In this post I will explain the setting of our campaign in the Warhammer World, the first game we played for Wolf of Vengeance WFB campaign and the rules we created to run this series of battles.
CAMPAIGN SETTING
A nation in flames
Our campaign takes place in a timeline set after the Path of the Damned campaign for WFRP2, so briefly after the forces of Archaon were destroyed at the gates of Middenheim. In our old WFRP game, our PCs went from Middenheim to Altdorf, then to Nuln, as per the official campaign. But in Nuln, something terrible happened: a revolt started, killing the Countess and spreading flames of rebellion throughout the Empire. Our PCs fled to Albion, were their destiny awaited for them, and some time passed, a couple of years in-game time. Then, with a dark stratagem, the forces of Evil killed the Emperor Karl Franz himself during a summit with his trusted generals, by the hand of the Duke of Parravon, a young Bretonnian noble mysteriously came back from the dead.
The war went over, and the Empire was fractured into autonomous provinces where the Elector Counts dominated as kings. Only the Nordland and the Middenland remained loyal to the new Emperor, Karl Joseph, Karl Franz's cousin. And ten years after the former emperor's tragical death, the Empire is still divided. King Louen Leoncoeur of Bretonnia is kept prisoner by the Duke Regent of Parravon, and anyone knows his fate: even Bretonnia is at war.
A new Hero comes to town
Rhobar, Grimbeorn's character, is a young officer from Middenheim, who fought during the Civil War side by side with loyalist forces. He doesn't remember a lot of the Storm of Chaos and the united Empire, but he trusts the Emperor, Sigmar and Ulric with all his proud heart. At the start of our campaign, Rhobar follows his mentor and superior officer, an old wolf called Heinderich, to Altdorf, to attend the grand ceremony for the tenth anniversary of Karl Franz's assassination.
That night, among all the nobles and the generals of the New Empire, three knights reveal themselves as traitors, kidnap the Emperor and steal Ghal Maraz, the legendary hammer Sigmar himself wielded. Heinderich and Rhobar fight for their lives in the streets of the capitol city to reach the North Gate and return safe to Middenheim, but the traitor knights appear at the end of the road, clearly waiting for them. The struggle is hard, and the three knights, called by the beast represented on their elms, the Ox, the Raven and the Phoenix, are invincible. Heinderich tells to Rhobar to flee, to go to the city of Ubersereik in the South, and search for a Dwarf named Durak, and to give to him his medallion. Then, Rhobar sees his mentor charging for the last time with his men, being slain by the three traitors.
The young officer, trying to hold back the tears, runs through the city and looks at the medallion: it represents a mountain with a great door in the center. Rhobar manages to escape Altdorf and reaches the city of Ubersreik with a couple of faithful warriors. They found Durak, who sees the medallion and brings the Imperial men to the barracks of a secret organization, the Brotherhood of the Stone Portal, a group of Dwarves and Men who swore to protect the sacred alliance between their races from the times of Sigmar himself. They're worried to know that Sigmar's hammer is gone, so they charge Rhobar to find Ghal Maraz: they will support and guide him. The first thing to do is to reach the Grey Mountains, near Ubersreik, and find a man who knows the secret behind the civil war, who hid himself ten years before from the eyes of the world: he's the only one who can steer Rhobar on the right path.
CAMPAIGN RULES
After Game Zero, Grimbeorn and I played other 21 games in different systems, from regular WF battles to Warbands, like this one, or Skirmish (using the rules for 6th edition). After that we planned an epic and massive final battle.
The campaign scheme occurred to me after playing Blizzard's Starcfrat II, a great videogame in which the single player campaign works with some battles you can choose from, and every game allows you to add some new kind of troops to your army. I wanted to do something similar. In Starcraft there are three races, and each campaign focuses on one of them, but there are some games in which you can play one of the other races too, and I wanted that too for Wolf of Vengeance, so I imagined Grimbeorn deploying not only his Empire Men, but also different Warhammer armies.
The advancing scheme is divided into three paths, each of them deepens into different aspects of our story. Grimbeorn must complete the three paths to reach the final battle and win the campaign. He can freely choose which game to play, because every path is independent from the others, but playing some games will allow him to field a particular kind of unit from then on, so he must choose wisely. This structure permits us to play different games depending also on the amount of time we have that particular day: we just need to provide the army lists for the different battles.
So, after Game Zero, this would be the advancing scheme:
Every game has a little briefing and a brief backstory. After winning a game, Grimbeorn will reveal the following one. If Grimbeorn loses a battle, he can play it again with the same army list, so he can try another tactical approach. If Rhobar dies in battle, but the battle is won, the character will roll on the Character Injury Chart from Mordheim: so it's possible that he can reach the final battle without some pieces, like an eye or a leg. A true hero of the Empire!
The games will touch a lot of themes and plots connected to our old WFRP campaign, so there will be some inside references which may not be immediately recognizable by people who aren't me or Grimbeorn (or Frontlineminiaturist, who played the WFRP campaign with us. He stopped playing WFB some years ago, but still have his Lizardmen, and we hope he'll sober up at some point). This campaign was born mostly as a solution of that unfinished story, and as a memory for us of old times of playing. However, we tried to smooth out this aspects to create an enjoyable Warhammer story, full of traitors, battles and magic. We want it to inspire, maybe, other players to do the same, but above all we want to write something really engaging to read and narrate. Hope you like it!
GAME ZERO
Heglestein
June 25, 2020
Briefing
You, Rhobar, reach an isolated house in the mountains, and find a man name Konrad Heglestein: he was waiting for you. He's 60-year-old warrior, retired from the battlefield ten years ago. He tells you that he and your mentor Heinderich were pirates in their youth, in the pirate island of Sartosa, and Heinderich himself told him that someday someone would come and look for him.
Before he can tell you what you need to know, the men from outside raise the alarm: there are some armed enemies at the doors. Heglestein and you recognize the men: is a combined force of Bretonnians Knights from Parravon and Mercenaries from Marienburg, two of the rebel states which fought against the Empire during the civil war. They're clearly here to kill you: they shall not prevail.
***
After the briefing, we start our first game! We like a lot the rules for Warbands for the 6th and 7th edition of WFB, which allow you to deploy little forces from 100 to 500 pts, so we used it for this game. This is a narrative campaign so, although we always start at the same amount of points, the lists often exceed the total for different narrative reasons: this is not a problem, since during the game a lot of things balanced themselves due to the narrative playing. For example, during every Warbands game Rhobar himself doesn't count in the total amount.
Empire vs Bretonnia + Dogs of War. Warbands, 400 pts
The armies
The good ones
Empire Warband - 400 pts
- Rhobar, Empire Captain w. Warhorse, Lance, shield and Pistol [free]
- Konrad Heglestein, Empire General w. Light armour e Blue Capes' Pistol (special weapon of Nuln Secret Police, range 18") [100 pts]
- 6 Spearmen [30 pts]
- 6 Halberdiers [36 pts]
- 6 Huntsmen [48 pts]
- 5 Handgunners [45 pts]
- 10 Crossbowmen [90 pts]
- 10 Free Company [60 pts]
The bad ones
Bretonnia Warband - 200 pts
- 6 Knights of the Realm w. Gallant (General) [144 pts]
- 6 Men-at-arms [30 pts]
- 4 Peasant Bowmen [24 pts]
Dogs of War Warband - 250 pts
- Mercenary Captain (General) [50 pts]
- 12 Pikemen [120 pts]
- 8 Duellists [40 pts]
- 5 Crossbowmen [40 pts]
The game
 |
| The Bretonnian and the Mercenaries want to penetrate the wall and kill Konrad Heglestein, while Rhobar's men set up to defend the barricades. The Huntsmen are deployed as Scouts |
 |
| The bad ones |
 |
| The good ones |
The story
After a cruel battle, the good ones win! But the Mercenary Captain manages to kill Heglestein in close combat and fulfill his mission before being killed in turn by Rhobar.
On his deathbed, Heglestein tells Rhobar what Heinderich wanted him to know: "There was a plot behind the civil war. Four Imperial nobles, who called themselves The Oligarchs, arranged everything with a plan started in the shadows more than twenty years ago. Everything was set, even Bretonnia and the rebellion of Parravon. You must find the Oligarchs to find out what's happened to Ghal Maraz. I can tell you their names, because in the past I was their best agent. They're Albrecht Öldenhaller from Nuln, the noble who created the rebellion that started it all, Maximilian Tarn from Marienburg, the one that payed for the mercenary armies which assaulted the Empire twelve years ago, the Lady of Lubrecht, a mysterious and powerful woman from a north province of the land, and last Joseph Stalzer... the actual Emperor Karl Joseph".
Heglestein coughs some blood: he's running out of time.
"The Lady was killed by some Adventurers ten years ago, and the entire plan fell after her death. But the other three Oligarchs are still alive, and you must start from them. Your task is greater than you can imagine. Remember Rhobar: dark forces plot against the Empire, and you'll need allies. Find King Louen and free Bretonnia: the final war against the Enemy needs every man on the battlefield. One last thing: I gave you this - the man gives Rhobar a key -, it was given to me by a Halfling named Hugo, years ago. Find his home in the Moot and seek for what's enshrined inside. Keep my pistol: you'll find it useful".
With this last words, Heglestein dies in the snow of the Grey Mountains. Rhobar returns to Uberseik, thinking about his destiny, and what Heinderich wanted from him. He just know one thing: he will kill the traitor Emperor and take back the Empire. With a brief prayer to Ulric, the young officer takes a sacred oath: his mentor and his nation will be avenged.
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