Just a bit of me my thoughts leaking out into my blog, regarding the recently posted update on our Mighty Empires WFB campaign.
I feel a bit like a rodent version of Hannibal. Maybe I'll rename my Skaven warlord to "Handleball" or something crudely similar. I've crossed the mountains down into the land of the goblins. For the most part, they've sought refuge in their capital city, where I probably have little chance of taking them by force. In the meantime, I ravage the countryside and turn their empire to my side. Winning battles but not the war. (I'm not even certain fighting the gobbos is the best thing to do, but I'm a a bit cramped for space in my little corner of the campaign map!)
I need to model a new Abomination to look a bit like a twisted rodent version of an elephant. ;)
So I'm wondering if it will all end poorly for me, as it did for Hannibal? Here's hoping there's no Zama in the Skaven future.
Next Wednesday's battle doesn't seem like it should be an important battle, but I think the results will actually influence the course of the remaining year for the Skaven.
+++
I am thinking of trying to adapt the Mighty Empires campaign system to Ancients. I think with a few tweaks, I think I may try to manage something.
ZeroTwentythree
painting toy soldiers
fighting their battles
Showing posts with label Mighty Empires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mighty Empires. Show all posts
05 February 2010
03 February 2010
Mighty Empires: Year Two, Month Two
We finally wrapped up the remaining phases of Winter, cast our Spring Equinox Magic and campaigned for the first two months of Year Two.
The Espionage phase was fairly uneventful. The only aggressive player was the Lizardmen (blue). Chaos (red) and Skaven (pink) played defensively, sending agents into the field to diffuse any potential trouble. The Lizards made an assassination attempt on the Orc (yellow) warlord, and attempted spying on the Goblins (green) -- both failed.
Equinox magic was a little more interesting. Several storms were summoned up, all in the unfortunate Orc realm, as well as an earthquake that leveled the Orc city on the coast (now being fought over in the map above.) The Skaven failed to cast a similar storm on the Goblin capital. An undead host was also rose from the ground beaneath the Lizardmen's feet in hex E7.
The Lizards dealt with the undead in the first month, as their remaining banners, as well as half the Chaos forces, explored and expanded their empires. The Skaven also went on a bit of an expansion binge, much to the chagrin of the Goblins, razing two fortresses and a village (all former Goblin possessions) along the way. The Goblins moved into a neutral village to their north in the first month, which is now being contested by the western arm of the Skaven field army. The Orcs stayed holed up in their capital (well, stuck there by the storms, actually) losing troops to starvation, while the earthquake victims were invaded by the Lizard flotilla from across the bay.
Next week we have two battles to fight out: Lizards vs. Orcs, and Goblins vs. Skaven.
The Espionage phase was fairly uneventful. The only aggressive player was the Lizardmen (blue). Chaos (red) and Skaven (pink) played defensively, sending agents into the field to diffuse any potential trouble. The Lizards made an assassination attempt on the Orc (yellow) warlord, and attempted spying on the Goblins (green) -- both failed.
Equinox magic was a little more interesting. Several storms were summoned up, all in the unfortunate Orc realm, as well as an earthquake that leveled the Orc city on the coast (now being fought over in the map above.) The Skaven failed to cast a similar storm on the Goblin capital. An undead host was also rose from the ground beaneath the Lizardmen's feet in hex E7.
The Lizards dealt with the undead in the first month, as their remaining banners, as well as half the Chaos forces, explored and expanded their empires. The Skaven also went on a bit of an expansion binge, much to the chagrin of the Goblins, razing two fortresses and a village (all former Goblin possessions) along the way. The Goblins moved into a neutral village to their north in the first month, which is now being contested by the western arm of the Skaven field army. The Orcs stayed holed up in their capital (well, stuck there by the storms, actually) losing troops to starvation, while the earthquake victims were invaded by the Lizard flotilla from across the bay.
Next week we have two battles to fight out: Lizards vs. Orcs, and Goblins vs. Skaven.
20 December 2009
Mighty Empires: Year 1 - Winter
I have added two new notations. "S" for Ship and "X" for Razed settlements.
Year One of the Mighty Empires campaign wound down, and we're in the middle of our winter shopping. (spending the income.)
The big excitement was the capture of the Ogre capital by the Lizardmen at the tail end of Turn 4. After that the Ogres had two turns, including extra moves due to "forced marches" to move one hex into the capital and try to take it back. After four attempts, they made it, taking heavy casualties during a river crossing gone wrong and then proceeded to smash themselves to a pulp on the walls of their former city.
This has led to a considerable change in balance on the map, as the Lizards and Chaos forces are now divvying up the former Ogre lands (and the surrounding unexplored territory) in a strangely cooperative manner.
The Skaven made a half hearted attempt at some inroads through Goblin territory and threatened an attack on the capital itself, but in typical cowardly fashion, didn't go for the final attack -- which would likely have suicide anyway.
The Goblins hung near their capital, due to a combination of the Skaven attack, lack of a clear road through the mountains to their northwest, and starvation.
The Orcs (disguised as yellow Bretonnians on the map) stood back and watched the destruction of the Ogres from a distance at the north end of their Empire, while exploration to the south led to the discovery of yet more barren coast land.
Autumn spells led to additional income for the Lizards (on top of their already bountiful coffers,) the forces of chaos creating difficulties for the Orcs winter retreat, and the Skaven army being inundated with heroes looking to make a name for themselves.
Winter events were a little more harsh. Famine, plague and banditry were widespread and affected all.
What the map doesn't show are the numbers.
While the Lizards did deal a death blow to the Ogres, and have the largest chunk of real estate open to them, they blew their winter retreat back home through the mountains, and lost a second banner to a bad event. On the plus side, they've got far more cash to spend than any other Empire. They've also got a lot of distance between their capital and the other Empires.
The Skaven and Chaos Empires are both fairly solid. The Skaven still have numbers, though they're running out of land. Chaos has slightly smaller forces, but a large space for expansion (with minimal competition.)
Both greenskin armies are hurting. The Orcs started with smaller forces than anyone else, and a lot of their territory turned out barren. An early battle with an independent settlement was costly in terms of casualties. The Goblins lost one of their smaller banners, but then also had crappy territory and ended up succumbing to starvation. They're not as bad off as the Orcs, numerically, and they've got a strong front against the Skaven (mountains and Fortresses) but they're cramped for land and half of what they've got is Barren.
+++
Commentary on the Rules
We've been adjusting a few things as we go. For example, in the various phases of Winter we discovered a lot of results for spells, events, etc. that would result in the utter destruction of entire banners of troops. If we had played it this way, there would probably be half as many troops on in the game. So instead, we roll on the winter retreat table, which is still harsh, but at least leaves something remaining.
The Equinox spells and Winter events have a huge impact on the game. Looking forward to the espionage phase, there's even more potential for big changes. The actual battles have been minimal. We've only had a few. There were a lot of agreements and alliances this first year, however. I suspect this next turn will result in more.
As far as the initial set up and army generation, the game was written for a slightly different army structure, so we've used some home brewed rules we found on a web page (I'll look for the link later) that adapted the game for 6th edition. Those mostly seem to have worked.
We've also used a modified version of the 5th edition Siege rules. We're working on tweaking those a bit.
We don't currently have any "advancement" or "experience" system where troops become veterans or characters improve. I think at least a basic system along these lines would add quite a bit of interest next time.
Overall, though, the existing game seems to form a decent framework for a campaign so far. The "luck" factor does seem a bit heavy. So if the dice don't like you, there's a potential for harsh consequences.
Year One of the Mighty Empires campaign wound down, and we're in the middle of our winter shopping. (spending the income.)
The big excitement was the capture of the Ogre capital by the Lizardmen at the tail end of Turn 4. After that the Ogres had two turns, including extra moves due to "forced marches" to move one hex into the capital and try to take it back. After four attempts, they made it, taking heavy casualties during a river crossing gone wrong and then proceeded to smash themselves to a pulp on the walls of their former city.
This has led to a considerable change in balance on the map, as the Lizards and Chaos forces are now divvying up the former Ogre lands (and the surrounding unexplored territory) in a strangely cooperative manner.
The Skaven made a half hearted attempt at some inroads through Goblin territory and threatened an attack on the capital itself, but in typical cowardly fashion, didn't go for the final attack -- which would likely have suicide anyway.
The Goblins hung near their capital, due to a combination of the Skaven attack, lack of a clear road through the mountains to their northwest, and starvation.
The Orcs (disguised as yellow Bretonnians on the map) stood back and watched the destruction of the Ogres from a distance at the north end of their Empire, while exploration to the south led to the discovery of yet more barren coast land.
Autumn spells led to additional income for the Lizards (on top of their already bountiful coffers,) the forces of chaos creating difficulties for the Orcs winter retreat, and the Skaven army being inundated with heroes looking to make a name for themselves.
Winter events were a little more harsh. Famine, plague and banditry were widespread and affected all.
What the map doesn't show are the numbers.
While the Lizards did deal a death blow to the Ogres, and have the largest chunk of real estate open to them, they blew their winter retreat back home through the mountains, and lost a second banner to a bad event. On the plus side, they've got far more cash to spend than any other Empire. They've also got a lot of distance between their capital and the other Empires.
The Skaven and Chaos Empires are both fairly solid. The Skaven still have numbers, though they're running out of land. Chaos has slightly smaller forces, but a large space for expansion (with minimal competition.)
Both greenskin armies are hurting. The Orcs started with smaller forces than anyone else, and a lot of their territory turned out barren. An early battle with an independent settlement was costly in terms of casualties. The Goblins lost one of their smaller banners, but then also had crappy territory and ended up succumbing to starvation. They're not as bad off as the Orcs, numerically, and they've got a strong front against the Skaven (mountains and Fortresses) but they're cramped for land and half of what they've got is Barren.
+++
Commentary on the Rules
We've been adjusting a few things as we go. For example, in the various phases of Winter we discovered a lot of results for spells, events, etc. that would result in the utter destruction of entire banners of troops. If we had played it this way, there would probably be half as many troops on in the game. So instead, we roll on the winter retreat table, which is still harsh, but at least leaves something remaining.
The Equinox spells and Winter events have a huge impact on the game. Looking forward to the espionage phase, there's even more potential for big changes. The actual battles have been minimal. We've only had a few. There were a lot of agreements and alliances this first year, however. I suspect this next turn will result in more.
As far as the initial set up and army generation, the game was written for a slightly different army structure, so we've used some home brewed rules we found on a web page (I'll look for the link later) that adapted the game for 6th edition. Those mostly seem to have worked.
We've also used a modified version of the 5th edition Siege rules. We're working on tweaking those a bit.
We don't currently have any "advancement" or "experience" system where troops become veterans or characters improve. I think at least a basic system along these lines would add quite a bit of interest next time.
Overall, though, the existing game seems to form a decent framework for a campaign so far. The "luck" factor does seem a bit heavy. So if the dice don't like you, there's a potential for harsh consequences.
22 November 2009
Mighty Empires - Year One, Turn Four
We played out the first four turns of the Campaign. Minor change in participants... The former Bretonnians are actually Orcs, and what I formerly referred to as Orcs & Goblins are just Goblins.
After four turns we've mostly had just minor skirmishes. The quelling of a couple of independent settlements took its toll on a few banners. Due to casualties, two Orc banners have merged into the now larger Orc 1. In the first turn, Skaven 1 and Goblin 2 met and fought over the highland villages in L6. The goblins were killed or sent running and lost in the mountains. The Lizardmen aggressively invaded the Ogre kingdom -- the smaller Ogre border force fought in an orderly retreat, and sought shelter in the safety of their capital city. It is uncertain yet if a siege will be fought or not.
After four turns we've mostly had just minor skirmishes. The quelling of a couple of independent settlements took its toll on a few banners. Due to casualties, two Orc banners have merged into the now larger Orc 1. In the first turn, Skaven 1 and Goblin 2 met and fought over the highland villages in L6. The goblins were killed or sent running and lost in the mountains. The Lizardmen aggressively invaded the Ogre kingdom -- the smaller Ogre border force fought in an orderly retreat, and sought shelter in the safety of their capital city. It is uncertain yet if a siege will be fought or not.
16 November 2009
Might Empires
I'm taking part in a Mighty Empires campaign using an adaptation of the old, detailed rules and tiles. We've dealt out the map, chose locations and rolled upstarting forces. I've volunteered to be the campaign cartographer. Here's my digitization of the base map. (Click maps to enlarge.)
Below are the starting positions.
Goblins - Green - 3,600 points, 7 baggage
Lizardmen - Blue - 3,500 points, 7 baggage
Warriors of Chaos - Red - 2,500 points, 9 baggage
Ogres - Purple - 2,300 points - 9 baggage
Skaven - Pink - 3,500 points, 6 baggage
Bretonnians - Yellow - 2,000 points, 7 baggage
I will be fielding my Skaven, Clan All-Out-of-Bubblegum.
Edit: fixed minor error on the maps.
Below are the starting positions.
Goblins - Green - 3,600 points, 7 baggage
Lizardmen - Blue - 3,500 points, 7 baggage
Warriors of Chaos - Red - 2,500 points, 9 baggage
Ogres - Purple - 2,300 points - 9 baggage
Skaven - Pink - 3,500 points, 6 baggage
Bretonnians - Yellow - 2,000 points, 7 baggage
I will be fielding my Skaven, Clan All-Out-of-Bubblegum.
Edit: fixed minor error on the maps.
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