Orc Vs Elf War!

[Agent 333]

"We'z had dem elves surrounded, painted ourselves like trees, but just as we'z springin' our trap, dem damn pointy ears perked up and da elves knew we was coming!" - Warboss Kruhzig

"Our greatest hunters approached the orcish camp with the greatest of stealth. But, just as our archers lined up for sniper shots from a great distance away, the orcs were alerted, as if from some uncanny danger sense." - Huntmaster Falthelasrin

Due to Orcs being Always Ready, and Elves having Sharp Hearing, the way a war fought between orcs and elves would be very strange indeed. True ambushes would be exceedingly rare, and amount to little more than a single volley of attacks before breaking out into pitched combat. Sure, you can beat them in initiative if you're lucky, but good luck doing much more than that.

By the way, I fully support Orcs having danger-sense.

[Gentry]

Just because you get to act in the surprise round doesn't mean you'll be able to see where the arrow in your neck came from. Though given the opposed abilities, I see in my mind's eye the good old-fashioned "form ranks" battle.

[Agent 333]

True, but it does prevent you from getting sneak attacked (if you win Init, at least).

[warwelf]

Interesting... considering elves' impressive speed, versus orcish beastliness of combat ability, I'd think that the Elf vs. Orc war would go a little like this:

The elves quickly notice the encroaching horde nearing their sacred forest.  In an effort to stall the attack, their elite rangers perform deadly hit-and-run maneuvers on the orc army, harrassing and killing as many as they can and fleeing when pressed by the stronger, more vicious warriors.  No engagement is decisive, as the orcs are always prepared for elven ambushes, but every attack whittles back their numbers...

The orcs withstand the attacks, using the power of numbers and sheer deadliness to slash and burn a straight line to the Elvish capital.  The orcs set fire to the trees, flushing out the elven rangers and reducing their cover.  They send out scouting parties to locate the enemy camps, but the elven rangers melt into the forest at the first sound of orcish hobnails befouling their lands.

Either the elves would succeed in winnowing down the Orcish numbers with arrows from the woods, or the Orcs with their alertness and hardiness would press straight into the Elven forest retreats, slaughtering them when they have nowhere else to run...

Overall it portends all kinds of awesome.  I too support orcish readiness for just this reason.

[Forcegypsy]

I'm going to be running Fantasycraft with Midnight as the campaign world. It is a seemless fit. Elves vs. Dwarves indeed.

[Mister Andersen]

It seems to me that in the above scenario, the elves would be calling in their Treewalker allies...

[Crafty_Alex]

It's almost...as if they were designed expressly for this purpose

[samsimilian]

you don't say!!!

[Crafty_Pat]

This is why it's so great having Alex at meetings. We're goin' along, rambling about something, and Alex busts out a straight razor and cuts through the BS, leaving bits of dangling conversation and lost thoughts fluttering in a Tarantino-style indoor breeze. I imagine it's cool to watch but it's a bit disconcerting from the inside.