation like the bad guys in hostile country managed to make an ambush with a hundred of riflemans and a battery of 12pd guns, the question "What's the queen doing wandering around in the forest anyway" just not irrelevant

Dilandu wrote:

How you keep that from working without looking like you're getting direct demonic aid is a bit of a poser, too. "I want a dragoon regiment today" is something the Empress can perfectly well say, but it's going to produce "how did she know?" questions.

Pretty simple: we could always change routes of the Queen travel. And left the "ambush" in forest.

That's the sensible thing if there is an alternate route. There might not be; Chisholm is not over-blessed with places to put roads. (Remember that you can't, literally just cannot, in pre-machine-traction conditions expect to build a good road where you aren't close enough to a source of gravel; if you haven't got water transport, "close enough" is "what the ox carts can manage" and it's not very far. Dragons make that further, but they don't fix it completely.) A good noble plot would pick a place where there's only one road to get there.

I'd have expected more respect for the possibilities of maskirovka from someone of Russian extraction, really.

Dilandu wrote:

How you keep that from working without looking like you're getting direct demonic aid is a bit of a poser, too. "I want a dragoon regiment today" is something the Empress can perfectly well say, but it's going to produce "how did she know?" questions.

Pretty simple: we could always change routes of the Queen travel. And left the "ambush" in forest.

Except what she really says is 'I need some family time with Alahnna, I'm taking a couple of days off and not going anywhere.' And the raiding party are left high and dry trying to keep concealment for an unknown amount of time. In a day or so her Majesty will have heard disturbing rumours which a couple of companies of dragoons are sent off to check out. Simples.

Where the queen belongs is in the palace surrounded by several brigades of the royal army, not out galavatin' around somewhere.

Don

Graydon wrote:That's the sensible thing if there is an alternate route. There might not be; Chisholm is not over-blessed with places to put roads. (Remember that you can't, literally just cannot, in pre-machine-traction conditions expect to build a good road where you aren't close enough to a source of gravel; if you haven't got water transport, "close enough" is "what the ox carts can manage" and it's not very far. Dragons make that further, but they don't fix it completely.) A good noble plot would pick a place where there's only one road to get there.

So we simply send a cavalry vanguard ahead as precaution.

Graydon wrote:How you keep that from working without looking like you're getting direct demonic aid is a bit of a poser, too. "I want a dragoon regiment today" is something the Empress can perfectly well say, but it's going to produce "how did she know?" questions

Dilandu wrote:
Pretty simple: we could always change routes of the Queen travel. And left the "ambush" in forest.

Randomiser wrote:Except what she really says is 'I need some family time with Alahnna, I'm taking a couple of days off and not going anywhere.' And the raiding party are left high and dry trying to keep concealment for an unknown amount of time. In a day or so her Majesty will have heard disturbing rumours which a couple of companies of dragoons are sent off to check out. Simples.

That was what I was thinking too. Since Sharleyan is in the inner circle and tied into the SNARC recon information, once the ambush is detected she has subtler options that just asking for a super large escort.

She can come up with a pressing reason, or even a mechanical issue with the coach, that requires a delay or an alternate transport - like you were saying, one that simple avoids the ambush area until it's "reasonable" for them to get detected by bad luck. (Possibly when they attempt to withdraw, reposition, or even have to get additional supplies due to the unexpected delay waiting for their target)

"Oh dear, we were going to take the coach down the only road between these two cities, but an important mater has come up here requiring me to stay and deal with it", or "an minor crisis has come up over there and the fast way to get there is by boat; down to the nearest harbor we go"

It's unlikely the Church would manage to put enough ambush teams in to notice a pattern of avoidance. So it's not much of an intel tip off if the one or two they put in place have the bad luck not to have their target wander through their sights.

Well, if the Church would able to infiltrate Charis or Chisholm with and hundreds of riflemen and 12pd artillery, it would actually be very good for Charis... Cayleb could sell tickets for the spectacle on a very high cost.

"Hurry to see! Only today, only with us! The Amazing Temple Boys would demonstrate the magical infiltration, impossible ambushes in forests, the amazing disappearance and reappearance of artilley pieces before you very eyes! Hurry, the number of tickets are limited!"

Dilandu wrote:Well, if the Church would able to infiltrate Charis or Chisholm with and hundreds of riflemen and 12pd artillery, it would actually be very good for Charis... Cayleb could sell tickets for the spectacle on a very high cost.

"Hurry to see! Only today, only with us! The Amazing Temple Boys would demonstrate the magical infiltration, impossible ambushes in forests, the amazing disappearance and reappearance of artilley pieces before you very eyes! Hurry, the number of tickets are limited!"

You are referring to the great Temple Loyalist turkey shoot?

Don