Brogallo decides to try to break the hobgoblin siege and loot their camp, but needs more muscle. He makes contact with the remaining members of the Tallow Watch refugees to see if they'll come over to his banner. After some slumming and independent reconnaissance by Kleptikos, the Bros make contact with the local leaders and arrange a meeting.
Brogallo tells the group that Tazennarit is still alive and leading the remnants as they've resettled at Fort Rackham under the protection of Lady Kophyn Mizzar, after Brogallo's intervention and skillful negotiation to resolve the crisis. Brogallo rolls a 94 (!) for the reaction roll, so the crowd is deliriously happy at this news and agree to join his cause in anticipation of reunification with their loved ones. Of course, there's no need to cloud their joy with the inconvenient fact that Brother Sully did all the negotiation, but the small folk seldom understand the intricacies of diplomacy.
I give Brogallo 2 rolls on the expert hireling table to see what kind of troops he can levy. The results:
- Roll 1: 65 = (10) Light Horsemen AC7, 7hp, MV 12" (24"); leather armor & shield, composite short bow, spear, long sword; Lieutenant (L1 Fighter 7hp)
- Roll 2: 32 = (15) Light Footmen AC7, 7hp, MV 12" (24"); leather armor & shield, spear, long sword; Lieutenant (L2 Fighter 17hp)
Deciding that the group needs some reconnaissance on the latest hobgoblin activity, the Bros make their way through the forests surrounding the last known location of the hobgoblin camp. Leaving the Brocenaries and supporting refugee force at a safe distance from the camp, the Bros continue forward to gather intelligence on the current state of the hobgoblins.
Luckily, there are no encounter checks and they successfully spot the camp from the cover of the woods. Manderbro casts Invisibility on Kleptikos who then moves silently to survey the camp. Per PHB, Invisibility works against infravision so as long as Kleptikos doesn't attack he should be fine.
Kleptikos successfully makes his way through the forested hills surrounding the hobgoblin encampment. His worst fears are realized as he sees the camp has been heavily fortified and expanded, with numerous siege engines nearly finished. He makes a successful Climb Walls (54%) check to scamper over the wooden palisades and slip into the camp itself. He estimates there are about 150 hobgoblins in total and makes note of their arms and disposition.
Additionally, Kleptikos notes that the hobgblins have built the camp around an ancient shrine prominently featuring iconography of roaring dragons. He overhears someone refer to it as The Fang Shrine and marks its location for later investigation.
He sees the Janissaries from Old Brightwood, who are being kept in broken down shacks apart from the rest of the hobgoblin panoplies. He identifies the likely leaders and informs them of his invisibile state and that help is coming. A reaction roll of 78% plus his 30% Charisma bonus ensures that the janissaries are ready to turn on their oppressors and ultimately wreak vengeance on their traitorous overlords thereafter. Kleptikos works out the signals for when the Janissaries are expected to turn on the hobgoblins and quickly returns to Bros to report his success.
I roll a d100 for the number of Janissaries and get a 90. Based on real-world Janissaries, I decide they're going to be medium horsemen with composite shortbows, chainmail and shield, sword and mace. Brogallo decides they've got a chance to break the hobgoblins with the Janissary betrayal and returns to the men-at-arms to begin the battle.
The combined force sets out for the camp, and I roll a random encounter. I decide that's really a hobgoblin patrol who promptly retreats to the camp to alert their comrades of Brogallo's underwhelming force making its way through the woods.
A quick reaction check for the hobgoblin chief comes back with an 11% (violently hostile), so I rule that the chief is offended at such a miniscule force being sent against him and decides to wait in full force just outside the palisades. These arrogant humans will be crushed! Tallow Watch and Orchard Hollow will feel his wrath soon enough!
The forces are arrayed as follows:
Per the AD&D MM, hobgoblins are equipped as follows:
Hobgoblins
- Unit 2: (30) are equipped with Long sword and composite bow (20% of force) Archers
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant 2HD (17hp)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant Assistant 2HD (15hp)
- Unit 1 Rear Rank: (45) equipped with Glaive-Guisarme (30% of force)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant 2HD (13hp)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant Assistant 2HD (11hp)
- Unit 3 Front Rank: (30) equipped with Morning star (20% of force)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant 2HD (15hp)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant Assistant 2HD (14hp)
- Unit 4: (15) equipped with Long sword and spear (10% of force)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant 2HD (11hp)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant Assistant 2HD (14hp)
- Unit 5: (15) equipped with Spear (10% of force)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant 2HD (11hp)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant Assistant 2HD (7hp)
- Chief
- (1) Hobgoblin Subchief 3HD (20hp)
- (1) Hobgoblin Chief 4HD (22hp)
- (1) Hobgoblin Chief Bodyguard 3HD (15hp)
- Unit 6 Chief Honor Guard: (8) equipped with Long sword and morning star (5% of force)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant 2HD (12hp)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant Assistant 2HD (16hp)
- Unit 7 Chief Honor Guard: (8) equipped with Long sword and whip (5% of force)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant 2HD (8hp)
- (1) Hobgoblin Sergeant Assistant 2HD (16hp)
The Band of Brogallos
- Brocenary Unit 1: (10) medium horsemen; banded mail and shield; light crossbow and longsword
- Brocenary Unit 2: (10) medium horsemen; banded mail and shield; lance and longsword
- Janissary Unit 1: (30) medium horsemen; chainmail and shield; composite longbow and longsword
- Janissary Unit 2: (30) medium horsemen; chainmail and shield; composite longbow and longsword
- Janissary Unit 3: (30) medium horsemen; chainmail and shield; composite longbow and longsword
- Refugee Unit 1: (15) light footmen; leather armor and shield, spear and long sword
- Refugee Unit 2: (10) leather armor and shield, composite short bow, spear and long sword
I'll be using standard AD&D combat rules with 1:10 figure scaling for the battle. If you're unfamiliar with this concept, see Jeffro's post, Macho Mandalf's post and Jon Mollison's epic AD&D series and accompanying AD&D blog posts from March 2023 for more information.
I roll a 14" encounter distance and there's no surprise since both sides know this battle was coming. We dive straight into combat:
HG = hobgblin unit
JU = janissary unit
RU = refugee militia unit
BRO = brocenaries
Unless explicitly mentioned, the unit misses in the combat round and we're only reporting hits since this post is pretty long as it is.
Round 1: Hobgoblins win 6 to 1
I decide the Janissaries will act on the hobgoblin side for round 1 and then switch to the Band of Brogallos. Their vengeance is fierce as they turn on their oppressors!
JU2 hits HG1 for 10 casualties
JU3 hits HG1 for 20 casualties forcing a morale check
HG4 charges RU1 and miss
HG5 charges RU2 and hits for 4 casualties forcing a morale check
HG6 and HG7 guard the chief and wait
BRO1 hits HG1 with crossbows for 4hp
Ah-so, Brogallo and Kleptikosattack the HG4 Sergeant, killing him
Man Lee casts Sleep at HG4, getting 6 casualties and forcing a morale check
Manderbro hits HG1 with Fireball, killing 6
No-Tiki and Voon hit HG4 elite for 4hp
HG1 passes morale check
RU2 fails morale check and flees in panic
Round 2: Band of Brogallos win 3 to 1
JU1, JU2 and JU3 all hit HG1, wiping them out completely
BRO1 hits HG3 with crossbows for 3hp
Man Lee casts Sleep at HG4 again, getting 4 casualties and forcing a morale check
Manderbro hits HG3 with Fireball, killing 6
No-Tiki and Voon hit HG4 elite for 11hp, killing him
HG5 hits BRO2, killing 5
HG1 hits JU2 with composite long bows, killing 10
HG4 fails morale check and flees in panic
Round 3: TIED 3 to 3; all actions simultaneous
HG2 hits JU2 for 3hp
HG7 charge JU1 and miss
HG6 charge JU2 and miss
JU1 wipes out HG7
JU2 hits HG6 for 10hp
JU3 wipes out HG6
Man Lee casts Sleep at HG5, getting 3 casualties
Manderbro casts Invisibility on himself
No-Tiki and Voon hit HG5 sergeant, killing him
HG2 and HG3 pass morale
HG5 fails morale and flees the killing fields
Round 4: Band of Brogallos win 4 to 2
JU1 and JU2 hit HG2, wiping them out completely
JU3 charges HG3 and hits for 4hp
BRO1 hits HG3 for 10 casualties
The PCs charge the hobgoblin chief in a bid to wipe him out and break the enemy. No-Tiki and Voon hit the Chief for 17hp
HG2 hits JU2 for 1hp
HG3 hits BRO1, wiping them out completely
Chief hits Brogallo for 6hp
Chief bodyguard hits Ah-so for 4hp
Round 5: Hobgoblins wins 3 to 2
Hobgoblins all miss
Brogallo hits Chief for 10hp killing him
Kleptikos hits Subchief for 5hp
Manderbro casts his final Sleep spell, getting the subchief and remaining bodyguards
HG3 fails morale check and flees in panic
The Band of Brogallos are victorious! They secure the subchief and bodyguards for interrogation and loot the camp, finding a total of 7,350gp and gems and jewelry worth a total of 20,390gp. The slain Chief had a Potion of Superheroism, a +2 shield and a Sword of Green Dragon Slaying. This is quite the haul and downtime division of spoils will be interesting...
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