SBG Magazine - Issue 10

Due to the lockdown, it took a lot longer for this magazine to be released than originally anticipated by the owners. This issue has been deemed a celebratory issue as the 10th edition milestone has been reached. Congratulations to the team! This time, SBG sees us return to the Pelennor Fields of Gondor, and the great battle held upon the plains outside the city of Minas Tirith.

SBG Magazine - Issue 10

 SBG - Issue 10 - Winter 2020

After the initial Editorial, Contents, SBG Towers news and Hobby Blog catch-up pages we are into the magazine proper...

The Dr's Corner - Celebrating 10 issues of SBG - A six page article summarising how and why the magazine came together and includes details of many of those involved in its birth and evolution

Painting Masterclass - The Witch-king. A quick one page article explaining how to paint The Witch-king in this season's latest fashion

Middle-earth's Most Valuable Profile - Carrying on from last issue's article that ran through The Hobbit film trilogy and works out who, in SBG terms, was the most cost-effective character from the films, this issue sees the turn of The Lord of the Rings Special Edition trilogy (4 pages)

The Mumak Man - A 3 page conversation with Dan Entwisle, one of the founding members of the Great British Hobbit League Facebook page, detailing his love for Mumaks and how to field them, including his experiences with using them in competitions

My Favourite Character - Aragorn (in this series, different authors explore their favourite characters - 4 pages)

Battle Report - The Battle of Pelennor Fields  (22 page report) - after a double-page spread showing a very impressive ten mumaks versus a massive mounted Rohan army, this battle report documents the battle outside the gates of Minas Tirith and the Docks of Harlond. It was a four player game that pitted on one side of the board (Pelennor Fields) Theoden's riders (147 miniatures) against a Grand Army of the South (ten mumaks plus their crew), and on the other side (Docks of Harlond) Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli alongside the Army of the Dead (174 miniatures) against the Army of Gothmog (266 miniatures). If Aragorn's forces penetrated Gothmog's army, then they were allowed to join with the Riders of Rohan against the mumak enemy. The points tallies were 6375 for Good and 6452 for Evil, so it was weighted slightly in favour of the evil side winning.

This issue was taken up primarily by a massive battle report and a lot of chit-chat, but there were few actual hobby-related articles. This was because it was a celebratory issue and they wanted to show the hobby off in style, and also, due to the effect the virus has had on being able to meet up for photoshoots and gaming opportunities, lots that was planned for this issue had to be pushed back to a future issue when people could get together.

So, when will we get the next issue of SBG Magazine? Apparently there are two in the offing for release over the course of the next few months; Issue 11 should be a lockdown inspired issue, and Issue 12 should be Rohan themed.

Dungeon Dwellers' Tactics

Actually, before we start, just a quick aside here - in the Labels section to the right of my main blog page I have listed DnD and D&D. In case anyone is interested, the former label is for older Dungeons and Dragons versions (AD&D, Basic, 3rd Edition and occasionally Pathfinder), and the latter is for 5th Edition onwards. Not sure why I differentiated them, but there you go, it probably meant something to me at the time. Sorry, back to the nuts and bolts of this post...

I didn't think that I would write another blog entry so soon on my old AD&D gaming days, but as I was writing the post on hirelings some of my old DMing moments kept coming back to me, so I made a note of them for future use. These thoughts all tended to be about dungeons and the monsters within them, so here is a post on just that as well as the tactics utilised by the denizens of those dungeons deep and caverns old.

I have always found large, rambling dungeon crawls to be a tad "unrealistic". As much as they are fun to play, in that you do not know what you will be encountering in the next room, they are also very brain in bucket style adventures. A few questions always used to pop into my mind when playing these types of scenarios; why don't the monsters next door ever peer round the doorway to ask the room inhabitants to pipe down when combat ensues as they are trying to get the kids off to bed? Why didn't the troll in room 3 not eat the goblins in room 4? How does a huge red dragon get into a room 50 feet underground with access by only 5 foot corridors? And so on.

So, to get around some of these anomolies I used to roll up mega dungeons in advance and part play them through in my minds eye prior to actual game play. I would check what was in each room and its adjacents to see how these beings would interact...

So, the aforementioned troll might allow the goblins scattered throughout the close by rooms to live because they can supply it with a constant stream of other food types. The troll would therefore become some kind of boss monster and I would rearrange the room contents accordingly. In other words the inhabitants could be worked into some kind of tribe/gang-type encounter.

That dragon may have been brought down as a youngling by a family of ogres as a plaything, but after a while it got too big to get out, so the ogres smashed out the roof to allow it to fly out in order to hunt.

These points then brought me onto local ecology issues. The dungeon obviously holds many small factions of hungry and dangerous beings. How would they eat, acquire weapons and armour and so forth? Why would they not just fight against each other until only one gang was left, or maybe two warring factions? This brought me to consider whether the goblins raided the local human farmers for their crops/livestock or did they trade with them? No point in killing the farmers if that meant the food source dried up in a couple of weeks is there? Better to keep them alive so supplies are available all year round would be my best interpretation. How would they pay for the food? Why, with adventurers' belongings hat have been killed in the dungeon seeking their own fortunes. Therefore, the dungeon ecology is directly linked to the local above ground economy.

Getting back to the tribe/gang point above, they would obviously set up some kind of hierarchy and certain troop types would be in certain rooms to aid in the defensive capabilities of the inhabitants. It would make sense to have the boss away from the edges of the mini kingdom so he can have a bit of peace and quiet and somewhere to store his treasure safely. The goblins would form the perimeter guards in a series of slightly tougher rooms as the boss troll is approached. These rooms might also be interspersed with the occasional one-off monster like a roper or mimic for a bit of fun, which leads me to my next couple of points...

Why do dungeon room occupants just charge pell-mell into combat at the first sight of a party of adventurers and not employ tactics?

Why don't they put together a reasoned out defence depending on who/what comes smashing through that dungeon door?

One of the first times I really thought this through was when I was running a small dungeon for a friend of mine to work his way through. In several rooms there were orcs, with the room inhabitants getting gradually tougher the deeper the player characters delved. Our usual style of play was along the lines of; characters listen at the door...they are told they can hear the guttural voices of orcs beyond the woodwork...the door is kicked down after PCs prepare spells etc... combat is joined with orcs just charging the party and getting wiped out in a few rounds.

This time round, things were different. The characters kick down the door and pour in. The orcs split with the larger brutes confronting the party in melee, the ranged weapon owners sniping from the rear and sides at the thieves and magic users, and the 1HP wonder running down the far corridor to warn their fellow guards. The party got the better of the brutes and ranged weapon orcs, but not without taking some damage, and headed to the corridor. At the end they could see a couple more orcs behind a make-shift barricade. The fighters duly charged the sorry sight, backed up by their lesser armoured compatriots. Combat was joined, but the party noted that there were a few more orcs behind the barricade to plug any gaps from their fallen brothers in arms. This didn't deter them until the large ballista showed up. They decided to about-face and run back down the corridor so as not to be hit by the powerful weapon, but stopped dead when they heard that the jeers from behind them were joined by roars of defiance ahead of them (the little 1HP scout had informed the orcs in the next few rooms what was occurring so their defence systems kicked into action). The party were trapped in the corridor and were cut to pieces - TPK.

Ordinarily, these three bands of orcs would have been pulled apart piecemeal by the party (we almost always played 6-8 PCs with several hirelings in tow, so a sizeable force) as they went room to room, but this time round, the orcs easily got the upper hand with a little thought. It also showed how powerful a 1HD monster actually is when used properly. They are as tough as most party members in a toe-to-toe fight.

This just goes to show that tactics can be employed for monsters to up the challenge ratings for the PCs. In future games I dialled back the number of critters in an encounter to take into account the tactical advantages that the residents of the dungeon would have. However, in addition to the tactics, I also included the noise factor - a combat will attract those in adjacent rooms to see what is going on or what advantage they can gain, as well as additional rolls on the wandering monster tables.

Dungeons are dangerous places and need to be prepared for every step of the way.

TToBB II - Camp Kobold

Two days after the encounter with the rabid dogs in the small hamlet of Canisby, Ben and Bill 2 returned breathlessly from a scouting mission. "Balthazar," huffed Ben, "There is a small set of ruins in a glade up ahead that appears to be an encampment of some kind. It is well placed in that it blocks our way, and to go around would add maybe two days to our journey to Felstad."

"It looks like there are guards set, not human guards," interjected Bill 2, "But small imp-like beings, heavily armed and alert."

Balthazar glanced across at his apprentice, Dave, and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?" the wizard asked.

"Well, we can't really afford the time to go around, especially with the condition that Dom is in. I say we attack the camp with the element of surprise."

"Aye," muttered a few of the others, looking to their leader.

"OK, let's prepare to push our way through." said Balthazar with an air of doom in his voice. "Let's quickly scout the area and work out the best form of taking them by surprise."

A quick recce, taken from the vantage point of a couple of large trees in the forest, the warband surveyed the small encampment, complete with several hide tents and a small campfire that gave out only a little smoke to give away its position. Three small, well-armed creatures patrolled between the tents and the ruins. They would have to time their advance carefully to gain maximum advantage.

Leaving Dom with the supplies and packs in a safe place, the rest of the band moved forward in three small groups, hoping to gain as much ground as they could without being seen.

Balthazar advanced towards the camp and was just on the point of giving the call for a general advance when he was spotted by one of the sentries. With a "Yip, yip", the small creatures hoisted their shields and weapons, and ran to meet their foes in battle.

Balthazar called upon his elemental powers and launched a ball of fire at the closest imp. Unfortunately, the power of the elements was not on hand for him to call upon at that particular moment and the fireball fizzled to the floor just in front of him. Dave noticed that his master's spell had failed and with great trepidation tried to call forth his own. Again, the stars were not properly aligned and his ball of fire was also about to fizzle out. But, like against the wild dogs, he summoned the courage and doubled-down on his concentration just enough to launch the spell successfully. It hurt him dearly but it was worth the pain to see one of the imps burn to a charred mess. Unfortunately, the commotion had led to another imp leaving its tent, fully armed, to see what was occurring.

The rest of Balthazar's warband advanced to try to protect their masters and to search out for any treasures that might be available. A minor melee erupted and, taken by surprise by the ferocity of the little critter facing him, Ben suffered a hefty cut.

The noise of the conflict was now building up as weapons clashed with other weapons and the screams of the injured and dying filled the air. With a loud "Yip," a much larger creature emerged from what looked like the leader's tent and made towards Dave and his small squad of soldiers.

Luckily, this was now the time that the elements began to flow again. Balthazar summoned another Elemental Ball and blasted another of the imps from the face of the world. Dave, spotting Balthazar on his own against an imp, and not wanting to tackle the leader-type critter, made his way towards his master and attempted to cast another of his spells. Unfortunately, the movements must have made him lose concentration, so the spell fizzled out.

The leader of the pack of creatures charged into Dick and Ted, but the two soldiers were ready for the fight, and dispatched it with more ease than they thought possible (critical hit).

Meanwhile, unseen and unmolested, the three soldiers on the right flank had found a treasure in an upper part of the ruins and were rapidly scooting around the edge of the camp in order to avoid any more of the small creatures from spotting them.

With almost all of the creatures disposed of, Balthazar sounded the call for a rapid exit. This caught Dave by surprise as he was being sorely pressed by an imp. With the support of two of the soldiers he was able to kill his adversary bare-handed and make good his move to escape.

One or two more stragglers were left, but they managed to evade the last few imps that left their tents.

With the defeat of their leader and the deaths of many of their pack, the remainder of the small creatures fled from their camp and got away from the vicinity. This gave Balthazar's warband the chance to double-back in order to collect Dom and their belongings.

After everyone had been collected together and wounds checked over, Balthazar examined the two treasures that had been found in the village. The ledge in the ruins proved to be the resting place of a very nice sword; why the imps had not found this was anybody's guess - perhaps they had not been there that long or maybe they were just no good at climbing? The small sack which one of the imps was looking in at the entrance of his tent when teh party arrived contained a Grimoire, 20 Gold Crowns and a few trinkets. The trinkets and small coins were rapidly dealt out to the soldiers and the two wizards set about finding out what else they had found.

It took a short while before Balthazar and Dave worked out that they were now the proud owners of 20 GC, a magical sword (+3 Will), and a Grimoire that contained details of the spell Elemental Shield.

Experience:-

Wizard participation = 40 XP 

2 spells successfully cast = 20 XP

2 spells unsuccessfully cast = 10 XP

2 Treasure Tokens secured = 80 XP

9 kobolds killed = 45 XP

Total = 195 XP 

 

With this game, I wanted to try out a few new things rules-wise. Mostly, the opportunity for what I wanted to try did not arise, but I was able to check out the climbing rules and spawning a new enemy every turn. I found that rolling for extra adversaries last game meant that they came in small bands or none at all. However, I thought that one-at-a-time every turn would prove to be quite a challenge. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this time round this posed little challenge to the warband, even though they were down a man.

I had also beefed up the monsters in this scenario; in the first game, the wild dogs didn't pose too much of a problem individually but in numbers they did. I also wanted more on the board at the start (3 instead of 1). However, how could I represent the kobold miniatures, which I wanted to use for this scenario, when there aren't really that many humanoid stat lines available? I harked back to my AD&D game from several years ago and found that the description of imps in the Frostgrave rulebook matched almost exactly with how kobolds (and other beings) are summoned in my Doggerland universe - summoned from one of the planes by a magic user. The only differences between Frostgrave imps and my kobolds was that the kobolds I wanted to represent are not magical creatures (not that that would make any difference in this sceanrio). I also boosted the stats for the leader (and a second in command that was not rolled for) but an unexpected critical hit took care of him in one round. Again, I used a simple random encounter table; 1 = Leader, 2 = Second, 3-4 = two-handed weapon, 5-6 = hand weapon and shield. They each had allotted spawn points and if the leader and second were both rolled for then the table would just go fifty-fifty with the other troop types.

I tried to limit the game to 6 turns and it almost worked. It did actually reach a point where I could have stopped but, like last time, I decided to play the game through (it wound up being 8 turns in the end).

Next time I will need to figure out more of a challenge for the party. I have several XP advances to add to Balthazar's stats and he needs to work out what to do with the magic items that have been found. I also want to try out more of the rules, so will think further about board set up to enable to me to use more.

I have enjoyed the two games so far, but really wish that I had more scenery and adversary miniatures for the warband to fight against. I think I will sort through my lead and plastic piles next week, and perhaps a few orders to miniatures companies will be in order too.

First Frostgrave Game - Aftermath

After playing my first game of Frostrgave 2nd Edition on Sunday, I thought I would do a quick write-up on some of my findings and conclusions.

In the write-up, I did not include a blow-by-blow account of all that happened as that would have been quite an undertaking, so I summarised quite a few turns into one or two lines of text. In doing so, I missed out on reporting on a few little issues and nuances of the game...

When the wizards cast their Elemental Balls at the wild dogs early on in the game, I didn't mention that Dave's spell actually failed on the initial roll. I used some of his health to boost it so that it worked. This turned out to be a great little mechanism, but his poor damage roll meant that he didn't have the spectacular effect Balthazar did with his casting.

I found that a lot of combats did not roll high enough for the attacker to cause any damage on quite a few occasions, but there were around 3 or 4 critical hits that went through and changed the pace of the game - there were a lot of dogs on the board at one time and the adventuring band were being sorely pressed but two critical hits in one round for the humans sorted that dilemma. The use of a d20 means that the game can be a little "swingy" due to the large range given by the dice rolls, but it does make for a great narrative.

Movement distances are very important in this game as it can mean the difference between getting to an objective safely and getting bogged down in a fight. When unhindered by enemies, figures can move quite a long way, even if burdened with carrying their "dead" comrades (I decided in this game to make any downed soldier not automatically get away from the scenario but to have to be moved off the board - half move for anyone carrying them). This seemed to work OK, but I will decide on the spot in my next games as it may not be practicable.

I did initailly set the game length as 6 turns in which to find the treasure and possibly get it off the board. The treasures were found quickly enough but getting them off the board was difficult due to the distances involved on a 3' by 3' table, and the numbers of dogs spawned each turn: for the first 8 turns dog spawning was according to the house rules mentioned in the write-up and then it was automatically one dog per turn to spur the adventurers into action in trying to get off the board rather than being bogged down in a very long fight. This worked well, and I decided that if the soldiers cleared all the dogs off the board in any particular turn then no more would come - this is exactly what happened around turn 9 after 11 dogs had spawned.

A few lessons learned...

It seems that I took my wizards off the board far too quickly and that they should have stayed around a bit longer to magically snipe from a distance to aid their comrades. There was a treasure token on its way off that the soldier could have taken himself and thus leave Balthazar and Dave to blast the dogs. It would also have given me an opportunity to cast more spells to see how well they work.

Ganging up really works. It might only be +2 per extra man in the fight, but that can really make a difference in combat outcomes.

Splitting the warband is the best way of achieving objectives in time. Bunching everyone together would have meant less casualties, but more safety. In this sceario I didn't award XP for completing the tasks in a certain time - perhaps that would be more incentive to split a warband in future games if the secanrio looks too daunting?

Rolling for treasure...

I randomly rolled up the treasure after the game (see last report for full details of what was found) and got some lovely items that I now need to work out when best to use. The Gold Crowns found pose a conundrum. In normal game terms I can just spend the money and get new items etc. However, I am trying to play this as "realistically" as possible, so I will need to wait until the warband encounter a travelling merchant or population centre to be able to spend their gains. I have a very simple encounter table that I am using: each in-game day I will roll for an encounter on a d6. If a 6 is rolled then there is an encounter. I then roll a further d6; on a 1-2 the encounter will be positive (just make up something from the top of my head) and the party can benefit without loss, e.g. they encounter a merchant train in order to purchase supplies, new weapons, armour or a new member of the band if someone has died, and on a 3-6 it will be a scenario (again I will look at my figure availability and see where the muse takes me).

I also rolled, as per my after-game chances of finding some gear for all the soldiers to see if they can "improve". So far none of the soldiers rolled the 10% requirement to gain something (cold weather clothing, a better weapon etc.), so after the next scenario they will roll at 20% to see if they find anything useful. These improvements, as mentioned previously, provide no actual in-game advantages but builds the characters' stories - it will also allow me to choose new miniatures from my collection for the soldiers and, perhaps, point the way towards where they are heading as new troop-types (i.e. what will Balthazar pay for them to upgrade to? Some may become thieves, others men-at-arms).

I still have lots of thoughts rolling around my head on this but I will call a halt here. I am hoping to get another game in this coming weekend, and I have a few ideas of how I want this journey to Felstad campaign to go - I am hoping to tell an ongoing story with recurring villains that will harass the party along the way.

The Tale of Balthazar Blimp : Part I

Part 1 : Dog Day Sunday

The village of Standof is situated in a wide, luxurious valley to the south of the country. Safe from border incursions, a benign local baron, its fertile fields and plentiful wild game mean that it is a place that most people would want to live. However, it can be very boring; not a lot happens in Standof. So, when Balthazar breezed into The Star Inn and offered the choice of eternal boredom, conviction for a variety of petty crimes and misdemeanours, or a life of adventure on the open road, many took him up on the life of adventure (as well as the beers he had on offer).

The weather was warm and a brisk, but leisurely pace meant good ground was covered each day. The journey to Felstad, 500 miles to the north, would take maybe 5 or 6 weeks if the weather held and not too much happened to slow the party's progress.

Five days in, and just under one hundred miles had been covered. The party were feeling good, and this particular day started well, but it would soon take a turn for the worse. The adventuring band was due to stop for a meal at the next village marked on their map - Canisby.

Balthazar called a halt as the village hove into view. Where were the usual noises a small-holding produced? There were no signs of human life, no sounds emanating from any of the animal pens and barns, and no smoke rose from the chimneys of the hovels. The only sign of life was a small cur snuffling at a small bundle in the middle of the path.

 

With horror, Balthazar realised that the bundle was the remains of a small child, in a poor state of decay, being worried by a mangy cur. Upon hearing the approach of the party the small cur snarled and yelped a couple of times. With a series of growls and snarls, two wild dogs bounded over the wooden fence, hunger written all over their mangy, emaciated bodies and saliva slathering from their gaping maws, straight at the wizard and his party.

This spurred Balthazar and his henchmen into action. The wizard advanced upon the two larger dogs, blasting them with an Elemental Ball of flame. The one at the centre of the blast immediately turned to a charred mass but the other kept charging. Dave, following his master's example, launched his own fireball, injuring the second dog. The rest of the soldiers ran to either engage the remaining dogs or to search the buildings for survivors or any left behind trinkets. Bill 2 and Dom were caught by surprise at the ferocity of the wild dogs and were savaged for their carelessness. Dom was severely injured, Bill 2 less so.

 

 

Balthazar, upon seeing that his companions seemed to have everything under control, advanced to the hovel to the left of the path with Ben. They peered inside but found no survivors and nothing of value. The rest of the soldiers carried on attacking the dogs but they proved a bit more troublesome than anticipated. Ted and Bill 2 struck down their adversary, but the fire-injured cur fighting Bill and Dom managed to finish off the already badly injured Dom with a savage snap of its jaws. At the other side of the hamlet Dec, Ant and Dick checked out the barn but were unable to find signs of any survivors. However, they did manage to find a small sack that might contain something of value.

The two wizards thought that the fight was totally under control, so decided to leave the village as soon as possible to check the treasure that was found on the child's body. Unfortunately, behind them the old kennels spawned more ill-favoured canines. A real fight was now on the cards.

As the wizards left the village, the rest of the warband fought for their lives against an ever growing number of wild dogs. Bill tried to carry the limp form of Dom after his masters so that his body would not be ravaged by the incensed hounds.

 

The melee swirled, sometimes the men had the upper hand and at other times the dogs, but eventually steel (a couple of well-timed critical hits) played out tougher than jaws and the final dog was put to death, but not before Dick fell to the savage beasts.

The remaining adventurers picked up the limp forms of their two downed comrades and left the doomed village behind. They finally caught up with their masters in a glade half-a-mile further along the road. A fire had been lit, water gathered from a small stream was boiling in a pot, and sleeping pallets were put down for those in need of rest.

Balthazar and Dave attended to their comrades; Dick, although quite severely savaged, his blood loss made his injuries look a lot worse than they actually were, would feel much better after a hot meal and a good night's rest (rolled Full Recovery). Dom, on the other hand picked up a few more injuries that needed some basic field work. He would need to take things easy for a short while (rolled Badly Injured, so will miss the next scenario), but the problem was it would slow the party's progress.

After everyone had been checked over and placed at ease, Balthazar examined the two treasures that had been found in the village. On the body of the child was a small satchel which contained a Grimoire, 80 Gold Crowns and a few trinkets. The sack found in the barn contained two potions, 40 GCs and a handful of silver and copper coins. The trinkets and small change were rapidly dealt out to the adventurers with hearty thanks and the two wizards set about working out what else they had found.

It took several hours, but eventually Balthazar and Dave found that they were now the proud owners of 120 GC, a Potion of Invisibility, a Greater Potion of Shrinking and a Grimoire that contained details of architecture and methods of construction, and how to prematurely age buildings and stonework by using the arcane sigils of the Chronomancer spell Crumble that was written in archaic script within the hefty tome.

Experience:-

Wizard participation = 40 XP 

2 spells successfully cast = 20 XP

2 Treasure Tokens secured = 80 XP

11 dogs killed = 50 XP (maximum allowed is 50 XP no matter how many killed)

Total = 190 XP 

 

This was my first game of Frostgrave. You can see how I built the warband in previous posts but I thought I would also summarise how I came up with the scenario idea and how it panned out. I do not have much in the way of scenery or critters to fight against in my collection, so I went with what I already own - I will add to these as time goes on.

As a result of the lack of resources, the scenario was fought in a non-snowy environment - the warband are on their way to Felstad - so I could use the few items of scenery I have. The opponents needed to be something quite simple to control but also something I have in my painted miniatures collection; cue the wild dogs. As this was a test scenario, I thought I should reduce the number of treasures to two, the central one that was to be found on the body in the centre of the board and another one that would be found as a result of a dice roll (there were four areas to search; the first area would contain a treasure on the roll of a 6 on a d6, the second area would contain a treasure on the roll of a 5 or 6, the third on a 4,5 or 6 and the fourth and final area would contain it automatically if not already found).

For the adversaries, I started the scenario off with just the one cur in the middle of the board, basically guarding the main treasure. Each turn, in the Creature Phase, I rolled a d6 and consulted the following list - 1-3 = no dogs, 4-5 = 1 dog, 6 = 2 dogs. If a 6 is rolled, on a further roll of a 5 or 6 then an additional dog arrives; i.e. if a 6 is rolled, followed by a further 5 or 6 means 3 dogs arrive. Each subsequent 5 or 6 also adds an additonal dog, so the number arriving can be quite high if the dice rolls go against you - I rolled up on one occasion during this game and on a couple of occasions rolled for no dogs arriving.

As the journey progresses, Balthazar and his band will encounter more adversaries. To facilitate this, I just roll a d6 per campaign day to see if there is an encounter. On a 6, then there is a scenario to come. This will require some thought each time a 6 is rolled - what miniatures do I have, how can I proxy if I have certain minatures but those particular critters do not appear in the Bestiary?

I am going to make the journey 500 miles (as stated in the preamble blurb above). If the going is good, then Balthazar's band will cover 20 miles per day. If any Bad Injuries are in action, then this will slow the pace by 2 miles per day per person. So, the results of this encounter reduce the mileage by 2 miles for each day until the next encounter is out of the way (by that time, Dom is deeemed healed). Even though the warband lost half a day's travel due to the encounter, it is assumed that each subsequent day will be taking that into account.

Anyway, enough for one day's gaming. I will sort out how to spend the experience points and divvy up the treasures over the next day or two and update the spreadsheet. Hopefully I can get a few more games played over the next few weeks in order to familiarise myself with the rules more and to use my dusty miniatures collection.