A sadly familiar tale to the peasants and citizens of the Empire. From the mists of the grey mountains descended an orc tribe led by Warboss Gotrag, ravaging the farmland. In the sea of Claws, a fleet of sleek chaos raiders evaded Imperial navy patrols and pierced far down the mighty Reik into the heart of the Empire. Suddenly, even deep in the province of Reikland, far from the chaos wastes and goblin tunnels, fire and destruction spread through the land. War respects no borders, and the future is uncertain and the end is always near.
But while the everyday volk of the Empire suffer and flee (if they are lucky), the Elector counts in their great castles send ravens coordinating the defense. Reiks-kaptain Unter is put in charge of the defense of the province. By coincidence, a questing force of Brettonian Knights, drawn by a vision of the grail in the World’s edge mountains, happen to cross down out of the Axe Bite Pass, behind the orc horde.
Seeing enemy forces gather, Gotrag approached the pustulent warlord Belsnick with a proposition- enough raiding and grabbing sheep, now is the time for a decisive strike. Seizing a city would break the back of the defenders and open up untold plunder. Pitiful villages like Lydenhoven were not worth the blood, their forces should encircle and take the mighty city of Bogenhafen…
The Campaign
Over the last couple weeks at the clubhouse we’ve been having fun with a blast from the past, a short campaign system which represents the envelopment, siege, and final assault on a fantasy town in the Empire. Some of you may remember these rules from 6th edition WHFB. The rules are build on regular battles but also Warhammer Skirmish, which was a brilliant adaptation of the Mordheim rules back to the standard WHFB setting to enable you to play a host of scenarios. There was also the General’s Compendium, which added a ton of great ideas for campaigns of different sorts (maps, ladders etc.) along with many special rules for sieges, boats, and so forth. It was really a tremendous tome. We also used the Ravening Hordes book for a quick and easy army list for each faction (the army books would of course work too).
The main contribution I made was updating this system to work with 6th edition Skirmish and Warmaster Revolutions. I’m really into this and I hope you’ll find it a great mix of epic battles and zoomed in action.
The folks at GW took these rules and pulled them together into a mini-siege system, which I believe was first published on the GW website as a series of linked scenarios. I’ve been trying to figure out of they were actually published in WD for not, I can’t recall. If someone knows, let me know!
And one of the major bonuses was that we could just cobble this together from our club collections and terrain- we could just pull stuff off the shelf for each battle, which was amazing! If you have a generic set of fantasy terrain and a couple armies between your group you should be able to pull this off too!
The Rules
First off, we plan to clean up the rules after our playtest and post here in the near future. This campaign works well for a 1v1 or for a small group (we did a 2v2). One team is the besieger and the other is the besieged forces.
In our campaign, the besiegers are an uneasy alliance of chaos warriors and orcs and goblins led by the Orc Warboss Gotrag and Chaos Champion Belsnick. Myself and the mysterious Broheim himself (sending commands via carrier pigeons from a top secret command bunker) took control of the evil forces.
The imperial garrison was rallied under Reiks-kaptain Unter, aiming to hold the city of Bogenhafen. Outside the walls, the questing brettonian knights of Duke L’aurnge closed with the city, putting pressure on the besiegers. These forces are led by the mighty @anger_worm and @drauger._
To represent the desperate back and forth of siege and counter-siege operations, the generals alternate turns, with the besieger selecting from a list of actions then the besieged player taking one (again, we’ll write this up formally sometime soon).
Besieger Actions
- Forlorn Hope (First Turn Only). The speed of the besiegers’ advance takes the defenders of the fortress by surprise as they try to destroy the defenders outside the wall.
- Bombardment. You may elect to bombard the enemy’s fortifications with your heavy siege artillery to bring down the walls before assaulting the fortress.
- Undermine. If you wish, you may decide to undermine the walls. This is a dangerous and risky affair. However, if you are victorious, you can bring down an entire section of wall!
- Starve out. The weakest part of any fortress is the belly of the man inside. If you wish to bide your time before attempting to assault the fortress and deny the besieged force its supplies.
- Test the Defenses. If you wish, you may throw a part of your forces against the fortress gate in an attempt to destroy it.
- Infiltrate. You may elect to send spies and infiltrators into the enemy fortress to destroy their supplies and storage rooms.
- Construct Siege Equipment. You can elect to construct more siege equipment in preparation for the inevitable assault.
- Final Assault. You may assault the fortress after at least 2 complete siege turns have been played.
Besieged Actions
- Send for Help! If you did not already play this scenario, you may decide to send a message for help to summon your allies to lift the siege. To do so, a messenger must break through enemy lines.
- Counter-Bombardment. You may choose to open fire with the guns on the fortress towers and walls or use your archers to rain steel-fanged death upon your enemies. Choose either bow fire or heavy bombardment by war machine.
- Sally out. You may elect to send elite troops out to destroy some vital part of your opponent’s army.
- Bring Reinforcements (You may bring in reinforcements only if the besieged have played and won the Send for Help! scenario) your relief force attempts to break into the city to reinforce the defenders
- Construct Siege Equipment. You can elect to construct more siege equipment in preparation for the inevitable assault.
After the besieger and besieged have both taken an action, roll a D6- on a 7+ the relief forces are closing in on the city and the final assault must begin!
In this post, I’ll run through a brief report of Part 1, where the forces of orcs and chaos envelope and seek to gain access to the city of Bogenhafen. Next time, we will recap our final assault!
The Envelopment Begins
It began with the sheepherders in the hills around Bogenhafen. Famous for its wool, the massive herds were the foundation of a massive trade network. At first, Johann, a young boy of merely 12, thought it was wolves. He heard the howling and leapt up the nearest hills to find his flock. From a tree, he did indeed spy the wolves feasting on his folk, but something else too… small green creatures cackling on the back of their wolves. Suddenly, an arrow thudded into the trunk next to him- he fell back in a panic, rolling to his feet and fleeing down the mountain…
In the city of Bogenhafen, Reiks-captain Unter received news from the refugees fleeing in from the surrounding country. Gathering his commanders, he knew he only had hours to act. The walls were cleared, the gates secured and ammunition brought from the city stores to the walls. The militia was hastily called and armed with rusty halberds as the commanders met to review the defenses. By nightfall, he could begin to see the twinkling of torches in the night. Soon, the city was surrounded in a ring of campfires. He turned to Commander Lothar, “Commander, attend to your regiment- strengthen their resolve. Courage will be the key to outlasting our enemy.” As the commander departed, the captain looked out on the growing sea of twinkling lights. He could now here the chants of the enemy. Reaching for a flask in his pocked, he wished he too could find his courage…
Infiltrate the Warehouses (Turn 1 – Attacker) – Warhammer Skirmish
The grappling hook found purchase on the wall with a soft clink. Sneak-boss Runty hissed at his gits “‘Right lads, up the rope right quick now, and keep yer gobs shut!” Placing a knife in his mouth, he began to climb, followed by the boyz. Unbidden, the memories of Warboss Gotrag came creeping back… “Alight snotty, grab yer sneakiest lads. The boyz are building the towers and rams- get your gits over the wall and set fire to whatever ye find. And don’t you fail now, ye remember what happened to the last sneak-boss…”. Cresting the wall, Runty saw a humie standing guard, staring out over the plains. Snikt went the dagger and with a gasp the soldier collapsed. Grabbing the torches, Runty hissed, “Right lads, now get burning…“
Mr. Broheim and I schemed together as the evil generals and decided we would start with an infiltration mission. 75 points of night goblins snuck into the warehouse district to set fire to the storage rooms. If successful, we would increase the points costs for siege equipment on the defender’s side. @draugr took command of the imperial sentries, who started in a scattered patrol formation and consisted of halberdiers and handgunners.
The Night Goblins piled into one table quarter, seeking to reach the warehouses. The goblins got stuck right in on turns 1-2. They immediately raised the alarm and the imperials poured in!
The best shot the goblins had was the flaming arrows of their bowmen, who aimed at the warehouse and repeatedly missed!
Meanwhile, two halberdiers single-handedly killed 6 goblins. The empire champion also charged up the steps to attack the night goblin archers and prevent them from firing.
The goblins were slowly ground down, until a halberdier speared the last one! The fire arrows failed to ignite anything, and draugr saved the warehouses! The attackers would get nothing from this one.
Corporal Huss pulled his halberd out of the greenskin. This one was bigger than the rest, and had shinier kit. Maybe a boss. Looking around, Huss’ face fell, Albrecht and Gunter lay motionless in pools of blood. Yet are more goblins covered the ground. Yet again the 12th Bogenhafen had stood and done it’s duty. The warehouses were safe, for now. But, Corporal Huss thought, for how much longer…
Send for Help (Turn 1 – Defender) – Warhammer Skirmish
Karnak stood before the blood chalice, drinking deeply in honor of Khorne. Soon, he would bring many sacrifices to the mighty god of war and blood. The orcs were stupid, but useful. And fond of fighting. This siege would bring glory to Khorne. Suddenly, two of the Norscan tribesmen entered the tent. Karnak stood and twirled, his ax separating the head from one of their shoulders. “What do you want”, he growled. The remaining tribesman, trembling, stammered “A… a force has left the city. They are making a break for the hills.” Karnak smiled, which he always did when there was a chance for blood.
@anger_worm broke out his beautiful Empire army, and put together a force with a set of knights lead by a hero (the Priest-Viscount) who would carry the message to the Brettonian reinforcements. Opposing him, I assembled my chaos marauders and warriors, led by the champion Karnak.
I was arrayed along a road, scattered in the woods for some light cover.
On turns 1-2 the Empire pushed forward, and the crossbowmen moved into position. Despite unleashing ferocious volleys, they were only able to knock down a couple of marauders.
I threw forward some of the marauders to tarpit the Empire a bit and break up their lines, but the halberdiers were able to gang up on the foot marauders to take them out. But a lucky charge from a horsemen hit one of the knights, getting a critical and taking him out!
On turns 3-4, the Empire charged in, pushing forward, taking out the marauder screen. I moved up my champion and warriors to engage with their double handed weapons. They were able to charge in and take out the backup messenger, but not the priest-viscount.
On the last two turns, the aspiring champion Karnak was surrounded and knocked down with a lucky critical! The priest-viscount was able to down his opponent and saw a clear path to escape! Galloping ahead, be broke away from the foot warriors and escaped off the board. While the escort force was left behind, the message would be delivered! This would give them the option to bring in reinforcements, and a +1LD to a defender character in the city, as their spirits would be enhanced!
The priest-viscount’s horse galloped down the road, fading into a cloud of dust, leaving the Chaos Warriors behind. Corporal Huss of the 12th Bogenhafen looked at the carnage around him. His halberdiers and the mercenary crossbowman still stood their ground, covering the retreat of the brave priest-viscount. Yet again another noble demonstrates their courage, while his troopers pay in blood. But the message would be delivered to the Duke. That would have to be enough. “Troopers, form ranks! Fighting withdrawal, rank by rank. Hanspeter, grab Wilhelm, he can still hobble.” Turning around, he bellowed “Crossbowmen, FIRE!” As bolts whizzed overhead into the remaining chaos warriors, Huss could only hope their discipline would hold until they were back in sight of the gates.
Test the Gates (Turn 2- Attacker) – Warmaster Revolutions
“Forward! These poor souls are in need of papa Nurgle’s blessing! Let us bring it to them.” Aspiring Champion Putrot urged the warriors forward. Waves of infantry with ladders and a mighty ram was rolled into place. Anticipation roiled Putrot- the enemy was unprepared. Only a skeleton force held the gate. A quick assault might smash the gate and bloody these fools…
After the infiltration debacle, team evil decided on a more direct approach. We would launch the forces of chaos at the gate in a lighting strike to try to batter down the gate! Draugr took command of the imperial defenders, with a mere 500 points of crossbowmen and cannons.
The forces of chaos brought many ladders but only one battering ram. The warriors and trolls pushed to the wall as fast as possible, taking fire from the cannons and crossbows which slowed them down.
As the warrior hit the wall, we realized how tough it was to take a wall with ladders only. Needing 6s to hit, the warriors bounced off of even crossbowmen! While they reformed to attack again, the main block of warriors rolled the ram to the gate.
Suddenly, drums and trumpets sounded and the gate opened! A lone regiment, the 10th Bogenhafen, marched forth to engage the warriors! They charged in, taking heavy casualties but inflicting just enough to drive back the beset warriors. Since they won the combat, this allowed them to burn the ram! The forces of chaos rallied and charged the 10th regiment, which was slaughtered to a man in front of the gates. But their job was done!
With the ram destroyed and the ladder attacks repulsed, the gate was safe. Draugr had again defended the city!
They were gone, all gone. The 10th was wiped out to a man just outside the gates. All the crossbow fire in the world couldn’t save them. Corporal Huss slumped against the wall. The gate had held, but at what cost. The 12th had been reassigned there after escorting the Priest-Bishop. A quiet sector they said, a chance to rest and refit. The attack had sprung up like the wind. If the 10th hadn’t sallied forth and burned the ram, all would have been lost. But a few more victories like this, and they would be done.
Bring in Reinforcements (Turn 2- Defender) – Warmaster Revolutions
The Priest-viscount stood at the side of the Duke. “My lord, you must ride with all haste. The defenders cannot hold out much longer. If we can strengthen the defenses, we will have time to bring up the rest of the army.” The Duke aloofly ignored him. He needed no urging. The vision of his quest had led him over the mountains and to this. Surely the lady was guiding his actions. “Lord Penvelture, take the vanguard forward!”
In the next turn, following up on the success of the send for help scenario, the defenders elected to do the bring in reinforcements action. This triggered a battle where the brettonians tried to break through to the city gate. For each unit which made it through, 50 points would be added to the defending army, up to a max of 250. 1000 points of chaos warriors would attempt to block 1500 points of knights attempting to break through.
Chaos deployed along a series of siege barricades in between the knights and the city. The armored horsemen surged forward, but an unlucky General blunder ended their turn. Chaos moved into position along the barricades, with knights on the left flank and chariots on the right.
On turns 2-3 the brettonians moved into position, sending a force of knights and squires riding around both the left and the right flank.
In the center, the Chaos knights burst forward, driving back the brettonians. On the right flank, the chaos chariots did the same. Both pushed back the enemy cavalry.
In the center the brettonian knights were forced to counter-charge along with the foot knights. Although they pushed back the forces of chaos they did not achieve a decisive breakthrough. On the right flank, Chaos counterattacked and the chariots defeated the enemy cavalry.
But on the left flank, rather than engaging, the squires snuck past the chaos lines and made it into the city on turn 5!
With one turn to go, Chaos attempted to pin down some of the enemies, but failed two critical command rolls to charge!
Then in a fit of inspired leadership, the brettonians ordered their men forward. A brigade of two units passed two command rolls to join their friends in the city. Another unit was ordered forward by a hero, again passing two command checks and making it in the city. Finally, the general ordered the last free unit of squires forward needing to pass three command rolls to move them into the city. And with a final command roll of ‘3’, that unit joined the others in their breakthrough!
While chaos had done well on the field, draugr’s fine generalship was able to take the day and bring 250 points of reinforcements into the city!
The cheers went up from the city, enraging the warlord Karnak. The cowards had skirted his ax and broken through to the gate. No matter, he would have their skulls all in time. He turned to the foot knights and archers who remained outside the wall. Hefting his ax, he hurled forward at a dead sprint towards the gleaming foot knights.
Undermine (Turn 3- Attacker) – Warhammer Skirmish
Newly promoted Sneak-boss Shady deftly dodged a punch from the Black Orc Boss. “Right now, keep digging, idiots.” Shovels and picks rang against the rock. The wall was right above them. They had tunneled into some long-forgotten caverns beneath the humie walls. A handful more feet and they would collapse the wall. Suddenly, an explosion rang out and a side of the cavern collapsed. Empire warriors poured through, halberds glinting in the dark. “Finish da tunnel” growled the Black Orc. “I’ve got werk to do.”
Mr. Broheim and I surveyed the destruction. Things were not going well for the forces of evil. We needed a big swing. So we called out our ringer, @no_clear_coat to undermine the city. His night goblins would dig a tunnel under the wall, then collapse the mine and the wall with it!
But anger_worm’s empire forces caught on to the tunneling operation and started a counter-mine. In the dark caverns beneath the city, the counter-mine broke through and bloodshed began in the deep!
No_clear_coat had a swarm of night goblins with squigs, led by a Black Orc Big Boss. Anger_worm had an empire hero and a mess of halberdiers and swordsmen. Movement and shooting were limited in the tunnel, so this would be a brawl!
They started right on top of each other, with the imperial troops seizing the initiative and pushing forward. The squigs waddled forward and engaged them with their teeth, being repeatedly knocked down.
The halberdiers then waded in, dropping several goblins. The boss then unleashed his not-so-secret weapon- a fanatic! The maniac began to swirl forward…. and only when 4″. Still, the imperials would need to avoid him. Next turn, spinning randomly, the maniac hit and pasted an imperial trooper before running into a cave all and going splat!
Things were going very well for the Empire until the cunning goblin commander remembered that squigs have two attacks in this version! With some extra oomph, a few more halberdiers fell. And with the game ending, they counted their losses.
By one single point, no_clear_coat had taken the day! The Empire fell back out of the tunnel as the goblins prepared to collapse it. Yes, this had all gone according to plan.
He had barely scrambled out alive from that sigmar-cursed hole, followed by his bedraggled squad. The tunnel was collapsed behind them, spewing dust and dirt from the entrance. A low rumbling ensued. In horror, he turned around to watch the wall tremble and collapse, the crossbowmen atop the wall being flung into the city. It happened again, the 12th sent into the meatgrinder. It was a memory of darkness, blades, and teeth. He looked at the wound on his arm, a bite that was already starting to fester. Where was the thrice-damned cutter.
Heavy Bombardment (Turn 3- Defender)
The Reiks-kaptain stood on the tower. The curtain wall had collapsed. With his looking-glass, he could see in the far distance the heraldry of the Duke’s army. They were so close. He just needed to hold on a few more hours. He knew the powder stores were desperately low, but he needed to buy time. “Engineer, ready the cannons, concentrate your fire in front of the collapsed wall. Keep it clear until we can erect the barricades…”
Feeling in a very solid position, generals draugr and anger_worm ended their turn with a bombardment. Rolling 6D6, any roll of 6 would take 25points off the attacking army! They gathered the dice, and rolled… and got nothing! Woohoo!
The Final Assault
And after turn 3, we rolled our D6 to see if we would move on to the final assault, and it came up a 4, reaching the required total!
As the banners of the Brettonians waved in the breeze, they moved into position to relieve the siege. The Imperial troops in the wall readied their crossbows. From the lines of evil, twin cries of “WAAAGHH!” and “BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD” surged over the field. The cannons boomed, the siege towers were wheeled into place, and the siege began!
From our battles, the defenders would have 250 bonus points in the city, and a leadership bonus of +1 for one of their characters. We undermined one wall section, which would start off as destroyed! This is going to be a tough battle…
Next time we’ll cover the epic final siege- see you then!
-BS