Made a narrative battleplans. Looking for some feedback!

[Carnith]

I've loved making new battleplans as often the Path To Glory ones can be super lopsided or become very samey. I wanted one that evolved at the mission went on. I want something for Heroes to be doing and not just run forward and kill as much as you can. While there are bonus renown for that, it's directed in a way to go after heroes and units attempting to defend the objective as it. 

 

Please take a look and let me know what you think! I've played it once, and made some "within 6"" to within 3" as some heroes were able to walk up to the edge or pregame move up to 6" and secure the objective immediately. So eliminated turn 1 wins this way. 

 

Race for the Relic

Your scouts have told you of a rare and powerful artifact that will be useful for the cause. You race to secure the relic before your foes can use it for themselves.

The Armies

Each player picks an army and then they roll off. The winner is the First Invader. The other player is the Second Invader

The Battlefield

The players roll off. The winner sets up the battlefield’s terrain features and then the other player chooses which long edge of the battlefield is the northern edge.

After the terrain features have been set up, starting with the player that won the roll-off, each player picks 1 terrain feature and rolls on the Mysterious Terrain table to determine which scenery rule applies to that terrain feature during the battle.

Deployment

The First Invader sets up their army first, wholly within their territory. The Second Invader sets up their army second, wholly within their territory.

Objectives

Place 3 objectives as shown on the map.

Battle Length

The battle lasts for 5 battle rounds.

First Turn

The players roll off for first turn. The First Invader wins ties.

Find The Artifact

Heroes within 3” of one of the original 3 objective markers make take this action. Roll a dice. On a 5+, you have found the artifact, and remove the other 2 artifacts. If this dice roll was failed, remove the objective marker. The next time this heroic action is performed by either army, add 2 to the dice roll for each objective removed.

Dropping the Artifact:

If a hero is slain holding the artifact, place an objective marker where the hero has been slain. The artifact may be picked up by another hero by being within 3” of the new objective marker at the end of controlling player’s movement phase as long as they would control the objective by normal objective controlling rules. When the artifact is picked up, remove the objective marker from the game board. If there are no heroes who pick up the artifact, the player with the most models has control of the objective.

Leaving the Battlefield:

 A hero that controls the artifact and is within 3” of their long board edge at the start of their hero phase may leave the board edge.

Glorious Victory

When the battle Ends:

If a player has a Hero holding the objective or has left the board with the artifact, that player scores a Major Victory. If the hero left the board, the player may reroll Favored Warriors.

If neither player has a Hero holding the objective at the end of the gain, the player who controls it scores a Minor Victory

Bonus Renown

A unit that destroys an enemy unit within 3” of an objective scores 1 bonus renown.

A Hero who holds the artifact at the end of the game earns 1 bonus renown.

A Hero who leaves the battlefield  with the artifact earns d3 bonus renown.

A unit that slays a Hero holding the artifact earns 2 bonus renown.

 

[Sonnenspeer]

I really like this kind of battleplans.

You could also add something like "artefact is hidden in catacombs" - only heroes on foot with a max wound value of 7 can get the artefact. Mounted heroes can only get the artefact after they have not moved in your last movement phase (took some time to gett of their steeds.) This would solve the problem of to fast capturing of objects.

[NinthMusketeer]

'Run with the treasure' style scenarios can be a lot of fun, the key is to make sure there are restraints in place to prevent cheesing; cannot teleport, cannot move further than X", cannot use extra move mechanics. Otherwise there are all manner of ways to break the scenario, even by something as simple as having a hero with 24" movement grabbing it.

Some specific notes:

-Is it the 'relic', the 'artifact', or the 'objective'? I see all three terms being used in different places.

-Players will want specific measurements for the objective markers and territories, even if it is just '1/4 the width of the table' or the like

-"Heroes within 3” of one of the original 3 objective markers make take this action." doesn't have a gameplay meaning in AoS; there is nothing on what an action is or how/when to take one.

-What happens if neither player controls the relic at the end of the game? What if the relic has not even been found at the end of the game?

-Some abilities trigger off of proximity to an objective marker, do they trigger off proximity to a hero carrying the relic?

-Multiple armies can have heroes on these objectives at the top of turn 1 and still be able to move said heroes in the movement phase, which should be taken into consideration.

-Any faction could move a hero onto the relic round 1, go second on round 2 and having grabbed the relic (on round 1 or 2) run towards their own edge, then double-turn and get off the board turn 3, which should be taken into consideration.

-What points levels do you want this scenario to accommodate? At 1000 points (and 1500 to a good extent) victory is pretty much handed to the first player who gets a 300+ point hero to grab the relic, bar particularly slow/squishy instances.

-It may be worthwhile to completely disallow heroes from leaving the board edge on round 1 or 2, because chances are it isn't going to have been a good game if it ends that early.

-The smart way to play this scenario is to let the enemy go first if they can only reach one objective, since statistically they will most likely fail and then allow the second player to reliably find the relic on one of the other two. This is totally fine as a gameplay dynamic, but I would say it is probably something to tell new players about upfront so they don't get 'tricked' into a feels-bad experience.

Edited May 24, 2022 by NinthMusketeer

[Carnith]

Thank you for the feedback! I have ran this scenario twice, and both times the armies were castle types that feared being charged, but didn't set up for the objectives. One player played a supa-sneaky Kruleboyz and failed the first roll but didn't try to get the other objectives. The LRL player didn't try to get the objective after one turn of shooting. 

I'll have to fix this up and keep consistent language. I think a limit of a 9 wound or less hero with a max movement of 8" with run. Board size didn't matter too much as those smaller games in path to glory are weird anyways.