As
I mentioned last time, I recently picked up Rangers of Shadow Deep by
Frostgrave author Joseph McCullogh. Since I am painting Frostgrave guys for Adepticon it
was time to give Rangers of Shadow Deep (RoSD) Mission 1 a solo play-through. One of the things I presume
that is making this game popular ( for a small indie game that is pushing 2000
members in its private Facebook group) is that its both Solo and Co-Op -something
that until the last 3-4 years when all these Heroquest type board games started
making a comeback hasnt really been a "thing"
Since it has an open ended narrative (within the context of each scenario) and you can use ‘whatever
miniatures” I find it to be a cross between OSR RPG played as a tactical miniatures
game. With a very cool atmosphere that I’ll dub Tolkien or even Glen Cook-esque
in its background I think that McCullough has got something unique here and a great
companion to the player vs player action of Frostgrave.
While conveniently after decades of wargaming, I have
most everything needed already painted for the game, what I mainly needed was too build
and paint my Ranger and his men plus some various tokens, of course I could have used existing figures but where's the fun in that right?
Speaking of Frostgrave
,The game mechanics in RoSD are similar if not identical to FG, you only use 20
sided Die for the game. I write this assuming the reader has a familiarity with
how that game is played.
Here is my gang for mission 1
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| L-R Thorvald, Skuti, Blackwulf, Guthrum, Sigurd, Gord |
My Ranger is simply known as “Blackwulf”
For my starting build I took 3
points in stats with +1 bonus Fight,
Shoot and Health
4 points in skills with , Deadly
Strike, Deadly Shot, Steady Aim and the
Spell “Heal”
And 3 points in Skills which he
puts points in 9 skills 6 with +3 and 3 with +2
I have 103 resource points for My
companions (100 base +3 for my Leadership)
So I take 5 – 20 point companions
( your maximum companions in a solo game is 7)
Your companions, when 1st
recruited are allowed a skill bonus or bonus skill of +3
My companions are
Sigurd- Man at Arms, Armory +3
Thorvald- Guardsman, Strength +3
Guthrum , Guardman, Survival +3
Gord, Rogue , +3 to existing
Perception skill for +5
Skuti, Archer , Track +3
Here are the roster sheets
Mission 1 : The Missing
“It has been less than a week
since the destruction of Lorenthia and the appearance of the Shadow Deep but,
in that time, the world has seemingly gone mad. Reports of strange creatures,
and evil, robed men are flooding in from all along the new border. Even with
every soldier, ranger, and volunteer mobilized, the kingdom is stretched thin.
Three days ago, a veteran ranger by the name of Aventine went out to
investigate reports of an attack on a nearby village. She has not returned.
Determined to find the missing ranger, you have gathered what companions you
can and set off for the village. It’s an eight-hour hike over difficult terrain”
Scenario 1: The Deserted Village
“As soon as you came within sight of the
nameless village, you knew that something wasn’t right. There was no sound of
man or animal, no movement except for the gentle swaying of the trees in the
breeze. Closer in, you could see bodies lying in the dirt and smell the stench
of death. Undaunted, you covered your face and carried on. Whatever happened
here, it was your duty to try to discover the truth, and, if possible,
determine the fate of Aventine. You had just reached the center of the village,
and were about to split up to search, when a horrible moaning sound came from
all around"
After table is set up (placing figures and clue markers) there is special rule
where one figure makes a perception roll (TN 8), Gord, or Rogue with is +5
perception rolls an“11”
Which allows me to move one clue marker 6 inches to the rogue, I choose
the one in the SE corner of the map
This mission ends on the end of the 8th turn.
TURN 1
RANGER PHASE
Blackwulf
Calls for a group activation which will also
activate Gord and Thorvald
He sees a Zombie S shuffling toward them slightly more 10 inches away
He fires his bow at the Zombie eyeballing him (14,14,) with his +2
shoot he wins (hits)
(note: I show all D20 rolls as
X, X with the Heroes roll always
being first)
Arrow does 4 damage its not
enough- the Zombie keeps coming.
Blackwulf decides to stand his ground. for the moment
Gord
Move s 4” of his 7 toward a 1” terrace wall of the large farmhouse - Gord want to climb
over the short wall and keep moving
( I don’t see any specifics in the book for things like low wall so
please correct me if I off here)
Treating the
Climb like a Jump 1 inch up and then 1
inch down for a total of 6 with his move of 7, he easily makes the check with a
+5 Climb (if we use Jump rules it’s a TN 2)
once over the wall. He sees a
giant Rat and uses his throwing knife. (13,
9) in his favor with +1 to his shoot for 14 he wins (hits) throwing knives are -1 dam so 13- rats armor
of 6 the Rat is killed.
Thorvald
makes a double move toward the Zombie coming from the east table edge for a
total of 9 inches.
CREATURE
PHASE
The game
started with 4 visible zombies and 4 Giant Rats on the board
Zombie N
moves 6 to heroes
Zombie W moves
6 to heroes
Zombie S moves
6 to heroes
2 Giant Rats move 9 inches toward Sigurd
Zombie E- moves
2 inches
into combat with Thorvald -they Fight (19, 20) A 20 for the Zombie thankfully standard enemies do not do
critical hits…Thorvald is Fight +3 vs the Zombies +0 = 22 to 20 , Thorvald
wins his Hammer is +2 damage for a total
of 24 – the armor of 12 mean 12 damage for the Zombie or Thorvald
crushes its head in dead.
Giant Rat 2 -moves 6 inches into combat with Gord and attacks ( 11,15) Gord being fight +1
Loses to the rat and is bit with his armor of 10 he take a whooping 5 points of
damage from the Rat….( it latched onto his jugular??) plus he has to make a Disease check at 5
health but rolls a 16 vs the TN 8
COMPANION
PHASE
Guthrum-
Sees the rogue is in trouble he moves 4”
Climbs the Inch wall and enters the combat with the Rat and Gord (10,8) because
Guthrum and Gord are both in Combat its a 2 v 1 so +2 to Guthrum's base +3 Fight
Guthrum
wins 15 to 8 ripping the rat off him and squishing it….
 |
| Guthrum to the rescue.., |
Skuti- fires
and Arrow at Approaching Zombie W..(8,18) misses Doh,. Zombies and Rate Closing
in he retreat Southwest toward the small farmhouse.
Sigurd-
turns and Charges into combat with Zombie approaching Blackwulf exactly 6
inches away the fight (20,2) critical
for Sigurd , 1st of the game..that Zombies head comes clean off with
the Critical (+5 damage ) its 19 damage!
 |
| I need some dead zombie tokens a headless one right in front of Sigurd here would be appropriate. |
EVENT PHASE
RED 2-
two more Zombies appear at Southern and Western board edges
TURN 2
RANGER PHASE
Blackwulf -
Group
activates Skuti and Sigurd this
time
He the fires his bow at nearest Zombie W ( 7,17) He misses Gah…he then moves 6 inches.
Skuti
Turns
and Fires 9” at the new Zombie who has just entered the board from the South.
(19,18) hit shoot is +2 21 vs armor 12 = 11 damage An arrow in zombies eye socket, it falls over dead.
Sigurd moves
twice toward the clue marker at the Small Farmhouses Livestock pen.
CREATURE
PHASE
Zombie N
moves 6 toward Blackwulf and Skuti
Zombie W1
moves 6 toward Blackwulf and Skuti almost reaching them
Zombie W2 only has LoS to Sigurd so moves 6 toward him
but runs into rough ground doing only moving 4 inches..
Giant Rat
reaches Blackwulf and attacks.. (15,11)
Blackwulf kills the rat easily
Giant Rat
reaches Skuti and attacks..(19,13) and he also kills the rat easily
Companion
phase
Thorvald
Makes a double move from the east heading toward the Zombie N approaching the others
Guthrum
Moves 5 inches thru the gate at the end of the terrace and then 3 into SE clue
marker
Revealed it
is (roll 10)
“Mutilated
Body. You discover a body with some strange bite marks that appear to have
been poisonous. Make an immediate Survival Roll (TN6) to see if you can
determine their nature.” coincidentally Guthrum is the guy with Survival
+3 Rolling a 5 vs TN 8 he makes it!
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Gord
Moves 6
and the attempts to pick the lock to gain entry into the house.. Pick Locks +5
vs TN 8
Roll is a
10, and he’s got the door open.
EVENT PHASE
Red 6 - 2 More Giant Rats are placed out of Line of
Sight of the heroes near the NW Clue
Marker
TURN 3
RANGER PHASE
Blackwulf
Can only Group activate Skuti
Blackwulf
has had enough of these damn zombies and charges into combat ( 14,11) at Fight +3 that becomes a 17 -12 for
Zombie armor = 5 damage..its still standing, He steps back from combat.
Skuti
attempts to put Arrow into Zombie
Blackwulf just fended off ….13,12
His +2 shoot makes sinks the arrow but its only for 3 damage..another
one is down!
After his shooting attack
Blackwulf orders him to back off 6” toward Sigurd
CREATURE
PHASE
Zombie N turns
and engages Thorvald (9,4) Thorvald wins
but with +3 the 12 means there no damage to the Zombie, he stays in combat since he’s turn is coming
Zombie W2
has line of sight to Blackwulf who is closer so it turns making both its moves to enter combat.
Rats move
toward nearest clue marker where they then get LoS on Thorvald and proceed 3
inches toward him.
COMPANION PHASE
Thorvald
in
combat with the Zombie 7,14….with +3 his 10 still loses the fight with his 11
armor he takes 3 damage.
Sigurd
moves
6 inches in to the livestock where he finds a clue marker roll 18..Treasure..
Guthrum,
Now that Gord has picked the opens the door and enters the building inside
a clue marker and a Zombie! Of course…Guthrum
engages the zombie (1,13) OFF
guthrum wiffs and the Zombie hits him fortunately its only for 2 damage
Gord- has a
tough decision to make..go in and loot, or help in the fight…he actually can
loot because he cant get around the fight without getting dragged into it.. his
bonus with Guthrum is in the combat is only plus 3..Guthrum tell him to secure treasure from Sigurd so he
moves 9 leaving Guthrum to his fate 1 vs 1
EVENT PHASE
Red 5 – a Giant
Rat is placed as near to hero as possible while still being in contact with
building. In this case about 2 inches
away from Sigurd!
TURN 4
RANGER PHASE
Blackwulf can group activate only Gord this turn..
Blackwulf
engaged with Zombie Fights..20,17..Blackwulf 1st critical… 23 to 17
he lands a mortal blow doing 11 damage to the Zombie..he then moves 6 toward
Thorvald
Gord moves 9” getting contact with Sigurd to take
the treasure token off him.
CREATURE
PHASE
Zombie N vs
Thorvald 14,8 Thorvald with a 17 does 5
points of Damage to the Zombie it keeps fighting!
Zombie in
Large House Fights Guthrum 10.20
OOF not Guthrums days he take 9
points of Damage having only 1 Hp left
they stay engage
Giant Rat
charges Sigurd 7,5 giving a Sigurd a 10
to win..against a Rat with 6 armor and 1`hp that’s enough to kill it!
COMPANION PHASE
Sigurd
Drops
the Treasure Token for Gord to take and moves the Small Farmhouse door where
he attempts to smash the door down- he does with a (12) vs TN8 -finding the
building empty
Thorvald
In combat with Zombie near the well at the center of the board (15, 3)…his 18 total from his hammer pulverizes
the zombie to paste with the needed 6 damage
Guthrum
Goes
for broke with his 1 hp fighting on ( 7, 19 ) battling some evil dead type super Zombie he goes down hard and is Out of Action
The first
companion falls.
Skuti
Hears Guthrums' war cry as he falls in battle . He sees he has astraight line of sight on the Zombie that put Guthrum down. He fires an arrow. The shot is - 2 one
for moving one from intervening terrain of the terrace wall and shootimg thru the doorway is giving the zombie some light cover. Skuti's shoot is +2 so its an even shot –(18, 5) Woot!
Payback
Skuti sinks an arrow into its skull putting the zombie down,,,
EVENT PHASE
RED 9 DISEASE
"Any figure that is
reduced to 0 Health during this scenario must make a Health Roll (TN16) or
suffer from disease in the next scenario. Use a figure’s starting health to
make this roll"
Ugh ..Looks like
we be rolling for Guthrum so far in the post game
TURN 5
Only rats on
the board..4 clue markers need uncovered.
RANGER PHASE
Blackwulf
cannot group activate anyone as he is more than 3 inches from any companions
Blackwulf sees those couple rats headed his way and decided to try his "Steady Aim" ability to
take one out with his bow . Steady Aim is +5 for a total of +7.. he shoots 19,18 ! hah -he didn’t even need it that Rat is
skewered dead.
CREATURE PHASE
One rat
moves toward Blackwulf his short to reach him with a double move by just over
an inch.
COMPANION PHASE
Skuti
Moves
inside the Large Farmhouse with 9” for a double move he is short of the Clue marker.
Gord
Picks up the Treasure Token that Sigurd was
carrying to move toward the table
edge..he is about 2 inches away from leaving the board
Sigurd
Moves
North toward the Ruined Farmhouse and its clue marker
Thorvald
Moves
to the stone farmhouse and smashes down the door +3 vs TN 8 rolls a 16
Door flies
open inside is a Zombie and a clue marker!
Event Phase
RED 7
Collapse. One of the buildings, determined
randomly, collapses. Any figure in, or within 2” of the building, suffers an
immediate +4 attack
I roll randomly it’s the ruined
farmhouse that no one is currently at , we are lucky
TURN 6
RANGER PHASE
Blackwulf
cannot group activate anyone as he is more than 3 inches from any companions
Blackwulf fires his bow and the
approaching rat.. (10,7 ) winning with a
12 for his +2 shoot enough to kill a rat…
He then moves toward Thorvald
CREATURE PHASE
Stone Farmhouse Zombie engages
Thorvald (2,5) with Thorvalds +3 fight
we have our first tie both figures deal damage but because of the low rolls
armor blocks damage to either figure
COMPANION PHASE
Thorvald
fights on!..(8,3) he wins with an 11 but against armor 12,
its going nowhere
Sigurd
moves 9 toward NW clue
marker, and just reaches it!
We roll a (5) he finds a survivor
hidden in the bushes near the stone wall!
Skuti
finds the clue marker in the large
farmhouse
He rolls a (15) ..Herbs. we will
find out what they are later.
Skuti can make a second move
back toward the door of 3 inches
Gord
leaves the board with a treasure
token secured!
 |
| Gord , securing the treasure thats what Rogues do... |
Event Phase
Red 3 just as things seemed to be slowing
down Two Zombies show up. One North
and South from center table edge..
TURN 7
RANGER PHASE
Blackwulf can group activate with Thorvald
this turn
He moves and joins the combat with Thorvald attacking with +5 from the 2 vs 1 bonus, (18,3 ) off comes the zombies head at 23
to 12 equaling 11 damage
Thorvald
Then enters the small
cottage and reaches the clue marker rolling “1”
He finds the body of lost
ranger Aventine he makes an armory roll and rolls a “4” failing
He doesn’t notice her sword…Hes
too obsessed with his hammer I guess oh well.
 |
| They find the missing Ranger- Aventine. |
CREATURE PHASE
Both Zombies have Line of Sight
on heroes and move toward the with double 6” moves.
COMPANION PHASE
Sigurd
Engages the oncoming
Zombie with some encouragement he gets the Survivor to join in so he can get
the combat bonus..(17 ,1 ) the zombies
are going down hard with the +5 that’s
11 damage another Zombie dies
 |
| Getting the survivor in the battle probably not the best idea..but it worked. |
Skuti
Fires an arrow at the oncoming Zombie 20,14 the is -1 for intervening terrain but
its still a critical another dead zombie
(its not lost on me I am getting very lucky here,
I watched some other play throughs of this mission that didnt go so well)
 |
| Lets hope Skuti continues to be so lucky, somehow I dont think so |
Event Phase
RED 4 Zombie…I place a Zombie on the Last Clue
marker.
TURN 8
RANGER PHASE
Blackwulf can group activate
Thorvald only.
Blackwulf moves around the corner of building he can see the
last clue marker but cannot reach it with a 9’ move so he moves his full 6 and shoots
his bow. (6,12) missing.
Thorvald moves out of the
building and right next to Blackwulf with a double move.
CREATURE PHASE
Last Zombie moves to engage
Blackwulf, Thorvald snaps to the Combat (3, 6)
With +5 win the combat with a 8
and we don’t damage it but push it back.
COMPANION PHASE
Sigurd
Leads the Survivor
toward the town well to reunite with his companions
Skuti
Moves around the large
farmhouse taking unlikely potshot at the pushed back Zombie
Intervening Terrain and light
Cover..(12, 20) , a miss Zombie brush arrow
away like a fly.
EVENT PHASE
RED ACE
FOUR more Zombies show in original starting positions…
lucky for me the games
ends here ..when Sigurd returns with the Survivor and knowledge of Aventines
fate uncovered The Ranger and his companions sneak out of
the village to rendezvous with Gord, rather than battle the seemingly endless horde
 |
| Scenario ends where it began. now lets get out of here...... |
SCENARIO ENDS
EXPERIENCE
• +2XP for each giant rat or zombie killed.
7 Giant Rats where Killed. =14XP 10
Zombies where killed = 20 XP
• +6XP for each clue marker uncovered.
5 of 6 Clue Marker where found =30 XP
• +12XP if Aventine’s body is discovered.
Her Body was Found = 12 XP
• +5XP if Aventine’s sword is recovered.
The Sword was not = 0XP
• +15XP if a survivor is found and lives to the end of
the scenario.
One Survivor was found and lived = 15Xp
• +6XP if the tracks are discovered and their nature
successfully determined.
No tracks where found =0XP
• +6XP if the mutilated body is discovered and the
nature of the bite marks successfully
Yes
Body was found and spider bites determined =6XP
TOTAL XP = 97
Not enough
to make it the 1 level, 3 point shy …
Out of Action Characters
Guthrum
Rolls a (7) on the Survival Table "Close Call"
loses all non standard equipment (didn’t have any) but recovers normally,…
DISEASE
Check - with 12 Health Guthrum needs a 4+ and rolls a 10…not Diseased.
Treasure
Table
I Rolls ‘3’ =Gold and Jewels, I know idea what these did…nice
tough call as I could give Guthrum his Progression Point he's losing from going OoA but I think
Ill be taking the 10 XP,
Blackwulf thank yous for level 1
Herbs and
Potion
- Roll 8. one dose of Haikwheat
Blackwulf the Ranger XP
107
Level 1 -SKILLS +5
1
Progression Point
Thorvald
Sigurd
Gord
Skuti
I am liking
this game a lot, the FG mechanics are
clean and not fussy, I found myself looking for a few rules here and there
based one things I am used to that weren’t there. Game balances the simple with
the fun, only concerns were I only used
one of my Heroic abilities , I might of the picked things that are more useful (come up more often) but we will have to see
how that goes, This scenario good have been a lot harder had that Red Ace come
up turn 5 or 6 and I had not had as good rolls , it a whole different ballgame.
Companion Reorganization Phase - at the Tavern
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| Blackwulf -"YOU WOMAN, GET BACK HERE WITH THAT ALE!" |
Next Up Mission 1: The Missing -Scenario 2: The Infected Trees
|
