Further Adventures in The Scarlands - part 13, No Quarter in a Storm

"I've been drinking far too much
Heave away, haul away
Fairwater's got me in its clutch
Hauled away to Thondia

Drinking's not my only vice
Heave away, haul away
Lost my ship on card and dice
Got hauled away to Thondia

My name was Ghalbakk I say
My name was Ghalbakk
But now I'm resting in the ground
In a grave in Thondia"

The crew's out-of-tune shanty drifted up on the wind to where Krashhart stood, on the roof of a ruin. The ruin was part of a small cluster of crumbling stone buildings that jutted up through the treetops in a ragged line like broken teeth. He watched a looming weather front as it closed-in on them rapidly, on a strong easterly wind.

Clouds had been gathering on the horizon all morning; threatening rain and worse. Just after noon the sky above turned black and took on a distinctly angry aspect as the cloud bank rolled closer and closer.

The inside of the cloud was illuminated for a split second and there was a distant rumble of thunder a few moments later.

The first of the Ironforged arrived through the trees just as the storm hit. Lightning flashed and hit a nearby tree with a loud crash and a cloud of sparks. The tree blazed and the shanty singing stopped.

"It ain't our first time out of harbour for a monstrous maelstrom, but I don't recall any like as bad as this!" Krashhart shouted to be heard over the wind.

Old Mudgob just nodded and ducked under cover.

The shaman peered out of the shadows as the wind picked up and lightning struck the ground just a few yards away.

"Which it shall be on that there day, the sky be coloured bright by night, a duel shall bring an age of falling stars and haul a kingdom to the deep." he muttered to himself.

Cargo advanced across the open ground and more lightning strikes flashed and boomed around him.

Krashhart got under cover too, under the remains of the roof above the ruin's upper room.

Flotsum and Yardarm Gark, returning from exploring to the east, spotted Cargo as they headed toward Krashhart and Old Mudgob. They looked at each other for a second, they both grinned then followed the ogor Maneater as quietly as they could manage.

Battendown also had an eye on Cargo but he was staying put, weathering the storm.

Out of the tempest Skargat suddenly appeared - he crashed into the ruins and attacked Old Mudgob. Krashhart swung down on a rope to help the shaman out

A very near-miss of grounding lightning fried Flotsum a little and made him swear loudly.

Battendown moved between trees behind Cargo, who didn't seem to have noticed him.

Flotsum and Yardarm had his full attention, Flotsum's pained yell had alerted him to their presence.

Leeway Ruk and Bulkhead Krug appeared out of the trees to the south, somewhat ahead of Battendown.

Barag the Maneater surprised Yardarm and Flotsum while they were watching Cargo. They had blundered into a trap!

Skargat viciously knocked down Old Mudgob but Krashhart brought the full force of the Gristle Grinder on the Tyrant and he was once more laid low!

Lugger Dag spotted a running gnoblar, but he was too slow to catch it, and it got away.

Braggoth Blackpelt clambered up the outside of the ruin and ducked into the safety of the upper room.

Barag and Yardarm hacked at one-another, and although both parried the majority of the other's cuts and thrusts, Yardarm gained a slight edge by being a dirtier fighter.

Watcha the gnoblar found himself in an unexpectedly ignored position and was able to watch the rest of the battle unfolding at a safe distance.

Flotsum charged at Cargo.

Blackpelt took cover from the punishing storm.

Watcha thought about taunting Lugger Dag but realised piping-down kept him alive.

Cargo legged it! He stomped off into the woods.

Yardarm Gark saw and opening, as he parried Barag's attack with his kutass - he wickedly chopped at Barag's leg with his boarding-axe and toppled the scarred Maneater.

But the storm grew in intensity once more and both warbands realised there would only be losers from this fight if they hung around. So they all withdrew, accepting that a stalemate had been reached.

Meanwhile the Swordfyshes of the Anchor-Watch had also been busy: Mainstay was overjoyed as he  found one of the Treasures of Gorkamorka - the Idol of Mork that Old Mudgob had been searching for. And Barnacle Nog found enough Blight Serpent Venom to coat a choppa while he was exploring the woods around camp.

~ ⦽ ~

Deployment: Death Spiral

Victory: No Quarter

Twist: Azyrite Lightning Storm

This was another fun game of movement and positioning, and I once more got caught up with the fighting and lost sight of the Victory conditions. I suspect Viktor might have too. We both ended the game with fighters spread out in every quarter of the board and no way of shifting each other's fighters out! I earned a hefty 6 Glory though, which is not bad for a draw! (Played a campaign game +3, Draw +1, Opponent's Leader taken down +1, Opponent's Reputation higher +1).

In the aftermath sequence Old Mudgob only received a flesh wound, so he made a full recovery.

My quest was completed - I already had a Progress of 8 out of 15, I rolled a 6 for Mainstay's exploration and got +2 for being the attacker in this game. I gave the Idol of Mork to Old Mudgob and moved his previous artefact, an Itxi Grub, to Leeway Ruk. 

Barnacle Nog went off to explore the woods, found Blight Serpent Venom. Mr Flea's Gut Wound was still bad, so he is staying at camp for a while longer. And I added Bulkhead Krug, an Orruk Brute with a Jagged Gore-hacka, to my roster.

Dramatis Personae

The Swordfyshes, a crew of pirate Ironjawz

• Lord Krashhart - Warchanter Explorer
  Agile Warrior, 3 Renown, The Gristle Grinder
• Old Mudgob - Weirdnob Shaman
  1 Renown, Idol of Mork
• Kaptain Battendown - Ardboy with a cloak and a squig-parrot
  2 Renown
• Lugger Dag - Brute, pair of Choppas (2 swords), red bandana
  2 Renown, Itxi Grub
• Yardarm Gark - Brute with Pair of Brute Choppas (axe and sword), blue bandana.
  2 Renown, Carnosaur Elixir
• Hook - Brute with a hook hand
  3 Renown, Blight Serpent Venom
• Flotsum - Brute, pair of Choppas (axe and sword), blue bandana
  1 Renown
• Leeway Ruk - Orruk Brute with a Jagged Gore-hacka, red bandana
  1 Renown, Itxi Grub
• Bulkhead Krug - Orruk Brute with a Jagged Gore-hacka, broad-brimmed hat
• Mr Flea - Ardboy Drummer
  Gut Wound
• Dakmeff - Ardboy with a barrel on his back
  1 Renown
• Barnacle Nog - Ardboy with a bag of bones
  3 Renown
• Mainstay - Ardboy with red shoulder-plate and bandana

Reputation: 5

Glory: 14

Quest Progress: Treasures of Gorkamorka - Idol of Mork: Completed!
New Quest: Explore the Gnarlwood

Viktor's side of this adventure is here.

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet - Docker Goff

Docker Goff

Goff was a rather mercenary pirate who worked on several different ships over the years. Strangely, none of the Kaptains he briefly followed seemed all that bothered by this at all and he came and went as he pleased.

He was superstitious and always wary of ill omens, which he saw everywhere. Whenever he met new shipmates he wanted to exchange news about other crews and places they'd been - he always assumed his listeners knew them even when they clearly didn't.

+++

The build:

I knew I would buy the Goff Rocker model as soon as I saw the preview. I also knew I would be converting him into an orruk pirate.

But it wasn't until after he arrived in the post that I realised I hadn't thought about what he could represent in terms of story and rules. So I spent a few days mulling it over before I made any serious conversion changes to the model. My first thoughts were:

• A Warchanter
  + Using the guitar as the basis to make a hurdy gurdy!
  - I don't think I need another Warchanter right now (I could save the guitar bit to make a hurdy gurdy player later).
• A shaman of some sort
  + Could be a Weirdnob Shaman or a Wurrgog Prophet (on the 40mm base he came with) or Wardokk (on a 32mm base).
  - I went off the shaman idea after a few people made reference to the trope of "voodoo witch doctors" wearing top hats. I wasn't really comfortable with that.
• A Boss
  + Either a Bonesplitterz Savage Big Boss or an Ironjawz Ardboy Boss.
  - I would need to decide which crew he would join to pick which one.

Eventually I settled on both a Savage Big Boss and an Ardboy Boss!

I realised that if I made him so he could be either a Savage Big Boss (in the Cleavermaws who I play using Bonesplitterz rules), or an Ardboy Boss (in the Swordfyshes who I play using Ironjawz rules) it would give me the most narrative options later. He will probably see tabletop action with the Swordfyshes first as they are my warband in our current campaign.

In principle the build should have been pretty straightforward after that. But I probably made it more complicated than I needed too, because I had a fairly solid idea of what I wanted him to look like.

I assembled him following the instructions, up to the point where it said to attach his hands, then went "off-book".

+++

I clipped off the bit of squig attached to his left foot then glued a piece of Gloomtide Shipwreck deck (I had saved a bit with a sextant and a bone on it while I was making my Shipwreck Rogue Idol) to the bottom of his left foot, so the bottom edge touched the ground next to his right foot. Then added bits of timber from the Skaven lightning cannon under the angled deck to hold it up.

I went through my bits boxes and started sorting parts that might work. I found a right arm holding an axe I liked - a nice big Boss Choppa from the Ironjawz Brutes kit. I clipped the Brute arm off at the elbow, along the edge of the armour plate, at an angle that fitted the Goff Rocker's arm without the guitar/hand bit. But it made his arm too long, so I trimmed the Rocker's arm a bit more to fit it.

I had to trim his left arm to the elbow, so I could replace the mic-holding hand and change the angle of the arm. I chose a left arm, also from the Brutes kit, that didn't have a hand attached then clipped a closed-fist from the Ork Nobz kit and trimmed it to fit the wrist joint of the Brute arm.

Before I attached the bandolier (well, guitar strap) I shaved off the bullets where they poked out of the loops. Once I had glued the strap in place I added the gunpowder flasks from a WFB Dwarf kit and a flintlock pistol from the Empire Pistoleers. I also shaved off the bullet from the hat-band.

There was an area on his back that had a hole and a flattened bit where the guitar should have gone. My old faithful came to the rescue again: the Ogor Glutton bag of bones. I fiddled around with the position and angle before I glued it in place, to find a spot that both looked good and had plenty of contact points to make a strong join.

His shoulders looked a bit narrow and out of proportion to his armoured arms so, after shaving of a few studs, I added a Brute's pouldron.

A Skaven Plague Monk pouch and a Kroot pistol finished off the gear on his belt.

The next stage was a little greenstuff work to bulk out the base where the sand would be, between the shipwreck timbers...

... and to fill a couple of gaps around the backpack.

It was really cold on the day I did the greenstuff and it was much harder to work with than it normally is.

Further Adventures in The Scarlands - part 12, Ships in the Night

The Swordfyshes gathered at the edge of the Ironforged's territory. Krashhart had explained his plan, to sneak in as night fell and start a dozen or more fires. This was partly as a strategic move: to destroy resources and deny them to the ogors; partly as a psychological attack: as it would make the always-hungry lunks struggle for supplies for a while;... but mostly just for the simple fun of it.

It was a plan the whole crew could easily understand. They even somehow all managed to arrive at the rendezvous point at the same time - they clearly all loved a good fire!

~ ⦽ ~

They waited, hidden in the woods until dark. As Hysh crept lower in the sky and the shadows of the trees grew longer, the pirates made their move.

Krashhart made a dash for it immediately, he unexpectedly slammed into Braggoth Blackpelt but shouldered past the Maneater.

Lugger Dag and Flotsum spotted a gnoblar in the twilight and went after him, hoping for a quick and easy kill.

In the deepening darkness Maneaters crashed noisily through the undergrowth. The pirate orruks could hear them, but they were already hidden from sight by the gloom.

Cargo spotted Flotsam and gave chase.

Skargat suddenly appeared out of the shadowy twilight and barrelled into Flea bodily; slammed him to the ground and finished him off with an iron-shod stamp. Yardarm Gark slashed and hacked at the Tyrant in reply.

Old Mudgob and Hook heard the fighting and ran through the woods as the last of the daylight disappeared.

Krashhart slipped off into the gathering night.

Old Mudgob and Hook were not far behind him. Blackpelt, annoyed that Krashhart had eluded him, got ready to meet them.

Yardarm Gark fell quickly when Skargat turned his full attention to him. Lugger Dag did not hang around for his turn.

Cargo caught up with Flotsum and smacked him with his rusted anchor.

Fires sparked in Old Mudgob's eyes as he saw the Maneaters waiting for them in the shadows.

The Maneaters pulled out guns and opened fire - blackpowder ignited, the flash illuminated the twilight for a fraction of a second and the report echoed between the trees. Lugger Dag was hit as he raced past Old Mudgob.

Skargat placed himself between a couple of sturdy trees. He was determined no one was going to get by him; wounds or no wounds!

Flotsum feinted right then as Cargo went to grab him he dived to the left, skirted round the ogor and sprinted away into the dark shadow beneath a tree.

Blackpelt and Hook eyed each-other as they passed by, before both making their getaway. Lugger Dag was hot on Hook's heels, but he didn't even see the ogor.

Old Mudgob boiled inside. Green fire blazed around his eyes and in his open hands. With a triumphant roar he directed two jets of it at Skargat and brought the massive Tyrant down!

Barag viciously attacked Old Mudgob and nearly took him down, but the slab-sided old git was made of stern stuff. And also very lucky.

Cargo ran by behind him and disappeared into the night.

Lugger Dag slipped past a gnoblar heading a different way, they hardly noticed each other go by in the dark.

Finally, Flotsum made off into the darkness, delighted at his tricky escape.

~ ⦽ ~

Krashhart, Hook, Lugger Dag and Flotsum spent a very happy night setting things on fire. There was something of a carnival atmosphere about it... at least there was until they got back to camp and found a good deal of their supplies on fire too!!

Long after darkness fell, Yardarm Gark came-to alone on the forest floor. Fast-growing predatory vines had already started to wrap themselves round his leg. He would have been dragged off into the belly of a carnivorous tree if he had not immediately grabbed his choppa and slashed at them in a panicked frenzy!

He heard a groaning in the darkness somewhere off to his left. He jumped to his feet and wobbled a bit. He steadied himself and focused on the noises. After a few minutes he found the Swordfyshes' Ardboy drummer, Mr Flea, curled up in a ball.

They stumble back to camp together before dawn, Mr Flea clutching his wounded belly.

~ ⦽ ~

Deployment: Clash of Blades

Victory: Raze

Twist: Dusk

This was a fun and challenging game - it was mostly about movement and positioning (which I always enjoy) but it did also have an unexpected highlight: I managed to take down Skargat for only the second time ever! I think he might develop a grudge against Old Mudgob now though...

In the aftermath sequence the Swordfyshes earned 6 Glory points: 3 for playing a campaign battle, +1 as it was a draw, +1 for having a lower Reputation than the ogors, and +1 as the leader of their opponent's warband was taken down. 

Yardarm Gark lost Renown (but as he didn't have any it counted as a full recovery from his injuries). Mr Flea was left with a gut wound - so he might stay at camp for a game or two to recover.

Flotsam, Yardarm Gark and Lugger Dag gained a point of Renown each. Dakmeff was sent forth on the Quest for the Treasures of Gorkamorka - Idol of Mork. I rolled 5, which I was relieved about as I didn't make any progress through other means (nothing for a draw and I wasn't the attacker).

Mainstay was sent forth to explore the woods but only found another Itxi Grub, which I gave to Mudgob. I spent some of the Glory they earned on adding Leeway Ruk - a Brute with a jagged gore-hacka - to my Roster.

Dramatis Personae

The Swordfyshes, a crew of pirate Ironjawz

• Lord Krashhart - Warchanter Explorer
  Agile Warrior, 2 Renown, The Gristle Grinder
• Old Mudgob - Weirdnob Shaman
  1 Renown, Itxi Grub
• Kaptain Battendown - Ardboy with a cloak and a squig-parrot
  2 Renown
• Lugger Dag - Brute, pair of Choppas (2 swords), red bandana
  1 Renown, Itxi Grub
• Yardarm Gark - Brute with Pair of Brute Choppas (axe and sword), blue bandana.
  1 Renown, Carnosaur Elixir
• Hook - Brute with a hook hand
  3 Renown
• Flotsum - Brute, pair of Choppas (axe and sword), blue bandana
  1 Renown
• Leeway Ruk - Orruk Brute with a Jagged Gore-hacka
• Mr Flea - Ardboy Drummer
  Gut Wound
• Dakmeff - Ardboy with a barrel on his back
  1 Renown
• Barnacle Nog - Ardboy with a bag of bones
  3 Renown
• Mainstay - Ardboy with red shoulder-plate and bandana

Reputation: 4

Glory: 11

Quest Progress: Treasures of Gorkamorka - Idol of Mork: 8 out of 15

Viktor's side of this adventure is here.