My main focus in 2011 was campaign play and I see that continuing in 2011. I’ve played campaigns in Warmachine, Horde and Flames of War. I’ve also done quite a bit of painting this year. Here are a few samples -

I didn’t make that much terrain last year. I made the Jailhouse, some Fences and some fortifications for Flames of War. I’d like to improve on that for next year.

I also did the Wargames Audit which was a great exercise. On the back of it I am determined to concentrate on my three core games of Warmachine/Hordes, Flames of War and Malifaux in 2012. I don’t see myself starting any new armies other than adding to my US WWII army. I have good faction coverage in Warmachine (Khador, Mercs and Cryx) and Hordes (Legion) and until I get more games of Malifaux played there is no point adding more models. I have the Puppet Wars models and the Dead Justice crew to paint anyway. My painting list is under control and I’m happy with the progress I’ve made.

In 2012 I’m looking forward to extending the Malifaux VASSAL module and getting more Malifaux played. I’d also like to run a Flames of War campaign based on some of the fighting in the Hürtgen Forest. I’m going to focus my Press Ganger activity on a new store that opened in my home town recently. I think the IK RPG may pique my interest in 2011 too, but I’m not really a roleplayer!

Happy New Year,

Owen

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Tonight’s Flames of War game against Peter was great fun. We played the Cauldron scenario with my fortified Hoch und Deutschmeister force defending. I started the game with lots of barbed wire sections, some HMG nests, a Panzer II turret, a platoon of Panzerknacker Rifle/MG troops and my company commander. I kept my three Panzer IV Hs in ambush and the rest of my force (two Rifle/MG platoons, Mortars and Nebelwerfers) were in delayed reserve.

Peter had three platoons start the game, mostly on my right flank – five Stuarts, Pioneers and Riflemen.

The game started with my tanks taking out a Stuart and bailing another. Then I managed to cause heavy losses to the Rifle platoon. Pretty good going. I took pot shots at the dug in and gone to ground Pioneers with my main guns on the Panzers. This offered a side shot to the Stuarts who bailed two and caused the other to break! Things were suddenly looking bleak…

I managed to hold off for a while, but the Stuarts were able to rampage through my army unchecked.

It was a really fun game and finishes out our Infantry Aces campaign (kind of ironic that the tanks had such a strong role in the final game!). It’s been great fun, though both mine and Peter’s Aces were destroyed in this game. I think I’ll dig out my notes on the Hürtgen Forest campaign and prepare something for a few months time.

Until next time,

Owen

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I’ll ditch the fortifications for the next game in favour of some more open play. I think both of our Aces can take advancements again – I’ll stick with the leadership track.

Until next time,

Owen

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In game two fortunes were reversed when one of Peter’s platoons Truscott Trotted into the face of an ambushing Rifle/MG platoon. They were decimated by the incoming fire. From there he had little chance to recover and the game went my way. We gain a skill having achieved 5 Infantry Aces points each. I think I’ll go the leadership route.

I’ve started constructing my fortifications. Here the list I’m planning to use next (built using the excellent Easy Army) -

Owen

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Game 1 – Chance Encounter at Orosk

The blizzard had finally abated. The frozen hills were no place to be stuck in the middle of a snow storm. The first snows of the season had taken the Menites by suprise and they were ill prepared for the turn in the weather. Their supplies were far behind them and the rough terrain meant it would be evening before they would catch up. In their haste to get to Orosk the Harbinger had left Reznik and half their forces with the baggage train. She regretted that now as she shivered on the ridge overlooking the village. She had paused here to survey the apparently deserted hovel. All seemed quiet, indeed not a single peasant could be spotted in the area. No fires seemed to burn in the hearths of the homes here. The only life visible were the crows congregated on the buildings and trees. Ranging ahead of the main forces the Avatar of Menoth stopped. The lone Idrian scout the Harbinger had brought north from Lael could now be seen running from the trees to the east of the village. He was waving and even from this distance it was obvious that something was wrong. Suddenly two plumes of smoke rose from the centre of the village. From behind one of the houses a Juggernaut moved. The huge Warjacks frame shuddered with the movement. Ice could be seen breaking off the oddly grey coloured hulk in huge chunks. So the village wasn’t as empty as they had hoped.

Game 1 Battle Report

Game 2 – Noon at Orosk

The Temple Guard had pulled back and formed up in a defensive line along the ridge overlooking the hovels that made up Orosk. A makeshift barricade had been erected from the fallen trunks of two trees, pulled into place by Crusaders. Small fires had been set up behind this in an attempt to keep the troops warm. The Harbinger suspected the Temple Guard had used some of Menoth’s sacred fire but she forgave the insult. At this point staying warm was too important. The khadorans had also pulled back towards the centre of the village. With no wall surrounding the place it would be hard to defend, thought the Harbinger. A simple flanking move while engaging them lightly elsewhere should sweep them aside. The snow had picked up again and covered the tracks and remnants from the battle. Here and there some blood could still be seen, colouring the snow a disturbing pink. The Avatar had been salvaged but without the Mekaniks who were accompanying the baggage train nothing could be done to prepare it for battle. One of its legs was badly damaged as were the actuators in its shoulders. It would be days before it could be returned to action. The Idrian Scout had been sent to meet Reznik and to order him to speed up and come upon the village from the west. Her zealots had formed a screen in front of the lines ready to disrupt any response from the village. Now she just needed that damned Reznik to get here before the khadorans came at her again.

Game 2 Battle Report

Game 3 – Slaughter at Orosk

Smoke rose from the centre of the village. Something was burning but the Harbinger coudn’t make out what. The snow swirling around had reduced visibility to the point that seeing the smoke was almost impossible. Reznik should still be circling around Orosk she thought. The smoke told her otherwise. It looked like the situation was turning, Reznik had gone in alone and now was paying the price for his impetuousness. Quickly she assembled a paltry force from what she had. The Avatar was still being repaired so he was no use, the damage from the morning had been far more extensive than initially thought. All that was left in terms of Warjacks were an old Crusader, a Revenger and a Guardian. The Crusader was a sad reflection of its former glory but the old battlehorse wasn’t ready to be scrapped just yet. He had accompanied her from Sul if she remembered correctly. Back then the ‘jack was fresh from the Vassal Mekaniks assembly plant. In terms of infantry should couldn’t justify bringing everyone. The Templeguard would be used to hold the line on the ridge so that they could make an effective retreat if needed. The zealots wouldn’t be much use in defense so she called to their leader to assemble. If only the Errants had arrived she could storm the village and wipe out the defenders. Now she needed to be cautious and tentatively test the defences in the hope she could get to Reznik in time. With the ever ready zealots and her bodyguard of Paladins she descended from the ridge to discover exactly what was transpiring in Orosk.

Game 3 Battle Report

Enjoy!

Owen

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Game 2 Overview

Scenario: Killing Field (from Prime MkII)

I really missed the ranged elements of my army in this game. I barely dented Phil’s force and ultimately it was the Sunburst of all things that finished me off! In the last game my Marksman took out the Sunburst by himself, but I had no such option in this game.

Severius (and Phil!) proved too much for the Butcher’s slow moving army. I wasn’t aggressive enough – I should have moved up faster. I didn’t. As it was I was blasted with spells and then the Sunburst – that’s about the sum of it. That said I did manage to take out the Templar, so at least that’s something!

From a campaign perspective it’s all square with a game a piece, but Khador is ahead in the attrition game.

Owen

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Campaign Overview

The Menite Incursions campaign is set in eastern Khador with forces from the Northern Crusade moving from Llael into Khadoran territory. The battles in this campaign take place near Fort Bruzig. The Khador forces are jus protecting their lands, but the Menites have are attempting to move north to retrieve and destroy the Scourge Bringer pieces. This campaign is part of the Orgoth Legacy campaign.

Game 1

Scenario: Killing Field (from Prime MkII)

	Deployment Armies: Phil’s army comprised Feora, 2 Repenters, a Revenger, a max unit of TFG with UA, a min Choir, a Sunburst, 2 Vassal Mechanics and three Wracks. My army had the Butcher, a Juggernaut, a max unit of IFP with UA, a max unit of Shocktroopers, a Marksman, a Manhunter and the Wardog. You can see the deployment in this image.
Round 1 Not a lot to report in the first couple of turns. Both sides moved up rapidly, while keeping an eye on the scenario points.
	Round 2 Things hotted up this round. The Menites blasted several Iron Fangs apart at range and Feora put a wall of fire to prevent the rest charging. On the left the Manhunter charged the Flameguard to stall them, but he was a fraction out of range. The Marksman grabbed the scenario point on the right and picked off one of the Sunburst crew. The Butcher moved back into the middle of his force and camped focus again.
Round 3 There was a lot of melee in this turn, but it started with Feora arcing spells at the Iron Fangs killing several, but there were still enough to scrap the offending Revenger and deal some damage to the Repenter. One of Feora’s walls of fire prevented the Shocktroopers from doing much. The Temple Flameguard dispatched the Manhunter and the Juggernaut remained on the left to stop them sweeping in from that flank. The Marksman picked off another Sunburst crewman and snagged another control point.
	Round 4 I hate Feora’s feat and it hit this round. It finished off the rest of the Iron Fangs, but at least I took out the Repenter that foolishly charged the Butcher. The Shocktroopers took a small amount of fire damage and moved to block the Flameguard on the and the approaching Feora in the middle. On the right flank the other Repenter moved to engage the Marksman, but failed to hit him. The Marksman survived the free strike to move out of the wood and shoot the Sunburst.
Round 5 This was the final round – it saw the Repenter on the right finally blast the Marksman. Feora mistakenly charged the Shocktroopers, killing one. Realising the error Phil ran the Choir to engage the Butcher, but he laughed off the freestrikes as he charged into Feora. I boosted his attack roll, ut somehow managed to miss! The followup attacks were more than enough to strike down the Priestess of the Flame.

As this was part of an ANNIHILATION campaign every lost model hurts. I was down all of my IFP, most of my Shocktroopers, a Marksman and a Manhunter – Ouch! Phil was down a couple of ‘jacks and a few minor bits an pieces. So, we ended with a win to Khador, but at what cost?

Owen

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Here is an update to the two player ANNIHILATION campaign system based on a lot of play testing recently. This new version includes rules for models that bring other models ‘Back from the Dead’.

• ANNIHILATION v1.2

Feedback and experience would be most appreciated.

Owen

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The Orgoth Legacy Overview

It all began with an opportunistic campaign that I played with Clay and Dan in Orlando late last year called Scourge Bringer. The idea of the narrative campaign is simple – every campaign, a sequence of at least a few games would carry the story forward a little. Scourge Bringer began it all with a mad scramble between three powerful warlocks/warcasters for pieces of a powerful Orgoth Weapon, the Scourge Bringer. Thagrosh and the Legion of Everblight won out after three hard fought games and won this dubious prize. Dubious for it is a weapon, that once assembled, has the power to slay a dragon. As Everblight is still gathering strength he ordered his minions to keep the weapon pieces separate and keep them safe.

To that end Vayl spawned three unique beasts in the Shard Spires (Northern Khador) and installed a weapon piece in each. These bestial vessels were continuous eroded by the weapon, but were designed to regenerate rapidly. For additional security each beast was frozen in the core of a glacier, but before the final beast named Vylodectes could be entombed the Legion were set upon by the audacious Cryx. Enter the Frozen North campaign, a part of the Cryxian Ambition arc. The forces of Cryx clashed with the spawned beasts initially resulting in a vicious stalemate. However, the Nightmare Empire overcame the Legion forces, destroying Vylodectes and seizing the weapon. Traveling through Khador is hazardous and the Cryxians have clashed with Pirates (The Landing), Trollbloods (Flanking Move) and finally each other (Power Struggle; yet to be played). The great draconic powers now possessed pieces of this most dangerous weapon.

However, Legion and Cryx aren’t the only factions with an interest in the Scourge Bringer. Recently the religious zealots from the Protectorate of Menoth have begun moving into Southern Khador as they begin moving towards what they view to be an abominable creation. They seek to use the power of their creator to purge the Scourge Bringer from Caen.

The interests of the enigmatic Skorne are less easy to decipher. They have clashed with the forces of Legion as they too show their interest in the ancient weapon.

Progress to date

Here’s a breakdown of the games played to date.

• Scourge Bringer (three games; Legion vs Khador vs Circle; Vescheneg Headlands) – COMPLETE
• Cryxian Ambition (eleven games)
• The Landing (one game; Pirates vs Cryx; Outside of Ohk) – COMPLETE
• Frozen North (ANNIHILATION team campaign (five games); Legion vs Cryx; The Shard Spires) – COMPLETE
• Flanking Move (ANNIHILATION campaign (four games); Trollbloods vs Cryx; Scarsfell Forest) – One game left
• Power Struggle (one game; Cryx vs Cryx; Outside of Ohk) – Not played yet
• Menite Incursions (four games)
• Near Fort Bruzig (altered ANNIHILATION VASSAL campaign; Protectorate vs Khador) – One game left
• Inflicted Pain (four games)
• Near Bloodsmeath Marshes (ANNIHILATION campaign; Skorne vs Legion) – Two games left

So, the campaigns are progressing well and I’m getting lots of games played. Once the Cryxian Ambition arc is finished I’ll figure out where the story can go next.

Owen

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The idea behind this is pretty simple. Campaigns usually fail because they involve too many players and take too long to play. I wanted a campaign that wasn’t going to fall into those traps. Enter the idea of a narrative campaign. It’s simply a story arc to house several smaller campaigns.

The Orgoth Legacy is such a narrative campaign. At the moment it is the story that houses Scourge Bringer (bespoke campaign), Frozen North (ANNIHILATION derivative), a campaign between the Legion and Skorne (standard ANNIHILATION), a campaign between Khador and Menoth (VASSAL-based ANNIHILATION), and a campaign between Trolls and Cryx (standard ANNIHILATION). All of these factions are being drawn into a fight over this powerful weapon.

As each campaign is only 3-4 games they are fairly easy to run and the results are fed into the overall story. Will the Cryx be able to sieze a weapon piece from Legion? Will the Menites be able to make their way north through Khador? What is the Skorne’s interest in this weapon? Will the kriels of southern Khador be overrun by the advancing Cryx?

All simple story tangents that feed into the overall arc.

Owen

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Vylodectes (yeah, yeah - I know it's a Scythean!)

Background

Vylodectes is a masterpiece of Everblight’s ingenuity. It is a vessel for a piece of the Scourge Bringer, an Orgoth-created weapon with the power to destroy a dragon. The merest touch of even a shard of this weapon is enough to corrode dragon and dragon spawn flesh. That Everblight was able to guide and instruct Vayl on how to spawn a living ark to contain it is something he is most proud of.

Vylodectes is the last dragon spawn created to house the third and final piece of the weapon. Everblight realised quite early that these unique creatures would have to regenerate the wounds inflicted by their encumbrance. This process produces a caustic bile, a combination of decayed blighted flesh and corrosive Orgoth magics, that must continuously be expelled from the creatures. However, this process cannot last indefinately and without the healing powers of a warlock the creatures would eventually succumb to Scourge Bringer.

To stall this decay, and prevent the weapon pieces from reuniting, Everblight has entombed each creature in a glacier separated by hundreds of miles of near impassable mountains. This hibernation suspends the creature in a frozen state. Vylodectes is about to share in the fate of its siblings, Xytodectes and Zyntodectes, and be placed in its icy tomb to be awoken when Everblight wills it.

Rules

Vylodectes has the same stat card and rules as the Carnivean with the following exceptions:

• As well as the Eyeless Sight and Pathfinder advantages Vylodectes also has Immunity: Cold
• Replace the Dragon Breath ranged attack with Caustic Bile RNG 8, ROF 3, AOE 3, POW 14; Damage Type: Cold and Continuous Effect: Corrosion. Special Rules: Vylodectes must make an attack with Caustic Bile each activation. If for any reason it cannot make this attack (for example it runs) it suffers d3 damage points at the end of its activation. When Vylodectes is forced to make an additional ranged attack it immediately suffers d3 damage points.
• Vylodectes does not have a Bite attack and its Talons are P 3, P+S 15
• Gunfighter – This model is a gunfighter. The
  gunfighter has a melee range of 0.5″ and can make ranged
  attacks targeting models in its melee range.
• Virtuoso – This model can make melee and ranged attacks during the same combat action. When this model makes its initial attacks, it can make both its initial ranged and melee attacks.
• Regeneration [D3] – This model can be forced to heal d3 damage points once per activation. This model cannot use Regeneration during an activation it runs.
• Vylodectes also has Assault, Blood Creation and Soulless
• Replace the Spiny Growth animus with Excessive Healing (COST 2, RNG Self, AOE -, POW -, UP No, OFF No) – When this model is damaged by an enemy attack, immediately after the this model heals d3 damage points. Excessive Healing lasts for one round.
• Vylodectes is PC 12 and FA C

I hope you enjoy fielding this unique creature. All feedback appreciated. It’ll be used in the upcoming Frozen North campaign.

Owen

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This was the third and final piece. Vayl had successfully embedded the other two into creatures spawned in her master’s draconic image. There were several failed attempts before the first creature was created. The Scourge Bringer pieces decayed the body and minds of draconic spawn and developing a suitable vessel had required all of her sorcerous abilities. Each newly spawned creature would bubble and dissolve before her eyes until only the weapon piece was left in a pool of ichor.

Three months had passed since the first success. The haft of Scourge Bringer was installed into a new creation and then buried in the heart of a glacier. Everblight knew the danger this weapon represented to himself and other dragon kind. He was tempted to wield it against Toruk, but he needed time. Time to understand this weapon, time to tame it. The first step was to contain its contagian. He had a great patience that no mortal, not even his most powerful servants, could understand. He would wait. The weapon’s time would come.

Vayl’s final creature was a masterpiece. Everblight had maintained an almost continuous link with her while she carried out this most important work. His influence was apparent not only in this creature’s appearance, but also in demeanor. It had a cunning and will not usually present in the spawned creations. It was almost a shame that its fate was to be buried in a glacier like its siblings. The creature was all muscle, sinew and fangs, with a malice that Everblight suspected was a symptom of the weapon fragment at its core.

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Game 1: Smash and Grab

Clay and Dan picked me up from my Condo and we headed to Phoenix Games (in West Orlando) for the first game of the campaign. After a quick recap of the rules we setup and got stuck in. Dan’s three piece circle force (Kromac, Feral Warpwolf and Warpwolf Stalker) got the first turn and he craftily used a push and his speed to get the Feral Warpwolf right up to the Scourge Bringer marker. Gabbing the marker and taking it to the Southern edge of the table was one of the possible victory conditions. I slammed the Warpwolf back a few inches with my Teraph and moved my force up (pThagrosh, Carnivean, Teraph, Shredder, Shepherd, Feralgeist) apart from the Shredder who moved towards Clay to discourage his Manhunter who Advance Deployed towards my force. Clay moved up slowly (his Kahdoran force couldn’t do much else!) and the Manhunter ran to engage the Shredder.

Game 2: King of the Hill

We headed across town (after a slight detour for lunch to Hamburger Mary’s) to the Amorous Armadillo in East Orlando for the second game. I only took one picture here as I forgot about the camera (duh!). It was another closely contested game, but there was a problem with the scenario (or how we played it) that made it too easy to win on scenario points. Dan and I got into it quickly with Dan making a charge at the Carnivean with Kromac. He just filed to kill it and left himself exposed to a countercharge from Thagrosh. The Legion warlock took him down and that left the game to just me and Clay.

Game 3: Earth Quake

Thagrosh was wounded and his force decimated, but he walked away with the Scourge Bringer…

Owen

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Temptation

The dust swirled as the Angelius and Seraph dispatched by Everblight descended to Thagrosh’s side. Soon he would heal his wounds by absorbing their fury. Everblight hoped his pawn would have the strength to resist the temptation of the mighty weapon he had just won, for the alternative was too terrifying to contemplate. Thagrosh was usually consumed by an animalistic euphoria after battle, allowing himself to revel in the baser aspect of the his ever present master. However, Everblight sensed that his mind was not as singularly absorbed. Another voice tugged at him. This ancient weapon, even in it’s shattered state had a malignancy that gnawed at all who possessed it. It eroded the clarity that Everblight normally maintained.

First Thagrosh needed to be protected. This weapon has a powerful sway on those near it and even a servant as stalwart as Thagrosh required shielding from it. He was alone, the battles to retrieve the weapon having destroyed his force and the winged beasts were now spent. Everblight flooded his prophet’s consciousness with images from his other minions, while at the same time sending them towards him. Scores of beasts on the move accompanied by blighted Nyss and other creatures of his creation; this legion was mighty and he hoped to overwhelm Thagrosh’s mind, distracting him from the lure of weapon.

After playing through the campaign I updated the rules slightly. They can be downloaded here – Scourge Bringer – Campaign Rules v1.1.

Owen

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Steve had his Madrak led Trollbloods. The army included a Mauler, Impaler, full unit of Warriors and Caber Tosser. He used the same force in all three 15pt games, as did I. My army was Thagrosh, Carnivean, Teraph, Shredder, Sheperd and Feralgeist.

After the run-through I updated a couple of rules, specifically around what happens to the Scourge Bringer marker if it is not picked up by the time the game is won, or was picked up by a faction that lost the game. I’ll update the rules on the website once the campaign has been played out next weekend.

Steve beat me in each of the three games. I think my problem may have been trying to snatch the Scourge Bringer marker early in each game. I won the starting roll in every game and opted to go first. This may not have been the best tactic as it stretched me forward and gave the Trolls the opportunity to charge on Turn 2! Here’s a brief description of each game.

Game 1
This game was very interesting for the placement of the marker – in the middle of the stone columns it was hard to maneuver around. The goal of this game was to grab the marker and take it off the southern edge (randomly determined and not on a side with a player deployment) or ‘caster kill. Steve and I forgot the ‘drag’ rules, where warlocks within 6″ of the marker may be dragged up to 2″ directly towards it. This represents the powerful lure of the weapon and would have really hampered their movement.

I managed to grab the marker with the Carnivean and it immediately suffered -1 to SPD. Doh! That was very debilitating and was going to make it difficult to get off the board. Steve surrounded my position. I managed to get through the Kriel Warriors, but the beasts and Madrak were a different matter. The only real damage I did to the trollkin warlock was from Bad Blood, which I cast on the Mauler and upkept all game. In the end Steve cornered Thagrosh and Grievous Wounds prevented me from transferring damage.

Game 2
Game 2 started much more promisingly. I grabbed the marker with the Carni again and was making a dash towards the table edge. However, here’s where this being 2-player rather than 3 caused a problem. This game is a King of the Hill scenario and Steve moved Madrak up onto the hill and started to accrue scenario points. I couldn’t afford to keep Thagrosh off the hill as Steve would win on scenario before the Carnivean reached the table edge. With so many trolls on the hill I used Mutagenesis to launch myself in for an assassination on Madrak. This is a costly assassination attempt as it costs 3 Fury to cast the spell before you even make contact with the enemy. The attempt failed. Steve won by flattening Thagrosh. I had managed to get the Carnivean within 1″ of the southern table edge (and Victory). Doh!

Game 3
At this stage Steve had two markers, both of which were assigned to his Mauler. He rolled +1 MAT and SPD for the markers making one formidable troll. This game went better for me and the assassination nearly worked. Thagrosh got a charge on Madrak, had one damage roll cancelled and another transferred before dishing out some damage on the trollkin warlock. I forgot to use my claw attack to (try to!) clear out a warrior that was in the way of my Carnivean. Had I done so Madrak would have been toast. I expended all Fury on Thagrosh in the attempt. Madrak squished me in retaliation!

Three fun games and the rules for dragging, staggering and the marker effects all work quite well.

Owen

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Scourge Bringer – Campaign Rules (and background stories) now available as a PDF.

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In mid-November I’ll be meeting up with Clay and Dan to play a Warmachine/Hordes campaign in a day. We’ll be hitting three stores in Orlando over the course of the day, playing a campaign game in each.  All games will be 15pt three player battles.

The campaign is played over three games. The games are played in the following order:

• Game 1: Smash and Grab
• Game 2: King of the Hill
• Game 3: Earthquake

The player possessing the most markers at the end of the campaign is the winner.

Markers

Markers, representing a piece of Scourge Bringer, are 40mm bases that the players are attempting to seize in each battle. A model cannot end its activation on a marker, but models can move across it without penalty, as long as the model has enough movement to move completely past it. The scenario marker refers to the marker from the scenario currently being played. This is to distinguish it form markers carried into a game from previous games.

A slammed or thrown model does not stop if it is slammed or thrown across a marker. However, if there is not enough space on the other side of the marker to place its base, the model is placed in base contact with the marker stand as if it were an obstruction. Markers cannot be targeted and do not block line of sight.

The marker may be ‘picked up’ by any warcaster/warlock or any large-based warjack or beast with the Open Fists advantage. If a model is in B2B with the marker it must forfeit either its movement or action to pick it up. You may use the marker or another token to indicate the model is carrying the piece of Scourge Bringer. Once a marker is ‘picked up’ it is no longer considered to be a marker until it is dropped. A marker is dropped if the model carrying it is destroyed or it loses more than half of its total boxes in a single turn. The player who caused the damage may decide where the marker is placed. It must be B2B with the model that dropped it. A model that has picked up the marker may make a Throw or Double-handed Throw against the (medium-based) marker. The marker cannot be damaged by any means and does not cause collateral damage. If it lands on a model it should be placed in a manner that causes least disturbance.

Immediately after a model picks up a Scourge Bringer marker roll on the following chart (D6) -

1. Speed Up: the model gains SPD+1
2. Decay: the model suffers ARM-1
3. Hard to Kill: the model gains DEF+1
4. The Shakes: the model suffers MAT-1 and RAT-1
5. Killer Strike: the model gains MAT+1
6. Slow Down: the model suffers SPD-1

This effect only lasts while in possession of the marker. A model must forfeit both its movement and action to drop the Scourge Bringer marker, and the effect ceases. The controlling player may place the dropped marker is placed B2B with the model that dropped it. If a model carries a marker from one game to another the effect continues. Effects are cumulative. Additionally a model carrying a marker will stagger directly South at the end of all friendly models’ activations; roll a D6: 1-3 Stagger 1″; 4-6 Stagger 2″. A model will only ever stagger once at the end of their activation, no matter how many markers they carry. Treat this move as a push and move the model directly towards the South. Models only stagger in their own turn

Warcasters/Warlocks within 6″ of a marker that is not picked up may be dragged directly towards it. This represents the power of the Scourge Bringer. At the end of all friendly models’ activations and if the warcaster/warlock is within 6″ of a marker roll a D6: 1-2 No Effect; 3-4 Dragged 1″; 5-6 Dragged 2″. Treat this move as a push and move the model directly toward the marker. Models are only dragged in their own turn.

Note a model may stagger once, but may be dragged several times! Stagger moves are performed before drag moves. If there is more than one marker in play randomly determine the order of drags before all drag moves are performed.

Game 1 – Smash and Grab

Summary: Three players attempt to grab the marker and take it off the South edge of the battlefield

The South edge of the table is the side that does not have a deployment zone.
The Scourge Bringer marker is placed at the centre of the battlefield.

Each player deploys in a 10″ x 10″ square at the centre of their table edge. Determine the first player with a standard starting roll. Play proceeds clockwise around the table.

Until the victory conditions are met, a player continues to play even if his last warcaster/warlock is destroyed or removed from play.

There are two possible victory conditions -

• A player who successfully controls this scenario’s marker moves the model carrying it B2B with the South edge of the table
• A player wins the game if he is the last player to have a warcaster or warlock remaining in play

Game 2 – King of the Hill

Summary: Three players attempt to take and hold the high ground at the center of the board

Randomly determine a table edge to represent South.
The Scourge Bringer marker is placed at the centre of the battlefield.

See map for deployment zones. Note that Advance Deploy models in this scenario can only deploy 4 ̋ beyond standard deployment instead of the usual 6 ̋.

Determine the first player with a standard starting roll. Play proceeds clockwise around the table.

Place a large hill in the center of the table. Beginning on the second round, at the end of each player’s turn, that player earns 1 control point if all of his warcasters/warlocks are on the hill.

Until the victory conditions are met, a player continues to play even if his last warcaster/warlock is destroyed or removed from play.

There are three possible victory conditions -

• The first player to accumulate 3 control points wins the game
• A player who successfully controls the scenarios marker moves the model carrying it B2B with the South edge of the table
• A player wins the game if he is the last player to have a warcaster or warlock remaining in play

Game 3 – Earthquake (a variant of Mosh Pit)

Summary: Three players attempt to control the centre of the battlefield

The Scourge Bringer marker is placed at the centre of the battlefield. This marker, whether on the battlefield or picked up, counts as South, i.e. all stagger moves are directly towards this point or the model carrying it. This represents the power of the final, most powerful piece of Scourge Bringer

Mark a 14″-diameter circle centered on the table. This is the mosh pit.

A player controls the mosh pit if he has one or more models completely within the mosh pit and his opponent does not. For a unit to control the mosh pit, all models must be completely within it. A warrior model must have a CMD greater than 1 to control the mosh pit. Ignore wrecked or inert warjacks, wild beasts, and fleeing models when checking from control.

Every time the scenario marker is picked up all models completely within the 14″ are immediately moved 1″ in a random direction.

There are two possible victory conditions -

• Starting on the first player’s third turn a player wins if he ends his turn in control of the mosh pit and the Scourge Bringer marker from this scenario is within the mosh pit.
• A player wins the game if he is the last player to have a warcaster or warlock remaining in play

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These models, on 40mm wooden discs, will constitute the markers that the players are attempting to seize over the three game campaign. The weapon parts come from three different sources – the axe head is from a Confrontation Wolfen miniature, the haft is from a plastic GW Skeleton spear and the mace is from an old metal GW Skeleton weapon arm. The process for preparing them was simple. I sanded the wooden discs using my standard basing technique. I then glued the primed weapons to the discs. They were painted with some basic metallics and a wash – Boltgun Metal, Mithril Silver, Brass Balls, Brazen Brass and that was finished with a Badab Black wash.

I look forward to fighting for them in November.

Owen

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Dark Revival

My master has more memories than my feeble mind could ever hope to absorb. He reveals to me what is important and the rest remains as indistinct flashes that fade into blurry tones and shades. When Everblight shows me a memory there is a divine purpose.

I was marching my legion south revelling in the mind and senses of a nearby Carnivean when my Master spoke directly to me. He showed me a scene of blighted destruction that was more stunning than any I have ever seen with my own eyes.

I revealed to my servant the long past ruination of a sibling of mine; a weak dragon that was prone to extreme impetuousness. The Orgoth wrought great devastation on the peoples of this continent, but they mostly stayed away from the dragons after my father smote their fleet. While they did not wish to directly confront us they also did not wish to be rolled aside should our family feud spill out onto their newly conquered lands. The Orgoth set to building a weapon that could fell a dragon. That they achieved it is an amazement for I have not witnessed any mortals that could command such magics since. They kept this weapon hidden away until it was needed. My foolish sibling gave them the opportunity.

These buried memories become vivid in my mind. I can see, smell and almost touch them as Everblight reveals to me the fate of that dragon. A great warrior of the Orgoth, wrapped in dense ornate armour, carries a massive axe into the centre of a battle as the assembled army fights to hold the dragon back. The warriors do not stand a chance when confronted with the mighty power of a full strength dragon and soon enough the great warrior is confronted by the beast as the army is swept aside. The next images are astounding to behold.

I saw my sibling struck down with a single blow. Its flesh was dissolved under a black mist that emanated from the weapon. The great warrior, the assembled army and every living creature for miles around was consumed by the undiscriminating power of the weapon. I myself was injured by its clinging darkness and I decided to flee lest it weaken me further.

My Master bade me to turn north west, for as we marched past the great wood of Blackroot he recognised a presence that brought these memories to the fore, it could be that of his sibling’s athanc or even the weapon of the Orgoth. Either way what he sensed must be destroyed. I am his Prophet. I will rediscover this memory and remove it from the face of the world.

Scourge Bringer is a three player campaign for Warmachine and Hordes. Watch this space.

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Dominance

It always took a moment to adjust. It was like emerging for a darkened cave into a startling dawn sunrise, but that wasn’t quite right. The darkness of his beast form was more magnificent, more fiery than any sunrise could be. The beast was more than he was. It was pure, focussed and truly alive. It was free from the politicking of the druids and the responsibility of being the leader of a tuath. It was savagery, violence and rage manifest in flesh.

As he adjusted back he looked down at Dusk and Dawn, his great axes, to see surprisingly little blood and gore on their surfaces. Around him the warbeasts were panting. Their pursuit was relentless and he could sense his foe was near. The Tharn were few in number and any loss was significant. These vile dragonspawn would fall to the vengence of his great axes as may before had been felled. He expected to see more Tharn around him, but only the wolf riders had kept up the unrelenting pace. His mastery of warbeasts was legendary, not only amongst his own people. If he had to face the filth of the dragon with only these wolves, then so be it. They would bring death.

From their home in the Thornwood they had pursued their foe back north, past the great lakes until the enemy suddenly veered towards the coast and past the foul smelling black city. Now the wind became stronger as they climbed into the coastal mountains. The enemy was close and would meet Dusk and Dawn soon. Kromac smiled and allowed the beast to consume him once more.

Scourge Bringer is a three player campaign for Warmachine and Hordes. Watch this space.

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Blood Frenzy

Orsus Zoktavir did not consider himself as having a single place he thought of as home. He spent most of his time in or near battle. That was his home – the sound of slaughter and the smell of ionised air. That was what he longed for. The only place he had ever come close to sensing those homely and familiar things was in the black towered city of Khardov. The choking fumes from its mines and the unmistakable dark aura of the Orgoth were comforting to him.

It was there two weeks ago that he met Great Prince Aeniv Rolonovik. Orsus did not usually have any time for nobility. Their incessant pleasantries, lofty notions of Empire and misplaced ideas of duty were of no interest to him, but Aeniv was different. He was as dedicated, albeit in a very different way, to battle and slaughter as Orsus. In the Orgoth Keep of Khardov Aeniv had mastered the manufacture of the dreaded Fell Blades, the weapons that drove the Doom Reavers to feats of glorious carnage. It was in the Keep amongst those moaning weapons that the Great Prince told the story that set Orsus on the path he was now following.

The northerly wind began to scream louder as the Vescheneg Headlands reared up from the horizon. That was where he would find it, the Scourge Bringer, a mystical axe so uncontrollable the Orgoth had sought to destroy it. All they could achieve was to divide the weapon and scatter the pieces. In the four hundred years since the Orgoth quit Western Immoren the axe had slowly managed to pull its pieces closer and closer together. Aeniv believed the weapon now lay in three pieces somewhere in the Veschenegs. With his recent exposure to the Fell Blades Orsus was certain he could find and reunite this most reviled of relics. Wielding it in one hand and Lola in the other his unchecked fury would wreak havoc amongst Khador’s enemies. It wasn’t through duty; it wasn’t to protect his home; Orsus was driven to bring destruction to all those who stood against him.

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Here is an update to the two player ANNIHILATION campaign system based on myself and Peter’s campaign -

• ANNIHILATION v1.1 Campaign Rules (PDF)

Feedback and experience would be most appreciated.

Owen

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The ANNIHILATION is over and Khador came out on top. Each of the four games was contested closely and the attrition rules limited both of our force selection, particularly in the final game. Here are all of the articles related to this campaign -

[Games 1 and 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Campaign Rules]

We’ve fought a hard campaign and there are plenty of things to reflect on. I’m going to tweak the campaign rules for readability, but otherwise they’ve worked well. I’ll run the campaign again with other factions, but for now the rules seem robust enough.

Anyway, now that the dust has settled and we’ve had a chance to assess our losses here are our final remarks.

Peter: So, quite a comprehensive loss on my part for the campaign then, and it had all looked so good after the first game. And even after the first few rolls of the dice in this one, to be honest!

Looking back, I think my biggest weakness throughout the series of games was not doing enough to protect my caster. The first game I had a house to hide Sevvy behind, and it made all the difference. In the later games I was a bit too easily led into attacking, and in the last game in particular, bad dice meant that I got tied up in combats that I was expecting to win decisively. Owen did a much better job of keeping his eyes on the prize and had plenty of firepower to bring to bear on me when I made a mistake.

I’ve enjoyed the games a lot, especially having to pull together a force from a limited pool. By the end of the four games my force is actually looking reasonably healthy, not hurt by the High Reclaimer bringing back my bait unit of Bastions. Having seen the amount of damage I did to Owen’s force, even through Khador armour I would be interested to see if other factions came out with enough points for the final game. Cygnar wouldn’t be able to rely as heavily on hanging back and shooting due to the scenarios, and Cryx playstyle tends to be classified as a glass hammer.

Apart from the fairly major mistakes in a couple of games, I think I made a big mistake in my choice of casters. I think carefully looking at the scenarios would have suggested different choices on my part, but then I wouldn’t have had the chance to bring back all of my Bastions ready to charge back into the fray, which was one of my favourite moments in the final game.

Overall then, I think as a test run of the system which Owen set up it was almost entirely sucessful. We had a few issues tracking the zones in the last scenario, and I’m not a big fan of ‘jack bonds other than the ones that come with epic casters, but I think the openness of knowing which scenarios and which faction you are facing result in fairly evenly sided matches. Plus I managed to total a Devastator during it, and that’s never a bad thing!

Owen: Playing 35pt ‘caster kill games can get a little formulaic with each player trying to pull off their tricks before the other. Not so when you play a campaign like this. Each game challenges you as you have to pay attention not only to the scenario winning conditions, but also to the losses you are willing to take to win the scenario. With the campaign view in mind both Peter and myself did some merciless slaying in the first two games. In the first and second games Peter and I (respectively) had the scenario win in the bag, but continued the carnage until our turns ended. It isn’t enough just to win, we wanted to take down as much of the enemy as possible too!

He may have a ruthless streak, but Peter is a great opponent. He got into the spirit of the campaign and played four great games. His Bastions, who refused to die, were a pain throughout the whole campaign and I’m certain that if there was a fifth game in the campaign I’d be toast. As it is I got lucky with two of the wins. One area I was happy with was my choice of ‘casters. Sorscha and Irusk are great scenario ‘casters. My one regret is not choosing Sorscha to lead my army in Game 1. For the ‘clear the area’ scenarios such as Mosh Pit and No Man’s Land her feat is awesome. Irusk is handy enough in a fight too as he can buff a lot of his army and exercise some great board control. Overall my army selection was good, but it was a little frustrating that I was left with a number of duplicate FA:1 units for the last game. That’s the nature of an attrition campaign.

I’m planning an update to the campaign rules. Whilst the ‘jack bond rules had zero effect in our campaign they have the potential to be very powerful, so I’ll change them to be optional. Other than that I’ll leave the structure as is. More play testing may necessitate changes, but for now the campaign rules seem fine.

I enjoyed that so much I’m itching to play another ANNIHILATION campaign. I might bring the Legion out to play next time.

Owen

Update A new version of the campaign rules are available here

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Honouring the fallen

The scene was one of devastation. The Menite crusaders were all fleeing the battle, inert ‘jacks abandoned and the injured left to die where they lay. The Khadoran jubilation was short lived. Yes, the enemy had been vanquished, but the cost has been high. Irusk lamented the death of every Khadoran soldier. Their blood had been spilt on Khadors own soil and he could think of no more noble death than to die defending this great empire. Still their loss hurt him.

Irusk ordered a nearby Mechanik to return to the camp to fetch medics to see to the wounded and get more Mechaniks to reclaim the damaged ‘jacks. He could sense the confusion felt by the Marauder. Both of its arms had been disabled in the battle and it moved around looking for a target. He could hardly believe it was over himself. The intensity and ferocity of the Protectorate’s attack had been extreme. Had they really expected to bring their crusade to these lands without the Khadoran army reacting? Either way, the last two days had been bloody and costly for both sides. A unit of Widowmakers lay dead in perfect formation to his right and he was surrounded by dead Machaniks who had rushed forward to reach the damaged Marauder. Who knows what the final death toll would be? All of these valiant sacrifices would not be forgotten.

Game 4: 50pt / Break The Line

It all comes down to this. I was ahead on campaign points with 6 against Peter’s 1.5, but with this game worth 5 ultimate victory could go either way. Both of us were suffering from the losses in the earlier games. I had several units that were down on numbers, but thankfully most of my ‘jacks were available and both of my ‘casters were viable for this game. Break The Line is a tough scenario requiring the army to fight on a broad front. Looking at my remaining pool I’m a little light on units. The loss of the Great Bears in the last game was particularly painful. Here’s what I had left before this game and the units marked in red were chosen to fight for Khador in this final battle -

Peter wasn’t faring a whole lot better. With Game 3 going down to a ‘caster kill Epic Severius wasn’t a viable choice for this game. He was still doing okay for units. Two units of Bastions, coupled with the High Reclaimer’s feat, could be game winners. Anyway, here is what Peter had to choose from, with the units marked in brown being chosen for this final game -

As you can see there isn’t a whole lot of army left for either faction! The attrition from the previous games was really dictating our army choices. Between the compromised army selection and the fact that the campaign win was still up for grabs I wasn’t feeling confident. In fact, they’re not the reasons I wasn’t feeling confident; it was Peter’s two units of Bastions…

It all comes down to this …

Break The Line is a tricky scenario; the battlefield between the two deployment zones is divided into six areas. From turn three if either player ends his turn controlling two areas in his half of the board and one in his opponent’s, he wins. To be sure you don’t give away an easy win you must context all three areas on your half of the table at least. The battlefield had two farmhouses in the centre, with some hills and a forest surrounding these. Peter won the dice roll, but let me go first. My deployment was divided into three battalions – the IFP and manhunter on the left; the Koldun Lord marshaling two Destroyers in the middle; and Irusk’s battlegroup and Widowmakers on the right. The remaining elements were positioned to be a little flexible to move between the middle and right areas. I had to proxy a couple of Mechaniks as I only own four.

Peter put the full unit of Zealots (with Monolith Bearer) and a Paladin to challenge my left (not shown in this photo). The bulk of his force was concentrated spanning the line between the middle and left areas with the High Reclaimer in the centre, ready to do what he does best – reclaim the souls of the fallen. In this group were two units of Bastions, two Choirs, a small unit of Zealots and a Paladin. Peter had the Redeemer positioned slightly towards the right area, the Blessing of Vengeance in the middle and the Dervish to the left. He also had to do a bit of proxying with Trollkin Scattergunners representing a unit of Bastions, some TFG representing Zealots and Deliverers pretending to be a Choir!

My turn one was unremarkable with everyone pushing forward and Irusk casting Superiority on the Juggernaut. Peter’s first turn should have been equally unremarkable were it not for the amazing shots from the Redeemer at the Widowmakers. He managed to hit one directly and deviate another shot onto two more making three dead snipers.

Turn two is when the jockeying for position really began. The IFP had been badly stung by the Zealots in our last game, so I was determined not to let that happen again. They moved forward into Shield Wall, but kept their distance from the Zealots. On the right the Juggernaut moved up to go around the back of one of the farmhouses to try to slow the approaching Zealots on that side. The Drakhun and War Dog moved up for potential counter charges while the Destroyers bombarded the Blessing of Vengeance from afar, doing some damage. Irusk activated and cast Inhospitable Ground and cast Iron Flesh on the Drakhun (stupidly denying him the potential of a counter charge!).

Peter pushed everything forward on his turn. On the left the zealots moved up and lobbed bombs at the IFP. Luckily (for me!) they proved to be out of range or mostly inaccurate. Those that struck (or deviated onto) the IFP did no damage. The Zealots on the right threw their bombs at the Juggernaut dealing little damage. After the amazing luck with the REdeemer in the first turn Peter’s dice luck seemed to have abandoned him. In the centre the Bastions moved up menacingly and the High Reclaimer cast Ashes to Ashes through his arc node at the Marauder. It bounced into Irusk and the War Dog. Irusk and the Marauder were unharmed, but the dog was reduced to single box of damage.

Turn three had to be about killing Bastions for me. I doubted I could take out both units so I decided to concentrate on the one coming towards Irusk’s battalion. I hit them with the Destoyer’s Bombards, charged them with the Drakhun and War Dog and had the Juggernaut trample over the Zealots to get into them. After all that I had killed four of the five and reduced the last man to two points of damage. There was nothing else I could throw at them and with the Reclaimer’s feat still to come, and the additional focus from the souls of the dead I knew next turn was going to hurt. Irusk cast Inhospitable Ground and feated, hoping to mitigate some of the damage next turn. I charged the Blessing of Vengeance with the Marauder, but forgot about its shield. He used defensive strike to hit me with it and bounced the Marauder back 1″.

On the left the IFP ran up to the Zealots and then used Defensive Formation to ensure their B2B triangles provided them with Shield Wall. I hadn’t damaged the Zealots (they were Invulnerable this turn anyway), but at least they were nearly all engaged by the 2″ reach of the Blasting Pikes. The Manhunter pushed forward a bit on that side too.

As expected Peter feated on his turn and returned the Bastions to full strength and added a Zealot to the unit that was trampled. The Bastions proceeded to demolish the Drakhun and the War Dog and deal some decent damage to the Juggernaut. The Paladin and Redeemer charged the Juggernaut as well. It’s movement was knocked out, but it was otherwise functional. There from other unit of Bastions charged the Marauder and managed to barely scratch it. Peter’s damage dice (4D6 on a charge) were appalling.

On the left the Zealots maneuvered with the IFP killing a couple with bombs and the Paladin. A well placed bomb took out the Manhunter.

On turn four I needed to stall Peter’s army. The Marauder and the Destroyers (one with range the other in melee) got stuck into the undamaged Bastion unit and dealt a lot of damage to it. The Juggernaut took a couple of wild swings, but was ineffective. The Mechaniks moved up to get close for a combat repair if needed and block charge lanes to Irusk. He cast Inhospitable Ground again, but was beginning to feel the heat. The Widowmaker Kaptain who had been taking pot shots at the Zealots on the right continued to do so. On the left the IFP killed a lot of Zealots, but not enough for them to flee, and took out the Paladin.

On Peter’s turn four he moved the two units of Bastions in to take out the Juggernaut and deal some substantial damage to the Marauder. I didn’t spot it at the time, and thankfully neither did he, but in moving the Bastions he had left a firing lane open for Irusk. He cast Ashes to Ashes onto the Mechaniks, killing all bar one and dealing four points of damage to Irusk. The Redeemer fired another miracle shot to kill the Widowmaker Kaptain who was in cover (effectively DEF 20!) with a double 6s. On the left the Dervish and choir moved towards the IFP. The Zealots proved ineffective in melee.

I needed to finish it in turn five as Peter really had me on the ropes. The Juggernaut was gone, the Marauder was badly damaged and the left flank wasn’t going to hold much longer. I left all focus on Irusk with the intention of putting two Swordcannon shots into the High Reclaimer. Before I did that I decided to fire the unengaged Destroyer at him. It was marginally out of range, but the deviation drifted onto the Reclaimer. The boosted blast damage roll was high. The other Destroyer stepped back from combat with two Bastions to take a shot. The free strikes caused a lot of damage, but no systems were taken out. His shot was in range and on target. The damage roll was again big and the High Reclaimer went down. Arcing fire Bombards are a thing of beauty! Irusk didn’t need all of that focus in the end. Khador wins.

Not quite the final thoughts

Wow, Khador may have won, but it was at a high price. When you look at the remaining Khadoran forces I’m not sure I could field a viable 25pt army from the 100pts that started the campaign.

The win in this game gives me the campaign win by a decisive margin, but every game was close. The result could have easily gone the other way. Peter and I will write up some concluding remarks for the campaign and I’ll post them soon.

Owen

Update Concluding comments can be found here.

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The Khadoran Avalanche…

Irusk’s attempt to blunt the early enemy advance had been less than successful. To add insult to injury he had lost the only Devastator in his force to a rare moment of impetuousness. Severius had brought confusion to the Khadoran ranks, something Irusk was not accustomed to and had managed to sieze the high ground. The first battle had not gone well.

With the momentum back in his beloved Khador’s favour it was his turn to deal damage to the enemy. Severius was again trying to push forward on his damne crusade. Now was the time to bring the Khadoran avalanche to bear. These Menites would have to retreat of be buried by it’s might.

With a win apiece things were close. I was marginally ahead in the campaign points and had sustained slightly fewer losses. Things start to hot up with Game 3 which is a 35pt game played using the Killing Field scenario. I had a win from the last game so I could nominate one unit to gain Advance Deployment. Peter’s Protectorate of Menoth army was led by Epic Severius as in the first game and I had Irusk commanding my force. I’m hoping to avenge Irusk’s loss from the campaign opener.

Game 3: 15pt / Killing Field Scenario

Peter’s force comprised a unit of Bastions, a unit Zealots and Monolith Bearer, a Choir, a Vassal, the Blessing of Vengeance, a Revenger and a Templar and was led by Epic Severius. My army was commanded by Irusk and contained a Marauder, a Juggernaut, a full unit if Iron Fang Pikemen and UA, a unit of Mechaniks, a unit of Greylords, the Great Bears, a War Dog and a Drakhun (with dismount). It was a toss up between the Great Bears and the IFP for my bonus advance deploy unit, but I opted for the IFP.

Killing Field has three objectives marked along the centre line and players receive a point at the end of their turn for each point they hold. The first to 7 points wins.

I had my IFP and Great Bears deployed on the left to contest that objective marker. The bulk of the rest of my army was in in the centre. Irusk cast Iron Flesh on the Great Bears and Superiority on the Juggernaut (which was upkept until the last turn). The advance deployed IFP charged up (through rough terrain) to take the left hand objective. The Juggernaut moved towards the right hand objective with the Mechaniks following close behind.

The Greylords moved up behind them. Meanwhile the War dog moved up behind Irusk and the Drakhun moved out in front of him. Opposite this main part of the Khadoran force stood the Templar, Vassal, Choir and eSeverius. Across from the IFP and Great Bears was a Revenger and a load of Zealots. I was confident that I could keep that flank, but my confidence would be short lived…

The Zealots moved up cautiously as did the Revenger. It arced Influence onto a couple of IFP and had them kill their comrades. On my turn I saw a chance to charge the Revenger with Great Bears. Unfortunately only one could make it in. His dished out a load of damage, but the bounce back pushed him out of melee range. Severius responded by arcing everything he could at the Great Bears and IFP. This coupled with the Zealots’ bombs wiped out the Great Bears and decimated the IFP.

On the right things weren’t looking a whole lot better. The Bastions advanced forward to take the objective on that side and the Blessing of Vengeance moved up to arc spells towards the advancing Khadorans. I had little to realistically counter them, so when the opportunity presented itself the Juggernaut moved into the arc node and threw it towards the Bastions. Unfortunately the throw went a little long and it landed behind them. The Greylords moved up to spray the Bastions, dealing some damage and then the Mechaniks ran between them and the Bastions.

In the middle the Marauder slammed into the Templar and put it on its ass. Unfortunately it only went back 1″. A few more inches and it would have been an unpleasant surprise for Severius! While the Templar was down the Drakhun charged in (with Battle Lust cast on it) to deal a load of damage. The War Dog ran forward to make Severius second guess his movements. Irusk moved up and popped his feat primarily to protect the warriors on the right flank. With my warcaster, a warjack and a Drakhun in close proximity Severius was under real pressure.

On the left the remaining IFP charged the Revenger and nearly totalled it. I sneakily left the standard bearer on the objective. At this point it was 4:1 to me. Peter responded by Hex Blasting Irusk for only a small bit of damage and then feating, hoping to pit my army against me. He began to advance one of my Greylords into a position to spray Irusk, but I opted to free strike him. Poor dice rolls conspired to ensure that that was all the feat really did. The Bastions charged the Juggernaut and the troopers on the right. They dealt some damage to the ‘jack, but tough rolls and misses meant the majority of the troops survived. The Templar stood up and moved to engage the Marauder. The Choir charged the mutt killing him.

Things were going south quickly. The flanks were collapsing and Peter was soon going to start picking up control points. I slammed the Templar back again, but failed to take it out. The troops an Juggernaut on the left took swings at the Bastions, but didn’t do enough to kill them. Having kept all of his focus he moved into a position to shoot Severius. Two boosted shots later and he was down. Game 3 to Khador.

Peter: Looking at the scenario for Game 3 I was fairly confident that I could win it. The combination of a large control area and Sevvy’s upkeep spell that gave an extra attack and damage dice seemed like they put me in a great position. Then I realised the spell had a range of self and things started to look a little bit shaky.

My plan was to try and contest all three of the objectives, so I had a Templar in the middle with beat back to shift things off the marker, and two Revengers with their repulsor shields to help keep things away from them. Zealots and Bastions were stationed on each flank as they could act without focus.

Of course, the plan did require me getting to the objectives first which just wasn’t to be. Owen got first turn, plus the bonus from the last game meant he could advance deploy a unit. Then Inhospitable Ground went up and I was going to be finding it very difficult to get into the middle of the table without setting myself up to be charged and destroyed.

In the end I took a chance at an assassination and left Sevvy out in the open and was punished for it, but I did take a few positives away from the game. Getting rid of the Great Bears was just fun, and clearing out a good chunk of Iron Fangs will hopefully limit the amount Owen can play outside his control area (I’ll quite happily send a unit of Bastions against a marshalled jack). I think the most important thing is that I only lost one choir member in the whole game, so I’ve now got lots of infantry choices for the final game meaning I can cover a lot more area than the High Reclaimer’s control area.

Owen: Wow, that was a tough game. Losing the Great Bears and pretty much all of the Iron Fangs is really going to hurt in the next game. Failing to take out the Templar and the Revenger was disappointing, but taking out Severius was quite nice! Irusk is a great scenario ‘caster, but when he needs to finish things he’s more than able. An outcome of the game is that Irusk has developed a bond with both of his ‘jacks.

My losses are starting to mount up. I can field a viable force for the last game, but it is going to be ‘jack heavy. This win puts Khador in the driving seat, but everything is still left to play for. I’m really looking forward to Game 4; the empire will either send the Menites packing convincingly or the Protectorate will gain a toe hold in southern Khador.

Owen

Update Game 4 can be found here.

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