The Battle of three Rivers

In the history of Kranyan battles none is so fiercely remembered as the battle of the 3 rivers. The battle which seemed like a sure win for Kranya was in fact a massacre due to the strategic genius of the Bloodmaw's leader. In what would become known as "Bloodmaw's Bite" the Orc warleader had his forces bait the larger Kranyan force into a valley and had goblin wolf cavalry flank in and absolutely destory the enemy.

The Conflict

Prelude

In the campaings against incursions from Orc clans of the Green wastes, the march of Bloodmaw was perhaps the least successful campaign for Kranya. Bloodmaw marched their forces across the marshes and lowlands leading up to the path mountains and largely succeeded in capturing a lot of land. This was one of the more decisive battles and showed the tactical genius and almost psychotic devotion to the cause that Bloodmaw Clan had toward it's goal.

Deployment

The initial deployment was the first stroke of genius on behalf of Gornak Bloodmaw who snuck goblin scouts and wolf riders across the rivers late at night and positioned them in the hills, presenting his much smaller force to the haughty Kranyans. This baiting tactic worked incredibly well and has become known as "Closing the Maw"

Battlefield

The Battlefield was largely comprised of the western shore of a river and the hilly land beteen it and the foothills of the Path mountains. By pressing his deployment into the hills it meant that the larger Kranyan Cavalry was at a disadvantage against the smaller more mobile wolf riders.

Conditions

Battle conditions were surprisingly fair with light wind.

The Engagement

The more than 2:1 ratio of the Kranyan forces to the Bloodmaw force created a false sense of security for the Kranyan soldiers and caused them to charge down the center toward what they imagined was the smaller force. 

The Bloodmaw force pulled back drawing the attackers even further in while the goblin forces began to flank. Much of the human infantry was dealt a heavy blow by coming into archery range while the majority of the Orc forces stayed at long range for the human archers.

As the jaws closed on the human forces the human command charged in attempting to attack what they saw as a weak spot in the Orc defenses, their hubris weakened their archer's ability to fire on the enemy and left them vulnerable to the wolf riders. Meanwhile scout units harried the Kranyan Cavalry keeping them largly in the hills where they could be handled much more easily.

At that point all that was left was cleanup, with many of the soliders routing or surrendering on the spot to be taken captive. The remainder of the fighting was managed very quickly.

Outcome

The Kranyan Forces were kiled or captured, those who surrendered were taken prisoner and those who routed were hunted down and killed by the wolf riders.

Aftermath

In the long term this helped establish the Bloodmaw foothold in the region, they were able to trade the captured Kranyan soldiers back to the country for recognition of claim over the river valley, making them the nearest clan of orcs and goblins to claim territory.

Historical Significance

Legacy

Some of the soldiers defected to the orc side, a move which was largely accepted by the Orcs of the Bloodmaw Clan who had no taboo against non Orcs joining their society. It also meant that several half-orcs with Kranyan heritage and parents who knew how to fight were born.

Included under Conflict

Bloodmaw Campaign

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Land

Conflict Result

Bloodmaw Clan held the river valley and captured the commanders of the Kranyan Forces

Location

Kranya

Belligerents

Bloodmaw Tribe Warband

Kranyan Forces

• Kranya

Strength

40 Goblin Wolf Riders
20 Goblin Scout skirmishers
50 Orc Warriors
80 Hobgoblin Archers
10 Orc Veterans
Garnak BloodMaw

150 Kranyan Footmen
150 Kranyan Archers
100 Kranyan Cavalry
100 Kranyan Command and Staff

Casualties

50 Orc Warriors
20 Goblin Scouts
10 Wolf Riders
10 Orc Veterans
5 Hobgoblin Archers

100 Kranyan Footmen (killed honorably)
130 Kranyan Archers (killed honorably)
60 Kranyan Cavalry (killed honorably)
50 Kranyan Command (killed honorably)
5 Kranyan Command (killed during retreat)
50 Kranyan footmen (injured, surrendered and captured)
20 Kranyan Archers (Routed and hunted)
40 Kranyan Command (Injured and captured)
5 Kranyan Command (Uninjured Surrendered and captured)

Objectives

Bloodmaw's goal was to hold the fork of the river where he and his forces had pushed out from the green wastes.

The Kranyan soldiers were to keep the Orcs from taking and holding the Western bank of the river, ultimately driving them back into the swamps on the eastern shore.