The Greatest Battle (report) of All Time!

Back in April of 2007, I participated in a 4-player game with three other Cali'Scapers. The game itself was truly memorable. Though I think what made this "grudge match" even more amazing was due in large part to the forums here at Heroscapers.com. From throwing down the gauntlet, to specifying the rules, to drafting the armies, and then to the mother of all battle reports, the four of us used the forums not only in a functional manner to complete each of these. But the forums also allowed other members a window into this event, from the very start and all the way to the very finish.

What follows is only the battle report. If you'd like to see the entire thread, complete with the draft and various member comments, you can find it by clicking here.

Otherwise, sit back and enjoy...

THE GREATEST BATTLE
(REPORT) OF ALL TIME!

* * *

TEAM GRUDGE CASTLE MATCH

boom & Oogie Da Bruce v. hextr1p and Wilkerson74

The Setup:

This will be an objective based game of Destroy the Flag. There is no round limit and you cannot be saved by the bell. The flag is the glyph of Brandar inside your team's castle. The flag has the stats of 6 life, 4 defence, and tough. The flag may be attacked by any figure on, or adjacent, to it. If you destroy your opponents flag you win the match. Also, if you destroy all of your opponents figures, you win the match.

Players on the same team may setup their figures anywhere on their side's starting zone (3 hexes from edge - level 1 only).

Occupied Glyphs give their bonus to your whole team. You can only gain a Glyph's bonus by claiming a glyph on your opponents side of the battlefield. You can place your own figures on a glyph as a defensive measure to stop your opponent from claiming it.

NOW, ON TO THE MAIN EVENT!!!

In this corner...

Weighing in at an even 1000 points,
With 6 Unique Heroes
And 4 Common Squads,
Totaling 20 Figures...

Winged and Metal Death

hextr1p:
- Q9
- Braxas
- Sgt Drake (guarding the flag)

Wilkerson74
- Deathwalker 9000
- Deathwalker 8000
- Deathreavers x3
- Minions of Utgar



In the other corner...

Weighing in at a trim 995 points,
With 6 Unique Heros,
2 Common Heroes,
And 2 Unique Sqauds,
Totaling 15 Figures

The Alliance of Kings

boom
- Nilfhiem
- Laglor
- Krav Maga Agents
- Kelda (hiding in castle)
- Dumutef Guard

Oogie Da Bruce
- Charos
- Airborne Elite (pre game - not dropped)
- Krug
- Eldgrim the Viking Champion
- Dumutef Guard



Now let's make this a clean fight. No dice throwing. When I give the signal one player from each team will roll for initiative. What ever team wins will be awarded the Ace and 3 of spades. The other team will be awarded the 2 and 4 of spades. Each team will decide who will get each card and that will determine turn progression.

Now shake hands and return to your corners.

LET'S GET IT ON!!!!!

* *

Wow, everyone, this looks like it's going to be a great matchup. Winged and Metal Death (WMD), has both the point and figure advantage over The Alliance of Kings (The Alliance) as well as some serious range with all the Soulborgs. Mix that up with Braxas' Acid Breath, some heavy attacks from the Minions and Drake, all topped off by a swarm of Deathreavers, this can be a tough matchup for The Alliance.

However, The Alliance has an insurance policy with Kelda and all those high life figures, as well as the X Factor with the Airborne Elite. You never know when thoses guys are gonna drop, or IF their gonna drop. The Krav are a great range counter, and with Laglor's range boost, they are gonna give WMD a tough time (unless you bring in Braxas, but do you really want your dragon that close to the enemy lines?) You really gotta be careful any time two Dragon Kings unite under the same banner.

Let's roll the interview footage...

* *

OOGIE: The first thing we all noticed was how different the battlefield looked in person. Online it seemed we had plenty of room to negotiate, but when your actually there, it's like a totally different place.

The field is small, with plenty of things to block LOS, and places that large figures couldn't fit, especially with Nilfiem's wings and Charos. Thank God we had fliers who could go over most of that, but still, it's gonna be a tough fit.

And then you look on the other side of the board, and what do you see? A ton of figures just waiting. 12 of those damn rats to scatter while the Deathwalkers can sit back and shoot! Then there's Braxas AND Q9, that should just be illegal!

Special Attacks were going to ba a problem too. Drake is immune to normal range and the rats scatter on a normal attack. We only had Nilf and Laglor to counter. Both those figures were in Boom's army. I had nothing that could help with that. I knew I needed to play a supporting role and cover boom's forces.

Lastly, we knew we were gonna get pelted with Deathwalker strikes. They would be able to hit us from almost anywhere. I really began thinking, "Man I don't know how we're gonna win this one." We definatly felt like the underdogs here.

All we could do was stick to our game plan... a hard and fast attack by the Dragons to soften up their team. Then, hopefully we could get out of there fast enough to let Kelda do her work.

But what did WMD have planned? What about the Glyphs, the Bridge? Would we stretch ourselves to far to soon? Would the AE drop? We shall see....

HEX: Yes, the battlefield did look a LOT different in person. Previous strategies my team mate Wilk and I discussed via PM were reconsidered slightly. Especially upon seeing the set up of our opponents' figures across the board.

Apparently, each team felt the they were the underdog, because WMD had many concerns after the draft as well. The dynamic dragon duo of Nilf and Charos in itself looked pretty daunting. Especially when set up side by side. Add to that the range of the Krav Maga and Laglor, along with the tank that is Krug, two Dumutef Guards AND Kelda as a field medic, and I was seriously shaking my head on the inside. Oh yeah... and then there are the AE. I prayed that they wouldn't be able to drop until at least the 3rd round to allow our units to disperse. The way our army was packed in their starting zones, a quick drop and a strategic grenade could really bring the hurt to our team early. We did NOT want that.

My strategy was to hang back early, never going past the midway point unless absolutely necessary. Soften their team as best I could, using Brax to melt their squads, and using Q9 to do whatever else was needed. I was to be the support as Wilk pressed forward. Drake was chilling in our castle, waiting for his moment to rush the battle lines and make his way to the flag.

So I was set. My strategy was simple enough. And I told myself that so long as the AE didn't drop too early, our team had a good chance to mobilize... and even come out on top.

WILK: I can't disagree with what hex said. Looking across the field at the large figures (charos, Nilf, Krug), add in the KM and the AE, I was beginning to think I had really picked the wrong army for this game, but I was hoping that it may work to my advantage in the numbers department, as long as I could keep my reavers from getting to close to Nilf.

I also wanted to keep my minions back to support Hex's MQ9, while pressing my DW's forward to ground and pound, I just needed two things to happen....

1). I needed my reavers to get out of the gates early, start taking glyphs, and lock up their ranged figures.

2). I needed the DW's to not whiff their defense rolls early.

The rest was in the hands of the dice gods.

BOOM: Oogie and I came up with a plan of controlled agression. We knew we needed to counter the huge threats hex and Wilk had, Braxas, the Major and the Deathwalkers, but would we be better suited slugging it out at range, and waiting for them to come to us? Or would an agressive move towards some key glyphs cause our enemies to make mistakes and give us an edge? We decided that we would both know when it was THE right time to strike.

We knew our dragons had to match up w/ Brax and Q. My only concern was Nilf, along w/ Lag, was also our counter to Drake and the rats . There would be only some much of Nilf to go around.

Here's hoping my dice stayed true (for once). The first roll for initiative was gong to be huge.

* *

Now back to the action…

THE DROP

Before we begin, Oogie gets to roll for the AE drop. A 13 or better will give him the option to drop his figures.

He picks up his d20, looks over the field, and the rolls…
10, 5, 17, 2, 13, and…….. It’s a 20! Can you believe it, folks!!!

Oogie opts to drop the AE in the first round. This is going to make things interesting.

A big roll for The Alliance, but Oogie needs to place his figures carefully because if his team looses initiative, the AE’s low defense makes them an easy target.

Let’s take a look at the AE placement.


I see one in the WMD’s tower, one on the The Alliance’s castle wall, one is taking cover behind a glacier on the right closing on the +2 move glyph, and the last is on the road leading to the +4 range glyph on the bridge.

What must be going on in the mind of the combatants right now? How will this affect their order marker assignments? This is going to be a BIG initiative roll.

The teams decided that Oog and hextr1p will roll for initiative the first round, then boom and Wilkerson74 will roll against each other, rinse, repeat.

Now for initiative.

ROUND ONE

Another monster roll by ODB!!! 19!!! hextr1p’s roll is not enough (rolls a 2).

WOW, you can’t get a better opening than that. The Alliance is prime for a big opening move rolling for both drop and initiative!!!

To the Instant Replay


ODB’s Airborne Elite move first. They advance and take the +2 Move, and the +4 range.

You gotta wonder, though, if Oogie’s choice to put an AE back so far was the right thing to do. He is getting 1 attack of 5 dice (+2 tower), 1 attack of 4 dice (+1 high ground bridge), and 1 attack of 3 (even ground snow AE). The last AE can only watch.

ODB announces his attack, “Concentrate all firepower on the Super Star Destroyer!”
His AE use their height and numbers to put a couple of wounds on Braxas early.

As the round progresses, hextr1p uses Braxas’ acid to destroy the AE in the tower, but clever spacing by ODB only allows Braxas to target one per turn. Boom aggressively moves up his Krav and continues The Alliance’s unrelenting assault on Dang Braxas.

Boom comments, “Oog, have you ever know me to play smart?”
ODB reply’s, “No.”

His Krav reinforce the bridge and put a few more wounds on Braxas.

Wilkerson advances his swarm of Deathreavers toward the bridge. His goal, to engage the Krav, stop the assault on Braxas, and take back the bridge. His other Reavers head for the snow AE and his own teams +2 move glyph.

Turn 2 sees much of the same, continued AE and Krav assaults on Braxas, who is having trouble mustering up the acid needed to finish off his attackers. One turn, he completely whiffs all 3 spit attempts on The Alliance's forces occupying the bridge and controlling the +4 range glyph (rolling a 2, 3, and 5).

Boom’s Krav, with height on the bridge, put the final wound on Braxas, in the first round!!!

DOWN GOES BRAXAS!
DOWN GOES BRAXAS!



Round One: The Alliance
“Shock and Awe”

* *

OOGIE: I was worried that after getting The Drop, we would loose initiative. So I did spread out my guys. I don’t know what I was thinking putting the last AE so far back, my only reasoning is, if things didn’t go our way, I could use him to cover the bridge. Winning the initiative, though, meant an aggressive ranged attack!!!

3 attacks from my AE, and 3 attacks from booms Krav each round really put a big hurt on WMD. You should have seen these guys faces. They looked as if someone had just stolen their milk money.

The Alliance was riding a high. In the first round, with minimal casualties we could announce, “Mission Accomplished. Braxas Neutralized.”

HEX: Needless to say after round 1, I was dumbfounded. The three whiffed 'ACID BREATH' rolls on the AoK's bridge occupants was HUGE. For those scoring at home, Braxas only took out one unit: the AE on our tower.

ONE. FRIGGIN'. UNIT.

I could literally feel the blood rushing to my head, as I could've imagined no worse an event to happen in the very first round than to lose Braxas.



I blame AllSkulls for this loss, more than anything. He wished bad omens upon Braxas even before our game had begun. So yeah, thanks for that, AllSkulls. THANKS A LOT!



As noted earlier, the AE dropping early was huge. Especially Oog placing one of the soldiers on top of our tower. That, coupled by the control of the Range +4 glyph and Braxas' having nowhere to hide on the map, I had to be a LOT more agressive with her than I wanted to at that point.

Referring back to the three rolls I missed for 'ACID BREATH' (I rolled a 2, 3, and 5), if I had taken out even two of the three KMA, I'd have been alright.

But it was not to be... and thus, my dragon died.

Dang, Braxas.

P.S. ~ I rolled a 2 for initiative to Oog's 19.

WILK: Things did indeed look bad. ODB dropping his AE, getting the initiative, putting his guys in prime position to deal some punishment, and at the same time grab some glyhps to give the Alliance the upper hand early.

This totally threw my 1st round gameplan out the window, placing my 1st turn order marker on the minions, to deal with that pesky AE in our tower. By the time it was my turn to move though Braxas had already removed that threat...so my minions flew up to the top of our keep to secure the roof.

Everything else seemed like it was in dissaray....there was confusion, chaos, and the looming threat of this being a real short game.

BOOM: Moving up the Krav Maga was one example of our "controlled agression." I was pretty nervous, as they were flapping in the breeze out on the bridge, but we wanted to unload everything we could, while we could, so the reward outweighed the risk. I was very lucky to survive some acid breath rolls, and the extra attack die from height was just the ticket as I was able to pepper that dang dragon with lots of fire. Very nervous about bunching the Krav together, but as I've said before, "I never play smart."

* * * *

Thanks for sticking with us…

Through that commercial break and welcome back!!!

With the crushing loss of Braxas in the first round, WMD needs to regroup and adjust their strategy. The Alliance shouldn’t get too cocky either. Although loosing a big point figure in the first round is rough, in a 1000 point per side team game, there is still a lot of points left on the board.

Now, on to…

ROUND TWO

Let’s see if Boom can keep the hot d20 going for The Alliance or if Wilkerson74 can break their luck.

Initiative to WMD!!!

Wilk continues the Reaver advance securing the +2 move glyph. This is really gonna help WMD close some ground.
Oog moves up Charos on the right side toward Q9.
Hextr1p takes the highground with Q9 and relieves the AE of his Move +2 Glyph Duties! Move advantage WMD!
Boom advances Nilfiem toward Q9 as well. Looks like we’re gonna see that patented “Double Dragon” attack.

...

Round Two is seeing more maneuvering by both teams, a big difference from the heavy assault we saw in Round One by The Alliance.

But what is this?
It seems Boom has used his X marker on Nilfiem!?! For sure, we here in the booth saw the 3 markers on Nilf as the 1,2,3 “Double Dragon” punch. But Boom put his number 2 marker on the Krav. Interesting play.

With the rats advancing, it seems boom wanted to get off some height advantage shots before his Krav get swarmed.

Boom chooses his target… Deathwalker 9000.
And with his 3 attacks of 4 dice, the best the Agents can do is 2 skulls.
Wilkerson74, picks up his 9 Defence dice...
He rolls….

One…
…
…

Only 1 shield!!!

We can add this 1 to the 9000 Deaths of Deathwalker 9000!



This has gotta hurt. WMD loosing, now, TWO of their big figures. It was said before like someone had stolen their milk money. Well now it looks like someone has just shot their Christmas Puppies in front of them!

There are no smiles for Winged and Metal Death only funerals.

…

Hextr1p continues to blast away at the advancing Dragons and puts a couple of wounds on Nilfiem.

Wilkerson74, shakes off the loss of his 1st Deathwalker, and continues with the battle plan. Now, with increased move, his Reavers are really picking up speed. The Alliance who has pretty much had no opposition, is now facing a swarming hoard or Warmadillos.

We have Reavers on the Bridge!



Great move by Wilkerson74, less than 40 points in Reavers is tying up 100+ points of alliance troops. The Krav can no longer use their Stealth Dodge; one has already fallen. And any counter attack by the bridge occupants, who do not have special attacks, will only activate the Deathreaver’s Scatter ability, bringing in Robo-Reinforcements. Furthermore, ANY attack by the Krav or AE on the bridge MUST be directed and the Reavers, taking the heat off off WMD’s other figs.

Things are looking up for WMD. They have the Move advantange. The Bridge is now contested.

But there is another threat looming...

“Double Dragon” has reached its Target.



Round Two: The Alliance
“Two down. Two to Go”

* *

BOOM: Things were really looking good for us after this round . No acid breath to worry about and, thanks to the crack-shooting of Agent Warren, one less giant robot to contend with. Now we had to buff dragons ready to shred another tin-boy and then we'd be free to knock off their piddly targets at will . To be honest, I was silently dancing in my head, and I didn't give a hoot of a thought to the roborats and minions.

Think this quote would come back to haunt me? You're probably right .

HEX: Let it known that around this point, with the death of DW9k and Braxas, Team AoK offered a 'mercy rule' game reset to Team WMD. Looking down at our large losses, the offer was tempting. However, there was still SO much game left. We opted to see it through, as sometimes, this was just how the dice fell in HeroScape. Such situations and circumstances are what make the game of HeroScape so much fun should one not take the game overy serious. That, and early on in large games, even if a player or team faces heavy casualties to key components, there is always a chance, however slight, that the game could turn around.

The Reavers starting to swarm was pretty huge. Wilk moved the rats into great position to muck up the huge advantage AoK had on the bridge. One of the rats was even able to take out one of the agents! A small victory for us, but any progress was good at this point.

With only two units for me to control now, I went all in on Q9. Especially when I saw Nilf flying towards me. I quickly positioned my robot on high ground via a 3-hex piece, knowing that the ice dragon was going to engage me to hinder my ranged attacks. I did this more for the defensive advantage than the attack bonus.

And then I noticed something else: Oog was moving Charos over to engage Q9 as well! Talk about no mercy! I could only shake my head as the Green King advanced across the board, doing my best to weaken Nilf to give me any sort of breathing room once I had BOTH dragons on the Major.



Charos engaged my robot... and things were once again not looking good for Team WMD.

OOGIE: This round for me was an easy one.
3 order markers on Charos. Get to Q9. That was it.
If I take some flak, well I have enough life to last.

The only thing gnawing in the back of my mind was Eldgrim.

My planned opening move was to Over Extend him. 10 move would have got me to the +2 Move glyph. Great... Boost my whole team. And when He died give his Aura to Charos.

6 Move would have gotten me to Q9 in 2 moves. Allowing me 2 attacks this round. With only 5 move it took me all 3 turns to get to him.

I wasn't too bent over it, though. I was happy with the 1st round.

I actually asked the guys if they wanted a Do-Over; they looked really pitiful. But in true Heroic Fashion, they dismissed me and got ready for the next round.

All we had to do was down Q9 and hextr1p would only have Drake left.

Even with height, rolling 8 defence dice, we were confident that 5 attack from Charos and 6 attack from Nilfiem reduce Q9's life to zero in the next round.

WILK: Yeah it was in this round where the reavers really started to shine. With one reaver on the +2 move glyph, the reavers now had a move of eight, not including road bonuses. This helped get them up to the middle of the bridge and lock up those KM and the one AE. And by them attacking the rats just to survive, it helped me move more up......just so they could see that even if they took out the ones they were engaged with...there were more to take their place.

And then of course there was the classic DW defense roll! I had just moved DW9K into position to try to clear the bridge of the AE and KM. unfortunately I was just one hex out of range. I needed one more turn to fully get into position when WHAM! Boom's KM fires, and DW9K is dead.

Now that half of my big firepower is lost, and Hex's MQ9 getting swarmed by dragons it's time to start pushing back or be completely dominated by the Alliance.......

Could WMD pull it out? Would The Alliance finish crushing our heavy hitters and cement thier victory in place? Is it true that Boom wears women's underwear??

To be continued...

* * * *

What will happen next?

Well folks, this could be it. The third round, WMD, with both Kings of the Alliance in their faces. This should be a fierce round.

ROUND THREE

Right away the pounding begins, Charos attacks Q9, Q9 attacks Nilfhiem, Nilfhiem attacks Q9.

A flurry of dice litter the field. Over and over again, the titans with their massive attacks, desperately try and destroy their opponent!!!

And over and over again, shields match skulls!!!

Nobody can get the upper hand. Nobody can put a wound maker on their opponent.

Till…

Attack of the Minions!!!



Wilkerson74 swoops in with his minions, two on even ground, and a third on high ground, surrounding Charos.

The two on even ground attack, but only roll one skull each. Each time, Charos rolls the necessary two to block but no third for counterstrike. Again, no one is budging.

But, with his last Minion, with height, Wilk loads up and BAM!!! 3 Skulls; 6 Hits!!!

ODB lets loose his 5 defence dice…

… Nothing!!!

And like that the Mighty Dragon King has only 3 life remaining!!!

To futher turn the tides to their favor, Q9 puts another wound on Nilfhiem before the round ends. And DW8000 tags Nilf as well. Nilfhiem has only 2 life left.

Q9 has a few wounds, a small price to pay for the carnage unleash by WMD.

Back on the Bridge…



Deathreavers continue to clear the bridge of all but one Agent, desperately clinging to the +4 range glyph.

Round Three: Winged and Metal Death
“Who’s laughing now?”

* *

OOGIE: It’s so easy when things are going your way, then BAM!

You can’t wound Q9, even when you’re rolling 3 and 4 skulls, 3 to 6 times!!!

And In one attack you loose 6 life!!!

6 life!!!

And the worst part was, I didn't counterstrike ONE. Next round I would be facing them all over again.

We jumped head first into this one. And we wern't sure if we'd ever make it out.

HEX: As garbage as my rolls were coming up early in the game, Q9 more than held his against the two dragons! As much as the two kings threw at me, I was able to defend! Note that at this point, Major Q9 had accumulated 3 wounds... and he only has 4 Life! So with every attack that I defended, there was a groan from the AoK, and a jubilant sigh of relief from the WMD!

Remember, the two dragons were using ALL of their order markers to attack my soulborg. So I withstood 6 attacks from these two scaled juggernauts. On the flip side, boom's Nilf withstood the Quelix gun of Q9. Where as I was rolling amazing on defense, my attack blasts were anything but.

Wilk swooped in his Minions to help try and ease the burden pressing down on Q9. And ease he did, when his Minion with height rolled "all skulls, baby". Oog's dragon must have been straight blindsided when his defensive roll came up with nothing but blanks, slamming Charos with 6 wounds all at once! A devestating blow to be sure!

The round came to a beautiful end, lifted higher by the work Wilk's rats did to our adversaries on the bridge. And the two kings were looking anything but majestic.

But how much longer could Q9 hold? If only he could survive this onslaught. The robot had to last... HE HAD TO!

BOOM: Yep, Wilks two units that I viewed as an afterthought (the minions and rats) were starting to kick our cans . I swear, hex saved every single, stinking, sweating, slamming rotten skull we threw at him . I remember a few times when we'd get 3 or even 4 skulls a roll only to have Q9 block them. This slugfest is getting ugly for us and fast.

The darn rats are starting to make our lives miserable. My happy head-dancing was going to turn into head-banging in another round or two if things don't start to swing our way.

It should be noted that the agent I lost this round, my second, heroically tried to break away from the rats to lend her precision shooting to the titanic struggle between the dragons and Q9. As luck would have it , Wilk rolled a skull on the disengagement and down she went.

WILK: Finally! A break! It seemed that the momentum was maybe starting to shift a little bit....or that for the first time since the game started I think me and Hex felt finally like we could breathe a little easier.

With a reaver still holding the +2 Glyph, my usually slow moving minions now had a move of 6! That was exactly the amount of move needed to swoop down on Charos.

Now I had severe second thoughts about engaging Charos with my Minions. With the Big C's 5 defense and Counterstrike, I was hoping to Pummel these guys with range before closing in with the minions to finish them off. When both Boom and Oog pushed both their big guys forward that plan was scrached, and a more immediate plan implemented...attack with the Minions! But if I lost them in the fight....all I had left to do any major damage with was DW8K.

My minions swoop in to help out the Major, and the 6 life on Charos was like a small victory! The major had been duking it out with Nelf, and what a battle of juggernuats it was. To Hex's credit, everytime he rolled defense he hardly rolled more than he needed to defend, but just enough. And Boom's Nilf was hanging tough to.....we (WMD) were feeling better....but the blood was spilling...and something had to give...

* * * *

Finally taking their first round, Team WMD looks to continue the momentum shift and finish the job they started by eliminating the Double Dragon Threat that has been looming since round two.

On the other hand, The Alliance, with no room to back down, needs to take out Q9 in any hopes to salvaging the doomed assault plan they had formed going into this round.

Nilfheim’s life is hanging by a thread, as is Q9’s. Charos has 3 life left, and Kelda is no where to be found. Minions are swarming. A you ready for…

The Battle Royal!!!

ROUND FOUR

Without missing a beat, the combatants begin their left off. Everyone knows where the action is; no one is backing down.

Again for the first couple of turns, shields are the dominant force in the conflict. Could we go another entire round with none of the titans succumbing to wounds???

Then, who decides to join the fray??? Leaping out from within the safety of the Castle, boasting a move of 7 hexes, Sgt. Drake Alexander!!!

And like that the Sarge rolls right up to Charos, eager to dish out some pain. But arrive late to the battle and not warmed up yet, the Sarge rolls a sad attack. Charos, seeing an opportunity counters with a handful of shields!!! “Welcome to the battle Drake.” laughs Charos as he hands him two wounds.

With all focus on Charos, Nilfheim gets a free shot at Q9. He’s been there attacking the Soulborg now since round 2. Once again, a handful of dice; once again a couple of skulls. Has the Major the stamina to keep blocking these attack? The roll…… One Shield!!!

The first of the titans has fallen!

Q9 is dead!!!

A sigh of relief is heard from The Alliance, but WMD is not finished yet.

Eager to avenge their fallen comrade, Wilkerson74’s minions continue their attack on Charos. In the action one falls to a Counter strike. Charos roars in triumph and holds his ground.

Drake unfazed by his earlier misstep, attacks Charos again. This time he hits true.

Charos is dead!!!

With Charos gone. Wilkerson’s minions are free to move on to easier prey, Nilfheim, with no fear of counterstrike. The same minions who put 6 wounds on Charos in one attack move team up and strike at Nilfheim. And finish him!

Nilfheim is dead!!!

The Titans have fallen!!!



What a vicious round!!! We see both Dragon Kings destroyed, as well as Major Q9. WMD has cleared out the threat that was brought to their door step.

What was once a commanding lead by The Alliance is now anyone’s game.

What a great match, folks!!!

The big boys have been put to bed.

The field is open.

Stay tuned.

Round Four: Winged and Metal Death
“The Alliance of WHO?”

* *

OOGIE: This round didn't feel much better than the last one.

Sure we got Q9. But we lost both dragons in the process.

Charos was mostly ineffective, but Boom kept Nilf alive and swinging well enough to do his part. His defense saves rivaled hextr1p's earlier Q9 shileds.

WMD, took the hardest hits we could throw at them and they pushed back. Wilk still had Reavers scattered around the battle field, and our forward attackers were gone.

It was like were were starting over. Both teams lost about 600 points worth of figures.

We needed to get ready for Phase Two.

WILK: The dust settles.....and standing tall on our side of the map; two minions and the sarge!! We were sadened by the loss of MQ9, but there were also tears of joy! With our backs to the wall we came out swinging , and the dragons where dead!

Now the largest threats (Krug, Laglor) were clear on the other side of the board, MOST of the ranged threats were nuetralized, and we could now start making our advance towards their flag.....

Could we pull off the upset? Could we get someone inside the castle without irritating that grumpy krug? Time to press the attack!!

BOOM: Well, Nilf hung well enough. I was pleased with his saves, but his attacks left something to be desired. We will also miss his special range attack to deal with the roborats . I toyed with the idea of leaving the engagement and heading back to Kelda, but as most of my playing mates know, I surely would have died in the disengagement. I decided to sock it out, finally taking down the Major but leaving myself wide open from the now disengaged minions. They made short work of Nilf.

Time to get Lags up front and blasting with his reload special. Those darn minions are going to be tough, and with "rats in the wire" quite a few glyphs may now fall into the wrong hands.

HEX: At the end of this round, I was down only to Drake with 2 wounds. However, unlike Braxas, I was pleased with the role Q9 played in helping to take out the two kings of the AoK. Surveying the field after the mega-fray, the only fig I was worried about on the side of AoK was Laglor.

Krug was of little concern, because I had no intent of hitting him to help boost his attack. The two Dumutef Guards were easy prey when kept away from the road. Eldgrim would be of no match to Drake's blade should it come to that. The AE sniper on the on AoK's tower was now placed in futility thanks to Drake's Thorian Speed. And Kelda... well, she's Kelda. Who's afraid of Kelda? Laglor's 'Auto-Reload' attack was the only thing to slow my valiant soldier down.

Our army remained strong with units easily able to achieve the objective required to win the game: Destroy the flag! With a Reaver on the +2 Move Glyph, WMD was in prime position to begin pushing forward towards AoK's castle.

Looking over the field again, I begin working in my head a strategy to get Drake up to the castle as fast as possible, with as little resistance as possible...

... and lo and behold, I saw an open route for Drake to take... so long as the AoK didn't see it as well.

* * * *

This is one of the reasons why we love this game. Even if your down, when you set up those 3 order markers you still going toe to toe with your opponents 3 orders. Sure they have more points then you. Sure you got your back against the wall. But if your plan carefully and make those orders count your right back in the game.

And that’s exactly what WMD did. They shifted their game plan, brought in the heavy hitters, Minions and Drake to end the Kings’ reign on the battlefield.

Looking over the field now, you can see the tides shift to WMD’s favor. They already have Reavers advancing on key positions. The +2 Move and +4 Range glyph are in hand and ready to be utilized.

The Alliance, now Kingless, is taking up defensive positions. With only Laglor left to administer special attacks, The Alliance is going to have a tough time stopping the Reavers from scattering and keeping Drake at bay.

Now get ready for…

The counter assault!!!

ROUND FIVE

Wasting no time, WMD takes full advantage of their enhanced move and momentum. Drake comes flying up the right flank of The “Shattered” Alliance. While Deathwalker 8000 moves forward to provide some ranged support. Reavers are consistent with their swarming advance. And The Alliance makes some minor adjustment and begin to cover the +1 attack and +2 defense glyphs to try and slow the flood.

But Drake is covering ground like a madman, shrugging off fire from Laglor, slaughtering a Dwarf who was role playing as a Viking, advancing, past the lumbering Krug, into the heart of The Alliance castle, and assaulting their flag!!!

Drake has Entered the Building!!!



Six attack Dice, pitting sword against flag. Krug with no wounds can only muster two attack dice, Laglor in the wings trying to Auto Load on Drake. And who’s afraid of Kelda.

Drake, still with 3 life, knows how easy it is to strike down a flag with the right rolls. The flag awaits it’s assault. 6 life, 4 defense, and tough are it’s stats. And even if Drake can’t finish the job, any wounds he adds will help his teammates who are ready and waiting.

Meanwhile…

Deathwalker 8000, cold and calculating mops up opposing forces. The Alliance, so preoccupied, with Drake has no choice to but watch as the Soulborg methodically disposes of their forces. Rapid fire removes more than a couple figures in a single turn.

Support Units Neutralized.



Wedged between the potential destruction of their flag from hextr1p’s Drake and the onslaught of Wilkerson74’s Deathwalker, The Alliance finds themselves on the brink of annihilation. Drake could not capitalize on his first attack on their flag, but neither Krug or Laglor came close to putting a wound on Drake.

And still Deathwalker stalks them.

Round Five: Winged and Metal Death
“Knock, Knock, Knocking on Heaven’s Door”

* *

BOOM: After the death of our dragons, Drake made his dash up our right for the flag in the castle. "Alamo, Alamo," was our battle cry as we collapsed almost everything to make a stand at the castle. Yup, things have gone horribly wrong for us now. Talk about the penthouse to the outhouse . Lags couldn't hit Drake, Kruggs weak attack couldn't hit Drake, and there's still the matter of Minions, a Deathwalker and lots of rats to worry about. Down goes the last agent. Down goes the AE atop the castle. We're left scrambling, trying to take down Drake and keep the +1Attack and +2Defense away from WMD.

OOGIE: Alamo was right.

Things were coming at us so fast, we didn't have enough order markers to get into position fast enough.

Deathwalker was unopposed on the bridge and Drake was just too fast (damn those Reavers and the +2 Move Glyph)!!!

Thankfully Drake whiffed his first attack on our flag, but we knew hextr1p was going to load up order markers on Drake and 6 attack dice would destroy our flag soon enough.

Krug was a weakling. Wilk was having shooting gallery fun with our other units and the damn rats wouldn't stop comming!!!

I actually turned to boom and said, "Maybe we should have you attack Krug?".

HEX: Thorian speed!!

My first turn... the left side of the field was wide open once the two kings were taken out. Drake's boosted Move of 7 had the sarge cover ground ridiculously fast, doing my best to position him out of Lag's LOS.

My second turn... all that opposed me on the left side was Eldgrim. Well, all that TRIED to oppose me was Eldgrim, as he was easily cut down by Drake's blade.

My third turn... confusion seemed to control the AoK as they tried their best to regroup strategically. DW8k riddled their castle with heavy fire from the bridge... and Drake slipped into the castle with ease. Inside the AoK's fortress was Kelda. However, I was able to get right up to the flag without becoming engaged. I was ready to take a hit at the flag!

Drake gripped tightly the katana of Thorian, bringing the blade back and inhaling deeply as he mustered the strength for his attack upon the opponents' flag before him.

With a yell that reverberated throughout the chamber, he unleashed his rage as his sword cut deftly through the battle-thickened air, bearing down with vehement force upon the target.

The katana hit its mark... but to the surprise of the Drake, no mark was made to the Alliance's banner.

"This is gonna be a lit tougher than I thought," Drake grumbled to himself.

It was then that Krug entered the stone archway of the castle entrance, his yellow eyes, glowing with the hate of Utgar himself, bore into Drake like the molten rock of Volcarren.

WILK: Drake's inside!

Finally....we can put this baby to rest and walk away with the victory! But Hex's dice luck is not so good on his attack, and the alliance is starting to regroup.

I started to push my DW8K up to support drake, and maybe help draw some fire, but the alliance wasn't falling for it, and started to concentrate on drake. And the way boom started rolling those valkrie symbols for Lag's autoload, it seemed that things were far from over, and what about krug?

DW8K and Drake are going to need some more ground support...the rats are doing there part, snagging the +2 defense and the +1 attack. Now time to move in.....THE MINIONS!!!

* * * *

So far we’ve seen one of the greatest comebacks in Scape history watching Winged and Metal Death rally back from some devastating losses early. By the end of round two, they were already down 350 points out of 1000, while barely denting The Alliance Forces.

Now they have Reavers positioned through out the battlefield, controlling or advancing on all glyph positions. Furthermore Drake has already reached his objective and The Alliance is scrambling to defend their flag.

The following takes place between
ROUND SIX and ROUND NINE

ROUND SIX
Right off the bat, Drake continues his attack.
Six Attack Dice is not enough.

WMD counters with Krug.
Two attack dice with Double Attack.
Not even close.

Laglor AutoLoad after AutoLoad.
Nothing.

Wilkerson74 Capitalizes and moves his Minions forward and takes the +2 Defence glyph.
Now WMD controls all 4 glyphs.

+2 Move
+4 Range
+2 Defense &
+1 Attack

And a commanding offensive position!!!

Drake presses the attack…
Six Attack Dice…
Is still not enough.

On and On the battle rages.
The Alliance unable to destroy Drake.
WMD unable to destroy the flag.

Auto Load…
Auto Load…
Auto Load…
Auto Load…

Drake has Left the Building!!!


Hextr1p is the first Player Casualty of the Game. He has been accosted by The Alliance since the first round and still managed to sway the game in big ways. The seemingly endless stand of Q9. The heroics of Drake… Taking down the Charos, cutting down all in his path, reaching The Alliance Flag causing all kinds of chaos in the process. He definitely put his teammate, Wilkerson74, in a good spot to finish the job they started together.

Can Wilkerson’s Super Buff Forces withstand the combined attacks of the Remaining Alliance Forces???

Let’s take a look at the Increased Stats for Wilkerson74’s units:

DW8000
Move: 7
Range: 11
Attack: 4 (Plus Rapid Fire)
Defense: 10

Minions of Utgar
Move: 6 (Flying)
Range: 1
Attack: 3 (Deadly)
Defense: 8

Deathreavers
Move: 8 (Plus Scatter)
Range: 1
Attack: 2
Defense: 6


While The Alliance has:

Laglor – with one life remaining
Move: 5
Range: 7
Attack: 3 (With Auto Load)
Defense: 3

Krug – No wounds
Move: 6 (Dwarf Movement Bonus)
Range: 1
Attack: 2
Defense: 3

Kelda – No wounds
Move: 6 (Flying)
Range: 1
Attack: 2
Defense: 3

It’s easy to see that with Krug lacking in the wound department, The Alliance has very little hope of cracking that high defense WMD Defense. But Wilkerson needs to get past an unwounded Krug and a team with a healer.

Enter:

ROUND SEVEN

Boom eagerly tips his first order marker on his last round pick Kelda, who is eager to pay for her points and heal her team in need Laglor. It’s nice to see the Merciful Kyrie get some play especially in big games like this with big players like Krug and Laglor. Even though she couldn’t help out the Kings, she can still make a big difference here in the late game.

Boom winds up for the d20 roll…

The Curse Strikes Again!!!


5%!!! That’s the margin for a death roll!!! Anything other number would have helped The Alliance, but the 5% roll of 1 strikes deep!!! Could this be the timely arrival of the boom curse!!! You gotta admit, this couldn’t have come at a worse time for The Alliance. Laglor was the only figure they who could stop the Reavers from Scattering and the only figure who had range to challenge DW8000.

Now with only 2 figures left, we witness,

The Last Stand of The Alliance


ROUND EIGHT

With only Krug standing in his way, Wilkerson brings in his heavy hitter squad, the Minions who in a single turn could potentially inflict 12 wounds, more than enough to silence Krug.

Wilkerson positions Deathwalker 8000 on the +2 Defense glyph to allowing the Minions to combine their attacks on Krug while still having a boosted defense to withstand the counter attack.

The battle rages on for the better part of the round. The minions hit Krug at first for 4 wounds. Then, finally with some Wounded Smash help Krug eliminates the first Minion, but not the second. Again the Minion hits Krug for 4. Krug at maximum attack crushes the Minion, but the round is over, and he has only 1 life left.

Krug stares down Deathwalker 8000, for what may be the final deciding moment of the game.

The Final Showdown


ROUND NINE

Initiative roll………..
…………………..
……………..
………….
…….
…

The Alliance!!!

After a quick deliberation with his teammate boom, Oogie Da Bruce takes the Ace of Spaces, tips his first order marker on Krug, moves the Troll straight for Deathwalker 8000, picks up 9 attack dice and rolls…



Wilkerson74 picks up his 10 defense dice and rolls…



The whole crowd gasps and cheers as the Soulborg fends of the attack!!!

But wait… there is another attack.

If Wilkerson can hold, he will get a chance to finish off Krug only leaving Kelda.

Oogie Da Bruce gathers up the 9 dice again. Gives them a good shake and rolls…



Wilkerson74 picks up his 10 defense dice again, gives them a good shake and rolls…



Circuit Overload!!!


But all is not lost for WMD. Krug still has only 1 wound left and there are still a handful of Reavers ready to finish him off. But boom still has Kelda and it’s his turn.

5% chance of killing Krug
20% chance of removing one wound
60% chance of removing two wounds
15% chance of removing all wounds

It’s time to but the boom curse to the test.

The d20 roll….

Kelda's Redemption


Krug is back to full health. And WMD only has Reavers left.

Together Krug and Kelda clear out the Reavers outside the castle and from the Attack +1 glyph.

RoboSnacks


Krug moves in for cleanup duty.

Here's Kruggy!!!


At the end of Round Nine, Wilkerson74 with only a couple Reavers left, concedes the game. All the participants shake hands, smiles abound.

Team Castle Grudge: The Alliance of Kings


Everyone retires to the Bar...


Starting in the lower left corner and working our way around clockwise:
Wilkerson74, BIGJIM, hextr1p, Oogie_da_Bruce, boom (far right), and allskulls.

“Best Game Ever!!!”

* *

OOGIE: There was sooooo much craziness in this game. Each round was an epic battle for dominance.

As for the last rounds of the game...

Every time Drake swung that damn Katana, I cringed.
It was good to get him out of the game.

Going up 2 turns to Wilks 1, really gave us some breathing room, till boom... well, goes and pulls a boom.

Laglor was going to Auto Load at will, while Krug was free to pester the rest of Wilks forces, but the curse took care of that choice for us.

When Wilk finally decided to attack Krug, I was as full of mixed feelings at I could get. I was happy I would finally get some wounds and Krug could finnally bring the pain. But I was also worried that his low defense would get him killed. I was having Charos/Minion flashbacks.

But he made it!!! and at max power!!! But only one wound left!!!

The initiative roll was HUGE.
But then Wilk saves the first attack.
Oh Crap, this could be the game!
But the 5 skulls were big.
And he missed on the shields.

I was happy Kelda was coming over and figured the curse wouldn't hit twice... but you never know.

I definately wasn't expecting a full heal.

And to top it all off, almost ever time I was attacking the remaining Reavers I was rolling 2 skulls and Wilk was missing the shields.

This really could have been anybodys game. Both teams made some excellent rolls (and some bad ones). There was plenty of plans that got thrown out the window. Lots of good impromptu strategizing and team deliberations.

We pulled out all the tricks we knew for a game that went back and forth and back again. I can't thank Wilk and Hex enough for the game, nor can I thank boom enough for being a great teammate.

Till next time!!!



HEX: Yeah, that WAS an amazing recap! Wow... truly awesome of Oog to take the time and effort to do all this. So BIG thanks to him.

Yes, the AoK saw victory that day. However, when Laglor went down to Kelda's roll of 1, I was telling myself, "This game is OURS!" I mean, check the boosted stats, and Wilks remaining units would surely best Krug and Kelda the merciful! How could we lose?! I should also apologize again to boom for laughing as much as I did when he rolled the 1. It was more a laugh of disbelief, than anything. But I thought it came off more harsh than it was intended. So apologies to boom, again, for that. Bad sportsmanship on my part.

But lose we did. This was still the best game I've ever participated in.

Would I have done anything differently? Perhaps. However, hindsight is 20/20. All three of my units... well, except dang Braxas... did what they needed to do given the circumstances presented them. Had my dice rolls been more on, we may have pulled this one out despite the early onslaught which befell us. But had the 'what ifs' and 'could haves' been true, the game may not have been as enjoyable. This was a beautiful loss, if ever there was one.

It also must be noted that after this three hour session, I got a painful headache. The stress of the game situations, coupled by the fact that the inside of the gamestore was about 145 degrees! So I wandered around and watched others play to allow my headache time to subside. Yeah... I'm a wuss.

Respect to the AoK for this victory, as well as their participation in this game. Always a pleasure to hang with the SoCal crew, and this session surely will go down as one of the greatest battles of all time... in California... or Los Angeles... or at least in the game shop we played.

Big thanks for everyone who read through this recap!



BOOM: Man, Oogie and I were on life support after Kelda pulled the 'ol "I'll just use this suture needle to stitch you up, Lags, and oooopps...... *suture needle through the jugular*." (No worries hex, my own mother would be laughing at me after that roll. No one ever questions your sportsmanship.) Prior to that, Lagolar was rockin', rolling quite a few 2 skulls + 1 Vydar symbol combos on his three attack dice. Nailed Drake, and a couple of rats. Oogie and I made a team decision to use barely-clinging-to-life Krug on the charge at the Deathwalker, but with no guts no glory being our late motto, we were rewarded handsomely with the big knock-out.

We also made a team decision to try to heal Krug and Oogie showed a lot of fortitude in allowing this . Kelda really redeemed herself and showed all ER personnel how the stitch work is done. Kelda was on such a high that she defended the +1 attack glyph and killed a rat to boot!

I know you've all heard it before, but this was the most awesome game I've been involved in to date. The ebb and flow of the conflict was dramatic to the very end. My hats off to hex and Wilk for playing a masterful game, full of good decisions and sportsmanship. Oogie and I savored our round, but more importantly, the fellowship amongst all gamers present that day. The debried was also most excellent, but why is someone missing from the photo?

WILK: So close to victory, yet Oog and Boom worked well together to hold it down on their end to walk away with a Win

My last ditch effort to get rid of krug came up short. I knew eventually I would have to engage my minions with krug, and with the defense and attack glyph in my possession, I thought the odds where on my side. I attacked...1 skull....attackd again...1 skull...why couldn't I get 3 skulls like earlier!! even 2 hits with the minions would have been enough....then they would have flown over to have their way with kelda...

After Krug dispatched of my minions, he turned to eyeball my DW8K. If I can get the initiative here, I can move 2 rats up to block krug from moving towards my DW, but thats all I need to move my DW back and up and then fire.

No!! Initiative goes to the Alliance! ...and the rest...as they say...is history.

Hats off to ODB and Boom who for throwing out the initial challenge and giving us a great game!

Hats off to hex for being a great teammate, sticking around for the end of the game and offering tips and suggestions during the final phase of the game, and for putting up with my endless prattle on the way back up (3 hrs of drunking babble).

Till we meet again so calers

THE END!