Never Mind The Bullockornis

With some new toys on the table for their photoshoot I thought that it would be rude to put them away without playing at least one game. So yesterday I set up this flock of eight Bullockornis ready to be hunted. They are herd grazers.

I sent five hunters after them, with a target of 6 bulk - so a total of three birds needed to be brought down. They were Club, Blonde Spear, Other Spear, Fire and Bow

The hunters spread out. Fire went wide to scare off a lurking predator. The two Spears went the other way; the plan was to rush the herd from opposite sides so that the birds would flee from one group into the other.

The birds got a little agitated, but stayed in place as the hunters moved into position.

Surprisingly one became aggressive and rushed Other Spear, who wounded it.

The two spears quickly dispatched the bird, but that caused the flock to scatter ...

Still aggressive one of them attacked Club, who ducked out of the way and then dispatched it.

Bow shot at another of the fleeing birds, wounding it. In the distance Fire kept a lurking Megalania away from the kills.

Bow finished off his bird, to give the group the three kills they needed. The Megalania slunk off, disturbed by Fire's shouting.

So the hunters picked up a relatively straightforward win.

I set up the game again, swapping Axe for Fire. The Megalania started a lot closer to the hunters this time. And the birds did less attacking and more stampeding, forcing the hunters to try and control them whilst being wary of the apex predator sniffing around their kills.

As the birds stampeded back and forth in a panic, the hunters found themselves in the way. Three of them were injured because they didn't get out of the way quick enough. This is a downside of the 'surround the herd' strategy - it's more likely to put hunters in the herd's way.

The hunters brought down two birds, but now the Megalania was in amongst them, and attacked Axe. Axe was injured but managed to inflict a damaging wound on the big lizard. The hunters switched to the big reptile and managed to inflict the last hit, giving them the bulk they needed, albeit with a lot more effort.

Anyway, the Bullockornis and Megalania looked great on the table.