Vanguard: Seeking Sanctuary - Chapter 7: Treasure

 "The refugee trek comes across a monastery that looks abandoned.

"According to lore, within its vaults may be the fabled Springblade - a sword with the magical power to revive the fallen. Leaving the trek outside under the guard of the soldiers, the mercenaries dare an attempt to recover the weapon..."

This scenario is very different. Basically I was facing a race; get one mercenary to the end, pick up the sword, and get him/her back to the entrance before 20 monsters get out. The monsters will only stop to fight if there is a mercenary blocking them.

Just to clear it up now, I realized after playing that the path should have been set up diagonally and I didn't do that. However, I had decided to roll a double spawn move for the first monster placement. But, hey, all it means is everyone has a shorter course to run in order accomplish their win condition. So bad guys have a numbers advantage with the first wave.

Dramatic thumbnail?

Before rolling to populate monsters, I chose how to attack this scenario. I decided to run three groups of 2 mercenaries, each group taking one of the three corridors. On the left, Ivor and Willy the Wizard, Thorval and Emeralda in the middle, and Elan and Katya on the right.

Turn 0:

Three elites and six grunts to start!

Turn 1:

I see I made an error: allowed Willy a fireball after moving twice. It knocked down that middle grunt on the left side, so it didn't move forward as far as the rest. Willy also got an armour buff from Emeralda before moving.

Turn 2:

Katya advances and kills a grunt right off the bat! It's clear that I'm going to have to send only one fighter to get the sword while I try to delay as many of the horde as I can with every one else.

Thorval had rushed ahead, counting on Emeralda succeeding on at least one attempt to buff his armour! Perhaps the oncoming wall of monster got to her as she failed to cast the spell! Thorval is killed!!

Turn 3:

With Thorval gone and herself being un armoured, Emeralda retreats to a spot where she can cast a buff on Elan. As a result, any monsters coming down the middle are unopposed the entire way! On the left, Ivor is blocking a grunt from advancing when a boss comes up and knocks him over!

From this point on, Katya is totally occupied by this grunt. She will keep knocking it down and it will keep coming back for more! Emeralda's buffs will keep her from being knocked down.

Turn 4:

Emeralda moves again to cast a buff on Katya, but puts herself in the path of an oncoming grunt. Willy makes it to the sword and lifts it from its resting place.

Turn 5:

Ivor, as he recovers from the monster's blow, rises up and kills that boss monster dead!

Somehow, no monsters have spawned in the middle corridor. Willy takes the road less populated! So far, 11 monsters have left the building! 

Turn 6:

Ivor's sword strikes true again as a grunt falls before him. (Should this elite engage or pass by? It's not technically blocked and I could argue, since Ivor needed two actions to down that grunt, he was too busy to stop the larger monster.)

Willy is only one movement from the door! As soon as she sees him, Emeralda runs out, calling to Katya and Elan to get out, too!

Turn 7:

Willy exits the monastery with the Springblade! The scenario is won. And none too soon either: fifteen monsters were able to get out.

This scenario was very quick playing. Had the course been diagonal, I would have needed one more turn, maybe two. But even after two turns, I'd have had three more monsters leave at most, pushing that counter to 18. Maybe not, they'd have to run farther too! Katya and Elan still had a buff each, and were facing only grunts, not likely to face more than a knocked down status.

So onward to the final face-off. Needing a new mercenary. I'm thinking about having some form of casualty count to reflect the soldiers outside having to fight off the monsters that did exit the monastery.

Vanguard: Seeking Sanctuary - Chapter 6: Assault

"Near All Hallow's Waterfalls there is a small pond. The pond has been sacred territory for the people of the Svartvalt - and now the monsters have occupied this place. We will retake it! For the people!"

Oh yes, and I named the wizard. his name is Willy.

At this point in the story, with a small army behind them, our heroes take an offensive approach. At the end of the previous scenario, I rolled for new recruits from the surviving citizens. Two new soldiers were added to the ranks. This scenario is different from the others as it is a control-point battle; a score is added for each point occupied by one of the factions. First to 20 wins.

In all previous episodes, I placed my units prior to rolling the positions of the six monster spawn points, I changed it up this time and placed spawn points, then chose a corner to attack from. Also, the rules call for a monster to already be present at all spawn points. They did not say what rank, so I rolled a d8 for each spawn point and placed as follows: 1-4 = Grunt (with a second roll to decide melee (odd) or ranged (even)), 5-7 = Elite, 8 = Boss. I rolled up a boss, two elites, and three grunts. Also, with how easy I've had it the last few games, I also made a spawn roll to add some more numbers to the monsters. I might should have done another...

So story-wise, scouts sent to monitor the pond returned with information on where the monsters are passing between the depths and the surface. Thus encouraged by their successes thus far and angered at the thought of the sacred pool's desecration by the underground hordes, this small band presses an attack!

Start positions: Humans on top right. Top left - three grunts and a boss. Bottom left - two elites, two grunts. Bottom right - two elites and a grunt.

Turn 1:

After a race for control points, humans have one and monsters have three. No other action. Though another boss is spawned right away in the back corner (left).

Turn 2:

Willy the wizard fails a fireball attack on two grunts while Elan knocks down a grunt.

On the right, a group attacks some elites.

In the middle, Thorval leads the other hook-fighters to take a control point and prepare to defend with armour buffs from Emeralda (yellow counters).

These grunts put up a good defence, knocking down Beast Boy.

A terrible photo exists here of three more soldiers taking on a newly spawned boss. Score at end of turn is Humans 3, Monsters 6.

Turn 3:

Mighty Red Hulk single-handedly brings down a boss at the pond!

The newly spawned boss is eliminated by three working together.

Background: grunts are taken care of. Middle: monsters knocked down. Foreground: Willy knocks down one grunt with a fireball.

Katya and the Greycoat advance. Katya's defence special saves her compatriot's life. The score at the end of this turn is 7 all.

Turn 4:

Soooo... Remember back when I said I should have maybe spawned more enemies at the start of the game to make it more interesting? Well, I made a small addition; ogres. I roll 2d6 after the spawning phase and if I roll doubles, an ogre appears at a random edge. The ogres move 6", roll 3d6 to attack and 2d6 to defend. They will attack whichever model of any faction is closest. This one appeared in the same corner from which the humans entered the fray. Perhaps it has been tracking them. Not as safe from rear attacks as we thought!

Thorval and one hook fighter take out an elite and Red Hulk finished off a grunt knocked down by the other hook fighter.

The Greycoat revels in a kill with Katya. Lady with a pole arm knocks down an elite.

An elite and a grunt team up on this militia man and end his career. The end of this turn sees a score of 11 to 8 in the humans' favour. I also did a double spawn phase this round.

Turn 5:

Elan heard a twig snap behind her and Emeralda. An ogre! Where did that come from? She lets fly with arrows, missing her shots.

Willy knocks down two grunts with a fireball.

Five on four results in a dead elite and a downed grunt. But...

...the control point was left unattended and a second elite claims it while more grunts move in!

Sam is knocked down while a boss rushes Beast Boy. Other monsters also move for the hill.

This control point is unattended as well. Not quite enough movement for this grunt to claim it though.

These two break from the main combat to hold off the ogre. Score is 14 - 10 for humans.

Turn 6:

A long shot from Elan topples this elite, but doesn't kill it.

Katya finishes the job, while the rest of the militia score two more.

Ivor and Red topple an elite to take its place as king of this hill. But look out behind you!

Willy finally scores a massive hit with a fireball, killing two grunts and an elite! This should ease things up a little! Thorval takes care of the one grunt who escaped death by fire.

Katya couldn't claim the hill and a grunt breaks through the line and beats her to it!

More problems coming in for Ivor and Red. Val (left) holds her own. To the right, just in the frame, one of the hook fighters managed to beat the grunt to the middle control point, avoiding its shots at her. A boss manages to knock down Beast Boy while attempting to claim a control point. Over at the ogre, blows are exchanged and blocked and no-one gains any advantage. Score is 18 - 12.

Turn 7:

Beast boy gets up, shakes himself off, and makes a savage attack on that boss, killing it instantly!

Katya slays the runt to regain the point. Barely discernible in the background, they manage to knock down the ogre. 

Val slays an elite. Was she just a warrior princess in disguise! The dice really like her!

Ivor gives up the control point to tackle another elite, who keeps both humans busy while a grunt reclaims it.

The Greycoat falls for the last time! However, the monsters just can't quite reach enough control points to halt the human victory. 21 - 13.

What an intense battle following the almost hum-drum ambush! As an added hardship for the humans, I had decided to roll a d6 for any that were knocked over at the end of the last turn (a total of three) and on a 1 they would die from their wounds. One of them didn't make it. And there's no chance for recruits this scenario. I'm a little disappointed I didn't roll more ogres into the fray, would have been interesting had another appeared by one of the knots of fighting forces.

All in all, a really good scenario. Could hardly wait to play. And I think this is the shortest delay between playing and writing the AAR! The river tiles came from a couple of sets I got over at DriveThruRPG.com.

I say it a lot to people in real life, but I think I have yet to sign out a blog post with it - Goodbye! Have fun!

Vanguard: Seeking Sanctuary - Chapter 5: Trap

 "On the way to All Hallows Waterfalls, the route narrows. Pushing forward, the band runs into an obstacle: Trees and rocks are blocking the path. To make things worse, monsters are waiting in ambush."

Having sent messages however he could calling for additional help, no others of Ivor's acquaintances had come. Perhaps they were also facing similar hordes in other corners of the realm. Without anyone to take his place, the loss of Fenrir weighed heavily on his mind.

However, seemingly from nowhere, a cloaked man walked into the camp. He claimed to be a wizard who had been making a study of the places the ancients believed to be strong with magic; that his camp had been destroyed, but more importantly an apprentice and a troop he had hired as a guard during his travels had all perished at the claws of the monsters. This wizard said he had only escaped the same fate when, upon realizing that of his group, only he was left, he was able to cast a spell that rendered him invisible to the monsters. He now requested to stay with Ivor's group for protection, offering his services in return.

With the carriage stopped by the barrier, Ivor takes some of the new soldiers to help clear the way and commands the mercenaries and other soldiers to spread out and watch for monsters. With three spawn points in front and one close on either side, this looks very much like an ambush.

Turn 1:

The unarmoured magic-users take up position on a high point beside the carriage. The wizard knocks over a grunt with a fireball.

Some of the soldiers go with Ivor to the front to start clearing away the barrier. Note: While I removed material on this turn, I realized later that I didn't have the necessary amount of actions after moving figures into position to do that, so it was counted removed on the next turn.

A lucky roll for Tombstone means a one-punch knockout in store for this unfortunate grunt!

Turn 2:

On the right flank, Thorval and newbie Sam U. Rye team-kill an elite, then taunt the grunt following it.

Up the center, the wizard unleashes a fireball that kills two uncomfortably close grunts.

On the left flank, an elite has crawled up from the depths to meet Katya and two other soldiers waiting. It knocks down Tombstone, but is prevented from landing a killing blow.

Turn 3:

With a special spell cast on his blade by the wizard, Ivor narrowly succeeds at dispatching a boss.

Thorval had rushed a boss, hoping to take it down for good, only just knocking it over. It gets up again and is joined by an elite. However, the two monsters fail to land a single blow on the nimble rogue. Our heroic lass from last scenario, Miss Val Keerie, and an accomplice moved to protect the rear and bumped into this grunt. Couldn't knock it down, but kept it from getting the magic users. Emeralda succeeds in casting some protective spells on Thorval and Sam.

Turn 4:

Ivor rushes to the right flank to aide Thorval and Sam, all trying in vain to land a killing blow on the monsters, who pop back up, but are too overwhelmed to land any blows of their own.

Some grunts with ranged weapons have emerged up ahead and they are doing their best to hinder the ruble removal crew. Over on the left flank, the elite beast is finally killed and Katya's crew awaits the next beast to show its face.

In the rear, Greycoat has managed to kill that grunt, but Val is knocked down by a savage boss!

All through this clash, Elan has been standing on the carriage loosing arrows in all directions, but has been unable to do more that be a minor inconvenience to any of these creatures. only now has she managed a hit on one of the grunts shooting at the cleaning team. On the right, Ivor and Thorval are still contending with a boss and an elite.

Turn 5:

Oh good! They've killed them!

That boss in the rear is a pain in the rear!

This is just an unlucky hole for the monsters.

The way is clear! Start loading the untrained refugees!

Turn 6:

Here's a brave one, clearing the way of monsters since the rubble is taken care of!

Ivor runs to the carriage. The winning condition for the Mercenaries is to get Ivor and at least one civilian on the carriage and use an action (Elan's in this case) to drive the carriage off the play area. Easily done at this point.

Alright. So this scenario didn't seem to be as hard as the previous ones. Here's why: 

1. I didn't seem to roll as many grunts, so fewer bad guys on to contend with, even if they are harder to deal with. 

2. Except, with really lucky rolls early in the game (some helped out by the wizard's Enchant Weapon spell), the big guys were kept at bay. 

3. Really helps utilizing the gang-up mechanic with so many surviving soldiers from last scenario. And when the enemy can't field enough units to also take advantage of gang-up, well...

Anyways, still enjoyable, even if it was short!