The Iron Victory Crew pushed the moss-covered logs aside as they waded through the waist deep muck. Though the tail end of the Fever River was no more than 20 miles from Moat Cailin, the journey across bogs and quick sinking islets of the Neck would push every crewman to their limit.
Gris Humble, an oarsman, reached toward a large log in front of him. Before he could push it aside, it vanished below the water. “Lord Captain,” he called out. “I think th…” Before he could speak another word, Gris was pulled under the water with nary a sound.
Victarion drew his axe. “Lizard-lions. If any man thinks of turning back to the Victory, I’ll feed his head to the damned beasts. Forward.”
The Story
"Lizard-lions resemble partially submerged logs floating still in the water. They live in the water, in slow streams and deep swamps, and have teeth like daggers. Lizard-lions dwell in the flooded moats around the towers of ruined Moat Cailin."
This scenario was 100% inspired by the box art of the Iron Victory Crew. I loved the story that the art told with the lizard-lion, and thought that would be a great idea for a prelude scenario to the Fall of Moat Cailin.
Gameplay & Strategy
The independent lizard-lion unit is very unique since it acts as a sort of super interactive, moving terrain piece. I tried to keep the mechanics for this particular wild beast simple. If the lizard-lion is summoned, it attacks the unit that has just activated. The opposing player gets to control it until it is destroyed, acting as a bonus activation (sort of like a lingering Skinchanger Bear).
I think the rules for the lizard-lion do a good job of creating that suspense you would feel when travelling through a dangerous, infested swamp. I tried a few iterations of the wild beast card design, including as a neutral card and a unique card design. In the end, I liked the idea of using the design from where the animal calls home. In this case, the lizard-lions are closely tied to House Reed, and therefore House Stark. Wild beasts are something I definitely plan to explore more of in future custom scenarios.
This is a fan-made scenario inspired by CMON Limited’s A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game and is in no way associated with CMON.
