WarbossKurgan

Squabble at the Broken Circle (1st Convergence) El Doctoro the Shaman had searched a large area of the forest all morning, he was sure that the Twisted Oak was near the clearing where the Broken Circle lay. The Circle itself seemed to be a nexus of a huge amount of magic, and though the Twisted Oak was stronger the proximity of the Broken Circle had thrown out his calculations. The Rotmoons had followed him around patiently for hours, but they had grown increasingly frustrated and as he (once again) paused to check his instruments, tempers flared and harsh words started flying between them. Maybe it was the guttural shouting of oaths and insults, maybe it was just the concentration of Death magic in the forest, but whatever the reason; the dead awakened, they crept behind and encircled the Rotmoons. If nothing else, the lads got some action that day... ~ ~ ~ Empty eye sockets watched the orruk pirates growl and swear at each other. Kapitán da Leeva watched in frustration as the Shaman fussed with a brass-and-crystal device: he turned dials and watch the swirling blue-white spirits within it. Suddenly the cracking of dry twigs alerted him to the danger around them. The crows started noisily cawing and took off. Dragante rounded on a pair of arguing pirates and cracked heads together until they stopped fighting each other and started taking more care of their look-out duties. Kalyustar the Soulchemist and his cadaverous crew stalked through the trees behind the pirates. Bortagno gathered another pair of bickering pirates and fiercely set them to rights. Deadwalkers emerged from the mausoleums and crypts. They shambled toward the noise, dead eyes stared, dead mouths hungered. The Kapitán realised the orruk pirates' way back to their ship was blocked. They would have to fight their way out. The Kapitán growled and drew his kutlass as he strode toward the wall of skeletons. El Doctoro joined the Kapitán with a flash of magical energy that shattered one of the dead. Deestro made a break for it and ran off toward the waiting ship's boat, that was tethered nearby. Bortagno smashed his blade through the shoulder and rib cage of the nearest skeleton. Deestro parried the thrust of a spear-skeleton. Keinrich and Thronir advanced on the flank of the orruk pirates. Then a trio of deadwalkers shambled after them. The forests rang with the clash of rusted blades. Kalyustar marshalled his forces carefully, from the rear of their lines. The Kapitán ordered El Doctoro to follow Deestro and run to safety... ...while he tried to hold off the Skeleton Champions with his kutlass. They overwhelmed him and Keinrich made cruel use of his Cursed Blade. But the Shaman, Percy Percy and Bold Rikk escaped! Bortagno roared with anger as the Kapitán fell; he smashed into Keinrich the Skeleton Champion with the Cursed Blade greatsword, and scattered his bones Another skeleton, with sword and shield, charged from his blind side. Wave after wave of Deathrattle fighters piled on the orruk pirate, their rusted spear and halberd stabbed at him. More Deadwalkers shambled out of the underground crypts It started to look like the pirates would be cut off and trapped! Yet more Deadwalkers closed in on the fighting. Dragante growled orders at Geedo and Pez. He spotted an opening and was determined to break through. Bortagno laughed as he twirled his kutlass ostentatiously. He secretly drew a dagger with his other hand. He put up a good fight and although the ancient weapons of the undead slipped through his parries and blocks a few times, he managed to land a few good hits - his perfidious dagger scored an especially telling blow. But they were wearing him down though. Dragante shoved Geedo into the path of a grasping Deathrattle skeleton and sprinted through the woods. A flash of Death Magic from Kalyustar wracked Geedo with pain. Bortagno shouted encouragement to his shipmate, even as the skeletons impaled him! A skeleton swordsman tried to intercept Dragante as he ran but the huge orruk just shrugged him off and kept running. One of the decaying Deadwalkers attacked a Skeleton Champion! The another rotting walker brought down the duardin skeleton champion! The escape route got narrower as the Deadwalkers converged. Kalyustar marshalled more dark power and herded his animated adherents toward the pirates. Dragante shouted at the other orruks just ahead of him "Don't wait! Don't stop! Get to da ship!" For once, they followed orders! ~ ~ ~ Scenery: The Broken Circle in the centre of the southern half of the board. Woods and wrecks all around. Deployment: Defiant Stand (The Rotmoons Blue) Victory: The Gauntlet (The Rotmoons Defenders) Twist: Rampaging Beasts Fail forward: If the Convergence is not completed, progress on the Campaign Tracker and remove one Controlled Territory or 5 Glory Points if no territory is controlled yet. This was so close! I just managed to scrape a win in turn 4 but one more skeleton between Dragante and the board edge would have been all it took to stop me and give the win to Viktor. Tense and exciting!

The Cleavermaw is "airborne" now! That is a 160mm round base, by the way. This ship is pretty big!

The Cleavermaw was a hulking conglomeration of different wrecked and captured ships, cobbled together over many years from the orruk pirate crew's victims and any old junk they could salvage. The various parts were completely mismatched and it sailed in an ungainly, awkward way. It looked like a dog, steered like a cow and smelled like a slum. Luckily it also packed a punch like a prizefighter: it was equipped with vast amounts of heavy artillery and loaded with thaumaturgic devices of varying reputability. The Cleavermaw was a little too big to be managed efficiently by her crew. They were not few in number but the ship was large and ungainly and unresponsive to her helm. Kaptain Mogrum deemed it too risky to sail at higher altitudes, as it was even more unweatherly. Flying at very low levels came with its own dangers though - especially in the Harrowmark. The ship should have made frequent violent turns to avoid the many obstacles that appeared from the forest, but the crew often didn’t bother and just ploughed on through everything that got in the way! The hull often scraped over a rocky spire, grazed the brow of a hill, knocked tiles off the roof of a tall building or crashed through the top branches of a tree. Monsters occasionally leapt out of the forest canopy to attack the ship and crossbow bolts, bullets and arrows of all kinds were often found embedded in the ship’s timbers at the end of a voyage. The Cleavermaws often spent a lot of time doing repair work using materials captured from their victims’ sky-vessels. They didn’t seem to mind this as it seemed to make capturing merchants with no cargo on board worthwhile! ~ ~ ~ First steps. I plan for this to be my main sky-vessel for the Dark Skies game, so I want to go all-out on the build and the paint job. My plan is to give it a mast and painted sail, to make a flying stand from 3 Citadel Woods trees on a 160mm round base, and to add a lot "repairs" to the hull and deck. To follow the style established for the Rotmoon I will probably sling a lot of baggage along it's sides as well. I also want to add several "arcane devices" for magical protections, probably made from Ork Big Gunz bits... ~ ~ ~ Decking and internal strengthening. The diagonal support beams from the old Fortified Manor kit slotted nicely between the Gloomtide and the Frigate hill and held the Kharadron ship in place very snugly. Next steps: more details to be added to the Frigate (the bits are in the post hopefully!), the base and Citadel Woods trees flying stand, a mast and some magical devices.

I'm planning to try this list on Friday: Tree-Revenant Scion 7 Tree-Revenants Kurnoth Hunter, scythe Kurnoth Hunter, greatbow 2 Spite-Revenants

The Deluge Rain. The Rotmoons had trudged through the forests for days now any the lashing rain had been unrelenting for most of that time. Tempers were fraying and several arguments had already broken out. The forest floor had turned to stinking mud, that pulled off boots and swallowed-up dropped gear. The Kapitán had spread his party out over a broad stretch of woods, party to widen the area they could search but mainly to stop them fighting so much. They were at greater risk from each-other than the horrible creatures that dwelled in the forest on days like this. When the rain finally stopped and the clouds parted, horizontal orange light sliced through the tangled trees. The ground was no firmer and would not be for days, even if the rain held off, but the risk of fights breaking out within the crew was always a little lower. El Doctoro shook his stolen Aetheric Barometer; it rattled slightly. He held it to his ear for a moment and listened to its faint clicks and whirrs. He taped the dial then squinted into one of its crystal lenses. Finally satisfied that it was actually working he told Kapitán da Leeva where the Gravelines they were trying to follow were leading next - through a particularly swampy area of forest. ~ ~ ~ Kapitán da Leeva, Geedo and Percy Percy found the first graveline marker hidden in the undergrowth. But they didn't have time to celebrate. Suddenly there was a deep guttural roar and Badruk and his Ironjawz Ardboyz crashed through the trees! The Kapitán cursed and swore - he had fought this band of orruks a few months before and bested them, they must have followed him somehow! Percy Percy took the brunt of Badruk's charge but somehow managed to survive the surprise attack. The Kapitán leapt into the fray, kutlass flashing in the evening light. An armoured Ironjaw called Drog appeared at the Kapitán's side. Another Ardboy, Grukk, pushed through the tangled briars. Hearing the shouts and clash of swords, El Doctoro, Deestro and Bortango hurried through the woods, toward the noise. Bold Rikk, Pez and Dragante also answered the call. Kapitán da Leeva used is long-earned experience of dirty fighting to bring down the Ardboyz' boss, with a crafty hack to the thigh. The Ardboyz around him took several minutes to register that their Boss was not getting up again. While da Leeva turned on Drog, Percy Percy and Geedo tried to deal with Grukk. Pez and Deestro moved towards the second of the stones that marked the Gravelines, next to a mausoleum. Grukk Bigtoof and his mate came crashing through the forest. El Doctoro spotted them and prepared a magical response. Bold Rikk came to aid Dragante as another Ironjaw approached. As Bigtoof gathered a counter attack. The Rotmoons found themselves in the jaws of a trap: Ironjawz on three sides! The Kapitán saw Rezgut make his move. Pez and Rikk tried to muscle in on the Ironjawz holding the second Graveline. Grukk knocked down Percy Percy and hacked at the Kapitán's back. Kapitán da Leeva turned on him in a fury and stabbed his kutlass into a gap in his armour. Bortagno shoulder-barged into an Ironjaw while El Doctoro zapped Bigtoof with a close ranged blast of green energy. Deestro squinted down the barrel of his pistol. The lock clicked, powder ignited with a hiss then a bang. The lead shot punched straight through Drog's armour. The Ironjawz and Dragante's party fell upon one-another, blades clashing. Geedo blasted Grukk with both of his heavy black powder pistols - the Ironjaw dropped like a stone. ~ ~ ~ Kapitán da Leeva looked around the darkening forest, making doubly-sure that the last of the Ironjawz were fleeing before he could relax. El Doctoro the Shaman took a deep breath to calm the ranging magical energies that threatened to overwhelm him - the presence of so many aggressive greenskinz in close proximity had generated a vast amount of power. Once the charge subsided he was able to think straight again. He aligned the Aetheric Barometer with the gravelines and studied the dials and crystal lenses - he frowned and checked again. But the readings were clear now. He knew where they had to head next, and he wasn't happy. "Our course is set. We are bound for the Shattered Circle again, Kapitán." he said with a sigh. ~ ~ ~ Deployment: Close the Jaws (Rotmoons on Blue) Victory: Sudden Death Twist: Murky Swampland Viktor played one of his NPC warbands this time, and it made for a brutal encounter. Ironjawz are more than a match for Bonesplitterz in close combat, but I pressed the advantage of my warband's longer range, and a lot of luck, to secure a win at the end of turn 3. The Rotmoons set sail for their first Convergence...

The wreck of the Gryph-hound No one remembers why the Gryph-hound went down but she was lost with all hands in the malignant forest many years ago and it was months before a passing sky-ship found the wreck. It was already overgrown and rotting on the forest floor. The forests of the Harrowmark are a dangerous place for a sky-ship captain who does not know his trade!

Bonesplitterz! Kapitán Alunzo da Leeva - Orruk Morboy Boss El Doctoro the Shaman - Savage Orruk Morboy with Bone Totem Dragante - Savage Orruk Morboy Bortagno - Savage Orruk Morboy Pirate orruks with black powder pistols - 5 Savage Orruk Arrowboyz Geedo Forks Percy Percy Bold Rikk Deestro the Blade Pez

The Sorcerer A heavy bank of roiling fog had settled upon Wortbad for days. The Rotmoons had hidden in taverns, huddled by fires to stave off its cloying cold and damp. El Doctoro was impatient to start their expedition into the forests but the preparations were going slowly. Something was howling in the fog... something big. When the fog finally started to dissipate Kapitán da Leeva climbed to the top of Deathwatch Tower to scan the newly visible horizon with his brass spyglass. He did a full circuit of the sky just above tree tops, looking for passing sky-ships, before he started to look at the woods closer-in. Out of the receding mists a number of shrouded figures loomed into view. They moved in a strange way and, to start with, da Leeva couldn't work out why they seemed wrong. Their stilted, jerky movements looked unnatural, almost like they were puppets on string. Then as they moved toward the town and out of the fog he realised why: they were not living men; they were dark-magic-animated skeletons! He took a silver coin out, turned it over and returned it to his pocket. Then started yelling orders at the Rotmoons, rousing them from their torpor and hurling abuse at them until they started appearing at doorways and arming themselves. When he was sure they were starting to move in the right direction he turned and ran down the stairs to join them. ~ ~ ~ The animated dead champions known as Tollich, the Gor and two nameless skeletons lurched out of the receding fog. Percy Percy, Bold Rikk and Bortagno rushed to intercept them, heavy black powder pistols primed and ready. Dragante, Pez and Deestro were not far behind. Kalyustar, Rhegar and a number of skeletons appeared through the gates of a Garden of Morr. Bortagno roared his name - recognising an old and familiar enemy, behind the lines of a new warband. Tollich rush forward, spurred on by sorcerous energies from Kalyustar, and attacked Bold Rikk. Dragante stood guard by the signpost that marked the edge of Rotmoon territory. The Gor took possession of another objective. Percy Percy and Pez made toward the Gor. Kalyustar urged his minions forward from the graveyard and through the trees. As the Rotmoons pushed forward they failed to notice their exposed starboard flank... Bortagno smashed into Tollich and scattered his dry bones among the tree roots. Bold Rikk and Percy Percy both blasted Krunti with their heavy pistols and the skeletal duardin fell in a cloud off sulphurous smoke. Deestro shot Rhegar, the halberd-armed skeleton champion, then Dragante charged him through the smoke. Kalyustar unleashed a wave of necromantic energies at Dragante, the big orruk roared in pain. A hideously mutated wolf-beast appeared from the forests... Da Leeva rushed out of the tower to join his crew in the forest, with Geedo and El Doctoro in tow. They saw that a large group of skeletons was trying to encircle the Rotmoons! Percy Percy was horrified that he hadn't noticed them earlier! A large group of skeleton warriors lurched out of the shadows beneath the trees. Kapitán da Leeva took stock of the situation and started barking orders. Rhegar focused the death-magic energies within his desiccated form and smashed Dragante down! The mutated wolf-beast pounced upon Kalyustar and his minions. It shattered one of the skeletons with a blood-curdling howl. The Rotmoons watched with a mixture of horror and joy as the beast smashed into the skeleton warriors. Bortagno charged a skeleton and hacked it in twain with his kutlass. El Doctoro summoned magics that strengthened orrukish muscle and sinew, shielding them from harm. The Kapitán charged a skeleton, it lunged at him with a spear but he turned it aside with his kutlass and hacked it to splinters then stamped on its skull. Heavy pistols cracked and banged, lead shot whizzed through the forest, it chipped bone and shredded rotten clothing. Percy Percy fired at close range and the skeleton fell to bits! Pez was set-upon by the Gor, Keinrich and a nameless skeleton! But he survived, even against those odds! Deestro shot Rhegard through the skull. Percy Percy blasted a damaged skeleton to bits. Both warbands pulled back from the fight - the Rotmoons did not want to tangle with the wolf-beast and the Cursed Company were running low on skeletons! ~ ~ ~ This was a great start the the campaign! Deployment: Encircle Victory: Drawn and Quartered Twist: Bloodscent The game ended as a 6:6 draw, as both of us scored 2 victory points each turn. We both grabbed two objectives in the first turn and, try as we might, neither of us was able to change that balance over the next two turns. Narratively it felt "right" as we have established a border between our territory!

Viktor's warband intro:

Into the woods again The light of Hysh was low in the sky and ruddy. Bad tempered crows filled the air with their unfriendly racket and a cold wind twirled dead leaves in tight spirals. Although the Harrowmark was locked in a perpetual Autumn, the weather seemed warmer than usual. Something was changing. Guttural voices echoed through the shadowed bowers of the haunted woods. A crowd of bad tempered orruks pirates strode through the trees toward the unfortunate village of Wortbad. Some of them muttered arguments with their shipmates, others just glared angrily at the world in general. With the Rotmoon safely tied-up to the Skyship dock - the closest thing to a shipyard that existed this side of the jagged Everdark Peaks - Kapitán Alunzo da Leeva and some of the Rotmoons returned to Wortbad in search of supplies for their expedition into the malignant forests. They had left half a dozen orruks making repairs to the ship, but they needed raw materials that were not readily available. The planks and ropes they could salvage from ruined houses and nearby shipwrecks were poor quality and decidedly mundane and unmagical - they badly hampered the Rotmoon's sailing qualities, she was sluggish and unresponsive to the helm now. The rumours of a magical tree growing in the deep forests gave El Doctoro the Shaman the idea of using its timbers to make the Rotmoon sky-worthy again. The Shaman had a fairly good idea of where the Oak might be, from it's effect on his navigational instruments, but he also knew they couldn't just go blinding stumbling through the Harrowmark's baleful forests. There was work to be done. Viktor and I got together for a "Session Zero" and set up the Harrowmark scenery and lighting in his gaming room. We plan to start playing our custom Warcry campaign next week. Exciting times!

Thanks! It's really simple: Black spray undercoat, zenithal spray dusting of (Halfords) grey primer, drybrushed Ushabti Bone, washed with Nuln Oil. After that was dry, I added some Plaguebearer Flesh Contrast paint for the "slime" growth.

Gravelines The jury-rigged Rotmoon limped over the tangled, malignant forests. The hard-pressed crew of orruk sky-pirates were all exhausted and even more argumentative than usual: they had fought-off two Crypt Flayers before breakfast and narrowly avoided a collision with a black skull-formed rocky outcrop in the fore-noon. A few crew-members had been pushed overboard since then. Kapitán Da Leeva, first mate Bortagno and El Doctoro stood on the aft-deck and stared at a filthy and dog-eared map they had spread out on the top of a barrel. Unseasonably strong winds had pushed them off course by three and a half miles and forced them through the rocky areas area far further south than the course they had plotted. Their maps and charts were old and inaccurate, all the compass bearings were reversed since the Necroquake, which added an extra layer of calculations needed to navigate over the Harrowmark's horrible forests. They didn't even get on with the first layer of calculations very well. Even taking all this into account, something seemed to be throwing out their navigation. The thaumaturgic compasses both seemed to be off by a few points; it like something powerful was pulling at them. El Doctoro the Shaman took measurements with a ceraunostant and drew lines on the chart, he muttered to himself as he tried to calculate the source. He straightened up and jabbed a gnarled finger at the parchment. “Whatever it is, it’s somewhere here-around.” he pronounced confidently. The other two orruks looked closely at the area of the map around the Shaman’s finger. “Nothing is there, but only forest!” said Bortagno, incredulously. “Something new is come into to the forest,” said El Doctoro “something newer than the map.” The Kapitán scratched his chin and thought for a minute, “We’ll take a look, it might be worth something.” he said with a grin and a piratical glint in his eye. He nodded to Bortagno who turned to the deck and started shouting orders to change course. ~ ~ ~ I am going to continue the story of the Rotmoons for this campaign. Their ship, the Rotmoon, is battered and broken and badly in need of proper repairs. El Doctoro has heard the rumours of the Twisted Oak and he wants to cut it down, saw it up into planks and use the timber to repair their sky-ship - what could be better to repair a flying ship than magical wood? He urged Kapitán Da Leeva to make sail through the area it where the rumours suggested it might be, knowing that it would be hard to find and that navigation around it would be difficult. He hasn't been entirely honest about what he expects to find there...

The Tale of the Twisted Oak The forests of the Harrowmark are endless, though the touch of human change can be seen here and there. The woods are pockmarked with villages and levelled where meagre farms scratch out a living. Evil and monstrous creatures thrive in such a place, lurking underneath the forest’s canopy. Wolves, ghouls, bandits, and worse. There is a sense of horror there, or more accurately, a sense of encroaching dreadful melancholy, an all-consuming sense of loneliness. A perpetual Autumn settled across the region, so long ago that not even the Graveroot Sylvaneth could remember when the woods were young. For time immemorial, the trees stood not growing nor dying and not a single sapling could be seen by those brave or foolish enough to venture deep in the woods. But then, the Necroquake came and in its wake the raging wild magic of the Arcanum Optimar. Weather- and battle-worn Spellhunters came, hunting for rogue Endless Spells. Few returned from the deepest woods. But those that did, reported things unheard-of in the Shyishian underworld of the Harrowmark. They claimed that somewhere deep in the abyssal woodland of dead trees and tangled undergrowth, a Tree is born and growing, feeding on a knot of sorcerous energy seeping up from the soil below. On flying ships and through Realmgates, the rumour is spreading and both the learned and the fool, from far and wide, speculate on the origin of such energy. Some say it leaks from the hundreds of graves that permeate the Shyishian soil, thousands of souls flowing into the Tree’s heartwood. Others claim it comes from a hidden Stormvault, long forgotten beneath the dead forests. Yet others claim the Tree is twisted and corrupted by Chaos magic and is attracting all manner of dark creatures, who venerate and worship it as an altar to the Dark Gods. Some even theorise that the energy of the Necroquake itself is trapped forever in the dead wood. The servants of Nurgle whisper the Tree is one of Horticulus Slimux’s dreaded Black Oaks. When it will bear fruit, they say, Rotigus Rainfather will come back to aid Nurgle’s favoured Gardener in his feud with the Lord of Death. Then there are those telling that the Tree grows over the burial site of a great Spellhunter, his weapons and arcane devices poking out of the twisted wood. For others, a powerful sorceress was cursed and turned into the Tree, her soul-stuff raging to be free. As the rumours spread, the mad and the brave once again dare sailing the stormy skies above the Harrowmark and tread its abyssal gloom. Who can say what they want and what they will find? How many of them will be lost forever? ~ 🕱 ~ We are planning to embark on a new adventure in the Harrowmark. Warbands will venture into the unknown, yet familiar, dark of the endless forests. We will be using Warcry this time, with a few house rules - mostly around Campaign Quests that will be tailored for warbands exploring the Harrowmark, instead of the Bloodwind Spoil.

The Rotmoon The orruk pirate sky-ship that crashed in the forests of the Harrowmark, triggering the adventure known as the Harrowmark Run. The Rotmoons eventually recovered the wreck of their ship and careened it in the woods. They made make-shift repairs but the lack of a dock and proper equipment, meant that they could only cobble-together the two halves of the ship with found timbers, from houses and other shipwrecks. They sailed it back to Wortbad slowly and carefully, knowing that any collision or tight manoeuvres would tear her apart. ~ ~ ~ This only took me 19 months to paint! The Dark Skies project finally got me to take it off the shelf and get working on it again. The weathered timbers colour are all sprays, dry-brushing and washes and the spot colours were mostly Contrast Paints.

We will soon be returning to the Realm of Death for The Harrowmark Twisted Oak , A Warcry Campaign. My orruk sky-ship pirates will once more be swashbuckling their way through the dark and twisted forests. But beyond that, we has started putting plans together for something I have wanted to do for a few years now. In late 2020, or maybe early 2021, we are going to run an Age of Sigmar version of Rhossum Secundus (Google it! It was an astounding Inq28 game): A handful of ramshackle sky-ships will be duelling in the stormy skies over the endless malignant forests of the Harrowmark. It is very much influenced by John Blanche's Voodoo Forest book and a couple of his older paintings. This is something that I have included in the background of the Harrowmark for a number of years now, but we have never really been able to show it on the table top! That is going to change. We have not yet settled on a date, a rules-set or even an venue but all those things will coalesce in the next few months... As a result of this I have started painting the Rotmoon. I started this project back in April 2017 (!) so it is about time! So far it is just sprays, dry-brushing and washes but I hope to start detailing it soon... Sky-ship Navigation In the Mortal Realms, compasses are thaumaturgical, not magnetic. Thaumaturgical compasses now point to the centre of Shyish since the Necroquake. In Shyish, South is edgeward, i.e. towards Realm’s Edge where the magic is weakest, and North is coreward toward the Shyish Nadir, where magic is strongest. Face due north, and west is left, east to the right. The old maps of Shyish are now all wrong; the cardinal points and headings marked upon them are all reversed. The aerocartographers have a lot of work to do! Most ship’s captains have taken to simply writing on their old maps and charts, correcting the change by hand for the routes they need most. But this is a bad solution and adds an extra layer of complexity to an already complex and risky profession. ~~~ Many sky-ships sail over the Harrowmark using real winds as motive power, and the ethertides to provide the resistance needed to sail with the wind abeam or almost ahead. The winds are harness through conventional canvas sails for the most part. The wooden sky-ships float in the air through the use of dozens of minor magics, layer upon layer of interlaced spells, woven into the very timbers of the ship. The ship’s beams and planks are made from enchanted wood, though many have been repaired with more mundane timber (to the detriment of their sailing performance and characteristics). There are, of course, many other kinds of more exotic magics and technologies used to lift and propel sky-ships, such as the Aethergold endrins the Kharadron fleets employ and the squadrons of ethereal cavalry that lift the Soulblight vessels, but the more "mundane" and common Harrowmark ships do not have access to them.

I love Mordheim. I really, really, do, but the rules are clunky, dated and top-heavy. The campaign system is long winded and takes almost as much time as actual games. The setting is wonderful and rich and detailed but it is also limited. It is "historical" world-that-was and not the Mortal Realms. The range of gangs available is limited and most of the unofficial warbands are unbalanced in some way. Mordheim will always have a place in my heart, but it is nostalgia not actual gameplay enjoyment it gives me. Mordheim is not the game I want to play today. I want to explore the Mortal Realms and join in with the unfolding story lines. I want to use any model in my collection, including monsters and other weirdness. AoS Skirmish, for me, is the better choice as it has has met my needs, so Mordheim is not the better game in my view. Warcry might replace it, but I am withholding that decision until I have played through our next campaign, and we see what the Tome of Champions includes. And @Malios is dead right with his observations.

I love Skirmish for narrative campaigning! My little group of players have so far played 4 AoS Skirmish campaigns. Only the last one (Spellbreakers) was played using AoS 2nd edition rules and the White Dwarf Skirmish update. I think I prefer the updated rules but the most enjoyable campaign for me was the one with the Malign Portents additions - the Portent Cards added an extra layer of spice that made the entire campaign spark for me. I do like the updated rules (especially dropping Renown in favour of standard AoS matched play points, and allowing virtually any model to be used). Our next Harrowmark campaign is planned with Warcry rules though (with a few mods) as we have all been thoroughly bewitched by them! I just pray that the Tome of Champions is everything I'm hoping for!

Seems like there are common design elements to me...

The oldest currently unsolved rumour engine is from April this year. I think the longest gap between rumour and reveal is 18 months. (The shortest was minus 2 days! It was revealed before the rumour engine image was published.)

I could be mistaken but I really think it is the back of the Fomoroid Crusher. I will update the image when we see a better angle from the 360. Or remove it completely if I am wrong (it won't be the first time!)

https://warbosskurgan.blogspot.com/p/rumour-engines.html#2019-04-30

Very similar date and age to my start (13, in late 1984), but we jumped straight into Warhammer 2nd Edition (we had seen adverts for 1st Edition but never an actual box in a shop!)

That matches the info given here: https://www.cubicle7games.com/age-of-sigmar-update/

I totally get where you are coming from but it isn't as bad as it looks! Really, this is the wrong thread to have this discussion, but you're forgetting that Realmgates allow instantaneous travel between gates, that are scattered throughout the Realms (some are linked to other Realms, some to another place in the same Realm, some are "open ended" so they can link to several other gates). The distance between places matters less than access to a Realmgate. The Free Cities have been built around defending important Realmgates. Trade and logistics are considered in the novels. My campaigns are mostly fought in The Harrowmark, in the Realm of Death. To the players in my group this is a well known region and they know it as well, or maybe better, than many regions of the world-that-was. If you feel the need to get to know an area better you can make (or re-use!) maps and write details about it, in the same way as you can detail a subsector in the 40k galaxy. It will be totally yours then, and no official background can contradict it! Or you can pick an established region that already has maps and background and add more detail of your own choosing.