Deadnight Warriors:
Malefactors:
Well, after the shortness of the previous game, Desade and I agreed that we had time for a rematch. This time we were using the Treasure Hunt scenario, and there were three buildings which might have the treasure in. Desade got to move first and his troops quickly found out that the trasure had to be in the central of these three buildings, which was the ruins of a tavern whose sign suggested that it probably been called the (somethingorother) Dog.
Having watched their enemies' reconnaisance, the Deadnight Warriors had also worked out that the Dog was where they needed to be, and Valdimir with Mage and Pagan on his heels made a desperate run for the door. Both the two wolves could get into the building, but wolves can't search under the Mordheim rules - and Valdimir's move distance fell short by about half an inch and he was forced to pause under the very eaves of the Dog, not quite making it inside. The rest of the Deadnight Warriors ran, walked or shambled along behind, hurrying to catch up.
And, of course, Cerulus was close enough to get into the Dog from its other, ruined side on his next move. So not only did he get the treasure, being the first search-capable creature into the building, but he got to do yet more damage to my two long-suffering dire wolves. Close on Cerulus' heels came the rest of the Malefactors, and a beastman dodged around the corner of the tavern and attacked Valdimir. Skaros cast his infamously useless Word of Pain spell and, true to form, achieved nothing beyond injuring two of his cultist followers.
At this point the game dissolved into melee. Cerulus managed to finish off Pagan and continued his advance, while Arak tried to distract Valdimir's attacker so that Valdimir could tackle the Possessed. The scuffle south of the tavern briefly tipped in favour of the Deadnight Warriors as Malacan took out a cultist who strayed within thumping range of his staff, then swung the other way as the Malefactors' Darksoul hit Malacan back and knocked him senseless. Skaros stepped in behind Arak and downed him (these mages are a vicious lot!) The next round saw the Deadnight Warriors decidedly start losing as Valdimir, Arak and Malacan were all put out of action in swift succession.
This left me with Friedrich and - count 'em - five zombies, Mage having gone out at some point in the excitement when I wasn't paying attention. And this was where it all went suddenly unpredictable. First of all the surviving Deadnight Warriors passed their rout test, with only Friedrich's leadership to use. And then they started fighting back.
Sigmund, loyal beyond death to his master Arak, threw himself at Skaros; Friedrich smashed one of the surviving cultists to the ground; Ulf and Otto squared off against a beastman and a cultist respectively. Ulf, unsurprisingly, was scythed down; Sigmund found himself mobbed as the Darksoul and a spare beastman charged in to assist Skaros (three fighters on one zombie, you cowards!) and Friedrich was knocked down by the other beastman. Hans and Otto between them put paid to the third cultist of the game, occasioning cheers from their comrades, while Hermann attempted to help out with a beastman but sadly didn't manage to harm it before being put out of action. Sigmund was knocked down and then stabbed in the back, putting paid to him, and Skaros managed to defeat Friedrich. At this point Hans and Otto, the only Deadnight Warriors still standing, gave up and ran - not that this is surprising, zombie leadership being what it is. Game over.
We looked at each other and shook our heads. Desade had won, but I could almost go so far as to claim a moral victory on the strength of the incredible heroism shown by my faithful zombies. They're the walking (or rather staggering) dead, they only cost fifteen crowns to hire and nobody expects them to be anything but cannon fodder - and yet they had given as good an accounting of themselves as my heroes in that battle. With bated breath I made my post-game rolls, anxious for their welfare and that of my many other fallen.
Ulf, Friedrich, Valdimir and Pagan all recovered fine. Malacan went and hid somewhere and will have to be bribed back out at some point. Hermann and Sigmund, to my distress, both failed their recovery rolls and will need necromantic restoration. Mage lost a point of initiative - I have transferred Mage and Pagan to Hero slots and am counting Friedrich as a henchman, since this is more in keeping with the way my warband is themed and Desade agreed to it. And Arak... poor Arak... he rolled Multiple Injuries and wound up with not only a chest wound that permanently dented his toughness, but also a mental aberration which causes him to be subject to Frenzy! That is so not what one wants in a magic-user...
Oh well. Time for some new tactics I think!
This page © Kit Scorah, 2002.
Email me: kit_scorah@yahoo.com
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