((I started the dinner a bit earlier on in this thread where I laid out several items on the agenda that was talked about, but seemed to have stalled. I'll post those again if necessary, but abridge them a bit))
The Imperator. Will there be one? Is Alexei the Imperator? Can the Princeps and Imperator be held by the same wizard at the same time?
Turb's reputation. Adding uniforms and improving discipline were talked about.
Training of turb. How to train them, they need to be broken down in size, and a look at their armaments
What to do in times of peace.
If these things are decided, we can move onto the dinner and go over the fine details maybe.
Jacques gave his answer to #3 earlier in the thread.
#2 My men will happily accept new uniforms. Atsingani's colors are burgundy with a yellow wagon wheel as the symbol. You may add Mons Electi's symbol to show our vassalage.
Alexei nods, indicating it would be acceptable. "We will take time to make the tabbards and banners something to be proud of, something to give the men some dignity. Speaking of dignity, in 1222 Garus will be hosting the tournament for our House Jacques, at Castra Solis. I intend to go, I'll be bringing the cream of the crop of the turb, those that best can handle Gunnar's exacting training and standards. It is an honour just to attend, but I want more than that honour. You can come too Jacques, it would be good for you to become acquainted with your adopted House. We are a loose confederation but Garus, whom I support, is trying to unite our various factions. Would you attend with me? A good showing will raise your prospects in the House and Tribunal and my own, if you conduct yourself well."
Gunnar is a fantastic teacher, my suggestion is we pick 6 Grogs and have him train them esclusively (that's the max number right?) from 1221 through 1222, and have trusted sergeants train the rest. If we want to make it to the Flambeau tournament at Castra Solis, less grogs, but better trained ones would work best I think.
Suggestions? Alexei won't be Princeps during the tournament will he (according to the thread he's Princeps in Autumn of 1222).
This thread appears to have stalled. I'm inclined to wrap it up. I'd like a clear layout of plans, though. If the plan is to go to the Flambeau Tournament in spring 1222, there's a lot of work to be done. Additionally, they may not do well this first time, but it's good exposure for everyone. The rules for that tournament vary considerably from the Normandy Tournament.
If you're going to do uniforms, what to do they look like, how much are you willing to pay, someone needs to figure these things out.
I had intially planned on grog activity/story to happen immediately after this thread, and I'll still do it, but it will happen later. What I had hoped was some sort of grouping of squads to be trained or led by certain men. I was, perhaps, too ambitious, but there is a turb, most of it in 1221 is controlled by Atsingani, whether that changes in 1222 is up to the players, all the pieces are in place to make that happen.
Alexei is willing to pay for the design and tailoring of the uniforms with his own silver (spoils of war that he brought). He'd like to bring 10 (military) grogs and Jacques to the tournament, with each of them getting 5 top quality Grogs. That number might need to change depending on the rules of the tourney. He was willing to put up to 3 pounds of silver towards this. I figure that's more than enough to cover the design and make of at least the 10 uniforms.
The uniforms should consist of tabbards, sash-belt, pants, tunic, and shoes with a banner to represent the Covenant. I'd like gold and green to be the primary colors, I'll hold off Alexei's personal emblem if we can present the emblem or heraldry of Mons Electi (which I'm not sure what it is yet), but he'd like his emblem to appear somewhere in it.
I'm terrible at drawing or designing anything though, so any suggestions would be most welcome.
I was thinking more of a training regimen type things, command structure, etc.
As to the tournament, who's selected for the team, and what kind of advanced training are they going to get. The rough rules for the tournament are in HoH: Societas. I'll base final rules off that. However, having a trained grog team is important, and as of now, that doesn't really exist.
For Alexei, the Grogs are to be the elite in small unit fighting. Shield and support grogs in small groups, they should be ready to fight as five Grogs. One primary shield grog who never leaves the Magi's side, and a secondary one who's ready to fall into place immediately. The second shield Grog should serve as the Vanguard if the grogs engage in mass combat otherwise. The leader of the grogs should be designated as Sergeant and run the grogs in combat, serving as the Vanguard if the second shield grog falls or needs to act as shield grog. The chain of command (an important consideration to Alexei) is from the Magus and/or Custo/Companion to the Sergeant. The Magus shall declare goals and leave the sergeant to determine the method of achieving them. The Magus should listen and follow the Sergeant's advice and consent in combat as well as what plans he develops, while the sergeant shall listen and follow the Magus's and/or his Custo's orders as they are the ones on expedition. Proper chain of command and acknowledgement of the talents and expertise are essential. This involves trust and respect.
Training wise, Gunnar will concentrate first on raising basic fighting skills with the understanding that most of the grogs will be foot soldiers (Magi are not often riders). Once a level of competence is achieved 4 will fight as a unit with one leading, while the 5th shall practice two skills: Protecting a scarecrow from attack, and the Wizard Two-step. Basically to improve the Shield Grog's capabilities, the two step is to coordinate footwork so that the magus and grogs are not bumping into each other as they move, and to get the Grog aware of someone behind him that might be launching spells (he should be aware ahead of time of which hand the magus favors for example).
That's the essence of the small group tactics I think Gunnar should be drilling.
And who are these grogs? How many squads are going to be available? One per magus, or is there a pool?
These are the kinds of questions that the magi would ask of themselves, and I can't answer them as storyguide. You guys are now in charge, you can determine how you want to run things... If you've taken the role of Imperator, I think there's an expectation that you determine a lot of this this stuff, and I'd argue that there isn't any other Magus here who is interested in doing it...
I'm not awarding any experience to anyone in this thread until I have a clear idea of what grogs are doing what and who they are. Specifics! These grogs do not have to be fully fleshed out, but they do need to have a name, characteristics and some abilities. As it is we have very few combat grogs from Mons Electi, so I don't know who is doing what. That changes in 1222, when grogs from Atsingani can be brought into the fold, and there's been a year of working together.
If Alexei wants a team to go to the Flambeau tournament (or participate in Melee at the 1227 Tribunal), they will have to be fully statted out. If you're assigning shield grogs to magi, they need a name and some stats. and so on. Once there's some sort of grog heirarchy established, I'll award XP.
When this thread started, Jacques was disappointed that he was not invited to be a member. so he decided to act like a vassal and look out after his men and do just what what asked of him from the agreement. Two seasons later we have a different story. I will try to generate about 24-28 grogs for Mons Electi
And that's fine. I just think that there are enough loose ends here that need to be closed up before I can award xp. It also dictates some seasons to come.
Perfectly agree. It seems that the grog generator is the best way. I've presented several suggestions for policy and organization, but they are not agreed on yet. I can re-post those ideas or just link them maybe?