Rangers of Shadow Deep – Captain Fletcher

I spent a lot of points on recruitment because I wanted to go fairly Wysiwyg with the sculpts and the in-game troop types. When i realised there was no ranged weapons in a fairly elite force I felt I really needed an archer to flesh out the group and that took the extra points.

Running around with just swordsmen seemed like it might be a bit predictable and was unimaginative. So found that with the addition of a couple of shields I could make one mini a Barbarian and one a Man at Arms.

My other band has a lot of ranged attack options so I was glad this troop would be different.

So my 130 cost was allocated thus:

• 35 – Barbarian (hand weapon and shield 5+ strength skill)
• 20 – Man At Arms (hand weapon, shield and light armour)
• 20 – Archer (bow, light armour, dagger and quiver)
• 50 – Swordsmen x2 (Sword, light armour and dagger.)

Only spent 125, but hopefully the extra 5 will be a handy contribution later when recruitment opportunities crop up.

I had already painted the captain and three other minis as pictured thus far. I was going to use them in Blood and Plunder but the fashion sculpted is set for Elizabethan England, not the 17th century of that game.

I will be amending them to suit the RoSD in a fairly wysiwyg way.

To make a Ranger you are given 10 points to spend. Without giving you the complete rules breakdown on how that works (Buy the rule book, the game is great) I will just say how they were allocated.

• 2 Points on improving the opening Ranger stat line (+1 Health and +1 Fight)
• 1 point on skills (This allows 8 skills to have a +1 during test rolls. In keeping with a sailor I chose – Climbing, Leadership, Navigation, Perception, Picking Locks, Strength, Swim and Traps.)
• 4 Points on Heroic abilities, that are usually once per scenario buffs (Evade – to step out of close combat freely, Focus – to add +8 to a skill test roll, Roll with the Punches – To halve the amount of damage caused in a lost fight action and Hand of Fate – a single reroll.)
• 3 points on recruitment, to improve my companion Recruitment Points by 30 points to 130.

I also gave Eusebius a sword and a throwing knife, so he can literally take a Snapshot once per battle with his knife.

Captain Eusebius “Snapshot” Fletcher.
Got the nickname through being a particularly hasty and bad boule player, but people think it’s based on accolades about his artillery mastery. Why dispel a harmless cantrip?

In game, I am trying to keep to the theme that sculpts suggest, so my Captain will not have heavy armour or a shield. I am taking heroic abilities and improving his stats in the build stage to make his longevity seem down to skill and trusting in fate. Sailors of old famously held superstitions close to them and a lucky captain inspired and gained the trust of their men.