Merry Christmas and State of the Orc Army

 Merry Christmas everyone, I hope it's a safe, healthy holiday for you all. 

I took the opportunity to get the kitchen table cleared off, a 3'x3' battle mat unrolled, and rather than playing a game, I set up my entire Orc & Goblin army. I've been working on this army off and on since 2020, most notably in the 4th and 5th annual Old World Army Challenges.

I am hoping to take an expanded version of this army to Da Boyz GT in 2023 for 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to see happen with this army in terms of enlarging it, but I wanted to make sure I took stock of what I had first.

First up, here's the whole army:

That's 90 Orcs, 31 Goblins, 14 Hobgoblins, 4 Trolls, 5 Boars, 6 Wolves and 1 Krung Beast. It's kind of wild to realize how much I've already done.

 

First up is the newest finished unit, a squad of five Goblin Wolfboyz with bows, with an attached Goblin Big Boss. These are from Knightmare Miniatures and are phenomenally characterful sculpts; the wolf the Big Boss is riding is actually from Warmonger, as I'd accidentally snapped the ankles on the sixth Knightmare wolf. I'll be adding a second squad of Wolfboyz with bows in 2023.

Next, we have six Goblin archers, mostly Knightmare but there is one Black Tree Designs figure in there. I have a bunch of Warmonger and Black Tree archers to paint and add to this unit; it's not a huge priority because I'm not anticipating fielding this regiment in November, but I'm happy to paint them regardless.

While we're on goblins, here's a dozen Goblins and three Goblin bosses from Knightmare. I have a ton of unpainted Black Tree goblins I'll be adding to this regiment. Ultimate goal is to get it up to 40 goblins. A Knightmare Orc Shaman is visible behind the goblins.

Harboth's Orc Archers, with Harboth. I have a dozen painted here, and have a box of maybe 20 more that I could strip and repaint if I wanted. I have a special fondness for these guys - they were released just weeks after I was born. Behind them, next to the mounted commander, is my current Battle Standard Bearer for the army, with a crowned skull and crossed swords mounted on some bound-together polearms. He may ultimately find his way into a unit and be replaced as the BSB.

"Dese Lads Ova 'Ere," 1 dozen Orc Warriors from Warmonger. This unit will be expanded to 25 this year. I love the tuba player, and the banner that just bafflingly says "Eat Yer Beans" is a perennial favorite of anyone who sees it. I've got an Orc crouching with his hands over his ears coming from Warmonger in the next couple weeks who I'm hoping will let me move the musician inwards from the edge of the line.

"Dem Lads Ova Dere," another dozen Warmonger orcs that will again be bolstered to 25 in the coming weeks. The "Foot of Gork" banner was my first attempt at doing shading and highlighting on a flat surface. The foot is traced off the Monty Python's Flying Circus foot. Behind them are four Bog Trolls from Troll Soup; I received another four yesterday in the mail. I might pick up another four later on, so I can field two units of six. I'm a big fan of the one picking his nose, with a nosepicking "Orcling" from Warmonger on his base.

"The Black Fire Boyz" are more art project than planned part of the army; 15 Warmonger "Mercenary Orcs" in landsknecht garb with spears. I like the idea of a band of orcs aping Empire battlefield tactics and style, but I really don't want to keep doing puff-and-slash after these 15, so I won't be expanding this unit.

"The Old Guard" - these are my Orc Big'uns, a mix of Citadel/GW and Heartbreaker Miniatures originally released between 1985 and 1995. I've got some more Heartbreaker figures on the way, and will be scrounging through ebay and various buy-and-sell forums to expand this regiment further. I think the ultimate plan will be 38 Big'uns, with the army battle standard bearer and maybe the general attached to the unit. 

10 "Barnorsk Great Orcs" from Harlequin, remolded and reissued by Black Tree Designs a couple years ago. Buying and painting these was what sparked this whole army project; I think I want to go back and remove their citadel shields, trim the pegs and replace them with sculpted face shields from Warmonger. And maybe expand the regiment; I see myself using these as Black Orcs in WHFB. They're a pain in the ass to try and rank up, incidentally.

 

6th edition WHFB Goblin Doom Diver; I originally painted this up as a proxy 3rd edition Orc Stone Thrower (since goblins are about as smart as stones), hence the orc crew. I like the guy shading his eyes best.

Epigruel's Slop 'n' Go Chuck-Wagon. I painted this up as a baggage train in OWAC IV after finishing 1000 points of 3rd edition greenskins. The wagon and cauldron are 3D printed, the cooks, guard and boar are all Warmonger. There's a Warlord Games "Landsknecht Casualty" in the back of the wagon, waiting his turn in the pot. Obviously this is just a flavorful, fun accessory, and probably won't be making an appearance on any battlefields.

Some commanding officers; the boar chariot is a converted Warmonger Beastman chariot, with a new orc crew added. The orc in the puff-and-slash making a rude gesture was my general for OWAC IV. On the right is a classic Citadel/GW boar boy (with a shield from Knightmare), and on the left is a much larger mounted Orc Commander from Knightmare. I've been encouraged to field a general on foot, and I recognize the limitations of mounting my commander in a chariot, but I'm really tempted to put the Knightmare orc in command of the whole army, maybe attached to the unit of boar boyz I have primed and awaiting paint. 

Last but not least, we have a Hobgoblin Mercenary Contingent for 3rd edition; 12 Mourngul Renegades (I have three more to prime and paint), a commander on a Temple Dog (a Reaper Miniatures "Krung Beast" I sculpted a saddle on), and a beastmaster in need of some Hobhounds. I could use the hobgoblins to bulk out an orc regiment in 8th edition, but otherwise they might stay home.

So what's next?

First and foremost, I need to bulk out my Big'uns and my two mobs of Warmonger Boyz, along with my goblin regiment. I've got more Warmonger figures on the way, and need to sort out the goblins I have. 

More trolls. I've got four unpainted ones here, and may order another 4 to field two units of six.

Add a second Wolfboyz unit.

I have 10 Orc Boar Boyz to paint, all from Knightmare Miniatures; several of them were converted with weapon swaps, and I converted a standard bearer and musician. 

War machines will be a big addition as well; I have one bolt thrower half-painted and intend to add two more, as well as a proper Rock Lobba catapult. Two Goblin Wolf Chariots might be called for as well. 

I've been encouraged to field a Mangler Squig in 8th edition; I've got Knightmare's Giant Gnasher that will work perfectly as such.

Mounted Orc Warboss (Knightmare Miniatures)

 So in 2021 I painted 1000 points' worth of Orcs and Goblins for 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles as part of the Old World Army Challenge. I signed up to paint another 1000 points this year, but couldn't keep up on my painting and got disqualified halfway through. So I have a lot of greenskins here that have been primed and awaiting paint for a year now.

Earlier this month, I found out that a local tournament, Da Boyz GT, had a Warhammer Fantasy Battles 8th Edition tourney this year. And I have my wife's enthusiastic support for me to attend in 2023 (our health allowing), if I get enough minis painted up to qualify. I've never actually played Warhammer; 20-21 years ago I walked into a Games Workshop store for the first time and walked out with a box of plastic Night Goblins, a blister of Fanatics, a blister of Squigs and a River Troll. As a teenager I didn't have the money or the attention span to focus on an army long enough to get one built. So were I to attend it would fulfill a bunch of teenage dreams of mine. 

This got me inspired to dig out some primed greenskins and start painting, starting with this mounted Warboss from Knightmare Miniatures. He was a birthday present from my wife in 2021, and a great starting point to resume painting my orcs and goblins. I love that he's riding a warthog instead of a standard boar.

Ah-Cahulka, the Golden (Lucid Eye Publications)

 Over on Instagram I'm participating in a "Deadcember" painting challenge this month, and posted my finished piece today. My undead of choice was "Ah-Cahulka, the Golden" from Lucid Eye Publications, a Mesoamerican-style liche from their "Savage Core" line, part of the "Maxzan" faction. 

The base is a couple layers of cork board, torn into irregular shapes and stacked on top of each other, painted in shades of gray (there was a green wash in there as well, for the humid, mossy stone look, but I think it got lost in the gray to some extent), then splodged with thinned white glue and dipped in a couple different shades and grades of flocking. I topped that off with a couple of green foam shrubbery bits. 

I had a really good time painting this figure; I'd originally thought he'd be a gaming piece but honestly, I might keep him as a display figure.

Back of Beyond: "Keys to Shambhala"

I've been reading Andrei Znamenski's 2011 book "Red Shambhala: Magic, Prophecy and Geopolitics in the Heart of Asia" this week. Exploring Bolshevik efforts in the 1920s to exploit apocalyptic Buddhist prophecies to sway Mongolia and Tibet towards Marxism-Leninism, it's ripe for being turned into a Pulpy "Back of Beyond" skirmish game. And so, going through the figures I've got painted (and painting one to finish things off), I prepped a game for this holiday weekend. I need to get some more White Russians and Warlord Chinese painted at some point in the near future to expand these games some as well. 

Honestly, some of the personalities operating in Central Asia during this period are more colorful than would be believable in fiction, which is just wonderful for gaming purposes; I've been a big fan of Roy Chapman Andrews, the American paleontologist who retrieved the first known dinosaur eggs from Mongolia in this period (and who was one of the models for Indiana Jones), for many years now, and he's almost bland by comparison to the likes of Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, Frank "One-Armed" Sutton, Colonel Frederick M. Bailey, and Cheka agent, cryptographer and paranormal investigator Gleb Bokii.

Bokii's efforts to organize a scientific expedition to locate the legendary kingdom of Shambhala and convince the Ascended Masters therein to turn their occult superscience towards the Bolshevik cause was the inspiration for today's game. I didn't have any figures scrawny and weaselly enough to pass for Bokii, so I used a figure from Pulp Figures' recent "Arcane Academics" Kickstarter as a fictionalized stand-in: Dr. Sergei Kolchak - revolutionary spy, agent provocateur and occult investigator. His grandson would continue the family tradition of exploring the paranormal, fifty years later in the 1970s. 

Setup: 1924, Southern Mongolia. Dr. Sergei Kolchak, head of a secret occult investigation unit within the Soviet Secret Police, has become obsessed with legends of the hidden kingdom of Shambhala in Central Asia; he seeks to meld Leninist-pattern communism with Tantric Buddhist teachings to produce a stronger, more spiritually-pure version of Communist ideology. The monks of the Emerald Monastery, he believes, hold the secret to Shambhala’s location. He’s had the monastery shelled to convince the monks to surrender, and now, under cover of darkness, leads a team into the ruins to collect the monks. However, a team of American expat mercenaries, all veterans of the Polar Bear Operation in 1918, are on hand to protect the monks.

"GENERAL" CAPPY BOYD'S EXPATRIATE MERCENARIES (Group Trait: Loyal)

• General Cappy Boyd (Leader; Encouraging, Steady, Smart) armed with a Pistol
• Sgt. Piney (Specialist; Tough as Nails, Deadeye) armed with a BAR
• Pvt. Junior Jones (Regular; Dodge) armed with a Boys Anti-Tank Rifle (anachronistic, I know, but deal with it)
• Zeb Walton (Regular; Stealthy) armed with a Rifle
• Michael "Boomer" Murphy (Regular; Sprinter) armed with Dynamite Bundles and a Pistol

CHEKA SPECIAL OPERATIONS GROUP (Group Trait: Killers)

•  Dr. Sergei Kolchak (Leader; Cold-Blooded, Bodyguard, Occult Expert), armed with a Pistol
• Dragovitch (Specialist; Brawler, Pugilist), armed with a Pistol
• Commissar Ivanov (Regular; Ferocious), armed with a Pistol and Saber
• Olga, Heroine of the Revolution (Regular; Indomitable) armed with a Pistol and Banner
• Red Guardsmen (Grunt Group; Loyal) armed with Rifles

 The Bolsheviks deployed at the northern table edge, while Cappy and Sgt. Piney deployed in the ruined monastery at the center of the table with the four monks; the remainder of the Mercenaries began play off-table, arriving at the table edge upon their turn in the initiative order. Night has fallen, reducing all weapons to an effective range of 12" and giving everyone a -1 modifier to Shooting attacks. The scenario is basically "Caught in a Tight Spot" out of the Fistful of Lead: Wasteland Warriors book. I randomized the table edges that the remaining Mercenaries arrived at though. 

Kolchak moved into cover and took a long shot at General Cappy Boyd and missed; Boyd returned fire, putting a Shock token on Kolchak. Sgt. Piney opened up on the group of Bolsheviks with full auto fire, putting one grunt Out of Action, wounding Commissar Ivanov and putting a Shock token on Dragovitch, while going Out of Ammo himself in the process.

 

The game quickly turned into a swirl of shooting and close combat as the Bolsheviks attempted to rally and storm the fortified position Boyd and Piney were holding and Junior, Zeb and Boomer entered the field from three different table edges. And, I'll be honest - I got three hours of sleep last night, and I've been up for nineteen hours as of when I'm writing this, and I'm pretty sure I forgot to update the turn counter a couple times. So what happened when is a little hazy today. Instead of the full play-by-play, here's some highlights:

• Ivanov stands back up after being wounded by Piney, advances towards the center of the table, and is wounded a second time, this time by a shot from Boyd. He stands up again and actually scales the wall to reach the platform the monks are on. He gets into close combat with Boyd and wins, putting the General Out of Action. Before he can grab a monk and make his escape, he's shot by Piney and put Out of Action himself.
• After using burst fire on the Bolsheviks, Piney was shot at by one of the grunts, taking a Shock token and retreating to the far side of the platform. He spends his next turn reloading, and then is attacked by Dragovitch in close combat, winning and putting Dragovitch prone with a wound. Piney then turns and shoots Ivanov, who'd just killed Boyd.
• Dragovitch succeeds on his recovery roll, stands up and, despite being wounded, punches out Piney - putting a Shock token on him and pushing him back AND OFF THE PLATFORM. The fall results in Piney taking a second Shock token. Before he can try to recover, Olga shoots him, putting a Wound on him. 
• THREE figures rolled a "1" on a recovery roll to stand up after being wounded, resulting in them instead expiring and going Out of Action - Piney, Boomer (who was shot twice in quick succession by the last remaining Grunt) and Kolchak himself (shot by Zeb). All in the span of about two turns. 
• In the final turn, it was just Olga, one Red Guardsman, Junior and Zeb left on the table. Zeb beat the Red Guardsman in close combat, putting the grunt Out of Action, while Olga went Out of Ammo while shooting at Junior from cover. Olga decided fleeing the table was the better course of action than standing around fumbling with reloading her revolver. 

 

So a victory for the Mercenaries, but a costly one, with only two figures left on the board. I think the monastery may have ended up over-fortified; the Bolsheviks had a very hard time even getting close to the monks, and didn't manage to even shift any of them off the platform; I think having the monks on the raised platform was probably a mistake in hindsight; Piney and Boyd were able to shoot down at the approaching Bolsheviks as they approached pretty handily, and the attackers had to circle around the platform to reach the stairs if they didn't feel like climbing a sheer building side while being shot at. Still, the Bolsheviks gave a pretty good showing for themselves, even if they didn't win.

Old School Miniatures "Starship Skirmishers" Kickstarter

 Old School Miniatures has a Kickstarter going for scifi skirmish figures, and you know me, I love scifi skirmish gaming. Jamie was kind enough to put a call out for volunteers to paint up some of the new figures, and I volunteered, receiving one figure. Between Royal UK Mail and the US Postal Service, I didn't receive it until November 22nd, halfway through the Kickstarter! I knuckled down though and got my contribution cleaned up, based, primed and painted - with 90% of the painting happening TODAY. 

And to top it all off, I can confidently say it's one of the best paintjobs I've ever done.

There's only four days left in the Kickstarter if you want to get a head start on adding this figure, and some other great Rogue Trader-inspired figures, to your collection.

Wasteland Warriors: Into the Zone

 So this AAR isn't Fistful of Lead's "Wasteland Warriors" proper, but more like "Fistful of Zona Alfa." I like the localized apocalypse of Osprey Games' Zona Alfa and its inspirational media (Roadside Picnic, etc), but mechanically, Fistful of Lead is much more my speed. So instead of going full Kamandi, this game is a little more subdued; as such, scavenge points and the Wasteland Warriors rule of "once you go out of ammo, that's it" aren't in play.

15 years ago, an extraterrestrial encounter - a "roadside picnic," the equivalent of a representative of an unimaginably advanced civilization stopping on earth long enough to change a flat and smoke a cigarette - resulted in the creation of the New Mexico Exclusion Zone in the American Southwest. The "Zone" is a place where the normal laws of physics are only loosely enforced, and entrance into the Zone is illegal; nonetheless, the Zone is home to no shortage of bandits, refugees and exiles. Long-term exposure to the Zone results in madness and mutation; many of the Zone's residents could be classified as prehuman, abhuman or posthuman - scientists disagree, but there's speculation that some of these things arrived in the Zone via time- or dimensional portals from somewhere entirely alien. 

From the ravings of an escapee from the Zone, President-for-Life Travolta has learned that an extant copy of Polybius, an arcade game designed as a CIA psyop in the 1980s, might still exist in the camp of a sociopathic bandit gang called the Junkyard Dawgs. Intrigued and eager to lay hands on such a game, President Travolta has authorized a fireteam of private military contractors to enter the Zone and retrieve Polybius' hard drive.

 

The PMCs are at the bottom of the photo; the Dawgs are deployed in cover.

THE PMCs (Gang Trait: Ranger)

Figures by Hasslefree Miniatures

• Captain Victoria Chelinski (Leader; Leader, Veteran, Encouraging, Sixth Sense) armed with a pistol with laser sights and a cigar (1/game, removes all Shock)
• Deano (Specialist; Coolheaded, Tough as Nails) armed with body armor, a medkit and an automatic rifle
• Harlequin (Regular; Sniper) armed with body armor and an automatic rifle
• Freak (Regular; Sprinter) armed with body armor and a shotgun
• Woody (Regular; Stealthy) armed with body armor and an automatic rifle

THE JUNKYARD DAWGS (Gang Trait: Fearless) 

Figures originally by Grenadier, I think I got mine through Forlorn Hope Games

• Big Nick (Leader; Leader, Coldblooded, Impervious, Tough as Nails) armed with an SMG and knife
• Grill (Specialist; Stealthy, Deadeye) armed with a flamethrower and knife
• Hogan (Regular; Loads of Ammo) armed with an automatic rifle and knife
• Legs (Regular; Quick) armed with a shotgun and knife
• Barbie (Regular; Killer) armed with an SMG and knife

The Dawgs started the game deployed in cover around the table, with the PMCs beginning play clustered at one table edge. To make things interesting, once models begin taking injuries, they run the risk of attracting wandering threats from the Zone. As long as at least one unhealed Wound is on the table, each turn ends with a roll of a D10, + the number of Wounds on the table (figures put Out of Action that turn count as 2 Wounds, but don't count towards subsequent turns). If the result is 10 or higher, I'd randomly determine a threat that entered the table, activating on the following turn. Obviously, things would start slow but once the wounds started piling up, more and more threats would show up. 

Captain Chelinski motioned her team forward, advancing into the cactus patch for cover; Barbie stepped forward and fired ineffectively with her SMG at the PMC leader. Freak darted forward and gave Barbie a blast from his shotgun - "1!" Out of Ammo! Meanwhile, Harlequin moved into the shadow of the nearest building, attracting the attention of Legs.

On Turn 2, Legs gave Harlequin a blast from her shotgun, putting her down with a Wound. Deano moved forward and returned fire, Wounding Legs. Captain Chelinski Wounded Barbie with a pistol shot while Freak reloaded. Woody advanced almost to the long main building of the bandit camp. No threats showed up on Turn 2.

 

Turn 3 saw Deano rush forward and heal Harlequin with the medkit. Unfortunately, Legs struggled to her feet and fired again with her shotgun; Harlequin was put Out of Action and Deano took a Shock token, retreating towards cover. Chelinski finished off Barbie with a pistol shot and waved Woody towards the main building. Unfortunately, Woody got fried extra crispy by Grill and his flamethrower. Drawn by the sounds of combat and the smell of blood and burning flesh, a squad of Hunter-Killer Robots entered the table.

Turn 4, Chelinski shot Grill, Wounding him; he managed to regain his feet and tried to roast Chelinski, but rolled a "1" and going Out of Ammo. Hogan emerged from cover into the alleyway between the two side buildings, shooting ineffectively at Chelinski and getting sent Out of Action by Freak. Seeing this, Legs decided that it wasn't worthwhile to stick around, and routed off the table. Big Nick emerged from the long building, Wounding Chelinski and getting Wounded in turn when a Hunter-Killer robot opened fire with full-auto on him and Grill. Stumbling to his feet and retreating, Grill ran headlong into a slow-moving, blubbery mutant, drawn by the smell of blood.

Staggering to her feet, Chelinski put two Hunter-Killers out of action with two well-placed shots; Big Nick likewise managed to regain his feet, firing again at Chelinski and going Out of Ammo. The Sludge-Man killed Grill easily in close combat, and kept advancing towards the center of fighting. Advancing across the table, Deano shot Big Nick, sending him running with a Shock token - directly into the arms of the Sludge-Man. Big Nick, wounded and out of ammo, was no match for the slobbering mutant. A second Sludge-Man arrived, drawn by the smell of carnage.

Exchanging fire with the remaining Hunter-Killer and the first Sludge-Man kept Freak and Deano busy while Chelinski obtained the Polybius hard drive. Freak ended up in close combat with the second Sludge-Man, and a second squad of Hunter-Killers arrived on the table, while Deano and Chelinski made their way back across the table towards their starting edge with the Polybius hard drive. 

Freak managed to get the Sludge-Man between the Hunter-Killers and himself, letting the machines' simple programming save his bacon; programmed to eradicate the nearest living being, the three robots stood stock still, firing repeatedly into the regenerative bulk of the Sludge-Man without real effect while Freak slipped away, rejoining Chelinski and Deano. They'd fulfilled their objective; hopefully President-for-Life Travolta wouldn't simply order their liquidation once they turned the hard drive over to him.

***

All in all a really solid game; the addition of random monsters (I made a chart, but just rolled H-K Robots and Sludge-Men instead of any Rad-Zombies, Rad-Ghouls, or Big Mutants. Oh well) made a big difference in that the game wasn't simply over when the PMCs wiped out the Junkyard Dawgs; there was still a threat putting pressure on them, so there was no assumption of completing the original objective of collecting the hard drive. I still had to play out their escape from the table.

Talanka, Ogre Shaman

I signed up for a *lot* of painting challenges on social media for October, and so far this is the one I'm the proudest of having completed. I spent two weeks on this "Talanka, Ogre Shaman" from Reaper Miniatures and I think it's some of the best work I've done, ever. She's a heavy chunk of metal though, so my wrist is very glad to be done!

Fistful of Lead Fantasy: "The Haunted Ruins"

 With October being here and Halloween being on the horizon, I figured it was high time I got some spooky gaming in! With the Chaos types I just finished, I was in a Fantasy mood, and as luck would have it there's a scenario in the Fistful of Lead Fantasy: Might and Melee book with warbands duking it out in a haunted ruin as ghosts swirl around them. Perfect!

The Archmage Lutholio and his retinue, and the followers of the Blood God, commanded by Korgan Bloodaxe, both arrived at the haunted ruins, following rumors that an enchanted sword was buried somewhere within. To find it, they would need to decipher clues carved on five timeworn statues. Each time a statue is deciphered, it spawns a ghost that moves randomly around the battlefield. Any figure that activates within 6" of a ghost has to past a Hard Task roll (8+ on a D10) or gain a Shock token, reducing their effectiveness. The sword is hidden under the final statue, meaning by the time the sword is obtained, there will be five ghosts moving around. 

ARCHMAGE LUTHOLIO'S RETINUE (Group Trait: Fearless)

• Archmage Lutholio (Leader; Veteran, Spellcaster, Observant), armed with a Sword and Staff 
• Zweihander Wilhelm (Sergeant; Brute, Determined), armed with a 2-Handed Sword and Heavy Armor
• Hans (Regular; Cunning), armed with a Sword, Shield and Light Armor
• Franz (Regular; Thundering Charge), armed with a Sword, Shield and Light Armor 
• Halfling Scouts (Rabble; Deadeye, Cowardly, Stealthy), armed with Bows
  

FOLLOWERS OF THE BLOOD GOD (Group Trait: Bloodthirsty)

• Korgan Bloodaxe (Leader; Veteran, Two Fisted, Street Fighter) armed with an Axe, Mace and Heavy Armor
• Sargus Jawbreaker (Sergeant; Thundering Charge, Determined) armed with a 2-Handed Axe and Heavy Armor
• Grim-Gory (Regular; Brawler) armed with a Mace and Light Armor
• Three-Eyes (Regular; Ranger) armed with a 2-Handed Axe and Light Armor
• Argor Bloodhoof (Regular; Flurry of Blows) armed with 2 Axes and Light Armor

With time being of the essence (at the beginning of Turn 6, I would roll a die to determine if it was the final turn or not), both warbands fanned out immediately into the ruins, with Lutholio casting the spell "Light-Footed" on Hans and depositing him right in front of one of the mid-table statues to start investigating immediately. Hampered by their heavy armor, Korgan, Sargus and Wilhelm struggled with statues nearer the edge of the ruins; the Halflings spread out to take up shooting positions, while the beastmen (who maybe can't even read), moved in to get violent. 

 Hans deciphered his statue, unleashing a ghost, and was almost immediately confronted by Grim-Gory, though he actually won the fight and pushed the beastman back, making room for the halflings to pepper him with arrows (ineffectively).

Korgan deciphered his first statue and moved deeper into the ruins, while Sargus continued to puzzle over his. Franz managed to decipher a statue towards the middle of the table, bringing the total for Lutholio's retinue up to 2, and the number of ghosts on the table up to 3. Three-Eyes and Argor Bloodhoof converged on Franz's location, though Argor stopped long enough to bisect a halfling on his way there.

Lutholio cast "Light-Footed" a second time to get Franz away from the beastmen and towards a third statue, though unfortunately this put him directly in front of Sargus, who decided to take his frustration at the translation out on him. Meanwhile, Hans, pursuing a fleeing Grim-Gory, got charged and dismembered by Korgan.

Sargus returned to his statue, finally completing his translation (releasing Ghost #4), while Korgan moved towards the center of the table, and the beastmen turned their attention towards the two remaining halflings and Wilhelm. Lutholio hit Korgan with a Fireball, incinerating the blood-crazed warlord, and Wilhelm began to cleave through the beastmen as fast as they came at him.

With Wilhelm hacking and slashing at their foes, Lutholio stepped in to begin deciphering the final statue as Sargus joined the fray, being wounded by Wilhelm but managing to stab the knight on his way down, leaving them both wrestling in the spreading pool of blood. 

The Ghost King awakens as the enchanted sword is found!

Really? You floating there is inconvenient to everyone.

Armed with the enchanted sword, Lutholio stepped in and finished off Sargus; Wilhelm activated on the Queen of Hearts, healing his Wound and allowing him to stand up refreshed and finish off Grim-Gory. The sun rose over Lutholio's victory as he gathered up his wounded and slain followers and set off for him, leaving the followers of the Blood God, slain to a man, for the buzzards. 

All in all, a great use of my Sunday evening; I made a few mistakes in play (I forgot that Lutholio's retinue had the Fearless group trait, meaning they ended up taking more penalties from Shock tokens than they should have, for the first half of the game) and it really wasn't a scenario that Korgan Bloodaxe's men were going to excel at meeting the victory conditions for, but I had a lot of fun. There were a couple moments where ghosts parked themselves squarely in the middle of fights - at one point, all but three figures on the table were within 6" of the same ghost - so everyone was collecting Shock tokens pretty much constantly from Turn 2 onwards, even with three of the ghosts ultimately just circling one corner of the ruins for the final three turns. 

Speaking of Turns; in the setup for this scenario there is a turn limit; at the beginning of Turn 6 I rolled a D10; on a result of 1-6, it would be the final turn, 7+ would tell me the turn the game ended on. I rolled a 9. Wilhelm finished off the last of the Blood God's followers (also, holy crap, Wilhelm successfully fought and put Out of Action 3 of the 5 members of the enemy warband) on Turn 8. Armor definitely prolonged some of the early fights, but Wilhelm's 2-handed sword ignored the beastmen's light armor and cut a pretty quick swath through them.