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.

A Walk in the Park (Forgotten Ruin)

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

The approach to Far Sound

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

Orcs in the undergrowth

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

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

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

"Orcs, sah, fahsands of 'em!"

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

"Rapid fire, A-Team!"

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

"There are your targets!"

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

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

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

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

What a Complete Cult! (Forgotten Ruin)

 "I think we are getting there now."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Count me in!"

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

"I'm betting psycho cultists and wizards."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As Tiger Troop withdrew, an evil conjuror appeared.

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

Gone to the Dogs (Forgotten Ruin)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

The Bestial Sound of the Underground (Forgotten Ruin)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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

The Envoy across the Water (Forgotten Ruin)

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

An ancient church huddles in the landscape against the inclement weather

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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

The Edge of the World (Forgotten Ruin)

 Tiger Troop grumbled as they learned that their next patrol would be to Corner Plains. On the one hand, it was not a swampy, boggy hellhole. On the other hand, it was a flat, wind-blasted hellhole. The wind constantly blew in from the sea and carried away everything that was not nailed down. At this time of year it was also icy cold, so they would freeze their arses off before they had got far at all. The only benefit to the constant wind was that it would not be raining... the clouds rarely got a chance to linger over Corner Plains.

The ops area was out in the boonies, even more so than usual for this area, with the only sign that people had been there being the roads through to other, better places, the standing stones by the crossroads and some nearby ruins. Much of the fertile farmland had been reclaimed by nature and ancient trees now stood where once there were cornfields and greenhouses.

A wind-blasted hellhole with nothing between it and the Arctic

Of course, even though Corner Plains was less of a hellhole, that did not mean this would be a walk in the park. Nope. It was a babysitting exercise. An envoy from Goat Fjord needed to get to Fastbeck Island. Guess which bunch of losers got that job! And of those losers, Leaf Moondream was the biggest one, as far as she was concerned. She was doing research to aid the mission! What was that about? Still, she did manage to communicate some useful intel to the Sarge, so it was not all wasted, and the threat she had identified seemed real. Also, she had identified a package that the L.T. wanted them to retrieve.

The envoy's people had lent Tiger Troop horses to get them to the ops area more easily. When scouts reported that there were hostiles ahead, they dismounted and left the horses, advancing towards the crossroads ahead on foot.

"Watch out for those smaller ones. They are venomous! Of course, the big ones will just bite you in half, so watch out for them too!" the little goblin envoy declared.

Tiger Troop took heed and opened up with everything they had.

The hides of the beasts were thick, but quantity of firepower put the odds on Tiger Troop's side. On the right flank, judicious application of excessive firepower pacified the mob that was advancing on them. Those lizards that were not blown to bits soon lumbered in the opposite direction.

"That's right," yelled the little goblin, "you distract them and I shall run through to complete my mission. Lifting up his robes, the goblin ran for all he was worth and had soon sprinted far ahead of Tiger Troop.

On the left flank, Lance-Corporal Bonolo called in a mortar stonk that sent pieces of venomous lizard flying everywhere. The single lizard that nearly reached Bonolo's fire team was cut down by the team's assault rifles.

The single remaining mob of lizards charged out from behind the ruins and towards Bonolo's team. Three lizards reached the team. Two of them died to spear and sword thrusts, but the third snatched up New Guy, who had only joined Tiger Troop, while Leaf was working with the L.T. at HQ. The unfortunate soldier was already half eaten before the rest of Bonolo's team could cut it down.

Suddenly, a new mob of lizards emerged from behind the ruins. Corporal Adeyemi called the order, "Rapid Fire!" and the team blasted the lizards advancing on them. Private Osmaer unshipped the squad LAW and fired.

"Fuck me!" he muttered as the projectile ripped through the nearest lizard as if it wasn't there and then tore the one right behind it to shreds for good measure.

Firing again, Osmaer's LAW ripped two more lizards apart. The last one made it as far as Private Bjornsson and considered him to be a good meal. Unfortunately for the hungry beast's plans, Tarquin was ready for it. His dagger lashed out several times and the beast fell dead at his feet. B-Team breathed a momentary sigh of relief, only to see yet another mob of lizards emerge from the same ruins just as Pan was racing towards a nearby point of interest.

Pan cursed, "Is there no end to these critters?"

B-Team took care of three of them, but two charged her. She drew her hammer as they charged on her and brained the first to reach her. The second knocked her back and was about to pounce on her, when B-Team's combined fire cut it down. By now, Private Immaculada had managed to grab the package that the L.T. wanted and raced off towards the RVP.

The L.T.'s voice over the radio was unwelcome in the still after the firefight. There were no hostiles in sight, yet still they needed to occupy the ops area a while longer, instead of returning to base.

"Hold off all remaining hostiles until I confirm that the package has been recovered safely."

Tiger Troop retreated to form a firing line that could cover Immaculada and waited. It was some time before even more lizards streamed out of the ruins near the crossroads. The beasts must have had a lair under the ruins.

However, these lizards fared no better than those before them. Tiger Troop's blood was up now and they poured everything they had into the lizards, leaving nothing but bits of blasted apart carcass when they stopped shooting. Silence fell. Tiger Troop received authorisation to withdraw. They did so immediately.

That was easier than expected, although I did feel sorry for New Guy, whose name Tiger Troop never even got around to learning. This was also the first time that I have used the Troop's LAW. It was satisfyingly destructive and very helpful given the high Toughness of the lizards.

Thematically, having numerous lizards emerge from the same spot was nice too. I could just imagine a large lair of giant lizards in the basement of the ruins.

Big City Nights (Forgotten Ruin)

Before now, the platoon had stayed out of major urban environments, but now they would have to make their way into the great, local metropolis of Stave Harbour (population 3571).

Pan was sitting beside Goat Fjord and staring into the water. The cool, clear water of the fjord stared back at her. This was no metaphor for anything. A pair of golden eyes were looking up at her and she could not look away. A mission transmitted itself into her head. There were no voices involved, just an instantaneous knowledge that Tiger Troop needed to go to Stave Harbour. Ever since the thing that claimed to be a god had entered her mind, this sort of thing had started happening to her. She was not keen on it.

"Tiger Troop, we're heading into Stave Harbour. It is apparently the local big city, so we need to be a bit careful. Our primary mission is to eliminate a target, who has been stirring up the locals and getting the dumbasses and shitwits to join their cult. Our secondary mission is to scout the city. Now that we have pacified part of this area, we need to make more contacts and embed ourselves with the locals, but we need to know what we are getting into first."

At the edge of the city, Tiger Troop paused to check their kit and to deploy. The L.T. had approved the mission and given them extra ammo plus the support of the platoon mortar. Apparently, the L.T. also felt that this mission was important. Ahead among the city streets, strangely robed people could be seen slowly marching with feral purpose towards the troop. A group of archers was ready to support them.

"Corporal Adeyemi, your team will focus on scouting the objectives on our right flank. Lance-Corporal Bonolo, with me. We're going to get that complete cult. He must be with that large group somewhere."

The two teams moved out on their separate mission. As A Team advanced to the first scouting objective, B Team moved into cover and opened fire at the cultists. The cultists advanced unafraid (or braindead!) while the archers moved towards a firing position.

The din of the fusillades from B Team drowned out Pan's first attempt to radio in a mortar strike on the cultists, but B Team's fire was somewhat accurate and several fell.

Arrows flew towards Tiger Troop but A Team had adopted a defensive approach to advancing on the second scouting objective. As Adeyemi moved out to scout, the rest of the team opened fire on the archers, quickly whittling them down to a single man, who showed no fear and continued to shoot arrows at them right up until he was cut down. Pan's further attempts to call in a strike were more effective although the mortar stonk required correction. However, once on target, the cultists were felled and did not rise again. Pan checked and saw that the primary target had been killed.

"Target down. I repeat, target down. Fall back to the RP, Tiger Troop."

Tiger Troop did not need telling twice. B Team fell back quickly to the RP. A Team had been further forward, so it took them longer to fall all the way back. Pan remained on station ready to call in more fire if needed.

As B Team reached the RP, a small group of cultists emerged from a building behind them. Their droning cries wafting across to the soldiers on the light breeze. Firing a few shots to discourage them, Pan retreated to join her troop and led them back to camp. The small number of remaining cultists would not be a threat to the locals and now Stave Harbour (population 3543) owed the platoon a favour.

Conclusion

That mission went way too smoothly. I was a bit worried that the cultists would swamp Tiger Troop, but it turned out that our heroes could stand back and just shoot. Having both fire support and logistical support was probably a deciding factor here. Between the shooting and the mortar, the baddies did not even get close to hurting any of the soldiers. The archers were another question, but their shooting was woefully inaccurate in the end.

The troop scored the main objective and scouted one of the two secondary objectives. This was enough for a victory.

The Necromancer's Tower (Forgotten Ruin)

The eldritch glow of purple fires streaming up and down the tower at Outfield Mound was not the worst part of this patrol. Nor was it slogging up the hill towards the tower. No. The worst part was not knowing what kind of twisted, reality-warping shit they would find at the top. Tiger Troop were all grim-faced as the bears they were riding slogged up the hill in the dawn light and the early morning rain. The night before, Pan had briefed them. Friendly locals had asked for their help in eliminating a key inhabitant of the tower and retrieving items of value that had been stolen. The L.T. had added a requirement to investigate the area too and had got Deadeye Vigrestad on standby to support them. Deadeye was the platoon's best sniper. However, while A Team and Pan were going to make the assault, B Team would be patrolling the other side of the hill to distract the occupants. Clearly, there were some serious bad guys here and the platoon probably did not have the resources to take them all out in one go, hence the diversion. Still, they had bears to ride to the ops zone. It made a nice change not walking in through the mud and had caused some hilarity when Mary fell off her bear several times. Private Smith was clearly not someone well suited to riding.

Pan and A Team dismounted near the base of the hill, and moved into the forest. Despite the near constant rain, the forest floor was not too muddy.

They pushed forward hard until they could see the outer buildings around the tower. A large wooden hall dominated a rise, and a fountain sprayed lilac energy, not water. The rest of the ops area was covered in brush and trees, undulating ground and large boulders. Ahead they could make out the hostiles.

"Sarge," Wigbert queried, "Are we in a Sinbad movie?"

"What are you talking about Wigbert?"

"Well, those hostiles ahead look like skeletons!"

Pan cursed the vagaries of whatever quantum state had landed them here. Yes, dammit, they were skeletons, but her team would have to destroy them and finish their patrol.

A Team at bottom right of the picture. Hostiles at middle and top.

"Fear not, brave paladin," a voice in Pan's head declared, "You have the power to defeat this foul sorcery."

Pan wondered when her internal monologue had become male.

Pushing forward, A Team began the process of fire and manoeuvre that they had practised and used for so long. As they launched grenades and bullets at the hostiles, several of them disintegrated in clouds of dry bone and a zap of lilac energy. However, many more seemed to just soak up the bullets.

"Sarge, how are we supposed to kill these hostiles if a double tap to the heart just passes through them?"

"Just shoot them more and hit the bits that are there," snarled Pan.

A Team did as instructed and the closest mob of undead was soon reduced to just a few individuals. However, two more mobs were shambling forward to the fray.

Suddenly, Pan had an intuition. She called on the voice in her head. Even as she stood up and pointed, a blast of ice erupted from the ground near one of the groups of skeletons. Brittle, dry bones shattered in the eruption of energy. Pan heard curses of wonder over comms as the others realised what she had done. Despite the astounding happenings, they still continued to reduce the skeletons to powder.

With only a few of the undead remaining, A Team prepared to move out onto the objective. Suddenly, there were crackles of lilac energy all across the battlefield and the remaining skeletons collapsed to the ground. A Team breathed a sigh of relief, only to be horrified as even more of the skeletons appeared ahead of them.

"Move out!" ordered Pan, "We can take the objectives and get back out, if we are quick. Those things are not exactly fast."

She checked the two groups.

"Wigbert, Tarquin, the main target is with the group advancing towards you. Take it out!"

Wigbert took up position by the large hall as Tarquin dropped a grenade onto the advancing horde. It still kept coming, but there were half as many of them remaining.

Pan blasted the other advancing horde with more ice and it too disintegrated. As Wigbert and Tarquin tried to take out the skeletons coming towards them, the others were able to disintegrate the remains of the other horde, and Justice was able to scout the area as ordered and to advance to the hall, where she recovered the pig that they had been sent for. Mack the Hoe had said it was a golden pig, but it just looked grubby brown and hairy to Justice. Still, it did not seem to mind being stuffed into her pack for the ride home and grunted happily in her ear.

As the last of the skeletons charged towards Wigbert, he fumbled his reload. Tarquin was also slow. The skeletons reached him and Wigbert was knocked out of the fight in the furious melee. Seeing what had happened, Mary pointed her TSW at the group of three undead and scythed them down in a furious rain of copper-jacketed lead that emptied her magazine.

"Target down." Mary's unsmiling voice reported the result over comms.

"Very good. All objectives complete. Grab Wigbert and pull back."

Even as Pan gave the order, the L.T came onto comms.

"We have a new target registered. See if you can take it out, but not assess the risk first."

Pan acknowledged the order and told her team to pull back. Whatever the L.T. said, she could see no targets anywhere near her and she was going to get her team out of here. They pulled back in good order and were soon riding their bears home again.

Wigbert had a headache, having taken a bad dunt to the head, but his environment suit had saved him from a worse injury. Having ascertained Wigbert's survival, Pan was free to go for debrief and to report the success of the mission. Mack was so pleased with getting his pig back that he gave Pan a magical hammer.

Conclusion

This was my first special mission and I was not sure how it would work out, because you generate three objectives and have to complete two to win. As usual, the dice set up the story nicely, so there was that. They also decided to play silly beggars. I cannot recall rolling so many 1s in a row before... ever! Good job quantity has a quality all of its own. The sheer number of dice I rolled really helped there.

As usual, I did myself no favours by forgetting that I had support until half way through the game. Never mind. Maybe I shall remember next time. Overall, this mission was a stonking success, even though I was not able to achieve the extra objective due to a lack of enemies on the table. They arrived just as the game ended.

This was the first game where I have used magic. It worked nicely, but costs you the initiative, so Pan will need the rest of her troop to ward her if she is going to use it a lot in the future.