Let's Play Warlord Ascendant 2e! The 12th Infernal Legion Part 2
My warband sheets for this session:
Alright, time for our first Management Phase! These are the steps:
Let’s do it.
Management Phase
Management Phase Event D20: 14 There’s too much enemy troop movement along your borders. Increase the Invasion check roll by +1.
All good. We don’t have any Location under our control, so there won’t be an Invasion check this turn.
In fact, we can skip most of the steps on this first turn since we don’t have much going on. We jump to Step 8, ordering our characters. And our only option for now is to go exploring for new Locations.
This is done via a hexmap. We explore adjacent hexes and roll on tables to see what our characters find there.
Exploration
Note: I won’t build my map hex by hex, even though that’s how I’m exploring. I’m sending my characters to the hexes adjacent to my base, but when I design the map with buildings and locations, I’ll do it more creatively instead of hex by hex. If this sounds complicated, I’ll show you what I mean in at the end.
Let’s see what these demons discover:
Absalom
D100 exploration: 28, Location
D20 Location: Monastery. During the Management Phase, you can send a character here to study, granting them +1 XP. Only one character can be sent to study per Monastery.Occupied by: Enemy Warband > Leper Knights
Durvael
The site of a great battle from a past age. At night, ethereal figures reenact the fighting. The character can make a Resolve check; if successful, they learn a new Combat Maneuver, but lose 10 Presence, as their face becomes full of scars.
D100 Presence check (30): 44, fumble!
Marked for improvement. No new Combat Maneuver, though.
Note: Whenever we roll doubles, we mark the skill for improvement. At the next Management Phase, I’ll increase it.
Mahalat
Your character comes across a cemetery, the tombs clearly fresh and marked with simple stones and boards. A foreboding sense of evil overtakes them, and they must make a Resolve check to avoid being overwhelmed by it (unless they are Risen). If they pass, they earn 1 XP. A failure causes the character to pass out, waking up minutes later to the moaning of the unliving. Your next battle will be against the unliving. A Risen character feels empowered by the place’s aura, gaining 1 XP.
D100 Resolve check (40): 49, fail.
Next battle against the Unliving.
Kano
An ancient standing stone, now toppled and covered in moss. The character can make a Reason check to study it, automatically scouting all surrounding hexes.
Reason check (10): 91, fail.
Fat chance.
Oboro
A network of caves where the wind creates unsettling whispers. The character must pass a Resolve check; if they fail, they miss the next battle due to a temporary madness or phobia. Success reveals that the place poses no threat, but the character feels accomplished, earning 1 XP.
Resolve check (40): 18, success!
+1 XP to Oboro
Only one Location found, the Monastery. All others were events, as you can see. I think I’ll invade the Monastery to fight the Unliving instead of the Leper Knights (changed by Mahalat’s event).
Capturing it will improve the characters’ Loyalty, and give me some well-needed loot and experience. Let’s do it.
Combat Phase
Here’s the enemy sheet:
The Numbers stat is how many I face in combat. W represents the player’s warband, how many characters I’m bringing. Since The Unliving deploy W+4, I’m fighting 9 of them.
Time to select 3 Command Actions. My picks:
Frenzy: During your turn, choose a friendly character and activate it with one of your available Orders. They receive +30 to their attack checks and +D4 to all damage done during their activation.
Push!: All disengaged friendly characters can move up to 3 squares.
Relentless: You get a new turn this round, immediately after your first one.
I’m not rolling to create a random battlefield, I’m using a pre-made map. I still have to determine the Strategic Position tile. I’m rolling 2d12 for that.
Note: When a character is standing on the Strategic Position at the start of their side’s turn, they gain one extra Order.
D12 Vertical: 10
D12 Horizontal: 3My starting location: South
Enemy starting position: EastD20 Battle Event: 20, Trapped Field. The area is an old hunting ground and it’s full of abandoned traps. Each time a creature finishes their movement, roll D10. A result of 1-2 means they’ve stepped on a trap. They must make an Agility check or suffer 1 Piercing damage.
These monks mean business when protecting this monastery, I’ll give them that.
I got lucky to start right next to the SP. Here’s the battlefield:
Roots are Difficult Terrain (require double movement, units can’t Charge or Dash), and walls are Partial Cover and DT.
Round 1
At the start of every round, we roll an opposed Initiative check. Kano is equipped with a War Ensign, which gives me +10 to Initiative and +5 to Morale.
D100 Unliving: 02 D100+10 12th Infernal Legion: 15
Both low rolls, but I’ll start.
All parties have 3 Orders on a turn. This can be changed by some unique circumstances like the SP tile.
I move Absalom and Durvael forward. Kano captures the SP. No one steps on traps.
Enemy’s turn. They’re Aggressive, Melee, and Bestial. Bestial warbands behave a little differently. They never go for the SP, they have a table for targeting characters (they will always try to attack their target, no matter what), and they get an unpredictability roll at the start of their turns.
D10: 9, 1 extra Order.
I randomly activate 4 enemies (A, C, F, G) and they dash toward me. No traps activated.
Dash is an action that makes a unit move up to their Speed again, but they can’t attack afterward. Charge is exactly the same, but the unit can attack after. Thinking about it, I guess they could be condensed to just Charge, and a unit either attacks or doesn’t.
Anyway, not much happens here.
D20 Targeting
A: 11, most vulnerable/damaged. That’s either of the grunts. Rolling randomly > Oboro.
C: 7 > Absalom
F: 19 > changed to random > Oboro
G: 18 > changed to random > Mahalat
Round 2
Initiative is mine again. I’ll wait for the enemy.
Regular turn for them with 3 Orders. Unliving H moves (targets Kano). Unliving C charges at Absalom.
D100 Close Combat (40) + d12 Trait Die: 16 + 6
D100 Defense (60) + d12 Trait Die: 25 + 8
They both succeed, but Absalom rolls higher, defending the attack. No Traits were activated (it happens on a 9+).
Unliving F charges at Oboro.
D100 Close Combat (40) + d12 Trait Die: 52 + 6
D100 Defense (50) + d12 Trait Die: 62 + 4
They both fail. When this happens, the defender takes 1 damage.
Note: This rule is for attack checks only. During opposed Skill checks, if both fail, the one with the highest roll wins.
Round 3
My Initiative. All my units are melee, so they will always be Frightened when engaging the Unliving. Here’s what it does:
Since the Condition is permanent (as long as I’m engaged), I can test Resolve to attack normally, but it returns right after. I’ll test every turn before attacking.
It feels weird having the Demonic Cohort get Frightened hahah.
Absalom uses the Combat Maneuver Battlecry. Everyone gets +10 to attack checks for 2 Rounds.
Battlecry: Free Action, allies in a 3 square radius receive +10 to attack checks for the next 2 rounds.
He attacks Unliving C.
D100 Resolve (60): 76, fail.
With Disadvantage, we invert the tens and ones from the roll if the result would be worse.
D100 Close Combat (60) + d12 Trait Die: 53 + 5 D100 Defense (30) + d12 Trait Die: 55 + 4
We’re off to a great start! Enemy fumbles, and we hit the attack even with Disadvantage. We’d only miss if we had also fumbled.
How is damage rolled? Well, it’s already decided. We deal damage using the tens die when the attack hits, so we deal 5 damage. Or we would. Remember, I’m attacking with Disadvantage, so I invert the result to make it worse. I hit with a 35, dealing 3 damage. Absalom’s maul has the Two-Handed property, which causes +1 damage to a total of 4.
Mahalat charges at C. She passes the Resolve check. Her war pick weapon makes the target defend with -10.
D100 Close Combat (60) + d12 Trait Die: 5 + 9 D100 Defense (20) + d12 Trait Die: 18 + 4
Can you believe this? Cause I can’t. This is a great opportunity to use the Momentum Pool. I’ll spend 1 to push the roll (check only, the Trait Die isn’t rerolled):
D100 Close Combat (70): 77, fumble!
Well, this is just perfect. Fumbling an attack makes the attacker drop their weapon (requires a Standard Action to pick up).
And that’s not all. Failing a pushed roll triggers a Complication.
D4 Complication: 4. The action takes far longer than expected. You lose all remaining Orders for this turn.
Of course. Man, fuck the d4, I’ll never tire of saying this.
The Unliving get a normal turn. Engaged enemies have priority activating, so C and F go first. Absalom and Oboro defend both attacks. Unliving I activates and moves (targets Oboro).
Round 4
Mahalat picks up her weapon. Absalom fails the Resolve check but hits anyway. The maul’s Trait activates, but it doesn’t matter as Unliving C is no more. +1 XP to Absalom.
Durvael charges F. He misses, but I push the roll again (MP 3/5) and he hits with a 19. It deals 1 damage, +1 from Two-Handed, and +1 from Slashing type, hitting for 3.
His Trait Die activates!
Resolve (50): 24, success.
Damn it.
Oboro misses Unliving F.
Enemy’s turn. F goes for Oboro, but he defends and activates his hood’s Trait.
Awesome, his Resolve check to attack will be easier. Unliving A and H move, and that’s it.
Round 5
The Unliving go first and get an extra Order. Oboro defends F’s attack. B and E move up, and A charges Oboro, but fumbles! When enemies fumble, they get Stunned for 1 Round.
My turn. Oboro fails Resolve and misses F, but it takes 1 damage.
Durvael fails Resolve and misses A (1 damage).
Absalom fails Resolve and charges H, hitting for 2 damage. Maul’s Trait activates (opposed Athletics check or target is knocked Prone).
Absalom D100 Athletics (60): 60
Unliving H D100 Athletics (40): 37
Huuuge roll. H is Prone now and has to spend an Action to get up. All attacks against it gain Advantage (it cancels out if I fail Resolve).
Mahalat goes for H, passing Resolve and hitting for 3 Piercing damage. Piercing makes a unit take 1 damage on the next Round. H is dead, though. +1 XP to Mahalat.
Round 6
Close call with Initiative (77 vs 79), but I got it.
I’m using 1 MP (2/5) to Ensure Oboro’s attack on F (+20). He fails Resolve and misses the attack, but the Unliving also fails defense. It takes 1 damage and dies. +1 XP. However, its Defense Trait activated. Oboro is Sickened for d4 Rounds.
D4: 1
I’m moving up with Durvael. He fails Resolve. I use his Maneuver Target Weak Spot, which deals a critical if the attack hits.
D100 Close Combat (60, Disadvantage) + d12 Trait Die: 21 + 3
D100 Defense (30) + d12 Trait Die: 07 + 6
He hits! Disadvantage inverts the roll, so he deals 1, +1 from Two-Handed. Critical hits deal +d6, and his Ability Uncanny Precision adds a d4.
d6+d4: 6
8 total damage! Unliving A is cut down by Durvael’s battleaxe. +1 XP.
Mahalat moves all the way up to charge Unliving B. She steps on a trap, but passes the Agility check. She fails Resolve, misses the attack (1 damage), and gets Sickened for 4 Rounds. Shit.
Absalom passes Resolve and moves up to attack E (steps on trap, but passes Agility). He crits with an 11! 2 damage + d6 for a total of 5, killing Unliving E. Let’s go! He gets Sickened for 2 Rounds, but that’s not ruining my mood.
This would be the enemy’s turn, but I’m using the Command Action Relentless.
Relentless: You get a new turn this round, immediately after your first one.
Durvael passes Resolve and attacks Unliving I, but it defends.
Oboro charges I, stepping on a trap and failing the Agility check. He takes 1 Piercing damage (he’s gonna take another 1 next Round). He hits for 1 damage and his weapon Trait activates (target gets -5 Defense until next Round). I’m using his Maneuver Inspire on Durvael.
Inspire: Free action. Ally in Line of Sight gains an activation.
Durvael goes again. Activating a second time leaves him Fatigued.
I don’t know what I was thinking. He fails Resolve and misses the attack (1 damage).
Absalom moves down (no trap) to engage Unliving G, passes Resolve, and hits for 2 damage.
Mahalat fails Resolve and misses Unliving B (1 damage).
And nooow it’s the Unliving’s turn. [d10: 3] They get only 2 Orders!
B targets nearest (Mahalat), but misses (1 damage).
Unliving G is engaged to Absalom, but its target is Mahalat too. To disengage without an attack of opportunity, we make an opposed Agility check.
Absalom D100 Agility (20, Sickened): 59
Unliving G D100 Agility (30): 52
Both fail, but as Absalom rolls higher, he wins. Unliving G defends the attack of opportunity, charges Mahalat (no trap), and misses (1 damage).
Round 7
I’m not sure if the Piercing damage activates right at the start of the Round or at the unit’s warband turn. I’m going with start of Round. Oboro takes 1 damage.
The Unliving go first and lose 1 Order again. G fumbles and is Stunned for 1 Round. B hits Mahalat for 3 damage!
Durvael passes Resolve and attacks I for 3 damage, killing it but getting Sickened for 1 Round. +1 XP.
Oboro moves up (no trap) and fumbles the Resolve check. I’m ruling that he shits himself with fear and can’t attack. These grunts, man.
I’m using the Command Action Frenzy on Kano.
Frenzy: During your turn, choose a friendly character and activate it with one of your available Orders. They receive +30 to their attack checks and +D4 to all damage done during their activation.
He charges all the way to Unliving G (no trap). Making good use of its Ability to ignore terrain.
Kano fails Resolve and misses the attack. I push the roll (MP 1/5). He hits! 1 damage +d4 for a total of 3, killing the enemy and getting +1 XP.
Note: I left the SP tile, but I started my turn on it, so I still have 4 Orders.
Absalom moves up (no trap), fails Resolve, and engages Unliving B, leaving it Overwhelmed (alone and engaged to 3 or more units, -20 Defense). He fails Resolve but hits for 2 damage and knocks Unliving B Prone! He also gets Sickened for 2 more Rounds.
Round 8
Enemy’s Initiative, 3 Orders. As they have only 2 units, a random one will act twice. Their Tireless Feature prevents the condition Fatigued.
Unliving D charges Absalom (no trap), but he defends.
Unliving B spends its Action getting up. D is now adjacent to it, so B isn’t Overwhelmed anymore.
Third Activation goes to B. It attacks Mahalat, but fumbles! Mahalat’s Defensive Trait activates.
Mahalat passes the check, so B is knocked Prone again haha. Poor bastard is in a world of pain.
Absalom’s up. He passes Resolve and easily kills Unliving B.
Mahalat passes Resolve. I’ll use my last MP to Ensure (+20) her attack.
D100 Close Combat (60) + d12 Trait Die: 82 + 5
D100 Defense (20) + d12 Trait Die: 22 + 4
Oh, this is a fun one. Mahalat missed, but the defender fumbled. That makes the attack hit and deal 8 damage! For now, this is the way to deal the highest damage. Rolling in the 90s can hurt like that. The same goes when it happens to us, of course.
Well, combat is over! The 12th Infernal Legion wins its first confrontation in No Man’s Land and captures the first Location toward their cause.
Every unit is still standing, which is awesome. Everyone gets +1 XP. For capturing a new Location, everyone also gets +1 Loyalty.
We loot d10 Supplies and d6 Construction Materials.
D10: 8
D6: 1
Come on.
Finally, we roll twice on the Spoils of War table. It would be three times if the enemy warband had a leader.
- Random weapon > Shortsword
- D10+10 Construction Materials > 18! Now THAT’S more like it.
I’m still a long way from having Supplies to build stuff, but getting Materials is always welcome.
This is the map with the new conquered Monastery:
For context, this is the map explored hex by hex:
This is what I meant by making the map more creatively. Hopefully that’s clear.
That’s it for this very long session. The next ones will be shorter. I’ll assume you’re familiar with the game’s concepts and only go into details about new stuff.
Absalom’s journal
This is a strange land indeed. As we began our efforts to expand, Mahalat returned with a tall tale about the undead harassing her in a cemetery.
I feared I had beaten her a little too hard, but her words proved true. We invaded a monastery and were received by a collection of those undead things. The monks call them the Unliving.
An appropriate name. Deprived of life, these corpses moan, stumble on, and continue to fight relentlessly, until we rob them of death as well.
No one will admit, but a sharp fear stabbed at our hearts when we stood before them. They are no infernal beings--for we are divinity’s own shadow--but creatures of a dark, ancient magic.
The battlefield was littered with traps, though shoddily placed. The monks have had their share of unwanted visitors, that much was clear. The only one stupid enough to fall for them was Oboro, whose intelligence appears to have diminished even more than his power in this mortal form.
He and Kano made the Legions proud today. They showed violence and guts. When the Unliving showed their guts, however, they vomited. Durvael couldn’t stop laughing, and his laughter is as contagious as pox. When I was the one vomiting, for when I broke one of Unliving, their rotten insides showered me, I didn’t see the humor in it.
To Durvael’s credit, he still laughed when he was the one retching upon the enemy. He even sneaked toward Oboro, pulled at the grunt’s trousers, and projected his sickness inside. In the middle of combat! Durvael is incorrigible.
The Unliving can wear you down with sickness, undermining your confidence with terror and doubt, but we are the 12th. In the end, they were no match for Lucifer’s finest.
The monks were in awe of us. Most fell to their knees crying and praying to their carpenter. A few others just stood there, and we could feel their lust toward Mahalat. Durvael, never to waste an opportunity, cut their manhood and threw them at Mahalat’s mouth, but she was having none of it.
She just stared at a tall figure of their god. Could she feel power from it? Was she showing respect? When I asked, she said, “I find it quaint to pray to a nailed, bleeding, crippled god. If we crucify these monks, will they stand closer to godliness?”
Interested in the pursuit of science, we put that theory to the test.
They died. Their god never answered.
Nevertheless, faith is a very personal thing, so who can say if science is the language to interpret it?
We didn’t use them all, as their screams were starting to annoy us. The ones who lived were instructed, firmly and clearly, that this was a place of new worship.
The monastery is ours, and the 12th grows.
If you want to use those character sheets, grab them here (File > Make a copy).
Warlord Ascendant 2e is available on Itch, DTRPG, Amazon as POD, and the Blackoath website.