Campaign:Warriors of Chaos versus Dwarfs

After my first win in the big campaign, I had to decide what to do with my points. I am trying to keep my army to few or, preferably, NO proxies. However, all I had to spend were points for Core. So I got a little tricky.



The points permanently lost were enough to get me a Chariot and Level 2 sorcerer on Disc, so I brought them in from my home territory and bumped up my Marauders to 1 25 man and 2 16 man units, my Chaos Warriors to 2 units of 12 and one of 16, and even added in 2 units of 5 Warhounds each.



Someone needed to step up and build a 3250 point Dwarf army, a task nobody was excited about. It is hard to build a fun Dwarf army. To compete with the 70 shot/dragon + manticore + hydra Dark Elf army and also with the Chaos Knight/Dragon Ogres/Shaggoth WoC and also with the Slann-based Lizardman army simultaneously is tough. All too often, in light of the slowness of the Dwarfs, it becomes one massive gunline.




Really, that is what they HAVE to do to be competitive. Say they were facing the aforementioned Dark Elf army. They have no hero who can reasonably be expected to compete with the Hydra/Dragon/manticore...largely because if one was tooled up to face one of them, it could not even catch it.

So to deal with those, they MUST have a cannon and/or bolt thrower apiece to face them. Add in a thunderer apiece to match the 70 shots they are facing and you would not even have space to put them on the table, but 40 - 50 thunderers seems reasonable. So now, they have fewer shots and need lots of luck with their cannonballs to deal with the monsters, and have enough points left over for smallish warrior blocks...which must convince the enemy to come to face them.




And they need the same build to face the Dragon Ogre/Shaggoth/Knight army. So really, their slowness and pedestrian S means to compete, they need 4 + cannons/bolt throwers, a couple organ guns since the Thunderers take so much space, and then they are left with troops that can compete with Dark Elf infantry but not with Chaos Infantry and certainly not with Chaos Knights or Lizardmen Cold One Knights...so why take them when they are basically free points for any troop that will contact them? (Why would I take my Marauders into them when I know even my Chaos Warriors, much less my Knights, are so much faster I can easily hit them with that instead, and usually from advantageous positions like flanks).



The upshot is, for the Dwarf player to have any chance of winning, he has to take a list that is not much fun...lots of shooting, shutting down the magic phase almost completely. Or...he can take a list with little shooting, get out-maneuvered and lose by a lot.



Since I would be facing them, I decided to make a Dwarf army that, while it probably could not WIN, could certainly do lots of damage on the way out the door and was going to see combat. Lots and lots and lots of combat.



I included 40 Thunderers, 2 cannons, an organ gun and a gyrocopter. While not as shooty as any Elf army, it could still do lots of damage in that phase; cannons for things like Shaggoths/Knights/Dragon Ogres, Thunderers to whittle away at Chaos Warriors and Marauders, and then lots and lots of good close combat troops...Miners and Hammerers to face the Chaos Warriors, Dwarf Warriors to face the Marauders, and Slayers to A) hold up flanks and B)have a shot at damaging anything





I knew I would be facing them and hoped to be able to deploy thusly; wherever he dropped a unit of Warriors, I would drop a unit of Marauders opposite. Wherever he dropped the Hammerers, I would drop Chaos Warriors opposite. Where he dropped Slayers I would drop Knights, Dragon Ogres and/or the Shaggoth.

Then we would run pell-mell towards one another and have some smashing good combats, some lasting 3 or 4 turns maybe.

As it turned out...terrain did not allow it.

On the bright side, while there was a hill on his side of the hill, it was outside his deployment zone. A village to the left and some rough ground to the right meant we would be mostly in the center but the sizes of our forces meant the flanks still needed protection.

For the first time in memory, I A) HAD Chaos Warhounds and B) they would be able to serve their function. No hills meant the screens could actually *gasp* screen! I was excited.

I put them in front of units of Chaos Warriors, put Marauder Horsemen opposite his Organ gun and the cannons, ran Knights down my right flank backed up by more Marauders, put even more Marauders way out to the right.

More Marauders and my Chariot went to the left opposite some slayers and, just behind the forest, some Rangers.

Across the table he had his cannons to the left, then 2 units of Thunderers in a line...hidden on rought ground making them tough to get to. Various close combat units were sprinkled around, another Thunderer unit prepared to take the hill and the final one was off on my right flank.

He won the roll and elected to go 2nd.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 1
I march forward. The Hounds should be able to charge his cannons next turn, the Horsemen to take some shots at or outright charge the organ gun, and the Knights are in range if he does take the hill.

Then, stupidly, I decide to try some magic. All I have is a second level guy, really a glorified scroll caddy. He has as many Dispel Dice as I have power dice...my odds are not good. They get worse when I mis-cast...but I survive the S3 hit.

Dwarf Turn 1
One unit of his Miners units arrives and elects to come on my left flank. He advances the slayers up my right flank, the Thunderers crest the hill and he moves a Thane-supported unit of Warriors up to counter-charge anyone who charges the Thunderers.

Then he flies the Gyrocopter to block the Warhounds. This was a function of not knowing the role of the Copter and not his fault. I should have explained it better.

Now for his shooting phase, the one where the Dwarf army will dominate. His cannon lines up a shot that will tear though warhounds, Chaos Warriors, and maybe even some other stuff. His guess is pretty good...until he rolls a whopping 10 on the artillery dice and it flies right over everything. So far, so good.


Then his Organ Gun opens up on my poor Marauder horsemen...and mis-fires! Yes!

His Thunderers fare better, putting down two Marauder Horsemen and 2 Warhounds. The Warhounds, outside the leadership bubble of my General, roll a 5...and flee. No big deal.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 2
We started with an interesting question. My Knights were just in front of my Shaggoth and frenzied. My Shaggoth could see the Marauders on the hill and wanted to combo-charge them with the Dragon Ogres who were also pseudo-blocked by the Knights. I knew I planned to wheel the Knights and hit the Warriors he planned to counter charge with...could I declare charges on the Thunderers?

We hemmed and hawed, played with the rule books for a while and ultimately decided I could.

On the left, My ranked up Marauders flank-charged his Miners. My Chariot moved into position to counter-charge his Rangers if they flank-charged my Marauders in the unlikely event my +5 S.C.R and Great Weapon attacks did not force his Miners to flee.

Oh, the best laid plans...

The Knight charge goes to perfection and my general gets a challenge with his Thane. The Thunderers....fail their break test and flee. Needing a 9. Ouch. We then debate what the options are for my Shaggoth. Can he redirect his charge to the other side of the hill to hit the Slayers he cannot see until he crests the hill?

It was a classic Starving Crazed Weasels debate. That would be best for me and I was arguing against it while the guy it was bad for and the other observers were arguning I could. So I did. The Dragon Ogres joined the Knights against the Warriors.

Magic...well...was Magic. I failed to achieve the needed score.

I had moved both units of Marauder horsemen into place to throw their axes at the cannons...and completely forgot to even shoot. D'oh. Another nickel in the Stupidity Fund.

Close combat; On the left, my Marauders roll 3 "ones" and a "two", whiffing completely. The Miners strike back, hit twice...and roll double ones. No wounds either side, I have a whopping +6 win, he needs a 3 or below....and stands. Oops...

On the right, it went better. My mighty frenzied Chaos Lord could only muster 2 wounds, both of which were saved. At least the horse got a wound through...and the thane wounded me back. Grr.

The Knights, the mighty Knights, could only muster 2 wounds in about 10 attacks, and only one went through. At least the Dragon Ogres were good, killing 4. He fails his break test, runs into my Marauder Horsemen and is wiped out; the Organ Gun, on a 9, fails their panic test, and breaks. The Hammerers, on a 9, fail their test, and break. Had I not also run into the Marauders, they would have been wiped out. As it was, they lived.

The Shaggoth kills 3 slayers, they do not even get to attack back...BUT THEY DO THEIR JOB. They hold him in position. Being unbreakable, they keep him from rampaging into his other thunderers.

Dwarf Turn 2
The fleeing Thunderers recover. The fleeing Organ Gunners, 1/8" from table edge, recover. The fleeing Hammerers also rally. Clean sweep.

His second unit of Miners failed to arrive, he set up his rangers to charge my Marauders, and time to shoot...though not much shooting left.

First, the cannon....which promptly mis-fires. Then his thunderers manage to kill 5 warhounds this turn.

On the left flank, it goes better for me. THe Great Weapons of the Marauders bite into the Miners, hitting 5 times but only 2 die. Still, it is enough...he breaks, hits his slayers and thus escapes. I hit the Slayers and get the charge on them.

Over on the right, his other Slayers manage to wound the Shaggoth who kills 2 more in return.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 3

I keep advancing up the middle with my Chaos Warriors, though it is obvious by now they will probably never see combat. The Chariot charges into his Rangers. It was a close decision to go Rangers or Slayers, but I actually thought the Marauders could kill the Slayers without help and I needed to hold up the Rangers.

Meanwhile, the rough ground and Marauder horsemen mean my Knights have a wasted turn.

The Chariot is magnificent, doing 3 Impact hits (2 being the minimum it could do...) and the crew killing another 3. Yet somehow he passes his test and now I am in trouble.

Worse, the Marauders show me they are really Marauders, not decent troops. The Champ, in a challenge with the Slayer champ, gets off just one wound, the other Marauders kill nada. He kills 4 Marauders in return and it occurs to me...I am in DEEP trouble over there.

It goes better on the right where the Shaggoth kills 2 more Slayers without taking any more damage.

Dwarf Turn 3

His fleeing Miners rally. Each Thunderer volley slays a single Chaos Warrior. His Slayers kill 5 Marauders . My Chariot kills 2 rangers, the horse kills another, and my Champ yet another.

Ironically, his crewmen from the Organ Gun...which never did anything...got a charge (yes, I am blushing...getting my Fast Cavalry charged in the back by Dwarfs is about as humiliating as it gets...especially since I AGAIN forgot to throw their axes) hit my Marauder horseman, killed one, I break and flee and am destroyed. Yes, the Organ Gun crew did more damage than the gun itself.

His Slayers put another wound on the Shaggoth, who kills one back. On the bright side, that was the last Slayer. Free! And his Thunderers are lined up where I can charge next turn...

Warriors of Chaos Turn 4

Finally! My Chaos Warriors, each unit charges a unit of Thunderers. My Shaggoth charges another. The Knights flank the ones in rough ground.

I mis-calculate, thinking my Wizard has 4 attacks, charges the Organ Gun crew.

For a change, I remember to shoot with my last 5 Marauder Horsemen...and miss 4 of the 5, doing 0 wounds.

His stand and shoot against the Warriors goes better, killing 2.

On the left flank, his Slayer champ does nothing, but the regular guys put down 3 more Marauders. I somehow manage to kill one last slayer. The Chariot and horses finish off the Rangers.

The Chaos Warriors then show the difference between Chaos Warriors and Chaos Marauders, doing a whopping 11 wounds to the Dwarf Thunderers, completely wiping them out. The Gyrocopter breaks, I over-run and hit the cannon.

My Wizard gets off 2 hits, but cannot wound...is outnumbered...breaks and flees. Whatever.

The Knights kill 2 Thunderers, they break, flee, I overrun.

The Dragon Ogres hit the Dwarf Warriors again, kill 5, they flee, hit another combat, and die.

Shaggy kills 4 Thunderers. They are ranked, outnumber...and pass their test.

This turn was pretty cool with lots of spectacular combats....and it pretty much shattered what was left of his army.

Dwarf Turn 4

His last unit of Miners arrives.

His rallied Miners flank charge the Chaos Warriors.

On the left 3 more Marauders die but kill a Slayer in return. I need a 3 to stay...and get it!

In the center, the cannoneers hit the horsemen 3 times, killing one and one dying in return.

The Knights, in battle with the Hammerers, see a challenge; Word of Agony whiffs but Mithridateshits 3 times, but only 1 goes through, the horse sees both wounds he inflicts saved...I save the only wound his Thanes does back.

However, the BSB, champ, and Knights manage to kill 9 more, the Hammerers break and flee...

Warriors of Chaos Turn 5

My Sorcerer JUST rallies, I charge the Chariot into the Miners, the Knights are about to charge, we look at it...this game is done. The Dwarfs have little to nothing left.

Mopping Up

Looking back, the army build for the Dwarfs was pretty close to right. They had the capability to handle almost anything AGAINST AN ARMY THAT CAME TO THEM.

It was a horrid build if facing say...Wood Elf, High Elf, Dark Elf shooting armies, Lizardman Skink/magic army, etc.

So for what it was intended, it was brilliant.

It is somewhat unfortunate the terrain did not allow the preferred combats, but there were still some pretty cool ones. Lots of blood all around.

Watching his cannons and organ guns do a combined 5 Marauder Horsemen damage...all in close combat after the Organ Gun was destroyed...was pretty funny. Watching the Slayers go nuts on everyone they faced was pretty cool too.

Overall, pretty fun game with some interesting stuff.

Small Campaign Report:Wood Elf Versus Lizardmen in a Treasure Hunt

My Leaves of Asrai War banner moved into a new territory, intent on recovering a mystic item they had heard of. Unfortunately, a small Lizardman force had gotten there first and acquired it.

Springing into action, Windstar rushed to set up a battle line, intent on stopping the Lizardmen from departing with the treasure.

In his rush to get there in time, he left behind the Treeman who had joined up with him after the recent battle. Fortunately, the Lizardman general had hurried ahead of most of his forces as well and several did not show up in time to take part in the battle.

Hastily Windstar ordered the Glade guard to deploy in a line with a hill on their left and forest on their right. The Glade Riders flanked out wide right while Windstar and the Waywatchers advanced up the left flank.

Only a few skirmishing Skinks and a small unit of Skinks in tandem with their over sized Kroxigor brethren stood between the Wood Elf army and seizing the treasure.


Special Rules:

This game was fought using the rules for Treasure Hunt from the 1995 battle book. I selected a slow arrival, just a 4 needing all my units. Fullur was a bit more aggressive, selecting a 9. He would win the game by getting his General off through my deployment zone. I intended to win by leaving no opponent on the field...

Wood Elf Turn One

Windstar gestured the hard-riding Glade Guard forward and led his band of Waywatchers towards the woods on the left, even as the long line of Glade Guard advanced up the center of the field.

The Glade Riders fired first, doing heavy damage to the skink skirmishers. Windstar nodded in satisfaction as his Waywatchers and the Glade Guard concentrated their army on the unit of Kroxigors and Skinks, doing heavy damage.

Seeing the deadly bow fire of the elf army, the skirmishers had enough and fled from the field, leaving only the Kroxigor-led unit and the Skink Chief carrying the treasure.

Windstar smiled in glee. Soon he would possess it!

Lizardman Turn 1

The Lizardman force marched forward as swiftly as possible. The Skink Priest tried to cast the Portent of far, but the Wood Elf forces felt the gathering magic and dispelled it.

Wood Elf Turn 2

Windstar's battle plan showed his wisdom as the fast-moving Glade Riders circled behind the Kroxigor unit.

Again the hail of Wood Elf arrows took a heavy toll, even felling one of the mighty Kroxigor.

Lizardman Turn 2

Too late the Skink Priest realized the danger his army was in but he was caught. The Glade Riders were between him and reinforcements, the Waywatchers were pinning them down from the side, and ahead were the numerous Glade Guard. He saw no way out, so as swiftly as possible tried the one thing he had left...pushing through the Glade Guard and trying to flee the continuous fire of the Wood Elf army.

Wood Elf Turn 3

Windstar frowned. He had thought the bow-work of his highly trained and discipline army would force the Lizardmen to drop the item and flee or at worst surrender, yet here they were continuing their implacable advance. They were as resolute as Dwarfs! Despite the mighty archery of his men, he knew the Kroxigor could do tremendous damage if they were to attack the Wood Elf line in close combat.

Again the hail of arrows flew forth, cutting down the last few skinks and a Kroxigor even as the Glade Riders shot down the Skink Priest. But one Kroxigor was left. He held up his hand, ordering his men to cease fire, assuming the Kroxigor would rather surrender than die.

Lizardman Turn 3

Windstar watched in horror as the kroxigor took the opportunity offered by the cessation of bow fire to charge his lines. With mighty swings of its stone axe, the Kroxigor decapitated two Wood Elfs before one of the Glade Guard managed to finish off the already wounded Kroxigor.

Windstar looked at the field. Overall, acceptable losses, he supposed...for the loss of but two Glade Guard, he had captured a mighty magic item. With eager anticipation, he approached the body of the Skink Priest to see what the Wood Elf efforts had won...

Conclusion

This was a curious battle. I already had a points advantage, even before half his forces did not show up. It was pretty certain from the beginning I would come out victorious.

The problem came when I got overconfident that his Krox would not reach me and diverted some fire to the General instead of everyone shooting the Krox. It had long-term negative consequences, as losing two glade guard, on both of them I failed their survival rolls, so will not have them available for future battles.

At the same time, it was well worth it as I can now take a 100 point magic item and, more important, was provided a second home where I can create specials, rares, etc.

Overall, I really liked the alternative scenario. I was crushed that my Treeman did not arrive...yet I almost prevented it.

Before I rolled the dice, I had a feeling I was going to lose a unit, and almost reversed the order i rolled for my Glade Riders and Treeman. Had I done so, the Treeman would have arrived and i would not have had the Glade Riders.

As it was, the Glade Riders were awesome and in this scenario, not sure the Treeman would have been the right choice anyway.





Beware the power of Wood Elf bows!

Small Campaign report: Lizardmen versus Empire

Previously, I had faced the Empire with Chaos Dwarfs, playing as a neutral party. (Part of the reason I quit playing the C.D. list....for the way we play, they are indeed over-powered. We all like to smash into close combat which greatly negates the restrictiveness of 12" range weapons. And I would much rather have close combat based games than shooting games, which is strictly a personal preference and should in no way influence how anyone in or out of our group build their lists).

This time, he had grown his force slightly and I would be playing the Lizardmen, about 400 points worth again kindly built for me by one of my brothers. And, as mentioned in my previous post, the goal would be to inflict as many casualties as possible while losing.

Set-Up

I kept some notes on this game, but they do not include what the scenario was, so....

On my side of the field, I had a stream entering and leaving the left flank with forest about half way across the field and a hill on the far side where I expected him to place his cannon. Skink skirmishers like streams, forests do not inhibit them, seems like a good place to place them. And yep, his cannon went up on the hill.

I then anchored a block of 20 skinks with javelins and shields against the right flank of the skirmishers with a house on my right. To the right of the house I placed another block of 19 Skinks with Javelin and field. The middle of the field was wide open, so the plan was to advance 12" per turn, throw some javelins, see what happened.

My right flank saw another forest about half way across the field with rough ground almost in his deployment zone. Another nice place for 10 Skink Skirmishers with blow-guns. Last, my Skink Priest went with the left-most skirmishers.

He, meanwhile, placed a cannon on the hill on my left flank. (all position references to flanks are from my point of view, so for him it would be the opposite...example, when I say the cannon went on the hill on the left flank, for me it would be left flank, but for him it would be right flank.)

Anchored on the cannon were a detachment of archers, then a big block of spearmen with free company protecting their flank. This would allow the archers to command the field from the hill while the free company and spearmen advanced in tandem.

His Knights went on the right flank, angled toward the center with rough ground to protect their flank.

Lizardman Turn 1

I marched everything 12" forward, cast portent of Far on my skirmishers...a pointless maneuver if ever there was one. But hey, I got some magic off (he did not bother dispelling since it clearly had no effect).

Empire turn 1

He advanced the Spearmen and Free Company, trying to stay within 3" of the Archers, knowing I would charge and wanting to get the Archer stand-and-shoot by staying within 3".

Group Suggestion

I know "pre-measuring" is not allowed, but when we are specifically trying to say...keep within command radius, as he was doing here, I suggest we allow it to be measured prior to ending the move to ensure they are within command radius. I will certainly allow it, everyone else is left to their discretion, but that is my stand.

His Knights made a slight advance as well.

He tried the Conflagration of Doom with his 2nd level Battle Mage, rolling an 11. I used all 3 Dispel Dice to get a 13 and stop it. He then got Sword of Ruin off, making his Wizard a potent close combat model.

Now, against the Chaos Dwarfs, the cannon either missed or mis-fired something like 4 or 5 turns in a row. This game, it would be no different. His guess was impeccable, the ball flight perfection. 2" would hit a Skink, 4" would hit 3, 6" would go through all the ranks, as would 8 or 10. When it stuck in the mud, we knew it would be a long game.

His Archers somewhat made up for it with 5 hits in 10 attempts and 2 Skinks slain from the block of 20. I was already down a rank...

Lizardmen Turn 2

Had I known more about javelins, I would not have done this...but I did not, so CHARGE! The left flank block of 18 skinks charged the Spearmen. He had not told me why he was advancing so slowly, so I did not know he was trying to stay in range of the archers and he scrupulously refused to fire them since he was about an eight inch out of command range. He did, however, get the counter-charge with his free company.

Meanwhile, I advanced both units of skirmishers to get some shots off and slow-advanced my right flank block.

My left-most skirmishers fired at the cannon. Only one hit a crewman, and that failed to wound. 3 Blowpipe shots wounded Knights, but he saved them all. Then the Javelins were unleashed on the knights, twice wounding but he saved them both.

Poison, by the way, is awesome. Not needing to roll the wound about half the time when I hit at all was pure awesome.

He easily dispelled the Portent of Far now that it mattered.

His free company hit 6 skinks, killing 3. I hit just one Spearmen, but did kill him. The Flaming Sword of Ruin allowed his Wizard to kill a skink, the Spearmen then went ballistic; in 11 attacks, 10 hit, 7 wounded. So I decided to be ridiculous as well and, with a 5+, saved 4 of 7...

Still, I needed insane courage. No, flee...5". He kindly rolled snake-eyes to fail to catch me.

Empire Turn 2

Every now and then, there is a spirit-breaking turn in this game. Allow me to introduce you to Empire Turn 2.

His Knights charge my big block on the right, who stand and shoot. he again fails to catch my fleeing skinks.

His cannon this time over-flies the target. 0-for-2.

His archers hit just 2 skink skirmishers and kill just one.

Time to resolve the stand and shoot. All 5 javelins wound, he makes 3 saves...which means he failed 2. Time for a break test. He rolls...an 11. He flees 9"

Suddenly an easy game for the Empire just got tougher. But they should rally next turn...

Lizardman Turn 3

My skirmishers, for no apparent reason, elect to charge the Cannon. My javelins kill a couple members of his Free Company. My blowpipes put another one down. I am controlling the right flank, his Knights are fleeing, and I took the cannon out of the battle...

I put down one of the cannon crew, he cannot wound back, but passes his break test.

Also, my fleeing skinks rally.

Empire Turn 3

His archers charge the fray around the cannon, his spearmen charge the freshly rallied skink block. His Knights...roll another 11, which means the keep running, he rolls a massive 9 and flees the table.

On the bright side, for Conflagration of Doom, he rolls triple 6s. It does just one casualty, though, and I beat him in the roll-off to see if it continues. This meant I had 3 Dispel Dice for his Flaming Sword of Ruin, but he was unsuccessful in casting it anyway.

At this point, he remembered he had not ever placed his Scouts. I insisted he put them on at least far enough to shoot this turn, so he put them on my right flank and shot down a skirmisher. His Pegasus-riding General flew behind them and shot down another.

On the hill, all 4 archers hit, kill 3 skinks. the skinks kill a second cannoneer, the last one enacts a small measure of revenge by downing another skink. I flee, he cannot catch.

Lizardman turn 4

I briefly consider charging his general with my skirmishers, but elect not to. I als debate using javelins or charging the free company, ultimately deciding my 2-rank bonus makes the charge better and in I go.

My big block again rallies.

My left-flank Skirmishers fail to rally and leave the table.

My right flank skirmishers fire at the General, wounding him 4 times. He saves all of them, fortunately.

I do put down 2 members of the Free Company, in return they wound 3 skinks, only one of whom saves. His Free Company flees and outrun me.

Empire Turn 4

General charges Skirmishers, the spears charge my big block for the third time. His Archers kill 4 of the Skinks in my big block to the right.

His cannon, after firing short, firing long, and being engaged in combat, manages to...mis-fire.

In close combat, 4 skinks die to his spearmen, break, he does not pursue...and since the roll to pursue would have been the same as his try to restrain, we check and he would not have caught me anyway. Again.

His general puts down 2 Skirmishers, who break, he over-runs them and hits the back of my big block that was chasing the free company.

Lizardman Turn 5

As usual, my big block rallies. The General kills 3 skinks, I wound back one time but he saves it. The skinks break, flee, run into the 5-strong Free company which means they are destroyed.

Empire Turn 5

His spearmen do something new...engage in combat with my big block. Okay, so they have done so thrice, failed to catch them thrice...whatever. :-)

All his spearmen and the Wizard hit, 5 wound, 4 skinks die, they skinks break, flee off the table.

At this point all I have left is the Skink Priest hiding in the forest, so he flees as well and we call it.

Conclusion

Wow. It looked so bad for the Empire. The cannon was...ineffective would be a kind word, for the second game in a row. The Knights fled without ever seeing combat. He could break my Skink Blocks at will, but could never catch them.

At one point it looked like the Skinks would win by massacre, as his Cannon had a real chance of breaking which would have forced the archers to test, with his Knights already fleeing and his free company down to just 5 guys.

Fortunately, the game turned, the superior army won in the end, and the detachment system again proved its worth.

We need to get Fullur some dice, as his rolls are simply abominable.

the Skinks were a lot of fun to play, and the poison makes them potent. Sure, they are not often going to wound if it does not take effect, but you make an opponent make enough saves and some are bound to fail (see knights, 10 wounds, 8 saved...2 failed. The right amount at the WRONG time.)

All in all, I enjoyed the game and glad it turned out as it did.

Campaign Round 1: Empire Versus Chaos Dwarfs

When I rolled up who each army would be facing, one of the units I rolled was Chaos Dwarfs. I have been wanting to try them out, though it is slightly more difficult since one player in our group thinks they are even more imbalanced than I think one of the official army lists is (I actually so despise one of their magic items I have considered not playing against them, though ultimately I have not elected to go there) and does not want to play against them, so my pool of potential opponents is one smaller.

So naturally, I took them on. There were a few things working against me; I would have 500 points and would be facing 750 points, they are a different style from the other two armies I typically play...and the Inferno Golems, the unit I really want to play test a bit, were way out of reach in a 500 point army.

But there were some things going for me, as well. While they are slower than either the 5" Wood Elf move or the awesome Chaos knight Cavalry charge, they do combine the ability to ramble 6" per turn with T4 and generally heavy or Chaos Armor, thus providing a rugged, tortoise style army. Plus they have the Eruption Gun.

They needed something to deal with monsters, so I started with a Chaos Dwarf Slavemaster with the Axe of ghorth, which meant he did not need to roll to wound.

Next I took something like 25 Chaos Dwarf Warriors with Chaos Armor and shield before re-thinking it. The idea was to provide a game somewhat softer than normal for my opponent, not have a bunch of hard-core, tough to wound killers. Plus, that was a lot of points so I removed the Chaos armor and dropped their unit size. After some fine-tuning, they would end up with 15 of them, including a Champion. By putting the Slave-master in this unit, they could lose a guy and still have 2 ranks.

They allowed me to take an Eruption gun, one of the controversial Dwarf units. At first it was thought to be identical to an Organ Gun, which would mean it was ridiculously under-priced at 45 points. Closer examination reveals it has a BS3 and suffers modifiers to its shots which means it has 0-10 shots that never have better than 50% chance to deal out S4 hits. Still seems a bit under-priced at 45 points, but we will see.

Next I took 10 Chaos Dwarf Annihilators, another controversial choice that seems perhaps over-powered.

Finally, I was able to take 6 Obsidian Guard as my elite unit.

I would be facing 750 points of Empire madness.

The field would encourage a melee in the center as there was rough ground on my right flank protecting a tower, and beyond that a small stream that would inhibit movement. To my left were a pair of forests opposite a hill. Oops, he won for table sides and I knew the cannon on the hill could be deadly.

Since I had no fast-moving troops, it would be 4 - 5 turns before I could get to the cannon (24" between us, 6" per turn max move) so that could be quite problematic.

He had a detachment of quarrelers butted up to the Cannon, then a big block of infantry, then a detachment of Free Company. finally, he placed his knights in the Stream, really the only place they could go. He won the first turn.

Empire Turn 1

The cannon would not move in the entire game. The parent unit and its detachments marched forward. the knights, hobbled by the stream, could only move 3-1/2" forward. Neither of us had magic, so shooting would be the fun phase.

This turn he could only fire his cannon. His range guess was excellent, the Artillery Dice kind, landing about an inch in front of my Warriors. Any 4, 6,8, or 10 would most likely do 4-5 wounds since his aim was perfect. He had a 66% chance of doing serious damage....and a 1-in-6 chance of what happened, the cannon ball sticking where it landed and doing nothing other than drawing an evil chortle from the chaos Dwarfs. Which is what happened. Ouch.

On the bright side, his Pegasus riding general, out ahead of the army, took a shot at the Eruption Gun...and wounded it.

Chaos Dwarf Turn 1

I marched the Warriors on my left wing and the Obsidian guard on my right the full 6". I moved the Blunderbuss 3" and took a shot at his Pegasus-riding General, but whiffed. The Eruption Gun stayed put to maximize its firing potential. It rolled a mighty 8 shots and, needing 5s to hit, hit 4 times, killing 2 of his big block.

Empire Turn 2

He made a slight advance, and his reasoning was not just sound, it was hilarious. "I guess I will stop here since getting charged by Dwarfs would just be humiliating."

Bwoohahahah, great line. Thanks, Fullur.

The Pegasus General flies behind my Warriors and shoots at the Eruption Gun, but somehow misses. then his Cannon...mis-fires. Fortunately, he rolls a 6 and will be able to fire it next turn.

Chaos Dwarf Turn 2

My Obsidian Guard makes just a 3" advance, as I do not want his detachment to charge with the Knights. I figure I can maybe survive a Knight charge, but would lose badly to a combined charge so I tried to stay out of range of the detachment.

Meanwhile, my Warriors march 6" again. I move the Annihilators just 3" so they can fire at the infantry block.

once again i roll an 8 on the artillery dice and, again needing 5s, hit 4 times and again wound 2 guys. The Blunderbusses, with S5 due to 2 ranks, also open fire on his unit...and proceed to do another 2 wounds. The unit takes 25% in this round...breaks and flees.

Empire Turn 3

He fails to rally. Whatever. The Knights charge my Obsidian Guard.

His cannon...for the second consecutive turn...mis-fires. In the interest of a better game (his cannon dropped the ball in the mud, mis-fired, and mis-fired) we make him re-roll, only to see it overshoot everybody.

His Quarreler detachment shoots down 2 Warriors and his Pegasus General shoots down the Eruption Gun.

Close Combat goes about as expected. His Knights kill one Obsidian Guard, they kill a Knight, are outnumbered, and needing an 8 roll an 11, epic fail. They flee but are over-run.

Chaos Dwarf Turn 3

Just a turn ago, it looked so good for me. Well, my Warriors charge his detachment, which flees...3". At first, I rolled the dice and thought I had caught them, but then we remembered I would only go my charge distance which lagged behind them by about an inch, so failed charge, I only go 3". His detachment lives.

I wheel the Blunderbuss unit to face the Knights who otherwise would be rear-charging me in about 2 turns.

Empire Turn 4

He initially fails both rally tests, but we take a good look at the dice. They have rolled 9 or higher 6 consecutive times. We remove the dice, have him re-roll and both units rally. His other detachment flank charges my Warriors, which I am not overly worried about.

Then his Pegasus shoots down a Blunderbuss, the Cannon does its first 2 casualties of the game against them, causing 25% to the unit...which promptly rolls an 11, flees, runs into the Knights and is wiped out.

In close combat, he kills 2 Warriors, who can do but one casualty in return. 2 casualties +flank beats one casualty + outnumber...I break, run, get over-run...and abruptly the game is over.

Conclusion

His dice rolling was appalling in this game. The 3 rounds of nothing from the cannon...the failing of EVERY SINGLE LEADERSHIP TEST until we made him re-roll...the Knights doing all of 1 wound...

While mine, on the other hand, was stupendous. I took 16 shots which should reasonably have had 5.3 hits...and got 8 out of it. Also, I should have averaged 5 shots per turn, so I got more than an extra turn of shooting out of the Eruption Gun, hit more often than it should.

I do think the Eruption gun is under costed by 5 points or so...it is pretty squishy for a War Engine, and I suspect will be pretty erratic over the course of time.

The Blunderbusses I think are pretty balanced. They are awesome against hoard type units and will pretty much be worthless against tough enemies unless I can keep them ranked up to get the strength bonus.

The Warriors I think are probably costed about right assuming regular Dwarf Warriors have WS4 as well, other wise I think they cost a point or 2 too many.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed playing as Dwarfs though and might take up the regular Dwarf army a bit more often. Assuming, of course, I can ever get the Gyrocoptor assembled...sometime after I get the dragon glued together, after I get the Juggernaut glued together. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the assembling portion of the hobby? I suck at it, and it really sucks a lot of the enjoyment of the game out of it for me. I might have to try and trade off some Blazer tickets to someone to pin them :-)

Over-all, i think the spirit of the game was held up. The idea was to ensure an Empire victory, and he only permanently lost one guy, so no real harm done and I think it was a pretty fun game.

Seeing his 10 man Free Company detachment make my 15 Warriors and Slavemaster run was pretty awesome, definitely a highlight of the day for me. I like seeing my opponents do well and after watching the Cannon do nothing all day...it was time.

Good game, massacre for the Empire.

Campaign Round 1: Wood Elf Verse Goblins

First, a preface. We started a campaign where the attrition elements requires a different style of play. the further you get from home, the more each casualty will hurt. It is not enough to simply win a battle, it is imperative to minimize casualties.

Knowing that a casualty might not be with your army for the next battle means you sometimes need to be a bit more conservative in how you maneuver your army.

Fortunately, I am playing the Wood Elfs; an army that relies on maneuver to avoid combat and tries to win with massed missile fire.

Now, I also know there is a 5-in-6 chance I will be facing an army smaller than my own, and 750 points does not go far, so I want to have a force that is hard-hitting and can still deal damage if I lose a few troops as I move out.

Building the Army

I started with my hero. I could either go a Wood Elf Noble or a Spellsinger. The Noble is slightly cheaper, can provide some close combat punch, has a higher leadership, and for me, magic pretty much always is pointless. I went with the Noble.

I know I might run into some Vampire Counts, and if so, fear of Ethereal means I might need some magic so I made him a member of the Waywatcher Kindred and gave him the Spites of Luminescents and Shrikes, which means he and any unit he joins have their attacks count as Magic.

Thus Windstar will lead my War banner forth.

Since he has the Waywatcher kindred and can deploy with Waywatchers, kind of a no-brainer to take some, so I maxed out a unit at 10 of them. They should provide me some good shooting that can louse up an opponents' battle plan.

I still need 2 core units so I took 5 Glade Riders. Fast cavalry with 30" bows...I have a 48" reach, though they are only S3. Still, I should hit often enough to do some damage and, being Fast Cavalry, might even be able to go after War Machines.

Finally, I took a big unit of Glade Guard. Probably my favorite core unit in any army, they have great striking power, particularly from 15" in. With their ability to suffer no penalty for moving or firing, they are a fast, mobile, deadly fire base that, in emergency, can form into ranks and at least maybe take out an enemy or two on their way out the door. I took 19 since often I can either place them on a hill in 2 ranks or occasionally even go 19 wide and control the center of a field.

the set-up

When forces were rolled, it was determined I would be facing 500 points of Orcs and Goblins. Good news; most O&G fear Elfs, and I would have a 3-2 advantage in points.

We rolled scenario and drew Surprise attack. Since I had just 4 placements, placed first, and he had 5 placements, it meant I would get 2 4" moves besides.

I had hills on my left and center, a forest out of my deployment zone on my left flank, and on the right flank half-way across the table another forest (placed there via Wood Elf ability). The center of the field was open.

I started by lining up my Glade Guard 19 wide in front of the hill. The plan was to get within 15" as quick as possible and then retreat 2.5" per turn in a shooting retreat to maximize the number of turns I was wounding on a 4+. He lined up 20 bowmen wide opposite me...though I thought for some inexplicable reason they were spearmen.

Next I placed the Glade Riders on my Right planning to make for the forest and shoot him from there.

He lined up another 20 bowmen behind the first.

I placed my Waywatchers on my left, planning to head for that forest, giving me a horse-shoe to fire on him. I planned to concentrate my fire on one unit at a time.

He placed 10 Black orcs behind the bows on my right.

I put Windstar with the Waywatchers.

He placed a bunch of regular Orcs on my left behind the bows. I advanced the Waywatchers 4". He placed his Black Orc general with the Orcs and I got my Waywatchers into the forest.

I won the roll to go first.

Wood Elf Turn 1

Windstar led the Waywatchers to the edge of the forest, the Glade Guard advanced the full 5", the Glade Riders shot forward about 16" to enfilade the enemy. Time to do what Wood Elfs do best.

Twang! Twang! Twang!

No, not play banjos, fiddles, and country "music". They were shooting. And shooting. And shooting some more. Then, just for something different, they shot.

The Glade Guard shot down 6 Night Goblin bowmen. The Waywatchers then almost whiffed, shooting down just 1, and the Glade Riders could also do but 1 wound. Still, 8 Night Goblins down in one turn. This was promising.

Orc and Goblin Turn 1

All his units passed their animosity test, which I was happy about. I think the Orcs and Goblins MIGHT be playable if they did not have that rule. Well, his 12 bowmen open fire on the Glade Guard that tormented them so badly. They hit just once, but that one proceeded to kill a Glade Guard.

Why? What did he ever do to them? How do they know he was not one of the 11 guys who did no damage?

Anyway, about 7 or so guys from his 2nd unit of bowmen had line of sight on the Glade Riders and took pot shots on them. However, being goblins, they may have been imbibing in pot and the shot was rot, doing no damage.

You are welcome for the horrible poetry, by the way.

He also had no magic so the turns went pretty quick.

Wood Elf Turn 2

I moved the Glade Guard forward a couple inches to get within 15". The Glade Riders now proved their value, riding behind enemy lines. In some respects, this was a tactical error, but in others it was brilliant. More on that in a moment.

The Waywatchers were in perfect position. Time to shoot.

The Glade Guard again showed why they rock as a core choice, shooting down another 8 Night Goblin archers.

Okay, so the enemy is "just" Night goblins. Average T, not particularly dangerous...still, whacking 14 of them with 2 rounds of shooting is pretty awesome. Not a lot of units can do that.

The Waywatchers for whatever reason, instead of finishing that unit off, fire at the second line, killing 5, and the General kills another. This turn I remember his Pageant of Shikes, but it does no damage.

The Glade Riders also do well, hitting 4 times and killing one of the Black Orcs. At this point I am ecstatic with my shooting.

I mentioned a tactical error. I should have concentrated all my fire on individual units until they were gone. That had been my plan, and I randomly abandoned it on turn 2. Why?

Excellent question. On the bright side, it did put me behind his close combat monsters and march block them...which would matter. I accidentally learned the power of that maneuver and probably saved myself several casualties, though I think the outcome was pretty much determined already by point totals and a field quite favorable to me.

Orc and Goblin Turn 2

The Orcs promptly fail their animosity test. The General has an ability though where he whacks around his troops, and rolls just one. So one orc dies to the orc attack. He then tries to wheel towards the Waywatchers, only to be march-blocked by the Glade Riders, so he only goes 4".

His 4 man unit fires at the Glade Guard...and promptly do nothing useful. I still should have finished them off! His big unit of archers has a bunch of guys who can see me, but their shooting is ineffectual, killing just one.

Wood Elf turn 3

Time to start phase 2.

Glade Guard retreat 2.5 inches. You can call it a retrograde movement. Advancing to the rear. I call it lining up the shot...

Glade Riders move to keep both the orcs and Black Orcs march blocked.

Between the Glade Guard and Waywatchers, I finish off the second line of archers...leaving the 4 untouched. Pageant of Shrikes again fails to wound.

Glade Riders again fire at teh Black Orcs, hitting 4 times...and failing to wound even once. S3 versus T5 is bad news.

Orc and Goblin Turn 3

Lets see...what would be the WORST possible outcome for the Orc army? Oh, I know...both eligible units failing animosity.

So they did. Pathetic dice rolling.

The bowmen would simply stand and bicker. The Orc general was tired of the bickering, so this time he hits 5 of his guys, killing 2. He has done 3 casualties to his own unit, more than his entire army has done to me. Animosity is so horrible.

Anyway, the move towards the Waywatchers commences, Black Orcs can only advance 4" towards my Glade Guard, He splits off his General to go see what the Glade Riders are up to.

Wood Elf Turn 4

The retrograde advance continues, as I advance another 2.5" towards my edge of the battlefield, trying to keep distance between me and those nasty Black orcs. Everybody else is happy where they are.

Glade Guard now opens fire at the Black Orcs. They wound 4 of them...and all 4 promptly fail their saves and die.

The Glade Riders have a choice; shoot at the Orc general or at the 4 man archer unit. It seemed like I had shot at the Black Orcs three or four times without wounding (2 times for those who can count...which apparently is a category I do not fit in...) so thought firing at the General was a last-ditch resort. I shot at the 4 bowmen and 2 died. The other 2 broke and, being less than 25% of the starting size, would not rally.

Meanwhile, the Waywatchers were looking at a formidable group of Orcs. If I had to face them in close combat, it was very dangerous; if Windstar was killed, it would put my overall campaign strategy in a serious bind...as would taking any serious hit to my Waywatcher unit.

So they took their job seriously, and put down 3 orcs with some very accuragte fire (and some lucky Lethal Shot casualties).

Gobline Turn 4

The 2 archers run into the Glade Riders and die. The Black Orcs and Orcs both advance 4".

Later, he pointed out this is the turn he should have called the Wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhh but did not. Good point.

Wood Elf Turn 5

I need to concentrate on the Orcs as they are close to my Waywatchers so I bounce the Glade Riders onto a hill in his deployment zone and open fire on the Orcs. I should have built a fire and had s'mores, it would have been equally effective and tasted better.

Fortunately, the Waywatchers killed 3 more and the Pageant of Shrikes did its first casualty of the game.

The Glade Guard wounded 6 black Orcs, but 3 saved. Uh-oh...

Goblin Turn 5

Ah, a great turn for the gobbos. The Orcs finally get to charge, though by now they are but 5 strong. Too little, too late. For the first time in the game, the Black Orcs get to march.

In close combat, the Orcs strike down a Waywatcher. With no save, he is squishy and easy to kill. My General is ineffective, but the Waywatchers do kill one orc. I outnumber, so win the combat but the last 2 orcs laugh and stand.

Wood Elf Turn 6

The Glade Guard continue their nice bow work, retreating 2.5"...I mean, making a retrograde advance...and wound 6 Black Orcs, killing 4. That once mighty unit breaks and flees.

The Glade Riders fire on the General and even with the minuses and needing a 6 to wound, they do wound him once...and he cannot save. Excellent.

I get to strike first. The Waywatchers kill one Orc and the General the other.

Orc and Goblin Turn 6

At this point, he has 3 models on the table; the 2 fleeing Black Orcs and his General. He calls the WWWWWWWWWWWaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhh and charges the Glade Riders...who slay him with their Stand and Shoot.

Post-game Wrap Up

With a 250 point advantage, I was a prohibitive favorite to not only win this game but win via massacre...which we knew going in. These games are just to provide a minimal obstacle to taking "free" territories and perhaps cause some attrition problems. As a result, my goal was 2-fold; first and foremost, win the game, obviously, so I get the territory.

2nd, minimize my casualties so I lose as few troops as possible.

I succeeded brilliantly, losing but 3 guys, all of whom made their rolls and proved to be minor casualties who will heal in time to move with the Banner.

As far as the game itself,I think I played pretty well. I used the Wood Elf mobility to get their troops where they needed to be and, except for changing targets with the Glade Riders, I more or less maximized my firing. By retreating 2.5" per turn, I stayed within the 15" to give me that viatl S4 with my bows and also, with him being march blocked, it meant he was only getting 1.5" closer to me each turn. All day I can take that trade as it will take him about 8 turns to catch me. Good luck with that.

I think it did concince me that I need to dedicate some troops in each army to being March-block hunters. They will have to be mobile but with punch to keep people from march-blocking me. It is so hard to win if you ar close-combat oriented and can never bring the enemy to contact.

This left him little option. In our post game discussion, he said he might have put the 2 units of bowmen side by each which may or may not have caused me more problems. As it was, they only lost a half turn of firing and were about as effective as Night Goblin archers can be against fast moving, tricksy elves.

Overall, a fun game with the desired outcome. And I get to add a rare choice to my War banner. I might go with a Treeman for those games where I cannot keep out of Close Combat...

The Campaign E-Mail

Okay, gang, the more I think about it the more I think the small campaign might be a bit too complicated with some of the newer players to the game and so forth so I am instituting the following changes effective immediately. First, no more "hidden movement". Here are the starting locations (which have changed in the interests of better balance)

Cris, Vampire Counts, Constantinople
Drew, Greece, Wood Elfs
Josh, Holland, Dwarfs
Kenneth, Marseilles, Tomb Kings
Kevin, Paris, Skaven
Liam, Sevastopol, Brettonia
Phillip, St. Petersburg, Empire

The starting locations all give access to either 1250
or 1500 points adjacent assuming the supply centers are worth 500 and the non-supply centers worth 250. . Every starting location has at least 2 viable starting strategies. I determined them by going through the entire list, figuring out how many points each Supply Center was adjacent to and found the closest to having 6 or 7 starting locations with identical options. I could not do that but came real close.

You need to e-mail me at least 2 War Banners in the next week.

1) Your home War Banner. This consists of 1500 points that must adhere to your army restrictions with the following single exception; Your King may be a non-special Lord-level character of no more than 250 points, absolutely no fudging; if you make it 251 points, you will be disqualified, for example. 250 points is a hard cap, as is the 1500 points. This War Banner cannot leave your home territory but serves as the home defense force. Later, you may receive the ability to move your King, but that will be several turns in.

2) You have an additional 750 points to make as many War Banners as you wish with that 750 points, though each War Banner must conform to your proper army restrictions with the following exception: the Tomb Kings have no chance whatsoever without their Hierophant and Liche Priest, so they may always include a basic, no tooling up version of each even if that means they will not then have enough points to fulfill their core requirements. If you feel your army has a special need I am unaware of, please let me know and I will consider it on a case by case basis.
Note: this does not mean you can have 3 750 point War Banners. It does mean you could choose to have a 500 point and a 250 point, 3 250 point, a single 750 point, or any other combination that totals 750 points or less and conforms to your army restrictions.

Note; Everything is unique; for example, if I were playing the Warriors of Chaos, I could have 1 Wulfrik the Wanderer in War Banner A but in no other War Banner. I could put the Staff of Sorcery on a Wizard in War Banner B but not in any other War Banner; it is unique. So no putting your favorite Magic Item in every War Banner, sorry.
All War Banners when first formed must conform to your legal Army restrictions with the single exception addressed above.

Feel free to e-mail one another suggesting alliances, deals, etc.
If anyone does not see the potential strategies I was discussing for their starting location, feel free to e-mail me as I will have access to e-mail this week...just not the map, though I have a fairly good memory of it.

By the end of this month we will close off all diplomacy and War Banners will be locked in place. At that point, you will have one week to e-mail your moves to me. On the first Saturday of September, I will post the battles that need to be fought on http://starvingcrazedweasels.com/ (assuming Phillip can help me figure out how to do it).

Here is a sample if I were playing the Warriors of Chaos and starting in London.

London War Banner, the Legions of Pyrrhus
General: Pyrrhus
Chaos Lord on Chaos Steed, Shield, Mark of slaanesh, 249 points
Core:
12 Chaos Warriors w/Shield, Great Weapon, mark of khorne, full command 276 points
12 Chaos Warriors w/Shield, Great Weapon, mark of khorne, full command 276 points
7 Chaos Warhounds 42 points
Special:
5 Chaos Knights w/full command, mark of khorne 280 points


Chaos Sorcerer on Chaos Steed w/mark of tzeentch, 2 Dispel Scrolls 206 points
Exalted Hero on Chaos Steed w/shield, khorne, Golden Eye of tzeentch 166 points
Total: 1500 points

War Banner 7; The Regiments of General Custer
Exalted Hero George Custer on Chaos Steed w/shield, mark of tzeentchcollar of horne, 166 points
Exalted Hero on Chaos Steed w/Shield, mark of khorne 146 points
Core:
18 Chaos Marauders w/light armor, shield, great weapons, mark of nurgle 156 points
12 Chaos Warriors w/Shield, Great Weapon, mark of khorne, full command, 276 points
total: 744 points (note: Marauders are 7 points apiece as configured above, so one more would "only" put me over by one point; but it would also make me illegal. 750 points or less, no going over. Period.)


As you can see, there are serious limitations to small point totals. I have no Knights, no Shaggoth, etc. But everyone else will have the same issues, so it is all good, right?

So there you have it. The campaign is officially begun. Look forward to putting together some games, send in your War Banners, questions and comments ASAP.

Phillip, if you want, feel free to add this under a campaign page on the website. If not, no big deal.

See you guys in two weeks.

Sign Up Now!

Please reply in the comments section if possible or edit this if you prefer which campaign you wish to play in. It can be either or both.

The "big" campaign will have supply centers worth 2500 points and non-supply centers worth 1000 points. This will result primarily in larger games with many Lord-level characters.

The small campaign will have supply centers worth 500 and 250 points which naturally will result in smaller games and probably very few if any Lord-level characters.

You are encouraged to play whichever one you are most comfortable with and if you wish to play in both, that is fine too as long as you play a different army in each one.

Example:

Drew: I want to play in both.

Chaos in the big campaign

Wood Elf army in the small campaign.

(note:If Chad ends up playing, he will be in the small campaign and will be the Wood Elf army in which case I will probably go Lizardmen if Phillip will let me use some guys when he isn't playing them...)