Strandhogg Game 10: Rescue Mission

Adrian and Thomas came over for a game of Strandhogg this afternoon.

Taking a Tabletop Teaser from Battlegames and weaving it into the narrative I've been using with the games, the scenario has the dwarves occupying the manor of a minor lord of the Barony after the failed joint expedition to invade the land of the goblins and holding his wife hostage, demanding compensation for their losses in the campaign.

The intrepid Lady Alexander manages to sneak a message to her husband that she will request her captors to allow her to attend mass at a church near the edge of their holdings, and the Barony troops decide to launch a raid to rescue her.

It was a close game that came down to the very last flip of activation card, so unfortunately I was too focused on the game to remember to take photos. 

The mounted men-at-arms attempt to sweep past the dwarves at the vineyard, but become bogged down in melee.

The dwarves hold off pursuers, and the dwarf lord strikes down the only knight who made it past the cordon to contact.

The humans had the advantage on speed and striking power on the initial charge, and the first dwarven warband that tried to stop them rolled poorly on their melee and got cut to pieces. However the second unit of cavalry did not move into contact quick enough, and this allowed the dwarf lord to retreat almost unmolested with Lady Alexander to the exit point. As the game reached its critical climax, it was the humans' turn to roll poorly - they failed all but one of the Courage rolls required to contact the dwarf lord and stop him moving off the table, and the only knight who made contact was quickly cut down.

Once again, Strandhogg gave an easy, enjoyable game. We had a few knights' horses killed under them and a few of the knights got pinned under their mounts. This created a bit of a laugh and slowed them down even as they neared their target.

I think the scenarios are what make the games challenging for the players, and here I benefit from the Command Challenge and Tabletop Teaser articles in Battlegames.

After the game we had a second beer and talked about upcoming projects. It looks like we are all pretty much in on OGAM, with Warmachines being a distant target. Now if things go according to plan, I should be getting a Balor figure in a week's time...