I need tactical advice Veeky Forums

I need tactical advice Veeky Forums.

You're a hobgoblin warchief. About a year ago you conquered and enslaved a human city, and basically didn't stop doing that, taking over nearly 75% of human controlled territory. You were able to do this because this city was where the human heroes lived and operated, and when you conquered it you captured all of them except for 5.

Those 5 are leading a couple armies to come kick your ass, which you know because they've already liberated 5 cities in the past month.

If you lose this city it's game over, because you have all the human heroes locked up here still. How do you fortify and garrison your city against 5 14th level demigods?

Why would level 14 characters even bother with the hobgoblins?

They'll probably send a bunch of 6th level cohorts. You can deal with those.

>easily capture a city full of heroes
>5 of them are a problem

Holy shit are they giving a nod to the fact that the hobgoblins in the 1st ed ADnD Monster Manual are all literally wearing full on Samurai Armour with this newer piece of artwork?

Pretty sure it's from the 5e MM, so it's not that new.
Although that would be really cool if that was the case. Never even crossed my mind.

>How do you fortify and garrison your city against 5 14th level demigods?
Not too hard, the problem is the armies, not the 5 individuals.
Depending on location and tech level, basic anti-siege works are mightily effective, as are long range raiders on camps, sending out forces to harass/delay, scorched earth tactics.

Lorewise Hobgoblins are HONORABU warriors with culture n'shiet, so yeah.

Why didn't they just kill the heroes?

Fill the surrounding forests with vietkong punji traps, lock down the city and ensure nobody leaves or enters.

I'd start by excuting the captured heroes. There's no reason to keep them alive and they will make your life even more difficult if they get broken free.

>How do you fortify and garrison your city against 5 14th level demigods?
Step 1: Kill all captives.

Why even keep them alive?

Basically, you can't. At 14th level their casters could flat out scry and teleport in and out.

The best you can do is make it a pain in the neck. Hang the prisoners from cages from a high tower and point as many bows as you can at them.

Why not kill the captured heroes to eliminate the lose state? Because the plot demands it?

Well I mean, it's newER than the old pic I posted, but I getcha. That's kinda cool. I have my dad's old core ADnD set and his copies of the original Fiend Folio, MM2, and a supplement for deities called Legends and Lore, and I flip through them quite a bit. It's very comfy. It kinda tickled me that they gave that little nod to the old stuff.

Hobgoblins believe in taking and keeping slaves as a part of their imperial aspirations.
If you don't know anything about the topic at hand, fuck off with your worthlessness.

>strategic not tactical advice

Try to entice the heroes to try a rescue operation for the prisoners by giving them false info.
(fake maps, agent captured on purpose etc.)
Make them believe that they can pull that off smoothly.
When they try and do that spring out your ambush and deal with them.
I dont care what level they are, it is your entire city garrison vs 5 people. If you cant slaughter them with that you had no hope in the first place anyway.

Everyone's setting is the same.
And of course none of the slaves can be killed if you have a whole subjugated human populus at your disposal.

BUT A FOOOOOLISH SAMURAI

Have you try sending them in the future where your evil is law?

>b8

>op gives away he is speaking about 5e
HURR EVERYONES SETTING IS THE SAME EXCUSE ME WHILE I SUCK COCKS

Oops, tjis thread took off before I could post details.

Your forces mostly consist of goblins, hobgoblins and ogres, however you have a couple of "allied" groups that helped you take the city, and have been lazy assholes ever since.

First is a kobold magician who leads a bandit group from the north called The Mossback Reavers. Most of his forces are trollkin, which are incredibly hardy, incredibly strong fighters. Not that many of them though. He also has a ton of magical creatures on his side, including a naga and what you're pretty sure is a coven of hags. None of them obey you, but the kobold can be pretty reasonable (with one major exception).

Second group is a horde of kobolds led by a black dragon. The kobolds were initially part of the Reavers, but switched fealty to the dragon. They are all assholes. The dragon mostly sits around on his horde, and the kobolds mostly spend their time finding stuff for the dragon to eat, which initially included a lot of human slaves until you put the kibosh on that.

The kobold has taken possession of the heroes. You've wanted to kill them from the get go, but the kobold won't hear of it, so you mostly don't bring it up.

The city itself is on an open plain, on the corner of a river. You have good line of sight from where you are, and the highest towers give a clear view for miles in all directions.

In addition, you've looted a large number of magical items from the captured adventurers. What do you outfit yourself with, and how do you distribute the rest?

Feed some false information to the prisoners and allow them to escape. Inevitably they will go to the heroes. The heroes being heroes will leave their armies with their second in commands and follow up on this information treating it like a quest. At that point you should be able to properly ambush them. Once the heroes are dead their rabble armies should lose confidence.

>a system is a setting
>DnD only has one setting
4/10 you got me to reply.

Stop screeching, where's your wrangler?

>what is Volo's Guide

An optional book.

Will you cease giving excuses and conform, you shit. Stop being so selfishly creative.

This, BUT!

Raiders. Dispatch raiders to skirt the armies and attack their supply lines but more importantly recently liberated human populations. Make sure that these raiders know though it's a secret, that the actually already executed hero's are located in such and such a tower. This way you A. Delay the coming armies and B. Ensure the desired misinformation is spread.

First, that's retarded when it de facto threatens your imperial aspirations. They're not regular slaves. Second, not all hobgoblins are the same. Third, you're fucking retarded.

I would say it depends on the ethics of the Hobgoblins in control. My understanding of normal Hobgoblins would be that they go out and fight the enemy Hero army head on without the need for doing shady shit (but not stupidly as to ignore normal tactics etc). Hobgoblins enjoy dying in battle because they get to end up fighting for eternity on the war plane with their god Maglubiyet.
It sounds like the Hobgoblins already have a formidable army so they should easily win.

If the Hero Army is stronger than expected, you can try dwindle their forces before they reach the main city. Burn everything, spread plague, Bugbear raiders, tell the black dragon to nuke some stuff since if they lose the dragon will be hunted.

In an open fight the heroes shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just surround them, knock them down + use nets and then stab them while prone (Hobgoblin's are not dumb).

Or opt to do some super sneaky shit like Trojan horse some abandoned forts the Heroes might use.