[FOR THE TIME BEING THE CONTENTS OF HELP SCOUTING IS AN INDICATION OF WHAT IS GOING TO BE SWITCHED ON BUT, CURRENTLY, TO ALLOW PEOPLE TIME TO ASSIMILATE OTHER ASPECTS (MELEE, ACTIVE DEPLOYMENTS, etc) THESE ARE SWITCHED OFF]
Passing orders/dispatches and gathering information can be two of the most
important aspects of a successful military strategy, defensive or offensive,
whatever your ultimate aims. Fighting an enemy blind, knowing nothing of their
make-up is walking into potential disaster, just as cutting yourself off from
being able to give orders to your legions - rolling with an ever-changing
battlefield - can easily spell your doom. Thus it's pivotal to develop legions
capable of fulfilling these needs; doubly so on those occasions you may
face individual enemies beyond your ability to match toe-to-toe (and thus
find yourself prevented from reaching your legions to pass on orders by
dint of their superior fighting prowess). See HELP DISPATCH for info on
sending dispatches via runners or pigeons to legions in faraway locations.
Syntax: ... LAYER <parent dispatch> <child dispatch> [<priority>].
Syntax: ... LAYER <dispatch> REMOVE.
Using the skill 'orderscripts' to augment pace of layering and moving
between dispatches, but available to all legions, you can use this
command to connect two dispatches. The first (parent) dispatch specified
is executed first, the second (or child) only ever executed after the
first is deemed completed. If your child dispatch was previously linked
to a different parent, this new layering will supersede the earlier one.
You will need to have authority over the dispatches to layer them
together. You can optionally include a priority number, 1 to 1000, which
will dictate the order of execution if there are many subdispatches
attached to a single parent. 1=highest priority, 1000=lowest. Adding a
child to an existing family with a priority of 3 will cause all other
children of the same parent dispatch with priority of 3 or less to be
moved down a priority level, but those of priority 1 and 2 will remain
above the new child (and thus execute first). To separate dispatches
from attachments to parents, use LAYER followed by the dispatch and then
REMOVE to sever any parent-attachments.
Syntax: ... PATHWAY <scouting map number> <desired proximity>
Utilising the 'pathways' skill to greatly augment the speed of evaluation (but not mandatory, particularly if the destination/target is within the same area or on home territory) this command orders the legion to seek out the specified spot as previously scouted and recorded on a special scouting map. The proximity if a positive number attempts to reach a location that number of locations distant, if a negative number marches only the specified number (e..g. -4 proximity would march at most four locations) while 0 for desired proximity declares the intention to reach the target location itself. Needless to say maintaining distance between yourself and your foe can be a safer course of action and it is a brave commander leaves his legions to work their way to a potentially hazardous destination's immediate location.
Syntax: ... SCOUT <destination/target> [<scouting map number>].
With the 'scouting' specialist-skill this action is far more safely executed but even without legions may use scouts from within their ranks to make a beeline out across the land, discover the whereabouts of the destiation and a route to reach it without insurmountable obstacles, and return with details written in code on a scouting map. The scout may have a blank map already (if the legion does, he will) or you may need to specify a map number to be taken from your own inventory or erased from the legion's existing repertoire. Scouted information can quickly become out of date so be warned against relying on it one hundred percent in one's battlefield tactics.
Syntax: ... SPY <destination legion> ON <specialist skill> [WITH <scouting map number>].
Spying is one of the singlemost important aspects of perfecting one's tactics on the field of battle for information is two-thirds the contest. Using scouts from the ranks of your legion (of which it has a certain percentage available at any given time) you may send the young private hotfooting off to find the destination legion and, if successful, bring back up-to-date information about its potency in the specified skill. The skill of 'scouting' is employed here to great effect alongside 'covertcitizen' to augment the chances of the scout creeping in and out unknown since it will attempt to port a disguise (if your legion's inventory has suitable costumery).
Syntax: ... RUNNER <dispatch>/ALL <target legion name> [<potency of runner>].
You can send dispatches out to legions using runners - usually enlisted
young men not yet assigned to a legion, or those unenlisted city/guild
aspirants whose loyalty the dispatch-holding legion can command. The
runner will take the dispatch specified, or all of those duly
designated, and depart; heading out across the land to reach the target
legion as quickly as possible. The dispatches will then, it is hoped, be
safely given over - to be acted upon by the desired remote group.
Meantime, the runner will return whence he/she began. Beware, however:
the further away your legion, the longer the runner will take to reach
its destination, no matter how well he/she knows the lay of the land.
Obstacles that a footsoldier or cavalryman may find insurpassable may
likewise prevent a runner from getting through. Higher potency naturally
selects faster, more agile, more cunning, more skilful runners - but at
a greater risk to the reserves of talent available for future missions
should something go awry in the field. The skill of 'messengering' is of
primary use here.
Syntax: ... PIGEON <dispatch>/ALL <target legion name> [<pigeon potency>].
Quicker than runners but in some ways less reliable, and certainly less
intelligent if spotted/caught, the carrier pigeon can be used to carry
dispatches to legions in all four corners of the land. It has advantages over
runners insofar as the pigeon moves faster, is more difficult to blockade
from reaching its destination and, if lost, is less a tragedy than
sacrificing a runner; a human child. Pigeons, though, if spotted, can be
tracked and shot down/slain too (an arrow, a firebolt, even a bird of prey
can make light work of a pigeon) - thereby preventing your dispatches from
reaching their destination. In all other ways the syntax works precisely as
the runner, save pigeons have a far lesser capacity to carry multiple
dispatches. The skills of 'messengering' and 'animalcare' are of primary
importance here.
Syntax: ... CONVEY <skill> <destination legion> [<percentage>].
With an effectiveness/efficiency that depends in part on prowess in the 'conveyencing' skill, you may issue this order to command your legion to part with sufficient specialists in the designated skill to boost the potency of the desination legion (at the expense of one's own). Excellent conveyencing can lead to an overall augmentation when coupled with recent field experience and sufficiently high morale, while an inexperienced convey from a legion with underdeveloped 'conveyencing' skill can be costly in manpower to achieve the desired goal.
Syntax: ... RELAY <from legion> EVERYTHING/<what to relay> [<time>].
Syntax: ... UNRELAY <from legion> EVERYTHING/<what to cease relaying>.
Using the skill of 'distantrelay' you can gain immediate or almost-immediate reports of goings on from a distant locale, from the perspective of the relaying legion. The success of the relaying and, more importantly, the elapsed time between the event and its relaying back to those watching out for the information will depend on such factors as distance between yourself and the event, scouting network of interceding legions capable of passing on the relay, 'distantrelay' skill and obstacles that might disrupt flow of information. It is difficult to gain relayed information if your legion is deep in a network of tunnels, isolated from the land, while it is easy to have relayed information while patrolling a gatehouse on homesoil when the event may be some distance yet still remains on homeland soil or within one's home sphere of influence.
Syntax: ... WINDWORD <target legion> <dispatch> <percentage>.
Using as primary the "windwords" specialist-skill and a combination of secondaries relating to subterfuge and communication, this command-order sets your legion about the task of transforming and then transferring the specified dispatch into the ranks of the target legion. The success of this windwording is determined by the 'windwords' skill and the distance of the target legion, together with the same factors that influence the BOGUSDISPATCH command-order. Windwords is a long distance version of BOGUSDISPATCH, in some situations more effectual since proximity is not an issue and it can be more difficult to fake dispatches when locked in battle with a foe; in others more difficult if obstacles between your legion and the target thwart possible rapid comunications between the two.
Syntax: ... MINEHUNT LOCALE/HERE/<direction>/ADJACENT <percentage>.
Employing the skill of "minehunting" as primary, this command order sets the legion (or as much of the legion as specified) about the task of hunting for presence of mines in the locale, in a single position within a locale, in a certain direction from the locale position, or in an adjacent location. If successful the mine is duly revealed and can then be sabotages/rendered useless using the SABOTAGE command as described in HELP DESTRUCTION. If unsuccessful then, generally, the legion will simply unearth nothing since the minehunt is a careful process not prone to detonating mines unexpectedly; although an extremely well-laid mine coupled with a low skilled hunter may well be detonated by the mere act of hunting it down. This can cause great damage to the portion of the legion engaged in the hunt (and any others nearby).
Syntax: ... LOOKOUT <from legion>/<direction>/RANGE <percentage>.
With the specialist-skill of "hawkeyes" of primary concern here, dictating distance, completeness and accuracy of the information spotted this command-order has the legion (or as much of the legion as specified) reporting back to those in command-post or those allies in its locale position events discerned within line of sight in the direction specified, or relating to the legion referred to as target. It is possible, therefore, to relate all occurrences in a nearby location or limit what is related to only those events happening to or discerned by the <from legion>. It is possible, via this method, to daisychain legions engaged in the lookout role to pass comprehensive messeges back to a rearguard position some distance from the battlefield - so commanders can determine the best course of action without having to be personally present on the front line.
Syntax: ... BEFRIEND <target> [<extent>].
Speed and success of befriending is determined by the specialist-skill of "familiarity" and, in issuing this command-order, you are dictating that your legion engage in the task of growing increasingly familiar with the specified target (to a maximum extent, if applicable). Familiarity increase such things as pace of order execution and the extent of an order's successful implementation - since a legion with low morale being ordered by an unfamiliar commander may shy away from certain actions or even disregard the order altogether, whereas a commander with a strong bond to the legion will be obeyed promptly even in the most dire of circumstances, even if the command-order represents a foray into great danger.
