Realm Armies

[AndrewTall]

Upkeep is generally half muster cost - or a 1/4 is garrisoned. My favorite goblin unit was goblin rabble which had 1/4 GB maintenance (they were, admittedly, cannon fodder with terrible morale and discipline by any standard).

BRCS.
Infantry: 1 GB muster, 0.5 GB maint, .25 GB garrison
Archers:1 GB muster, 0.5 GB maint, .25 GB garrison
Guard: 3 GB muster, 1.5 GB maint, .75 GB garrison
Wolf-riders: 4 GB, 2 GB active maint, 1 GB garrison

Thurazor has 19 province levels and say 6 (a third, alamian sort of level) law levels giving the king so 21 GB regular income, the guilders probably chuck in the odd GB to keep the goblins sweet, while the temples probably cast the odd beneficial realm spell, agitate, or send some units to support the king.

Assume a L3 court, 4-5 GB for actions/spending, and you get military maintenance of, say, 11 GB per turn.

1 wolf-rider, the king's own - 1 GB
2 guards - 1.5 GB
12 archers - 3 GB
12 Infantry - 3 GB
4 scouts - say 2 GB

Of course when Thurazor goes to war that army gets twice as expensive, so the goblins better either have built up a treasury, or start pillaging quickly. That said, given that the king probably leads any army, the court cost will drop to 1, and actions will also be reduced to 1-2 GB, so if need be the goblins should be able to stay active for a while even on a low treasury.

[JakobLiar]

Thanks. And yeah, I'm trying to figure out the armies for each lands. So far, I've figured out a possible collection for each. Didn't know about the 1/4 maintenance cost for being garrisoned (or didn't recall reading it, but I've been busy rewriting every realm for my own ease and the ease of the players). Spent about 5-6 months getting it done but I'm done now. Sure, I have to figure out the trade routes, but other than that, I should be done.

I'm really excited about engraving the gems to work on the actual continent map. I think I had a wonderful idea there. Already have two definite players when I get done and one of them is dead-set in playing Ilien.

[Rowan]

I consider the Spiderfell to be 3 provinces. Figuring that Tal Qazar has to still be quite intelligent to survive with clans of goblins around him in the heart of the empire for hundreds of years, I consider those provinces to all be level 4 (higher if I really want to portray him as a threat). Then I consider that, like the Gorgon, he's a megalomaniac, and give him Temples. This gives him some realm spells, as well.

Now throw in the Tribal Units rule from BRCS 3.x. That allows a few more units every season (alternately, you could go entirely with this variant and 0-level provinces). To make things meaner, one could consider the "Ancient Forests" of the Spiderfell to be level 9, adding some more tribal unit levels. These units could be Gnolls and Trolls and similar, not being as well-organized as Tal-Qazar's brainwashed, inbred goblins.

Season this volatile mixture with a liberal dose of Spider units that function as Summoned monster units (one Summon Monster spell at highest level for each province).

Now you can field a frightening army. With or without the grand army, though, the Spiderfell should be impenetrable. To all invaders, I'd consider the three provinces to be Warded or at least Trackless, and Fortified at least to level 4 (requiring a year to get through). The Spiderfell does not need to be limited by normal rules. It's a special place. So I'd even add Morale checks for every invading unit every war move. It's a frickin' scary place, and poisonous spiders are biting people all the time. I figure that no army has ever managed to stay in there long enough to conquer it due to these factors. Sure, they could try to cut down trees under constant attack, but that takes a darned long time. Burning is out of the question--I just make the Spiderfell immune.

So that's how I make the Spiderfell dangerous.

[Rey]

Where do the goblins live in Spiderfell, above or under the ground?
Underground seems to be the better solution, although they'd have to dig deep because of the roots and pits.
Have the goblins of Spiderfell suppressed the urge to cut the forest, for whatever purposes?