The Imprudent Kidnappers- A Song of Blades and Heroes Scenario.
The Imprudent Kidnappers.
A Song of Blades and Heroes Scenario
By Karl Paulsen
A band of ner-do-wells venture into the forbidden forest to attempt to kindap an elf. The elves of the forbidden forest are unimpressed and vow to wipe out the invaders.
Description
A challenging scenario where the attacker have the seemingly simple task of kidnapping a single member of the Defenders. However, the defenders are in their home environment and have advantages related to their deep knowledge of the terrain.
Warbands
Scenario is played by two equally sized warbands.
Attackers:
A warband (ideally of evil characters). Chosen as per SBH rules. No member may have the "Forester" special rule.
Defenders:
A warband (ideally of elves). All or most members should be created with the "Forester" special rule. Might be a good idea also to include ranged combat figures.
Who Goes First?
Roll off and winner decides who goes first.
Battlefield
Battlefield is 3'x3'-Along one edge is an enchanted river (agree or roll to randomly determine direction of flow). Either use a model river or mark a 6" strip along an edge.
-At the center of the river is a bridge that will be the Attacker deployment zone.
-Place at least 10 sections of forest. The more the better. Make sure there is a path between each section at least as wide as the widest attacker base.
Example of a possible terrain layout is pictured below.
Objectives and Game Length
-Game lasts for 8 turns
-Attackers Objective is to capture one Elf and get carry it onto the bridge or to completely defeat the defenders.
-Defenders Objective is to destroy half of the attacking warband at which point the attackers are assumed to lose their nerve and flee the forbidden forest.
Deployment
-Attacker deploys on the Bridge.
-Defender deploys their warband anywhere they wish on the board.
Special Rules
-Kidnapping:
-Defending models that are "killed" are considered knocked unconscious for the duration of the game and are left on the table face down. Only defending models fleeing the table or failing a morale check are removed from play.
-An Attacker may kidnap a face-down defender when in base contact by picking it up for one action.
-Kidnapped figures may be moved as many moves as the kidnapping figure has activations.
-A kidnapper may set down the kidnapped figure for one activation.
-A kidnapper who is knocked down is considered to have dropped/set-down the kidnapped figure
-Kidnapped figures may be set down and picked up by different kidnappers but may only be moved by one kidnapper per player turn.
-Lords of the Forest:
Defender models may perform an attack (melee or shooting) and then perform a move if they have the required activations.
As per SBH rules, forest is considered difficult terrain (lowers movement by one range) for all models without the "Forester" special rule.
Only the Defender models may "Ambush".
-Enchanted River
Attackers failing a morale test will retreat as directly as possible toward the Enchanted River.
An Attacker who ends their turn in the river immediately rolls an unmodified quality check on 3 dice:
-One or zero successes, the miniature drowns and is removed from the game.
-Two successes, it survives but remains in river and is moved a long stick in the direction of the river flow.
-Three successes, attacker escapes and is placed on the bank of the river. Model's activation is over.
Roll is repeated once each turn until model drowns, escapes the river, or the current takes it off the table and out of the game. Failures on a river roll do not end a players turn.
Variations:
To make the scenario more difficult for the defenders shrink the size of the table or increase the number of turns.
To make the scenario more difficult for the attackers, decrease attacker warband size.
Scenario can be modified for other attackers and defenders so long as there is some sort of terrain type that is plentiful and slows attackers but not defenders. Examples might be sections of swamp and defenders with swampwalk, sections of water and defenders with amphibious. A more extreme example might be chasms or sections of impassible terrain with flying defenders.
This is a fairly easy scenario to force to a draw, but a fairly difficult scenario to win if either player refuses to commit. In a campaign with timid players it might be best to count a tie as a loss for both players.
Players may choose to use the more extensive river rules in "Song of Wind and Water".
Notes:
Thanks for reading this scenario. It is a fleshed-out version of a quick invention I made for a game with my son I used to teach him about group activation, ambush attacks and collective shooting. It turned out better than I had expected and I decided to write it up. I'd be very appreciative to anyone who will out try the scenario and I welcome feedback and suggestions in the comments below.
Karl Paulsen
Jackswift says:
This sounds like it would be quite a fun scenario to play! Will have to give it a try the next time I get in a game of SOBH. Cheers!
Eilif says:
Thanks Jon!
If you get the chance to play it, I’d definitely be interested to hear your feedback.
Michael S. says:
Hi Karl,
It looks fun. I also would like to try it out sometime.
Michael
Eilif says:
Thanks Michael,
Maybe I can set it up for you and Jon during the campaign.
It’s such a quick play, I could even set it up on a side table for folks to play after their KOW games. I assume our KOW game time will decrease as the campaign progresses as we become more comfortable with the rules.