Chaos in Carpathia: Monsters Vs. Humans

After receiving the latest warband updates from Tom, Jet and I couldn't wait to to try them out.

The Nosferatu was one of the warbands with a major overhaul. They now have an evasive, take out your targets one by one kinda feel. Very skulky and stealthy, which I am a huge fan of.

Because of these changes I wanted to try them out. Enter my Nosferatu vs Jet's Hungarian Monster Hunters. Jet was kind enough to host for the evenings event and here is our playing area.

For objectives on my side of the table their were the statue, the grave and the alchemist table. On Jet's side their was the pagan statue, the lamp post and the old tree stump. The church was the key location.

The interiors for the buildings. The person of interest is located in brown building closest to the bridge.

For secret objectives I had The Hunt, The Score and The Search. For the score I choose Bjorn. Lucian was chosen for the search. Jet had The Search, The Score, and The Rescue. For the score he chose Lucien and for the search he choose Konrad Von Krumm. For campaign cards I had Feat:Resolve and Jet had The Apostate. You can view the rules for the secret objective and campaign cards on Jet's blog here.

Below is how the deployment for the game started. I decided to have Lucian closer to the objectives as I he was my searcher. The rest of the warband was centralized to advance in any direction needed.

Jet deployed most of his warband closer to the person of interest due to having the rescue secret objective.

The rest of his warband was centralized to challenge the oncoming threat.

The game was underway. The first turn Lucien was moved to the statue and claimed a clue from my side of the table. The rest of the warband rushed towards the small band of hunters, including Bjorn, my target for the score.

One ability I like about the Nosferatu is Mind Control. I made good use of this ability having The Baron command a wolf forward to charge one of Jet's hunters and tie them up in melee.

Jet sent the good doctor and Konrad to find clues from the pagan statue. He used this little strategy so I would have to try and guess which one was the actual searcher. Helmet and Ernst were rushed forward to the person of interest.

Seeing Helmet and Erst rushing to the person of interest I sent three of my ghouls to intercept.

 Lazlo and Bjorn were able to take out the wolf I had sent in earlier. I knew I had to keep them on the defensive. The Baron took the form of the Man bat and rushed in after Bjorn. He then ordered his wolf to attack Lazlo with another use of mind control. Ghoul, Chuckals Charlie charged in to aid the wolf against Lazlo.

One of the new abilities for the Nosferatu is Elusive. This allows the vampire to change a extra 3 inchs if the model stays out the enemies line of sight. I was able to use this power to creep up to the corner of the church. From there Lucien used his mind control on Charlie to attack Lazlo which killed the hunter.

While this was happening, Helmet was able to make his way into the building and almost all the way to the person of interest.

Georgie, Nameless and Freddie Three legs all rushed to the building with person of interest only to find the door was locked. Luckily Nameless was able to rip the door down for entry next turn.

Before rushing off to the next objective Lucien used his mind control on the wolf to move and attack Bjorn but was unable to bring the wolf under his control (TN4, Resolve check). Due to the elusive ability and staying out of sight, Lucien was able to almost make it to the objective to search next turn.

Charlie moved to engage Alder and with some marvelous rolls was able to take down the crossbowman. The Baron reverted back to vampire form and with the aid of the wolf was able to slay the slayer Bjorn. (It was a great turn for the Nosferatu). All the while Konrad was sneaking in the background across the river to get to the lampost clue.

Nameless and Georgie rushed into the building to engage Helmet and try and kidnap the person of interest. But Helmet proved too mighty and was able to keep the ghouls at bay.

Erst charged Freddie to prevent him from aiding the other two ghouls inside the building.

 

With the last clue in his grasp Lucian began to search the old tree stump only to come up empty. (What a time to flub a roll!) Viewing this as his chance Jet ran Konrad directly over to Lucien to stop him from searching next turn. The good Doctor after finding a clue at the lamp post charged toward his final objective, only to be headed off by Chuckals and The Baron.

Nameless and Georgie continued their melee with Helmet, but the Slayers resolve would not be broken.

At the beginning of the next turn I knew Lucien had to act to survive.  Unfortunately for me Jet played his Apostate campaign card, which nulled Lucien's activation unless I paid two fate, I only had one. Konrad proceeded to try and slay my vampire only to miss. (Lucky me)

 

After leading the good Doctor to his heavenly home The Baron and the wolf moved to surround the monster hunter leader.

After dealing with Freddie Three Legs, Erst moved into the building to aid his comrade. Helmet used all his resources to try to deal with the ghouls but their endurance proved stronger then expected.

The game then came to a close. The final score for the Nosferatu was four. Two for The Score for taking down Bjorn and two for the hunt. For destroying 50% of the monster hunter's warband while your warband stays above 50%.

The Hungarian Monster Hunters final score was three. One for The Search for obtaining two clues from his side of the table with Konrad. Two for The Rescue for holding the person of interest for two turns.

It was a game I thought I had in the bag until Lucien botched his roll on the search. Then Jet played The Apostate and I started to get nervous. Luckily I was able to hold on for the victory!

The new lists rock! Great job Tom!

P.s. Our next adventure of Delves is scheduled for this weekend. Stay tuned for the adventure recap.

Thanks for reading,

Tenz

Delves Update: Creepy Crawlers

Adventure three for our Delves campaign is coming up this weekend. This puts me back into my routine of preparing for the festivities.

With two other adventures already under my belt I am able to draw on some of the terrain and models I have already created which reduces the prep time for each adventure. I did however paint some new models and stats for a couple of cool baddies and here they are.

First up we have the Giant Spider Broodmother. 

Heroes will want to be very cautious when encountering the Broodmother. She is a silent and deadly predator with a poisonous bite and webbed attacks. This model is from the Decent Board game from Fantasy Flight.

Giant Spider Brood Mother (72 pts.): Web-spinning, many legged matriarch of the hunter brood. 

Animal 5D, Str 5D, Def 4D, Tough 4D, Init 9

Mv: 7”    HP: 10    Primary ATT & DAM: Bite 7D/7D

Alignment: N   Size: L  

Attributes & Powers: Deadly +1, Entrap, Large Target, Melee Attack +2/+1, Natural Attack +1D Damage, Poison 2(Bite), Sharp Senses +1D, Stealth, Wall Walker

Drive: Protection

Reward Level: +2D    

Next we have the Giant Spiders

The only thing worse then facing a Broodmother, is a Broodmother with her brood. These spiders are much like their matriarch. The main difference is they are quicker and their poison is not as potent. These models are from the World of Warcraft Board game from Fantasy Flight.

Giant Spider (68 pts.): Web-spinning, many legged hunters. 
Animal 4D, Str 5D, Def 4D, Tough 4D, Init 8
Mv: 7”    HP: 10    Primary ATT & DAM: Bite 5D/6D
Alignment: N   Size: L  
Attributes & Powers: Entrap, Large Target, Natural Attack +1D Damage, Poison 1(Bite), Preternatural Quickness, Sharp Senses +1D, Stealth, Wall Walker
Drive: Thrall
Reward Level: +1D   

When I created these creatures I needed to create the poison ability. Here is what I came up with.

Poison

If a character is hit with a creature with the poison ability for the specific attack type they have to make a toughness (without armor) versus the poison level TN. If they fail they lose 1 hp otherwise the effects of poison wears off. If the check failed, they take one hp damage and at the beginning of their activation they have the make the check again until the check is passed or the character is reduced to zero hp. Unless specified poison does not stack.

Poison 1 - TN2

Poison 2 - TN3, +1RL

Poison 3 - TN4, +2RL

Cost: Poison 1 - 5 points, Poison 2 - 8 points, Poison 3 - 12 points

Thanks for reading,

Tenz

Thanks For The Nod!

A few days ago the nice folks over at Noble Pursuits were kind enough to award my blog with the Liebster Award. Suffice to say I was pretty stoked about it and my inner geek was bursting with pride :-) Thank you to Aggro84 and the folks at Noble Pursuits for this honor.

When you are chosen for said award you have to pleasure pass along the riches to five other blogs.

The rules are very easy:
 1. Copy and paste the award on your blog linking it to the blogger who has given it you.

2. Pass the award to your top 5 favorite blogs with less than 200 followers by leaving a comment on one of there posts to notify them that they have won the award and listing them on your own blog.

3. Sit back and bask in the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing you have made someone's day!

4. There is no obligation to pass this onto someone else but its nice if you take the time to do so.

Without further adieu and in no particular order;
1.  Rab's Geekly Digest - Great blog for some creative gaming from a geek Dad's point of view.

2. Shed Wars - Eric's terrain is off the charts!

3. Dice of Legends - Great historical blog.

4.  Atlantic Wargamer - 15mm Sci-fi mostly, a gaming buddy of mine since the beginning.

5. Einar Olafson Painting - One of our players have his miniatures painted by this guy and his free hand is like none other!


There you have it, check these guys out! They have some great blogs!!


Cheers,

Tenz

Delves: Ironridge Chronicles - Act II The Conclusion

The Transformation

If you missed the previous section of Act II you can check it out here.

As the heroes entered the underground temple a eerie sensation  rippled through out their bodies. They each could tell the area was desecrated with evil.

"Be wary my friends, evil lies within this place." Alyanna urged her companions. She then offered a prayer to the lord of the Moon to protect them.

While the adventurers surveyed the area Orin could hear voices off in the distance.

"Be still comrades...there is something up a head, stay here while I take a closer look." The ranger quickly stalked forward to gain a better vantage point.

Orin hid behind one of the temple's pillars and observed the commotion.

A red robed figure was seen atop an altar chanting from what appeared to be ancient tome, while a earth elemental lumbered around the forward area. The town hostages were contained in the western section of the temple being guarded by gargoyle.

"I believe I have the element of surprise." Orin thought to himself. Remembering the pass experiences with rituals and summonings he knew he had to act.

 

With lighting speed the ranger loosed an arrow hitting the cultist hard in the shoulder.  "Attack! I say ATTACK!" Orin commanded the others.

"Arggghhhhh" The cultist screamed in agony but continued his chanting.  

"Summa summa laymma tus" The cultist continued while pointing towards the captive townsfolk.

One of the female townsfolk shrieked and fell to the temple floor. Followed by a white glowish light that appeared to exit the woman's body and be absorbed in the tome.

With a speed like none other the gargoyle rushed to meet the charging adventures and slammed into Alyanna knocking her to the ground.

Alyanna quickly regained her composer and stood to face the stoned creature.

"I shall smash you back into the earth you were formed from."  The cleric challenged while trying to anticipate the next attack.

Grabthoat rushed forward to aid the cleric while Orin continued to rain arrows on the chanting cultist.

The red robed figure continued its chanting and again looked to the captives. Another hostage fell as its life essence was absorbed into the tome.

The earth elemental lumbered toward the adventurers to engage.

While this was happening Karajan and Chomper took the left flank. "Chomper to him. Take him down" The druid ordered his animal companion.

The fight continued as Alyanna and Grabthroat battled the gargoyle and Orin evaded the Earth Elemental.

Then the tome started to glow with a red essence that surrounded the cultist.

"We need to take him down now!" Orin screamed with command

"Chomper Eviscerate!" Karajan shouted across the temple.

The lizard charged head strong into the red robed figure leaping for its vital area. The cultist did all it could to avoid the assault but to no avail. Chomper sunk its teeth deep into the neck of cultist tearing bone and flesh.

The humanoid figure dropped to the ground and blood and fluid poured from the gaping wound. All grew quiet for the moment.

Then suddenly  the pages of the tome flicked furiously over one another and exploded into flames. The gargoyle harden in mid movement while the earth elemental crumbled. The ceiling cracked and shook as daylight made it way through. The uneasy feeling of evil suddenly diminished and disappeared.

"The others, we must see to them." Alyanna said to her companions while she headed to the captives.

Karajan moved forward and explored the altar finding a hidden lever. "Ahh what do we have here." The druid thought to himself while releasing the lever

With a small rumble a doorway appeared in the wall behind the altar.

The heroes gathered the surviving captives and decided it was better to head into the hallway rather then back the way they came.

The adventurers continued through the dark hallway until it was met with a mine shaft from there they found their way back to the forest and back to Ironridge.

Cheers,

Tenz

Chaos in Carpathia: Werewolves Vs Monster Hunters

Over the weekend Jet and I were able to get in a game of Chaos in Carpathia. While were were waiting on some of the changes for the Nosferatu and Brotherhood warbands I decided to break out my newly painted Werewolves against his Hungarian Monster Hunters. Here is how the game went.

We had three objectives on each side of the table. The Tomb, Warlock Statue and the Campfire for the Werewolf side. The small cabin, Warlock stature (different one) and the altar for the Monster Hunter side. The tower was the key location and the medium cabin housed the person of interest.

The interiors were displayed with the tiles from my Descent board game. The tower had four levels including a basement. The Medium cabin had a main level and a basement which was where the POI was located.

We continued on with our campaign. Jet was leading and received the benefits for it. (You can check out the rules Jet created for campaigns here). The secret objectives were drawn. The Werewolves had The Hunt, The Kidnapping and The Invasion. The Hungarians had The Rescue, The Invasion and The Search. (You can see the rulings for the secret objective cards here).

With the special warband rules created by Jet, it enabled him to deploy up to half his warband into the key location if he had The Invasion secret objective card. Jet decided to use said power and deployed Helmet (Slayer) and two others to the area.

Now the game was underway. With the excitement of finally playing again after a bit of a hiatus we forgot to take a few snaps of the opening round. Lets fast-forward to round two.

With the campaign rules each player is allowed to draw one campaign card which they can use in the game or keep to add a campaign point. I drew the Secret Passage which allows me to basically put a doorway where I need one.

On turn two my pack leader - Craven the Gutripper (Props to Eddie for the name, from one of our Werewolf Apocalypse games) was in range of the tower. I made a sharp senses roll and discovered the Monster Hunters were inside. I used my Secret Passage card and emerged out of the shadows to attack Helmet. Luckily for him his faithful companion took the attack and was ripped to shreds.

Having The Search secret objective card Jet had Konrad move across the board after obtaining his first objective from the small cabin on his side of the table.

Reckless Ralph, the only inmate quickly headed to capture the POI to obtain the victory needed for The Kidnapping secret objective.

While Ralph was heading to the POI, Ravage and Red Mane rushed to head off the other Monster Hunters.

Shadowstrider rushed into the Key location to aid Craven and dispatched with Lazlo's pet monkey.

Red Mane was able to feast on the wench Elizabetha, but the silver axe of Bjorn proved to great for the mighty Ravage. Bjorn then took chase after the inmate followed behind by Adler.

Ralph fulfilled his orders and captured the POI. "Craven will be most pleased!"

A overhead shot of the for mentioned actions.

Count Konrad continued to the tomb finding the last objective needed for The Search secret objective card.

Bjorn rushed into the cabin engaging Ralph but was unable to rescue the fair lady from his clutches. Red Mane was tailing behind to assist his crazed companion.

Shadowstrider fell to the silver sword of Helmet, but not before taking Lazlo to the grave with him. Craven easily mauled Ernst as he was petrified with fear from his terrifying aura.

The game ended on turn six with a 4-3 victory for the Werewolves. I received 2 points for The Kidnapping secret objective, 2 points for The Hunt and none for The Invasion as I was never in control of the key location. The Monster Hunters received 2 points for The Search for obtaining two objectives, 1 point for The Invasion as he outnumbered me in the key location and none for The Rescue as I was in control of the POI.

It was a good night of adventure gaming and the Monsters were finally able to win one over the Von Krumms!

Till next time and thanks for reading,

Tenz


 

Teutonic Order: Turcopoles

I have been slowly working on my 15mm Impetus army, the Teutonic Order. The latest addition was a unit of light cavalry, specifically the Turcopoles. 

  

I decided to start painting with some brighter colors on the last few units. The reasoning for this is most of my heavy cavalry will be branded with the colors of the order, which will be white and black. This will draw a definitive line on those who are in the knighthood and those who are not.

One thing I am discovering with 15mm is the more units I paint, the better the final product. As I mentioned in previous posts their is an actual technique to painting this scale. For me I am still finding out little perks and quirks as I continue to paint. Like most wargamers I talk to, 15mm is becoming a favorite of mine rather quickly.

The unit is almost complete. The only item left to finish is to dry brush the sand, and then they will be ready to join their brothers!

The next unit on the bench will be my command unit which will be a heavy cavalry unit of Teutonic Knights.

Cheers and thanks for reading,

Tenz

Delves: Ironridge Chronicles: Act II Part Three

The Acrid Hollow

If you missed part two you can check it out here.


The heroes traveled down another underground passageway and followed the tracks detected by Orin. As they continued, a greenish glow was seen at what appeared to be an entrance to another area. When the adventurers arrived they found themselves in a high ceiling chamber filled with bubbling acid. The room was lit with a bio-luminescence from the acid and filled with an acrid fog. This gave the chamber a greenish hazy glow.

"What is this place??" Alyanna questioned to the others.  

"I do not know....but it would be wise....to stay away from the edge." Orin replied as he surved his surroundings.

"I be needin a bath, but not one of this sorts. It be best we stayed out of that murk." Grabthroat added.

"It appears the way onward is beyond the center island. We'll have to vigilant when crossing." Karajan cautioned.

While Orin was examining the area, a glimmer caught his eye from the far corner of the cavern. "Hmm there looks to be something..... over there. It might be...... worth our effort...... to check it out." The ranger explained as he pointed to the area.

"Very well, I shall accompany you. No need for us all to walk these treacherous paths." Alyanna responded.

Orin advanced forward carefully leaping from one island to the next. Once the ranger reached the central island he was able to spot a yellow blobbish creature advancing toward his companions.

"We've got company!" The ranger shouted as he notched an arrow.

"Chomper, at the ready." Karajan warned his lizard friend.

The brave heroes shot into action. Orin loosed an arrow at the creature hitting its target but not appearing to cause any affect. Chomper waited at the edge for the thing to get closer. The oozing amoeba slid closer to the adventures, rising up out of the acid attacking the cleric. Alyanna defended with her shield.

Alyanna rose her shield and defended the creature. "This thing is disgusting!" Alyanna cringed.

Grabthroat rushed to the cleric's side bringing down his dwarven axe furiously on the ooze. The strike seemed to pass through the creature not affecting it.

"What the...that swing would've took a horses head clean off laddy!" Grabthroat said with surprise.

Remembering something a traveler once told him, Karajan hurled his flaming torch at the yellow blob.


"Use fire my friends." He exclaimed.

The torch hit the oozing puss and the flames spread like wildfire. The blob sizzled and popped like fire to oil. After a few moments all that was left was a transparent slimey substance where the creature once was.

"We'll that works. You are wise beyond your year my friend." The cleric thanked while wiping the substance from her shield.

After the battle Orin and Alyanna continued forward to investigate the glimmering objects in the north west area of the chamber.

As the others headed to the central island two more Golden Amoebas were spotted.

"Get those torches ready, we got fires to start" The dwarf shouted in excitement.

Karajan quickly jumped the gap between the two islands and joined his companions for the ensuing scuffle.

 

Worried her friends would be overwhelmed Alyanna headed back to the center island. 

The blobbing oozes slubbered onto the island and engaged the brave heroes. The first amoeba slammed itself down on Karajan engulfing him inside its gooey innereds. 

Enraged by the action of the bulbous creature, Chomper scratched and clawed at the ooze which appeared to have no affect. Alyanna brought forth her torch touching it down on the slimey villain, only to have the fire extinguished in the action.  

"What...what happened" The cleric clamored with surprise.

The other amoeba charged Grabthroat, but the dwarf was able to evade its attack.

In a counter act, Grabthroat impaled the ooze with his torch driving deep inside the gooey being. The flames quickly spread and consumed the creature. 

"Ahh ha, me fire is hotter then yurs woman!" The dwarf snickered at Alyanna.

Karajan continued to struggle to escape the clutches of his gunky prison. Air was a commodity he did have. "&%##@  ##@!&**." The Druid expressed.

Seeing that the odds were in his companions favor Orin continued towards the treasure. The gap separating him and the glimmering objects was much larger then the others.

"I'll need a run off... for this one" Orin thought to himself. 

The ranger dashed to edge and jumped the gap with ease and proceeded to secure the precious stones for the party.

Chomper and Alyanna frantically tired to aid their entrenched companion, but to no avail. The yellow amoeba continued its stranglehold on the helpless druid.

"Outta me way, i'll deal wit this!" Grabthroat gruffed as he raced toward the blobbish fiend. The dwarf continued with a thrust of the fiery torch into the ooze.

"No....Karajan is in there!" The cleric stated in concern.

But was to late. The flames from the torch caught quickly to the amoeba consuming the creature. Karajan fell to ground and began to cough and gasp for air. Luckily the forces of nature were able to shield the druid from the flaming furnace.

"I've got da poooowweeeerrr!" The dwarven warrior screamed while raising his torch high in the air.

After a few moments Karajan was able to gather himself and recouped from the ordeal. "I don't think I want to be receiving one of those again." The Druid joked.

"A swirly is never a good option" Alyanna quiped.

Not wanting to stick around, the druid, with Chomper at his side started to look for the exit to this foul, putrid place.

After Karajan trekked further north east he seen the pathway out of the chamber. "Over here, I see the way out!" Karajan shouted to the others.

The Adventures gathered together on the northeast island the discovered the gap was much larger then expected and pondered how to handle the situation.

"I have some rope we could use. We will need someone to jump to the other side and secure it." The cleric suggested.

"I'm pretty sure....I can make it....let me try." Orin replied. The ranger grabbed the end of the rope and rushed to the edge leaping the gap landing hard on the other side.

"Oghhh, I'm going to....feel that later.." Orin winched as he grabbed his side.

After tying the rope to a rocky outcropping, Alyanna and chomper continued to cross the gap and Grabthroat followed.

As the Druid attempted the chasm, the rope broke. Karajan had no choice and swung to the other side grabbing the ledge.

"Aggghhhhhh, it burns!" The druid shrieked as his legs dangled in the acid bath.

Orin and Alyanna dashed to the Druid's side and quickly pulled their comrade from the acidic sea.

"Thank you my friends. That is two I owe you now." Karajan spoke as he shook the remaining acid from his belongings.

"Let us be gone...of this place" Orin stated as he headed towards the passage out of the chamber.

Grabthroat, Karajan and chomper followed as Alyanna gathered what remained of her rope.

"This may come in handy later." Alyanna thought to herself.

Stay tuned for the conclusion: Part 4 - The Transformation.

Thanks for reading,

Tenz