Devilry Afoote: Imbolc (Candlemas)1626 - The Perils of Pauline

Mark's hunters return in a new Devilry Afoot scenario!

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Pauline is a secret witch, who has been apprehended by the Witch Finder and his assistants. They are taking her to Oakham to be tried and hanged. Her fellow secret witches must rescue her. The secret witches are Hunters. The Witch Finder’s party are rated as Outlaws.

Here are details of the cast for this encounter.

The Secret Witches

Pauline:

Secret Witch / Innocent

William Atkins SJ

Religious: Devout. Secret Witch. 30s

Sword, Pistol (28s) + 2s in pocket

Henry Crawford Esq.

Gentleman: Secret Witch. 31s

Sword, Flintlock

6s to equip Cleeve with sword. 25s in pocket

Cleeve

Follower: Secret Witch.

Polearm, Sword

Atkins, Crawford & Cleeve are all characters in my progression table, and are outfitted and equipped accordingly.

Here’s a woodcut showing the rescue party, with their familiars, as they were imagined by the anonymous author of the pamphlet Divers Strange Tales of Rutland Shire (photo #1).

The Witchfinder & his men
Hopkins (Witch Finder)
Outlaw, Sword

Curnow
Outlaw, Sword & dagger

Gray
Outlaw, 2 x pistols

Another woodcut, from the same source, purporting show the Witch Finder and his men, with their prisoner Pauline (Photo #2).

Here’s the scene of action. The secret witches have used enchantments to make Hopkins and his men lose their way as dusk fell, so they cannot reach the safety of the village where they had intended to pass the night (Photo #3).

The chit pull bag contains 3 chits for the secret witches (Hunters), 2 chits for the outlaws (Witch Finder & Co.) and 1 chit for Pauline who can activate independently only if she has no captor within 2”, and then counts as an Innocent who is Aware.

Turn 1.
The chit pull sequence was HHHWIW. The hunters moved forward to the near edges of the two enclosed fields, and took cover waiting for the Witch Finder and his men to come closer. However the latter are aware that devilment is at work, and advance cautiously. Pauline is closely guarded and must move with her captors (Photo #4).

Turn 2.
The chit pull sequence was WHHHIW. This time the Witch Finders activated first. Gray fired one of his pistols at Atkins but the shot was wild. Then Hopkins moved into contact and attacked, but the wound was only a nick, and didn’t affect Atkins. Curnow advanced, dragging Pauline along with him.

Atkins activated next, for the Hunters. His Jesuit self defence skills kicked in. He fired his pistol at Hopkins at point blank range, but the shot went wide. Then he attacked with his sword, hitting and causing 1W.

Crawford came across to support his friend. Cleeve also moved up, to join his master.

Then the Witch Finders got their second chit. Hopkins activated first, and caused 2W to Atkins. Back at the far corner of the field Gray advanced towards the action. Curnow contacted and attacked Cleeve, causing 1W (Photo #5).

Turn 3.

The chit pull sequence was HIHWWH. Crawford quailed at the sight of his friend Atkins carrying 2W, and failed both his activation rolls. Then Atkins, weak from blood loss, also failed.

Then the Witch Finders get their chance. Hopkins goes first and attacks Atkins, fails, and Atkins gets an opportunity attack, causing Hopkins a 2nd W. Then Curnow continues piling in against Cleeve, but Cleeve somehow fends off the attack. Gray holds his position, guarding Pauline and reloading his pistol.

The Witch Finders get their second chit. Curnow attacks Cleeve, and again fails. This time Cleeve hits back, and Curnow takes 1W. Hopkins puts in another attack against Atkins, and this time Atkins falls OOA with 2W (taking the total to 4W). Gray moves forward, trying to draw a bead on Crawford, but he cannot shoot this time.

Last to activate is Cleeve, who gets one success. He continues fighting Curnow, and gives Curnow another W (now 2W) (Photo #6).

Turn 4.
The chit pull sequence was IWHW. The Witch Finders chit came up before any of the Hunters. Gray shot at Crawford, but missed. Curnow kept up his ongoing fight against Cleeve, but failed to hit this time, and Hopkins contacted and attacked Crawford, but failed to hit.

Crawford activated (one success) and fired at Hopkins, hitting and killing the Witch Finder chief with 2W (total 4W).

 

The surviving Witch Finders activated. Gray stalked forwards, making contact with Crawford but not taking any further action. Curnow kept fighting Cleeve, and finally got in a shrewd blow, killing Cleeve with 2W (total 3W) (Photo #7).

In photo #7 above, Crawford (grey hat, bottom C) is the only secret witch of the rescue party still in action. The two surviving Witch Finders are Curnow (carrying 2W), and Gray, who is pointing a pistol at Crawford.

Turn 5.
The chit pull sequence was IWWH. Pauline has an opportunity to escape. Her chit was pulled first and she has no captor within 2”. She fled 6” directly away from her captors.

The Witch Finders activated next. Gray cannot shoot at Crawford because his pistols are both unloaded, and his attack failed to hit. Curnow moved in to join the attack on Crawford, but his attack also failed to hit. They tried again. Gray failed to hit, but Curnow hit and caused 2W to Crawford.

Now Crawford activated (2 actions). He drew his sword and attacked Curnow, killing the Witch Finder by dealing him 1W (total 3W). (photo #8).

Turn 6.

The chit pull sequence was WI. Gray attacked Crawford and hit him with 1W, taking his total to 3W so OOA. Pauline fled off the field, losing any pursuit in the darkness (Photo #9).

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So the Witch Finders failed in their mission to bring Pauline to justice, and two of them (Hopkins and Curnow) were killed by the rescue party.

All three of the rescue party were taken out of action. William Atkins SJ made a full recovery. Henry Crawford Esq recovered but took a lasting injury: horrific scars but not affecting future performance. Cleeve also recovered with a lasting injury, a leg wound -1” to all move actions.

No bounty money accrues to the secret witches for this mission.

All three rescuers accrue 2EXP for participating and remaining on table as the scenario objective was successfully achieved (Pauline escaped). Crawford gets 2 extra EXP for taking down Hopkins and Curnow.