The Oldest Kin: Lizardpeople for Five Leagues from the Borderlands

 The Salamander Folk of the Northern Wastes are more legend than reality to most. They are the remnants of an ancient civilisation that once ruled the whole of Utavoll but their civilisation fell to internecine intrigue, murder and warfare. Now they live more peacefully in small extended-family groups. However, they can be fearsome foes when their ire is aroused and the more powerful among them know terrible magics that can rend a person limb from limb with just a gesture.

All of the Salamander Folk are from Alternative Armies, except for the Needle Fang Pack which is from Checkpoint Miniatures.

Salamander Folk with light armour

These lizardpeople will stand in for all the foes with light armour, which is most of the list. They are the ordinary clan members. Their scales are hard enough to ward off some blows and they are moderately trained, but they are not normally called to war. Many use the axes and hammers of their day jobs when they go to war, while wealthier Salamanderfolk may have bronze swords.

Salamander Folk with mixed hand weapons (Alternative Armies)

Salamander Folk with partial armour

Some lizardpeople are more warlike than others. These ones supplement their hard scales with a shield and train for warfare . They are the Ravager Brood, the War-Strong Brood and the Battle Champion Brood. Their role in the clan is to defend the others, so that their less warlike clan members can pursue their lives in peace.

Salamander Folk warriors

Salamander Folk with missile weapons

Salamander Folk favour javelins, but some also use bows for hunting. These figures will stand in for any missile troops they need.

The javelineers carry light shields and a small number of light spears that can be thrown or used in melee as needed. The javelin is a favoured weapon in the swampy terrain the Salamander Folk live in. It used both for spearing enemies and for spearing fish and other water dwellers for dinner.

Salamander Folk javelineers (Alternative Armies)

Salamander Folk who specialise in the use of the bow are generally those who have got tired of a diet of water-dwelling food. They are skilled at shooting birds from the surrounding trees and at feathering their foes with arrows whose large heads cause grievous wounds that take an age to heal, if the target survives at all.

Salamander Folk with bows (Alternative Armies)

The Cold-Blooded Priest Band

The priest caste has ruled the Salamander Folk since before records began, which is not surprising because the priest caste are the ones that keep proper records. Unkind people say that they destroyed the records from before they took over society, but all right-thinking people know this is a baseless conspiracy theory. Not all priests sit in the temples writing histories of the Folk. Some go out into the world to ensure that the Folk are maintaining religious standards and not backsliding. These are the Cold-Blooded. Most are armed with standard polearms, but a small number of them have magical polearms with jadeite blades that shoot bolts of green fire. It is said that the Jadeite Polearmes were a gift from the gods, and that only a chosen few, those most pure of heart, can use them.

Salamander Folk priests with Polearms (Alternative Armies)

Salamander Folk priests with enchanted polearms (Missile troops for the Cold Blooded. Alternative Armies)

Hunter Beasts

Hunter Beasts, as the Salamander Folk, call them or Iguanasaurs, as the humans call them, are lizard beasts the size of a large bull. They are used as draught beasts by the Salamander Folk when tamed. Wild Hunter Beasts are not to be messed with. The females in particular are hugely aggressive and protective of their herd, and they will attack if the unwary traveller gets too close to the herd.

Iguanasaurs (Alternative Armies)

Needle Fang Pack

Needle Fangs are the size of a large dog and similarly intelligent. They are trained by the Salamander Folk just as dogs are trained by humans. Their name comes from the many rows of needle-like fangs in their mouths. They are loyal to their trainers and protective of them and their pack. While not particularly deadly when encountered individually, they are mostly found in larger numbers that can be a threat even to experienced adventuring bands.

A pack of Needle Fangs on the hunt (Checkpoint Miniatures)

Retaking the Assembly Hall (Solitaire Advanced Squad Leader)

 Attention all units. The Thrappled Lemmings will return in a moment.

I got distracted by talking about Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) with my brother. With a view to relearning the rules, which I played almost constantly for a couple of decades from the early 90s onwards, I set up a solitaire game. I made a lot of mistakes, read a lot of rules and worked my way through to a conclusion. I got so much wrong that I cannot claim it was a victory. Nor can I claim it was a defeat. It was just a learning experience.

Then I got overly ambitious and set up a solitaire game using the solitaire rules for the Barrikady factory in Stalingrad that were published in an early ASL Journal. It took me most of a day to set up the Suspect (possible enemy) locations, and most of a week to play the whole thing through. This included a false start where I almost completely annihilated my assault engineers with a misplaced rocket strike. Disappointingly, that same rocket strike did almost nothing to the enemy force when I reset the scenario and started again. Such are the vagaries of the dice gods.

The early game. That's a lot of possible enemies!

In the photo above, my Soviet force has entered from the bottom of the photo. The Germans are defending the Assembly Hall, which is the building with the huge numbers of Suspect counters in it in the centre of the photo. It is November 1942. The weather is clear. The Soviets have between 8 and 13 turns to take the Assembly Hall. The game will end on or after turn 8. The game will end on a die roll of 1 at the end of the turn. The die roll is modified by -1 for each turn after turn 8, so it ends on a 1-2 at the end of turn 9 and so on.

My force consisted of a company of assault engineers supported by two companies of infantry, a heavy weapons platoon, a troop of T34s and a 2nd Lieutenant with a map and access to a Katyusha battery. This last is reputedly the greatest weapon in the German's arsenal, as my early attempt at dropping rockets to weaken the defence showed.

Having finally worked out which way to hold the map, the Soviet officer got his rocket strike on target. It had little effect on the Germans in their fortified positions. The Soviet infantry pushed forward, following the strike only to find the Germans fighting back. It was a hard fight and they really got the worst of it. Soviet troops broke and streamed backwards as fast as they advanced. They got in each other's way and the advance progressed at a snail's pace.

The Germans held on with amazing tenacity and many heroes emerged from the German ranks to take the fight to the Soviets. Meanwhile, the Soviet sniper was busily firing off every round she had at possible German targets, but only really managed to annoy them.

The main success was the assault engineers, who used their demolition charges to good effect, blasting holes in the German defence and permitting Soviet infantry to advance into the Assembly Hall. This was not without hazard though as German troops sniped from the sidelines and fired everything they had at the advancing Soviets.

It did not help that the Assembly Hall was defended by a reinforced troop of StuG IIIGs, several infantry and anti-tank guns and a StuIG 33B with a 150mm gun. Although they managed to get one of the T34s into the Assembly Hall to help, the main way to deal with these AFVs involved getting up close and personal in hand-to-hand combat, and that cost bodies. It was a bitter and hard fight. 

The limit of the Soviet advance. About half the Assembly Hall is safely in Soviet hands, and various buildings are burning.

Eventually, night fell and both sides settled in to their new lines. The Assembly Hall had not been retaken despite their best efforts, but the Germans were exhausted too. They had lost as many troops as the Soviets and would probably not be able to sustain the defence the following day. The rest of both sides was disturbed by the fires that had broken out because of heavy shelling and burning vehicles. it would not be a quiet night for either side. I imagine that the fires were actually started by an enterprising NKVD officer to stop the Soviet forces from retreating.

Some Thoughts and Wittering

That was fun, but crikey there's a lot to keep track of when playing on your own. And I am sure that I never used to knock counter stacks over quite as much as I did playing this scenario!

Although fun, it was also a bit frustrating. The German dice were hot for almost all the game, while the Soviet dice need to be sent to Siberia for reeducation. I could not believe how many StuGs the German's generated. It's like they lined the whole assembly hall with artillery and SPGs. They also generated 4 or 5 heroes and battle-hardened a similar number of squads by rolling more double 1s on their morale checks than the Soviets did in the entire game. The German low rolling also meant that the Soviet sniper checked for activation constantly. On top of that, there were lots of elite German troops and they generated a 10-3 leader (the best quality leader in the game) who proved almost impossible to stop.

Meanwhile, the Soviet experience was characterised by lacklustre performance of the troops. There was one turn where the Soviets failed 12 morale checks in a row, despite their improved morale for being in the Assembly Hall. To think I thought that Rangers of Shadow Deep was swingy! They also only rolled one result that resulted in a German sniper check, and the only time they rolled double 1 for a morale check, the best Soviet officer went berserk and charged the Germans completely on his own!

From a tactical perspective, I should probably have taken more of a risk and attacked up the right flank, risking activating troops not in the Assembly Hall, but also giving me faster access to the far end of it. I was too careful about that, and sent my troops up the middle to minimise enemy activation, in the hope that I could deal with each hostile as it was generated and then move on. Next time I shall do better.

I'm going to retreat to the ASL rulebook for a spot of reeducation again, although I am satisfied that I got most things right in this scenario, and I shall return with more Rangers of Shadow Deep shortly. Hopefully, things will go better when I play my brother. And my next Solitaire ASL scenario will be smaller ... unless I get too ambitious and start a solitaire Historical ASL campaign.

The Thrappled Lemmings and the Columns of Laughing Madness (Rangers of Shadow Deep)

 Despite the loss of Aelfwyn weighing on their minds, the Thrappled Lemmings could not rest and grieve. Most of them had recovered from their wounds and ordeal in the Shadow Deep's twisted jail. Bergsveinn was still too badly hurt to join them for the next mission, but the fight had to go on. The Shadow Deep did not care about their loss. It probably cheered and rejoiced at one skilled Ranger less.

"I know it's hard," the Captain told Aethelwyrd, "but I need you and your team to head back into the Shadow Deep. We are being driven back on all fronts. Dark, uncanny sorcery is at work. Our soldiers are losing the will to fight because of the spell mirrors that have suddenly appeared in the enemy's ranks. However, we captured one of these mirrors and our own conjurors have ascertained that there is a temple far behind enemy lines. From there, foul magics are cast through the mirrors. Go there and destroy the temple. It is a place of chaos and evil, but I think your team is best suited to it. I'm attaching Drogo Strongshot and Atli Strongarm to your team for this mission. Here is a map of how to get there. Gather your team, brief them and set out as fast as you can."

Aethelwyrd nodded grimly. This was what her team needed; a chance to strike at the Shadow Deep and avenge Aelfwyn. She turned and left the Captain's office.

Atli (left) and Drogo (right) are keen to show the Lemmings what they are made of

A week later, the Thrappled Lemmings stood in front of the Neo-Aegyptian gates into a large mound.  Aethelwyrd had led them true and they were well supplied and ready for revenge. They entered the darkness of the mound and were forced to light lanterns to see where they were going. The darkness was total. A short while later, the tunnel opened into a cavern with rocky pillars reaching from floor to ceiling. Runes flared to life on these columns and crazed laughing disoriented the Lemmings as Temple Guardians stalked forward intent on slaying them.

Aethelwyrd issued hasty instructions, "Check the runes on the columns. There might be clues there. And slay those damned guards. Remember Aelfwyn and Doggo!"

In the Hall of the Laughing Columns

The Lemmings sprang into action, except for Kalfr who got disoriented and raced off in the wrong direction to start with. Aethelwyrd led the way, rushing to the first pillar and reciting the runic inscription on it. The light on the column went out. Others of the Lemmings tried the same but could not work out what the runes said. The Temple Guardians charged and another Guardian appeared out of the darkness.

"CHARGE!"

Aethelwyrd cut down the nearest Temple Guardian and charged a second, grievously injuring it. Kalfr sought to emulate her and was cut down, but Incunabulum avenged him by blasting the Guardian into pieces with a magic bolt spell. Onund sought to aid Aethelwyrd against the oncoming Guardians but was himself badly wounded. And the insane laughing still continued.

Aethelwyrd cut down another Guardian, but not before Onund was taken out of the fight. Ash, seeking to aid Atli was also cut down, but Atli wounded the Guardian again. It was now bleeding badly. Another Guardian charged Aethelwyrd as Drogo managed to spell out the runes on the column nearest him. There was a crashing of rock and a faint glimmer of light showed where a way out had suddenly opened in the far wall. Incunabulum also worked out the runes on the column near him, but it had no effect. More Guardians charged into the dark cavern and the laughing resounded harder.

Now that Drogo had learned his letters, he raced eagerly forward to the next column and recited the runes on it too. Then he put a crossbow bolt through the eye of an oncoming Guardian.

"Hah, didn't see that one coming!" he gloated at the slain Guardian.

Incunabulum blasted two Guardians with a fireball that killed one of them, while Atli  slew his opponent only for another Guardian to charge him out of the darkness. He wounded this one but was himself cut down. Aethelwyrd raced around an oncoming Guardian and recited the runes on it. A trap door suddenly opened up in the floor near where they had entered the cavern. At the same time, a blade swung out from the column, but Aethelwyrd nimbly ducked under it. The remaining Lemmings raced towards the back of the cavern and the first door that had opened up as another Guardian appeared out of the trapdoor that had just opened up.

Ash and Atli face off against the foe

The Guardians were fewer now but still coming. As the remaining Lemmings slew the last Guardians in the cavern, Aethelwyrd and Drogo took the chance to loot the fallen, while Incunabulum raced out of the exit. Aethelwyrd quickly followed him and Drogo sprinted towards the exit only to be swarmed by two Guardians who had suddenly emerged from the darkness near it. He fought heroically but soon fell.

As those who had been knocked out slowly made their way through the exit, sneaking past the two remaining Guardians, the Lemmings regrouped beyond the door. For most, their wounds were minor, but Onund was badly wounded and would take a while to heal.

"I found Drogo," Kalfr told the others, "He's dead. Those Guardians cut him to bits."

The others muttered grimly.

Aethelwyrd: "We still need to carry on."

"Yes." The chorus of assent was unanimous. The best revenge and memorial for the fallen would be to defeat the Shadow Deep once and for all.

Another scenario where the rolls went against the heroes a lot. They got their licks in but were cut down far too easily by the Guardians. Each hero that fell was one-shotted, which was rather annoying. Worse yet that I rolled a 1 for Drogo's survival, resulting in him dying on his first time out. Let us hope that this is not a sign of things to come in the Temple of Madness.

The Thrappled Lemmings and the Jailbreak (Rangers of Shadow Deep)

 Battered and hurting, the Thrappled Lemmings tumbled through the door away from the deadly lava pits. They were in a large room with several surprised guards.

"How? ... What? ..." one of them asked wittily.

The guards cannot believe that the Inescapable Trap of Inevitable Incineration did not kill the Lemmings

Despite their wounds, the Thrappled Lemmings sprang into action like a well oiled, but ever so slightly dysfunctional machine. Incunabulum blasted the Orc archers standing in the corner with a fireball. One of them was badly burnt but the other managed to duck out of the way. Aethelwyrd used her magic ring to blast the other one with a bolt of eldritch force that all but tore it in two, before charging the Temple Guardians sitting at the table in the centre of the room. The others split up to start looking for a way out. 

As Kalfr opened one door, the stench of rotting meat wafted out, bringing with it a Giant Fly. The guardsman, whose name they had not yet caught, raced up and cut the fly in two.Ash ran and opened another door, immediately wishing he had not. In the centre of the room beyond was a Skeletal Ogre. Aelfwyn sprinted over to him and shot an arrow at the beast but missed, because he was puffing too hard from the sprint.

Aethelwyrd and Onund attacked the nearest Temple Guardian, who was made of sterner stuff. Aethelwyrd parried the Guardian's blow, but Onund was cut down immediately. The other Guardians joined the fray. Fighting in a frenzy, Aethelwyrd was wounded by one but cut the second down while wounding the third.

"Suck that, scumeaters!" she spat as the Guardian died on her blade.

Taking a second to aim, Aelfwyn fired and slew the Skeletal Ogre. The guardsman raced to the next door and through it open. A large, jovial looking Ogre came through the door. He was carrying an empty flagon in one hand but was hurt and seemed to be looking for someone to take the lack of ale and his wounds out on. Kalfr ran up to him ready to fight, but also recognising that the Ogre might not actually be the bad guy here.

"Hey, big guy," Kalfr spoke soothingly, "We're trying to get out of here. There's ale in it for you if you can help us."

"I'm Gorbin, not Big Guy," replied the Ogre, "Yeah, I'll help you. Ale and busting heads are what I do, and these guys busted my head so I am not happy ... or maybe I just have a hangover."

Yay, we made the leadership roll to get Gorbin to join us. That will come in handy.

While this was going on, Ash had thrown open the door to another room and found an armoury. His eyes lit up as he spotted moveable goods that he could move. Eerie wailing arose in the room and suddenly ghoulish hands rose out of a grate he was standing on and grabbed Gorbin's ankles. He found himself unable to move.

Gorbin decides that the Lemmings are a good fit for him

Aethelwyrd attacked the wounded Guardian but could not get past his defences and was wounded once more. She ducked away from the two Guardians, blood spraying everywhere. They followed her up and in two blows she lay unmoving on the floor. The Orc archers shot Bergsveinn, who also fell to the floor in a bloody heap.

With Kalfr's help, Gorbin tore himself free from the ghoulish hands. The pair charged the Orc archer and cut him down. Ash and Incunabulum rushed into the armoury and grabbed everything they could carry as the guardsman opened another door onto an empty room. and the others moved to check more rooms. A skeleton crawled out of the ground behind Aelfwyn.

The Temple Guardians charged Aelfwyin and Kalfr. Gorbin moved to aid Kalfr and crushed the Guardians head as Aelfwyn desperately fought off the Skeleton and the other Guardian. As everyone rushed to aid Aelfwyn, the guardsman threw open a door.

"Hey, guys, I've found the way out. Hurry up and let's get out of here!"

A skeleton crawled out of the ground near him.

As Aelfwyn slew his skeleton, the Guardian took Ash out of the fight with a mighty blow. Gorbin slew the other skeleton.

"Come on! Keep up!" yelled the guardsman as he exited the room.

Suddenly a huge crashing noise emanted from the lava room. Dust and small stones spilled from the ceiling. Gorbin and Kalfr fell to their knees as the whole room shook mightily.

"Earthquake!" cried Gorbin.

As Incunabulum fled the room and the others struggled to get to their feet, a Giant Fly emerged from under the table in the centre of the room. It buzzed angrily over to Aelfwyn and swatted him to the floor. Kalfr rushed to help his comrade but only his armour saved him from harm. Gorbin raced to help his new chum and swatted the fly with one swipe of his mighty thews.

Moments later Aelfwyn had shot his last arrow

Another fly buzzed out of an open door and attacked Gorbin. He crushed it with a huge fist. Then he and Kalfr grabbed their fallen comrades and sprinted out of the exit to the open countryside above.

As the battered Lemmings made camp, they examined their wounded comrades. Aethelwyrd and Onund came round fairly quickly. Their wounds were minor. Bergsveinn was badly hurt. His wounds would take time to heal. Aelfwyn, alas, would never move again. The fly had slain him. The Lemmings hung their heads in grief and sorrow. They would raise a mug of ale to him when they returned to base. They had lost too many comrades to the Shadow Deep and this only stiffened their resolve to fight on and do whatever damage they could, before they too fell. The magical weapons they had recovered from the armoury did nothing to reduce their sorrow, but they would certainly be used against the Shadow Deep.

That was not a good fight. So many dice rolls went badly against my heroes. And then I rolled a 1 for Aelfwyn and he turned out to be dead. It feels like I have lost a lot of companions in this campaign. Certainly more than I would expect to lose given that they only die on 1-2 on d20. And Bergsveinn's mum is really going to have some choice words for me sending her son home badly wounded again. Better hope the treasure calms her down a bit!

On the plus side, the treasure tokens from the armoury turned out to be a Staff of Elemental Strike and a Two-Handed Weapon of Elemental Strike. Both will come in very handy, and Gorbin is now available to join the Lemmings. He could prove useful too.

The Thrappled Lemmings and the Inescapable Trap of Inevitable Incineration (Rangers of Shadow Deep)

 The Thrappled Lemmings awoke in a dim chamber with rocks and rubble all around them. Checking themselves over, they realised that none of them were seriously hurt, although they still bore wounds from the last fight. Despite being overwhelmed, they had been lucky, but they wondered why they were still alive. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they searched amid the rubble around them and recovered their weapons and equipment. One unexpected surprise was the presence of Bergsveinn.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was sent after you with a message from the Captain. Unfortunately, I arrived just in time to see you getting captured, so I tried to sneak away to let the Captain know. Unfortunately, I got caught and thrown in here with you," he slurred through his badly broken jaw, "My mum's going to kill me!"

Suddenly, the Lemmings found themselves blinded by torches springing into life some distance away near a door on a ledge on the far side of the cavern. Where there was a way out, there was still hope. Then they spotted the skeleton warriors guarding the door. Never mind. They could fight their way through. Then the flagstones behind where they stood started to drop into a great lake of lava below.

Skeletons bar the way to a high ledge and the door out. Please note that the ledge is far away, not small.

"Run!" yelled Aethelwyrd, "Get to the ledge as fast as you can!"

The Lemmings did not need telling twice. They sprinted for all they were worth towards the ledge as the flagstones behind them fell away. Aelfwyn and Bergsveinn fired at the advancing skeletons on the run, but missed.

Suddenly a massive boom echoed through the chamber. The skeletons retreated towards the ledge and a huge part of the floor just behind Aelfwyn and Bergsveinn dropped away. Aelfwyn cursed.

"Don't let my mum hear you say things like that," squeaked Bergsveinn, "she'll wash your mouth out with lye and that is not a pleasant experience, I can tell you!"

Aethelwyrd led Onund and Incunabulum onwards. Incunabulum launched a flaming ball of fire at the oncoming skeletons and fried one to a crisp but was wounded by another skeleton that charged him while he was doing this. Aethelwyrd and Onund were also beset by skeletons, but as each approached her, Aethelwyrd cut it down. Onund was not so lucky, slaying one and being wounded by another. The others continued to charge forward as fast as they could.

A skeleton arose from the rubble just as another huge section of the floor fell away. Incunabulum was wounded again as he desperately fought the skeleton before him, but Aethelwyrd slew it. Ash had found something in the rubble but was attacked by a skeleton before he could investigate it. He slew the skeleton and found a dead Alladorean soldier. He grabbed the silver Star of Alladore from the corpse to return it to the Rangers' headquarters and sprinted over to the ledge. Kalfr and Bergsveinn chased after him.

Meanwhile, Aelfwyn had founded a wounded Lorenthian guard.

"Come on, mate," he reassured the guardsman, "We'll get you out of here."

A much smaller section of the floor suddenly fell away as a giant fly buzzed in above the lava.

As the floor falls away, the giant fly pursues the fleeing Lemmings

The Lemmings raced for the ledge, hoping they could climb it in time. On the way, Onund found a Potion of Healing. Ash started scuttling up the wall like a spider, while the others sought to get a purchase and begin the climb. The fly buzzed closer. An undead ogre crawled out of the rubble right next to Onund. A bit more of the floor fell away. The Lemmings could feel the heat of the lava on their backs now.

Incunabulum blasted the Ogre with a bolt of eldritch lightning and ran round it to the wall up to the ledge. Aethelwyrd followed this up by charging in and slaying it. Ash scuttled the last bit up the wall and raced to the door.

"Dammit, it's locked!"

Kalfr finally got purchase and started climbing. Aelfwyn helped the wounded guardsman get started climbing. The others were still trying to get started. Another skeleton climbed out of the rubble as a massive chunk of the floor fell away once more.

Aethelwyrd finally reached the wall up to the ledge and started climbing. The fly and the skeleton attacked Aelfwyn, who was wounded by them. More of the floor fell away as the Lemmings struggled to climb and then two robed acolytes pushed through the door, whose lock Ash was trying to pick. Too quickly for Ash, the door clicked closed once more. The acolytes cackled.

"Get that damned door open!" yelled Aethelwyrd. That was all the encouragement he needed. With a slick twist of his wrist, Ash tumbled the lock and the door swung open. The acolytes looked dismayed. They looked even more dismayed as Aethelwyrd tumbled over the edge of the ledge, rolled to her feet and advanced on one of them snarling.

One of the acolytes cackled as he attacked Ash and struck him to the ground. The other cackled as he attacked Aethelwyrd only to be slain in a frenzied attack by the ranger. The skeleton and the giant fly attacked Aelfwyn who dealth with both as if he were born to fight hand to hand. The last of the floor fell away. Incunabulum and Bergsveinn managed to grab hold of the wall and start climbing. Alas, Aelfwyn plummeted towards the lava with the floor, unable to get a purchase on the wall.

Aelfwyn plummets while Bergsveinn and Incunabulum climb (the dice represent how far they have climbed. Appearances to the contrary, the ledge is 6" high, but the special effects budget did not run to that).

Aethelwyrd and Onund attacked the remaining acolyte, who responded with fury and cut Onund down. Kalfr ran in and avenged his comrade, kicking the acolyte's body into the lava below as the others all raced to the door. The guardsman managed to scramble through just before the cavern shook once more. Those remaining on the ledge wobbled and nearly fell, but managed to stay upright and not fall back into the lava. Two acolyte archers emerged through a hidden door and drew a bead on our heroes.

"Get through that door!" Aethelwyrd commanded.

The others did not need telling twice. They grabbed Onund's and Ash's bodies and dived through, shutting the door behind them. Aelfwyn piled through the door just before it shut. He was scorched and half naked but still alive.

Get to the choppa door!

"Managed to grab a hold on the wall before I fell but I lost half my bloody gear," he announced to those present, "and I feel like barbecue!"

"There's nothing wrong with barbecue," Bergsveinn replied. He did not get to finish what he was saying before Aelfwyn cut him off.

"Really? Have you ever been barbecued?"

Aelfwyn's acerbic response was cut short in turn as the Lemmings took note of their new surroundings.

In the interests of getting this game to the table rather than faffing with terrain and figures, I decided just to move the frame I use to define the playing area instead of making a lava base for the Lemmings to fall into. This had the disadvantage of leaving me guessing where the Giant Fly should appear, but it worked out ok in the end.

That was a close one. Most of the Lemmings are reduced to 1 or 2 Health for the next scenario, but at least all of them survived, even if Aelfwyn did lose all his non-standard gear. Can the Lemmings find their way out next time, or are they all toast?

The Thrappled Lemmings and the Menagerie of Doom (Rangers of Shadow Deep)

 I've not finished all the stuff I need for this mission, but here's the first part, and I hope to have the rest done in time to play the second part next week, if the Lemmings can survive a midnight assault while they were sleeping.

It had been a hard scouting trip through the Shadow Deep and the Lemmings were tired and hungry. Their supplies had run out the day before and several of them were complaining about the lack of food and decent water. They were a grumpy lot who bedded down for the night in the stone circle that seemed to provide the best cover. And the night was only going to get worse.

Onund hissed a warning to the others, "Incoming enemies!"

Bears and tigers and beast handlers

Aesc mumbled in his sleep, "Just five minutes more, Mum."

Temple Guardians

Kalfr rolled over and buried his head under his sleeping roll.

The enemy approaches as Aesc and Kalfr sleep on

Aethelwyrd, Aelfwyn and Incunabulum leapt to their feet and faced outwards from their camp. Lizardpeople were approaching from one side. It was hard to make them out in the dark but their hissing cries made it clear who they were. A bear, a tiger and other denizens of the Shadow Deep were approaching from the other. As they closed, it was clear that they were as surprised to find the Lemmings there as the Lemmings were to be so rudely awakened from their sleep and more of the Shadow Deep's beast handlers were following closely behind them too.

Fortunate it was that Aethelwyrd had slept lightly and awakened quickly, because the bear was on her in a heartbeat. As Aelfwyn shot an arrow straight through the heart of the oncoming tiger and raced to help Aethelwyrd, she roared a challenge to all approaching and cut the bear nearly in half with her sword.

Crikey, two critical hits in a row and two dead beasts! Let us hope this luck continues.

Then the leading Lizardperson was on Aesc, who stumbled groggily to his feet only to be cut down instantly before he had even got his bearings.

I guess the luck did not continue that much after all.

Meanwhile, two beast handlers were on Aethelwyrd and Aelfwyn. Aethelwyrd cut the first one down while Aelfwyn was winning the other fight but struggled to strike a telling blow. Incunabulum blasted the attacking Lizardperson with a magical bolt, grievously wounding it. Onund found himself hard beset by beast handlers and the archer he had charged. The fight was not going well for him. Kalfr had finally woken up though and ran towards him to help. And then another tiger appeared out of the darkness.

Aethelwyrd joined the fray and slew Aelfwyn's beast handler, giving him the chance to race over to help the others. Even though it was a hurried shot as he slid into cover behind a monolith, it still told. The Lizardperson archer was hard hit by his arrow but fired a solid shot at Aelfwyn that left him both bleeding and cursing. By this time, Onund had found his rhythm and was hurting his attackers right up until the Lizardperson archer smashed him across the head and felled him, while Kalfr was badly wounded by the Lizardperson attacking him. Incunabulum unleased a fireball at the archer nearest him, but hit everything around the archer, while leaving him unhurt by it. As all this happened, an Orc warrior appeared out of the darkness.

"Is there no end to these fiends?" muttered Aethelwyrd.

Incunabulum hurriedly enchanted Aethelwyrd's sword before haring off towards a promising looking pile of boxes. Unfortunately, all he found was Shadow Deep Temple uniforms, and not the food he was hoping for, and then the Orc warrior was upon him. Aethelwyrd charged towards the main fight on the other side of the camp. As she did so, Kalfr cut down a beast handler and fended off the tiger's attack for a short while, but soon fell to its claws. The Lizardperson archers' arrows flew wide of their mark but so did Aelfwyn's. The Lemmings were now reduced to half their normal numbers and their only seemed to be more enemies arriving as more Orcs emerged out of the darkness.

Things are not looking good for the Lemmings!

Aethelwyrd charged one of the Lizardperson archers and cut him down just as Aelfwyn took a careful shot at the other and put an arrow through his heart. The Orc warrior batted Incunabulum out of the way without missing its stride and rushed towards the remaining two Lemmings as the other Orcs headed towards the camp fire. The tiger turned its attentions on Aethelwyrd now, who managed to parry its strikes but could not find a gap in its defences. A roar filled the air as another bear emerged from the night.

The enemy charged as the tiger mauled Aethelwyrd. Fortunately, she was able to roll with the punch and was not as badly hurt as she could have been. The Orcs were all charging towards Aelfwyn, and more were appearing even as he fought desperately for his life.

A choking ash cloud suddenly blew across the battlefield. It mattered little to Aelfwyn, who had been cut down by an Orc, and Aethelwyrd succeeding in holding her breath long enough for it to pass even as she cut down an Orc sergeant and the tiger. However, she was no bleeding from a dozen wounds and not certain that she could hold out much longer.

Still, Aethelwyrd took up position between two standing stones and cut deep wounds in the Orc before her, but the bear behind her clawed her once more. The camp was filling up with Orcs waiting their turn to attack her. She fought heroically and slew Orc after Orc, but in the end their numbers told and she fell into darkness as the bear mauled her one more time.

Epilogue

The Thrappled Lemmings awoke in a dim chamber with rocks and rubble all around them. Checking themselves over, they realised that none of them were seriously wounded. Despite being overwhelmed, they had been lucky. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they suddenly found themselves blinded again by torches springing into life some distance away. The torches illuminated a door on a ledge on the far side of the cavern they were in. There was still hope. Then they spotted the skeleton warriors guarding the door and the flagstones behind where they stood started to drop into a great lake of lava below. They would have to move quickly.

Conclusion

That was a tough fight and the first proper defeat for the Lemmings. They started with some great dice rolls, but in the end they were overwhelmed by poorer dice rolls and being outnumbered by the enemy. Fortunately, all of the Lemmings passed their survival rolls with flying colours, so they are all ready to take on this next challenge. In retrospect, I should probably have withdrawn the Lemmings to stand in the centre and let the enemy approach, rather than rushing out to attack, but here is a reason they are known as the Thrappled Lemmings.

On the plus side, this diversion will give me more time to get things ready for the second scenario of the Menagerie mission. If the Lemmings survive the prison, they can head off and seek out what the Shadow Deep is doing with all these creatures.

Oathmark: Holding Action (Humans versus the Unseelie Court)

I don't seem to be getting on very quickly with the painting and terrain I need for the next Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario, so I played another Oathmark game instead.

The rampaging humans were in full flight after their defeat at the hills. Their captain succeeded in rallying them enough that a core of the army could make a stand to let the rest get away. He opted to occupy the hills beside the pass into the human-controlled kingdom.

The Orcs had sent messengers to the Unseelie Lord, their overlord, who had sent two companies of the Royal Rangers led by his daughter Patience, a person whose very existence proved that nominative determinism was a load of rubbish, to lead the remnants of the Orcish army. She had picked up a selection of additional troops along the way and had orders to strike deep into the human kingdoms so that they could never rally again.

Following on from the previous Programmed Scenarios game, I looked to see which scenario might suit next. "Holding Action" seemed appropriate. This scenario has the defending force fighting a holding action covering a road. The attackers must break through the pass to the human lands beyond. If the humans can hold off the Orc/Elf army without losing too many troops, balance is restored and the two kingdoms will return to their previous status quo. If the attackers win, then they will be in position to attack the Human capital and hopefully subjugate the human menace once and for all.

The Armies

The Unseelie Army (Attackers)

• 1 Mounted Elven Princess
• 1 Elven Wizard (Level 3)
• 1 Mounted Orc Champion
• 1 unit of 10 Orc Soldiers
• 1 unit of 9 Orc Soldiers
• 1 unit of 10 Lizardperson Soldiers (count as Orcs)
• 1 unit of 10 Goblin Soldiers
• 1 unit of 10 Orc Linebreakers
• 2 Trolls
• 1 unit of 10 Orc Archers
• 2 units of 5 Elven Mounted Rangers each

Humans (Defenders)

• 1 Captain in 1 unit of 9 Warriors
• 1 Mounted Champion
• 1 Wizard (Level 2)
• 1 unit of 15 Soldiers
• 1 unit of 12 Soldiers
• 1 unit of 10 Soldiers
• 3 units of 10 Archers each
• 1 unit of 5 Linebreakers
• 1 unit of 5 Heavy Cavalry

The Battle

This battle sees the humans occupying a hill line with a pass in its middle. Their goal is to stop the Unseelie army from exiting the table through the pass at the opposite corner from the one they enter on.

The Unseelie army has staged entry along the road (newly made for this scenario from Warbases road/river templates). Their scouts will arrive first then their main force and flank guards. The rules  randomise the entry of the main force and flank guards using specific times. E.g. the flank guard can arrive 10 minutes ahead of the main force, which can be one hour behind the vanguard. Oathmark does not have a specific time frame for turns and the turn length feels like it might be longer than the minutes given, so I am going to have to fudge it a bit:

• Turn 1: Vanguard
• Turn 2: Flank guards and/or main body
• Turn 3: Flank guards and/or main body if they did not arrive on Turn 2

As with the previous programmed scenario, I am dicing for the orders for both sides rather than taking charge of one of them. May the luckiest general win!

Victory Conditions

The human commander is desperate now that he sees that the Fair Folk of the Unseelie Court are involving themselves in this fight. He had not anticipated this type of response to his raid and must protect his King's lands from reprisals. Therefore, he is willing to accept higher casualties than usual to achieve his goals. He has 89 men at his disposal and will account it a success if he loses 31 or fewer of them while delaying the Unseelie advance until nightfall. However, aware that he will need his troops for later, he will start to withdraw once losses reach 28 troops.

Princess Patience's goal is to exit at least two units through the pass. Casualties mean little to her, so she is willing to throw all her troops at the enemy and hope to swamp them.

It is entirely possible that this could effectively be a draw with the humans being spent but the Unseelie not making headway quickly enough.

The two armies will have 12 turns in which to achieve their goals. It is hard to gauge how long the scenario should be without having played it before, so I am basing the length on how fast an infantry unit marching down the road could take to enter and then exit the table. I hope I have allowed enough time for a theoretical Unseelie victory. As the Humans outnumber the Unseelie army, they could theoretically just engage every single Unseelie unit and delay them that way, but the Human army rolled a static defence, so they will wait for the Unseelie, rather than moving to engage them.

Deployment

The humans have deployed a forlorn hope of 1 unit of archers in the village. The human captain has also chosen to keep a reserve comprising his heavy cavalry and a small unit of soldiers. The bulk of his troops are deployed on the western hills with the remainder on the eastern hills. He has decided on a static defence on the hills with his troops deployed in a single line. He has also decided that if a single Unseelie unit breaks through, that is acceptable. Local militias should be able to deal with that, so he will focus on defeating the main body in detail instead, but will have to respond if more Unseelie troops start to make headway.

The Unseelie army is deployed in 3 bodies. The advance guard comprises 1 unit of Orc archers and 1 unit of Goblin soldiers. The left flank guard comprises 2 units of mounted Elven Rangers. The right flank guard comprises 1 unit of Orc soldiers and both Trolls. The rest of the force forms the main body. Princess Patience has decided that the advance guard must move as quickly as possible to secure the village and then to move on to take the high ground. If two or more units are in a position to push through the pass, then Princess Patience will order them to do so. She will report a success if she can do this by nightfall.

Terrain

Roads do not give bonus movement in Oathmark. Shame. The Unseelie could do with it. Moving a unit on the road will negate any other terrain the road passes through, so units will not be slowed by woods or villages while on the road.

Hills provide a defensive bonus. A single contour has no other effect. A second contour is treated as rough ground in addition to the defensive bonus.

A unit in the village gets a bonus in melee and counts as in cover versus shooting attacks. The village also counts as rough ground.

Woods are treated exactly as in the Oathmark rules.

Turn 1

The Unseelie advance guard moved up the road onto the battlefield. As they rounded the edge of the woods, the Orc archers spotted the human archers but neither party was able to draw a bead on the other.

Humans are deployed in the bottom half of the picture. The Unseelie army enters from the top left corner

Turn 2

The Orc archers advanced in line with their orders and loosed a shower of arrows at the humans in the village but to no effect. The humans responded by showering arrows down on the Orcs, slaying many and disordering their ranks. The Goblins following the Orcs balked at this and refused to advance further than they had to.

The remainder of the Unseelie army arrived and the flank guards started making their way towards the enemy. Princess Patience, true to her nature, gives orders for the main body to advance as fast as they can towards the pass without waiting for the following units to deploy properly in support of them. The flank guards are ordered to take the high ground and roll up the human flanks.

Seeing an opportunity, the Elven Rangers fired a volley at the human archers and slew one of them.

The main body and flank guards of the Unseelie army enter the battlefield

Turn 3

The Elven wizard began to chant and unleashed a blast of flame at the humans in the village. Another of their number fell and the archers became disordered. Their officer quickly got them back in line and they shot at the nearest unit of Elven Rangers, slaying two of them! Both units of Rangers fired as they wheeled towards their left flank, slaying more human archers. Meanwhile, the Orc soldiers on the right flank were advancing on the hill and took fire from human archers there. They took their casualties in their stride and marched steadfastly forward, although it might have been the following Trolls that kept them moving.

The first shots are fired. Elven archery proves superior to human as the forlorn hope desperately holds on

Turn 4

The Unseelie army continued to advance, although slowly on the road as the Orcs and humans continued to shoot at each other, slowing the following infantry down. The humans were starting to get the worst of it now as their numbers dwindled but their courage remained strong in the face of arrows and fireballs. The Orcs on the right flank suffered another casualty but also continued their advance.

The Unseelie forces on the road squabble about right of way while the humans patiently await the onslaught

Turn 5

As the exchange of missile fire still continued, the Orc soldiers and Trolls marched on their foes. A unit of human soldiers attacked the Orcs in the flank, but were rebuffed in disorder despite their superior numbers. Meanwhile the Elven Rangers were racing for the hills on the left flank.

Stout Orc yeomanry stand firm against the fiendish humans, while the forlorn hope is reduced to a single archer now

Turn 6

The last of the human archers in the village fell as the Orcs advanced down the road. A queue of following units had formed behind them and it was not looking like they would be able to reach the pass in time. On the right flank, the Orc soldiers were reduced to a single survivor who defiantly shook his spear at the enemy and yelled. However, the Trolls were now able to move into a position to attack. The Orc soldiers had done their job and would be sung of in the halls of the Orcish horde.

The forlorn hope is gone. Has it delayed the Unseelie army enough?

Turn 7

The Trolls were now in range of the enemy and were keen to charge but the arrows flying toward it caused one of the Trolls to become confused. The other charged the flank of some human soldiers and cut their numbers in half, driving them back and causing the human archers to scramble backwards out of the way. The humans, despite being disordered and torn to bits, held their nerve, even when the last remaining Orc soldier on that flank decided to rush in and kill one of their number.

The human wizard finally found his spellbook and blinded the Orc archers so that they had to spend some time rubbing their eyes before they could see again.

The Elven Rangers on the left flank were now in bow range and cut a unit of human soldiers in half. It was only with great effort that the human officer managed to keep his troops together and in line, turning them to face the oncoming Unicorn riders.

Even in the face of the horrendous casualties, the other humans kept their nerve and remembered their orders to hold their positions. Their captain started to consider how best to withdraw his troops to guard the pass. He was losing too many valiant warriors.

The human left flank is sent into disarray by Trolls while the Elven Rangers start whittling down the human right flank

Turn 8

As one troop of Elven Rangers disappeared in a hail of missile fire, the heroic Orc soldier charged again and killed another human soldier, only for him to then be cut down in a rain of arrows by the nearby human archers. Seeing his heroic Orc companion cut down like this, one of the Trolls charged the human soldiers and crushed many of them underfoot, although it was also wounded in the process. The remaining soldiers routed.

Seeing the soldiers routing, the human captain ordered his troops to fall back to the pass. They would narrow their frontage and defend there. He and those around him began edging backwards as the Unseelie fired fireballs and arrows that whittled the human numbers down to the point where the human captain grimly decided that all he could do was sell the battle dearly. His force would not be fit to fight again any time soon.

The Unseelie main body finally starts to deploy properly

Turn 9

The human archers continued to make their presence felt. One Troll was wounded again while the Elven Rangers lost a rider. However, the human archers on the Unseelie left flank did not last long as the Orc Champion crashed into their flank and routed them. The Orc archers then cut down all bar one of the human axemen as the rest of the human army manoeuvred backwards to try to hold the pass.

The Elven wizard showed her worth by destroying the last of the soldiers on the Unseelie left flank with a well-placed fireball. The human captain would need to commit the reserve there to prevent an Unseelie breakthrough. He gave the order and his reserve started moving to plug the gaps and support the withdrawal as the Unseelie army surged forwards, urged on by Princess Patience's angry commands.

The human captain commits his reserve in a desperate attempt to stem the tide

Turn 10

The Trolls moved to engage the archers and crushed several of them, driving the archers back into the woods. A Lizardpeople unit crushed the last of the human axemen, but suffered horrendous casualties when the human heavy cavalry countercharged it. Nevertheless, although it was driven back, its resolve never faltered. The battlefield was now a muddy, bloody morass of carnage as Princess Patience lost patience with her troops and raced ahead. They bravely followed.

Princess Patience leads from the front and the Unseelie army follows

Turn 11

Seeing the enemy commander alone, the human heavy cavalry charged her. She was wounded, but it was a mere scratch. In return, she slew their commander and threw them into confusion. Taking their cue from their leader, the Unseelie forces smashed through the enemy lines. A depleted unit of Lizardpeople and the Orc champion were now clear to drive on through the pass as their comrades smashed into the enemy forces to further clear the way. Even the heroic Goblin soldiers got carried away and charged the enemy cavalry, only to be beaten back in disorder. At this point, the Elven wizard got into the game once more and cremated the human champion with a fireball.

The Unseelie break through the human lines in small numbers

Turn 12

The Elven Rangers charged the enemy soldiers before them and pushed them back but at the cost of one of their own. The Orc warriors charged the human captain's warriors and cut the unit to ribbons. Only three men remained in it by the end of this fight, but all were stout and undismayed. They were protecting their homeland after all. As the fighting continued, the unengaged units of the Unseelie army moved as fast as they could for the gaps in the enemy lines. As night fell, several Unseelie units entered the pass. Princess Patience would, of course report a crushing victory against the humans.

As night falls, the Unseelie army bypasses the exhausted humans. The remaining few make their escape to regroup later

The Butcher's Bill

The human army lost 65 soldiers from a starting total of 89. This was way above the threshold that the captain was willing to tolerate. However, it could also not be helped. They simply could not withdraw fast enough to escape the Unseelie army once it was upon them.

The Unseelie army lost 35 of 74 soldiers. This actually leaves Princess Patience's force in a reasonable position to carry out a punitive raid against the humans. The Orc champion also managed to exit through the pass and leave the table. With a contingent of Lizardpeople very close behind him and other units breaking through the human lines, I think this means a minor victory for the Unseelie army even though it took a little too long to actually break through.

No doubt the remnants of the human army will use the extra time they have gained to retreat and seek to regroup with new recruits elsewhere, but they are in no position to prevent the coming reprisals and it will be a long while before the humans are able to launch large raids against the Unseelie again.

Conclusion

This is an interesting scenario but I felt that it needed better editing in the book. Some of the options where it said to dice seemed incomplete. So, for example, the defenders diced and were willing to accept a single attacking unit breaking through, but there was no further explanation about how they would deal with additional attacking units getting close to breaking through. As a result, I knew from the outset that I would need to interpret the defenders' orders on a situational basis, even though the initial roll called for a static defence.

Deciding how to call the game at the end of turn 12 was difficult. It really comes down to how you interpret "breakthrough" in the scenario. If the goal was to get past the enemy lines with a clear route to the pass, then the Unseelie army achieved a solid victory. I chose to interpret it as moving off the table, so it was a qualified victory with one unit leaving the table and one ready to follow it.

The biggest issue in this scenario was the activation rolls for the Orc units. They failed as many as they passed so they moved a lot more slowly than needed even with Princess Patience's "commander" ability giving them an extra die for activation. They also spent a lot of time getting in each other's way. This seems in character but it certainly caused the army issues, as did the forlorn hope in the village.

It was another fun scenario though, and I look forward to trying more from the Programmed Wargames Scenarios book. Oathmark works really well for my solo games. The activation system means that I do not have total control of my armies. I also use it to help me make decisions about whether units follow their orders or not. So, for example, I have a unit of Orcs on a hill. They have been told to hold there, but see a pesky human unit within charge range. Do they charge or do they obey their orders? Rolling against the activation number tells me.