The Missing, Scenario 2

The great part about some of the missions for Rangers Of The Shadow Deep is that they occur in multiple, linked scenarios. For instance, after I played scenario 1 of "The Missing," I had the chance to follow that up with a second game, based on the results of the first. In this case, Turtle Power and her Companions used the clues from Scenario 1 to track the spiders to their forest home, and now bring the battle to the nasty eight-leggers.

Our Heroes, left to right, top to bottom: Conjuror, Arcanist, Turtle Power, Archer, Swordsturtle, Turtle-At-Arms

I took a few liberties with the scenic set up, I added some water features just for fun because I made some finishing touches to the big pond I had made for the "Blood Moon" mission. I am also reasonably happy with how the nest trees turned out, I'm not sure if I will have a chance to use them again, ever, but they were made from some trees I was going to discard so it's all good. And this is as good a time as any to mention that the last time my wife saw me setting up my game board, she mentioned that it has been taking a bit of a beating and I should really consider touching up all those white spots with some paint. And I will. Some day.

Into the woods we go...

So, the first couple of turns involved moving to cocoons, searching them, releasing zombies, and killing them. And a giant spider. That one was dead too. And then the Turtle-At-Arms got stuck up in some webs, but it only took him a few seconds to break free.

Zombies and spiders and webs, oh my!

The next couple of turns were spent advancing further into the woods, and killing whatever zombies and spiders were encountered. Of particular interest was that the Conjuror failed to do any damage with her Magic Bolt for the third game in a row. And the Arcanist lost a fight to a giant spider and, while he survived, he would spend the rest of the game Poisoned.

Deeper into woods and the webs.

As members of the warband reached the nest trees, they set fire to the webbing. So little was happening, in fact, that I am just going to post the rest of the pictures without much in the way of explanation.

And after it was all over, Turtle Power leveled up to 2, and is almost at 3. Everybody survived. There was no treasure, only experience. This was a visually impressive scenario, but it was not very exciting to play. I hope "The Beacon Tower" gives more fun from beginning to end.

Rangers Of The Shadow Deep and associated products can be here.

The Missing, Scenario 1

So, while we are all practicing our "social distancing" during the global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 while it is creating new cases of COVID-19 all over the place, I am doing more solo gaming. Which is to say, the only gaming I am doing is by myself, which isn't too much different than life without the global pandemic. While my usual solo game of choice is my Glorantha-themed "Five Leagues From The Borderlands" campaign, I have been revisiting "Rangers Of The Shadow Deep" this week since I finally finished up some more scenario-specific terrain for it. In any event, I decided to play through the first Mission from the core rulebook, "The Missing," with my new Ranger and assorted hangers-on that I used for the "Blood Moon" mission earlier this week.

So, Turtle Power (which started as a goofy nickname but now appears to be her actual, in-game name) has been called upon to investigate a small settlement whose inhabitants have gone, as the mission title implies, missing. She is accompanied by some of the same Companions as last time, as well as some new faces.

From the left: Conjuror, Arcanist, Swordsturle, Turtle Power, Turtle-At-Arms, Archer

The first scenario of this mission requires the Ranger and her Companions to deploy within 3" of the center point of the table, in this case represented by my Giant Weeds Planter. And after that, the buildings, clue markers, and monsters get placed. This is the fourth time time I've played this particular scenario, so I'm getting an idea of how to place the terrain for a more interesting game.

This is how it all looks at the beginning of the game, before everything starts going horribly wrong for Our Heroes.

The first turn of the game was mostly movement, a good shot by the Archer, and the appearance of another zombie. Turn two involved more of the same, but more monster killing and the appearance of four more zombies. Turtle Power rescued a survivor. And the Archer found a treasure. So far, so good for Our Heroes, who have mostly not had any problems whatsoever.

The end of turn 2 sees six zombies now closing in on Our Heroes.

There was a bunch of fighting with zombies after that. Two turns worth, actually, and a lot of the zombies and a lot of the Companions, and even Turtle Power, were now showing some injury. But the Arcanist ditched the Conjuror to a zombie so he could run for a clue, and found a mutilated corpse. A Survival roll let him know what kind of creature had done all that biting (spiders! But we don't find that out until next scenario.) And then a wave of terror incapacitated the Archer, who would be doing nothing next turn. Which was kind of bad, since she had a zombie moving in on her. And another zombie appeared...

Ahhhhh!!!! Zombies!!!!

Turtle Power made a move towards another clue, and sent the Turtle-At-Arms to intercept the zombie approaching the Archer. That zombie was then repelled when it attacked him. Another zombie sent the Conjuror out of action, and the new zombie shambled towards Turtle Power. Then the Swordsturtle injured the zombie that had so recently toppled the Conjuror, and the Arcanist finished it off. And, some giant rats showed up.

Hey look, kids! Only two zombies left!

Turtle Power ignored the oncoming zombie and went to investigate the clue marker by the cottage and wagon. It was a set of strange tracks, which she was able to identify as belonging to giant spiders. The zombie shambled after her. The other zombie again attacked the Turtle-At-Arms, and was quickly cut down by the fearless chelonian. The giant rats attacked the Swordsturtle and the Arcanist, but were no match for the mighty warriors. The Archer then destroyed the remaining zombie with a really good shot. Like, an amazingly good shot. So fantastically excellent, in fact, that she was unaffected by the big wave of terror that tried to overcome her.

Look, ma! No zombies! Or rats!

Turtle Power ran to get to the clue marker inside the building. The Turtle-At-Arms went for the remaining clue marker. The Arcanist, Swordsturtle, and Archer all headed towards the center. A wave of disease spread across the whole land, meaning bad news for any casualties...

It's amazing what can be done when there are no monsters around!

Turtle Power found his last clue, a bundle of herbs (to be determined after the game.) The Turtle-At_Arms found Aventine's body, but failed to recognize the sword accompanying the body as magical. Everyone else safely arrived at the center of the game area. And then two more zombies appeared behind the building close to the Turtle-At-Arms. And so Turtle Power joined the Companions at the Giant Weeds Planter, the zombies shuffled towards the Turtle-At-Arms, he charged the closest and killed it, and POOF! the scenario ended just like that.

The Conjuror made a complete recovery, and tested negative for any disease (including COVID-19.) Turtle Power leveled up, and now had a dose of Fireheart Green herbs. The treasure token turned out to be a Two-Handed Weapon, Elemental Strike (3) which can be used to add 5 points of damage to an attack that has already caused at least one point of damage, up to three times before it reverts to being a mundane weapon. Guess who uses a two-handed weapon, besides the Swordsturtle? That's right, Turtle Power now has a magic club!

Rangers Of The Shadow Deep and associated products can be here.

Blood Moon

OK, so the whole point of Rollin' With My Homies is to discuss gaming with my friends... but between my own poor health for the last six weeks and the sudden outbreak of a global pandemic, I am going to be posting my non-Nordic Weasel solo gaming endeavours here as well (because, really, this is a better idea than a new blog titled Playing With Myself.) So, without further ado, here is a report of a solo game.

Rangers Of The Shadow Deep is a nice solo gaming offering from Joseph McCollough, the mastermind behind Frostgrave. It is, essentially, a lower-powered version of that game designed for either single player or a cooperative group of two to four. The rulebook includes four sets of missions, and there is another available for free called Blood Moon. I've played through the first mission, The Missing, from the rulebook three times now and I really wanted to give Blood Moon a try with a starting Ranger. My solo games of Rangers use papercraft standees instead of full three dimensional miniatures, so building a warband and all the involved creatures is quick and easy, unless I forget a few and need to keep printing more stuff. Building the terrain required for the missions can take a bit longer.

Deployment

In any case, I spent a couple weeks working on the terrain for the scenario, and when I was finally ready I set about playing out the mission. In addition to the terrain called for by the rules, I added a couple of dead trees and two fields for some ambience. The fields counted as open terrain for this game.

Our Heroes (isn't that what I always call my own forces?)

The first couple of turns were mostly movement, although the special companion Orla dispatched a wolf in the first turn with a lucky shot. It was a short-lived victory, however, as another wolf arrived in a corner.

The end of Turn 1

Turn three saw the attack of two giant rats against the Conjuror and Turtle Power the Ranger on the boat in the pond, as well as the discovery of the first clue. Those rats really hurt Turtle Power! Orla dispatched the second wolf, the Giant Fly that had arrived at the end of Turn 2 chewed up Covin and the Turtle-At-Arms pretty hard, and finally a Swamp Zombie pulled itself out of the pond into the boat to attack Turtle Power. Over by the barn, the Swordsturtle and Seb hacked their way through the three Giant Flies. And then a blood chilling howl was heard...

The end of Turn 3

Turn four saw only Turtle Power and the Conjuror having two actions, everyone else was frightened by the howling and only had one action each. It took the combined might of Turtle Power and the Conjuror to defeat the Swamp Zombie The Swordsturtle revealed the second clue, with Seb and Nicolan rushing towards the manor house. The Giant Fly killed Covin, and it took both Orla and the Turtle-At Arms to bring it down. And then... more howling, more terror...

The end of Turn 4

Now, in Turn 5, things got interesting. Turtle Power found an Old Man hiding in the woods, the Conjuror found more Werewolf evidence in the cart, and Nicolan was revealed to be a Werewolf himself upon finding a clue about himself. Nicolan the Werewolf then charged at Seb while everyone rushed towards the manor house...

The end of Turn 5

While Turtle Power, the Conjuror, and the Old Man struggled to unlock the door on side of the manor house, Seb, the Turtle-At-Arms, the Swordsturtle, and Orla all struggled against Nicolan the Werewolf. And while they had hurt him, he was far from out of the fight. And then, to add insult to injury, another Werewolf was revealed in the manor house...

Werewolves unite! The end of Turn 6

A blurry end to a fine game...

The Conjuror unlocked the door. Turtle Power rushed in to attack the Werewolf, but was smited (smitten?) by the furry ball of fangs and claws. The Old Man attacked as well, but did little damage. Nicolan the Werewolf killed Seb, but Orla dispatched him with another lucky shot. The Turtle-At Arms then rushed the remaining werewolf and dispatched him with a mighty blow! Our Heroes were victorious! And then the Swordsturtle found a little girl hiding under a blanket...

The <insert profanity here> cat laid down on my cart! And squished it! Bad kitty! Bad! Bad!

After the game, survival was confirmed for Turtle Power, and she also was determined to be free of any lycanthropy (which is a bit of a bummer, because a turtle werewolf would be hilarious!) Seb was determined to be quite dead. And then Turtle Power received a total of 96 experience points. And then an interesting thing happened. I was re-reading the rules, trying to figure out if there was any special treasure in this mission, and I realized I had a mistake: auxiliary companions are not allowed to interact with clue markers, and so Nicolan would not have turned himself into a Werewolf upon finding the clue! I am going to keep the results of the game as they are, but I will be better informed when I next play through this mission with my friends.

Onwards to The Missing (again!) after I finish just a few more terrain pieces for the mission...

Rangers Of The Shadow Deep, Blood Moon, and associated products can be here.