Military Stratedgies against a 300 Foot Snake/Worm

[ericthered]

It appears my next game will feature 300 foot long worm-snake things with a human level of intelligence. I'm anticipating ST200, DR somewhere between 20 and 40, reach 5 and the ability to thrash the main body around to do damage to the area within a few yards of them if swarmed too tightly.

I'm curious how a TL3 army would deal with such a foe, either isolated or as part of another army. I'm looking for military solutions rather than heroic solutions. Magic is a minimal concern for the battle.

I have a few ideas so far, but I'd thought I'd ask you guys for suggestions before proposing what I think the top tactics are.

Thanks in advance!

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I I'm anticipating ST200, DR somewhere between 20 and 40, reach 5 and the ability to thrash the main body around to do damage to the area within a few yards of them if swarmed too tightly.

I'm curious how a TL3 army would deal with such a foe, e!

For any direct attacks the answer is probably "flee or die" but we'll look at the direct fire engines in LT just to be sure.

Nope, flee or die it is. Even the largest engine available can not do a Major Wound to anything with 200 HP. Most of them can't even pentrate DR20-40.

Indirect fire engines are extremely unlikely to hit and don't really do that much more damage.

Even if you use cinematic molotov cocktails this sort of worm creature is made to stop, drop and roill to extinguish such things. No dropping even necessary.

The only indirect strategy that comes to my mind is catch it in a forest fore that you set and that looks like a one-time only deal.

[zoncxs]

First would be sending out a scouting party to find out about the creature, how tough it is and all. So once they know regular bows won't work and melee is not really an option then they would plan to lure the creature to an open area with high ground surrounding it and use ballista's and catapults and trebuchets to deal massive damage. If the land is good then Calvary to keep the worm in place, that is probably the most dangerous part of the job. Fire would be used to try and keep the worm in place once it is lured into the killzone.

If it was part of an opposing army, surrender? If the worms army is attack a city/fortress then you would need heavy weapons focusing on the worm and hope it goes down before it gets too close.

[zoncxs]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

For any direct attacks the answer is probably "flee or die" but we'll look at the direct fire engines in LT just to be sure.

Nope, flee or die it is. Even the largest engine available can not do a Major Wound to anything with 200 HP. Most of them can't even pentrate DR20-40.

Indirect fire engines are extremely unlikely to hit and don't really do that much more damage.

Even if you use cinematic molotov cocktails this sort of worm creature is made to stop, drop and roill to extinguish such things. No dropping even necessary.

The only indirect strategy that comes to my mind is catch it in a forest fore that you set and that looks like a one-time only deal.

A large Trebuchet deals 6dx3 damage, on average 63 crushing. Granted the reload time means only 1 shot during the fight.

So at least 4 trebuchets and a dozen ballistas is needed.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by zoncxs

lure the creature to an open area with high ground surrounding it and use ballista's and catapults and trebuchets to deal massive damage. .

No massive damage available until probably TL4 at least and you still won't get a Major Wound with any single shot. Agaisnt DR 40 the heavist balista does only 16 pts per hit. You'll need to shoot it 17 times to make it go uncoscious.

Then remebr that the thing is as smart as an average human and is very likleyt o recognize your traps.

[zoncxs]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

No massive damage available until probably TL4 at least and you still won't get a Major Wound with any single shot. Agaisnt DR 40 the heavist balista does only 16 pts per hit. You'll need to shoot it 17 times to make it go uncoscious.

Then remebr that the thing is as smart as an average human and is very likleyt o recognize your traps.

Low Tech starting on page 78, Mechanical artillery.

Trebuchet (TL3) on page 81.

Trebuchet, Large, damage is 6dx3 cr. that's 18-108 damage on average its 63 cr. if the worm has DR 20-40 then on average it takes 23-43 injury on average.



And then the Ballista, 180-lb. TL 2, deals 16d cr. Thats 16-96 damage on average 56cr. The worm takes 16-36 cr injury from each shot on average.

Assuming you got 6 Trebuchets setup to hit the kill zone and you successfully lured the worm into it. The worm would take on average 23-258 cr injury (that is assuming only 1 hits and the DR was 20 and all hits assuming DR was 40 and the damage dealt was the average)

So if we are lucky, with those 6 shots we can deal at least over 100 injury to the worm.

The ballistas, we would need at least 12 to make sure we can finish the worm. Each shot dealing 16-36 on average means all twelve shot deal 192-432 cr injury.

So assuming only 1 Trebuchet hits, and it dealt the average amount against a worm with DR 40, thats only 16 cr injury, that means you better pray the ballistas land each shot.

Assuming ALL the Trebuchets land, against DR 40 worm, thats 96 injury, still gonna want to make sure all the ballistas land though.

[Anthony]

Yeah, the problem is that all the weapons that can hurt it have very poor mobility and accuracy.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

And dodge. Remember, the worm is mobile and primitive siege engines are doubleplusungood USELESS against a moving target.

A pre-gunpowder army is basically a MacDuff's Happy Meal to such a monster. If you don't have magic or gunpowder, I'd suggest some sort of trap like collapsing mining tunnels or luring it off a cliff. Keeping in mind that with human-level IQ there will be only ONE chance.

I suggest re-designing the monster. Either change the DR (make it slime-based ablative, for example) or give it the traditional "weaksauce weakness" (rooster crowing, holy water, green rocks, what-have-you).

[TGLS]

1) Force it into a narrow pass or similar and then drop tons of rocks upon it
2) ST200 probably has heavy demands of food. Harass/cut it's supply lines, engage in scorched earth warfare to starve it out
3) Douse it's tail in oil and light it up

[Rolando]

Magic, it will cost a lot but some spells may work, specially mind control. A good enough circle of mages may work something out. Even levitating the creature to a high enough height may kill it.

Also poisons, may need high concentration but may also work, depending on the poisons.

Direct combat would be futile with such a high DR.

If you intend to use the monster in a pitched battle I would advice to lower DR to 7 at most and increase HP if needed, but 200 is a lot already.

Edit:
I reread the first post, magic is a minimal concearn means it is not developed or the creature have MR or some anti magic aura?
A military solution doesn't seems possible, anything seems heroic with those scores. But TGLS have a good point there, starve it and entrap it some way, but it is not a dumb animal, but maybe with intelligence also the creature is vulnerable to adulation and overconfidence and may be tricked into a trap... but that is "an heroic solution" not a military one.
Starving such an invincible monster by denying food sources seems hard to believe.