Black Forest Bash

 Following suggestions by Tradgardmastare and Mark C., I staged a little game tonight.

Traveling toward their next assignment, somewhere in the Black Forest, Sergeant Falkenberg of the Crimson Dandelions and his squad have become separated from the main body. Lost in heavy woods, full of old ruins and a headless statue of some ancient hero, they came across a stonework bridge. That’s when the ox died.

Now, they are deliberating on what to do. Above, you can see the sergeant with his red-feathered hat and trusty pike, discussing whether they ought to leave their supplies or try to shove their wagon along through the wet earth, or grab what they can and leave the rest.

A pair of lookouts are posted by the statue, as suddenly, an eerie fog rolls in…

Out of the fog, drums begin to thud, and wretched forms move in the mist. Then, the forms burst forth, revealing something out of an old legend the mercenaries might’ve heard as children, to keep them from straying off the paths! Goblins, armed and thirsty for blood!

A shot is fired by the musketeer on lookout as the pikeman shouts to other men! With quick reflexes, Falkenberg and his troops form staggered around the wagon, protecting the musketeers who may be their only hope of survival.

The muskets prove themselves useful, but not quite useful enough to end the fight outright. Ammunition expended, Falkenberg orders the musketeers to fall behind and the pikes to tighten up as the goblins (finally) move forward and form a line of their own. Within moments, they will clash.

However, the chronicler will fail to capture an image of the clash itself, instead capturing the aftermath. It was an intense melee. Half the mercenaries met their demise, and all but two of the goblins were slain. The next turn would surely decide the outcome of the battle.

Morale checks were rolled. The goblins, not willing to press their advantage, turn tail and flee back toward the bridge!

“Fine work lads, now it’s time to get moving out of this devil-infested wood!” -Sergeant Falkenberg observes his hard-won victory.

I made the muskets a little more powerful than other missile weapons, hitting on a 5 or 6. But I gave them the drawback of having a misfire on a 1 (I don’t know what that would look like, but I didn’t roll any 1’s, so problem avoided). I allowed the pikes to attack from 3” away, but they never got the chance this game! The goblins moved too quick. It was really fun, and I can’t wait to paint up more of both figure sets!