"Londinium: The Hit"
A Flintloque Scenario by Craig Andrews
Cutter, one of the Rogues of Londinium has been granted permission from their leader, the nefarious Colonel, to assassinate the Baron Petrochemicoli on his ‘Diplomatic’ hush hush mission to Albion.
Will they succeed and more importantly to The Colonel what secrets will they uncover…
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Cutter looked up as the silhouette of the corpulent Todoroni crossed in front of the window of the first floor of the Last Drop Inn. Involuntarily he drew his knife lightly across the front of his military tunic, underneath which the hair no longer grew on the aged scarred tissue. He closed his eyes and, just for a second, remembered the night when they had taken him, remembered what they had done. The years had not caused the memory to fade. If anything it was more distinct, more vivid than it ever had been. Finally, tonight, he would have his revenge.
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Introduction
Back during the Mordredian Wars The Colonel’s right hand Joccian Rat, Cutter, was taken prisoner during a raid of questionable authority arranged by Wheeling-Turns spymaster, Wogan. As per Wogan’s orders Cutter was left behind when things went awry and was held captive by the elite Cotechino Guarda. During his time with them he was tortured for information relating to Wogan’s more elaborate plots. Cutter did not break but at great cost to his physical and mental well-being. The Cotechino Guarda were commanded at the time, and in fact still are through to this day, by their patron, Baron Petrochemicoli.
According to the most illustrious of Albion newspapers, The Illustrated Londinium Times, Baron Petrochemicoli is on his way to Albion's capital as he has been in talks with the government of Albion to discuss the exchange of prisoners from the early days of the Mordredian Wars. However, rumour has it that the Baron has in fact been brought in a specialist for some kind of hush hush job in the Northern reaches of the city.
Cutter has sought permission from The Colonel to dispatch Petrochemicoli and, with an eye to keeping his somewhat erratic Lieutenant in good order (not to mention seeing a huge potential profit in the escapade, of both secrets and wealth), the Colonel has agreed.
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Who are The Rogues? What is Londinium?
This scenario features The Rogues. Five individuals recruited by the wily Colonel in his ongoing attempt to control Londinium, the capital city of Albion, the Orcs homeland on Valon. They are one of the three main factions in Orcs in the Webbe’s ongoing Flintloque narrative campaign, Londinium. You can read more about them, and the history of the campaign, in the article below:
"Londinium: An Introduction to My Flintloque Campaign"
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Map & Setup
This adventure, as with most of my wargame endeavours, was written with one of Heroic Maps in mind, The Moonshine Tavern. In this scenario it represents The Last Drop Inn. It is available to buy from Wargame Vault. It can be printed out or used in your favourite virtual tabletop software.
Most of the characters do not start in play as a in normal game of Flintloque and are brought in according to the special rules detailed below, however, the Last Drop Inn is a very popular spot on the road from Plymuff to Londinium and is far from empty.
This adventure was designed to be played either: solo controlling one Faction, co-operatively taking a number of Faction members each or opposed with more than one faction vying for the objectives. As such the opposing forces (be they opposing AI controlled factions or scenario forces) move and act according to the special rules outlined below.
Note: The AI Controlled opposing Faction rules are not included in this stand alone version of the scenario. If you have crated another Faction the standard Flintloque solo rules will likely work very well.
Dramatis Personae
As written and presented in this Advent Calendar this scenario is for The Rogues as stated in the Introduction. Other factions can easily be substituted with little difficulty. See the section in Optional Rules below for an overview of Objective Tokens and some ideas.
The Rogues
All of the Rogues have the Status Light Troop to represent the fact they work together well as a unit but also can operate individually if the need arises.
Below are the base stats and should be armed by miniature type to start with (unless detailed below), during the campaign their armament may change however.
The Colonel
Legendary Ogre
Trait: Large Fellow
The Colonel is armed with a Sword Cane, it acts as per a normal Sword except for the fact as it is hidden it’s first attack grants The Colonel First Strike Ferach the first time he engages in melee with a character. Note the opponents character roster/sheet/card after they have fought The Colonel.
Cutter
Veteran Highland Rat
Skill: Intimidation Big Yin
Skill: Taunt Ye Wee Yin
Trait: Head Butt
Cutter is armed with an Exquisite Knife, it is the knife he was tortured with but it has been expertly maintained and sharpened in the intervening years.
Dorothy
Average Ferach Elf
Skill: First Strike Ferach
Skill: Rapport (Cutter)
Flaw: Thieving Scum
Dorothy’s past is a mystery to most, it’s rumoured she came over from Amerka on a giant balloon like that used by the Kinkon Goblins after some ordeal with a great Magicke user but no one really knows. Dorothy is infatuated with Cutter due to his ordeal at the hands of Petrochemicoli’s troops during the war. This ‘love’ is not reciprocated.
Tog
Experienced Orc Gunner
Skill: Boarding Technique
Trait: Takes More than Case to Stop Me (Grapeshotte, p.25)
Flaw: Milky Eyes (Actually missing an eye but this flaw covers it)
Tog was once a brave and loyal Royule Marine in His Monstrosity’s Navye. However, being blown to bits and left for dead floating in the Karenia Sea gave Tog a lot of time for reflection. Once healed he retained his skills and set about applying his skills to releaving His Monstrosity of as much wealth as possible. He was recruited by The Colonel because of his skills with powder.
Ricardo
Average Little Todoroni
Skill: Brawler
Skill: Slimy Tongue
Flaw: Sauce
At first glance an odd recruit for The Colonel to allow as part of his Rogues, he seems to bring very little to the table. However, when The Colonel first met him Ricardo was outnumbered three to one and, despite being under the influence of The Demon Drinke, beat all three attackers to death with an actual table.
Lav
Average Half Orc/Half Elf (use Orc stats in this scenario)
Trait: Good Shot
Trait: False Bravado
Wylde Magicke: In these uncertain times for Magicke users roll for a Potent Magicke Talent at the start of the scenario.
Shunned for his mixed race heritage Lav never found a place in either army so continued to ply his trade of poacher throughout the war. As an expert tracker he has been of great use to The Colonel over the years.
Baron Petrochemicoli’s Delegation
Baron Petrochemicoli: Full rules and stats for Baron Petrochemicoli can be found in the Alternative Armies leaflet LE041: Baron Petrochemicoli (which you can download from Alternative Armies website by clicking here).
Goffredo: Goffredo is Petrochemicoli’s personal bodyguard and as such is a very tough Todoroni indeed. He is a Veteran Big Todoroni armed with an Exquisite Halberd.
Skill: Hop Atop
Flaw: Dazzling Uniform
Ten Cotechino Guarda: You can find full details on them in Flintloque: Grapeshotte (p.40). Generate ten Characters who are Small Todoroni and who have the Troop Type Guard Infantry (Grapeshotte, p.23) and use the Solo rules to control them once in play and to determine Experience level (War in Catalucia, p.90).
Victory Conditions
The Rogues score Minor Victory if they kill* Baron Petrochemicoli, they collect
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Special Rules
The Improbable Action Roll: The original release of Flintloque included a cracking rule called the Improbable Action Roll. This rule was intended to cover all those things not included in a scenario but you’d love to try - those jumps from bedroom windows onto horses waiting below, swinging from chandeliers, leaping chasms and much much more.
For a character to perform an improbable action they must make a base percentile roll to succeed. If they fail, they automatically suffer one Wound.
Raw Character 10%
Average Character 20%
Experienced Character 30%
Veteran Character 40%
Legendary Character 50%
Entering the Inn: As seen on the map there are several ways in which the Rogues can enter the Inn. They all start within one move of any road edge. The options available to them are: entering through the front door, entering through the back door, entering through a first floor window or entering through the cellar. For anything unusual simply use the highly adaptable Improbable Action roll rule above.
Non-Player Characters - Bystanders: At the start of the game roll 3D6 and place that many non-player bystander figures randomly in the main bar, I use the dice drop method but it’s up to you. The bystanders should be statted as per miniature i.e. if you have spare Orcs, play them as Orcs. You can randomise Troop Type very easily and also use the Experience draw rules found in the Solo section of Flintloque 3rd Edition.
Non-Player Characters - Staff: As well as the bystanders above place the landlord behind the bar, a cook in the kitchen and two serving Orcs in randomly determined places in the room. Again use any applicable miniatures you have
Both of these groups of characters are neutral and will not engage the player characters unless attacked (or otherwise noted, see ‘I Know You’ & ‘Mind Your Own Business’ below).
Non-Player Characters - Todoroni: There is also a chance the Cotechino Guarda who have accompanied the Baron are also in the bar. You can find full details on them in Flintloque: Grapeshotte (p.40). Generate ten Characters who are Small Todoroni and who have the Troop Type Guard Infantry (Grapeshotte, p.23) and use the Solo rules to control them once in play and to determine Experience level (War in Catalucia, p.90). Roll on the Tipple Table of the Demon Drinke rules (found here on Orcs in the Webbe) to see if they are. The results of this initial roll do not indicate their state. Todoroni rolling 61+ are in the bar. Any other Todoroni are not yet placed.
Moving Bystanders: There are three sides in the Initiative Rolls phase, The Rogues, The Todoroni and the Last Drop Staff. The bystanders are considered to be last in initiative order. Bystanders are numbered and drawn randomly. When they activate roll D6 and move them as per their needs: On a roll of 1-3 they stay in place and drink some more Beer. On a roll of 4 their beer has run out and they head to the bar, on a roll of 5 nature calls, 6 bed time.
Mind Your Own Business: If any bystander sees a fight there is a small chance they will get involved. On a roll of 1 they will leave the area as soon as they activate, on a 2 to 5 they will ignore the scuffle, on a 6 they will get join the fray. On a 1 or 2 they will aid the losing character, and on a 3 to 6 will help the winning character (this is a smugglers pub in Albion, it’s not full of heroes).
Entering New Rooms: Upon entering a new room there is a small chance there will be someone in it. Roll 1D6. On a roll of 1-3 no new NPCs are placed, on a 4 or 5 place another bystander, on a 6 place a
Secrets: The Baron’s delegation has with it a significant amount of secrets that The Colonel can use in his machinations in Londinium. To represent this in this scenario we use clue markers. The Baron himself had 3 secret tokens and there are D3-1 secrets in each of his three private rooms (at the top left of the map of level one). Every one of the Baron’s delegation also has a 50/50 chance of having 1 secret on them (determined after an attempt to take secrets has been made - see below). These can easily be represented by coins or coloured beads. They will not give them up easily however. There are a number of ways for The Rogue to get their hands on secrets carried by others in the full campaign but in this scenario a damned good thrashing is pretty much the only way. Having said that if you think of something thematic whilst playing, Dorothy encountering a single lonely Cotechino Guarda perhaps an opposed Improbable Action roll.
The Baron’s Room: The Baron will not leave his room (the large bedroom, attached lounge and seperate guards bedroom on the first floor, top right of the map) and upon entering all the remaining Cotechino Guarda and Goffredo should be placed randomly in the room.
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Expanding This Scenario
This scenario can be expanded and embellished as much as you want, some ideas are below:
Night & Weather: Rules for both fighting at night and foul weather can be found in Grapeshotte, p.40 and make pretty much enrich any Flintloque scenario.
Alternate Objectives/Objective Tokens: Variable Objective tokens were to feature in my unpublished campaign ruleset meaning additional sides could easily be added or changed in any given scenario allowing any fielded Faction to have an equal number of objectives on the battlefield. With the “Secrets” rule above it could easily be added to The Club faction as they have the safety of the country deeply rooted in their hearts and need to collect information from the guards, you could perhaps limit them to non-lethal options.
The Cellar/Beach: The Colonel knows that the Last Drop Inn is used by various factions to smuggle goods into the country. He has yet to persuade the landlord to deal with him so if evidence could be found this would also help him in future endeavours.
The Demon Drinke: You can make this scenario more interesting by using the Demon Drinke rules for Flintloque 3rd Edition which can be found on the site here.
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Scenario Notes
This scenario is an Orcs in the Webbe original and was first published on the 22nd December 2019 as part of its 2019 Advent Calendar.
The Improbable Action rules were written by Steve Blease and Mac Coxhead and first appeared in both the original Flintloque and Dresda rulebooks.
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