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Saturday, May 14, 2016

The Bloody Battle of Hacking and Slashing with some Roaring and Rolling of dice on the Kitchen Table, Part 2

"Captain!" shouted the valiant standard bearer, "The mighty dragon returns!"  Indeed the shadow of the great beast passed over them once and with a gigantic rush of wind, the ancient dragon landed next to the Captain of the Lonely Tree.
"Howdy Fred", said the ruggedly good looking fiftyish bald captain, "See anything?"
"Sure did.  And they have a stinking, no good, under-dressed troll.

From bottom to top:  Grumpy Orcs of the Big White Hand Banner, Rebar of the Crooked sword (leader), Whatagut the Troll, the Dragon Fodder Orcs and the "Who Us?" Orcs.

"But we get to go first!" (YES!  I HAD THE MOST MOBILE AND FLYING UNITS AND WON THE TIE!)

The good guys from left to right: Armored Horse Troop #2, Fred the Dragon, The Captain of the Lonely Tree (leader) and Armored Horse Troop #1.

The two mighty warbands taunt each other.  No actual trees were hurt in this battle.

 "To Battle!"
 Troop #2 moves to the left flank while Fred flies to the base of the center hill to cover . . .
  . . . Troop #1 which successfully advances to the front.  Unfortunately their Captain decides to watch the opening moves from where he is positions with his nicely painted flag.

In Dragon Rampant units roll to "Activate" during their turn.  An activation can be Rallying Battered Units, a Wild Charge, Move, Shoot or Attack.  In the first turn both cavalry troops and the dragon successfully moved by exceeding the score needed to move by rolling two D6.  Unfortunately the leader failed his roll.  Whenever a unit fails an activation roll (except for Rallying Battered Units and mandatory Wild Charges) that ends the turn for that side.

Unfortunately for the Forces of Evil (BWAH HAH HAH!) the "Who Us?" orcs failed their first move and that ended the turn.

Guys.  Remember when we posed for the group picture and I explained the plan?

Momentary confusion reigned among the mounted warriors as wind shifted and the stench of the troll filled the nostrils of the horses causing them to rear and buck in indignation in the lack of sanitary bathing  . . . however the forces on the right flank continued to advance (okay, I tried to move my leader and again failed the roll ending my turn).

 Troop 2 continues to move on a wide flanking move.
With a mighty roar the forces of evil advance!

 Flame attack!

With a grunt the troll sniffs at the smoke as the flames only caused 1 strength point of damage out of the 12 he can sustain.  Barely seen to the right of the troll the Grumpy Orcs of the Big White Hand Banner lose 2 figures (strength points) to the mounted archers.

Whatagut the troll attacks Fred and Fred fights back with tooth and claw. 

 Whatagut loses another strength point his courage falters and he retreats.

Fred roars in triumph as the Dragon Fodder Orcs advance . . .

 . . . while the "Who Us?" Orcs continue to hang out in the rear.

 Troop #1 continues to demonstrate their amazing accuracy by killing 2 more Grumpy Orcs with the Big White Hand banner who hesitate in the killing ground.  The Boneshaker rule is useless in assisting Wild Charges.

Troop #1 preparing to Attack now that the enemy has been softened up.

 View of the battle from behind the Orc position.

 At the beginning of the turn the troll fails to rally and he flees off the table (Courage roll below a zero). The Grumpy Orcs of the Big White Hand Banner successfully conduct a Wild Charge against the Captain of the Lonely Tree; however, the Captain orders an immediate counter-charge.

 The Clash of steel and the Grumpy Orcs inflict a loss of
3 strength points on the Captain's unit causing him to lose his banner man.


However due to the tenacity and sword skill of the Captain (and some darn good dice rolls) the orcs lose 4 strength points, fail their courage roll and retreat.


Run away!  Things are not looking good for the forces of evil.

Next: The conclusion including why you shouldn't count your orcs out of it until they are out of it, how to train your dragon and some really cool attacks and last stands.

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