Mighty Empires 1990 - Balancing Warmaster, my IRL board and thoughts on ManOwar

 I'm putting together this little piece to help future wargamers get around some of the issues I had playing a mighty empires (1990) campaign with Warmaster rules. This years starting hobby project was to make a board I could use IRL instead of the TableTopSimulator Mod, I've dispersed the photos throughout.

1. Espionage and agents, limit the number of  Espionage to purchasing 1 of each type except agents which you can have a limit of 2. Spies is also not limited to 1 units, but limited to purchasing once so you still get the regular D6.
    The first major issue we had was espionage units, they're really, really good. The first 3 campaign turns we destroyed 4 or 5 major settlements from lucky rolls from saboteurs.
   
   
2. Points values and Purchasing new armies, when purchasing Warmaster armies multiply the Warmaster points by 4 to achieve a proper balance. In our campaign by turn 5 or so we were dropping 3k+ points in a turn on new units and it got away from us. It is much more fun having to spend points sparingly, the challenge is in the lack of resources. We ended up having to split battles into sections and fight multiple smaller battles because I just didn't have the 4k points per side to have a full on bout.
    The other thing to think about is Mighty Empires 1990 was designed for Warhammer Fantasy battles, the revenue of several villages was needed to recruit a full unit of infantry or cavalry, whilst in Warmaster several units of infantry or cavalry can be purchased for the revenue of a single village, it just doesn't scale correctly.
   
   
   
3. Generals and combining banners, When multiple banners join together for a large fight as per the Warmaster rules you can only have 1 General. Our solution was to demote one general to a hero and use the 45 or so left over points to add an extra free unit or magical items to the army. Additionally when a general died we promoted the next available hero into the role of general for free during the reorganisation stage of a turn.
   
   
4. Playing very large battles, We found it best to split large battles into smaller ones we could play across multiple weekends. The thing to keep in mind is to discuss what happens with each possible outcome before joining battle, for instance we agreed that if we both won a battle there would be a third final battle between the victors, whilst every other outcome we'd follow the normal campaign rules.
   
   
5. READ THE RULES, we had an awkward moment early in the campaign when the Empire player thought the outcome of a siege was one army withdrew and the other occupied the fortress (Earlier that week I had stressed the need to read the rules thoroughly, he didn't). When he realised it destroyed his army there was an awkward limbo where the Empire player was going to withdraw from the campaign if they lost their army so I ended up agreeing to some very favourable terms for him, but it demonstrated the need to press the issue READ THE DAMN RULES.
   
   
6. Name Everything, we found it great fun to use the name generator in the book or even make our own names for things, and work out their own little back story ie what race is the village?, what's its name?.
   
   
   
7. Have an escape plan, When a campaign begins to wind up its best to look into a nice story to tie up the narrative threads so you don't have to fight more and more one sided and desperate battles, unless that's what you really really want. I would caution against it though, nothing is quite so infuriating as being unable to finish a Mission on a PC game because your opponent has 1 unit hidden on the map somewhere and you spend hours hunting that 1 villager or horse for the same victory you already earnt. Keep in mind this needs to be a collaborative and gentlemanly endeavour and your opponents input is also important, if you lose, you lose and your story should reflect that.
   
   Finally some ideas I was unable to implement in the campaign itself.
   
   ManOwar: though we did squeak out one game in the end with a different player on Tabletop simulator I'd really like to implement ManOwar in the campaign, I went overboard this year and printed Chaos Dwarves, Empire, High elves, Skaven and Orc fleets and will probably do Brettonia and a combined Chaos fleet.
    Here are some ideas for implementation:

• 'Fleets' are a 1000 point force of ships, army lists are made up just before battle.
• 'Fleets' can be deployed at the start of any campaign season in any coastal tile with an owned settlement.
• 'Fleets' move 3 tiles per turn
• Banners can be transported and use baggage for subsistence
• 'Fleets' are lost if they lose more than half their points and lose or tie in a battle.
• If they lose or there's a tie they retreat 3 tiles towards the nearest owned settlement using their next turns movement in the process.
• 'Fleets' that win a engagement but lose more than half their points are moved to the nearest coastal city with a harbour and cannot be used for the rest of the year, becoming available next year.
• Captured ships are tallied up, and earn 1 revenue per battle honour at the end of the season.
• 'Fleets' can blockade Harbour by being placed within the owned tile of the city that controls that harbour. Blockaded harbours cannot generate revenue from fleets nor can they recruit new fleets in a blockaded harbour.

The Chronicles of the Emerald coast - 1821ic - Collapse

 Matthias Kahn - Observer from Blessed Tower

Kharagroth Ghazath Cragbeards power is in question, the first month of disastrous battles has ended and the upper echelons of the Chaos dwarf leadership in the Emerald Isle are worried. The remanets of the field armies that fought at Drakenhelm north and south deserted with the intention of marching on Kar-Tor leaving the Garrison at Belburg wholly unsupported against 3 Empire armies.

 

 Whilst all this happened the sleeping Empire of the sea elves began to stir, several patrols reported tall masted Catamarans sliding down the coast but patrols were unable to catch them. Their spies seeing the division amongst the Chaos Dwarves triggered a sudden rise to arms, their ships slipped out of port and began systematically ambushing Chaos Dwarf naval patrols, next came the convoys laden with treasures and slaves, the escorts were picked apart and cargos ferreted away to secret coastal bases or out to sea.

 On land small contingents of Elves ambushed patrols and destroyed local enforcer garrisons, finally a large army spilled out of the Sea Elves empire. During this time the Sea Elves refused contact with the Empire and turned away all ambassadors, much like they had in past years. This lead to an awkward tension between the Empire and the Elves; that the Chaos Dwarves were able to exploit, Fighting the Elves and Empire in detail.

The Battle of Dunmar and the Retreat of the Dwarves

The armies close on one another with the forest on the left flank anchoring the battle lines.

The Chaos Dwarves close on the Crossbows on the left. The combined fire of Crossbows and cannon were unable to disrupt the Closing Chaos Dwarves.

The left Flank charges sweep the Empires right flank whilst a contingent of Bullcentaurs Rips the guts out of the Empire Left, and Centre made up of Handgunners.

The Battle of Dunmar was a crushing Defeat for the Empire, losing 9 units whilst the Chaos dwarves took some stands casualties but the only full unit lost was a death rocket that self destructed.

• The Total Victory at Dunmar allowed the Chaos dwarf northern armies to retreat unmolested by the Empire, despite their numerical superiority. The Empire was unable to press the advantage of numbers for fear the Elves would flank them during an extended siege of Dunmar so maintained a strategic reserve to counter any Elvish tricks.
  
  
• The Victory at Dunmar further destabilised Kharagroth Ghazath Cragbeard leadership rather than saving it, others now saw themselves as better candidates for leadership. The writing was on the wall; the Empires armies were too numerous, their own naval forces were moving in to contest the seas and the Sea Elves were stepping up their assault by landing small contingents along the coast and torching Towns and Villages.

Blood in the water

The final decision was made to run, the Chaos Dwarves had upset the Empires plans and the addition of the Elves to the contest and their unwillingness to make deals with either side meant the situation might be saved by strong leadership and a unified state; however all confidence in Kharagroth Ghazath Cragbeard leadership had vanished, the armies morale was shot and the symmetry expected of a well rounded force was lost due to casualties, in particular the loss of so many Bullcentaurs; the religious guardians of the Chaos dwarves being felt keenly amongst the rank and file. The Chaos Dwarves laden their ships with treasures and made steam for safety.

 As the fleet Sailed for the horizon, Kharagroth Ghazath Cragbeard stood on the stern of his massive smoke belching Thunderfire battle barge 'Hashut's Hammer' mulling over his plans to secure his leadership and re-establish his empire, his Lamassu Zhazkurth Zharribath sat next to him musing over the flows of magic. Zhazkurth stopped, eyes narrowed on Kharagroth a sudden powerful unexpected thrust of his paw and Kharagroth was falling, pinwheeled off the back of the hull and into the ocean to certain death. Zhazkurth laid down on his paws, the Two Bullcentaur guards, a handful of servants and advisers glancing over in mild interest at the cries of Kharagroth as he fell and bounced off of the hull. He should have been stronger, they all thought.

This concludes to Chronicles of the Emerald Isle, I hope you've enjoyed reading the goings on of my Campaign. It's been a blast playing both a campaign and Games, we learnt a lot about the old rules and found some things the need tweaking which I will do a separate post on.

The Chronicles of the Emerald coast - 1821ic

Matthias Kahn - Observer from Blessed Tower

Spring 1821c

•  The Chaos Dwarves deploy three banners in Belburg, and a fourth north of Linburg, whilst the Empire deploys 3 banners around Linburg and 3 at the fortress of Drakenfell.
• Chaos Dwarf Hobgoblin Assassins strike at the 3rd Levy stationed neared Linburg, killing a Wizard and the armies General.
• An Empire assassin strikes, killing 200 points of Chaos dwarves around Linburg.
•  First month of the year the Empire pushes the Chaos dwarves back toward the Sea Elves enclave, the Chaos dwarves engage in a scorched earth policy razing settlements on the way, securing baggage to prepare for the coming siege at Dunmar. 

The Chaos Dwarves retreat towards Dunmar, razing settlements in preparation for a siege.

• 2 Banners of the Chaos dwarves move into assault the fortress of Drakenhelm (fortress on left), whilst a 3rd Holds Belburg (orange roof city). The two Empire Banners on the Left moved to defend the Drakenhelm fortress in a field battle whilst the 3rd banner besieges the City of Belburg. If the Chaos dwarves lose this fight they'll be pushed back and have to fight the Empire force besieging Belburg.

The battle of Drakenhelm will be split into 2 battles North and South, simply I did not have enough models to fight a 3500 point battle.

Iron Demons of the Clan Cragbeard

Battle of Drakenhelm North

Massacre of Drakenhelm South

The final confrontation

The Survivors

• The conclusion of these two major battles caused a great upset within the Cragbeard clan, the consequences of which I will address in my next chronicle.

The Chronicles of the Emerald coast - The Enclave of the Elves

 

There are Elves that occupy the northern shores and small settlements at the base of the Blackstone mountains, initially unknown to the Chaos Dwarves let alone the Empire far to the south. 
 Each year a convoy of sleek and deadly ships slips from shore, laden hulls with precious and magical gems and stones mined from the shallow quarries of the Blackstone mountains.

The Sea Elves Enclave is a defensive ring, protecting and supporting the loading site of the important mineral wealth flowing from the mountain mines. A Human city and several villages dot the base of the mountains pulling up the mineral wealth in exchange for Elven goods and access to their global trade network. These Settlements were completely unarmed and unwilling to defend themselves when the Chaos Dwarves arrived, leading to an awkward stand off between the Elves and the Chaos Dwarves. In Year 1819 the Dwarves tried to take one of the smaller Elf settlements at the base of the Blackstone mountains but were bloodily repulsed, losing more than half their numbers.

 The Elven defensive ring prevents easy northern expansion of the Chaos dwarves but the Elves themselves don't have the manpower or strategic resources to wage a war of domination. The Elves are wholly unprepared for an expansionist policy and so must content themselves with sitting tight and resisting. The real danger they face however is relevance, the Human mining settlements are now under Chaos Dwarf control and the connection with the small Elvish settlements have been lost except for the occasional courier. With the flow of ores and Gems at an end and the trade fleets moving onto greener pastures, not to mention Chaos dwarf Piracy the challenge of survival and meaning is as pressing as ever for the elder race.

The Chronicles of the Emerald coast - 1820ic

 I Matthias, continue my chronicle of these times.

Summer 1820

• Empire wizards cast a yearlong storm onto the fortress of Rasador making scouting and subsistence nearly impossible

• First month of the year the chaos dwarves begin a siege of Belburg

• 2nd month of the year the siege of Belburg continues and the Empire pushes north exploring the riverbanks towards the lake.

• 3rd and 4th month siege continues with the inhabitants of Belburg beginning to starve

Chaos Dwarves Besiege Belburg

• Month 5 the Chaos Dwarves and Empire come to terms over Belburg, saving King Marcus Leitdorf's life and allowing his forces to march home, giving up a steam tank as a monument for Kar-Tor.

• Turn 6 the Treaty comes into effect and the Empire forces retreat returning the territories they took from the Chaos dwarves

• Beginning of winter a force of Chaos dwarves wintering in one of the outlying fortresses of Kar -Tor is struck by a plague and lost to illness.

• The empire suffers moderately from raiding losing some revenue to escaped Goblin slaves and brigands on the borders

• The Empire wizards send out a tsunami of magical energy to fill the dreams of heroes, leading to flocks of soldiers to join the banners of the Empire, adding 100 free points to the Empires roster.
• The Empire builds a fortress adjacent to Belburg anticipating a Chaos Dwarf attack in that direction, whilst the Chaos Dwarves replace losses and buy additional Baggage for the coming year.

Captured letter off of the Kings courier, during an aerial skirmish between a Griffon courier and a Taurus scout:

As of 1820 , After spending two years of heavy campaigning against the Chaos Dwarves, including a close escape due to uncharacteristic mercy from the Chaos dwarves (in no small part of the looming chevauchee of Marshal Perun (targeting a city and a village behind the front), King Marcus plans to tour the southern deserts and incorporate them into his growing kingdom. The Royal guard are exhausted and half starved, and bedevilled by bad luck since the loss of the Patriarch of fire, Henry Plotter in the first large scale engagement with the Chaos Dwarves, and are mutinous at the thought of a third straight campaigning season again those volcanic horrors.

He has trusted the campaign in the north to his trusted Lieutenants under the nominal command of Marshal Perun. The Royal banner will be carried into battle by the king's champion Captain Tiberion. For saving his King from certain capture or death in the siege of Belburg by leveraging captured Chaos Dwarven territory in a peace treaty, Marshal Perun was honoured with the Royal banner carried by Captain Tiberion and further ennobled as viscount-secundus, 2nd man of the Empire. 

Marshal Perun expect another savage year of slaughter on the frontier, with the empire losing its defensive lynchpin in the city of Belburg in the peace settlement which secured King Marcus' life and army. He expects far greater reinforcement in the year ahead, not knowing the threat Lady Athelfled also faces in the west.

 General Bagrattion and his men have vowed to retake Belburg. With his ranks swelled by new recruits and the veterans of the Royal Core who stayed behind, eager for vengeance, Bagrattion stands ready for a new season, in support of the Marshal.

Turns final thoughts

 The turn was dominated by the Siege at Belburg, The Empire player Rolled a 1 for population subsistence and would have lost all their Banners and their 'King' so we agreed to terms as the Empire player could not go on if they lost the two armies. The armies were allowed to march out, giving up a steam tank and returning all lost territories to the Chaos dwarves. This turn was short and the temptation to storm the city was great, however I knew I had such a strong advantage in starving the defenders out, so I persisted.

The Chronicles of the Emerald coast - 1819ic

 Matthias Kahn - Observer from Blessed Tower

I Matthias, continue my chronicle of these times.

• 1st month of the new year, The Empires council of Wizards put an unnatural curse on the great river flowing from the western foothills of the Ironjack mountains. This allows one of the Levied forces to scout the valley north and west along the former banks of the river. Much to the Empires dismay, not much was found there.

• 2-4th month of the year, The Dawi-Zharr explored their Northern border, discovering a Ossified Realm of  Sea Elves. Heavily defended but neutered. 

• Towards the middle of the campaign season a force of Dawi-Zharr Explored the Southwestern fringes of the empire, in the process raising a farming valley for the supplies needed to continue their exploration and to deny the Empire its use in further turns.

• Whilst that Drama unfolded the 2 Main armies of the Dawi-Zharr and the 2 main armies of the Empire Engaged in a large battle along the coast near the Elvish Village of Rasador.

The Battle of Rasador

The scouts of the Empire and the Dawi-Zharr swarmed across the farming valley, moving to counter or probe a point here of there. The Dawi-Zharr Hobgloblin scouts got the better of the Empire Pistoleers however and revealed a full half of the enemies forces there.

Table setup by random terrain generator - Empire occupied the high ground on the left whilst the Dawi-Zharr deployed over open ground

Chaos Dwarves and Bullcentaurs Sandwich the Halbadiers on the hill. The Hero on a Flying Taurus causes terror and adds 3 attacks to the combat.

Bullcentaurs try for a dangerous push in the centre, it ended up costing them dearly.

The Battle ended on Turn 6, having run out of daylight the warring armies both fall back, the Dawi-Zharr got the better of it. The Empire losing a battle wizard with his altar, several Knights and many Infantry. The Dawi-Zharr lost some Bullcentaurs, Blunderbuss Infantry and Orc Slaves.

 The battle demonstrated this campaign will not be decided by a single combat, but rather a grinding campaign of back and forth.

The final Summer months and Winter

• 4th month after retreating both sides consolidated their Banners into a single larger Banner.
• 5th month, Chaos dwarves are Brutally turned back by an enclave of Sea Elves North West of the Blackstone mountains. The question is raised, why are the Sea Elves in the mountains?
• The Banners of both empires retreat without incident at the start of autumn. 
• Winter - Dragons swoop down from the Blackstone mountains, burning the dwarven village of Forbrinkrag, the dragons sow terror but the physical damage was minimal - surely a warning of Hashut encouraging greater carnage
• The Empire, has a plentiful harvest boosting their coffers during a hard year of fighting
• The Dawi-Zharr turn Rasador into a fortress town
• The Chaos dwarf Spies disappear from the city of Belburg whilst Empire saboteurs burn down Kar athol. Chaos dwarf saboteurs burn a small fleet of the empire and assassins on both sides remove mid level men in both armies sapping valuable knowledge and the spirit of the soldiery.

Final thoughts on the year

 The eagerness of the two Warlords to face each other in battle was tempered by the grinding nature of battle, the Chaos dwarves had a hard start but really pushed the Empire whilst the Empire Warlord realised he did not have enough men of command to move his ponderous forces forward consistently.

The year ended with large scale recruitment and reconstruction efforts in the Empire, whilst the Chaos Dwarves prepared for a year of Sieges and being besieged.