[actual play] Kingdom Death - Lantern Year 2

Aelous, Aiakos, Ariadne and Alcetis were off on the hunt. This was the first hunt since Ariadne had established the settlement. It was not long until the hunter found signs of a lion. They searched about and with it came a greater understanding of the beast they sought, and also a lion claw. Later they came upon shimmering seas of golden grass, the hunting grounds of the lions. They were nearing their quarry, the smell of musk strong in the wind. But the wind changed direction. The lion was not where they were expecting. It was an ambush.

The survivors quickly darted behind the pillars that loomed like giants in the ocean of grass. The white lion sniffed the air, and stalked forward cautiously. 

Having taken advantage of the cover provided by the pillars, Alcestis flung the founding stone at the lion, guided by Aeolus who timed the attack. The stone struck true and deep, cutting the tendons of the lion. It roared in pain and toppled over. 

Aiakos and Ariadne, armed with their scrap sword and axe, tore into the beast, slicing away at hide and muscle.

Ariadne sliced the beast's brow, causing a deep cut that blinded it. The lion stood back up, and swiped at Ariadne, but she was hidden in the grasses and the beast missed.

The beast slumped down, apparently injured, but Alcestis, armed with her spear, struck at the beast, and it stirred. It attempted to bite Aeolus, but again missed.

The luck was with the hunters, slicing a great clump of the mane from the beast.

And another hit from Alcestis knocked the beast down. But it was a trick, and as Aeolus attacked, the beast swiped at him, and caught him on the arms and flattened him into the dirt.

The lion then turned on Alcestis and glared at her, drawing up to its full size. She drop down to her knees hoping it would not attack her.

Aeolus attacked and his sword failed to wound it, causing the lion to charge off, scooping up Alcestis in its jaws.

Ariadne ran to save her friend, and cutting deep into the beast. Her sword struck true and pierced the monster's heart and it died.

The party returned to the settlement with a great bounty, and were visited by a strange woman, with a perfect smile. She was a dentist, but none of the settlement had need for her services.

In time the settlement learnt the art of painting, craft new armour from the lion fur, and a katar from the claws. With the growth of the settlement, with 3 new births that had strengthened the will of many of the settlement, one of their number was exiled for giving into the darkness, the true though was only one amongst them believed this and had told the exile.

A new hunting party gathered, as another lantern flickered dead. Alcestis, embolden by her secret, followed Aiakos, along with Atlanta, and one of the children, Abas, into the darkness, seeking the shrieks of the  antelope.

[actual play] Kingdom Death - Lantern Year One - The First True Hunt

Clad in new armour, Aeolus led Arachne, Aiako and Alcestis off into the dark, leaving Ariadne to guide the settlement. Aeolus wore new armour made of raw hide, while Aiako brandished an axe made of bone, and Arachne also sported a bone sabre.

Listening for the roars of a lion, the sign of its tracks or smell of its scent markings, the troupe came upon a small lion cub in the grass. Choosing to instead leave the animal alone, they were confronted by a strange, twisted man, the Gambler. He loomed over each survivor, none able to speak, fearing that to do so would lead to death. But the strange figure soon left, happy with whatever he had found in the troupe.

As they continued through the wilderness they came upon a strange statue of a lion, and looking upon its form they came to better understand the creature that they stalked. Further on into the dark, they came upon a portcullis, stood alone in the night. They left it, confused. Soon darkness clouded their vision, and they attempted to make it through the fog. Aiakos fell behind, but he continued on, emerging from the night with a monstrous organ of some form.

On they walked and they found a pile of broken lanterns. They picked through the broken glass and metal and recovered a broken lantern that seemed to be of some use. And then they could see it ahead - a white lion.

The troupe encircled the beast, making use of the long grass. Aeolus led the party, noting the weaknesses of the beast. Arachne threw her founding stone with all her might, striking the lion. Alcestis found a pile of debris and discovered a bladder filled with some hormonal excretion from a beast. Aiakos also pillaged a pile of debris, and found a tattered old sword.

So close to killing the lion on the first attack!

What a find! Aiakos now had a weapon superior to his own axe.

The fight began in earnest, with Alcestis moving to help Arachne. With the lion engaging them and swiping wildly. Arachne struck the beast and in return it grabbed Alcestis and dragged her away.

Aeolus hung back, directing the other how to attack. Aiakos and Arachne attacked it from the rear, dealing crippling blows (the beast was now in danger of loosing entire turns on a roll of a 1-2). It retaliated and chomped down on Arachne's head, but the sharp teeth met the solid bone of a skull helm (Yup, helps to stack that deck in your favour, which is what Aeolus was doing to the monster AI deck, and so knowing this I knew how useless the attack would be against Arachne).

Critical wounds were racking up. Witness me! (yes, Sam was on hand to see these rolls).

The lion was being attacked from all directions, with Aiakos using his new sword to dealing rending wounds.

That "on a 1 or 2, discard the AI card and skip turn" result. Haha mister lion!

Seriously, this lion is limping, and at -2 to hit, leading to significant advantages in the fight.

Aiakos went to strike the beast, but it was only playing dumb - for once - and lashed out. But even for all the guile and sneakiness, the lion missed Aiakos.

Alcestis smashes the beast's hand apart - no survival to spent as it was lost during the hunt phase.

Sorry mister lion, you don't get to drag anyone away.

Arachne delivers the final blow, as all the other survivors surrounded the beast and tore it apart. Victorious  and bearing the fruits of their hunt. Bones, and meat and organs galore.

Returning to the settlement a stranger in the dark arrived. He was the Lamplighter, and as he peered into the eyes of some of those at the camp, two were found the next day, dead, with another suffering a wasting disease, and a fourth somehow filled with vigour and life.

Ariadne directed the settlement on how to mourn the dead - to eat them. The dead were torn apart, filling the minds of the camp with madness. But nothing was wasted, and their body parts were put to use to create new weapons. Using some of the monster musk that was found, and harvested, two of the camp were driven to lust, and a the settlement welcomed its first new life into the hellish world they lived in. The child was festooned with gifts and all the teaching the camp could give.

The settlement grew, with tents and hovels being fashioned from skins, basic brewing and leather treatments were now possible. And then there was a blood curdling scream. In the dark was something new. Not a lion, but some other creature. Aiakos called the others together, and he called for a hunt against it, that they would take the darkness and fill it with light.

And so, now armed with new weapons, Ariadne, Aeolus, Aiakos and Alcestis went off into the dark, to once more hunt a lion.

[actual play] Kingdom Death - Prologue

The survivors awoke and we confronted by a ravenous white lion, that was already rending apart other people. Unaware of where or how they had got there, the survivors, dressed in but simple rags, prised up from the ground sharp stones, stones from the ground that was formed of carved faces.

The lion attacked Aeolus, it's claws rending deep into his leg and arm. Aiakos and Arachne both approach the beast, attacking it from the relative safety of the rear, crippling its humanoid paw, and dealing it wounds to its head. In a fit of rage it raced off, dragging Aiakos along. Ariadne then attacked, and in return for smiting the beast in the brow, she was filled with terror as she looked it in the eye. It turned, rising to its full stature and faced her down. She screamed, her head filled with fear. But she gain her composure, but now suffering from a nervous twitch.

Aeolus got up and attacked, and darted away, making room for the others to also strike the monster from the rear. Aiakos dug with his stone dagger deep into the lion's tricep, causing the beast to collapse, and visibly shaking the beast mentally.

The lion rose up and began to fight back. Ariadne landed a blow against the beast, and once more it ran off, dragging Aiakos along. But, the combined attacks of the group slowly ground the beast down, as the survivors all took advantage of its limp, and encircled it, with Arachne landing the final killing blow.

The fight was over, with only minor wounds, and Ariadne suffering a minor mental disorder, that made her constantly fidget with her dagger. The troupe dragged the remains of the beast across the strange unknown lands, and found a horde of lanterns and a gathering of other people who welcomed these heroes. (Yes, I rolled max population.... my wife as my witness!).

The beast was skinned, with Ariadne's nervous disposition making her the first to speak. She instructed the survivors in how to rend the monster apart, and the bones and flesh and hair and strange paws it had, were used to fashion new weapons and clothes. Aiakos hefted his mighty bone axe, while Arachne donned the skull helm and picked up the bone dagger she had made. Aeolus used the hide of the beast to make a vest and headband, along with a bone blade. From Ariadne's instruction he was to help lead the troupe in the next hunt. And while Ariadne was busy contemplating before the lantern horde and teaching the other people language, one of the new companions joined the remaining three on the next hunt.

So as a first fight the tactics are there, even if the basic game rules are simple. Tactics are move to do with positioning to account for certain monster reactions, and also for what AI cards are left in the monster deck (which is also its health pool). The new equipment made should be a real help in the next fight, with the headband allowing me to stack the deck. This, combined with the founding stones I have left, could allow me to get certain, dangerous, AI cards out of play efficiently.

The settlement phase had some interesting choices, and will become a more complex part of the game in subsequent game years.

All in all it was everything I wanted and more. I was really gritting my teeth that a bad hit could quickly kill one of my survivors. But by making use of positioning and knowing what was left in the deck I took the advantage.

Anyway, let the hunt begin! I think the new survivor going off to hunt in Ariadne's place will be called Alcestis.

Let's Build Kingdom Death

So 2 hours later, and the 4 starting survivors, White Lion, and 2 bonus models are made.

Fairly easy save for the bonus models and knowing where bits go. Liquid poly cement binds them easily and is very little mess. Obviously gaps to be filled at a later date.

What's that?

I made a mold of the face bases. And with that I can make more for the other armour kits, and also use it to make bits for the monster bases.

4 starting survivors, the Twilight Knight pinup, and behind her, the White Lion.

Let the hunt begin!