Scenario - May 2014

Western(esse) Martial Arts / Numenorean Martial Arts....

Combat and self-defense in Middle-earth

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Greg
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Scenario - May 2014

Post by Greg »

I apologize for the short delay this month's has suffered. Life is full.

On to business:
You're alone, a human, armed with an arming sword, a bow, and--due to loss, breakage, and past engagements--three arrows.

You came across signs indicating the passing of a party of what appears to be Goblins, numbers unknown as the tracks are fairly muddled together in the undergrowth. You follow them until you lose their tracks in dusk, but hear voices and follow them until the flickering of firelight comes into view in a ravine. You creep down the ravine to a shallow valley floor, and and discover the party itself in a leaf-and-grass carpeted clearing, 20 yards across. You see six of them, and two hostages, both human; a male and a female. They wear plain civilian clothing, and are gagged and bound with their wrists at their backs, both tied backs-against to a single tree, facing away from each other. They are five feet from the fire in the center of the clearing, and the Goblins mill about, doing camp duties, etc. It's an easy eight yards in the open to the main group, though two Goblins appear to be functioning as sentries. Sentries have spears, the rest have typical single-handed Goblin scimitars in their belts.

Map shows the following:

Red=Goblin
Blue=Hostage
Green=You
Brown=Tree
Orange=Fire
Yellow Circle=Area the firelight noticeably brightens

Bear in mind, you don't want to spook the Goblins into killing the hostages, but you HAVE heard a few grunts to the effect of "We ain't had nuffing but maggoty bread for three stinking days"...

Commence.

EDIT: I just saw that another chap has posted a scenario as well. I apologize for double-dipping, but hey...all the more fun for it!
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Arbellason
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by Arbellason »

OK well the sentry closest would either be taken out by an arrow that would hopefully be a quick quiet kill or I would make a few pieces of brush near the tree move and hope to take him by surprise. I would next go to the left and try to make a distraction of some sort that would hopefully draw off the three next to the fire I would double back as quickly and as quietly as possible and get to a spot where I would take out the goblin next to the hostages and the remaining sentry. Next cut the bonds give the man the one goblins sword and make a run for it to the "North" and get to the nearest friendly spot. If need be I'd try to kill a few while the other two people escaped.
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Peter Remling
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by Peter Remling »

Unfortunately we can't see the physical condition of the hostages.

I'm generally a rush in kinda guy but, goblins have better night vision than humans so while I could take out one or two, the rest will give chase. The best I can think of is to drop the one closet to me, hopefully with the sword. Grab the spear and throw it into the tree the hostages are tied to. Use the bow to take out the one guarding the hostages. Make some noise and run like hell to what appears to be west.

If I'm lucky, I'll have the bow, two arrows and be able to keep ahead of the goblins chasing me. If the hostages have a brain between the two of them and are mobile, they will cut their bonds on the spear blade embedded in the tree, grab up the spear and the guards sword and head north as fast as their little legs can take them. I'll keep the goblins attention for as long as I can.

Should the Goblins give up their chase of me, I'll backtrack and give chase to them as they attempt to recapture the hostages. With the one to two remaining arrows, I'd take out the spear wielder. Time to outrun them again.

Rinse and repeat, long enough to give the hostages a substantial head start.
bjaurelio
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by bjaurelio »

The biggest problem is going to be the 2 sentries with spears. I can't exactly engage them head on with a sword, so they will have to account for my first 2 arrows. There's no good place to have a close enogh shot at both to make sure I can get them each with a single arrow.

Because the southern sentry is located with the fire between him and the rest of the group, he's up first as most likely to be taken down without being seen. I move a to the group of trees just east for a better shot so I'm in that same line with the fire between me and the rest of the goblins. Down goes the first sentry to an arrow. I crawl forward keeping the fire between me and the other goblins to take his spear and drag it back with me.

Now I circle wide to the northeast corner from the fire. I peek around from the northern side of the large tree and take out the northern sentry with an arrow. He will possibly be seen and create a distraction as the other goblins look his way. I come around the corner even more and fire my last arrow into the goblin closest to the captives so he can't hurt them before I arrive close.

With the hopeful confusion caused at this point I take advantage of the initaitive and surprise by charging in screaming. I throw the spear into a goblin (whichever one has moved closest to the captives at this point) leaving two remaining for my sword. After finishing them off, I free the captives and escort them back to their village.
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Daerir
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by Daerir »

I would probably go assassin here. I would circle around to drop the first sentry with an arrow. after he was down i would carry his body aside and take his spear, then repeat with the other sentry.

The third arrow would be for the goblin nearest to the hostages. While the goblins were taking the time to stand up and draw swords, I would quickly switch to the spears and give my best attempt at spear chucking.

Lets just say for matter of realism that only one spear makes a killing strike while the other merely misses. With only two goblins remaining a ranger should be able to handle them with ease. With no enemies remaining I cut the hostages free and equip them with the goblin weapons to continue on the journey.

Of course if it were possible, I would just sneak behind the sentries and do a little slicing and dicing of vital areas ;) then the three arrows saved up would be for the remaining goblins leaving only 1 to easily kill.

PS: I'm the "chap" and for the record, I wasnt trying to steal any thunder, I was just in that mood you know lol :mrgreen:
An archer practices until he gets it right. A ranger practices until he never gets it wrong
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Greg
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by Greg »

I didn't mean "you took my job" by that comment...I actually meant "I hope this doesn't look like I'm trying to step on HIS toes by posting this months'." Post away!

As for my take on this one:

I would begin by waiting for a short time. I've never encountered a sentry that stood in place incessantly anywhere outside the white tower in Gondor, and Goblins aren't particularly noted for being patient or well-disciplined sorts. I'm going to assume that the southernmost sentry is going to shuffle around a bit, so I'll wait for him to come a few steps closer to the trees I'm at before quickly dispatching him with my sword, and pulling him upright with me behind the trees I started behind. A thrust to the throat should keep it quiet.

Now I won't have much time before the others notice, so I take his spear with me, loop around to the east, and come in behind the hostages' tree, firing at the Northern sentry just before entering the area illuminated by the fire; a fairly high-percentage shot, given the short range. A few seconds' of confusion will result from his death, and during that time, I should be able to cut the wrist bonds of the nearest hostage and cut the rope securing them both to the tree, leaving one hostage still bound at the wrists. I hand the spear to the completely free hostage, motion him to cut the other hostages' bonds, and draw Arrow number two, to fire at the furthest goblin from me, drawing more attention away. At this point, we're down to three armed goblins remaining, against three humans, two armed. The rest should be relatively straightforward, now that the hostages aren't in a critical position. Getting them off the tree and hands-free is the crucial breaking point of the engagement.
Now the sword shall come from under the cloak.
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Odigan
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by Odigan »

Use the arrows to shoot the hostages.
In the ensuing frenzied confusion, cut down the goblins like grass before a scythe.
Loot the bodies.

Simple.
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E.MacKermak
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by E.MacKermak »

OK...threat assessment. The four around the fire are the least threat. The fire will hamper their night vision, even for goblins, meaning that me alone in the deep dark woods will be harder to see. After that it is time for sentry removal. Take the nearest one when he isn't looking (I agree that they aren't known for rigid discipline). Prop him up (maybe with the spear) and move to the second, keeping an arrow on the string just in case. If an alarm goes up, the one closest the hostages gets the first arrow. If I can drop the second sentry, I start looking for ranged weapon targets. Guard goes fist (if I haven't dropped him yet), anyone who looks like they might be in charge gets it next. Drop the third and move in for to free the hostages quickly on the way to finish the remaining goblins. Spears suck as throwing weapons in general so I could conceivably ignore the far sentry and take the ones near the fire out. He will be looking past the fire at me anyway. The longer I stay in the shadows, the better my chances.
Still round the corner there may wait a new road or a secret gate and though I oft have passed them by a day will come at last when I shall take the hidden paths that run west of the moon, east of the sun.
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Greg
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by Greg »

Odigan wrote:Use the arrows to shoot the hostages.
In the ensuing frenzied confusion, cut down the goblins like grass before a scythe.
Loot the bodies.

Simple.
"And then we'll dance over the remains."
Now the sword shall come from under the cloak.
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Mirimaran
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by Mirimaran »

Has "go all Aragorn on their goblin asses" been used yet?

Ken
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Stormraven
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Re: Scenario - May 2014

Post by Stormraven »

I will go under the assumption that the hostages may be already injured and incapable of fighting. I will also assume that the top of the map is North - woe for all this assuming!
I would retreat slightly from my position in the south and move west to get a better view of the goblin guarding the hostages. I would take up a position to the east where I have targets on both sentries and the other goblins. I would have picked up a rock along the way to my position. I would prepare my bow with arrows out stuck in the ground. My sword would be on the ground, drawn from its sheath next to me. I would then launch the rock across the camp to the west, drawing all of the goblins attention to that direction. I would then rapidly take up my bow, shoot the goblin guarding the hostages first, the sentry to the south second and the sentry to the north third. I would then drop my bow, take up my sword and as silently as I could, without yelling, charge the camp heading west. I would bypass the hostages, kick a firebrand with my foot at the three remaining goblins and engage them with my sword. Hopefully this scenario would go in my favor, leaving all goblins dead. I would then cross to the goblin sentries with the spears, take them up and move to the hostages, listening for any goblins that I may have missed. I would cut the hostages free, if they were capable, give them each a spear or attend to any immediate dangerous wounds. If not seriously wounded, I would have them move out with me to a safer location. Once they were stabilized and armed, cautiously return to the camp to see if I could glean any information as to where their main body might be located. While there, I would look for any belongings of the hostages and gather them up to return to them. I'd quench the fire upon leaving and return to the hostages, giving them any belongings that I found. Once equipped, I would move them out to an even safer location and when able, report my findings to my Ranger unit.
"Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. Even the wise cannot see all ends."
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