Session 7: The Purging of Gunnolfsfell - Part 1

The Setup

After hiring 8 serjeants to help Captain Lou keep the 40 pikemen in line as well as Sgt Slaughter for the existing Bro-cenary horsemen, the Bros leaves Tallow watch with pikemen in tow to see what they can do about the orcs that killed the original bros. They're suspicious that there are more hiding in the area surrounding Gunnolfsfell and decide they're going to need the extra manpower.

The Ogre Magi (aka Oni cuz that's what they're supposed to be...) are looking for the treasure specified on their map. It is really in the ruins within hex 311.304, but they've misread the map and mistakenly believe the ruined tomb in hex 302.301 to be the location of the hoard. They've brought a large force of orcs as slave labor and treasure guards. 

Unwilling to incur the wrath of the Eastgate (hex 303.301) or Valthrun (hex 300.300) militias, they've decided to use guile and stealth as much as possible. To keep the orcs satiated and to eliminate all potential witnesses (and runners to the cities), the Oni Chief ordered the bulk of the orcs to obliterate Gunnolfsfell while he takes a smaller group with him to quietly search the ruined tomb in hex 302.301 for the treasure. 

In a savage surprise attack witnessed by the patrolling Bro-cenaries, the Oni and orcs exterminated all 788 residents of the village. After slaying every man, woman, and child in the village, the orcs dispersed throughout the village and nearby wooded hills. They now quietly patrol the area for intruders and will attack the PCs if encountered.

Coincidentally, the ogresses and bugbears from the Serpent Shrine met the Oni while fleeing from the bros devastating attack on the shrine. The Oni have put them in charge of keeping the orcs in line while they excavate the ruins and, so far, everything has been going to plan.

The Battle

The Bros don't know most of this, however. I'm going to run them under their mistaken assumption that the village was attacked by the Oni and they are unaware of the orc horde. They decide to take the road to Valthrun, but turn off at hex 301.299 and leave the pikemen and crossbow cavalry there while they scout ahead using the map generated by the merc patrol in downtime.

Kleptikos will scout ahead with Redneck while the rest of the party will follow behind at a distance. The tundra doesn't provide much cover and the rocky barren soil of Gunnolfsfell's environs is even less help. Fortunately, there are enough small hills to provide cover to the party and help mask the scouts' approach. If the situation goes horribly awry, the scouts will retreat to the remaining party members and all will fall back at full speed to the mercenaries.

Kleptikos advances using Move Silently (he needs a 26% and succeeds with a 17%) while Redneck takes up a position to cover him with his short bow. Kleptikos attempts to Hear Noise (failing with a 91%), but doesn't hear anything. The entire village seems abandoned and is eerily silent. He decides to try peering into some houses to see if he can suss out what's happening. He attempts to Move Silently to the house (50% fails). I roll a 6 for a random encounter, so the house is unoccupied. Kleptikos notices the once cozy cottage has been completely ravaged, with large amounts of dried blood splattered on every surface. The former occupants clearly were slaughtered some time ago, so Kleptikos moves on to the next house. 

He again fails Move Silently and Hear Noise (73% and 78%) and lucks out with no encounter (rolled a 5) only to see another completely ravaged farmhouse. It's not looking good for the villagers and Kleptikos decides to try moving closer to the village center.

He lucks out on Move Silently but not Hear Noise (21% and 40%), and is immediately overwhelmed by an unspeakable acidic stench of sulfur infused feces that hits him like a dwarven warhammer to the genitals.  Since Kleptikos speaks orcish, I assume he has at least a passing familiarity with the savages so I make an Intelligence (14 score) check to see if he recognizes it. He gets a 7 so easily recognizes the fulsome stench of an orc horde. Alarmed by the orcs' unusual silence and the clear absence of the Oni, he decides this information is critical and quickly makes his escape (with a successful 13% on Move Silently). Unfortunately, the random encounter check comes up with a 1 so he runs into a group of 11 orcs moving from one cottage to another.

Luckily Kleptikos wins surprise 5 to 1 and encounter distance comes up at 14" (6d4 -1 for surprise, per DMG pg49). He decides to use his superior reaction to avoid the orcs and report back to the group. He reunites with Redneck and they waste no time in heading back to the Bros. They inform them of the orcs, and the group sketches out a battle plan with Capt. Lou and Sgt. Slaughter leading the mercenaries.

The Bros will take the vanguard on foot, followed by the pikemen and the crossbow cavalry providing missile fire from the right flank.

Order of Battle:

1. Blastikus will try to Sleep and Web as many of the orcs as possible, followed up with the Wand of Frost. 
2. The clerics and fighters will try to take out orc leaders. 
3. The pikemen mercs will go after the orc troops. 
4. The crossbow cavalry will charge to the rear of the horde and open fire.

The overall idea is to blitz the orcs, break their morale by taking out their leaders and inflicting massive casualties, overrunning them as they flee. Let's see if it works.

I rolled up the orcs per AD&D MM and got 113 for number appearing. To help make the math easier, I decide 13 orcs went with the Oni, leaving 100 orcs to hide in the village. I'm running this abstract at a 5:1 ratio with the Bros and the orc leaders running as individual heroes. 

I admit this got pretty complicated and I played the scenario late at night, so my notes were not up to snuff on the battle. I'll do a better job next time since I learned quite a bit by sticking to the AD&D rules and just scaling up the figures. Short version: it works pretty well, the wargame roots of AD&D are evident, and it's absolutely usable for mass combat. If you're so inclined, you could use a dedicated wargame ruleset like Warhammer Fantasy, but it's not absolutely necessary. Base AD&D rules work great R.A.W!

When the dust settles, the PCs stand victorious. Some highlights:

• Blastikus was devastating. He took out the orc missile troops with Sleep spells (and got some good rolls, to be fair) and destroyed the orc swordsmen with the Wand of Frost. This item is a little too dangerous for use underground, but absolutely shines in wilderness situations and mass battles.
• The mobility of the horsemen was key and they were able to hit the orcs from the rear to devastating effect, ultimately forcing multiple units to flee the battlefield after failing morale checks. 
• The pikemen broke the orc infantry at a heavy cost, losing half of their number in the process. Such is the short and bloody life of the merc-for-hire. Capt. Lou is going to have to step up his recruiting efforts when he returns to Tallow Watch. 

The Aftermath

The Bros allow the mercenaries to loot the bodies for battlefield spoils while they make a house to house search of the village for any survivors or prisoners. They find none amongst the blood soaked detritus that is the all too famous hallmark of the orc savages. Gunnolfsfell becomes another tragic footnote in the history of the region, slowly turning into another pile of ruins that dot the countryside.

They have avenged the deaths of their brothers beneath the ruins of the Shrine of Lethria at a heavy cost. They begin the grim trek through the dark forest to meet the Oni.