Blood Compass - solo narrative skirmish campaign Part 4

[Spinal Tap]

Here's the second installment in the campaign.

Hope folks like it.


Night Attack at The White Horse Inn



The party arrive back at the Inn just as dusk is settling and quickly hurry the Abbot into an upstairs room where his wounds are tended.

The doctor also gives the Department members a look over, gives a draught of powders to one and wraps bandages on another, before proclaiming them fit.

A solitary monk, Undecimus, arrives; it seems he too escaped from the carriage crash but had been knocked cold throughout the fight. He is armed with a shotgun but glumly pronounces that all the shot he has is salt – it may knock over a foe but will leave him otherwise unharmed.

As the night becomes darker Ampleforth and his men stand guard at the outer edge of the Inn whilst Jesse roams the fields just outside the gate.

As the City bells chimed twice, a number of Assassins began closing in on the Inn from the surrounding fields and woodlands. Even worse, others appeared from the city side and the drains.


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1. Jesse’s superior senses identify a Vampire Acolyte nearby and with a roar he charges, sending it to hell with a single decapitating swing of his power arm.

Tobias hears sounds from the rear of the Inn and moves to investigate, finding and shooting an Assassin Marksmen. He then moves to higher ground on the bridge to keep an eye.

Two more Assassins were close behind the Marksman and now begin to move alongside the Inn as Dr Wilson moves to intercept them.

As the Professor moves to Wilson’s aid, one Assassin rushes forwards before the rest of the foes on the field also begin to move, most towards the Inn but a few towards the Werewolf.

Gilbert Barrow moves to cover the most likely access point and prepares one of his bombs as the Assassin Thug reaches, and attacks, Dr Wilson.

The Doctor deftly steps away from the blow then pushes his sword through the ribcage of his attacker.



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2. Tobias advances over the bridge and dispatches another Marksmen with his rifle as all the Assassins activate again.

A Rogue sneaks behind Jesse and deals him a blow whilst the second Thug, taking advantage of Dr Wilson’s inattention deliver a thrust with his dagger.

The group of Assassin Thugs nearest Jesse move towards him to aid their Rogue leader.

Jesse growls in annoyance, swings and kills his attacker, noting the close proximity of another and the rapid progress of the horde.

Gilbert-Barrow, still holding his bomb, moves onto the bridge behind Tobias as the horde continue to move towards the Inn.

As Wilson finishes the Thug who stabbed him, Ampleforth holds ground at the Inn door.



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3. More Assassins enter the field from both the City and the woods as Gilbert-Barrow launches his bomb over Tobias’ head, killing 2 of the 3.

Tobias quickly kills this final Thug as they rush him then fires off 2 shots in quick succession disposing of 2 more Thugs heading for the Inn door.

The Assassin Rogue near Jesse rushes in and delivers 2 wounds in quick succession. Jesse reacts quickly with a huge swing but the Rogue ducks it and delivers another blow. Jesse goes out of action.

Wilson moves to cover the doorway as Ampleforth engages a Thug in hand to hand combat, killing the Assassin quickly.

A chill mist fills the air and Matthias the Twisted walks confidently onto the field, close to the Western City wall.



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4. As Elijah rushes towards Matthias further adversaries enter from the City and it seems the Vampire Leaders presence has given the Assassins extra impetus and they all rush forward together.

However, some are killed with no wounds to the team.

Undecimus appears at the door to bolster it’s defence as some now need to move to try to stop Matthias.

Ampleforth wounds a Rogue as the Assassins again move forward in concert. Wilson also hits but the shots bounces off – they must be wearing armour under their robes.

Tobias, as a Glory Hound, starts towards Matthias, intent on being the one to kill the Vampire.


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5. Undecimus fires both rounds of his shotgun at the closing Rogue and knocks him to the ground, before Ampleforth attacks the fallen man, missing with both his melee attacks.

As Matthias and a group of Thugs close on Elijah he primes and throws a bomb at the Leader but it causes no damage.

Wilson joins Elijah, preparing to aid in killing the Vampire whilst a Thug climbs from a sewer grate and stabs Tobias. He retaliates, inflicting what should have been the killing blow, but this Thug seems a little tougher than the rest.


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6. Elijah throws his final bomb at Matthias and causes a wound as the Thugs close in on him and the Doctor. Doctor Wilson ignores them and concentrates on hitting their Leader with some success.

Quickly killing the Thug accosting him, Tobias runs to the ledge and fires off a hurried shot at Matthias but misses.

The Professor, at his third attempt, hits and kills the still prone Assassin Rogue then resumes his guarding of the doorway.



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7. Undecimus moves back towards the Inn as multiple Thugs appear across the board.

Elijah fails to hit the Vampire Leader again as does Wilson.

During this time another two Rogues have appeared, one to the South -East but another to the North near the Inn.

Tobias uses all his skills to line up another attempt at Matthias before he gets the chance to leave the field.

And hits.

The Vampire body falls to the ground and begins to decompose immediately.

Flushed with success, he then shoots quickly at the horde of Thugs near Gilbert-Barrow and Dr Wilson, taking out two of the three.

Ampleforth wounds the approaching Rogue near the side of the Inn and vows to kill him with his next shot.





8. Undecimus remains near the door.

Tobias kills another Assassin Thug whilst Elijah is rushed by Thugs and kills two.

Unfortunately more appear, and as they all converge towards the Inn and the Department men, both Ampleforth and Wilson fail their shots.



9. Undecimus fire and knocks down a nearby Thug as Tobias again show his skills, taking out 1 Thug and 1 Rogue.

Ampleforth rushes to the downed Thug, killing him instantly, then spins and fires, killing another Thug approaching the Inn.

As another Rogue appears well away from the action in the South. Gilbert-Barrow and Dr Wilson both make further kills before another group of Thugs move in.


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10. Undecimus moves randomly near the Inn as Elijah Gilbert-Barrow shoots two thugs; unfortunately another Assassin Marksman appears close by.

Dr Wilson moves towards the Carriage Park where a number of Assassins are converging on their way to the Inn.

Tobias is again ambushed, taking another wound before retaliating and killing his attacker them moves towards a better shooting position.

Ampleforth starts moving out of the City gate leaving Undecimus alone by the Inn; he’s decided that caution must be thrown to the wind if the party are to be successful.



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11. Undecimus remains near the Inn.

Wilson is attacked and kills the offending Thug and all the Assassins make a concerted move towards their targets, one being killed by Wilson and another by Gilbert-Barrow.

Tobias fails his next shot and Ampleforth holds his ground.



At this point there are only 4 Assassins on the field, Matthias is destroyed and there are no Vampire Acolytes in play.

This causes the Assassin’s morale to fail and they hurriedly withdraw.

Jesse Moonwalker, when checked, is merely knocked out, and recovers quickly enough to head back to the Inn.






A great game which I thoroughly enjoyed. Every time I thought I had won a few more Assassins would appear.

Note I'm playing the out of action/death slightly differently to normal by rolling for out of action post game - I think this works thematically as the Assassins had been driven off.

[Sunjester]

Your table set-up looks really good, those printed buildings are very effective. I am glad to see everyone survived (just).

[Spinal Tap]

I'm afraid I've lost my notes for this game so I will give a brief summary and post some pictures.

The following morning a messenger delivered a note, seemingly from the contact.

It read:

'In hiding now at the University Library, there are numerous agents in the area but it seems they do not know I am here.

We should meet tomorrow and I can provide the map of the whereabouts of the compass.

There's a tunnel leading to the lower cellars of the University from the Church of Queen Ethelburga, hopefully the Assassins know nothing about it and the gate into the centre will be quiet.

Until we meet.


K.'


The team decide to take the most direct route reasoning that the Assassins ignorance of the tunnel will have stopped them from patrolling the area any more heavily than any other.

On arrival near the gated wall they spot numerous Assassins who had chosen to just guard all the city gates and wait for the 'O' Department to come to them.

The crew were starting in the South East corner behind a small building and the church was to the North West.

There were a number of Assassins around the gate and a few patrolling slightly further afield.

Ampleforth took the lead in moving the Abbott forwards defended by Jesse and Dr Wilson, whilst Tobias and Eligah Gilbert-Barrow would guard the rear.

A succession of failed rolls lead to a very busy field with over 20 adversaries attacking the heroes, especially to the South, not helped by Tobias trying to chase down Vampires whenever they appeared, even far away, due to his Glory Hound trait.

Eventually he fell foul to one too many attacks and was comatose when Elijah checked him out.

Elijah was then down to 1HP and was only a short way away from their starting position with numerous enemies closing, and he was forced to do the only sensible thing - pick up McGrath and run.

The other members of the team were now past the gate and fought hard to finally make their escape into the church which they barricaded shut.

Ampleforth and the Abbott were unhurt but both Jesse and Wilson were down to 1 HP each.



Because Elijah and Tobias left by the Southern edge I cannot count them for the next mission so this will be attempted with only three crew.

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[Pattus Magnus]

Neat looking game, it sounds like fun! I like the figures, too- the Frostgrave cultists work well in other periods.

[LCpl McDoom]

Really enjoying following this, very inspirational. Many thanks for taking the time to post this up.

[Spinal Tap]

Thanks folks, there will be at least 2 more episodes of this adventure to come.

[Sunjester]

You are doing an excellent job here, the games look great.
I am looking forward to reading the next one.

[Doug ex-em4]

This is an excellent topic. I really admire the background details which set the scene before the gameplay develops the narrative. The figures are great and the tables are splendid. I look forward to reading more. I’m very upset that Jesse has been removed (temporarily, I hope) from the team because of his injuries - he’s definitely my favourite 

Doug

[Spinal Tap]

Fear not Doug, Jesse is fine.


This is the last installment of the Night of the Assassins Campaign by Graham Harrison.

The party have to protect and escape with the Abbot despite the attentions of an unknown number of Assassin Sneaks.

The game starts with 7 shadowy figures in the near dark of the cellars who can only be identified as true servants or Assassins from 4” away, dependent on a D6 roll.



Hunt the Assassins

Gasping for breath the three remaining members of the ‘O’ Department ensure that the Church door is barred as the Abbot finds, and opens, the entrance to the secret passage.

‘This will lead us straight to the cellars of the University’ he said, and as the last member of the party passed through the entrance he sealed it from within, ensuring that the remaining Assassins cannot follow.

Reaching the vast cellar complex it is a struggle to see clearly in the poorly lit gloom, but they see a number of people moving between the piles of goods and storage crates; servants, it seems, collecting food, fuel and other items to keep the University functioning.

The Abbot spots the silhouette of a well dressed individual at the far end of this room and marches confidently over.

After a brief conversation, the man hands the Abbot a package, then stiffens and falls to the floor – dead.

The Assassins were waiting for them again!!

‘Run to us’ Ampleforth shouts and Abbot Primus needs no second invitation to do just that.

The party need to get to the Monk then get him out of the cellar which has now become a place of danger.

Due to the gloom it is difficult to tell which of the shadowy shapes moving in the dark are servants and which are Assassins.


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1 – All three members of the party move a good distance towards the isolated Monk as one of the shadowy figures does too.


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2 – The Abbot continues to move slowly towards the group, much too slowly for Ampleforth’s liking.

As Ampleforth starts to move forwards all the undefined shapes seem to move towards the Abbot as one.

Of added concern is that an Assassin Rogue appears at the entrance to the South – they must of finally got into the tunnels.

Jesse moves again as all the shadows move again with two of them now clearly Assassin Sneaks, and two more merely servants, who flee as they spot the unsheathed blades of the Sneaks.

Wilson turns quickly and shoots the newly emerged Rogue who was blocking their exit.


20240426_132227 by markndebs, on Flickr


3 -  The Abbot continues to head South as Professor Ampleforth moves slightly to bring one of the Sneaks into range. He passes his Perception Test which allows him to shoot – he misses.

Jesse fails to react at all as two Thugs come through the entrance door to the South and another shadowy figure enters from the North.

Wilson also fails to react at all allowing the enemy to move ever closer towards the party and the Abbot.


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4 - The Abbot moves again and Jesse follows him, providing cover towards the, now guarded, exit as more shadows appear.

Ampleforth moves to intercept a figure in the East and identifies it as another Sneak whom he aims at and shoots, missing by some few inches.

Wilson is ambushed by a Thug, suffering a wound, as more Assassins, both potential and known, begin to encircle the team.

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5 - Ampleforth grabs the Abbot and pulls him towards a door to the South West, away from the ever increasing number of enemies.

Jesse rushes to Wilson’s aid and dispatches Thug with a single blow then shoots at the next Thug killing him as well.

After failing to do anything for the past 2 turns, Dr Wilson finally gets his act together and shoots dead the remaining Thug to the South.


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6- Ampleforth and the Abbot speed towards the door and escape, only pausing to shout for the other two to do the same.

Wilson responds immediately and he too escapes the cellar.

Jesse is ambushed but kills the Thug outright.



7. Jesse also exits the cellar.



After escaping the cellars Ampleforth speaks to the Head Librarian, asking that JANUS be contacted and instructed to send guards.

When they are safe they examine the dreaded Blood Compass and note it’s inherently evil aura.

Abbot Primus uses his arcane knowledge to read the device and confirms he now knows how to reach the Castle of Sophia Jagiellon.

Professor Ampleforth agrees to return to JANUS and ensure his team fully recover whilst the Monks of Odersfelt travel to Castle Jagiellon and eliminate the Queen.



After the struggles of the first three games this one was much easier; most bad rolls occurring in non critical areas.

The next instalment sees me trying to mesh Frostgrave and my own rules involving random room, contents and enemies generation using cards and full set of RPG dice.