How it started…

I started this project in 2009(!) and I had about 90% completed a 2000pt force. I’m not sure why I put them down. It was probably because there were little immediate opportunity of getting a game. The mini-campaign that Stiu and I just completed has given us an appetite to try another Zoom mini-campaign, this time involving the Undead and Empire. That got us chatting about forces and it turns out Stiu has a lot of empire models in blisters, but didn’t have the ingredients for a viable force – Warmaster has minimum number per 1000pts. A quick search revealed a good collection of 3D printable files for the Empire.

How it’s going…

So that’s what I’ve been doing – printing the remnants of an Empire force for Stiu and a small force for myself. I’ve also been finishing up the last bits to make a viable 2000pt Undead army. This was a little challenging as I didn’t note down the colours I’d used in 2009, but thankfully a small bit of experimentation led to the right colours.

I’ve also had a solo playthrough to figure out the rules. My usual process with a new game, or an old game I haven’t played in this case, is to 1) give the rules a good read through, 2) make up a couple of small forces and have a slow play through of the game while consulting the rules, usually with a QRS, and 3) read through the rules again to see what I got wrong! Thats what I did yesterday with two 1000pts. Here are the two forces I used:

And here are a few shots form the game:

Rule mistakes I made:

  • I forgot the -1 to Command rolls for each stand lost.
  • I forgot Undead ignore Confusion, though it only came up once at the end of the game.
  • I forgot that the Zombie Dragon AND its rider add attacks to the fight.

What I learned:

  • Putting my general on the Zombie Dragon was a mistake and lost that force the game when it was killed.
  • Combats are brutal and don’t always go to plan… see the previous point!
  • I can see why 2000pts is recommended – the smaller forces crumble (yeah – that’s an Undead pun) quickly with no units available to counter charge.
  • Blunders happen!

I’m sure there are many other things I got wrong…

Until next time,

Owen