The conclusion to this battle report...
The Beholder charges Counsellor Thadar and his unit. They are being charged by a Fear causing creature and roll a 3... they break and rout! There goes the midfield defense!
King Kazador sees that besides Helfast, only the Ratnik Dwarves,
Beercart Defenders, and the Cannon are in place to intercept the
Beholder in the mid and back field. He can intercept as well, but he
must organize his men now and march out! Alhough, what if the Beholder
wants them to empty Easthold, to defend the Rune Vane, then instead
flies over the fortress walls? Should he stay inside and continue
protecting the crossbows, catapult, and Balgar the wizard? He
reluctantly decides to stay in Easthold.
3 crossbows on the wall and 2 from Helfast amount to 1 wound, which knocks out the Sleep power.
Balgar
considers his options, he can cure either Helfast or Ulther, fire off a
Lightning Bolt, or Windblast the Beholder and stop it from moving for
one turn. He uses Lightning and knocks out the Charm Person power. 4
out of 9 minor eyes are destroyed.
The Beholder rolls for 2 power points this turn. He thinks about taking a gamble and not using any powers, instead saving them up for a bigger burst when he gets to the endfield. Hopefully, Helfast will fail his charge roll! As for the Cannon ahead, the routing Thadar is blocking them for now... Oh wait, routers move at the end phase of every side's turn, which means they will move out of LOS and the cannon will be clear to fire on their turn! Change of plans then, try to kill a Cannon crew member with Disintegrate. 4+ to hit, 3+ to kill... and yes! 1 Dwarf is fried to a crisp, which means the cannon must roll a 4+ on a d6 to fire for having less than 3 crew. (I know the rules say bombards have 5 crew, my mistake. But lets change that for this one game.) The Beholder saves that last point for next turn.
Councillor Thadar's Dwarves continue routing. Prince Ulther's Dwarves and the Slayers have no hope of catching the Beholder and decide not to try, because if the Cannon does fire, they would get caught in the blast! Prince Helfast does the same and just encourages his 2 crossbow Dwarves to continue firing.
Finally, the moment of truth. Dwarf Cannon makes its roll to fire, hits for 4 Str 6 hits, and causes 2 more wounds. This might be the most important wound allocation decision. Slow it down, or knock out 2 more minor eyes? They go for the eyes, and knock out 2 more. Death Ray being one that is the deadliest. The long range firepower of the Beholder is compromised.
Counsellor Thadar continues to rout.
Up on the walls Balgar positions himself to continue blasting the
Beholder. Due to the angle, only 5 crossbows can fire down. After all
the firing is done, 2 wounds are allocated to the Beholder's carapace,
slowing it down to 4" movement! Balgar is down to 6 constitution for
magic. He fires off another Lightning attack and causes damage! He
chooses the minor eyes and ends up knocking out the eye with Telekinetic Blast!
King Kazador changes his mind again, and opens the gates and begins
marching his men out. The High King Thorgrim and Runelord Kragg remain
in Easthold. The game is coming down to the wire. Chief Ratnik tells his men to stand their ground.
The Beholder rolls for 3 power points this turn and with the 1 saved previously, means he has 4 points to use. He powers up his main eye and fires off a Freeze Ray for 3 points. Only saving throws can save anyone underneath. Chief Ratnik their leader is frozen solid, as well as 4 other Dwarves. With its last point this turn, the Beholder uses Turn To Stone on a cannon crewmember and succeeds. With only 1 crew member remaining, the Cannon would need a 6+ to be able to fire next turn.
The Dwarves are desperate! Helfast continues harassing the Beholder.
King Kazador races down the ramparts trying to get to grips with the Beholder.
Balgar decides to use his last points to cast Windblast! The Beholder may not move next turn! Whats going to happen?
The last remaining crew member of the Cannon has alot resting on his shoulders, will he choke or become a legend? He sure is sweating profusely, that's for sure!
The last six Ratniks defiantly stand their ground.
The Beholder is unable to move, so settles for hopefully powering up its main eye and blasting some Dwarves. The Beholder rolls for 3 power points! He uses Freezing Ray again...
... and kills 4 Ratnik Dwarves, the 2 remaining warriors rout.
And now the Beercart Defenders are moving up as well, but are they just causing a traffic jam? Crossbows cause no damage this round. And the cannon... rolls a 5. So close, but sorry...
The Beercart and its brave citizen militia form up in front of the Rune
Vane! Victory or death, their names will be remembered in song as they
stood up to the beastly Beholder! Again, no cannon fire, but the
crossbows cause 1 wound, to a minor eye, the Disintegrate eye. The Beholder only has 1 minor
eye left (Turn To Stone), 1 main eye (3 HP), and 8 carapace points.
The Beholder charges them and they scatter in fear. The dice are just not in the Dwarves favor this game. Kazador is just one step behind, but too little too late. The cannon is useless as the last crew is Turned To Stone.
The game ends as the Beholder starts chewing on the Rune Totem and it collapses... bringing down the Anti-Undead force shields of Easthold.
Veers:
Yes, Lord Vader. I've reached the main power generator. The shield will be down in moments. You may start your landing.
---
Beholder's epilogue:
Sated, with vengeance and a full stomach, the Beholder decides to run down the tunnel towards the Eastgate of Moria and freedom. Feeling the cool night breeze in the Dimrill Dale, he finds the Anduin River, looks downstream at Lothlorien to his right, then across the river at Mirkwood, then finally upstream to his left towards the north. With his giant eye, he focuses past the Gladden Fields, past the Old Ford and the Carrock, to the source of the Great Anduin, up above in the snows of Ered Lithuin, even beyond them! There, he thinks to himself, beyond the politics of the Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, and Undead... he could make a new start in the wintery north of Forodwaith. He thinks to himself... "and no more Hellpepper eating contests! Even if its for Radagast's winning prize of Hasenpfeffer rabbit-stew!"
---
An enjoyable little battle for an evening. Mistakes were made! Mistakes, I tell you! And they cost the Dwarves dearly. Mostly, mistakes of underestimating the speed of the Beholder. Perhaps, more damage should have been allocated to slowing its movement down, instead of its firepower in the minor eyes. Also, the forces inside Easthold kept second guessing the goal of the Beholder by staying behind their walls. They were so sure the Beholder would first come in and deal with the firepower inside the fort before heading to the Rune Vane. They kept the midfield relatively clear, for the cannon, allowing the Beholder to run right through it. The Cannon only dealt 2 damage anyway, the one time it was able to fire. But seriously, blame the dice! No Dwarf unit was able to charge, or stand up to a charge from the Beholder... not a one! Its only a 50% chance to do so! But no, the Beholder had fortune on its side, which I can only attribute to its purity of purpose, it needed to do this thing and get free.
Run to the hills! Beholder... Run for your life!
We fought him hard, we fought him well
Out on the plains, we gave him hell
But many came, too much for Cree
Oh, will we ever be set free?
So what next? I think we must return to the events down under... in the Savage Lands with Balin! Then after that another adventure with Tyrion and Basic/Expert D&D. Where is Gimli and company, I hear ya say? Soon, all will be made clear. Patience young jedis. This blog is a juggling act, so much has to be timed, just right. Actually there is much to paint, terrain wise, for what Im planning to do with Gimli and friends... Oh, enough with the spoilers!
Next post: Welcome To The Jungle
Bonus feature: Soundtrack To This Post!
While playing this battle, I listened to:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUipMnVM0esh96G-486H8VLfMZfRtDmZ-
Cirith Ungol - Paradise Lost
Liege Lord - Freedom's Rise
Metal Church - Metal Church (1984)
Warrior - Fighting for The Earth
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