What have I got lined up for you today? To be honest, not that much yet. Well, I say not much, but it’s actually quite exciting, but it’s just a single subject as opposed to multiple different things as usual. But let’s not dwell on what you’re not getting and keep a positive attitude. Today, I have, especially for you, a grid map of the Badlands! Made by Shalen, thanks a lot, it’s exactly what we were looking for. It’s not quite finished, but good enough for me to show you what it’s all about and talk a bit more about what the campaign is all about.
Let’s get to it, yeah?
Blood in the Badlands – Map!
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| Cool, eh? |
Here it is, isn’t she a beauty? Thanks a bundle to Shalen for making this. I think it’s based off a bit of GW art, so let me say I don’t own the right to this pic, I have no intention of gaining anything from it, and we’ve just adapted it purely for our personal use.
Now, this map has, as you will have undoubtedly noted, a grid of hexagons over it. In effect this makes it usable in the same way as a map made of Mighty Empires tiles. There are 10 columns of 8 tiles each, which means 80 territories in total. For 6 players that’s probably a bit much, so we’ll most likely take either (or both) of the outside columns off for the final version. There are also 8 special territories, which we still need to mark out properly. Wait, let me see what I can do with Paint.
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| Well, I’ve had a lot of fun with Paint crossing out the outer columns and inserting the red numbers, and the end product is a clear example I should really never be allowed to mess with maps like this. |
The tile you choose, as well as all the adjacent tiles, will form your starting territory. So if you choose a territory on the edge of the map, you’ll have less adjacent tiles and you’ll be at a disadvantage from the start. Easy, huh?
Now, just to make sure none of you choose a tile on the edge, thinking there might be some tactical advantage in it or something, let me tell you why you’ll want as many tiles as possible.
The ultimate purpose of this campaign is to capture the fabled Fozzrik’s Flying Fortress, a mighty airborne city that is due to land in the Badlands at the end of our campaign. As we start the campaign it is sat in the middle of the map, moving d6 tiles in a random direction every campaign turn. (don’t worry, it bounces off the edge of the map back on like a cue ball.) The player controlling the tile where the Fortress ends up at the end of the campaign will receive a whopping 10 bonus relics! Obviously, the more tiles you possess, the bigger this chance is.
Ok, so after the first player has chosen a tile to be his starting territory (including the 6 adjacent tile for a total of 7 tiles), the player who rolled second highest gets to choose his starting tile, and so on. Obviously you can’t choose a tile already possessed by someone else. If you want to take a tile from another player, you’ll have to take it during the campaign turns!
Now let’s look at the special territories, shall we?
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!
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, including (6a.) Morgheim (not Mordheim, that’s up north). The prize for winning the Summer Scenario (3 players will each receive 1 tile)!
Remember that you can’t choose tiles 4., 6a., or 6. as your starting tiles, and if you choose an adjacent tile, these will not automatically become part of your territory.
That's it for now! I'll leave you so you can all gawk over the map and start wondering which is the best starting location!
Till next time!
Thalenchar
