The leaves are starting to turn with Fall 2016, so it’s time to revisit the continued campaign tale that the Crossbones Crew has been telling with our games. The story began in our Carnage at the Confluence campaign, which was a huge success in terms of player turnout as well as great storytelling. We let the actions of the games determine what happened in the story to great success… And this time should be no different. This post has the rules that will be used for the purposes of the campaign as well as the rewards for the campaign, while a separate one will track the story as we tell it.

Campaign Rules

This campaign we’re trying two things that are happening simultaneously: a map campaign to represent forces controlling area, and two trackers to cover campaign events. The first tracker is a “Doom Track” which represents the Legion of Everblight’s progress on completing the ritual to give Everblight the power of the fallen Dragon Vorspark’s athanc. The second is a “Search Track” to represent the forces of Cryx obtaining a lead on where the athanc is being held/where the ritual will take place.

The hexes cover the Map portion, while the red circles on the right are the Doom Track and the green circles along the bottom are the Search Track.

The map campaign will be a variant of the version we used for the Carnage at the Confluence campaign this past spring. Instead of placing all available casters for factions on the map to begin with, we’ve simply arranged a single “faction base” starting point for the main factions competing in the event (if others show up we’ll place them on the map, and Minions/Mercs can support any of the existing factions as they choose). As different warcasters/warlocks win games, expanded hexes will be given to that warcaster or warlock. Prime and epic versions of the same caster advance the same spaces. Future games with that same caster/lock can build off of any hex that they already occupy. The goal of the map portion for Circle, Trollbloods, and Skorne (and the other factions if people play them) will be to get dominance of the battlefield, as well as ideally having at least one hex adjacent to the the “castle” section in the hills in the middle of the board. Legion will be using their wins to block access to their hidden fortress. And Legion’s allies through deception, Khador and Cygnar–due to the cruel sleeper agent Kovnik Kerensky who brokered a deal with a Cygnarian dipliomat–will seek to rebuff the advances of the other forces. They cannot gain hexes adjacent to the Legion castle until agent Kerensky’s treachery is uncovered (a campaign event we have planned for the mid-point).

Meanwhile, the two other trackers will be increasing each week. Legion’s will grow like clockwork, as they merely need to position themselves to complete the ritual. Meanwhile, Cryx will be preying on each of the armies guerrilla-style, looking for clues. Each week a designated “lead” army will be secretly recorded. If Cryx manages a victory against that Faction’s forces, they will advance their tracker. When either the Legion tracker or the Cryx tracker fills, the end of the campaign will be marked and we’ll play one last event: the culminating story determined by whichever group completed their goal first, with participants based upon the map outcomes. In addition, Cryx players will get to choose a timing to “reveal” themselves. At any point, if there’s consensus among the Cryx players, they can declare any space to be the base of operations for their force. The trick is, they can choose a square that is 8 – X spaces away from the Legion castle, where X is the number of “leads” that Cryx has acquired thus far in the campaign. Do they reveal early to secure space on the board and ensure a spot at the final battle? Or do they wait for a surprise and grab a close territory? It’s up to them.

In addition, there will be special missions written up to detail fallout from particular events in the campaign–exactly like last time. We’ll also have a delve into the Iron Kingdoms RPG as well, with players from all factions playing out a smaller-scale event in the course of the storyline. Finally, this time we’ll conclude the campaign with an enormous battle. But who the participants are–and how it will shake out–will depend upon the progress of the events in the games. Needless to say, the outside forces better hustle to reach the isolated castle where the Legion’s cruel magics are being woven, lest they find the fate of Immoren out of their hands.

Campaign Rewards

 

Just like last time, our goal is to provide incentives to players starting and continuing a particular force. Last campaign it was Legion of Everblight, as we had many starting that faction. This time we’re going to reward Cryx players, as we’ve got a fair number of them who are either starting the army or are building their forces. As such, it’s time for the (in)famous Drawbridge mystery boxes to make their return (this time we’ll call them Master Necrotech’s Reinforcements). Cryx players can earn a reinforcements mystery box for completing a new Warcaster and either a new unit (6 or more models) or two heavy warjacks (2 bonejacks equal 1 heavy). Non-Cryx players who want to take the opportunity to start the force can also paint the Cryx starter box to earn a reinforcements mystery box. Once a player has earned one mystery box, they can earn another by completing the same requirements–plus the contents of their prior mystery box.

Note that all models for this need to be purchased through Drawbridge games, or great host for the event. Make sure to let the organizers know which models you’re intending to use for the painting rewards before they’re finished!

Ryan unwrapping a Nephalim Bolt Thrower from one of last season’s Mystery Boxes. 

Entry Requirements

Everyone is welcome to join in, whether for one game or 100. Games will be played at all levels. We encourage players to aim for a 25-point list and a 75-point list, but if you can only field 14 points or only just bought a starter box you’re welcome to join in. Painting is encouraged but not required–all we ask is that you make progress from the last time you set the army on the table (as everyone paints at their own pace).

As for costs want to keep it reasonable, so a mere $10 will let you participate in the entire 8 weeks of the campaign. Pretty good, right? Plus, we’ll be using the entry fees to get a set of chess clocks for Drawbridge so we can have reliable timed games for events in the future.

Make sure to also make your purchases of models through Drawbridge Games. Remember that they can place an order for anything in the game, you save shipping by going through them, and you get your Gatecrasher member benefits.

• Warmachine/Hordes