Idol of Gork Project Part 1: The Big Picture

Ok, a week on and it is time to spend some more time thinking about my ‘Idol of Gork’ campaign project for 8^th edition.  A look at the ‘big picture’ of the campaign as it is laid out in 5^th edition seems a good place to start. 

I will be reflecting on the ‘story aspect’ of the campaign in future posts but, in brief, the campaign background is as follows:

·         Margraf Freidrik, one of the Border Princes of Imperial descent, has recently defeated  the orcs of the Ironfang tribe who border his lands, destroying their fortress and driving them from their lands.

·         In order to secure his borders, the Margraf invites Lord Rutger, a younger son of the Elector Count of Wissenland, to establish his own domain on the lands formally held by the Ironfang Orcs.

·         The orc warchief Grotfang Shah of the Ironclaw orcs is determined to regain his territories and goes to war against the Imperial settlers under Lord Rutger.

The campaign consists of 4 linearly linked scenarios involving conflict between Empire and Orcs and Goblins armies in the Border Princes.  I will be reflecting on each scenario’s conversion in more detail (including some terrain projects and narrative issues) at a later stage, but for now the campaign works as follows:

Scenario 1: ‘Da snatch’ (1000 pts.)

The Ironfang Goblins (no orcs) are sent on a night-ambush to recover the ‘Crown of Gork’ which is buried beneath the idols of Gork and Mork on lands now claimed by Lord Rutger’s followers.  The Wissenlanders are unaware of the Crown’s presence beneath the Idol, but have the idols under guard until they can have a wizard deal with the blasphemous magic protecting them.

If the goblins win they gain a free magic item for the final battle.

Scenario 2: ‘The Ambush’ (1500 pts.)

Reinforcements arriving for Rutger’s forces, including wizards from Altdorf and artillery from Nuln, are ambushed by the orcs on the way to Rutgerburg.

If the orcs and goblins win they limit the Empire’s access to magic and artillery for the final battle.

Scenario 3: ‘The Battle for Troll Rocks’ (1000 pts.)

A neighbouring orcish tribe is gathering to negotiate an alliance with the Ironclaw orcs, but has not yet made contact with them.  Lord Rutger sends a force to defeat this new threat.

If the Empire win, the orcs and goblins are denied 750 pts. for the final battle.

Scenario 4: The Battle for Rutgerburg (3000 pts.)

The Ironfang orcs launch their final assault on the new settlement for Rutgerburg.

The winner takes all!  If the orcs and goblins win they raise Rutgerburg and re-establish their rule over the area, if the Empire wins then Rutgerburg is firmly established and Lord Rutger takes his place as one of the Border Princes!

First WFB Campaign: Idol of Gork

For my first narrative campaign I have decided to draw extensive inspiration from what has gone before: Warhammer 5^th Edition’s “Idol of Gork” seems a good starting point because:

·         My uncle has beautifully painted Empire and Orcs and Goblins armies; the forces around which the campaign is set.

·         The campaign involves a fairly simple progression of four battles which should be relatively easily adapted to 8^th Edition.

·         The campaign includes special named characters, each with a personality and backstory, as well as limiting the army selections for different scenarios to fit the narrative, rather than encouraging players to build the ultimate force with as few weaknesses as possible.

·         The campaign scenarios are a good opportunity to try my hand at some simple, hopefully manageable terrain pieces.

WFB Campaign: Initial Thoughts

I am really lucky in that I have a great bunch of friends who manage to get together semi-regularly for Warhammer games.  

However, while the games are always great fun, however, there always seems to be something ‘missing.’  I am pretty certain it is the narrative continuity of a linked campaign: my key interest is great stories, after all!  Naming your characters and caring about their origins or fate is difficult when you know that it’s just a one-off.  From the gamer’s point-of-view, I think this means that the battles become a bit drier after a while… it just makes sense to pick the best possible army for your next opponent, along with the best combination of characters and magical items.  I want to focus on the narrative element so that we choose armies which make sense given the background (even if they are not optimal – a general doesn’t always have the troops that he/she wants!) and we can have battles which link across time.

These are the key things I have thought of so far that I would like to have in a narrative campaign:

·         Linked battles, where the outcome of each battle has an impact on the overall campaign.

·         Army lists limited by the particular scenario.

·         All named magical items and characters along with their magical items.

·         Some specially modelled terrain pieces.

·         Narrative battle reports and photos to hang onto and reminisce over.

Four Gaming Projects Commence!

The aim of this blog-space is to help me plan and keep track of my gaming projects.  

There are four rather large-scale gaming projects set in the Warhammer Fantasy world which I have been keen to get going on for some time now:

·         Fully assemble and paint my Bretonnian army for Warhammer Fantasy.

·         Develop a series of Warhammer Fantasy campaigns to share with my mates.

·         To design and build a ‘Massive, Modular, Mordheim’ (MMM) board.

·         To run a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay campaign.

I have never been a particularly dedicated or able painter or hobbyist, so my hope is that this blog will help me to keep my motivation going with the areas which aren’t natural strengths.

My natural interest is more in the story behind the game, so both sets of campaigns should hopefully come a bit more easily.