Halloween Bash: Squabbling Over the Hound of Hell

    Keith's Mephits swarm around Cereberus, the 3-headed guardian of Hell, in our Halloween scenario

Since the next day was Halloween, I was able to convince the Sunday evening gamers to break out the Reign in Hell rules and our cabals that we had built last year. It had been many months since we'd played the rules and it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Our usual host was out of town, so Jenny and I hosted. Keith brought over a special, Halloween themed battle mat. There were only five of us that evening, so we decided to play "The Beast" scenario on a 36" square mat.

    My too slow Wendigo cabal advances on the first turn of the game

In "The Beast," all the players are trying to capture the hulking, namesake creature who begins at the center of the table. We represented the Beast with a three-headed model of Cereberus, the Greek guardian of Hell, appropriately enough. Players could either attack Hades' lapdog normally or they could attempt to subjugate him. To do so, the player must have an active demon within 3" of the Beast. They roll 6d6, and if they roll any 6's, they score ONE success. Once a player reaches 10 successes, they take over control of Cereberus. They may then roll one activation die for the Beast as if he were his own demon and activate him on the Initiative die he chooses.

    To our left, Allen's Demented cabal of Death Angel pass around terrain, seeking out its enemies

I was playing my standard Wendigo cabal with the addition of one Greater Demon, a Serpent Knight representing the Horned Serpent of Native American lore. I had asked the players to build 150 point cabals. They could purchase one Greater demon. The rest must be Lesser Demons (not counting the Leader and his Devout, which are technically free). So, besides Wendigo my leader and Skadegamutc, my teleporting shaman Devout, I fielded 3 Armored Demons (Bear Skinwalkers), 2 Corpulent Demons (Wolverine Skinwalkers), and 1 Mephit (Great Horned Owl).

    Mike S's Earthbound cabal features a Succubus which can take control of one of your demons

To my left was Allen, playing a Demented Cabal that I had created. His leader was Death Angel, his Devout was Bone Dragon, and he had a Torture Master as his Greater Demon. Otherwise, he fielded 2 Slaughter Fiends, 1 Tentacle Beast (Ent), and 3 Spined Demons (Terror Birds). Jenny was to his left with the cabal I had painted for her as a Christmas present this past December. Keith was next in the circle, fielding a very Mephit-heavy force. He wanted to see how the Demonic Air Force played out, and as we shall see, it was very effective in this particular scenario. His force was technically illegal, as he fielded 12 demons -- two above the maximum of 10. We shrugged it off as most were Mephits, which we knew from previous games, die easily.

    Cereberus lashes out at his Mephit tormentors, nearly dismembering one with a swipe of its paw

The final cabal was Mike S's Earthbound cabal. Its Devout is a Succubus, which has the ability to activate and move (and attack with) another player's demon if it is within 3". This would prove crucial ability on the final turns of the game. Well, that is until Wendigo bounded over and slew the Succubus! There's no gratitude in Hell, as both Mike and I knew he had actually done me a favor right before I killed his Devout! But I am getting ahead of myself - first, setting the scene.

    Jenny's massive leader roars towards the Beast, while its Spined & Slaughter demons follow

On Keith's first turn we realized his very clever plan for winning this scenario. He flew his horde of Mephits directly towards Cereberus. Each landed within 3" of the hulking, three-headed hound, and began rolling to subdue the Beast. Even though Keith was rolling under average, he was quickly racking up successes. Inside, I think all of us thought, "Uh-oh!" The Beast activates on Initiatives 12 and 6 (twice, as opposed to player-controlled demons, which activate only once). On 6, Cereberus pounced and rended one Mephit to within a point of death. That was actually a very bad roll. Reign in Hell is very bloody. You hit an enemy demon on 2+ if you have a greater Combat Value, 3+ if the same, and 4+ if the enemy's is greater. With 12 attack dice (13, actually, since he was charging), Cereberus should have scored 11 hits, on average. Saves are only on a "6" on 1d6. With Combat of 3, and thus only three saving rolls, the lucky Mephit should have been shredded!

    The cabals of Jenny and Allen close in on each other in the center

On Turn 2, Keith took advantage of the ability to Attack and then Move, and had all his Mephits rack up more successes while pulling them back out of the range of Cereberus. "Stick and Move," light horse tactics in Hell?? Either way, it was working out for Keith. Mike S saw the danger right away and ignored my cabal and quickly began hurling his demons at Keith's minions. They quickly began mixing it up, with Mike's Succubus sending Keith's Corpulent Demons towards Cereberus to be eaten and draw the Beast towards Keith's other minions.

    Jenny's demons keep pushing on the center, but Keith cleverly began pulling back, saving his cabal

I had split my cabal, with half moving to form a wall between my cabal and Mike S's (I never trust Mike in multiplayer games...ha, ha!). The other half moved to attack Allen's cabal. My shaman slew one of his Spined Demons with two attacks, then teleported back to the cover of rocky terrain. A wedge of one Bear Skinwalker, Wolverine Skinwalker, and the Horned Serpent moved up and ganged up on Allen's other Spined Demons. We eventually slew all three of his Terror Birds, but at the cost of being too far away to do anything to Cereberus. 

    A huge scrum develops in the center with demons from four cabals slashing away at each other

Meanwhile, Jenny and Allen were pushing towards the great, three-headed Beast. Jenny was racking up successes at controlling Hades hound, but Keith had built an insurmountable lead. As one, the four of us decided we needed to switch tactics to killing the creature, instead. The winner of the scenario is either the player who controls the Beast at the end or has slain it. Keith soon took control of Cereberus and showed us he had no plans to make it easy on us. He began pulling Cereberus back towards the far corner of the board. This meant all of our slower demons would have no chance at getting into the fight. Only our faster moving demons, or ones who were already nearby, had any chance at helping out in the onslaught on the Beast.

   Wendigo has misjudged the situation - his Skinwalkers and Horned serpent are out of position

Mike S started away at Cereberus, and we all began to help out. I had racked up several "Soul Dice," which you get when you slay an enemy demon. You roll 1d6 and can then use that dice's score once to substitute it for the number of either your combat roll or an opponent's. I began using my rolls to cancel out the sixes Keith would roll as saves for the Beast. Mike S began doing the same. At first, we felt there was no way we would get to the 40 wounds needed to kill the Beast. However, they slowly began to pile up.

    Every demon of Keith's enemies piles damage on Cereberus - but with 40 Life, its a long way to go

I moved my teleporting Shaman, my Horned Owl, and Wendigo as fast as they could go. They would be my only contribution to the fight (other than using soul dice against Keith). Mike S had the great idea to move his Succubus next to my shaman and order him to teleport and attack Cereberus. The hound was in the 30's on damage. We had only one turn remaining, though. It was an all-out attack on the Hound of Hell. I waited as long as I could to attack with Skadegamutc, because I didn't want to just soften the dog up for one of the others to cherry pick me. Finally, on my last Initiative Dice, I attacked with my Devout Shaman. I rolled a bit under average, but Keith would need to roll decently for Cereberus to survive. 

    Sideshow battles abound - here Death Angel & his Torture Master take on Jenny's Corpulent Demon

I missed killing the Beast by ONE POINT! Lucky dog!! A couple other players sent Mephits at Cereberus (they were the only ones that could move far enough to attack where Keith had retreated him to). However, Keith would have to whiff all his saves for them to have a chance, and he did not. The final turn ended with Cereberus having one point left. Keith's Demonic Air Force was victorious! Of course, we could have placed an asterik next to his victory since he began with 12 demons, but he earned the win. He quickly realized the advantages of his cabal in this scenario and executed his tactics perfectly.

    With more than 50 demons on the table, it was a riot of mayhem on the tabletop!

The game was a blast, and everyone had fun. We will definitely have to descend into Hell for more games again, soon...

    Despite my misjudgement, my shaman Skadegamutc came within 1 point of killing Cereberus on the last turn!

A Helluva Gift? Jenny's Demon Cabal

    Cobbled together from various sources, Jenny's cabal for Reign in Hell was painted as a present

My days of painting miniatures for other people are mostly over. Well, at least for payment they are! Doing it as a gift...now, that's something I'm inclined to do from time to time. A year or so ago, I painted a Viking warlord stand for Saga for Jim Beegan awhile back (in thanks for his support of Saga in at the Dragons Guildhall in Beavercreek, OH). And leading into this holiday season, I offered to paint Jenny's demons for her Reign in Hell cabal as part of her Christmas present. She quickly agreed before I changed my mind, so I got started right away hoping to finish them in time for her to unwrap!

    Jenny's Demon Lord (Goristro from WizKids) towards over the table at 5" tall

I painted them in four batches as there were 11 figures (the demon lord was HUGE, and easily the largest "miniature" I have ever painted). She gave me free reign (no pun intended) to paint them as I like, but I still ran my ideas past her to get her input. We agreed to go with a dark, reddish skin for her demons. It is kind of the classic demonic look, and would be easy to do with the colors I already had. The skin started out as a dark red craft paint, followed by a Howard Hues Middle Eastern Flesh dry brush. Finally, I did a brush-on highlight of salmon-colored craft paint for the last three batches. A final black wash gave it a nice, dark reddish look and using the same basic skin tone for all the miniatures really pulls the group together.

    I loved the cool wristbands on this figure - for his silver armbands I added in my own symbols

Jenny picked up most of the figures (Armored Demons, Slaughter Fiends, and Devout) from a vendor at CincyCon 2021 who was selling them almost as flea market items. They were already primed and based -- obviously figures he had never gotten around to finishing. She picked up the Spine Demon as a 3-D print from Game Junkie Studios, another vendor at CincyCon. Both the Demon Lord, Corpulent, and Mephit were bought off the shelf Dragons Guildhall and were resin printed miniatures, as well. Other than maybe the Devout and the Mephit, they looked like they all belonged together. It was my job as painter to tie them all together into a coherent looking group for her Judges themed cabal.

    The Demon Lord presents a horrifying visage, and I was really happy with how he turned out

The final figure I painted up was the Demon Lord -- or "Goristro" from WizKids' D&D Nolzur's Line. I know most of these resin miniatures claim to come pre-primed, but I don't necessarily trust that. So, I spray-painted him with arcylic black and then went over him with a 50/50 mixture of black paint and water to give complete coverage. His skin was done as above, with the spines done in a light yellow parchment color with white highlighting. His horns and hooves are done with a slightly dark base color. Although many of the other miniatures in the cabal were given tattoos, this figure has a hairy look to it, so I did not give him any. Instead, I decorated his silver armbands with a series of "demonic symbols" -- literally, that was my Google Image search that I used! I used a mix of metallics on him as I did with most of the other figures, as well. I thought the copper wristbands turned out particularly well, though I can take credit for the incising. That is part of the miniature itself.

 Not sure of the manufacturer, but these four Armored Demons were the first of the cabal I painted

The first batch I painted up was probably the most time-consuming. The four winged demons she planned to use as Armored Demons for her cabal had a LOT of detail. The armor pieces on the arms and waist were very intricate and time-consuming. I started out with the flesh, of course. They were my "test batch," so to speak, and I ended up being very happy with the dark red look. Next, I did the very-involved armor. I painted all of it with a base coast of Iron Wind Metals Steel. This is a dark, almost black metallic color. Jenny was hoping my painting would help her to be able to tell the four miniatures apart. In Reign in Hell, demons can improve their stats from game to game (or get worse). So, I gave each a different metallic color -- copper, gold, silver, etc. The next step was the extensive bone and claw parts of the miniatures. This was done, as mentioned above, in a craft parchment light yellow with white highlight. Finally, I painted the sash around the waist in different colors, each decorated with symbols or other decorations. I should probably have taken a close up of one, but didn't think about it until writing this post.

    My guess is these two minis are "savage orcs," and will be Slaughter Fiends in Jenny's cabal

The second batch was the quickest to paint up. These were two of Jenny's "flea market" purchases at Cincycon. I believe they are "Savage Orcs" to use Warhammer categorization. There was significantly less detail on these minis than the Armored Demons. The horned spines coming out of the head of one of them meant they fit in well with the rest of the cabal's look. I used my Micron pen to give them tattoos after the skin was finished. Their claw weapons I painted as bronze rather than bone to fit in with the cabal's metallic theme, too. The photo of them also gives a good look at how I did their bases. I added a large piece of coarse ballast as a big rock, then covered the rest of the base in fine ballast. I went over this with my 50/50 black paint and water. Next, I dry brushed the surface Medium Gray, washed the big rocks, and then added in lava streams. These were just painted on -- first in dark red, then bright orange, finally with dots of bright yellow. The tufts are "Fantasy Pink Foliage" I'd picked up on a whim in a store awhile back. I thought their reddish look would go good with the lava and Hell theme.

    Jenny's 2nd-in-command Devout and winged Mephit - which probably look the least like the others

I quizzed Jenny a couple times to make sure she really wanted to use the figure she choose for her Devout, or 2nd-in-command. It was obviously a fantasy dwarf to me, brandishing two oversized double-bladed axes. She said the Judges cabal has an "Executioner" for its Devout, and she felt he'd be perfect. I was pulling for the figure that ended up being the Spine Demon, but it was her army! I decided to jazz him up a bit, though. I'd picked up an occult looking altar from Guardtower East at our monthly Saga game day the weekend before. I felt he'd look great standing atop the altar in the center of the pentagram. I did have to use wire cutters to snip him off of his slotta base (stupidly done AFTER I had painted him - thankfully, very little damage was done to my painting in the separation). I think he turned out great, as did the winged Mephit. Her equipment somewhat matched the other demons, and I gave her the same copper and steel metallic scheme. I was worried the green of her shirt might be too bright, but in the long run I think it turned out well. She had lots of detail, too, and was also very time-consuming. 

    Both of these 3-D prints are cool miniatures, but I enjoyed painting the Spined Demon on left more

The final two figures of her cabal are both 3-D prints. One was easy and fun to paint and the other not nearly as much. Which was which? The three-armed Spine Demon looks like a younger brother of the Demon Lord. That was part of the reason I wanted him to be the 2nd-in-command. Jenny found him at CincyCon 2021, too, at a small vendor's booth called Game Junkie Studios (Gamejunkiestudios@gmail.com). Maybe I preferred painting him because it was quick and simple? I gave him tattoos with my Micron pen, as well. He looks truly demonic. The other print was one Jenny plans to use as a Corpulent Demon. Sometimes, it was hard to tell what was what on this figure. What was skin? What was clothes? What were those things over its eyes?? I used faded colors -- beige, gray-green, and gray-blue -- for its clothes. With the skin coloring, I tried my best to tie him to his cabal-mates as much as I could, but he truly is a bizarre, different figure. Jenny liked how it came out, so I guess he was a success!

    Merry Christmas! Don't these guys look like they want to wish you good cheer and happy holidays?

All in all, both Jenny and I were happy with how her cabal turned out. Was it done in time for Christmas? Welll, yes and no. The only thing left to finish off by Christmas morning was the flocking on the demon lord. So, she could see her presents pretty much finished. And they are ready for the next time we play Reign in Hell!

Introducing the Wendigo Cabal (and Reign in Hell terrain)

 

    My Wendigo Cabal, with minis from a variety of sources, showing my front line & 'linebackers'

Although I have posted a few times on here about our games using the Reign in Hell skirmish miniatures rules, I have yet to do a dedicated post featuring my warband, or "cabal" as they are called under these rules. As you may remember, I decided to do a force with a Native American mythological theme. All of the creatures (or demons) are from the stories and tales of various tribes. For example, their name comes from their leader, a Wendigo, which comes from the Ojibwe word for the malevolent, flesh-eating creature roaming the forests. I have to admit that part of the reason I chose this theme was because I could use my already-painted Splintered Light Miniatures anthropomorphic animals as "Skinwalkers." The fewer new figures I have to paint up, the faster I can get my own force onto the tabletop. So, here is my introduction to my Cabal!

    My cabal leader, a Wendigo, from Native American mythology is a 3D print from Thingiverse

First up, is the leader himself - the Wendigo. This figure is huge and imposing, which is what I wanted my "demon lord" to be. It is a 3D print available on Thingverse. My friend Joe printed it up for me. I really like the pose -- especially the gaunt and almost skeletal aspect of the body. I painted its skin up suitably corpse-like, a pasty pale flesh covered in dark tattoos. His black, dead eyes and purple tongue give him a lurid, evil look. Of course, the bleeding hunk of raw flesh he is carrying doesn't hurt his terrifying aspect. In game terms, I use him as a Zealot leader of the Empty faction. Empty cabals are attempting to destroy Hell and return to Earth. I figured that made sense for Native American spirits trapped in the West's view of the spirit world. I tend to use him as a "linebacker" in the game -- rushing in to finish off enemy demons that have been engaged and wounded by his minions.

    My Devout (2nd in command) is a modified djinni I never painted from my old role-playing days

The leader's second in command in the game is called a Devout. I chose to portray mine as a Skadegamutc, which comes from Wabanaki legend. It is the spirit of a dead magician that refuses to stay dead and comes out at night to slay and feed upon the living. For this figure, I dug deep into my unpainted lead drawer and found an old, old Djinni. I modified him by putting deer antlers on his head and using green stuff to create the pelt of the deer on his shoulders and back. The deer head came from an Iron Wind Metals deer. I was really pleased with how the green stuff worked out -- my first time using it! I covered his skin in tattoos and gave him copper jewelry. In game terms, he's my assassin. I use his teleporting ability to have him materialize next to a wounded enemy demon and finish it off. I am sure he's killed more enemy figures in my games of Reign in Hell than most of the other demons combined.

    Skinwalker Bears from Splintered Light Miniatures' anthropomorphic animals form my battle line

My battle line of the Wendigo Cabal begins with my three Skinwalker bears. Skinwalkers are from Navajo legend and are witches who can assume the bodies of animals and walk around in them. There's a line from a Robert Mirabal song that says something to the effect that they appear as coyotes, wolves, etc., but walk around upright like men. That's a perfect description of the Splintered Light Miniatures line. I have painted  up quite a few figures from these lines but they seem to get little use nowadays. So, I jumped at the chance to use them in this game. In game terms, my Skinwalker Bears are Armored Demons. They have great defensive abilities, plus can absorb a lot of damage. Together with the Wolverines below, they are supposed to engage the enemy demons, stop their attacks, inflict some damage, and then let the Wendigo or Skadegamutc finish the enemies off.

    My Wolverine Skinwalkers from Splintered Light Miniatures masquerading as Corpulent Demons

I use my Wolverine Skinwalkers as Corpulent Demons in rules terms. Not that these wolverines are fat, but rather their ferocity and "never-say-die" attitude fits well with their very high Life stat. Corpulent demons can not only take a lot of damage, they regenerate some back every time they activate. I think that fits with the fiery animal's demeanor. And yes, I realize that if Skinwalkers are Navajo spirits, that wolverines don't live in the desert southwest. But hey! They were the next biggest Splintered Light miniatures I had. All of the raccoons, coyotes, etc., were significantly smaller than standard 28mm miniatures. 

    Great Horned Owl skinwalker, a prepainted figure from Hobby Lobby

I went back and forth what to use as a Mephit for my Native American cabal. These are the weakest of the Lesser Demons, and usually are limited to hit and run attacks using their speed and flying ability. They don't hit very hard and can't take much damage. Their best use is to move quickly to seize objectives in scenarios, or to pick off those badly wounded demons with only one or two Life left. My first thought was to use the Kanontsistóntie from Iroquois legends. These are flying heads, ravenous spirit creatures with insatiable hunger. There is an awesome miniature created by Flint and Feather of one of these, but I didn't want to pay the steep price. One of the Kanontsistóntie is in a box of four mythical creates for $49. Then I thought about creating my own, but couldn't find a head that I liked. So, I ended up going to the Skinwalker route and purchased a prepainted Great Horned Owl from Hobby Lobby. It is a bit larger than I wanted it to be (and a bit more expensive), but solved my problems quickly. I based it up on a stone outcropping and was done!

    Uktena, the Horned Serpent of Cherokee legends will make an appearance in my Wendigo cabal

Next up to see the table is Uktena, the great horned serpent of Cherokee legend. It is described as dragon like, which meant that his Jabberwocky miniature that has sat unpainted in my collection for years would be a reasonably good fit. I gave him green scales and then did a dark wash on him to make the scales stand out even more. I will be using Uktena as a Spined Demon if I play him as a Lesser Demon, or a Serpent Knight if I use him as a Greater Demon. He will become linebacker #3 to rush in and take advantage of the chaos created by the skinwalker bears and wolverines. A Spined Demon has an effective charge, so hopefully he will be able to finish off demons wounded by my Armored and Corpulent Demons.

I also have another of the Hobby Lobby prepainteds to use eventually, a giant Sasquatch miniature. I will hold off, though, until the Wendigo Cabal has enough experience that I can buy either a Greater or Superior Demon for him. The figure is too big to be a lesser demon, though I did buy a Yeti miniature at the Guardtower East during our last Saga Game Day. Maybe he'll make an appearance as the one remaining Lesser Demon I haven't fielded, a Slaughter Fiend. Who knows? 

    Six underworld-style terrain pieces for use with Reign in Hell games, each measuring 3"-4" across

I also decided to make up some quick terrain for Reign in Hell because my Saga pieces are too much bigger than the suggested size, in my opinion. They recommend 3-4" across, while most of mine are a minimum of 6". I cut up some styrene into irregular shapes of that size. I then glued down some of the plaster cavern pieces that my friend Tim P had cast up for me 2-3 years back. I thought they looked perfect for underworld type terrain, and glued a couple to each base. I added it some larger tallus stones, and then slopped on a 50/50 mix of brown paint and white glue. I poured fine brown ballast from Woodland Scenics across it. 

    One of the lava streams spilling from the pool at the base of the cavern piece

I decided that I wanted to have glowing streams or pools of lava on the bases. I thought they would add the perfect accent to the terrain pieces and make them even more Hellish. To create the lava streams, I used a thick craft knife to scrape away the glued-down ballast down to the surface of the styrene, in the shape of a winding stream or pool. A couple of the cavern pieces seemed to have pools at their bottom, so I would carve a stream spilling forth from those, too. 

    Red reflections cast by the glowing lava onto the rock faces were my final touch on these pieces

Next, I spray painted each base with Krylon Black matte paint. I let it dry again, then followed up by coating the cavern pieces and tallus with a 50/50 mix of black paint and water. This made sure they were a solid black. The next step was dry brushing. I first dry brushed the cavern pieces a dark gray and then again with lighter gray highlights. I did the lava with a dull red base, followed by a dull orange, then bright orange with yellow spots. I really like the way it came out and especially how it contrasts with the dark gray and black rocks. As a final touch, I painted a dull red reflection on the rocks near the lava. For as little effort as they took, I think they turned out really nice!

Hell of a Squabble Over Relics

    My Wendigo leader, backed by skinwalker bears and wolverines, battles the leader of an enemy cabal

Much to my surprise, our regular Reign in Hell players decided to count our last game as "Game 1" of the campaign. So, we began our evening working our way through the effects of the last battle, "Two Kings of the Hill." First off, all demons who died had to roll on the Soul Loss table. This could end up having a negative, positive, or no effect. Then they roll once on the "Reward Table" -- and a second time if they won the scenario. My Wendigo Cabal won our 4-player half of King of the Hill, and picked up a Lucky Charm relic. I gave this to my Skadegamutc Devout, since I use him so aggressively in combat. This would enable him to reroll any one die in all combats.

    The leader of Mike S's cabal and two of his lesser demons swarm Jenny's Devout

I hadn't lost any demons, so all received 2 experience points, except my Wendigo leader who received a third one for leading the cabal to victory. One or two players were starting anew, but most of the eight players went through the steps of rolling for their outcomes. We had decided earlier to skip the "Titles" aspect of the campaign, as it seemed to laborious to track. Now that I have looked at it closer, I am also going to propose that we skip "Expeditions" in between turns. At least for now. Once everyone was ready and their cabals had received whatever benefits their rolls garnered them, we began deploying for Game Two of the campaign.

    The cabals advancing towards the relics at the end of Turn 1

I suggested Relic Hunters for this campaign. It seemed relatively balanced and should involve us getting mixed up in combat quickly. We also decided to use one of the optional rules from the first issue of the Demonomicon, Snarling Badger Studios' blog. Instead of using 6" deployment areas in the corner, it suggests enlarging them to 9". We did find this meant we couldn't place the relics the mandatory 6" away from deployment areas, board edges, and other relics. I think we shrunk that down to 5" and each player was able to legally place a relic.

    On the other table, Andy's Dryad Leader proves that SOMEBODY cares about the trees!

Directly across the table was Jenny T with her Judges Philosophy cabal that she had borrowed from Keith. To my right was Allen S, who was also playing The Empty -- the same philosophy as my Wendigo Native American themed Cabal. Diagonally across was Mike S, who was playing Earth-Bound. Mike and Jenny were the first to seize a relic, snatching them up with a speedy flying Mephit lesser demon. On my turn 1, I perhaps unwisely split my forces. I sent two of my Skinwalker Bears (Armored Demons) towards the relic between Jenny and I. They were supported by the Skadegamutc shaman (Void Demon, my devout second-in-command) who teleported into the rough terrain towards the center of the table in our quarter. The rest of my force, two Wolverine Skinwalkers (Corpulent Demons), the remaining Skinwalker Bear, and my Wendigo leader began lumbering towards the relic between Allen and I. 

    End of Turn 2 - my cabal has seized two relics, but the other players are trying to wrest them away

I rolled really good initiative on turn 2. In Reign in Hell, players roll 1d12 per demon in their cabal at the start of the turn. In an interesting mechanic, all 12's move first, then all 11's, and so on. Players choose which demon to move when their turn comes up. A demon cannot move on two dice, but is limited to using one. So, once you move them, they're done for the turn. My good rolls allowed me to seize both of the relics I was advancing towards. Jenny's disgruntled sound made me realize that I'd have to fight for it, though. About 2/3's of Allen's troops were marching towards me, so I knew this would not be a repeat of King of the Hill, when I really had to face only one other player, Allen. I'd whomped on his pretty good, so I imagined he was going to be up for revenge this game. That's the way Allen rolls!

    Splitting my cabal proves perilous, as Jenny's Leader & Slaughter Fiend attack two skinwalker bears

My Wendigo leader must have succumbed to hubris, as fighting two other cabals wasn't enough. My Skadegamutc shaman teleported into contact with Mike's Mephit (who had been advancing towards one of the relics I seized). Mephits can take only 7 hits, so I knew my shaman had a decent chance of killing it outright in one attack. We succeeded, and rolled a lousy "3" for our Soul dice. In my opinion, you want to roll a 1 or a 6 on that 1d6, because you can utilize Soul Dice to substitute for either your rolls or your opponents. You need natural 6's to save against hits, so those are very useful. Ones are great to substitute for your opponent's to-hit rolls. Still, killing one enemy demon early in turn 2 was a great start.

    End of Turn 3 and Wendigo cabal is best on both flanks by Allen and Jenny's cabals

Wendigo Cabal was able to follow up its success on Turn 3. First, my three lesser demons accompany my leader ganged up on and killed one of his Slaughter Fiends. Then, when Allen's leader waded into the fray, I brought Wendigo in to hopefully kill him off with one lucky roll. I would be rolling 10 dice, hitting on 2+, AND getting double hits on natural 6's. It was not to be, though. We badly wounded his Leader, causing him to take advantage of the "One With Nothing" immediately on the following turn and disappear from the board (reappearing on the subsequent turn). Allen struck back, bringing in his own Void Demon to kill off one of my lesser demons. My shaman gave him a taste of his own medicine, though, and teleported in and wounded him grievously. A follow-up by a Skinwalker Bear killed off his demon...well, kind of. Void Demons have a great special ability that allows them to reappear after being slain, albeit in a wounded state with only 5 Life left. That was TWO of Allen's demons we had in our grasp only to have slip away by his clever use of the Empty's special abilities!

    My armored demon Grisly doesn't give up, chasing down Jenny's leader & seeking revenge

Meanwhile, Jenny was making due on her unspoken threats. My two Skinwalker bears planned on making a dash back to the terrain with the relic. However, her Leader and a Slaughter Fiend jumped on them before they could make good on their escape. One bear went down, and the one with the relic was able to limp into the terrain. The next turn, Jenny's leader chased it down and finished it off. I was rolling terrible on my saves (armored demons have a high Life and good saves, but mine were beginning to die in droves. The skinwalkers' support of the Skadegamutc had departed to assist against Allen, so I had lost all my forces on that flank.

    The battle rages as Skadegamutc shaman, Wendigo, and skinwalkers attack Allen's cabal

My next turn, I believe my highest 12-sided die roll was a "6". Things looked bleak for the Wendigo Cabal, which had previously won both of this battles. Allen redeployed all the forces facing Mike S, and my demons were being ground down between two enemy forces. My wolverine skinwalker who had the relic tried to withdraw towards my corner, but was too slow. Allen was able to chase him down and kill him when both his weakened leader and void demon reappeared. One subtle mechanic of Reign in Hell is that when a demon is slain, the player losing the demon must discard an unused initiative d12. That usually means you have one demon who is unable to move (and thus strike back). If you lose two in a turn, you have two who are unable to fight back. I was on the losing end of this ebb and flow as my Initiative die rolls were low, and both Allen and Jenny were killing off my demons, meaning I could do little in reply.

    Jenny made it an early goal to kill Mike S's devout, a Succubus which can take over enemy demons

My only measure of revenge at the end of the game was Skadegamutc was able to slay Jenny's devout and take back the relic my bears had seized. My Wendigo died, though, before he could utilize "One with Nothing" himself. I had set up my Wendigo to be tough to kill. He has the Essence Regenerating Soul, which heals 1 Life upon activation. He also carries the Soul Drinker relic, which also heals 1 Life if he slays an enemy demon. However, I seem to have gotten very little use out of either of these abilities in my three games with the cabal. I am considering giving Skadegamutc the Soul Drinker, and giving Wendigo the Lucky Charm. I use my shaman in a much more aggressive role. Even though he can't roll as many combat dice as the leader (meaning fewer natural 6's), he tends to attack every turn, unlike Wendigo.

 

    If you enjoy Reign in Hell, check out the optional rules in Snarling Badgers blog, Demonomicon

We ended the Turn 5 with each of us in possession of 1 relic, so there was no game winner. I had lost way more models than the others, but my bad luck turned to good luck when I rolled on the Soul Loss for my slain demons. Two of my Bears rolled "Twisted", which allows the player to reduce either Move, Life, or Combat by one and add one to one of the other three. I chose to lose Life (Armored Demons begin with 13, and I feel 12 is still pretty good) to lose it from and Combat to gain it. One of my Wolverines rolled Chaos Power for Soul Loss, which I used to increase their Combat by one also. All of the other slain demons, including my Wendigo, rolled "no effect" for their Soul Loss. I did flub my Reward roll and score a "no reward found"...so not ALL my post-battle rolls were killer!

Finally, we totaled up our Soul Dice we didn't use for rerolls on the Soul Loss table or during the game. Those become "souls" which we can use to buy new demons. I think that I will buy a Spined Demon as Uktena, the horned serpent of Native American legend. I'll also buy a Mephit as (good luck pronouncing THIS name) Kanontsistontie -- giant, floating heads of powerful village elders returning from the spirit world. I know that Flint & Feather makes an awesome miniature for that as part of its boxed set, but I am currently balking at the price on that one. Who knows? Maybe I'll scratch-build or find something at the convention I am attending this weekend. 

    I'd love to buy these minis, but Flint & Feather figs are NOT cheap...

 

Which makes a great segue! Next update will be my report from Cincycon 2021...

Two Kings of the Hill in our 3rd Reign in Hell Game

    The Wendigo Cabal stalks Allen's faction of demons in our third game of Reign in Hell

We had eight players show up for our third Reign in Hell evening a few weeks back. Rather than do one-on-one games like last time, we thought we'd try two 4-player matchups. The simplest of the scenarios in the rule book seemed to be "King of the Hill." It is exactly what it sounds like. You want as many of your demons on the 6"x6" hill, with the player having the most on it winning the scenario. 

 

    The mayhem on the neighboring board where the other four players were battling it out

Keith rolled out a nice, new battle map that we split in half with terrain and then set up for the games. Each of the tables had a big scenic piece in the center for the "hill," and then I plopped down smaller pieces in the center of each of the four edges of the battlefield. Each cabal deployed in a corner of the battlefield, so that gave a little bit of cover between each (besides making the battlefield look more interesting). Terrain is not a big part of Reign in Hell games, but it does give some ability to utilize the terrain to your advantage. We all agreed that the "hill" or center terrain piece would not slow down movement. Reign in Hell is all about engaging in melee with your opponent, so we felt a hill that slowed movement would not be in the spirit of the rules.

3 lines of demons from right - 2 Wolverine Skinwalkers, Bear Skinwalkers, Devout shaman & Wendigo

I brought my Wendigo-led cabal that I played in our last game. I'd convinced the guys to go back down to 100 points with no Greater or Superior demons. So, my list included:

• Wendigo (Leader), Zealot with an Essence of Regenerating Soul (which I have yet to use in a game), and Relic of Soul Drinker, which has come in quite handy. Natural 6's causes two damage instead of one is always useful when trying to finish off a damaged enemy demon.
• Skadegamutc (Devout) - he's the "hammer" of my force. I like to teleport him into contact with an enemy who's vulnerable -- damaged already by one of my lesser demons or weak like a Mephit.
• 3 Armored Demons - my Splintered Light Miniatures bear Skinwalkers
• 2 Corpulent Demons - my Splintered Light Miniatures wolverine Skinwalkers

    Two Armored Demons & my Cabal Leader gang up on one of Allen's demons -- our first victim!

My table had Mike W in the opposite corner, Andy with his Dryad cabal to my right, and Allen with another "Empty" faction like mine to my left. My plan was to advance my slow-moving cabal (both my armored and corpulent demons move only 4") cautiously forward. The wolverines with their 15 life and regeneration are the tip of my spear, as they are VERY survivable. Supporting each are a pair of armored demons, who with one automatic save each turn and 13 Life are almost as survivable, but better in hand-to-hand. Sheltering inside the wedge of the first and second line are my Wendigo leader and Skadegamutc devout. 

    Other opponents Andy and Mike W mix it up immediately with demons massed in close combat

Typically, I move steadily forward (some might say "waddle") until an enemy comes with in range. Then, one wolverine and one bear will charge the enemy. Next, my Skadegamutc will teleport behind the target and that is usually enough to kill the enemy. If another enemy comes within range, another group will charge in and the Wendigo will swoop in on them. The Wendigo is a great third strike, too, with the natural 6's resulting in double hits.

    Start of turn 3 just before the melees began, with all four cabals edging towards the hill in the center

By turn 3, my cabal has usually have killed a couple enemy lesser demons. Our excellent defensive abilities mean I have lost no figures, which was true in this four player mixup, as well. I also went out of my way to NOT antagonize Andy and concentrate instead on Allen's cabal instead. I will tend to have 2-3 Soul Dice by this point, as well. I've found a good tactic is to use any 6's I've rolled for the Wendigo's attacks, and use low numbers rolled on Soul Dice to substitute out my enemy's good hits (especially if they have any extra hits on natural 6's). I always try to keep a couple Soul Dice left over for the campaign section of the game, even though technically we haven't started our campaign yet.

    The towering leader of Andy's Dryad Demons wades into the combat against Mike W's cabal

In our 4-player game, Mike and Andy hammered each other mercilessly. This left me free to focus my attacks on Allen. Luckily for me, Mike and Allen also engaged each other where their flanks joined. This meant my opponents were steadily losing troops while the Wendigo cabal had yet to lose a figure. I kept moving my demons forward, too, wanting to make sure they were all within range of moving onto the hill in the center by the end of the five turns. 

 

    The battlefield looks very different at the end of Turn 3! Demons are being slain left & right!

My Wendigo cabal killed at least five of Allen's demons, while Andy and Mike had whittled each other's numbers down. So, it was a no-brainer that my 7 surviving demons were the winners on having the most on the hill. I know that I probably have spent a lot more time than the other players thinking of tactics to use that compliment my choice of demons and their special abilities. Eventually, the other players will get their head wrapped around their cabal choices (for example, both Mike and Allen were using cabals created by either Keith or Mike S). 

    Skadegamutc, my Devout, and a Wolverine Skinwalker (Corpulent) team up against Allen's Devout

By the end of the game, I still had all seven of my demons surviving. All were on the hill, too. We also finished with five Soul Dice at the end of the game. One of my wolverines was badly injured, having taken 13 of his 15 hits (but regenerated four of them back!). One of the bears had taken 9 hits of his 13, but otherwise the Wendigo Cabal was in good shape at the end of the game.

    Some of Allen's demons have engaged Mike W's as well, as the forces close in on the hill on Turn 4

We were planning on this game to start our campaign, but when we looked at the campaign rules again, we were a bit overwhelmed by the "Titles" section. With 12 things to keep track of for each of your demons in the Titles section alone (how many enemy demons killed, devouts or leaders slain, times in a row killed, etc.), we may hold off on starting it. I am leaning towards trying to talk the other players into not bothering with the Titles and just use Experience, Awards, and Soul Loss steps and skip the fourth one. 

    At the end of Turn 4, all of the Wendigo Cabal is on the hill or within movement of it

Either way, I am looking forward to the next game. We are planning on next Sunday being our four go at the Reign in Hell rules. Hopefully, it will also be the start of our campaign. Stay tuned for more details!

    All four cabals try to claim the hill at the end of the game, but my seven outnumber them