"Carted off Screaming"
A Flintloque Scenario by Gavin Syme
Doctorov has decided to create a new army of golems from magicke wax. Can his unwilling assistants waylay enough Ferach soldiers deep in the frozen forest before their plan is revealed in this Flintloque scenario for one or two players.
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“Frying Tonight!”
The Elf convulsed and jerks spasmodically as electricity blasted through his him. A whip crack as his finger pulled the trigger of his musket; the lead ball uselessly flying skywards. Again the lightening lashed out and the soldier of the 9eme de Ligne toppled forward into the snow his greatcoat and hair smoking. Orclando Watte step forwards and with a single finger burned a line of lightening into the Elf's back tracing out his initials. He then turned smugly towards Vileria who stood impatiently inspecting her long nails nearby. She raised one eyebrow and spoke.
“Well get on with it then I haven't got all night you know.”
Her voice was like syrup poured over golden peaks but her eyes were cold and hard. Orclando sighed, as well as he was able to since he did not need to breath and gripped the smoldering Elf by the ankle and easily began to drag him after Vileria who was walking away across the snow lithe and silent. He attempted an apology.
“Forgive me. I just had to do that.”
They approached the crypt entrance and with a shuddering grumble of stone the lid marking the entrance to the crypt rose slowly revealing stairs down into darkness. With a grunt Orclando lifted the unconcious Elf and tossed him down the stairs where hands waited in pitch dark to take him away. Vileria licked her lips and waited for the crypt to close once more. That was the last of the mortals. Not nearly enough but it would have to do. Now it was time to retire and await more victims. The minions of Doctorov flitted among the trees in their grey robes swords in hands. She did not like Wraiths, they had little regard for her and just obeyed..no fun at all.
A single and then several shots rang out in the distance and snow fell from branches above Orclando as a spent ball passed through them. With a thump the snow landed on the creature which was once an Orc. He shouted in anger and lightening arced across his body and the ground at his feet. The snow melted and as she began to sashay towards the musketry Vileria called back to him,
“They would have to come tonight, just when I'm feeling half dead!”
More soldiers from the broken army around Moskova had wandered into the forest. They had to be collected. The Wraiths were already throwing grenades and their muffled thumps reached back to Vileria. She halted and demurely reached down to pick up a small lump of charred flesh. She tossed it backwards perfectly to Orclando who was following her. She asked if it belonged to him as he was blatently missing one. Was it his?
“What this ear?”
She smiled and continued onwards.
The Scenario Objectives
This tribute scenario is a full sized game for two sides or solo play set in the Witchlands just as the retreat from Moskova is beginning. You should be familiar with the full game rules as laid out in 5026 Death in the Snow and while miniatures are recommended you can use any you wish. Pay attention to unique rules and conditions in this scenario as they are there to add extra fun. Enjoy!
The Ferach Empire
The city of Moskova is burning and your force has thus far managed to evade any enemy pursuit...until now. Wandering into a odd frozen forest in which some of the trees are petrified and splattered with yellow wax. Before long silent Wraiths led by a beautiful apparition in white and a fiendish glowing creature are attacking! You must get away!
Vileria the Undead Mistress
Doctorov has decided to create a new army of golems from magicke wax and he is assisted in the grabbing of unwilling victims by Vileria the Undead Mistress and Orclando Watte as well as a group of Wraiths. In the frozen forest they must petrify or knock out enough Ferach soldiers to meet the fiends needs. These will be turned into wax golems to aid the war effort.
The Set Up
The scenario takes place on a rectangular playing area which is standard size of four feet (120cm) by six feet (180cm) which is best suited to a flat table. This scenario takes places on a flat field of hard packed snow which counts as Clear for movement. The whole area is covered in scattered lots of tall trees. Players take it in turns to place groups of four trees which are 5cm or so apart. Each group must be 15cm from the next closest. Place ten groups. There is also a small crypt which is 10cm across and is placed at the centre of the playing area.
While we do not expect you to match up your terrain exactly to the instructions please do try to get as close as you can to the guide given. Players should agree upon playing area set up before play commences with the first turn. Setting up your miniatures for this scenario is as follows.
The Ferach section of characters sets up at the central crypt within 5cm of each other. The section is composed of your choice of Ferach Elves. There are sixteen characters all Ferach Elves who are regular troop type and experience levels are one Veteran, four Experienced, five Average and five Raw. Each is armed with a musket or pistol. Create your section as normal in 5026 Death in the Snow.
The Vileria Undead Mistress section sets up at any chosen edge of the playing area within 5cm of each other. They are led by Vileria and are composed of herself along with Orclando Watte along with eight Wraiths. Use the special rules for Vileria and Orclando and see 5026 Death in the Snow pages 82 and 84 for creating Wraiths. The eight are Average experience level and are armed only with melee weapons such as a Sword or Axe or Spear, one each. All the characters carry two Petrification Grenades (see special rules).
Game Length and Present Conditions
This scenario is not time dependent rather realisation dependent. After five turns of play the Ferach section will realise they must escape and at that time the player will choose a playing area edge and make for it with the aim of escape. The game ends with the petrification or knocking out of the last Elf or with the leaving of the last Elf from the table. Vileria will win if no more than eight Elves make it off the playing area.
The present conditions of this scenario are as follows. During the whole time of this scenario it is during the day. The weather is cold and there is no rain. Refer to the Scenario Special Conditions for this scenario for any rules mechanics that deviate from those found in Flintloque 3rd edition game books.
Scenario Special Conditions
Almost all Flintloque scenarios go a little beyond the normal game play mechanics and these are known as Scenario Special Conditions. In this part of the scenario all of the unique or adapted mechanics to be used in this scenario are presented. You must implement the mechanics here alongside those in the game book and expansion book that apply. Where they overlap the mechanics of the scenario take president position. As always use common sense and if in doubt toss a coin…a Kyng’s Shilling of course!
Vileria Undead Mistress: She is a strange creature. Subtle and sexual but with an air of knowing superiority which gets her what she wants. Unique in the World of Valon she is treated as a Ferach Elf for movement and wounds etc. She is Regular / Veteran. She carries no weapons and rather she uses her allure to distract and to lure foes. She may make one ranged attack per turn using the statistics and chance to hit of a standard musket. A successful hit results in a target being frozen in place just as with a petrification grenade. Any character attacking or attacked by her in melee suffers the same fate if they do not kill her in one round of attacks.
Orclando Watts: No one knows where he came from though being once an Orc it is rumoured to have been Londinium. Transformed by Doctorov into a strange creature capable of manipulating self made lightening Orclando obeys the will of Vileria and tends not to leave her side. Any character who makes a melee attack upon him is automatically knocked unconscious. He may make one of two different attacks once every second turn. A ranged lightening bolt which is treated as a Dwarf Jager Rifle or a fork of lightening which nominates three targets and on a roll of 10 on a D10 results on them being knocked out. He is treated as a Golem who is Regular and Average.
Petrification and the Wraiths: It is not the aim to kill the Elves rather to capture them for transformation. To that end each time a Wraith makes a melee attack and wins resulting in a kill the target is simply knocked out and remains where they fell unless a Wraith or other character moves them (at one third of normal movement rate). Each member of the Vileria section has two grenades or a special design. These are thrown as normal for a standard grenade but they must strike a target to work. Upon a successful hit the target is frozen in place for three turns and may not move. They may be carried or attacked and knocked out. Use a token to note turns passing.
Knocked Out: When a character is knocked unconscious there is a change that an ally can wake them up. When a friendly character is within 5cm make a 1D10 roll per friendly character to represent a shout or kick. On a 9 or 10 the character wakes up once more.
Optional Scenario Changes
This scenario is not very flexible but there is one change you can make to alter the outcome of the game. Try it out and see how you like it.
Dorkis Munn: The Grand Armee du Norde was not composed entirely of soldiers there were also camp followers, wives and nobles too. One such lady has ended up with the Ferach Elves in the forest. She will not leave the side of the commanding officer and will not make any attacks during play. She is an Elf Civilian who is Raw. For the Undead she counts towards victory if taken. She is rather shrill and as a result whenever a Wraith gets within 15cm of her she will scream. This scream is so loud it halts the Wraith and places a Shaken token upon it.
Solo Play of This Scenario
As with almost all other scenarios for Flintloque this one can be played solo. That is with one player and others being acted out by a ‘silent player’ that being the bolt on mechanics for solo play found in all Flintloque game books. Here are the parameters for this scenario played solo.
It is assumed that you will be playing the part of the Undead. The solo rules apply to the Ferach section. Use solo player parameter NEUTRAL for the Elves and they will prioritise ranged combat over melee and will seek to prevent the enemy from reaching melee range. Once the sixth turn begins change their parameter to DEFENSIVE and they will prioritise escape from the nearest table edge for each Elf.
Recommended Miniature Codes
The choice of miniatures for this scenario is very wide on one hand and specific upon the other. For the Ferach Elves you can use any codes you wish such as 51504, 51508 or any other Elf Line or on foot characters you have. For the optional Dorkis use an Elf Lady from 51047 pack. For the Undead we would like you to use 55030 Ghostly Bride for Vileria. For Orclando use 55518 Count Byrorc. High Fantasy packs VNT28 and VNT43 give you eight Wraiths rounding out the Undead. You will need a copy of 5026 Death in the Snow game book as well.
(All of the above is available over on Alternative Armies' excellent website, click here or on the AA logo below to have a shufty. - Craig A, Editor)
Designers Notes
As you may have worked out this festive season scenario written for Orcs in the Webbe is my tribute to not only a classic Carry On film but also to the now departed legendary actress siren Fenella Fielding who left this world in 2018. It was a real pleasure to pen this little adventure and to play test it too. I might even say that the release of the Ghostly Bride miniature was planned around this very scenario. If you have never seen Carry on Screaming or my other favourite movie Fenella starred in called Guest House Paradiso.
Rest well lady... no one wore red as well as you.
Gavin Syme (GBS)
December 2018
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Webmaster's Notes
An Orcs in the Webbe Original! The above scenario was published on Orcs in the Webbe on the 5th December 2018 as part of its 2018 Advent Calendar.