Silver Bayonet

Turn 4

First half of the unit activates…

Godalming fires and reloads from the treeline, but unsuccessfully.

Doctor Bombay searches and finds a gold ring but the swords won’t budge and he paces over to his officer, away from the roaring troll that looms to the west. Craven remembers his training and recalls the need for cold iron against goblins and fire against trolls and sprints over to a clue to the east in the hope of finding something more deadly to tackle the enemy with.

Monster phase…

The nearest goblin struck Arthur Jobe and wounded him, but thankfully the blow with the axe bit into his pack as well as his shoulder and he was able to back off rather than strike back (another fate pool dice mitigating damage roll saved some of Jobe’s health.)

The next goblin charged in and failed to strike home, but rather than hit back Jobe backed off again, northward as ordered. His backing off out of each clash served him well because the next goblin couldn’t catch up with him. Another goblin took a swing at Rifleman Hatchett but the pair just parried and shoved at eachother with no injuries inflicted. The troll couldn’t make out a target clearly to throw a bolder at, so tossed it over his shoulder and bumbled forward looking to get a better opening

Second half…

The men of The 69th Silver Bayonet unit were told to follow orders but were given a lot of licence in how they followed them. Anderson decided to make a mad sprint around a hedge to the East rather than retire north. He saw an opportunity to get distance enough to have is musket work again, if not encourage some of the enemy away from his colleagues. Thinning them out might be more beneficial than just heading north to all be savaged together…

Bloggs paces northward away from the nearest goblin and kept checking his jammed flintlock until he felt it ease as the magic upon it waned in strength. He pops a cold iron nail down the barrel, brings the musket to his shoulder and fires. The goblin squealed in pain seemingly dying, but using their axe to steady themselves the barely alive goblin (1 health left) continued to chitter and whine at the retreating Brits.

Hatchett and Jobe retreated as far as the clearing would allow them to the north, then Jobe too finally felt his flintlock mechanism spring back into functioning. Jobe levelled his musket and fired. Sadly the ball whistled past a Goblins ear and heard the ball thwack into a tree. Hatchett quickly reloaded his rifle and hoped he would get a shot off before the goblin’s power of seemingly being inimical to the mechanism of his trusted Baker rifle yet again.

End of turn… One last goblin comes into the fray.

Turn 5

First half of the unit activates….

The doctor runs back to check on Jobe’s shoulder wound but things are too hectic to attend to him immediately. Godalming retreats back to a hedge and fires his musket through the trees but misses his target. Hatchett opens fire with his rifle but misses, and curses himself and reloads.

Monster phase…

The Brits seem to have retreated with just enough haste to keep out of range of the goblin’s screaming last charge. The goblins don’t pull any of the Brits into combat. The Troll has had enough of walking around and picks up a bolder. The nearest target is obscured by a goblin, but Havestman dark spells don’t overpower his natural hatred of humans. Any begrudged allegence to these goblins was exactly that… begrudged, so he throws the bolder anyway. The bolder missed both targets. The goblin looked back angrily and fearfully, unimpressed at the decision to put him in danger.

Second half…

Bloggs retreats Eastward and reloads his musket.

Anderson reloads and fires his musket without a successful hit.

Craven unearths some ideal firewood and perfect kindling to make any melee with the troll easier, though he didn’t feel in his sleep deprived state that this was a brilliant idea. Craven fires at the nearest goblin and fails to hit it. Jobe retreats, wincing with his shoulder injury, tucking behind the doctor and Godalming and reloads his musket.

Turn 6

First half of the unit activates…

Godalming orders Doctor Bombay and Rifleman Hatchett to leave and head north. They leave the field of battle as instructed.

Bloggs fires a parting shot at the nearest goblin but fails to hit them. Then Bloggs too leaves the battlefield.

Monster phase….

A goblin springs over a hedge and attacks Craven. She slashes the private open (down to one health) and Craven can only fend her off wildly in retaliation and clutches his wound in torturous pain. Two goblins attack Godalming but his marshal prowess is too much for them. Now they are in the shadows far from the campfire they have a slight advantage and are able to escape his swings back at them. The remaining goblins draw near but are too far away to lash out with their wicked blades.

The troll drags up another boulder, confident in his aim, but misses Godalming… burying the rock into a hedge between the pair.

Second half…

Craven escapes the field, determined to live and fight another day.

Bloggs begins to retire, but it rankles with him that the snarling wounded goblin just wounded his friend. He turns around and opens fire and headshots the fiend.

Godalming and Jobe decide discretion is the better part of valour and retire north, away from their viscous green pursuers.

Aftermath.

There was no point in playing out Turn 7 because Bloggs had already decided to retire as soon as he was activated so no further interactions with the green menaces and the troll would be possible to stop him.

Poor old Alistair Home has suffered a severe concussion and will start the next battle with -3 health. (Not a permanent, unhealable injury thankfully.)

5xp earned from the rewards. The only way to gain more points would have been to have killed the troll, but that was a big ask. And 7 of the unit got the standard 1xp each for the minis that escaped the battlefield.

The majority of the unit have now reached 5xp and over. The first campaign progression step on the xp rewards table. This gives them a +1 to all Courage tests.

Looking forward to the next scenario.