The Gryphon Riders had fought extensively in both the First and Second Orc Wars. They had no trouble handling the elite branches of the regular orc armies, let alone desperately ill-equipped slave troops like the ogres. They already had established procedures for dealing efficiently with such enemies under all sorts of conditions. Which approach they chose depended only on their commander's requirements.
Yu Lin Bloodhawk had few demands-just one: bomb them! They were to create the best possible conditions for the ground troops that would follow and, if possible, minimize damage to the city's buildings.
So the Gryphon Riders abandoned incendiary bombs entirely and brought only a small number of Large Explosive Bombs. Most of their payload consisted of Small Explosive Bombs. These were small and light enough to carry in large quantities, yet ideal for targets with little or no armor. They worked wonderfully against pirates, but lacked the power to deal with heavily armored infantry and cavalry. Fat ogres, with all their attribute points poured into strength and practically none anywhere else, were absolutely perfect targets.
The gryphon commanders devised a simple tactic. The Gryphon Riders would spread out in groups of three and use Small Explosive Bombs or poisoned arrows to drive the ogres toward the center of the square. Then they would wipe out the gathered ogres in one strike with Large Explosive Bombs.
It was a good idea, except... everyone had overlooked something fundamental. The ogres had maxed out their strength, but had invested practically nothing in their other attributes. Their lack of intelligence was precisely what made them savage-and gave them an advantage.
The ogres' low intelligence actually gave the Gryphon Riders a headache. Those single-headed ogres were so stubbornly fixated on taking orders from the two-headed ogres that, without their commands, many simply