Save the Senator's daughter! - SBL 6 x 6 AAR

In his bid to destroy the power of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, Sextus Pompey has made a deal with the cult known as the Children of Neptune. They are promising him victory through the supernatural intervention of their deity. All they need is a blood sacrifice, and the bluer the blood, the better. This leads Sextus to order a raid on the Campanian coast to abduct the daughter of Senator Claudius Cassus Belli, a staunch supporter of Octavian. On hearing of this, Octavian dispatches Vorenus, Pullo, the Frumentarius Umbra and a small band of elite troops to rescue her, before she is sacrificed.

A scene from the battle

In this set up, the High Priest of the Children of Neptune is preparing to sacrifice Claudia, the senator's daughter, in an ancient temple on the shores of Sicily next to the water. He is a summoner, but in order to summon the greater demon, he must be next to the priestess and roll three activations. If he does this, then the senator's daughter is killed, and the Roman warband must concentrate on killing all of the enemy. The Children of Neptune start with four Cultists on the board defending the temple. The demons of the deep are to be summoned from the sea as the game progresses.

The table at the start of the game.

I began with a random deployment, numbering the edges 1-4 and rolling a d4 for each Roman figure to see where they came on. It ended up being quite an even spread. The priority, of course, was to try to get into the temple as fast as possible. We'll let the photos tell the story from here.

Starting position for Pullo's team.

Starting position for Vorenus' team

Vorenus leads the charge towards the temple

The first sea demon is summoned.

As the valiant legionary races to the temple a second sea demon emerges,but is taken down by the supporting fire of the Cretan archer.

A cultist is killed by pilum while the remaining cultists are engaged.

More horrors emerge from the depths, determined to serve their summoner.

The cultists put up a good fight, recoiling the stronger legionaries.

The first legionary enters the temple compound and the High Priest runs away, while the sea demon champion comes to his defence.

'Kill him my child!'

Sea demons clash with Romans. Pullo fancies fish for dinner!

But in the struggle he is the victim of a gruesome kill! His comrade, failing a morale test while knocked down, is also killed.

Vorenus jumps the temple wall and lands a mighty blow on the Sea Demon champion, just in time to save the brave legionary who had been battling singlehandedly against the monstrosity.

Umbra is finding theses sea demons a difficult challenge.

Another sea demon arrives in the temple, but in the nick of time another legionary arrives to help out Vorenus.

Watching as the combat unfolds, the High Priest summons a sea demon baron.

Vorenus kills the Sea Demon champion, then turns to help his fallen comrade. 

While the other legionary gets back up and charges into the High Priest, knocking him down.

The Sea Demon Baron arrives to defend the high priest, while Vorenus is too late to help his loyal soldier. He makes sure to take his revenge though. The last cultist charges a Cretan archer, while Umbra finally gets the upper hand against his sea demon nemesis.

Vorenus charges into the high priest, and together he and the brave legionary (who certainly deserves his farm) inflict a gruesome kill on the High Priest.

With no-one left to answer to, the sea demon baron returns to the depths, and the senator's daughter is saved!

Another fun game using the Song of Blades and Heroes system and the atmosphere of the world of Broken Legions.
3 days and 3 games towards the 6x6. I'm on a roll.

Nate