The 2nd Battle for Stone Pass (Part 3)

The main battle is joined.

The characters returned to where the Waterdeep light troops were staked out to the east of the keep. Carlssen was uncharacteristically brave and moved closer to the keep alone and cast his attack spell (lightning bolt). The goblin and ogre hordes, and now two regiments of orcs, began to advance on the characters' postion. They were soon joined by King Khargol himself, and Zindug, the orc shaman, who both appeared from inside the keep. The troop of orc guards (skulkers) at the top of the keep threatened to shoot their bows at anything that moved.

As the orcs advanced on the characters, the extremely blurry but disciplined Waterdeep forces of Captain Baldartin arrived. I decided to randomize where he would appear and his force (of course) appeared to the rear of the orcs to the south west.

Photia the Gnome decided to move north, back into the mountains. He claims it was to lie in wait and attack the ogre flank but Carlssen was secretly wondering if he was simply hiding from the battle.

The orcs advanced on the characters' position to the east and were oblivious to the arrival of Captain Baldartin. The forces of Mud Creek under Captain Darian then arrived. Again randomised, they appeared in the centre of the southern table edge, right on the flank of the orcs (of course).

Captain Baldartin moved his troops as quickly as possible toward the orcs' rear, trying to avoid the impassable huts and disordering terrain of the ogre squat.

Meanwhile, the archers and characters stood on the hill. They awaited the arrival of the ogres who could see their quarry and ignored everything else.

To the west, the goblin horde turned about, ready to face the troop of cavalry threatening to charge them across the disordering terrain and into their rear.

In the east the ogres were all but breathing down the necks of the archers. The wiley Tranky positioned himself on the ogres' flank and turned into a bear (i used the stats of a troll boss but without regenerate) and Photia finally appeared from the shrubbery on the ogres' rear. Ogre sammich coming up?

In the centre the orcs screamed their tradedmark warcry and charged the milita and one of the shieldwall regiments. King Khargol charged directly at Captain Darian while the shaman lurked behind them to bolster the orc spirits with a banechant spell. Captain Baldatirn wove through the orc huts, hoping for a flank charge on the orc regiment.

The orcs on the left flank fought nose to nose with the milita horde but neither gave way. The orc regiment on the right flank was repulsed and was then countercharged by both shieldwall regiments who were fought back by the tough orcs. King Khargol managed to waver Captain Darian but the Captain was healed by the halfling priestess Mistress Felliana, who graced the table in full plate armour and riding a small but viscious pony.

On the right flank (west), the Waterdeep cavalry decided they could not win a charge over broken ground at a phalanx horde of goblin stickers, so they retired.

On the left flank (east), the ogres were charged by Tranky and Photia and, due to the constant rain of arrows from the archers and the flank attacks, they wavered and were unable to countercharge. Carlssen moved into range of the keep and cast more spells at the guards on the roof.

The Orc regiment on the right flank (west) charged the shieldwall and broke it but were in turn charged in the flank by the other shieldwall who destroyed them. The remaining orc regiment and militia staggered back and forth but the milita finally broke and fled allowing the orcs to turn and threaten Captain Darian. It was at this point that the orc morale flagged when they saw King Khargol charge and fail to break Captain Darian. Captain Darian responded and charged King Khargol along with a shieldwall regiment and the King finally fell under their combined weight of arms. Mistress Felliana was there to utter healing prayers on the Captain once more. At the same time the goblins turned back to the centre to try and bolster the orc ranks.

On the left flank (east) the ogres were shot at by the archers but nothing came of it. This allowed the ogres to turn against their main threat, Tranky, who fought in bear form for the rest of the battle. Carlssen saw his opportunity and moved off towards the rear of the orc regiment and prepared his spells.

One more charge from Tranky and Photia and the ogres finally broke and ran. At the same time the last orc regiment was destroyed by a well aimed spell from Carlssen. Zindug the shaman found himself surrounded and was charged by Captain Darian and Captain Baldartin but managed to fight them off. The archers moved up and began to shoot at the guards in the tower who had been previously softened up by Carlssen's spells. Well aimed arrows fell upon the guards, causing them to flee.

Meanwhile in the centre the Waterdeep cavalry finally charged the goblin phalanx frontally and, not surprisingly were repulsed. The goblins rubbed their little green hands with glee and countercharged the cavalry, causing devastating wounds on the cavalry. But then a double 1 was thrown and the goblins were shocked to see, after the dust had settled, that the cavalry still stood their ground!

This left only the shaman and the goblins of the orc forces. Sadly round 6 was already over and there was no round 7 to be had so the game was called. I can only surmise that the goblins and shaman would have been scattered under the combined mass of the remaining human forces and characters.

But even though the shaman ran away, would he be back again another day?