Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Raid on Linden Way

As previously posted this was a test game to see if my conversion of Blood Bath at Orc's Drift to Warrior Heroes Armies and Adventures was sound.

In this game I took on the role of Magyar Ironfist, leader of the Kwae Karr, and the game system ran everyone one else.

The following is a photo report of the Kwae Karr Orc's raid on Linden Way. I painted all of these figures, save one, way back in the 80's so pardon the quality, and enjoy the trip down memory lane : ) Remember you may enlarge a photo by left mouse clicking on it and often may enlarge it again by repeating that action on the enlarged photo.

Dawn at Linden Way. Mayor Leofwine has drawn up the militia and the civilians prepare to evacuate.

Magyar and the orc skirmishers approach.

The crazed Illusionist is disturbed by this!

The approach.

The Illusionist gets frenzied and charges to his doom!

Mayor Leofwine implores the militia to patience.

The archers in the watch tower take the orcs under fire.

The orc main body arrives.

And advances.

Orc skirmishers reach the hedgerow.

Magyar leads the charge into the village.

Mayor Leofwine urges his men to fight for all that is good and holy.

The melee begins as the refugees exit stage right....

...and hope for the best.

The militia's assault is hard fought.

And drives the orcs back out of the village.

Magyar holds the roadway while exhorting his orcs to redouble their efforts.

Other orcs have broken through the hedge row and carry the fight  to the humans.

Magyar does a tolerable impression of berserker rage...

...slaying Mayor Leofwine and three of his men.

The green tide rush into the village.

Some of the orcs have broken off the assault to pursue the refugees. 

The refugees suffer under a rain of arrows.

Situation mid game.

The militia fight valiantly...

...but the greenskins will not be denied.

Slowly the orcs get the upper hand.

The defenders are getting thin on the gound.

Most of the refugees have fled, only three remain, one too wounded to move on his own.

The pursuit is close as more arrows take their toll.

In the village there are no longer enough militia to form an unbroken line.

The militia is pushed back while some poor fellow is trapped as the orcs advance past him.

The few remaining militiamen are surrounded.

And slain.

In the watch tower only one man remains unwounded. The last defender of Linden Way.

Undaunted he lets fly at the orcs massed in the town.

The hail of orc arrows is too much and the  last human falls.
And so it came to pass. Despite the militia having put up a really good show of it, the  final losses were disproportionately in favor of the orcs. Twenty militiamen, Mayor Leofwine, and two two refugees were slain for a loss of five orcs killed and another three wounded.

Now of course the militia losses were only so high because under the scenario rules they would never rout. Still the lack of orc casualties is a bit surprising. In Warrior Heroes Armies and Adventures (WHAA) a miltiiaman, here Rep 4) armed with a pole arm, is the equal of a Rep 4 orc armed with a sword. However the orcs did benefit from carrying shields while the militia had to do without.

Luck certainly played a role here though, as the human archers should have fared better than the orc archers on the ground, due to the cover provided by the tower. However time and again the humans fell while the orcs shrugged off a hit. Strange but then there is no accounting for fate.

As far as the conversion to WHAA goes, I am well satisfied with the result and look forward to working out the details of the larger game.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and thanks for stopping by!

11 comments:

  1. Well, Mr Monkey-Dew, your blog certainly doesn't cease to amaze me!

    Both your scope and sheer output are astounding! I've come to the conclusion that:

    1. You are privately wealthy and don't suffer from the misery of a day job
    2. You are single, and need not explain your exploits to a demanding spouse
    3. You never sleep.

    I simply cannot explain it otherwise.

    Nevertheless, well done to you, sir! Lovely to see some lovely old lead in user there. I'm also intrigued by WHAA, as it seemed to carry the scenario very, very well.

    Very interesting, I look forward to the balance of Orc's Drift!

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  2. Excellent! I have a lot of old figures like that, not as well painted, but all human!

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  3. @ Gaf: That would be telling : ) 1. I do game while the kids are off to school mostly. 2. The Lady Wife is most remarkable and understands that my hobby keeps me off the street. 3. Sadly too right!

    @flashcove: Indeed there is no skool like the old skool! Funny thing is I can see that I had shaded the cheeks and lips of the human figures and done various other advanced (for me) things that I have no memory of having done. I should wash the orcs though...(that's funny).

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  4. @Gaj! of course. Typing is not my forte :(

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  5. What a coincidence! in my game only died five Orcs as well :)
    Great batrep and lovely figures. I had those Orcs but I sold them years ago :(

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    1. That is quite a coincidence. I am still wondering how I managed to lose so few orcs. With my usual luck...well. I was expecting heavy losses.

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  6. Great report, along with the mass battle entry. I was shocked to recognize the orc figures when I looked closer at the photos. Perhaps I'll have to post some pics of mine.

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    1. Hello Sean!

      Glad you enjoyed it. Please do post photos when you can. I love seeing the old figures. So very full of character they were, uh, are.

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  7. WOW! Great battle report and setting, bring me nice memories (old and full of character Citadel figures, Warhamammer Townscape buildings...)! THANK YOU VERY MUCH for sharing and inspiring us!

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  8. Eduardo,

    You are most welcome! I love the old fantasy figures. IMO historical figures have improved since the 80's but fantasy figures lost a lot of their character and charm : (

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