BR - I have a cunning plan my lord......

[Balgin]

Okay, I've just got back and the hour is late so I'm going to simply put up my pre game notes for now.

Hell Dorado Defence
63 The Knightof the Old Order 63
90 Old Ironhand Himself 27
120 The Vampire Witch 30

The Stragglers

164 4 Halberdiers 44
200 4 Men at Arms 36

Play Defender

Only the knights + the witch on the board
Templar advance alone in the holy bubble
Witch sends an imp to steal command
Ironhand defends 'till reinforcements turn up
God Bomb!!!
Stragglers swarm in after the god bomb to finish things off

Stragglers must appear unengaged ! They'll need room

11 figures

17 dominance

use scouting to dominate/protect scenery in the defence zone

Why did I use such a nasty plan?

1: Damned die really easily.
2: Deserters die really easily.
3: Squamata nomads with the templar don't feel right so untill something more durable and knightly gets released to go with him I need to play defensive and not waste the troopers.
4: Lost do a lot of damage to my measly defence 3 troops if I let them get near them.
5: Lost all have Faith - or faith 0 so I can keep them out of the god bubble indefinitely making the templar really overpowered against them in this scenario. Other factions have varying faith levels so he can't keep them all out and it needs to be selective.

I didn't take my camera (mistake), Chill brought his and took some phot's. We'll write some sort of report soon. I might write something later tonight but lost really hate the impenetrable 9" god bubble when they need to get inside a 10" square.

[Ropetus]

5: Lost all have Faith - or faith 0 so I can keep them out of the god bubble indefinitely making the templar really overpowered against them in this scenario. Other factions have varying faith levels so he can't keep them all out and it needs to be selective

Isn't there a limitation on the rule that you cannot choose the same FTH value twice in a row? Don't have my book at hand to check but I think I remember seeing such a rule.

-Ropetus

[Liancour]

Isn't there a limitation on the rule that you cannot choose the same FTH value twice in a row? Don't have my book at hand to check but I think I remember seeing such a rule.

I remember that somehow this indication is missing on english cards. But you're right, André cannot choose twice in a row the same value.

Sure damned and deserters die easily... When a unit only have 4 or 5 lip and a low or average PR value, most of times it dies in the first attack sequence. You just hope that it makes enough damage to your opponent. 

[Balgin]

Isn't there a limitation on the rule that you cannot choose the same FTH value twice in a row? Don't have my book at hand to check but I think I remember seeing such a rule.

I remember that somehow this indication is missing on english cards. But you're right, André cannot choose twice in a row the same value.

It's also missing from the English rulebook too. It was there in the 1635 rules and I was highly surprised by it's removal. I believe I even pointed it out on the forums and asked if it was intentional. Nobody answered.

I actualy feel quite bad about this one as the aura made the scenario virtualy impossible for the lost. Now against other factions who have varied faith values he has to keep changing it. The lost all have a faith score that's less than 1 (there are some -'s). They don't use lemures without resorting to mercenaries and they don't have many ways of dealing with lemures either. Alazais sent a lemure to steal all of Kartikeya's command in one fell swoop and that kind of ended the game a few rounds early really .

To be fair sir Andre de Montbard did spend 3 or 4 rounds outside the box the lost were trying to get in to. His aim was to create a bulle they would need to flow around, splitting them up so his underlings could try to pick them off. Unfortunately they deployed in two groups anyway and he was able to go and hold the main group up (there was dangerous terrain on one flank and the table edge on the other so he could block quite a lot of them).

I've only got the old french card for him and the new english rulebook. The new rulebook has had the final sentence of his aura removed so he can keep choosing the same number each turn. Like I said, I brought this to people's attention and nobody commented really. I've been waiting for an english card release to see if it's missing there too since he's never ahd an official english card that I'm aware of. It's worth noting that choosing the same number also excluded everyone else in my company except for Gotz (Alazais, the damned ones and deserters all had to stay out too).

[Balgin]

To continue ('cause the forum gets buggy with long posts), if he had to choose a new number every round then he'd just die against Lost rather quickly rendering the rest of his followers even more useless than usual. I believe that allowing him to choose the same number is balanced if he's not playing the defence scenario as the defender. Additionaly, against anyone but lost he's going to want to keep changing it anyway.

The next time I play against Chill's lost I'll use my westerners or a different mercenary officer to make for a more interesting game. This game also brought up some questions such as wether a lemure can be activated with vae soli. We suspect not but their maverick ability doesn't explicitly state it as the order allows the officer to activate a model rather than targetting the model that it activates. Yeah, we know, it's semantics and translation issues  .

I think the game would have gone better if the squamata spitter had got it's second shot off differently. It did a very good initial blast then moved up to spray acid at close quarters. Unfortunately the only things in front of it were Gotz and a damned one with Richochet 2. If it had managed to get Alazais and the Templar then things would have gone very differently indeed. If the squamata scouts had thrown more of their spears at him then the poison & acid would have worn him down forcing him to retreat. We're currently finding the spitter to be a bit lacklustre. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on making it more effective?

Squamata warriors with no command to vae victis their throwing discs are very sad indeed .

[chillatbmth]

I will be adding more, like asides, forces, lack of tactics and some photos but first....

It was for me a) a new force, b) come new opponents, c) a new scenario to play and just as I was starting to get the hang of rock / paper / scissors along comes the Spook / Lizard extension. For more info http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iapcKVn7DdY

About faith and Montbards' aura - flee miscreants, I have no problems with him being able to use the same value each turn but......it is easy to be wise after the event - in this case a week after the event

All of the lost are faith zero (0) except for the following whose faith is (-) and the first one was the leader of my force

Kartikeya, Wormpile, Fangs of the pit - now if I knew my force better I would have charged in and had a Andre sandwich as a starter.

I feel a rematch coming on ----- but next time would Andre be so bold? After all unless I misunderstand faith - is not the same as faith 0, so this aura never affects faith - as that is not a permitted value per his entry in the rule book.

[chillatbmth]

My themed Lost list for the lizard king

Kartikeya 65
saurva Geet 25
Spitter 25
3 x Warriors   51
2 x trackers 30

total 196 points 9 command points and 17 for initial dominance.

I wanted to take a second spitter but as I was not going to swap it in for Saurav Geet I was at a loss for how I was going to do this, so I kept one and tried one of each type of ranged attack. First Saliva Projectile which had limited success as the targets were well spaced out then when I tried Acid Spit - both targets used their activation to wipe off the poison - note to self and other, maybe better to spit on units which have already activated to get the extra damage in the upkeep phase.

I like themed lists and for something else that I'm known to play the idea of giving something up (limited troop choices) is rewarded by getting something else such as points rebate or different field allowances appeals to be. In HD this could work as a means to special items.

This is an urban myth

2: Deserters die really easily.

With PR = 2 half my damage inflicted was cancelled out each time, meaning these things hang around a lot longer than the myth suggests.

[chillatbmth]

The mercenary group were seeking shelter from the biting winds at the foot of an ancient acropolis as the twilight returned with the uneven ebb and flow of time down below. The troopers were left to tend to the pack animals and raise up some tents while the high and mighty officer, warrior priest and madame Alazais strode to the top surveying the up-lying lands as they went.

From below, the usual banter and bickering was under way with the occasional ripe comment about madame and various unfulfilled fantasies.

"Quite you rabble", bellowed the officer in charge, "everyone knows that there is more chance of finding water in a mirage than a virgin in hell so get on with your work".

Madame blushed to show mild shook at the various comments but inside she liked this sort of talk - it helped her to choose whom would be tonight's blanket and the next mornings breakfast.

[Balgin]

After all unless I misunderstand faith - is not the same as faith 0, so this aura never affects faith - as that is not a permitted value per his entry in the rule book.

It is indeed different but the wording of his orders might consider them eo be the same. I don't have my book in front of me right now. I'm planning on writing a little aftermath fiction too but haven't got 'round to it yet. Suffice it to say my aftermath was kind enough to consider the two leaders to be limping away alive (because all characters in Hell Dorado are special characters).

[chillatbmth]

It is indeed different but the wording of his orders might consider them to be the same. I don't have my book in front of me right now.

I'm waiting to hear what Liancour has to say re the (-) and (0) for faith and this aura ... but the book says
"During the upkeep phase choose one of the following numbers, 0, 1, 2 or 3....." The dash value is not listed.

The faith values of (-) and (0) are combined when referred to for using God knows whose wrong order.

I'm planning on writing a little aftermath fiction too but haven't got 'round to it yet. Suffice it to say my aftermath was kind enough to consider the two leaders to be limping away alive (because all characters in Hell Dorado are special characters).

Would be good to read - I had the same problem when writing fluff for other games where the characters need a way to reappear for future battles.

[Liancour]

0 and - are the same (except for Unbeliever who are simply unaffected by every ordrer/aura relying on faith). There were a old discussion on the French forum where all this were clarified (in fact only unbeliever should have faith -, but if any other unit has a -, consider it as a 0).

[chillatbmth]

0 and - are the same (except for Unbeliever who are simply unaffected by every ordrer/aura relying on faith). There were a old discussion on the French forum where all this were clarified (in fact only unbeliever should have faith -, but if any other unit has a -, consider it as a 0).

Something else for the on-line errata and also to be printed in the new book before it hits the shelves.

[Balgin]

The fiction I had in mind was something like this. Although I'd have liked to take more time to write it and emphasize how badly beaten our old knight is and the fact that he'll be needing time to recover before taking to the field once again.

Gotz reached down to offer the old knight a hand up. Firmly he grasped the man by the forearm and waited for the man to return his grip in kind before hauling him to his feet. The aging kngith's rbeath was ragged and whole Gotz had been down here in this hell hole for far too long now, what baffled him currently was what manner of reason the old man might have for coming down here in the first place. And for staying too.

Sir Andre de Montbard, fifth master of the order of knights templar surveyed the scene before him. Constantly the cold vapours drifted from some unnatural source, creating clouds that froze the breath and froze the flesh. Vast pillars of ice towered across the plane before them and, as he watched, a lowly man at arms was clubbing the prone form of a large lizard-like creature with his mace. It was badly beaten now. Surely it would not put up much of a fight but the poor demented fellow still struck at it, desparate to assure himself it was a threat no more.

"It is over then," when the old knight finaly spoke he tried to hdie the waver in his voice. It was a good voice. It had served him well for many a year. The voice of command. "Is it over? Did we win?"

"Aye," spoke his fellow knight at his side, "it's over."

"They will return," quoth the crusader, "they shall come back. But we must not let them take this temple. Not before the old scholar has finished his study of the carvings upon the altr within. There is a secret there within them. I can tell." He frowned. "What of that great brute I faced? I see it not upon the field."

"It's gone," commented Gotz, "you fell beneath it's bulk. Why man, it all but crushed you. And there it lay, and you beneath it, 'till finaly it managed to raise it's groggy head. I threw a rock at it."

The aging templar raised an eyebrow quizzicaly, "you threw a rock?"

"At it's head. I can't say that I struck it. I'd like to, but I can't. It slunk away. I think the Black Widow helped."

The templar sighed. "Well I suspect we'll be seeing it again once it's licked it's wounds. Speaking of wich - I'm not sure I could stand another assault like that. They caught us unawares, when many of our scouts were out seeking them. We shall have to speak to the men about vigilance. As for that witch, you know I had my reservations about allowing her to accompany us. I know you speak well of her but even so, were it not for the service she rendered this day I would seriously be considering leaving her at the next settlement we come across. But for now, we watch. We must be vigilant. Remain wary. For they may yet return afore our deed is done."