Tin-tin's demeanor said it all, his body sagging like a tattered standard over the butts of his shoulders, every gasp and groan seeming to add a new tear.

"Tell me," insisted Robur, "for none else is able." He indicated the litter of bodies around them with a sweep of his hand.

Tin-tin swallowed hard a couple times but did not speak at first, so that Robur thought he would be disappointed. Then with no visible sign of coming to, the words began to spill harshly from Tin-tin's lips.

"It was as before," he started, "only at first we appeared to be successful.



"Ulf and I on the flank cleared the goblins from the top of their strongpoint, then the others swept in from the road.



"Then we needed some way to access the goblin position. Arkahan sent me left around the rocks, and Ulf right. The main force waited for a suitable opportunity to take control of the rock pile itself. He said if we didn't go at the right moment, the goblins would be able to scamper to our rear.

"Suddenly three goblins charged out and started chasing me back east. Seeing this, Arkahan gave the signal and led his men onto the pile of rocks. Only five could get up at a time, so two were left behind.



"The rocks were more treacherous than they looked from below, and the goblins were able to dodge the assault. Arkahan was wounded immediately and the others were surrounded. Ulf dropped his bow and ran in, but it was too late. Every man was down before they made it back to the road. I was the only one left."

Tin-tin choked to a halt as Robur shook his head sadly.

***

As before, the providential pile of rocks served Heath as an ersatz fort. I spent six rounds trying to position my meleers against it when Heath had initiative. I figured, one round to climb test onto the thing, then next round to charge across. Once I gained control of the rocks, there would be nowhere for him to hide!

My first miscalculation was failing to realize that the second line of spearmen in my formation would require a SECOND round of climb testing, so I reconfigured to a single line, only five warriors of which could make the test at a time.

Due to my archers' evening the odds and Heath's redirection of part of his force, I actually had as many fighters to throw into the fray. I went for it, but now realized that this five inch piece of difficult terrain required more than three inches of movement across its curved surface for warriors on one side to attack warriors on the other. I made the crucial mistake of the game, moving half way and handing Heath the initiative for the entirety of the battle.

He started by equalizing attacks on one side of the line. We split the fights, but of course I killed no one while he picked off my main leader. The next turn he got initiative and swarmed me, and without Arkahan I had no recourse. So I've lost initiative second round of melee three times in as many games, after five 50% rolls. A guy just doesn't get a break...



I formed up several times during my retreat and won a few fights, but kept losing one or two warriors a round. I don't think my company caused a single casualty in melee.

This picture says it all to me: Tin-tin off frame to the left had equalized the fight by picking off the left-most spearman, but I still lost both fights. All the fight value in the world does not help a bit if you can't roll above a 3!

At this point, all I needed was to win a single initiative to get my fighters out of trouble (since they move faster than gobbos except on piles of rocks), but I did not win initiative again until they were all gone and I had lost the game.

Moral of the story: leave goblins behind difficult terrain alone!