21-28 Ambyrmont - Recovery

 Broneslav awoke the next morning feeling tired. He had slept badly because of his wounds. It would take a little while, even with the shaman's help, to fully recover, so he decided to stay at Mantru until then. It felt good to be able to leave off his armour and just potter around. Without headhunters to attack it, the village was peaceful, and the villagers were grateful to him for his help. He spent a week swimming, fishing and generally doing light work around Mantru until his wounds had fully healed. Rest and the shaman's spells had done their job.

In addition to healing, Broneslav had been listening to the tales told by the people of Mantru. The did not travel far from their crater home, but they were aware of events across the island through infrequent contact with the other dwellers there. Most of these tales were of dangers from giant lizards to the north-west and a dragon to the north-east.

Here's a green dragon I prepared earlier!

"The dragon flies over occasionally, but it has not attacked our village," Fano, the talking chief, informed Broneslav one day, "We are surely tiny morsels, not even snacks for this beast, compared to the huge lizards that live to the north-west of here."

This talk of a dragon piqued Broneslav's interest. He was keen to slay a red dragon and this might be his chance, if he were lucky. He also wondered about the lizards to the north-east. Were they also dragons? Or were they something else entirely? He had never heard of giant lizards that were not dragons. Well, if he survived the dragon, he would find out.

Forgotten Ruin: After-campaign thoughts

 Well, that's the campaign over. How was it really?

The rules work well and are simple enough to implement. I like the whole 5 Distance from Place series of rules, because they are easy to administer when playing solo and do not cause me a headache. There are differences between each book that give a slightly different feel to the games. Forgotten Ruin worked on that basis. If you want a game where modern soldiers go up against hordes of fantasy critters, it will give you that game.

One element of Forgotten Ruin that was particularly cool was the transformation of soldiers. Because of the magical environment, they "mutated", so I wound up with a paladin, a werecat and a beastman in my troop. I avoided problems of finding appropriate figures by using ones that wore full body armour, thus obviating the need to do head swaps or conversions, and by avoiding transformations that would not be concealed by that armour. If I had rolled up the centaur transformation, I would have needed to seriously look around for new figures and do some conversion work. I would also have had the character make lots of jokes about being hung like a horse, so the storytelling could have been entertaining, although not necessarily to everyone's tastes.

Where it did not work as well for me was in the missions. They all felt a bit samey. Essentially, my team went in, did a lot of shooting and grabbed the objectives, whatever they were. It was not always plain sailing, but mostly it was a simple matter of applying as much firepower as possible to the problem until it went away. This led to me struggling to choose to go after any artefacts in the run-up to the final battle. I was really not sure if I could be bothered or if I should just get on with the final battle and not worry about the potential three other games.

In the campaign, you fight your way through twelve areas and pacify them. Then there is the choice to go after up to three artefacts to help you in the final battle, after which you fight out that final battle against hordes of enemies with last person standing being the winner. That means thirteen to sixteen potential missions. You can take a break to let your troops recover, resulting in one fewer mission to fight, but I decided early on that I would only do that if my troop leader took a bad hit. Given that the three artefact missions were just a race across to the artefact and then back to your starting lines, the missions did not seem that interesting so I went straight for the grand finale.

I had also not planned ahead properly, and reached the final battle suddenly realising that I did not have enough friendly force figures. Fortunately, I was able to sub in some Red Redemptionist Rebels as the supporting troop. This would not have been a problem if I lived in the same country as most of my figures, but that is a whole other gripe. Still, it did force me to get on and paint the Rebels, so it was not a wholly bad thing. I have had some of those figures since the 80s, and they were still unpainted!

One other issue I had with the campaign was the abilities and weapons of my soldiers. I kept forgetting to use the abilities. I should have made cards for the abilities and for the weapons to remind me.

Overall, the game was an amusing diversion. I am not sure I would want to play it as an extended campaign. At times it felt like it did not have enough depth, and I did not really engage with the characters in the same way that I normally do. For that reason, I am uncertain whether I shall pick up Tiger Troop and send them on more adventures, but perhaps the urge will strike again. As I type this, I am thinking about the possibility of converting figures for the game, which would be a good reason to dive in once more.

It might also be fun to set up individual scenarios to play with a friend rather than to run through the full campaign once more. The game would probably feel quite different for the special forces player if the enemy were controlled by another person instead of the system, and it would likely have a very colonial wars feel to it too.

The Final Countdown (Forgotten Ruin)

 The L.T. was briefing the whole platoon.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elven blade dancers close with Tiger Troop

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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

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

Final Thoughts

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

Somewhere in Jæren, Norway 1940 (Solitaire Advanced Squad Leader)

 I've been out and about a lot lately since I got the summer tyres back on my bike and the weather has become better. Looking around for destinations to visit, I picked out a few coastal fortifications in the area as being accessible navigation points. These were built after the Germans had invaded in April 1940, although many were then taken over by the Norwegian military after the Second World War. Of course, it also helps that there is a lot of Migration Period and Viking Age archaeology visible here and that I can combine my visits to the bunkers with visits to runestones and grave mounds.

Exploring the bunkers and the fact that it is Liberation Day as I start to write this blog post inspired me to dig out Advanced Squad Leader to play again. I knew it would involve a lot of reading of rules, but I have all weekend, and shall hopefully finish the game and post this blog before the end of the weekend. If I do not, well, never mind. I tried!

The Bunkers

Bø coastal fort is easy to access down a path and across a field. You can go inside and the area is also a nature reserve. There's a lot more to it than the pictures below.

The main part of the bunker complex

Fairly sure this says "Last one out switch the lights off."
(It actually says "In case of danger of gas, shut the doors and loopholes")

The view from the inside

Løndshaug is 22.5m in diameter and 4m high

There were several more gravemounds like the one above at Børaunen, but the Germans built a bunker complex on them! This is actually something we see a lot of here, where they used the gravemounds as the basis for artillery and anti-aircraft positions but just digging into the top of them.

Vigdel fort is another complex that is easily visited, although beware of the wind. Even on a nice day, it will be blowing a howling gale. Here are a few pics of parts of it. Most of the underground tunnels are locked up and not accessible unfortunately.

And if you tire of the coastal fort, N 244 Helland II is just a couple of kilometres down the road. The runes apparently read 'Skarði erected this stone in memory of Bjalfi(?), his son, a very good man' (× skarþi : risti : stin : þana : iftir :: biafa : sun : sin : harþa : kuþan : man :). I could only read a few of the runes, so I must trust the runologists here. What is interesting is that the stone fell over at one point and was re-erected the wrong way up. It now stands the right way up and has been supported so that it will not fall over easily again.

N 244 Helland II

The Scenario

Near a village in Jæren, Norway, Norwegian soldiers are on patrol.

It has to be Jæren because I rolled for the conditions and got no snow and lots of wind. It is always windy in Jæren. When it is not windy there, it is very windy indeed instead.

Looking at SASL, I decided it would be fun to play a patrol scenario. Both sides enter on roads and march towards each other until the front elements make contact. Then the scenario proper begins. The Norwegian troops marched through the village. Forward elements spotted Germans advancing towards them, just as the Norwegians were about to exit the village.

The situation after the initial march on

Both sides scattered off the road as fast as they could. In the initial exchange of fire, two German units broke and ran for cover. The Norwegian half-squad panicked in the middle of the road instead of leaping into cover like the rest of their company.

The situation at the end of Turn 1

As the two forces closed on each other, the Norwegians gave good, disciplined fire and the Germans, taken by surprise, broke and sought cover.

It looked like things were going to go the Norwegians' way, but a new company of German infantry arrived from the south. However, this was countered by a mixed company of infantry and armour arriving from the north. Who knew that the French had armour this far south in Norway?

With the French armour arriving, the German commander called in the artillery. Two stonks were sighted in on the Norwegians, but one was immediately cancelled when the commander realised that it was going to his prisoners the Norwegians had taken. Over on the left flank, a lone German squad tried to sneak through, but Colonel Eliassen led his own squad into the fray and a desperate melee ensued. However, fully half the first Norwegian company was paralysed by panic, a situation that would continue as they became flustered by the increasing German assaults.

The second artillery stonk was sighted in and eventually landed in the right spot, leaving Norwegian troops fleeing as fast as they could for cover.

As the Germans sought to extricate themselves from the fighting in the forest, their reinforcements were advancing on the hill, unaware that the lone squad they had seen off was now being reinforced by a full company. In the confusion of battle, the Norwegians were able to take several officers prisoner, and the French armour began a drive into the German rear. Although Norwegian casualties were mounting, there was still a chance that they could hold the village and beat back the German forces.

With artillery raining down around them, about half the Norwegians took cover and refused to stick their heads out. Meanwhile, the rest were advancing on and attacking the German reinforcements on their left flank, driving them back. In the forest, the German leader bravely worked to rally his troops, while a lone half-squad faced off against the French tanks and immobilised one of them with an anti-tank rifle. The tank crew heroically manned the gun and co-ax machine gun in the face of a close assault by a German squad. The squad threw grenades and did their best to close properly, but the French hled them off.

Norewgian infantry rushed to aid the tank crew and a fierce melee developed in which neither side could quite get the upper hand. On the left flank, the Norwegian counterattack was bearing fruit as increasing numbers of Germans surrendered to them. At this point, the German guns fell silent. There was too high a chance of dropping 150mm artillery on their own troops.

Surrounding the last of the Germans on the left flank, the Norwegians marched as fast as they could herd their prisoners towards the fighting in the forest. In the meantime, the melee around the tank had ended with the arrival of fresh Norwegian troops, who aided their beleaguered allies and cut down the attacking Germans.

The fighting died down and the Norwegian infantry rounded up the last of the German soldiers. Their village had been blasted by artillery, but they had given the invaders a bloody nose. They would be able to drink their beer and eat their komle with their heads held high tonight.

After thoughts

So, it took me three days to work through 11 turns. I did not play constantly, but it did progress slowly for the first half of the game, because I had to keep looking up the rules. I do not play Advanced Squad Leader often enough, and it shows in how much I need to check up as I play. Still, it was a good game and the good guys won.

I sometimes think too hard about the real people that lay behind our cardboard counters. It's hard not to when I pass the graves from Operation Freshman most days on my way to work, or when I see the grave of Solveig Bergslien near them, or any of the other war graves in the cemetery by my house. It makes me wonder about the ethics of playing wargames when the events may be fictional but there is a reality and real people's lives behind that fictional element. The fact that this country was occupied territory for five years and that there are memorials and reminders everywhere makes it all too real. I am not sure how to square that with playing games based around those events. Of course, it should be said that I overthink everything.

All that said, I still feel I should play more often. I enjoy the game, and there is definitely a cinematic element to it that belies the reality of the Second World War. If only the threshold for digging the game out were lower! The set-up is reasonably easy once all the counters are organised properly and you have a system for accessing them, but they still take up a fair bit of table space, and for SASL in particular, you have a whole bunch of charts. Then there is the rulebook that is a large folder. It really needs a lectern beside your seat for ease of access! Having to shuffle things around constantly slows game play down and makes it all harder. Clearly I need a dedicated ASL room with masses of ASL paraphernalia to ease set-up and game play. I wonder what my wife would say if I bought a 65" TV (or bigger) to use as a screen for digital versions of the charts...

20 Ambyrmont - Return to the Temple

 Fully healed, Broneslav set out early for the temple, and quickly made his way through to the lower level. The headhunters had not returned. Aware of the difficulties, he was able to avoid getting swept away, and his opening the door had led to most of the water draining out of the sub-level, leaving a slimy and slippery, but much drier path. As he stood at the top of the stairs down, he girded his loins, drew his sword and stepped carefully down the steps. As he did so, the air grew noticeably warmer. At the bottom of the stairs, the heat was stifling. he stood on a terrace overlooking a massive dark cavern that smelt of sulphur and mud. The terrace itself was covered in white calcium deposits. He could feel the heat of the cavern through the soles of his boots. Apart from the light from the spell on his shield, the only illumination in this cavern was the occasional flash of ruddy light that accompanied the muddy slurping of a geyser blowing.

Temple level 3 (from X1 The Isle of Dread. (c) TSR, Inc.)

Broneslav advanced carefully down into the cavern proper, feeling like he might slip at any moment. Mud bubbled near him as he edged around the cavern and began to look for points of interest. It seemed weird to him that the temple was built on this cavern. There must have been a reason for it, but he had no clue what that reason was. Well, time to explore and see if he could find out. The young hero stalked carefully over the slippery, uneven cavern floor and around the muddy pools, seeking to see its extents. Progress was slow and involved climbing up and down rises in the natural floor level. By the time he had reached the middle of the cavern, he was hot, sweaty and covered in mud from the cavern floor and from bubbling mud that burst and splattered near him.

Suddenly, a weird creature emerged from the mud near him, Choking on noxious gases that had bubbled up from the hot mud, he was caught flat-footed. Its smooth head, large eyes and tentacled, sphinctered mouth gave him the creeps, as did the fact it seemed to walk on three fluke-like tails. The creature spoke into his mind.

"We are the Kopru, rulers of this island and the last of a great civilisation that must be restored. You are now our servant and will help us. We see from your mind what the world is like out there. It will be ours and you will use your power and influence to achieve our goal."

A strange lethargy and drowsiness clouded Broneslav's mind as he felt himself slipping under the creature's influence until a mud pot near him burst, scalding him. The pain focused his mind once more and he leapt into action.

"No, foul fiend! I shall have none of your tricks! Your civilisation is gone and shall not arise again if it must rely on controlling others!"

His sword cut a terrible gash through its rubbery flesh and the kopru howled in pain, striking out with one of its tails as it did so. Broneslav grunted in turn as he felt a rib break where the tail had smashed his side. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he smashed his sword down on the creature's head, cleaving through so that the tentacles of its mouth fell to the floor.

Another of the creatures had approached from behind in the meantime. It grabbed at him, crushing his already broken rib and threatening to break more as it sought to envelop his head with its tentacular orifice. The hard teeth on its tentacles gouged his neck, just below the helmet as he flailed and tried to skewer it but failed.

Broneslav struggled in the creature's grip, feeling another rib break under its crushing grip. He could barely breath as he cut at it and scored a minor wound. As he did that, it bit and crushed him further until he was seeing stars and the edge of his vision was growing dark.  In return, he steeled himself and struck harder, this time scoring a solid hit that spattered him with the monster's ichorous blood. It became a battle of which of them could hold out longest, each dealing damage to the other, but in the end it was Broneslav who stood over the kopru's corpse. He was battered and bruised, but still alive and not under the creature's control.

The young hero prowled the caverns to see if there were more of these creatures, but found no more. At the far north end of the cavern, he did find a limestome-encrusted skeleton on a calcified throne. The stalactites above it had dripped for an age upon the throne until it and its occupant were covered in stone. Broneslav presumed this to have been a servant of the kopru. As he examined it, he spotted a ring and a sword that seemed to have withstood the ravages of time. He helped himself to them before returning to the surface and back to the village of Mantru, where he told his tale to the amazed villagers.

"I cannot guarantee that there are no more of these creatures, but it seems they cannot leave the temple, so it is best that no one visits there. You should remember why, if you have visitors, so that you can warn them of the dangers and consequences of visiting Taboo Island," he advised them.

The villagers welcomed and feted him for what he had done. Tired and bruised but content with his work, Broneslav was able to rest peacefully that night.

That could have been interesting. Broneslav failed the saving throw versus the kopru's charm ability, so I used the Defy Death mechanic to have him pass it. He took a little damage from that but was able to then defeat the kopru, although they did significant damage to him in the process.

I was tempted to let him stay under their control instead, because it could have been interesting to try to work out how he could use his nascent merchant empire to advance their cause. However, I am not sure that is the direction I wanted this campaign to go at this point.

Now I need to decide what to do next. X1 Isle of Dread is designed as a hex crawl for a party to explore and map the island. Is that something that Broneslav would do, or is he more focused on his own plans and endeavours? Should he return to meet his ship and head off somewhere else next, or can I find a suitable hook to lead him elsewhere on the island?

A Walk in the Park (Forgotten Ruin)

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

The approach to Far Sound

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

Orcs in the undergrowth

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

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

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

"Orcs, sah, fahsands of 'em!"

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

"Rapid fire, A-Team!"

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

"There are your targets!"

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

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

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

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

14-19 Ambyrmont - Interlude

 The young hero lay unconscious for several days. He groaned in his sleep and twitched a bit, but those were the only signs of life. When he did come round, he was weak and drained.

Where are the dinosaurs?

Broneslav sat up on the sleeping mat and immediately wished he had not. He felt dizzy and like a grey fog lay between him and reality. The chattering of excited children reached him, but as if from a distance.

"See! He is alive. I told you he was not dead."

"Well, he sure smells dead."

"Let us fetch Umlat."

The patter of small feet racing off. Peace for a while, and then a heavier tread alongside the two lighter sets of feet.

"So, you are awake once more, Broneslav. It was clear that you had been fighting from the wounds on your body."

Broneslav struggled to focus on the words.

"I have healed your wounds, and cured the infection that ravaged your system. You were lucky that our fishermen spotted your canoe and ferried you here or you would almost certainly be dead now."

"Uh, thank you."

"Now rest and we can talk later."

Broneslav lay back down and slept for an age watched over by the children of the tribe, who were not used to this much excitement, and by the ancient priest Umlat, whose skill had ensured Broneslav's survival. Food and rest helped his strength return over the next few days and soon he was up and moving around again. He told the tale of his adventures in the temple to Fano and Umlat once he felt strong enough. Their eyes grew round at the various trials and tribulations he had encountered, but they were grateful for his help.

"Although I drove off those headhunters, I must return to the temple to see if any have themselves returned," he announced, "I shall do so tomorrow."

Fano declared, "We are grateful for your help and sorry that you were so hurt in helping us. If there is anything you need, just ask. It is yours."

Broneslav thanked them and prepared himself for his journey back to the temple before ensuring he got a good night's sleep. He wondered what lay down those stairs he had last seen.

Some thoughts

Broneslav encountered a diseased rat and failed his save versus poison when bitten by it. Fortunately, he did not suffer instadeath, managing to roll high enough not to do so, but the disease did massively debilitate him. Being also wounded and down to just 8 hit points, it was only reasonable that he would return to the village to recover. One thing not in the rules was how quickly the rat's disease would affect him. I made it quite quick for narrative purposes. Scarlet Heroes has better guidelines than the D&D Cyclopedia on how disease progresses: I like the repeated saving throws that see the character either improve or deteriorate gradually. The D&D thing of "you just die" if you roll too low seems a bit harsh. Having diseases be progressive feels like it gives the character more agency in their own death.

Another thing that occurred in the temple was that I actually remembered the magic items and rings that he carries, and used them. I keep forgetting that he has these things. I shall try to do better!

One more level to go and that is the temple fully explored. What will Broneslav find there? And what should he do after that? It is in the nature of D&D parties to explore every hex of the adventure area and every room of the dungeon, and there is much that he could find, but is that what he would actually do as a real person? How should he arrive at the other encounter areas, or do I write those off and send him off on other adventures after this (assuming he survives)?

What a Complete Cult! (Forgotten Ruin)

 "I think we are getting there now."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Count me in!"

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

"I'm betting psycho cultists and wizards."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As Tiger Troop withdrew, an evil conjuror appeared.

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

13 Ambyrmont - Swept off his feet

 Broneslav pulled the door open. It resisted strongly, but he was stronger. Suddenly the door gave. Broneslav was swept off his feet by the weight of the water flooding into the room beyond. He crashed into the opposite wall and groaned as he felt a dozen new bruises emerge. Picking himself up, he looked around. This was not a huge room by the standards of the temple, but it was very much a dead end. There were no exits other than the one he had been swept in by. A small stone altar and several stone benches occupied the room. Broneslav knew they were stone because he had made their acquaintance in passing as he entered the room. Hanging from a stone hook near the altar was a mace that Broneslav recognised to be of good quality. He grabbed it and put it in his backpack.

"No option then," he said to himself resignedly, "Crab it is."

After surveying this room once more, he turned around and trudged through the water back towards the door where he had encountered the crab. As he did so, he saw the giant crab coming towards him. The door beyond it was in splinters and the crab was scuttling sideways as fast as it could in his direction. It had a friend with it.

Broneslav's first blow skittered off the crab's shell and left him open to the crab's attacks. Fortunately, he was able to block its wildly flailing pincers with his shield. Recovering his balance, he plunged his sword into the crab's face and it collapsed to the floor. It's friend clambered over it to get at Broneslav. Angered and bleeding, Broneslav split the crab's shell with his sword and it joined its deceased partner.

"Shit, that hurts," he grumbled as he bandaged his wounds. Then he headed into the next room. There were stairs leading down into the water and he could just make out stairs leading up on the other side to a blocked passageway. There was also a set of stairs leading up to another passageway out of the room.

The water looked deep. Good job he had a potion of levitation. Chugging the vile concoction down, the brave lad floated up to the ceiling and used his purchase on that to move to the only other way out. As he did so, he noticed a massive oyster some six feet in diameter just below the surface of the water.

"Good luck to you, fella."

The oyster was no danger as far as he could tell, so he floated over it and into the passage beyond.

As the potion wore off and Broneslav splashed to the ground, he heard chittering noises. Giant rats burst from small tunnels in the side of the passage and assailed him with all their furry fury. Taken aback by their ferociousness, Broneslav fumbled his attacks and took a series of nasty nips through the gap sbetween his armour plates as he slowly got his rhythm going again. Once he had got their measure, the rats soon died.

The passageway he was in ended in yet another door. Bracing himself, Broneslav opened it. There was no sudden rush of water this time and he was able to wade into yet another room with a goodly quantity of water on the floor. A door on the opposite side of the room beckoned. As he crossed the room, he felt a tug at his ankle. Suddenly the room filled with burning oil and he was covered. Broneslav leapt backwards, but the fire did not burn. He had forgotten the magical ring he was wearing would protect him from flames.

Backing away from the smoke, so that he could breathe, he waited for the oil to burn out, before going to the other door and opening it, again bracing himself. This time, water rushed out of the room and into the passage beyond. Despite being braced, Broneslav was swept along and fetched up against a portcullis that stopped him from being carried even further away. Just as well, because even as he spluttered and coughed and fought to keep his head above the rushing water, he noticed stairs at the end of the passage going downwards. Who knew how far they would take him?

Broneslav took a fierce pounding as he tried to climb the portcullis, be he survived and once the water had leveled out, he was able to stand easily. He felt terrible but was back on his feet. Looking around, he found a lever that opened the portcullis and a door to his left that led into a passage back to the original room he had landed in. The lever also opened the original portcullis that had forced him to go the other way initially.

By now, the young warrior was feeling distinctly woozy. He decided that he should head back to the village and explore further later, after he had properly cleaned his wounds and had a bit of rest to recover. He made his way back up through the hole in the floor and out onto the temple landing place, where he got into his canoe and started to make his way back across the lake.

About halfway, suddenly everything went black.

Gone to the Dogs (Forgotten Ruin)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

Cartaventura Vinland: The misadventures of Leif Erikson in Iceland

Cartaventura Vinland is a choose-your-own-path adventure with cards instead of a paragraph book. It comes in a little box about 10cm x 10cm x 3cm and is highly portable. All you need to play it is a space to lay out the cards. There are 70 cards which are stacked in order. You start with Card 1 and follow the instructions, picking cards and laying them out, or discarding them, as instructed.

At the start of the game, you are Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red. You are heading to Iceland, to the Althing to argue that your father was unjustly banished to Greenland. You worship the old gods and have the favour of one of them at the start. You will need this to survive, and even then you could die with your mission unaccomplished.

As you begin the game, you lay out the cards and pick the options you wish to pursue. You are then instructed to turn over other cards, discard some options, add new options, and so on. As you do so, you build a little tableau on the table. The artwork appeals to me, and the only thing I found that jarred was the transliteration of Icelandic terms. I am too used to the Old Norse, so that is on me.

The Saga of Leif, son of Eirik, known as Mummy's Boy

Leif went to Iceland to prove that his father was innocent of the brutal crimes he had committed. He approached the law-speaker and learned how the parliament worked. Seeing two crows, he took that as an omen and followed them north, where he encountered a wine merchant in a broken wagon. He helped the merchant and was rewarded with a bottle of wine, but the gods guided him and revealed that it was poisoned. Assassins were on his trail!

Worried that they might seek him out in the heart of the assembly, Leif camped away from the mass of people in hiding. Next day, he tried to find merchants willing to trade with him. Alas, most shunned him because of his father. A Christian merchant helped him, and introduced him to the ambassador from Olav Tryggvason, whose goal was to convert Iceland to Christianity. Leif agreed to help the ambassador. In return, the ambassador gave him a medallion depicting St Christopher.

The next day there was a vote on adopting Christianity. Leif voted in favour and soon found himself racing to his ship to escape the angry mob. He returned to Greenland, where he learnt that his mother had converted to Christianity and was building a church in Brattahlid. His father had gone to the northern settlement in a sulk. Leif's sister wanted him to support her in attempting to return her mother to the path of the old gods. Knowing that she was a psycho, Leif refused and sided with his mother. He was baptised and went on to rule the settlement in peace for the rest of his days. The End.

Conclusions

There are several endings to achieve here, and the game gives instructions for resetting it after each game. These include options where some cards get turned over to provide different options and outcomes next time you run through, a sort-of legacy mechanic, although it can be fully reset if you wish. So, next time around, I can try a different path and see how it all goes.

Being easily portable, it can be taken along when travelling, which is better than most of the games I have. I am not sure how much variety you can get out of it ones you have achieved all the endings, but I'll find out with time. My first run through only used about a quarter of the deck, meaning that there are still a lot of cards I have not seen, so I still have a fair bit of new stuff to encounter. It's a fun way to spend 45 minutes or so while waiting for the washing machine to finish. I had better hang the washing up now though.

13 Ambyrmont - After the flood

 After a five minutes of searching, Broneslav worked out how to open the secret door. Triggering the mechanism, he pulled the door open and was suddenly hit by a flood of water that blasted him across the room and would have taken him on down the corridor, if the portcullis were not there. He spluttered and spat filthy water as he cursed the new bruises he had acquired [3 DAM] and pulled himself to his feet again.

With the door open, he was able to wade through the flood and enter a corridor beyond the secret door. He was at a crossroads. A short corridor ahead of him led to a door. He could see the iron bars of cells lining either side of that corridor. To his left was another short corridor leading to a door. To his right, the corridor extended beyond the light given off by his shield.

He decided to check the cells out first and was quickly disappointed. There was nothing in them. He opened the door ahead of him with difficulty because of the water, but found nothing in the room beyond either, although the floor of the corridor and the room was littered with small objects that caused him to have to walk slowly or stumble. He was glad that he had thick armoured boots to protect his feet here.

One thing that struck him in this new room was the ceiling. Remembering how fragile the trapdoor had been, he realised that this rooms roof was similarly fragile. The wooden beams looked rotten and ready to give way. If he wished, he might be able to bring the ceiling down and get back up to the upper level from here too. He noted that and moved back to the crossroads, where he waded through the water to the other door.

He pulled the door open and was immediately confronted by a crab that was eight feet wide and stood as tall as him. The crab seemed as surprised to see him as he was to see it.

"SHIT!"

He slammed the door again, figuring the crab might smash the door but was too large to fit through it.

"Right, the other way it is," he muttered and sloshed away as the door shook under the crab's assault. He could always come back this way if need be, and would be better prepared now.

As he waded through the water, he came to a corner turning to his right. Ahead was a raised platform with steps up. The dry platform would be a blessing. Hopefully, everything beyond would be dry too. He could feel his feet wrinkling in real time now! The steps up to the platform were slippery and slimy. A fungus grew on top of it that made the top part slimy and a bit slippery too. However, what grabbed his attention were the three trails in the water and the large jaws that opened as they approached him.

He braced himself as three crocodiles tried to make a meal out of him. His sword sliced through the upper jaw of the first one and it rolled over, spraying blood into the water, as he sliced the second open, but only wounding it. The wounded crocodile took a chunk out of his hand [1 DAM], but he blocked the third and then dealt a mortal wound to the already wounded crocodile. That left a single crocodile and a lot of blood in the water.

The young fighter's mighty thews bulged and he drove his sword straight through the head of the last crocodile. It died instantly, thrashing in the water in its death throes.

As he cleaned his sword, he examined the crocodiles with a practised eye. They were small for their species and looked emaciated. There was obviously not a lot for them to eat here. Broneslav was glad of this. Sure, it made them eye him up as a meal, but it also made them weaker. With a merchant's eye, he also noted that their hides would not be worth much. They were in poor condition from the beasts' poor diet.

"Well, it's either deal with the crab or check up ahead."

He waded down into the bloody water and headed towards the end of the corridor, where a door led into the unknown. He prepared to open it, hoping he was ready for anything.

The Bestial Sound of the Underground (Forgotten Ruin)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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