He looked around at his companions...his brother Florin combed his long flowing red beard and stared vacantly at the entrance to the darkness below. Florin, at least, he had no doubt in...as long as there was an enemies head to be cracked Florin was ready and willing...he lived to fight.
He had less confidence in his cousin Dorek (from his wife's side he often pointed out when the boy did something idiotic), who stood off to the side testing his new bow string and obsessively rearranging the arrows in his quiver. His actions plainly betrayed the nerves he was feeling.
Beyond him sat Magnison...the old mage seemed to be staring off into space...mumbling to himself beneath his breath. Yorin had heard that he had been quite a powerful wizard in his day...but he seemed old a fragile now...he hoped the old timer was up to the task ahead.
"Rights lads...best get on with it" Yorin said as he hefted his ancient axe...the grip felt soft and comforting in his powerful hand. He looked at each of the others in turn and they all nodded back in response to the question in his eyes...Yes! they were ready. "Dorek...you take the lead...have that bow of yours ready! Florin you next...Magnison you take the middle and I'll bring up the rear...Lets do this thing!"
Without another word they slowly worked their way down the dark spiral staircase before them...taking their time and allowing their eyes to adjust to the dim into which they descended... none of them new what horrors or rewards awaited them at the bottom...but they were about to find out...
Before we get into a Turn-by-turn description of the initial encounters of our intrepid heroes lets take a look at the situation into which they are descending. As outlined in the narrative above our lads are arranged single file as they traverse the spiral staircase that leads into Drakenhoff's lair.
(please remember that these pictures were taken in a hotel room with poor lighting and my iphone...so they are not up to my normal standard)
In the first room our team will encounter a pair of Goblin gurads who are busy playing cards (or whatever Goblins do to pass the time) at a table.
In the room behind them we have the rest of the initial guard consisting of an Orc archer and the Orc lieutenant Uorglock...As GM Ive deemed that they will not become aware of the intruders until they engage the Goblins in hand to hand combat.
To the left of the guard room is Drakenhoff's workshop...and what will prove to be the hardest fight of the day...because it contains the Big Bad and his personal guard.
In here we have the man himself who is at his desk dealing with paper work (as usual)...his faithful (and viscous) hound Fluffy...the captain of the guard, Larlog, and two Orc minions...one archer and one warrior type. The inhabitants of this room will not become aware of the intruders until they begin to approach the double doors of the workshop.
Ok then...thats enough preliminaries...lets get on with the FUN!
Turn 1
As Dorek came to the bottom of the stairs he crossed the hallway...giving him a better angle of fire on the goblin guards and allowing Florin to move into the hall as well. Seeing the Dwarfs come barreling down the stairs the goblins jumped up and started across the floor toward the intruding stunties. Once again I made an GM decision that they would only get 1/2 their normal movement due to being surprised. Here is the situation at the end of turn 1.
The dwarfs win the initiative roll and so get to move first. Dorek snaps off 2 arrows...one at each Goblin...and misses...obviously Yorin's concerns about the boy were well founded! He then steps back allowing Florin to step in front of him and advance and Magnison to enter the hallway and draw a bead on the goblins as well...raising his staff he casts Silvery Bards at the approaching greenskins...but his control over the mystical forces is shaken by his nerves and the spell fails. This leaves the Wizard in a vulnerable position and the Goblins take advantage by charging into Melee...one against Florin and one against the hapless dwarf mage. The Goblin attacking Florin hits him but fails to cause any wounds. Amazingly Magnison thrusts his staff out at the last second and catches the goblin approaching him right in the center of the forehead knocking him to his knees...dazed...and confused as to what just happened.
The Situation at the end of Turn 2
This time the Goblins win the initiative. The goblin attacking Florin is overwhelmed by the dwarfs defense and takes a hit but his ample armor deflects the blow without damage. Magnison...frustrated with his lack of control over the mystical forces and impressed by the physical power of his staff uses it to crush the skull of the stunned goblin at his feet....the first victim of the raid has been claimed!
The clash of arms happening in the guard room has alerted the Orcs in the back room to the presence of invaders and they exit the room hoping to get in on the action.
Turn 4
The Goblins win initiative again and the reinforcing Orcs enter the front room and the archer snaps off a hurried shot at the dwarf mage...which goes wide. Uorglock approaches the combat but can't quite reach an opponent by the end of his movement. The remaining goblin renews his attack on Florin but again, despite winning the combat, fails to wound him.
As we shift to the dwarf half of the turn Magnison moves out of the hall and into the room..shifting right to allow Yorin into the fray. The dwarf Mage finally gets his shit together and hits the Orc archer with a blast of silvery barbs...reducing him to a gory mess. Yorin charges forward into the Orc Lieutenant and with one mighty blow severs the Orc nearly in half. Dorek slings his bow over his shoulder...draws his sword and rushes forward to stab the goblin in the side while he is defending against a flurry of blows from Florin...the room is suddenly silent...all the immediate foes have been dispatched.
Turn 5
Knowing that time was of the essence the dwarf party quickly turns to the left and starts toward Drakkenhoff's workshop. Becoming aware that something is amiss in the outer rooms the archmage and his minions start to react toward the door to prepare for the on-rushing intruders.
Next post...the exciting conclusion! Stay Tuned!!!
Cheers,
Blue
Well, that seemed to go well for the Dwarves! I guess their armour proved too hard to overcome for the hapless green-skins. Normally in CC heroes start without armour (Knights and Barbarians have shields) and so are much more vulnerable to being injured. Your Mage's superior melee ability made me chuckle: Magnison is obviously an all-rounder and one to watch out for.
ReplyDeleteI've only one query and that is to the initiative rolls. I know that you're playing this sans the Exploration phase to get a feel for things, but normally during an Encounter phase an alertness - 'initiative' - test is made at the beginning of the phase, if the creatures are listed as alert, and the winning party go first in each subsequent turn until the phase is over. Still, running this as one long Encounter phase I guess it made things a rather more unpredictable!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed yourself and I very much look forward to part 3, where I'm sure the Dwarves may well come unstuck... I must say it's a real privilege to see my rules being played with such gorgeously painted miniatures!
hhmmmm...now that you point it out and I re-read the rules as written that is rather obvious...I apparently had transposed the words "turn" and "phase" in my head. Oh well...it does add an interesting bit of the unknown to the game.
ReplyDeleteThis encounter ended up well for the dwarfs though initially the Goblins seemed more stubborn than I thought they would...well at least the one that Florin was facing. I was rather surprised at how fast the Orc captain went down...that war axe with its 4ID plus the bonus for the charge made Yorin's attack quite powerful...The great weapons seems impressive when they hit but the decrease in Mel. is quite a detriment...Yorin like his War Axe better.
More to come!
Better armour and weapons are very expensive, so unless a GM is very generous with the wonga heroes won't have access to them until later in their careers (if they last that long!). A hit from a Great Weapon (or War Axe) can be truly devastating, unless you're fighting dragons and giants where they're essential tools!
DeleteIn the 'proper' edition of CC I will thoroughly re-jig and expand upon some of the stats in the bestiary. For instance an Orc Warlord - the best Orc - only has Vit. 4, where it definitely should be a point or two higher. I also want to add stats for dragons, manticores and the like too. The Reaper Bones range is actually making the acquisition of a decent-sized flying reptile a realistic proposition in the not-too-distant future!
...oh and thanks for the compliment on my figures...though I must say that the ones you included in your Crawl report looked mighty fine to my eye.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff - definitely a rules set I'd like to play more and with an opponent rather than myself!
ReplyDeleteMy money's on the Big Bad...
Cool stuff, Blue! Here's to hoping your dwarfs make it through the challenge!
ReplyDeleteMan , I hate Cliffhangers ;-P
ReplyDeleteThose Rules sound interesting, and you Miniatures look great as allways, that Model you are using for Florin Flamebeard is amazing, damn another one for the List. Looking forward to he next part, I hope it comes soon.
PS: I actually had to laugh imagining you sitting in an Hotel Room and Playing a Dungeon Crawler all by yourself :-D, lucky that no Cleaning Lady came in :-D
Thanks Legacy...I've had a lot of fun playing this out...and don't worry the next installment is near at hand.
DeleteThe Figure for Florin is one of the amazing Marauder Clansman models (MM15/51 to be exact)...he was one of the last of that range that I tracked down...and I'm sure I over paid for him...but he is sweet!
And yeah...my co-workers were sitting around watching football and/or lame movies...so I feel like my time was better spent...:-)