Dargrum Lorwill surveyed his ‘kingdom’, a gambling den hidden in a forgotten corner of an expansive warren. His ears brushed the ceiling. He’d never understand how rabbits and rats did it, living in such confined spaces. The early afternoon patrons were in, a subdued candlelit murmur and pennies moving around the tables the signs of their focus. Drinbel served drinks, a penny here and a penny there, nothing fancy, it wasn’t a fancy place. At least everything was peaceful at the moment, but when money and drink mix it rarely stays that way for long.

Gardallach slinked up beside him, even in heavy leather armour the fox was stealthy. “Some royalists, all spick’n’proper, wanderin’ nearby”, he hissed in a low tone. Dargrum looked him in the eye and raised an eyebrow. They were very different, but their attitude to the liveried lackeys was one thing they had in common. Dargrum nodded to Drinbel. She put away the drink and grabbed her bow in response. “Let’s go”, was all the command he needed to give, not that Gardallach did anything he didn’t want to.

The Game

So… our first game of Burrow & Badgers! We kept things simple, just playing the first scenario: Open Battle. For my secondary objectives I got Defend and Bring Down the Beast. John’s warband, Monty’s Marauders (secondaries: Showdown and Bring down the Beast), had strayed into the territory of the Twisted Claw Scoundrels (a name Dargrum chose mostly because it sounded a bit scary) seeking to bring royal influence were many would say it wasn’t welcome. Dargrum and co. manoeuvred into position to ambush the unwelcome intruders and that’s where we pick up the action… I’ll let the photos tell the story!

So, Monty’s Marauders were routed after Monty and Belle were taken out, a perfect roll on a d12 from Dargrum finishing off each! Drinbel, my rabbit archer, had been placed in ambush and shot a Bodkin arrow into Monty, but she was chased down by the brutish hound. Laurent Bervarric, my mouse swordsman (swordsmouse), went down to Belle after Monty had been felled.

The post-game bookkeeping went well, though we missed that taken out models get a Fortitude test (TN6) before rolling for permanent injury. John spent the night thinking Monty had died (he rolled a 2 on the d20) until he spotted my message in the morning. He rolled the 7 needed (on a d8) and thankfully his leader lived. Other notable occurrences were some profitable visits to gambling dens and other moneymaking activities. This left me with enough pennies to bring a squirrel mage into my warband. I’d better get painting! There were some injuries, nothing awful (though Drinbel is less nimble than she was before the rumble). Laurent will also have to sit out the next one! I did well on XP so several members of the warband will get upgrades.

What is a hound if not loyal; Sir Montague pondered as he lay on his billet? His body ached and blood seeped from between his bandages but he still drew breath and as long as he did so the Rogues would pay.

Sir Montague glanced across the floor towards young Eric, the squire smiled and while he claimed to be fine, the old Knight knew his wounds would never fully heal.

The ambush had troubled the veteran warrior. It was not like him to miss the signs and whatever about himself; for them to get the drop on Belle too was most unusual. He knew this would be bothering her and made a mental note to speak to her privately.

This was no mere band of highwaymen, they were organised, well trained and well equipped. Sir Montague ran his fingers along the wound where the bodkin arrow had struck him in the shoulder; the first sign of the ambush. Had it not been for his armour and constitution it could have been very different tale.

“What to do now?” he wondered. The old farmstead would serve as their base of operations, obviously they would need to make some improvements and renovations but they had already gotten the old blacksmiths furnace up and running. There will be mouths to feed, recruits to train, arms and armour to forge. His mind raced, the old hound had found his purpose once more, now he just had to wait for his body to catch up.

(written by John F.)

All told Burrows & Badgers seems to be great fun. I’m looking forward to playing it again.

Until next time,

Owen