Baatezu Teleporting Tactics

Baator: Ruling the low-rankingA report by Markhen Ribbust, Fraternity of OrderChapter 3: Baatezu military of Avernus

Sub-Chapter 7: Teleporting baatezu troops

During my research in Avernus, I got some in-depth information about the use of teleportation powers among scouting troops (and most probably the same rules apply for troops in the Blood War). Since I could only study low-level fiends, things might be different or simply more complex with more powerful and intelligent fiends.

There are three tactical uses of teleportation powers. Although the fiends can, of course, easily use these powers whenever it is of advantage, they're not always allowed to. Troops usually have a leader, and if that leader dies, someone else in that group becomes the new leader. Thus, any particular scouting party (or, as said, probably any other such baatezu group) has to follow the commands of one particular leader.

The troops follow the commands of that leader to the word, as usual for baatezu. In most cases, the leaders contact their inferiors telepathically, so that no-one else can find out what commands are given. The leaders most commonly give the command that teleporting is allowed only under special conditions, which are almost never met, except if the leader or the whole troop is in danger and teleporting would be of help. Even then, exact commands are given to make sure the troops don't simply flee or take things in their own hands (which would reflect well on them, but not on their superiors).

Commands for teleporting are usually only given under the following circumstances:

1 - Shock troopsA troop of fiends teleports into a position where it can attack or frighten an enemy very well. Their sudden appearance, especially if in big numbers, usually stuns their foes for a second - time enough for them to strike. If used psychologically, this attack is really only for a shock - make your enemies give up or flee. If it's used for a physical attack, the troops either go into direct battle before their foes even realize that the baatezu have arrived, or they use it to bring attention to themselves so that some other fiendish group can act unnoticed (for whatever goals).

Often, these shock troops give the impression of lightning: they attack once, suddenly (especially the abishai, with their diving attack), and then teleport away again, leaving their foes bleeding or dead - and surely with lower morale, as most probably they did not even have the chance to act against the baatezu during such a fast attack. In case of truly dangerous enemies, this procedure is used several times, until the opponents of the baatezu are dead or beaten, while reducing risk for the fiends to a minimum.

2 - Hunting troopsThese troops have the task of hunting down a particular opponent or group of opponents. They either make sure the opponents don't reach a particular place (or that they reach a destination where the fiends want the opponents to be), or make sure the hunted beings flee from Baator, or give up fleeing/fighting and are "open for a discussion".

Such troops often use their teleportation powers to show the hunted beings that they cannot escape, no matter how much speed they have. They appear all around them, often using their innate powers for some warning attacks. If their superiors want some of the victims to be captured, the hunting troops teleport to single beings, grab them, and teleport away again (or, if it's not too dangerous, fly/run away with them). Especially if the fiends appear in great numbers, it is almost impossible to escape such hunting groups, and many adventuring groups have been captured one by one this way.

3 - Killing troopsSomewhat similar to shock troops, these groups of baatezu have a simple general command: Seek and destroy. They tend to use their teleportation powers to reach vulnerable parts of powerful enemies (such as the back of a dragon, or in front of the eyes of a giant), or for lightning-fast assassin attacks. It has happened that a whole group of archons who tried to rescue a paladin were stabbed in the back by such a killing troop, and they were dead before they even noticed what had happened.

Another use of teleportation powers for killing troops is to keep out of range of the enemy, and attack him with the innate powers of fiends.

Finally, teleportation is often used for overwhelming one particular opponent, so that he can be attacked by six or eight fiends at a time, while the attacking fiends themselves are protected by a ring of other baatezu from the victim's companions. As soon as the victim's dead, the procedure can be used several more times until the whole group has been wiped out.