Wargaming in The Age of Shadow (setting things up)

In my last post I talked about doing a spot of solo gaming in the Age of Shadow setting (which you can catch up on HERE), and in this one I’ll be showing what enemies I’ll be facing off against, and how I’m setting things up for this first mission (just in case you’d like to try something similar yourself).

So, for this mission I’ll be using a 3x3 ft. gaming mat (as that’s all the space I have), and I’ve split it into 4 quarters.

6” from one corner will be the players deployment area, and the corner diagonally opposite will be that of the enemy.

Between the two there should be a river (or a ridge line, or similar) – with three points where it can be easily crossed. It should also block line of sight across 50% of the table.

There should also be a piece of area terrain (or something substantial) in the middle of each table quarter – and a numbered objective marker should be placed in the middle of the three that are the farthest away from the heroes deployment area.

And that’s pretty much it as far as the table set up goes – though you can of course add a few bits of scatter terrain here and there if you have some (especially if you are playing on a larger area).

* * * 

Anyway, for enemy units/models – those will be split into three groups – these being the Starting Host, Reinforcements, and the Enemy Captain.

STARTING HOST

Using the OPR army builder for Age of Fantasy Skirmish, create an enemy (starting) host of around 100 points that only contains basic foot troops (i.e. no models with Tough 3, ranged attacks, or any major special rules or abilities). For example, for my own game based in the ‘Age of Shadow’ setting I have included the following (as these fit the look of some of the models I own, and I’ve included the OnePageRules names in parenthesis):

1. One beastling chieftain (Ndoli Elite) – 20pts

2. Two beastling warriors (Saurian Guardian) – 15pts each

3. Two units of lesser beastlings (Waheni hunters) – 25pts each

Total = 100pts

All five of these units are placed in the enemy deployment area, and a d6 is rolled for each. On the roll of a one, two, or a three, that particular unit will start the game heading for that particular objective marker (as they are also searching for survivors of the lost patrol too). On the roll of a four or more, they are simply heading for the centre of the table (note that placing a die next to each unit with the relevant number pointing up helps to remind you where they are currently heading).

REINFORCEMENTS

You will also need a few special enemy models – as these will likely appear as reinforcements during the game itself. These should include a couple of large, aggressive animals (wolves for example), something that can fly or tunnel (so that it can be given the ‘ambush’ ability if it doesn’t already have it), and an enemy model (or unit) with a ranged attack. These should total around 100 pts as well, and NOT have the Tough 3 rule (as we are saving the latter for the captain). For my game I’ve gone with the following:

1. One lesser vampire messenger (Hapari Harpy) 15pts

2. 1d3 hunting hounds (Sambari Hound) 15pts each

3. One unit of beastling scouts (Waheni Raiders) 45pts

Total = 75 to 105 pts (depending on the d3 roll when they are deployed)

 

ENEMY CAPTAIN

For the leader of this group you’ll actually need to select/create three different hero types that DO have the Tough 3 rule. And, the reason for having three is to add an element of surprise to the scenario… as only one of these will actually be used – but we’ll not know which one until the latter half of the game.

As an example, here’s what I’ll be using for my ‘captains’ based on models that I have available (note that each one SHOULD have the Tough 3 special rule and cost 50 pts or thereabouts):

1. Malakor the beastling sorcerer (Waheni Hunt Master with Caster 2 upgrade) 60pts

2. Vondez the fellgrim brute (Kemba Brute) 50pts

3. Delravan the vampire spy (Vulturedactyl) 45pts 

I’ve also created a bit of lore for each of these for my own game (feel free to skip this part):

Malakor the Foul is a black-hearted sorcerer that appears more human than most of his kind. It is he that is the true leader of the incursion force that currently plagues the area – though he is happy to let Vondez think otherwise… at least for now. What his purpose is, is known only to him and his cruel masters.

Vondez the Pale is a savage creature that revels in conflict and bloodshed. What he lacks in cunning he more than makes up for in brute strength – and although he has but recently risen to power within the ranks of his clan, he considers himself the mightiest warrior this side of the mountains.

Delravan the Wicked is an ancient beast and the chief messenger/spy of the enemy in this region. She tolerates the rule of Malakor (seeing as how he appears to be favoured by those more powerful than she) and despises Vondez (seeing him as the fool that he is).

* * * 

OK then, the last thing that’s required is a deck of playing cards – and from these I’m going to sort out all of the cards from one suit, and separate the face cards (jack, queen and king) from the numbered cards (as each one of the face cards is assigned to a different captain model).

Both of these will be shuffled… and the numbered deck will be cut in half.

One random face card is then shuffled into one half of the deck, and then the other half (that doesn’t contain the face card) is placed on top. This ensures that the ‘mystery’ face card will be pulled in the latter half of the game (as one card is drawn at the start of each round – so until we draw the face card, we’ll not know what captain we’ll be facing).

Now I’ll go into the rules in a bit more detail with my next post (as I’m trying to keep these posts to manageable bite sized chunks) – but I think I’ve covered everything you’ll need except dice. At the very minimum you’ll need a bunch of matching dice of two different colours (one set for the good guys as a whole, and one for the bad as a whole) – though if you have a different colour for each unit type, then that will make things a lot more interesting ;) 

Wargaming in The Age of Shadow (preamble)

As some of you might be aware, back in the early 2010’s I released my own campaign setting for my ‘Age of Shadow’ game (though I say ‘my game’ in the loosest of terms, as it was heavily based on the OpenQuest SRD… and all I did was make it more Tolkienesque). 

Anyway, from time to time I toy with the idea of compiling some of my notes, and writing up a second edition of the game (which would contain a lot more of my own ideas, and reword a bunch of stuff) – though all of the stuff I do for YouTube doesn’t leave me much time for things like that.

However, I do enjoy a spot of solo gaming from time to time… and so I thought to myself, ‘the next time I play a solo fantasy game – why not set it in the Age of Shadow world, and maybe start creating some more content for it that way?’ ….and that’s exactly what I’m going to do :)

So for this first game, I thought I would set it in a region that I’ve barely touched – that region being the area surrounding Helroth’s Tower (as I did a map-pack for the tower itself back in the day – but little else)

And, speaking of maps… I’ve been working on a simple hex map of the surrounding area (that matches the look and feel of my previous hex-maps for the setting), in order to get a better feel for the place.

So here’s a portion of the map:

And, here’s how it aligns with the larger kingdom map:

Now, for the game itself, I’m going to be using ‘Age of Fantasy: Skirmish’ for the most part (just the free version of the rules) – though I will be house ruling a few things, and introducing a Bolt-Action style activation system for each unit, as well as using a deck of cards that will be used to create random events – much like that of Rangers of ShadowDeep (plus, I’ll probably also introduce some things that I’ve picked up from the various ‘Five X from Y’ games as well).

Anyway, here’s the basic idea (i.e. lore dump incoming):

Several leagues northwest of Mindas-an-Helroth, and near to the banks of the River Aregen, lies the old watchtower of Arithar.

Built atop the foundations of an earlier beacon tower (from which it gets its name), it is currently garrisoned by watch-master Lindath’s small, but capable, border force – though, should the need arise, their numbers can easily be doubled by mobilising the militia of the small supporting settlement that has grown up about it.

And, of this, there may soon be need – for of late there have been troubling signs and whispered rumours that a band of beastlings has made its way across the high mountain passes, and has begun to muster in the foothills… gathering in numbers not seen for many a long year.

For what purpose, not even the wise can tell – though doubtless these fell servants of the enemy bear nought but ill will for the people of the elves, and it is but a matter of time until the two cross paths.

As such, the patrols setting forth from Arithar have become more frequent, and in greater strength – and some have even fared far up the winding path of the River Nuinoss, or deep into the Amdylwood at Lindath’s behest. Indeed, the watch-master has petitioned Lord Helroth for aid (to further assist in this task) – though it has been slow in coming.

Now though, the threat seems to be closing in – as the return of one such patrol has become long overdue… far longer than can be explained by simple misadventure alone.

And the TLDR version:

Elven patrols have been doubled due to rumours of beastlings (evil servants of the enemy) crossing the mountains. One of these patrols has not returned… and, as such, our band of heroes will be sent out to find out what has happened to them.

In game terms, my force will be made up of roughly 200 points of heroic models (i.e. models with Tough 3), as I feel these will better represent the ‘elite’ status of the characters in this scenario. Here’s the list.

And, here’s the models I’ll be using.

So, with all of that out of the way, I think my next post will concern itself with some of the house rules that I’ll be using, and all the charts that I’ll be rolling on to make this mission as unpredictable as possible :) (as I will be playing it solo after all, and I would like there to be a narrative that develops somewhat randomly, rather than it being overly forced). 

 

(a sneak peek at the table set-up)

YouTube (print & paste) Catch-up

It's been a while since I last talked about the 'print & paste' videos and pdfs that I've been releasing... and so I thought it was time to remedy that!

So, I started the year off with a couple of encounter/puzzle ideas (complete with the terrain to go with them):

 

Now, in my opinion, the first video is a much better encounter than the second one - but as luck would have it, the second one has had more than four times the views so far (go figure).

I actually used both of them in an adventure I run a while back (once in person, and once online), and I'm happy/relieved to say that they worked reasonably well both times :)

* * *

After those I've been working on some more sci-fi stuff (as I plan on trying out the 'five parsecs from home' game) - which has mostly been focusing on buildings, greebles, and the like:

 

And, I have to admit that I'm pretty pleased with how they've turned out!

Some of the (optional) bits can be a bit fiddly - but I think it's a great way to get some passable sci-fi terrain to the table relatively quickly (plus, I've tried to keep it fairly generic looking - so that it will fit in with a number of different games and settings).

Though I'm not quite done with this current sci-fi phase that I'm going through, and I have at least one more video in the works...

 ...which, as you can see, will be for some quick and easy barricades.

So yeah, that's what I've been up to this year so far (terrain wise)... and I think 5 videos in (slightly less than) four months isn't too bad (though I've also been getting a lot of mini's painted too - but that's a post for another time ;) ).

 

Age of Fantasy Quest: Game 1

“Right then… keep yer mouths shut.” whispered Ulskrag as he peered down the broad steps and strung his bow. “There’s bound to be some of those filthy longbeards about… their stink is all over the place!”

 

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m giving another one-page-rules game a try – this time Age of Fantasy Quest (with the aim of trying to tie it into my Five Leagues from the Borderlands game – in which I’m playing a bunch of orcs battling against the dwarves of Balin’s company during their failed re-colonisation of Moria).

Now I did get a few rules wrong during the first half of the game (or just forgot things here and there) - but it worked out reasonably well in the end – though I think it would be better if I had more table space (though that’s not something I can change at the moment).

Anyway… on with the game!

 

Ulskrag ordered Izdin (his second in command – a large orcish brute wielding a heavy axe) and the rest of the patrol down into the chamber, and had them form a defensive line between himself and the group of dwarves that appeared out of the darkness.

 

The bearded folk were few in number, little more than a patrol themselves, and so the lads (Bagash, Kildig, and Gitnik) faced them head on – charging in (with their spears leading the way), while Izdin came around at them from their flank.

This resulted in the death of all three dwarves – though Bagash was also slain in the exchange.

 

Meanwhile, Ulskrag took his time to make his mark on a pile of stones to indicate the passing of his patrol (as was their custom – it being a means of ensuring the orcs actually patrolled their allotted areas), before moving deeper into the ruinous chamber. 

However, it seemed that their recent engagement, brief though it was, had not gone unnoticed, and more dwarves rushed in through an open archway on this lower level.

This time, the remaining lads (Kildig, and Gitnik) advanced a short distance and set themselves to meet the enemy's charge… and succeeded in beating them back (this time without loss).

Like before, Ulskrag had begun making his mark on the appointed stone – but seeing that the dwarves had not been dealt with, he moved into position to take a shot at them with his trusty bow… but missed dramatically – his arrow disappearing into the darkness of the passage from which they had emerged.

Seeing this, Izdin (his blood still up from the previous encounter) charged into the dwarves, his axe swinging left and right as he cut all three down in a matter of mere seconds.

Both impressed and a little intimidated by this, Ulskrag called Kildig, and Gitnik over to watch his back while he continued with his task (he actually failed the roll to complete this several times during the course of this encounter – so I had him spend two power to turn a failed roll into a success).

 

With the primary mission complete (i.e. both objectives had been achieved) it was time to roll up a secondary objective. This resulted in ‘safeguard’ – which meant that a marker is placed in the centre of the table, and a hero will need to make three successful dex texts when within 3” of it to ‘safegaurd’ that area from enemy attacks. In story terms I interpreted this as the group having to hold that area while Ulskrag daubed the stones with the blood of their enemies - to mark this area as orc territory).

 

However, before doing that he chose to search the area for any indication as to what the dwarves might be up to in this hall (as there was also a search token next to one of the primary objectives)… but this turned up nothing of interest… though the delay meant that more of Balin’s folk had made their way into this area – this time descending from a higher level (i.e. through door 1).

The resulting battle proved costly…

 

...and although this newest threat was eventually dealt with – it cost the lives of Kildig, and Gitnik.

With the halls falling quiet once more, Ulskrag searched another promising area for possible loot, and this time uncovered a strange elixir.

Once again, the delay meant that yet more dwarves poured into the area… and, the remaining pair of orcs chose to hide behind a ruined pillar while this next group (armed with hammers) made their way towards the middle of the hall.

 

Then, with one of the ruined portions of the chamber between them, Ulskrag began raining arrows down upon them…

...before fleeing again.

 

(Now, if I’m reading things right, the AI rules as written state that if an enemy doesn’t have line of sight to a hero they head towards an AI goal – so they never pursue a hero once they turn a corner for example. However, I don’t really like that – so I adopted an Advanced HeroQuest rule, and judged that when a hero disappears from view, its enemies will pursue it for one round (following the direction the hero took)… and if their movement doesn’t bring the Hero back into sight, then, and only then, will they head back towards an AI goal).

So, with the dwarves giving up the chase, the pair decided to investigate another of the chamber’s corners…

 

...but came up empty handed once again.

Now, with the dwarves’ backs turned, the pair climbed a set of crumbling steps that led up to a platform that overlooked the central portion of the chamber, and prepared their final assault.

Ulskrag took aim and loosed his arrows, while Izdin charged in with is axe held high.

However, more of the sneaky beardlings had made their way into the area, and were already heading towards the skirmish in the centre of the room. As such Ulskrag jumped down and joined the fray.

The resulting battle ended with Izdin felling the last of the remaining hammerers, while Ulskrag finally threw caution aside, and charged the newly arrived axemen… slaughtering them all with his orcish blades.

 

With the halls falling quiet again, if only briefly, Ulskrag took the time to daub markings onto the fallen stones in the blood of his enemies (as a warning to any other dwarves that might journey this way).

(Note that I once again failed a couple of necessary rolls to complete the secondary objective – so I used two power to convert those fails onto a sucess. However, this quickly depleted my power score… but I think you can still do that with zero power remaining… but it instead comes off your wound total.)

But no sooner had he finished, the sound of yet more hurried footfalls echoed throughout the chamber… the heavy stomp of dwarven boots - this time approaching from behind (i.e. door 6).

Looking each other up and down, both Ulskrag and Izdin could see that they were in no shape to fight off more of the hated longbeards; both were wounded, and more than half of their patrol lay dead.

So, with their mission complete, they decided to flee the hall – spitting foul curses at the pursuing dwarves, before quickly outpacing them and disappearing into the long dark of Moria.

 

Age of Fantasy Quest: the set-up

In my last Five Leagues from the Borderlands game, my party of orcs arrived at the Uruk Hold (a large orc encampment deep within Moria) after being ambushed by some of Balin’s folk along the way.

Upon reaching their destination, they fell in with a group of returning scouts as they made their way past the outer barricades, and into the camp proper.

Anyway, before I continue with Muzlug and Lagashi’s story (and also because there are other games I would like to try out over the holiday period), I thought I would rewind slightly, and play out a battle using the One Page Rules ‘Age of Fantasy: Quest’ ruleset… and use that scenario to represent the patrol that these scouts were returning from… and maybe weave that into the story somehow (maybe Muzlug & Co. will investigate the same area too… you know… since I already have the table set up ;) ).

However, before I get started, I will say that I’m not playing ‘Quest’ rules as written… and instead of having multiple ‘heroes’ I’m just going to have the one – but he will be accompanied by a small warband that’s worth the same amount of points (i.e. my hero came out to 90 points, so I have put a 90 point list together to represent his small patrol, and together that should roughly equal the power level of two heroes for the purposes of working out the strength of the various ‘waves’ that they’ll be encountering… if you’re familiar with the way ‘Quest’ works, then you’ll know what I mean).

Speaking of which, here’s a picture of Ulskrag’s patrol:

 

Left to right: Ulskrag (orc ranger 90pts), 3 goblin warriors with spears and ‘furious’ (30pts), and Izdin (black orc – 60pts).

Now, this is more of a test game than anything else – so there’s not much of a story – other than Ulskrag being tasked to patrol the area I’ve got set up on my (small) table… and then taking it from there.

 

So, as you can see, the way I’ve got things broken up into 4 quarters (shown in red) is a little unconventional – but that’s because my playing space is made up of 2 magnetic blackboards (which my tiles are attached to)… one larger than the other (hence the L shape).

Furthermore, rather than having the heroes and enemies arrive at random table corners, I’ve instead set things up so that there are six specific entrances (shown in blue) – which, as you’ve probably guessed, I can randomise with the roll of a d6.

Now, as far as the mission goes I’ve selected an ‘Investigation’ – which means I need to investigate two markers (which I’m rationalising as my patrol route), and I also ended up with 4 search tokens as well.

The last thing I placed was the ‘sentries’ (in this case a group of 3 dwarf axemen)… and rolled to see what doorway my patrol would be entering from...

 

...and with that, I think it’s time to start the mission!

(but that will be my next post ;) )

Building a Dwarf Army Pt.5

It’s been almost a month since I last posted about my dwarf army progress… and in that post I said that I’d pretty much got everything done except my banner bearer (as I wasn’t sure how to paint the banner itself).

However, if this is your first time here, before I go any further, I’ll post links to the previous four parts of this project below (just in case you have any questions about the models, the paints, etc.)

PART 1  /  PART 2  /  PART 3  /  PART 4

Anyway, with all that out of the way, I’m pleased to say that I did paint up the banner guy in the end… and I just went with a simple painted-on design to get it done reasonably quickly and easily:

And now that he’s done, he can get added to the rest of his unit (a unit of ‘dwarf hammer elites’ and an attached ‘champion’ for the OPR Regiments game):

And, while I’m at it I’ll also post pics of the other units too (mountain warriors & champion, bearded veterans & sergeant, and marksmen & sergeant):

Actually, if you’re interested here’s the full 750 point army list using the OPR army builder app (which is great BTW):

Now, typically, as soon as I was done there was an update to some of the rules and point costs – which did mean that I had to re-jigger things slightly to get them back up to the aforementioned 750 points… but at least I didn’t have to paint any more models (or scrap ones I’d already done).

And with that, I think I’m going to call them done for now!

They’re not my best work (as this was always meant to be something to get done quickly/efficiently/cheaply) – but, even so, I’m still pretty happy with how the army looks as a whole…

 

...and I’d be more than happy to push them around the table if I ever get the chance (or to use as a loan army to teach someone the rules).

Though, I suppose I could make some matching movement trays for them… but that’s a job for another time... as my next project is to make a few more bits of dwarf(ish) themed terrain...

 ...but more on that later :)

Five Leagues From the Borderlands (part 8) – Ambushed!

Before I begin, I just want to quickly say that I probably played this game over a year ago, and so my memory of it isn’t perfect. I’m also not sure why I didn’t post a bat-rep at the time – but since I recently stumbled upon my notes (and found a few pictures on my hard drive) I thought it would be a good time to share them – especially since I’m thinking of restarting the game (or doing something similar with the newer ‘Deep Below’ spin-off).

Anyway, we left off with our little band of orcs acquiring a ‘contract’ – which involved visiting the Orc Outpost, the Uruk Hold, and the Loot Exchange settlements within 5 turns, and making an 8+ speech test in at least two of them.

I had interpreted this as having to re-establish connections between some of the orc groups that had taken up abode in the various halls of the dwarven complex… and, as such, had decided to return ‘home’ this turn (back to the Orc Outpost) – and gained a ‘friend’ along the way.

CAMPAIGN TURN 4

Town Events: Wandering healer

Hard Times: 2 upkeep (I used 1 ration to offset this)

Activities: Performed a successful speech test (with a +1 ‘friend’ bonus), recruited another follower, and visited the blacksmith to repair Muzlug’s spear.

Research: No result

Trade: Sold 'jars' for 2 gold.

My interpretation:

It turned out that Bagna (the sniveling wretch that befriended the group on their return journey) had the ear of Grob (the settlement's leader), and was able to get Lagashi an audience with him within a few days.

In the meantime, Muzlug was able to exchange some of the loot that they had found for a new spear shaft, and Pushdug convinced him that he probably knew a couple of good lads that might also want in on their escapades.

However, as it turned out, only one of these ‘lads’ was still alive… an axe wielding orc by the name of Dinshat – who was currently being patched up by a healer of sorts.

And since the rest of his band were currently missing (being the heavily armed patrol that had failed to return) he was easily convinced to slink away and join Muzlug’s Mob when no-one was looking.

Later, when Lagashi eventually got her audience with the great orc Grob, he was quick to agree that messengers should be sent down to the ‘Uruk Hold’ on the level below - as whispers had reached his ears of it falling back into Dwarven hands. And, even though he doubted those rumours to be true, he was no fool, and knew it to be wise to be seen to do ‘something’ (sending someone to check for example) …even if only to stave off challenges from those that were all to eager to take his place.

Therefore, Lagashi was quick to relay this news to Muzlug - resulting in the pair gathering their small warband, and heading off in short order.

 

TRAVEL ROLL: Waylaid by foes (petty robbers)

It was already late when the warband moved out – and so it wasn’t overly long before the group set up camp in an empty room at the end of a grand (but ruinous) hall. They even lit a small fire (against Pushdug’s advice) as they settled down – not fearing much due to the fact that they hadn't travelled all that far from the outpost.

Then, during Snagluk’s watch, the quiet, but unmistakable sound of booted feet echoed out in the main hall… and sneaking a look (with eyes well accustomed to the dark) he espied the unmistakable shapes of dwarven figures approaching their position. They had seen the light of the campfire perhaps… and were creeping closer and closer with each passing heartbeat.

THE BATTLE

Now I’m fairly sure I had some comprehensive notes to accompany these photo’s – but all I can seem to find are half a dozen bullet points – so maybe I had intended to write up this bat-rep straight away instead of relying on my notes (as I do remember the whole thing being fairly short and sweet).

Anyway, the set-up looked like this:

And, at the start, the dwarves moved in using the ‘infiltration’ rules (for a defensive battle), before eventually being spotted by Snagluk – who was the only one to act in the quick phase of the first round… but in his panic his shot was well wide of the mark.

During the next few rounds, the two opposing forces rushed to meet each other – but the main dwarven contingent were temporarily halted as tendrils of dark magic swirled around them – making their limbs heavy, and their boots feel like lead (i.e. Lagashi cast ‘bind’).

After dispatching a couple of the filthy longbeards, two of their number turned tail and fled like the cowards that they are – leaving their leader alone to face the consequences of their actions.

Needless to say, it didn’t go well for the lone dwarf… and (acting in the quick phase) Pushdug charged in and cut the fool down with a single blow!

RESOLUTION

Even though this was a travel battle, I think I still treat this like a regular battle – and need to do all the usual ‘resolution stage’ stuff… so:

1. No adventure points gained.

2. No injuries.

3. Advancements... 

• Muzlug 2 XP
• Lagashi 2 XP
• Pushdug 3XP (+1 for killing their leader) he also gains +1 combat skill at lvl 1
• Golb – nothing gained
• Snagluk – gains the pathwise skill.
• Dinshat – gains the battlewise skill.

4. Loot – found a delvers kit.

5. Unusual find – found the remains of a victim (I need to return a token to a random settlement)

6. Settle in – reached the ‘Uruk Hold' settlement.

7. News Travels – Rangers have been scouting the area (+2AP)

My interpretation:

With the echoing footsteps of the fleeing dwarves fading into the depths, the warband took stock. None of them had been injured (other than a few scratches and bruises), and so counted themselves lucky.

Pushdug gloated over the fact that he had warned them about lighting a fire… and this time Lagashi was inclined to agree. However, Muzlug berated the group for letting two of the dwarves escape – stating that the group would now need to move with haste themselves – before the bearded cowards could return with more of their filthy kin.

Despite this, they did a quick search of the bodies, and looted a few supplies/tools of sturdy dwarven make – and also discovered the decapitated head of a large orc brute tied up in a sack.

Dinshat, the newest member of the warband, confirmed that this was Rutgot – the leader of the missing patrol… and stated that news of this should probably be taken back to the outpost.

(note that I used a Story Point to change the location that this needed to be returned to – having it be the Outpost that they had just left – as I thought that fit the story better)

Despite this, Muzlug ordered the group on… and to make it ‘double quick’ since he believed that the dwarves were on to them (as he didn’t want to face a larger force of the beardlings with his own meagre band).

And yet, they arrived at the outskirts of the Uruk Hold (an orc camp that could rival the populace of a small town) without further event, and fell in (and exchanged news) with a group of returning scouts, as they made their way past the outer barricades...