The Laird and the Druid: A Song of Blades & Heroes Game Report

Mattias and I played a fantastic, fluff-driven Song of Blades and Heroes scenario last night. I supplied some terrain, and Mattias wrote an amazing scenario around it.

Here's a shot of the table.

And here's a bit of background, courtesy of Mattias. The game is set in the Wyrdwold, a darkly enchanting fantasy setting that Mattias has been developing lately.

The Fell Glendywr carries in his lungs the wisp of a Fay-o’-the-Swale. His intention, and that of Laird Bilebroke, is to feed the spirit to the Stone All-Knowing in exchange for powers of blight and ruin. Bilebroke plans to use that power to re-enter the Fulgent Desmesnes, reclaim his seat, and wage war upon the Magnifex. 
However, in capturing the wisp, Bilebroke the Dread intruded upon sacred and unspoiled tracts of the Weald Aboriginal. He captured the guardians. He had them slain. But worst of all, he commanded the Fell Glendywr to defile the heart of the woods with his Vile Majicks. He had the magician capture the fay spirit that was the life of the place, and he put the heart of the woods to the torch. 
For this crime, Florifera the Wild has sworn vengeance and now lies in wait for Bilebroke to return to his hidden stronghold. She plans to make Glendywr kneel and spill his blood, releasing the Fay-o’-the wisp to wreak its vengeance upon Bilebroke and his minions. 

In the scenario, Mattias's nasty raiders were tasked with defending their magician -- the Fell Glendywr -- while he attempted to complete the ritual on the Stone All-Knowing (itself located atop the highest tower of the crumbling fortress. The attackers -- the wrathful druid Florifera and her cadre -- were seeking to capture the Glendywr and prevent the foul ceremony from reaching its apex.

Here are the defenders: Laird Bilebroke and his Banditry

And the attackers: Florifera the Wild and her Coven of Weald-Dwellers

We actually played this scenario two times, because the first was an utter failure. I did an awful job of deploying my druid warband at the start, and was quickly overcome by Mattias's bandits. For the second game, we adjusted the terrain and starting points a bit, and it worked out much better.

Florifera and her tree constructs deployed in the woods near the Spinney Shrine. The wolves and the avian bird-man waited off board, ready to ambush.

Across the table, the castle was well defended by Bilebroke's grim crew.

On the first turn, Florifera and the constructs moved forward. Laird Bilbroke and his followers moved forward along the road, unaware of what was in store. The avian materialized on the path, ready to attack -- but he failed his activation rolls, ending my turn and giving Mattias the initiative.

Bilbroke's followers destroyed the avian on their next activation. It was so gruesome that we can't show the pictures.

Summer and Winter, the druid's two huge wolves, bounded out of the woods to avenge their fallen comrade. They surrounded the Fell Glendywr, hoping to end the battle quickly:

This quickly escalated into a huge brawl!

Winter fell in combat, but one of the tree constructs entangled Laird Bilbroke in vines, giving Summer a chance to exact her revenge. This triggered a number of unsuccessful morale rolls, sending Bilbroke's forces fleeing in every direction. Many of them were cut down while running. Some of them ran off the table!

The Fell Glendywr fled toward the castle, a construct hot on his heels.

At last the Shivering King recovered, and spurred his mount to speed him into combat with Florifera. He cut her down in single combat -- or did he just make her angry?

The Fell Glendwyr watched nervously from the castle walls, hoping to find time to complete the ritual.

He ascended the tower and cast himself before the Stone All-Knowing, but Florifera in her wolf form scaled the tower to meet him in single combat.

The druid Florifera knocked unconscious, slung his body under her arm and carried him back to the Spinney Stone.

Their wroth thus sated, the Druid and her companions sacrificed the Fell Glendwyr, restoring the Fey Spirit, and returning order to this small part of the Wyrdwold.

We had a great game, made all the better by the setting and flavorful scenario from Mattias. Look for more games in the Wyrdwold in the future!

-- Josh, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member


One response to “The Laird and the Druid: A Song of Blades & Heroes Game Report

  1. Awesome right up, Josh!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


Archives

Categories

Recent Board Topics

Support CSW!