The Worm Hunted, Several Times

The first board we used for the Worm hunt. A 3’x3’ space with terrain scattered about. Not nearly as cluttered as I’d like, but the girl was happy (I think because her wizards use Leap and “Elemental Bolt” a lot).

In this scenario, there are ancient worms that have burrowed their way up from the sewers of the city to hunt for food above ground. Every turn, there is a chance that the worm will break forth from the earth, right next to a treasure token. If all the tokens are picked up, it appears in the center of the board.

My marksman and archer create a kill zone for my daughter’s knight (the femme fatale in the house by the treasure), while my knight grabs a treasure token and my (invisible) wizard approaches the hit with caution.

On the western side of the board, my apprentice and his retinue battle daughter one’s apprentice and retinue, attempting to chase them from the treasure there. Meanwhile, her ranger can be seen absconding with treasure for her coffers.

The worm appeared in the center of the board, but neither player attempted to slay it, as we were both far too battered from fighting each other over treasure. My marksman, Jan, was wounded by the beast, but he has survived two instances of such near-fatality thus far and is ready for battle again.

Battle 21

The second Worm Hunt we played a couple of days later found us both having the goal in mind of slaying the worm. While one player moved her forces to gather all the nearby treasure (and split up all over the place, I might add), the other player managed to get 3 of his Missile troops along with his wizard up onto the stone pedestal/tower picture near the center of the board. It’s the one with the statue on it.

I prepared all my men for ambush by casting invisibility on them and slowly maneuvering them up the aforementioned tower. I knew the odds of the worm appearing center board were high; and, having stoked the ire of my child by killing her apprentice in the last game, I was in no mood to do more than loose a couple of pot shots at her troops. So I set about with the express goal of hunting that worm.

The position also gave my marksmen a decent field of view of all activity, so every turn it made my opponent think I’d ambush her. This made her more cautious while I grabbed some treasure (both to increase the chances of the worm spawning, and to increase the chances of the worm spawning in the center.

A view of my troops skulking their way around and up the tower.

I ended up killing the worm, and earned an extra level for my wizard. My daughter’s forces fled the field pretty quickly as the worm spawned, so it was a race against time to slay it before she got all her troops off the field. She’s still green in the ways of wargaming, and didn’t unleash her vast array of combat spells (she chose an elementalist, so think fireballs and lightning bolts).

Heartbroken that she did not slay the Worm, she made me swear to play the scenario a THIRD time.

Halfway through our third Worm Hunt!!! I’m so tired of this scenario. Haha!

Everyone is intermixed in the field on this one. Daughter’s wizard is up on top of the large structure to the right, with my knight and archer below, while her soldiers piled up to take cover behind a low wall before charging the worm. Meanwhile, the majority of my figures are in the lower left quadrant, while I frantically cast invisibility and try to keep them out of sight of the beast.

We walked away evenly split in treasure on this one, and my daughter killed the worm. I was happy. Sadly, the worm killed one of her low cost infantry figures, and she took it as a great loss.

Due to my daughter’s competitive nature, and my wife’s annoyance with her open dissatisfaction when the dice fall where they may, we resolved to play cooperatively for a bit. Ah 9 year olds…more on that adventure another time!