This is the thirteenth report in our narrative campaign series, Campaign of Thrones. After each battle, the characters on the losing side will potentially be captured or killed. This will transform the story as we know it, inspiring new ‘What If?’ scenarios and battle reports. Join us on this alternative dice-driven version of the War of the Five Kings and battle at the Wall.
This battle between the Baratheon brothers brings us to the end of Part 1 of the Campaign of Thrones. We’ve covered similar ground to A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings, which now culminates with this alternative Battle of the Blackwater, Ours is the Fury. This scenario sees Stannis storming the battlements of King’s Landing with all his might, including massive Baratheon Siege Towers. Renly faces his brother head on to prove that he's worthy to be king.
I was a little gun shy about extra-large battles after the Watchers on the Wall Battle Story, so I scaled this down to just 50 points per side. The extra space for units to maneuver ended up playing a huge part in the outcome of the battle.
The lists were:
RENLY:
Units (Attachments)
Rose Knights (Renly Baratheon, Commander)
Thorn Watch (Brienne the Blue)
Highgarden Pikemen (Loras Tyrell)
Highgarden Pikemen
Riders of Highgarden
NCUs
Olenna Tyrell
Margaery Tyrell
Along with 3 special castle walls:
STANNIS:
Units (Attachments)
Queen’s Men (Stannis Baratheon, Commander)
King’s Men (Andrew Estermont)
R’hllor Faithful
R’hllor Lightbringers
Baratheon Siege Tower
Baratheon Siege Tower
NCUs
Melisandre
Davos Seaworth
Selyse & Shireen
DEPLOYMENT
On the left side, Andrew Estermont in King’s Men lined up directly across from Loras Tyrell and his unit of Highgarden Pikemen. The Riders of Highgarden deployed on the left table edge.
In the center, Stannis and the Queen’s Men faced off against Renly and his Rose Knights. Stannis was supported by Lightbringers while Renly had Brienne in Thorn Watch.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Stannis player deployed both Siege Towers across from the right-side castle wall, with a unit of R’hllor Faithful between them. The towers only had a single unit of Pikemen blocking their way.
ROUND 1
The gamesmanship began right away with Olenna cancelling Melisandre and her powerful panic bomb ability. Margaery claimed the horse zone and maneuvered Renly closer to the all-important center objective token. The player who controls the center token at the end of each round gets to draw a powerful siege tactics card from their siege strategy deck. Some of them are absolutely devastating, which makes fighting for the center token imperative.
Andrew Estermont and the King’s Men were the first combat unit to activate. They maneuvered away from Loras and headed towards the center, not wanting to engage with both the Pikemen and Riders. The Riders of Highgarden moved up to threaten the King’s Men’s flank, keeping them on guard.
Renly used the castle walls to pass activations, forcing Stannis to show his strategy. The Rightful Heir kept with his tactical blitz and marched both Siege Towers up 8 inches, positioning the towers directly in the face of the lonely Pikemen on the right-side. The brave Pikemen decided to test out the strength of the siege weapons, charging the tower furthest to the right. They scored 9 hits, but after a strong defensive roll they only dealt 2 wounds against the mighty breaching tower.
The Lightbringers moved into range against Brienne. Davos claimed the swords and the Lightbringers loosed their fiery arrows at the Thorn Watch. The attack did 5 wounds total, but Renly demanded some Baratheon Justice and placed all 3 tokens on the fire archers. Brienne and the Thorn Watch then successfully charged into the Lightbringers, doing 3 wounds of damage and preventing the devastating fire arrows ranged attack for the time being.
Renly claimed the center token, but Stannis responded immediately and charged. The Queen's Men boosted their attack with the tactics cards In R’hllor’s Name and Azor Ahai!, but Renly countered with Stag’s Wit and made both Stannis and Andrew panicked. The attack damaged Renly and the Rose Knights by 5 wounds, taking them down a rank and ensuring no siege strategy card would be drawn at the end of Round 1.
ROUND 2
The tactics card Test of Faith was placed on the Lightbringers. They failed their Faith panic test and suffered 2 wounds. Oath of Duty was placed on the flanking Riders of Highgarden. Melisandre activated and used her ability, smartly influencing the unengaged Siege Tower with 2 morale (so it’s guaranteed to pass the friendly panic check) and that also didn’t look like it would be threatened by any enemy unit. Mel targeted Renly’s Rose Knights, but they evaded her dark magic and suffered no wounds.
Since Melisandre just used her ability, Olenna cancelled Selyse & Shireen’s abilities instead in the chance a Stannis unit was destroyed this round. The Queen of Thorns claimed the bags and healed the Rose Knights by 3, doing 1 damage back to Stannis with Deadly Bloom. With the King’s Men vulnerable to a Riders of Highgarden flank charge, they moved further towards the center.
The engaged Siege Tower struck back at the Pikemen, doling out 3 wounds from the attack and 3 more from a failed panic test. The Pikemen, likely to be flank attacked by the R’hllor Faithful the next turn, retreated to safety underneath the left castle wall. The Faithful risked a long charge against them and made it. They expended their 1 faith token to gain precision and vicious and that was enough to destroy the Pikemen and give Stannis the early lead, 1 to 0.
Brienne continued her assault against the Lightbringers, but Test of Faith bolstered their armor, and they only suffered a few wounds. Brienne was helpless to act as the Siege Tower rolled slowly past her towards the castle wall. The right castle wall finally had a target. It shot at the R’hllor Faithful, who suffered 5 wounds from the arrow volley but passed panic and gained a faith token.
The King’s Men continued to fall back towards the center, collapsing the left flank and putting Stannis in a tough spot. Stannis attacked Renly and the Rose Knights yet again, but this time only did 2 wounds. With Perseverance and Valor, the Rose Knights healed 1 before their counterattack and returned to 3 ranks, reclaiming control of the center objective. They got 6 hits against Stannis, but he saved them all. Stannis! Stannis! STANNIS!
Unfortunately for the One True King, the Riders of Highgarden continued to close in and were now directly in Stannis’ flank. As Round 2 ended, Renly scored 1 VP for controlling more objectives and drew a siege defender card. Remember that these cards have not changed since the Kickstarter release and are kind of OP.
1 to 1 tie game.
ROUND 3
Renly immediately played his defender card, which was Combat Chaos:
At the start of any turn, reveal this Strategy and place 3 Order tokens on it: When an enemy Combat Unit would activate, you may remove 1 Order token from this Strategy. Your opponent must choose another combat Unit to activate (if able).
Stannis played his second Test of Faith card, guarding the Queen’s Men from the inevitable cavalry charge. The Riders smashed into the Queen’s Men’s flank, doing 4 wounds from the attack and 2 more from panic damage. Melisandre targeted the Riders of Highgarden with her ability combined with a swords attack from the Queen’s Men, but the Riders passed the R’hllor powered panic test and only suffered 2 wounds from the attack, which they healed straightaway using Baratheon Conviction. Olenna claimed the bags next, canceling Selyse & Shireen’s ability and healing the Rose Knights by 3, doing another chip wound to Stannis.
The King’s Men wanted to activate and counterattack the Riders, but Renly kept using Combat Chaos to delay them. The Rose Knights attacked Stannis with another 6 hits, but this time with the aid of a vulnerable token they were able to convert those hits into 5 wounds, destroying the unit… unless they passed their To the Last morale test. They passed, and Stannis healed 1 from Dauntless and played Baratheon Conviction to heal 2 more. As Stannis fought for his life and kingdom, Andrew and the King’s Men were finally able to escape the chaos and charge into the Riders’ flank. They did 5 wounds with the attack, but the 1 wound from the Riders failed panic test was blocked by Oath of Duty.
The seemingly unstoppable Siege Towers lumbered forward. Things on the field looked somewhat dire for Stannis, but the siege tower’s destruction of at least 1 (probably 2) castle walls seemed inevitable. An interesting dilemma was discussed: is it better for Stannis to keep the Siege Towers around for as long as possible so the Stannis side doesn’t lose from having no more combat units remaining on the table? Because once a Siege Tower destroys a castle wall, it turns into terrain and is no longer considered a combat unit for Team Stannis. The Stannis side would have to decide soon as the towers rolled into range of the castle walls.
Earlier in the round, the Lightbringers had fled from Brienne and the Thorn Watch. Her charge failed, so the Maid of Tarth would have to wait another round to take the Lightbringers out. Stannis attacked the Riders, hoping to get rid of the pesky cavalry, but they shrugged off the 3 wounds and hit Stannis back with Last Stand, dealing him 1 wound. The round ended with Stannis near death and Renly gaining 1 VP from controlling more objectives. Renly also drew another siege defender card.
2 to 1 for Renly.
ROUND 4
Renly revealed the defender card Rallying the Troops:
You may remove this Strategy at the start of any turn, beginning on Round 4: Each time a friendly unit passes a Morale Test this Round, it may restore up to D3 Wounds.
Renly’s plan to focus on the center token was clearly paying off with these powerful siege cards bolstering his defenses. Once again Melisandre claimed the swords and targeted the Siege Tower to receive the friendly fire. This tactic started to become a little sketchy since the Siege Tower now had just 2 wounds remaining and was within range of the castle wall’s arrows. Mel bombed the Riders of Highgarden and they failed, but luckily rolled a 1 on their D3 and only suffered 3 wounds total. The Riders had just 1 wound remaining, and the King’s Men used the swords attack to finish them off. 2 to 2 tie game. Andrew and the King’s Men surged forth and stared down the Knight of Flowers in the Pikemen. Andrew retreating from the left flank seemed like it was a huge tactical blunder, but with good dice they may be able to rebound from the mistake.
The center castle did shoot at the wounded Siege Tower, but only scored 2 hits and did no wounds. The Siege Tower activated within 8 inches of the caste wall, rolled forward, and destroyed it. They rolled a 2, scoring 3 total victory points. 5 to 2 for Stannis. A few turns later, the second Siege Tower smashed into the right castle wall and destroyed it. They rolled another 2 and scored 3 more VPs, bringing the score to 8 to 2. Both sides were now 2 activations down (with the Siege Towers turning into terrain), but Stannis had a huge victory point advantage. The One True King just needed to hold on to take back the Iron Throne.
Seeing 2 castle walls fall back-to-back, Loras Tyrell knew he had to act aggressively to regain the momentum. He charged into Andrew Estermont and killed him with Expert Duelist. The Pikemen’s attack did another 2 wounds to the now leaderless King’s Men. Nearby, the Lightbringers rained fire on the Thorn Watch, but they fought through the flames and destroyed the R’hllor archers. 8 to 3 for Stannis.
The King’s Men hit back at Loras and got 6 hits against the low armor Pikemen, but they blocked 5 hits and then passed their panic test, restoring 3 wounds from Rallying the Troops. Loras was fighting heroically to single-handedly turn the tide for his king. The R’hllor Faithful fled into the corner, hoping to survive long enough to taste victory.
The weakened Renly attacked Stannis and with the help of Our is the Fury did 2 wounds to the Queen’s Men. Only Stannis remained, and he surprisingly failed his panic test, getting destroyed for the second time. To the Last once again saved the One True King. Against all his instincts, Stannis led a tactical retreat away from the struggle in the center of the battlefield. Renly scored another point from objective tokens and drew yet another defender card. 8 to 4 for Stannis
ROUND 5
Olenna claimed the bags and healed Renly. The Queen of Thorns cancelled Selyse & Shireen’s ability to make sure that the irritating Stannis didn’t revive for a third time. Margaery claimed the envelope and Renly played his third defender card, Parley:
When a friendly NCU claims a zone on the Tactics Board, replace that zone’s effect with: 1 unengaged enemy Combat Unit may not activate this round or perform any actions until its first attacked.
Renly blocked Stannis’ Queen’s Men from activating, adding more insult to injury. Not only has Renly received a huge advantage from drawing all the siege strategy cards so far, but each card has been pertinent to the game state and used almost immediately each time.
Melisandre, who had missed a few times this game, dealt 3 important wounds to Loras with nother sacrifice to the Lord of Light. Melisandre claimed the swords and the King’s Men attacked Loras again, this time enhanced by Ours is the Fury. The King’s Men got 5 hits, but again Loras went beast mode and blocked 4 of them. Loras and the Pikemen failed the panic test, suffering 1 more wound.
On the right side of the battlefield, Brienne claimed the objective token, leaving Renly’s side 1 token away from receiving Reinforcements:
The King’s Men pummeled Loras again, this time doing 5 wounds and bringing the unit down to its last rank. Loras chose to retreat. If they rolled a 3+, they would have moved on top the final unclaimed token and getting reinforcements, likely winning the game for Renly. Sadly, they rolled a pitiful 1, and the reinforcements would have to wait for the final round. The round ended with another VP for Renly and another defender card, his fourth.
8 to 5 for Stannis.
ROUND 6
Melisandre activated and used the bags to heal Stannis. She aimed her dark magic at Loras and the Pikemen, and they failed the test! The unit was destroyed, bringing the score to 9 to 5 for Stannis. The Pikemen’s meagre retreat could be the turning point if Stannis goes on to win the battle.
Renly then revealed his next siege defender card which was… Unexpected Reinforcements!
At the start of a friendly turn: Deploy 1 previously destroyed non-Character unit (including any non-Character Attachments) anywhere in Short Range of a flank table edge (it may be activated this round).
The Riders of Highgarden returned on the edge of the battlefield like the Rohirrim at the Pelennor Fields. Renly was down by 4, but would score 1 point from the objective tokens, 2 from the surviving castle wall, and potentially 2 more if he triggered Reinforcements. With that in mind, the King’s Men needed to turn into human speedbumps to stop Renly from winning the game. They needed a 5+ to successfully charge into the resurrected Riders of Highgarden and stop the reinforcements. Luckily for Stannis, he had yet to utilize any of Davos’ 3 tokens to roll 5+. The first roll was a 3. The second roll was a 3. The third roll… was a 1! The next turn the returned Highgarden cavalry rode over to the last objective token, triggering reinforcements, and scoring 2 much needed VPs. With Stannis out of range of Renly, the game was over. Renly scored 2 VPs from the surviving wall and 1 from controlling more objective tokens.
Final score: 10 to 9 for Renly Baratheon, the King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm of Westeros.
WRAP-UP
This was definitely the most cinematic game we’ve ever played. The Siege Towers looked absolutely amazing towering above the other combat units. It was very satisfying to play this scenario and have such an enjoyable experience because I’ve been playtesting and tweaking these siege mode ideas for a while now and I’m very happy with the current iteration.
Before the game began, I was hoping for a decisive outcome to help the campaign story move forward a bit faster. In the end, I want the direction of the story to be decided on the table, so instead of one of the Baratheon brothers dying being captured or killed we have a similar outcome to the Battle of the Blackwater with Stannis reluctantly retreating the fight another day. I was hoping that I could possibly use the characters from the upcoming Baratheon Heroes boxes in this battle, but this outcome is perfect because now the fight between the two stags continues and these upcoming characters can inject new blood into the conflict (and replace poor, dead Andrew Estermont, our only casualty from this battle).
CODA
Stannis raked his hands along the Painted Table, sending miniature siege towers crashing to the ground. He picked up an old wooden chair and shattered it against the rock wall. The Red Woman was the only other person in the room. She stood by the dying fire.
“Visions,” Stannis sneered. “The fate of all living things. So what, what now? The world will fall to ruin because Renly Baratheon sits the Iron Throne?” He grabbed the priestess by the shoulders. “Tell me… tell me what you see!”
Melisandre placed her hand over Stannis’ heart. “The fire is still inside you, my lord. You are the rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms, no matter where you sit.” Stannis released his grip.
“I still see your victory,” Melisandre told him. “The greatest victory the world will ever know. Light triumphing over the dark, forever more… but there is still much I don’t see. I cannot protect you from every setback or defeat. I can only tell you to endure. Continue onward, always, until the dawn.”
Stannis leaned over the Painted Table. He stared at King’s Landing.
“I watched the Knight of Flowers cut through a dozen of my men. He nearly split Andrew Estermont’s head in twain. Ser Andrew took a knee, leaned back, and died... but never fell. His beard was sopping with blood. Then they swept in from the west, thousands of horsemen.” Stannis swallowed. “I should have been fighting beside them.”
“Thousands of your men will die before this war is over. Followers, leaders, deserters, heroes. Ser Andrew was a fine soldier, but what you need now is a warrior of light, a man whose heart is fire. For the night is dark…”
She led Stannis to the balcony and together they looked out over the courtyard. A man looked up at them. He wore a triple spiral on his tunic; red, green, and blue. He smiled at the king, and the king’s red shadow.