The quest
to rescue er…..
A MESBG Battle Companies campaign in the Eastemnet of Rohan.
Galastor, Knight of Dol Amroth, had dreamt of Boromir, son
of the Steward of Gondor, in great distress and running, desperate, panting,
seemingly searching for someone or something. As he woke, he thought he heard
on the edge of hearing as it were, maybe in some last remnant of dreaming, a
horn blowing loudly.
Galastor, a distant
cousin of Boromir, rode directly to Imrahil to seek his permission to ride to
Minas Tirith and seek a meaning for his vision. The Prince directed him to go
and not return until he had an answer, Imrahil had known Galastor for too long
to doubt that the dream had meaning. Imrahil suspected Boromir was in
difficulty and charged Galastor with the quest to rescue him. Galastor set out
next day with his faithful friend Estendor as his sole companion.
Arriving at Minas Tirith, Galastor chanced upon Faramir and
heard his account of Boromir’s quest to Imladris. Galastor promised to go
immediately in search of Boromir. Faramir bade him take some men at arms to
help in the quest and summoned Hastor and Ingon of the Orders or the Axe and
the Sword respectively to help in the quest.
Travelling without rest and little baggage, the company made
good speed. Heading North from Gondor they were crossing the Eastemnet when they
were met by two Rohirrim warriors, Garulf and Baldred, who insist that they
come with them to explain themselves to their captain. Not wanting to cause an
incident Galastor falls in with their wishes.
Garulf tells Galastor of the recent events in Rohan, telling
of a great raid of orcs and explains that Eomer, the king’s nephew, is not in
favour with the King. Garulf is a king’s man and has sworn to arrest Eomer if
he should find him.
 | |
| Theowulf |
Meanwhile, a few miles away,Theowulf, was angry. His captain Eomer has been arrested at Wormtongue’s
orders and on hearing this, Theowulf had gathered his small band of warriors
together to go to Edoras to petition for his Lords release.
His good friends
Eodan and Baldor were with him and they had brought Dunhere and Dernmund, two very
capable hunters, each armed with good Eastemnet elm bows and Grimmund, a doughty
warrior, with a supply of throwing spears and his father’s sword had joined
them at their last camp. They shared their leader’s mood. The Eastemnet had
been attacked, ravaged by roaming bands of orcs, and their captain had been
arrested for defending their land.
They would call upon the king’s mercy and if
that failed, rescue him.
Gorluk had led his band of Uruk scouts through defiles and
gullies, stream beds and thick undergrowth, hiding in woodland and avoiding
open terrain by day. He hated the open rolling grasslands of the Straw heads and
longed for the dark cool caves he knew well.
He was on a mission. Sharku had sent
him to find out what had happened to Ugluk and his boys and to find and “rescue”
something called a halfling. He was to bring it to directly to Orthanc. Gorluk did
not question his orders, he had no curiosity about his quest.
His warband were
good boys, but feeling the tension and inclined to quarrel. Burly Vargan and
Uldo the archer were his sergeants, the three of them had been on several raids
together and they understood each other ways. With them were Ogzul, Ugbad,
Nurbag and Gargul all good scrappers. Find, rescue and return. It could not be
over soon enough for him.
Madgash and his band of orcs, did not travel by day. They could not
abide the bright sun and so ran all night, hiding in what ever cover they could
find. A farmer had been surprised to find them in his barn one morning, his surprise,
like him, had been short lived. That had been two days ago and they had eaten
little since.
His warband, quarrelsome at the best of times, had not
stopped bickering and there had been several nasty fights. Ugzug, bigger than
most, was his deputy and the pair had their work cut out maintaining what orcs pass
off as discipline. His other sergeant, Shagrat, was out with the two bow armed
snagas, Guzgob and Zugug, looking for supper. The other maggots, Skargob,
Brazzag, Guzguff and Gorbash were squabbling over a few bits of dried meat and
calling each other names in the manner of orckind.
They all hated him as they hated all their companions as
they hated everything. Their guttural shouts and visceral shrieks rose as the
pile of food fell. Yes, they hated each other and would fight and kill each
other too when the need arose. But they all stuck together when threatened.
The only thing that could make orcs work together was the
mutual hatred and fear of those that were not orc. They had come into this
strange land of horses, at the bidding of their master. They had snuck off into
the darkness when the straw heads had attacked and had seen Grishnakh slain. Now
all Madgash wanted was to rescue himself, with or without his companions.
The
Campaign
Using MESBG BC rules. Each warband will play against each of
the others. Then the Good Guys will team up against the Bad Guys for the “final”.
The scenario will get rolled for each round of play
Where is Boromir -Men of the West company rating 99
The White Finger-Isengard company rating 106
Justice for Eomer Rohirrim company rating 98
Mordororx Mordor Orcs company rating 99
First round
Where is Boromir v the White Finger
Mordororx v Justice for Eomer
Second Round
Where is Boromir v Mordororx
Justice for Eomer v the White Finger
Third Round
Where is Boromir v Justice for Eomer
Mordororx v the White Finger
Final
Good guys v Bad guys
The Prize!
At the conclusion of the final battle, the warband with the
highest rating wins
Each company rolls on the table of prizes, winning company rolls
twice
1= a small purse of coins worth 1-3(d6/2) influence
2= Every hero gains a single point of either Might, Will or
Fate
3= An ancient bracelet, wrought with strange runes, the wearer
of the bracelet causes Terror
4=An ancient sword with a wicked looking ever sharp blade,
this sword gives the “Bane of Kings special rule to whomever wields it
5=An ancient Torc, whoever wears this Torc can ignore any
wound on a roll of 6
6=An ancient two-handed axe, it is master forged
From the narrative aspect this progression works well. The two
good v evil match ups are obvious enough with Theowulf bitterness about Eomer’s
captivity being quite enough to initiate a fight with Garulf. As for the Bad
Guys well, any excuse for a fight!
It would only be natural for the Good Guys to band together to
attack the nasty orcses who in turn would certainly ally together for survival.
Solo! SBG ME BC has a great rule system and rolling for initiative
ensures a random element, but is it enough?
Drawing chits for each character might work well, as would
drawing cards. I think cards might be the better way. Jokers can be added as
wild cards, different coloured jokers for each side maybe.
Just a few modelling/paint jobs required and then ,let
battle commence
No comments:
Post a Comment