Index Mardannon: Urbanus Scapulare Subsector

Urbanus Scapulare Subsector

								1	UrbanusTotalus
	1		2				4	2	Tetrazom
								3	AegisBrutalis
								4	Silencia
			3

The Steel Heart of War

Outside of the lone stronghold of Imperial might, the entirety of Urbanus Scapulare subsector is embroiled in titanic war.  From Urbanus Totalus, the war for the subsector is plotted by some of the best minds in the Imperium.  Indeed, Urbanus Totalus has a long history of powerful warlords, and the planet Refugium is a shrine world dedicated to the Warmaster of the Old Crusade, Kiernan Mardannon himself.

The struggle has become rather one-sided of late.  Unfortunately for the Imperium, many different enemies have brought war to different portions of the subsector.  Xenos overrun several worlds, even systems.  Heretic armies push across the void from a star so ridden with Chaos that daemons cluster upon the surface of its worlds.

Hope is not lost, however.  With Battlefleet Scapulare gathering in force at Urbanus Totalus and the mobilization of no less than ten Imperial Guard regiments from across the sector, the Imperials have one final card to play – a subsector wide crusade meant to rip the fight from the foes of man and fling them back into the starry abyss from whence they came.

Urbanus Totalus System

• Urbanus Mundanus 

• History:  An ancient world that belonged to tribes of men before the Old Crusade, Urbanus Totalus was brought back into the fold of the Imperium after centuries of being lost, cut off by massive Warp Storms in the region.  Ancient hives teem across its surface, having been made in pre-Imperial days of the Age of Strife.  They have been added on to in the countless centuries since, and now Urbanus Mundanus is a place almost totally covered by the endless sprawl of the hives. 

• Geography:  Urbanus Mundanus appears as a mass of tiny lights from orbit, some in massive circular patterns denoting the bulk of the old hives from long ago.  Almost all of the sea has either been boiled away or is built over, so that much of the sprawl actually rests atop the seas or contains it in massive and ancient aqueducts. 

• Inhabitants:  The people of Urbanus Mundanus are inured to some of the most hellish conditions in the Imperium, and also a great many of its perks.  Therefore a great many different kinds of folk can be found amidst the endless sprawl, from hideous mutoid looters skulking in the Forbidden Depths beneath the seas or indeed, the most decorated officers in Battlefleet Scapulare. 

• Galbinus Perbeatum 

• History:  Also belonging to the same pre-Imperial collection of human space-faring civilizations from the Age of Strife as the nearby Urbanus Mundanus, this world hasn’t been developed as severely.  The bulk of the Imperial presence here is actually in the sky, where a massive array of space platforms, satellites and moon bases provide the base of operations for subsector Battlefleet Command.  The people below are knowledgeable Imperial citizens who are amongst some of the most well-traveled folk in the entire Imperium. 

• Geography:  Consisting of 3 large continents and 5 smaller ones, Galbinus enjoys a great deal of ecological preservation.  Large areas of wilderness still abound, even though the surface of the planet has been developed to a great degree with large and medium size cities. 

• Inhabitants:  The residents of Galbinus Perbeatum typically belong to some Imperial Office or Guilder Trade Union.  Almost every citizen will belong to an identifiable official body, a by product of the presence of the Battlefleet Command and inscrutable security measures in place by the Administratum.  

• Refugium 

• History:  Refugium is one of the oldest settled planets in the subsector.  Almost five thousand years ago, the people who lived on Refugium were quite happy to see the Imperial fleet arrive, just in time to destroy an ork pirate fleet that had besieged the planet’s defenses.  Warmaster Mardannon lived here after the Old Crusade had come to an end, and after his death Refugium was declared a holy place – a shrine world to the liberator of Urbanus Totalus. 

• Geography:  Refugium has nine continents and a temperate climate, with drinkable water (in some places) and breathable air.  Most of the inhabitants live in Imperial cities on the largest habitable continent, located in the western hemisphere.  

• Inhabitants:  By and large, the populace of Refugium go about their day as people on an ideal Imperial world would do, however the Ministorum in very present in the social activities of the everyday citizen.  Rites honoring the Emperor and the Saint are carried out daily, and folk are told much about the hostile galaxy in which they live and are protected from by the Imperium.

Tetrazom System

• Tetrazom Tertius 

• History:  Once a majestic agri-world terraformed flat almost three thousand years previous, Tetrazom Tertius is now infamous throughout the sector for the massive attacks upon it by outside forces.  Nearly fifty years ago, the planet was settled by an enclave of Tau from the other side of the galaxy.  Soon after, it was enveloped by a tide of Orks and Chaos.  It has never recovered, and is nearly lost entirely to the Imperium. 

• Geography:  Though composed of five large continents and three smaller ones in a favorable temperate climate, the planet is one of the most hostile in all the sector.  Orks, servants of Chaos and aliens all stalk the wildernesses between the Imperial cities, and in some cases inhabit the fallen cities themselves, as is the case with the emerging Tau nation. 

• Inhabitants:  Imperial strength is still strong in many places on the surface and in the asteroid mines in deep orbit further out in the system.  However, there is rampant lawlessness in areas ravaged by orks or Chaos champions.  Many Imperial citizens have betrayed the Emperor and made pact with the xenos Tau, who have fortified cities they have taken from the Imperium.

Aegis Brutalis System

• Novus Fideles 

• History:  Nearly five thousand years ago, during the Old Crusade, Imperial forces encountered a temperate planet with an indigenous warrior culture.  Swiftly integrated into the Imperium, the people of Novus Fideles have continued that tradition throughout their service to the Emperor.  The Scion Houses of Novus Fideles and their Knights provided a valuable defense, but now their world has been sundered by xenos monstrosities from Hive Fleet Kraken.  One year ago, a dormant hive ship slipped into the system and began the tyrannic cycle. 

• Geography:  Composed of several topographic features spread across 8 continents, Novus Fideles is a large and lush world not too spoiled by mankind’s industry.  However, large portions of the inner continents are being subsumed by a growing tyranid threat. 

• Inhabitants:  The inhabitants of Novus Fideles are technologically advanced, but feudal in their day to day mindset.  Here we see peasants and knights alongside lasguns and tyranids.  The cultures shock can be strong for visitors, and less so for the Fideles, who tend to get over such wonders quickly due to the influence of the Forge Worlds at Incendia Paeniteo…they’ve seen great wonders and accept them as the work of the Emperor. 

• Excerpo Infideles 

• History:  The forge-hives of Excerpo Infideles were erected almost four thousand years ago, after the Mechanicus completed the terraforming of a planet close to Novus Fideles in the same system.  Since then, the hives have produced Knights and their armaments, though not to the extent of full blown Forge Worlds.  Now, fragments of Hive Fleet Kraken have infested the system and draw strength while gathering in the barren wilds of the planet. 

• Geography:  Excerpo Infideles is a barren planet, with little water save greenish bodies high in saline and in some cases, a corrosive acid.  Four large bodies of water exist within the barren expanse, though they are not safe for consumption.  Little other life exists on the planet, and what does is invariably inimical to human life. 

• Inhabitants:  The few inhabitants of the planet are either hive workers or Mechanicus adepts.  Currently, the population defends the hives from the tyrannic assault while holding out for Imperial aid.  We can only pray to the Emperor himself that it arrives in time.

Silencia System

• Silencia Majoris 

• History:  Three thousand years ago, Silencia was discovered by explorator fleets in Urbanus Scapulare.  The indigenous humans were feudal level, and steeped in mystical lore.  Imperial wisdom soon prevailed, and Majoris became a thriving Imperial world.  However, five hundred years past a terrible warp storm brought legions of Chaos to the world, and soon reality cracked apart to create a full blown daemonic infestation.  A quarantine station was set up outside the system, and the system remains uninhabited to this date – except by the daemons of chaos upon its tortured surface. 

• Geography:  Most of the records of Majoris were deleted, but infrequent patrols through the system show a planet in major volcanic and seismological upheaval.  The continents seem to shift about, and rivers of molten lava flow freely upon the surface. 

• Inhabitants:  None known.  All Imperial citizens were purged or evacuated hundreds of years ago.  The only Imperial presence in the entire system is a deep space quarantine station used by the Navy en route out of or into the sector.  The station is heavily guarded by many Navy warships, but is limited to authorized personnel only. 

• Silencia Minoris 

• History:  Silencia Minoris is a small planetoid in the outer portion of the Silencia system, and is widely believed to be a base for interstellar pirates, most notable a large contingent of Chaos Space Marines.  The disposition of these alleged resources on the planet is unknown.  Indeed, even the presence of the arch-enemy’s forces here is unverified and only speculated at in the highest circles of the Inquisition. 

• Geography:  Silencia Minoris is a barren, frozen rock riddled with miles-deep caves.  It has no atmosphere. 

• Inhabitants:  Unknown, suspected renegade Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines and other undesirable.

Rulebook Ruminations: Forces of Warmachine

Ah, the mighty army book.  We see a lot of them come and go, mostly for Games Workshop games.  Today I want to take a moment to talk about the line that brings our Warmachine armies to life, Forces of Warmachine.  These books detail all the units used by each of the armies of the Iron Kingdoms in lavish detail.

The books are extremely high quality, printed on nice glossy paper in full color.  Each of them is packed with huge and colorful artwork, vividly bringing to life the warriors of the kingdoms.  Also included is a more complete background treatment for your force, at least more complete than the ones given in the basic rulebook.  There's also a good sized story opening each volume, to get that extra bit of characterization.

One of the best things about this line is that you don't really need them to game.  All the unit's important stats are given on it's card, which you get when you buy the model (unless it's second hand or from another edition).  Really you want the cards anyway, but the Forces books are nice to have for that extra completeness.  There's a wealth of information on individual units that simply can't be put on a card, but none of it mechanical in nature.

This line was also one of the first to introduce the concept of having hardcover army books to game-dom at large.  Forces of Warmachine volumes are available in both soft and hard cover formats, which adds a great deal to the value for a lot of folks.  It seems to have spread - Battlefront and Games Workshop are starting to turn out better hardcovers, even for the army books and expansions.

All told, if you're considering Warmachine you should definitely pick up the Forces of Warmachine book for  your army.  The characterizations alone are valuable for our narratives, and the books themselves are beautiful.  They look fantastic in a set too, so if you're a collector watch out for these volumes.  You might find them slowly taking up more and more space on your shelf...

The Raiders of the Ruthless East and the DM

In the vast and hugely marketed world of source books and scripts, Middle Earth is a prime place for adventure that is still fresh and unknown to many seasoned gamers.  Not only did this entire campaign happen in Middle Earth, it began simply in Mordor.  Thats right friends, Evil Roleplaying was happening from the start.

Using 3.0 Dungeons & Dragons core rules and various Middle Earth media, I shaped a dark land called Mordor into a the prime ground for evil roleplay. My name is Jerry Wargate, and I will take you on a crash course into my campaign (of Evil!).  I made this campaign because I was told it could not be done, that it wouldn't be fun, that Middle Earth was played out.  Most importantly, I made it out of a long love for Middle Earth.

The long and murderous campaign is now over, leaving in its wake a long list of dead PC's, permanently disfigured characters, as well as over half the party ending the game at level 1.  As DM and responsible master of this campaign, I wish to explain (and even encourage) this state of roleplay that is Mordor.

I started this campaign with the long time dream of simply playing the servants of Mordor, but I little expected the full blunt and hard hitting truths about such servants and the way of life that comes with being employed by the Dark Lord.  I opened with a talk to my players about what we all expected and tolerated in advance, but no one had any real clue of the madness they were entering.  I expected quarreling and tribal leaderships.  I tolerated most all PC interaction: be it fighting, stealing, cannibalism, ect.

Evil Roleplaying in fantasy seems to be frowned upon by alot of gamers.  Myself I always root for the bad guy - the villian or henchman.  They are always more interesting and human than the heroes.  All rp gamers should experience evil roleplay once.  Its a great change-up of speed and makes for a lot of interesting roleplay.  A lot
of players tend to become set on a certain character or class that is constantly re-rolled for every campaign and session.  This can make the gaming stale.

Murder and Robbery were constant!  No loot was really looted correctly until someone died over it.  Only one magical item ever came into the groups' possession.  4 murders over many weekends, and all for a +1 sword.  I kept the magical loot scarce to increase tensions, and I think it did well.  PC's robbing other PC's became a daily routine.

I give a 5 star rating to the group for actual roleplay!  I saw alot of players realing making a good hard push to perform in-character roleplay, and somehow being a badguy is easy roleplay for our group.

I allowed the dead to reroll characters and return to the group at level 1 a few times (more than 10 times).  I believe only 2 deaths were from actual monster or questing play.

Everyone was pleased with that. The group lost three different leaders (bosses) during the length of the campaign.  All in all this was an awesome campaign I enjoyed it, my players enjoyed it, and I hope others will delve into this experience.

Additional Notes

Character Creation
I limited everyone to the Half-Orc race, followed with the class choices of Fighter, Rogue, Barbarian.  Simple and elegant, Middle Earth allowed no orc wizards, orc bards, or orc clerics.  With game integrity in mind, I wanted no magic users or heavy healers, as no over skilled orc ever existed.  I allowed virtually nothing as far as gear and items went, this was done to further the fact orcs are many and never well equiped often.

Player Disclaimer
The first night of play I left my PC's know what I expected and would tolerate. Backstabbing, robbing, murdering, conspiracy, mutiny, cannibalism, lying, ect. is totally expected and tolerated.  I wanted an orc mob that was by the books.  Evil turns on evil often, so why not let us delve into the darkness and depravity?

Game Play
In game the Dark lord musters his forces to train as a military force.  Our PC's were forged into a war party through their trials and tribulations.  Over the period of many weeks and many adventures we ended with 3 of 10 players surviving to level 3, all other players who died were allowed rerolls new characters as raw recruits.

DM Notes
I never could have expected so much murder and thievery, even out of a band of orcs.  The PC's seemed to enjoy the gameplay as much as I did!  No weekend went without some excitement or wild happenings.  Murder and mutiny, thievery and swindling!  It had it all.  Over 12 deaths occured... 90% were Player Killings!

I was also glad everyone roleplayed and then afterwards had no hard feelings on the game. This was a game to be played and explored, and I think it was worthy.  Absolutely not one named character from the book interacted with our PC's, no ring was ever found, and only the dead ones were the lucky ones.  Mordor forced some of the best roleplay Ive seen our club do in a while.

I think also this idealism has allowed my PC's to experience death on an epic game level.  Making a 3.0 character sheet is easy for everyone now!  And it has also taught the lesson.  Its just a game and I can have fun at level one, roleplaying, with absolutely nothing but my character.  I appreciate everyone who played, and I hope soon we can return to Mordor for more of this awesome gameplay.

The Quest for the Doomforge Begins

Almost two years ago,  we started the first campaign that's actually on record here at the Wargate.  We had already finished with World of Warcraft by then, and had actually been doing some roleplay before it became serious.  We played Space Marine before there was Death Watch and even lived through the end of the old World of Darkness.  Then, we started a game of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and took it a little too seriously.  Now, we're about to revisit the characters we had when we first started the website and adopted the name:  The Wargate!

There are a ton of articles on the site that deal with our history on this.

To begin with, here's our recap of the last campaign.

And a briefing on Khazid Grimaz itself.

Mordheim campaign log taking place in the Delve, just after the discovery of the Alderhalls.

And a snippet from our short mini-campaign last summer.

And our Warhammer Fantasy Battle campaign focused on Wissenland during this time.

We've dovetailed a lot of games into this storyline - meaning that our new campaign, The Doomforge is actually the capstone to what will be 2 solid years of gaming with our friends the dwarfs.

Check out the new campaign page for The Doomforge here!

We've got a lot more players than we did when we first played these characters.  I hope everyone has had a fun and exciting time, and enjoys how our campaigns fit together so nicely.  One of the best parts of the club, for me, is getting to watch our stories play out in a continuous narrative.

As for our characters, all the characters in this campaign will be eligible for a very special award.  Find out more as the game rolls on!  See you on Game Day!

Raiders of the Ruthless East Campaign Log

Raiders 

of the 

Ruthless East

Mordor is where the heart is...or has been cut out.

Mordor is a large and terrible territory.  For general information, much has been already said about the Dark Land.  Novices in Tolkien lore would do well to start here with the Wikipedia entry, and that repository of knowledge has tons of lore in digestible little chunks for your brains to chew on.

Here, we're going to busy ourselves with a few special places unique to this story.  They are, in no particular order:

• The Hole - The smelly, rank warren where our player characters live.  Dug into the rocky plain near Barad-Dur, the Hole isn't what many would consider a safe home base, but it works for the Raiders of the Ruthless East.
• The Forges - Rancid fumes and blistering heat emerge further up the mountain than the Hole.  In this place, the orc taskmasters make sure the slaves and lesser orcs keep pounding away at their metal and anvils, making weapons and armor for the Dark Lord.
• The Pass of Poros - A way out of the dark of Mordor, to the South.  A very narrow pass, it is easily guarded by a small unit of orcs.
• Sea of Nurnen - A huge inland lake filled with briny and bitter waters, the area around the lake is actually quite fertile.  Most of the food that feeds Sauron's armies comes from this single region.

---

This is a log for the campaign sessions in the Ruthless East Mordor campaign.

1. Horseflesh Soup - The group is corralled together by Mordor's most vicious taskmasters, and made the lift heavy objects, fight for their lives, and squabble over terrible stew.
2. Chasing Dwarflings - A dwarf smith escaped from the Forge, but not for long.  Our characters were unleashed to find him, and after much adventure managed to head him off.  The dwarf got his revenge by creeping up on two wounded orc players and dispatching them, proving that one should never rest, or try to be compassionate in Mordor!
3. Draggin' tha Sack - The party recoups it's losses and drags the dwarfling all the way back across the plains of Mordor to the Forge!  On the way they encounter feral hobgoblins and kobold traders whose liquor stacks the odds against hungry orcs!
4. Ogre in Ithilien - Forlorn the Toothlord is late in delivering his tribute to Boss Nokk, and he orders the characters to enter the forest of Ithilien and find out why there's been a holdup in the arrangement.  The players navigate the dangers of Ithilien, and at least one or two contemplate running (away from Mordor!!), but the objective is shortly at hand.  A few swings of the blade later, and the party was in possession of a fine set of warglings and an ogre skull for the camp's totem pole!
5. Lake Nurnen - The most murderous time yet, several of the party fall victim to infighting.  In fact, the mortality rate in the Mob is growing disastrously high, mostly due to skullduggery amongst the players themselves!  During a mission south to the huge lake that dominates southern Mordor, the Mob returns to the Forge to find the Uruk-Hai warders less than pleased with their unruly behavior.
6. Gifts of Mordor (Commenced 12/11/2011) - The most unruly and rotten time of all!  The player mob was sent south into Harad to deliver a box of scrolls, 'gifts' of the Dark Lord to one of his vassals.  There was great skulduggery on the trail, and murderous mayhem was engaged in.  Once the PC party arrived at their destination, they realized they'd been had - the box of scrolls was gone!  Lost somewhere, perhaps trampled in the mud or ditched along with a body.  Much sacrifice was made, but in the end the group recovered the black box and delivered it safely to it's correct destination.  

Upon arrival in the Forge, the group receives many accolades for bravery and disfigurement!  A few even managed to gain the lofty level of 3 - never obtained in this campaign!

---

The Campaign is over!  Jerry will be bringing us his thoughts on the whole ordeal later this week!  I want to say thanks to everyone who played, everyone was a great sport about the whole mess.  Robbery, extortion, murder plots - this game had it all!  This is one campaign that was actually more about player interaction and group politics, as one had to be cunning and powerful to stay alive.  Everyone had Neutral and Evil alignments, and let me tell you - haters are rampant round these parts!


All in all was a blast, and Jerry Wargate has promised we'll return to Middle-Earth soon in his next game!

Gangs of New Waco Campaign Log

Gangs 

of 

New Waco

Necromunda Campaign 2011

Scourge and purge!

In the Gregoriam system of Pandaemus, the settled world of New Waco has developed well since it was first settled in the Old Crusade to reclaim the Mardannon Sector nearly five thousand years ago.  The world has a thriving industry, but the environment itself has been unforgiving.  In the midst of a famine that has rocked the world to its core, wars of heresy threaten to engulf the (basically) productive world in fire and madness.

Several street gangs have formed where once there were peaceful worshippers of the Emperor.  The Anointed Terran Force has been working to bring food to the masses, but recently the cult of the Redemption has made it's way to this frontier world.  Now, the divergent philosophies of these two Imperial cults have polarized the population even further, and violence seems to be the only conclusion either side has been driven to.

Behold the forbidding and arid landscape of New Waco.

Imperial forces are thin in this sector.  The Adeptus Arbites precinct here is undermanned, but has been performing riot control around the capital to keep out the worst of the looters and zealots.  To this end, mercenaries from off-world have been hired to help keep the peace amongst the population until this period of rebellion passes.

The real fear is how far the religious fanaticism will continue to change the surface of the planet's political worlds.  Between mercy and purgation, the souls of those on New Waco hang in the balance as a few well placed bands of warriors take up the battle in the name of freedom, or penance, or just plain credits.

Fighting Groups on New Waco

1. Adeptus Arbites - The beleaguered defenders of Imperial law on New Waco need a lot of support if they are to hold out.  Unfortunately, the situation has deteriorated to the point that firefights with supposedly allied Imperial forces are occurring with alarming regularity.  If the Arbites cannot forge order out of the anarchy, full scale rebellion may well break out.
2. House Semetov Pilgrims - The trading guild House Semetov regularly sends its warriors on pilgrimages to nearby worlds of religious importance, such as Vestesia or Vae Salubrious.  A group of these militant pilgrims have pledged their arms to restore order on an Imperial world they are visiting on the way to their holy destination - New Waco.
3. Band of Basterds - A team of mercenaries hired by the New Waco government to help quell the uprisings.  Not is all as it seems, as this group of rogues have their own agenda on this planet and a shadowy connection to the Inquisition itself.
4. Lumisi Interdiction Team - Responding to a plea from the planetary governor of New Waco, the Lumisi Imperial Guard raised a small regiment to help garrison the planet.  These teams have spread out among the cities of New Waco to add strength to the Arbites, but misunderstandings and strange occurrences have made the Lumisi less eager to help the inhabitants of the planet, and more eager to preserve themselves until help arrives.
5. Anointed Terran Fraternity - A remnant of the Frateris Militia of olden times, these religious zealots have a specific interpretation of the Imperial Creed that teaches that mercy for fellow humans is the best way to improve the spiritual state of man.  This puts them directly at odds with the Redemptionists, and the clashes between the two sects spur the populace at large to acts of extreme violence and terrorism.
6. The Red Redemption - The Redemption is alive and well on New Waco.  The cultists here are on a specific mission - convert the populace to their militant and unforgiving doctrine.  The sect leader on New Waco has already attained a large following, and his influence with the masses grows as the acts of violence continue.
7. New Waco Ratskins - Natives to the deserts around the cities, the Ratskin tribes have always been relegated to subhuman status by the civilized inhabitants of the planet.  However, as the focus of the cities turn inward and they weaken with infighting, more and more Ratskin tribes grow bold enough to sack smaller settlements.  Now, the tribes intend to carve out their own city from the carcass of the Imperials who shun and oppress them.
8. The Abu Dabis - There are more than Ratskin tribes in the vast deserts and canyons of New Waco.  Several tribes of Nomads live in the deep desert where the sand chokes all living things.  These nomads may have once been Imperial citizens, but long ago left the cities for a more natural existence among the wilds.  Like the Ratskins, they have long been oppressed by the general population of the planet in the cities, and sensing weakness, have brought their people out of the deserts to reclaim the world for their people.

---

The campaign will be our standard round robin matchup.  Each player will play each other player once in each of two rounds.  Once the two rounds are completed, the highest Gang Ratings among the players will be declared the winners!

The campaign is over!

The Adeptus Arbites are victorious!
Band of Basterds takes 2nd Place!
Red Redemption takes 3rd Place!

---

The burned out ruin of the manufactorum was still smoking in the dusk of New Waco's twin suns.  Bodies were littered everywhere amidst the rubble.  Smoke still rose from the charred ground, the ash disturbed only by the heavy boots of enforcers.


Judge Fred prodded a corpse of a nomadic wastelander.  Not quite stiff...whoever put an end to this particular nomad was probably still nearby.  A few hours at the very most.  From the damage to the corpse, he'd put his money on Redemptionists.  There were few others who would leave everything a smoking, burned out ruin.  


A column of Rhino APCs marked with the seals of the Imperium and the Adeptus Arbites flashed by on the road towards the outlands.  They were full of arbitrators, and they were headed into the heart of nomad and lowtek territory.  Very soon, the long arm of Imperial law would fall on the dark reaches of New Waco.  No longer would this be a haven for heretics and malcontents. 


'Well, at least the ones we can find,' Judge Fred thought to himself.  There were still mercenaries popping up and causing trouble, and the number of system ships in orbit didn't help.


A dust storm brewed on the horizon, but it didn't matter.  Arbitrator Steinn called back on the vox, breaking the tense silence.


"All clear."


Judge Fred was now annoyed.  He'd wasted enough time here.  "Back on the rig!" he called out, ordering his squad to embark their own Rhino, which was further back from the building waiting for a status update. 


"Which way, Your Honor?" Arbitrator Morales asked from the control harness.  The squad was embarked and the ramp closed with lightning efficiency born of experience.


"Back with the column.  We follow the mercenaries."  The Judge opened the auspex panel, and brought forth a topographic image of the area of the wasteland where they were headed.  


"That's where we saw the energy signature," croaked Arbitrator Valance from under his Enforcer mask. "but it's gone for a while now, Your Honor.  Why are we going out there, if I may so inquire?"


Judge Fred looked around at his squad.  It was time to tell them about the real mission they were on, and that they wouldn't be joining the rest of the column in driving Ratskins and Nomads from the wastes around the cities.  He had another lead, on another case altogether.  A crime spree that perhaps spanned the sector.


"I still think there's a ship hiding out there.  We're going to find it."

Creeping Into the Forest of Shadows

It's been a few months since our last Warmachine campaign, but the fires are still warm in our warjacks.  Our new campaign, The Forest of Shadows has begun along with the New Year!  Check out the campaign page here!

Welcome back to the Iron Kingdoms, warcaster!  We're going to have a longer campaign this time, with some interesting scenario rules later on to boot.  We're going to see a lot more varied combat this time around, as we're a lot more versed in the rules.  So what's the skinny on the campaign itself?

First, this campaign is simpler in design than some that have come before it.  Our standard system is becoming that of Campaign Points and Influence (or CP*INF, for you nerds), rather than one or the other.  We seem to like this method best, so we'll be trying it out in a few different games starting with this one.  We'll still by trying new systems all the time, but I wanted to point out that this campaign presents that system as transparently as possible.  We'll get to see it in action this campaign, right as our scores change.

So who's this strange Baron Du Vantaine?  There's a few rumors the warcasters managed to hear on their journey to Llael, some of which ring of truth.  One thing in particular weighs on their minds, however.  In the last few years right before the invasion, the forest around the castle was already shunned and considered haunted.  It seems the Baron may have turned mad toward the end.  Strange things were seen all around, and it is said that the voice of the Baron calling out could be heard on the wind.

For miles around the forest, the land is desolate of human life.  Not even an occupying force to garrison the castle.  What could possibly lie there?  The warcasters all know one thing - whatever it is, it is a powerful weapon of war.

We're gonna have a blast in the next few months finding out what happens.  Though it hasn't quite caught on with everyone here just yet, Warmachine is a great game with an exciting world behind it.  There's lots of possibility with the narratives here, and I expect to see more armies spring up this coming year. Don't be afraid to look into it, as forces are relatively cheap in the gaming hobby and the pieces are large and spectacular.  Check out the Privateer Press Warmachine website for more, and see if you can find an army to make your bid for control of the Iron Kingdoms!

Gangs of New Waco Finals!

The results are in!  The Wargate's 2011 Necromunda campaign comes to a close with some interesting news - there's been an Imperial resurgence and the civil strife on New Waco is nearly eradicated!

Those of you who have seen the campaign log know what the gang ratings look like, but this campaign we've introduced a new mechanic to help determine victory on New Waco.  All players had Battlefield Influence calculated, a simple win percentage we use in a lot of our campaigns.  By popular demand, Influence is being used to help tally the score here, and now the results are in!

Joe Kool pilots the Adeptus Arbites (Enforcers) on a flawless trek to the top!

Although the Band of Basterds had a higher gang total, their Influence on New Waco waned, as did that of the Red Redemption.  Joe obviously did the best overall (losing a single Enforcer during the entire course of the campaign) and so is awarded 1st Place and the narrative belongs to the arbitrators!

No doubt there will be plenty of reform on New Waco.  Now that the Imperials are cracking down, things might get even more desperate for some of the wild types who call that dusty place home.  The Abu Dabis and the Ratskins might be the only ones relatively safe, due to their remote location from the settlements.  However, given the resources the arbitrators will soon bring to bear it is unlikely that they won't feel the squeeze of the mailed fist of the Emperor.

Necromunda season for 2012 will start October 1st!  Prepare your forces for an even more dangerous jaunt through the wilder parts of the Imperium!  We'll be adding more and more Necromunda material as we go, using a lot of official material as well as homebrew crunch.  There's plenty more to come, so don't be afraid to collect a small force this year.  

See you on Game Day!