84. River Watch

Source: Fanatic Magazine #9
Setting: The Empire
Author: Nick Kyme
Broheim notes: Attackers at the south side must smuggle some loot across a east-west flowing river at night and get 25% opf their band off the north edge. The river has only one bridge. Defenders movement is restricted until they spot their enemy. A small keep has special rules regarding spotting the attackers and for the defenders’ rout test, which now has a 50% rout threshold.

The waterways of Stirland are rife with piracy, smuggling and other even less salubrious dealings. Often, mercenaries are hired to garrison the many watchtowers at the Stir’s banks, keeping a sharp eye for any ne’er do wells trying to cross into Stirland unheeded.

One of the warbands has been hired by a local Burgomeister to watch over part of the River Stir at one of its many crossings. Another warband, laden with smuggled loot, is trying to cross unseen.

terrain

A river 6" wide runs across the table east to west, 18" in from the north table edge. There is a narrow bridge roughly half way down it. A watchtower or similar piece of terrain should be placed within 3" of the river bank, around 3" away from the bridge, on the north side of the river. The rest of the terrain should be placed by the players in turn. Trees, small outbuildings, low walls and so on are particularly suitable, although the only high vantage point should be the watchtower. The battle takes place in an area roughly 4' x 4.

set-up

Both players roll a D6. The highest roll may choose whether to be the attacker or the defender, unless one of the warbands is overtly ‘evil’ in its alignment eg, Possessed, Skaven, Undead, etc. This type of warband will always be the attacker in this scenario, unless both players have ‘evil’ warbands, in which case roll off as normal and devise some other likely narrative for them fighting each other (perhaps one warband has slain the tower garrison?).

The defender deploys his entire warband first within 18" of the north table edge on the north side of the river. They may set-up in the watchtower if they wish. The attacker then sets up his warband within 8" of the south table edge (ie, opposite the defender).

special rules

Creeping in the dark: The attackers choose wisely to conduct their raid at night. Vision is reduced to 2D6x3", which must be rolled separately for each model when they intend to charge, shoot or cast spells at an enemy. Any model beyond another model’s vision is considered hidden and so cannot be targeted. Any model with a lantern/torch or within 3" of a lantern/torch may multiply the amount they can see by 5 instead of 3. The watchtower counts as a lantern/torch for this purpose. Any model within 3" of a lantern can automatically be spotted, regardless of distance.

Sentry duty: The defenders are initially unaware of the attacker’s presence. They can only move D6" each turn, until one of the attackers has been spotted or when one of the defenders is hit by shooting, magic or is charged in close combat. Until this happens each players must roll a D6 for every model in the defender’s warband. The player that rolls the highest may move that model this turn up to the amount rolled for its movement, although the attacker may not move a model off the board or into the river. If the result is a draw then the defender may move his own model. Whilst in ‘sentry duty’ the defender may not shoot or cast spells. As soon as an attacker is spotted the entire warband may move and fight as normal.

The river: The river follows the rules given on page 14 of the Empire in Flames rulebook. It counts as deep and flows from east to west.

starting the game

The attacker automatically goes first.

ending the game

The game ends as soon as one warband fails its Rout test, with that warband losing. The game will end immediately if the attacker gets 25% or more of his warband off the north edge (animals do not count for this purpose). Note that because the defender is in a well-fortified position they will only have to take a Rout test when 50% of the warband is out of action.

experience

• +1 Survives. If a Hero or 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 Escapes: Each Hero or Henchman group that manages to escape off the north board edge in the attacking warband gains +1 Experience.

reward

If the defender wins they are paid D6x20 gold crowns + 5 gold crowns extra for each enemy they take out of action.