Conquerors and Kings and Warmaster

For our August session we played Peter Pig's Conquerors and Kings (2023 edition) for the first time. Wahj brought his Romans and Carthaginians and some hills he build specifically for these rules, and we spend the afternoon working through the rules.

As expected when trying out a new set of rules, we got some stuff wrong, but I think over all we got a sense of how the game plays. I played the Romans, which I did not handle boldly enough, and by game end I had failed to occupy enough grids to win.

I also realised that the Battle Tactics are an important consideration not just during play, but also during army-building (and vice versa I suppose), since some tactics mean you can get more mileage out of cheaper troops.

I like the more abstract way combat and positioning are handled in this game. I hope to get a Roman vs Sassanid game on soon. In the mean time I have ordered some Tribal Germans to be painted (an opponent for yet another Roman army!).

For our second game FG and I played Warmaster. It's an old game which we used to play a lot back in the day (especially the Ancients version) but I am unfamiliar with the Goblins list, which seems to be quite weak. Nevertheless it was a joy playing with the well-painted figures.

I have been very busy with life and am three RPG reports behind. Various factors have caused attrition to our player pool, and I have made the decision to stop my weekly RPG sessions for a while until we have a more stable pool of players. This may mean more wargaming in the coming months. Stay tuned.

Relief of Luckpore and Alpha Strike

Martin was back in town last weekend and six of us managed to get together for a couple of games, beers, pastries, and dinner.

The Luckpore game was a little lopsided, with the British side having too much of an advantage. This is likely due to us playing it as a once-off game instead of in the context of a campaign, where the British become saddled with Fatigue and low ammunition as the campaign progresses. I will need to make some tweaks to the game to make the contest more interesting for both sides. I have ordered a few packs of Essex Mughal musketeers to paint as matchlock men for an Indian prince, so we will visit these rules again once they are done.

For the second game we played a game of Alpha Strike. Now that we are more familiar with the rules, play is faster and more relaxed.

For the game in August I hope to run a game of Peter Pig's Conquerors and Kings, and maybe a game of Deth Wizards.

Three Worlds #14

After nine days, our heroes arrived at the dwarven settlement of Karn Buldhar, a wooden-walled town of some five hundred souls. They were met by Melin, a retainer of the council that ruled Karn Buldhar, and conducted to meet the three councilmen. After the appropriate formalities were performed, they were led to the dining hall, where they were fed a meal of beef dumplings by Baba Clay. Here, they were introduced to a young woman from the Northland named Bliss (see PC profiles here), who had come to seek her fortunes too. Here too Enree found Vaclovas the fur trapper, whom he had met at Obanhold.

After their meal, Melin spoke to our heroes of the events that had led to their invitation of Karn Buldhar. In recent months, a fever has gripped the town as rumours of orc treasure hoards that laid hidden in ruins in the Labyrinth of Shadows, a vast jungle that laid in the next valley from Karn Buldhar. Adventurers have streamed into Karn Buldhar to provision and recruit followers for expeditions into the jungle; few return, and those who do spoke of attacks by savage orcs and monsters, and none return with any treasure. Yet each day more adventurers arrive, and more young dwarves abandon their profession in the town to seek their fortunes. The council feared that the incursions into the jungles would provoke a retaliatory attack from the orcs that lived there.

But more immediate was the problem at Amethyst Ranch, a cattle ranch that laid a day away from Karn Buldhar, by the Lake Amethyst. The ranch provided the town with beef, but in the past few weeks Taggert the ranch owner reported that he was losing cattle. Soon, he began to lose ranch hands, and after a third disappeared the rest decided to abandon the ranch. Fearing that the orcs of the jungle were involved, the council tasked our heroes to investigate the disappearance.

So Arwin, Baldrik, Bliss, and Enree made the journey to Amethyst Ranch. When they arrived they were met by Taggert and the only two ranch hands who remained behind. From the three they learned that the cattle (and later ranch hands) were lost when the cattle were led to drink by the shore of Lake Amethyst. The next morning, our heroes helped the ranch hands drive the cattle to the shore of the lake, and there they waited.

After a while, Enree heard a sound coming from the water of the lake not far from the shore. It sounded like a drowning man struggling, and when he looked he saw what seemed to be an arm waving and bobbing up and down in the water. Enree was suspicious, but he felt himself compelled to take the boat by the shore and row towards the drowning man. The other heroes saw Enree rowing the boat out, but they could not hear nor see what Enree did.

As Enree rowed out into the lake, it seemed to him that the arm began to drift further and further away. When he finally reached the arm, he looked through the surface of the lake and saw a blue bestial face of a creature the size of a large dog staring back at him. The "arm", in reality a long tail of the creature that ended in what looked like a hand, grabbed the side of his boat and tipped it over, causing Enree to fall into the water.

Enree felt himself being dragged into the depths of the lake. He drew his sword and hacked at the creature; he felt his blow connect, and he was free to swim to the surface.

On the shore the others saw what happened, and Baldrik and Bliss began to swim out to reach Enree. Arwin saw the creature surface, and loosed a crossbow bolt at it, striking it and causing it to bleed dark red blood that left a trail in the water and the creature swam towards an island in the middle of the lake.

Once they had reunited, our heroes decided to follow the creature in their boat. When they arrived at the island, they found a cave on the side of the island that opened into the water. The followed the watery passage deeper into the cave system. The passage wound one way and then the other, and soon the party was in complete darkness. Our heroes lit a lantern, and continued.

After a while they saw a light ahead of them. Heading towards the light, they found themselves at the bottom of a large sinkhole. In the middle of the sinkhole was a small island. Above them they could see the sky; dark clouds were gathering above them.

Our heroes beached their boat and stepped onto the small island, which measured no more than sixty feet across. At first they thought that they saw a strangely geometric pattern on the surface of the island, but they soon realised that the pattern was formed by more than a hundred orc skulls, laid twelve to a side in a square. Rain began to fall.

Examining the skulls, our heroes found that they seemed to have been laid there as severed heads, as each had a short length of spine at its base - some of the vertebrae were cut clean across, as if by some sharp implement. Venturing into the middle of the skull formation, Enree discerned something with a magical aura - an obsidian dagger set in a jade handle laid in the centre of the formation. Curiously, the handle of the dagger depicted not an orc, but a stylised elf. Enree pocketed the strange dagger.

The rain started to fall heavier, and our heroes realised that the water level had begun to rise, causing their boat to drift away from the shore and threatening to seal off the passage by which they came into the sinkhole. When they sought to return to their boat, they found the creature lying in wait for them in the water by the shore. When they waded into the water, the creature would leap to attack them, and then vanish into the water before they could strike back. But Bliss, gifted with foresight by the Fates, were able to sense the creature coming towards her, and struck it a heavy blow with her club; the creature became motionless, and floated up on the water. At the same moment, the rain stopped, and the clouds soon parted.

Our heroes hauled the creature into the boat, and made they way back towards the ranch.

Prepping and Running the Game

This was once again a bit of a filler adventure. We have suffered some attrition in our player pool, but Bliss' player, a longtime member of our group, was able to join us for this session.

The session was based mostly on the module, with the main monster swapped. The creature in the story is an ahuizotl, which I thought was an interesting monster.

Much of the session was actually spent roleplaying as I introduced the main NPCs who will appear in this arc of the campaign, chiefly Melin, and Vaclovas from the previous arc. They players also spend some time roleplaying with the two ranch hands, whom they found amusing.

The discovery of the elven dagger sets up the rest of the campaign. It will probably take another two sessions before we are truly into the plot of this arc, but I wonder if I will have enough players to see this through.

Altar of Freedom

Due to my recent move, one of the gang offered to host our monthly game for June at his place instead.

The game was the Battle of Stone River, using Altar of Freedom rules. The tactical rules were rather simple, but the command rules were interesting, especially in a multi-player game where there were two or more commanders on each side. The whole experience was made even better with the beautiful table and large number of 10mm figures. I would certainly want to play these rules again.

Three Worlds #13

After the danger at Obanhold was over, our heroes returned to Belton, where they spent their well-earned money on various things - it was not long before the silver began to run low. Fortunately, their fame as "orc slayers" had spread, and they were approached by a dwarf from Karn Buldhar in the south.

Novac, for that was the dwarf's name, was a "seeker" working for the Council of Karn Buldhar, a mining town in the jungles in the interior of the south known as the Gemthrone Wilderness. The Council had been having "orc trouble", and was looking for people who could handle the problem for them. Novac gave little detail of the nature of the "trouble", but the pay was handsome.

And so our heroes found themselves in the port city of Coluha a few weeks later, where they spent a few days acclimatising to the heat and humidity while preparing for the twelve-day journey to Karn Buldhar.

One evening at the inn they were approached by a merchant named Cregna, who sought to employ them as bodyguards as he too planned to travel to Karn Buldhar. Once more, handsome pay was promised, the full sum of which would be paid upon arrival at Karn Buldhar. Our heroes accepted the job, and two days later Arwin, Enree, Melig, along with Cregna, his bodyguard Baldrik (see PC profiles here), and two other servants set off on the road into the interior.

Three days into the journey the party came across the site of a carnage: the bodies of a few human and dwarves bearing signs of violence laid on the road. Several crates laid broken on the ground, their contents, including some silver, lay scattered. Cregna let out a cry of despair when he realised that the crates bore the mark of Novac the seeker. He revealed that he had been waiting in Coluha to buy a "trinket" from Novac, but had decided to travel to Karn Buldhar to find the dwarf when the latter did not show up for their appointment. When he failed to find the trinket in the debris, and when our heroes found signs that someone had been dragged off the road into the jungle, Cregna offered to pay our heroes even more silver if they could find Novac and recover the trinket for him.

So leaving the servants behind, our heroes and Cregna entered the jungle and followed the trail. Before long the trail led to a narrow causeway that led through a swamp, which our party followed. Two hours later, Arwin smelled smoke in the air. Scouting ahead of the party, he found that the causeway led to a large opening half a mile wide. Dozens of ruined dwellings covered the opening, and huddled outside one of the dwellings were several orcs cooking lunch.

When they noticed Arwin the orcs immediately began to attack him with arrows. The other members of the party joined in, and soon the orcs were either cut down or fleeing. Near to the orcs' campfire our heroes found a dwarf's clothes, muddied and ripped. Our heroes followed the orcs through the ruined dwellings further into the clearing, which opened into a large opening that was previously paved with stone. At one end of the opening two rows of ruined columns flanked a paved path, which lead to a mound. The orcs were fleeing towards the mound where many more orcs have gathered.

Seeing that they were now outnumbered, our heroes scattered and hid among the ruined buildings, while the orcs gave chase. By stealth and speed made their way to the base of the mound, where they found the body of Novac. His limbs were broken, and a large wound had been made under his ribcage - nearby was his heart, ripped from his chest. A trail of blood led from the slope of the mound, and our heroes surmised that he had been thrown from its summit. Three stone orc heads each half the height of a man or taller stood at the base of the mound, but there was no sign of any "trinket" which might be what Cregna was after.

Presently the orcs began to return to the mound, and our heroes ascended it. At the summit they found a stone altar bearing the relief of dragon on one side. A groove was cut on the top of the altar, which led into the jaws of the dragon. Dried blood, presumably from Novac, lined the groove. Here too there was no sign of any trinket, and by now the orcs were beginning to ascend the mound. In desperation our heroes searched the altar, and found a hidden door that led into the interior of the mound. Peering into the darkness, Enree saw a stone steps leading down a stone-lined passage - this was no hill, but a pyramid!

Our heroes lit a lantern and descended the stairs, and as they did so they poured lamp oil onto the steps. When they had reached the chamber at the bottom of the steps, they put out their lantern, and waited. Soon afterwards they heard the sound of the orcs entering the pyramid, and then the sound of the orcs falling down the slippery steps to the base of the stairs. Lighting their lantern again, our heroes quickly put the injured orcs to the sword.

When they had slain every orc, they surveyed the chamber they were in. The walls were lined with relief depicting the life of an orc king. In the far end of the room a set of double doors bore the relief of the king worshipping what was no doubt an orc god. 

Cregna, who had evaded the orcs, now called to the heroes from the top of the stairs, and was warned about the oil. The merchant gingerly made his way down the stairs, and when he could not find his trinket among the bodies of the orcs, urged our heroes to explore further. Our heroes passed through the door to a colonnaded gallery that led to a smaller door, bearing a relief of the orc king with what seemed to be a mask over his face. Entering through this door, our heroes came into a smaller chamber. In the middle of the chamber was a stone sarcophagus. Around the rooms were broken pottery - it seemed that the tomb had previously been looted.

Our heroes decided to lift the lid of the sarcophagus and search within. When they opened the sarcophagus, they saw the mummified body of an orc warrior, but it bore no treasure. Baldrik began to search the body of the orc warrior, and as he did so the orc warrior reanimated and began to attack him with its obsidian sword. Baldrik was struck down, but the others overcame the undead warrior, and afterwards managed to rouse him.

When a search of the undead warrior's body revealed no sign of his trinket, Cregna became crestfallen. Then Enree noticed that the depth of the sarcophagus did not match its height. He urged Cregna to exit the pyramid and search the dwellings once more, and when the merchant had left he and the others searched the sarcophagus once more and found that it had a false bottom. Lifting this false bottom, they found the remains of the orc king, stripped of his burial treasures but one: a flawless jade mask that covered his face. Enree lifted the mask off the king's face, and tucked it inside his backpack.

Our heroes exited the pyramid and joined the dejected Cregna at the base, where they began to make their way back to the road. But as they passed the stone heads at the base of the pyramid, the ground began to rumble. Large stone hands erupted from the earth and pushed against the ground; the stone heads lifted off the ground and revealed themselves to be attached to giant stone bodies. Our heroes ran pell-mell towards the swamp as the stone giants pulled themselves free from the earth and pursued them. It soon became clear that they were converging on Enree. Panicking, Enree retrieved the mask from his backpack and tossed it to Baldrik. When he saw the mask Cregna let out an cry of excitement and demanded it be given to him. The stone giants now turned towards Baldrik, who tossed the mask to Cregna. Cregna caught the mask, and for a moment his face was filled with joy instead of fear. But it was a brief moment, as the hand of the largest stone giant closed around his body and seized him. Cregna screamed for help, but there was little our heroes could do as the stone giants now strode back to where they were buried, and when they had returned to their posts, their bodies began to sink into the earth along with Cregna and the mask, until once more only their heads were exposed.

Prepping and Running the Game

This was our first session after my recent move, and so I did not have time to prepare the sandbox module which I am basing this arc of the campaign on. I needed a one-shot module to depict the party's travel to the new base, and after some searching I found the module Watchers of Meng. This was a rather straightforward module, but the imagery of the Olmec style stone heads actually being attached to giant bodies was something which I thought was a nice twist.

Three Worlds #12

Our heroes returned to Obanhold to find that the fort had been reinforced by a company of 500 cavalrymen sent by the Castellan of Belton. After they had reported their mission to the Castellan, Averic, the captain of the cavalrymen, proposed that they allowed the orcs to advance to Obanhold, while he and his cavalry laid an ambush for them - surely they would be able to scatter the orc army on the open plains?

Elze, on the other hand, proposed that Agh'hkan be lured to the river, where the Great Horned Serpent's power was the strongest, and there he would be slain and the orc threat eliminated.

The eventually decided on adopting both plans, ordering our heroes to return to the north with an emissary under the pretext of negotiation at the river crossing, while also preparing an ambush against the orcs should the mission fail.

And so Enree, Mala, Melig, and Rokas (see PC profiles here), accompanied by Elze and Father Fiatus and two of the cavalrymen traveled north, where after three days they were intercepted by an orc patrol, disarmed, and once more brought to their camp. There, they were met by a furious Chogan, who threatened to execute them, but our heroes were able to convince him to arrange for one more meeting with Agh'hkan. Unwilling to bring the humans to Maut'ghar again, Chogan decided to take them as far as the river crossing, and then to fetch Agh'hkan himself, thus falling right into the heroes' trap!

The party camped by the river crossing for two nights, under a guard of six orc warriors. On the third day they spotted Agh'hkan and Chogan and a few orc warriors come towards the crossing from the north. The party made ready to meet them, and when Agh'hkan's party was in the middle of the river Elze called to the Serpent. A fait rumbling was heard upstream, which grew louder - seconds later a swelling came down the river. Agh'hkan's bodyguards held on to him and braced themselves. When the wave struck Chogan and one of the guards were swept away, but Agh'hkan maintained his footing.

The orc warriors guarding the party drew their weapons and moved towards Elze, and the unarmed cavalrymen and our heroes moved to defend her. Agh'kahn and the remaining bodyguards started to move towards the river bank, but out of the river rose the head of the Great Horned Serpent.

Seeing the Serpent, Rokas had a change of heart, and moved to strike Elze, while the girl summoned up a wall of water to defend herself.

The Serpent breathed a cloud of noxious gas on Agh'hkan and his bodyguards, who succumbed to it, but before the Serpent could do more a shrieking peal was heard from the north - a giant bird swooped down through the canopy of the forest towards the Serpent. Lightning issued forth from its wingtips, striking the Serpent.

On the river bank the melee continued, with both cavalrymen struck down by the orc warriors, but eventually our heroes were able to overcome the orcs. At the same time, the Thunderbird had seized the Serpent in its talons, and plucked it from the river. The two creatures engaged in a whirling struggle in the air, and the Thunderbird was triumphant, tearing the Serpent apart and scattering its remains onto the ground, Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it flew away.

The wall of water protecting Elze collapsed, and the girl sat on the ground, stunned by what she just witnessed. Our heroes dragged Agh'hkan from the river, and bound him. Then they followed the course of the river westwards, until at last they reached Lake Rodophine, where they were picked up by a fishing boat from Yngley.

When they finally returned to Obanhold with Agh'hkan in tow they were meet with a great cheer. Days later, the cavalrymen would report that the orcs have retreated beyond the river and scattered.

For their parts in the great victory our heroes were rewarded: Mala asked for the island in the middle of Lake Rodophine to be granted to him; Enree asked for the lake itself to be renamed after him, while Melig and Rokas received silver.

Agh'hkan was imprisoned together with Bruthalan, and for now the orc threat on the plains was over...

Prepping and Running the Game

This session ended the second arc of the campaign. I left the session pretty open, giving the players several choices on how to bring about the final confrontation between the orcs and Obanhold. Much of the session was spent debating the best course of action, and while they did eventually agree on a plan, the players and PCs were still not 100% on their allegiance even when the final confrontation happened.

I feel I failed to make the fight between the Thunderbird and the Serpent sound epic enough, and that left the players a little disappointed about the power of both creatures.

Compared to the first arc of the campaign, the plot of this arc was more "sandbox" as one NPC faction (Elze and the Great Horned Serpent) were almost entirely invented in response to what the PCs did during the first session of the game. While there were relatively fewer fights, I believe the players enjoyed the interaction with the various NPC factions. I have yet to get a firm grasp on the next arc of the campaign, but hopefully I can come up with factions for the players to interact with again.

Operation Dumpkirk

Last month I moved from the place I have lived in for 15 years to a new place some 20km away. While I hired a professional mover to shift the furniture and other items, for my miniatures I enlisted the aid of six of my friends in an operation which I dubbed Dumpkirk (chiefly because in the run-up to the actual move I had to return the mats, terrain, books, and minis which some of them have left at my place over the years). The photo above shows what remained to be moved to my new place.

With three cars, we managed to complete the operation from loading to unloading in about an hour and a half, which gave us some time to play a game of Tiny Towns...

before dinner was delivered.

My dining table had not been delivered then, so we ate around the coffee table. 

A week later we had a supplementary session to move some stuff, after which we played a couple of card games at the new dining/gaming table, including Space Pirate Amazon Ninja Catgirls,

As a result of the move I am several reports behind - something which I hope to rectify over the next few days.