Redwake River Valley

This is the area where the current adventure is taking place. I've condensed strategic time so that the various encounters can take place in a single strategic turn. The valley is in the far south of the border of Altengard, where Altengard meets Capalan League territory and the Sea of Stryfe.
Ath Cliath - Altengard settlement. No news from the south in weeks. Caravans going south have failed to return. Civic leaders are seeking intrepid adventurers to investigate.
Forsetta - Altengard settlement. There is a significant Capalan community here. Fenmen from Forsetta know the Fens like the backs of their hands.
Black Mountains - Forbidding and uninhabited by civilised peoples. Almost totally impassable except at Ordin Pass or by following the headwaters of the Buri River.
Forsetta Fens - A desolate and unpleasant place reputedly occupied by trolls and worse, although the Fenmen have never encountered such creatures.
Silberry Ferry - A tiny Altengard settlement. The ferry can carry both passengers and livestock.
Mael Duin - A tall, isolated hill that affords excellent views of the Redwake and the Southern plain.
Stone Circle - An ancient and powerful ruin. Allegedly it predates the tribes that roamed Altengard before it became a Tropilium province.
Menglad - Tower of the wizard Heinrich Kemmler. Kemmler was a master of the Order of Magic in Altengard Proper but gave up the world of magic and politics to return to his home to help the peoples of the Southern plain.
Dumezil Hold - Ancestral seat of the Redwake Dumezils, a small Dwarf house. The Hold is accessible only by following following the stream up through the Black Mountains.
Fortrenn - A Silver Elf settlement. There are significant communities of both Altengard and Capalan humans. The town is renowned for trading fine Elvish wines and silks.
Ailech - Altengard settlement. There is a large community of Silver Elves here with a separate harbour. The port of Ailech trades with the nations all around the Sea of Stryfe. Rumours abound that the port has been recently attacked by Seniiran sea raiders.
Mount Borgann - Legend tells of a cave deep in the mountain that is the lair of an ancient red dragon.

Out of the Fens - Commentary

Fewer rule problems. Same trouble with amount of stuff on table.
Still, had some discussion about the melee rules, and the test of wills.
For combat, I'll need to remember to print of the adapted Chain Reaction Swordplay melee resolution for the next game and we can give that a try.
For test of wills may need to give the rules on stars a re-read. Because a star gets to choose the result on a test of wills (and a charge test for that matter) and I've been allowing the stars groups to go with the Star reaction then it's possible for the heroes to hold up a bad guy for two or three activations. I'll double check and it may be that bad guys will just need to make sure that they get within half move in sufficient numbers to carry a combat.
As for the lots of stuff on table, I'm thinking I should only have allowed Social Standing worth of CV each at the start, and then I can control opportunities to recruit. But they've all caught lung fever now so maybe I'll be able to pockle some CV away from the good guys.

Out of the Fens - Narrative

Having been slowed down by the swamp troll attacks the intrepid warriors and their retinues are forced to camp in the wetlands overnight. In the dank, dreary light of day as the mere-mists rise in the distance a village is spotted. There is however no sign of habitation. No people or animals go about their business, no smoke rises from the fireplaces of homes and cottages. This close to the Fen, perhaps it is difficult to work the land or swamp troll attacks have driven off the small folk.
All is not well. A movement is spotted by the group of to the right, but nothing is there. A fish or frog perhaps. Suddenly from behind some low hills, shapes are spotted... Goblin riders and their ever attendant foul spiders are moving at speed toward the Fen's edge and the group's safest exit. Swiftly the leading forces of the heroes' retinue prepare for the attack. Bows are readied and some of the riders even consider trying to mount up before the enemy meet them. Just as arrows begin to fly, again a movement is spotted, a splash in the water is heard, a shadow moves in the mists and suddenly as if from nowhere, ugly swamp-men erupt from the pools. The fighting is now desperate, and with arrows and javelins flying, the crack of gunfire, the flash of magic and the whinnying of scared and injured horses all around, two large bodies of goblins approach the heroes defensive position. Coming from the village and through the sparse copses of trees on the edge of the fen the greenskins get perilously close but as the heroes cut down the swamp-men and the goblin riders the goblin warband leader calls a halt to the assault.
The heroes have not escaped unscathed, some warriors lie wounded or dying and one of the horses has to be put down and it is now obvious that the Fens themselves have not allowed the heroes to escape unmolested. Many of the men show signs of lung fever and a stop in the village will be necessary...

Into the Forsetta Fen - Commentary

Another good game. Only one significant error. We've been doing combat a little wrong, using base to base combat and running multiple combats where figures are outnumbered. Apparently we should be adding all the dice together and then taking the result. Still a lot of CV on the table and I've now learnt that the bad guys need to work in efficient groups (with more shooty bad guys as well). The good guys are proving to be a little reticent in encounters so I think I may need to push them along a bit.

Into the Forsetta Fen - Narrative

The heroes have decided that the Forsetta Fen is the quickest way south. Hiring two guides at Forsetta, the heroes and their retinue head deep into the swamp. The fenmen advise the group to stay close together and not to wander near the deep meres, but in the water, below the surface, dark creatures hear the large group and move to feast. For a very long time swamp trolls had lived in the Fens, but the Fenmen had never travelled in large groups or near the deep meres (stupid Fenmen don't live long). The heroes were making noise, smelled of horse meat and straying close to the troll lairs. It was inevitable that the trolls would attack. Although the trolls attacked in small groups the heroes and their followers fell into a defensive formation and chose to let the trolls come to them. The troll attacks were broken up mainly with archery and sorcery, but even so the heroes' band would fall back rather than let the trolls close. In only one notable case did a troll make it to the distant heroes line and it was quickly surrounded and despatched by men-at-arms. Unfortunately for the warriors their hesitance and fear of the trollish menace meant that they were forced to camp in the cold, dank and fetid confines of the fen.