The Invasion of Ulthuan


Welcome to the 2008 WHFB Campaign for Gobstyks Gaming Club.

This campaign begins in January 2008 and continues until the storyline dictates a winner.

Storylines are dictated by player actions, and game results, and the spin players are able to produce based on those games. It is a war of words and deeds in equal measure, with an old senile god looking on in amusement. You have been warned.

The Factions.

Defenders of the Ulthuan. Graham, Andy T and Gareth.
Evil invaders from the Old World. Si, Phil, Neil, Tim P Andy D and Ali
Evil invaders from the lands of Naggaroth. Will, Andrew, Chris, Rory
The conspirators. Adam, Michael & Tim H

The defenders of Ulthuan.
Graham and Gareth command the High Elves. The high council of Ulthuan has given over command of its defences to these two lords: Myrstr Fibru’lah, vice admiral of the sun fleet; and XXXXXXX. In its wisdom, the council knows that unpopular choices must be made, and is keen to make scapegoats of these two most unpopular lords, ready for when Tyrion or Teclis return from their respective sojourns to assume command. Commanded by Andy T, the third group of high elves are from Avelorn and follow the rules for wood elves. They do not have as many tree spirits as an army from Athel Loren might. The high elves are led by Indy, whose power and rank remain an enigma, but he comes with the blessings of the Everqueen. Can they muster enough forces to defend their hallowed ground?

Evil Invaders from the Old World.
An assortment of evil races has ventured across the ocean to lay waste to Ulthuan and plunder its magical treasures. Si commands the forces of the Wight Lord Ranlac. Ranlac leads a horde of the undead, raised by his mysterious master. Neil also commands a Vampire Count army, but will his Vampire Lord bend his knee to Ranlac’s master?
Phil commands the Beasts of Chaos, led by the mighty doombull Darkblood, assisted in his bloodletting by the Brayshamen Jah’Kash.
Tim P and Ali both command skaven hordes. Ali’s is led by Skesk the Grey Seer but Tim has the warlord Pfatti Pfattrat. Which will the council of thirteen favour?

Evil invaders from the lands of Naggaroth.

The Invasion was set in motion by the Dark Elf Lord Tomalok, who does not yet appear in the campaign. Spearheading the assault are Chris’ Temple of Khaine led by the ‘crying’ Lord Bittersteel. His Arc of Tears has landed on the shores of Ulthuan brining many devotees of the Temple of Khaine along. Lord Rhakorta, master of beasts, is also in the spearhead of the assault. He has gained infamy within recent Druchii history by taking to the field hordes of monsters. Will he be able to get all his menagerie on a Black Ark, or will he be taking his mobile scouting force in first?
The Lord Tomalok has also sent aid (or is that fodder?) in the form of an Orc horde commanded by Andrew Wright. Although an inexperienced general, the might of an Orc Waaagh can never be underestimated. The Orcs are supported by their goblinoid cousins commanded by Rory with Skabgit da Magnificent. Making up the invasion force is Will’s Tomb Kings, summoned from the Temples in the South of Naggaroth, they are no less formidable an opponent than their Khemrian cousins.

The Conspirators.

Having received pleas for aid from the High Elves, Adam’s Bretonians (led by Giselle) and Tim H’s Empire have both landed on the shores of Ulthuan, although the Empire force is small, and will offer only occasional aid to their cause. However, since neither force has yet given a pledge of aid, their motives remain uncertain. Mike’s mysterious mage priest leads the enigmatic lizardmen onto the lands of Ulthuan, perhaps to retrieve an Ancient artefact rumoured to be in Vaul’s vault. But will the retrieval be by trading aid, or by force of arms?

Round 1: 2 games played in January.

Game 1: There can be only one.
Each member of the faction enters a single named character (which may or may not be the general but must be used in some campaign games) to 'duke it out' to see who leads the faction.
It will not be a turn at a time. All models complete moving, then all casting, then all shooting, then all close combat. Casters may use dice as normal, but must use all their personal dice before moving onto the pool. Models that generate dispel dice may use their dispel dice, but no one else can. For example. A lvl 2 mage uses their own 2 dice and 1 pool dice to cast a spell. The lvl 4 mage uses their own 2 dispel dice plus the remaining pool dice to dispel it. Now there are no pool dice left, so heaven help whoever the level 4 casts at with their own dice!
Last man (or woman, or thing) standing is the winner and leads the faction.

Game 2.
Sound the advance/alarm. A Warhammer Skirmish game.

Each faction has 150 points of core troops. No models may have better than a 5+ save. Models with scout or skirmish special rules cost 1 point less as all models now have skirmish. The faction may (and indeed should) mix and match models from each of the member factions.

As per the Warhammer skirmish rules there are no minimum unit sizes, and each model operates independently.

Unit upgrades can be bought if you want to (e.g. champions)
Chaos count as having a mortal or beast general, so demons are not allowed as they are not core. Ambush rules are not used.

The winner is the faction who gets a musician to the top of the central tower to sound the alarm/advance for their fellows. This will allow that faction to have the best landing site, or deny this to the invaders if the high elf faction wins.

Sounds like fun eh? Not too many models either. Both games should be played in a single night.

Regular use of the forum will make this campaign successful. Non-users are strongly advised to sign up for an account, or at least pop round to a friend's house occasionally to check the latest news.

The first round will take place just after Christmas. Proposed: 10th January.

Players getting involved in a positive way with the background to the campaign will be rewarded. Players just in it to win games at all costs and find loopholes in my rules will be ... 'educated'.

Round 1 report.

Ulthuan Faction.

The sky was filled with dragons as all three noble princes were mounted upon the ancient beasts. The air was ionized with flame, magic missiles, magical arrows and shouts of pain. It was the ultimate irony that the two rivals, Myrstr Fibru’lah and Indy fell upon each other. The two dragons knocked their opponents from their mounts. So it was that Prince N’tur T Dragon was declared ruler of the defence force of Ulthuan.

The Old World invaders.

In a pitched battle Dha’zi the Doombull, Skesk the Grey Seer, Count Rudolf the Vampire, Pfattie the clan pfatt warlord, Zalthar Zatherin the Drake and Ranlac the Wight did take to the field in a melee.
The winds of magic blew strong and knowing that the Count was his main magical rival Skesk did enrage his rivals with frenzy, causing them to fall upon the Count, and his many minions, and slay him. The next to be crushed was the Wight Ranlac, followed closely by his slayer, the Doombull Dha’zi. With three remaining it looked like the skaven would take the day. The Drake knocked the seer to the floor and screamed in triumph, only to be vanquished by the Skaven Warlord, who true to his nature, had stayed out of the way. So it is that the skaven lead the old world invaders.

The conspiritors.

In truth the victor of the three way contest was Van Horstmann’s Speculum. This mirror did give the Arch Lector of the Empire, Cardinal Richie Lou, the power to slay the Saurus hero, and with him out of the way the Bretonian, carrying his forces colours, was no match for him. It is the Empire that lead this force, and will choose to either aid the elves or to take what they can of the fabled treasures of Ulthuan.

The invaders from Naggaroth.

The fodder did question the wisdom of letting the Lord Bittersteel of Tears lead them into battle. They did not question long. For despite using Orcy cunning to despatch the Tomb Prince, neither Orc nor Goblin could stand up to the might of a Manticore. As it should be the Dark Elves lead the forces from Naggaroth.

Sound the alarm

Each skirmish force approached the tower, and within its walls there was great shout and cries as warriors fell upon each other. The first to reach the tower were the High Elves. For a brief moment it looked like they might hold the tower long enough to sound the alarm. However, the tide of skaven slaves, ghouls and foul beasts did bring them under. Despite the cutting blows of corsairs and the poisoned jabs of skinks the skaven managed to sound a call to their comrades. The best of the landing sites going to their invasion forces, it will be them who have the advantage as the factions vie for control of the beaches of Ulthuan.

Round 2. We shall fight them on the beaches.

Round 2 games will then be border patrols seeking out a decent staging area. The more games a faction wins, the larger their staging area.

As the winner of the sound the alarm game has picked the best sites, they can set up the terrain on the table. That is the Evil Old World Invaders.

Each faction can ally 2 of their players into a 1000 point force. Each victory in a 1000 point game gives 3 squares of territory in the beach area. Each victory in a 500 point game gives 1 square of territory.

Every faction must complete 4x500 point games and 2x1000 point games to give them a maximum possible 10 squares. Every player must play at least once, and no one can play three more games than a team mate. (So if someone has only played once, no one else from that faction can play four) You can play as many games as you wish, but submitted results must fulfil the above criteria.

These games are to take place over the months of February and March.

Round 2: The story so far.

High Elves. Win 58% Draw 33% Loss 8% Played equivalent 12 games
Naggaroth. Win 43% Draw 29% Loss 29% Played equivalent 7 games
Evil. Win 17% Draw 8% Loss 75% Played equivalent 12 games
Good. Win 44% Draw 11% Loss 44% Played equivalent 9 games

Early indications that taking Ulthuan will be very difficult even at the points value that High Elf players have complained at being 'rubbish'.

Despite winning the advantageous 'Sound the Alarm' the Evil forces have lost three quarters of all their engagements!

Results so far.

1000 points
Grahamn and Gareth draw Chris and Rory 31/1/08
Mike and Adam beat Andy D and Neil 31/1/08

500 points
Andy T beat Rory 24/1/08
Gareth beat Neil 31/1/08
Graham beat Adam 31/1/08
Chris beat Andy D 31/1/08
Mike draw Andy T 31/1/08
Gareth beat Ali 31/1/08
Andy T beat Ali 31/1/08
Tim P beat Rory 31/1/08
Chris beat Adam 31/1/08
Mike beat Gareth 31/1/08
Neil draw Graham 31/1/08
Neil beat Mike 31/1/08
Andy T beat Adam 31/1/08
Andy T beat Phil 31/1/08
Chris beat Tim P 7/2/08
Tim H beat Ali 7/2/08

Round 3: You shall not pass!
As the sounds of border clashes quietens, and the landing zones of the invasion forces become well picketed and patrolled, the High Elves make an orderly withdrawl to prepared positions within the narrow passes that separate the beaches from the provinces.
Unable or unwilling to let other conquering forces gain a foothold on all the passes each faction must commit 2 forces to taking the pass.
In each game two of the invading factions face off each other with 1500 points. These should meet the limits of 1-3 characters (no lords) 2+ core, 0-3 special and 0-1 rare, but can be drawn from any of the armies present in the faction.
The High Elves can have a 1850 point force to defend the pass.
The winner is the army that gets 500 points or more through the pass. The High Elves win if neither attacker completes their mission.
If both invaders complete their goal, then one force can claim victory if they have 50% more forces through the pass than their opponent. Otherwise it is a draw between the invading factions.
The rules for a three way game are based on priority turns. Each force rolls a dice, the highest chooses to go first, second or third. The next highest then makes their choice, and the lowest is left with whatever slot remains. Each force then completes a full turn (move, magic, shoot, close combat) in order.
Magic. The casting force gets a 2 dice pool as normal. Each dispelling force get 1 of the dispel pool, plus whatever they generate. When a spell is cast, each dispelling force decide how many dice they are to use to dispel. The force with the highest dispel have their turn, with destroy scrolls, dispel scrolls etc. outbidding any number of dice. In the event of a tie, a dice off is used to determine who tries to dispel.
The spoils of war: The side that controls the least territory from round 2 must deploy their entire army first. Then the next lowest, finally the side with the most territory deploys last.
The price of failure: If any invading faction lose both of their games, then in round 4 they will play a last stand game or be eliminated from the campaign with players forced to amalgamate into other existing factions. Note that they can get away with a draw and a defeat.

The games:
To be played in any order during March/April.
Andy T’s High( Avelorn Wood) Elves vrs Good vrs Old Evil
Graham’s High Elves vrs Good vrs Naggaroth Evil
Gareth’s High Elves vrs Naggaroth Evil vrs Old Evil

Faction leaders please try and include all your faction when selecting the two forces, the larger factions may wish to split their faction in two to play one game each.

Round 4: The battle of Ulthuan.

The battle lines are drawn up. The factions now deploy vast armies across the plains of inland Ulthuan. Now is the time of heroes, of warriors and great deeds. Now is when Ulthuan will echo with the cries of death, destruction and despair. No quarter shall be asked for. No quarter shall be given. Let battle commence.

This round is fairly simple. The factions each play two 2,000 point pitched battles against each other. You may pair up two armies to make one 2,000 point force, but it must still be legal composition for both individual forces and the combined force, as per normal doubles rules.

Please note that named characters from the first round must be included in your forces were possible. They may change their mounts but not their equipment. If they are killed in battle roll a dice at the end of the game. On a 1 or 2 they are killed and can take no further part in the campaign. Add 1 to the roll if you win the game. Take one away if you lost.

The faction that has the most points through the pass may select an extra rare or special choice.

Round 5: Let this be our final battle.

As the forces of attrition begin to be the real victor, the contingent leaders gather their forces together for a final push. This will decide who wins the titanic struggle, and who will be forgotton in the pages of fickle histories.

For each win in round 4 (you will have played 6 games) you gain 1,000 points. For each draw in round 4 you gain 500 points. This gives you an army of between 0-6,000 points.

The army with the most wins can select a faction to attack. The other two factions fight each other. The winner of each game then fight to determine the fate of Ulthuan. The loser of each fight to determine who can keep their pride intact.

Recovery.
At the end of each game see if your units recover.

If a character is killed make a roll as in the last round. If he recovers he can play in the next game with 1W.
If a unit is destroyed it may not play in further games.
If a unit is reduced to below half strength it starts the next game at half strength.
If a unit is at half strength or above, it can play in further games starting at full strength.
If a unit flees the battle it can return at half strength.
If a character flees the battle he can return for the next game, but units see him/her/it as a coward and can not use their leadership.

Round 6: The fate of Ulthuan.

What little remains of each faction see if they can drive the High Elves from their homeland. Can the High Elves hold out, can they gain aid from the other goodly races? Will the evil forces unite?

Using whatever is left of your army from round 5 fight a four way mega battle.

The High Elves may have a castle to deploy in.

This concludes the WFB Campaign for 2008. I hope you have enjoyed playing in it. Have a nice day.