SoBaH - Convoy Ambush

Next up in my campaign, a transport mission.  After successfully repelling the assault on the mission, our Guardsmen load up and attempt to withdraw some valuables and supplies out of the mission and back to town.  On their way, a few raiders await to block their path, hoping to get that booty for themselves.  The loner the Gnolls can delay the Guardsmen, the more raiders will likely converge to assist.  Can the Guards make it through the woods in time?

Ruleset: A Song of Blades and Heroes

For this mission, the guards have to move the wagon down the path across the table.  Unfortunately, they were not able to round up any horses and have to pull the wagon by hand.  A model may move the wagon on the path as a short move per action.  If they leave the path, it costs 2 actions to move 1 short move.  

The Guardsmen start with 250 points, consisting of 2 archers, 3 warriors, 1 thief, and 1 wizard. 

Initial Raider force is 100 points, consisting of 2 archers and 2 warriors. 

5 numbered markers have been placed around the board. At the start of each turn for the Guardsmen, after their first, 1 D6 is rolled to determine placement of Gnoll reinforcements, with a roll of 6 being discarded.  On placement, D3 gnolls arrive, with class determined by rolling on roster between Chieftain (max 1), archer, elite guard, and warrior. 

Initial set up

Advancing down the road as Raiders prepare for battle.

Guardsman Archer looses an arrow an an oncoming Gnoll to keep him on his toes.

Raider Archers take the high ground overlooking the pass.

Raider archer takes out the Wizard with surprising accuracy

The Guards stick close, feeling the loss of their wizard, while the Gnolls get ready to spring their trap.  An Elite Gnoll joins the fray, entering near the passing wagon.

More raiders find their brethren converging to loot the spoils of war.

A Guardsman's arrow fells a raider archer, while the warriors clash arms in the narrow pass. The Thief lugs the wagon, trying to keep up and find a way to push through.

The archer knocks back a gnoll with a bow, while a raider warrior falls in combat. The wagon attempts to break through.

Combat rages in the narrow pass between the rocky formations.

The wagon pushes forward as more raiders flock in on the sound of battle.

A Chieftain charges the wagon, but the Thief trips him up.

The battle continues in the narrow pass, with a raider pouncing on the archer to tie him up in combat.

The Guardsman warrior pulling up the rear is felled by an archer overlooking from the hill; the melee centerstage in the pass continues in bloody chaos.

Even more raiders find their way to the battle.

The Guard archer fells his bestial counterpart, and bodies continue to pile in the roadway.

At last a Guardsman pushes through to support the Thief at the advance of the wagon, felling the Gnoll Chieftain. The Archer takes up position in the rocky outcrop to try to pin down some advancing beasts and buy time for the wagon to get moving again.

The second Guard archer finally recovers form his brush with death in the bloody pass, as the warrior advances and bowls over the oncoming Elite Gnoll Raider. 

A second Elite Raider charges in and slaughters the guardsman before he could dispatch the foul beast.

With no escape, the thief is cornered and quickly dispatched.

Our Guardsman show their iron resolve, with the last 2 archers and 1 warrior not giving an inch, despite heavy losses to their band.

The Raider archer scurries up the hillside to find a better vantage point on the remaining prey.

\

More beasts flood into the gap after the archers.

The last Guard warrior is felled by the Raiders.

Raiders pounce on the last of the brave Guardsmen.

The Gnolls feast on the  corpses as the last archer pays the Butcher's Toll, adding another body left to rot in the pass which will come to be known as "Reaper's Rocks."

The Gnoll Raiders were able to overwhelm and annihilate the Guardsmen, taking the wagonload of treasure for themselves, and feasting on the remains of the fallen.  Hindered by the loss of men and supplies, the good people of the kingdom look to recruit another force to push back the invading marauders. 

Post-Game Thoughts and Comments:

Another fun game, albeit a bit longer than expected.  The Guardsmen got lucky on their rolls for Raider reinforcements, but those that did arrive seemed to come up in great locations.  I think I played the Guardsmen a bit too conservatively, and should have tried for more dice on activations early to try to push through the small choke point with the wagon.  Everytime they had a clearing, more gnolls would spawn right next to the narrow pass and be in position to intercept. The loss of the wizard so early really changed my plans to have them transfix and execute the beasts the got close.  

The Hyena-Men and Human fighters seem pretty evenly matched, though I failed to test some moral rolls on kills that the Savage rule should have invoked, which in hind site, really could have changed the melee in the right quarters of the center of the table.. Still, all in all, a very fun game, and a bit of a nail biter.

 

Till next time!