New Skirmish Game Battle Report

Over the last few months I have been messing around with a set of fantasy skirmish rules, taking the best of other systems I like and seeing if I can make them work all together.  The goal is to have something relatively easy for my 8 year old to play but also interesting enough to run at cons or game nights.  I plan on releasing it with stats for the Splintered Light Miniatures range of fantasy and rpg figures.

First Game 2'x4' Map and Archer

I decided to take the 2 snow days we had to try a couple of games with my son Archer.  Though I will need to let other experienced players play test, these two run throughs with Archer did quickly reveal some glaring problems and allow a few fixes.

The two games we played were between a group of adventurers and a tribe of orcs and goblins, with a hill giant thrown into the mix.

The adventurers had 2 wizards, a fighter, a barbarian, a cleric, a bard, a thief, and a ranger.

Adventurers

The orcs had an orc chieftain, an orc wizard, 5 orc warriors, 2 orc heavies, 2 orc archers, 5 goblins, and 1 hill giant.

Orc and Goblin Force

The first game was fun but I made so many mid game changes and realized so many problems that I am not going to do any sort of battle report.  Here is a greatest hits set of images, however.  All I will say is that the adventurers got slaughtered!

Orc Archer vs Bard

Fighter vs Orc Heavy

Hill Giant vs Barbarian

The second game took place on a 2’x2’ mat, with each force setting up 6’ in.  Archer was playing the adventurers and chose to split them in half, which proved to be a mistake against the foe who outnumbered them 2 to 1.

2nd Game Opening Moves

The early turns saw the orcs moving forward.  The adventurer group with the ranger, a wizard, the thief, and the barbarian took to the hill on the left flank. The ranger took his first longbow shot at the hill giant and then the second turn decided to eliminate an orc warrior, which worked much better.  

The Left Flank

The other adventurer group with the fighter, the bard, the cleric, and a wizard slowly moved forward on the right flank.  

Right Flank

The female wizard cast a wall of fire, not only blocking the orc archers, who had taken some long range shot from the hill, but actually incinerating them by landing it on them.

Firewall Destroys Orc Archers

As the hill giant, goblins, and a few orc warriors moved against the group on the hill, the wizard launched a fireball, delivering a massive wound to the hill giant and deep frying a goblin.  The ranger then put the hill giant out of his misery with a well placed arrow.  The adventurers were off to a strong start.

Fireball!

On the other side, however, the battle was not going so well.  The orc wizard began by charming the fighter, who took a swing at the cleric to no effect.  The orc wizard then cast her own fireball the next turn, blasting not only the bard but the fighter as well. 

Payback!

The orc chieftain and his bodyguard charged forward and made quick work of the cleric and wizard.

The Right Flank Collapses

Moving back to the hill, the adventurers successfully fought off the attack of goblin and orc warriors.  The thief amazingly held the left flank, eliminating the first goblin he faced and then moving in the next turn to relieve the ranger, who was facing two goblins.

The Ranger and Thief Hold The Left

The barbarian did not fare as well.  Though he did manage to slay one orc warrior, the one on his flank buried an axe in his head, dropping him.  The wizard managed to freeze the orc with a spell until the ranger and thief could take him out. 

The Barbarian Valiantly Takes on Two Orcs

 The orcs from the flank then moved to eliminate the adventurers on the hill.  The orc wizard made the mistake of moving too far to the flank, allowing the thief to charge her and kill her while the wizard protecting him and delayed the orc force by casting a wall of fire, which failed to kill the orc heavy it landed on.  The ranger shot the orc warrior on the wrong side of the fire wall and the three heroes waited for the orc assault on the hill.

Firewall!

Unfortunately, the assault was brutal when it came with the orcs hammering down the wizard and the ranger.  The thief, seeing the carnage and four remaining orcs, decided to run and live to fight another day.

This Is the End!

Overall, I am really pleased with how the first runs at the rules went.  I will be continuing to playtest and tweak and work with Archer on strategy, but I think I am on the right track!