Scenario 10: The Lost Caravans

The warbands encounter a destructive trail. Countless caravans obliterated! The caravans have lost their way upon entering the wilds that border with the dreaded Mountains of Mourn. Following the debris leads to a grand looking wagon belonging to a renowned Cathayan merchant. Standing in the corpses of their fellows the last remaining guards are defending the merchant against a rampaging party of ogre raiders. Since they are out-sized and out-numbered it will not be long before this wagon is decimated.

Terrain

Each player takes it in turn to place a piece of terrain appropriate for the Mountains of Mourn territory, either a set of rocks, hills, forest, or other similar item. We suggest that the terrain is set up within an area roughly 4' x 6'. In the centre of the table place a wagon representing the ambushed caravan.

Warbands

Both players roll a D6 to see who deploys first. The player who rolls highest sets up first within 8" of the table edge of his choice. His opponent then sets up within 8" of the opposite edge.

Starting the Game

Both players roll a D6. The highest scoring player takes the first turn.

Special Rules

The ogre raiding party consists of one Ogre for every 50 points worth of warband rating for each warband. Place the models in base contact with the wagon. They are attacking the caravan crew until the crew is taken out of action. They will then turn their attention to the models from the warbands, attacking the closest and dividing attacks among any other models from the warbands in base contact.

The surviving crew of the caravan consists of as many Guards as Ogre models plus a Cathayan merchant. These models are standing on the wagon cart. Since the draft animals have been slain and the wheels have been ripped off by the ogres the cart cannot move.

The characteristics and special rules for Ogres and Guards are included in the Bestiary. Since the merchant hired some of the better sell-swords available all of his Guards have the Step Aside skill. The Cathayan Merchant is described in the Hired Swords section.

Ending the Game

The first warband to fail its rout test loses the game.

Experience

• +1 Survives: If a Hero or a Henchman group survives the battle they gain +1 Experience.
• +1 Winning Leader: The leader of the winning warband gains +1 Experience.
• +1 Per Enemy Out of Action: Any Hero earns +1 Experience for each enemy he puts out of action.
• +1 Per Raider Out of Action: Any Hero earns an additional +1 Experience for each Ogre from the raiding party he puts out of action.
• +1 Merchant Rescued: If the merchant is still alive after the battle the warband leader gets +1 Experience.

Grateful Merchant

The Cathayan merchant will generously reward any warband for saving his skin from the blood-thirsty raiders. Roll a D6 on the following table to see what he offers:

D6	Reward
1	The merchant helps the warband purchasing some rare items. When searching for rare items after the battle, the warband gets +2 on all rarity rolls.
2	The merchant organises some underground contacts for the warband. This allows them to hire a Ninja for free once.
3-4	The thankful merchant gives the warband a valuable item from his stock. Determine one item at random from the Black Market or Exotic Wares tables described in the Cathayan Merchant rules in the Hired Swords section.
5-6	The merchant can help the warband with their search for the Chaos artefacts. He gives them some rare books and maps from his secret treasure bag. Roll another D6:
	1-3: The documents lead to the whereabouts of Belandysh. In the next battle the warband plays, the first random happening that occurs will automatically be “Belandysh comes!” (42-43).
	4-6: The map leads to the Chaos Dragon’s lair. From now on whenever the warband may choose a scenario, they may also choose the “Chaos Dragon Hunt” special scenario.

If any warband already possesses Belandysh’s Broadsword of Damnation or the Dragon Scale armour, apply the respective other result.

If the merchant was killed during the battle, the winning warband may search the remains of the caravan. Roll a D6: on a roll of 1-3 the warband finds nothing. On a roll of 4-6 apply the respective result from the rewards table above.