Midgard : Scenario 5 : Aftermath

The Last Stand scenario saw relatively few casualties, but a surprising ending to what should have been an easy victory for the Britons.

On the Roman side, Caecilius took a wound but the other two Roman heroes were unscathed. The last two Roman units were reduced to just 1 Stamina point each! The Britons lost relatively few units this time around but lost their army leader - Bellicus.

The Britons' losses (109pts):

• Bellicus 3 (47pts)
• 1x Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 2x Archers (30pts)
• 1x Slingers (10pts)

The Roman losses (64pts):

• 1x legionaries (24pts)
• 2x cavalry (40pts)

The final (sixth) scenario in the campaign, will be something that I will make up for a fun ending to the campaign - most likely an all or nothing scenario, but I need to think of a side-quest for each army so that extra points can be gained to allow the Britons to still be able to win the campaign (they cannot do so at the moment).

Onager picture courtesy of Alchetron (free for use)

The Romans will gain two units of Auxiliaries from the camp to the west, the final unit of Legionaries (in the watchtower) and some war machines as reinforcements for this scenario.

• The Romans gain their final reinforcements at the last watch tower...
• 2x units (randomly rolled from below) from the western encampment
• Auxiliary Spearmen (24pts)
• Auxiliary Archers (29pts)
• Watch Tower = 1x unit of legionaries (34pts)
• In this final battle they will get an onager and a scorpio unit in addition
• But, no extra boost from the rest of the legion that has come looking for them

The Britons will get 100pts: 100 plus 0x10 for their level of victory, and a new Level 3 leader.

• The Britons can still recruit from a limitless pool of warriors...
• All damaged units are automatically returned to full strength
• An extra 100 points was awarded to spend on new units
• The Britons did not win scenario 5, so no bonus reinforcements (0x10=0)
• Roll 1d6 on the table below for troop type...
• 1-3  Warriors 2 (17pts)
• 4-5  Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 6 roll on next table...  
•  Roll 2d6 on the table below for 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)

 

The Britons' reinforcements (91pts out of a possible 100pts):

I actually rolled for 2 units of Warriors 2, 2 units of Warriors 3 and 1 unit of Skyclad. However, I do not have the figures available to make up those reinforcements, so I swapped out some of the warriors units for rolls on the second half of the table - here's the reinforcements after the amendments...

• 1x level 3 leader - replacement (no cost) - I named him Vellocatus; son of Bellicus
• 1x Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 1x Skyclad (16pts)
• 1x Hounds (22pts)
• 1x Female Warriors (16pts)
• 1x Archers (15pts)

The Roman reinforcements (157pts):

• 1x unit of legionaries (34pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Spearmen (24pts)
• 1x Auxiliary Archers (29pts)
• 2x Scorpio (@20 = 40pts)
• 1x Onager (30pts)

The reinforcements meant that the two armies were closer in points values, but the Britons still enough ahead to be at a distinct advantage, what with the Romans having two understrength units. As a result, I added an extra scorpio unit and bolstered the two understrength units from 1 Stamina to 2 Stamina to take into account the walking wounded, stragglers and so on bolstering the numbers slightly - the entirety of the cohort's survivors are now here.

The Britons' army for scenario 6 (97/239=336pts):

• Vellocatus 3 (47pts)
• Maviloduus 2 (32pts)
• Aucissa 1 (18pts)
• 2x Warriors 3 (@22 = 44pts)
• 4x Warriors 2 (@17 = 68pts)
• 1x Slingers (10pts)
• 1x Archers (15pts)
• 2x Skyclad (@16 = 32pts)
• 2x Mounted Warriors (@16 = 32pts)
• 1x Hounds (22pts)
• 1x Female Warriors (16pts)

This force is over the 300pts limit, but I am happy with that - it is the Britons' final chance to destroy the hated Romans in this campaign after all.

The Roman army for scenario 6 (99/220=305pts):

• Caecilius Rufinus Pulcher 3 (43pts)
• Gaia Pomponia Thrax 2 (21pts)
• Marius Pollux 2 (35pts) 
• 2x Legionaries (68pts) - one made up to full strength the other = 1 Stamina
• 2x Auxiliary Archers (58pts) - one made up to full strength the other = 1 Stamina
• 1x Auxiliary Spearmen (24pts) 
• 2x Scorpions (@20 = 40pts)
• 1x Onager (30pts)

The sixth scenario sees the final encounter between the British and Roman forces. It is an all or nothing encounter that will end when one force breaks or daylight fails (end of Turn 6).

 

I will need to find the Roman artillery pieces and base them, even if they are only on very basic movement trays. I will dice with my son to determine who plays which army. I am hoping that I haven't made the forces too disparate points wise. The Romans have proven themselves very resilient but they won't have the "hill" advantage for their saving rolls this time. Also, I still need to think of a way in which I can boost points so the Britons can still win the campaign - maybe a few side objectives to boost their ability to gain points as mentioned above?

Midgard : Scenario 5 : Last Stand

Well, this campaign has been a bit of a slow burner, but I am slowly getting towards the end - I just wish I was able to get my figures and stuff out onto the dining table more often than once every few months or so. That said, this one and the previous one have come, relatively speaking, thick and fast, as I want to get ready for the last scenario to play with my son - it will be the first time I play Midgard against an opponent!

I was able to play the Last Stand scenario yesterday, which pits a smaller defending army (200 pts) against a larger attacking army (300 pts). As seen from the previous scenario, defending whilst on a hill is very advantageous, so I see another easy Roman victory here before it all begins despite them being outnumbered.

I had to change the Briton army a little from the list I mentioned in the previous post on the Midgard campaign - I replaced one unit of slingers with a unit of archers (I didn't have the figures available for the extra unit of slingers). I also sourced a female warrior as the new Level 1 hero - maybe she would shake the curse of the level 1 leader deaths for the Britons?

The Briton army (97/205=307pts):

• Bellicus 3 (47pts)

• Maviloduus 2 (32pts)

• Aucissa 1 (18pts)

• 2x Warriors 3 (@22 = 44pts)

• 4x Warriors 2 (@17 = 68pts)

• 2 Slingers (@10 = 20pts)

• 2x Archers (@15 = 30pts)

• 1x Skyclad (16pts)

• 2x Mounted Warriors (@16 = 32pts)

Britons : Right wing - Bellicus and his noble elites

Britons : Centre - Aucissa and the skirmishers

Britons : Left wing - Maviloduus and his warband

Right wing: Bellicus, 2x Warriors 3, Skyclad
Centre: Aucissa, 2x Slingers, 2x Archers, 2x Mounted Warriors
Left wing: Maviloduus, 4x Warriors 2

The Roman army (85/137=222pts):

• Caecilius Rufinus Pulcher 3 (43pts)

• Gaia Pomponia Thrax 2 (21pts)

• Marius Pollux 2 (21pts) 

• 2x Legionaries (68pts) - one made up to full strength the other = 2 Stamina

• 1x Auxiliary Archers (29pts) - 2 stamina

• 2x Cavalry (40pt) 

The Roman contingent

As per the rules for this scenario, after the attackers (the Britons) had been set up, I was allowed to re-arrange a couple of units of the defenders. I was unable to get a shot of the whole table at set up, but suffice it to say, I thought that the cavalry would be better placed being able to charge down-hill towards the British skirmisher units under the command of Aucissa. I swapped them around enough to begin to put that plan into action.

The re-arranged Romans

After Bellicus had pulled back from the ridge, he decided that he would go and destroy the Roman watchtower just to the south of his current position and send a force to wipe-out any contingents left at the Roman encampment to the west. This took him a short while and gave the Romans some breathing room in order to gather their wounded and march as rapidly as they could from the ridge towards the final watchtower beyond the river to the south. 

Bellicus was disappointed to see that the watchtower had already been burnt to the ground and that the western encampment had also been emptied and razed in the same way. He swore an oath to his gods and gathered reinforcements at the nearby village as quickly as he could in order to harry further the retreat of the remnants of the Roman force; there cannot be too many Romans left now surely?

Slowed by the pace of the wounded, Caecilius Rufinus Pulcher found that he could not out-pace the scouts of the Briton army, so looked for somewhere to make a final stand. Luckily, a short distance from the ford, which he crossed without incident, there was another Roman watchtower. Surely he could get there before the Britons caught up with him?

The small Roman force arrived at a small range of hills just as the scouts returned stating that Bellicus's army was only a short distance behind; they had just crossed the ford and had cavalry with them. Caecilius looked around and spotted a hill that suited his purpose. If only the rest of the relief force from the western camp were there to bolster his numbers, then things would be fine.

The route to the fifth battle

A scout, left by the relief force, saw Caecilius set up position on the hill and advanced to his commander to report the latest intelligence -  the relief force had got to the hills as requested, but finding the column hadn't arrived decided to advance towards the watchtower to make for a larger force for a final stand. The two units of auxiliaries from the western camp were therefore not available for this fight.

Caecilius swore an oath to Jupiter, greatest and best, to protect him and his remaining soldiers whilst they bought time for the wounded and waggon train to get to the final watchtower where they could be better protected. There would be a goodly sized force there (at least a century of legionaries and two units of auxiliaries plus whatever the wounded could pull together from their ranks) to defend the retreat should anyone survive this next encounter.

The Romans got into position on the hill to sell their lives dearly but, on closer scrutiny when the Britons arrived, Caecilius noticed that the Britons had made a fatal mistake in their dispositions; the warriors were all on the flanks whilst their skirmishers and light horse were directly down hill without much support (the random dice rolls for troop set up gave the Romans a good opportunity should they be able to exploit it). He quickly gave his orders and rearranged his battle lines to take advantage of the situation.

Turn 1 (Reputation B9, R9):

Spotting his mistake, Bellicus ordered a rapid advance upon the weak Roman position, he didn't want to leave his skirmishers exposed for too long. He understood that the Romans could defend a hill well from their previous encounter, but he had the numbers and the know-how this time. Most of his force advanced as he wished them too, but as was usual some units were slightly more reluctant to go toe-to-toe against a tough enemy.

Caecilius did not wait for the advance to complete and charged his turma of cavalry towards the skirmishers as quickly as he could knowing that the second unit would follow as soon as the lines were cleared. They ploughed through one unit of archers as if they were not there and eyed up the sling toting stragglers behind them.

Meanwhile, on the Roman left flank, the depleted Syrian archer unit kept the Briton warriors at bay.

End of Turn 1

British losses = 1 unit archers

Turn 2 (Rep B7, R11):

The British warriors in the centre could do nothing to stop the Roman charge, so Aucissa just re-arranged their lines and hoped that their cavalry could even the odds a little. The slingers in Caecilius's path were also mown down to a man.

The British troops on the hill advanced a little more cautiously towards the Romans - they remembered what it was like to charge directly uphill towards heavily armed and armoured legionaries. They took a few more casualties from the Syrian bows for their reticence.

The second Roman cavalry turma had by now left the hill, but a little too late as they ran in to a barrage of British slingshot and arrows, whilst the British cavalry rapidly charged towards them.

End of Turn 2

British losses = 1 unit slingers

Turn 3 (Rep B5, R13):

The battle for the hill was finally joined as the Romans were caught between two waves of rapidly advancing warriors screaming for their blood. The Syrian archers loosed one final round of arrows before their training kicked in and they were Replaced by the full century of legionaries at the front line - a much tougher nut for the British warriors to crack. The British warriors under Bellicus's command were forced back giving the Romans a little breathing space, but the legionaries on the other side of the hill were hard pushed by Maviloduus's warband. Maviloduus called for a Favour of the Gods and was rewarded with causing a number of deaths in the Roman ranks, but the Romans stood fast and managed to inflict a few casualties back onto the British warriors.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the hill, the British slingers and archers loosed their stones and arrows at the Roman cavalry, softening up both units. The British mounted contingent of warriors then ploughed into the second Roman turma and wiped them out. Caecilius, realised that it was now a case of all or nothing, so charged at Aucissa's remaining skirmishing units hoping to repeat what had already happened previously but his men were mown down under the withering waves of stone and iron.

End of Turn 3

Roman losses = 2 units cavalry

Turn 4 (Rep B9, R10):

After defeating the Roman turma in front of them, and seeing the other turma had also been cut down, leaving only the Roman leader and his last few guards, the British mounted contingent charged him from behind whilst he was occupied with Aucissa's archers. The mounted warriors managed to wound the Roman general but not before his last remining bodyguards had cut down the skirmishing unit ahead of them.

Maviloduus continued his push against the under-strength century of legionaries ahead of him and was rewarded for his troubles by seeing the last of them fall - all he needed to do now was take down the remnants of the Syrian archers and meet up with Bellicus at the top of the hill once he had defeated the legionaries on his side of the hill.

Bellicus's Legendary Weapon cut swathes through the ranks of the Roman legionaries again and he smiled in satisfaction as he saw a unit of his cavalry supported by many skyclad warriors impact the Roman flanks. Unfortunately this was the last thing that Bellicus saw as he was skewered upon a Roman gladius. He thought "even though I die, I smite thee", and another enemy fell to his sword as he slumped to the ground.

A great cry went up from the Britons when Bellicus and his band of valiant brothers were killed. The cry was heard even at the other side of the battlefield, as the Britons on the hill top turned tail and fled the scene. The last remaining Romans (Caecilius, 1St of Archers and 1St of legionaries!) could not believe what had just happened.

End of Turn 4

British losses = 1 unit archers, 1 unit warriors (3), Bellicus

Roman losses = 1 unit legionaries

Final tally (Rep B-1, R6)

That was a crazy ending to the game. The Britons had the upper hand on the hill and it would have only been one more turn before the entire army was wiped out when Bellicus had to roll 2 Risk to Heroes dice - snake-eyes. He was dead! He had used all of his Mighty Deeds on the combat so could not use one to help save a wound. The Romans, somehow, managed to pull off a Mighty Victory, to surge way ahead in the campaign. Again, there were a number of take-aways from this battle: 

• Being uphill and using those saves helped the Romans again
• The Romans took a lot of casualties again, but not enough to lose whole units and thus lose the all important Reputation points
• Female Level 1 British heroes fare better than their male counterparts
• Don't roll snake-eyes for your leader's death saves - it loses you the game even though you are greatly ahead numbers-wise and about to strike the final blow

Campaign Score: Romans 8 Britons 3

Next game should see a large force of Britons on the table as they lost very few units this time around. I will also need to fudge what units they get due to the limitations of the figures I have available. The Romans will only get the remaining century of legionaries, two units of auxiliaries and whatever I can plausibly piece together from their remaining units. I did mention some artillery in a previous post, so I am beginning to get the inklings of an idea for what the next scenario can be - it will not be one from the book. It also has to be a fair match so my son can play in the next game without a disadvantage. I will post an aftermath of this game in the next day or so and sum up what will happen going forward.

Five Leagues from the Borderlands

Not sure if I have mentioned it previously here on the blog, but I picked up the Five Leagues from the Borderlands rules set many moons ago. I read the rules through in readiness to run some solo adventuring, but I just never got around to it - Midgard and Song of Blades and Heroes took precedence for a while.

The reason I mention it now is that my kids bought me the expansion book for it for Christmas - the Five Leagues from the Borderlands Compendium - and that has spurred me into action...

Five Leagues from the Borderlands Compendium

This expansion book contains two PDF supplements that have been released previously; Paths in the Wilderness and The Ancient Land of Dust, as well as a slimmed down version of the rules for dungeon delving called Deep Below. I will look at incorporating this additional ruleset into some near-future gaming.

In preparation for a Five Leagues campaign that I will start once my Midgard : Britannia campaign has run its course (a little more on that tomorrow), I will begin by re-reading the original rules and rolling up a party to go adventuring. I will be using my go to fantasy realm of Doggerland as the background. I have used this background for a number of previous other games - a play-by-email strategy game, a dungeon crawling play by email game (I didn't get around to writing that one up on this blog), and an AD&D campaign based around the old Village of Hommlet and The Temple of Elemental Evil modules with lots of extras thrown into the mix.

This campaign will be based 15-20 years after the foiled attempt by the demoness of fungi to enter the antediluvian realm, when a few fresh threats emerge to haunt the lands several leagues to the south and east of Vannin where the AD&D campaign took place.

It will feature a whole new raft of beings and critters that either managed to make their way into Doggerland through the temporary rifts opened by the demoness and her followers, or were already present in the dark and gloomy places, undetected and unseen except by those that had the second sight. These beings are now emerging to reclaim what is rightfully theirs; beings that are only usually talked about in hushed voices around hearths in the safety of civilisation, or used to scare children into obedience.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#22) - The Isle of the Abbey III

Day 51 - continued

After Navda's unfortunate dunking in green slime, he edged around the pit to examine the door at the end of the north corridor. After negotiating his way around a trip-wire trap across the corridor, which was subsequently disarmed, Navda discovered that the door was indeed a false one as we suspected.

The dungeon expands

We decided to head left and left again from the cross-roads, so that we covered the underground maze in a logical fashion. Unfortunately, Navda discovered trap after trap along each corridor, which took ages for him to either disarm or mark them out as a danger. We decided that we would not go behind the false door as we assumed it to be a stairwell down to another level - we will go back and investigate that area at a later stage.

As we headed back eastwards along the main east-west corridor, Navda unwittingly set off a pit-fall trap but was able to avoid its consequences. We started to cross the area that contained the trap one-by-one but my heavy armour caused me to slip and fall into the spike-lined pit, causing me no small amount of pain.

Whilst I was down the pit, in which I found nothing of value, Navda had explored to the end of the corridor and peeked into the large chamber at the end. Within it he spotted a large crystalline statue of a minotaur and a number of large rotting figures stood still in the darkness beside it.

As I was rescued from the pit, we all heard a stone-on-stone grinding noise, and were surprised by a huge rotting ogre that appeared in the corridor right before us. It was soon joined by a couple of ghasts and a furious melee erupted. A Fireball from Gladreth caused them a great deal of bother though.

I managed to Turn one of the smaller undead beings and Navda killed the other, but not before Gladreth and Druss were taken ill from the stench of the ghasts. Dharion was on form and finished off the other two undead beings in quick succession.

Believing the threat to be over for now, Gladreth advanced into the chamber only to be severely injured by the great axe of the crystalline minotaur figure. Dharion struck the statue in retaliation, but shards of it flew off in a spray of razor sharp splinters causing him to step back in pain.

Gladreth cast a Lightning Bolt but it seemed to shrug off a fair bit of the damage it should have taken. Another Lightning Bolt and Druss's Dragon Breath also failed to cause it much harm, but Drakkon was able to disarm the minotaur, giving the party a much needed respite to re-double their attacks and for me to cast a few Prayers of Healing.

We were all trying our utmost to take the being down, but it stubbornly refused to fall causing most of us grievous wounds and felling Gladreth. My prayers and spells barely kept up with the injuries sustained, but a sudden flurry of blows from the fighters and a well-aimed shot by Navda finally brought the crystalline monster down.

A search of the chamber revealed nothing of value for all of our efforts, so we decided that we should rest up again to regain our spells and to heal. We headed back to the chamber we had slept in the night before, Navda reset the traps and we settled in for a long rest.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#21) - The Isle of the Abbey II

Day 50 - The Ruined Abbey continued

We advanced cautiously down the rough-walled corridor and saw what Navda had reported - a door in the east wall of the chamber, two large minotaur skeleton statues with great axes and a pile of what looked like corpses piled in a corner.

As Navda stepped into the room, a ghostly figure appeared and began to attack us, closely followed by an eerie looking menace in dark robes. When the dark-robed figure gazed at us all, Gladreth and Dharion collapsed to the floor.

A Bodak  - courtesy of Fantasy Grounds

Druss and Navda attacked the robed figure whilst I summoned my Spirit Guardians to tackle the spectre. This also gave me time to resuscitate Dharion and Gladreth who was then able to cast a shower of Magic Missiles to dissipate the spectre.

Unfortunately the gaze of the robed being overcame me, and Gladreth again, and we collapsed to the floor, but my Spirit Guardians kept fighting to protect me. Dharion was able to destroy the robed figure before any more of us could succumb to its deadly gaze, but another spectre attacked us. Dharion was able to bring me round, and the second spectre was quickly put down by a combination of all of us attacking it.

I quickly cast a Prayer of Healing, which brought Gladreth round again, but just as we thought we were safe, the two minotaur skeleton guardian statues came to life and began to advance up the corridor. Druss and Dharion moved to attack them but were scythed down without mercy. I stepped forward to Heal them, only for them to be scythed down once again. The combined attacks of Gladreth's Witch Bolts and Navda's critical archery finally dispatched the giant skeleton guardians.

A Minotaur skeleton guardian - courtesy of Fantasy Grounds

After the melee, we nursed our wounds but found that were very sorely beaten up. We searched the room for any further dangers, but found none. Navda then set a trap on the door in the east wall of the chamber, and another to the main entrance to the underground complex, and we barricaded ourselves into one of the rooms in the main chamber to rest and heal up overnight.

Day 51

We awoke refreshed and checked the trapped doors, but found that neither had been disturbed during the night.

We advanced again to the minotaur skeleton room; Navda scouted ahead, with me following as back up. He passed through the east wall door into a maze of corridors, and explored northwards whilst I covered him from a cross-roads.

More of the dungeon

The next thing I heard was a yelp as Navda fell into a pit full of some green slimy stuff which burned him as he hurriedly climbed back out.

Midgard : Scenario 4 : Aftermath

The Take the High Ground scenario saw both sides take heavy casualties, but lose relatively few units.

On the Roman side, none of the leaders took any damage, but both units of legionaries lost 1 Stamina, and the archers 2 Stamina. The Britons lost a "normal" amount of units and a Level 1 leader again, but the remaining units also took plenty of Stamina loss - as these will be automatically replenished, I won't concern myself with listing those details here...

The Britons' losses (120pts):

• Magunum 1 (18pts)
• 1x Skyclad (16pts)
• 2x Warriors 2 (@17pts = 34pts)
• 2x Archers (@15pts = 30pts)
• 1x Warriors 3 (22pts)

The Roman losses (24pts):

• 1x Milites (24pts)

The next game (the fifth scenario in the campaign), Last Stand, suggests that the attacking to defending army ratio is 300:200 points. I won't have the correct ratio of troops on each side if I run reinforcements as per my standard rules, so, I will reinforce the Britons as per the rules below, but as the Roman force would be too large if it is reinforced, I will not add their reinforcements (there was double the amount in the last game anyway - 2x cavalry units and a legionary unit to make up the numbers).

Route to Scenario 5

The Romans have two units of Auxiliaries from the camp to the west and the final unit of Legionaries (in the watchtower) for the sixth scenario. As they got some of their reinforcements early (scenario 4), they won't get any in the next game (scenario 5) - I am going to rule that the remaining infantry have obeyed their orders and have made their way to intercept the retreating column by the final watchtower in time for scenario 6.

The Britons get 100pts: 100 plus 0x10 for their level of victory, and a new Level 1 leader.

Here's a reminder of the reinforcement tables...

• The Romans gain reinforcements depending upon which Roman camp type they are nearest to...
• Marching camp = 2x units (only 2 units left for scenario 6)
• Auxiliary Spearmen (24pts)
• Auxiliary Archers (29pts)
• Watch Tower = 1x unit of legionaries (1 unit left for scenario 6) (34pts)
• In the final battle they may get an onager and/or a scorpio unit in addition
• Depending upon how casualties go in Last Stand, 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 for troop type...
• 1-3  Warriors 2 (17pts)
• 4-5  Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 6 roll on next table...  
•  Roll 2d6 on the table below for 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)

 

The Britons' reinforcements (97pts out of a possible 100pts):

• 1x level 1 leader - replacement (no cost)
• 1x Warriors 3 (22pts)
• 1x Archers (15pts)
• 1x Warriors 2 (17pts)
• 1x Warriors 2 (17pts)
• 1x Skyclad (16pts)
• 1x Slingers (10pts)

The Roman reinforcements (0pts):

• None - see above

 The Britons' army for Last Stand - scenario 5 (97/205=302pts):

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

This force is now just over the 300pts limit, which is near enough.

The Roman army for Last Stand - scenario 5 (85/137=222pts):

• Caecilius Rufinus Pulcher 3 (43pts)
• Gaia Pomponia Thrax 2 (21pts)
• Marius Pollux 2 (21pts) 
• 2x Legionaries (68pts) - one made up to full strength the other = 2 Stamina
• 1x Auxiliary Archers (29pts) - 2 stamina
• 2x Cavalry (40pt) 

The Last Stand scenario requires a 300 pts attacker (Britons) and a 200 pts defender (Romans). The Roman army is a little higher in value than 200pts but as two of the units are below strength, I guess this might even out?

 

By the time I play Last Stand, I will need to sort out a name for the new Briton Level 1 leader, hopefully get some paint onto a few of the other bases, and figure out how to represent the hill other than using a pile of books if I can.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#20) - The Isle of the Abbey

We managed to get together online for our all day event yesterday. We could all make it except for the player of our Dragonborn Barbarian, Druss.

Day 47 - A new adventure

Several weeks have passed since our seaborne mission to recover those relics for our last patron. We were now being recognised around the town of Saltmarsh as a formidable group of adventurers, but well-paid work was still little and far between.

Early this morning, however, we paid a visit to the Mariners' Guild to see what they might have to offer us in terms of employment. The elf stationed at the guild hall mentioned that the Mariners' Guild were looking to build a light house on a fog-and-reef-bound island about six hours sail away. The island was inhabited by a group of religious cultists who had allied themselves with a pirate crew. He used the past-tense term "was" as smoke had been seen billowing from the island a few days ago and he assumed the worst. He said that he would like to hire us to investigate what had happened and establish a base there for the Guild; this would be in return for our supplies, transport to get us there, and a payment of 2,000 gold crowns upon completion of the job.

As we were bored of idling around town, we took the job offered, signed the ledger, and were given a summary of the itinerary on a scroll that we were told we would need to hand back once the mission was completed for our payment. We were to meet at the docks at early light, where a fishing vessel would take us to a nearby lighthouse island to meet a Major Ursa. From there, we would be given a rowing boat to take us to the cultists' island.

Navda managed to get a look at the ledger in passing and discovered the last party left three weeks ago and had not returned; in fact, all entries in the ledger had a line through them. He also discovered that they were paying us double what other adventurer groups had been offered.

Day 48 - The journey to the island

We met the fishing vessel at the docks at the appointed time and clambered aboard with all of our supplies (given to us by the Guild). The weather was calm on the outbound journey, and we arrived at a small wooden jetty on the small lighthouse island after a four or five hour sail.

We were greeted by Major Ursa, a very military-looking dwarf, who repeated the story from the Guild about the Isle of the Abbey. Repeating what had already been said, he mentioned that a cult had established a base on the island and had been joined by a pirate crew to give them some muscle. Three days ago, smoke was seen rising from the island. No other adventurers had returned from their missions to the island.

As we wanted an early start, we had a quick meal and camped on the beach so that we could get away early the next day. Major Ursa showed us the rowing boat we were to use, so we stowed our supplies on it, along with a map of the island he handed to us. He mentioned that we should only land on the south beach as the reefs were treacherous elsewhere.

The Isle of the Abbey

Day 49 - The Isle of the Abbey

We were awoken very early by the major, who handed us the oars for the boat and directions to the island. The sea journey took about an hour and a half before we spotted a fog-bound island in the distance. We could hear the waves crashing around partially submerged rocks in the distance. We approached the island cautiously and landed on the southern beach as suggested. We did look to row further up the western coast but the jagged rocks and reefs we could see put paid to that thought.

The southern beach and dunes

When we jumped out of the longboat, we hauled it as far out of the water as we could and sorted our supplies accordingly. We noticed that the beach held no footprints, which we found to be unusual, and as we proceeded to scout out the immediate area we noticed that there were several items of arms and armour scattered around the nearest dunes; most accompanied by a two to three day old limb that appeared to have been ripped or torn off.

Navda climbed to the top of the nearest dune to look out for the best way forward, but all he could see was more dunes glinting in the morning sun (presumably on more items of arms and armour?) for about a mile. He also noticed, almost directly north of us, a column of smoke rising from the centre of the island.

As we did not fancy crossing all that sand and possibly disturbing something that might be lurking there we decided to hug the eastern coast. No sooner had we got underway than we were attacked by a small group of skeletal warriors that cambered their way out from under the sands.

Skeleton warrior

The fight was very short-lived; Drakkon and Dharion dispatched two of them in quick succession and I used one of my god-given powers to make the rest of them crumble to dust.

Unfortunately, as we continued to head along the coast, more skeletons erupted from the dunes. Again, Drakkon and Dharion made light work of most of them, but I was beginning to use up too many of my powers. We decided to head inland instead in the hope that it would take us away from the skeleton infested beach dunes.

It seemed to us that we had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire with our decision to journey inland. Three great flying beasts swooped over the dunes and attacked us.

A manticore

Not knowing how powerful these creatures were, but thinking that they were bound to be more of a challenge than the skeletons on the beach, Gladreth decided to Fireball one of them. It crashed to the sands as a smouldering pile of smoking flesh. The other two were quickly subdued by Drakkon and Dharion.

No sooner had we recovered our breath than we were attacked again! No wonder so few of the other adventurers managed to make it off the beaches before us. This time it was four very well armed and armoured pirates. This proved to be a much tougher fight than the previous ones until Gladreth's Lightning Bolt killed one of them and seriously hurt two of the others. Navda and Drakkon killed off two of them and I finished off the last one with a Sacred Flame. As we had all taken on a number of cuts and bruises, I offered up a Prayer of Healing to revive us all. We decided to search the bodies even though the previous encounters offered up no treasure, but we found a number of silver coins and some gem encrusted gold rings.

As the noonday sun had passed us by now, we were glad to finally be getting out of the dunes. However, as we passed one dune in particular, we picked up a rather nice short sword that was in amongst the other battle field debris. We exited the dunes onto firm ground of sand and gravel, covered in short, stubby bushes, scrubby grass and boulders.

We saw the smoke rising just to the north of us, so headed towards it via as much cover as we could manage. When we got close enough, we saw that what would once have been a large abbey building had been reduced to rubble and smoking ruins.

As we were tired and battered from all of the fighting in the dunes, we decided to camp in the bushes for the night in order to rest up and survey our surroundings. Nothing of note happened during the night other than we all heard snippets of voices and the occasional clanging of metal and clunking of heavy wood.

Day 50 - The ruined Abbey

Navda rose very early and slunk about the smoking ruins. He reported back that some of the building stone and wood had been arranged into orderly piles, and that there appeared to be an entrance hidden amongst the ruins. We decided to head to the covered entranceway, pulled the wooden covering off and descended into the darkness below. I cast Light onto my holy symbol, whilst the rest either relied on their innate night vision or carried torches.

Drakkon led the way down the stairs and stopped us as we encountered a charred wooden door. He found it difficult to push open the door, but he gradually muscled it aside with a rather loud grinding screech. Through the door, we emerged at the bottom of the stairs into a large chamber.

There were three people in the makeshift dining area, and they were ready to attack us as soon as we got through the door. Drakkon was severely hurt by the spear-toting guardsman as soon as he entered the room, but Navda and I were on target with our bow and Sacred Flame, killing both the cultists. The spear-wielding guard made short work of both Drakkon and Dharion as he shield-bashed them to the floor on several occasions. I managed to Heal them both from some of the damage but more was inflicted as the guard went into a shield-biting rage. With the two fighters on the ground he charged towards Gladreth and me. I must admit that I was truly worried at this time and suggested to Gladreth that now would be a good time to use a Lightning Bolt. She did so with such great effect that Navda was able to easily submit the coup de grace.

We rested up for a few moments and I salvaged the guard's half-plate armour. It was not too singed from the Lightning Bolt.

Eight doors led off of this room, so we decided to try to get to them in clockwise order starting at the one to the left of the stairs as we came down them.

Room 1 - inside this room were several small statues of various animals, mostly dogs, and garden gnomes, as well as two life-sized statues of a skeleton and a medusa at the far end of the room on plinths. There was a pallet full of blankets in here too. Navda searched the statues and found that the plinth of the medusa statue opened to reveal a drawer containing a couple of scrolls, a large silver holy symbol (a robed figure in flames) and a tome of various evil incantations.

As we continued our search, a pile of small statues and blankets moved to reveal a rather forlorn robed figure who introduced himself rather apologetically as Brother Odim. He was wearing a holy item of a black cross with a silver skull emblem - the symbol of Sirric, an evil god. He made out he was glad to have been rescued and apologised as he did not really want to be a part of the cult. We asked him several questions about the side chambers and he answered us falsely as we later found out when he ran off.

Room 4 - we went to this room first as Odim told us it was a guard room. It was far from such being filled with empty wine barrels and bottles. Still, we found a small pouch of gold coins and a rather smart looking dagger for our troubles.

Room 3 - this room was humid and had a greasy feeling to it, what with all the dirty dishes and cold, oily water everywhere; it appeared to be a kitchen of sorts as it contained a very large cauldron and utensils. It held nothing of value, unless three recipe scrolls in a case were of any value.

Room 2 - this room was full of bookcases, along with a high chair and scribe's desk. Unfortunately, it also contained four cultists who attacked us on sight. Dharion and I were quick to put two of them down, but even after they were called to surrender, the remaining two carried on fighting and were killed by Gladreth's magic and Drakkon's sword. The locked scribe's desk revealed 2 vials of exotic ink and two more magical scrolls. The bookshelves held a rather rich-looking set of blue and copper bound books regarding evil rituals.

Room 8 - beneath the stairs the door opened suddenly as we reached it. Navda was knocked to his knees and attacked whilst down by a guard and a cleric who were in this room. A spell from the cleric rendered everyone except Dharion and me inactive. I managed to Sacred Flame the cleric, but then the door to the room beside us burst open to reveal another guard and evil cleric who cast a Spirit Guardian spell that knocked me unconscious.

Whilst I was out for the count, I was told that Dharion was able to kill the cleric that cast the Spirit Guardian spell and his guard, whilst Navda finished off the guard in room 8. It was Dharion that saved my life as he had the only spell capable of bringing me round again. It was during this melee that Odim decided to make off - his lies had caused us no end of grief.

Whilst I was being revived, the rest of the party searched the room and found two more scrolls, some ruby earrings, a pouch of gold and a very fine pair of boots beneath a loose flagstone. The more powerful of the evil clerics also had a gold medallion around his neck which we purloined.

Room 7 - Now that the inhabitants were dead, we searched the very disorganised store room. In amongst the detritus we found four potions of Healing in very fancy decanters.

Room 6 - this appeared to be an old barracks room full of second rated arms and armour.

The dungeon below the ruined abbey

Room 5 - this final room had three walls draped in black velvet, whilst the fourth wall held a mural of a red dragon devouring a sheep. A man in a hooded robe in the centre of the very clean room was scrubbing the already spotless floors around a brazier. We wondered why he hadn't reacted to the commotion outside or our coming into the room. Navda eased forward and prodded him but got no reaction. He then pulled off the man's hood to see that he had no ears, his eyes had been gouged out and he had blood all over his face. Seeing as how the rest of the cultists turned out to be evil, Drakkon put the man out of his misery just in case he turned out to be something sinister.

Navda got to work on finding another way out of the dungeon and managed to find a secret doorway behind the curtain of the southern wall. A quick search around the brazier by the rest of us revealed a small silver statue and an ornate candlestick.

Beyond the secret door was a short corridor that led into a square chamber that did not look finished. Besides the door in the east wall, there were two skeletal figures holding large axes looming over a pile of corpse-like figures in the corner.

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.