Other SBG Battles

Maggot's Farm


This is my second documented attempt at this scenario, the first being here. (Over seven years ago?!? Where does the time go?)

Five Ruffians -- one with a barely-effective bow due to the recent rains -- try to cross the board and win if three or more exit the opposite side. Farmer Maggot's three dogs, and (eventually) Maggot himself, must prevent that to win themselves.

(Click on any image to see an enlargement.)


Setup & Turn 1

Setup Setup

It turns out my table is 42" long instead of the 48" called for by this scenario. So I just set up the Ruffians at the board edge and called it turn 2. The turn distinction is slightly important because the dogs can't move on turn 1. From here on out, they are moved by the player with priority until they come within 6" of a Ruffian or are shot at but not killed.



Turn 2

Turn 2

Turn 2

Evil Priority, 6-1

Evils starts with a dream Priority Roll, getting to move the hounds 6" out of the way. As the dogs move west, the Ruffians continue moving through the woods, slightly angling east to increase the distance between the forces.



Turn 3

Turn 3

Good Priority, 2-1

Good regains control of the dogs, but can only move them 2". The Ruffians are nearly at the edge of the woods. The bowman forgoes a shot, hoping to regain Priority and move the dogs back out of the way. (I forgot at the time that you can't take a full move and still shoot.)



Turn 4

Turn 4

Good Priority, 3-1.

The dogs continue to suspect there's something odd in the woods, but they cannot get far enough to be alerted.

The Ruffians clear the woods. The bowmen decides to take a shot at Grip, who is getting close enough to discover the bad guys next turn anyway. The arrow misses its mark, and Good is officially alerted.



Turn 5

Turn 5

Good Priority, 2-1.

Though the missile fire was ineffective, it turned out to be the right decision, as Good would have been alerted this turn anyway. The Ruffians charge towards the exit, while the dogs charge the Ruffians. With the dogs now able to move their full 8", Wolf and Fang finally get in the picture.

Good starts rolling for Farmer Maggot, who enters the game on a 5 or 6, but gets a 1.

(Clearly the photographer needs to work on his attention to depth of field.)



Turn 6

Turn 6

Good Priority, 6-1.

Maggot again fails to appear (dr = 1). Grip and Wolf each charge a Ruffian, while Fang gets as close as he can but can't actually get into contact.

The Ruffians take their courage checks and two beat the odds and join in the melees. Even outnumbered, Fang manages to take out a Ruffian, while the other combat is inconclusive.



Turn 7

Turn 7

Evil Priority, 5-4.

One Ruffian attacks Grip, while the other three fail their Courage checks and remain in place. Fang and Wolf join their packmate, but though they win the melee they fail to wound with dismal rolling (3,3,1).

Maggot's roll is 2 and so he's still offmap. Evidently he is confident that the hounds have things under control.



Turn 8

Turn 8

Good Priority, 4-4.

The dogs all charge the Ruffian that got away last turn. The bowman tries to help his compatriot but fails his Courage check. The other two Ruffians decide to run for it.

The dogs get their kill this turn, but there's still so sign of Farmer Maggot (dr 3)....



Turn 9

Turn 9

Evil Priority, 1-1.

The Ruffians decide that sticking together might be better, so the two men by the fence move back to their fellow. The dogs try another 3-1.

Farmer Maggot finally enters, but it's small consolation for the Good side, as despite the odds ratio, the Ruffian wins his combat and kills Fang!



Turn 10

Turn 10

Evil Priority, 5-2

Flush with confidence from killing Fang, the victorious Ruffian rushes Grip. Unfortunately, his mates fail their Courage checks and leave him on his own. Wolf goes to help Grip, but the Ruffian again wins, and again gets a kill against poor Grip.



Turn 11

Turn 11

Good Priority, 2-1.

Given the past reverses, Wolf decides to head for Farmer Maggot, who is now finally getting somewhat near the action. The Ruffians try to rush Wolf, but all three of them fail their Courage checks and stay in place!



Turn 12

Turn 12

Good Priority, 5-2.

Outnumbered, and given Farmer Maggot's limited (4") mobility, Good decides to guard the wall. The Ruffians decide that outrunning Maggot is the way to proceed and start running to the other side of the cabbage patch. The bowman dawdles long enough to try a shot at Wolf, but the odds are against him and the arrow doesn't come close.



Turn 13

Turn 13

Evil Priority, 3-1.

Evil continues to bolt to the west. With a mighty leap (and a dr = 6), Maggot leaps the fence and chases after the Ruffians. Wolf stumbles (dr = 1) but is prepped for next turn. The bowman carefully lines up his shot, and with a dr 1 lands an arrow into the wall behind Wolf.



Turn 14

Turn 14

Good Priority, 5-1.

Maggot and Wolf charge the bowman. Since the Ruffians need to exit three men to win, the whipmen try to return to help the beleaguered archer. One fails his Courage Check, but the other succeeds.

In the ensuing melee, Maggot's fearsome scythe takes out the bowman, but the Ruffian likewise kills Wolf. With only two men remaining, Evil cannot win, so it's a Good victory. An extremely Pyrrhic one to be sure, with only Maggot himself remaining on the table for Good.



Aftermath

I played out a few more turns to see what would happen, but despite Maggot's Might, 2 Wounds, and 2 Fate points, the two remaining Ruffians ended up taking him out. The -1 fight for his scythe really hurts his ability to win a fight, although when he does the +1 to Wound is quite nice, as was demonstrated in Turn 14.



Post-game Thoughts

Not the deepest scenario, but still pretty flavorful. I see little point in using the mandatory Courage Tests for losing 50% of your force in a scenario as small as this one, so I didn't bother.

I think the balance here really favors the Good side, and the in this particular instance the Ruffians were pretty lucky to knock off all of the dogs.