Oldhammer In Moria: Tempt not the Valar, You Proud Hobbit!

[Mister Frau Blucher]

Hey, Mar,

My sincere thanks at for the invitation. I would absolutely love for that to happen. I'll be tied down here until the holidays are over, but possibly after that at some point?

And wow, that would be a hell of a scenario with some of the GC guys showing up in Moria - business as usual for your world, though, eh?    It would be tough to decide which of my cast of thousands would make the cut...maybe a mix of good and bad guys...now my imagination is working again...that would be epic...

[Mars Miniatures]

@Mister Frau Blucher,
Sure thing, buddy. Like all good adventures, Im sure our mashup would start in a tavern. Perhaps a notice board in said tavern? A help wanted sign - travel paid for, even cross dimensionally.

[Mars Miniatures]

 The Rogues of Rhun - Westfalia Minis

 Greetings to another introduction post!

Here we have a new team of adventurers called - The Rogues of Rhun!

They are all figures from Westfalia Miniatures - Paul Hicks, Matthew Bickley, and Boris Woloszyn.

Paul Hicks is a giant in the historical wargame world and needs no introduction. Matthew Bickley is of Reaper and Otherworld fame. Boris is a newer sculptor I knew nothing about, and I must say I am now a big fan.

In time, I want to collect everything from Darksword, Westfalia, Freebooter and Black Scorpion. Among other things of course, but those are the companies I want to concentrate on.

On to the new figures...

Zoltar the Enchanter, Xanthia and her familiar Buttons

Zoltar the Enchanter
Zoltar once granted a boy's wish to be a grownup. That boy later grew up overnight in NYC, then fought a jungle war alongside Lieutenant Dan, then fought a bocage war trying to save Private Ryan, fought another jungle war on an island against a volcano, befriended a soccer ball on that island, and finally lived in exile in a NYC airport. Zoltar, seeing the mayhem caused by unregulated magic for profit, sought to make amends and live a life worth living. So he broke out of that coin operated machine and became an enchanter upon a Quest to a northern cave, the cave of Caerbannog, wherein, carved in mystic ruins upon the living rock... make plain the last resting place of the most Holy Grail. And Death did await them all with nasty, big, pointy teeth!
"Zoltar speaks."  "I wish I were big" "Your wish is granted"

Xanthia, Witch of Gospodar
Xanthia was once a Gospodar Ice Witch, but now lives a more reasonable life in warmer climes with her pet cat, Buttons - who is draped around her shoulders. She accompanies Zoltar on his Quest.

Solaire and Rattlebones

Solaire is a Templar Knight of the Order of the Blazing Sun. The Order worships the goddess Myrmidia - the Goddess of War. Where Sigmar was a mortal who became a God, Myrmidia was a Goddess who took mortal form to fight Chaos. Solaire took on a quest in the realm of Lordran where he encountered many "dark souls" in the hope of inspiring them to find hope in the power of the sun and Myrmidia.
Solaire: Praise the Sun!

Rattlebones is a Wildling Warrior who knows the ways of the North. He became a leader of the Wildlings under the King Beyond The Wall. After hearing a Northerner Witch named Zanthia speak of Zoltar's Quest, Rattlebones has joined their Quest for the Holy Grail. Rattlebones hopes that this magical artifact can transform the North into a tropical paradise.
Rattlebones: You know nothing, Jon Snow.

Bortai and Kano


Bortai - Ungol Archer
She is prophecied to be the mother of many Khans. And like all of her kind - she knows what is best in life. Trained to be a hunter archer since her youth, she is unparalleled in the arts of the bow. And while most Ungols are on horseback, Bortai deigns to go on foot to accompany her Questing companions into murky dungeons.

Kano - Warrior
Kano is another quintessential northern warrior. But not much is known about him, except that Frazetta painted him when he wasnt painting Conan. So Kano had to think of some way to distinguish himself from the barbarian - he does not fear magic.

Stroika and Alpha

Stroika - Kislev Warrior
Stroika is a member of the KGB - the Kislev Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (aka the committee for Kislevite security). She was a pivotal part of the Satchel List Debacle where Stroika covertly played the part of a triple agent. In the effort to extricate the agent called Spyglass for Albion, she not only eliminated agent Percival but also agent Bremovych (all with stylish 80s new wave music to boot). Stroika was working for the Lustrians all along! Stoika was recently on vacation with a Slann Mage somewhere South of the Temple City of Hexoatl. But she has joined Zoltar's Quest out of purely altruistic reasons. Or has she?

Alpha - bounty hunter
Alpha Fett is one of the most feared bounty hunters in this sector. Originally hired to capture the Tomb Raider known as Solo Jones and his Kislev Bear co-pilot companion Chewy the Circus Bear, Alpha has changed his life by becoming a foster father to a Baby Yoda. But the Dead-Eye Knights have kidnapped the little green creature and plan to brainwash him into their Cult. Alpha has joined forces with Zoltar who has the mystical powers to discover the kidnappers whereabouts. Of course, Zoltar demands payment first - Alpha must help the new adventuring party with their Grail Quest.

~~~~~~~

So where will this new team of adventurers be exploring? Rhun is the lands leading to the East. It might be nice to go deep into Easterling lands, or further into Essos (Braavos, Old Valyria, Astapor, Qarth) or east of the Old World (Cathay, Ind, Nippon)

But first I think they must complete their initial fluff. They are on a Quest. And if they cant find the Holy Grail, will another Magical Cup of some sort satisfy them? The Goblet of Fire perhaps? A Tri-Wizard tournament sounds like a good scenario! Or... most probably, the Tankard of Bugman! Surely if the Holy Grail cannot be found, then perhaps this Dwarven relic can restore both leaf and flower. And Tavern and Pub!

Solaire: We must find what was lost. Where do we find it?

Zoltar: Search the land, the labyrinths of the forests, to the edge of... within.

Solaire: Where do we look for it?

Zoltar: Portents, signs... follow.

Solaire:  I will ride forth in the name of this Quest. We will find this Grail or die!

Cheers,
Mar

From post here: https://mars-miniatures.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-rogues-of-rhun-westfalia-minis.html

[Mister Frau Blucher]

Those are some really nice sculpts! I love the color palette you've chosen for these guys.

I'll definitely be interested to seeing if the Grail is in Moria!

[Mars Miniatures]

From blog post here: https://mars-miniatures.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-tale-of-goldberry-and-fate-of.html


The Tale of Goldberry and the Fate of Nimrodel

Ok, the magic word of the day is "river". Everytime you hear (read) the word "river" take a swig of your favorite Dwarven beverage - Bugman's Brew.
Today on the blog we have a painted mini - Goldberry on her horse. But first a little info about a Wood Elf maiden named Nimrodel...

Nimrodel lived alone by her favorite river in Lothlorien. She was there long before the High Elves came from beyond the Sea. When they came, she tolerated them and allowed them to build a kingdom in the forest next to her river. The newly crowned King of Lorien was a hoity toity High Elf called Amroth and he fell in love with her. But after the Dwarves woke up a Balrog in nearby Moria, Nimrodel was afraid and left Lothlorien and headed south. King Amroth followed her and the two agreed to meet in Belfalas where they would cross the Sea to Valinor. There in the Undying Lands, Amroth promised Nimrodel that she would be safe from the upcoming wars. But she got lost on the way and was delayed. Amroth could not wait for her and told the ship to sail off, thinking Nimrodel had stood him up. But then he thought he saw her and leapt into the sea to swim back to the shore. Now listen up kids, always wait for the vehicle to come to a full and complete stop. And never jump into the ocean with your armor on, even if it is made of some "light as a feather" fancy-schmancy elven metal. So yeah, King Amroth drowned and they named the area around there after him - Dol Amroth. So where was Nimrodel? On the way to Belfalas, she had come to a river in the White Mountains that reminded her of her lovely river back home in Lorien. She sat by that river, listening to its soothing ASMR murmering and... fell asleep. When Nimrodel finally woke up, she hurried to Belfalas, where some locals told her of Amroth's fate. And Nimrodel was never heard of again. Did she go back to Lothorien? They did name her beloved river after her - Nimrodel River. Or did she stay in Belfalas? Many years later, Legolas remarked that the Prince of Dol Amroth had Elven blood in him. Or did Nimrodel go even further north to forget her sorrows?

She did love rivers. And who else in Middle Earth really loves rivers, lakes, ponds, and watery places of that nature you ask? Goldberry loves rivers! She had a house in the Old Forest by the River Withywindle. Actually it was Tom Bombadil who called her the "River-woman's daughter" because that is where he first saw her - in the river. Probably twirling water lillies and then taking river-naps. And remember, when Frodo and the Hobbits met Tom Bombadil he was picking river lillies for Goldberry. Some say she was a water spirit or a Naiad, or perhaps even one of the Maia like Olorin (Gandalf, for you non Maiar knowing rubes out there).
So did our forgetful Nimrodel finally forget the Amroth tragedy and end up falling in love and marrying Tom Bombadil? I mean Tom is constantly picking water lillies for her (and he doesnt jump off ships). One last thing - there is an isle in the Old Forest near the Withywindle river called Elvet-Isle that is infested with swans. Guess another place that has lots of swans? Dol Amroth! Centuries later the men of Dol Amroth had distinctive swan-wings on their helmets. Oh... one more last thing, between Dol Amroth and the Old Forest is another swan filled area... Swanfleet (Nin-In Eiph) Swans love lakes and rivers. Nimrodel/Goldberry left a trail of swans everywhere she went. Again, here is my thesis - Goldberry/Nimrodel is a "swan polluting" elf and has been raising swans as invasive species all over Middle Earth. Thats my story and Im sticking to it.

Oh Goldberry's horse is named... River.
Of course.

Zoltar: Greetings mysteriously clad lady! We are adventurers looking for a quest. Perchance do you have one at hand?

Goldberry: Funny you should ask. I have several fetch quests. *Adventureres grumble and groan amonngst themselves* Oh and a new one just popped up on my phone... its a town defense quest! It says here... Town of East Bight... payment upon completion... blah blah blah... help defend our town from the invading hordes of chaos and you can shop for supplies here. We also have Laketown Beer on tap.

Zoltar: Well a "Seven Samurai" scenario beats those "Fetch Quests" anyday. Sign us up! And bonus! We are on a fact finding mission. Fact... the beer must flow!

Cheers,
Mar

[Mars Miniatures]

From blog post here: https://mars-miniatures.blogspot.com/2021/11/town-defense-of-east-bight-scenario.html

TOWN DEFENSE OF EAST BIGHT - SCENARIO SUMMARY AND UNIT STATS

 I hope to play a solo game tomorrow for the scenario - Town Defense of East Bight.

Here is the scenario summary and the hero/villain stats.

And Im hoping to have a written draft of my retro Oldhammer inspired rules before the year's end. I was thinking of calling it:

1) Dwarven Beer, Goblin Pretzels ( Beer & Pretzels, of course)

Or

2) Hammer of Thee Old Gods  (Thee, as written in Billy Childish punk cult fashion)

And yes it will be free. Though a kickstarter printed hardcopy with commissioned old school artwork would be just loveliness. The bullet points of these rules are basically what has been played here on this blog in the last few years.

Namely:

- A wargame skirmish retro rules set that fills that spot between rpg and miniatures wargame.

- A streamlined lite rules set that requires no charts or cards and features an IGoYouGo turn sequence.

- A dozen minis or so per side and a 22' x 30" table size.

- Games should last an hour or two at most.

- Miniatures agnostic, but 80s old lead (Ral Partha, Grenadier, Heritage) should be applauded!

- As 1st edition Warhammer is dedicated to Donald Featherstone, these rules are dedicated to the 1st edition Warhammer white box which embraced the bullet points of these rules. As Featherstone once said, and I will probably butcher it, but something along the lines of - rules should not be pseudo-science but a pastime. In that spirit these rules are forged - in the fires of it! That british sense of humour, that was forgotten by the modern corporate GW. And when exactly did that sell out take place - Im tempted to say 4th edition was the decline and fall (though I might even say 3rd was the beginning of the bloat much like AD&D was to OD&D) And the point would be to make scenarios that take the spirit of old modules and movies for a simple and fun game... at least in my humble opinion. Your miles may vary (and that's ok too!)



TOWN DEFENSE OF EAST BIGHT


Scenario Summary
The town of East Bight is populated by Hobbits. The brave PCs have taken on this quest to save them from the invading Chaos forces who have come to sacrifice the Hobbits to their dark gods. The Hobbits will supply a small militia force and have prepared traps to help the town defense. Not only is Goldberry Nimrodel a quest giver NPC, she is an active participant and will lend her considerable powers to help in the battle! The fountain has been filled with all the beer in town. Defend the Beer!

Pre-Game Setup
A Fountain is placed by the defender 6" from their short edge in the center. Place a Town Gate ruin 12" from enemy edge in center. Players alternate placing 2 ruins each but only the defender can place ruins with a 2nd level. Climbing to a 2nd level requires a model's full move if adjacent to terrain piece. As long as a Defender model is on the Town Gate a Hobbit catapult will fire once each turn.

Hobbit Hotpot: To-Hit 4+, Rend, Damage 1, Splash will also hit other models in 3" of target 

The defenders may place 3 Trap Tokens anywhere on the board to represent trapped areas. Any enemy that approaches within 6" of it must test LD to spot any traps. A failed test means the target springs a trap! Trap:1 damage, To-Save as normal. Once 3 traps are sprung (3 LD tests are taken) the Trap Token is removed from the board. Friendly models do not have to test for traps.

Starting Deployment
The town is defended by the 8 PCs and 4 Hobbit militia.
Defenders can deploy anywhere.

The Forces of Chaos are comprised of 9 Daemonettes, 6 Blightkings, and 1 Tzaangor Shaman and are deployed touching the opposite board edge.

Reinforcements
There are no reinforcements.

Victory Conditions
The town fountain is filled with beer and serves as a refreshing rally point. The side that holds the Beer Fountain Objective at the end of 8 turns wins the game. To capture an Objective Point you must have more models closer to the objective than the enemy.

Music to be Played
Widek - Auror Borealis
Russian Folk & Slavic Music - Fantasy & World Music by the Liechters
Crowbar - Time Heals Nothing


~~~


HERO STATS

Zoltar the Enchanter: Move 4 Health 3 Save 5+ Leadership 3+
- Melee: To-Hit 4+, Attacks 1, Damage 1
- Vorpal Rabbit, Spell: To-Cast 5+, Target in 18" in LOS suffers d3 wounds. If a 6 was rolled, than target suffers 6 wounds!
- Fireball, Spell: To-Cast 4+, Target in 24" in LOS suffers 1 wound from a Fire Attack.

Xanthia: Move 4 Health 2 Save 6+ Leadership 4+
- Melee: To-Hit 4+, Attacks 1, Damage 1
- Bad Luck, Spell: To-Cast 5+, Remains in play for one target at a time. Target in 24" must reroll any one successful die roll per turn that Xanthia chooses.
- Ice Blast, Spell: To-Cast 4+, Target in LOS in 18" must test LD or lose 1 wound and be frozen on next turn (no move or action)

Sir Solaire: Move 4 Health 5 Save 4+ Leadership 3+
- Melee: To-Hit 3+, Attacks 3, Rend, Damage 1
- Praise the Sun, Ability: Once per game, Solaire can ignite his sword for 1 turn. All his attacks are Fire Attacks that cause 2 Damage.

Rattlebones: Move 4 Health 4 Save 4+ Leadership 4+
- Melee: To-Hit 3+, Attacks 2, Rend, Damage 2

Bortai: Move 4 Health 2 Save 6+ Leadership 4+
- Range, 18": To-Hit 4+, Attacks 2, Damage 1
- Melee: To-Hit 4+, Attacks 1, Damage 1
- Scout: Before Game starts, Bortai can move 8"

Kano: Move 4 Health 4 Save 5+ Leadership 4+
- Melee: To-Hit 4+, Attacks 3, Damage 1

Stroika: Move 4 Health 3 Save 4+ Leadership 3+
- Melee: To-Hit 3+, Attacks 4, Damage 1
- Infiltrate: Stroika can deploy anywhere on board, but at least 12" from an enemy.

Alpha: Move 4 Health 4 Save 4+ Leadership 3+
- Range, 12": To-Hit 3+, Attacks 1, Rend, Damage 1, Move or Fire
- Melee: To-Hit 3+, Attacks 3, Damage 1
- Disintegrate Bolt: Once per game, Alpha may use this ammo on a range attack which causes an extra +2 Damage.
- Grappling Hook: Once per game, Alpha may use this to increase Move to 8" even up vertically to a higher floor.

Hobbit Militia: Move 4 Health 1 Save 6+ Leadership 5+
- Range, 12": To-Hit 5+, Attacks 1, Damage 1
- Melee: To-Hit 5+, Attacks 1, Damage 1

Goldberry Nimrodel: Move 8" Health 6 Save 5+ Leadership 3+
- Melee, River's Hooves: To-Hit 4+, Attacks 2, Damage 1
- Strengthen Resolve, Ability: All friendly units in 12" of Nimrodel may reroll a failed LD test using Goldberry's LD.
- Otherworldly Radiance, Ability: Goldberry causes Fear
- Kindle Hearts, Spell: To-Cast 5+, Heal up to 3 Wounds on target unit.
- Banish, Spell: To-Cast 3+, one enemy unit must move its Move Stat directly away from Goldberry.

VILLAIN STATS

Blightking: Move 4"  Health 4 Save 4+ Leadership 3+
- Melee: To-Hit 3+, Attacks 3, Damage 1
- Cloud of Flies, Ability: Any model in contact with Blightking suffers a -1 To-Hit in combat or when testing LD.

Daemonette: Move 6" Health 1 Save 5+ Leadership 3+
- Melee: To-Hit 4+, Attacks 2, Rend, Damage 1

Tzaangor Shaman: Move 6" Health 6 Save 5+ Leadership 3+
- Melee: To-Hit 4+, Attacks 2, Damage 1
- Glean Magic, Spell: To-Cast 4+, An enemy wizard in LOS in 18", Shaman may now use any one spell target has in future turns.
- Boon of Tzeentch, Spell: To-Cast 4+, Remains in play and cast on self, all friendly models in 6" of Shaman may reroll failed range or melee attacks.
- Flickering Fire, Spell: To-Cast 4+, Target in LOS in 24" suffers 1 wound from a fire attack.

[Mister Frau Blucher]

Hey, Mar,

Rules sound pretty cool! You've spent a lot of time developing them, be interesting to see how they've shaped up.

Looking forward to the Eight Samurai!

[Mars Miniatures]

From full blog post here: https://mars-miniatures.blogspot.com/2021/11/town-defense-of-east-bight-battle.html

 Town Defense of East Bight - Battle Report Part 1

 Last Minute Amendments And Clarifications

8 Game Turns might be excessive for such a small board, so let's drop it down to 6 Turns.

Goldberry's Banish Spell has a 12" range and needs LOS.
Her Kindle Hearts Spell also has a 12" range.

The Chaos forces also have 5 Tzaangor beastmen with bows.

Tzaangor with Bow: Move 6" Health 4 Save 5+ LD 4+
- Melee: To-Hit 5+, Attacks 1, Damage 1
- Bow, Range 18": To-Hit 4+, Attacks 1, Damage 1

Attacking Buildings
An attacking model may move unto the 2nd floor of a building if at the start of its movement it is already in contact with the building. However, if there is no room for the model to be placed on the 2nd floor, it must remain on the ground floor. Adjustments must be made to accomodate the attacker to fit on the 2nd floor as best as possible to ensure "good form".
If an attacker on the ground floor is in base contact with a building with a 2nd floor he may make upward melee attacks with a defending model in it at -1 To-Hit. The defending model attacks as normal to the lower model without penalty.

Ranged attacks that target defending units on a 2nd floor are made at -1 To-Hit. Ranged defenders may fire without penalty to units below that are not in cover.

 ~~~

So the Battle of East Bight is upon us.

Why did Hobbits decide to build a town on old ruins - some ancient Easterling settlement of some sort. Probably Wainriders. This ruin is close to Dol Goldur and Mordor and was once a forested area and part of Rhovanion Forest (Mirkwood) until the settlers started the deforestation of the area. Perhaps it was rampaging Orcs who ended their civilization. Or perhaps the environmentally minded Elves of Mirkwood. Or those Rohirrim who once lived in the northern banks of the Anduin, before they were gifted lands to the east of Gondor. Whoever ended the civilization here, it was long ago. But in the recent events of the last age where Sauron and his master Morgoth were defeated, and the recapture of Moria by the Dwarves and their eventual disappearance (again), Hobbits have flourished and pushed their colonies and borders ever further into the political voids left by the races of Middle Earth. Those simple minded Hobbits thought that Middle Earth was theirs for the taking and the forces of Orcs, Trolls, Wraiths, and Corrupted Men were gone forever. Then the Chaos Gods began encroaching from the edges of the Known World. And their first push from the East fell right on this fledgling Hobbit town - East Bight! The Hobbit citizens were evacuated into the (Not So) Brown Lands, for the Entwives had returned and turned that area into a garden again. And the Hobbit refugees were welcomed by the Dryads and Tree-Kin there. But a dedicated few remained - the Hobbit Scout Militia. The Hobbits pooled their money together and searched for heroes to help defend their town from the coming of Chaos.

The Hobbit Militia (Left to Right)
Scoutmaster Jumbo and 3 scouts - Bingo, Bobo, and Bumbo


Goldberry Nimrodel is here to defend the Fountain.

Bumbo the Hobbit: Excuse me, Lady Goldberry, but are you sure these "heroes" are good enough to defend our town? I hear they are simple mercenaries for hire and not proper heroes.

Goldberry: They might not be the heroes you deserve, but they are the ones you need. *Bumbo gives her a meh face* OK... fine. And also, they are the only ones who answered your Craigslist ad.

Bumbo: That info doesnt inspire me. -_-

Upperfloor, above the City Gate... Bortai, Bingo the Hobbit, Alpha, Scoutmaster Jumbo

Scoutmaster Jumbo: We have a ruined gate but no walls, we need to have some words with our City Planning Commissioner. And these windows are too high for a Hobbit defender. This is supposed to be a Hobbit sized town!


Alpha: Should I get you a crate for you to stand on?

An over the City Gate view... facing East.

Scoutmaster Jumbo: Oh... those are Blightkings of Nurgle! And Tzeetchian Beastmen! And Daemonettes of Slaanesh! They just ran through our advance guards earlier this morning!

Alpha: Steady boys... The army doesnt like more than one defeat per day. Looks bad in the newspapers and upsets civilians at their breakfast.

Scoutmaster Jumbo: They literally ate our Hobbit scouts for second breakfast! I should think a little panic is in good order.

Another overview of the table before the battle starts.

And the battle begins with... Scoutmaster Jumbo sending up a signal for the offboard Hobbit Hotpot Artillery to begin firing.

Scoutmaster Jumbo: Redleg, Redleg, Ripper Bravo Two actual. Fire mission. Grid 6-4-9-4-0-2. Direction 6-1-0-. Adjust fire, over.


And the first salvo of Hobbit hot soup aims for the Nurgle Chaos warrior center - it goes awry and misses.
Alpha uses his one Disintegration Shot ammo and fires at a Nurgle Blightking. It hits! But even with Rend, it fails to breach the Chaos armor.
Bortai and Scoutmaster Jumbo hit, but also cannot penetrate their armor.
The Hobbit Bingo finds his mark and it scores a wound on a Blightking! Figures... if anything hits at all, its a simple Hobbit bow that does. Still the Nurgle warrior laughs - its down to 3 Health... Still first blood for the Shire!

The Daemonettes move up to a northeast building. Will they move forward and attack Zoltar's building, the Beer Fountain, or the City Gate?

The Beastmen let loose a volley of arrows and one finds its mark and kills poor Bingo the Hobbit. At least he wounded a Nurgle Blightking before he died.

Bortai: Sleep well under Shire hill, little Hobbit. Yours was an honorable death.

The Nurgle Warriors are just 1 inch shy from the City Gate. Looks like there will be more fire poured upon them before the Gate is sieged.

The Hobbit Hotpot Artillery strike hits true and causes 3 wounds on the Chaos warrior center. One Blightking is brought down!

Bortai misses, Alpha hits and scores a wound and so does Scoutmaster Jumbo! 2 more wounds on the Chaos warriors. That brings a chaos warrior down to 1 health.


The Daemonettes attack in a flurry of claws! Bortai and Scoutmaster Jumbo are slain! Alpha is wounded and down to 2 Health and is the last remaining PC atop the City Gate! The Daemonettes are terrifyingly vicious and the Nurgle Warriors watch the slaughter with disapointment. Leave something for us to kill, they say with pox infested lips.

~~~

The battle continues in Part 2 coming soon...

[Mars Miniatures]

 From full post here: http://mars-miniatures.blogspot.com/2021/11/town-defense-of-east-bight-battle_23.html

Town Defense of East Bight - Battle Report Part 2

 The conclusion to the Battle of East Bight...

With Daemonettes and the Nurgle Blightkings making their way into the City Gate, Alpha must decide about using his grappling hook and getting out of there or to stay against all odds and call in one more Hobbit Artillery strike. And unlike his usual mercenary outlook on life... for once, he surprises himself and the rest of the team and chooses to do something different ... he makes a heroic last stand. Today we see the birth of a hero in the making. But will it also be the first and last day for our new hero?

Alpha: Here I remain! Go tell to Sparta, thou who passest by, that here, obedient to her laws, we lie.

Alpha decides to stand at the top of the northern building edge and engages the 3 Daemonettes trying to come up. He salutes the mindless demonic furies and strikes 2 of them down!

Alpha: And... stay out! *gets on the Hobbit field radio handset* Redleg, Redleg, Ripper Bravo Two actual. Be advised we got chaos daemons in the wire. For the record its my call. Dump everything you got on my pos. I say again, expend all remaining in my perimeter. Its a lovely effing war. Bravo Six out.

Redleg Artillery Station: Copy that Alpha... artillery is away... Danger close. May the Force be with you!


Solaire: We should sally forth and help Alpha and make a heroic last stand at the City Gate!

Goldberry: Not yet. You wont make it there in time anyway. Hold your ground, brave knight. Alpha's fate is in the hands of the dice gods now. The fight will be coming to us soon enough. This Beer Fountain must prevail at all costs or all is lost.


Stroika sizes up the situation at hand. The Tzaangors can withstand alot of punishment with 4 wounds a piece, but they are ranged based and will most likely stay at distance and snipe them.
Stroika emerges out of the southwest building and makes a seemingly suicidal charge into the Tzaangors. From above, Xanthia watches the Kislevite's conviction. Sigmar help her.

Stroika: For Kislev! Ice for the Ice Gods!

Xanthia: C'mon, Hobbit Bobo! Let's give Stroika some fire support!

Chaos surges forwards! One daemonette and 2 Nurgle Warriors attack Alpha who defends the City Gate.

The Daemonette hits Alpha with a Rending hit, but Alpha's armor saves him from damage. But the 2 Chaos Warriors strike Alpha with 4 hits. But with no Rend, 2 hits are saved and 2 hits wound Alpha - leaving the heroic merc with one last remaining wound! He has survived this turn, but will he survive 3 more Turns?

The Tzaangor Shaman casts Glean Magic on Xanthia and succeeds. Xanthia forces a reroll with the Bad Luck spell on the Shaman. But the Shammy succeeds again! So he is able to use Xanthia's Ice Blast Spell starting next turn.
A Tzaangor arrow misses Xanthia, but another slays poor Bobo the Hobbit. Only one Hobbit remains - Bumbo who is with Zoltar in the northwest building.

Alpha grapple hooks down from the Gate and attacks one of the Nurgle Warriors below him. He may survive this battle yet!

And while the enemy on the vacant upper floor look around...

Zoltar goes for a Hail Mary and casts Vorpal Bunny... and succeeds! One of the Nurgle Warriors on top the Town Gate is struck for an amazing 6 wounds! A Critical Hit and the summoned Vorpal Bunny leaps and tears off a Blightking's head clean off with its sharp pointy teeth! Just look at the bones~! This couldnt have gone any better or at least more cinematic than if it was planned.

With Alpha on the ground level, the Beer Fountain defenders are in range to help this time.

Goldberry: Now! Charge forth brave warriors!

Solaire charges the Nurgle warrior that Alpha is attacking from behind. And Rattlebones charges the other Blightking that is already down to 2 wounds.
Goldberry has a decision to make. Try to cast that 5+ Kindle Hearts Spell to heal Alpha. Or the easier Banish 3+ Spell to drive off 1 attacker? She goes for the easier Spell and Banish succeeds. But on which one? If she targets one of the ground warriors they will simply charge back into combat on their turn. So either the Daemonette or the Nurgle Warrior on the 2nd floor of the City Gate will be driven back and wont make it into combat this turn at least. But which one? The Daemonette has Rend and 2 attacks. Or the Nurgle Warrior with 3 attacks but no Rend. She Banishes the Daemonette.

The Tzaangors remember the game Victory Conditions and decide to rush Goldberry and the Beer Fountain, hoping to hold it to win the game. One is still at a full 4 Health, the others are at 2 and 3 Health. And the Shaman is still at  6 health! And he has the stolen Ice Blast Spell from Xanthia. But he is still under Bad Luck.

The Tzaangors blast Goldberry with arrows and spells. The Tzaangor Shaman casts Ice Blast on Goldberry, but fails the reroll due to Bad Luck. # Tzaangors fire arrows at Goldberry. 2 hit and get through her Save. Goldberry takes 2 wounds and is down to 4 Health.
Goldberry also knows the victory conditions and attempts to block the Tzaangors from getting closer to the Fountain. If they charge her, she causes Fear and they must test their LD. Seeing what Goldberry is doing, Zoltar bades Bumbo the Hobbit to help form a chain around the Fountain.

Zoltar: Dont worry, young Hobbit. We can be heroes... just for one day.

Bumbo: What, me worry?

Kano kills another Daemonette, leaving him free to help out in the center, or to go to the Fountain.

Solaire is able to hit twice and both get through the Blightkings armor, slaying it. Rattlebones is able to hit his enemy and gets through its armor with Rend and is able to cause 2 damage with his 1 hit which kills the Nurgle Warrior. Rattlebones might only have 2 attacks but when he hits... he hits with high damage!
And Stroika is hit by the Tzaangor facing her. She fails her Save and is slain!

The Tzaangor Shaman casts Flickering Fire and succeeds. Then succeeds again despite Bad Luck, which causes another wound on Goldberry. A Tzaangor archer also succeeds in causing a wound on Goldberry and she is now down to 2 Health!

And in the last turn, with no hope of winning, the Forces of Chaos can only hope to slay as many heroes as possible - out of spite. But the heroes slay the last Daemonette and another Tzaangor. The Tzaangor Shaman attempts to charge Goldberry but fails its LD test! So he instead casts his Fire Spell again and succeeds twice! Goldberry is down to 1 Health! The Forces of Chaos may not win but they might slay Goldberry! One Tzaangor archer misses, the other... also misses! Oh wait there is a 3rd archer. The one who killed Stroika makes the final To-Hit roll of the game. Will it hit Goldberry? The Tzaangor rolls a 1! Goldberry breathes a sigh of relief and the game is over and won. But at what cost?

Because the Heroes won, any fallen PCs get to roll a 3+ to survive.
Stroika survives. As does Bortai and the Hobbits Bingo and Bobo. But the Scoutmaster himself, Jumbo is slain. Rest in peace, Hobbit. May winged Sprites carry you to Hobbit Heaven where Hotpot Soup and Meat Pies await you!

Group photo of the valiant defenders of East Bight.

Goldberry: Well done, heroes. By protecting others, you have saved yourselves! If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself. The Hobbits of East Bight have prepared a feast of Meat Pies and Laketown Beer.

Bumbo: Miss Goldberry! Im sorry to say this is no time for celebration! The Hobbit refugee camp in the Brown Lands has been pillaged and burned! Vengeful Snake-Women have defeated and slain the Dryad and Hobbit defenders! They have taken Hobbit and Tree-kin hostages, who are being held in a slave labor camp!

Alpha Fett: Lady Goldberry, I think I speak for the others when I say "Im ready for another mission"

Goldberry: Very well, you men (and women) have an "uncommon valor"... a bond and loyalty only shared by those who have faced death in battle, together. I will recreate a mock prison camp that we can practice our rescue mission on.

~~~

So these are actual in game shots, this time around. I usually recreate the battle afterwards with better shots and a better script. I didnt spend too much time on this AAR, and Im sure it shows. Sorry for the wound dice in the pics and some of the pics may not match the words at the time they were taken and vice versa.

At any rate, another battle where the Hero side won a Decisive Victory. Except for Scoutmaster Jumbo's sacrifice. Maybe im getting soft in my old age. Im just not designing scenarios with much chance for a TPK anymore. Im sure I will over compensate and get all our heroes killed at some point in the near future. OR perhaps, our heroes, are really that... Heroes. The Force was with them (or the Dice Gods). I like Alpha's character arc. Im pulling for him in the future battles to come on this blog. Just like the other teams, I got my favorites - Haystacks (oh sorry "Sir" Haystacks) and Istriya the Witch. And Aly the Elf! But now that Ive named them, they are sure to meet some grisly and terrible fate... never get too attached to anything in a game, kids. Especially pets! Those things die, they do! Its a wargamer rule, as old as time... paint something nice and its the first thing to die in a game!

Cheers,

Mar

[Metternich]

Your painting is superlative.  Just beautiful

[Mars Miniatures]

Taken from post here: https://mars-miniatures.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-lamentations-of-istriya.html

The Lamentations of Istriya

 Why is Istriya lamenting? Well, she is the orphan witch of Pinnath Gelin.

Havent really dug into her backstory much beyond that.

But she does wear Dr Marten boots with their trademark yellow laces. Pretty cool, right?

And, she now has a Dryad follower and an Owl familiar. She should be thankful for that.

Shes got a band of like minded mercenary friends. So, why so sad, Istriya?

Must be the atmospheric ambient, light goth music that is titled "The Lamentations of Istriya" attached to her pic below... problem solved.

But really I intend to put Istriya into an RPG adventure inspired by Lamentations of the Flame Princess, at least sometime in the near-ish future.

So Istriya isnt really Lamenting, just about to go RPG Lamenting...

~~~

So we have some artsy music and an artsy pic in this post.

I tried to experiment using low light photography. But I really know nothing about the finer points of it. Probably should try reading up or watching some photography "how-to's".

And I coupled the pic with an original music score made with Bandlab's Cakewalk. Which was once Sonar? I dont know, I was always more of a Reason user from Propellerhead.

So the pic and the music video follows...


And the music vid...

[Mister Frau Blucher]

Love the battle! Alpha is pretty much a badass, nice to see the heroic turn. Definitely looking forward to the Uncommon Valor scenario. Who will play Sailor's part? Will Gene (Stealer) Hackman show up?

Nice pic and atmospheric music for Istryia! Curious what she and the other gals have been up to!

[Mars Miniatures]

@ Metternich  Thank you, good sir. Superlative is a good word. Maybe too good for my paintwork.  Ive always been partial to "just good enough".  :p

@ Mister Frau Blucher, I suppose Rattlebones will be dancing without a shirt and showing his potbelly. But he will still wear his skullmask. In my mind's eye, its hilarious. Gene-stealer Hackman is a good one. You get it.  Oh, also Istriya and company are up next for a battle or two.  Will all 3 current adventuring parties ever have an MCU style crossover event?  I can only hope so, but whoever survives will.

Oh and a bonus pic of the Istriya photoshoot...



Cheers,
Mar

[Cacique Caribe]

I can’t stop looking at all the cavern terrain tiles photos.  Incredible detail on those pieces.  Thanks for posting them.

Dan
PS.  This is the other terrain option I’ve been considering, with the cavern features as scatter pieces:
https://ludstuff.blogspot.com/search?q=Mammoth+cave

[Mars Miniatures]

@ Cacique Caribe.
They are great. I love Dwarven Forge and miss having them. Perhaps one day, when the finances allow. I can have them again. And yes Ive seen those pic with the cavern blog and drooled over them.