A new narrative 2-day event will take place in Witney, England UK, on the 17th-18th July 2021 (after some COVID-related postponement)!

Players’ armies will be fighting over the Brimstein Heartlands in Aqshy, the place where the Stormcast Eternals dealt the first blow against the forces of Chaos at the very beginning of the Age of Sigmar… and investigate what secrets lie in the ruins of Dinorwig, rumoured to contain a Stormvault.

Plots are forming and players are taking sides in the conflict!

We chatted with the NEOs behind the event, Phil Dodd @Phil_Kazic and Charles Nolan @CharlesKhorne, on what players can expect and what interesting Narrative Play tricks they will be using.

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Q: Please summarize the event for us, and what players can expect.

A: The event will be a two day, six game event held in Witney, Oxfordshire in the UK. The games will be of different point vales ranging from 750 as the smallest to a full 2,000 pointer to finish off the weekend; there is an opportunity for a grudge match on Saturday if players feel so inclined.

There is more to the Secrets of Dinorwig event than winning six games. The players will start the event split into two teams, the Liberators (who are the combined forces of Order and Death) and the Resistance (who are Chaos and Destruction,).

The teams are aligned this way at the beginning of the event, but perhaps new factions will develop during the weekend, or players will try to solve the secret on their own.

SOUND ON
The Dinorwig Daily, currently in exile in Vorsprangs Bridge, discovers historic footage from before the fall of Fort Ignis. What is Sigmar trying to hide?#WWOne pic.twitter.com/YLrh8oB9JW

— WitneyWarhammer (@WarhammerWitney) September 11, 2020

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Q: What Narrative innovations and rules will you be deploying in this event? We have heard rumours that players will have to discover clues throughout the event.

A: We have taken elements from some of our favourite narrative events and then added a few twists of our own. The biggest twist is that to win the players need to discover the Secret of Dinorwig. To do this they must answer three questions, what is it, where is it and how does it work.

The first two questions can be answered as players/teams solve clues, riddles and puzzles that they uncover during their games or earn over the weekend.

The answer to the last question, how does it work can only be solved by the collection of Knowledge Points (KP). The team/players with the greatest KP at the end of the sixth game will get the first shot at answering the other questions. If they are incorrect then the next team will have a chance to answer. The first to get it right will have uncovered the Secret of Dinorwig and secured the power that it holds.

When players gain clues, KP or items over the weekend they can choose to share them with their commander and team during the Command Phases between rounds. Perhaps they will choose to keep the information entirely for themselves, this risks alienating their allies and reduces the chance they will be trusted with other key information that could unravel the secret and alone they may not secure sufficient KP to get a shot at solving the puzzle.

Players may also get support from the shadowy figure seen in the general’s invitation video during the weekend.

SOUND ON
Greetings General! tickets are on sale tomorrow (30th September) at 8am for #WWOne Secrets of Dinorwig

Your future awaits! pic.twitter.com/L2mS3371xK

— WitneyWarhammer (@WarhammerWitney) September 29, 2020

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Q: You have created an awesome detailed map for the event: will players be able to play on thematic tables representing each location?

A: I’m glad you like the map, we have put a lot of effort into the table design and each of the locations named in red on the region map will be fully recreated on the table top. We have also written table rules for each location trying to represent the character of these places within Aqshy. These add a unique flavour to each game without making the rules to complicated.

Within each location there will be ways to gain KP. This gives players the chance to gain something from every game even if they can’t complete their main objective. You don’t need to win every game to succeed or make a valuable contribution to your faction.

To try to add to the immersion of the event we have written a brief history of each area that players will find themselves fighting over. We hope that players will remember these stories from our twitter account when they come to the event and give them a personal attachment to the region.

If this event is successful we plan further events based in and around this region of Aqshy and will expand the map and corresponding tables accordingly.

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Q: You are part of the Narrative Play scene in England, and the storyline of this event involves characters developed during previous Narrative Events, isn’t that right? Tell us more about that.

A: The plan was that the sides would each be led by a commander who would be a player as well as a character. We put the call out to our attendees and fortunately we had two great characters volunteer to lead the charge. This gave us a great opportunity to develop the events story organically.

The main protagonists in this narrative are Lord Dracothfoote (Steve Foote @tinracersteve) and Olrog (Ollie Grimwood @gr1mmas) who were working together at Realms at War 2019.

Lord Jarek Dracothfoote & Olrog of Da Faifful

The promise of power hidden in Dinorwig has driven a wedge between Dracothfoote’s winning coalition. The secret and the promise of a good scrap has encouraged Olrog to find new allies amongst the Chaos forces who hold Fort Ignis. They have both rallied their banners and recruited the other players coming for the weekend to one of their sides.

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Q: The background details for Secrets of Dinorwig are quite involved and really well done. We have been following them on social media for a number of months, and seen players pitch in with their own backstories and rivalries… as well as the character of mayor Ulf Cywin being drawn into the political developments 😉 . What is this drama, mystery and comedy all about?

A: The story has been bubbling under the surface for a little while. For Christmas 2017 I wrote a narrative campaign for Charles, set around Fort Ignis where his character, Chartrek Beasttamer had to defeat the Stormcast Eternals around Fort Ignis and recover an Axe for Khorgos Khull.

Having created this region we decided to invite a couple of friends to join us and the following year, Charles wrote a campaign where the Stormcast Eternals assisted by the Seraphon (Steve Foote) tried to take back Fort Ignis being held by Chartrek, supported by the Iron Golem Ogres of Ben Foote. Unfortunately we failed and Chartrek opened a portal to the realm of Chaos and passed through it. We then decided to build on this and invite more people to play in our sand box and the idea of an event was born.

The story has developed as a way to let the players know how this situation has occurred and to fill in the history of the area, to help them immerse themselves in the game and the event. The feedback has been terrific and the development of player’s backstories is great to see.

One of the latest player stories is a collaboration written by Daniel Summerbell @HobbySummerbell (of Erynost fame) featuring the forces of “Jimbo” Warth @jimbo9jimbo (of the RAW NEOs and the ‘Mitzy & Jimbo Show’ fame)!

Phil created Mayor Ulf Cywin largely as an opportunity for a bit of fun and to promote the only part of our map that is still civilised and not ravaged by Chaos. He is a key player on this regional level but is much more interested in protecting Vorsprangs Bridge (and himself) than the unfounded rumours circulating about Dinorwig.

SOUND ON
Greetings General! tickets are on sale tomorrow (30th September) at 8am for #WWOne Secrets of Dinorwig

Your future awaits! pic.twitter.com/L2mS3371xK

— WitneyWarhammer (@WarhammerWitney) September 29, 2020

You can follow Mayor Cywin’s official communications @PhilDodd12.

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Q: What would you like to say to players out there to motivate them to come to WWOne, or join you in future UK Narrative Events?

A: WWOne is all sold out but keep an eye on your reserve emails because we have created a few new tables to accommodate additional players. For everyone else check out our Twitter account where we have posted all the lore and videos. If you like what you see join in with us @WarhammerWitney, give us a follow and stay up to date with all the fun. We will be posting updates during the event and some follow up afterwards as well.

We’d love to see your stories and how your armies are manoeuvering around our region of Aqshy so feel free to share it with us in the run up to the event.

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This sounds like an awesome addition to the UK narrative scene!

Thank you, Charles & Phil!

You can also hear their interview by the EATBATS of Sigmar gaming club’s podcast!

Any interested players out there, sign up for that waitlist because you might still get a spot and play with a great crowd of narrative players!

Sign up and/or download the WWOne: Secrets of Dinorwig rules pack at TGA (requires login).

This article is brought to you by the Narrative Event Organizer Network.

Featuring team-based strategy and storytelling, Animosity welcomes you to forge your narrative alongside players from around the world in the internet’s best Warhammer: Age of Sigmar map campaigns. A new campaign is launching in early June this year.

Who are Animosity Campaigns?

For almost a decade, Animosity Campaigns brought cooperative storytelling and intense map-based strategy on a grand scale to Warhammer players around the the world. Today, the NEO team is working to reinvent this incredible experience for Age of Sigmar and a new generation of players.  Simply put, Animosity is what you would get if you smashed Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay into a good game of Risk.

You may recognise the individuals behind Animosity Campaigns (@AnimosityCmpgns) as Alex (aka @OldStonebeard), Peter, Saul (@WarbossKurgan) and Nick (@Beithir).

How to get involved

When you sign up, you’ll pick one of several immersive factions and join a team of players working together toward a common goal. Each turn, your group’s NEO will submit a battle report – this could be a game you’ve played, a hobby project you’re working on, or even a short story you’ve written – and allocate it to a location of your choice on the campaign map. Your report will be entered into the Animosity game engine, and after each turn, Animosity will post an update showing which territories your faction has taken, held, or lost.

Play games, do hobby, tell stories

Because of the unique nature of internet narrative play, you do not need to play against the same opponent on the table whom you’re fighting in the campaign. In fact, you don’t even need to play games of Age of Sigmar at all to participate! So long as you share your short stories or hobby projects, you’re still an invaluable cog in the war machine.

An open vista

That said, what really sets Animosity apart is the open-ended nature of the campaigns. The NEO team has no intention of “railroading” you: we may set the stage, but your characters are the actors, and this is your story to tell. More than one player faction has faced total annihilation in the aftermath of poorly-conceived actions, while others have managed to punch well above their weight with a combination of great strategy and good roleplaying.

Furthermore, each campaign is linked to prior installments, together building an ongoing fan-written continuity. No matter your level of participation, your contribution will change the course of future Animosity campaigns. Check out the previous stories in “What came before”

Look for registration to begin April 5th and check the website for updates every Friday: https://animositycampaigns.com/. You can also check out the FAQ and How to Play pages for more details.

Registration for Beyond Realms Edge, a new 2-day independent narrative event on the U.S. East Coast, opens tomorrow over on We Are the NEON!

For more narrative Age of Sigmar content, check out the narrative homepage and narrative articles section of the site. And if you want to explore new areas on the tabletop, check out the great 3D printed terrain from Dark Fantastic Mills. Use the discount code “AoS Shorts”, get 10% off and support the site!

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Beyond Realm’s Edge: Concept

Beyond Realm’s Edge is a two-day Narrative event in Northern Virginia. Brian Orban and Aaron Bostian of the NOVA Open AoS Grand Narrative are collaborating with NEO of Note Alex Polimeni to make a new premier narrative event for the East Coast this summer.

In Beyond Realms Edge, teams of Vanguard armies find themselves suddenly on the outer borders of their realms, exploring new territories and investigating reports of sights previously unknown to the Mortal Realms. We are inviting 16 teams of players to join us in answering the question, “What lies beyond the Age of Sigmar?”

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Sign-up January 22nd

Signups go live on January 22nd. Watch this space!

Players both committed and curious are asked to join us on the Beyond Realms Edge Discord channel now to discuss and plan, then starting the evening of May 31st at the Sheraton Hotel in Reston, Virginia.

Our games are minutes from the primary airport of Washington DC and a short drive from the city itself. We feature amazing terrain as seen at the NOVA Narrative, games run by some of the most experienced NEOs in the country, and a weekend of surprises in store!

For 2019, I’m increasing the amount of narrative Warhammer Age of Sigmar content on the site. Aaron Bostian has kindly offered to write the piece below covering his experiences bringing a narrative perspective to a matched play Warhammer Age of Sigmar tournament. Aaron is a US-based NEO, or narrative event organiser, but recently decided to attend a matched play Grand Tournament. He, of course, brought the story along for the ride.

It can often be difficult for events in some areas to attain a critical mass of players given that Warhammer Age of Sigmar players often sit along a continuum between pure competitive matched play players and narrative role-players. Therefore, if tournaments and events are looking to grow their local player base then adding narrative to events in a way that does not tip the competitive balance is one way to achieve this aim.

I’ll hand it over to Aaron now, but you can also check out the Narrative Event Organiser Network, my narrative overview, the narrative articles section and my article on crafting a narrative for your Warhammer Age of Sigmar army.

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Narrative AoS overlay

Some players might be reluctant to attend a two-day matched play Age of Sigmar tournament. One reason often heard is that newer or narrative players are concerned that their more casual approach might not give them a fighting chance to play and win against more practiced opponents. But a grand tournament is always more than a series of games. The exhibition of hobby, camaraderie with other passionate fans, and opportunities for socializing with old and possibly new friends are significant elements which combine to create a memorable weekend. In this article, I hope to suggest how narrative minded players can add a story-based approach to Age of Sigmar so they have more fun in a nominally competitive environment.

The Rend 4 GT – Olrika’s voyage

I recently attended the Rend 4 GT in Ravenna, Ohio, USA, joining 19 other players for 5 games across two days during the first weekend in December. The event is promoted as an inclusive event as part of the Rend 4 group that encourages all kinds of gamers, emphasizing hobby as much as generalship. You can read about this event from another player’s perspective on Chuck Moore’s blog, Strength Hammer.  

Two friends in my local area loaned me painted Deepkin models (I’m still painting my own army at a terribly slow pace). So instead of spending the week before the event painting any remaining models in my army list I was able to develop some army narrative. It was a long drive, stopping by a friend’s place to pick up some terrain on loan for the event, and staying the night with another friend in Pittsburgh before making the final leg of the drive with him to Ohio.

The narrative hook – the Silver Shard

I started with inspiration from the novel I enjoyed reading most in 2018, the Silver Shard by Nick Horth. The book features a renowned privateer named Alrika Zenthe plying her trade in the mortal realm of Ghur. The exciting scene when she and her crew of the wolfship The Thrice Lucky hunted a giant shark, combined with my long interest in 19th century American whaling, convinced me the premise of my Idoneth Deepkin army would start as a captain and crew devoted to hunting dangerous beasts in the seas of Ghur for both profit and souls.

Translating narrative hook to army selection

I picked a Tidecaster to be the army general, outfitted with Born from Agony to put her at 7 wounds to make her a bit tougher in melee combat, and I didn’t stray far from my inspiration by calling her Olrika. Her crew was a mix of thralls, reavers, and some mounted Ishlaen Guard under the command of a wise Soulscryer who knew his captain better than she knew herself.

Tying the army back to previous events

I added an Archmage on Dragon as an ally, and decided this was the rogue wizard Fawkes, the prime antagonist of the Fawkes Hunt III event I had just run the previous month with Brian Orban. That event had featured Fawkes fleeing across the dangerous landscape of Ghur while pursued by an assortment of witch and bounty hunters.

I decided, since this archmage model was mounted on a dragon and painted by the same Brian, that I would consider that the Rend 4 GT would be something of a prequel narrative. I was going to explore how Fawkes had come to lose his dragon before the pursuit across Ghur featured in our narrative event.

Developing a connection between characters

The story for how this alliance came to be involved the archmage Fawkes charming the Fleetmaster Olrika to fall in love with him and offer her army as a personal guard and entourage (someone has to feed his dragon and keep his arcane laboratory stocked).

But it was the Akhelian King Korsynd, serving as Master of Arms in the crew, along with a soulscryer named Norhm, that saw through the wizard’s deceptions and recognized the danger he brought to Olrika and her devoted crew.

Korsynd, after a heated argument with his captain, resigned his commission and left with the soulscryer and his unit of guards; but they shadowed the army movements, looking for the moment to move in and possibly break the wizard’s spell on their Fleetmaster or kill him if possible.

This dichotomy was reflected on the game table as the soulscryer brought in a unit of Ishlaen Guard and Korsynd as a force fighting to keep Olrika’s crew alive in battle against enemies but not directly under her command.

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Tying the narrative to game-play style

I had my narrative background for the army, but I wanted an interesting gameplay mechanic to help me resolve this story through the five games I planned to play at the Rend 4 event. As Rend 4 was going to be the prequel, I knew the Wizard Fawkes had to lose his dragon at some point and take up with a crew of Witch Aelves, so at some point he would leave Olrika and her crew behind, but how did that happen as part of his story? And how could I use the games to weave the plot points of that part of his story?

I wanted to create a narrative list of achievements to overlay across my matched play games. In this way, even if I ended up losing every game I would have a gaming component which could prove interesting to myself, at least. But it also had to be simple to explain to opponents and track.

The archmage Fawkes wanted to persuade Olrika to lead her army in support of his agenda. Olrika felt a knawing unease but couldn’t shake the spell. Korsynd saw the control Fawkes had over the Fleetmaster but was powerless to defeat him directly or break the spell.

I would track each game and the number of times these three characters were removed from the battle. If Fawkes on his dragon was eliminated more than Olrika, then his spell was broken and she resumed full command of her army. Korsynd surviving games also added to her chance of success.

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Playing the Games

Here you can see how I tried to apply those principles and narrative components to each of the games through the weekend.

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Game 1 – the story starts

The first game of the event was against my friend Matt with his colorful Ironjawz. Olrika led a successful raid for souls but was attacked and tangled with an orruk chieftain riding a maw crusha. Her bodyguard of reavers were quickly dispatched, and she was knocked unconscious, Korsynd’s counterattack with his Ishlaen Guard simply too late to save her.

But Fawkes rode a hungry dragon–at one point his dragon ate 11 boyz in two big bites. And his magic proved powerful against the primitive orruks. Olrika’s crew won a major victory (although she was left with a nasty headache for the next game).

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Game 2 – Fawkes’ Dragon is lost

Of course, I knew that after logging a major victory I would be playing against one of the more serious competetive players. I joked with my friends back home that I might end up playing one of the top players at NOVA, let’s call him “Bill” in this article. And, sure enough, I was paired to play “Bill.” My friend Brian, spent the morning sending me encouraging messages, after reading my text about my next opponent, responded: “Okay, I’m not going to lie, that’s a tough draw. Just have fun….”

“Bill” was a fantastic opponent. It may have helped that I cracked open a quart of Black IPA from my favorite local brewery in Virginia and split it with him, to which he said it was his favorite kind of beer. But he was very clear about all his intentions, had a most friendly disposition, and he even contributed to my narrative… by intentionally killing my archmage Fawkes model on dragon before he swooped his phoenix to clean up Olrika and her guard the following battle round.

A major loss against “Bill” put me back close to the bottom of the rankings, and I had the fortune to play against the renowned painter we’ll call “Mike” for the purpose of this article.

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Game 3 – a collaborative story-building game

“Mike” had also enjoyed some beer during game two, and I shared another quart of “Christmas” beer with him before we started. He answered questions about how he painted his Stardrake and incredible Stormcast army, and I think it was at least an hour before we finally finished setting up, decided to play a pure narrative game, and finally rolled for turn priority.

We nearly finished playing through battle round two when “time” was called, and we called it a perfect draw, but not before he made a particular effort, remembering how I had described my narrative dilemma and Olrika being under control of the rogue wizard. He decided to kill my Archmage Fawkes on Dragon in an effort to balance out the losses Olrika had experienced in the first two games.

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Game 4 – still trying to escape Aqshy

Fourth game, Sunday morning, and after a long night drinking and hanging out with some new friends, my army attempted a raid against some Sylvaneth in Aqshy again. The TO apologized for matching me up with the same realmgate table I had lost on the day before, but i told him it fit my army narrative, as Olrika and her army were stuck in that realm and trying to get back to the sea. My opponent knew his army well and showered me with Alarielle’s mystic powers, but he did avoid taking out Olrika and charged Durthu into Fawkes instead.

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Game 5 – the perfect ending

Final game found me playing against the ringer, the awesome guy behind the Rend 4 community, and he completely engaged in my narrative with me, making a special effort to concentrate attacks on Fawkes and take him out so Olrika could finally be free of the charm spell he had weaved around her and her loyal crew. And we also told the story about how Fawkes lost his dragon, surrounded by Khorne blood warriors intent on tearing it apart for their next BBQ feast.

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Conclusions

I placed in the bottom quarter of the player list, with a 2/1/2 win/tie/loss record, which I was pleased by. I had prepared myself mentally to lose every game, which was a good part of why I wanted to create a narrative overlay so that even losing every game could still be interesting to me in the way it charted the story arc of:

• the hold Fawkes had over Fleetmaster Olrika and
• how he came to lose his dragon mount before fleeing into Ghur to escape pursuit in the Fawkes Hunt event the month previously.

This narrative overlay was not my original idea, largely inspired by the guys I worked with to plan the Coalescence global narrative events, namely Ming and the narrative hijack he organized to play during the South Coast GT in 2017 (check out the thread on TGA with the checklist and other details: https://www.tga.community/forums/topic/7855-narrative-hijack-of-scgt-2017/ ).

But rather than try to design a narrative achievement system to propose to the group, I decided just to create my own narrative hijack which only directly affected me, but I was pleased that every opponent was willing to engage me in my effort and even make some decisions, in some instances, to affect the outcome of my narrative.

To be sure, this additional narrative worked well at the Rend 4 event because it was intended to be more than a GT, with strong emphasis on hobby and socialization among players. In a more competitive tournament some opponents may have preferred not to engage with my army narrative and some could even view it as a kind of “slow play” but in this case, making efforts to streamline my narrative into something easy for me to track at the end of each game (I only tallied up when each of my three main heroes were removed from the table in respect to each other), and providing a brief, two-minute explanation to each opponent before the game began, it didn’t take away much time from the round to play through and resolve each game.

I want to encourage any narrative minded players to consider giving this a shot, creating an army narrative for their army and sign up to play in a competitive event. This can be as simple as writing a bit of narrative text to include with copies of your army list to something integrated with rules to determine the outcome of what’s at stake for the heroes involved. And to those more competitive minded players out there, please remember this game is more than chess to many of us. The time and attention poured into hobby, painting, and transporting an army to a big event and travelling a significant distance, has many of us craving more than just establishing a win/loss record.

Hey all, today I have a summary of the Labyrinth, a narrative Age of Sigmar event recently run by the Auckland Model Citizens club.  Andy Long, our local NEO (@golongdesign) put on a great one day event with an amazing set of resources.  Andy definitely put his graphic designing talents to great use creating an epic card deck, mission packs and collection of the players’ individual narratives.  You can find all the resources for the event at the bottom of the page and catch an interview with Andy over on We Are The NEON.

As always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming.  Garry at DFM provided some epic terrain for the event.  Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive.  Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.

The Labyrinth of Eternity – A Legend Revealed

In the depths of Shyish, an ancient empire long since thought extinct and forgotten, housed their greatest treasures and their very bodies in a place they considered so secure they assumed none would ever be able to defile it’s sanctity. A mighty necropolis so vast that it took generations and millennia to construct. They called their mighty construct The Labyrinth of Eternity.

In the millennia that followed, many a tale was told of the pyramids at the centre of the labyrinth and the powerful relics they housed. Treasure hunters and scholars alike speculated on the details, but all agreed on one thing – the relics, while powerful beyond measure, were all but unobtainable.

The said no sorcery could break its many layered charms and curses. No map could chart the wicked traps and convoluted mind bending architecture. The stories all agreed, it was impenetrable.

That was until the great Necromancer unleashed the necroquake.

The protections undone, a once great myth was revealed as truth and the illusionary spell that kept the Labyrinth hidden fell. Within the endless deserts of the Voidscape on the wild borders of eastern edge of the realm of Shyish lay prizes and treasures too powerful to be allowed into the hands of our dreaded enemies.

Narrative Event Pack

The Labyrinth of Eternity was a three round, 1,000 point narrative Age of Sigmar event aimed at introducing players to the joy of narrative play.

How the Exploration Dynamic Works

Between each round, the players explore the Labyrinth.

How the Explore Phase works

One player at a time, players explore the Labyrinth. Any cards drawn will either go into your hand, OR be discarded in the pile beside their correct deck. Once a deck is exhausted, the cards are shuffled up and returned as a fresh deck.

The cards are organised into three decks, North, East and West. When a player begins to explore, they can pull from any of the three decks, but many cards will dictate which card deck they can next be picked up from. Eg Path: Corridors force you to pick again from the
same deck, whereas many of the more flavourful cards, such as Pitfall, will allow you to pick up from any deck.

Some cards force you to pass your turn onto the next player. If this happens you’ll be put to the back of the queue but retain any cards you accrued in your first explore. If there are no more elligible players, then you will simply continue on.

Your Explore Phase ends at the moment you draw a Ream Chamber card, and any cards left in your hand that are unuseable in the next game are discarded into their decks.

Assigning tables and match-ups

Once all the Explorers have completed their Explore Phases, tables can be assigned. On the first round, as there are no winners or losers yet, so only one deck will be presented. From the second mission on, two decks will be shown, a player 1 deck for victors and a player 2 deck for losers.

The card will dictate which realm the game is to be played in, and which player they are for the purposes of the mission.

Using bonus cards in the game

Before the mission begins, reveal to your opponent what boons and curses you have got from your Explore Phase and apply the rules as instructed by the cards.  Some cards will delay your units, thus preventing them from being setup. In these cases, you must declare the unit is delayed as one of your deployments for the purposes of who goes first in the mission.

Epic Effects

After the first mission, Epic Effect cards will be added to the decks. These units could have a profound effect on the game.

Narrative Missions

The event was played over three missions inspired by moments from Indiana Jones.

Round 1 – The Reaches

‘That old man better not have been lying…’ you think. Your army slowly rounds the pass, your soldiers’ hunched weariness suddenly becomes more alert, lively. As you see it your own fatigue falls away too.

After many leagues of searching your arrive at one of the gates to the labyrinth. Mighty chains hang from the huge doors. You order your strongest to pull them open. A seal that is mounted over the door cracks in half; a wave of air is sucked in akin to the door taking a dying breath.

The arch now clear, you stare down the corridor with some trepidation. Part of you knows this is to be your destiny, the signs that brought you here told you as much.

The old man steps from the gate. ‘good, you made it’ he croaks. Alert, you draw your weapon.

‘how are you here, sorcerer?, what is this? A trick?’ The old decrepid man makes a heaving gutteral noise before he speaks.

‘Tricks? This is unimportant… you are here. That is what matters.’ He clears his throat again.

‘Before you lies the burial tomb of The Great Pharon. A place you know as The Labyrinth of Eternity…’

A titter of disquiet pulses through your army, you shoot your head around, and they fall silent, fearing your wrath more than some legend.

‘Enter here and find your reward’. He smiles at this. You greatly distrust this man as your army begins the march into the gate.

The Curse from Mission 1.

Round 2 – The Outer Annulet

You had dared to allow yourself the thought, even for a second that this was too easy. The realm antechamber had changed all that. You lead your forces forward, leaving the horror of the Antechamber behind you.

Casualties have been high, how much more of this infernal maze is left? You feel you know the answer to this question before you had even finished thinking it.

‘You’ve only just begun’ rasps the old man. Again you draw your weapon, but you know in your heart this show of instinctual force would be useless against this stranger.

‘Speak your piece and be done with it, sorcerer!’ Your rage fuelled response surprises even you, you know by showing emotion you’re losing the battle of wits with this strange decrepid foe.

‘Take the Ark to the ritual, deep within the outer annulet, the true labyrinth. Remember, the Ark is but a test, the first of many. Only they who are truly worthy shall receive the prize.

The man’s laugh echoes long after he has vanished. You silently vow you’ll kill this man.

Round 3 – The Inner Circle

The ritual completed, the great gates securing the inner section of the Labyrinth are annihilated by the destructive spell. Wearily you lead your army onward. The trials that have beset them are draining, but with your sheer force of will you drive them onwards. Victory
or death! There is no third option.

The maze of the inner sanctum has become tight. Its old, eons old. It’s slow going now with rubble and debris strewn across the ground. Some chambers are full of sand, others flooded with stagnant water.

You enter a open room full of old statues, a relief from the cramped corridors. A throne resides in the centre, and upon it… ‘You!’

The old man is now dressed in ornate gold finery. He looks at home within the throne room.

‘You lead us to our deaths, demon!’ you spit out.

‘Maybe so’. He feigns innocence. ‘Or maybe riches beyond reckoning. It’s far too late to turn back.’

You slash your weapons at the man, he turns to a wisp. Then returns to solid form now smiling.

‘Enough of this. Through those doors, right over there. You will face your final trial. It’s nearly over for you.’

Aftermath – The Choosing

Your armies decimated, victory has come at near supreme cost. So many dead, so much bloodshed. You alone approach the glowing portal.

Time itself melts away as you find yourself in a strange chamber, full of crowns. Crowns of all shapes and sizes.

What is this? Other beings seem to stand in your place, other champions from the maze? I thought I was the only one? Just when you think you can perceive them, they fade away, as if the name of an old acquaintance you can’t quit put your finger on.

The old man beckons you forward. Of course he would be here. He seems changed, wait, is he an old man? He seems younger?

‘Choose my Lord’s crown but choose wisely, for glory awaits the wise, and only the pain of death awaits the foolish.’ he says confidently, powerfully.

You look at the crowns, you’ve seen all of the clues, you know who this Phraon is surely? With no small trepidation think you know which one, you pick it up and place it upon your head…

The third mission was designed so victorious players would have an opportunity to win the day! The mission’s victory condition requires a player to control an objective and select a unit within range as their champion—a single survivor who could be worthy of the prize at the centre of the labyrinth—however if neither player controlled the objective, both players would lose!

The champion takes whatever wounds they had remaining and attempt the test of worthiness to wear the Crown of the Phaeron, the narrative of which is a room full of crowns, only one of which is blessed while the others are cursed. This was represented in gaming terms by another deck of 37 cards, only one of which is the Crown. The rest of the cards dealt mortal wounds representing a poorly chosen crown.

Andy believes that narrative tournaments should not be decided by who won the most, but rather by an extra element driven by story. In this case the aftermath condition proved a great leveler of the tournament in that while some players had won all of their missions, it was possible that any player could win the day (or did they? Dum dum duuum).

You have chosen wisely… (or not….)

You place the Crown atop your head. The Lich smirks, ‘you have chosen wisely’.

Instantly your mind floods with the knowledge of the Great God Pharon Shapeshothep the IV; fourth of his name, that is anointed by Shapesh, also called the Magnificent, the Majestic, and the Eternal Tyrant. In your mind’s eye, you can see mystic arts long lost, engineering knowledge beyond fathoming, wonders beyond reckoning—with these powers indeed you will be the most powerful ruler to ever live!

Wait… what is happening?

The Lich begins to laugh. You hear a voice, but can see no source. You try to take off the crown, but you can’t move!

Your vision goes black. The voice in your mind speaks with your mouth.

‘Free! After eons at last I am free! This pitiful being shall be my new body and I shall take my revenge on my enemies who imprisoned me in this infernal Labyrinth.’ The Lich bows before you.

Narrative Resources

• Mission Pack
• Explore Phase
• Playboard
• Table Rules
• Tales of the Labyrinth
• Cards East
• Cards North
• Cards Realm Chambers
• Cards The Crown
• Cards West

 

While I am getting back into the swing of things, I thought I would post a copy of my first article on Warhammer Community on incorporating narrative within your next Age of Sigmar army project.  You can find the article here. 

With a new edition of Warhammer often comes the desire to start a new army or hobby project. In this article, I’ll be exploring the narrative side of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and giving some practical tips on how to weave a story into your next project.

For me, Warhammer has always been about stories – two players spending time together to share an experience. For some, the idea of narrative play or sketching out a background for an army can be daunting, but a narrative can also be engaging, collaborative and rewarding, without being a burden or barrier to fun.

Getting inspired

Inspiration can be found in many places:

• a particular model – maybe the Everqueen herself, a schemer such as Morathi or the mysterious Lady Olynder
• a lore snippet or character in a battletome or Black Library work
• a game that you played –  a previously unnamed character may earn a story based on their exploits in battle
• a hobby goal – a desire to try new colour schemes, or to improve your conversions
• an existing aesthetic – maybe something from history or folklore

Inspiration can be fickle, though, so how do you increase the chances that a great idea will strike?  One method is to expose yourself to the creative work of others – follow other hobbyists on social media, trawl Google image searches, read Black Library stories and cross-pollinate from art, film or other fantasy series.  You’d be surprised how often a great hobby idea will hit you while doing something completely different.

Along the way, collect your ideas together – vision boards (either physical or digital) are an excellent way to gather your project ideas in one place.  Here is mine for my Free City in Shyish.

Developing your narrative

Once you have your idea, how do you develop it and flesh it out?  For me, the best way is to focus on motivations and ask primary questions: why, where, how etc:

• Who is your central character? That character might be an individual, a group, or even a city.
• Where have they come from? What is their past? How has that past influenced them to be what they are now?
• How is the character connected to others? Friends, family and enemies.  Who are they loyal to?
• What is the character’s social class?  Where do they sit in wider society?
• Does the character have a signature item, trait or behaviour?  This item doesn’t have to be a mighty weapon, but could be a simple tool, keepsake or relic. What’s the history of that item, where did it come from?  Why is it treasured?
• What is motivating the character now and guiding future action? What are their aims?
• With whom might the character interact in achieving those aims? How do those third parties react to your character? 

You don’t need to know all the answers to these questions to start. An effective narrative can sprout from just a couple of strong hooks and immediately compelling points. Leave yourself open space for future development and character exploration. There is a balance to be struck between broad strokes and fine details.

Filling in the details

There are plenty of resources that can help you work on the details.  Name generators and sites listing the origins of names are very useful.  For my projects I often create portmanteau words from Old Norse, Old English and Celtic – Draumhafn (“Dream Haven”) is the name of my Free City in Shyish.  It seemed an apt name in this time of portents. There are also map and colour scheme generators for fleshing out your ideas.

Collaboration drives narrative development

While these resources help provide raw material, narratives are best developed between people. Share your ideas with your local gaming group or with other like-minded gamers. These discussions can explore possibilities that you may never have considered alone. The experience can also be incredibly motivating, just as setting goals to paint your army can help you achieve that goal, sharing ideas drives on your hobby project.

I shared the ideas behind my Draumhafn force with a number of friends, who all contributed their time to discuss the background with me. Draumhafn has emerged as a large maritime port in Shyish built on trade with aelves. The city has an outpost of the Anvils of Heldenhammer, as well as scrying towers and auguries. A Kharadron Overlords skyport, Barak Stil, is assisting the city’s Collegiate Arcane in searching the skies for portents of Nagash’s works as times become desperate (this narrative was developed before the Necroquake and the rise of the Nighthaunts).

Applying the narrative to your army

If you have a background, you can express that in your models.  It can be as simple as naming the hero or unit and providing a short background, modelling on a prized possession or weapon, or a complete scratch build to meet the vision in your head (check out the Warhammer Community team’s Free City armies).  Consider starting a separate project bits box, just for interesting pieces which could fit the theme of your army.

A common image – banners, shields and symbols

A shared theme or symbol is an effective way of producing a cohesive army with a shared sense of identity around your narrative.  For Draumhafn, its symbol is the raven surrounded by a circle of thorns and it has a black and yellow colour scheme. As a result, I’ve been collecting as many spare Dark Rider shields and banners as possible to produce a cohesive army, despite the intended kit-bashes.

A reason for conversions

My narrative has also driven my Celestial Hurricanum conversion based on a Kharadron Overlords Frigate.  In exchange for a substantial payment, the captain of the skyvessel agreed to replace the front buoyancy endrin with a device produced by the city’s collegiate arcane in order to scry the heavens for portents.   The vessel is crewed by the ship’s captain, his trusted navigator in the rear endrin (no self-respecting captain would leave his navigator), and representatives from the city’s collegiate arcane and engineer’s guild.

Advancing your narrative

Finally, it is important to remember that a narrative or background never stands still – it will evolve as your initial idea interacts with the models you build and the games you play.

It can help to bear in mind the classic staple of story-telling which is the hero’s journey.  Your hero starts in the “known” – the elements that you have worked on above, the call to adventure, the hero’s background etc.  However, as your hero moves into the unknown they will encounter helpers and challenges.

With the new Core Book and General’s Handbook 2018, there are so many ways that you can realise your narrative on the table-top.  You could start with Skirmish or Path to Glory campaigns, you could run a number of small games on the same weekend or evening, or run a slow grow tree campaign complete with maps and territories (either in a physical form or electronic).  As games progress, you can convert your models to reflect the ongoing story. Add trinkets, battle trophies, scars and more. You may also wish to take your army or warband on campaign to a Narrative event such as Realms at War, Warhammer Achievements or your local Coalescence event.    

If you run a campaign, think about how you can interlink your narrative with the others in your campaign. Drive the characters’ motivations off each other and compete over a common objective. Record key moments from games and the narrative either in notebooks or a blog. Use the time between games to revisit the narrative, consider next moves, and explore the wider landscape. To help, you may wish to have one person take responsibility for overseeing the group’s story development and ensuring that the games help integrate the group’s ideas and ambitions.

Good luck!

Hopefully this has given you some ideas for incorporating narrative into your next Warhammer Age of Sigmar project.  Just remember, narrative can be as small or as comprehensive as you wish, and is always better with friends.