Thursday, 30 January 2025

The second game in my Petaudia week of Dragon Rampant games involved the Orelians under the Baron of Cairbar chopping down trees in the Odhaernir Forest for fuel and construction purposes, actions which brought the elves down upon them in an attempt to drive them away. The game had woodcutters scattered around clearings, Orelians units deployed to protect them, the elves entering from off table, and two forest creatures to disrupt matters. In the end, victory went to the elves as I played them in a much more sensible way - keep to the rough terrain and over of the woods and pick off the humans with deadly archery before rushing in to finish them off. Also the elves had more success winning the dice rolls to control the forest creatures. The elves did not manage to kill or capture many woodcutters, but they did drive them off and cause a lot of losses to the Baron's men. Honours now even!

The table (four feet by three feet again) set up with the woodcutters busy chopping down trees.
One of the forest creatures - a giant lizard, a very old Grenadier model I think.
The elven host ready for action on their new round bases.
The Orelian host ready to be placed to defend the woodcutters.
"I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..."


The Baron's Household Longbow unit - all Essex Miniatures -
they have the Sharpshooters ability under the rules.
The goblin mercenaries.
Orelian Spears. Blue and white is the national colour for Orelia, each of my Petaudia countries having a particular heraldic colour combination.
Orelian Levy Longbows.
Here come the Wild Fungi. I give them a Spore Weapon which they can use to stroke from a distance.
Levy Longbows to the rescue.
Here come the elves. I counted the ponds as shallow, so they were rough terrain for movement. But all the elves had the rough terrain bonus, so it did not hold them up at all!
The lizard takes on the spearmen.
And gets repulsed. The elves are moving into position for a crossfire of archery.
The Orelians trying to get organised against the various threats - lizard, fungi and elves.
The Orelians have lost a spear unit to elven archery.
The lizard takes on the Household Longbows.
The goblin mercenaries attack the Elf Rangers.
The woodcutters have abandoned one clearing and the Orelians have fallen back to the other one as the elves advance into the centre of the table and send a force around to their right to try and cut off the Baron's line of retreat.
The Elf Rangers in action against the lizard. The elf figures are so old I have no memory of their manufacturer. I think I bought them in the 1970s? And they are not actually elves, but humans, but they are all wearing hoods and cloaks to I use them as elves.
The lizard is driven off easily and heads for the safety of the forest.
The Elf Ranger commander.
Things not looking too good for the Baron, as his men are engaged in front by archery and he is slowly outflanked by other elves. He has got away most of his woodcutters to safety though.
Everything going wrong for the Baron now as his last archery unit breaks and runs and the goblin mercenaries fall back, unenthusiastic about fighting it out with the elves on their home ground.
The last Orelian spear unit breaks and runs and the Baron's force is defeated, the elves barely suffering any losses. And the Wild Fungi? They suffered a Battered result on their morale test about half way through the game and never managed to rally, retreating off the board.

Here are the rules/background for this game:

Scenario No. 2: The Woodcutters’ Clearings.

Bevorod, Baron of Cairbar, has sent woodcutters into the Odhaerir Forest to chop down the trees for firewood and to clear ground for settlers. Aware that the elves will try to prevent this destruction, he has posted himself with troops to protect the woodcutters. The elven princess, Elendrin, who rules the Odhaernir, has been warned by her scouts and eagles that the forest is in danger. She sends a force under the command of Geraynddrin, another brother, to drive the Orelians out and slay the wicked humans who trouble her lands.

The humans are already in position in an area of the forest where the woodcutters are at work. Irregular swathes of cleared, though interconnected, ground should be bordered by large clumps of trees, rocks, ponds, covering the table to its edges. The elves will attack from through the woods, hoping to surprise the humans.

The elves must drive off the woodcutters and defeat the latter’s defending troops. The Baron and his force must prevent the woodcutters being slain and defeat the elves.

A side is defeated if only two units remain or its command unit has been lost at the end of a turn.

The woodcutters are placed at random along the edges of the trees, busy at work. The Baron’s units are positioned at least 9” apart (centre to centre) in the cleared areas. The woodcutters remain in position until they are directly attacked or see an approaching threat.

Any woodcutter contacted base-to-base by an eleven unit is removed from the table as lost. The elves cannot shoot at the woodcutters, they have to move into contact them with them (they do not need to make an Attack activation, a normal Move activation is sufficient). If an elven unit is seen by a woodcutter in time, they will run away (8” speed) directly towards the nearest friendly unit and then head for the south exit from the forest, continuing to move until they leave the table.

The elves enter from the north-west corner of the table, concealed by the trees. The elves count as the attacker in the scenario for every turn.

In addition, the activities of the woodcutters and the sound of fighting have disturbed a forest lizard and a small tribe of wild fungi. Place the forest lizard at the south-west corner of the table, the wild fungi at the north-east corner, within the trees. Each side rolls 1d6 at the start of a turn for the two groups of creatures; highest score controls them, as long as they are within 18” of their command base at the beginning of the turn. They can be directed to attack any opposing unit. Therefore, it is possible for each side to control one of the creatures during a turn. The forest lizards and wild fungi will fight to the death. However, they cannot be ordered to attack each other. The woodcutters react to the forest lizards and wild fungi in the same way as they would to an elven unit.

Cairbar Force

Baron        RMU [2]        Elite Foot        6 Points        x1

Household Longbows        12 x figures        Light Missiles        6 Points        x1

Levy Longbows        12 x figures        Light Missiles        4 Points        x1

Spears        12 x figures        Heavy Foot        4 Points        x2

Goblin Swords        12 x figures        Light Foot (Merc.)        3+1 Points        x1

(Mercenary units cost 1 point extra, being trained and ready to fight) 

Odhaernir Force

Elf Ranger Lord        SMU [1]        Elite Foot        9 Points        x1

Elf Ranger Longbows        RMU [8]        Light Missiles        4 Points        x1

Elf Guard Longbows        RMU [8]        Light Missiles        5 Points        x1

Elf Longbows        12 x figures        Light Missiles        5 Points        x1

Elf Band        12 x figures        Light Foot        5 Points         x1

Forest Creatures

Forest Lizard        Special SMU [1]        Greater Warbeast        8 Points        x1

Wild Fungi        Special RMU [2]        Lesser Warbeast        6 Points        x1

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