Shadow War Campaign House Rules

We previously established that the Shadow War rules are exactly the same as the old Games Workshop game Necromunda, right down to the wording. However, the campaign rules, which allow your Kill Team to gain experience, acquire new equipment and recruit new members over a series of games, are somewhat different. For the most part, Shadow War simplified them, for better or worse.

As a proud owner of the original Necromunda rules, I had the choice to either follow the Shadow War rules or to import some, or all, of the campaign rules from Necromunda. To help make that decision, I summarised the differences between the two sets of rules in the table below.

	Shadow War	Necromunda	Campaign
Subplots	Each side rolls on a 2d6 table at the start of the game.	Not Used	Shadow War
Injuries	D66 table. 1/6 chance of death	D6 table. 1/6 chance of death	Necromunda
Advancement	1 nominated fighter gains an advance after each game. Roll on a 2d6 table, favouring skills. After 3 games, a new recruit becomes a trooper.	Fighters gain experience according to the mission. Once passing a set threshold, a fighter gains an advance. Roll on a 2d6 table favouring characteristic bonuses. A new recruit (Juve) becomes a trooper (Ganger) after gaining 20 experience points	Necromunda
Recruitment	100 credits per game + 100 bonus for sacrificing a promethium tank (see below). Credits must be spent on equipment or recruitment. Any credits not spent are lost. Equipment must be assigned to a specific model and cannot be transferred.	Gangs start with d6 territories generating random amounts of credit, adjusted for the size of the gang. This goes in a gang stash which can be freely spent on equipment and recruitment. Credits not spent remain in the stash	Shadow War
Special Operatives	Sacrifice a Promethium Tank to recruit an operative for one game.	Operatives cost a set amount to hire and must be paid a fee each game to remain with the gang.	Shadow War (with modifications)
Winning the Campaign	After each game, the winning side gains D3 promethium tanks and the loser 1. To win, collect 15 tanks and win one more game.	No set conditions, though Gang Rating (Total Credits + Total Experience) can be used to track gang progress	Shadow War, but use Gang (Kill Team) rating to determine bonus experience.

The subplots table is a basic random table you roll on at the start of the game to add some extra interest. It isn't found in Necromunda but I saw no reason to leave it out of my campaign.

The injuries table was a bit of a no-brainer. You roll on it for each model taken out of action during the game to see what happens to them. The Shadow War one is a d6 table, with only 5 different results, while the Necromunda one uses a d66 for 36 different results. Games Workshop was a bit enamoured of d66 tables in the mid-late 1900s. These work by having you roll 2 6 sided dice counting one as tens and the other as units, giving a value of between 11 and 66, but with certain values missing (you can't get anything ending in 7-9 or 0). As the Necromunda table had more and more interesting results, I decided to use that, so far so good.

The experience rules presented a bit more of a dilemma. The Necromunda rules require a lot more book keeping, as you have to track what your fighters do during the missions and assign experience points accordingly. They can also be a bit unbalancing as a a kill-team that does well early on can get a big advantage. On the other hand, there is gang rating system that scores you gang based on a combination of points cost and experience, with the "underdog" getting bonus experience which can help to level it out. It also relates your fighters development to their actual behaviour in-game, so I decided to risk the balance issues and use the Necromunda version. Translating the experience scores from the Necromunda missions is pretty easy as all the Shadow War missions are copied, pretty-much straight, from the Necromunda book.

For the recruitment rules, I decided to stick with  Shadow War. Necromunda uses a system of randomly generated territories which generate a variable income. Like the experience rules these can be unbalancing, as gangs ongoing income is dependent on a random roll at the start of the campaign. Unlike the experience system, there isn't anything to offset this. The bigger problem for me though, was making the rules make sense in the context of my campaign. The rules describe gangs scavenging for scrap metal or dangerous chemicals, which might work for Orks or Dark Eldar, but is a bit odd for Space Marines or Sisters of Battle, who probably don't get supplies on the black market. I didn't think the effort required to re-write them for my campaign would be worth it.

I also decided to use the Shadow War Special Operative rules. These allow you to recruit more powerful or unusual fighters for one off games. Necromunda has similar rules, but its rules gives each operative a specific cost and allows you to keep them around between games if you keep paying it. As the Shadow War operatives all have the same cost, this doesn't really translate.

The Shadow War victory conditions were definitely staying, largely because Necromunda doesn't have any and I wanted my campaign to have a definite end point. Though I may reduce the number of Promethium Tanks required to win, depending on how long the campaign goes on and whether or not I get bored.

I did decide to introduce a house rule. In Shadow War, recruiting a special operative costs you a promethium tank. Given you need the tanks to win the campaign I didn't think I would ever use them. It wouldn't be worth the risk giving the winning side only gets d3 tanks, meaning that even if your operative is the difference between victory and defeat, you only had a 2/3 chance of coming out ahead. But, I do have some nice Special Operative models I would quite like to use, so I decided they could also be recruited by sacrificing the credits you get for recruitment between games. So, under my rules you can either recruit 100 credits of new models, buy 100 credits of equipment or recruit a special operative for the next game.

With the rules established, I wanted my campaign to have a bit of back story. I have six different Kill Teams planned and I wanted some excuse for them to be wandering around in the same place at the same time. I didn't want to get too elaborate, so I worked out the little story that follows.

Inquisitor Rudolphus was a controversial figure, skirting the line between reactionary and radical and never being entirely friendly to other side. He was, however, a greater collector and hoarder of artifacts, whether Imperial, Chaotic or Xenos. On his death, his archive was much sought after but never discovered.

Recently, a signal beacon started transmitting from the Hive World of Chet. The Seismic activity under the abandoned Prag Hive had allowed the beacon's signal to penetrate the atmosphere. This signal was identified as coming from Inquisitor Rudolphus lost archive. This contents of this archive are of great interest to dozens of factions and teams immediately set out to search for it.

For the purpose of my campaign "promethium caches" will be replace with "data caches" which provide my teams with information leading them to the archive. The final game will take place in the Archive itself, with the winners taking off with a collection of invaluable relics, treasure and information.

With the admin out of the way, here are a few pictures from my first game. The Sisters of Battle of the Order of the Argent Shroud took on the Death Guard Plague Marines. I didn't take many pictures as this was quite an impromptu game, as I was relearning the rules, and include (heresy) unpainted scenery.

The game started with a fire fight between the Plague Marine and Sister Specialists across the centre, while Sister Superior Winnifred lead a small group in an attack on the Plague Marine's left flank. Sister Winnifred took out Brother Scrofula with her Power Sword, only for her group to come under heavy fire. They weathered it well, with only one Sister going down and she recovered with a flesh wound.

The Plague Marine Champion, Brother Corpulous ran moved to fire on Sister Superior Winnifred, but missed and exposed his back to Sister Theodora who gunned him down with her Storm Bolter. With two out of five Plague Marines out of action and the Sisters stubbornly refusing to go down, the Plague Marines only lasted a couple more turns before bottling.

The Sisters did very well out of the game, securing 4 data caches, having rolled a three and getting a bonus one for having taken more than three times as many enemies out as they lost themselves. It wasn't all bad for the Plague Marines, however, thanks to the underdog bonus they all gained plenty of experience points and Brother Buboes gained the exceptionally useful "Scavenger" skill, giving them an extra 50 credits for recruitment, which allowed them to just barely afford an extra marine.

The Sisters also did well out of experience, also getting the Scavenger skill and recruiting another Sister. All of which means more painting before their next mission. Though, before that happens, I have four more gangs to paint.

New Project: Shadow War

When Games Workshop first announced Shadow War: Armageddon I didn't pay much attention. It seemed like a way to flog their new industrial scenery by throwing together a game using the old Necromunda* rules and some Space Marine Scout and Ork models. Basically a smart use of existing assets, but not of great interest to me as a I already owned Necromunda first edition.

Games Workshop also didn't seem to expect much from it as they made it limited edition and let it sell out in about five minutes. They clearly underestimated the interest in their old games as this lead to a huge fuss online. To their credit, and uncharacteristically, GW responded to the complaints and released a paperback version of the rulebook on its own. In addition to the rules from the game, this also included the rules for additional Kill-Teams based on other armies that they had published online and a couple of new ones.

It was at this point I started to take an interest as I realised that I could put together about six gangs without having to buy a single model and, in one case, without even having to paint a single model. And, even better, I would be able to use some lovely old models that had been sitting around neglected.

Having finished my Beyond the Gates of Antares project and finished my Dwarf buildings, now seems like a good time for a Shadow War project. It's a bit of contrast to my last two projects, in that its based on small teams of models, which means lots of variety and that I can afford to take a bit more time over the individual models.

It's also likely to go slightly differently than my last two projects. For Warhammer Siege and BTGOA I basically painted enough models to play a game, played it, painted some more and so on. I'll probably start that way with Shadow War. I'll paint two Kill-Teams, play a game, paint two more and so on. But once I have six teams painted, I'll be more or less done with painting, barring a few new recruits that I might add to the Kill Teams as the campaign progresses.

On the other hand, the campaign is likely to last longer than three games, quite a bit longer. To actually win a campaign in Shadow War, a Kill-Team is supposed to collect 15 Promethium caches and then win one more game. The rules give the winner of each game D3 caches and the loser 1, play some scenarios give you the opportunity to win one more. This means that to win a campaign, a Kill-Team needs to play a minimum of 5 games (4 to collect the caches, if they are very lucky, plus one more win). And I have six Kill-Teams. Depending on how things go, I may reduce the number required to win, but I'm still likely to be playing games long after my models are all painted.

But, this gives me an opportunity. With the campaign still going on, I can turn my attention to a new painting project, probably an army-sized one that would require me to paint a lot of models before I can do any gaming. I haven't decided what that will be yet, but I have plenty of options.

In the meantime, here are my first two Kill Teams. The first are Sisters of Battle from the Order of the Argent Shroud. I've had Sisters of Battle sitting around for years unpainted and recently picked up some more because I thought (completely wrongly) that Games Workshop might be about to retire them. I painted them in the Argent Shroud colours because I knew I could do a decent and quick job using Army Painter plate metal spray as a base, having used the same trick for my Concord and Chaos Dwarfs

My second Kill-Team is the one I didn't have to paint. I've had my Death Guard Chaos Marines for years and haven't used them since Warhammer 40,000 4th edition, so this was a good chance to get them out and give them another chance. I painted them in double quick time for a campaign, mostly by dry-brushing grey over brown which gave them a slightly dusty look which I think works okay for Nurgle Marines. I think the painting stands up okay, though the champion's face looks a bit basic and I may at least try painting his eyes. My biggest regret is my choice of yellow-brown as a contrasting colour makes them look a bit purple even though they were only painted in grey.

More soon as the campaign gets under way.

*According to one reviewer who owns a copy of the second edition Necromunda rule book, it actually replicates them perfectly, right down to the layout as though they just did a bulk find and replace on the word "gang" and "gangers" and swapped out the design template.

That's my beer!

Following my previous post on my lovely new Dwarf Brewery model, here are some pictures of it in action. I played a smallish, 2,000 point Warhammer game in which the Chaos Warriors of Azazel, Daemon Prince of Slaanesh, attempted to invade the Dwarf Brewery and steal all their beer. After all, who else would want to steel good Dwarf Beer but a Daemon Prince dedicated to the God of pleasure?

The Brewery building had two functioning floors and a roof. I decide the ground floor could be accessed from three side, and the second floor and roof from the side with the stairs. If the Chaos forces could drive the Dwarf defenders out or contest one of the floors, they would get a bonus 500 victory points. I set this condition quite low as the Dwarfs started out in control of the building.

The Brewery stood defiant, assisted by a cannon on the roof.

Dwarf Slayers wiped out the Forsaken in combat. At least the Forsaken got to do something this time though, instead of being wiped out by Organ Gun fire.

The Chaos Giant was shot dead by mass Dwarf crossbow and handgun fire. They were taking no chances after the last battle.

The Hammerers sold their lives dearly in defence of their beer.

Marauders assault the Longbeards on the ground floor, but were driven back. The Musician rallied the unit from his position on the bar. The Standard was too tall to fit in the ground floor and so took up position on the roof.

The Organ Gun was lethally effective, wiping out the Chaos Warriors and the fleeing Marauders.

In the end, the Dwarfs were able to hold the brewery. The Daemon Prince and Doom Knight finished off the Hammerers and the Cannon on the roof, but were too big to enter the building and too far away from the other three sides to assault the Longbeards.

A quick, messy and fun game that gave the new buildings a good workout. Having some proper dwarf scenery really added something. IT was also a good to give Azazel a workout. The model has been lying around for years since I picked him up cheap in some Games Workshop sale or other. I painted him up quickly for the game and he proved pretty deadly in combat.

That's one mini-project out of the way and so it's on to the next. More on that soon.

Do not forsake me...

It's been way too long since my last update. I managed to miss a whole month. On the positive side, I do have something positive to report. I have one more unit painted, which puts me one step closer (and probably only one step away) from finishing my Siege Campaign.

Without further ado, here are my unit of Chaos Forsaken.

I'd had my eye on the Forsaken for a while and the combination of the Siege Final Assault (which needs a lot of infantry) and Games Workshop putting them out of production, prompted me to grab a box.

I always liked the concept more than the models. The Forsaken are supposed to be Chaos Warriors who have been heading in the wrong direction. If Chosen are a step closer to being Champions, Forsaken are a step closer to being Spawn. This was best illustrated by Adrian Smith in the 8th edition Warhammer Armies Warriors of Chaos.

There are basically two ways to illustrate Chaos Warriors well. The first is as frothing mad-men, all violent energy, the other is dark and brooding menace, a slow and unstoppable horde. Adrian Smith definitely favours the latter approach and its very visible here. He's huge and threatening, but its all potential energy as he lumbers towards you. The models tried for that, but don't pull if off.

 Games Workshops 'Official' Forsaken models

Part of the problem is the choice of heads. Some are just plain bad, all lumpy and odd, without being threatening, while others just seem inappropriate, looking too intelligent. In most cases, they aren't wearing helmets, which is a bad idea. The point of putting a Chaos Warrior in a helmet is to make them mysterious, you don't know what horrors lurk beneath. We know what horrors lurk beneath the Forsaken's helmets, and it's mostly scales and bumps.

The other problem is the posing. Low energy is fine. The Forsaken in the illustration is stalking slowly, his arms are relaxed. The problem with the models is that the arms are mostly half raised. When their holding weapons it looks like there on parade, when their unarmed like their in a boxing match,

When I put my Forsaken together I swapped almost all of the heads for spare helmeted Chaos Warrior heads. I took the best of the arms from the box and added some spare parts from Chaos Spawn and Chaos Knights to try give them a more dynamic look.

I didn't like the way Games Workshop had painted the models. The very pale flesh contrasted too strongly with the black armour and the occasional splashes of colour stood out too much. I tried to give my forsaken a more earthy look, sticking with the colour scheme from my Chaos Warriors and keeping the flesh tones dark, I used a few colour splashes for contrast, but tried to keep them subdued. The colour splashes were mostly painted using glazes and am quite pleased with the results.

My Forsaken are not nearly as professionally painted as the official models, but I think the unit looks better and more coherent as a whole.

Just as a quick bonus, here's my Dwarf Organ Gun that I painted a few weeks back. Not much to tell here, I have it sitting around unassembled for ages and thought it would probably be useful in a siege. I followed my Dwarf armies existing colour scheme pretty exactly.

It shouldn't be too long until the Final Assault. Just some siege equipment to paint.

Warhammer Siege - ChaosTurn 2 - Test the Defences

"When will they be ready," the Black Armoured form of the Chaos Lord Sundar Klash demanded.

"Soon," the Daemonsmith Zanbad Curseheart replied, "we suffered damage in the assault and some of my best were lost in the undermining attempt. Our machines cannot be rushed."

"Machines," the Champion Skjalpi Bloodscream scoffed, "I put my faith in men."

"Men who are armoured and equipped by us," Zanbad retored, "and who have no chance of breaching the walls without us."

"Men who slaughtered the dwarf's messengrers," Skjalpi bellowed. "What have your machines achieved, Daemonsmith? The walls are still standing. I would wager man against machine at any time."

"Then perhaps we should test that," Chakram Manflay purred softly. "What do you say my lord?"

"An intriguing suggestion," Sundar Klash said. "Skjalpi, take a rading party and test the dwarfs defences. We shall see how strong the walls are."

"My Lord," Skjalpi nodded and smiled.

Zanbad merely brooded, silently.

This scenario would be my first opportunity to try out the proper siege rules, as the Chaos forces attempted a raid on the fortress itself. For this scenario, the besieging Chaos forces had 1,000 points, while the defending Dwarfs only got 500. After his success in the previous scenario, I put the Exalted Champion Skjalpi Bloodscream in charge of the Chaos forces. The Dwarfs would be commanded by Thane Narvi, who looks suspiciously similar to Thane Eyni, from the last game.

Although I would be using the siege rules, the forces were limited in the equipment they could use. The attackers were only allowed ladders and log rams, while the defenders could have rocks and boiling oil. With no Warmachines, the defenders lent heavily on missile troops.

Thane Narvi
10 Longbeards with rocks
10 Thunderers
10 Quarrellers

 Dwarf Deployment

The Chaos objective was to destroy the fortress gate or wipe out the defenders in five turns. With that in mind, I included two units with log rams, in case one was wiped out or driven off by missile fire. The two units of Marauders with ladders were their to keep the defenders occupied.

Skjalpi Bloodscream - Exalted Champion
15 Chaos Warriors with log ram
4 Dragon Ogres with log ram
20 Marauders with flails and 3 ladders (lead by Skjalpi)
20 Marauders with hand weapons and shields and 3 ladders

Chaos Deployment

The Besieged forces automatically took the first turn.

Dwarf Turn 1

Having deployed in defensive positions, the dwarfs did not move, but opened fire with all missile weapons. The Quarrellers killed 1 Marauder and the Thunderers 1 Chaos Warrior. Not a very promising start.

 The opening volley

Chaos Turn 1

With no missile weapons, the only thing for the Chaos forces to do was advance on the fortress as quickly as possible. This put the Dragon Ogres in easy charging range of the gate next turn.

 Advance!

Dwarf Turn 2

The Quarrellers opened fire on the Marauders. As if to make up for their poor performance last turn, they killed 5. The Marauders panicked and fled, abandoning their ladders.

 I forgot that the Marauders dropped the ladders when fleeing until after I took the picture

Having realised they had probably miscalculated by shooting the Chaos Warriors, the Thunderers switched targets to the Dragon Ogres. But they failed to match the Quarrellers performance and only caused 1 wound.

Chaos Turn 2

An all out charge this turn as the Dragon Ogres rammed the gate and Skjalpi's Marauders assaulted the walls. The Longbeards responded by hurling rocks, killing 2 Marauders.

 The assault begins

On the other side of the battlefield, the fleeing Marauders rallied.

When attacking part of a castle, you add the strength of an attack to the number of wounds caused and compare it to a damage chart. Log rams have a strength equal to 1 for each model carrying it up to a maximum of 8. Big models like Dragon Ogres, count as 2 for this rule. It causes D6 wounds. The Dragon Ogres rolled a 1, giving a total score of 9 and the gate remained undamaged.

Meanwhile, on the walls, Skjalpi Bloodscream issued a challenge, which was accepted by the Long Beard old guard. Assaulting walls is a risky business. Only 1 model can attack for each ladder, they automatically strike last and hit on 6s. In spite of the disadvantages, Skjalpi survived the Old Guard's attack and killed him. The Chaos Gods rewarded him with a free re-roll that would last until next turn. 1 Marauder was also killed giving a draw.

Dwarf Turn 3

With the threat of the Marauders delayed, the Quarrellers abandoned the walls and headed for the tower. Thane Narvi stayed behind to guard the walls. If the Marauders did assault he would be badly outnumbered, but could probably hold them off for a turn.

The Thunderers opened fire on the Dragon Ogres, causing 2 wounds. Not enough to bring down a Dragon Ogre.

Three of the Longbeards dropped rocks on the Marauders, which they are allowed to do, despite the rest of the unit being in combat, but caused no wounds. The engaged Longbeards brought down 2 Marauders, but failed to wound Skjalpi who killed 1 Longbeard in return. Ranks and standards do not count towards the results when assaulting the walls, so the Longbeards won the combat by 1. However, the losers in an assault can test on their unmodified leadership and the Marauders, or rather Skjalpi, easily passed.

The assault continues

Chaos Turn 3

The recently rallied Marauders advanced and retrieved their ladders. The Dragon Ogres charged the gate again, this time damaging it so that future attacks would add +2.

 The Marauders retrieve their ladders while the Dragon-Ogres assault the gate

In a repeat of the previous turn, 2 more Marauders were killed on the walls, while Skjalpi slew another Longbeard and the Marauders passed their break test again.

Dwarf Turn 4

The Thunderers opened fire on the Dragon Ogres, causing 2 more wounds. This was enough to fell one Dragon Ogre and wound another. More importantly, it reduced the strength of the log ram from 8 to 6.

 The Chaos forces come under fire

On the left side of the fortress, 1 Marauder was felled by falling rocks, 2 more killed in battle and Skjalpi Bloodscream was wounded. 2 Longbeards were killed in return, but clearly suffering a wound himself was too much for the Champion. The Marauders failed the break test with a score of 10 and fled from the wall.

 The Marauders flee the walls

Chaos Turn 4

Chaos faced a dilemma this turn. Ideally, the Chaos Warriors, with 8 models carrying the log ram, would charge, but the Dragon Ogres were in the way. The Dragon Ogres could move but not until after the charge phase meaning there would be no attack on the gate this turn. Reasoning that the Chaos Warriors would come under heavy fire from the Dwarfs next turn and could lose enough models to reduce the strength of their log ram, I left the Dragon Ogres where they were.

The Marauders with hand weapons and shields attempted to charge the walls, but failed and only lurched 1" forward. On the other side of the wall, Skjalpi's Marauders rallied, but couldn't do anything else.

The Dragon Ogres rammed the walls, but rolled a 2, even with the damage from the previous turn, this wasn't enough to cause any effect.

 The attack on the gate fails

Dwarf Turn 5

The Thunderers opened fire on the Dragon Ogres again. This was risky. If they did enough damage to kill 1 more Dragon Ogre, it would reduce the strength of the log ram to 4 and preclude any possibility of them destroying the gate, but if the Dragon Ogres panicked or were wiped out, it would clear the way for the Chaos Warriors.

The Thunderers caused 4 wounds and 1 Dragon Ogre fell, but they passed their break test. This almost certainly meant victory for the Dwarfs. The Quarrelers failed to injure the Chaos Warriors, but it scarcely mattered.

 The Dwarf fire takes its toll

Chaos Turn 5

With no chance of destroying the gate, the Chaos armies simply tried to do as much damage as possible. Both sets of Marauders charged the walls.

Thane Narvi stood alone against the Marauders, but the Chieftain had no choice but to issue a challenge and was immediately cut down.

 Thane Narvi slays the Marauder Chieftain

On the other side, 1 Marauder and 1 Longbeard fell, ending the combat with a draw.

But, with the gate still standing and the walls defended, the battle had been won by the Dwarfs.

 The gate still stands

I went into this game expecting the Dwarfs to have a hard time. I expected them to hold the walls, but thought that two Chaos Units with log rams would have no trouble bringing down the gate in 5 turns. I failed to take into account that only one unit would be able to attack it at a time and that the Warhammer turn sequence would make it impossible for one unit to withdraw and the other to attack in the same turn.

Things really went wrong for Chaos when the Marauders panicked. This gave the Quarrellers the cover they needed to move into the tower and doubled the amount of fire power the dwarfs could bring to bear.

In retrospect, it might have been sensible to withdraw the Dragon Ogres on Chaos Turn 4, but then the dwarfs would have directed all their fire on the Chaos Warriors and Chaos would have been no better off. By leaving the Dragon Ogres, Chaos at least got one guaranteed strength 6 attack.

I realised after the game that, once they rallied, the Marauders should have assaulted the walls above the gate. This would have occupied the Thunderers and provided some cover to the Dragon Ogres. The thought simply didn't occur to me at the time.

The Longbeards and Skjalpi's Marauders both performed pretty well. Given a couple more turns I think Skjalpi would have taken the walls. But this fight was only ever a side show to the real battle taking place at the gate.

It was a good chance to try out the siege rules on a reduced scale. I thought they translated to 8th edition without any serious issues. But, I won't get to try them again for a bit. The roll for the end of the campaign was negative and so we continue into Siege Turn 3.

Warhammer Siege - Dwarf Turn 2 - Send for Help

Lord Durak Irongrim's face was grim as he sat at the conference table in the centre hall.

"The Dawi-Zharr were put down," he said. "That is good news, but it was a small victory. Every loss we suffer is costly, while their numbers seem endless."

"Aid will come from Karak Kadrin," Thane Zoe, his daughter said, with a touch of optimism.

"But will it find any of us left when it does come?" Thane Eyni said. "It could be weeks or months before they realise something is amiss. And even then, they may not send help in sufficient numbers to make any difference."

"What do you suggest?" Lord Durak said.

"We must risk sending a message through the enemy lines," he said. "It's the only way to ensure that help will reach us in time."

"I will go father," Thane Zoe said, still smarting from her failure to destroy the Chaos supplies.

"No," Lord Durak said, "you've risked too much already and I need you here. Thane Eyni, I will entrust the message to you. Take a guard, but no more than we can spare."

Thane Eyni said nothing and simply nodded.

For the Dwarf's second siege turn, I selected the Scenario Send for Help. The dwarfs had to get a message past enemy lines. If they succeeded, every dwarf would get a moral boost of +1 Leadership and they would be able to play the follow up scenario, Reinforcements, when reinforcements arrived.

This scenario was only 500 points a side. The dwarfs had to select 1 hero level character as the primary messenger and could select a rank and file model as a backup messenger, who could behave like a character for this scenario. They were also allowed two decoy messengers, of the same type as the backup messenger, who did not have a message but could serve as a distraction. The dwarfs objective was to get either messenger off the table on the opposite side to their deployment zone.

Thane Zoe and Chakram Manflay had been doing a lot of work in this campaign. Although they both had some bonuses from having survived a few games, I didn't want to use them in every scenario. Also, it would be useful to produce some other characters with bonuses.

With that in mind, I painted up two new characters especially for this scenario. Both were models that had been sitting around for years but that had, so far, escaped the paintbrush.

The forces were as follows:

Dwarf Messenger and Guards
Thane Eyni - Dwarf Thane and Primary Messenger
Meeni - Longbeard and backup messenger? (axe)
Myni - Longbeard and backup messenger? (sword)
Moe - Longbeard and backup messenger? (mace)
10 Dwarf Warrios with Great Weapons, Standard and Musician
10 Thunderers
5 Longbeards with Command Group
5 Slayers including 1 Giant Slayer

Chaos Patrol
Skjalpi Bloodscream - Exalted Champion
10 Chaos Marauders with Command Group
10 Chaos Hounds
6 Chaos Warriors with Command Group
5 Marauder Horsemen with Javelins and Command Group

To make things more interesting, I decided not to identify the real backup messenger at the start of the game, Instead, at the end of the game I would randomly determine which of the three were really carrying a message.

I decided that the hills would both be scree slopes, and so troops moving over them would have to make a dangerous terrain test. The swamps would have the same effect. I then randomly determined that the forest would be a venom forest, giving anyone in it poisoned attacks but also making it dangerous.

Dwarf Turn 1

The Dwarfs Advance

The dwarfs advanced cautiously, the Longbeards passing their dangerous terrain test to take position at the crest of the hill. The Thunderers hung back and opened fire on the Marauders at long range. The managed an impressive six hits, but then only wounded 2.

Open Fire!

Chaos Turn 1

The Chaos Warriors charged up the hill to face the Longbeards, but less comfortable on rocky ground, one of their number fell to his death (they failed their dangerous terrain test). The Warhounds also emerged from the forest to charge the Thunderers, losing 1 to poison and then another to the Thunderers hand guns. The Marauders tried a long shot charge against Meeni, but failed to make contact.

The Chaos Army charges

Meanwhile the Marauder Horsemen manoeuvred around the Slayers and hurled their javelins, killing 1 dwarf. Both The Thunderers and Marauders killed 2 of their opponents but, thanks to their charge, the Warhounds won the combat by 1. But the Thunderers managed to roll a double 6 for their break test and fled off the table, the Warhounds pursuit brought them into contact with the Dwarf Warriors. An early set back for the dwarfs.

One Slayer felled by Javelins

On the hill, the Aspiring Champion challenged the Longbeard Old Guard, only to be cut down for his trouble. The rest of the troops exchanged blows ineffectively and the combat ended in a draw.

Face off between Longbeards and Chaos Warriors

Dwarf Turn 2

With the hill blocked and the left flank looking dangerous, the messengers made their way around the right side of the hill, while the Slayer took up position guarding them.

The Messengers advance

The Warhounds failed to kill a single Dwarf Warrior, losing one of their number in return. The Warriors won the combat easily and the Warhounds fled, but the Warriors restrained themselves from pursuing.

Clearly demoralised by the loss of their champion, the Chaos Warriors were unable to harm the Longbeards. But the dwarfs were emboldened and slaughtered the Warriors, leaving none alive.

 Wipe Out!

Chaos Turn 2

The Marauders charged uphill to engage the Longbeards, while the Warhounds failed their rally test and continued to flee. The Marauder Horsemen and Skjalpi Bloodscream made a pincer movement approaching the messengers from either side.

 Pincer

The Horsemen threw their javelins. I decided it would be fairer and more interesting to treat the messengers as a group and randomise hits between them. Myni was then randomly hit by three javelins and killed.

The Marauder Chieftain challenged the Longbeard Old Guard and killed him! Clearly the Old Guard was over confident after his defeat of the Aspiring Champion. The Chieftain gained the Chaos Reward Dark Fury, giving him +1 attack and the Marauders won the combat 3-1. The Longbeards failed their break test and fled, losing 1 to dangerous terrain but, out paced the Marauders. No part of this combat went the way it was expected to.

 The Longbeards retreat

Dwarf Turn 3

The Dwarf Warriors rushed to the Longbeard's aid and charged the Marauders in the flank, while the Longbeards rallied. Both the Messengers and Slayers continued a steady advance.

 The tables turn on the Marauders

The Dwarf Warriors killed 3 Marauders and lost 1 in exchanged. The Marauders lost the combat 5 -2, fled and were cut down. Glory is fleeting!

 The Dwarfs are victorious

Chaos Turn 3

Skjalpi Bloodscream charged Thane Eyni. This could be the deciding moment of the game. Once again the Horsemean failed to rally, and the Marauder Horsemen moved behind the Slayer, keeping out of charge range.

 Shoot the Messengers!

The Horsemen through their javelins again and killed Moe. Only one possible backup messenger was left. But if Thane Eyni could defeat Skjalpi Bloodscream, the Dwarfs still had a good chance of victory. The Champion failed to wound the messenger and suffered one wound in return.

 Face off between Champions

Dwarf Turn 4

The Warriors, Longbeards and Slayers moved to support the messengers, sadly no-one was within charge range of Skjalpi Bloodscream. This was to prove disastrous. The Gods with with Skjalpi Bloodscream and he cut down Thane Eyni, gaining Slaughterer's strength from the Eye of the Gods.

 The Messenger falls

Chaos Turn 4

Skalpi Bloodscream turned around and the Marauder Horsemen pursued Meeni. The Warhounds finally rallied, but it was too late for them to do much good. The Horsemen threw their javelins, but Meeni was saved by his armour.

 All eyes on Meeni, and he isn't even the Messenger

At this point, with only one possible messenger left, I decided to roll to see which one was carrying the message. There didn't seem much point continuing if Meeni didn't have the message. I rolled and, anticlimactically, Myni was the messenger. With both messengers killed, Chaos had won.

I think my mistake with the dwarfs was letting the messenger go on ahead. With no turn limit, it would have made sense to hold position, wait until the Marauders and Chaos Warriors was roundly beaten and have the messengers advance slowly, guarded by the Warriors, Slayers and, what was left, of the Longbeards. I think I panicked after the Thunderers unexpectedly fled from the Warhounds.

I finally got the hang of using the Marauder Horsemen. Though it helped that a scenario special rule allowed them to freely march within 8" of their opponents. Their javelin sniping made them a threat, but careful manoeuvring kept them out of range of the Slayers. The Warhounds also performed better than expected, despite running away, they destroyed more point of dwarfs than they were worth. The less said about the Chaos Warriors the better.

As far as the Campaign is concerned, the Dwarfs and Chaos are no neck and neck with 2 victories each. Unfortunately, both sides keep losing the scenarios they select. This means that none of the results, apart from the opening scenario, have any impact on the final assault.

Will the Chaos Warriors overturn this on their next turn? We shall see.

A brief interlude for Dragon Rampant

I haven't given up on my Siege Campaign, but having received my copy of the Dragon Rampant rules I felt the need to give them a try.

Dragon Rampant, written by Daniel Mersey and published by Osprey, is based around the earlier Lion Rampant rules for large skirmish (30 - 60 models or so a side) during the middle ages. The base rules are substantially the same, but add some extra fantasy touches, such as spell casters, flyers and undead.

Models are divided into units of different type, such as heavy foot, elite riders or light missiles. In Lion Rampant, all units had a set size 6 for cavalry and usually 12 for infantry. Dragon Rampant translates this into strength points, still 6 or 12, but no longer corresponding to the number of models in a unit. So, for example, a unit of heavy foot might be made up of 12 dwarfs, 4 ogres or a single giant but would still have 12 strength points. This gives you enormous flexibility in how you represent your models.

I put together two standard 24 point warbands using my Warhammer Chaos Warrior and Chaos Dwarf models. The army lists were as follows:

Chaos Champion Skjalpi Bloodscream (Elite Foot, Single Model unit with the Leader and Venomous special rules) - 9 points
12 Chaos Warriors (Heavy Foot) - 4 points
12 Chaos Marauders (Bellicose Foot) - 4 points
6 Chaos Knights (Elite Riders with the enchanted weapons rule) - 7 points

Chaos Dwarf Lord Dharzak Steelhand (Greater Warbeast, Single Model unit with the Leader, Flame Breath and Flyer rules) - 10 points
12 Chaos Dwarf Warriors (Heavy Foot) - 4 points
12 Chaos Dwarfs with Blunderbusses (Heavy Missiles) - 4 points
6 Bull Centaurs (Heavy Riders) - 4 points
6 Hobgoblin Wolf Riders (Light Riders with the cowardly rules) - 2 points

In addition to the army lists, each Leader has a randomly generated trait. Skjalpi Bloodscream got "Strong" allowing him re-roll a missed attack in close combat, and Dharzak Steelhand got Boneheaded which allowed him to make one unit within 12" per turn attack without having to roll (see below).

I played the basic scenario "A Gory Bloodbath on the Plains of Doom" (seriously). The game would continue until only four units were left on both sides, then I would roll a six-sided die at the start of each turn. If the roll was greater than the number of units left, the game would end. The side that had destroyed the units with the highest total points cost would win 5 glory (victory points).

In addition, both sides could choose quests to score additional glory. Each side selected a 2 glory and a 1 glory quest. The Chaos Warriors had "They will tremble before me" (2 enemy units must be "battered" at the same time) for 2 glory and "I shall strike the first blow" (they must declare the first attack) for 1 glory. The Chaos Dwarfs selected "Smite their Champions" (destroy the enemy unit with the highest points cost) for 2 glory and "Our missiles shall rain down upon them" (reduce one enemy unit to half strength through shooting alone) for 1 glory.

Turns 1 - 3

 Deployment

Dragon Rampant uses an IGOUGO turn structure, one side activates their models then the other. During their turn a player selects a unit, gives it an order and rolls 2 dice to see if it is carried out. The orders are move, attack and shoot, plus a few specialist ones available to specific units. The roll required depends on the order and unit. So a unit of Elite riders is more like to attack than move, while a unit of missiles is more likely to shoot than attack. Most rolls require a 5, 6 or 7, so you are more likely to succeed than not, but still have a decent chance of failure.

 Chaos Warrior Advance

The turn continues until the player runs out of units or fails an activation roll. This means that you have to be careful about the order in which you activate your units and balance the order in which you want units to act with the chances of them doing it.

 ...And if answered by the Chaos Dwarfs

For the first three turns, both sides advanced towards one another, with both sides staking a claim on the central hill. The Chaos Warriors planned to target their attack on one part of the Chaos Dwarfs line, while the Chaos Dwarfs aimed to break up the Chaos Warriors formation with missile fire and skirmishers.

Skjalpi Bloodscream is left isolated

The only event of note in the first three turns came in turn 2 when the Chaos Champion Skjalpi Bloodscream advanced, only for the Chaos Warriors to fail their activation ending the turn and leaving him dangerously exposed. The Blunderbusses accepted the invitation, opening fire and causing one point of damage.

 The Hobgoblins sneak through the swamp

Chaos Warrior Turn 4

Some Units in Dragon Rampant have the "Wild Charge" rule. This requires them to declare an attack if they able at the start of the turn. If they fail they cannot activate, but the turn does not end. This makes wild chargers inflexible, but in a way that doesn't disrupt the rest of the army.

The Chaos Knights, having advanced over the hill, were forced to declare an attack against the Chaos Dwarf Warriors. Which they passed. This also gave them 1 glory for completing the "I shall strike the first blow" quest.

In close combat, units at greater than half strength roll 12 dice and units at half strength or less roll 6, regardless of the number of models in the unit. Units need different scores to hit depending on whether they are attacking or defending. Elite Riders are a lot better at attacking while heavy foot are slightly better at defending.

 The Chaos Knights Charge

The Chaos Knights scored 9 hits and the Chaos Dwarfs 7, this is divided by the units armour, rounding down, to determine the damage. The Chaos Dwarfs have an armour of 3 and so suffered 3 casualties, while the Chaos Knights have armour 4 and so lost only 1. Having both suffered damage, both units were forced to make a courage test which they both passed. Having lost the most models, the Chaos Dwarfs were forced to retreat.

The Chaos Warriors, Champion and Marauders all continued to advance.

Chaos Dwarf Turn 4

The Bull Centaurs attacked the Chaos Knights, giving the Knights the opportunity to counter-charge. This special rule allows a unit to meet the opponents half way and use their attack value in the subsequent combat instead of defence. Sadly for them, the Chaos Knights need to roll a 7 and failed. But, in combat, the Bull Centaurs managed only 3 hits, causing no damage, while the Chaos Knights 3 hits in return killed 1 Bull Centaur. The Bull Centaurs retreated.

 The Bull Centaurs are driven back

On their left flank, the Blunderbusses opened fire on the Marauders, scoring 5 hits and killing 2. Finally, the Hobgoblins attempted a skirmish order, a special order for light riders, which would allow them to move at half rate and shoot at -1 to hit. But they failed their activation roll and the turn ended.

Chaos Warrior Turn 5

The Marauders wild charged the Hobgoblins, who attempted an evade order but failed. The Marauders scored 12 hits, killing 4 Hobgoblins and lost only 1 Marauder in return. To make a courage test, the Hobgoblins had to roll 2 dice and subtract the number of strength points they had lost all game (and subtract 1 because they were cowardly). They failed with a negative total score of -2, which wiped out the unit.

 The Hobgoblins clear off

The plan had been for the Hobgoblins to break up the Chaos Warrior formation by luring out the Marauders. It had worked, but had cost the unit. Still, the Chaos Dwarfs probably didn't care.

On their left flank, the Chaos Knights failed their roll to wild charge and the Chaos Champion and Warriors advanced around the hill.

 The implacable advance continues

Chaos Dwarf Turn 5

Chaos Dwarf Lord Dharzak Steelhand ordered his Great Taurus to breath fire on the Chaos Knights, but he was clearly sulking from having been left out of the fighting so far and failed his activation roll, bringing the turn to a premature end.


Chaos Warrior Turn 6

The Chaos Knights wild charged the Bull Centaurs, who failed to counter charge. The Knights score 6 hits, killing 2 Bull Centaurs, but the Bull Centaurs managed 5 of their own killing a Knight. Both sides passed their courage tests and the Bull Centaurs retreated.

The Bull Centaurs are beaten again

The Marauders and Champion continued their advance.

Chaos Dwarf Turn 6

Taking no chances this time, Lord Dharzak Steelhand used his leader trait to automatically pass an attack activation and charged the Marauders. He scored 10 hits, killing 5 Marauders and suffered no damage in return. Unsurprisingly, the Marauders failed their courage test and were wiped out.

 Lord Dharzak destroys the Marauders

The Chaos Dwarf Warriors passed their move test and formed a "Wall of Spears" (or axes in this case) a special formation for heavy and light foot that increases their armour but prevents them from moving. The Bull Centaurs withdrew to join them, but the Blunderbusses failed their move order.

Chaos Warrior Turn 7

The Chaos Knights once again wild charged the Bull Centaurs who, this time, managed to counter-charge. But, with 12 hits, the Bull Centaurs were wiped out with the Knights suffering no damage.

 The Bull Centaurs are destroyed

The rest of the Chaos Warrior army advanced.

 The Chaos Dwarf Warriors stand alone

Chaos Dwarf Turn 7

Clearly satisfied having massacred the Marauders, the Great Taurus passed its test and breathed fire on the Chaos Warriors killing 2. The Warriors failed the courage test with a score of 2, leaving them "battered". This state meant that the only thing they could do next turn was test their courage again. If they failed, they would stay battered, be forced to retreat and lose 1 unit strength.

 The Chaos Dwarfs open fire

To add insult to injury, the Blunderbusses fired on them as they retreated, killing 1 more.

Chaos Warrior Turn 8

The Chaos Warriors passed their courage test, but were not able to do anything else. The Chaos Knights wild charged the Chaos Dwarf warriors, but only managed to kill 2, losing 1 Knight in the process. However, the Chaos Dwarf Warriors failed their courage test, becoming battered. Meanwhile, Skjalpi Bloodscream, continued to advance.

 The Chaos Dwarfs face the Chaos Knights

Chaos Dwarf Turn 8

A pretty terrible turn as the Warriors failed their courage test with a 0, wiping them out and the Blunderbusses fired on the Chaos Knights causing no damage. Lord Dharzak Steelhand and his Taurus moved to assist the Blunderbusses.

 The armies consolidate

Chaos Warrior Turn 9

With no enemies in movement range, the whole army advanced.

The Chaos Warriors advance again

Chaos Dwarf Turn 9

Lord Dharzak used his leader trait to attack the Chaos Warriors without rolling. As they were on a hill, this would usually count as fighting up hill and give them a boost to their armour, but as the Taurus could fly, this bonus was negated. Lord Dharzak and the Taurus scored 7 hits and killed 2 Chaos Warriors, with the Warriors 4 hits causing 1 damage in return. Both sides passed their courage tests.

The Chaos Warriors are driven back

The Blunderbusses opened fire on the Knights scoring 5 hits and killing 1. The Knights passed their courage test.

Turns 10 - 13

The final three turns of the game were dominated by the same struggles. The Chaos Warriors and Lord Dharzak exchanged blows until the latter was reduced to 2 strength points at which point he resorted to fire breath until finally, on Turn 13 they failed the courage test and were wiped out.

 Open fire

The Chaos Warriors are beaten down

The Knights were slowed down by a failed wild charge, but in the end they reduced the Blunderbusses to half strength, though by this point only 1 Knight survived.

It looked as though the battle might be decided by a direct confrontation between the leaders, in which case Skjalpi Bloodscream had the advantage with 5 strength points to Lord Dharzak's 2. But it was not to be as there were now only four units left and a roll of 5 brought the game to an end on turn 13.

 The Battle Ends

The Chaos Warriors had destroyed 10 points of units to the Chaos Dwarfs 8. With the additional 1 point of glory from completing their "I shall strike the first blow" quest, they won the game 6 glory to 0.

Overall, an enjoyable game. The Chaos Dwarf plan to break up the Chaos line by focusing on the wild chargers was solid enough and worked quite well in the case of the Marauders, but accepting the Knights charge proved to costly and they destroyed most of the units that faced them. The Chaos Dwarfs might have done better if they built their centre around missile troops and focused all their efforts on stopping the Knights before they entered combat.

Despite the large number of turns, the game only took a couple of hours to play and would probably have been a bit faster without having to refer to the rules. I say probably, because the rules were pretty simple and so not much referencing was required.

The core of the game seems to lie in planning your activations and careful manoeuvring to put your units in the right place and disrupt the enemy. Skirmishers and wild chargers can be put to good use here. The order of your activations was certainly important, on more than one occasion, I would have liked to have the Blunderbusses fire first to weaken up a unit I intended to charge, but didn't risk it because I didn't trust the Blunderbusses to pass their activation roll.

You can never entirely rely on your troops to do what you want, which may not suit players who prefer a great deal of control. Personally, I rather enjoyed the uncertainty and having to modify battle plans each turn.

The quests and leader traits add a great deal of flavour to the game. The fantasy rules, in contrast, are relatively light. Most of the units didn't use any. But this didn't matter as they seemed to be pretty well represented by the basic unit types. The behaviour of the Chaos Marauders, Chaos Warriors, Chaos Dwarf Warriors and Bull Centaurs was largely appropriate, despite their lack of special rules and this highlights the extent to which a lot of fantasy units are really just variations on a theme, rather than being truly distinctive.

I will almost certainly play this again, though probably not until my Siege Campaign is finished. It will be fun to convert a few more Warhammer armies to Dragon Rampant rules.