Wizard Needs Food...Badly!

Warhammer Quest is a great game, with a shelf-life to rival even Hostess Twinkies. I bought it in 1995 and it was quite the bargain. One of Games Workshop's "big boxes" it included a huge array of stuff under the hood, see the mondo spread shown here. It is one of the few games I have played on a consistent basis for such a long time, going on twelve years now. This is just a preface really, but I can't stress enough how great this dungeon-crawl, Gauntlet-esque, tile-laying, pseudo-rpg boardgame really is. Anyway, we played last night...but no camera, arrrgh! I'll get some action pics next time, for serious!

We took two Elves, a Wood Elf Wardancer named Warhawk, and his High Elf cousin, the noble Ranger Mage named Sir Talon. Accompanying these otherworldly adventurers were two humans from Erengrad. A sword and flintlock wielding Witch Hunter by the name of Kloodge DeBlood and a Warrior Priest, Inquisitor Kane, devoted to Sigmar, hammer and holy book at the ready.

In the heroes' first adventure, a small village, a hamlet really, had been plagued by a man-eating beast from the wild forests near them. The heroes, eager to make a name for themselves volunteered their services, knowing that their pay would be little to nothing. Besides, there's plenty of treasure to be had in the dark recesses among the ruins of the Old World. Warhawk suspected a Minotaur was to blame, given the tracks he found in the area, and the villagers pleaded for the heroes to bring back the head of the beast. Into the dungeon the adventurers went.

The dungeon went fairly smooth, without any monsters giving our characters any serious threats. Giant Rats are always a concern, and this time they didn't disappoint, giving us a good thrashing. Our power phase rolls were pretty mild with a low number of natural 1's too, which is always a good thing. Without having a true wizard with us, we were forced to rely on the Priest's Ring of Jade, and the Ranger Mage's meager healing to give support when possible. Everyone was getting their sea legs and learning their characters, forgetting some stuff here and there, but nothing too bad. We found our way to the objective room, the Fighting Pit, and the chaos commenced. We were stuck on ledge, with archers and enemy warriors below, coming at us one at a time while the arrows flew. We did manage to roll a few 1's in the power phase too, ugh, always a problem when you're that close to being done. The heroes prevailed however, and happily deposited the head of the Minotaur in the middle of the village, politely declining any fanfare or celebration.

The post-game phase was thankfully painless, with us finding a medium sized town without encountering too many travel hazards. We had enough treasure and gold to see three out of four of the party members gain a level too, the Wardancer being the only one who didn't. Frankly, he could have, but he kept a couple of his magic items and bought some much needed extra equipment. In Warhammer Quest, you gain levels by basically buying them, new levels give you better stats, skills, spells, and the like.

The heroes left, feeling invigorated, and set forth for more adventure. Travelling through the Dwarf lands, they were invited to spend time at a Dwarf Stronghold ruled by a minor Lord. Over a night of drinking and a fine feast (by Dwarven standards) they were offered employment by this esteemed Dwarf lord to return a valuable artifact to a statue in a recently abandoned lair. The going would be dangerous, but bringing this revered piece of Dwarven heritage back to completion meant much. The Dwarf Lord, in his "generosity" said that he would only take half of all the treasure the heroes uncover along the way. Well, the Elves were less than cordial and suggested to the Dwarf lord a quite different place he could put his artifact, and that the Dwarves should do their own dirty work...if they could muster the strength for it. The humans of the party (also incensed, but more calm in their display of emotion) were able to stave off a fight right then and there in the banquet hall. The party was run out of the stronghold nonetheless at the request of both axe and hammer, in fact, they were run out of the entire province, quite enthusiastically actually.

Their pace to leave the Dwarf lands was not to the stout folk's liking, and a full on pursuit was in effect. It seemed the heroes had also forgotten to return the Dwarven relic as well. In their flight they came across the shattered entrance to an old Dwarven keep, the same one they were asked to venture into. They knew there was a chasm of fire in the bottom of this lair, and once across the rope bridge, they could sever the ropes and be free of the pursuers, more than likely for good. Into the ruins they went.

Upon entering the dungeon, the pursuing Dwarves, knowing what dangers were ahead, locked the iron portcullis behind the adventurers, sealing them within. There would be no backing out now, the only way the adventurers would be to find the exit would be through the fire chasm. They made their way quickly through the dungeon, taking note that there seemed to be more activity than usual, this was an active dungeon, for sure. It was no wonder the Dwarves had not been able to return the relic themselves. They came to the chasm of fire relatively quick, which was the good news. The bad news is it would prove to be their undoing. Horde after horde of monsters of all types swarmed the heroes, who were terribly bottle necked on the rickety rope bridge. First the lesser minions came, then, attracted by the sound of battle, the Minotaurs showed up. One by one, the heroes fell, first was Inquisitor Kane, whose healing prayers and hammer finally failed him. Next was the noble Sir Talon, his swords were a force of nature to rival his Wardancer cousin in this adventure, no small feat. It would be the crushing blows of a minotaur to lay him low. Warhawk and Kloodge had a sliver of a chance to avoid the same fate as their comrades, but it would take timing, skill, and most of all; luck. As Warhawk fell to enemy blades, DeBlood's fate looked sealed, but he had his magic-infused amulets, powder and shot for his pistol, and most of all, his faith. Kloodge exhausted all of these to do so, in his last chance for escape. He failed to cut the old, but surprisingly stout, ropes of the ancient bridge. DeBlood died where he stood, riddled by Orc arrows.