The Greatjon would not shift his gaze. Even the Great Lion Tywin Lannister seemed disquieted by the fury burning inside Jon Umber. Yet the Mountain was not moved. Perhaps Gregor Clegane, his eyes shielded by his fist-topped helm, had not even seen the quaking Lord of Last Hearth. He may not have seen him, but he would hear him…
The Story
"Roose has no feelings, you see. Those leeches that he loves so well sucked all the passions out of him years ago. He does not love, he does not hate, he does not grieve. This is a game to him, mildly diverting. Some men hunt, some hawk, some tumble dice. Roose plays with men. You and me, these Freys, Lord Manderly, his plump new wife, even his bastard, we are but his playthings." - Barbrey Dustin to Theon Greyjoy
One of the greatest aspects of the A Song of Ice & Fire Tabletop Miniatures Game is what Game Designer Michael Shinall calls the ‘fan-fiction generator.’ We can re-imagine the War of the Five Kings on our tabletop. Who hasn’t imagined Ned facing off against Tywin? Or Greatjon Umber going toe-to-toe with the Mountain? In the What If? The Lion and the Wolf custom scenario, we see what could have happened if Ned was able to escape King’s Landing and bring the wrath of the North down upon Tywin Lannister. But as usual in the game of thrones, just when the path forward seems clear, blood muddies the way.
Gameplay & Strategy
The main gimmick of this What If? scenario is a renegade unit of Bolton Blackguards with Roose Bolton (Leech Lord) whose allegiance will be decided at the start of the game.
The game begins with a bloody stand-off between Greatjon Umber and Gregor Clegane, then a possible Roose Bolton betrayal (classic Roose). The early moves by these centrally located units will be important, but a smart battlefield commander will be able to take advantage of this cluster and get their remaining units in position to make a serious dent in the enemy's best troops.
If you control Roose and his Blackguard unit you will have the early advantage, but he could quickly become a liability as he is worth 2 additional Victory Points when destroyed (and your units within Long Range of him become Panicked). If the Starks are betrayed by Roose, the good news is that the Blackguard unit will not be able to immediately Charge into you as you will not be in line of sight. The Lannisters may claim the Maneuver zone to position themselves in your Flank, but you can counter by Maneuvering yourself away from the danger (or you could just take the Charge, as the Blackguards hit like a pool noodle). In the end, the most important part of your strategy will be how you bring forward your units to target those powerful units in the center of the table.
The majority of these scenarios are created with the idea of threading three or more together to play a short thematic campaign. For example, The Lion and the Wolf can follow Escape from King’s Landing, then lead into The Knights of Summer.
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.