Runewars Boardgame Gameplay

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:48 am

This is the gameplay thread for the Runewars boardgame. Find the sign up and info thread here:
http://www.octopusoverlords.com/forum/v ... 93&start=0" target="_blank

Rules:
All game discussion must be in this thread. No private PMs and the like, just as though we were at a table.

Download the rules here:
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_c ... ok-web.pdf" target="_blank

Also, download the FAQ here:
http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_c ... aq-1-2.pdf" target="_blank

We are also using the following changes to the official rules. All players start with 1 dragon rune instead of 2. To win, you must obtain 7 dragon runes.

Players:
docD - Waiqar the Undying
Zurai - Latari Elves
Jow - Jowatal Elves (Latari clone)
Scoop - Uthuk Y'llan
Lagom - Daqan Lords

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:48 am

Rules and Components
Here's some stuff not shown in the rulebook or is easy to forget.

Victory Condition
We are playing by house rules to account for the extra player. Be the first to obtain 7 Dragon Runes at any point in the game. You win the instant you get 7 Dragon Runes and reveal them. The only measure of victory is the dragon runes, don't get bogged down in back in forth fighting, focus on the runes.

If no player has won by the end of the eighth year (after Winter), the game ends. When this happens, all rune tokens are revealed and the player with the highest number of dragon runes wins. Ties are broken normally.

Fate Deck
Runewars uses a deck of 30 cards instead of dice to determine the outcome of random elements like battle. Each card has multiple elements:
The Destiny Symbol, used for diplomacy with neutral units and quests. The results of which are either Success, Neutral, or Failure.
Four areas showing battle outcomes for each of the 4 unit shapes (Triangle, Circle, Rectangle, and Hexagon). The results in these areas are separate, and are either Damage, Rout, or Special Ability. Both damage and rout can have more than one.

Every Fall Season in game the Fate Deck is reshuffled, and when it is depleted.

See the spoiler below for a breakdown of the card chances.

Spoiler:

The Order Cards

Spoiler:

Title Cards

Spoiler:

(click to enlarge)

Play Order and Ties:

Spoiler:

Unit Traits

Spoiler:

Neutral Units

Spoiler:

Uthuk Y'llan Units

Spoiler:

Daqan Lords Units

Spoiler:

Latari/Jowatal Elves Units

Spoiler:

Waiqar the Undying Units

Spoiler:

Heroes:

Spoiler:

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:49 am

Start of Game Setup

I, scribe Vocar, sit here on on the precipice of dark times. Historian to the Daqan Lords, I shall do my best to record these historic events so that those who come later may know how the world they live in has come to pass. It has been years since the discovery of the Dragon Runes and since then all have clashed to obtain their power. At first, it was minor skirmishes and rivalries between brave adventurers first discovering the runes in dark places. However, as the new year comes, open war is finally upon us.

The Daqan lords march from the Northwest, bringing the might of our armies to the enemy. Our infantry strong with sword and bow, and our siege weapons the pride of engineering academies across the world. To the Southwest lie the lands of the Latari elves, long lived, crafty, and deceptively dangerous as clashes with their scouting parties have shown. Once our allies, they too cannot resist the lure of power. The Jowatal elves to the northeast are no less deadly, though they do not aspire to the same goals as the Latari, neither good, nor evil, they seek the Dragon Runes for an unknown purpose.

But these are not the greatest threat no matter how they contest our claim to the runes. To the Southeast lie the blighted lands of the Uthuk Y'llan a once proud nomadic people, now turned to barbarism from demonic corruption. Meanwhile, a dark plague rises in the far east, as Waiqar the Undying has risen again, driving forth his legions of undead, seeking the dragon runes to further his unholy power. I cannot imagine what horrors await us should either of these forces obtain the dragon runes...

(click to enlarge)

Waiqar the Undying (docD) Status:

Spoiler:

Latari Elves (Zurai) Status:

Spoiler:

Jowatal Elves (Jow) Status:

Spoiler:

Uthuk Y'llan (Scoop) Status:

Spoiler:

Daqan Lords (Lagom) Status:

Spoiler:

Pending:
All Players must make their starting recruitment. As per the rules, you recruit using every one of your resource tracks/dials. Look at the track, whatever space the arrow points to, you get that unit and every below it when you recruit. When recruiting you don't get Influence Tokens or Tactics Cards, those are obtained in other ways. Post the results and where you are placing these units in your first post in this thread. You can only place new units in your home lands, or at a stronghold. For example, Waiqar (docD) would get: 2 Reanimates, 1 Skeletal Archer, and 1 Necromancer. Each home space is labeled with an A, B, or C, use these when referencing where you want units to go. Likewise, each space on the map has a number and letter label, use these to let me know exactly where stuff is happening on the map.

Each player has also received their starting influence tokens, as shown in your individual status areas. All information in these status areas are public knowledge, I put them in spoiler tags to cut down on the amount of space the information takes.

Players will soon receive their starting tactics cards. You hand limit is 10 of these and they're all very useful, although some are more situational than others. The amount of tactics cards you have is public, but which cards you have are private and will be kept track of via PM.

You start with 1 free Stronghold in any of your home spaces, include its location in your starting recruitment posts.

You'll also be getting 1 Dragon Rune and 2 False Runes to start. All rune tokens are placed on the map face down. Starting Runes may only be placed in your home spaces. Only Dragon Runes matter, but false runes help throw off enemies who are trying to take your runes. After the game starts, when you get a dragon rune, you will receive both a dragon rune token, and a false rune token, both of which will be placed on the map in a friendly or neutral space. You'll have the option to remove up to 2 false rune tokens before choosing to place your new Dragon Rune and False Rune. PM me with where you want to place your runes.

Each of you also get 1 starting Hero of your faction's alignment. These will be posted in your status area. Include where you want your Hero to start in your home spaces in the starting recruitment post.

One objective card will be given to each player, these cards are hidden objectives that give you some bonus if you complete whatever requirements are on the card. Objective Cards will be tracked by PM.

Lastly, you have 2 quest cards to start, these are in your hand and are not public knowledge. Quest cards will be tracked via PM. These quests have map locations printed on them, and only heroes can undertake quests.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:48 pm

OK, I guess I'll get us started

Place my 2 Archers in hex light green A, and my warrior and sorceress in hex light green B.

Put my Stronghold in hex light green B.

EDIT: I have to place my Hero too, right? Go ahead and put it at light green B.

For observers:

Spoiler:

I don't really think there's too much strategy to this part of the set-up. I decided not to clump my forces all in the same tile just in case there's some random nasty Tactics card that punishes it that someone wants to get feisty and play on the first turn, plus I'm going after the Dragon right away and its special lets it roast Triangle units (ie, my Archers).

My initial plans are to play Strategize on turn 1 to move that Sorceress and Warrior into the Dragon's tile and try to diplomacy it into at least moving. If I spend all 4 of my Influence (risky, but I can get 3 Influence back if I take the tile and play an Acquire Power order later) I have a ~46% chance of allying with the dragon and a ~74% chance that if I don't get an alliance I at least force it to retreat. Unfortunately, if it does retreat, it'll probably retreat onto that city, which is my second goal. I'd really like to ally with the dragon, though, because the Elves have no Hex-base units of their own, and dragons have a really nice special abilities (kill three triangle units).

After I deal with the dragon, I'm aiming for the city at 1C, then the two-wood tile 6B, then the city at 6C. That's pretty long-term planning because you don't seem to be able to move armies very often in this game.

Other setup info:
Both of my starting Quests are "Test Agility", but it sounds like my starting Hero, Runewitch Astarra, is a Wisdom-type, which means I'll probably want to train her first. One of them is in tile 4B, which is right next door to my starting area; the other is at 8C, which is way up by the Jow-elves. Unfortunately, the easier to get to one is the harder one to complete without damage (easier to get a reward card from though, since all three possible results grant a reward -- it's just that only the "best" result, which is also by far the rarest, does so without dealing damage to my hero). I'm putting my hero at B since that'll put her in range of 4B if I decide to go after that quest this summer.
My starting Objective is to have all three Resource dials at 6, which is going to be rough. I'll need 4 food, 3 wood, and 4 ore to get there. That'll take a lot of conquering.
My starting tactics card is a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" card. It lets me target a player with an activation token on the board, and we both get to remove an activation token. Activation tokens are what are used to attack tiles in force, but they also nail the troops used to attack that tile there for the rest of the year, so being able to remove an activation token can be pretty important. I won't get much use out of it for a while though, probably.

Lagom Lite · Post by **Lagom Lite** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:51 pm

According to my resources, I get 2 Footmen, 1 Bowman and 1 Knight.
I place them all in C.
I place my starting Stronghold in C.
Sir Valadir starts in C.

So, uh, all eggs in one basket I guess. Gotta protect that ore!

...

Elves to the left of him, elves to the right of him...

You're friendly elves, right? The pansy kind? Right?

docD · Post by **docD** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 3:23 pm

I will place my stronghold in A, units in A and Red Scorpion in A

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:05 pm

docD, I need your dragon rune placement.

Also, as you guys plan your first actions, remember that at the start of the Winter season (before your orders for the season) has the Food track working against you. In every hex, if you have more units (neutrals included) in that hex than the number at which your food track is at, you must destroy units in that hex until the number of units equal to the number on your food track. This means food is a priority for the coming winter if you want to maintain a large army. You should also consider saving the Strategize order to shift units around in the end of Fall, however remember that you can't move units out of a space with one of your activation tokens. Most of you start with 3 food, with the elves being much more limited by having 2 food to start.

There are other ways to obtain extra food though. If you have a stronghold on a food producing space, you can build a development attached to it that produces 1 extra resource of a type you choose in the space it occupies. If you have little in the way of food around you, consider this option until you can secure better food producing areas. If you're massing for an attack, understand that units up to 2 spaces away can move to an activated space, not just 1, so you have more leeway in placement to avoid Winter's effects.

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:20 pm

Units, hero, and stronghold in B.

Spoiler:

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:22 am

You might want to clearly indicate when a spoiler tag is something your fellow players shouldn't read. I use a lot of spoiler tags in my posts to keep layouts clean. Others might think it's just extra info or lots of graphics, and instead find out your entire battle plan.

Where is Scoop?!

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:55 am

I have been reading the rulez and trying to get a grasp for the game. Sorry about the delay.

Uthuk Y'llan (Scoop) Initial Setup.:

I should have the following units:
2 Berserkers
1 Warlock
1 Flesh Ripper
Hero

I wish to put all units in Area A.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:25 pm

Year 1, Spring

(click to enlarge)

Waiqar the Undying (docD) Status:

Spoiler:

Latari Elves (Zurai) Status:

Spoiler:

Jowatal Elves (Jow) Status:

Spoiler:

Uthuk Y'llan (Scoop) Status:

Spoiler:

Daqan Lords (Lagom) Status:

Spoiler:

Spring Season Card: Heroes for Hire
Perform an influence bid. The highest bidder may draw the top 2 cards of the hero deck and choose 1 to keep. Shuffle the other card back into the Hero deck.

Spring Secondary Ability: Remove all activation tokens from the board, reclaim all used order cards, and stand up all routed units.

Pending:
All players must choose how much influence to bid (0 or more) and PM their choice to me.

Then, also choose your order card in secret and PM that decision to me as well.

Turned In: Scoop, docD, Zurai

(I've updated the board to change and include some things. First, I removed some borders along home spaces since I screwed up on placement, to better even the game. I've also included all possible components on the board, so you can see how much you have available.)

docD · Post by **docD** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:57 pm

Far to the east, the legions of Waiqar the Undying marched forth not with rumble of drums or the blare of trumpets but with a profound silence of the walking dead.

For those of you that are reding along:

Spoiler:

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:24 pm

For the spectators:

Spoiler:

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 12:47 am

For followers:

Spoiler:

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 1:05 am

We're having forum errors, can't edit posts right now.

Turned In: Scoop, docD, Zurai, Jow

To clarify: The Strategize order can only be used to move units to Friendly or Empty spaces. You cannot start battles or even try diplomacy with that order.

Also, a quote from a boardgamegeek poster about winning the game:

Just played for the first time. I was teaching, so I stressed very strongly that you had to focus on getting runes. Like staying on target for VPs in Twilight Imperium. Don't just make stuff at random because Demon Lords look cool.

But even with the warning, the sources of the runes still surprised us. Game came to a sudden end and two players didn't even know it was possible. So:

1) Everyone starts with 2.
2) Every winter creates a rune.
3) There are enough quests for each player to get 5-6 to do. Good chance to get 1 rune with 5 tries, but then every 3 that don't can be traded for one. So call it 2 from quests per person.
4) Your special objective gets a rune.

So consider that you can get 6 runes on your own without fighting. So if you can just hold 4 spaces outside your home to put them in, the game can end without any big cool fights. If you have been focused solely on making an army and skipping winter votes, you may find you've been playing the wrong game. (The winner kept the fact they had two quest-runes in the hero's pocket secret and cashed them in for #5 and #6 to win all sneaky-like.)

PS) Maybe one person in a game will see a tactic card make a rune. But then they might not play it. So I left that out.

Lagom Lite · Post by **Lagom Lite** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:30 am

For the audience:

Spoiler:

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:38 am

Lagom, you deleted the PM you sent before I could read it so I still don't have you actions this turn.

Lagom Lite · Post by **Lagom Lite** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:46 am

Turtle wrote:Lagom, you deleted the PM you sent before I could read it so I still don't have you actions this turn.

Whew! Good thing, too!

I've just sent you an updated version of that PM.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 12:13 pm

Heroes For Hire Influence Bid
Lagom: 0
Scoop: 0
docD: 0
Zurai: 0
Jow: 1

Jow wins the bid and must choose between two heroes from the Hero deck.

Turn Order
1) Jow: 1-Strategize (3 Influence)
2) docD: 1-Strategize (2 Influence)
3) Scoop: 1-Strategize (1 Influence)
4) Zurai: 2-Mobilize (4 Influence)
5) Lagom: 2-Mobilize (2 Influence)

Turn 1: Jow
Supremacy Bonus: Jow gains an extra Tactics card.

Pending:
Jow must now choose where his units move using the Strategize order.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:16 pm

Jow chooses "Bogran the Shadow" as his new hero, placing him in area B, then uses his Strategize order to all his units and heroes into 5b.

Turn 2: Waiqar the Undying (docD)

(click to enlarge)

Pending:
docD must choose where his units move using the Strategize order.

(I've also updated the graphics again. Should be a little easier to tell what's what now.)

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:40 pm

Spoiler:

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:16 pm

docD receives 1 Tactics card from Strategize's Supremacy bonus. Then moves 1 skeletal archer to 8D, and moves all other units and hero to 9B.

(click to enlarge)

Turn 3: Uthuk Y'llan (Scoop)

Scoop receives 1 Tactics card from Strategize's Supremacy bonus. Then moves all units and heroes from UA to 3B.

(click to enlarge)

Pending:
Processing Zurai's turn...

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:45 pm

Turn 4: Latari Elves (Zurai)

Zurai uses the primary ability of his Mobilize order to activate 4A, moving a Sorceress and Warrior into the space, then spends 3 influence to attempt diplomacy. The diplomacy fate cards reveal, 2 Failures and 1 Success! The dragon is now allied to Zurai in space 4A.

Using the Supremacy bonus, he then activates the nearby 1C, moving his Archers in to take the city.

Pending:
Processing Lagom's pre-set turn.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:16 pm

Turn 5: Daqan Lords (Lagom)

Lagom uses his Mobilize order to Activate 7A, moving 1 Knight, 1 Bowman, and 1 Footman into 7A. No diplomacy attempted.

Battle! - Knight, Bowman, Footman vs. 2 Beastmen
Initiative 1 Fate Results:
Bowman deals 1 Damage! 1 Beastman is killed!

Initiative 2 Fate Results:
Knight deals 2 Damage! The last beastman is killed!
vs.
Beastman routs 1 unit, a Footman cowers in fear!

(Fate Results used: 2 Failure, 1 Success)

(How I handle routs and damage if not specified. I choose the highest initiative, lowest health, triangle units to flee first, the go down in initiative and health. Basically your weakest grunt units die first. If you want damage applied to higher tier units, let me know, but be aware that you can't spread out damage, once something takes damage, it keeps taking damage until dead or the battle is over. When you have to retreat, I'll usually just send you back along the path your units came from.)

Having won the battle, he plays the Tactics card:
Pillage
Play immediately after you have won a battle.
Gain resources as provided by the area. If the battle was against an opponent, he also loses resources as provided by the area.

This raises his food and wood tracks by +1 each.

Using the Supremacy bonus, Zurai then activates 8A and tries for Diplomacy. He moves the Footman left in DC into 8A and spends 2 Influence Tokens. The diplomacy fate cards reveal 2 Failures! This would normally result in a battle, but since a battle already occurred for this order the Footman is forced to retreat and retreats to 7A.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:21 pm

Woot! The plan is proceeding apace.

Lurker notes:

Spoiler:

That also seriously reduces the chances of any other diplomacy attempts succeeding this year and can screw with questing as well (quests use the same icons that diplomacy does).

I'm probably gonna go ahead and do the one quest this Summer; the Runewitch can take the 2 damage from a "failure" result and she gets a reward card no matter what.

I'm still not sure which Order I'm going to play next Season. I need to get a Harvest in before Winter comes around or one of the units in the tile with the Dragon has to die of starvation. I'd really rather that didn't happen, so I'm probably going to Harvest in the Fall Season. That leaves my Summer open. The problem is that Harvest is Order #4, and the only two unplayed Orders lower than #4 are Strategize and Conquest, neither of which are any use to me unless I use my Tactics card, because all of my units are in Activated tiles and thus cannot move again. I'd like to get that Harvest secondary bonus and put down a Development (probably a Diplomat for extra Influence, but I havn't decided yet).

So, that means Harvesting in Summer if I don't use my Tactics card. That leaves my Fall open as long as I don't end up with more than 3 units in any single tile. My other choices are Recruit (I'd get a Pegasus Rider and a Sorceress from Ore, one Archer from Wood, and/or two Warriors from Food), Rally Support (a possibility; I can snag a Hellhound, a Tactics card, a Quest, or two Influence by using it, plus a Hero for the Supremacy bonus), Acquire Power (get Influence based on my resource tracks, which would be 3 after the Harvest; the Supremacy bonus would let me try to snag a Title card. The Wizard's Council is the one I'm eyeing of those three, although Hero's Guild isn't bad either. I'm not planning to pursue a strong military strategy, so the Warrior's Guild doesn't do me as much good, but it'd still be good for defending my Runes from somebody else), or Fortify (spend a wood and an ore to gain a Stronghold on a tile I own without a Stronghold or a City; I'd plop that on 4A where I just got the Dragon).

I'm currently undecided, but leaning towards Harvesting in Summer (placing a Diplomat at my current Stronghold), moving my resource tracks to 3F, 2W, 4O. Then I'll Recruit in the Fall, placing one Archer, one Sorceress, and one Pegasus Rider at said Stronghold. Then, in Winter, I'll choose between Rally Support, Acquire Power, and Fortify. Rally Support would help with all kinds of things -- it's a really versatile Order. Acquire Power would net me 5 Influence at that point (bringing me up to 6) and I'd probably spend 3 Influence to grab the Wizard's Council Title, leaving 3 for bidding during the Winter Season. Fortify would let me solidify my hold on 4A, allowing me to move my troops there to other tiles to claim them. You have to have colored (ie, not neutral, so my Dragon has to move with my other troops) troops on a tile, or a Stronghold, to own it in this game. Just passing through doesn't do any good. All three of those options are enticing in their own ways. I'll wait to decide until after I've seen the results of the other Seasons.

Anyway, my goal is to win through economic power and influence rather than straight up military force. I'll produce enough troops to present a solid front and fortify my front lines (once I've taken 4 or 5 provinces, enough to place all of my potential Dragon Runes down), but no more. Elves are already disadvantaged in Food production, although if I can take 4B and hold it I'll have 6 Food which should be plenty. I also have to keep in mind my Objective, which is to have 6 Food, 6 Wood, and 6 Ore. I can achieve that most easily by taking 4B, 6D, 2C, and 6B. That's a lot of military expansion, though. None of those are particularly hard fights right now, but 6B and 2C will put me in potential conflict with other players.

I could choose 1B instead of either of those and still meet the requirements of my Objective, so that's a possibility if Scoop seems to be heading towards 2C with all his forces. I expect Lagom will do what I just did with his troops, taking the city closest to him, but it's also possible he'll head for the city at 6C, which would be unfortunate because I'd like that one too. Still, if he goes that way, I can go for 1B and fly a Pegasus Rider over the mountains to 7B and take that city that way, so I have options.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:28 pm

How are we handling diplomacy? Everything out loud at the table or can we "pass notes"?

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:30 pm

Has to be out loud, as though we were at the table.

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:36 pm

*points at dragon and nudges everyone but Zurai*

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:46 pm

This space intentionally left blank.

(What I was planning wouldn't work, at least not right now)

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:52 pm

Jow wrote:*points at dragon and nudges everyone but Zurai*

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:01 pm

Year 1, Summer

Spring has passed with surprisingly little bloodshed. Our armies encountering only strange beastmen that were once uncommon, perhaps driven forth from their hiding places by the drums of war and hunger for carrion. We dispatched two roving bands of them as we made our way forward, and in the process came across stockpiles of food and lumber that these creatures had been guarding. But for what purpose were these creatures collecting them, were they not just savages? That is a question that must wait for less dire times I'm afraid. Meanwhile, a sub commander thought it would be useful to try and time the vicious hell hounds that had plagued these lands for years. He rejoined the march singed, bruised, and with no hell hounds in tow, but otherwise unharmed. I would have dismissed his attempts as foolish and wasteful, were it not for the news I heard from the South.

The fascinating news, though it did not bode well for us, was that out spies have observed the Latari parlaying with Dragons, of all things, and so far it looks as though their efforts have succeeded! As much as the scribe in me would love a chance to speak with a dragon, I shudder to think that such a dangerous creature would be turned on us should we be forced into conflict. But the deal with the dragon did not simply grant them a powerful ally, it allowed them to access to the dragon's lands the roads which is overlooked. Safe from its attacks, their armies marched forward much more quickly than anticipated and seized control of the city of Corwin. The Latari are not known to be tyrants, so its people are in good hands, but these are times of war and few things can be taken for granted.

To the northeast the Jowatal continue their enigmatic movements. They marched their army straight into the city of Brell, as though welcomed, and their troops now spend time drilling tactics. It's clear they too are readying for war. Considering that they stand in the warpath between us and the dread armies of Waiqar and the Uthuk, it makes sense for them to be so wary. But whether they will stand and fight, or take flight to west and into our lands remains to be seen.

All the while, a small but steady stream of refugees have been trickling in from the far east. The Jowatal do not take them, the Uthuk eat or corrupt those that they find, and we can barely care for our own troops let alone care for them... but the stories they bring are truly frightening. The city of Dominus fell to Waiqar's army in less than a day of fighting, as the mindless dead, untroubled by mortal matters breached the city's walls through the ancient sewers. With the undead choking the streets and Waiqar's army sieging outside the walls, the city became a nightmare of death as the process of exterminating the populace to make more undead servants took months, until, a last heart wrenching scream was heard, and the city was filled only with the silence of the living dead.

Meanwhile Esila met a similar, but more abrupt fate as the Uthuk stormed out of their desert lands before the defenders could even organize. The city was taken with nary a fight, and all those who stood against them were slaughtered, or fed alive to their beasts they fittingly call flesh rippers. Those that were of use were enslaved, or pressed into service to their dark masters, their bodies undergoing the same processes that twisted the Uthuk into their corrupted forms today. The few refugees from the area arrived starving, having only time to gather their loved ones and run for their lives, many had to abandon their closest kin to flee the slaughter.

The Wizard's Council, powerful though they are, are fools and seek to end the bloodshed by enforcing mandatory disarmament pacts. Do they really believe the likes of Waiqar and the Uthuk will simply lay down their arms at the insistence of a group of stuffy old men? And yet, as foolish as it seems, the council must be obeyed. I only hope it cripples them more than us, but that is a matter for our diplomats to handle.

For now, we must obtain the Dragon Runes and put an end to this madness...

(click to enlarge)

Waiqar the Undying (docD)

Spoiler:

Latari Elves (Zurai)

Spoiler:

Jowatal Elves (Jow)

Spoiler:

Uthuk Y'llan (Scoop)

Spoiler:

Daqan Lords (Lagom)

Spoiler:

Summer Season Card: Mandatory Disarmament
Perform an influence bid. The highest bidder chooses a player. The chosen player discards 2 random Tactics cards.

Pending:
All players must choose how much influence to bid (0 or more) and PM their choice to me.

Bids Turned In: docD, Zurai, Scoop, Lagom, Jow

Lagom Lite · Post by **Lagom Lite** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:45 am

Stupid footman diplomats.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:28 am

Summer Season Card: Mandatory Disarmament
Influence Bid:
Jow 1
Lagom 0
Scoop 0
Zurai 0
docD 0

Jow wins the bid and must choose 1 player to discard 2 random tactics cards.

(We'll continue on while he decides, so be aware that you may lose tactics cards after you decide what to do.)

Summer Secondary Ability: Quest Phase
Turn order:
1) Jow: 1-Strategize (2 Influence, 4 starting)
2) docD: 1-Strategize (2 Influence, 2 starting)
3) Scoop: 1-Strategize (1 Influence, 1 starting)
4) Zurai: 2-Mobilize (1 Influence, 4 starting)
5) Lagom: 2-Mobilize (1 Influence, 3 starting)

In turn order, players do one of the following with each of their heroes: Move, Heal, or Train (Quest Phase rules on page 26 of rulebook). For timing purposes, it is not considered anyone's turn right now as technically no order cards are played for this season yet.

Because I duplicated some map areas, note which one of the duplicated areas you are heading to for now with east or west, north or south. I'll relabel these spaces in the next map update. Map segments 8 and 2 were duplicated when making this map.

Pending:
Jow must take actions with each of his Heroes.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:26 pm

Jow chooses to hit docD with the Mandatory Disarmament, discarding 2 random tactics cards.

He then takes the following actions with his heroes:
OneFist trains his Strength (+2)
Bogran moves to 2B.

It is now docD's turn to use his heroes.

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:28 pm

To Docd and spectators:

Spoiler:

To spectators:

Spoiler:

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:35 pm

For lurkers:

Spoiler:

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:48 pm

You don't need to put everything in spoilers.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 2:55 pm

I don't, and I won't, but that's something I would have kept to myself at the table, so I kept it to a lurker-spoiler.

Lagom Lite · Post by **Lagom Lite** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:36 pm

Turtle wrote:5) Lagom: 2-Mobilize (1 Influence, 3 starting)

I think I'm down to 0 (zero) Influence.

Edit: nvm, did I start with 3?

docD · Post by **docD** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:18 pm

@ Jow: I will await your envoy I even promise to return him to you after he meets with me. He might not even try to rip your heart out if I like your offer....

Sending my instructions now turtle.