Warlords of Erehwon Solo Game - Turn 2

The next phase started with the left mob of Zombies rallying and shedding the Pins they suffered in the first turn. When rallying, a unit ignores any Pins, and with a Command of 5, they just made it.

The Elven Archers opened up once more, this time targeting a Skeleton Warrior unit no longer covered by the decimated Zombie screen.

The Zombies on the right wing were eager to feast on the juicy horses of the Elven Cavalry, to an extent where they hurt themselves shambling forward on the double.

Full of contempt, the Cavalry fired their bows at the closing corpses. I think I made some kind of blunder, here; as far as I can see only one casualty should have been afflicted ... Oh, well, it's only Zombies. 😉 My head was working overtime, because I still had to look up stuff in the rulebook a lot, so mistakes were made, but as I played the game to learn the ropes, it doesn't really matter.

The Elven Guard fired at the recently rallied Zombie mob, and they downed another couple of corpses.

A Skeleton Warrior unit failed to comply when ordered forward (I probably dforgot to use the Command of the Wraith, but, again, live and learn).

A decimated Zombie mob also failed its Order Test (Zombies can only benefit from the Command of a Zombie Master), but being mindless Zombies, they did not go Down, but Advanced instead.

Some Skeleton Warriors with Spears charged the Elven right wing ...

... and both sides exchanged missiles (Bows/Longbows can be used for this if the wielders are not moving).

And then the slaughter commenced. The fight was a draw, and the Elves, having Haughty Disdain' automatically passed their Command Test, while the Skeletons had to roll the die - and failed. One more Pin would have meant their destruction!

Both units consolidated. I am not sure that I fully understand the Consolidate rule, but I am working on some house interpretations in the back of my head.

The Undead Warlord cast his Chill Wind at the Elven Archers, and one Elf succumbed to frostbite.

The Elven Cavalry, after shaking off the disgrace of being forced back by a bunch of bones, decided to come back with a vengeance. This time they were prepared for the hail of Spears, and every hit was warded off.

The undead lost the fight, and subsequently they broke and were destroyed.

The destruction of the Warriors opened a path for the Skeleton Riders, who promptly struck at the Elves.

The Elves used their Longbows, but failed to inflict any damage,

On impact, two Elves were skewered on the Lances of the Dead.

The Elves kept their resolve in spite of being heavily outnumbered.

The Undead had suffered heavy losses - but would it be enough to keep them from overwhelming the defenders of Desolation Pass?

So far, I like this game! Turn 3 will see a lot more acxtion as the shambling horde closes in.

Warlords of Erehwon, a Solo Game - Turn 1

It has been quite a while since I last updated this blog. The reasons are legion, suffice to say that lockdowns and various ailments have kept me away from the hobby, but now I am feeling the itch once more.

Before Covid I invested in a couple of rulesets, among those Warlords of Erehwon by Rick Priestly, and I recently bumped into a post on Facebook regarding that game. I dug out my copy aand started reading - and I liked what I read.

I did not remember that I also purchased the special Order Dice for the game, so I made some Order Chits to place beside the small Poker Chips I was going to use for the random activation mechanic. As it turned out, it was a good thing, as I ended up with 13 units in the Undead warband - one more than the 12 dice included in a set.

After some tinkering with a spreadsheet to manage warband building, I constructed an Elven warband consisting of:

• Mounted Warlord with Bodyguards (Dragon Princes)
• Hero
• Knights (Silver Helms)
• 2 x Cavalry (Illyrian Reavers)
  
• Guards (Sea Guards)
  
• Warriors
• Archers

With upgrades, they added up to 1404 points.

To face the might of the Elven Realm, the foul Necromancer conjured up the following:

• Wraith with 4 Cursed Spirits
• Undead Champion with Huge Sword and Heavy Armour
• 2 x Skeleton Warriors
• 5 x Skeleton Warriors with Spears
• Skeleton Riders with Lances and Medium Armour
• 3 x Zombies

A total of 1402 points.

I had decided to play a head-on battle on a narrow stretch, and thus te Battle of Desolation Pass was born.

Elven Rangers have reported a strong force of Undead warriors approaching the Desolation Pass from the nearby Dark Marches, and the local Elven Lord has assembled a warband consisting mainly of household troops to stem the tide while dispatching couriers for the Capitol to call for reinforcements,

The opposing forces meet in the pass.

The Elven Host

The Undead Horde

The Elven Archers started by downing 7 (seven) Zombies. Sadly, I forgot to take the Break Test for losing half the unit to a ranged attack for the Zombies, but, well ... Those Longbows are a menace with a long range of 30 (thirty!) inches.

Another Zombie group rushed forward with a Run, and almost fell apart (failed Agility Test, got Pin).

The Elves held back and used their bows, while the shambling hordes approached.

Four Longbow wielding units took their toll on the screen of rotting corpses.

By the end of Turn 1, the Dead had covered about half the distance to the enemy, but lack of missile support was being sorely felt (I really need to get a couple of Skeleton Archer units ready for this game).

I got a lot of 'Barbarian horde vs. Roman Legion' vibes from this first turn, with the Elves stoically awaiting the approach of their dreadful opponents.

I shall probably post Turn 2 tomorrow (I finished the game this evening, so it is merely a matter of finding the time to get it done).

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy...

I finally succeeded in getting my hands on a Star Wars Legion Clone Wars core set. It had eluded me for ages, so I am quite happy to have secured a copy.

I have absolutely NO hobby time to spend at the moment, but I think that when I do I shall start playing some smaller skirmishes, using the Fistful of Lead Galactic Heroes rules, so that I can paint and use single minis without the need for completing an entire squad each time I want to use new models.

I am beginning to have hobby withdrawal symptoms, but I have to keep working on getting the house and garden ready for Lea's covid-delayed confirmation celebration, even though I really want to start using the new painting desk.

Re-furnishing the Study

This is where my Pain(t) Station desk used to be

I have not been doing much on the hobby front lately; first of all because we went on our annual family camping vacation the last two weeks of July, and then because it is so hot here in Denmark that it takes a lot  of guts to do anything but cower in the shadows.

Last weekend though, we spent packing and moving stuff from my late Mother-in-Law's estate outside Haderslev, and I have been busy emptying my trusty old desk in order to replace it with the somewhat larger and nicer desk formerly belonging to my, also late, Father-in-Law.

I also took the opportunity to organize some of the mess along the radiator under the windows (I have placed the bookcase 15-20 cm from the radiator, and as it has legs, I expect some kind of convection to happen when the radiator is on). Some of the figure cases are all but empty, and as soon as I have removed the last minis from them, I shall sell them off to free some space.

I have built another filament spool tower for the Prepping Station. I now have LotR minis on the right one, all kinds of mixed stuff on the other.

Yesterday I finally got the new desk put in place. I can store most of my paints in and on the desk, now, and as the Miniaturicum paint rack fits behind the elevated desktop, I am going to put something underneath it to be able to reach it while working - and I am going to print some racks to sit beside it, as there is plenty of room left.

So, next up is to find some suitable STL models for the extra racks, and boxes or the equivalent to elevate the racks.

In two and a half week we have Lea's postponed confirmation, and I shall be busy making preparations for it (moving stuff out of the living room so we can set up tables for the celebration, tidying up the garden and coutyard, etc., etc....), but after that, I expect to find time to work on the Smials for Frodo's Quest (and other projects).

2017-07-08, Vacation 2017, Day 5, Kalmar Part 3

The castle was housing an exhibition about the Italian Medici family - all those magnificent dresses and suits were made from paper, as far as I could gather from the explanatory texts.

A light cavalry horse. I have forgotten why it was there...

More Medici dresses.

Another look at the two suits of armour. The largest one would almost fit Anna, I think.

2017-07-08, Vacation 2017, Day 5, Kalmar Part 2

The courtyard of the Kalmar Castle offered quite a few activities for children. Storytelling by a queen, fighting a black knight, and jousting practise to mention some.

Inside we encountered some suits of armour (from around 1450 or so), and some examples of late medieval clothing.