Warlords of Erehwon is a great set of skirmish rules for generic fantasy gaming. It's amazing that Rick Priestly turned a system intended for long-range, sci-fi action into a bloody fantasy melee.
John hosted a game intended to help those unfamiliar with the rules, and to perhaps get one more game in before the year's end. Brandon and I led the forces of evil with a dread alliance of Orcs, Goblins, and Barbarians. John and Sam combined to command the forces of good, with Olympians (fantasy Greeks) and Nymphs (fairy Elves) defending a series of river crossings.
The horde of evil rumbled on to the table, with the Greenskins on one flank and Barbarians on the other.
Arrayed against them were the Olympians and Nymphs.
The horde, with its lower quality troops, had 20 dice while the defenders had 15.
Also, a good look at John's hobby bunker! It's a dream of mine to have something half as nice as John's space.
My Orc Warboss lead his Orc warriors and cavalry over the river and into the woods. Unfortunately, we misread the rules for rough terrain and thought any movement through it halved a unit's move speed. It turned out that the unit needs to take an agility test, which for the Orcs was a 50% chance.
This could have given them a better chance at getting into the fight, but this wing of the forces of evil never really got into combat.
All of the sections of river that weren't fordable could be crossed, but at the risk of being attacked by a lesser cousin of Charybdis.
Brandon lead the charge against the Olympians with his Barbarians, while my Wizard led my Goblins and artillery in support.
John's Nymphs were also split. He moved his Hero, Guard and treekin to counter my Orcs, while the rest of his force raced to support Sam's Olympians.
With only one area to cross the river, most of the combat between the Olympians, Barbarians and Goblins was ranged. Here the forces of evil had a definite advantage, although Sam had a flying unit of Harpies that could throw rocks off the cliff that the waterfall emerged from.
Brandon's Berserkers and Chariot raced to get across the ford and into the thin line of Olympians, who had left the hoplites at home and had instead brought smaller units of skirmishing cavalry and peltasts. Out-manned, out-gunned, and out-magicked, Sam could only hold on as he watched the Nymph reinforcements race down the river's edge.
The Berserkers tore apart the unit of Peltasts blocking the river but Sam's Warlord and some supporting fire forced the raving warriors back. Likewise, the Chariot was charged by the Olympian hero and, thanks to a number of pins that was already on it, was destroyed.
It was the unit of Wolf Riders that first managed to make it out of the woods. Having sprinted to do so (they have a special rule that allows them to sprint four times their 6" move instead of the normal three times) they didn't get a chance to fire their bows at the Nymphs. This allowed the Nymph Guard to charge into the Wolf Riders.
The combat , however, end in a draw - no casualties on either side! Both sides backed off, with the Goblins nervously looking for their supporting Orcs foot troops.
With the Olympians close to breaking, the Nymphs finally reached the battle, sending a group of Goblin archers fleeing off the table. However, the elder folk's light armor wasn't effective against the return fire of black-fletched arrows and fireballs!
Unfortunately we had to call the game there as we ran out of time. The group felt that we had gotten a better handle of the rules, and rescheduled for another game in January. There's also talk of a campaign, with the greenskins as the antagonists.
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