The Ravaged Coast, part 1

The Ravaged Coast is a new narrative Warcry campaign, set in Aqshy, published in White Dwarf #504 (September 2024). The full text has also been published on Warcrier.

And its great!

I joked with my friends immediately that it felt like it was written especially for me. The campaign rules feels slightly more deadly than the Gnarlwood campaign, and there seems to be a section or two missing - maybe things were dropped from it between writing and publishing? A lot of the artefacts have a [Corrupted] rule, and there's a mention of a way to purify them and how that changes their special rules. But the actual rules to purify artefacts are missing. There's also a mention of other [Rewards] to be found through exploration rolls, but no [Rewards] in the Exploration tables!

But leaving that (honestly, very minor) editing issues aside, the setting is littered with nautical references throughout the new Heroic Traits, Quests, Exploration, Encampments, Lesser and Greater Artefacts, that replace the Core Book versions. As a result I'm very keen to dig into it.

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There wasn't much solid information on exactly where the Ravaged Coast is in Aqshy. This is all we get in the article:

"Far to the east of the Great Parch where the land meets the Ocean of Tears - lies the Ravaged Coast. This vast archipelago now lies crushed between the Great Parch and the emergent Gnaw, and it has quickly become a battleground of violent seas, sand-blasted atolls and Skaven-tainted ruins."

I looked through all the books I have and I searched online a lot, and as far as I can tell no published maps of Aqshy have it marked.

Then a month later, in another Warcry article in White Dwarf #505, there was another Ravaged Coast reference!

"On the very edge of the Ravaged Coast lies Hel's Claw, a city once dominated by Khorne's Bloodthirsty warriors and then reconsecrated by Sigmar's followers. Since the emergence of the Gnaw, Hel's Claw descended into wrack and ruin, its streets overrun by the Skaven of the Vermindoom who look to harvest both warpstone and emberstone that have been disgorged by the cataclysm."

That actually gives us a usable reference point! Hel's Claw (Ruined) is marked on the new maps of the Great Parch in Aqshy:

So maybe "the Ravaged Coast" isn't a specific place's name, but more of a general description of the south-east coast of the Capilaria. Honestly, I can live with that!

As I said, the whole thing is riddled with piratical goodness: shipwrecks and peg-legs and coastal locations. For example; the exploration and encampment locations include:

Desolate Beachhead - the default encampment when starting a new campaign in the Ravaged Coast, instead of the ‘Outskirts of the Gnarlwood'.

A Watery Grave - A multi-limbed deep-sea monster bursts from the water. Your fighter must battle for their life or risk being dragged beneath the ocean to be drowned and devoured.

Flotsam And Jetsam - There is plenty to find along the Ravaged Coast, but much of it is merely the scattered debris of disaster and death.

Washed Up Treasure - Whether it was washed ashore in the wake of some terrible battle at sea or fell from the hands of a dying adventurer, this half-buried artefact radiates power.

Wrecked Hulk - You discover the shattered wreck of a sea-going vessel that was sunk or abandoned following the Vermindoom. It might provide a place of safety - or danger.

Smuggler's Cove - A series of inlets dot the coast, where smugglers or pirates used to hide smaller ships. If you are lucky, you might find someone's abandoned stash.

Lightglass Tower - This ruined tower with its aetherquartz lens was once used to keep the coast lit in order to prevent shipwrecks. These seas are home to more monsters than fleets these days, but the watchtower is still a fine place from which to survey one's surroundings and illuminate potential hazards.

Ship's Graveyard - Redolent in the magic of endings, this cove is full of shipwrecks. Giant nautical castles with vampiric heraldry, mechanical ironclads and sleek aelven vessels alike share a common grave. Deathly beings can draw energy from this place, while the living might find treasure amidst the wreckage.

Secluded Inlet - Sheltered from the ravages of war and Skaven malevolence, this inlet provides a perfect location for warbands to recuperate. Yet there is no such thing as sanctuary in the wild realms, and soon enemies or predators will also stumble upon this place.

All this sounds exactly like my kind of place!

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So this, and the forthcoming pirate-themed Animosity Campaigns "Weekender" in January 2025, means I'm making some more Pirate Encampment scenery:

Ruined buildings, partially rebuilt or modified with shipwreck timbers and surrounded by nautical detritus. This will mostly be things like wooden barrels, treasure chests, and coiled ropes. But also, if I can find them, things like bottles, floats/buoys, buckets, anchors, bill-hooks, muskets and pistols, cutlasses, hats, fishing nets, hammocks, maps, lanterns, fish and sea-shells, etc. Basically any vaguely nautical bits that I can get my hands on!

With three fairly big pieces of scenery built it's probably time to get some paint on them. Although... I might add just one or two more bits from this box of Kraken-eater spares...

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Edit, 12th November:

I managed to get the 3 pieces undercoated and zenithal primed.

The Rotmoons and the Starwood Compass - part 6, Forest Fires

The Rotmoons rushed back to the Ironfang Fleet with the strange news of the Templeships' departure. The Kapitan went aboard the flagship, the Cleavermaw, to relay the events personally. Kaptain Mogrum listened intently but didn't express an opinion on the matter (which annoyed daLeeva somewhat, but he kept that to himself).

Mogrum instead he told daLeeva of the Fleet's assignment: to stand guard of and fight alongside the gigantic Rogue Idol Rakrukka uv da Shadowsea (this vast construct was one of five, animated by the Waaagh!'s unstoppable energies, it was exceptional in that it was mostly made of shipwreck timbers instead of stone, and it was surrounded by a thick and unnatural sea-mist).

The defenders of the Prime Dominion were very likely to mount a counter-attack against the Waaagh! now that they were digging-in while they tried to break open the sealed Realmgate hidden inside Noctis.

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The Ironfang Fleet deployed in a very loose formation, spread-out over a wide area. Mostly to widen the area they guarded, but also to avoid accidental collisions with one-another, and other such mishaps, in the mists.

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On the third day of their (very dull) blockade-duty El Doktoro heard rumours that a band of grots had acquired a sorcerous device, that might be able to catastrophically sabotage one of the Prime Dominion's ley line nexus points.

So they passed word to Kaptain Mogrum and he despatched the Rotmoons ashore to investigate and make a deal with them for the artefact.

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The Rotmoons quickly found the grot encampment and Kapitan daLeeva immediately decided not to negotiate with the grots. The crew were bored and getting unruly - more sitting around and waiting could not end well. On his own initiative he gave orders to raid the encampment, take the artefact and burn as much of the camp as possible. This plan was very popular and the crew immediately took to the task enthusiastically.

Unfortunately they were a bit too enthusiastic and the fires got a little out of hand: soon the woods around the camp were also ablaze!

El Doktoro, Tambor and Bortagno approached the grot encampment, the prospect of looting and burning filled them with dark glee.

A squig bounded out of the trees and blocked their path.

Kapitan daLeeva, Percy Percy and Bold Rikk gathered the choicest goods from the grot's stores and put flame to the rest.

El Doktoro wounded the grot rider but the squig still took out Bortagno.

Deestro, Geedo and Dragante battled another squig rider, Dragante bore the brunt of its frenzied attacks.

The Kapitan moved to aid El Doktoro as as the first squig rider mauled him.

Bold Rikk fought the Boss grot in a fancy hat.

After taking down the squig rider and another grot on foot daLeeva looked about, assessing the situation. The flames around them were raging closer and several of the grots were squashed by falling branches.

He was satisfied it was going well enough, but it needed to be resolved quickly before the grots escaped with the artefact.

Deestro fell when a hidden grot jumped out and stabbed him in the back.

Kapitan daLeeva used this incident to incite the crew to anger - they rounded on the grot and stomped the unfortunate git into the mud.

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The Animosity VI UK Meet-up - Game 1

Deployment: Realmshaper Mishap

Victory: The Raid

Twist: Forest Fire

Opponent: Leila / Mura

This is the second time I've played Leila in a one-to-one game (the first time was during the Warcry tournament at Warhammer Fest 2023). It's always a pleasure to see them and getting to play Warcry with them made my day.

Kapitan daLeeva's Doom Tally = 4

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet: The Rotmoons - Bonesplitterz to Ironjawz, part 7

The Waaagh! energy that swirled around the Weirdbrute Wrekkaz caused them to see the world as a sea of green fire. Groups of enemies burned in their vision with particular intensity, so the Weirdbrutes just needed to head toward the light and start swinging.

The Weirdbrute Masks attached to their faces, by El Doktoro the Weirdnob Shaman, helped to focus their madness into a deadly frenzy. With nothing to distract them from the Waaagh! energy coursing through them they could ignore the effects of all but the most grievous wounds, meaning most enemies couldn't stop the orruks before they barrelled into their lines.

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The extra Wrekkaz and Brute are ready for battle alongside the Rotmoons!

It feels like they've taken me ages to paint them, due to a serious lack of hobby time this month, but it's only been a couple of weeks since I finished building and greenstuff work on them. I'm glad they're done anyway.

(I hate the way the names on their bases have come out. It's like the paint has shrunk or beaded or something. I've no idea why they've gone like that but I'm going to have to fix it!)

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The two Wrekkaz aren't really for Warcry - I can now field 1,000 points of just the Rotmoon's crew for AoS:

The Rotmoons (1000 points)
Ironjawz

Ardboy Big Boss (130)

• [General]
• [Armour of Gork]
• [An Eye For Da Fight]

• 10 x Ardboyz (180)

Warchanter (120)

• 10 x Ardboyz (180)

Weirdnob Shaman (130)

• 3 x Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (130)
• 3 x Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (130)

[Spell Lore: Lore of the Weird]
[Manifestation Lore: Aetherwrought Machineries]
[Prayer Lore: Warbeats]

960/1000pts

3 drops

Generated by Listbot 4.0

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I've no idea how this will play, as I haven't tried 4th edition yet, but it looks fun enough that I to want to give it a go at some point.

This is how the new Wrekkaz look, when added to the ones I'd already made:

I like how they have (unintentionally) divided into two mobs: a static or "ready" mob who all have horned masks; and a more dynamic, charging mob whose masks are without horns.

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Fausto

A Waaagh!-crazed Wrekka with a gore-choppa.

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Murko

A belligerent Wrekka with a brute-crusha.

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Maximo

A swashbuckling pirate brute with a pair of brute-choppas.

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By adding Maximo to my Warcry list, the Rotmoons (after the changes in the September Update) now look like this:

DAGGER

Kapitan daLeeva - Ardboy Big Boss (Hero), Fortitude, Hero, Leader [175+15]

Bold Rikk - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]

Percy Percy - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]

SHIELD

El Doktoro - Orruk Weirdnob Shaman, Hero [170]

Bortagno - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]

Tambor - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]

HAMMER

Maximo - Orruk Brute with Pair of Choppas [140]

Geedo - Orruk Ardboy with Choppa [100]

1000 points

8 models

So the crew is a little smaller (one model less than my previous warband), but considerably tougher and more exciting to play (due to the added Brute and the new Ardboy Big Boss and Ardboy profiles, but especially the new Ardboy ability!).

I can't wait to try them on the table!

The Ironfang Pirate Fleet: The Rotmoons - Bonesplitterz to Ironjawz, part 6

After the recent AoS4 points changes I tried making a few Ironjawz lists with the models I already have. At larger points levels it was pretty easy to make something close to the things I had previously looked at: Armies made up of several pirate orruk ships' crews working together.

But a lower points levels I started to see something interesting:

The Rotmoons (1000 points)

Ironjawz

Ardboy Big Boss (130)

• [General]
• [Armour of Gork]
• [An Eye For Da Fight]

• 10 x Ardboyz (180)

Warchanter (120)

• 10 x Ardboyz (180)

Weirdnob Shaman (130)

• 3 x Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (130)
• 3 x Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (130)

960/1000pts

3 drops

Generated by Listbot 4.0

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I realised I can almost make this 1000 point army with the models I've built and painted for a single ship's crew; a single Warcry warband!

Because of all the options and alternative models I've made for them (so I can try a variety of play-styles), I only needed to build and paint two Weirdbrute Wrekkaz and the Rotmoons would be a self-contained AoS army! (I've made three Weirdbrute Wrekkaz from the normal kit, and I already had a fourth, from Morgok's Krushers - the Underworlds warband.)

So using the spare masks from the box of Weirdbrute Wrekkaz I've already finished and parts from the regular Orruk Brutes kit I built Murko and Fausto.

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Murko

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Fausto

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To add to this, the recent Warcry update that added fighter profiles and abilities for the new Ardboys, the Ardboy Big Boss, Weirdbrute Wrekkas and Brute Ravagers to the Ironjawz roster sent me on another wild ride.

This is just a selection of warband ideas I might test. But several of the lists need a Brute with a pair of choppas to make the points work and I don't yet have any regular Brutes made in the Rotmoons' Elizabethan / Spanish Armada / Shakespearean style.

So while I was working on the final touches to the Weirdbrutes I quickly built one (and, I'll be honest, I'd mixed too much greenstuff and I didn't want to waste it!).

But doing the greenstuff work without the usual day, or more, after building a model (for the plastic glue to properly cure) was not a fun challenge. Things shifted a bit, more than once, and needed sorting out before I could call him done and stop working.

And it looks like I've run out of Outrider / Pistolier pistols again, so I'll have to see if eBay or a bits reseller has any left I can get in a hurry.

Anyway, here's...

Maximo

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Next: paint!