Stockholmian BTB-campaign (NEW PICS 110615)

Ok first off, I'm not good at retelling the happenings of matches, so this will be a fairly laconic rendering. Hopefully I can manage to persuade the others involved (among them you find hamster and mrtn) to contribute to the thread.

For the first meeting, there were three players. I was playing my Beastmen of Ind, my son his Maneaters, and mrtn his beautiful Carnival of Chaos (which you can see here). We started off with the Traces to emprise-scenario, and constructed a decent enough looking isolated village to menace.

I know the pic is dark and blurry, but I was using my mobile, hopefully it's good enough.

The beastmen started at the bottom of the pic, with the maneaters to the right and the carnival to the left. The beastmen had a good start, and took an early lead in information points, but the starting position soon showed some strategic flaws, the others were quickly amassing their own information, and my crossing the boggy river met with difficulties. Meanwhile, the maneaters made good use of their strength, and seemed to have the upper hand.


The carnival had perhaps the worst starting position, but poured forwards in a grotesque manner, brandishing halberds, and pushing their brutes to good torturing/charging positions.


The Maneaters then failed their first routtest, and I made the in retrospect poor decision to back from the action, leaving some henchmen to be taken out of action so that I could rout with the most information, preferrably before the carnival could scrounge the remaining houses for info.


I hoped that the ld7 would be a boon, but managed the test far too many times, and the carnival got good opportunities for torture and the like. The match in the end was won by The carnival.

We rushed through ther postgame sequence (the most dramatic event of which being that my chieftain died - after the first game of the campaign: aaaargh!), wanting to play more. The next scenario was the avalanche. I really like this scenario. The avalanches slow approach, at first just a far away nuisance, but gradually a more imminent threat makes for tough decisions. I almost forgot to take pics during this game, but this one turned out to be good enough for your viewing pleasure (?).

Late in the evening, so taken with flash.

As you can see the carnival got squashed between the beastmen and the ogres, and had genuinely bad tactical options. I hid parts of my warband, waiting for the opportunities I hoped would come as the avalanche rolled towards my table edge. mrtn made the probably wise decision to throw his forces against me. Naturally I falied my first rout test. The ogres the proceded to give the carnival a good beating, and mrtn decided to eventually rout voluntarily.

All in all, a fun start! I'll post some more as soon as there's something to post.

EXCELLENT LOOKING GAME! The minis always look TERRIFIC n Battle Reports...the imagination adds a touch of color to the Beasty. Please do continue to post reports as the campaign progresses; I think you'll find your narratives will get more flowery with each new post.

Thanks a lot for the report, folketsfiende! I am happy to read that you enjoy the scenarios so far. To me it is important that there is a lot of replay value in scenario and that you feel like you learned something from playing them and thus wish to try again and maybe with a different approach. Some scenarios are a bit tricky you might get totally wiped away the first time you play it, but then you start to get the hang of it. Like the Man Hunt scenario, which you really need to play very cautiously because the monsters are unbeatable. There you'll learn how to move, hide behind cover so you're not seen by the monsters, shoot them to make them attack enemy models and stuff like that. Similarly, the Avalanche is pretty touch if you screw up your initial set-up. Also, if you use the weather rules as intended, Marauders and Beastmen are at a huge advantage because they move normally while other warbands are slowed down in this snowy area. Thus it is a strategic option in a campaign to force an unprepared opponent (=a warband with no winter equipment) to play the scenario against you, if you are prepared or a Marauder/Beastman warband.

Sorry for the rambling.... I really look forward to hearing more about your experience and thoughts.

Nice photos and reports! Great to get a look at the scenery and the warbands together. Good to see those barbarian huts painted up and on the table. I looked at those for weeks when they were on sale at the local store and couldn't justify buying them. Naturally I regret it.

Von Kurst wrote:

Nice photos and reports! Good to see those barbarian huts painted up and on the table. I looked at those for weeks when they were on sale at the local store and couldn't justify buying them. Naturally I regret it.

Yes, they're nice, aren't they? mrtn bought them ridiculously cheap some years ago, and painted them very well (as usual). They seem to fit quite well in the setting. We just need to get some more wintery terrain pieces...

This past weekend we played a fourplayer Tainted Copse scenario. As you can see we had loads of forest pieces, which in the beginning made play a bit slow, but we soon found a way to make the rolling for each forest fast and efficient.



The four warbands were my sons maneaters, hamsters merchant caravan,


my beastmen of Ind, and mrtns Carnival of Chaos.


The game was severely confused. Models were teleported across the board constantly buy the the chaotic forests, and it was difficult to pursue a given stratagem. Models were suddenly faced with unexpected terrain, and they all handled it in their own way...


The merchant caravan had trouble moving their wagon (beautifully rendered in 2-d cardboard by hamster - he keeps telling us he's built a wagon for his gang, but noone has ever seen it...), and so generally stayed in their starting corner. This proved to be a viable tactic, since they were the only warband that didn't rout. To top it all Belandysh appeared in their corner, and they managed to take him/it OOA, and now own the broadsword of damnation...


The ogres made short work of the lone models that dared stray to close to them...


...but the mountain guide couldn't handle the merchant caravan alone.


The beastmen of Ind lost quite a few models to a plaguebearer from the Carnival and had to rout early on.



All in all, an interesting game, with substantial losses for everyone but the caravan. The maneaters lost their mountain guide, who died from his wounds, and the carnival lost their carnival master in the same manner.

COOL LOOKING GAME backed up by a FINE REPORT...all in all an excellent way to start the day.

I've been looking at this scenario for inclusion in our current campaign. It sounds like fun. Did you use random events as well? Is that how the sword appeared?

Von Kurst wrote:

I've been looking at this scenario for inclusion in our current campaign. It sounds like fun. Did you use random events as well? Is that how the sword appeared?

Yes, we did! Some wild boars appeared, and a wolf, and Belandysh!

A very nice report.

I like your tabletop underground.

Is it tearproof?

If yes where did you buy it?

SerialMoM wrote:

I like your tabletop underground. Is it tearproof? If yes where did you buy it?

It's the Citadel Battlemat. It's almost tearproof, a high quality product IMO. It has seen many games of Fantasy Battles, 40K, Mordheim etc and is still as new (apart from some red wine and cognac blotches ).

Thanks for the small report, folketsfiende! I found that the game works best with two players (three at the most) because otherwise there's too much rolling and rearranging going on.

Thanks for the info.

Some years ago i bought a similar paper based one in a model train shop.

This one was damaged very fast.

The price is ok also.

Maybe i will test the GW product.

Nice report!

Is there any chance of close ups of the merchant caravan? THe models look pretty interesting.

Eliazar wrote:

Nice report!

Is there any chance of close ups of the merchant caravan? THe models look pretty interesting.

I'll see if hamster can be convinced to post some pics. Otherwise I'll take some myself next time...

Four more games played, but, alas, no pictures. The Marienburger mercenaries and the merchant caravan clashed two times, and won one each, and in two matches between the maneaters, the beastmen of Ind (henceforth known as Pratityasamutpada) and the merchant caravan, Pratityasamutpada took two victories. The merchant caravan leads in campaign points, but have played more than the others, so we'll see if it evens out eventually.

I bought the mat yesterday and it is really awesome.

Then i googled for an desert map and found one.

It was recommended by an warseer thread.

I also ordered this mat and hope that it will be nearly as good as the GW one.

I am waiting for more reports with pictures.

SerialMoM wrote:

II also ordered this mat and hope that it will be nearly as good as the GW one.

I am waiting for more reports with pictures.

Good luck with those mats! There'll be more reports, but right now I'm in Italy for a week, taking pictures of monasteries and such, and the other guys are even less keen photographers than me... if they're even playing.

Hey Folketsfiende, we should get together one day, I live in Stockholm as well, and we have a small but closely knit gaming group, we meet regularely both for gaming and painting. I would love to get back in to the game with a run or two on your new terrain!

PM me if you like

Hi folketsfiende i just realized that you have a vety nice river in yourfirst report.

Is it from ESLO?

If not can you tell me where you got it?

Thanks again

SerialMoM wrote:

Hi folketsfiende i just realized that you have a vety nice river in yourfirst report.

Is it from ESLO?

It is indeed from Eslo! I've got three parts, and there are loads more (bends and such). they also have a smaller, narrower version, which I guess is of the same quality.

Loads of playing this past weekend! All five participants (Maneaters (The mean big eating machines), Beastmen of Ind (Pratityasamutpada), Carnival of Chaos (The lousy players of Li-pen), The merchant caravan, and the Marienburger mercenaries) in the campaign met for gaming and pizza. We decided to play on two tables, with three on a bigger one, and two on a smaller one.

The first game on the bigger table was wyrdhunting, with The mean big eating machines, Pratityasamutpada and the caravan.


The eating machines found a nice spot for their halfling scout:


The merchant caravan hid away far from the action, hoping that Pratityasamutpada and the machines would clash first - a vain hope as long as they've got the Broadsword of Damnation tucked away in their wagon...


A close up of the caravan. Hopefully hamster will post some real pics soon of his stuff.


Pratityasamutpada found a nice place to begin their hunt for the Broadsword:


The beasties ran fast for the peddling cowards, and made quick work of the unpainted mounted knight vanguard, and a lone blackguard.


They also begun a flanking manouver, but did not make it, since the caravan routed.


In the meantime the maneaters unsuccesfully tried to pick off some isolated beastmen.


Finally the Pratityasamutpada and the eating machines clashed. The beastmen made good use of their numbers, and the ogres routed.


In the game on the smaller table, there was another wyrdhunt going on, between the carnival and the mercenaries.


Sorry about the blurry pics, but here are the warbands:



I forgot to take pics of this game, but the carnival took all the wyrdstone, and then routed.

After those two games, we had pizza, and there was much merriment. For the second round, the mercenaries and the merchants switched tables.

On the bigger one Avalanche! was played. I got to choose scenario this time, and since the other ones still haven't bought winter furs, I wanted to use my far superior movement to my advantage.

The mercenaries set up on a hill, hoping to shoot down all threats. Three crossbowmen, three longbowwielders, and an elf ranger - fearsome indeed! They had no luck though, and the gale made their work harder. They managed to hinder the beastmen movement a bit, but as you can see, no major damage was done.


Meanwhile the ogres were trudging their way towards the hill, well in cover.


Pratityasamutpada quickly surrounded the mercenaries, setting up for a charge. The mercenaries routed after five men were taken out of action.


Here's the avalanche making it's way across the table. In the end Pratityasamutpada managed to take out the last ogre just before the avalanche likely would have swallowed all the remaining beastmen.


In the game on the smaller table the scenario was Traces to emprise. I can't remember who won this match, but there was much brawling.


The carnival is making their way to a house, ever ready for administering a free round of torture.


...but the caravan was not far behind.


Of course the clash was inevitable. One cannot help but wonder what the heavenly wise one thought about all this commotion.


All in all, the campaign is well on it's way. The merchant caravan and Pratityasamutpada are leaders in campaign points, and have developed some distinct strengths. Due to some recent losses, I would say that the beastmen are in the lead, but this will surely change - and they have got to get that sword out of the hands of the merchant! The lousy players of Li-Pen are sneaking behind, slowly building their strength, trying to acquire unspeakable poisons and diseases. The mean big eating machines suffered a major loss when their esteemed leader Kong-Fu died, and probably will have to play more defensively for a couple of games - but at least they will get some underdog bonus the next few games. The mercenaries have played the least, but their ranged power is already frightening. More games to come!

Heavenly Wise One: "There goes the #@!!$ Neighborhood."
Cool looking game...LOVE THE PHOTOS!

Nice report... and I still want pics of the caravan