Sunday, December 30, 2012

Glorantha BIF part 2

When we left our first Basic Impetus Fantasy battle the two battle lines had clashed over a shallow hill near the centre of the battlefield.  Sun Dome Templars and Heortling Fyrd were about to try metal on mettle.



Meanwhile, at the other end of the battlefield, the zombies and skeletons raised by the Trolls' Zorak Zoran shamans clashed with the Lunar skirmishers.


The second Sun Domer pike block clashes with the Heortlings beside the
mysterious stone plinth. 

And those Lunar skirmishers fight on!

A few moments later the main lines have clashed at the far end of the field.  The Lunar
skirmishers have routed as have two units of Zombies under the impact of the main
Lunar units.  Near the plinth, the second Sun Domer pike block has lost its rear ranks.

More of that Lunar-Troll clash.
Caught whilst relocating, Vega Goldbreath is menaced by Rhino Riders.  Vega would play little part in the battle
as it proved difficult to avoid the Rhinos for long enough to both rally and turn back to the fight.
Having defeated their opposing Heortlings, Solanthos Ironpike's pike block
moves off in search of further prey.
The Steel Sword Legion and Yarandros's Chargers take on the Dark Trolls.

The Troll hero intervenes and drives off the Lunar Heavy cavalry.  The giant Troll threatens the rear of the Steel
Sword Legion.


Jamie wanted this one documented - fighting fyrd to their front and Sylphs to their rear, his Sun Domers roll four
sixes from five dice rolled!
But sadly for Jamie the larger pike block is unable to  survive being charged in the rear
by the Rhinos whilst fighting fyrd to their front.  In the same turn the Steel Sword
Legion routs and the battle is won by the Heortling-Troll alliance.  
This was a most enjoyable battle with all four players convinced that their their command was about to break.  In the end it was nice that there was a clear result with both the Lunar/Sun Domer commands breaking in the same turn.

General opinion, from a group of fairly experienced HOTT players was that BIF was slower but gave an enjoyable game.  There were one or two things we weren't sure about:

  1. If a Hero has 100% of its narrow base engaged but an adjacent large unit has 90% of its wider base engaged, which is the main element in the combat?
  2. Does a large Pike unit charged from front and rear get to the +2 or +4 dice?
  3. A spear unit with Impetus 2 faced by enemy infantry is better off charging off the hill to gain the impetus bonus that standing in its uphill defensive position - not sure this feels right.

2 comments:

Tales from Shed HQ said...

Hi Richard,

Where are the Rhino Riders from? They look great.

Happy New Year

Richard P

Counterpane said...

The Rhinos are Britains plastics. The riders are Foundry plains Indians. One of them sits on a hyena pelt made from Green Stuff and the head of a hyena from, I think, North Star or Westwind.