The War in the Willows

Morrigan swooped down, his wings beating fiercely as he spotted Barry’s tiny form wandering near the old mad wizard’s settlement. He swooped back up, alerting Maverick with a sharp cry.

“Barry’s near the wizard’s place,” Morrigan reported, his voice low. “But we’ve got company.”

Maverick’s expression turned serious. “What kind of company?”

Morrigan nodded towards the approaching figures. “Kaotica Templars from the north, and those crazy Squirrels with the mushroom men approaching from the west.”

Maximiliano’s accent thickened. “Merde, no. We don’t need zis now, sí?”

The Misfits approached the settlement with caution, eyes scanning the surroundings. Barry, oblivious to the danger, continued to sniff around the overgrown gardens.

Maximiliano readied his blade, his voice low. “We grab Barry, get out fast, rápido.”

Maverick nodded. “Morrigan, keep watch. The rest, let’s move.”

As they crept closer, the Kaotica Templars and the Squirrels halted at the edge of the settlement, eyeing the Misfits warily.

Koda, the butcher of bunnies’ burrow, stepped forward, his voice cold. “This area’s under our… observation. Leave the Hamster.”

Maverick stood firm. “Barry’s with us. We’ll take him home.”

The Squirrels’ chatter erupted, their mushroom men forming a line. “Graaab… Hamster… ours…”

Just as the standoff seemed about to escalate, two massive mushrooms burst from a hidden tunnel, their caps unfolding like jaws. They snatched Barry, dragging him screaming into the darkness.

“¡Ay, caramba!” Maximiliano exclaimed.

The Misfits sprang into action, the Templars and Squirrels momentarily forgotten. “After them!” Maverick shouted.

The group plunged into the tunnel, Morrigan’s sharp eyes leading the way. The tunnel twisted, turned, and descended into darkness. Barry’s terrified squeaks echoed, growing fainter.

The Misfits stumbled out of the tunnels, gasping for air, and looked around frantically. They were deep in the mad wizard’s settlement, near the crazed lair itself.

“Damn it!” Maverick growled. “Lost him.”

Maximiliano shook his head.

Morrigan fluffed his feathers, frustrated. “We were so close.”

The group stood near an abandoned hut.  In a large building ahead of them, maniacal laughter echoed, followed by a bang and a puff of smoke.

Thomas whispered, “That’s… that’s the wizard’s lair.”

Maverick’s gaze narrowed. “Then that’s where we’ll go.”

The Misfits exchanged looks, knowing the mad wizard was no joke. But Barry was missing, and they had to try.

“We go in, careful,” Maverick said, blade at the ready.

The group crept towards the lair, the wizard’s crazed laughter growing louder. What they’d find inside, nobody knew.

______________________________

Ok, so that was…different.

This game didn’t even last a full turn, something I will come back to once this campaign ends, as I do have quite a few thoughts on the system as a whole.

Basically, the Mushroom men used the Hidden Tunnels den upgrade to have 2 models deploy anywhere on the table.  One was deployed right next to Barry, the other at a midpoint between their deployment area and Barry.

On their first activation, the Shroom man next to Barry grabbed him, walking him 12 inches towards his deployment zone and passing him off to the other Shroom man that had emerged from a tunnel at the midpoint.   That Shroom man then continued to manhandle Barry another 12 inches towards their deployment zone before once again handing Barry off to a third model.

That third model then walked Barry off the table.

At this point, we decided that we could just flow this on to another game without going into a full post-game phase.   We did, however, let the Shroom Men get their experience for what they had done.

So straight into Game Nine, and for this, we decided to try ‘Witch Hunt’.