Death in the Fyrn Valley: SBH Battle Report

Barbarians and dwarves advance, bows and crossbows to the flanks, harassing each other. As the two warbands close to contact, the barbarian archer draws first blood, shooting an arrow straight through the throat of one of the dwarven elite warriors. Meanwhile Nirini, the barbarian shaman, sweeps wide to the right flank, hoping to either draw off part of the dwarven force, leaving the rest vulnerable, or else to dash quickly for the mine to blast the entrance shut.

Both sides advance

Contact

Brogg breaks off from the melee developing in the center in an attempt to intercept the shaman, but he is hindered by opponents who engage him. Meanwhile Torolf and his warriors gang up on the remaining two dwarven elites try to hold the center alone, as the dwarven crossbows are quite ineffective.

Brogg's move toward Nirini hindered by two barbarians

Torolf slays another dwarf with a mighty stroke of his axe, while Brogg returns the favor, smashing in a barbarian skull with his hammer. The dwarven crossbows redeploy to the center in a desperate attempt to block the enemy advance.

The barbarians dominate the dwarven elite

The last of the dwarven elite dies with a sword through his belly. Seeing this, the crossbowmen panic and fall back, but then quickly recover. Brogg keeps his head, and seeing how desperate his situation is, pursues the shaman. If he can slay her, perhaps the barbarians will rout.

Brogg chases after Nirini

At Brogg's approach, Nirini attempts to flee. She outruns him briefly, but he catches up to her and cuts her down. The barbarians, instead of fleeing in panic, are simply enraged at the slaying of their spiritual leader. [Game note – a lucky break for Torolf's warband, as all the barbarians passed their morale checks with flying colors]. The barbarians avenge Nirini's death by mobbing the two dwarven crossbowmen and brutally hacking them to pieces.

The last crossbowman stands no chance

The bloodlust finally takes over Brogg completely. "I'll take your savage heads myself, and hang them from my belt!" he shouts as he charges all the remaining barbarians alone. Torolf engages him head-on while his last two companions surround the dwarven warchief. The barbarian leader dodges a vicious blow from the dwarf, and ripostes with a ferocious horizontal hack that enters the dwarf's body mid-chest and tears through muscle, ribs, and spine.

Brogg lies dead

As the rising sun burns off the last wisps of morning fog, Torolf strides toward the mine entrance. "Come," he says, "there is work yet to be done. We have no magic to destroy the mine, but for the miners, simple steel is all we need."