Tablescapes Dungeons' Mine Themed Kickstarter

   I just wanted to let folks know about a neat Kickstarter that I just backed: Tablescapes Dungeons Mines brought to you by Secret Weapon and Reaper.  What I like about this Kickstarter is the nifty mine track and cart Add-On.  Also, it is all compatible with my Dwarven Forge stuff.
  Currently the Core Sets gets you 76 components for $75.

  They are also offering a number of sets of Bones Minis for those who missed out on any of the Reaper Bones Kickstarters, as well as a selection of sets of Reaper paint!

     You can find more info here: Tablescapes Dungeons Mines.  Please check it out, and if possible, pledge! :)

"Combat Patrol" Supplement Playtest Day.

  This past Saturday I got to take part in a playtest day for two upcoming supplements for the "Combat Patrol" WWII Skirmish rules: Colonial, and Napoleonic.
    First up was a Colonial period game, testing both Boer and Zulu vs British.  Though ahistorical, it allowed us to look a two different kinds of Colonial period combat: elite marksmen and mass melee vs British steadfastness and firepower.  The set up featured a British column which stretched almost the length of the table, and the two attackers were divided by a river that ran down the center.

      I got to command one of the Zulu units, and had a great time.  The rules really recreated the slow disintegration of the British lines caught in the open as wave after wave of Zulus hit them, while the British units that were able to find cover were almost impossible to pry out without sustaining massive casualties.

     The Brits didn't fare much better on the Boer side of the table, where the Boer firepower was able to take it's toll on the redcoats before the Brits could dislodge the more fragile Boer units.

     After the Colonial game, we set up a very similar Napoleonic game with a British column being attacked by a French force.  I commanded the French cavalry, and thought the cavalry rules really gave a good feel for the furball nature of a swirling cavalry skirmish.

      I had a blast in both games, and the supplement authors got to try out some new ideas, and gain some valuable insights.

Frostgrave Campaign: Game 6

     This past Sunday was our 6th outing into the frozen city as part of our ongoing Frostgrave Campaign.  We had 6 of our 7 regular players and one guest player; as the teenage daughter of one of our regulars came along to give the rules a try.   With 7 wizards in play we used the big 12'x3' table.
    For the report on Game 5, please see: Game 5
    For a report on the next game, see:  Game 7
    This time out we once again decided to do two scenarios; the first was the Genie in the Bottle scenario form the core rulebook, except we planned to use 3 Genies;  and the second was a geyser scenario thought up by the group.  This involved the placing of 6 craters along with the first 6 treasure tokens at the start of the game.  The treasure token went into the crater.  At the end of each turn, any player who had a figure within 3 inches of one of the craters would have to make a roll equal to, or greater than, his wizard level.  If he failed it was assume the geyser erupted at that moment and shot a jet of boiling hot water up into the air which would fall/splash down on the unfortunate figure, doing a +5 attack.

A view of the whole table.  Kodak entered from the area on the near right between the two markers on the table cover's edge, by where the tape measure is laying on the table.

    Since we had developed as 10+ difference in wizard levels among our players at this point, we decided to use a different method for choosing player entry points; letting the  lowest level wizard pick the corner they wanted to enter from first.  We then worked our way back and forth down the table seating players in order of their levels, lowest to highest.  This way, players would be facing opponents closer to their own level.
     Unfortunately, this set-up method put my Illusionist, Kodak, and his party in an area of the city in which his old nemeses, Knabe the Druid, and  Lingzhu the Necromancer, were also exploring.   The old Elf Illusionist knew he would need to be cautious and clever to have success this day.  He began by dividing up his party into three groups.  With him he took Reissa the Templar, Linesse the Thief, and Danlin the Marksman.  Kodak assigned to his Apprentice, Leighlyndana, Jack 2 the Treasure Hunter, Weiss the Archer, and Cadwalleter the Thief.  That left Agamemnon the Treasure Hunter,  Edel the Archer, Bash the Man-at-Arms, and Kinddrif the War Hound to act under their own initiative.

The party gets their orders before heading into the city.

    Kodak immediately Teleported into a nearby tower to secure a treasure there, while he sent the rest of his warband forward into a nearby ruin; telling Danlin to provide covering fire for the party, Linesse to gather up a treasure on the top floor of the ruin, and Riessa to stay alert and provide assistance to whoever needed it.
    Leighlyndana moved off to the left with her group.  She instructed Cadwalleter to wait for Kodak to come down from the tower to take the treasure he was retrieving. She then told Weiss to keep and eye open and provide covering fire, and she took Jack 2 with her to help him recover a treasure in the crater of a nearby geyser.  Almost immediately though, the Druid's Apprentice, Vogel,  cast a Wall of Fog immediately in their path.  Leighlyndana stuck her head around the corner of the Wall of Fog,  and seeing the  Druid's Apprentice tried a quick Mind Control spell on her.  It failed miserably, and Leigh felt a pike of pain in her brain.  She ducked back quickly as a Bone Dart from Vogel went whizzing by her cheek.
        Kodak's Apprentice quickly reevaluated the situation.  She knew there was a treasure just on the other side of the fog.  She quickly instructed Weiss to climb up on the ledge around the nearby tower (the one Kodak was in), and provide covering fire, and she sent Jack 2 through the fog to snatch the treasure.  The old Treasure Hunter saw it was a battered chest, and when he lifted it up an old lamp fell out of the rotted bottom.   Before Leigh could should a warning to the Treasure Hunter, Jack picked it up and almost immediately a reddish smoke started pouring from the lamp's tip and formed into a large imposing Genie!

As Leighlyndana watches in horror from the edge of the fog wall, Jack 2 picks up the lamp and a giant Genie materializes. 

      Before Jack could react the Genie was upon him, and struck him down.   Leigh froze behind the fog hoping the genie wouldn't realize she was there; while Weiss on the ledge above,  flattened herself against the wall of the tower so as not to be noticed.   Then, just as they thought the danger might pass, the Genie came shooting through the fog wall at high speed, propelled by a mighty Push spell cast by Vogel.  The genie shot over a foot past the Illusionist Apprentice, and ended up over by the ruin where the rest of Kodak's party was.  Leighlyndana, didn't have time to consider this, as soon after one of the Druid's many animals, a fox, loped around the fog and started snapping at the Apprentice's feet.

As Linesse the Thief (in brown) battles the other Genie, Riesse (in blue) desperately climbs up to aid her.

         Things weren't going much better for the rest of the warband either.   Linesse had climbed up and recovered the treasure; but like Jack, she found an old lamp under some tattered rags and picked it up.    Smoke poured from the mouth of the lamp and another Genie materialized next to the shocked Thief.  As the Genie lunged at the Thief, Linesse shouted for help; and Riessa the Templar, hearing the call, began climbing the ruin to assist her friend.   The Genie landed a mighty blow on the Thief and she staggered back against the wall of the ruin, dazed and barely able to stand.  As the Genie prepared herself for the kill, Riessa reached the floor where the fight as happening and launched herself directly into the fray. She raised the her mighty magic sword, named for her deceased twin sister, Elessa, and brought it down on the Genie practically cleaving it in two (Roll of 20, + 5 Fight, +2 Damage). It dissolved in a wisp of smoke.

Kodak battles the Druid's snowy owl, before recovering the treasure in the top of the ruined tower.

     Meanwhile, Kodak was in the tower and had noticed the great view of the city he had from that high up.  He debated with himself whether he should grab the treasure and leave or take some time to make use of the great perch he had to cause some mischief.  He spotted the Necromancer's Zombie on a distant rickety walkway between two buildings, and thought it cried out as a great opportunity to use his Push spell; but in his haste to cast it, he incorrectly spoke the spell's enchanting words and missed the Zombie.  As he cursed his luck, and turned to get the treasure, he heard a fluttering of wings and looked up to see the Druid's owl come soaring into the top of the tower and fly around his head.  He struck at the owl and missed.  He tried again, as the bird wove in and out, and this time his staff connected, and the bird fell dead.
     Back in the ruined building near to where Kodak battled the owl, Riessa sheathed her sword and looked over at the wounded Thief.  Linesse smiled weakly back.  She tried to stand up straight, winced, grabbed the lamp, and began climbing down to the next floor of the building. She hurt all over but still had a job to do.
     Then out of nowhere another Genie shot into view at the rear of the building, as if pushed there by some unseen force (the one pushed by the Druid's Apprentice).  It charged forward, and seeing Linesse carrying the other lamp, shot a bolt of energy at her.  The Thief let out a cry, and crumpled to the floor.  Riessa couldn't believe her eyes.  Fast as she could, Riessa, climbed down the ruined and broken building, drew "Elessa", and ran towards this new threat.

The Genie that killed Jack 2 appears behind the ruined building, and hits Linesse with a fire arrow; as Riesse sizes up her new target. Also note on the ground floor Danlin the Marksman providing covering fire from the building's doorway, and Cadwalleter standing by to take Kodak's treasure (though he ended up recovering Linesse's).

        Over by the Fog Wall, Leighlyndana was still trying to deal with the annoying fox who kept nipping at her ankles.  She noticed the fog to her right dissipate a little and looked up in shock as the Druid's bear BoBo came looming out of the misty wall.  She was caught off balance, and the bear's mighty swing caught her squarely on the side of the head.  She felt the ground spin a little then everything went black.

Leighlyndana, usually an animal lover, has trouble feeling that way when the Druid's bear appears through the fog.

     Meanwhile, back at the ruined building, Kodak had Teleported down from the tower and crouched with his treasure by a corner of the building, hoping he was out of sight of all the Druid's and Necromancer's missile weapons.  Also, Cadwalleter climbed up to recover the lamp that Linesse had dropped.
     Riessa braced herself as the Genie who had appeared behind the building made contact with her, and once again she swung her magic sword with all her might.  She hit the Genie, wounding it; but knowing she was the party's best hope for defeating it, she keep close to it and looked for the chance to land a second blow.  The Genie looked shaken, and before it could recover, she swung again doing massive damage (18 roll + 5 Fight, +2 Damage), and this time the Genie evaporated into a puff of red smoke.

As Kodak crouches in the lower right corner of the building, Riessa delivers the killing blow to the second Genie.

    While these fights were happening, the Man-at-Arms, Bash,  Treasure Hunter, Agamemnon, and Kinddriff the War Hound were struggling to recover a treasure from a well which sat in front of the ruined building.  The Necromancer's skeletal War Hound appeared and after a couple rounds of combat, they killed it, but not before Kinddriff had been killed, and Bash had taken a wound.  Knowing that Agamemnon would be faster with the treasure, Bash nodded to the Treasure Hunter to take it, and with effort he climbed up  on the fountain to block any threats while the treasure was carried away.  It wasn't long before Bash was felled by a crossbow bolt from the Necromancer's marksman, but his sacrifice was worth it, as Agamemnon had safely made it back to the cover of the ruined building with his treasure.

Bash and Agamemnon try to recover the treasure in the fountain, as they battle the Necromancer's skeletal dog. 

     With three treasures in their possession, and their party badly mauled, Kodak knew if was time to head back to their Inn. He gave the signal, and the group started melting into the shadows.
     Kodak always felt that these hours were the hardest; waiting for the wounded and stragglers to return to the home base. They had had to carry Linesse back, as even though the Genie hadn't killed her, he had dome some serious injury to her, and she would need to rest.  Kodak thought that he might be able to buy some simple curing potion in town that might get her back on her feet. (20gc for new thief) He was relieved when Leighlyndana came sheepishly back to the inn, full of apologies for her poor performance.  Little did she know, the Old Wizard thought to himself, how happy he was that she simply survived.   Edel and Weiss came back battered but none the worse for wear, as did Kinddriff; who was soaking wet and shivering from having fallen into the fountain.  Kodak, had to move away from the soggy dog, whose soaking wet aroma was too much for the old Elf's nose to handle.
    Sadly, Jack 2 didn't make it back.  His battle with the Genie had been his last.  Kodak was going to miss his gruff disposition, as he felt on some level the grizzled Treasure Hunter had been a kindred soul.  Kodak turned his mind to how best to find a replacement.
    Later, as he considered the group's performance, he felt the outing had been a mixed bag.  While he had only managed two spells (Teleportation in and out of the tower), and his Apprentice had cast none; he had learned a great deal from the groups encounters with the two Genies.  The Lamp they found, and the tales of how the Genies had appeared, acted, and fought, gave him a great deal to consider (200 exp. for each Genie killed, and 50 exp. for each lamp discovered) The lamp itself was worth a great deal (300gc); and after throughly studying it, Kodak sold it.  They had also found 140 other gold coins, as well as a Grimoire of "Absorb Knowledge", and a Fate Stone.  Kodak thought that might be a useful spell to learn, as he had never been a particularly fast reader; and the Fate Stone would be a great boon to their next expedition.  
   About a week after their expedition, as they were in the nearest small town to buy supplies, they heard news that the Necromancer, Lingzhu, and his Apprentice had both been killed during the last expedition into the city.  This saddened the old wizard, as the Necromancer had been a highly skilled opponent who had earned Kodak's respect.  Rumor had it that the late Necromancer's warband was trying to find a new wizard to take over their group.  Kodak pondered at what surprises that might bring to the next trip into the ruins.
    For now though he needed to study, and help Leighlyndana with her practice.  And, he would need to see about hiring a new Treasure Hunter; for the time for their next trip into the frozen city was fast approaching.

You can read Lingzhu's final report here: Hot Water

Knabe the Druid's report can be found here:  The Killing Dart

HAWKs' BARRAGE 2-Day Game Con Website Goes Live!

   I just wanted to let everyone know that the website for the HAWKs gaming convention, BARRAGE, just went live this week at: https://www.hawks-barrage.org
   The event will be 2 days this year, 9/30-10/1, and you can now register to attend or run a game directly on the website.

Another Fun War-Horse-Con Game Day

  This past Saturday a group of the HAWKs and I went up to Sam Fuson's War-Horse farm in PA for another fun day of games and good food. A couple times a year, Sam and his wife Kathy invite a bunch of their friends over and the HAWks come up to put on several games as well as play, and these events have come to be known as War-Horse-Cons.
     Since Sam and Kathy were expecting a larger than usual crowd, I volunteered to be the on-call GM, and brought along my Frostgrave stuff to set up and run if there should be an overflow from the two regularly scheduled games.  Luckily I did, as I got to host a family that had come along with their husband/dad who was interested in playing in Ed Duffy's Modern era game.  I think they had very little, if any, experience with miniatures gaming; but they jumped right in and had a great time with the Frostgrave rules.  While the three teenagers did great, I felt sorry for the Mom, who could not roll any high numbers to save herself!  There are bunch of us in the HAWKs who could relate to her predicament! :)

     They all had fun, and got into the spirit of the game; and I had a great time running it.  Who knows, we may have some new converts to the hobby!

While I was running my game, Eric Schlegel was running his Napoleonic "Battle of Battin", Russians vs Turks game, using modified Regimental Fire & Fury rules.

  And in the other half of the basement, Ed Duffy was running his Modern game using home-brewed rules.

   After a great fired chicken lunch, we reconvened for the afternoon games.  Some folks left, so I wasn't needed to run my game.  This allowed me to jump into Buck Surdu's fun Pacific Theater WWII game using his new Combat Patrol rules.

   I ended up commanding two bazooka teams and an army platoon leader.  We were tasked with blowing up a Japanese radio tower on an unnamed island somewhere in the Pacific.  Unfortunately, I had no luck whatsoever, and soon both my bazooka teams were out of action, having barely even scratched the paint on the one Japanese tank guarding the base.  However, it looked like our side was doing really well until in rapid succession the tank got a direct hit on one of our squads, followed by a pair of mortar rounds hitting another squad who had just broke cover and entered the compound.  With our forces badly mauled, and the bazookas out of action, we decided to call it a day.

     While we were battling in the Pacific, Duncan Adams was running his WWI game in the other side of the basement, using modified Look, Sarge. No Charts rules.  This was an early war scenario with both the French and Germans stumbling into each other's advances.

   All-in-all it was a great day of gaming with a great group of people.   I look forward to the next time we can get together and do it again!

Forstgrave Chronomancer Warband Completed

   This weekend I finished up my Chronomancer warband for Frostgrave.  I've been working on this off and on since last October, and finally finished painting the last figure on Friday.   I wanted to assemble a band that looked like they had been brought together from throughout time; or had been to different time periods, and brought back souvenirs.  I did some customization to a few of the figures to get that Frostgrave-meets-other-time periods look I wanted.

    First up is the Chronomancer and Apprentice.  These are both modified Reaper Bones figures.

   Next is the party's Templar, "Crossbowman", and Man-at-Arms.  The Templar is made up mainly of GW Space Marine parts, the "Crossbowman" is a plastic French soldier (unsure of manufacturer), and the Roman is from Foundry.  Note, that the Foundry figure was so short compared to the other figures in the warband, I had to base him up on a sheet of cork to make the size difference less noticeable.

     We then have a Thief, and two Thugs.  The Thief is a Reaper metal Ninja figure, and the two Thugs are from the North Star plastic Frostgrave soldier set with the additions of different heads.

    Lastly, we have the group's War-Hound.  This figure is from Eureka, and is just filling in as a proxy (probably) until I get the guard dog figure from the Reaper Bones III Kickstarter this Fall.

    And here's a look at the gang all together:

    I'm very happy with how this group turned out, and I'm looking forward to get a chance to use them in a game!

Frostgrave Campaign: Game 5

     This past Saturday I hosted the fifth game of our monthly Frostgrave Campaign.  We had all of our 7 players in attendance.   Since we had the whole gang, I set up the table in a 12' x3' configuration.  I put a river in the middle this time, and regular ruined city on each side.
  To read an account of the previous game, please see Frostgrave Game 4.
For an account of how Kodak came to hire his new Apprentice see: The Tale of Leighlyndana
  For the account of the following game, see: Game 6

A view of the table.

     We planned to incorporate two scenarios into the game; the first being a version of the treasure system from Cigar Box Battles' "The Diabolist's Scheme", where each player would put out a corpse marker instead of one of their treasures,  and when the corpse marker is touched the player rolls a d20 with the results being: 1-5 nothing, it's just a dead body; 6-10 it's a zombie that attacks the figure; and 11-20 it's a treasure.
       We also did a dragon attack scenario of our own devising where picking up treasures has a chance to activate a dragon which will fly in over the city, with random entrance and exit points determined using a d30.  The dragon will fly in a straight path along this line and attack the first figure it reaches that falls within 3" of it's flight path.  While originally planning for just 2 dragons, it ended up that five of us brought dragons, so we decided right before the game started to use all five.  We used the stats for the Giant Worms from the rule book, and the associated experience reward for killing one of the dragons.   Each dragon would stay on the table until it ate somebody and satisfied it's hunger, and then it would fly off at the end of the next creature phase; or it was itself killed.  The system we used for determining when a dragon entered was a bit too generous (it was based on making a roll after each treasure was picked up) so that all five dragons ended up entering on turn two!  It did make for an exciting game.

Some of the fun Corpse Markers the guys made. Mine is the second from the left, the girl carrying scrolls.

      My warband selected a starting spot that ended up being cut in two by a flood wall running along one bank of the frozen river.  Kodak divided his team into two groups. The first consisted of: himself, the Templar, Sister Riessa, Danlin the Marksman, Edel the Archer, Cadalleter the Thief, and Bash the Man-at-Arms. He game his new Apprentice, Leighlyndana command of the second group which consisted of: Jack 2 the Treasure Hunter, Weiss the Archer,  Agamemnon the Treasure Hunter, and Linnese the Thief.  Kodak decided he would work along the buildings near the river's edge, while he instructed his Apprentice to move along the river itself looking for treasure.

The area around where Kodak's warband spent the day, entering in the area that is a little left of the yellow coffee mug, in front of the folding chair.  You can see the bluff overlooking the river that Kodak teleported to, on the left of the photo; and the frozen stream Sister Riessa dragged the treasure across, towards the center right of the photo. 

        The old Illusionist was apprehensive as he entered the city;  he had lost his Apprentice his last outing, and his trusted friend Sister Elessa the time before that.  He didn't want to have to face the death of another key party member once again, but he felt that if he was too cautious with his expedition, he wouldn't reap any rewards.  He knew several of the other wizards who searched the ruined city were growing quite powerful, and he felt he needed to stay competitive if he was to succeed in his search for treasure and new magic.  Hopefully a more bold course of action would be rewarded.
     He took Sister Riessa and Danlin with him, as he pressed forward to a nearby building that had a treasure on the second floor.  He hoped to take up a position there from which he and his Marksman could do some damage.  He sent Cadwalleter to quickly try and snatch a treasure from under the noses of Lingzhu the Necromancer, whose party was entering to the left of Kodak's warband.  Edel he instructed to take up a position of cover to protect his left flank, and Bash he told to hang in the rear and look for target's of opportunity in the rear ranks of the Necromancer's zone.
   Meanwhile, Danlin spotted the Enchanter across the way walk into his view.  The Marksman pulled he trigger of his crossbow, and the bolt hit. Wounded, the wizard reeled in pain.  A few moments later and the poor Enchanter was sliced with a Bone Dart  from Lingzhu's apprentice, and dropped to the snow, and lay there motionless.

Kodak, Sister Riessa, and Danlin the Marksman, carefully cross the frozen stream as they push further into the city, heading for a ruin containing a treasure.

     Meanwhile, Leighlyndana headed onto the river.  She sent Linnese up onto a nearby ship to grab a treasure, and she sent Jack 2 down the flood wall along the river to a treasure that lay along the wall a few hundred yards up.   She set Weiss up to cover their advance, and Agamemnon advanced toward a half sunk boat wth a treasure laying by it, a little further up the river.  Leighlyndana spotted one of the Doctor's (Chronomancer) men entering the river from the other end, and attempted a Mind Control spell on him.  She wanted to impress Kodak with her skill and concentrated hard on the words he had taught her.  A roll of 20, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she felt herself enter the mind of the Chronomancer's Treasure Hunter and bend it to her will.  The man turned and immediately attacked the Doctor. the Doctor won the fight and pushed his own Treasure Hunter back, with a wound.

The Red Dragon lands next to Edel the Archer!

     At that point there was a sound of rushing wind, and the sun went momentarily dark as a large body passed before it.  Kodak and the rest of his party instinctively looked up, and were horrified to see a group of five dragons swirling in the sky overhead.  He knew that to the dragons he and his party would look like fresh meat.  Immediately the large creatures began to swoop towards the earth.  A Blue one swooped down towards where the Necromancer's men was battling with some of the Enchanter's party. And Kodak could see a strange mechanical beast fly down towards where the Doctor stood.  Not far from that a big Green one landed. And another Blue one landed further away on top of a tall tower.   Kodak thought for a minute his party might escape injury, when out of nowhere a huge Red dragon swooped down and landed right near where Edel the Archer stood! Kodak froze for a second with dread, unable to look away from what he knew would was sure would be the end of his archer.

As the dragon reels back from Edel's blow, Danlin lines up his shot.

     Much to Kodak's surprise,  the stocky archer seemed almost unfazed by the sudden appearance of the dragon, and with a swift, almost reflexive, action pulled his dagger from it's sheath and spun to face the dragon.  The dragon lunged at the Archer, but Edel was able to side step, and slice up with his dagger tearing a gash in the soft underside of the dragon's neck.  The dragon reeled a step back, right into Danlin's view.  Seeing his opportunity, Danlin the Marksman sighted his trusty crossbow, said a short prayer to his gods, and squeezed the trigger.  The bolt hit true, catching the dragon right behind the foreleg as the beast reared to strike again.  It staggered backwards, caught in the momentum if its rearing, and the toppled over dead.   The Illusionist, watching this, found he had been holding his breath and suddenly exhaled with relief. He shouted the good news to Riessa who was scaling the wall of the building he was standing next to.  She looked down at Kodak and said gently, "It is becuase I pray to the Lady each night on your behalf".   The Illusionist thanked the Templar, and said, "She does seem to have favored us with a miracle today."

The Clockwork Dragon and the Doctor spend a few turns in battle, neither able to strke a critical blow to the other.  Eventually, the dragon lost the battle.

     Things were not going Kodak's way entirely though.  Cadwalleter's dash for the treasure near the Necromancer's zone had been rewarded with a shot from one of Lingzhu's Crossbowmen which had put the thief out of action.  Likewise, on the ship in the river, Linesse's attempt at the treasure on the deck had been cut short by one of the Doctor's Marksmen who had climbed aboard the boat from the other side.

An unexpected highlight of the day.  Just as a random wandering bear entered the table, the Green Dragon swooped in and landed right there next to it, attacking the bear.  The bear and dragon had a swirling melee lasting almost the entire game. Though both badly wounding the other, neither was able to strike a killing blow.  Eventually the dragon won, but it was a real battle royale!  The dragon was eventually finished off by Knabe the Druid (Witch). 

     Riessa was climbing down with the treasure now, and Kodak was becoming concerned that he may not be able to get even three treasures off, as they were rapidly being claimed by other wizards.  He was aware that there was one in a small bone alter-like structure on the cliff above the river a long way away.  No one was going after it, and he felt he might be able to get there grab it, and get away using his Teleportation ability before anyone could come after him.   He decided that if the     Lady of Light was with him today, as the Templar had said, a gamble might just be worth it.  He concentrated and recited the Teleportation spell and with a wink he found himself atop the bluff. He paused for a moment and caught his bearings.  

Riessa slowly dragging the treasure across the stream as Danlin and Edel provide cover.

     Sister Riessa, in the meantime was now hauling the treasure across the snow.  She was strong, but with plate armor on, hefting the heavy chest, she was making slow progress.  She debated calling one of th nearby archers, or Danlin, to help her; but she felt they were better occupied doing what they were hired for, and quite honestly she felt that if anyone tried to take the treasure, she would be the most able to defend it.  Bash made an ill-fated attempt to distract the Necromancer's Crossbowman and Marksman by charging directly at them.  He hoped he could occupy them a turn or two, giving the Templar some time to get into cover.  He made it into contact with the Marksman who swung his weapon like a club hitting Bash straight in the jaw and sending him reeling.  As he staggered back, the Crossbowman put a bolt into him, and he crumpled to the snow.
    Meanwhile, Riessa  was still slogging across the frozen stream that fed into the river, Jack 2 had also claimed a treasure and was dodging numerous shots from the Doctor's party as he lugged it back towards the rendezvous point.
   And not far from Jack 2, Agamemnon had reached his treasure, but no sooner than he had picked it up than he was surprised to see one of the Soothsayer's men come around the end of the sunken boat and charge at him.  They clashed swords, but the enemy's sword hit home,  and Agamemnon breathed through clenched teeth as he tried to steady himself after the biting wound.  Leighlyndana rushed forward to help, but then another of the Soothsayer's soldiers came into view. The Apprentice grabbed a bit of rusted chain that lay in the snow atop the frozen river.  Speaking words close to it, and waving her left hand over it, she turned it into a Grenade and hurled it at the two enemy troops setting upon Agamemnon.  She cursed, as in her haste to complete the spell she had mis-spoke the words of power.  The Grenade landed and exploded, but it was ineffectual doing no damage to those around it.
   At the moment, the Doctor came up the river, and hit Agamemnon with his sonic screwdriver, (Elemental Bolt) knocking him out. The Soothsayer's Treasure Hunter picked up the treasure and began to drag it away, as the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver again, this time to take out the Soothsayers second figure that was by the treasure.  With just the enemy Treasure Hunter there, Leighlyndana got an idea, and once again recited the words of Mind Control.  She felt a a little light headed and could feel her mind reach out, but it was cloudy.  She willed her brain to focus and a searing pain shot from back to front of her head, but like a spike being driven into ice, she could feel herself pierce into the Treasure Hunters head and take control.  Slowly he turned and began dragging the treasure towards her.

In the final moments of the game, sacrificing her own health points, Leighlyndana takes control of the Soothsayer's Treasure Hunter just after he picks up a treasure.

          On top of the bluff over the river, Kodak had his own situation to deal with.  The Enchanter's Apprentice, desperate for treasure, was lobbing her own Grenades up on the  hilltop at the Illusionist.  Luckily for Kodak, though they hit, they too were ineffective; only coating him with a fine mist of  powdery ice and snow.  Two of the Enchanter's soldiers scaled the cliffs after the Illusionist as well, but both were repelled by Kodak's use of his Push spell; though the second time, he miscast the spell and needed to use his Staff of Power to give it the extra boot it needed to send the soldier flying off the hill top and out into the air.  Finally Kodak was able to make it into the bone alter and grab the treasure. As the sun was starting to set, he managed to speak the words of Teleportation successfully and landed back in a safe area near his party's rendezvous point, treasure in hand.
       Back at the inn where they had set up their base, Kodak was elated.  He walked up to Sister Riessa later that evening and took her by the shoulders, beaming at her.  "Truly, your prayers have been heard by the Lady!" he rejoiced.  "You must have her favor, Riessa; for today, nobody died!  and four treasures retrieved from the city!"   He also was pleased that he and his new Apprentice had managed to successfully cast eight spells.  On the downside, it was true that Cadwalleter had been badly wounded by the crossbow that hit him, but he would heal and be fit again in no time.
    Leighlyndana came up to them, smiling herself.  She was proud of her first foray into the ruins of Felstad.  Kodak turned to her, "I heard you performed well today."  
"Thank you, master Kodak" she said with pride.  "Though I will need you to go over the spell for Grenade with me again.  I am not doing something right with the power words."  The two took their leave of the Templar, and walked into the inn, talking.
     The next morning, Kodak sat at a table in the inn and turned his attention to cataloging the treasure they had brought back with them.  There were 335 gold coins. He would need to consider how to spend that.  Also found was a Ring of Teleportation.  As Kodak rolled it between his fingers, he thought to himself, "Riessa, should have this.  It would be good if she could come to the aid of others, or get out of trouble, more quickly."  He set the ring on the table and picked up a fine leather jacket.  "Magic Leather Armor", he mused. "Now there's something you don't see everyday. I think I will give that to Edel.  Anyone who survives a dragon attack deserves some reward."  There was also a Grimoire of Reveal Death.  "Not the most useful spell," he thought.
      Then he was suddenly aware of a commotion outside and rose to go out and investigate.  He was surprised to Leighlyndana laying flat on her back on the ground with a large dog, with matted hair and brambles and whatnot caught up in its tail, standing on top of his Apprentice and bouncing up and down.  The rest of the group stood around watching the scene.  And first he thought it was an attack, and instinctively turned for his staff; but then he realized the dog was licking the half-elf's face, and she in turn was laughing a deep husky laugh.
  "What's all this?" he demanded.
    The apprentice quickly stood, and walked towards Kodak.  The dog close behind.   "My apologies for the disturbance, Master Kodak, but this is an old friend, Kinddrif.  It means 'son of kings' in my father's tongue."  Kodak looked down at the soggy looking animal, and was suddenly aware of a foul smell.  "He is my dog, and a close companion." Leighlyndana added. "When I was on my own and traveling the roads, he was my only fiend, and a stalwart protector.  Then four months ago, outside of Randlfae, we were beset by orcs.  Kinddrif threw himself at them, and we were able to beat them back; but in the excitement he chased a fleeing one into the woods there and never returned.  I waited in Randlfae for three weeks for him; daily walking that stretch of road, calling his name, but without any answer.  Finally, I realized I had to move on.  I assumed he was dead.   I can't believe he tracked me all the way to here," and she reached down and scratched a matted ear.
    Kodak looked at his Apprentice, frowning; and then looked down at the dog, and then back at the apprentice. He didn't care for dogs, and this one in particular was certainly not a shining example of the species; but Leighlyndana was beaming with joy, and it had an effect on the old Illusionist.  He turned to Sister Riessa, as if searching for some sort of support against the mangey looking beast. But she was smiling too, and sensing Kodak's gaze, she looked up, "Perhaps sent to us by the Lady" she suggested. "She is the Star that guides those who are lost".
   Kodak looked at the Templar suspiciously, a growing sense that his mind was being made up by others.   "You wouldn't refuse something the Lady has sent you, would you?" the Templar asked  with a smile.
     "Alright."   Kodak  conceded.  He was in a good mood following their successful outing the day before, and was of a mind to be more agreeable to new ideas.  "Also", he thought in the back of his mind, "A good sturdy dog might be an asset to our expeditions."   To the apprentice he said, "You can keep him here.  But, he will need to earn his keep by jining us on our forays into he city.  And we will need to buy supplies to construct him a proper place to stay...he's not living inside the inn with us.  And for heaven's sake, bathe him and try to make him look presentable. He can't stay if he looks and smells like that."  And with that settled, Kodak turned and walked back towards the inn; his mind already turning to their next excursion into the ruins of the frozen city...

After the game, we discussed how we wanted to eventually end the campaign and we decided we would play the current campaign until as a group we reach 150 levels. At that point whoever is the highest level will be declared the winner, and we will begin a new campaign with new warbands. Currently our combined level total is just over 70.


To read the Necromancer, Lingzhu's, account of the day, see: Dragon Strike!

To read the Druid, Knabe's, account of the action, see: Wargaming Notes