This is the twentieth 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.
I thought I was done with mega-battles after this slog of a game from my Battle Stories series, but I really wanted to have as many characters as possible take part in the Battle for the North and that necessitated having lots and lots and lots of units. I learned from my past mistakes and designed this scenario to better utilize the 6’ x 4’ play area. We also set a victory condition of 18 VPs so that the game didn’t automatically last 6 rounds (although it did anyway).
This was also the first campaign battle to be directly influenced by the result of other battles in the campaign. Since Stannis lost his battle and the Free Folk won, at the start of Round 3 we’ll have 15 points of Free Folk join the battle on the left-flank. The Starks have dominated the campaign so far, but we might go full GRRM when the Frozen Shore attacks. Pray for Eddard.
LISTS
The game size was gargantuan sized at 125 Points per army. The lists were:
HOUSE STARK/NIGHT’S WATCH:
Units (Attachments)
Eddard’s Honor Guard (Eddard Stark, Commander)
Stark Bowmen (Robb Stark)
Umber Berserkers (Greatjon Umber)
Karstark Spearmen (Rickard Karstark)
Mormont She-Bears (Maege Mormont)
Bolton Bastard’s Girls (Theon Greyjoy)
Sworn Brothers (Jon Snow)
Stark Outriders
Stark Outriders
Builder Stone Thrower
Builder Stone Thrower
Builder Crossbowmen
Ghost
Grey Wind
NCUs
Arya Stark
Maester Aemon
Othell Yarwyck
Plus 3 Castle Walls:
FREE FOLK:
Units (Attachments)
Free Folk Trappers (Mance Rayder, Commander)
Bonelord’s Chosen (Rattleshirt)
Spearwives (Harma & Harma’s Bannerman)
Free Folk Raiders (Tormund Giantsbane)
Free Folk Raiders (Borroq)
Free Folk Raiders (Skinchanger)
Mag the Mighty
Savage Giant
Savage Giant
Savage Giant
Savage Giant
Thenn Warriors
Cave Dweller Savages
Frozen Shore Bear Riders
War Mammoth
War Mammoth
Varamyr Sixskins
Shadowcat
Wolf Pack
Borroq’s Boar
NCUs
Dalla
Val
Styr
Joining at the start of Round 3 are:
Frozen Shore Hunters (The Weeper)
Frozen Shore Chariot
Frozen Shore Chariot
DEPLOYMENT
Although the Free Folk had 6’ to spread out they still couldn’t fit all their troops on the frontlines to push toward the castle walls. This bottling up of units could have been a big problem for the Free Folk, but they still felt pretty confident with those Frozen Shore reinforcements joining on Round 3.
On the Free Folk’s left-flank was Tormund in Raiders, Varamyr (with his Wolf Pack behind him and the Shadowcat held off the table), and Thenn Warriors.
These units faced off against the Stark left consisting of Theon Greyjoy in Bastard’s Girls, Rickard Karstark in Karstark Spearmen, and a unit of Stark Outriders. Way behind these units, next to the left-side castle wall, was the other unit of Outriders we called the Scoutriders as their job was to wait for the Frozen Shore boys to arrive and hopefully slow them down.
The Free Folk center was where all the big boys were. On the left were 2 Savage Giants and behind them was Harma the Dogshead in Spearwives. Next to the giants was the Bear Riders, then Mag the Mighty sandwiched between 2 War Mammoths, and 2 more Savage Giants next to the Mammoth of the right. Waiting behind Mag was a unit of Cave Dweller Savages, and behind the giants on the right was Rattleshirt in the Bonelord’s Chosen.
Across the Free Folk heavyweights, the Starks answered with their best and brightest: Grey Wind, Robb Stark in Bowmen (bit weird, I know), Eddard Stark in his Honor Guard, and Greatjon in Umber Berserkers. Behind Eddard, defending the central castle wall from all those mammoths and giants was a unit of Builder Crossbowmen. The Builder Stone Throwers were deployed on both sides of the central castle wall.
Near Mance’s camp, the Free Folk deployed Raiders with a Skinchanger in front of Mance in Trappers. On the other side of the tent near the right-flank they had Borroq in Raiders and Borroq’s Boar.
Across from Mance and the Skinchangers was Jon Snow in a unit of Sworn Brothers, Maege Mormont in a unit of She-Bears, and Ghost providing support from the backlines.
ROUND 1
The Battle for the North started with some Wildling Diplomacy. The Free Folk played that powerful tactics card to prevent Othell Yarwyck from claiming a zone as claiming a zone could have led to the death of one of the direwolves. Othell passed instead of risking the lives of one of the good boys.
Robb Stark commenced the butchery by shooting at Mag the Mighty, but sadly his attack did no wounds to the King of the Giants. Has the Young Wolf’s string of luck run out? The left flank of the Free Folk was aggressive advancing toward their enemies, perhaps a little too cocky with the knowledge of the Weeper and friends heading their way. Theon used this opportunity to attack Tormund and he brutalized the Tall-Talker by dishing out 11 wounds. Rickard Karstark’s Spearmen and the Thenns traded blows, badly damaging both units. The Stone Thrower ended the Giantsbane’s night, but alas, Insignificant made it so that no victory points were scored. It was still an important development for the Stark units on the left as they hoped to whittle down the Free Folk numbers before the arrival of the Chariots.
Unfortunately for the Starks, Rickard was bogged down in combat and Varamyr charged in and did enough damage to take the Spearmen out of the game. A tough early loss for House Stark. 1 to 0 for the Free Folk. This series of events is emblematic of one of the major side effects of these mega-battles: players become very focused on certain areas and sometimes become blind to the bigger picture.
With the carnage on the left finally winding down for the round, the other units got into the action. Jon fought off Borroq and his Boar. In the center, the Bear Riders roughed up Robb and his Bowmen, taking them down to their final wound. Both of Ned’s sons were in danger on either side of him. What’s a dad to do?
Though the Bear Riders overwhelmed Robb and his Bowmen, they also left themselves in a very vulnerable position. The Stark player declared it Bear Hunting Szn and put a lot of firepower into taking the polar beasts out of commission. At the same time, the War Mammoths charged at Ned and Greatjon, preventing Ned from making any difficult choice about which son to save. Though the Mammoth targeting Ned failed its charge and only blocked him, the Mammoth targeting Greatjon rolled a big 6 to get a successful charge and then did a massive 7 wounds by swinging his trunk and tusks. Greatjon and his Berserkers got 7 hits back at the monster, but he tanked up and blocked 6 of them.
On the right side, Maege killed off the Raiders with Skinchanger. Again, they didn’t score a VP because of Insignificant. More happily for the Starks, the Campaign of Thrones MVP Grey Wind got into the action and charged the Thenn Warriors. Grey Wind killed them with a 5-wound attack. He’s still got it! Tie game, 1 to 1. With the odd Mammoth positioning, Mag can’t quite claim the center token, costing the Free Folk a powerful siege card.
ROUND 2
The 2nd Round began with the Shadowcat deploying on the right side and threatening Ghost. To respond, the Stark player used 1 of their Arya tokens and retreated Jon and his unit of Sworn Bros back to protect his direwolf.
The Mammoth continued its attack on Greatjon when Styr claimed the swords. Aemon activated next, but the Free Folk player used Wildling Diplomacy again to force the Stark player to pass up another zone.
The Starks first big move of the round was having the Outriders charge into Varamyr’s flank. Even with the tokens from their Ambush ability, Varamyr was able to hang on with 1 wound left. Yet again we saw a unit extend themselves to attack and then be swarmed by enemies, one of the Free Folk’s calling cards. Harma and her Spearwives were able to get both their ranged attack and melee attack in the Outriders rear, dealing them 9 wounds total and taking them down to their last wound. At this point there were 3 units left on the table with 1 wound remaining. Theon retaliated against Harma with a double attack of his own as the dogs looked to get revenge for their fallen brethren displayed on Harma’s grisly totem. After doing some serious damage Harma’s unit was left with, you guessed it, only 1 wound. Just as in Round 1, the action on the left-flank took precedent. Varamyr activated and was able to finish the Outriders, making it 2 to 1 for the Free Folk. Grey Wind responded and took out Harma, his second unit killed in as many rounds. MVP! MVP! 2 - 2 tie game. Grey Wind made sure to Surge Forth as close as he could to the castle wall to gain protection from the incoming Frozen Shore units.
In the center, the Bear Riders rush in and finished the wonder kid Robb Stark, perhaps ending his campaign story for good (we’ll find out after the battle). 3 - 2 Free Folk. The Bear Riders were able to position themselves in the flank of Eddard and out of line of sight of the Crossbowmen, making them potentially a big problem for the Starks… if not for the castle walls the Free Folk player apparently totally forgot about. Seemingly so worried about the Builder Crossbowmen that they ignored the threat of the castle walls, the left castle wall activated and did a shattering 8 wounds to the Bear Riders. The Free Folk looked to avenge the polar bears by attacking a direwolf, so Borroq’s Raiders attacked Ghost and scored 4 hits. Ghost rolled his defense dice and saved all 4. Jon retaliated by charging the Shadowcat and destroying it. Though the Starks aren’t gaining VPs for these kills, they are taking down the Free Folks activation count.
The center castle wall activated and finished off the Bear Riders, tying the game back up at 3. House Stark used their ranged power to their advantage by homing in on Mance Rayder and his Trappers. After 2 successful Stone Thrower attacks and an Othell orbital strike, the King-Beyond-the-Wall was destroyed. Because of Mance’s The King is Dead! ability, House Stark scored 2 extra VPs along with 1 VP from Victory Through Combat. This 3-point swing brought the score to 6 to 3 for the north.
The Endless Horde was placed on Borroq’s Raiders, more reinforcements for the wildling horde. The Builder Crossbowmen shot into the War Mammoth engaged with Ned and killed it. 7 to 3 for the Starks. Ned’s Honor Guard suffered 1 wound from the Mammoth’s death throes. After witnessing his beautiful War Mammoth fall, Mag the Mighty charged into battle and dealt 7 more wounds to the Honor Guard. Greatjon attacked his Mammoth, but it continued to tank and the Berserkers only did 2 wounds to the beast off 9 hits.
As the round ended, Ned and Greatjon were near death as they staved off the giant incursion. The Free Folk controlled the only objective token with a Savage Giant controlling the right-side token. That scored them 1 VP.
7 to 4 House Stark.
ROUND 3
The Frozen Shore has come! It’s the heel version of the Pelennor Fields as the Chariots and Weeper in Frozen Shore Hunters arrive as the battle rages before them. The mobile Chariots were deployed further back from the action near the weirwood grove, while The Weeper was placed right in Theon’s rear. Luckily for the Stark player, they won the roll off at the start of the game and were able to make sure they were first player for this round. Also lucky for them they had Assault Orders in their hand, so after Aemon healed Greatjon the patient Scoutriders were finally brought into the fight and crashed into the Frozen Shore Hunter’s flank. They did 6 wounds total after a failed panic test.
Hoping that their superior numbers will take care of any problems on the left, the Free folk player turned their focus to the center. A Savage Giant successfully charged into Ned and was able to destroy the commander of the North. The comeback was on, but it was still 7 to 5 House Stark.
The Starks deployment strategy paid off huge as the Scoutriders activated and did 6 more wounds to The Weeper’s Hunters, destroying the unit before it could accomplish anything. 8 to 5 House Stark. On the other side of the battlefield, Borroq’s Boar charged into Ghost, but the charge was disorderly, and the Boar’s attack missed completely. Ghost battled back and quickly took care of the pig.
The Chariots tried to make-up for Weeper’s incompetence by taking out Theon’s Bastard’s Girls. After a strong attack, the Bastard’s Girls were finished off by Varamyr’s Wolf Pack. 8 to 6 for the Starks. Grey Wind was now surrounded by Chariots and wolves. The best defense is a good offense, so Grey Wind charged into a Chariot and dealt it 2 wounds. It was difficult all game for the Stark player to do big damage to the Free Folk units on the left-side as the +1 from the weirwood grove always seemed to be just enough to help the wildlings pass their panic checks.
The Starks had put up a valiant fight to this point, but they began to retreat toward the castle walls as the horde moved in. This allowed the Free Folk to claim all 3 objective tokens and gave them an immediate huge advantage from the scenario’s Siege Warfare rule. They chose the ability to draw the Catapult Barrage card and do serious damage to a non-solo unit of their choice. After 2 Catapult Barrages, Jon’s unit of Sworn Brothers was dead. 8 to 7 for the Starks, but for how long? Not long at all, as Mag handily finished Greatjon. 8 to 8 tie game.
As the round wrapped up, a patient Othell (the Stark played seemed to forget about him as the battle on the table raged) was able to take out the Cave Dweller Savages. 9 to 8 Starks. The Free Folk controlled more tokens, so the round ended back in a tie, 9 all.
ROUND 4
Round 4 began tragically as a Savage Giant charged Grey Wind and killed the brave and noble pup. It was 10 to 9 for the dastardly Free Folk. The Starks responded quickly as on the very next turn a unit of Outriders destroyed the weakened Chariot. The score was 10 - 10.
Later in the round, Othell finished Varamyr who had been hanging around since Round 1 with only 1 wound left. 11 to 10 for House Stark. The castle walls did some work as the enemy advanced as they took out the remaining War Mammoth and a Savage Giant. 13 to 10 for House Stark. Ghost was also able to take out Borroq’s Raiders. Endless Horde kicked in and another unit arrived close to the center.
As the round ended, it was hard to see how the Free Folk were going to get enough firepower against the stout castle walls and finish them off before the end of Round 6. They did score yet another VP for controlling more tokens.
13 to 11 House Stark.
ROUND 5
Aemon claimed the swords and the center castle wall shot Mag the Mighty. Three big Precision hits and an additional wound from the remaining regular hits killed the King of the Giants, and likely the Free Folk’s hopes of victory along with him. 14 to 11 House Stark.
A wounded Savage Giant on the left side got a strong attack against the left castle wall, doling out 5 wounds. Before the giant could finish the job the Scoutriders charged in and took it out. 15 to 11. Another Savage Giant swung against the left castle wall, doing 1 wound of damage. The Free Folk continued their objective dominance, scoring another VP during the clean-up phase.
15 to 12 Starks.
ROUND 6
It seemed impossible for the Free Folk to muster up enough offense to win the game, but both armies played it out until the last die roll.
The left castle wall was destroyed by one of the surviving Savage Giants, but sadly for the Free Folk they rolled a 1 on the D3 and only scored 2 VPs total. 15 to 14 House Stark. The Scoutriders continued their excellent play by taking out the second Chariot. 16 to 14 for House Stark. Did the Frozen Shore reinforcements end up being a liability? The Starks played it beautifully and ended up scoring 3 VPs off those destroyed units.
The Bonelord’s Chosen were bombarded by the Stark artillery and destroyed. 17 to 14 House Stark. With the game coming to a close, House Stark scored 4 VPs from the 2 surviving castle walls and the Free Folk scored 1 more from objective tokens.
Final Score: 21 to 15 House Stark.
WRAP-UP
This ended up being a really fun game to play. Just like Ours is the Fury it felt very cinematic and was a nail-biter until it became obvious late in Round 5 that the Free Folk were not going to get to the walls in time. I think both players were surprised at how handily House Stark was able to take out the weaker Free Folk units early and then use the castle walls to take care of the big boys late. The castle walls may be OP, but I think that was more pronounced in this huge battle because the points total was so high that it didn’t make any difference in the Stark list building. The Free Folk player was also very sloppy with some of their positioning due to the number of troops they had to control and their overconfidence in the Frozen Shore reinforcements.
Even though House Stark won the battle, most of their characters were destroyed during the fight. I decided to leave it to fate to see if any of the northern heroes tragically died during the battle and are gone from the campaign for good. The results are found in the coda below.
As for the campaign, I plan to take a long break before I continue with more battle reports (likely 2024 at the earliest). I hope to eventually complete to storylines of the Boltons attempting to capture Casterly Rock, Euron’s return to the Iron Islands, and Stannis’ story, but I want to wait until there are a bunch of new releases to freshen things up. In the meantime, I hope to have a compilation of all the narrative writing from the first 20 campaign reports posted in the near future. Speaking of narrative write-ups…
CODA
Mance Rayder was alone. He sat in a small room in the Silent Tower, chained to the table in front of him. Ned Stark entered and took a seat across from the King-Beyond-the-Wall.
“How are your boys, Lord Eddard?” Mance inquired.
Ned was taken aback. He had heard reports about Mance’s wildling queen giving birth during the battle. Why not ask about your own child? All the same, he responded cordially. “They’re well. Robb was injured early by one of your damned bear riders, but he was able to fall back to the castle. He commanded the stone throwers and archers for the remainder of the battle. Jon was pushed back to the Wall but kept himself safe until your center broke.”
“Aye. When Mag the Mighty fell the ground shook and the tide turned,” Mance said wistfully. “I’ve met them before, your boys. Years ago, when I was still a man of the Watch, visiting Winterfell with Lord Commander Qorgyle.”
“I remember when Qorgyle visited,” Ned replied.
“Your lads were planning to dump a mound of snow on some unsuspecting passer-by. I promised them I wouldn’t say a word if anyone came looking for who done it.” Ned smiled. Mance shifted in his chair, then continued. “Lord Eddard, I’ve talked to giants. Run my hands along the shaggy coat of a mammoth. Danced with spearwives, drank with skinchangers, sang with the walrus people. I defeated the Magnar of Thenn in battle, united near a hundred tribes, and became King-Beyond-the-Wall. And despite all the incredible things I’ve seen and done, I’ll always remember those two mischievous boys laughing on the battlements of Winterfell. Because they were your sons, sons of the Lord of Winterfell. My people… my people are the sons and daughters of nothing. They’ll never be defended by personal guards or honored with some grand ceremony. Their names will never be sung. But you can’t let them die because of that, Lord Eddard. They are faceless and nameless, a seemingly endless horde, but don’t let them die because of all the things they aren’t. The battle is over. You’ve won. Now I beg you, please. Let them through the gate. Let them live. And if you have no compassion, Lord Eddard, if you decide it’s best to lock the gate and release arrows upon any wildling who dares to gaze at the Wall, I implore you to speak to Jon and his brothers who travelled to the Fist of the First Men. They've seen what is coming. They know that if you leave my people out there to die, you will fight them again. And again. And again. And again.”
Later that night, in front of a small gathering, Ned beheaded Mance Rayder for the crime of desertion.
The free folk camped near the Haunted Forest built tall pyres for their leaders who died in battle. Harma the Dogshead, the Lord of Bones, and the Weeper were fed to the flames. At Castle Black, pyres were constructed for the fallen northern lords, Rickard Karstark and Greatjon Umber. Hundreds of men gathered in the courtyard to honor them.
“They could have remained in their castles, coddled by servants as they lazed beside a hearth, but that was not who the Greatjon or Lord Rickard were,” Ned eulogized. “They were Lords of the North, and they answered the call.”
The pyres were lit. Uncertain flickers quickly erupted into ravenous flames. In front of Ned was the open sky, brimming with stars. Behind him was total darkness, as the impenetrable Wall blocked everything behind it.
He knew what he had to do. But how?
A Time for Wolves
Merrett Frey stumbled toward the dais, cups in each hand. Half his black beer spilled upon the floor as he bumped into a table near the front of the Great Hall. He turned to Catelyn Stark, who sat beside her son and his new bride.
“My lady! My lady, please, don’t have me hung. I will only spill the rest of my ale properly, down my gullet, I swear it,” Merrett swore. The Lady of Winterfell gave Merrett a short, polite smile.
Catelyn glanced over at Roslin Frey. Pretty, demure, kind. How could she be from the same family as Merrett, Lothar, and all those Walders? It didn’t matter. Soon the Freys would travel back to the Twins and Roslin would spend the rest of her days in Winterfell, a Stark.
Merrett cleared his throat and addressed the lively crowd. “As you all know, my father was downtrodden at the thought of missing this wedding. Father loves weddings. That’s why he’s had eight of them.”
Ned snorted. Laughter filled the hall.
“Although father could not be here on this jolly day he wanted me…”
“Which one are you?” a cheeky northerner called out.
“Merrett! I am Merrett Frey. He wanted me to convey a message of love and affection toward his beautiful daughter, Roslin, and his newest son, the fearless Young Wolf, Robb Stark.” Merrett held one of his cups aloft. “And although he is not here today, father had a special request. A special song he desired to have played.”
The band began to play.
“And who are you, the proud lord said,
that I must bow so low?”
The guests gasped, laughed, and clapped. They all sang together:
“And so he spoke, and so he spoke,
that lord of Castamere!
But now the rains weep o'er his hall,
with no one there to hear.
Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall,
and not a soul to hear!”
Robb kissed his bride. All in the Great Hall cheered their union.
The endless clamour seemed to fade as Catelyn watched her children about the Great Hall. Arya and Sansa exchanged food. Rickon giggled as two dogs chased him over a chicken leg. Bran sat beside Jon Snow, who said something that made Bran spit out his drink.
The Bastard of Winterfell smiled wide. He looked up and saw Lady Catelyn staring at him. She smiled back at him. She looked over to Ned, who smiled wide. Mother Above, thank you, Catleyn thought. The war is over, and every day is a blessing.
A solemn-looking guard walked over to Ned. He whispered into the lord’s ear. Ned wiped his mouth and stood.
“What is it, father?” Robb wondered.
“Ned?” Catelyn pried.
“There’s something outside I must attend to.” Ned exited the hall.
It was a windy night with a gentle autumn snow. The gate was wide open. There stood Stannis Baratheon, a crown of red gold on his head, wrought to look like fire. Next to Stannis stood a tall, young woman. Her cloak was red, as was her hair, and the jewel on her neck. Her eyes were red, too. Red and terrible.
“Lord Eddard. I do not wish to disrupt your son’s wedding. Return to the feast,” Stannis said brusquely. “Tomorrow we will discuss our plans to destroy Renly and end this farce he has perpetrated against my kingdom.”