The King of The Braunstein 2024

Introduction

On 5/26/24 I refereed my first ever Battle Braunstein. It was held on the same day as the WWE King of The Ring PLE, so thus I named my event, The King of The Braunstein. On a side note, congratulations to Gunther on being crowned King General of 2024. I being a St. Louis native wanted Randy Orton to win but It wall the proper call.

For those unaware, 2 weeks ago I held what I coined as a Faction Draft. Then the fallowing week a land grab inspired by the Brovenloft land grab. For those interested I will link it so I don't have to repeat anything previously stated. (Faction Draft) The whole session was conducted face to face (F2F) at my home. There were public areas, rooms set aside so players could talk in private, and 1 room set aside where all private discussions between players and the referee were held.

The faction leader of the dwarfs bailed last minute, however that was not the worst thing to happen as each turn with 5 players took at least a hour each, longer than I was expecting. I had his faction on the map and allowed players to buy siege equipment or mercenaries from them.( except the goblins) This moment forward they were no longer considered a played faction so they could not score points. There is no way for a referee to take control of a faction in that way and be impartial.

Rules for King of The Braunstein

I had written out a google document I shared with all the players of rules and expectations for the event, as well as scoring conditions. I did this to prevent any confusion that may arise at the beginning of the game to save time for us to jump right in. In case it was not obvious, I used Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition. The Only books I used were The Dungeon Masters Guide, Players' Handbook, and Monster Manual. I also used a random weather generator from Donjon linked here.

The first thing I wanted to make the players aware of was their will only be one clear winner. I created a scoring very simple that worked out better than I had anticipated. I had a list of +1 point objectives such as winning a battle, performing a successful raid, or looting magical items. Then I had a short list of +5 point objectives. These were Killing a faction leader, taking control or destroying an enemy faction's base, or capturing a fallen star and holding it in their base for more than 3 turns. (This will be further explained later in the blog)

Next I told the players that they could also lose points. This would happen if they lost a battle or their faction leader would die. They would lose the inverse amount of what the other player received. For example if 2 players had forces engage somewhere on the map whoever won the battle would receive a point and the loser lose a point, simple as.

Then I told them that if players worked together in a fight the 2 allied would share in gain or loss of points. For example, 2 players coordinate an ambush on another factions traveling army. If the 2 players ambushing win they each receive +1 point and the losing player only loses -1 point. I also stated that if the 2 allied players lost in a 2v1, then they would both lose -1 point however the underdog winner would receive +2 points, 1 for defeating each players army.

The next thing I implemented was that players scores could go into the negative. This was to help prevent ties from occurring in any place of the match. I went even further with a clause that if 2 factions do tie they would have to have their leaders 1v1 each other unless another faction leader would fight in their stead. (This did not happen during the session.)

I wanted to keep things as orderly as I could each turn so no time was wasted on my part. I planned out what I imagined a turn should consist of based on my experience in playing in past Braunsteins. I wanted to make sure every player felt as though they received the same or necessary amount of time they needed to spend with the referee each turn to prevent anyone from feeling skipped over or unnecessarily rushed. I also wanted to create a way to create as much obfuscation vie fog of war as possible to encourage players to make sneaky moves behind each others backs.

To further the fog of war aspect, I ruled that players can at anytime privately ask what their score is to the referee, however everyone's scores would be kept secret until the end of the game. At times I would state if a player was in 1st or if 2 or more players became tied, but I would never say who the players were, which kept people guessing where there stood on the mountain.

I had some informational warfare mechanics set up as well. Players were able to tell me information they wanted made public at the beginning of the turns anonymously. This way they could leak information or spread misinformation throughout the game, growing paranoia and suspicion amongst the players.

Segments of a Turn

A turn will take place over 1 day of in game time. The Turn will be divided into segments which will be listed and described as follows.

1. Referee will roll the weather for the day.

2. Referee will announce any public rumors or news to players

3. Players will each select a numbered index card at random to determine the order the referee will meet with them.

4. Players have about 10 minutes to react, purchase items and plan for the day's actions.

5. Referee will independently call each player to meet alone 1 by 1 to record actions for the day.

6. Referee adjudicates players actions and movements for the day.

7. Any combat or interactions are conducted privately between the involved parties and the referee.

8. Turn Ends

At the end of the rules sheet I had a weird thought about what qualifies as an eliminated player. The thought sprang from the idea of if someone took a faction leader captive, how would they be able to interact with the rest of players. I never came up with an answer for this but it was never an issue. I did however define an eliminated player as fallows: A player is considered eliminated if their faction leader is slain and their faction capitol is either under enemy control or razed by another player.

King of The Braunstein Session Report

Everyone is ready to start at about 5:30 pm. I gather them all together and read something I prepared to set the scene for the beginning of the game.

"A meeting is called for the various faction leaders of the island. All the wise men, shamans, priests, wizards have observed the stars. They have seen the inevitable. A star will soon fall on to the island. If it can be recovered, its power can be harnessed to cast a limited wish spell. In the wrong hands this power is essentially a weapon of mass destruction. A weapon so powerful it can completely upset the power balance over night. The drums of war are beginning to sound for control of the star and the island itself. It is unclear who will rise to the top but there can only be one King of the island!"

Turn 1 - A Simple Start

I roll the weather for the day and it comes up clear. There are no rumors or news since its the first turn so the players draw their cards to determine the order for the turn. I give them all 15 minutes instead of just 10 for them t talk to other leaders and start making deals and alliances.

Gnomes - The gnomes send a small force to take a bridge knowing any ground troops heading to attack him will have to cross at this river. Its location is also close to the mushroom forest. Knowing their elven neighbors have flying forces, they watch the sky as well. Then he orders a scout mounted on a honey badger to travel to the frozen wastes to speak with the dwarfs. He will arrive their in turn 2 thanks to the road.

Elves - The Elves are interested in the white tree icon to the North-West. They send 7 mounted hippogriff mounts to investigate. They discover this location is A Fae Tree protected by pixies. At the base of the Fae Tree is an alter. The pixies explain to the elves that it acts as a portal to the Fae wilds and once a day 500 gold can be offered to open a portal where 1 of 6 possible creatures will be summoned to join their forces. Note this would only work for Neutral or Good Alignment factions. The elves had no money on them but they will return to their tower and bring treasure back with them tomorrow. The elves spend the rest of the turn casting illusionary terrain on the road making appear lost in a thick mushroom forest.

Kobolds - The Kobolds send a force to a merchant camp to the North and are able to travel quickly through to the swamps with their canoes. The merchant camp has a much smaller force. They leave it alone for now. Next another force is sent to an encampment to the West. They discover a tent village of lizardmen. The lizardmen are not hostile with their neighbors and are willing to sell some of their tribe as mercenaries. They purchase 20 and then pay a retainer to the lizardmen for them to give them any information they obtain about any enemy factions they might encounter.

Ogres - The ogres spend this turn sending out 2 groups of 2 minotaurs to scout both nearby mountains. He sends his trolls to explore another mountain to the South. Then he sends a group of ogres to investigate a nearby cave. He finds the cave is housing a pack of 5 owlbears. The ogres leave the cave alone and head back towards fortress which they will arrive next turn. The ogres order their slaves to repair the fortress and make spears to later use for traps.

Goblins - The goblins realize they are really far away and are starting to kind of regret not opting in to be connected to the mail road. Instead they have a road that leads to the desert marsh river, where he can decides to send some scouts to camp watching for incoming kobold forces from the South. He then sends a large army West towards the main road. apparently he is expecting the factions to all team up on the ogres. I'm not sure if this is true but I'm glad to see the players are plotting with each other.

Turn 2 - The Fire Rises

Its another clear day Last nights sky was brighter than usual thanks to the approaching star. Their are no rumors or news to report for the day so the player draw their cards and after 10 minutes I start taking orders for the day.

Kobolds - The Kobolds go into the merchant camp and purchase 3 magic potions. This is not considered unusual due to the fact that the Kobolds sell meth. Afterwards they they betray the merchants and raid the camp from within. They are very successful and manage to enslave the survivors. An easy 3 points for the Kobolds making them the first to score. His units that were with the Lizardmen return to their cave base.

Gnomes - The Gnome Scout reaches the dwarfs of The Red Mountain. He negotiates a deal of 50% off siege equipment so it can be used against goblins. The Scout then returns to the forces at the bridge. The Gnome Leader, Jim Baker, decides to test out a magic item he has. Its a Beaker of Plentiful Potions. He has his number 3 Reverend Applewhite, tested the potions it contains. They were a healing, human control, and speed potions. The Gnomes then send a much larger force to bolster his troops at the bridge, who still have seen nothing.

Elves - The elves send a hippogriff rider with 1,000 gold to the Fae Tree. He offers 500 and a portal opens from the Fae Tree. 4 Saytrs emerge from the tree. They will stay and try again tomorrow. Next they send 8 hasted hippogriff riders to a merchant camp. At this camp they sell scrolls. They only have 3 level 1 scrolls which are all basically useless but he buys them just to score a point for gaining magical items. He sends another squad of hasted hippogriffs to investigate the encampment on the far West of the map. It is home to 8 hill giants. Surprise is rolled and the elves actually get 4 rounds. They are going to hit and run as a raid. They focus and kill 1 giant with arrows and then retreat on their last round of surprise. That puts them at 2 points this turn.

Goblins - The goblin army continues to march through the desert. They don't have any physical actions, but they decide to try some disinformation. "Several armed groups have been reported moving North towards the Frozen Wastes." He hopes this will lure the ogres out of their fortress by the time he gets close.

Ogres - The units sent to the owlbear den return to the fortress. He sends 2 minotaurs South to the woods. He then sends 2 minitours and 4 ogres to the crossroads where the road going to the Frozen Wastes intersects to set up a toll. The toll will be 2 gold per unit and 1 gold per animal.

Turn 3 - Star Crash

It is a windy day which will limit flight travel by half. At 3 am the star crashed down somewhere by the mountains between the Ogres, Gnomes, and Kobolds. I am aware of what hex but all the players just know the general area in could be in. They will have to spend 1 turn to search a hex unless they have flying scouts which can explore 2 a day. The goblin's rumor is told to the players and there is a bit of news. The Merchant Camp by the Swamps have gone silent doubling all prices for items. (Only the Kobolds know what happened because you know)

Ogres - The ogres order the trolls to return to the fortress. He then has his 2 minotaurs he had South start heading East towards the star crash zone. He then orders the slave to dig 30 ft pit traps to line with the spears they had been crafting. He also ordered them to cover the spears in ogre shit like some Viet Kong savage. Another set of slaves will build an escape tunnel to the East river with ogres helping to speed up the process.

Goblins - The goblins army has 1 turn till they reach the main road and will be able to travel much faster. The star is too far away for them to worry about so they keep with their plan. The scouting party by the river is sent to investigate the pyramid on the map. As the approach they see a large glass pyramid rising from the dunes. They enter the pyramid and find a throne room within. A mummy sits on top a throne and is introduced as the Immortal Pharoah Bass Protepp. When he was a necromancer who ruled over the desert marsh, the toughest of all terrain. He has undead units he is willing to sell to evil or neutral aligned patrons. He has skeletons, zombies and ghouls for sale. The goblins purchase some of each and sends them South to attack the Kobolds to sow confusion. It will take the undead 3 turns to reach the Kobolds' Cave.

Gnomes - The gnomes send 1 mounted scout from the bridge camp to investigate the encampment in the star crash zone. It is a Halfling village with quite a large population. The Halflings welcome the scout and say they have information they are willing to sell to him for 2,000 gold. The gnome is not sure if he should trust the gnomes and thinks about it for awhile. Some halflings are known to commit crime. He decides to take the chance and it pays off big. They reveal the location of where the star fell. Its vert difficult to get to without a flying mount due to forests and mountains. It will take him 2 turns to get it. He purchases some halfling mercenaries and will force march 1 hex into the forest.

Kobolds - The Kobolds waste no time and send out 6 Giant Wasp riders towards the Star Crash Zone with one of the riders being a subchief and the others his guards. Then he forms an army to head West. He plans to attack unknowingly the Halfling Village. This will take 3 turns. The Kobolds at the Cave are sent out and set net traps in the surrounding hexes.

Elves - The elves spend another 500 gold at the Fae tree and receive 10 sprites. The new Fae force then heads South back to the elven tower. A group of 8 hasted hippogriffs are sent to a grassy hill North of the Star Crash Zone, in preparation to start sweeping the zone's hexes. Then his main air force with his griffin riders, known as the Carrier Group, fly South to a Mountain to prepare for possible incoming strikes.

Turn 4 - The Race Begins!

The Weather is clear and no new news or rumors are sent out.

Kobolds - The Kobold Giant Wasp Riders explore 2 hexes in the Star Crash Zone but they do not find anything. The Undead sent by the goblins pass through a hex which now has a net trap. I roll 3d6, 1 for each undead group. The Ghouls trigger the trap and are caught in nets, which is huge. This sets off alarms that allows meth fueled Kobolds to launch a counter attack as a response. Without the ghouls the kobolds are able to win. That +1 to Kobolds and -1 to goblins. The Kobold army continues towards the Halfling village. I would like to point out I made a mistake here. I should of played out the combat as the undead to keep the fog of war. I had the player control the undead for the fight so I could keep taking turns for the other players and not slow down the game. I will remember this for next time.

Gnomes - A Gnome Scout Badger Rider is sent from the bridge camp to the dwarfs to purchase units and siege equipment. He is traveling at forced march. This causes him to run into the Ogres toll. The lone rider doesn't bat an eye at the mere 3 gold for him and his badger and they are allowed to proceed to the dwarfs unmolested to buy mercenaries and trebuchets. The Gnome is now 1 turns away from retrieving the Star from the mountains with his halfling mercenaries.

Ogres - The ogres are disappointed in their 3 gold toll they made. (Not enough to score a point) The Ogres decide to head back to their fortress. They are nervous because they still do not have any points on the board. A decision is made to attack the owlbear cave. They are successful and manage to get some points on the board finally. The most impotent thing they find in this cave is A Brazier of Summoning Fire Elemental. This will be crucial later. These forces do not make it back to the fortress, also crucial for later specifically next turn. His 2 minotaurs continue West to the Star Crash Zone. (They are never seen again)

Elves - The Elves have decided to farm the merchant camp for scrolls to gain points. Today they have a Protection from Devils scroll that the elves begrudgingly purchase for the point. Then his Hippogriffs split into 2 groups of 8 and scan the plains of the Star Crash Zone finding nothing. The Fae Force arrive at the tower and the hippogriff riders fly to the Fae Tree to spend more gold. Then he orders the elven Thief Group East of the great lake and then mass morphs them into mushroom trees as a disguise to ambush anyone who may enter the mushroom forest.

Goblins - The goblin army has finally reached the main road. The large army head North on the road. They make an encampment at the same crossroads the ogres had their toll set up at. They still are under the assumption that someone is going to meet them to attack the ogres. They have been lies to by what seems to be more than 1 player. They do not realize this due to the fog of war and decide to spread some more information. This time he is going to have me tell the party that a large goblin army was defeated along with their sub chief in Murkmire. I am told the Kobolds are aware of this lie and they are going to use it to their advantage.

Turn 5 - The First Battle And The Discovery of The Fallen Star

The Weather is cloudy today which only allows 1 hex exploration of flying units instead of 2. A huge advantage to the gnomes. The Goblins rumor is told to the players and no news is given out. Not knowing at the time, this turn would be the turn everything changed. It can definitely be described at the climax considering we only have 3 more full turns to play out after. This was also when is was sometime around 11 pm. Prior to the session, we originally planned on ending at around midnight. (This obviously didn't happen.)

Gnomes - The gnomes know where the Star is so they don't need to spend time searching the hex all day. They pick up the and move to the mountain West of them. The goal is to get the badger rider to the planes with the star. Then he will take the star back to his capital city. Then all his units will turtle up while the wish spell is crafted. His rider just needs to survive this turn. Meanwhile In the Jogre Steppes, The scout with the dwarven mercs and siege equipment expect to run into the Ogre toll but instead are greeted by an encamped army of goblins completely outnumbering their force and cannot outrun the speed of wolf rider cavalry. The goblin sub chief parlays with the gnome leader. The Dwarfs and Goblins despise each other but they goblins need their siege equipment to get to the Ogres and want to send the dwarfs in first to take the brunt of the damage. Their are about 20 dwarven slaves and 12 gnome slaves inside the the ogres fortress as well as some Elves. The dwarfs are willing to fight if it can free their enslaved comrades from the bourgeoisie Ogres. The goblins give them an ultimatum, "JOIN OR DIE!" With not much of an option the Gnome accepts. They will force march with the Goblins on their turn and siege the Ogre Fortress this turn.

Kobolds - The Kobolds split up the wasp rider scouts to search ore ground in the Star Crash Zone. They get close to where the Gnomes were but do not land on the same hex, this is what we call a close one for the Gnomes. The Kobolds army finally discovers the Halfling Village and prepares to raid it. The walls of the village would normally cause issue with out siege equipment or wasp riders, but they improvise and use their fishing nets and hooks to scale the walls. I use the reaction roll method mentioned earlier or maybe its in the Draft session, but it comes up no bueno. The raid is a failure forces are lost and they retreat licking their wounds. There is also a slave swap between the goblins and the kobolds. They trade humans from the merchant camp for gnome slaves. The Kobolds then torture and kill them because Kobold Meth Rager.

Elves - The Elves by the tower fly out and cast hallucinatory forest on the Bridge 1 to make it appear flooded over by the river. Then a squad is sent to the Fae Tree and they offer 500 gold for 2 Nymphs that immerge from the tree's portal. The Elves farm another scroll from the merchants. This time a protection from petrification scroll. The hippogriff scouts searching the Star Crash zone discover the Gnome scout and Halflings. This could be a game changer. I bring both players together to see what they do. They both parley, and the Gnomes keep their cool, and Elves fly West. I'm not exactly sure why the elves left him alone but I deduce it was his force size and possible underestimated him in thinking he had the Star, but the Gnome walks away with the prize and a sigh of relief. As the elves move West they run into a Kobold Giant Wasp Rider. Again the elves parlay with the scout but this time they attack and manage to kill the Giant Wasp and Kobold rider.

Goblins - The Goblins and their reluctant "Allies" force march to the Ogre Fortress located in the center of the map.

The Siege of the Great Ogre Fortress/ The Ogre Diaspora

The Ogre leader is shitting himself because he has all his units spread out around the map, and his strongest force has yet to return to the Fortress. He knows he can not hold the fort and this is the worst possible time someone could of attacked him. he tries to get the slaves to man the battlements but they know the ogres can't win without them. I make a reaction roll and they decide to protest against the Ogres orders. Furious by this insult, the Ogre Shogun decides he only has one option. To retreat to fight another day. He orders his troops to use the escape tunnel to retreat to the river South East of the fortress. The ogres will also frees the slaves, so they will be used as a distraction while the gates are being opened to give the ogres more time to escape.

The Goblin, Gnome, and Dwarf plan is to set up the dwarven trebuchets so they are ready but focus the door with their battering ram with the dwarven mercenaries at the front line. The Goblins plan to occupy the fort so they would like to keep its external defenses if possible. After the gate is breached the goblin forces will swarm the inside of the fortress with their large numbers.

Initiative is rolled between both sides and the Ogres win. They release their slaves letting them out int the main court as the ogres military units retreat. He fails to mention what to do with the women and children so they are with the slaves in the courtyard. They cover entrance to their escape tunnel and retreat like cowards. Cowards that will get their revenge before the end of this Braunstein.

The Dwarven mercenaries approach the gates of the fortress with their battering ram. I roll 1d6 for each group to see if they fall in the shit spear traps set by the ogres but they fail. They notice their is no ranged weapons firing upon them which they find very odd since the ogres went first. They start to breach the door. Till eventually they hear it unlock and loud cheers of joy ring out as the doors begin t open. Slaves pour out of the gates and run to their freedom. The dwarves waste no time and drop the battering ram charging into the courtyard. The slaves inform the dwarfs about the traps so it is relayed to the army so they avoid them. The Gnome orders the desecration of the Ogre's shrine to their deity Shrekiman. As the goblins move in and search the castle, they split the loot 80/20 favoring the goblins and the Gnome and Dwarf dip with their siege equipment before the goblins change their mind. The ogres suffer a major loss putting them at -2 score while the goblins receive 7 points and the gnomes receive 8, 1 extra for the desecration of an enemy shrine. (Goblins have no religion or rewards involving)

Turn 6 - The Path of Total War

The weather is clear for the day, News is delivered the the Ogre Fortress has been conquered by the goblins. Everyone now realizes the gloves are off. it is now midnight and no one is ready to stop playing so we discuss playing till everyone has completed their final plans. We agree on ending at round 10, but we will have everything finished on turn 8. (Technically 9 but only 1 person had something to do so it was an icing on the cake moment like the assassination in Jeffro's Battle Braunstein.)

Kobolds - The Kobolds decide they want to quit putting around and take out a player. There is only one faction they can make it to for an attack, and that is at the goblins capital, a cave built into a dormant volcano in the desert North of him. Normally he would not be able to reach them but thanks to his meth he can consume it to move at 2x speed which will be enough to get him there before the end of the game. His army leave the hobbit village and heads into the marsh. He searches 2 more hexes in the Star Crash Zone with his Giant wasp riders but finds nothing.

Ogres - The ogres are embarrassed by their defeat and plan their revenge. They will regroup at the desert and march straight on the Goblins capital. They will do whatever it takes to make sure the goblins do not win the Braunstein.

Gnomes - The badger rider is able to deliver the fallen star to their capital. They now have to hold it down for 3 turns. Another rider from the bridge heads to the halfling village to buy more mercenaries. These units wont be able to head back until next turn. They inform them about the failed Kobold raid and warns they may be near. All Gnomish forces, and the halfling force left at the mountains by the star carrier, are to travel to the capital and turtle up incase of attack.

Elves - The Elves start by visiting the Fae Tree again with 500 gold. This time the receive 4 Brownies from the Fae. These forces are then ordered to start traveling to the tower. The Carrier Group (His main army) moves to by the river in the Mushroom Forest. He then goes to the merchants once again to purchase a scroll. This time they have a protection from lycanthropes scroll. Finally his scout find the gnomish village and spot the gnomes recruiting here. They decide to wait in ambush outside the city. Then The Elven Thieves Group post up at the mountain North West of the fortress. They send in some thieves to steal treasure and are successful thanks to their boots of elven kind.

Goblins - The goblins find the tunnel that the ogres used to escape. They send 125 of their forces South from the fortress to explore the Cave in the Jogre Steppes. He also wants to put out a half truth. He wants to anonymously report the Ogres being spotted heading East from the river by the fortress. The goblins believe the gnomes stole from them and think it is just a one time thing. They don't try to make chase or explore outside the hex. The goblins order their slaves to start producing explosives in case they are attacked. His plan is to rig up the volcano and destroy it if they can not hold the cave. We discuss about how this effect points. I told him well your Chief has to do it and it will kill him. I told him that he would be killing himself so he wouldn't gain any points for kills done by it, he would still lose points and be eliminated, but no one gains points from him. He accepted the terms.

Turn 7 - The Ghost Storm

This turn the random weather generator gave us something crazy. It said their was a ghost storm making air travel impossible and all ground travel can only move 1 hex. The Storm also allows players to approach a ghost from the storm. There is a 50/50 roll on a d100. A success they get 1 question answered honestly, whatever it is except relating to the score. If they fail the roll, their soul is taken by the spirits. Since the knowledge they can get is very powerful, only a faction leader or 2nd , 3rd in command could be used in doing so. The Goblins rumor is revealed and everyone gets ready to make their final moves next turn.

Gnomes - All units honker down for the storm. This prevents the Halfling units from running into the elven ambush for the day. The weather is great for the gnomes because they don't have to worry about being attacked this turn. They mostly fear the Elves do to their proximity and arial capabilities, fortunately he has gnomish tunnels he can hide out in like Iwo Jima. In 1 more turn to go then they can activate the wish spell.

Ogres - The ogres travel 1 hex during the storm they can now force march on the goblin Capital assuming the storm is over tomorrow.

Kobolds - The Kobolds hunker down for the turn and plan to meth up to blitzkrieg straight to the goblins Capital next turn.

Elves - The elves are the only faction willing to risk speaking with the spirits, sadly it backfire and his fighters soul is ripped from his body and taken away. They will once again successfully rob the Goblins at the fortress. Their hippogriffs outside the gnome village hunker down due to the weather.

Turn 8 - A Tale of 2 Battles

The weather was clear this turn. We agreed that after this turn we would have 1 more and end at 9. This turn took very long to set up and adjudicate. Plus we were all delirious at this point from lack of sleep. Trust between all players had completely broken down. No one knew who had the wish and everyone was afraid of a final assault being launched on their capitals. This turn had 2 giant battles.

The Siege of Frozen Flames

Not even I saw this one coming. The Elves robbed the goblins as usual but then the entire carrier force was hasted and sent to take the fortress controlled by the goblins. Griffons and hippogriff riders launched a shock and awe campaign against the goblins. They cast all their fire ball and Ice Storm spells at the goblins on the walls. The goblins held their own for a while and even managed to kill a griffon rider with their ballista. The elves after running out of magic begin to pelt the fortress with arrows from the air. The goblins move under cover of the fortress. Surely they can hold out till the elves run out of munitions. The Elves had expected such a response and decided to break the Geneva convention with some magical chemical warfare. Using an incendiary cloud scroll he filled the fortress dealing damage to the rest of the goblins within killing them. A major W for the elves putting them in first place.

The Battle of The Volcanic Dunes

The Ogres arrive at the Goblins capital at the same time as a meth fueled Kobold army. They send a wasp rider into the cave to speak with their "allies." They deliver a scroll that they claim will help the goblin chief reck the ogres. I am not aware what he told them it was but in actuality the scroll is cursed. Sadly its not used in the battle. The wasp leaves and the battle begins.

I have all 3 factions tell me what their plans are and then roll initiative. The Goblins win initiative They have 4 catapults loaded with explosives to launch at enemies. He launches them at the ogres and their trolls. The explosive rain rain down and kill ogres and 1 troll. Due to the firey explosions I make the trolls make a moral check. The fail with 90% success rate. This is huge.

Next up is the ogres. Their magi whip out the brazier of summoning fire elemental they got from the owl bear cave. Ten the ogre magi fly into the air. Even their leader does because he whips out a broom stick of flying. The Fire elemental consumes the catapult and goblins closets near the ogres then ground units charge around the fire elemental towards the walled off cave entrance.

The Kobolds play it smart and just wait. The goblins think they are allies so they will not suffer their direct wrath.

Next initiative is rolled again between the 3. This time the ogres are first. They waste no time. The fire elemental consumes a 2nd catapult. The magi who are flying cast ice storm on another catapult and crew taking it out leaving only 1 catapult left which is the 1 closest to the kobolds. The ogres at the gate all swing and actually manage to destroy it in 1 round. NOW THEM SOME BIG BOIIS!

Kobolds go and make an elite move. All the wasp riders swarm and focus the flying Ogre Shogun. They land attacks but most importantly the Shogun fails his poison save against a sting. He becomes paralyzes and thus falls off his broom at 60 ft. That is 6d6 fall damage. Somehow he survives the fall but is paralyzed with 2 health. The Kobold s swarm and Ghaddafi the Shogun killing him and scoring the kobolds 5 points. Since the ogres have sub chiefs they can continue fighting but after the battle they will be eliminated.

The goblins prepare to blow up the volcano with the explosives. They try combat with te ogres but know the Kobolds will inevitable kill them if they don't kamikaze themselves. Sure enough their attacks are garbage to the ogres and since their special units were at the fortress its GG.

There is 1 more round in the battle. The Ogres win again and just smash some goblins and use the fire elemental to take out the last catapult. The Kobolds make another smart move and just send in a wave of units to flank the ogres from behind with a charge. It works and causes the ogres to break moral and retreat. Unfortunately there will be no retreat. The Goblin chief flips the switch and blows up the volcano. The explosives cause the doormat volcano to become active. It erupts filling the caverns with molten lava. The Kobolds retreat with their lives as the goblins and ogres are consumed. Only The fire elemental and ogre magi survive since they are flying.

Turn 9 - The Wish

Everyone was exhausted. The sun was rising and there was only 1 bit of business to be finished. No one had anything they could really do this turn except the Gnomes and since they waited a grueling 2 and a half hours through last turn, it was time for his final move. They Wish that their deity the Golden Badger would manifest and destroy the elven capital. That morning as the sun rose above the island, A titanic visage of the Golden Badger appeared above the island. It gazed down at the Tower of the Elves and then beams of fire and destruction rained down from its eyes eradicating the hex and all surrounding hexes that touched it. This turn the Gnomes gain 10 points and the elves lose 5. The elves drop down into 3rd place behind the Kobolds and The Gnomes rise from 3rd to 1st place. A clear winner of the King of The Braunstein.

Final Scores, Ranking, And Conclusion

Ogres - Score: -7 Eliminated, Rank: F, The ogres are disgraced. They lost their homeland, women, and children. The few Magi surviving, will take shelter and plot to one day take back their Fortress. The P was earned because most of his moves just wasted time and kept his score low the entire game. He did redeem in the end so no P rank.

Goblins - Score: 2 Eliminated, Rank E, They may have lost but they fought hard and did take the ogre fortress. The kamikaze ending at the volcano was kino and exactly some goblin shit.

Elves - Score 8, Rank E, The Elves lost their homeland but claimed the ogre fortress as their own. They will forever hate the gnomes and plan to one day get revenge for the destruction of their city and their elven women.

Kobolds - Score 10, Rank E, The Kobolds come in 2nd making them #1 contender to the crown. They played smart and were in the lead for the first half of the game. They made sneaky moves and I really wished the curse scroll plan would of happened. The Kobolds continue the construction of the castle above with the help of their new lizard men allies. The Barren Wastes is now renamed to The Volcanic Wastes and is considered Kobold territory, making them in charge of the desert swamp.

Gnomes - Score: 16 King of The Braunstein, Rank E, The unlikely winners came out on top. If they hadn't helped the goblins take the fortress they would of tied with the Kobolds after the wishes effects. Also the Elves had a chance to ruin their plans if they would have gotten the star from his scout. Either way The Gnomes are Crowned King of The Island thanks to their wish spell and deity. The halflings and hill giants will swear loyalty uniting the entire Western half of the Island into the Gnomish Kingdom.