Spider & Snits versus the Dwarves of Mam Malduhr, a WARG tale

 

Grusid Darkmaul, Othog Ironbow, Brusum Leadhand, Thefril Chaosbow, Tulgik Coinbender, Yather Dummaker, Madith Woldpike, Numet Oakspine, Gralgrul Flaskhorn and Greibrid Cragview make up the dwarven security patrol for the area that surrounds the Dwarven Fortress, Mam Malduhr. 

the "Snits" Goldie, Silver, Nude and "others"

the Giant Spider

Spider and Snits to the left, Dwarves on the the right

The early stages of the battle

                     

                        Madith Woldpike becomes the first dwarf to be webbed 

  The snit named Greenleaf breaches the fortress of Mam Malduhr and cheers on                                                           its compatriots. 

The Wizard Tarn suspends the flow of time and proclaims, "Losing is fun".

Dwarven losses: Brusum Leadhand, Yather Dimmaker and Madith Woldpike

Snit losses: BossSnit, Bluee, Goldie and Magenta

Order of battle:  2 Dwarven pikes, 2 dwarven crossbows, 6 regular dwarven infantry

                          8 Snits and 1 Giant Spider   

The Wednesday Afternoon Retired Gamers (WARG) congratulates Tarn and Zach Adams on their very successful launch of the classic "Dwarf Fortress" on Steam.

May there always be more emergent narratives in gaming !!

Battle of Valorwood 1976

    I was lucky to be a part of the "Toad Hall Fantasy Horde" in Rockford, Illinois. Where a Monday night D&D session was expanded to a following Saturday event.  Numerous 25mm armies were available for loan or painting and a Star Fort designed, built and painted in several days. High School students were always ready to join the event. Above is a picture from 1976, the Battle of Valorwood.

                  The battle map and key as it appeared in the Phanta Carta 

                          

The Phanta Carta was a fanzine that I published and edited which covered the Toad Hall Fantasy Horde's fantasy campaigns and included charts, ideas and concepts that later became part of the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide. Needless to say, it had a pretty impressive list of subscribers in Lake Geneva, Rockford and Decatur, Illinois.

WARG Halloween Encounter

WARG

An October encounter

English scouts discover a tomb and a host of undead in a forest.

Soldiers are sent to eradicate the evil.

Order of Battle

English # Type                   Quality    Pts Total Move Range   Combat Value

             2 Musket Infantry  Average   4    8        1           2               2

             4 Regular Infantry Average   3   12       2                            2

             2 Cavalry              Average    3    6        3                           2

             8                                                26

Undead #         Type           Quality      Pts    Total     Move Range   CV

              6      Skeletons      Average     2        12           2                   1

              2      Zombies        Average     2          4           1                   2

              1      Vampire             Elite       4          4           3       3          3

              2  Jack-o-Lantern    ----------    2          4           0                   0

              9                                                         24

Scenario Notes

The Jack-o-Lanterns are immune to missile fire and

explode in any close combat, causing a casualty on 3,4,5,6

The Skeletons are light infantry and are -1 to hit by missile fire

The Vampire instead of moving can cast a magical aerial attack

that is not blocked by terrain or other units

The English player wins by defeating the Vampire and the 2 Jack-o-Lantern

Victorious Vampire

Fleeing English survivors

 

The irrational defense of Minas One

                                              The red dragon bides its time

The red dragon flies to the center.

             The Dwarven catapults inflict some damage to the Skeletons on the flank.

            The dragon's breath misses but sets a portion of the battlefield ablaze

                   The dwarves have initial success against the Orc Commander

The dwarves form for battle while the dragon waits

The dragon descends

                                       The dragon begins clawing & biting

As the dwarves retreat from the battlefield, defeated.

I had this idea. I thought it might be a good one. Let's add a dragon to our fantasy battle. Well, the battle was fun. Everything was fine until the red dragon decided to participate.

                     So its time to rethink the original WARG fantasy rules  8-)

         The victorious forces 

Dwarven catapult

OoB:                                                    Orcs

2 Skeleton Light Infantry

2 Skeleton Light Cavalry

2 Skeleton Bows

2 Orc regular infantry

1 Orc regular command

1 Troll unit

1 Red Dragon

Dwarves

2 catapults

2 crossbows

5 regular infantry

1 Dwarven Command (Bix the almost Bold)

2 spears

Friday's Green Dragon, rework & misc.

 Two versions of Green Dragon

rework of prototype small red dragon

Trolls, and Hill, Fire & Ice Giants

There is a fantasy battle brewing to test the WARG (Wednesday Afternoon Retired Gamers) Fantasy rules.

Prototype small Granny Grate Red Dragon

Left view

Right view

 

                                Some widgets to re-enforce wing structure

Will probably use some red crepe paper on wings to finish.

Friday's Green Dragon day (apologies for local joke)

Remembrance of things past, vol. 3

I was a member of the Toad Hall Fantasy Horde at its original location at 7th and Broadway in Rockford, IL. Learned a lot about "sword and sorcery" fiction from "Mad Ruthie".

Return to 4AD

The party returns to finish exploring the abandoned temple dungeon.

                                           
Using Todd C. Adams "Random events on the way to the dungeon", which can be found in the BoardgameGeek files, the party dispatched 10 vampire bats without damage to the party.

     The party avoided any wandering monsters and returned to the room where they had killed an Ogre. Filch picks a level 2 lock. In the first new room (A) they encounter another Ooze. After an extended battle during which the Ooze regenerated once, it was killed yielding 11 gold pieces. In the next corridor, they are surprised by a Manticore that damages Filch with darts from its tail and inflicts several hits on Borz (with a Z). The Manticore had only 8 gold pieces. In the next room (B), the party found a ring of teleportation by a religious statue. Continuing on, the next room (C) contained nothing even after a thorough search.
     The room (D) at the end of an empty corridor contained 7 kobolds with a Kaptain. The Kobolds were killed, but Filch, Croix and Winks took damage.  The party decided to do some healing as Filch was in bad shape. Croix provides heals and Winks uses his bandage found previously in the temple dungeon store room.
    The party enters an altar room to find a Death Cult Priest. A battle with the Boss monster ensues. Filch fails to save against Magic and takes damage. But, Winks and his 2 handed sword cleave the Priest in half. A search of the room revealed a chest with a 40 and a 15 gold piece gem. Winks the dwarf does levels up. Making its way back out of the temple dungeon, the party scared off several solitary kobolds along the way.

This completed my first dungeon crawl using the Four Against Darkness rules. I am still fine tuning how to organize the rules in order to make play easier.  The basic rules work extremely well and I enjoyed the Stronghold's expansions that definitely provided a D and D feel. This original school  Dungeon Master still has to get used to a game mechanic where the Monsters don't get dice rolls.

4AD After Action Report

After several walks on a beautiful day I decided to play the solo dungeon game Four Against Darkness with some modifications from the Stronghold website here and here.

The adventure didn't start well as my party of Borz (with a Z) the warrior, Croix the Cleric, Filch the Rogue and Winks the Dwarf were immediately met by 3 Trolls, that were dispatched at the expense of Borz (with a Z) losing 1 life point.  Next 7 goblins were encountered and defeated yielding a scroll of lightning.  In the next room, Borz (with a Z) discovered a "clue". Heading North and to the East, the party next fought 7 zombies with Filch losing a life point. An Ogre fled the party after a fight and Borz leveled up. Another "clue" was found in a corridor. Next the party found a piece of jewelry (90 GP). Venturing onward, the party defeated 4 Orcs before meeting a nasty Minotaur, that fled the battle. Croix successfully level up. The party backtracked and manage to avoid any wandering monsters. 5 snakes were defeated.
   Then the party encountered an Ooze. Filch proved his value by lockpicking a level 5 door lock. Six orcs were defeated. Backtracking, the party next encountered 2 Orcs that were quickly dispatched. Another Ooze was found as a Wandering Monster and vanquished. Borz found his third clue (Someone will pay Big money for that) and leveled. The next room contained a Meditation Chamber and Filch healed up. Back to the entry room went without incident.
    The party headed north and discovered a Storage room that yielded 2 bandages. The party continued North and fought  3 Kobolds that were easily defeated.  "Discretion being the better part of valor", the party decided to return to the Inn. The South east corner of the dungeon will be explored later.  

    What a fun couple of hours revisiting a time 45 years ago when Role Playing games were a big part of my professional life and I was working on solo approaches to RPGs. Take a look at the DM's Guide appendices that include solo AD&D.  
    Andrea Sfiligoi has done an excellent job with his design and the gaming community at Board Game Geek and  the Stronghold website have also added some exciting and free game aids. There is also a 4AD group on Facebook where you can get your questions answered by Andrea, himself.
 

Goblins, Orcs, and Kobolds, oh my ....

When Life and the gaming gods conspire to ruin Gaming night (don't ask)… it's time to turn to the Granny Grate armies and Rick's Really Simple Rules. And, once again a fun time was had by all.

The premise: A warband of goblin/orcs and kobolds attacks a small Dwarven mine. 

 Orcs and Goblins prepare to attack, Kobolds in reserve

 Dwarves prepare to defend

 Orcs & Goblins at top of photo

 Early action. Red indicates hits, white are shaken and need to rally

 Close combat between Dwarven Crossbows and Goblin Spears

 Dwarven commander attempts to organize his declining forces

 Orc/Goblins press forward with their attack

An Orc/Goblin victory  

Fantasy Granny Grate

Kobolds, orcs and Goblins... oh my !

 Experimental Pole arms and Spears

                                                                     Experimental bows

                                                   Main troops with and without shields

                                                                Experimental crossbows