Otherworld Skirmish- Burn Baby Burn, Part I

 Just in time for the New Year  I played my second game of Otherworld  Skirmish.  This time around  I decided to  push things a bit further and incorporate some higher level heroes, monsters and magic.  I am running a 200 pt (gp) game in a narrative scenario “style”.  As far as points go, its difficult with all the add ons to get dead on totals..so I am to keep them within the over threshold and within 5% of each other, In this case 206 vs 216 points (gp)

This encounter  is called “Burn, Baby , Burn” as its reminded me of RPG gaming with my brother when we were boys and used to play the worlds oldest role playing game at our local YMCA on Friday Nights, The first time we ran into this encounters primary adversary we were abruptly totally wiped out in all manner of nasty ways.  I guess we shall see how these fellows do tonight!

RULES UPDATES-  As mentioned in my last entry, I did need to get some clarification on a couple of rules and I since have, Mainly you’ll notice I was giving Charging characters an extra attack ,which was either wishful thinking or an artifact from other games I’ve played where "charging" always includes an attack. In OWS’s case, its simply movement.

If you’re not fully abreast of the rules, I’ll do my best here to be on point, a brief disclaimer I may screw some things up as I’m dealing with new rules, but bear with me, as if I do, I’ll do my best to clarify them.

THE ENCOUNTER-  I’m using my good old’ Hirst Skirmish Dungeon  a work in progress from 2010. Its great to have something like this for a game like OWS, never quite complete, ( I hope to do the full cavern section this year)  I am using the whole thing at its 3 x 2 size for a good old fashion dungeon crawl.  In order to do so, we have few rules adjustments.  

While the Dungeons “Denizens” are a “Faction” for game purposes we are setting them all up as “Wandering Monsters”  to be revealed via the Adventure Deck.  Normally in the standard Faction vs Faction play the Defending side can allocate 25% of its force as “Wandering Monsters”.  Other adjustments include  several of the Defending teams member have the “Animal” trait which, if you recall from my last game can cause said creatures to randomly act.  Since these "Animals" are defending their lairs, where just going to make them ruthlessly aggressive and ignore the potential random behavior check. Also its possible some creatures could retreat and return later in the game to be revealed again via the adventure deck, we’ll deal with that as it comes up.

SCORING- Standard VP’s will apply to both sides with a goal of eliminating the other team, the Attacking team has 4 Unique Models while the Defenders just have 1. The Attackers goal is to recover the Treasure Chest card from the deck which represents the special item they are looking for.  IF they can exit the Dungeon with the card in there hand, they’ve won regardless of score, if the game ends another way we will just compute the VP . No characters in this encounter possess the  "Treasure Hunter " ability so we will be playing the game with 8 Adventure Tokens, In case the Treasure Chest  card doesn’t come up or all members of the other team are not revealed after 8 tokens are grabbed,  I’ll draw a card from the deck each turn as they continue searching until we get our finale.

THE STORY-   Again the simple narrative,  Four wicked men, bound in service of an evil deity at last reach the apex of a long, harrowing and bloody quest.  In the Dungeons of Blackbarrow an evil creature who hold allegiance to no being and bearing hatred of all things guards an ancient artifact. Recovering the artifact will free them from their servitude, while failing to do so will surely spell their Doom.

The ATTACKERS ( a.k.a  “The Dungeoneers”)

This time around with using expanded abilities for additional gold, and we are using  profiles from the Evil Characters and Companions section.

“The Barbarian Chief”- (Legend profile Merciless Warlord)  This time around our Barbarian Chief is an Evil Warlord possessing the following abilities -Light Armor, Great Strength, Onslaught,  Shield,  Leader (1) and  Rage , we’ve also upgraded his Spear attack to 3+ , his Defense has been upgraded . He also has the special power “first strike” which allows him to Charge more than once per turn but he can  only do it once. 

59 Points

“The Wizard” – (Legend profile “ Sinister Sorceror”)   The Wizard has the most upgrades buying an extra stat point  to boost both his Defense and Magic by one point, he possess the following abilities:  Magic (2) Magic Items (1), Arcane Bolt, Scrolls and Potions (1), Shield of Force

He’s purchased a Grimoire containing the spell “Haste” and a Potion of Cure Wounds

He also knows two other spells, Phantasm and Web for a total of 3.

70 points

 ‘The Monk”- (Companion profile- “Monstrous Myrmidon”).   The Wizard faithful servant the Monk, has upgrade his Brawl attack to 3+ and has the following abilities:  Blocker, Follower, Dodge, Unarmed Adept, Critical Blow,

"Follower"  is an interesting abilities which enables him to be activated if he stays with 6 inches of Wizard which as his bodyguard seems like a proper thing to do, consider we only have 4 models we are looking at only 2 activations for the attacking side, but with the Barbarian having Leader (1) and the Monk having the Follower ability that should be all we need to activate everyone each turn.

He also has an interesting power called “will..not..stop” which allows him stick around a bit longer should he lose his last hit..fitting!

34 points

“The Assassin”- (profile “Savage Slayer”)  The Barbarian’s  Lieutenant , The Assassin has an extra base attack , the Crossbow which has again been upgraded to 3+. The Assassin has the following abilities: Concealing Cloak, Dodge, Thieves Tools (1), Move Silently, Light Armor. He also has the special power Unseen Strike, which as you can guess allows an Assassin to do what he does best!..we’ll see if it works out…

43 points

The Bad Guys, all figures by Otherworld.

The DEFENDERS  (a.k.a The Denizens of Blackbarrow, a.k.a “The Denizens”)

“The Eye Tyrant”- yes the BBEG on this encounter is the proprietary monster, all Adventurers fear . we don’t call him the the “B” word as “Hasbro” of all people owns the right to that.  For OWS the Eye Tyrant has neat mix of Special abilities and spells that cover the basics of 10 eyeball lasers,  His abilities are: Arcane Bolt, Flight, Magic (3) Magic Resistance , Sixth Sense, Shield of Force, Telekinesis, Word of Command.  He also has Three Spells. Pillar of Wrath, (Flame strike) Tempest (Slow) and Strike Fear (crushes morale, negates leadership ability limiting activations)

Other than Dragons, he’s the highest price Creature in the rulebook, we shall see how he plays

100 points

“The Troll”-  The Tyrants Henchman is an upgraded Troll, I have boosted his hits and defense and added the powerful onslaught ability. His full abilities are: Fearsome, Large, Regeneration, Vulnerable Fire (1),Smash, and Onslaught. Since the Attackers do not possess any fire attacks and Regeneration is very unreliable (1 in 6 chance) that should even things out  and he should make a tough challenge for the Dungeoneers

40 points

2 Giant Spiders-  a pair of strong adversaries make their home in Blackbarrow,  depending on when encountered they could be a real challenge as well, There Venom attack is much better than standard poison, as previously mentioned I am toning down there “animal “ ability to suit the narrative of the game.  Also I don’t think these spiders are really “large” as compared to other models in the game with the "large" ability, so lets say they are simply  “large Spiders” as opposed to “giant” with the abilities are:  Blocker, Spring, and Wall Crawler.

20 points each for another 40 points.

12 Giant Rats-  Should not be much more the nuisance to the Dungeoneers, I threw in a 12 pack of Rats to suit the feel of the game and because I have them painted up.  They can Dodge and for every three one gets mob leader (3) so even with the standard two activations per turn I am giving the Defenders most should be able get to move.

36 points

The Badder Guys, Figures Otherworld, Games Workshop and Reaper.

With all that out of the way, lets get on with the Game!

DUNGEONEERS-

 TURN 1

“Faced with two hallways leading off to blackness, the Dungeoneers chose the right hallway moving thru and archway, emblazoned with a grinning green devils head, they can barely discern a mysterious fountain at the end of the hall.”

With no Defenders yet on the board, I am still rolling initiative for purposes of calculating fate. Should someone show up via the Adventure Deck I’ll want fate points calculated in order to determine Activations. Activation for the Defender are going to be based on how many models are on the board as per normal.

Since The Dungeoneers can’t reach an Adventure Token in the first turn, Initative is actually irrelevant, I roll anyway 6 to 3 in the their favor, thanks Leader and Follower abilities all four models can Activate on the basic 2 activations the side receives. All models move twice down the long Hallway

TURN 2

“ As they approach the strange glowing fountain, the Assassin pulls a long expandable probe from his kit and moves to investigate, The Barbarian notice very faint ray  light peaking thru the stone at the alcove to his left.”

INITIATIVE Attackers 6 , Defenders 2

DUNGEONEERS-  2 Fate ( seeing I’ll be able to activate all my models these are saved for die roll bonuses should I need them) 2 Activations

ACTIVATION 1-  The Barbarian, Using the Leader (1) ability he gives an activation token to the nearby Asssassin , who will be investigating the fountain looking for traps (i.e flipping the Adventure Card)  uses activation 1 to move toward the alcove , I consider “searching for secret doors” a “special action” that can be found via an intelligence check , I rate this door a “7” and he tests rolling a “2” no luck, disappointing because if we turn over one of the defenders units here, I am going to want that door open, oh well.

ACTIVATION 2- The Assassin, moving into contact with the Adventure Token, we reveal with our second action. The first card is drawn and it’s a Poison Trap! Similar to the door check I just spec’d its an intelligence test to trap the gas in bottle he apparently has handy or it’s a strength 6 hit (ouch) he geta bonus from the Thieves Tools (+1) but easily makes it on a “5” nice.

ACTIVATIONS 3 and 4- with the first Adventure Token out of the way, The Wizard activates, who in turn activates the Monk with his Follower ability, they back track down the hall and enter the other hall with a move x 2.

TURN 3

“The Assassin locates the secret door the Barbarian failed to see finding the secret catch to to release the stone slab”

Nothing happens this turn other than movement. Finding the secret door lets the Barbarian catch up to Wizard and Monk and take the point I ended up needing to use both activations here, so the Assassin could activate first without the aid of "leader", to get the door open so the Barbarian could move x2 thru the door, this meant the Monk and Wizard didnt activate this turn, which wasn’t a big deal as they are now in position to enter the large hall when the next adventure token lies, 

Secret Doors

Turn 4

“ Carefully entering the large hall,  it’s entrance flanked with ominous statues, the Dungeoneers eyes light up at sight of a gold demonic idol on a blood stained altar to the side of the chamber, however a strange noise is heard is obvious they are not alone!"

INITIATIVE  Attackers 4, Defenders 3

DUNGEONEERS,  Fate 1 , 2 Activations

ACTIVATION 1,  Barbarian Activates, using Leader (1) he give the Assassin an Activation.  Action 1. I move the Barbarian to the adventure token near the center of the room near the Altar. Action 2 , He searches allowing me to flip a card… It’s a Wandering Monster card , so the Defenders are on the board!  I roll the Pair of Spiders, So they come dropping down from ceiling one in front and one behind him.  It doesn’t look good for the team leader, but his friends get to go first this turn.

ACTIVATION 2,  The Assassin,  first action is move toward the room, where he immediately sees the Red Spider( two spiders the female has red marks, the male green) I decide he’ll fire his Crossbow, which he’s 3+ to hit, However Crossbows are “Move and Fire” which in OWS means if you move you take a penalty so that 3 + plus is now a 4+, the with no other modifiers it’s a clear shot, I roll a 4 hitting the spider! But the follow up to wound is “1”, it does no damage.

Shoots, Hits!, but doesnt wound.., definitely reminds me of WFB.

ACTIVATION 3,  The Wizard,  moves into the room having a clear sight at both Spider he decides to cast his Arcane bolt at the Green Spider., Action 1= Move, Action 2,- Arcane Bolt,  Not a spell but an Ability it’s a 12” 4+ , S4 attack which hits and wounds! The green spider with a “6” and “4” on the dice!

The Wizard and Monk enter the fray, the wounded token in the hall is Assassin activation token accidentally flipped over

ACTIVATION 4, The Monk, Unfortunately, the Monk does not have line of sight with either spider at the start of his activation, so Act I, is I move him into the archway and he has plenty of room with his 6 inch move to get into base contact with the Red Spider, its not a charge so we move to Act 2, which is his attack, I use his improved “brawl” attack which thanks to his abilities “Critical Blow” and “Unarmed Adept” let him make full strength brawl attacks (usually -1 str) AND roll two to hit picking the higher, as result he hits easily and just manages to wound with a “4”

LARGE SPIDERS,  1 Activation, 0 Fate

Now the Spiders get to go, but  the only have one activation, so it makes sense it goes to the one in Combat with the Monk, its gets two actions, its vemon attack should it hit is “brutal” meaning roll 2 dice and pick the better one.

Act I, Venom Attack is a “3” not quite good enough, Act 2 is a “6” a hit,  the Monk’s Defense is only a 3 versus Str 4 Attack , the Spider rolls 2 dice looking for a “3” and gets both!,  The Monk should be wounded however he has the Dodge skill, allowing the first attack in a turn to damage him to be negated by an Agility test. He needs a 4+ to succeed, I roll a “3” but we have 1 point of fate which I apply to the die roll and Fate says the Monk narrow avoids damage with a lucky dodge..The Defenders are not happy!

 TURN 5

" Giant Spiders Attack!"

INITIATIVE : Attackers 2, Defenders 5 

LARGE SPIDERS, 1 Activation 2 Fate

The Spiders go first this time, which was pretty important for them, they also get 2 Fate, since there are only two models for the Defenders on the board, they would again get only 1 Activation, but Fate says both Spiders will activate, as I buy the second activation with their fate.

ACTIVATION 1, Green Spider, Action 1,  I have the Spider decide to try out his “web” ability and that becomes my first mistake of the game. I’m thinking “web” is like “web” the spell however its really the same as using a “net” from the weapons chart which uses the "entangle" weapons ability only having a 4” range and knocking a figure prone, where it can just stand up next turn,  I don’t catch this until I am doing this write up, SO as I played it:  I have the Spider cast “Web” per the Spell needing a 4+ and he gets it. Since it’s a 3 inch template…I can target the Wizard but place it so it Immobilizes both the Wizard and Monk!, “Immobilize” Is a powerful status effect in OWS that cannot be removed until the end phase, so if this battles continues past this turn it will do so without them, and it will also trigger a morale check..OUCH. 

Action 2, for its second action, Green Spider Charges the Barbarian, taking its Venom attack at -1, it needs “5”, I roll a 5, since Vemon is “brutal, I get to roll 2 dice against the Barbarian’s tough defense of 5,  needing a 5 again, I roll a 4 and 5. The Barbarian has a 5+  Save with Light Armor and Shield abilities but I roll a "2" so the Barbarian takes his first hit of the game, and I place a wounded token by him.

Rules Note:  I definitely feel Giant Spiders are very overcosted at 20 points each.  as they are listed  “Animal and Large” are really negative abilities   (absolutely in this specific encounter, Large has some positives in certain situations) The Spiders “web” attack is very weak, compared to the spell

I feel this was solid battle at 40 points as I played it. Had I played them straight out of the book, I dont see it a challenge here at all.

Big turn for this Spider, Webs 2 models and Charges the 3rd for a wound!

ACTIVATION 2, Red Spider  locked in Combat with the “Immobilized” monk, I cant find in the book anything about Melee attacks against “Immobilized” models..I assume its same as “stunned” as that is how its listed under Ranged attacks so I use that which is +2 to hit and +1 to wound,

Action I; Venom attack, I roll a “3” only needing a “2”  and only needing  a “2” for Damage and I roll twice as the venom is brutal roll a a “1”  and “3” so the Monk is also wounded and very likely will get taken out here, but for Action 2, I roll another “1” on the attack and it misses, the Monk is very lucky here.

It was highly likely the Monk was killed with the "immobilized " status, but Fate said otherwise.

Turn 5

DUNGEONEERS,  1 Activation, 1 Fate

Thanks to the Immobilized models we don’t count them for Activation purposes so instead of 2 Activations we only get one! ( Are you seeing how good the “Web” spell is here?) Fortunately by dumb luck the Assassin is exactly 6” inches from the Barbarian. I moved him with little thought during the last turn and little bit either way he’d be out of range to activate.

ACTIVATION 1 , The Barbarian, using Leader(1) by a hair is able to also Activate the Assassin, The Barbarian first Action is to attack the Spider chewing on him, He need a 3+  to hit and with “Onslaught” I can reroll but don’t need to with a “3” to wound I need a “4”  but if I burn my second action, I can use his “Great Strength” Ability and only need a 2+, I do an thankfully did as I roll a “3” which puts the Male Spider at 0 hits and Incapacitated.

ACTIVATION 2, The Assassin , again fires his Crossbow, using both Actions we take an Aimed Shot so he’ll need a 2+ , but we are firing into melee, but luckily firing into melee is not as dicey in OWS as it is in other games, If roll a “1” where I miss anyway, I am hitting someone else in the exchange in case, “The Monk’ thankfully I roll a 5 and it’s a well placed hit. Damage is the big deal here as I need a 4+, I roll a “3” but again Fate says the Monk is to be saved and we push that to 4 stealing the Spiders second hit and Incapacitating it as well.

END PHASE-  The First time I need to mention the End Phase so far this game, both Spiders are removed from play, and the Monk and Wizard are still under the effect of the “web” spell.  Status effects like “Immobilize” can be removed by rolling a D6 for remaining hit on the effected model. On a “6” the status is removed. For the Wizard with 3 hits, I roll 3 dice and he rolls a “6” and is free. For the Monk with only one hit remaining,  rolls a 2 and is still stuck!

TURN 6,

“ The Dungeoneers, regroup after a tense battle, cutting the Monk free, the Wizard pours a thick oily concoction down his throat and he rises to his feet none the worse for wear.”

With no enemies in play and the next, closest Adventure Token more than a turn's move away, I use one action from the Barbarian as a “Special Action” to free the Monk, and Move, I then have the Wizard use the Cure Wounds Potion on the monk , (easily passing the Intelligence test to do so), and then move, The Monk and Assassin both moving twice down the dark hallway, 

 The game continues in Part 2…..

  

Into the unknown!

Otherworld Skirmish, Raid on Pembroke Part 2

Continuing from Part I....

RULES NOTES

A couple things were pointed out to me in the downtime between the 2^nd and 3^rd turns.  Anytime I play something new I always overlook some details, so I am making sure to correct these moving ahead.

It cost TWO fate to purchase additional activations not one AND you need to make that decision before the turn starts.

Using the Leader or Mob Leader rule for extra activations, you need to finish the Leaders turn first, the you can do the extra activations whenever in the turn, I played this very loosely the first two turns.

“Special actions” like searching for Adventure Tokens and Thieves “Set Traps” ability are Actions. Not Free Actions. (unless thru another ability, see below) So If I move twice, I cannot uncover an adventure token, I could only move once and do that. 

I also have an issue with my Thief and the very cool "Set Traps" ability at the end of turn 2

Set Traps is somewhat confusing as the description under its listing in the  "Abilities"  section says reads “one use per encounter”. Now, is this scenario a single encounter? or is each engagement within the scenario an encounter? 

Encounter is much clearer term if you are playing a game with easily identifiable multiple encounters, such as exploring a dungeon.  

Now the game's character "Thief companion" which is what I am using here has the "Special Power" called “Gotcha!” which lets you use  Set Traps , once per encounter as a free action as opposed to special action.  So there is no problem with how I did it in my last turn, The question is  could I do it more than once in this Scenario?., I am thinking yes, you can do it more than once, scenario depending- but until its clarified,  I ‘ll just do it once.

As result of this I am removing the second 3 inch rough ground Template I put down and moving one goblin back 6 inches and moving on, in good faith to the rules

TURN 3  INITIATIVE

As I mentioned a good roll for the Adventurers here would be key, but it shall not come to pass..I roll a 6 vs 1 in favor of the Raiders!. Given current models counts, this gives the Raiders  5 activations and  3 Fate and the Adventures 3 activations  and 2 Fate. 

A 6 to 1 initiative roll gives the the maximum fate available a 3 to one side and 2 to the other.

I buy activations for both sides, before we start the turn  and we end up with:

Raiders- 6 Activations and 1 Fate

Adventurers - 4 Activations

TURN 3  RAIDERS  

Activation 1 The Ogre.

Locked in combat with the Legendary Warrior  The Ogre has 2 actions, we can make these both attacks as the Warrior has Three hits , since the Ogre cant kill the Warrior outright we still need to try to take him down. The 1st attack Hits with a 6, the damage roll  are a pair of 2’s (I roll two dice for the "Brutal" ability ) Fate can be used to bump one of these die rolls up but Ill need at least 3, 2's wont do it., so no wound.

Second attack is I roll a “3”, I use the Fate here to bump it up to a “4” and a hit, I roll two dice to wound a 1 and 6!! The Warrior is wounded?  Not so fast! the Warrior has Heavy Armor and a Shield, giving him a 4+ Save….I roll the save and get a “4”

The Ogre has no luck here, I can see with a D6 how hard it would be to put a Legendary character, particularly a "tank" fighter down, while there are abilities, spells, etc that do more than one wound per hit , nothing like that is involved here. 

Activation 2  Goblin Leader 

Using "mob leader (3)" he is able to give the nearby group all activation tokens upping the Raider activations to 9! 

The Goblin Leader moves away for the battle but in Bow range and touches the Treasure Chest  token worth 3 VP from earlier in the game, I put the Treasure Chest card back in the Raider card hand, while this will reduce activations next turn by one, I feel the Raiders will the need the Victory Points more. 

For his second action he shoots and arrow at the Village Constable whose standing in the wide open and in range but he misses.

Activation 3  Dire Wolf 

The last Dire Wolf on the board is engaged with Berserker 3 (last of the 3 Berserkers) The Wolf has 2 actions. Action 1 is an attack, he hits but fails to wound with a “1”..The wolf attacks again with it s second action, and again misses, but Wolves have the power “onslaught” abilities which let you re roll one missed attack per turn.

I use this roll a “5” ,a hit, then roll a “6” to wound, the Berserker is down and done for much to the relief of the Tavern owner.

Activation 4, 5, 6,   The Goblins near the supply wagon, follow the Thief down the alley by the docks toward the battle. All moving double moves toward the fight

Activation 7,8,9.  The second group of goblin , do the same moving toward the Ogre and Warrior battling away All moving twice

TURN 3 ADVENTURERS  4 Activations

Activation 1, The Warrior. 

Already engaged with the Ogre , the fight continues, Action 1 = Attacks “5” hit..”2” to wound misses

Action 2= Attack “3” miss!  The Warrior has “Onslaught” as well, I  reroll, “4” this time a  hit,

I then roll a "4" to wound  just enough to remove the Ogre’s second hit and put him down!This is bad for the Raiders.

The Warriors activation also allowed his via his “Leader (1)” ability to activate the Village Constable upping the activations for the Adventurers to 5 but its doesn’t matter as only 4 models are standing on the defending side.

Activation 2  Village Constable   

The Constable Charges the Dire Wolf hovering over the incapacitated Berserker, Range and space to charge aren’t a issue. However the Constable swings and misses all 3 attacks, 2 from the Charge and 1 from his second activation

Activation 3 The Thief. 

The Thief turns and charges the nearest Goblin chasing him down  , like the Village constable but needing a “5” to hit , I miss all the “to hit” rolls, after the fact I realize the Thief has Luck (1) that get him one reroll PER TURN…which is pretty big, not to mention it can be used for any ally within 6” inches which is even better..I had already moved on before I realized this , but something to keep in mind for sure.

Activation 4- The Ranger.  Takes an aimed shot at one of the Goblin near the Warrior , he hits with 5 needing a 3, and wounds with a “4” needing a 4….the goblin gets a save via his Shield but rolls a “1” and is down, incapacitated.

End Phase- I remove the Berserker, The Ogre and the Goblin from play, and roll for the Thief's trap and again it stays in play. Although its not relevant at this point as the battle has moved to the Village Square.

TURN 4

INITIATIVE  I roll a a pair of 5’s  a tie goes to whomever went second last turn which is the Adventurers. While no fate is generate by a tie roll, each side is one model away from being shaken at turn 4’s End phase.

Activations are 4 for the Raiders but they have the Treasure Chest card in play so they lose 1, for a total of 3

The Adventurers have but 2 Activations.

TURN 4  ADVENTURERS  2 Activations

Activation 1  The Warrior.   

The Warrior Activates also again activating via his Leader (1) ability the Village Constable engaged with the last Dire Wolf

The Warrior charges the nearest goblin missing his charge attack but easily killing it with his normal attacks

For the second action I am not in base contact but 1 inch away from another goblin I use his Reign of Steel special power which allows him to attack everyone with 1” as a Special Action, this I could not move and attack again normally this turn, this allows me to attack this other Goblin. I roll to hit and miss  but again can reroll this once this turn due to Onslaught, I do, roll a 6 this time and a 3 to wound which is just enough (Str 4v s Def 3) to wound him, This goblin had shield so he get save but rolls a “5” close but not quite.  Two Goblins down.

Activation 2- The Ranger  Takes an unlikely shot at the Goblin Leader 22 inches away,  Standard bows, like the Goblin Leaders have an 18 inch range, however via the Martial Training ability, the Ranger has a proper longbow for 24” range

With the Eagle Eye ability, he only needs a 3 and I roll a 4+ wounding him is another story, as I upped the Goblins Defense to 4 in his upgrades..so I need a 5 to wound and the Goblin gets a 6+ Save via his Light Armor. The Dice say a “2” So I knew it was unlikely.. If I had rolled "4" I could have used the Thief's luck token here..but no.

Activation 3 via Leader(1)  Village Constable is last , He Attacks the Dire Wolf hits with a “6” and puts it down with a “4” 

He uses his second action to move toward the Thief to support if there is another Turn. But with Raider losing 3 models this turn that’s looking doubtful

RAIDERS TURN 4  3 Activations.

Activation 1-  The Goblin Leader.  

Things are looking grim for the Raiders but it was smart even at the cost of the activations to secure that Treasure Chest.  The Goblin takes and aimed shot at the Village Constable he still needs a 4 and I roll a 1…he got zero luck with bow today…I need to upgrade his bow attack to 4+ but opted for higher defense.

Activation 2  Goblin locked in Combat with the Thief….This Goblin hopes to get lucky but looking for 5’s The Goblin misses both his attacks. The Thief also has the Dodge ability which lets him make a Agilty test against the first melee attack per turn, and the Thief can do that on a 3+ pretty good odds of survival. The Goblins sigh.

Activation 3 Goblin, Looking to score points and realizing there is no way he can kill the thief even if he’s very very lucky as he does not have line of sight too charge, the goblin nearest the Thief vs Goblin scrap, has just enough room to skate by and get to Taverns Adventure Token in one move, allowing me to flip a card on this second action, meaning a much easier route to victory points.  So I do so.  I flip the card and its…”Saving Throw” ugh and it’s a Saving Throw for the Defenders. The Goblins groan and we move the End Phase.

END PHASE TURN 4

We remove the Raider casualties, leaving 4 Goblins on the Board, with only 4 models, they aren’t just “shaken” they qualify for  “wiped out” status. ( reduced by ¾ ) The Raiders need to make a morale check at -2, The Goblin leaders Morale is 2 meaning he needs a 5+ to succeed . The -2 is applied to the die roll, so there is no way he can possibly succeed..I roll a 3-2 =1.. The Adventures now get to removes 1d6 models from the battlefield, I roll the dice..a 6….The game ends as all the goblins flee the field.

VICTORY or NOT?

Since I didn’t place any specific victory conditions this time thru..we are working with the basics. Scoring is abstract as far as I am reading Adventure Cards in the players hand remain in the players hand regardless of the outcome.

(I don’t see any mention of discarding Adventure cards due to causalities or routing)

FINAL SCORES

Attackers- 6 VP via Adventure Cards,  but at a great loss , especially the Ogre, then the Hobgoblin Scout and all 4 Wolves.

Defenders-  3 VP for the Elimination of all Raider Unique Models, and 2 VP for pushing the other team to “Wiped Out” status, for 5 VP.

The Berserkers went down hard like they’re known to but all the key (unique) models survived.

The Raider survivors, and all their Loot!

In the short narratives end, the Adventurers slew the Ogre and probably stopped these Goblins from bothering the village again anytime soon, however it looks like the sneaky buggers got away with the town treasury, so getting paid probably isn't in the cards.

"Free Beer" says the Tavern Keep? 

The Adventurer Survivors, 

Final Result Pyrrhic Victory for The Raiders, 6 VP to 5 VP

Final thoughts.

Despite a lot of thumbing thru the rulebook and a few snafu’s I found the game played rather well.

 I actually like the activation system much more that I initially thought, I love the way the Leadership abilities and Fate work to get you the extra activations you need.

There are a few clarifications I would like to run down and  hopefully as I reach out to other players these will get  cleared up.

Key moments in the game were clearly having the Goblin Leader going back to capture the treasure chest because at the cost of an activation on the last turn  He secured the winning points for sure.

The Legendary Warrior taking down the Ogre then that pair of Goblins back to back turns clearly makes him game MVP, that was just one legendary figure, curious to how 4 or more of them play.

Next up I am going to run a couple single encounters to test out some of heavy weight monsters in combat and see how it plays out. Stay tuned my next foray into Otherworld, called “Burn, Baby, Burn” I hope to get it played before New Years.

                                              

Otherworld Skirmish, Raid on Pembroke Part 1

Post Operation Sting I’ve been on a bit of a painting and modeling kick, I’ve built, primed and basecoated all my models for next years  Adepticon  much earlier than usual (which left me some time to address my often neglected but always growing piles of Fantasy Miniatures.  While I put the breaks on buying too many new models in the last year, (I’m happy to say I’ve sold many more than I purchased ) I still like to collect models from a few particular sculptor’s and company’s.  Primarily these days its OtherworldMiniatures.

I’ve been well invested in all their crowd source funding projects they’ve run and when the Skirmish game came out I was excited to play and  I’ve finally gotten around to it, Its a much more complicated game than Frostgrave, which is fine as  it services a different beast, it’s a quite the nostalgic game as is Otherworlds line of miniatures,  and its quite different in terms of other skirmish games I’ve played of late,  I am going to do a rather lengthy blow by blow here, so if you are a fan of old school fantasy ramblings in that First edition AD&D kind of way , please read on.

The first scenario I’m calling the “Raid on Pembroke” isn’t  official , but its based on one of campaign scenarios from the book.  Its simple narrative: ‘A  trio of adventures is asked to help protect said village from an Ogre and his marauding band raiders”.  Nothing fancy here , standard RPG fare and I have the proper terrain to do it justice.  Otherworld Skirmish games legwork has a lot to do with creating your force there are a lot of options and abilities for what ever models you want to use,  let’s take a look at the antagonists first. “ The Raiders”  the game is 150 points per side or (150 gold pieces) 

The Factions

"The Raiders", miniatures by Otherworld, Hasslefree, Ral Partha and Games Workshop.

THE RAIDERS

Ogre- 27 points, upgraded with Two Handed Axe.The Ogre is the “boss” creature on the this team, loaded with special abilities , a nasty two handed axe , and  skills that rely on fear and morale  tests from your opponent, Psychological effects and various statuses are very important in this game his statisticcs are lower than you’d think but the specials make the difference .  Not a powerful as the Heroes of Otherworld Skirmish and a strong opponent to challenge most figures in this fight for sure- value 

Goblin (Leader) 21 points with 15 point Leader Upgrade If you take a certain amount of a “type” you can upgrade one to “leader” this is the case here with this Goblin armed with a bow , his leader abilities allow him to activate additional models during the raider turn.  A few stat and skill upgrades are provided with extra cost..making him a solid character.. if the Ogre is the muscle , he’s the brains

6 Goblins- 36 points -generic troops here, nothing fancy..goblins…..most of them have shields giving them a 6+ Saving throw

4 Dire Wolves- 60 points at 15 points each they are fast with  decent abilities they are restrained by the animal ability which means they only do exactly what you want on 4+ , not the most reliable, but when they are they should be good.

Last up I’ve added a “Hobgoblin” whom I call “Hobgoblin Scout” a member of another Tribe along for the ride perhaps weighing the groups worthiness. Hobgoblins: larger distant cousins of Goblins , are throwback to old school D&D, replaced by generic orc as fantasy gaming evolved , there wasn’t a hell of lot of difference between  Orcs and Goblins in the first place, excepts back then Orcs where pig faced so Hobgoblins where todays Orcs, I suppose. Anyway for 9 points I used one of my favorite old Ral Partha Orcs.  A Good cheap fighter,

Hobgoblin Scout-  9 points

13 models, 153 points.

The Adventures, all models by Otherworld, except the Thief which is Citadel

THE ADVENTURERS

Moving to the defending faction, “The  Adventurers”.  Designing the heroes , is a bit more complicated as you weigh through Good or Evil factions, the character archtypes, there companions and then Henchmen As these are a lot of options and choices to be made in basic profile.  For my first warband, I just stuck to basics and some common sense.

You’ll also notice I choose No  character with Spells or Magic Items for this first run just to keep it simple.

I choose a  Legendary Warrior for “The Adventurer’s” leader  –“Good”  Archtype is called “Valiant Warrior”. He’s  got lots of skills and special abilities, which I’ll go into as they come up. The “Legendary”  profile dictates he has 3 hits which the most of anyone on the board ( Models in Otherworld Skirmish , hence OWS have 1 to 3 hits as I have seen)  I spent no extra points on him and took the basic 50 point model.  I do have some choices to make, and since I am using the Barbarian Chieftain model, I choose things that seem to fit.  You also need to buy the weapons for hero characters so he comes out at  54 points armed on with a Spear.

Legendary Warrior 54 points

His Companions are  a Ranger and Thief, both 25 point models, each having 2 hits and host of neat abilities (Thieves in this game are awesome)  they both come in a 29 points each.  (while you can add additional weapons on the hero profile, since everyone comes with “brawl” skill for free its not really necessary unless you looking for something very specific)

Ranger Companion 29 Points

Thief (Burglar) Companion 29 points

And for the Hirelings,  right (or wrong) place at the given time, a trio of berserkers have agreed to help repel  the Raider attack in exchange for Free ale and housing for a month…cheap at 9 points 

have the useful Rage ability and very high Morale,  but as Berserkers always are, hit hard, die harder.

3- Berserkers 27 points

Finally The Village Constable- using the “Mercenary” profile (and figure) from the rulebook the  Constable is organizer of the defense, recruiting  the  Adventures and aiding in the teams defense… a decent mid level fighter at 12 points , he has the useful “Blocker” ability which will come up later.

1- Mercenary- 12 points

7 Models, 151 points

Note the Chests on the map are the games "Adventure Tokens" I swap these out for the actual tokens the game provides before starting as I felt the token we easier to move over.

 SET UP

The game has interesting system of live dynamic that adds to the scenario narrative as play moves along.  called, “Adventure Tokens”,  the amount of these per game are standard  at 8 but this amount varies , either plus or minus by each  factions “Treasure Hunter” Ability.  Adventure tokens are really only used by “attacking faction”, the “defending faction” ideally wants to limit their use and keep them at a minimum. The Attackers, in this case “The Raiders’ to use this measure progress  or score thru the scenario,  each token when touched by a model in play results in a card from the adventure deck . As the “attacker” you’d  like these cards to all be treasure which result in Victory points,  but there are risks in the deck that are a boon for the Defender,  These can be  “wandering monsters”, “Traps” and then some random effects cards which can be for either side depending.  The Defenders score thru defeating the Attackers, and limiting there card successes. There are no wandering monsters in this scenario (as I need to pay for them out of my defending faction and don’t have the points)  so these cards are removed from the “Adventure Deck” Because  only the Defending side has any models with the Treasure Hunter ability, (the Thief) the game has 7 Adventure tokens on the board.

Attackers set up with 4 “ of any table edge, defenders must be within 4” of the Village Tavern

Scenario determines that Attackers go first, but I need to roll Initiative any way to determine Fate (more on that later)  OWS is an I GO U GO system, something I have moved away from a late in favor of alternating activation's however as  you’ll see moving ahead I think this one works quite well.

Victory Conditions- Standard VP are going to be applied here, which I'll go over at the end.

Unique models for scoring are the Ogre, The Goblin leader and the Hobgoblin on the Attacking side for the Defenders, its the Warrior, Ranger, Thief, and Village Constable

and with that Dice are rolling.....

Adventure Token Sample

TURN  1 - RAIDERS

The Raiders start the turn with  7 Activation tokens and 1 Fate.

Activation 1- The Goblin Leader  , The Goblin Leader has the “Mob Leader (3)” ability which lets him activate 3 models for as well as himself during his activation without using additional tokens, this is good thing with only potentially 7 Activations of a 13 unit Warband,

The Goblin Leader sends 3 Goblins in a double move toward a horse and wagon on the board and an Adventure Token, he then positions himself near the corner of a building as a good shooting position, he has no valid targets so his activation ends.

Goblin Leader looking for something to shoot at.

Collect that treasure!, watch out for traps!

Activation 2-4-  I move 3 other Goblins move toward another nearby Adventure Token placed between two houses on the edge of town,  since they can touch it easily they use a free action to search and we flip the first card of the game.

We get the “Treasure Chest” which is big Treasure card worth 3 VP, apparently the Town buried the majority of its valuables on the edge of town to hide them?,  not  too well it seems, however the Treasure Chest is supposed to be cumbersome so each turn you hold it you lose an activation token , The Raiders can not have that this early in the game so the Goblin abandon the Treasure Chest for now. I place a treasure chest on the board and leave the card up for grabs for either faction later in the game.

Activations  5-7  I bring the Ogre and his Dire Wolves into play and have them  move twice toward the center of town. The Wolves make an “animal” check and both do what they are supposed to, The Ogre barrels in after them grabbing an adventure token on the way, we flip the card and it is “A Golden Platter” a treasure item worth 1 VP , that the Ogre apparently snatched off someone table thru an open window, throwing it in his sack his activation ends.

First Turn , Right up in your face , with loot in hand.

At this point “The Raiders” are out of  activations but have 3 unactivated models on their side.  The Raiders have 1 unused fate token , which can be used to purchase another activation. So I do.

Just hanging around waiting to Activate.

Activation 8- The Hobgoblin Scout is with 2 Dire Wolves on the far side of the board,  1 Wolf makes the Animal check and succeeds and moves toward a nearby Adventure Token, digging it up (( draw a card) and it’s a Poison Trap!, Looks like our Thief planted some traps around town to slow the Attackers down, its a very strong poison and Dire Wolf is done for (fail the check, and must roll to damage, it easily succeeds) since the Wolf has 1 hit and takes 1 damage it’s currently "incapacitated" with "Zero" hits  And will be removed  during the rounds “End phase” since there isnt any hope of healing it before then.

Skull tokens are marking "Incapacitated Models" these here are by Dragon Forge Design

The Raiders first turn ends, with 8 activations resulting in 11 of 13 models moving, One is a casualty but they located the Treasure Chest,  to potentially grab  later and I have secured 1 VP in their hand.

TURN 1   ADVENTURERS

The Adventurers start the turn with  4 Activations and 2 Fate,  normally the side going first gets the extra fate tokens, here we had a predetermined starter so we rolled initiative strictly for  Fate allocations, the defenders won. so they got the extra Fate

Activation 1- Berserker I, The nearest Berserker charges the  nearby Dire Wolf , that’s what any crazed Berseker fighting for free beer would do anyway right?  Charging is a Single Action, which gives you an additional free attack at -1 to your attack die roll.  Berserkers also have the “Rage” ability which forces your opponent to  make a morale test  if it fails the attacker get another normal attack..In this case, The wolf fails.  The Berserker now has 3 attacks: 1 normal, 1 for charging (at -1) then one for Rage, he ends up  hitting all three time and wounding twice more than enough to put the wolf down.  Now I forget here that this guy still has an other action in his activation ( each model has two actions per activation) the charge was 1, so he could have followed up with an additional move 

but not another Charge, the rules are clear you can only "charge" once per turn, regardless of your number of Activations.  I forget, either way so he just stands there admiring his handy work and potential free beer.

Activation 2- Berserker 2, tries the exact same thing on the other Dire Wolf, however everything goes wrong he has none of the luck of his comrade, he stays in Combat with Wolf his charge resulting in nothing but an angry Wolf.

Activation 3- Berserker 3,  decides to help out Berserker 2, he cant Charge, LoS is blocker so he does two moves to get into a good flanking position on the remaining  Dire Wolf, and potentially the Ogre, next turn.

Activation 4-  The Ranger.  The Ranger moves 6 inches climbing the stairs to the dock to get a nice vantage of the battlefield and use his Longbow. He’s got a clear shot at the Ogre and is 18 inches away, His range is 24” , and he’s has the Eagle Eye ability which allows him to negate the range penalty on an Aimed shot, this however is not an Aimed shot (he moved) so I need a 5+ roll a “2” and Miss

Nice Shot at the Ogre but nope! , must have been the wind.

At this Point the Adventures are out of Activations but I have 2 Fate Tokens, so I use them to purchase two more activations.

Activation 5- The Warrior,   Activates and using his Leader (1) ability also activates the Thief. The Warrior moves to a good spot to keep some cover and keep in potential attack range to the Ogre whom he wants to take down. The Thief moves around to the rear of the Tavern where he hears Goblins coming, hiding behind the Supply Wagon, he uses his “set traps” ability to thrown down some caltrops in the clear path of travel for the Goblins..

The "set traps' ability of the Thief is one of the cooler things I have used in play in awhile, making there guys super useful. The 3 inch template marks the spots where I muse he's thrown down some Caltrops making the area "rough ground"

Activation 6- The Village Constable….The Constable follows the Thief to the rear of the Tavern to hope to put stop those goblins.

Turn 1 END Phase 

Raider models reduced to 0 hits are removed from play . That is 2 Dire Wolves.

TURN 2 

INITIATIVE is rolled to see who goes first, The Adventurers could get a huge break here but lose “6” vs “5” which result in only 1 Fate token being generated and that goes to the Raiders

 TURN 2 RAIDERS

The Raiders start Turn 2 with 6 Activations and 1 Fate token

Activation 1.  The Ogre.   I bring the Ogre in to play with big charge at the Berserker who proudly put down one his pet Wolves.  Like the Berserker he has “Rage” as well and he always causes Fear which a Berserker with a high morale of 5 should ignore (passes on a 2+) and he does. However the Ogre has a Two handed Axe which is "unwieldly" meaning he loses his charge bonus but gains the "Brutal" ability , The Ogre wins the "Rage" roll, so he gets two brutal attacks with his Axe, he ends up hitting twice and damaging once ,enough to put the Berserker down, He also has the “smash” ability which allows to throw the victim 2 inches and put him prone, which I do.

Rules Note: The Ogre also has the Rend 4+ ability which is basically as same as the Axe without the penalty, so in reality if I used the “Rend” attack of would have retained the Charge bonus, So the Two handed axe upgrade is somewhat of a liability here,  and not really an upgrade at all the model has it so I just rolled with it.

Like I said, Berserkers "Hit Hard, Die Harder"

Activation 2-  Hobgoblin Scout.  The Scout didn’t get to activate last turn, so I was anxious to put him into the fray, But he was a double move away to another  Adventure token on the second floor porch of the Merchant House he started behind, so I have him move twice to grab it!  I flip the card and it’s a Spike Trap!  Ugh..the bloody thief and his traps strike again!…it’s a tough stat check on Agility, the Hobgoblin needs to roll a 5, and rolls 2 so he takes a Strength 4 hit,  and  the die needs a 3+ to wound him and rolls a 5…last chance he has the Shield ability and gets a 6+ save, misses…he’s down and out, Or "Incapacitated" as the rules say…so much for him. and that 1 VP for the Defenders as he's a "unique" model for scenario purposes.

 

Activation 3  Dire Wolf,  the now lone one Dire Wolf on that side of board activates, I make the “animal” check and he passes again!..alone he heads toward his Wolf brothers and charges the first enemy he sees which is Berserker 3, despite the reroll from  the Onslaught ability he fails to wound the Berserker.

Activation 4- Dire Wolf, the other Dire Wolf locked in combat with Berserker 2, gets to attacks, while only having one attack, he finds his mark and puts the Berserker down.

Things are looking grim for the Berserkers..

 Activation 5- The Goblin Leader, again uses “mob leader 3” to activate the Goblins by the treasure chest. He figures the Ogres got the middle covered lets push the all the goblins hard on the soft flank where the Thief and Town Constable are.  The Goblin Leader uses his bow to shoot at the Town Constable , clear shot, range, aimed…needs a 4+ misses with 2, If it was “3” I would have used the Fate Token to bump it to a hit but I cant. Its just a miss.

The Goblins double time it toward the Mule Wagon with the rest of their ilk

Activation 6-  One Goblin from the front group closes in and reaches the adventure token at the supply wagon, I flip the card. “Jewels” worth 2 VP, he then moves on toward  the Thief but is slowed down by the Caltrop trap ( which makes a 3 inch template rough ground)

I use the Fate token to buy another  Activation here as you lose them at the end of turn if you don’t use them.

Activation 7 -Another Goblin again follows  toward Thief,  he clears the Caltrops but slowed  by the rough ground cant reach the thief either.

2 goblins  remain unactivated this turn.

TURN 2  ADVENTURERS

The Adventures start their second turn with just 4 Activations

Activation 1.  The Warrior.   On paper it looks like the Legendary Warrior can take down this Ogre no problem.,  So I go for it.   I Activate him using his Leader (1) ability also lets me activate the Ranger.  I move the Warrior First and have  Charge in.  He must Morale Test as the Ogre is a “Fearsome” model . it’s a 3+ test, and the Warrior is “Courageous” so he gets a re-roll should I fail. He passes 1^st try.  He Rolls a 5 and 6 on both attacks hitting the Ogre twice, but unfortunately only one hit wounds, so the Ogre still stands.  He has a second action so he attacks again. Hits again but misses again!.

Looks like we will see if the Warrior can face the full force of the Ogre next round.

Free Activation  (via Warrior)  The Ranger.  While I am tempted to fire into combat to try to put the Ogre down. There is a Dire Wolf right near by and I don’t need him joining the fight next  turn.  Its clear aimed shot, The Ranger needs a 3+ to Hit and 4+ to wound and gets both, The 3^rd Dire Wolf is 

Incapacitated.

Activation 2  Berserker 3, locked in combat with a Dire Wolf, use both actions to attack twice, he  needs 4+ to Hit and 3+ to wound..should be easy right? He hits once and fails to wound..the combat continues.

Activation 3, The Town Constable.  Considering the Supply Wagon is lost , The Town constable and Thief  have 7 goblins bearing down on them, I figure it time to regroup and try to finish off the Ogre and maybe they can Break the Goblins will to fight, The Constable does a move times 2 back toward to town square.

Activation 4  The Thief, does the same however along the way he uses his Set Traps ability along the way to further slow the advancing Goblins with another 3 Inch template of Rough Ground…this will force the Goblins to go back around the other way, if they want in the fight…(or make climb checks as the docks) it’s a good move.

All Defending models activated !

End Phase,  2 Berserkers and 1 Dire Wolf  and the Hobgoblin are  removed from play, The Ogre is wounded with 1 hit remaining.  In each End Phase the Traps the thief threw down can fade away on a "6" I roll for both, they remain!

Attackers have  9 models in play once, they'll need to lose 3 more in order to start taking morale tests for the Faction being "Shaken"

The Defender are 2 losses away from the same fate.  Looking at the board, things are looking good for the Adventurers right now,  If they can just win Initiative the next turn, its going to be very important dice off.

The Battle Continues in Part 2.

A Merry Christmas to all!