Midgard : Scenario 4 : Take the High Ground

Yesterday I was able to play the fourth encounter between the Romans and the Britons in my Midgard : Britannia campaign - Take the High Ground. It was a solo effort again, but I am hoping to build up some momentum over the next month or so to get the fifth scenario done and dusted, so that the sixth, and final, scenario can be played with my youngest son when he comes to visit at New Year.

The Take the High Ground scenario calls for the defending force to be split into two contingents; one on the table and the other held off the table to arrive on turn 4. This fits into the current narrative nicely as the main force gets held up on a hill whilst a detachment of cavalry from one of the remote camps gallops to the (hopefully for the Romans) rescue.

The Briton army for scenario 4 (97/210=307pts):

• Bellicus 3 (47pts)
• Maviloduus 2 (32pts)
• Magunum 1 (18pts)
• 2x Warriors 3 (@22 = 44pts)
• 4x Warriors 2 (@17 = 68pts)
• 2x Archers (@15 = 30pts)
• 2x Slingers (@10 = 20pts)
• 1x Skyclad (16pts)
• 2x Mounted Warriors (@16 = 32pts)

The Roman army for scenario 4 (99/161=260pts):

• Caecilius Rufinus Pulcher 3 (43pts) - late arrival
• Gaia Pomponia Thrax 2 (21pts)
• Marius Pollux 2 (35pts) 
• 2x Legionaries (@34 = 68pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Archers (29pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Spearmen (24pts)
• 2x Cavalry (@20 = 40pts) - late arrivals

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

The scenario dictates that there is a smaller force of defenders holding a hill until reinforcements can arrive. Due to the campaign narrative, this scenario fits well; taking into account the Roman retreat and subsequent meet up of a cavalry detachment. The Romans are therefore classed as the defenders and the Britons the attackers.

For this game I had to adjust the terrain I used; I don't have any low, flat hills which figure stands are stable on, so I just shoved a number of books underneath the play mat to give the impression of a small rise. I dotted a couple of actual hill terrain pieces on the slightly raised area to show it was a hill. I also used three resin terrain items I picked up a while back to represent the Salient Points (used to gain Reputation during the scenario).

The two armies were divided into contingents; three for the Britons (two wings and a centre) and two for the Romans (the force on the hill and the reinforcements that start off table). Apologies for the quality of some of the photos - they were taken using my phone camera, in not so good lighting.

British contingents...

4 units of heavy infantry (2)

2 units of heavy infantry 3

Skirmishers: 2x archers, 2x slingers, skyclad and 2x mounted warriors

Right wing: Magunum, 2x Archers

Centre: Maviloduus, 4x Warriors 2

Centre 2: Bellicus, 2x Warriors 3, Skyclad

Left wing: 2x Slingers, 2x Mounted Warriors 

Britons advance to cut off the Roman retreat

Roman contingents...

Auxilia: Western milites and Syrian archers

Roman cavalry

Roman legionaries

Right flank: Marius Pollux, milites, legionaries

Left flank: Gaia Pomponia Thrax, legionaries, auxiliary archers

Reserve: Decurio Caecilius Rufinus Pulcher, 2x cavalry

Roman milites, legionaries and archers

Bellicus's delay celebrating the death of his nemesis allowed the waggon train and stragglers to reach the safety of a small rise just north of the Roman fortress on the road.

The centurion of the watchtower got news from his patrols that the cohort's Legate had been killed in a battle over the hills to the north, and a column of battered Roman soldiers from that battle were heading towards his position. He set out with his century to meet them in order to protect them on their journey back to the fortified watchtower. He also sent word via horse courier to the Decurio, Caecilius Rufius Pulcher, stationed at the camp out to the west, on the other side of the river, to let him know the news; he would now be the new leader of the cohort.

The route to the 4th battle

Upon hearing the news, the decurion, Caecilius Rufinus Pulcher, ordered his cavalry contingent to mount up and headed straight out to bolster the defences of the legionaries at the watchtower. He also ordered the remnants of the foot at the camp to follow at their own pace and hopefully meet him at the river crossing directly east of their current position in order to defend the ford for when the remainder of the army got back to the crossing point.

Caecilius and his tumae rode pell-mell to link up with the straggling remnants of the cohort. Leaderless, he assumed the worst would happen to them, but he would advance to find out their situation at least. Maybe he would be in time to save them from an ignoble defeat at the hands of the local British tribe? 

Starting Positions

Gaia Pomponia and Marius Pollux ordered the remaining men in the watchtower to leave their fortification and burn it to the ground before joining them at the low hill a short distance away. They would make a stand there whilst awaiting reinforcements from the marching camp to the west. If they were successful, they could then march on the paved road back to Roman lines. 

Bellicus's force arrived at the ridge before the Roman cavalry could get there. He smiled to himself, knowing that this should be an easy victory and news of it would make the Romans think twice about advancing upon his tribe's lands again in a hurry. He outnumbered his foe and knew that the cavalry force sent to relieve the Roman column would be a while away yet if his scouts were to be trusted. He arranged his battle lines and shouted the command to advance upon the Roman force at the top of the rise.

Turn 1 (Reputation B9, R8):

The Roman force strung their lines out between three notable landmarks at the top of the rise. This would protect their flanks, and stop the British forces from picking out one unit at a time to surround and destroy. Unity would be the way to grind out a victory against such odds.

Bellicus ordered his army forward and they made directly for the Roman lines. The mounted warriors hung back a little at first before being given full rein to hit the Roman flank at speed - he wanted them to take out the milites stationed there and then proceed to roll up the legionaries next to them. A few of the foot units were reticent, but stern commands from their leaders and champions forced the whole line to advance at the same rate.

The Britons advance in a tightly controlled wave

The Romans watched nervously as the British advanced towards the ridge

Turn 2 (Rep B9, R8):

The British warriors in the centre chose to charge directly for the legionaries to keep them busy whilst the flanks were whittled down by sling and arrow fire in order for the cavalry to do their job.

The archers on the British right flank traded arrows with the Roman drilled warriors, with the Romans coming out on top in the exchange. Although the British unit he was with only took minor casualties, Magunum lost his life leading from the front (Famous Death).

The slingers on the left flank fared no better, not causing any great deal of concern to the Roman milites. The rapidly advancing cavalry on their flank and the charge in front of them by the British elite warriors made them nervous though.

Both of the Roman commanders could not allow the British to have their own way in this fight, so they ordered the two centuries of legionaries to advance a little and confront the British warriors part way down the hill. Gaia Pomponia's troops held back the charging Britons in front of them whilst Marius Pollux's troops fared better and dealt with the skyclad warriors in short order.

The Britons advance under covering fire from their missiles

The Romans begin to defend the ridge

View of the ridge from the British point of view

British losses = 1 unit skyclad, Magunum

Turn 3 (Rep B5, R11):

Momentum was with the British as they poured on the pressure. Bellicus and Maviloduus called challenges against the Roman leaders, but both refused to fight man-to-man (or woman). The British archers began to take their toll on the Syrian archers, but their stern discipline kept them from retreating under the hail of missiles. The mounted warriors hit home on the Roman flank but failed to dislodge the milites.

All along the line, the Romans fought for their lives, pushing back many of the British warriors units, and destroying one warband of warriors.

Combat is joined in earnest

View from the ridge

British losses = 1 unit warriors (2)

Romans gained 2 Rep from holding two Salient Points, but the British gained 1

Turn 4 (Rep B4, R11):

After a brief pause, the British warriors re-joined the combat in the centre. The archers kept up their barrage against the Syrians on the ridge, causing them more casualties; at least until the Roman cavalry reinforcements arrived directly behind them, killing one unit of the archers to a man.

Maviloduus called upon a Favour of the Gods, but it seemed as though the Roman gods were stronger today (2 hits were scored but were saved by being uphill); not only did he not push back the dreaded Romans but he took a wound for his efforts.

Bellicus needed no help from the gods however, his Legendary Weapon cut swathes through the Roman milites, destroying them as a fighting force, and thereby freeing up his cavalry to roll up the flanks.

The Roman flanks begin to collapse

View from the ridge

British losses = 1 unit archers

Roman losses = 1 unit milites

Romans gained 2 Rep, Britons 1 Rep from holding Salient Points

Turn 5 (Rep B4, R11):

The British forces were beginning to tire now; with almost every unit having taken solid casualties. That said, even with the arrival of their cavalry reinforcements, the Romans on the ridge were also close to collapse.

The British archers on the flank were completely over-run by the Roman cavalry, so, in desperation, Bellicus ordered his cavalry to halt the Roman mounted division to stop them destroying the warriors on his right flank. The Roman cavalry, however, got to the warriors first and with Caecilius Rufinus's call of "Today, we fight to win", he spurred his men on to inflict serious casualties on the first unit they encountered.

Bellicus called for his men to make one last effort, but fortune did not smile upon him as he suffered a wound for his troubles and his elite warriors were thrust backwards.

Casualties mount up (apologies for the very blurry picture)

The Roman positions are over-run

British losses = 1 unit archers

Romans gained 2 Rep, Britons 1 Rep from holding Salient Points 

Turn 6 (Rep B5, R13):

Whilst one unit of Bellicus's mounted warriors spotted the charging Roman cavalry and engaged them causing some casualties, the other unit spotted an opportunity to attack a century of legionaries from the rear. Alas, the legionaries must have been prepared for an all around attack and had formed a defensive stance that stopped the cavalry in their tracks.

Although they fought back bravely against the hard-hitting Roman cavalry on their flank, a second unit of British warriors fell to their swords. Likewise, on the left flank, the noble warriors in the front rank supporting Bellicus suffered more casualties and were destroyed as a fighting unit.

At this point Bellicus realised that he was losing heavily and what might have been a minor victory for him had turned into a rout. Most of his units had lost many men and he could not afford to wait around any longer knowing that the Romans still had more reinforcements to come. He called off the fight and vowed to destroy them at the ford.

The fight balances on a knife's edge

Have the Romans lost the ridge?

British losses = 1 unit warriors (2), 1 unit warriors (3)

Both the Romans and Britons gained 1 Rep each from holding Salient Points

Final tally (Rep B2, R15)

This game lasted all six turns and was, again, a very tight affair. Despite the fact that few units actually got destroyed, almost all units on both sides took casualties. The Romans, somehow, managed to pull off a Crushing Victory, to surge ahead in the campaign. Again, there were a number of take-aways from this battle: 

• Being uphill and using those saves really stopped the Romans from being wiped out within a couple of turns
• Somehow, even being flanked, surrounded and having nowhere to manoeuvre didn't stop the Romans from pulling through each turn and gaining plenty of Reputation Points from defending the Salient Points
• The Britons took a lot of casualties again, but actually lost few units - this may pan out well for them in the next game. I thought, what with their far superior numbers, that the Britons would overwhelm and completely destroy the Roman foot troops before the cavalry reinforcements arrived
• Do not use Level 1 heroes for the British forces - each game has seen the death of the level 1 champion
• Towards the end I started using only the British pool of dice for each side, whereas at the start I used a pool of dice for each side. This definitely favoured the Romans as their dice rolls dramatically improved when I used the British dice for them!

Campaign Score: Romans 6 Britons 3

Next game will see a lot more reinforcements for the Britons - numbers should be much higher for them as all of the units with casualties will return to full strength in addition to their usual reinforcements. The Romans will only gain a coupe of units of auxiliaries. I will post an aftermath in the next day or so to sum up what will happen going forward.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#19) - Levelling up

We had a very short playing session this evening, as most of our available time was spent getting levelled up to 5th. There were a few foibles with adding spells for a few of us, so it took a lot longer than anticipated, but I think we have now got the hang of things.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh

The party as we stand at 5th level:

Dharion - half-elf ranger
Drakkon - half-orc fighter
Druss - dragonborn barbarian
Korum - human cleric
Navda - human rogue
Gladreth - human wizard

We needed this session as a precursor to our long session coming this Sunday. The DM has sorted the next part of the adventure for us, The Isle of the Abbey, so hopefully it will be all go on the day.

Day 25 continued - Back to Saltmarsh

After leaving our patron, we headed back into Saltmarsh town in order to replenish our stocks of weaponry and supplies. Dharion and I wanted to grab some new armour (to increase our ACs), so we headed to a leather worker and armourer. Whilst Dharion begrudgingly paid well over the odds for a new set of studded leather, I balked at the cost of a suit of scale mail (half-plate was not available) and decided I would stick to my trusty chain mail armour. Maybe we can find somewhere more suitable for purchasing our arms other than a busy seaside port town?

After our shopping spree had finished we wandered around looking for something else to do before we headed to an inn for some food and a bed for the night.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#18) - The Emperor of the Waves IV

My PC had an OS failure on Wednesday evening and I spent all day Thursday trying to rebuild it. I just about managed to get logged in in time for the game last night - they had literally just got under way as I logged in...

Day 23 continued - aboard the Emperor of the Waves

The party lit some torches and descended into the dark cargo hold. I cast Light onto one of my holy symbols and brought up the rear as I was feeling so beaten up. The rest of the party cautiously advanced through the calf deep, film-slicked water and began to prod around in the smashed caskets and chests that littered the hold. The air smelled terribly. I stayed by the down ladder to keep lookout.

The Emperor of the Waves - all decks

After several minutes of searching, Navda found a large metal box with the initials AD etched onto it; these initials matched the name of our patron, so we decided it would be best that we retrieved it. He tried to open the box to see what was inside, but could find no egress. So, he tried move it, but it proved very heavy.

Suddenly a pale, white skinned creature emerged from the film-coated water nearby and proceeded to attack him. The rest of the party joined the melee, with Gladreth and I shooting at it from a distance to try to help out. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side and Druss got poisoned from a nasty bite. Just as we were beginning to think things could get no worse, a second, similar, creature emerged from the water-logged debris surrounding the party.

A foul, watery ghast

Dharion, Navda, Gladreth and I continued to pile on the missile pressure, eventually wearing down the ghastly beings, but no sooner was the first one struck down, than a third one emerged from beneath the murky waters. Whilst the others managed to kill the second being, I managed to finally hit the last one standing with my sling.

Player's aside - in this combat I managed to roll 1,3,1,1,3,2,3 before finally hitting something, which happened to be the killing blow - the others faired only slightly better. We made this combat very much harder than it should have been.

After the final ghast fell, we noticed that it didn't float in the water in the same way as the others. Navda and Dharion managed to purloin a silver necklace from around its neck. Whilst this was going on, the rest of us explored the debris but found only a golden amulet with an icon of a sun-like image on it. Everything else was spoiled by being in the water for too long - costly silks, spices, herbs and so on.

As we had found nothing else of value, I decided to head on up the ladder. Just as I reached the top of the ladder, the ship was struck by another massive impact. I was flung across the lower deck cabin, hit my head and don't remember a thing until I came round on one of the Soul of the Winter's dwarf-crewed cutters.

This is the story I gathered from my fellow adventurers...

As the ship was impacted, the debris got shifted around and several of the party got hurt. Druss managed to pick up the metal box that Navda found and began to carry it out of the hold. The ship slowly righted itself to the sounds of many thousands of small spiders scurrying hither and thither trying to avoid their impending doom. Just as the party reached the lower deck, there was an even bigger impact and wooden fragments flew everywhere. Everyone was thrown off of their feet and suffered more injuries.

They all managed to get to the lower deck, where I was picked up and carried further up inside the listing ship.

Dharion wondered what was happening to cause such a ruckus, and being far ahead of everyone else, went out onto the deck to see four enormous tentacles thumping away at the ship in order to reduce it to drift wood. Looking around for any form of potential rescue, he espied a dwarf-crewed rowing boat cutting through the waters towards us. Thinking that they were mad for doing so, but also praising their bravery, he hollered to gain their attention. The boatswain spotted him and headed for the port side of the ship. In the distance he also noticed that the Soul of the Winter was almost ready to set sail.

Signs of a Kraken?

The party had all just managed to get to the stern cabin on the main deck when the four massive tentacles pulled the ship lower into the water. The hold was already flooded and Gladreth screamed that the lower deck was now almost full - the ship was rapidly taking on water and going down. Dharion yelled back that the ship was being dragged under from below. He called that we should abandon ship on the port side and dived into the water.

In the main cabin, Navda jumped through the port hole, Druss passed me through and followed on himself. Druss and Dharion kept me afloat whilst I was unconscious, and slowly dragged me to the approaching ship's boat, whilst Navda hung around waiting to aid anyone else entering the water,

Once I was delivered, Dharion swam back to aid Navda and Drakkon, who had just jumped in with the metal box, closely followed by Gladreth. Drakkon got struck and knocked out by one of the flailing tentacles, so Dharion grabbed Drakkon's water breathing helm, and with the aid of Gladreth and Navda pulled both Drakkon and the metal box towards the cutter.

The thrashing tentacles managed to catch a few of the party with glancing blows, adding to their injury woes, but everyone made it back to the ship's boat. It was at this point, when the crew turned the boat to head back towards the Soul of the Winter that I came around.

As we watched the final moments of the Emperor of the Waves, the kraken's tentacles finally broke the ship's back and slowly pulled the two halves beneath the waves.

Day 24-25 - the journey home

The journey back to port was uneventful, so we headed to Albrich's place to hand him the monogrammed metal box as soon as we docked in port. He waved his hand over it and it began to glow; it opened to reveal many loose leaves of parchment. He was very happy with us returning his property and mentioned that he would keep us in mind for future jobs as we were so successful in this venture. He asked what we managed to salvage. The room went silent. We made our excuses and left to divvy up the small amount of treasures we had gained.

The end of this adventure allowed us to level up - we are now all 5th level.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#17) - The Emperor of the Waves III

Unfortunately, there has been a lot of real life getting in the way of our regular weekly D&D Saltmarsh campaign. We discussed amongst ourselves that at some point we may play a big catch up game over a weekend; maybe at the end of this month? Anyway, despite the recent difficulties we were able to get a game in last night to get the campaign rolling again.

Day 23 continued - aboard the Emperor of the Waves

The third room (continued) - The webs in this room contained hundreds of tiny spiders. We burned the webs and the spiders either scuttled off or perished in the controlled conflagrations. A search of the dresser revealed a strange quill, an empty ink bottle and a stained piece of blank parchment, which we stowed in our packs. A search of the wardrobe revealed a dusty hat that Navda took a shine to and plonked upon his head.

The fourth room - opposite the entry curtain to this part of the deck, was easy to get into. The door opened readily with a bit of a creak and revealed a room similar to the others; lots of webs and smashed furniture but nothing of value.

Whilst most of us were searching the room, Navda returned to the main corridor and burned off the excess webs in a controlled way, uncovering a large, two-door hatch in the floor. After a bit of prodding, he realised it was quite rotten and therefore probably unable to support the weight of any of us walking upon it. He made us all aware of his findings.

The fifth room - behind the lower "east" door, was again full of smashed furniture and spider webs. On a bookcase, I managed to find a hollowed-out book with a jewelled letter opener within it.

The sixth room - the last door in the corridor, was very heavy, but it opened quite easily. The floor was covered in runes, written in what appeared to be blood. Hanging from the ceiling at the far end of the room were two cocoons that were writhing and covered in small spiders.

Drakkon advanced into the room but was attacked by a quarter-staff wielding half-orc covered in blood and spiders. I was able to get a slingshot to hit the half-orc but soon after his skin turned very tree bark-like and he became more difficult to injure. He was also able to cast a Thunderwave spell which knocked a few of us off our feet.

Half-orc wizard - image from Fantasy Grounds module

Just as we regained our footing and began to attack the half-orc again, two very large spiders dropped from the ceiling; one covered Druss in sticky webbing that bound him completely and the other attacked Dharion. Just as we thought it could not get any worse, a transparent spider suddenly appeared in the cabin, bit Dharion, who then became paralysed, and disappeared again.

Seeing two of our comrades put quickly out of action, Gladreth decided that she had had enough of this and cast a Magic Missile spell at the half-orc. As he crumpled over, his final words were "She will come and take me." 

The combat against the spiders ground on and we gradually weakened against these formidable enemies. My final Prayer of Healing gave us some temporary respite from the damage we were taking but Gladreth's Magic Missiles helped save the day by weakening the arachnids enough so that our fighters, Drakkon and Druss (who finally escaped his sticky bonds with Navda's help), could finally take them down. The transparent spider gave me a severe bite when it next reappeared, but, for some reason after its latest appearance, it failed to disappear again. Navda was able to kill it quite quickly.

Once the combat was over, we went over to investigate the cocoons. Navda slit open part of one of them and a brown gooey substance leaked out, before a half-digested arm emerged. We decided to cut them down, take them on deck and throw them overboard as we would not be able to burn them in any controlled way.

Whilst the cocoons were dealt with, the rest of us examined the corpse of the half-orc. He was covered in spider-related tattoos and had somehow managed to fall upon a small altar with his dying movements. We shifted him off the altar and found a small wooden box beneath. Inside the box was a rich velvet cloth protecting a few pouches of gold and two small vials that looked like potions; one seemed to be evil in nature but the other seemed "good". We picked them up for later use.

Just as we thought that all was beginning to go right for us the boat rocked violently to port as if hit by a very heavy force or object. I went flying and barely escaped with my life after hitting the bulkheads. The ship righted itself and all went quiet again.

The only door to explore on the lower deck now was the one most astern. It was made of rusted iron and was covered in spikes that would make it too dangerous to try to force open. We decided to go back up to the main deck and see if there was an alternative way down. We discovered a stairway in the aft cabin on the main deck but the cabin was full of webs and debris like all the other rooms. It also contained a rough stone altar surrounded by dried mud that was accompanied by several skulls on spikes and what appeared to be chunks of rotting flesh.

As we made our way across the cabin towards the stairs, a horrid stench assaulted our senses - it appeared to be coming up from the deck below. Our movements obviously disturbed something as we crossed the cabin, as the piles of rubbish began to move and a swarm of spiders erupted from the debris along with another of those spider-like humanoids we had previously encountered.

Gladreth and I kept out of the close combat (but we both aided using our sling and bow) as I was so close to passing out through my injuries and poison, and we were both now out of spells. Luckily, the rest of the party managed to overcome the arachnids without too much bother, although it seemed to take a lot longer than it should have done. We were all beginning to feel the effects of the last few hours.

Once the spiders and spider-being were dealt with we gave the cabin a quick once over and managed to find a pouch of sparkling rubies (worth quite a bit from an initial perusal), a dusty, cobwebbed black cloak, and the captain's log in amongst the broken furniture and other debris. It was difficult to make out most of the writing due to the damage, although luckily it was written in the common tongue. We were able to determine, from what we could read, that a storm threw the ship off course and separated it from the rest of the accompanying fleet. The ship was then attacked by a vessel full of goblins, orcs and other assorted vermin. Although the crew were able to beat off the attack, the captain feared that they were also being pursued by a very large creature. We tucked these treasures away into our backpacks and descended the stairs to the lower deck again.

The horrible stench got worse as we entered what we now knew was the galley; rotten meat was all over the place. We noticed that the spiked door that had stopped us from entering from the other side was decorated in much the same way.

The Emperor of the Waves - getting to the final level?

As there was nothing of any real interest in the cupboards and cubby holes we explored, we headed over to the hatch in the far corner. The ladder descended into darkness and the sound of dripping water - the hold had been breached and was slowly filling up with sea water.