Verrotwood Game 9 - How Winter kills

Introduction

A savage winter has descended upon the Verrotwood. Beast, man and things less easily categorised, struggle over the scraps in a desperate battle for survival.  When a flock of carrion birds is seen circling in the sky, the cultists of Wisentii and The Uncoiling of Beiysss set out to see if any sustenance can be gleaned from the forest. 

The last stragglers from a herd of wild cattle have become stuck in deep snow and scavenger birds have spotted them.  This has alerted not only the cultists: a pack of desperate wolves (Forest Beasts) and a bear (Greater Forest Beast) have also descended on the clearing.  The cultists will have to fight hard to take any prizes.

Set up

This game is played on a small board over four rounds.  The four stranded cattle are placed in the centre of  the board.  The cultists activate from opposite edges.  The wolves and the bear are placed on the side edges facing each other.  The wolves activate as a pack and each will perform the same actions.  For example, if one attacks a cultist all the wolves will attack the same cultist.  

All movement is reduced by 1/3rd due to the deep snow.  The swirling snow has also had a dramatic effect on visibility, with Ranged Weapons reduced to half range.  A cultist must be base-to-base with one of the cattle and perform a successful melee action to successfully harvest any meat.  Another action is then required to stow the meat.  

A Victory Point (VP) is awarded for: each successful act of butchery; each enemy cultist taken Out of Action; and each wolf taken Out of Action.  Two VPs are awarded if the bear is taken Out of Action.  The cult accumulating the most VPs at the end of the fourth round win 100 Favor and 1 Point of Power.  The losers gain 50 Favor.

Starting positions.

Round 1

Amidst the swirling snow the action begins.  Driven by hunger the bear pushes his way through the snow towards the stricken cattle.  Nadrew and Enirethec of The Uncoiling break cover and Run as much as the snow allows towards the beasts.  Breath of Wisentii moves forward and with the reduced visibility he just sees Enirethec.  He unleashes a shaft but it sails harmlessly passed his target.

Breath shoots, but misses.

SerpensLeachim steps up to support his fellow cultist and fires his crossbow at Breath.  His bolt strikes home and Breath takes a whopping 8 Dam, leaving him with just one point of Health.

For the remainder of the round the rest of the cultists converge on the cattle as do the wolves.

The Raven's view.

Round 2

Round 2 starting positions.

SerpensNadrew is the first cultist to reach the herd and he cuts into one of the poor beasts.  Horns of Wisentii mirrors Nadrew's actions and another one of the hapless beasts is bought under the knife.  The harvesting of the herd has begun.

The butchery commences.

SerpensLezal protecting Nadrew's flank fires at Shield, but the Wisentii deflects the bolt.  SerpensEnirethec is next to reach one of the herd and he begins to butcher.  

And the last of The Unoiling activates as SerpensLeachim takes aim at Breath again and unleashes another bolt.  Luckily the Wisentii archer ducks and is unscathed.  

Shield moves up and cuts into the last of the cattle.  All of the unfortunate ungulates are now being butchered.

All this butchery has sent the bear into a frenzy and he now charges at the nearest cultist.  The unlucky SerpensLezal is struck by the full force of the Greater Forest Beast and he is hit for 5 Dam.  

Lezal is charged by the bear.

Rage moves next to Horns to join in the meat harvest.

Breath is the last cultist to Activate and he fires at his old adversary SerpensLeachim. He must be shaken by his wounds however; as the usually deadly archer misses.

The Wolves are the last to activate and they tear into the nearest cultist which is Rage.  It's a terrible debut for the new Wisentii as she rolls a miserable  2 and all three Wolves succeed in their attacks.  She's pulled  down and Out of Action  having lasted only two rounds! 

The end for Rage.

Round 3

Round 3 starting positions.

The bear activates and seizing Lezal in her jaws, she inflicts a critical attack on him killing him instantly.  With one activation left, the Bear turns and attacks SerpensNadrew.  The veteran cultist manages to avoid the beast's claws but this has disrupted his harvesting of the cattle.

Leachim loads a bolt and once again fires at Breath.  This time his determination to finish the Wisentii archer pays off and Breath falls to the forest floor as the bolt strikes home.

Horns finishes off her task of butchery, stowing a large chunk of meat and then performs the Ritual of Berserk.  She Runs at Leachim and attacks him in melee.  Scoring a Critical hit, the 6 Dam scored leaves him with only 3 Health. 

Horns lays into Leachim.

Shield finishes carving up the cattle he had attacked and taking the lead from Hooves, also performs Berserk, pushing through the ruins of the herd to attack SerpensEnirethec.  He's not so successful and his attack is batted aside.  

The wolves activate and both Shield and Enirethec are equally close.  Rolling to see who they attack, Shield's luck deserts him and the ferocious canids pounce.  A critical attack gets through his defence and he's badly mauled.

Shield's in trouble with the wolves.

SerpensNadrew is last.  Quickly stowing the meat he has taken last round, he performs Drain Life on the bear to top up his own poor Health.  

Round 4

Round 4 starting positions.

SerpensNadrew successfully disengages from the bear and retreats away from the combat.  The veteran knows when to call it quits.  Unfortunately for him the beast isn't playing ball and pursues and attacks him.  Nadrew manages to dodge the frenzied ursine and he feels the claws sweep just past his head.  

Nadrew feels the bear's fury.

Enirethec moves to blindside Horns as she battles Leachim.  His attack fails as her defence is too strong for him.  It's bear time again and the beast presses on against Nadrew.  Once again though its attacks fail to hit home.  Shield disengages from the snapping wolves and moves away.  

Shields flees from the wolves.

Horns is next, but she fails her Disengage roll and suffers a wound in the process.  For her second action she decides to slug it out and attacks Leachim again.  Against all the odds (well 3 die against 1) his defence is too strong. 

Having lost sight of the retreating Shield, the Wolves turn on the nearest cultist who is Enirethec.  He manages to fend off two attacks but the third wolf bites down and he takes 5 Dam.  

A frantic melee occurs.

The final act is with Serpens Leachim.  He fires point blank at Horns.  Incredibly she somehow manages to defend against this and is unscathed.  

Having successfully driven the humans to disengage and withdraw from the cattle, the apex predators of the forest settle down to their feast.  

The beasts gorge.

Summary

Nature proved mightier than man in this encounter.  However, the cultists did achieve some objectives.  Totting up the Victory Points, Wisentii scored two for each of the cattle they successfully butchered.  The Uncoiling also gained two points; one for the cattle butchered and one for taking Breath of Wisentii Out of Action.  The Encounter therefore was a draw.  Feeling benevolent and as they didn’t earn much from Game 8, I awarded both cults 75 Favor and 1 Power. 

The after game sequence was quite uneventful.  Luckily for both the cults there were no deaths or further injuries for the three cultists that were Out of Action.  In the Into the Forest phase, the respective Cult’s members found a weapon that was taboo to their cult (a crossbow for Wisentii and a large blunted weapon for The Uncoiling), so I awarded them half the weapon’s cost in Favor.

The cults have now got some Favor to improve themselves with.  After nine encounters the position is Wisentii have 5 Power and The Uncoiling have 3.