When no matter what you do

you are unable to determine the enemy's situation, pretend that you are going to attack fiercely, and you will learn the enemy's plan. When you know the enemy's plan, it will be easy to gain victory.
~Myamoto Musashi

*it had been a successful night for the Godslayer. His host had moved past the Hagalz line, and he was near to the capital city. None stood in his way except for the will of the home guard of the city of Hagalz. He took the time he had to rest his men and make all haste to the next portion of his plan. He did not expect that the Baron would remain fully ignorant of the movement for long. But it gave him all that he needed. The rebel infested outlands were overjoyed at this news. The Baron now had little in the way of options.

He had advanced his troops in the wrong direction and exposed his flank to the Godslayer host. The army of the Empire had now near its full might to pin against a mere poorly defended portion of the much weakened Hagalz line. The Rebels became bolder, raiding everywhere that they would not be out numbered. The troops that were marching along "secure" roads, found the roads were no longer secure.

The host of the Godslayer had now the security of more miles between himself and the line. His troops had time to rest themselves,a nd the baron had to move, or die. All was moving as it should. He knew full well the weakness of the Baron's canal positions. But he did not doubt that the Baron did as well, and would expect that spot to be attacked. And so Archos prepared his deception. First he had the rebels scoured for anyone who would be willing to die to inflict harm upon the warlock order. This proved not to be difficult, many of the rebels had lost everything to the drow and the orcs, or in the vain suicidal moves of the uncaring baron crispin. The rebel cell leaders had him over a four hundred volunteers within hours, and still others were drawn because with their death their remaining families would be cared for after their deaths. These men Archos then dressed in his uniforms, and when they were readied, they were given only a single very sharp dagger and a torch.

these men walked with torches before them in one hand, and daggers in the other, with great ceremony they let the whole of the line see them. when they came near, they cut their own throats with utter silence beyond the gurgles of the dying, letting the torches fall to the earth. (the effect should be obvious, utter shock, terror, and demoralization to everyone who sees it.)*

*then archos unleashed the next portion of his plan. the few supplies left within the camp, mostly bulls and cows gathered from the countryside, were painted with fearsome symbols, and to their tails were tied oil dipped strings and rushes. and they were driven to the front of the hill, and the rushes were lit. blades had been tied to the horns, and as the maddened beasts stormed away in terror and pain, they would blunder throughout the Hagalz line killing and maiming with their deadly horns and causing utter chaos. the anthill troops that still remained then took up their guns and rushed down after the cattle, where they planted multiple flags of the Godslayer hearth, and held torches before them that all may see.

meanwhile, the Godslayer feint was going on at the same moment, the vulnerable point the baron knew would be hit, had been indeed several minutes prior, and of course it was likely that troops were near to relieve the endangered position. But Archos had sent only two small companies there, to occupy the place, while the rest of his greater host had been split into two parts, the first struck at the shifting host's rear, the second spread out, carried by dragons to various points, the point was not to weaken the line, but full engagement in hand to hand combat, the greatest strength of the Godslayer hearth, and a force against which only 3 armies had ever survived to fight a second time.

due to the night conditions, guns are all but useless noisemakers. here Dragons are in command rather than the usual officers, and they use their higher level of sight, to direct their less gifted countrymen. The art of hand to hand combat has been developed to an extreme level by the Godslayer trainers, and the use of it comes in to play during the darkness of the raging conflict, and through it all, even Archos himself rushes hither and thither, burning tents and lighting fires. and cutting heads with his mythic blade.

Where the dragon's do not command, the elves or dwarves do. Though the dwarves busy themselves more with their most ancient foe, the hobgoblin, a sworn enemy since before history was history. and now with the Godslayer host concentrated in its finest conditions in its finest method of fighting, with no guns of use or enough troops healthy or strong enough to fight amongst their enemies, the godslayer host holds the advantage in morale, in energy, in motivation, and the numerical superiority of their enemies is neutralized by the night and utter confusion. Mages brought along, stay back where they may, and do battles of their own, mage battles to attempt to cancel out any spells meant to light the field or give vantage to the foe...and the immortal words be spoken. We hae met the enemy, and he tis ours....

(ok, here is to sum up:

the rebel troops committed suicide in full view of the enemy army. the natural result of this is utter shock and terror as i mentioned, since it shows that the enemy would rather die than lose, and the result is clear demoralization. then the use of cattle from the anthill, brings chaos and disorder into the WO host. i'm sure some would be killed sure. but it doesnt take much under those conditions to cause more than a few to break and run. especially since most don't want to be there at all. next, by hitting the position the baron expected, and the natural one to be hit by any military doctrine, will probably result in the baron sending reinforcements. but since it was a feint, nothing lost. using the time and choas, archos's main two divisions close with the thoroughly occupied enemy army, from the rear, hitting the already shocked and demoralized troops hard and fast, while the second division spreads out to cause more havoc. the fact that so many in archos's army have an advantage in both hand to hand combat, and night fighting, and are healthier than the Wo army and more motivated, yields natural results. i don't think i was presumptuous, but if you disagree, do say so. i guess i rambled a bit on the summary, but oh well. hope you all enjoyed. *S*)