Mission 2 Scenario 1: Crossing the Ethel

Got my third game of Rangers in. My wargaming has been at an all time high now that I can game on my own. 

After returning from the foray into the Osterwald, Valerian was quickly given a new assignment. Orcs had been penetrating from beyond the Ethel River into Alladore. Reports suggest that the Orcs have secured the Ostmark crossing and the Tower of Tor Varden. Valerian was given the task of scouting the area, and if possible to retake the ancient Tower. 

Quintus Falco was sent ahead to scout the terrain and observe the Orc position. The Orcs did not seem to know of the Rangers presence. The Rangers moved forward cautiously and split up.

 The filthy Orcs, were busy running a muck and scuttling about their camp. 

Valerian, Luke, and Rogvaldas moved up the Eastern flank slowly, as an Orc sentinel was near. 

On the western flank, the wily Varus sprinted forward to cover while Cornelius Gaius and Quintus advanced along the rocks. 

Valerian decided to take his group and spring into action. They quickly felled the scout without raising any awareness

The Orcs continued to move about chaoticly in their camp

As Valerian and crew dispatched the first Orc sentinel, they had been spotted by an Orc Scout to their rear. The Orcs raised the alarm and the scout took aim and missed

Cornelius and Gaius charged an unsuspecting Orc Scout. 

Valerian, Rogvaldas, and the hound moved into dispatch the scout.

Cornelius was badly wounded in the fray....but the western party pressed on.

The Orcs in the camp had caught site of Valerian from across the bridge charged forward.

Two orcs stayed behind to guard the camp.

The Orc Chieftain however, was eager for blood.

Two Orcs approached from the crossing and charged wildly at Luke

Valerian and Rogvaldas formed up to meet the Orcs with steel.

After dispatching the Orc scout, Varus and Gaius made way to Valerian

The first Orc was killed but the second came seconds later, and seconds later he was killed

As the group killed the second Orc the chieftain closed in 

Gaius came to bolster the line, and the Chieftain was felled

The group advanced and were ambushed by a sneaky Orc.

A soldier scout from a nearby garrison had come to the crossing alone... but his presence was welcomed by an Orc archer taking aim and missing.

The Soldier charged the archer, and Varus and Quintus rushed to his aid.

Valerian got to the bridge and was met by an Orc 

Raven scouts from the shadow deep had arrived to the rear of the ranging party. The Ravens were too late as the rangers had already established a strong footing on the Northern bank of the river.

The Ravens dispersed as they would not be able to get to Tor Varden Tower in time to warn the Orc Occupation

With the Ostmark Crossing secured, the Ranging party advanced to the ancient watchtower of Tor Varden.

Mission 1: Scenario 2, the infected woods

Back at it with Rangers of shadow deep. I have to say, I was underwhelmed by this scenario. But that might be due to the fact that my spiders spawned at one web cocoon and one nest tree. And as always in ROSD, lucky dice rolling helps.

The Ranging Groups starting positions. And towards the top the first two spiders.

Spiders in the distance...

Rogvald, Valerian, and Lukian charge forward with reckless abandon. The spiders instantly charge forward in response

Rogvald, Valerian and Lukian get locked into combat with two spiders

Quintus takes aim at the faraway spiders, and misses. Useless ranged weapons

Varus and Cornelius move up the left flank and search a cocoon. A villager was found within, kidnaped by the spider for god knows how long. Varus found himself tangled in webs for five turns.

Rogvald begins the exterminating but also gets poisoned in the process, and Lukian continues the slaughter.

Gaius searches a web cocoon and finds yet another kidnapped villager. A spider quickly moves in to attack the villager. By some miracle the villager felled the spider in one thrust of his pitchfork. 

Quintus searches a webcocoon, and finds a surprise within. ZOMBIE. 

As Cornelius made his merry way through the woods, he rescued another villager and then came upon a nest tree. He promptly set the tree ablaze.

Valerian searched the final web cocoon and found....another hapless villager.

Another spider emerged from an unsuspected nest, but was quickly swarmed by all those nearby. If only spider meet tasted good.

A spider returning from the forest to its nest emerged behind the ranging party.

The rest of the party and villagers gathered together in the forest clearing. Safety in numbers.

Valerian easily dismantled the wandering spider.

At this point, all trees were burned for several turns, so I was simply turning an event card over each turn to speed up the game. 

Rangers of Shadow Deep Mission 1: Scenario 1

For those of you unaware, Rangers of shadow deep is a single player or co-operative wargame created by the creator of Frostgrave. It came out last week, and is getting a good bit of buzz. It largely uses the same mechanics as frostgrave.

I am playing single player, which gives me a maximum of seven companions to recruit. For those curious, two player has a maximum of 3 companions total in addition to the two rangers. 

The back story for Rangers of Shadow deep is a lovely framework that provides enough structure for a back story while at the same time creates an open ended story left to a players imagination to fill. Those familiar with Frostgrave will likely understand what I mean.

The story has something to do with the expansion of the shadow deep, a realm of evil and darkness. The shadow deep's expansion comes from the East and is heading West, engulfing all kingdoms and principalities in its way. The Kingdom of Alladore now finds itself on the fringe of the expanding shadow deep. 

I am going for a Late Roman/Dark age flavor to my Rangers of Shadow Deep. When the Late Roman era and fantasy combine I instantly think Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings. For those not familiar with that reading of Tolkien, I suggest a full plunge into that research as it really is a fitting and marvelous lens for his work. 

In MY lore, Alladore is a Kingdom that sprung out from the disintegration of the Aquillan Empire. Alladore sits on the former Northeastern border of the Aquillan Empire. It was an area of the Empire that saw constant war, with invasions of Northmen, Eastern Horse Tribes, and Orcs. 

My ranger, Valerian,  is a light armored fighter with sword and shield. I recruited a templar Rogvaldas, but he is more armored barbarian than religious knight; I recruited a tracker, Quintus Falco; a Rogue named Varus; an Arkanist named Cornelius Zenophon; a Man at arms named Gaius Severus; and most importantly the warhound Lukian.

Meet the Ranging party, left to right: Valerian the Ranger, Lukian the warhound, Rogvaldas the Northmen templar, Quintus Falco the tracker, Varus the rogue, Gaius Severus man at arms, and Cornelius Zenophon the Arkanist.

The Rangers had been hearing whispers about the expanding shadow deep for some months. In the past weeks, refugees had begun crossing into the borders of Alladore. As more and more refugees came, it became increasingly clear that the borders and frontier's of Alladore needed immediate attention. 

Valerian and his ranging party have made their way to the Osterwald region so they can begin to assess the looming shadow. 

Here is the starting points of the party and enemies

The zombies are headed full speed ahead towards the party

Here they come!

Tracker Quintus Falco steadies his aim and looses an arrow straight into the head of the zombie dropping the fell beast in its tracks.

The noble warhound Lukian makes way to a clue after exterminating two rats along with Rogvaldas. The hound finds a body but is unable to interpret the marks left on the corpse. Rogvaldas brings the fight to the nearest zombie.

Quintus Falco tracks down a clue and finds the body of aventine and uncovers aventine's worthy blade.

Varus makes way to a building with a clue. The clue turns out to be a formidable zombie. The Zombie attacks Varus and leaves him with one shred of health.

Valerian charges the backside of a zombie cleaving it with one masterful stroke.

Meanwhile, Cornelius Zenophon makes way to a building and breaks open the door. Inside he found a clue that turned out to be a handy potion.

As the evening progressed, Varus retreated to the middle of the village, and the eastern portion of the village square became heavy with combat. Quintus gets mauled by a zombie and leaves him with three health. 

As the night began to wane, two zombies fled the scene as the early rays of the morning sun began. 

The ranging party had protected the village and survived the night. It was not an easy evening as Varus and Cornelius were left with one health and Quintus had three health left. All Clues were picked up, but tracks were never found and the origination of the bites on the corpse were not deciphered.