After the defeat in the Undin Woods, other orc raiding parties begin striking in earnest at villages all through the borderlands. As evening comes on, an orc warband approaches the village of Ristyp, intending to crush any opposition with the help of a giant spider. The men defending the village this time have the benefit of a warmage on their side.
The Orcs: One Giant Spider, four Orc Archers, two Orc Wariors, two Savage Orc Wariors (298 points)
The Men: One Warmage, three Archers, four Warriors (297 points)
The Battle: The orcs advance on the village. The human defense is set with their left flank anchored on the village edge, and archers holding the woods on the men's right. The two savage orc warriors advance on the orc left toward the human archers in the woods, while the spider scuttles up the center. Two orc warriors hold the orc right flank, while their archers bring up the rear.
A human archer slays an orc warrior with an arrow as the human warriors engage the spider. The warmage moves into position to transfix the beast.
The two savage orc warriors charge the human archers in the woods on the men's right flank as the men in the center knock the spider off balance.
Before the great arachnid can recover it is dispatched – an unlucky blow for the orcs, as the general melee begins.
On the human right flank, one of the savage orc warriors is killed by a human archer, but the other slays his human adversary, splitting him from collar to crotch (gruesome kill).
Another human archer, horrified by the sight, falls back but eventually regains his composure. Meanwhile, two orc bowman are killed in melee. The orcs' resolve weakens – one flees the battlefield in panic, two more begin to give ground, and only a lone archer holds his position unflinchingly.
Seeing their comrade stand fast, the two other orcs regain their courage and rejoin the fight, though little hope is left. This becomes evident all too soon as the ferocious orc archer who stood his ground is transfixed by the human warmage and then run through by a warrior, and one of his companions quickly follows. The last orc puts up a desperate fight, surrounded by no less than four to five men, killing one and knocking down three before he himself is knocked down by a warrior and transfixed by the warmage, at which point his fate is sealed. His life, and with it the battle, ends quickly thereafter.
Epilogue: I seem to manage better with the humans than I do with the orcs. With their low quality ratings, orc cohesion seems very fragile -- I seem to end up with orcs coming into the fight one-by-one and getting chopped up piecemeal. I may have to try and roll one activation die at a time with them in order to keep them together, act more slowly overall, and save the two-dice and three-dice activation rolls for more critical situations.
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Wizard for Song of Blades and Heroes
Painted a wizard today from Caesar miniatures' 25mm plastic "Adventurers" set.
I'll use him in my next Song of Blades and Heroes skirmish between men and orcs. The orcs will get a giant spider I picked up at a dollar store added to their warband.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Song of Blades and Heroes: The Battle of Undin Wood
It is just before dawn that Captain Panas speaks with the scout on the edge of Lissac village.
"How many orcs did you see?"
"Fewer than ten," says the scout, "just a small raiding party, marching through the Undin Wood"
The Captain looks toward the trees. "If we move now, we can meet them in the wood before they get within striking distance of the village."
"And if they can't be stopped?"
"You'll stay here. Have the villagers ready to evacuate. If you don't get a message from me by the time the sun climbs over the eastern hill, it means we're all dead. Get them out of the village and head for the outpost at Havern with all speed."
An hour later, Captain Panas and his band encounter the orc raiding party in the Undin Wood and launch a preemptive attack against them.
Human Warband:
Human Leader, Captain Panas (60 points)
2 Human Archers (88 points)
5 Human Warriors (150 points)
Total = 298 points
Orc Warband:
Orc Champion (76 points)
3 Orc Archers (87 points)
5 Savage Orc Warriors (135 points)
Total = 298 points
Scenario: "All Out Battle"
Attacker: Humans
Battle Report: Panas' men advance in formation as the Orcs move forward in a disorganized mob. The archers on both sides head for the cover of the trees. One orc arrow finds its mark, and the human warband is already down one man.
The melee begins and one orc is killed, while several other men and orcs are knocked off balance or forced to recoil, including Captain Panas who falls to the ground.
The orc champion hammers Panas with a powerful blow while he's down and kills the human leader.
Some of the men begin to waver. The left flank starts to crumble, but the right flank holds. As the men regain their composure, one of them manages to get into the woods to attack an orc archer – and gets himself killed. Things look desperate for the men when a fallen orc is brutally dispatched (gruesome kill)!
At the sight of this, two other orcs panic and flee the battlefield, and suddenly the fight is even again. The men rally and reform.
In the following melee, three men gang up on the orc champion. The champion tries to fight them off, but is hacked to pieces (gruesome kill).
Another orc panics and flees the fight while the remaining orcs fall back. The human archers race after the orc retreating on the left flank and kill him with an arrow in the back, while the human warriors press toward the rest. The orcs decide they have had enough and the survivors launch into headlong flight. One of the men is sent back to the village of Lissac to inform the folk that the danger has passed. The villagers are safe, but at the cost of Captain Panas and two of his men.
"How many orcs did you see?"
"Fewer than ten," says the scout, "just a small raiding party, marching through the Undin Wood"
The Captain looks toward the trees. "If we move now, we can meet them in the wood before they get within striking distance of the village."
"And if they can't be stopped?"
"You'll stay here. Have the villagers ready to evacuate. If you don't get a message from me by the time the sun climbs over the eastern hill, it means we're all dead. Get them out of the village and head for the outpost at Havern with all speed."
An hour later, Captain Panas and his band encounter the orc raiding party in the Undin Wood and launch a preemptive attack against them.
Human Warband:
Human Leader, Captain Panas (60 points)
2 Human Archers (88 points)
5 Human Warriors (150 points)
Total = 298 points
Orc Warband:
Orc Champion (76 points)
3 Orc Archers (87 points)
5 Savage Orc Warriors (135 points)
Total = 298 points
Scenario: "All Out Battle"
Attacker: Humans
Battle Report: Panas' men advance in formation as the Orcs move forward in a disorganized mob. The archers on both sides head for the cover of the trees. One orc arrow finds its mark, and the human warband is already down one man.
The melee begins and one orc is killed, while several other men and orcs are knocked off balance or forced to recoil, including Captain Panas who falls to the ground.
The orc champion hammers Panas with a powerful blow while he's down and kills the human leader.
Some of the men begin to waver. The left flank starts to crumble, but the right flank holds. As the men regain their composure, one of them manages to get into the woods to attack an orc archer – and gets himself killed. Things look desperate for the men when a fallen orc is brutally dispatched (gruesome kill)!
At the sight of this, two other orcs panic and flee the battlefield, and suddenly the fight is even again. The men rally and reform.
In the following melee, three men gang up on the orc champion. The champion tries to fight them off, but is hacked to pieces (gruesome kill).
Another orc panics and flees the fight while the remaining orcs fall back. The human archers race after the orc retreating on the left flank and kill him with an arrow in the back, while the human warriors press toward the rest. The orcs decide they have had enough and the survivors launch into headlong flight. One of the men is sent back to the village of Lissac to inform the folk that the danger has passed. The villagers are safe, but at the cost of Captain Panas and two of his men.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Orc Warband
After a weekend marathon of painting and a couple of hours yesterday, I completed the orc warband that I plan to use with the Song of Blades and Heroes rules. The figures are 25mm plastics from Caesar.
So far I have only "conventional" troops -- no magic-users, clerics, etc. So those will be on my near-future projects list, along with the elf warband I currently have primed but not yet based.
The orc leader
From the back
Orc archers
Orc warriors
The whole warband
So far I have only "conventional" troops -- no magic-users, clerics, etc. So those will be on my near-future projects list, along with the elf warband I currently have primed but not yet based.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
New Medieval and Fantasy Project
I've decided to start a Medieval Fantasy skirmish gaming project and keep a blog about it. I finished my first warband, a set of humans. The figures are 25mm plastics from Zvezda's "English Foot Soldiers Hundred Years War" and "English Knights" sets.
Next on the workbench is a set of 25mm plastic Orc Warriors from Caesar miniatures. They are primed, based and ready for color.
Once they're done I'll have a game, most likely using Ganesha Games' Song of Blades and Heroes rules.
Archers.
Dismounted knights.
The leader.
The whole warband.
Next on the workbench is a set of 25mm plastic Orc Warriors from Caesar miniatures. They are primed, based and ready for color.
Once they're done I'll have a game, most likely using Ganesha Games' Song of Blades and Heroes rules.