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((Although with the army is travelling some carts to knock over.))
5:30 passed
Something moves rapidly in the bushes after the lizardman speaks
(Spot if you care)

aaaand, roll dice!

Lloish listens attentively to Thanatos, nodding his head in thought every few lines. The serpent on his shoulders, however, couldn't care less. It moves its head around, possibly tracking something in the tree-line. (spot +7) Lloish doesn't seem to be aware of it's movements.

"Well, if fog and hail are out, we may have to win by more mundane tactics." Glancing around, Lloish takes a quick survey of the troops. "And given what we've got for soldiers, that doesn't fill me with confidence. Us generals might be some of the most competent fighters in the army. I'd be tempted to say that we should fight alone," he raises a webbed hand before anyone can cut in, "but I'm aware that would be suicide. No matter how capable we are, a sufficient number of idiots with arrows could still bring us down. So, I think we should divide ourselves up amongst the army, putting each one of us in charge of a few groups of men. That'll maximize our ability to issue orders on the spot, and put all of us in a position to fight directly. Yonder tower's great for surveillance and casting, of course." He waves a hand at the ramshackle stack of carts, "and it'll give us an edge. But we need to maximize that edge. I suggest we all do a quick survey of the troops and pick a unit to attach ourselves to."

With Thanatos' go-ahead, he does a quick tour of the site, taking stock of what troops are available. (I'd like to know numbers, if you've got them. Otherwise just what weapons they're carrying and how capable they look.)

...conditionals..

1) the following are ideas that Lloish will also suggest, should anyone be interested:

giving all close-combat soldiers large, improvised shields and having them crouch in front of our archers. The archers can pop up and fire over them, meanwhile the shields will block a lot of incoming volleys. If we're just going to be fighting range-to-range, this seems like a sensible option. And we have wagons and crates to cannibalize if we need more material for the shields.

devising some means of setting the tree-line on fire. Fighting with the enemy in hard cover is not desirable, but if the cover burns and we can ignite it in the middle of combat, we might get some advantage from that.

Preparing the hill with stacks of logs lashed to the ground with rope and stakes. When the rope is cut, the logs trundle loose down hill. We might have time and manpower enough to do the little bit of clear-cutting needed to make this strategy work. Send forth men with hatchets, hack some trees down. Surely they can fight those without problem.

Getting some better cover going. Move wagons to the outskirts of the hill, pile supplies to hide behind if needed. Standing out in the open on a hilltop during a shooting war is a good way to ditch this mortal coil. If the enemy's going to have good cover, we need some too.

(dunno why it took me so long to think of this. *smacks head*)

"One more idea, sir." Says Lloish, darting back from surveying the assembled forces. "We might be able to solve the cover problem with the forest and the accuracy problem with our archers in one go. I recommend sending a few parties to the tree-line to gather dry branches and tinder. Maybe a few stones, as well. We can start a few contained fires near the archers, and then use either cloth and oil or tinder and string to give them fire arrows. They won't have to be perfectly accurate with them, so long as they drop a few in front of and behind enemy positions. The fire will do our work for us, and if not, it just might berserk the wood elves into charging our fortified position. Of course, fire arrows are a fair-weather friend, so we should also dig up the ground in a five-foot wide circle around the hilltop. We don't want any forest fires rolling right back over the grass at us."

(I'm gonna assume that Thanatos doesn't have any objections to this, so I'll order a few parties of 'expendables' to go to the tree line and set this plan into motion while I continue surveying the camp. Unless, of course, Lloish Pah's spot turned up something hostile. Then I will obviously not order my men to get killed.)

While Lloish is surveying the camp, he will also try to get better acquainted with any of the other generals he bumps into.

(if any of the other characters want to say something about their character, or just introduce themselves, go for it. If they have any questions about Lloish, also go for it. I figure character introductions are a good way of keeping the game moving without direct intervention by the DM.)

"Ahh I can see that I am not the only one here who has some experience in battle. Granted I am more at home on a horse, and on the planes then here. " at this time id like to find out what season it is. If its fall and has been dry then Thanatos procedees to say "Fire Arrows!? Capital! I cant believe that I had not thought of this, with the leaves on the ground, not only can we destroy their priceless tree cover, but perhaps could we get a few of them caught in the fire, or the very least make a couple of them flee. Being your idea, would you care to oversee all that is needed, take what troops will be needed and make ready the preperations." If it is not fall, and/or has been realitvley wet recently Thanatos says "Fire arrows? A novel idea, if it werent for this accursed rain, and the fact that their arent leaves on the ground, but perhaps, they may work anyway, make the preperations." With this said Thanatos sends Azrael (his hawk) up to fly over the forests and see what he can see.

(Id also like a count of the army, and preferably what type of troops they are, just for reference if thats alright with ya topaz. If you want a spot check for this then well fine....+11)

To Nikolai: "Perhaps when the battle is over, we can compare techniques. I haven't had a chance to compare magical theory with anyone in a long time."

To Thanatos: "I'll take care of the fire arrows. Just let me borrow a few men."

Ne Pah snaps his jaws in agitation, getting Lloish's attention for the moment. "Uh, it looks like the elves are here. The advance scouts, at least. I think we may have to cut short our plans."

....

Revised fire-arrow gambit: Lloish recruits thirty men, preferably close combat fighters or non-essentials. If there is insufficient wood in the camp, he goes with all of them to the tree-line to gather kindling. One or two runs should be sufficient. After that, he splits the group into parts. Five men build stone fire rings or dig firepits by the archers, and the other twenty five men dig a safety-ring in the grass around the hill, preferably five feet wide.

Prepared cover: All un-occupied close-combat fighters are to start assembling cover around the edges of the hill. Wagons, stacks of supplies, pits, etc. Any cover that the archers can pop up and fire over is to be placed in front of the archers and the fire ring. If there's nothing of the sort, then close-combat soldiers should improvise wooden tower shields and crouch in front of the archers, shielding them.

Preparing fire arrows: one man for every fifteen or so archers is to begin gathering the equipment needed to make fire arrows from camp supplies. If there aren't any, then Lloish will escort another group of 30 close-combat soldiers to the tree-line to gather bracken.

Needless to say, this is all to be done ASAP. If at any time the elves interrupt, Lloish will order any soldiers nearby to fall back to the hill. If an elf pops up suddenly and he gets a shot, feel free to make the initiative and combat rolls for me when he does. (ini +3, ranged shot +7)

It will take about 1 hour to complete those tasks. Six hours elapsed.
((General Note to All: if you engage in risky combat, the DM will not scale down the encounter, the army is there for a reason.))