Yet another pair of battle reports, this time with end of turn pictures! For those unfamiliar with the mission, a Fubarnii knight captain and 8 knights face off against a Sempa, 2 Jenta and 3 Grishak as both groups attempt to bag a relatively lonely wandering Delgon Priest with only 4 bodyguards.
Game 1 I was the Empire, game 2 I was the Devanu. Set up for both games (showcasing the illustrious lightbulb box terrain) -
Game 1 -
Turn 1. The knights raced towards the priest and his entourage, as opposite the Devanu also loped forwards. The Grishak went vaguely to the side, the sight of a bizarre box-like structure capturing their interest. The Priest, spying some Furbarnii to convert to the good cause of the Enarii, wandered towards the knights.
Turn 2. Seeing a chance to pen in the Priest, the Knights encircled him as the bodyguards. The Devanu, mildly vexed, moved as close as they could without the Sempa tiring herself. The priest, suddenly confronted by a ring of aggressive enuks, stood his ground, mildly bemused as the sudden prospect of a sermon faded in to improbability.
Turn 3. The Grishak leapt forwards to savage the Knights, bouncing off 2 of them yet dragging the third down. With a burst of energy they then dragged down another before the startled knights could react. The Sempa raced in to slam a knight to the ground, and to her surprise found the little combat trained knight utterly tired her with his jabs. Seeing the Devanu as the greater threat, the Knight captain called a strike against the nearest Jenta, and in a masterful display of tactical prowess, completely bounced off. Another knight went to help his comrade against the Sempa, and in the following combat the pair finished her off. The captain and 2 knights menacing the Jenta however continued to demonstrate their prowess by bouncing off some more. The priest, seeing his chance, ambled towards safety.
Turns 4 and 5. In a fit of cunning tactical genius, the knights decided to ignore the priest and concentrate of making the Devanu flee, to give more space to then capture the priest. The captain and colleagues finally beat the Jenta in a vicious combat, and the remaining Devanu fled. The priest, now suddenly with more intent almost as if his mind were controlled by a higher guidance, raced to safety. The Knights raced after the priest, finally realising that maybe he was just a bit too far away, before the priest raced on and almost escaped.
Turn 6. With a quick look over his shoulder, the priest managed to nab the initiative and scarpered off the table. The Knight captain merely muttered in annoyance, but it was unlikely the priest could get far.....
Result - Draw.
Game 2 -
Turn 1. The devanu raced forwards, as did the knights. The priest, obviously having either been hit on the head, or due to not knowing what the Devanu were, wandered towards them.
Turn 2. The knights continued to run towards the priest, only to watch in mild horror at the brutality of the Devanu. With keening cries, the Grishak raced forwards to eat a pair of bodyguards, and the 2 Jenta raced in to support. The Sempa ran forwards to attempt a form of quick assination on the Priest, but a bodyguard stepped in and took all 3 lethal blows. The pair of Jenta then smashed the last bodyguard to the ground, before the Sempa neatly smacked the Priest in to unconsciousness.
Turn 3. With a chitter of amusement, the Sempa grabbed the priest, and ran off with him, sprinting twice to make her escape with the prize. The knight captain, seeing his chance being carried off by a rather fast Sempa, sighed.
Result - Devanu win.
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An interesting scenario. Since it's stated that the bodyguards never attack, it was assumed they'd always defend. I probably shouldn't have focused so much on killing the Devanu, especially after the sprinting Sempa died first, but I was supremely worried of Grishak charges ripping the captain apart (eventually). As such when Stella got control of the Priest (and it changed to the priest being able to activate in initiative order, rather than after both players) I was too far away to catch in time - on the last turn even if I'd got initiative, I'd have to have killed all 4 bodyguards, charged the priest and then had another combat phase before the priest activated - highly unlikely.
Game 2 was quite quicker, with Grishak ripping apart bodyguards nicely. Interestingly assassinate is a great skill for denying bodyguard support, but considering the bodyguard rule all successful hits simply went on to the bodyguards. If I was to play as Devanu again, I'd try to get the sempa in contact with only the priest, then assassinate multiple times - much easier to kill the combat 3 bodyguards when they're fighting, via the priest, with combat 1.
All in all, a fun pair of games.
