Today I managed to get another solo game in, and this time I opted to return to the Shadow Deep and put my rangers on their next adventure line from the rulebook: Mission 2 - The Beacon Tower.
Over the course of the past weeks, I have been printing and painting the scenery required for this adventure (it's a great motivator for sure!), but I already figured out I`ll be printing about 150 dungeon tiles or 40 wall sections before I can go into the next scenario of this story... if my heroes survive this encounter!
The game is ran on a 2.5 by 2.5 table with a river, and a lot of rocks with occassional greenery to provide a sneaky approach to the guards, a force of gnolls.
As I base my rangers setting a lot around Middle-earth, as I have by far the largest pool to draw on from them, that means the gnolls will be represented by the (not so) brave Orcs of Mordor!
The scenario is all bout being able to sneak up and quietly take out the gnoll pack, so one bodged roll could raise the alarm and put the heroes in grave danger! Adding to that, there is also Rachmel, my spear wielidng guardsman who enters the fray with 5 HP less due to a bad wound from the previous adventure still...
Before the battle, I could make a Navigation roll to sneak already a bit on the battlefield, which I duly failed of course. I would also be using Loraliel, my Ranger, to make the Stealth rolls as long as the alarm isn't raised as he has a +3 Stealth.
Turn 1
With the first turn starting, one of the Gnolls wanders off due to a succesful Stealth roll, allowing Loraliel, Cuchelain my Knight and Karaniok the Arcanist to sneak up the right flank. One of the wandering gnolls ends up in the river and drowns, taking down one worry for the game.
In the Event phase, a Booby trap springs near my Archer Theomir, but he had seen it using his Perception and evaded it.
Turn 2
Loraliel and Cuchelain advance further after diverting the gnoll sergeant, but can`t get to close in order to not be spotted by the patrolling gnolls. Two of them wander close to both Rachmel and Iramer, a guardsman and a man-at-arms respectively, but they can`t charge them because that would raise the alarm as more gnolls have their eyes on their tribesmen. The same goes for the one near Loraliel, as his kindred across the river wanders back into line of sight unfortunatly.
Turn 3
The heroes stay put in cover as the gnolls wander close, but then an archer spots Loraliel. The alarm is raised!!! He shoots, but the partial concealment saves Loraliel from being hit. But the fight is on, as those gnolls able to draw line of sight surge forward, while the others search the rocky outcrops for the heroes. This causes one of them to wander into the river, causing three damage.
Not afraid to break stealth anymore, Cuchelain charges a gnoll archer, but loses the fight and gets 2 damage. Rachmel charges a gnoll fighter to try and prevent them from ganging up, even if this puts him in the line of sight of the sergeant. However, it seems his earlier sustained injury plays up as he is swiftly dispatched by the Gnoll fighter.
Theomir aims a shot at a gnoll archer, causing 4 damage to the creature, but things aren`t looking good for the rangers.
In the event phase, it also starts raining heavily, reducing Line of Sight to 12" and inflicting -2 penalties for shooting from now on.
Turn 4
In a bid to help Cuchelain, Loraliel moves and fires at the gnoll that took down Rachmel, but misses. In response the gnoll charges him, but even though the beast is pushed back it takes no wounds. The second gnoll archer charges Cuchelain, and against the ganging up beasts the noble warrior is pushed back, wounded 3 times from the flurry of blows. His original opponent follows up, but fails to do more harm.
On the other flank a gnoll bumps into Iramer and engages, but can't wound the warrior, while at the same time a second gnoll is swept away by the roaring river. Those beasts are better at killing themselves then the Rangers are in hurting them...
Cuchelain recharges the gnoll archers, but fails to wound. Iramer on the other side of the table rolls a 19 in his battle... as does his opponent. Thankfully he has one point more of Fight and inflicts 9 wounds on the beast. In the duel of the archers, the gnoll misses before Theomir puts an arrow between the beast's eyes, taking it out.
Turn 5
Loraliel charges but loses again, taking no damage and holding the gnoll off in it's furious counter attack. The gnoll archer however takes down Cuchelain, while a second archer unsuccesfully shoots at Loraliel.
The gnoll sergeant spots Theomir and using both his actions forces him to be locked in combat, while another gnoll archer charges Iramir, wounding the grizzled warrior once.
As the situation grows desperate for the rangers, Karaniok charges a gnoll archer... and puts it down to a single wound! In the combat between Theomir and the sergeant, the archer wins the fight but unable to cause wounds decides to leg it, while his kinsman Iramer charges and slays a gnoll.
It looks grim for the rangers, but while not turning, the tide seems to be stalling a little... before the event deck revealed the red 3, and a fresh gnoll fighter rushes in, alas for the heroes...
Turn 6
Making use of the ranger move, both Loraliel as Karaniok charge their gnoll opponents. With a shaming 1 vs 20 Loraliel fails miserably and ends up with 11 wounds, while his companion ties the battle, slaying his opponent but taking 5 wounds himself in return.
Loraliel is charged by the newly arrived gnoll fighter, but wins the battle and causes 6 wounds on the creature, while another gnoll archer engages Karaniok, but while tieing again, neither suffers any wounds.
The gnoll sergeant barges into Iramer, but loses by one point and suffers 9 damage as a result from the warrior. The Rangers might suddenly be able to pull it off after all, and hope kindles in their ranks.
Theomir in turn shoots at a badly injured gnoll but fails to put the creature out of it's misery, before starting to move towards the bridge, while Iramer charges the sergeant, wins again by 1 point (20 vs 19 after modifiers) and slays the hulking brute.
Turn 7
Again making use of the ranger presence, Loraliel charges the wounded gnoll while Karaniok engages the archer in combat. While the ranger dispatches his foe, Karaniok draws yet again with a 19 vs 19 and is taken out himself, while leaving his opponent at one wound on the table.
The Gnoll fighter charges Loraliel, but with a critical success the ranger lops off his head cleanly of it's shoulders, but then gets an arrow to the chest by the gnoll archer, standing with only a single wound remaining!
Ordering his remaining companions not to come to his aid, Theomir investigates the clue counter and finds the Book of Poems on a roll of 15, while Iramer slowly catches up to protect the archer from the patrolling gnoll still on that side of the river.
In the event phase, another gnoll appears and unfortunatly spawns nearly next to the bridge where the companion is heading, so he better readies himself for yet another fight!
Turn 8
Loraliel fails to wound his opponent, causing them to remain locked in combat. As the new gnoll fighter locks Iramer in combat, the gnoll archer would have taken Loraliel down where it not for the magical sword the ranger carried.
The patrolling gnoll wanders into the river again, and takes another 2 damage as Iramer holds off the gnoll fighter.
Turn 9
Loraliel starts by casting Heal onto himself and raise his hit points back to 6, but then loses the combat by a wide margin. Luckily he can Roll with the Punches, taking only 4 instead of 8 damage and keeping him in the fight... barely. That is one ferocious gnoll archer he is facing!
The noise or Iramer causing 7 wounds on his opponent attracts the last gnoll fighter and he starts making way to the battle. Theomir reaches and picks up the treasure chest in the camp in the meantime, as the duel between the gnoll and his kinsman continues.
For the third time in the battle, Iramer wins a tied roll thanks to his one higher fight value, and slays the beast facing him.
In the event phase, a giant vulture appears (so at least I didn`t print it for nothing)...
Turn 10
It's the last turn, and Loraliel finally, and only just, puts down the archer as the vulture glides by. The last gnoll can`t reach Iramer and choosing the safer option, the warrior moves across the bridge. Theomir walks off the table with the treasure, as the battle comes to an end. The mission was a success, but at what cost would it turn out...
On an injury level, the group did well in the end. Cuchelain had a close call, losing his potion of Toughness as a result (I wanted to save it up for the next scenario), Rachmel made a full recovery and Karaniok only suffered a smashed jaw, whose only effect is that he wouldn`t get a progress point for the game.
The treasure turned out to be gold and jewels, which where spend to give Cuchelain that extra advancement point he missed by being taken out in the scenario, while Loraliel levelled up to level 2, and gained an additional point of Fight as a result, but he had lost his magical sword of Blocking 1 in the game... but at least they are all at full strength now for the next scenario, as the Rangers will enter Tor Varden.
For which, as I said above, I`ll be doing quite some terrain printing and painting first...
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