Jump to content
  • entries
    37
  • comments
    83
  • views
    9,265

Warhammer Skirmish Expansion "Update"


Thomas Lyons

1,070 views

Hey folks, I've obviously been radio silent on this blog and on this project for awhile.  The long and the short of the project is that Vince and I have around 35 pages written and we were in the testing phase when I put a pause on the project.  Two things essentially brought the project to grounding halt.

The first was the realization that the underlying mechanics of the established Skirmish system kept essentially getting in the way.  The base warband composition rules lended itself to spamming Unit Champions.  This was coupled with the fact that some units were simply not balanced with this game in mind (i.e. Pink Horrors, Knight Azyros, etc.).  This, coupled with the fairly flat progression and easy access to your larger Grand Alliance (which often created diversely homogeneous warbands, i.e. One Pink Horror Champion, One Blight King Champion, etc.)  cause all kinds of developmental and balance hurtles.  Ultimately, I was finding that our design was fighting against the underlying mechanics of the core game and it was a losing battle.

The second was me finally taking the time to read through the updated Path to Glory rules and book and realizing that what we were designing fit as part of the Path to Glory system much better than the Skirmish system.  Much of our design for this expansion was ported over from Vince and I's prior Mordheim AOS project from Fall 2015, right after AOS launched.  For anyone that is familiar with our Mordheim project, if you've read the updated Path to Glory rules, you'll notice that GW's Path to Glory warband composition bears a striking resemblance to our own warband composition rules from Mordheim (namely a hero leader and 4 "unit" choices, where additional heroes or more heroes take up one or more of these four choices).  Accordingly, I guess it shouldn't be surprising that our rules from Mordheim seems to port so seamlessly over to GW's Path to Glory system given how the design intent between the two is so similar.  This, I think, is good news for the next steps.

My hope is for us tighten what we have created and make it a free community Path to Glory expansion for exploring the ruins of Shadespire with your forces.  In the mean time, I'll be posting snippets of what we did complete for Skirmish, for those that are still playing Skirmish and want some fun content.  These rules and tables are not complete, but they should be mostly usable.  The first of these Skirmish tables is a rewards chart for exploring the Scrimshaw Mines region of Shadespire.  

 

2d6 Roll

Scrimshaw Mines

2

Secret Tunnel Network: It was long rumored that Shadespire was underpinned by a massive series of tunnels. You find an entrance into part of those legendary tunnels. During your next engagement, you may hold any number of units in reserve. During your hero phase on turn 2 and every turn after that, you may attempt to have those units sneak up into the battlefield.

  Roll a dice for each model you want to come up that turn, if you roll a 1, that warrior is lost and does not participate in this battle, but is otherwise uninjured. If you roll a 2+, you may place that warrior anywhere on the battlefield at least 9” away from all enemies. This warrior may not move or run this turn, but may otherwise act normally.

3

Abandoned Ur-gold Stash: Gain a Fyreslayer mercenary, regardless of allegiance.  Leaves after the first permanent injury.

4

Vein of Shade-ore: You find a vein of the precious shade ore. The refinement process to produce shade glass is lost, but the raw material is still highly valued for all manner of arcane rituals. You gain 1d3 additional renown.

5

Wiped Out Dispossessed Camp: You find the remnants of a Duardin camp.  It is clear there was a fight hear but there are no bodies.  Their equipment and stores look surprisingly untouched. Roll a dice:

       1-2: Ale Store: You find a full store of dwarven ale, enough to last for months. Your warriors may imbibe the hearty brew before battle to gain +1 bravery.

       3-4: Magical Artifact

       5: Ancestor Shield: Increase the armor save of the warrior by 1 to a maximum of 3+, save against mortal wounds on a 6+)

       6: Great Rune Weapon: As per the Dwarf Lord warscroll (3A, 3+ to Hit, 3+ to wound, -2 rend, 3D, may not use a shield or other close combat attacks when this weapon is used).

6

Mining Tools: You find well worn but still useful tools for mining. The next time your scenario is played in the Scrimshaw Mines, you may choose both your deployment area and what player has the first turn.

7

Bottomless Pit: weird huh?

8

Sheltered Oasis: You find a peaceful and secure oasis hidden in the caves. Shelter from the blistering sands and roving warbands of shadespire. You may replace 1d3 injury rolls with a roll of 45 on the table.

9

Derelict Slave Tenements: You find abandoned slave tenements from the miners that worked tirelessly to pull the shade ore from the depths of the mine. They were allowed to keep little of value, but many hid the precious gems that were of less value to the Katophranes. You receive 1d3 additional renown.

10

Undying Laborers: You find a section of the mine being worked by eternal undying laborers. Skeletons set to a task millennia ago that have never stopped or rested from their only reason for existence. Their mining has revealed little of true value other than massive piles of rocks, but they have built up at least one cart of precious metals. You receive 1d3+1 additional renown. If you are a Death alliance warband, you may also add 1d3 skeleton warriors to your warband.

11

Skaven Nest: You find a nest of skaven clan rats, burrowing into the city. You can attempt to barter with them for information on the mines. Roll a dice, on a 1-3, they reject your offer and drive you from the mines as they swarm en masse. On a 4-6, they are willing to trade information with you and allow you passage through their tunnels. If they do, you may choose your deployment area in the next scenario as well as who goes first.

12

Forbidden Laboratory: Deep within the shadows and twisting tunnels of the mines, you find an old laboratory where someone was attempting to recreate the secret of Shade Glass. There is no sign of what became of the arcanist, but the research and everything else in the lab remains curiously intact. You may choose to steal the research. If you do, roll a dice. On a 2+, you gain 1d6 additional renown. On the roll of a 1, you have incurred the wrath of Nagash and you must roll once on the Mental Injury table for each hero in your warband.  

 

Enjoy and keep rolling those dice!

  • Like 1

0 Comments


Recommended Comments

There are no comments to display.

Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...