Hot On Their Heels

 

BACKGROUND 

The naval battle of Xis' Strand has signed the death warrant for the continent of Euwera.  Those that wish to escape slavery at the hands of the Aegyptus must flee - if they have somewhere to go.

Prince Erenthal is among the more fortunate in that respect.  Whilst his mother organises their kingdom's desperate defense, solely in an attempt to gain some precious time, their dynasty's survival lays on Erenthal's shoulders.  Their fleet mobilised for battle, the Queen has chartered a renowned captain and his sturdy vessel to carry her son to their island fortress.  Erenthal's wife and two sons.

Erenthal's wife and two young sons are already aboard, along with several soldiers and dignitaries and Rakza, one of the court magicians and a renowned ambassador whom, it is hoped, will be able to build a new web of alliances.  Erenthal has stayed two days longer in court, with the erstwhile aim of helping his mother organise the garrison, house refugees and bring in stores from the surrounding lands.  In truth, he is loath to leave his homeland.

It is only when the dust of the Aegyptus vanguard is in view that his master-at-arms, Ythareh, and Chol Vappu, commander of the bodyguard, escort in the Queen.  Mother and son say their farewells, and she commends him the Royal Banner.  The three Elain leave, hurrying down to the natural harbour where the ship is waiting.  They are taken completely by surprise by the Aegyptus ambush.  How could they have known where to find them, and, it seems, who to expect ?  Treachery no doubt !  Fortunately there is no doubting the loyalty of Ythareh and Chol.  As for Rakza, she saw the enemy picking their way along a cliff path, and is running to help, with the Axolotl twins Cyan and Amaranth in tow.

AIM

The Attacker must destroy the Defender’s Band. The Defender must try to survive until the game ends!

TERRAIN

Set up on a 36" by 36" table, bordered on one neutral table edge by cliffs.  Other than that, set up any desired terrain.

If a character is pushed off the board edge along which the cliffs run, he or she may not return to the action.  The character need not be considered knocked out, he or she is no doubt hanging on by the fingertips or desperately looking for a way back up.

SIDE QUESTS

The Defending makes one roll on the Side Quests Table. However, there are only two possible Side Quests : Conserve, or Showdown, each with an equal chance of being selected.

BANDS AND DEPLOYMENT ZONES

Erenthal’s band is the Defender. The Defender picks half of the models in their Band, rounding up, to deploy. They represent Erenthal’s bodyguards, companions or loyal followers.. All the Defender’s models must be at least 8” away from any Table Edge. Place one model first; the next must be placed no closer than 2” to that model. Continue until all are placed, with no models closer than 2” to any other, and there must be at least 10” between the first and last models placed.

The Defender’s remaining models are left to one side and will join the Battle later. They represent the ship’s crew or perhaps close companions sent down to organise escape and transport.

The Aegyptus are the Attacker. They deploy their models anywhere touching any of the Table Edges. The models may be freely split between all Table Edges, although no model can be within 6” of any Table Corner.

There are no Objectives in this scenario.

SPECIAL RULES AND RANDOM EVENTS

Reinforcements 

At the start of Turn 2 and Turn 3, the Defender rolls a d6 for each of their models that are off-table. On a roll of 4+, the model arrives; place the model touching a Table Edge. They may be Activated as normal. Any models that haven’t appeared by the start of Turn 4 automatically arrive; they do not have to be rolled for.
 

The Fey 

The first time any model in the Defending band generates a Perfect Roll, the Defending player places a Fey anywhere they like. Drifting Fog forms around it. Each time a model within 6’’ of the Fey needs to use Line of Sight, or wishes to Barge or Charge, Roll Off against Awareness : this is the distance in inches they can see at that time. Any Attacker model that is contacted by a Charge within 6'' of the Fey has -2 on their Defend roll.

At the beginning of each turn, the Defending player can move the Fey in a direction of their choosing.  It will move exactly 2d6" in that direction.  The Fey cannot otherwise interact, in any way, with other models.

STARTING THE GAME

Follow the normal Initiative rules.

ENDING THE GAME

The game has Variable Length.
If at any time there are no Defending models on the table, the Attacker wins.
If there are still Defending models on the table when the game ends, the Defender wins. In addition, if only one Band is left on the table due to other Bands Routing, the game ends, with the remaining Band the winner.

REWARDS

Experience 

+1 Taking Part – Every model that takes part in the Battle gains +1 Experience.

+2 Defender Wins – If the Heroes win, all their models gain +2 Experience. 

Treasure 

There are no rewards in treasure for this scenario

 

POST-BATTLE PHASE

During Step 3, any model that suffered wounds, but remained in play, will have any Major Injury transformed into a Minor Injury, if the Fey appeared during the scenario. 

Ignore Step 4 and Steps 6 through 9, after this scenario.

AFTER ACTION REPORT...

 

The Aegyptus were well informed, and thus well positioned to hunt down their foes.

A fierce struggle broke out at the very edge of the cliffside, between Ythareh and two foes.

 

The camel was coming off worse, until Erenthal swept in, his sharp claws digging deep into the Aegyptus second-in-command.   In the end, he would perish, and Erenthal would then sweep the other Aegyptus over the cliff edge.

Rakza and the axolotl twins arrived quickly, and ensured the battle remained swung in the Prince's favour.  After further losses, the Aegyptus broke and ran.  More were surely coming, it was time to run for the ship...As they fled, they peered through the strange cloud of fog that had appeared, and which only seemed to trouble their enemies.  There was no sign of the strange little creature they believed they had glimpsed...

An easy victory for Erenthal and his partisans, although the Side Quest remained unachieved.  Ythareh alone was wounded, but thanks to the Fey, it was only a minor injury, some troubled vision for a few days after a mace blow to the muzzle. 

All six members of the warband gained +3 Experience.