I played Game 7 of "A Tale Of Two Tortles" last night. The game was something different for a change, and I had a great time with it. This would be Campaign Turn 12, with Turns nine through eleven being non-combat turns. Turn Nine was spent laying low and healing up. Turn Ten involved travelling to meet the former Mayor of Arsmkrik, and on the way we met a Sociable Mok who offered a Contract to chase away Undesireables within three Campaign Turns; meeting with the Mayor yielded a Quest to be pursued at our leisure. Turn 11 was spent travelling back to The Crossing to pursue that Contract, and something was seen in the distance and an Unknown Location was added to the map.
Once back at The Crossing, it was business as usual. There was a Renowned Scholar in town, who helped Wepi with studying and led to the acquisition of the Crafting skill. The Town Guard was helped, negating any Upkeep costs. A new bow was acquired for Drustan, and our connections led to the offer of a new Contract; it was declined, as we have one already.
And with that, Our Heroes went to fulfill their "Chase Off Group" contract. It turned out that those Roving Fiends they had beaten away way back when had returned, and in greater numbers. Their lair was located, and the Camp Raid scenario was played. This was interesting, because part of the Roving Fiends group was deployed towards the center of the table, and some over on the far table side. Further, the Unknown Enemy rule was used, so three Fiends of the nine deployed were removed and replaced with a different model that would later be revealed. And then Our Heroes spent some time sneaking ("sneaky, Charlie, we gotta be sneaky!) closer to the bad guys. Everyone made a few moves closer, and eventually Kipor was spotted by the Fiends. And combat commenced!
Things started off poorly: Tundaline took a shot and missed. Kipor rushed forward and killed a Fiend, but was pushed back in return by another. Weppi spotted the Unknown Enemy marker, and revealed three more Fiends, killed a Fiend, but then wound up pushed back and stunned, Morgan did not quite make it into combat, and Galdan was still sneaking and hadn't made it to the combat yet.
The next Turn was a "Go Big Or Go Home" moment! Tundaline killed a Fiend, Galdan killed a Fiend, Kipor killed two of them, and Wepi killed one before getting pushed back and stunned. Morgan engaged a Fiend, but was pushed back. There were only two Roving Fiends left, but they were holding their ground!
Those two Fiends were tough! They felled both Weppi and Morgan before any of Our Heroes could act. Tundaline missed her shot, Galdan made it to the combat but only pushed a Fiend back, and Kipor pushed the last one back as well as stunning it.
The fourth Turn was similar; the Fiends acted first but without hitting either Galdan or Kipor, Tundaline shot a Fiend with her crossbow but had no effect, and both Galdan and Kipor pushed back and stunned their opponents. And once again, the Roving Fiends failed to flee.
Turn Five started with a revelation: I had not brought Drustan along for the fight! We were fighting the Fiends to a standstill while missing a member of the Warband! Oops, my bad... Anyway, there was a wonderful initiative roll and everyone activated before the Roving Fiends! Tundaline missed her target again, Kipor killed a Fiend, and Galdan pushed the last Fiend back. The Fiend in return accomplished nothing, and finally broke and ran away. Hopefully this would be the last of those horrible things!
But what of Weppi and Morgan? The dice would tell... Weppi was thought dead, but with the judicious use of a Story Point turned out to only have a broken weapon. Morgan was fine, having only been knocked down. As for loot, well, let's see, there was a Soul Sphere and an Old Dusty Manual, so now I need to look those up and see what they do. We also got a lead to a new Location, and after returning the The Crossing a letter from a Friend added +1 Story Point. The Contract itself paid three Gold, and now I am kind of sorry I didn't take that other Contract that was offered earlier.
I am noticing that ranged combat is fairly ineffective for Our Heroes. This game had only a few hits by Tundaline, and I had entirely forgotten to bring Drustan and his bow along. It might be time to let them go, and bring in some fresh melee troops instead. As I play on a 2'x2' board, there is less time for fire and manuever than in the Before Times, when I played on a 3'x3' board. Hmmm... I will ponder this.
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