The Complex Temple - More Frostgrave

After Petunia Gladiolus' abortive attempt to enter Sandgrave and acquire artefacts, it was her twin sister's turn to try. Peony Gladiolus was certain that she would succeed where her sister had failed. She had recruited the best soldiers she could find, and, like her sister, had a budding apprentice whose skills should be up to the task.

As she approached the old temple, she espied the witch that her sister had warned her about. Curious how both should seek to plunder these ruins at the same time. Perhaps the witch was a rival to House Gladiolus too. She would have to sort that out.

We rolled the Complex Temple scenario. This one requires six pillars on the board that must be 'fought' to gain the treasure they contain. We marked the objective pillars with treasure tokens. Steve's warband was four levels higher than mine, and had the advantage of around 500gc for buying troops, as well as having several magic weapons. Therefore I planned to use my Chronomancer's 'Fleet Foot' and 'Leap' spells to grab the loot and run. If I could avoid fighting too much, I could survive the fight and perhaps close the gap between the two warbands.

As both warbands approached the temple, The apprentice cast a Leap spell on Kurt the Thug and transported him immediately to a likely spot for finding treasure. He quickly found the treasure and started running for home with it. Peony cast Fleet Foot on Young Kurt the Mendacious, her warband's thief, who sprinted towards the treasure too. Meanwhile her thugs formed a shieldwall intent on defending the treasure grabbers.

Gunnhild the Knight was Leapt to the treasure but failed to find it. All too soon she was surrounded by the enemy and cut down. However, while this was happening, a combination of bow-fire and Bone Dart spells was whittling the enemy numbers down to the point where the enemy witch had to cast Fog to give his troops some cover. However, this was not enough. Peony and her troops, though bloodied, ganged up on and picked off piecemeal the scattered enemy. Soon she held the field and half the treasure. Her first foray into Sandgrave had gone well.

Yes, the game was a draw with each of us getting three treasure tokens, but I had successfully taken out three-quarters of Steve's warband. I was happy with that. However, the treasure rolls were not so good. I got two grimoires, a Horn of Destruction, and 300gc. Steve got something like 700gc or so. The grimoires are useless to me right now, although they will be useful later in the campaign if my wizard survives. I would have been happier with more gold so that I could bring my warband's level up to that of Steve's.

Current campaign standings:
Peony Gladiolus (Level 3 Chronomancer) with warband worth 810gc.
Rasgor (Level 7 Witch) with warband worth approx 1000gc.

My plan for the next scenario must be to inch back a little bit of ground. If I get the opportunity to take out his Witch with my Chronomancer then I shall be particularly pleased, but playing for a draw until I have enough gold to match Steve's warband size might not be a bad idea for now.

The Wizard's House: A Frostgrave mini-AAR

We played Frostgrave on Tuesday evening. This was our third game and the start of a mini-campaign. The idea is to play half a dozen games and see how the wizards progress. With that under our belt, we will then have a clue about any changes that need to be made for an extended campaign. I have read much over on the Lead Adventures forum about how the campaign as written does not work well, and how a variety of house rules need to be implemented to make it feasible. Well, now we are about to find out.

Both Steve and I had bought the original Nickstarter from North Star, when the game was first offered up for pre-order. I got the Chronomancer, because I thought the figures were cool, and I love the whole idea of a wizard whose focus is on wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. Steve got the Witch. I really like the figures, and find the plastic minions interesting to build and paint.

So, Steve had a Witch, an apprentice, a barbarian, two archers, four thugs and a thief. I had a Chronomancer, an apprentice, a templar, two crossbowmen, three thugs and two thieves. We rolled for scenario and got The Wizard's House. This meant that all the treasure was gathered in the centre of the table guarded by animated statues. Here follow's Rasgor the Witch's version of events as he and Petunia Gladiolus entered Sandgrave in search of treasure and magic (our setting is Sandgrave because I have lots of desert terrain in the right scale).

It had taken Rasgor many months to gather the right people from the tribes. It had taken even longer to convince the chief to allow him to go. Especially with one of the Chief’s sons, Doug, who was already one of the finest warriors in the Steppes.

This would be their first true foray into the city of Sandgrave. They had scouted the area for the last few weeks, searching for a suitable place to begin their exploration. Yesterday they had stumbled across these ruins, so after looking them over they had returned today.

Just as they approached the ruins, they had noticed another band arriving from the opposite side. Rasgor had taken Doug, Mirk and Tug to the left, while his apprentice Naseby lead Slight the Thief, Nug and Beck to the right. Cal and Dirk approached the centre of the building. Rasgor called upon the spirit to give Mirk strength and Mirk felt the power flow into him.

Suddenly a crossbowman let fly and Tug dropped his bow as he crumpled to the ground. Doug and Mirk ran forward into cover, while Rasgor send forth a dart and had the satisfaction of seeing the assailant crumple to the floor clutching his throat.

Inside the ruins stood six statues, each with a chest at their feet. One of the opposing force charged forward and grabbed a chest, as he lifted it from the ground the statue began to move towards him. At which point Slight sprinted around the corner only to become entangled in the fight. The statue knocked one to the floor and then the next. As Cal picked up another chest, the statue guarding this came to life. Rasgor cast a Strength spell on her, as Doug, Mirk and Dirk ran to help her. The opposing force seemed to be tied up by the statues themselves.

Nug eventually won an archery duel with a crossbowman on the right hand side, but before he could celebrate a door crashed open to his right and a huge bear lumbered out. Doug had found himself in no man’s land between the two groups, as a wall appeared behind him. He attempted to charge the opposing wizard, but it was as though a glamour were cast on him. He shook his black maned head to clear his head then charged forward again knocking down the wizard before turning on her apprentice cowering in the corner.

The rest of the statues were soon defeated and the bear was soon skinned. Tug, Beck and Slight had all suffered only superficial wounds, they would be stiff and sore for a few days, but a barrel round the fire would soon ease those pains.

The game was a whitewash. My entire warband was put out of the fight. I got no treasure. Worse yet, my templar (my best soldier) actually died in the post-game rolling for wounds. I did, however, gain one level.

Steve gained four levels for his wizard and got all the treasure. I cannot remember exactly how much treasure he got, but I remember him getting a whole bunch of scrolls, a couple of magic weapons and a couple of grimoires as well as lots of gold. In the next game I shall be facing a warband that should be worth nearly double mine, and whose wizard will be higher level.

With Steve's superiority in firepower in mind, I do not want to start with a warband that is worth 80% of a starting warband and thus is so much further behind Steve's warband  that I shall almost certainly be creamed again next time. Therefore, my wizard has retired to her country mansion and I shall start a new warband next time. I lose the level gained, but get to choose a bunch of different spells to see if my Chronomancer can be more effective, and I also start with a full-strength warband. I plan to try to grab some treasure, gain a level if possible, and, most importantly, keep my whole warband alive next time. Unless my dice are on fire, I doubt I can win the next game, so I shall instead try for damage limitation.

One thing I have become aware of since starting playing the game and reading about it on the forum is that Chronomancers are probably the weakest wizards in the game. I wish I had realised that before picking the shiniest figures for my warband! Ah well, I shall just have to play more cunningly. That will include destroying Steve's dice which rolled more 20s (critical hits) than they should have in the last game. He had better not leave them unaccompanied at any point ...

Viking berserkers in wargames - a thesis and some notes

Gosh, it's been quiet round here. I have several games to write reports on, although they may just be short notes and photos at this late date, but they are languishing in the doldrums of lack of desire to edit the photos and write about them. However, I have just been informed that my PhD has gone live on the Nottingham eTheses website, so, instead of writing battle reports, and while my work on turning my PhD into a thrilling bestseller falters along like a 3 minute old foal, I offer the chance to read my deathless prose offline by downloading my thesis, while waiting for the next gaming related post. Alternatively, you could wait for a more reader-friendly version when the book is finally published. Click the title below to go to the page for my thesis. It's a 31Mb download. You have been warned. I've also added some thoughts after the abstract on what my conclusions mean for a Viking wargame army.

Berserkir: A re-examination of the phenomenon in literature and life
Abstract
This thesis discusses whether berserkir really went berserk. It proposes revised paradigms for berserkir as they existed in the Viking Age and as depicted in Old Norse literature. It clarifies the Viking Age berserkr as an elite warrior whose practices have a function in warfare and ritual life rather than as an example of aberrant behaviour, and considers how usage of PDE ‘berserk’ may affect the framing of research questions about berserkir through analysis of depictions in modern popular culture. The analysis shows how berserksgangr has received greater attention than it warrants with the emphasis being on how berserkir went berserk. A critical review of Old Norse literature shows that berserkir do not go berserk, and suggests that berserksgangr was a calculated form of posturing and a ritual activity designed to bolster the courage of the berserkr.

It shows how the medieval concept of berserkir  was more nuanced and less negative than is usually believed, as demonstrated by the contemporaneous existence in narratives of berserkir as king’s men, hall challengers, hólmgöngumenn, Viking raiders, and Christian champions, and by the presence of men with the byname berserkr in fourtheenth-century documents. Old Norse literature is related to pre-Viking Age evidence to show that warriors wearing wolfskins existed and can be related to berserkir , thus making it possible to produce models for Viking Age and medieval concepts of berserkir .

The modern view of berserkir is analysed and shows that frenzy is the dominant attribute, despite going berserk not being a useful attribute in Viking Age warfare which relied upon men holding a line steady rather than charging individually.

The thesis concludes that ON berserkr may be best translated as PDE ‘champion’, while PDE ‘berserker’ describes the type of uncontrollable warrior most commonly envisaged when discussing berserkir .

Most illustrations have been removed from the digital version of this thesis for copyright reasons. The references in the captions guide the reader to the original source for those illustrations.

What this means for Viking armies in wargames
In the first instance, it means an end to psycho nutjobs with no clothes and lots of special rules, not that I am the first to have written this. Berserkir were champions and bodyguards. They fought in the same manner as the other warriors in the army, but better. Their defining features such as the howling and shield-biting (or spell-chanting as I have suggested as an alternative interpretation) happened before the battle and were not part of an intrinsic berserk state, despite what popular culture says. To reflect their attributes, they would be the best armed and best armoured troops in the army, and they would be grouped around a leader. How this applies to your games will depend upon the scale of the game.

You might have an entire warband of these guys in a skirmish game, reflecting a lord and his immediate retinue going off to do a bit of plundering, or to rescue a foreign lord from the monster plaguing his hall. Your leader might be a berserkr with a following of local levies and assorted warriors. You might have one or two berserkir with a leader and then a group of levies and assorted warriors. The permutations are as many as the possible scenarios around why a leader is on his own or only accompanied by a couple of his champions.

In a big battle game, the representation will depend upon how you perceive the structure of the army. If you think the best warriors could be spread among the rabble to raise their discipline, then you would simply improve the average quality of many/all units in the army. If you think, as do I, that the berserkir would be gathered around their lord and his standard, then you should use the highest quality troop type in your army for the stands of your leaders/generals. This does not mean picking the highest quality in the army list. I doubt all lords and their retinues were of equal quality, and the number of men in a lord's personal retinue is highly unlikely to be equal to the notional number of men comprising a unit or stand in most big battle games. This means that the effect of the best troops will be diluted, so you might have a unit of veteran huskarls to represent the berserkir and the best troops, instead of automatically representing the unit as elite huskarls.

The actual physical representation of these troops is more difficult. They may have worn bearskins or a bear's mask, but the evidence is not present to state whether these accoutrements were worn, if at all, in battle or only for rituals and ceremonies. I would suggest going for what you find aesthetically pleasing. As long as your berserkir are not naked, you are not leaving yourself open to criticism by pedants like me!

So, that's a few thoughts on berserkir in wargames. They are certainly not complete or comprehensive, but I hope they provide food for thought.

Ambulatory Terrain

I was using an army based on that of Ancient Egypt, so it seems appropriate that the ambulatory terrain against which Steve's skirmishers were crushed was my cat Victor.

Ronin Campaign 3 - Defence

The third scenario in the Ronin mini-campaign was the Defence scenario. One side defends an objective, while the other side tries to take it. The rules state that the attacker gets twice as many points as the defender for the standard scenario, but it was not clear from the rules how this translates into the campaign game. In the campaign you start with 300 points of troops and divide them how you wish between the three scenarios before knowing what your opponent is allocating to each scenario, so points can be quite equal. As it happened, we decided to make the side with the higher points allocation the attacker. That was me. I had 100 points while Steve had 97 allocated to this scenario.

The terrain for the battle consisted of two impassable carst formations, a small wood and a grain storehouse in the middle. The storehouse was the monk's winter supply and was guarded by four of their best. As you will remember, the monks have been getting uppity and my samurai must enforce the law of the land by insisting that the monks pay their taxes. As part of that, our lord has decided that we must raid the monks' grain storage to recover back taxes.

As the attacker, I started with half my force on the table, and the rest would arrive in subsequent turns. This meant that I had two figures on the table, one would arrive on turn 2 and the last on turn 3. Ronin games are not large. I deployed two ashigaru in the open but around the back of the storehouse from the monks. My guys had a yumi (bow) and a teppo (arquebus). I thought that I would try to force the monks to move into the open and shoot at them before my melee troops tried storming the place. The game was 1d6+6 turns long and Steve rolled a 6, so I knew I had plenty of time (12 turns) to build up my forces and advance. I was a little worried by the fact that Steve suddenly had troops with missile weapons. He had not fielded missile weapons in any previous battle. Still, I would do what I could do.

My missile troops advanced closer to make the shooting easier and Steve's monks moved around the corner. In the exchange of fire that resulted over the next couple of turns, my guys suffered a couple of light wounds and Steve remained whole. His monks had clearly trained more with their weapons and my armour was not proof against his high dice rolls.

As the ashigaru closed the range, my melee troops arrived on the opposite corner of my starting edge. An ashigaru with a yari arrived first, using the carst formation as cover to close the range. He was closely followed by the best samurai in our lord's force (a rank 5 dude with loads of skillz). He demonstrated those skillz by using the ashigaru as cover to advance towards the enemy monks. This stopped the monks with yumi and teppo from shooting at him. The teppo in particular was a worry because it ignores armour and is quite deadly at close range.

The ashigaru did his job and fell riddled with arrows and musket balls, but the samurai was now close enough to charge and did so to good effect. By closing with the enemy he prevented further missile fire at him, but the monks quickly surround him and he was soon fending off three of the dastardly orange-clad devils. The fight was quite short and hard fought. Over the course of a couple of turns he fended off many attacks by the monks and cut down all three of them in turn. His kenjutsu skill came in particularly handy because it meant that he got a free re-roll of one die on all attack and defence rolls. Many of the re-rolls were as bad or worse than the original roll because my dice hate me, but it worked out right in the end. A couple of good re-rolls raised the numbers high enough to be useful. With the re-roll from the skill, it also meant that I could attack more often rather than spending dice from his combat pool to enhance his attacks. This meant he could badly hurt or kill enemy figures in a single turn, thus shortening the odds against him.

In the end, my samurai killed all the enemy monks, aided only a little by the largely ineffective missile fire from my ashigaru. Heads were taken, grain was transported back to the castle and the monks were put in their place.

The campaign is supposed to finish with a final climactic battle but we called it a samurai victory at this point because Steve only had one monk left alive for the final battle, while I had three samurai and three ashigaru.

Thoughts on Ronin
So, my thoughts? I enjoyed this mini-campaign. The rules are simple enough to get into and are well written with few areas of confusion. The game plays quickly, if you don't spend too much time in and between turns chatting. Our games always take longer because they are social events too.

The combat pool mechanic is good. Each figure has a combat pool and you choose a total of attack and defence dice equal to that pool. You need attack dice to actually attack and can spend an extra one to enhance your attack. You automatically get one die on all defence rolls, but you can spend a defence die to enhance your defence. Choosing the right mix for the circumstances and deciding when to use them is a great mechanic that takes you away from just standard rolling. I like mechanisms like this because it gives you interesting tactical choices to make. In the fight against the samurai above, Steve chose all attack dice for his mob. He wanted to make all-out attacks against the samurai because the samurai's heavy armour and high fight skill meant it was difficult to hurt him. This choice left the monks vulnerable to the samurai's attacks though, because they were only rolling basic defence rolls. I chose a balanced combat pool so that I could enhance the early defence rolls against Steve's best troops while still making attacks. I also relied on the kenjutsu re-reroll rather than enhancing my attacks.

Combat is made more interesting by an initiative roll too. All figures in a melee roll for initiative and attack in descending order of their roll. You have to choose your combat pool before you make the initiative roll, so there is an element of calculation and risk in choosing your combat pool. Do you rely on attacking first and killing your opponent before he can respond, or do you assume you will have to defend and give yourself a die or two for enhancing your defence? I like these sorts of decisions. They make games more interesting.

Overall, I think these are a sound set of rules and we shall return to them again in the future. The decision making is interesting and this makes the game play exciting. But first we have a Talomir Tales battle to fight and then we are going to play Impetus for a bit. It has been far too long since my Vikings hit the table.

Ronin Campaign 2 - Capture

This is the second game in our Ronin mini-campaign. You can read about the first here.

The abbot's body had been crucified and left in a wasteland for the birds to peck at as a warning to the monastery. Naturally the monks wanted to recover the body and give it the appropriate funeral rites. The samurai boss was determined to make sure this did not happen.

Both forces entered from opposite edges of the battlefield. The objective was in the centre: a newly painted vignette of the crucifixion of Torii Suneemon which I declared was actually the abbot from the previous battle.

I had a force led by a rank 3 samurai, supported by a rank 2 ashigaru-gashira and three rank 1 ashigaru. Steve had a rank 4 monk, a rank 3 monk and two rank 1 temple attendants, I think. I never actually checked or read his roster and am basing this on what I remember of the game.

Both sides charged towards the crucified body. Part-way there the ashigaru with teppo and ashigaru with bow paused to shoot but with little effect. The ashigaru-gashira and the ashigaru with yari engaged a monk as quickly as they could but neither side could gain an advantage. In the meantime, my samurai cut down a temple attendant.

My ashigaru were split up by the arrival of another monk to aid the first one. The two monks were able to kill both ashigaru in short order while the samurai cut down the other temple attendant. My archer was performing very poorly, but the ashigaru with the teppo fired and was able to cut down the junior monk right after the monk had killed the ashigaru-gashira.

This works because of the turn sequence and is something to exploit. It appears to be intentional in the rules. Steve had used this and the line of sight rules to prevent me from shooting everything at his boss monk. I repaid him by rolling well with my shooting. It all evens out in the end!

With one monk and two temple attendants dead, Steve's senior monk sought the shelter of his dead abbot's gaze and the samurai with two of his ashigaru ganged up on him. The end result was hardly in doubt and the monk died on the final turn of the game. Victory was mine once more, and the monk's force was severely reduced for the final battle, although I seem to be going through ashigaru like nobody's business.

Steve told me that he had thought he might be able to defend enough in the final melee to outlast the turn countdown. Sadly that did not work for him. He also hoped that by being in contact with the objective he might gain the victory if I forgot to contest it by placing one of my own warriors in contact with it. This too did not work for him because I realised what he was up to. Still, it was another good fun game. These rules are simple to play but with sufficient decision-making to keep things interesting. I particularly like the combat pool where you have to decide how many dice to allocate to attacking and defending for each melee.

Ronin Campaign 1 - The Skirmish

We began a Ronin mini-campaign last week. The campaign involves building a buntai (warband) and dividing it into three groups. Each group is assigned to one of three scenarios: skirmish (= encounter), capture and defence. After all three scenarios have been played, the surviving figures mix it up in a big skirmish battle. Figures can gain experience through the campaign, but it would take several such mini-campaigns for a figure to gain enough experience to rise in rank, if I read the rules aright.

The first scenario was the initial skirmish scenario. I had one rank 4 samurai and three rank 1 ashigaru. Rank 1 is the worst and Rank 5 is the best grade. Steve had 3 high ranking monks from his monastery. Clearly the monks were refusing to pay their taxes to the big samurai boss and we had to sort them out. As frequently happens in our games, there was little tactical subtlety.

There was a small building in the centre of the battlefield. I initially thought that I would seize this and then defend it from the monks. We both charged for it. My samurai chappie entered the building while the ashigaru armed with missile weapons let rip. The teppo made much noise but had little effect. The ashigaru with yari lurked near the door of the building as I realised that my plan was not workable.

 As the monks approached, my samurai left the building and sliced and diced the weakest of the monks (a rank 3 monk). The other two monks made short work of two of my ashigaru. It turns out that Steve had fielded an elite force in this scenario with the abbot of his monastery (a rank 5 model), an abbot in the making (rank 4) and a senior monk (rank 3 but now dead). When I realised this, I fully expected to get creamed, so my samurai made a break for it.

He raced towards the ashigaru with the teppo, but so did the monks. The abbot pursued the samurai while the junior abbot pursued my ashigaru. I lost the initiative and my ashiguar was toast. At this point neither of us had achieved our individual victory conditions, and the score was even in terms of points for dead bodies, because my three ashigaru were worth the same as the dead monk. My samurai had been running and had drawn the abbot away from the junior abbot. Seeing his chance, he turned and confronted the monk.

The two leaders faced each other over drawn swords as the junior abbot raced to support his master. He was too late to do anything. Both leaders screamed a battle cry and leapt at each other. When the dust cleared, the samurai was standing and the monk lay in the dust. The battle was over and the last monk withdrew from the battlefield. The monastery had been taught a lesson.

This game was characterised by very good dice rolling on Steve's part in the first half of the game. My dice only came into their own when my samurai turned and confronted the abbot. At this point I convincingly slaughtered him and won the scenario. I got lucky because the abbot was a better warrior on paper. Nevertheless, it was good fun. I really like how the special abilities for the leaders lend something to the narrative of the battle too.

1 Flaurmont 1000 AC - Elyas' Tower

Broneslav led Baik down to Ular-Taman's room, where he showed the snake creature the pendant and the ring.

"I have both pendant and ring," he announced, "How do I make them work?"
Ular-Taman hissed a reply, "With both ring and pendant joined, as I see they are, you must speak the word on the back of the pendant, and it will create a circle of power that prevents all evil magic from working. In this way you will be able to defeat the witches."

Broneslav grinned. He had read Rahasia's name on the back of the pendant. Now he knew its significance.

"Come, Baik, we must enter the wizard's tower and defeat a great evil. Riches and glory will be ours for the taking."

He led the way through the treasure room and into the corridor leading down to the tower that lay encased beneath the mountain. As he did so, he wondered if it really counted as a tower now.

The rough-hewn corridor they followed opened into a dark, dry cavern. In the wall opposite was an opening leading to another rough-hewn corridor, presumably that used by the Rahib. The walls of Elyas' tower blocked the cavern off, rising up some 60 feet to its roof. Rubble was strewn everywhere as the tower's upper levels were destroyed by the spell that encased the rest of it in the mountain. Dark, stained doors with curious engravings were visible in the middle of the wall. It took the combined might of Broneslav and Baik to open them. Beyond the doors, a corridor stretched off into the distance. The only light here was the torch carried by Baik. The torch cast eerie shadows in the vast, vaulted corridor. Seeing no danger they advanced slowly forwards.

Suddenly two men leapt out of the shadows with chilling battle cries. One sliced through a gap in Broneslav's armour (2 DAM). The other cut a wicked slash to Baik's head (1 DAM). Put off by the sudden attack, Broneslav fluffed his sword thrust, but the boot that followed it laid the man out cold. The other man missed Baik, but was not so lucky in return. A quick search of the corpses, after bandaging their own wounds, turned up two bottles of wine labeled: Wizard of Wines Winery, Purple Grapemash No.3, 14231241-S. Both men also had full purses which found their way onto Broneslav and Baik's belts. The heroes left the men's short swords, shields and armour behind. They were obviously of poor quality and well-used.

The corridor ended in a large octagonal room that had obviously been tidied up. The roof in here had collapsed but now all the rubble and debris was gathered in its centre. A quick search showed the room to be empty. Corridors led off to either side and double doors lay in the northern wall. When they checked the corridor to the east, Broneslav and Baik could see double doors at its end, as well as branches heading north and south. This was a big room, so it seemed likely that it was an antechamber to another important room. For this reason they decided to try the double doors to the north first. Neither Broneslav nor Baik could hear anything through the doors, so they pushed them open ...

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 1028

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +4, DAM 1d8)

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

1 Flaurmont 1000 AC - Return to the temple

After a good night's rest, Broneslav felt much better. The Elven healer's work had been good and we was ready to return to the temple and finish the job he had started. Baik Telor agreed to accompany him on condition that he was given a full share of any treasure they found. Baik Telor had seen the treasure that Broneslav had already accrued and liked the colour of it. He equipped himself with a shield and the pair set out once mor, clad in robes previously worn by the Siswa. The journey to the temple was quick. Broneslav returned to the statue with the pendant on it and managed to work out that he needed to insert the black jade ring into the pendant to release it. Armed with the tools necessary to destroy the evil, although unsure how they worked, he and Baik headed through the portal to the middle temple level. He had not fully explored it before and explained this to Baik, as well as his reasons for not doing so. Together they decided that it would be best to clear it of enemies before moving deeper into the mountain.

Scouting the corridors soon showed that the ends of each of them was a portal just like on the temple's outer level. South of the Great Temple, where he had first seen the Rahib, Broneslav found double doors in the wall. This led to a corridor with open alcoves off it. The alcoves contained primitive cots for sleeping on and little else. As the pair approached one cell, they heard chanting coming from it. Approaching completely unnoticed, the pair found three Siswa chanting around a candle. Their chant meant little to the two heroes who used their stealthy approach to soundlessly overpower the Siswa. They tied and gagged them before moving on.

As they rounded the corner of the corridor, they could see stairs rising into a room to the south-west and two guards ahead by a double door. The two Siswa guards stood patiently watching as the heroes approached. Suddenly one of them yelled something and both leapt to the attack. As they did so, Broneslav wondered why he bothered with the disguise when everyone seemed to see right through it. The guard parried his blow and countered with a thrust that cut Broneslav's arm badly (2 DAM). Beside him, Baik also missed but fended off the guard's blow. As Broneslav and the guard countered each others' blows, Baik cursed when his opponent slipped a blow through his guard (1 DAM). Suddenly the corridor was alive with Siswa as ten more came storming out of the dark alcoves along the corridor. Broneslav and Baik swung wild blows at the nearest enemies, felling two of the new arrivals as they retreated to get their backs to a wall. Side by side and backed into a corner, no more than four of the Siswa could attack them at once. The plan seemed to work. The guards followed up, aided by the new arrivals but could not get their weapons past the heroes' shields. Broneslav knocked one guard unconscious with the flat of his blade, as Baik slew the other, and a wild swipe of Broneslav's shield left two more Siswa on the floor. The six remaining Siswa pressed the attack but the heroes were able to hold them off as Broneslav knocked out four more of them. Of the remaining two, one turned to run while the other attacked Baik. Baik blocked his blow and counter-attacked but failed to hit the Elf. Broneslav launched himself at the fleeing Siswa and brought him to the ground. A swift punch to the side of the head left the Elf snoring as Baik cursed once more at being hit. Fortunately his armour held and the blow did not cut him. With two heroes versus one Siswa, the end was not in doubt and soon eleven Siswa had been captured and tied up, while only one lay dead on the floor. Broneslav was not happy about this, but it was too late now. He had briefed Baik, but Baik was more concerned with surviving himself than with looking out for the Siswa. With Baik's wounds bandaged, they carried on.

The remaining alcoves were empty, and the two corner rooms had stairs leading up to the surface. Light could be seen at the top of the stairs. Broneslav chose not to sortie up the stairs but to continue on. In one alcove they found a chest next to one of the crude cots. The two warriors clustered round the chest and opened the lid, only to have several darts fly out at them. As the dart struck him, Broneslav collapsed to the floor. Baik remained standing. When Broneslav came to twenty minutes later, Baik informed him that he appeared to have been hit by a sleep dart, and that the chest had contained 50 silver coins and a bottle of wine. He shared these coins with Broneslav and they packed the wine in their packs.

N.B. Baik is Lawful and will usually act that way. I consulted the oracle to see if greed got the better of him, and it did! The chest actually contained 100 silver coins and 75 electrum coins. Baik chose to keep most of the treasure and share a bit because a trapped chest with no treasure would have been odd.

The two warriors then entered the central room in this part of the temple. It appeared to be a dining room with a long table down the middle and benches on either side. It had alcoves at each end, one with the work KESINI carved in the wall above it and the other with KESANA. The alcoves were empty and encouraged no further investigation there.With this part of the temple cleared and the enemy captured, Broneslav led the way down to the temple's lower level.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 968

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +4, DAM 1d8)

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

Ronin: Samurai Skirmish Rules Battle Report

We played the Osprey rules Ronin this week and last week. Both games were entertaining, and honours were even after two games.

The first game was a simple encounter scenario using small (100 point) forces. Steve had made a terrain board and some terrain for it, and we played in 15mm, halving all the measurements.

I sent Orange Power Samurai alone up the left bank of the river (big mistake). All my ashigaru advanced up the right bank, with Teppo Ashigaru holding back to take time to fire. Steve's force was split evenly between both banks of the river and initially things went well for me. Orange Power Samurai waded into combat with two of the monks and slaughtered both in one turn. Sadly, that was the end of the carnage that I wrought.

The Monkish boss and one of his retainers ganged up on Orange Power Samurai and cut him down to size. An ashigaru with yari tried to get there in time to help him, but was not quick enough. On the other bank, my ashigaru had killed one monk, but the other proved to be considerably tougher and took out all three of the ashigaru there. Yikes! One level 2 monk versus 3 level 1 ashigaru should not end like that, but at least it fits the heroic theme of the game.

Victory to Steve and a lesson learnt by me. One thing we thought we had learned from this game was that missile fire was not very effective. It was also interesting to see how few shots an chap with a teppo/arquebus could get off in a game.

Game 2 was on the same board. We played the capture scenario where an objective must be held or captured and carried off the board. This time we played with mid-sized forces of 150 points each. I used the extra points to buy a top grade Blue Power Samurai with a variety of awesome abilities like acrobatics and fast. Better quality figures in Ronin can have skills. While it seems like a no-brainer to give all samurai kenjutsu or some other weapon skill, the range of skills means that there might be good reasons for going with other skills instead.

The objective was in the temple. This time I grouped all of my troops in one corner of the board and advanced them together. Steve split his force between both banks of the river. He advanced one part up under cover of the buildings while his missile troops tried to flank me from the other side of the river. Both of my ashigaru with teppo hung back after the first turn and managed to do a fair bit of damage with just a couple of shots, wounding and killing the leading monks.

My black cat Victor likes to watch our games, and often parks himself next to the board. Surprisingly, he is very well behaved and does not chase the dice or eat the figures, unlike the kittens, who try to eat everything.

As the game progressed, Steve got a monk to the objective well before me, but my teppo fire had weakened his assault, so that when Blue and Orange Power Samurai reached the enemy, they were sufficiently weakened to be easy meat. Each samurai worked with an ashigaru partner to outnumber and cut down the enemy. This tactic worked really well, especially combined with effective fire.

In the end, Steve's monks were sent fleeing and my only casualty was one of the ashigaru with teppo, who succumbed to a good bow shot from Steve's monks.

All in all, yet another good game that took under two hours to complete, including in that time our usual pre-game nattering, tea making and biscuit eating. I like that the rules are cheap, well-produced and that there are few anomalies or grey areas in them. They are also clearly written and easy to learn. For the money they are excellent value.

We are going to try a mini-campaign next which means I shall have to paint up some more figures for my warband. I think I should also paint the Torii Suneemon vignette that I got from Two Dragons. It will make a great objective marker.

28 Thaumont 1000 AC - Rescuing Hasan

Feeling slightly better, but still stiff and sore, Broneslav awoke on the floor of Ular-Taman's room (+1 HP). He had not brought much food with him, so he knew that he would have to return to the village to collect supplies if he could not complete his mission today. Well, he would see to what he could and move on. His first task, he decided, would be to rescue Hasan. He could then lead him back to the village and collect the pendant on the way, if only he could work out how to remove it from the statue. This would give him the opportunity to get some more supplies and to store the treasure. While he was going about rescuing Hasan, he would search the rest of the temple before descending into Elyas' tower. That should prevent nasty surprises approaching from behind. Then he remembered the Siswa he had captured. They would need to be fed and given water, so he needed to sort that. He did not want them to die of thirst or starvation, if he could help it. So, he said farewell to Ular-Taman and set off back into the temple.

Broneslav first checked the door opposite Ular-Taman's room. It was open and he eased into the room and saw piles of crates and sacks stacked against the far wall. It was clearly a store room. He went to examine the boxes for anything useful. Suddenly a pack of rats burst from a sack and attacked, catching him by surprise (3 DAM). He responded by slamming two rats against the wall, stamping on one and slicing a fourth in two with his sword. Two of the rats ran chittering into the pile of sacks while the other two continued to attack Bronslav. Aware of them now, he was better able to fend off their bites and killed them quickly. He then left the room hastily and bandaged his wounds (+2 HP) before returning to the room. This time he was aware of the rats so he carefully rummaged through the sacks until he found them and quickly slew them. The sacks and crates contained food, much of which had been gnawed on by the rats. One crate contained brown Siswa robes, so Broneslav swapped the torn and bloodied robe he was wearing for a fresh one. He planned to rescue Hasan next.

He went along the corridor to where he had seen Rahasia's father's ghost and went to the door in the south wall. Listening at the door, he could hear voices beyond. He decided to try his luck and disguise, and marched boldly through the door. One of the four Siswa guards in this room yelled something in what Broneslav took to be Elvish and the all drew swords. Broneslav leapt to the attack, mindful that these Siswa were still enslaved to the evil below the temple, he used only the flat of his blade and quickly knocked one guard to the floor, unconscious. Fending off the blows of the other three with his shield he found himself too busy to land another blow for the moment but took a slice to the leg (1 DAM). He backed off. They followed anticipating an easy victory, then Broneslav leapt forward and knocked one of the Siswa to the floor in a boneless heap with his shield. That left two. But, he had got cocky and both landed blows on him, although one of those blows was saved by his armour. Another swipe with his sword connected with the side of the head of one of the Siswa, who collapsed. The remaining guard was now on the defensive and failed to attack effectively. Broneslav soon had him knocked to the floor too. He tied all the guards up and stacked them in the corner of the room before bandaging his newest wound (+1 HP). No one had come to investigate the noise, so he assumed that these were all the guards. Searching them, he found a set of keys on one of the guards.

Through the next set of doors, he found a cell block. An Ylaruami human was locked in one cell. He introduced himself as Baik Telor and promised to aid Broneslav in return for his freedom. Hasan was locked in another cell. He too offered to help Broneslav but he lacked arms and armour. This lack was easily remedied. Soon both  prisoners were wearing the chain armour of the Siswa and carrying a sword each. Thus armed they were ready to aid Broneslav who had them wake the unconscious Siswa and help him escort them through to the upper levels of the temple, where they gathered the other captured Siswa. The three heroes escorted the Siswa from the temple in short order and left Hasan and Rahasia to guard them. Broneslav was mindful of the need to protect Hasan and did not want him returning to the temple. Needless to say, one Hasan was with Rahasia once more, he was less eager to venture deeper into the temple anyway. The group returned to the village with their captives, where Broneslav was able to rest and be healed by the village healer.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 882

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva, Merisa and Hasan
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 5, ATK +4, DAM 1d8)
Hasan (HD 2, AC 5, ATK +1, DAM 1d8)

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

27 Thaumont 1000 AC - Finding the dragon guard

Knowing that there were probably guards through the door to his left, Broneslav moved across the octagonal room to the doors opposite him. He pushed them open carefully. A short corridor lay before him, opening into an octagonal room with alcoves on three of the walls. Iron bars blocked the way into the alcoves. These gates were locked and had words carved above them: KESINI to his right and KESANA above the other two. A large gong hung on the wall opposite the corridor. He wondered what the words and the gong might mean. Broneslav had no means of opening the gates, barring finding a key or breaking them if he could. This gave him an idea. He tried the keys he had found in the Rahib's library and soon had all three gates open. The alcoves were obviously empty, so he had no further need to enter or search them, but at least he knew that the keys he had were for the gates and doors in the temple.

Returning to the corridor, he tried the door to the north because the dragon guard and the gold were supposed to be in that direction. It swung open and he found himself in a plain room with no decoration or furniture. A single reptilian creature stood in the centre of the room. Warily Broneslav raised his sword and shield. The creature did not move but merely looked at him.

"Umm, hello," he said, "Are you the dragon guard Rahasia's father told me about?"
As opening lines went, there were better, but Broneslav was not a character in a story after all.

"I am Ular-Taman," the creature hissed, "I serve Elyas and I guard his treasure. So, yes, I may well be the dragon guard."
"Uh, great. I was told that you knew what I needed to do to defeat the evil that was behind the Rahib."
"Indeed, I have lived through the time since Elyas fought the three witches and perished. I have endured my duty for his sake and I shall help you, for I see that you seek to crush this evil too. I guard the way to Elyas' tower, although I fear that the Rahib has found another. The evil is the witches. You must destroy them. You will need the ring that I guard and the pendant that goes with it."

The creature told the story of how Elyas had fought three witches. The witches had cast a spell to crush Elyas' tower under a mountain, but the wizard had managed to trap them in his tower even as it was encased in the mountain. He died doing so, but their evil was contained. Ular-Taman directed Broneslav to a loose stone in the centre of the room, where he found a ring with a black jade stone set in it.

"You will need to find the pendant too, but I do not know where that is."
"So, if I am to destroy these witches, how do I find them?"
"There is a door hidden in the north wall of this room. It leads to the treasure room. There is a hidden door in the north wall of the treasure room. It leads to a tunnel that will take you to Elyas' tower."

Now I wondered if Broneslav would remember the pendant in the upper level and make the connection with the ring. Time to consult the oracle. The answer came back 'Yes, but'. The complication was that a fact was actually incorrect that Broneslav thought he knew. So, what mistaken assumption had he made? I shall address that somewhere along the way, I think. First, Broneslav was more interested in the treasure.

Broneslav listened carefully to Ular-Taman's tale and assured the creature that he would do all he could to control or destroy the evil.

"I believe I know where the pendant is, but first I shall check the secret ways that you mention. He headed through the secret door that Ular-Taman had shown him and was soon standing in the treasure room. The first thing he grabbed was a well-crafted sword that lay in its scabbard on a pile of gold coins. It was better balanced than his own, and the blade seemed to hold a sharper edge. Broneslav quickly strapped it on, before gathering up as much of the treasure as he could. He also found a Potion of Healing which he recognised because his family was wealthy enough to buy them from wizards when occasion demanded. He swallowed the glowing blue liquid and some of his wounds began to heal (+1 HP). It was not enough. Broneslav decided that he needed to rest and recover before he went further. He did not have time to rest until fully healed, but it had already been a long day, and he needed to rest anyway. Ular-Taman agreed to guard Broneslav as he slept, so he made up his bed on the guard's floor and slept (+1 HP).

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 5/9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 858

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva, Merisa and Hasan
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

27 Thaumont 1000 AC - The search for the dragon guard

Broneslav turned to the door opposite him. It was an ordinary-looking door. He pushed it open angrily. This room mirrored the one he had just left. The walls were covered in paper with maps of the village and drawings of Merisa, Sylva and Rahasia. A quick perusal of the paperwork showed that the Rahib had been planning things for some time. No time for reading. Now is the time for action. Broneslav stalked to the double doors at the end of the corridor and slammed them open. The room beyond had a thick, red carpet and a large bed with a matching red cover. As Broneslav took in the room, two black panthers leapt from the bed and sprinted silently towards him. Broneslav moved eagerly towards them, his anger driving him forward. As one panther sprang towards him, he cut with his sword gashing its side. He then ducked under the leaping panther and rolled aside avoiding one claw but being cut by the other (1 DAM).

Rolling to his feet, Broneslav struck the floor near a panther as it attacked him once more, this time catching his arm with its teeth (1 DAM). The other panther clawed him in the leg once more (1 DAM). The blood inspired the panthers to a frenzy of attacks (2 DAM) and Broneslav was hard-put to defend himself. As the panthers paused briefly, he thrust his sword from behind his shield, skewering a panther just as it was about to attack him again (4 DAM). It collapsed in a limp and bloody pile. Its mate whimpered and backed off in the face of this demonstration of Broneslav's power (failed morale check), then it sprinted round him for the still-open door. Unfortunately there was nowhere further to run. The doors in the corridor were shut and the panther was cornered at the end. Broneslav stalked after it and sought to end the threat it might pose once its nerve recovered. He missed and suffered a clawing to the leg as it slipped by him to seek refuge in the room once more. Broneslav unslung his bow and put an arrow into the panther as it cowered in the room (3 DAM). The panther turned, a beast at bay. It leapt towards him and savaged his shoulder with its teeth (1 DAM). Broneslav leapt away and drew his sword once more, dropping his bow in the process. He rolled through the door and slammed it shut behind him. He could hear the panther scratching at the door. It was nearly fatally injured, but Broneslav was bleeding from many wounds too. He needed time to rest but he could not leave the panther as it was. He felt bad about attacking it as it ran away, but there was nowhere for it to go where it would not remain a threat. He paused to bandage his wounds (+2 HP) and to prepare himself to enter the room again. With his sword in one hand, and his shield in the other he opened to door and was almost bowled over by the panther leaping swiftly through it towards him. He slashed wildly at the creature and cut a gaping hole in its chest that finished it off (1 DAM). Breathing heavily, he took time to rest once more before exploring the room. He found nothing of use or interest here.

Although bloodied and hurting, Broneslav decided to continue to explore. His mission was one of urgency and he could not pause unless absolutely forced to by his injuries.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 3/9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 558

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva, Merisa and Hasan
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

27 Thaumont 1000 AC - The Rahib

The trapdoor was heavy but Broneslav still lifted it easily. He and Alki followed a narrow winding stair down to a metal door. He tried its handle but it would not open. His strength was not equal to forcing the door either, so they two heroes had to backtrack to the other room and try an alternative route. The narrow stairs to the metal door gave no clue about which direction to take, so they must just try to scout the way, hopefully without encountering any Siswa. Would Hasan know which way to go? Broneslav doubted it, and he thought that any cells would be guarded. So, time to toss a coin. It came up dragons. He would try the door to his left as he entered the octagonal room.

The door opened easily onto a short corridor with doors at the end and on either side. Broneslav listened at all the doors and heard nothing. The double doors at the end were probably important, so he decided to scout the two to the side first. Better to clear the way as he went, he thought. He pushed the door open quickly and stepped into the room on his left. It was full of shelves covered in books and scrolls. A desk occupied the centre of the room and standing at it, scrabbling among the paperwork for something was the dark figure that Broneslav has seen before.

"It's the Rahib!" yelled Alki.

Broneslav lunged forward at the dark-robed figure. His sword sliced through the Rahib's arm nearly cutting it cleanly off (4 Dam). Blood spurted everywhere. (Blimey, a 20 to hit followed by maximum damage. That was most fortunate!) The Rahib howled with rage and raised his other arm to point at Alki and Broneslav. He shouted out a prayer to his unholy god. Suddenly Bronslav could no longer move and Alki was frozen beside him (Both characters failed to save versus the Hold Person spell). The Rahib grinned slyly.

"I have frozen your bodies but not your minds. Now, I shall kill you both. You, warrior, will have to watch your friend die, before watching your own doom approach. Then I shall leave your bodies as a warning to others who might try to stop me."

He lifted his mace and swung hard at Alki's skull, crushing it before Broneslav could do anything. Then he approached Broneslav and raised the mace once more. Broneslav mentally urged his body to move. All too slowly it responded as his anger at his new friend's death drove his will to beat that of the Rahib. Then suddenly he was moving at full speed once more as the mace fell not on his head but on his shoulder. (Broneslav would have been dead but I used Defy Death to escape the effects of the spell. I consulted the oracle first. It told me that Broneslav would not be able to move before Alki was dead. Broneslav took 1 Dam from the Defy Death)

His sword swung in a massive backhand blow. The Rahib was too surprised even to respond. He had thought that Broneslav would be dead seconds ago. Then the Rahib's headless body was falling to the floor, lifeless.

Broneslav checked Alki, but there was nothing he could do. Then he bound his own wound and checked the room. The books were all histories related to the temple, as far as he could tell. They were bulky and of little value to him. The Rahib's armour and mace were good quality though. Broneslav took them with him and a set of keys that he found among the paperwork on the desk. He could always ditch the armour and mace if he found better and lighter treasure. Now he had to find the Elf maids Sylva and Merisa and rescue Hasan. He should probably look into this dragon guard still too. He turned to leave the room. He now owed Alki a debt of honour to finish what they had started. He was determined to see that debt paid.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 8/9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 408

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva, Merisa and Hasan
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)

Imperial Assault Group - Laserburn / Imperial Commander

Back in the mists of time somewhere around the mid-eighties I bought the figures for an Imperial Assault Group as outlined in the Laserburn supplement Forces of the Imperium. I also bought an Imperial Black Guard platoon. The Black Guard got painted, naturally, because they were the elite troops, but only part of the Assault Group got painted. Cut to twenty years later and I finished off the Assault Group. Then a couple of years ago or so (time is somewhat nebulous and illusory, as is my memory of it, so the exact time frame is not clear to me without looking it all up), I fettled the Assault Group a bit. I also decided to give them some transport and bought a bunch of GZG High Tech Grav Armoured Carrier Sleds  plus a few other bits and pieces in the GZG Christmas sale. Then, in 2014 I fettled the Assault Group again, giving them shiny new bases and a quick dip to bring out the detail some more. The transport, however, languished on my painting desk for months. Half of it was painted, but the rest remained part-painted right up until Christmas. In a bid to maintain the tattered shreds of sanity that remained after working at my wife's shop through December, I resorted to finishing these off. The last parts were painted on New Year's Eve and they are now ready to take to the field.

Imperial troopers scream into combat from orbit:

The High Tech Grav APC in the front rank is the command vehicle and carries a five trooper command squad. I figured that these guys were less likely to deploy rapidly from their transport. The front grav sled carries the support squad, while each rank of five grav sleds carries one attack group (platoon). The grav sleds are open so that the troopers can deploy rapidly using their jet packs.

The Assault Group with the command squad assembled for inspection

Just the vehicles

I did buy the figures for a full Imperial Combat Scout Platoon sometime in the nineties. I have since sold their Partizan Scout Cars. Instead of building a full Scout Platoon, I plan to paint only a few squads and sell the rest of the figures, because it just makes more sense to have a squad or two of Scouts supporting the Assault Group, instead of deploying whole platoons of Scouts as my battle force. If 2015 goes to plan, then completing the Scout squads will be my goal, as will painting the tanks I bought to support the Assault Group. Let's see how much I get distracted, eh.

27 Thaumont 1000 AC - Chasing the Rahib

Stairs led down from the trapdoor. The staircase was only narrow so Broneslav led the way. Ten feet down the staircase turned to the left. Broneslav paused and listened. He poked his head around the corner carefully. Nothing. Down another short flight of steps and he was standing in an octagonal room with faded and peeling paintings of peaceful forest and mountain scenes. Wooden doors led from the centre of the wall ahead of him and to either side. So, three options. He paused to think, moved to the left door, listened. Nothing. He did the same at each of the other doors but to no avail. Suddenly Alki gasped. Broneslav turned. A spectre had appeared in the middle of the room. It stood unthreatingly and began to speak.

"By the Rahib's hand
Was I here felled
And long awaited
You to come

Rahasia's pain
I have dearly felt
But you have come
To free her

Hasan is in the dungeon south
My gold is toward the north
An ally in the dragon guard
Waits before the gold

The Rahib is but a pawn
A darker evil lies below
The dragon guard knows the story
And guards the way below"

The ghost disappeared as silently and quickly as it had arrived, leaving Broneslav to mull over its words. It sounded like Rahasia's love was through the door opposite the stairs. It would be a good thing to rescue him now, but then he was probably safe enough, if still alive. They would not kill him now if they had not done so before. So, that left the gold to the north and the Dragon Guard ally. Gold and an ally would both be useful but there was no northern way out, so it would be a choice between going left or right. Perhaps that other trapdoor led to the northern chamber. That might be worth investigating.

Broneslav discussed the options with Alki and they agreed to try the other trapdoor. If that did not obviously lead to the dragon guard then they would return here and try one of the other doors. They scooted quickly up the stairs and were soon poised to open the other trapdoor. Broneslav grasped the hidden handle and pulled ...

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 8/9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 358

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village

Ally
Alki (HD 2, AC 4, Att 1, DAM 1d8, Skill Bonus +2)