Showing posts with label Reign in Hell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reign in Hell. Show all posts

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Going Back to Hell for a Battle or Three

Wendigo Demon Leader eyes Andy's Venom Queen and Torture Master in our Reign in Hell game
We were intrigued enough after the first evening of trying out Reign in Hell skirmish miniatures game to take a return trip to Hell. This time, Keith and Mike S decided we'd do three 1-on-1 games rather than a big, six-player scrum. What's more, I would even get to play this time...woo-hoo (or insert some suitably demonic chuckle)!

    My Native American themed cabal with a Wendigo, Witch-shaman, Horned Serpent & Skinwalkers
I had actually come up with my own force. I downloaded the PDF of the rules from Wargame Vault for $10, and then sorted through the various painted and unpainted miniatures I had. I wanted to do a Native American demon and monster theme. I figured I could substitute in my Splintered Light Miniatures anthropomorphic animals as "Skin Walkers." My bears and wolverines are pretty hefty figures, and will match up well against standard 28mm figures. I also found a Jabberwocky figure among my unpainted lead that I could paint up as Uktena, the Horned Serpent of Native American Legend. 

    Andy's borrowed cabal (Lords of Hell faction) with a little of every demon type thrown in!
Probably one of my oldest unpainted castings I had in my lead drawer was a 28mm Djinni materializing in a swirl of smoke. The Void Demon -- the Devout, or second in command, of my "Empty" faction -- can teleport around the battlefield. In addition, I decided to FINALLY try out modifying a miniature with Green Stuff. With it, I made a flowing, deer skin cape and headdress. Atop it, I planted the head of a deer that I had cut off of a 25mm Iron Wind Metals deer. And finally, for my leader, I found a really creepy looking Wendigo figure on Thingiverse and had my friend Joe print it up for me. That would be my leader. 

    Hurriedly painted this week, my Wendigo 3D-printed leader and modified Djinni Witch-shaman
There was a slight panic when Keith and Mike suddenly decided to raise the point levels for our armies to 150 instead of 100, but I was able to simply add in more Splintered Light minis I already had painted. My force was from the "Empty" faction, which wants to destroy Hell. The leader would a "Zealot" class with Regenerating Soul as an Essence and Soul Drinker as a Relic. The essence I chose would allow him to regenerate damage when he activates, and the Soul Drinker did double damage on natural 6's rolled (plus healed a Life if I killed an enemy demon). The Shaman was my Void Demon Devout second in command. I would take one Greater Demon (another last-minute surprise to the force construction rules for the night), a Serpent Knight for Uktena. This demon would be a fearsome force in the game because it also caused two hits instead of one when I rolled a natural "6." The rest of my force would be six lesser demons. Four were the Splintered Light Miniatures bears as Armored Demons, while two were SLM Wolverines, who would be Corpulent Demons. I chose that not because they were obese looking figures, but because Wolverines are such bitter fighters and never give up.

    Andy's hit & run with a Mephit (flying demon) doesn't withdraw far enough to avoid counterattack
I would be playing against Andy S, and he was using a list that Keith had created. Keith LOVES to throw in the kitchen sink when designing a force. So, of Andy's nine figures, I think there was only one duplicate. I honestly think this handicapped Andy as it made it easier to forget some of the special abilities of the various Superior ("What?? We're using Superior Demons, too?"), Greater, and Lesser Demons -- not to mention his Leader and Devout. For example, Andy's leader was a Schemer type (you can choose Warrior, Zealot, or Schemer), but he completely forgot to use those special abilities for the first three turns or so. A schemer essentially lets you play around with the activation order and get in more activations or interrupt a player's turn, in essence. If I remember correctly, his Lords of Hell force included (besides his leader and devout) a Venom Queen (Superior demon), Torture Master (Greater), Slaughter Fiend, Armored Demon, Mephit, and Corpulent Demons.  

    In front, Allen ponders his first Reign in Hell game against Mike S, while Keith and Joel battle it out
We deployed our armies in opposite corners on my new battle board Jenny and I had created this week from really cool fabric we found at JoAnne's. My plan was to lead with my two Corpulent Demons (Skinwalker Wolverines), with a second line of my four Armored Demons (Skinwalker Bears). My three "big boys" would be in the third line as a strike force, swooping in for the coup de grace on injured demons, hopefully. The Serpent Knight ended up seeing the most fighting, followed by my Void Demon Shaman, and finally the Wendigo. Both Corpulent Demons and Armored Demons have excellent defense (or can take a lot of hits). So, I would absorb Andy's attacks with those six lesser demons and counterattack with my big boys. I didn't ask Andy what his strategy was, but honestly I think it was to simply to figure out his bewildering force! It is much simpler to figure out a strategy when you design your own cabal (as a warband is called). Unfortunately for Andy, his unfamiliarity with the troop types in his cabal meant the best he could manage was, "Go get 'em, boys!"

   Andy's Witch Hunter and Lord of the Pit are swarmed by a half dozen of my demons
Andy struck the first blow, having his fast-moving, winged demon (called a Mephit) do a hit and run attack. He retreated it back just inside a rocky area, hoping the terrain would prevent my troops from closing with it. Andy forgot that in Reign in Hell melee occurs when enemy figures are within 1/2" of each other. So, one of my Skinwalker Wolverines charged forward and wounded the Mephit. A Skinwalker Bear followed up and dispatched the Mephit, winning my cabal its first "soul dice." This is an interesting mechanic in Reign in Hell. Each time you destroy an enemy demon, you roll 1d6 and keep it to substitute for one of your (or your opponent's) later rolls. I rolled a "6", which I could then use later to substitute either for a failed saving roll, or for my Serpent Knight or Wendigo to cause x2 damage.

    The grand melee in the center between the ruins and rocky ground pulled in most of our demons
Andy moved his next demon up to attack, a Lesser Demon called a Slaughter Fiend. The Witch Hunter figure he was using for the fiend attacked my Wolverine (which is exactly who I wanted him to be attacking). Corpulent demons take 15 hits -- more than any other demon in the game, except for Warrior class Leaders (who also take 15). He also moved up his Devout, called a Lord of the Pit. On my turn, a half dozen of my demons swarmed the outnumbered pair, including my Witch Shaman, who teleported into the rocky area, Serpent Knight, Skinwalker Bears (Armored Demons), and two Wolverines. I was really happy with the Skadegamutc the Void Demon's Oblivion special ability, and used it to teleport into combat or out of combat when in danger. He finished off the Witch Hunter, and I rolled a "2" on the soul dice. I would use that later to reduce one of Andy's roll of a "6" to a "2". Knowing when to play the soul dice is an interesting tactical dimension I enjoyed in my first game of Reign in Hell.

    My greater demon and two lesser demons begin to wear down Andy's Lord of Hell leader
The enemy cabal kept coming, though. His leader, a Schemer Lord of Hell entered the Rocky area to attack my Shaman, who weathered the attack well, and promptly teleported away on my turn. A Skinwalker Bear and Uktena, the Serpent Knight showed no fear and rushed forward to attack the leader of the enemy cabal. On the opposite end of the battleground, Andy moved forward the two demons I feared the most in his cabal -- his Torture Master Greater Demon and Venom Queen Superior Demon. Each of them have very nasty special abilities. The Torture Demon can reduce your maximum Move, Combat, or Life stat by one for each hit that gets through. The Venom Queen has Burning Touch, which repeats the amount of successful attacks rolled when the enemy demon who suffered them activates next. Yikes! I immediately moved my Wendigo to that flank to assist the Skinwalker Bears that were holding that flank. The Witch Shaman teleported over to add his assistance, too.

Slowly, my three demons that were facing his leader gained the upper hand. When his leader was down to one hit remaining, he used his "Schemer" ability and withdrew from combat before I could finish him off. Andy's Torture Master and Venom Queen killed one of my bears. However, the score was soon four of Andy's demons slain to two of my cabal's gone. At this point, Andy conceded the game. Two of his lesser demons were still a way away from joining the melee, while all nine of mine were pouring hits into his. It wasn't all tactics, though. I think I was very fortunate on the initiative rolls, too. I would often get a string of three or more activations in a row, allowing me to move in with several figures and attack and finish off an enemy before he could react.

    The cover of Reign in Hell
I also think my tactic of blunting his attacks with my demons that could take the most damage worked, as well. There is definitely a lot of possibilities for tactical cooperation between the various types of demons in your cabal. My focused cabal -- four Armored Demons and two Corpulent Demons -- allowed me to manage the battle in my favor over the "kitchen sink" list that Andy was given. I also think I did well on my use of the soul dice. I noticed a couple of times Andy could have used them to his advantage, but did not. I think each die substitution I did paid solid dividends in either additional hits inflicted on him or in hits rolled by him reduced to misses.

I look forward to the next time we play Reign in Hell. Hopefully, we will drop back down to 100 points and try the campaign progression. This sees demons improve or get worse (possibly, if they are "killed" in the battle) as the campaign progresses. Your demons can increase their statistics, receive new relics or essences (special abilities), or gain new powers. It looks like we'll try one or two of the scenarios that are included in the book, too. Winning those can also give your cabal additional rewards. Should be fun and interesting, I think!


Sunday, August 29, 2021

Trying Out 'Reign in Hell' Skirmish Rules

    Keith's demons scurry across the temple streaming with lava in our playtest of Reign in Hell
Our Sunday night gaming group played a miniatures game! Stop the presses!! For the first time since we've been back from our Covid layoff, we actually sat down around a table on a Sunday night to play miniatures. We had planned on doing so a couple times before, but ended up doing board games instead. So, when Mike S wanted to playtest "Reign in Hell" -- a new set of skirmish miniatures rules he'd downloaded from Wargame Vault, I was ready!

    We had a good turnout for our first Sunday night miniatures game in a LONG time!
I had briefly read through them and even watched a couple play-throughs on YouTube to familiarize myself with the rules mechanics. Keith had also read the rules, and even purchased a printed copy of them. So, we had three people having a vague familiarity with the rules and three who they'd be brand new to that night. Keith, Andy, and Mike had brought along miniatures suitable for the game. Mike had created a half-dozen 100-point warbands, so we selected one and began to root through their figure boxes for appropriate miniatures to represent our demons and such.

    Jenny's fearsome Leader charges into the midst of Joel's warband
The idea behind Reign in Hell is that the netherworld is in chaos. Different factions are fighting for control of it -- some to bring back its "glory days"while others to destroy it entirely. Each player's force contains a Leader and his lieutenant (known as a Devout). With out 100 point armies, we would also have 5-6 lesser demons. Each faction also have a Philosophy. For example, the force I chose was "Empty" -- a group that wants to see Hell destroyed and all of the demons and such return to Earth. Shortly after I had chosen all of my miniatures, though, my phone rang. My 83-year-old dad had fallen and the aide at the house needed help getting him up. This was not the first time this had happened on a Sunday evening, but luckily it hadn't happened recently. Since I was hosting, Jenny was able to come downstairs and take over my faction and play.

    I had set up the terrain for the table, but Keith brought along this awesome, Hellish centerpiece
I returned just as the six factions were ready to close and trade blows. Mike had told me that he liked the looks of the rules because they looked quick and bloody. I agreed. The combat system essentially has players rolling a number of six-sided dice equal to their Combat Value. If their value is superior to the enemy's, they need a 2+ to score a hit. If equal, 3+. If lower, 4+ still scores a hit. So, there are going to be LOTS of hits. Saving rolls are made only with a "6" on 1d6. So, yeah. Bloody! There are modifiers, of course, but that is the basic system. Interestingly, there is NO missile fire that we'd seen, yet. It's all about bloody and brutal hand-to-hand combat.

    Keith's demons turn to face the arrival of Andy's force - not the his blue 12-sided dice for each fig
When you kills an enemy model, you receive a bonus "Soul dice." You can either use it in a subsequent turn, such as in a combat, or you can save it for the after-game campaign bonuses your warband may receive. That is what had drawn Mike to the game, as well. He liked the idea of an ongoing series of games where your faction's models get stronger, die, change, etc. It had been a long time since we'd done any type of campaign on or Sunday evenings. I think the last time was when we played Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago back in 2018. I think it ran less than 6 times, as I decided I wasn't really a fan of the Frostgrave Magic & Combat system.

    Balrogs, Gargoyles, Succubi were all scored from our collections to field warbands for the game
So, how did our Sunday night crew like Reign in Hell? They seemed to be having a good time. The Initiative/Activation system is interesting. You roll one 12-sided dice for each figure in your warband. First, all 12's move, then 11's, 10's, and so on. The problem with a six player game is that is a lot of circling the table, "Anybody have any 9's?" and so on. I suggested that instead of bouncing from player to player (Player A moves one 12, then B, then C, and so on), the player who is first (A) moves ALL of their 12's. Then B moves all of their 12's, and so on. Then simply rotate player A clockwise on the next turn. That would save a lot of time of going back and forth in a multiplayer game, I think. And as an observer and not player, it seemed to me there was a decent amount of time between one player finishing their move and figuring out who would go next.