Orcs in the Webbe

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you gain from this..." LaRegreet stopped suddenly as an almost imperceptible hissing noise grew in intensity.

"I do mind, and know this Paule LaRegreet" At the mention of his real name the Ferach Elf glanced up quickly, no-one should know who he really was, not in this town. The figure continued "If anyone should learn of my involvement in this you will not get a chance to spend the gold that you liberate from the train."

With that the mysterious figure stood and headed for the door of the saloon. As LaRegreet watched her lithe figure move through the crowd, he thought it odd that no one else had seemed to notice her glide past them. Involuntarily touching his necklace of Buon-Partee he stuffed the papers into his waistcoat, finished his drink and headed to the door. A short ride across town to meet up with his men in their hideout where the proper planning for this job would begin.

***

On the other side of the room Bill Hickorc raised his head, his face having been previously hidden by his wide brimmed hat, he gazed across the table at the turncoat Elf, Vickars. "Your pointy ears hear what he was bablin' on 'bout?".

Vickars nodded and took a swig from the bottle in front of him, "Yep, he's goin' after the weekend mail train, the 7.40 from Red Rock. It was weird though, darndess thing I ever saw. He was just talking. To himself I mean, asking questions as if there was someone else at the table with him. Perhaps LaRegreet's finally lost it."

"Maybe." growled Hickorc, "but we can't guarantee it. At least now we know the next train he's going to hit, we can worry about where he's getting the information from another time."

With that the Orc stood up, pulling on his duster. "Get the men together, I'll go and speak to the clerk at the station here and gets us passage to Red Rock. Let's arrange a little onboard welcoming party for LaRagreet. Don't worry old friend we'll get him this time."

With that Hickorc threw some dollurs down on the bar and headed out of the saloon.

Scenario Objectives

The Raiders

It's freaky talking to that woman in the dress. But hey, who's complaining, she's managed to rustle up details of the next ungaurded train out of Red Rock. So far this association is working well. Looks even easier than the last job. This time you can send men some ahead and try to get on the train from the bridges. If only all jobs were this simple, get on the train, get the gold and get off. The itineray shows when to expect the bridges, pretty good information that, might've saved Carlos' life if you'd had that last time. Hehe. Stupid Dark Elf, should've looked up. Anyways looks like you've got a while before the river, the perfect place to jump off before the train heads into the mountains. A few more of these jobs and The General might even consider making you his second.

The Rescue Party

Damn that LaRegreet, four trains in a month, this has to stop. Ideally you could've got to his source but the loss of life on the last job he pulled has forced you into action. It's time to stop him once and for all. Luckily after a quiet word with the clerk tjhe rail company is more than willing for you to setup a surprise for the bandits on the train.

Scenario Forces

Both sides use the forces as detailed in the Frontear rulebook on page 99. The only exception is that in addition to thier normal weapons each bandit carries one dynamite boom stick.

Set Up and Scenario Length

Ideally for this scenario you should place a model to represent three carriages and a steam engine. The inside of the carriages should be accessible as miniatures can move inside them as well as on top. If you do not have a 28mm scale train to hand just draw out some floorplans. You will need to seperately draw the roof of the train for any brave soul trying to traverse the length of the train that way. There should be a small area at the end of each carriage, a ladder on each side going up to the roof and the roof itself should have 2 hatchways on allowing access to the inside of the carriage.

The 'Getting Onboard' rules below cover how the bandits get onto the train. The safe is in the third carriage along directly behind the engine. Hickorc and his posse can setup anywhere they want inside the train, the locations should be written down in scret before play and the miniatures only placed when discovered by the bandits.

The scenario lasts until one of the sides completes thier objectives or after fifteen turns when the train arrives at it's destination. Any bandits still on the train at this point are subdued and captured by the guards at the station.

Victory Conditions

The bandits win if they manage to get six bags of gold off the train and at least two surviving bandits (see 'Getting Off the Train' below). The defenders win if they prevent this from happening before the train arrives at it's destination (fifteen turns).

Special Rules

The Improbable Action Roll: This scenario makes alot of use of the Improbable Action roll from the original release of Flintloque. It's reprinted here for ease of play. This rule is intended to cover those jumps from bedroom windows onto horses waiting below, swinging from chandeliers, leaping chasms and in this case much much more.

For a character to perform an improbable action they must make a base percentile roll to succeed. If they fail, they automatically suffer one Wound.

Raw Character 10%
Average Character 20%
Experienced Character 30%
Veteran Character 40%
Legendary Character 50%

Sometime these percentages (and the penalties for failure) might be different, they are detailed in each individual rule below.

Getting Onboard: The bandits do not start the game on the train. They start on horses running alongside the train and have to jump onto the train. No miniatures need be placed to represent them (although they can be if you have them). To acheive the jump each character makes a standard improbable action roll. Success means they succesfully get onto the train, place the figure on the back of the train or on any ladder on the last carriage. A failure does not mean loosing a wound in this case, however, rolling a double (even a normal success) is a critical failure and the bandit falls off his horse and takes no further part in the scenario. Any riders who are not on the train at the end of turn two are also out of the game as the horses are too tired to keep up.

Reinforcements: Because of the detailed itinerary provided to the bandits they have prepared in advance and have backup on the bridges of the route ready to jump down and help their colleagues. On the turns that the train passes under a bridge (three, six and nine) the bandit player gets to roll for reinforcements, one for every character who did not make it or has been killed up to the original number of eight. They have stats exactly the same as the character they are replacing. To jump onto the train the character makes an improbable action roll modified by -10% as it's a very difficult jump. If they suceed they land succsfully, place the minature on the roof of the desired carriage. If they fail they stumble on landing, take 1 wound and have to roll on the 'Falling Off the Train' rules below. If a double is rolled it's a critical failure (even a normal success) and the character is killed in the fall and removed from play.

Moving on Top of a Moving Train: It's not that easy to walk along the top of a train. Any character can move at their prone speed with no penalty and no risk. Any other faster movement is made at a two negative shift penalty and they need to make an improbable action roll, if they pass they move as normal, if they fail they roll as per the 'Falling Off the train' rules below. A double represnts a critical failure and the character falls off the train and is killed. Characters on the roof of the train also suffer a -1 morale modifier for any morale rolls.

Jumping from One Carriage to Another: Once again an Improbable Action roll. Success means they carry on as normal. Failure means they fall down onto the platform below between the two carriages. A double is a critical failure and the character falls off the rain and is removed from play.

Melee on Top of the Train: Characters engaged in melee on top of the train roll as normal. If a pushed back result is achieved then they are pushed back but cannot be pushed off the train. If they suffer any wounds the attacker can choose to inflict no wounds and make them roll on the 'Falling Off the Train' rules below.

Falling Off the Train: If a character falls off the train because of any of the rules listed above then they have to make an improbable action roll to grab onto the edge of the train. If they suceed they manage to hang onto the edge of the train. If they fail they fall off the train and are removed from play. Any characters that do manage to hang on can either 'shimmy' along the train at thier prone speed, climb back up (which costs them thier whole move for a turn) or attempt an improbable action to swing into the train through a window. If they suceed in this they can place themselves inside the train up to 2cm from the window they break through. If they fail they take one wound but may try again next turn. If they roll a double it's a critical failure and they fall off the train. Characters 'hanging on' suffer a melee penalty as if attacked in the rear.

Splat: On turns three, six and nine the train is going through tunnels or under bridges. Any character on the roof of the train and not prone at the start of the turn is killed instantly.

The Safe: The safe can be blown open by any of the bandits. If it is within the blast area of a boom stick it is considered opened.

The Loot: The safe contains ten bags of gold. The bandits can carry one bag of gold each with no movement penalty. Each additional bag gives them a negative shift to movement. The penalties stack and can mean an individual has no movement, they need to drop some loot to move.

Getting Off the Train: On turns ten, twelve and fourteen the train is passing by a river. This is when the bandits need to jump off. There is no improbable action roll required for this, once they jump they are out of the game.

Scenario Notes

This scenario is an Orcs in the Webbe original and was first published here on the 11th February 2008.

The improbable action rules were written by Steve Blease and Mac Coxhead and were first printed in the original Flintloque rulebook in 1995.

After a re-read on the 23rd June 2009 I changed some of the text to get rid of some huge and glaring inconsistencies, notably; How did LaRegreet know when the train was if he was waiting for the information from Arianna ?; How could Hickorc and his men get to Red Rock to hide on the train if it was 7.40 the next day ?