As posted earlier, Ullrich will target wounded ants, beginning with those closest and most dangerous.

He will aim first at the ant directly in front of him - First row, ant #3. If this ant is killed he will shift his target to the left - First row, ant #2.

This is unless he already knows where the second fireball will go off. If this had been previously discussed, and these ants would be in the likely blast zone, Ullrich would again target the same ant he went after in round one - Row three, ant #5. His thinking is that this is the furthest forward ant that will not be hit by the fireball. I'm hoping two fireballs might finish some of the ants. After that he will continue to target those ants which are closest and alive. (Or does the fireball shoot first, I don't remember.)

FYI - when the ants come close Ullrich will switch to his two sowrds -long and short.

Sir Yrder will hold his ground and fire again, unless he is closed with, upon closing, he will drop his bow, pull his sword and go to town. Yder, will not back down, give ground, or give up under any circumstances!

..... from the FireBall is 1d6 per Caster Level so actually the Composite Long Bows have the potential to fare much better with a 1d8 per Arrow!

[At least while we are in the Dark Arena!]

Will see what I can get posted on Sunday as I have had other matters delay my updates on what transpired with the Clerics, Monks & Fighters!

Hmmm,

Ariane will draw arrow #18 and will attempt to mow down an ant or two in the front before they get close enough to attack. Let's try the 4th ant (from the left).

Amberlyn will continue to fire on front row ants still middle one for now if she drops it she will move on to the one next to the right, as she faces them. When she knows that they will get into melee range on the next round she will switch to her Feathered sword.

Did not update anything on Sunday because I was not feeling well and had to stay in bed and rest so I did not even open the computer to go online!

Monday is my busy day at the office so it will be at least Wednesday before I can update results!

..... progress as the results of Combat Rounds 1 and 2 for the NPC Clerics, Monks and Fighters are now posted at Land of Xenophobia!

Not sure if I have enough time left today to analyze and configure and then post the results of the South Enders!

Bear with me for a few more days and we will be on track with the results of the Giant Ants making their moves also!

..... a bit of a delay as the network over here was down, so the time I had to devote to posting the results of the South Enders over in Land of Xenophobia will be delayed by either a few hours or another day!

Last night I calculated the results of the South Enders and the movement of the Ants at the South End only and also made the Initiative Roll for the Ants and Gladiators!

Ants have the initiative, so Combat Round 3 will find most of us facing some Melee Action ... but I do not want to spoil the scenario for you all ... just want you to be thinking about what your character will do soon!

Still have to configure the Ant movements for the North Enders, East Enders and West Enders and then of course the Ant Attacks for all 4 Ends!

Will get the South Enders posted hopefully after I finish my sports pages as I brought my laptop to the office and had typed the results as they unfolded late last night into the early morning!

Now that the ITs have fixed the computer problems for me here at the office I can return to duty!

Later!

Because of Space Limitations here at the Red Dragon Inn I am reminding you that I will not be posting another updated Map until the Ants are ALL Dead and the Second Wave of Opponents have entered the Dark Arena!

Therefore, Please Take Note of the Positioning of Friends and Foes in relation to where your Character Square is on the Maps!

Also, when ALL the Ants are Dead your character and All the NPC characters will begin fighting the Second Wave of Opponents from wherever your final position was located when you eliminated the First Wave Opponents!

That Being Said, I have posted the South Enders 2nd Combat Round and the Movement of the Ants after the Combat Results!

I have to configure and then post the Movements of the Ants at the North End, East End and West End and then begin configuring the results of their Combat Round 3 Attacks at all 4 Ends of the Dark Arena!

This may take a few days, but at least you now know where your Character is located in relation to the Advancing Ants!

You May Post Role Plays in the Meantime and Please Post in the Q&A or by PM to me just exactly what course of action your character intends to employ!

Of course, you will have further opportunity to clarify any instructions after the Ants have either Attacked your character or Moved in Closer!

The Ants directly in front of Ariene the Paladin and Shandra the Monk will move forward on the 3rd Combat Round to the squares directly in front of you to prevent any further Arrow Attacks without being able to Bite your characters!

As for the rest of us .....

Oooooh, Ant 5. Clever him.

Game technica-wise, how long will it take for me to put the composite longbow around me and take out my sword?

I can take out a weapon and move in the same round right?

..... the selecting of Weapons etc I am allowing in the same move!

Like if you took 2 squares move = 10 feet to reach into your pile of backup weapons and then throw a Javelin or Club etc!

Or in the case of the Archers as they see the Ants approaching they can exchange weapons they are carrying!

It is a shame the fireballs didn't do more damage - but atleast a quarter of the ants are out of commission and many of the rest (12) have been wounded by at least two fireballs. It is a start!

Hammer - did the dying and unconscious ants slow down the advance at all?

Ullrich, it appears, is now in close quarters with a couple of these nasties. He will switch to his longsword and shortsword. He will hack at the ant directly in front of him - switching to one next to it should it be killed - or even rendered unconscious. He will bypass a killing stroke on the unconscious to take a swing at the still mobile and dangerous.

..... are High Intelligence and they perceived this group as a Great Threat and moved to Attack and Eliminate!

The Ants on the Original Front Row are now behind and protected by the Ants from rows 4 and 5.

These Ants attack by Biting and they will get the First Bite Attempt before we can counter attack during Round 3.

They move 50 feet which means they can move 25 feet and then Bite Attack just like you can move 30 feet which means you can move 15 feet and then attack with whatever weapons!

Ant 3 from the 2nd row is directly in front of you and Ant 2 from row 2 is on the square touching in a diagonal line to both you and Sir Yder! There are also 2 Ants each positioned directly behind those Ants!

Bumble Brew is wielding a Staff of Power that has the Fireball which is a Level 3 Wizard Spell, but I ruled that since she is only a Level 3 Wizard she can only channel the charge from first level.

Had she been Level 3 all the Ants she hit the first time would have been Unconscious and Grievously Wounded and then Dead the second time!

By only being able to channel the power from her first level makes these opponents More Dangerous and also makes it More Important for Bumble Brew to save some charges for when she attains 3rd level and goes adventuring later!

Also makes it important for her teammates to do their part in Killing the Ants and she does not hog all the action!

But I ruled the Level 5 NPC Bard was able to weild the Finger of Death Wand with the 7th Level Wizard charges!

To Help Level the Playing Field and Make Things More Interesting and Give the Gladiators Some Hope!

I wasn't complaining about the fireball - in many ways it is generous that we can use it at all. No problem, just trying to make an interesting subject line for my post. Fireballs can get very wicked once you go up in level.

As for hogging the action - I have no problem with any one of these characters hogging the action as long as they kill off a lot of the buggers we are going to be facing. At the moment, any dead ant is a good ant, no matter how they get that way!

..... what you posted Nomad because I did not read it as complaining!

Actually ... if these were ORDINARY Giant Worker Ants they would have been rendered Unconscious with Grievous Wounds with the first FireBall and would have been Mortally Wounded by the second one [without any other attacks!]

However ... these Giant Ants have been magically augmented to be harder to Kill for the Dark Arena! Which Means More Experience Points!