[OOC] Scenario 0: Black Training Ground

[Eldariel]

I must say I'm still a bit unclear on how all of this works. I watched a tutorial and read the rules a few times but that's a long way from actual understanding of the strategy. I have Int-cards to generate tactics and an all-out battle is about to be underway so I feel like I would probably be well-advised to enter the right flank and put some tactic tokens down? OTOH I could also enter the Sacred Glade with my Wis-card and try to fight the Assassin and get that flag. The fires need to be dealt with too. I think reinforcing the lines of battle and dealing with the fire must take priority.

As a new event card is drawn on every PLAYER'S turn, I need to do something post-haste. So I have 4 actions. One would have to be to enter the right flank. Could I then deploy a Tactics token and put out a fire and do one more thing (such as putting down a second Tactics token leaving the Wis as rerolls for the fight)?

[Basil_Bottletop]

My understanding is that you only put down tokens/actions for things in your tile. If I'm correct, then you'd be the one that would need to decide where to focus your efforts. If you went to the Glade and were successful in taking down the Vile Champion, then you'd have 2(?) actions left. I don't know if movement from the Glade is free, so you might need to use another action to leave that tile with the flag. Or maybe not use your action to grab the flag and instead have one action left in Right Flank (but not have a Respite Phase). *There's a chance you don't get to move at all because you don't have the cards or actions to do it, so you're stuck in the Glade a turn*.

If you went that route, we (as a group) would only have one round without your INT-based tactics in Right Flank. That might be alright.

OR

You join Right Flank and prepare for all-out battle. We then deal with the consequences of that Vile Champion being left alone (unless someone else goes that direction).

 

I think you're in a position to not really have a bad choice here. Or both choices are bad. Either way, I don't think anyone is going to blame you for not being in two places at once.

[Eldariel]

I also have Dimension Door as a hero ability (as well as Wis-ability to Shaken the Dragon Army commander if we just wanna go for the kill). I understand I could use it to take one action to essentially spare an ally an action in moving; it lets me move myself and another hero to up to two tiles away. That could let me to take e.g. Teeli with me (since they're up next), saving them one action for moving (far as I gather, moving is always one action so it'd take two to first go to Glade and then back; and I assume I would Battle in the Battle-phase so I'd have to stay in Glade to fight there). That said, Teeli would probably want to go for the Dex-tasks (given they are a Rogue I would assume that's something they excel at).

The first issue I find is that the fire might just wipe out our right flank if we're not careful especially with the massive numeric superiority on the Dragon Army's side and the two lines of fire. I almost feel like we must have someone there personally absorbing the hits (enemy hits can be converted to stress on the hero). I also have an ability that would let me use Int to modify the battle dice; that's an alternative to the Wis option (Wis lets me reroll two though so I might prefer that; but the action lets me set the result to blank or woe instead of it being random). The way I see it, I think I'm going to right flank anyways. The big questions are:

1) Do I bring someone with me to save them an action? It costs me an action either way to get there, bringing someone alone costs me one Int token and saves them an action essentially. If that someone were coming to right flank anyways, it seems well worth it, but I do have other uses for my Int tokens.

2) Which actions do I take? How likely are we to be able to hit the enemy commander? If we have decent chances, Shaking them could potentially be great (we don't need any more fires here, and Lohezet keeps lighting them up) to remove them from battle entirely. Otherwise I should probably focus on reinforcing our lines. I think un-Shaking Raven has to be one or we might just lose her on the first fight, and fighting fire before Lohezet gets to start another is pretty key. I'm not sure how adding fire works, but there's a lot of it and if it covers our troops it's going to wipe out a line so that doesn't sound great.

 

FWIW all the enemy champions are of attribute other than mine other than the Mercenaries at Trail (I have one Cha available); I'm not sure how much that really matters, but Glade is the only tile that has a "compatible" ability to me. I think it might be optimal for me to focus on the battle, keeping our lines from falling, while some of you guys pick up the flags and defeat the vile champions.

Also, the Charisma could be used in conjunction with Vogler's ability to add two shaken units to unshake said units giving us essentially 4 HP of extra defenders later.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Eldariel (see edit history)

[RillaTaj]

Okay, so turns out I misread something in the rules. I thought it was a joint battle phase after each taking our actions. Oops.

Personally, I think if Mornicarn can shake Lozet, she should absolutely do so, as I believe the fires come from him in his Ready state?

Otherwise, I'd rather Mornicarn go help the Shaken Commander if she can do anything about that, taking either Miikel or Odira with her. Kill a fire if you can. I think Teeli would be best positioned to deal with the VC in the Glade, unless things change or her player decides otherwise. Unless I'm reading things wrong again, the WIS is for the tile's ability, not the VC's attribute (which looks like Dex).

I can help deal with the goblins hoards if we get that far.

 

[Eldariel]

Okay, reading more closely, if I want to Refresh Vogler, I have Wis mastery and Wis card. Therefore, I could spend my Wis to have a difficulty 1 roll to Refresh them - of course, that means no Shaking the enemy Commander. I should probably do that. Alternatively, I could try for a difficulty 2 roll and take the Shake action instead. I don't really "get" how difficult difficulty 1 or 2 rolls are so I'm not sure here. Either way, refreshing Vogler and removing a fire seem like gimmes.

The question is whether I should DD someone with me there (if someone has useful Responses, they could be used on my turn too to help with the fight that's about to be undertaken), and what to do with my remaining actions ("Put out a fire" seems fine). I could just nova to drop a Tactics token and use my final action to return to Tent for Respite to restore two cards. This would mean I couldn't react (but then again, I'm basically using all my resources anyways so I'll be out of resources for responses aside from the Cha-card, which doesn't seem relevant right now).

Right now I'm thinking of:

- Move/DD

- Refresh Vogler (use Wis or save as a Response/to shake enemy Commander?)

- Put out a fire/Put down Tactics

- Get back to tent to recover cards? I could alternatively put down Tactics or put out a fire again or (if not using Wis) Shake the enemy Commander, but that would mean that on the next round, I'd be tapped out more or less and would have to spend the next round recovering abilities (Respite is after Action so otherwise I could replenish nothing).

1) How hard is difficulty 2 vs difficulty 1 for refreshing Vogler? If I can, I'd like to save the Wis token.

2) Anyone have any good Responses they'd like to use during this all-out battle? Simple Wis card or some class abilities all seem good.

3) Which is more important, putting out fires or dropping Tactics? I'm thinking putting out fires... Again, I have a hard time gauging how useful the Tactics tokens are. If I add Tactics to the Archer line, our Archers get to attack instead of the Dragon army, provided that the Dragon Army melee line doesn't kill one? That looks quite decent.

4) Should I try to recover by returning to the camp? How big is this first round (quite big, it looks like?)? Should I just try to spare my cards and stay there, using my Int-card to set an attacker's roll to Woe and Wis to reroll dice? Basically, my choices are staying there and missing out on Respite but being able to uses Responses or Respiting and being fully stocked for R2, but being unable to do anything beyond bringing an ally for Responses + applying Tactics and refreshing Vogler.

[MysteriousMiller]

Teeli can definitely battle the assassin as I have Dex mastery. That would reduce his Dex and give me a good shot at defeating him. I'll deal with him on my turn.

I'm in agreement about shaking Lozet or helping our commander...tough choice between the 2

I've also got some Int tactics stuff I could use depending how the next event card pans out.

I can burn some Free Moves so I don't need any help to get to the glade and back...would it be sensible for me to fire-fight as well?

Edited September 11, 2023 by MysteriousMiller (see edit history)

[Eldariel]

Ahh, now I get it: so either I spend two actions or one action and a Wis-card to refresh Vogler. Okay, since Actions are the sparse resource right now, that makes it easy; I'll just use the Wis card, which means no Shaking of the enemy Commander. So that leaves me with the following two actions probably locked:

- Dimension Door self and ally (Int spent)

- Refresh commander (Wis spent)

- Two actions to fight fire/apply Tactics (one Int left)/return to Respite.

 

So...which of you have good Responses? Our side certainly needs some help. Refreshed Vogler will help some, reinforcing our lines with two units, but that alone will not suffice I wager. I'm thinking Odira would likely have the best tools to help here given they're likely Wis-based? So just to get quick feedback, my line of actions would then be:

- DD self and Odira to right flank.

- Refresh commander.

- Put out two fires likely (since I have to remain here anyways, might as well have the Int response available).

 

This would leave me largely useless on round 2 but make it more likely that we live to see round 2 (though we're in a bit of a hurry to get the objectives). And Lohezet would start one new fire but at least it'd be only one fire we have to deal with. I can't really stop that anyways even if I go full offense. I'd still be able to restore some troops and then maybe refresh Vogler again.

If I understood everything correctly, I get to choose where the fire token is placed by Lohezet's ability so we end up with less fire if I just remove two fires than if I shake him (one alternative would also be just refreshing Commander with two actions and then shaking Lohezet...which has the advantage of Lohezet not getting to start a fire every battle, but would risk the two fires spreading and destroying our lines next round). Vogler refreshed would allow us to deploy more troops to give us advantage in either archers or parity in something else.

 

The alternative I see is:

- DD self and Odira to right flank.

- Refresh commander (2 actions).

- Shake enemy commander.

 

As long as the fires don't spread, this would likely be more efficient in the long run. Can the fires spread from Unit actions? Probably. So with all-out battle it's probably too big a risk, having two of our lines get wiped out.

The way I see it, we add the fire to our melee line, add the extra units to Archers, try to use Responses to let out melee and mounted survive while our 4 Archers murder their 2.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Eldariel (see edit history)

[MysteriousMiller]

I've got a Sneak Attack Response which let's me add 2 extra dice after battle dice are rolled.

Edited September 11, 2023 by MysteriousMiller (see edit history)

[RillaTaj]

Odira, Cleric (Recruit)

---

STRESS : [1] - [2] - [3] - [4] | ABILITY CARDS : [Wis] - [Wis] - [Con] - [Cha] | Mastered : Wis / Con

---

ACTIONS (4)

1. ...

2. ...

3. ...

4. ...

RESPITE (1)

1. ...

---

Class Powers

WIS RESPONSE BLESS At the start of battle Add 2 tactic tokens to your tile, or Refresh 3 units on your tile.   WIS RESPONSE SPIRITUAL HAMMER At the start of battle Remove 1 Dragon Army unit on your tile.   CON ACTION FIELD MEDICINE Reduce the stress of 1 hero on your tile to 0.

 

Ability Cards

WISDOM RESPONSE After battle dice are rolled Reroll up to 2 dice.

 

WISDOM RESPONSE After battle dice are rolled Reroll up to 2 dice.

 

CONSTITUTION FREE ACTION   Reduce the stress of a hero on your tile by 2.

 

CHARISMA FREE ACTION   Refresh 2 units on your tile.

 

 

 

Here's what I have. Template and most contents nabbed from Spaceace with their blessing. But can we use Responses when it's not our turn?

Edited September 12, 2023 by RillaTaj (see edit history)

[Brian Skies]

On Movement

Movement is not free. Normally it takes 1 Action to move to one adjacent tile.

• Moving to the Sacred Glade would cost you 1 Action.
• Moving back to the Command Tent would cost you 1 additional Action.

Sometimes there may be a Road connecting several tiles. In this scenario, there is a road connecting the Rocky Path, Abandoned Fields, Trail, and Prairie. You can move anywhere along the road for 1 Action. However, there are some things to consider:

• If there is a Stop Token, your movement is impeded for the turn, even if you are traveling by road.
• Moving off a tile with 1 or more Vile Champions on it causes stress, even if you are traveling by road.

The Dexterity Ability Card can be used to move 1 tile without using an Action.

Hero Abilities may allow or modify movement in other ways.

 

The Sacred Glade

The attribute associated with the Vile Champion here is indeed Dexterity.

 

The tile has an ability that can be activated with an Action Cost of 2. The associated attribute for this ability is Wisdom.

 

Shaking the Enemy Commander with a Hero Ability

Unless the Hero Ability instructs you to do so, you do not roll Battle Dice. Moricarn's Hero Ability automatically shakes the enemy commander if activated.

 

Activating a Response Out of Turn

So long as your character is on the tile being affected by the condition listed by the ability, you can activate the Response.

 

[Brian Skies]

Fire Tokens

The actual physical Fire Token is large enough to cover 3 unit spaces. It is intended to cover half a battle line whenever it is in effect.

However, the Fire Token I made is only large enough to cover 1 unit space.

Although it seems there is just enough space on the melee unit line for another Fire Token, this is a misconception. Adding another Fire Token to this line would remove all the remaining melee units on that battle line.

For all intents and purposes, whenever you see a Fire Token come into play, they will come in groups of three (since half a battle line is 3 unit spaces and I need 3 Fire Tokens to cover 3 unit spaces). Similarly, each time you put out a fire, you will remove a group of three Fire Tokens.

[RillaTaj]

@Brian SkiesBut fire doesn't spread on its own, if not put out right away? Is that correct? I think that's a point of confusion. Mechanically, all it does is mean we can't put units on that line, or does it have other consequences?

Edited September 12, 2023 by RillaTaj (see edit history)

[Brian Skies]

Fire does not spread on its own. It requires some mechanism to occur before it comes into play.

Yes, mechanically speaking, fire just prevents you from being able to add more units to that line. And it has the potential to remove units if the mechanisms that cause it get out of hand.

If there are other consequences of fire, I have yet to be made aware of them.

[Eldariel]

@RillaTaj@MysteriousMiller Ah, that makes this easy! Sneak Attack would be really good, but I think Teeli's cards are better spent whacking the Vile Champion and Bless seems perfect. I'll DD us to the square, refresh our commander, put out two fires, have Vogler put two melee troops in and you can Bless our melee and archers letting us attack on 2/3 fronts (given the dice, there's two offensive successes including a double hit, and only one woe, meaning attacking is always better, and you have Wis-tokens for rerolls too if necessary while I still have Shield to turn enemy success into Woe or our Woe into Blank depending on what's drawn).

[RillaTaj]

On a future note, if Basil is volunteering Mikel to take on the mercanaries on his turn, I wouldn't say no to that. Then we could have a respite tile between flanks.

Edited September 12, 2023 by RillaTaj (see edit history)