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Heart of Darkness - A Solo Battle Report - Part 1


Tronhammer NZ

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The Soulmason glared down from his throne at Krellion Mortifex with baleful, glowing eyes. 

"A Morghast Archai by the name of K'urst has stolen from our order."

The Liege-Kavalos tilted his head slightly, his curiosity piqued.

"Several dozen vials that were being prepared for the black phylacteries were taken from Emmissarian chambers some span ago, and we have been able to locate his wearabouts," continued the mason. "What K'urst intends with these vials is not clear. It is possible, his soul was not refined satisfactorily, and reached breaking point. He has very obviously gone insane.  Whatever his intentions, it matters little. K'urst is Parrha, and must be terminated. Terminate... with extreme prejudice."

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Several weeks into the journey, Krellion Mortifex and his hunting party found the first signs of K'urst's passing. In an area known as Strangleweed Swamp, an obelisk had been erected, which emenated similar enchantments to the vials of the Stonemasons. Monstrous swarms of spirits drifted through the gloom, drawn to the obelisk. These spirits seem to embody the surrounding area, almost as if they were part of the swamp themselves. Whatever the purpose of the obelisk, Krellion reasoned it would need to be destroyed. He motioned to the hunting party, and they assumed a spearhead, ready to enter the murky waters.

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A pack of Fellwater Spirits, ones that were nearest to the obelisk, began to drift forwards towards the interlopers. Two more groups of the twisted greateds floated listlessly in the gloom, and made no sign that they were aware of the hunting pack.

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With a wave of his blade, Krellion motioned the hunting pack into action. The Mortek Guard darted forward, taking a left flank, while the Necropolis Stalkers dashed to the right. Krellion spurred his Kavalos steed directly forward. Its hoof was caught in a sinkhole, and the beast stumbled. Accounting for this temporary weakness, he set to a brutal charge directly at the pack of spirits. One swarm was dissipated immediately.  Issuing a command, Krellion reminded his disciplined troops of their duty to slay in the name of the Undying King, and they leapt to the attack. The Stalkers's blades whirred through the water,  singing. The remaining spirit swarm raked at Krellion, their icy talons penetrating even his considerable defences. In response he slashed at the last of the Fellwater Spirits until it too faded into nothing.

 

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Seizing the initiative, Krellion ordered the party to form a defensive perimeter around the obelisk. The Soulreapers had given him a Shyishan Death-rock, an enchanted device containing a single grain of Grave Sand that would detonate in a blast of amethystine energy. He set it to the base of the obelisk. All Krellion needed to do now was buy time for the device to gather enough of the death magic in the surrounding area in order to do its work. He stood up in his stirrups and observed the behaviour of the Fellwater Spirits.

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The group of spirits skulking on the hunting party's left flank began to advance, perhaps drawn to the disturbance near the obelisk. The group on the opposite flank continued to lazily drift among some nearby ruins.

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Suddenly spurred on by new-found urgency, the Fellwater Spirits near the trees shrieked and charged the Mortek Guard, who adopted a Shield Wall formation as the Hekatos barked the order. Despite their efforts, three of their number were dragged below the water by the ferocious creatures. When they began to trade blows, the Mortek were confounded by the noxious miasma permeating the Fellwater creatures. Krellion was close enough to lend the Mortek some support, and was able to dispatch one of the swarms, his own steed lending assistance as it gnashed and stamped at any wisps it could reach.

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The Necropolis Stalkers did what they do best, and stalked along the flanks of the corrupt nighthaunt. Attacking from the rear, they sliced their way through the remaining spirits. Having seen the potential of these stolen soul-creatures for savagery and harm, Krellion muttered a thanks to the Unmaker that the Fellwater Spirits were attacking piecemeal. A coordinated attack would cause trouble indeed. All the more reason to end this madness, before it became a bigger problem for Ossia and beyond.

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The hunting party reformed to protect the obelisk and the ticking Death-rock. Wisps of ghostly light flickers through the trees.

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Finally sensing the presence of the Mortifex hunting party, the Fellwater Spirits near the ruins drift closer.

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However, their advance is tentative, and they pause again. Krellion straighened in his saddle with a growing satisfaction. The creature would be too late now to stop the device from destroying the obelisk. The hunting party hold formation themselves, not willing to advance until necessary, relentless discipline and centuries of battle-lore and protocol guiding them.

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The Fellwater Spirits advance further, but not quiuckly enough. They have exposed their flank. With the device about to explode, and not willing to suffer such creatures to continue to exist against the wishes of his overlords, Krellion once again raises, and drops his blade, and the Mortifex slough forward through the swamp.

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During his charge, Krellion's steed once again becomes entangled, this time in some roots below the surface of the water. Shrugging off the damage, he ploughs into the centre of the spirit host, while the Stalkers swirl through clouds of extoplasm in a spinning wall of blades. Behind them, the obelisk explodes in a purple haze of magic.

 

Aftermath

The fallen Mortek Guard were in a repairable state, and were able to rejoin the unit. Krellion discovered a small gem in the foundations of the obelisk, glowing with lambent power. On pure instinct he affixed the gem to his helmet, and discovered that it allowed him to radiate his own will into the nearby constructs. Satisfied, he strapped his steeds leg, and then set out. 

Before long they had reached the edge of the swamp, and the foothills of Blackrock Pass. It was then that disaster struck. From the mountains that loomed overhead came an avalanche of rock and debris. Several of the Morket Guard were crushed. Cursing with rage, Krellion cast his gaze towards the mountian peaks. 

"Terminate... with extreme prejudice." 

Somewhere up there, K'urst was waiting.

 

Final Thoughts

I am surprised GW hasn't released more modules like this! I am having an absolute blast - the perfect way to scratch that wargaming itch in isolation, and a game I can set up and come back to when I find time throughout the day. More of these campaigns please!

In the rules it says I cannot use allegiance abilities, but can use command abilities and gain command points as normal. I took a liberty in allowing myself the use of Relentless Discipline. I'm not sure it is the right call, perhaps I should be using actual Command Points and then just the general command abilities, but it does say that we can use whatever is on the warscroll! In anycase, Relentless Discipline is fun, and as I am playing on 'hard mode' (meaning an extra enemy unit on the table in each game) I figured why not.

I think I got lucky when rolling the behaviour of the Fellwaters. As it turns out only one unit advanced per turn, and this allowed me to deal with each unit separately with the full weight of my force, leading to minimal casualties.

And curse that avalanche!

 

TO BE CONTINUED

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