8th Ed. Blood in the Badlands campaign

[Quinras]

Hey guys,

I got a campaign coming up, Blood in the Badlands. Not sure if this is generic, but all armies have three tokens on the map. I was thinking about making three themed armies for added lolz. At start we have one general and two luitenants, each with their own regiment of renown (RoR). I was thinking the following:

So:

general: SLANN
RoR: temple guard
theme: regular

Luitenant: Skink chief or priest
RoR: skink cohort
theme: skinks ftw

Luitenant 2: old blood or scarvet on cold one
RoR: CoR
theme: mounted and monster mash



What'ya think? Good, bad or terrible?
Got any tips?


Let me know!
~Q

edit:

Final setup
general: Toctenq, slann mage priest of the 5th generation.
1st lieutenant: Hexgor, Old Blood
2nd lieutenant: Tepinzi, Skink Priest.

Update:
season: spring.
Turn 1.
Lizardmen vs Orcs and Goblins. Siege battle. Lizardmen win.


total:
Win: 1
Loss: 0
Draw: 0

 

[Scalenex]

Sounds fun! Keep us posted with details.

If SCs are allowed, I would recommend Tehenhauin for the Skink list.
Savage Beast of Horros plus a rank of 4+ Skink Chiefs in front of a Skroxigor unit = carnage.

My instinct would be to go with a Carnosaur rider for the general of a monster mash list BUT the Regiment of Renown rules would favor Cold One Cavalry so I think you have the right idea.
,
The Skink list you could put your general and BSB on Steggies for the extra command radius BUT that is dangerous if you don't have enough target saturation that will be dangerous.

If you are using Blood in the Badlands campaign as written you will need to prepare for Siege Battles. Give the Siege Tactica a look.

A conventional siege game, a Skink army would be the best defenders and your traditional army would be the best attackers (Banner of Eternal Flame on the TG for the win). If you play the floating fortress big battle, the defenders skip the starvation rolls so your traditional army would probably be at least as good at defending as your Skink army. Your Monster Mash army will not be very good at taking or holding fortresses.

 

[Quinras]

Actually. those of you who read my post before I edited it will know I had planned a carnosaur as well. But a carnosaur can die from 1 well placed cannonball, and while this is also true for Cold One riders, chances of it happening are less. secondly, a CO is cheaper, so I can play smaller battles. I can add a carno anyway, if I should want to. (and 3rd, I don't have the model yet)

My army is still relatively small so most battles will end up having more or less the same units anyway. But I'd like to vary in the RoR and leaders. I would have liked too field 2 or 3 steggies in the skink list, but allas I only have 1.


I was thinking of putting a Skink priest lvl 2 on a EotG as my luitenant. and if I then add like 2 priests and my magic is covered. but how would I fix my magic in the monster mash? same thing I guess?

 

[Quinras]

Oke for those of you interested, meet my characters. I tried to make it compatible with the WFB lore but please forgive me if I made a mistake. (you can tell me though, I am interested to know. Always nice to have a good discussion)

The 1st battle of the campaign starts in a few hours; Toctenq has to defend his fortress against an invading horde of greenskins.



Toctenq (the ghost) of Itza, supreme commander of the 126th regiment, overseer of the golden ziggurat and protector of Tlaxlan

Toctenq was sitting in the temple, contemplating on the world and the stars. As one of the younger slann most of his time was spend leading the armies of the lizardmen. He was supreme commander of the 126th legion, which was currently stationed in Tlaxtlan. While this city was often under attack from the rat folk, it had been quiet for some time now, and he had spend most of this time in the temple. He was trying to discern his next step toward achieving the Great Plan. A flock of skink priests tended to his needs, aiding him in his venture to understanding the task set upon them by the Old Ones.

He was still meditating when the message came. A skink patrol had spotted a contingent of Skaven, preparing to assault the city. This is not so unusual, as the rats have been trying to take over holy cities for as long as he could remember. But still, from the description and number of forces it seemed unlikely that this was just another raiding party. He had seen a lot of skaven armies, and there was something unusual about this one. It was too large for a random scouting party, but not big enough for a successful raid. Toctenq wasn't worried, but still he could not let them run around unchecked. With the power of his mind he ordered a detail of skinks -armed with blowpipes- and chameleons to attack and ordered them to take a pack of salamanders. Although relatively difficult to control, he knew his enemy, and salamanders had often been instrumental in driving the cursed rats back.

But Toctenq wouldn't let them go unsupported. Even though he knew all skinks would sacrifice themselves if needed, he preferred them to live and fight another day. He extended his consciousness and reached out to the void, separating himself from his physical body. There were only a few slann who liked the ethereal form; most of them preferred the safety of the temple guard. But not Toctenq. He enjoyed the freedom it provided and would even fly around for fun, observing the forest while his mind wandered. It had earned him the nickname "The Ghost".

The transfer from the physical to the magical plain was always a bit disorienting and for a short time, Toctenq floated around to get his bearings, and then searched for the skink detail. As he approached he could already hear the massacre. Large numbers of skinks had engaged the enemy and were circling the rats. Chameleons were also hiding somewhere, but he could detect only a few. The only thing which gave them away was the darts flying around. Spouts of flame were coming from several directions. It was a known and proven tactic. The chameleons would engage the enemy long before being spotted and small groups of skinks would later arrive to aid them. They would shoot poisonous darts while running around the target, using their speed to stay out of harm's way. A unit of venomous skinks, bolstered by some kroxigor, would catch the stragglers in combat. He aided some them with spells, enhancing their accuracy, strength and resilience while simultaneously lighting a group of slaves on fire. It wasn't before long that the contingent scattered and directed the scurrying skinks to pursue and kill them.

Toctenq flew back to the city, satisfied that the threat had been dealt with but as he flew around his sight darkened. He could no longer see the world around him, but instead was at the city gates. He saw a huge army of vermin, reinforced with all kind of monstrosities and war machines. They were laying siege to the city and had already broken through the gate. Hundreds of sauri were lying dead on the ground while the city was sacked. Toctenq was shocked but was helpless to do anything, and while he was searching for the leader, he suddenly found himself back in the jungle. A vision. No even worse, this was his precognitive ability, warning him that something terrible was about to happen.

He teleported himself back to the city and once there, he could once again hear the sounds of battle. The city was already under siege. This was the main army and the contingent of rats he just killed was a decoy. Toctenq felt like a fool, how did he fall for such a cheap trick? Knowing what would happen, he send orders around and instructed all sauri and skinks in the city on their task. Most were already defending the walls but without his guidance, it was unlikely they would succeed.

Some rat monstrosity was ramming on the gate. Toctenq could hear the loud bangs and the cracking of wood and stone. The walls were reinforced with magic, but they wouldn't hold forever. Still in ethereal form he teleported himself to the gate. It was unlike he had ever seen before. This rat could barely be called by that name, daemon was more like it. It was twice the size of a carnosaur. Two huge tentacle-like tails were wiping sauri of the walls while its equally large claws and weapon were pounding at the gate. Toctenq started to mumble, calling upon the power of Xereus to destroy this daemon. As he succeeded his incantation, a purple ball resembling a sun appeared in front of him and he directed it onto the daemon, carefully maneuvering it past the saurus warriors. There was a flash and the entire world turned purple as the ball gained power. It acted like a black hole; all those too close were literary sucked in. He couldn't prevent that some saurus were caught in its power but as it reached its totality near the daemon, there was a loud scream. It twitched and tried to brace itself against the awesome strength, but it was too little too late. As the miniature black hole reached its totality and exploded it engulfing the entire battlefield in blinding light, and all sound of battle stopped for a second. When it cleared, the daemon was gone.

The siege went on for some time, and Toctenq remained in close proximity of the gate the entire time, not wanting to risk his vision coming true. He incinerated thousands of vermin and monsters but all the war machines were still hammering the walls. This needed to stop, otherwise all his effort of protecting the gate would have been in vain. As he teleported himself to the other side of the battle field he instructed a contingent of Temple Guard fighting close by to defend the gate at all costs. He circled the writhing mass of rats, killing all he could while simultaneously searching for the leader. Without leadership, this army would surely scatter. Another pack of vermin bursted into flames but instead of screaming and burning to death, they did nothing and the flames died out. The spell had been countered, and Toctenq had seen who did it. There, in the center of the writhing mass was a single rat in long wizard robes. He was holding a staff and a warpstone focus. A grey-seer, one of the cursed vermin with magical abilities. This was the leader, the master mind behind this raid. Killing him would surely end this assault. Toctenq reached out with his mind and touched the rat. This allowed him to read his mind allowing him to search for his identity and his plan and possibly kill him. However as he completed the spell, the grey-seer looked him straight in the eye and pointed his index finger directly at him. It was long and bony. Toctenq felt his concentration fail as a strong magical curse enveloped him. What sorcery was this? It felt like he had just been struck by a hammer as all his active spells stopped working simultaneously. Barely able to identify its name, he lost all control. It was like a string was pulling him back to his body as he raced past and through everything. He saw the gate. The temple guard had all been slain and gigantic ogre like things were once again bashing the gate. It was the last thing he saw a sigh of trouble and relief at the same time. A unit of saurus warriors, mounted on cold ones, was making their way through the mass towards the gate. He saw their leader just before he passed through the wall and it was unmistakable. Hexgor the exiled, a name known by all slann not often spoken of. Although he had a history of disobedience and was also blamed for losing a city, his skills in mounted combat were legendary. His mere presence inspired the sauri to more heroic deeds.

Toctenq was slammed into his body again and must have lost consciousness for some time. When he woke up, the city was silent. There was no sound of battle, no more cracking of wood and stone or warpstone cannons blazing and exploding. The battle had been won, for he would not be alive anymore if it hadn't. He opened his eyes and looked around him. There was a bowl of water in front of him, which he always used for scrying but what he saw in there made him scream in fury. This actually wasn't a very impressive sound but for a creature who hardly ever spoke, it made the attending priests look up in fear. In the bowl he saw his reflection, but his normally young features had been replaced by something that rivaled those of the venerable lord Kroak. His skin was a pale yellow/white and where his eyes should have been, were only empty sockets. The palanquin in which he was sitting was cracked everywhere and the decorating vines dead and dried. But there was something else. He could feel it, or rather, he could not. The power of foresight was no longer available to him. Toctenq screamed again and cursed the grey-seer. "I know who you are, Kirskritt!" he said. I will find you where ever you go! You will pay for this transgression!". He directed his vision to the bowl again and started to chant. He may not be able to foresee the future, but knowing ones name is a powerful thing indeed. A single image appeared in the shape of a land. The Badlands. Kirskritt had traveled to the Badlands. Fozzriks flying fortress was there as well, Toctenq could see it. So, Toctenq thought, the badlands it is.



Hexgor (the exiled) of the River Amaxon, former stables quarter master of Qui'ittax and hero of Tlaxlan

Hexgor was once stables and quarter master at Qui'ittax, the city of scales. He was known as a master of mounted combat and trained sauri in this art. In battle he has been seen mounted on top a mighty carnosaur, but also on the more common cold ones.

When the city was attacked by the cursed vermin, Hexgor marshaled the defense at the gate. However, due to sheer overwhelming numbers and cunning tactic, the siege had been lost and the city sacked. Hexgor had taken the fall for it, partly because he lost the gate, partly because he survived. Shortly after the city fell, he had disappeared, taking his regiment of cavalry with him and was not heard from again for some time. It was rumored he travelled to the underworld, searching for the accursed rats which had sacked his beloved city. After a long time they suddenly appeared at the battle for Hexoatl to aid in the cities defenses vs the Chaos horde. Though Lord Mazdamundi himself was witness to his skill and bravery, his past still haunts him. He is also considered tainted from his venture into the underworld.

Since then, the only warriors he has added to his regiment are those who join him willingly. The Slaan have forbidden he ever be spoken of. They wouldn't give him a command anymore, much less trust the defense of a city to him. Hexgor has been travelling ever since, searching and killing all those blasted rats he can find and aiding in any battle. He has ignored every order given to him, choosing his own path into the future.

Hexgor was near the city of Tlaxtan when it was attacked. Toctenq was the only Slann in the city at that time and though cunning use of magic, the rats had incapacitated him. The city would surely have fallen if Hexgor hadn't intervened. He charged straight to the gates, killing all he came across.

In the aftermath he was contacted by Toctenq, who told him the Old Ones have forgiven his past transgressions for saving the city. He gave him command of a regiment of his choosing, which was to travel with him to the Badlands, tracking the rat who had dared attack the city and steal from the vaults. Hexgor accepted, and naturally selected his troops for mounted combat and high mobility. At this moment he travels with Toctenq, although given is record of disobidience, it is impossible to say how long this will last.



Tepinzi of the Monument of the Moon, high priest at the temple of Kara and chief advisor of Toctenq the ghost

Tepinzi is venerable skink priest, much older than any before him, although no one can tell just by looking at him. His features still look the same as when the strode from the spawning pools. Many of his fellow priests believe he is touched by the old ones and blessed with long life. It has earned him a saint-like status.

Tepinzi is high priest of the temple of Kara, which is located near Tlaxtlan, but more often than not he is not there. As advisor to Toctenq he often travels with him and either accompanying the slann to the battle field or remaining in the camp to organize everything for their return. Also when the slann is contemplating the known universe and their place in it, Tepinzi is usually around, either to help Toctenq interpret the visions or instruct his flock of priests.

During the siege of Tlaxtlan, Tepinzi was not around. He had traveled to the temple of Kara to attend to some special ceremonies. Toctenq had contacted him after the siege, telling him what transpired. He told him the vermin were gone and the city had been cleansed, but he needed Tepinzi and his flock to check the city vaults while he meditated. He teleported Tepinzi to the city and retreated to his tower. However as Tepinzi checked the vaults, he noticed that some relics were missing. Toqtenc was furious, but without his power of foresight, could only do so much. Together they planned the expedition to the badlands in pursuit of Kirskritt, in hopes of lifting the curse and retrieving those priceless items.

 

[Scalenex]

the narrative is interesting, but in game terms what happened?

Do you need to liberate your capital or did the Skaven sack it and then leave?

What are your armies limited by? If you still have your capital you may want to tool an army for pure defense.

 

[Quinras]

That is just a narrative, some lore I wrote for my characters. There was no actual battle.

The first battle for the campaign was vs orcs and goblins, a siege battle. Also, we do not have static armies (but perhaps we should, as I already saw this is going to become a problem). we decided that you just make an army list prior to the battle, and only the general, his lieutenants and regiments of renown are fixed.

Edit:

Ok here goes. I am not so familiar with the OnG book, but I will post what I know. (photo's coming)

Lizardmen:
2*30 skinks
2*30 skinks + 3 kroxigor
life slann
20 temple guard
2*5 chameleons

relief force:
2*10 skirmishers
5 CoR
2 salamanders

siege equipment:
6*flaming ammunition,
4*cauldron of boiling oil
hell gate
sally forth


Orcs and Golbins
40 orcs boyz
40 savage orcs big uns
40 black orcs
20 night goblins with 30 squigz
goblin big boss on gian spider
2 trolls

And some more characters including his general, a shaman named Borik.

siege equipment:
undermine

The two towers next to the gate, as well as one section of the walls were the objectives.

Battle report:
Oke so the starvation rolls were painfull. on average, 12 skinks died per unit, 8 temple guard died and some kroxigors suffered a wound. 3 chamo skinks died as well. The pre battle phase was relatively short, as neither party had war machines and there was no siege equipment. He did manage to breach one tower with his undermine.

I had deployed my temple guard with slann in the gate, one skrox unit was in the breached objective tower, the other skrox was in the wall section. Cohort was in the second objective tower, and in the wall.
I got to shoot prior to the 1st turn and managed to kill several orcs, but it wasn't looking to good.


First turn
His shaman was preparing to cast a spell but could not control the winds of magic. He rolled a miscast and was sucked in the warp.
He charged all his units against the sections of the walls and towers. My temple guard were fighting blackies, the breached tower was assaulted by savages, and the skrox in the wall were fighting squiggs. The other wall section was assaulted by the spider, and the tower by orc boyz. The trolls fails there check for stupidity and stumbled 3"" forward.
All skinks declared stand and shoot and managed to kill a few orcs. In combat, the skinks were obliterated. 10 skinks or so died per unit, but both were inspired by the presence of Toctenq and stood their ground. The kroxigor in the breached tower got wiped by the savages before they could do anything, leaving the skinks on there own. Almost same hapend with the squiggs, only 1 kroxigor was still standing with only 1 wound left. The temple guard lost 4 of their comrades, but managed to kill quite a few blackies.

In my turn, I cast some spells, and shot some orcs. I used all cauldrons, which killed on average about 8 orcs per unit. .


Orcs turn 2-4
His turns were mostly a repeating cycle. He charged, I declared stand & shoot and sometimes killed a couple. Then I killed another in combat, but he always won. However the presence of Toctenq was so inspiring, none of the break tests failed. The temple guard were down to 8 so in turn 2, he directed his attention to my Slann, but failed to kill him, only causing 2 wounds.

Lizardmen, turn 2-4
My turn was also more or less the same. I cast some spells, shot some orcs. In turn 3 and 4 I managed to cast Dwellers on the savages, which devastated the unit. Almost a third of the unit was destroyed in turn 3, and about 25% in turn 4. However despite this, the battle for the breached tower wasn't going so well. With the help of some skink javalins, the temple guard managed to kill all black orcs in my turn 2, so they relocated to the wall section to garrison it. The squiggs charged, but found the temple guard were a bit stronger and were almost wiped out. only Night Goblins remained after turn 4. With the relocating I put a new skink cohort in the breached tower, feeding them to his savages and keeping them busy untill his turn 4, in which he killed them and entered the tower.

In the end, all skinks were killed and the orcs occupied all segments of the fort except for the wall section with the temple guard. My relief force entered only in turn 4, so they coudln't make the gate anymore.

This meant that, as he controlled 2 objectives, we had to count victory points. I won with a diffirence of about 250 points.


Pics.
Sorry guys! as my army is not so big yet, I had to borrow some stand in models. The trolls represend kroxigors and the goblins are skinks. The temple guard stand on the ground, but are in fact deployed in the gate.

Deployment:








Turn 5:

 

[Scalenex]

Nice, I always like Siege games. You made a solid army list and you made wise decisions, you were also lucky he lost his caster so early.

The only thing I would have done differently in your shoes would be not take the Salamanders in your relief force. By the time they would get to burn things the attackers would be so depleted you wouldn't hit a lot of models. The points would have probably been better spent on boosting your Temple Guard. While Sallies could qualify for an autowin by entering the gate, you can do that easier with Skink Skirmishers.

 

[Quinras]

I agree. Initially I thought he would put much more effort in controlling my relief force, and that I might need to clear a path for my skirmishers. If neccesary I could charge a unit, keeping them occupied while mi skinks move past them. But it turned out this was useless.

Also, in hindsight, I regret taking the kroxigor. It was a 300 points pointsink, and in the end, all they did was kill a single squigg. Also I left 2/7 sections unguarded because of them, and was lucky. We didn't know the rules very well. If he had known then that a unguarded section was so easily entered, I would surely have lost.

 

[Scalenex]

I agree. Initially I thought he would put much more effort in controlling my relief force, and that I might need to clear a path for my skirmishers. If neccesary I could charge a unit, keeping them occupied while mi skinks move past them. But it turned out this was useless.

Also, in hindsight, I regret taking the kroxigor. It was a 300 points pointsink, and in the end, all they did was kill a single squigg. Also I left 2/7 sections unguarded because of them, and was lucky. We didn't know the rules very well. If he had known then that a unguarded section was so easily entered, I would surely have lost.

I haven't done as many Siege battles as I would like (in my perfect world a third of my games would be Siege games), but I still think Kroxigor are good. Kroxigor at worst take a wound from starvation and with a Life Slann this can be healed easily. The trade off is 7 and 2/3 post Starvation Skinks. I'm not sure which I like better.

I guess if a section is breached I'd rather have Kroxigor because they kill the attackers. If a section is not breached I'd rather have the Skinks for more bodies and more stand and shoots.

 

[Quinras]

Yeah initially I thought the same. and prior to the first round of combat I was happy I got them. They survived relatively undamaged, and I figured I could heal them.
And then the pain came. I lost 5 kroxigor in one round of combat. That really hurt, its over 10% of my army!

Also this isn't the first time, their track record isn't that great. I fielded a skrox in one of first battles (vs this same player, actually). The skinks were poisenous. I charged an arach spider, and it killed all three of my kroxigor before they even knew they were in combat.

I might field them with assault clubs when I attack a fort, otherwise I probably won't field them anymore.