I'm hoping to play out the fourth and final battle from the Bloodbath at Orc's Drift narrative campaign this summer, before moving on to Terror of the Lichemaster. This is the finale, with all three of the orc tribes led by King Fyar himself converging on Orc's Drift. I'm hoping to be able to stage this with six players around the table, if at all possible.
To determine when the respective tribes arrive at Orc's Drift, how many troops they have, and how many more orcs I need, I just want to review the action from the three preliminary encounters.
The Battle of Kachas Pass
This was a convincing victory for the orcs, who wiped out an elf garrison in fairly short order, with the aid of the giant Guthrum Mane. The elves made a number of tactical errors, including sending half the garrison out of the stockade on a sortie, where they were cut down willy nilly, and dispatching their commander Erdolas Thringal in pursuit of the escaping half orc spy. One elf managed to flee the scene - all the others were slain, although the spy was killed too. The orcs lost seven KIA. Kelvin and Ben commanded the orcs between them, with Sebastian playing the elves.
Points: 14 Elves KIA (+14), Erdolas KIA (+2), Silas Meel KIA (+3), stockade destroyed (+20), Orcs slain, 27% (-3) = 36pts.
Vile Rune at Orc's Drift: Fangor Gripe (leader), Guthrum Mane (giant), 29 orcs. Break point: 15 (Lord of the Rings).
The Battle of Ashak Rise
In this encounter some dwarf deserters, prospecting for gold, ended up on the receiving end of the Severed Hand orcs. We played this scenario three times, with the intention of averaging out the results. The orcs were accompanied for this battle by a pack of 10 dire wolves.
The first battle saw Kelvin as the orcs playing against Ric. It ended up as a disaster for the orcs, as they were routed and their leader slain. In the second, I played the dwarves and Ben took the orcs. I toned down the two dwarf leaders for this battle, and they were wiped out. The orcs got the gold, but their leader Hagar Sheol was again killed and they lost five warriors and seven wolves. In the final battle, Sebastian took the orcs and I again played dwarves. One dwarf escaped with two bags of gold, two orcs were killed and five wolves.
Points:
Game 1 - 10 Dwarves KIA (+10), Orcs routed (-10), Orc commander slain (-2) = -2 points.
Game 2 - 12 Dwarves KIA (+12), Dwarf leader KIA (+3), all gold recovered (+20), Orc commander slain (-2), 30% casualties, wolves and orcs (-3) = 30 points.
Game 3 - 11 Dwarves KIA (+11), Dwarf leader KIA (+3), x4 bags of gold recovered (+16), 20% casualties, orcs and wolves (-2) = 28 points.
Total = 56/3 = 19 points.
Severed Hand at Orc's Drift: Grashak Kra (hobgoblin 2 i/c), three dire wolves, 18 orcs. Break point: 11.
The Battle of Linden Way
Linden Way saw some men defending a small village to give its inhabitants time to flee as the Kwae Karr orcs, led by Kelvin and Manoj, assaulted the settlement. I gave the Kwae Karr King Fyar's personal bodyguard of five armoured uruk hai to support them. The defenders, under Ben's command, were wiped out, although four villagers escaped. The Kwae Karr lost four warriors and one uruk hai was slain.
Points: 25 militia KIA (+25), Captain of militia KIA (+2), five settlers slain (+2.5), 10% orc casualties (-1), mad witch KIA (+2) = 30 points.
Severed Hand at Orc's Drift: Magyar Ironfist (leader), Bagrash (goblin shaman), 36 orcs, four armoured uruk hai (I might let the orc players decide between themselves who gets Fyar and the uruk hai). Break point: 18.
Total orcs required: 83 (not including uruk hai or officers). Break points will be changed somewhat if uruk hai are added to a tribe.
To determine when the respective tribes arrive at Orc's Drift, how many troops they have, and how many more orcs I need, I just want to review the action from the three preliminary encounters.
The Battle of Kachas Pass
This was a convincing victory for the orcs, who wiped out an elf garrison in fairly short order, with the aid of the giant Guthrum Mane. The elves made a number of tactical errors, including sending half the garrison out of the stockade on a sortie, where they were cut down willy nilly, and dispatching their commander Erdolas Thringal in pursuit of the escaping half orc spy. One elf managed to flee the scene - all the others were slain, although the spy was killed too. The orcs lost seven KIA. Kelvin and Ben commanded the orcs between them, with Sebastian playing the elves.
Points: 14 Elves KIA (+14), Erdolas KIA (+2), Silas Meel KIA (+3), stockade destroyed (+20), Orcs slain, 27% (-3) = 36pts.
Vile Rune at Orc's Drift: Fangor Gripe (leader), Guthrum Mane (giant), 29 orcs. Break point: 15 (Lord of the Rings).
The Battle of Ashak Rise
In this encounter some dwarf deserters, prospecting for gold, ended up on the receiving end of the Severed Hand orcs. We played this scenario three times, with the intention of averaging out the results. The orcs were accompanied for this battle by a pack of 10 dire wolves.
The first battle saw Kelvin as the orcs playing against Ric. It ended up as a disaster for the orcs, as they were routed and their leader slain. In the second, I played the dwarves and Ben took the orcs. I toned down the two dwarf leaders for this battle, and they were wiped out. The orcs got the gold, but their leader Hagar Sheol was again killed and they lost five warriors and seven wolves. In the final battle, Sebastian took the orcs and I again played dwarves. One dwarf escaped with two bags of gold, two orcs were killed and five wolves.
Points:
Game 1 - 10 Dwarves KIA (+10), Orcs routed (-10), Orc commander slain (-2) = -2 points.
Game 2 - 12 Dwarves KIA (+12), Dwarf leader KIA (+3), all gold recovered (+20), Orc commander slain (-2), 30% casualties, wolves and orcs (-3) = 30 points.
Game 3 - 11 Dwarves KIA (+11), Dwarf leader KIA (+3), x4 bags of gold recovered (+16), 20% casualties, orcs and wolves (-2) = 28 points.
Total = 56/3 = 19 points.
Severed Hand at Orc's Drift: Grashak Kra (hobgoblin 2 i/c), three dire wolves, 18 orcs. Break point: 11.
The Battle of Linden Way
Linden Way saw some men defending a small village to give its inhabitants time to flee as the Kwae Karr orcs, led by Kelvin and Manoj, assaulted the settlement. I gave the Kwae Karr King Fyar's personal bodyguard of five armoured uruk hai to support them. The defenders, under Ben's command, were wiped out, although four villagers escaped. The Kwae Karr lost four warriors and one uruk hai was slain.
Points: 25 militia KIA (+25), Captain of militia KIA (+2), five settlers slain (+2.5), 10% orc casualties (-1), mad witch KIA (+2) = 30 points.
Severed Hand at Orc's Drift: Magyar Ironfist (leader), Bagrash (goblin shaman), 36 orcs, four armoured uruk hai (I might let the orc players decide between themselves who gets Fyar and the uruk hai). Break point: 18.
Total orcs required: 83 (not including uruk hai or officers). Break points will be changed somewhat if uruk hai are added to a tribe.
Not to blow my own trumpet, but I played the dwarves and Ric played the orcs in that Ashak Rise game.
ReplyDeleteJust did a count of my entire orc horde. I've got 74, not including leaders. I need nine more orc grunts and four uruk hai.
ReplyDelete