The Ice-Heart Court: Fey folk for Five Leagues from the Borderlands

The Ice Heart Court are the Unseelie for Five Leagues from the Borderlands; Fair Folk who are at odds with humanity, and they can take many forms. It is they who steal babies from their cradles, replacing them with changelings. They lure unwary travellers into their mounds, only for the traveller to emerge a hundred years later into a world they do not know, thinking that but a few days have passed Occasionally, they engage in open warfare with the people of Utavoll, or their hunting parties just decide that passing adventurers are fair game. Stories of these encounters with the Wild Hunt are many and rarely end well for the human participant.

Goblin raiders

I'm sure you recognise these figures from the 'Roadside Encounters' and 'Lurking Foes' lists. When they are not out raiding on the roads or defending dank dungeons, these Demonworld Goblins can be found hanging out with the rest of the Court. They are the least of the Fey Folk but their numbers make up for their quality. Many an unwary adventurer has come a cropper because they underestimated the Goblin raiders.

The Rank and Vile

Leaders

Forest folk

The denizens of the forest fight alongside the Ice Heart Court. Many different peoples live in the forests, but all are skilled hunters and trackers, who are likely to spot you before you spot them. If they are peaceful, this will not be a problem for you. If not, then they are likely to be leaving you to feed the trees while they take your goods home with them.

Forest folk melee troops (Two Dragons peasants)

Forest folk missile troops (Two Dragons and Alternative Armies)

Elfin hounds

The Elfin hounds in my world are actually giant, supernatural cats (Nekomata cats from Alternative Armies). I was going to use the same figures as I used for the Dust Hounds in the 'Roadside Encounters' section but could not resist buying giant cats instead. It's nice to have a bit of variety.

Elfin Battle Cats are preternaturally stealthy, hyper aware and clearly not of Midgard. Their senses extend beyond the mortal world to other planes, making them almost impossible to surprise. It also seems like they travel through the other planes at times, being literally in two places at once, which means that they often take adventurers unaware, while being substantially immune to magical attacks because of not being quite where they appear to be.

Elfin battle cats (Nekomata from Alternative Armies)

Spider-touched

The spider-touched are a strange sect. They worship the great spider gods that once inhabited Utavoll and are personally dedicated to the Fey Queen.

Elven spears and archers (RPE)

Time-lost warriors

The world of the Fey exists in parallel with with the physical world of Utavoll and intersects at key points like burial mounds and the so-called faerie rings. Many are the stories of people who accidentally cross the boundaries between the two and return hundreds of years later to find that everything they knew has gone. Time runs differently at the Ice-Heart Court. For these warriors, only a week has passed but a hundred years and more have gone by in Utavoll since they crossed over.

Melee troops (Two Dragons)

Missile troops (Two Dragons)

War dryads

The tree spirits known as dryads are normally peaceful, but lately people have been chopping their homes down and now they are understandably irate. They are well-armed and well-armoured, and make formidable foes.

4217A Ice Witch Temple Guards (RPE)

Tree wardens

There are many spirits at the Ice-Heart Court and many that can be called upon to defend it. Even the trees of the forests will stand against intruders if the Elves call upon their services.

Haunted Trees (Ral Partha Europe)

Tree warden heroes and leaders (Ral Partha Europe)

Fey spirits

Fey spirits can take many forms. Some amuse themselves by appearing as small, cute beings that are nonetheless deadly, while others adopt grotesque forms to scare the beholder from their wits. In the end, it does not really matter though. Whatever form they take, they will happily slaughter you and sing while they are doing it.

Fey spirits (RPE)

Fey Soldiers and Winter Legion

Elven soldiers are a sight to behold in their glittering silver armour and their colourful clothes. Mere humans look positively drab in comparison.

Elven spears and crossbowmen (RPE)

Fey Knights

These are the flower of fey chivalry. Riding to battle in a gay cavalcade with a song on their lips and ribbons in their hair, they present a beautiful sight even as they slaughter you.

Wood Elf knights (RPE)

Queen's Own

The Queen's Own are the best of the best. These Elven blade dancers have perfected their art over many human lifetimes. Well-armed, well-armoured and with combat skills honed to perfection over hundreds of years, they are foes against whom even the stoutest of hearts will wilt. As elves, they completely lack humanity or feeling for those whose lives are so short that they are gone in the blink of an eye.

Elven blade dancers and supporting missile troops (RPE)

The Final Countdown (Forgotten Ruin)

 The L.T. was briefing the whole platoon.

"Hostile forces seem to be desperate now that we have helped pacify the whole area. They have gathered in large numbers just outside our occupation zone and are ready to attack, so we are going to take the fight to them first. Tiger Troop and Ocelot Troop will be the hammer. Civet Troop will be in reserve in case they are needed. The mission is simple: defeat the hostiles in detail."

Ocelot Troop. I have had some of these figures since the 1980s and repainted them for this game because I did not have any others available that match Tiger Troop (Laserburn 15mm, now sold by Alternative Armies)

Pan had some concerns about Ocelot Troop. She did not know what it meant, but the occasional chants of "Blood for the Blood God" and their troop leader's frequent statements about the god Kworne suggested that they had gone native in the worst possible way. They had also adapted their regulation environment suits and painted them red. It was all very strange, but they were still an effective fighting force, so it should be ok. She hoped so anyway.

Hordes of evil elves advance through the ruins of Stave Harbour towards the 53rd Bwendi Rangers

With everything on the line, the L.T. sent Tiger Troop into the field with all the support the platoon could muster. Pan hoped it would be enough. She had seen the scouting reports and knew that the two Bwendi Ranger troops would be heavily outnumbered. There would be no subtlety here. Mind you, it could not be that dangerous because the L.T. herself was coming with them. As senior sergeant in the field, Pan deployed Ocelot Troop on her right flank and ordered both troops to form a skirmish line. They would move into position and then lay down the heaviest fire they could. The L.T. raced off to find a good position from which to call in the platoon mortar. She seemed unreasonably excited by the prospect!

The first batch of elves almost reach Ocelot Troop, only to all be killed by a lucky mortar strike

As the elves advanced, they let out spine-chilling yells that would have spooked lesser troops than Tiger Troop, but the brave soldiers of the 53rd Bwendi Rangers were unperturbed by this. They had faith in their firepower. That said, these elves seemed cannier than the orcs and made good use of cover to close with the rangers. Their leader was directing them with the tactical awareness of a veteran. He was also firing arrows at Ocelot Troop and scoring a few hits. Fortunately, the rangers' environment suits protected them. The L.T. got the platoon mortar on the blower and directed it towards the enemy leader, only for it to fall short and completely wipe out a unit of elven warriors instead.

As a unit of warriors approached to within a few feet of Tiger Troop, Pan loosed an Ice Blast at them and annihilated every single one of them! Meanwhile, B Team were firing into the flank of approaching elven warriors and Ocelot Troop were laying down as much fire as they could against the enemy approaching them.

Elven blade dancers close with Tiger Troop

As a unit of Elven blade dancers pranced towards them, Tiger Troop held their fire until they could taste the minty breath of the approaching elves.

"Light 'em up," called Pan as she fired another Ice Blast at point blank range.

The massed fire of Tiger Troop cut every single elf down.

The fire from Ocelot Troop's side of the battlefield seemed to be dying down too as the hostiles' numbers were whittled down.

An insane cackle arose from Ocelot Troop's ranks as a crump and a scream heralded a grenade that had landed in exactly the wrong place, killing one of their own.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! HE HAS GONE TO KWORNE!"

Ocelot Troop seemed to find great amusement in the friendly-fire incident that had felled one of their own.

As the elven warriors were all cut down, both troops focused on the elven leader, who had by now felled two of Ocelot Troop's number. Even a great villain like him could not stand against the massed firepower of the Bwendi Rangers. Silence fell on the battlefield.

"Looks like we won," Pan commented to herself, then to the troops, "Check the bodies and then let's clear out of here."

The L.T. wandered over to Pan, "Good job, that chap. I think we have finally pacified the area."

Conclusion

I decided not to hunt for the artefacts that you can chase after in Forgotten Ruin and just to cut straight to the final battle. This is built up in the rule book as a climactic finale to the campaign with hordes of enemies pouring down on your troops. I feared the worst, but it went much better than I could have hoped for. Tiger Troop had no casualties, while Ocelot Troop lost two soldiers to archery and one to a grenade that drifted in completely the wrong direction.

On top of that, the L.T. managed to call in mortar fire every single turn until she could not make the roll. The first mortar stonk missed its target and drifted onto a unit of elven warriors, completely wiping them out. For the rest, I don't think it mattered too much that a lot of my shots missed, because I was firing so much that it had to tell in the end.

I was particularly astounded by Pan's use of the Ice Blast spell, which was more effective than I would ever have believed it could be, wiping out an entire unit in a single turn.

Tiger Troop finished the campaign with 19 victory points and a decisive victory. I have upgraded my Veteran Roster, from which I can pick a couple of soldiers for a future campaign, and have left Tiger Troop in the NAAFI having a nice cup of tea and a coconut macaroon.

Final Thoughts

The final battle was a bit anti-climactic really. Even using cover as best possible to close with the Rangers, the firepower available was too much for the advancing elves. I had even thrown in the campaign villain, but his archery was often defeated by the Rangers' armour, so it made little difference. In my head, it was going to be the sort of battle that came down to a couple of plucky troopers standing alone against the hordes. In reality, the villain got that rule and died because of it. I shall definitely have to use some of the difficulty mods if I play a future campaign.

A Walk in the Park (Forgotten Ruin)

 It was time for the final push. Tiger Troop had fought through the muddy and frozen wastes of The Dire Frost and their goal was in sight. If they could pacify Far Sound, then there was every chance that they could kick back a bit and enjoy some R&R.

The approach to Far Sound

As usual, Tiger Troop was on point. They were relieved that there was neither snow nor excessive amounts of mud, and that this was another ops zone where local fishermen could deliver them almost all the way to it. Honestly, any relief from the local conditions was a huge bonus.

Orcs in the undergrowth

Deploying once more, they took up firing positions and prepared for the onslaught. In the scrub growth and brush ahead, they could make out orcs moving towards them. There was a massive mob of them on Tiger Troop's left flank and a smaller mob on the right flank. The stream dividing the ops area would slow the orcs down, so Pan set A-Team up on a low rise while the L.T., who had decided to accompany Tiger Troop, took charge of B-Team and prepared to attack the smaller mob.

"Don't forget to keep an eye out for the priority targets," the L.T. reminded them unnecessarily, "I shall call them out once we identify them. Take them out as fast as you can and we shall be done here."

As Tiger Troop took aim, the larger of the two mobs of orcs rushed forward howling and waving their weapons. Gripped by blood rage, they had gone berserk and were only interested in getting to grips with the feeble human annoyances ahead of them. Several fell in the first rush. On the other flank, the orcs were using cover to best advantage.

"Orcs, sah, fahsands of 'em!"

The large mob closed rapidly but as it reached point blank range it was slowed by the stream.

"Rapid fire, A-Team!"

Pan and A-Team fired everything they had at the orcs, and the few that survived ran.

"There are your targets!"

On the other flank, the L.T. had identified the targets. She called them out to B-Team just as several more warriors joined the mob. A-Team began redeploying to support B-Team, who fired for all they were worth and mowed the mob down. With the targets slain, the L.T. ordered Tiger Troop to withdraw.

"Good job, those chaps," she declared at the debrief.

This was a scenario with very little tactical finesse. I rolled up orcs as the enemy. Each orc mob got a champion and the mobs themselves were basic warriors so they would have to close to melee range to hurt my troops. Two of the mobs started in the same place, so they became a big mob, and they were also the ones whom the dice chose to suffer war rage and charge each turn until they were no more. The other mob was harder to deal with because it was in cover until it got to point blank range. As it was, the game lasted four turns in total, but one of those was just my lot withdrawing to complete the scenario.

With Far Sound pacified, I now have a decision to make. Should Tiger Troop run up to three missions to recover powerful artefacts that will help them in the final battle, or should they just head straight into the final battle?

What a Complete Cult! (Forgotten Ruin)

 "I think we are getting there now."

Thruppence Cholmondley-Warner, the L.T. as she was most commonly known, was feeling upbeat and communicating that to the troops.

"Our next goal is to establish a bridgehead on the other side of the fjord in Helmland. Tiger Troop will take point. The rest of the platoon will follow up after. There will be a more detailed briefing later, but be ready to move at short notice."

Not technically Helmland, but close enough! View towards Jørpeland from Ullandhaug. Hjelmeland is on the other side of those hills.

Tiger Troop shipped out. As they rode in the fishing boat towards the far shore, they had ample time to view the forested lower slopes and snow-covered hill tops of Helmland. The also had ample time to wonder about what they would find there.

Selcuk: "Ok, who reckons it will be more Orcs? Anyone? What about Elves? Tell you what, we'll run a sweep. Whoever gets it right gets the pot. Anyone in?"

Pan scowled but kept quiet. She knew that this was just a way to ease the tension as they headed for yet another fight. She had an idea.

"Count me in!"

The rest of Tiger Troop looked at her, all of them with jaws dropping at this unexpected turn of events.

"I'm betting psycho cultists and wizards."

With this approval from their leader, the rest of them pitched in with their ideas and the pot was soon full. Not much longer afterwards, they landed and began their approach to the ops area. They would have to hold out long enough for the others to get across the fjord, while grabbing anything that looked interesting. Unfortunately for Tiger Troop, there were not enough boats will to make this trip, so the whole platoon would be ferried over one troop at a time. For Tiger Troop, it was some comfort that they had been allocated a shit tonne of extra ammunition by the L.T. for this purpose.

All too quickly, they reached the ops zone and deployed. There was a clear objective on a hill that they needed to reach and investigate, but otherwise it was just a case of pacifying the area until the rest of the platoon could reach them.

"Sarge, did your god tell you what was going to be here?"

"I would never cheat, Private Immaculada! Now get on with pacifying those cultists and that wizard!"

Tiger Troop was a great fan of the peace-through-superior-firepower doctrine, and they applied it with a will. The cultist numbers were cut in half during the first 30 seconds of the firefight. Of course, that involved using up all the extra ammo they had with them, but it was a price they were willing to pay. There was a dicey moment when Justice almost fell to the enemy wizard's spells, but Pan reached out with a mystic shield and deflected the eldritch energy. A single cultist made it close enough to Mary to assault her but was downed with a sword cut to the face, although the cultist's blow left Mary reeling for a second, even though her armour took the brunt of it.

In very little time at all the cultists were dead. However, where there is one cultist, there are always ten others lurking around. A group of them raced onto the battlefield carrying the stuff that Tiger Troop had been told to retrieve. The application of more firepower saw them cut down and Chidubem was able to gather up the intel, before racing back towards the rest of the troop.

While this was going on, more cultists had emerged from a rocky area near Pan and A-team. The mystical energies of this area were stronger than usual and Pan made use of them to blast the new cultists. Between her spells and the firepower of A-team, the cultists did not last long, although one healthier looking chap with a massive sword got within a couple of metres of them all before being cut down. By now, B-team had made it back and Pan ordered everyone to withdraw. They had achieved all their objectives and the rest of the platoon would pick up the load.

As Tiger Troop withdrew, an evil conjuror appeared.

"Leave her be! The rest of the platoon will sort her out."

Tiger Troop were happy to obey their leader. They withdrew to the new camp, where Pan claimed her winnings.

Conclusion

Cultists fall easily, but there are always more of them. The support I rolled for at the start came in handy or it could have been worse. It was logistical support that allows extra dice rolls for three shots. Cultists have a special ability that can result in reinforcements happening more often than against other foes. However, it is dependent upon how many survive on the table. I guess killing them dissuades the others and the support helped me do that by cutting their numbers in half on the first turn.

In other news, I remembered that Pan can cast spells and used the high magical aura of this area to good effect with several ice blasts. I also remembered that Pan has a Divine ability to prevent damage, which is the only reason that Justice was not cut down by a cultist sorcerer's Bleeding Curse spell. I'll get there with remembering all the troop's abilities before the end of this campaign, you know!

Gone to the Dogs (Forgotten Ruin)

 "Congratulations on your successful scouting and clearing of the Rye County Dungeon."

The L.T. was clearly in a good mood. She did not normally hand out compliments that amounted to more than a simple "Attaboy!" or "Well done, that chap!" Tiger Troop that this could not be a Good Thing. They were right.

"As you did so well, I have a milk run for you. Head out through the tunnels to Dog Bay and scout the area for us. We are planning on moving through to Helmland and it will be an important staging point. I know you had casualties on the last patrol and we are short on people right now, but Corporal Simms will accompany you this time around, while Adeyemi and Bonolo recover."

The beasts of battle await the outcome of the patrol, certain in the knowledge that they will eat well regardless of how it ends (It's a white-tailed sea eagle, if you really want to know)

There was nothing for it but to gather their gear and head out. The trudge through the dungeon was dank but otherwise uneventful and they emerged blinking in the sunlight into the ruins of Dog Bay. They identified the objectives quickly and prepared to move out, only to spot weird constructs ahead of them. The magico-mechanical creatures advanced slowly towards Tiger Troop, whose response was to unload everything they had at them.

Tiger troop held their position and focused on clearing the way as Pan took charge of the scouting job. The constructs marched and slithered inexorably towards them, oblivious of the their casualties.

It was slow going, but the incessant gunfire, and the use of the squad anti-tank weapon whittled the creatures down in the end until only a few got close enough to attack in hand to hand. Leaf responded by shapeshifting and tearing several apart.

As the troop applied its usual firepower-based approach to negotiations, Pan reached the first objective and recorded the information that the L.T. needed before racing off to the other one. Tiger Troop could handle itself and even Simms seemed to be doing a decent job. With the constructs deal with, the troop prepared to withdraw as soon as Pan gave the order. However, the manticore from the tunnels had followed them up into the light. Spray spines from its tail at the troop, it charged.

Tiger Troop responded by forming up in a crescent and firing back. The manticore charged Wigbert, who stopped it in its tracks, and Leaf raced in and gutted it, before starting to eat the delicate parts of its innards. Meanwhile, Pan had scouted the rest of the area. She ordered Tiger Troop to withdraw just as more constructs approached from the Helmland side of Dog Bay. Tiger Troop willingly obeyed.

Conclusion

The constructs were tough and hard to put down. It did not help that Tiger Troop needs more time on the range. Their shooting was below average. Then having the manticore turn up was an interesting twist. The dice clearly meant for me to have to deal with it, having ducked out on it last time around. Between the hand to hand with the constructs and the appearance of the manticore, this mission cost me a chunk of story points to keep the troops intact, but it was worth it.

I also got enough points for another character to transform. It turns out that Tarquin is the troop's Scoundrel.

The Bestial Sound of the Underground (Forgotten Ruin)

 "We need you to scout the route to Dog Bay and Helmland, so that we are not completely reliant on local fishermen for crossing the fjord."

Tiger Troop groaned internally, each and every one of them. They had known this was coming at some point, because they got all the crap jobs, but this would be damp, dark, and confined. That meant that the enemy could probably close with them before they knew it, if there were any there. Who were they kidding? Of course there would be hostiles there. It was only the other Troops that did not encounter hostiles on their patrols.

Eldritch inscriptions, and fresh enough that some still retained the traces of their paintwork

And, as if that were not bad enough, it looked like those hostiles had marked the entrance with eldritch designs. This boded, and, as Pan knew well, things that boded were not good. They advanced down into the underground tunnel network and split up as usual with each team taking a separate route towards the objectives and Pan following a central path. They needed to scout the routes through the tunnel, and their contacts suggested that the denizens of this place had important intel, so they had to recover that too.

As they pushed on into the tunnels, they were assailed by a musky scent and could hear bestial roaring ahead of them. It quickly became obvious that the tunnels were inhabited by beastpeople. Worse yet, the hostiles were heading in Tiger Troop's direction. As they advanced further, A-Team espied a horde of a dozen beastpeople led by a larger, well-armed type. B-Team faced fewer hostiles, but it would be a hard fight in these narrow tunnels.

At the first chance, A-Team let rip with everything they had and cut the enemy numbers in half. B-Team did the same, but it was not enough. The hostiles closed with them and cut down Chidubem and Vesela in short order. Leaf was incensed by this and shifted into her wildcat form. Her close assault was ferocious and shredded the hostiles, leaving Selcuk feeling a queasy at the sheer brutality of her attack.

A-Team's own fight was not going well either. Both Justice and Wigbert had been felled in close combat, and it was only by the application of excessive firepower that Mary and Tarquin managed to avoid the same fate. With the enemy dead, they ran forward and checked the body of the largest beastperson. The intel they needed was on it, so they withdrew towards the entrance to await their comrades.

Over on the other side of the complex, Leaf and Selcuk raced towards the objective and scouted it, before retreating again at full speed. Pan was doing the same for her objective. It was well she had moved fast, because a new group of beastpeople emerged where she had been only moments ago. The beastpeople headed towards Mary and Tarquin, who cut them down so that the bodies formed a pile barely a metre from the two plucky soldiers.

As they waited, Pan arrived to join them and ordered Tarquin to get the intel home. Tarquin did not need telling twice. Pan and Mary waited for Leaf and Selcuk, who raced to join the others. The four of them helped their wounded comrades to escape just a a lion's roar resounded through the tunnels. A manticore had found them. Their job done, the battered remnants of Tiger Troop fled.

Conclusion

I should never have said that the game felt too easy at times! My dice must have heard me and decided to knock the stuffing out of me. For the first two turns, barely any of my shots hit, and when they did, they bounced off tough beastperson hide. From turn three my shooting improved but my close combat rolls were terrible. Even with a +3 spear, Chidubem lost the melee and was KOd, for example. I should really have used a story point or three, but I keep forgetting I have those.

On the other hand, my low rolling carried over to the Aggression rolls, which meant that enemy reinforcements were slow to arrive. Just as well really, especially when the second roll resulted in a Manticore arriving on the table. Luckily, that was the same turn that the mission ended.

In the end, and thanks to remembering my story points, Chidubem and Justice were only lightly wounded and will miss a mission, while Wigbert and Vesela will return next mission sporting a few bruises but nothing worse.

The Envoy across the Water (Forgotten Ruin)

It was a story as old as time. Tiger Troop had just settled back into the camp and were drying out their feet when the L.T. announced that they needed to move out immediately. The goblin envoy was in trouble on Fastbeck Island and specifically asked for them. The only good news was that local fishingfolk were going to transport them there, so that they would not need to traverse the ancient, damp and crumbling tunnel that connected the north of Corner Plains with Fastbeck Island.

An ancient church huddles in the landscape against the inclement weather

In other important news, Sergeant Harding would be accompanying them, and because he was there, they would get additional support in planning the mission. It turned out that Orc warbands had ambushed the envoy and stolen important documents. The envoy was in hiding near where the Orcs were based and it was Tiger Troop's responsibility to rescue him and recover the documents. Simple! Well, apart from the Orcs, of course, who would certainly object to this being done.

It was probably just as well that they had not had time to dry out their boots after the last patrol. Fastbeck Island was a swampy, damp hellhole. They would be wading through the mire on this one and damp feet would be the least of their worries. The only real consolation was that it was now spring, so the water would be less icy and they would not be slogging through snow. Mud was a luxury compared to slogging through icy water and snow.

The mission area was a mix of low-lying marshes, broken ground and low rises with scrubby bushes and not a lot else. A single ruined building from before the cataclysm stood on a hill. The layout suggested an old church, but there was not enough left of it to be certain. The envoy was probably in the church, and his bag had been thrown into some bushes nearby.

Harding took charge of B-Team and set out to secure the troop's flank. Pan took A-Team and headed off in to the ruins of the church. The Orcs ahead of them seemed to be fairly run of the mill, except for two, who were larger than the others and much better armed and armoured. Fortunately, the group of Orcs they were with seemed to be distracted by some tale that the two were telling, while the archers near them seemed more intent on charging into melee than shooting Tiger Troop. This worked in the team's favour. As the archers charged, B-Team mowed them down.

Meanwhile, Pan had secured the envoy's bag and was racing around the church looking for the envoy, with A-Team covering her as Orc spearmen charged and were mowed down as quickly as their bow-armed compatriots.

As Pan confirmed that she had secured the envoy, the large Orcs finished their story and became aware of the noise of gunfire around them. They charged B-Team, losing a spearorc as they did so. B-Team began the process of a fighting withdrawal, staying just ahead of the Orcs as they retreated to the RVP. The Orcs were almost on top of B-Team when Vesela opened up with the Team Support Weapon and Selcuk dropped a grenade in the middle of the mob of Orcs. Bits of Orc blew everywhere.

A mob of light spearorcs was charging as fast as it could towards B-Team, but Tiger Troop was already boarding the boats before they got anywhere near. Mission complete, they returned to base, were debriefed and prepared to kick back for a while.

Conclusion

That was all a bit easy again! The dice placed the objectives near each other, and the complication was that one of them would move each turn. As it turned out, Pan got the first objective on the first turn and the other one obligingly moved towards her, so she nabbed that one on turn three. After that, it was just a case of retreating off the table. I diced for game end, and the game ended the second that Pan did that.

On top of that, the archers suffered War Rage and charged every turn instead of shooting. It's meant to be random each turn, but the archers got the first two rolls, the spearorcs died on turn two due to the application of massive firepower and the other orcs were unaware until too late in the game for them to be picked. Even the reinforcements arrived too far away to do anything about Tiger Troop.

There were a couple of tense moments when I rolled nothing but 1s on a turn for the effects of hits, and thus bullets bounced off Orcish hides, but the Orcs were not close enough to be a serious threat at that point.

Battle of Bloodyburn Bridge (Oathmark)

 King Stefan of Storace was jubilant. His troops were still picking bits of the army of Elkall-Anuz from the hooves of their destriers. Now he would strike harder against the ancient enemy. Control of Bloodyburn Bridge would give him a bridgehead into the heart of the enemy kingdom.

The Armies

The Kingdom of Storace

• 1 Human Prince with 19 Soldiers
• 1 Elven Champion with 9 Linebreakers
• 1 Human Champion with 18 Archers
• 1 Human Champion with 18 Archers

The Kingdom of Elkall-Anuz

• 1 Orc Captain
• 1 Orc Shaman (Level 5: Fireball, Poison Cloud, Weakness, Horrify, Fear)
• 1 Orc Assistant Shaman (Level 1: Fireball)
• 12 SpearOrcs
• 4 Trolls
• 10 Elf Archers

The Battlefield

The battlefield has a river running across it between the two armies. A bridge lies at the centre and two fords can be found, one upstream and the other downstream of the bridge.

The Kingdom of Storace is red. The Kingdom of Elkall-Anuz is blue.

The Elkall-Anuzian captain has chosen to position a single troll on the bridge as a scout and holds the rest of his force in reserve in the centre, ready to deploy in response to Storace aggression. The plan is simple: move to the enemy, engage them and destroy them as they attempt to cross the river.

The prince of Storace's scouts report the presence of a troll booth on the bridge, so he has chosen to try to ford the river on his right flank rather than pay to cross with dry feet. He forms up in a battle column with his archers leading. The plan is to rush the ford with the linebreakers and soldiers and force the outnumbered defenders back, while the archers provide covering fire to disrupt the enemy formations.

The Battle

The orcish captain knew that he and his troops had been hung out to dry. The only question in his mind was whether they would hold out long enough. He could see the Storacians advancing on his left flank towards a ford, so he ordered his trolls forward to disrupt the advance. They did this willingly, seeing tender elvish flesh ahead of them. Meanwhile his chief shaman launched fireballs at the enemy archers that crisped several of them. The assistant shaman was less competent.

Storace on the left of the photo.

His lead troll engaged the elven halberdiers, killing two of them but was cut to ribbons itself. Meanwhile, his elven archers were on the receiving end of massive barrages of arrows from the human archers and were already suffering heavy casualties. Nevertheless, they gave as good as they got. Between the shaman's fireballs and the elven archery, the target human archers were suffering badly, not that it seemed to bother them.

Over on the Storace right flank, there was a certain amount of confusion. The human commander was trying to urge his soldiers past the archers in front of them, but there was not space enough and the archers were so focused on shooting the enemy that they paid little attention to their prince.

The other trolls charged over the bridge and were the bane of many elves, but the elves were stout of heart and slew two of the trolls, driving the remaining one back onto the bridge. Meanwhile, the human prince had sorted out the issues with his archers and had moved up to the ford. The orc shamans turned their attention to the human soldiers and the elven archers did the same. The soldiers hunkered down behind their shields and weathered the storm.

As the human prince crossed the river, the chief shaman blasted his unit with a fireball, but only caused a single casualty. Still, this was enough to disrupt the unit, which could not believe that someone had dared attack it.

By now, the elven archers were reduced to a single warrior, the elven halberdiers and the last troll had killed each other, and the spearorcs were racing towards the ford and the enemy soldiers. It was too late. They had lost the ground and thus the battle.

The battle ended at the end of the fifth turn because the humans had more troops on the orcish side of the river than the orcs had. In the end, sheer numbers told. Of course, it also helped that the humans were unreasonably lucky with their morale tests.

The key was the massed missile fire of the humans that far outweighed the skill of the elven archers on the orcish side. It basically whittled down the orcs until there were too few of them. If the humans had failed their morale checks like they should have done (statistically speaking), then it might have been different.

The orcish assistant shaman was rubbish too. He only cast a single fireball that did no damage, despite trying every turn. His boss got off a spell every turn and did good damage to the humans, but again the human morale checks were too good.

It was good to get another Oathmark game played. The rules are simple and effective, and easy to play solo. I hope that the second edition due out later this year does not spoil that. I like that Oathmark has a medieval feel to it, and that it does not over-complicate the game play. I have not encountered any truly difficult situations to adjudicate yet, and that is nice.