War of the Nephews...

Finally got a game in.
Now this was rapidly set up and organised as my Nephews were visiting from England.
Choices were X-Wing, a quick WWII game with Rapid Fire, or a Sword & Sorcery game with 'Songs of Blades and Heroes'.

Last Dwarf standing!

The guys favoured using the fantasy figures, and forces of Dwarves, Orcs and Barbarians were quickly assembled. Allegiances would be made and broken throughout ...and cries of 'you can trust your Uncle' were frequently made (and seldom trusted ;) ).

These are, as ever, a nice set of rules - but positioning and gaining every little benefit in combat pays real dividends, while fighting without a 'leader' trait, forces your fighters to roll individually, which splits them up and makes coherent attacks impossible (that'd be my force of course).

The boys lay out the battlefield. 'Watch those corners'.
Their story surrounded Orc Raiders, Dwarven defenders of the 'ville' and a bunch of roving barbarians.

 Canny Dwarves, coming out of the Pub.

 Terrain would become a problem, as would getting the barbarians moving, as their lack of leadership (figure or trait) would mean that their movement would be individual and sporadic.

 Conan for instance, would have time to take on the confectionery.

Dwarven fortress and village in the middle distance - the open ground would become the scene of epic battle.

Savage orcs begin to move from the woods.

Piecemeal movement from the barbarian 'horde' (more like a random collection of misfits actually).

Dwarves hug their Crag Fort line, as the other factions control the narrative.

Orcs move to take the 2nd fortress.

The barbarians move, a little bit more.

Dwarves debate who to side with... 

...as Orcs move to the safety of the fortress walls...

Stopped partially, by a small group of barbarians, who have made it as far as the walls of the fortress.

 The Dwarves have a think, then decide, unpredictably, to come out and attack a lone Barbarian ... dammit! Sides are being chosen, allegiances re-spun, politics played out...It makes Game of Thrones look like a Nun's picnic!

 Orcs move to attack the Dwarves in the centre - a temporary alliance with the barbarians, in place.

...2nd unit of Dwarves, complete with 'Orc-Slayers' make ready to attack.

 The battle devolves into two large combats - in the centre, and at the old Dwarven fortress. Both sides were constantly looking for position and using their traits to take advantage.

 Not a good initiative roll for the Dwarves - and this happened twice in succession. This changed the emphasis and Orcs took the initiative quickly (with a little help from the Barbarians).

 Dwarves under pressure at the end...with only the leader standing.
The barbarians had been reduced to a lesser force, and the orc's 'tough' traint meant they were still reasonably fresh.
Victory to the Orcs!

Game 29 - Dave the DoomLich and the Assault on Chizzlewit's Tomb...or something.

Ok, there's a lot of stuff made up on spec here, so be warned!

With less time for prep than usual, we decided that it was high time we tried out 'Song of Blades and Heroes'. Now it's because we like the idea of the dice roll and initiative mechanisms and not because we want to tell some Lord of the Rings style story...honest. ;)

So, despite the allusions to comedic disparagement(!), we did take this seriously ...no really.

And so, presenting the characters today, we have:

The Forces of GOOD:
Bonan the Barbarian and his two girlfriends (lucky bast**d), Sylvia the Sorceress (who wants to be a fashion model rather than a magic user), the brave Lord Burnham and Fartleck the Dwarf and his mate uhhh...Simon?

The Forces of BAD (booo, hisss): Led by Dave the DoomLich of Soapinme Bath, with Kul the Minotaur and Hugh, Pew, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert and Dibble...the orcs (Grub was on holiday).


Joking aside, there are some nice touches to these rules, with activation based on one to three rolls of d6 per character, with successes dictating whether you get your actions, or if initiative moves to your next character, or even the other player.

(Our feeling of course was centred upon how this would feature for asymmetric engagements between PMCs and insurgents on the modern battlefield, if tweaked for firefights - and I know there is a modern version available, which we'll try ('flying lead' I think)).

 The forces approach each other, with Lord Burnham sprinting toward the lost 'Tomb of Chuzzlewit' - the objective for the scenario.

Dave the DoomLich looks on, then takes matters into his own hands.
'I will deal with them, myself."

 Oooh, but a bit of a rumble develops. That damned minotaur is pretty tough.

 Bow Cam...though the Orc archer didn't make a lot of difference (until later).

In the fracas that follows at the tomb, Kul the Minotaur goes down under a hail of blades from one of Bonan's girlfriends. The death is a gory one, which inflicts a morale check. They all run like hell (even Dave!).

...as Sylvia the Sorceress takes a moment to pose for the camera in front of a suitably imposing backdrop, with a view to giving up Magic School and getting that dream modelling job.

The evil ones start to move back for a second attack, but they have neither the numbers nor the tank Minotaur...

The orc archer finally gets a decent shot in.

Lord Burnham makes his fear check and engages Dave the DoomLich at close quarters...

 ...as Dave disappears in a 'poof' of smoke, and goes back to ...some demi-plane or something.

The orc archer slays one of Bonan's wimmen...he will NOT be pleased.

Sylvia poses in front of a rock. 'That's it luv, it's the Vogue cover.'

The good guys gang up on the last orc, and pulverise 'im.

 The forces of good...triumphant! (Sylvia poses for another shot..and who's that behind the rock?)

 'The Ruins of Chuzzlewit's Tomb'...double nicely as a dice box.