The Cryxian forces spilled across the fabric in a tidal wave of black ink. With meticulous detail the brethren had plotted each sighting, each report. The resulting lines were striking in their simplicity. Once again Jardon was struck by the non-military nature of the Cryxian hordes. There was no feint, no attempt at disguising their battle plan. The enemy moved with all the subtlety and tactical flexibility of a hammer strike.
The enemy forces appeared to have divided into three main groups. The first pressed on towards Merin, a beheading strike which only slowed or stopped when confronted with force. This force was the enemy's main thrust, descriptions of it included massed heavy jacks and a strong warcaster presence. The Morrowans termed it the Axe force. Already it had trod Armandor underfoot.
The Axe force was presently engaged with the main force of the Ordic military, fighting a series of pressing engagements as they forced it back. From what Jardon could see the numbers were about even, once you accounted for the quality difference between man and thrall, and the military's withdrawal was very likely a holding action. They were likely scrounging the land for warjacks and casters, preparing for a major confrontation before the walls of Merin.
The second force was more widely dispersed, and its purpose was more difficult to see. This force had diverged from the Axe force immediately after the border breakthrough, and now swung south in a broad arc. The majority of the civilian deaths came at the hands of this force, and while it's composition seemed far lower in quality than the Axe force's they were well suited to the harvest that they now undertook. This army, labeled Scythe force on the map, spread far and wide, moving in a broad arc through the Ordic breadbasket, and obliterating all human life that crossed it's path.
Scythe force was heading roughly towards the celebrated city of Five Fingers, but Jardon wasn't certain that this army would engage a city. They might simply leave a holding force to place it under siege and continue their ravage to the northwest. No matter what the outcome of Axe force's decapitating strike was, if the civilian populace could be forced into the cities the nation of Ord was done for. Famine and disease would accomplish the Cryxian aims just as well as a host of thralls.
Opposite Scythe force was a similarly irregular collection of living forces. Jarl identified them as primarily Four Star men, mercenaries and privateers showing up in force to defend Five Fingers and the regions around it. They were well suited to the diffuse engagement that was necessary to defend against such a strike, and according to the map they were having more success than the military proper, though that might well be due to a reduced quality of opponent.
The final enemy army, code named Shroud force, was barely in Ord at all. They were the least of the thralls, with little to no Warcaster presence reported, and barely a jack. Just a host of the dead, spreading like an ink stain along the northern and southern border. They were attacking down along the fort line, spreading the break that the enemy's massed strike had torn in the east. They lacked the power to break the forts, but they were able to confine what portion of Ord's strength had been caught in them, and more critically they were cutting the lines of communication and relief between Ord and it's living neighbors.
The name Shroud referred to what must be falling across Ord in the eyes of Khador and Cygnar, as these thralls intercepted civilian refugees and military reinforcements alike. They were even pushing on the border forts of the other nations, pushing the allies of Ord onto the defensive, and keeping their forces away while the more effective Cryxian assets pursued the grim business of war.
Jardon and Brucker spoke with the Father-Defender briefly, and came up with a plan of action.