This is the fourteenth 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.
After being waylaid by the undead at the Fist of the First Men, Jeor Mormont and his Night’s Watch ranging party made a hasty retreat to Craster’s Keep. Tensions were high even before the wights attacked, with many brothers of the Watch planning to betray their oaths and murder the Lord Commander. When Craster offers the starving men only morsels of bread, violence erupts and the mutiny at Craster's Keep begins.
The game was skirmish size at 30 Points per army. The lists were:
NIGHT’S WATCH:
Units (Attachments)
Veterans of the Watch (Jeor Mormont, Commander)
Sworn Brothers (Samwell Tarly, Gilly)
Shadow Tower Spearmen (Craster)
Ranger Hunter
NCUs
None
MUTINEERS:
Units (Attachments)
Bolton Cutthroats (Dirk aka Ramsay Snow, Commander)
Bolton Cutthroats (Dreadfort Captain)
Conscripts
Conscripts
Conscripts
NCUs
Dalla
This scenario perfectly suits the skirmish rule that suggests each player utilize a 30-point army, but this makes list building extremely difficult for the Night’s Watch player who must take Jeor Mormont & Samwell Tarly attachments and model only Craster. With 7 points remaining, I decided to throw caution to the wind and add an extra combat unit to my list, forgoing an NCU. I’ve played more NCU-less games than most playtesting my early scenario Storming of the Crag (though I plan to eventually change the NCU rule for Crag). I know that it’s extremely difficult and honestly not very fun to play with 0 NCUs, but I think it fits the mutiny and hopefully in the next update CMON makes Night’s Watch list building more varied.
DEPLOYMENT
This scenario is very claustrophobic, with an impassable building in the center and 4 impassable palisades around the building. Adding a few impassable terrain pieces to the board makes gameplay wildly different. I highly recommend it to people who play the game often and are looking for a new experience without adding custom rules. The impassable terrain coupled with the Fire & Blood game mode could be boring in a truly competitive environment, but as always with the Campaign of Thrones, bloodletting is our primary objective.
The Mutineers placed 1 unit of Conscripts on the left side and the Dreadfort Captain Cutthroats on the right, both outside the Keep. Inside the Keep are the commander Cutthroat unit with ‘Dirk’ aka Ramsay Snow, flanked by 2 units of Conscripts. For clarity in this report, these units will be known as the outside Conscripts, left Conscripts, right Conscripts, Mutineer Cutthroats, and Dirk’s Cutthroats. Their plan was to Supply Aid the Cutthroats for long enough to put a serious dent into the more elite Night’s Watch units (who had no access to NCU healing).
Jeor’s Veterans and Craster’s Spearmen faced off against Dirk’s Cutthroats in the center. Samwell & Gilly in Sworn Brothers faced off against the outside Conscripts, while the naked Ranger Hunters deployed across from the Mutineer Cutthroats.
ROUND 1
The Vets (gaining vicious) & Spearmen (gaining sundering) were marked for the Night’s Watch. Dirk’s Cutthroats unit (making units weakened) and the left Conscripts (gaining precision) were marked for the Mutineers. Craster’s unit suffered 2 wounds to start from the special rule “Bastard.”
"Bastard": Model Only Craster's unit suffers D3+1 Wounds before the beginning of Round 1.
All units moved forward, positioning themselves around the palisades and homestead so that it would be difficult for enemy units to charge. The Sworn Brothers went for a long charge against the outside Conscripts but failed. On the opposite side, the Mutineers used their NCU advantage to claim the horse zone and maneuver the Mutineer Cutthroats forward. They used their activation next to charge into the unsuspecting Ranger Hunters, doling out 5 wounds total to the dangerous Hunters.
Tie game, 0 to 0.
ROUND 2
Jeor Mormont’s tactics card Night Gathers was placed on the Ranger Hunters, dealing 1 plus the number of ranks hits to any attacker. Dalla claimed the swords and the Mutineer Cutthroats got a second straight attack on the Hunters (after suffering 2 wounds themselves from Night Gathers). The Mutineer Cutthroats were able to re-roll since the Hunter had yet to activate, and they dealt another 5 wounds. Thankfully, the Hunters passed their panic check and were able to retreat 11 inches backwards, out of danger for the time being. With only 2 wounds remaining and limited healing, the Ranger Hunters would have to be very selective with how they engage with enemy units for the rest of the battle.
With the Mutineer Cutthoats susceptible to a counterattack from the Veterans of the Watch, they decided to be proactive and charge Lord Commander Jeor Mormont and his tanky Vet unit (tanky for Night’s Watch anyway). They killed 4 models and were able to block both hits that came back at them from Counterstrike. The Veterans passed their panic test and healed 1 from Jeor’s Dauntless ability.
It’s noted by both players that with the impassable terrain and smart positioning by the Mutineers player, the Conscripts will easily be offering Supply Aid until they’re down to their last model. The Night’s Watch player would have to act fast before they get grinded down by the always regenerating Cutthroats (if only they had access to an extra attack or healing…).
The Sworn Brothers finally got their charge in on the outside Conscripts. They used their greatsword attack and Martial Training ability to score 9 wounds, bringing the Conscripts close to death. The left Conscripts came to their aid, healing their Conscript brethren from behind the safety of the palisade.
Ramsay Snow’s commander card Sadistic Games made Jeor’s Veterans of the Watch and the Ranger Hunters panicked. Jeor activated, placing 1 victory point on the Mutineer Cutthroats he was engaged with. Jeor struck back and the Mutineer Cuts suffered 3 wounds from the attack and another 3 from a failed panic test (with help from Jeor’s bonus Vicious ability). Right after the attack, they were healed by the concealed right Conscripts. 1 victory point was placed on Jeor by Dirk’s Cutthroats and the Mutineer player passed the rest of their actions.
The game remained 0 to 0.
ROUND 3
Jeor activated and placed another VP on the Mutineer Cutthroats. The Sword in the Darkness tactics card was played to make the Mutineer Cuts both vulnerable and panicked. The attack did 4 wounds and they suffered 2 wounds from a failed panic test, bringing them down to just 2 models left and precariously close to destruction (facing a unit with Counterstrike). Happily for the Mutineer Cutthroats, Supply Aid came to the rescue again. Even with +1 hit from the tactics card Planning and Insight, the Mutineer Cuts only scored 2 hits against the Vets and had to defend against 5 Counterstrike hits. They lost 3 models and went back down to their last rank. Jeor’s Veterans suffered 1 wound from the 2 hits, then rolled snake eyes to suffer 3 wounds on their panic check. Prey on Fear healed the Mutineer Cutthroats by 2.
Dalla claimed the bags and healed the Mutineer Cutthroats. Her ability also dealt 3 hits to the Vets, causing 2 wounds. The Veterans of the Watch have probably killed almost 2 trays worth of Cutthroats, but the steady healing is keeping them alive and dangerous. All 3 units of Conscripts could be easy prey if the Night’s Watch can just break through the line of Cutthroats and navigate the terrain.
The Hunters marched back towards the action, setting their sight on the engaged Mutineer Cutthroats. Another VP is put on Jeor as the round winds down. It’s now a race to see who can destroy who first between the Mutineer Cutthroats and the Lord Commander’s Veterans of the Watch.
Still 0 - 0.
ROUND 4
Dalla claimed the swords and they played Our Blades are Sharp so that the Mutineer Cutthroats could gain Precision. They rolled four 6s and finally killed the Lord Commander. The Mutineers scored 2 points from the VPs placed on the unit, 2 points for destroying a marked unit, and 1 point from Victory Through Combat. In 1 turn, the game went from 0 - 0 to 5 - 0 for the Mutineers.
The Ranger Hunters counterattacked the murderous Mutineer Cutthroats, but their attack was hampered by being on their last rank. They did some damage, but the Mutineer Cutthroats survived. Yet another Supply Aid healed the Mutineer Cuts and they were able to charge at the Hunters and finish them off. 6 to 0 Mutineers.
Smawell’s Sworn Brothers powerfully assaulted the outside Conscripts, doing 8 wounds from the attack alone and finishing them off with a failed panic test. The score was now 6 to 1, but it was too little, too late. The Mutineers retreated and the game was called as the Night’s Watch did not have enough action efficiency (I wonder why?) to catch-up with the fleeing Mutineers.
Final score, 6 to 1.
WRAP-UP
This is the second battle report where my Shadow Tower Spearmen stood around and did absolutely nothing. I should have known they would be pretty much useless in a non-objective scenario, or at least I should have used them more aggressively when things started to turn south. Though in my defence, the back and forth between Jeor’s Veterans of the Watch and the Mutineer Cutthroats could have gone either way until the 4 precision strikes changed the game.
I loved the claustrophobic feeling of this battle. It was al little annoying to have such oppressive healing come from relatively guarded locations, but it never felt insurmountable and played out very closely to the events from the books. Since Samwell and Gilly came out of the battle relatively unscathed, we will follow the same outcomes from the book. Jeor and Craster are dead. Sam and Gilly have fled into the Haunted Forest, headed for the Wall. Grenn & Edd have also survived the ranging and made their way safely back to Castle Black.