When last we looked in on House Drake the prospects appeared dim. Lady Ella barely survived an assassination attempt, Torrhen was taken captive by the petulant Buckwells, the Drake army was defeated on the field and the Drake Household faced the onerous task of hosting a tourney commemorating the first official visit by Oberyn Martell.
the biggest challenges lay in completing the marriage pact with thedric and House Cafferen, freeing Torrhen from bondage and somehow gathering the resources to not only host the Martell tourney but, also to strengthen Drake's own forces. Fortunately Garth's plundering of the Buckwell baggage train alleviated some of the financial pressure facing the Drake household. Determined not to lose face, Lady Ella vowed to fulfill her obligations and restore the family honor.
Given her precarious state of health, the burden of managing the house during Ella's convalescence fell on Maester Gyles, the Drake house poisoner (though he denies his studies in that area with uncharacteristic vehemence). As expected, the house fortunes flagged despite the opening on the new marketplace. This was due in no small part to Gyles' insistence on continuing treatment of Ella leaving the running of the house to others during the mid-summer months.
Meanwhile, Torrhen began his captivity on a tour of the ravaged Buckwell lands. Though the Buckwells triumphed at Pembroke, it did not come at little cost. Indeed, Torrhen saw the untilled fields and the unharvested foods caused by excessive call on the region's peasant levies. Sensing a weakness, Torrhen began a series of subtle jabs at the worthiness of a Buckwell suitor to a Selmy bride. Though unskilled in the area of diplomacy, Torrhen's honorable behavior earned him the respect of his captors among the Boors and Selmy households. At the same time Buckwell continued to rant and rave, exposing the flaws in his character that prevented him from earning his knighthood.
Garth, meanwhile, decided to employ some of the tactics that made his guerrilla soldiers infamous. he encouraged banditry, working alongside some of the larger bands of brigands, hoping to further undermine Buckwell influence in the region. he continued to shadow the party holding his half-brother hostage, inciting rebellion at every turn. despite his best efforts, however, he found himself unable to make off with the ransom paid to Buckwell. Though the source of the ransom remained unclear, suspicions point toward the involvement of Highgarden.
In spite of some philandering and a mysterious death of his newly betrothed, the youngest of the Selmy ladies, Torrhen managed to not only extricate himself from his captors but also land numerous marriage proposals in so doing. Buckwell betrayed his base nature by becoming implicit in the death of Lady Selmy earning him a trial by combat against Torrhen. Torrhen's skill at arms outclassed his foe and the last of the Buckwell heirs was duly slain in the name of justice. he thereby earned his freedom on the eve of the Martell tourney.
Back at Castle Drake (colloquially referred to as castle Greyskull), Ella recovered and attended the marriage of her half-brother thedric. At the same time she won a considerable victory against Lady Buckwell earning her the respect of the illustrious guests at the wedding celebration. She was likewise popular among the visiting nobles of Dorne who attended the tournament held to celebrate Oberyn's assumption of his place on King Joffrey's small council. Torrhen's victory in the lists likewise earned House Drake no small measure of influence from among the visiting noble families.
Having gone from the brink of disaster to the darlings of Sunspear, House Drake appears poised once more as a force to be reckoned with. Lady Ella's dalliance with the Viper only enhanced her standing as a desirable match. Garth managed to cement a friendship with the Martell spymaster Otho providing new avenues of revenue for his growing smuggling network. With a stronger network of alliances brewing, House Drake continues to plot against their Buckwell rivals with their eyes set on taking Summerhall for their own.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The shit storm hits Shitville
The fortunes of House Drake were on the line as the forces Lady Ella Drake brought to Pembroke aligned on the hills west of town. Arrayed against them were the combined forces of Houses Buckwell, Selmy and Hightower as well as a mercenary force of pikemen.
Not only did Drake's enemies possess superior numbers, they sought to stave off the conflict by first sending an assassin against Ella Drake. Though Ella was able to fight off her attacker, she sustained grievous injuries in the process. Sensing that the fortunes of the Drake household were at stake, Maester Gyles intervened, offering Ella a gruesome ticket to freedom if she should so choose. Already things looked bad for the newfound house.
With Ella removed from the equation, Torrhen represented the house in a parlay with the attacking forces. Though both sides had come prepared for a prisoner exchange, Torrhen's implacable attitude and the confidence of their foemen precluded an amicable cessation of hostilities. The battle lines were drawn.
Drakes forces took the high ground but their lack of footmen would prove their undoing on this day. The enemy launched a wild assault against the wooded hill with the scum from Hightower's jails pitted against the newly formed foot of House Fitzdrake. The thin line broke and, despite terrible losses from the Drake archers, Torrhen's cavalry was forced to commit much earlier than anticipated.
Even as the cavalry routed the last of the convict brigade, they became enmeshed in vicious hand to hand with the mercenary pikemen. Torrhen roused his battered troopers and took a Selmy commander prisoner shortly before his own horse was forced to disengage.
Garth and his irregulars held the long, low slope to the north and broke the peasant levies thrown against them but not before their own forces were broken in the melee. As the ebnemy cavalry rode on Pembroke to take Ella and the unguarded Drake train, the Drake archers were forced to yield and the Drake cavalry broke to engage the new threat.
It was all down hill from there. The enemy forces were badly abused in the attack but the lack of field commanders hindered the Drakes' ability to rally their men. The irregulars disengaged and made for the woodlands where their superior stalking skills would have caused the enemy to pay dearly. The handful of battered troopers remaining in the Drake cavalry were soon outnumbered and disarmed, unable to prevent the enemy from seizing the undercroft where Ella convalesced.
Seeing only death and dishonor, Torrhen surrendered his person in exchange for the freedom of Lady Ella Drake. meanwhile, the irregulars circled back to sack the allied train, seizing the ransom which, hopefully, might help buy back Torrhen's freedom. Even as the guerrillas returned to castle Greyskull with their booty, Garth set off to follow the enemy and his captured half brother.
Though free and, much to her surprise, still in charge of an intact army, Ella headed back home to try and salvage the house's fortunes. With word having come that a retinue from House Martell was making a tour of the borderlands, Ella had to consider how best to position her house to restore its soiled honor. She not only vowed to go ahead with the marriage of Thedric to Lydia Cafferen but also to work to free Torrhen from her enemies.
It will take skill, courage and more than a little luck to prevent the house from falling into ruin. It would also take additional allies but would any house remain willing to hitch its fortunes to Drake's wobbling chariot?
Not only did Drake's enemies possess superior numbers, they sought to stave off the conflict by first sending an assassin against Ella Drake. Though Ella was able to fight off her attacker, she sustained grievous injuries in the process. Sensing that the fortunes of the Drake household were at stake, Maester Gyles intervened, offering Ella a gruesome ticket to freedom if she should so choose. Already things looked bad for the newfound house.
With Ella removed from the equation, Torrhen represented the house in a parlay with the attacking forces. Though both sides had come prepared for a prisoner exchange, Torrhen's implacable attitude and the confidence of their foemen precluded an amicable cessation of hostilities. The battle lines were drawn.
Drakes forces took the high ground but their lack of footmen would prove their undoing on this day. The enemy launched a wild assault against the wooded hill with the scum from Hightower's jails pitted against the newly formed foot of House Fitzdrake. The thin line broke and, despite terrible losses from the Drake archers, Torrhen's cavalry was forced to commit much earlier than anticipated.
Even as the cavalry routed the last of the convict brigade, they became enmeshed in vicious hand to hand with the mercenary pikemen. Torrhen roused his battered troopers and took a Selmy commander prisoner shortly before his own horse was forced to disengage.
Garth and his irregulars held the long, low slope to the north and broke the peasant levies thrown against them but not before their own forces were broken in the melee. As the ebnemy cavalry rode on Pembroke to take Ella and the unguarded Drake train, the Drake archers were forced to yield and the Drake cavalry broke to engage the new threat.
It was all down hill from there. The enemy forces were badly abused in the attack but the lack of field commanders hindered the Drakes' ability to rally their men. The irregulars disengaged and made for the woodlands where their superior stalking skills would have caused the enemy to pay dearly. The handful of battered troopers remaining in the Drake cavalry were soon outnumbered and disarmed, unable to prevent the enemy from seizing the undercroft where Ella convalesced.
Seeing only death and dishonor, Torrhen surrendered his person in exchange for the freedom of Lady Ella Drake. meanwhile, the irregulars circled back to sack the allied train, seizing the ransom which, hopefully, might help buy back Torrhen's freedom. Even as the guerrillas returned to castle Greyskull with their booty, Garth set off to follow the enemy and his captured half brother.
Though free and, much to her surprise, still in charge of an intact army, Ella headed back home to try and salvage the house's fortunes. With word having come that a retinue from House Martell was making a tour of the borderlands, Ella had to consider how best to position her house to restore its soiled honor. She not only vowed to go ahead with the marriage of Thedric to Lydia Cafferen but also to work to free Torrhen from her enemies.
It will take skill, courage and more than a little luck to prevent the house from falling into ruin. It would also take additional allies but would any house remain willing to hitch its fortunes to Drake's wobbling chariot?
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Discovering exotic new lands and stealing all of the gold before anyone notices.....
Saturday (Nov. 19) was the annual Exploration and Colonization edition of Border Board Games. We were pleased to have ten attendees to the event including several newcomers, some returning guests and core gamers. Dennis and Mike traveled up from the Lower Kingdom while Orleans Mike made his second trip north. Also attending were Rob and Travis (nice to see you again Travis), Kim and Homer and, of course, Beth and myself.
Having so many players available, we divided up into two tables. Beth, Kim, Homer, St. Jay Mike and Travis sat down for an opening game of Age of Empires III. Though Kim was unable to get her traditional spam Monk combo going, she was able to pull out the victory for the Portugese. Like her nation of record, Kim's victory is largely attributable to an abundance of trade goods.
At the second table I guided Dennis, Shannon, Orleans Mike and Rob through one of our newest acquisitions: Merchants and Marauders. The guys got the hang of the trading and raiding game fairly quickly despite only Dennis having managed to play the game once before. Mike experienced some hard times as a merchant ship holed his sloop sending the S.S. Bassboat to the seabed. Shannon was the first to upgrade snagging a nifty galleon after a few successful demand good runs. Dennis likewise sported a pimped out flute boasting most of the available upgrades on what, by any definition, is not a very sexy sailing ship. Though Rob was the last to venture into big boat territory, his galleon came very close to preventing Shannon's eventual win.
Mauled after a scrape with a French warship and barely avoiding Dennis' galleon, Shannon hightailed it for the safety and rumored wedding of Nassau's governor's daughter. Rob's galleon lumbered out of the port to engage Shannon. despite a slight superiority of ship, Rob's superior seamanship enabled him to rake the Golden Hind-End from stem to stern. Only at the last minute was Shannon able to win the sailing contest and escape into port. Even then he required a desperate stab at a rumor to finalize the win. It all came up skulls and crossbones and Shannon walked away with the Pirate Cup.
By This time the gang at table one had shifted over to Puerto Rico. Though details are thin, apparently Mike was able to pull out the win, largely on the strength of capturing two major purple buildings. The Age of Empires III game then swung onto our table. The quick summary of events is that there was more bloodshed in the colonies than ever before (at least in games I've played in). The Dutch-allied Indians in Virginia (my Indian Allies) seemed content to massacre Shannon's Englishmen at Roanoke while Rob's French troops happily picked off Dutchmen in Brazil. In the end, the powerful Dutch economic engine was able to outpace the last minute exploration scramble and pull out the win.
The exact theme for the December game day is still somewhat up in the air though mention of Carson City and Betrayal at House on the Hill have both been mentioned as posibilities. Dennis also mentioned interest in breaking out the venerable Pax Britannica at some future date. Given the almost Diplomacy like length of PB, it may be better to schedule it on a separate, mutually agreed upon day.
Having so many players available, we divided up into two tables. Beth, Kim, Homer, St. Jay Mike and Travis sat down for an opening game of Age of Empires III. Though Kim was unable to get her traditional spam Monk combo going, she was able to pull out the victory for the Portugese. Like her nation of record, Kim's victory is largely attributable to an abundance of trade goods.
At the second table I guided Dennis, Shannon, Orleans Mike and Rob through one of our newest acquisitions: Merchants and Marauders. The guys got the hang of the trading and raiding game fairly quickly despite only Dennis having managed to play the game once before. Mike experienced some hard times as a merchant ship holed his sloop sending the S.S. Bassboat to the seabed. Shannon was the first to upgrade snagging a nifty galleon after a few successful demand good runs. Dennis likewise sported a pimped out flute boasting most of the available upgrades on what, by any definition, is not a very sexy sailing ship. Though Rob was the last to venture into big boat territory, his galleon came very close to preventing Shannon's eventual win.
Mauled after a scrape with a French warship and barely avoiding Dennis' galleon, Shannon hightailed it for the safety and rumored wedding of Nassau's governor's daughter. Rob's galleon lumbered out of the port to engage Shannon. despite a slight superiority of ship, Rob's superior seamanship enabled him to rake the Golden Hind-End from stem to stern. Only at the last minute was Shannon able to win the sailing contest and escape into port. Even then he required a desperate stab at a rumor to finalize the win. It all came up skulls and crossbones and Shannon walked away with the Pirate Cup.
By This time the gang at table one had shifted over to Puerto Rico. Though details are thin, apparently Mike was able to pull out the win, largely on the strength of capturing two major purple buildings. The Age of Empires III game then swung onto our table. The quick summary of events is that there was more bloodshed in the colonies than ever before (at least in games I've played in). The Dutch-allied Indians in Virginia (my Indian Allies) seemed content to massacre Shannon's Englishmen at Roanoke while Rob's French troops happily picked off Dutchmen in Brazil. In the end, the powerful Dutch economic engine was able to outpace the last minute exploration scramble and pull out the win.
The exact theme for the December game day is still somewhat up in the air though mention of Carson City and Betrayal at House on the Hill have both been mentioned as posibilities. Dennis also mentioned interest in breaking out the venerable Pax Britannica at some future date. Given the almost Diplomacy like length of PB, it may be better to schedule it on a separate, mutually agreed upon day.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
A little blood between friends
When last we checked in with House Drake, the heir apparent and her bevy of half brothers boldly fought off an incursion by the covetous forces of House Buckwell. having firmly established the town as the base for a new frontier, the Drake family headed south to learn what had become of their relief force. rather than encountering Uncle Anders and the Drake Company archers, they found a deserted road and odd, over-sized footprints. Lady Ella said upon seeing the tracks "This has a bad Hodor about it."
Returning to Castle Drake, the band found the bailey littered with idle armsmen not of their house. Indeed, among the banners present were those of House Hayford, House Highgarden and the hated Buckwells. Maester Gyles flew into a righteous rage, demanding that Celia present herself to the new lady of House Drake. A war of words ensued as Celia insinuated something shady-nasty had gone on during the heroes' absence. She had the lawful will of the departed Ondrew Drake whereas the unsealed letter borne by Gyles must be a fake.
Celia's guests stood shocked and dumbfounded as the Maester tore a strip off her hide (and pride) before berating the harpy back into the lair. Ella reiterated that she was named heir even as Celia advanced her own son Torrhen as the new lord of the Drake Household. In a fit of rage and sensing that his honor was about to be compromised, Torrhen snatched Celia's forged will and tossed it into the fire. This act of defiance outraged his Uncle Anders and the two exchanged words. Foolishly the exchange came to blows and Anders swung at his nephew, apparently disregarding the fact that the young knight was still clad for battle.
Torrhen easily turned aside the strike and returned one of his own. Having sheathed his sword in Anders' gut (which caused an alarmingly loud belch a la Phil Collins), Torrhen turned angrily on his mother. Her interference had nearly sold the house to its enemies and Ella into a marriage contract with Highgarden. "The Silent Sisters are always looking for people," Torrhen declared. Ella spurned the Highgarden offer knowing that marrying into a Westerosi family would mean surrendering her Dornish birthright and her ability to lead the house.
Having upset Celia's plans, the heroes seized the Hayfords and Buckwells as hostages. Having already dealt the Buckwell's a serious blow, holding their heir hostage was a modest coup for the Drake family. Maester Gyles dispatched ravens to the Buckwells offering to exchange their heir for a year's tithes. The Buckwells agreed and offered to meed at Pembroke. At roughly the same time news came from Pembroke from Ser Uther Frey of the Night's Watch. Ser Frey claimed he was besieged in the village smithy, accused of foul murder.
Though the coincidence in locale was odd, the Drake's vowed to uphold the house honor and lend aid to the Night's Watch. Knowing that the Buckwell's and their allies were also heading to Pembroke with treachery in mind, the Drake's drew forth their armies and summoned the forces of the newly founded House Fitzdrake to assist. If the Buckwells thought the prisoner exchange could be warped into an ambush and slaughter, they were going to be terribly surprised.
Ella countered the Buckwell aggression by proposing a marriage pact with House cafferen, an ally of the Buckwells. In exchange for remaining out of the fight, Ella promised cafferen a quarter of the Buckwell lands. if they should actively support House Drake, they would gain a third of the Buckwell lands as well as join the two houses together by the marriage of her younger brother Thedric to the Cafferen's eldest daughter. In theory, the cafferens agreed. How the situation would play out in Pembroke is yet to be seen.
House Drake has outmanuevered treachery from within and aggression from without. Will this last minute alliance with cafferen turn the tide of battle and destroy the Buckwells once and for all? Has House Drake overstepped its place engaging in this most dangerous game of politics? Have Maester Gyles' clever manipulations totally hodored House Drake?
Returning to Castle Drake, the band found the bailey littered with idle armsmen not of their house. Indeed, among the banners present were those of House Hayford, House Highgarden and the hated Buckwells. Maester Gyles flew into a righteous rage, demanding that Celia present herself to the new lady of House Drake. A war of words ensued as Celia insinuated something shady-nasty had gone on during the heroes' absence. She had the lawful will of the departed Ondrew Drake whereas the unsealed letter borne by Gyles must be a fake.
Celia's guests stood shocked and dumbfounded as the Maester tore a strip off her hide (and pride) before berating the harpy back into the lair. Ella reiterated that she was named heir even as Celia advanced her own son Torrhen as the new lord of the Drake Household. In a fit of rage and sensing that his honor was about to be compromised, Torrhen snatched Celia's forged will and tossed it into the fire. This act of defiance outraged his Uncle Anders and the two exchanged words. Foolishly the exchange came to blows and Anders swung at his nephew, apparently disregarding the fact that the young knight was still clad for battle.
Torrhen easily turned aside the strike and returned one of his own. Having sheathed his sword in Anders' gut (which caused an alarmingly loud belch a la Phil Collins), Torrhen turned angrily on his mother. Her interference had nearly sold the house to its enemies and Ella into a marriage contract with Highgarden. "The Silent Sisters are always looking for people," Torrhen declared. Ella spurned the Highgarden offer knowing that marrying into a Westerosi family would mean surrendering her Dornish birthright and her ability to lead the house.
Having upset Celia's plans, the heroes seized the Hayfords and Buckwells as hostages. Having already dealt the Buckwell's a serious blow, holding their heir hostage was a modest coup for the Drake family. Maester Gyles dispatched ravens to the Buckwells offering to exchange their heir for a year's tithes. The Buckwells agreed and offered to meed at Pembroke. At roughly the same time news came from Pembroke from Ser Uther Frey of the Night's Watch. Ser Frey claimed he was besieged in the village smithy, accused of foul murder.
Though the coincidence in locale was odd, the Drake's vowed to uphold the house honor and lend aid to the Night's Watch. Knowing that the Buckwell's and their allies were also heading to Pembroke with treachery in mind, the Drake's drew forth their armies and summoned the forces of the newly founded House Fitzdrake to assist. If the Buckwells thought the prisoner exchange could be warped into an ambush and slaughter, they were going to be terribly surprised.
Ella countered the Buckwell aggression by proposing a marriage pact with House cafferen, an ally of the Buckwells. In exchange for remaining out of the fight, Ella promised cafferen a quarter of the Buckwell lands. if they should actively support House Drake, they would gain a third of the Buckwell lands as well as join the two houses together by the marriage of her younger brother Thedric to the Cafferen's eldest daughter. In theory, the cafferens agreed. How the situation would play out in Pembroke is yet to be seen.
House Drake has outmanuevered treachery from within and aggression from without. Will this last minute alliance with cafferen turn the tide of battle and destroy the Buckwells once and for all? Has House Drake overstepped its place engaging in this most dangerous game of politics? Have Maester Gyles' clever manipulations totally hodored House Drake?
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Epic dice fail and other things that go bump in the night
Border Board Games' Monstrous Hallowe'en Monster Game Extravaganza took place on Saturday, October 15. This month's crowd included visitors Bob and Christine (?), Carlo and Kristin, Rob, Beth and I and newcomer and hopeful returnee Mike.
Earlier in the day gaming at the Lair saw Carlo lose not one but TWO games of King of Tokyo as Beth pulled victory out of thin air. In each case Beth waited until the last throw of the dice to send his beloved Krakken back into the watery Abyss while her Donkey Kong reigned supreme. Added with Carlo's failure to murder "wretches" in Letters from Whitechapel before being apprehended by Beth and Kristin, his gaming got off to a slow start.
Having moved to the village hall at the appointed time, we set up for what would be many of our's first exposure to the newest Lovecraftian themed game Elder Sign. The game follows the model of the Fantasy Flight series featuring familiar heroes from Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness. Unlike the other two titles, Elder Sign is a much quicker game to both set up and play.
In many ways this is a great introduction to the worlds of Lovecraft and horror gaming. It's relatively light and, as a co-op game, engages all players in the successes, or failures, of their peers. In our first journey into the realms of terror and madness our adversary was Nyarlathotep, who was sometimes confused with the goatee-wearing evil version of Beth, Ynahteb.
It is hard to say if we were just lucky with our dice or lucky with our adventure locations, but we seemed to breeze through Nyarly with amazing speed. Indeed, not a single investigator went screaming into hell that I can recall. not so on our second attempt. The second time round Shub Niggurath was our adversary and, despite having more doom tokens prior to awakening, our luck fell apart early on.
While in our first game we seemed to succeed on our first try probably 80 percent of the time, it often took three tries to resolve a single adventure with Shubby. This slowed down our collective rate of equipment gathering (basically, item cards and spells provided bonus dice or "hold" spots to help accomplish tasks) and accelerated our loss of sanity and stamina.
Mike endured a particularly gruesome sequence of deaths staggering around battered and bleeding from one disaster to the next. It goes to show that volunteering to take the sanity hit to start the game doesn't always make you a hero - sometimes you just become a victim. In the first game Mike's character Jenny Barnes (the purple chick) could do no wrong. In round two, no matter what he had, he could do no right.
In time, after many agonizing attempts and failures, Shubby awoke and promptly devoured Mike for the last time. As we had accomplished so few tasks and his battle condition required sacrificing trophies, our ranks were quickly thinned until only four of the seven remained. Beth's magician Dexter Drake and then Kate Winthrop did a little damage before he disappeared and Kristin's character the Fuller brush vendor Bob Jenkins, who bravely tried to stop the worst of the bleeding among the company, also spiralled into the Abyss.
It came down to Ashcan Pete (Bob) and Harvey Walters (me) facing a wounded but still ferocious elder thing. Bob rolled well but, ultimately, his lack of trophies saw him devoured moments after Kate threw herself into the maws of evil. Harvey Walters, the professor from Miskatonic University, stood alone as the guardian at the door. Weirdly enough, he had gathered plenty of trophies and, despite not having many bonus dice to rely on, rolled well. His power to convert terror (tentacles) into scrolls (knowledge) proved crucial as he banished the elder thing with only a single trophy remaining.
The final game of the night was a round of Last Night on Earth which pitted Mike, Rob, Beth and Bob against Carlo the zombie master. Just as Carlo's dice went quiet earlier in the day, so too did his zombie dice once he had rolled for his starting zombie horde. Perhaps his plan to sacrifice half their number to make them invulnerable in the first round wasn't the best choice after all. With the objected being "Burn 'em Out", the heroes had to gather explosives and destroy three of the four zombie spawning pits.
The characters were Jake the Drifter (Bob), Father McFeely (Beth), Sheriff Mr. Anderson (Rob) and Johnny Popular (Mike). In what can only be termed an incredible string of luck, the humans would quickly find a trove of explosives in the school. While the gasoline wouldn't seem such a stretch, the twin packs of dynamite struck people as a little odd. The humans enjoyed a lot of success fighting off the zombie attackers. With pistols, baseball bats, fire extinguishers and fire axes, they blew through the seething mobs, quickly destroying half of Carlo's spawning pits. Father McFeely eliminated a Taken Over marker that protected one of the spawning pits and promptly ran out to deal with it.
The lone high point for the zombie master came when Jake stood defiantly outside the Plant as Father Grabass went into the light less building. His dynamite having already been used, Jake went down howling as the zombies overcame him. Though he would emerge as a zombie hero, the Father's task was already done as Sally emerged inexplicably from the barn just in time to see the final spawning pit blow.
While the zombie action was resolving itself, Christine and Kristin had a rematch of King of Tokyo. The results of that contest were not immediately known at press time.
Earlier in the day gaming at the Lair saw Carlo lose not one but TWO games of King of Tokyo as Beth pulled victory out of thin air. In each case Beth waited until the last throw of the dice to send his beloved Krakken back into the watery Abyss while her Donkey Kong reigned supreme. Added with Carlo's failure to murder "wretches" in Letters from Whitechapel before being apprehended by Beth and Kristin, his gaming got off to a slow start.
Having moved to the village hall at the appointed time, we set up for what would be many of our's first exposure to the newest Lovecraftian themed game Elder Sign. The game follows the model of the Fantasy Flight series featuring familiar heroes from Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness. Unlike the other two titles, Elder Sign is a much quicker game to both set up and play.
In many ways this is a great introduction to the worlds of Lovecraft and horror gaming. It's relatively light and, as a co-op game, engages all players in the successes, or failures, of their peers. In our first journey into the realms of terror and madness our adversary was Nyarlathotep, who was sometimes confused with the goatee-wearing evil version of Beth, Ynahteb.
It is hard to say if we were just lucky with our dice or lucky with our adventure locations, but we seemed to breeze through Nyarly with amazing speed. Indeed, not a single investigator went screaming into hell that I can recall. not so on our second attempt. The second time round Shub Niggurath was our adversary and, despite having more doom tokens prior to awakening, our luck fell apart early on.
While in our first game we seemed to succeed on our first try probably 80 percent of the time, it often took three tries to resolve a single adventure with Shubby. This slowed down our collective rate of equipment gathering (basically, item cards and spells provided bonus dice or "hold" spots to help accomplish tasks) and accelerated our loss of sanity and stamina.
Mike endured a particularly gruesome sequence of deaths staggering around battered and bleeding from one disaster to the next. It goes to show that volunteering to take the sanity hit to start the game doesn't always make you a hero - sometimes you just become a victim. In the first game Mike's character Jenny Barnes (the purple chick) could do no wrong. In round two, no matter what he had, he could do no right.
In time, after many agonizing attempts and failures, Shubby awoke and promptly devoured Mike for the last time. As we had accomplished so few tasks and his battle condition required sacrificing trophies, our ranks were quickly thinned until only four of the seven remained. Beth's magician Dexter Drake and then Kate Winthrop did a little damage before he disappeared and Kristin's character the Fuller brush vendor Bob Jenkins, who bravely tried to stop the worst of the bleeding among the company, also spiralled into the Abyss.
It came down to Ashcan Pete (Bob) and Harvey Walters (me) facing a wounded but still ferocious elder thing. Bob rolled well but, ultimately, his lack of trophies saw him devoured moments after Kate threw herself into the maws of evil. Harvey Walters, the professor from Miskatonic University, stood alone as the guardian at the door. Weirdly enough, he had gathered plenty of trophies and, despite not having many bonus dice to rely on, rolled well. His power to convert terror (tentacles) into scrolls (knowledge) proved crucial as he banished the elder thing with only a single trophy remaining.
The final game of the night was a round of Last Night on Earth which pitted Mike, Rob, Beth and Bob against Carlo the zombie master. Just as Carlo's dice went quiet earlier in the day, so too did his zombie dice once he had rolled for his starting zombie horde. Perhaps his plan to sacrifice half their number to make them invulnerable in the first round wasn't the best choice after all. With the objected being "Burn 'em Out", the heroes had to gather explosives and destroy three of the four zombie spawning pits.
The characters were Jake the Drifter (Bob), Father McFeely (Beth), Sheriff Mr. Anderson (Rob) and Johnny Popular (Mike). In what can only be termed an incredible string of luck, the humans would quickly find a trove of explosives in the school. While the gasoline wouldn't seem such a stretch, the twin packs of dynamite struck people as a little odd. The humans enjoyed a lot of success fighting off the zombie attackers. With pistols, baseball bats, fire extinguishers and fire axes, they blew through the seething mobs, quickly destroying half of Carlo's spawning pits. Father McFeely eliminated a Taken Over marker that protected one of the spawning pits and promptly ran out to deal with it.
The lone high point for the zombie master came when Jake stood defiantly outside the Plant as Father Grabass went into the light less building. His dynamite having already been used, Jake went down howling as the zombies overcame him. Though he would emerge as a zombie hero, the Father's task was already done as Sally emerged inexplicably from the barn just in time to see the final spawning pit blow.
While the zombie action was resolving itself, Christine and Kristin had a rematch of King of Tokyo. The results of that contest were not immediately known at press time.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
What could possibly go wrong with that plan?
The Battle of Amreth was a display of what a few ignorant people can accomplish when they have no idea what might happen. As we left off last time, Torrhen rode boldly into an archer ambush leading the most skittish band of horsemen in Westeros. Despite losing half of his troopers in the opneing salvo, the heavily armored knight crashed the lines of the archers/bandits, trampling them mercilessly and driving the rest to flight.
Meanwhile, back in the village, Ella set asbout inspiring the villagers with kind words and fierce invective. She pledged to protect the village, rebuild its defenses and bring prosperity and order to the land. It all started with a couple of hangings and a slow clap. Fortunately the villagers have learned to expect little from their lords and ladies and the news that Ondrew had died and Ella was now lady of the house did little to discourage them. Luckily she did such an admirable job of rousing their peasantly ardor that many of the men vowed to stand alongside the handful of House Drake armsmen and battle the legion of battle-hardened infantrymen Buckwell had sent their way.
Garth, meanwhile, had found the missing Drake offspring Warrick hiding in the ruins of the town tower. Warrick immediately proved his legacy by displaying the Valyrian bloodline traits and the propensity for ill-considered actions that have become the hallmark of the bloodline. Some villagers suspected that Maester Gyles may have had a hand in Warrick's fall from the tower but neither Garth nor his irregulars have stated such either publicly or privately.
The bandits broken, the peasants rabble-roused and the irregulars sent off to harry the approaching Buckwell soldiers, all that remained was to await the arrival of reinforcements from Castle Drake. Much to the heroes' dismay, Uncle Clusterfuck, errr, Anders, had decided to make the deployment as slow and painfully protracted as possible. By the time the heroes learned of this, they realized they would be forced to stand and fight with what they had or turn tail and flee, knowing that the village would be razed, its meager wealth plundered and Ella's credibility forever left in tatters.
Had there actually been somewhere to flee toward, knowing that Anders held the castle and would unlikely let us in despite the rampaging horde at their backs, perhaps flight would have been an option. The Drake children decided instead to stand and fight. If their forces were routed, the hope remained that sufficient horses would survive to allow the Drake family to flee the battlefield.
The peasants set to work building fortifications. these were not fortifications that would have daunted most armies and probably only discouraged an army of peasant rabble disinterested in whatever cause it was they took up arms for in the first place. Under the direction of the Drakes the villagers contructed some wicker pallisades and barriers coupled with a shallow ditch and slight earthen mound. The idea was not to shatter the Buckwell ranks on these walls, for, realistically, a single torch could have burned them down but, rather, to direct the attacking soldiers by splitting their ranks to allow Torrhen's cavalry to mow them down. If the Buckwells were at all allowed to form square, our few cavalry would have proven utterly ineffective.
The key was to engage the soldiers and cause them to chase down the fleeing peasants while the irregulars tried to hamper them and therefore allow the cavalry to run them down. What was entirely unexpected was the amount of damage the irregulars caused during their day of harrying attacks. By the time the Buckwells emerged from the logging road, fully a third of their numbers had been eliminated. A further piece of luck followed as Garth led the missile barrage from the peasant levies. Sticks, stones, arrows and other miscellany rained down death on the Buckwell ranks. Little Jordel was a figurehead among the peasants, launching rabbit sticks with deadly accuracy and effect.
The Buckwell ranks were seriously depleted following several volleys but, alas, all good things must come to an end. Soon the Buckwells swarmed the barricades, cutting down the villagers armed only with trowels and bar stools. Their losses were terrific. Soon they broke and ran, a long line of soldeirs spreading out behind them. That was the time when Torrhen struck, wiping out the stragglers with a brutal thurst. Even as the cavalry swept in from behind, Ella again emerged to rally the dispirited villagers, turning their terror into a weapon. In the slaughter that ensued, Maester Gyles was credited with some of the most inspired attrocities, the viciousness of which was doubtless inspired by General Torrhen's own capacity for cruelty.
In the end the Drake clan stood tall and emerged trimuphant, capturing dozens of prisoners and, more importantly, forging the core of an army that would be raised to strike back at the treacherous Hayfords and the hated Buckwells. Maester Gyles stood before the crowds at the conclusion of the battle and spoke rousingly of the Drakes' successes on theday. he ended his speech with a phrase that may supplant all others in the Drake lexicon: "We totally hodored the Buckwells, right?"
p.s. The events involving Maester Gyles may or may not have been based on actual events. Such is the danger of relying on minstrels and scribes to report on history after the fact.
Meanwhile, back in the village, Ella set asbout inspiring the villagers with kind words and fierce invective. She pledged to protect the village, rebuild its defenses and bring prosperity and order to the land. It all started with a couple of hangings and a slow clap. Fortunately the villagers have learned to expect little from their lords and ladies and the news that Ondrew had died and Ella was now lady of the house did little to discourage them. Luckily she did such an admirable job of rousing their peasantly ardor that many of the men vowed to stand alongside the handful of House Drake armsmen and battle the legion of battle-hardened infantrymen Buckwell had sent their way.
Garth, meanwhile, had found the missing Drake offspring Warrick hiding in the ruins of the town tower. Warrick immediately proved his legacy by displaying the Valyrian bloodline traits and the propensity for ill-considered actions that have become the hallmark of the bloodline. Some villagers suspected that Maester Gyles may have had a hand in Warrick's fall from the tower but neither Garth nor his irregulars have stated such either publicly or privately.
The bandits broken, the peasants rabble-roused and the irregulars sent off to harry the approaching Buckwell soldiers, all that remained was to await the arrival of reinforcements from Castle Drake. Much to the heroes' dismay, Uncle Clusterfuck, errr, Anders, had decided to make the deployment as slow and painfully protracted as possible. By the time the heroes learned of this, they realized they would be forced to stand and fight with what they had or turn tail and flee, knowing that the village would be razed, its meager wealth plundered and Ella's credibility forever left in tatters.
Had there actually been somewhere to flee toward, knowing that Anders held the castle and would unlikely let us in despite the rampaging horde at their backs, perhaps flight would have been an option. The Drake children decided instead to stand and fight. If their forces were routed, the hope remained that sufficient horses would survive to allow the Drake family to flee the battlefield.
The peasants set to work building fortifications. these were not fortifications that would have daunted most armies and probably only discouraged an army of peasant rabble disinterested in whatever cause it was they took up arms for in the first place. Under the direction of the Drakes the villagers contructed some wicker pallisades and barriers coupled with a shallow ditch and slight earthen mound. The idea was not to shatter the Buckwell ranks on these walls, for, realistically, a single torch could have burned them down but, rather, to direct the attacking soldiers by splitting their ranks to allow Torrhen's cavalry to mow them down. If the Buckwells were at all allowed to form square, our few cavalry would have proven utterly ineffective.
The key was to engage the soldiers and cause them to chase down the fleeing peasants while the irregulars tried to hamper them and therefore allow the cavalry to run them down. What was entirely unexpected was the amount of damage the irregulars caused during their day of harrying attacks. By the time the Buckwells emerged from the logging road, fully a third of their numbers had been eliminated. A further piece of luck followed as Garth led the missile barrage from the peasant levies. Sticks, stones, arrows and other miscellany rained down death on the Buckwell ranks. Little Jordel was a figurehead among the peasants, launching rabbit sticks with deadly accuracy and effect.
The Buckwell ranks were seriously depleted following several volleys but, alas, all good things must come to an end. Soon the Buckwells swarmed the barricades, cutting down the villagers armed only with trowels and bar stools. Their losses were terrific. Soon they broke and ran, a long line of soldeirs spreading out behind them. That was the time when Torrhen struck, wiping out the stragglers with a brutal thurst. Even as the cavalry swept in from behind, Ella again emerged to rally the dispirited villagers, turning their terror into a weapon. In the slaughter that ensued, Maester Gyles was credited with some of the most inspired attrocities, the viciousness of which was doubtless inspired by General Torrhen's own capacity for cruelty.
In the end the Drake clan stood tall and emerged trimuphant, capturing dozens of prisoners and, more importantly, forging the core of an army that would be raised to strike back at the treacherous Hayfords and the hated Buckwells. Maester Gyles stood before the crowds at the conclusion of the battle and spoke rousingly of the Drakes' successes on theday. he ended his speech with a phrase that may supplant all others in the Drake lexicon: "We totally hodored the Buckwells, right?"
p.s. The events involving Maester Gyles may or may not have been based on actual events. Such is the danger of relying on minstrels and scribes to report on history after the fact.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
October gaming
First of all, many thanks to Matt Taylor of the Westford board gaming group for coming over on Sept 17th to play some board games. Without him, it would have been just Richard and myself. It seems that this September the stars and moon were aligned as such that our local members couldn't make it. With Matt attending, we were able to play Cyclades and Civilization.
Our next board game night will be held October 15th at 6 PM at the Derby Line Village Hall. To honor Halloween, we will make it our special Halloween edition of Border Board Games. That means we will bring along our horror/monster themed games like Betrayal at House on the Hill, Fury of Dracula, Last Night on Earth and whatever else in our collection fits the theme. I'm sure that there will also be some Halloween goodies available to eat as well.
If board gaming isn't your thing and you'd rather play RPGs, then consider joining our RPG group. We typically meet every 4th Saturday in Derby Line for our mega RPG day. We get together right after noontime and play for about 8 hours. For half the time we play D&D 3.5 and the other half we play the Song of Ice and Fire. If you are interested in only playing one RPG, that can be arranged. Our next RPG date is Sept 24th and, for October we will aim for Oct 22nd.
Our next board game night will be held October 15th at 6 PM at the Derby Line Village Hall. To honor Halloween, we will make it our special Halloween edition of Border Board Games. That means we will bring along our horror/monster themed games like Betrayal at House on the Hill, Fury of Dracula, Last Night on Earth and whatever else in our collection fits the theme. I'm sure that there will also be some Halloween goodies available to eat as well.
If board gaming isn't your thing and you'd rather play RPGs, then consider joining our RPG group. We typically meet every 4th Saturday in Derby Line for our mega RPG day. We get together right after noontime and play for about 8 hours. For half the time we play D&D 3.5 and the other half we play the Song of Ice and Fire. If you are interested in only playing one RPG, that can be arranged. Our next RPG date is Sept 24th and, for October we will aim for Oct 22nd.
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