Margana Year 5 Summer the Battle of the Forest of Nee

 

Summer-

Armies can not leave a region they are attempting to subdue and so neither Harno or Dahar have any choice in their strategy

Harno fails to subdue Snake Pass

Dahar fails to subdue Lake Morovere

Malthodor attacks the army of Morrod in the Forest of Nee

 

The Forest of Nee is a strange, doomy place it is said, with a dark reputation. Little is known of it’s deep wooded interior, travellers stick to the road that traverses it, and make haste to complete their journey or take a wide detour around the edges of the Forest, moving hurriedly on and avoiding camping near the eaves of the Forest.

The Forest of Nee is an ancient place it is said, thickly wooded, where hoary old trees live, grow to fantastic size, die, fall and rot and the ruin of them lies many yards deep so that the floor of the Forest is impassable to all but the fleet footed creatures that have evolved there.

The Forest of Nee is an Eldritch place it is said, inhabited by spectres of the past, dread creatures of no mortal kind and strange animals unlike any in Margana. Many tales have come down over the years but such is the reputation of the place that few that live now have walked the deeper hollows and fewer still have returned.

 

There are however clearings in the forest. Wide glades where the ruins of ancient civilisations totter in magnificent ruin. In one such clearing there stands a statue, old it is, innumerable years have passed since it was built in homage to a long-expired Brotherhood of Knights. And it stands in what can only have once been a shrubbery.

  The battle for the Forest of Nee

The Battlefield is a clearing in the forest, a river borders one of the long edges, there are several areas of woodland, a settlement (ruined) and two areas of dense impenetrable thicket. One of which has a statue and resembles an ancient shrubbery.

Special Rules!

The Forest of Nee, as has often been said, is a strange place and is inhabited by unusual beings.

The Wraith of the Ghost of the Knight Who Once Said Nee. This is a powerful entity that appears in the same way as reinforcements. Each turn, roll a die if it is equal to or less than the current turn number the Wraith appears- 1-3 next to the shrubbery, 4-6 in the ruins.

It will attack the nearest unit from either side, if two units are equally close, dice for which one gets attacked.

  The Wraith is a fearsome creature. I wanted to stretch the boundaries of the rules and create an absolute monster, something that might stand for Sauron perhaps or at least the Witch king of Angmar. What was the worst I could create within the rule structure?

Well…this…

Pretty bad but not bad enough for me! I decided to use this opportunity to try out some ideas I have concerning creatures that cause dread.

 To my mind, the spell-working aspect of Tolkien’s world is all about causing or preventing Fear. I wanted to have a stab at representing this within the Fantastic Battles rule set. So, another trait-Cause Terror

Cause Terror -In order to charge a creature that Causes Terror a unit rolls 1d6 for each company and the total needs to be less than the unit’s current total Resolve, if it fails then it can not charge this turn.

Another thought is an attacking variant of this- Inflict Dread.

Inflict Dread – instead of melee a Character may Inflict Dread on a unit forcing the unit to roll 1 d6 for each company. For each point above their current total Resolve the unit loses one Resolve.

I decided to give the Wraith Cause Terror for this game.

Nee Hammers! The Nee Hammer is a small bird, not unlike a woodpecker with bright red and orange plumage and a long, sharp bill. It has a well-earned reputation for ferocity, is extremely territorial and will aggressively attack any creature that comes near.

Each turn roll a d6 for each side. The side that rolls lowest gets attacked by a family of Nee Hammers! If there is a tie then both sides get attacked. Randomly decide a unit, roll d6 6 = lose 3 resolve, 4-5 = lose 2 Resolve, 1-3 = lose 1 Resolve.

  Ruins Any settlements rolled in terrain generation will be ruins.

  Morrod have the weakest army they have raised yet a mere 500 points of Rabble, Snagas, Archers and Orcses. The best unit are the berserkers with a Resolve of 3! They are at least numerous with 16 companies.

 Malthodor have 611 points they have lost Ruinhid and the men of Vaelinglor but still have 13 companies of good solid troops, minimum Resolve is 4

Malthodor is the Attacker using Red tokens

Morrod defends using Blue

Objective -Kill the Ghost!

Mishaps Occur! The Rabble are 3 b/w late, not to be outdone in tardiness, the Orcses and the Orcarchers are 4 b/w late!

The Archers of Northdom are enthusiastic 3 b/w

 

Turn 1 No random event

Nee Hammer roll double 6! The Forest echoes to the call of Neehammers “ Ni ni ni ni ni ni ni ni”

The Hearthguard take three hits and the Orcses take one

Archers of Northdom are impetuous  but roll “in your name”

Ghost roll = 5 no wraith will appear this turn

 

 

 

 

Turn 2 No random event

Nee hammers descend like a red and orange cloud upon the Orcarchers and inflict 3 hits! Even Orc-hide can not deflect their sharp bills.

 

 

Guluk and Shatrag are kept busy trying to rally their troops, but failing! Neehammers hurt!

 

 

 

 

 

Noblig holds his Snagas back in the wood in the centre while the tardy Orcses, Orcarchers and Rabble play catch up

On Malthodor’s left flank , the light cavalry of Meoland advance to skirmish the Orcses

The enthusiastic archers of Northdom are approaching the ancient ruins

Ghost roll =5 no wraith will appear this turn

Turn 3 Random Event! Late arrivals! As there have not yet been any casualties, this event can not happen

Nee hammers attack the Orcses again! 2 hits

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Light cavalry come under fire from the Orcarchers as they flank the ruins and take 3 hits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Malthodor advances

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow Fagland! The Withe Rider!”  Fagland leaves a great cloud of pipe smoke in his wake as he spurs his trusty steed Dawashfox towards the fray.

 

 

 

 

 

The Neehammer  hits are starting to build up on the unfortunate Orcharchers and Orcses 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The Archers of Northdom enter the ruins

 

 

 

 

Ghost roll = 3 The Wraith appears!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But where?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He’s…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..,behind…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Nee!” The Wraith attacks the Northdom archers

 

 

 

 

 

Turn 4 No Random Event Nee Hammers descend in a cloud upon the Meoland spears- 2 hits

The light horse cause 2 hits on the Orcarchers

  Shatrag screams at his archers “Shoot them ‘orses, boys, shoot ‘em good and its ‘orse stoo for supper, ‘orse stoo for breakfast and blimey if don’t look like ‘orse stoo for second breakfast too!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Orcarchers do well! 9 hits from 12 dice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The snagas can fire on the Northdom archers but they are in combat with the wraith. Fire into combat is forbidden in the rules  but can they fire into this combat e which does not involve their won troops?  They are Orcs! They fire Reroll 6’s as hits on the Wraith

They cause 1 hit

 

Noblig encourages his orcs!

 

Turn 5 no random event it’s  Neehammer  time! They attack the Orcarchers again!  2 hits.  They have sustained 8 in total from the pesky birds. That red and orange bush looks suspiciously like a nesting site. “ni ni ni ni ni ni ni”

 

 

 

 

 The promise of ‘orse stoo has really motivated the Orcarchers, another shocking volley 10 hits from 12 dice

 

 

 

 

 

 

The light horse disperse The Snagas are also shooting well and get 3 hits from 3 dice.

 

 

 

 

The archers of Northdom conform to the flank against the wraith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noblig and his Berserkers charge into the Meoland spears . Furious Charge meets shield wall!

 

 

 

 

The axemen of Lanochross charge into the flank of the Berserkers

Fagland raised his arms, incants and Empowers the spearmen!

The Berserkers disperse but the Spears are mortally damaged just the one point that Longfor brings them keeps them on the board

 

 

Again the Archers of Northdom must roll three dice and score less than their current Resolve to charge the Wraith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The roll of the dice make the hollow sound of coconut shells being knocked together and….

The three eyed snake! The Archers can fight, not that it helps, they cause naught injuries and suffer 5.

The archers of Northdom bravely chicken out and run away

 

 

Turn 6 no random event The Nee hammers attack the Orcses 1 hit, that’s the least of their problems , however, “Neee!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rabble are impetuous! They roll 6 and charge in to the flank of the axemen!

The Meoland spears charge the rabble there’s a big fight and when the dust settels the axes spears and rabble have all scattered.

Malthodor reaches it’s Rout level and with their trusty minstrels following, the whole army Runs Awaaaay!

Interlude- a shrubbery

 

Post Battle Morrod has occupied the Forest of Nee and gained a shrubbery.

Morrod has lost none of it’s units although the Berserkers are bloodied

 Malthodor has suffered more. The Axemen of Lanochross have fled to their valley and so have the Meoland spears. The archers of Northdom are bloodied

 

A significant victory although it has little strategic importance as neither Malthodor or Morrod can win.

Autumn- Harno and Dahar both fail to subdue Lake Morovere and Snake Pass with 5 regions Dahar are winning the campaign.

 

 

 

Morrod can however scoop a draw if they can take Malthodor on their home turf. The Rabble OF Morrod actually outnumber the army of Malthodor but being on home ground Malthodor will get a bonus 250 points. They have quite a limited pool however, only the King and his elite knights remain to be committed.

Can the unreliable, expendable rabble of Morrod conquer Malthodor’s finest?