Movement
Moving Armies
Actually moving armies in TKoM is relatively simple, based as it is on the six directions of movement permitted by Medokh's hexagonal-overlay map. However, please be sure to follow these instructions carefully or your armies may very well wander off into the moddle of Medokh-knows-where.
Below is an example of a group of hexes; we shall assume your army to be located on the centre hex at the end of the previous turn. The army has the option of moving either North, North-East, South, South-West or North-West, to list the options in clockwise fashion beginning at the top. This is then easily translated into numbers 1-6 in a clockwise direction, since the hex above an army is always north and always Direction 1.
To therefore move north from its current location, the first movement instruction that you must give that army is simply as '1'. Assuming that it reaches the required hex, further movement is simply a matter of adding more numbers onto its Movement Order. For example, if you wanted Army 3 to attempt to move four hexes north from its current location (as reported to you at the end of the previous Turn Results), then the order would be written on the Turncard as:
3 1 1 1 1
and with each number in its own little box of course. However, if you wanted Army 3 to move only one hex north, but then two hexes north-west followed by two hexes south-west and one south, then the order would be written as:
3 1 6 6 5 5 4
As mentioned previously, however, army movement is not just a simple matter of giving directions and expecting your armies to reach those destinations by the end of the Turn. As in real life, various factors come into play to determine just how far any given army CAN actually march, and in TKoM the matter is complicated a little more by having to take into account both the abilities and the preferences of the various different races when it comes to marching through particular types of terrain.
TKoM manages to keep things relatively simple with the adoption of a Movements Points system for armies which takes into account the differences between the races, physical and otherwise. Enclosed you will find your Race Reference Card, which on pages 3 and 4 lists various numerical factors, particular to your race, as well as a few reminders about important points to remember regarding the various subjects covered therein. For now, however, it is only the first section, on page 3, in which we are interested; the one headed "Movement Points Cost". Take a few moments to glance through that part, then return to here.
Directly beneath the "Movement Points" heading on the Race Card, are the words "Plains, Forest, Mountains, Hills, Forested Hills and Wastelands", or at least the abbreviated forms of these words. These describe the six main Terrain Features you'll encounter during your exploration of Medokh's World, though you may also encounter others which your armies cannot, at this moment in time, enter, such as Portals, lakes and seas, volcanic areas, and not forgetting the World Wall.
Each and every hex area of Medokh's surface contains, predominantly, ONE of the above Terrain Features, and it is this terrain type which most affects the rate of march which any army can achieve whilst crossing it. As your armies march into unexplored territory you will receive graphic hex maps produced by our laser printer, with each type pf terrain shown as a different, applicable graphic, such as water symbols to indicate lakes, seas and flooded areas. In addition to the hex's predominant terrain feature, you may also see any settlements or armies located within that hex at the end of your turn. To aid you in recognising terrain features and other graphics printed out with your Turn Results, a sheet is enclosed at the rear of this booklet entitled "Terrain Identification Sheet".
Referring again to the "Movement Points" (MPs) section on your Race Reference Card, you will find that beneath each of the six headings may be found a number.
This will tend to vary from terrain type to terrain type for most races. Under normal circumstances and assuming normal morale among the troops, each army of every race has around 20 MPs to "spend" on movement each turn. These are not saved from turn to turn even if unused. The figures on your Race Card show the "cost" in MPs for your army to move into each hex of that terrain type during movement, with the relevant cost being deducted from the army's MPs when it enters the hex. For every hex moved into by an army, it will be charged some or all of its remaining MPs , until it either runs out of points or has no further movement orders to follow. If an army has insufficient MPs remaining to move into the next ordered hex, it will not of course be able to continue further that turn.
Each army's approximate MPs will be shown on your Turn Results, for the next turn, but note that these may sometimes change DURING the turn but before movement actually takes place, due usually to one or more of the Miscellaneous Orders being performed on that Turn. For example, if one of your Misc. Orders somehow caused a significant morale boost for your Army No. 3, then that Army may actually have more Movement Points available for use that turn than was reported available on the previous turn's Results. To capitalise on such an event, it is often a good idea to order your armies to move a hex FURTHER than it appears they will actually be able to go, if of course you want them to move further where possible.
Note that morale effects on movement may also work the other way, by reducing Movement Points available to an army if their morale falls earlier in the turn.
In such a case they would naturally move fewer hexes than expected, in most cases.
Finally on the subject of normal Army Movement, there are one or two important points to note when moving armies:
- An Army may never enter any hex occupied by another tribe's settlement unless the tribes concerned are mutually Allied to each other.
- An Army may enter any hex occupied by another tribe's army but only if neither tribe concerned is declared Hostile to the other.
- An Army cannot enter any hex which has a terrain type that is NOT listed on their Race Reference Card, until such time as a Supplementary Rules Sheet explaining how this can be done is received by the owning player with his Turn Results.
- An Army will only rarely enter a hex location that would place itself BETWEEN two settlements or Armies belonging to another tribe, whether these belong to the same tribe or not, except where your tribe is declared ALLIED to the owning tribe of at least one of these armies or settlements (in which case the army will move freely). Quite simply, no commander - even an Orc - would be so stupid as to allow himself to be flanked on BOTH sides by potential enemies! Moving 'Between' would also often leave an army's supply lines extremely vulnerable to hostile action.
To be considered "Between" two possibly hostile forces/settlements, the hex in question must be adjoining both of these while they themselves are not in adjoining locations. Think about it .
Note that only basic Military Fortifications, Towns and Cities are figured in the 'Between' rule - not the Garrisons of Shrines, Gem Mines or Wizard's Towers as these are not permitted to leave their defences even to sever the supply lines of passing armies.
Note also that if the Army in question is HUGE in comparison to the nearby rivals, it is possible the commander may take the risk of being outflanked and move into the 'Between' hex anyway. Racial traits are also taken into consideration ( eg. Dwarves being notoriously prudent, Orcs being notoriously stupid). HOWEVER, under no circumstances should a ' Between' move be expected to occur at any time - two different commanders in identical situations will often make entirely different decisions, and you have no control over this situation.
Lines of Supply
When marching armies into unknown territory you should bear in mind that in their wake is a vulnerable Line of Supply, traced roughly from the nearest controlled Town or City, and using the presence of controlled forts and armies ( including all mutually-allied settlements & armies) as protected focal points on the supply route. Along this route travels the army's food, spare equipment, and extra ammunition such as arrows and javelins. Small armies of only a few regiments in size are able to forage for food as they march so are not too vulnerable, but a larger army may suffer noticeably should its Supply Lines be severed by enemy forces: this is the basis of the 'Between' Rule mentioned above, which effectively prevents the commander from knowingly making the mistake of penetrating too deeply into enemy territory.
If an army has its supplies hampered by enemy forces at any time, then the commander will make you aware of this fact, repeating it on every turn that the situation continues. The army would then need to manoeuvre to a position where fresh supplies may reach it unmolested by the enemy. An army always carries a surplus of supplies for such an eventuality but this will not last more than a couple of months (turns): if the situation contiunues it will experience a steep drop in morale as the troops begin to starve, and shortly after desertions will begin to occur (both dead and alive).
Army Scout Reports
Every moving army produces an Army March Report for your information. This will include a graphic map showing everything that the army scouts have detected up to forty leagues (4 hexes) in all directions. Beneath the map will be printed the Scouts' detailed reports of everything spotted, but it's important to remember tha they won't always see everything! ( And - it follows - won't always be seen by other armies either: the scouts will tell you when they haven't been spotted by an enemy that they themselves have seen. The scouting formula is quite intricate as it considers quite a number of factors including respective army sizes and the distance between them, the terrain each army occupies, the skill of each army in the terrain in question, the skill of the commanders, and the skill of any other relevant Individuals such as Trackers and Master Rangers. It also considers whether an army is on a Normal March, Cautious March, Pursuit March, Forced March or Rout March (see later), and of course there are Spell Rituals and Magical Artifacts able to make an army very difficult - if not impossible - to spot before it's too late .
An Army not spotted by an enemy force but large enough to attack if would, in doing so, have a very good chance of mounting an AMBUSH. An Ambush occurs automatically in combat situations if the attacking army is not spotted until the last minute: if successful, the first round of combat is extremely one-sided, with virtually no casualties being taken by the attacker. The resulting losses for the defender, combined with the 'shock' value of the ambush itself, is often sufficient to cause a poorly-trained army to break and rout without putting up much more of a fight. Note that dense terrain, high army skill in that terrain, the presence of Trackers, and even the use of magic, can all be used to make Ambushes much more likely even with fairly large armies. As is a 'Cautious March'.
Cautious March
In addition to normal army movement there are a number of different options available for situations where ordinary movement would not be ideal, the first of which is termed a Cautious March.
A "Cautious March" may be ordered using a number "8" in the first movement parameter. Where, for example, you might normally tell your Army 3 to march six hexes north using the following normal command:
3 1 1 1 1 1 1
you may in some situations prefer the army to move more cautiously with movement orders of:
3 8 1 1 1 1
A Cautious March order will reduce the army's available Movement Points to 60% of the number shown as available rounded to the nearest whole number. An army which has 25 MPs would therefore have 15 available if given Cautious March orders. Cautious March greatly enhances an army's detection ability for scouting, while making it much more difficult for enemy armies to spot even if in adjoining locations -- depending on respective army sizes, of course.
Cautious March is also less tiring for an army than is normal movement, and could prove especially useful in any resulting combat as it is much more likely to result in an AMBUSH of any hostile forces encountered.
Forced March
Opposite to the "Cautious March", a "Forced March" is ordered using a number "9" in the first movement parameter, with the normal movement directions following this. For example, if you wished Army 3 to march north speedily the command might be something like this:
3 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
A Forced March increases an army's available Movement Points by 50%, rounded to the nearest whole, but both reduces its scouting ability and makes it significantly more east to spot by rival scouts in the area. Similarly, an army on Forced March is much more likely to run into an AMBUSH if enemy forces are encountered unexpectedly, particularly if the latter are on a "Cautious March"!
Unfortunately, a Forced March also increases an army's fatigue considerably, increasingly so if used on successive turns without a break: you have been warned.
Pursuit March
A Pursuit March is similar to a Forced March in that the army will have 50% more Movement Points available, and will suffer from increased fatigue if used on successive turns without a break, but there the similarity with all other forms of movement ends.
A Pursuit March does not require any Movement Directions in the order (indeed they cannot be given at all). Instead, following your Army ID number all the Order requires is the number 7 (= Pursuit, just as 8 = Cautious and 9 = Forced), followed by the unique ID number of the army to be Pursued. All of your Army Scouts' Reports will always inform you of the unique ID number of every army encountered, so if - for instance - your previous turn results showed an enemy Army ID#263 located within forty leagues of your Army 3, you could order this army to Pursue the enemy force using the command:
3 7 263
or, if you prefer, you may use more boxes on the Turn Sheet so it looks like:
3 7 2 6 3
A commander given Pursuit orders will head towards the indicated army. Army movement in TKoM is virtually simultaneous, with every Army moving 10 leagues (one hex) at a time, per movement round, until all armies have exhausted either their Movement Points or their movement orders - or have encountered an enemy force in an adjoining location. Under Pursuit orders, a commander will look at his target's new location with every movement round and will attempt to move directly towards it automatically, adjusting his own movement accordingly every round. However, it is important to note that an Army may only be ordered to Pursue another army if its OWN scouts have spotted that army within range on the latest turn; ie. an army cannot Pursue a force more than forty leagues (4 hexes) away, or one that it cannot itself see even if its within this range.
Whilst in Pursue/Intercept mode the commander of your army will do his utmost to catch/head off the indicated target, but it must be said that leaving a march route entirely up to him in this fashion will not always be successful. The intended target may soon become aware of the approaching Pursuit and will try to evade it, using false tracks or perhaps even a rear-guard to confuse or slow down the pursuit. Similarly, entering a sell-settle area, putting lakes between himself and the pursuing force, or simply running in the opposite direction, are all options available to the player who suspects his army is going to be Pursued/Intercepted - and there is no substitute for a Warlord's own well-chosen route.
Although Pursuit is obviously intended to be primarily a means of more easily intercepting an enemy force without having to guess its actual movement orders, you may also Pursue an allied army in order to stay together - the pursuit will follow into the same hex location if mutually allied, and thus will usually end the turn in the same location also ( ready to form an Allied Battlegroup in the event of hostilities).
Route Movement
Although this cannot be ordered as such, under the TKoM combat rules an army which has been defeated but survives is classed as ROUTING on the following turn, and possible for more than one turn if the defeat was particularly severe and/or morale is really low. Expect desertions! Normal movement orders may be given (though Forced March is probably recommended!), and the army will have a head start to try to avoid pursuit - ie. all ROUTING armies move first, before any other armies that turn. A ROUTING army is unlikely to initiate an attack on that turn, unless it ends its movement in a safe place and with a juicy, much-weaker target nearby. R & R would be recommended as soon as possible .
Trackers with Armies
An Army's speed (among other things) can be as much as doubled by the presence of the skilled Individuals known as Trackers, which have the effect of HALVING the Movement Points Cost for an army if marching through relevant Terrain, but to a minimum of 2 points cost per hex transversed.
Note that a "Master Ranger" is an expert Tracker in ALL SIX of the common terrain types.