Vanjarls, Dis and Hangadrotts to open the way

The spearhead of every army had to be the Vanjarls or the Hangadrotts. Indeed, thanks to their mastery of Air magic they were able to ride the clouds to raid the enemy provinces like no one. Using the already proven tactic practiced against Therodos, a Vanjarl would destroy the enemy province defense before the main army would arrive. This way, the enemy scouts couldn’t really see what it was made of and devise tactics to counter them. This was made even more true thanks to the Cauldrons of the Elven Halls that were hiding the armies to unwanted eyes.

So for every one of the 4 thrones, one Vanjarl or Hangadrott was tasked to clean up the way for the army. Also, to prevent any enemy counter attack on the thrones, every single bordering provinces had to be secured and, for each one of them, one of these warriors had also to be dispatched. For these secondary tasks, a Dis could be sent as there was no need to surprise the enemy as in the main throne attacks.

However, some attacks were more critical than others, and due to the war still raging between Ulm and Niefelheim, some enemy armies were wandering right where Helheim’s forces were supposed to land. As a result, some Vanjarls and Hangadrotts were heavily equipped to face the specific threats …

The item treasury had been growing with more and more magical items and now was the time to use them. The sight of the treasury before and after the attack was proof of the scale of the whole operation …

The Brass Throne

Skaljv had been assigned the Brass Throne. This Throne, right in the middle of the raging war between Ulm and Niefelheim, was somehow one of the most exposed. However, it was unfortified and theorically the first assault would be enough to secure it.

Indeed, the Plan was that as soon as the land would be taken, a Troll King expert in Earth Magic would use his powers to raise a Wizard’s tower to protect the place. That spell was very powerful and could, in matter of hours, create the most robust citadel anywhere wanted. But even though the magic was powerful enough in itself, time was still needed for soldiers to man the fort and use it to its full extent.

As a result, a real army was needed to help man the fort and avoid a wandering army to breach the place and put the throne at risk. That’s why Skaljv had gathered a powerful force of 100 Valkyries to press the attack and defend the Throne. Also, a secondary force of 40 elite Helhirding cavalry had started to sneak into enemy territory to support Skaljv, just in case.

The Throne was deep into enemy territory but thanks to the extraordinary mobility of the Valkyries it was not a problem as they would fly over enemy territory unseen to reach their objective.

The raiding force to support the attack was though quite important as no less than 6 Vanjarls were tasked with the mission to secure the outskirts of the Throne and thus prevent massive enemy counter-attacks …

The Throne of Autumn

The Throne of Autumn was surrounded by very high mountains and thus almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. Only a small valley allowed an easy access to it, making it very easy to defend once taken. Lord Kall had chosen to lead the attack on this Throne, as this was the most secure place and if one was to avoid danger in this phase of the Plan, it was the Lord of Helheim.

But apart from that mostly secure position, the Throne was almost in the same situation as the Brass Throne. No fortress to defend it and deep into enemy territory. So the tactics to take it were to be exactly the same : send there a fast flying force and create a magical fortress thanks to the help of a powerful Earth mage.

However, all of the Valkyries had already been assigned to Skaljv, so Lord Kall was left with 70 Pegasus Riders. Even though a bit weaker than the elite maidens of Helheim, they were still a strong force to account for. Indeed, the flying horses were sacred units, able to receive and manifest the blessings of Lord Kall (at the time a pretender could bless his troops even in enemy dominion, which is not the case anymore). Given their natural agility, that meant that in regular combat the pegasus would be almost impossible to hit thanks to the extra-agility given by the blessing. And that made Lord Kall quite confident about taking and holding the Throne.

To ensure the ability to deal with unexpected threats, 20 Wyverns and 15 Fiends of Darkness joined the ranks. They were not as fast as the Pegasus and would need 2 months to reach the Throne, but that was enough help to man the magically raised fort in case of a counter attack.

Lord Kall was also given the means to follow the pace of Pegasus Riders to reach the place in time. He would have to take a separate route though, but with Boots of Seven Miles Strides and a ring of Levitation , he would move so fast that no enemy would catch him.

Only 2 Vanjarls were thus required to secure the places of the attack, and that part of the Plan looked as the easiest …

The Throne of Stability

Compared to the 2 former thrones, the Throne of Stability was another matter altogether. Indeed, with the Capital of Ulm to its west and the contested shores of Therodos in the east, it was surrounded by enemies. However, Water mages had been scrying through water pools to see the status of enemy armies. And to most surprise, they appeared rather weak.

The fact that the Throne itself was lightly defended was not much of a surprise, but everyone had expected Ulm to keep a large army in the Capital. But, with the relative peace with Therodos, Helheim seemingly still occupied to defeat the spectral legions, and the deadly ongoing war against Niefelheim, Ulm had gathered almost all of its armies far in the west.

However, when planning the attack, other things had to be taken into account. It was very difficult to approach the Throne without having the risk of being discovered. Indeed, the conflict against Therodos was still quite active and the shore provinces were still fiercely contested by raids and counter-raids. And attacking other Ulm provinces before attacking the throne was completely out of the question.

So there were 2 main strategies possible here. The first, go in with fast flyers as it was already planned for the Brass Throne and the Throne of Autumn. But every flyer had been commited to these attacks and none were available anymore to plan a third one.

The second strategy was a full stealth army. The Cauldrons of the Eleven Halls could hide the troops from scouts, but a real army attacking the province where they were stationned would not hide them well enough and battle would ensue. Such an event was out of the question as it would mean being discovered and lead the risk for the enemy to understand what was about to happen. No, what was required were units able to sneak unseen into enemy territory.

Helheim’s basic troops were able to do that thanks to their mastery of illusions. As a result, a full force of 40 Huskarls  had been sent close to the throne. Vanjarls and Hangadrott had the same mastery and could join the army. Also, some Atavi Archers had been recruited some time ago and had been sneaking around during all the campaign against Theroros. They never saw combat but helped breach fortresses from time to time. These highly intelligent monkeys were trained hunters and knew very well how to hide into the shadows and sneak unseen into enemy lands. 40 of them were also part of the army.

But that was far from making a force good enough to take a fortress, even defended by only a few mages … Given the huge success met by the Wraith Lords, it was thought that adding some of them to the army would be enough to ensure the fall of the Throne. The only problem was that they weren’t really stealthy and were easy to spot. That’s where the Shademail Haubergeons came in handy. Thanks to the magic of the armor, they could now blend into the shadows unseen … Such a piece of armor was given too to Azag the Bishop fish assigned to the army. This way, he could follow it safely and do his job without risking his life.

Finally, given the low number of troops engaged, no less than 6 Gate Cleavers were given to the Vanjarls and Wraith lords to help breach the fortress. Also, an Earth mage was tasked to use the Crumble spell in order to weaken even more the defense of the stronghold. With all of these means put together, the fortress would not last more than a month.

So, in the end, the main battle tactics were the following. A Hangadrott would summon a storm to allow the Vanjarls to have a better focus of Air magic and use the power of the Thunderstrike. This would quickly destroy the weak enemy troops and open a way to invade the place. Meanwhile, the Wraith Lords would summon hordes of skeletons to lead the invasion. They would be the only troops to enter it and clean it up from whatever was left alive in it.

So, 10 Vanjarls, 2 Hangadrotts and 4 Wraith lords were supposed to storm the fortress while an additionnal force of 40 Huskarls, 40 Atavi archers and 20 Valkyries would join to defend the sieging force and help breach the Fortress. That was not that much, but the quality of each fighter was to compensate for the leak in numbers. Also, 4 additional Vanjarls were tasked to occupy the enemy provinces around the Throne and prevent an enemy counter-attack prior to the final assault.

However, just before the assault, Lord Kall was really worried about this force. He had wanted to send a force of Jotun wolves to support that army … may be it was not too late and 40 of them were dispatched from the Shattered Throne. They would arrive after the main action but, may be, that would help to turn around an initial setback.

The Throne of the Moon

The tactical situation for the Throne of the Moon was the only one that allowed to field a full fledged army. Indeed, Helheim had a direct border with it and it was easy to gather here an army without any chance for the enemy to spot it (provided it was hidden with Cauldrons of the Elven Halls, of course).

So the formula that had proven successful against Therodos was renewed and enhanced with the local forces. 40 Jotun wolves , 40 hirdmen , 20 mounted hirdmen and 6 enchanters made the bulk of the army. However, the Throne was very close to Momephe from where a lot of Crystal sorceresses  had been recruited since it had been taken from Agartha. No less than 24 of them joined the force tasked to take the most important Throne of the Plan.

Kubrat the Bishop fish was there to both bless the army with Lord Kall’s blessing and claim the Throne once captured. Also, 3 Vanjarls commanded the regular troops as they needed a proper captain to lead them into battle … Last but not least, a Hangadrott was there along with 2 Dis. The Dis had a very special task : they had been given for one a Gate Cleaver and the other a Moon Blade . If any enemy golem appeared during the fight, their mission was to track and kill them.

In the end, the intended tactic was simple. First, the sorceresses would form a huge communion and rain tens of Thunderstrikes on the enemy. The memory of Momephe was still present and inflicting such a fate on the enemy would be delightful. Then, the wolves would lead an enraged charge, closely followed by the hirdmen and mounted hirdmen, to break into the place and kill every defender. Several battle enchantments would support the troops, and that should be it.

And as every other assaults, 3 Vanjarls and 1 Hangadrott were tasked to secure the surrounding areas and prevent a counter-attack. Also, despite the quite strong force to breach the fortress, another Earth mage would help by trying to Crumble the walls with its magic.

Finally, given the utmost strategic importance of this throne, a little icing was added to the cake. Indeed, the scryers had seen most of the defending enemy army and it looked like they were only about 15 mages with no supporting troops. That meant that every one of them killed before the battle would be a huge loss, and a good way to prevent nasty surprises …

As such, 4 flame spirits were moved to the throne of element with the mission to rain Fire from Afar on the defenders just before the assault. Also, just to be sure, a Kokythiad was tasked to freeze the survivors to death under a Murdering Winter … with all of this deadly magic unleashed on the defenders and the mighty army assembled to crush them, this should be a cakewalk …

The Outer Throne, the Iron Throne and the Shattered Throne

The Plan supposed to claim all the missing thrones at once, and that included the 3 thrones from Therodos that had been left asleep to avoid raising any suspicion. The 3 remaining Bishops, Celephais, Nigofa and Shuggoron, were each given one of the Throne.

However the situation around the Shattered throne was still a concern as the scouts were now claiming that the enemy force had reached almost 1000 troops, the largest force ever heard of so far. Everyone hoped that they would not move and stay put … but in case of an unexpected movement, a Troll King had used its powerful Earth magic to turn the walls of the fortress into Iron. With Iron Walls, the place could certainly sustain a siege for 1 more month before the walls could be breached …

The same was made on the Throne of Bureaucracy on the border with Marverni/C’ti. Indeed, there was a little risk that C’ti would move into that direction after beating Marverni … as a result the reserve army in Helheim was also re-deployed to defend the throne, just in case.