I haven't visited Middle earth for a little while and so when Matt was suddenly free for a game a few evenings back it seemed like the perfect opportunity to return to our Quest of the Ringbearer campaign (which is taking longer than Frodo simply walking into Mordor).
When last we left the Fellowship they had heroically defended themselves from a pack of Wargs but Gandalf was hurt. This was potentially a problem as before they could face the long dark of Moria, they would need to make it past the Watcher in the Water.
For this scenario we stepped away from the main campaign book to an older version of the scenario which featured in White Dwarf.
I did this for two main reasons. Firstly I don't own the massive Watcher in the Water model because: a) I don't want to, and b) it's not actually in the water, which is stupid.
Secondly, and I may have mentioned this before, a long time ago in the early days of the first edition of this game (none now live who remember it) I wrote a scenario very much like this one...in fact almost exactly like this one and shared it on The Last Alliance forum (that's how long ago it was, people weren't monetising absolutely everything). It's my belief that the printed scenario was at the very least heavily influenced by my ideas (the same goes for the Old Forest scenario with moving trees).
I can't prove any of this as the website went kaput years ago, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
.jpg)
However this did mean I needed a Watcher to be in the water. I painted some 3d printed tentacles some months back and so set about making a body/head for the creature as quickly as possible (I had a few hours).
Pushing spare daemon parts into a vaguely sculpted blob of green stuff produced this:
It looks a bit like a drowning chicken.
However, Tolkien never said the Watcher didn't look like a drowning chicken and so I slapped some green and cream paint on it, smothered it in Agrax Earthshade and got ready for the game.
The base was done in the same way as the tentacles, PVA and tissue paper to make ripples, painted white and given a green wash (which was still drying when Matt arrived).
And so, on with our tale...
***
As the party entered Moria a cry went up from the rear and Frodo was dragged to the water by a slithering tentacle.
Sam went immediately to help him and somehow managed to force the thing to drop his master.
The rest of the party came rushing out of the doors to see what the commotion was and help the Ringbearer.
As they emerged from the gloom they saw the lake was alive with slithering snake-like tentacles threatening to drag Frodo to his doom.
The Fellowship leapt into action to drive off the grasping appendages and in a combination of swordplay, thrown axes, lucky strikes and many, many arrows managed to drive off the tentacles.
Even Merry and Pippin won their fights.
However, as they all paused for breath it was revealed that Sam had been dragged off his feet and was now dangling above the gaping maw if the creature.
A stalwart voice could be heard across the water, "don't mind me, get Mr Frodo to safety!"
However, Legolas promptly ignored him and put three arrows into the tentacle holding Sam, causing him to drop into the water.
Heeding Sam's words Aragon, Boromir and Gimli began shepherding Frodo to the doorway of Moria.
Pippin decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed inside, however Merry bravely attacked one of the tentacles to prevent it from reaching Legolas, allowing the Elf to continue to help Sam with his bow.
Sadly, Merry's bravery was his undoing and he was dragged into the water.
Aragorn led the way as more hacking and slashing allowed the Fellowship to get Frodo ever closer to safety.
However, with two Hobbits in trouble, Legolas was unable to hurt the creature enough to protect both of them.
San made a desperate swim to safety but Merry was dragged under the waves.
Sadly, Sam's swim was short lived as he can't swim and he too was once again pulled towards the fowl beast.
Despite this, the rest of the party were getting Frodo closer to safety, beating back each wave if tentacles as it arrived.
However, they could do nothing but watch as Sam was finally pulled under the water.
But with the Fellowship guarding him all the way, Frodo made his way inside Moria despite the tentacles trying to reach him.
What remained of the Fellowship headed deeper into the mines. They were exhausted and distraught about the fate of their friends.
***
Having managed to get five members of the Fellowship including Frodo to safety, I had managed to win the game. Aragon's free point of Might each turn was, as ever, a game changer, and once I'd managed to get Frodo behind the party's three best fighters the game was never really in doubt.
We decided the bravest companion was Merry because he took on several tentacles alone. I'm not sure if a defeated party member can gain this benefit, but if it wasn't him it would probably be Legolas who's bow was crucial in holding the line and keeping several tentacles occupied with Sam.
The Fool of a Took was once again Gandalf, who achieve absolutely nothing. The Watcher's three free points of Will each turn rendered his magic useless and with him only on one wound from the previous game I was very careful with him. This does mean he'll still be on a single wound next time too.
Here are the current Might, Will and Fate points for the Fellowship:
***
Out on the bank of the pool a splashing sound heralded Sam hauling Merry out of the water.
"Come on Mr Merry, I don't know why that thing let us go, but we've got to catch up before the next game."
***
On a side note, I received the updated edition of 7TV from the recent Kickstarter which included a free miniature. This counteracts the progress achieved from getting the drowning chicken done as that wasn't actually a miniature before I started.
Acquired: 82
Painted: 215
Lead Mountain: 469
No comments:
Post a Comment