Planning the ScenarioEddie is setting this battle in his own invented Warhammer World, to create some background history for the lands around a city named Covahesh. The current ruler is King Rathard II, and Eddie decides this will be an historical battle from the time of Rathard II’s great grandfather of the same name,
King Rathard I (
the ‘petty king’ described in the above army lists).
Covahesh sits upon the Lonir River, just north of the Great Tumel Forest and west of the Plain of Lisbal.
Baron Clarynn, commander of the second battalion, is the ruler of the eastern parts of this plain, his fiefdom stretching northwards from the plains to the foothills of the Byralz mountains (an area known as Mansoo), and south and east as far as the Uthral River, including the western mounds of the Green Odoth Hills.
(This map is, like the figures, from 1984. I have too much stuff, especially when you consider I haven't used this map, or the ringbinder file it was a part of, since 1985!! In 1986, or thereabouts, I magically turned this region and its neighbours into part of the Border Princes - a lucky match in terms of shape and nature. Thus I entered the actual Warhammer World.) This all fits the sort of regiments the King and the Baron lead. The Baron’s riders are from the plains, his footmen from the settlements in the hills. The King’s handful of knights rule fiefs closer to the city, and have brought some of their vassals, while the smaller regiment of men at arms and longbowmen are from the city itself.
The ‘good’ CharactersKing Rathard (Hero)
WS BS Str T W I A
6 5 2 B 3 8 2
Using the Player Character rules from the basic rules, he rolls the following other characteristics for the king
Cool (2D6) 8
Intelligence (1D10) 9
Will Power (1D10) 2
Leadership (half D6, round down, add 1 if rank = knight or greater) 2
The stats seem to indicate a quiet, scholarly type, who is sometimes brave enough to ‘bear hardships’ but more like a martyr and not in the heroic way that inspires soldiers to follow - his Leadership of 2 is not enough to mean his stats add any modifiers to Fear, Terror or Morale rolls. The lack of will power does not indicate much in the way of determination, however, so probably the sort of man who changes his mind a lot, and leaves things incomplete. Yet he does have the basic stats of a hero, so he must be young, fit, probably as a consequence of being from good stock. And his title alone, being a king, means he will add +2 to morale tests of the unit he is leading.
King Rathard I outside one of the city gatehouses, attired for war in the latest fashion armour, wearing the yellow and blue colours of his House. This gate is guarded by men at arms who serve the king’s knight seen here on the king’s left.Baron Clarynn (Mighty Hero)
WS BS Str T W I A
7 5 3 C 3 11 3
Cool 6
Intelligence 2
Will Power 6
Leadership Factor 3
A leadership factor of 3 will have an effect, but such a low Intelligence means if he were a PC in the roleplaying version of the game he could not learn more than one skill! This guy is pretty thick! His other scores are average, so one can only assume men are inspired by him due to his Mighty Hero physical attributes and his fighting prowess on the field of battle.
The brutish Baron Clarynn rides out on a hunt at the head of his retainers.Eddie likes these characters, and didn’t feel the need to ‘nudge’ the results of the rolls (a GM’s prerogative, he believes). A weak-willed but young and clever king makes him think of his O Level Eng’ Lit’ Shakespeare studies and King Richard II. Whereas, Baron Clarynn just sounds like a thug. And why not?
The Bad GuyThe troublesome minor-necromancer, one Master Hobollig, has occupied and repaired (as well as his goblins could do so) the ruined tower of Baal in the eastern reaches of Green Odoth. This used to be the home of a wizard who was lord of the relatively treeless valley between Bendaw forest and the hills. Eddie has already decided he wants this necromancer to rely on something other than his own necromantic skills (which, as he is only an acolyte, are limited) to give him command of such a force. Perhaps it is something to do with the tower, which is the reason the necromancer occupied it?
An idea is forming in Eddie’s mind. While that idea brews, we had best take a look at the Necromancer:
Master Hobollig is an acolyte necromancer. Some stats are derived from the entry in the Forces of Fantasy supplement, others are derived from the basic rules Characters and Magic Book, with a bit of GM interpretation needed where things are not clear (
Like how a Wizard’s Constitution is his Will Power + 2D6, but is also 2D4 x his mastery level +4, but is also listed simply as 12. In truth, these aren’t exactly contradictory – the first refers to starting player characters, the second to random NPC generation, the third to the Undead Acolyte entry for the battalion. But they do mean you have to think a bit about what you’re doing.)
Master HobolligWS BS Str T W I A
4 3 2 B 2 7 1
Cool 7
Intelligence 10
Will Power 4
Leadership 1
Mastery 2
Constitution 12
Non-necromancy spells – 1D3 at Mastery Level 1 (1), 1D2 at Mastery Level 2 (2)
Level 1 Windblast (24”, knock unit to ground, preventing shoot/move next turn)
Level 2 (a) Lightning Bolt (24”, Str 4)
(b) Mystic Mist (once/day, 12” diameter, slows units caught to 1” random movement)
Necromancy spells - 1D2 at Mastery Level 1 (2), 1D2-1 at Mastery Level 2 (1)
Level 1 (a) Command Undead (extend control range to 24” for 3D6 turns)
(b) Hold Undead (forbid them to approach within 12”, lasts 3D6 turns per mastery level)
Level 2 (a) Raise Dead (summon 2D6 zombies or 3D6 skeletons once per day)
Hobollig got lucky with the rolls, even getting a Level 2 necromancy spell. Eddie decides he can let them all stand. A player (or GM) can simply choose the spells from the list, but the necromantic lists are short (three level 1 and two level 2!). Eddie picked Hold Undead simply because it suited the story – it was the spell Hobollig would learn before even approaching the Tower of Baal. From the stats Hobollig seems a very cunning sort of fellow (maximum intelligence for a human), and has the maximum number of Necromancy spells available to him at both levels, so he has studied the art well so far.
Back to that idea. Eddie wants the scenario to revolve around defeating Hobollig, obviously, but wants to incorporate the location as part of the victory mechanics – to make it more than a simple army versus army battle, and to explain why Hobollig has occupied a tower within reach of natural enemies.
The Tower of Baal
This ancient, yet unexceptional, tower was once occupied by a wizard of great repute. He spent his entire life studying the art of alchemy and (secretly) the darker arts of necromancy, yearning to find not just an elixir of life, but a potion that reinvigorated the dead, returning them to life. Finally, he fashioned a chymical compound which solidified into a solid lump of visibly energetic matter. When he channelled magical power into it, however, all hell broke loose. The scattered corpses he had been using for years in his experiments, discarded and left to rot throughout the tower until some were almost entirely skeletal, all burst into un-life – each and every one filled with hatred for the necromancer who had imprisoned, starved, tortured, killed and then horribly reinvigorated them with incantations. Infused with tremendous energy they attacked him and tore him to pieces.
After this the valley became a hellish place of nightmares, depleted of all living things by the nightly bands of meandering undead that issued from the tower. As the years went by, the power of the necromantic stone diminished, until only ghosts inhabited the shadows of night and life could return to the valley.
Master Hobollig learned of the place, sifting through garbled myth and legend to ascertain the truth concerning its location and past. He came to the tower to se if he could make use of the stone himself to boost the power of his own necromantic conjurations and spells. His approach to experimentation was rather more cautious than the ancient necromancer (helped by the fact that he was still – mostly – sane). He slowly, carefully re-empowered the stone. After several quiet months, during which his growing band of red goblin and Ogre mercenaries guarded the valley from unwanted incursions, or curious travellers, he has finally learned how to allow the stone’s energies to flow in a controlled manner, so that he retained mastery of the undead that were so invigorated.
Then, just as he was congratulating himself and wracking his brains to try to recall what it was he wanted to do when he had control of an undead army (he had carelessly forgotten along the way!) he learned from his mercenary goblin scouts that an armed force was approaching from the west.
The Battle ScenarioKing Rathard’s wizardly adviser knows about the history of the Tower of Baal, and has (correctly) assumed that something remains there that is empowering the necromancer’s incantations. He has told the king that if he can get inside the tower, he can destroy the source of the necromancer’s power. For this he has prepared his own alchemical mixture to pour upon the stone and shatter it.
Victory will thus be determined by whether or not the stone is destroyed. If it is destroyed, the Undead have to start taking two Instability tests per turn instead of one, or, if it is night, one test instead of none!
The wizard will need successfully to cast ‘Detect Object’ once inside the Tower, then spend a turn getting to it and destroying it. He has told the king and baron about the stone and his mixture, so that if he was to be incapacitated the king or the baron could try to do what he intended, though if they do try they have only a 4,5,6 chance of succeeding – considering they don’t have his magical sense or knowledge, and they don’t have the
Detect Object spell.
The king’s forces will attack in daylight, as undead are not subject to instability at night. This is a crucial part of their plan. Normally a GM must roll 2D6 to determine how many turns of the battle will be fought before twilight (
2-12 spread, average of 7), but considering that the king’s forces are deliberately trying to attack early in the day, Eddie decides to increase the minimum and average number of turns by rolling 4D3 instead (
thus a 4-12 spread, with an average of 10). Twilight lasts two turns, after which darkness proper falls.
So, Eddie now needs to prepare the ‘good’ wizard prepared for this particular mission. Time to roll up stats and choose spells.
Acolyte, the Wizard RaccaltaccWS BS Str T W I A
4 3 2 B 2 4 1
Cool 8
Intelligence 8
Will Power 7
Leadership Factor 0
Mastery 2
Constitution 14
Spells – 1D4 at Mastery Level 2 (3), 2D4 at Mastery Level 1 (7)
Level 1 Windblast (24”, knock unit to ground, preventing shoot/move next turn)
Blessing (gives person touched a saving throw versus non-magical wounds)
Cure Light Injury
Detect Hidden Doors
Detect Object
Fireball (1 ball per mastery level, attack strength 2)
Flight (12” flight)
Level 2 (a) Aura of Protection (4,5,6 saving throw on all wounds on wizard)
(b) Hold Door (only Balrog, Great Demon or ‘Smash Door’ spell can break down)
(c) Aura of Steadfastness (unit immune to fear/terror, +2 to morale)
Next - the battle report. Still in search of players, which means it'll be some time yet. No-one I've talked to about it seemed particularly interested. It could be a case of what I find interesting not really interesting others.
