"Revenge, Gold, and Other Things!"

We had a rare Sunday when all four of us could make a game. I toyed with the idea of a starships game but decided to do a mutli-player Strandhogg game eventually.


For the scenario I turned to an old issue of Wargames Illustrated (#79, April 1994).

The article, by Dominic Cook (is this the same person I wonder), was titled "Revenge, Gold and Other Things" and described a four-player skirmish scenario set in a fantasy world but equally usable for ancients and medieval settings.

As FG and Martin arrived first, I assigned them the roles of the first two characters.
 
Martin (who played goblins last time and wanted to try something different) chose to play the dwarven commander, who must escort a mule train of gold to Fort Azak, across the river. He knows there are goblins nearby and has the option of calling for reinforcements from the fort; but while he wanted to stay alive, he would also welcome the chance to fight them off if they attacked without any help from the fort's garrison to win himself some glory.

FG played the goblin king, who must take the gold and exit the northern table edge (left of the photo). He deploys his forces on-table and waits to spring his ambush. 

(The goblins wait in ambush on a foggy morning...)

The dwarves hug the southern edge of the table as they move from the southwest corner towards the bridge to the northwest. As they cross the middle of the table the goblin king emerges from an abandoned farmhouse with his first warband.

The dwarves deploy their rangers to fend off the attackers while the warriors continue westwards...

While passing the woods in the centre of the table Martin thought it would be a good idea to scout it out... which turned out to be a good idea as FG has hidden his other warband and the troll right there!

Fierce melee ensued as both sides fed troops into the woods. As the situation started to look grim Martin called for help - a roll of 3 on a d3 meant he had to wait for some time!

Around this time wahj arrived, and I gave him the brief for the third player: the goblin king's half-brother who had come to kill him and usurp his throne!

Martin was worried when wahj started to deploy his figures, but wahj ignored the dwarves and charged his warg-riders straight into melee with the goblin king, who was alone on goblin's left flank.

Despite their numerical superiority the newcomers could not score any wounds on the king. In the meanwhile wahj's spy in FG's camp revealed himself and attacked his former comrade who was trying to lead the mule train away, and directed his other warband to attack the troll.

(The Goblin King fends off all attackers... Like A Boss!)

The dwarves took advantage of this sudden turn of events and despatched the remaining goblins and retook control of the mules, even as reinforcements became visible on the horizon.

After losing a warband, wahj finally managed to kill the goblin king with the use of an "Extra Wound" Fate Card while the dwarves limped off the table. The troll once again survived the battle.

The game was very close - even after wahj's forces came on table it was uncertain who would win. It was nice to see that a scenario written for a different set of rules worked so well 17 years after it was written.