Lair of the Lioness

The patrol had been a disaster.  Isawannayu had been defeated and had barely escaped with her wounded.  Ode’s group met a worse fate.  Her group fought until they were all incapacitated, one of her women paid the ultimate price.  However, instead of being captured by the Niambo, the Niambo men disfigured the women’s faces with gashes  that would heal as hideous scars.  It was a message as to what would happen to any woman who dared to bear arms against them.

While they healed their wounds, Chief Bosede was called to a council by Isawannayu’s uncle and the Chief of the Niambo to discuss the fate of Isawannayu and her women.  Councils of this sort required a show of force of the participants.  Chief Bosede would take all of his fighting men with him.  He would leave behind a small group of men under the command of his son Jelani to guard the village.

On the day of the council as Chief Bosede prepared to leave, there was excitement in the village.  A group of women warriors who called themselves “Ahosi” arrived in the village.  They were from a mountain village that bordered the kingdom of Lung Ho.  They were led by a fierce woman named Delu and had heard news of Isawannayu’s revolt through the drum talk.  They had come to fight at Isawannayu’s side, for in their village women were also given to Lung Ho bandits who then sold them to slavers.  It appeared as though the practice of sacrificing women to maintain peace on the borders was wide spread throughout Nobelongga.  Chief Bosede allowed the women to stay until after he returned from the council.  He and his warriors then left the village.

Shortly after noon on the second day of the council, a messenger arrived in the village.  He carried a warning to Jelani.  The chief was concerned that throughout the meeting groups of the Niambo began to slip away.  He feared an attack on the village, but to leave the council with his men would immediately start a war.

Jelani knew he did not have enough men to adequately defend the village, so he turned to Isawannayu and the women warriors.

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The Game

I lost the last encounter.  I was only able to patrol 4 of the 9 table sections.  Ode’s complete group was OOF and Isawannayu lost half of her group.  Failing the objective, my major morale was reduced to a 4.  The Niambo succeeded and their major morale went up to a 4.

Since I’m playing the Q&E Campaign, I consult the Next Encounter table to determine the next game.  So, the next game will be a Defend Encounter.

First, I have to recover as many of my grunts that went OOF (out of the fight) during the patrol (page 13),  All of the OOF grunts were recovered.

Next, I have to try to replace the grunt in Ode’s group who was OD, obviously dead (page 20).  I was successfully in replacing her with a Rep 3 rifle woman.

For the defend encounter, I must defend 4 buildings in section 8 of the table.  I’m allowed a group for each point of major morale, so I form 2 more groups.  I plan to defend each building with a group.

Jelani’s group: Jelani, group leader, Rep 5 armed with a tribal rifle; one Rep 5 warrior; three Rep 4 warriors; one Rep 3 warrior with a tribal rifle.

Delu’s group: Delu, group leader, Rep 5; three Rep 5 warriors (thank the dice goddess!); two Rep 3 warriors with bows.

I could deploy my groups anywhere is sections 7, 8 or 9 of the table, but after the beating I took in the last game, I decided to deploy all 4 groups in the village.  Jelani’s group would defend the North, Ode’s group would defend the East, Delu’s group would handle the South, and Isawannayu would defend any approach from the West.

The 4 initial PEFs – A, B, C & D – deployed in sections 3, 4, 5 & 6.

For the first 7 turns, the PEFs move from section to section.  The activation roll in two of the turns were doubles, which resulted in generating two more PEFs – F & G.

In turn 8, my groups fail to activate.  PEF G moves into sight in section 8 and resolves to “something is out there.”  This means that 3d6 will be used to resolve all future PEFs increasing the chances that the resolution will be an enemy force.

The following turn, PEF B moves into section 8 and resolves into 1 Rep 5 and 4 Rep 4 warriors.  I really like the streamlined “in sight” mechanism in this game. Jelani won on the Action table.  He and the Rep 3 rifleman shoot, both scoring hits. The Niambo Rep 5 warrior goes OOF and 1 Rep 4 warrior ducks back. The rest of Jelani’s group charge into melee.  Two Niambo warriors and one of Jelani’s warriors are OOF – both sides have the will to continue to fight.

Meanwhile, on the western side of the village, PEF C moves into sight and resolves into 2 Rep 5 and 2 Rep 4 warriors accompanied by a Rep 3 rifleman.  This time, the Niambo win the Action.  The rifleman fires, but misses.  The Niambo charge Isawannayu’s group.  The melee is a disaster for the Niambo – two warriors go OOF and two are obviously dead with no casualties inflicted on Isawannayu’s group.  The Niambo pass the will to continue, however.

The PEFs fail to activate, so there will be no support for the Niambo fighting at the edge of the village. Jelani’s rifle takes down another Niambo warrior.  The remaining Niambo warriors are OOF.

The lone remaining rifleman on the western edge has a clear shot at Isawannayu, but as she and her warriors chage, the rifleman misses and is quickly slain.

Delu’s group moved to the center of the village so she could support the other groups.

PEF D makes contact on the East side of the village against Ode’s group.  PEF D resolves into 4 Rep 5 and 1 Rep 4 warriors with 1 Rep 3 riflemen.  The Niambo rifleman shoots and one of Ode’s rifle women goes OOF.  The Niambo charge.  As they charge, the two remaining rifle women shoot forcing one Niambo warrior OOF and another to duck back. In the resulting melee, two more Niambo warriors are OOF, but one of Ode’s rifle women goes OD.  Both sides win the will to continue the fight.

Delu’s group moves to support Ode’s group.  Ode’s remaining rifle woman shoots and forces the Niambo rifleman to duck back.  Ode and her warriors pounce on the lone Niambo warrior and slay him outright.  The Niambo lose the will to fight and flee into the jungle.

Isawannayu has barely had time to reform her group when she is under attack again.  PEF E resolves into three Rep 4 warriors and 1 Rep 3 rifleman.  Isawannayu wins on the Action table, she charges.  The Niambo rifleman fires at the charging women but misses.  One of Isawannayu’s warriors is OOF, but the Niambo are wiped out with 2 OOF and 2 OD.

PEF A moved into sight on the East side of the village.  But by this time, Ode’s unit had been replaced by Delu’s group.  PEF A resolved into 4 Rep 5 and 4 Rep 4 warriors.  Delu won the Action and wasted no time.  The two archers shot and two Rep 5 Niambo went OOF.  Delu charged the Niambo and after two rounds of melee, Delu lost one warrior OOF and the Niambo lost 4 OOF and 2 OD.

While the remaining PEF moved around the table, the defenders reformed.  The PEF moved way up in section 3 and then, on the next turn, turn 16, the PEF rolled to leave the table.  During most of the game, instead of allowing PEFs to leave the table, I just made them stay in the section.  But with this last PEF – well, it was close to time to start supper, so I let this PEF quietly leave the table.