Let's Play Warlord Ascendant 2e! The 12th Infernal Legion Part 4
Management Phase
We captured a Mine last turn and made it operational (-20 Supplies). It yields 5 Supplies per turn now. We get them during upkeep payment.
Management Phase Event
The warrior’s life is wearing on one of your characters. Reduce the Loyalty of a random character by -1.
D4: 4 = Oboro
Oboro’s Loyalty down to 6.
Upkeep Payment
-11 (units) + 5 (Mine) = 6 Supplies paid, down to 70.
Thanks for reading The Lone Bard! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Warband improvement
Absalom: Agility and Defense increased by 3
Durvael: Close Combat and Resolve increased by 2
Mahalat: Close Combat increased by 1, Defense increased by 3
Absalom drank the Snake Blood I looted last fight and is now immune to poison.
Durvael, Kano, and Oboro leveled up! All my units are now level 2. That increases the 12th Infernal Legion level to 2 as well. Warband Level is the average of all units, and it’s used to scale enemies.
Durvael
Combat Maneuver: Battlecry. Free Action, allies in a 3 square radius receive +10 to attack checks for the next 2 rounds.
DPs: Weapon Specialization (2 DP) - Battleaxe. Choose a weapon. The character gains an additional +10 to their Close Combat or Ranged Combat Skill (depending on the chosen weapon), and deals an additional +1 damage, as long as they attack with the chosen weapon.
Kano
Combat Maneuver: End it Now! As a Free Action, and after the character has successfully hit an opponent, add D4 to their damage.
DPs: Shield Expert (2 DP). Increase the character’s Defense Skill by +10 when using a shield.
Oboro
Combat Maneuver: Shield Bash. As a Free Action, if the character is equipped with a shield, they can perform an attack against a target within melee range.
DPs: Shield Expert (2 DP). Increase the character’s Defense Skill by +10 when using a shield.
Exploration
Absalom
Tucked away in a hollow log is a waterproof leather satchel containing rare inks and quality parchment, worth 30 Supplies to the right buyer.
Do I just get the 30 Supplies now or just the satchel to sell later? Let’s say I have to sell it in a Town.
Durvael
The character comes upon a river shore where the strong current leaves lots of potentially useful materials. A character can be sent to this hex once per Management Phase to collect D6 Construction Materials, but they cannot partake in any other activity during the Phase.
Nice! Let’s get some now.
D6: 1
Ok.
Mahalat
The character comes across a huge gap in the ground, with no way to go around it. They must make an Agility check; if they pass they gain 1 XP, a failure means they’ve fallen through the gap, badly injuring themself. Roll on the Recovery table (page 94).
Agility check (30): 59, fail
This really sucks.
D20 Recovery table: 9
The character suffers grievous wounds, but survives. They miss the next D4+1 battles and are unable to participate in any Management Phase activities.D4: 2
Out for 3 battles. Shit.
Kano
Kano is going to the abandoned watchtower Absalom found last time. I’m spending the 20 Supplies and 10 Construction Materials (down to 50 and 15) to rebuild it into a Forward Post.
Forward Post. During the Management Phase, you may automatically explore a Location in a hex adjacent to your territory without needing to send a character. Every additional Forward Post allows exploring additional hexes per Management Phase at a rate of 1 hex per each two Forward Posts.
Oboro
A Location of interest.
Location: Town. You find a town; see the Town Management step on page 100.
Town name: Winterbury
Occupied by: Siltmaws
Well, a great find at least! Finding a Town is awesome. After capturing one, we can buy and sell items, recruit new members (after building Barracks in the stronghold), and send characters to work for Supplies and fulfill civic projects to improve a Town’s stats, so it generates more Supplies and Construction Materials.
D10 Invasion check: 6, safe
Let’s go for Winterbury!
Combat Phase
Meet the Siltmaws.
With 4 units, I’m facing 8 of these things. At Warband Level 2, the scaling is:
My Command Actions
Demonic Terror: The host howls and cackles, terrifying their opponents and forcing all enemy characters to make a Morale check.
Demonic Speed: During this round, Demonic Cohort characters increase their Speed by 3.
Relentless: You get a new turn this round, immediately after your first one.
With Mahalat out, Kano will equip her large shield.
Battle Event
Sinkhole. With a terrible rumble, a section of the battlefield sinks, leaving a large hole behind. To determine the location of the sinkhole, drop a die atop the center of the play area. The square it landed on and the 8 surrounding it are now impassable terrain.
This really fits a siltmaws’ territory.
Battlemap:
I’m ruling that Siltmaws ignore all terrain penalties when moving. It’s really cool the way they burrow and erupt from the ground.
Round 1
I might regret that ruling because these beasts can MOVE! They get the Initiative, and D, F, and G cover a lot of ground dashing 8 squares. Luckily, not enough to engage.
However, the 12th can engage. Absalom uses Battlecry (+10 ATK to allies in 3 squares for 2 Rounds) and charges D. I ensure his check (+20, MP 4/5) and use Cleave (melee attack check, if successful, hits 2 enemies). Our fearless leader crits with an 11! Only 1 base damage, +1 from two-handed, then +d6 from critting. I rolled a 2, so 4 bludgeoning damage total to D and F, leaving them with 1 HP each.
Durvael uses his Battlecry, increasing the duration by 2 Rounds. He charges Siltmaw F and kills it, triggering Morale checks for D and G. D passes, but G breaks and flees west. +1 XP to Durvael.
Kano charges D. The Siltmaw fumbles its defense! Kano deals 8 damage for an overkill! He missed with an 87, but the fumble turned that into the damage instead. +1 XP to Kano.
Amazing first Round.
Round 2
My initiative. Let’s show ‘em how demons move.
Demonic Speed. During this round, Demonic Cohort characters increase their Speed by 3.
That increases my movement to 6. 12 when including dashing/charging. I can get to them at their starting squares. This is called spawn-killing in multiplayer FPSs and it’s usually forbidden and mitigated by protection mechanics. Here, this kind of bullying is allowed, encouraged, and really awesome.
As you can see, I’m using 11 movement total to reach the Siltmaws, including the double Speed required for Difficult Terrain. Grunts ignore all terrain penalties.
Durvael charges B for 8 damage! (hit with a 74, +1 from two-handed, +1 from battleaxe specialization, -1 Protection). Hitkill, +1 XP.
That triggers new Morale checks. A flees the battle, but C and E remain strong.
Absalom charges Siltmaw C and deals 6 damage, killing it. +1 XP. E passes the Morale check. Kano goes for E, using the Maneuver Unfettered Rage.
As a Free Action, for the next D4 rounds the character is incapable of pursuing any objectives, focusing only on killing their opponents. It will forcibly act on every one of your turns (consuming an Order in the process, as usual), heading in a straight line towards the nearest opponent, disregarding cover or anything else, and only attacking with a melee weapon. While in this stage, the character deals an additional D6 damage with its attacks.
D4: 2 Rounds
He hits with a 34 and activates its Attack Trait (+1 Piercing damage). Another 3 from the d6 Rage bonus, and his swing deals 6 total and kills the beast!
Siltmaw H breaks and flees, ending the combat.
This was a total massacre. I’ve never rolled so well in WA (or any other game, now that I think about it). This really showcases the Demonic Cohort’s capacity to break enemies for an easier win.
Winterbury is now ours! Too bad that Mahalat wasn’t present for this. Two more turns until she’s back.
+1 Loyalty and +1 XP to everyone present.
Loot
D10 Supplies: 9
D6 Construction Materials: 6
Hohoho!
Spoils of War x2
- D10+10 Supplies = 19! Another 9, awesome.
- Random armor > Medium armor
Not bad at all! Next time we’re gonna see how to manage a Town.
Enjoy Absalom’s journal. Thanks for reading, and until next time!
Absalom’s journal
Lilith’s banishment is proving a lesson for us all. A good lesson, making us know ourselves and each other.
Oboro began the week crestfallen, and no beating alleviated it. If his morosity weakens his loyalty, our affectionate torture will give way to serious measures.
Mahalat injured herself in a chasm during our expansion efforts. Her usual uninterest and sobriety might have turned into complacency. Her absence brought us together. She was sorely missed in the battle for Winterbury, a miserable little place that felt like home, but Durvael and Kano made her proud.
Kano might be a lowly grunt, but he’s still a member of the 12th, and he made sure to let everyone in this wintry town know why. What a fierce display to behold! I’d never admit that to him, of course, as he reeks particularly bad, has a face that only a blind, demented mother could love, and I’m not looking to get chummy with a lowly grunt.
These creatures called siltmaws nested just after the main gates and terrorized the townsfolk. This world keeps reminding me that no matter how much infernal grunts lack skill, grace, and intelligence, they don’t hold a burning cross to human incompetence.
Nevertheless, the beasts moved fast, but we were faster.
Durvael carved them with the same enthusiasm he brings to all things, from war to bowel movements.
We are demons of the 12th Infernal Legion, kin to the Morning Star, feared and hated by Lilith the Whoremother, spawns of the Abyss, born from the Creator’s left hand. They were overgrown badgers, for fuck’s sake.
Winterbury belongs to the 12th. Our resolve grows stronger, for that Lilith could not break. We fight together, we become stronger together, we conquer together, and we shall fall together.
Well, except for Mahalat, that fool.
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.