Rangers of Shadow Deep BatRep: Mission 1, scenario 1: The Deserted Village

Okay, so I finally am ready to play some solo gaming during these times of isolation, and I'm starting out with the Rangers of Shadow Deep's first mission, The Missing.

In this first scenario, Silverleaf's Sentinels are dispatched to find out what happened to ranger Aventine, who has been missing for days now.

They arrive in a deserted village... only to be beset by zombies!  For the models of the enemies, I have used the Army of Dead from Middle-Earth for the zombies, while the Giant rats where 3d printed models.  A Foundry Germanic Lady is present in case the survivor turns up in this scenario.

After the board is set up, but before the game starts, Theomir, my archer, gets to make a Perception roll as he has a +3 modifier, against a TN of 8.  He rolls a 5, just succeeding and pulling one clue counter 6" closer to the party.

Turn 1

Guardsman Rachmel runs towards the clue counter that was pulled closer as part of Loraliel's group activation, finding a Potion of Toughness.  In the meantime, Loraliel tries to pick the lock on a house, but fails as he only scores a 3 (against TN8).

Cuchulain the Knight, also activated by the Ranger, charges a Giant Rat and quickly dispatches it.  The enemy mobs start to close, and Theomir misses with his shot.  Iramir the Man-at-Arms charges a zombie, but looses the combat, luckily not suffering any damage.
The Event deck turns up as a 6, and two more Giant Rats come skittering out of the darkness, drawn by the noises.

Turn 2

As Loraliel group activates again (and again fails to open the door), Cuchulain charges the zombie but looses, saved by his heavy armour and shield from getting any damage.
In the combat on the western edge, Iramir wins from his zombie opponent pushing him back, but the undead wanders back into contact immediatly.

In the northern combat, the zombie tries to pull Cuchulain's head off, but the knight reacts faster and cleaves the dead man in two.
Giant Rats charge Rachmel, but he intercepts the beast on his two-handed spear and kills it instantly.  All the other mobs advance, coming close now.

Karaniok the Arcanist investigates a clue in the north eastern forest, and finds a witness to what happened in the village.

Theomir shoots at a zombie, causing 2 wounds on it, but while Rachmel charges another zombie he causes no damage and must look out for the closing critters.
In the Event deck, a zombie appears in the locked house in the southeast, right next to the clue.

Turn 3

Loraliel and Theomir group activate, moving before letting fly, but neither manage to hit the wounded zombie in the center of the table.

Both Iramir and Rachmel win against their zombie opponents, but the latter is now also charged by the rats.  As by a miracle, or skill, the brave spearman manages to splice them one by one on his spear, surviving what could have become a very messy affair.

Loraliel in the meantime was charged by the wounded zombie, and suffers 3 damage from the creature.
Karaniok leads the survivor back to the relative safety of the village square, as Cuchulain forces himself on the zombie attacking Loraliel, but fails to kill it.  Iramir kills his zombie opponent and comes to the aid of the embattled Ranger as well.

The event deck causes a disease to spread (how fitting in these troubled times), so the brave heroes better try not to go down to 0 HP...

Turn 4

Loraliel attacks with the two supporting companions... and fails to wound!  He is clearly still starstruck from his first foraging into the Shadow Deep.  The zombie attacks Iramir (HP the same as Cuchulain, but lighter armoured), but a natural 20 for the man-at-arms, supported by his friends, makes short work of the undead abomination.

Cuchulain returns to the house in the north and smashes the door out of it's hinges to investigate the clue inside next turn.

Theomir, Karaniok and the Survivor arrive in the village center, as Rachmel goes to the locked house with the zombie inside... and is ambushed by some more critters as the event deck pulls out the 5, more Giant Rats.

Turn 5

Loraliel moves to the northern most forest to investigate the clue there.  In the meantime, the Giant rats are attacking Rachmel but don`t wound him initially, but during the companions retaliation they bite him for 4 damage, but he resists the disease... barely on a roll of 3.

Theomir and Karaniok, leaving the Survivor behind, now start making way to the southeastern forest and the clue located there, as Iramir goes to reinforce Rachmel at the locked house.
Cuchulain enters the house to investigate the clue, and is beset by a zombie hiding there, but he makes short work of the monster with a roll of 19 (and his +4 modifier!).
Suddenly a loud rumbling sounds, as the eastern house seemingly collapsed on itself, but luckily there was no-one in the vicinity.

Turn 6

Loraliel investigates the clue and finds some Strange Tracks, and actually manages to succeed in a roll (his only one of the whole game as it will turn out).

Giant Rats attack Rachmel, causing a hefty 5 damage on him and leaving him hanging on by a single hit point.  Iramir charges the critters, but slips as they overwhelm him, causing not only 7 wounds but also making him feel very, very sick.  Those are some darn nasty critters!
Rachmel now attacks the rats and wins the fight with a single point, impaling them on his spear at last.

Cuchulain moves towards them to help out with the zombie locked inside, as Theomir and Karaniok reach the clue in the forest.  This turns out to be a treasure token and Karaniok is tasked to carry it.

The event caused two zombies to arrive in the south (I saw the turn afterwards they where supposed to appear at different points, which would have made my Heroes's lives simpler) not far from the two wounded companions at the house...

Turn 7

Loraliel tries to shoot down one of the newly arrived zombies, but misses, who then advance as far as they can to the wounded warriors in front of them.  Theomir moves from behind the building and puts an arrow through the head of one of them, halving the thread.

Karaniok moves to the village center again, hauling the heavy treasure chest with him, as Iramir heroically charges the zombie... and axes it down.
Cuchulain arrives at the house as Rachmel miserably fails to pick the lock...
Suddenly a cold wind rushes over the battlefield and Theomir feels the terror crawling under his skin, but with a determined roll of 18 shrugs it off and gathers his senses.

Turn 8

The final turn, as Loraliel arrives in the center.  The monsters can't do anything as the only one present is still lcoked in... a house that rachmel again fails to pick the door from.  The poor infantryman moves aside, as Cuchulain smashes it out of it's hinges, and charges the zombie inside, locking it in combat.
Iramir sneaks into the house and discovers a Mutilated Body, and with a roll of 6 discovers the nature of the bites...

More zombies turn up in the north and eastern sides, but the rangers, knowing now what happened to the villagers, slink away into the forest.

The Gains

So, that went rather well, as no-one was taken out.  Brave Iramir did contract a disease, severly limiting the warrior for the next scenario.  If asked who was my man of the match, I`m in doubt by his bravery and killing, and Cuchulain who waded through enemies as through wheats.

The found treasure turned out to be a hand weapon, Blocking (1) which goes to Loraliel, as well as the Potion of Toughness.  I just hope the ranger steps up his game in the next scenario, because he flunked miserably in this one.

Experience wise, my ranger stays at level 0, but now has 85 points, while all his Companions received Prestige Point.

So Rangers of Shadow Deep?  It's really a good game, had a nice pacing (okay, being the first time, I needed to look some things up, mostly tables and special conditions) and even with taking notes for this BatRep, I still played it in about 3 hours including setting up and clearing the table.

I`m hooked on the game, and I`ll be going in for scenario 2 of this mission for sure, probably next week... though with a bit of "alternate" scenery.