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Grimbuk Smythe cowered and gibbered in the corner of the guardroom as the leering Vampyre closed in on him with exaggerated slowness. He knew that the game was up as the long fangs and talons drew nearer to his trembling throat... Then - a sudden flash, a rending scream, a dull twang followed by a resounding thud, and an overwhelming smell of garlic! The Vampyre had disappeared, but now Grimbuk gagged at the pungent smell. In front of his watering eyes stood a trio of indistinct figures in black woollen helmets, one holding a discharged crossbow. One of them spoke: "Damn, we missed another one - that's the third this week!" Grimbuk suddenly became aware of the wooden stake impaled in the wall beside him, then fainted from relief and garlic overdose... *** After the initial, horrific encounters with the nefarious Spooksnaz, the shocked Ferach army tried to think of solutions. Some tried the use of blunderbusses on sentry duty, and others wore charms or garlic necklaces - but none of this really worked. Then a wizened gnome from the Niederlund, by the name of Marjoram van Hihoesing, offered his services to the Albion crown. A professor of necrology (the study of the dead) at Liedown University, he had travelled extensively through the Witchlands, and was an expert on Vampyres. His suggestions revolved around several theories and observations concerning the dreaded Vampyres. Firstly, the mere presence of garlic does little to deter them - it must be presented in very high quantities to have any real effect. The problem is to gain a high enough concentration before the Vampyre retreats. Therefore the VH Garlyck Grenadoe was developed (see stats, below). The standard Ferach Elf Fyre Grenade was also found to be of use, but the advantage of a garlic grenade is that it only really effects the Vampyres - other races are nauseated, but have no permanent damage. Secondly, it has been noted that impaling a Vampyre with a hardwood stake slows them down more than similar wounds from black-powder weapons. Thus some Albion soldiers carry stake-firing crossbows for use against these monsters. A successful wound by such a crossbow (using standard stats) will cause loss of movement as for mortals, rather than at the usual Undead rate. (NB this is not an absolute factor - some Vampyres do not show such behaviour!). Thus, under the tuition of van Hihoesing, a group of Orc pioneers was trained in anti-Vampyre tactics. Armed with stake-firing crossbows, garlic grenades, axes and other more standard weaponry, they are known as the Special Anti-Spooksnaz Squads - or SAS. They found during their initial training that the intense smell of the garlic grenades tended to incapacitate some soldiers, so a black woollen "helmet" (leaving just the eyes and mouth uncovered) was developed as part of their uniform. Due to the very nature of their work, the SAS are usually understrength (roll 2D6 for numbers in a squad), but count as an Elite unit. The van Hihoesing Garlyck Grenadoe Range(cm) 0 to 5 5+ to 10 10+ to 20
Hit/strength 55/8 45/8 30/8 (Vampyres)
Hit/strength 55/2 45/2 30/2 (Other races) The weapon is very effective against vampyres, but not against other races (the potential damage is due to the small black-powder charge, together with the strong garlic stench). Webmaster's Note The above was originally published on Danny's excellent website and is included here with permission from the author. It has been amended slightly (again with permission from the author) so that the SAS are Orcs of Albion instead of Elven Ferach.
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