Midgard : Scenario 3 : Aftermath

The None Shall Pass scenario saw the Britons take heavy casualties, and whilst the Romans appeared to be relatively unscathed, they were almost at the point of being wiped out due to each units' Stamina losses.

On the Roman side, the only unit that didn't take any damage was Gaia Pomponia; Marius Pollux took a wound, the legionaries lost 1 Stamina, and both the archers and milites lost 2 points of Stamina each. The Britons also took plenty of Stamina loss, but as these will be automatically replenished, I won't concern myself with listing those details here...

The Britons' losses (136pts):

• Catuarus 1 (18pts)
• 1x Mounted Warriors (16pts)
• 2x Skyclad (32pts)
• 1x Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 1x Female Warriors (16pts)
• 1x Slingers (10pts)
• 1x Hounds (22pts) 

The Roman losses (77pts):

• Lucius Valerius Corvus 3 (43pts) 
  
• 1x Legionaries (34pts)

This game has thrown a spanner in the works when it comes to reinforcing each contingent for the next scenario. The Britons are not really a problem, but the Roman force is rapidly diminishing in size. I know that I wanted this to become a desperate battle for survival, but if only two or three Roman units are coming to the table then it makes things very difficult for a fair battle. So far, all has worked out OK with the scenarios, but the next one (Take the High Ground) will not work with such a big disparity between the remaining forces. The fifth encounter, Last Stand, is another 300:200pts ratio, so may work depending on the fourth battle's outcome. The final battle of the campaign will be just a straight up battle, so I can fudge the Roman army numbers by saying that reinforcements have come from the Roman lines to help with the beleaguered forces' retreat.

Scenario 4 map - Take the High Ground

The Take the High Ground scenario suggests that the defending army is reduced by 25% that then arrive at a later stage in the game. This may work if I roll that the Britons are the defenders and I can get the Romans into the fight very quickly. There are in-game bonus Reputation points to be grabbed, so this may work if enough casualties are caused very early in the game. But, if it is rolled the other way around, then the Romans will really struggle.

The Romans have the following left in their "pot" from the cohort... 

• 2 x Legionaries
• 2 x Auxiliaries
• 2 x Cavalry 

According to my reinforcements rules, to bolster the forces for the next scenario, the Romans automatically get a new leader and a unit of Legionaries due to the next map location being close to a watchtower. The Britons get 120pts: 100 plus 2x10 for their level of victory. However, this does not seem to be enough to bring the Romans up to speed for this scenario, and nor does my existing Briton reinforcement table seem to give a "realistic" roster of reinforcements for the Britons, so I have re-evaluated the reinforcements lists...

• The Romans gain reinforcements depending upon which Roman camp type they are nearest to...
• Marching camp = 2x random units (roll d6) until all are used up (2 auxilia and 2 cavalry left)
• 1-4 Auxiliary Spearmen (up to 4 units) (24pts each)
• 5 Auxiliary Archers (up to 2 units) (29pts each)
• 6 Cavalry (2 units left) (20pts each)
• Watch Tower = 1x unit of legionaries (2 units left) (34pts each)
• In the final battle they get an onager and/or a scorpio unit in addition
• Depending upon how casualties go, they may get a boost from the rest of the legion that has come looking for them for the final battle
  
• The Britons can recruit from a limitless pool of warriors...
• All removed units are lost
• All damaged units are automatically returned to full strength
• An extra 100 points awarded to spend on new units
• If the Britons win, depending on their level of victory, they will gain a bonus number of reinforcement points equal to the level of victory (0-3) x10
• subtract the points value until all points are used - any left over points are lost 
• Roll 1d6 on the table below to realise troop type...
• 1-3  Warriors 2 (17pts)
• 4-5  Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 6 roll on next table...  
•  Roll 2d6 on the table below to realise troop type (and an additional d6 if a Hero is rolled)...
• 2 Hounds (22pts)
• 3 Female Warriors (16pts)
• 4 Skyclad (16pts)
• 5-6 Slingers (10pts)
• 7 Skyclad (16pts)
• 8-9 Archers (15pts)
• 10 Mounted Warriors (16pts)
• 11 Chariots (24pts)
• 12 Additional Hero
• 1-3 Level 1 (18pts)
• 4 Druid Level 2 (27pts)
• 5 Level 2 (32pts)
• 6 Level 3 (47pts)

As the next scenario is by a watchtower, the Romans gain 1 unit of legionaries. The Britons gain 120 points worth of new troops. As this creates a large points difference that is not suited to the next scenario, I am going to rule that the remaining 2 Roman cavalry units have made their way to intercept the retreating column, with the remaining infantry to join them in the next game. I am also going to rule that the reduced Stamina units are back to full strength for the Romans too - I am going to say that wandering patrols have returned, stragglers from previous battles have joined the retreating army and some of the injured have returned to service. I am going to imagine them as below full strength but, what with their desperation and nearness to "home", they have extra vim (instead of 80 green troops in each century, there are now maybe 50 to 60 classed as veterans, and there have been swaps between units to bolster each other up) and the pick of the equipment left.

The Britons' reinforcements (120pts out of a possible 120pts):

• 1x level 1 leader - replacement (no cost)
• 1x Warriors 2 (17pts)
• 1x Warriors 2 (17pts)
• 1x Skyclad (16pts)
• 1x Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 1x Warriors 2 (17pts)
• 1x Mounted Warriors (16pts)
• 1x Archers (15pts)

The Roman reinforcements (74pts):

• 1x level 3 leader - replacement (no cost)
• 1x Legionaries (34pts)
• 2x Cavalry (40pts)

 The Britons' army for scenario 4 (97/211=308pts):

• Bellicus 3 (47pts)
• Maviloduus 2 (32pts)
• Level 1 leader (18pts)
• 1x Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 6x Warriors 2 (@17 = 102pts)
• 3x Archers (@15 = 45pts)
• 1x Slingers (10pts)
• 1x Skyclad (16pts)
• 1x Mounted Warriors (16pts)

This force is now just over the 300pts limit, but I am OK with that - it is enough to enable me to play Take the High Ground (Scenario 3 from the rulebook).

The Roman army for scenario 4 (85/161=246pts):

• Level 3 leader (43pts)
• Gaia Pomponia Thrax 2 (21pts)
• Marius Pollux 2 (21pts) 
• 2x Legionaries (68pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Archers (29pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Spearmen (24pts)
• 2x Cavalry (40pt) 

The Roman army is now closer in value to the Briton army, so that should make the scenario a little fairer. The Take the High Ground scenario can be played with either force as the defender now, although it will be a little more of a challenge for the Romans - that said, the force without a commander being joined by the cavalry and their new Prefect might make for a better narrative. Hmm, I will ponder on whether to drop the dice roll for game roles and actually play it that way to make a better narrative.

 

For the next blog entry I will need to sort out names and miniatures for the two new leaders, and hopefully get some paint onto a few of the other bases. 

Midgard : Scenario 3 : None Shall Pass

Today I was able to play the third encounter between the Romans and the Britons in my Midgard : Britannia campaign - None Shall Pass. Again, it was played solo, using some predetermined tactics that I have acquired as the other games have progressed - I have learned a lot from my previous mistakes.

The British army for scenario 3 (97/209=306pts):

• Bellicus 3 (47pts)
• Maviloduus 2 (32pts)
• Catuarus 1 (18pts)
• 1x Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 3x Warriors 2 (51pts)
• 1x Female Warriors (16pts)
• 1x Mounted Warriors (16pts)
• 2x Skyclad (32pts)
• 2x Archers (30pts)
• 2x Slingers (20pts)
• 1x Hounds (22pts)

The Roman army for scenario 3 (85/121=206pts):

• Lucius Valerius Corvus 3 (43pts)
• Gaia Pomponia Thrax 2 (21pts)
• Marius Pollux 2 (21pts)
• 2x Legionaries (68pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Archers (29pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Spearmen (24pts)

The playing area remains at 6' by 3', and the deployments mentioned in the rule book still just about worked.

Starting positions

The scenario dictates that the smaller force be the defenders (the retreating Romans will be trying to stop the Britons' advance by holding the two river crossings). If they can hold out until nightfall then the defenders will stand a chance of escaping into the darkness. The Romans are therefore classed as the defenders and the Britons the attackers.

For this game I had to source a few new items: I bought some river sections that still need painting, and created a few more bases for the newly introduced troop types - Roman auxiliary spears and Celtic mounted warriors and hounds (didn't get time to finish this base as I was torn on dog type to use - I plumped for the wolfhounds in the end as their bases fit in with the movement trays I had available). I already had the extra figures required for this scenario, but needed to undercoat a few in order to begin painting them for future battles (who knows, maybe the final battle will be with fully painted armies and terrain?).

The two armies are divided into three contingents each, but not as strictly as in the previous game...

Briton contingents...

Right wing: Maviloduus, Mounted Warriors, Female Warriors, Hounds, 2x Slingers

Centre: Bellicus, 1x Warriors 3, 3x Warriors 2

Left wing: Catuarus, 2x Skyclad, 2x Archers 

The Britons advancing on the river crossings

Roman contingents...

Left crossing: Marius Pollux, Legionaries

Right crossing: Lucius Valerius, Legionaries

Reserve: Gaia Pomponia, Auxiliary Archers and Auxiliary Spears

The Romans defending the two fords

After the quick rescue of Gaia Pomponia from the clutches of Bellicus's warriors, Lucius Valerius headed over the river to collect any stragglers left at the camp that was situated there. He managed to get to the fortified camp in good time, catching up with his baggage train along the way. The two auxiliary units stationed at the camp were in good shape and alert to his arrival; the legionary centurion, Marius Pollux, who was in command, had been keeping the camp in good defensible order.

After a quick debrief, Lucius Valerius ordered his wounded be attended to and that everyone was given a hot meal before bedding down for the night. As Marius Pollux's troops were fresh, they kept watch.

A few more stragglers arrived at the camp during the course of the evening, but the whole process was being watched by scouts from Bellicus's army, who reported back to their chieftain until it was too dark to do so.

Bellicus, after calling a halt to the chase of the routed Roman force, advanced in triumph to one of the main villages just south of the fortified Roman camp. He knew that based on his recent victory, he could recruit a whole host of warriors in order to destroy the small Roman force that was left. He knew that even with the extra auxiliary units from the camp, he would still outnumber the Roman force and would eliminate them at the river crossing the following day.

Unfortunately for Bellicus, the Roman prefect got the drop on him, and had prepared his men for an early escape knowing that the British chieftain would want to attack the depleted Roman cohort as soon as he could. Throughout the night Lucius Valerius tried to make the camp appear as though it was asleep and licking its wounds, but in silence the prefect had got his men ready, armed and supplied before they left the camp in flames just before sun-up. The British warband arrived early at the burning camp, but the Romans had already gone. Bellicus's scouts told him that the Romans only had a few hours' start on him.

Bellicus surmised that the Romans would take the main route directly to the crossing and be able to cross very quickly. However, the river was swollen from heavy rains in the north which also made some of the ground boggy, which slowed the Roman waggon train. As soon as the waggons had cleared the ford, the British outriders arrived.

Valerius quickly ordered his remaining units to about-face and defend the two crossings so that the waggon train that held their supplies and wounded could get as far away as possible. With Fortuna's blessings, he could delay them long enough so that the wounded could reach the next fortified watch tower. It would take the waggon train all day to get to the watch tower, provided that it was not ambushed along the way. Valerius and his men would have to sell their lives dearly in order for the waggons to reach safety.

The route to the 3rd battle

It was an hour before the rest of Bellicus's force arrived at the fords. He quickly arranged his battle lines and advanced upon the small Roman contingent. "This should be an easy victory," he thought.

For this game, both armies start with the same Reputation score - for the Romans (the much smaller force), what would be more glorious than being able to hold up the enemy at this critical point? The game runs for six turns, and ends with the coming of night and the ability for any survivors to steal away from the confrontation.

Turn 1 (Reputation B9, R9):

Bellicus, hungry for a swift victory, yelled abuse and insults at his adversaries along with the rest of his men. After several minutes of taunting, the hubbub died down and Bellicus challenged Lucius Valerius to a single combat - winner takes all. If the Romans won, then Bellicus's army would allow the rag-tag unit to pass unmolested, along with all others along the way, back to Roman lines. If Bellicus won, then the Romans must leave all of their weapons and promise to never return to this territory again. Lucius Valerius stuck to standard Roman protocol and refused the challenge despite the loss of face this entailed.

Bellicus ordered his army forward and they made for the Roman lines in quick time. The only response from the Roman defence was a quick volley of arrows directed at the fast approaching hounds, but only a few arrows found their mark, not stopping their rapid advance.

Turn 1 : The Britons advance

Turn 2 (Rep B9, R8):

The slings and arrows from the British skirmishers had little effect against the heavy armour of the Roman legionaries holding the fords, and neither did the rapid assault by the mounted warriors, who were wiped out to a man in the swift running waters and treacherous footing of the shallows.

The Roman archers also failed to find their mark against the fast approaching skyclad Celtic warriors. 

Turn 2 : Bellicus's troops assault Valerius's position

British losses = 1 unit mounted warriors

Turn 3 (Rep B7, R8):

The Britons kept up the assault, by taking the fight to the enemy, but found the combination of rough ground and heavily armoured troops a stern challenge. Again, Valerius ignored a direct challenge costing him reputation, but his troops did the talking for him as the legionaries cut down a unit of skyclad warriors, although not without taking a few casualties themselves. The Roman left flank also fared well with the legionaries there dispatching all of the Celtic war hounds.

Turn 3 : The battle begins in earnest

British losses = 1 unit hounds, 1 unit skyclad

Romans gain 2 Rep as both fords still held by them, but lose 1 Rep due to challenge

Turn 4 (Rep B6, R9):

British slings and arrows failed to take out the Roman archers in support of the rest of the army, but the determination of Bellicus's army to eliminate the hated Romans drove them onto a fated victory. The push from the Celtic female warriors drove the Romans back on the British right flank, clearing the ford for any who would follow, but no-one was there as they were busy trying to eliminate Valerius on the left flank.

Catuarus and more of the skyclad warriors following him fell to the swords of the Romans, but not without them causing many casualties on the other side, including a deft wound to Valerius himself. The British slingers in the centre forced the Roman archers to step back under a hail of stone and lead shot.

Turn 4 : The meat grinder

British losses = Catuarus, 1 unit slingers, 1 unit skyclad

Romans gain 1 Rep as one of the fords still held by them, but again lost Rep due to challenges unmet

Turn 5 (Rep B4, R8):

The Roman left recovered somewhat with the annihilation of the frenzied unit of British women. The ford was left to Maviloduus and his bodyguard to defend, but they were pushed back by the numbers still available to the Romans there. Today was certainly a good day for the Celtic champion to call upon the Favour of the Gods. 

In the centre, the Roman archers were pushed back under the sling stone and arrow storms aimed at them, but Gaia Pomponia's bravery returned them to the fray every time they retreated. 

Spurred on by the injury to Valerius, the British noble elite warriors pressed further into the ford. Again Valerius ignored the challenge from Bellicus. The British leader, was now becoming angry with the Roman leader's perceived cowardice and called his men forward for one more push. At last, Bellicus's Legendary sword came into play, and Valerius was pushed back to the reserve unit of auxilia milites when his century of legionaries were finally destroyed.

The counter-attack by Lucius Valerius's fresh spearmen surprised Bellicus and his household troops as the nobles were cut down to a man, but not without Lucius Valerius going down in the melee with a somewhat unremarkable death as he became Food for the Ravens. 

This was the signal for the rest of the Roman contingent to pull out and try to stem the flow of losses that were rapidly piling up. They had almost made it to dusk, but the death of the prefect was the final nail. The death of the Roman leader and his first century of legionaries led to much celebration by Bellicus and his army that they ignored the retreating Romans and instead concentrated on violating the body of their hated enemy commander.

Turn 5 : Lucius Valerius Corvus falls

British losses = Catuarus, 1 unit slingers, 1 unit skyclad, 1 unit warriors (3)

Roman losses = Lucius Valerius Corvus, 1 unit legionaries

The Britons gained several Rep for leadership during this round 

Final Tally (Rep B4, R-2):

The final Reputation tally difference was 6 in favour of the Britons - a Mighty Victory (2 points in campaign terms)

Bellicus finally saw the defeat of his hated enemy, Lucius Valerius, who had outwitted him at every turn except the last.

 

This game lasted five of the six turns allowed. Again, it was a very bloody affair, but the Britons managed to pull-off a Mighty Victory, to even the campaign score with the Romans. Again, there were a number of take-aways from this battle: 

• The Roman tactics were quite sound
• Deploy the strongest units at the fords so as not to incur too much damage from the funnelled British troops
• Use missile troops to weaken approaching enemy units
• Use the spare infantry unit as a reserve in case of a break though by the enemy
• Warriors with javelins proved their worth but I used them far too late in the game 

•  The British tactics also worked once under way
• Use Agile troops so they are not hampered by the rough ground of the fords in order to soften up the enemy before the heavy troops move in
• Use missile weapons for the same purpose and to keep enemy archers under pressure throughout the encounter
• Use overpowering odds at the choke points to feed the meat grinder in the hope of slowly diminishing the enemy units
• Use heavy warriors with high ranking leaders to follow up Agile troops
• Using the support functions of friendly units to reduce casualty counts 
• Warriors with javelins proved their worth throughout the game 

•  Mistakes
• The Britons should have positioned their missile troops in the centre to get more to bear each round
• The right flank was a lot weaker than the left flank of the British forces. One or two more warrior units may have kept the Romans from counter attacking and maybe saved the female warriors

The British took a lot of casualties again, but it allowed them to win the battle. I thought that this was going to be a meat grinder affair, and the British tactics worked very well knowing that. I loaded the left flank on purpose in the hope that it would fall (taking their leader with it) whilst the centre and right flank were engaged. This would then allow a flanking manoeuvre to mop up the rest of the Romans. It very nearly worked.

Next game will require a lot more reinforcements. I will post an aftermath blog in the next day or so to sum up what happened and what needs to be done going forward.

Campaign Score: Romans 3 Britons 3

Midgard : Scenario 3 : The Combatants

I thought that I would just sneak this post in prior to play tomorrow. I managed to get each warband photographed just before setting them aside for the game. The game looks like it is going to be very one-sided: the Britons outnumber, base-wise, the Romans by a lot. That said, the Roman troop quality is better, so we shall see how the dice fall tomorrow.

The Briton army...

The 300 point Briton army

The right wing

The centre

The left wing

And here are a couple of the new units...

A unit of mounted warriors

Hounds and handler

The Roman army...

The 200 point Roman army

The right flank - western auxilia

The Roman centre

The left flank

As you can see from the photos above, there are a few new units to contend with. The Britons introduce a unit of Mounted Warriors and a unit of Hounds, and the Romans introduce a unit of Western Empire auxilia with spears and shields.

Midgard : Scenario 3 : None Shall Pass : prelude

Well, it has been a long time since I made any progress on my Midgard : Britannia campaign. Lots of real life has got in the way recently, so large tabletop battles have had to take a bit of a back seat. Now that there is a Bank Holiday coming up at the end of this month in the UK (actually next Monday), I should be able to find the time to run the third battle in the campaign - None Shall Pass

I have a couple of days to prepare and put into order the game set up and the miniatures and scenery required for the scenario. In addition to putting together the physical requirements of the game, I also need to work on the story of the Roman advance to the next encampment/watch tower. I also need to update the map if I can, but I am having issues with my current image processor - I used to be able to use Photoshop (albeit a very old version that I purchased many moons ago) to a reasonable level of competency, but that version is now, alas, not compatible with Windows 11 and I just cannot get it to load on my latest PC.

Roman soldier - public domain image

For this scenario, the armies are not evenly matched as prescribed by the scenario. It sees the Romans protecting their rear from a larger force of Britons at a pair of river crossings. Each army is made up from the survivors of the previous encounter plus any reinforcements rolled up in the aftermath. There are a few new types of unit to contend with that should make the game more interesting from a narrative perspective at least.

The Britons' army for scenario 3 (97/209=306pts):

• Bellicus 3 (47pts)
• Maviloduus 2 (32pts)
• Catuarus 1 (18pts)
• 1x Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 3x Warriors 2 (51pts)
• 1x Female Warriors (16pts)
• 1x Mounted Warriors (16pts)
• 2x Skyclad (32pts)
• 2x Archers (30pts)
• 2x Slingers (20pts)
• 1x Hounds (22pts)

The Roman army for scenario 3 (85/121=206pts):

• Lucius Valerius Corvus 3 (43pts)
• Gaia Pomponia Thrax 2 (21pts)
• Marius Pollux 2 (21pts) 
• 1x Legionaries (34pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Archers (29pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Spearmen (24pts)
• 1x Legionaries (-1St) (34pts)

It is quite strange how the numbers of the antagonists (by points value) on both sides in this campaign so far have added up to the correct amounts to play the scenarios in the rule book. I daresay that after this battle things may go a little differently, but for now I am pleased with the campaign's progress.

The next post on Midgard should see a write up of the game similar to what has gone before. Until then.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#14) - Day 22 - onboard the Soul of the Winter

We managed to get another Ghosts of Saltmarsh D&D 5e RPG session in again on our regular-ish Thursday evening slot. Most of the players made it, so we carried on from where we left off. 

Here is the party list for reference (we are all currently at 4th level)...

Dharion - half-elf ranger

Drakkon - half-orc fighter (player not present, so we re-wrote the start of the encounter a little)

Druss - dragonborn barbarian

Gladreth - human wizard

Korum - human cleric

Navda - human rogue

...

Late at night of Day 22 - onboard the Soul of the Winter

Druss rapidly pulled himself back into the cabin to avoid being seen by the encroaching sahuagin warriors, and let Gladreth and I know what was happening. Navda, however, as he was unable to hear Druss's whispered warning, what with him being in another cabin, decided to investigate the noises himself.

Soul of the Winter - Sahuagin arrival

As I had slept without my armour on, I decided that I would try to quietly don my mail before the sahuagin investigated our cabin. This would have been a great ploy if it hadn't been for the fact that several of the sea devils decided to invade our cabins via the port holes (this meant that my, and other characters who usually wore armour, ACs were temporarily lowered).

Gladreth and I just about managed to deal with the sahuagin that entered our room via the port hole and the one that was outside too, but Drakkon got bottled up in the corridor outside his cabin by several in the round atrium. Gladreth went to help him whilst I milled around wondering what I could do to help out as there was no room to join the melee.

Meanwhile, from their description of what happened after the combat had finished, Navda and Dharion got bogged down in a melee with a magic wielding sahuagin matriarch who came through their cabin's port hole, and many more warriors that had come down the stairs.

The combat in Navda and Dharion's cabin was a tight run thing, what with about five sahuagin including the witch, attacking them. Navda managed to get out of the room and scream for my help, whilst poor Dharion was left in a pool of blood after being stabbed with a trident that took him close to death (he failed 2 Death Saves before Navda could stabilise him and I could get there to Heal him).

As I was making my way to aid Dharion, I heard the combat from my rear come to a halt as both Gladreth and Druss were injured and hit the deck. Torn between the urgency of saving Dharion and the risk to Gladreth and Druss, I decided that I had just enough time to get both actions completed if I hurried on with my original intentions.

Luckily, we were saved by the winding of a mournful sounding sea-horn. The remaining sahuagin warriors heard the sound and began to slink off as they disengaged from the combat.

After making sure that everyone was stable, we began to explore the rest of the ship to see how the crew had fared with this attack. We met with Captain Woolgar on the upper deck, who told us that he had lost five of his crew members but was heartened by the fact that we had survived and had taken care of eight of the raiders including the magic wielding witch, although her body had disappeared from the cabin in which she was killed when we began to collect the dead for disposal.

Soul of the Winter - Sahuagin departure

The DM mentioned at the end of the session that this should have been a short encounter that we should have easily ended in a few rounds. What with our extremely poor dice rolls and bad tactics, we made a right hash of it. Hopefully, we have got all the bad rolls out of the way so that the main encounter of this part of the adventure runs a little more smoothly.

As a result, this is a very short write-up of the encounter - it was basically a combat that the DM decided to cut short (as our session had run out of time) to save our blushes.

Song of Blades and Heroes - Battle Report 3

Last night we managed to get together for the final round of this mini-campaign. So far, the Orcs of the Red Eye had managed to push the human villagers away from their village. A band of elves saw this as an affront to their standing and forced the orcs to run away with their tails between their legs. Budlak, the orc leader, felt ashamed to be beaten by one measly elf, so he returned to the village to sort the situation out once and for all.

Orcs of the Red Eye (302 pts)...

Warchief Budlak Q 3+ C 4 Leader Tough (100 pts)

5 x Orc warriors  Q 4+ C 3 (115 pts)

3 x Orc archers Q4+ C 3 Shooter - Medium (87 pts) 

Orcs of the Red Eye

Since the previous game, Budlak managed to recruit two more archers to refill his ranks (basically I kept the same force composition for this game too). 

Defenders of the Realm - a mixed Human and Elf warband (295 pts)...

1 x Elf warrior  Q 2+ C 3 (38 pts)

1 x Elf archer  Q 2+ C 3 Shooter - Long (55 pts)

5 x Human Heavy Infantry  Q 4+ C 4 Short Move (130 pts)

1 x Human Light Infantry  Q 3+ C 2 Shooter - Medium (28 pts)

1 x Human Archer  Q 3+ C 2 Shooter - Medium (44 pts) 

Defenders of the Realm

To keep things "realistic" the remaining human and elf forces combined and added five extra human troops to swell their numbers. 

Again, this was just a straight fight to the bitter end - the winner finally keeps hold of the village. The orcs seemed to have the upper hand in both of the previous battles (apart from the devastation caused by the final gruesome kill in the second scenario), but would this time prove any different? The orcs gained the initiative so went first...

Starting positions

Turn 1

The orc warriors advanced rapidly towards the village, scenting a swift victory over the man flesh who they so easily defeated previously - the orc archers seemed to be a bit more cautious. The humans and elves (Defenders) advanced more slowly to meet the threat

Turn 1

Turn 2

When the elf warrior from their previous encounter came into view, the orc bluster ran out (rolled the dreaded double-one on my second activation) as Budlak caught sight of the elf that had caused his warband to flee. The human/elf archers let fly their arrows but all missed. The allies continued their cautious advance

Turn 2

Turn 3

Most of the orcs failed to advance (failed almost every activation roll) and the Defenders closed into combat. More archery failed to find its mark on the orc ranks

Turn 3

Turn 4

The sight of the heroic elf must have really affected Budlak as his forces again failed to advance into combat (double-one again, this time on the first activation!). The Defenders advanced further but all the combat ended without casualties. Again, the human and elf archers missed their targets

Turn 4

Turn 5

This is where the game began to warm up considerably (but typically I forgot to take photos at the end of each turn due to the excitement).

Budlak finally came out of his stupor and dispatched the troublesome elf. The melee around the farmhouse saw the humans retaliate for the loss of the elf by killing an orc warrior, but emboldened by his previous success against the elf warrior, Budlak killed again; this time a human warrior (O 8, HE 7)

Turn 6

Due to the pressure of numbers brought to bear, the orcs were forced to retreat from the combat, losing another of their warriors (O 7, HE 7)

Turn 7

The orcs finally brought their archers to bear from the other side of the building (it took a long time to get them there due to so many activation failures), causing the humans to huddle up closer after another of their number was felled by archery, but the defenders' bows kept the orcs at a safe enough distance for now.

Finally, the Defenders got a break through. Budlak found himself isolated and was cut down where he stood. This caused a few of the orcs to flee (Morale check on loss of leader), and then, seeing their comrades flee, most of the rest of the warband also broke away (Morale check for the warband dropping below half numbers), leaving just two solitary orcs on the battlefield. Seeing their fellow raiders killed or running away, and being only a tiny distance away from the board edges themselves (due to them also fleeing but not quite far enough to leave the battlefield), they decided that they would flee too (O 0, HE 6)

Turn 7

Well, that was a tidy bashing the orcs got there - again their poor Quality showed - Morale checks have been the bane of the orcs this campaign. This time the fighting was quite a way from the board edges but the orcs failed on multiple counts so all except two left the board - another massive collapse like last time.

The two double-ones during the game also did not help the orc cause, and neither did the fact that we got the movement allowances for the human heavy infantry wrong (they were moved a lot faster than they should have done). The orcs had pretty awful dice-rolls throughout the entire game; almost always when an outcome relied upon at least half-decent rolls - so many 1s flew from my dice hand during this game - at one point there were 6 failed activations in one turn! That said, the orcs lost and the human/elf alliance won not only the scenario, but also the campaign.

So, overall, the human/elf alliance was victorious over the orcs of the Red Eye. I really enjoyed the min-campaign, as did my son. He prefers this game now to Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. I spent a lot of the time whilst playing what my son's options were at each juncture. Next game, I will let him fly solo, as he seems to have mastered the intricacies of the rules now.

Song of Blades and Heroes - Battle Report 2

We had a quiet Sunday this weekend just gone, so we pulled out the Song of Blades and Heroes rule book again for a rematch. This time, I kept my victorious orcs and #2 Son decided to go for an elven warband - this time his points values were more accurate.

Orcs of the Red Eye (302 pts)...

Warchief Budlak Q 3+ C 4 Leader Tough (100 pts)

5 x Orc warriors  Q 4+ C 3 (115 pts)

3 x Orc archers Q4+ C 3 Shooter - Medium (87 pts) 

The orcs of the Red Eye

Defenders of the Realm - Elf warband (298 pts)...

4 x Elf warriors  Q 2+ C 3 (152 pts)

2 x Elf archers  Q 2+ C 3 Shooter - Long (110 pts)

1 x Wood Elf warrior  Q 3+ C 3 Forester (36 pts) 

The elf warband

We decided that this skirmish would be the second part of an ongoing mini-story (we are hoping to get one more game in later on this week to conclude the saga). After the rather one-sided affair between the humans and orcs last time out, a small scouting band of elves decided that the humans needed to get their village back and the orcs needed to be put back in their place to restore the natural order (and restore the buffer zone the human village afforded the local elf settlement).

We chose to play a straight up fight again as the scenario we rolled just didn't quite meet what we wanted to play. We diced for who was to be the defender and who was to go first. The orc faction was the defending force, so set up the table, the elves chose which side to enter from, the defenders set up first and then the elves rolled the best initiative so went first.

Starting Positions

Turn 1

Both sides advanced across the battleground of the local village. The elves did not hold back in their efforts to close into combat with the orcs and reclaim the village from them

Turn 1

Turn 2

There followed an ineffective exchange of arrows, and close combat was joined (one wood elf versus two orcs)

Turn 2

Turn 3

This turn ended up being a bit of a disaster for the elves; the elves advanced but the dreaded double-one was rolled half-way through the process, so play turned over to the orcs whereby the wood elf was easily downed by the two orcs he was in combat with (O 9, E 6)

Turn 3

Turn 4

The combat began to coalesce on the village side of the board. The elves managed to inflict a gruesome kill on one of the orc archers which caused another orc archer to retreat away from the combat. The orcs retaliated by ganging up on a single elf spearman and hacked him down (O 8, E 5)

Turn 4

Turn 5

The elves managed to kill another orc archer but the tide really turned with another double-one being rolled. This meant that the orcs could really go on the rampage; they killed a further two elves and a Morale check caused a further elf to retreat off the board. What with the final elf archer being laid prone and the final elf spearman being isolated it should have been a small matter of mopping them up one at a time (O 7, E 2)

Turn 5

Turn 6

Unfortunately for the orcs, this was not to be. In a fit of rage at seeing his comrades being slaughtered, the final elf spearman managed a gruesome kill on the last orc archer which led to the entire orc warband fleeing from the board (O 0, E 2)

The orcs flee

Again, this proved to be a very one-sided affair right until the very final roll of the dice by the elves. The gruesome kill and the subsequent Morale checks meant that all of the orcs fled. I tried to roll for my leader first, because if he passed the test, then his Leadership trait would have added +1 to the other's dice rolls; he failed and so did the rest. Even if some of the orcs had passed, they would have had to have taken a second Morale check for the loss of their leader, and then a third Morale check if their numbers dropped below half. They didn't stand a chance at Q 4+. Lesson learned for the future - do not fight too close to the board's edge just in case a morale check looms.

My son was beginning to get side-tracked towards the end of the game as he was upset at how badly the elves had fought and how badly his dice rolls were. I managed to entice him back for the final turn (I asked him if he wanted to surrender but he said "No") and everything changed on the one combat dice roll. I felt a little underwhelmed at how defeat was snatched so easily from the jaws of victory, but happy for my son as he now knew that games can change direction on literally one dice roll.

We will try to play one more game later on this week to round out the mini-campaign. I will keep the same orc force (just need to work out two replacements for actual kills) as they return for one final attempt to wrest the village away from the humans, and my son will take the remaining humans and elves (2 of each) and add to them to make up a full sized force. As the score is one-all, then this will be the decider.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#13) - Return to Saltmarsh (Days 14-22)

We got back to our full complement of players this session, but Drakkon had to sit out the remainder of the necromancer encounter until we were able to reclaim him from the lizardfolk.

Day 14 (continued) - the fight in the cavern

Sir Riley chuckled to himself as he continued chanting in a strange language. The waters to either side where the alligator teeth were thrown began to bubble and two skeletal figures emerged from the murky depths of the water. Seeing as these were undead, I channelled the divine Radiance of the Dawn to deal with the new arrivals. It damaged them enough for Sir Riley to get annoyed and call forth a gaseous attack upon my companions.

The ensuing combat was brutal with many wounds dealt out by both sides. I managed to cast a Burning Hands spell which damaged Sir Riley quite extensively, and he cast some kind of spell that summoned a black fog to hide within. What emerged from that smoke was a winged demonic being enveloped in fire. The demon then disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. Whilst this was going on, the two summoned skeletal beings were destroyed; one being was chopped to pieces by Dharion's sword and axe and finished off by Navda's archery, whilst the final being was Firebolted by Gladreth.

As we looked around after the combat, catching our collective breaths, black tentacles suddenly erupted from the ether and engulfed Dharion and Druss, who fought back with all their might. Gladreth also took a lot of damage from the new threat and fell to the floor. I somehow sensed that the demon was above us and shouted to let the party know. Navda shot an arrow but missed, but a perfectly aimed javelin from Druss managed to kill it outright. The demon plummetted to the floor and slowly turned back into the skeleton form of Sir Riley, whereupon it then proceeded to crumble to dust.

I healed Gladreth enough to bring her round, whilst the other adventurers removed the heads of the alligator and the skeletons to show to the lizardfolk what had been attacking their tribe.

When we arrived back at the lizardfolk camp, we showed them the grizzly trophies and said that we could find no survivors. Although saddened by the loss of their family, they let Drakkon go and gave us a bag of painted pebbles as a reward. They then escorted us the rest of the way through the swamp to the outskirts of Saltmarsh.

Days 14-21 - Saltmarsh

Upon arrival in the town we first sought out someone in authority to tell them about the landslide just out of town; they agreed to send a party of workmen to sort it out. We also needed to assess our treasures, so we visited the lady we had asked about evaluations previously. It appeared that the lizardfolk painted stones were barter tokens for food, drink and shelter; we kept them for possible further use. The belongings of Sir Riley, the necromancer, turned out to be an evil cloak, a necromancer's spell book and a Staff of Major Healing. We agreed to dispose of the evil items in due course, but that I should keep the staff as I was the main healer of the party.

We then reported to the linen trader to tell him about our failed quest. Unfortunately, we had to tell him that Morley had done a runner with the linen and did not consider himself a friend of the trader. When he asked about his cart and horses, we had to apologise on not returning that also, although we did mention where it could be found. The trader was not happy and left in a huff.

We then spent the next seven days making new acquaintances, now that we had become something of a talking point around town. The local council approved of how we were handling ourselves and the situation but when we tried to reclaim our ship, we found that it was still impounded in the harbour and considered the property of the crown. No matter how we argued, the guards and council would not return it to us.

It was whilst we were arguing with an official that a tall, well-dressed orc sauntered up to us and asked us whether we could retrieve an item or two from a cargo ship a few days' sail away. In payment, his boss, the owner of several sailing vessels, would give us a ship.

Doubting his word, but not wanting to miss a possible opportunity that might be too good to be true, we decided to follow the orc to his master's abode, a mansion on a hill on the outskirts of town.

The mansion, upon arrival, was a little more run down than it appeared from the town, but none-the-less it was still an impressive building. Upon entry, the main hallway was full of expensive tapestries on the walls and heavy furniture that may have been fashionable many moons go but were still worth a pretty penny today. We were soon shown into a study to meet an elderly, well-dressed human named Albrick, who treated us to food and drink before getting down to business.

Albrick mentioned that he was the owner of the Emperor of the Waves, a ship that went missing around ten years ago. It was travelling back from strange lands full of precious cargo, including a Cross of Pelor (a top furnishing for a battle helm that would allow its wearer to converse with the god and thereafter be bestowed with great powers), when it got caught in a storm and was never seen again, until three days ago when it was spotted on an island a few days' sail away.

To get a drop on any salvagers, Albrick asked us to find the ship, remove the full cargo to a ship he would furnish us with for the mission, and the Emperor would be ours. He said that he would give us two hundred Gold Crowns for our troubles as a sweetener in the deal.

We had a quick meeting and decided that we would take the deal, as a ship we could then definitely call our own would be worth the risk. He pulled a large ledger from a shelf and made an entry within it which he asked us to counter-sign; which happened to be in our own blood from a hidden needle in the ink pot. After we had all read and signed the ledger, he handed us the promised two hundred crowns and said that the Soul of the Winter under Captain Woolgar was anchored in the harbour, fully crewed, awaiting our arrival.

Day 22 - onboard the Soul of the Winter 

The following day, after we had re-equipped ourselves in readiness for the voyage, we climbed aboard the ship. It was only then that we noticed that the entire crew was made up of dwarves; a people not fully trusted in these parts.

The ship set sail as soon as we were onboard and we were warned to remain in our cabins as there was a major storm brewing where we were headed. We spent the time playing games and chatting, but as time wore on we all began to feel a little more queasy as the waters became rougher and the skies became greyer.

At around 9pm, after everyone had eaten and the night shift had settled in, we made ready for our beds. It was at this point that Drakken thought that he heard scuffling and then something go thump on the deck above the cabin. He moved to the door to investigate the unusual sound, and upon opening it was met by the sight of a sea creature coming down the steps towards him...

A sea creature met upon the ship's steps

Song of Blades and Heroes - Battle report

My youngest son has been with us for the last week or so and rather than go over the fields to play football today he decided that he wanted to play a battle game. We usually only play the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Games : Battle Companies, but he said that he wanted to try something a little different this time. He still wanted to play a skirmish level affair with about the same amount of soldiers on each side. I racked my brains and pulled out my copy of the Song of Blades and Heroes rule book, which I haven't played for many a year now.

I had a quick skip through the rules to remind myself of how to play and we both choose a ~300 point army each...

Orcs of the Red Eye (302 pts)...

Warchief Budlak Q 3+ C 4 Leader Tough (100 pts)

5 x Orc warriors  Q 4+ C 3 (115 pts)

3 x Orc archers Q4+ C 3 Shooter - Medium (87 pts) 

View from the orcs' side

Defenders of the Realm - Medieval style humans (278 pts)...

Sir Tristan  Q3+ C 3 Leader (60 pts)

1 x Heavy Infantry  Q 4+ C 4 Short Move (26 pts)

3 x Barbarian Warriors  Q 3+ C 3 Fearless (108 pts)

3 x Human Shortbowmen  Q 3+ C 2 Shooter - Medium (84 pts) 

We got our maths a bit wrong here, for some reason we thought it added up to 298 pts - an extra Heavy Infantryman could have been added to the human force. 

View from the humans' side

We decided to play a straight up fight just to learn/get used to the rules again. We diced for who was to be the defender and who was to go first. The human faction was the defending force, so set up the table, the orcs chose which side to enter from, the defenders set up first and then rolled the best initiative so went first.

Turns 1-3

Both sides advanced across the battleground of the local village; the orcs were more eager to close into combat and claim the prize of the village and all its stores

Turn 2

Turn 3

Turn 4

Shooting produced no effect from either side, but when combat ensued, one of the human warriors was knocked prone

Turn 4

Turn 5

This turn was far more bloody - two orcs were knocked prone but one human archer was killed by the orc archers and one barbarian was killed by the orc warriors (O 9, H 6)

Turn 5

Turn 6

After taking such a heavy beating, the human warriors stepped back to reform their shield wall. Another of the human archers was not able to retreat as quickly as the others and fell to more orc arrows (O 9, H 5)

Turn 6

Turn 7

The orcs attacked again and one more barbarian fell causing a Morale check for the force hitting half strength. One human archer ran away, but the remainder retreated to within a few mm of the board edge (O 9, H 3)

Turn 7

Turns 8-9

The orcs chased the humans, who backed away and chose to use the high ground for their final stand

Turn 8

Turn 9

Turn 10

Sir Tristan fell to the orc rabble which caused a second Morale check, wherein the heavy infantryman ran away, leaving a solitary barbarian to defend the village  (O 9, H 1)

Turn 10

Turn 11

The orc archers killed the remaining barbarian warrior (O 9, H 0)

Final stand

Orc victory

The orc that shot the final arrow

This turned out to be a rather one-sided affair. The orcs made mincemeat of the human defenders. As the orc leader, I played a very aggressive game, and always rolled a minimum of two Activation Dice. My son played it very safe and only ever rolled one die per figure, except we both rolled 3 dice for the last figure in each turn.

I think that if he had that extra warrior, it might have made a small difference to the outcome (the orcs may have lost one or two troops), but he realised his biggest mistake was playing it too safe; he was so worried about rolling a double-one and not being able to use all of his troops in each turn. I threw caution to the wind and always rolled two dice, only rolling a double-one once in the entire game.

My son really enjoyed his first foray into Song of Blades and Heroes and said that he would love to play again sometime soon.