Orc raid on a village with nothing but PEASANTS as defenders?

[Cacique Caribe]

Perhaps, instead of Orcs, the peasants were fighting off a party of Woodwose!

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=138361.0

Dan

[Hobgoblin]

In The Hobbit, if I remember correctly, Tolkien mentions orcs and wargs raiding the villages of the Beornings and their ilk. That could give you a nice set-up for a balanced scenario - especially with a game system that differentiates between armour and brawn. The orcs would be much better equipped (mail, shields, bows, arrows - possibly poisoned - and spears, etc.), but the Men would be bigger and beefier. They'd also have much better morale.

Song of Blades and Heroes doesn't allow you to make that armour/brawn distinction (as the Combat stat covers everything), but it does allow you to have orcs who are reliant on their leaders for motivation and easily scattered if those are slain. That in itself gives you a nice, balanced dynamic: lots of Q4, C2 orcs with the occasional bigger leader against fewer Q3, C3 villagers. But a system that differentiated between gear and prowess would be really handy to accentuate the differences.

Whichever system you use, v_lazy_dragon's ideas for characters are gold - and you could throw in the occasional werebear among the villagers too ...

[Cacique Caribe]

Hobgoblin

I like that idea, of a resident were-bear!  I can see him/her working hard to keep the secret from the public, and suddenly realizing there’s no longer any reason to hide what it really is.

Thanks

Dan

[jon_1066]

Would be a good balancing mechanism too.  So he only reveals himself and turns into a killing machine if the villagers start getting smacked around badly (eg so many huts burnt or villagers slain).  Thus if the Orcs do badly he is never needed.  It would also stop the tactic of "send in the bear" up front.

[v_lazy_dragon]

Perhaps, instead of Orcs, the peasants were fighting off a party of Woodwose!

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=138361.0

Dan

Whilst set very firmly in the present, the book Devolution deals with a bigfoot attack on a small eco village which might give good inspiration if one sees the woodwose as 'European sasquatch' or suitably primitive types

[Cacique Caribe]

Whilst set very firmly in the present, the book Devolution deals with a bigfoot attack on a small eco village which might give good inspiration if one sees the woodwose as 'European sasquatch' or suitably primitive types

That’s interesting!  Lol

Dan

[Plisken]

Way back in 1985 or thereabouts my friends an I played a lot of silly and fun Warhammer Fantasy Battles second edition inspired, I guess, by things like The Magnificent Sven. One of the games was similar to this premise.

When the king raised an army to fight against a large orc horde invading the kingdom all of the able-bodied men from village of Warmington joined that army and only the old men, women and children were left in the village. The village money-lender, Mannerin, raised a militia with his lieutenant (a petty noble) consisting mostly of men too old to join the king's army: the village's butcher (who as a younger man had fought against hobgoblins in distant lands), the undertaker, Goodfrey the tailor who had some knowledge of healing gained through his sisters (who were almost certainly witches) and was notorious for a weak bladder, a sheep farmer called Sponge, the cheese man, a trader of some sort (who somehow didn't get 'enlisted' for the army) and a young boy. (a stupid boy with a pike and a warm scarf). The local clergy put aside their differences with Mannerin to help the village's defense.

The village was attacked by a group of goblin raiders and despite the heroic efforts of the militia and the village's more forceful women the goblin raiders were victorious killing most of the militia and stealing pigs, sheep and delicious baked goods.

I definitely miss those days of silly.

[Cacique Caribe]

I miss my days of silly also.  And they shall be again!

Dan
PS.  By the way, for those in the US, Scale Creep Miniatures seems to have the exact same feudal peasant sets mentioned in the original post:

https://scalecreep.com/product_info.php?products_id=4209
https://scalecreep.com/product_info.php?products_id=4210
https://scalecreep.com/product_info.php?products_id=4211
https://scalecreep.com/product_info.php?products_id=4205
https://scalecreep.com/product_info.php?products_id=7695

[Mars Miniatures]

Oh dear baby Valar, I might have to revisit this scenario on my blog...
I almost did it with a Hobbit village being overrun by Orc slavers.  But I changed my mind and simply made it part of the fluff for the ensuing rescue mission.
I will have to do a flashback battle report of what will surely be an Orc victory. But still it might be fun.
Cheers,
Mar

[Patrice]

Although not with Orcs, but ...Vikings... an easy scenario for a raid.

There is a watchtower on a hill not far of the village, from where come at first a few fighters on foot to help the villagers; then, later after alarm is raised off-table, some cavalry.

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=84126.msg1033648#msg1033648

[Cacique Caribe]

Patrice

That is a fantastic set up.  The scenario was absolutely believable, since it fits with what we know of the period.  In other words, Vikings were shrewd and often hit targets that had among the defenders no real warriors to speak of.

I can imagine a smart Orc leader also picking his targets carefully. 

Dan
PS.  Check out the Town Raid Scenario discussed halfway down this page:  https://daleswargames.blogspot.com/2022/09/another-scenario-for-one-hour-skirmish.html

[Cacique Caribe]

Oh dear baby Valar, I might have to revisit this scenario on my blog...
I almost did it with a Hobbit village being overrun by Orc slavers.  But I changed my mind and simply made it part of the fluff for the ensuing rescue mission.
I will have to do a flashback battle report of what will surely be an Orc victory. But still it might be fun.
Cheers,
Mar

Mar

Please do play it out, and share a report and lots of pictures with us afterwards!

Dan

[Khusru2]

In many times and places they would be militia, border farmer/guards. That would give them a fighting chance.

[Cacique Caribe]

For that they would need arms and training, something most peasants hardly ever get, unless it’s too little too late that is.

Dan

[NotifyGrout]

In The Hobbit, if I remember correctly, Tolkien mentions orcs and wargs raiding the villages of the Beornings and their ilk. That could give you a nice set-up for a balanced scenario - especially with a game system that differentiates between armour and brawn. The orcs would be much better equipped (mail, shields, bows, arrows - possibly poisoned - and spears, etc.), but the Men would be bigger and beefier. They'd also have much better morale.

Song of Blades and Heroes doesn't allow you to make that armour/brawn distinction (as the Combat stat covers everything), but it does allow you to have orcs who are reliant on their leaders for motivation and easily scattered if those are slain. That in itself gives you a nice, balanced dynamic: lots of Q4, C2 orcs with the occasional bigger leader against fewer Q3, C3 villagers. But a system that differentiated between gear and prowess would be really handy to accentuate the differences.

Whichever system you use, v_lazy_dragon's ideas for characters are gold - and you could throw in the occasional werebear among the villagers too ...

If you have Advanced Song of Blades rules, or the Song of Gold and Darkness expansion for the basic rules, they cover heavy armor.