The 2nd Battle for Stone Pass (Part 1)

So I've been playing a D and D 5e campaign with my family for the last year or so and it's come to the point where the players have decided to attack an encampment of Orcs with the help of some of the local townsfolk and some reinforcements from the neaby City State of Waterdeep. Instead of playing it out as a D and D game however, I thought it would be interesting to use Kings of War instead.

The campaign itself is based on  'A Source of Secrets' by Kristjan Matthiasson with a fair bit last minute modification by myself, as is usually the case with any campaign I run.

The characters are :

• Photia the male gnome barbarian (played by my father)
• Tranky the male half-orc druid (played by my son)
• Carlssen the male halfling sorceror (played by my brother)
• Therese the female tiefling bard (played by my other son when he's not on the computer)

The battlesite to be fought over was a mountainous field surrounding a defensive keep that protected the valley of Kyros from potential invasion through Stone Pass, the mountain pass to the north of the valley. Orcs and other greenskins had been sighted around the mountains to the north in increasing numbers and for several months there were rumours of a potential orc invasion. These rumours were soon found to be true when the Big Boss, King Khargol emerged to lead the greenskins toward the fertile lands in the valley of Kyros.

The first battle was between a force of orcs that had gathered under the banner of King Khargol. This force included orcs (including boar riders), orrogs, goblins, orclings and ogres. The humans, under the leadership of Captain Darian and Sargent Derrier, were attacked by an orc force under cover of night and the Stone Pass keep set alight. A confused battle ensued and, after losing Stone Pass keep itself to the flames, the Captain was forced to retreat, with as many forces as he could save, to Mud Creek where he and the villagers prepared their defences.

Word was sent through to the nearby City State of Waterdeep that the Orcs were on the move and, if left to their own devices, would soon overrun Mud Creek. This was a worry as the orcs could use the valley of Kyros as a base to gather more forces and potentially threaten Waterdeep itself.

The characters were not present for this first battle as they were busy elsewhere chasing a nasty necromancer. They had managed to unknowingly release this necromancer from his prison and they were trying to chase him down and put him back in prison before he could do any further damage.

Some weeks after the 1st battle of Stone Pass, the charming Captain Baldartin arrived from Waterdeep, heading up a force of cavary and light infantry. He assumed control of the valley's forces (which ruffled the feathers of Captain Darian) and called for some of his troops to scout out the area while the rest of his troops were to join the locals in building wooden palisades etc against the imminent Orc attack. The characters offered to help and scouted around the area. They found several disparate tribes of Orcs and Goblins who were busy ransacking farms, setting fields on fire, ambushing unsuspecting woodsmen, trapping boars to use as mounts, and generally having a great time. They also discovered that King Khargol had set up camp with a force of orcs and ogres in the half ruined Stone Pass keep and was waiting for the other rampaging orc tribes to calm down and rejoin him. The characters decided to at least hobble King Khargol's force by stampeding the boars that had been collected in a corral to the east of the keep, and then sneak back to the village.

Before all the orc tribes regrouped into an effective attacking force, Captain Baldartin decided to strike. The characters moved forward to Stone Pass keep to scout the area along with 10 of the Waterdeep light troops. Captain Baldartin followed up with his main force and his plan was to strike after dawn when the humans could see and the orcs would have bedded down.

 The human forces:

Captain Baldartin (hero)
2 x troops of Archers (Waterdeep Light Infantry)
2 x troops of Sargents (Waterdeep Medium Cavalry) led by Sargent Leff and Sargent Vite

Captain Darian (hero)
Mistress Felliana (wizard)
2 x regiments of shieldwall (experienced village warriors)
1 x horde of militia (village women, children, old men, incendiary pigs, etc ) led by Sargent Derrier

+ the three adventurers Photia, Tranky and Carlssen.

The Orc forces:


King Khargol (Krudger on a boar)
Zindug (Shaman on a boar)
1 x horde of goblin stickers led by the goblin boss Sagbag
1 x horde orclings
1 x horde of ogres (trolls but no regenerate) led by the ogre boss Clob
2 x regiments of orc ax
2 x troops of skulkers


How the 2nd battle for Stone Pass unfolded is in Part 2...