Incursion - Saplings of Radika Dumu (Kh)
Radika Dumu had always been a peaceful place. Merchants from around the Republic would call for fruits and wood used for making fishing boats and the beautiful buildings and temples. Here in the western part of the caliphate Muhad was safely within the borders and away from the other races and their too often warlike tendencies.Muhad pruned the last of the sucker growths from the fruit trees of his father’s beloved orchard. Here in Radika Dumu the youngest of the litter were always given the lowest of tasks like this. For Muhad however the many days of wandering row upon row of well tended trees had been a pleasure, he easily understood how the Aurloks could form such a bond with nature.
Looking up at the sky he saw dusk was already beginning to arrive and soon it would be dark. He gathered his tools and the bundles of twigs he had removed, useful for kindling if nothing else, and in the growing darkness headed down towards the path home.
The path was in sight when unexpectedly a crack of a twig perhaps fifty feet away startled him then there was another to his left but this time closer. As Muhad tried to place the cause of the sound against his memories of animals the came out at night he never made the connection. From the darkness a figure rushed at him, startled he stood frozen to the ground.
The figure moved in closer to his companion, “Good kill”. Looking down at the young Khaliman the attacker replied flatly “he’s not dead, I can make him dead if you want?”, “no, no. We’re here for trees not trophies”. A moment later the two figures were joined by the rest of the warband.
“We’ve not got long before the family of this Khaliman come looking for him” one of the new arrivals stated. “So we better get the saplings and get home then hadn’t we?” retorted the attacker. “Which saplings?”, “Different ones! Now split up and get searching!”
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This scenario is one of four adventures in the 'Incursion' series by Winter Hill Games (www.winterhillgames.co.uk)
For details of this series of adventures and others in the Alkemy Trilogy (Incursion, Crypt Raiders, Books of Knowledge) visit website forums. (www.winterhillgames.co.uk/forum)
Setting up the Battlefield
This scenario is intended to be played on a table measuring 48” by 36”.
The players must place at least 8 scenery elements with the following constraints:
- Roll a die to see which player starts placing scenery elements, highest score goes first.
- Each scenery element must be placed at least 3” from any table edge or any other scenery element.
- The players alternate placing one scenery element at a time.
The players then define the gaming area:
- The table is divided in two equal halves, lengthwise.
- Each deployment area is set at 13” from the center line of the gaming area.
The players then roll to determine on which side of the table they will deploy, highest score chooses.
The players then place 8 Alchemical Component markers with the following constraints:
- The markers must placed on a scenery element
- They must be at least 5 inches away from any other Alchemical Component marker.
- The players place at least 2 of their components in their table half, and 2 in their opponent's half.
- The players place the components alternately, one at a time, starting with the player who did not choose the side.
- All components MUST be placed on the table.
Deployment
Player warbands must be Khaliman defending against one other attacker of Avalon, Aurlok or Jade Empire.
(There are 3 other scenarios on the Incursion series that switch Defender and Attacker roles. The Defender's scenario in the series is denoted by Av, Au, Kh and Ja in the title)
The players alternate deploying the miniatures of their warband from one card at a time in their respective deployment areas.
The player with the most cards starts.
- If both players have the same number of cards, the one with the highest total Mind value starts.
- If both players have the same Mind value, Roll a die to see which player starts, highest score goes first.
Victory Conditions
The first player to reach 16 Victory Points at the end of a turn wins the scenario.
- If both players manage to get 16 or more victory points in the same turn, the result is a draw.
- If at any time one player has no living miniatures the result is a draw. (See special Rules)
Special Rules
[Troop Killing]
In this scenario the attacking warband is gathering samples to gain information not trying to start a major conflict therefore killing all defending players is to be avoided. Likewise, despite the incursion the defending players need to avoid killing attacking players to avoid repercussions later.
[Examining a Sapling]
Saplings are located on scenery elements which represent stands of different trees in the Orchard. However, in the growing darkness the attackers are as capable as the Khaliman in identifying them so both groups will need to examine each stand of trees to make sure the sapling is a unique sample.
- Any miniature that is within 1” of a sapling can spend 1 AP to examine it.
- Roll one white die, if the score is 1-3 the miniature believes they have found this type of sapling already, if the score is 4-6 it it’s a new sample.
- Mark the terrain element to show it is the location of a new sapling sample.
[Taking or Hiding a Sapling]
When a new sapling type has been identified a miniature can spend 1 AP to either Uproot it and take it as a sample or hide it by using Camouflage.
Flying Earth - When a miniature manages to Uproot a sapling roll a white dice. For each mace symbol of the dice roll, all miniatures within 1” of the root suffer 1 Dam due to loose earth flying into their faces off the saplings springy roots.
Restorative Sap - When a miniature manages to Camouflage a sapling roll a white dice. For each mace symbol of the dice roll, all miniatures within 1” of the root are healed 1 Dam as the sap from the tree rubs off onto them and helps to heal their wounds.
Once a sapling is Camouflaged it is hidden by a loose collection of branches and leaves that takes a little time to fall away due to any wind or rain. Therefore the attacking miniature cannot try and detect a sapling on the terrain element until the next turn.
Likewise if an attacking miniature has Uprooted a sapling they cannot try detecting another sapling on the terrain element until the next turn. They’ll know to try somewhere else to find a unique sample but in the darkness may get turned around and with luck end up around the same spot and find a new sample.
[Gaining Victory Points]
At the end of the turn, each player scores a number of victory points depending on the number of saplings they’ve Examined, Uprooted or Camouflaged:
- 1 for each root Examined
- 2 for each root Uprooted or Camouflaged
These points are accumulated from one turn to another as a measure of the success of the attack or defence.
