We continued our adventures in Middle-earth. In the three months since our last adventure, the heroes were doing everything from fighting Orcs and building settlements, to starting Bardic performance circuits and making schemes to open lucrative trade routes.
A trip to rescue the hobbit Dindy Brandybuck gained added urgency after Barlimun received this perfumed letter:
(Click to view full PDF document)
The heroes journeyed south, crossed the Anduin, and headed into the orc-infested mountains.
Once there, as night fell, they spied a light in the distance. As the heroes forced marched through the darkness they found none other than Dindy Brandybuck and his companions, hunkered down in an old earth-works ringfort. The heroes arrived just in the nick of time since orc warhorns sounded and two dozen orcs and goblins attacked!
The Ringfort
The heroes fought off the assailants, but in the fray, Dindy was captured and taken to the Goblin caves. The heroes ventured down into the dank darkness. This song rang through the caves:
Goblins live down in the caves,
Ain’t had nothing to eat for days!
Empty bellies, sharpened teeth,
Sharp blades in a blackened sheath!Goblins are a courteous folk
Always polite and real well spoke!
After a fight when we’re the winner
Bring the foe back home for dinner!Dwarves is tough and mostly beard.
Elves are stringy and taste weird.
In better times we eat Man-flesh
Smoke it, cook it or eat it fresh!Put the Hobbit in the pot!
Eat him up, we’ll have the lot!
Bring him to the Goblin feast!
Bring him to the Goblin feast!
After some heroics and several dead goblins and orcs, the heroes save not only Dindy but also Landana who (it turns out) had also been captured by the orcs! Barlamun was unconscious and dying by that point, but Landana’s healing powers revived the heroic bard, whose near-death bravery elicited eternal gratitude from the wood-elf.
Barlamun and Landana subsequently ventured to Bree, Barlamun’s hometown, with plans to build a life together, free (they hope) from the influence of the domineering elf-king Thanduil.
Perhaps the most important lesson learned so far in our first few skirmish matches has been SYNERGY – figures making other figures better and more effective at offense or defense or sometimes both. One thing that has been very clear from these early match ups is that Chewie’s team has it and Boba has been sorely lacking. The Furries make each other better with defensive bonuses and shared command cards, which among other things has made them harder to kill. Fett’s new team is hoping to pack a bigger punch with the addition of two figures that can apply the focus condition to teammates as well as building around characters who share the Hunter and Brawler traits for improved command card sharing.
Kuat Space Station is currently in the official skirmish map rotation for tournament play, but this is the first time it has made an appearance at the IA Lunch League. This map offers an interesting mix of objective play and combat flash points. The objective is to control the data core found the in upper left room, which will give you 10 victory points at the end of each round. The trick is that a door to the data core room can only be opened by a figure controlling a terminal at the beginning of a round and then at the end of each round both doors shut automatically.
The MVP of the match was definitely the Trandoshan Hunters. Working in pairs, their Relentless attack kept the pressure on the Furries and caused Mason to burn through his command deck, which he had used so effectively in previous games, in order to keep from taking additional damage. The Trandoshans holding the front line also allowed Fett and the Nexu to stay behind them, supporting both groups and popping in to attack where most needed. The added element of Focus from Gideon and C3PO made sure these groups hit hard.
Wanted to toss out something I’d like to keep an eye on for a potential post-50 Fathoms campaign for the Saturday Night group.
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