With this year closing down soon ... I looked at my pitiful amount of posts for 2021 and my cheeks reddened with shame.
So, with an hour or three up my sleeve this arvo, I decided to play a Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario solo. I have much wanted to see how this game played. It was certainly straight forward, logical and enjoyable - although I do think the first scenario is made to create an easy introduction to the game.
Below are some photos ... in the end my little group mowed down 10 zombies and 2 giant rats. They found all the secrets (but failed to solve the mystery of the tracks) and walked away with some treasure, herbs, a dead body, a living one and a slightly magical sword.
My little band gathered near the well in the centre of the deserted hamlet. It was at that moment groans and loud squeeks communicated something was awry. We had been surrounded by enemies with the mystery still afoot!
An overview of the hamlet.
The giant rats were quickly killed by the decisive action of Peregrin, my ranger, and the swift arrows of my two archers - Lena and Reynard. The zombies shambling toward out little group would provide a greater challenge.
With the small board size the zombies closed quickly.
Sigurd, the barbarian, proved to be worth all the ale he guzzled as he slew all the zombies to arrive in his portion of the table. He protected the archers who then had the opportunity to look for clues.
Fighting and missile fire erupted in the central area with foes falling without wounding my ranger band. Special events saw another 4 zombies enter the table. These would regularly arrive for much of the early turn replenishing their numbers as swiftly as we could slay them.
As the game went on, the initial flurry of zombies began to wane and the ranger band had more time to secure the clues - largely unmolested by enemies.
The great surprise was when my rouge, Ruprecht, thought he had gathered treasure but instead a rotting corpse (once named Franz) rose from the earth to assail him. Luckily, my ranger was not far away. He quickly downed the Fondler and dashed to the rescue ... the rogue was in the party of other reasons than marital skill.
Peregrin dispatched his foe then ran to engage in several turns of combat against the strongest zombie of the day. Eventually he fell and the two giants rats which arrived late in the game did not reach combat. Peregrin's band had secured all they needed - especially the body of Aventine and a survivor - to aid their further investigation of the dread lurking behind these rotting minions.
Overall, the game was enjoyable but left me thinking I'd been guided to learn the rules ... not face a challenge. But I'm pretty sure that will be amended when Peregrin follows his leads into the depths of the forest where the spider webs cluster in a most remarkable and chilling manner.
Looks fantastic!
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