.. and in between are doors...

Last battle we introduced rules for securing, blocking and above all smashing through doors. In our case they worked out quite fine and resulted in some hectic (and hilarious) situations!

These door rules can be found here. If you do use them, please let us know how they worked out!

BTB: Sewer Fighting

After a long drought the ground in the city of Mordheim was cracking and crumbling. Weeks of blazing sun did not much good for the dirt caked street. The river Stir was just a meager treacle through the city en the sewers were running dry. Because the ground was becoming more and more brittle some cave-ins happened in the centre part of the city. Just along one of the derelict watchtowers the grounds were split open to give entrance to the sewer system of Mordheim.
The sewers were rumored to have many a treasure but also to house hideous and dangerous creatures who eschew the light. This time of the year, the sewer system should contain many a wyrd-egg. The cave-in and the presence of the eggs was an ideal scenario for some warbands to get down there and start up a fight.
In this case four warbands flocked to sewers and got stuck in.
- A band of Halflings was making their debut in Mordheim. Roaming the countryside they were pulled towards Mordheim for fame and riches.
- A group of undead was slithering through the filthy sewers as well. Common place for these night dwellers and therefore no surprise they were present.
- Possessed are always present if a slimy egg or two can be found. If running through some sewers is what it takes, they don’t mind.
- Last but not least the dwarf treasurehunters found their way to a sewer entrance. Cave fighting and underground navigation being one of their specialties, this was going to be an easy job.

Before entering the sewers all warbands were equipping themselves with lanterns or trusting on night vision and familiarity with dark tunnels. Some of the Halflings were stumbling about a bit. The one with the lantern was having a lot of difficulty with the dark surroundings. He was blinding himself with his own lantern. The other Halflings were faring not a lot better. Shooting range was not something to trust on this battle.
The dwarfs however were running along the sewers as if it were the long underground passageways they are used to. Detecting some slimy possessed in the distance they moved stealthily in their direction. The cunning possessed however were just luring the dwarfs in their direction only to run around a corner through a massive oak door and slamming it shut.

Now it was a game of push and shove. The massive slayers readying their shoulders for smashing through the door, got little resistance of the tiny possessed. The door smashed in a and the onslaught began: shyshy and two plague bearers got the full taste of dwarf axes. The dwarfs already familiar with the possessed were wondering where flyface son of flyface was. Was he still suffering from the bellywound he took last battle?

While all this rummaging around was going on one side of the sewers, the other side was getting crowded with Halflings and undead. The Halflings found their way through one sewer only to encounter the beasts of the dark. Some zombies were blocking the way. Shooting is the thing of Halflings and in this case it was shooting at very close range at the mass of rotting flesh before them. A couple of ghouls went down eventually, the Halflings were holding their ground greatly against the undead.

The fighting between the dwarfs and the possessed was taking a gruesome turn when the dwarf engineer went down and the dwarf noble with 2 slayers had the greatest difficulty of getting shyshy out of the way. What luck that flyface son of flyface was not present due to his bellywound.
After fighting in the sewers the dwarfs went above ground in the watchtower to search for treasure. The cunning possessed that were not luring the dwarfs to closed doors were already above ground to search through the ruins. They employed an ogre for some brute force, not counting on the fearless slayers! Loki was hacking away at the ogre and after some heavy blows he split the ogre in two! What a massacre!

The rest of the possessed were weighing heavy on the bloodied dwarfs. It was time for the dwarfs to take their treasure and make for the tunnels again to shake of the pesky possessed.
It was a good evening for a good fight. If only flyface son of flyface could have been present, but he was suffering from a bellywound…


Did I mention that flyface son of flyface had bellywound and did not take part in this battle…?

Battle at the market square

A blizzard had just reached the town when the possessed warband moved out, heading the old market square. Sight was limited and every now and then a hailstorm as big as a dragons eye hit the ruins through which they stalked. As the warriors reached the outskirts of the deserted plaza, moving figures could be seen in the distance.


"We're not alone, my lord" rattled Frogface pointing at a small couch that was entering the square. "over there, a dwarven baggage train". "I'm not surprised" hissed the leader riding his ragged chaos steed "papa Nurgle has lead us not only to some treasure, but has given us a way to show our gratitude as well. You two, come with me, we've got to forestall these dwarf heading for the tower!" Nurgly the possessed leader drove his steed towards the tower, both (true) possessed, Ticky and ShyShy, joining him. The other, slower part of the warband headed to the other corner of the square, keen to find treasures and trouble.


The blizzard worsened and one of the Plaguebearers got hit, knocking him down the floor. Cries in the distance indicated that other creatures were hit as well, not only dwarfs were contesting this market square, some Orcs were there as well... All of a sudden the fallen behind treasure seeking henchmen (the who?) spotted a dark shape closing in on them. A wandering champion of Tchar was approaching them. Flyface and Frogface did not hesitate and charged in, together with a group of Plaguebearers and henchmen.


Nurgly and his two bodyguard had followed a small group of dwarfs to the remains of a small tower. The dwarfs took some shots at them, but could not prevent that they reached the stairs. Nurgly dismounted and sent his steed towards the group fighting the chaos champion.



To make matters even worse for the thunderers, a diseased wolf disturbed by the sound of their guns, attacked them from the rear. As they were fighting this animal, Ticky, ShyShy and Nurgly charged into the fight. Though both dwarfs and wolf put up some strong resistance, they were eventually taken down by the worshippers of Nurgle.


However, when Nurgly looked up from the remains of his mutilated opponents, the view he got from the tower made him furious. The champion of Tchar was still standing, fighting off the group henchmen now led by Frogface, as Flyface was already taken out of action by the follower of a false god. In the middle the treasure rich market square was taken over by a large group of dwarfs. The orc warband was nowhere to be seen, but cut off goblin and orc heads carried by the slayers gave a hint to what had happened to that warband. The dwarfs were now heading for a small group of Darksouls scouting carrying chests found in the ruins. They would not be able to outrun the dwarfs!




Nurgly wasted no time and ran off the stairs towards his threatened minions. He rushed Ticky to join the struggle between the Darksouls and the Slayers. Nevertheless they were outnumbered and the number of casualties was rising fast. All hope was not lost though, as a Plaguebearer finally managed to finish off the champion of Tchar. The survivors of that skirmish could reinforce the warriors fighting the dwarfs. If only they would make it in time...


While the central clash on the market square raged on, the dwarf leader and a minion were using a wagon to carry off their finds to safety. The wagon was rolling along the former carriage road right below the tower on top of which ShyShy was still lurking. The possessed dived down, charging the wagon only to scratch the side. The dwarfish driver looked back, bewildered, but the wagon could not be stopped and managed to get through.


As the possessed was still looking at the leaving wagon, it was charged by the leader of the dwarven warband himself. A brutal fight broke out, and both warriors were soon down to their last wound. However, this time it was the dwarf who got the best of it and the possessed was struck down by his hammer.


The battle at the square on the other hand was not going that well for the dwarfs. The tide had turned now more and more chaos worshipers were joining the skirmish and Nurgly and Ticky were still holding on. Slayers and rank and file were knocked down and taken out and the square was swept free of the persistent warriors.


After the last dwarf had fallen, Nurgly glanced around, noticing only a small core of his warriors was standing around him. The toll for this victory was high! Suddenly he heard a strange hymn and he turned his head towards it. The dwarven leader stood on the edge of the square, chanting a spontaneous dwarven song of loss, blood, honor and above all, curses and the oath to revenge. He finished this song by spitting on the street and withdrawing into the darkness.


A fire war burning in the centre of the square. Unnatural green fumes were rising from it and devilish figures could be seen dancing around or hovering above. Nurgly sat at the center of the festival; his warband sitting around the fire, feasting off a dwarfish and orcish dish. He smiled as a he watched a group of nurglings fought for the head of a former slayer. "That battle was too close for comfort" he thought by himself. "But victory tastes so good...".

Painting dwarfs WIP

Painting the dwarf warriors is taking me forever. I'm doing too much detail apparantly and too much side projects I think. Now I got distracted by painting a dwarf thunderer for my dwarf warband for Mordheim. I hired a new gunman and this has to be represented by a painted fellow of course. Well here is the marksman almost ready. When my dwarf warriors finish I'll do a good photo report with proper lighting and whatnot.




So painting dwarf warriors eh...yep...well...it's progressing...slowly. I took some pics on various stages during the process. Maybe it's taking a lot of time because I'm painting all 16 at once. Usually I paint up to 5 figures at the same time.

The advantage for painting the dwarf warriors is that they are very coherent. When I paint flesh, it's the same for all since I don't have to remember what color combo's I used for the previous 5 for example.

The entire colorscheme is done for all dwarf warriors and you get to see directly how colors work on the group. On the offside, painting 16 faces, 4 or five highlights after each other is getting a bit tedious after a while.

What is the plan for the dwarfs? I chose to paint 3 different beard styles: yellow, brown/orange and black grey. For the coats I took beige and red. 8 guys have the red coats and 8 the beige ones. Metal is metal and will be done with brass and gold accents and the leather pouches and boots will be done the same for all.
I'll leave you with the final pic of my WIP and hopefully can make you guys happy with a final photo session very soon.

Ready for the EuroGT campaign '11

Despite having an irritating flu (must be a special gift of Nurgle) I managed to finish an unit of Chaos Warriors well on time for the coming EuroGT tournament.

First idea was to play Mordheim at the EuroGT, but at first it looked like there wouldn't be enough players in that department. So I (re)started my Nurgle army and painted a much needed warrior unit.

Today I found out that the Mordheim tournament will run this year, so much for being ahead of schedule for the first time in my life :-)

Overall, I'm quite happy with the result. It was quite a while since I had painted a complete unit. Work started as a speed paint job, but I could not restrain myself and went full out in detailing and even some conversions. The command group got the most of it: The champion started his life as a SoC BSB and the BSB of the unit, an old marauder, got a new banner.

However, I have not played a decent game of Warhammer after the local gaming club went into hibernation (And for all of you in the Dordrecht area: Let me know if your out there when you're available for a game :-)

That's why some research was done to fit my collection of models into a new army list. The result can be found below, comments more than welcome!

2000 Pts - Warriors of Chaos Roster - Nurglo GT '11

Total Roster Cost: 1999

Item (0 pts)
0 Eye of the Gods, 0 pts

Chaos Lord (1#, 325 pts)
1 Chaos Lord of Nurgle, 240 pts = (base cost 210 + Shield 10) + Mark of Nurgle 20
1 Filth Mace, 35 pts
1 Armour of Morrslieb, 35 pts
1 Necrotic Phylactery, 10 pts
1 Favour of the Gods, 5 pts

Sorcerer (2#, 240 pts)
1 Chaos Sorcerer of Nurgle, 140 pts = (base cost 85 + Level 2 Upgrade 35) + Mark of Nurgle 20
1 Palanquin, 50 pts
1 The Bronze Armour of Zhrakk, 15 pts
1 Infernal Puppet, 35 pts

Sorcerer (1#, 135 pts)
1 Chaos Sorcerer, 85 pts
1 Power Familiar, 25 pts
1 Ironcurse Icon, 5 pts
1 Stream of Corruption, 20 pts

Chaos Marauders (25#, 175 pts)
24 Chaos Marauders of Nurgle, 162 pts = 24 * 5 (base cost 4 + Great Weapon 1) + Mark of Nurgle 30 + Musician Mus 4 + Standard Bearer Std 8
1 Chieftan of Nurgle, 13 pts = (base cost 12 + Great Weapon 1)

Chaos Warriors (15#, 325 pts)
14 Chaos Warriors of Nurgle, 272 pts = 14 * 16 (base cost 15 + Shield 1) + Mark of Nurgle 30 + Musician Mus 6 + Standard Bearer Std 12
1 Champion of Nurgle, 28 pts = (base cost 27 + Shield 1)
1 War Banner, 25 pts

Chaos Hounds (5#, 30 pts)
5 Chaos Warhounds, 30 pts = 5 * 6

Chaos Warshrine (1#, 130 pts)
1 Chaos Warshrine, 130 pts

Forsaken (5#, 90 pts)
5 Forsaken, 90 pts = 5 * 18

Chaos Ogres (6#, 330 pts)
6 Ogres, 330 pts = 6 * 50 (base cost 35 + Great Weapon 10 + Chaos Armor 5) + Musician Mus 10 + Standard Bearer Std 20

Dragon Ogres (3#, 219 pts)
3 Dragon Ogres, 219 pts = 3 * 73 (base cost 65 + Extra Hand Weapon 8)

Validation Report:
Army Subtype: Chaos Army; Edition: 8th Edition; Game Type: Normal Game
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Composition Report:
Points of Lords: 325 (0 - 500)
Points of Heroes: 375 (0 - 500)
Points of Core: 500 (500 - Unlimited)
Points of Special: 639 (0 - 1000)
Points of Rare: 130 (0 - 500)

Created with Army Builder®

BTB: Chaos Dragon Hunt

Our BTB campaign is now approaching a point where the special scenarios can be played and that we can actually survive them. This night it was time to play the Chaos Dragon Hunt scenario. Three warbands on the move to get their hands on a huge treasure. But first there was the Beast to kill.
The scenario plays in the Northern wastes and we made a setup with a lot of open space in the middle of derelict border town. A long abandoned arena added to the dusty atmosphere and was used as the 'zoomed in' setting for fighting the dragon in its lair.


Three warbands: Dwarfs, Orcs&Gobbo's and the Posessed found out about the location of this hideous dragon. Actually it was the Possessed who found out and the dwarfs following close since they got a nose for wealth and riches to be had. Staying close to the possessed might lead them to some treasure and this was now definitely the case. The orcs and goblins were in the neighbourhood since there was fighting to be done, meat to be had and some scraps and spoils to be found after a massacre. All good reasons to enter the fray.


It was biting cold in this derelict town and the snow covered grounds made movement near impossible. Luckily no additional weather conditions were present, otherwise no searching for dragons would be done. The beast was said to be in the centre tower of this part of the small town. From three directions the warbands were approaching. The dwarfs actually purchased a wagon with some draft horses. 6 dwarfs were in the coach for a quick ride to the beasts lair. The rest were to take up position and give cover. The snow was proving difficulty even driving along the road and applying the leash gave little effect.


While driving towards the tower some arrows were sent loose at the coach from some sneaky goblins. The thunderers and beardlings providing the cover where still taking up position and could not provide the necessary cover they needed. The coach was attacked by some squigs bouncing from the side alleys. One splattering against the wagon rocking it on its wheels but doing no damage. The second clung to the wagon only to be swatted aside by the thunderer riding shotgun. The third squig was also quickly over with, since the beardlings got their first piece of combat in the real world.


In the meantime the possessed where ... moving actually and ... moving, moving still. The snow gave them much trouble heading towards the tower. Even the Ogre could not make wake in the snow, giving the rest some quicker movement. The possessed warband was now so big, they were spread out widely and approaching slowly.



The coach skidded to a halt and out poured some slayers and the noble and engineer. Blasting away with their guns the dwarfs let loose a lot of lead and smoke, hitting ... well ... nothing really.


One of the thunderers found a great position on a nearby tower. The ideal sniper position and he was blasting away with his masterly crafted handgun. Meanwhile some more orcs were pouring out the dark side alleys and a lot of small fights broke out. The beardlings having a go at some orcs, where the battle was in balance. The slayers were a sort of whirling ball of axes slicing through the orc ranks with not much difficulty. The dwarven engineer however was a bit too confident and in a moments notice two lowlife orcs chopped him down, taking him out of action. Another orc was swinging his weapons at one of the horses bring it down shrieking and thrashing. It was only moments that the slayers were upon him, killing the orc an a few fast strokes of a massive blade.


The beardlings were having difficulty with the orcs but after some more volleys of the thunderer on the tower it was enough for the orcs. This was too much damage and they were going down fast now. The best tactical moment for a smart retrace of their steps.
The dwarfs now a bit bewildered and still a bit in the rush of fighting the orcs and goblins now found an empty street in front of them ... or was it?


The possessed made their way with some difficulty to the entrance of the tower and taking up a deamonic steed in their ranks (the deamonic steeds are aplenty in our fights, for some weird reason it always gets rolled as a random event). The dwarfs were a bit battered and were now reforming taking a good look at the possessed pouring around the tower. This was no small group of filthy mutations, it was a somewhat organized very big crew of evil pouring into the monsters lair. Maybe it was best for the dwarfs to see how they fare against the chaos dragon and maybe afterwards see some of that treasure.


The big fighters of the possessed went into the tower to fight the monster and outside the rest stood guard. The dwarfs taking up position just out of charge range but just within shooting range. The dwarfs shooting at the possessed guard gave not much casualties. The cold was getting at the dwarfs apparantly. Chattering teeth gave no steady shots here.


The possessed where in a massacre with the chaos dragon. The dragon snapping two heads at them and slashing with claws like swords was giving the possessed much trouble. The leader of the possessed went down in moments leaving the ogre and some big mutations to do the dirty work. The ogre doing some heavy damage also took a lot of damage. Swaying on his feet the ogre went down! At this moment the dragon also suffered a lot of damage and with their last strength the possessed took out the dragon. That was no easy kill!
In the meantime also some lavatunnels undermining this part of the city were caving in and one of the dwarfs only narrowly escaped a flow of lava, nimble on their feet as they are!



Only now outside some possessed were down due to the shooting of the dwarfs and a line of big slayers were waiting for the rest to come out. The Possessed-slayer-standoff was putting both warbands in a negotiating position. Although hating each other they came to solution where the possessed took of with their much sought after artifact: the dragon scale armor and some of the hoard. But leaving the dwarfs enough riches to look the other way for a few seconds.

BTB: Earthquake

Catching up with the battle reports this is a more recent one.
The earthquake scenario provides with a much needed set treasure to be found. Especially the dwarfs were in much need of treasure (being treasurehunters they are always in need!) and a blizzard enriched this scenario with the BTB sauce needed for the scenario.
As counters for the treasure chests to be found we used M7M's as you can see in the pics and again a deamonic steed (as with the writing on the wall scenario) makes an appearance agains (was it the same, is it hunting the Border towns?).
Finally the Campaing point counter on our blog is updated and a lot has changed since the last setting. Especially the dwarfs advancing a lot because of them purchasing a wagon train. A good dice roll gained them an extra 6 CP's!
First a the story from the orcs and goblin perspective and afterwards a dwarf view on the battle fought.

The Orcs&Goblins
A cold night, a sudden wind and 14 eager greenskins ready for battle. All the ingredients for a massacre in the streets of Dordtheim were once more available. Wortnak and his crew were roaming the streets once more. Rumours had spread of some treasure laying around in certain areas of the city. There were bound to be more evil people searching for treasure here, for treasure is scarce in Dordtheim.

Upon arriving in the designated parts of that city, immediately the dwards could be smelled again. There was no battle thus far those small beardy bastards were not present. Damn, time for a massacre. From the other corner of the street it smelled like rotting meat. It smelled like an open sewer, nurgle must be near. And for certain it was.

Wortnak decided to split the group into two sides, for maximum treasure handling. Wortnak and his loyal henchman decided to go left, while the smallskins and furrballs guided by Gretfall went right for the stench. Wutwuzdat went to a higher region to get overview over the street. Unfortunately the weather was once again against the greens. Not much shooting, no sight at all.

After a short while, the greens opened the treasure, only to find wasps, rats and dust. Pah! Not what they had came for, but there was blood to spill nonetheless. A fierce battle went on in the small streets at the nurgle side, with many casualties on both sides. Wutwuzdat had some suprising moves and killed of the weird nurgle creature without a hussle.


On the other side wortnak and Greatfoot battled some rats, a slayer and some beards that joined in after a short while. Greatfoot, made a great debute by bouncing off some bullets and saving the boss. Rewards will surely be awarded for that action! Sneak’n Git the goblin rushed to the tower to get that last treasure.

All in all, after a lot of battle and furry casualties, Wortnak decided to call it quits. No more bloodspilling. Resting was now what needed to be done. More dwarfs to be slain next time. Waaaaaaagh!!!

The Dwarfs
The Blizzard was giving the dwarfs directly a hard time finding targets to shoot at. The engineer and thunderers had been practicing a lot and were ready to let loose some lead at anyone approaching treasure chests in the distance. Due to a recent earthquake the dwarfs were very keen on looking around for uprooted treasure. Being experts on earth movement straight away they found some good stuff with weirdstone shards that would provide for a good sell. They were in need of some hard coins were they able to buy that much needed wagon train.

Almost instantly after entering the small ruined town of Ba'Zaaar a deamonic steed appears in front of the dwarfs. It was only just within range with this blizzard going on and they started shooting at it. The blizzard was too much of a distraction and after a lot of black smoke cleared the steed was still advancing towards the dwarfs. Perfect for the slayers having a go at it. In short moments the steed was done for.

In the distance some orcs and gobbo's were fighting giant rats. Hah! you had to know were to look for the treasure, the stupid greenskins were only finding some vermin at that part of the Ba'Zaaar where the earth fissures were not good looking. You had to be a dwarf to see that immediately!

After quickly finding some treasure the some possessed were encountered and the stupid ogre was still with them. Directly locking the possessed in combat in an alley, one dwarf didn't have the full courage to enter the fray. This beardling didn't close the gap leaving the possessed the opportunity to strike back with considerable effort.
This small mistake costed the dwarfs the overhand and with a hail storm coming on they left the battlefield. They still had enough treasure to go for that good looking wagon train they saw in Aboo Zor. A good moment to go there and haggle for the wagon train and horse. Accumulating riches has a point where you have to store the stuff and transport it.