Waken The Storm is a variant of the classic The Sword And The Flame that I wrote at least 25 years ago. It takes the game from the historical to the fantasy realm, adding magic and mythical creatures to one of the easiest and best (in my opinion) game systems ever invented. I am in the process of finishing up a second, much expanded, edition of Waken The Storm, and that prompted me to grab a couple of boxes of figures and play a game. And here is what I came up with.
First, I have devised a set of cards to randomly determine the terrain. The table I'm using is 3' by 5', so I draw 15 terrain cards and lay them out as shown.
Each card represents one square foot of table space, so I lay out the terrain according to the card layout, and it looks like this:
Next, let's introduce the combatants. Waken The Storm has, like many fantasy novels, has a variety of races, generally aligned to the forces of light and the forces of darkness. We'll start with the forces of light:
Ipotane - In Greek mythology,
Ipotanes were a species of humanoids with the legs, hindquarters, tail, and
ears of a horse. They are thought to be the original incarnation of centaurs or
satyrs. A similar species, the Hippopodes,
were a species of humanoids with horses' hooves.
Sciopodes – Sciopodes are a
humanoid species that have a single large foot extending from a leg centered in
the middle of their bodies. They first appear in the play “The Birds” by Aristophanes
414 BC. In Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History”, the sciopodes live in India.
However, by the Middle Ages, they had been relocated to Ethiopia. In the “Etymologiae”
by Isidore of Seville, it says, "The race of Sciopodes are said to live
in Ethiopia; they have only one leg, and are wonderfully speedy. The Greeks
call them shade-footed ones because when it is hot they lie on their backs on
the ground and are shaded by the great size of their feet."Halflings- Halflings are
usually about 3 to 4 feet tall. They prefer farming, drinking, and company to
adventuring and conflict. However, those that are found on adventures are
usually steadfast in their resolve. Their small stature makes them unsuited for
close combat, but they can be fair hands with missiles. Little people populate the mythos of many cultures, but in fantasy, they owe their existence to J. R. R. Tolkien.
Baldwin - He is the leader of the forces of light. A human fighter of renown.Tim the Enchanter - Second in command is Tim. any resemblance to a famous movie magician is purely intentional. Here is is an entry-level wizard.
All of the above figures are my original designs.
As is typical, the forces of darkness are nameless masses, bent on the destruction of the good things in life.
Goblins - Orks- From a Latin word
for demon, the Ork of fantasy writings was created by J. R. R. Tolkein. They
were originally Elves that the forces of Darkness bastardized by torture and
mutilation. They are not unintelligent, but their minds are bent solely for
destruction or their masters bidding. Ork-kind are divided into 3 classes, based on their ferocity and general bad temperness. Goblins are the lowest grade of man-sized ork.
Hobgoblins – The hobgoblin in
Bulfinch’s “The Ledgends of Charlemagne” are various sorts of animal-human
hybrids. In most folkloric tales they are mischievous sprites, akin to
brownies. In Waken The Storm they are the smallest of
the orkish creatures. They are about the size of halflings and prefer using
missiles (mainly slings and shortbows) to engaging in close combat.
The goblins and the hobgoblin archers and slingers are from STLs I found on Thingiverse. The hobgoblin swordsmen and spearmen are of my own designs.
Hobgoblin Wolf Riders - This is another fantasy item based on Tolkien. Here I adapted the idea to a more normal sized wolf.
Now, let's put on some dramatic music,
And, on to the game.
Here is the initial deployment for the forces of light, from left to right; halflings, Tim, Ipotane, Baldwin, and the sciopodes.
For the forces of dark, back row from right to left; wolf riders, hobgoblin archers, goblins, and hobgoblin spearmen. The front row from right to left; hobgoblin slingers and hobgoblin swordsmen.
The first moves saw the sciopodes and halflings take the hills in front of the farm.
The forces of darkness also advanced to take the hill on their left flank.The ipotane move to secure the light's right flank. Tim is behind the halflings and Baldwin is moving to join the ipotane.
The remaining goblinoids move forward.
The goblins get the first shots off and down 2 halflings and 2 sciopodes.
Next, the sciopodes and halflings shoot and annihilate the wolf riders. These guys may look funny, but don't get in range of them in close order!
Tim gets into position and casts his magic vortex spell into the hobgoblin slingers, disordering them so they cannot shoot.
The remaining goblinoids continue their advance.
A hail of vile hobgoblin arrows land amongst the halflings taking out another archer and the wizard Tim.
Missiles from the light side repay the damage by making 4 hobgoblin archers hors d' combat.
The hapless hobgoblin slingers move forward to escape the vortex, only to have it follow them, disrupting them for a second turn. Also, the hobgoblin swordsmen charge the ipotane spearmen.
But, they fail to complete the charge. In the upper left, we see the goblins getting the same treatment as the wolf riders. Don't walk up to halfling archers in close order!
Our friends, the hobgoblin slingers beat a retreat, trying to escape the rath of the magic vortex.
While the light side's missile troops continue to rain down destruction on the goblinoids.
On the left, the sciopodes force the hobgoblin archers to rout (there is only 4 left). The halflings continue to ply arrows into the goblins. In the center, the hobgoblin spearmen move to support their swordsman brothers, only to have the magic vortex reverse course and plow through them. On the right, the hobgoblin swordsmen have rallied and charged the ipotane again. but this time Baldwin charges their flank.
During the shooting phase, the hobgoblin slingers finally get to sling again and they take out Baldwin before he hits the swordsmen's flank. The halfling archers reduce the goblins to ineffectiveness, and this time, the ipotane fail their stand and fight check and fall back.
And yes, the hobgoblin slingers are hit by the magic vortex for a third time. The hobgoblin spearmen reform in time to get shot up by the halfling archers and the hobgoblin swordsmen make their third attempt at charging the ipotane spearmen.
The swordsmen fail their Close into Contact test a second time and fall back. The hobgoblin spearmen lose nearly half their number, and the hobgoblin slingers praise their god as the magic vortex dissipates.
Both side have lost their senior commanders earlier in the battle and have been required to make Major Morale tests every turn in order to keep in the field. However, as the hobgoblin spearmen are cut down to 3 from 20, the dark side's morale fails and the remaining goblinoids flee the field. Light has prevailed.
I really wish I had actually had some troops enter melee, but fast and accurate missile troops were more than a match for the slower shock troops. I bet the French at Agincourt felt the same way as my goblinoid horde did today. Next time, I'll field more melee fighters and better explain the game mechanics for those unfamiliar with Waken The Storm or The Sword And The Flame.
Until next time, Happy Gaming!
