• Registered: 2009-03-03
  • Posts: 14

Topic: After Action

Game 1.

Number of Turns: 4, Total Time: ~2 hours.
Forces: Human vs. combined Stygian & Skeleton.
Results: Human loss.  Scores: Humans 387, Stygian & Skeleton 434.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Last evening, the Ducal patrol sent to drive the vile necromancer from the ruins of Gygax tower was forced back to their camp in defeat.

The patrol of 8 spearmen and 6 crossbowmen was led by the valiant Sir Theoderick Plankchest along with 4 unmounted knights from his personal retinue.  They were aided by the mysterious enchanter Heironymus Gottlieb.

Sir Theoderick led the patrol to the ruins from the south, winding their way through the forested hills and broken terrain of the Mount Spillman wastes.  Despite the long march and harshness of the land, their spirits were high – due to Gottlieb's powerful enchantments and the righteousness of their quest.  However, that resolve did not last long in the face of the necromancer's horrors.  Late afternoon on the fourth day of the patrol Sir Theoderick and company encountered the necromancer.  That evilest of sorcerers was aided not only the summoned remains of long dead soldiers, but also a number of Stygian serpent-men.  Is any more proof of the demonic nature of the Stygians needed?!?!?

By all accounts, the initial moments of the battle went well.  The crossbowmen, bolstered by Gottleib, concentrated their first volley on what appeared to be an undead war-chieftain.  The horror was no doubt once a great hero like our Sir Theoderick, dug up from his tomb and impelled into service by that unspeakable scion of darkness our men were there to vanquish.  Nonetheless, it fell to their quarrels. 

Sir Theoderick, eager to battle the necromancer, then led his knights forward.  He was separated from them as they were slowed by the unevenness of the ground.  Surrounded by both skeletal warriors and war-maddened Stygians; and blasted by foul necromancies, the great hero Sir Theoderick fell.  Our troubadours will sing this of the great hero's exploits: before he succumbed to his wounds, he dispatched a great number of skeletons and snake-men back into the pits of hell.  Sir Theoderick's retinue, unable to save him, were determined to avenge him.  They rushed into the Stygians but managed to inflict only minor wounds upon the scaly beasts.  Last reliable witnesses report that all but 1 of the knights had fallen and he was badly outnumbered.

Perhaps a worse fate befell the spearmen.  They were separated from the main charge, and forced a hundred or so feet to the east by a thick growth of trees.  Proceeding forward in column, they advanced directly into a warband of the undead.  Within moments the battle was joined by a hulking snake-demon, which despite its great size appeared from the trees with no sign… as if summoned by darkest magic.  Even with the aid of Heironymus' spells, the spearmen quickly fell to the combined onslaught.  Only one or two perished in the encounter.  The majority, driven mad with fright of the undead, cast off their arms and fled gibbering into the forest.

Half of the crossbowmen tried to relieve Sir Theoderick and his retinue in the main front of the fight.  To that end they fired as rapidly as they could into both Stygian and Skeleton.  In truth, the number of casualties due to their efforts was greater than that of the knights.  The other half, alerted by the screams of the spearmen, turned to the east and prepared to face the skeletons that routed their comrades.  Instead of skeletal warriors, they saw the great Stygian serpent-devil sneaking its way through rubble and brush toward them.  To their credit and honor (or perhaps to Heironymus') they remained composed and felled the beast with a volley of quarrels.

It is at that point, that loyal camp aide and observer Timmus of Shropshiringtonhamptonville quit the field, making all haste to deliver this honest report.

-------------------------------------------------------------

We set the terrain up ahead of time.  A mix of Tree stands, rocks, some ruins, and a couple of hills.  The play area was about 2.5-3' x 4' or so.  We rolled a d6 for number of turns (4).  Victory condition was: kill the enemy.

Overall impression was that the game went very fast, despite it being our first time playing.

A few mistakes were made; it was the first game after all:

Range was miscounted at least once.  Die modifiers were applied inconsistently.  Fanatics were immune to *all* morale checks, instead of just unit checks.  The biggest mistake we made was with morale.  We were using morale ratings for individual checks, instead of morale score.

Now we know better.

  • Registered: 2009-03-03
  • Posts: 14

Re: After Action

Troops involved.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Human Force (980 points):
1 Hero
1 Enchanter
4 Elite Foot
6 Crossbowmen
8 Spearmen

Hero
Wounds: 5
Movement: 5
Morale: 5
Armor: Mail & Shield, 1d8+.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d10
Weapon: Magical Sword, 1d10 *magical.
Special
Individual or Leader
Heroic
Quick
Cost: 202 pts.

Enchanter
Wounds: 3
Movement: 4
Morale: 4
Armor: Lucky Charms, 1d6.
Magic Die: 1d10
Close Combat Die: 1d4.
Weapon: Staff, 1d6.
Special
Individual
Missile Resistant
Slow
Spells
“War-prayer”, 1d10, bless, enchant melee +1, enchant missile +1, range 5, 3” radius area, difficult.
“Inspire”, 1d10, encourage, rally, range 5, 3” radius area.
“Exhort”, 1d10, command, hasten, range 5, 3” radius area.
“Curse”, 1d10, curse, confuse, range 6, 4” radius area.
Cost: 200 pts.

Elite Foot
Wounds: 3
Movement: 4
Morale: 3
Armor: Plate & Shield, 1d10+.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d8
Weapon: Sword, 1d8.
Special
Ferocious
Cost: 35 pts.

Crossbowman
Wounds: 3
Movement: 4
Morale: 2
Armor: Leather, and Breastplate 1d8.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d6
Weapon: Shortsword, 1d6.
Ranged Combat Die: 1d8
Ranged Weapon: Crossbow, range 4, 1d8 *powerful, cumbersome.
Special
none
Cost: 45 pts.

Spearman
Wounds: 3
Movement: 4
Morale: 2
Armor: Brigandine, 1d8.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d8
Weapon: Spear, 1d6 *polearm.
Special
none
Cost: 21 pts.


Human Losses (434 points):
1 Hero
3 Elite Foot
8 Spearmen

-----------------------------------------------------------

Skeletal Force (494 points):
1 Necromancer
1 Skeletal Champion
8 Skeletal Phalanx

Necromancer
Wounds: 3
Movement: 3
Morale: 4
Armor: Lucky Charms, 1d6.
Magic Die: 1d10
Close Combat Die: 1d6
Weapon: Staff, Shortsword or other “light” hand weapon, 1d6.
Special
Cause Fear
Slow
Individual
Spells
"Knit Bones", 1d10, Heal, range 3, area 3” radius.
"Boo", 1d10, Frighten, range 4, 60 degree arc.
"Dread Appeal", 1d10, Command, range 3, area 4” radius.
"Death-Strike-Twenty", 1d10, Strike, range 6.
Cost: 183 pts.

Skeletal Champion
Wounds: 6
Movement: 4
Morale: 5
Armor: Mail and/or being a skeleton, 1d8.
Magic Die: 1d8
Close Combat Die: 1d10
Weapon: Large Axe, Broadsword or any other “great” hand weapon, 1d10, * magical.
Special
Cause Fear
Individual or Leader
Heroic
Cost: 159 pts.

Skeletal Phalanx
Wounds: 3
Movement: 3
Morale: 3
Armor: Leather and/or being a skeleton, 1d6.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d6
Weapon: Longspear, or Pike 1d8, * polearm.
Special
Cause Fear
Slow
Cost: 19 pts.


Skeletal Losses (178 points):
1 Skeletal Champion
1 Skeletal Phalanx

-----------------------------------------------------------

Stygian Forces ( 480 points):
1 Tree Devil
1 Great Warrior
2 Stygian Spearmen
4 Stygian Swordsmen
6 Stygian Starved

Tree Devil
Wounds: 5
Movement: 5
Morale: 4
Armor: Scales and Plates, 1d8.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d10.
Weapon: Large, Jagged, Steely Claws, 1d8.
Special
Individual
Hide
Scale +1
Cost: 101 pts.

Stigian Great Warrior
Wounds: 5
Movement: 5
Morale: 4
Armor: Scales and Plates, 1d8.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d10.
Weapon: Great Spear, 1d10 * polearm.
Special
Individual or Leader
Terrain Specialist: Sand
Leap
Scale +1
Cost: 109 pts.


Stigian Spearmen
Wounds: 3
Movement: 4
Morale: 2
Armor: Scales and Plates, 1d8.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d8
Weapon: Longspear, 1d8 * polearm.
Special
Terrain Specialist: Sand
Leap
Cost: 28 pts.

Stigian Swordsman
Wounds: 3
Movement: 4
Morale: 2
Armor: Scales and Plates, Shield, 1d8+.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d8
Weapon: Sword 1d8.
Special
Terrain Specialist: Sand
Leap
Cost: 30 pts.

Stigian Starved
Wounds: 3
Movement: 4
Morale: 2
Armor: Scales, 1d6.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d6.
Weapon: Sicle, 1d6.
Special
Terrain Specialist: Sand
Leap
Fanatic
Cost: 18 pts.


Stygian Losses (209 points):
1 Tree Devil
6 Stygian Starved

  • Registered: 2009-03-03
  • Posts: 14

Re: After Action

Game 2.

Number of Turns: 6, Total Time: ~1 hour.
Forces: Human vs. Swamp Goblin vs. Skeleton.
Results: Human win.  Scores: Humans 586, Swamp Goblin 0, Skeleton 0.

----------------------------------------------------

It did not take long for news of maddened ducal soldiers to reach Sir Skarl Uberjager – master of the royal hunting lodge in the Northern wood.  After ruminating on the tales of necromancy and demons, and consulting the druid Catstevens Moonshadow, Skarl summoned his men to the lodge's great hall.  He called for volunteers to go north and seek out the remnants of that lost patrol.  The next morning Skarl dispatched 5 of his bravest and most skilled huntsman, armed with his own magic arrows (and terrific hangovers) into those haunted woods.

The hunters travelled deep into dangerous swampland and forests thick with wild and vicious beasts.  The first two days of their trek, however, passed without incident.  On the eve of the third day they spotted giant carrion birds circling overhead to the northeast.  Overzealous and overconfident in their magical shafts, some of the huntsmen fired at the diseased poultry while out of range – alerting them.  The carrion birds were not all that was alerted either.. the moans of the dead chorused from the surrounding wood.

Wisely the men retreated back to a small hillock, mostly clear of trees, and readied their bows for the approach of the undead from the northeast.  You can only imagine their surprise as instead, a goblin riding a horse-sized, giant wasp broke out of the woodline to the west!  Before they could wheel around and face the new threat, the diminutive rider spat poisonous darts at them, catching Jaccob Redshirt in the throat.  Jaccob must be commended, though frothing and weakened by the poison, he did not succumb fully to it, and fought on that day!  The huntsmen returned fire, and though it took nearly a dozen arrows, they felled both rider and beast.

Then they turned their attention back to the carrion birds, now flying toward them at great speed.  Another volley of arrows, and they were driven off.  But the hunters had no time to celebrate their victories… that very moment, several swamp goblins erupted from the brush and trees surrounding the base of the hill.  They turned to face the small goblin horde, but could not fire swiftly enough to prevent their ascending the hillside and joining them in melee.  Bjarl Cjarlson, the westernmost hunter on the hill valiantly stood off three of them with his longsword.  Despite receiving several wounds, Bjarl held the goblins off until his comrades could come to his aide.

Bjarl's shouts of combat barely rose above the wailing dead as they emerged into a clearing to the northeast.  There were many of them, gibbering ghouls for the most part… but amongst them, some sort of infernal machine drug by skeletal warriors…it flung screaming skulls at them.  The horror.  The hunters ignored the ghouls (and goblins) and grouped their arrows into that horrible abomination.  Fortunately, it did not last long.  Just in time, they were able give Bjarl relief.  Reeling from his wounds he hurled himself backward from the advancing goblin rush, the other hunters took that opportunity to present those goblins with such a volley of fire as no goblin has ever seen, or likely ever will.  No goblins survived it.

The hunters then turned their attentions to the scrabbling, cackling ghouls.  As the ghouls approached the hunters fired several volleys into them, finally killing the last as it reached the hilltop.

------------------------------------------

Rolled 1d4+3 for Turns.  Terrain was settled by clearing the board, then each player rolled 1d6 for number of Terrain “points”.  For one point you could add a piece of terrain, for 2 points you could move a piece of terrain, for 3 you could remove a piece.  Once the terrain was placed, we rolled randomly to determine order of troop placement.  On the one hand early placement was good, because you got to choose your starting area; on the other bad because the others got to see your placement before setting their own troops up... this worked out very well for balance.

The board ended up mostly trees and rocks on the Swamp Goblin side, some Hills in the middle where the Humans ended up, and Trees and a large clearing on the Undead side.

Much faster game this time, attributed to the smaller scale of the fight, and that we had some experience with the rules now.

  • Registered: 2009-03-03
  • Posts: 14

Re: After Action

The Troops

-----------------------------------------------
Human Force (300 pts.):
5 Expert Longbowmen.

Expert Longbowman
Wounds: 3
Movement: 4
Morale: 2
Armor: Leather, 1d6.
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d6
Weapon: Longsword, 1d8.
Ranged Combat Die: 1d10
Ranged Weapon: Longbow, range 5, 1d10 *magical.
Special
Keen Senses
Cost: 60 pts.

Human Losses:
None

------------------------------------------------
Skeletal Force (300 pts.):
1 Skeletal Catapult
3 Carrion
8 Ghouls

Skeletal Catapult
Wounds: 6
Movement: 3
Morale: 3
Armor: Leather and/or being a skeleton / machine, 1d8
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d4
Weapon: Club, 1d4
Special:
Cause Fear
Slow
Spells
Screaming Skull: 1d10 Strike-Frighten-Dishearten, Range 4, Area 2, Difficult
Cost: 101 pts

Carrion
Wounds: 4
Movement: 2
Morale: 3
Armor: Leathery hide, 1d6
Magic Die: 1d4
Close Combat Die: 1d6
Weapon: Large claws, 1d8
Special
Cause Fear
Slow
Flyer
Flock (Group Attack)
Scale + 1
Cost: 29 pts.

Ghoul
Wounds: 2
Movement: 3
Morale: 2
Armor: Leathery hide, 1d6
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d6
Weapon: Claws n Teeth, 1d6 (Weak)
Special:
Cause Fear
Fanatic
Craven (Glass Jaw)
Mob (Group Attack)
Quick
Cost: 14 pts

Skeletal Losses:
1 Skeletal Catapult
3 Carrion
8 Ghouls

-----------------------------------------------
Swamp Goblin Force (286 pts.):
1 Swamp Goblin Drone Rider
4 Swamp Goblin Spearmen

Swamp Goblin Spearman
Wounds: 3
Movement: 4
Morale: 2
Armor: Chitin armor and shield, 1d8+
Magic Die: 1d6
Close Combat Die: 1d6
Weapon: Chitin spear, 1d6 * polearm
Special
Group Attack
Terrain Specialist: Marsh
Scale -1
Cost: 25 pts.

** no Drone Rider stats to post yet.


Swamp Goblin Losses:
1 Swamp Goblin Drone Rider
4 Swamp Goblin Spearmen

  • Registered: 2022-11-16
  • Posts: 516

Re: After Action

Very cool write-ups.
You might double check your point costing though, especially with any model that has a ranged attack (including spells).
The point costs "seem" low to me.
I did a quick check on the longbowmen from the second game, and I came up with a point cost of 116 points, instead of 60.
Kevin

  • Registered: 2009-03-03
  • Posts: 14

Re: After Action

That *would* explain how  a supposed 300 points of longbowmen took on a combined 600 points of undead and goblins with no casualties.  I suppose I should double-check the math by hand; I designed everything with the .xls generator.

Tim.

  • Registered: 2009-03-03
  • Posts: 14

Re: After Action

Hmm.. I recalculated the longbowmen by hand and came up with a point cost of 66.15323.  I think the difference between my new total and the cost figured by the generator is in how Magic weapons are handled.  The generator is adding 1.5 to the total cost of the weapon, whereas I think it's meant to be added to the Die Modifiers Chart on p. 66.

  • Registered: 2022-11-16
  • Posts: 516

Re: After Action

I used the spreadsheet I have again, which was put together for a derivative ARES project that never got released.
The longbowman, with no magic weapon, costs 74 points. Adding the magic bow raises it to 103, with the ranged combat weapon factor alone being 348.

I'm not sure how I got 116 the first time.

You might double check to make sure you're calculating the weapon factor for the ranged combat portion of the model correctly. I don't have the book here, so I can't look up the dice table. Ranged weapons with good quality dice and longer ranges can get "real expensive, real fast."
big_smile
Kevin

  • Registered: 2009-03-03
  • Posts: 14

Re: After Action

ugh.. .got: 71.45366, with the magic bow this time.  (66.15323 was using the wrong armor die modifiers - looked at the wrong column).

armor 3, morale 2, armor factor 3.5, weapon factor 194.5, specials 1.25 = sqrt of 5105.625 = 71.45366 (71)?

The weapons were (5*5*7.5(6+1.5) + ((4*3.5)/2) = 194.5; which I think is correct, right?

  • Registered: 2022-11-16
  • Posts: 516

Re: After Action

yesman wrote:

ugh.. .got: 71.45366, with the magic bow this time.  (66.15323 was using the wrong armor die modifiers - looked at the wrong column).
armor 3, morale 2, armor factor 3.5, weapon factor 194.5, specials 1.25 = sqrt of 5105.625 = 71.45366 (71)?
The weapons were (5*5*7.5(6+1.5) + ((4*3.5)/2) = 194.5; which I think is correct, right?

Alrighty then, now that I have my book at work, I'll do this the old fashioned way.

CR = SQRT(Wounds * Morale * Armor factor * Weapon factor * Specials)
Wounds = 3
Morale = 2
Armor factor (1st=d6 + 2nd=d6, from table) = 3 * 1(Magic die) = 3
Weapon factor:
Melee = Melee die factor * Movement = (1st=d6 + 2nd=d8, from table) * 4 = 3.5 * 4 = 14
Ranged = Ranged die factor * 5 * Range = (1st=d10 + 2nd=d10, from table) * 5 * 5 = (6 + 1.5) * 5 * 5 = 187.5
Weapon factor = 187.5 + 14/2 = 194.5
Specials = Keen Senses = 1.25

Therefore, the CR would be:

CR = SQRT(3 * 2 * 3 * 194.5 * 1.25) = SQRT(4376.25) = 66.15 = 66

Now, after all of this is said, I believe there is a flaw with the point costing, and which may have already been addressed by the FAQ. Unlike the melee weapon factor, you'll note that missile weapon factor mentions nothing about taking movement into account. I believe it should, and that would change things considerably.

Ranged = Ranged die factor * 5 * Range * Movement = (1st=d10 + 2nd=d10, from table) * 5 * 5 * 4 =
(6 + 1.5) * 5 * 5 * 4 = 750
New weapon factor = 750 + 14/2 = 757

Therefore, the new CR would be:

CR = SQRT(3 * 2 * 3 * 757 * 1.25) = SQRT(17032.5) = 130.51 = 131

The CR of 131 is probably a better representation of what the expert longbowman's worth is.

Kevin

  • Registered: 2009-03-03
  • Posts: 14

Re: After Action

I see, yes, factoring in movement would up the cost quite a bit.  Was the decision to include movement made after publication?  At first blush, the example troops with ranged weapons seem a bit low-cost for movement being calculated into the Ranged Weapon Factor (I could be wrong though, I haven't calculated them). 

Could you point me in the right direction for the ARES FAQ ?  Or any Errata that exists?

tim

  • Registered: 2022-11-16
  • Posts: 516

Re: After Action

yesman wrote:

I see, yes, factoring in movement would up the cost quite a bit.  Was the decision to include movement made after publication?  At first blush, the example troops with ranged weapons seem a bit low-cost for movement being calculated into the Ranged Weapon Factor (I could be wrong though, I haven't calculated them). 
Could you point me in the right direction for the ARES FAQ ?  Or any Errata that exists?
tim

I did all of the point costing for the bestiary, and I'm fairly certain that movement was not included in the ranged weapon factors. At this point in time, I believe the "official" stance is that ranged weapon factors do not include movement. So unless it's stated differently in the FAQ, that's the approach I'd take.
As an aside, I believe it should be, and in any subsequent ARES release I'm guessing it will be.
Ultimately, Dan will have the final say on this.

My own, "totally non-official," opinion on the value of ranged combat is that, assuming a certain level of blocking terrain, it actually decreases non-linearly as the range increases. For example, if your table is set up so that you never have a line of sight longer than 20 inches, you shouldn't be paying "full price" for a ranged weapon with a range of 25 (range band 5).

As for the FAQ, I have no idea where it is.
In my opinion there should be a "FAQ sticky" for every MJ-12 game system right here in the forum.
Kevin

  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 811

Re: After Action

I thought that there was errata that took care of the non-movement in the ranged weapons issue?

Flying Death Monkeys?

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: After Action

Flying Death Monkeys propelled by flaming flatulence, wielding chainsaws!

  • Registered: 2022-11-16
  • Posts: 516

Re: After Action

jimbeau wrote:

I thought that there was errata that took care of the non-movement in the ranged weapons issue?
Flying Death Monkeys?

Couldn't tell ya, since it's nowhere to be found.
wink