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Post by wilky72 (Paul Wilkinson) on Apr 17, 2016 17:35:58 GMT
Hi all, I've purchased the new 'age of the wolf' campaign book. I'm looking for numbers to who would like to join in? You'll initially need a 4 point army, the rule book, faction dice and battle board. Your army will be taken from the rule book or one of the three supplements northern fury, the Ravens shadow or varjazi and basileus. Your warband may potentially reach 12 points as you attempt to reach the position of 'THE KING' at the end of the campaign. In the campaign rules you can accept alliances with warlords or have a blood feud with others. You can also hire mercenaries pre battle, post battle beaten warlords are not always slain but have an opportunity to recover.
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Post by carl on Apr 18, 2016 7:43:47 GMT
Yarp, i'm in mate
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Post by wilky72 (Paul Wilkinson) on Apr 18, 2016 9:02:39 GMT
Paul Tysoe and Paul Thompson are also interested, so I'll start it in three weeks time if ok.
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Post by carl on Apr 18, 2016 11:08:14 GMT
Nice
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Post by ghengiskickbuttalot on Apr 19, 2016 8:36:38 GMT
Most certainly up for some of this!
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Post by wilky72 (Paul Wilkinson) on Apr 19, 2016 11:10:42 GMT
Ok, time for a deep breath. Here's how the campaign works.
Each warband is led by a warlord. Warlords may be motivated by land (King's Domain), wealth (Dragon's Hoard) or reputation (Skald's Song). Starting warbands begin with 2 points of each resource and may acquire (or lose!) more as the campaign progresses. I think the rules concerning these attributes should have been more explicit in how they affect warband composition. But if I have understood things correctly from the roster sheet at the back of the book: land provides levies, wealth provides warriors and reputation provides hearthguards. A starting 4 point warband selects troops using its available resources, with each resource defining the maximum number of permitted troop type. For example, a warband can start with a maximum of two points of warriors with the remaining two points chosen from either levy or hearthguards. These can of course be split into smaller units. Since during the campaign units of levy can be upgraded into warriors and warriors into hearthguard, this isn't really a constraint. The maximum number of units allowed is 12. The rules state the campaign works for warbands between 4 and 12 points, but since 12 hearthguard cost 3 points a Bróðir of Man warband could potentially include 36 points of hearthguard (this would need a lot of reputation points and is a bit extreme...)
Warlord generation looks to be a lot of fun. Once their motivation has been established, warlords are randomly assigned two traits. Traits are quite varied and range from Hard Ruler to Quarrelsome. Traits give warlords unique characteristics that can be important in the campaign.
Warlords also have an additional special rule to supplement their standard Resistance, Determination, We Obey etc. Special rules are also randomly determined and appear to borrow heavily from the rules given to existing Heroes of the Viking Age (eg. 'Bravery' allows the first point of fatigue to be ignored - just like Harold Godwinson). Specific Heroes of the Viking Age such as Harold are also allowed. A table provides guidance on their inclusion and describes their preset motivations and traits.
The campaign can include two or more warbands, but the author recommends 4 to 6 as being a good size.
Campaigns are split into seasons. The rules recommend six seasons, but any number could be played. At the beginning of each campaign season, warlords decide whether they will Raid (acquire wealth), Campaign (acquire land) or Defend (acquire reputation). If raiding or campaigning, players also select who they will target. This is now where things get interesting and demonstrates the depth of thought that has gone into the system. By cross referencing each players campaign actions on a table different scenarios are generated, with battles broken down into raids, invasions, encounters, ambushes or pitched battles - each of which include three specific scenarios.
For example if Mighty Kyle's Norse Gael decided to raid my defending Anglo Danes then the table reveals that a Raid Scenario will be played. Raid scenarios are randomly chosen from The Escort, Harry and Burn (a new scenario detailed in AoW) or Sacred Ground. Note that the scenarios are weighted, so The Escort is selected with a d6 roll of 1 - 3, while Sacred Ground would require a d6 roll of 6.
During each campaign season, warlords can also strike alliances with other warlords adding extra spice to the mix.
After each battle there will be winners and losers - and possibly dead warlords... But this is all covered by two warlord casualty tables. Basically, if you win the battle but your warlord is 'killed', then in reality he/she probably only received a wound and can continue in the campaign. A losing warlord could be killed outright (or captured). If a warlord is killed they can be replaced, perhaps by a son who starts with the Blood Feud trait against the warband that slew his father! The rules don't actually state what to do if there is a draw. I suggest players should both use the losing warband table. That should encourage players to play for a win!
Dead levy, warriors and hearthguard are dealt with a little differently. For every four men killed, only one is actually permanently removed from the warband roster. Hearthguards benefit from a resilience rule meaning the first model removed from the battle is ignored. So to permanently kill a hearthguard, the warband would have had to lose at least 2 figures in the actual played game.
Victors are awarded extra land, wealth or reputation depending on whether they campaigned, raided or defended. The winner also receives a campaign point. Needless to say, campaign points help to determine the overall winner at the end of the campaign. But beware! More powerful warlords can gain campaign points just for realising their motivations, even if they lose a battle.
A lot going on? You bet! And there is more!!
At the end of each battle, warbands can recruit fresh troops (for free). Recruited troops must be added to existing units and no unit can include more than 12 figures (standard SAGA rules). So some thought needs to be given to the initial warband composition. Powerful warlords may at this point purchase a war banner. This is added to either a unit of warriors or hearthguard and follows the standard rules for banners. Warbands may only field a single war banner.
Warlords then roll on a fate table. Low scores could result in famine (loss of land), whilst higher scores could result in reinforcements added to existing units or forming new units. Interestingly, a favourable fate roll may allow a unit of levy to be upgraded to warriors or a unit of warriors upgraded to hearthguard. The fate table may also result in acquisition of land, wealth or reputation.
If a wealthy warlord needs more land (perhaps to help satisfy his motivation), then he can spend 2 wealth points to purchase 1 point of land.
A warband may find itself attacked by a more powerful rival. In this situation the attacking player can dictate the points being played - yikes! But all is not lost. The weaker warband can hire mercenaries (including the previously mentioned Jomsvikings) to pad out his force. Fortunately standard mercenaries cost only 1 point of wealth, no matter how many are required. But you only get standard foot warriors. Of course, mercenaries only stick around for the game they were hired to fight in. At the end of the battle they slink off from whence they came and so aren't added to any rosters.
There are even rules to cover situations where players are unable to meet up to play a game and so hold up the campaign. Danegeld may need to be paid by the player who isn't pulling their weight and the attacker takes 1 point of either land, wealth or reputation from his snivelling victim. Harsh!
The supplement includes five new scenarios that look like they will be fun to play even outside of the campaign setting. These include Forest Road Ambush, Harry & Burn, The Burgh, Scouts and The Hazel Wands.
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Post by wilky72 (Paul Wilkinson) on Apr 19, 2016 11:17:21 GMT
The campaign will be set in the west as I presume the majority of players have western armies so unfortunately no Byzantines, steppe nomads, era of the princes rus or pagan rus will be permitted.
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Post by wilky72 (Paul Wilkinson) on Apr 24, 2016 15:18:50 GMT
A sign up sheet will be on the pinboard at the club for a few weeks as of Tuesday 26th April.
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Post by carl on May 6, 2016 6:13:22 GMT
First game on Tuesday saw my Anglo-Danish take on and narrowly defeat Dave's Welsh.
Dave was defending in a raid scenario.
Managed to earn a free unit of levies for the campaign.
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Post by Chilliman(Ryan) on May 8, 2016 10:16:05 GMT
If we are continuing from last weeks game then I got myself a choice of whatever I fancy as I rolled a double 6 (witnessed by Paul!!). However, I thought that was just a practice game. I am more than happy to take a new unit of d6 hearth guard or 2d6 Warriors!!
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Post by Graham Sargeant on May 9, 2016 12:30:01 GMT
So after my visit last week I'm down tomorrow night with my Anglo Saxons and would like to get stuck into the campaign....... Will I be alright to get a game in? And can you help me sort whatever I need to do for the campaign records etc???
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Post by Chilliman(Ryan) on May 9, 2016 17:46:48 GMT
I would guess see what happens, otherwise I can always give you a game. Anglo Saxons in fighting each other.
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Post by Graham Sargeant on May 9, 2016 19:47:16 GMT
I would guess see what happens, otherwise I can always give you a game. Anglo Saxons in fighting each other. Coolio, Feels very thematic.....although Alfred the great may be a bit peeved! Lol See you there tomorrow and see what occurs
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Post by wilky72 (Paul Wilkinson) on May 9, 2016 20:11:10 GMT
Everyone is going to start from scratch, Graham if you raid or campaign against someone tomorrow you should get a game. If you wish to defend then it will take someone to raid or campaign against you for you to play. I've asked everyone to bring their warband to be prepared to play. Carl and Dave have unfortunately played their first game. So it'll only be them not playing unless they are the target of someone. Dave did throw down the gauntlet and say whomever chooses to play against him will be very foolish to do so. I have a copy of the campaign rules for everyone to take away with them.
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Post by Graham Sargeant on May 10, 2016 8:45:04 GMT
Thanks...see you soon
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