Thud & Blunder; The Free Swords Guild Warband

     We're back with Thud & Blunder for this post and it's to introduce my next warband, that being the Free Swords Guild; swords (and crossbows and pole arms and daggers in the dark and axes etc etc) for hire to the highest bidder. A group of mercenaries who, with no war to engage in, have gathered around their captain and have set up in business in the Debatable Lands near the borders of Duchy of Langenwanger.  

The Free Swords Guild
     The Free Swords Guild are the remnants of the mercenary company created by their leader, Guild Captain Maximilian Heffelfinger. Born the son of a lowly blacksmith, Maximilian found that he had a taste for soldiering after being press ganged into the army of the Duke of Theilesia during the Ducal Wars. This was the beginning of a 30 year long, fairly distinguished career as first a soldier then a mercenary, working his way up through the ranks by a combination of tenacity, quick wittedness, bravado, brutal cunning and sheer good luck to reach the position of Captain of a Free Sword Company, mercenaries who's only allegiance is to their captain and their employers as long as they keep paying and the odds look good.
     With the inconclusive cessation of the Ducal War brought about by the Orcish Depredations in the year EC1647* and the beating back of that orc invasion, Max and his fellow mercenaries found themselves jobless, masterless and in need of ready cash. By carefully manipulating local grievances to his advantage, Max has been able to keep his happy band of followers employed. Only employing the best ex-soldiers, the Free Swords Guild has gained a reputation for fierceness and thoroughness...though it must be added not one of complete trustworthiness.
 *EC=Empiric Calendar

Guild Captain Maximilian Heffelfinger:    76 points
Destiny 3+
Fighting Value +3
Shooting Value +1
Speed +1
Move 6"
Amour Rating; Shooting 9 Fighting 10
Move 6"
Traits: Leadership +3, Hero 3, Face Many Foes, Inspirational,
Two Weapons.
Equipment: Long Sword, Dagger, Club, Magic Potion
(Ferocious Visage), brigandine

    

     Zoltan Farkas has soldiered alongside Maximilian for nearly a decade and is Maximilian's most trusted lieutenant or Kopfmanne. Starting out as a bounty hunter, Zoltan ended up fighting in Maximilian's company where he was enrolled by Maximilian who persuaded him to join the Theilesian side in the Ducal Wars as a sure fire way of revenging himself on the Duke of Pechorinno, who had double crossed Zoltan and had him beaten up and left for dead by the his bodyguards. Fortunately for the Duke and his bodyguards Zoltan hasn't had the chance to take that revenge so he still has a score to settle with the Duke and his bodyguard. Where ever he goes, Zoltan is always accompanied by his faithful war-dog, Brutus.

Kopfmanne Zoltan Farkas                 69 points
Destiny 3+
Fighting Value +3
Shooting Value 0
Speed +2
Armour Rating; Shooting 9 Fighting 9
Move 6"
Traits: Leadership +2, Hero 2, Inspirational, Face Many Foes
Equipment: Two handed sword, dagger, brigandine

Brutus the War-dog    17 points
Destiny 5+
Fighting Value +2
Armour Rating 8
Weapon Bonus +1
Destiny Modifier +0
Movement 12" run +6" 

    

     Anna of Cleaves, blade mistress, mercenary and orphaned daughter of the Duke of Theilesia's Master At Arms (who left his wife and 9 year old daughter for the Ducal Wars and in which he fell) is one tough cookie. Anna has fought as a mercenary as long as Zoltan though she has only been with the Free Swords Guild a short while, joining them from who knows where (she knows but she's not telling). She has already impressed (and in not a few cases downright terrified) the other mercenaries not only with her dazzling good looks but her speed, ability and dexterity with the Zweihander sword she carries as well as her ability to hold her drink and willingness to get the beers in.

Anna of Cleaves. "Distract with the cleavage, dispatch with
a cleave" is her motto    60 points
Destiny 4+
Fighting Value +3
Shooting Value 0
Speed +2
Armour Rating; Shooting 8 Fighting 8
Move 6"
Traits: Hero 1, Leadership +1, Unearthly Beauty
(told you she was good looking), Weapon Master (okay Weapon
Mistress), Lightning Reflexes (she is that good with her trusty
Zweihander)
Equipment: Two handed sword, padded tunic (size XS)  

     Young Hamlet of Blickensdorf has been expelled not once but twice from the Grand College of Wizardry in the city of Blickensdorf for reasons which both the Grand College and he are disinclined to speak of. However it is a mark of his potentiality that he was allowed back in after his first "infringement". Now un-apprenticed and unwilling to take guidance from any older, wiser wizards he is learning his trade from any books of lore or manuscripts he can "acquire". Due to a need to eat, drink and to have somewhere to carry out his studies he has taken temporary employment with the Free Swords Guild who have high hopes that his wizardry will be of some use to them.

Hamlet of Blickensdorf     60 points
Destiny 4+
Fighting Value +0
Shooting Value +2
Speed +2
Armour Rating; Shooting 8 Fighting 8
Move 6"
Traits: Will of Iron, Uncanny Accuracy, Martial Artist (basic), Healer. Magic
Talent (novice) Magic Powers; Dart, Repel, Free Movement,
Equipment: Dagger, Padded Tunic

       The men of the Free Swords Guild come from many different backgrounds and parts of the Ducal Confederation but they all have one thing in common; a wealth of experience of hard fighting and a disinclination to turn their hands to any other way of earning a living...two things in common. Each one specialises in the use of one particular weapon; double handed sword, long sword, polearm or crossbow..

Bladesmen/Swordsmen    26/25 each
Destiny 5+
Fighting Value +1
Shooting Value +0
Speed +0
Movement 6"
Armour Rating; Shooting 10/11 Fighting 10/11
Equipment: Two Handed Sword or Long Sword and Buckler
Shield.

     

Crossbowmen/Poleman     24 points each
Destiny 5+
Fighting Value +0/+1
Shooting Value +1/+0
Speed +1/+0
Armour Rating 9/10
Movement 6"
Traits; Skirmisher, Hawkeye (crossbowmen only)
Equipment; Light Crossbow/ Polearm (sundering) and short sword

     An occasional ally of the Free Swords is an ogre who goes by the name of Tom-As-Wos-My-Dad. An ogre of slightly above average ogre intelligence, very slightly, Tom is somewhat under Anna's spell and is fiercely protective of her. He enjoys getting into fights; another reason for hanging about with Anna as she often attracts trouble. The other Free Swords avoid him where possible especially in battle where he tends to get carried away and lash out at anything and anyone...except Anna

Tom-As-Wos-My-Dad     33 points
Destiny 4+
Fighting Value +4
Speed +0
Armour Rating Shooting 8 Fighting 8
Movement 6"
Traits: Strong, Tough, Get's Carried Away (in combat, Tom
must take an unmodified destiny roll in any other Free Swords
excepting Anna, move within 3"of Tom. If Tom fails he will
split his attacks between the enemy/enemies he is fighting and 
lash out at the unsuspecting Free Sword who has strayed too
close (who should really have known better) 

     So there you have them at the moment. More about the Free Swords will be revealed in the future but for the moment Maximilian is in "consultation" with a local mayor who's town is being bothered by a band of marauding orcs and is looking to hire someone to defend the town....

     I have a few more warbands on the way including vampires, wizards, werewolves, dragons, sizzling gypsy dancers and the troops of the neighbouring duchy...but more of them at a later date.

     Thanks for dropping by and mind you check your purse is still attached to your belt and it's still full when you leave; fighting isn't the only thing the Free Swords are good at.

"Pip pip" GJ......."hey, where's my purse gone? It was here a minute ago!! Thieving gits!!" 

In Her Majesty's Name; Home and Away:The British Secret Service Bureau

     Introduction

     One of the many things I like about In Her Majesty's Name is the opportunity it affords to build small adventuring companies, fill them with characters and give them all a unique background. This, coupled with the availability of many figures for the period, the 1890s, and the fact that is sci-fi/steam punk allows plenty of scope for historically based whackiness.

     Of the many official adventuring companies that Craig Cartmell and Charles Murton of the Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare have produced, Grey Section of the British Secret Service (see the Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare blog and/or Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy Issue 70 for details), really attracted my attention, not least because I had a load of figures that would fit the bill for Grey Section's troop types; Watch Commander, Grey Hounds, Hard Contractors and Soft Contractors.

     They have already appeared in other posts on this blog but as I have recently expanded the company I thought I would recap on the original mob and introduce the new chaps and chapess' 

The British Secret Service Grey Section

Secret Service Bureau's Grey Section   
     The first of my Secret Service Bureau's sections is Grey Section. Based in London and mostly dealing with the fiendish depredations of the British Empire's enemies on home turf and, occasionally, on the Continent. They are led by their Watch Commander, William "Topaz" McGonnagle; notoriously bad Victorian poet and (for the purposes of Grey Sections back story) intellectually gifted patriot and former spy in the early days of the Great Game. His two main Grey Hounds (Grey Hounds is the nickname for the Secret Service's agents. The Section also employs Hard Contractors; criminals, local hardmen and the criminally insane and Soft Contractors) are Dennis "Dandy" Nicholls and Barney Stockdale

Watch Commander William Topaz McGonnagle

     Watch Commander William Topaz McGonnagle, A former soldier, civil engineer and spy, McGonnagle took on the disguise as a "poet" (for which he discovered he had a real "talent") and public orator in order to blend in with the locals and to help defeat the proposed invasion of Great Britain via Scotland's east coast by German forces before it even began. In an attempt to map the coast, the German's had sent out a whaling fleet which had berthed at Dundee on it's way back to Hamburg from the Icelandic whaling grounds. Using this stop over as a cover, the fleet hoped to carry out a reconnaissance of the coast. Unfortunately for them, HM Secret Service had already gotten wind and sent McGonnagle and other members of Grey Section to defeat the vile Prussians. Details of this operation are still top secret and therefore cannot be divulged here....but may form the background to a scenario someday..

Dennis "Dandy" Nicholls

     Dennis "Dandy" Nicholls, former army doctor, conman and gambler, has served with distinction in the Secret Service since his "dismissal" from the Indian Army.

Barney Stockdale

     Barney Stockdale served in the Royal Marines, reaching the rank of sergeant major. Barney was a weapons instructor and is an ex-Royal Navy boxing champion, two talents which stand him in good stead in Grey Section.

     The remainder of the current Grey Section Pack positions have a regular change over of personnel; some due to injuries, others to said personnel being re-incarcerated in the institutions they were residing in before their country's and Grey Sections need became so great... 

The Secret Service's Russian Section 

    The  Russian Section has a geographically large area of responsibility and is therefore sub-divided into the North, South and East Territories. Though this might appear on the map (with all it's lovely pink areas representing the Empire's dominions on it) to be an overwhelming responsibility in reality the Russian Section deals mainly with those parts that butt up against the Empire; The Himalaya, Afghanistan, India etc, Old Europe; Poland, The Baltic States etc and the Russian cities on the Pacific Coast; Vladivostok and Port Arthur.

      Our interest lies in the ongoing Great Game between the Russian Empire and that of Great Britain where some of the focus has shifted from the Himalaya Region to that of the Caspian Sea.  Here a band of the Russian Section's finest are deployed in the guise of an archaeological dig sponsored by the Society of Antiquaries of London who, besides digging for artifacts, bones and ruins are on the hunt for two of their number who were last heard of in the region. 

     Unlike Grey Section, the Russian Section employs more regular "Greyhounds". The Diggers, as they are known, are led by Major Harry Baker (retired) a former Royal Engineer.

The Diggers (current cover name)

Major Harry Baker, former Royal Engineer 

      Major Baker  or the Old Man as his colleagues call him...though not to his face, is an ex-ranker who has served in all the major British Army campaigns since the 1870s in one capacity or another. He too, like Mr McGonnagle, was involved in the Great Game, mostly in mapping the western part of the territory as far as Kopet Dag in Turkmenistan.

Lieutenant Timothy "Topper" Hatt. 1st Bn The Isle Of Sheppey
Border Mounted Rifles

     On secondment to the Secret Service, Lt Timothy "Topper" Hatt, has served in Afganistan and the Sudan with his regiment, 2nd Battalion The Isle Of Sheppey Border Mounted Rifles.

Mrs Philomena Hargreaves, member of the RAI, keen hunter
and young widow of Lt Col Hargreaves RA

     Mrs Philomena Hargreaves has worked for the Russian Section since her husband, Lt Col Hargreaves of the Royal Artillery was killed in action during a Russian inspired uprising. A keen hunts woman, she is also a very keen pistol shot.

Sergeant Major Bert "Flagpole" Cockburn, 

     WO2 Albert Cockburn of the Army Service Corps, nicknamed Flagpole by his chums after some drunken shenanigans in the Warrant Officers and Sergeants Mess, he is a doughty, trustworthy member of the band. He acts as The Diggers quartermaster.

Ms Agnes "Ducky" Downes, 

     Ms Agnes "Ducky" Downes, daughter of Rear Admiral Hugh Downes; head of the China/Japan Section of the Secret Service Bureau; one of the actual qualified archaeologists in The Diggers. Ducky Downes won the Bisley NRA Ladies Pistol Shot in 1892.

Mr Albert "Berty" Butterworth, Indian Civil Service

     Berty Butterworth, former Indian Civil Servant, forger and card sharp, Berty left his employment under something of a cloud and was snapped up by Major Baker who had heard of Berty's "talents" and felt they would be of some use to the Diggers.

Ms Florence "Florry" Bruce-Partington,

     Ms Florence "Florry" Bruce-Partington, niece of the Duke of Holderness is a society beauty, amateur sleuth and linguist. She is another of the genuine archaeologists in the Diggers.

Ms Vaishnavi Partington, former governess and school teacher
and now a mystic  

    Ms Vaishnavi Partington, a former governess and school teacher. Born out of wedlock to an English mother and Sikh prince, Vaishnavi is multi lingual, a practitioner of Gatka, the Sikh martial art and has also developed a talent for mesmerism and mysticism. She is also Florry Bruce-Partington's cousin.

Mr Vincent Mature

     Finally, Mr Vincent Mature, American citizen (though he is currently unable to return to the USA due to a small matter the police wish to discuss with him) and noted big game hunter, has been hired by the Diggers, ostensibly to help supply them with game on their travels and for his knowledge of the area.

     And those, barring their local guides who also form part of the Digger party (and have still to be painted), are my British Secret Service Bureau forces.

     Next up are the opposition; the Russians and the Austro/Hungarians...

Till then, 

pip pip

GJ 

Thud & Blunder; The Chronicles of Tor-Senke. Cold Comfort For Kapitan Bittefeld

      Thud & Blunder; Chronicles of the Border Gate

     So, after too long a wait here is the next tale from the borderlands of the Duchy of Langenwanger. As you may recall, dear reader, these chronicles are centered around the doings of a troop of the Duchy of Langenwanger's Border Guard under the command of Kapitan Leopold Bittefeld. This tale recalls a raid by a...what's the collective noun for a small group of orcs? Small group will have to do for the moment, who are hell bent on desecrating the tomb of Duke Toby IV of Langenwanger. To game this I used the Break It Down scenario with the tomb taking the place of the statue mentioned in the scenario..

     And I say "I" for this was a solo effort as what else can you do in this time of self isolation and social distancing? I think Thud & Blunder is fine for solo gaming providing you don't subconsciously take sides which is what I didn't do; focusing instead on learning more about how to play the game, seeing what works and what doesn't and building the narrative history of my corner of the fantasy world of Thud & Blunder.....plus it keeps me off the beer....hopefully

     So to the story. This little skirmish was duked out between a detachment of Kapitan Bittefeld's command (the remainder of the garrison are guarding the Keep where they are...erm..garrisoned) and a Rage of Orcs (just googled it; a group of orcs is called a Rage. It's on the internet so it must be true) who are known to roam the borders of Langenwanger.

     

     The orcs, known as Gladizz's Gitz, are led by Gladizz Grabnutz, a young, female and very aggressive orc, who has fought her way to the leadership of her Rage by her fighting ability and much regarded underhand methods. In this she has benefitted from the guidance of an aged orc shaman, Wierd Wortz (so called as his magical talents began to develop in his youth around the same time his body became covered by unsightly warts. This had nothing at all to do with his developing magical ability but you try explaining that to his family and friends) who is convinced that all human grand tombs contain magical relics and so their quest to wreck and ravage the tomb of Duke Toby IV. The rest of the lads are just hoping for a chance to smash the "oomies" and loot their weapons. 

    

      Kapitan Bittefeld, guided by a premonition that his cleric, the fairly reliable Cornelius Coloredo, had had a few days before; a premonition that saw the tomb a shattered ruin, defiled by greenskins, had taken his detachment to the secluded glade where the tomb of Duke Toby is situated to guard it against any likely orc-ish depredations. This is a two day march from the Keep at Tor-Senke and, with the weather being particularly foul and with the king of all man-flu's in the offing, Bittefeld, doped up with Coloredo's potions and herbal brews to fend off the worst of humanities ailments, and his men arrive just before the orcs and take post to defend the tomb with their very lives.. 

     

Leopold Bittefeld, wracked by man flu but not complaining
too much, in the centre and his detachment. Serjeant Dudak
to his right and Cleric Cornelius Coloredo to his left

Gladizz and her Gitz. To her right is her goblin "favourite" Znitch
with his crossbow, and her left Weird Wortz the shaman.

The charming little glade that is the final resting place of the
Grand Duke Toby IV of Langenwanger

     Pulling his sodden, woollen cloak a bit closer around him, Kapitan Bittefeld peered into the woods surrounding the glade and called to the soldiers around him "Keep your eyeth pee-ed and sthand ready to fight!". Behind him, at the foot of the burial mound, Guardsman Henk Ninias exchanged puzzled glances with his friend, Guardsman Bjorg Menchervel. "What did the Old Man say, Bjorg?". "He said keep your bloody eyes and ears open, Guardsman Ninias; that is what the kapitan said, now do as he says. Them bloody orcs will be here soon" growled Serjeant Dudak. The two soldiers' heads swivelled towards the trees edging the glade and they peered with all the ability of men who know themselves to be under scrutiny of a much feared superior.

     Beneath his breathe Serjeant Dudak muttered "Gods be praised but where does the Border Guard get these cretins!". A veteran of twenty years in Border Guard, Georgi Dudak had thought he had seen it all; orcs, goblins, magicians, ogres and even a dragon but this chasing dreams; a premonition Coloredo had called it, was taking the...well, it was a bit much. For the last two days, through pouring rain and marrow chilling winds, the detachment had wound their way up the hills and down the dales of the Eastern March of Langenwanger to the tomb of Grand Duke Toby all because Cleric Coloredo had had a strange dream. A dream broiught on by the strange herbs Coloredo gathered in his travels and smoked in the tiny chapel in the Keep. From the smell of it, it was no wonder he had had seen things in his dreams. But it was enough to get the Kapitan worried. Old Toby's tomb was in their patch and woe betide them all if something happened to the tomb and the Old Man hadn't responded to Coloredo's mystic warning.

     And in the rush to depart from Tor-Senke they had forgotten to pack enough pipe tobacco and ale and this neglect had added to the soldiers woes. It was nearly quarterly payday and the harvest fair was only a week away and the men were looking forward to the event; a chance to let their hair down and have a bit of a frolic. And now this, some half mad cleric's herb addled dream and a captain, riddled with a strong sense of duty and wracked by a fever and, two sodding, sodden days later, they were standing guard at the tomb, soaked, miserable and desperate for a pipe!! It's enough to make you want to quit the Guard and take up basket weaving! Dudak spat and searched the shade beneath the trees once more. 

The Border Guard take station around the tomb of the long
deceased duke

     Gladizz's wiped the dripping water from her face and sniffed the cold, damp air and she grinned "Oomies" she growled to the ancient orc beside her. Behind her the rest of the orcs had also gotten wind of the presence of the soldiers and they began to growl and stamp their feet. "Shuts up, you idjits!" spat Glazizz, turning on them. The orcs immediately fell quiet. Mostly young orcs, they were well built for their age but the smaller, fiercer female orc scared them witless. Her very name told of her nasty reputation. All of them had witnessed Gladizz in action when she took control of the roaming Orc Rage from Hrenj, their previous and now very dead leader. They recalled the fight between the towering, over confident and now very dead male orc and the swift (for an orc), vicious female. How Hrenj appeared to have the upper hand in the struggle and his look of shocked, dumbfounded terror, his ear piercing shriek and how quickly his body had gone from extreme tension to limp death and the sight of Gladizz'z bloodied hand; the one that hadn't been around Hrenj's throat during the final stage of the fight, when she shoved Hrenj's bleeding corpse off her.

    They had all felt Hrenj's pain and feared to share it. So Gladizz, young, female, tough and quick witted (for an orc) had taken over the group. That had been last summer and since then, they had been roaming and ravaging and gaining loot and a reputation. Then they had fallen in with the shaman, Weird Wortz, and he really put the willies up them. Especially as Gladizz and Weird Wortz were thick as thieves.

     And they were going to smash up some oomies' grave and get lots of shiny weapons and armour which would make them the top orcs around these parts or so Gladizz said. They didn't see it that way but had gone along with the plan sullenly. Where was the fun in that? That was the sort of thing stupid, sneaky goblins did. But now there was a chance of a fight...and now Gladizz was talking to them; something about a plan and that little goblin git, Gladizz's spy, Znitch, taking them around behind the oomies and surprising them...

The orcs attack from three sides

..but first blood goes to the Border Guard as an orc succumbs
to an arrow in the gizzard....

Znitch the goblin, Gladizz's favourite, climbs a nearby outcrop
and starts raining down crossbow bolts on the enemy, and anyone
else who gets in the way

With the odds in their favour, Coronedo, Dudak and the Border
Guards feel confident they can defeat their foes

..however, with the guardsmen drawn away from the tomb it's
up to the lone archer to fend off two orc archers from the tomb!
Which, incredibly, he manages...just...but not for long

     Shivering and sweating profusely, Bittefeld parried the orc's attack. It was all he could do to fend off the stinking, hulking green beast's blows. He cursed the flu and the ineffectiveness of Coloredo's herbal brews and he cursed the greenskins for their temerity in coming to desecrate the Duke's tomb. Beside him, one of his men, he couldn't tell which so concentrated were his efforts fighting the orc before him, gave a cry of victory and the orc he was fighting with fell dead. The soldier immediately turned his attentions to Bittefeld's foe. The orc uttered what seemed like to Bittefeld a growl of pleasure as the guardsman joined in. This was the orc's undoing; distracted briefly by the other soldier, Bittefeld fended off an a blow with his shield and, putting the last of his strength behind his sword, thrust its point through the orc's throat. Somehow the orc managed to look amazed, disappointed and annoyed in it's brief, final seconds, a sight Bittefeld had seen many a time but it never failed to amaze and amuse him each time. He struggled to pull the glistening sword point from the orc's throat and the guardsman beside him cried "Kapitan! Kapitan! The orcs! See, they are on the tomb!" Turning slowly and propping himself up with his sword, Bittefeld wiped sweat from his eyes and looked at the burial mound. Sure enough there were two orcs on the top; one of which looked like a bent old man with a crook. Unlike any bent, old man Bittefeld had seen this orc was fending off attacks from one of his soldiers with a dazzling display of  skill with it's staff..

Suffering from man-flu, it's all that Bittefeld can do to hold his
own against the hulking orc. 

The tables turned. The orcs now hold the top of the burial
mound...but for how long?...

...not very long, as it turns out as Bittefeld and his comrade
join the fray

     Gladizz's arms were a blur as she swung her short sword and cleaver deftly at her opponents. These oomies were good but not that good, not as good as orcs at fighting, the two bloodied bodies at her feet were proof of that. Okay, 'Airie Krak, one of her orcs, was also lying, dying in a pool of his own blood but what did that matter? She could handle these two on her own; already she could smell the fear of one of them, the one with the sword...

     Serjeant Dudak side stepped the hefty cleaver that the orcs swung at him. The cleaver rang off his sword, numbing his arm and causing him to cry in pain. He looked up as the cleaver came flashing at his head; a back handed smash, the blunt edge of the heavy weapon struck his helmet and sent him reeling backwards. He tripped over the recumbent form of Coloredo and hit the ground with a thud; blacking out as he did so.. 

Gladizz holds her own against Serjeant Dudak and one of
his guradsmen

Weird Wortz and his chum are surrounded

      

From the top of the rocky outcrop, Znitch fired his crossbow once more. He was doing well; so far he had hit one of the oomies and then Big Erk, one his most hated tormentors in the Orc Rage. He couldn't decide which kill had pleased him most; probably Big Erk. He watched as yet another oomie fell forward on his face with one of Znitch's crossbow bolts sticking out of his back. Enjoying the fight or at least his part in it, well away fro the action, Znitch was aware that things weren't going the Orc Rage's way and he began to make a plan for getting away with a whole skin. In the meantime, he cranked his crossbow once more

Another of Znitch's bolts finds a billet

     As the giardsman beside him gave a cry and fell forward, Bittefeld lunged at the last of the orcs on the burial mound; the old, bent one withe the quarter staff. Bittefeld didn't like the aura around this old orc; he sensed this was one of the orcs abominations; one of their witches, one of their shamans. They still succumb to good, Langenwanger steel, thought Bittefeld as he lunged at the ancient orcs back. There was a flash, a puff of foul smelling smoke and the ancient orc was nowhere to be seen. Bittefeld and the remainder of his men looked around in amazement and wonder.. 

The burial mound cleared of greenskins, only Gladizz fights on

     Gladizz caught the flash of light on the burial mound out of the corner of her eye. So Weird Wortz had gone; the only other orcs she could see where the dead and dying members of her Rage. The guardsman's spear came straight at her face. Dropping her sword and cleaver she grabbed it, held it then kicked the surprised guardsman between the legs. As he fell, howling, she grabbed up her weapons, ran to the edge of the treeline and turning, screamed her defiance at the Oomies then disappeared beneath the dark canopy of the trees.

     

     Well that was a blast. It played out really well all things considered and it adds a bit more to the narrative of the Duchy of Langewanger . 

     Though I was rooting for both sides I was amazed and amused at how badly Bittefeld rolled in combat, consistently rolling low dice for his attacks on his opponent. Fortunately for him he had a couple of hero points that meant re-rolled saves. 

     Also, on reflection I should have given Weird Wortz some more powerful magic; something that could have cracked Old Toby's tomb. Though in saying that, he wasn't particularly effective when it came to actually casting his magic; at one point rolling consecutive 1s and losing his main shooting power when he was on the top of the burial mound. 

      Both magician's powers (they are both classed as Adepts) need fine tuning as some of their powers were useless for the scenario. A more thorough reading of the Magical Powers chapter is needed, methinks.     

     I plan to get another game in this week and, if I get them painted up in time, this time it will be my brigand Free Swords that join the fray. In the meantime, if you have made it this far, thanks for reading; feel free to add any comments below,

pip pip,

The General