Happy Tuesday! Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to Tanuki Tabletop this past Saturday. We were able to get 5 different games in and first chance to meet many of the participants in the campaign. Special thanks to Stephen and Dro who took the time assisting Alex in his first two games of Age of Sigmar. I really appreciate everyone embracing the spirit of welcoming and learning together in the first month of this escalation style campaign. New players to Age of Sigmar are welcome to join and get involved.
First in action, the Solemn Saviours claimed victory over the Celebrants Insatiable. Meanwhile, in their first foray into the Ravaged Coast, the Whiskers of the Labyrinthium claimed victory against the Cult of the Black Sun. Next, the forces of Destruction emerged, with the Gloomy Looniez burying the Solemn Saviours in a tide of Squigs, while Krule Intentionz pushed the Whiskers back into the Labyrinthium. Finally, the Celebrants Insatiable held back Da Toof Punchas as they couldn’t quite WAAAGH! across the field.
The action continued Monday night, as the Knights of the Ramparts and their dragons proved dominant against the Grand Army of the Ratpublic. The Solemn Saviours were able to follow up against the Grand Army on the ground, but those clever Skaven managed to escape with the majority of the Emberstone shards before fleeing back into their Gnawholes.
In the wake of the Grand Army of the Ratpublic’s battles, a letter was left behind. If you have a few minutes, take a look on their army page here. Some amazing back story for the Celebrants Insatiable appears on their page as well. Hopefully these inspire more lore, battle reports, and short stories as we continue the narrative together.
Some quick housekeeping notes. Reminder that your Emberstone shards to spend on your April list come from your “best” battle, and are not cumulative. I’ve added a standings table to the results log so we can quickly see where everyone’s at. With the good comes the bad, so your battle wounds for each month should come from your “worst” showing each month (the battle where you accumulated the most wounds). The most any one unit on your roster can acquire is 3 per month, and reminder you do get up to 2 heal rolls (if you have 2 heroes), so I don’t expect we’ll see any permanent battle scars until May or June at the earliest. I’ve purposely been playing it a little loose this month as everyone gets their feet under them and comfortable with the format. For battles with an * next to wounds, we can roll for the actual wounds / heals at the end of the month when we spend our stones together. I’ll continue to update the site with available Paths, Enhancements, and Artefacts that are unique to the Ravaged Coast for players without the book so they know what’s available for purchase. There are some powerful traits and artefacts available in the Ravaged Coast.
Also, a quick discussion about Faction Terrain since we have 2 Skaven players so far. In Path to Glory, Ravaged Coast, page 27 says “Your Path to Glory army does not start with a faction terrain feature”. I took this to mean, and maybe incorrectly, that you do not start with Faction Terrain that you would deploy in the Deployment Phase of Core rules 10.0 “Deploy Faction Terrain Features”. However, the Skaven Gnawholes (and they are tagged as “FACTION TERRAIN” on their warscroll), do not deploy in this phase. They deploy “Once per Round (Army), Start of the Battle Round” from the Skaven Faction Rules. Three out of five of the Skaven’s Faction Rules depend on Gnawholes being on the field, so lack of access to them I interpreted as a handicap to how the army functions, compared to other faction terrain that buffs, but isn’t core to the army. Thematically, we’re invading the Skaven’s territory of the Gnaw to claim the Emberstone of Hel’s Claw, so I’m ok with a little home-field advantage. These are the reasons I’m allowing Skaven armies to use Gnawholes at no Emberstone cost. For all other army Faction Terrain, it is a one time cost of 3 Emberstone shards to add it to your Roster. Ravaged Coast page 40 describes it as “Acquire a faction terrain feature: Construct an outpost on the Ravaged Coast”. Thematically, that makes sense to me needing to build a Stormreach Portal, Bossrokk Tower, Skaregob Totem, Bad Moon Loonshrine, etc or any other Faction Terrain that would go down in the Deployment Phase before the battle.
There’s still a week and half left in the month if you’d like to try to acquire more Emberstone shards or join the campaign, however, I would not recommend facing Sigmar’s Dragons if that’s your goal. If you’re up for a challenge though, they’re looking to be a tough nut to crack. Anyone is also welcome to join the campaign next month or in the future.
April’s battleplan, Rise through the Ashes, is posted on the schedule page if you want to look ahead at our path to breaking through the Adamantine Chain of Aqshy. The field shifts 45 degrees, and control score comes into play as you acquire VP for each objective controlled, rather than just uncontested in the Rift in the Peaks.