Lair of the Boneripper, The Second Attempt

After Selketta met an untimely fate at the hands of the Boneripper, I decided to take another crack at the Solo Campaign with a new hunting party:

 

Solo Campaign Battle Report: Lair of the Boneripper

I'm taking a break from working on scenery to try out the Troggoth Slayers solo Warhammer campaign that GW published on the Warhammer Community website– with a few modifications, of course...

 

2015, Thank God That's Over

What a lousy year.

Looking back at my blog posts from the past year, there was a lot of substantial content. Not as much scenery as I would have liked, but some pretty decent modeling projects and tutorials.

In the real world however, things were substantially more dire. John Stewart and Steven Colbert leaving Comedy Central; the loss of celebrity icons like Leonard Nimoy, Wes Craven, Yvonne Craig, Christopher Lee, Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister; all the lives lost in the terrorist attacks... On the bright side, the US Republican candidates all seem determined to escalate to World War III, so I guess we'll have that to look forward to.

On the tabletop wargaming front, we got to witness the death of Warhammer as we knew it (and along with it, some pretty entertaining wargaming podcasts). I feel like the gaming community is still deciding where the fate of fantasy wargaming will fall– Age of Sigmar, 8th Edition, the 9th Age, Kings of War, something else perhaps?

Speaking from my own experience, my gaming group's hobby mojo was stagnated. One local shop had some Age of Sigmar preorders, but the Fantasy game night is dead and they are liquidating their Fantasy inventory. Another shop that I don't get to often enough seems to be switching to Kings of War, but I don't know if Age of Sigmar is altogether dead there. Some Warhammer podcasts are embracing Age of Sigmar, while others have ended, but I don't know of any NEW podcasts that started up since Age of Sigmar began. So, all in all, I can't really say whether Age of Sigmar is a success or not. I think (as I had predicted) it is likely a wash.

The Final Campaign Update

Our Campaign has officially crapped out. The last update was in September of 2014, but we've been trying to maintain progress. It's been slow going, to say the least, and I think we're finally at the point where we should just call it quits.

 

Our Players

Justin Cunnane: Chixl's Warhost (Lizardmen)

Jason Pierson: Waaagh Blackfang (Orcs & Goblins)

Rob Hawkins: Skryre Lord Skreekits' Lightning Engineer Cult (Skaven)

Turn 13

 

 

The Skaven besieged the city of Malko (territory 64) in an effort to wrest control from the Orcs. It was a massacre, the Skaven were unable to take the city and their banner was Scattered.

Atop his wyvern, the warboss readies his troops behind the walls.

 

Goblin war machines occupy the towers.

 

The Skaven battle line, ready for assault.

 

Warlord Skabsis and his Clanrats, carrying ladders.

 

Gutter Runners deployed, their poisoned slings at the ready.

 

Their siege tower destroyed, the remaining forces rush toward the walls.

 

In the end, the Clanrats could not take the walls.

 

The Skaven banner attacking territory 74 suffered horrible losses was also Scattered. Against the Lizardmen in territory 12, the Skaven sufferen only a minor loss– A difference of less than 300 victory points would have been a draw; Justin won by 396 points, so my army retreated back to the tower of Tor Anrok.

 

 

Turn 14

All-out war erupts across the Skaven and Orc front... But no one has any time to play.

 

 

In territory 75, the Skaven massacre the Orcs. Jay had been consistently taking a gigantic block of 70 Orc Boyz, a medium sized regiment of Black Orcs and a medium sized regiment of Savage Orcs. I managed to break the large block of Orc Boyz and inflict approximately half casualties on the other two units using the Plague spell and the new Stormfields' rattling cannons.

When I faced Jay again in territory 76, the battle was much closer. He deployed his Orcs in a semicircle around his Rock Lobbas in an effort to prevent me from attacking them with my infiltrating Gutter Runners. The Rock Lobbas killed my Screaming Bell on turn two. Then the Stormfiends tunneled up and shot up the Black Orcs, wiping them out over the course of a few turns. and over a few turns. Jay's Rock Lobbas scored 2 hits on the Stormfiends, but only inflicted 1 wound each time, which wasn't enough to kill even a single model. The Gutter Runners infiltrated turn on turn two, and by turn four had eliminated two of Jay's Rock Lobbas.

I had eight Warlock Engineers as chaff, and they were able to hold up the large Orc Boy unit and prevent them from getting too close. Jay tried to use the Hand of Gork spell to get them into position, but the unit was just too large to effectively position.

The Grey Seer, having survived the destruction of the Screaming Bell, moved over to my Skavenslaves and continued slinging spells like Plague. He scored a solid hit on the Savage Orcs and then it spread to the Orc Boys. The Savage orcs charged my Stormvermin, but my assassin failed to kill Jay's warboss, and the unit broke. The Stormfiends then shot them to pieces. The battle lost, the Orcs retreated to territory 79.

 

 

That's where we called the campaign. In the final standings, Jay's Orcs have the clear advantage with my Skaven coming in a close second. Justin's Lizardmen are third, with Josh's Ogres, Lou's Dark Elves, and Steve's Empire all eliminated respectively.

In retrospect, perhaps a good idea for future map-based campaigns would be to end the campaign once half of the players have been eliminated, rather than letting it limp along with only a couple remaining players who find themselves battling each other four or five times per turn. It also gives a bit of power to the the players who are in the middle of the pack, allowing them to play "kingmaker," so to speak. As the bottom tier is eliminated and the top tier scoops up large swathes of territory, a mid-tier player can strategically eliminate himself when one of his allies is on top.

In our case, that would mean that after Steve and Lou were eliminated, Josh or Justin could have dropped out, bringing the player eliminations to the halfway mark and ending the campaign, giving the victory to myself or Jay, depending on who was on top at the moment.

I think we were all getting fatigued with the campaign though, and then the End Times and end of Warhammer as we know it just killed any drive to do, well... anything for the hobby.

The Future of Warhammer

I've finished all of my outstanding Skaven modeling projects, so my attention has turned back to my Vampire Counts. Not sure where I'll land on the Warhammer front. The guys have been mostly against Age of Sigmar. I have yet to play a game using any of the army building comp packs. Hopefully those will allow for some balanced army machups. I've only got three Age of Sigmar games under my belt so far and, while they were all fun, they mostly felt like they weren't balanced– That is, the games were won or lost because the army builds weren't comparable.
 

Everyone talks about scenario play, and how the books contain all these great scenarios. So the game that boasts free rules is great if you purchase a bunch of $60 or $70 books. For me, that's never going to happen because I have ZERO interest in the story of the Age of Sigmar, and I can't justify that price for a few pages of scenarios. I just listened to Garagehammer's lackluster review of the Seraphon Battletome, and it gives me little hope that any of the armies from Warhammer will see any justice in the new age. Sure, the Slaan themselves have escaped the Old World and can call up their former legions from memory, or stardust, or whatever-the-hell, but what about the mortal races? Have your Empire or Bretonnian generals and heroes also slipped their earthly bonds and been magically transported thousands of years into the future? No? Then I guess they're just dead.

I can't remember if I said this in a previous post, but as far as I'm concerned, my armies' mythology is still rooted in the Old World. I'm fine with using Age of Sigmar rules to represent Old World battles, but the idea of my Skaven characters surviving thousands of years into the future, or even my necromancers and vampires existing eons later in the Realm of Death is kind of ludicrous.

A local store is trying to get regular Kings of War tournaments off the ground. They've been holding one each month, and I think they have a decent following. So I might try the Kings of War route. but even if that pans out, it will still be "pretend Warhammer." I'll be imagining that my army is still a force in the Old World squaring off against "Chaos Dwarfs invading Sylvania", instead of Abyssal Dwarves fighting in Mantica. Whatever.

On to 2016

A lot of my blog time this year was spent playing catch-up from missed posts. I think next year I'll be treating the blog as more of a project log, with weekly updates of whatever I'm working on, rather than holding out until I have full-blown tutorials and completed projects to post. And, of course, more terrain.

'Til next year!

Campaign Update: And Then There Were Three

With the Empire and Dark Elves eliminated from the campaign, that left four players. Unfortunately, Due to his commitments to work and family and the distance needed to travel to meet up for games, Josh had to bow out.

There are rumors of a great evil returning to the Old World. Through their haruspex, the Slaughtermasters recognize a power not seen for an age stirring back to life. Content to let the lesser beings squabble over their insignificant lands, the Ogres retreat to the mountains to prepare for what is to come.

I had put a rule in place that if anyone dropped out, rather than simply clearing their territory, the positions of their banners would be marked and a Difficult Terrain test would be required to enter a territory with a Maw symbol. This represents fighting through the remaining elements of the Ogre occupation, pushing through left over garrisons, breaking fortifications, and such. Once the roll is passed, the remnant militias are scattered and the test is no longer required to enter the terrain.

Our Players

Justin Cunnane: Chixl's Warhost (Lizardmen)

Jason Pierson: Waaagh Blackfang (Orcs & Goblins)

Rob Hawkins: Skryre Lord Skreekits' Lightning Engineer Cult (Skaven) 

 

 

Chixl's Warhost, having driven off the Dark Elves, took advantage of the Ogres' withdraw and push forward.

As Waaagh Blackfang worked to recover the razed lands and scour the filth of traitorous vermin from their realm, the Skaven secured the Gesteinmund Hills and Tor Anrock, and moved to snatch the city of Malko from under the Orcs' noses (or snouts?), but the Orcs were ready to stop their attack, and the two armies came to grips outside the city.

Jay and I met at the local shop to throw down. His army had a 200 point advantage from the fortified city, so it was 2200 points of Skaven vs. 2400 points of Orcs.

 

 

The majority of Jay's army was invested in a 70-man unit of Orc Boyz, flanked by large units of Black Orcs and Savage Ork Big 'Uns, and backed up by a battery of war machines and a giant. I held back and fired with 30 Jezzails and two Warpfire Cannons. I managed to kill the giant, but not before he drove off one unit of Jezzails. The large Orc unit was too much, however, and although I was able to whittle it down below 10 men, I could not fully destroy it.

 

 

The Doom Wheel charged the Savage Orcs, but was destroyed by his Boss's giant axe.

 

 

While the rest of my army chipped away at the Green Tide at range, the Stormvermin stayed as far away as they could from the Savage Orcs. Eventually, the Greenskins closed the gap and destroyed them.

 

 

The Foot of Gork stomped unit after unit, and was probably inflicted the most damage in the entire game. Jay threw six dice at it every time, and even though he never cast the spell with Irresistible Force, I was never quite able to dispel it when I needed to (and I was just commenting on how I never bother to take dispel scrolls).

 

 

At the end of of the day, the forces of the Lightning Engineer Cult were massacred, the Engineers run off, their machines shattered.

 

 

The city of Malko was now securely in Orc hands, and the Skaven would have to lay siege to the city's fortress. On the western front, the Lizardmen and Skaven were about to meet...

'Til next time!

Campaign Update: Casualties and Treachery

Our Players

Justin Cunnane: Chixl's Warhost (Lizardmen)

Jason Pierson: Waaagh Blackfang (Orcs & Goblins)

Louis Mule: The Murderous Legion (Dark Elves) 

Josh Affrime: The Horde of the Scorched Cauldron (Ogre Kingdoms)

Steve Stiefel: The Roving Province of Sigmarheim (Empire)

Rob Hawkins: Skryre Lord Skreekits' Lightning Engineer Cult (Skaven)

The campaign was put on hiatus for a while due to illnesses, work, and life in general. But now we're back up and running. Turns 10 and 11 occurred some time ago, and I've been waiting for turn 11 to resolve before posting an update.

When we left off, The walled city of Malko had been secured by the orcs of Waaagh Blackfang. The Roving Provence of Sigmarheim was cast out of their fortress at the hands of the green tide. The Dark Elves' Murderous Legion were racing back to their headquarters to liberate it from the clutches of Chixl's Warhost. The Horde of the Scorched Cauldron and Skryre Lord Skreekits' Lightning Engineer Cult were tangling in the northern territories. 

 

 

For complete coverage on the previous turns, click the Campaign label in the sidebar, or just click here.

Turn 10: The First Casualty

As everyone's orders were submitted and the army banners maneuvered on the map, we saw the Skaven moving to claim more territory in the north. The Skaven banner in the south had surfaced last turn, and now moved in to help the Orcs surround the Empire's headquarters. Since the Skaven Lightning Engineer Cult were allied with the Murderous Legion, the the Skaven banner on the western road sidestepped an Ogre banner on their march to assist the Dark Elves in the recapture of their headquarters. 

 

 

In the South, the remaining banner from the Roving Province of Sigmarheim assaulted its headquarters territory. The Orcs had a 400 point advantage in the battle, and Steve's army was massacred. With no headquarters to reform in, the Empire was eliminated from the campaign. Steve opted to keep his banner in play, retreating two territories. The Empire banner could no longer capture territories, or ally with other armies.

Justin's Lizardmen had moved in to try and assist Steve, but they met their own resistance from Jason's Orcs and were also massacred.

 

 

Turn 11: Treachery!

The underhanded Skaven struck a bargain with the Horde of the Scorched Cauldron. Betraying their alliance with Waaagh Blackfang, the Lightning Engineer Cult drove southward, invading the Orc lands. The Skaven banner on the river even Razed the territory, meaning the Orcs would need to take time to Recover the lands before it could again be counted toward their overall territory.

My Skaven banner, surrounded by Orcs, was outnumbered by 400 points. Even with those odds, I still managed to squeak out a draw. The key turning point of the battle was when I broke Jay's 50-man unit of Ork Boyz. It was a close fight but, in the end, the draw forced us to both retreat from the territory. My banner, with no friendly territory, was Scattered and reformed back in its headquarters.

 

 

The Murderous Legion was unable to recapture its headquarters, and Lou's Dark Elves bowed out of the campaign. The Orcs and Ogres had a minor engagement near the road, which drove off the Ogre banner.

 

So, at the end of the 11th turn, two armies have been eliminated. As the remaining four players move into turn 12, we will see how the alliances hold up. The Lightning Engineer Cult and Horde of the Scorched Cauldron have an alliance to push southward and overtake the territory of Waaag Blackfang, but the Ogre Kingdoms also have a pact with the Chixl's Warhost. At the same time, the Orcs and Lizardmen also share an alliance. If the Lizardmen are to break out of their corner, they may need to betray someone. Unless they are betrayed first!

'Til next time!

Campaign Update: Hanging by a Thread

Our Players

Justin Cunnane: Chixl's Warhost (Lizardmen)

Jason Pierson: Waaagh Blackfang (Orcs & Goblins)

Louis Mule: The Murderous Legion (Dark Elves) 

Josh Affrime: The Horde of the Scorched Cauldron (Ogre Kingdoms)

Steve Stiefel: The Roving Province of Sigmarheim (Empire)

Rob Hawkins: Skryre Lord Skreekits' Lightning Engineer Cult (Skaven)

Last time, I wrote about my crushing defeat at the hands of Josh's Ogre Kingdoms army, The Horde of the Scorched Cauldron. Jason fared a little better (well, a lot better) in his assault on Steve's headquarters. Waaagh Blackfang crushed their opponents, driving the Roving Provence of Sigmarheim out of their fortress. Steve's Empire gunline and Steam Tanks weren't able to inflict enough casualties to stop the onslaught of Jason's massive unit of Orc Boyz. In the woods west of Malko (Territory 63) the Orcs scored another victory. 

 

 

Both of Steve's banners were massacred, and with no headquarters in which to reform, they were utterly destroyed. Now, Steve finds himself in the same predicament as Lou, with three turns to recapture his headquarters.

 

That got me thinking about an alternative to being flat-out eliminated from the campaign once your headquarters and banners are gone. We are on the verge of losing two players, and we're only at the halfway point. The battles thus far have been at the 1000 point level, and will jump to 2000 points in turn 10, so they haven't even been able to play any full-sized games.

It's also no fun to sit it out out while the remaining players continue with the campaign for a few more months. I floated this idea past the others and they all agreed, so we've implemented the following rule:

When a player has no HQ, and their final banner is Scattered or would be otherwise destroyed, causing the player to be removed from the campaign, the banner instead retreats 2 territories into any unoccupied territory. If there are no unoccupied territories, it will retreat 3 territories instead.

 

The banner continues to follow all the rules for movement and Living off the Land, and retains its army's special campaign rules, but it can no longer capture territories or ally with other realms. It fights and retreats as normal, but if Scattered it instead retreats 2 territories, following the rules above.

 

Though the banner cannot formally ally, it may lend support to any one battle it is adjacent to, and may support either side, regardless of the alliance table. The banner represents the remnants of the realm's army, roaming the land as warriors without a kingdom.

This allows the player to continue participating in the campaign, moving around the map wreaking havoc, aiding previous allies where they can, or simply harassing the realm that knocked them out. With a single banner they can still issue orders, move and fight some battles, but not be in a position to affect the territory counts or win the campaign.

And with that, we've officially reached the halfway mark of the campaign. 10 turns remain. The walled city of Malko has been secured by the orcs of Waaagh Blackfang. The Roving Provence of Sigmarheim has been cast out of their fortress at the hands of the green tide. The Dark Elves' Murderous Legion are still a few moves from recapturing their own headquarters. Chixl's Warhost is slowly scouring the Dark Elf presence from their realm. The Horde of the Scorched Cauldron is steadily rolling down from the mountains. And Skryre Lord Skreekits' Lightning Engineer Cult is feverishly toiling away on some new monsters to unleash on the battlefield. (Hopefully I'll have some new Skaven models to show off soon.)

'Til next time!

Skaven Player Has Entered the Game

After eight turns of meticulous planning, maneuvering, and tunneling, the Skaven finally have enemy forces in sight! The tunneling banner successfully emerged to support the Orcs in their attack on the Empire headquarters. To the North, the Skaven have engaged the Ogres, and I got my first game of the campaign.

 

 

Josh and I met at the shop to throw down. 1100 points of Ogre Kingdoms vs. 1000 points of Skaven. 

 

 

I knew that if his army could get into combat with my rats, it would be over. I needed to whittle him down at range. Three Warlock Engineers to spam Warp Lightning, 24 Jezzails, and two units of Clanrats with Ratling Gun weapon teams should do the trick. 

 

 

...In theory. I found myself staring down a 12-strong unit of Ogre bulls containing the general and battle flag, an Ironblaster cannon, and a unit of six Leadbelchers. The Ogres had the first turn, and marched flat out across the field. The Leadbelchers and Iron Blaster began chipping away at my troops.

My magic phases were abysmal, with low rolls for the Winds of Magic dice preventing me from getting any spells off. Shooting wasn't much more effective, and the Ogres charged into combat before I knew it.

By the end of turn three it was all over. My trusty Warlock Engineer Skatarat, having been abandoned by the rest of the army, was fleeing the field with the Ogres in hot pursuit. The banner was Scattered, meaning he would have a long walk back to the Skaven headquarters.

 

 

Skatarat entered the Underhive, raving about the "Big-Things" to the West. Upon hearing this, Lord Skreekits ordered the immediate acceleration the current engineering projects. In laboratories buried deep below the earth, warpstone glowed, gears turned, bone saws hummed, and monstrous abominations stirred in the darkness...

Skaven runners from the Orc siege of the Empire headquarters were bringing word of the battle. Hopefully The Orc attack would prove more successful.

'Til next time!

Campaign Report: Let the Betrayals Begin!

Our Players

Justin Cunnane: Chixl's Warhost (Lizardmen)

Jason Pierson: Waaagh Blackfang (Orcs & Goblins)

Louis Mule: The Murderous Legion (Dark Elves) 

Josh Affrime: The Horde of the Scorched Cauldron (Ogre Kingdoms)

Steve Stiefel: The Roving Province of Sigmarheim (Empire)

Rob Hawkins: Skryre Lord Skreekits' Lightning Engineer Cult (Skaven)

With the Murderous Legion's massacre at the hands of the Chixl's Warhost, the Ogres of the Scorched Cauldron were rethinking their alliance with the Dark Elves. They had sent word to the Lizardmen of their intent to betray their allies in light of these "unforgivable" defeats.

Skink Priest Cha-Cha-Haman skittered around the great Slann, waiving a piece of leather. The "document" from the Ogres was crude, but spelled out their desire to turn on the wretched Dark Elves. However, no matter the attempts to communicate, the great Slann sat silent on his palanquin, eyes closed in the ageless contemplation of the Slann.

This decision would have to be made on his own. A large cart full of gold was already prepared to be sent to the Ogres. The priest still didn't understand the love of these worthless items, but it would be enough to ensure the loyalty of the Ogres.

"Send the cart and prepare the Warhost," he chirped to the nearest Kroxigor. There was work to be done.

With the orderes issued, The Ogres pushed south into the lands of the Dark Elves, claiming the tower of Tor Anrok for their own. The southernmost Ogre banner engaged the Dark Elves as they attempted to Fortify.

 

 

Lou definitely had a fight on his hands. He had lost enough territory that, win or lose, he would need to dissolve one of his banners. Having learned from his encounter with the Lizardmen, Lou went heavy with the bolt throwers and repeating crossbows. Assailing the enemy from afar with missiles and spells, he nearly destroyed them to a man (er, Ogre).

Josh's army was massacred, and retreated back to its headquarters. And, because his shrinking realm could no longer support it, Lou disbanded the banner in own own headquarters.

On another note– I had ordered one of my banners to tunnel underground (the Skaven special campaign rule) with the promise of supporting the Orcs in their coming siege of the Imperial headquarters. The banner would remain underground the following turn and could attempt to surface in any Razed territory on turn 9. I asked Jason if he would be kind enough to Raze some territory for my rats to emerge...

 

 

Recognizing his plight, Lou sent out a call for aid, and I replied as we moved into the eighth turn.

To his greatness Lord Skreekit,

I lead a great host of Druchii to the far west and my spies have informed me that your enemies have drafted the help of the ogre army. This makes a 3 way alliance against your 2. I'm sure your mightyness can defeat them all regardless but why not use more willing lackies to die in place of your skaven?
If you and your green friends would allow me to join your alliance I could be the knife in their backs as your hordes sweep them from the front.

When the humans , lizzies and ogres are crushed it will be every clan for himself of course.

See you on the battlefield,
Katienne Kinslayer

***
 

The Dark elf captain was in his tent, pouring over maps. Over his shoulder he heard the faintest sound- a breath, barely perceptible but to his elven ears. In a single motion, he turned, sword drawn. It was immediately met with the blade of a small cloaked figure, who seemed to have materialized from nowhere. A second dagger, gripped tightly by what must have been the creature's tail, extended from under the wretched thing's cape.

The Skaven assassin and Druchii stared at each other, eyes locked. Out of the assassin's sleeve, a small rat scurried across the floor and up onto the table. It was carrying a small scroll, and a pouch that jingled as he ran. Depositing the package on the table, the rat hurried back under the Skaven's cloak.

"For your masssster," the creature hissed. The Elf turned his head to look at the table. When he looked back, the assassin had silently vanished.

The Dark Elf emptied the contents of the coin purse. Shiny green stones, small gears, and many, many bottle caps spilled onto the table– the Skavens' "currency." The scroll read as follows:

Kinslayer-thing, we accept your offer of friend-making. Our engineers have been toiling for ages to build a time-travel machine. They are very close to success, and it will surely help you in your predicament. Until they are finished, we will make way with all haste to the West. Watch for our coming on the Old Silk Road.

We will make offer to the Green-things to help, but they are currently tied up with the Man-things in the South. Please accept these tokens of our good faith.

–Skryre Lord Skreekits

My Skaven would do all they could to aid the Druchi, if they could arrive in time. The Old Silk Road was many miles long, after all.

As Steve and Jason maneuvered around each other, Justin and Josh moved in for the kill. The Lizardmen attacked the Dark Elf headquarters with support from the Ogres.

 

 

The battle did not go well for the Dark Elves. Unlucky magic had Arnizipal's Black Horror wipe out about a fifth of their own army. Justin's Ripperdactyl riding Skink Priest, Pik-uh-Chu took out two bolt throwers, a Sorceress, and tied up a unit of crossbowmen single-handed!

When the dust cleared, Lou's army had been massacred and Lizardman glyphs were raised over the Dark Elf fortress. 

 

 

Lou's remaining banner was stranded. He had three turns to retake his headquarters, or he would be eliminated from the campaign. The Dark Elf banner and my Skaven banner were both in position to reach it in exactly three turns. Could we make it?

'Til next time!

Campaign Report: First Blood

Our Players

 

Justin Cunnane: Chixl's Warhost (Lizardmen)

Jason Pierson: Waaagh Blackfang (Orcs & Goblins)

Louis Mule: The Murderous Legion (Dark Elves) 

Josh Affrime: The Horde of the Scorched Cauldron (Ogre Kingdoms)

Steve Stiefel: The Roving Province of Sigmarheim (Empire)

Rob Hawkins: Skryre Lord Skreekits' Lightning Engineer Cult (Skaven)

(You'd think we were having a contest to see who can come up with the longest army name!) To see more about the players and their armies, check out last week's post.

When we left our intrepid generals, the headquarters of the Roving Province of Sigmarheim was under attack from Waaagh Blackfang:

 

 

Another thing worth pointing out on the map is the collision of Lou's Dark Elves and Josh's Ogres in territory 55. Their armies are allied, and obviously didn't coordinate their orders very well. Josh opted to yield to the Dark Elves and Hold on the road instead.

The reports have come in from the front– Steve's Empire have successfully staved off Jason's Orc attack. Jason learned firsthand the folly of attacking an Empire gun line in a fortified position with a 150 point advantage. His Orcs retreated, for the moment.

 

 

In the following turn, Jason ordered his banners to fortify their positions and moved his reinforcements forward. I strategically planned my Skaven's banner maneuvers to capture as much territory as possible in subsequent turns.

Josh moved his Ogre banners down the road. Allied with the Dark Elves, they are enveloping the territory of the Lizardman. Lou sent his legions forward, launching two attacks against Justin's Lizardmen.

 

 

The two battles were: 1000 points of Lizardmen vs. 1000 points of Dark Elves, and then 1300 points of Lizardmen vs. 1200 points of Dark Elves. Because of the small size of the games, Justin and Lou were able to play them back-to-back the same day.

The reports indicated that Lou underestimated the all-around toughness of the Lizardmen; he was able to throw out a ton of Strength-3 attacks, but it was all for naught against the high-Toughness Lizardmen. Combine that with a lot of bad luck (despite the ungodly amount of re-rolls that Dark Elves are entitled to) and you've got one lost battle. Justin's Bastilidon held up Lou's Hydra long enough to flank it with Kroxigors for the kill. The battle turned into an all out rout after Lou's Witch Elves were broken by a unit of Saurus warriors.

The second game was much closer, but two failed Stupidity tests cost Lou his Cold One Chariots. Lou tried to take advantage of his superior shooting but, playing a little too conservatively, he'd only brought two bolt throwers and 10 crossbowmen. Next time the gloves would be off!

Both games were massacres; The Dark Elf banners were annihilated. Lou barely had enough territory to reform them back at their headquarters. If he lost any more, his realm wouldn't be able to sustain three banners, and he would need to dissolve one.

Here's how things looked at the end of turn 6:

 

 

Te Skaven and Orcs are quickly gaining territory as the other realms fight over their close proximity. The alliances are still in effect (Empire & Lizardmen; Ogre Kingdoms & Dark Elves; Skaven & Orcs) but would they last?

'Til next time!

Map Campaign 2014, The Players

The map campaign I've been longing for is finally underway. Five of my friends and I have marshaled our forces and are ready for war! We are using the Border Princes campaign rules and map from the General's Compendium, an awesome supplement produced way back during Warhammer 6th edition.

For anyone unfamiliar with the campaign rules, here is a quick breakdown:

Each player has a starting headquarters territory and one "banner" representing an army. As they amass more territory they gain additional banners, at the rate of one extra banner for every 3 territories controlled. New banners spawn in the player's headquarters at the end of the turn.

In a campaign turn, the players issue orders –in secret– for each of their banners. Banners can be ordered to Move into an adjacent territory, Hold in place, or Fortify in place. They can also Raze territories to make the land useless to other players, or Recover a territory that has been razed.

The fun part (for me, at least) is seeing everyone's orders revealed on the map each turn– Playing a clever game of cat-and-mouse, trying to anticipate the opponent's moves and attack where he will be weakest, or consolidating my own banners to fortify against an upcoming assault.

Whenever a banner moves into a territory containing an enemy banner, or if two opposing banners move into the same unoccupied territory, a battle occurs and a game of Warhammer is played. Adjacent, friendly banners can help support, by adding 10% to the army's point value. The winner gains control of the territory, and the losing banner must retreat.

Our campaign will run for 20 turns, at the end of which victory points will be awarded for how much territory everyone controls. There are also a number of special territories that are worth extra points and have special rules during the campaign.

The Players

 

I asked everyone to put together a blurb about themselves and their armies, so, without further ado, let me introduce the participants:

 

Jason Pierson

"I've been playing some form of orcs for almost 18 years now. going back to late 2nd edition 40k, and 5th edition fantasy. Before that it was the Blackblood Orcs of the game Chronopia and way back before that it was when I started painting the orc figures from my copy of Heroquest. Growing up a Tolkien fan, I always had a soft spot for the penultimate antagonists. Morthak has always been a named character in all of my iterations of orc/ork armies through the years. He also ended up as my main in WoW. He's kind of become my green alter-ego." 

 

Waaagh Blackfang

(Orcs & Goblins)

The Spinesnappa Clan toiled about through history as nothing more than a nuisance to travelers and small villages. Their survival comprised mostly of the few scraps they could could scavenge and plunder in the wastes. Their relative isolation saved them from being pummeled into the fold of other, more prominent orc tribes.

The destiny of this nondescript clan would be forever changed with the coming of not one, but two orcs. One of them was a powerful conduit of the orc god's magic, and the other was a violently truculent beast with a peculiar mark that would become his namesake. These two would be remembered by scholars as Zargoza the Green and Morthak Blackfang, respectively.

Morthak and Zargoza started their lives no differently than any other among the Spinesnappas. However during a particularly distant raiding excursion they became caught up in a chase that would take them far from home, Their warband refused to relent until all were dead and pursued tirelessly until they found themselves the only ones alive in unfamiliar lands. Through the cunning of Mork and the might of Gork, they carved out an existence among the mountains and deserts. There they encountered tales of mighty orc armies and the destruction that they wrought. It became clear to them that this was the life a proper orc was to lead.

With that they made the journey back to the lands of the Spinesnappas, intent of starting a waaaagh of their own. What they found filled them with disgust. Lowlife scavengers and opportunistic plunderers abounded, and not one seemed to thirst for anything more. Bellowing with rage, Morthak stormed into the heart of the camp and began laying about in a bloody avalanche of rage. Orcs that cowered were butchered mercilessly, those that fought back felt a long forgotten instinct rising within them. Soon more than half of the tribe lay dead, but those that stood, swore their fealty to Morthak with the promise of more bloody carnage to satiate their now revived bloodlust.

So it is that the Spinesnappas have renamed themselves in honor of the large, black tusk that marks Morthak as a chosen vessel of Gork, and march to conquest behind he and Zargoza.

 

 

Justin Cunnane

"I play Lizardmen because they are so awesome! Dinosaurs riding Dinosaurs? Where do I sign up? Take my money, please! The true reason that drew me to the Lizardmen are the ridden and unridden monsters, their pure magical firepower, and their rock hard Saurus blocks. They're a tricky army to play, but can be very destructive in the right hands. I have been in the hobby for over 15 years, but am a more recent comer to the realms of Fantasy, being primarily a 40K player since the inception of 3rd edition. I'm excited for our campaign with old friends, and I'm sure it'll be a blast."

 

Chixl's Warhost
(Lizardmen)

Lord Chixl, Venerable Slann of the Tomb of Gold, has guided his forces across the great ocean to the land of the border princes. The ancient plaques have been further deciphered, and for reasons only known to the Lizardmen, they have moved a great warhost across the great ocean. It is known that Lord Chixl's force hails from the Northern Lizardman temple of Hexotal, located on the Isthmus of Phaux. These Lizardmen are known as enemies of the Dark Elves, and it's no coincidence they have arrived within close proximity of the raiding force of the Dark Elves.

 

 

Josh Affrime

"It has been a long time since I have played WFB and getting back in I wanted an army that I could potentially paint well and that might look cool. Plus stompy killiness is fun."

The Horde of the Scorched Cauldron
(Ogre Kingdoms)

 

The Horde of the Scorched Cauldron streamed out of the dusty mountains intent on plunder and the rich savory cuisine of the borderland marches. Led by the Slaughtermaster Kaga his nephew the Butcher Sakai and the dread Firebelcher Masahiko. They shall burn all they see and serve it with a fine wine!

 

 

Rob Hawkins

"I took up the mantle of the Skaven because their play style is completely different from my Vampire Counts. They run off the battlefield at the drop of a hat, and have a lot of shooting and wacky machinations that will either work perfectly or fail spectacularly. The army presents a lot of opportunity for unique conversions as well. I always get a kick out of running map campaigns– Seeing allies formed, and the inevitable betrayals that result.  Coordinating banners for support is key to winning the campaign, which means grabbing as much territory as possible!"

Skryre Lord Skreekits' Lightning Engineer Cult
(Skaven)
 

Skryre Lord Skreekits and his cult of lightning engineers have been toiling ceaselessly in the depths of their Under-Empire. Warp-fueled abominations and war machines are ready to be unleashed upon the Old World. 

 

 

 

Steve Stiefel

 

"I’ve been playing Empire since their big relaunch way back in 6th Edition. Back at Gamesday in Baltimore in 1999, I saw a preview of the metal Engineer model armed with the Hochland Longrifle held by an imp. I was hooked! When the new boxed set came out my buddy and I did the whole “buy two boxes-I’ll take the Empire, and you take the Orcs” deal. My Bretonnians, Wood Elves, and Dogs of War were immediately put on the back burner, (sounds familiar, right?) and I furiously began amassing my Empire army that quickly rose to over 2000 points in just a little over a month of non-stop modeling and painting.

 

"These days, that army started so many years ago has grown to over 10,000 points, fully painted, with a few thousand more in various stages of completion. This is actually representative of the Empire’s greatest strength– versatility. The map campaign gives me the opportunity to draw from my great selection of models that are as varied as the many different foes that I’ll be facing over the next few weeks."

 

The Roving Province of Sigmarheim

(Empire)

Pious and powerful, yet arrogant and rash, bristling with a power of faith unseen in even the most notable of the Sigmarite creed, a young warrior priest named Albrecht Hexenjaeger, set forth from Altdorf many years ago with a single purpose in mind– to raise an army of the faithful the likes of which the Empire had never seen. Unburdened by the Emperor’s tempered hand and the bickering politicians, unshackled by the constraints of the Church of Sigmar, he would take it upon himself to reclaim the lands that had fallen into the hands of the enemy. The evil. The weak. This would be done in Sigmar’s name, and His alone, as foretold by the twin tailed comet seen above Albrecht’s boyhood home and the voice in his head all those many years… 

 

 

 Louis Mule

 

"I started playing dark elves in 5th edition because they seemed most similar to my 40k eldar army (this was before they created the dark eldar). Also the background story of the elf civil war was always one of my favorite bits of warhammer lore. This campaign will be a good motivation to paint some of the newer units like Doomfire Warlocks and Kharibdiss."

 

The Murderous Legion

(Dark Elves)

 

A lone raven flies over the Druchii encampment and lands on the slender arm of Etienne Kinslayer, sorceress and twin to her brother Katienne Kinslayer . Her dear brother is "general" of this host he calls his Murderous Legion, but she is clearly the clever one of the pair. The scroll tied to the raven's foot has news about the results of her brothers latest tactical ploy. She ponders if she should pass on the information to the general or make some minor alterations first.

Born on Death Night and to lowborns did not help their prospects for glory, but their unprecedented victories in the Witch King's Murder Games made them the talk of Druchii noble society. Sponsorship and slaves were heaped upon them. Famed generals all vied for their enlistment but the Kinlsayer twins would not fight for another generals glory. Malekith, in a rare gesture of amusement and whimsy, ( and to humble his other generals a bit ) raised the Kinslayers to nobility and granted them rights to invade and conquer of the Border Princes in his name.

 

 

Deployment and Initial Turns

After meeting to discuss the rules over drinks and dinner we were ready to get started.  Only a few minor tweaks were necessary to bring the rules in line with the current edition and iron out a few rough spots.  Since some of us were starting new armies, we also set the points on a sliding scale, to incorporate a slow-grow aspect.  Starting out, banners represent 1000 point armies.  At turn 10 that increases to 2000 points, then 2500 points at turn 15.  

Next, we selected our headquarters territories, and got rolling.  As you can see from the deployment map, the Skaven were isolated in the Northeast with plenty of room to expand.

 

 

The first few turns flew by, as everyone moved out from their headquarters.  A few failed difficult terrain rolls aside, everyone had expanded enough to gain an extra banner or two.  The Orcs' special rule allows one of their banners to attempt a Force-March, potentially gaining two territories on its own.

 

Alliances were also swift in coming– The Dark Elves and Ogre Kingdoms have allied, as have the Lizardmen and Empire. The Orcs and Skaven have agreed to ally, split the map in half, and then fight it out once the others are defeated!

 

In turn 5, however, things got interesting. The Orcs were multiplying quickly, and made a beeline (squigline?) straight for the Empire's headquarters. 

 

 

Steve would have his hands full, but HQ territories count as Fortified, and combined with the Empire's special rule, his army would have a bonus of 250 points and extra defensive fortifications. It would be 1250 points of Empire vs. 1100 points of Orcs & Goblins.

Once battles start occurring, this is where campaign turns start to slow down. Rather than just emailing orders, players need to schedule their battles and play the games. I'll be posting updates as the campaign progresses, and I hope you'll follow along.

 

By the way, losing one's headquarters doesn't mean they're out of the campaign; the player has three turns to recapture it, and can't generate new banners until they do. Hopefully Steve can defend his headquarters and stay in the game!

'Til next time!