Anger of the Heavens: First ARES Scenario Set-Up

The sky grows dark with storm clouds, and thunder rolls in the distance. Kjell, Lorna and Fjori have been hunting for three days along the ridges and ravines of the Great Rift on the eastern edge of the lands of the Valen. Three days with no luck, and the prospect of a night spent cold, wet and shivering in the wilds. Coming through the trees into a clearing, they spot the skull of one of the gigantic behemoths who once roamed Valdar in the first age. What is left of the creature's head is larger than a house back in the village.

"There!" cries Lorna, as the wind picks up blurring the landscape with leaves and debris. "Shelter! We can make our camp inside the skull of the beast!"

Lightning streaks across the sky as the three companions make for the fossilized refuge. As they do three Ral come forth from the woods on the opposite side of the clearing. On this side of the rift, they are no doubt the scouts of a raiding party, who also hope to spend the night in the comparatively warm, dry haven provided by the remains of the long-dead creature.

"Kjell!" Shouts Fjori over the wind, nodding toward the three Ral scouts.

"This our side of the rift," yells Kjell. "If they want shelter, they can find it back in their own lands!"

Across the clearing, Ilkhan steps ahead of his two companions, Nyree and Logos. With a simple tilt of his head, his message to them is clear. Stealthy scouting mission or no, he and his comrades will fight to spend the night protected from the storm.

As the two groups close the gap between them, another bolt of lightning zigzags downward striking a tree on the edge of the clearing, sending splinters swirling into the wind.

Steel is drawn, and soon one of these two bands will pay for their lodgings with the blood of the other.


Scenario Details:

Board: a 24" x 24" board, set up as per the diagram.

Entry: The Valen (Kjell, Lorna, and Fjori) enter from the "bottom" edge; the Ral (Ilkhan, Nyree, and Logos) enter from the "top" edge. All characters enter on turn 1.

Game Length: 6 turns.

Victory Points: At the end of the final turn, each side gains...
1. VP equal to the combat rating of each enemy eliminated
2. VP equal to the combat rating of each friendly figure closer to the skull than any enemy

Whichever side has more VP wins – and those characters get to spend the night in the skull, protected from the storm. The side with fewer VP suffers a morale break and all their remaining characters flee the clearing into the tempest-beaten forest.