Skirmish Reports

I played my first game of Empire of the Dead last night. It was quite a game as there were four factions; Gentlemen, Vampires, The Brotherhood and Werewolves. As I don't have any models yet I used the Werewolves that the umpire provided. Bryce has been a long time enthusiast of Westwind products and he bought into the game when it was released last year.

The game ran pretty smoothly all things considered. With four factions on the table it got pretty bloody.  The 4' x 4'board was set up as a slum region of London, the terrain we used was some that I created for Mordheim in 2004. Although the buildings were a little out of step for London they provided us gamers with the opportunity to try out virtual all of the rules.

Each faction began in one corner of the board with the intent of eviscerating everyone else on the board. The gentlemen swung into action early on with their firearms causing a little mayhem, fortunately they were too far away from my wolves to do any real damage. The vampires moved towards the centre of the board using the cover of the buildings. The Brotherhood kept close together, I think because they feared the night! They holed up in a two storey building. Unfortunately for them two of my faction could take aim on them with their bow and crossbow. Meanwhile I used the cover of the buildings to send my pack master and leader ahead to sort out the brotherhood. The gentlemen continued to take pot shots at those they could see but I wasn't too worried about what they could do. I had a good view of them from my position.

In the next turn there was plenty of bloodshed as The Brotherhood were charged by my leader and pack master accompanied by two wolves. I was able to down his leader and the pack master and wolf  took out a brethren. The combat went backwards and forwards until I was able to down and kill his leader and two brethren. Another one of his was shot and killed by my crossbowman. All for the discombobulent of one of my wolves.

However my success was short lived as the Vampires appeared! Their leader and consort jumped my valiant pack master and put him in the ground in double quick time. The wolf continued to be discombobulated, but not killed. I decided to pull away as the vampires made short work of the rest of The Brotherhood. With The Brotherhood out of action all eyes turned towards the Gentlemen. They had been moving up gradually, taking aim at anyone who was in their line of site.

It appeared that the stout fellows of London decided to move up on their position giving me the opportunity to take care of one of their number. My leader and wolf ran in full view towards them looking to sort out the plucky fellow with a hunting rifle. Neither wolf or werewolf were harmed in the ensuing fight. The gentleman was taken care of in short order. The rest of the gentlemen had to deal with the vampires which they were unable to do effectively. I did lose a wolf to gunfire but I wasn't too bothered. I had cleaned up my side of the street while the vampires had sorted out the other. At this point it was decided that the game should come to a close as time was pressing.

In the end it was a moral minors victory for the vampires, he still had both his heroes and most of his henchmen. The gentlemen retired from the board, vowing to return after a stiff gin and tonic. A for me I retreated to lick my wounds.

All in all it was a really enjoyable game and all those who played are looking forward to the next fight.