This report has been overdue as I played this game a couple
weeks ago , but needed to make time to cobble it all together which didn’t happen
until till this week in this brief lull before Adepticon.
My latest foray in Otherworld Skirmish (OWS) is a scenario I
teased after my last Dungeon Crawl and it’s
a scenario called “BAIT!” , its a heads up
match up, featuring
two small teams. It's essentially the "straight up fight" encounter from the rulebook, with one little adjustment based on the Size of one of the creatures involved which you will see in minute.
THE ENCOUNTER- BAIT! Is
a 150 point game, with 4 models per side, I wanted to try some of the higher
point creatures, so I picked one I had
recently painted up that I thought seemed very undercosted to lead a small team
against 4 Adventurers, The premise of
BAIT! Is that our Adventures here were unwittingly led to this Small Mountain
Cavern in search of a quest items, but they have been duped and the cavern is
teeming will all sorts of nasty creatures and a lot more dangerous than they
been led to believe.
THE BATTLEGROUND , I’m
using my 2x2 display board with some
cork scatter terrain I made for my Mars table and then I painted some extra Hirst cavern pieces I had to match, the fish
tank rocks have their use from time to time came out of my Pirate Terrain box.
Altogether it works for me as simple cavern.
Models L-R WotC, Otherworld, Reaper, Otherworld. |
THE DEFENDERS or CAVERN OF THE WORM
-Purple Worm 8
Speed, 5 Defense and Str 6 with Fearsome, Blocker, Smash and Monstrous Bite, I
feel the Worm is under costed at only 70 points, you will as the game plays out
whether my hunch was correct or not.
- Roper- Always the
nastiest buggers, two tentacle attacks as a single action that can immobilize, camouflage
, invulnerable…this one also seems way undercosted at 15 points
- Rust Monster- This little guy should wreak all kinds of
havoc if he ever gets the chance.
- Umber Hulk- I
looked for a good mix of Cavern Type beasts that I had painted, if you’ll note
the Umber Hulk is a proprietary character owned by Hasbro so you can’t legally
use the term Umber Hulk, so its not in the Otherworld rulebook nor do they make a
model for it. In this case its just the Troll profile were I swapped out
Regeneration for Onslaught and added its Special Ability to "Confusion" I which I wrote down as “any
model engaged must make opposed morale test or suffer "weakened"
status”.
The miniature is an early 3rd edition era model from WotC..
Overall the Defenders , by book listing are 125 points , I originally was going to
drop a pair of trolls
but having used one last game, I knew a pair here where overkill so I went with the Umber Hulk and led the point deficiency stand. I’ll
let you check out the game and be the judge if you think I am correct
SCENARIO RULES - Standard setup, it is a small board, I ‘m using
all treasure cards we are starting with 9 adventure tokens. Since we have “treasure
hunter (1) “ in play from the Thief. The Umber Hulk is a wandering monster and since the Worm is
so huge it would be chaos on the board from the get go so I am doing a
delayed arrival for the Worm starting on a 6+, on Turn 1, 5+ on Turn 2, 4+, 3+, etc…until it comes in by bursting up thru the center of the board.
All models are Otherworld. |
THE ATTACKERS or DANTE’S DELVERS..
The Adventurers are one Legend and his three companions…coming in at 154 points
Dante The Valiant Warrior-
Dante is just the basic legend profile
with bumps to Defense and the following
skills, Heavy Armor, Martial Training, Onslaught,
Weapons Master, Courageous, Leader (1), He has a Longsword and Throwing Axe
Karl the Aspiring Acolyte.-
Carl got the bump to his magic so those healing type spells go off, a boost to
his defense and he ends up with following skills Cure Wounds, Magic (2), Scrolls and Potions (1), Follower,
Heavy Armor, Clumsy . If you’ll notice due to activation needs I gave him the
disadvantage of being “clumsy” so I could take follower, that way Ill be about
activate at least 3 of my 4 models before any Fate comes into play, Carl also
has a potion of cure wounds as the spells, Blessing and Healing Touch.
Neb the Brave Burglar- Neb
adds a point to his agility, and picks up the skills Dodge and Luck (1) his full skill set also includes.. Set Traps, Thieves Tools,
Treasure Hunter.
Killian the Wild Ranger- Killian picks a point of defense , light
armor and Martial Training so he can have the better long bow, his other skills
are Concealing Cloak, Eagle Eyes and Dodge.
Scoring will be by standard
VP based on the core chart on page 20
And with that, on with the
game!
Initiative- Attackers 5 Defenders 1, - 2 Fate each
ATTACKERS- 2 Fate
Get two
activations and will buy one more with their fate tokens for a total of three,
with the Priests “follower” ability, it will mean everyone will activate this
turn
Action 1 moves 6” to
Adventure Token
Action 2 we draw a card and its “to hit armor class
wuh?” nice boon your next attach automatically hits roll damage as normal.
Karl the Acolyte
Action 1 using follower ability moves to follow Dante
Action 2- nothing
Killian the Ranger
Action 1 and 2 moves 12” to
touch another Adventure Token
Neb the Burglar
Action 1 and 2 moves
12” to touch another Adventure Token
Purple Worm
Since the Worm is coming in on die roll, its totally appropriate that I can use the fate tokens to effect that roll. Since the Thief and the Ranger are in nice spot for the Worm should it come on, I’ll take it on a 4+ with the tokens…I roll a 2!..not this turn.
Due to its Natural Camouflage The Roper can move quite
along way without being seen by the adventurers in fact the need to be within 6
inches of it, to see or shoot at it based the highest INT on the attacking team being a "3"
Action 1- I decide move it up two inches that’s it
The Rust Monster
stays
where it is…
Umber Hulk
In the Wandering monster que..ready to come on when the card comes up or I want to try to force him on which isnt this turn.
End Phase - Nothing
TURN 2
Initiative- Attackers 5 Defenders 1, -
ATTACKERS - 2 Fate again we will use both Fate Tokens to purchase an
additional activation token
Killian the Ranger
Action 1 Standing on the Adventure from last turn, we
can now flip a card..”PIT TRAP” OOF, I roll for the agility test needing a 5+
and roll a 4+ down he goes into the pit….defense is equal a 4 but I of course roll a 6 to wound so he is damaged by the Pit.
Action 2, I assume he has
to climb out of the Pit with a standard agility test..The Ranger ‘s agility is
3, I should have bumped his Agility I
think instead of defense..but he climbs out on 5 with the standard test having
taken 1 wound. I drop a 40mm disk down to mark the pit location.
Neb The Burglar
Action 1 Neb also standing on the Adventure token from
last turn decides to flip a card. Hoping for treasure it turns out to be a
wandering monster!..ugh so the Umber Hulk is coming in on the defenders go
Action 2 perhaps hearing something coming Neb decides
to get the hell out of dodge and climbs some rocks toward the center of board
adventure token, I am counting the rocks here as a level so he needs to climb
and makes the agility test with 4
I am forgetting about the
Thiefs “Luck” ability so I place the token near his so I remember, I probably
was close enough (6 inches) that I could have used luck to help the Ranger
avoid that Pit…oh well I already moved away..next time
Dante the Warrior,
Action 1..Knowing the Hulk
is coming we start moving that way..the Priest cannot make into base contact so
we are able to heal the Ranger on the Priest Turn..this could be bad..
Dante moves toward where
the Hulk is going to Appear.. but can only move 6 inches because I need to
activate follower to move the Priest.
Action 2 nothing
Karl the Acolyte
Action 1 activates….moves 6
inches next to Dante
Action 2 Cast Blessing… his INT is 3 so I use both
dice to hope to roll a 5 on 2D6..I roll Snake eyes..argh…not good. Attacker Turn over..no
Blessing
DEFENDERS - 2 Fate
Action 1 -
Placing him on the board I need to put him
withing 6 inches of the Adventure Token that revealed, him it plenty of juicy
spots to place him so he can charge the injured Ranger.
The Ranger must morale test
against the Hulks Fearsome ability…his morale is 3 so I need to roll a 4+ and
roll a 5 he’s not scared…crazy but he’s not
It’s a charge so make an
attack at -1 he has Rend 4+ as his only
attack and that is all he really needs.
The roll is a 2 but he has
onslaught so we will reroll that. And it’s a 1 so the Ranger gets a brief
respite
ACTION 2…second Rend attack
is a “6” no avoiding that on…Rend damage is “brutal” meaning I roll two dice
and pick the best one Strength 5 Vs Def 4 meaning he needs a 3….I get a 3 and 6 The Ranger has light armor so he gets a 6+ Save….and roll a 3….if the Thief
was closer I would use Luck to reroll that but he’s too far. The Ranger Falls..being this the bottom half
of Turn 2, I will not be able to save the Ranger and he will be removed from
play in the turns end phase.
Falls in Pit , climbs out ,
get steamed rolled by Umber Hulk..what a way to go.
Killian we hardly knew ye! (seriously I am going to miss his bow coming up)
|
Is coming on a 5+ this turn…I
roll a 2+ even with the Fate I am still a point short…oh well Next turn..
The Roper
Action 1- Slides another 2
inches
Action 2- I was hoping he was close enough to snare the
Thief but he just out of range AND the Thief cannot see him.. The Ropers Turn
ends.
Rust Monster
Cant activate
since I only had two activation's.
TURN 2 END PHASE The Ranger is removed from play. Presumably ripped to shreds by the Umber
Hulk.
TURN 3
Initiative- Defenders 4
Attackers 3.
DEFENDERS 1 Fate.
Purple Worm
Time for the worm to bust out and make these guys shake in their boots!
Worms entry roll is a 4+ now.. and I roll a 6!....the
Worm comes exploding out of the ground right next to poor Neb.. Neb makes morale check and
fails soiling his trousers at the sight of the Huge worm.. Neb gets a Scared token
ACTION 1,
Its going to Spray Neb down
with Poison and it needs a 4+ and rolls a 2!....
ACTION 2
Goes in for the monstrous bite
needing a 5+ and rolls a 6!..off.. the damage roll is only 2+ being Neb base
defense is 3 (-1) for being Scared vs Str 6!.
And it’s a monstrous bite, meaning D3 hits..and I roll a 6 so its
3..meaning Neb gets snatched up like he was in the outhouse in Jurassic Park
However Neb has Dodge and
can avoid this on an agility test and he only needs a 3!.....drum roll please…he
rolls a 3 so gets himself out of the way ..whew!
Only having Two activation's,
I need to activate the Umber Hulk and it needs to tie up Dante and he is only
one that can threaten the worm…
The Purple Worm shows up... |
Umber Hulk
Action 1 The Umber Hulk is
facing away from Dante and about 7 inches away..so action 1 is just move toward
the Warrior
Action 2 is Charge Dante
rolls the morale test and passes easily with a 5 he is not afraid
.
The Umber Hulk attacks with
Rend hitting with a 5 as with the -1 for the charge its- good enough
STR 5 vs DEF 5 I roll two
dice looking for 4+ and roll a pair of two’s
Dante laughs the attack off..
Fate token wont help the Umber Hulk either.. the Defenders Turn Ends
ATTACKERS – 0
Fate
Dante the Warrior
Actions 1 and 2….two
attacks on the Umber Hulk with his Longsword, He's looking for 4+
However Dante must beat the
Hulks confusion ability which is an opposed Morale roll both of their morales
is 4, Dante wins 3 to 2 on the Dice so the attacks continue as normal
Action 1 Well use our Adventure card "To hit Armor Class Wuh?" to guarantee the first hit..
I get extra dice because the Longsword is Brutal. when I roll damage, 5 and 2...so the Umber Hulk takes a wound
Action 2 Attack 2, I roll a "1" but Dante has the onslaught ability so I reroll
the 1 and get a 5!
Two hits…we need 4+ to wound I roll a 6 and 1! . wow…Dante puts the Umber Hulk down and out in one exchange , payback.
That was some luck for
sure!
Karl the Acolyte
Karl is up next…using his
Follower ability, I don’t have much for his to do..engaging the worm is nuts
and its too far away and Neb is alive and uninjured. Unfortunately I didnt give him
away to remove any statuses before the end phase. there must be some item or spell, that’s not coming to mind right now.
Action 1 Cast Bless, target
8-4,3 +3 =10 we add another luck token
to the pool.
Action 2 moves within 6 inches of Neb.
Neb the Burglar
Neb is going to try to
move. He can try remove the scared status this turn in the end phase and there
is an Adventure token right next to him (remember he cant see the Roper) with
any luck will win initiative and he will get the hell out of there.
Action 1 move to token
Action 2 Draw Adventure
Card. “bags of gold” worth 1 VP, nice…lets hope it pays off.,
END PHASE..
Neb is Scared but has all
his hits remaining…I roll two dice and am looking for a 6, however I also have
two luck so I can reroll – Roll 4,2 reroll 6,4, - Neb is no longer Scared.
TURN 4
Initiative- Attackers 3. Defenders 1
ATTACKERS 1 Fate
Neb the Burglar
Neb is close enough now to see
the Roper now..thankfully he gets to go first and is moving away there isn’t any
safe place to be but he’ll use both actions to move away from all creatures but
close enough to hopefully grab another Adventure Token.
Actions 1 and 2 Movement.
Dante the Warrior
Dante needs to engage the
Worn and needs Karl to keep him alive while he’s fighting
Action 1. Dante needs to
move into contact with the worm, he cannot charge because of terrain. And must
pass a climb test and he does with the needed 4
Action 2 Charges the Purple
Worm passing the Fearsome test with a 4, and attacks at -1 but this worm is Massive so that cancels out
the -1 and he still needs the 4+ he rolls 3 we uses his onslaught ability to
reroll and roll a 4, a hit!
I need 5+ to wound this
thing DEF 5 vs my STR 4 but my attacks are Brutal so I get two dice..4,1 I use our lone fate to bump the 4 to a 5 he wounds the massive beast
Karl the Acolyte
Action 1 try to move closer
to Dante in case he has to apply any healing next turn but he has to climb to
do so and Karl had the disadvantage – Clumsy. Meaning I roll 2 dice and pick
the worst result,
Karl is quite lucky rolling
a 6 and 4 passing on the 4 for the climb check, he move next to Dante. And is
base contact with the worm too.
Action 2 Attack the worm its not a charge as I couldn’t
attack last action due to LoS and climbing issues Karl needs to pass his
fearsome test and fails on 2!...oh not
good he can still make a Normal attack with mace he needs a 5+ which
drops to 4+ because of Massive rolls a 2
and misses.
DEFENDERS , 1 Fate
The Roper
Oh Karl if only you weren’t
Scared, Karl has unfortunately moved into
Range of the Ropers Tentacles. So the Roper is Activating First
hoping to remove Karl from S
supporting The Warrior
Action 1 Special Action 2 Tentacle attacks roll 5, 5
OOF.
Karl is now immobilized as well
a scared this is very bad..
Action 2 Roper Drags Karl to his mouth so it can eat
him next turn.
This went bad in a hurry. |
Purple Worm
Attacks Dante
Action 1 Tail Slap to try to Stun him….it needs a 4+
but rolls a 1….
Action 2 Monstrous Bite…needs a 5+, rolls a 5+
Str 6 vs Def 5 needs a 3 to
wound, and roll a 6….Dante has a 5 + save from his heavy Armor..rolls a 2 not
good enough.. I roll the d3 for wounds and it comes 2
Dante takes 2 wounds this is where he’d be needing Karl!!.
Turn 4 End Phase
Because Karl is immobilized
he is considered out of play making the Attackers – Shaken
Karl is also effected by
Scared and Immobilized statuses, I am going to try to remove Karls scared status first which I
have to do before I can even try to remove Immobilized I roll andget a 2 dice and reroll 1 due to Karls Luck
token however I do not get the required 6.
I now have to take the Shaken
Test , I would normally need a 3 due to Dante Morale of 4, however this test is
at minus-1 so I need a 4 but because
Dante is Courageous I can reroll that…Roll 2! Ugh…reroll another 2!! Double uggh
Since I failed I lose D3
models….I roll a 1 here and since Neb is only one not engage he flees with his
bags of gold figuring his comrades are toast…Bastard!.
Taking the gold and fleeing , leaving your comrades behind...we have all seen this before. |
TURN 5
Initiative- Attackers 5. Defenders 3 1 Fate token each
ATTACKERS 1 Fate
Dante the Warrior
Dante need to kill this thing now or its game over.
Action 1 – attacks Purple
Worm.. hit with a 6…need a 5 to wound roll 4,3 we will bump the 4 to 5 with our
lone fate and the Worm take the second wound.. so far so good.
Action 2 attacks again!..
hits on 4 but doesn’t wound rolling a 4 and 1, nothing we can do about it!
The worm
has one wound left., only the luck of the dice will save him now.
Karl The Acolyte.
Karl being immobilized cannot
do anything
DEFENDERS 1 fate
The Roper
Action 1, Eat Karl..auto hits….Karls Def 3 becomes 2 because of Scared
Roper is Str 5 needing
2+ ugh..
Roll a 5 Karl is wounded
but gets a 5+ save for heavy Armor..I roll 4
1 Wound to Karl
Action 2 Eat Karl some more
Auto hits..roll to damage 4, save for heavy Armor..roll 4 again.
Karl is devoured.
Burp!! |
Purple Worm
Action 1 attack Dante
Tail Slap hits with “5”
Tail is +1 User Strength so STR 7 vs DEF 5..rolls a 6 but needs a 2+
Dante’s Save is a 5+, Roll 6+ he Saves it!...
Action 2 Attack Dante with Tail again…4! Hit…, I roll a 3 to wound…the
Save.comes up a 4. not good enough I am afraid, normally he be stunned and I’d have him knocked prone due to “smash”
but that’s his last hit.. Dante goes down and is worm food..
Double Burp!!!!!. |
Victory Points…
By the Book 4 VP ( 3 models dead + Shaken Status) to 1 VP (bags of gold) in favor of the Defenders…although I think you
need to award VP for adventure token captured vs still on the board.. Which in this case is a net +1 to the Defenders.. then I
would give 1VP to the attackers for each creature knocked out here. So +1 to them…
so the final score is 5 VP for Cavern
of the Worm vs 2 VP for Dantes Delvers
FINAL THOUGHTS
Although Legends characters are super powerful….Dante could
have easily slain the Worm with Luck or extra Fate in turn 5 with that “4” die
roll., the Companions are not.., the Attacking team really needed two more good
fighters here like a pair of Mercenary Henchman would have rounded this team
out much better and balanced that would be for another 30 points Considering the by the book points for the
Defenders were already 25 point under the Attacker Total AND I never touched
the Rust Monster the whole game..that means the Worm , Roper and Umber Hulk
(troll) were 55 points under costed….for my own games..I’ll probably bump the worm up
to 100 points…The Roper is just nasty, I am thinking 30 points at least….The
Trolls at 25 might be ok..due the fire Vulnerability but the Umber Hulk without
the disadvantage, I’d move up to 30 points also
The Attackers had a bit of bad luck there with Ranger
getting killed before he could do a thing…
The Cleric really didn’t get a chance to do much as far as supporting and it was also unluckly
getting snatched by the Roper, with a that roll of double 5's!
I still am feeling magic needs boost and more variety in spell choices. I didnt really get to use any of the companions support features at all, in the match..my feeling is after 3 games is that offense if is way more a priority to support.
We will see how they do next time
against a horde of Undead in a scenario I call “Green Magic”
hopefully I'll get chance to play it sometime in April.
UMBER HULK- Dead, Killed by Dante
PURPLE WORM. Full , its just ate Dante
ROPER, Full it just ate Karl.
RUST MONSTER. Bored.
DANTE- WORM FOOD
KARL- ROPER CHOW
KILLIAN- the Pile of bones you always find in any RPG as the
unluckly guy that came before you
NEB, alive at the Inn, gold in hand.
NEB, alive at the Inn, gold in hand.
Bastard!!!! |