Have you ever looked at a map of Equestria? Really looked at it? Ever wonder what lay to the West of Equestria?

One foggy day, we found out. We found out the hard way...

Canterlot was in chaos. Refugees began pouring in from the West, as survivors of Los Pegasus fled to the hardened capital for their lives. The news was almost too horrific to be true, a city of thousands attacked and burned. Most of its inhabitants were put to the sword, causing the streets to run red with blood. The enemy struck too hard, too fast. What little local militia the city had was woefully inadequate to repel these new creatures...monsters...

Covered in hides of metal rings, the traditional weapon of the pony militias and royal-guards - spears - proved less than effecient in dispatching the creatures. As they walked on two legs, they oft carried large, wooden shields in the shape of a falling teardrop, point to the ground. Most carred spears of their own, however, some carried devistating axes, capable of the most horrendus wounds and able to largely ignore what little armor most of the militia had...yet further still carried swords, not like the crude things made by diamond dogs, but sleek, keen blades equally as good for stabbing as for cutting and hacking.

Earth ponies fell before them like wheat before the scythe, unable to break their shield and spear walls. Pegasi initially surprised them, however, they quickly adapted, learning to throw up hedges of spears to ward off charges and then, came the most devistating blow of all, some of these creatures carried what looked like the bow of a violin...except that instead of playing sweet music, it launched small, feathered spears high into the air, able to strike down pegasi with ease. Ironically enough, the most effective combatants on the field were the unicorns. Though their magic was not entirely effective, their abilities to set these creatures ablaze, or drop objects upon them faced no opposition from the usual mages that would accompany a pony army, indeed, it seemed as though these creatures lacked any overt magic whatsoever! However, the cost they paid was exorbidant... Those unfortunate few unicorns that were caught, were brutalized, tortured, then finally killed. Some of these aliens even took to skinning unicorns and wearing their pelts as trophies!

Worst yet, were their mounts...
Some of the creatures, not content to cause havoc from upon their own two legs, had taken it upon themselves to ride large ponies, as tall as the princesses! However, as the shaken tale of one very lucky pegasus with a broken wing recounted, these mounts were no longer sentient. Whatever intelligence they might have once had, had long since been stripped bare... Now all that remained were mindless beasts that carried yet more dangerous, blood-thirsty beasts upon their backs! These creatures, seeming to be a particular caste within their force - much as the regal guard would be - commanded the respect and fear of their subordinates on foot.

One of these creatures in particular seemed to stand alone from the rest. He, or so best the maimed pegasus mare could assume, as she told us before passing into a coma, rode a white horse and wore a golden circlet upon his helm. Her flight wing of a half-dozen pegasi took it upon themselves to single out this creature in an attempt to parley, only for four of them to be maimed by the small, flying spears. Three fell instantly, while the mare took an arrow to the helm, sending her to the ground. As she recovered, her final two wingmates covered her, as a pair of the creatures upon their own mounts charged them, the first, was winged by a sword to the wing, before the creature was dismounted, breaking it's neck with a sickenning crack. However, the final stallion's victory was short lived as his back was split in twain by a violent downward cleave of the other creature's sword. Just as the creature wheeled on the mare, the chieftain creature, with the circlet, called off the other mounted creature with a grunt. He regarded the mare curiously for a moment, his small, brown eyes staring into her own before he spoke.
"Allez." He said gruffly, when she did not react, he waved his foreleg in a dismissive gesture, "Partez."
In terror, she fled, only to be struck by a thrown ax to the torso as she neared friendly lines...

This is not a battle, but a war. You have been given the title of Field Marshall of the Equestrian Armed Forces and tasked by the diarchs themselves to save Equestria. You have any and all resources at your disposal from within the controlled kingdom. This means, should you loose territory, you will loose resources too...

You begin with a scant 202 Royal Guards (200 Solar, 2 Lunar) and your own personal guard of 12 ponies of your choosing, under your direct command.

Each city and town begins with its own militia, but as proven, they are of little effect against this foe.

Military Morale is below average. Civilian Morale is low.

You have what intel you have gathered above. (Each poster) gets five posts before war's end to evolve your strategy (unless you fail brilliantly and get everypony killed before five). What works initially, may not work in the end... Your foe may well adapt to your tacics and strategy!
Information from other's responses may, or may not be accurate. Ignore them.

I am looking for a well thought out plan, solid posts, and a handle on the basic premise of strategy here. If you give me a short post, your likelihood of surviving goes down! Tell me your thought processes. A well thought out, but stratiegically flawed post is worth more than a short, yet stratiegically brilliant post!

After each of your posts, I shall respond with an explanation of the reaction to your previous. Things such as morale and survivability will be stated there in. (Keeping me entertained with your writing may improve your chances...)

After five posts respectively, I will rate your chances of survival and give you what I see as the most likely outcome.

Best of luck to you!

684254 Wow... I can see a lot of work went into this. Nice job, but still...

I'd like to point out that there's a un-offical against full campaigns involving entire countries. Not because they aren't a nice idea, but because most of them require huge amounts of planning and all sorts of other complicated things. Most people don't have the time for such a thing, so don't blame me if no-one has a go at it. It's much better to stick to smaller battles, rather than huge campaigns.

I'd recomend breaking this down into a series of smaller battles, in which troop numbers carry through to the next one.

Still, If you think you can make it work, go ahead with what you've already got.

[EDIT: You get some points for having the shortest "Campaign" thread I've seen. Not many people can write in such a clear and succinct manner. If I'd written this, it'd be three times as long, maybe more!]

684254

Oh, my...

Let us do this!

I want the militia of Cloudsdale to fly over the entirety of Los Pegasus, San Palomino Desert, Whitetail Woods, and Ghastly Gorge. We have to have that intel by Celestia's cake-filled flank! The Militia from Ponyville is to be deployed via train to the southern part of Everfree and remain guarding the river while still being close to the pass of Ghastly Gorge where the Doge City, Baltimare, Fillydelphia, Hollow Shades, and Manehattan militias will set up fortifications. They will all arrive there via train.

Tall Tale, Vanhoover, and Canterlot militias will set up fortifications on the northern side of the river near Whitetail Woods, just north of Las Pegasus. I will set up my army headquarters in Ponyville, since I get to meet the mane six and it is a focal point for all troop movement.

Commence the immediate recruitment of unicorns and pegasi, make the earth ponies move catapults, trebuchets and ballistaes to my fortification points and get a fleet to blockade the Los Pegasus port. Now we wait.

684639

Aww come on! This one is perfectly do-able! Unlike mine, that thing seemed like fun but yeah, incredibly complicated. We could even have small campaign threads! Something concise like this with several small 200-300 armies, I'm thinking even a 'contain the contagion' campaign with the bloodhooves! It's perfectly theorical and doesn't need more than the average scenario

684639 I wanted to write something less based on numbers, and more based on strategy. Also, yes, I know that I wrote a short missive. I want to see how you handle under pressure, with a distinct lack of military-intelligence...

However, thanks for the heads-up. Though it looks like I've got at least one bite!

684712 Response 1# to Irongalley
Military Morale: (Slight Increase) Shaky
Civilian Morale: (Unchanged) Low
Outlook: (No Noticeable Change) Grim

Your pegasi recon en-masse are the first to arrive on the scene. The San Palomino Desert, Whitetail Woods, and Ghastly Gorge report no contacts...for the moment.

However, the airspace over Los Pegasus is hotly contested from the ground by the bipedal-monsters. Hundreds, upon hundreds of the small flying-spears shoot up from the city, eventually driving back your scouts. You have gained some valuable intelligence however...
-The conquerors clearly have doused most of the fires, as the city no longer burns.
-To your great horror, the few prisoners that you could see were all earth ponies, and a few winged pegasi. They are being forced into slave-labor, mostly to repair the settlement, and to establish some basic, wooden defenses.
-The most shaking aspect that your forces reported were the unicorn-heads impaled upon spikes outside the settlement, clearly intended as a warning.
-Finally, your scouts were able to estimate their forces to be several thousand strong (6k - 10k) however, their reports varied. Also, you find out too late that the invaders have a fleet of about one thousand ships...

This intelligence you receive too late to stop the advancing Equestrian fleet of only a little more than a hundred ships...
The following naval battle is horrible and even more atrocious than the battle on land that preceded it. The smaller ships of the invading force are too small and swift to practically attack with your larger vessels and are swiftly overwhelmed, despite their attempts to withdraw. An unknown number of crew were captured and fifty-five of your ships were seized before they could be scuttled.

A detachment of pegasi scouts mirrored a squadron of a dozen small ships that set sail from the battle and headed north, the direction of your fleet had come from. In a short time, their ships discovered Van Hoover and briefly entered its harbor, before being driven back by unicorns' fire. Within the day, they managed to report the small city's position back to their army in Los Pegasus.

With the Equestrian Western Fleet destroyed, the entirety of the Western sea is vulnerable to attack and it will take weeks for the Eastern Fleet to sail around the southern most point of the continent. However, with their amount of ships, engaging their fleet looks to be a hopeless venture at this point...

By the next morning, your forces along the River repulse a small force approaching the Whitetail Woods. By afternoon however, a much larger force could be seen approaching from the south. As evening set in, the first flying-spears began skittering down on your militia's position from across the river, causing minor casualties, but far greater fear. Eventually your forces determine what appears to be their maximum range and digs in just outside said distance.
The bridge still stands connecting the northern and southern banks, and though your forces repeatedly drive back the enemy, they persist on attacking it until nightfall when they finally withdraw...

To the east, your forces received little warning from your pegasi scouts of a rapidly approaching enemy force. Though your defenses were barely passable, they did manage to slow up the several-dozen strong scouting force. Your forces had a distinct numerical advantage and because of this, the skirmish was brief. Your casualties were far higher than they ought to have been, however, several of their scouts managed to fight out and escape, to report the position of the defensive line. The more important piece of news was the three creatures that you managed to incapacitate. Two of the three were wounded - one severely, and the second a slight wound to the neck - the third is unspoiled, simply knocked unconscious by a Ponyvillian Militiamare by the name of Derpy Hooves. Four of their mounts were also secured...though they appear to be rather skittish...

Your subordinates have initiated a kingdom-wide draft to fill the needs of the Equestrian military. Thankfully, many Equestrians are already volunteering to serve however they can! Your advisers now come to you with two issues...
The first, Equestria has not had a war in more than a thousand years and we appear to be woefully outclassed by our foes. How should we seek to counter this issue?
The second, what doctrine should our new army follow? ...and by extension, how should we equip and train our infantry?

687124

Alrighty then!

This is what will happen...

First we schedule a tea party with Rarity and Fluttershy, Twilight can come too. We shall drink chamomile and eat a few chocolate and vanilla cookies, muffins, and cupcakes. Once the tea party is done with, I want all the pegasus teams from Tall Tale, Van Hoover, and Cloudsdale to converge in Van Hoover and organize the largest shitstorm of our time.

They are to gather as many clouds as possible, fill em up with stormy properties and stuff and then sail them over the enemy fleet in the complete cover of the night and the clouds themselves. I want the storm to be enormous, terrifying and completely prolonged. Sink as many vessels as possible.

After said strategy is carried out, I want for my officers to arrange a picnic with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. The food to be served must be fresh and of the best quality possible. We shall eat as Dash makes several awesome stunts above the sky and Pinkie tells awesome stories that defy the laws of reason.

After said awesome picnic is done with, I want a full report on exactly how many volunteers we have so far. I also want my officers to commence project 'Fire with Fire'. Gather the best minds in all of Equestria and set them on the path of warfare. I want the nerdy ponies of the nation working on a way to counter the enemy's long range missiles. Preferably by designing a missile weapon of our own that can be operated by earth ponies. I want them to work on ways to make unicorn shields more durable and less taxing for the caster, I want them to research for ways to make the cloudwalking spell more durable if not permanent.

More importantly, I want them to improve our technological proficiencies tenfold! I want incendiary weapons and mobile unicorn shields for our fleet, I want research done to find ways to make use of the enemy weaponry as well as means by which we can neutralize them!

Interrogate the prisoners we captured, find out their exact numbers, their intended plans, the amount of food and preparation they have as well as a full report on where they come from, how many there are of them, and any enemies they may have back at home.

Give Derpy Hooves the mounts as recognition, she may do as she pleases with them after our scientists have had their time to examine them and extract any useful intel they may have.

I want the royal guards evenly split to reinforce all of our defensive positions. Any militia that is ready for combat I want it send to the reinforced position in Whitetail Woods, the position by Ghastly Gorge, and the one by the river.

Make certain the scouts keep on patrolling the skies around Los Pegasus, and send one every other night to the city to report whatever he can. He is also to make contact with the locals and instruct them in commencing a rebellion. We will send weaponry and supplies as soon as they are ready to commence the uprising.

I'd also like to make a petition to the Princess. That if she would find it within reason to travel from town to town speaking and listening to the ponies of Equestria to raise morale and make certain we are well and able to continue this war. I want rations for the soldiers increased as well as some cider sent to their camps, not too much though, I don't want drunkards.

New infantry ponies are to be taught in the warfare style of the Crystal Empire. Lances will become a crucial part of their training, as I want them to be able to lead powerful charges against enemy lines. Each and every soldier in the army is to know one thing however.

As dire as the situation may be, we still stand proud and strong by our beliefs of love and tolerance. And while we cannot show love to our foes, we can show mercy. Prisoner taking is to become a priority when possible, no senseless killing will be allowed. Prisoners are to be treated fairly and with the honors of war. Any foe captured and proven to have committed acts of cruelty against our forces will be put to death by magically stopping his heart.

We also commence operation 'Coins make friends'. Any captured officers will be bribed in an attempt to discovering the fighting techniques and strategies of their nation.

Also, see if Luna can intercept enemy officer's dreams and extract any information.

As a final command to the armies for now, I demand a visit to Ponyville's Spa! Onwards! To the massage tables!

706391 Response 2# to Irongalley
Military Morale: (Dramatic Decrease) Venomous and Grim
Civilian Morale: (Slight Increase) Shaky
Outlook: (Slight Decrease) Dark

Project Fire With Fire, is an ambitious plan to say the least. Many of your staff question the wisdom of such a move, however, as one particularly wise pony (grimly) points out, if the war lasts too long, it may be Equestria's only chance... In the short term, all you can hope for is to learn a bit about your invader's weapons and hope to create some more effective ones of your own.

As for Operation Coins Make Friends, such a thing repulsed a few of your staff, but such an advantage could not be overlooked and was begrudgingly accepted. Its effectiveness will not be known for some time, particularly once your forces engage in a pitched battle...

Your initial forays into the interrogation of your prisoners has lead to some rather unfortunate results... The severely wounded creature failed to survive, after succumbing to its wounds. His uninjured comrade then flew into a rage, wherein one of his guards was killed and two more were wounded in the struggle, before he was unfortunately killed. The third creature - the one with the neck wound - now appears to be inconsolable. Passive to the point of worry and barely eating at all. Even if the language barrier did not exist, interrogation would prove nigh impossible. Until such a major obstacle can be overcome, there is little chance for an interrogation - proper or otherwise...

In the wake of the skirmish along the border of the Everfree, Derpy Hooves was given the large, stallions to much confusion. What was she supposed to do with such things? For the time being, sen sent them back to Ponyville, where Fluttershy could watch them. Perhaps she might have better luck with them...?

Despite their initial protests, the Royal sisters eventually acquiesced and granted their royal-guards to your command, under the condition that they be recognized as officers within the new Equestrian Army. Whether this will prove useful, or detrimental is yet to be seen...

The Princesses were eager to follow your suggestion, happy to be of some service themselves. Especially if it meant helping to keep their little ponies calm and happy in this difficult time. Surely seeing the Princesses out and about will bolster the spirits of the common pony?

Luna's abilities have yet to provide any useful intelligence, particularly because of the alien-ness of their minds, however, she feels confident that she can have success if she continues? Should she, or do you have other ideas of how she can be of use in the war effort?

As for the army that you are currently planning to raise, there are some concerns over how the Kingdom will both fund and equip such a large number of heavy soldiers? Your advisers are confident that should both issues be resolved quickly, your first divisions should be ready promptly. Mostly retrained militia volunteers and those with para-military experience. Further divisions will begin joining the war front steadily from thereon out...

As for Combat...
Your midnight surprise attack from Van Hoover was a stunning success! Though only a few score of ships were actually sunk, a much larger number were damaged, before they could be pulled ashore, where they would be safe from the waves. All of this was accomplished without casualties! Such a hit has effectively rendered their fleet unable to go on the offensive for an unknown amount of time. Van Hoover should be safe for the time being...

On the other hoof, the following morning, the enemy force opened fire from across the river, with as of yet unseen machines that cast flaming balls of fire, and death, and terror into your forces adjacent to the bridge leading through the White Tail Woods. In the ensuing panic, your untrained forces were unprepared for the assault across the bridge...the ensuing casualties were horrible. Before midday, the entire position collapsed, and ponies fled into the forest, or were cut down, or captured by the swift mounted forces of your enemies.

A Forest Fire now rages in the Western woods, covering the entire forest in smoke!

The small number of Royal Guards that encountered the retreating ponies have gathered a small number of your original force near the crossroads where the roads split between going to Los Pegasus and Tall Tale. However, if the shaky reports are to believed the enemy force of only a few thousand strong still outnumbers your own by a significant margin. If attacked, your forces will not be able to repel their forces. However, if you loose this crossroads, you will likely loose both Tall Tale and eventually, Van Hoover. On the other hoof, Ponyville lies just beyond and if Ponyville falls, Canterlot itself will be under threat!

Worse yet, many of the militia commanders are up in arms about your declaration to show mercy to your foes in the wake of this second crushing loss. After hearing about the way they treat their prisoners, or worse yet, to have seen it first hoof, many outright refuse to follow such an order. Moreover, several are up in arms over the style of your leadership, a few going so far as to declare you a 'pampered coward', refusing to see the realities of the war first hoof. If something isn't done soon, you may have larger worries than this impeding horde...you may find yourself with a general mutiny on your hooves!

((OOC: That move with the Pegasi was brilliant! However, letting that bridge stand, not so much... A friendly word of advice, be careful with your next response. The enemy nears a major strategic moment and your forces are on the verge of rebellion! The right move could win you the war, however, the wrong one...well...
...I'm rooting for you!))