Scenario
The scenario "The Attack Site" was directly copied from Frostgrave and I have previously used it for Empire of the Dead. On the board (4x4) are placed 10 markers, these represent victims of an attack by some kind of monster. When a model gets into base contact with a marker, the player rolls to see what he finds, this can either be:
- a dead victim, who has some treasure,
- victim, who has become a zombie
- a survivor
- a special artefact containing information about the location of a monster and its treasure.
Warbands
Frank once again played the Soldiers of the Eagle, but added an Auxilia to his warband. Having played the Dacians a few times now we have found them underpowered. The Strigoi and Falxmen were not worth their points when compared to similiar model. So we beefed them up a bit, all in the name of game balance. We rolled to see whether we would be playing during the day or at night - which makes a huge difference for the Strigoi - and unfortunately for me it ended up being day.
Soldiers of the Eagle
- Primus Pilum
+ Blessing of Mars
+ 2 Warhounds
- Praetorian
- Praetorian
- Legionary
- Numerus
- Numerus
- Amazon (Auxilia)
Dacians
Chieftain
+ Shield
+ 2 Warhounds
Strigoi
+ Familiar
Ghoul
Falxman
Falxman
Warrior
+ Light Armour
Warrior
+ Light Armour
Warrior
+ Standard Bearer
The Game
Thracia, early 2nd century
Rumours of a warband having been slain while looting an abandoned temple have reached the warbands. Apparently artefacts were found, but a monster surprised the warband. The warbands, eager to obtain the artefacts set out to find the temple and see what remains and if there are any artefacts to salvage.
The Dacians split there forces into three; The Chieftain with his Warhounds and the Ghoul. The two Falxmen. The Strigoi and the Warriors.
The Romans we split into two groups; The Primus Pilum, the Warhounds and the two Numerus. The two Praetorians, the Legionary and the Amazon.
The Dacians moved forward, but were vary of the Roman archers, and therefore took cover when possible. The plan was to of course get to the markers, but also to use the speed of the warhounds to get into melee with the Numerus, to prevent them from shooting.
The Romans on the other hand moved into good positions to try and cover the ground in front of them with their Numerus and the deadly Amazon.
The Dacians were very aggressive in their attempt to close down the Romans and survived the ranged attacks. Some of the markers were quickly checked out and turned out to be dead victims with artefacts. The Romans however also encountered a Zombie eraly on which kept the Primus Pilum and his Warhounds busy. One of the Numerus also got the hold of the Monster Notes marker.
Fighting started to erupt around the board as the Dacians threw themselves onto the Romans. On the Dacian right flank, the slow Strigoi and the Standard bearer Warrior provided good support with the Transfix and presence of the Draco standard. One Praetorian in particular had a difficult time not being affected by the presence of both. A Warhound, two Warriors and a Falxmen had gotten into melee and fierce fighting started, with the Roman armour again proving though to break through.
After the Primus Pilum had slain the Zombie he found himself on the receiving end of a challenge from the Dacian Chieftain, and a Clash of Champions began. Immediately before that the second Falxman, having split from his partner closed down on one of the Numerus, while the Ghoul took on the two Roman Warhounds.
The intensity was increased as the Falxman killed the Numerus, as he would be close to being available to help his Chieftain. The Warhound, again being able to hear its commanders orders tried to close in on the last Numerus. The fighting between the Ghoul and the Warhounds still did not provide a winner.
On the Dacian right flank, the Warriors and Falxman were slowly grinding down the Praetorian and the Legionary, but they still held out. The Strigoi, now closer got into melee with the Amazon and the other Praetorian.
Then fate smiled on the Soldiers of the Eagle. The Dacians thought the had slain the Primus Pilum, but fate gave him another chance. The Warhounds finally slew the Ghoul and the Numerus managed to get away from the Warhound. The Strigoi clawed fiercely at the Praetorian and Amazon, but could not bring the two down. The Roman line held and the Falxman and a Warrior were killed by the Gladius of the Praetorian and Legionary.
Feeling that this was not the day he would die, the Primus Pilum and his Warhounds combined to bring down the Chieftain, who fate abandoned when he most needed it. The Strigoi could also not gather enough dark fate to continue the fighting when the Praetorian's steel and the Amazon's attack brought an end to the Strigoi.
In a short time the Dacian Heroes had been eliminated and the few remaining Dacians fled.
Conclusion
This was a superb game! The upper hand in the game had belonged to the Dacians but switched to the Romans. Our house rules easily came into the game, and the fixing of the Dacians as a faction made it a much more close game. In the end the good dice rolling from Frank saved the Romans skin.
Victory Points wise it was a draw as the Dacians had gotten hold of four artefact markers, while the Romans had two plus the Monster Notes which counts as two.
When it came to XP the Romans had killed two Heroes and 5 Henchman, while the Dacians only managed to kill 1 Henchman. On the back of this Frank and I discussed the whole Campaign/XP aspect of the game, which we are not convinced work. In the games we have had, one side has always had a lot more casualties than the other. XP wise this means that for the next game the difference in XP is huge and the forces will be miles apart. As we both really want to play the game as a campaign this is something we will look into.
Pictures from our game:
