Gunther Gunthersson starred at the dead orc. A mangy beast, filthy and thin, as you'd expect. What you wouldn't expect were the golden bracelets, the mithril greaves and the diamond tiara. The rangers had reported a number of similar kills in recent days. Orcs wearing ancient Dwarven-crafted fine jewellery or armour. The only conclusion he could draw was that somewhere in the badlands between the plains and the Abyss, some green scum had stumbled upon a ancient hold and were looting the treasure room.
Gunthersson had become a figurehead for a dwarf rebellion in the Dukedom of Estoria on the Arkovian Plains. Joined by others from the persecuted minority from urban Estoria and the the backwoodsmen of the Western Clans, the rebels had faced constant hardship, ever on the run from the massively superior feudal host of Estoria. The odd ambush had resulted in short-term boosts to morale and repleshed equipment, but little else. Time was against the desperate dwarves - one battle lost and so was their cause.
The mountains of treasure likely contained in a old hold would change everything. Dwarfs from hundreds of miles away would rally to the cause, Ogre mercenaries and freebooters could be recruited. A dash into the wastes would be dangerous. Suicidal even. But Gunthersson had said goodbye to caution the day he buried an warhammer into the face of a young Estorian noble.
.............................
In the forests North-East of Estoria, Guzbad, goblin war chief of the Blue Moons, had also heard the news. Sometime earlier in fact.
"Some stoopid lanky orc meat heads found some loot, an we gonna get it"
"Guzbad, me old mucker, plenty of orcs and some of dem necrowotsits in da badlandz, innit?"
"S'all right, matey, I planted some of the glitzy mugs, after the trolls had mashed them, by the bunch of crazy stunties. Stuntiez love the shiney, let them clear a path, we'll just follow the mugs in."
Campaign rules:
1) Each army starts at 500 points. Each army must come from a single army list. Each solid unit unlocks either a character or a war engine, not both. Hordes unlock both.
2) first attack must be from along the shaded map border.
3) each battle is fought over a number of objectives dictated by the map.
4) objectives can only be claimed by a solid unit.
5) At the end of the battle roll a d6:
1: objectives worth 75 points each
2-5: objectives worth 100 points each
6: objectives worth 150 points each
6) if player army controls more objectives at end of battle than non-player army they control that hex and may move on from there next turn. If the draw or lose, the remain in the hex (or shaded area) they attacked from.
7) if a player attacks a hex currently occupied by another player army. Players fight over objectives as dictated by the map. The loser, if attacker (and a draw counts as a loss for the attacker), returns to previous hex. The loser, if defender, skips there next turn for map movement and does not collect any resources in that skipped turn.
8) if a player chooses to skip a turn they gain 150 points.
9) after a battle roll for each player controlled routed unit -
If the battle was won:
1-5 unit / character recovers and rejoins army
6 unit destroyed and removed from roster
If the battle was lost:
1-4 - unit / character recovers and rejoins army
5 - unit scattered - misses next player turn then rejoins army
6 - unit destroyed
10) Table size - if defending army is 500-700 points battle is fought on 4'x4'. If 800+ 6'x4'.
11) after each battle a player may spend points won on enlarging or re equipping their army. Players keep tally of points - they can be saved to be spent later.
12) first army to reach hex marked 'victory' and win a battle there wins the campaign.
13) when a player attacks a hex they roll a d6 and consult the points value of the hex and the opponent table below. The other player controls this army in this battle.
This is my first go at a KoW campaign - in the 4 hours that the Stourbridge Wargames Club is open for tonight, it'll be interesting to see how many battles Rob and me can get in.