The Tale of Gunther Fromm, Engineer of the Empire

[Note: in lieu of a usual battle report, the results of the past game inspired me to write a bit of fiction]

Excerpt from the Journal of Gunther Fromm, Engineer of the Empire

A fortnight after the festival of Hexenstag, our column rejoined with remnants of the other bannermen, and I was paired with a mortar crew and the crew of a volley gun. I was much comforted by the presence of a prestigious lecturer in the College of the Celestial Order in the battle line. The men no doubt had more faith in the two columns of knights and the shirtless folk-hero named Valten that seems to inspire them so-though to me he seems no more than a milkmaid's son from the village of Lachenbad. I had been worried because other forces had been ambushed and wiped out by marauding ratmen. I long for the days when legends of Kavzar and ruined men who scurry in the night were all that were to the menace known as Skaven, rather than the reality facing our good Emperor's forces these days. 

Painting of Gunther Fromm, Engineer second-class. 

We had word from our huntsmen scouts that an army approached. I took a position on a hill and used my spyglass, ably reporting the movements of their column to young Bernhard, the powder-bearer for the mortar crew, whose pen dashed off missives for our commanding officers. 

What I saw amazed me. As I watched, I saw that the columns that pressed toward us in the darkening light of dusk were indeed composed of walking, breathing rats the size and shape of men. With them they carried all manner of horrid equipment, including two strange wheeled catapults and an enormous catapult that had a censer dangling from the crossbar rather than the usual arm and cantilever. 

As I watched, I saw a discussion between two of the strange ratmen. It appeared as if the one on the right was in charge, as he had an air of command that the other rats surrounding seemed to respect. The second one was much more reserved. Once, when the commander turned around, I thought that the second might pounce and try to destroy him--the look of burning hatred seemed so strong for nominally cooperative leaders.

It was not long before the lines were drawn and the forces faced off. I counseled the mortar and hellblaster team to observe care, not knowing what the ratmen's intentions might be. As our line faced off against theirs, I saw that they outnumbered us on foot--but our units of sturdy horsemen and two of the Empire's most mighty Steam Tanks should be more than enough to rout these cruel creatures. 

However, that was not to be. The seeming "leader" of the group, the vile grey-furred ratman with the curving horns, appeared as if by magic in the midst of our lines. With a vile incantation, he split the earth right along the front line of the Empire. The mortar and all its crew and  five of the brave Reiksguard knights were swallowed in the blink of an eye. One of the two Steam Tanks also lurched and fell into the pit, lost to the earth closing up around it. With so many casualties lost, the normally brave Reiksguard turned and fled from the line--not to return to the battle.

Elsewhere the battle fared poorly at first. The company we jokingly call "the Golden Boys" engaged a group of hooded Skaven who were pulling the large censer structure. Gouts of poison gas started to consume and slay them, their armor doing nothing. Finally, their resolve broke and they too fled the field, cut down by the pursuing ratmen. 

I too had a moment of cowardice. The earth shook beneath our feet, and up from the ground emerged two Skaven with an enormous drilling device. They were followed by a small group of black-cloaked ratmen, who started to charge right at me. I fled, and managed to out pace them--allowing the halberdiers and Valten the ability to charge instead. 

While Valten and the rank-and-file pride of the Empire triumphed over the small unit of rats, they were caught by the same group of hooded rats and their now-burning and swinging censer contraption. While Valten was able to slay the cruel mockery of a priest astride the strange wheeled structure, his unit was overwhelmed and fled--with them and their heroic peasant hero crushed in their failed attempt to escape. 

I looked around and I saw that it was only me, one Steam Tank, and the lecturer from the College of the Celestial Order that was left. Meanwhile, the ratmen were parading around victorious, their massive units threatening us on all sides. I saw their leader, the grey horned ratman, gloating as he stood beside the halberdiers as they were being butchered. My only thought was vengeance. If we were going to be wiped out, I wouldn't go without a fight. Even to this day, I'm not sure why I did, but I charged across the field into the face of the strange Seer. 

At first I didn't even know what to do. As I charged, he fired a strange pistol at me that discharged like a crack of thunder with a puff of green smoke. Mercifully the shot went wide. I reached him, and swung the butt of my handgun at him. The nimble creature ducked, and answered back with a swipe of scratching claws that missed my face too close for comfort. I think it was the shock of my charge that made him panic, and in the confusion he turned to flee. Seeing my opening I chased after--and smashed his brains in with another swing of the wooden stock. 

With a roar of satisfaction at downing the general of their army, I rushed onward. Nearly forgetting the numbers. I came smack dab into a massive melee where nearly sixty five skaven were trying to pry their way through the hatch of the steam tank. I noticed that the other seeming leader of the Skaven had cast spells on his own troops, spells that made them fight with reckless abandon--though I saw many Skaven killed by what I can only describe as "over-exertion" from the heights of rage that the magic caused in them. 

As I charged into the side of the forces, the tank grumbled to life and managed to crush a number of them under its wheels. For my trouble, one of the hooded ratmen slashed my side with a cruel knife--it still hasn't healed fully, and I worry at night about the awful boils on the ratman's hands appearing on my skin. Yet I answered that slash with another swing of my handgun, again the stock holding and crushing the ratman's skull. I do not know why, but somehow my solitary charge into the side of the huge line of Skaven was enough to cause their morale to waver. Both that group, and a group of more heavily armored Skaven broke from the combat and fled from my and the Steam Tank. 

I don't know if I was emboldened by my success, or feverish from the cut in my side from the plagued ratman's knife, but I continued to rush the lines of fleeing ratmen. I managed to chase both units from the field, their order disintegrating as they fled. I grabbed the standard of the hooded ratmen that had run before me, and brandished it wildly in a sign of daring and aggression.

I turned and saw more Skaven, a team of two bearing a crude device with a nozzle. We learned about the dangers of using weapons reliant upon open flames in Engineer College in Nuln, but that kind of worry was forgotten at that moment. The team fired off a gout of the flame, which scorched a track in the ground all the way to merely a step before where I stood. I could feel the heat of the flames, and resolved to end this menace if I could. I rushed at them, waving the standard above me. They fired once more as I charged, this time the flames sailing just over my head and behind me as I ran. I reached them, and again attacked. The captured standard I bore was bulky, and I failed to injure them. Yet the surprise of me charging them was enough to turn them to flee--leaving them at the mercy of my strikes as I followed. 

I stopped, panting and out of breath after killing them. I had slain four ratmen, and chased countless others from the field. The Steam Tank had ground down the other unit of hooded rats, leaving only their censer contraption--now without a crew--standing in the center of the battlefield. I looked to our right flank, and there saw another large mob of ratmen. They were led by that second-in-command, and their insignia bore the same colors and shapes as he did. I got the distinct impression that all the slain ratmen were followers of the magus whose horned head I first clubbed open with my handgun to begin my ordeal. 

The rat second-in-command had fur tinged with blue highlights, and for a moment I was afraid he would shatter the air with magical energy and strike me down. Yet he smiled and chittered something strange to his ranked unit of ratmen, and they did nothing. The Steam Tank and the Celestial Wizard were far away, and I was left staring at these remaining rats as we and they both quit the field. I got the distinct impression that the blue rat was pleased with me, that I somehow did him a favor. His odd "smile" at me is the last I remember seeing of him, and there are evenings when the glow of the fire makes me gasp--afraid it's his two glowing eyes and that smile again. 

-- Gunther Fromm, Engineer of the Empire

Gaming Notes

That's the basics of my most recent 2,500 points game. A single Empire Engineer proved to be the critical factor in the complete crumbling of my Skaven army. After turn one, both I and my foe thought the handwriting was on the wall--critical units decimated and fled, the whole of center of the Empire battle line removed, etc. Never count out a force, or rather never count on the ability of Skaven to not completely freak out and flee the field. The game ended in a draw, with the Empire technically up by 36 points.

I managed to paint four more models for the game, so I'll share those here (rather than at the start where I usually do):

Grey Seer Morspark

This is a very old Skaven model, one that I truly adored and nabbed on Ebay to add to my force. He's armed with a warplock pistol, and I love the ability to still take one through the Skaven scrap heap choices. I added him in mostly because I wanted to paint him, but also to try out dual-Seer lists. This game they had every one of the Skaven Spells of Ruin on the table, which was fun. He'll be a fun option for telling stories of intrigue. No doubt he's going to wake up with clotted blood in his fur from a bashed head, and plot revenge on the Empire and The Blue Rat who convinced him to leap ahead and personally blast the foes at close range.

More progress on the Stormvermin: I added the command to the unit, tho they still need their bases painted and eyes dotted. These are some of my favorites to paint I'm finding, so I wouldn't be surprised if my stormvermin unit is one of the first 30-rat units I finish painting. 

Fully Painted Models
Skaven: 74
Dwarfs: 41

Battles
Total 2015: 5 (Win/Loss/Tie: 2/2/1)
Total 2014: 15 (Win/Loss/Tie: 8/6/1)

Skaven:
4 Wins (Empire 1, T&T Daemons and Dwarfs, Siege Dwarfs and Bretonnians, T&T Daemons and Empire)
6 Losses (Empire 1, Dwarfs 1, Daemons 1, T&T Daemons 1, T&T Dwarfs 1, Special Game Nurgle)
1 Tie (Empire 1)

Dwarfs:
4 Wins (Dwarfs 2, Wood Elves 2)
1 Loss (Dark Elves 1)

Battle Results: The Glottkin Maneuver

In my prior post, I shared the scenario rules and Forces of Nurgle from a large special event I wrote ran to link into the End Times Warhammer campaign. This post will detail my painting progress for the battle, shots from the epic clash against Nurgle, and the results of the battle.

First up, my painting progress. I added 11 new models to my force, and for the first time I was able to field a fully painted army. 1300 points of Skaven painted is a good start, but a big part of that was one centerpiece model: the new Grey Seer Thanquol on Boneripper model.

 My Grey Seer Thanquol and Boneripper.

I went with the Warpfire Throwers, because it's been my favorite weapon since I first started playing Warhammer. Plus it gives Thanquol a lot of flexibility as a caster. The model was fairly simple to assemble, and it actually painted really nicely I felt. The back of the model is a set of tubes, boilers, and pipes, giving it a really busy feel (in a good way). I added the projections of flame, as I love painting the fire effects for my models!

 Ten Stormvermin and their attached Warpfire Thrower. Burn those enemies to death!

1300 Points of Skaven for the event. I was really pleased about fielding a fully painted force for the first time with my current version of this Skaven project. 

The event featured six players fielding "Opposing Forces", each 1300 points in size, against the invading army of Nurgle (more Nurgle-only photos here). We had two Lizardmen armies, two non-Nurgle Chaos armies (one Khorne and one all-Khorne with a single Slaanesh Sorcerer Lord), Orcs and Goblins, and my Skaven. The threat of Nurgle must have been very powerful, to unit such diverse foes under a common banner!

 One of two blocks of Skink Cohorts watches as warhounds and a Chaos Giant rush forward.

 The other spawning of Lizardmen--look at those beautiful scales. 

 The Slaanesh Sorcerer Lord was a triple threat: 1) his spells wreaked havoc on the Nurgle forces, 2) he single-handedly charged Festus the Leechlord and the remaining stragglers of the Beastmen unit and managed to defeat them, and 3) was the master of dispelling enemy spells. Well, if by "dispelling enemy spells" we mean "laughing as they failed to cast thanks to very low rolls time after time." 

 A unit of Chaos Trolls, their stupidity in check thanks to the proximity of their General's leadership.

 The Khornate General. Despite favoring the forces of ruin, some urge to be sole master must have turned so many of the Chaos forces against the rise of Nurgle. Such shifting fortunes are the nature of Chaos no doubt. 

 The Skink Cohort, bolstered by their Kroxigor friends, had a long stalemate against the unit of Beasts of Nurgle and Great Unclean One--both sides losing casualties, and the skinks fleeing at one point only to rally again.

 Skink Skirmishers with blowpipes sacrifice their lives to draw the rampaging gang of Minotaurs into a more advantageous position. The steady hail of poisoned blowpipe shots and javelin shots from another player's Skink Cohort took their toll over time on the unit. 

 Warriors of Chaos Forsaken charge into the Skullcrushers of Khorne. The Chaos-on-Chaos battles on the left flank were brutal and bloody to both sides.

 The Orcs chose the unenviable task of assaulting the center of the Nurgle lines, taking the battle directly to Epidemius. His power to enhance those bearing the Mark of Nurgle on the battlefield quickly got to the point of difficulty for the Opposition Forces to handle. A unit of Black Orcs led by Grimgor Ironhide himself tackled Epidemius and his unit, but they simply couldn't harm the Daemon nor take out enough of his unit to make a dent. 

A wider angle of the view from the Orcs' perspective (photo courtesy of Roger). The trolls mounted an initial assault on Epidemius, only be followed by the Black Orcs and Big 'Uns. Note Glottkin and the Soul Grinder in the background, and my feeble Clanrats lurking behind the Orc lines. 

 Kroq-Gar on his Carnosaur charged the Rot Flies, but even his supreme ability to kill models with multiple wounds was thwarted by the growing power of Nurgle emanating from Epidemius. This master of cold-blooded remained locked with them for a few turns, waiting in hopes that Grimgor Ironhide would eventually finish off the foe that was bringing all the power for the Nurgle side. 

 The Saurus Warriors follow up on the sacrifice of the Skink Skirmishers and charge the flank of the Minotaurs. While they managed to break the Minotaurs through luck and some powerful predatory fighting rolls, their pursuit wasn't enough to catch and wipe them out--denying the kill of the Doombull and allowing the Minotaurs to regroup. The whole side of the Opposing Forces groaned when the pursuit was rolled... would any dice go the way of our side?

The Opposing Forces units were at best tying up the Nurgle advance, and at worst fleeing in the face of the crushing oppression of Nurgle's might. However, one star managed to shine: the Chaos Giant managed to survive the attacks of Daemon Prince Klaus Feverskin, and responded with a Headbutt. This left Feverskin wounded and dazed, and the Giant--with a single wound left--then thumped the Daemon Prince to death the following combat. Wounded but reveling in killing the #3 leader of the Nurgle Forces, the Giant rampaged on into a unit of Plaguebearers. Although he eventually died, even in death he managed to fall directly on the enemy unit to try and take them out. 

After my prior post recognizing that I failed to get a photo of my own of Klaus Feverskin, Chad was polite enough to pass one my way and let me use it. Here's another shot of Klaus, about to be mud-stomped by the Giant foe. 

 The Glottkin join the central fray where the Orcs had two units desperately trying to finish off Epidemius and his unit. The sheer savagery of the Orc Big Un's and Grimgor's Black Orcs--and the general toughness of the Orcs, was all that managed to keep them in the fight. 

 Finally, and with a cheer from all the Opposing Forces, Epidemius was slain by the Black Orcs. With the loss of their protective boosts and offensive might, the forces of Nurgle finally hiccuped. Combats went from being holding actions to actually some wins for the Opposing Forces against the Daemon units. 

 However, the Warriors of Chaos Nurgle models, especially the Putrid Blightkings, continued to consistently demolish and rout their opponents. The Khornate forces were caught out of position by others of their number fleeing, leaving a charge in the side by the Nurgle Chaos Warriors. The two on the flanks managed to kill the Chaos Sorcerer by focusing their attacks on him, but then didn't stand a chance against the Chaos Lord and his unit's attacks--causing them to panic and flee. 

 At least this time, the clash between Khorne and Nurgle was a win for the lads in green. 

It was a great game overall, if still a difficult uphill slog for the Opposition Forces. The end results of the game awarded prizes based on the following list--the top three kills each got a gift card to the store.

The Glottkin
Guttrot Spume
Klaus Feverskin, Daemon Prince of Nurgle	Charles (Chaos, all Khorne)
Epidemius	Roger (Orcs and Goblins)
Great Unclean One
Festus the Leechlord	Tony (Chaos, Khorne with a bit of Slaanesh)
Doombull
Chaos Lord
Herald of Nurgle	Carrie (Lizardmen)
Chaos Sorcerer	Tony (Chaos, Khorne with a bit of Slaanesh)

I liked the way the bounties system worked for this game. I had used it once before in a Nagash-themed End Times special event, where it worked out great. This time it did the same, for the most part. Ultimately, like many mega games (it featured roughly 8,000 points per side), it was a case of needing to go about two turns more. That would have resolved a few more fights, given some players a chance at some lateral movement--to try and grab some of the unclaimed Nurgle characters that didn't deploy directly opposite them.

The game itself proved to be very tense, due to the increasing power of the Nurgle side thanks to Epidemius. It also really helped that for a long while the Opposing Forces had virtually no luck in anything but their own flee rolls (all sorts of Khornate Chaos Warriors running away and not being caught) and the Nurgle players' magic phases being marked with consistent failed casting attempts. Once Epidemius died, the momentum shifted a bit--but the game was still really balanced. And the biggest lot of Opposing Forces models were left at the end of the game with a still-alive and hardly wounded Glottkin on one side, and a ten-strong unit of Putrid Blightkings with Gutrot Spume on the other side. I declared the game to be a victory for the forces of Nurgle, but with a note for valiant effort for the Opposing Forces coalition. 

 The generals of the Nurgle side, their bellies swollen with rot and pus, celebrate their victory.

The valiant other generals of the Opposing Forces. 

Fully Painted Models
Skaven: 70
Dwarfs: 41

Battles
Total 2015: 4 (Win/Loss/Tie: 2/2/0)
Total 2014: 15 (Win/Loss/Tie: 8/6/1)

Skaven:
4 Wins (Empire 1, T&T Daemons and Dwarfs, Siege Dwarfs and Bretonnians, T&T Daemons and Empire)
6 Losses (Empire 1, Dwarfs 1, Daemons 1, T&T Daemons 1, T&T Dwarfs 1, Special Game Nurgle)

Dwarfs:
4 Wins (Dwarfs 2, Wood Elves 2)
1 Loss (Dark Elves 1)

Special Scenario: The Glottkin Maneuver

The following are the rules I wrote to govern a large End Times-themed special event, along with photos of the selection of Nurgle Forces that we used in the game. The following post will detail the results of the battle!

The Glottkin Maneuver

 Leading the host is the massive form of the Brothers Glottkin. 

Description: The forces of Nurgle have risen to the call of Archaon, driving deep into the lands of the Empire. Ruining city after city, their destruction of the lands of men has finally reached the attention of other races. In particular, the Slaan Mage Priests of the Lizardmen recognized the way that the Empire was a vital lynchpin for keeping the forces of chaotic ruin in check in the north. Thus, they set in motion a plan to reach out and lure other races to combine their forces against the horde led by The Glottkin. With some, such as brave Bretonnia or the stalwart High Elves, this was a plea delivered by skink ambassadors. With others, it was more subtle: adjusting and changing the portents of the various winds of magic to lure the forces to face Nurgle at the same time. They even used some subterfuge, having a particularly skilled skink priest disguise himself as an omen of Mork to rouse an Orc tribe. The forces gathered, each hoping to be the one blessed to strike the killing blow against The Glottkin and his blighted lieutenants.

Second-in-Command: Guttrott Spume and his unit of ten Putrid Blightkings.

Sides: The forces of Nurgle versus the Opposing Forces. The Nurgle forces are treated as three armies, all with Trusted Ally status. They split magic dice as they choose at the start of the magic phase. The Opposing Forces are treated as a number of separate armies. The forces of Order (Lizardmen, Empire, Dwarfs, Wood Elves, High Elves, and Bretonnia) all share the Trusted Ally status for the full game. All forces of Disorder and the non-aligned are treated as Suspicious Allies for the entire game. As such, the Opposing Forces also split magic dice as they choose. The rules for Desperate Allies and Fragile Alliances are not used in this battle.

Chad's Amazing Plaguebearers of Nurgle. Just beautiful in their rotted ickyness. Sadly I didn't get a single non-blurry photo of his Daemon Prince Klaus Feverskin during the game!

Setup: The board is 48” deep, 144” wide, with 12” deployment zones on each side of the long edge. The terrain is dominated by a ruined Empire city everywhere except for the Opposing Forces deployment zone, set up in as close a pattern to city streets as is able. The two edges of no-man’s land will have some trees. The Nurgle Forces deploy first and entirely, spread across the facing of the city in their deployment half. Then the Opposing Forces each roll off on 2d6. They then deploy their full force in order of highest to lowest roll.

Festus the Leechlord and a horde of Nurgle-marked Beastmen Gors. I love the job Kevin did on their purple skin. Nasty, nasty unit with Festus' buffs.

First Turn: The Opposing Forces get the first turn.

Enrico's glorious Chaos Warriors, with a great Chaos Lord and my personal favorite model on the table: that Chaos Sorcerer of Nurgle. Enrico is not only a great painter, but a writer for Tabletop Gaming News who covers miniature gaming. 

Special Rules: The Search the Ruins, Strategems, and Victory Tally special scenario rules are used for this scenario, and can be found below.

Rot Flies of Nurgle take to the air!

Search the Ruins: Units of the Opposing Forces can search the ruined buildings of the Empire as they go, hoping to find helpful things in their fight against Nurgle. Once a building or ruin is searched once, it gets marked as “searched”. A unit can only search one building per turn, and it cannot be done if the unit ends its movement phase in combat. Any Infantry unit or Monstrous Infantry unit may search a building they are within 5” of at the end of their move. Cavalry units may also search buildings, but they cannot do so if they marched that turn (representing the riders dismounting quickly to check out the ruin. Monsters, Chariots, Swarms, and Beasts cannot search buildings. Searching is done at the end of the movement phase.

To search, the player rolls a d6 and consults the chart below (descriptions of each are beneath):

1	Rats in the Cellar
2	Dust and Smoke*
3	City Map
4	Weapons Cache*
5	Torches*
6	Healing Draught*

*If the searching unit is already under one of these effects, they gain nothing from this search.

Rats in the Cellar: A swarm of lurking rats have moved into the basement of this ruin. The unit immediately suffers 2d6 Strength 1 hits. Skaven forces also suffer this, as the cornered rats know that servitude to unknown Skaven masters is a fate to be avoided!

Dust and Smoke: A missed step while searching causes a partial collapse, showering the unit in dust and smoke. They suffer a -1 to WS and BS. These effects last until the unit wins, loses, or draws a combat or ends a move within 5” of a water feature (river, fountain, or the “boat house”).

City Map: The unit finds a map of the city, which aids in its movement. It may immediately roll 1d6 and move that many inches, as if a normal movement. This movement may not take them into combat, and the full distance does not need to be used.

Weapons Cache: The unit finds a number of weapons in the basement of this ruin, enough to arm them differently. They can choose one of the following types of weapons: Flails, Two/Additional Hand Weapons, Javelins, Spears, Throwing Axes, or Shortbows. A unit choosing a melee weapon must use that weapon in combat instead of their normal armament. The unit remains armed with this weapon until they win, lose, or draw a round of combat.

Torches: The unit finds or makes a number of torches. The unit gains the flaming attacks special rule. They keep this rule until they lose a combat.

Healing Draughts: The unit gains the following ability: Innate Bound Spell (power level 3). One-use only. The draughts function as the Regrowth spell (see the Lore of Life), but it can only target the unit that has the ability.

Nine Minotaurs led by a Doombull. Ouch to whoever has to face this unit!

Victory Tally: The following is the order of kills, from top to bottom. Score is based on the top kill, with kill being the general directly responsible for the model being removed from the table. The Gold prize goes to the highest scorer, followed by the Silver to second, and Bronze to third. In the case of ties (caused by generic choices, where there were multiple: in our case Daemonic Heralds of Nurgle), someone who has the highest second kill wins. The following is the list we used for this game. Players wanting to run their own might include other forces, and thus have an expanded list. 

The Glottkin
Guttrot Spume
Klaus Feverskin, Daemon Prince of Nurgle
Epidemius
Great Unclean One
Festus the Leechlord
Doombull
Chaos Lord
Daemon Prince
Any Herald of Nurgle
Chaos Sorcerer

Warriors of Chaos Forsaken, showing their transformation into Plaguebearers.

Strategems: Each Opposing Forces race gets a different Strategem they can choose to use during the battle. This represents a momentary advantage for their side in some way. Races are given their Strategems at the start of the battle, and do not share them with the other players. To play the Strategem, they declare the stratagem at the start of an appropriate turn, reveal the rules, and gain the benefit and/or resolve the effect. The strategems for each race are presented below:

Khorne: “Strategy? No strategy! CHAAARGEBLARRGH!!!” No stratagem bonus.

Despite these cries by the Khornate forces, the Great Brass God does watch down over his followers from time to time. Should the Forces of Nurgle ever roll the Khorne-themed result on the Daemonic Magic table, they must roll for all of their own Nurgle units as well as all Slaanesh and Opposing Forces units as normal.

Other Chaos: “Our own ascendance will triumph, bless us O Dark Masters!” Play at the start of any turn after the first. Roll d3, and select that many models in your own force capable of rolling on the Eye of the Gods table. Immediately make one roll for each of them.

Bretonnia: “In the name of the Lady, let’s save the lands of Men. We cannot give up, the fight is too dire.” Play at any time, and can be played in reaction to a failed panic or break test. Every Brettonian Knight model gains the Unbreakable special rule until the end of this turn. Every Bretonnian peasant model gains the Stubborn special rule until the end of this turn.

Dark Elves: “We have prepared for their stench, strike the dagger blow now.” Play at the start of any close combat phase. The Dark Elves break out small vials of Cold One saliva and smear them across their noses and mouths. The numbing poison leaves all Dark Elf models unaffected by any negative penalties to hit because of marks of Nurgle, clouds of flies, etc. for that round of close combat. 

Dwarfs: “We’ve got a grudge to settle, lads.” Play at the start of the game. The Dwarf player counts their Ancestral Grudge as a result of 6 instead of rolling. Furthermore, should anyone have a Grudge Rune they gain +1 Attack in addition to the other effects of the Rune.

High Elves: “Watch your skirts there, Glorindel. Don’t get any of that filth on your Ulthuan white robes!” Play at the start of any Opposing Forces. The High Elves, in an attempt to keep themselves uncovered by the filth of their foes, bank on their shooting instead. All High Elves ranged weapons gain the Multiple Shots (x2) special rule. For weapons that already have multiple shots, add d3 to the number that are fired in the fusillade of death. Repeater Bolt Throwers can choose to fire their big bolt twice (suffering the Multiple Shots penalty), or add a d3 to the number of their smaller shots.

Lizardmen: “The destruction of chaos is our calling. Bring forth the end. Wrest them from existence.” Play at the start of any Opposing Forces magic phase. Each Wizard model from the Lizardman books gains an additional magic dice to use during this magic phase. In addition, roll a d3 and select that many units. They gain the effects of one of the following spells, as if it were cast and not dispelled normally in that magic phase: The Speed of Light (Lore of Light), Light of Battle (Lore of Light), Wyssan’s Wildform (Lore of Beasts), or Enchanted Blades of Aiban (Lore of Metal). You can choose only one of each spell to be applied.

Ogre Kingdoms: “These things taste terrible! I’m so hungry! Rawr!” Play at the start of any close combat phase. The Ogres, unable to eat their foes, find their stomachs rumbling in this fight. This makes them more angry and aggressive than usual. All Ogre models gain the Hatred and the Devastating Charge special rules for the duration of that combat phase.

Orcs and Goblins: “Dese boyz smell like the drops. Time ta use some low kunnin’ to krump ‘em!” Play at the start of any movement phase. All Orcs and Goblins models (but not Trolls or Giants, being too dumb) gain the Free Reform special rule as if they were skirmishers or Fast Cavalry. If the models already have the Free Reform special rule, they gain +d3 inches of movement for that phase instead.

Skaven: “The charges are set, yes yes. Explode them now. Die die Filth-walkers!” Play at the start of any phase on any turn. Suddenly, a set of ruins explode and shower the streets with flaming debris. Roll d3+2, and select that many buildings that are adjacent to each other. Any unit Nurgle or Opposing Forces within 5” of one of these buildings is affected. Units with the Regeneration special rule lose that special rule for the remainder of that phase. Units without the Regeneration special rule take 1d6 Strength 2 hits with the Flaming Attack special rule, distributed as shooting.

Empire: “Round up the refugees! Gather the women! Even children! Hand them a sword, all can fight!” Play at the start of any Opposing Forces phase. Roll d3+2. Select that many units as gaining reinforcements from the people fleeing the city. Resolve this as if the Regrowth spell were successfully cast upon the unit. Chariots cannot regain wounds in this way, and Characters cannot be healed as normal per the spell.

Tomb Kings / Vampire Counts: “So much death, so many fallen in these buildings. Recruit them! Bring forth the undying to swell our ranks!” Play at the start of any Opposing Forces magic phase. Every undead model targeted by a spell cast during that phase that regains lost models, adds new models to an existing unit, or summons new units increases the number of wounds/models gained by d6 with each casting (with usual limits such as vampiric applying). In addition, roll d3. Select that many friendly undead units that are within 5” of a building. They immediately regain d6 wounds worth of models as per rules for regaining models, without having to successfully cast anything.

Wood Elves: “Awaken the trees! The very earth rejects this plague!” Play at the start of any Opposing Forces phase after the first turn. Move each woods or tree base 2d6 as per the secondary effect of the Blood Forest (pg. 119), except that the Wood Elf player can choose the direction of the movement. The woods then immediately become Wildwoods (pg. 119) instead of any prior type for the remainder of the game. These Wildwoods affect models as normal (ending their movement within), individual trees project this effect 3” from their base. Wood Elves treat such woods as ordinary. 

Can't forget a Great Unclean One and a unit of six Beasts of Nurgle.

Update: A photo of Klaus Feverskin, Daemon Prince of Nurgle. Thanks to Chad for letting me use the photo! All mine turned out blurry, no doubt I was focused on all the noxious gas escaping the bloated body. 

Fire Everywhere

It was time again for the Skaven to creep out of their tunnels and plague the Old World. With the release of the Thanquol End Times book, and a whole bevy of new Skaven models with it, my passion for the ratmen is riding very high. Painting time was a bit more rare, so unfortunately not too much progress to show off. But at least something got painted: a unit of 5 Giant Rats and a Packmaster.

Commonly called a "rat dart": a small group to block charge lanes and try and draw chargers out of position to reveal their flanks. I love it solely for the teeny little movement tray!

I've got a much bigger project in the works which I used in this game nearly painted. But it's not fully painted so not ready to reveal (so much I won't even mention its role in the battle report). So stay tuned for the next update, which should come very soon. This coming Sunday I am running a massive battle similar to my Nagash Event, this time featuring the forces of Nurgle as foes. So I'll keep my update on the new painting project until then.

This battle was a meeting engagement, a fight where units show up in random portions of the deployment zone. Neither I nor the Empire were too bothered by this, as they were compact and my forces numerous. The Empire list was two Steam Tanks, a big unit of Knights with a character, Greatswords, Spearmen horde, Cannon, Mortar, Engineer, and two Life lore wizards. My force was infantry and shooting heavy--managing to put five successful shots of warpfire out on one wonderful turn.

 The Life Wizard got into the melee with his Greatswords unit, managing to hit and wound rat swarms every time he swung. The rats were eventually ground down, but they inflicted a large number of casualties on the Greatswords over three turns of combat.

 The Gutter Runners turned up with their Warp Grinder on turn two, and charged the Engineer on his Mechanical Steed. They proved to have packed rubber daggers however, as pretty much every fight they were in took more turns than it reasonably should have. I blame Clan Pestilens, no doubt selling inferior poisons to their rivals in Clan Eshin. 

 The Horde of Spearmen, considerably lessened in number by successive waves of Warpfire, faces down the remaining Skavenslaves: considerably lessened in number by successive castings of Death Frenzy (which didn't help at all when they got to the Spearmen). At least losing 21 models to my own spell earned a Skaven Achievement.

A Warpfire Thrower sends another gout of flame into the Knights. This was the story of the match: warpfire simply causing too many casualties. The character who led the knights was slain by a single warpfire shot after his entire unit was annihilated around him due to the sticky flames. 

Not pictured is the other part of my success in this battle: a Warlord with The Fellblade. He wasn't fully painted (rather barely painted: just his fur thus far), hence the lack of photos. But he only suffered one wound to the corrupting power of the sword all game, and managed to completely destroy one Steam Tank in a single round of combat--and took seven wounds off the other in a later combat, leading to it exploding due to its own steam pressure at the start of the next turn. The weapon really is amazing when the foe is fielding big scary stuff. Worth the points at least in this match-up.

Not to be confused with the 40k Fellblade. Though I bet this would give those Steamtanks a thrashing as well.

Overall it was a really fun game. My Skaven beat the Empire by 759 points--a solid win in the old scoring notation. There was plenty to celebrate on both sides, as the Greatswords definitely took everything I could throw at them and kept rolling and destroying units till the end. The other fun part was my Plagueclaw Catapults proving to again be controlled by the enemy more often than not. One had two decent hits before it misfired and blew up. The other one managed to misfire once, allowing my opponent Tom to re-position the blast onto the unit of Clanrats hiding my Warlock Engineer Gnawfire. Then on the subsequent shot, it managed to miss and deviate the shot so far it covered that exact same unit again, causing even more casualties and making the unit panic from the poison splash. There definitely seems to be a conspiracy that the Plagueclaw Catapults only work well when I field my Clan Pestilens-themed force.

Fully Painted Models
Skaven: 59
Dwarfs: 41

Battles
Total 2015: 3 (Win/Loss/Tie: 2/1/0)
Total 2014: 15 (Win/Loss/Tie: 8/6/1)

Skaven:
4 Wins (Empire 1, T&T Daemons and Dwarfs, Siege Dwarfs and Bretonnians, T&T Daemons and Empire)
5 Losses (Empire 1, Dwarfs 1, Daemons 1, T&T Daemons 1, T&T Dwarfs 1)

Dwarfs:
4 Wins (Dwarfs 2, Wood Elves 2)
1 Loss (Dark Elves 1)

Coping with the Rumor-Mill

So my January has been a lot less productive when it came to painting and gaming. And I know exactly why: all sorts of rumors about Warhammer Fantasy 9th Edition. New editions are always somewhat tumultuous, and in the past year the strange and accelerated pace of Games Workshop's product launches have only made worries worse. The big energy sapping rumors are twofold: first, the rumor that round bases will replace square ones. Which would be an enormous change that would leave the game simply not like its prior editions. Second, the dramatic changes to the Warhammer world. Instead of a traditional fantasy setting, rumors have it going to pockets of isolated reality, with some of the standard races merging or being removed from the game entirely. If rumors are to be believed, the undead will be condensed, all three elf races will be condensed, and the Lizardmen are going to simply fly off into space and not be around anymore.

Many believe this is a picture of a ziggurat-shaped spaceship lifting the Lizardmen army right out of the game of Warhammer Fantasy.

Our own reactions as a group of players have been a part of my concern as well. Some sample comments I wanted to save and share (I'm Andrew):

The questions of the round bases rumor: how could it change the game and how could we be expected to rebase hundreds (or thousands) of bases?

Using the age-old trick, of not saying something new in a blog--just re-expressing your prior opinions.

Why all these rumors have lagged my hobby drive is because I experienced this once before: when Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 was replaced with a Fourth Edition of the game. At the time, I had been playing a great deal of Living Greyhawk--a massive combined game of Dungeons and Dragons with thousands of players across the country. It was an amazing way to play Dungeons and Dragons, and some of my favorite gaming memories are from that era. But with Fourth Edition, the company stopped supporting the prior game. This generated a schism in the gaming community, with some jumping on board with the new game and others trying to play the prior. It was all made worse because Fourth Edition fundamentally changed the way the game played: in an attempt to compete with video games, they made the game more like an MMORPG. So the new product simply wasn't what many of us came to love about the game. I was left with a massive pile of books that governed a great game, but Living Greyhawk was killed and the edition had moved on.

I'm worried about the same with Warhammer, honestly. As I said in that message screenshotted above, the game is something that I've enjoyed relatively unchanged for 19 years: over half of my life. If I trusted that Games Workshop was going to do something similar, just a set of refined rules that make the same game even better, I'd be more enthused. In fact, I think that a 9th edition is absolutely needed to clean up some features of the game: unified mount and rider profiles, changes to some of the spells, and some clarity with certain unit types and situations. And I'm inclined to be okay with the current move of Games Workshop to try and lure newer players by making smaller forces viable (thanks to larger points investments in the large Lord and Hero models and big Monster kits lately). But I'm worried that they've got their eyes more on usurping their competition--all the burgeoning skirmish games like that of Privateer Press--than on refining their own product and making it better.

I already have my Privateer Press force painted as adversaries for a Role Playing Campaign that I run. I enjoy that game, but skirmish isn't as grand as the big armies. 

So I'll be honest. I got all worried. I thought "hmm, maybe I should just sell all my armies." I painted other stuff: a unit of Dark Reapers for my Warhammer 40k Eldar army. I played Fallout New Vegas when I could have been painting.

But I think ultimately the feeling of discouragement has passed, at least for now. I still enjoy painting models, I still laugh whenever I think about how silly my Skaven force will be when it hits the table, and I still smile at the thought of fielding a fully painted force of Skaven yet again (third time's the charm). So I'll proceed with cautious optimism, even in the face of potential changes to a game that I do truly love. 

And if my Skaven fly into space, get onto round bases, and join the 40k universe? Well, then I just have a Hrud army ready to go.