Rangers of Shadow Deep BatRep: Mission 1, scenario 2: The Infected Trees

After discovering the source of what killed off the village, Loraliel and his band of companions make way into a clearing where the spiders seem to have nested.  The nests must be destroyed to prevent further victims!

Now, first a note on scenery and models.  For Giant Spiders, I didn`t went for the humongous kind, but like the artwork in the book a size that would cover a figures head and shoulder.  I also opted to go for a ruins and pillars setting as I don`t have enough trees (yet), apart for the actual nests which are the pine tree patches, with the nest for distances located at the exact centre.

On the Rangers side, it is the same warband of course from scenario 1, hauling around some minor items but more importantly (and sadly) a sick Iramer, hero of the first game.  This means he is at a health and a roll penalty for this scenario, not ideal for one of the bruiser models in the band.

On the mob side, the spiders are the 3d printed, well spiders and unless I get very unlucky with the kills and the event deck, 6 should be enough.  The possible zombies are once again the Army of the Dead like in scenario 1, to keep continuity, while the survivors are generic dark age models I have lying around.

And so everything was set up, including the random placement of the spiders.

Before the game started, one could try to roll to remove a spider from the table, which I failed, and to find some herbs in the form of a single dose of Fairlight Leaf, which Rachmel succeeded on as he has Survival +3.

Turn 1

In the first turn of the ten the scenario takes, Loraliel activated Theomir and Cuchulain,  after Loraliel had shot down a spider.  My Ranger has done more already then in scenario 1 by now...
A Ray of Light breaks through the clouds, making one of the spiders scuttle away from it.

Turn 2

Loraliel activates the same group this turn, and shoots a second spider stonedead.  Cuchulain charges another spider, smacking it across the floor, while Theomir reaches the first cocoon, discovering it's inhabitant deceased.

The spiders pounce on our heroes, as the one charging Cuchulain gets flattened as well.  Loraliel however loses to a spider and would have taken 6 damage, but he opts to Roll With the Punch to half this, allowing him hopefully to Heal himself in the future to negate the Poison effect.  Rachmel rushes to his aid and dispatches the vile creature.

The event deck spawns another spider on the table though

Turn 3

Loraliel uses his sole action to heal himself back up, as Cuchulain charges a spider that had advanced to close.  He loses the fight however, and ends up taking only a single point of damage, but unfortunatly this also causes Poison, limiting his actions for the game.

Rachmel investigates a cocoon and finds a survivor, while Theomir advances up to the next one. The event deck entangles Cuchulain in a spiderweb...

Turn 4

Loraliel and Rachmel activate, and while the Ranger advances to help Theomir, Rachmel goes to support Cuchulain, who has broken free of the webbing... barely as he rolled a 5, but could add his +7 vs the target of 12.  He loses the fight again from the spider, taking no damage this time, before retaliating and killing the spider.

Iramer investigates a cocoon holding another corpse, as does the one Theomir and Loraliel investigate... except that corpse refused to stay dead and suddenly they are locked in combat.
The event deck, to top it off, spawns another spider right next to this fight.

Turn 5

Loraliel attacks the zombie, causing two points of damage on it.  The spider in turn charges him, but is swiftly dispatched before Theomir finishes off the zombie.

In the meantime, Karaniok burns down the first nest, while Rachmel unravels the final cocoon, freeing another survivor.  Theomir moves to the nearest nest and burns this down as well.
The event deck webs Karaniok now though...

Turn 6

In a feat of strenght, the Arcanist breaks free of the webbing.  Loraliel contacts a nest, as does Karaniok now, while with no monsters present the others group up to protect the survivors.

The event deck spawns a second nest tree near Karaniok though, with a treasure but also a vicious looking spider!  The event deck is then reshuffled as it reached it's end.

Turn 7

Loraliel burns down his nest and advances to the beleaguered Arcanist, who gets charged by the spider.  The combat draws, killing the spider, and while lightly wounding Karaniok also puts him under the effect of Poison.

He uses his action though to burn down this nest as well, as Iramer and Rachmel advance towards the final nest and the treasure lying there.  However, a spider spawns here as the event deck comes up with the ace card.

Turn 8

Loraliel advances and tries to shoot the spider but misses.  The beast charges Rachmel, and puts him down on 4 hit points.  Even with Karaniok in support now, Rachmel loses the fight again and goes down.

Iramer then charges the spider, and with the support of Karaniok and his Fight bonus manages to win the battle by a single point, putting the very dangerous spider down.... before the event deck spawns another spider at this location.

Turn 9

However, before that beast could do anything, an arrow plants itself in it's body as Loraliel shoots down his third spider of the day.  Iramer burns down the final nest, while Karaniok moves to the last treasure chest to pick it up in the final turn.  The event deck comes up with another Ray of Light but there are no spiders to scare.

Turn 10

The only thing happening is Karaniok picking up the treasure chest.  The event deck smiles on me, as it only tosses a web on Theomir... and the heroes return to base to report on the events.

The Gains

Quite a lot this time round.  With 9 spiders and 1 zombie killed, all cocoons investigated and two survivors brought back alive, and all the nests destroyed, 93 XP was scored.  This puts Loraliel to level 1 now, and he increases both Stealth and Survival by 2, and Traps by 1.
Poor Rachmel survives, but is Badly Wounded, meaning he must either miss the next game or start out with -5 Health.  Iramer however has shrugged off his Disease now he got in scenario 1.
As the Potion of Toughness is transferred to Cuchulain, the treasure chest reveals a Herb Pouch which for now goes to Lorariel.

All companions bar Rachmel gain 2 Points, while the unfortunate guardsman scores 1...

And so ends the first mission of this highly enjoyable gamesystem.  But before I will go to mission 2 in my solo efforts though, I`m dibbing myself in the Frostgrave setting first next time, because I have to try out this new mat now don't I...