Summer’s kept everyone busy, so apologies for the delay—but all rosters should now be up to date. Blood in the Valleys has officially kicked off!
The first battle saw the Hungering Meat Mountain (Mournfangs and all) clash with the Celebrants Insatiable and their Keeper of Secrets. A brutal start to our more defensive June mission.
Other forces of Destruction have quieted—the Kruleboyz and Gloomspite Gitz have turned their eyes elsewhere… for now.
Reminder: June closes out our first campaign arc. At the end of the month we’ll:
Do a soft reset on wounds/scars
Open voting for Best Painted, Themed, Sportsman, and Narrative
Award catch-up embershards to keep everyone in the fight
More soon—get those games in while the valleys run red!
We’ve got one weekend left in May to get in your battles for “Standing on Skulls” before we shift into June’s mission, “Blood in the Valleys.” There are a few armies that still need to send me their April Shard Spends and get some May games in. I think we’ll have a few people looking for matches Friday Night and Saturday. We have 2 new players joining as well, bringing more Stormcast Dragons and some Monstrous Ogor Mawtribes to the party.
While May has been all about all-out warfare and VP by destruction, June will flip the script, emphasizing defense, positioning, and evasion in a cat-and-mouse battle across the broken valleys of the Adamantine Chain.
This will also mark the end of our first 3-month campaign arc. Thank you to everyone who’s helped bring the Ravaged Coast to life so far.
To keep things smooth, and since I haven’t been diligent about it, as we wrap up this phase, we’ll skip battle wounds and scars for the first March-June arc. In July, we’ll start a fresh, simplified wound/scar system for the next arc (July–September), aiming for something easier to track and manage month to month.
At the start of July, we’ll kick off peer voting for the following categories, based on April through June participation.
Best Painted
Best Themed
Best Sportsman (a.k.a. Friendliest Asshole)
Best Narrative
Winners will receive bonus Emberstone Shards to spend going into Act II. Make sure you send in any stories before the end of June so participants have a chance to read them, and get those armies painted and shown-off in battle.
I’ll also be reviewing average shard and point totals across the campaign from March through June and awarding catch-up shards to:
New Players who joined late
Anyone significantly behind the curve
Anyone who showed up consistently and just had a rough streak
This should help keep the field competitive and the story inclusive as we roll into the second act.
Just two days left in April to log your battles before we close out Rise Through the Ashes and move into May’s new campaign battleplan.
Now’s the time to:
Spend your Emberstone Shards
Apply wounds to your roster (use your worst defeat this month as your baseline)
Roll for scars on any unit with 5 or more wounds
Attempt healing. Up to 2 heroes may make a d6 healing roll to reduce wounds (this will not remove scars)
We’ll be using the honor system this month. Just send me your shard spend and wound/scar/healing results. If you would like to forge an Emberstone weapon, schedule a time with me and we’ll roll on the table together in person.
Next month we shift into “Standing on Skulls”, and it’s all about destruction. Victory Points are scored only by destroying enemy units. There are no objectives to control, but tokens will still appear on the battlefield to acquire, fight over, and escape with them if you can. Be ready to shed some blood. If you’ve made it through Aqshy unscathed so far, that’s likely to change. Reminder that fielding a battle-ready painted army earns you a bonus Emberstone Shard in every campaign game.
April Recap This month saw 13 Rise Through the Ashes battles fought, plus 2 catch-up games in Rift in the Peaks. The Seraphon have entered the campaign with thunderous force, and now the forces of Death, Soulblight Gravelords and Flesh-Eater Courts, are on the move. Keep the narrative submissions coming as well. Send me accounts of your triumphs, bitter losses, intrigues, narrow escapes, or your armies use of the emberstone as we head toward the prize at Hel’s Claw.
If you missed April, it’s not too late to get a catch-up Rise Through the Ashes game in May. New players are always welcome.
Upcoming Events 5/17 – HobbyTown 2K Age of Sigmar Tournament – Matched play using current GHB rules
5/23–5/25 – Warhammer 2025 Open in Dallas A big month for battles both local and regional. Good luck to everyone attending.
Let me know if you need help with shard spending, wound tracking, or building toward your May roster. The Adamantine Chain is heating up, and the Ravaged Coast is only getting closer.
This weekend saw six battles fought across the smoldering battlefields of the Ravaged Coast as warbands clashed at Tanuki Tabletop. Here’s how the day unfolded.
The Thundering Scales made a powerful debut, overcoming Da Toof Punchas in a catch-up battle set in the Rift in the Peaks. In a razor-close fight on the Rise Through the Ashes battleplan, the Solemn Saviours pulled out a final-round victory over the Celebrants Insatiable. The Thundering Scales struck again, decisively defeating the Aethergold Storm in a show of cold-blooded force.
The forces Destruction arrived, as the Gloomy Looniez and their bouncing squigs laid low the ironclad Toof Punchas. Meanwhile, the Celebrants Insatiable weathered the dirty tricks of the Krule Intentionz, sending them packing in a chaotic scrum. And in a final clash of the day, the Thundering Scales capped off a brutal run by overwhelming the Solemn Saviours in a vicious melee.
Wounds, Scars, and Roster Management
With just one week left in April, now’s the time to get those last campaign battles in. Before we shift into May’s open brawl, I’ll be sharing more guidance around battle wounds and scars.
Wounds from your biggest defeat should be tallied and applied to your roster. (If wound count is tied, you may choose which applied).
If a unit reaches 5 or more wounds, they gain a battle scar.
Healing rituals are rolled after wounds are applied, using your full roster, not just the last battle results.
Healing can remove wounds, but not scars
Against your roster, units may heal up to 6 wounds on a good D6 roll, so wounds from previous battles can be cleared.
Up to 2 Heroes may attempt a healing ritual each month.
As a casual campaign, we’re not enforcing this strictly, but going into May, we should all have a clear sense of which units are at risk and how we’re tracking them moving forward. We’ll also review as the campaign progresses to make sure nobody’s roster is being punished too much (or not being punished enough).
Parting Notes
Reminder next Weekend, Saturday, April 26th is the 1,000-point Age of Sigmar GHB Tournament at HobbyTown. A great chance to test your skills and meet other area AoS players outside of the campaign.
Also, with the release of the Soulblight Gravelords Army Box, we may soon see the forces of Death stirring on the Ravaged Coast.
On a technical note, I updated the email provider on the website’s battle report form. The most common reason for failure appears to be using the default php email service on a shared server. Now it has a dedicated SMTP channel to email reports to me, so :fingers_crossed: they’ll reliably submit now.
This past weekend saw Da Toof Punchas back in the fight with two battles that shook the Adamantine Chain. First, they clashed with the relentless Solemn Saviours and were driven back in a fierce contest of steel and fury. You can read the Krakarion’s account of that battle here, https://wacopathtoglory.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Annals-Entry-14.pdf.
Later, Da Toof Punchas threw down with the Celebrants Insatiable in a wild and brutal melee that ended in a draw, but not before the Orruks made off with all of the Emberstone tokens on the field. Victory may have been shared, but the loot was not.
Looking ahead, don’t forget that this coming weekend, April 19 is Sigmar Saturday at Tanuki Tabletop. We should have space set up for up to three games running simultaneously, so bring your lists, your dice, and your narrative heat.
Also, join us in wishing our Warhammer 40K friends the best of luck as they represent Waco at The Game Closet in the first Central Texas Highway tournament against Belton.
Finally, mark your calendars, next weekend (April 26) is the 1,000-point Age of Sigmar tournament at HobbyTown, using standard GHB rules. It’s a great chance to test your competitive edge and get more games in between campaign turns.
The battle lines have been drawn, the sparks of Aqshy have ignited, and the hunt for the Emberstone Shards is officially underway! Our Ravaged Coast Campaign launched in early March, and already the realms tremble beneath the clash of steel, the roar of daemons, and the cries of war. From now until June, players are battling it out not just for glory on the tabletop—but also for a shot at the first round of Emberstone Shard Cache prizes.
The Campaign has been divided into 3 Acts to follow the narrative theme of the Ravaged Coast battleplans selected for each month:
Prologue (March)
“Embers in the Ash” The spark is lit. Forces gather, relics whisper, and old blood oaths are stirred as the Ravaged Coast stirs from its uneasy slumber.
Act I: April–June
“The Adamantine Chain” War erupts along the shattered fortresses and molten ravines of the Adamantine Chain. Here, alliances are forged in fire—or broken upon the anvil of ambition.
Act II: July–September
“The Gnawing Dark” The campaign spills into the warped hinterlands of the Gnaw, where reality frays and enemies skulk in the shadows. Here, survival is its own kind of victory.
Act III: October–December
“The Siege of Hel’s Claw” All roads lead to ruin. The final push begins as warlords clash beneath the shadow of Hel’s Claw, and the fate of the Emberstone lies in blood-soaked hands.
June Emberstone Shard Cache – Prizes and Peer Voting
At the end of this three-month block, players will vote (blind peer voting) on four key campaign categories:
Best Painted – Either whole army or army with an impressive unit/centerpiece painted.
Best Sportsman – Friendliest, most helpful, or just fun opponent to play against.
Best Theme – Hero & Unit Choices, Paths, Traits and Artefacts selected. Who has the most cohesive, themed army for the Ravaged Coast.
Best Narrative – Written the best battle reports, backstory for their army, or themed content submitted during the campaign.
Votes will be based on participation and progress from April through June, so keep logging your games, showing off your work, and immersing yourself in the story of the Ravaged Coast.
December Finale – The Emberstone Crown Awaits
While the Shard Cache is the first step, the final leg of our campaign in December will crown one player as the true champion of the Ravaged Coast. Thanks to Tanuki Tabletop, that player will receive a model of their choice (up to $65 value) as a prize.
More details will be revealed when we reach the final third of the campaign and begin our run on the ancient, ruined fortress of Hel’s Crown.
Battles fought in April
Three dramatic battles have already carved their place into the campaign’s annals:
The Solemn Saviours vs. The Aethergold Storm The Solemn Saviours struck with unshakable resolve, emerging victorious against the lightning-scarred ranks of the Aethergold Storm in a brutal clash of Stormhost vs. Khardron Overlord.
The Solemn Saviours vs. The Cult of the Black Sun In their second outing, the Solemn Saviours once again stood firm, purging the heretical Cult of the Black Sun in a battle that left only a pile of burnt feathers and broken omens.
The Celebrants Insatiable vs. The Grand Army of the Ratpublic The maddened revelers of the Celebrants Insatiable overwhelmed the cunning forces of the Skaven, laying waste to their schemes in a whirlwind of excess and fury.
Whether you’ve played one game or ten—or haven’t joined yet at all—there’s still time to be part of the story. New players are welcome to jump in and get catch-up games scheduled. There are rumors… strange ones. Of scaled beasts mounted atop even larger scaled beasts. If true, the Ravaged Coast is about to get a lot wilder.
Upcoming events:
Sigmar Saturday – April 19th: We’ll try to rally as many players as possible for a big campaign day.
Stand-Alone Tournament – April 26th: Crashgaming LLC and Hobby Town are hosting a local 1,000 Age of Sigmar tournament. Registration and details are available at: https://www.bestcoastpairings.com/event/JQEDsjhVqmlX
Keep an eye out for updates, photos, and featured stories. Don’t forget to share your hobby progress, narrative logs, and battlefield triumphs.
March is in the books, and what a month it has been. Thanks to everyone in the community for your interest, support, and participation. For March of 2025, 11 armies battled 17 times in the Rift in the Peaks. There is also interest from potentially 4 more armies joining the emberstone hunt, Sylvaneth, Daughters of Khaine, and 2 Soulblight Gravelords players with the imminent release of their battle tome. If anyone else is interested, there’s still time to get a catch-up game in Rift in the Peaks and join us. Just message me and we’ll coordinate and work it out.
Moving on to April, it’s time to Rise through the Ashes. Now that seams of emberstone have been discovered in the Adamantine Chain, armies find themselves in opposition at a key juncture. The winners will find it far easier to force a path towards the shoreline of the Ravaged Coast. The battlefield layout shifts diagonally, and objectives are now scored based on control score. The same Aqshian passives, tokens, twists and rules apply.
Send me an email or DM on discord with how you would like to spend your shards and which units acquired battle wounds. Let me know if you have questions about either, and I’ll update your lists on the site. Faction Terrain and Endless Spells are available to purchase, and the 350 point unit limit is lifted. Stalled reinforcement rules are posted on the battleplan and apply whenever there is a 200 point difference between armies.
Kelathi Pleasureheart of the Celebrants Insatiable has forged an Emberstone-enhanced Ranged Weapon for use next month. The rolls were for +1 Damage and +3″ of Range, and she now wields a potent ranged option with the following profile:
Let me know if you’d like to forge a weapon for one of your heroes and we’ll coordinate a time to do forging rolls.
Community wise, reminder there’s no painting competition in April. Our host’s love of Star Wars takes priority for the 20th Anniversary of Revenge of the Sith on Friday 4/25/25.
Carl Tamez of Crash Gaming will be running an Inaugural Age of Sigmar tournament at Hobby Town on Saturday 4/26/25. He’s asked me to assist in planning and running that event, and I think we have the details ironed out. Keep an eye out for the announcement and more information soon.
Happy Friday! Now that I’m looking at the correct month on my calendar, it truly is the last weekend for Rift in the Peaks. The forces of Chaos met each other in battle, with the Celebrants Insatiable taking the victory and claiming an additional emberstone shard for their efforts. Reminder the painting competition is at King’s Landing this evening if you’d like to hang out and work on your current list, you’re next acquisition, or just for fun. I’ll be available Saturday afternoon in town, or at Tanuki in the evening if anyone wants to get another game in, or anytime Sunday. I’ll also have Spearhead Fire & Jade at Tanuki since there’s been interest in learning the format.
There is a link on the Waco Path to Glory homepage with the emberstone progression costs, and scans of all of the Ravaged Coast Hero Paths, Unit Paths, Traits, Artefacts, Lores and Regiments of Renown if you don’t have the book available. Let me know if you’re interested in building an Emberstone Crafted Weapon this early in the campaign and we’ll figure it out. If your spending is straightforward, just email or DM me your purchases and I’ll update your roster. Let me know which battle and how many battle wounds each unit suffered/healed as well, or message me if you have questions about how to do that. You can also check out my last post on how I allocated my emberstone shards and wounds. Also, you don’t need to spend every shard, they can be banked in your vault and used for upgrades in May if you’re saving up for a larger purchase.
Good Afternoon. Rift in the peaks is coming to a close next weekend. This is close to your last chance to try for more emberstone shards before we move on to Rise through the Ashes and continue our journey to the Ravaged Coast. As an example, here are the choices I’ve made for the Solemn Saviours as they continue their quest to claim the Emberstone at Hel’s Claw. You can review all of the emberstone shard costs and options on this page.
I’m liking my glass-cannon Prosecutors as my primary deep strike threat. Thematically, I like the idea of my Knight-Questor calling in reinforcements from the Celestial Realm, and these avenging angels answering the call. But with only 3 units and 6 total health, they’ve been juked on the deep strike more than once, so it’s time for an upgrade.
I spent 3 emberstone shards (140 point unit) to reinforce the Scions of the Great Sanctuary up to 6 units. Since they’ve also seen the most action and suffered the most wounds, I’ve set them on the Stormcast Eternal Path of the Redeemer from the SCE Battle Tome. For 1 emberstone shard, they embark on the path as an Aspirant, and I chose Heralds of the Tempest.
3d6 Charge +1 on a 9″ Deep-strike, and hopefully they’ll get juked a little less. I decided to lean into them for their other weakness and spend 2 emberstone shards to upgrade them to Elite status. From there, I selected Blaze of Glory.
Now, even as they’re picked off, they have a chance to inflict a Mortal Damage on death. These prosecutors will dive in, charge in, and get the job done, even in death.
Since I’m leaning into the role my Knight-Questor and his Soulsworn are taking in their Sigmar-given quest in the Ravaged Coast, I’ve decided to upgrade them with complementary Paths. Since their whole job is to Quest-mark an Objective, advance and take it, then sit on it as my Anvil, my Knight-Questor will embark on the Path of the Duellist for 1 emberstone shard. At Aspirant rank, he will now be immune to all Critical Weapon effects. As he continues on this path, he’ll become a formidable hero able to pierce through wards, crit on 5+ and stare down any threat one on one.
For my final emberstone shard, his loyal Questsworn have embarked on the Path of the Guardian, and will now benefit when the Knight-Questor declares All-Out Attack. As they progress on the path, they’ll excel in their supporting role of the Knight Questor, eventually pushing out Mortals against enemy combatants, improved saves, and access to strike-first for themselves and their sworn knight.
That’s a total of all 8 Emberstone Shards spent from our best victory over the Cult of the Black Sun. This will bring the army to 1140 points, avoid stalled reinforcements in most cases, and start to specialize our elite forces in their roles.
Battle Wounds
But it’s not all fun and games. The Solemn Saviours suffered the most wounds in their crushing defeat under the tide of the Gloomy Looniez and their ravenous squigs. With most of our forces wiped out in the melee, at the end of the battle, we had suffered 10 total wounds:
Prosecutors – 2 Wounds
Reclusians – 3 Wounds – Healed by Lord-Vigilant
Liberators – 3 Wounds – Healed by Knight-Questor
Lord-Vigilant – 2 Wounds
Our heroes attempted and successfully healed the wounds on the Reclusians and Liberators. The Prosecutors and Lord-Vigilant will carry 2 battle wounds each into April.
Cheers to the weekend. Another army of profit seeking Duardin have descended on the Ravaged Coast. The Oathsigned Profiteers have met the Cult of the Black Sun in battle. While the forces of Chaos held the field in the end, the ships of the Profiteers managed to secure more Emberstone shards for their efforts.
This is the last weekend to get games in before we lock in our shards and wounds and move on to Rise through the Ashes next weekend. There is a dragon on the horizon, so stalled reinforcement rules will come into play in a few matchups next month. Objectives in this battle plan can be contested for Victory points, so Control Scores and abilities will come into play. Depending on who’s playing, the battleplan will also have clearer setup, deployment, and underdog rules since not everyone will have the same amount of emberstone acquired from March.
Additionally, I’m playing with the idea of doing a few themed “prizes” at key junctures in the campaign. My initial thoughts is every 3 months (not including March), so end of June, end of September, and end of the campaign in December in the following categories. Everyone (excluding me) can cast a secret vote for their pick for each category, and voting should be based on the prior 3 month’s participation.
Best Painted Army – Either whole army or army with an impressive unit/centerpiece painted.
Best Sportsman – Friendliest, most helpful, or just fun opponent to play against.
Best Thematic Army – Hero & Unit Choices, Paths, Traits and Artefacts selected. Who has the most cohesive, themed army for the Ravaged Coast.
Best Narrative Contribution – Written the best battle reports, backstory for their army, or themed content submitted during the campaign.
I figure the June and September prizes will be an extra emberstone shard cache (based on how many everyone has acquired up to that point) to spend on your force. Then the final votes for December will cover the whole campaign with an additional prize for the army that claims Hel’s Claw in the end. I’ll get some gift cards or something from each of the local stores that support us for each category for the end of the campaign winners.
