Friday, 23 October 2015
Flaming Kings of War
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Short Story: The Warning Part 2
After much editing i have finally finished part 2 of my short story, so sit back and read on.
The Warning Part 2
Elder Jeb was right, Caldaria did respond to the threat. Being the largest, most technologically advanced and prosperous settlement on the plains people in Caldaria had a lot of time to do things that weren't farming or just surviving. Built in the crater of a extinct volcano the soil provided a bountiful crop every year and the rim of the carter made for a excellent natural wall. This had allowed Caldaria to grow and its people to do more with their time, of course they weren’t Dwarves, a single Dwarf settlement had more people than Caldaria and was more technologically advanced but all the same Caldaria was impressive by human standards. So it was no surprise when, a week after Thomas left Tall Hay, a column of twenty five Caldarian soldiers came marching towards Tall Hay. Elder Jeb greeted them in the hall and had asked for both Theo and Rachel to be by his side when they arrived. This allowed Theo to see the soldiers up close and he was impressed. Of the twenty five ten of them wore Chainmail Hauberks while another ten wore studded leather armour, of the five remaining one was dressed in a red cotton shirt with a brown leather jerkin over top that also had emblazoned over its right breast the icon of staff topped with a blue orb, he also wore riding breaches made of cotton with leather on in side of the legs and thighs and wore leather boots. Another three wore leather armour with green cloaks and the last one wore a steel breast plate and shoulder guards with a chain shirt and leather leggings. All the soldiers aside from the green cloaks and red shirt had medium sized curricular wooden shields with the icon of a sickle and sword crossed over a green field and were armed with a combination of spears and hand weapons while the green cloaks had bows and daggers, the red shirt had a quaterstaff and the last one had a similar shield to the others and a sword. As he observed them the steel plate armoured one stepped forward.
“Greetings Elder Jeb Quail. I am Captain Wolfe, leader of the first Caldarian expeditionary force”
As Jeb came and shook the captain's hand Theo was able to see that the captain was a she and that her face was gaunt but not skinny. She had brown hair done up in war braid and had light blue eyes. Until he saw her up close he had assumed she was a man seeing as her build matched that of the rest of her command. As he took this in Jeb spoke.
“Greetings Captain, we are honoured that Caldaria has sent you as fast as it did. We haven’t returned to camp since the raid and people were getting fearful”. She nodded at his greetings and turned to Theo and Rachel.
“These are the survivors?”
“Yes they are indeed Ma’ma”
“Excellent, do you have somewhere private to talk?”
“I do”
“Good”. She turned back to her troops and addressed them.
“Soldiers you are to set up camp where Elder Jeb’s men direct you to and wait further orders. Earl, Todd you are to follow me”
As the Caldarian soldiers followed her orders and Theo, Rachel, The Captain, and Jeb went out back to Jeb’s private meeting room the man in the red shirt and one of the green cloaks followed. As they entered the private meeting room out back of the hall and Jeb closed the door the Captain spoke.
“May I introduce Tracker Todd Murphy” she nodded towards the man in the green cloak “and Earl Greer”, at the sound of his man the red shirt man gave a small bow and the Captain went on.
“Todd is one of the finest trackers in Caldaria, Mayor Crawford takes your situation seriously and to sent only the best. Earl is a member of the newly founded mage’s guild, it was felt that the situation required the support of a mage”
Jeb nodded at that, word had reached Tall Hay of people who had strange abilities and skills and that settlement of Caldaria had founded a place where these people could come to learn of their abilities in peace although no such people had yet appeared among the population of Tall Hay. He turned to Theo and Rachel.
“Go on now, tell the captain what happened”
Theo and Rachel recounted the events at the logging camp start with Rachel’s discovery of the red rose and their shared “Prickly” feeling then going onto describe the attack the following day. Captain Wolfe got them to repeat how the attack started and shared a knowing look with Greer and Murphy, as they finished she spoke up.
“This sounds like a attempt to scare off loggers from the wood. Maybe they are claiming it as their own little kingdom but bugger what they want. Caldaria had a deal with you to log that wood which you did for us and now we are going to ensure its safe for you to continue to do so”
Jeb smiled and nodded at that, he then turned to Theo and Rachel
“You can go now, thank you”
As they turned to leave Greer spoke up.
“Brave kids” he said in thoughtful voice “Notice how they didn’t even shake when telling their story. After what they saw you would think that remembering it let alone repeating it aloud would scare them”. Captain Wolfe nodded in agreement and Jeb look pleased “They are good kids, some of the best Tall Hay has to offer. Now if you don’t mind me asking how and when will you deal with these bandits?”
The Captain looked at tracker “Murphy?”
“Well Ma’ma, sir.” He began “it sounds like these bandits rely on speed and surprise. They can't surprise us again because we know they are there and will be expecting it so thats one advantage gone, we just need to draw them out as our lads will win in a stand up fight”.
Wolfe and Greer both nodded in assent, but Jeb just raised a eyebrow
“Are you that confident in your soldiers?”
This time it was Greer who spoke up “Have you ever seen a mage in action?”
“No”
“Ah well then it will be a surprise for you too” he said with a wink. Capitan Wolfe suppressed a grin as she addressed the now slightly offended Jeb.
“If you don’t mind sir we should be getting underway as soon as we can”
“Yes, yes of course” replied Jeb “You have access to our supplies and whatever else you need for the duration of your stay”
As Murphy and Greer filed out of the room Wolfe replied “Thank you for the offer but we won’t be here all that long”.
The midday sun shone down on the logging camp and the small slope that lead to it. The logging camp itself was empty of anything other than sawdust and chopped wood, the bodies having been scavenged during the week it remained empty. As the small formation of troops advanced up the slope Captain Wolfe stopped to take a sip from her canteen and quickly check on her men. They were deployed eleven wide two deep with the ten chainmail equipped soldiers and herself in the front rank and the other studded leather troops plus Greer behind them with their shields up and over lapping one another. Murphy and his trackers were ranging around the formation in an effort to try and deter any ambushes or flank attacks. She felt a tap on her left shoulder and turned to see Greer grinning at her.
“Regretting that ironmongery yet captain” he asked with a impish grin.
“Sure because I much more prefer having arrows sprout from my chest” she replied with a smile
“You doubt my ability to keep you safe, you wound me Captain”
“Not as much as I am going to wound you shortly”
Greer snorted “You couldn’t catch me while wearing all that, I am too fast for you”
“At least it gives me immunity to sprouting arrows from my chest”
Greer gave a short bark of laughter and they carried on. Normally Wolfe would reprimand someone under her command for breaking noise discipline like that but in this situation there weren’t trying for stealth and would have failed if they were and besides she liked the mage. As they reached the top of the slope she gave the signal to halt and looked around the camp, oddly enough there were no signs that there was ever a battle here. As she took a step towards the camp a voice sounded from the treeline, deep and old with a menacing echo.
“We warned you”
“Magic” Greer growled the mirth and good humour gone “I can feel it”
Wolfe nodded and replied “This forest belongs to the village of Tall Hay, leave and allow the villagers to return to work or we will be forced to fight you”
Laughter echoed out of the woods at that, the tree tops rustled slightly as the sound reverberated around the camp. “You humans think you own this forest yet you don’t even have the slightest idea what resides in it, I shall show you”
As soon as the last syllable was spoken a hail of arrows sped from the tree line towards the Captain but Greer was faster. With a gesture and a word he drew inwardly and conjured a fiery dome around the Captain that he dispelled a few second later to reveal Captain Wolfe, unharmed and smiling savagely. She called out:
“You aren't the only one with magic on your side. Soldiers! Steady Advance!”
The formation came up behind her and began to move towards the trees, Wolfe slipped neatly back into position and from behind her she heard Greer say “See, you were in no danger”.
As they neared the trees the rain of arrows continued but few found their mark, most bouncing off the shield wall or a chain mail armoured arm or leg. Two did find their mark one in the eye of one trooper in the front line who died instantly and an other in the knee of a trooper in the second line who simply collapse howling in pain. At the point where they could see the figures shooting at them from the trees she ordered the charge and at once her line dissolved in a rush of armoured forms, shields up, towards the trees. They were met just shy of the tree line by twenty lion cloth clad figures, short and slender with pointed ears and wielding all the weapons Theo and Rachel had said used, hiltless swords, quarterstaves topped with blades and throwing weapons. Wolfe let out a wordless cry as she rushed one carrying a hiltless sword in each hand, keeping her shield up she thrust out with her sword but her opponent saw the attack and dodged to her left where he attacked her with both of his weapons at once. She used both blade and shield to desperately parry or block the rain of blows coming at her until she saw her opening, as soon as she parried one blade she lashed out with the flat of he shield and caught her attacker full in his face throwing him back trailing blood and spittle. He landed flat on his back blood leaking from mouth and broken nose too stunned to move, she lept forward and plunged her blade down with all her weight into his stomach and he howled. She then finished him off with one of his own blades with a quick thrust to the heart.
Greer laughed with delight as the battle raged around him. This was the first time a mage of the guild had been involved in anything more than a minor fight and he loved it. He saw a Caldarian soldier about to get run through by a attacker wielding one of their bladed quaterstaffs, he pointed his staff at the foe and with a word drew the power out from within himself and a second later a ball of fire hurtled from the tip of the staff and smashed into the attackers head throwing him to the ground where he was killed a moment later by his former victim. Inwardly he knew he couldn’t keep up this rate of spells, already he was starting to tire but he couldn’t stop, they hadn't won yet. It was then he felt that faint buzz that all magic gave off, he was certain it came from whomever had spoke to them at the start of the battle and Greer felt it was his professional responsibility to find out who it was but he would need more power than he currently had left in him, he would need to draw from external sources. Retreating back to the entrance to the camp he planted his staff on the ground and drew instantly feeling energy stored in the grass and earth rush into him and fill him with power , he felt like he could burn all these bandits, heal all his comrades wounds, and even bring bask the falle, No! He stopped himself with a effort and focused on the task at hand, that was one of the dangers of drawing upon external power for spells, it could be a difficult and dangerous sensation and one that would lead to calamity if not properly controlled. With enough power amassed he reached out with his mind and was suddenly above the battle and could see the village of Tall Hay, the green expanse of the plains, the dark green of the forest and waay off in the distance he could see the crater wall of Caldaria. He looked at the forest and searched for source of the magical signature. That was odd he thought, he had found the source near the battle but he could also feel the exact same signature coming from deeper in the forest, but that couldn't been as no two mages had the exact same….
Pain, white hot and blinding flooded Greer’s body and he screamed and came slamming back into his body and screamed again. Something had taken the power he had gathered and had turned it against him while it was in his body causing every inch of his himself to feel as if it were on fire. It was then, curled up in a ball in the center of dead grass that the unknown force struck again once more flooding his body with pain, he tried to scream but found he couldn’t, nor could see for some reason. Then he heard the smell of sizzling, smelt the smell of cooked flesh and felt a great burning pain over the his head and upper torso, he tried to scream again but instead passed out from the pain.
Captain Wolfe paused and surveyed the battle. Her troops were winning, their superior training and gear overcoming the attackers speed and numbers, what worried her was Greer as she had heard horrible screams coming from where he had fallen back too a moment ago. She was about to order someone to go check up on him when she saw something moving back in the woods, it was a humanoid figure about her height but she couldn’t make out much more than that. She did order someone to check on Greer and then turned to face the new threat but as it emerged into the sunlight she wished she hadn't. It was the same rough body shape as the attackers, medium height with lean muscles and pointed ears but thats where the similarities ended. Its skin had been replaced with, as far as she could tell, some sort of flexible tree bark. Its hands ended with hooked thorns and the back of its hands and arms where lined with ridges of hooked thorns but it was the eyes that were the worst, or rather where the eyes should be. Its head was utterly bald and shared many of the same traits as the attackers but where the eyes should be there were only empty sockets with vines growing from the centre of each socket. The vines spread over the figure’s entire face and ended in tips that curved up and away from the skin and seemed to follow her.
“You were warned” said the figure in the same deep, old voice with its menacing echo that had addressed them at the start of the battle. “Now you will have to die”
Wolfe responded by charging the figure, she have never been one to trade words with an opponent when you could just be killing them. She came in low, shield across her chest and slashed diagonally upwards with her blade as she reached him. The figure ducked under the slash and lashed out with one hand, catching the shield on its edge and ripped it out of her hand causing her to stumble to the right but she quickly regained her balance and wheeled around to face him blade ready, her opponent had been faster than she thought. He didn’t give her time to think anything else as he lept arms out stretched and talons extended, she divided aside taken aback by how quickly he recovered from his initial attack but she hadn't moved fast enough. He caught her left shoulder with his right hand and, with a strength that no one his build should have, threw her several meters across the battle field. She landed in a heap with her left arm feeling as if it were on fire and her sword nowhere to be seen. All around her the battle raged on but somehow it parted for him as if all the combatants, both his troops and hers, knew better than to get in his way. She saw him walking calmly towards her and knew to remain still was to die, she regained her feet and picked up a discarded sword in her right hand and upon seeing this her opponent smiled a predatory grin and started to run at her but suddenly stopped and rocked back from the impact of two arrows embedded in his bark skin. Wolfe risked a glance behind her to see Murphy a few meters away already pulling back another arrow, seeing this she turned back, smiled her own predatory grin and charged. Her opponent answered with a deep bestial roar but it was for nothing as before he could recover from the first two arrows another hit him followed seconds later by a steel clad shoulder as Wolfe's charge hit home. Stunned by the impact he toppled over with Wolfe rolling over top of him not expecting him to fall, with a simple duck and roll she got back to her feet and turned around but didn't see what she thought she would as she expected to see him flat on his back dazed and stunned with three arrows sticking out of him but instead he was not only up right but was now being borne aloft by a whirlwind of grass, dirt, leaves and sticks. Both of his hands were fully extended above his head both holding balls of emerald flame and he brought them together with a sudden boom of sound and violent gust of air that pushed Wolfe and several others nearby over and when she looked up he was gone.
His departure marked the end of the battle but in truth it had almost from the very start been a fighting defeat for the bandits. Wolfe had hurried over to Greer as soon as she could and almost lost her breakfast at what she saw, lying in a perfect small circle of dead grass lay the mage with his face burned horribly as well as his neck and shoulder. Murphy and his trackers were tending to him and she only just saw what remained of his face as they wrapped it in bandages, adding it to the list of things she dearly wished she hadn't seen today.
“He is in bad way Ma’am” Murphy said as he fished tending to Greer “very bad burns on some very vital places, he is asleep now but” he trailed off and gestured towards the mage.
“Understood” she replied in a strained, neatural tone “We didn’t lose many, six wounded and three dead.”
“The Bandits are all dead?”
She suppressed a shudder at the memory of what she hoped was their leader’s face. “Yes but something tells me” she began “that they weren’t bandits. Regardless we need to get back to Tall Hay. If we get there soon enough we can leave for Caldaria today. Greer will have the best chance there and I need to deliver my report as soon as I can.”
With a nod Murphy began to get Greer ready for transport back to Tall Hay and Wolfe gave the order to return, they had dealt with the attackers and soon the camp would be full with workers, but a small voice in that back of her mind told her that this wouldn’t be the last time blood was spilled at this camp.
As the soldiers returned, bloodied but victorious, the villagers turned out to congratulate and thank them. Fear had ruled here since the attack but the sight of victorious troops put that fear to rest. When Wolfe finally got to talk to Jeb again, after pushing through jubilant villagers, she told him that they would be leaving that day using the excuse of Greer’s wounds to brush aside the village Elder’s talk of celebrations and feasts. It was when Jeb asked if she wanted anything in return for their service that Wolfe gave him a knowing grin.
“Now Theo, Rachel” Elder Jeb began “We have checked with your parents and they give their permission, you are to accompany Captain Wolfe to Caldaria and give Mayor Crawford a full report you understand”
Theo and Rachel shared a look, they had grown closer since the attack and the chance to visit Caldaria was too good to pass up, especially together. Regardless they both gave hesitant nods and made it look as if they were going reluctantly.
Captain Wolfe looked back over her shoulder at the village of Tall Hay some way off in the distance. She couldn’t help but be happy given that the task was as success and had been done with minimal loses and to make things better she had easily got Theo and Rachel to come along under the guise of reporting what they had seen to mayor Crawford, in truth she was hoping to recruit them both given their amazing resilience to battle shock. As they traveled her mind wandered to the battle, to thew strange features of all the attackers, the features that made it unlikely that they were bandits and their leader, who made it almost impossible that they were just bandits.
He walked through gloom of the forest, head bowed relying on his senses to steer him clear of obstacles. It had been a week since the battle at the logging camp and it had taken him all of that week to reach here, to reach Her court. He approached a perfectly circular break in the woods where there was a clearing in whose centre sat a mighty and ancient Oak, perhaps the oldest living thing on the planet. He paused before entering the clearing, feeling something utterly foreign to him seize up his legs and stop him from entering, with a effort he shook off the feeling and continued on towards the Oak. As he drew nearer to it he could see the others watching from the tree line, vague shapes in the gloom some humanoid others less so. As he got closer to the Oak he could see the throne that resided within it, and the figure that sat on it. A few feet in front of it he went to one knee and bowed his head.
“My Queen, I have failed you” he spoke, the echo the accompanied his words had none of its usual depth or malice and instead was tinged with fear.
The figure stood and walked up to him so that he could see he vine wrapped bare feet and he felt a long cold talon touch the base of his chin and raise his head.
“You have failed no one” the figure said in a deep feminine voice that echoed with age and deep malice. “Look at me Warden”
He did. His eyes had been replaced with vines that grew from his eye sockets the day he had been chosen as Warden, on most days this was a great boon allowing him to see more than even the most sharp eyes of his kin but in that moment he dearly to be able to see less detail. The figure before him was tall, very tall at least two head higher than him. She was slender and graceful with long arms whose hands were tipped not with fingers but with talons of black wood, her hips were gently curved and lead down to long powerful legs and the aforementioned vine wrapped feet and her whole form was covered in a weave of vines that covered her neck to feet in alluring and beautiful patterns, but it was her face that sent the unfamiliar ice cold sensation of fear shooting down his spine. Her face was sharp and angular, from her scalp grew brambles that reached down to just below her breasts, her ears were small and ended at a fine slanted point and her mouth and nose with both small and perfect but it was the eyes that terrified him. The entire eyeball was pitch black save for the pupil which was a deep, deep green. Looking into them he felt himself falling into something old and terrible, he was a Warden of a Heartwood Tree, its proxy, its mouth piece and he had undergone transformations that had spit his skin and bones until his new form had been more fitting to that Tree’s whims.He shared a symbiotic relationship with that Tree, every thought it felt he felt, when it spoke it did so though him but even after all that he was still terrified of what he saw in those eyes. Something of what he was thinking must have pass over his face and she smiled, he almost shat himself in fear.
“You failed no one” she repeated “The humans have grown since we first encountered them, they learn to harness energy, magic they call it. They took us by surprise and it was just your misfortune that it was you who they surprised first”. She turned away from him and he almost sobbed In relief, as she walked back to the Oak she continued.
“I understand the mage among them tried to reach and out touch you, to uncover the secret of our people?”
“Ye-e-e-s” he stammered, his voice containing none of the malice that the humans had heard in it.
“Good, he will serve as our warning to them. It may not have been what we planned but it will make do” She reached out her hand towards the Oak and in response a branch moved out towards her, a branch with a translucent blood red Acorn hanging off its tip. She reached out and gently plucked it from the branch.
“In the mean time we will change our tactics, the Humans assume your raiding party were simple bandits . We will take advantage of that mistake, you will take advantage of that mistake”. She turned back and strode towards him and offered him the Acorn, something inside it uncoiled and moved. “Make an example of them, don’t underestimate them. This will be our opening move, go”. He took the Acorn, stood up, bowed and left quickly. As he do so she addressed the forms waiting around the treeline.
“And for you my Wardens learn from this, know that Humans can be dangerous if underestimated. Show them no mercy and treat fear as your most potent weapon, we will strike them in force in time but first they their spirit must be weakened, now go”.
As the figures departed she returned to the Throne in the core of the Oak and sat. As the roots and branches of the tree closed around her she murmured.
“Now to give them their fair warning”
Earl Greer woke and started screaming almost instantly. The healers came running mere second later and tried to restrain but he had also started to writhe and twist violently so they were unable to calm him with sleep inducing herbs. After five minutes one of the healers asked a nurse to run and get aid from the Caldaria Mage’s Guild which the nurse did with great haste. Not long after two mages entered Greer’s room and with restrain him with magic, even then it took both mages, three healers and two nurses to finally get him to take the sleeping herbs and not long after he fell into a deep, troubled sleep. While all this had been going on Greer had continued screaming and at first it was thought that they were just the cries of a man in great pain but the mages knew better, for some reason they didn’t hear the howling of suffering man, they heard a single word repeated over and over again , Run.
The end of Part 2
So there you have it, the final part of my short story. If you liked it please feel free to spread it around the internet and if you have any feedback please let me know. Until next time.
Rex
The Warning Part 2
Elder Jeb was right, Caldaria did respond to the threat. Being the largest, most technologically advanced and prosperous settlement on the plains people in Caldaria had a lot of time to do things that weren't farming or just surviving. Built in the crater of a extinct volcano the soil provided a bountiful crop every year and the rim of the carter made for a excellent natural wall. This had allowed Caldaria to grow and its people to do more with their time, of course they weren’t Dwarves, a single Dwarf settlement had more people than Caldaria and was more technologically advanced but all the same Caldaria was impressive by human standards. So it was no surprise when, a week after Thomas left Tall Hay, a column of twenty five Caldarian soldiers came marching towards Tall Hay. Elder Jeb greeted them in the hall and had asked for both Theo and Rachel to be by his side when they arrived. This allowed Theo to see the soldiers up close and he was impressed. Of the twenty five ten of them wore Chainmail Hauberks while another ten wore studded leather armour, of the five remaining one was dressed in a red cotton shirt with a brown leather jerkin over top that also had emblazoned over its right breast the icon of staff topped with a blue orb, he also wore riding breaches made of cotton with leather on in side of the legs and thighs and wore leather boots. Another three wore leather armour with green cloaks and the last one wore a steel breast plate and shoulder guards with a chain shirt and leather leggings. All the soldiers aside from the green cloaks and red shirt had medium sized curricular wooden shields with the icon of a sickle and sword crossed over a green field and were armed with a combination of spears and hand weapons while the green cloaks had bows and daggers, the red shirt had a quaterstaff and the last one had a similar shield to the others and a sword. As he observed them the steel plate armoured one stepped forward.
“Greetings Elder Jeb Quail. I am Captain Wolfe, leader of the first Caldarian expeditionary force”
As Jeb came and shook the captain's hand Theo was able to see that the captain was a she and that her face was gaunt but not skinny. She had brown hair done up in war braid and had light blue eyes. Until he saw her up close he had assumed she was a man seeing as her build matched that of the rest of her command. As he took this in Jeb spoke.
“Greetings Captain, we are honoured that Caldaria has sent you as fast as it did. We haven’t returned to camp since the raid and people were getting fearful”. She nodded at his greetings and turned to Theo and Rachel.
“These are the survivors?”
“Yes they are indeed Ma’ma”
“Excellent, do you have somewhere private to talk?”
“I do”
“Good”. She turned back to her troops and addressed them.
“Soldiers you are to set up camp where Elder Jeb’s men direct you to and wait further orders. Earl, Todd you are to follow me”
As the Caldarian soldiers followed her orders and Theo, Rachel, The Captain, and Jeb went out back to Jeb’s private meeting room the man in the red shirt and one of the green cloaks followed. As they entered the private meeting room out back of the hall and Jeb closed the door the Captain spoke.
“May I introduce Tracker Todd Murphy” she nodded towards the man in the green cloak “and Earl Greer”, at the sound of his man the red shirt man gave a small bow and the Captain went on.
“Todd is one of the finest trackers in Caldaria, Mayor Crawford takes your situation seriously and to sent only the best. Earl is a member of the newly founded mage’s guild, it was felt that the situation required the support of a mage”
Jeb nodded at that, word had reached Tall Hay of people who had strange abilities and skills and that settlement of Caldaria had founded a place where these people could come to learn of their abilities in peace although no such people had yet appeared among the population of Tall Hay. He turned to Theo and Rachel.
“Go on now, tell the captain what happened”
Theo and Rachel recounted the events at the logging camp start with Rachel’s discovery of the red rose and their shared “Prickly” feeling then going onto describe the attack the following day. Captain Wolfe got them to repeat how the attack started and shared a knowing look with Greer and Murphy, as they finished she spoke up.
“This sounds like a attempt to scare off loggers from the wood. Maybe they are claiming it as their own little kingdom but bugger what they want. Caldaria had a deal with you to log that wood which you did for us and now we are going to ensure its safe for you to continue to do so”
Jeb smiled and nodded at that, he then turned to Theo and Rachel
“You can go now, thank you”
As they turned to leave Greer spoke up.
“Brave kids” he said in thoughtful voice “Notice how they didn’t even shake when telling their story. After what they saw you would think that remembering it let alone repeating it aloud would scare them”. Captain Wolfe nodded in agreement and Jeb look pleased “They are good kids, some of the best Tall Hay has to offer. Now if you don’t mind me asking how and when will you deal with these bandits?”
The Captain looked at tracker “Murphy?”
“Well Ma’ma, sir.” He began “it sounds like these bandits rely on speed and surprise. They can't surprise us again because we know they are there and will be expecting it so thats one advantage gone, we just need to draw them out as our lads will win in a stand up fight”.
Wolfe and Greer both nodded in assent, but Jeb just raised a eyebrow
“Are you that confident in your soldiers?”
This time it was Greer who spoke up “Have you ever seen a mage in action?”
“No”
“Ah well then it will be a surprise for you too” he said with a wink. Capitan Wolfe suppressed a grin as she addressed the now slightly offended Jeb.
“If you don’t mind sir we should be getting underway as soon as we can”
“Yes, yes of course” replied Jeb “You have access to our supplies and whatever else you need for the duration of your stay”
As Murphy and Greer filed out of the room Wolfe replied “Thank you for the offer but we won’t be here all that long”.
The midday sun shone down on the logging camp and the small slope that lead to it. The logging camp itself was empty of anything other than sawdust and chopped wood, the bodies having been scavenged during the week it remained empty. As the small formation of troops advanced up the slope Captain Wolfe stopped to take a sip from her canteen and quickly check on her men. They were deployed eleven wide two deep with the ten chainmail equipped soldiers and herself in the front rank and the other studded leather troops plus Greer behind them with their shields up and over lapping one another. Murphy and his trackers were ranging around the formation in an effort to try and deter any ambushes or flank attacks. She felt a tap on her left shoulder and turned to see Greer grinning at her.
“Regretting that ironmongery yet captain” he asked with a impish grin.
“Sure because I much more prefer having arrows sprout from my chest” she replied with a smile
“You doubt my ability to keep you safe, you wound me Captain”
“Not as much as I am going to wound you shortly”
Greer snorted “You couldn’t catch me while wearing all that, I am too fast for you”
“At least it gives me immunity to sprouting arrows from my chest”
Greer gave a short bark of laughter and they carried on. Normally Wolfe would reprimand someone under her command for breaking noise discipline like that but in this situation there weren’t trying for stealth and would have failed if they were and besides she liked the mage. As they reached the top of the slope she gave the signal to halt and looked around the camp, oddly enough there were no signs that there was ever a battle here. As she took a step towards the camp a voice sounded from the treeline, deep and old with a menacing echo.
“We warned you”
“Magic” Greer growled the mirth and good humour gone “I can feel it”
Wolfe nodded and replied “This forest belongs to the village of Tall Hay, leave and allow the villagers to return to work or we will be forced to fight you”
Laughter echoed out of the woods at that, the tree tops rustled slightly as the sound reverberated around the camp. “You humans think you own this forest yet you don’t even have the slightest idea what resides in it, I shall show you”
As soon as the last syllable was spoken a hail of arrows sped from the tree line towards the Captain but Greer was faster. With a gesture and a word he drew inwardly and conjured a fiery dome around the Captain that he dispelled a few second later to reveal Captain Wolfe, unharmed and smiling savagely. She called out:
“You aren't the only one with magic on your side. Soldiers! Steady Advance!”
The formation came up behind her and began to move towards the trees, Wolfe slipped neatly back into position and from behind her she heard Greer say “See, you were in no danger”.
As they neared the trees the rain of arrows continued but few found their mark, most bouncing off the shield wall or a chain mail armoured arm or leg. Two did find their mark one in the eye of one trooper in the front line who died instantly and an other in the knee of a trooper in the second line who simply collapse howling in pain. At the point where they could see the figures shooting at them from the trees she ordered the charge and at once her line dissolved in a rush of armoured forms, shields up, towards the trees. They were met just shy of the tree line by twenty lion cloth clad figures, short and slender with pointed ears and wielding all the weapons Theo and Rachel had said used, hiltless swords, quarterstaves topped with blades and throwing weapons. Wolfe let out a wordless cry as she rushed one carrying a hiltless sword in each hand, keeping her shield up she thrust out with her sword but her opponent saw the attack and dodged to her left where he attacked her with both of his weapons at once. She used both blade and shield to desperately parry or block the rain of blows coming at her until she saw her opening, as soon as she parried one blade she lashed out with the flat of he shield and caught her attacker full in his face throwing him back trailing blood and spittle. He landed flat on his back blood leaking from mouth and broken nose too stunned to move, she lept forward and plunged her blade down with all her weight into his stomach and he howled. She then finished him off with one of his own blades with a quick thrust to the heart.
Greer laughed with delight as the battle raged around him. This was the first time a mage of the guild had been involved in anything more than a minor fight and he loved it. He saw a Caldarian soldier about to get run through by a attacker wielding one of their bladed quaterstaffs, he pointed his staff at the foe and with a word drew the power out from within himself and a second later a ball of fire hurtled from the tip of the staff and smashed into the attackers head throwing him to the ground where he was killed a moment later by his former victim. Inwardly he knew he couldn’t keep up this rate of spells, already he was starting to tire but he couldn’t stop, they hadn't won yet. It was then he felt that faint buzz that all magic gave off, he was certain it came from whomever had spoke to them at the start of the battle and Greer felt it was his professional responsibility to find out who it was but he would need more power than he currently had left in him, he would need to draw from external sources. Retreating back to the entrance to the camp he planted his staff on the ground and drew instantly feeling energy stored in the grass and earth rush into him and fill him with power , he felt like he could burn all these bandits, heal all his comrades wounds, and even bring bask the falle, No! He stopped himself with a effort and focused on the task at hand, that was one of the dangers of drawing upon external power for spells, it could be a difficult and dangerous sensation and one that would lead to calamity if not properly controlled. With enough power amassed he reached out with his mind and was suddenly above the battle and could see the village of Tall Hay, the green expanse of the plains, the dark green of the forest and waay off in the distance he could see the crater wall of Caldaria. He looked at the forest and searched for source of the magical signature. That was odd he thought, he had found the source near the battle but he could also feel the exact same signature coming from deeper in the forest, but that couldn't been as no two mages had the exact same….
Pain, white hot and blinding flooded Greer’s body and he screamed and came slamming back into his body and screamed again. Something had taken the power he had gathered and had turned it against him while it was in his body causing every inch of his himself to feel as if it were on fire. It was then, curled up in a ball in the center of dead grass that the unknown force struck again once more flooding his body with pain, he tried to scream but found he couldn’t, nor could see for some reason. Then he heard the smell of sizzling, smelt the smell of cooked flesh and felt a great burning pain over the his head and upper torso, he tried to scream again but instead passed out from the pain.
Captain Wolfe paused and surveyed the battle. Her troops were winning, their superior training and gear overcoming the attackers speed and numbers, what worried her was Greer as she had heard horrible screams coming from where he had fallen back too a moment ago. She was about to order someone to go check up on him when she saw something moving back in the woods, it was a humanoid figure about her height but she couldn’t make out much more than that. She did order someone to check on Greer and then turned to face the new threat but as it emerged into the sunlight she wished she hadn't. It was the same rough body shape as the attackers, medium height with lean muscles and pointed ears but thats where the similarities ended. Its skin had been replaced with, as far as she could tell, some sort of flexible tree bark. Its hands ended with hooked thorns and the back of its hands and arms where lined with ridges of hooked thorns but it was the eyes that were the worst, or rather where the eyes should be. Its head was utterly bald and shared many of the same traits as the attackers but where the eyes should be there were only empty sockets with vines growing from the centre of each socket. The vines spread over the figure’s entire face and ended in tips that curved up and away from the skin and seemed to follow her.
“You were warned” said the figure in the same deep, old voice with its menacing echo that had addressed them at the start of the battle. “Now you will have to die”
Wolfe responded by charging the figure, she have never been one to trade words with an opponent when you could just be killing them. She came in low, shield across her chest and slashed diagonally upwards with her blade as she reached him. The figure ducked under the slash and lashed out with one hand, catching the shield on its edge and ripped it out of her hand causing her to stumble to the right but she quickly regained her balance and wheeled around to face him blade ready, her opponent had been faster than she thought. He didn’t give her time to think anything else as he lept arms out stretched and talons extended, she divided aside taken aback by how quickly he recovered from his initial attack but she hadn't moved fast enough. He caught her left shoulder with his right hand and, with a strength that no one his build should have, threw her several meters across the battle field. She landed in a heap with her left arm feeling as if it were on fire and her sword nowhere to be seen. All around her the battle raged on but somehow it parted for him as if all the combatants, both his troops and hers, knew better than to get in his way. She saw him walking calmly towards her and knew to remain still was to die, she regained her feet and picked up a discarded sword in her right hand and upon seeing this her opponent smiled a predatory grin and started to run at her but suddenly stopped and rocked back from the impact of two arrows embedded in his bark skin. Wolfe risked a glance behind her to see Murphy a few meters away already pulling back another arrow, seeing this she turned back, smiled her own predatory grin and charged. Her opponent answered with a deep bestial roar but it was for nothing as before he could recover from the first two arrows another hit him followed seconds later by a steel clad shoulder as Wolfe's charge hit home. Stunned by the impact he toppled over with Wolfe rolling over top of him not expecting him to fall, with a simple duck and roll she got back to her feet and turned around but didn't see what she thought she would as she expected to see him flat on his back dazed and stunned with three arrows sticking out of him but instead he was not only up right but was now being borne aloft by a whirlwind of grass, dirt, leaves and sticks. Both of his hands were fully extended above his head both holding balls of emerald flame and he brought them together with a sudden boom of sound and violent gust of air that pushed Wolfe and several others nearby over and when she looked up he was gone.
His departure marked the end of the battle but in truth it had almost from the very start been a fighting defeat for the bandits. Wolfe had hurried over to Greer as soon as she could and almost lost her breakfast at what she saw, lying in a perfect small circle of dead grass lay the mage with his face burned horribly as well as his neck and shoulder. Murphy and his trackers were tending to him and she only just saw what remained of his face as they wrapped it in bandages, adding it to the list of things she dearly wished she hadn't seen today.
“He is in bad way Ma’am” Murphy said as he fished tending to Greer “very bad burns on some very vital places, he is asleep now but” he trailed off and gestured towards the mage.
“Understood” she replied in a strained, neatural tone “We didn’t lose many, six wounded and three dead.”
“The Bandits are all dead?”
She suppressed a shudder at the memory of what she hoped was their leader’s face. “Yes but something tells me” she began “that they weren’t bandits. Regardless we need to get back to Tall Hay. If we get there soon enough we can leave for Caldaria today. Greer will have the best chance there and I need to deliver my report as soon as I can.”
With a nod Murphy began to get Greer ready for transport back to Tall Hay and Wolfe gave the order to return, they had dealt with the attackers and soon the camp would be full with workers, but a small voice in that back of her mind told her that this wouldn’t be the last time blood was spilled at this camp.
As the soldiers returned, bloodied but victorious, the villagers turned out to congratulate and thank them. Fear had ruled here since the attack but the sight of victorious troops put that fear to rest. When Wolfe finally got to talk to Jeb again, after pushing through jubilant villagers, she told him that they would be leaving that day using the excuse of Greer’s wounds to brush aside the village Elder’s talk of celebrations and feasts. It was when Jeb asked if she wanted anything in return for their service that Wolfe gave him a knowing grin.
“Now Theo, Rachel” Elder Jeb began “We have checked with your parents and they give their permission, you are to accompany Captain Wolfe to Caldaria and give Mayor Crawford a full report you understand”
Theo and Rachel shared a look, they had grown closer since the attack and the chance to visit Caldaria was too good to pass up, especially together. Regardless they both gave hesitant nods and made it look as if they were going reluctantly.
Captain Wolfe looked back over her shoulder at the village of Tall Hay some way off in the distance. She couldn’t help but be happy given that the task was as success and had been done with minimal loses and to make things better she had easily got Theo and Rachel to come along under the guise of reporting what they had seen to mayor Crawford, in truth she was hoping to recruit them both given their amazing resilience to battle shock. As they traveled her mind wandered to the battle, to thew strange features of all the attackers, the features that made it unlikely that they were bandits and their leader, who made it almost impossible that they were just bandits.
He walked through gloom of the forest, head bowed relying on his senses to steer him clear of obstacles. It had been a week since the battle at the logging camp and it had taken him all of that week to reach here, to reach Her court. He approached a perfectly circular break in the woods where there was a clearing in whose centre sat a mighty and ancient Oak, perhaps the oldest living thing on the planet. He paused before entering the clearing, feeling something utterly foreign to him seize up his legs and stop him from entering, with a effort he shook off the feeling and continued on towards the Oak. As he drew nearer to it he could see the others watching from the tree line, vague shapes in the gloom some humanoid others less so. As he got closer to the Oak he could see the throne that resided within it, and the figure that sat on it. A few feet in front of it he went to one knee and bowed his head.
“My Queen, I have failed you” he spoke, the echo the accompanied his words had none of its usual depth or malice and instead was tinged with fear.
The figure stood and walked up to him so that he could see he vine wrapped bare feet and he felt a long cold talon touch the base of his chin and raise his head.
“You have failed no one” the figure said in a deep feminine voice that echoed with age and deep malice. “Look at me Warden”
He did. His eyes had been replaced with vines that grew from his eye sockets the day he had been chosen as Warden, on most days this was a great boon allowing him to see more than even the most sharp eyes of his kin but in that moment he dearly to be able to see less detail. The figure before him was tall, very tall at least two head higher than him. She was slender and graceful with long arms whose hands were tipped not with fingers but with talons of black wood, her hips were gently curved and lead down to long powerful legs and the aforementioned vine wrapped feet and her whole form was covered in a weave of vines that covered her neck to feet in alluring and beautiful patterns, but it was her face that sent the unfamiliar ice cold sensation of fear shooting down his spine. Her face was sharp and angular, from her scalp grew brambles that reached down to just below her breasts, her ears were small and ended at a fine slanted point and her mouth and nose with both small and perfect but it was the eyes that terrified him. The entire eyeball was pitch black save for the pupil which was a deep, deep green. Looking into them he felt himself falling into something old and terrible, he was a Warden of a Heartwood Tree, its proxy, its mouth piece and he had undergone transformations that had spit his skin and bones until his new form had been more fitting to that Tree’s whims.He shared a symbiotic relationship with that Tree, every thought it felt he felt, when it spoke it did so though him but even after all that he was still terrified of what he saw in those eyes. Something of what he was thinking must have pass over his face and she smiled, he almost shat himself in fear.
“You failed no one” she repeated “The humans have grown since we first encountered them, they learn to harness energy, magic they call it. They took us by surprise and it was just your misfortune that it was you who they surprised first”. She turned away from him and he almost sobbed In relief, as she walked back to the Oak she continued.
“I understand the mage among them tried to reach and out touch you, to uncover the secret of our people?”
“Ye-e-e-s” he stammered, his voice containing none of the malice that the humans had heard in it.
“Good, he will serve as our warning to them. It may not have been what we planned but it will make do” She reached out her hand towards the Oak and in response a branch moved out towards her, a branch with a translucent blood red Acorn hanging off its tip. She reached out and gently plucked it from the branch.
“In the mean time we will change our tactics, the Humans assume your raiding party were simple bandits . We will take advantage of that mistake, you will take advantage of that mistake”. She turned back and strode towards him and offered him the Acorn, something inside it uncoiled and moved. “Make an example of them, don’t underestimate them. This will be our opening move, go”. He took the Acorn, stood up, bowed and left quickly. As he do so she addressed the forms waiting around the treeline.
“And for you my Wardens learn from this, know that Humans can be dangerous if underestimated. Show them no mercy and treat fear as your most potent weapon, we will strike them in force in time but first they their spirit must be weakened, now go”.
As the figures departed she returned to the Throne in the core of the Oak and sat. As the roots and branches of the tree closed around her she murmured.
“Now to give them their fair warning”
Earl Greer woke and started screaming almost instantly. The healers came running mere second later and tried to restrain but he had also started to writhe and twist violently so they were unable to calm him with sleep inducing herbs. After five minutes one of the healers asked a nurse to run and get aid from the Caldaria Mage’s Guild which the nurse did with great haste. Not long after two mages entered Greer’s room and with restrain him with magic, even then it took both mages, three healers and two nurses to finally get him to take the sleeping herbs and not long after he fell into a deep, troubled sleep. While all this had been going on Greer had continued screaming and at first it was thought that they were just the cries of a man in great pain but the mages knew better, for some reason they didn’t hear the howling of suffering man, they heard a single word repeated over and over again , Run.
The end of Part 2
So there you have it, the final part of my short story. If you liked it please feel free to spread it around the internet and if you have any feedback please let me know. Until next time.
Rex
Saturday, 12 September 2015
Short Story: The Warning Part 1
This has been something i have been working on for a while. I have always loved fantasy as a genre and this goes for all areas of entertainment be it video games, movies, podcasts, books or wargames. Recently i stared to do narrative battle reports and the feedback to them has been positive, so on my drives to work each day i started thinking about writing my own fantasy. Once i decided to do this i started working on the basic concepts for a setting and as of Friday (11/09/2015) i finished those concept notes and began to write the very first short story set in the universe. Below is part one of that story, i divided it into 2 parts because posting it in one go would have made for a huge post and i haven't finished writing part 2 yet. Hopefully you will enjoy it and feedback is more than welcome espacilly for this post.
The Warning
Chopping wood, Theo decided, was the worst job he could have got. It was a hot summer’s day which only made the physically demanding job of hitting a solid bit of wood with a equally solid axe that much harder. He paused to wipe sweet from his brow and looked around, the logging camp belonged to the village of Tall Hay one of the many human villages that dotted the plains. Tall Hay lay near one of the many forests and as such made a good living off the lumber it collected with villagers usually only gathering dead wood and trees that were felled during a storm, but recently envoys from a far off place called Caldaria had shown up with the aim of teaching the villagers a new language called Common. While in Tall Hay the envoys had asked the village Elder if they could gather more wood and send it towards the far off settlement in exchange for better tools and more supplies. The Elder had quickly agreed and immediately set up a logging camp on the forest edge which had also had the addition benefit of providing work for idle teenagers, such as Theo. As he paused to take a sip of warm water from his canteen Theo recalled the town meeting where the Elder had announced the new camp, most of the village's fifty inhabitants had been in favour except for one old man, the oldest man in the village in fact. He had warned the Eldar and the others against the camp saying the forest was guarded and protected by strange fey creatures. The rest of the village had laughed at him and the Elder had rubbished the claim saying that in all his thirty five years they had never once been troubled by these “Fey Creatures”. The old man was out of his mind Theo thought, the camp has been running for a week now and we have had no trouble with any “Fey Creatures”. His thirst quenched he carried the wood he had been chopping over to the wagons, greeting a few of his friends as they passed by and chucked it down to on the to load pile, as he did so Oscar the camp boss came over.
“Good Job Theo, nicely split” he said to the young man in a gruff tone.
“Thank ye sir” Theo replied as he met the eyes of the older man, though in truth Oscar was only twenty four a mere 5 years older than Theo himself. Oscar began to order to the loaders to get the wood onto one of the waiting wagons as Theo went back to his spot and began to chop more wood. Only a few more hours left he thought as his arm muscles began to burn again.
The Warning
Chopping wood, Theo decided, was the worst job he could have got. It was a hot summer’s day which only made the physically demanding job of hitting a solid bit of wood with a equally solid axe that much harder. He paused to wipe sweet from his brow and looked around, the logging camp belonged to the village of Tall Hay one of the many human villages that dotted the plains. Tall Hay lay near one of the many forests and as such made a good living off the lumber it collected with villagers usually only gathering dead wood and trees that were felled during a storm, but recently envoys from a far off place called Caldaria had shown up with the aim of teaching the villagers a new language called Common. While in Tall Hay the envoys had asked the village Elder if they could gather more wood and send it towards the far off settlement in exchange for better tools and more supplies. The Elder had quickly agreed and immediately set up a logging camp on the forest edge which had also had the addition benefit of providing work for idle teenagers, such as Theo. As he paused to take a sip of warm water from his canteen Theo recalled the town meeting where the Elder had announced the new camp, most of the village's fifty inhabitants had been in favour except for one old man, the oldest man in the village in fact. He had warned the Eldar and the others against the camp saying the forest was guarded and protected by strange fey creatures. The rest of the village had laughed at him and the Elder had rubbished the claim saying that in all his thirty five years they had never once been troubled by these “Fey Creatures”. The old man was out of his mind Theo thought, the camp has been running for a week now and we have had no trouble with any “Fey Creatures”. His thirst quenched he carried the wood he had been chopping over to the wagons, greeting a few of his friends as they passed by and chucked it down to on the to load pile, as he did so Oscar the camp boss came over.
“Good Job Theo, nicely split” he said to the young man in a gruff tone.
“Thank ye sir” Theo replied as he met the eyes of the older man, though in truth Oscar was only twenty four a mere 5 years older than Theo himself. Oscar began to order to the loaders to get the wood onto one of the waiting wagons as Theo went back to his spot and began to chop more wood. Only a few more hours left he thought as his arm muscles began to burn again.
Friday, 11 September 2015
The Warhammer of Kings: Kings of War 2nd Ed Review
I have played enough games of Kings of War 2nd edition now that i feel like i can offer a valid opinion on the game and can also answer the question: Should i play KOW? In fact i can answer that one with another question: Do you like Chaos or Order?
Kings of War is a game of Order where the random effects of the dice are limited to "To Hit" and Rout rolls. To put it plainly here are the key points you need to know abut KOW core mechanics:
 |
| KOW is a game of Order |
- All units charge the system distance every time and do not have this distance reduced by terrain. Their charge distance is equal to double the Speed value of the unit in inches.
- There is no breaking down of the movement phase. Every unit has a list of orders they can do in the movement phase and must pick one. These orders include things like advance (move a number of inches equal to the unit's speed stat), Halt (stay still) or Charge, to mention a few. This means that if one of your units is blocking an other's charge then you can move the blocking unit then charge with the other.
- All units have a Melee and Ranged stat in their profile, this is what the unit needs to roll in order to hit things in ranged or melee combat. For example if a unit has a Melee stat of 4+ then it would hit another unit in melee on a d6 roll of 4+, its the same for ranged. There are modified to these rolls but there are only about 4 including magic items
Wednesday, 26 August 2015
Inepticon Kings of War Tournament
My local Wargames club (The Kapiti Wargames Club) is hosting a Kings of War Tournament on November 28 and 29. Mantic is providing prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. If there are any WHFB players in NZ who want to try out Kings of War this is a good chance to see if its a good replacement for WHFB, provided you either live in NZ or don't mind traveling a fair way.
KINGS OF WAR
2 day tournament
All Square bases welcome
Great prizes DIRECT from Mantic games
LIMITED PLACES - REGISTER NOW $35.00 PP
($40 for late registration)
Kings of war 2nd edition RULE SET
2 days 6 games
2000 POINTS
Get the player pack and INFO email
KOW@Kapitiwargamesclub.nz
NOVEMBER 28 & 29 2015 9.30am - 4.30pm
at the Kapiti community center Ngahina Street, Paraparaumu
More details as well as a email sign up for the player pack here
KINGS OF WAR
2 day tournament
All Square bases welcome
Great prizes DIRECT from Mantic games
LIMITED PLACES - REGISTER NOW $35.00 PP
($40 for late registration)
Kings of war 2nd edition RULE SET
2 days 6 games
2000 POINTS
Get the player pack and INFO email
KOW@Kapitiwargamesclub.nz
NOVEMBER 28 & 29 2015 9.30am - 4.30pm
at the Kapiti community center Ngahina Street, Paraparaumu
More details as well as a email sign up for the player pack here
Saturday, 15 August 2015
Call to Arms Part 1: Cowardly Elves
Welcome to what may be my last 8th edition WHFB tournament report. This time round i decided to do things differently and split the report into 5 parts, this is mainly because each battle report is a narrative report and as such takes more time and space than a cut down tournament battle report normally would, also these 5 posts will be linked meaning that the battles themselves will link providing a more (i hope) coherent narrative.
Game 1: Undead Legions (10/10 Draw)
Elidyr's forces moved in on the small hamlet and the Spellweaver brought his own unit of Glade Guard to a halt inside the wood that was the exit from the Worldroots that had brought them all here. He had been dispatched from Athel Loren to a remote southern section of the human Empire to hunt down a Necrach Vampire who had taken several Forest Spirits hostage during an earlier battle, Elidyr's was instructed to kill the vampire, locate his lair and free the spirits. He nodded to Almer, the captain of his Glade Guard, to give the signal for his forces to make ready. As the horn blew the Asrai took to their positions. The majority of his forces centered around the Worldroots but the Waywatchers too the far left flank along with the Waystalker.
Game 1: Undead Legions (10/10 Draw)
Elidyr's forces moved in on the small hamlet and the Spellweaver brought his own unit of Glade Guard to a halt inside the wood that was the exit from the Worldroots that had brought them all here. He had been dispatched from Athel Loren to a remote southern section of the human Empire to hunt down a Necrach Vampire who had taken several Forest Spirits hostage during an earlier battle, Elidyr's was instructed to kill the vampire, locate his lair and free the spirits. He nodded to Almer, the captain of his Glade Guard, to give the signal for his forces to make ready. As the horn blew the Asrai took to their positions. The majority of his forces centered around the Worldroots but the Waywatchers too the far left flank along with the Waystalker.
Saturday, 8 August 2015
Not On Top
I am not a fan of Age of Sigmar but thats putting it mildly, i think AOS is a awful joke given at the expense of the WHFB player and fan base. So when i see that Age of Sigmar is not one of the products in Mighty Ape's Top 10 Best Selling Wargaming products i do simile a little and that simile grows when i see that there are no AOS products in Mighty Ape's top 100 Best Selling Wargaming Products. What is in that top 100 list you ask, well.....
Skaven in Kings of War
Kings of War is fast replacing WHFB as my go to game nowadays and it helps that my Wood Elves can be used in Kings of War without any changes. This morning Mantic officially announced that their Skaven Army list (aka Ratmen) was now in Beta and would appear in a expansion book for Kings of War Second edition called "Kings of War: Uncharted Empires", i however call it "Warhammer Armies in Kings of War" mainly because this 64 page book promises to contain lists for:
1. The League of Rhordia (Dogs of War)
2. Ratkin (Skaven)
3. The Brotherhood (Brettiona)
4. The Empire of Dust (Tomb Kings)
5. Reptilians (Lizardmen)
6. The Herd (Beastmen)
7. The Varangur (Warriros of Chaos)
Given that all the other WHFB races already have lists in the 2nd Edition Rulebook this basically means that if you have a WHFB army you now also have a Kings of War Army.
Here is the link for the Beta Skaven List
If you are a WHFB player and mourn the loss of WHFB as a supported game system then give Mantic and Kings of War a go, i will be doing a detailed review of the Kings of War 2nd Edition Rulebook when i get it later on in the month.
Before i go i just wanted to announce that this blog now has Twitter Account, follow this link to go to the account or search for the TheDiceOdyssey (all one word), it will be mainly used to announce new posts, show off models that i have recently finished painting an allow me to express thoughts to small to warrant their own post. Until next time.
Rex
1. The League of Rhordia (Dogs of War)
2. Ratkin (Skaven)
3. The Brotherhood (Brettiona)
4. The Empire of Dust (Tomb Kings)
5. Reptilians (Lizardmen)
6. The Herd (Beastmen)
7. The Varangur (Warriros of Chaos)
Given that all the other WHFB races already have lists in the 2nd Edition Rulebook this basically means that if you have a WHFB army you now also have a Kings of War Army.
Here is the link for the Beta Skaven List
If you are a WHFB player and mourn the loss of WHFB as a supported game system then give Mantic and Kings of War a go, i will be doing a detailed review of the Kings of War 2nd Edition Rulebook when i get it later on in the month.
Before i go i just wanted to announce that this blog now has Twitter Account, follow this link to go to the account or search for the TheDiceOdyssey (all one word), it will be mainly used to announce new posts, show off models that i have recently finished painting an allow me to express thoughts to small to warrant their own post. Until next time.
Rex
Sunday, 2 August 2015
Short Story: Heroes
She gazed out from the bridge of the starship into the darkness of space, and the pulsing red wound of the Eye of Terror that dominated most of her view. As she gazed upon it she felt despair growing within her, how could a galaxy divided by war and hate hope to stop the relentless advance of Chaos, a power that feed on conflict and division. So focused was she on her thoughts that she failed to hear the foot steps of her master coming up behind her and she started slightly as he spoke:
"Tell me Allira, what is on your mind?"
"I was considering how hard the task before us is. Chaos feeds on war, conflict and division but those are the things most common in our galaxy"
She turned to him as she finished, tearing her gaze away from the Eye and looking instead upon her master. The old Farseer had his helmet off which allowed her to see him simile at her response.
"It is such a shame to see the young turn to despair and hopelessness. Things are not so bleak as they appear"
"Aren't they? While the races of the galaxy fight each other the Dark Gods grow strong. Each mortal life lost only weakens those who would stand against Chaos while their own numbers grow each day"
The Farseer was silent for a moment before taking out the pouch that contained his runes.
"Tell me who wins wars"
"Armies"
"Yes armies do win wars, but what are armies made up of ?"
"Soliders"
"Yes, soldiers. Individuals who, for whatever reason, joined an army and played a part in winning a war"
As he finished his sentence he sat down on the bridge's floor and cast his runes.
"Come Allira and see what things soldiers can do"
She sat opposite him and saw.
"Tell me Allira, what is on your mind?"
"I was considering how hard the task before us is. Chaos feeds on war, conflict and division but those are the things most common in our galaxy"
She turned to him as she finished, tearing her gaze away from the Eye and looking instead upon her master. The old Farseer had his helmet off which allowed her to see him simile at her response.
"It is such a shame to see the young turn to despair and hopelessness. Things are not so bleak as they appear"
"Aren't they? While the races of the galaxy fight each other the Dark Gods grow strong. Each mortal life lost only weakens those who would stand against Chaos while their own numbers grow each day"
The Farseer was silent for a moment before taking out the pouch that contained his runes.
"Tell me who wins wars"
"Armies"
"Yes armies do win wars, but what are armies made up of ?"
"Soliders"
"Yes, soldiers. Individuals who, for whatever reason, joined an army and played a part in winning a war"
As he finished his sentence he sat down on the bridge's floor and cast his runes.
"Come Allira and see what things soldiers can do"
She sat opposite him and saw.
Thursday, 30 July 2015
The Tales That Really Matter
Previously i have talked about how i listen to a series of online Roleplays done by a twitch streamer called JP, and i have wanted to write more about the shows he produces for the Rollplay Series but what with the upheaval caused by Age of Sigmar this post has been delayed several times. However recently on Rollplay Swansong (a Sci-fi themed Roleplay about being a crew on a space ship, similar to the Rouge Trader RP produced by Fantasy Flight) there was a episode that served as excellent inspiration. With spoiling anything in the episode there were several moments were i felt fear for a player character, so much so that i stopped what i was doing at the time to just stare at the screen and nervously what for each dice roll to show up. To top this all off the show ended in a touching bittersweet way, and i wanted to write a post to in some way explain why the shows evoke emotional responses as well as urging any readers who are unaware of the series to go and start watching them, you will only benefit from doing so.
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
A Pyrrhic Victory
The Universe is vast and infinite but so
are the different version of it and there are countless different
versions of reality in which events play out differently. So when the
Warhammer World was consumed by Chaos this was only one possible
outcome, in another reality the End Times never came and perhaps would
never come and it is in this reality on this version of the Warhammer
World that the following battle is fought.
The Human settlement was small and unassuming and if you were a casual traveler passing through then you wouldn't pay it any heed, normally however now a casual traveler probably would pay the sleepy little village plenty of heed mainly due to the large Dwarven army camped out near it. Elidyr, a Asrai Spellweaver and more importantly the leader of the Asrai army that had followed the Dwarves here mused that within a few hours casual travelers wouldn't be passing through here much anymore, or that people probably wouldn't use the word "Sleepy" to describe this place after he was done.
The Human settlement was small and unassuming and if you were a casual traveler passing through then you wouldn't pay it any heed, normally however now a casual traveler probably would pay the sleepy little village plenty of heed mainly due to the large Dwarven army camped out near it. Elidyr, a Asrai Spellweaver and more importantly the leader of the Asrai army that had followed the Dwarves here mused that within a few hours casual travelers wouldn't be passing through here much anymore, or that people probably wouldn't use the word "Sleepy" to describe this place after he was done.
Saturday, 25 July 2015
The Forest Must be Fed: Kings of War Battle Report and Review
Welcome, especially Warhammer Fantasy Players, to my review of Mantic’s Kings of War 2nd Edition. Now a few points before I get onto the actual post, this was a 1500 point game of Kings of War played using their free downloadable core rules and their Beta Army list rules. The actual Battle report itself will be narrative report set in the Warhammer World Pre End Times and at the end of the report I will give a review of how the game played from a WHFB player perspective, so this will be a long post and it is recommend you get a drink before going on. As previously mentioned this was a 1500 point game with me as the Elves (Wood Elves) and my opponent playing The Herd (Beastmen), enjoy.
The Universe is vast and infinite but so are the different version of it and there are countless different versions of reality in which events play out differently. So when the Warhammer World was consumed by Chaos this was only one possible outcome, in another reality the End Times never came and perhaps would never come and it is in this reality on this version of the Warhammer World that the following battle is fought.
Fionn sighed thoughtfully as he gazed upon the clearing and the imposing Herdstone in its midst. He wondered what this place would have been like if the Beastmen had never come here, would it a peaceful and serene clearing in the forest? Would it be camp for Human bandits? He reflected on these possibilities as the army drew itself into position.
The Universe is vast and infinite but so are the different version of it and there are countless different versions of reality in which events play out differently. So when the Warhammer World was consumed by Chaos this was only one possible outcome, in another reality the End Times never came and perhaps would never come and it is in this reality on this version of the Warhammer World that the following battle is fought.
Fionn sighed thoughtfully as he gazed upon the clearing and the imposing Herdstone in its midst. He wondered what this place would have been like if the Beastmen had never come here, would it a peaceful and serene clearing in the forest? Would it be camp for Human bandits? He reflected on these possibilities as the army drew itself into position.
Saturday, 18 July 2015
Tournaments For All
There is a stereotype that exists in the wargaming community that annoys me. It paints people who like going to tournaments as people who will always bring the cheesiest lists and will always go for "The Win at all Costs" strategies regardless of how fun the game is for their opponent. Ever since i started back in this hobby in June of 2013 i have been going to tournaments and my experience so far has been the complete opposite. In all the tournament games i have played my opponents have always been friendly and considerate regardless of how well they wanted to place at the end of the event.
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| One of the best games of WHFB i have ever played was a game of Watchtower at a Tournament |
Wednesday, 15 July 2015
Let Xenos Kill Xenos
+++++ Message Incoming +++++
+++++ Gamma Level Encryption. Password Required +++++
+++++ *********** +++++
+++++ Password Accepted. Welcome Inquisitor +++++
+++++ Message Begins +++++
+++++ Greetings Inquisitor
We followed the Orks undetected as per your orders. Their progress was easy to track and we gained valuable insight into the hierarchy of this warband, i have attached all relevant intelligence to this report for you to review at your leisure. The main point of this message relates to what happened when the warband stopped at a disused Imperial Outpost. The Orks had stopped in order to loot the place of any usable scrap they could find when they found themselves under attack.
+++++ Gamma Level Encryption. Password Required +++++
+++++ *********** +++++
+++++ Password Accepted. Welcome Inquisitor +++++
+++++ Message Begins +++++
+++++ Greetings Inquisitor
We followed the Orks undetected as per your orders. Their progress was easy to track and we gained valuable insight into the hierarchy of this warband, i have attached all relevant intelligence to this report for you to review at your leisure. The main point of this message relates to what happened when the warband stopped at a disused Imperial Outpost. The Orks had stopped in order to loot the place of any usable scrap they could find when they found themselves under attack.
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| The Outpost prior to the arrival of the Orks. Due to their predictable travel path we were able to take picts of it before they arrived. |
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| The Outpost itself |
Saturday, 11 July 2015
The Ironhorn Tribe: The Herd Gathers
As Call to Arms 2015 nears i am preparing my Legions of Chaos Tzeentch Army for the event. While it does use the Legions of Chaos list its mainly a Beastmen army with 2 non Beastmen units. Below are some of the models for the completed army.
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| My Flying Doombull complete with 3+ ward save |
Age of Sigmar Army List Advice from GW
Edit: The PDF is unofficial, however its still a way to create army in AOS, which is better than what we had before.
This happened today.
This happened today.
Thursday, 9 July 2015
Raging Against The Rage
One of the most interesting responses to the Age of Sigmar release has been from the people who like and support the game and what makes these responses interesting is how many of them are aggressive and snarky. The defenders of the game seem almost offended by the negative response to the game and thats where they lose me. Sure feel free to like the game but to attack those who don't like goes too far.
Right now every WHFB fan has good justification to feel pissed as the game they liked/loved had been scraped in favor of a kid friendly game littered with holes and flaws (a surprising amount of the for a game with 4 pages of core rules), its not like WHFB fans are being unreasonable when they slam AOS and decry it. And thats why i say that when the defenders of AOS attack those who don't like it they go to far, fans of WHFB have every right to vent at the demise of the game they enjoyed. Of course the same goes for people who don't like the game attacking those who do. Its perfectly alright to like the game and no one should come under attack for simply liking the game.
Right now every WHFB fan has good justification to feel pissed as the game they liked/loved had been scraped in favor of a kid friendly game littered with holes and flaws (a surprising amount of the for a game with 4 pages of core rules), its not like WHFB fans are being unreasonable when they slam AOS and decry it. And thats why i say that when the defenders of AOS attack those who don't like it they go to far, fans of WHFB have every right to vent at the demise of the game they enjoyed. Of course the same goes for people who don't like the game attacking those who do. Its perfectly alright to like the game and no one should come under attack for simply liking the game.
Tuesday, 7 July 2015
After The Launch
Age of Sigmar has arrived and has disappointed many people, i myself only ended up not feeling too down by posting the ridiculous "Talk to your models for bonuses" rules to this very blog. However now the humour is gone and i feel just kinda annoyed, i dont wont to focus on it but GW basically scraped a game that people liked and replaced it with a game that very few people like, all while not talking to their customers about what they wanted. In the aftermath i have seen negative review after negative review slam the game for being a shallow dice fest with none of the tactical depth that 8th edition had. I have read the rules myself and can find very little to interest me in them, what we were given is 4 pages of a game children could play which is great for children but not so great for the rest of us.
Saturday, 4 July 2015
And Now GW Will Troll You
The Warscrolls for Age of Sigmar are out, and..........well see for yourself
I will add more as i find them, behold the new Age of Pisstaking!!!
Thursday, 2 July 2015
What a Week
This post has had many false starts, however i think i now have a proper way to start it. Warhammer Fantasy is dead and in its place is an unbalanced, model focused skirmish game with free rules. That is my summary of the week so far in terms of GW news. Before i go on i just want to say this wont be a angry ranting anti GW post, enough people are doing that right now that i dont feel the need to but also i dont want to, not this time.
I wont be getting into the Age of Sigmar, i dont have the time, money or will to start playing a skirmish game made from the corpse of WHFB. In all likelihood i will be playing games of 8th edition WHFB with my Beastmen and Kings of War 2nd edition with my Beastmen (because Mantic is a great company that has released beta rules for Betasmen in KOW, and every WHFB unit has a profile in this beta list, they did this for Skaven and Dogs of War as well). There have been a few posts here and there from people who have played games of AOS and from what i have heard the game doesn't interest me, to me Mordheim sounds like a better skirmish game than AOS and if i wanted to play it i could just use my Wood Elves or Beastmen for Warbands.
I wont be getting into the Age of Sigmar, i dont have the time, money or will to start playing a skirmish game made from the corpse of WHFB. In all likelihood i will be playing games of 8th edition WHFB with my Beastmen and Kings of War 2nd edition with my Beastmen (because Mantic is a great company that has released beta rules for Betasmen in KOW, and every WHFB unit has a profile in this beta list, they did this for Skaven and Dogs of War as well). There have been a few posts here and there from people who have played games of AOS and from what i have heard the game doesn't interest me, to me Mordheim sounds like a better skirmish game than AOS and if i wanted to play it i could just use my Wood Elves or Beastmen for Warbands.
Monday, 29 June 2015
This is Getting Old
Over on Plastic Krak Jossy has written a post about some of the information to be gleaned from the recent White Dwarf, i read this post and got sort of fed up. I posted a comment venting my frustration about GW's "Fan Dance" of hints and rumours, here is what i wrote
I don't general swear online (even pseudo swear) but it is a sign of my annoyance with the company. I am tired of the way the release of the Age of Sigmar has been handled, i am annoyed that we, the customers, still know very little about the game, we don't know the general scale, the mechanics, if AOS is even the main game, we know very little and seeing GW do nothing but a but fan dance of hints and whispers and getting peoples hopes up that maybe, just maybe massed battle WHFB isn't dead is just too annoying. I was ready to give up on AOS and just stikc with 8th because it looked like a skirmish game but now i don't know. Maybe there will still be a new version of massed WHFB but if there is GW wont say, but instead of saying nothing they speak in hints and rumours, not confirming or denying anything and its getting old.
I have always been hopeful that massed battle WHFB will survive the End Times but i don't like how its been confirmed/not confirmed, right now i just want to know for sure but GW would rather tease the announcement out, word by word rather than just tell us. Until next time.
Rex
I have always been hopeful that massed battle WHFB will survive the End Times but i don't like how its been confirmed/not confirmed, right now i just want to know for sure but GW would rather tease the announcement out, word by word rather than just tell us. Until next time.
Rex
Saturday, 27 June 2015
Bugger.....Again
Behold the new Age of Sigmar and gosh darn it don't those models look similar, i am sure i have seen their look somewhere else in GWs range........
Looks like space marines to me and on round bases to boot, why this isnt called the Age of Space Marines is beyond me.
I personally wont be moving to the Age of Space Marines and will be sticking with 8th edition and my wonderfully non space marine armies for that edition. I encourage all fans of the past 8 editions of WHFB to do the same, 8th is a great edition and right now i see no reason to change. Until next time.
Rex
Looks like space marines to me and on round bases to boot, why this isnt called the Age of Space Marines is beyond me.
I personally wont be moving to the Age of Space Marines and will be sticking with 8th edition and my wonderfully non space marine armies for that edition. I encourage all fans of the past 8 editions of WHFB to do the same, 8th is a great edition and right now i see no reason to change. Until next time.
Rex
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
Wood Elves for Sale
With my declining interest in wargaming as a hobby i have decided to cut back my collection, starting with my Wood Elves. I have listed them for sale on Trade Me so if you ever wanted a Wood Elf army, now is the time to buy
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=903611099
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=903611099
Friday, 5 June 2015
Bugger
The title of this post accurately reflects my reaction to the rumours that appeared yesterday regarding 9th Edition Warhammer Fantasy
http://natfka.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/age-of-sigmar-new-game-with-much-of-old.html
Of course i am still hopefully that these rumours are untrue but it looks unlikely at this stage.
http://natfka.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/age-of-sigmar-new-game-with-much-of-old.html
Of course i am still hopefully that these rumours are untrue but it looks unlikely at this stage.
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
The Dread of the Unknown
Throughout fiction one of my favourite types of factions are the
ones that the other factions in the setting have no idea about. These
“Unknown Factions” will usually pursue their own goals/agendas , which
remain a mystery to the other factions, while simply killing anyone or
thing that gets in their way. The White Walkers from Game of Thrones are
a perfect example of this, you don’t know what they want, what their
plans are or why they are marching south and all you do know is that
kill anyone else that gets in their way. This gives the White Walkers an
extra element of dread.
In my view it comes down to the fact that if you know nothing about a faction then there is no way to reach a non violent end to hostilities with them. Oddly enough this doesn’t give factions whose motivations you understand but who still refuses to comprise or come to peace talks that extra element of dread. Take Archaeon from WHFB as a good example of this, we know what he wants (the destruction of the warhammer world) and why he wants it (anger towards the Empire and the Church of Sigmar after reading a unsettling “Truth”) and we also know that he won’t comprise and nothing short of the destruction of Empire and the Warhammer world will satisfy him but that still doesn’t make him a terrifying opponent. While reading the End Times I saw him more as a determined leader of a very powerful army, I understood his motivation and this understanding removed that extra element of dread that not understanding him or being able to relate to him (he was a human after all) would have generated.
In my view it comes down to the fact that if you know nothing about a faction then there is no way to reach a non violent end to hostilities with them. Oddly enough this doesn’t give factions whose motivations you understand but who still refuses to comprise or come to peace talks that extra element of dread. Take Archaeon from WHFB as a good example of this, we know what he wants (the destruction of the warhammer world) and why he wants it (anger towards the Empire and the Church of Sigmar after reading a unsettling “Truth”) and we also know that he won’t comprise and nothing short of the destruction of Empire and the Warhammer world will satisfy him but that still doesn’t make him a terrifying opponent. While reading the End Times I saw him more as a determined leader of a very powerful army, I understood his motivation and this understanding removed that extra element of dread that not understanding him or being able to relate to him (he was a human after all) would have generated.
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| Despite all his power and his amassed armies he is still only human |
Broadening the Topics
I have decided to broaden the range of topics I talk
about on this blog. This is mainly fuelled by my growing lack of
interest in what GW is doing and my reaction to the recent pricing for
the 10 man assault marine box captures this perfectly. The box is priced
at 166 NZD for ten models and a while ago this would have provoked me
to write a whole post it, however now all it managed to provoke is mild
apathy. We all know GW’s prices are bad and GW’s prices will continue to
be bad as long as we buy stuff from them, that’s my whole view on the
Assault Marine box price tag.
This growing apathy towards GW is proving positive though as it is fuelling my interest in a long term passion of mine, the Fantasy genre. I have always loved Fantasy as a genre of entertainment and have always found fantasy settings more interesting than historical, sic-fi or any other “Type” of fictional setting for a video game, war game, book, movie, TV show etc. And with my interest in GW waning I have found my interest in the Fantasy genre growing, I spent all of the recent long weekend playing The Witcher 3 and enjoyed every minute of, I found the main and side quests to be far more engrossing and interesting than anything GW ever put out for WHFB.
So expect to see posts about different fantasy related forms of entertainment in the near future, I have several posts about The Witcher 3 already in the works. This is not to say that there will be no wargaming related post, there will be as I still like playing WHFB and 40k but there will be broader range of things talked about. Until next time.
Rex
This growing apathy towards GW is proving positive though as it is fuelling my interest in a long term passion of mine, the Fantasy genre. I have always loved Fantasy as a genre of entertainment and have always found fantasy settings more interesting than historical, sic-fi or any other “Type” of fictional setting for a video game, war game, book, movie, TV show etc. And with my interest in GW waning I have found my interest in the Fantasy genre growing, I spent all of the recent long weekend playing The Witcher 3 and enjoyed every minute of, I found the main and side quests to be far more engrossing and interesting than anything GW ever put out for WHFB.
So expect to see posts about different fantasy related forms of entertainment in the near future, I have several posts about The Witcher 3 already in the works. This is not to say that there will be no wargaming related post, there will be as I still like playing WHFB and 40k but there will be broader range of things talked about. Until next time.
Rex
Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Rumours We Can Trust
As we creep closer and closer to the release of 9th edition Warhammer Fantasy (20th of June is where recent rumours pout it) the rumours become more and more reliable. The recent batch has me excited as it confirms the Two Game Solution, which was what I was hoping for.
For anyone unfamiliar with the rumours I have pasted them below:
– WFB 9th is simply called “Warhammer’
– New rules provide for two games in one:
a) A small scale game with few models
b) A full scale game like the previous WFB
– The small scale game has heavy limitations on models that can be used such as exotic units and units that would be unbalancing at a small scale.
– Triple book format with rules and history split up
– Round bases
– June 20th
– 6 Factions
– Game picks up after the End Times series, taking it into account.
http://natfka.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/new-warhammer-rumors-and-round-bases.html
For anyone unfamiliar with the rumours I have pasted them below:
– WFB 9th is simply called “Warhammer’
– New rules provide for two games in one:
a) A small scale game with few models
b) A full scale game like the previous WFB
– The small scale game has heavy limitations on models that can be used such as exotic units and units that would be unbalancing at a small scale.
– Triple book format with rules and history split up
– Round bases
– June 20th
– 6 Factions
– Game picks up after the End Times series, taking it into account.
http://natfka.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/new-warhammer-rumors-and-round-bases.html
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Its Near
The recent round of rumours has a three week space marine release and then "Alot of WHFB", in addition to this there has been sightings of warhammer kits being shipped with round and square bases so all in all we could be about to see 9th edition WHFB.
Just a quick thought on the round bases in WHFB kit issue, i personally think this is a sign of the Two Game Solution, it gives people the option to either base their models for massed battles (Square) or skirmish (Round).
Aside from those issues there really isn't anything more to say that hasn't already been said (at least twice), all we can do now is wait and watch. Until next time.
Rex
Just a quick thought on the round bases in WHFB kit issue, i personally think this is a sign of the Two Game Solution, it gives people the option to either base their models for massed battles (Square) or skirmish (Round).
Aside from those issues there really isn't anything more to say that hasn't already been said (at least twice), all we can do now is wait and watch. Until next time.
Rex
Sunday, 17 May 2015
Round Bases Sighted
This has appeared today, its a picture taken of a display cabinet at Warhammer World.
3 import things to note:
1: There is a mix of round and square bases
2: Its a Lizardmen army
3: The description text references Lustria, Slann and restoring balance to the world.
3 import things to note:
1: There is a mix of round and square bases
2: Its a Lizardmen army
3: The description text references Lustria, Slann and restoring balance to the world.
Sunday, 10 May 2015
The Ironhorn Tribe: In the Beginning
His name was Etch, Exalted of T'char. None know for where he all that was known was that one night he came into the camp of the Ironhorn Tribe and challenged their chieftain to single combat for ownership of the tribe. The Chieftain, whose name has been forgotten, was beheaded in the first second of the duel and Etch became Chief of the Ironhorn tribe.
Etch, Exalted of T'char
Etch, Exalted of T'char
Thursday, 7 May 2015
A Whole Lotta Words
Usually when I write a post I try and have the title get across what the post is about in the shortest and most word efficient way possible (“Is Warhammer Dying” and “2014 in Review” being 2 examples), unfortunately for this post that’s not possible because the subject of the post, my current view on GW, doesn’t translate well to a short and informative title.
Qutting GW games is very hard, and I mean quitting 100%. If you have a fully painted army and have enjoyed the games of either WHFB or 40k you have played so far it’s very hard to give it up entirely and go play either other wargames or find a new hobby. This is something I have noticed recently when reflecting on my occasional bouts of anti GW anger because on two of those occasions I have decided to give up on all GW games and go play something else yet here I am with 1 40k army, 2 Fantasy armies, a regular Monday night game of WHFB as well as other games of 40k/Fantasy throughout the week. I think the reason this happens is that I enjoy the games that GW puts out, WHFB is still my number one wargame and 40k is a good fun game, and that my enjoyment of the game is constant where as my anger towards GW is temporary as anger usually tends to be. And I think the same is true for many people who feel angry towards GW, they feel anger (maybe even rage) towards GW for whatever stupid move GW did at the time but the as time goes on maybe they play some 40k/WHFB or maybe they reflect on the fun they have had playing GW games in the past and slowly they come back to the hobby. To me the only way you really quit GW games for good is by selling all your armies and books there by making it very difficult to play a GW game without first investing huge amount of money and time getting an army up to scratch.
Qutting GW games is very hard, and I mean quitting 100%. If you have a fully painted army and have enjoyed the games of either WHFB or 40k you have played so far it’s very hard to give it up entirely and go play either other wargames or find a new hobby. This is something I have noticed recently when reflecting on my occasional bouts of anti GW anger because on two of those occasions I have decided to give up on all GW games and go play something else yet here I am with 1 40k army, 2 Fantasy armies, a regular Monday night game of WHFB as well as other games of 40k/Fantasy throughout the week. I think the reason this happens is that I enjoy the games that GW puts out, WHFB is still my number one wargame and 40k is a good fun game, and that my enjoyment of the game is constant where as my anger towards GW is temporary as anger usually tends to be. And I think the same is true for many people who feel angry towards GW, they feel anger (maybe even rage) towards GW for whatever stupid move GW did at the time but the as time goes on maybe they play some 40k/WHFB or maybe they reflect on the fun they have had playing GW games in the past and slowly they come back to the hobby. To me the only way you really quit GW games for good is by selling all your armies and books there by making it very difficult to play a GW game without first investing huge amount of money and time getting an army up to scratch.
Friday, 1 May 2015
There is Only 40k
Despite WHFB still being a reasonably popular game with viable sale figures GW seems to have forgotten about it. With Imperial Knights this week and Adeptus Mechanicus next week, and the months of 40k releases before this, it would be easy for new comers into the hobby to assume that GW only has one game. This is annoying for me and other fans/players of WHFB because there are still 3 armies yet to get 8th ed books, and i am pretty sure this drought isn’t because GW is about to drop WHFB or because its unpopular, my concerns about WHFB’s popularity and sales figures have been put to rest, but that doesn’t help to answer the question of why haven’t we seen anything for WHFB in the past few months?
Thursday, 23 April 2015
Is Warhammer Fantasy a Dying Game?
Well, is it? This is a interesting question for me as I am a big fan of WHFB and have played it since I started wargaming as a hobby, and I have enjoyed it for as long. There seems to be a persistent view online that WHFB is a dead game with a declining player base and sales are far below that of 40k.In other words it has become a dead weight for GW. The people who make this argument base it on 3 key points
1: On the forums the WHFB sections is less active than the 40k section 2: Their local gaming scene has less WHFB players than 40k players 3: GW gives more time to 40k than WHFB
As you can see there is no solid evidence in that list, and before accusations of me Straw manning the argument start to fly my way these really are the 3 main points that keep coming back up in these debates when I have them with people online, they never cite solid evidence like sales figures, they never quote GW Store Managers saying that WHFB is a dead game whose sales are awfully low.
My issue with the idea that WHFB is a dying game and is a dead weight for GW is that there is no solid evidence presented to back up this claim. I like WHFB, I have played it for 10 years and still rate it as my top wargame so when people tell me that is a failure for GW and that is dying and should be dropped I want to see more than speculation and assumptions backing that claim up.
1: On the forums the WHFB sections is less active than the 40k section 2: Their local gaming scene has less WHFB players than 40k players 3: GW gives more time to 40k than WHFB
As you can see there is no solid evidence in that list, and before accusations of me Straw manning the argument start to fly my way these really are the 3 main points that keep coming back up in these debates when I have them with people online, they never cite solid evidence like sales figures, they never quote GW Store Managers saying that WHFB is a dead game whose sales are awfully low.
My issue with the idea that WHFB is a dying game and is a dead weight for GW is that there is no solid evidence presented to back up this claim. I like WHFB, I have played it for 10 years and still rate it as my top wargame so when people tell me that is a failure for GW and that is dying and should be dropped I want to see more than speculation and assumptions backing that claim up.
Monday, 20 April 2015
The Two Game Solution
Recent WHFB 9th ed rumours have suggest that we will see 2 versions of 9th ed WHFB, one skirmish game and one massed battles game. To me this is a smart move for GW as it allows people who love both WHFB and massed battles to continue playing Warhammer and using their armies as they behave them now in massed battles, it also allows people who love skirmish games a way to play skirmish warhammer using a office rules set. And with the apparent popularity of skirmish games it will bring new players into WHFB and make GW more money while at the same time keeping WHFB what it always has been and not pissing off people who like WHFB as it is now (and as it has been for the past 8 editions).
Monday, 6 April 2015
A Step In The Right Direction: Codex Craftworld
If you follow the rumour mill as closely as i do the you would have heard of Codex Craftworld. When it first surfaced this rumour was confusing as it appeared to be the new Eldar Codex, which was confusing because Eldar already have a 7rh Ed Codex and its still pretty good. However recent fresh rumours seem to indicate that its a sort of supplement codex that will allow Eldar players to play a army from one of the main Eldar Craftwolrds. This had already been tried once before in 3rd Edition 40k with the "Mini Codex" Craftwolrd Eldar.
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| The 3rd Edition Craftworld Eldar Codex |
Saturday, 4 April 2015
Whats Going On????
Today the pre-orders for the Skitarii Codex went up. Being somewhat interested in this army i went and took a look and was surprised by one very key detail
This is a big surprise as to date all Wh40k codexs are 98 NZD by they supplement codexes, the Harlequin Codex or the Scion Codex. Unfortunately the new units boxes are still 92 NZD for 5 but still, 57 NZD for a codex is definitely progress. Will we see more of it? I dont know but for now this is good enough. Until next time.
Rex
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| A Sign of the Apocalypse? You Decide |
Rex
Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Demons and Cyborgs
What with all the current WH40k armies having up to date Codexs the natural question is: What Next for 40k? There have been rumours of Adeptus Mechanicus, Death Watch, Gene Stealer Cults and even a Sister of Battle rumour. Today we got solid confirmation of the whats next for 40k and its....well a codex called Khorne Demonkin which appears to be a codex for all things, well, Khorne in 41st millennium.
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| Behold! Evidence! |
Saturday, 14 March 2015
Dispelling Myths: Warhammer WHFB Costs More to Enter
There is an often repeated Myth abut WHFB that is both costs more and has a higher models count than 40k, the argument goes to to say that this discourages prole from starting WHFB and thus WHFB is less popular than WH40k. I have had this argument now with a number of people and it has never convinced me mainly because people who make this argument never actually bring up an evidence to back up their claim. I was thinking about this today and wondered if the people making this argument were right, and so i did a experiment to find out if this was the case. what i did was go onto Army Builder and make 6 lists, 1 Orc and Goblin list and 1 Ork List, 1 High Elf List and 1 Eldar List and 1 WHFB Demons list and 1 40k Demons list. All the lists were built with 7th ed 40k codexs and 8th ed WHFB Army Books.
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