*A Letter to the Warmaster and Legates of Ephias Well*

[WriterX]

To the Warmaster Mirielle Rosseau, and Legates Komemnos and Sayburgh,

 While the conflict in the Scald is ongoing I wished to offer my report to you all as well as observations and notes regarding our skirmishes and assaults in the Scald.

 Firstly, while this was never put into doubt, the Rust weapons work best when employed in greater numbers. During yesterday's skirmish against a Titan we had a sizeable group, but I also armed four of our skilled warriors with said Rust weapons. According to the comments offered by those present, once the effect of the Rust became more prevalent, it became easier and eaiser to overwhelm the Titan. Its defences failing.

This is of course of benefit, and employing the weapons in sufficient numbers against the Titans can greatly shorten an engagement. However, the issue may rise that we need sufficient numbers of supplies to withdraw the weapons. I expended my own reserve greatly, and it would take me time to recover the necessary supplies.

A possible solution is to perhaps elect a number of individuals who would delivery the supplies and then be capable of withdrawing the necessary equipment to those who are to take part in battles or skirmishes. Though of course it also creates an abstract situation where we have a Quartermaster to handle the affairs with the Camp Quartemaster.

 Secondly, and this is related to the supplies. It seems to me that some people may be hoarding war supplies intended for the Scald. I have ran into some people who would sell great numbers of them, and the cost usually depends. Seems the price that most find agreeable is 200 dinari per bundle. While I am willing to spend any amount of gold to see our skirmishes through, if I focus upon our skirmishes I in turn cannot earn the necessary gold to purchase them.

 This is not a rule however. Sometimes when I would check the status of available supplies at the Scald there would be a varying amount deposited already, but there would also be days when nothing would be found.

 In one notable example, when the Board seemed especially poor, a full day or two passed without any supplies being delivered. I had to then spend a full 3000 dinari to obtain those necessary supplies to organise a skirmish, from those who hoard them.

During these "droughts" if the Pyramid or the War Council could handle compensation for acquiring War Supplies, when necessary, it would be a boon, and not halt our progress of the War.

 Thirdly, I am pleased to report that during all recent engagements that I lead losses have been largely minimal. At most one or two injuries. This has kept spirits high and most times when Rallies are called forth we are not short of men. I have also began to develop a system for more calm and stable loot and treasure sorting, that helps minimize any conflict at the end of it. However, with the amount of work already upon my head, I sometimes do not have the strength to see it through to the end. I will see whether I can organise something akin to a "Treasurer" who would help manage the sorting and rolling of loot, after battles.

 Lastly, This has become an ever more vocal issue. While our artillery when used well is extremely effective, we are still suffering from issues of friendly fire. There are three main issues here that I see:

I - The Artillery is almost always short staffed. At times we have only one Artillery Operator without a Spotter. This leads to great delays between the flare being fired, and the artillery firing. We had a number of cases where a Flare would be fired upon a suitable target, but by the time the artillery would hit the target we would be there already, resulting in friendly fire. We would need a dedicated Spotter and one or two artillery operators, who are also trained in the use of artillery.

II - We sometimes have highly inexperienced Flare Operators, who do not only lack experience in the operation of the Flare devices, but also do not use them in the most efficient or safer manner possible. I would suggest, just like in the case of the artillery operators, that we identify the best individuals to use them, so that targets chosen by the Flare Operators are "safe", and do not lead to accidents.

III - In a number of cases I tried to hold back or restrain a rapid advance of our troops, but it is true that, especially if we have Evokers, an Orc defense can be cleared out in seconds. So, by the time the Flare is fired, and the Spotter relays the information to the Artillery, the Orc position might be already gone. While the Artillery is very good, when it comes to targets that cannot be immediately reached (on walls, over chasms, behind solid defences that we cannot destroy) they become dangerous to use when facing normal barricades, or even when targeting "chokepoints". I have seen Flare Operators firing their flares, with good intention, at Towers held by Orcs that we would try to scale, but our warriors would often reach the tower first, before the first artillery even hit the tower. If anything the artillery would even pause an advance, while we observed, wearily, whether the artillery did not already fire upon a Flare that stood in our path.

This however falls into the matter of training and instructing both our Flare and Artillery operators, so that we can prioritize safe targets, instead of those that sadly lead to accidents.

We did not have a chance to use the Flares in a defensive manner, and I feel that, in some cases, it might prove more useful than on the attack. Targeting the approach points of the enemy, or simply firing "afield" to shatter any orcs foolish enough to run through our open field, while we hold our defensive positions. This would sadly conflict with our cavalry tactics, that help disrupt enemy formations, and hunt down their shamans, and it could be dangerous to our warriors as well, who often happily charge ahead of our defenses, to engage the orcs almost as soon as they enter the field.

This is the report I wished to offer, and points that I wished for both the Legates and the Warmaster to consider.   

Toward Victory,

Former Legate Marcellus Saenus