Bump 'n Grund

This is an auspicious post - we've reached number 600!

(so judging by the number of subscribers to this blog, that means you get to share around 100 posts per reader - who says you don't get value with the WoffBoot?)

Back to business: after coming so close in Mission 7 of Dwarf King's Quest, we decided to have another crack at Grund, the little guy with the great big hammer!

Kraken is plain, Stylus is bold, the dungeon is deep and the gags are old - let's do this!
(if you get bored, scroll to the end - there's a vote!)

Coming back to this level, I knew I was going to take a beating. Stylus and Leofa are clever tactics boffins, the pair of them. Most of my success last time, I felt, came from the element of surprise. Without knowing the level is a long corridor full of weaker monsters that you need to power through to get to the boss, they got bogged down last time. I could expect a fast push forward this time, and no mistake.

Yes, foresight is a wonderful ally, and we were letting rip with as many aggressive feats as possible (mostly Elf and Barbarian) in the knowledge that a) we needed to clear this room quick and b) they weren't going to be much use later on.

Sure enough, the heroes blasted through the first room in four short rounds. Although I managed to rush the elf with neglected zombies as the dwarf leapt forward to tackle the revenant by the doors, the barbarian redeployed with aplomb and scattered the last of my resistance before I could make much of a mark. At least the big beardy bloke got a bit scuffed in the process.

We did have at least one turn of splendid teamwork, where the heroes were swapping over opponents for maximum effect and outmanoeuvring the undead with ease (we never suspected that our unstoppable momentum may have been related to the Overlord saving up his Interrupt cards).

The middle chamber didn't take them long either. It took a toll of sorts, however - that naked semi-naked barbarian prancing about made for a good target for the archers. And as the elf left the first room behind, I managed to stick another archer up there for good measure.

We left the chests unopened as we pushed on through - given the time limit on this dungeon, they're a luxury I can't see anyone being able to stop for.

Bonus piles of bones by the doors looked like they were going to be a challenge. I'd got the hang of doling out my portion of revenants such that I usually had the maximum on the board, and they're tough cookies to blow past.

These heroes, though, man. They'd got my number. The wizard would corrode the revenant's armour, the elf would snipe, and if that didn't work, concentrated fire from the dwarf and barbarian usually took them down in short order. Despite my best efforts, the final doors were open by the eighth turn, revealing Grund and his bodyguard.

Yes, we got a LOT of practice at killing Revenants here- no sooner had we created a pile of bones, than another one popped up. Entirely appropriate in a Dwarf tomb, but they are tough footsoldiers. Luckily we managed to get into the swing of dealing with them - and we were careful to try and destroy skeletons utterly, so as not to leave any temping piles of bones to resurrect. 

Grund's bodyguard are fairly lazy. They start the game lying down. Now, I'd been squirrelling away extra Raise Dead cards this whole time for precisely this situation, and although the dwarf managed to get in the door before anyone had woken up, it wasn't long before I had revenants aplenty blocking the way.

In an extraordinary sequence of almost mathmatical precision, the heroes slaughtered a tunnel into the guards, allowing the dwarf to breeze through to face his undead king alone. I was counting on at least one more turn of raising to get the rest of Grund's boys up, so this looked bad for me. Luckily, I had a counterplan ready.

This was another moment when we actually had a plan, and it came together: Wizard sends out hexes and Brisk Works the Dwarf forward; Barbarian flanks and kills one Revenant; Elf gets in a tricky shot over the tomb to fell a Skeleton; leaving the way clear for the Dwarf to barrel through and take off Grund's first wound. If any part of that had failed, we would have been stuffed.

Raising the last of the dead around the dwarf, I penned him in and started hitting as much as I could with Grund's big hammer. Tin can though the dwarf hero is, the hammer ignores much of his armour. And I'd been saving plenty of interrupts, enough that through the next hero turn, I could whale on the dwarf plenty, dinging wounds off him much faster than he usually would take.

Yes, that was worrying for the Tank of the group. The Elf and Wizard, by contrast, were quite spritely having barely been scratched. 

Alas, it couldn't last. The others all piled in in the following turn. Grund swiftly switched focus to the squishier barbarian, and between him and a final revenent, nearly did for him. But I hadn't accounted for many of the heroes' healing potions by this time, and they easily had enough to keep their berserker alive.

Yes, Grund is a tough one to face in single combat, but once you get three heroes on him, all quaffing Battle Potions, it doesn't take long.

Down, inevitably, went Grund, with a whole turn left spare.

Maybe we could have gone for that chest after all...?

And now? A hiatus.

The final level is massive, big enough that it won't easily fit on a skype screen for online play, let alone Stylus's desk. So we've decided to keep it until we can play it together in person, potentially at our next annual gathering. To fill the time, expect either a new DS campaign or something else...

Say, I've an idea: why don't we let the good folks at home (all six of them) decide?

Whence Shall We Quest Next?

The tyranny of democracy - guess we're doing the dragon.

We've already bashed through Infernal Crypts, and Dwarf King's Quest is on hold, so that leaves you with: the Goblin one; the Dragon one; the one that kind-of a sequel to this current campaign; or the bonus one with the not-Predator.

Actually, thanks to Mantic's slow-but-steady work on the game post-release, there is even more to choose from - the combo of undead and devils in Infernal Crusades is an option too. Or in the near future, maybe the Black Fortress beckons! Good call - I've added three more: Goblins, Abyssals and Black Fortresses. 

Voting closes at the end of this month, and I'll do my best to paint up whatever we need to hit the dungeon tiles (even if that means the dragon).