So, my friend Chris plays various fantasy/historical wargames, and was discussing ideas for a short campaign.
He is thinking about:
- Skirmish level games.
- 3 Scenarios long.
- Dark ages with a hint of lovecraftian horror.
I spent about an hour coming up with this once I had my free time this evening.
It focuses on a small Norse raid on a Saxon holding. unknown to the Norse, the Saxons have allies in the form of Deep Ones which can be summoned in from the seawater or marshlands which make up the terrain of the table in the games.
I have left the rule set open to be used with whatever is currently in favour, be it:
- Song of Blades and Heroes.
- Saga (use Hearthguard rules for the Deep Ones?)
- Age of Sigmar (use Tzeentch rules for the Deep Ones and Chaos Marauders for the Saxons and Vikings?)
But, I have used the One Hour Wargames (OHW) book for the basis of the scenarios and have included page numbers for the different scenarios so you can find them easily.
Each Scenario has some flavour text to read aloud to both players, depending on who wont he previous game, providing some continuity, feel free to also add in your own campaign experience rules if you so wish.
Each Scenario description also features some special rules as I discounted a lot of the special rules from the OHW book due to those being designed specifically for use with the force lists in the back of that book.
I hope this is enjoyable and sets the mood.
Dark Times Campaign.
The year is 813, an auspicious time of dark magic and legend.
King Eardwulf sits on the throne of Nordhymbralond, a kingdom surrounded by enemies.
Vikings raid the coast, Emperor Charlemagne covets the kingdom from his domains in Francia, King CausantÃn of the Pictish kingdoms of Scotland raids the northern border extensively and to the south King Coenwulf of Mercia gathers forces to invade the kingdom again after his bitter defeat in 801.
Surrounded by enemies at every turn, King Eardwulf commands his priest's to find a way of protecting the kingdom. This they duly do, for better or worse, none can say yet...
Scenario 1: The Raid on Crawcester.
(Read this aloud):
The small village of Crawcester on the north east coast of the Kingdom of Nordhymbralond, a few houses surrounding a longhouse, a stone built church, several livestock pens and a muddy road leading away from the coast are all that denote this area as civilised in the middle of the sprawling moors and marshes near the North Sea.
As the day dawns, grey and with a light rain being blown in from the sea, the villagers go about their normal farming duties and the soldiers stationed here perform their normal sentry rounds, unaware that their world is going to be cast into darkness within the next hour.
Viking raiders have come ashore a few miles further north and established an encampment. Overnight scouts have located the village as a first target to raid.
Rules:
Use the OHW "Surprise Attack" scenario (page 86) with the Vikings playing the Blue Army.
This game uses the following modifications:
The crossroads is replaced by the church or longhouse, this is the victory objective as stated in the scenario overview.
the east edge of the board is the coast with the north sea, no models may move within 3 inches of this board edge at anytime, if they do through their own movement or being pushed back they are destroyed as the waves claim them.
The wood is replaced with a marshland or series of hills.
If your game system uses weather rules, perhaps try out a rainy battle?
Victory:
If the Vikings manage to get at least 3 models into contact with the objective building, they are deemed to have won and make off with the treasures of the Church through looting.
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Scenario 2: Murder in the Marshes.
(If the Saxons were victorious in Scenario 1, read this aloud):
The raid upon the village was a disaster, several Hirdmen lay dead in the mud back there, and the rest of the raiding party only just managed to retreat before the vengeful Saxon soldiery started pursuing beaten Norsemen.
Retreating up the muddy road heading back to their beached ship, the Norsemen pass several crudely sculpted fish man statues.
Half-man and Half-fish, they appear to be carvings of sea gods or old gods, who knows in this supposed Christian land.
The rain seems to be getting heavier now, the drizzle from earlier turning into a fully fledged rainstorm, the lack of visibility and the noise of the rain hitting the marshlands to either side of the road mean that the Norsemen, more concerned with their flight from their failure do not notice a Saxon patrol forming up on the road ahead of them, nor the bubbling coming from one of the marshes...
(If the Vikings were victorious in Scenario 1, read this aloud):
The raid upon the village was a great success, their priest had too much gold for one man, all the Norsemen will be rich with the plunder they have gathered with a little sword work today.
A heavy fish man statue made out of gold is the pride of the loot, a strange item considering this is a Christian kingdom, but the Norsemen pay it no heed and chatter and laugh loudly as they make their way back to their ship, leaving the Saxon dead and Dying in the mud of their hovel.
The rain seems to be getting heavier now, the drizzle from earlier turning into a fully fledged rainstorm, the lack of visibility and the noise of the rain hitting the marshlands to either side of the road mean that the Norsemen, more concerned with their victory and loot do not notice a Saxon patrol forming up on the road ahead of them, nor the bubbling coming from one of the marshes...
Rules:
Use the OHW "Bottleneck" scenario (page 112), with the Vikings playing the Blue army.
This game uses the following modifications:
The western side of the road should be hills and marshes, difficult or impassable terrain.
The eastern edge of the board should be marshlands, as many as possible.
The Special Rules for the scenario are ignored.
The Saxon (Red) force deploys at the north end of the road, the Vikings (Blue) arrive at the south end of the road.
The Saxons have access to a number of "Deep Ones" who act as their reinforcements, this can be up to 1/3 of their total force depending on what ruleset you use. Use whatever summoning rules you wish, but they must arrive from the marshes on the eastern side of the board.
Victory:
If the Vikings can get at least 1/3 of their numbers to the north edge of the road, they are deemed to have cleared the blockade and made their escape, any other result is a victory for the Saxons.
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Scenario 3: The End Times Cometh!
(If the Saxons were victorious in Scenario 2, Read this aloud):
The Viking raiders were defeated on the road heading north, through the combined efforts of Saxon feat-of-arms and their otherworldly allies.
Several of the Saxon soldiery are uncomfortable with their allies presence. Many secretly fear that dark bargins have been made by their leaders but they follow their lords and obey, the raiders need expelling from Nordhymbralond.
A captured Norseman, tortured by the "Deep Ones" has given up the location of the beached longship that the raiders came from.
Now their forces gather at the site of the beached longship of the Norsemen, they gather to kill them all, bloodlust pouring through the soldiers, fuelled by the presence of their "allies". Thunder crashes and Lightning splits the ground as the priests' make their proclamations of victory and aid from their new found allies once again.
These allies come from the sea in times of need to defend Nordhymbralond from enemies and will always aid good Saxon men...or will they?
(If the Vikings were victorious in Scenario 2, read this aloud):
The Saxons tried to block the road north, but the Norsemen, bellicose in their previous victory, easily spilt the Saxon blood placed in their way.
The "Nokken" allies of the Saxons were unnerving at first, however once the first one was killed, they all fell under the axe blades or retreated to the waters. None can stand against the might of the raiding party.
Now the Norsemen lay siege to the farmstead which the patrol was returning from, one which has more of the strange fish man statues nearby rendered in stone this time.
As the wind picks up and the waves crash further onto the beach, Thunder crashes overhead and Lightning splits the ground with in the stone circle. Shadows are looming beneath the waves, but the Norsemen pay them no heed, they have defeated the "Nokken" once before and will do so again, but maybe the "Nokken" have brought more this time?
Rules:
Use the OHW "Ambush" Scenario (page 108), with the following modifications.
If the Saxons won Scenario 2, they are the Red army.
If the Vikings won Scenario 2, they are the Red army.
The Woods are replaced by a stretch of coastline, only "Deep Ones" may enter and move freely in this area, any human who enters will be sucked down under the water and removed as a casualty.
The Town is not a Fortress, and will be either:
A Farm if the Saxons are defending.
A beached long ship if the Vikings are defending.
The Special Rules as stated are ignored for this game, instead:
The Red army may not move out of its deployment zone until turn 3. It may act as normal until then however.
The Saxons have access to a number of "Deep Ones" who act as their reinforcements, this can be up to 1/3 of their total force depending on what ruleset you use. These models may be summoned using your summoning rules or deployed as normal, in either case they HAVE to start in the seawater.
Victory:
The Blue army must defeat or rout off the board all enemy units. Any other result is a victory for the Red army.
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Final Steps:
(If the Saxon Player is victorious, read this aloud):
With a guttural cry, the last of the Norsemen is cut down. Bodies lay bleeding on the sands, several wounded are mewling with pain.
The Saxon leader starts to give orders to his men but is stopped by a malign hiss behind him. He turns to see the allies of Nordhymbralond, cutting runes into the flesh of the humans.
The "Deep One" stood in front of him draws itself closer and hisses in his ear.
Battle hardened warrior though he is, his turns white and soils himself in front of his men, when he can recover his wits he orders an immediate retreat back to the village, away from this cursed place.
As the rain continues to beat down, the Deep Ones busy themselves dragging bodies into the surf. The dead and wounded are taken, Norseman and Saxon alike.
(If the Viking Player is victorious, read this aloud):
With a guttural cry the last of the Saxons are cut down, their allies either dead or driven off into the sea waters. Bodies lay bleeding and unmoving, the wounded are being tended to by the survivors of the raiding party.
As warriors break into the farmstead, a cry of anguish is heard above the noise of the storm. A "Christian" priest of the Saxons is slumped over an altar, his dessicated form painful to look at. His hand still holding tightly to the ritual dagger which was plunged through his heart.
Another of the golden fish man statues is by his head, now covered in blood. On the advice of the seer in the crew, The Norsemen leave it well alone and burn the farm to the ground.
Against the seers' advice however, they take the statue they already plundered with them, not seeing the trail of glowing eyes which follows their long ship as it sets out to sea, the pillar of smoke from the burning farm unnaturally visible for some time, even through the storm raging around them
"The Nokken will be coming" were the Seers' last terrified words before he too, dropped dead.
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Well, I hope you enjoyed that, and if anyone plays it (Chris) give me a shout as to how it plays out.
Until next time...
- Lewis
