Midgard - Samurai Battles

Our second outing for Midgard saw us expand the forces and add some cavalry into the mix. Having taken a few learnings from the first game we limited the armour 4 units to two per side with mine split between the infantry and cavalry and Stu's concentrated in the cavalry.

The game started poorly for my men as Stu (using my dice) called out a hero to a duel, one of my hero's stepped forwards and was promptly dispatched. Even before the battle began my force was down to only 2 hero characters.

My dice continued to betray me during the rest of the battle with Stu generally having the better of the combat's (even though my shooting was better) and my forces whittled down across I think 4 turns, or was it five? In any event we managed to get to a conclusion with my boys soundly beaten.

I think the only thing that needs tinkering with is the Teppo units as they aren't really an upgrade to the Yumi units. I think perhaps switching them to skirmish units and allowing them to double move and shoot will be ok with the extra mobility being off-set by the lower volume of shooting.

Silver Bayonet - Castle Fier:Loup-Garou Surprise

There was no shame in admitting that Raskolnikov and his intrepid band had been shaken by events deep in the backwoods of wild Transylvania.  Luzhin and Karataev had been injured - Luzhin would recover but alas stoic Karataev would be permanently disfigured - a trophy to show off back in the village he would no doubt say.

They were a hardened bunch but the blasphemy they had bore witness to would question the faith of the most devout.  He could only assume that Al-Ghamdi was feeling equally disturbed - the Turks after all bore the brunt of the Demonic onslaught although Raskolinokov was still convinced the Black Arts were employed by their ‘Shaman’ .

However there was no time to ponder the great questions of life, fate, death, faith & the supernatural.  Raskolinokov was under orders to get to the mountain keep and snatch what ‘treasures’ were being hidden away.  Before they could do that there was interminable forest to get through - occasionally they would glimpse the mighty peaks of the mountains they were to ascend but no matter how much ground they made these damned peaks never seemed to get any nearer.  To make matters worse there was a marauding band of heathen Devil-Worshippers out there for the Russians to contend with along with whatever godforsaken beings lurked in this Shadowed-Land.

They’d heard reports from the limited number of locals they’d encountered of a grotesque creature who had been killing indiscriminately and dissolving back into the forest.  These peoples - Romanians, Gypsies, Ruthenians, Magyars & Jews - were definitely backward and governed by superstition but based on recent experience Raskolinikov wasn’t ruling anything out.  His men had better be hyper-vigilant. 

Among the trees, rocks and scrub of the forest Raskolnikov spied, not too far ahead, some broken down walls of what had probably been a loggers cabin.  It looked like it might offer the chance of some shelter - with a little imagination - from whatever nightmare was out there.  The Russians cautiously advanced through the trees and taking cover from rocks towards the ruins.  Luzhin was struggling at the back with his leg wound but the rest pressed on, even Karataev.  As they were approaching, Alexey Yegortych, a fearless Jaeger, who was farthest forward became aware of movement across the other side of the ruins.  This was no unearthly monster, this was those damned Turks - Al-Ghamedi must have had the same idea about the ruined cabin.

Unless The Russians could drive off the Turks they weren’t going to be able to use the relative safety of the ruins.  As they all approached now they became aware that as well as the ruins and the detritus that comes with dilapidated buildings there were one or two items seemingly discarded around these ruins but the men on both sides were wary of these and what they might portend.  On the Turkish right one of the Janisseries - may be Salim Selim - found, next to a broken down wall of the cabin, a small bag of shot for a musket.  He was intrigued but also wary that it seemed to be silver…..

On the Turkish left a tribesman from the desert regions around Baghdad ventured forward, may be he’d spotted some hidden treasure.  From out of what seemed another dimension a huge fearsome creature - a dog perhaps - on it’s vast hind legs surged towards the Turk flailing huge muscular arms with talons like razored bayonets.  He didn’t stand a chance….only he did!  From all around shots rang out from his comrades and the fearsome beast lay obliterated in a hail of musket and pistol shot.  Others in the company recognised the beast as a Wehrwolf, reputed to stalk these lands, but never truly attested and certainly not by outsiders.

This intrusion didn’t stop the fighting between Russian and Turk.  One of the Janisseries venturing near the ruins was shot by the sharpshooter Ivan Illyich - it looked a deadly hit but the target managed to take cover and tend his wounds.   

The forces on both sides managed to uncover further strange items hidden in and around the ruins - another bag of silver shot; a silver dagger; a small Ikon; and a silver ramrod.  Perhaps these backwoods peoples were not so backward in their adherence to their arcane beliefs.

Raskolnikov had already decided it was too great a risk to stay the night at the ruins and was preparing to withdraw when the dusk air was pierced by howling from multiple directions.  Al-Ghamdi had decided the same.  Both forces now wanted to get away from this accursed place as swiftly as they were able.  From both rear flanks large canine creatures were galloping, or so it seemed, towards the retracting and retreating Russians.  The same was happening to the Turks - they were all surrounded by Dark Wolves…..

The terrible realisation hit them all that these Lupine fiends were merely harbingers of a far deadlier threat, for now it was clear to Al-Ghamdi and Raskalnikov, that two more of those Wehrwolf’s were stalking them.  

Both sides started to pour backwards - no one though could be left behind.  The Dark Wolves bore down on their quarry.  However these hardened veterans of many campaigns against mere mortals were phlegmatic - they didn’t panic.  The injured Luzhin accounted for one the beats in full flight.  Similarly Rashid Ibn Yusuf did the same service - like a gamekeeper - for Al-Ghamdi.  The others were despatched but the ‘Fog of War’ obscured the individuals performing their grim task.

The Wehrwolf pursuing the Russians was slowed in it’s tracks by the  concerted fire power of Raskolnikov, Drubetskoy, Illyich and Yegortych but still it came on, Raskolnikov placing himself between this Hound of Beelzebub and his men, in order that they could escape.  He fought the beast in deadly melee and was hurled aside, presumably dead before Yegortych steadied himself from range and sent a second Wehrwolf to whatever damned dimension it hailed from.

Al-Ghamdi meanwhile almost suffered the same fate but fortune was with the Turk that late autumn afternoon and some of his men who had rallied ahead of him managed to pour enough withering fire to send the beast to join its unholy brethren, allowing the Musselmen to escape the field.

Boris Drubetskoy, fearless veteran Grenadier of countless campaigns, was the last Russian  to leave but not before he had carried his presumed slain officer from the field like some latter day Achilles with the broken body of Patroclus.  Miraculously Raskolinokov survived the mauling from the Wehrwolf but had suffered a deep laceration to his left leg causing a permanent limp.  The Russian camp was buoyed by this intercession by Vasily the Blessed.  He could only speculate what mood hung over Al-Ghamdi and his fellows......

The Silver Bayonet : Castle Fier - The Summoning

 Behold, I saw a horse, pale greenish grey.  The name of the one riding on it was Death, and Sheol was following with him.  Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword and by famine and by plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.”

Book of Revelation 6: 7-8

The Harvestmen - spirits or demons that feed off the pain, fear and rage of mortal men - are afoot.  Those who speak of them are dismissed as lunatics or feeble-minded and yet there are those seers, mystics and ones versed in the occult who dare not dismiss these tales as the babbling of Bedlam.

What better time than now for the Harvestmen to gorge on the suffering of a continent engulfed by the fiery furnace of Hades itself.  What has that Tyrant Bonaparte unleashed?  From this feast of torture and desolation the Harvestmen harness a diabolical power to bring forth the twisted nightmares of Old Europe’s myths, legends and lore.

There are those across the continent who see and understand and who will travel to the Dark Places to shield humanity from these demonic manifestations in order to preserve the sanity of all.

One such Dark Place is the confluence of empires - Austria, Russia and The Sultanate of The Ottomans - the Carpathain Mountains.  Heavily forested floor rising to awe-inspiring peaks with darkness and shadow penetrating every nook and cranny breeding a heavy atmosphere of suspicion, terror and unflinching violence.  The very landscape is wreathed in the fog of the supernatural and an impenetrable superstition, stalked by the folkloric nightmares of millennia.

It is here our story shall begin……

Karim Al-Ghamdi had been despatched from Constantinople with a small and dedicated force of veteran hunters to investigate the strange happenings on the edge of the mighty Sultanate.  They found themselves in the thick forest covering the foothills of the Monolithic Carpathians.  To their north, and completely unbeknownst to Al-Ghamdi and his followers, Captain Fyodor Raskolnikov and a small band were trekking the vast forest searching for a route to Castle Fier - the Czar demanded the Russian Bear vanquish whatever horror lurked within those ruins and claim the arcane treasures which was sure to await the victorious nation.  Neither empire had considered whether Austria might also stake a claim.

As both forces were struggling to find a true route through these damned forests a strange and, quite frankly, inhuman dirge could be heard emanating from within the forest, all around them and yet seemingly coming from nowhere.  As they stumbled forward disorientated by this directionless hubbub they became aware of a brightness ahead - it only seemed so bright because of the impenetrable canopy of the trees around them.  A clearing!

Both forces exercised caution, not because they were aware of each other, but rather the sight that greeted them.  A large circle free of trees - itself a strange and eerie phenomenon - and positioned in the centre a large stone altar with strange symbols carved around its base.  Around the altar there were figures, four….no five.  They were dressed in shapeless rags and it was impossible to tell whether they were Adam or Eve.  They were cavorting and dancing around this altar, guttural howls being literally flung from their mouths towards the heavens.  The Russians and Turks were no strangers to superstitious peasants and Sufis but this was of a different magnitude. It was Hassan Al-Masri, learned cleric with Al-Ghamdi,who recognised this for what it truly was……..a Demonic Summoning!

There were two rough hewn peasants on the edge of the clearing - probably lookouts; one right in front of the Russian line to the centre, the other midway in the clearing perimeter on the left of the Russians.  Both were brandishing fairly antiquated looking muskets,but muskets nevertheless and they’d probably been holding them since the cradle.

Both Turks and Russians formed a loose semi-circle as they approached the edge of the tree line.  Platon Karataev, a heavy-set surf from the \Urals, made straight for the bandit directly in his path however he had not spotted from across the clearing elements of the Turkish force taking up positions behind some boulders and trees.  Confusion reigned.  Muskets cracked - was it the bandits, the Turks or the Russians - but the upshot was that Karataev had been shot and was slumped on the ground.  No one knew if was dead.

The cultists ignored this and continued their ecstatic wailing but everyone else was a mixture of surprise, panic and adrenaline!

The second bandit was caught in a cross fire from Alexey Yegortych and one of the Turkish Janissary’s on the far side - was it Salim Selim?

The Russian leader, Fyodor Raskolnikov, incensed that Karataev had fallen, moved to his position and shot the bandit trying to shelter behind one of the mighty oaks. Again one of Johnny Turk may have wildly shot towards the bandit and had a lucky hit.  It was then another bandit emerged on the right of the Russians, the other side of the small river.  Luckily Pyotr Luzhin and Fyokla Karamazo were sheltering behind a small barn next to the river, cover from this bandit and a group of Turks hiding up ahead of them.

Raskolnikov moved to check the bandit was dead and form the very earth itself sprang a deformed, green humanoid.  He had no time to react and relied on instinct.  Raskolnikov managed to wield his knife and wound this abomination who, wary now, backed off, a short distance.

Luzhin now found himself pinned down by two bandits now and had been hit.  Karamazov managed to move off to try and support Raskolnikov, but not before being hit himself.  With the bandits occupied one of the ‘brave’ Turkish scouts moved forward, his eye caught by something hanging in one of the trees, a necklace to confer some power or something over unworldly threats.

Raskolnikov then loosed his second pistol at the abomination in front of him and with an unholy screech it breathed it’s last.

The perfidious Turks now emboldened, by the Russians taking on bandits and Goblins, started shooting at the hard-pressed Russians who now started taking casualties.  

THEN!......The wailing and cavorting stopped.  The cultists dispersed from the altar making for Turk and Russian alike.  A great fiery blood-red Demon ascended from the stone altar and sped towards the nearest prey……Karim Al-Ghamdi and his sapper, Mahmoud Al-Masri.  The demon was shepherded by a cultist, like the owner of some demented dog…..

The remaining cultists were cut down mostly by the Russians.  Sharpshooter Ivan Ilyich scrambled up a hill giving allowing a largely unimpeded view across the clearing and fired his rifle at the beast.  It was a true shot and yet the devil bore down on the Turks.  Al-Masri courageously charged the demon to save his leader.  It was a futile gesture and he was tossed aside.  Al-Ghamdi was now staring into the jaws of hell itself and then …..crack!  Ibrahim A-Masri, brother of the wounded sapper, who had been cowering in bushes behind the beast steadied his hand with his pistol and despatched the Elemental before he fell upon Al-Ghamdi.  Al-Masri must have used some sort of evil magic to fell the beast - these heathens are surely in league with Satan so it is strange one of Lucifer’s own should attack them……

Both sides pulled back in case more servants of The Black Prince should emerge.  Overall both sides felt relieved as it could have been so much worse.  

Miraculously neither side suffered fatalities.  Mahmoud Al-Masri made a swift and full recovery - the work of demonology no doubt.

Pyotr Luzhin sustained an injury to his leg, which while slowing him down initially, was assessed as only temporary.

Platon Karataev was less fortunate with shot lodged in his chest.  A hardy son of the land though he insisted on carrying on. 

They would all regroup, re-equip, tend their injuries then push on to The Iron Keep.

The Silver Bayonet - Castle Fier

Introduction

High amidst the rocks and trees of the Carpathian Mountains stand the ruins of Castle Fier, better known by its English name of ‘The Iron Keep’.  Once it was home to the rapacious warlord, Marcea Lupul, a man famous for hunting his enemies with a pack of enormous, blood-thirsty hounds.  Then, on ‘The Night of Flames’ a group of Crusaders attacked the castle.  The sounds of death and battle reverberated throughout the caverns and peaks of the mountainsides, and the light of fires flickered against the granite monoliths.  None returned from that fight, but the smoking ruins could be seen for leagues.  Since that night, people have shunned the ruins as a place cursed and haunted, while the castle’s spires cast their oppressive shadows over the nearby villages and forests.

Centuries later, something has awoken in the castle.  Horrors have been seen, moving at night, travelling towards the ruins.  An army gathers……

With a febrile political powder-keg in the surrounding country such a dangerous and volatile force cannot be tolerated.  The major powers have assembled and despatched their best agents to investigate the ruins, to neutralise any threats, and to acquire any and all treasures which could prove invaluable in the relentless fight against the Harvestmen.

 

Samurai: Jinmaku Tent

One of the options in Midguard is to station your supreme leader in a command tent. So rather than mixing it up in the front line they co-ordinate the battle in a more refined environment.

So armed with an STL I added a base and printed out a home from home for my commander. I made some slots in the base to hold the commander and his retainers. I have another printed off for the Shimazu force which will be painted up next.

Armada: Rat Fleet

Since completing the Marauders I've been working on a new Armada fleet, the Ratkin. These have an interesting mechanic which allows your rats to leave a sinking ship in tiny boats and attempt to attack/takeover another ship. This does mean however you need to paint up a fair few tiny ships, many more than you'd normally need.

Bog Trotting and Turbulent Monks

Our last practice game for Silver Bayonet this week before the start the campaign saw both sides wading through a swamp to recover some gold and avoid being killed by a black dog.

As mis-fortune would have it neither side had a weapon that could damage the dog but relied upon their holy men to enchant weapons. The Russian priest proved very poor at this and didn't manage to enchant anything until about half way through the game.

During that time the dog managed to much a few Russian bums and also kill the Ottoman Mullah who had managed to get two enchants off before his death.

In amongst the rampaging dog attacks the Ottomans had the better of the exchange of fire and killed five Russians for the loss of two Turks. They also uncovered two clues but neither side was able to drag the gold chest out of mud so it was somewhat of a draw in the end.

We also had our first look at Midgard Heroic Battles as Stu came over and we faced off for a walk through the rules. The rules themselves run pretty smoothly with the book being reasonably clear and when it wasn't the authors intention seemed obvious enough.

Shooting is mainly used to disrupt the enemies formation with maintaining a solid line with decent supports being rewarded. You don't really want to be rushing off by yourself in this game.

We didn't get to a conclusion but the Monks had the lead on reputation tokens when we stopped for lunch and I think we can move more quickly through the turns when we play next.