Protecting Pearl - Part 2

Introduction

It is the morning of December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor.

Our heroes, Crowe and Raven managed to get their P-40s airborne to take on attacking Zeroes.

Now they get an urgent message on the radio.

"Bombers incoming. Protect the naval yard!"

The Opposing Forces

This time, I wanted to play with actual physical pieces. Since I don't have planes for Pearl Harbor, I substituted using my imagi-nations planes.

• Top row - 2 Japanese Val dive bombers (silver) escorted by a Zero (red)
• Bottom row - Crowe (L) and Raven in their P-40s.

The Dogfight

Our heroes manage to dodge the Zero and get beads on the Vals. Their shots are errant, however.

They persist. Crowe takes damage from the Val's gunner but Raven shoots down the other bomber.

The Zero bears down on Crowe. Raven rakes the other Val.

And it goes down. The Zero has a bead on Crowe but he misses.

With the bombers destroyed, the Zero breaks off.

The naval yard is saved!

And another win for our heroes. But can they protect the battleships? Find out next time.

Feeling Five Parsecs

Lately I have had my eye on Five Parsecs from Home.

And it's all Trevor's fault.

That's episode one from a Five Parsecs from Home campaign he is playing. Quite entertaining videos, I must say. I highly recommend them.

Anyway, I am intrigued by this new edition of 5PfH. Now, I am somewhat familiar with the rules, given that I have the first edition. I also have some games from the same author, such as Squad Hammer.  I never got into the original version due to some niggly issues but watching Trevor play has me re-assessing the rules. In particular, it seems that the new version has some rules updates that I find intriguing. I'm tempted to pick up this edition just to check out the changes.

I don't know if this kick will go anyway. Wait and see.

Terror at the Logger's Camp

Part Two of a Ser Killian Adventure

Spoiler Alert - This adventure is based on one of the quests from D&D's Dragon of Icespire Peak. You should not read this post if you wish to play the adventure.

Last Time

Our heroes managed to make it safely to the logger's camp to deliver supplies.

However, the camp is deathly silent. They begin to explore

Out of the Earth

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake. Two small ankhegs pop out.

My encounter tables have different levels of monsters - from minions, to henchmen, and then the boss. So I decided to have different levels of ankhegs - youth, adults, and, well, you'll see.

They surprise Gruff and Winston, but both manage to dodge attacks.

Gruff then shoots one with an arrow. It strikes back and wounds him. Haiden comes to Gruff's aid. Together, they kill one. The other flees.

More Tremors

They approach one of the cabins. It is situated on a rocky hill. It's solid foundation has allowed it to remain standing while the other buildings have collapsed.

But before they get to the cabin, the earth shakes again. This time, three small ankhegs attack!

Gruff drives one off, but another crunches into Haiden's arm. Its acidic saliva burns into his flesh. The rest of the party comes to his rescue. They hack the ankheg to bits. The last one flees.

The Cabin

There is no one in the cabin. But they find a hole in the floor. Inside is a bloody totem.

"Witchcraft!" yells Killian. He tosses the totem in a fireplace and sets it alight.

As it burns, they hear shrieks from outside. Looking out, they see a swarm of ankhegs fleeing from the camp.

Winston opines, "It looks like that totem attracted the ankhegs. Its destruction has panicked them."

Mama Mia

They exit the cabin and discover that not all ankhegs panicked. One monstrous sized ankheg sits in the middle of the camp. As soon as it sees them, it rushes forward.

It spits acid, which sprays Killian and Winston. The liquid burns through their clothing and bubbles their flesh.

The party attacks, but their blades bounce of the creature's hardened chitin. However, one of Gruff's arrows managed to find a chink in the armor and wound the monster.

It lashes out, and strikes Winston. He falls, then rolls down a hill to safety.

Winston should have been killed, but I used a luck point to save him.

The beast turns on Gruff and claws him. He backs away. Killian covers him, then launches an attack. He strikes hard, biting into the ankheg's chitin. Black ichor seeps from its wound. The creature then dives into the ground. They can see its wake as it plows through the earth, rushing into the forest away from the deadly warriors.

Epilogue

Once the ankhegs flee, a figure emerges from the woods. It is Tibor Wester, Harbin's brother. He explains that the loggers fled. He hid in the woods, hoping for relief. He accepts the supplies and sets out to re-staff the camp.

Our heroes return home without incident and receive their reward from Harbin.

THE END.

Game Notes

Converting the scenario into a random quest was far more satisfying than trying to run it like I would for a group of players. I think I'll do the same for the remaining adventures.

Another aspect that made it interesting was having different levels of adversaries. In the module, there are a handful of ankhegs, all of the same level. Having some variety of challenge creates more tension and interest.

Adventure of the Logger's Camp

Part One

From the Tales of Ser Killian

Spoiler Alert - This adventure is based on one of the quests from D&D's Dragon of Icespire Peak. You should not read this post if you wish to play the adventure.

Additional Note - I decided to take a new tack with these adventures. Rather than trying to run through them as written, I'll convert them to random adventures using my latest MicroQuest adventure generator.

The Quest

Once more Harbin Wester, townmaster of Phandalin, has a quest for our heroes. He asks them to deliver supplies to a logging camp deep in Neverwinter Wood.

Ser Killian agrees but Gruff interrupts.

"Beg yer pardon, m'lord, but somethin' just ain't right," he asks as he pores over a map of the region.

"I've done some scoutin' and this seems foolhardy. He's askin' us to traipse through 50 miles of forest with a wagon in tow to deliver supplies. Why don't they jest ship supplies down the river from Neverwinter?"

Harbin looks perplexed. Gruff proposes an alternate plan. Skirt the forest and head toward the river. Find a merchant along the river and buy supplies. Ultimately, this is the plan they adopt.

Game Note - yeah, I thought it is a pretty stupid quest. I can't imagine plowing through the forest with an oxen-pulled cart of supplies.

On the Road

The party skirts the forest, staying far enough away to avoid ambush but close enough to hide among the trees if needed.

About halfway, Gruff's plan is put to the test. They hear a monstrous roar from above. A white dragon is flying overhead!

Akin to Warrior Heroes Adventures in Talomir, I added a travel phase, where wandering monsters might attack. I rolled a Monster on my table, which represents a pretty significant challenge. I figured that the dragon would be appropriate. I confirmed with a random roll, a la the Mythic Game Master Emulator.

"Quick!" Gruff commands. "I don't think it sawr us. Let's hide in the forest!"

They run to the trees. Gruff makes it, then turns back to check on the others. Incredibly, Ser Killian is standing in the open, upon a hillock, shouting curses at the dragon!

Since the party won initiative, I gave them a chance to hide. They needed to pass a stealth test. Killian failed miserably, so I assumed that Killian's urge for glory overwhelmed his good sense.

The dragon swoops down on Killian, maw open and teeth gleaming! At the last moment, Killian dodges, then drives his sword into the dragon's neck. Blood spatters the ground and the beast howls in fury. As it flies by, it knocks Killian to his feet.

Killian hit and wounded the dragon. The dragon hit, but it only shook Killian up a bit.

The dragon climbs back into the sky and circles Killian. The knight is back on his feet, brandishing his bloody sword. The dragon hesitates. It was hoping for easier prey. It turns and flies away.

I figured that the dragon wanted easy prey so I had it roll morale. It failed, so it flies away!

The River

The party makes it to the river and as luck would have it, they come across a merchant's boat plying the waters. They convince the captain to deliver them and supplies to the logging camp. The rest of their trip is uneventful.

I rolled a boon as a random encounter. I interpreted this as them finding a merchant.

Arriving at the Logging Camp

After a relaxing river voyage, they arrive at the camp. They expect to see a beehive of activity, but the camp is deathly quiet.

The merchant drops them off at the dock. They walk into the camp. Not a soul is moving. The buildings are in various states of collapse, as if struck by an earthquake.

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake!

What is going on? Find out next time!

I decided to turn this into a 2-parter!

Protecting Pearl

I decided to run some dogfights in commemoration of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I set up a series of linked scenarios.

I don't have miniatures for the appropriate planes so I used a virtual tabletop with counters from Junior General's Pearl Harbor scenario.

The Dawn's Early Light

Lt. William Crowe is up early. He slept poorly, kept up my a nagging feeling of impending disaster.

The name is an homage to the Heroes of the Pacific video game.

Zero Hour

As he rummages around in the hangers, inspecting his P-40 Warhawk, the air raid alert sounds.

In moments, he is in the air. A swarm of Zeroes are heading toward the airfield. Crowe realizes he needs to hold them off to let his fellow aviators get into the air.

Crowe tangles with 2 Zeroes. He gets one in his crosshairs. One down.

The second Zero gets him in his sights. Bullets whizz by, rattling Crowe but doing no damage.

The Zero continues to circle, taking ineffective shots at Crowe. But this gives the other aviators time!

Helps arrives. It is Crowe's buddy, Rex Raven. They manage to catch a Zero in the crossfire. It goes down.

Unfortunately, other Zeroes get through and damage Hickam Field. But thanks to Crowe and Raven the damage is not as bad as it could have been.

I'm running the scenarios as little snapshots rather than a full-blown simulation. However, I will determine the success of the Japanese attack on the results of the snapshots. So far, so good for the Americans. This scenario is a win.

I planned to finish the scenarios on Pearl Harbor Day but did not get around to it. I decided to post the first scenario. Stay tuned for more!

And Now for Something Completely Different

I've probably used this title before, but it is appropriate. I've been on an air combat kick for the past month, but now GADD has set in and I've been fiddling around with, well, something different.

The cause of my recent tangent is Two Hour Wargames, specifically this.

I previously mentioned that I went in for the Kickstarter of the Quick Play version of Warrior Heroes Adventures in Talomir (WHAT for short). The physical version is due in January, but in the interim THW sent our PDFs of the games.

So far, I'm upbeat about the purchase. The contents seem like they will be useful.

The PDF comes with 3 different 8.5 x 11 inch battle boards, like this one.

As well as a slew of counters. Here is just a sample.

I'm not so keen on the rules. But that's to be expected. I've often said that I don't care for the THW standard dice pool mechanic.

Nevertheless, there are some good ideas in the rules. I like the table for creating quick-play, no-map dungeons. I also like how WHAT QP distills dungeon encounters into 3 enemies - low lifes, minions, and the Big Bad.

The rules have inspired me to give a go at creating my own quick play dungeon table. I added a few additional features - traps, hazards, boons, and monsters - but the concept is the same. Complete a dungeon with maybe 4 to 6 random encounters.

Stay tuned for some play tests of my latest MicroQuest dungeon crawl rules. And don't worry, I haven't given up on dogfights.

Counter Attack

As I progress with my homebrew aerial combat rules, I find myself wanting to upgrade my planes.

Currently, I'm using a mix of Tumbling Dice 1/600 and Irregular 2mm planes.

I went with these because they were small, allowing maneuvers on a small board.

But with abstract, relative maneuvering, I don't need as much space. I can probably use a larger scale. I have a couple 1/300 (I think) scratch built WW1 planes.

But I only have these 2. I would have to build more to have enough for missions.

I could follow my original intention, and use sci-fi minis, like my scratch built rockets, to replicate aerial combat. I'm not just feeling space.

So we come to my latest craze - counters. I'm looking at getting airplane counters that I can use for my games.

I found some good jet age counters. They have Korea, Vietnam, and Cold War planes.

But I'm not feeling jets either. When I think of playing air combat, I hear the whirr of props in my head. I want something pre-jet.

I'm looking for some WW2 counters. I thought about ordering a copy of the 1993 Avalon Hill game Mustangs and scavenging the counters from it. But I find the counters a bit busy.

I'm still looking for good WW2 counters, but in the interim I went with these.

The counters come from TSR's 1983 board game, Dawn Patrol, from ebay. I recently picked up a copy from ebay. The rules are not particularly good, but the counters will work. I just wish they had a better background.