(sequel to my scenario, "Battle #19: The Rise, or The Fall?")
(revised to handle the new units list)

You did it lads! Oh yes, you did it! You held them back! For five long and bloody days you held those human bastards back. You took heavy losses but you made those bastards pay for every inch of ground with blood. Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough blood. Ivar and Brobding still live and they have recieved heavy reinforcements, including several flyers and the infamous Leviathan Land Cruiser. We recieved none...... But all is not lost! The enemy was halted and shall not be able to move for several days until they have tended to their wounded. We have recieved word that the Princesses' plan has succeeded and we have been given orders to fall back to the gates of the Crystal city where we shall regroup with the rest of our forces. There the Princesses' plan shall be revealed.

The sun stands high in the sky as the sound of a thousand hooves marching in time fills the air. You march at the head of the collum with your commander, Rainbow Dash. Behind you follows the solumn processsion of many carts and wagons filled with the fallen, being escorted by the remainder of your force's Knights. Perhaps it wasn't tricktly Equestrian protocol for the dead to be towards the head of the procession but Rainbow Dash had insisted, believing that the dead deserved such an honor after the horror of battle. Behind this procession marches the remainder of your forces, both wounded and whole. Those who have been crippled are supported by their brothers in arms and stand just as proudly as ever.

You and Rainbow Dash halt the procession as you reach the grand gates of the Crystal City. The massive gates swing open and you continue on into the city. Crystal ponies line the streets to watch as you pass by. Some wave and cheer and smile at the victorious survivors. But this cheer is dampened by the site of those who do not rejoice. Rather many weep and wail when they cannot find their loved ones amongst those who march with you and your heart aches for them. But you march on.

Soon your procession reaches the center of the city and the castle that stands there. Waiting for you are Princesses Luna and Celestia, along with the rest of the Element bearers and Cadence and Shining Armor. You and Rainbow Dash stop the procession and bow before the Princesses. Before you or the Princesses can say anything there is a loud cheer and the Element bearers rush forward to embrace their friend Rainbow Dash. You and the Princesses smile at the exchange before the bearers find their composure. After a brief report of casualties and estimates, Celestia beckons you and Rainbow Dash to follow the rest of the group into the castle.

Later, you, the Princesses, and Shining armor stood together around a large round table in the throne room of the castle. After taking a look around the table at all those gathered, Celestia spoke.

"By now you may be wondering what we have decided", Celestia declared, "Well we have come to the conclusion that there is only one option. We must meet our enemy on the open field of battle."

"But, my lady, you can't be serious!", you protest, "We are out numbered and out gunned and-"

"And we have nowhere else to run", she states flatly, "We have been trapped here in the Crystal Empire with nowhere else to go. If we are to survive, we must stand and fight."

"But, your majesty, we cannot hope to defeat them alone and our only allies have been defeated or driven away from us."

"All of our usual allies yes. Which is why me and Luna have made the decision to call upon a more unconventional ally." Her horn began to glow and the doors to the throne room opened. And in strode the tall, slender figure...... of Discord.

All right ladies, here's the situation! We are to meet the enemy in open combat in the fields beyond the gates of the Crystal City. We are vastly out numbered and out gunned, but we have two advantages. One is time to prepare while the enemy takes care of their wounded and dead before beggining the march towards our position. Two days to be exact. The other advantage is three very powerful, very angry, god-like beings. Our forces consist of the remainder of those who helped you hold the enemy at the valley along with some of the soldiers and knight that were stationed in the city.

Behind us lies the Crystal City. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are working together to shield the city from any stray blasts of artillery or magic and the Element bearers have been placed in charge of the forces remaining within the city, so it's just us, Luna, Celestia, and Discord out here. In front of us lies about four square miles of open fields. To the left of our position lie three farm steads. Each of these farms consist of three buildings, including the house, barn, and a grain silo. Far across the field from us lies the evacuated town that had been near our position in the valley. A few Pegasi might be able to make it there before the enemy began their march but it would be a risky journey.....

The Crystal mountain ranges encircle the whole area so there's no way we're going any where in this battle but forward or back, into the city. The terrain is a nice and even field with a small amount of snow on the ground. The plan is to somehow make it through the enemy and destroy or capture the Leviathan. The Leviathan is the key. And we'd better do it quick. A single Pegasi scout made it past their lines and returned bearing word that more enemy reinforcements will be here in five days.

Player: UEE+CE

Earth Ponies: 500 regular, 100 Crystal Knights

Pegasi: 100 regular, 25 Royal guard

Unicorns: 100 regular, 50 royal guard, 50 Lunar/Solar knights

Crystal Slingers: 100

Crystal Mages: 50

Heroes: You (oc/self-insert), Luna, Celestia, Discord

Enemy: Empire of Man

Imperial Riflemen: 1500

Imperial Assault Troopers: 400

Clockwork Men: 700

Scout Flyers: 13

Assault Flyer: 10

Heroes: Leviathan Land Cruiser (fully manned)

Enemy Tactics: The humans coming at you are being spear headed by the Leviathan. Flying in an arrow formation are the flyers. The assault troopers are advancing in formation behind them ready to entrench themselves should they be halted.

The clockwork men and riflemen march together in alternating ranks of riflemen and cockwork men ready to charge from whatever position the troopers secure. Each night they will break off the attack to rest and regroup for the night. Each morning they will start the day with another charge and if stopped will once again settle in for some trench warfare.

Objectives:
1) Destroy or capture the Leviathan Land Cruiser before enemy reinforcements arive in five days

2)Do not let them reach the city or breach the city's shields

Optional Objectives:

1) Utilize your two days to prepare well

2) Use Discord to destroy the Leviathan
or
3) Use Luna and Celestia to Capture the Leviathan

4) Utterly and completely destroy the enemy

You're still mad for falling back...

677865 No, not realy that mad.

677865

678058

I will run, they will hunt me in vain
I will hide, they’ll be searching
I’ll regroup, feign retreat they’ll pursue
Coup de grace I will win but never fight

That’s the Art of War
That's the Art of War

\m/

678058 Tactically, falling back is moronic...in this case.

679017 Sorry, I am Norman. Sun Tsu never beat us, so I'll stick to our doctrines...

679156

But... But... The art of war! He-he wrote...

It is a fairly sound strategy, to fall back and regroup, then later come back and kick pony butt

677865>>678058
Well...

""We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem of getting to these people and killing them."

-Lt. Gen. Chesty Puller, 1950.

677763

This is easy-peasy...

First, Discord makes it rain chocolate milk all over the battlefield creating enormous puddles of mud that will be accentuated as Celestia makes the sun scorch the ground, melting the snow and creating small lakes all over the place as well as tons of mud.

I'd love to see the Leviathan and Clockwork men moving about in the muddy terrain. Ha!

With their machines useless I have merely to wait their approach. Better still, I'll meet them up front!

My guess is that they will hesitate when they see that their machines won't be able to cross, so they'll entrench themselves. Hehehe...

Make it horribly hot in the day, the enemy will be clothed for cold weather. Make it rain before night and then make the night as cold as can be. Many of their men will be dead or horribly sick in a matter of days. Their flying machines will be my first target...

You really should have considered their war machines more thoroughly friend. That measly number of flying rubble won't stand for long. Do not let the fancy names deceive you, the scout and assault fliers are weak and fragile, pegasi have a lot more maneuverability and speed.

I move my pegasi behind enemy lines and cut their supply routes, they cannot stop me. Not with their pathetic number of airships and their rifles won't reach the heights at which pegasi fly.

I continue this war of attrition forever. I can do it, I have the means to do it. A city behind me and three gods. If the humans wish to fight me they will have to charge without their fancy machinery, and then I'll have the advantage.

Tell me your thoughts, friend. I will be wanting to hear a verdict before continuing with the second part of my plan.

Also, if possible, Discord uses his magic powers to spoil the enemy food supply, and he makes it rain rotten vegetables over their lines. Food poisoning FTW! They'll be surrendering sooner than you can say Muffin!

679267
I think you're missing the point here.

Objectives:

1) Destroy or capture the Leviathan Land Cruiser before enemy reinforcements arive in five days

2)Do not let them reach the city or breach the city's shields

Optional Objectives:

1) Utilize your two days to prepare well

2) Use Discord to destroy the Leviathan

or

3) Use Luna and Celestia to Capture the Leviathan

4) Utterly and completely destroy the enemy

The idea is to capture or destroy their Leviathan as quickly as possible. They have heavy reinforcements coming and you just turned this into a waiting game. One that you cannot afford to play. Sure they might take a few losses to sickness but they can afford them and they won't necessarily be that heavy since they could possibly store food and some wounded/sick within the Leviathan (which according to the description in the official unit referance guide can disperse heat). You want to turn it into a waiting game? Fine. Two can play that game. They can just wait until a second very large army of heavily armed humans arive to help them.
And you just sent your heavily out numbered and outclassed pegasi behind enemy lines. All they have to do to free them up again if they don't want to wait for their reinforcements is fortify the Leviathan to protect it from your non-pegasi forces while they send a detachment to deal with the pegasi. You keep pointing out that riflemen don't have as long a range as pegasi can fly up but for those pegasi to really do anything they have to come within rifle range. Otherwise all they do is fly around looking stupid. Once they come within range I would say they're only slightly harder to hit than any other average pony unit.
You may have halted their machines temporarily but their riflemen and assault troopers can still move and they still have you slightly out numbered and definitely out gunned and since your pegasi are now away from your main force you now have to contend with 23 heavily armed flying vehicles that, from their official descriptions, are not as fragile as you seem to think and can have a devastating affect with their guns. So, either you come up with a way to take that Leviathan pretty quick or I don't think this strategy will last as long as you need it to.

679931

Waaahh?? They can attack all they want! Without their machines they are done for! My soldiers take cover behind trenches while they run up to us without ever having a chance of shooting, when they get close enough we charge and smite them! We have the heavy infantry, we have superior melee force and without their tough guys they are fairly doomed.

And the flying machines are fairly fragile, they are two manned! A pilot and gunner, they are small craft meant as a supporting role, a magic bolt to any part of their structure and they're a smoke column headed straight for the ground.

My pegasi are the one part where you are right though, I keep insisting on using them as supply line raiders for some reason... Anyway, I have three gods, and you heavily underestimate the power of the weather. I predict hundreds dead due to the changing temperatures so swiftly. And what good are they inside the leviathan? They'll run out of food eventually, and I have a god that can rain down any kind of supplement I need! I have all the means to outlast them in this siege, charging ahead would be foolish.

Why fight when I can win through attrition? This is soviet Russia all over again, except we don't have to worry about fighting!

Best case scenario, their soldiers commit mutiny and desert.

679971 Again, they don't have to charge you just yet as they can afford to sit there and wait with their gigantic mobile fortress with very big guns on it defended by the the clockwork men that you just trapped with it that, according to the units guide, are each worth several regular soldiers. I keep telling you, they have another army on the way. This one you are currently facing can afford to take losses while you can't since THEY HAVE A SECOND ARMY ON THE WAY! And they don't just have simple two man flyers, that have guns on them by the way, they also have about ten 3-man assault flyers with heavy guns and a rocket launcher on them. And you might have some superiority in melee but what about before you reach their lines eh? Every one of their soldiers has a gun so that's 1900 normal men on the ground firing at your advancing troops while you only have about 300 ranged units and, out of those, only the 200 unicorns at your disposal can be considered to be truly effective. You have a limited number of troops. While they might not necassarily die of starvation, they can't fight forever. The enemy, hovever, can afford to keep calling for reinforcement and can afford to wait as long as they have that giant honking fortress on the field. Your only hope is to capture or destroy that damned fortess to break their spirit, since that Leviathan is supposed to be invincible. If you can show them that you can defeat the invincible then will they be willing to fight you?

So, once again, how do you plan to capture/destroy that Leviathan?

680059

Well, we just abandoned a very narrow path from before, aye? (How did a giant war fortress get through the pass once more?) And the remnants of another battle are there, and I do currently have my pegasi waiting in that place. Based off of what the previous scenario told, the mountains would not be collapsed, but a flood in the area would prevent any form of machinery to cross it. Enemy reinforcements slowed down by chocolate rain.

Enemy flyers are doomed as well, so long as Discord can keep the chocolate falling and the cotton candy clouds up, any attempt to fly would be thwarted. Since Y'know, the flyers can't move through something as dense as cotton candy without getting their engines stuck.

With all into account, I'd say they are fairly immobilized. What I would like to know, is who was the genius amongst my officers that decided to leave Shining behind?! We could have a shield placed up to the middle of the battlefield and avoid casualties for the entire run! Gah! Damn those sentimentalist ponies... I also doubt they'll let me use civilians as cannon fodder, quite useful if you ask me... Whatever...

Make the cotton candy clouds fall to the ground and blind enemy soldiers, they won't be able to do much. Lower the sun entirely and do not raise the moon, make it completely dark. Our forces will have the cover of complete shadow at their disposal. With these distractions set, we charge. Unicorns are to keep shields the entire while as they run. Nothing big, small personal shields that will block the bullets aimed at them, protecting the soldiers behind them as well.

We overrun enemy lines with superior infantry forces and Celestia, Luna, and Discord board the Leviathan along with the royal guard. Clockwork men will be useless since they won't be able to see anything and thus perceive no danger. By now the moon has been allowed to appear, permitting enough light to let the ponies see, but not enough for the humans to see. (Ponies have better night vision right?)

Flyers are useless and the crew of the Leviathan won't be a threat to three gods. The machine will be overrun and sabotaged. The army will then press the destruction of the enemy if possible, or withdraw from combat and reinitiate attrition warfare.

680159
YES! Now this is more like it! This is what I wanted, a sure fire battle plan of complete and utter destruction. I wasn't trying to defeat you with with my arguements, I was trying to direct you to defeat me! Haha and I'd say you did spectacularly though I never said how narrow the pass was so it is possible that If you hadn't used Discord to flood the pass then the Leviathan could have theoretically made it through.

680201

Sorry if I seemed stubborn, but I wasn't really sure as to how much Discord and the sisters can do without it being OP so I took the safe way out. Anywhos, this was a real brain twister! Very enjoyable though! I missed this feeling of success when solving scenarios So much victory!

Also, second army on the way? I see a sequel to this fast approaching

680224 No, no. The stubbornness was good. An there might be a sequel later......