Another night raid for Ilium: A Game of Heroes

Reprising the night raid scenario for Ilium: A Game of Heroes, this week my Trojan heroes (Aeneas and Penthesileia) snuck into the Andrew's Achaean camp (the sleeping Ajax, Achilles and Odysseus).

The Trojans approached Ajax's contingent first. Aeneas slit the throat of one sleeping shield-bearer, before pouncing on the sentry who'd been staring off in the opposite direction. Despite hitting the sentry square in the back of the head, Aeneas' axe must have caught in the sentry's crest, and the hit failed to cause a wound (i.e. I rolled a one!).

The sentry called out in alarm, waking Greater Ajax and all of his contingent except Lesser Ajax who continued to snore. Penthesileia now engaged the bigger Ajax, but failed to land a hit on her first attack, but then pursued her death-wish and converted her next failed attack into a hit by taking a wound herself. This allowed her to cause a savage three wounds. 

While the Trojans were mired in combats that were far less one-sided than hoped, the sentries from Odysseus' and Achilles' contingents were making their way towards the sounds of commotion.

As the Myrmidon sentry came close to the combats, Penthesileia finally won her contest with Ajax, felling the hero, but taking a battering herself in the process. Odysseus' sentry, having sighted the Trojan insurgents, ran back to the other sleeping Achaeans, raising them from their sleep. Achilles was momentarily startled to hear of Ajax's death, but soon recovered.

The newly-roused Odysseus ran forward to protect the chariot team, as Aeneas slipped from his inconclusive battle with Ajax's promachoi, the fallen hero's brother, Teukros, loosed an arrow at Penthesileia, taking his revenge as she fell.

Striking once at Odysseus, Aeneas decided that larceny was the better part of valour. He hopper into the chariot and drove off towards the darkness.

Frustratingly, Aeneas mis-judged the angle of his escape and was set upon by Achilles and his Myrmidons. Under the storm of blows, the Trojan hero was taken out of action. Not even his favoured status among the Olympians could save him this time.

So the night raid was foiled! In this scenario, the Trojans secured only two kleos (for killing Ajax), while the Achaeans earned four kleos, (two for killing the Trojans, and two for the two surviving Achaean heroes.