Let's Play Warlord Ascendant 2e! The 12th Infernal Legion Part 5
Hello, followers of the damned. We now have a Town to manage, spicing up our Management Phase. Let’s get to it.
Management Phase
Management Phase Event
On your way back from the battle you discover some untapped hunting grounds. Gain D10 Supplies.
D10: 1
Great start.
Upkeep Payment
12 (units) - 5 (Mine) = 7 Supplies paid, down to 72.
Warband improvement
Absalom: Close Combat increased by 4!
Durvael leveled up to 3!
Combat Maneuver: Bloodthirsty. At any moment during their activation and as a Free Action, if an enemy creature is taken Out of Action as a consequence of the character’s actions, the character gets a free activation immediately after.
DPs: Executioner (2 DP). The character deals +1 damage when attacking a wounded target.
10 Supplies short for building Barracks and start recruiting units in Towns, so let’s skip Stronghold Management.
Town Management
Winterbury
These are the Towns’ starting stats:
Prosperity: For every point above 5, the settlement generates +2 Supplies. For every point below 3, it generates -2 Supplies.
Order: Every point above 7 reduces Discontent by 1.
Discontent: At 3+: Settlement produces -5 Supplies. At 6+: Settlement produces -10 Supplies and -5 Construction Materials. At 9+: Settlement revolts. An enemy Commoner Warband appears. Once defeated, the Discontent is reduced by D6.
The first step is to roll for a Town Event:
Public Outrage. A recent decision or a perceived injustice has angered the populace. Discontent increases by D4.
D4: 3
Damn it. Discontent increases to 5. Winterbury now generates only 10 Supplies per turn.
Next, we pay the upkeep. We have to pay first before receiving the Supplies generated by the Town, because if we fail to pay, the Discontent increases by 1, which might make the Town generate even less Supplies.
No worries here. I pay and get the 10 generated, breaking even, then receive the 5 Materials.
I’m selling the satchel I found last session for 30 Supplies. 102 total. Not bad!
Now we can undertake a Civic Project. We basically choose between increasing Prosperity or Order, succeeding if we pass a check.
I’m going with Reinforce Order.
Choosing Absalom for this.
Presence check (70): 53, success!
Order in Winterbury increased to 4.
And that’s it for Town Management. Pretty cool, right?
Exploration
Mahalat is injured for two more Phases. Absalom can’t explore, as he’s already completed his task this turn with the Civic Project.
Luckily, I now have a Forward Post, which allows us to automatically discover a Location, bypassing the Exploration roll. Awesome!
Forward Post
Location: Engineering Camp. Grants you access to a team of engineers, allowing you to use the Cannon Salvo Command Action. This unique Command Action deals D4 damage to all creatures in a 2 square radius from the square of your choosing. Every creature in range can make an Agility check to avoid the damage. Each subsequent Engineering Camp increases the damage of Cannon Salvo by +1.
Location name: Oakmarsh
Occupied by: 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.
Resolve (42): 36
Oh yeaaaah! Really cool.
-10 Presence
Combat Maneuver: All or Nothing. During their activation and as a Free Action, the character makes an additional attack, but their Defense is reduced by -30 until the next round.
Kano
A grim cart is collecting bodies from a plague-stricken village. The character can dig around it to find something of value, but must make an Endurance check or suffer from the disease, reducing their Vigor by -2 permanently. If the character does look for loot you can make a roll on the Spoils of War table.
I’m really torn on this. Potentially losing 2 Vigor is harsh. I’m skipping like the coward I am.
Oboro
A Location of interest.
Location: 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.
Location name: Vignoble’s Meadow
Occupied by: Trolls
Nice, another one! I need 2 to explore from now on, but that’s ok. They’re very useful.
I don’t like those Trolls, though.
Invasion Check
D10: 4, safe!
Choices, choices. Trolls or Leper Knights?
You know what, I’m going for the Forward Post!
Combat Phase
I’m regretting this already. At least I’m facing only two of them.
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.
Battle Event
Monster Lair. The battle is taking place in the vicinity of a monster lair. Roll on the Beasts & Monsters table (page 115). The creatures are deployed randomly by putting one of their tokens or mini in the center of the battlefield and then moving it D6+1 squares in a random direction. These new enemies will engage both sides, not only the player-controlled units. When doubting who they target, randomize it.
Beasts & Monsters: Hellswine
Oh, trolls are not enough, game? Sure, throw more fucking things at me. Can this get any worse?
Hmm, thinking about it, they’re all bestial enemies, so there’s a good chance that they go for each other. We might not be doomed after all. I dare hope.
After scaling the enemies and setting up the battlefield, I’m ready to start:
Round 1
Initiative: me, trolls, then hellswines.
I’m just moving for now. The trolls acquire their targets: both are going for hellswine A! That’s really lucky for me.
The hellswines get an extra Order. Hellswine A targets Durvael and charges at him, dealing 1 damage. B goes for the troll leader, but fumbles! It’s Dazed for 1 round. C also targets Durvael, unfortunately. It charges, dealing 1 damage to him. The extra Order goes for hellswine A. Another attack, another 1 damage.
I forgot this before, but hellswines have Size 2, which means they occupy 2 squares on the map.
Round 2
Trolls go first and get an extra Order. Troll A charges Hellswine A, but fumbles! Another one. Dazed for 1 round.
Troll Leader also charges A and gets the other 2 Orders for their side. 4 total damage dealt, and it gets Fatigued for activating more than once.
I’m next. Absalom uses Battlecry (+10 to attack checks for 2 rounds). I Ensure his attack (MP 4/5) and he hits a Cleave, dealing 4 damage to each hellswine.
I’ll try to disengage with Durvael, but fat chance, as it requires an opposed Agility check against the highest of all enemies a unit is engaged to. In this case, the hellswine with +5 Agi.
Durvael, Agility (20): 16!
Hellswine C, Agility (45): 64
Alright, smooth! I’m going to disengage and attack hellswine C away from A’s reach. Durvael uses Battlecry, increasing everyone’s bonus by 2 rounds, and uses Target Weak Spot (if attack hits, it’s a crit). A bit overkill, but I’ll use Ensure (MP 3/5):
Durvael, Close Combat (100): 27
Hellswine C, Defense (50): 78
Damn it. I’m using another MP (2/5) to reroll. I want a bigger hit:
Durvael, Close Combat (100): 57
Nice, 5 damage! His bonuses:
+1 from two-handed
+1 from Specialization
+1 from Executioner
d4 Uncanny Precision: 2
d6 critical hit: 1
Daaaamn it, terrible d6 roll. Still, huge hit, dealing 9 damage after Protection.
Kano goes for hellswine C as well, but the creature defends.
Ok, hellswines’ turn. They get an extra Order.
When a beast acquires a target, it stays on it until:
Being mauled by two trolls is a reason, right? I’m ruling that hellswine A doesn’t go after Durvael and attacks the troll Leader. It defends, though. Hellswine C hits Durvael for 3 damage. B is Dazed, so it doesn’t count as an active unit. The remaining Orders go to hellswine A. It deals only 1 damage to the troll Leader.
Round 3
Hellswine A deals 1 damage to troll Leader, B charges but Leader defends, and C deals 4 to Durvael.
Troll A fumbles again. What a star. Leader heals 1 HP and deals 5 total damage to hellswine A with its extra Orders.
Durvael misses, but Kano kills hellswine C. Hellswine A fails Morale and breaks, can’t disengage, receiving attacks of opportunity from troll Leader (1 damage) and Absalom, who kills it.
B also breaks and runs south.
Oboro charges troll leader for 1 damage, uses Shield Bash for another 1, and the Leader heals 2 Vigor with its Trait. Oboro uses Inspire on Absalom, giving him a free activation.
Absalom misses the Leader.
This is not looking good. I’m thinking this is as far as the 12th goes.
Round 4
Helloswine B fails Morale again and flees the battlefield.
Initiative is mine. Absalom deals 6 damage, and Kano deals 1, but the Leader heals 2.
I considered leaving Durvael behind to spare him, but I need him to win this. He comes swinging for a whopping 8 damage!
I use the CA Relentless to get an extra turn. Durvael hits for 9! He’s a beast. I use All or Nothing, but he misses. -30 Defense until next round. Kano deals 1 damage, and Absalom misses as the Leader defends with a crit. Show off.
They get a normal turn. As troll A is Dazed, the Leader acts 3 times. Its new target is Oboro. It deals 7 damage total to him, one attack being a goddamn crit.
Round 5
Trolls get an extra Order. A’s target is Kano. It charges and deals 3 damage to him with two attacks.
Oboro, like a total chad, takes 1 damage from the Leader and defends the other attacks, like he isn’t just a punch away from becoming puree.
Alright, Durvael goes for it, and this monster deals 8 damage again, killing the Leader! +2 XP for the MVP. Troll A passes the Morale check. Durvael acts again with Bloodthirsty, dealing 4 damage.
Kano deals 2 damage, +1 from his weapon Trait activating, and another 2 with End it Now!. Absalom misses, but I reroll it for a 7 damage banger. His maul Trait activates, but he fails the opposed check. Trolls have 80 Athletics, so that’s expected.
I use the CA Demonic Terror. The troll breaks, and Kano kills it with an awesome attack of opportunity. With that, combat is over and the day is ours!
+1 XP and +1 Loyalty to everyone.
Since I fought an extra enemy (the hellswines), I’m ruling that I get an extra Spoils of War roll.
Loot
D10 Supplies: 3
D6 Construction Materials: 1
Meh.Spoils of War
- Heavy helmet
- Heavy helmet (come on!)
- A Veilpiercer! Fantastic artifact.
- d10+10 Supplies: 11
Not great to roll 1 twice there, but whatever. I’m just glad I survived this. I have to say that I had all but given up after some bad rolls, but things just turned around.
The smart choice would have been fleeing to fight another day, and I would have if I wasn’t posting these, because that doesn’t make for a very fun session, in my opinion. In any case, the XII lives on. Lilith can suck it.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy Absalom’s journal.
Until next time.
Absalom’s journal
Trolls. Hellish hogs. The undead. Vicious badgers. Humans of all kinds.
The endless diversity of things to kill in this world fascinates me. There’s enough to maul, slash, pierce, burn, break, tear, poison, hang, impale, or whatever else the heart desires, and never get bored.
We grow fond of this place and its endless opportunities for violence. Even our mortal coils become more comfortable by the day, and many of their particulars amuse us. Collapsed lungs, aneurysms, several types of unique cancerous growths, organ failure, cognitive decay, seizures, and on and on.
It’s a land of wonders.
Still, it isn’t always rainbows and butterflies. After liberating Winterbury, I expected full cooperation from the townsfolk for our experiments and leisure, but we were met with extreme resistance. I have come into this world fully prepared for torture, pain, and no small deal of mental anguish. However, I did not anticipate prejudice.
How dare they revolt? Oh, suddenly it is unacceptable to choke you? We cannot study how many liters of blood you can lose before dying? You are very welcome, ungrateful shits.
You had to see the faces they made at us. Are we not mortals beneath the same sun? Do we not bleed? Does our shit not smell? Spend any short amount of time with Durvael and that is easily answered. As a prank, he often soils himself and hugs us, the jokester.
My patience has limits, and I put them in their place. It is remarkable how a maul promotes order and silence. A few well-timed swings at skulls and knees change most perspectives.
My only sadness is that Mahalat is missing all this. I noticed that our expansion efforts do well to counter her subdued, introverted nature.
I find myself missing her melancholy eyes, her downward-curled lips, and her defeated posture. I’m sure there’s a mortal word for this longing.
I look forward to her recovery.
It is good to have another meat shield between myself and my enemies.
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.