Campaign: Big Trouble in Little Azyrheim

If you follow this blog, you've already seen a lot of the content of this book, but the newest Efengie Campaign book is ready to roll.  Big Trouble in Little Azyrheim, a skirmish campaign, is now up on the AoS Downloads page.

Battle Report: The Terror that Came to Efengie

Last weekend, Lady Rheatrivix summoned her Slaaneshi patrons from the 41st millennium to the Vale of Efengie.  The Eye of Terror opened up and for a while time and space cracked depositing soldiers from the future, and leaving the kingdoms of Efengie scrambling to keep up.

   

Dark Age of Sigmar: Artefacts

The Dark Age of Sigmar (also known as Aos28) is an aesthetic, largely a modeling style, that draws its inspiration from the artwork of John Blanche (among others), and shows the bleak lives of the poor wretches who don't get to be on the covers of battletomes.  For a while there was a lot of excitement with using the Hinterlands AoS skirmish rules (no longer supported by the original creator) to play DAoS battles, but there isn't really any one system to play by.  The whole thing is more community art project than it is a game or rules system.

Knowing this, I still thought that it would be fun if there were some Warhammer Skirmish friendly battleplans and other supplements that would evoke the DAoS aesthetic through play. 

Colossal Red's Hoard

At the end of November, we had an Age of Sigmar Game Day themed around raiding the hoard of the enormous dragon "Colossal Red".  Colossal Red comes from a D&D miniatures Colossal Red Dragon that sat, unpurchased, on the shelf at the FLGS for years.  It was such a fixture of the store that when the store owner made the first map of Efengie, he added a mountainous lair for Colossal Red.  In various iterations of the campaign, one could steal treasure from the horde, risking Colossal Red's wrath (she would move out onto the campaign map as an army unto herself, destroying entire banners as she moved).  You could slay her whelps and forge magical Dragonhide armour as well, which was done often because it was awesome.

   

The Bloat

His brothers in arms simply call him "The Bloat". He used to have a name, but nobody uses it now that he's dead, his belly swollen with rot and Nurglings. Some suspect that he's actually just a meatbag full of the vile little creatures and that when he 'dies' again, they'll come pouring out. Whatever it is that keeps him walking, it's rendered him formidable enough that nobody has yet been able to test that theory.

40k Warscrolls: Knight Titan

I've finally gotten around to adding one of the units I've always wanted to get into Battletome Imperium.  The colossal Knight Titan!  I don't have any myself, but the model is just so cool.  So here it is in all its glory, the only warscroll in the Collegia Titanicus allegiance (not that that's really a thing).

Harlequins Allegiance Abilities

After remembering that I needed to finish the Harlequins allegiance abilities, I buckled down and came up with some stuff that I think turned out pretty well.

Speaking of Harlequins

Earlier in the year, I painted these Star/Voidweavers for one of my friends.  He's working on an army of Harlequins enlisting as many different painters as possible, which I think is a super cool idea.  I was thrilled to get the chance to paint some of them, because I've always wanted to paint Harlequins, but feel no need to do a whole army of them.

Anyhow, he submitted his Ynnari army to Faeit, and it got featured, so if you're interested, you can see the rest of his army (and some more pictures of the Voidweavers) over there.

40k Warscrolls: Harlequins

I realized this morning that I've been sitting on Harlequin warscrolls for a while with unfinished Allegiance Abilities.  So I figured I should probably post them up so that people can use them with Grand Alliance Order at least.

AoS Game Day: A Drift of Landshoals

Last Sunday I ran a Triumph and Treachery 'event' for the monthly Age of Sigmar Game Day.  Overall, I'd say it went pretty well, and I thought I'd share some of the ups and downs, things I could have done better in prepping it, and things that I was very happy with.

The Tzaanitaur

Sadly, I missed Ex Profundis' 'The Eclipse' modelling/painting competition back in the spring, but I decided to do something for the Monster Competition.  After an extensive rooting through of my bitz and bobz, I settled upon building a Tzaanitaur to go with my Tzaangors.  Enjoy!

   

Review: Marvel's Inhumans

Back in the yestermonth of September, Marvel's Inhumans was released in a special IMAX screening of the first two episodes.  I had low expectations going into the theater and they may have been too high.  Basically zero effort was put into turning the two episodes into a "movie"-like experience; it even had some recap at the beginning of episode 2 (I guess in case we had gotten up to go to the bathroom, or perhaps fallen asleep).  Anyhow, I recently watched the third episode in the hopes that it might improve.

It did not.  Also, spoilers.

Squagg the Krabulent

When he was born, Squagg was taken into the wastes and left to die.  His face was malformed and in place of arms, he had adorable baby crab legs.  If the gods were merciful, his story would have ended there.

40k Warscrolls: Fenryka Wave II

I received a request in the comments a while back for some additional Fenryka warscrolls covering Bjorn the Fell-handed, Murderfang, and Wolf Guard.  Well, it may take time, but ask and ye' shall receive.

Netflix Defenders is just the Avengers again (spoilers)

I've been watching (and thoroughly enjoying) Netflix' Defenders series.  I was super excited for Daredevil when it first dropped, and everything since has been excellent in my opinion (yes, even Iron Fist).  However, I have noticed something funny about it that probably is a contributor to its success, but is also perhaps a mark against it.  The Defenders are just the Avengers.

Battle Report: Gorechosen vs. Gor Coven

Ever since completing the Gorechosen battalion, I've been wanting to pit them, all by themselves, against an entire army.  So this weekend, I challenged my brother to bring an army of any size.

40k Warscrolls: Cult of Mars Allegiance

I've been working on Allegiance abilities for the Cult of Mars.  So here's your sneak peek.

40k Warscrolls: Skitarii

Here are some more warscrolls for the upcoming Cult of Mars battletome.  Today I'm showing off some of the Skitarii units.  First up is the Skitarii Vanguard.  Saves are generally just a little worse in AoS, so they've only got a 5+ save.  These guys are definitely a Battleline unit, but that doesn't mean they don't hit hard.  They've got all sorts of crazy weapons to lean on, and should dish out a fair bit of hurt.  Also, with the Data Tether, they can be buffed remotely by Priests' prayers.  Don't forget that Tech-priests, Servitors, and Engineseers are members of the Cult Mechanicus allegiance!

War for Eucebium

Since there is no Age of Sigmar summer campaign from GW this year, I have designed a summer campaign for my local group.  It's really easy to participate, and will hopefully encourage people to play different types of battles, as well as give context to some fun narrative games.

I think that this would be really easy to adapt for any setting, and has a fair bit of design space to it as well as room to add your own tweaks.

The Soulblight Ride Again

Back in 7th edition WHFB, I played a variety of Vampire spam (I liked to cast spells on one die).  I surprisingly made it work somewhat in 8th as well, although it wasn't quite the same.  Because of this, I have a lot of Vampire characters.  I also built a unit of Blood Knights a long time ago from Brettonnian Knights.  They looked pretty lame, but they got the job done.  They had Daemonette heads (much like their leader Istvaan von Hortlak), and a poorly conceived color scheme.  Also, they heralded from a time when I put down a wash and called it a day (which has left my old models in a great place to receive highlights).

40k Warscrolls: Cult of Mars

After getting a handful of requests to continue the Age of 40k project, I have picked it back up starting with the Cult of Mars, aka Adeptus Mechanicus.  I've gotten through most of Adeptus Mechanicus proper, and am working on Skitarii now.  So today I'm going to talk about Datasmiths and their Robit buddies.

King Gurloes the Good

King Gurloes the Good was not always a king.  In fact, as a child, he was told that he was 53rd in line for the throne.  The King of his land (a small, but happy kingdom) was a weak man, afraid of death, and constantly in search of new unguents and salves to restore his youth.

King of Tokyo for Tots!

When you've got a toddler, and you're a gamer, sometimes your preferred board games aren't very kid friendly.  It's been well established that King of Tokyo is a fun game for the whole family, but what if the whole family includes a 3 year old?  It's got an awful lot of reading involved... OR DOES IT!?

Battle Report: Culture Shock

Battleplan: Acquisition (from the Kharadron Overlords Battletome)
Match-up: Order vs. Legion of Azorgh

On the burning plains of Aqshy, Hazim the Blooded and his loyal Fireglaives approached an ancient Zharr Goroth ruin.  He and his Daemonsmith, Dray the Alchemist, had been searching the ruins of an old empire for weeks, seeking enchanted artefacts and other treasures.  So far, they had turned up only a few... an enchanted weapon that Hazim had claimed for himself, and a sacred duardin relic that was in Dray's possession.

As Hazim began to climb the steps into the ruin, he heard cries of battle behind him.  He looked back to their base camp, fortified on a nearby butte, just in time to see a trio of Judicators assault their gun-line.  They opened with a thunderous barrage of hammers, battering the artillerists, and then, with a valorous battle cry, charged the Dreadquake Mortar.

Lava Monsters of Khorne

I've finished two more models for my Bloodbound "army"*.  I picked up a starter set a few months ago so that I could get the Bloodsecrator and Bloodstoker for my Gorechosen battalion, so I've been slowly working my way through the other contents (along with other projects).  Today I want to show off/discuss my two lava monsters.

A City Block

In the final battle of the Big Trouble in Little Azyrheim campaign, Skragnir has the Letter of Marque in hand, and has to run a blockade of enemies between himself and Castle Reaper.  This last battleplan is pretty much the same as the breakthrough battleplan in Hinterlands, but that's what we actually played at the event, so here it is.

Fight For Survival

Welcome to Part 4 of Big Trouble in Little Azyrheim.  We've hit the home stretch.  After being betrayed by a member of his own crew, Skragnir and his Arkanauts have to survive the night hiding out in the Murderwood on the edge of town.

Coalescence 2017

I am afflicted by a drive to work every event I run into the overarching narrative of the Vale of Efengie and its inhabitants.  So when I ran Coalescence a few weeks ago, I had to make pages for the future Efengie Campaign Book 3.  The next plot arc is going to spin out of the results from Coalescence: War of the Ring.

8th Edition 40k

I got to play in the local scene's inaugural 8th edition event this past weekend.  Overall, I am pretty happy with the new direction.  I thoroughly enjoyed both games I played, and the units were fun and thematic without having quite as much stuff-going-on as an Age of Sigmar warscroll (most units seem to have one special thing they do; although wargear adds in a bunch of extra stuff as well).

Broken Trust

In the third battle of the Big Trouble in Little Azyrheim campaign, I wanted to try something that I haven't seen in AoS before.  In MERCS (a kinda' neat skirmish game that I don't quite endorse, but have had some fun playing in the past) they ran a global narrative event at one point, and one of the scenarios revolved around having a mole in your opponent's team.  I liked that idea and hope that it translates well to AoS.

The Letter of Marque

Welcome to the second installment of the Big Trouble in Little Azyrheim Campaign (part 1 is this way).  Since obviously, you'll need actual campaign rules to progress from Episode 1 to Episode 2, that's what I'll be covering today.  While I imagine most will use the Shadespire Campaign rules, I thought it would be good to just spit out ideas for campaign structures willy nilly because I can.  So first up here are the rules.

A Trail of Blood

I have begun the process of adapting my "Big Touble in Little Azyrheim" event into a skirmish campaign akin to Shadespire.  In the first battleplan, two warbands arrive at the scene of Overlord Grimni's murder to investigate.  Here's the story primer, I've posted it before and the only new thing is the bottom right section, but it'll help explain the plot of the campaign for those who haven't looked at any of it before.

Gorechosen Battalion

So GW managed to trick me into playing Khorne by selling me a copy of Gorechosen, which then led to me purchasing a starter box and the Blades of Khorne book.  Those sneaky guys.  I have no interest in any of the proper units (with the possible exception of Wrathmongers, who I think are both ridiculous and awesome), but I've had several fun games using my (until this moment) unfinished Gorechosen battalion.  I haven't painted my Mighty Lord of Khorne yet, but here is my completed battalion, and basically my entire army with the exception of my Khorgorath, and the Damsel of Distress (who has found an excellent new vocation as a 'counts-as' Valkia).

Efengie Campaigns

I got the Warhammer Skirmish book last weekend (just like everybody else).  Something about their Shadespire Campaign section ripped a band-aid off a part of my brain.  I've always thought of campaigns as something that you mobilize your entire local game store for, with maps and tables and meetings.  The Shadespire Campaign rules have shown me that a campaign can be a simple something for two players.  It can still have tables and army construction rules... or not; and they don't have to be perfectly balanced, they just have to stimulate the imagination for half-a-dozen battles or so.

So now that I've had this epiphany, I felt like it was my moral duty to go back and write a section for each of my two campaign books that turns the battleplans into a series of linked battles.  I decided to appropriate some of the elements of the Path to Glory rules (because that's kinda' what they're there for), but to add some mechanics that haven't been explored in any official releases.  Specifically, I thought a casualties mechanic would be interesting since this is a campaign for large scale battles, and usually that is reserved for more skirmishey engagements.

Big Trouble in Little Azyrheim

Yesterday, I ran a Hinterlands event.  It was set in the Free City of Reaper, which is a mercenary city in the Vale of Efengie.  As you can see on the map below, all types dwell there.  The story for this event was that one of the members of the Reaper King's council was assassinated, and by tradition, whoever could find his Letter of Marque and present it to the Reaper King would take his place on the council.

Coalescence 2017: War of the Ring

Welcome to the informational blog post about Coalescence 2017: War of the Ring.

   

   

Guardians of the Galaxy V2: Daddy Issues

I got to watch the new Guardians of the Galaxy this past weekend.  It was very good, and fun.  I would say that it was a bit sillier than the first one, but also had more feelz than the first one.  All told, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  But that's not what I'm writing about; I'm here to write a very spoilery and brief listicle about how the whole movie was about parental (especially fatherly) relationships.

--------------- FULL OF SPOILERS --------------------

Battletome: Imperium

The Imperium now has just a hair below Grand Alliance status.  In the grimdarkness of the farfuture, the xenophobic defenders of mankind need to work together sometimes, and when they do, it is often under the leadership of the Inquisition.

40k Warscrolls: Goliath Trucks

It's been on my plate for a while now, but I finally finished a first draft of the Trucks for the Genestealer Cults (a.k.a. Broodkin).  I have found that many transports have two different versions; the Rhino version, and the Razorback version.  One that is a pretty dedicated transport, while the other has the same chassis and high concept, but packs more punch with less transport space.  So it is with the Goliath Truck and its big brother the Goliath Rockgrinder.

Lord Torstein the Destroyer

I finished a project a year in the making today.  For my birthday last March (2016) my brother got me a Daemon Prince to start me on the path of having a Lord of Chaos with a Daemon Prince and Chaos Spawn that match it for use with its 'glory or damnation' ability.  At Christmastime, my parents got me a Chaos Spawn kit; and recently I acquired the last piece... an old Crom the Conqueror model.

40k Warscrolls Update: Transports

With the new Kharadron Overlords looming on the horizon, GW has shown me how they would handle transport vehicles in Age of Sigmar.  Since part of my project is to stick to GWs design ethos as closely as possible, this necessitated an update of the Transport ability on all transport vehicles.

Age of Sigmar Game Day - The First Year

I have now been running the Age of Sigmar Game Day at my Fun-Local-Game-Store for an entire year!  It's been a journey of exploration, we've mostly played using variations on Warhammer World's Clash of Empires rules.

Review: Blades of Khorne

Because I bought Gorechosen and wanted to get the full Khornate experience out of my tiny Bloodbound army (also love excuses to buy books), I picked up a copy of the Blades of Khorne last weekend.  So far, I like it, but I'm not as impressed as I was by the Flesh-Eater Courts Battletome.

The Shepherds of Rot

Hinterlands has been picking up at the shop, and I have been inspired by all the awesome conversions on the AoS28 Facebook group.  So here are the oddities I've cooked up so far for my Nurgle warband (Larvulous, Gadfly of Nurgle is the current champion).

I've got Leish the Houndmaster, who is made from some Blight King parts and an orruk charioteer.  The Chaos Hounds are made from wolves with spare Plague Drone heads and tails.  Aside from that, I based a few Corpse Cart rats and some nurglings to join my gruesome flock.

Battleplan: Death's Doorstep

Here's the battleplan for the next battleplan Age of Sigmar: Game Day.  The Orruks from Eucebium are continuing their push into Shyish despite heavy losses at the hands of the Sylvaneth and Stormcast Eternals.

   

I started off with the lofty goal of using the events' outcomes to tell an overarching story, and I'm not sure I've done a good job of that lately.  The first "season" went pretty smoothly in that regard, but as I began the second season, things have grown.  In the first season, there were 4 or so regular players.  Now most of the events draw 8 or 9 people, which means that I can't pay as much attention to all of the battles, and it's difficult to pull the story every whichaways depending on who wins each event.

I think that rather than focus on one long-form narrative, I should move to each battle deciding the fate of one location or story element (mcguffin, artefact, title, etc), and then have a big climax at the end that is based on the results of the other battles.  We'll see what happens.  Either way it's gonna be fun!