Exam Form KM-12195301-37
Results
Aspirant: F. Pants III
School (Year): Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns (Year 10 - graduating)
Exam Date: 12 Summerwind 953
Examiners Presiding: F. Budget, F. Wings, Carnation
Reason for Testing: Selected for academic achievement, demonstrated leadership ability
Scenario:
Variant of the traditional Kathiawari Mare scenario—one airship with standard complement against twelve-score Griffonian raiders with light artillery and an unknown number of prisoners. Era-appropriate gear and magics supplied. Scenario took place in a heavily forested region at the base of an unrecognised mountain range, possibly consistent with the geography of the Undiscovered West. Exam vessel resolved as a Lokai-class ten-gun scout, HMS Stormbringer.
No alteration by examiners.
Account:
The Stormbringer began the scenario on routine patrol of unclaimed territory, reaffirming early scouting reports and continuing existing efforts to map the region for the Ministry of Cartography. Efforts proceeded apace for anywhere between four and six hours without incident, during which time Mr Pants took the opportunity to tour the vessel, making every effort to appear the gentlestallion for his crew. He asked about their families, their hobbies, their lives outside the military, and what few missteps he made he was easily able to wave off with a shared laugh and a careful ear—clear enough hallmarks of his time in the business schools to an outside observer, no doubt, but generally well-received among the simulacrum crew. Those few unreceptive ears he passed by quickly, with some choice praise for their work; the rest he gave generously of his time to set at ease.
Around the five-hour mark—nearing the simulated midday—a trail of smoke was reported from beyond the first line of hills. Over the concerns of his officers, Mr Pants elected to disregard this as evidence of a campfire or settlement—there had been clear signs of habitation elsewhere in the area, according to the reports he had reviewed while below-decks, and therefore no immediate cause for alarm.
The Stormbringer kept well clear of the encampment and proceeded along its scheduled survey route for an additional half-hour, whereupon a signal mirror was reported from roughly the same trajectory as the smoke. On hearing this, candidate ordered an immediate about-face and directed scouts landward. These would serve as the full extent of the Stormbringer’s commitment until such time as the exact disposition of these forces was known; the vessel itself was to give the site a wide berth, keeping at least one range of hills between itself and the signallers at all times.
Initial flyovers indicated a scattered group of ponies gathered around a crashed scout vessel of roughly equal size to the Stormbringer. A second wave of auxiliaries was dispatched to interview the crew and prepare them for extraction at the top of the nearest ridge. These latter failed to check in at the appointed time, either by direct Pegasus report or signal flare.
Candidate gave the team an additional quarter-hour to evidence themselves, then—again to the faint bewilderment of his crew—ordered a single gun loaded and fired over the crash site. This apparently had the intended effect as—believing themselves discovered—a veritable horde of Griffons burst forth from the crash site and immediately returned fire on the Stormbringer.
Seeing his forces outnumbered by a margin of at least three to one, Mr Pants ordered an immediate withdrawal, best possible speed. Mr Pants had previously ordered the nose of the vessel leeward, and the Stormbringer’s blend of sail and outboard motors—unique to the light scout classes—allowed the vessel to retreat eastward at a rate approaching forty knots, rapidly outpacing all but the most tenacious of the Griffonian air cavalry.
These latter were wyvern-mounted, and a half-dozen were able to keep pace with the Stormbringer for some fifty or sixty miles until Mr Pants ordered a swift ascent into the cloud layer. This worked for a time, but careful manoeuvring alone—even the orchestration of a Blitzer Loop, allowing the vessel to drop in behind the cavalry and devastate their rear flank—was not sufficient to hold the enemy off. Concentrated fire from the wyverns found the engine compartment, and spread quickly to the modest store of powder amidships. Both detonated near-simultaneously, tearing the Stormbringer asunder and scattering her across the misty forests below.
All hooves were presumed lost in the explosion, or in the crash that followed; the simulacrum ended naturally thereafter in either case.
Results:
The examiners have elected to award Mr Pants a mark of 7 for his sound, if somewhat reserved, strategy during the exercise. The candidate performed admirably in prioritising emerging concerns around pre-existing orders, and exercised excellent tactical discretion in the handling of both. This panel believes that all reasonable efforts were undertaken in order to ensure the safety of the lost crew, and that the decision to withdraw was wholly justified by the circumstances. Mr Pants’ understanding of the vessel at his command was also exemplary—at each step, he manoeuvred and positioned his vessel with obvious care, and with an eye towards tactical advantage. We encourage Mr Pants’ continued development of this skill.
However, while not inherently disqualifying, this panel also wishes to express some early concerns as to Mr Pants’ apparent concern for shipboard decorum and an apparent reliance on ‘by-the-book’ solutions to potentially novel battlefield scenarios. Several times throughout the situation this panel recognised tactics lifted almost word-for-word from training manuals distributed to the REMA; namely, the handling of the ranging-shot, down to the precise distance from the suspected enemy force (Basic Pre-Engagement Tactics, pg. 35), and the execution of the Blitzer Loop immediately following a fire-based attack on the starboard side (Manual of Combat Airship Protocol, Vol. II, pp. 59-60). While it is strongly encouraged that officers in Her Majesty’s armed forces have these methodologies of engagement committed to memory, they should not be relied upon to the exclusion of original thinking. This is especially true considering that these manuals are—as Mr Pants’ familiarity with them would indicate—publicly available, and thus accessible to our enemies.
In short, whilst Mr Pants has demonstrated exceptional intelligence and a keen memory for tactics in the field, we would like to see more of his imagination on display when confronted with novel situations. Battlefield discretion is important for a commissioned officer, as is flexibility of thinking. We would recommend that the General Staff be on the lookout for improvement in this field should Mr Pants elect to move forward with pursuit of a commission in future.