While all around them the crew unpacked the ship, stowed their dunnage and
argued over the best spots to sleep, Krashhart and Docker Goff discussed a
plan to defend the edge of their new territory - the eastern swamps at
Blubberfen Bog.
Packing up Brakenthorn Tower had not taken the crew long and sailing
the Swordfysh skyship to the new encampment at Badrok Anchorage had
been almost like a holiday for the crew. They were in high spirits and had
come to think of the timeworn ruins as home very quickly.
The Swordfyshes found the ogors in the swamp, but the pirates were spread-out
over too much swamp. They had lost sight of each-other and become
disorganised.
Krashhart, Old Mudgob and Lugger spotted Skargat lurking far too
close to their new encampment. They had intended to swamp towards the monster
as soon as he was sighted and overbear him. But things immediately went awry.
The Tyrant bellowed orders to his crew and they came running without a
moment's hesitation. Skargat's previously shaky authority over his followers
was clearly now absolute.
Cargo and the Crusher pounced on the pirates, Krashhart turned to face them
and the Gristle Grinder glowed with ghostly green flames in his hands.
Old Mudgob took the initiative, seeing the evolving situation for what it was.
He ordered Leeway to dash back. The Shaman followed behind, but still kept an
eye on how Krashhart was fairing.
And Krashhart seemed to be doing well: he appeared to be about to make short
work of the Ogor pirate!
Skargat and the other ogor were on the way though.
Krashhart left Cargo reeling - the Warchanter thought the ogor Maneater was
done. He charged at Skargat; worried that the Tyrant and his bulky cronies
were surrounding Old Mudgob.
Meanwhile Blackpelt and Hook sighted one-another and closed the gap.
Skargat swung his massive axe with malice and floored Krashhart as he ran.
The Tyrant turned to chase Old Mudgob.
Docker Goff, Yardarm Gark and Kaptain Battendown arrived but found a very
different scene to the one they expected.
Old Mudgob skidded to a halt, turned and joined them and together they faced
down Skargat as he barrelled toward them. The green energy bolt that Mudgob
hastily blasted at the Tyrant just seemed to fizzle out as it hit him. He was
barely even scorched.
Docker cursed at the Tyrant, unleashing a stream of insults and taunts that
had even less effect than the magic.
The battle was nearing its final phase - the next few moments would decide the
result without a doubt.
Lugger spotted a bunch of gnoblars trying to sneak along the western flank and
headed right at them.
Kaptain Battendown repositioned himself in an attempt to get even a small
advantage, while Skargat smashed Yardarm.
Blackpelt and Hook duelled.
Leeway Ruk hurried to help Hook but the Crusher was right behind him.
Lugger crashed into the gnoblars, injured one and stomped another into the
bog. The two survivors squealed and scattered.
Skargat punched Docker Goff out cold and turned on Old Mudgob. The shaman
clenched his fists and sparks fizzed and popped from them.
Blackpelt and the Crusher both dealt with their opponents quickly.
Hook went down just moments after Leeway fell.
As Docker lay in the wet mud, coloured lights flashed all around him and he
was sure he could hear the thumping beat of distant music...
~ ⦽ ~
Bulkhead Krug and Mr Flea went to poke around the woods surrounding the ruins
they now called home. They found a likely spot for treasures in the
Stranglegrove Swamps and went fishing. Bulkhead caught a Greater Itxi
Grub, which he was very proud of. Mr Flea struggled with a festering gut wound
and found himself on the loosing side of a battle with a Gnarloak! Bulkhead
pulled him out of the carnivorous tree but also told the rest of the crew
about it when they got back to camp.
Mainstay went to explore the ruins of Badrok Anchorage in more detail. But he
delved a little too far into the deeps and found a swarm of angry Bloodwasps,
each horrible insect was as big as his fist. They noisily chased him out of
the basement where they made their nest and he ran screaming from them. He
slunk back to his hammock well after dark, having hidden in an empty
storehouse that still had a working door.
~ ⦽ ~
Showdown at Blubberfen
Deployment: Hold Out
Victory: Drive Them Back
Twist: Murky Swampland
This was our final game of the year, and the penultimate of this
campaign.
As we knew we were drawing near to the end of this story, we wrote our own
Campaign Arc for the last three games: "Showdown at Blubberfen" (starting
with our previous game - The Ironforged Ogor's second attack on the Swordfyshes' siege-dam).
The Arc is based on the structure used in Rot and Ruin, but with new
Battleplan cards selected for the Deployment and Victory that fit our story
well. We will draw three Twist cards each game and secretly bid Resources to
see who gets to choose the one used. Resources can also be spent on buying an
extra Wild Dice,
There are two possible Battleplans for each step in the "tree", which we fight
depends on the result of the previous game. Each win for the Swordfyshes
follows the green arrow, each win for the Ironforged follows the red.
Viktor won the game last week, so this was the middle step of the sequence on
his side. Winning this game makes the finale game on Viktor's side at the
bottom of the tree.
As we both knew the Deployment and Victory cards we would be using I had a
plan for this game. Only two things went wrong with it:
- It was a bad plan
- I didn't follow it anyway
I should have banked on Viktor's last Battlegroup being loads of Gnoblars and
camped around their deployment point, so I could trap and slaughter them as
soon as they arrived. I also should have avoided fighting multiple ogors at
once each turn - they are so blasted tough I can only reliably take them down
by ganging-up on them at least 2 or 3 to 1.
Dramatis Personae
The Swordfyshes, a crew of pirate Ironjawz
The watch on deck:
-
Lord Krashhart - Warchanter Explorer
3 Renown, Agile Warrior, The Gristle Grinder, Broken Leg (-1 Movement) -
Old Mudgob - Weirdnob Shaman
2 Renown, Idol of Mork -
Lugger Dag - Orruk Brute with Pair of Brute Choppas (2 swords)
3 Renown, Aqua Ghyranis, red bandana -
Hook - Orruk Brute with Pair of Brute Choppas (axe and hook hand)
3 Renown, Greater Itxi Grub -
Yardarm Gark - Orruk Brute with Pair of Brute Choppas (axe and
sword)
2 Renown, Jabberslythe Blood, blue bandana -
Leeway Ruk - Orruk Brute with a Jagged Gore-hacka
1 Renown, Itxi Grub, Fractured Arm, red bandana -
Kaptain Battendown - Orruk Ardboy with Ardboy Choppas
3 Renown, red cloak and squig-parrot -
Docker Goff - Ardboy with Big Choppa
Blight Serpent Venom, black top hat and red shoulder-plate
The watch below:
-
Flotsam - Orruk Brute with Pair of Brute Choppas (axe and sword)
2 Renown, Carnosaur Fang Elixir, blue bandana -
Bulkhead Krug - Orruk Brute with a Jagged Gore-hacka
Itxi Grub, broad-brimmed hat, beard. -
Mr Flea - Orruk Ardboy with Ardboy Choppas
Gut Wound, drummer -
Dakmeff - Orruk Ardboy with Ardboy Choppas
1 Renown, barrel on his back -
Barnacle Nog - Orruk Ardboy with Ardboy Choppas
3 Renown, bag of bones -
Mainstay - Orruk Ardboy with Ardboy Choppas
Red shoulder-plate and red bandana
Reputation: 7
Glory: 0
Quest Progress: Explore the Gnarlwood - ongoing
Encampment: Badrok Anchorage (a Timeworn Ruin), Secure
Viktor's version of this tragedy is
here.
Another enjoyable adventure!
ReplyDeleteThanks mate ☠️
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