Direch
Member
I published a session on boardgamegeek.com but I guess it is more fitting on this forum So I recreated it for you.
«In the darkling woods of Dwarfstrangle there stands a most ancient ziggurat. Solitary and forgotten the crumbling mound passes century upon century undisturbed until the day in question. Upon this day, the day of this adventure, the 5 dwarves Sigurd Strongarm, Sigrat Blackbrow, Sigrun Slendershank, Skeggi Brokenback, Saugorn Brittlebone and their leader Thorgriri Branedimm break the peace of sleeping millenia as they stumble, hurredly, into the sunlight of ine open glade. Indeed the Dwarves have reason to hurry for they. are fleeing for their very lives, away from the forest, away from the Goblins whose cries even now can be heard in the glade.
"This looks as likely a place to make an end of it, says Thorgrim, "We defend this old temple - for I'd sooner die here with a weapon in my hand than die running with- an arrow in my back,,.
All the others murmur their agreement in the sullen way of Dwarves, and the company deploy themselves on the Ziggurat ready to meet the onslaught of Goblins.»
This is the opening words for the first scenario ever for Warhammer fantasy 1st edition. I found the rules on the internet and wanted to try the rules. The game was between my son (8 years old) and me. I figured that the scenario would be an good introduction to warhammer as it is a skirmish and not a full battle.
The six the objective for the dwarves is to take as many greenskins with them as they can before they die. Or this seem to be the intention, but it doesn´t quite work this way.
All the dwarves have enchanted stats with an extra wound, and their leader is a tough hero with 3 wounds. I don´t suspect this scenario have been playtested much, but I quickly saw that it was likely that the dwarves could survive the goblin attack even if the game is written as if there is no chance for survival.
The rules
I read the rules I needed for this scenario and saw that the rules functions much as the modern version, but there are some differences.
- There are two movement phases. You move or fight or move and move again. This second move is taken after fighting.
- The standard strengt is 2 and there a letters instead of number for toughness.
- Goblins are T: B(2) and Dwarves T: C (3).
The rules for spears and great weapons are also different. Spears give I + 1 and great weapons gives + 1 modifiers for «too wound» and gets – 1 to hit against skirmishing forces.
- Fear is a tabel and is not modified as there are no psycology stat.
- The poison rule I didn´t quite understand.
There is no points cost for the models or equipment so you use the equipment that is shown on the model.
Setting up the game:
The Ziggurat was made from some cardboard and painted with acrylic paint.
I was the dwarves and the set up first. I placed the six dwarves on the ziggurat. I also placed 4D6 rock that can be tossed on miniatures below. So I got 15 rock to place. I placed two dwarves with crossbow on the top, and placed the others with the intention to throw them on the goblins.
The greenskins start with 3D6 goblins. The first 6 can be hobgoblins and one of these are the leader Guthnog with enchanted stats. For the 3 next rounds the goblin player got 1D6 more goblins.
My son rolled 11 goblins and placed them all on one side. Not a stupid strategy as I would loose a round of crossbow fire from one of the dwarves the first round.
Playing the game.
The goblins get 2 points for every dwarf they slay and the dwarves get 1 point for each round they survive. The dwarves needed to survive for 12 rounds.
The goblins rushed up the ziggurat and they were faster than I expected, so the piles of rocks I placed were almost useless. I got one round of rock throwing before they was gone. So I tried to get the dwarves together.
When the shooting and fighing started it was clear that the goblins would have a difficult time. They needed 6 to hit with bow because of cover for models higher on the ziggurat or 6 to hit in close combat as the dwarves had surperior weapon skill. Then they had to get a 5 or 6 to wound. When finally one goblin wounded a dwarf I felt pitty for my son so I ignored the armour save and one of the wounds so that the dwarf went down with on hit. I also decided to ignore the fear and poison rule for my hero. This made the fight balanced.
The dwarves took down the goblins quickly both hand to hand and by crossbows, but the dwarves also fell and soon there was only two dwarves left. The hobgoblin leader fought the crossbow dwarf on top of the temple and the Dwarf leader was up against three goblins armed with bows. When the goblins were at the same level or higher they would hit on 4, 5 or 6 so the odds were much better for them now, and soon the dwarf hero fell. But the dwarf of top of the Ziggurat also won his fight against the hobgoblin leader. After this he could pick down the three remaining goblins with his crossbow.
A single dwarf survived and the dwarves won!
Conclution:
It does look like the goblins will have a hard time with this scenario. My son could be more lucky with his the numbers of goblins he rolled, but I don´t think this would win the battle if I had not reduced the dwarves abilities. The goblin player could also pick more goblins with bows and maybe then they would get a better chance.
I clearly isn´t very balanced, but the «do it your self» spirit of the edition means I can experiment with the balance myself.
It was interesting to try the 1st edition rules, and I may try the scenario again. Maybe we will find some other strategies.
Me and my son is ready for new adventures in the warhammer world. I have some plans for Warhammer 2nd edition and there is always HeroQuest
«In the darkling woods of Dwarfstrangle there stands a most ancient ziggurat. Solitary and forgotten the crumbling mound passes century upon century undisturbed until the day in question. Upon this day, the day of this adventure, the 5 dwarves Sigurd Strongarm, Sigrat Blackbrow, Sigrun Slendershank, Skeggi Brokenback, Saugorn Brittlebone and their leader Thorgriri Branedimm break the peace of sleeping millenia as they stumble, hurredly, into the sunlight of ine open glade. Indeed the Dwarves have reason to hurry for they. are fleeing for their very lives, away from the forest, away from the Goblins whose cries even now can be heard in the glade.
"This looks as likely a place to make an end of it, says Thorgrim, "We defend this old temple - for I'd sooner die here with a weapon in my hand than die running with- an arrow in my back,,.
All the others murmur their agreement in the sullen way of Dwarves, and the company deploy themselves on the Ziggurat ready to meet the onslaught of Goblins.»
This is the opening words for the first scenario ever for Warhammer fantasy 1st edition. I found the rules on the internet and wanted to try the rules. The game was between my son (8 years old) and me. I figured that the scenario would be an good introduction to warhammer as it is a skirmish and not a full battle.
The six the objective for the dwarves is to take as many greenskins with them as they can before they die. Or this seem to be the intention, but it doesn´t quite work this way.
All the dwarves have enchanted stats with an extra wound, and their leader is a tough hero with 3 wounds. I don´t suspect this scenario have been playtested much, but I quickly saw that it was likely that the dwarves could survive the goblin attack even if the game is written as if there is no chance for survival.
The rules
I read the rules I needed for this scenario and saw that the rules functions much as the modern version, but there are some differences.
- There are two movement phases. You move or fight or move and move again. This second move is taken after fighting.
- The standard strengt is 2 and there a letters instead of number for toughness.
- Goblins are T: B(2) and Dwarves T: C (3).
The rules for spears and great weapons are also different. Spears give I + 1 and great weapons gives + 1 modifiers for «too wound» and gets – 1 to hit against skirmishing forces.
- Fear is a tabel and is not modified as there are no psycology stat.
- The poison rule I didn´t quite understand.
There is no points cost for the models or equipment so you use the equipment that is shown on the model.
Setting up the game:
The Ziggurat was made from some cardboard and painted with acrylic paint.
I was the dwarves and the set up first. I placed the six dwarves on the ziggurat. I also placed 4D6 rock that can be tossed on miniatures below. So I got 15 rock to place. I placed two dwarves with crossbow on the top, and placed the others with the intention to throw them on the goblins.
The greenskins start with 3D6 goblins. The first 6 can be hobgoblins and one of these are the leader Guthnog with enchanted stats. For the 3 next rounds the goblin player got 1D6 more goblins.
My son rolled 11 goblins and placed them all on one side. Not a stupid strategy as I would loose a round of crossbow fire from one of the dwarves the first round.
Playing the game.
The goblins get 2 points for every dwarf they slay and the dwarves get 1 point for each round they survive. The dwarves needed to survive for 12 rounds.
The goblins rushed up the ziggurat and they were faster than I expected, so the piles of rocks I placed were almost useless. I got one round of rock throwing before they was gone. So I tried to get the dwarves together.
When the shooting and fighing started it was clear that the goblins would have a difficult time. They needed 6 to hit with bow because of cover for models higher on the ziggurat or 6 to hit in close combat as the dwarves had surperior weapon skill. Then they had to get a 5 or 6 to wound. When finally one goblin wounded a dwarf I felt pitty for my son so I ignored the armour save and one of the wounds so that the dwarf went down with on hit. I also decided to ignore the fear and poison rule for my hero. This made the fight balanced.
The dwarves took down the goblins quickly both hand to hand and by crossbows, but the dwarves also fell and soon there was only two dwarves left. The hobgoblin leader fought the crossbow dwarf on top of the temple and the Dwarf leader was up against three goblins armed with bows. When the goblins were at the same level or higher they would hit on 4, 5 or 6 so the odds were much better for them now, and soon the dwarf hero fell. But the dwarf of top of the Ziggurat also won his fight against the hobgoblin leader. After this he could pick down the three remaining goblins with his crossbow.
A single dwarf survived and the dwarves won!
Conclution:
It does look like the goblins will have a hard time with this scenario. My son could be more lucky with his the numbers of goblins he rolled, but I don´t think this would win the battle if I had not reduced the dwarves abilities. The goblin player could also pick more goblins with bows and maybe then they would get a better chance.
I clearly isn´t very balanced, but the «do it your self» spirit of the edition means I can experiment with the balance myself.
It was interesting to try the 1st edition rules, and I may try the scenario again. Maybe we will find some other strategies.
Me and my son is ready for new adventures in the warhammer world. I have some plans for Warhammer 2nd edition and there is always HeroQuest
