Heroes & Villains of the Shire

 Ready for Battle

Prep continues for the next battle 'The Ruffians Arrive'  with both sides are using Influence points to bolster their forces with some extra heroes. With Pete finished, I have enough ruffians done and attention turns to the hobbits. 

Pip & Farmer Maggot scout the area. 

Bill's Henchmen

Pip will have to do a bit of double duty as I don't have many hobbits minis at the moment. 

Rob

A Little Late Night Shopping

 Game 3 - Hog Rustling 

Background

When Paladin Took* heard about a band of ruffians who had stolen the prize truffle pigs of Martha Harthbroom (second cousin twice removed), he considered his duty as a foremost hobbit amongst hobbits to rescue the pigs. So, he called together a band of brave hobbits and waited until dark.

The hobbits are attempting to recover the pigs without the ruffians noticing.

*And I had just finished repainting him and wanted give him an outing. 

Forces

The hobbits are led by Paladin Took, there are four hobbit militia and one archer. Plus local hero Pip Proudfoot (the hobbit with green waistcoat). 

There six ruffians with two armed with a bow. Lead by a Bully - One Eyed Ned (in the centre). 

Both sides used two influence points to bring an extra minor hero.  

Hobbits Deployment

The hobbits placed along the southern table edge.

Ruffians Deployment

Three ruffians are placed on sentry duty (using the sentry rules) at the beginning of the scenario with the other three in the guard hut. The ruffian bully will turn up after the alarm has been raised on a roll of 5+.

Pigs

The pigs have a move of 4” and are moved by the player with priority. Unless there is a mini with 1” of the pig in which case take a courage test, if passed then the pig can be moved 2” in the direction of the controlling player. Otherwise the player with priority moves them. Neither side may harm the pigs. 

In the Dark of the Night

It is a dark night, so hobbits hit on a 5+ and ruffians hit on 6 for ranged attacks. And the maximum range for bows is 10”.

Victory

The hobbits win if they get two or more pigs off the northern table edge. It is a draw if only one pig taken off the northern table edge.

The Game

The first few turns started with the ruffian sentries moving forwards and backwards as they gained and lost priority. Until eventually the hobbits made it to the pig pen and one of guards spotted the hobbits.

After collecting two pigs, Paladin decided the time was right and used his point of might to call a heroic move to try and get clear of the ruffians after losing priority. The ruffians then came off worse in the next couple of combats and lost several of their number.

One Eyed Ned appeared on the first available turn on the northern table edge and charged straight for the hobbits. 

But there were now not enough ruffians to gang up on the hobbits and despite the pigs wandering off. The hobbits were able to gang up on the few remaining ruffians. And even One-eyed Ned was taken down but not before one ruffian archer** managed to kill three hobbits in spite of being surrounded. 

**The one in light tan top, the other archer fled the battle at the first opportunity. 

After the battle, the hobbits made off with all three pigs. The ruffian archer who killed three hobbits in melee was promoted to a bully and named strong armed Pete. And one-eyed Ned made a full recovery but had to use an influence point to recover his point of Fate. Paladin managed to get the 5+, so recovered his point of Might for free. None of the characters had gained enough experience to roll on the experience table. 

I decided to make a new mini represent Strong Armed Pete instead of repainting the original mini. Since Pete  killed three hobbits in melee I choose to have him in a fighting pose rather than shooting. I used the Frostgrave Pirates sprue that I bought for this specific purpose. 

Rob 

Ruffians Beware

 Game 2 - Farmer Maggots Farm

So, this scenario is played exactly as described in the Sourcebook. Where a group of ruffians attempt to cross Farmer Maggots farm on a dark and stormy night. The farm is guarded by Farmer Maggot's three hounds and eventually Farmer Maggot is roused himself by the sound of their barking. 

Farmer Maggot & his three hounds - Grip, Fang & wolf

A band of desperate ruffians

At first the ruffians pass unseen across the scrub land  and several good priority rolls meant that the hounds were sent further away. The hounds are in sentry mode until they spot a ruffian. 

But their luck couldn't last for  ever and they were eventually spotted by one of the hounds. The hounds do cause fear during this scenario because the ruffians are already on edge. But as the hounds did most of the charging because as they managed to get priority when in charge range. So, this didn't effect the outcome much. 

The ruffians abandon their comrade and flee the scene!

But Farmer Maggot is waiting...

And he makes short work of any ruffian he encounters. Farmer Maggot's additional  attack between the first and second addition of the rules makes a big difference. As, in most of the combats he was rolling one more attack dice than his opponent. 

Only one ruffian escapes, clearly glad of his lucky escape. 

After the battle, five ruffians are slain (four by Maggot) and all of the hounds. This gives farmer Maggot enough experience to roll on the experience table and gains Blade Master which enables him to reroll a dice in combat. All three hounds survive although one is injured and will miss the next battle. 

Again, I kept all the influence points for future games. 

Rob 

Skirmish in Bree - Refought

 Game 1 - Bill Had a Good Day

I played the scenario using the updated rules from my previous play through (three minis are held in reserve on both sides and two of the villagers gain a bow). The ruffians were definitely luckier getting their reserves with all three arriving before any of the reserve villagers showed up. One reserve turned up  on a roll of a 5+ each turn after the first turn. 

The Prancing Pony Regulars

Bill's Ruffians

Both sides advanced, and the villagers had the best of the play in the first turn of battle with one ruffian shot and two ruffians taken down in melee. With no losses in return. All of a sudden, the ruffians were under pressure. This was a disastrous turn for the ruffians. 

The early arrival of the three ruffian reinforcements then really started to tip the game in the ruffians' favour. 

The ruffians with the aid of their reinforcements managed to whittle down the villagers but the Betty the barmaid proved to a be formidable opponent, taking down two ruffians including one burly brute with a whip. 

The remaining villagers all passed their break test, and one of the hobbit caused a wound on Bill but he saved it with his Fate point. After that it was just mopping up. 

So, Bill had a great first match, taking down three villagers and winning the scenario. So, he got five experience points and gained a point of Courage on the experience table. He also had to use his point of Fate to avoid a wound, but this was also recovered after the battle by getting a 5+*. Neither side managed to promote any warriors. 

*Might, Will or Fate points are recovered after the battle by rolling a 5+ for each point or using an Influence point.  

I decided to keep all of the Influence points for the moment. 

Rob 

Time for an Upgrade

 Playing With New Stuff

I recently bought a light box studio (from Green Stuff World - during the sale) to see if I could improve the pictures usually I take of my minis. Now, these are still taken with a trusty iPhone 11. I have had a bit of play with the settings and overall I am pleased with the results.  

The only real issue, that it is quite large and I haven't quite got enough space to leave it setup when not in use. 

Work continues on preparation on the Scouring of Shire campaign, with some 'new' hobbits. Just looked them up and the moulds are now twenty years old!

Friday is beer night and something I got given over Christmas. 

Rob