Otherworld Skirmish- BAIT!

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 3^rd 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!

 TURN 1.

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

 Dante the Warrior

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

DEFENDERS- 2 Fate

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.

The Roper

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

Umber Hulk

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)

Purple Worm

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.

Rogues Gallery

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.

Bastard!!!!

9th Reconnaissance Battalion heads to Bolt Action Nationals! (Part II)

Adepticon is less than one week away and  I’d be remiss if I didn’t do the usual and post my current army finished and ready to for the Bolt Action National Championships next weekend.  Aaron and I actually got a test game in last weekend,  I was quite happy with how these guys played even with our game being a draw.

a whole squad of these guys are the SS Charlemagne Models who come with cast on patches, did my best to make them fit , authentic or not.

For my 9th Recon Platoon incarnation of my Hohenstaufen, I had to paint 4 new vehicles and about dozen troops plus a flamer team for this current  version of my German army. While I still have some boxes on the shelf  (mainly vehicles) that need built  at this point I can field well over 2000 points fully painted on the table.

Painting this current crop of models took me awhile and a lot of  late nights, I went a high as detail as I could via my skill set, most models have at least 2 some 3 layers of highlights. I also painted a lot of badges on the new guys something I hadn’t done before and used some individual decals on the some of the plastic models that snuck their way in. With the vehicles with the weathering and decals are a patience drill, rush it and it doesn’t look right.

Despite my Best Appearance award with my Brits in the singles last year, I have no disillusions of winning it again, I am sure it being a sponsored by Warlord Games as the  “U.S National Championship”  I’ll see a pretty diehard group, I know a couple of local multi Golden Demon winning players that are now Bolt Action players, not sure if they are playing but if so there will be some serious models on display I am sure.  I’m just looking to have some fun and win some games, because unlike WFB, I am actually a pretty decent player when I roll with a decent army.

The only hiccup in my list is can’t run my Captured Humber as an actual Humber, as Warlord has had the model out for years but has not released any rules for captured vehicles, which I think is a balance issue over an oversight. So my Humber MkIV will perform as a 6 Rad German Armored car which really means I just lose the Anti Tank gun and get another Autocannon.  I hurts me a bit as I only have one AT gun besides my Panzerfausts but its should be ok. I’m not expecting a lot of big tanks,  from any experienced players.

This is SdKfz 251/10 which mounts a Pak 36 and has the command special rule my HQ roll in this

As for Bolt Action, after this I’ll be on a break from that for awhile, There is new summer tournament in July I wont be able to attend, but I’ll be back for Operation Sting in the fall, with my Germans or possibly my British, with two squads of Gorgon Miniatures excellent British Infantry waiting to be built and both a Sherman and Cromwell tank, I definitely need to give them some attention. What ever I run it will have a new display board..I wanted to do one for this event but just didn’t have the time.

HQ getting dastardly

I’ll be at the hotel hanging out at Adepticon as of Thursday night my kids are with me so Friday we are going to play some games and hit the vendor hall, and probably some demos, I am bringing my Frostgrave board and a couple of warbands for that along as well so  I hope to find some pickup gaming space since both my Daughters and a couple friends expressed interest in playing that . So if you know me come on over and say hello, and since I am not playing anything until Saturday, I might actually get some blogging going on from the event as well, its been years since I have done that. Of course I’ll be back with full write up on my exploits the week after the event.

I love this vintage filter almost looks like it could be a real picture, almost

Kradshutzen Squad!

Viktor Grabner leads the column in his Captured British  Humber MkIV armored car

Group Shot

Hohenstaufen- 9th Reconnaissance Battalion Part I

Adepticon 2016 is right around the corner but due to some personal issues I have had to seriously scale back my participation  this year. This means  No Pirates, No Battle of Kursk , and even the Bolt Action Team Tourney is up in the air right now.  What is happening  for sure is, I will be there gaming Saturday and Sunday for the Bolt Action Nationals,  Hohenstaufen in hand.

Learning my lesson from my defeats at Operation Sting in the Fall and my success at the previous Adepticon  (where we went 2-1 in the team and I went  3-0 in the singles)  Its quite clear about what works well in Bolt Action and what doesn’t , One thing for sure that does not is a 400 point Tank hogging up all your points when most of the time is only  firing 8 MMG shots, which you can get from infantry for about 1/5 of the points…while it sure looked cool, playing it was a real bear.

Fast forward to my current list focusing on my other favorite WW2 force, Viktor Grabner’s, 9^th SS Recon Battalion. Who charged across the Bridge at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden, went down in a blaze of glory and accomplished what I think Grabner  really wanted out of that mission, That we are still talking about him over 70 years later in 2016 and what a huge pair of balls the guy had.  As the story goes, After reconing the British air landings between Arnhem and Nijmegen , Graber was informed of the British capturing the northern end of the Arhmen Bridge,  His unit had been recalled for a reorganizing of forces and a correlated counter attack. However,  Grabner  wanted to take that bridge back very badly, personally.   He cooked  up a plan that by regulation only “serviceable vehicles” had to report back to HQ, so he temporarily disabled   22 of his units best vehicles and sent the rest of force  back the where they were recalled.  Grabner  stayed behind with about half his force, and the following day at dawn quickly put his vehicles back in working order and led them across the Bridge into the famous firefight, in which they suffered a 50% casualty rate, and were forced to retreat,  Grabner losing his life in the exchange.

There is a lot of information on “Grabner’s last ride”, including records of  what all the 40  vehicles present in his unit where , so that is what I drew my list from,   My 1250 point list is  made up of 5 Vehicles , Including Grabner is his Captured British Humber MkIV , and 3 Motorbikes. The entire unit is mounted in vehicles and dismounted it comes to 32 foot models.  Considering the house rules for the Nationals even like Vehicles can still fire, once troops dismount, The force is even better that when I originally came up with it.

The photo above is my Panzer II Luchs and my Kradshutzen Squad of Bikers, , The Luchs is a Recce Vehicle , as well as Grabner’s Humber,  and the Bikers are a small outflanking squad.  Then there are three transports,  a standard Hanomag 251, my SdKfz 7 I made for last year's TT and my new 251/10 Command Half track which sports a Pak 36.  I’ll plenty of pictures up probably the week before Adepticon or earlier as I am in the finishing  stages of the other vehicles now and then have 10 infantry to detail and I am good to go. So I’ll be back for more on Grabner’s Last Ride  soon.

base10studios is Live!

While I actually have been working on various hobby stuff of late and still have quite a bit to do for my Bolt Action Germans for Adepticon (about 6 weeks out!) This took precedence for me. No surprise if you've followed the blog at all for the last decade now, I have a tremendous amount of "stuff" while I downsized considerably when I moved, I still have several closets of product I no longer particularly want or need and so base10studios was born.  when I say "live" in the title here, I boringly mean I started another blog (heh)

I'd be lying if I said my work situation the last couple years, has if anything, been less than ideal. It has certainly prevented me for doing alot of things I would like to do with the Hobby, But one thing I have had is success selling collectibles, both reselling things I've found that I know are worth money as well as selling my own painted models and then just things I never got around to, but bought on the whim that "I somehow thought I would".

As a result I thought I formalize the process, changed my ebay user ID to suit , started a wordpress blog to discuss things and use as front end for people who either dont want to use ebay. and then I started selling away. The first thing I am selling under the new moniker is my Warhammer collection. Specifically my huge (4000 something points at last count in 8th ed rules) Empire Army, a lot of notable pieces are already gone but there are like 25 listings happening and more coming.

I wont just be selling old miniatures here but new items I am painting just for sale in certain markets
and occasionally rules, terrain, other things of mine that I've found or just decided to let go.

I''m not doing commission painting, just think of this as venue to for selling my own work.

So please if you have any interest take a look at the first couple posts and my current ebay auctions
and please follow the blog, even if to recommend it to someone. Its not ideal that I'm using my hobby to help "pay the bills" but the time is right and I am having fun moving alot of this stuff.

Things here wont really change, other than I hope to post alot more this year, base10studios is really just about what I am selling and talking about what I am selling at thats it. No need to clutter up thing here with that.

Well, that's whats up, Ill be back soon with some shots of my German Kradschutzen Motorcycle Squad, a fiddly, total  pain in the ass, I almost bailed on a couple time but in the end they are in my Adepticon Nationals list.

Otherworld Skirmish- Burn Baby Burn, Part II

PART 2

TURN 7 

“a creaky unlocked door is easily opened revealing a medium size room off set on its right with two prison . An ominous tension hangs in the air,  as if an invisible weight was suspended overhead”

DUNGEONEERS 1 Fate  2 Activations

This turn is simply movement, opening the door is free action allowing the Barbarian and the Assassin to enter the room while the Wizard and Monk wait but the door. The Assassin reaches the Adventure Token here on his second action so he can’t search until next turn. 
The Defenders having no one on the board, pass, so the Turn ends.

TURN 8

INITIATIVE:  Dungeoneers  5 vs  Denizens 1 :  2 Fate Each

Dungeoneers are going first this turn, and luckily we have 2 Fate. I buy an activation so the now have 3. This allows the Assassin to go first , not burning the Barbarians turn first and using the Leader (1) ability to activate him.

ACTIVATION 1- The Assassin,  Action 1: he searchs the room as a special action ( drawing a card as we remove the Adventure token) And again it’s a Wandering Monster card.  I roll to see who it is and it’s the….

And it comes floating right over the wall!!!

EYE TYRANT!!

Action 2:  As the Eye Tyrant levitates into the room, The Assassin takes a hasty shot with his Crossbow. He needs a 3+  but the Tyrant is a Flyer (flyers are very powerful in OWS as you will see) so the shot is at -1, I'll  need a 4+ and roll a 4. On the wound roll its Str 4 vs Def 3 so I need a 3+ and I roll a”2”,  a miss.

ACTIVATION 2 – The Barbarian,   Action 1: He charges! 

Note: Flyers CANNOT be engaged in Melee, except my Barbarian has a Spear which has the Thrust ability which lets him attack flyers and get an extra die to do so, I he’ll get two dice to attack, and with onslaught I can reroll one of them.

First order of business is we do a opposed roll off for his Rage ability to see if he gets an extra attack.. Morale is 4 for both and the Tyrant wins, so no extra attack for Rage.  The Barbarian attacks once at -1 , and rolls 2 dice and they come up Snake Eyes! A pair of 1’s? what a way to start things off !  He does has “onslaught” so I get to reroll on die and roll  a 3,  just enough to hit!

I give up my second action to use his “great strength” ability this makes my Str 6 vs his Def 3 or a 2+ I roll a 3! , that’s a wound…but wait! The Tyrant has the Otherworldly ability  “Shield of Force” which negates any damage on a 5 or 6, I a roll a “6” so NO WOUND, ok this guy is going to be hard to kill.

ACTIVATION 3 – The Wizard Activates, Action 1:  he moves just a little to get a good line of sight and Action 2 : Casts  his Haste Spell on the Barbarian.  "Haste" if successfully cast will give him a Free Action “even if he’s already activated” 

I roll both my Magic dice, and roll a pair of 3’s for 6 plus his Intelligence of 5 for a total of 11, just enough as the spell needs a 10 to cast. 

The Barbarian attacks again, he rolls a 5 to hit, then a 5 to wound!, The Tyrant’s Shield of Force roll is a 2, even with his 2 fate I cannot stop it. The Eye Tyrant takes his first wound!.

ACTIVATION 4- via "Follower" The Monk, having no ranged attack, and having no way to engage flyers In Melee  is useless here, so I don’t even activate him,.

I do realize at this point thinking about the Monk, that the Web spell will Immobilize the Tyrant making it  no longer “flying” and the Monk can attack it, but first we need to get that Spell off which wont be easy as you will see.

TURN 8   DENIZENS 

EYE TYRANT ,  1 Activation 2 Fate

The Eye Tyrant has many abilities so I’m not sure where to start, I realize right away, things like Strike Fear and Tempest (Slow) are only good if you go First in a turn, going second you need to just blast away,

Action 1: I try an Arcane Bolt, (which is an generic magic missile that is an ability and not a spell) on the Barbarian as I have 2 fate and need to put him down if the Tyrant is going to have a chance. ,  I roll a 6 to hit, , …I roll another 6 to wound !, and then Barbarians save is 2, ouch

The Barbarian  takes his second wound  straight away and  now only has one hit left!

Action 2: 

The Tyrant casts “Pillar of Wrath” which is a Flame Strike, I like the fact that if you successfully cast it its coming down regardless if the to hit roll misses it scatters  and it’s a 3” Blast template  I can aim it anywhere within 12”  this fits nicely over both the Barbarian and the Assassin. He has 3 magic dice on his last activation I roll all three, it only needs a 10 ! I roll a 19, with his 6 Intelligence added. It’s cast, I roll the target roll and it’s a 6! Ooof.  This could be bad.

Both The Barbarians and the Assassin take Str 4 hits but the Barbarian’s Def is 5 so I need a 5, I roll a 3! , nope but I have 2 Fate so I burn both making it a 5! Hit…the Barbarian has a 5+ save, I roll and roll a “5” he lives!...Lucky

The Assassin is much easier to wound at Def 3 He is easily hit, he has the Concealing Cloak ability that does nothing for him here, He also has Dodge, I see that Pillar of Wrath flaming attack is treated as a “weapon” so that means he can try to Dodge it. He needs a 4+. And I roll another “5”  Lucky day for these two..they both survive the direct hit.

 The Battle Continues 

TURN 9

INITIATIVE  Dungeoneers 6 vs Denizens 5 

DUNGEONEERS 2 Activations, 1 Fate

ACTIVATION 1- The Barbarian.

Action 1, Attacks with Spear, rolling two dice thanks to “thrust” ability against this flying menace. I roll a 2 and 4, good enough for a hit.  To wound I again sacrifice his second action, to use “great strength” so I need a 2+ to Wound, I roll a “3” and wound, The Tyrant uses his “Shield of Force” but again rolls a “2” and takes it’s second wound!.

ACTIVATION 2- The Wizard.  Realizing the Wizards web spell is the key to taking this thing down  we give that a try:

Action 1,  Wizard cast the the spell “Mystic Web” I roll a 6 and 1 for 7 plus the Wizard INT of 5 = 12!! Just enough to get the spell off, Unfortunately since I rolled a “1” on a casting dice this has two negative effects:

1-      Any caster upon rolling a “1” during the casting attempt exerts himself too much and is finished activating for the turn, drained

2-      Any “1” roll during the casting attempt, triggers the Eye Tyrants “All in the Eye” Special Ability automatically negating the spell (anti magic eye)

Pffffffff.

ACTIVATION 3   The Assassin , via Leader (1) takes an Aimed crossbow shot, hoping to get lucky His shot is a  base 3+ ,  adjusted for Aimed = 2+ ,  adjusted again for "Flyer" back to 3+ 

I roll a “1” , 

ACTIVATION 4 – The Monk,  via Follower.   Can’t do anything to injure the Eye Tyrant so I just move him away from the others knowing the Tyrant is going to blast them again next turn.

TURN 9   DENIZENS 

EYE TYRANT ,  1 Activation 

Action 1:   Casts Pillar of Wrath using all  3 Magic Dice again,  because his other two spells are only useful if he goes first in a turn.   Again the spell is easily cast  with a 4,2 and 6 + 6 INT for an 18.

Again the Barbarian and Assassin are Target and the spell is on target with a roll of “4” however both rolls to wound are terrible with a “3” and “1” and with no Fate to help out they both again avoid flaming death!.

Action 2:  Its clear to me against our heroes outnumbered 4 to 1, the Eye Tyrant is at  serious disadvantage, we need some other minions in the fray in order give it some flexibility and tie up the Barbarian, because If the Wizard just uses Haste again,  we will surely lose its last his sooner than later.

With that- I decide since the Tyrant is on it's home turf, it knows all sorts of ways while flying to navigate around this Dungeon (only makes sense) so I have him fly over the wall out of LoS of the its opponents., Since its not physically in combat with Barbarian as its “Flying” we don’t risk an Agility test and potential free strike for leaving combat. So the Tyrant simply floats out of the room, to stay on the board and engage them later when we get something else on the board.

That ends this  combat for the time being.

The Eye Tyrants got many tricks up it sleeve.

 TURNS 10, 11, 12, and 13

The next 4 turns all involve me moving about the Dungeon toward Adventure tokens, I manage to uncover three more during the 4 turns all the While I am moving the Eye Tyrant on its Turns into a position where if another member of the Denizens faction is revealed, the Eye Tyrant can float in an join the battle, The Adventure Deck, however has other plans

The Next three card turned are:

Strongbox 1VP to the Dungeoneers

The “Power Gamer” card  which is boon to the Defender giving them a “3D6 choose the best die” Bonus on any attack, statistic or morale test.

The “Saving Throw” card another boon to the Defenders where the next successful melee attack is an auto miss, the only catch is you have to declare it in advance.This leaves only two Adventure tokens left

TURN 14

INITIATIVE   6 vs 6 !  No Fate

Since it’s a tie and the last round went to the Dungeoneers, this time its to the Denizens, so the Eye Tyrant goes first. At the end of turn 13, on the Assassins second action, I had him open the door leading to the hallway, this was not particularly wise seeing how the Initiative went .

I was hesitant to engage them as I really want the Troll on the board, but I just cant resist the juicy target I am seeing.

TURN 14  DENIZENS 

EYE TYRANT, 1 Activation , 0 Fate

Action 1:  I have the Eye Tyrant move a couple inches into line of sight of the group and well within spell range

Action 2:  Casting Pillar of Wrath I can target all 4 of them with one flame strike and I successfully cast it using all three magic dice again. To make sure I hit them , I use the “power gamer” card to roll 3 dice and pick the best one I roll a 1,4,and 6 , considering the "1" there I am glad I did. 

Rolling wounds against all them, again the Barbarian and Assassin avoid injury, they just seem totally flame proof  BUT the Wizard and Monk are not so lucky and both take wounds, (the Wizards Shield of Force roll failing with a “2”) 

Not the ideal outcome the Tyrant was hoping for , I now have to hope he can survive this next round and potentially escape again!.

The lure of this potentially being devastating to the Dungeoneer was to great, in the end it was a poor choice

TURN 14

DUNGEONEERS, 2 Activations, 0 Fate

ACTIVATION 1 The Barbarian  Action 1:  He has take a move action 1st in order to get line of sight Action 2:  He Charges!! Once again we try to make the “Rage” roll to see if he get the extra attac and .He fails it again!- I guess he’s just not that mad?

Since I am only getting one attack at -1,  I now uses the Tyrant’s “saving throw” card to declare this attack a miss, so it doesn’t matter what I do, I avoided the most likely cause of the Eye Tyrant untimely demise.

ACTIVATION 2- The Wizard. As tempted as I am to “Hasten” the Barbarian again , his one attack, against the possibility that IF I can get the Web spell off, I can get the Assassin and the Monk into melee for alot more chances  seems like the pragmatic thing to do. I decide to have him try to cast "Mystic Web" again , and again its successfully cast! but this time the Tyrant’s magic resistance nips it in the bud, I should have cast haste , Its just way to hard to cast spells against the Eye Tyrant (as it should be)

Casting Spells against the Eye Tyrant is just a lost cause.

ACTIVATION 3- The Monk, via Follower.  I again just move the Monk out of the way and potentially somewhere useful for the next turn.

ACTIVATION 4-  The Assassin, via Leader (1)  Getting down to eye level I see the Assassin has clear, unobstructed shot at the Tyrant (right in its mouth)  I go for the aimed crossbow shot.

I roll a 6 to hit! Then a "4"  to wound….Potentially a lethal blow , 

and the Tyrants , Shield of Force roll is a

It loses it last hit and is incapacitated.

And the Eye Tyrant goes down to an unceremonious crossbow bolt.

I was hoping for something a bit more epic, going to down to crossbow bolt was sort of anti climatic.

END PHASE – I remove the Eye Tyrant from the field.

Note:  In the end , I think The Tyrant as spec’d is a pretty tough monster , especially if not alone in the Skirmish, but at 100 points , more than any other creature in the rule book, except Dragons, I was left wanting more, I feel I pushed it as hard as I could as a solo creature, the spell selection just isn’t that great, other options were Sleep, which is great spell if you have a bunch of minions to swarm the prone victims, or summoning demons or animating undead but neither of those felt “true to form”.  I just didn’t get the right situation to get  Fear or Slow spells to be useful.

 I feel what it is lacking is both a third activation , or if we don’t want to open that door in the game, make it a free activation as an additional special ability, and then some sort of powerful beam attack of say strength 6 to mimic the infamous disintegration ray, then this thing would be the renown beast that terrorized millions of role playing gamers.

TURN 15

“ After defeating the horrifying Eye Tyrant, the wounded hunters continue the search for the missing artifact”

“It must here somewhere followed by a string of epithets from the Assassin as he kicks loose a crumbling section of wall”

(a strange living , writhing , Sound is heard ) “what’s that? The Wizard asks annoyingly, “Not good” the Monk flatly replies  . A long black line of large dung wreaking  dog sized rats ooze from the wall  quickly filling the room and hallway

( nothing happens here but the Adventure token is flipped , a wandering monster card revealed and the rats are rolled)

TURN 16

INITIATIVE 6 Denizens vs 1 Dungeoneers    3 Fate vs 2 Fate

DENIZENS  6 activations 3 Fate

Ok ,wow!  if I had just be able to wait it these rats really would have helped the Tyrant out, just by the activations, they are just rats but lets see what they can do, with mob leader 3 we will be able to use all that fate to increase die rolls.

I’ll spare you die rolls here, it was long fight with 12 rats, but needing 7’s to hit on the charge  and 6’s afterword, with 5+ at best to wound, even with the 3 fate they only managed to hit and wound twice and both times were dodged by the Assassin and Monk. 

The Dungeoneers killed 5 the first turn and 4 the next the last 3 scattering on a fail morale check during the end phase of turn 17

Thats alot of Rats!

TURN 18

INITIATIVE   Dungeoneers 5 vs Denizens 2  2 Fate vs 1 Fate

“Moving down the hall the dungeon walls turns to wet cavern stone, a sticky musty odor of rot hangs in the air, decaying bones and some filthy bedding indicate this is some large creatures lair”

DUNGEONEERS- 2 Activations, 2 Fate

I use the Fate to buy an Activation here so in case I uncover the Troll  The Barbarians isnt limited to go first in order for me to activate the Assassin. 

 I have the Assassin move over the last adventure token here and I draw a card and its “the Swing Log” a Trap card, The damn Troll has trapped his lair!  

The Swing Log is a Strength Test needing 7, the Assassin rolls a “2” is only Strength 3 so the 5 wont do it.. It’s a Strength 5 hit and easily hits on a 2+ and would have wounded him except “Dodge” saves him again with a 4+ save.

"Dodge" clearly a mandatory skill for lightly armored characters as long as their Agility is at least a 3

TURN 19, 20, 21

At this point I have cleared all 8 Adventure tokens , the Troll still remains in play and we have not recovered the Treasure card, I have the Dungeoneers make their way back toward the exit , the next 3 turns drawing a card each time.

I get the Golden Idol,  1 VP to Dungeoneers

Jewels, 2 VP to the Dungeoneers

A Spike Trap!! (which is disarmed by the Assassin, with a successful agility test)

Since we haven’t found the  "Treasure Chest"  card yet but have recovered more VP that its worth, and the Dungeoneers are close to the exit, I  decide I’ll call it day, I draw one more Card and its, of course, The Troll blocking their escape.

                          The Final Fight begins

TURN 22

INITIATIVE   Dungeoneers 4, Denizens 2,  1 Fate each

DUNGEONEERS, 2 Activations, 1 Fate

The Dungeoneers get very lucky here as the Troll did not get the jump on them.

ACTIVATION  1  The Barbarian.   Action 1: Charge!. Rage Roll again Morale of 4 vs 4 and I roll 4 vs 3 in Favor of the Barbarian

He finally get his extra attack, even with “thrust” I need use his Onslaught roll but hit both times, I need pass my test against Fearsome and I do,,with a 6.. to at a very good defense of 5, I need to roll 5’s roll a 4 and a 5 burning 1 fate to get the second wound, Normally this would kill it but this troll is upgraded so it has a third hit.

Action 2: I attack again Hit but do not wound!

ACTIVATION 2 The Assassin, via Leader (1).  Action 1: aimed shot,  3+, but increase to 2+ because its Large!...hit with a 6 but does not wound it with a 4!, ( need a 5)

ACTIVATION 3, The Wizard.  Action 1: Casts Haste on the Barbarian.. rolls 3, and 3 for a total of 11, a success!

Barbarian  attacks hits with a 4 and wounds with 6!  We put the troll down, its incapacitated.

The Troll get puts down, but with Regeneration, he can get right back up!

 ACTIVATION 4, via “follower” The Monk  Action 1: moves into a better position if the troll gets back up in the End Phase thru Regeneration

END PHASE

Before I remove the Troll, I roll 1d6 for each  on a 6 the hit comes back , I roll, 1,4,6, The Troll is back with one hit.

TURN 23

INITIATIVE   Dungeoneers 1, Denizens 4,  Fate 2 vs 1

TROLL - 1 activation , 2 Fate

Action 1, Attacks Barbarian,  hits with a 6 with a Rending attack, its Strength 5 its only needs a 4 + to wound the Barbarian , Rend is Brutal so I roll 2 dice and pick the highest, I roll a 5 and 1,

The Barbarian has a 5+ save and rolls a 1!!! He is down and incapacitated.

Last Stand of the Barbarian Chief,  He finally is killed in action.

Action 2:  Troll Charges the Monk!  Need a 5 on the charge to hit due to the -1, I roll a 3 but can use both fate to make it a hit. The Troll at Str 5 only needs a 2+ to wound the Monk and rolls a 5 but the Monk can Dodge on a 4+ and Does!.

DUNGEONEERS  2 Actions no Fate (used during Trolls turn)

ACTIVATION  1 – I need to Activate the Wizard First if  I want all three to be able to go

Action 1, Uses Arcane Bolt. The troll is large so it’s a 3+, he rolls a “1”

Action 2, Repeat Uses Arcane Bolt. The troll is large so it’s a 3+, he rolls a “1”

Sigh…

ACTIVATION 2 ,via Follower, The Monk

Action 1 Brawl attack Hits , cannot wound with 2

Action 2 Brawl attack hits, cannot wound with 3, needs 5

ACTIVATION  3- The Assassin,

Action 1:  Aimed Shot,  hits with a 6 and wounds with a 5!,  the crossbow is deadly again this day and the Troll falls..

took a couple rounds, but Regeneration is tough!!

END PHASE

I remove the Barbarian from play as he is dead.  As for the Troll, As far as I read it looks you roll for all a creatures lost hit when you check Regeneration which means it has a good chance of getting back up (and why fire is key against them) but I a roll a 2, 3 and a 5, and 3 Dungeoneers exit the Dungeon victorious, the 4^th dying in battle at the last moment so his comrades could exit.. To Valhalla!!

Final Thoughts

Compared to my first game at only 4 turns long, this game at 23 turns was pretty epic. That's completely due to placing all the Defenders as Wandering Monsters in the Adventure Deck.

 If I run something like this again I will make sure I get enough creatures on the board at once to make it a more even playing field. Should the Dungeoneers had facedany combination of two between the Spiders, Eye Tyrant and Troll, it would have been a very tough fight.  I thought the Characters performed well, The Barbarian was a total tank and damage sponge, The Assassins upgraded crossbow shot was absolutely ace, but lack of other range support really limited his chance to use his other abilities, The Wizard did ok, was very durable, but  just didn’t get the right opportunity to shine  

Note :On Wizards=the game. No question needs more spells!!! which shouldn’t be too tough as there is a zillion of them out there to rework!

The only let down was the Monk, it just wasn’t his element, he would have been a terror in my first game as hero against things like wolves and goblins, he tore right thru his Rats no problem but just didn’t have the luck against the tougher creatures.  On the Defender side, I’ve already commented on the Spiders and the Eye Tyrant, the Troll, upgraded was a very tough fight as you saw…If that monk had missed that Dodge roll and went down and the Troll had another turn, he easily could have killed them all.  As an “out of the box” minion 2 Trolls for 50 points is  very good addition to any Evil warband.

Next up, I running a single scenario on 2 x 2 board another Adventurers vs Monsters scenario called “BAIT!” I’ll let you guess who’s who there, it should not be more than single report, I’m going to run that one Faction vs Faction straight out of the book .hopefully I’ll get to this weekend, until then Thanks for reading!. 

Three make it out alive!