Vanguard: Seeking Sanctuary - Chapter 8: Sanctuary

End of the road. The small band approaches inn that marks the trail to safety, as one of Ivor's scouts has reported that a large army lies just beyond and over a rise. What they had not counted on was a horde of monsters lies between. Among the horde; the biggest of any monsters seen to date. Surely, such a discovery is rare. It seems to wield some form of magic. Perhaps this is a chance to deal the blow to stop the monster problem for good...

Another oddity the group had come across - a strange duo living in the forest. The first, a man named Byron, explained that he and a large wolf had been the subjects of a crazed wizard's experiment. He is human in every way but his appearance, his skin being covered in short reddish hair and having claws and beast-like fangs. The wolf had grown, as a result of the experiment, to the size of a person, though it hunched over as though it would just as easily take to all fours as it fancied. Unseen was a mental connection between the two, where Byron could issue a few basic commands and the man-wolf would obey, however Byron would also experience any physical sensations the man-wolf felt. (Having lost my Rogue last chapter, I'm trying out Beastmaster, a mercenary class Kai posted to the Vanguard facebook group).

Byron and his companion had been safe from the monsters thus far, staying hidden in the deep forest. He had also seen the destruction they left in their wake. It took very little to convince him to join with the mercenaries. He was most welcome as the band had lost seven citizen warriors at the monastery (I decided on two per monster that got out).

Setup:

Game set-up. Rolled a random 20 monsters: 1 boss, 6 elites, 13 grunts. Rolled random placement for all but what I'll call the megaboss.

The megaboss: I figured that he, as the commander, should be near the inn (though why would he care?).

Turn 1:

Wizard William managed to knock down on grunt. Byron sends the man-wolf in to finish it off, after which it moves on to knock down another grunt.

A grunt hidden in the bushes gets a bead on Ivor and knocks him down!

Ranged grunts fire enough times to overwhelm Tombstone and knock him down.

Turn 2:

Man-wolf continues to rage in charge mode, killing the boss in a rush of claws and fang!

Ivor recovers and issues commands to Katya and Red Hulk. Katya joins Tombstone and Val to meet the monsters on the right flank. Red hulk moves forward. Emeralda creates an armour buff for Byron.

Tombstone falls to the onslaught of two elites.

Turn 3:

Man-wolf strikes again at some approaching elites, ripping one to shreds.

Ivor joins Red Hulk in battling the approaching megaboss. In the background, William has conjured a fireball and drops a grunt. Emeralda casts an armour buff on Ivor.

Just another shot of facing off with the megaboss.

Megaboss kills Red Hulk and an elite kills Ivor (megaboss had cut through the magic defence)!

Turn 4:

Emeralda rushes to Ivor's side and takes Springblade. As she lifts the enchanted sword, magic swirls from it, reviving Ivor to full health. Red Hulk is less fortunate and will not rise again.

An elite successfully blocks the man-wolf and knocks it down while the grunt behind it kills Byron.

Val comes to help Ivor. Emeralda fails to cast any protection spells. William is killed by incoming projectiles from the right flank (image left). Elan manages to a hit on megaboss, as does Val.

Turn 5:

Emeralda takes Springblade back to William and he is revived. He stands up to cast a fireball at the megaboss, managing to kill the grunt beside it. With his connection killed, the man-wolf goes into "guard mode"; staying near Byron's body, but that megaboss happened to be just within the 5" radius of the guard attack circle. Megaboss revives one of his own.

After he and Val each manage to wound the megaboss, Ivor is knocked down again.

Turn 6:

Off in Katya's corner, her defence re-roll is keeping her on her feet and she kills a grunt finally.

The team-up of Val, Ivor, and man-wolf wears megaboss down to one action die.

But he's still got fight left in him, keeping Ivor busy. Some grunts manage to knock down the man-wolf.

Then William is shot again and killed. (Lucky that Springblade is still close-by.)

Turn 7:

William is (barely) revived by the Springblade and casts a fireball at megaboss, managing to knock down an elite. But the combined efforts of man-wolf, Ivor and Val wear down the megaboss. Val strikes the killing blow! The day is won!

Afterword:

Their leader killed, the monsters immediately burrow down into the earth. For many years they are not seen and this chapter of the Svartvalt passes into legend and then into myth. Could something like this ever happen again? Stories of the brave mercenaries and citizens of Ivor's Company grow more incredible through the ages.

William and Emeralda continue the work William was doing before the monsters came. They make a startling discovery linking the monsters to a large and strange device that appeared to have crashed into the ground from the sky. They also marry and raise three children.

Katya uses her share of the king's reward to buy the inn. Occasionally, she contributes her services to near-by sheriffs needing help to keep the peace.

Elan refuses her share of the reward, giving it to some citizens who had started an orphanage to take care of those children who survived the monster invasion, but lost their parents. Elan returns to her people and is never seen again.

Ivor retires from the life of a sword-for-hire, buys a mansion and vineyard near the capital and settles down with a local widow.

Immediately after the battle, man-wolf picks up the body of his "twin" and disappears back into the forest. For many years the locals claim to hear him howling in his grief to a full moon.

The incredibly lucky Val, having her whole life ahead of her, travels the continent in search of monsters. While she battles some terrible beasts - and uncovers some elaborate hoaxes - she never sees the likes of those she cut her teeth on. It is rumoured that she married a pirate and sailed to far off places in search of adventure.

Some other words:

A full disclosure here, this scenario was tough. I had to replay it as I lost badly the first play, then lost again. In those, I had forgotten about the Springblade from Chapter 7! As you can see, having it in this scenario made all the difference for me!

As I hang this one up to try out some other titles; this game has been a pleasure to play and fun to write up these reports for. Thanks to Kai for his help and input as he followed my reports, it was fun to tell people I was talking with the game's author!

I know my blog is not frequented by very many, but I'll still say thanks to any and all who read my reports from playing this game over the last few months! If you are a solo skirmish wargamer or would like to be, I encourage you to try out these rules (hey, they're free).  I found them easy to learn and to play and I found the story engaging as well.

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!