Halloween 2014 - Skirmish Games


I have been playing several skirmish scale games this year with my 8 year old son with a Halloween narrative.  This is a continuation of past games from the "The Saga of King Mason" as series of games I started with him back in 2010.  As with all things, they narrative and games are worth far more sentimental value to the father than the son...
Year 1

Later that summer

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Any excuse to use this photo..



I opted to scale up the figures this year, while scaling down the battles.  The story begins with an orc raid on a an unsuspecting Northerner village.  (Occupied by my BTD villagers and defended by my Saga viking forces.)
The battlefield had two primary objectives:  Protect the villagers and save the supply wagon.  I set up the game to be a rather desperate affair, with the badly outnumbered defenders receiving reinforcements every turn against the ever increasing Orc onslaught.


In the end the Orcs were badly decimated, but they managed to make it off the table with the supply wagon and four defenseless villagers.
The orcs sweep in from the woods, stealing and Ox

Most of the fight would take place across the walls.


The Raiders from the Southwest were not anticipated.

Things are getting desperate at the wall.

Timey Intervention from the reserves turns the tide.

Then they must rush to the Southern gate.

A few surviving orcs conduct a fighting retreat with their captives in tow.

This led to game two.  I gave my son the option of setting up an ambush for the Orcs or sending a cavalry force to chase them down.  He went with the ambush option.

For this game we had an Orc Caravan attempting to cross the river at the only available crossing.  The attacker chose to place three stalwart heros across the gap and then sprinkle the trees with Archers and Crossbowmen. The result was the utter destruction of the Orcish hordes.

The guards run to the front of the column as the ambush is sprung.

Three Champions of the Realm bar the way

The Orcs charge, and a mass melee ensues

Orc reinforcements rush forward as the archers pick them off one by one.

The champions take to resting in turn before diving back into the fight.

The last of the Orcs fall.

Game three resulted from the next decision point:  Do you want to send forces to intercept more caravans, reinforce the villages or seek out the Orc strongholds?

The result is this scouting game.  A force of outriders led by a hero and his trusty animal companion set out to seek through the woods.  I used a mix of blinds and some narrative to set up the story.  He divided his force into three groups and went looking.
The hero and his hound face off against an Earth titan.

..which had just wiped out one of his patrols.

The restless dead erupt from the broken ground.  What lies beneath?


After being nearly wiped out (maybe a lesson about spreading out so far they can't support one another?), the hero made a startling discover:  The dead were rising once again in the North.  He had choice again:  Delve underground to find the source, or prepare their defenses for another invasion of orcs and Skeletons...

Comments

  1. Love the pics from previous events, and nice use of a branching tree, scenario driven narrative!

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  2. Great stuff! Mason is growing up in front of our eyes. Hope he is not embarrassed by this attention later...

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    Replies
    1. I am his father and have the god given right to embarrass him from now until senior prom!

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