Dean’s 5LB Campaign

[Dean]

So I was really interested in the Five Leagues from the Borderlands write ups on here and thought I’d take a look.  Sure enough it looks like fun and will be another good use for these armies I am building plus an outlet for new minis when my six factions are done 

I’ll log progress here in case it is of interest to anyone, and as always comments are very welcome, but not necessary 

To start with I built three more Victrix vikings and got some appropriate resin heroes via MitznSimzGoR.  So I give you Gunnar, his friends, and his followers as they prepare to start their journey through the region of Nalar.

I also made some appropriate markers (unknown enemy and location) and initiative dice.

[Burgundavia]

Definitely interested in seeing what you do, like and dislike. I've played 5P but not 5L and have heard varying reviews of both. But I love the markers and other things you've already done

[Plynkes]

I have become a convert to the idea of bespoke battlefield markers over card or paper chits. I'm always interested in seeing what others come up with (partly so I can steal their ideas of course). 

I recently made some Out Of Ammo markers after getting tired of my miniature idiots running out all the time and having no way to mark it on the table.

Good luck with your campaign!

[Dean]

Thanks guys!

[Dean]

Gunnar’s Tale

“As well as my two companions that came with me from the North (Ivar and Erik), we have a Mystic (Dorothea), a Feral (Miyako), and a Preen (Spreet) and I feel I have found the right companions for this quest so today we travelled south into Nalar. First stop was the farming community near Sandy Wharf which we reached uneventfully but immediately started to hear about something strange the farmers have seen in the woods between the farms and the coast.

There is nobody here we can recruit and it has cost us 2 Gold to stay at the only Inn, so before we move on Dorothea foraged for herbs and found two doses of Ironshield Root, while some of the team helped out around the local farms, earning back 1 Gold. We then set out to investigate the rumours we were hearing.“

[Dean]

Cut to game 1:

Forest Folk Camp Raid - Moving slowly Gunnar eventually spied the enemy, strange creatures half human and half beast had made camp.  He signaled the warband to get into good positions and indeed they were nearly upon the enemy before they were spotted and the alarm raised. 

1- Spreet was primed and ready and immediately took out the one that seemed likely to be there leader. The enemy, cleared surprised failed to hit with their bows and the rest move to attack, but the warband gets stuck in, killing two more which is enough to make another one flee. 

2 - Next round Preet wings another, miyako wings the one in the woods and Erik kills him, and Ivar loots the camp (finding a couple of torches).
 
3 - Next round Preet finishes off the one he wounded, Gunnar kills another, the last one tries to fight him but realising he is now alone, he runs off and the battle is over!

[Dean]

Having some fun filling in gaps in the Unique Leaders table, plus my take on a Duskling hero and another Feral hero.  All 3D prints from sellers on Etsy.

[Dean]

Next entry “During the evening one of the locals tells a tale of similar creatures and their strange Fey masters and the following morning we decide to move on to Freefield.  Along the way the meet a despairing villager who tells us of more of these beastmen moving through the forest towards Sandy Wharf, and we decide to take them on.”

Erik was the first to get to grips with the enemy but came off badly and would have likely been killed if not for Dorothea’s Heal spell.  Preet got a good shot at the advancing minotaur and Ivar followed up and killed the beast, while Gunnar wounded two others.

Preet killed one outright, Erik did better and wounded his attacker (which Miyako then shot and killed).  Gunnar was attacked by two and killed them both! At this point the two enemy archers (one now which had run out of arrows) ran away!

Against the odds, the lone remaining enemy put Ivar out of action (ended up wounded for 2 turns) which made Preet angry enough that he leapt over the hedge and killed it.

Job done!

[Plynkes]

I have to say, Five Leagues is fast becoming one of my favourite games of all time.


Thanks for sharing your tales with us.  Good job on the unique leaders. I really must get around to making some of my own. We're sure to need some sooner or later, and I want them to actually be unique, not just promoted standard figures press-ganged into service at the last minute just so we can get a game in.

[Dean]

I’m with you on that mate.  Bit of campaign stuff during the week, quick games to play at the weekend, bunch of different figures to collect and paint up, loads of entertainment, great game!

[Dean]

“We managed to get poor Ivar to Freefield and did some work locally to pay for our board and even earned a little. We decided to rest up and let Ivar heal and stayed in Freefield for market day, although we didn’t learn anything useful. While taking Ivar to the healer so he would be fit to fight again, I realised that we had come close to losing him and looked for someone to join us.  We were fortuitous and found Leonidas, ready to join us as long as we promised to help rid the Barrens of Ecthel of the strange cold blooded beasts that have appeared there.”

[Dean]

“Next step, we need more gold for better weapons, so we take a job for the local monastery.  A young priest had been bringing a holy relic to the Monastery and has vanished without a trace, we have been hired to find him and retrieve the relic. Part of our journey was spent in the company of a mirthful traveller, I now call friend, but we parted as we entered the forest.  We soon noticed it was eerily quiet, and the we spied the cart, sitting on a hill, looking for all the world like a trap!  Sending Ivar to scout further along the path, we headed for the cart, for what else could we do?”

Miyako was the first to reach the cart and seeing three shambling forms coming up towards her, let fly, and the first enemy dropped to the ground. The enemy kept coming, three more burst through the trees on their left, another three on the right.  Shambling monstrosities, no longer men.  Preet. Shot a wounded another, Gunnar fought his way past the cart to kill one, but they showed no sign of faltering.

Gunnar faced off against one in monk’s robes, was this the novice they had come to find?  Sadly he had no choice and plunged his sword into its chest.  Miyago fired but found herself out of ammo, but a quick spell by Dorothea and she was re-supplied.  Leonidas and Erik had bided their time and now attacked, Leonidas killed his and then the other, but not before Erik took a wound.

Miyako shot the last one and the battle was over.

“Relics they said!  This is treasure and worth much more that the five gold we were promised! But we escorted it back to town untouched, I’d rather have the monks on my side, and we had grave tidings to bear. I was right, on learning what we had seen, the monks gave us a Quest…”

[Dean]

“The monks admitted that sending us to retrieve their treasure was a test, and I guess we passed, for they asked us to now retrieve the real relic, taken by a gang of pillagers, deserters from the Baron’s forces that have been fighting the Fey.  They were headed south and would need to be caught before they got deep into the Dakor Mountains.”

Gunnar and crew made their way carefully through the rocky terrain, unable to see much in any direction, until three of the pillagers appeared around a corner in front of them.  Miyako fired off a shot, taking down the man armed with a sling and the first battle was on. Our heroes dispatched the other two in short order but the commotion drew others into the fray.

As more enemies appeared from two directions, Spreet downed another one, Leonidas took a wound before Gunnar intervened, Miyako wounded another and Ivar polished him off.

Ivar, pushed his luck too far and charged on, but was taken down.  Miyako got a shot off, stopping that guy in his tracks, but Spreet was now angry and abandoning his bow charged at the foe blocking anyone else. Thankfully Spreet took down his target, but then round the next corner came a figure that made even Gunnar pause, a viscious looking warrior wrapped in furs, clearly a ruthless killer out for blood!

[Dean]

Spreet missed, Gunnar closed in and managed to score a wound, but was soon in trouble and took a wound himself, and it would have been worse if the Monks hadn’t blessed him before they left on the quest!  With a final heroic effort he managed to push the foe back and give Miyako an opening for a killing shot, phew!

Meanwhile Dorothea and Leonidas reached the first objective, but it was not the relic and on hearing footsteps turned find another foe behind them, quickly dispatched by Leonidas.  Gunnar located another but triggered a landslide, thankfully not blocking a direction they needed to go, and Spreet got to a third, finding a Scout’s Cloak.

Dorothea first thought the next area was empty, but after searching found a ver well balanced Bastard Sword that Gunnar was sure to love.  As she and Leonidas started to make their way back to the rest yet another enemy group appeared.  There were three, but as soon as the first sprouted tow arrows in his chest the others disappeared from view!

A cautious approach saved the day, as Gunnar made his way forward, the enemy slinger missed and the other one leapt from hiding but Gunnar’s armour held off the attack, allowing him to then grab the initiative and force his way through the gap.  Spreet shot and killed the Slinger, Gunnar killed his target and hopefully that was it.

Unfortunately the next area they searched unleashed a hidden trap, wounding Miyako, but then they final found the object of their quest.

“The pillagers turned nasty, attacking us a we made our way through the tight confines of the paths through the mountains, and poor Ivar will be out of action for many weeks.  I thought my own end had come when a berserker wrapped in furs also appeared, and have an impressive scar to help me remember the encounter!  As well as the recovered relic, we came away with a finely balanced sword, a scout’s cloak, and a large quiver, so not a bad haul. We settle in for the night before setting off back to Freefield, but as night falls we realise there is something strange in the woods nearby …”

[Freddy]

What a nice idea of making a dungeon quickly