Club Member's Soapbox!

"...and that's why I believe all gnomes should be banned from everything - FOREVER!"

Howdy folks!

Today I want to take a moment to talk about the number of cool ideas for articles that have been thrown out at the game table by various members of our community.  Already we have contributors that let me post their work here on our club's blog, but I think we should take a few weeks and let every member of the Wargate who wants to have a say about something stand up and say it!

I have very few guidelines for submissions, but generally I'd like 3 solid paragraphs (at least!) and either a link to a pic for your article or a general idea of what you want for your article, as I'm pretty handy with Photoshop.

I'd like to get a large number of different articles from our members, so I'm going to list a few here that I'm always looking for!  I like to get input from our members, especially as far as our narratves go!  Most of these style bits are easy and fun to put together, so have a go at them, because I can literally use everything you can come up with!  You can find the general I prefer for each of these sorts of articles here on the site.

Articles of Interest
Always need these sorts!  From all members!

1. Army, Warband, Gang or Battlegroup (whatever!) briefings!  The bigger the army, the more info I need...but hey, I might just fill out that extra space with information to tie it into the narratives in other spots!  Sound off where your forces are involved, entrenched or just hiding out!
• Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 Briefings should look at doing 3 sections of 2-4 paragraphs each.
• Mordheim and Necromunda and all other briefings should have 2 sections 2-3 paragraphs each.
2. Roleplay Posts!  3-4 paragraphs, in character or narrative.  Your GM will appreciate the time you take to drop an opinion on their game!
3. GM's should look at having a set of posts for each campaign they run.
• The background page which will become the campaign log, on it's own State of Play page.  When the campaign finishes, the GM will wrap up the log and post it on the main site.
• The "Welcome" post, out of character design notes.  This should be published near or before the beginning of the campaign.
• GM posts with character descriptions and developments is always handy!
• Any "Updates" the GM wants to give is appreciated!  Tell us how you feel about the last session, or the storyline.  The players will appreciate your commentary!
• An out of character "Finished" post, after the game is over!
4. Opinion!  Give a short diatribe about a certain game, feature or whatever!  Do you feel D&D 4e just needs a certain tweak to make viable, or do you want to change the club's policies regarding various issues?  Do you feel that werewolves are overpowered in Innistrad?  Sound off!
5. Project Logs!  We love painted squads and regiments, and finished terrain!
6. Product reviews!  It doesn't have to be new, just something the club is using!  Yeah, that means we might review Star Trek products from 1986.  That's fine.  It's also awesome.

I encourage every single member of the Wargate to submit articles!  Don't feel bad about your terrible spelling or grammar, our team of Archivists will make sure your article is full of Awesome Sauce before publication!

In particular, I must remind everyone to get with the army briefing articles!  I need these for the narratives, and they look great in the Battles Books!

Hex & The City Campaign Log

Hex

and the

City

The Cursed City of Mordheim

Erntezeit 6, 1999 I.C. - The City of the Damned

It has been nine long months since the twin-tailed comet annihilated the city of Mordheim.  It is now a cursed place, shunned by most sane men.  It is riven with mutants, undead and daemons.  It is here we travel to do battle. This time, to the Cursed City.

Much has been said about the City of the Damned elsewhere, and that is not our focus as we step through the Wargate into the distant past of the Old World.  The time of Three Emperors is afoot, but it will matter scarcely who is truly the Emperor to those who have decided to risk their lives and souls in Mordheim.  However, the conflict we are interested in is not just a street fight between adventurers in the city.  There is a more important battle being fought that may affect the Empire hundreds of years from now...

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The Eye of Tepok


Somewhere in the City of the Damned is the mystical artifact known as the Eye of Tepok.  The vampire Gabor Sandolescu knows it, and his Coven of Darkness has entered the city and exerted power over many of the ghouls there.  Equipped with a small army, the vampire strides the streets, searching for the artifact...

...and the servants of the Old Ones, Ahuiateteo, are not far behind.  They also know of the Eye, and wish to return it to the temples of their home.  The lizardmen have sent a warrior band into Mordheim as well, and their priest can see the omens of the god of air, Tepok, carrying him over the city...towards his eye...

The vampire was followed, however.  He stole a priceless treasure from a tomb in Khemri, a magical amplifier known as the Scarab of Atekhramen.  The Pharoah's Mace, a band of undead walkers from that distant land, have emerged in Mordheim.  They will retrieve the Scarab from the vampire at all costs, but the power of the warpstone in the city also compels their actions.

All's not well in the Cursed City, however.  A war has broken out between two rival heretic sects: the Adherents of the Repeated Mean; and the Despoilers of the Blight.  The blood runs thick in the city streets as they lash out in force at anyone they encounter.

A band of witch hunters known as the Murder of Ravens have tracked several heretics here, and aim to enter the city on a mission.  Burn the unclean, and root out the Possessed and Undead cults openly roaming the city!   The brave men of the Templars have courage and steel, but how long can they survive the nights in Mordheim?

Chattel Herd Beastmen and Bloo Moonz Orcs roam the city as well, coming in droves from the woods and mountains all around Mordheim.  They attack anyone they encounter, taking from them everything of value and most likely eating the corpses.  They may yet prove many warband's undoing as the search for the Eye begins...

---

The campaign will be in round robin format with 8 players.  Each player will play at least 7 games during the course of the season, and all the rules for campaigns in Mordheim will be followed.  After that, additional games can be played according to the regular rules until the end of the season.

The campaign is over!


Murder of Ravens has won the campaign!
Chattel Herd has taken 2nd place!
Cult of the Repeated Mean has taken 3rd place!
Bloo Moonz Tribe is Dead Last!

---

Campaign Log


Ulrichzeit 16, 1999 I.C. - The Purging of the North Abbey


Garth Torchbearer and his Murder of Ravens meticulously combed the buildings looking for the cultists, and it didn't matter which ones he found.  He would not allow them to escape Sigmar's wrath, and his warband had prepared a special surprise for the men who would renounce their savior to worship the Dark Gods.  He gripped his sword in one hand and held his torch aloft in the other, as his Asvald the Sigmarite kicked open the door to the massive, ruined church.

Since they had entered the city, they had encounters with undead, orcs, beastmen and the mad cultists who still dwelt within the ruins of Mordheim.  They had remained hidden from most of the dangerous warbands, and managed to get this far into the city without being torn to shreds by the savage denizens of the cursed city.  Here, however...they didn't find the quarry they sought.

Scattered around the desecrated temple that had once been dedicated to Sigmar were signs of life.  The cultists had been here after all.

"Sacrilege!"  Asvald proclaimed, as he smashed the massive, spoiled altar with one of his hammers.  The bloodstained marble clacked to the floor in pieces, the sign of the ruinous power that had been inscribed in blood upon it was no longer legible.

"Burn it.  All of it."  Torchbearer uttered in the near silent whisper they had cultivated while on this mission.  It paid to be quiet in the city of the damned.  Flames began to leap up around him and his followers set the old church ablaze.  Decrepit and filthy draperies began to burn with the slow fashion of wet hide, and the scattered blankets of whoever had been squatting here provided kindling for the support beams.  Though the outer building was made of stone, the interior would burn nicely.

They exited the old church, and made their way to the next building.  Behind them, the blazes they had set over the city as they purged the area around the North Abbey climbed high into the sky as the city of the damned burned once more.

Return of the Goblin King Campaign Log

Our 2011 Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game campaign has drawn to a close, and Middle-Earth is set for woe...

Return of the Goblin King

A Campaign of Good vs Evil in Middle-Earth

The Encroaching Darkness

It's been quite some time since the darkness has pressed in around the elven lands west of Mordor.  The last time there were stirrings of evil, a ringwraith known as the Goblin King threatened to return to the darkness of Dol Guldur and bring forth the armies of Sauron.  Now that the Wise know of the Necromancer's presence in the Hill of Sorcery, provisions have been made against his return.

Now, it seems those provisions weren't made in vain.

The Goblin King has returned at the head of vast hordes of orcs and evil men who have somehow traversed the darkness of Mordor and have begun raiding the lands to the west.  In the Last Homely House, Elrond of Rivendell has given the order to mobilize.  Those elf-lords who still have the heart to fight have mustered there, and messengers have been dispatched to those folk whom they believe may aid their cause.

Among men, Rangers from Gondor and a few warriors loyal to continued safety of the Riddermark have traveled to the woods near Rivendell and Mirkwood to battle this threat to their spirits.  However, their enemies are many - goblins, orcs and evil men from Harad are counted amongst the forces of evil, and battle will soon be joined.

---

The campaign will consist of a round robin for each player.  Each player will fight each enemy team member once during the campaign in a 1 on 1 battle.  

Further, there will be an equal number of 2-player team games.  Each team has been divided into 4 teams, and each team will fight each enemy team once during the campaign in a 2 on 2 battle.

Lastly, there will be two 4 player team events in which the entire team will fight the entire enemy team.

Games will be a random size between 300 and 1000 pts, determined by a d6 roll on the Game Size Table.

All wins, losses and draws will be kept track of per player and per team.  If a players team wins a team game, both players on that team score wins and both players on the defeated team accrue losses.

To win the campaign, a look must be taken at influence.  Campaign influence accrues as you fight battles, and is simply the percentage of victories a given party has.  There are three kinds of influence you can accrue.  They are, in no particular order:

• Personal Player Influence
• 4 Player Team Influence (Good or Evil)
• 2 Player Team Influences (Each player will be involved in 2 of these teams)

Good or Evil Influence at the top tier will determine the campaign victors for the narrative.  The team that has the highest 4 Player Team Influence wins the campaign.  2 Player Team Influences can severely change the narrative, and Personal Player Influence will determine our actual placings for the Wargate Campaign Awards.

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Game Size Table

            d6 Roll             1 player                 2 player                      Team 

              1-2                    300 pts           250 pts each               250 pts each 

              3-4                    500 pts           400 pts each               300 pts each

                5                     750 pts            500 pts each              400 pts each 

                6                     1000 pts          600 pts each              500 pts each     

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Campaign Record

All teams have lost the campaign.  All Influence has been reduced to 0% for all sides!

This means that Middle-Earth remains in the grip of constant fear of war, and the Free Peoples are helpless to do anything about it!  Scouts from Rohan and warriors from Rivendell are powerless to stop orcs and fouler creatures from rampaging past the walls of Mordor!

Likewise, the Dark Lord's armies are stymied.  Unable to convene forces from Rhun and Harad due to the meddling of men and elves, he waits and builds his strength in secret.  Soon, Easterlings and Southrons will attempt to spill into Gondor, but the first portions of the armies have been diverted.

Next year, we'll seal the deal with a fully developed campaign to help direct the points of attack against the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth!