Axe and Brimstone - Scenario 2 - The Caravan

Travelling merchants have been attacked by the Possessed.  Luckily Andrea Underoot was in the area, he was able to follow the trail of one of these ambushing parties leading some nearby Halfling villagers to counterattack the demonic dwarves.

Halflings:  Andrea Underoot (Q3+ C3, Bludgeon, Danger Sense, Dashing, Difficult Target, Forester, Hero, Long Move, Mounted), Hound Rider (Q3+ C3, Heavily Armored, Long Move, Mounted, Powerful Jaws), Chieftain (Q3+ C3, Block, Elven Plate Armor), Assassin (Q3+ C2, Backstab, Stealth, Twin Dagger Technique), two Archers (Q4+ C2, Good Shot, Short Bow), and two Militiamen (Q4+ C2, Block, Heavily Armored).

Possessed:  Possessed Champion (Q3+ C4, Combat Master, Demonic Armor, Short Move, Vorpal Sword), Hellglaive Assassin (Q3+ C2, Assassin, Backstab, Stealth), Hellcaster (Q3+ C2, Short Move, Spellcaster, Spell: Hellfire Ammunition, Hellfire Blast), Hellchain Fanatic (Q3+ C4, Ball-and-Chain, Opportunistic, Short Move, Steadfast), Screaming Face Axeman (Q3+ C4, Heavily Armored, Short Move, Vorpal Blade), Heavy Infantry (Q3+ C4, Heavily Armored, Short Move), Heavy Infantry with Paincarver (Q3+ C3, Heavily Armored, Paincarver, Short Move), and Hellfire Fusilier (Q3+ C2, Hellfire Arquebus, Short Move).

The Possessed have blocked the passage of travelling Halfling merchants.

But here comes Andrea Underoot and some Halfling villagers to thwart the evil dwarves.

Andrea Underoot dashes to the caravan's aid, trying to take down the Hellcaster.  The Hound Rider races ahead as well.  The Screaming Face Axeman has already claimed one of the Halfling merchants.

The Screaming Face Axeman drags the merchant Halfling away but is pursued by the Hound Rider.  The Possessed Champion has claimed another merchant as the Halfling Chieftain takes on the Paincarver.

The Halfling Assassin stealthily leaps upon the Hellfire Fusilier, but he shrugs off her lethal backstab.

The Possessed Champion is able to break away as the Screaming Face Axeman is momentarily knocked prone by the Hound Rider.  The Hellchain Fanatic has claimed his own merchant bounty.

Finally the remaining Halfling defenders have advanced, having cowered in the distance since they arrived.  But three Possessed have hostages and are nearing their escape.  Andrea Underoot finally slays the Hellcaster but the Possessed Heavy Infantry slows him down again.

The Possessed Champion escapes, while the Screaming Face Axeman and Hellchain Fanatic are not far behind.

The Screaming Face Axeman has fled but Andrea Underoot, with heroic effort, knocked aside the Heavy Infantry and caught up with the Hellchain Fanatic.

But the Heavy Infantry recovered and tackled Andrea Underoot, which freed the Hellchain Fanatic to escape.

The Hellcaster was the only casualty this game.  Rolled for survival and he is completely dead (guess the Possessed don't really need a magic-user anyways).  The Screaming Face Axeman, Possessed Champion, and Hellchain Fanatic have each claimed a Halfling merchant.  The Possessed gain one campaign advance, which I used to upgrade the Hellchain Fanatic to now a Veteran Hellchain Fanatic (he no longer has Short Move, yay!)

Scenario 2 went surprisingly quick.  Which is great, allows more time for future gaming.  The random table edge for the Halflings hurt them a bit as all the Possessed were on the opposite side of the caravan and away from the giant mushroom.  The giant fungus had the potential to adversely affect several of the Halflings as they ran by it to get to the Possessed, but I kept rolling really low.

As for the Possessed, I kept their strategy simple.  They needed only to slow down the Halflings enough to allow at least two of the demonic dwarves to drag away prisoners.  I used the rules from Scenario 1 on kidnapping civilians after making the merchant OOA.  You would think the short move dwarves would have a difficult time, but their Quality 3+ and gambling on three dice paid off, even if the best to hope for was two short moves.

Now the Possessed have a total of SEVEN Halfling sacrifices.