The Grand Battle within the Darkness (lite)

Created by Iconian (all)
State: Public
AI: Prod 2.0 with randomness
Went public on 5/14/2018
Number of attempts: 104
Number of wins: 32
Number of likes: 13
Record holder: General T in 35 turns on 5/15/2018

Description

 War is hell.
War is not an exact science, but an art. The brushstrokes are retreats and flanks, rapid withdrawals and cautious advances and lightning-fast strikes. Rarely, one soldier could be more pivotal to the battle than thousands. War is uncertainty, and the best-laid plans often go awry.


Finally arriving in the city at the head of your army, you have already dispatched your vanguard to ferret out the enemy positions, identify possible chokepoints, and form a defensive perimeter. Reconnaissance has informed you that the armies of all three of your adversaries have arrived at virtually the same moment, equal in size, and commenced their own sweeps of the city; so far, only the lightest of skirmishing has occurred.

In a city this size, entire platoons can pass by and miss each other. What scouts report as a handful of men might upon engagement be the tip of the iceberg, with 100 more hidden in nearby structures. A squad could march up a blind alley and get pinned in a hail of gunfire from unseen positions behind windows above, eventually obliterated. Every soldier in your battalion might move slowly and silently forward, using three-story buildings for cover from your foes' eyes; only to emerge into an open square and find themselves face-to-face with the enemy, outnumbered 3-1 by the men you had hoped to ambush, who are just as surprised to see you as you are them. And even then--all may not be lost.

Likely defeat might turn to victory--but only after losing half your men, retreating, regrouping. Perhaps you'll aim for a battle of attrition. Perhaps you'll surround your enemy in a pitched melee.

Be sure to scout,
but make each army count.
Reinforcements will be few, if they come at all.
Most bullets miss in the heat of combat, and you might think no one will ever win.
But soon, the senseless and arbitrary bloodbath will begin.

And someone almost always wins, in the end. With planning, skill, and luck, it may be you.

Kudos to Ranek for the creation of the map, which inspired this scenario.