Saturday, May 19, 2012

The Battle of Loudons Farm - Summer, Year 1

The undead having won the last battle, they advance north up the valley and attempt to conquer the elvish Loudons farm.
Skirmishing archers, the elvish right flank.
The summoned skeletons from last game, zombies and
Yohan the necromancer in the background.
As usual, the elvish archers started things off by shooting and killed 2 zombies. Lomsec the elven mage cast Zone of Steadfastness, which gives all allies within a 6" radius x3 attacks and +1 save. However, he cannot move or cast another spell without dispelling his zone. Yohan cast Hand of Death, powering up his melee abilities. The archers all missed on their next turn. Yohan cast four fireballs at the elvish spearmen, killing 5 and forcing the entire unit to flee in panic. Things were not looking good for the elves. The archers got their act together and killed 3 skeletons. Telor flew his loyal Hippogriff to land just inside Lomsecs Zone of Steadfastness. Yohan then made what was the most pivotal move in the game: He and his zombies charged Telor. Telor challenged Yohan to a duel, which was accepted. Telor, being in Lomsecs magical zone, had 3 times the normal attacks, as did his hippogriff. In one turn he caused 4 wounds on Yohan, removing him from the game. This left the undead army leaderless, subject to stupidity and without their only powerful figure. It was over. Telor harried the zombies off the table, while the archers, also in the Zone of Steadfastness, made short work of the skeletons who didn't manage to cause a single wound.

The Aftermath: The elves lost 2 spear elves. The undead lost 6 skeletons and 15 zombies. Since Yohan lost all his wounds in the battle, he had to roll on the hero causalty table. A simple d100 roll would reveal a result that could range from a mild concussion to out right death. It turns out that Yohan lost his left arm. Not a big deal for a necromancer (a right-handed necromancer) but the worst part was that Yohan would not be able to fight for the rest of the season. The elves moved south, reconquering the Bridge of Destiny, and then in the Autumn they took the undeads Cursed Farm in the south of the valley, virutally unopposed. Then winter came, Yohan eventually recovered from his limb loss, and each army had a season to buy new troops, ready for spring and the new campaigning season.