Enemies at the Borders
“I can’t believe it, no sooner had we received word that the force of Orcs from the North had been destroyed, than we received word that a village on our Western border had been sacked by Gnolls, and the sails of a Reptile fleet had been spotted off the East coast. I guess we had better hope that the Undead in the South don’t rise up too!”
Welcome to the Kingdom of Grosmorne, a land predominantly home to Humans, bordered by four very territorial races. Things have been quiet but very tense for years and could bubble over at any moment. We have a sizeable standing army, ready be deployed to the borders at short notice, but nobody expected to have to fight on four fronts at once.
Our Kingdom is an alliance of three city states, St John’s, Grand Falls, and Conception. Each with its own troops and livery, but we will work together against these external threats.
[This campaign uses the Enemies at the Borders rules and will be 12 battles played from a pool of 40 scenarios, escalating in difficulty, and the forces available to me will be effected by the results of the previous battles].
Game 1 - The peace of the Kingdom is shattered, first a northern village is destroyed, then a mine. So I have dispatched a force North to defend against these raiders.
[This is a Low Difficulty Defend Scenario, and I rolled one of the easiest Adversary forces - 3 Rabble Fighters, 2 Rabble Shooters, and 1 War Machine/Monster - so I can field quite a mixed force myself. The scenario rolled was Break Through where at least 3 of my units are trying to exit off the Left table edge before the end of the battle (8 Rounds).]
A group of our soldiers have ended up behind the enemy advance and must break through it to get back to us.
Setup - of the Adversary units only three are currently visible so I set up ready to face off against them but balanced for wherever the other three are.
Round 1 - The rabble and Mage on the hill have a good view of the battlefield and can see another group of Orcs and a nasty looking Troll blocking the path through to their own army. This suggests there are some other goblin wolf riders lurking behind the wood or the hill. With a limited time before this lot will be reinforced the Kingdom forces have no choice but to push on.
Hostilities start with a volley from the crossbows at the wolf riders in the centre, killing four of them and sending the remaining two scurrying off in disarray. Though three of the crossbows are rendered useless in the process. This is upsetting for the orcs next to them who stand where they are looking at the dead bodies of their comrades.
To their dismay they then see the Human cavalry push through the frantically reloading crossbows, and they get no support from the two remaining wolfriders who are trying to pull themselves together off behind them.
The Slingers on the hill don’t want to be out done by those cocky crossbow guys and let fly at the orc archers below them, watching with great satisfaction as they too back away, leaving three of their number dead. They too regroup but then another one falls dead from a lightning bolt from the Elemental Mage.
That’s all the fighting though, the rest of the Kingdom Units start moving forwards and the Goblinoid Units at the back show no sign of coming to meet them.
Round 2 - There is a thunder of hooves as the cavalry charge into the dithering Orc spears. Both units then retreat away afterwards each leaving 3 of their number dead behind them, the orcs finding themselves unable to do anything else than recover from this while Human spears emerge out of the woods towards them, but then a howl erupts from the remaining two wolves as they suddenly throw themselves at the Humans! It is 2 verses 8 but the chances are actually even. The wolfriders are both slain but they take three humans with them and they are forced to retreat, forcing Lord Arundel to step forward in between the Orc spears and the retreating Human Spears.
The depleted Orc archers are feeling exposed and head back towards the supposed safety of the woods, allowing the rest of the Kingdom force to start heading forwards, but the second line of greenskins also gets up the courage to come to meet them.
Round 3 - knowing that his comrades need to get moving forwards, not backwards, Lord Arundel throws himself at the five remaining orc spears. He slaughters four of them and the last one retreats, while Arundel takes a single wound which he shrugs off as he watches the lone orc keep retreating. This allows the Rabble unit to follow along behind him, although still dirupted from their encounter with the wolfriders.
The Orc bows decide they should stop hunting for cover but don’t shoot, so the slingers let fly at them, killing another one but they take that in their stride. The Troll falters again as the central Kingdom Unit crests the hill, which in turn makes the Orc unit pause. The Mage decides to stay with the Slingers rather than proceed on alone and zaps another Orc archer with a lightning bolt.
The final Adversary unit, more Wolfriders, now shows itself as the the Human cavalry recovers itself and the Crossbows keep coming forward.
Round 4 - the Kingdom force needs to push forwards now if they are to get clear of the enemy army, so Lord Arundel heads onto the hill. The recently spotted Goblin wolfriders are eager to join the battle but are just to far away from the enemy to charge, so make their way forward, while the remains of the Kingdom cavalry, decide to stay out of the way and move further to their right. This makes sense as Lord Arundel is close enough to that last Orc spear to force it off the battlefield and giving the forces on the right, including the remaining Human spears a clear path to keep heading off the table to safety despite still being disrupted.
The two remaining Orc archers fire at the unit they can see on the wooded hill in the centre, but don’t achieve anything, so the Kingdom’s Rabble Shooters make their way forwards too. The Troll is next but seems less than eager and actually pulls away from the nasty Humans.
The Mage, seeing a great opportunity to help his comrades casts a Wind Funnel, disrupting the wolfriders, and after the remaining Orc fighters start moving towards Lord Arundel, the Kingdom fighters in the centre charge into the stricken wolfriders. 12 dice verses 6 leaves three wolfriders and 1 Human dead, the Humans are fine, but the wolfriders immediately retreat.
Finally, the Kingdom crossbows fire a volley at the Orcs heading for Lord Arundel, and despite the fact that three can’t shoot they kill three of the Orcs and the rest also go into retreat.
Round 5 - Lord Arundel plows into the retreating Orcs, at 10 dice verses 1 it should be carnage and Arundel is surprised when he takes a couple of wounds and only kills one Orc, but apparently that was enough and the Orcs rout!
The wolfriders have vicious Humans too close behind them so they leave too, and the Kingdom unit that defeated them turn their attention to the Troll. They manage to score 4 Wounds on it and survive unscathed themselves, which is not enough to kill the Troll but does force the Troll into retreat, although the Humans lose their nerve and go into retreat themselves.
This just leaves two Orc archers on the table, and they duck into the woods, while the rest of the Kingdom forces head towards safety.
Round 6 - the Disrupted Kingdom Unit recovers but then comes under fire from the two Orcs, well one Orc archer as the other one already broke its bow. They do no damage but force the unit into retreat again. This however leads the Kingdom slingers to fire at them, and both are killed. With no enemy troops between them and safety, the remaining Kingdom troops now make a dash for it.
Round 7 - four Kingdom units are off the table and the remaining three are close by the end of the Round, so that’s a Victory for the people of Grosmorne.
Aftermath - replacements are soon found for the 7 soldiers killed in the battle. The warriors that fought valiantly against the wolfriders and the troll are promoted to Veteran, the Elemental Mage Azriel is infused with extra power, and Sir Botwood the junior leader that was with the crossbow unit during the battle also gains valuable experience.
[This was not expected to be too challenging, but there were a couple of lucky rolls that could have gone differently.]
Game 2 - Your neighbours to the East have heard about your troubles and seek to take advantage. Send a force East and defend against their efforts.
[A second Low Difficulty Defend Scenario, but I rolled a more challenging Adversary force - 1 Regular Fighters, 2 Rabble Fighters, 2 Rabble Shooters, 1 Magic User. I cannot use any of the units from the previous game but I do want to try giving some of my own rabble some experience again. This time the scenario rolled was Delay Them, where my troops only need to hold out long enough for there to be at least 3 Units still on the table at the end of the battle (7 Rounds) to achieve a victory.]
The enemy have been advancing rapidly and you only have a small force in the area, but they must do what they can to hold them up.
Setup - given the idea is to hold tight, I don’t need cavalry, and decided to deploy one of my two Monsters, a Gryphon. So with two shooter units in the centre with the Elite unit of St. Johns Guard behind them bolstered by Sir Clarenville, and with the hero Lady Gwen poised nearby, we were all set when the lizards and snakes started to march through having come ashore on the East coast. According to our scouts we are seeing about half the advance force at this point.
Round 1 - Hostilities begin with Kingdom archers firing at the Snake archers, killing 2 though suffering 3 weapon failures. The snakes were surprised though and immediately routed, which in turn made the fighting unit next to them hold where they were, so the Kingdom slingers then shot at them, killing 1 and causing them to retreat, which in turn uncovered another unit behind them, who then moved forward.
The St.Johns Guard decided to hold below the crest of the hill for now, but the Lizard archers fire at the Kingdom archers, killing 2 and forcing them to retreat. Seeing this, Lady Gwen heads over to support but the rest of the Kingdom units decide to hold where they are, though some do see a very strange lone lizard appear from behind a hill.
Round 2 - the Kingdom slingers target the lizard archers this time, killing 2 which proves enough to unsettle them and force a retreat, but that then uncovers the last of the reptile force. This is not enough to rattle the mean looking lizard fighters though, who keep coming on, unaware what continues to lurk just over the crest of the hill, or uncaring?
While the Snake fighters recover themselves, the Kingdom force decides to call up their Gryphon, hoping to menace the reptile front line, but this doesn’t phase the other lizard fighters. Lady Gwen also takes position just below the brow of the hill and the rest hold position, the lizard archers recover. Suddenly the woods near the Lizard’s Shaman burst into flames but nobody is quite sure why!
Round 3 - with two lots of lizards looking like they will charge, the slingers decide it’s is time to pull back and pass through the Guards. The mean lizards now having no obvious target start marching up the hill, and are surprised when the Guards sweep down and attack! The Guards kill 5, but so do the Lizards, and it comes down to who holds their nerve, and the Guards do, but the Lizards don’t.
This leaves three Guards alone on the hill though, so the Gryphon launches itself at the nearest threat, the other lizard fighters. The Gryphon kill 4 and takes only 3 Wounds which is not enough to kill it, the Lizards retreat and the Gryphon leaps forward, picking off another one, but bringing it too close to the snakes who leap to the defence of their allies. The Gryphon kills one of them too but takes enough more wounds to kill it. This doesn’t stop the snakes from retreating though.
The Kingdom archers now move to the top of the hill but they are in range of the lizard archers who shoot one and force the rest to retreat again. Lady Gwen remains below the hill crest ready to support the Guard, the Shaman has no target in range so moves forward, the remaining Kingdom units hold steady again.
Round 4 - the Kingdom force have done enough to halt the reptile advance, but at the sacrifice of the noble Gryphon, and decide they can start to withdraw, while the reptiles try to recover from their losses, with only the archers and the shaman moving forwards.
Round 5 - the Kingdom units withdraw for sight, drawing the reptile units on.
Round 6 - when the last few of the mean looking lizards crest the hill, the slingers cut them all down. The other lizard fighters see this and decide to stay where they are, while the snakes and the archers keep moving forwards. Last to react is the shaman, not close enough to cast a spell, but having seen the demise of the lizards, it decides to valiantly go for help!
Round 7 - next to brave the hilltop are the snakes, the slingers let fly again and kill 2 but the rest hold their nerve. The three lizards at the back still won’t budge. The St. Johns Guard pull back, ready to leave but this brings them in sight of the lizard archers, who kill another one. Lady Gwen seriously considers charging the snakes, but recalls their orders, they’ve done enough, the remaining force needs to live to fight another day.
Aftermath - when the force returns home there is of course some rejoicing but the loss of so many of the St. Johns Guard is keenly felt, elite soldiers are very hard to replace. Not so the 3 replacement archers, and the beast tamer has another Gryphon available. The slingers did well and gained +1 NRV.
[Again, expected to be an easy game, and I enjoyed the tactical decisions I made, but the loyalty gained was all used up immediately and the one Elite Unit I have is now out of action as they can only recruit out of damaged Veteran Units. As a side note, I had a discussion about Adversary Magic Users with one of the playtesters ahead of this game and yet I’m quite happy with how the shaman did completely unexpected things].
Game 3 - Rumours are spreading that the South will be next to be attacked. Sending a force that way to show you are ready for that will help settle fears.
[Another Low Difficulty, but an Encounter scenario this time. Mid table Adversary roll of 3 Rabble Fighters, 2 Regular Shooters, and a Leader (in fact the highest level Leader, who is with the second Shooter unit). The battle will be Pillagers, where the Kingdom force must have total control of the Centre area (no Adversary Units left in it) by the end of Round 7.]
You have ordered a force to visit some of the villages, looking out for trouble, but as they approach the villagers are fleeing and tell you they have seen an enemy patrol.
Setup - While this should be easy again, the Undead do not take Nerve tests, so I think shooters will be important this time and field three units of them. The third rabble spear unit will get their first outing and for smashing my way into the village I have a Veteran unit bolstered by a level 3 leader, Sir Brook, and a giant! We can’t see much of the enemy yet though.
Round 1 - the mounted archers go left (revealing another enemy unit and a decoy) and the first skeleton unit heads their way. Next the crossbows head right, which has the skeletons on that side come onwards, and the rabble shooters follow the crossbows. The new unit the mounted archers found have javelins which they let fly at them, killing half and making the rest retreat, not a great start for the Kingdom! The rest of the movement is hidden by the buildings.
Round 2 - on the right, the crossbows kill three skeletons, while the skeleton unit on the right is thrown off by their only visible enemy retreating, and holds where they are. The Rabble shooters swing further right while the remaining skeletons on that side march implacably onwards. The three remaining horse archers get themselves together and are out of range now of the skeleton javelins who also don’t know what to do now. The rest of the Kingdom units are now in the village, while there is a commotion at the enemy rear as another skeleton unit enters the fray. The scouts had said five units, so there must still be one out of sight.
The few remaining horse archers take a shot at the skeletons advancing on the left, and kill one. The skeleton javelins that hurt them so bad realise they can’t help from way back there so start forward, but it’s too late, the Veteran unit rushes out from the village and into the skeletons, and they have Sir Brook with them. Four more skeletons drop, but so do three Kingdom fighters, and both sides stagger back a little. Thankfully, though Sir Brook spotted the last enemy unit, skeleton archers, being pushed back blocks them from being shot at, forcing the archers to come forward looking for a target. Then there is a ragged yell as the Kingdom spearmen round one of the houses and plough into the already depleted skeletons, killing the remaining three! Sadly taking one casualty themselves makes them then retreat.
Round 4 - the crossbows start us off again, killing two but a fourth crossbow is now out of action. The skeletons decide that just walking into fire is not paying off and head behind the building, which serves to get them out of range for the Rabble, who risk moving up. The skeleton archers decide to play hard to get, already lurking behind the house. The Veterans realise they are at risk from the Skeleton javelins and risk a charge. Two more of the unit are dead, but they kill five of the skeletons, which includes the leader that was with them. The skeletons are pushed back but this just allows them to fling javelins, thankfully failing to score another casualty. The Giant moves in, the few horse archers get into cover, and the Rabble spears sort themselves out.
Round 6 - time is against the Kingdom force, they need to secure the village, so the Giant crashes into the six skeleton spearmen. The giant kills four and takes a couple of wounds, but then the last two skeletons charge back, achieving nothing and both getting themselves killed. However this might have been their cunning plan, as that now leaves the giant exposed to the archers! They do another two wounds, but that’s not enough, the giant can shake that off.
The Veterans keep hacking at the javelins, they kill two to one of their own, but that’s still leaves two to shoot, thankfully they decide they have a pressing engagement elsewhere and head away rapidly! The rest of the Kingdom force sweep past the village, sensing victory, but it’s not over yet that last skeleton unit is still too close to the village!
Round 7 - the giant plunges into them, but he must be getting tired and suffering some after effects from those previous wounds, as he does no damage while taking three fresh wounds! The skeletons are pushed back a little, they stop and shoot, the giant takes another wound and starts to retreat, leaving him in the way of both the shooting units! It’s all down to two veterans and Sir Brook, they charge! One skeleton is killed, and only one Kingdom soldier survives, but it’s enough, the remaining foes are pushed back another half an inch, and the Kingdom force has full control of the village!
Aftermath - the force returns home with their heads held high, but again there were losses that will no doubt be felt later, not least the brave death of Sir Brook and a whole Veteran unit (the lone survivour was invited to join the St. Johns Guards). We raised a new Rabble unit (a poor substitute for the Veterans) and replaced the three horse archers and the spearman. That said, the Rabble unit used this time have been promoted to Regulars.
[Oh boy, that was close. All down to the fact that the Undead do not make nerve rolls after taking casualties, so have to be completely destroyed. This is an optional rule in the game as it has always bothered me that undead could be scared off, and of course I will play it that way in the two subsequent battles against the undead too.]
Game 4 - You have every expectation that your neighbour to the West won’t want to let one of the others take control of your lands. Send a force to the border.
[The last of the Low Difficulty games, and another Encounter scenario. The Adversary roll was 2 Rabble Fighters, 2 Rabble Shooters, 1 War Machine/Monster, and 1 Hero, but as my Gnolls lack a War Machine or appropriate Monster, I will sub in a second Hero (a Shooter one for a change). The battle will be Here they come, where the Kingdom force must have Destroyed or Routed more Adversary Units by the end of Round 8 than they lost themselves.]
You have sent a force out to protect the border but it seems the enemy were moving faster than you thought and the two forces meet in the woods.
Setup - Gnoll Rabble only have STM 2, so it should be easier to cause casualties to the units, but playing against the two heroes should be interesting. I decided to take the brand new rabble unit, slingers, archers, the fighters that were promoted to Veteran after the first battle, and cavalry for backup. I also sent Lord Baldwin (my own archer hero), Malvin the Magnificent (an Illusionist) and my level 4 Leader, Sir Pearl, to accompany the archers.
Round 1 - both armies use the central wood to cover their advances, though one of the Gnoll units is hesitant about moving at all. Unfortunately the Kingdom’s cavalry unit were the first target of the Gnoll Marksman (Shooter hero), who only killed one of them, but sent the rest fleeing home in panic when their nerve failed them completely! Lord Baldwin, the Kingdom’s own shooter hero, tried the same but only managed to make the reluctant Gnoll unit retreat, also after losing one of their number. By the end of the round two units of Gnoll shooters were also visible.
Round 2 - the Kingdom force now has a quandary, having lost a whole unit it has serious ground to make up to manage a victory. The round starts with Sir Baldwin taking aiming at the newly revealed Gnoll slingers, but he does no damage at all and they jeer at him, though they do then duck into the nearby wood! The Kingdom archers shuffle right a bit to get sight of the Gnoll unit heading to the central wood, and let fly killing three, but again the Gnolls are jeering! Though the unit behind them decides not to move forwards and into the line of fire!
The Kingdom fighters head for the central wood, and so do the remaining Gnoll fighters until Malvin casts Despair at them and their nerve breaks and they retreat. This leaves the Gnoll Marksman with no target other than Sir Baldwin, so he has a pop but doesn’t even draw blood. The round ends with a Gnoll Warrior (Fighter Hero) entering the fray.
Round 3 - the Kingdom archers shuffle forwards and fire another volley into the retreating Gnolls, killing three more and routing the rest, and giving sight of the other Gnoll unit it had been screening all this time. The Gnoll slingers get up the nerve to come back out of the wood and immediately come under fire from Lord Baldwin again, holding their nerve this time, despite losing one of their number. The Gnoll archers have no target and cannot be encouraged to press forwards. There’s some shuffling on both sides, though the Kingdom’s fighters are staying behind the wood out of sight still, but then the Gnoll Marksman kills one of the archers and forces them to retreat.
Round 4 - Malvin glares at the Gnoll slingers and starts muttering under his breath, but nothing happens, which is unfortunate as they can now draw a bead on the Veterans behind the wood, thankfully failing to kill any or break their nerve. Lord Baldwin is having a shocking day and agin fails to kill any of the slingers or drive them back. The Gnoll archers have a new target now that the Kingdom slingers are closer than the retreating archers, but also fail to do any damage or shake them at all. The Kingdom troops decide to press ahead and this lets the Gnoll Marksman shoot one of the Veterans but they hold their nerve and ready themselves to charge. The Kingdom slingers fire back at it but just draw a little blood, nowhere near enough to kill it.
Round 5 - the Kingdom fighters have had enough of hide-and-seek, the Rabble spears plough into the Gnoll slingers, they kill two and are emboldened by their charge while the slingers only kill one and retreat, and meanwhile the Gnoll archers make for the hill on the right. The Veterans charge next, lead by Sir Pearl, and kill five Gnoll fighters to two losses, driving the other two Gnolls into retreat, but holding steady themselves. The Kingdom’s archers fire at the Gnoll Marksman, causing 6 wounds to it, just one short of killing it outright. The badly depleted Gnoll unit still has Sir Pearl and the Veterans breathing down their necks and decide to keep retreating rather than trying to recover. It’s down to the Slingers, just one more wound on the Marksman will kill it, and they get exactly that! Seeing the Marksman drop dead in front of it gives the Warrior pause for thought, and that ends the round.
Round 6 - with Sir Pearl in the lead, the Veterans plough into the retreating slingers, looking to drive them off, they kill three more and the last two rout, their work done, they then retreat towards the woods, but are followed by a hail of arrows from the Gnoll archers which kills two more of them and drives them further into the woods. The Kingdom’s own archers fire seek retribution and kill two of the archers. The last Gnoll unit in good order refuses to move, allowing the Kingdom spears to start pulling back in good order. Lord Baldwin tries to regain some honour by shooting at that Gnoll unit and fails to kill any yet again, but he does make them retreat. The Gnoll Warrior can’t reach Sir Pearl and his las few men so holds its ground.
Round 7 - none of the remaining Gnolls seem up for continuing to fight and all hold back while the Kingdom units move away but that leaves the Warrior exposed and between Sir Baldwin and the Archers they do enough damage to kill it.
Round 8 - passes with the Kingdom force heading for home and the last few Gnolls worrying about what they can say to their clan leader that might stop them being whipped for this terrible defeat!
Aftermath - on their way back the force finds the cavalry unit trying to regain their nerves and preparing to return home despite their shame. Another Rabble spear unit did enough to warrant promotion and both Malvin and Sir Pearl improved, hopefully helping in later battles as they will get harder now.
[The loss of the cavalry unit so early pushed me into the risky charge but it paid off thankfully.]
Game 5 - Your attention has been drawn away from the North for too long. You had better send a force to scout the border for trouble.
[This is now at Medium difficulty and the third and final Encounter scenario. The Adversary roll turned up 3 Regular Fighter, 3 Regular Shooters, 1 Magic User, and a Leader for the Orcs. The battle will be On the road, where again it is about doing the most damage, but this time it’s 9 Rounds.]
Your force is heading down the road when it runs smack into an enemy force coming the other way!
Setup - the army is marching down the road with Sir Botwood with the lead unit when they spy a host of Orcs coming their way.
Round 1 - Both sides start fanning out and more troops appear.
Round 2 - First blood is drawn by the horse archers, killing two orcs and sending that unit into a momentary retreat that they immediately recover from, but other than that it’s just a shuffling forwards on both sides.
Round 3 - The horse archers fire at a different orc unit, killing two again, but these ones laugh it off and actually march forwards, coming in range of the slingers, who kill another one but they just seem to be angered by this rather than scared! The Realm force hold their ground again, letting those orcs that are foolish enough to advance, keep coming.
Round 4 - The horse archers whittle down the foolhardy orc unit to just three remaining and that finally pushes them into retreat. The wolfriders with bows though fire back killing one of them and the orc archers that had just arrived fire killing two more, but they stay steady through it. The wolfriders with spears venture out of the woods, two are killed by the slingers, and the remaining four retreat back in again. Finally the orc shaman, who has been hiding behind his troops so far, decides he’ll need to take charge and moves up a bit, while the last orc unit appears behind him.
Round 5 - The horse archers take cover in the woods and the orcs are now all in each other’s way, so spend the Round shuffling about.
Round 6 - The other orc fighters have wandered behind and now over the hill on the right and are back within the sights of the remaining three horse archers who kill two but don’t unnerve them. The wolfrider archers shoot at the unit with Sir Botwood in the centre of the Realm’s line, killing two, but Sir Botwood’s presence holds them steady.
At which point, Lord Arundel charges the depleted orc fighters on the right, killing another two and not taking as much as a scratch. This though puts him out in front of two orc archer units, but thankfully they only do a total of five wounds, so he remains close enough that the orc fighters keep retreating.
Meanwhile the Realm fighters have goaded the wolfrider spears back into the open and the slingers take another shot, but don’t kill any. Then the shaman finally casts a spell, striking down one of the warriors with Sir Botwood.
[Blast, forgot to take a picture!]
Round 7 - Lord Arundel lurks behind the hill, waiting for a good time to pounce. The wolfriders take the opportunity to fire at the nasty humans wearing wolf pelts in front of them, killing 2. Then the orc archers next to them should have also fired, but apparently they are aware of the lurking Lord and decide to make themselves scarce instead! Lord Botwood and his remaining men charge the wolfrider spears, killing them all but taking two casualties themselves.
The remaining orc archers also target the norse berserkers, killing four more but still not shaking them! Then the Gryphon plunges into the last three of the orc fighters, killing two immediately and then pouncing on the last one as it turned to run. This puts the shaman off a bit and he backs away from it gingerly.
Round 8 - Lord Arundel hurtles over the hill into the two poor orcs who probably thought they were safe at last. He doesn’t actually kill either of them but it it’s enough to send them into retreat again and eventually off the battlefield. Only three of the wolfriders can still shoot at this point so do no damage to the Gryphon who then attacks killing two and taking a couple of wounds, but unnerving them enough to disrupt them so when Sir Botwood and his last three men hit them again and kill two more, the keep retreating right off the battlefield too.
The remaining unit of orc archers do 6 wound on Lord Arundel, but he’ll laugh that off, while the poor shaman with enemies on both sides and almost no army left, stands where he is dumbfounded.
Round 9 - The Gryphon swoops on the hesitant shaman but the fight is a standoff. The orc archers are rooted to the spot watching this and also Lord Arundel hurtling into the shaman, but still the shaman takes no wounds! Sir Baldwin and co charge too, the shaman bleeds but remains standing. The horse archers fire at him, he bleeds some more but is still defiant! The Realm hear horns further down the road, fleeing orcs must have alerted the rest of their army, they withdraw victorious!
Aftermath - the two remaining Berserkers went of to mourn their dead, Sir Baldwin promoted his remaining fighters to veteran, and the force would forever regale their comrades with the tale of the orc shaman that wouldn’t die.
[I’m in two minds about that strategy, by Round 6 the Realm were ahead on casualties, which was the objective, and drawing the orcs forward may have been the better plan, but with three orc shooter units then on the scene it only needed a bad nerve test routing a unit and it could have swung quickly the wrong way. As it is the wrecked Fanatics unit is a painful reminder of how damaging concentrated fire can be.]
Game 6 - Trouble continues in the South. You will need to take the war to them to encourage them to stop.
[Medium difficulty again, an Attack scenario. The Adversary roll was 3 giving 3 Regular Fighters, 2 Regular Shooters, 1 Special,1 Hero, 1 Magic User, and a Leader . As this Adversary is the Undead, this lets them field the Mindless as the Special unit. The battle is Cut them off, I have 7 Rounds to stop any enemy units getting across the table, and they are Undead so won’t retreat!]
Part of the enemy force has become detached from their main body and your force is attempting to defeat and demoralise them while you have the chance.
Setup - remembering how close the previous game against the undead came, and the need to hold them up, I decide to field the next Bolt Shooter, and also brought back the cavalry in the hope they would recover from the ignominy of game 4. The Adversary setup put their only cavalry unit, the mindless, and a Vampire fighter hero in the middle of the table, so I had to completely block them from getting straight across. I put the bolt shooter on the only available hill, protected by my hero, Lady Gwen. From that vantage point they could see some of the second line of undead, and the cavalry on the right flank could see another unit. This is going to get interesting.
Round 1 - I desperately wanted to try the bolt shooter, but the more obvious opening move was to use the archers in the middle of the defensive line to shoot the undead cavalry, which they did but only killing 2, and with 4 archers having weapon failures! Leaving 4 cavalry charging into the archers. Amazingly the archers killed more by fighting than they had shooting, but they lost two of their own and their nerve broke, making them retreat from the one remaining undead. The Veteran unit lead by Sir Clarenville then quickly dispatched it and got a nerve boost in the process. 1 unit gone, 7 to go.
Next action was the Revenants behind all this action, who failed to move, so it was now time for the bolt shooter that killed 2 Mindless. Then the skeleton javelins let fly at the cavalry and wouldn’t you know it, two dies and the rest retreated, but were so close to the table edge they were gone. Two games and two exits, they must be jinxed!
The Rabble spears skulked behind the forest, and it was the turn of the Mindless, directed by the Necromancer lurking way behind them, but they were too far away to charge so just shuffled forwards, bringing them close enough for the Heavy unit making their first appearance in battle to charge them instead. The Heavies killed three mindless but took two casualties and pulled away in retreat. The Necromancer must have been struggling to control the mindless though and didn’t take the opportunity to cast a spell.
Then Lady Gwen also charged the Mindless, killing the remaining three without breaking into a sweat. However this left her close enough to be charged in turn by the Vampire, and although she took 2 more wounds for a total of 4, she dealt out 8! The Vampire crumbled to dust.
By the end of the turn then, the remaining two Undead units were revealed, but 3 out of 8 were gone, and the immediate threat was wiped out. So far, so good, but that cavalry, oh man!
Round 2 - The Grosmorne force kicked off with another volley from the bolt shooter which sadly caused no casualties at all. The there was a bit of shuffling forwards by the undead, spurred on by their desire to get past these pesky “not-yet-deads”. While the two disrupted human units got themselves sorted out, and the others prepared for the next wave to reach them.
Round 3 - the bolt shooter crew tried their best but failed to kill anything again, while the Undead came plodding on. The humans still biding their time until the enemy were in charge range, but the recovered archers did fire a volley taking out two revenants but breaking two more bows!
Round 4 - an air of anticipation hung over the battlefield, the undead were still driven to advance, and our heroic force were waiting for them. Again the bolt thrower crew slaved away to finally be rewarded by two more revenants being destroyed.
Then it all kicked off, the skeleton unit in the centre moved close enough that Sir Clarenville let out a shout and lead the veterans in a charge. They killed three and although they took two casualties, their nerve held. Then the revenants came forwards but couldn’t charge.
Lady Gwen saw the danger from the skeleton archers steadily moving on the left flank and charged into them, killing one but more importantly stopping their advance, as they scuttled backwards and fired at her but didn’t do enough damage to kill.
The only two humans left with functioning bows fired at the revenants, breaking yet another bow! The skeleton javelins had no target as their own unit was in the way, so continued to advance on the right. This meant the Rabble were then safe to head towards them through the wood. The Necromancer also pushed forward, leaving the Heavies with a quandary, and they decided to advance.
Round 5 - three Rounds to play and the enemy are over halfway across the table, a mis-step now could be bad. The veterans charged the skeletons again but they lost two men and their nerve without doing any damage! The skeletons then counterattacked while they were retreating disrupted killing one more, though this time a skeleton fell too. The veterans were forced to retreat again!
The Rabble could not let the Javelins creep past and charged them, the killed one but lost two, thankfully holding their nerve. The Heavies charged the Necromancer, and just managed to kill him, but were then charged by the remaining Revenants so they killed all of them too!
Lady Gwen charged the archers again, killing three more, the remaining four stepped back and fired at her but she’s fighting on. The bolt shooter crew manhandled their weapon around to face the four skeletons in the centre. Then the six remaining archers, with just one bow between them, decided to throw caution to the wind. They charged the skeletons! Killing three and losing four. The last two retreated but only one skeleton was still standing!
Round 6 - while this can still be a loss, it’s looking less likely, but the casualties are wracking up and fate can still play a part. The last two archers were the nearest target for the last remaining skeleton in the middle, so they hurriedly reformed in case it charged them. They needn’t have worried though as whatever dark powers were driving it failed and it crumpled into the ground (rolled a 1 for Reaction)
On the left flank, the Lady Gwen ploughed into the remaining four archers again, killing three more. The last remaining one then also crumpled (yep another 1 rolled).
On the right flank, the Rabble charged the javelins, leaving two dead on each side, and again they held their nerve. Time for another Reaction roll, but this time it was a 9. The skeletons shuffled backwards and launched their javelins, killing another spearman and it was just too much for them, the three remaining rabble spearmen retreated in disarray. That said they had played a valiant part with the remaining skeletons now pushed back and in no hope of exiting the table in the final Round. The bolt shooter then fired without success while the remaining Grosmorne force gritted their teeth, with a hard won victory about to be theirs.
Round 7 - the spearmen ducked into the woods, fearing another launch of javelins, but the skeletons were still trying to get away and just moved hopelessly forwards. One last shot from the bolt thrower killed another skeleton, and the battle was done.
Aftermath - that was as close as I expected it to be and it cost all the loyalty that had been building up to replace the losses. The Rabble spears were applauded for their part in the victory and now count themselves among the regular troops
[Ouch! That was only Medium Difficulty and the casualties were bad, should be interesting to see what happens next]
Game 7 - A force sent West runs into unexpected trouble, can they make the best of it and give that enemy a thrashing?
[Medium difficulty and a Special scenario against the Gnolls. The Adversary roll was 6, giving 2 Regular Fighters, 3 Regular Shooters, 1 Special/War Machine/Monster, 1 Hero, 1 Magic User. This combination means the Gnolls can table their hyena pack as the shaman will be there. The scenario is called Rescue]
Your force has been tasked with rescuing the locals from a village and keeping them safe while they get away.
Setup - It seems to me that I need to get melee troops into the village quickly and have shooters on the flanks to try and keep the enemy at bay, so this is how the force lined up. My one leader figure this time, Sir Botwood, is mounted this time and riding with the mounted archers. Over on the right is our Elemental Mage, Azriel. You can just see the first of the Gnolls approaching the other end of the village.
Round 1 - the army advances as planned, with the two central units heading for the village and those capable of firing, edging up to get into range. They hear noises from the other side of the village but not much sign of movement, almost as if the Gnolls are waiting for something.
Round 2 - the crossbows are in range of a lone Gnoll fighter and decide to try their luck, to great effect as the enemy hero falls, dead! The two fighter units proceed into the village but the villagers are aware of the Gnolls just the other side of the main building and will not leave the relative safety of the buildings. Then all hell breaks loose, with Gnolls appearing from both sides, while a pack of hyenas have arrived behind the village.
Round 3 - the human crossbows fire at the newly arrived Gnoll crossbows, killing 3 and thankfully forcing them to retreat. On the other flank the slingers don’t do as well, only killing 2 Gnoll fighters and they stand. Meanwhile neither Gnoll unit behind the village can get up the courage to get involved. Lord Baldwin lets fly at the other Gnoll fighters and although he only kills 1 they are forced into retreat straight off the table.
Then, while on the left the Gnoll crossbows recover themselves, things go from bad to worse for their brethren on the right as Azriel creates an Earth Elemental and sends it against the other unit, killing 2 more and making them scurry right off the table too! Then the Horse-archers get in on the attack, killing three more Gnoll crossbows and making the retreat off the table too!
All the newly arrived flanking Gnolls are gone, but the ones behind the main house are still there and the villagers still won’t come out!
Round 4 - There’s no choice, the first of the fighters charges around the left side of the house and into the Gnoll slingers behind it. It does not go well, the fighters only kill 1 Gnoll and they stand, while they kill 3 fighters who retreat, making a lovely target for the slingers who add insult to injury by killing another one, but at least the don’t retreat further.
Not knowing the fate of their comrades, the Veterans go round the right side of the house and into the Gnoll archers lurking there. That goes much better with them killing 4 Gnolls and sending them into retreat, for only 1 loss and a steady nerve. The Archers then feel so threatened and retreat some more, but not quite exiting the field.
Back on the left, the Horse-archers move forwards some more to get a bead on the slingers and while only 4 can still shoot they manage to kill another Gnoll, but still don’t break their nerve. Then on right the hyena pack now leaps at the Veterans and it’s a bloody fight with 5 hyenas and 3 Veterans killed, and the humans being forced to retreat from the remaining beasts. It could have been worse but in it’s panic the Gnoll shaman tried to cast a spell that enrages a monster that the beasts were not affected by.
The rest of the Grosmorne force hustled forward but with the Gnoll slingers still entrenched behind the house, there was still no sign of the villagers.
Round 5 - Sir Botwood knows they need to dislodge the Gnoll slingers and with half of them incapable of firing, he exhorts his men into a charge. It’s a brave move, 2 are killed on each side, and both sides are forced to retreat, but that’s enough to convince the villagers to flee, though it’s probably too late.
The Gnoll slingers immediately regroup. The Veterans move to aid the civilians and get clear of Lord Baldwin so he can shoot. The Gnoll archers also regroup right at the table edge before Lord Baldwin lets fly and kills 2 more hyenas but the last one just charges into the retreating veterans! The hyena kills another human forcing them into the fleeing villagers but then its nerve finally fails and seeing so many humans it runs away. Just as the shaman gets ready to call up two additional beasts, but too late!
None of the remaining humans have a target as they al have friendly troops in the way, so the Round ends with the villagers finally heading away from the village, with too far to go to call this a victory.
Round 6 - Lord Baldwin shoots at the Shaman but only does 1 wound. The Gnoll slingers fire back at him to no effect. Then the human slingers fire at the Shaman, but only manage another 2 wounds. The Gnoll archers don’t do anything at all, hoping not to draw attention to themselves, while the horse-archers recover. The shaman is actually out of power but tries to cast anyway, and of course nothing happens, it has had a very frustrating day!
The four remaining fighters pull out of the way to give the crossbows a shot at the Gnoll archers, they kill one and force the Gnolls to retreat, so they decide to go home. The villagers are heading for safety accompanied by the three remain veterans.
Round 7 - The horse-archers ride up and launch a final volley at the slingers, killing 2 but the last one stubbornly stays put, until the shaman screams at it to “do something!” and it decides to run away. The poor shaman, still with no power and all alone, decides to go too! It’s all over but the villagers end up 3” away from leaving the table!
Aftermath - The battle is deemed a failure and while the losses weren’t high (5 Veterans, 4 Regulars, 2 Horse-archers), the low loyalty from a defeat and the fact that I used the whole pool last time means that I’m another unit down as the 3 remaining veterans were invited to join the St Johns Elite unit (making that up to 7 now), and I could only replace 5 of the other 6 losses. On the plus side, the Rabble shooters are promoted to Regulars, Sir Botwood is promoted again as a Level 3 Shooting leader, and Azriel gained 1 POW.
Game 8 - In the East, the enemy raiding has become tiresome, perhaps a show of force is necessary?
[Medium difficulty again, and a Special scenario. The Adversary roll was 2 (I seem to be trying to make life difficult with these bad Adversary rolls) giving 1 Veteran Fighter, 3 Regular Fighters, 2 Regular Shooters, 1 Hero, and 1 Magic User. The veteran unit will be my recently finished turtles, which is not to the list (Tortles are a special unit) but I want to table them. The battle is Protect the Messenger and I have 7 Rounds to get the messenger across the table and keep them alive at the other side until the enemy gives up on trying to kill them.]
The force has come across a messenger who must get back to the Capital at all costs, but they have been cut off by the Reptiles.
Setup - Tough decisions are needed now as I need to win this game to be able to replace losses, but need to husband units knowing that the High Difficulty games start after this one. So this meant that doomed cavalry unit are back again!
Round 1 - with three Adversary units already in view, the battle starts with Red archers cresting the wooded hill and letting fly at the lizards below them. Only one is killed, but their nerve fails, leaving them disrupted and right at the edge of the battlefield. Then on the other side of the human line, the Blue archers are even more successful, killing two lizards and causing the rest to flee! The Veterans then charge the disrupted lizards, killing three more and forcing them to retreat again, though the humans did lose one themselves. As the rest of the Grosmorne force advances, another reptile unit appears.
Round 2 - again the Red archers fire, at the Turtles this time. They kill three, but the Turtles are Veterans and are not dismayed and in fact now proceed to charge at the humans that had just fought the lizards. Veterans on both sides, 7 vs 5 but the turtles are charging so equal dice pools, it’s a vicious battle, leaving four humans and three more turtles out of action, and despite doing more damage, the last two turtles flee the battlefield. Though the humans aren’t in great shape either and retreat. On the plus side this leaves plenty of open ground for the cavalry to charge those last four lizards and kill them all, though they do lose one of their own and decide to retreat.
On the other flank, the lizards on the wooded hill fire a volley at the Blue archers, killing one, but Sir Pearl holds them steady and they fire back. Despite the lizards being in cover, five are killed, though their nerve just holds. Then as the rest of the Grosmorne force advances again, some Snake fighters appear through the woods.
Round 3 - Malvin the Magnificent, Illusionist extraordinaire, cast Despair at the three remaining lizard archers, forcing them to retreat back over the crest of the hill, and leaving the way forward for the whole force to advance, to be met by the remaining units of the Reptile force. The brave warriors of Grosmorne still have a lot to do to clear the way through for the messenger.
Round 4 - with only a single reptile unit on their left flank, that’s where the humans attack first. The Red archers kill two of the lizards and force them to retreat, but they quickly reformed out of sight behind the wood, so still a threat. On the right, Malvin realises that he’s the most likely target for the archers and successfully casts Distract, so the archers fire at the an illusion instead of him, then the other units can safely move up. The Lizard Shaman is very wary and stays put, but the Hero gets it into its head to advance alone, so Lord Arundel heads towards it, there could be a showdown coming!
Round 5 - Lord Arundel charges the Lizard’s champion, there’s no nerve tests involved it down to the savagery of the attacks, and the lizard gets the best of the encounter by a single wound. The Snakes hiding behind the wood stay put, but that doesn’t save them as the cavalry are close enough to charge. It’s a bloody affair with three casualties on each side and both retreating, but it forces the snakes off the field. On the other flank, the lizard archers remaining on the far side of the hill, so the Blue archers advance. The nearest target for the Lizard archers is Lord Arundel and they cause him a massive seven wounds, the hero is dead!
Sir Pearl urges on the spearmen but this isn’t looking good. Thankfully the Reptile shaman stands around gibbering and doesn’t play any part in the carnage, but then neither does Malvin. The nearest target for the Lizard hero is the retreating cavalry so it rushes at them and destroys the last two. This however leaves the lizard stranded in the open, so first it is peppered by arrows from the Red archers, then the Messenger charges at it, and another hero bites the dust.
Round 6 - the Messenger is now the one out in the open alone, so he seeks cover behind the woods and close enough to be able to get into the Left table area next turn and thus assuring this battle is not a loss. The lizard archers on the hill still aren’t plucking up enough courage to show themselves, and then Sir Pearl and the spears charge the snake archers. They kill three snakes but the snakes manage to kill five of them including Sir Pearl! Both units are forced to retreat but again this pushes the remains of the reptile unit off the table, so a victory of sorts for the humans. The Reptile Shaman has seen enough, it scurries off! The remaining humans breathe a sigh of relief, it’s pretty much over.
Round 7 - the last three reptiles on the table still won’t show themselves and realising that tge battle is lost and the messenger is well out of their reach, they too call it a day.
Aftermath - The battle is a victory for the Grosmorne contingent, but again was vey costly! Heroes like Arundel and a level 4 Leader like Pearl are incredibly hard to replace, and that battle also cost me a whole veteran unit (too few left to keep it going, they joined the Spears and the St Johns Elite) and the ill fated cavalry unit. The best I could do was to replace the archers killed and raise a new Rabble unit. The Red archers gained some nerve but that still leaves me wondering how the last four games will go … at high difficulty!
Game 9 - As your Eastern neighbours have just been bloodied, you see an opportunity to end their incursions with a decisive victory. Attack!
[The final 4 games then and we are at High difficulty now. It’s an Attack scenario. The Adversary roll was 5, giving 3 Veteran Fighters, 3 Regular Shooters, 1 Special/War Machine/Monster (which will be the Tortles but with their proper profile this time), 1 Magic User, and a Leader. The battle is Catch them by surprise, where the idea is to deal as much damage as possible within 7 Rounds, and for a victory I will need at least 5 Adversary units Destroyed or Routed.]
The Reptile enemy are marching down the valley, and the Grosmorne force has decided to spring a surprise.
Setup - Given the positioning and the nature of the battle, I am fielding a shooter heavy force that includes Archers, Crossbows, the Bolt Shooter, and my Shooter Hero. The Fighters are there really to protect the shooters, with the finally back to strength St. Johns Elite to counter the Tortles if needed. The enemy have two waves and their first one is pretty heavy, and with Reptiles at a low RCT I’m betting on their reactions holding them up long enough for the shooters to do some damage. Fingers crossed.
Round 1 - The bolt thrower is manhandled into position on the central hill and thankfully the Tortles react first and aren’t close enough to charge it. Then Lord Baldwin, the archer Hero steps up and kills two of the nearest unit to try and shake them, and although it doesn’t immediately, when the try to decide what to do next they do decide to run away after all. This opens up visibility across the valley to two units of lizard archers on the far side.
The archers on the top hill, with Sir Botwood leading them, step forward next. The kill five of the lizards at the rear of the reptile force and the remaining three retreat but the reform. The heavy crossbows cannot move and shoot, so take a risk stepping up to the hilltop. For a moment it looked like the risk had not paid off as the snakemen archers immediately turned and fired a volley at them, but not only did none of them get killed a full five of the snakemen are now unable to fire!
The rest of the Grosmorne force decided to remain hidden, while the two lots of lizard archers decide to also stay put, and the reptile shaman decide to get out of bow range, and the Round ended with the final reptile unit revealing its position.
Round 2 - Now the bolt thrower can fire, and it does so at the Tortles, though they are a tough bunch and it only kills one, not shaking them at all. So they turn and charge at their nearest target, the archers, which does not go as expected with them killing two but the archers killing three of them! Both units pass their nerve tests so the archers merely shuffle back and fire, killing two more! The three lizards behind them are not encouraged by all this and decide to stay right where they are.
Now the risk the crossbows took really pays off, as their volley leaves just one snake standing, who retreats. Next up is Lord Baldwin, who targets one of the lizard bow units and although only killing one it’s enough to make them retreat and stop them firing back, which is just as well as the other lizard archers manage to pick off two of the crossbows.
Again the rest of the Grosmorne force stay hidden while the snake fighters start to move through the wood, and though the lizard shaman tried to direct a spell at the bolt thrower, he failed to cast it.
Round 3 - The crossbows opened the third round, with a huge overkill on the one remaining snake archer making it 2 units gone out of the required 5, while the lizards in the wood decided they were nice and safe there. Then the remaining archers killed the last two tortles, making it 3 out of 5, and again making the three lizards further back hold their ground.
Next up the bolt thrower took a bead on the shaman, doing a miserly 1 wound, which was followed by the lizard archers taking out two more crossbows and forcing them to retreat behind the hill, which frankly was fine with me, before Lord Baldwin put another 6 wound on the shaman, making a total of 7 and just enough to kill it! 4 out of 5 at the end of the round.
Round 4 - The archers have a chance to end this, they need three kills or a rout, they score four kills! The remaining Grosmorne troops can withdraw, the reptile threat is ended. There are 11 lizards that can still fire but Lord Baldwin has purposely made himself their nearest target and the 5 wounds they cause are not enough to take him out. The humans go home in triumph!
Aftermath - The 10 loyalty points for the win mean all the casualties taken are recouped. The victory is also kind in terms of experience as the red archers did so well they are promoted to veteran (and those guys started the campaign as Rabble Slingers) while Sir Botwood is now a level 4 Leader!
[A lucky combination of the scenario with the poor reactions of the reptile army gave a convincing win and certainly more hope going into the last three games, but that could have turned bad at a few points in the game, so …]
Game 10 -
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