Our campaign for Burrows & Badgers got off to a smashing start this week with a three-player game matching my rogues, the Dirty Paws, against the rival royalist bands, the Special Animal Service (Andrew), and Force 8 and a half from Newtownards (Roger).
The open battle took place in a contested royal borough/royal burrow. The Dirty Paws (bottom right (and in front of the burrow centre left) had been tasked to purge any magic-users they could find, and hoped to scavenge anything they could from the burrows while they were there. The SAS (top right) hoped to win the engagement by wearing down the enemy forces by attrition and, always showboating, orchestrate a showdown between warband leaders. Force 8.5 (far left) just wanted to defend their patch, and take and capture a few more burrows while their rivals were distracted.
The Dirty Paws began by setting up ambushes along the perimeter of their deployment area, while Robyn the fox, Gypsy the mouse, and Seren the bat all searched for loot in the burrow within their zone. Seren was lucky enough to find a haul, earning an experience point and a few pennies to boot. Confronted by such blatant opportunism, the SAS started a cautious advance to try to drive the rogues out of the area.
Unfortunately for the rogues, Force 8.5 had the same idea and send forward their badger leader and raven second, supported by a squirrel to add pressure on the Dirty Paw's forward position. Tibbot the mouse and Osgood the otter both attempted to ambush the royalists as they advanced, but sadly proved little but their need to spend more time practicing their archery. Osgood's ability to melt into the shadows kept him hidden, but the outlook for Tibbot was not so good.
Back against the SAS, the had sent their magic-using nun forward to help sniff out the hidden rogues, when Old Broc broke cover and roundly clobbered her causing 15 wounds in a single hit. Sadly, Boc was then attacked in turn by Lady Briar, the royalist leader. Being out-numbered, Broc wasn't too happy, but the ensuing combat was far more brutal than he expected and he was taken out of combat in one assault.
Robyn Longtooth, leader of the Dirty Paws than launched himself at the wee mouse nun, taking such a bite that she was reduced to little more than pâté. However, now Robyn found himself in a less than ideal situation and the SAS's glorious beaver hove into view.
The fight was going poorly for the rogues and Robyn was taking a battering. Gypsy, the mouse battle dancer skipped out of cover to hamstring the beaver before he even got a hit in. Sadly for the Dirty Paws, it was not enough to save Robyn who was taken out by Lady Briar.
At this point, the Dirty Paws had achieved one objective outright, taking down the nun, and the SAS likewise were doing ok having removed the rogues' leader from the battle. However, Force 8.5 had not only an uncontested deployment area, but had also driven Osgood and Tibbot back from their forward position and thereby claimed three terrain pieces. The focus of the fight now shifted to stopping their advance. Osgood the otter was dispatched by the raven (at which point the rogues should have fled because Osgood was the warband's 2iC, but I forgot that bit at the time).
The hamstrung beaver went berserk, chasing after Gypsy who did her best to lead it towards the other royalist band. She ducked out of the way, leaving his free to charge the raven, but the initiative shifted...
Ant the raven went for the beaver instead, dispatching the furry fellow, only to then take a perfectly placed arrow from Tibbot in the back of his head, reducing him to 1 wound.
Emboldened by the turn of events, wee Seren the bat then flew at the raven, certain of the kill - only to roll a 1 against the raven's perfect block. However, Force 8.5 had had enough at this stage and bottled it, securing their secondary objectives, but technically leaving the SAS as the battle's victors.
The after-battle shenanigans would belie that victory. The wee mouse nun was unable to recover from being turned into pâté, and while several of the surviving members of the SAS gained experience advancements, they could not scrape together enough pennies to replace their magic-user.
Force 8.5 had better luck, earning a fiew advancements, finding a goodly lot of shiny pennies, and roughing up a wandering slaver who handed over a small beast as a bribe to allow him to carry on his journey.
The Dirty Paws had a cracking time of it. Beyond the loot found in the burrow and the bounty paid for killing the nun, they went on to find more loot in a well, make a tidy arrangement with a tame quartermaster and found a sunken treasure ship with a magical necklace of casting for Seren. In the end they landed an enormous pile of pennies allowing them to hire and arm a ferret - Sgian Dubh - as well as buying a magical double handed weapon of leeching (given to Old Broc). Robyn, suffered a hand injury, reducing his Strike, while Osgood's lacerated body means that he'll need time off to recover. Broc - who will act up as the warband's second next battle - was hardened by his injuries. As if he wasn't fearless enough already?
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