'A Midnight Feast'

or

'Shooting Gozens Cocks Up'

A Flintloque Scenario by Matthew Hartley

Back home, away from the Mordredian Wars, lower class Orcs are forced into poaching to feed thier familes.

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Introduction

With Wheeling-Turn as undisputed ruler of Albion, his generals - many former tribal leaders with substantial tribal homelands - began to formalise control over the lands of Albion. No longer could any young Orc plant his stake were he choose, build himself a rookery, and hunt the beasts of the fields and skies as his fancy took him. The generals created Larders (as these enclosed lands were known), and forbade any Orc from hunting there without his word. Many Orcs of humble stock were sorely grieved by these restrictions, and stole into the Larders at night to take Nature’s bounty.

The generals have taken to arming their followers and setting cruel and deadly traps in their woods for the unwary. An so many a bloody skirmish between Poachers and Gamekeepers is set to darken the year.

The Poachers

The wily band of poachers are led by a former corporal, Hotkinz. Hotkinz is Experienced, one other Orc is Average, and the three others are Raw. The unit counts as Guerrillas. In order to hunt quietly, the poachers have returned to traditional weapons, and carry crossbows and knives.

The Poachers know they have been rumbled by the Gamekeepers, and must try to escape the board from southerly edge (Any other direction would take them further into the Larder). They deploy in the centre of the table.

The Gamekeepers

The Gamekeepers are a hardy bunch of country folk. Led by Olde Zeth (named such on account of his youth), all are armed with blunderbusses and knives. Olde Zeth is Experienced, two Orcs are Average, and one is Raw. The unit is classed as Guerrillas.

The Gamekeepers aim is simply to kill as many of the Poachers as possible. The Gamekeepers can deploy on any two sides of the area.

The Traps

The Gamekeeper player should have 17 1cm square chits - 10 are blank on both sides, 5 are marked "Leg Trap" on one side, and the remaining 2 should be marked "Swivel Gun". These represent areas which may or may not be trapped.

Before the game begins, the Gamekeeper player should place these markers face down as he wishes around the table. Whenever a Poacher comes within 2 cm of a chit, the chit should be turned over, if it's blank, there is no effect (it just looked like a suspicious clump of bushes). If it’s a leg trap, then the Orc must have a turn of hand-to-hand combat with it. The leg trap has a melee score of 6 +1D10, the Orc counts all hand-to-hand modifiers except those derived from weapons. If the chit is a swivel gun, it fires at the Orc as if it were a blunderbuss. Leg traps and swivel guns are effective only once, and once activated once are discarded.

Note: The Gamekeepers know were the traps are, and consequently do not set them off. Only Poachers are affected by them.

The Terrain

The entire area is woodland, expect for the paths. Normal movement penalties apply in the woods and due to the darkness and the trees, no missile weapon may be fired at ranges beyond 10 cm.

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Webmaster's Notes

This scenario is one of Matthew Hartley's hugely popular Tales of Albion. It was originally published on Mike Baumann's excellent Filbanto Stew Website that has long since passed into the West.

It was first published on Orcs in the Webbe on the 5th December 2007 as part the 2007 Advent Calendar. After an absence of several years due to a prior regeneration of the website it returned on the 6th November 2014.

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