Posted on the bunker of the Upper Sanctuary Gate is a new poster.

Defending the Gate

Here is some light reading for citizens and defenders alike to make note of. There have been plenty of past times when things such as spiders have tried to run the walls, or umberhulks have bashed on the gates.

We have held against each one of these enemies but in order to do it better, and quicker with less casualties, tactics listed below should be employed by defenders of the Gate.

Effective defence of the gateway would consist of strongly but carefully positioned individuals to take advantage but not be caught off guard by attackers.

Mutiple strategies can be applied with just manpower without the addition of magical aggressions. Further requests are listed at the bottom.

Gateposts Each gate has two gate posts which can hold at a crowd, eight people. In order to use the siege weaponry correctly and safely, up to but no more than four people should be on a gate post at any one time.

• Siege Operator
• Archer
• Archer/spotter/wizard
• Ammuntion carrier

Three men on each of the four posts, numbering twelve individuals would provide ample observation with capable counterattacking if trained whilst spreading numbers out enough to lower damage by attacking enemies. We have many times left the rear gate unguarded, which has caused us to fall foul if a surrounding attack is made.

Archers Additional archers should be told to set up positions on surrounding walls to protect the gates from side fire and keep a look out for movement on the surrounds.

A loose spread of archers along the ends of each side wall would provide ample additional fire to attackers heading for the gate.

Warriors The current tactic for warriors is to bunch up behind the gates and should anything use catapult weaponry, they fall foul to it very quickly.

Warriors should be assigned in small groups. Two immediately behind each gate, one at the bottom of each gate post by the ladders on both gates provides immediate defence from a gate breech.

Whilst a breech is Not iminent, one quater of available warriors should stand on the side walls to observe for creatures or people trying to climb up the walls. Measures can be taken to discourage this action.

As enemies move to the gates, warriors should emplace themselves around the railing of the stairwell at a loose circle so that should either gate come under attack, it is only a short distance to move from one gate to the other.

The unattacked gate should Never be left unobserved.

Medical Assistance Since people get injured, medical assistance that is non magical should be positioned in the corners of the gateways, which are the least probbable areas for bombardment from the air and are concealed from all ranged fire.

Injured warriors and others should move to one of these corners and await critical medical assistance from non combatees. This is as key required as counter fire into the enemy. Clerical magic casters in protective armour may need to stand close to the gateways and non armoured magical healers should stand in the corners as mentioned above, aiding non magical medical assistance

Taken from the Civil Defence League notices

Bieng A Runner Now not everyone is battle ready but there are times when everyone is needed to do something. One of these jobs is called "Runner". In essence, these are the messengers for the person in charge of gate defences.

What a runner does:

• Passes on orders to defenders
• Notifies commander of location of current defenders
• Notifies commander of location of lack of defenders
• Reports points of engaguement by enemy
• Reports known information on how enemy are attacking
• Reports weak points in the defences
• Reports status of defences such as gate damage and siege equipment.

Runners are the eyes and ears of the Gate Commander. Depending on the severity of the attack, more than one may be required to keep a constant flow of infomation to the commander as the attack progresses. It is key for the Gate Commander to have a constantly updated stream of information so that he or she may plan an effective counter-defence.

Anti-Siege Weaponry Upon each gate is a catapult and ballista or repeater bolt thrower which can be used to weaken attackers and disable enemy siege weaponry.

A direct hit by a catapult will disable the opponants weapon easily, but this also applies in the reverse. Catapults are very difficult to aim as we are in a lower location than the attackers, but with some careful aiming catapults have been tested to find how to drop weaponry on enemy key attacking positions.

Each weapon takes around two to three people to operate effectively. One man to fire, one to spot and one to reload it. This keeps the operaing efficiency to the maximum whilst keeping the numbers in a critical defensive weak point to a minimum.

Prior to an attack, each weapon should be configured and turned to face a key point of likely attack in order to decrease set up time to counter attack. Catapults should be aimed at the ramps or third tiers, and bolt throwers loaded and manned.

Limiting breach points In order to keep attack points to a minimum, additional tactics should be used to deterr attackers on foot.

Caltrops These should be spread in abundance around the base of each wall or at minimum, the bottom of each decending ramp to limit positions in which the enemy can have a standing force remain.

Ammunition One man can be assigned to placing ammunition around the walls at regular intervals to aid defending archers so that they do not run dry. It is critical to make sure archers can fire back.

Other methods are to be suggested in addition to these later.

Following are my requests to bolster the defences: Anyone who thinks they can invent these should notify the Watch or Council

Requests Lights It has been brought to my attention from multiple attacks that our ability to see the enemy when it comes is difficult. Braziers could be set up on the walls outside the town to make the attackers easier to see. Preferably magical light should be used so it can not be extinguished, given the resources.

Ultimately it would preferd to have the ability to have some sort of system set up along all the ridges around the town so that should we come under siege, the rim may be lit and all attackers be illuminated around the town to make for easier spotting. This should be considered for the future.

Grease pumps Some of the old grease pumps found in various areas of Dunwarren should be recovered and positioned so that they can be used to limit the movement of attackers who wish to attack the gate via the gate. This would considerably increase the effectiveness of defenders by limiting what the attackers can do.

Mantlets We have been informed of the existance of the wooden wall used to defend archers against incomming fire. This may be something to consider for our side walls so that defenders may be protected whilst bieng able to fire back to some ends. They are reported to be constructed in wood and perhaps leather to grant resistance to fire. The engineers and so on should consider this.

Boiling Oil Another tactic to deterring people from attacking the walls is to have positions of boiling oil which can be poured by defenders onto the ground below and cause pain and panic among those hit so that they may scatter back to their lines.

Caltrops Caltrops can be placed around the walls to limit or harm attackers who wish to attempt to scale the side walls. This then aids the defenders in bottlenecking attackers a little more.

Sergeant Marshall

Sanctuary Watch