Guards of Traitor's Toll: First (Solo) Run

As an avid player of both Test of Honour and 02 Hundred Hours, the release of Guards of Traitor's Toll intrigued, but did not initially grab me. Then around March I started pondering, and before I knew it I had committed to a new project. Traitor's Toll is my first fantasy wargame although I have in the past done some sci-fi (Aeronef and its derivatives), and I'm actually not that deep into the Discworld series that inspired it either; I really was just drawn to the mechanics and aesthetics. So, I made a few orders, and then after a couple of months of preparation, I felt like I could do a solo run of the Training Mission.

For those unaware, the premise of Traitor's Toll is that players take on the role of the city watch and deal with a series of crimes and crises over the course of the game, all while civilians mill about and offer both help and hindrance. Suspects will also emerge from the civilian population, be they thieves, murderers, arsonists, or the occasional rabid goose. Players have more or less full control of their guards and can have some influence over the civilian population, but suspects have their behaviours fully automated. Thus, the game is a solo/co-operative one for up to four players rather than involving two directly contesting forces; players are trying to be the most successful in solving cases and catching criminals rather than attacking each other (which they cannot do).

The rulebook comes with seven missions: the Training Mission, Patrol Duty (a 'generic' mission whose contours are determined by a Major Plot card shuffled into the deck of possible Plots to resolve), and a five-mission narrative campaign. Naturally, the Training Mission seemed to be the place to start. This takes place in the outlying village of Gallows Halt, where the guards have been called in to inspect some suspicious crates for smuggled goods.

The Setup

Following the suggested layout in the book I ended up with this: a few houses (courtesy of Mad Bob's Folding Terrain), some clumps of trees round the edge, and barrels and crates and other goods scattered about. Four specific crates were considered suspicious.


My five guards, sponsored by the Baron's illegitimate daughter, Lady Eryka. For this mission I was allowed one ranged weapon so I brought the crossbowman along.

The Game

The first plot that comes up in the Training Mission is to search the suspicious crates until someone finds #4. I sent my lantern-bearing guard over to the nearest set of crates, and... oh that was quick.

Unlike the usual rules, a new Plot is played immediately, and a Violent Suspect in the form of an irate actress leapt out and assaulted my crossbowman. This caused him to defend himself, which succeeded at the cost of taking one of his actions for the turn.

My torchbearer, meanwhile, decided that the sensible option was to get as far away as possible.

On the next turn, the crossbowman stepped back, took aim, and his shot went wide. Blast!

However, his dwarven comrade was rushing in as fast as his little legs could carry him!

But meanwhile, things were becoming more complicated, as the priestess on the road turned out to be part of the smuggling ring, and ran off in a mad panic. My goal would be to arrest her before she made her escape.

Fortunately, my lantern-bearing guard rolled well for movement, and, assisted by a local militaman, succeeded in grabbing her... just not in actually making an arrest.

Over by the taverns, though, my two guards were having real trouble against the violent suspect, who inflicted a light wound on the crossbowman.

The militiaman walked off, but my guard was still able to knock the suspect to the ground.

And on the next turn, the violent suspect was still standing, although she had now taken a light wound.

Yet the fleeing suspect remained slippery. 

At long last, a decisive hit on the violent suspect freed up my guards over there.

I managed to forget to take any photos, but the fourth and final plot involved a sneaky suspect who would act incognito until spotted, and then also start legging it and would also need to be arrested. My torch-bearing guard, long stuck at the table edge, now leapt back into action and spotted the man at the crossroads.

On the next turn, Mr. Sneaky Man decided to run in the direction of the gibbet – an inauspicious portent if ever there was one.

My torchbearer, naturally, decided not to catch up. Most actions involve a 4" move, but each die has two 'foot' faces that, depending on the action, grant +1 or +2"; some of these guards rolled nothing but feet, but this one decided at this moment to roll none of them.

Nevertheless, on the next turn her pursuit succeeded and that was another suspect dealt with. 

Over on the other side though, the priestess had managed to get up and was rushing towards the corner of the table. This absolute dud roll was what happened when my crossbowman tried to take a pot shot at her.

The situation when I decided to end of the game and grab dinner. The fleeing suspect needs to get off the table at either of the signs, but at this point she's so surrounded that it seemed like success would happen barring some real fluke. Still, even if we don't count that I'd resolved three of four plots, which doesn't seem half bad.

Reflections

I don't think it's sunk cost fallacy speaking when I say I had a pretty good time with this. I won't claim that I had an absolutely mindblowing experience but it wasn't the 'main' game as such, and I don't usually play solo either. Three things stood out to me:

  • This really does need to be played with a QRS to hand, at least when starting out – each different action is associated with a different set of skill checks and modifiers and I found myself going back to the rules nearly every time I drew a token. Thankfully there is one.
  • I probably need to have a set of post-its telling me which guard's card corresponds to which model, because each has subtly different stat levels across the five ability categories (usually 4 in two of them, and 3 in the rest). The roster sheets (which I got a set of) may be quite useful for this too.
  • Ganging up on a target really does seem to be the way to go, from a combination of the Test of Honour-style 'activation economy' where a fight will usually go in favour of which side has more actions to spend on it, and the fact that you get extra dice for having more guards (and even supportive civilians) in the vicinity of the one making the action.
Not sure when I'll get another game in but hopefully soon, and hopefully with another player involved!

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