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giorgis 5:19 pm on January 19, 2020 Permalink | Reply
Tags: Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer, Zweihander ( 3 )

Evie’s Company – Zwei-hammer Session 1
I’ll begin with rolling on BOLD connections. I will reward the characters with 50 reward points for each combination used.

Verb Gerund Noun

negotiate preparing party member

digress avoiding wealth

proclaim working a fear

So there are three day and three night watches that last 4 hours each. On each watch I will be rolling for encounters and in the HFGE.

CRGE at this point is in a state of “To Knowledge”.

I will roll on Zweihander to see what season it is.
98: It’s Winter.
I will roll on Zweihander to see the general weather descriptor.
It’s cold, clear, windy.

Day 1. Watch 3.

Encounter Engine: 3: Goto 5: Wandering Monster.
Terrain Engine: 5: Goto 3: Plains
Weather Engine: 9: Goto 6: Showers. Since the weather is Cold, I decide it’s sleet.
Encounter Number: 15: Ogre

Encounter Generator: 3/17: No encounter

So we got some Ogres. I’ll start asking some questions.

Q: Have the Ogres detected the party? (Likely, it’s a large party).
A: No. One of the guards, scouted ahead and reported back to the group.
Q: Are there many Ogres?
A: Yes, and unexpectedly.
There are 1d6+2=6 Ogres.
Unexpectedly: Key Grip. Wrap up and move towards the next scene. Doesn’t make any sense. I will disregard this and keep the surge count at 4.
Q: Did the Ogres appear to be orcish?
A: Yes, and they carried war banners with them. They are definitely stragglers from the disbanded horde.

Donjon: Ergarad: Female Human Soldier, Neutral. Ergarad is stout, with red hair and narrow green eyes. She wears studded leather and wields a military pick. Ergarad is inquisitive and soft-hearted.
Evie will try to use “digress avoiding party member”

Evie’s company escorts the group of refugees. Ergarad, a town guard has moved ahead of the group to scout.
A few clouds have covered the skies and lightly shower the company with sleet.
“Gustav, why do you think Bianka didn’t protest us leaving her behind?” Evie asks Gustav.
“Who knows my lady, maybe the prestige you emanate made her aware of her roots and she couldn’t handle it.” Gustav replies.
“Filthy lowborns. They should know their status and stay put. What does she expect? To become rich killing rats?” Rudiger intervenes.
“If they’re the size we found in the sewers, that wouldn’t surprise me. Don’t be so harsh Rudiger. She’s proven her mettle against orcs, skeletons and beasts”. Evie puts Rudiger back in line, as they see the scout return in the distance.

“Ogres. Half a dozen. Up ahead in the road.” Ergarad says trying to catch her breath.
“Did they see you?” Rudiger asks.
“No. I came back as fast as I could. They’re certainly part of the orc horde.” She adds.
The commoners start muttering. Some are scared.

Q: Do they ask to return to Westenhofen?
A: No

“We should find a way around them” Gustav proposes. The group agrees. Evie realizes she can’t force the commoners to fight ogres, so she doesn’t refuse.
“We’ll lose a whole day to circumvent them, but I think it’s worth it.” She adds in the end.

So they will abandon the Road hex. In the next two hexes they will make navigation rolls. If they succeed, they will manage to get back on the road, irrespective of the HFGE.

Day 1. Watch 4.

Encounter Engine: 7: Goto 1: Small settlement.
Terrain Engine: 6: Goto 18: Hills
Weather Engine: 7: Goto 16: Storm.

Encounter Generator: 1/16: No encounter

The heavy sleet rain caused 2d10+2 Peril: 15. All are at Ignore 1 Skill Rank.

The few clouds give way to dark thick clouds. The rumble of thunder fills the sky as lightning strikes in the distance. Heavy sleet falls on the caravan and walking has turned into a chore as they walk off road.
The path through the plains slowly leads a way to the hills and the ascent is harder and harder.
Everyone is soaking cold wet as they reach a small settlement. It must be a handful of houses comprising of a community.
“Cover at last!” Ergarad exclaims and starts to walk towards one of the houses, but Evie motions to Rudiger, who in turn grabs Ergarad’s shoulder.
Evie recalls the events leading them to the Hooded Man. An eerie feeling overcomes her.
“It’s too dangerous! We must move on.” She tells the group.
“But the fish are more dry than we are!” A man protests.
“Do you want to sleep with them then?” Rudiger asks intimidatingly.

Evie will try to persuade them. I’m not quite sure which skill should be used for a simple persuasion check. I’ll use Charm in this case.
The Silver Tongue talent applies but Evie’s Charm skill rank doesn’t apply for a total of +20.

Evie: Charm (62): 68: Failure
Rudiger intervenes (Tyranny applies): Intimidation Routine (55): 17: Success. 6 Degrees of Success.
Commoners: Resolve (45): 23: Success: 5 Degrees of Success.
Due to frightening bellow, they suffer from Stress as well.
They suffer 1d10+1 mental Peril: 8/6: They move a further step down to Ignore 2 Skill Ranks. They also gain 3 Corruption Points.

“Our travels have shown us that it’s not safe to enter unknown dwellings in the countryside. Orcs could have taken shelter here. You haven’t left the walls of Westenhofen in a long time. Maybe your whole lives. Let us guide you.” Evie appeals to them without success.
“You think because you have some noble blood you get to tell us what to do? We’re cold, wet and we need shelter. We’re going inside.” Says one of the men and continues towards the houses.
“WHERE do you think you’re going?” Rudiger’s bass voice echoes as he puts his hand on the hilt. “We’re a team and the risk is too high. Discussions are over. Unless you want to try your fate with me” he adds and looks at each of them menacingly. They look at each other and put their heads down.

Rudiger will try to use “proclaim preparing a fear”

They all move in silence after Rudiger’s scary display of power.
As they head away from the settlement, some of them wonder if they made the right choice following this party of adventurers.
Rudiger turns to Evie. “These vermin must learn their place.”
Evie isn’t worried yet about Rudiger’s display. It’s not the first time she has seen him like that. And in both cases he has saved the day.
She nods at Rudiger. “When they can’t listen to reason, we can’t have them risking our safety. I understand. Just stick to scaring them. I don’t want us to have to explain any deaths. We have enough on our plates.”

Gustav: Eavesdropping (42): 9: Success

“We will clear our name lady.” Gustav who has heard the conversation intervenes. “Surely your father’s name will be enough to shed light to any confusion regarding past events. Also, if you don’t mind me saying, we don’t know if our accusers have survived.”
Evie smiles. She knows well her servant. She doesn’t need to keep up appearances like she did in court. “Maybe. Who knows if our luck has changed.” She responds.

Since no member of the party has the Navigation skill I want to ask if there is a member in the caravan who does. I ask UNE Power Level, and get Comparable. So, no one has the Navigation skill. Gustav has the highest intelligence so he gets to try.

Gustav: Navigation (45): 49: Failure

So unless they get a critical success in the next hex, they will lose track of the road.

Day 1. Watch 5.

Encounter Engine: 9: Goto 6: distant/improbable lair/monster settlement.
Terrain Engine: 10: Goto 19: Mountains
Weather Engine: 8: Goto 13: Overcast.
Encounter Number: 19: Lion

Encounter Generator: 16/19: No encounter

In order to facilitate the distant/improbable chance for the lion’s den, I will give an extra awareness roll for the party.

Under the heavy sleet rain, their path leads them upwards and upwards. The sleet stops, but mud is everywhere and the hills have turned into mountains.
“We will need to find shelter soon.” Ergarad finds the courage to tell the party. She’s talking to Evie, but looking at Rudiger.
“We should have found shelter already. Night will fall quickly in the mountains.” Rudiger agrees.

Gustav will try to use “negotiate working wealth”

Gustav finds an opportunity to talk to Evie alone. “My lady. Our resources are dwindling. If we are to succeed we’re going to need crowns. Maybe we should see to returning to the estate. Your income may cover this, otherwise we might have to… find some work. But this isn’t for a lady of your status!”
“There! There is a cave in the distance.” Someone from the caravan shouts to them, interrupting Gustav before Evie has a chance to answer.
“Gustav. Go ahead. Check it out.” Evie orders her servant.

Gustav: Awareness (42): 71: Failure.

Gustav returns a couple of minutes later. “The cave mouth seems big enough lady, for all of us. But we’ll need to reach it to say for sure.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go!” Evie decides, and the caravan sighs in relief.

Q: Are there any remains outside the entrance of the cave?
A: No
Q: Are there lions outside?
A: No

Through the forested mountains, the group reaches the cave. In front of the cave is a plateau, and the mountainside goes straight up behind it. The cave is right in front, suggesting a big size.
They take a good look, and decide to go inside. The cold of the night will surely take its toll and they can’t risk it.

Gustav: Awareness (45): 45: Success
Q: Are there lions inside? (Likely)
A: No
Q: Are there many visible remains in the cave?
A: Yes, and unexpectedly

So mountain lions are primarily nocturnal and are most active at dusk/dawn. Therefore they should have left for the hunt.

Unexpectedly: entering the red

Oh! And they heard the party and return just in time as the group enters the cave. There’s no escape!
How many lions? 1d6+2: 7

Ostler: Handle Animals (55): 98: Failure. The horse turns and flees.

Q: Is the group surprised? (Likely)
A: Yes, and all of them didn’t expect this.

As the group goes inside, Gustav notices bones in a corner of the cave.
They start investigating.
Rudiger picks up a rib cage and sees teeth marks, right as they hear a loud growl and a scream. The horse neighs, kicks at its master and gallops off outside before they can react.
They turn around and see a pack of seven mountain lions blocking the cave entrance.
They draw their weapons as the lions attack the unarmed commoners.

Note: Below follow the mechanics of the combat. I have only included them to show how tough it was for me to run this battle. I really recommend that you jump over this part and go to the narrative in the end.

Setting up the combat scene. The party and the guards should have entered deeper into the cave. It’s the most logical thing to do since they need to scout ahead.

Q: Are they deeper into the cave? (Likely)
A: Yes and the commoners are alone in the rear it will take an extra 1d3 rounds to reach them.
Q: Do the commoners bear any kind of arms?
A: Yes

I will randomly roll the profession of each commoner as they get locked into combat with the mountain lions. They will have the relevant trappings.
I will use the Underlings rules for the commoners but not for the mountain lions.
The mountain lions by default will keep 2APs for Punishing attacks.

Round 1:
Surprise Turn:
Each mountain lion charges at a commoner. On first sighting they cause Stress, so I will roll a general Intimidate for the Mountain Lions. If successful, I will roll separate resolve for each party member and a general resolve for the NPCs.
ML: Intimidate (50): 27: Success: 7 Degrees of Success.
Evie: Dauntless! She can’t be intimidated.
Gustav: Resolve (40): 74: Failure.
Rudiger: Resolve (41): 6: Success: 4 Degrees of Success.
Commoners: Resolve (45): 76: Failure.
All but Evie suffer from Stress: 1d10+1: 3 Peril. No Further peril and 3 Corruption points.
ML1 vs Artisan: Melee Attack (60): 42: Damage: 11/4: Moderately Wounded: Injury: No Injury
Resist Takedown (45): 15: Success.
ML2 vs Jailer: Melee Attack (60): 8: Damage: 16/4: Moderately Wounded: Injury: No Injury
Resist Takedown (45): 81: Failure. Prone.
ML3 vs Servant: Melee Attack (60): 44: Damage: 16/4: Moderately Wounded: Injury: No Injury
Resist Takedown (45): 80: Failure: Prone
ML4 vs Rat Catcher: Melee Attack (60): 31: Damage: 12/4: Moderately Wounded: Injury: No Injury
Resist Takedown (45): 93: Failure: Prone
ML5 vs Peasant: Melee Attack (60): 74: Failure
ML6 vs Doomsayer: Melee Attack (60): 99: Critical Failure
ML7 vs Peasant: Melee Attack (60): 20: Damage: 15/4: Moderately Wounded: Injury: Moderate Injury. Bleeds. Underling: Slain!

Turn 1:
Initiative:
Evie: 18
Gustav: 11
Rudiger: 9
Commoners: 9
ML: 10

ML1 vs Artisan: Melee Attack (60): 44: Critical, Damage: 12/4: Grievously Wounded: Injury: Grievous Injury. Bleeds. Underling: Slain!
ML2 vs Jailer: Melee Attack (60): 20.
-Jailer Defends with Shiv (45): 76: Failure. Damage: 14/4: Grievously Wounded: Injury: Grievous Injury. Bleeds. Underling: Slain!
ML3 vs Servant: Melee Attack (60): 85: Failure.
ML4 vs Rat Catcher: Melee Attack (60): 35.
-Rat Catcher Defends with Shiv (45): 71: Failure. Damage: 16/4: Grievously Wounded: Injury: No Injury.
ML5 vs Peasant: Melee Attack (60): 47: Success.
-Peasant Defends with Threshing Flail (45): 39: Success.
ML6 vs Doomsayer: Melee Attack (60): 90: Failure
ML7 vs Laborer: Melee Attack (60): 59: Success.
-Laborer defends with Splitting Maul (45): 54: Failure. Damage: 22/4: Grievously Wounded: Injury: Grievous Injury. Bleeds. Underling: Slain!

So 4 Commoners Dead. The remaining 3 locked in combat will attempt to fight back. The rest are too scared to do anything.

Servant attacks ML3 (45): 26: Success.
-ML3 will parry (60): 44: Critical Success.
Rat Catcher attacks ML4 (45): 72: Failure.
Peasant attacks ML5 (45): 21: Success.
-ML5 will parry (70): 74: Failure. Damage: 9/6: Lightly Wounded.
Doomsayer attacks ML6 (45): 85: Failure.

The party and the guards spend three turns in movement to join the combat.

Round 2:
Evie attacks ML1 (45): 2: Success.
-ML1 Parries (50): 78: Failure. Damage: 8/6: Lightly Wounded.
Gustav attacks ML1 (50): 18: Success.
Damage: 10/6: Moderately Wounded. Injury: No injury.
ML1 attacks Evie (60): 76: Failure.
ML2 attacks Gustav (60): 97: Failure.
ML3 attacks Servant (60): 55: Critical Success. Damage: 14/4: Grievously Wounded. Injury: Grievous Injury. Bleeds. Underling: Slain.
ML4 attacks Rat Catcher (60): 35: Success.
-Rat catcher parry (45): 14: Success
ML5 attacks Peasant (60): 93: Failure
ML6 attacks Doomsayer (60): 82: Failure
ML7 attacks Rudiger (60): 84: Failure
Rudiger attacks ML7 (42): 42: Success.
-ML7 parries (60): 12: Success
Sword & Board: (42): 88: Critical Failure
Ergarad attacks ML7 (45): 10: Success.
-ML7 parries (60): 04: Success
Guard attacks ML6 (45): 23: Success.
-ML6 parries (60): 36: Success
Rat Catcher attacks ML4 (45): 47: Failure.
Peasant attacks ML5 (45): 22: Critical Success.
Damage: 7/6: Moderately Wounded. Injury: No Injury.
Doomsayer attacks ML6 (45): 00: Critical Failure.

Round 3:
Evie attacks ML1 (45): 46: Failure.
Gustav attacks ML1 (40): 35: Success.
-ML1 Parries (70): 90: Failure. Damage: 10/6: Severely Wounded: Injury: No Injury.
ML1 attacks Evie (60): 34: Success.
-Evie parries (42): 24: Success.
ML2 attacks Gustav (60): 61: Failure.
ML3 attacks Rat Catcher (60): 24: Success.
-Rat Catcher parries (45): 45: Success
ML4 attacks Rat Catcher (60): 51: Success.
-Rat Catcher parries (45): 9: Success
ML5 attacks Peasant (60): 19: Success.
-Peasant parries (45): 99: Critical Failure. Damage: 16/4: Moderately Wounded. Injury: Moderate Injury. Bleeds. Underling: Slain!
ML6 attacks Doomsayer (60): 67: Failure
ML7 attacks Rudiger (60): 10: Success.
-Rudiger parries (52): 1: Success
Rudiger attacks ML7 (42): 72: Failure.
Ergarad attacks ML7 (45): 42: Success.
-ML7 parries (60): 35: Success
Guard attacks ML6 (45): 41: Success.
-ML6 parries (60): 45: Success
Rat Catcher attacks ML4 (45): 44: Critical Success. Damage: 6/6: No damage.
Doomsayer attacks ML6 (45): 31: Success.
-ML6 parries (60): 12: Success

Round 4:

Note: I’m kind of bored. There is almost no progress and everything is so tiresome. Zweihander isn’t meant to run 10+ opponents combat solo. So I scratched that and decided to go on another approach. More narrative.
Lions are animal predators. They kill to eat, for sport or for territory.

Evie: Easy Leadership (62): 91: Failure
They will try to disengage and move tactically outside.

Evie: Maneuver
Gustav: Maneuver

Q: Do the lions go after Evie and Gustav?
A: Yes, and they’re unlikely to disengage easily.

ML1 hustles & attacks Evie (60): 43: Success.
-Evie parries (42): 39: Success.
ML2 hustles & attacks Gustav (60): 24: Success.
-Gustav parries (40): 3: Success
ML3 attacks Rat Catcher (60): 83: Failure.
ML4 attacks Rat Catcher (60): 94: Failure.
ML5 attacks Doomsayer (60): 6: Success.
Doomsayer parries (45): 54: Failure. Damage: 16/4: Moderately Wounded. Injury: No Injury.
ML6 attacks Doomsayer (60): 5: Success.
-Doomsayer parries (45): 27: Success.
ML7 attacks Rudiger (60): 98: Failure.
Rudiger: Attack ML7 & Maneuver
Rudiger: Attack (42): 73: Failure
Rudiger: Maneuvers
Ergarad attacks ML7 (45): 39: Success.
-ML7 parries (60): 5: Success
Ergarad: Maneuvers
Guard attacks ML6 (45): 36: Success.
-ML6 parries (60): 54: Success
Guard: Maneuvers
Rat Catcher attacks ML4 (45): 81: Failure
Doomsayer attacks ML6 (45): 43: Success.
-ML6 parries (60): 72: Failure. Damage: 10/6: Lightly Wounded

Q: Do the disengaged commoners maneuver out?
A: Yes

Round 5:
So much for my plan for a different approach.
This is no longer fun for me.

I’m not yet willing to abandon Zweihander since I believe this to be partly my fault trying to run such a large fight. But everything is sooo slow.

Evie attacks ML1 (45): 19: Success.
-ML1 Parries (50): 93: Failure. Damage: 11/12: Grievously Wounded: Injury: No Injury.
Gustav attacks ML1 (40): 64: Failure.
ML1 attacks Evie (60): 85: Failure.
ML2 attacks Gustav (60): 52: Success.
-Gustav parries (30): 13: Success
ML3 attacks Rat Catcher (60): 19: Success.
-Rat Catcher parries (45): 72: Failure. Damage: 13/16: Moderately Wounded: Injury: Moderate Injury. Bleeds. Underling: Slain.
ML4 hustles & attacks Ergarad (60): 70: Failure.
ML5 attacks Doomsayer (60): 8: Success.
-Doomsayer parries (45): 3: Success.
ML6 attacks Doomsayer (60): 88: Critical Failure
ML7 attacks Rudiger (60): 95: Failure.
Rudiger attacks ML7 (42): 54: Failure.
Ergarad attacks ML7 (45): 93: Failure.
Guard attacks ML6 (45): 73: Failure.
Doomsayer attacks ML6 (45): 82: Failure.

Round 6:

Evie attacks ML1 (45): 79: Failure.
Gustav attacks ML1 (40): 94: Failure.
ML1 maneuvers away.
ML2 attacks Gustav (60): 51: Success.
-Gustav parries (30): 72: Failure. Damage: 16/4: Moderately Wounded. Injury: Moderate Injury: Hyperextended Elbow.
ML3 hustles & attacks Evie (60): 48: Success.
-Evie parries (45): Failure. Damage: 9/9: Lightly Wounded.
ML4 attacks Ergarad (60): 79: Failure.
ML5 attacks Doomsayer (60): 49: Success.
-Doomsayer parries (45): 82: Failure. Damage: 20/22: Slain!
ML6 hustles & attacks Guard (60): 71: Failure
ML7 attacks Rudiger (60): 85: Failure.
Rudiger attacks ML7 (42): 75: Failure.
Ergarad attacks ML7 (45): 93: Failure.
Guard attacks ML6 (45): 36: Success.
-ML6 parries (50): 12: Success.

Round 7:
So this drags on and on. I was about to switch to Oracle combat resolution but I’ll stick to Zweihander.

Evie attacks ML2 (45): 66: Critical Failure.
Gustav attacks ML2 (40): 3: Success.
-ML2 parries (70): 7: Success
ML2 attacks Gustav (60): 35: Success.
-Gustav parries (40): 73: Failure. Damage: 14/4: Grievously Wounded. Injury: No injury.
ML3 attacks Evie (60): 69: Failure.
ML4 attacks Ergarad (60): 82: Failure.
ML5 hustles & attacks Ergarad (60): 49: Success.
-Ergarad parries (45): 61: Failure. Damage: 23/23: Grievously Wounded. Injury: Grievous Injury: Severed Artery: Slain!
ML6 attacks Guard (60): 88: Critical Failure
ML7 attacks Rudiger (60): 72: Failure.
Rudiger attacks ML7 (42): 50: Failure.
Guard attacks ML6 (45): 97: Failure.

Round 8:
Since this goes to slaughter, the party members will attempt to run for their lives.

Evie: Runs
ML3 attack of opportunity (60): 14: Success: Damage: 7/3: Moderately Wounded: Injury: No Injury. Evie Resist Takedown: 14: Success. Evie Runs Away!
Gustav: Runs
ML2 attack of opportunity (60): 25: Success: Damage: 15/6: Slain. Fate Point!: Escapes Death. Gustav runs away!

Q: Does ML2, ML3 go after the party who fled or the commoners?
A: False Presupposition
They attack the combatants. The guard and Rudiger.

ML2 hustles and attacks the guard (60): 48: Success.
-Guard parry (45): 98: Failure. Damage: 12/6: Moderately Wounded: Injury: No Injury.
ML3 hustles and attacks Rudiger (60): 39: Damage: 12/9: Lightly Wounded
ML4 hustles and attacks the Guard (60): 68: Failure
ML5 hustles and attacks Rudiger (60): 76: Failure
ML6 attacks the guard (60): 32: Success
-Guard parries (45): 77: Critical Failure. Damage: 13/7: Severely Wounded. Injury: No Injury.
ML7 attacks Rudiger (60): 79: Failure
Rudiger: Runs away
ML3 attack of opportunity (60): 75: Failure
ML5 attack of opportunity (60): 1: Success. Damage: 14/9: Moderately Wounded: Injury: No Injury
ML7 attacks of opportunity (60): 38: Success. Damage: 17/9: Grievously Wounded: Injury: Grievous Iniury: Fate Point: No Damage.
Guard attacks ML6 (45): 17: Success.
-ML6 Parries (60): 29: Success

Combat narrative

The lion pack jumps on the surprised group. Claws are dug deep into shoulders. Teeth rip off chunks of meat. The lions prove their predator nature as the scared caravan looks in horror.
The few men and women locked in combat try to fend off the beasts but they cannot.
The guards and Evie’s party join up trying to make an opening out of the cave. But the lions are set up in a way that this is so difficult.
“Everyone! Gather together in a formation! Light torches! Keep them at bay!” Evie shouts.
No one seems to listen. The beast growls cover the sound of her voice.
Slowly the party maneuvers in a way so as the cave exit is behind them, and the lions are in the inside.
Blows are exchanged and the commoners perish one by one. Gustav and Evie are wounded.
Ergarad the guard, is jumped upon by a lion that severs her artery. Blood speed everywhere and she falls down dead.
“Let’s make a run for it! They have enough to eat for the whole winter! Run!” Rudiger shouts. Evie and Gustav run away, and the lions lash at them, but by some divine grace they survive.
Rudiger and the other guard are left alone against the lions. As they fend off their last strikes, Rudiger runs away as the guard keeps fighting.

Far away from the cave, they look at their wounds and each other as they pause for a second to catch their breath.
Their looks speak volumes. Did anyone else survive?
They took these men and women with them for a better future and they all ended up as food.
And they’re in a sorry state. Wounded. Injured. Cold. Unsheltered. How are they going to make it through the night?

Summary

I’m pulling the plug here.
Zweihander isn’t to my solo play tastes.

I may have been biased based on what I expected after my reading of the system, but I believe that my bias was correct. My issue lies with the design. The writing is just one face of the design.
So I’ll break down the problems.
1. Chaotic structuring. In order to read about injuries I had to check 3 different chapters. Combat, Healing, Gamemastering. Seriously the page flipping is immense. Maybe when I know the rules a bit better I’ll remember it by heart, but that’s not user friendly.
2. Combat resolution. I think it’s derived from WHFRP, but it does away with all the innovative. An attack sequence may include 5 separate rolls! (Attack, Opposed Parry, Fury-Damage, Chaos-Injury, Injuries table). It’s slow, cumbersome and in return doesn’t provide narrative feedback. Not to mention it’s frustrating when the chances for injury are so low.
I’ll add to this the weapon tables, where the weapons are differentiated by their qualities (vicious, punishing, etc) and not by stats. Another characteristic I have to check for combat resolution!
3. Ancestral Traits. In my opinion ancestral traits should be common for all members of the same ancestry. I get the going for character variety, but it doesn’t make any sense for only a few dwarves to have dark vision.
4. Skills ranks don’t have an apparent effect. A man-at-arms in average is only 10% better in combat than a peasant. And if they’re imperiled by one rank, they’re at the same. Only talents may make some difference.

I understand that concerning solo play, a combat of so many opponents is tough to run, but I did this successfully in both Savage Worlds and Star Wars D6.
But if I had taken a fewer combatants approach like in MERP, Mythras or Hârnmaster, I’d expect the narrative feedback these games have.

Don’t get me wrong. Zweihander is a great game with a very detailed implied setting and lots of information on professions, grimoire and bestiaries. It just didn’t fit to my solo roleplaying needs.
I may return to it some time in the future, but not soon.

As for Evie’s company, it seems I’ll have to do another conversion for them.

I am a bit disappointed because I was very happy with how the story evolved. Combining CRGE with false presuppositions and likelihoods was interesting, and the in the heart of the unknown HFGE was excellent as always.
What I really enjoyed though was the BOLD connections. I’ll definitely be keeping this mechanic for future party solo roleplaying. It gave narrative depth! One could even evolve it further with social mechanics and passions and alignments depending on the game system!

Links | Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice, giorgis, and Todd are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Todd 4:34 am on January 20, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  
  Have you tried HARP? I don’t know how close it hews to MERP. I just picked up the HARP pdf because it looked interesting, but I’ve only gotten as far as character creation with it.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  - giorgis 11:02 am on January 20, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    
    I’ve read good things about it. It’s part of the Rolemaster a family, hence it’s close to MERP. I think it’s an effort to modernize it, though still old.
    I would like to get a hold of these, but imho ICE has really high prices for 10 year old PDFs
    
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Verb	Gerund	Noun
negotiate	preparing	party member
digress	avoiding	wealth
proclaim	working	a fear

giorgis 10:26 pm on January 16, 2020 Permalink | Reply
Tags: Warhammer, Zweihander ( 3 )

Evie’s Company – Zwei-hammer Session 0

So after the unsuccessful attempt to run Bianka in Hârnmaster rules (and her apparent misfortune), I’m switching to the last d100 game in my list. Zweihander.

At first I was hyped. I’ve read so many good things about it. It advertises as grim and perilous so that ticks my boxes. Also it’s supposed to be a rule system to run Warhammer Fantasy which sounds like a perfect fit. Also it sports a whooping core book size, which for me is a huge plus.
And then I started reading through it. I’m a bit disappointed. Maybe if I wasn’t so hyped I wouldn’t be, but my expectations were set really high.
I’ll give my final review of the system once I’ve solo playtested it, but I want to share that my main concerns were regarding the writing. There’s too much advertisement of how this is grim and perilous and how it’s different and more deadly than other RPGs, and also how they went so far out of their way to give the WHFRP style without being WHFRP. I wouldn’t have a gripe with all that if they hadn’t spent a serious amount of effort, time and space to do all that. All in all it was a tad bit too much. I won’t go into anymore details, lest I be caught in the same trap they did.

Conversion

So again here comes the conversion. I’ll convert the characters as per the character generation that is described in the book.
I will keep their descriptions weight, height and distinguishing mark’s as they were generated for WHFRP and fit.
I will roll the attributes and ancestral traits randomly, even if this deviates a bit from the character so far.
I will choose their wealth status and professions. I will give them starting trappings, with the exception of Rudiger who will have a Mail hauberk.
For alignment and upbringing I will roll 3 times and assign each of them to the party members to reflect their current personalities as close as possible.
I will keep the UNE and BOLD descriptions and for the chaos corruption of Rudiger I will see how to best translate it. Maybe I’ll just give him 2 Chaos Ranks.
I will award them 100 points for Night of Blood and 50 points for each of the sessions of Siege of Ostenhofen that they participated. This adds up to a total of 400 reward points.

The party

Evie

Name	Evie Vogel
Ancestry	Human
Ancestral Trait	Dauntless
Archetype	Socialite
Profession	Courtier
Upbringing	Cultured
Social Class	Aristocrat
Alignment	Cunning & Deceit
Age	20 yo
Gender	Female
Height	180cm
Weight	72kg
Eyes	Pale Grey, Almond shaped
Hair	Brown
Sign	The gloaming star
Birthplace	Wissenland, Poor village

Demeanor: Traditional
UNE: lazy activist, offend the wealth
BOLD: pleasant deputies overcome by scarce-used ability

Evie is the daughter of Baron Vogel. She is traditional and doesn’t want radical changes, and has taken it upon herself to see that the wealthy merchants are taxed heavily and the taxes are given to the nobility. She’d prefer if someone else would help her on this task though.
To that end, she wants to charm the neighboring prince into marriage and she has left the estate with her bodyguard Rudiger and her servant Gustav to go to the castle where she was invited.
On the way they were stopped by some friendly roadwardens who, seeing her wealth, required tolls to be payed. Using her knowledge of the law she reminded them that only the toll collector had the authority to collect tolls and they should be careful lest they be mistaken for brigands preying on hapless travelers.
Evie, despite her status got arrested by the road wardens and brought to Ostenhofen. She had hoped to meet Prince Ingmar, but the orc siege foiled her plans.
Update: Confronted with demons, mutants, orcs and undead may have shaken Evie. I doubt she cares anymore about offending the wealth. Maybe she will have to change motivations.

Primary Attribute	Score	Bonus	Profession Bonus
Combat	45	5
Brawn	38	3
Agility	35	2	3
Perception	42	5	6
Intelligence	42	5	6
Willpower	45	3
Fellowship	42	3	5

Secondary Attribute	Score
Peril Threshold	6 (12/18/24)
Damage Threshold	3 (9/15/21)
Encumbrance	6
Initiative	9
Movement	6

Skill Ranks: Charm, Eavesdrop, Guile, Rumour, Simple Melee, Scrutinize
Talents: Forked Tongue, Silver Tongue

Coin purse, fancy shoes, fashionable clothing, foppish hat, holy symbol, knuckleduster, mandrake root (3), mantle, neck ruff, shoulder bag, writing kit, rapier, 8 gc

Gustav

Name	Gustav Dickopf
Ancestry	Human
Ancestral Trait	Danger Sense
Archetype	Commoner
Profession	Servant
Upbringing	Industrious
Social Class	Lowborn
Alignment	Mystery & Exclusion
Age	19 yo
Gender	Male
Height	165cm
Weight	75 kg
Eyes	Grey
Hair	Blonde
Sign	The greased goat
Birthplace	Nordland, Small settlement

Demeanor: Flamboyant
UNE: obnoxious fortune-hunter, convey opulence
BOLD: lethargic traitor overcome by strong attribute

Gustav is Evie’s servant. Despite his low status he is flamboyant, and tries to siphon off wealth from Evie to show off. He wears expensive clothing and behaves as someone above his class. Evie likes him so she tolerates it, but others are not so disposed. He passes of to his peers as an obnoxious fortune-hunter, which actually he is.
When the estate cook started gossiping about Gustav, he managed to find him sleeping on more than one occasion and convinced Evie to demote him to stable boy. Gustav was escorting Evie to the castle where she was invited by the prince when the events of the night of blood occurred.
Update: Gustav is out of his comfort zone for far too long. They haven’t had a proper safe, cozy, rest without the hint of danger in weeks now. He wants this crusade of Evie to end, and get back to improving his status (and wealth).

Primary Attribute	Score	Bonus	Profession Bonus
Combat	40	5
Brawn	34	3	4
Agility	44	3	4
Perception	42	5	7
Intelligence	45	5	6
Willpower	40	3
Fellowship	50	4	6

Secondary Attribute	Score
Peril Threshold	6 (12/18/24)
Damage Threshold	4 (10/16/22)
Encumbrance	7
Initiative	10
Movement	7

Skill Ranks: Awareness, Charm, Folklore, Rumour, Simple Melee
Talents: Silver Tongue

Bandages (3), bottle bomb, grave root, holy symbol, heavy boots, tuck sack, shiv, simple attire, warm vest, splitting maul, 27 bp

Rudiger

Name	Rudiger Dirnbach
Ancestry	Human
Ancestral Trait	Mixed Bloodline-Ogre-Frightening Bellow
Archetype	Warrior
Profession	Man-at-arms
Upbringing	Militant
Social Class	Burgher
Alignment	Ambition & Tyranny
Age	37 yo
Gender	Male
Height	175cm
Weight	69 kg
Eyes	Pale Grey
Hair	Black
Sign	Gnuthus the Ox
Birthplace	Middenland, Hovel
Distinguishing Marks	Seamed face

Demeanor: Hardboiled
UNE: addicted judge, spoil the oppressed
BOLD: deceiving labor overcome by on accident
Corruption: Miserly, Impatient

Rudiger is an old soldier who was appointed as a guard to the baron’s estate. As Evie grew, the baron appointed Rudiger to be her personal bodyguard.
Rudiger is a veteran of many battles, and little that he sees shakes him. He has seen orcs, goblins and the occasional bandit. He believes firmly in the order of things and that the poor are supposed to stay poor and support the nobility.
When he was younger, he was once deceived by an agitator to fight for ‘the cause’ and free the peasants from their lords rule. When, by mistake he came upon the peasant leaders divulging in their loot, he killed them all and left. He decided never to assist the traitorous peasants again and took it upon himself to punish them whenever possible. His combat skills and passion for riot control soon were noticed by the baron, who took him under his employment.
After the last peasant revolt he has taken it upon himself to root out any danger that comes from the low classes. On such events, he alone decides the fate of the prisoners.
His harsh life is not without scars though, and he has turned to be a functional alcoholic.
Rudiger is escorting Evie as a bodyguard.
Update: Corrupted by chaos, Rudiger’s faults have increased. He no longer has patience for the beggars and the poor, and may outright attack any street urchin who will try to pickpocket him. Seeing the threats to the Empire and Evie has made him even more likely to stand at her side, as she has proven that she fights for what is right.
This is represented by 2 Chaos Ranks.

Primary Attribute	Score	Bonus	Profession Bonus
Combat	42	5	7
Brawn	45	4	5
Agility	40	3	4
Perception	41	5
Intelligence	44	5
Willpower	41	3	4
Fellowship	39	2

Secondary Attribute	Score
Peril Threshold	7 (13/19/25)
Damage Threshold	9 (15/21/27)
Encumbrance	8
Initiative	8
Movement	7

Skill Ranks: Martial Melee, Resolve, Simple Melee, Toughness, Warfare
Talents: Lightning Reactions, Shield Slam, Sword & Board

heavy boots, lantern, laudanum (3), military attire, oil pot, red cap mushrooms, rucksack, mail hauberk, tincture (3), wooden shield, mortuary sword, 13 ss

Conversion Summary

Some interesting results here. The primary attributes were okayish, but I really liked the alignments rolled.
I absolutely loved the mixed bloodline ancestral trait of Rudiger. He has Ogre’s blood running in his veins!
I found the whole process not too tiresome considering I generated three characters, so that’s a big plus for the game system.

Encounters

Even though it was short lived, I really enjoyed the wilderness hex flower gaming engine In the heart of the unknown combine with Hârnmaster’s encounter tables, so I’m going to use those again. Zweihander also has an apendix of encounters, but since they’re very specific, I’ll use them instead when I roll a Nat 20 on Hârnmaster’s encounters table.
I’ll use Hârnmaster’s rules for wilderness travels since they’re meant to be used with Hexes in mind. Again, the group is traveling with a week’s worth of supplies, towards Mainberstein. Their caravan consists of twenty commoners, two guards and one horse.

The story

The story continues from the events of Night of the Blood and the Siege of Ostenhofen.
The party will attempt to reach Mainberstein from Westenhofen.
I suspect that once in safety they will attempt to find a way to defeat the lich. Maybe complement their party with a wizard or a priest. It would be nice for a change to add some magical flavor.

Threads

Reach Mainberstein safely
Find a way to defeat the lich
Clear their name (do they need to?)

Emulation

For GM emulation, I’ll be using a custom CRGE Oracle with inspiration from MUNE and False Presuppositions from Recluse.
So I will be rolling on the CRGE table, and will use unexpectedly/surge counts, but, doubles will be False Presuppositions. Likelihood will be introduced by Flipping the Dice. So a likely result of 38 would become 83. A likely result of 83 would remain as is.
An unlikely result of 62 would become 26. An unlikely result of 26 would remain as is. Surge count is applied after flipping the results.

Tools

I’ll be also using BOLD regarding the Connections mechanic to spice conversations in the party.
UNE, Donjon and the Game Master’s Apprentice cards will be used if and when required.

giorgis 6:20 pm on January 6, 2020 Permalink | Reply
Tags: Hârn ( 3 ), Warhammer

Bianka the Ratter Hârn-hammer Session 0

Introduction

I recently got the Dead Weight prewritten module and it had the Hârnmaster QuickStart rules.
While reading through it I was so intrigued I went ahead and got the PDF of the Hârnmaster 3ed Rules.
What is Hârnmaster? It’s a d100 roll-under gritty rule system coupled with a low-fantasy setting, Hârnworld. Of course it can be run into any low-fantasy setting. There’s tons of setting material for Hârnworld (they’re quite expensive) but there’s a lot of fan content as well!
In http://lythia.com I found high quality fan content, and there was a really cool article about rats and ratters (rat catchers).
So instead of trying out Hârn from scratch, instead I decided to run Bianka’s adventure from my Warhammer campaign into this system.

Character sheet

Below are the converted stats of Bianka:

Characteristic	Description
Name	Bianka Geissler
Race	Human
Occupation	Ratter
Age	17 yo
Gender	Female
Height	166cm/65″
Weight	70kg/154 pounds(6)
Frame	Medium(12)
Complexion	Medium
Eyes	Grey blue, bloodshot
Hair	Dark Brown
Birthdate	25th of Larane
Sunsign	Wymund the anchorite (Angberelius,Flaming Swords)
Birthplace	Nordland, Poor village
Sibling Rank	5th/8 Children
Parents	Offspring/Both parents alive & together
Parent Occupation	Farmer (freehold)
Estrangement	Average
Clanhead	Distant relation(Grandfather related to Uncle)

Key Attribute	Score
Strength	14
Stamina	16
Dexterity	12
Agility	14
Intelligence	10
Aura	12
Will	10

Secondary Attributes	Score
Comeliness	16(Beautiful)
Eyesight	12
Hearing	14
Smell	10
Voice	10(Average)
Medical	–
Mental	–
Morality	8(Corruptible)

Contact	Relationship	Loyalty
Herdsman	Friend	55
Farmer(Freehold)	Enemy
First Cousin,Aunt Uncle	Acquaintance	41

Skills	ML
CLIMBING	54
CONDITION	65
JUMPING	56
STEALTH	40
THROWING	52
AWARENESS	52
INTRIGUE	33
ORATORY	24
RHETORIC	31
SINGING	33
INITIATIVE	44
UNARMED	42
Agriculture	39
Weatherlore	33
Ratcraft	55
Dogcraft	44
Net	36
Club	65
Herblore	22
Axe	42
Cookery	33
Foraging	33
Sling	14
Physician	12

Wound	Location	Healing Rate
M1-Minor Cut	Left Upper Arm	H5
M1-Minor Tear	Right Elbow	H5
S2-Serious Cut	Abdomen	H3

Okay, this conversion was hard.
Bear in mind this is a character that was generated using a Warhammer FRP 2ed online character generator, then converted to my homebrew MiniSix variant for Night of the Blood, then converted to Savage Worlds for the Siege of Ostenhofen and now to Hârnmaster.

I used a point buy system as described in Hârnmaster.
I spent the 30 attribute points for the key attributes and tried to be as close as possible to the MiniSix and Savage Worlds charsheet.
I used the optional 20 attribute points for the non key attributes, but I didn’t use the 1/2 point cost described. It seemed really cheap. I mean I could assign 20 points and get an average of 16 in the 5 attributes where random roll was 3d6. It made no sense. Therefore I used full point cost to have an average of 12.
I kept the randomly generated appearance characteristics, even though they play a role in Hârnmaster.
Also Bianka was using hatchets and slings according to Warhammer FRP career. Hârnmaster ratters use clubs and nets (makes more sense). I hate to break narrative so I had to spend valuable Skill Points to buy the Axe and Sling skills.
Another topic was that of sunsigns/birthsigns. Both Warhammer and Hârnworld have their own signs, and I wouldn’t have bothered, but in Hârnmaster, the sunsign affects Skill Base. Therefore for narrative I’ve kept the Warhammer sign, but for mechanics I’ve kept the sunsign of Hârn… a mess.
Overall in the end I was wondering if it was the right choice to do all those conversions rather than generate a new character and test the system with them, but now the work is done.

Character development:
I went ahead and read Bianka’s skill uses through the two adventures and gave her the respective skill development rolls.

Wounds:
Bianka was left wounded when the party left her at Westenhofen. In Savage Worlds, she was shaken twice from the skeletons and then suffered a nasty double wound while retreating. I decided that these were two M1 and one S2 wounds. I rolled randomly for their location and liked what I got. A 1″ cut on her left upper arm, a 2″ gash on her right elbow and a 4″ cut on her abdomen.

Equipment:
Hatchet, sling, bag of rats, rat cage, mouse traps, common clothing, net, leather gloves, boots.

Character description

Demeanor: Aggressive
UNE: reputable recluse, Record the public
BOLD: common traitor overcome by personal resources
Corruption: Egotistical, Obsessive, Deceitful

Bianka is a young woman who has made a reputation as a rat catcher. She’s quite aggressive against the critters and doesn’t like the company of other people, keeping to herself.
She wants to beat the numbers of rats she catches in comparison to the other rat catchers.
In the last town she was in, a fellow rat catcher stole her bag of rats and sold it off as his own. She used her wits and skill and managed to catch an even larger number of rats, this fulfilling her contract.
Bianka just came upon Evie’s company and by happenstance they go in the same direction.
Bianka survived the night of the blood in the hooded man, but got corrupted by chaos from the demon they fought.
Considering, the corruption of Tzeentch slowly seeping in, and all she has suffered, there’s a high chance that Bianka might go rogue. I think she is becoming obsessed with the rat catcher that betrayed her, and wants to exact vengeance now in a less peaceful manner. She wasn’t aware that giant rats existed. Maybe this can be part of her plan for vengeance.
Her company left her behind in Westenhofen lest they be caught by the undead that have risen, but it was a mutual termination of companionship. No hard feelings.

Notes

I’ll be also switching to CRGE for Oracle this time around. It’s approach is more closely related to Mythic rather than MUNE/Recluse that I’m used to, but I want to experience how threads and scenes can work in solo play.

So I have the following threads:

Flee Westenhofen
Exact Revenge

A note on abbreviations:
For space saving I will be using Hârnmaster abbreviation for test resolutions.
CF: Critical Failure
MF: Marginal Failure
MS: Marginal Success
CS: Critical Success

Prologue

First of all I need to see if the undead will attack Westenhofen before Bianka has a chance to heal her wounds.

To Knowledge:
Main Thread: Flee Westenhofen.
Q: Do the undead attack Westenhofen?
A: No, and unexpectedly.
Unexpectedly: 7: Framing.
A new NPC or object becomes critical to the thread.
So the undead do not attack Westenhofen, maybe they’re attacking the city. In anyway I won’t be asking this question again for two weeks.
Since Bianka has been bedridden two weeks now trying to recover, I presume that the new NPC will be the town’s herbalist, who may have a different approach to help heal Bianka.

Bianka walls slowly around the room. Her bandages were cleaned once more by Mari, the physician’s assistant but she still was in a bad shape.
“Is this guy any good?” She asks Mari. “It’s been two weeks that I’m bedridden. I can’t stay here anymore. I’m afraid the dead will come anytime soon.”
“He’s the best outside of Ostenhofen.” Mari answers, but he pauses for a moment and then continues. “There’s another.”

Donjon: Aldugard: Female Human Alchemist. Neutral. She is exceptionally beautiful with thick silver hair and brown eyes. She wears modest garments and an amulet if luminous crystal. Aldugard is decisive and absent-minded.

“Do tell.” She says.
Mari continues. “It’s an alchemist living at the south edge of Westemhofen. She hasn’t been accused of witchcraft, but folks are worried of her. I see you’re set on leaving, so at least see her before departing.”
Bianka thanks Mari and gathers her stuff. She will go see if this Aldugard can help her where Geri the physician couldn’t.

Bianka: Awareness (32): 99: MF
Bianka can’t find the alchemist’s house on her own. She will have to ask the locals for directions.

Bianka: Intrigue (13): 48: MF
Bianka can’t learn about the alchemist’s house without it being known by the locals.

Q: Do the locals help Bianka find Aldugard?
A: Yes.
Surge Count 2.

After asking around Westenhofen, stumbling around, Bianka manages to reach Aldugard’s house.
She knocks on the door, and an exceptionally beautiful woman with silver hair opens.
She sees the bandages on Bianka’s limbs, and how she clutches her belly, and invites her inside. “Come in.”
Bianka enters the small house without any delay.

Bianka: Awareness (32): 93: MF
She doesn’t pay attention to the surroundings.

UNE: NPC conversation mood: Sociable
NPC bearing & focus: aid retainers
Again, we have a helpful healer who wants to assist the ‘retainers’ the people who provided a service to the city.

“You’re not from around here.” She says. Bianka nods.
“You’re from the group that survived Ostenhofen.” She continues.
“I am.” Bianka replies.
“I’ll help you. Geri may have cleaned your wounds but he hasn’t helped at all with your recovery. Come.” She points at the bed in the corner and Bianka goes to sit there.

So, I’ll roll to decide what healing she will administer.
Herbs or Potion: Herbs
Nelbise, Finistrel or Altrubat: Nelbise

She removes the bandages. “Oh those are nasty” she says looking at the gash in her abdomen. She takes some leaves from a jar and puts them directly on the wound and covers them again with fresh bandages.
“Come here twice per day. These need refreshing.”

UNE: NPC power level: Slightly Weaker. She’s a two star craftsman having a Physician skill of (62).

After five days:
Did the Nelbise have effects? (90): 89: Yes.

Wound	Location	Healing Rate	Result
M1-Minor Cut	Left Upper Arm	H5	Healed in 8 days
M1-Minor Tear	Right Elbow	H5	Healed in 4 days
S2-Serious Cut	Abdomen	H3	6 Days reduced to M1. 10 more days for Healed

Two weeks later, Bianka has only a minor tear on her abdomen that’s is about to close.
“How can I repay you?” She asks Aldugard.

Q: Does Aldugard ask for payment?
A: Yes
Surge Count: 4

“You’re almost healed but my healing herbs are dwindling. If you can find me some leaves or blooms in the woodland outside Westenhofen it would be much helpful.” Aldugard replies.

Bianka will make short excursions to find herbs.

The common time unit for Hârn is the Watch which is 4 hours.
It will take Bianka half a watch to get to the woodlands and one watch to search for herbs.
Bianka: Herblore (17): 99: MF: She finds 17 Bridalkme plants.
I will roll for random encounters.
Rural: 18/14: I get a random encounter. It’s a Foreigner, Military, Militiaman. Activity: Training, on maneuvers, etc. Friendliness: 100!

I’ve just used Hârn’s random encounters tables and I must say it’s great. I was really happy to see they included an activity table, since the most common question is ‘What are they doing there?’ This provides ample food for solo generation!
Also for attitude, it says just roll 1d100 and the higher, the friendlier.

Therefore considering the above, it’s a pretty clear encounter.

Bianka: Awareness (47) vs (50): 82/84: MF/MF. They both locate each other at the same time.

Bianka has gathered up a few plants when she hears commotion. Carefully she approaches, when she sees some rough men. They have long hair and beards and look taller and tougher than the locals.
It seems to be a unit of a score of men. One of them is giving orders to the group, trying to form them in shield walls. He notices Bianka.
“Come here woman! We won’t hurt you!” He shouts.
Reluctantly Bianka approaches.
“Is Ostenhofen nearby?” He asks.
“It is. Why go to that forsaken place?” She asks.

UNE: NPC focus & bearing: weapons happiness

“We have been summoned by the Emperor. We Norsemen are always glad to drop our farming tools and bring our weapons when called upon. We were supposed to reach Ostenhofen a couple of weeks ago, but the Orcs were waiting for us. In the battle that followed we got split from the main army and have been trying to reach Ostenhofen since.” The man answers.

Donjon: Wolfo: Male Human Fighter, Good. Wolfo is tall and thin, with braided gray hair and hazel eyes. He wears banded mail and wields a ~~glaive-guisarme~~ spear. Wolfo compulsively plays with a silver coin.

“My name is Wolfo, and I’m the captain of this band. Who might you be? Your accent and bearing seems northern.” He asks.
“I’m Bianka, I’ve left the north years ago and have been working my ass off hunting rats from city to city in the mainland. Recent events got me stranded in Ostenhofen.” She answers.
“So you come from Ostenhofen? Is the city still holding?” Wolfo asks.

Q: Have there been any news from Ostenhofen since?
A: Yes, and they all know about the orcs and the undead threat.
Surge Count: –

“I’ve managed to escape the siege about three weeks ago. The orcs were defeated eventually, but … the dead have risen.” She says.
“Is that where you got these?” Wolfo asks about her wounds.
Bianka nods in silent agreement.
“Then you have earned my respect. Will you lead us to Ostenhofen?” he requests.
“I’ll take you to Westenhofen, but only because you’re my kin. You’ll find your way from there. Ostenhofen has nothing for me. If the rats haven’t fled already there isn’t anyone who cares enough to pay coin.” Bianka reluctantly agrees to take the unit to Westenhofen.

She spends half a watch to get them back and forth and searches for another watch for herbs.

Bianka: Herblore (17): 16: MS: She finds 3 leaves of an Olrui plant.
I will roll for random encounters.
Rural: 19/14: I get a random encounter. It’s a Guildsman, Ostler, Journeyman. Activity: Other: Hunting criminals/runaways/game. Friendliness: 93.

Bianka: Awareness (47) vs (50): 1/87: MS/MF. Bianka locates the Ostler first.

Donjon: Gosbo. Male Human Craftsman, Neutral. Gosbo has messy auburn hair and amber eyes, and prominent ears. He wears plain clothing and riding boots.

As Bianka has gathered a few leaves of a parasitic plant, she hears footsteps. She sees a young man breathing heavily, trying to walk silently and fast but failing at both.
She watches for a short while and sees that the man has his eyes on a horse in the distance.
She sees no weapons and decides to introduce herself.
“Are you after the horse?” She asks.
Startled the youth turns to her. “Y, yes. She fled from the stable while I was tending to her. I’ve been hunting her for hours but something has scared her really good. Can you help me? Together we can catch her.”
“Do you have coach service? I’m looking for passage away from Westenhofen” Bianka asks without answering.

Bianka’s corruption regarding the Egotistical trait has kicked in.
Q: Does he say they have coach service?
A: No
Surge Count: 2

“I’m afraid not. This is my master’s horse. Please will you help me? I will be grateful. And maybe my master as well.” The young man tries to convince Bianka.

Gosbo: Rhetoric (21): 52: MF

“Sorry. I’m already in a bad shape. Can’t be going after horses. Best of luck.” She tells the ostler and runs off back to Westenhofen.
She gives the herbs to Aldugard and the next morning she packs her things. It’s going to be a walk to the next city.

Session background

The threads remain as is. I like how the story progresses. Bianka wants to leave Westemhofen. Who knows what she will find if she returns.
I am really enjoying Harnmaster. It’s too early yet to have real thoughts about the system, but I found the Campaign tables very helpful for solo play. Especially the random encounters seem to be very detailed. I also found two blank journal pages where one can log events. Maybe this is something worthwhile for bullet pointing my adventures!
Regarding the success levels, there’s an optional rule to include substantial successes which seems really good.
I didn’t find a general rule for difficulties but maybe I didn’t search well enough.
Also opposed rolls work by comparing success levels and in case of a tie, the lowest number wins. I prefer Mythras’ rule for opposed ties, where the highest number wins, as this gives an additional advantage to the contestant with the highest skill.
Regarding CRGE. It’s too early to have a complete opinion. I have mixed feelings concerning the lack of likelihoods. The author states that in case of a likely result, don’t roll, just play it out. I’m not certain this fills my cup of tea. But will continue with CRGE to see how it works out.

giorgis 5:29 pm on December 21, 2019 Permalink | Reply
Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

The siege of Ostenhofen pt8 – Finale and Thoughts
A Savage Worlds Warhammer Fantasy Battles mashup.

First of all it’s very important to see where the Undead will strike next. I will roll 2d6 on the To The Battlements! engine.
Undead: 5,5: 10 -> Goto 12: Walls.
But this triggers a special event: 2d6: 6: Goto 1: Sabotage! Tools and Weapons are ruined.
Since the party isn’t in the city, I won’t follow up on the event. I will consider that it occurred (by whom? dark cultists maybe?) and the defenders had no way to stop it.

Now I need to see what will the party do.
I will consider their personalities, and backgrounds.

Bianka

Demeanor: Aggressive
UNE: reputable recluse, Record the public
BOLD: common traitor overcome by personal resources
Corruption: Egotistical, Obsessive, Deceitful
Savage Worlds: Vengeful, Stubborn

Bianka is a young woman who has made a reputation as a rat catcher. She’s quite aggressive against the critters and doesn’t like the company of other people, keeping to herself.
She wants to beat the numbers of rats she catches in comparison to the other rat catchers.
In the last town she was in, a fellow rat catcher stole her bag of rats and sold it off as his own. She used her wits and skill and managed to catch an even larger number of rats, this fulfilling her contract.
Bianka just came upon Evie’s company and by happenstance they go in the same direction.
Bianka survived the night of the blood in the hooded man, but got corrupted by chaos from the demon they fought.
Update: Considering, the corruption of Tzeentch slowly seeping in, and all she has suffered, there’s a high chance that Bianka might go rogue. I think she is becoming obsessed with the rat catcher that betrayed her, and wants to exact vengeance now in a less peaceful manner. She wasn’t aware that giant rats existed. Maybe this can be part of her plan for vengeance.

Evie

Demeanor: Traditional
UNE: lazy activist, offend the wealth
BOLD: pleasant deputies overcome by scarce-used ability
Savage Worlds: Vow, Cautious

Evie is the daughter of Baron Vogel. She is traditional and doesn’t want radical changes, and has taken it upon herself to see that the wealthy merchants are taxed heavily and the taxes are given to the nobility. She’d prefer if someone else would help her on this task though.
To that end, she wants to charm the neighboring prince into marriage and she has left the estate with her bodyguard Rudiger and her servant Gustav to go to the castle where she was invited.
On the way they were stopped by some friendly roadwardens who, seeing her wealth, required tolls to be payed. Using her knowledge of the law she reminded them that only the toll collector had the authority to collect tolls and they should be careful lest they be mistaken for brigands preying on hapless travelers.
Evie, despite her status got arrested by the road wardens and brought to Ostenhofen. She had hoped to meet Prince Ingmar, but the orc siege foiled her plans.
Update: Confronted with demons, mutants, orcs and undead may have shaken Evie. I doubt she cares anymore about offending the wealth. Maybe she will have to change motivations (and Vow).

Gustav

Demeanor: Flamboyant
UNE: obnoxious fortune-hunter, convey opulence
BOLD: lethargic traitor overcome by strong attribute
Savage Worlds: Greedy

Gustav is Evie’s servant. Despite his low status he is flamboyant, and tries to siphon off wealth from Evie to show off. He wears expensive clothing and behaves as someone above his class. Evie likes him so she tolerates it, but others are not so disposed. He passes of to his peers as an obnoxious fortune-hunter, which actually he is.
When the estate cook started gossiping about Gustav, he managed to find him sleeping on more than one occasion and convinced Evie to demote him to stable boy. Gustav was escorting Evie to the castle where she was invited by the prince when the events of the night of blood occurred.
Update: Gustav is out of his comfort zone for far too long. They haven’t had a proper safe, cozy, rest without the hint of danger in weeks now. He wants this crusade of Evie to end, and get back to improving his status (and wealth).

Rudiger

Demeanor: Hardboiled
UNE: addicted judge, spoil the oppressed
BOLD: deceiving labor overcome by on accident
Corruption: Miserly, Impatient
Savage Worlds: Loyal, Mean, Arrogant

Rudiger is an old soldier who was appointed as a guard to the baron’s estate. As Evie grew, the baron appointed Rudiger to be her personal bodyguard.
Rudiger is a veteran of many battles, and little that he sees shakes him. He has seen orcs, goblins and the occasional bandit. He believes firmly in the order of things and that the poor are supposed to stay poor and support the nobility.
When he was younger, he was once deceived by an agitator to fight for ‘the cause’ and free the peasants from their lords rule. When, by mistake he came upon the peasant leaders divulging in their loot, he killed them all and left. He decided never to assist the traitorous peasants again and took it upon himself to punish them whenever possible. His combat skills and passion for riot control soon were noticed by the baron, who took him under his employment.
After the last peasant revolt he has taken it upon himself to root out any danger that comes from the low classes. On such events, he alone decides the fate of the prisoners.
His harsh life is not without scars though, and he has turned to be a functional alcoholic.
Rudiger is escorting Evie as a bodyguard.
Update: Corrupted by chaos, Rudiger’s faults have increased. He no longer has patience for the beggars and the poor, and may outright attack any street urchin who will try to pickpocket him. Seeing the threats to the Empire and Evie has made him even more likely to stand at her side, as she has proven that she fights for what is right.

“She hasn’t improved at all. The orcs and the undead may be here anytime soon!” Gustav says.
Evie and her companions are sitting by the fire in The Broken Wand, considering what they will do with Bianka.
“My lady. You know that I am loyal. Bianka has stood by us in many fights, but she always went her own way. My loyalty first lies with you. I must agree with Gustav. To keep you safe we must leave now.” Rudiger says his opinion.
“What about the Westenhofeners? We should be able to help them. I do not wish to abandon them.” Evie exclaims.

Rudiger support Gustav with persuasion (d4-2): 1: Failure.
Evie: Persuasion (d10) opposed against Gustav: Persuasion (d6): Fail vs Fail.

“You make a point my lady as always. How about we ask if any Westenhofeners wish to join us?” Gustav asks, wishing to leave this forsaken place no matter the cost.
“And risk being detected by orc scouts? We won’t be noticed if it’s just the three of us.” Rudiger persists.
“But there’s strength in numbers Rudiger. We still need Bianka” Evie proposes.

Rudiger support Gustav with persuasion (d4-2): 2: Failure.
Evie: Persuasion (d10) opposed against Gustav: Persuasion (d6): Success vs Success with Raise.

“Alright. We shall leave. If Bianka at her condition or any of the Westenhofeners wish to come with us. We will take them. And that’s my final say.” Evie says and stands up from the table.

UNE: How does Bianka react to the news?
A: 75: Sociable
Q: Does Bianka wish to risk leaving now at ther state?
A: No, and, she doesn’t want to leave with the party. She feels relieved that they leave.

Evie breaks the news to Bianka, that they wish to leave. She can join them, but they won’t wait any longer for her to recover.
“If you ever are in need for a rat catcher, come find me.” Bianka tells them. “The paths we crossed are perilous. Travel safe.”

The trio now, goes to the guardhouse to find captain Omund.
“Captain! We thank you for your hospitality in this dire hour of our need. I shall not forget what you did for us.” Evie tells him.
“You’re leaving lady? You couldn’t have chosen a better time. The paths are clear. The orcs are dispersing. You will only encounter strugglers.” Omund tells her.
“What about the dead, captain? It’s still dangerous to be here. If any of you wishes, we can leave together. Maybe even make a caravan.” Evie replies.

UNE: Bearing/Focus: Aid Experience.
Q: Do the Westenhofeners wish to leave?
A: Yes

“We could use your experience in battle.” the captain says looking at Rudiger. “Give us some time to prepare and anyone wishing will travel with you.”

Some metagaming questions:
Without any supplies, fortifications ruined, tools and weapons sabotaged, I realize that the Ostenhofeners cannot stay besieged any longer.
Q: Do the Ostenhofeners know about the undead threat?
A: No, and they’re too consumed with their victory over the orcs.
Q: Do the Ostenhofeners leave the city? (If they knew about the undead this would be likely or very likely).
A: No
Q: Do the remaining Westenhofeners go to Ostenhofen?
A: No
Q: Did the Orcs that are in battle with the imperial relief, disperse, now that Baga is dead? (Likely)
A: False Presupposition. The orcs did not disperse at the news of Baga’s death, but they did not continue the battle either. They left in formation back towards the badlands.
I will roll 2d6 on the Weather Hex Flower: 7: Overcast.
The Empire relief will reach Ostenhofen at this week.

As the caravan gathers, Evie takes a good look back at the walls of Ostenhofen. Wishing she had a way to warn them about what is coming.
Rudiger understands her worries. “If we reach any troops coming to Ostenhofen we can tell them, so that they’re ready. Maybe they can warn them.”
Evie just nods, hoping. But deep inside she knows Ostenhofen is doomed if the dead attack.

Q: Are there many people joining the caravan?
A: Yes, and there are guards as well.
5d6 people will join: 20 people, 2 guards.
Q: Do they have mounts?
A: Yes
1d20: 1: Horse
With stealth out of the question, I will ask the Oracle.
Q: Does any group of orcs attack the caravan?
A: No
Q: Do they meet up with the imperial relief?
A: False presupposition. The relief troops are not going to reach Ostenhofen this week after all. They are pursuing the orcs that fled.

Twenty commoners and two guards have joined the caravan. They have only their barest possessions and carry road supplies. They will walk to Mainberstein. They have a draft horse with them that they have loaded with supplies, and they start their march.

Back to Bianka now.
Let’s see if she heals this week.
Vigor (d6-3): She fails 3 times (used all her Bennies).
She remains bedridden.

Bianka can’t recover still. She just hopes that she will manage to get back to her feet before the threat that looms over the entire region sweeps through Westenhofen.
She sleeps at her bed everynight with her hatchet right beside her.

Campaign Summary: This was one of the weirdest solo campaigns I have run so far. I’ll have a breakdown of the tools used and how it all worked out.
Recluse: The Oracle of my choice so far. Combined with MUNE Interventions and TWENE, Recluse False Presuppositions mechanic has won me. It’s fast, easy to use and has a nice amount of chaos.
To The Battlements: my take on Goblin’s Henchman’s Hex Flower Gaming Engines mechanism. I used some weird mechanics (like not moving freely, but snapping to the highest score hex) which seem to be correct. Retrospectively, in addition to the defender’s clock (supplies running out) I should have given the attacker a clock, to give the defender a chance to sit it out and win it, like using the Orc animosity rules. Nevertheless, it all worked out well, and it really pushed the siege to the last straw.
Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer’s Edition: What I like about this roleplaying system is how easy it is to run. There’s lot of chaos (many fuzzy rolls, and the card initiative) but this has the bonus of making everything surprisingly fast. I really liked how easy it is to set up an NPC on the fly and how easy it was to convert to and from my Warhammer Fantasy Battles game.
Warhammer Fantasy Battles 4th Edition: A long obsolete games that I still have the softcopies of. I played all the battles in theater of the mind, and this caused a lot of headaches. I didn’t use any maneuvers or similar. Turning, switching formation and such were out of the question. I’d still be running the first battle if I did.
I got really tired trying to run so many units at the same time. I doubt I will be doing this again. On the other hand I really liked the combat resolution mechanics. They were so fast. Comparing Weapon Skills, Ballistic Skills and Strength to Toughness in three simple charts and then rolling a bunch of d6’s in a very intuitive way to count successes. This is the part I loved most. I will certainly be having this in mind for future homebreweing.
What made my life difficult was trying to remember every single sub-rule and running the headcount. I certainly made more than a few mistakes, but I can live with it.
Universal NPC Emulator: Getting caught up in writing scenes, I forgot how important tools like UNE are. It takes a lot out of the solo players hands. It gives you inspiration, and the random factor gives a feeling of fairness you don’t get when writing stuff up arbitrarily. This is a reminder to pause and take the time to make some rolls at random generators like UNE. It pays off.
donjon: My favorite online generator. It has almost everything to suit my needs, and also has genre specific and region specific generators.
In general, Savage Worlds as is, isn’t low fantasy gritty. I want to try a system closer to those needs next, so another character conversion will be done.
Overall I enjoyed the experience but maybe I overdid it with the battles and got tired at the end. I confess that I was looking forward for it to end.
I’m a person that prefers to see things to the finish rather than abandon them, even if it’s not always the best option, so now I feel free to plan my next adventure!

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giorgis 12:42 pm on December 21, 2019 Permalink | Reply
Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer
The siege of Ostenhofen pt7
A Savage Worlds Warhammer Fantasy Battles mashup.

Brief Summary: In the previous part, the Ostenhofeners won the battle of White Tower. If they win this battle as well, they will be victorious against the Orcs.

Army points:
Empire Points: 1737. (695 remain from the Iron Tower battle, 191 remain from the White Tower battle and 851 remain for the 3rd battle).
Empire Relief Points: 3000
Orc Points: 2996. (685,5 remain from the Iron Tower battle, 171 remain from the White Tower battle and 1730 remain for the 3rd battle, 409,5 are fled units).
Orc Relief Points: 2000
Undead Points: 8000

The battle for the North Wall.

Empire Army Roster:
General – Prince Ingmar, Sword, Shield and Heavy Armor. 104 points with 15 Reiksguard, Sword, Shield and Heavy Armor, 180 points.
20 Handgunners with Light Armor, 200 points.
20 Crossbowmen with Light Armor, 200 points.
15 Swordsmen with Sword, Shield and Light Armor, 135 points With Champion with Light Armor +32 Points.
Total 851 Points.

Orc Army Roster:
Orc War Boss Baga with The Sword of Bork, The Axe of Morgor and Light Armor. 237 Points.
Orc Battle Standard Bearer with Light Armor and Gork’s War Banner. 110 Points.
22 Orc Big’Uns with Light Armor and Double Handed Weapons. 231 Points.
20 Night Goblin Netters (50-50) with Night Goblin Boss. 92,5 Points.
30 Night Goblin Halberdiers, with Night Goblin Boss and Standard. 127,5 Points.
30 Orcs with Light Armor and Two Weapons, Orc Boss and Standard. 292,5 Points.
30 Orc Archers with Light Armor, Bows, Standard and Orc Boss. 318,5 Points.
8 Ogres. 320 Points.
Total: 1730 Points

Now, considering how tired I got after two whole theater of the mind battles, I’m going to change things a bit.
1. I will add some roleplaying tactics to spice things up.
2. I will have a simple map set up. After all it’s an attack on the wall.
3. I may ask the Oracle during the battle, and use Interventions and False Presuppositions.

So, for fairness sake, first of all I will formulate a simple battle plan for each side, that each general will expect to be executed.
I will also create additional plans that each side will be able to perform, depending on the general’s battle knowledge skill. In this case they will not know their opponents plans unless they make a successful battle knowledge skill roll.

Orc Simple Battle Plan:
From left to right. Orc Archers, Ogres, Goblin Netters, Orc Big’Uns, Goblin Halberdiers, Orcs.
The Ogres and Netters will try to assault with ropes and ladders one side of the wall. The Big’Uns, Halberdiers and Orcs will assault with ladders, while the Orc Archers provide covering fire.

Empire Simple Battle Plan:
From left to right. Handgunners, Reiksguard, Swordsmen, Crossbowmen.
Handgunners target is Ogres, followed by Orc Archers.
Crossbowmen target is Big’Uns followed by Orcs.

Orc Advanced Plans:
- Ogres armed with Picks to break down the wall.
- Orc Archers to shoot grappling hooks for Ogres to pull and to ruin battlements, removing defensive advantage from this part of the wall.
- Night Goblin Halberdiers to send sappers under the wall and to collapse it from this part of the wall.
Empire Advanced Plans:
- Defending Reiksguard and Swordsmen to throw rocks at enemy while they climb using ladders.
- Defenders to pour boiling oil on assaulting orcs.
- Crossbowmen to shoot bolts on tar part of the battlefield and set it ablaze.
I decide that Prince Ingmar has a Knowledge (Battle) skill of d10, and I will roll on UNE to compare War Boss Baga’s skill. I get 14: Slightly Weaker. He was a Knowledge (Battle) skill of d8.

They each have 2 Bennies. They can use them here, or to reroll a saving throw or failed leadership test in battle.

Prince Ingmar: Knowledge (Battle): d10: 11: Success with a Raise: He will execute the first two battle plans.
Warboss Baga: Knowledge (Battle): d8: 1: Benny: 5: He will execute the first advanced battle plan.
Prince Ingmar: Knowledge (Battle): 11: Success with a Raise: He will expect Baga’s plan and can plan ahead a different target choice accordingly.
Warboss Baga: Knowledge (Battle): 3: Failure. He doesn’t expect Ingmar’s plans. He will continue with initial plans.

Each General will attemp to motivate their troops.
I decide that Prince Ingmar has a Persuasion d10 and I will roll on UNE to compare Warboss Baga’s skill in intimidation. These are Orcs after all. I get 86: Slightly Stronger. He has an Intimidation skill of d12.

Prince Ingmar: Persuasion (d10): 7: Success. The men will have unmodified Leadership stats.
Warboss Baga: Intimidation (d12): 4: Success. The orcs will have unmodified leadership stats.

“What do we know?” the Prince leans and asks his advisor.
“Warboss Baga and his orcs will be attacking the wall. His warriors are fierce, and I’ve been told by dwarves who fought against them, that he has Ogre mercenaries with him armed with huge picks that can break down walls into pieces.” The old man replies.
“Then we shall be ready. Hatchets against the ropes. Have rocks and get the oil boiling to pour down on anyone attempting to climb up. Today they shall fear us!”. He says and turns his attention to the troops arrayed in front of him.
“Ostenhofeners! Sons of the Empire! This is the fight we’ve been waiting for. As we speak, your brothers in arms at the Iron and White Towers are proving their mettle against the greenskin scum! Send them all to meet their evil gods! For the Empire and the Emperor!” He shouts. “Hiyah! For the Emperor!” The troops shout and man the battlements.

Down on the level ground, among the abandoned buildings of the outer city of Ostenhofen, the Orcs are ready. Their Warboss has led them so far. Any few who questioned any delays, met with a swift death at his axe. They are ready to crush the puny humans and prove they are the best of all the orcs. As the first sun rays fall upon them they scream their war cry “Waaaaghhhh!!!” to strike fear in the heats of the defenders.

Q: What is the distance of the orcs to the wall?
A: 5d6″: 19″
Q: What is the further distance to the end of the battlefield?
A: 25″

Initiative: Won by the Orcs.

Turn 1:
Orcs:
Animosity: 3,1,3,3,3. No animosity.
The melee units each march 8″ closer to the wall, reaching a distance of 11″. The Ogres march 12″ closer, reaching a distance of 7″.
The Orc Archers (30) shoot at the Handgunners (20): 2 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save. 2 Handgunners (18) Dead.

Empire:
Handgunners(9/18) shoot at the Ogres (8): 2 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save. Ogres (8-).
Crossbowmen (20) shoot at Big’Uns (22++): 10 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save. 3 Big’Uns (19++) Dead.

First blood is drawn as the orc arrows come raining doen, killing a couple Handgunners. The entire orcish army closes in, and a barrage of fire from the Handgunners wound the Ogres and the Crossbowmen kill a few orcs of Baga’s personal guard.

Turn 2:
Orcs:
Animosity: 3,1,1,1,5: No Animosity.
The melee units each march 8″ closer to the wall, reaching a distance of 3″. The Ogres (8-) charge 12″ to the wall.
The Orc Archers (30) shoot at the Handgunners (18): 2 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save. 2 Handgunners (16) Dead.
Ogres (8-)(Damage at 6): 1 Damage Point to the Wall (9).

Empire:
The Reiksguard (8/15) throw rocks at the Ogres (8-): 2 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save: 1 Ogre (7) Dead.
The Handgunners (8/16) shoot at the Ogres (7): 4 Hits: 1 Wounds: Ogres (7-).
The Crossbowmen (20) shoot at Big’Uns (19++): 12 Hits: 5 Wounds: No Save. 5 Big’Uns (14++) Dead.
Big’Uns Panic Test: 2: Success

2 more Handgunners fall under arrow shots while the Ogres have reached the wall and have started hitting at it with their huge picks.
To protect the wall the Reiksguard drop boulders on top of the Ogres, killing one. The Handgunners and Crossbowmen keep shooting, wounding the Ogres and big orcs.

Turn 3:
Orcs:
Animosity: 5,5,5,2,2: No Animosity.
The melee units each reach the wall and set up ladders and ropes.
Orc Archers (30): shoot at the Handgunners (16): 6 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save. 3 Handgunners (13) Dead.
Ogres (7-)(Damage at 6): 3 Damage Points to the Wall (6).

Empire:
The Reiksguard (6/15) throw rocks at the Ogres (6): 3 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save. 1 Ogre (6) Dead.
The Handgunners (6/13) shoot at the Ogres (6): 4 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save: Ogres (6-).
The Swordsmen (15+) pour boiling oil on the Orcs (30+): 9 Hits: 2 Wounded: No Save: 2 Orcs (28+) Dead. Boiling oil panic test: 8: Fail!

If the Orcs are within 12″ of the Big’Uns with the Warboss, they gain from his leadership and don’t break. Since this is TOTM I can’t measure distance, therefore I will ask the Oracle. I find it unlikely though that they are within range.
Q: Are the Orcs within range of Baga?
A: Yes! The Orcs therefore succeed their test and don’t break.

The Crossbowmen (20) shoot at Big’Uns (14++): 6 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save. 2 Big’Uns (12++) Dead.

The first ladders are set to allow for the infantry to charge. The Reiksguard continue lobbing rocks onto the ogres, killing another of the large humanoids, as they keep chipping at the foundations.
The oil is already boiling and as the orcs approach the walls, the swordsmen pour it down on them. Fear strikes the greenskins as they see the cruel death of their own kind. They waver for a moment, but then they see Baga’s banner and knowing the fate that awaits them if they flee, they hold fast.
The missile troops exchange shots, with casualties on each side.

Turn 4:
Orcs:
Animosity: 2,5,1,1,5: No Animosity.
The Netters (20+) charge at the Handgunners (13).
The Big’Uns (12++) charge at the Reiksguard (15+).
The Halberdiers (30) chare at the Swordsmen (15+).
The Orcs (28) charge at the Crossbowmen (20).
The Handgunners (7/13) shoot back at the Goblin Netters (20+): 3 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save: 1 Netter (19+) Dead.
The Crossbowmen (20) back at the Orcs (28): 7 Hits: 4 Wounds: No Save. 4 Orcs (24) Dead.
Netters (19+) melee combat: 3 Nets Hit: 3 Clubs on Nets: 3 Wound. 1 Clubs Hit: 1 Wounds. No Save. 4 Handgunners (9) Dead.
Handgunners (11) melee combat: 5 Hits: 4 Wounds: No Save: 4 Netters (15+) dead.
It’s a draw.
Halberdiers (30+) melee combat: No Hits.
Swordsmen (15+) melee combat: 8 Hits: 5 Wounds: No Save: 5 Halberdiers (25+) Dead.
Halberdiers (25+) break test: 9: Fail: Battle Standard reroll: 6: Fail: They flee 2d6″: 9″.
Orcs (28+) melee combat: 7 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save: 3 Crossbowman (17) Dead.
Crossbowmen (17) melee combat: 8 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save. 1 Orc (27+) Dead.
Crossbowmen (17) break test: 12: Fail: They flee: 2d6″: 7″.
The Orcs (27+) pursuit: 2d6″: 5″: They don’t catch up.
Swordsmen panic test: 6: Success.
Reiksguard panic test: 6: Success.
Baga Attacks: No Hits
Battle Standard Attacks: No Hits
Big’Uns (15) melee combat: No Hits
Ingmar attacks: 3 Hits: 1 Wound: No save. 1 Big’Un (14) Dead.
Reiksguard (15) melee combat: 10 Hits: 7 Wounded: No Save: 7 Big’Uns (7) Dead.
Big’Uns break test: 6: Fail: Battle Standard reroll: 7: Fail. They flee: 2d6″: 5″. Reiksguard pursuit: 10″:
They catch up and slaughter them. Baga is dead.
Ogres (6-)(Damage at 6): 1 Point of Damage to the Wall (5).

Empire:
Crossbowmen (17): Rally: 2: Success.
Reiksguard set to climb back up.
Handgunners (11) melee combat: 6 Hits: 5 Wounds: No Save: 5 Netters (10+) Dead.
Netters (10+) Melee combat: 1 Hit: No Wounds.
Netters (10+) break test: 8: Fail: They flee: 2d6″: 6″.
The Handgunners don’t pursuit.
Swordsmen (15+) melee combat: 12 Hits: 7 Wounds: No Save. 7 Halberdiers (18+) Dead.
Halberdiers (18+) melee combat: 4 Hits: 4 Wounds: 2 Saves: 2 Swordsman (13+) Dead
Halberdiers broken: they flee: 2d6″: 8″. The swordsmen pursuit: 2d6″: 10″: The Halberdiers are slain.

The orcs and goblins climb the ladders and charge at the defenders. The handgunners and the crossbowmen let off a shot before engaging in close combat.
The goblin netters and clubbers are fighting the handgunners. The battlements are give the handgunners the advantage and despite their casualties and entangled men, they win the combat, and the goblins eventually break off and run away.
The same happens to the goblin halberdiers who are fighting the skilled swordsmen. The defenders cause them so many casualties that even Baga’s banner can’t dissuade them from fleeing when faced with certain death. They run down their ladders and the swordsmen charge after them, killing them all while running away.
On the far edge of the battlefield, the orc marauders are facing of the crossbowmen. Only here do the orcs manage to break through in the defenses. The crossbowmen abandon posts and the orcs pursuit them inside the keep.
In the middle of the battle, the elite Reiksguard under Prince Ingmar are fighting against Baga and his Big’Uns.
Baga’s unit has taken many losses from missile fire and they’re already shaken when they charge. They can’t kill a single foot knight, and when 7 of them fall, even Baga is afraid of his life. They break and run away.
Prince Ingmar can’t abandon this opportunity to turn the tide of battle and the knights charge after them. They catch up to them, killing them, trampling down their banner and slaying the warboss and his standard bearer. Ingmar lifts off the orc’s head and the Ostenhofeners shout a cry of victory.

Turn 5:
Orcs:
Animosity: 3,4: No Animosity.
Netters Rally: 9: Fail: They flee: 2d6″: 11″.
The Orcs (27+) charge at the Crossbowmen (17).
Crossbowmen (17) shoot back at the Orcs (27+): 6 Hits: 4 Wounds: No Save: 4 Orcs (23+) Dead.
Orc Archers (30) shoot at Reiksguard (15+): 17 Hits: 9 Wounds: 1 Save. 9 Reiksguard (6+) Dead.
Reiksguard (6+) panic test: 9: Success
Orcs (23+) melee combat: 24 Hits: 15 Wounds: 4 Saves. 11 Crossbowmen (6) Dead.
Crossbowmen (6): 4 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save. 2 Orcs (21+) Dead.
The Crossbowmen (6) break: they flee 2d6″: 6″. The Orcs pursuit 2d6″: 4″: They can’t catch up.
Ogres (6-)(Damage at 6): 4 Damage Points at Wall (1).

Empire:
Crossbowmen (6): Rally: 6: Success.
Reiksguard (6+) climb back up.
Swordsmen (13+) march back to the wall.
Handgunners (11) shoot at Ogres (6-): 4 Hits: 1 Wound. Ogres (6–).

The goblin netters run away, and the handgunners free from conflict, shoot at the ogres, wounding them.
As the Reiksguard are caught out in the open, the orc archers take the opportunity to release a volley of arrows at them, killing more than half. An arrow is headed to the prince, but one of his faithful soldiers gets in the way, giving his life for him.
The crossbowmen are attacked again by the orcs, and flee yet again under their attack, suffering casualties. No matter how their sergeant tries to get them in line.
The swordsmen seeing how vulnerable they are, start walking back to the wall.
On the other side, the ogres have almost torn down the wall.

Turn 6:
Orcs:
Animosity: 3,2,6. Animosity: Get’em. Squabble.
Netters: Rally: 6: Fail: They flee 2d6″: 2″.
Q: Can the orcs (23+) charge at the Reiksguard?
A: No
Orcs (23+) charge at the Crossbowmen (6).
Crossbowmen (6) shoot back: 2 Hits: No wounds.
Orc Archers (30) shoot at swordsmen (13+): 13 Hits: 6 Wounds: 2 Saves. 2 Swordsmen (9+) Dead.
Orcs (23+) melee combat: 4 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save. 3 Crossbowmen (3) Dead.
Crossbowmen (3) break test: 11: Fail:
They flee 2d6″: 4″.
The orcs pursuit 2d6″: 6″. The Crossbowmen are slain.
Ogres (6–): Damage at the Wall (0): It’s destroyed.

Empire:
Swordsmen (9+) reach the wall to climb back up.
Reiksguard (6+) hold.
Handgunners (11) shoot at Ogres (6–): 4 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save: 1 Ogre (5): Dead.

Prince Ingmar with his Reiksguard have moved back onto the wall, as the ogres tear down the section next to them.
With another charge the orc marauders break through crossbowmen who run for their lives, but this time they can’t run fast enough. They are caught by the raiders and are slain to the last.
The orc archers switch targets and attack then swordsmen who are still out in the open, killing a couple of them before they climb back up to the wall. A final volley of fire from t he handgunners kills an ogre, and the remaining goblin netters run away from the battle.
Seeing that all is lost, the orcs finally withdraw under the cover of the night. The Humans let out a cheer of victory!

The battle is over.

Empire Army Roster:
General – Prince Ingmar, Sword, Shield and Heavy Armor. 104 points with 6 Reiksguard, Sword, Shield and Heavy Armor, 72 points.
11 Handgunners with Light Armor, 110 points.
9 Swordsmen with Sword, Shield and Light Armor, 81 points With Champion with Light Armor +32 Points.
Total 399 Points.

Orc Army Roster:
23 Orcs with Light Armor and Two Weapons, Orc Boss and Standard. 241,5 Points.
30 Orc Archers with Light Armor, Bows, Standard and Orc Boss. 318,5 Points.
5 Ogres. 200 Points.
Total: 760 Points
42,5 Points of Netters have fled.

Army points:
Empire Points: 1285. (695 remain from the Iron Tower battle, 191 remain from the White Tower battle and 399 remain from the North Wall battle).
Empire Relief Points: 3000
Orc Points: 2068,5. (685,5 remain from the Iron Tower battle, 171 remain from the White Tower battle and 760 remain from the North Wall battle, 452 are fled units).
Orc Relief Points: 2000
Undead Points: 8000

All three attacks were thwarted and Warboss Baga is dead. The orcs no longer have the advantage in numbers. Especially considering the relief forces.

Q: Do the orcs disperse?
A: Yes.

The orc units don’t gather under a single banner, but instead disperse. Each to their own.

With blood all over his plate armor, prince Ingmar asks his trusty advisor. “What about the towers? Did we hold?”
“We held every single brick. The defenses are damaged though. Both gates are in shambles.” The advisor responds. “And I see a big gap on the wall here too.”
“Fear not. Baga is dead. I took his head as he run away like a swine.” The prince says proudly.
He lifts his sword. “Sons of the Empire! We have proven our strength! The orc warboss is slain. Their army in ruins. Victory!”
“Victory!” The troops cheer.

Session Background: I totally burned out on this series of Warhammer battles.
I didn’t expect the defenders to win, but without the orcs setting up any war machines and siege engines, it was really hard to storm the fort. If the orcs had taken the siege warfare hexes in the Hex Flower Gaming Engine, things might have been different.
For the next session I will be switching to roleplaying completely. I intend the next session to be the closure for the siege of Ostenhofen. The new threat cannot be held off. The defenders have no supplies, the fortifications are damaged and their numbers have been brought very low by the series of orc attacks.
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giorgis 8:44 am on December 19, 2019 Permalink | Reply
Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

The siege of Ostenhofen pt6
A ~~Savage Worlds~~ Warhammer Fantasy Battles mashup.

Brief Summary: In the previous part, the company managed to escape the undead, and get out of Ostenhofen and reach the village of Westenhofen and find help there. The undead set up their foothold at the main gate of Ostenhofen, while the Orcs launch their final attack on the Keep.

Army points:
Empire Points: 2283. (695 remain from the Iron Tower battle and 1587 remain for 2nd and 3rd battle).
Empire Relief Points: 3000
Orc Points: 4244. (685,5 remain from the Iron Tower battle and 3302 remain for 2nd and 3rd battle, 256,5 are fled units).
Orc Relief Points: 2000
Undead Points: 8000

It’s going to be 3 battles of 800 Empire vs 1600 Orc points. 2 more are remaining.

For the White Tower battle, the Empire Roster must include (at least part of) the surviving roster from the battle at the walls from pt2. It makes no sense to change rosters at whim. The Orc Roster can be changed since any survivors from previous battles, may have been engaged in the combat against the Empire Relief force.
If any imperial forces from the roster are not used in the White Tower battle, then they must be included in the battle of the Northern Walls.

The surviving roster from the battle of pt2, included 3 Crossbowmen, 18+Sergeant Halberdiers and 17 Handgunners.
The 3 Crossbowmen may have been part of the battle of the Iron Tower, so I won’t care about them.
But I will use the surviving Halberdiers and Handgunners in this battle.

Again, I need to ask a few questions to the Oracle before starting the battle.
Q: Are the walls deep enough for two ranks of troops?
A: Yes.
Q: Is there a gate to the White Tower?
A: False Presupposition. The gate isn’t on the tower, but on the Southern Wall.

Battle of White Tower
Empire Roster:
18 Halberdiers with Halberd and Light Armor, in the White Tower, 162 Points. Champion with Pistol and Heavy Armor 35 Points.
20 Handgunners with Light Armor, 200 points. East Wall.
Bolt Thrower on White Tower Roof, 40 points.
20 Archers with Longbow, 160 points. South Wall.
20 Spearmen with Shields, 140 points. South Wall Gate.
Total: 737 points.

Orc Army Roster:
So this is the goblin army. For variety and keeping things interesting, l won’t give any orcs to this roster.
Since we had forest goblins with spiders in the previous battle of pt2, I will go with that main theme here as well.
20 Forest Goblin Spider Riders with Spear and Shield, 220 points, with Forest Goblin Champion with Spear and Shield, +21 points with Spider Banner Standard +35 points
20 Forest Goblin Spider Riders with Spear and Shield, 220 points, with Forest Goblin Champion with Spear and Shield, +21 points with Standard +10 points
30 Forest Goblin Archers with Short Bows, 90 points
30 Forest Goblin Archers with Short Bows, 90 points
30 Forest Goblin Spearmen with Shields, 105 points with Champion +17 points and Standard +10 points
10 River Trolls, 650 points
Forest Goblin Big Boss Riding Gigantic Spider: 83 points
Total: 1572 points

The battle will last: 6 turns
Initiative won by Empire
Starting combat distance: 5d6″: 16″
Combat edge: +12″=28″

Turn 1:
Empire:
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at the Trolls (10): Hit: Wounds: D4 Wounds: 4 Wounds: 2 Wounds Regenerated.
The Archers (20) shoot at the Spider Riders (20+1) with the Banner: 9 Hits: 5 Wounds: 1 Save: 5 Goblins Dead.
The Handgunners (10/20) shoot at the Spider Riders (20+1): 6 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save: 3 Goblins Dead.

Goblins:
Animosity: 4,5,2,2,1: No Animosity
The Forest Goblin Spider Riders (15+1) move 7″ closer to the White Tower.
The Forest Goblin Spider Riders (17+1) move 7″ closer to the East Wall.
The Forest Goblin Spearmen (30+1) march 8″ closer to the South Wall.
The River Trolls (10) move 6″ closer to the South Wall.
The Forest Goblin Warlord Golurtz moves 5″ closer to the White Tower.
The Goblin Archers (30) shoot at the Archers (20): 8 Hits: 6 Wounds: No Save: 6 Archers Dead.
Archers (14): Panic Test: 6: Success. They hold.
The Goblin Archers (30) shoot at the Handgunners (20): 8 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save: 3 Handgunners Dead.

The bolt thrower atop the White Tower aims at the slow lumbering Trolls. The crew pulls back the winch and lets off a javelin that strikes true. A troll writhes in pain, but it pulls out the projectile and they keep on their gait towards the gate.
The missile troops are aware of the danger the spider riders pose to their defensive positions, so they take aim and shoot. The archers kill 5 goblin riders with their arrows while the handgunners kill another 3 on the other front.
The goblins aren’t left without covering fire. With their short bows just in range, in single line formation, two groups of forest goblin archers shoot to the defenders. Many arrows strike the battlements, without damage, but 6 archers and 3 handgunners fall.
In the meantime under all the shooting, the forest goblin spearmen and the spider riders draw closer. The forest goblin big boss, Golurtz is riding a huge arthropod. This spider is much larger than the giant ones his troops ride. A true monster.

Turn 2:
Empire:
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at Golurtz: Miss
The Archers (14) shoot at the Forest Goblin Spider Riders (15+1): 11 Hits: 6 Wounds: No Save: 6 Goblins Dead.
Goblin Spider Riders (9+1): Panic Test: 7: They flee: 3d6″: 10″ away
The Handgunners (10/17) shoot at the Forest Goblin Spider Riders (17+1): 4 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save: 3 Goblins Dead.

Goblins:
Animosity: 2,2,2,5,6: Animosity to Forest Goblin Spearmen (30): 1: Get’em’: There’s no other goblin unit nearby, so they squabble instead.
Forest Goblin Spider Riders (9+1): Rally: 5: Success. They rally.
Forest Goblin Spider Riders (14+1): Charge at the Handgunners (17): The Handgunners (7/17) shoot: 1 Hit: 1 Wound: No Save: 1 Goblin Dead.
River Trolls (10) charge at the gate of the South Wall.
The gate has Toughness: 7, Damage Points: 3
Golurtz charges at the Bolt Thrower (2): Fail, he only moves 5″ closer.
The Goblin Archers (30) shoot at the Archers (14): 7 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save: 2 Archers Dead.
Q: Do the other goblin archers risk to shoot at the handgunners?
A: Yes
The Goblin Archers (30) shoot at the Handgunners (17): 9 Hits: 5 Goblins, 4 Handgunners: 1 Goblin Wounded, 1 Handgunner Wounded: No Saves: 1 Goblin, 1 Handgunner Dead
Forest Goblin Spider Riders (13+1) melee combat: 5+1 Hits: 4+1 Wounds: No Save: 5 Handgunners Dead. Spiders: 10 Hits: 6 Wounds: No Save: 6 Handgunners Dead.
Handgunners (6) melee combat: 4 Hits: 2 Wounds: 1 Save: 1 Goblin Dead.
The Handgunners (6) break immediately. They flee: 2d6″: 4″. The Spider Riders Pursuit 3d6″: 10″: The handgunners are slaughtered.
2 River Trolls are facing the gate: 1 Damage Points

The bolt thrower crew aims at the goblin big boss heading towards them at full speed. They shoot and miss. Seeing the projectile fly by, the goblin urges the gigantic spider to charge at the tower, but the distance is too great, and the arthropod soon loses momentum as soon as it has reached the rooftop.
The archers and the handgunners shoot at the forest goblin spider riders closing in at each side of the keep. The archers have caused so many casualties that the goblins turn tail and flee.
Down at the goblin front, the forest goblin spearmen get furious at how the spider riders turned and flee. “Let’s get ’em!” They shout. “They’re too far away!” The spearmen at the rear shout back. Soon they start squabbling about what they should do, and they stop and do nothing, while their leader bashes a couple heads to get them in line.
The goblin spider rider boss rallies his group and they stop their gallop away.
On the other side of the tower, the other spider riders reach the wall under a second hail of fire that kills one of their own. The charge is successful and they climb the wall. The goblin spears feel like lances to the handgunner who are overrun. The spiders make short work of anyone who tries to run for his life. Soon, the handgunners have been eliminated.
The goblin archers shoot again at the walls, killing a couple archers. They don’t care for their own that are engaged in combat with the handgunners, and a goblin falls under their fire alongside with a handgunner.
The trolls rush to the gate and start smashing at it. The Imperial spearmen at the other side can all but wonder what is happening that thuds so strongly at the gate.

Turn 3:
Empire:
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at Golurtz: Miss
The Archers (14) shoot at the Trolls: 8 Hits: 2 Wounds: 1 Wound Regenerated: 1 Troll Dead
The Halberdiers (18+1) charge at Golurtz.
Halberdiers Fear Test: 6: Success.
Halberdiers (3+1/18+1) are at combat: All attacks against Golurtz: 3 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save, Pistol: Miss
Golurtz is dead!
Monster reaction: 2: The monster attacks the nearest troops, favoring enemies.
Gigantic Spider melee attack: 2 Hits: 2 Wounds: 2 Halberdiers Dead
The melee combat is a draw.

Goblins:
Animosity: 6,2,1,3,3: Animosity on the Spider Riders (9+1): 1: Get’em: They charge at the Goblin Archers (30): The Goblin Archers shoot (30) at the charging Spider Riders (9+1): 10 Hits: 6 Wounds: 1 Save: 5 Goblins Dead: Panic Test: 10: Fail: They’re broken: They Flee 2d6″: 6″
The Goblin Archers (30) shoot at the Archers (14): 8 Hits: 4 Wounds: No Save: 4 Archers Dead.
The Goblin Spider Riders (11+1) move 7″ back towards the White Tower
Halberdiers (3+1/18+1) are at combat: 2+1 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Saves.
Gigantic spider melee combat: No Hits
The Gigantic spider loses combat: 10: Failure: It flees: 3″: The halberdiers pusuit: 9″: They kill it.
River Trolls: 3 Damage Points: The gate is destroyed

The bolt thrower lets off another projectile, but the crewmen are scared with the monster so close and miss yet again.
The Halberdiers under their champion, Erbert charge at the huge monster. They haven’t thought about it, are they brave or just fools? Erbert and his men all aim at the forest goblin big boss. Strikes are exchanged, and the sharp pikes of two halberds pierce Golurtz’s chest. The goblin cries out in pain and tumbles on the side of his spider, to the ground. As if showing affection to its master, the spider stands on its hind legs and falls back down, crushing two halberdiers under its weight.
The fight continues and the halberdiers with their long weapons manage to mangle the monster. Wounded it turns away, but while it’s at the edge of the tower, they catch up with it. They hack at its exposed belly, and don’t stop until its cut to pieces that fall on the ground in front of the tower, spreading goo everywhere.
Back on the southern wall, the archers, seeing the imminent danger, shoot at the trolls, killing the troll that was wounded before by the bolt.
The forest goblin spider riders that rallied are furious at the archers who shot at their brethren on the wall while in combat. They charge at them. The goblin archers are quick to answer with a hail of arrows, killing 5 riders. Scared, they ride away.
The other group of goblin archers provide covering fire to the trolls, killing 4 more human archers. In the meantime, the trolls have battered down the gate, and the imperial spearmen look at them scared, through the gap in the defense.

Turn 4:
Empire:
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at the trolls: Hit: Wound: 4 Wounds: 3 Wounds Regenerated.
The Archers (10) shoot at the trolls: 4 Hits: 3 Wounds: 2 Wounds Regenerated. 1 Troll is dead.
The Spearmen (20) charge at the River Trolls (8): Fear: 5: Fear is overcome
Spearmen (five ranks) (4/20) melee combat: 3 Hits: 1 Wound: 0 Wounds Regenerated
Trolls (2/8) melee combat: 3 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save: 2 Spearmen Dead
Spearmen win combat by +2
Trolls break test: 10: Fail: They flee: 2d6″: 4″. Spearmen Pursuit: 10″: The Trolls are slaughtered.

Goblins:
Animosity: 2,3,6,2,3: Animosity on the Goblin Archers (30): 6: We’ll Show’em: They move 2d6″: Towards the wall: 11″
The Goblin Spider Riders (4+1): Rally: 11: Fail: They flee 3d6″: 13″: They’re out of the battlefield.
The Goblin Spider Riders (11+1) charge at the Halberdiers (16+1)
The Goblin Spearmen (30) charge at the Spearmen (18)
Goblin Spider Riders (10+1) melee combat: 5+1 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save: 3 Halberdiers Dead
Spiders melee combat: 5 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save: 2 Halberdiers Dead
Halberdiers (11+1) melee combat: 5 Hits: 5 Wounds: No Save: 5 Goblins Dead
The combat is a draw
Goblin Spearmen (5/30) melee combat: 1 Hit: 1 Wound: 1 Save.
Spearmen (5/18) melee combat: 4 Hits: 2 Wounds: 1 Save: 1 Goblin Dead
Spearmen win combat by +1
Goblins break test: 5: Fail: They flee: 12″: Spearmen pursuit: 6″

Another bolt hits a troll, that quickly regenerates the wounds. But it’s quickly peppered with arrows from the archers and falls dead.
The spearmen grit their teeth and charge at the trolls. The long shafts of their weapons provide an edge against the trolls. The monsters kill two spearmen, but the sheer weight of their ranks pushing forward, creates a wall of sharp points that the trolls fear for their lives. They turn and flee. Furious at the death of their brothers, the spearmen pursuit. Some climb atop the troll and pierce their skulls, others cut off their tendons at their legs and finish them off as they fall down. Such is their rage, that no troll survives the onslaught.
The forest goblin spearmen see what the imperials have done to the trolls and are reluctant to join the combat, but at the behest of their leader, they charge. The combat is close, but it is the goblins who suffer the most casualties. Not known for their strong morale, they flee, and the imperial spearmen follow in pursuit.
The group of goblin archers on the front of the south wall start bickering amongst themselves. They cannot decide whether to attack the tower or the wall, and they attack none.
In the meantime the spider riders that were shot at, continue fleeing, until they are out of the battlefield. While the other unit charges at the halberdiers.
Five Halberdiers die under their spears and spider mandibles, but they kill also an equal number of spider riders, in an even combat.

Turn 5:
Empire:
Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at Goblin Archers (30): Hit: 1 Wound: 1 Goblin Dead.
Archers (10) shoot at Goblin Archers (29): 2 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save: 1 Goblin Dead.
Spearmen (18) charge at the fleeing Goblin Spearmen, slaughtering them.
Halberdiers (6+1/11+1) melee combat: 5+1 Hits: 4 Wounds: No Save: 4 Goblins Dead
Goblins (1+1/2+1) melee combat: 1 Hit: 1 Wound: No Save: 1 Halberdier Dead
Spiders (2/3) melee combat: 2 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save: 1 Halberdier Dead
The Halberdiers (9+1) win the combat.
Goblin Spider Riders (2+1) break test: 6: Fail: They flee: 3d6″: 13″
The Halberdiers (9+1) hold.

Goblins:
Animosity: 3,2: No effect.
Goblin Spider Riders (2+1): Rally: 7: Fail: They flee: 13″
Goblin Archers (28) shoot at the Spearmen (18): 12 Hits: 7 Wounds: No Save: 7 Spearmen Dead.
Spearmen (11) panic test: 11: Failure: They flee 2d6″: 6″
Goblin Archers (30) shoot at the Bolt Thrower (2): 9 Hits: 4 Wounds: No Save: The Bolt Thrower Crew is Dead.

The bolt thrower crew and the archers shoot at the goblin archers situated below, and they kill only a couple. The spearmen charge at the fleeing goblin infantry. As the goblins run away, their backs turned towards Ostenhofen, they are easily picked out one by one by the spearmen. But their pursuit has taken them too close to the goblin archers, who shoot a hail of arrows, killing almost half of them. Disheartened they run back towards the battlements.
Meanwhile the battle between the spider riders and the halberdiers continues, with the men gaining the upper hand. The goblin spider riders break rank and run away, so fast, the men can’t catch up.
A hail of fire from the other unit of goblin archers eliminates the bolt thrower crew completely.

Turn 6:
Empire:
Spearmen (11) Rally test: 7: Success: They Rally and Hold.
Archers (10) shoot at Goblin Archers (28): 3 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save: 1 Goblin Dead.
The Halberdiers (9+1) enter the White Tower.

Goblins:
Animosity: 1,1: No effect.
Goblin Archers (27) shoot at the Archers (10): 7 Hits: 5 Wounds: No Save: 5 Archers Dead.
Archers (5): Panic test: 3: They hold.
Goblin Archers (30) shoot at the Spearmen (11): 8 Hits: 6 Wounds: No Save: 6 Spearmen Dead.
Spearmen (5): Panic test: 10: They flee: 2d6″: 7″

The archers keep shooting at the goblins, killing another one. They shoot back and a handful of archers are slain, bringing their number down to a quarter of their initial strength. The other unit of goblin archers shoot now at the spearmen who are out in the open, killing six of them. They run away again, heading back to the safety of the fortifications.
Realizing they can’t assault the tower without any melee support, the goblin archers withdraw, and the battle is over.

The battle is over.
Empire Army Roster:
9 Halberdiers with Halberd and Light Armor, in the White Tower, 81 Points. Champion with Pistol and Heavy Armor 35 Points.
5 Archers with Longbow, 40 points.
5 Spearmen with Shields, 35 points.
Total: 191 points, 546 points lost.

Orc Army Roster:
2 Forest Goblin Spider Riders with Spear and Shield, 22 points, with Forest Goblin Champion with Spear and Shield, +21 points with Spider Banner Standard +35 points – Fled
4 Forest Goblin Spider Riders with Spear and Shield, 44 points, with Forest Goblin Champion with Spear and Shield, +21 points with Standard +10 points – Fled
27 Forest Goblin Archers with Short Bows, 81 points
30 Forest Goblin Archers with Short Bows, 90 points
Total: 171 points, 153 points fled, 1248 points lost.

Session Background: A wargaming only session. I realized mid game that I had stated that the goblins are led by a Big Boss and I used a War boss instead. I seriously doubt one war boss would be led by another. So, I restarted the relevant points of battle from that point. I won’t get into details on what happened in this alternate course. Also I entirely forgot about the Trolls stupidity rule. In this case I decided not to replay this part. Give one, take one. It’s important to maintain balance.
Psychology is so important in Warhammer Fantasy Battles. The trolls were easily routed, due to an error in my judgement. I should have combined them with a strong leadership unit, as I was not aware of their weakness in morale. The orcs lost yet another battle. Their numbers are dwindling and they may lose the entire conflict.
This may give the Ostenhofeners the chance to flee, before the Undead lay waste to the city.
Running a wargame in theater of the mind is certainly possible, but very taxing to the brain. I feel drained after every session. In this one I also made a lot of mistakes. In the last battle I intend to add some roleplay elements to make it more interesting, and play it out more carefully, more slowly with more detail.

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giorgis 9:16 am on December 15, 2019 Permalink | Reply
Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

The siege of Ostenhofen pt5
A Savage Worlds Warhammer Fantasy Battles mashup.

Brief Summary: In the previous part, the party crawled through the sewers trying to find an exit, but instead reached a cavern with stale air. Disturbed from unknown decades of endless sleep, the undead are awakened. A lich is slowly revitalized in the center of the cave, while a score of his skeleton minions are animated to do his bidding.

Now, I need to define the scene a bit before continuing with the combat rounds.
Q: Do all the skeletons attack?
A: Yes. Considering the party’s set up, I define that even if all the skeletons join the fray, only 8 can attack at the same time. about 1-3, depending on positioning and orientation at each member of the party.
Q: Are the skeletons spread around the cavern? (Likely)
A: Yes, and some are spread at the far edges of the cave.
Q: Is the exit located at the other end of the cave?
A: No, it is located near them
Q: How many of the skeletons between them and the exit?
A: 1d6+2: 7
Q: How many of the skeletons between them and the lich?
A: 1d6+2: 4

This is going to be a long fight. I do present the mechanics below, but I understand that reading through these can be a chore. It is after all a combat between 4 party members and 20 skeletons (only 8 of which are locked in combat at the same time). I run the combat at a grid, so things that might have been evident to me visually are not so when reading through this. Therefore I suggest you go to the end of the combat and read the narrative excerpt instead.

Round 1:
Initiative: B: J♦️, E: 10♥️, G: J♥️, R: Joker
Skeletons: 5♠️

Considering that Rudiger got the creeps right before, I decide that he will try to to open a path towards the exit rather than try to fight with the skeletons in the middle.
Rudiger: Moves towards the exit and makes a sweep attack on 3 of the skeletons.
Rudiger: Fighting (d12-2): 12/5: Hit with a Raise: 20/7: Destroyed, 23/7: Destroyed, 6/7: No damage.
Gustav: Moves and attacks the skeleton that survived Rudiger’s attack.
Gustav: Fighting (d6): 5/5: Hit: 4/7: No damage.
Evie: Moves and attacks a skeleton from the group towards the exit.
Evie: Fighting (d8): 4/5: Miss, Benny: 11/5: Hit with a Raise: 30/7: Destroyed
Bianka: Moves and attacks a skeleton from the group towards the exit.
Bianka: Fighting (d8+1): 5/5: Hit: 6/7: No damage.
S1 vs Bianka: Fighting (d6): 1: Miss
S2 vs Gustav: Fighting (d6+1): 5/5: Hit: 7/5: Shaken
S3 vs Gustav: Fighting (d6+1): 6/5: Hit: 5/5: Shaken: Wounded
S4 vs Bianka: Fighting (d6+1): 6/6: Hit: 6/5: Shaken
S5 moves and attacks Gustav: Fighting (d6+2): 4/5: Miss
S6 moves and attacks Bianka: Fighting (d6+2): 3/6: Miss
S7 moves and attacks Rudiger: Fighting (d6+2): 6/8: Miss
S8 moves and attacks Evie: Fighting (d6): 4/5: Miss
The rest of the skeletons move closer to the party.

Round 2:
Initiative: B: Joker, E: 8♥️, G: 4♣️, R: A♥️
Skeletons: K♦️

Bianka: Spirit (d4+2): 5: Success. Benny: No longer shaken.
Bianka: Fighting (d8+3): 7/5: Hit: 9/7: Shaken
Rudiger performs an attack on the skeleton in front of him.
Rudiger: Fighting (d12-2): 7/5: Hit: 9/7: Shaken
S1 Shaken: Spirit (d4+2): 3: Fail
S2 Shaken: Spirit (d4+2): 3: Fail
S3 vs Gustav: Fighting (d6+1): 4/5: Miss
S4 vs Bianka: Fighting (d6+3): 8/6: Hit: 5/5: Shaken
S5 vs Gustav: Fighting (d6+1): 5/5: Hit: 5/5: Shaken: Wounded again.
S6 vs Bianka: Fighting (d6+3): 7/5: Hit: 6/5: Shaken: Wounded
S7 vs Rudiger: Fighting (d6+1): 5/8: Miss
S8 vs Evie: Fighting (d6): 5/5: Hit: 4/5: No Damage
Gustav: Soak Roll: Vigor (d6-1): 3: Fail: Benny: 15!: Soaked 2 Wounds and recovered
Evie: perform an attack on S8.
Evie: Fighting (d8): 7/5: Hit: 2/7: No damage
Gustav: Full Defend: Fighting (d6+1): 5: Parry until next round.

Round 3:
Initiative: B: 10♦️, E: J♥️, G: K♦️, R: 6♦️
Skeletons: J♠️
Gustav: Full Defend: Fighting (d6+1): 12: Parry until next round.
S1 Shaken: Spirit (d4+2): 3: Fail
S2 Shaken: Spirit (d4+2): 3: Fail
S3 vs Gustav: Fighting (d6+1): 5/12: Miss
S4 vs Bianka: Fighting (d6+3): 6/6: Hit: 17/5: +3 Wounds. Incapacitated
S5 vs Gustav: Fighting (d6+1): 5/12: Miss
S6 moves and attacks Gustav (d6+2): 5/12: Miss
S7 vs Rudiger: Fighting (d6+1): 2: Miss
S8 vs Evie: Fighting (d6): 8/5: Hit: 9/5: Wounded
Evie: Soak Roll: Vigor (d6): 5: Success. Not wounded
Evie: Fighting (d8): 4/5: Miss
Bianka: Soak Roll: Vigor (d6): 16: Soaked all wounds!
Rudiger: Fighting (d12-1): 5/5: Hit: 10/7: Wounded

Round 4: (The Lich awakens)
Initiative: B: 10♥️, E: 6♣️, G: 9♣️, R: Joker
Skeletons: 8♥️, Lich: J♦️
Rudiger will perform a rapid attack three times on the skeletons next to him.
Rudiger: Fighting (d12-3): 6/5: Hit: 4/7: No damage
Rudiger: Fighting (d12-3): 6/5: Hit: 14/7: Destroyed
Rudiger: Fighting (d12-3): 2/5: Miss
Lich: 3 Dark Bolts, one for each of the party members.
Spellcasting (d12-2): 3: Fail, 8: Success: 7/5: Gustav is Wounded again, 5: Success: 11/8: Shaken.
Bianka: Defend and Withdraw: Skeletons: 5/8: Miss, 7/8: Miss, 12/8: Hit with Raise: 14/5: +2 Wounds.
Bianka has fled the cavern.
Gustav: Defend and Withdraw. S5: 4/7: Miss, S6: 2/7: Miss
Gustav has fled the cavern.
S1 Shaken: Spirit (d4+2): 4: Success
S2 Shaken: Spirit (d4+2): 5: Success
S3 vs Rudiger: Fighting (d6): 4/6: Miss
S4 vs Rudiger: Fighting (d6+1): 4/6: Miss
S5 vs Rudiger: Fighting (d6+2): 7/6: Hit: 6/8: No damage.
S6 vs Evie: Fighting (d6): 1/5: Miss
Evie: Defend and Withdraw: S6: 11/5: Hit with Raise: 14/5: 2 Wounds
Evie has fled the cavern.

Round 5:
Initiative: R: 9♦️
Skeletons: 7♦️, Lich: 2♥️
Rudiger: Benny, isn’t Shaken anymore and can act.
Rudiger: Defend and Withdraw: 4/10: Miss, 5/10: Miss, 4/10: Miss, 14/10: Hit with Raise: 15/8: Wounded
Rudiger has fled the cavern

A dark sinister feeling overcomes the party as magical winds flow towards the corpse in the middle of the cavern.
Before giving anyone a moment to decide if they should go ahead and try to destroy the undead being in the middle of the ritual drawing, Rudiger evaluates quickly his tactical options, and heads towards what seems to be an exit. 7 of the skeletons block his way. He deflects a blow quickly with his shield, and with a mighty swing of his longsword, he cuts through the spines of two of the undead.
Evie has no choice but to follow her bodyguard, and with her short sword, she destroys another of the abominations. Gustav and Bianka come along, hoping to reach the exit. The skeletons gang up on them, and in the chaos of combat, Gustav is wounded by their sharp claws.
Unfortunately, even though the way to the exit is clear, the skeletons have caught up with them, and there is no way to leave without being exposed to their attacks. The company has made a line, trying to push back the skeletons, but they are severely outnumbered, and Bianka and Gustav who aren’t as well armored as Rudiger are wounded further. Gustav grits his teeth, and pulls through, the wound being less severe than he initially thought.
Rudiger destroys another skeleton with a quick slash of his blade, but Bianka receives a grievous wound. She doesn’t falter, she grabs her wound, and brings the fight back to the enemy.
An evil hideous laughter echoes through the cavern, and the corpse rises. It’s a rotting carcass of a man in robes, holding a black wood staff.
Rudiger tries to perform a flurry of blows to the skeletons, but in his hurry, only one skeleton is destroyed.
The undead wizard shouts something in an unknown tongue, points his staff, and three black arrows materialize from thin air and shoot towards Evie, Gustav and Rudiger. Gustav is wounded by the arrow, while Rudiger evades it in the last moment, and gets barely scratched. The wizard misses Evie.
Bianka realizes she has had enough. She prefers to be exposed to the skeleton strikes rather than the dead mage, and she withdraws from combat tactically. She has lost her nerve though, and one of the skeletons finds an opening and carves his fingers into her flesh.
Gustav follows Bianka through the newly opened path, and Evie disengages from her own assailant. The skeleton manages in the last moment to tear Evie’s side open, wounding her badly.
Rudiger has been left in the rearguard, and he knows that he too, must leave now or be killed, and join the skeletons in their undead mission. He uses his shield to cover his retreat, but he fights against 4 of the skeletons. He parries most of their blows, but one of them gets a strike to his leg. A small price to pay for escaping this hole. Up ahead he can hear his party mates footsteps, and he runs off after them.

Now I decide that the skeletons will make a quick chase after the party. It’s going to be a short chase of 3 rounds, since the skeletons can’t be expected to operate freely far from their creator.
Chase (Short: 3 Rounds).
Q: Does the Lich give chase? (Unlikely)
A: No
For each chase round I will also be drawing a card of the dungeon crawl rules. In case of an encounter I will roll for ambush of the encountered enemy, since the running party won’t stop for conflict unless their path is blocked.

Round 1:
Dungeon crawl: A♦️! Finally the exit!
I will roll 3d6 to find where in the Battlements map the exit lies.
3d6: 12: Moat/Drawbridge.
It makes so much sense. The river that surrounds the city and fills the moat has a side stream that is essentially the underground river that leads to sewers.
Skeletons: Agility (d8+1): 6: Success
Bianka: Agility (d8-3): 0: Fail
Evie: Agility (d6-1): 3: Fail
Gustav: Agility (d4-2): 3: Fail
Rudiger: Agility (d8-3): 12: Success with 2 Raises.
Skeletons: Q♥️
Rudiger: Q♦️
Both parties are at medium range.
Q: Do the skeletons now sport bows?
A: No

Round 2:
Skeletons: Agility (d8+1): 8: Success with 1 Raise.
Bianka: Agility (d8-3): 1: Fail
Evie: Agility (d6-1): 0 Fail
Gustav: Agility (d4-2): 2: Fail
Rudiger: Agility (d8-3): 6: Success.
Skeletons: 9♠️
Rudiger: 4♣️: Major Obstacle: Agility (d8-5): 0: Failure: Fatigued.

Round 3:
Skeletons: Agility (d8+1): 3: Fail
Bianka: Agility (d8-3): 1: Fail
Evie: Agility (d6-1): 10 Success with Raise
Gustav: Agility (d4-2): 2: Fail
Rudiger: Agility (d8-3): 2: Fail
Evie: 5♥️

They run off as fast as they can, the skeleton bones clacking behind them as the animated remains follow in pursuit. Quickly the cavern opens up to the surface. The river fills in from the outside, they’re at the most of Ostenhofen. A narrow path along the moat leads up and they keep running.
Despite the skeletons having the upper hand at speed they don’t manage to catch up enough to attack.
Abruptly the skeletons end their hunt. They come to a full stop as the party increases their distance, as if an invisible wall is holding them back.
“They, they stopped.” Gustav says.
“Let’s not wait to find out if they will continue.” Evie tells him.
They continue until the skeletons are out of sight.
Then each of them looks to their wounds. No one escaped unscathed.

Bianka: 3 Wounds
Evie: 2 Wounds
Gustav: 1 Wound
Rudiger: 1 Wound, 3 Bumps and Bruises

Good thing for them is that the hex that they’re in, doesn’t have Orcs.
Of course that’s where the skeleton army will set up.
If this draws long I will need to paint a battle map of the ownership of each hex.
The group moves to the village hex to recover.
The skeletons will start with an army of 1d6+2 thousand points: 8 thousand points!
It’s very likely Ostenhofen will fall to the dead instead, and maybe the Orc Warlord’s doom meant the Lich’s sorcery and not an imperial mage. Didn’t see this coming but it all falls into place.

They move slowly without any noise towards the settlement of Westenhofen, on the western bank of the river, across the city.
Back in the distance they see hundreds of figures crawling, and moving like puppets. An uneasy chill fills their hearts at the sight of the dead, walking in such great numbers.
Without any fatigue, the dead, in numbers, move dirt into the moat. Soon it’s filled with mud, and they move across.

Q: Are there any defenders?
A: No, they have fled to the walls of the inner city, not risking being cut off by the orcs.

The undefended outer gatehouse is soon conquered by the undead, whose Lich leader summons even more corpses to his cause.

Let’s see what happens the next siege turn then.

Undead Army: 2d6: 1,6=7: Goto 7: Wooden Palisade.

Orc Army: 2d6: 3,2=5: Goto 19: Inner Keep!

Since no one has attacked the party’s hex so far, I will start with them.

Q: Is Westenhofen abandoned? (Likely)
A: No, the Orcs have cut off the road and the Westenhofeners have barricaded themselves in.
Q: Does Westenhofen have a wooden wall and gate? (Unlikely)
A: Yes, and it’s manned.
Q: Do the guards shoot at the party?
A: No, and they see their sorry state, realize they’re friendlies and let them in.

Almost stumbling along, the company reaches the wooden walls of Westenhofen. Behind the wooden shutters of the gatehouse, a guard figure watches them and soon the gates open slowly in silent.
“Come inside! You’ve escaped from the siege? What news from the city?” Asks a young guard anxiously.
“Let them be Bertio! They’re wounded and weary. Let’s take them to the Physician.” Says another guard, older, with feathers on his hat. Probably the captain.
“I am captain Omund. Follow me. You will fill me in on our way to the Physician.” He tells the party. “Bertio! Shut this gate quickly!” He orders the guard who turns to his task.

I will roll on UNE for the physician’s power level.
I get 85: Slightly Stronger. So I decide they have a d10 on Healing skill.
Now I need to get their Bearing. I decide that they are friendly.
I get 22: gratitude.
I go to donjon to get some descriptions: Geri has black hair and soft brown eyes, and a straight beard. He wears modest garments and an amulet of luminous crystal.

Omund knocks on the closed door of the physician’s house. “Geri, it’s me Omund. Open up, I bring you wounded folk from Ostenhofen.
They hear the door unlock, and unbar. Geri, a man with black hair, soft brown eyes and a straight bear opens to them. He wears modest garments and an amulet of luminous crystal.
“You bring news! thank you. Come inside. I will tend to your wounds. I have a room to set you up.” He tells them and moves aside to help them. “Mari! Come we have patients!” He yells to his servant who appears in an instant to assist him.
“What happened? What is the state of Ostenhofen? How did you escape?” the captain starts asking questions as the physician and his assistant start cleaning them up to see their wounds.
“We are the entourage of Lady Evie Vogel. I am Rudiger, this is Gustav and this is Bianka. We got caught up in the siege as it started, and joined in every battle against the orcs. Things are dire. The supplies are dwindling, and only the inner city is still holding. Unfortunately, a misunderstanding regarding a past event, pressed us to escape the city.” Rudiger says in his bass voice. He pauses a moment and continues. “We used the sewers, who are infested with all sorts of creatures. It was by a thin hair that we managed to get out alive. We saw… we saw the dead walk.”

Now I will first roll on UNE regarding the Conversation Mood for friendly.
I get 16: Guarded.
I will now roll on Omund’s Bearing and Conversation Focus I get comfort enemy.

“You’re not our enemy Lady Vogel. We thank you for fighting the greenskins all along the way. It’s men and women like you that help the Empire stand it’s ground against all those foes. You can rest here as long as you need. The road to the west has been cut off.” Omund comforts them.

Q: Does he believe Rudiger about the dead?
A: False presupposition! He doesn’t need convincing at all. He has seen them with his own two eyes.
Q: Does he know about the Lich’s past?
A: False presupposition. He doesn’t know a thing about Lichs. He hasn’t even heard of such things.
Q: Has he faced the undead in the past?
A: Yes

“Rudiger. I.. I’ve seen the dead walk in the past. I was a young boy when my father told me to hide under the bed. Our village was under attack. He opened the chest and yielded his blade. I peeked from under the bed and I saw it. A corpse walking. My father hacked it to pieces and it fell down silently. The memory still haunts me. It was some witch. A necromancer they said.” Omund confesses. “I believe you.”

At last! a moment of calamity for our party.
For this week I will roll on healing attempts.
Healing Bianka: 3: Fail
Healing Evie: 2: Fail
Healing Gustav: 0: Fail
Healing Rudiger: 4: Success. One wound is removed.
Within the golden hour only Rudiger is back to his feet.
Now let’s go for natural healing for the entire week.
Bianka: Vigor (d6-3): 0: Failure. She remains at 3 Wounds.
Evie: Vigor (d6-2): 9: Success with a Raise. She heals completely.
Gustav: Vigor (d6-1): 8: Success with a Raise: He heals completely.
Also Rudiger recovers from his Bumps and Bruises.

By the week’s end, all but Bianka have recovered. Bianka’s health hasn’t improved, and Geri insists she has to stay for another week in bed.

I almost forgot about the Empire Relief troops. I will use the weather Hex Flower Game Engine from Goblin’s henchman to see if the weather improves or not. If there’s still rain, I doubt relief can arrive.
So I roll a 10. From heavy rain with clouds I go to thunderstorm. Relief is stuck, along with 1d6+2 x 500 = 2000 orc points.

The defenders won’t try to defend the palisade from the undead attack. I doubt there would be anyone there to defend it anyway, so we go to what might be the final battle of Ostenhofen.

So to recap:
Empire Points: 2381
Empire Relief Points: 3000
Orc Points: 6986, 2000 of which are poised against the Empire Relief.
Undead Points: 8000

So we have a battle of 4986 Orc points against 2381 Empire points.
I can’t run this in one go, so I will split it in 3 assaults happening at different parts of the keep.
It’s going to be 3 battles of 800 Empire vs 1600 Orc points.
If the Empire loses all 3 battles then they will perish no matter the fleeing units.
If the Orcs lose all 3 battles then they will be pushed back.
If there is a mixed result, then the survivors will fight again in a final battle. Imperial units that fled can join these battles but Orcish units will have fled the battlefield completely.

The bells are ringing loudly, non-stop. The prince’s commander of the guard enters the chambers. Prince Ingmar looks at him.
“My lord, the orcs have assaulted the northern part of the inner city, where the keep ends. We must push them back or all is lost.” He says worried.
“Call for my squire to dress me up. We’re going to battle! Let’s show those orcs some imperial steel.” The Prince keeps his resolve. “Call my personal guard to the courtroom. I’ll address them before we go to battle.”

The Orcs are attacking the northern keep from three points. The north-eastern tower, the Iron Tower is under attack by the Black Orc Big Boss Damuzu the Mean. The north-western tower, the White Tower is under attack by the Goblin Big Boss Golurtz, while the interconnecting walls in the middle are under attack by the Orc War Boss Baga himself. That’s where the Prince heads with his personal guard.

The battle for the Iron Tower

Q: Does the Iron Tower have a gate to the outside? (Unlikely)
A: Yes
Q: Do the walls have space for two lines of troops?
A: No
Q: Is there LOS for the crossbowmen to the Tower gate?
A: Yes
So the battle locations are the following.
South wall connected to the Iron Tower.
West wall connected to the Iron Tower.
Iron Tower gate/floor level.
Iron Tower roof/top level.

Empire army Roster:
Bolt Thrower with crew of 2 on top of the Iron Tower. 40 Points
20 Crossbowmen at South Wall with Light Armor and Shield. 220 Points. With battle standard +10 points.
20 Crossbowmen at West Wall with Light Armor and Shield. 220 Points. With battle standard +10 points.
20 Swordsmen inside the Iron Tower with Light Armor. 180 Points. With a Champion, 33 points.
10 Archers on top of the Iron Tower with Long Bow and Hand Weapon. 80 points.
Total 793 Points.

Orc army Roster:
36 Black Orcs at 4 ranks deep. Armed with two hand weapons. 360 points. With battle standard +10 points. With Black Orc Big Boss +92 points.
36 Orcs at 4 ranks deep. Armed with hand weapon, light armor and shield. 306 points. With battle standard +10 points.
36 Orcs at 4 ranks deep. Armed with hand weapon, light armor and shield. 306 points. With battle standard +10 points.
20 Orc Archers. Armed with light armor and bow. 190 points.
20 Orc Archers. Armed with light armor and bow. 190 points.
5 Ogres with double handed weapons. 210 points.
Total 1684 Points.

Battle Duration: 6 Turns.

I won’t be doing random initiative per turn like I did in the past. Instead, I will roll initiative at the beginning and rotate players each turn.
Initiative won by: Empire.
Starting combat distance: 5d6″: 15″
Combat edge: +12″=27″

Turn 1:
Empire:
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at the Ogres (5): No hit.
The Archers (10) shoot at the Orc Archers1 (20): 6 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save. 3 Orc Archers Dead.
The Crossbowmen1 (20) shoot at the Orc Archers1 (17): 13 Hits: 5 Wounds: No Save. 5 Orc Archers Dead.
The Crossbowmen2 (20) shoot at the Orc Archers2 (20): 8 Hits: 5 Wounds: No Save. 5 Orc Archers Dead.
Test Orc Archers1 (12) for Panic: 11: It’s Panicked. They flee: 2d6″: 4″
Test Orc Archers2 (15) for Panic: 10: It’s Panicked. They flee: 2d6″: 8″

Orcs:
Animosity: 2. No effect.
Orc Archers1 (12): Rally: 9: Fail. They flee: 2d6″: 8″: They’re out of the battlefield.
Orc Archers2 (15): Rally: 9: Fail. They flee: 2d6″: 8″: They’re out of the battlefield.
Since the orc archer units are smaller than the Orc units, they’re not affected and don’t need to take a panic test.
The Ogres, Orcs and Black Orcs march in formation and move 8″ closer to the walls.

At first light, the Ostenhofeners see the orcs arrayed in battle formation across the battlements. As soon as they enter their weapons range, they load their crossbow and start shooting. The defenders aim first at the enemy’s archers, so that they can’t shoot back.
The crossbow bolts find true their targets, and 7 of the orcs fall down dead. Such is their weak will, that they turn tail and flee, away from the battle.
The other orcs seem uninfluenced by this turn of events and continue onwards.

Turn 2:
Empire:
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at the Orcs1 (36): No Hit
The Archers (10) shoot at the Orcs1 (36): 3 Hits: 1 Wounds: No Save. 1 Orc Dead.
The Crossbowmen1 (20) shoot at Orcs1 (35): 9 Hits: 7 Wounds: No Save: 7 Orcs Dead.
The Crossbowmen2 (20) shoot at Orcs2 (36): 15 Hits: 4 Wounds: No Save: 4 Orcs Dead.

Orcs:
Animosity: 3: No effect.
Ogres reach the Tower gate: They charge the gate. Toughness 7, 2 Damage Points.
Ogres: 1 Point of Damage.
The Orcs 1 and Orcs2 reach the walls and set up ladders. They will attack in the next turn.
The Black Orcs are waiting for the Ogres to charge inside.

The archers atop the tower and the crossbowmen keep shooting at the mass of orcs arrayed below, as the black orcs follow a handful of ogres that reach the reinforced gate of the Iron Tower. The ogres hammer down their mighty clubs and axes on the gate. The Ostenhofeners could not predict it, but the strength of the ogres is such, that the first cracks on the gate appears. The archer squad leader orders his men to the Ogres, but it may be too late.
The orc mass has reached the foot of the walls, and they have launched ladders on each wall to climb and assault it.

Turn 3:
Empire:
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at the Black Orcs (36+1): Hit: 1 Wound: 1 Wound: No Wound. 2 Black Orcs Dead.
The Archers (10) shoot at the Ogres (5): 6 Hits: 1 Wound. 1 Ogre Wounded.
The Crossbowmen1 (20) shoot at Ogres (5): 11 Hits: 3 Wounds: 1 Ogre Dead. 1 Ogre Wounded.
The Crossbowmen2 (20) shoot at Ogres (4): 10 Hits: 4 Wounds: 1 Ogre Dead. 1 Ogre Wounded Twice.

Orcs:
Animosity: 5: No effect.
Orcs1 (28): Charge at Crossbowmen1 (20): Crossbowmen1 Return Fire: 10 Hits: 6 Wounds: 1 Save: 5 Orcs Dead.
Orcs2 (32): Charge at Crossbowmen2 (20): Crossbowmen2 Return Fire: 9 Hits: 4 Wounds: 1 Save: 3 Orcs Dead.
Orcs1 (23): Melee Combat: 1 Hit: 1 Wound: No Save: 1 Crossbowman Dead. Score: 2 (Casualties + Standard)
Crossbowmen1 (19): Melee Combat: 2 Hits: No Wounds. Score: 2 (Higher Ground + Standard)
Orcs1 (23) vs Crossbowmen1 (19): It’s a draw.
Orcs2 (29): Melee Combat: No Hits. Score: 1 (Standard)
Crossbowmen2 (20): Melee Combat: 5 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save. 2 Orcs Dead. Score: 4 (Casualties + Higher Ground + Standard).
Orcs2 (27) Break Test: 8: They’re broken and flee: 2d6″: 6″.
The Crossbowmen2 (20) do not pursuit.
Ogres (3) attack the gate: 2 Damage Points. The gate is destroyed.

The bolt thrower crew switches target and aims at the black orcs gathering below. The javelin shoots, and pierces through the thick hide of a black orc, and kills another one before stopping at its dead body.
The archers and all the crossbowmen shoot together at the ogres, killing two of the large creatures, but 3 more are standing. They bash down the door and it breaks in half.
As the orcs climb the ladder, a hail of crossbow bolts falls on them, sending many orcs down to the ground. Close combat ensues, with only a few casualties. One crossbowman at the south wall, and two orcs at the west wall. The orcs at the west wall can’t get a foothold, and fearful of their lives, flee.

Turn 4:
Empire:
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at the Black Orcs (34+1): Hit: 1 Wound: 1 Wound: 1 Wound: No Wound. 3 Black Orcs Dead.
The Archers shoot at the Ogres (3): 3 Hits: 1 Wound: 1 Ogre Dead.
Crossbowmen1 (19): Melee Combat: 6 Hits: 4 Wounds: 1 Save: 3 Orcs Dead. Score: 5 (Casualties + Higher Ground + Standard)
Orcs1 (20): Melee Combat: 6 Hits: 4 Wounds: 1 Save: 3 Crossbowmen Dead. Score: 4 (Casualties + Higher Ground + Standard)
Orcs1 (20) Break Test: 7: They’re broken and flee: 2d6″: 11″
Retrospectively I saw that I forgot to play the Crossbowmen2 unit in this round…

Orcs:
Animosity: 4: No effect.
Orcs1 (20): Rally: 4: Success.
Orcs2 (27): Rally: 8: Failure: Flee: 2d6″: 5″. (11″)
Ogres (2) charge at the Swordsmen (20+1): 2 Hits: 2 Wounds: No Save. 2 Swordsmen Dead. Score: 2
Swordsmen (18+1): Melee Combat (Only 4 can fight at the same time, 2 are dead): 0 Hits. Score: 0
Swordsmen break test: 5: Success.
The Swordsmen (18+1) hold.

Another ogre falls under arrows, but they manage to get inside. The imperial swordsmen clash their swords with the mighty beasts, and two of their brethren fall, but they do not falter.
Atop the south wall, the crossbowmen get the best of the orcs, who turn and flee as well, but soon they are rallied by their leader and regroup.
The bolt thrower crew aims better this time, and the projectile skewers through 3 of the black orcs in line.
The orcs near the western wall keep running away.

Turn 5:
Empire:
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at the Black Orcs (31+1): No Hit.
The Archers (10) shoot at the Black Orcs (31+1): 5 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save. 3 Black Orcs Dead.
The Crossbowmen1 (16) shoot at the Black Orcs (28+1): 7 Hits: 3 Wounds: No Save: 3 Black Orcs Dead.
The Crossbowmen2 (20) shoot at the Black Orcs (25+1): 13 Hits: 6 Black Orcs Dead.
Swordsmen (18+1): Melee Combat (Champion joins instead of 1 Swordsman): 2 Hits: No Wounds. Score: 0.
Ogres (2): Melee Combat: 3 Hits: 3 Wounds. 3 Swordsmen Dead. Score: 3.
Swordsmen (15+1) break test: 4: Success.
The Swordsmen (15+1) hold.

Orcs:
Animosity: 6: No effect.
Orcs2 (27): Rally: 8: Failure: Flee: 2d6″: 11″. (22″)
Orcs1 (20): charge at the Crossbowmen1 (16)
Crossbowmen1 (16) Return Fire: 5 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save. 1 Orc Dead.
Orcs1 (19): Melee Combat: 7 Hits: 2 Wounds: 2 Saves: No Crossbowmen Dead. Score: 2 (High Ground + Standard)
Crossbowmen1 (16): Melee Combat: 3 Hits: 1 Wound: 1 Save. No Orcs Dead. Score: 1 (Standard)
Orcs1 (20): break test: 7: Fail. They flee: 2d6″: 9″
Swordsmen Champion Melee Combat: No Hits.
Ogres (2): Melee Combat: 2 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save. 1 Swordsman Dead. Score 1.
Swordsmen (14+1): Melee Combat: 1 Hit: 1 Wound. Score 0.
Swordsmen (14+1) break test: 9: they’re broken. They flee: 2d6″: 7″.
The Ogres pursuit: 2d6″: 2″. They don’t catch up.

The orcs near the western wall keep running away, while the mob near the south wall charges back again. They are met with a hail of crossbow bolts, and the firm defenders do not budge at all. Seeing the futility, the orcs flee yet again.
The black orcs are peppered with a hail of bolts and arrows, and their numbers start decreasing, but they seem too stupid or too brave to care.
Inside the Iron Tower close combat ensues. The ogres smash the skulls of two swordsmen who still try to hold their ground. As two more of their own fall, their morale is broken and they run away to flee. The ogres pursuit, but do not catch up.

Turn 6:
Empire:
Swordsmen Rally: 10: Failure: Flee 2d6″: 5″.
The Bolt Thrower (2) shoots at the Black Orcs (19+1): Hit: No Wound.
The Archers (10) shoot at the Black Orcs (19+1): 3 Hits: 1 Wound: No Save: 1 Black Orc Dead.
Crossbowmen2 (20) shoot at the Black Orcs (18+1): 11 Hits: 7 Wounds: No Save: 7 Black Orcs Dead.
Black Orcs (11+1): Panic test: 5: Success. They don’t flee.
Crossbowmen1 (16) shoot at the Black Orcs (11+1): 9 Hits: 3 Wounds: 3 Black Orcs Dead.
Black Orcs (8+1): Panic test: 4: Success. They don’t flee.

Orcs:
Animosity: 2: No effect.
Orcs2 (27): Rally: 7: They stop and rally.
Orcs1 (20): Rally: 5: They stop and rally.
Ogres (2) charge at the Swordsmen (14+1). Distance: 7+5-2-12=-2. The Swordsmen flee a further 2d6″: 5″. They are not caught.
The Black Orcs (8+1) enter the tower.

The missile defenders, without any harassment, keep shooting at the black orcs, who are reduced to less than a third of their initial numbers, and eventually enter the Iron Tower.
The swordsmen are pursued further by the two ogres, but they are not caught, as the tight corridors of the keep are an obstacle to the big humanoids.
Finally the night falls, and the Ostenhofeners have managed to defend this part of the city decisively. The breach at the gate is dangerous though, as the enemy could charge again here at any time with larger numbers.

The battle is over.
Points left:

Empire army Roster:
Bolt Thrower with crew of 2 on top of the Iron Tower. 40 Points
16 Crossbowmen at South Wall with Light Armor and Shield. 176 Points. With battle standard +10 points.
20 Crossbowmen at West Wall with Light Armor and Shield. 220 Points. With battle standard +10 points.
14 Swordsmen inside the Iron Tower with Light Armor. 126 Points. With a Champion, 33 points.
10 Archers on top of the Iron Tower with Long Bow and Hand Weapon. 80 points.
Total 695 Points. 98 Points lost.

Orc army Roster:
8 Black Orcs at 4 ranks deep. Armed with two hand weapons. 80 points. With battle standard +10 points. With Black Orc Big Boss +92 points.
20 Orcs at 4 ranks deep. Armed with hand weapon, light armor and shield. 170 points. With battle standard +10 points.
27 Orcs at 4 ranks deep. Armed with hand weapon, light armor and shield. 229,5 points. With battle standard +10 points.
2 Ogres with double handed weapons. 84 points.
Total 685,5 Points. 742 Points lost.
256,5 Points worth of archers are available for the orc army in general (they fled the battle but not the siege).

Despite the breach in the Iron Tower, this was a decisive victory for the Ostenhofeners.

Session Background: Had to stop here. With two or more battles pending this is going to be a long session.
So, back to the beginning. At the battle with the lich. I really miscalculated how hard it would be defeat the skeletons. Thankfully, I made the choice of trying to flee instead of heading for the lich while it was vulnerable. I think it made more sense. And although the higher risk might have been a higher reward, there was a good chance that the party would perish there.
In the end I had to make a tactical withdrawal. I know that it was not evident, but in the grid map I run, the party managed to kill all the skeletons to their rear. The problem was that they still were locked in combat and couldn’t leave without triggering attacks of opportunity. Faced with the sorcery of the awakened lich, I had to cut my losses and flee. Thankfully it was only wounds and no party members killed.
I love how eventually the dungeon crawl fit in in with the siege and the oracle and everything. I can’t think of how this could have turned better.
The Westenhofen village was a nice refreshing change for me, and using donjon and UNE together reminded me that I should be using these tools more, instead of relying on my inspiration only. Sometimes I go ahead with what is in my mind, but then things are quite limited. Especially when I’m tired an everything. Mental note taken.
Now to the battle. I was afraid of running such a big battle solo, but in the end everything turned out okay. Some luck on the defender’s part (all the orc archers fled, and thus the walls were nigh impregnable), and failure to utilize the black orcs correctly (they should have attacked a wall rather than wait for their chance to enter the tower), saved the day for the Ostenhofeners.
All in all, I am certain I made more than a few mistakes. Both regarding the RPG part of Savage Worlds, and the Wargaming part of the Warhammer Fantasy battles. I try to take notes as much as possible (hence why I listed the numbers of all troops remaining to help me), but I can’t remember all the rules all the times. Also the fact that it’s solo, means there’s no counter thought and counter argument to correct me when I’m wrong. When playing with others it’s in their best interest to remember the parts of the rules that will help them get the best results. When running solo, this is missed unfortunately.
Overall I had lots of fun so far.
In the upcoming session I expect to run the final battles for the keep.

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giorgis 12:06 am on December 11, 2019 Permalink | Reply
Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

The siege of Ostenhofen pt4
A Savage Worlds Warhammer ~~Fantasy Battles~~ mashup.

Brief Summary: In the previous part, a run in with the Bailiff had the party fleeing the inner city of Ostenhofen through the sewers in an attempt to escape. They managed to kill a handful of giant spiders and now have to pass through the thick webs before they can proceed.

Evie thinks about their options. “Let’s keep to the walls as much as possible and cut through the webs with our blades.”

Q: How many webs until the other side?
A: 1d6 (exploding): 3
Rudiger: 6/7: No damage
Bianka: 6/7: No damage
Evie: 5/7: No damage
Gustav: 12/7: 2 Webs cut
Q: Is the web on the floor removed? (Likely)
A: No
Next Round
Rudiger: 15/7: 3 Webs cut
Q: Is the web on the floor removed? (Very Likely)
A: Yes
Q: Is there floor underneath (or a gap)?
A: False Presupposition. Even though the web on the floor was cut, there’s even more webbing underneath, like a second layer, older, stronger. Maybe from another kind of spiders?
Q: Is there another spider (gigantic) alerted to the presence of the party?
A: Yes, but, it won’t reach the room in time. Instead, I will replace one of my entries in the encounters table with this gigantic spider.

The party starts hacking at the strong webs. They’re thick like vines, but eventually they are cut through. Only a small amount remains until they reach the opening in the other side of the room, and Rudiger, with extra effort, cuts through them like butter. His blade cutting through to the floor, where it doesn’t hit stone. Maybe Bianka was right and there’s a gap underneath. They all look at each other. Afraid that they might fall, but the webs hold, so they finally get moving on.

Torch die: 5. Resource die remains at d8.

Dungeon: 10 ♥️. Fork in the path.
Torch die: 5. Resource die remains at d8.

Dungeon: 8 ♠️. Dead end.
Torch die: 2: Resource expended. Die downgraded to d6.
Turn back and follow the other fork.

Dungeon: 2 ♣️. Obstacle.
Q: Is it a barred entrance?
A: Yes. This is the part of the sewers of the inner city that most likely connects to the outer city. It’s closed by metal bars. If the party can manage to overcome the obstacle, then, they can move on.
To pry the bars open wide enough for them to pass, a Strength trait roll at -4 is required. Each attempt will require an additional Strength trait roll at -1 per attempt beyond the first, or accrue a level of fatigue.
Rudiger attempts first: Strength (d8-4): 3: Failure. Benny: 0, Benny: 0, Benny: 0. Failure.
Rudiger fatigue check: Strength (d8): Snake Eyes. Crap, I already spent all the bennies. He pulls a strain and gains two fatigue levels.
Rudiger attempts again: Strength (d8-5): 1. Failure.
Rudiger fatigue check: Strength (d8-2): 3. Failure. 3 Fatigue levels. He can’t attempt again for 24 hours.
Gustav has the scavenger edge. He uses it to say that he carries with him a crowbar that will give him a +2 at his attempts.
Gustav attempts to pry the bars open: Strength (d6-2): 3: Failure. Benny: 1, Benny: 9: Success with a Raise. Finally!
I managed to get through, but at what a cost! Rudiger now has a -3 to all trait rolls until fully rested.
Torch die: 4: Resource die remains at d6.

The party continues their path down the sewers, to a fork. They choose the left path which eventually leads to a dead end. Their torches are burning fast, and they are afraid they might be left in the dark soon. They retrace their steps only to come across a heavy set of bars running dug deep in the stone.
“I guess that’s it. We must turn back.” Says Evie disheartened.
“No!” Bianka disagrees. “This must be the borderline between the two parts of the city. If we pass, then any sewer exit we reach above ground should lead us to the outer part of Ostenhofen.”
“Then I’ll do my best!” Rudiger rushes in against the bars and uses all his might trying to get them wide. In spite of his best efforts, he can’t budge them, and eventually he sprains his shoulder.
Gustav finds the opportunity to show off to this master, lady Evie. He presents a crowbar from his belongings, and rests it against a gap in the stone. A few budges later, and a man-sized opening is enough to get them through.

Dungeon: 4 ♠️. Dead end.
Torch die: 1: Resource expended: Die downgraded to d4.

Not a few steps further, they come across a thick walls. Now, they have nowhere else to go. Their attempt to escape has failed. To top it off, they are to their last few torches. They could be left blind in darkness any time soon.

Now, things are looking dire. I doubt they can retrace their steps back in time. So, I’m going to have Gustav try to break down this wall, by removing the stone bricks with his crowbar, just in case the passage moves on a ahead and it was blocked for security reasons. This will take a whole lot of time though, and they will have to roll on the Torch die.

Gustav: Strength (d6): 4: Success. Bricks removed for opening.
Q: Is there a way through?
A: Yes, but the gigantic creature has caught up to them.
Torch die: 3: Resource die remains at d4.

This is a fail forward by choice. I am giving the party a chance to move on against the dungeon deck rules, but I support it by an Oracle question to keep an amount of fairness, and an additional obstacle by bringing in the Gigantic Spider against them.
For the stats of this creature, I will use the Giant spider stats upgraded by one die (and thus Parry and Toughness by +1), and give it a Wild Card status (3 Wounds and Wild Die).

“Not again!” Evie shouts in despair and puts her head down.
“Worry not, maybe it’s just another block on our way out.” Gustav motivates her, and starts hitting the mortar of the wall with his crowbar. The sound of metal on stone echoes through sewers. Soon, a small opening appears that can be further enlarged by hand.
Before the party manages to move on, they hear again the distinct clicking sound of the giant spiders they met before. The torch light illuminates a creature thrice the size of its brethren that they slew before. Without further warning it launches itself forward.

Round 1:
Initiative: B: 9♥️, E: Q♣️, G: 8♠️, R: Q♥️
Spider: 5♠️

Rudiger charges at the creature: Fighting (d12-3): 7/7: Hit: 19/6: 3 Wounds!
Spider: Benny: Soak (d12): 5: Success. 1 Wound removed.
Evie attacks: Fighting (d8+1): 4: Miss
Bianka attacks: Fighting (d8+2): Snake Eyes. Benny: 7/7: Hit: 4: No damage.
Gustav attacks: Fighting (d6+3): 8/7: Hit: 6/6: Shaken.
Spider: Spends Benny to remove Shaken. Attacks {1-3 Rudiger, 4 Evie, 5 Bianka, 6 Gustav}: Evie: Fighting (d10-2): 7/6: Hit: 8/6: Shaken

Round 2:
Initiative: B: 8♣️, E: 3♠️, G: 2♠️, R: 5♥️
Spider: 3♥️

Bianka attacks: Fighting (d8+3): 9/7: Hit: 16/6: 2 Wounds!
Spider: Benny: Soak (d12-2): 2: Fail. Dead.

Rudiger lets of a war cry, and despite his sprain, he makes a quick slash at the creature’s enormous head, cutting off a few of its eyes. It makes what could be described as an unnerving scream. Evie, Biank and Gustav gang up on it form the sides, and the servant manages some scratches at the spider’s side. Despite its wounds, it lashes back, slashing at Evie who is pinned down by its mandibles.
Bianka doubles back on her attack, and her digs her hatchet deep between its head and its thorax, from below, almost decapitating the arthropod.
“Do you think they come in even bigger sizes?” Rudiger asks Bianka.
She scoffs. “Whatever size. I can handle them.”
Realizing the danger these sewers pose to trespassers, they decide not to waste any more time, and open up the passage and move onward.

Dungeon: 6♦️. Regular Path.
Torch die: 4. Resource die remains d4.

Dungeon: Q♦️. Regular Path. Encounter: Giant rat!
I will give them the stats for regular wolves.
Q: How many?
A: 1d6+2: 5

Bianka: Notice (d8+2): 5: Success. She can warn the party in time for them to draw weapons.
Giant Rats: Notice (d10): 9: Success with Raise. They get the chance to position themselves against the group.

As the party walks through the tight corridors, suddenly Bianka stops. “Rats!” She whispers and draws her hatchet. A split second of time later, the snout of a rat appears from the opening next to them, in their middle. Two more come from the front and two more come from the rear. They are surrounded. And yet it’s not the regular sized rats they are accustomed to. These things are large like dogs, and they see the party as a tasty snack.

Round 1:
Initiative: B: 7♣️, E: 7♠️, G: Q♠️, R: K♠️
Giant Rats: 2♦️
Rudiger attacks the Rat in the middle. Rudiger: Fighting (d12-2): 6/5: Hit: 10/4: Wounded. It’s out.
Gustav attacks one Rat in the rear. Gustav: Fighting (d6): 4/5: Miss
Evie can’t find room to attack.
Bianka attacks one Rat in the front. Bianka: Fighting (d8): 11: Hit with Raise: 11/4: Wounded. It’s out.
Two rats are dead. I’ll have them make a Spirit roll as a group (with Wild die) at -1 to see if they will stay.
Giant Rats: Spirit (d6-1): 4: Success. They stay and attack.
GR1 attacks Bianka: Fighting (d6): 2/6: Miss
GR4 attacks Gustav: Fighting (d6+1): 6/5: Hit: 3/5: No damage.
GR5 attacks Gustav: Fighting (d6+1): 3/5: Miss.

Round 2:
Initiative: B: 6♥️, E: Joker, G: A♥️, R: 9♦️
Giant Rats: 8♦️
Gustav moves back to allow Rudiger to handle the rats.
Rudiger attacks one Rat in the Rear. Rudiger: Fighting (d12-3): 3/5: Miss
GR1 attacks Bianka: Fighting (d6): 4/6: Miss
GR4 attacks Rudiger: Fighting (d6+1): 4/8: Miss
GR5 attacks Rudiger: Fighting (d6+1): 2/8: Miss
Bianka attacks GR1. Fighting (d8): 6/5: Hit: 8/4: Wouned. It’s out.
Evie can’t find room to attack.

Round 3:
Initiative: B: 6♦️, E: J♦️, G: 4♦️, R: 5♣️
Giant Rats: Q♦️
Giant Rats Spirit roll at -2.
Giant Rats: Spirit (d6-2): 7: Success. They stay and attack.
GR4 attacks Rudiger: Fighting (d6+1): 5/8: Miss
GR5 attacks Rudiger: Fighting (d6+1): 4/8: Miss
Rudiger attacks GR4. Fighting (d12-3): 2: Miss

Round 4:
Initiative: B: J♥️, E: 7♦️, G: 4♣️, R: 9♥️
Giant Rats: Q♣️
GR4 attacks Rudiger: Fighting (d6+1): 3/8: Miss
GR5 attacks Rudiger: Fighting (d6+1): 3/8: Miss
Rudiger wild attacks GR4. Fighting (d12-1): 9/5: Hit with Raise: 19/4: 3 Wounds. It’s dead.

Round 5:
Initiative: B: 10♣️, E: 6♠️, G: 8♠️, R: 6♣️
Giant Rats: Q♥️
Giant Rat Spirit roll at -3. It’s no longer a group so it doesn’t have a wild die.
GR5: Spirit (d6-3): 0: Fail. It flees. It’s subject to an attack of opportunity.
Rudiger: Fighting (d12-3): 31/5: Hit with Raise: 23/4: 4 Wounds. It’s dead.

Rudiger slams his shield against the giant rodent in the middle of the group, and as he has it immobilized, he guts it open with his blade.
Bianka faces two of the creatures in the front, and buries her hatchet deep in their skull.
Gustav in the rear is scared to put himself in danger and manages to do nothing more than keep the rats at bay.
Bianka kills the second rat, while Rudiger exchanges places with Gustav. The tight corridor space doesn’t allow much room for maneuver, which helps Rudiger to protect his legs with his shield, while evisecrating another rat. As the last rat turns to flee, he finds the opportunity to make another strike, and he cleaves it in half.
“Hey, Rat Catcher!” Evie calls out to Bianka. “How much are these worth to you?”
Bianka smiles under the torch light. “Quite a lot actually.” She answers merrily and cuts off the tails as proof of the kill.

Torch die: 1. Benny (Gustav): 4. Resource die remains d4.

Dungeon: K♥️. Fork in the Path. Encounter: 6 Swarm.

The group reaches an opening with a ladder going up and down. They decide to go up in the hope that it will get them closer to the surface. It’s not long that they’re still on the ladder that they hear hundreds of tiny squeaks.
“More rats!” Bianka barely manages to gasp, and hundreds of the little creatures move on them, biting and chewing. Everyone tries to kill as many of the creatures as they can, but the small targets, the tight spot and the climbing ladder situation makes everything so much harder.

Round 1:
Initiative: B: A♠️, E: Joker, G: 5♠️, R: A♦️
Swarm: 7♣️
Evie attacks with her short sword. Fighting (d8): 12/6: Hit with Raise: 6/7: No damage.
Bianka attacks with her hatchet. Fighting (d8): Snake Eyes: Benny: 7/6: Hit: 2/7: No damage.
Rudiger attacks with his long sword. Fighting (d12-3): 6/6: Hit: 9/7: Shaken.
Gustav attacks with his hatchet. Fighting (d6): 11/6: Hit with Raise: 7. Shaken. It’s Wounded.

The group flails wildly their weapons at the rats, and they manage to kill more than a few. Their screams and kills, disperse the swarm of rats that scurries off further down the path.

Torch die: 1. Benny (Bianka): 4. Resource die remains d4.

Dungeon: 9♥️. Fork in the Path.
Torch die: 1. Benny (Evie): 3. Resource die remains d4.

Dungeon: K♦️. Regular Path. Encounter.
I’m starting to get frustrated about getting out of the sewer maze.
This starts feeling less like a solo rpg with narrative, and more like an old text CRPG from the 80s. So I will start spicing things up a bit from this point on. For every ‘regular path’ result, I will be asking ‘Is everything as expected’ to the oracle. Also for every encounter, I will start asking if they meet up orcs, beginning with very unlikely and going up to very likely. Since the orcs may looking for ways to enter the city.
Q: Is everything as expected?
A: No, And, Roll 1d10 on TWENE.
TWENE: 8: Remove Major Element.
The major element is the sewers. The sewers end. I am thinking that they give way to a natural cave system. Maybe there is an underground river.
Q: Do the sewers give way to caves?
A: Yes, and its a natural cave system with an underground river coming in, joining the sewage water and moving deeper in the ground.
Now on to the encounter.
Q: Is the encounter orcs? (Very unlikely)
A: No
So now I need to redefine the encounters table. Natural caves could have anything. Also, depending on what they encounter, there is going to be a hint of how far the exit would be. A bear for example wouldn’t be as far deep in the caves as a giant centipede.
Since designing an encounter table from scratch now is going to take a lot of time, I’m going to use the monsters deck from an old rpg board game called Dragon’s Quest (R) by TSR. I’ll sort it out and only keep possible monsters. Also I will split it into two decks. Likely and Unlikely encounters. I will put orcs and goblins in the unlikely encounters.
Q: Is the encounter from the likely deck? (Likely)
A: No
So, it’s from the Unlikely deck.
It’s skeletons. This changes things even further. Maybe this is an underground cemetery? A part of the old Ostenhofen city that was buried after a landslide or an earthquake? Who knows.
Q: Are there tombs and graves? (Likely)
A: No, and there is nothing to point to a cemetery. Maybe an ancient battlefield of sorts where the dead lay restless.
Q: How many skeletons?
A: 1d6+2: 4.
Q: Are they armed?
A: No, but one of them is. It wields a battle axe.
Intervention: 6: Wild!
I’ll look to GMA cards for inspiration.
Beguile Ancient Magic.
I’m quite excited for this turn of events. I suppose that this cave is might be the lair of a necromancer who died doing a ritual (the specifics of the ritual are unknown as of yet). His corpse awaits awakening. His animated servants are waiting patiently for year to spill human blood back on his corpse to have him rise again and turn into a lich. It will take 3 turns from the first blood, for the lich to rise and each wound suffered afterwards will reduce the time by one turn.
Now we have a lot of questions and almost no narrative. So let’s put all this into story.

The cleanly cut brick floor of the sewers slowly stops, and gives in its place to dirt and rough stone. The loud sound of running water brings in a fresh air, a nice change from the stink of the sewers.
“At last! Clean water!” Evie says and splashes water on her face, cleans her hands and boots. The rest of the party follow her example.
Refreshed, they spend some time to observe their surroundings.
“Let’s follow the river upstream. It has to lead us to the surface.” Bianka proposes.
“Smart.” Rudiger agrees, and they all move on with renewed vigor.
The path slowly widens, and the river is to their right side. They reach an underground plateau. Tree roots hang from the ceiling, and a few withered tree trunks sparsely populate the scene.

Rudiger recovers a level of fatigue.
Bianka: Notice (d8): 7: Success.

Bianka notices in middle of the plateau some markings under the dirt, and the remains of what seems to be a man-sized figure.
The are spread thin, looking around, when she feels a tug on her boots, and she sees a skeleton hand grabbing her. She looks in awe as a complete skeleton digs its way out of the ground and claws up. It’s mouth open, as if screaming in silence. She’s not alone. Three more skeletons claw out of the ground and attack her companions.

Fear check for each party member.
Bianka: Spirit (d4): 3: Fail. Shaken. Vigor (d6): 5: Success.
Evie: Spirit (d8): 3: Fail. Shaken. Vigor (d6): 4: Success.
Gustav: Spirit (d4): 6: Success.
Rudiger: Spirit (d6-2): 6: Success. Fright: 10: Panicked. He immediately moves 6″ away and is Shaken.

Round 1:
Initiative: B: 7♣️, E: 3♣️, G: 7♠️, R: 7♥️
Skeletons: 3♦️

Gustav draws his hatchet and attacks the skeleton next to him.
Gustav: Fighting (d6-2): 2/5: Miss
Bianka: Spirit (d4): 9: Success with a Raise. She acts this round. She draws her hatchet and attacks the skeleton that grabbed her.
Bianka: Fighting (d8-2): 5/5: Hit: 13/7: Wounded. It’s out.
Rudiger: Spirit (d6-2): 8: Success with a Raise. He acts this round. He draws his sword and charges back at the skeleton behind him.
Rudiger: Fighting (d12-2): 21/5: Hit with a Raise: 17/7: Wounded. It’s out.
Before attacking I need to ask which skeleton carries the battleaxe. 1d4: 1 Bianka’s which is dead.
Skeleton 2 attacks Evie: Fighting (d6): 3/5: Miss
Skeleton 3 attacks Gustav: Fighting (d6): 8/5: Hit: 4/5: No damage.
Evie: Spirit (d8): 7: Success. She can act next round.

Bianka and Evie freeze with fear, but Bianka quickly overcomes herself and hacks at the skeleton in front of her with her hatchet, smashing its skull in two.
Gustav tries to fight back, but his lack of combat skills show.
Unexpected to all, Rudiger has had it. The fear is overwhelming and he runs off. The thought of being called out a coward overcomes him and he gets a grip of himself. He unsheathes his sword, and turns around and slashes at the skeleton that is after him, cutting it in half.
The two remaining skeletons, try to hurt Evie and Gustav, but fail to do any harm.

Round 2:
Initiative: B: Q♠️, E: 9H, G: Q♣️, R: 8♦️
Skeletons: 10♣️

Bianka moves and attacks S2: Fighting (d8): 17/5: Hit with Raise: 16/7: Wounded. It’s out.
Gustav moves and attacks S3: Fighting (d6): 4/5: Miss
Skeleton 3 attacks Gustav (Wild Attack): 3: Benny: 7: Hit: 8/5: Shaken.
Evie draws her short sword, moves and attacks S3: Fighting (d8-1): 4/3: Hit: 8/7: Shaken
Rudiger moves and attacks S3: Fighting (d12-1): 3/3: Hit: 13/7: Wounded. It’s out.

Bianka moves to Evie who has just come to her senses, ducks and crushes the skeleton at it’s thighbone, shattering it to pieces.
The last skeleton claws at Gustav, scratching him, droplets of blood, falling on the floor.
The team gangs up on the last skeleton, and Rudiger finishes it off with an assist from Evie.

Considering that the party hasn’t faced undead before. I highly doubt that they realize there is any danger from the corpse in the middle.
Q: Does the party realize the necromancer will raise back as a Lich? (Very Unlikely)
A: Yes!
Wow didn’t expect this.
But, reading through the Lich in the Bestiary, I see that he is surrounded by 4d10 skeletons. So I suppose they were inactive, and now they rise.
Q: How many skeletons?
A: 4d10-4: 20 more skeletons.

“The dead shouldn’t be walking anymore. What is this sorcery?” Rudiger sais with fear.
“I’ve heard tales.” Evie says. “I thought they were stories to keep the children in at night.”
“What is the corpse in the middle? Something evil or a sacrifice?” Bianka asks, but her answer is given to her as she sees the body twitch.
The torchlight illuminates the ground that starts to collapse slowly as a score of skeletons rises back up and joins their undead brethren. The company looks at each other, and slowly they pace backwards, and stand in the middle, their weapons facing out, their backs covering each other. The clacking of bones charging at them is all they hear.

I’m stopping here since I’ve went a lot ahead without any pause. If they stand a chance against the Lich, they need their Bennies refreshed.

Session Background: This was a full dungeon crawl session. Since it’s the second session in a row without any wargaming, I strikedthrough the “Fantasy Battles” from the intro. With dungeon crawling, again the main problem I had, was that the party wasn’t equipped for such an endeavor. This was like the Ruins of Syriholm all over again. Resources slowly dwindling and no magic to keep this balanced, since I have a weird affinity towards low-fantasy settings. With this in mind, I did what I had to do with the tools at hand. I used the narrative and the oracle to help twist the story. Something I’ve learned early on is the importance of fail forward as part of the narrative in solo rpgs.
Yes, I could have the party keep going on, until no more torches were available. And lost, in total darkness eventually they would fall prey to whatever lurks in the sewers. Or they might never find the way out. Where’s the fun in that?
Instead, I gave them a way forward, but at a cost. Rudiger is fatigued, a giant spider almost had them for lunch (they had some lucky rolls against it), and now a Lich is about to rise from the dead.
Asking the oracle if there is something different, unexpected, or simply if there is a way out is a perfectly valid tactic for me. But I want to make it fair. The same way that it’s no fun for me to have the party die in an uneventful boring manner, the same way it’s no fun to have everything easy, served on a platter.
Now my protagonists are in a tough spot. Will they try to fight the Lich, or will they use the few seconds they have available to run off and escape? What will this mean for the Ostenhofeners? Will an undead army rise to change the balance of power in the siege?

Links | Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice is discussing. Toggle Comments
giorgis 8:31 am on December 7, 2019 Permalink | Reply
Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Warhammer

The siege of Ostenhofen pt3
A Savage Worlds Warhammer Fantasy Battles mashup.

Brief Summary: In the previous part, the Ostenhofeners managed to repel the orc assault on the inner city walls. The supplies are dwindling, with only one week of supplies at full rations, it’s a matter of time before things get even worse for the defenders.

Right now I realize that I could have been using additionaly, my Background Surprise Events Oracle, but I totally forgot about it. On the other hand, it’s best to playtest one system at a time, so, little harm done.

Also, I realized that it would really spice things up if I used the animosity rules for when the orcs don’t move at all in the battlefield. I missed it at the two rolls in the beginning, but if it happens again, I will roll on the animosity table. Orcs don’t like to sit around doing nothing.
So if I roll for the orcs to attack a hex that is already conquered, then I will roll directly on the animosity table. On a roll of 1, the orcs fight among themselves. A battle will erupt with 500 orc points on each side for 1d3+3 turns. On a roll of 2-5, the orcs squabble and bicker among themselves, losing the round. On a roll of 6 they wanna show they’re the best, and perform an attack to the adjacent highest numbered hex. This is aligned with the Warhammer Fantasy Battles orc animosity rules.

Another thing that I realized I was missing, was some sort of clock to give the defender a chance to win this out. I doubt the Empire would leave the orcs alone for so long. So, from now on, I will be asking the oracle if there is a relief army coming to save Ostenhofen. On a typical oracle question, the answer will be interpreted as follows.
6: Yes, and, they’ve just arrived at full strength. The battle ensues.
5: Yes, the next week, they will be at Ostenhofen
4: Yes, but it will take them around 2 weeks
3: No, but, word has reached the ears of the Emperor. Next oracle question will be likely.
2: No, there are no troops available to commit to Ostenhofen.
1: No, and the orc patrols have slaughtered anyone nearing Ostenhofen. Noone at the capital knows about the attack.

Q: Is there a relief army coming to save Ostenhofen?
A: False Presupposition. A relief army was coming to Ostenhofen, but the Orcs ambushed them on the way. A battle ensued.
Q: Did the Empire win the battle?
A: False Presupposition. Noone won the battle. The casualties were heavy on either side, and a terrible storm erupted, turning the battlefield to a moat. Both sides withdrew, having lost (1d3+3)X500 = 2000 points worth of their armies.

Remaining Empire Points: 2381
Remaining Relief Empire Points: 3000
Remaining Orc Points: 8986 – 2000 = 6986

Q: Will the Prince issue rationing? (Likely)
A: Yes
Q: Will the troops be given ration advantage over the population?
A: No
Q: Ration Half, Third or Quarter?
A: Half. There will be now two weeks worth of rations, with a morale penalty of -1.
Q: Are the party’s deeds known to the prince? (Likely)
A: Yes
Q: Does the prince have a mission for the party?
A: No, and, he doesn’t believe outsiders should have such a say in things.
Intervention!: 3: Entity negative. Who: (1. Prince 2-5. Party in alphabetical order 6. Orc General): 6! The Orc General.
Something bad has happened to the orc general.
Q: Was he challenged by another contender?
A: False presupposition. There are no contenders. The orcs are united for good under one banner.
Q: Was he wounded in the battle against the relief army?
A: No, and he’s at perfect health.
Q: Did he lose a valued lieutenant?
A: No, and they’re all expendable
A lot of No’s and False presuppositions. I’ll go to a portent instead.
The third attempt gave this: Starrier Hearsay.
The Orc General has a Doom told to him by his shaman. Thy body shall break after thy spirit is crushed. He is truly worried an imperial mage will turn him to dust.
I know this goes against my Solo Metagaming rules, but since I added the Orc General in my list of NPCs for the intervention, I have no choice but to go with it.

Battlefield Roll: 3,3=6->11: Defensive perimeter with wooden stakes.
Event Doubles: 2,6=8-> Fire! The supplies are in danger.

Unaware of the Imperial relief that was locked in battle with a third of the orcish force, Rudiger watches from the tall defensive towers, as the orcs set up defenses on the outskirts of Ostenhofen, near the pass to the city.
“Why are they not attacking? why do they rearrange their battle front?” Evie asks Rudiger.

Rudiger: Knowledge-Battle (d4-2): 4: Success!

“Sometimes they squabble among themselves, but this seems too specific to be a random plan by an orc boss. I believe they expect an attack from the outside. Maybe we’ll have help soon.” Rudiger deciphers the orcish strategy.
“If that’s the case, then we must warn Prince Ingmar. I don’t care if he wants to listen to us or not. A coordinated attack from Ostenhofen and from outside could easily route the orc troops. We must tell him!” Evie says with vigor.

Bianka: Notice (d6): 8: Success with a Raise!

“This will have to wait. The warehouse is on fire. Look!” Bianka interrupts them, and shows to them the starting flames and black smoke rising from the inner city. “Ring the bells! We’re on fire” She shouts to the soldiers, who start sounding three rings, then one, to the distinct fire warning.

Since Bianka had a success with a raise, I decide that she noticed the fire just as it started, giving the firefighting a bonus to put it out.

I will be using the Quick Encounters rules.
First Scene:
The whole party: Agility to get there in time.
Bianka: Agility (d8): 7: Success.
Evie: Agility (d6): 9: Success with a raise.
Rudiger: Agility (d6): 4: Success.
Gustav: Agility (d4): 7: Success.
Second Scene (the entire party has arrived, Evie gets a +1 bonus):
Evie: Persuasion (d10): To persuade bystanders to help: 9+5=14: Success with two raises!
Bystanders reaction table: 9 Neutral -> Helpful.
Bianka: Run back and forth with water buckets: Agility (d8): 4: Success.
Gustav assist Rudiger in firefighting: Vigor (d6): 4: Success.
Rudiger: Firefighting the flames: Vigor (d8+1): 8: Success with raise.

Number of Successes for Second Scene: 6

Without wasting a moment, the four companions rush to the fire. The people around the fire are startled. Was it the orcs? was it the forge? how did it start? how to stop it.
The flames start licking the warehouse. The precious food supplies that the defenders of Ostenhofen gave their lives to save are now in peril.
Bianka runs back and forth with water buckets throwing them to the point of the fire, while Rudiger has got a shovel and throws dirt on top of the flames, while Gustav helps him as much as he can.
“Ostenhofeners! these are our food supplies. Stop wasting any time, and create a human chain to the water well. Bring buckets of water fast so that we can stop it!” The civilians quickly understand the danger, and form a line to the well. Water buckets come back and forth so fast, that the fire is quickly put out.

Evie: Investigation (d6): Critical Failure: Benny: 11: Success with a raise.
Q: Was there an accidental reason for the fire?
A: Yes, and the blacksmith’s shop is right next to the warehouse.

After the firefight, Evie, with dark smudges from the smoke all over her face, talks a bit with the people. It’s not long before she finds out what happened. Some sparks from the blacksmith’s furnace flew away to couple of hay stacks outside the warehouse, and the fire erupted quickly. There was no ill intent involved.

Q: Does the Prince arrive to investigate the scene?
A: No

The party goes to the keep to notify the prince of the orc movements observed.

Q: Is everything as expected?
A: No
TWENE: 10: Wild Negative
The party is met with hostile relations from the officers.

Gustav stands in front of a weary halberdier guarding the entrance to the keep. “I would like to announce lady Evie Vogel. She has some important information for Prince Ingmar regarding the orcs strategy.”
A man laughs a few steps behind. “The orcs have no strategy! They just rush burn and kill. This is a time of war, not a time for machinations.” Says the man who laughed out loudly.
A gray haired bearded man wearing imperial army colors. The feathered hat indicates a rank. Probably captain, Evie thinks.
“Then why would they set up fortifications in the northern approach, facing outside? Mr…?” Evie says quickly.
“Helmar Kneson. Bailiff.” He replies. “It’s you isn’t it! Who were involved in that unholy scene? The wardens told me everything. Quite convenient how you appear here as the orc assault rages. You want us to divide our focus and slaughter us like the men in the Hooded Man?” He makes a move forward and the halberdiers lower their weapons, pointing at the party.
Evie is taken aback by the surprise. “Never! We’re all loyal to the emperor. We have fought alongside the guard from the start! You can ask anyone who will attest to this!” Evie answers almost yelling.

Evie Persuasion (d10+4) vs (d8): 6 vs 7: Fail

“I won’t risk it! Arrest them!” Helmar orders the guard.
Rudiger draws his blade, without waiting for Evie. A dark cloud over his gaze.
“Touch us and you die.” He growls.

Rudiger’s impatient corruption characteristic triggers.
Rudiger: Intimidation (d6): 5 vs 2: Success.

With Rudiger towering menacingly,
the blade straight out, fury in his eyes, no one moves.
“Let’s go.” Evie tells her companions calmly, and they withdraw.
They are in a safe distance in an alley before the pause.
“We must leave the city! We cannot stay here any longer! I won’t put my life in line for those unappreciative pigs!” Bianka says.
“As much as it pains me, I must agree with Bianka.” Gustav says.
Evie nods. “How do you propose we do it?”
“The walls and the gates are going to be watched, by both sides.” Rudiger points out.
“The sewers.” Bianka pitches in. “I used them to escape from the granary. I don’t know if they meet up with the inner city, but it doesn’t hurt to try. If we’re lucky they will connect out and all that prevents us from the outside will be a few bars.”
“And if we’re not?” Evie asks.
“Then they will be walled in. In that case we can hide it out until the next orc assault. Then we can try to escape during the fray of the battle.” Bianka replies.
“Sounds like a plan!” Evie says, and the party moves as one to the next sewer grate.

Q: Is there a sewer entrance nearby?
A: Yes
Rudiger: Strength (d8): 5: Success

The company goes down in the sewers, out of sight. They light up a torch and start moving in one direction.

I will be using a simple deck of cards to run the sewer crawling.
Hearts is a fork in the path.
Clubs is an obstacle that needs to be overcome to proceed.
Spades is a dead end.
Diamonds is a regular path.
Faces are encounters.
Aces are the exits to the outer city.
Jokers are treasure.
Aces and dead ends in the first 4 cards are disregarded and drawn again.

The party has torches of a d8 resource die. Each card drawn requires use of a torch.

J♠️ , redraw.
K♣️. Encounter, obstacle.
From my custom encounters table I resolve that it is giant spiders. According to the bestiary there are 1d6+2: 5 giant spiders!
This makes also an excellent obstacle, I don’t even need to ask the Oracle. Spider webbing blocks the way out.

I decide that the order of the party formation is as follows. Bianka as a rat catcher in front, followed by Evie, Rudiger and Gustav who is the weakest in combat, in the rear.

Bianka: Notice (d8): 4: Success

The stench of the inner city sewers is overwhelming, covering their senses. Evie has already regretted her choice to follow Bianka down this hole, but now she can’t turn back.
Bianka is leading the way, her experience of hunting rats down imperial city sewage lines, allowing her to navigate with a moderate amount of sense.
Rudiger’s heavy footprints echo through the long winding tunnels. Suddenly, Bianka comes to a stop. She notices a set of interweaving glimmering lines in front of her and to the floor.
Before Evie has a chance to ask what is going on, Biank illuminates in front, with her torch. The passageway in front of them opens up to a large room. A sickening amount of spider web covers the walls, and the floor. But then, they notice that the floor is made entirely of spider webs. Maybe the true depth of the floor is hidden by the webbing, but they can’t tell for sure unless they find a way to destroy it.
Then they hear it. A barely discernible clicking sound. And five sets of dozens of eyes shine out in the darkness. Huge spider beasts, similar to the ones that the goblins rode in the battle they fought, have sensed the slight tingling of their webs, and are moving towards their prey – the party.

Round 1:
B: 10♦️, E: K♦️, G: A♣️, R: J♦️
Spiders: 5♣️
Bianka attacks S1 with her hatchet: Fighting (d8): 8/6: Hit: 7/5: Shaken.
Evie attacks S1 with her sword: Fighting (d8): 11/6: Hit with Raise: 19/5: Killed.
Rudiger Sweep attack against S2,S3: Fighting (d12): 2: Benny: 4: Benny: 0: Benny: 8/6: Hit: 11/5: Wounded, 16/5: Dead.
Gustav attacks S4: Fighting (d6): 4: Benny: 5: Benny: 4: Benny: 3: Miss
S4 attacks Gustav: Fighting (d8): 7/5: Hit: 4/5: No damage
S5 spits webbing on Rudiger, Gustav and Evie: Shooting (d10): 4: Hit.

Not wasting any time, Bianka rushes forward, and slashes with her hatchet at the feet of one of the spiders, who is taken aback from her attack. Evie gathers her strength and finishes of the creature with a nice assist, thrusting at its exposed belly with her sharp short sword.
Rudiger charges and with a mighty slash with his longsword he cleaves two of the arthropods in half, sending goo flying everywhere.
Gustav grits his teeth. He knows that he can’t be accused of cowardice and joins in the fight, but doesn’t manage to hit the spider, whose long legs don’t allow him to gain an opening.
The spider strikes back at him, without success.
The other spider lets off a swooshing sound and it spits out thick webs from its thorax, covering Gustav, Evie and Rudiger in the strong sticky substance.

Round 2:
B: 7♦️, E: 9♥️, G: Q♣️, R: 8♠️
Spiders: Q♥️

S4 attacks Gustav: Fighting (d8): 6/5: Hit: 7/5: Shaken
S5 attacks Evie: Fighting (d8): 3/6: Miss

Gustav spends a Benny to soak and attempts to break free: 7/7: Success
Evie attempts to break free: 8/7: Success
Rudiger attempts to break free: 9/7: Success
Bianka attacks S5: Fighting (d8): 18: Hit with Raise: 16/5: Dead

The spider bites again Gustav with its mandibles, pinning him down at the webbing, while the other creature misses at its lash at Evie.
Gustav, Evie and Rudiger break off the thick webbing and Bianka hacks at the spider from the flank, right on its exposed belly, splitting it open, and tumbling the beast on its side, legs towards the sky.

Round 3:
B: 8♣️, E: 3♠️, G: 5♥️, R: Q♠️
Spider: 2♦️

Rudiger attacks S4: Fighting (d12): 10/6: Hit with Raise: 15/5: Dead

Rudiger, now free from the web, takes a calculated thrust to the spider, piercing its head through and through, killing it instantly.

The parry now turns its attention to the webbing covering the room. It looks to be a dead end, but maybe the passage is hidden under the strings.
“We should cut through!” Rudiger proposes!
“Why not burn it?” Gustav counters.
“I don’t know if there’s a gap under us. If we burn it we might fall. These sewers run long and deep.” Bianka counters. “Plus we risk of burning ourselves. I say we cut through, even if it takes a tad bit longer.”
“Evie? What do you want us to do?” Rudiger asks.

Session Background: A completely rpg session, there was no wargaming involved. It made no sense for the defenders to try to fight to keep the outer palisades from orc hands, so there was no battle.
A major twist in the plot. I expected that the party would have to flee Ostenhofen by some means, but not because they would be hunted down by their own! I really liked this part, and it fits so much better than being given a mission to deliver a message or to scout the orc camp, which were the initial thoughts I had in the back of my mind. Sometimes the Oracle gives results that really make the story fit in better.
There was dungeon crawling involved, and for the spider combat,
for the first time in a while I didn’t use theater of the mind, but a battle grid and miniatures. I won’t be posting any pictures of those soon, since they ain’t pretty and I mainly used them for spatial mapping reasons. Maybe in the future.
There’s going to be more dungeon crawling, and if the party manages to escape from the sewers then, the adventure will stop. Nevertheless in that case I will still make a final Hexflower gaming engine roll, and if a battle between the empire and the orcs occur, then I’m going to run it, because I really enjoyed that part!
But who knows? Maybe the party won’t manage to escape from the sewers!
I really enjoyed Savage worlds in this play. It’s fast and easy to run. My only gripe is that the native system without any setting rules, doesn’t give that dark gritty feel I expect from warhammer fantasy.
Overall I find the adventures of this party enjoyable. I’m starting to get attached to them even though I managed to roleplaying them only superficially so far. Running a party has its drawbacks against running a single character.

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giorgis 12:57 am on December 1, 2019 Permalink | Reply
Tags: HFGE ( 3 ), SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

The siege of Ostenhofen pt2
A Savage Worlds Warhammer Fantasy Battles mashup.

Brief Summary: In the previous part, our party of adventurers had just arrived at Ostenhofen, as the orcs began their assault. Even though, Evie, used her skills in public speaking to dissuade some deserters from abandoning the fight, the orcs bid their time, and struck when Ostenhofen least expected, managing to get a hold of the city granary.
After losing the battle, with half their remaining supplies gone, and the captain of the guard among the fallen, things are dire for the defenders. Our party managed to evade the pursuit and is just outside of the inner city walls.

I want to keep the roleplaying aspect at an adequate level, so I will ask a few questions to the Oracle before proceeding to the next roll of the siege engine.
Q: Are the inner city gates still open?
A: Yes
Q: Are there people still entering the gates? (Likely)
A: Yes
Q: Do the orcs attempt to attack the gates?
A: No
Q: Does the party manage to enter the gates in time?
A: False presupposition. Time is not of an issue, the orcs don’t attack at all the inner city walls soon.

Evie, followed by Rudiger and Gustav reach the tall inner city walls. Handgunners and Crossbowmen man the battlements, peeking over the crowd entering the gates in panic.
Down below, the gates are flooding with people from the outer city trying to get inside before the greenskins catch up to them. A detachment of halberdiers is nervously guarding the gate, while a guard has a hatchet at the ready to bring the portcullis down, at the sight of the first orc, irrespective of how many will die in the process.
“Fear will get even the best of us.” Evie points out. “Rudiger, can you make way so that we can enter safely?” She asks.
Rudiger nods and starts pushing people around.

Rudiger: Intimidation (d6): 4: Success.

As Rudiger pushes makes his way for Evie and Gustav to follow, a few Ostenhofeners turn to protest, but seeing the towering veteran warrior, clad in chainmail, stop short of opening their mouths.

Q: Does Bianka arrive?
A: False presupposition. Bianka reaches a different gate.
Q: Are the other gates open?
A: No, and the guards are very suspicious.

Halt! Who goes there? A guard shouts from atop the gate tower as he sees Bianka approach the shut gate.
“I’m a survivor from the granary battle. Let me in! The orcs shouldn’t be far behind.” Bianka shouts, looking behind her shoulder at the same time.
“How do I know it wasn’t you who let the orcs in, in the first place? Pretty convenient how you showed up, escaped from the orcs!” The guard replies, and doesn’t make a move to open the gates.
“I had to dive into shit to escape the damn creatures. I had to crawl in the sewers. I believe I reek so much you can smell me up there. I wouldn’t have to do it the orcs weren’t chasing me.” Bianka counters.

Bianka: Persuasion (d4-2): 1: Fail. Spend Benny: 3, Fail. Another Benny: 2: Fail.

“If you come any closer, I’ll put a crossbow bolt in your foot, you orcish swineherder.” The guard responds, and Bianka puts some distance between them, and tries to find the main gate.

Q: Does Bianka reach the main gate in time?
A: No, and, the other gate is closed as well.
Q: Do the other guards let her in?
A: No, but they just won’t open the gate, they won’t pose any resistance if she tries to come inside by other means.

She leaves and goes along the walls until she reaches the next gate. Closed as well. ‘Just my luck’ she mutters.
“Hey! You up there? Could you open up? I don’t want to be skewered by the orcs!” She shouts at the guards.
The guards look down at her. “The gate is barred from the inside and the portcullis has been lowered. We’re not to open to anyone. We won’t stop you from coming in though.” They laugh.

Bianka: Notice (d8): 8: Success with a Raise!
Q: Does Bianka notice any ledges or holds on the wall to make a climb?
A: Yes
Bianka: Climbing (d4): 5: Success

She scoffs at the guards, and looks carefully at the worn wall. Quickly she notices a couple of recessions where she can put her feet in, and a few extrusions that she can grab hold on to with her hands. Slowly, to make sure she makes no mistake, she starts climbing the steep wall. The guards who laughed out, slowly fall silent, as, she reaches the top of the battlements.
“I did as you asked. Now, where did the refugees from the outer city go to?”

Q: Does Bianka meet up with Evie and the rest?
A: Yes
Q: Does Prince Ingmar meet the party?
A: No
Intervention: Regress Plot. With the fall of Captain Volkmar, noone takes Evie and her entourage under consideration. She has not been heard of in the inner city, and the Prince doesn’t care about a lady, when his city is about to fall prey. Whatever the group does will be of their own volition.

Bianka finds Evie talking to a guard.
“Listen to me you mongrel. I was with Captain Volkmar when he fell. You better tell Prince Ingmar that Evie Vogel is here to see him.” She has started yelling, but the guard is unmoved.
“I don’t care. The Prince doesn’t know and doesn’t care about you. You better get moving.”

Battlefield Roll: 3,5=8 -> 13: Walls.

Not a day has passed, when the bells ring again. Soldiers are running in all directions, heading for the walls.
“Should we join them?” Rudiger asks Evie.
“What choice do we have? Evie asks.
“If things go south, we could always try the sewers…” Bianka says and lets her phrase trail off.
“I don’t care if the Prince will have us or not! We will do our part in the defense of Ostenhofen. Rudiger let’s go assist to the walls.” Evie replies, and the party heads off to the battle.

In this battle, the orcs will have triple the number of points that the empire has, but the empire has fortifications.
It’s going to be 500 points for the empire and 1500 points for the orcs.

I need to ask a few questions before setting up the battlefield.
Q: Is there a significant distance between the walls and the outer city houses?
A: No
So, the houses are close to the walls, providing cover to the attackers. It’s going to be within a bow’s short range (12″). I’m going to roll 2d6: 6″ range. That’s the visibility range for the orcs.
Q: Is there a defense small tower in the section of the wall under attack?
A: No, but, the walls are deep enough for two lines of soldiers to defend.
With this information at hand, I realize that the defenders will best use handgunners, crossbowmen and halberdiers, against foot orcs and goblins that will raise ladders for assault. But also, there’s a chance…
Q: Do the orcs have goblin spider riders with them?
A: Yes! Oh no, that’s a serious danger for the Ostenhofeners.
Q: How wide is the battlefront?
A: 1d3+1 typical unit widths (10″): 20″. So the battle is focused on only a small area. Why is that? Maybe it’s the only part which is covered by housing so close to the walls, so they decided to strike there.

Some further homebrew rules and clarification.
The battlements will allow half the battle front to make melee contact. Which means 5 per side. The goblin spider riders are an exception to this rule as they can climb any obstacle, and use the entire battlefront. They still have to abide by the hit only on 6 rule for attacking defenders in buildings.
Troops that can’t climb will have to use ladders to attack. This will take one round to set up before they can climb up and attack. As per the rules for fighting in buildings they will gain no battle ranks bonus. In addition they will lose the charge attack order bonus.
As per Warhammer LOS rules, only the front row of archers can shoot unless they stand on inclines hill.
Defenders are behind heavy cover.

Empire point count:
Captain (Champion, Pistol, Heavy Armor): 35 points
19 Halberdiers (Halberd, Light Armor): 9 X 19 = 171 points
Unit Standard: 10 points
10 Crossbowmen (Light Armour, Crossbow): 10 X 10 = 100 points
20 Handgunners (Light Armour, Handgun): 10 X 20 = 200 points
Total: 506 points

Orcs Point Count:
Goblin Spider Rider (Spear, Shield, Giant Spider): 11 X 20 = 220 points
Goblin Spider Rider Boss: 21 points
Unit Standard: 10 points

50 Orc Warriors: (Light Armour, Shield) 8,5 X 50 = 425 points
Orc Boss (Light Armour, Shield): 36 points

20 Black Orc Warriors (Light Armour, 2-H Weapon): 11 X 20 = 200 points
Black Orc Big Boss (Light Armour, 2-H Weapon): 95 points

50 Orc Archers (Light Armour, Bow): 9,5 X 50 = 475 ponts

Total: 1482 points

Whoever wins initiative, places units last, so they get to choose.

Turn 1:
Initiative: Empire A♥️, Orcs Q♣️.
The goblin spider riders and the black orcs are on the left flank, while the orcs are on the right flank.
The Halberdiers are right behind the crossbowmen. on the left flank, and the handgunners are on the right flank.
The party is with the handgunners.

Empire Turn:
Since the empire won initiative they get a chance to shoot.
Crossbowmen (vs Goblins): 4 hits: 4 Wounded, No save.
Handgunners (vs Orcs): 3 hits: 2 Wounded, No save.
Bianka (vs Orcs): 2 hits: 2 Wounded, 1 Saved.

Orc Turn:
Animosity: 5,2,5: No units suffer.
Orc Archers (vs Handgunners): 2 Hits: 1 Wounded: No save.

16 Spider Riders and their Boss Charge. Only 10 are able to attack at any time.
Goblins (vs Crossbowmen): 2 hits: 2 wounded: No save.
Goblin Boss: 0 hits
Spiders (vs Crossbowmen): 1 hits: 1 wounded: No save.
7 Crossbowmen fight back: 5 hits: 2 wounded: No save.
Battle results: Goblins (+3 kills, +1 standard), Crossbowmen (+2kills, +1 high ground): The goblins win the fight.
Crossbowmen: Ld: 4 vs 6: Success. They stand and fight!
So it’s 7 remaining crossbowmen vs the remaining 14 goblin spider riders and their boss.

The walls overhang a densely populated part of Ostenhofen. Through the streets and alleys, the greenskins converge and launch their assault.
“To arms! Man the battlements!” The captain shouts as goblins riding giant spiders appear on the left flank. “Draw. Aim. Fire!” He orders and the crossbowmen release their bolts, striking down 4 goblins. The strength of the bolt is such that it pierced through the flimsy goblin shields without trouble.
The volley isn’t enough to stop the charge of the gigantic beasts, who climb the walls as if they were flat ground, and attack the crossbowmen. The fighting is fierce and 2 Crossbowmen fall under the spears of the goblins while a third is cut in half by the mandibles of a giant spider.
They don’t go without a fight, as they kill two of the greenskins that crash down on the ground below, much to the indifference of the black orcs who wait for the goblins to finish their assault so they can follow up with ladders. The goblins though have managed to push their way up on the battlements, and the crossbowmen lose the advantage of their defenses.
On the other flank, the handgunners let off a thunderous roar from their arquebuses, killing two Orcs that are setting up their ladders. Another one is killed by Bianka’s careful aim.
Orcs archers shoot at the battlements blindly, killing one of the handgunners.

Turn 2:
Initiative: Empire 3♠️, Orcs 10♥️

Orc Turn:
Animosity: 2,4,5: No units suffer.
Orc Archers (vs Handgunners): 2 Hits: 0 Wounded.

Orcs climb the ladders and attack the handgunners.
The Handgunners second row shoot at the chargers.
Handgunners ranged (vs Orcs): 7 Hits: 2 Wounded: No save.
Handgunners melee (vs Orcs): 3 Hits: 0 Wounded.
Orcs (vs Handgunners): 2 Hits: 1 Wounded: No save.
Battle results: Orcs (+1 Kills), Handgunners (+1 High Ground). It’s a draw.

7 Crossbowmen fight back: 5 hits: 2 wounded: No save.
Goblins (vs Crossbowmen): 2 hits: 1 wounded: No save.
Goblin Boss: 2 hits: 2 wounded: No save.
Spiders (vs Crossbowmen): 2 hits: 1 Wounded: No save.
Battle results: Goblins (+4 kills, +1 standard), Crossbowmen (+2 kills, +1 high ground): The goblins win the fight.
Crossbowmen: Ld: 7 vs 5: Failure. They break and flee! 2d6″: 11″.
So it’s 3 remaining crossbowmen. The 12 goblin spider riders and their boss pursuit. 3d6″: 5″.
The Black Orcs set up ladders.

Empire Turn:
Halberdiers Panic Test: 7 vs 7: Success!
The halberdiers charge at the goblin spider riders.
Halberdiers (vs Goblins): 7 Hits: 4 Wounded: No save.
Captain (vs Boss): 1 Hit: 1 Wound: No save.
Goblins (vs Halberdiers): 2 Hits: 0 Wounded.
Battle results: Halberdiers (+5 Kills, +1 High ground), Goblins 0. The goblins are automatically broken.
Flee: 3d6″: 11″. The halberdiers don’t pursuit.

Handgunners (vs Orcs): 7 Hits: 1 Wounded: No save.
Orcs (vs Handgunners): 0 hits.
Bianka (vs Orcs): 1 hit: 0 wounded.
Rudiger (vs Orc Boss): 1 Hit: 1 Wound: No save.
Battle results: Handgunners (+2
Kills, +1 High ground), Orcs 0: Orcs lose the fight.
Orcs: Ld: 8 vs 4: Fail. The orcs are broken. Orcs Flee 2d6″: 6″. Handgunners do not pursuit.
Orc Archers: Panic Test: 6 vs 7: They hold.

The spider riders make short work of the crossbowmen who falter and run for their lives across the battlements as fast as they can. Not expecting such an outcome, the goblins are slow on their pursuit and fail to catch up. Much to their demise, as the halberdiers take the opportunity to charge their flanks. The halberdiers captain meets up with the goblin boss on the battlefield. With a quick slash of his sword, the goblin’s black guts cover the spider mount. The halberdiers prove true their fame as defenders of the realm and manage to kill 4 more of the greenskin riders. The goblin resolve is known to be frail, and they turn and run as fast as they can, descending the walls, past the black orcs who are untouched by the goblin panic, and continue setting up ladders to climb the walls.
On the other flank, the first of the orcs manage to climb the ladders, only to be greeted by a barrage of fire, sending two of their kind to their death. The fight on the battlements openings is fierce, and one handgunner is killed. The defenders push back, and with renewed strength they kill more of the orcs. Alongside them is Rudiger, fully clad in his chain hauberk, wielding his sword with skill. He notices an orc that must be the unit leader and shouts out to him. The orc accepts the challenge and attacks. But Rudiger has faced the greenskins before and knows what to expect. He easily deflects the blow with his shield and follows up with a strike that decapitates his foe.
Seeing the battle against them, and their leader gone, the Orcs go down their ladders and turn to flee.
A cheer is heard from the handgunners.

Turn 3:
Initiative: Empire 8♠️, Orcs 5♠️

Empire Turn:
Halberdiers: Set up defensively on the walls.
Crossbowmen: Rally: 5 vs 7: Success.
Handgunners: Reload.
Bianka (vs Orcs): 1 Hit: 0 Wounded.

Orc Turn:
Animosity: 1: The orc archers suffer from animosity: 5: Squabble and do nothing.
Goblin Spider Riders: Rally: 7 vs 5: Fail. 3d6″: 11″: Off map.
Orcs: Rally: 2 vs 7: Success.
Black Orcs climb the ladders.
Black Orc Big Boss (vs Halberdiers): 0 Hits.
Halberdiers (vs Black Orcs): 7 Hits: 5 Wounded: No save. Reduced to 4 Wounded, due to battle front.
Captain: Pistol (vs Black Orcs): 0 Hits.
Battle Results: Halberdiers (+4 Kills, 1 High ground), Black Orcs. The Halberdiers win the battle.
Black Orcs: Break Test: Ld 4 vs 4: They stand their ground.

The goblin spider riders flee off to the distance, away from the battle, as the black orcs reach the wall defenders. In the fight that ensues, the huge black Orcs are fought off and 4 of them are killed by the valiant men.
The orcs on the other side stand and regroup, while the archers start fighting among themselves as to how they should continue. The handgunners take this opportunity to reload.

Turn 4:
Initiative: Empire A♦️, Orcs 7♥️

Empire Turn:
Handgunners (vs Orcs): 7 Hits: 2 Wounded: No Saves.

Captain (vs Black Orcs): 2 Hits: 0 Wounded.
Halberdiers (vs Black Orcs): 4 Hits: 1 Wounded: No save.
Black Orc Big Boss (vs Halberdiers): 1 Hits: 1 Wounded. No save.
Black Orcs (vs Halberdiers): 0 hits.
Battle Results: Halberdiers (+1 Kills, 1 High ground), Black Orcs (+1 Kills). The Halberdiers win the battle.
Black Orcs: Break Test: Ld 9 vs 8: They are broken. Flee 2d6″: 10″. The halberdiers pursuit 2d6″: 5″, they don’t catch up.

Orc Turn:
Animosity: 6, 5: No Animosity.
Orc archers (vs Handgunners): 1 Hit: 1 Wounded: No save.
Orcs climb ladders.
Handgunners shoot (vs Orcs): 4 Hits: 0 Wounded.
Handgunners melee (vs Orcs): 4 Hits: 1 Wounded: No save.
Orcs (vs Handgunners): 1 Hit: 0 Wounded.
Battle Results: Handgunners (+1 Kills, +1 High ground), Orcs 0. The handgunners have won the battle.
Orcs: Ld: 4 vs 5: Success. They stand their ground.

The Black Orcs continue their fight, but the stern Halberdiers do not falter. They kill another Black Orc, which have had enough. Seeing how hard it is to storm the walls, they turn back and flee, running down the ladders. The halberdiers try to catch up, but they can’t close the gap.
On the other side, the orcs are reduced in numbers by another volley. They climb back up, but fail to hold their position.

Turn 5: (Last Turn)
Initiative: Empire 5♣️, Orcs 10♣️

Orc Turn:
Animosity: 6, 5: No Animosity.
Black Orcs: Rally: 4 vs 9: Success.
Handgunners (vs Orcs): 4 Hits: 2 Wounded: 2 Saves.
Orcs (vs Handgunners): 2 Hits: 1 Wounded: No save.
Battle results: Handgunners (1 High ground), Orcs (+1 Kills): Draw

Empire Turn:
Halberdiers: Return to battlements.
Handgunners (vs Orcs): 4 Hits: 3 Wounded: 1 Save.
Orcs (vs Handgunners): 2 Hits: 1 Wounded: 1 Save.
Battle results: Handgunners (+2 Kills, 1 High ground), Orcs 0: The handgunners win the battle.
Orcs: Ld: 5 vs 4: Fail: They are broken. Flee 2d6″: 5″
Handgunners: Pursuit 2d6″: 4″ They fail to reach them.
Orc Archers: Panic Test: 5 vs 7: Success.

The black orcs return to order, and the captain of the halberdiers, willing to live another day, orders the troop to return back to their formation on top of the battlements.
On the far end, the handgunners exchange blows with the orcs, killing 2 of the greenskins, and losing one of their own. Once more, the orcs falter and run away. The handgunners wanting to taste the smell of victory rush after them, but they can’t reach them.

With several dead and wounded, the orcs tactically withdraw. The walls held up another day. Until the next orc attack. Rudiger was renowned in the battle, and the party begins to make a name for themselves. Meanwhile, the supplies are dwindling down to 1 more weeks.

Remaining Empire Points: 2499 – 118 = 2381
Remaining Orc Points: 9477 – 491 = 8986

Session Background: A heavy wargaming session, I think I captured the feeling of how hard it is to storm the walls. Truth be told, I was scared that any flank could fall at any time due to a missed morale roll, and then everything would be a lot different. But the defenders held.
The SW roleplaying was limited to the first part of the session.
With only one week of supplies left, what will happen next? Will rationing begin with risking of losing morale? Will the party try to flee the city somehow? Will there be an exodus in general to save themselves? I’m curious to find out.

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giorgis 5:19 pm on January 19, 2020 Permalink | Reply Tags: Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer, Zweihander ( 3 )

Day 1. Watch 3.

Day 1. Watch 4.

Day 1. Watch 5.

Combat narrative

Summary

Todd 4:34 am on January 20, 2020 Permalink | Reply

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giorgis 10:26 pm on January 16, 2020 Permalink | Reply Tags: Warhammer, Zweihander ( 3 )

Conversion

The party

Evie

Gustav

Rudiger

Conversion Summary

Encounters

The story

Emulation

Tools

giorgis 6:20 pm on January 6, 2020 Permalink | Reply Tags: Hârn ( 3 ), Warhammer

Introduction

Character sheet

Character description

Notes

Prologue

Session background

giorgis 5:29 pm on December 21, 2019 Permalink | Reply Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

Bianka

Evie

Gustav

Rudiger

giorgis 12:42 pm on December 21, 2019 Permalink | Reply Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

The battle for the North Wall.

giorgis 8:44 am on December 19, 2019 Permalink | Reply Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

giorgis 9:16 am on December 15, 2019 Permalink | Reply Tags: SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

The battle for the Iron Tower

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giorgis 12:57 am on December 1, 2019 Permalink | Reply Tags: HFGE ( 3 ), SavageWorlds ( 26 ), Solo ( 176 ), Warhammer

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