The residents of the small village of Middensbury had all heard the rumours. A vile and depraved band of Chaos worshipers had been slaughtering their way through neighbouring settlements. Middensbury would surely be next, and what chance would they stand?
Hope arrived in the form of a bounty hunter known as Red Kate. She too had heard the rumours, and was keen to profit from them. The leader of this band of fiends’ head would fetch a fine price from the local Duke, and she intended to deliver it.
Red Kate was backed up by two of her own comrades. Greybeards, well past their prime, but with long years of experience in the field. This rallied the villagers, and soon they had assembled a sizeable force. Confidence began to grow, and when a young boy returned, breathless, to tell them he’d spotted the enemy, a grim determination swept over this makeshift militia.
Confidence and determination turned to fear for much of the villagers when they finally caught a glimpse of their foe. From cruel and lethal goblins, to warped mutants and hulking Chaos Warriors, they began to realise the odds that were stacked against them. Yes, they had the numbers. But could they really defeat these monsters? And if so, at what cost?
This is the first battle in my Song of Chaos & Vengeance campaign, using the Song of Blades & Heroes system. Playing solo, I’ve not yet nailed down any one way to optimise this, so I’ll be testing and tweaking as I go. For this battle, I aimed to simply do my best with both sides. This means there would be no real surprises or randomness in any of the movement or tactics (something I’ll look to introduce in the next game).
My activation strategy would generally be to opt for the best ‘Quality’ characters first when attacking, and aiming to deal with the most imminent danger whilst defending.
The early part of the battle saw Tebaud the Butcher and his deputy Mallüs Bloodaxe getting stuck right into the Middensbury vanguard. To be fair to Red Kate and co, they held well for several turns. There was a lot of jostling, parrying, and dodging, and it looked like the forces of Chaos might not have it all their own way after all.
Then, disaster struck for the villagers as Tebaud dispatched of one of Kate’s veterans. His body had barely hit the ground before the bounty hunter herself was brutally slain by Mallüs Bloodaxe. Even though the Chaos Warrior was outnumbered, his 6 roll to her 1 ensured that she wouldn’t be collecting any gold this day. Or, on any other for that matter.
With only one mercenary warrior remaining, it seemed like the two Chaos Warriors would now be free to cleave a bloody path through the rest of the villagers. That wasn’t to be. A humble blacksmith by the name of Thorburn had seen enough of this needless butchery, and he intended to put a stop to it.
The old metalworker charged Tebaud, smashing his giant hammer into the Chaos Champion’s helm. This blow was enough to knock Tebaud over, but a re-roll via his Hero perk meant he somehow stayed on his feet. Tavern landlord Portly Alf, inspired by his friends bravery, charged as they doubled up on Tebaud. Unfortunately, the pair couldn’t make their advantage count, and the overweight swordsman became the next villager to decorate the floor with his guts.
Enraged, Thorburn again launched himself at the Chaos Champion. Incredibly, he bested him for a second time. The Dark Gods were clearly smiling on Tebaud this day though, who was saved by his Heavy Armour perk. Would the blacksmith get another chance?
Amos the Executioner tried to take advantage of Thorburn’s heroism by attacking Tebaud. He was no match for the big champion though, and was only saved by the blacksmith fighting at his side, which meant a -1 deduction to Tebaud’s combat rating. His luck didn’t hold out much longer though, he was knocked over and murdered without another thought. The Butcher, armour coated in blood, turned his eyes back to that pesky blacksmith…
On the other side of the battlefield, Jakub Daemonhands arrived in a furious frenzy of whirling limbs and blades. He’d grown tired of watching those armoured idiots huffing and puffing against a bunch of peasants. It was time to show them how the real work was done.
The mutant’s first “opponent” came in the form of Middensbury’s favourite down-and-out, Drunken Dudley. Dudley was oblivious to the attack and had interpreted the afternoon’s events as some sort of street celebration. He was promptly dispatched and sent off to that big tavern in the sky, where his landlord was already setting a jug on the table for him. Rest in Peace, Dudley.
Back down at the box-office event, Thorburn the blacksmith lands a power blow on Tebaud the Butcher. This time, he’s a mere 1 point away from killing the Chaos Champion. Sadly, it was to be his last act of heroism, and the beginning of the end for the Middensbury defence. The Butcher replied with a power blow of his own, and this time, he trebles his score for a gruesome kill.
It’s morale checks all round for the horrified villagers who witnessed this brutal slaughter, many of them scattering towards the edge of the table, their spirits broken.
One defender who wasn’t turning tail to run was Old Nicholas the mercenary swordsman. A former army man, he’d fought in more battles than he cared to remember. If this was to be his last, he’d make sure he died on the front foot. Perhaps he’d even take one of these loathsome creatures with him?
And he nearly did, too. Knocking Mallüs Bloodaxe right onto his arse, laughing and taunting the bested Chaos Warrior who scrambled to regain his feet, as well as his pride.
Unfortunately, the villagers who could’ve provided some much-needed backup to Old Nic had already fled, running for their lives after the brutal killing of Thorburn the blacksmith. Isolated and alone, Nicholas smiled grimly to himself as Bloodaxe charged, roaring to some black-hearted God. There were no more heroics for the veteran swordsman who suffered the second gruesome kill of the afternoon.
This prompted more morale checks all round, as the dead now outnumbered the living on the Middensbury side. Tebaud’s warband hadn’t even activated half of their forces, and victory was now within touching distance.
Any dying embers of fight were knocked out of the remaining survivors, who turned and fled for their lives. All except one. An old beggar, leaning heavily on a crutch and upon two wooden legs, rolled three 5s to pass his Morale test.
Perhaps this harmless-looking old man was once a great solder, who’d lost his legs fighting heroically in a long-ago war. He turned towards Jakub Daemonhands and advanced, holding out his begging bowl. The big mutant rolled his eyes at yet another idiot who’d mistaken this massacre for some sort of festivity. But as the beggar got close enough, he threw the contents of his cup into Jakub’s face, following it up with a blow from his crutch.
There was to be no blood spilt against Tebaud’s warband this day though. The attack was easily swatted aside, and the old man’s belly was opened by another of Jakub’s knives.
The massacre of Middensbury was emphatic. And it was over.
As the Dust Settles
And so it was the two Chaos Warriors, Mallüs Bloodaxe and Tebaud the Butcher, who were at the centre of the carnage in this battle. They spilled a lot of blood, but both were matched for a period of time by brave and determined opponents. On another day, one of them could’ve easily fallen to one of the many blows landed upon them.
Jakub Daemonhands was the only other member of the party who really saw any action. Khongor the shaman made his way over to witness the final few exchanges, but didn’t have any real part to play. The others were stuck in their deployment positions, poor quality activation rolls keeping them there for the duration of the battle.
Kills & Casualties
- Tebaud the Butcher – 4 kills
- Mallüs Bloodaxe – 2 kills
- Jakub Daemonhands – 2 kills
- Casualties – 0
As for their next battle, I’ll have more details on that pretty soon. In the meantime, be sure to read about this gruesome warband’s background and history in Song of Chaos & Vengeance.