Serene Annihilation

Greetings!  I have started this thread to chronicle the ongoing exploits of my gaming group as we plunge through the nightmare-ravaged corridors of Mordheim to emerge, and ascend, to the Palace of Dreams.



The below is cross-posted from my blog, The Fox & Goat.

EDIT: Apparently, I cannot post links here for the first seven days. The URL for my blog is foxandgoat (dot) blogspot (dot) com

Deep within the tangled heart of a black forest a Beastman Chieftain has visions sent by no Chaos god.  Atop the wild domed hills of Averland, a mercenary Captain's sleep remains fitful.  Along the lonesome roads of the back-country, a carnival master dares not look into his crystal ball for fear of what he might behold again.  In the shadow of Sigmar's Cathedral, a witch hunter clutches his hammer sigil but finds it will not banish the endless whispers.

All four diverse individuals have been having the same dreams: go to the city of the damned.  Journey to Mordheim.

At times, they glimpse a five-pointed star - or perhaps it is an eye?  Each point set with a lock.  Each lock, bereft of a key.  Something waits beyond the portal.  Something rears up into the eternal midnight of Mordheim's sky.  A blacker black than the night.  A spire reaching into dismal eternities:  the Palace of Dreams.

All four gather their followers and head for the city.  But once inside, they find that the nightmare has swallowed them whole: no matter which way they turn, no matter what alley they head down, no matter what hill outside the city they crest - they always find themselves back in Mordheim.  Back in the City of the Damned.  The Great Beast has devoured them.  It seems that the dreams are the key - but will they ever solve their enigma and escape?

Worse, the clock is ticking.  Halloween is coming.  And, somewhere, far beyond the city - a young man named Magnus is gathering his followers...

The Serene Annihilation Campaign focuses on four players, playing the following warbands: Averlanders, Beastmen, Carnival of Chaos and Witch Hunters.  I play the Witch Hunters, but also GM the campaign.  This is a sort of "mixed" role where despite participating in the campaign, I also run it.  In order to keep things fair, I am not allowed to make any of the major campaign choices and am excluded from participating in most of the special scenarios.  The upshoot of this is that I get to play as all the "boss monsters" and other nastiness that arise.

The campaign is played as a normal Mordheim campaign, but after a set number of games, special "story events" will occur.  There is no real "winner" for this campaign - only a goal which all players share: to escape the city.  In order to do this, five "boss monsters" must be faced and defeated.

The campaign goes in sequence from player to player.  The player whose campaign turn it is can choose to challenge another player, to play a multi-player game or to challenge the current boss monster (if available).

As each boss monster is defeated, the players will travel deeper into the city, deeper into the story, and deeper into the labyrinth of nightmares.  The dreams will get more intense and, as they draw closer, they will begin to intrude upon reality.

Along the way, the players will combat various antagonists (not all who are what they seem...), fight each other, form alliances, break alliances and learn more of the horrible truth behind the Palace of Dreams.

I will break all the rules in the name of fun for this campaign.  Expect the unexpected.

This sounds like a very interesting campaign

I am looking forward to your updates.

VK

Since I don't have any restrictions on posting links, here you go:

http://foxandgoat.blogspot.com/

The blog & the campaign look SPLENDID!  

Hello all!  First update is here!  Say "hello" to the Witch Hunters!



Led by the cruel, merciless Witch Hunter Captain Increase Mathers, the Witch Hunters have proven a force to be reckoned with.  Here is the starting list:

HEROES
====================
Witch Hunter Captain: Increase Mathers
Pistol, Sword (75 GC)

Warrior Priest: Jasper St. Claire
Sword, Hammer, Heavy Armor, Helmet (113 GC)
Prayer: Armor of Righteousness

Witch Hunter: Prudence
Crossbow, Hammer (53 GC)

Witch Hunter: The Hoodsman
Crossbow, Mace (53 GC)

Witch Hunter: Brother Thelonius
Two-Handed Hammer (40 GC)

HENCHMEN
====================
2 x Flagellants w/ Flails (110 GC)
3 x War Monkeys (45 GC)

TOTAL: 499 GC

For more information and pictures, please visit my blog The Fox & Goat!

That is one NASTY looking Band of Old Lady Burner...looks to have a Revenant or two in the mix. You have a SPLENDID mix of BEAUTIFULLY painted & based miniatures. VERY WELL DONE!  

Haha -thanks! I'm rather happy with how they turned out.

Second update here!  The foul Carnival of Chaos!



Led by the overly-jolly Great HooDoo, the Carnival of Chaos is here to bring you away to a world of joy, delight - and Nurgle's Rot.  Here is the starting list:

HEROES
====================
Carnival Master: The Great HooDoo
Pistol, Mace (88 GC)
Spell: Scabrous Hide

Brute: Pinhead
Double-handed Mace (75 GC)

Brute: The Jester
Double-handed Axe (75 GC)

Tainted One: The Fly
Cloud of Flies, Spear, Shield (65 GC)

Tainted One: Uncle Krampus
Bloated Foulness, Mace, Shield (73 GC)

HENCHMEN
====================
Plague Bearer x 2 (100 GC)

Nurgling x 1 (15 GC)

TOTAL: 491 GC

More pictures over at The Fox & Goat!

OUTSTANDING! Those are a WONDERFUL Crew of Evil Doers...BEAUTIFULLY converted, painted, & based. The Lads do deserve some individual photos. Other than that, VERY WELL DONE!  

Great looking warbands! The Carnival is especially creepy.

Love both warbands! Great kitbashing and conversions. Solid paint and basing! Nothing negative to say! Looking forward to seeing more.

DeafNala wrote:

OUTSTANDING! Those are a WONDERFUL Crew of Evil Doers...BEAUTIFULLY converted, painted, & based. The Lads do deserve some individual photos.

More photos?  Your wish is my command.

Third update is here!  The Averlander warband!  This one was created by my friend who is playing in the campaign.



Plenty more pictures over at my blog The Fox & Goat!

Here is the starting list:

HEROES
====================
Captain: Mad Jack
Two-Handed Sword, Heavy Armor, Helmet (135 GC)

Sergeant: MacGreggor
Sword, Shield, Helmet (60 GC)

Bergjaeger: Hamish
Long Bow, Dagger (50 GC)

Bergjaeger: Fergus
Long Bow, Dagger (50 GC)

Youngblood: Dingwall
Sword, Dagger (25 GC)

HENCHMEN
====================
2 x Mountainguard w/ Sword, Shield (90 GC)
1 x Mountainguard w/ Two-Handed Sword (45 GC)
1 x Mountainguard w/ Two-Handed Axe (45 GC)

TOTAL: 500 GC

Thanks for the additional photos/link. I wanted to get a better view of the Carnival Master...AND VERY COOL he is. GREAT WORK!  

Hello!  If anyone is interested, I thought I would share the house rules and additional rules we used for this campaign.  PDF available HERE.

The new Guy looks TERRIFIC. I would suggest doing the seals in a different color than the Lantern light effect. Other than that GOOD WORK!  

I'm sure the Folks actively playing The Game will be interested in your House Rules; you might want to post the link in the Rule Section as well.  

The lighting in the first photo and the one above is very theatrical. It really reinforces the theme of the campaign. Nice touch

Campaign results part one!  I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures, I did not take nearly as many as I wanted...  Maybe less beer and rum next time... but probably not.

Cross posted from my blog The Fox & Goat.

FIRST GAME: SURPRISE ATTACK
The first game was between John's Carnival of Chaos and Wallace's Averlanders.  The Carnival was searching the ruins and they were attacked by the Averlanders.  The Carnival started with The Jester, Pinhead and two Plague Bearers on the table - all other warriors were in reserve.  The Averlanders entered and immediately shot dead the Jester!  We all thought this would be a short game - until...  Pinhead, enraged by the loss of his friend, charged in and pulverized the Averlanders!  Once the Plague Bearers joined in and the reserves showed up - the entire Averlander warband was destroyed!  Post battle, so many Averlanders died (including the Leader and Sergeant) that Wallace decided to restart the warband from scratch.

SUBSEQUENT GAMES
We played several more games thereafter.  The Carnival of Chaos pulled into an early lead.  Pinhead and the Jester gained multiple advances, becoming utter power-houses.  Shortly thereafter, the players had their first encounter with their mysterious adversary...

Too bad about the photos...for those of us that don't get to play, the photos are everything. It looks like it was an interesting game.  

You did promise annihilation...

Ach, the Averlanders, we hardly knew them.

DeafNala wrote:

Too bad about the photos...for those of us that don't get to play, the photos are everything. It looks like it was an interesting game.  

I do apologize for that. I'll have to give an overview of the first part of the campaign. We have another game scheduled this weekend, I will be sure to take lots of pictures and write up a report!

Please welcome our first NPC!

"Old Man" Caleb Schwartzwald is a man tight-lipped about his past. His dress and attire seem to indicate that he is from Nuln, yet his accent is not equally congruous. His weapons are of fine manufacture, but kept in ill repair. There are those who are certain he is a disgraced nobleman, whilst others say he is just a common thief who somehow managed to avoid the noose and reach old age. What is certain is that the Old Man is desperately seeking something in Mordheim much more dear to him than wyrdstone: his daughter Hawke.

His stats and more pictures of him are available on my blog HERE.

The Averlanders agreed to aid the Old Man in his search for his daughter. His became quickly apparent... as did the fact that our Mysterious Enemy was interested in him and Hawke...

Updates coming fast and furious!



Our second NPC: Hawke.  She is the long lost daughter of "Old Man" Caleb Schwartzwald.  Whilst Hawke is most likely not her real name, it is what she has chosen to be called since she fled her home.  She is as tight-lipped about her past as her father, but a few facts are known: she is a magic-user - and therefore prosecuted by the Empire.  It can be inferred that after manifesting her powers, that she fled her home and father.  Though the exact reason is still unknown.  It could be that "Old Man" Caleb tried to force her to suppress her talents and that she rebelled; it could be that he tried to turn her over to the Templars of Sigmar; or it could be that she simply desired to learn more about her skills and set off into the wider world.  Whatever the reason, she, like many of her ill-fame ilk, has come to Mordheim.

Her stats and more pictures are HERE on my blog.

The minis are SPLENDID LOOKING creations AND the background enhances their good looks. TERRIFIC WORK!

Hawke is up to no good, hanging out with Carnies, playing with magic, wearing skimpy clothes, every father's nightmare.

Great stuff!