(Completed) Call to Arms! Battle of The Wither Woods (And LDD Ch

[Zach101]

I'll join dugal and the old order, and I did switch to bbcode,I'm not sure y the image part if code got deleted, but I can't get the whole bbcode for some reason...

[Zach101]

What is the "s" for, and do ranged weapons use hand to hand and strength?

[SkaForHire]

S is strength, it is added to the weapon's damage -- multiplied by 1.5 if it is a two handed weapon. Ranged weapons do not add anything unless they are strength based, such as throwing a spear. An bow and arrow have high damage output without a modifier. a short Bow is 2d8, crossbow is 2d10, a long bow is 2d12.

[Zach101]

Ok, and is the movement and range on the unit stats in inches or studs, cuz 18 studs is a lot for one human to move in one turn...

[SkaForHire]

18 studs should be 6 inches (the movement and range are both in inches), we played around with 4 and 5 inches, but since we often played on a bigger table, it made the game too slow just to get into hand to hand combat. I suppose when we look into eras that have more shooting than melee, we may have to adjust.

[Zach101]

Yeah, true, although if combining eras(invasion of lego castle by the galactic empire) then 18 studs would be good still.....

And have u done any way of giving point values to different units in order for making even battles....

[Scarst]

Looks good! Glad to see the ridiculous amount of armor I piled on my sig fig acknowledged.

He's not Jakon the Invulnerable for nothing. On a side note he's also one of the best warriors on dugals side.

[SkaForHire]

Yeah, true, although if combining eras(invasion of lego castle by the galactic empire) then 18 studs would be good still.....

And have u done any way of giving point values to different units in order for making even battles....

Yes, there are actually is a pretty thorough points system for evening battles without having special abilities, we found that playing the Roleplaying battles with Historica have allowed us to add new abilities and see how powerful they are in order to give a good point value, but as I said we are still playtesting

[Scarst]

Heh, Every weapon every figure every animal every peice of armor, every bonus stat has a point value. And beyond that there are different types of soldiers. Knights, bedouins, samuri, etc. all have a special ability or two that makes them better for certain rolls although all have varying point values. along with races having different stats.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Scarst

[Zach101]

Wow, this game keeps getting better and better from what your saying :) I can't wait until the full rules are posted :)

[Zach101]

This game must have taken a lot of time and effort in order to get it to this point...

[Mike S]

Any estimate on when to expect the first report of the battle?

[SkaForHire]

Well, work schedules and figs crashing to the ground and stuff have put us a little behind schedule or this already late endeavor. However, the battle has started. Here is the first chapter in the battle. Spoiler: if you are looking for action, this isn’t the post – by the end of the pictures we have taken, the armies are still about a foot away from each other. Let’s just call this a teaser.

Throughout these reports, we will use brackets when we want to make slight game mechanics notes to justify why something happened. For example, [The battlefield was set up to have specific terrain advantages. There were penalties to move through the desert and the bog, where units received more movement on the road. As you will see, this dictated Petera’s side’s strategy from the beginning. ]

Chapter 1, The Rush of Battle

In the hand of, Pollock Drover, Sergeant in the Fallen Dragon Mercenary Corps.

Dear Father,

I fear that this is the last you will hear from me, as I barely have the strength to write this letter. I thank you for those reading lessons when I was a child, I could not rest peacefully without you knowing what happened to your son. I also right this, so that someone may chronicle the events that have unfolded.

Our company’s board of generals, offering up a squad for the Eastgate Conflict, chose me to lead a squad to be auctioned off a week back. The contract we struck with Heinsen of Carn carried a handsome payment. We soon met up with the man, and we found ourselves in strange company. Heinsen and his closest compatriots are werewolves, and I felt a bit uneasy about this at first. However, it was the mages that we came to feel uneasy around. I should say, one mage, Gleambeam, who always had his hand on a bottle. There was a weird fire in his eyes, and we never felt comfortable leaving our back exposed to him.

Still, we made our way this morning to our deployment spot, Heinsen leading our group of men to the center of the field. I got a good look at all our troops and our positioning.

DSC_1313 by skaforhire, on Flickr

On the right, and in the sands that crawled into the Wither Woods, the majority of PGTC troops took their place. Also with them were Lord Vladius’s troops and another group of Orcs that came to seek revenge on one of Petera’s allies. At the head of this flank was a group of Leander troops. I did not catch who was in charge over there.

DSC_1312 by skaforhire, on Flickr

On our far left, along the river, a group of soldiers that had fought together at the Battle of Khordeem covered the flank. Jakon the Invincible and Garret Hailfist were two of the most famous names in this army, and they commanded that flank.

DSC_1317 by skaforhire, on Flickr

To their right the mighty Dugal MacLean formed up. He had some of the Blue Guard with him, along with the Amazons, or Angels of Death as they like to be called – Both GEAR Co.’s elite units. However, his real body guard was five Aleenridders from Mpya Stedor and the great siege engineer Sergio.

DSC_1316 by skaforhire, on Flickr

In the middle, along the oil road, the rest of the heavy cavalry was placed. A squad of the GEAR Co. 1^st Heavy Cavalry, the titans were supplemented by the Order of the Golden Mask [unfortunately totally misrepresented because of my piece availability, sorry Mike!] Some more Blue Guard, along with a few of the Immortals and an insane group of gnomes helped make up this part of the line. Oddly enough, it was Paulos who rode out in front of the army to give a speech, not Dugal. I was too far away to hear him, but the middle of the line really cheered hard before they began their advance.

DSC_1315 by skaforhire, on Flickr

Dugal kept a few men in reserve, a war chariot, a squad of Titans, and two squads of Blue Guard, although their commander Al’Leden Mantherin was on the field with us.

Is Petera going to personally show up was the question of the night before, and so far the answer is no. Our spies have found that Elden Logan, current second in command to Petera is leading the enemy army. We seem to outnumber them, but everyone fears their mages, and preys that we have enough on our side.

The enemy has lined up with what seems to be much the same plan as us – get down the road with cavalry and sever the enemy’s line. The first units we saw were the GEAR Co. 3rd Heavy Cavalry, the Dreadfists, their purple lacquered armor shining in the morning sun. With them came a group of Centaurs and the general Logan.

DSC_1323 by skaforhire, on Flickr

On the far left of their line, and opposing the PGTC forces was an Avalonian Lord Baldwin and his men, along with Beleg of Mitgardia. Our rival company, the Blue Spears were formed up behind them. This side looked particularly weak, and as we began to advance, we could tell Paulos wanted to crush this side first.

DSC_1325 by skaforhire, on Flickr

On the far right, they had a necromancer and his brood, a band of Cyclops, the famed Arkbi Falcolns, and at least one squad of the Red Guard.

DSC_1321 by skaforhire, on Flickr

We began to advance quickly, but so did the enemy, it did not seem that anyone had held back in the defensive, and as an infantry man on the attack, you gotta love that.

Their whole right side moved quickly, with Captain Anton Wyldes, Lord Horssten, and Hataman the Yukar’s troops all moving up along the bog. Way in the front, a squad of Red Guard appeared, teleported there by some mage, that we later found out was Lord Ravencroft, returned from 100 years of death.

DSC_1336 by skaforhire, on Flickr

Our left side thrust forward to meet their advance.

DSC_1332 by skaforhire, on Flickr

But it was the push right in the middle, along the road that signaled that this would be a very bloody battle in deed. Paulos became cautious and brought spearmen to brace for a cavalry charge along the road, holding the Titans in reserve. However, General Logan sent the Dreadfists crashing down the road… unfortunately I would not see the immediate result of this meeting.

DSC_1342 by skaforhire, on Flickr

At this point I heard Heisen comment loudly, “put that bottle down, we are in battle man!” I turned around in time to see an odd glimmer in Gleambeam’s body, as I felt my own existence waver…

DSC_1334 by skaforhire, on Flickr

[We were not sure which one Gleambeam was, by TUB’s description, so we picked the one with the hat. He also presented us with an odd plot mechanism. At the beginning of every turn we rolled a dice to see when Gleambeam would go crazy and try to win the battle himself (being a drunk, we thought he was the perfect candidate to try out a new mage type that is ultra-powerful, but every spell they take a risk of very bad things happening). He passed his first sobriety check, but we also added a -1 modifier each turn, since we assumed he was throwing back another bottle each round. Well, this only lasted to round two… when he failed the check… and away he went. ]

TO BE CONTINUED….

[Bregir]

Exciting! Great way of describing the battle, Ska!

[robuko]

Very exciting as always Ska!

[Gabe]

Woo, and we are underway! Great first report Ska, your battle reports are always so entertaining. Had a little trouble initially finding my troops, finally spotted them on the right flank. Hopefully they will see some action soon!

A quick question though... what do you do with the pledged but unrepresented troops? Do you use placeholder figs for them? Keep them in reserve as reinforcements? Discard them? Just curious.

[Zach101]

Wow, u are very good at telling this story, and writing up the battle, can't wait for the rest :)

[TheUtilityBelt]

"PUT THE BOTTLE DOWN!" Yay! After the battle could I see some pics of my figs? Growing up unwanted, it's good to see Heinsen leading something.

Hey! Now I can change my signiture!

[Hammerhand]

Looking awesome Ska! I can see the battle lust in my troops and hired gnomes eyes...

[SkaForHire]

Woo, and we are underway! Great first report Ska, your battle reports are always so entertaining. Had a little trouble initially finding my troops, finally spotted them on the right flank. Hopefully they will see some action soon!

A quick question though... what do you do with the pledged but unrepresented troops? Do you use placeholder figs for them? Keep them in reserve as reinforcements? Discard them? Just curious.

We usually state that they are "on another flank" However, there are reinforcements for this battle. For example, we have an assassin rule, where assassin models can sit off the table and "appear" in the midst of battle (every turn they sit out, they get another 6" from the deployment zone.) Scarst (who is controlling Dugal's side) will probably drop your assassins in when my troops get closer. Beyond these special troops, I have a lot of NPCs sitting in reinforcements, Scarst has less NPCs, but still has access to Lord Zach and other builder's partial units.

I am a bit torn, if I open another battle of Ahmet, we can field Zaid Parsel, but I have a huge pile of unsorted pieces, and not sure I want to drop another large set into that pile. However, I promised Scarst that if he is desperate for troops by the end that we would break it open and bring your unit (amongst others that were not fielded) in. I still have two large companies of infantry in reserve beyond the ones mentioned, he only has one.

"PUT THE BOTTLE DOWN!" Yay! After the battle could I see some pics of my figs? Growing up unwanted, it's good to see Heinsen leading something.

Hey! Now I can change my signiture!

The last picture of my last report is all of your troops, I just found a green helmet that I forgot I had, so I will be switching that on your sigfig. He is kind of covered up there, but you can see his two werewolf friends, and your mages behind them. Your mercs are up front, and they are flanked by the Carn troops. I am sure you will get to see a few more of them as the rest of the battle goes up. :)

Looking awesome Ska! I can see the battle lust in my troops and hired gnomes eyes...

My brother is convinced that those gnomes are going to eat the heavy Cavalry for dinner. Luckily your characters are standing behind the gnomes... hahaha

[Scarst]

I both love and fear the gnomes. As for Gleambeam yes as long as he's in the battle he will get a partial spotlight because it makes for a funny story.

Gabe, since both you and Robuko sent so many troops I kind of ended up making you two the Right flank, nearly all your soldiers should be in the desert with the exception of the assassins, minotaurs, and the heavy infantry. the minotaurs being on the other side of the road using the First infantry as fodder until they get into battle and the heavy infantry preparing to take the force of the impending charge, Sheilds ready and spears out.

The battle will have a few different surprises some coming all the way back from kordeem,(If you followed that story), so bare with us if the updates are a bit slow.

[Kayne]

Ska, did I see the that the old blood of Manetheren is in this fight? Just wondering if you made a WoT reference on purpose.

[SkaForHire]

Ska, did I see the that the old blood of Manetheren is in this fight? Just wondering if you made a WoT reference on purpose.

It is and it isn't... but it is. So, many of the characters in my story are dedicated to people who once played characters by those names in a game a long time ago... But he definitely named his character after WoT. Good eye! He would brood around and talk about the mighty past of a fallen kingdom that he was the ancient decedent of. Since this is the first time I have introduced him, I haven't decided where he will go. He will survive the battle, and there will be more stories with him later.

[Maxim I]

Aaah I love reading those battlereports!! :) :)

[SkaForHire]

Coming soon

dug by skaforhire, on Flickr

Edited July 27, 2014 by SkaForHire