Spellbreakers at Realm's Edge - part 8

The Geminids of Kallichore

The Cleavermaws pursued the Shadowflames through Realmgate after Realmgate and eventually found their way to the Ruins of Phos. To Mogrum's frustration the trail went cold in the hot desert sands. They retreated to a makeshift camp around an oasis to drown their sorrows. Mogrum knew they would catch up with the Mistweaver and her band soon but it was not to be this day.

After hearing talk of a pair of Geminids orbiting a stone circle near by, the Kaptain decided they would make the best of it and turn the expedition to profit. 

~ 🕱 ~

The orruk pirates grumbled about the heat, about the dust, about the rationed grog, and about losing the Shadowflames. Sludga and Deadwood did their best to shut them up, while glancing sideways at the Kaptain in case he started sparking again, but it didn't do much good. They just grumbled about being beaten as well.

They all brightened at once when they saw the Geminids of Kallichore though - the opposing forces of the aether in balance: an orb of pure light and a sphere of utter darkness. The Light of Kallichore and the Shadow of Kallichore orbited each other around the monolithic stone circle.

"Ah, yeah," said Double Barrel "a noxious dark mist populated by 'llusions, and a incineratin' light dat bestows mind-destroying troofs." he nodded to himself smugly, "Obviously."

Oiler Tun nodded too but Weatherly Deg added "We have to be more careful of dat Light one here. It's the more dangerous by far, 'cause of the empowerment of da Realm." this annoyed Double Barrel no end.

Deadwood smacked them round the head with a belaying pin and herded them away from the Kaptain.

The Hunters of Gloomfen appeared out of nowhere and got to the Geminids first!

A Khinerai darted forward and used her foci to draw the Geminids away from the pirates.

The Cleavermaws charged!

The Kaptain and a few deck hands took cover in the stone circle as the Hunters drew the even further Geminids away. Arrows clattered and clashed off the stone work around them.

Deadwood and Dogwatch Fug piled into one of the Melusai. Deadwood was cut down almost immediately.

The Deluge Key took its toll on the crew and even pierced the Kaptains sorcerous defences.

A Melusai Blood Sister pounced and hacked down at Mogrum from atop a ruined pillar. Mogrum parried her Heartshard Glaive with his Waaagh! Staff and a grin.

But Mogrum destroyed her utterly: His Waaagh! Staff blasted the Melusai to shreds! Bosun Higgs only just arrived in time to witness it.

~ 🕱 ~

This was "Dangerous Hunt" from White Dwarf (January 2019). The game was technically a draw as no models were killed by the Endless Spell, but we decided that  the Cleavermaws had the moral victory for killing more points than the Hunters of the Gloomfen did, even though they killed a lot more models than the pirates did. Melusai are expensive!

Finale. The Lost Tablet of Phos Campaign - Game 4

Battleplan: Spellbreakers from Balance of Power
The Ogors have the Tablet and are about to perform the ritual to activate it. The Rotmoons realise the danger of this and attempt to destroy the Tablet before the ritual is complete!

Dusty beams of sunlight slanted in through the pillars as El Doctoro explored the ruined temple. The Shaman came across a panel of hieroglyphs that were not as weather worn as the rest and paused to decipher them. He adjusted the coloured glass lenses that protected his weak eyes from the bright sunlight in Phos and his lips moved as he read…

With a mounting feeling of dread he realised he was reading the last entry in the chronicles of ancient Phos. The text described the dire fate of the writers of a powerful magical tablet and that the same destiny would await anyone who tried to harness the power bound within it.

He ran to the balcony overlooking the Palace and yelled down to Kapitán Alunzo and the rest of the Rotmoon:

“We have to destroy the Tablet of Phos! Don’t touch it, or even look at it more than you have to! Break it! Smash it to dust!”

~~~

The Rotmoons advanced on the Ironforged stronghold in the ruined Palace, where the Ogors had stashed the Tablet of Phos.

Orruks smash into Ogors!

The Ogor battleline buckles and gives a little!

The Orruks got carried away with their unprecedented good luck and pressed the Ogors hard, determined to wipe them out...

Meanwhile the Halfling Chef read from the Tablet and a gathering stormcloud overhead unleashed a wave of magical energies that smashed the Orruks, and blasted the Privateers back through the Realmgate!

~~~

If only they had attacked the building & the Tablet of Phos they might have won.

Major Victory to the Ironforged Ogors in the game and the campaign (with 3 wins and a draw!)

Chase. The Lost Tablet of Phos Campaign - Game 3

Game 3
Battleplan: The Hidden Artefact from Balance of Power
The Ogors have to get the Tablet off the board. The model selected (in secret) to carry it must get within 6” of the opposite board edge while no enemies are within 3” of it.
Command Abilities
Orruks: Encircle - one or more units may be held in reserve off table and enter play 6” from one of the board edges.
Ogors: Rear Guard

~~~

Da Leeva and El Doctoro pounded across the desert sands in pursuit of the Ogor band, while the rest of the Rotmoons crew hung around the Realmgate, waiting for the signal from their Kapitán.

The stylish Kapitán paused and waved at his crew, who about-faced and charged through the magical portal!

The Orruk Privateers appeared out of a mirage-like heat shimmer and immediately fell upon the Ogor Tyrant.

The Tyrant swiftly dealt with all of the impetuous Orruks, and hardly broke a sweat!

.. and the same thing happened to Hammerhead, the Rotmoons Maneater!

~~~

The Rotmoons stopped the Ogors from getting away but were not able to recover the Tablet of Phos: A draw!

Sandstorm. The Lost Tablet of Phos Campaign - Game 2

Game 2
Battleplan: Cast Adrift from Quest for Ghal Maraz
The Orruks have the Tablet of Phos and need to protect it from the Ogors while a sand storm is approaching.
Orruks: His Head is Mine! (General doubles attacks vs enemy general)
Ogors: Grim Determination (Ignore wounds & Mortal Wounds on roll of 6)

The Rotmoons
Kapitán Alunzo da Leeva - Orruk Warboss
El Doctoro - Orruk Great Shaman
Dragante - Orruk Boss
15 Orruk Boyz (inc. Banner & Drummer)
Hammerhead - Ogor Maneater
Trollumbis - Fellwater Troggoth

The Ironforged
Ogor Tyrant
5 Ogor Bulls (with full command),
Master Engineer (Halfling Chef)
Helstorm Rocket Battery (Halfling Hotpot)

~~~

The horizon was darkened as a sandstorm a mile high rolled inexorably across the desert toward the ruins of Phos. Lightning crackled and flashed in the churning lead edge of the stormfront giving the whole a hideously unnatural internal light. Out of the encroaching darkness a band of Ogors hurtled across the sands, into the teeth of the waiting Rotmoons.

The Ironforged Ogors were fleeing from the storm and racing the Rotmoons to the location of the Tablet - the Orruks were going to try to slow them down.

~~~

Turn 1
One orruk privateer was killed by the Halfling Hotpot - a lucky ranging shot perhaps.
The Ogor Tyrant was befuddled by the Mystical ruins and stood pondering the ancient carvings when he should have been running!

Turn 2
Trollumbus the Troggoth vomited on and killed an Ogor Bull
The Halfling Hotpot killed 8 orruk Boyz: They seemed to have their eye-in now!

The Ogor Tyrant was still trapped in the ruins (he stumbled on loose rubble as he tried to charge da Leeva)

Turn 3
Hammerhead, the Rotmoon's Ogor Maneater, was killed by the Hotpot!

Turn 4
The Ogor Tyrant & Da Leeva fought one-on-one
The Tyrant was sorely wounded but he still took down El Kapitán
The Ogor Bulls reach safety of the ruins and were able to take shelter there as the sandstorm rolled in!

Digging. The Lost Tablet of Phos Campaign - Game 1

Battleplan: Clash of Empires

Objective: Hold the Centre (1 Laurel of Victory each Battle Round for side with largest unit within 3" of central scenery, 3 Laurels if General is within 3").

The Rotmoons
Kapitán Alunzo da Leeva - Orruk Warboss
El Doctoro - Orruk Great Shaman
Dragante - Orruk Boss
15 Orruk Boyz (inc. Banner & Drummer)
Hammerhead - Ogor Maneater
6 Grot Nasty Skulkers

The Ironforged
Ogor Tyrant
4 Ogor Bulls (with full command),
Master Engineer (Halfling Chef)

~~~

El Doctoro turned the dirt-covered metallic item over in his hands and squinted at it. He brushed some more of the dust off it and said “Hmmmmm”.

The other Rotmoons gathered around him had presented a small pile of found objects from their last expedition for his assessment. Most had been discarded as junk but three had made the cut for closer examination. The three members of the crew that found those particular objects tried to hide smug grins.

“Dis one may be one the eight fragments of the Agony Portal… or it might be a bit of one of them duardin flying machines. Hard to tell, I’ll have to look it up.”

“Such a perfect day for a fight.” said Alunzo da Leeva as he looked at the flawlessly clear blue sky, high above the weather-worn ruins of Phos. “I do hope we have one.”

“Oh, I think there is a good chance, my dear Kapitán.” said El Doctoro “Look here…” the Shaman pointed down the long, ruined street with his skull-topped ebony staff: a small group of large Ogors approached.

~~~

Turn 1

Both forces ran towards the central obelisk. The Tyrant led the way and the Ogres got there first but the Orruks swamped them. The Orruk Privateers injured the Tyrant but he cut down a half-dozen of them in retaliation. The Halfling Master Chef fired on the orruks from the heights of the ruins but the shots ricocheted off Da Leeva’s armour.

Laurels: 1 to Rotmoons, 3 to Ironforged.

Turn 2

The Tyrant and the Ogors curb-stomped the Rotmoon Boyz then turned on Kapitán Da Leeva. When he went down the Ogor, Grots and El Doctoro the Shaman conceded the battlefield to the Ironforged.

Laurels: 1 to Rotmoons, 7 to Ironforged

The Rotmoons and the Lost Tablet of Phos Campaign

Kapitan Alunzo da Leeva and The Rotmoons

Swashbuckling Orruk privateers, dashing adventurers, daring treasure hunters, stylish skyfarers and bold explorers… from their point of view.

The Rotmoons may call themselves Privateers, and act more like Pirates, but they spend more of their time acting like explorers than either. They search the ruins of the Realms for treasures and artefacts from the Age of Myth. Their Shaman, El Doctoro, considers himself an expert on that long-forgotten era and often pronounces, with great complacency and authority, what a found treasure was or its magical powers. He is occasionally correct but only occasionally.

Kapitán Alunzo da Leeva - Orruk Warboss
A dashing and heroic Orc Pirate; young, capable and unusually quick witted. He started his career on the Almagorka Coast and both he and his crew have acquired many strange local habits and mannerisms. He wears looted black clothes and black & gold enamelled armour, with a “white” ruff collar, a pair of heavy pistols, and a long coat draped over his shoulders as a cloak. He is popular with his crew as he has got them out of many scrapes over the years but unpopular with the other captains of the Ironfang Fleet who see him as an “upstart young pup”. He is unfortunately prone to shipwreck much more often than his actual skill as a commander should be.

El Doctoro - Orruk Great Shaman
Surgeon, explorer, secret agent, collector, scientist: El Doctoro is none of these but he occasionally drops hints that there is more to him than just “the shaman”. He wants the crew of the Rotmoon to think he is mysterious and complex.

Dragante - Orruk Boss
A hulking brute of an orruk who makes sure the Boyz do exactly what they are told and bashes heads together when the crews’ arguments (inevitably) turn into fights.

Hammerhead (AKA Tiburón Martillo) - Ogor Maneater
Dressed  in the Rotmoons style Hammerhead wears a black cloak and breaches, an off-white ruff, a battered morion helmet engraved with an octopus design and silvered armour. He carries a handgun that he uses as a pistol and he likes to twirl his huge cutlass in great swishing arcs.

Trollumbus - Fellwater Troggoth
Loaded with nautical detritus but not burdened with intelligence.