Weeks later, during the early hours of the morning, the canter of horses was heard outside the elder's manse. Shouting up to the window, a Warrior Priest bellowed his arrival and announced that he and his troops would not return until the abominations of Chaos had been cleansed from the forest and their unholy works were cast down! |
orned
devils from the dark forests that surround an Empire village have been
plaguing the people with numerous assaults. After many tense months and
mounting numbers of missing townsfolk, the village elder sent a messenger
to the Temple of Sigmar in Altdorf to beg for help.
A table or area of 24" x 24" is ideal. Standing in the exact centre of the table is the Herdstone. All of the edges of the playing field are strewn with impassable hills and large boulders except for an 12" area in the centre of the southern edge. Players may place trees, undergrowth and other suitable foliage along all four board edges. On the northern edge of the table there should be a cave amidst the boulder as depicted on the map.
The Empire player must destroy the Beastmen's Herdstone (see special rules)! Once the Herdstone is destroyed, the Warrior Priest and any surviving soldiers must make it back off of the same table edge they entered on.
The Beastmen have a much simpler goal: Kill the Warrior Priest and all of his men before they smash their idol of unholy worship! If the Herdstone is destroyed and all of the Empire forces are destroyed before they make it off of the table, the game is a draw.
The Empire player places his band of righteous warriors along the southern table edge at the entrance to the herdstone's glade. The Beastman player places all of his models, except for the Minotaur, 2" apart along the northern edge of the playing area.
The Empire player storms onto the field to get the first turn.
This scenario uses the special rules detailed below:
Destroying the Herdstone
To destroy this mighty artefact of ancient evil, the Warrior Priest must engage
the Herdstone in hand-to-hand combat by charging it in his movement phase. The
Warrior Priest wields a holy warhammer imbued with the righteous power of Sigmar.
This enchanted weapon can reduce an unholy altar like the Herdstone into mere
piles of rubble with a few powerful blows.
The first turn the Warrior Priest is in combat with the Herdstone he may not strike any blows as he draws upon the power of Sigmar to imbue his hammer with holy might. On the following turn, the Warrior Priest may begin his holy task as the power of the Dark Gods wilts in the face of his righteous anger. The Warrior Priest will automatically hit the herdstone with no roll required. He may only make one attack against it per turn and if he rolls a 6 on a D6, the Herdstone is destroyed. During each successive turn that the Warrior Priest attacks the Herdstone, it becomes easier to annihilate as the power of Chaos deserts its rocky form. On his second attack, the Herdstone is destroyed on a 5+. On the third it is destroyed on a 4+ and so on.
If
the Warrior Priest is attacked while trying to destroy the Herdstone, he may
choose to defend himself rather than destroying the evil icon. If he does this
he may use his full complement of attacks and abilities to destroy any minions
of evil who would dare interrupt his holy mission. He may then pick up where
he left off destroying the Herdstone in following turns and he may defend himself
and continue the destruction of the Herdstone in this back and forth manner
as often as he wishes. He cannot defend himself and attempt to destroy the Herdstone
in the same turn.
Waking the Minotaur
Each turn after the first there is a very good chance that the screams and noise
of combat will awaken the Beastmen's bloodthirsty ally which resides within
the cave. The Minotaur will enter the fray from the mouth of the cave with a
deafening bellow on a 6 on a D6 roll at the start of the second turn. He will
come charging out of the cave on a 5+ on the third turn, a 4+ on the fourth
and so on. The Minotaur will charge the Empire model closest to the mouth of
the cave when he appears.
This scenario can also be played with a variety of other armies by substituting Wood Elves, Bretonnians and High Elves as the attackers and Chaos Marauders, Daemons, Chaos Warriors or Dark Elves as the defenders. All that's necessary is to change the terminology and heroes to fit the armies involved. Other ideas for similar scenarios include:
- Dark Elf Shades destroying a Lizardmen Spawning Pool with a Kroxigor guardian.
- Dwarf Rangers, Miners, or Ironbreakers invading a Skaven Breeding Pit to eliminate the Brood Mother.
- Orc Boarboyz and Warriors attacking a piece of Chaos Dwarf machinery in the midst of a fort.
This scenario can be used as the precursor to a full-scale Warhammer battle. If the Beastmen successfully defend their Herdstone from the Empire attack, they may utilise a magical banner of 50 points or less in one of their regiments in the ensuing battle as they make an example of the Warrior Priest who dared to attack them.
If the Empire is victorious in their mission, all Bestigor and Minotaur regiments in the Beastman army cost an additional 25% in the next battle as their morale is broken from the loss of their holy icon.
