A lost part of the Hobby revived!

    I recently was able to participate in something very interesting, that as far as I'm aware hasn't been done since around the time I was born (the mid 1980s).  If you read the old gaming magazines it was something that anyone who went to a Gaming Convention between 1975 and 1985 would have been familiar with, even if they were not brave enough themselves to test their mettle at it... The Competitive D&D Tournament!

    I'm not the only one who's been fascinated by the idea of turning what most people would say is a "game you cannot win" into something not only competitive, but with indisputable scoring that clearly demarcates the winners from the losers from the dead.  Polyfamous, the founder of the Living Urf Gaming Club, recently put together a tournament module for the elite players of this most auspicious digital club.  To further ensure fairness in a way that Gaming Conventions of old could not, instead of all three teams being run simultaneously, Poly is running 1 team each week.  The three teams the club put together are:

1) The Globo Gym Purple Cobras: Jake, Nekro, Matthew, and myself

2) Generation X: Brig, Josh, Rdubs, and Krafty Matt 

3) [Team Name Undecided]:  Snufkin, Rump, Hollyfelled, and Angry Steak

    The session would be played using Barrows & Borderlands, the teams were given 4 Level 6 character types to choose from (and could run multiples of the same type if they so chose), and 200sp to buy equipment for the trek from the Barrows & Borderlands equipment list.  The 4 character types available were: Sword and Board Fighter, Musketeer, Cleric, and Werebear.  The Goals/Scoring for the Tournament are as follows:

1) Each team has 3 hours to complete the dungeon, for each minute early they finish all players will receive 10 points

2) For destroying the source of the Undead 1,000 points.

3) For sanctifying the shrine of the Dungeon 500 points.

4) For each Artifact of Vakhar recovered 250 points.

5) Each point of value of Gold recovered from the Tomb will be worth 1 point (and can be divided as the surviving players see fit).

 

    Since the tournament is still ongoing, I won't give too many details about how the Purple Cobras tackled Vakhar's Grief, but will give some highlights (things may be changed to not give my opponents an unfair advantage from reading my blog).  The Purple Cobras decided to compose our team as Golden Locks/White Goodman the Cleric (Jake), and 3 Bears named Lazer (Matthew), Blazer (Nekro), and Me'Chell (myself).  Our thinking was to have the three ridiculously strong bears be the hammer while the Cleric stayed back to heal up the frontline as required; due to their strength we also reasoned that the bears could take the hit from any traps we encountered and still be dangerous enough if we encountered a room full of skeletons.

    We entered the tomb, Jake as the only character in human form, was our caller, Nekro and I were both mapping; to keep the pace of play moving Poly was rolling all the dice.  We were logical in how we followed the trails from room to room, always barring any spare doors, doubling back to investigate them later.  On the first level we encountered a spooky but ultimately harmless bedroom, a couple of monsters hiding in plain sight, a few nasty surprises and traps, and after a few times investigating the same area, the stairs to the lower levels of the tomb.  Once down in the bowels of Vakhar's Grief, we followed the snaking corridors to an ornate throne room that was suspiciously empty.  On our guard against the standard tricks, we went forward to investigate an ornate throne covered in jewels and gold relief work, our mapping indicated a possible hidden room behind the throne.  Blazer volunteered to use his bear strength to push the throne aside to see if there was either a trap door beneath it or a pressure plate under it that would reveal the treasure room; little did we know there was one last trick of old Vakhar to guard that secret door and when Blazer pushed on the throne he activated a cloud of gas failed his save and died instantly.  Unfortunately for us Blazer was also the one carrying the Bag of Holding with all our loot and gear in it, at this point my mic had been muted (a train had passed earlier and I had forgotten to unmute myself) so my idea of having one of us grab the dead Blazer by the feet and drag him from the cloud of death was unheard by my teammates.  Jake decided that since he had on a Ring of Protection that gave him a bonus to Saving Throws, he would attempt to retrieve the Bag from the dead Blazer's neck; unfortunately he also succumbed to the deadly cloud.  At this point it Lazer and I could either run for our lives and admit defeat, or screw our courage to the sticking place and attempt one last time to recover the gear of our departed friends.  Lazer leapt forward and by the barest of margins dragged out the lifeless Cleric and Bear; and because many of the items we would need to complete our quest were located in that bag and too fine or small for massive bear paws to wield Lazer changed back into his human form donned the dead Cleric's armor, weapons, and gear.  By the time the change was completed the cloud had dissipated and a small staircase was revealed, we struck a torch and went down once more into the darkness, found a landing, and another set of stairs going up into the void on our map.  Once we reached the top of the stairs we found a hoard of gold, gems, magical items, and a large Skeletal Warrior guarding an evil font; surely the animated remains of old Vakhar himself!  Me'Chell rushed in and tackled him in a bear hug, and while Vakhar was pinned Lazer ran forward to dump a couple vials of Holy Water into the font then turned to help me bring down the large skeleton.  After a tense combat, Vakhar had been vanquished, and the shrine had been sanctified.  Now we needed to find the source of the Undead; we returned to the throne room and looked at our map, there was one door we had seen but hadn't investigated.  We returned to that door and read an ominous inscription on the frame; the room contained terracotta warriors arranged in ranks, and in order to cleanse the energy infused in them by an ancient Necromancer we must cast the "Divine Arm-Launched Exploding Device of Great Holiness" in amongst them, destroying them all, and once destroyed the Undead throughout the rest of the tomb would drop lifeless to the floor.  So I knocked open the door as Lazer began the ritual, hurling in the exploding device, we took cover on either side of the door; a great light burst forth from the door-way and a shriek was heard throughout the Tomb that quickly transformed into complete silence, "so silent you can hear your own hearts pounding in your ears."

    Goals completed, we retraced our steps and escaped the Tomb, with 40 minutes to spare; the Purple Cobra's final score was: Matthew and myself as the survivors 3315 points each (we had elected to split the treasure evenly), Jake and Nekro 2500 (for what of the adventure they completed before death).  It was a fun evening and the pressure of not only trying to complete all the goals, but also explore the dungeon and find as much loot in 3 hours was a great challenge and I totally understand now why this was such a common thing at Gaming Conventions in the first decade of the Hobby.  It really does push you to the limit of your abilities as a gamer, but that's not to say the whole experience was nothing but meta-gaming knowledge; there were plenty of opportunities to roleplay thanks to some of the inhabitants of the Tomb that Poly put in there and paying attention to the descriptions he gave allowing us to solve some puzzles (or how keeping good maps allowed us to find the treasure room and shrine).  If you have a Club full of Elite Gamers, you should try to put together your own tournament to see who is the best of the best and can crown themselves Club Champion!

Player report from BunkerStein 1945

     A couple weeks ago, I was able to join Dragons Beyond's impressive historical "Bunkerstein", here's my report of what transpired and the pros and cons of this very fun evening.  The setting for the game was an infamous Bunker in Berlin during April 1945.  I had previously been committed to another event that evening, but when things fell through on the farm (as so often happens) my schedule changed and I was able to make the time-slot work out.  Coming in at the last minute I was given a list of historical personalities to choose from to play as, I picked the one I am most familiar with the head of the German Navy, Admiral Karl Doenitz.  My goals were as follows:

"1) You have two U-boats standing by to take AH and his entourage to an unassailable fortress known as Base 211 in Antarctica; you must convince AH to head to Naval HQ in Northern Germany.

2) Should AH turn suicidal, ensure you are designated the new leader of Germany; do not let Himmler, Goering, or Krebs get the job.

3) If needed, once aboard the U-Boat you can perform a marriage at sea for AH and EB.

You are aware that Speer has not implemented a scorched earth policy as directed, he may be an ally."

    The layout of the Bunker was a series of interconnected rooms, with the exception of the Main Hall they all had occupancy limits, most of the players started unarmed (and with the cramped quarters of the Bunker it was nearly impossible to have a fight or murder take place without everyone in the game quickly becoming aware).  In order to pass through the various voice-channel rooms, you followed the map, using Joshuagaxian Space as pioneered in SpaceStein.  The referee informed us he would be in the Cloak Room channel solo-playing a game that recreated the defenses of the city, but to send him a DM if we needed adjudication or had special messages to send out over the radio in the Switchboard (such as requesting that Navy HQ prepare 2 U-Boats for sea).

    The game started quickly with a marriage between AH and EB, I was ordered to go make some wedding soup in the kitchen, while AH quickly took other players into the Operations Room to discuss various things.  One by one people would filter into the Kitchen to see how the soup was coming, I spent considerable time in there talking with various players, trying to suss out who could be trusted and who needed to be taken care of if possible.  After about 15 minutes the soup was ready, and several players found various excuses to not partake of it (fearing poison or other foul play).  As AH kept slipping away with people for private one on one chats, it became apparent that several factions had started to emerge.  Bormann and Speer were forming some sort of plan to get AH away with them, the SS were forming plans to pull him under their wing and influence, Goering was trying to do the same and using the Luftwaffe to bring a plane in near by for us to escape to.  I was able to bring some over to the idea of using the U-Boats to escape and conduct a guerilla war in exile from our secret base, while the SS wanted to flee to the Alps to continue fighting from there.  As the night proceeded and the Soviets drew nearer, AH grew increasingly unhinged, issuing non-sensical orders and rambling on and on about time-flux machines, I knew something must be done or the madman would ensure we would be trapped like rats by the Soviet menace.

    After we had received word that the Reichstag had been captured, I and one of the slighted SS generals made our move, we knew that Goering had become close with AH, and cornered him in the main hall.  We drew our pistols that had been acquired searching various rooms in the Bunker during the preceding hours and gunned him down where he stood.  The commotion soon brought the rest of the players in, and we came up with the cover story that he had become traitorous and tried to threaten us into his plan to kidnap AH and sue for peace with the Allies.  AH had taken my accomplice into the Cloak Room for questioning, Speer had gone to the Generator Room to get supplies for our escape from the city (with Goering dead I had managaed to convince everyone that from reports I had seen that the way to the Alps was untenable, the air was cloaked with Allied planes, and the safest route for escape was to go North to Naval HQ and escape by U-Boat).

    Shortly after Speer disappeared the lights went out, and a rush of air could be felt as he made his way through the crowd and exited the Bunker in the confusing dark.  The rest of us fumbled for flashlights, and I made my way around the wall to the door to the Cloak Room where I hoped I could convince AH to name me his successor before putting him down as well.  Unfortunately for me, AH didn't buy our story that Goering had turned traitor and was waiting for me to see if I would confess to my lie.  I drew my pistol as he drew his, my shot rang out and winged him in the arm, his wild blaze of fire in the dark forced me to retreat.  I fell back into the entryway of the Bunker and into the arms of the guards who promptly arrested me.  By this point the other players were able to convince him that we couldn't leave, the lack of power was possibly from Soviets near by.  They had heard Goering call for an airplane to land at the Tiergarten, but when we arrived it was over run by Soviet troops.  We quickly rushed from block to block North and West through the falling city and AH announced he would be shaving his trademark moustache to help avoid detection by the Soviet soldiers, where the Ref was using the results of his boardgame to determine what if anything was around.  And eventually we made it across the river to the "safety" of the NW suburbs.  At this point we'd been playing for a few hours and the ref asked AH to make a decision about the prisoners (myself and my accomplice); I was able to successfully plead my case that he needed me to get to the U-Boats, as he was now unrecognizable, so we could escape a crumbling Germany and that my shot had been in startled self-defense not an assassination attempt.  We quickly piled into a truck and headed to Naval HQ, the game was over with a couple dead, 1 missing in the City (Speer), and a small handful on the run to parts unknown.

     In the wrap-up discussion after the game, a couple players mentioned that they would have felt more comfortable if they'd known more about the people they were playing, and we all agreed that due to excellent roleplaying it was hard to get time alone with AH; especially as he became more deranged no one wanted to step on his toes, earn his ire, and be ordered to certain death.  One of the most unique aspects was the time keeping mechanic, where the ref played a solo-game so none of us knew how close things were to ending with all of us losing by the Bunker being captured (really kept the tension up) and once we escaped we didn't know where in the city was safe, making it all a tense guessing game to try and get out (very immersive).  The other interesting and new (to me) mechanic the ref came up with after learning from Josh's SpaceStein was to outsource to the players the searching of rooms; if you were looking for something that might be reasonably found there you had a 1-in-6 chance of finding it (i.e. a knife in the kitchen, or rope in the store room), if it was something less likely to be found (like a pistol in Bormann's office drawer) it was a 1-in-12 chance, each round of searching took 10 minutes of real time, meaning that it was possible you'd be caught in the act by other players.  The set up factions were well done, and figuring out who you could turn or who you could trust and how to get them alone to discuss things away from prying ears was an interesting challenge (greatly helped by the room occupancy limits).  All in all a fun evening was spent with friends playing what is probably the most controversial "stein" that will ever be run. 

On Wargames Campaigns & Weekly Sessions

        Recently, I've been playing a Discord Wargame Campaign, being run by Capt. Hook, using the rules from Tony Bath's "Setting Up a Wargames Campaign".  On the Ferrnus Isle, three years ago, six colonies were laid down by two competing peoples for dominion over the isle.  This post will be a combination AAR of the game so far from my perspective as a player, and musings on how such a game can be used to benefit your ongoing RPG game.

    To start, Hook drew a map for us to fight over, with 6 inlets for our exploring parties to land at and begin our colonies, divided into two factions the Greeks and the Vikings.  The next two campaign years were split between exploration (gaining new territory) and expansion (promoting growth amongst our population).  This was all the prep needed for us to begin the game proper, which is divided into 12 months of 3 weeks, with each week in game taking a week in the real world.  

My version of the Isle of the Ferrnus, made in MS Paint so that I can mark it up as I see fit.

 

 

 

The Ferrnus Isle at the start of Year 3; the Purple is the Greeks, the Red the Vikings

    All inter-player communications are handled through the Referee, as well as all orders for our domains.  Each player is in control of the leader of their colony (the Thane for the Vikings,  the Delos for the Greeks), we can improve our colony, raise troops, train to improve them, conduct raids or wars, spy on our friends and foes, the possibilities are endless.  There is a nice bit of roleplay going on in the communications between the characters, and the fog of war is thick.  Not only do we not know where the various armies that have been raised are moving and planning, we don't even know if the couriers we've sent have arrived or have been intercepted by bandits or worse (the enemy)!

     So far we are about to begin the 2nd week of the 3rd month of the 3rd year, and already things have heated up.  I am controlling the Jarl of Sommerheim and leader of the Viking expeditions (and for OpSec purposes what I write from here on out may or may not be the truth), which is located on the Western Coast sandwiched between two Greek Colonies.  In the first month armies were raised, roads and defenses constructed, units began to train their way up from Levies into true soldiers.  Regular contact has been had with the Vikings on the South Coast, but no one has heard from those on the East Coast.  Rumors of bandits abound in the lands, but whether they are true bandits or enemy raiders no one knows for sure.  During the end of the 2nd Month, the Delos of Aidos (the Greeks in the NW corner of Ferrnus) sent a raiding party to burn and loot a village on the border of our realms, those raiders were quickly captured and dispatched by my Cavalry patrols, and with proof in hand of their vile treachery War was declared between our people's (which allows all participants to recruit a larger percentage of their population into the army).  The troops of Sommerheim are marching to the border with Aidos, leaving some men behind to look over the border with our Southern neighbor Poryphyrachora, lest they try to squeeze us in a vice.  And so stands the situation as the 3rd month drags on...

     Which brings me to the second half of my title.  This type of campaign (weekly/monthly orders/turns with adjudication by the referee) is a perfect backdrop for adventuring.  The Jarl of Sommerheim would give anything to have an assassin infiltrate the court of Aidos or the enemy camps, have a thief steal the idol from their temples causing heartache amongst the people, have an adventurer lead a small band to attack their supply lines and communications or safeguard an important message to his allies and ensure it arrives.  Especially if the timeline for orders were to be expanded from weekly to monthly, that offers a lot of room for a friendly DM (either the referee or someone in his club) to run games in the same shared region, with each game style impacting and influencing the other.  Can the adventurer dodge the moving armies?  Can the Delos really be trusted or is the party being used as a patsy?  Will the theft of the artifacts from the temple cause the wargame player to divert precious military resources to recover them or will he take the morale penalty amongst his troops?

    The interactions and possibilities are near limitless, even more so when more players are taking part in the wargames campaign.  Is the general of the army of Sommerheim as loyal as his player claims to be?  Is there a grand conspiracy amongst dissatisfied generals/thanes to overthrow the Jarl?  Which side will the party choose?

     I know you're thinking, "surely, Hoot, this is too ambitious an undertaking for myself and my humble band of friends!"  To that I respond, yes it is ambitious, but it's not impossible!  The founding of our shared hobbies were built by clubs (both formal and informal) and friend groups; and with the internet it is easier than ever!  Arneson and Gygax lived 300 miles away from each other, and through the USPS were able to conduct grand campaigns on the scale of rulers and armies (both the historical and the fantastical).  With Discord, e-mail, twitter, and blogs; it's easier than ever to contact friends in far off places!  All it takes is one friend who's interested and willing to run a wargame campaign in the style of Bath, Featherstone, Arneson, and Gygax; and keep you informed as the DM to the state of the world, as you must also keep him informed if the party manages to steal that idol from the temple.  

     What are you waiting for... the banners are raised, the armies are marching, and adventure calls! 

The Battle of Fort Fenrir

 

    First a little background, the BroXT has been recently experimenting with approaching old school D&D as a wargame as well as whether or not it can handle battles larger than the Adventurers vs. the Dungeon's Denizens. Due to my impeccable takes on old Elon's House of Gentlemanly Discourse, I was brought in to play one of these battles, the results of which would affect an ongoing AD&D 1^st Edition campaign (Trollopulous). My opponent for this exercise was Jake Letourneau. I was given the command of Lord Fenrir and the task of defending Fort Fenrir from the marauding Severed Head Orcs commanded by Jake. The Rules used were the tips from Jeffro Johnson's article on scaling combat from BROZER as well as AD&D's rules and suggestions on how to play out mass battles as scattered in the unparalleled Dungeon Master's Guide. Due to the fact that we live about 2,000 miles apart from each other we played the game last night over video chat in Discord, with Jake hosting the table and armies (represented by colored cubes marked to show the unit type). We set the figure scale at 1:10 and got to work, it took us about two-and-a-half hours to resolve, and while some mistakes were made and things forgotten in the heat of the moment (due to both of us still learning the intricaces of 1^st Edition AD&D), a good time was had by all and a very reasonable outcome was produced in a short amount of time.

    Fort Fenrir is a small keep supporting and protecting about 1,000 local inhabitants. The fate of this battle would decide the fates of many. The Orders of Battle were:

Lord Fenrir's Host:

Lord Fenrir, a 9^th level Lawful-Good Fighter

His 5 retainers (1 4^th level Magic-User, 1 5^th level Cleric, 1 5^th level Fighter, 2 4^th level Fighters) and a 6^th level Captain (all except the Magic-User were assigned as Leaders of various formations in the host)

The fort's garrison:

12 Heavy Cavalry

16 Light Cavalry

20 Spearmen

8 Armored Heavy Crossbowmen

and his personal army:

20 Medium Cavalry

20 Light Cavarly

20 Heavy Foot

20 Light Foot

40 Heavy Crossbowmen

20 Light Crossbowmen

The Severed Head Orcs (as best as I can remember and approximate):

Grok'narr their chieftain

Sikks their shaman

5 Assassins

15 Orc leaders

5 Ogres

90 Orcs with Ranseurs

30 Orcs with Longbows

30 Orcs with Heavy Crossbows

 

 

We arranged our troops thusly:

    The Orcish horde arrived outside the gates as dusk approached, Lord Fenrir wisely decided to sally forth and bring the fight to the foe rather than wait until night fell and their infravision gave them a large advantage. He had the initiative on the first turn, but decided to be prudent and cautious, the Crossbowmen were ordered to ready themselves for when the foe came in range, and the Light Horse sent out to the flanks in the hopes of forcing the advancing scum to spread themselves thinner. And advance they did, the Crossbowmen let their bolts fly to minimal damage and the battle was soon begun!

    The Orcish arrows and bolts did some light damage to the Light Horse and Heavy Foot, one company of Orcish infantry with Grok'narr at their head charged headlong into the Heavy Foot and Lord Fenrir being able to get in a free shot due to the extra length of the Ranseurs vs. the Heavy Foot's Lucern Hammers, one Stand of Heavy Foot was taken down and Lord Fenrir charged in to challenge Grok'narr to single combat! The Magic-User's Magic Missile was confounded the Orc Chieftain, as he squared off with our gallant hero. Due to his impressive attacks and +1 Long Sword, the Chieftain was quickly cut down by Fenrir, and with his demise the magical aura emanating from the Severed Head banner he carried (which gave the entire horde +1 Hit Dice) ceased and the battle seemed assured to go in Fenrir's favor! While this was occuring, the Cavalry maneuvered to charge and engage various factions of the Orcish horde. The Heavy Cavalry and the Cleric managed to get in the rear of the Heavy Crossbowmen, the Medium Cavalry made a gallant charge with lances down against a unit of Ranseur armed Orcs, the Light Cavalry and their attached leveled leaders dashed into the the Assassins and longbow Orcs; and the Crossbowmen fired over the melee in front of them at the advancing Ogres, while the left flank Spears set themselves to receive a charge from the lumbering brutes. The Cavalry charges all bore fruit, except for the Medium Horse, who were dismounted by the fiendish Ranseurs.

The Battle Rages

    As the melees raged, the Crossbowmen were able to bring down the Ogres. Victory seemed assured, but before the day was done the tides of battle would turn again and again. The Orcs engaging the Heavy Foot and Fenrir were aided by another company of their foul compatriots, the Spearmen of the garrison were cut down by crossbow fire (due to the small size of the cavalry detachments we agreed that they were busily entangling the Orc leaders in the rear giving the Orcish Crossbows one last chance to fire), and the Spear-armed Light Foot of the army charged to help their comrades. The Orcs were able to take down Stand after Stand of our courageous forces, while in return only Fenrir's blows seemed to find purchase as he cut a swath through the enemy. The now dismounted Medium Foot were disarmed by the Ranseurs of their foes, while the other Cavalry began to make short work of their opponents. The death of the Chieftain triggered the first of many morale checks and the Orcs were out for revenge (only the Ranseur armed Orcs who had disarmed the Medium Horse fled the field the rest resolved to fight it out)!

    The tide of battle turned yet again. The Light Cavarly slew the Assassins and wheeled around to engage with the main scrum, the other Light Cavalry charged in to help the dismounted and disarmed Medium Cavalry (who had now been engaged by the opportunistic Longbow Orcs), the Magic-User's last Magic Missile struck down Snikk the Orcish Shaman. As the last of our infantry fell around their courageous lord, our remaining retainers and the Crossbowmen charged in to his aid. By the end of the turn morale was checked again, the Longbow and Crossbow Orcs had fled. Our own casualties now reached the point where our morale was shaken, the Medium (now dismounted) Cavalry also decided discretion was the better part of valor and quietly left the field, the remaining Light and Heavy Cavalry did also (in retrospect I may have botched a couple of these rolls and not accounted for some modifiers). But the main scrum held on as the last of the Orc Infantry charged the unprotected Heavy Crossbows. Blow after blow was struck, Orcs and men fell slain, the last of the charging Orcs surrendered to the brave and victorious Crossbowmen and soon all that was left was 20 Orcs with Ranseurs, 5 Orc leaders facing off against Fenrir and 2 leveled Fighters. In his +1 Plate Fenrir was nigh invincible, but the foul pig-faced monstrosities caught a lucky blow and he was knocked unconscious! One last turn would decide the fate of all, and what had seemed like an assured and easy victory moments ago now turned into a real nail-biter.

    The Crossbowmen failed their morale check and disengaged back toward the safety of the fort, the Orcs seeing a chance to turn this embarrassing and costly defeat into a victory rallied in attempt to drive back the Fighters and capture the downed lord. The Magic-User knew it was his time to defend his liege and rushed forward to engage the last of the Orc captains, muttering the arcane words of Blazing Hands he slew them in fiery death! The 6^th level Captain cut down the 10 Orcs who had downed Fenrir and the 4^th level Fighter chased off the last of the foes! The day was won, but at what cost. The Cavalry would need to be recalled and rested, the Infantry would need to be tended and replaced, a hard lesson was learned about giving Crossbowmen more protection than just the shirts on their back, and the wounded Fenrir would need lots of bedrest while he decided what was to be done with his 10 prisoners. But those would be questions for another day and another player, for now there was toasts to be had, wounds to be tended, and feasting to a glorious victory over the forces of evil!

The final tally of casualties were:

1 Unconscious Lord Fenrir

16 Light Horse wounded/killed (20 Light Horse fled and to be reprimanded)

10 Medium Horse wounded/killed (10 fled)

20 Spearmen

20 Light Foot

20 Heavy Foot

10 Heavy Crossbowmen

10 Light Crossbowmen

Surviving:

20 Heavy Crossbowmen

10 Armored Crossbowmen from the Garrison

10 Light Crossbowmen

All the Orcs and Ogres and leaders were slain except

10 Capture Orcs with Ranseurs

1 Leader and his assistants fled

20 Orc Longbows fled

10 Orc Crossbows fled

10 Orc Ranseurs fled

 

 

In conclusion, I think the experiment was a success. While I wouldn't consider this a true wargame or something I'd run on a whim (I think there's better fantasy battle rules out there). This simple scaling system will give you results that can play out at a table session of your RPG group without requiring players to learn a whole new system that they'll probably rarely use. It produced an adequate battle with a story that will be remembered by all involved, triumphs and defeats not just of the army but of individual units as well, which will increase player investment in their imagined characters and forces. I would wholeheartedly recommend trying this at your table, so that your PCs can have their “Theoden at the Pelennor Fields” moments and not just have those happen off screen. The ability to zoom in and out of scale is a boon to the system as well (allowing for the mass combat of units while simultaneously allowing single combats like between Fenrir and Grok'narr, while still allowing for Fenrir to cut down swaths of enemy mooks like a true hero). And for those more enterprising RPG players it serves as a good introduction to the wonderful world of wargaming, hopefully to inspire them to take up another fascinating and fulfilling hobby!