This is what I have for you today:
- Some clarification on the types of battles that we will be fighting on each of the map tiles and which expansion you’ll need. - Secondly, a bit of info on the remaining Important Tiles on the map, as well as the final version of the campaign map, with fixed starting position.
- Next, some additional info on the use of allied forces in your own armies
- Also I’ll give the special rules that will apply to all battles fought in each different season.
- Then, some lovely D6 tables that we’ll use (everyone loves tables, right?)
- Lastly, some words on the fluff of our campaign and your armies specifically
And finally, before I begin properly, for those few people reading this blog who aren’t participating in the campaign: Don’t worry, I’ll do some non-campaign related posts as well. I’ve been working on painting some Dystopian Wars forces (Prussians and a luverly Covenant Epicurus Airship) and recently I have been thinking about integrating different game systems into a single campaign. The mind does wander… Anyway, on with the show!
Campaign rules – What type of battle do we fight?
When you fight a battle in the campaign just use the method you normally use to determine which scenario you’ll play. Just roll a D6 and play that scenario. This means you’ll need to bring enough Standard Bearers in your army or you’ll risk auto-losing Blood and Glory scenarios!
There are two other types of games you might/will have to play. These are Siege battles and Storm of Magic games.
A Siege battle will be fought in any tile that has a Fortress or a City in it.
The rules for Siege Games can be found on pages 88-91 of the Blood in the Badlands book. The special Siege equipment rules are found on pages 92-95. Also, I will encourage every one of you to invent your own siege equipment. This campaign is all about having fun, and I can think of nothing more fun than thinking up diabolical devices to defend or assault a castle! Already I’m having ideas of some ‘allied’ Chaos Dwarf siege engineers with cool magical tools of war! I’m sure you lot can think of some stuff too. Just make the point costs reasonable and I’ll approve it.
Just to make clear, every army can spend points on siege equipment. This total is the same as the total for the game you’ll play. So for a 2400 pts game you’ll have 2400 pts to spend on siege equipment. A siege tower, for instance, costs 1000 pts, while a pot of boiling oil costs 250 pts.
A Storm of Magic battle will be fought in the tile where Fozzrik’s Flying Fastness is in and all adjacent tiles. The magics needed to keep the vast city afloat will cause vast magical storms to surround the floating structure. Wizards will be important players! Also, any games played in any of these tiles will award both players with 1 relic each.
For the Storm of Magic games, I’ll obviously not reprint all the rules here. I’ll just point you to the important pages in the book so you’ll know where to look up the rules!
To recap the important rules, you’ll be fighting a game where the Winds of Magic are blowing like crazy, causing magical monoliths to rise from the ground. In game terms this means there will be 4 objectives on the table. Whoever controls the most of these so-called Fulcrums will win the game. Only wizards can claim these Fulcrums, so bring enough of these!
Lastly, every army is allowed to bring an additional 25% of the agreed upon points in monsters (Bound Monsters), special magic items (Mythic Artefacts) or magical allies (Sorcerous Pacts). So battles will be bigger!
The actual Storm of Magic rules, including the basic scenario, you will find on pages 24-31
The special Cataclysm Spells can be found, lore by lore, on pages 32-49The special Mythic Artefacts can be found on pages 52-57
The rules for Bound Monsters can be found on pages 84-135
The rules for Sorcerous Pacts can be found on pages 136-139
The actual Storm of Magic rules are the most important, so that’s 8 pages you should definitely look at.
Final Campaign Map
Here she is! Ok, a bit small, but I only have the tiny version that I got on my phone. I asked Shalen to email me the larger version, but I haven’t received it yet. Which is odd because I txted him at least 15 minutes ago… I mean, that’s plenty of time, right?
Anyway, small though it is, there are some things you’ll be able to clearly make out. Firstly, there are a few tiles that have bright red numbers. These are Special Territories. I already explained what some of them do here, but for completeness sake, I’ll give you a complete overview again here (aren’t I nice?). Of course, there are some chances in there, so please reread everything.
1. Barak Varr, the famous Dwarven city. Since we have no Dwarven players in our campaign, we’ll amend the rules for this tile slightly. It will only give a +3 modifier on a fortification save for this tile (as opposed to giving it to the surrounding tiles as well) and any player in possession of this tile may include an extra 10% of his total points value of one army as free Dwarven allies. So, for example, if you are playing a 2400 pts battle this turn, you can include up to 240 pts of units from the Dwarven book for free. Note that you can only apply this to one army per campaign turn, no matter how many battles you fight. You can decide which of your three armies will receive the reinforcements after Step 5. (Roll for Mines) in the Campaign Turn Order.
Additionally, any of your banners may use Dwarven allies, using the normal rules for allies in the BRB.
2. Iron Rock, the Greenskin Hold. Every battle fought in this tile counts the whole table as being an Idol of Gork. In addition, whoever controls this tile may add a free 10% of Orcs and Goblins units to one banner in the same manner as described above. Lastly, whoever controls this tile can add Orcs and Goblins allies to any of his army banners, using the normal rules for allies in the BRB.
3. Hanging Rock. The player who controls this tile can re-roll the result of the Character Injury Table once per campaign turn, although the re-roll must be accepted. In addition, for any battles fought on this tile, any Wizards using Lore of Death add a free power dice to their casting attempts.
4. Mount Bloodhorn – The prize for winning the Spring Scenario! This is a mine that can never be exhausted and is also a Fortress. Finally, it will award 5 Relics to the player who controls it at the end of the campaign.
5. Stormhenge – If the player controlling this tile has captured an enemy Character at the end of the Campaign turn, he may choose to sacrifice him at the stone circle to gain +D3 relics. Also, for any battle fought here, the whole table counts as an Arcane Ruin.
6. Marshes of Madness and (6a.) Morgheim (not Mordheim, that’s up north). The prize for winning the Summer Scenario! Both the Marshes of Madness tiles (6) always have a 2+ Fortification save to represent the difficulty of building in such a maddening land, but you may never (ever!) build in them. Ogres are free to drag their capital city in here, should they want to.
Morgheim, the capital of the former Strigoi Kingdom, will award the player who controls it at the end of the campaign with 5 Relics. In addition, for all battles fought on this tile, the whole table will count as being a Charnel Pit. Lastly, whoever controls this tile may add a free 10% of Vampire Counts units to one banner in the same manner as described above. Lastly, whoever controls this tile can add Vampire Counts allies to any of his army banners, using the normal rules for allies in the BRB. Remember that these units will count as allies even to another VC player (I’m looking at you, Jerroii).
7. Fester Spike – The Skaven Burrow City. Closely located to Karak Hirn, the Skaven of Fester Spike have taken to impregnating the area with hidden shards of warpstone to influence the winds of magic, hoping that will give them an edge in their constant battles with the dwarfs. Of course, warpstone being warpstone, this is hardly a reliable technique. For any battle fought in this tile, all players will have to reroll every Winds of Magic die that comes up an even number. In addition, whoever controls this tile may add a free 10% of Skaven units to one banner in the same manner as described above. Lastly, whoever controls this tile can add Skaven allies to any of his army banners, using the normal rules for allies in the BRB.
8. Plain of Luccini – one of the Tilean City States. The coast of this region is a vast delta of marshes and swamps, with many hidden pathways and secret routes, and is known as the Palude di Sangue (the Bloodmere Swamp). Many battles have been fought in this area between the mercenary forces of Luccini and the Pirates of Sartosa. Years back, an exceptionally big Storm of Magic ravaged the area, permanently infusing it with the lust for vengeance felt by everyone who ever died there. For any battle fought in this tile, the whole table will count as being a Bane stone. In addition, whoever controls this tile may add a free 10% of Empire (fluffwise, either Tilean Dogs of War or Sartosan Pirates) units to one banner in the same manner as described above. Lastly, whoever controls this tile can add Empire allies to any of his army banners, using the normal rules for allies in the BRB.
Those are the special tiles that have actual extra rules.
The other thin that you can just make out on the map are the different coloured empires. These will be the starting empires of the different players. Starting locations are tiles numbered 9, 16, 34, 37, 61, and 64. We’ll roll off to see who goes where on Friday.
Lastly, tile number 43 (left most column, third from the bottom) is only made up of water. This tile is inaccessible and will play no part in the campaign. All other tiles can be moved over or through without problem. It is completely possible to move across water without impediment. As long a tile is adjacent to another tile, you may move to it.
Allies and how to use them
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| Allies, for now |
Now, as you’ve seen, some tiles will grant each player the option to use allied forces in one of his armies. To recap, tiles with bright red numbers 1, 2, 4, 6a, 7, and 8 will allow you to bring an additional 10% of free mercenary troops. You can choose whichever units you want from the respective army book, but you can never include a duplicate choice. For instance, my Warriors of Chaos have claimed Barak Varr and I can include 10% of Dwarven troops. Assuming we’d play a 2400 points game I could then include an additional 240 pts of Dwarfs. I could spend all these points on a lone, fully kitted out Daemon Slayer (looking for a glorious death in battle alongside my forces, no doubt), or a small unit of Rangers. I could not include 3 Grudge Throwers, since I can’t include duplicate choices.
If you include more than one of these Tiles, the allies bonuses are cumulative. So if my Warriors of Chaos would then capture tile 2, I could also include another 10% of Orcs and Goblins units.
Just remember that no matter how many of these Tiles you have, the difference between you and your opponent can never be bigger than 25%.
Also, remember to adhere the rules for allies in the rulebook, which you can find on pages 136-139.
Finally, since controlling one of these tiles will also allow you to include allies from that specific army book as well, you are allowed to boost the number of points you spend on allies, but these points are not free! So, continuing with the example above, my Warriors of Chaos army could include more than 240 pts of Dwarfs, but these points would come out of my regular 2400 pts allowance.
Pfff, this is turning into a longer post than I expected! Anyway, on to the next bit!
Seasons change, and so do the rules (a tiny bit)
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| A spot of snow in winter. |
Our campaign will take place over an in-game period of 1 year. To represent each of the Seasons a little bit we will use the following rules for all games played during each season.
Spring – Any Dangerous Terrain tests are failed on a 1 or 2, instead of a 1 (or 1, 2 or 3 if the original roll is a 1 or 2). In addition, any wizards using the Lore of Life get a +1 bonus to cast on their rolls.
Summer – Whenever an expedition is removed from the map for whatever reason, immediately replace it in an unoccupied tile anywhere in your empire.
Autumn – Any Storm of Magic games played during Autumn will award each player 1 Relic. Any Storm of Magic games played because of proximity to the Flying Fastness will award 2 Relics instead of 1.
Winter – Roll a D6 at the start of every battle. On a roll of 1 or 2 a blizzard sweeps over the battlefield and the maximum visibility is reduced to 24”. On a 5 or 6 the freezing temperatures are such that all charge rolls will get a -1 modifier.
Tables and tables
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| Settlers! |
Here’s the Mining table you’ll have to roll on after you’ve moved your armies:
1 Collapse! The mine is exhausted. Remove the mine marker from the game
2-4 Gold and Iron. The next time you fight a battle, that army will receive an additional D6x50 pointts for free. Multiple results are cumulative, but remember the 25% difference limit!
5-6 Fabulous Treasures. Add one Relic to your tally. Additionally, one of your characters may take a magic item worth D6x10 points for free! This does not count towards his magic items points limit, but other normal rules still apply (he still cannot carry two magic weapons, for instance). Note down which item he gets. He is now a Hero of Legend. If this character is ever slain in a challenge, he loses the item.
Also, every campaign turn each player will have to roll a D66 on the Random Events table. Since I’ve already typed far longer than I intended, I’ll just give you a few of the results to whet your appetite and show you the rest later. Also, trust me, these rolls can really affect your Empire!
11 – Recalled from War: Remove one of your armies from play until the start of the next season.
22 – Settlers: Pick an unclaimed tile and plant your flag in it.
33 – Swift Steeds: Roll 2D3 when moving all you armies this turn and pick the highest result.
44 – It’s a Trap!: In your next game, you may pick whether to deploy and go first or second.
55 – Secret Tunnels: You may pick any opponent to challenge this turn, regardless of location.
66 – Reinforcements from home: For the rest of the season, you gain an extra army.
There’s more, but that’ll have to wait!
Fluff, or the reasons we are fighting this war
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| Busily updating the blog |
Finally, a request / question to all those participating. This campaign should be heaps of fun and one of the things that will add quite a lot to this is fluff. I’ve already asked everyone to provide me with some fluff on their characters (and some units), and for those who’ve already given it to me, thanks! But what will also bring the campaign to life, so to say, is fluff in between the battles. Remember all those Necromunda Campaigns, where we did a newsletter of sorts in between games? (I still have a couple of those, btw, good fun to read). I propose doing something similar for this campaign. I’ll write some stuff after each campaign turn, but feel free to write your own stuff as well. Because, honestly, I make a very poor impartial journalist. Everything written will be viewed from a definite Chaotic perspective. So if you want anything positive to be written about your army, be sure to drop me a line!
Also, this is where allies players come in. There’s nothing like a betrayed ally as a source of writing. Or, you know, maybe you could even write about how you and your loyal allies are conquering the map. I wouldn’t know; my allies usually don’t last past turn 2 or so.
And while we’re on the subject: anyone want to ally themselves to mighty Order of the Moon, loyal followers of the God of Manipulation and Scheming? Any takers? I promise to behave.
Pinky promise…
That’s it for now, see you later!
