The 4 Corners Campaign - Batrep 3 - The Museum
- johnjsalango1
- Nov 30, 2025
- 24 min read
After the chaos of the Mausoleum I thought this would be a more sedate affair for the 4 warbands but spoiler alert it was the bloodiest game to date with lots of paid man casualties as well as a Wizard and an Apprentice going down. The Statue constructs were absolute killing machines laying waste to all and sundry with consistently high rolls. Fortunately for the warbands there were no creature encounters rolled as they may have finished off some of the warbands! Why this carnage occurred I am not sure as it seemed wildly unnecessary in comparison to the actual treasures in play, though the introduction of the critical hit on a 20 may have been partly responsible, as well as the 8 turns it took to play out.
I have realised that I have not explained that for clarity (ironically) when a character has treasure I remove the treasure token to their side of the board and pop an orange token on their base.
Deployment was as in the picture above with the Occidental crew coming in from the North, the Oriental band from the South, Northlands from the west and Southlands from the east,
Turn one set up - north at top
Wizard phase
Rather unsportingly the Northlands Wizard took the opportunity to Elemental ball the western group of the Oriental warband seeing that he might damage four in one strike. This seemed a bit harsh turn one and would cause hard feelings throughout the game! Fortunately for the Orient crew only the Thug took any serious damage the rest taking none or one point only
Lamballe the Occidental Wizard decided early on that she was going to lead from the back this game and popped out a Wizard's Eye spell on a tall building overlooking everything she might care about seeing.
Miko moved forward and did the entirely predictable Summoning a demon and empowering it 6 whole points to ensure it was a Major Demon. This is becoming her signature move.
Lastly the Southlands Wizard who has not yet performed well enough for me to remembrer his name started with his signature move - a fail!!
Apprentice phase
The Northlands Apprentice also made no friends in the Northern sector by immediately moving and targetting the Occidental Crossbawman with an Elemental Ball inflicting 9 damage before the Crossbowman had even enjoyed the view! Obviously the Northlands were not here to play.
To get the Crossbowman to safety out of line of sight the Occidental Apprentice tried a Transpose but this failed leaving the Crossbowman in peril. The Oriental Apprentice Yuki did not fail however and pulled an Imp out of nowhere with a successful summon though at a small cost of two health empowering success. Then he moved around to support the central effort.
Finally as has become traditional the Southlands Apprentice, like his master, failed....
Soldier phase
Northlands
In an aggressive start Archer B moved and shot at the Crossbowman to finish him off but missed, while Archer A moved across the difficult ground to take up a position overlooking the centre. Elsewhere the Ranger who had been hopeless at shooting in the last outing started where he left off by missing the Oriental Thug he targetted. Frankly he would be better cutting out the middleman and just throwing his arrows away randomly. The rest of the band just moved up to get in position either blocking or grabbing turn two.
Occidental
Crossbowman decided to just get out of dodge and move after taking a shot which missed at the Northlands Apprentice. The Tracker moved and also missed his shot at the same target. Everyone else double moved. The Apothecary took up position by the Wizard as insurance.
Oriental
Tracker moved and shot hopefully towards the Northlands Archer A (magic bow guy) and rolled the first crit of the game killing Archer A instantly.
In Demon news the Imp ran forward and contacted the Northlands Thug while the Major Demon lumbered forward into contact with the south western treasure but lacked the movement to pick it up. The thieves both ran headlong towards the entrance to the museum (the gap in the wall) whilst everyone else moved up trying to stay more than inch away from the next mini - or out of range - to avoid Elemental Ball! Only the second thug (with his hat on his back) ignored this and ran up to join the Imp in combat with the Northern Thug
Southlands
Following the lead shown by their mages the Archer and Tracker both moved and failed with their shooting. Thief A did manage to get into contact with a treasure while Thief B also entered the Museum. Everyone else just moved up to protect/contest any treasures. This was so uninspiring no photos were taken.
Creature phase - none as no treasures were gained
End Turn 1 / Start Turn 2
Turn 2
Wizard phase
The Wizard phase started with an error as the Occidental Wizard Lamballe Blinked one of the thieves 4" next to a treasure. As I realised soon after Blink is a random direction Blink and not a controlled move. Why I had forgotten this I dont know as I had used it twice in the previous game correctly. As we will see it did not really affect the game at all.
Miko then moved up and attempted an Elemental Bolt but failed and having spent quite a bit empowering the Demon did not fancy taking another health hit so early in the game. Failing another Bone Dart the Southlands Wizard was roundly jeered by all. Crying is not an option for a Necromancer but inside he had a little weep.
Finally the Northlands Wizard decided to have a try at Control Demon on the Oriental Imp. The Major Demon would have required a very high number so was ignored. He successfully took control and this would be a major factor in the game. He then moved fractionally to gain cover against the Oriental Tracker who shot at him last turn.
Apprentice phase
Auclair concerned by the missile threat from the Northland Apprentice and Bow chose to lay Fog just far enough away that it would require the Northlands guys to move a good distance to get through it negating any threat this turn.
Realising Miko's lack of health Yuki simply cast a Heal to bring her back up to a useful number.
The Southlands Apprentice having now warmed up a bit cast a Bone Dart at the mis-blinked thief and killed him rolling a critical 20! This was bad news for the thief but good news for the game integrity, which was probably little comfort to the thief.
Finally with the Fog having stymied his plans the Northen Apprentice moved and went for a long shot Control Demon on the Major Demon. He succeeded in casting but the +5 Will of the Demon stopped him taking control.
Soldier phase
Occidental
Clearly somewhat offput by being nearly dead the Crossbowman reloaded and shot his bolt at the Southlands Thief near the NE treasure but rolled a 1. This was matched by the defence dice of 1 rolled at the same time! The surviving Thief moved and picked up the NW treasure which did not create a random creature but did unfortunately activate the NW statue at hand. The Thug moved up to body block the Northlands from interfering. In retrospect he could have attacked the statue with the outnumbering bonus to try and free up the thief but now the Occidentals are relying on Blink and hope there. The Tracker moved and interacted with the central treasure activating the SE Statue but no creature. In the eastern area the Thug moved into contact with the Southlands Thug and was then joined by the Infantryman who killed the Thug.
Oriental
The Major Demon successfully picked up the treasure in the SW corner activating the NE statue but again failing to create a random creature. In fact no random creatures would appear in the game which was odd. He then moved off a bit faster than he should as I forgot he was carrying treasure but frankly nobody is stopping him. In an attempt to blow through and grab the SE treasure the Thief ran into combat with the Southlands Thief and unfortunately took 5 damage. Several other members of the Warband also crowded in stop the Southlands Thief getting away with the treasure including the Knight who contacted the treasure but could not Interact.
On the western side of the battle the Oriental Thug who entered the fight alongside the Imp now found himself pinned in combat with the Northlands Thug and about to be attacked by his erstwhile Impy ally. The Tracker who had killed the Archer turn one fired and missed in what was to be the first of many wasted arrows before the next hit. The Infantryman and Samurai Man at arms both attacked the Northlands Thug who was in a blocking position but came off worse doing only 3 damage while the Thug did 4 back on the Infantryman.
Southlands
As can be seen above the Southlands battle devolved into two actions, the first at the bottom of the picture shows one thief interacting with the NE treasure (and activating the SW construct) while the second moved into contact with the activated NE construct to hopefully allow the first thief to escape with the treasure. The Tracker and the Archer (in the shadow)of the tree both shot at an approaching Occidentals, missed, and stayed to body block an exit for the Thief.
In the Top (southern) section the rest of the band faced off against the Orientals. There was some pushing and shoving but no real damage and neither side gained an advantage or claimed the treasure.
Northlands
The Northlands Thug supported by the new allied Imp attacked the Oriental Thug and drove him back without damage but sufficient to allow the Imp to race around and join the melee against the Samurai doing 6 damage. The Thug pushed back the Infantryman but without damage.
In the centre west section the Ranger missed again but Archer B hit the Occidental Thug providing blocking to the treasure carrying Thief. Keen to finish him off, the Thief with the stick moved in to fight but was driven back with damage. Elsewhere the second Thief ran through the Fog to block the Tracker and the Thief's easy exit
The Creature phase
With 4 of the construct activated this was a busy phase.. Randomly rolled the SE construct had to attack the Oriental knight and took a hefty 5 points of damage.
The Sw construct moved into contact with the wounded Samurai, rolled a 20 and did 18 points of damage killing the Samurai outright!
To cut a short story even shorter in the NW and NE corners the Constructs also killed the Occidental Thief and the Southlands Thieves respectively both on rolls of 19.
End Turn 2 / Start Turn 3
Turn 3
Wizard phase
To try and stop the Occidental Tracker getting Transposed away with the treasure the Northlands Wizard Elemental balled him but only did 5 damage leaving him scarred but standing. Miko decided to help out the 3 way Orient/Construct/Southlands melee with an Elemental bolt against the Construct but rolled a 1 which was sad. As expected Lamballe successfully transposed the Tracker with the hapless nearly dead Crossbowman but needed to empower a massive 8 points! Finally the Southlands Wizard finally got a spell off using Telekinesis to move the SE treasure out of the melee to by his feet. This was to begin a massive round of telekinesis spells as mages could now see the actual treasures.
Apprentice phase
Northen apprentice successfully Telekinesis NW treasure into the base of Archer B. The Oriental Apprentice Yuki summoned another Imp Yokai to replace the one now controlled by the Northlands. To try and strip the NE treasure from the Southlands Thief Auclair attempted Fools Gold which went off but was successfully resisted by the Thief who kept the treasure. Lastly the Southlands Apprentice Shaky Sticky tried to Bone Dart the NE Construct to help the Thief but failed.
Soldier phase
Northlands
Archer B knew his job, grabbed the treasure and using the undissipated Fog headed off board with Casual Thief blocking passage past him. At this point the Northlands Wizard looking at the board could see no new treasure to compete for and ordered a general retirement and at this point that seemed sensible as the Constructs were running Amok and there were no treasures anywhere near.
Oriental
Attempting to kill the Construct the Knight attacked but this time took 3 damageand was held in place by the Construct. With equally bad judgement the Thug rushed the Southlands Treasure Hunter in an effort to create a corridor to the Treasures. This failed badly as he was just killed on a critical 20. Forced to take the long way around the Imp move/moved into the Southlands treasure carrying Thief. The Major Demon reached the table edge just out of shot but did not exit. The Tracker shot wildly again and the westernmost Thug managed to extricate himself from the Traitor Imp.
Occidental
With nothing better to do the now trapped Crossbowman reloaded and shot at the Oriental Thief who was pinning the Southlands Thief for literally no good reason. He did 4 damage. More importantly the Tracker exited with the treasure so they were not going home empty handed. The Infantryman moved up and killed the Southlands Archer threatening the exit of any treasures. The Thug moved up in support with a view to grabbing the treasure if possible. The Thug hung out to dry on the western side attempted to flee and was attacked by both the construct and the Northern Thief but evaded both before attacking the Oriental Thief to no effect but moved himself out of combat.. The Apothecary moved up by the Apprentice just in case.
Southlands
A disappointing turn as the Infantryman moved into contact with the Treasure by the Wizard and failed to make his interact roll of 8! Poor. The Treasure hunter charged the Imp in an effort to free up the Thief with the treasure and was badly beated taking 7 damage and being pushed back. Similarly the Thug attacked the Oriental Thief and took similar damage. The tracker also failed his shot at the Occidental Thug closing in. This left the treasure carrying Thief with no good options so he did nothing and hoped for the best in the creature phase...
Creature phase
These hopes were soon unrealised as the Construct rolled high again and killed a second Southlands Thief leaving the Treasure unclaimed. In the SE the Construct again battered the Knight to within an inch of his life. In the Sw the Construct hit the Northlands Thug who was happy to take 3 damage rather than being killed. Finally in the NW the construct went for the Northern Apprentice and was driven off with one damage.
End of Turn 3 / Start of Turn 4 (pic actually taken after Apprentice phase as forgot!)
Wizard and Apprentice phase
With Treasure suddenly on the floor unclaimed, Miko moved dangerously close to the action and attampted to Telekinesis a treaure but Failed. Using Wizard's Eye Lamballe succeeded.but the triumph was short lived as 4 Telekinesis later the Treasures all ended up (with one exception) almost back where they started. One by the Southlands Wizard and the other incomprehensibly next to the Northern man at arms on the western side of the battlefield! In this Telekinesis ping pong only the Northern Wizard and Occidental Apprentice failed leaving the unclaimed treasures as in the picture above!
The net result of all this Telekinesis Shenanigans was that The Northlands reversed their decision to exit and were energised to get a second treasure. The Occidental and Oriental warbands also felt it was worth having a serious attempt. Only the Southlands who were not after two treasures - They just wanted to escape with one and dignity intact!
Soldier phase
Oriental
Miko is seriously reconsidering the position. The Oriental crew were about to retreat but now there is still a chance of a second treasure if things go well. To hedge their bets the major Demon dropped the treasure at the edge of the board and marched back towards the action. The Infantryman moved backwards and picked it up to guarantee one treasure. The Tracker shot and missed at the Northlands Man at arms next to the treasure but again missed. In an attempt to draw the Man at arms away the Oriental Thug moved up to within an inch but the Man at arms held his ground but now he was pinned.
On the eastern side of operations, a push through to the unclaimed treasure back at the feet of the Southlands Wizard had to get past the Southlands Treasure Hunter. In order to do so a Thief went into combat and was pushed back with 8 damage. A second Thief tried and pushed the Treasure Hunter out of the way inflicting 2 damage. This cleared the way for the Imp who attacked the Southlands Infantryman Masai. The Southlands Apprentice could have forced combat on the Imp but wisely let the Masai deal with it. Masai promptly rolled 20 and the Imp died along with any hopes of taking this treasure the Orientals had.
Time to go home?
Almost as an aside the seriously wounded Knight did not attack in combat as at least he might hold up the Construct in the creature phase from causing more serious damage on the mages if he did not die now.
Occidental
Also feeling the Southlands band was in trouble the Crossbowman reloaded and shot for 2 damage at the Southlands Infantryman. The move to cut off the retreat then stalled a bit as the Occidental Infantryman was pushed back with damage after attacking the Tracker and the follow up by the Occidental also failed to kill the Tracker. The threat was still high though as they were only inches from the treasure.
In the other area the Tracker exited with the treasure and the Thug moved to protect the Apprentice.
Northlands
The Archer exited with the treasure so now it was about trying to get the second one, lying conveniently at the feet of the Man at arms, off the table. As preparation the Thief who had been blocking the way to Archer B moved back through the smoke to threaten the Occidental mages. The Ranger hit the SW Construct with a 20 killing it. Clearly the arrow wedged in some vital gears. 10 XP to Northlands.
As can be seen in the picture above the co-opted Imp was ran near the NW Construct to become it's target in the Creature phase. The two Thugs took action to form a southern cordon, one attacked the Oriental Thug doing 6 damage and pushing him back , the other taking up position to stop any run through against the Man at arms. Lastly the Thief with the club moved up to 'force combat block' the Man at arms against any attack from the east or north. With the cage in place the man at arms interacted with the treasure rolling a 16 to successfully interact and finally activate the central construct. He then moved adjacent to the Apprentice so that in case he died the Apprentice would be able to pick it up and move.
Southlands
The Southlands Infantryman picked up the treasure and moved back through the doorway in the ruined wall. The Southlands remaining guys are going to also form a cage, though a smaller one with only 3 active soldiers left to create it. Only the Thug was involved in action doing 8 damage on the Occidental Infantryman and pushing him back so the Apprentice could act next turn.
Creature phase
A less killy but still killy phase this time with only two deaths as the SE Construct finished off the Knight and followed up into Yuki the Oriental Apprentice'
That was the only real drama however as the central construct was actually driven off by the almost dead Crossbowman, the NW construct got entangled in what was going to be an endless scrap with the traitor Imp, and lastly the NE Construct put a few more damage on the isolated oriental Thief killing him but as he only had a couple left this was expected.
And lastly the Fog dissipated!!
End Turn 4 / Start Turn 5
Commentary - The Orientals have decided its actually just time to leave before they lose anyone else. The Southlands are focussed on getting one treasure token away - just one for goodness sake. The Occidental effort has come to a halt with all their crew except the Apothecary dangerously low on health. Only the Northlands now seem committed to fighting so as to get the second treasure away.
Turn 5
Northlands Wizard returning to the fray launched an Elemental Squib at the Central construct fearing it would head towards the Man at arms group once the Crossbowman ran or was killed. It failed. More successfully the Southlands Wizard Bone Darted the incoming Occidental thug and killed him easily. Using Wizard's Eye Lamballe cast Fool's Gold on the Northern Man at arms with the treasure and successfully removed the treasure towards the Occidental lines. This greatly pleased Lamballe but was instantly disappointed as Miko successfully telekinesised it back towards the Orientals
But wait!!
In the Apprentice phase the Northern Apprentice telekinesis it back before finally the Occidental Apprentice moved it back towards their lines again! Both has had to empower significantly and the Northern Apprentice was so low on health he immediately headed for the edge. The Southlands Apprentice also had to empower to force through a Bone Dart high enough to kill the Occidental Infantryman. Sadly the Oriental Apprentice could not add to the fun and games as he was about to get battered by the SW Construct!
Soldier phase
To be honest the Northlands were now pretty cross as their carefully constructed cage was now broken. To get teh treasure manoeuvers were now needed. The Ranger shot at the Occidental Thug but disappointingly missed. Casual Thief moved to pin the Occidental Thug who chose not to fight. Meanwhile Stick Thief did the same to Crossbowman. With these engaged Man at arms ran through and picked up the treasure again! Huzzah! The Northlands Thugs maintained the cage against the Orientals just in case.
Southlands
Easy to describe. With the Occidental and Oriental threats gone they continued their cage tactics and headed for the edge. They had no compulsion to risk anything at this point and apart from a random miss by the Tracker were just keeping themselves to themselves.
Occidental
None of the pinned Occidentals had any desire for fisticuffs which could get them killed so only the Apothecary moved up nearer the Apprentice. The state of play was that they only had 3 non warband members left. The pinned guys were hoping to be Blinked to safety but tbh they were essentially dead man walking.
Oriental
To save Yuki from a drubbing by the Construct in the upcoming creatures phase the Major Demon joined combat against the Construct dice were rolled and both ended up on 21. I had to check what happened in a draw and turns out it was both took damage. This was enough to kill the Construct and leave the Demon on 2 health. Dramas! Also 10 XP to the Oriental warband so bonus.
Less dramatically the Infantryman finally exited with their treasure and the Tracker once again missed her shot. The remaining Thief moved and offered combat to the Northern Thug by trying to pass and actually killed the Thug which was unexpected. Lastly The last Thug moved up and moved to within an inch of Casual Thief.
Creature phase
The NW Construct remained in contact combat with the Imp and without giving away too much this remained the case to the end of the game. More dramatically the Crossbow guy with one life left fought off both remaining constructs and did 7 damage on the NE Construct. He deserves a medal...if he lives.
Turn 6 - turning into a long game!
Wizard phase
Southlands Wizard with nothing better to do Bone Darted the Construct crippled by the hero Crossbowman and killed it for no reason other than the 10 extra XP. The Northlands Wizard attempted an Elemental ball against the Oriental Thug now blocking the treasure's retreat but fails. Similarly Miko aimed an Elemental Bolt at someone but missed. Finally and of no surprise to anybody Lamballe again trys Fool's Gold on the Man at arms but this time fails and as she is on very few health cannot empower safely.
Apprentice phase
with nothing better to do the Southlands Apprentice popped off a quick Heal on his master just for the XP. The Northlands Apprentice attempted to Elemental Ball the same Oriental Thug targetted by his master Turi but failed and continued edgewards. Yuki sensed a lack of Demons and summoned an Imp which he placed in front of him ready for the Soldier phase. Finally Auclair cast Fool's Gold more in hope than expectation and rolled a 20. The Gold pinged away from the Northlands Man at arms again who was now feeling super dumb!
Soldier phase
Southlands - Treasure exits and the rest just chilled at the board edge drifting slightly Northwards on the off chance an unaccompanied treasure might drift into view. Essentially now just there to cast random spells for XP until the unpleasantness finishes.
Northlands
Stick thief tried to finish off Crossbow guy to free himself up as the pinner has now become the pinned. The Crossbow hero rolled a 20 and kills him! double medals! The Ranger shot another dud...seriously considering his role in the warband! The remaining Thug charged the Oriental Thug and took 6 damage in the face for his troubles. The dumbass man at arms can't chase the treasure without freeing himself from the heroic crossbowman forcing combat. Tragically he has to to stop the Man at arms by forcing combat and is killed! However he has done his job and Man at arms cannot chase the treasure. Lets hope he survives the campaign roll to get those medals! Seeing the way the wind was blowing the casual Thief maintained his pacifist stance against the Occidental Thug.
Oriental
Demons first. The new Imp charged the Northlands Man at arms (avoiding the Construct) and took 5 damage and a pushback which was not the plan. Hoping for another 10 XP the Major Demon in a last Hurrah attacked the Construct and was peremptorily killed. The disposable Thug and Thief continued their chase after the treasure as far as possible. This was not in the plan but as they were disposable was worth a shout.
As can be seen below they were closing in!
Occidental
There was one soldier available to move - the Apothecary. He moved up and claimed the Treasure but if the Occidental warband did not get initiative before the Orientals his survival chances were minimal. The Thug continued hobnobbing with the Northlands Thief in the hope of surviving the battle.
Creature phase
passing over the NW Construct/Imp fight the Central Construct turned against the new Imp and killed it. These constructs were they an actual warband would be killer.
End Turn 6 /Start of Turn 7
Essentially this was now about the Occidental Apothecary and the chasing Oriental hounds
Wizard phase
Again for no reason other than the XP the Southlands Wizard shot a Bone Dart at literally the only target in range/sight - Auclair the Occidental Apprentice - and killed him. This was a massive blow to Occidental hopes and would cause a grudge in future games.
With options and crew reduced to virtually zero Lamballe cast Blink on the Apothecary as there was no other good options. It was either going to work and move him somewhere decent (about a 40% chance) or he would be caught anyway. Blind Luck prevailed and he Blinked Northwards across the wall! This sort of made up for losing the Apprentice but did not yet guarantee success.
The Northlands Wizard could not draw line of sight / get range on the Apothecary and instead Elemental Balled the central Construct before it attacked Dumbass Man at arms. It died for 10XP to Northlands. Miko similarlly was out of range even if she moved up into danger and contented herself with an Elemental Bolt at the Man at arms but missed anyway.
Apprentice phase
In the Apprentice phase the Southlands Apprentice cast Steal Health for lols against the Northern Thug he could affect. Auclair was dead so did very little. The Northlands Apprentice limped off the board to safety. That left Yuki. After moving he was just, literally by fractions, in range of the Apothecary so cast an Elemental Bolt. It was a success, just! However the Apothecary rolled 19 defence and even with mad empowerment damage would have been insufficent to kill, two so he chose not to risk himself.
Soldier phase
This was all about the chase apart from one anomolous event whereby the Oriental Tracker who had missed every shot since the first had a pop at the retreating Northlands Wizard and killed him! The first Wizard casualty out of nowhere at the end of the 3rd game. Another grudge was born!
Elsewhere the Apothecary bumbled off towards the edge body blocked by Lamballe herself who was berating the sole other survivor, the Thug for not freeing himself earlier instead of just chatting with Casual Thief. The Hounds closed in but needed one more turn to reach the Apothecary. It would all come down to the initiative dice roll of Turn 8!
Turn 8
No need for any overhead shot of the battlefield as everything else was irrelevant. Only this section mattered.
Dice were rolled.
I use a different coloured die for each side, here only the white Occidental die and yellow Oriental die were rolled. I have just realised that might seem racist but it was just random, never thought about it until now. For clarity Northlands did is icy blue and Southlands is black for Necromantic.
Anyway dice were rolled....
Occidental won the Initiative!
Lamballe popped down a quick Fog to foil any chance of a last Elemental Bolt from Yuki and moved off the board.
Yuki who was now potentially in range of Southlands Bone Darts did likewise to cover himself and that was the game. In the Soldier phase the Apothecary moved off and the Hounds were left frustrated.
Commentary
That was a long game and there were numerous turning points. I felt that every warband except the Southlands had a chance at the final treasure. It was only the lucky Blink in the right direction and winning the final initiative that got the win for the Occidental crew. Even that is a Pyhrric win as they lost the Apprentice, Infantryman, the heroic Crossbowman and all but one of the unpaid soldiers.
The Orientals were in it until the very end and probably deserved the win more. They were unlucky to lose the major Demon and the new Imp to the murderous Constructs and would have won otherwise.
Northlands were in it, then they werent, then they were again. Frustrating and losing their Wizard quite randomly was annoying.
Southlands were never in it to be honest and once again scraped a single treasure. Their slow starts are costing them and now they have a blood grudge against them from the Occidentals.
Lastly, Constructs. They were deadly and apart from one phase rolled 17s and above consistently killing everything in reach. I very much underestimated them and even had they rolled more to the average they would have been dangerous.
Onwards to the aftermath
Post game - The Aftermath
The Occidental Warband
The winners of the melee that was this scenario were the Occidental crew who somehow managed to get two treasures off the table which was only one less than the number of miniatures they ended the game with. It was also only one less than the Health points Lamballe herself exited on! As well as losing both thieves and a thug they also lost a Crossbowman, an Infantryman and the Apprentice. The Tracker was relieved he exited early or he would also probably have ended up dead However they did rack up a lot of successful spells and hopefully the lost minis would return, after all they would be unlucky to lose any of the three worth rolling for....
Sadly for the Occidentals while Auclair the Apprentice survived unscathed both the heroic Crossbowman and the mediocre Infantryman did not. Either they have to shell out for replacements using up most of the treasure they found or play next game with a warband of Thugs and Thieves.
The treasure rolls were decent - after a reroll on the central treasure - netting 245gc (once the magic weapon they rolled up was sold). They also gained a Grimoire with the Slow spell. In their search of the Library home base they also uncovered a scroll of Combat Awareness which was given to the Apprentice. Attempts to Write Scrolls both failed however.
Once added to the 44 XP they had banked the 260 XP from this game allowed for three Wizardy upgrades with 4 XP left over. Lamballe decided to learn Slow because why not? She also improved the useful Transpose spell and bumped up her Will as defence against mainly the Northlands Elemental Ball spell and the Southlands Bone Dart. Overall this was a win but not a win they can keep repeating.
The Oriental Warband
At one point around Turn 5 it looked great for Miko and the Oriental Warband but then it all just came down to one die roll for initiative - they lost and the last treasure slipped from their grasp. However they did get one treasure away and like the Occidentals racked up plenty of spellcasting XP(120) and 20 creature kill XP so not too shabby. This allowed them to make a two level jump with 25 left over.
They did lose the Samurai Man at arms and the Knight but both bounced back unharmed which was useful and the treasure roll gave them a magical dagger which was immediately sold for 200gc to take them closer to the 500 needed for a grimoire of choice (currently 430gc). Having failed Reveal Secret rolls before the game they did not get to reroll the treasure but 200 gc is not to be sniffed at.
In upgrades Miko improved Summon Demon which is proving really useful. Casting now on a 9 the chance of getting a Major Demon every time with some Empowerment is much improved. She also bumped up her Health to make this empowerment less risky.
The Southlands Warband
Every game seems to start slowly for the Southlands as the Mages warm up with a series of failures. However they did run hot later and banged out 130 points of spellcasting XP which along with a 10 XP creature kill, a treasure and the usual 40 taking part bonus racked up a respectable 220XP to add to the 10 XP in the bank. Unlike the previous warbands the Southlands only lost one paid man - the Archer - and he returned with no problems. In the treasure phase they rolled a 19 which was good giving them 100gc and a grimoire with the spell Strike Dead which is cool for a Necromantic warband but it's casting level of 18 means it will stay unlearned for a while, Total gc is now 262 which will allow for a new soldier type or can be stored towards a grimoire spell.
The two levels of upgrade were spent improving Will to +5, as everyone has become wary of the Northlands Elemental Ball and improving Summon Demon, after seeing how useful it has been in the previous game and in it's use by the Oriental warband.
The Northlands Warband
A disappointing game all around. Even before the loss of the Wizard to only the second shot the Oriental tracker hit with all game, the Apprentice had been forced to exit for health reasons. This meant a low spellcasting total of only 115. The killing of a creature and the fortuitous escape with one treasure made it respectable but still below par. However with 84 XP in the bank they still nearly made a three level jump falling just 11 XP short. 15 extra spellcat XP would have given them that third level but two is what they got.
The treasure was also disappointing being 40gc and two scrolls. The scrolls were Steal Health and Summon Demon so on balance were worth keeping so essentially they were up by only 40gc to 310gc total. In recompense for this mediocre showing they did well on the return to health rolls with Turi the Wizard rolling a 20 and the Archer with the +1 bow also returning unscathed.
Game 4 to follow shortly! - The Worm Hunt
Comments