But last night we had a game called "Kill the Dragon". It was a team game with 5 players on one team and 2 players (both played by me) on the other. We tried to find a way for most of the players to be on the same team against one enemy. One of the big challenges was to get the balance right in terms of points and Order Markers. I think we did okay, but it probably still needs a little tweaking.
Here's the pregame story I read to other players before we began...
For centuries, Weston was known for the strength of its steel, due in large part to a deposit of uniquely strong iron discovered under the largest mountain in Weston, thereafter called the Iron Mountain. The mines of the Iron Mountain provided the raw materials for thousands of weapons, and it made the blacksmiths, the people, and the king of Weston incredibly rich.
That is…until he came….Ancalagon the Black.
He laid waste to fields, devoured flocks, and ravaged villages. Worst of all, the great and terrible black dragon took up residence in the mines of the Iron Mountain. Ancalagon’s acid spray line burned deep into the mine, collapsing tunnels and disintegrating miners.
An attempt was made immediately by the king to drive the dragon from the mines, but he was unprepared to face a dragon like Ancalagon. He barely escaped with his life. Most of his men did not.
A second attempt to retake the mines suffered the same fate and a third. Soon Ancalagon was joined by a mate, Braxas, a terrible and vicious dragon in her own right, and the two spawned many young black dragons, which made retaking the mines a virtual impossibility. The king of Weston conceded the mountain to Ancalagon, and the mines were lost.
Now, the stores of iron from the Iron Mountain’s mines are long depleted, and the harvests have been sparingly small for the last few years as fields have suffered frequent raids by the offspring of Braxas and Ancalagon. The economy of Weston has collapsed. There is no steel to sell and no food to eat.
But there is hope. A new king has come to the throne in Weston…Godric the Lionhearted, and he has decided to personally address the problem of the black dragons of the Iron Mountain.
Godric has gathered a contingent of knights, archers, and champions of the realm, including Sir Denrick, the giant hunter, and Sir Taylor, a reputed, if somewhat inexperienced, dragon slayer. He has also enlisted the assistance of the famed dragon hunter Pavel Halfdane from across the sea.
Together Godric, his knights, archers, and champions have climbed the pathways up the Iron Mountain to face the terrible foe. They have come to this place to kill the dragons, to reclaim and reopen the mines, and to free the land of Weston from the scourge of Ancalagon the Black and his clan. They face incredible odds, but Godric has the heart of a lion.
He will kill the dragon or die in the attempt.
The game was a lot of fun, and the six of us had a great time. I even made the lemonade black (in order to be intimidating). We had pizza, mac and cheese, watermelon, and butter beers. In the end, however, the last play looked like this:
Sir Godric the Lionhearted and the forces of Weston were successful as the last Black Drake fell to one of the Knights of Weston with Godric looking on.
Here are the temporary cards for Godric and Ancalagon:
Godric is the D&D figure, Cleric of St. Cuthbert. Ancalagon is the D&D Gargantuan Black Dragon.
Here's the Virtualscape version of the board:
As I said, it was a great game and a lot of fun. And I'm happy to be back on the blog.
Happy Heroscaping, everybody.
