Summers distraction’s
certainly got the better of me, but an early harsh fall has us spending
weekends inside and me getting back to some fantasy gaming. We actually played
this awhile back but the time it take to put these write ups together plus all
the other things I want to mention should be an easy 2 or part post, Ill get the game in here and most of post game , advancement details in Part 2.
Let start with basics: we revisited the Otherworld Skirmish rules for this and had a grand old time, while our homebrew RPG rules were cool
they’re a bit busy and for this bigger skirmish I wanted something totally fleshed out.
Having played an posted a bunch of Otherworld Skirmish (OWS)
games
before I was prepared ,
but the game
does has some shortcomings which I needed to resolve for the ongoing narrative
of the endless campaign based on our little village.
While I have always liked this game , the
draw backs for me were always- There are no Campaign rules , There is
a serious lack of classic spells,
and the game is based on the
limitations of one off encounters
faction vs faction. Finally I don’t really love the D6 as the sole game
die and more fond of other wider result dice..but it is what it is.
Applying the needed fixes for Blackbarrow required the
following, we record Victory points (VP) to not only decide who wins but as
experience for faction members , each faction member gets 1 VP for surviving a match -standard VP
rules per the book are applied to scenario so multiple VP can be awarded to
various team member based on events , I’ll go over this more in the post game
but basically I’m taking a Mordheim-esqe
approach to the post game.
We'll be converting VP to gold and that be used to buy
additional skills which are already specified in each units profile.
There is Out of Action (OoA) injury chart for Character knocked OoA but not
killed outright and a few other advancement options concerning building up team
funds and buying items etc.
The biggest difficultly for converting this for me is all
the profiles need to sort out all the character and townsfolk we have going, I
only created what was needed for the game and there are bunch more to do. Finally we created a few spells as needed and where they fit
the characters,
THE STORY
We left episode 3 in a Cliffhanger where the
adventures found themselves surrounded by men pouring out the Dungeon while be
confronted the mysterious ethereal evil spirit.
We had one character Killed and two that ran off (one being a secret
cult member who’s task it was to lure people out to the ruins) after battling
various undead being to called to a green flaming beacon placed by persons
unknown , the remaining four characters
finding themselves prisoners of growing Cult running its operations out
of the Dungeon.
The Adventures of the Hall of Tyr respond to the call of a
rescue party, although they are less concerned with rescuing the men for the
Wayside Drinkers Club, and more concerned with busting up the Cult’s activity
which they have been monitoring since
Episode 1.
RULES-
We are using the OWS rules here only modified in the post
-game phase to create a campaign of ongoing battles and provide unit advancement. As you will see below
several of characters have advanced since Episode 1, which is track by their
gold piece cost on the roster.
FACTIONS –
The Cult of Orcus
Last time we saw the Cult’s Leader was in Episode 1 where he
never got into the action, since then
he’s grown much in power, teamed up with a Demon and gotten a bunch of
Followers and Henchmen to join him.
The Current factions roster is:
Beleg / Wretched Priest /Cult Leader – sold his soul to
Orcus many moons ago for power and his hope to rain terror and death down upon
Blackbarrows Castellan and any who get in his way.
he's almost tripled in cost since Ep1 and has been given a powerful summoning circle that allows him to summon a Demon to serve him.
Ghruzl / Type I Demon- One of Orcus’s many agents he’s
around to see Beleg does what he’s supposed to, Ghruzl has been previously summoned in this scenario in order to balance the teams
Executioner- The Castellan’s
Castle executioner is a cult agent ,
executions are a rarity in Blackbarrow his other job as stableman is
less appealing then playing for the Cult.
2 Acolytes- junior priests of the cult , fanatics to Orcus
4-Worshippers – the Cults
muscle / cannon fodder, fanatical , disposable.
New Spell, Inflicts Wounds (9+) a unholy blast causes 1 hit, with no save.
Hall of Tyr
Self proclaimed heroes of
Blackbarrow, all team members had have some form of power increase
The Current factions roster is:
Arturus- Crusading Paladin of
Tyr, also getting a very big power bump from episode 1
Harald- Priest of Tyr,
valiant side kick
Killian/ Wild Ranger- Longtime
companion of the group
Holger – Man at Arms-
Henchman (Veteran Profile)
Cristoffe- Arturus’s Squire, a
Henchman (fighter profile)
Factions are closely matched in
Gold Cost , we will see how the 2 to 1
difference in numbers effects the way things play out
SETUP- The Cult are the
Defenders , Hall of Tyr are the Attackers., The Cult has 8 Adventure Tokens
which are place on the board before play begins
(No Character in this skirmish
has the Treasure Hunter Ability so the starting 8 tokens remains unaffected)
, The Attackers start with 1 luck
(Harald Luck (1), the Defenders 0
Adventure Cards- there are
only 12 Adventure Cards in the Deck for this scenario
8 Treasures and 4 Traps
All other cards have been
removed, each Treasure card can be immediately cashed in for a random draw from
the magic item deck OR the card kept for its stated VP total
Any remaining Adventure
tokens that are not revealed go to defender should they win, traps are discarded and VP or
items are added to factions treasury.
There are no wandering
monsters in this part of the Dungeon, the rats are just decoration.
 |
| The Summoning |
TURN 1
INITIATIVE:
Attackers 4 , Defenders 2 –
FATE 1 each—
HALL OF TYR (ATTACKERS) start
with 3 Activation tokens
.
The Paladin. the Ranger and the veteran henchman get activation tokens
Arturus with use his Leader 2 ability gives both the Priest
and Squire Activation token as he begins his turn
The Attacking team decides to eliminate guards in eastern hall and a grab an easy Adventure Token.
Arturus the Paladin , 1st action , moves his speed 6" - Sees a Cult Worshipper and Charges down the hall getting a free attack at -1 he attacks with a 3+ from his longsword but as it’s a charge he needs a 4+ rolling a 5 it’s a hit on the Cultist , since Arturus is a weapon master his Longsword
attack are “brutal” giving him two dice to a roll a 3 + he rolls a 3 and 5 cutting down the first
Cultist he encounters quite easily
Cristoffe is next, the Squire makes a 6 inch move stopping on the rear flank of his mentor
Harald the Priest follows also moving 6 " but for his 2nd action casts Blessing his Intelligence is a 3 but he has 2 magic
dice , needing a “8” to cast the spell he rolls an “8” + 3 (his INT) for 11 and
Blessing is cast we add second luck Token to the Attackers Pool.
The Ranger and Holger the
Henchmen both activate and move slightly to get a better view down the long
western hallway, but don’t advance without the other hoping to protect the
rear.
CULT OF ORCUS (DEFENDERS)
Starting the turn walready man down they
start with 4 activation tokens.
Worshipper 2- seeing his
comrade cut down, now alone facing 3 enemies would need to make “Alone” morale
test, however the worshippers are “Fanatics” and ignore this . this fellow moves
to nearby secret door and uses his second activation a "special action" to open it.
Worshippers 3 and 4
across the western hall to charge thru, it’s an Ambush!
Worshipper 3 moves 6 then
Charges the Paladin, still in the doorway.. he hits on 5+ but since its charge
needs a 6, he rolls a 4 missing.
Worshipper 4 moves up to try
to join the fight.
 |
| Ambush using Secret Door |
For the 4th
Activation, we activate the Demon who
hearing the commotion in the hallway decides to investigate. Moving 6 (flying)
he see’s the Ranger and the Veteran Henchman at the end of hall..
So he charges!..attacking
with his Rending attacks he normally
needs a 3+ but in this case it’s a 4+
and he rolls a “3” being it’s the last
activation of the Turn , he use the team one Fate token to make that a HIT! its
attacks are strength 5 and Brutal needing only a 2+ for wound…Our Henchman only
has one wound both dice come up hits
only keeping the highest( 5) Holger is
toast but he has Light Armor and a Shield so he has a 5+ Save…we roll a “4” not
good enough but we use their FATE token to make that move that 4 to a 5 and the
Henchman survives the Charge.
TURN 2
INITIATIVE: Attackers 5 , Defenders 3 –
FATE 1 each—
HALL OF TYR (ATTACKERS) again start with 3 Activation Tokens
Paladin / Ranger
and Veteran Henchman get initial tokens
Arturus the Paladin. engaged
with Worshipper 3 who charged him last turn,
upon activation he can give both his Squire and Harald the priest activation
tokens thanks to his Leader (2) ability. His first activation is to attack, he
hits on a 3 and wounds 4 putting the
engaged cultist down as well. For his
second activation he immediately retreats 6” as he hears the screams of his
comrades fighting the demon.
Holger the Henchman is
next, upon activation he must make a
Fear test as the Demon is fearsome his Morale is 3 so he needs a 4+ and rolls a
4+ and stands true.
He attacks and needs a 4+ the
Demon is a large creature making it a 3+ he rolls a 3! A hit , while the Demons
Defense and the Henchmans Strength are
both 4. The Demon is invulnerable (1)
which reduces the attack to Strength 3 , meaning he now needs a 5+ to wound he rolls a 4 but we gamble and
put our fate point on the line to make that hit count! the Demon howls as it
takes a wound…..
Killian the Ranger must also make the Fear test he rolls a “1”
failing miserably and now suffers the SCARED status giving him -2 to hits…
Killian a crack shot only needed a 2+ to hit
due to the demons size that now goes to 4…..I want to move him away we
opt for the shot on a 4+ and roll a 6! We need a 6 to wound however due to
invulnerable lowering the bows strength…and roll a 2, he just outside of 6”
from the Priest so we cannot use a Luck token otherwise I would…the arrow
bounces off the Demons thick hide.
On his second action he moves 6 inches into the Western Hallway..
Harald is next , using both action to make a double move toward the Demon , he starts out far enough away he doesn’t
need to make the fear test, but will next round.
Finally the Squire Cristoffe
see his chance and Charges Worshipper 4 his attacks hits but he fails to damage
with a “1” he gets a second activation and attacks again rolling a ‘5” then
Damaging with another “5” the Cultist are dropping like flies…
CULT OF ORCUS (DEFENDERS)
Being now 3 men down they start with 3 activation tokens..the Demon gets
ones as does Cult Leader Beleg and so
does the Executioner.
Beleg Activates 1st, using his leader abiity he give both his
Acolytes activation tokens, he then moves his speed (6) toward the action and
cast CURSE rolling A 5 +4 (INT) For a “9” and one luck token is removed from
the attackers pool,
 |
| the Cult on the move |
Executioner activates making a double move toward the
remaining worshipper thru the open secret door.
Ghzul the Demon uses his Claw attack with 4+- having the “unarmed
adept” ability he rolls 2 dice keeping the highest in this case hitting with a
“5” he only needs a 2+ to wound the Henchmen and rolls a 5+ , Holger does have
a 5+ save which he rolls a 4+ we use our fate to make it a 5 and his armor and
fate save him again. The Demon has a second activation he follows up with his
Brutal Rend attack easily hitting and wounding Holger again, he rolls a “1” and
we use our one Luck token to reroll rolling a ‘3” not good enough and the
Henchman is smashed against the wall . knocked prone and is Out of Action.
 |
| Who's Next? |
Both Acolytes make double moves preparing to engage the Temple invaders.
End Phase: we forgot about Killians scared status and should have save our fate for that…Killian has 2
hits so he rolls 2d6 looking for a 6 – 5 and 3
with noway to modify he remains “scared” into the next round
TURN 3
INITIATIVE: Attackers 4 , Defenders 6 –
FATE 1 each—
Oh how the wheel turns,couldn’t be a worse time for brothers of the Hall of Tyr to lose Initiative!
CULT OF ORCUS (DEFENDERS)
3
Activation
Demon, Beleg and Executioner…receive activation token
The Demon Licking his lips
charges Harald the Clumsy Priest, but the Demon see his Holy Symbol of Tyr and
pauses he must make an opposed morale test against Harald but laughs it off
with a score of 10 to 5 in his favor. The Charge continues…using he Claw Attack
he rolls a 3 and 1..missing…he then turns to Rend in his second activation
hitting with a 4 on the 3+ he gets 2 two
dice needing a 3, but rolls a 2 and 1..we can use fate but Harald has Heavy
Armor (a 5+) plus save and the Attacker have a Fate point… so it potentially
50/50 we waste the fate point and there
are 4 more figures to go… so the Demon grimace hissing “you got luckly
priest.”.
Beleg activates next, he
begins by using his leader abilty to give both Acolyte activation tokens
He them moves into hallway where he can see the Demon bearing down on Harald then uses his 2ND
Activation use his “force of will” abilities on Harald , we are well within the
12” range and Beleg needs a 4+ he rolls a 2
and the Fate point we are hanging
on to wont help so he is done
Acolyte 1 activates he’s
going to try to cast “Cause Wounds” at
Harald, since he only has magic (1) he going to CHANT for his first activation
casting it on his second..chant gives you +2 on DC (9 in this case)
So he needs a 3+, we roll a
“6” so the spell is cast and Harald takes an single wound..ouch!
Acolyte 2 , follows suit trying to cast cause wounds, he
moves first to get into range so he cannot chant but rolls a 1 on the casting
attempt…the spell fizzles.
Executioner – makes a double
move toward the open secret door and remaining worshipers in the south hall
HALL OF TYR (ATTACKERS) start with 2 Activation tokens
Activation 1 goes Arturus upon activating is within 6 inches of Harald and right next to Killian
the Ranger,
Arturus moves thru the hall to
get line of sight on the Demon and decides to charge since his special ability
“burning zeal” is blocked by the demon on a 2+
The charge is luckily to the
demons rear flank as he is engaged with Harald . the Paladin hits easily with
a”6” and while the Demons invulnerability lowesr the STR of the attack, the
extra dice from the Longsword being “brutal” gives us “4” forcing me to now use
that Fate point and make it a 5 and a wound ..the Demon hisses…
Harald, wounded uses his first
must make a Fear test which with he passes with a 3 from his 4 morale
stat..next he uses his potion of cure wounds to Heal Himself and passes the
intelligence test with a 5 then attacks the Demon with his mace missing with 2!
Killian is next
he’s got
the lone worshipper
down the hall
and the Demon in his bow sights , he suffering the sacred status so he’s -2 two
to hit but he can Aim and take no penalty from long range thanks to “eagle
eyes”
both shots with various modifiers
work out to be “4+” but the shooting the Demon is too hard to wound and I could
potentially ended hitting poor Harald. He takes the Aim shot down the Hall
rolls a “4” then another “4” to wound..all the Cultist lackeys are now Out of
Action.
Cristoffe the Squire , seeing this break makes a double move down the Hall to grabs the games first Adventure
token, we cant actually get it until next turn, since we reached with a double
move
Attackers Turn Ends
End Phase – Only Killian is current suffering a status he rolls two dice and does not get a “6” he remains
scared of the Demon.
TURN 4
INITIATIVE: Attackers 3 , Defenders 2 – luck is with the Attackers it seems
FATE : 1 for the the
Attackers , 0 for Defenders
HALL OF TYR (ATTACKERS) start with 2 Activation tokens
Cristoffe takes the 1st
activation and flips and Adventure Card and gets the Strong Box for 1 VP we
decide to exchange that for a draw on the Magic Item Deck and we get an
“enchanted shield” which gives the user
Invulnerable (1) for Melee. A great score, this will make Arturtus extra tough
to kill but since he is one the other side of board..for time being Cristoffe
equips it
 |
| Enchanted Shield? definitely useful... |
For his Second activation he
moves up next to the Secret Door. Arturus is up next and after
giving out activation tokens to neaby Harald and Killian he going to try to
put this Demon down
Attacking large target and flanked he hits on a 2+ and
wounds on a 5+ against invulnerable (1) but he gets two dice to try to get the
wound he rolls 2 to hit 4 to wound, we
use our one fate point to put the second wound on the Demon…next attack is
another 2 and ……drum roll please we get a “5” the Demon howls…at Arturus
invokes Tyr’s name on the blow, the demon falls.
(that was some good luck)
This is a very bad for the
Cult as they are now at ½ strength and will need to make shaken tests..
Harald is next and immediately
attempts to cast blessing twice to put some luck on table… rolling natural 9
and 11 , Tyr’s holy light is with them and the attackers get 2 Luck tokens..
Killian , while still scared
can now move toward the Demon since its fallen
but decides to double move toward the open secret door near Crtisoffe
and catch the remaining Cult members in a crossfire .
Move x 2 he is done
CULT OF ORCUS (DEFENDERS)
2 activation tokens
Beleg and Executioner
Beleg is hoping to win
initiative so we can get a strike fear
cast but no such luck, he gives his Acolytes activation tokens and casts
inflict wounds on Harald (as he cant see Arturus) he only needs a “5’ on 2 dice
thanks to his 4 Int and rolls a 6 Harald takes another wound
His second activation Beleg
drops back into the doorway to protect himself
Acolyte 1 st activation
Chant..second inflict wounds rolls a 6
(+4) for 10! Harald goes OoA ouch this
is bad! The goes the Luck pool ( as far as I can tell, if the units with the
Luck ability go OoA you lose access to the luck pool they need to be within 6”
of the unit with Luck to use it . Having multiple figures with the luck ability
is clearly a good idea.
 |
| Casting frenzy put both Harald and Killian OoA, you need to charge them you dummies! |
Acolyte 2's 1st action moves slight south of door way and sees Killian coming thru secret door…
Cast inflict wounds but
without chanting rolls a “2” +4 =6
fails..
Executioner barrels up the
hall has to move twice and cant charge Arturus but is lined for next turn to be
charged or charge
End Phase – Only Killian is
current suffering a status he rolls two dice and does not get a “6” he remains
scared of the Demon, is a too bad since its defeated but I cant find anyway to
remove the Scared status other than rolling a 6 in the end phase
Here we must make Shaken test for the Cult we
have a high morale 5 here so with the -1 penalty its still a 3+ and they pass
with a 4..the Cult fights on
 |
| Turn 5 before both Acolyte 2 took an arrow to the face and The Ranger is brought down by multiple inflict wound spells. |
TURN 5
INITIATIVE: Attackers 6 , Defenders 3 – Cult Cannot get a break on Initiative
FATE: attackers 2, defenders 1
HALL OF TYR (ATTACKERS) start with 2 Activations
I screwed up here moving
Killian away with Harald OoA, I cant activate all three of my units as the Ranger and Squire
are too far away for leadership.
I decide not to activate my best unit let him take the
charge from the Executioner
And give activations tokens
to Killian and Cristoffe
Cristoffe first moves thru
the secret door to a nearby Adventure token and on his second action flips a
card. Its bags of gold, since we are only up
4VP to 2VP at this point…we keep the loot as its good for a victory
point
Killian Fires an Arrow at Acolyte
2 they can only take one Hit so we AIM (at +2) since he still suffering the
Scared Status and that will negate it..
roll to hit -6 to wound 3 but we
use a Fate point to make sure the Acolyte falls! One more for a wiped out test
for the Cult…
CULT OF ORCUS (DEFENDERS)
2 activation tokens
Executioner, Beleg
Executioners - 2 handed Axe
is unwieldly so he cant charge and get an attack but he can move and attack one so he does
He has the Onslaught ability
so he can reroll a missed attack, He
doesn’t need it hitting with a 4 and the brutal ability lets him roll twice looking for a 5+ he gets
a “6” and Arturus would take his first
wound but he makes his 4+ armor save with a 4….
 |
| The decisive battle, Arturus was nigh unstoppable in melee, the executioner should have focused on the weaker characters and tried to force a rout...let the spells take this guy down....they learned their lesson for next time. |
Beleg activates and gives an
activation token to Acolyte 1
Beleg knows they need to put
the ranger down they will force a shaken tests and that’s victory points
He moves to the door so he is
in range casting inflict wounds rolls
the needed 9 before his INT is added and Killian takes a wound
Acolyte has to tougher job
with one dice but he can chant for + 2 but rolls a 1!!…so not good enough.
The fate wont help us here
and Killian skates by.
End Phase- No more morale testsyet, Killian tries to
remove his Scared Status rolls a 2 and 5 but we use our remaining Fate to make
that 6 and he is finally no longer scared!
TURN 6
INITIATIVE: Defenders 2
, Attackers 1 ,
FATE: Defenders 1, Attackers 0
CULT OF ORCUS (DEFENDERS)
2 activation tokens
Beleg, gives his minion an
activation token 1st action -Strike
Fear..rolls 11 + 4 for 15 goes off and
all of the Attackers are within the 12 “ range
Nerfing the Leader ability
doesn’t do much here but the Morale hit does if he can take out Killian and
force the shaken test..
2nd action inflict
wounds on Killian… 9 +4 =13 on the 9 casting requirement ….Ouch Killians fall
OoA..
Executioner -1st
action attack! Rolls a 4! Hit to wound a 3..miss….
2nd action attack
again 4 again then a 4 to wound , the Cult uses its fate token to make it a 5
and a hit..
Arturus can attempt to PARRY
this blow (forgot about this earlier) but rolls a 1
Arturus then rolls a 3 on his
save and takes his 1st wound..
Acolyte 1 1st action moves toward
Cristoffe…..2nd action tries to cast inflict wounds…Fails on 3
HALL OF TYR (ATTACKERS) only 1 Activation
Arturus must respond to the Executioner pounding on him
attacks hits on 3+ wounds on 3+ (executioner is Def 3) I roll 5, then
4, 3 (wound) and 4, then 2,6 wound, Executioner Drops OoA.
End Phase
Shaken Test for Hall of Tyr
at -2 ( extra penalty for Strike fear) need a 5+ roll a 5!
His Courageous ability would
have given me a reroll anyway…
WIPED OUT TEST FOR CULT
Highest morale is 5 needs a +2 but -2 for wiped out
so a 4+ Rolls a 1.. remove d6 models
I roll a 3.the Cult is
Defeated.
Final Score
The Attackers win this battle
on Victory Points 7 to 5 not rout by any means yes, Beleg’s and Cult suffered a
loss via wipe out. He just escaped in the
Dungeon to fight another day.
Wounded himself, a down to just his Squire, with 3 unconscious / or
worse (we will see in moment) Arturus must abandon any hope of finding the lost
Waysiders from Episode 3 and return to the Village.
As you'll see in the next post as we go over the post game how its shakes out campaign wise, Did everyone OoA live? What about the Demon?...
 |
| Arturus " you know I'm not using that shield right??" Cristoffe " maybe I can paint it??" |
