Hello and welcome back to my blog!

Today I want to try something a little different: a recreation of one of the earlier epic battles in the Embers of Dread campaign in Descent 2nd Edition!

This campaign is one of a few available in the Road to Legend app, which allows all players to play cooperatively with the app taking the role of the Overlord. I know quite a few people have bashed the use of software in boardgames, but I personally find it intuitive and enjoy the mix of mediums. There has been a lot of push back on the newly-announced Descent: Legends of the Dark for this very reason, but I for one believe it will be a huge selling point for my friends and myself, as it will allow us to play fully-cooperatively and enjoy the surprises that the storytellers have in store for us without one of us having to play the role of the baddie. Don’t get me wrong, I personally enjoy being the Overlord as much as any other guy, but I do appreciate that it is rarely a fair fight and it is extremely hard to balance asynchronous play.

Putting this little rant aside for now, I won’t go into details as to how we got to this point within the campaign so as not to spoil any surprises. I also purposefully chose a different base for this very reason, in case anyone with a really keen eye could spot the scene from it! Maybe I’m overthinking this.

At this point, the heroes are having a showdown with the campaign’s boss, Belthir. As the main lieutenant, he’s taking on all of us with the help of some shady Sorcerers (a note here: I am lucky enough to possess the entire collection of expansions of the game - I don’t know if everyone will have the sorcerers as the main mob here as well, but thematically I think it made perfect sense!)

Syndrael is a great warrior, but even she can’t keep such strong foes at bay.

Our main fighter, Syndrael, is taking heavy damage. Further back in the room, Andira the healer has barely enough time to bring the heroes’ health back up and deal the occasional blow.

Belthir is surprised by this unexpected attack!

But then, Vyrah the Falconer manages to sneak behind the enemy, ready to attack the main foe… When the Sorcerers spot him and stops him in his tracks!

Two Sorcerers manage to save Belthir at the last moment, putting Syndrael and Vyrah in grave danger.

With the fate of our heroes looking grim, it’s up to High Mage Quellen to save the day. He charges up his elemental magic and in one fell swoop manages to neutralise the leader of the Sorcerers, and deal enough damage to Belthir to prompt the villain to retire.

With Andira by his side, High Mage Quellen swoops in and starts chanting his elemental magic.

As soon as they see the brute leave with his tail between his legs, the remaining Sorcerers scatter, ready to regroup and attack the heroes once more when their strength and magic is replenished.

Unable to cope with the Mage’s power, Belthir decides to make a run for it, to the dismay of the Sorcerers around.

This is but one example of the kind of epic battles that the game can give us. They feel grand, meaningful and even if it’s a simple game, they bond us, the players, together even tighter. They provide stories that we can talk about for years, tales of bravery and luck and suffering - all from a bit of painted plastic and cardboard.

Hopefully with these few pictures and words I was able to make you curious about the game - or if you have already played it, think back to one of your epic tales from your own campaigns! I really believe that the paint on these minis pulls the scene together even further and helps with the immersion, so that’s a personal win-win scenario for me so as to enjoy the process of painting and playing in equal terms.

I hope you found this interesting and - why not - a little inspiring! I will see you next time with another deep dive on one of my lovely minis.

Cheerio!