Feedback on a narrative campaign idea

[Nick Stockton]

Hi All, 

This is my first time posting, so please forgive any mistakes I make. 

A friend and I are planning a narrative campaign for the summer. The campaign will be loosely based off the plot of the AoS novel Gloomspite. I will be playing the gitz, and my friend has a Cities of Sigmar army from Phoenicium in the realm of Ghyran. 

We are thinking that the campaign will have three phases: Infiltration, Infestation, and Open War. Each phase will consist of three battles, plus one culminating conflict. 

We thought it might be fun to award bonuses or penalties based on the outcome of each battle. We want these rewards and penalties to enhance the game, not throw it out of balance or make things unduly complicated. 

I've pasted our rough draft for the campaign below (warning: contains mild plot spoilers for Gloomspite). I'd love to hear anyone's feedback, both on the campaign as a whole, and on ways we can keep it balanced. Oh, and let me know if you have any battleplan recommendations. We are still figuring those out. Thanks in advance!!

Phase 1: Infiltration (All battles except Culmination fought using Warcry rules)
1. Basement under the Fire and Ice Tavern (The goblins have tunneled into here. A unit of city watch have been sent to investigate.)
 - If goblins lose, they do not get to recruit any squig units for the first battle of Phase 2. (Their fungus tunnels collapse!)
 - If Cities lose, they cannot use faction abilities for the first battle of Phase 2. (They lost fellowship!)
2. Alchemists workshop (The goblins are after bottles.)
 - If goblins win (They get the bottles!): One of their wizards knows one additional spell from the Moonclan lore list.
 - If Cities win (They take a hostage!): One of their wizards gains +1 to unbind Goblin spells.
3. Sewers (The goblins are growing mushrooms)
 - If gobins lose, they cannot recruit any Fanatics (no looncap shrooms!) during Phase 2
 - If Cities lose, they cannot recruit any Fyreslayers (No fyreslayer brew!)  during Phase 2
Culmination: The Guvner's Mansion (Goblins crash the party)
 - Goblins win: Gobs get to use Light of the Bad Moon faction ability during every round of one non-Culmination battle during Phase 2. Must decide the battle beforehand. (Gork and Mork are pleased with the spread of moon-induced madness!)
 - Cities win: Get a free cast of Everblaze Comet Endless Spell during one non-Culmination battle of Phase 2. (Sigmar smiles upon you, for your ability to stop the vomit lunacy from spreading)

Phase 2: Infestation
1. The Barracks  - 1000 point battle. Battleplan: The Relief Force from AOS core book (Phoenicium must rouse its forces!)

Battleplan: ??

 - Cities win: During Culmination battle, but before first battle round, the Cities general gets to decide where 300 points worth of Goblin units deploy (This is OUR city!!)
 - Goblins win: During the Culmination battle, but before the first round, the goblins get to remove one Cities unit from the game. (We ate a unit!)  

2. The Eyrie - 1000 point battle. (The forces of Phoenicium desperately rush to save their city's mascot from becoming squigmeal!)

Battleplan: ??
 - Cities win: Allowed to recruit Phoenix (They saved the Phoenix!) for Culmination battle
 - Goblins win: Goblins are allowed to recruit Manglers (They ate the Phoenix!) for Culmination battle
3. The Gates - 1000 point battle to take control of the gates. 

Battleplan: The Great Wall from AOS core book (Phoenicium's leaders must Hammerhal of the gobbo invasion!) 
 - Cities win: Allowed to recruit a bonus unit of Stormcast for Culmination (They got a message to Hammerhal!)
 - Goblins win: Grot units do not have to take Bravery tests during Culmination (Choppin off stuntie beards makes a gobbo fearless!)
Culmination: Town Square. 1500 point battle. 

Battleplan: Night March (The city is shrouded in a thick haze of spores. Amid the confusion, the grots launch a chaotic assault to capture the Town Square!)
   - Goblins win: Get to construct Loonshrine during Phase 3 
  - Goblins lose: Do not get to construct Loonshrine during Phase 3

 
Phase 3: Open War
1. The Battle of the Fire and Ice Tavern - 2000 points battle. 

Battleplan: An Unfortunate Location, from Gloomspite battletome (The Goblins try to infiltrate the Fire and Ice tavern!)  
 - Winning faction gains +1 bravery during Culmination (Liquid courage!)
2. Town Square, Round 2 - 2000 point battle. 

Battleplan: Shifting Priorities, from AOS Core book (A chaotic second attempt to retake the town square!)
 - Cities win: Cavalry units may deploy up to 8" outside deployment zone for Culmination battle (Vanguard deployment!)

 - Goblins win: Infantry units may deploy anywhere on battlefield outside 9" of enemy models (We own da sewers!!)
3. Battle for Smithy's Hill - 2500 point battle. 

Battleplan: ???
 - Winning faction receives a bonus artifact for Culmination (Ghal Maraz!!)
 

Culmination: The Castle Siege - 3000 point, winner takes all battle. 

Battle Plan: The Shrouded Sanctum, from White Dwarf 452

[Nuno M]

Wow!

That's a great gaming partner you got there! Awesome to see folks diving in head first into homebrewed  narrative like this.
I'm jealous: city fights, back-alley backstabs and infiltration.

It's scripted, but it all makes narrative sense.  And it's mostly from released material, which helps the folks at the Design studio feel appreciated they spent all that time on those battleplans!

 

Sounds awesome.  It seems already complex enough, that u dont need to add anything to it.

Maybe as optional add-ons you could have Path to Glory or Regiment of Renown (GHB19) veteran upgrades for some surviving units. Tracking casualties and injuries (from Glymmsforge solo campaign) would be more complicated, but could work if u did it only for Heroes. Due to the fact your points values are set every battle, the benefit would be to just keep your best Heroes alive for as long as possible: otherwise u have to field a fresh new one with no veteran  upgrades.

[Nick Stockton]

Thanks for the reply, and I appreciate the feedback. The Glymmsforge hero tracking stuff sounds really cool. The friend I'm playing with did that campaign, so I'll run that idea by him to see what he thinks. 

We altered our plan just a little bit, so Phase 2 is going to be done using Path to Glory rules.  As you suggest, I think this is going to unlock even more narrative potential.

As for battleplans, the Design studio folks should definitely feel appreciated! AoS has some really amazing battleplans. I've played several of them multiple times, and always have a really unique experience. 

I'm pretty bad at posting battle reports, but I'll try to remember to do so just in case you (or anyone else) is interested in how this experiment progresses. 

 

[Kramer]

4 hours ago, Nick Stockton said:

I'm pretty bad at posting battle reports, but I'll try to remember to do so just in case you (or anyone else) is interested in how this experiment progresses. 

 

yes please. tons of suggestions coming your way, just don't have time to type them out now. But super campaign already, nothing needs to change to make it an awesome experience. 

[NinthMusketeer]

I would definitely check the Gloomspite & CoS battletomes for faction-specific battletomes to see if they apply. Using the Open War scenario generator (by picking appropriate options) could be useful for filling gaps.