Post by Dave King on Jun 4, 2011 22:25:51 GMT 10
This battle report first appeared on the blog, but is reproduced here for easy access!
In the final battle of the campaign, the vile alliance of Dwerg Sorcerer Flux Capacitus and the ghost kin human Balek Krad raise a small force of undead in order to turn the final onslaught of Darc Dashbournes band of rag tag heroes.
The tide of war has turned - as Fegg the Bastard- (former ally of the evil alliance) swore death to Balek for leaving him to die on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Darc Dashbourne, having rescued the northern tribe from Baleks attack and awoken from the drunken celebrations married to the chiefs daughter (damned if he can work out what her name is- she doesn't speak a word of common). is discovering his brides skill in battle matches his own! A deep connection forms, (paired combat buff +1) - and they face the final battle side by side.
The battle starts with the Heroes deploying, and as underdog, Flux gets to place his troops with full knowledge of the enemy position.
The dwarves break free from the heroes, making a sneaky swing around the back- using bushes for hidden cover against Flux and his skeleton muskets potential blasts. Meanwhile, lone surviving archer Griff Longbrow darts to the central tree to set up his hiding place.
Dashbourne explains his stealthy plan carefully to Mongo and Mrs Dashbourne, who both nod blankly at what he is saying- then proceed to charge directly into the enemy. Dashbourne sighs, and chases off after them. Fegg, seeing Balek close to the hill decides the hill should be HIS, and charges off- his chittering little weapon bearer clanking behind.
Balek and Flux split up, Balek rushing to take the hill (and thus +1 dice height advantage) ready for his musket to lay down fire across the field. Flux takes his now veteran Dwerg to take the small stone stair so his magic bolts can likewise pepper the foe. The enemy have but one ranged weapon, and he is no hero. Can they strike him down before he takes a....
Too late! Griff Longbrow looses an arrow at the exposed Balek! Balek, cockily striding across the field cackles at +3 dice (champion) +1 (magic weapon) and.... rolls no hits! The plucky Griff manages 2- but that only downs the Dark Champion... The player immediately spends One DreadSkull to save him. The enraged warrior snaps the arrow from his chest and roars!
Mongo presses forward, slamming into the zombie line, immediately sending the accursed dead back to hell.
Fegg takes the hill, using the lodestone as cover against the musket. Balek is close, but before he can fight him, the skeletons dart forward and aim at Feggs weakspot- his weapon bearer! Fegg would loose +1 bonus dice in combat should his servant fall! Meanwhile, Gatt the sneaky's hiding space is discovered by a skeletal minion. Perhaps a dagger isn't the best thing to bring to an undead battle- Gatt draws with the bonehead- and decides to hold the position.
Meanwhile, the battle of the zombies gets bloody - hoping to pierce through quickly, the heroes hack into the putrid line- but disastrous rolls hold them. At least the plan to stop enemies firing at them by all being engaged works...
The battle rages on, Balek ignores Fegg, choosing to use his zombies to boost his dice against Dashbourne. meanwhile, the Dwerg attack Mongo- boosting their chances by sacrificing Skull points. Sadly, they but draw with the ogre- Azgabble uses the new draw ability to swing around behind the foe- opening up space for his mates to make a frontal attack!
For his next action, Dashbourne falls back hoping to draw his foes closer to Fegg, and expose their backs to Mongo and Mrs.Dashbournes sudden swing back. His trick works! His attackers choose to press on and maintain base contact. Now, if he can only hold them while....
Suddenly Balek, kicking his own zombie into Dash, delivers a powerful blow to the hero. Mrs. Dashbourne screams in horror as the dark knight takes the fallen Dashbournes head. No skull points can save our hero now- he is dead!
Fegg shatters his skeletons hips, and though the villains have plenty of Dreadskull points left, they choose to keep the skeleton down- for now...
Mongo eats The silence in one go, and plants a boot into the foaming mouthed Azgabble- sending the Dwerg flying away unharmed.
meanwhile, the beastman seizes the stone stair. The battle rages away from him, but he awaits his moment.
Balek orders his troops to descend on The Widow Dashbourne- but the golden haired amazon burns Skullpoints to exact her revenge- adding +3 dice to her combat dice to tear the dark knights black heart out- even whilst pressed by two zombies and a mad dwerg! The heroes have now spent all their Skull points... its down to end game now, as all downed results become deaths... the enemy still holds four points!
Flux, realising his magic is useless now, sends his familiar in to the frey to pester the heroes. It works, and the little fool distracts Mongo long enough for the beastman to leap from his stone stair and sink his blade into mongos neck. The Ogre falls like a tree with a confused look on its face.
The widow Dashbournebattles on- faced by a bizarre set of foes. She rolls strong, she rolls hard... but the enemy keep toe to toe with her! Meanwhile, the skeleton Musketeer climbs to the top of the hill- its expressionless face hunts the battlefield for potential victims of its 3 + 1 dice ranged attack...
The dwarves, stuck on the wrong side of the battlefield, play hide and seek with the skeleton gunner. Finally, they make a run for it, the skeleton takes a potshot at the tiny Pip Bigtackle- but naturally misses the double dwarf (a dwarf suffering from a dwarfing spell).
Fegg, seeing his vengeance taken from him by The Widow, turns to leave the battle field and her to her fate. And yet, something tugs at his mind. Watching the valiant woman staggering under the onslaught, he feels pity for the first time since darkness seized his soul... and with a grin, he rushes to her side!
The widow disengages back one base width, scraping off the familiar- who cannot find base space to keep engaged. the other two press in. She then falls back again, using Fegg as a barrier- the Rhino faced beastman cannot press! She now faces just the zombie. Fegg saves the day!
Seeing victory racing away, the villainous player spends his skull points to restore the skeleton on the hill, and charge him down into The Widows (nicely sculpted) rear. She smashes him to dust.
Moments later, the battle is all but run. Flux attacks the archer, but Fegg and the newly arrived Dwarves quickly dispatch his skeletal crew and swarm down on the Dwerg sorcerer, but not before Gatt the Sneaky's robes are set alight by a spell blast from Flux Capacitus.
Flux's dark reign is ended by Pip Bigtackles (relatively) humongous weapon.
Many have fallen on the road, yet the reign of terror is over. The dwarf EverLost takes back his peoples stolen treasure, and returns (eventually) with the foul axe of Barek as a souvenir. Bigtackle becomes elevated to a champion. Fegg switches alignment, seizes the widow as his bride, returns to her peoples village (who all agree is his much cooler than Dashbourne) and eventually becomes king with The Widow Dashbourne becoming the dreaded Queen Fegg.
Well that is the first run of beta 1.04ish. Skull points work very well- giving a huge range of strategies. This game was played with 2 actions per model, and no one used initiative at all, which was weird. However it worked nicely, and the combat ebbed and flowed thanks to the new aggressive draw rules.
In the final battle of the campaign, the vile alliance of Dwerg Sorcerer Flux Capacitus and the ghost kin human Balek Krad raise a small force of undead in order to turn the final onslaught of Darc Dashbournes band of rag tag heroes.
The tide of war has turned - as Fegg the Bastard- (former ally of the evil alliance) swore death to Balek for leaving him to die on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Darc Dashbourne, having rescued the northern tribe from Baleks attack and awoken from the drunken celebrations married to the chiefs daughter (damned if he can work out what her name is- she doesn't speak a word of common). is discovering his brides skill in battle matches his own! A deep connection forms, (paired combat buff +1) - and they face the final battle side by side.
The battle starts with the Heroes deploying, and as underdog, Flux gets to place his troops with full knowledge of the enemy position.
The dwarves break free from the heroes, making a sneaky swing around the back- using bushes for hidden cover against Flux and his skeleton muskets potential blasts. Meanwhile, lone surviving archer Griff Longbrow darts to the central tree to set up his hiding place.
Dashbourne explains his stealthy plan carefully to Mongo and Mrs Dashbourne, who both nod blankly at what he is saying- then proceed to charge directly into the enemy. Dashbourne sighs, and chases off after them. Fegg, seeing Balek close to the hill decides the hill should be HIS, and charges off- his chittering little weapon bearer clanking behind.
Balek and Flux split up, Balek rushing to take the hill (and thus +1 dice height advantage) ready for his musket to lay down fire across the field. Flux takes his now veteran Dwerg to take the small stone stair so his magic bolts can likewise pepper the foe. The enemy have but one ranged weapon, and he is no hero. Can they strike him down before he takes a....
Too late! Griff Longbrow looses an arrow at the exposed Balek! Balek, cockily striding across the field cackles at +3 dice (champion) +1 (magic weapon) and.... rolls no hits! The plucky Griff manages 2- but that only downs the Dark Champion... The player immediately spends One DreadSkull to save him. The enraged warrior snaps the arrow from his chest and roars!
Mongo presses forward, slamming into the zombie line, immediately sending the accursed dead back to hell.
Fegg takes the hill, using the lodestone as cover against the musket. Balek is close, but before he can fight him, the skeletons dart forward and aim at Feggs weakspot- his weapon bearer! Fegg would loose +1 bonus dice in combat should his servant fall! Meanwhile, Gatt the sneaky's hiding space is discovered by a skeletal minion. Perhaps a dagger isn't the best thing to bring to an undead battle- Gatt draws with the bonehead- and decides to hold the position.
Meanwhile, the battle of the zombies gets bloody - hoping to pierce through quickly, the heroes hack into the putrid line- but disastrous rolls hold them. At least the plan to stop enemies firing at them by all being engaged works...
The battle rages on, Balek ignores Fegg, choosing to use his zombies to boost his dice against Dashbourne. meanwhile, the Dwerg attack Mongo- boosting their chances by sacrificing Skull points. Sadly, they but draw with the ogre- Azgabble uses the new draw ability to swing around behind the foe- opening up space for his mates to make a frontal attack!
For his next action, Dashbourne falls back hoping to draw his foes closer to Fegg, and expose their backs to Mongo and Mrs.Dashbournes sudden swing back. His trick works! His attackers choose to press on and maintain base contact. Now, if he can only hold them while....
Suddenly Balek, kicking his own zombie into Dash, delivers a powerful blow to the hero. Mrs. Dashbourne screams in horror as the dark knight takes the fallen Dashbournes head. No skull points can save our hero now- he is dead!
Fegg shatters his skeletons hips, and though the villains have plenty of Dreadskull points left, they choose to keep the skeleton down- for now...
Mongo eats The silence in one go, and plants a boot into the foaming mouthed Azgabble- sending the Dwerg flying away unharmed.
meanwhile, the beastman seizes the stone stair. The battle rages away from him, but he awaits his moment.
Balek orders his troops to descend on The Widow Dashbourne- but the golden haired amazon burns Skullpoints to exact her revenge- adding +3 dice to her combat dice to tear the dark knights black heart out- even whilst pressed by two zombies and a mad dwerg! The heroes have now spent all their Skull points... its down to end game now, as all downed results become deaths... the enemy still holds four points!
Flux, realising his magic is useless now, sends his familiar in to the frey to pester the heroes. It works, and the little fool distracts Mongo long enough for the beastman to leap from his stone stair and sink his blade into mongos neck. The Ogre falls like a tree with a confused look on its face.
The widow Dashbournebattles on- faced by a bizarre set of foes. She rolls strong, she rolls hard... but the enemy keep toe to toe with her! Meanwhile, the skeleton Musketeer climbs to the top of the hill- its expressionless face hunts the battlefield for potential victims of its 3 + 1 dice ranged attack...
The dwarves, stuck on the wrong side of the battlefield, play hide and seek with the skeleton gunner. Finally, they make a run for it, the skeleton takes a potshot at the tiny Pip Bigtackle- but naturally misses the double dwarf (a dwarf suffering from a dwarfing spell).
Fegg, seeing his vengeance taken from him by The Widow, turns to leave the battle field and her to her fate. And yet, something tugs at his mind. Watching the valiant woman staggering under the onslaught, he feels pity for the first time since darkness seized his soul... and with a grin, he rushes to her side!
The widow disengages back one base width, scraping off the familiar- who cannot find base space to keep engaged. the other two press in. She then falls back again, using Fegg as a barrier- the Rhino faced beastman cannot press! She now faces just the zombie. Fegg saves the day!
Seeing victory racing away, the villainous player spends his skull points to restore the skeleton on the hill, and charge him down into The Widows (nicely sculpted) rear. She smashes him to dust.
Moments later, the battle is all but run. Flux attacks the archer, but Fegg and the newly arrived Dwarves quickly dispatch his skeletal crew and swarm down on the Dwerg sorcerer, but not before Gatt the Sneaky's robes are set alight by a spell blast from Flux Capacitus.
Flux's dark reign is ended by Pip Bigtackles (relatively) humongous weapon.
Many have fallen on the road, yet the reign of terror is over. The dwarf EverLost takes back his peoples stolen treasure, and returns (eventually) with the foul axe of Barek as a souvenir. Bigtackle becomes elevated to a champion. Fegg switches alignment, seizes the widow as his bride, returns to her peoples village (who all agree is his much cooler than Dashbourne) and eventually becomes king with The Widow Dashbourne becoming the dreaded Queen Fegg.
Well that is the first run of beta 1.04ish. Skull points work very well- giving a huge range of strategies. This game was played with 2 actions per model, and no one used initiative at all, which was weird. However it worked nicely, and the combat ebbed and flowed thanks to the new aggressive draw rules.