A number of my stories take place during the Hundred Years War between England and France. I thought it might be cool to run a series of blog posts revisiting some of these. So here’s the first of that series of blog posts on Hundred Years War Fiction.
Stand and Fight: A Tale of Richard Stone
Montmal Castle, the Duchy of Aquitaine, 1374
A large French army is at the walls of Montmal castle. Bertrand, the Gascon commander of Montmal is ready to surrender despite his vow to defend castle in the name of Edward, Prince of Aquitaine and the eldest son of Edward III of England. Richard Stone, the sole representative of the English government of Aquitaine is horrified at Bertrand’s duplicity. But the French commander has a grudge against Bertrand and will under no terms accept his surrender. There is no choice for the garrison but to stand and fight.
“Stand and Fight” is a short story set during the Hundred Years War between England and France.
The Orcs thinking they have tracked down the location of a Baggins send a larger party of Orcs to attack the hamlet of Hamlingden where they believe a Baggins to live – in fact it is a distant relative of Bilbo, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.
Forewarned Aragorn is waiting with a group of militia and has sent word to Gandalf for help. Gandalf arrives part way through the battle.
LAYOUT
Lobelia’s house is a hobbit hole in the hamlet of Hamlingden. The hamlet consists of one hobbit hole and a couple of cottages above ground. There are a number of vegetable gardens bordered by low fences and hedges around the hamlet that form defensive barriers. A few copses of trees can be placed around the board as well. The board is 4’ x 4’.
STARTING POSITIONS
Lobelia starts just outside her hobbit hole. Aragorn and the Hobbit Militia and Hobbit Archers start anywhere within the area of the hamlet and its gardens.
The Orcs then deploy on any board edge up to three inches in. They have had time to plan their attack and surround the hamlet.
OBJECTIVES
The Good player’s objective is to survive until Gandalf can get to the hamlet and cast a spell to aid their escape. Once Gandalf arrives he should make his way to the hamlet and ensure that at least Aragorn, Lobelia and half the remaining hobbits are within 6 inches of him. He can then cast an enhanced version of his Blinding Light spell, casting on 4+. If successful all Orcs on the board are blinded long enough for the Good forces to make their escape. Alternatively the Good player wins if the Evil force is defeated in the normal way, i.e. reduced to 25% plus Lobelia, Aragorn and Gandalf are all still alive.
The Evil player’s objective is to take Lobelia captive. To do this they must reduce her Wounds to zero, but instead of killing her this renders her unconscious. She then needs to be carried to the edge of the board by the Orcs. This can be done by a single Orc carrying her. See the rules for carrying on page 109 of the Rules Manual. Lobelia is a Light Object for the Orcs to carry, a Heavy Object for the Goblins.
SPECIAL RULES
Gandalf will arrive part way through the battle. Starting on turn three he arrives from the Eastern board edge on a roll of 4+.
