Five Leagues From the Borderlands (part 3) – So it begins….

OK then… so I have my Orc warband painted (which you’ve already seen)… and a bunch of dwarves painted too…

 ...so lets get started!

CAMPAIGN TURN 1

Since this is the first turn of the game, there’s not a lot to do - as my party will just be making a Travel roll to get to the region where the game takes place (and skipping the rest of the stages).

So let’s do that… here’s the first roll of the game:

 

And with a result of a 3 absolutely nothing happens. So...

Lagashi, Muzulg, and company set out from the fastness of Dol Guldur and embarked upon their mission. Always travelling under the cover of darkness, they made their way across the Great River and eventually into Dimril Dale. Once there, they approached the East Gate with caution - but were able to enter without incident - as the longbeards had been driven out of the East Gate (and the 2nd Hall) by Sauron's forces.

Now, with this being the first turn, I’m not sure if I should be rolling on the ‘News Travels’ section… but I’m going to do it anyway. And with the roll of a 5, once again, nothing seems to be happening right now. So...

Moving on, the warband reached the orcish outpost stationed in the 2nd Hall, and made their report before being allowed any rest. At the moment all seemed quiet within the encampment… with only the vaguest echoes of squabbling orcs breaking the stillness from time to time - though these were quickly silenced. Maybe something had recently happened here - or was it just the quiet before the storm?

CAMPAIGN TURN 2

OK then, since nothing really happened in turn 1, let’s jump straight into turn 2.

(note that I’m going to run through things fairly quickly – so some of this might not make much sense if you’ve not played ‘Five Leagues’ - but in future posts I’ll probably just post my interpretation of the rolls... that is, unless anyone is interested in seeing both the rolls and my interpretation of them).

Anyway, the first thing I need to do is roll for local (settlement) events… and I get a ‘wandering healer.’

Next I roll on the Hard Times table… and get a 5 – which means my upkeep is 3 gold (note that since I’m running a non-standard/evil game I’m thinking of this more as a pool of accumulated loot and the warband’s reputation).

Now, for Campaign Activities this turn I’m going to ‘Help the Town Guard’ (which will offset my upkeep cost this turn), and ‘Meet the Locals’ (since I’m new in town). And with the roll of an 82, the table says that I ‘Spend time having a Drink’ (which adds one story point).

And then, as my action in the Adventuring Stage, I’m choosing to ‘Ride a Patrol.’

So I’m going to interpret all of that to mean something like this:

The quiet didn’t last long though, as Lagashi & Co. were quickly put to ‘guard work’ after their short rest – and set to watch over one of the passages just off the main hall. Not long into their watch they were approached by Robgot ...a sickly looking creature who handed the party a skin full of a thick healing liquor (i.e. the 2 silvertree leaf doses in my starting inventory) - in preparation for when ‘The fun begins!” as he put it.

He went on to add that the party were being reassigned and sent out on patrol… “Orders from Grob” he said. And, while they could get little more out of him than that, during their short journey back to the outpost he did offer up a few pointers for dealing with any dwarf raiders that they might run into while 'out there' - though nothing of any real substance... or so it seemed.

Right then… so let’s see how that patrol goes. With a roll of a 38 that means I’ll be encountering some unsavoury types from the roadside enemy table (‘dust hounds’ in this instance). However, with this being a ‘patrol’ I’m not sure if I should roll on the objective table as well - but I did it anyway… and with a 19 I’m also being sent to ‘search for something’ – (which I think will work).

So, following all the table/model set-up rules… this is what things look like:

 

And, again I’m going to interpret this to be something like:

Before heading out, Muzlug was pulled aside by Dugmush (second in command to Grob), and given instructions as to where they should go, and what to look out for… in particular, signs of ‘dwarf mischief’ near a large stone stairway in an adjacent hall. He also warned of a pack of hungry wargs that were roaming the tunnels… feral beasts that might have once allied themselves with the orcs that were here previously – but creatures that have long since been driven mad with hunger.

So I have 5 turns to get to the point indicated on the map and make a successful (battlewise) test… while at the same time, fending off a pack of hungry wargs.

But that will have to wait until next time...