I decide; d that it was time to try a slightly more advanced scenario than last time in order to try out command and magic rules.
For this I went for the Assassination mission in the tutorial campaign which has the following forces.
Guild: Capodecina, 3 Citizens, Gondolier, Gondola (67 ducats)
RashaarMagi-Rashaar, 2 Lesser Ugdru, 2 Slaves (70 ducats)
It’s worth noting that these gang sizes are actually suitable for some of the smaller scenarios in the main rulebook where 75 ducats is available.
Sounds daft but one advantage of this mission is that the 3ft by 2ft play area actually fits on my dining table so I could play the game there. This gives a bit more light than my games table allowing for a few more photos.
Deployment
The table was set up almost as recommended. However I added a few more buildings as I wanted to give a bit more scope for roof top jumping.
The Rashaar won deployment and set up with the terrible duo in the water.
The guild then set up in a line with the citizens forming the center. The capo was up high on one flank with the gondolier on the other flank with his trusty gondola.
The overall map view was as below.
Turn 1
The Guild won initiative and the gondolier rowed as hard as he could with both actions getting a critical allowing 13″ of movement.
The Rashaar started off more cautiously with the slaves cowering behind their masters. The rest of the gangs closed in ready for the upcoming fight.
Turn 2
The guild won initiative again and went for the first strike. The forward citizen ran forward, springing off some crates and attacked an unsuspecting slave. With the use of 2 will and a critical he managed to take away half of the slaves health.
The slave responded frantically and threw the citizen into the canal. He then jumped in afterwards and tried to drown the citizen to no avail. However the important thing was the citizen was in the water and there was dangerous sea life about. One of the Ugrdu swam back and promptly started to drown the citizen. The Magi also cast Blood Drain on the outnumbered citizen helping to heal a slave.
The rest of the guild held their ground with the Capo climbing up to the top of a 2 storey building to see what cunning plan he could come up with.
Turn 3
The unlucky citizen in the canal broke free of his attackers and started to swim towards safety. Just as this happened one of the Ugdru emerged from the water to attack the gondolier. He shouted for help and the rest of the citizens swarmed in severely hurting the beast. This opened up the chance for the Magi to cross the water and cast Krakens Breath; this caused 3 more damage to the gondolier and 4 to a citizen.
The Capo held his nerve and jumped to the rooftop across the canal and then tried to jump on the magi. However the normally nimble leader failed his jump and took 4 damage.
In the water the other Ugdru managed to get the first kill drowning one of the citizens.
Turn 4
This turn was the pivotal one of the battle and the one the guild retell in their stories in the tavern.
The Gondolier despite his injuries decapitated the Ugrdu before going back to claim his gondola. The Magi was angered by this and moved forward casting Krakens Breath hitting 3 of the guild. This killed the fleeing Gondolier and hurt the citizens.
However this left the Magi in position for the Capo to attack; with multiple actions he was able to inflict a hefty 10 damage. This left the way open for a brave citizen to finish of the leader of the Rashaar – this was the primary objective achieved.
Turn 5 and 6
The remaining Rashaar fled with the slaves going to the corner of the board hoping to survive to the end of the game. However the Capo chased them down and slew both.
The remaining Ugdru tried to chase down one of the citizens but he was too slow.
This left the game a convincing guild win.
Concluding Thoughts
The command points opened up a few more tactics with the chance to get extra actions and out of order actions. Probably do a little cheat sheet/post-it note with these rules.
The magic was suitably powerful and damaging but it is risky as you need to close to close range for most of the spells. This leaves your mage vulnerable to heavy hitters like the Capo.
From a hobby perspective it was nice being able to get the MDF buildings I had on to the table even if they are not quite finished.
DiceDebris 