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| Tolkiens Dragon |
Long years ago, maybe 100 years before Eorl the Young rode
out of the North and Rohan was founded, in the wild, tall mountains of the
North there lived a dragon. Scatha the
Worm was a mighty Long-worm of the Grey Mountains and one of the greatest
Dragons to infest that range of the north. Little is known of Scatha's life,
except that he possessed a great hoard, stolen from the Dwarves. He was slain
by Fram son of Frumgar in the early days of the Éothéod. His recovered hoard
was the subject of great dispute between the Men of the Éothéod and the Dwarves
of that region, who claimed the hoard as their own. The hoard was said to be so
vast that it could not all be brought away from the dragon’s mountain lair and
that great piles of gold had been left there, unguarded. Over the centuries the
dispute has been forgotten but tales of the hoard have survived and over the
years have become embellished so that the rumoured worth of the abandoned
treasure is many times that of the original cache. One tale that is oft
repeated is that within the pile of gold and trinkets there lies an unknown
ring of power-the eighth dwarven ring. Many adventurers have sought the fortune
but none have been successful.
Rumours usually have some basis for their existence and form
the bones of folk lore and so it was with the mighty hoard of Skatha, there had
been a mighty treasure, however all but a few trinkets and odd small coins had
been taken by Fram, grand sire of Eorl. The Dwarves of that region also laid
claim to the treasure, but Fram rebuked the claim, instead sending them the
teeth of the Dragon along with the message, "Jewels such as these you will
not match in your treasuries, for they are hard to come by."
However, what is not told, is that Skatha was no drake but indeed a
female, and had left, deep in a dark corner of her lair, a small brood of whelps.
The largest and eldest of these wasted no time in consuming his siblings and
having witnessed the demise of his dam, had learned caution concerning mortal
folk, preying only on the occasional lost sheep and stray goat, stalking instead
the wild deer and boar that roamed the mountain forests.
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| Hirinboga |
He grew strong and cunning, wise in the way of words,
Hirinboga he was, the Aedwyrm. His breath was as the furnace and could melt
steel. His teeth were long and sharp, he could swallow a whole horse in one
bite. His gnarled hide was as thick and hard as the bark on an old oak tree. His
memory was long, dark and twisted, and his cold heart was full of a bitter hatred
for all who go on two legs.
The Uruks climbed high into the Grey Mountains until at last
they came into a desolate high walled pass, a place
of rock and scree and steep, short cliffs, where the constant chill wind
desiccated the few stunted, wiry dark-skinned trees that clung to the frigid
rock.
Here they found a cave. They paused at the smoke blackened
entrance. Gorluk divided them into three parties and they stealthily crept in.
I used rocks made from some old dry stones I found in the
garden. Breaking one up with a hammer provided lots of stone chips and flakes
to use as scatter. I made a separate chamber at the most Northerly end to be
Hirinboga’s lair.
I had various ideas about how to play this. I placed markers
in five locations across the board to represent treasure items
The
scenario as it is written is pretty much a straight fight, but I wanted to add
a bit more of a solo element to it, so I played the sentry rules, from the main
rule set, for the dragon
Each turn roll initiative as usual then roll on the sentry
chart for the dragon’s action.
The Finger pause at the entrance to the cave.
Turn One Dragon wins initiative
The dragon rolls 1 on the sentry table-he slumbers,
blissfully unaware.
The Uruks split into three groups
Turn 2 Dragon wins initiative
Hirinboga rolls 4 on the sentry table, yawns, opens his
eyes, sniffs the air and slinks towards the Uruk Warband who take cover behind
the nearest rocks.
Turn 3 Uruks win initiative
The Finger realise an error. They plan to hit the dragon with a
coordinated attack using Gargul and Arakh as the main attackers however they
will need to counter the dragon’s Terror factor. As Gargul causes terror he
will pass his test automatically but Arakh and any others will have to roll for
theirs. Bargul carries the company banner that allows rerolls for courage teste
and Gorluk has his lead by example skill which adds one to each die roll for
courage tests….however, they have gone with middle party and are too far away
to help the “assault group”. 
Ogbad’s dilemma, having` climbed to a position where he has
line of sight is whether to shoot or wait for the Finger to get in position…he
waits
Hirinboga rolls a 1. He lies down and closes his eyes
Turn 4 Hirinboga wins initiative
One eye opens, the dragon looks around, stretches and ambles
in the direction of the Uruks.
Gorluk, Bargul and Gaakh move up with Gargul
Ogzul and the two crossbow carriers Kang and Burgaz move
further into the cave on the East flank
Ogbad lets fly with his Great Bow-5! A hit. Rolls a second 5 to wound Ogbad uses his “lethal aim“ skill
(grants a free point of might, once each turn for any shooting related action),
to boost the result. A wound!
The dragon rolls Fate and uses a point of might to get it on
the second roll
Gackil fires his crossbow, hits! Needs a six to wound,
rolls, gets….a six!
The dragon fails his Fate roll and suffers a wound. His fierce, deafening roar echoes around the
cave.
He passes the “survival instinct “roll, he must pass a
courage test each time he is wounded or flee the field.
Turn 5 The Finger win initiative
Ogbad moves away, firing twice, the second shot causing a
wound. He has the Steady Aim (no penalty for moving) Expert shot (may fire
twice) and Seasoned Archer (May move full distance and fire) skills
The Dragon passes his test and does not flee the field.
Turn 6 The Finger win initiative
Hirinboga is old and cunning. He knows his cavern intimately
and takes a dark, hidden channel to bring him round on his attackers flank
“More than one way to skin an orc” he thinks
Turn 7 The orcs win initiative
The Finger take up positions behind rocks ready for the moment
to charge
Boo! Hirinboga emerges
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| FLAAAAAME!! |
Hirinboga flames! The white-hot breath of the dragon, melts
steel, evaporates flesh and bone in an instant.
Kaakh and Arkhul are incinerated. Ogzul miraculously
survives
Turn 8 the Dragon wins initiative
A crucial turn! The Dragon is in a position to charge. Arakh
calls Heroic Move, the dragon counters with a heroic move of his own
It’s a Roll off! 1- the Uruks win, they have had their
Fingers burnt and want to get close up and dirty where Hirinboga can’t use his
flames
Arakh charges in “With me!” he calls. Gaakh the berserker
Gargul and Gargul run to join him
Gargul spends a point of might to declare Heroic Strike
adding d6 to his fight skill
Hirinboga matches this with his own Heroic Strike
Both roll sufficient to take their Fight skill to 10
The Finger roll 10 dice in the combat, Hirinboga rolls 4
dice. The Uruks roll 2 x 6, the Dragon rolls one 6
Gargul parries it to a 5. Now the Might that Hirinboga used
on his Fate roll proves crucial, if he still had that point of might he could
boost his roll back to 6 and draw the duel
Gargul rolls 3 dice to wound and scores on 2 of them. His
Dragonbane Blade causes three wounds for each successful hit, the Dragon is
dead!
The Company roll 1 on the victory table and gain their
choice of one point of Might Will or Fate
Thoughts-Overall it was a good game. It came down to
that last roll for who won the duel. One more point of might for the dragon and
he would have forced a draw
The dragon was outclassed! The Finger have evolved from
their earlier rookie selves and now have a company rating of 416 points and 22
influence. Maybe I should have given him some allies, bats maybe or gobboes.
I forgot about the dragon’s spells! He could have cast
transfix, channelled it and brought Gargul’s stats down.
The sentry rule worked well I thought. It added some
uncertainty and increased to the fun factor. Maybe I could have made it even
more suspenseful. What if instead of coming in in through the main cavern
entrance the Finger had found a secret tunnel? This is narrow and winding so
that they can only come through one at a time forcing them to make a staggered
entry. Dice each turn to see how many
come on to the board.
This has been a great campaign. My Uruks are unrecognisable
from the company that started out. Gargul has 165 points. He has 15 stat increases and has gained 8
skills. He has a Warg pelt that cause Terror, a master forged two handed axe
and a Dragons Bane blade. Not bad considering he started as a bog-standard
scout. He is actually more powerful than all the evil heroes in the Armies book
apart from Saruman and Sauron and he’s only 15 points behind Saruman.
Another aspect is that they have gained unique skills that
don’t appear in the ME SBG main rules, Parry and Blade master for example. I
will have to try this war band against some of the powerful named heroes from the
book or place them in a scenario, at Helms Deep maybe.
I wonder if they have become too powerful. Maybe there
should be a limit to how far they can progress. I think there is a danger that
if they all improve without limit, they could all become the same character.
Overall an excellent experience. Oh, and the Dwarven Ring?
There wasn’t one!
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