Wednesday 22 February 2017

Brutality: Age of Ishtar Game III

The Arena District
Before the city was laid waste, this area was home to the fighting pits and the Arena Maximus. The stones still resound to the cheers of the bloodthirsty ghostly crowds.
Designate one area of the Battlefield as being "the Arena".

Environmental Effects
  • Global: First Blood! The first kill is worth 2VP. 
  • Global: Blood and Dust! Killing anyone in the arena is worth +1VP.
  • Minor: Baying for Blood! Immediately move the character the shortest distance necessary to place them in to contact with the nearest enemy. This is treated exactly like a Charge. This is a free action.
  • Major: The Crowd Goes Wild! All Altars and Stashes are removed. Only in death is there glory.
Deployment

The Blood Takers arrived first, spreading out along the Eastern side of the ruins.
The Skull Takers took up positions opposite them.
In the centre of the battlefield stood the collapsed remains of a temple of Ishtar, surrounded by six collection boxes stuffed with ancient treasures.
The remains of the Arena lay to the North of the Temple. 

Turn 1
Noskull and Headhunter quickly moved to search the collection boxes by the Arena.

While, away to the South, Horns plundered another stash of forgotten wealth, and Topknot dashed to a treasure trove to the south of the temple.

Meanwhile Threeskulls swooped towards the treasure on the Northern side of the ruined Temple.

Unfortunately, for the Skull Takers, Threeskulls became the first of many to run afoul of the arena's stands; clipping them, and failing to reach his objective.

Things got worse for the new recruit, when Bloodstoker, backed up by Banner, moved to contest the same collection box.

Dentax flew to a vantage point, and Teleported Skullbeard to his side.
From there, Skullbread hurled his axe at the hobbling Topknot (Dex: 0). Topknot was able to deflect the attack, though he dropped his weapon in the process.

Bloodsecrator and Skullhelm rushed in to the ruined Temple.

Victory Points
Skull Takers: 1VP (Noskull)
Blood Takers: 2VP (Headhunter and Horns)

Turn 2
Ignoring the danger posed by Skullbread, Topknot rearmed himself and searched his treasure trove. Horns followed suit, ignoring the enemy and concentrating on filling his purse with ancient gold.

Skullbeard decided to hurl his flying axe at Banner, attempting to strip him away from protecting Bloodstoker. The whirling axe streaked through the ruins and took a slice out of Banner's arm.

Dentax swooped down on Topknot, looping around him and then charging him from behind. Dentax wounded and disarmed his foe. However, even disarmed, Topknot badly mauled Dentax in reply.

In the arena, Headhunter, Threeskulls and Noskull engage in a desperate struggle. Headhunter proved his metal, emerging from the battle unscathed, while his two opponents both suffered injuries.

Banner and Skullhelm both moved to join in the arena fight. Both stumbled clambering on the stands, and failed to make it in to combat.

Threeskulls cursed Bloodstoker (-2FS), but this only served to enrage the mighty discipline-master.

Bloodstoker scaled the area stands and lashed Noskull.. Bloodstoker's barbed whip tore Noskull to bloody pieces, his corpse collapsing in a steaming heap on the arena's thirsty sand.

The arena shook to the phantom cheers of the long dead fans! "First Blood!" and an "Blood and Dust!" to boot!

Leaping past his slain comrade, Threeskulls flew around Headhunter's flank and then charged him. Both emerged from the duel will fresh wounds.

Bloodsecrator sidled out of the temple ruins, and caught Topknot unawares; slaying him with a flurry of blows.

The hollow cheers still echoed through the ruins, but they were chanting the honour of Bloodsecrator!

Victory Points
Skull Takers: 1VP (Bloodsecratorl)
Blood Takers: 5VP (Bloodstoker, Horns, Topknot)

Turn 3

Dentax was still cheering Topknot's demise, when Horns charged from the shadows, cutting Dentax down.
Back in the Arena, Skullhelm charged Headhunter from behind, leaping from the stands, like a wrestler coming off the turn-buckle. Skullhelm's axe bit deeply, and the Arena was, one more, drenched in vital gore.

But, for the Skull Takers, victory was short lived. Bloodstoker threw himself in to the maelstrom of death. Exploding Threeskulls like an over-ripe melon.Once again the phantom audience cheered as another life was ended within the Arena's abattoir precincts.

Enraged at the demise of Dentax, Bloodsecrator fell upon Horns like a runaway wagon filled with anvils. Nothing was left, but a smear, a red mist and a horned helmet bouncing away through the rubble.

Skullbeard now set his sights on the biggest prey. Whispering endearments to his cruel axe, he sent it speeding towards Bloodstoker. The axe buzzed through the ruined temple and struck Bloodstoker a telling blow upon the arm.

Victory Points
Skull Takers: 3VP (Skullhelm, Bloodsecrator)
Blood Takers: 2V (Bloodstoker)

Turn 4

The rage flowed through Skullhelm and he charged up the bleachers, launching himself at Banner. The standard-bearer proved no match for the assault, and his headless corpse tumbling down in to the arena.

And then again, the Arena resounded to the clash of battle, as Bloodstoker sought to avenge his fallen standard-bearer. Charging around the arena steps, Bloodstoker pummeled Skullhelm.

However, the arm wound inflicted by Skullbread's axe had weakened Bloodstoker's cleaving arm. Skullhelm escaped without injury.

Skullbeard sensed victory. If he could but slay Bloodsecrator, the Skull Takers would have slain all of the Blood Takers in a single battle. Such a feat would earn great favour with Ishtar.

Unfortunately, the fickle fates robbed Skullbeard of this singular glory, and his blows only managed to further wound the mighty Bloodstoker.

Now Skullbeard's axe streaked forth out once more. If it could slay Bloodstoker, the Skull Takers' would be lauded in myth and song. But, once again, Bloodsecrator proved indominatable; the axe only taking a chunk out of one of his legs.
Finally it fell to Bloodsecrator to try to wrest victory from the corpse of Bloodstoker. He was too far away to charge his foe, but, if he could enlist their help, the ghostly citizens of the Arena District might come to his aid.

Shaking a collection box, Bloodsecrator implored the ghosts to deliver him to Bloodstoker's side. But it was all for nought. The specters paid him no heed, and, once again, bitter gall filled Bloodsecrator's mouth.

Victory Points
Skull Takers: 2VP (Skullhelm)
Blood Takers: 0VP (no one)

Work out the final victory total. Check the score for the last Turn

Postmortem

If the Skull Takers had managed to kill Bloodstoker, they would have earned double Favour, for a Total Party Kill, drawing the series and setting up a final game for total victory.

As it was, the Blood Takers managed to win by another tidy margin; beating the Skull Takers by 9VP to 7VP. This neted the Blood Takers their 3rd Favour Point with Ishtar, winning the series and earning Bloodstoker and his retinue passage out of the Aether Realm.

I think that the Blood Taker's Faction Trait (+1FS and +1Attack), might have been a bit too over powered in a group with so many fighters. This was compounded by the Skull Takers generally failing their slightly enhanced Save (+2 from their Faction Trait), and also the fact that the Skull Takers concentrated on killing over praying or searching. Attacking the Blood Takers played in to their foe's strong offensive capability.

All in all, this was a fun little series of games, and I am looking forward to playing again with some different Warbands.

Wednesday 15 February 2017

Brutality: Age of Ishtar; Down Time

A new day dawns in the Hell of Endless Murder. The slain awaken; refreshed, reborn and a little bit stranger. The living nurse their wounds and get breakfast ready.

Following their second encounter, the Warbands look like this:

The Skull Takers: 0 Favour Points

  • Bloodsecrator: reborn with 2 Insanity Point and 1 Experience Point
  • Dentax: reborn with 2 Insanity Point
  • Skullhelm: reborn with 2 Insanity Point
  • Skullbeard: alive, though limping, with Move: 4"; but also with 3 Experience Points
  • Noskull: reborn with 2 Insanity Point and 1 Experience Point


The Blood Takers: 2 Favour Points (if Topknot had killed Skullbeard, his side would have earned a Total Party Kill Bonus, and would have amassed a total of 3 Favour Points!)

  • Bloodstoker: alive, but with Fighting Skill: 4,  and 7 Experience Points
  • Banner: alive, but with Dex: 0, 1 Insanity Point and 6 Experience Point
  • Headhunter: alive and uninjured, and with 8 Experience Points
  • Horns: alive and uninjured, with 1 Insanity Point and 7 Experience Points
  • Topknot: alive, but with Dex: 0, 1 Insanity Point and 6 Experience Points

The Blood Takers are riding high on a wave of bloody success; but both Banner and Topknot are extremely vulnerable to ranged attacks, with their Dex: 0 stats.

Such is the fickle nature of Ishtar's world, that Banner finds that the boon of his Icon has changed. No longer does it confer, "+1 Fight Skill and +1 Attacks to allies within 6"", instead, it now confers, "Re-roll to Wound to allies within 6"" (this is due to changes in Brutality v2.3).

Every member of the Blood Takers have gained enough insight ascend to Level: 1. This is reflected in each of them gaining a +1 bonus to one of their Skills.

  • Bloodstoker: +1 Fighting Skill
  • Banner: +1 Will
  • Headhunter: +1 Dex:
  • Horns: +1 Fighting Skill
  • Topknot: +1 Move

Both Warbands decide to explore their surrounding areas. Bloodsecrator and Bloodstoker take the lead in their respective expeditions.

Bloodsecrator finds a  wandering Level: 0 Chaos Warrior and recruits him for the Skull Takers. Maybe an extra axe-weilding maniac will be enough to end the Blood Takers' rampage. Verily, another chapter in the red book of carnage is about to be wrought, in blood! The Saga of Threeskulls hath begun!

Meanwhile, Bloodstoker accidentally brushes against a Puffball, causing it to explode. The hallucinogenic spores mean he will start the next encounter Confused.

The Warbands are ready to do bloody battle once more; well, all except for Bloodstoker, who is trying to pull the legs of imaginary butterflies.

Tuesday 14 February 2017

Brutality: Age of Ishtar (Game II)


Game 2

Location: The City of Skulls

Centuries ago, a group of heroes decided not to fight, and instead co-operated. Over decades, they amassed an army of like minded individuals and created a city; a safe haven in the lands of endless murder. However, Ishtar was angered by their actions and destroyed the city; slaying everyone within. Cruel Ishtar cursed the fallen souls, so that they could not be reborn, and could not rest. Now the city is a shattered ruin, its wells chocked with skulls, its former inhabitants reduced to slumbering phantoms.

Praying/Scavenging
On a roll of "1", the Altar or Scavenging Point can not be interacted with from the rest of the fight. Also the active character suffers a roll on the Crushing Effects Table, as the spirits awake and attack them.

On a roll of "10", the Altar or Scavenging Point can not be interacted with from the rest of the fight. Also, the spirits rise up in a swirling storm, striking anyone that comes close. Until the end of the fight. any time a character takes an action (including movement) within 3" of the objective suffers a roll on the Crushing Effects Table.

(In the game I used some slightly different rules for this location, but I think I'll use the ones above in future games)

Deployment

The Skull Takes and the Blood Takes approached a ruined temple from opposite sides. The huge red statue is the Altar of Ishtar again, and the two skull-choked wells as the Scavenging Points. Noskull was skulking through the ruins and wouldn't arrive until Turn 2.

Turn 1

Bloodsecrator raced to the Altar of Ishtar, only to come face to face with Banner. 

The two Icons clashed in a violent tussle.

Bloodsecrator came off the worse, with 2 Wounds, 2 Extra Wounds and 2 Bleeding; while Banner suffered only 1 Wound and Dex -2 in return. 

Bloodsecrator was left reeling; his lifeblood gushing from his ghastly injures. 

Unwilling to let Bloodsecrator die from blood loss, Topknot charged in to steal the glory of the kill.

Bloodsecrator's armour rebuffed Topknots flurry of blows, but a single strike found its target, and the mighty Chaos Hero died... again. Bloodsecrator failed to injure Topknot in revenge and died an ignoble death.

Blood Takers: 1 Victory Point.
Topknot: 1 Experience Point

Dentax attempted to teleport Skullhelm towards one of the Skull Pits, but failed. 

However, he did manage to Enhance Skullbeard, inflicting a wound on his ally in return for a boost to Skullbeard's statistics. 

Skullbeard put this enhancement to immediate effect; hurling his axe at Banner, inflicting 1 Wound and Bleeding.


Headhunter and Skullhelm raced towards one of the Skull Pits.

Only for Bloodstocker to target Skullhelm and lash him with his deadly whip. Inflicting 1 Wound and Dex -2.

Turn 2

Meanwhile,  Horns had moved to the other Skull Pit. Obviously he hadn't been put off by his trials and tribulations scavenging in the previous encounter.

Noskull attempted to sneak up on Horns, but instead just ended up struggling through the rubble.


Skullhelm reached the Skull Pit and attempted to root among the bones for any lost treasure. Unfortunately he disturbed the slumbering spirits of the cursed dead. The spirits burst forth, inflicting 1 Extra Wound and Bleeding.

Bloodstoker stayed beyond the reach of the spirit storm, lashing Skullhelm once more; inflicting 1 Wound.

Dentax flew to Skullhelm's aid; teleporting his wounded ally from the reach of the vengeful spirits and Bloodstoker's lash. However, this was not without it cost, as Dentax had to sacrifice one of his Wounds to make the power work.

Headhunter backed away from the howling storm of angry ghosts and went to the aid of Banner, staunching his wounds. 

Skullbeard attempted to redress this by hurling his axe at Banner again. However, this time, the axe bounced off Banner's armour before returning to Skullbeard's waiting gauntlet.

Topknot raced to intercept Noskull, however he stumbled down the stairs and didn't get to grips with his foe.

Meanwhile, Horns successfully searched through the Bone Pit, and Banner prayed at the Altar of Ishtar. 

Blood Takers: 2 Victory Points
Horns: 1 Experience Point
Banner: 1 Experience Point

Turn 3


Noskull and Topknot clashed. Topknot suffered 1 Wound and Dex -2; but Noskull came off worse. Noskull suffered 1 Wound, 1 Extra Wound and Bleeding; leaving him with but moments to live.

After catching their breath, the two combatants threw themselves in to the fray once more. Noskull went down fighting, hacking away at Topknot even as Topknot clove him to pieces. Topknot was left with another wound a Dex: 0! 

Skullbeard took advantage of Topknot's staggering state, and hurled his vicious axe at the battered warrior; inflicting another wound and Fighting Skill -2.

Blood Takers: 1 Victory Points
Topknot: 1 Experience Point



Bloodstoker pursued Skullhelm, running through the cloud of angry ghosts and suffering a wound for his temerity. 

Dentax flies down and staunches Skullhelm's wounds

Skullhelm dashes round and attacks Bloodstoker from the rear, inflicting 1 wound and -2FS; but Bloodstoker's reposte scores 1 wound plus bleeding in return

Banner and Horns continued to rack up favour with Ishtar, and Headhunter joined in the labour.

Blood Takers: 3 Victory Points
Horns: 1 Experience Point
Banner: 1 Experience Point
Headhunter: 1 Experience Point

Turn 4

Noskull hurled his axe at Topknock again, but it bounced off his target's armour. Much to Noskull's shock, Topknot followed the axe back to its master. However, their desperate struggle proved fruitless and neither suffered further injury.

Dentax and Skullhelm piled in to Bloodstoker.

However, the mighty Bloodstoker proved more than a match for the wounded pair; fending them off until Skullhelm died of blood loss, before dispatching Dentax.  
Blood Takers: 2 Victory Points
Bloodstoker: 1 Experience Point


Horns continued his successful rooting through his Skull Pit, but things went pear-shaped for Banner and Headhunter, as Banner awakened the restless spirits trapped beneath the Altar. The ghosts sent the pair flying; leaving Banner with Dex:0 and disarming Headhunter.

Blood Takers: 1 Victory Point
Horns: 1 Experience Point



Sunday 12 February 2017

Brutality: Age of Ishtar

The following is an battle report for a game I played. I was trying out the rules of a new game, currently under development, called, "Brutality".

The facebook page for "Brutality" can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/brutalityplaytestgroup/

This game pitted two groups of Chaos Warriors against each other in a battle for the favour of the goddess, Ishtar. The two warring bands were as follows...

The Skull Takers

This Warband took the Faction Ability: +2 Armour

From left to right, they are:

Skullbeard, Ranged/Artillery
Skullhelm, Melee/Berserk
Bloodsecrator, Hero/Icon (Re-roll To Hit rolls in Melee)
Dentax, Support/Mobile Support (Enhance and Teleport)
Noskull, Fast/Ambush

The Blood Takers

This Warband took the Faction Ability: +1 Fighting Skill and +1 Attack

From left to right, they are:

Topknot, Fast/Beast
Banner*, Support/Icon (+1 Fighting Skill and +1 Attack)
Bloodstoker, Hero/Pistolier
Headhunter, Melee/Breacher
Horns, Melee/Berserker

*I forgot to give Banner his two Powers for being a Support.

The battle was fought in the ruins of some once great city.

The red monster atop the steps in the centre of the board is the Altar of Ishtar. The two circular well-like features to the left and right of the Altar are the Salvage Points; Skull Pits.

Deployment

The Blood Takers deployed in a tight group to maximize the effect of their banner.

The Skull Takers deployed opposite them.

One member of the Warband, Noskull, has the Ambush Upgrade and will not arrive until Turn 2.

Turn One

The Skull Taker's won the roll off for first turn.

However, it immediately became obvious that they had make a tactical error, deploying Skullbeard (their long range sniper) in a vantage point from which he was actually unable to see the enemy.

In an attempt to remedy this, Dentax flew towards the enemy's flank and then attempted to Teleport Skullbeard in to a better position.

Unfortunately, Dentax failed his Will roll, and was unwilling to take a wound to activate the power. He also forgot to use his Enhance Power to boost Skullbeard's abilities.

For the Blood Takers, Topknot moved and then ran to reach the Altar of Ishtar.

Skullhelm then moved and ran in to a position to charge Topknot next turn.

Bloodstoker moved up and lashed Skullhelm twice with his cruel whip (this counts as two close range missile weapons thanks to Bloodstoker's Pistolier Upgrade).

He managed to inflict a normal hit and a critical hit, for a total of three hits.

Skullhelm failed all three Saves; suffering three wounds, and Dex -4 and Fighting Skill -2. This leaves Skullhelm barely hanging on to his life, with only one wound left.

Bloodsecrator then moved and ran up to the Altar, so that his allies would gain the advantage of his banner.

Banner follows suit, moving and running to the Altar.

In an attempt to get sight of the enemy, Skullbeard jumped down from his vantage point. Unfortunately, he failed his Dex roll and suffered a Crushing Wound, reducing his Move by -2".

He then hobbled down the flank to a window that afforded him a view of the action around the Altar.

Headhunter moved up to the nearest Skull Pit and successfully searched it; scoring one victory point for Blood Takers and gaining an Experience Point.

Horns tried the same thing, but managed to fall in to the pit, becoming stuck.

Victory Points: Skull Takers 0/ Blood Takers 1

Turn 2
The Skull Takers got to go first again.

Skullhelm moved past Topknot, staying more than 2” away, and then charged in to him from behind.

Skullhelm made three attacks, failing to hit with any of them. However, he was able to re-roll them due to his Berserker Upgrade. He could have got the same re-roll from Bloodsecrator's Icon Upgrade, but I assumed these don't stack.

This renewed flurry of blows only managed to score one hit on Topknot, who was able to make his Save and avoid any damage.

Topknot's strike back was equally unspectacular. Slappy Fight for the Slappy Fight God!

Bloodstoker then charged Skullhelm in the back. As he was within 6” of Banner, he gained an extra Fighting Skill +1 and Attacks +1. That was six attacks at Fight 8!

Bloodstoker scored 5 hits, two of which bounced off Skullhelm's armour. However, this rain of blows was enough to slay Skullheim and earn the Blood Takers another Victory Point.  Bloodstoker also gained an Experience Point.

As he was dead, Skullhelm did not get to strike back against Bloodstoker.

Skullbeard took aim at Banner, but, despite the bonus for aiming, still managed to narrowly miss his target.

Free from the threat of Skullhelm, Topknot successfully prayed at the Altar, scoring another Victory Point for the Blood Takers and an Experience Point for himself.

Dentax flew to Bloodsecrator's side and attempted to Enhance him. However, Dentax fumbled his Will roll, and suffered a wound instead.

Meanwhile Banner prayed at the Altar, gaining the Blood Takers another Victory Point and an Experience Point for himself.

At this moment, Noskull, the Skull Taker's sneaky Ambush specialist, leapt from the shadows, attempting to appear in Banner's rear arc.

However, he scattered in to Banner's front arc instead and then barely managed to charge his target. However (thanks to a re-roll from Bloodsecrator's Icon Upgrade), Noskull managed to score four wounds on Banner by scoring two critical hits.

Banner failed all of his Saves, and was hacked to pieces. As he had been attacked from the front, Banner got to strike back, but was ineffective; and so he died a weaklings death.

This scored one Victory Point for the Skull Takers and one Experience Point for Noskull.

While Horns attempted to free himself from the Skull Pit, and failed; Bloodsecrator moved in to position to charge Topknot, but stumbled on the steps (He rolled 1" for his Charge Distance) and was left looking rather foolish.

Finally Headhunter showed his clumsy ally how to search a Skull Pit and earned the Blood Takers another Victory Point, and himself another Experience Point.

Victory Point: Skull Takers 1/ Blood Takers 5

Turn 3

The Skull Takers got to go first again.

Bloodsecrator charged Topknot. Topknot suffers two wounds, and Dex -2 and was also Disarmed.

Topknot struck back and managed to inflict one wound in return, plus a rather nasty Fighting Skill -2 to Bloodsecrator.

In danger of being swamped from both sides, Topknot rearmed himself and then attacked Bloodsecrator.

Bloodsecrator's heavy armour proved totally ineffectual against this assault, and Topknot managed a critical strike on his target, inflicting two wounds, plus an additional wound and Bleeding.

This left Bloodsecrator is a desperate position. With only one wound remaining, he would bleed to death the next time he activated. His only hope was thar someone would Staunch his bleeding. Surely one member of his loyal Warband would think to come to their leader's aid?

Despite being hacked to bits and having to lean on his banner to stay upright, Bloodsectrator's strike back proved fatal for Topknot; earning the Skull Taker's a Victory Point and an Experience Point for himself.

So mighty was the clash of these two Chaos Warriors, that the ground shook, and the photo came out shaky.



Dentax swooped towards the Blood Taker's Skull Pit and managed to cast Enhance on Noskull; this Power inflicted one wound on his ally, while also buffing Noskull's Abilities.

Bloodstoker used his whip to lash at both Noskull and Dentax. 

Noskull managed to dodge the attack, solely due to his Enhanced Dexterity. While a successful hit on Dentax scored one wound, but no other effects.

Noskull then moved close to Bloodstoker, but then failed his charge. The uneven flagstones of the Dias of Ishtar seem to be a particular problem for the heavily armoured Skull Takers.

Horns finally extricated himself from the Skull Pit and charged Dentax.

He manages to score a massive four hits, thanks in part to his Berserk Upgrade allowing him to re-roll misses in melee combat.

Dentax's mighty armour deflected three of these blows; but the last one found a chink in his defences and slew him. Maybe having a massive mouth hole in the middle of his torso armour wasn't the most practical option?

Dentax's strike back was ineffectual; evidently he had been concentrating on defending himself; and such a cowardly act evidently angered the Gods.

The Blood Taker's scored another Victory Point, and Horns gained an Experience Point.

Skullbeard hobbled forward and unleashed an extremely accurate long range shot at Horns; inflicting two hits.

While Horns managed to defect one of these hits, the other struck a vulnerable spot, causing an extra wound, and Bleeding.

Like Bloodsecrator, Horns' life hung in the balance. He would lose his last remaining wound when he next activated, unless someone came to his aid and Staunched his bleeding.

Headhunter could have gone to Horns' assistance, but must have decided that First Aid was for the weak, and that collecting skulls was more important.

In his fervour to gather more trophies, Headhunter stumbled while scavenging the Skull Pit and became trapped.

Victory Points: Skull Takers 2/Blood Takers 6

Turn Four

Finally the Blood Takers won the initiative and got to first.

Bloodstoker lashed Bloodsecrator, hitting him once, but failing to penetrate his armour.

Noskull maneuvered behind Bloodstoker, and charged him in the back. 
Bloodstoker's defences crumbled before Noskull's onslaught, and he sufferd three wounds and dropped his whip.

Barely surviving this craven assault, Bloodstoker struck back and slew Noskull for his termerity in blind-siding the Chaos Hero.

The Blood Takers earned another Victory Point, and a second Experience Point for Bloodstoker.

Headhunter freed himself from the Skull Pit, but decided to search it again rather than going to Horn's assistance. This time he was successful, scoring another Victory Point for the Blood Takers and another Experience Point for himself.
Meanwhile, not content to let Horns just bleed to death, Skullbeard took aim and slew him, Scoring a Victory Point for the Skull Takers and an Experience Point for himself.

Bloodsecrator crawled towards the Altar and anointing it with his own freely flowing blood, and died; scoring a final Victory Point for the Blood Takers.


Victory Points: Skull Takers 3/Blood Takers 9

Aftermath
The new dawn saw the dead reawakening back at their camp, while the living bemoaned their wounds.

The final butcher's bill was:

The Skull Takers
Bloodsecrator: reborn with 1 Insanity Point and 1 Experience Point
Dentax: reborn with 1 Insanity Point
Skullhelm: reborn with 1 Insanity Point
Skullbeard: alive, but with a Move of only 2"; but also with 2 Experience Points
Noskull: reborn with 1 Insanity Point and 1 Experience Point

The Blood Takers
Bloodstoker: alive, but with his Fighting Skill reduced from 6 to 4; but also with 4 Experience Points
Banner: reborn with 1 Insanity Point and 2 Experience Point
Headhunter: alive and uninjured, and with 5 Experience Points; such is the reward of the craven scavenger
Horns: reborn with 1 Insanity Point and 2 Experience Points
Topknot: reborn with 1 Insanity Point and 2 Experience Points

The Blood Takers also gain 1 Favour Point from Ishtar.

Autopsy

Thing I forgot
I forgot to give Banner his two Powers for being a Support character. This didn't prove too bad as he spent his time praying instead of casting Powers. However, it would have given him more tactical options.

I forgot to allow re-rolls on the Wound Chart for characters with allies within 3". This probably wasn't a massive effect, as I forgot it for both sides, and most casualties were hacked to bits instead of being whittled away by extra wound effects.

I forgot to separate combatants by 2" after combat. Once again, I forgot for both sides; however this is quite an important one to remember, as it allows an attacker to re-position themself after a combat. This means they can make an effort to protect their back against enemy charges.

Thoughts
This was a good fun game; fast and appropriately brutal.

There is enough tactical depth, with the effects of Banners, the interaction of Upgrades, and the importance of keeping the enemy away from you rear arc, to keep things interesting.

The roleplaying aspects of gaining experience and the narrative emerging from the die-rolling are an added source of fun.