Goblin Raiding Party

Harking back to yesterday's post, the picture I used of a little band of goblin ne'er-do-wells really got my nostalgic juices flowing; enough to warrant a post of their own (and probably several more to come in the future).

These figures are from a very early Citadel box set - Speciality Set 4 - Goblin Raiding Party. The details for them on the Stuff of Legends website has the names I came to know and, erm, love, but their designation does not match up with my memories - the figures listed in The Stuff of Legends entry for them is here in this linky and in the image below...

Image from the back of the box, words by SoL

When I bought the set, this was how I remember them being labelled (basically all the same except SoL have the Warlord and Lieutenant round the wrong way)...

1. D'glish Sharpcut, Ubar's Lieutenant
2. Urag Legeater attacking with Warpick
3. Discipline Master, Snurd Hideflayer with whip
4. Bulbug Orcleaver with warhammer
5. Warlord Ubar Earbiter - Goblin Chieftain
6. Goblin Champion, Torg Dwarfsmasher
7. Norgus the Flatulent attacking with Spear
8. Shaman Pogo Wildchant
9. Gigblad Childsplatter with Morningstar
10. Zurguch Wartpicker with Sling

Here, again, is the picture I took yesterday of the warband all painted using Humbrol enamel paints and based on artists board, with Tetrion and cheap flock for the bases.

Goblin Raiding Party

Goblin Raiders

More Goblin Raiders

Apologies for the poor photo quality - they looked fine on my phone but they lost a lot of detail when I transferred them to my PC to re-size.

What brought these figures back to the front of my mind was their place in one of my gaming worlds from long ago. I saw them as the ideal faction to face off against my dwarf army (Bugman and his Dwarf Rangers got to be included in this army too), which I also bought around the same time. In addition to these, I also picked up dozens of Night Goblins and various other goblins that seemed to fit with this warband - some even had the same shields!

My thoughts when I was totting up the pile of shame was that I would love to re-do these for my more modern gaming sensibilities. Unfortunately, so many of the figures have been affected by the dreaded lead rot. I will need to look into how to arrest the decay of the remaining miniatures so I can get them painted before they become unrecognisable. I just hope the paint on these ones has preserved them.

Another strange thing I noticed - why is Torg Dwarfsmasher on a round penny base whilst the rest are on those square home-made ones? I really don't know is the answer. I will eventually get them all rebased onto pennies for uniformity and to be able to use them for Midgard and Dragon Rampant (I may need to add one or two more from the collection mentioned above to make up the numbers).

If anyone has any tips on how to arrest the dreaded lead rot, I am all ears. Also, what would be the best method for removing the existing paint jobs? They are enamels, so not sure if there are any special methods or particular brands that are better than others. I will do some searching on t'internet but if anyone can help out in the meantime I would be happy for the input.

SoBH Battle Report : Quest for a Magic Item

I had a second day working from home yesterday, so my lunch break was spent running another Song of Blades and Heroes battle with my youngest son. This battle was over much more quickly than the previous one, so we didn't have to take a break mid-point during the game to continue in the evening like last time.

We both decided to use the same forces as last time as we had become familiar with them (and it saved time by us not having to devise two new warbands). My son was the defender so he set up the board and then rolled the scenario - Quest for a Magic Item. We then placed the three magic item tokens (purple counters) by each of the terrain pieces and kicked off the game.

Starting set up - orcs to the left, humans to the right

We both moved up our forces as quickly as possible to try to gain the magic items. The human archers decided to have a bash at really long range (at a -4) and only just missed out by one point on killing one of my orc archers!

In the second turn, the orcs moved a few but then double-failed to activate. The humans managed to get into the woods and found that the magic item was located there. It was a magic sword (+2 Combat until a 1 is rolled). The orcs would now need to run full tilt to try to stop the archer getting off the table.

The humans find the magic sword

It was at this point that we forgot about the 2AP required for actually picking it up. The orcs managed a few triple activations and got closer to the archer with the magic sword, who was able to get within one move of the board edge and safety. The rest of the humans moved to block the orcs from trapping the archer.

The orcs advance rapidly to stop the archer with the magic sword

I was having a lot of luck with activation rolls, so my orcs advanced very quickly and managed to slay one of the human archers. The humans double-failed to get the archer off and had no other moves this turn.

Victory is in sight

The orcs managed to close the gap and would most likely have caught the archer next turn if only he would double-fail. He didn't and got off the board with the magical treasure.

The final result was a win for the humans.

Victory Points : 

Orcs = 1 point (1 for 25pts of kills)

Humans = 3 points (3pts for getting the magic item off the table)

Campaign total : Orcs = 7, Humans = 9

It was a fairly easy win for the humans, but if we had remembered the 2AP treasure pick up rule, it might have turned out differently.

 

Next game, now that we are becoming more familiar with the rules will be the start of a proper campaign hopefully. The humans will keep the sword as a reward and the orcs the treasure from last time. I will try to work out some campaign rules for treasures and reinforcements.

SoBH Battle Report : Treasure Hunt

This week is half-term week. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any time off work whilst my youngest son is over. However, we decided that we would try to play a game or two in the time we have available.

This lunchtime, and for a bit after work, we were able to put together a small game for Song of Blades and Heroes. My son had a bit more time available to ponder his plans than me, so he created a fresh human warband, whilst I used my already extant orc rabble.

Apologies for the picture quality - they were taken very quickly on my phone as I had limited gaming time to fit into my lunch break. Also, I didn't get time to take a picture at the end of each turn, so this is a brief summary of the skirmish.

The human warband (2 archers, 1 heavy infantryman, 5 barbarian warriors)

The orc rabble (3 archers, 1 orc warlord, 5 orcs)

My son set up the table, we rolled for a scenario (Treasure Hunt) and set to.

Starting positions - orcs had priority

The game didn't start out too well for me as the orcs refused to do what I wanted of them. I moved half of them up to try to get to the objective treasure token by the building, which worked, but ended up stringing the other half of them out with no force cohesion trying to get around the building to flank the humans. One of the archers failed to move for several turns and one of the rabble always failed the activation (I activated with 3 dice to get to the hilltop treasure token at the end of each turn and he failed every time).

The humans moved up nicely in a shield wall formation with archers on the flank who would try to get the treasure token in the forest and use the shield wall as cover for on the way back. They took a few pot shots at the orcs by the building but their arrows failed to find their marks, except for one (see below at the end of the post).

Turn 2 - The orcs reach the 1st treasure token

The orcs continued to fail their movement rolls but eventually got to the treasure token on turn 4. They were shot at all the time, but the humans failed to make any impact, especially when they failed to activate on the first roll of their turn 4. The treasure token turned out to be Fools Gold, so the orcs tried to head over to the second treasure in the woods as the humans seemed to be stalled. However, one was shot along the way, which left it open for a human archer to check out the token; it too turned out to be Fools Gold. The orc trying to climb the hill failed his activation yet again.

Turn 5 - the 1st treasure token turned out to be false

The orcs on their flank were slowly getting too close for comfort, so a couple of human warriors peeled off to deal with threat. They piled straight in and took out an orc warrior.

Turn 6 - the melee begins in earnest

The next turn saw the orcs cut down in great numbers, including a couple of Gruesome Kills. The orc leader did, however, manage to kill the human heavy infantryman for a slight bit of retaliation. All the orcs retreated towards their base edge, and one of the orcs left the board (rolled a triple 1). This took the orcs below the fifty percent mark so a Morale check was carried out which meant further retreats.

Turn 7 - the orcs take a battering

This actually panned out well for the orcs as it returned them to very close to their board edge and the final treasure token on the hill. The humans, thinking that their adversaries would get away with the treasure, ran pell-mell after the orcs - you would not believe how many triple activations happened over the next few turns for the humans.

Turns 8 & 9 - the orcs go after the treasure - the humans chase them down

Turn 10 - the orc leader grabs the treasure

The orcs, having grabbed the treasure headed towards their board edge, but the humans closed in on all sides trying to cut them off. Again, triple activations all round whilst the orcs barely managed single activations. However, at turn 12 the luck began to run out; a double-fail on their second roll stopped the human advance.

The final turn began with an orc triple activation which got both the leader and the archer off the board with the treasure.

Turn 13 - The orcs leave the table with the treasure

The final result was a Draw.

Victory Points : 

Orcs = 6 points (5 for the Treasure, 1 for 25pts of kills)

Humans = 6 points (150pts of kills - if 2 more points value of orcs had been killed, victory would have gone to the humans - i.e. if the archer was a warrior that was left, then the humans would have won)

It was a close run game to begin with, but then the tide suddenly turned and a whole swatch of orcs got Gruesome Killed in one turn leading to all but two of the orcs leaving the table. The orcs were on the back foot then (with lots of poor activation rolls to add to their woes - so many 1s), but the humans' luck ran out on the 12th turn and moved to the orcs to get them home with the treasure on the 13th turn.

 

We encountered a weird thing that we could not find covered by the rules - an archery attack led to an orc  rolling a 1 with a -1 penalty = 0. The human archer rolled a 3 with a -2 penalty = 1. The rules state that a Kill needs the attacker to double the defender's score. Unfortunately, any value above 0 is infinite - so was this a hit, a Kill or a Gruesome Kill? We decided that as the scores were so low we would just count this as a hit. If the scores were higher, we decided that a difference of 2 would mean a Kill and a 3+ would mean a Gruesome Kill.

Orctober

As much of the fantasy gaming blogosphere seems to do something for Orctober, I thought I would add my efforts into the mix...

A few months ago, against my gaming fiscal limitations, I purchased a bunch of figures from Australian miniatures producer Medbury Miniatures. I had happened to come across the Good Beans! blog a few months earlier that detailed a Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle game that really piqued my interest. As a result, I looked up the figures used in the skirmish battle and that led me to a small purchase of 21 orc miniatures.

I already have a largish collection of (unpainted - eek!) Lord of the Rings Mordor orcs, but they are in very limited poses. From the 30ish grunts I have (about three sprues), there are only 12 unique poses (14 with a couple of weapon swaps), so a lot of repetition - not good for a rabble-type army. So, for the figures over the 14 count, I will try to do a few hand-swaps and maybe some green-stuff mods to give a little more variety, but it will still leave me with a fairly small number of unique individuals. This is where these wonderful Medbury orcs come in handy - they boost the numbers of unique figures quite significantly.

So, without further ado, here is my first batch of 14 unique GW orcs...

Orcs with hand weapons and shields

Two of these orcs are built from the same original dolly

Two weapons + two bodies = 4 variants

Orc archers

And here are the Medbury orcs - I have only got as far as preparing them in readiness for undercoating. Many were single piece figures, but a few required adding a shield, a few needed their hands drilled for the polearms (metal spears were included, as well as some resin polearm heads) and the banner to be added, and one still needs an arm sticking on - the superglue just wouldn't work on this one for some unknown reason. A little bit of extra work and a punctured thumb - ouch! - later and here we are...

Orcs with 2-handed axes

Orcs with axes and separate shields (arm needs affixing)

Orcs with hand weapons and some separate shields

Orc archers

Orcs with polearms - metal hafts with resin heads

Orc banner bearer

They scale in pretty well (one or two individuals are a wee bit larger) and certainly look the part. As there are still a few more packs available, I am probably going to order them at a later date to make even more unique poses for my orc rabble. I would like to get these painted and based before making any more purchases.

Including my orc leaders and heroes, and maybe by adding in my GW Morannon Orcs and Uruk Hai, I should have a handy sized force for skirmish gaming, whether using Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, Dragon Rampant (2nd Edition on its way - and onto my Christmas list - soon), or Midgard: Heroic Battles.

 Now, who do I front them up against? 

Song of Blades and Heroes - Battle Report 3

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

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

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

5 x Orc warriors  Q 4+ C 3 (115 pts)

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

Orcs of the Red Eye

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

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

1 x Elf warrior  Q 2+ C 3 (38 pts)

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

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

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

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

Defenders of the Realm

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

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

Starting positions

Turn 1

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

Turn 1

Turn 2

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

Turn 2

Turn 3

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

Turn 3

Turn 4

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

Turn 4

Turn 5

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

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

Turn 6

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

Turn 7

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

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

Turn 7

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

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

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

Song of Blades and Heroes - Battle Report 2

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

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

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

5 x Orc warriors  Q 4+ C 3 (115 pts)

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

The orcs of the Red Eye

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

4 x Elf warriors  Q 2+ C 3 (152 pts)

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

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

The elf warband

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

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

Starting Positions

Turn 1

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

Turn 1

Turn 2

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

Turn 2

Turn 3

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

Turn 3

Turn 4

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

Turn 4

Turn 5

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

Turn 5

Turn 6

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

The orcs flee

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

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

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

Song of Blades and Heroes - Battle report

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

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

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

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

5 x Orc warriors  Q 4+ C 3 (115 pts)

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

View from the orcs' side

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

Sir Tristan  Q3+ C 3 Leader (60 pts)

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

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

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

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

View from the humans' side

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

Turns 1-3

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

Turn 2

Turn 3

Turn 4

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

Turn 4

Turn 5

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

Turn 5

Turn 6

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

Turn 6

Turn 7

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

Turn 7

Turns 8-9

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

Turn 8

Turn 9

Turn 10

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

Turn 10

Turn 11

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

Final stand

Orc victory

The orc that shot the final arrow

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

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

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