The Corrupt Forest

A Tweedle & Dunh Adventure

I'm planning on alternating between miniature games and roleplaying. Last week was a minis game so this week I bring you another installment of the Tales of Tweedle & Dunh.

Introduction

After their adventure in the forest, Tweedle and Dunh report their experiences to their master Groombal. He seems very concerned.

He sends them back, but they are attacked by vine blights. Dunh kills one but Tweedle is seriously wounded. They retreat and return home.

A couple of weeks later Groombal tells them, "Prepare to return to the forest. You leave tomorrow."

The next morning, there is a knock on the door. A young warrior, armed with a mace and shield, stands there.

"Good, good!" Groombal says. He introduces the warrior as Jonuz.

"A little extra muscle never hurt. I need you to venture back into the forest and find out what is causing the corruption you found."

So our trio sets off.

The Adventure

The TL;DR version is in bold italics

They make it back to the hag's hut without incident, then venture deeper into the woods.

The party's path through the forest.

They battle a giant spider

They come to the site of their battle with the blights (1) but now pass without incident.

Turning right, they come to a clearing. As Dunh steps in, he puts his hand out to push back a branch. He feels something sticky. He pulls back.

"Wait." he whispers, then shows his comrades his hand. A sticky web hangs from it.

"Spiders!"

The look into the clearing (2) and see a giant arachnid. 

It spots them, and leaps at Jonuz. He dodges. The party all strike, and slay the creature.

The spider's lair is a dead end, so they reverse course. They come across a pool (3) with green, sludgy water. Dead animals lay scattered about.

They discover a dead pool

Tweedle investigates, then announces, "It appears that these animals were poisoned by this befouled water.. There is great corruption in these woods."

They begin to follow a stream that feeds the pool.

They run afoul of some traps

They continue on their way, following the polluted stream. At one point (4), they fall into a pit trap. They managed to pull themselves out, but escape with some bumps and bruises.

Later (5), a swinging log trap strikes Dunh. As he dusts himself off, he comments, "I get the feeling that someone doesn't want us here."

"Indeed," Tweedle agrees. "Let's step more carefully from now on."

They battle some cursed elves

Eventually, our heroes come to a clearing (6), where they spy 4 elves. However, there is something off with these elves. Their skin is a dull gray and their eyes are filled with an angry red glow.

Tweedle steps forward, "Good day, good people..."

He gets no further, for three of the elves draw their swords and rush at them. The fourth scampers away down a path that exits the clearing.

Tweedle is caught off guard and cannot get a spell off. However, Dunh reacts quickly. He steps forward, parries a blow, and buries his axe into the elf's chest. The elf collapses.

Jonuz manages to hit his opponent, but gets wounded in return. The combatants begin to circle, looking for an opening.

Seeing that Jonuz is holding his own, Dunh goes to Tweedle's aid. He stabs the elf. Tweedle follows up with a successful strike, but his staff skitters off the elf's armor. The elf turns and slashes Dunh. Dunh ignores the pain and counters, striking down the elf. He turns and sees that Jonuz has also dispatched his opponent.

Panting, Dunh asks, "Why did they attack us?"

"There is something strange about these elves," Tweedle agrees.

Ambush gone awry

Dunh then asks, "What should we do about the one that got away? Should we pursue him?"

"No," Tweedle commands. "I have a better idea."

They bind their wounds, then hide in the bushes surrounding the clearing. Tweedle then casts an illusion of the party sitting in the middle of the clearing.

"I bet that the elf went for help. When they return, we'll surprise them!"

They wait and wait, but no one shows.

"This is ridiculous," Dunh states. "They're not coming. I'm going for them."

He then steps out of the bushes and begins marching down the path. Frustrated, Tweedle just shakes his head and follows, with Jonuz in tow.

They suffer the drider's sting

As Dunh strides down the path, Tweedle then Jonuz race past him. Then another figure brushes by; it's Dunh!

Dunh stops, puzzled. He looks back and sees his comrades.

"Yes," Tweedle expounds, "let the fake us take the lead."

And it proves to be a good plan. As they approach a clearing, the escaped elf jumps out and hacks at the illusory Dunh.

Simultaneously, a hideous figure leaps upon the fake Tweedle. It is half spider and half human!

Dunh rushes the creature and strikes. His axe bites deep into its torso. It lashes with its sword, cutting into Dunh's arm. He begins to feel woozy.

"Poison!"

Meanwhile, Jonuz and Tweedle take down the elf, then turn on the drider.

Dunh and the creature exchange blows. Tweedle casts a protection spell on his pal.

Seeing Tweedle cast magic, the drider turns on him. It strikes, wounding and poisoning Tweedle.

Turning, the creature strike Dunh again. He is bleeding profusely and the poison slows him. The creature is also badly wounded, but Tweedle doesn't think they can take it down. Not in their weakened state.

"Dunh! Let's get out of here!"

Dunh nods his head and limps from the fight. Tweedle and Dunh cover him as they all retreat back down the path. The drider chooses not to pursue.

They retreat and return home

They make it back to the elves' clearing and take a moment to bind their wounds. But they are clearly too weak to continue. They head back. Fortunately, they do not have any encounters on their way home.

What happens to our heroic trio? Find out next time!

Some Game Notes

As I mentioned previously, I've come back to the idea of creating monster cards customized to my own RPG stats. I created some for this adventure.

I didn't actually use them. Instead, I had some unillustrated index cards. Nevertheless, I like the look and will continue to develop them. For example, I notice I don't have room to include special abilities. I also plan to add more monsters.

Ultimately, I'll get them printed at a local copy shop.

A Bout of Insanity

In keeping with my plan to alternate between miniature game and RPG reports, I have an adventure on tap for this weekend. However, I've been thinking ahead about my next miniature battle. I'd like to do something historical, and this has led me down the path of insanity. I'm considering another project.

Note: I'm not giving up my Byzantine project. I'm just waiting until after my birthday to order miniatures and terrain.

My Convoluted Thought Process

How did I come to a new project? Well, it goes like this:

Step 1: Consider my options using my current generic armies

I have red and blue armies. Two historical campaigns immediately spring to mind:

1. American Revolution - Redcoats vs. Continentals
2. Napoleonic - British vs. French

None of these particularly appeal to me at this moment.

I did a little research and came up with another option - 1848 Danes vs. Prussians. Meh.

Step 2: Consider creating a new army

Perhaps I could supplement my forces with another generic army. If I go this route, the answer is simple. I'm rather partial to the Austrians, so white is the obvious choice.

Step 3: Consider a campaign against my existing armies

Where and when should my Austrians fight?

I have a blue army already, so Napoleonic Wars vs. the French or Seven Years War vs. Prussians spring to mind.

But again, not feeling it.

Step 4: Consider creating another army

Who else could fight the Austrians? Quickly, my mind turned to the Ottomans.

Step 5: The Ah Ha Moment

If I go Austrians vs. Ottomans, why not step back a bit to very early in the horse & musket period (or late in the pike & shot period)?

1683 - Siege of Vienna

From the cover of Osprey's Vienna 1683

Now I'm getting crazy visions. Imperial cuirassiers, Janissaries, and Polish winged hussars! Oh my!

Problems

There are a few:

• What uniforms do the combatants wear?
• Do they even have "uniforms"?
• What are the army compositions? How many cavalry, infantry. etc.?
• How should I treat pike & shot units?

The Plan

I see this as a long-term project. Here is my current plan.

1. Begin research on the campaign.
2. Complete my Byzantine project first.
3. Paint up a small, generic white army - this is an interim project to let me play Austrians vs. French or Prussians, and perhaps form the backbone of the Imperial army.
4. Then begin work on the 1683 project. This may become a project for next year.

As far as research, here are some considerations and plans.

• To get a better idea of the various uniforms, I ordered Vienna 1683 by Osprey
• To gauge how to tweak my MicroBattle rules for pike & shot, I'm reading through some rules that focus on the period: One Hour Wargames, The Portable Pike & Shot Wargame, and Twilight of the Sun King for starters.
• I'm also on the look-out for scenarios or army lists.

Stay tuned for updates on this project.

Scout Mission on Helos

Over the holidays, I played a test game of Operation Last Train, a free game of sci-fi, bug-splatting mayhem. I tried it with individually-based, 10mm figures, but decided to convert it to a 3mm game. Last weekend I played a test game with the smaller minis.

The Set Up

The figures came from PicoArmor. I'm using their "xenomorphs" as bugs, and heavy infantry as the human forces.

Infantry are organized as heavy (2 strips per base) or light (1 strip). Heavies have better armor but lights move further.

I am creating a boxed set that will have everything I need in one place.

The Mission

My civilians are not complete, but I wanted to take my troops out for a test run. I decided to do a simple scouting mission. The human forces must move across the battlefield and exit from the far end.

I rolled randomly to determine the force composition and came up with 1 heavy and 2 light infantry squads.

After Action Report

Command sends a platoon of infantry to scout out Sector Alpha. The platoon is comprised of 2 squads of light infantry (1st and 2nd squads) and one heavy (3rd squad)

The mission has barely begun and the bugs are already swarming. 1st Squad (left) destroys a swarm.

However, a swarm overruns the heavy infantry.

1st Squad enacts revenge, wiping out two swarms. 2nd Squad advances to a hilltop.

More swarms emerge, forcing the platoon back.

Under heavy pressure, the platoon calls the dropship for extraction. 1st Squad makes it aboard. 2nd Squad is beset. The dropships turret makes short work of one swarm.

At the last moment, 2nd Squad clambers aboard and the dropship takes off.

It's been a rough day for the Corps.

Game Notes

Generally, I am using a tweaked version of Micro Battle. 

• Activation, movement, and combat rules use my current MB rules
• Damage is more like Operation Last Train. A unit that gets hit is either destroyed or disordered (akin to knocked down in OLT). Disordered units cannot do anything until spending an activation to restore order. This makes the game very bloody, yet quick

Another feature based on OLT is that destroyed bugs can respawn on a 5-6. I will then roll to determine where they respawn. Sometimes, this can occur very close to a human squad. Surprise!

Anyway, I've been enjoying OLT.

Ser Killian's Tale Begins

Introduction

Let me tell you the tale of Ser Killian, the stalwat paladin, and his companions: his squire Haiden, his confessor Brother Winston, and his retainer Gruff the Archer.

Killian is the fifth son of a minor noble. Being unable to inherit, his father has pledged Killian to serve the Church as a paladin. To enter the order, Killian must first perform a deed of chivalry. Thus, he sets out as a knight errant to the wilds of the Sword Coast, there to make a name for himself. 

Game Notes

As mentioned previously, I am starting a new campaign using the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure in the D&D Essentials Kit.

Instead of D&D, however, I am using my latest system, which I am tentatively calling D12 Dungeon.

I am keeping a record of Killian's adventures in a journal my wife gave me. It's a Narnia journal, but close enough I guess.

In brief, here are descriptions of the heroes:

• Ser Killian is a paladin. He is very strong, intelligent, and charismatic. He rides a warhorse, wears chain, and is armed with shield, lance, and sword.
• Squire Haiden is a fighter. He is strong and intelligent, but a bit clumsy. He wears padded armor and wields a shield and spear.
• Brother Winston is a priest. He is agile and very wise, but a bit sickly. He wears no armor but faith in Daeus, and wields a rod and staff.
• Gruff serves as an archer, but he is rogue by training. He is strong and very agile, but is a tad offensive. He has no armor and carries a bow and a sword.

Finally, I am using a different pantheon. There are three "gods:" 

• Daeus, the creator
• Alterra, mother of nature, and 
• Erlik, lord of death. 

Daeuans do not acknowledge the others as gods. Instead, they consider them powerful spirits of nature and evil respectively. Furthermore, both were created by Daeus.

The Story

[Scroll down for the TL;DR version]

Killian's story begins in the town of Leilon. There, he learns that a dragon has been spotted near the village of Phandalin.

"This sounds like a worthy quest for a knight errant. Come, lads, let's show this dragon what's what!"

The others look at each other nervously, but swallow their words. They are sworn to follow Killian, and so into the dragon's maw they must go.

The Trail to Phandalin

Killian decides to take a shorter, but more dangerous trail to Phandalin.

Along the way, they come across a hunter who has just bagged a deer.

"Stay away!" the hunter commands. "This is my catch!"

"Never fear, my good man!" Killian responds. "I am a knight in the service of Daeus, and these are my retainers. We are pledged to serve and protect our Lord's people. We mean you no harm."

Killian reaches into his purse, pulls out a gold coin, and tosses it to the hunter.

"In fact, here is a gift. Buy yourself a nice ale to complement your catch."

"Master, no! We will need that." his squire protests.

"Nonsense, squire. We can rough it a bit in order to bless others. And Daeus will bless us for our generosity."

"Amen," approves Brother Winston. Gruff just grimaces.

Heartened by Killian's manner, the hunter offers to guide the party to Phandalin.

In Phandalin

First thing, Killian looks for a church so he can give thanks for making it safely to the village. However, there is no church; just an untended shrine. Brother Winston tsks at the oversight.

"Never fear, good cleric. I vow that we shall rectify that situation! Why, I spy on yonder hill the ruins of a majestic structure. It would make a good church."

"But master," interrupted Haiden. "We have no money to build a house, much less a church! "How ...?"

"Never mind the hows, my good squire. Daeus shall provide the means."

Next, they visit the inn, and learn that orcs have been raiding in the area.

Afterwards, they pay a call to the townmaster. However, he is petrified of the dragon, and refuses to open the door.

Killian responds. "How am I to hunt down this beast, if you do not speak with me and provide me information for my quest?"

"Be off, you fool." the townmaster answers. "The dragon will eat you up and spit you out."

"But I must complete my quest."

"If you want a quest, try one of those on the quest board. Now be off!"

They check the quest board. There are 3 notices. All involve delivering warnings to nearby settlers.

"What? That pompous fool wants me to be a delivery boy!? Why, I never!"

"But master," Haiden interrupts. "Look at this one. We must rescue a damsel in distress!"

Killian looks at the notice. The quester must deliver a warning to Adabra, a midwife who lives a few miles from the village. Close enough.

"By Daeus, you're right! Now why didn't they make that plainer?"

And so they take on the quest.

Battle of Umbrage Hill

Adabra lives in a windmill on Umbrage Hill, which lies a few miles southeast of Phandalin.

The ground is hilly, but they make good time without incident. However, as they approach Adabra's residence, they hear roaring and cries for help.

They rush forward. Cresting a hill, they see a manticore attacking the windmill. Adabra is inside, calling for help.

Game note - really, a manticore? An 8 HD monster for a first level quest? I mean, I know that negotiation is an option, but would a paladin really do that?

Additional note - I looked back at the quests. I kind of did them out of order. I should have been 3rd level in D&D terms before tackling this one. Still kind of silly because this quest was closest to Phandalin!

Killian does not stop to think. "Charge!" he commands, and spurs his horse forward.

Haiden and Gruff follow, but Winston is frozen in fear.

The manticore is intent on its prey, and does not see the heroes attack. Killian's charge strikes home, his lance piercing the beast's hide. Simultaneously, Gruff launches an arrow that strikes deep in the manticore's neck.

Game note: both hits do 2 points of damage. The manticore is already halfway to death! Yeah, I nerfed the hit points a lot. But then, a hit only does 0-2 points of damage.

The manticore lashes out, wounding Killian's horse. The heroes attack again, but miss.

The manticore clamps it jaws into the horse's neck, killing it. Killian jumps clear, draws his sword, and attacks. The manticore knocks aside the blow. This gives Gruff a chance; he aims and fires a shot that pierces the manticore's eye. It is severely wounded, but not dead.

Bleeding profusely and beset by battle-crazed warriors, the manticore decides to escape. It grabs the horse carcass and flies off.

"Come back here, you coward!" Killian shouts after him, to no avail.

Aftermath

Adabra thanks the party for their help. She refuses to leave her home, even after hearing the warning. But she does pen a letter to the townmaster confirming that she received the warning. She also provides a healing elixir to Killian as a reward.

As the party leaves, Gruff surreptitiously flashes the moon sign with his fingers. Adabra shows surprise and alarm at this symbol of Alterra.

Gruff whispers, "yer secret is safe with me. Just be careful around these goodniks," as he points to Killian and Winston.

The heroes return to Phandalin and receive payment from the townmaster. Killian pledges his share to building a church for the village.

TL;DR Version

• In Leilon, Killian learns of a dragon spotted near Phandalin
• On the road, the party befriends a hunter, who guides them to Phandalin
• In Phandalin,
• Killian remarks on the lack of a church. He vows to build one.
• they learn of orc raids while visiting the tavern
• the townmaster rebuffs them as fools
• they find the quest board, and resolve to "rescue" Adabra, a midwife who lives a few miles from the village, from the dragon.
• At Umbrage Hill, they see Adabra's residence being attacked by a manticore.
• Killian charges into battle, with Haiden and Gruff in support. Winston loses his nerve and freezes in place.
• The party surprises the manticore. Killian and Gruff wound it.
• The manticore kills Killian's horse.
• They battle on. The manticore takes more wounds.
• Now severely wounded, the manticore decides to flee. It grabs the corpse of Killian's horse and flies off.
• Adabra refuses to leave her home, but she rewards the party for their help.
• The party returns to Phandalin, and receive payment for their success. Killian donates his share to the church building fund.

RPG Thoughts

I wanted to roll some dice last weekend but did not feel like setting up a minis battle. Instead, I decided to do an RPG session.

When last we met our heroes, they had returned from an adventure in the woods. Their master, Groombal, intimated that some great evil was afoot in the woods. I had intended a sequel, but did not have all the miniatures I needed. Well, that led to some pondering.

Back to Cards?

While I love the look of miniatures, I have concluded that they don't work well for my RPG sessions because I usually don't have painted figures for the monsters I need. As a result, months go by without a session.

I really need something I can pick up and play. This has led me back to the idea of creating monster cards. I did a little experiment.

I took the goblin picture from some paper figures I purchased from Okum Arts. The art doesn't really match the background, but this is the concept I have.

I had previously made some cards, but I had so much info on it that it was rather busy. This time, I simplified to Attack factors (to-hit/damage), armor, and health.

While I like the look, I just don't have much time to work on it, so I ginned up some quick versions on index cards so I could play an adventure. More on that later.

Back to D12?

While working on the cards, I also began to ponder the monster stats. In particular, I thought about experimenting with a D12 again. This would give some more granularity in combat.

• With MicroQuest, which uses a D6, the target number varies depending on whether the enemy is higher level, lower, or the same level.
• With a D12, the modifier could be the difference between levels.

My biggest problems was that my armor classifications (light, medium, or heavy) worked better with a D6. Then I thought that a system that uses D12s for to-hit rolls and D6s for damage might work.

I haven't tried it yet, but am planning on it.

New Campaign

Well, I don't want to re-stat my current characters for a new system, so I am leaning toward starting a new campaign with new characters. However, I'm feeling lazy so I don't want to think up new adventures. Solution - buy a pre-made module.

But which module? Initially, I was leaning to something old school. I even picked up the Temple of Elemental Evil on PDF. Then I remembered that I picked up D&D 5E Essentials last year. It includes a campaign (Dragon of Icespire Peak) for characters starting at level 1 and going up to level 8. I think I'll do that instead.

Converting from D&D

In general, I think I can easily convert from D&D to my rules using these guidelines.

• Divide levels or hit dice by 2. For example, a HD 10 monster would be level 5 in my rules
• AC 11-12 = light armor, 13-15 is medium, and 16+ is heavy
• Generally, hit points = level (in my rules) x 2

I also expect to make changes to the campaign.

• I don't care much for D&D's polytheistic pantheons. I'll replace it with a monotheistic one.
• I prefer a more human-centric setting. There will be elves and dwarves but they will be more like Celtic myth - rare and mysterious. Thus, some of the non-human NPCs will become human.
• I also prefer a lower-magic setting. There will likely be fewer magic items, and fewer spellcasters.

New Characters

For this new campaign, I'll need a new adventuring party, and it should be a full 4+ characters. Here's my thoughts so far.

My main character will be a knight errant (paladin). He is accompanied by

• his squire (a fighter)
• his confessor (a cleric), and
• an archer (actually a rogue)

And a Quick Adventure!

I actually ran a quick adventure last weekend. Tweedle and Dunh ventured back into the woods, where they ran into 2 blights. Tweedle was seriously wounded (down to his last hit point) so retreated from the woods and returned home.

But stay tuned. They have an important mission, and will return to the woods.

Another Battle

I played another test battle of Blue vs. Red.

Set Up

I decided to play the Seize scenario, which requires both sides to capture something that is in the middle of the battlefield. I chose to make the objective a town comprised of some new buildings.

The Armies

• Red - 1 cavalry, 3 heavy infantry
• Blue - 2 light infantry (on the flanks), 2 heavy infantry

The Battle

The Red and Blue armies both approach the town of Keeno.

Red assaults Blue and pushes them back. Notice the new casualty markers. I designed them to look like trails of blood. The infantry in the town are sideways just so they would fit into the square.

Red's advance destroys a light and a heavy infantry unit.

Blue has lost 2 units so rolls for morale. It fails and must retreat. Victory for Red.

Terrain Experiments

During the battle, I experimented with some terrain. The town of Keeno was made of a couple of new buildings that I got from PicoArmor. Here are some more.

I still have quite a few I haven't painted.

I also played around with the woods. I have just been using a scouring pad. It worked great for 2mm, but the 3mm figures are a bit too tall in comparison, as you can see from this picture.

I had an idea for simple trunks. I cut out a piece of black foam. It is slightly smaller than the scouring pad.

Then I placed the scouring pad on the foam. It got a little off kilter in this photo.

The idea is to raise the "leaves" above the soldiers. Furthermore, the figures can stand under the eaves of the woods instead of standing on top. In practice, it was a bit fiddly. but that was because the tree tops were not attached to the trunks. I kept knocking the top off. I think I'll try gluing them together and seeing how it works.

And here is a test forest that I crafted after the game.

In addition to gluing the two parts together, I used light brown paint to mark tree trunks. I rather like the look and can't wait to try it out in a game.

Whew, what a week!

From the looks of things, you might think I did a lot of gaming this week. That's not exactly true. I was on vacation the prior two weeks and built up a backlog of posts. It just so happens that I spaced them out so that they covered the entire week. Just don't expect me to maintain that pace.

I have been doing some game-related stuff this week.

First up, I did some painting:

• At the bottom, is a complete 3mm army for my mini mini project (games on a 5" x 7" board). It features a leader, 3 cavalry, 4 infantry, and 2 skirmisher units. I plan to add a couple of artillery pieces, so this can be a generic shock or horse & musket army.
• Next are 3mm figures for my Operation Last Train project. Flanked by 2 dropships, I have infantry (blue), civilians (red), and xenos (dark green).
• Ignore the 4 chariots at the top left. They've been sitting on my desk for months and I did nothing with them this week.

I also spent some time plotting out my Byzantine project. Now that I received the Ospreys on the Byzantines and Sassanids, I'm getting a better handle on the armies.

Here's my plan for each army:

• Byzantines - 4 units of heavy cavalry, and 2 units each of heavy infantry, archers, and light cavalry.
• Sassanids - 3 units each of heavy cavalry (cataphracts), levies, and archers, 2 units of light cavalry, and a unit of elephants

 Because Magister Militum's packs are so big, I'm thinking I can do double duty on some packs:

• Order one pack of Parthian cataphracts to stand in as Sassanids and Romans. I don't think any differences are noticeable at 3mm.
• Likewise, use Parthian horse archers as light cavalry for both sides.
• Finally, split a pack of skirmishing archers between the two sides.

I figure my order will cost a bit over $60. I may postpone my order until after my birthday next month. Besides, I should probably wait until I finish my current projects before tackling the Byzantines.