December 20th: Results

Weather: it's nice, dreadfully bright and sunny

No deliveries today would make the Dread Lord irritable, but he likes what he sees developing in Carnatium.

Random Encounters

1. Sivor's treasure-laden warg riders make good time and advance an extra hex to catch up the rest of his force.
2. The Khaleb/Hollyfelled alliance encounters a small band of goblins in 7,7, and snatch them up as prizes.  Each force gains 10HD worth of goblin slaves.

Carnatium Raids

Porcus Orcus hits the southeast side of Carnatium with a big force.  The armed forces realize they are out-matched and attempt to clear out the suburbs and get everyone behind the city walls.  Their rear-guard action manages to claim 70HD worth of goblins and 50HD worth of orcs, but Porcus' main force is able to ride away with 6,400gp and 680HD worth of slaves.  (This is after the four re-rolls gained by having such a large force.)

Kor Torrigan Raids

None

Goblintown Raids

None

Nirumbee Encounters

None

Map Moves

Leaderboard

Klon Grushnag: 79 points

Grimdark Morbad: 61 points

Porcus Orcus: 54 points

Lorem Ipsum: 38 points

Hollyfelled: 35 points

Garrek Bloodtide: 32 points

Kris Karnhell: 34 points

Kul of the Dripping Blades: 31 points

Khaleb Ghines: 24 points

December 19th: Results

Weather: it's nice, dreadfully bright and sunny

Kris Karnhell delivers 500gp and 20HD worth of goblin slaves to the tower, earning just 6 points.

The Dread Lord sighs.  It will have to do.

Random Encounters

Garek and Lorem encounter a strange thing - a Kave of Wunderz.  Unable to resist, their forces explore these sparkling caves, only to find bare loot amid numerous traps.  Each of the two forces loses 20HD worth of orcs, and theyeach recover just 100gp worth of gems and scattered coin.  They smash the place in a fit of pique and continue on their mission. (This is not enough loot to slow them in the event of more rain.)

Carnatium Raids

None

Kor Torrigan Raids

None

Goblintown Raids

Kul of the Dripping Blade smashes into GoblinTown and hauls away 150HD worth of goblins and 200gp worth of loot.  It comes at the cost of 30HD worth of orcs.  Though the place is depleted, there is still some fight left in the goblins.

Nirumbee Encounters

The Ghines/Hollyfelled alliance slips out of the elven fastness without further incident.

Map Moves

EDIT TO ADD: Klon Grushnag is surprised by the arrival of reinforcements at his field camp.  They should have arrived in his home hex, but for a quick raid by Sivor Khalid several days beforehand.  He welcomes them in with a feast on the road.

Leaderboard

Klon Grushnag: 79 points

Grimdark Morbad: 61 points

Porcus Orcus: 54 points

Lorem Ipsum: 38 points

Hollyfelled: 35 points

Garrek Bloodtide: 32 points

Kris Karnhell: 34 points

Kul of the Dripping Blades: 31 points

Khaleb Ghines: 24 points

December 18th: Results and Rain!

Once again, heavy rains settle over the land, and the Dread Lord paces in frustration at the lack of donations to the cause.

Wagons cannot move today.

All random encounters and raids are unaffected by sunlight.

A huge band of orcs shows up to enlist in the forces of the storied warchief Klon Grushnag, only to find his home village reduced to still-smoldering ashes - disappointed, they depart the region in search of orc leaders who can protect their own. [EDIT: This was a GM error.  Had I not misread the orders, there would have been a larger force here.  To make up for the error, these reinforcements are going to show up tomorrow at warchief Klon's field camp wanting to know what's going on around here. He will need to reclaim his home hex before gaining more reinforcements, but this allows for some make-up ruling that doesn't throw the game out of whack.]

Random Encounters

While passing though hex (4,7), the forces of Porcus Orcus discover a Strange Portal down in a sheltered hollow.  A large stone doorway filled with purple glowing mists stands there, and through the ethereal light, the orcs dimly perceive a familiar and dreadful sight - Malturrim.  Any force that starts its day in this hex can opt to enter the portal, which whisks them to Malturrim.  This is a one-way journey.

Carnatium Raids

None

Kor Torrigan Raids

None

Goblintown Raids

Kul of the Dripping Blade smashes into GoblinTown and hauls away 150HD worth of goblins and 200gp worth of loot.  It comes at the cost of 30HD worth of orcs.  Though the town depleted, there is apparently still some fight left in the goblins.

Nirumbee Encounters

The elves, finally spurred to anger by yesterday's raid, put on a show of force.  They dispatch another 150HD worth of elves who again suffer at the hands of the orcs.  Another result of 4 on the 3:1 advantage column spells thier doom, and all fall to the wicked blades of the orcs without inflicting a casualty in return.

Map Moves

Any force that starts its day in hex (4,7) can opt to enter the portal, which whisks them to Malturrim.  This is a one-way journey.

Leaderboard

Klon Grushnag: 79 points

Grimdark Morbad: 61 points

Porcus Orcus: 54 points

Lorem Ipsum: 38 points

Hollyfelled: 35 points

Garrek Bloodtide: 32 points

Kul of the Dripping Blades: 31 points

Kris Karnhell: 28 points

Khaleb Ghines: 24 points

December 17th: Results

Weather: mostly sunny and dry, with scattered showers over Nirumbee woods 

Klon Gushnag, after a brief delay, deposits 3200gp and 280HD worth of humans at Malturrim, for 46 points.  This should strengthen his hand, but for trouble on the home front...

How terrible the grin that cracks the visage of the Dread Lord!

Random Encounters

1. Khaleb Ghines' raiding force in hex 5,8 encounters a human raiding party on the hunt for witches.  As Khaleb's force does not have a shaman, the humans move on without conflict.
2. Human crusaders strike at Old PorcusTown in hex 10,8.  They move in, sanctify the place, and set up shop. 

How strange that after so many days of no random encounters, today should spawn two instances of the same one.  This calls for some creative interpretation.  Two shields have appeared on the map, below, each marking the location of a persistent encounter.  The wandering crusaders who appeared in 5,8 will move toward Old Old PorcusTown at one hex per day, still hunting witches.  They will attack any orc force that contains one, and will halt at Old PorcusTown to reinforce their comrades there.  By their speed on rainy days, one can see that the wanderers carry no treasure, but who can say what treasures now lie waiting in Old PorcusTown?

Carnatium Raids

Sivor Khan's swift warg riders sweep into the outskirts of Carnatium.  The humans struggle to respond in time, and the raid leaves the city 500gp and 80HD worth of slaves poorer.  All with no casualties.  The orcs manage to swing north out of the hex, but now laden with treasure and a string of slaves behind, until they arrive home, even the wargs will have to slow their pace to just one hex per day.

Kor Torrigan Raids

None

Goblintown Raids

None

Nirumbee Encounters

The elves, finally spurred to anger by yesterday's raid, put on a show of force.  An ambush of 170HD worth of elves.  The orcs feign a retreat, leading the elves into an ambush of their own.  With Hollyfelled's weathermance summoning rain and blotting out the sun, this turns the field into a 3:1 advantage.  The result of a 4 indicates a total rout of the elves with no casualties for the orc forces.

Map Moves

Sivor Khalid runs a large force - a subchief, shaman, and 80HD worth of boys - to KlonTown where they sense an opportunity.  Rather than wait for the force from the south to arrive, they launch an attack alone.  Against a minimal garrison, they have a 2:1 advantage even with the city walls in place, and roll a 4.  The attackers lose a third the HD of the defenders, which rounds up to a loss of 20HD.  The defenders perish to an orc, the town is burned, and Klon's forces go full nomad!  Klon can still score points, but with no home hex, can no longer spawn reinforcements.

Leaderboard

Klon Grushnag: 79 points

Grimdark Morbad: 61 points

Porcus Orcus: 54 points

Lorem Ipsum: 38 points

Hollyfelled: 35 points

Garrek Bloodtide: 32 points

Kul of the Dripping Blades: 31 points

Kris Karnhell: 28 points

Khaleb Ghines: 24 points

December 16th: Results and Rain!

Heavy rains settle over the land.

Wagons cannot move today.

All random encounters and raids are unaffected by sunlight.

The Dread Lord scowls as his coffers receive no donations on this day.  The rains have delayed the incoming treasure caravans.

Random Encounters

None

Carnatium Raids

None

Kor Torrigan Raids

None

Goblintown Raids

None

Nirumbee Encounters

The Hollyfelled/Ghines alliance manages to find a small elven outpost.  They surprise 30HD worth of elves, which they outnumber by well over 4:1.  Add in the rains, and the elves die without inflicting any casualties. 

Map Moves

Klon Grushnag tenses up in hex (5,6), his wagons are immobilized by the rain and mud, and a fresh force of Grimdark Morbad spills out of Malturrim.  Klon feels some relief as his forces clearly outnumber the approaching force, but caught between the tower and Grimdark's home hex the situation is fraught with danger.  To his relief, Grimdark chooses to pass wide of his camp, intent on making it home before dayfall. 

Leaderboard

Grimdark Morbad: 61 points

Porcus Orcus: 54 points

Lorem Ipsum: 38 points

Hollyfelled: 35 points

Klon Grushnag: 33 points

Garrek Bloodtide: 32 points

Kul of the Dripping Blades: 31 points

Kris Karnhell: 28 points

Khaleb Ghines: 24 points

December 15: Results

Weather: Dry, sunny, and miserable

Grimdark Morbad, following a two-day delay, finally manages to creak the last few miles into Malturrim with a huge haul of 2,200gp and 180HD worth of human slaves for a 31 point reward and the lead!

The Dread Lord is pleased.

Random Encounters

None.  I really need new dice.

Carnatium Raids

None

Kor Torrigan Raids

None

Goblintown Raids

None

Nirumbee Encounters

The elves are mysterious and evasive.  Even with two chances for an encounter, they remain hidden among their bowers.

Map Moves

  

No conflicts today as orc forces gather and plan...

Leaderboard

Grimdark Morbad: 61 points

Porcus Orcus: 54 points

Lorem Ipsum: 38 points

Hollyfelled: 35 points

Klon Grushnag: 33 points

Garrek Bloodtide: 32 points

Kul of the Dripping Blades: 31 points

Kris Karnhell: 28 points

Khaleb Ghines: 24 points

Update from Malturrim

Closing out the second week of Decembork, the Dread Lord is content.  His boys are really showing a lot of gumption out there.  His money-counters are also pleased with a total of 32,556gp donated to the cause so far.  The addition of 180 human slaves and 360 goblins to his forces is lighter than he hoped, but enough to keep him from throwing unpleasant energies down from his tower. If you ask me, if he really wanted things to move faster, he would have done something about the weather.  What's all that dark power for if not to grease the wheels for his loyal troops, eh?

To clarify some odd events and rulings from this past week:

The original rules said you needed one subchief at home and one with every raiding party.  This was to limit your ability to hare off in a thousand different directions and save my sanity which would be lost if I had to track more than fifty warbands.  That still pretty much stands, but a number of you wanted to leave your homes stripped of troops and made a good case for it.  As always, this game is about risks and rewards.  So you can leave your home undefended, but every day it sits there it risks a random encounter check (10%).  If that hits, and the encounter is capable of it, the encounter can move in uncontested and you'll have to fight your way back in.  Note that, unless you control a home hex, you cannot spawn troops.

This is what happened to Kris Karnhell this week.  Those stone walls don't look so good from the outside.  This partially explains what's going on with the last dregs of Lorem Ipsum - without a warlord, his boys have emptied LoremTown and gone rogue.  They are now murderhoborcs roaming the steppe in search of gold and glory for themselves.

If a chief does sack another orc's homehex and want to claim it as his new homehex, he can keep control over the old town provided he maintains that 20HD minimum force there.  But if he wants to make the newly sacked hex his homehex, he has to have the only orc force in that hex, and he has to spend a day rearranging the furniture and kicking out the old guy's mother-in-law and whatnot.  Them's the costs of moving day.

This is similar to the prohibition on raiding the same hex twice in a row.  You have to pull-back, gather your troops, and make ready for a second assault.  We've seen this a couple of times, but it might not have been clear, so I wanted to highlight that.