Me plus three

Wednesday 1/26 D&D session... Black-Eyed Bill (Carson's "nautical ranger," human, 5th level) and Bob (Phil's human paladin) joined Miss Princess (B's halfling barbarian), Aiko (P's npc dwarven monk), Nightsong Sharpfang (npc female kobold bard) and Captain Fergus Dowrimple (human evoker 6 rogue 2) to continue working with the natives of Horseshoe Island to liberate it from the army of hobgoblins and ogres.
Last week, Black-Eyed Bill was part of a small group that sabotaged the purple ogre navy's three sailing ships, removing planking from the two docked near the fortress and stealing a rudder from the one anchored in the bay. Hobgoblin halberdier formations attacked the natives in 4 square formations of 64 each. Though they were severely hurt by Fergus' fireballs and lightning bolts, they kept on coming, eventually driving the natives back. After the battle, 300 or so native warriors, poorly skilled, beaten and poorly equipped, retreated (along with the party, who served as officers in the operation) back to their small villages on the other side of the island. Knowing that captured villagers would eventually be eaten by the hobgoblins and ogres, a second attack on the fortress would have to happen soon. In the meantime, forces on both sides had a chance to recover and prepare. An early raid by the Merry Maiden gave the hobgoblins something to think about and some wounds to lick - two enemy ships were sunk, though the maiden was heavily damaged. After capturing a few of the enemy crew, a semi-successful prisoner exchange was made, with limited success and a lot of distrust on both sides, netting the party 400 gold pieces and 5 freed natives from the fortress.
Rivet (Robby's kobold alchemist/engineer, mentioned briefly as an npc for this weeks session), Nightsong and Aiko were helpful in directing the natives to dig traps and defensible pits with stakes for at least some cover and protection in the event of a hobgoblin attack, while longspears, heavy catapaults and other weapons were built and prepared. All told, five heavy catapaults were built for the land attack, along with one battering ram, a lot of shovels, and enough weapons to arm about 600 natives.
The attack was two-pronged, using the Merry Maiden along with a land advance to overwhelm the highly disciplined hobgoblins and their ogre overseers. The fortress was a typical stone walled structure, built on a rocky hill and featuring numerous crenelations for archers and catapaults on top, one large, strong square gate/door, and large enough to accomodate an army of 1,200 (though the exact number there was unknown). Signallers on the point would keep the Merry Maiden from again being caught by surprise by the enemy ships (as it had once before, nearly sinking it, and requiring a new mast and lengthy repairs). As it turned out, the Scythe made a poor showing, especially after Fergus cast Fly on himself, flew over and dropped a Fireball right on top of the enemy ship, burning much of the sails and rigging. One deadly tactic it had used in the past was to catapault a rain of caltrops, but this time the crew of the Maiden was ready. Fergus then continued to fly over to the fortress with his notorious wand of lightning bolts to make life miserable for the hobgoblins.
Seeing a block of 64 drop to 8 after a fireball, the hobgoblins opted for a looser formation. Fortunately for the villagers, this robbed the hobgoblins of the multiple attacks their reach weapons provided, as well as the tactic of a front line with tower shields to provide cover. But the hobgoblins had no choice, as they saw it. It appeared that Fergus too high up for any of their weapons to reach him effectively, and the villagers were also hammering the fortress and units with catapaults firing at perfect range from the cover of trenches they had built during the night. So far, the villagers are prevailing, ganging up on the scattering hobgoblins to face each one down two or three to one at a time, even though in total numbers, the villagers are outnumbered.
But the battle is not over yet. While the hobgoblin units appear to be broken, the officers at the core of each still stand and fight, often joining or leading other units. And what will be in the fortress? How will the ogres fight when cornered? That remains to be seen.