Warhammer Novels: Games Workshop Books 1989-1991

In my previous post I mentioned the classic anthology, Wolf Riders, published in 1989 and I was surprised about the number of messages I got about it. I had assumed that knowledge of these early forays into publishing were well known to the citadel community, but perhaps this is not the case. 

A quick buyers/collectors/general guide then? 

Why not!

I love these novels and stories. Yes they vary in quality (though that might be mere taste) but there is something about the books that still draw me back. Perhaps its the production values, which are, of course, very of our period. The books themselves are larger format than standard, there is a card insert with full colour artwork as a first page and the stories are illustrated throughout with line drawings by the likes of Ian Miller and Russ Nicholson. They smell nice and retro too...

I must confess, I haven't read them all! I own them all (thanks to eBay) but now that I think of it I couldn't lay my hands on them all at the moment. Just typing these words encourages my desire to get out into the garage and delve into my collection to uncover these gems once again. But that is for another day because its raining and I'd rather stay in the warm and type.

IGNORANT ARMIES OCTOBER 1989  STATUS: Orlygg's read it!

If I recall, this was the first of the Warhammer anthologies published back in October 1989 and I recently re-read (last summer actually) to provide inspiration for my return to retro gaming, painting and collecting. The stories are a mixed bunch and introduce some characters that are still with us today. Obviously, Geheimnisnacht is a classic that may of you may have heard of (or even read) in other places. The other stories may not be so well known. Three stand outs for me are; The Gardener in Parravon, due to its malign dreamy quality and its subtle exploration of chaos (in its original form), The Star Boat, for reasons explained below and The Laughter of Dark Gods, a tale that explored the more violent (and bizarre) side of chaos. 

Geheimnisnacht by William King, notable for being the earliest Gotrek and Felix story.
The Reavers and the Dead by Charles Davidson
The Other by Nicola Griffiths
Apprentice Luck by Sean Flynn
The Gardener in Parravon, by Brain Craig
The Star Boat by Steve Baxter, notable for including the 80s version of the Slann involved in a journey to the Chaos Wastes and never republished by the Black Library.
The Laughter of Dark Gods by William King
Ignorant Armies by Jack Yeovil

WOLF RIDERS NOVEMBER 1989 Status: Orlygg's read a single story.

The second anthology, published in November, was more of the same. Despite owning two copies of this book I have only read Wolf Riders and that was some time ago. A very popular story at the time if I recall. I cannot really comment further at this point. 

Wolf Riders by William King, notable for being the second Gotrek and Felix story
The Tilean Rat by Sandy Mitchell 
The Phantom of Yremy by Brian Craig 
Cry of the Beast by Ralph T. Castle 
No Gold in the Grey Mountains by  Jack Yeovil, notable for being a Genevieve the Vampire story.
The Hammer of the Stars by Pete Garratt, not republished by the Black Library.
Pulg's Grand Carnival by Simon Ounsley, not republished by the Black Library
The Way of the Witchfinder by Brian Craig, not republished by the Black Library

RED THIRST 1990 Status: Orlygg's read a single story.

This anthology was published in April 1990. Red Thirst is a brilliant story and I remember it vividly. Sadly, the only story that I have actually read from this book.

Red Thirst  by Jack Yeovil, notable for being a Genevieve the Vampire story.
The Dark Beneath the World  by William King, another Gotrek and Felix tale.
The Spells Below by Neil Jones 
The Light of Transfiguration by Brian Craig 
The Song  by Steve Baxter, never republished by the Black Library
The Voyage South by Nicola Griffiths, never republished by the Black Library


KONRAD (DAVID FERRING)  FEBRUARY 1990 STATUS: Orlygg's read it!

This was the first GW style book that I read. I remember being absolutely glued to it and devoured it over a weekend. The illustrations and presentation were really impressive and felt gorgeous to hold in the hand. Its a tale I have returned to time and time again, and one I enjoy. Ferring begins with the village in which Konrad lives, his relationship with Elyssa, his childhood friend and slowly builds up a sense of impending doom which is wickedly gripping as you wait in wonder at what is to occur. The chaos assualt on the village by the warped forces of chaos, in which Konrad plays a truly horrifying part, is my most vivid memory of anything I read as a child and did not disappoint with re-reading. Happily, I bought a mint condition copy on eBay last year! 

SHADOWBREED (DAVID FERRING) FEBRUARY 1991 STATUS: Orlygg's read it!

Excellent sequel to Konrad. Just as gripping as the original. Shadowbreed builds on the many unanswered questions left from the original.Enthralling and engaging throughout with some awe inspiring skirmishes and battles. The cliff hanger is just brilliant! You'll never see it coming! Or perhaps you will! Who knows?

WARBLADE, later published by Boxtree after the demise of Games Workshop Books, wrapped up the story with a rather ambigious ending that suggests further stories may have been planned but never produced. 

ZARAGOZ (BRIAN CRAIG) NOVEMBER 1989 STATUS: Orlygg's read it!

The castle of Zaragoz is a citadel where once justice reigned. But to the great misfortune of the land, an army comes to seize the castle and depose the duke--and take away the hope that justice would return. Orfeo, a wandering player, is plunged deep into a web of intrigue within the walls of Zaragoz where he struggles against the dark powers that threaten the Warhammer world.

A surprisingly grown up tale. No battles or 'Grimskullcrackersplitta' style characters of today. A good story, which is well written with actual believable characters. This tale centres of Orfeo himself (though he still, like in the other books, acts as a narrator for the action) and is set in the impregnable fortress of Zaragoz. Wizards, Semjazza being a suitably sinister example, clash and intrigues follow in this densely plotted opener to a great series of novels. Brain Craig is actually Brain Stapleford (ie; a proper author) and boy does it show when you compare this (and his other tales) with much of the dross the Black Library churns out these days. Recommended by Orlygg!

PLAGUE DAEMON (BRIAN CRAIG) APRIL 1990 STATUS: Orlygg's read it!

Brian Craig's second Orfeo novel is THE classic Warhammer Novel. The book centres on Harmis Detz, a soldier of the Border Princes who after surviving an attack on his fortified camp is swept along into a horrifying struggle against the plague-bearing forces of Chaos. Well-written, vivid and immediately engaging. The novel follows him and his companions on the trail of the Daemon, Ystareth, lost in its diseased wake. If the Daemon is the enemy within (ie: the worst that lies inside us all) the Zani, a primative tribe are the enemy without, a hungry group of nomadic people who assualt the kingdom from the outside. Caught between these two perils Harmis must decide whether to save his own soul or those of the entire Warhammer World.
After Zaragoz, Plague Daemon continues the themes of corruption and seduction by evil only this time that corruption turns towards the flesh. Instead of wizards blowing their minds and souls to Chaos, here innocent people are corrupted unwittingly by the Daemon. This makes the novel truly unsettling. Pregnant women give birth to mutated, tormented infants, while rotting, diseased beasts attack isolated strongholds. The pace never lets up until Harmis faces the impossible odds of combat with Ystareth, the Plague Daemon. I found nothing to fault in this novel, I read it in one go and deeply regretted finishing it. Excellent.


STORM WARRIORS (BRIAN CRAIG) MARCH 1991 STATUS: Orlygg's not read it.

The king of the isle of Morien is dead, and now the new King Herla, a brave and powerful youth, must face his greatest challenge when an eldritch storm shipwrecks mysterious elves onto his shores. An ancient law forbids Herla from casting the elves back into the seas, so he accepts their presence and watches them carefully. But when accidents, thefts, violent slayings and unnatural disease spread across his land, Herla is up against the odds and about to discover the darkest secret of all

Not read this one. If I recall, its set in Albion, which would make it an interesting read to learn a little about that particular Warahmmer location.

DRACHENFELS OCTOBER 1989 STATUS: Orlygg's read it quite a few times!

Detlef Sierck, the self-proclaimed greatest playwright in the world, has declared that his next production will be a recreation of the end of the Great Enchanter Drachenfels - to be staged at the very site of his death, the Fortress of Drachenfels itself. But the castle's dark walls still hide a terrible secret which may make the opening night an evening to remember! Storming dark fantasy with the vampire femme-fatale Genevieve.

Astounding! A fantastic fantasy novel that transcends Warhammer itself. Brilliant. Read it. I'll say no more.

BEASTS IN VELVET MAY 1991 STATUS: Orlygg's not read it!

As a killer called "The Beast" stalks the Imperial capital of Altdorf, evidence points to members of the Imperial court. With the gruesome murders mounting, the disgraced watchman "Filthy" Harald Kleindeinst is reinstated for a single assignment: to stop the Beast's reign of terror and discover its true identity.

The follow up to Drachenfells. I really should get around to reading it.

Phew! Of course, there were more books published by Games Workshop Books. 40k and Dark Future related stuff but this blog is about Warhammer so I don't think that I'll mention them here. 

Well, I hope this contribution is useful to some! I really do recommend getting hold of these books (preferrably the first editions) if you are interested in early GW fictions. Essentially, these are 3rd Edition novels and short stories. If we are gaming with 3rd edition rules, using third edition miniatures and painting with 3rd edition paints; surely we should be reading 3rd edition books too, eh?

Before I leave, I'll direct you to this interesting article from Vector Magazine about the development of these novels and general GW history around the time of 3rd Edition. 

Orlygg.

Vector Magazine Freedom in an Owned World.pdf by Attilla13

Wolf Riders

Edited by David Pringle, these are classic Warhammer Tales.

Before the Black Library there was Games Workshop Books. I remember these with a real fondness and I wish modern books had the same quality (though Dan Abnett and a few others fly the flag for quality writing today) and spent some time searching out the original editions on eBay.

Wolf Riders was the first of three anthologies; Ignorant Armies being the first and Red Thirst being the last. Each volume is full of short stories set in our 'retro' Warhammer World, so no real estate problems like Gaj discussed earlier this week at Warhammer for Adults. They have a very WHFRP feel about them, which has really got me inspired now we are 'playing by post' the Enemy Within Campaign at http://theernywithin.blogspot.co.uk/, and one story in particular got my creative juices flowing- Wolf Riders by William King.

If you do own these books already, I really do recommend you get out there and find them. 

Before I did any research in wolves, I though "I know, I'll just paint 'em grey" but its only when you actually do a little research that you realise how important the natural world is for reference. 

Amongst my collection I had a few units of these goblinoid canine crossbreeds and decided to pull them out as the next contribution to my Grand Plan of having usable armies for 3rd Edition. As you may be aware, I am currently taking a break from my one true love, Chaos, and am working on undead and orc and goblin armies. I have ten models and have decided to split these into two units of 5; the first armed with hand weapons and the second with short bows.

Having just finished off my skeletons, I decided to do a test piece for the wolf riders. Fiddling around with the wolf pelt was the first challenge, but with a little local reference (see above) I managed to come up with a colour scheme that was a little wolfy. Once complete, I painted up my first goblin in many, many, many years.

The way I always imagined goblins were the brains of goblinoid society, if brains could be affixed to such low creatures. Perhaps cunning would be a better word. However, they are totally over shadowed by the far stronger orcs who generally boss them around. To me, the small the greenskin the lighter his skin so I used a Goblin Green Bilious Green mix for the skin, ending with a highlight of pure Bilious Green. As for the leather armour and snood; I mixed in orange with the brown basecoat to give that dirty leather look these creature seem suited too.

 A rear shot- judging by their Ld and Cl values in 3rd Edition, this is a view the opposing general will  probably have of these cruel, but ulimately, cowardly creatures.

As always, original 80s colours were used throughout the painting. No Devlan Mud here (cannot believe GW got rid of that wash- everyone used it!)  

Another rear view, here showing off that shield I worked on a few days ago. 

I finished off the model with one of my quick, custom base jobs and added our old friend, the highlighted Arcane Armorials shield that I worked on earlier in the week (or was it last week?). The design is perfect for a cruel, gangly wolf rider don't you think?

Well, only another 9 to go then. Better get my Bilious Green out again.

Until next time!

Orlygg.

Drastic Plastic: The Skeleton Horde's Grim Reapers

I have finally completed my first undead unit; a regiment of grim reapers! To those of you not in the know, this means that the fleshless ones are armed with that symbolic weapon of death itself; the scythe. It was fairly easy to whip up six new skeletons using my horde set and the remaining 3 were re-cycled from my stash of ancient plastic models that I recently unearthed in the garage (thank you dettol). A repair here and there was all that was required to welcome these venerable miniatures back into the battleline.

As to painting; unusually I went for a black undercoat and worked up with brown, bleached bone and then white, I found this a little more precise that the old 'paint 'em white and do a black ink wash' approach from my younger days. Still, even with the layers, these skellies paint up quick and the different posed legs are a real bonus after painting a new Vampire Counts army a couple of years ago- no more legs stepping forwards enmass!



A quick consult of Warhammer Armies suggests that a 3rd Edition undead army should have a least 10 of these  beauties but I chose to round out the unit with a metal command figure. 'Reaper' was the skeleton for the job, released alongside a metal chariot back in 1987, and rather hard to find these days undamaged. I have several models of him but they always seem to be missing the severed head and hand, no doubt a relic for many a late 80s conversion effort.

The Machineries of Destruction Undead Chariot - look there's Reaper! Keep an eye out for the rest of this set in future posts!

When painting him up I had a little niggling feeling I recognised him from somewhere? Or that he reminded me of someone but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then, just as I was finishing of his ginger hair, it hit me! Axl Rose from Guns 'n Roses!!

W. Axl Rose- legendary rocker armed with a microphone stand (I always did wonder why he needed the gigantic sponge thing on the the end of the mikes he used!)

Axl Brause - legendary skeleton armed with a scythe with severed head dangling from his leather gloved fist!

Rear view. Note the lovely ginger hair! Looks great with the bleached bones and black, tattered robes!

I decided to re-name the model in honour of the long haired, tight short wearing 80s rocker; but rose was not quite 'Warhammer' enough. A quick google of rose in German game me... die rose or die brause. I think that I will take brause which gives us the name Axl Brause, skeleton champion extraordinaire!

So here he is with his grim reapers... The first completed unit for my Third Edition Undead army.

I love taking the finished group shots! Great sense of satisfaction. 

Back to my orcs and goblins now!

Hmmm! Choices, choices....

Orlygg.

Arcane Armorials: 80s Shield Designs the Easy Way

Hello one and all,

Today I want to talk about shields. Those of you who have read my Warseer project log or spent time here with this blog will know that painting shields were, for a long time, the bane of my painting life. I was absolutely hopeless at them. I mean, truly dreadful... I just couldn't get the technique no matter how I tried.

Then, quite by accident (and with the help of an old 'Eavy Metal article) I painted a shield; a 'citadelesque' John Blanche face, and stuck it on one of my favourite beastmen models.

Here it is...

Now I love shield designs. Freehand painting is challenging but very rewarding. Over the last few months I have  painted up Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch and Slaanesh style shields- not to mention a few generic ones. Old issues of WD are stuffed with inspiration (look out for this in a future post) to get the creative juices flowing. However, sometimes I just cannot be bothered to paint up a shield- or, I am faced with the gruelling prospect of having to paint 20+ shields that are exactly the same. Its bad enough having to paint up fairly identical miniatures en mass, but the shields as well - surely a bridge (or brush, perhaps?) too far?

I returned to the Arcane Armorials that I discussed a few months ago.

They were a very expensive purchase but I had never seen them for sale before, or indeed since, so was prepared to expend 'top dollar' for them. I scanned them (and they are available to other enthusiasts here on my scribd page, Arcane-Armorials) and then promptly forgot about them. Someone mentioned the possibility of printing them off on transfer paper but I was unable to locate any of this for a decent price. So, instead, I just printed them off my basic deskjet printer and was impressed with the results- I have yet to use a proper inkjet or photopaper, but I assume the quality of the images will be even greater. Additionally, the colour seems a little lack lustre but again, I imagine a superior printer will produce superior results.

Modern technology inconceivable in 1987, a laptop with a scanned copy of Arcane Armorials. No need to buy additional copies these days...

Just a cheap £30 deskjet but it did the job rather well really...

So, how to cut them out effectively? I used a sharp blade to slice the designs off the paper before using some kitchen scissors to trim of the edges as neatly as possible.

The tools of the trade; hobby knife, print out, cutting board and old citadel shields...

The shields are cut out with the blade and finished off with scissors...

Painting some grey shields black, I first attempted to attach the design by placing it on the wet paint, however I found it hard to move the image to an optimal position.

 Chaos Black undercoat (though quite why I just didn't use the masses of black plastic shields I own- hindsight is a wonderful thing!) waiting for the trimmed designs...

Attached designs (you can probably observe the colour distortion caused by the wet paint soaking through)...

Then I tried to use PVA glue. This worked much better but I used a little too much water in the mix and some of the printer colours ran. This was, obviously, not acceptable so I squirted out a little more PVA and left the glue to dry for about 5mins. This I then applied directly onto an unpainted shield. There was just enough movement in the glue for me to slide the design to the optimal position. The resulting shield, once dry, did not suffer from any colour separation from water damage and could easily be tidied up with black paint (and silver nails) to give good results.

Tidied up designs- these could do with a layer or two of highlights!

Perfecting the technique, gummy PVA with the designs carefully slid on...

After reading the bumpf that came with the original transfers, I attempted to touch up the designs through additional higlighting. This too, was very effective and I was able to undo the water damaged designs with a little brush work. Really very easy (but the more complex, fiddly designs took a little concentration) to finish off.

 Quick highlighting experiment- this took about 3mins, I really rushed but you can see the improvement clearly!

Here are the finished designs. I know that the images are not perfect and simple 'look and snap' cameras tend to wash out colour. Later one, when the weather is a little brighter (nothing like natural light for photographing miniatures, eh?) I have another go at recording the results.

Note: The top design was heavily highlighted with a range of colours while the design at the bottom has had no additional work done, it is simply just a print out on a shield. The black was painted on once the PVA was dry and the silver nails were added later on...

What do you guys think?

I better get back to the roast dinner now. Chicken, veg and lovely gravy await me. Drop me a line if you have a go at using this old shield designs yourself. I'd be interested to see what other painters/gamers do with them. I expect, the more you work with them to more you can achieve. As I type this, I have just thought about the possibilities of cutting out small components from different shields to create unique designs.

The possibilities are limitless, really!

Orlygg.

The Walls of Contagion Battle Report Part Three

Pursuing a beaten enemy is not always a good thing. Ironcron, mad with battle lust, charged after the fleeing thugs straight into the gaze of the Nurgle Sorcerer in the tower. His hideous eyes (and considerable stench) narrowed as he plotted the downfall of the rival champion. 

With plenty of magic points, all I needed to do was roll under 8 and the spell would be successfully cast. The lord of bad dice rolls must have been off to the toilet as I picked up the dice, rolling 5 and passing the test. D3 green, fizzing fireballs would shortly be smashing into Ironcron doing S4 damage. I rolled 4 of a D6 which meant two fireballs were produced by the spell, they connected and obliterated the champion (or at least, knocked him out) and Ironcron was out of the game!! How the tide turns, eh?

The remaining miniatures were now involved in a considerable combat after the orcs charged the side of the beastmen. Again, we forgot the panic rule concerning rear and side charges so my models remained in the game without the need to test their cool.  Still, things looked bleak for the forces of Nurgle, being surrounded as they were.

Perhaps due to their dogged determination, or perhaps their foul diseases, my beastmen remained where they were after a round or two of combat. Dice rolls were generally ones or twos so the battle ground to a stalemate. Eventually, my minotaur grabbed hold of Mange and brutally crushed the beast in its animal grip. With the dog defeated (and another rule, bloodgreed, forgotten) the minotaur turned and engaged the orcs.

The greenskins needed to pass a fear test to engage with my bovine beast. Grinning, Dan clutched the dice and boasted of his troops fighting prowess. True, the greenskins had defeated everything in their path, crossed the hedgerow and contributed to the death of my champion, surely they would stand and fight the hairy brute and defeat him too?

Sadly for Dan, the fear test was failed. Spectacularly! My minotaur easily chased his goblinoids from the field of battle, turning the tide of the conflict once more. Luck had clearly returned to me. I intended to capitalise of this by moving the sorcerer down from his tower and into the fray. Perhaps that would be enough to turn the tide permanently?

My minotaur returned to the melee but dice rolls were flunked and he couldn't capitalise on the advantage of the charge. The sorcerer, having crossed the hedge, attempted to move into range to charge into the rear of the Khornate beastmen.

Disaster struck! The minotaur fell amongst the bodies of beastmen and orc. This shattered my plans to push the Khornate remnants back out of the watchtower grounds. Though my sorcerer was engaged in the fight, things got bogged down into combat round after combat round as another stalemate was reached.

Then, a force more powerful and a thousand fold more terrifying that the four ruinous powers combined, asserted their influence; my wife! She decided that the night was late enough and that Dan and I should end our 'game of little men'. We decided to leave the battle where it was, a draw. We imagined that the exhausted Khornate beastmen would retreat back the way they came, leaving the shattered remains of the Nurglesque force in possession of the watchtower. Ironcron lay somewhere in the dirt, and was probably dragged away by a minion or two to fight another day.

It certainly will make an interesting rematch!

Orlygg.

The Walls of Contagion Battle Report Part Two

So we return to the Walls of Contagion, the second battle report I have written up on my blog, hopefully in the future and can organise games more regularly as there are many troop types, additional rules and whatnot that I would like to try out. 

That is the beauty of third edition- there is just so,so much to try out. 

After a slurp of juice and a quick chat about the miniatures, we returned to the game. It was Dan's turn and he moved his chaos hound, Mange, around the outside of the barrack house in position to charge my troops in the rear. During the combat phase, low dice rolls marred the destruction but Ironcron, in a moment of supremacy, defeated the minotaur and sent his body crashing down into the bloodstained grass. This was a disaster for me, for Dan's champion now had free rein to cross the hedge and attack my forces in the side or rear. I tried to respond in kind, but neither my beastmen nor thugs could inflict anything other than a wound or two (beastmen have two wounds each in third, which makes them quite tough in combat). 

To rub salt into the wound, Dan charged his orcs back into my weakened Thug unit before crossing Ironcron into my territory. The fighting was brutal and I managed to hold his greenskins back for a turn but I was extremely concerned that this was the beginning of the end of the game, with my troops about to be slaughtered and routed.

Here Dan gleefully repositions his orc regiment as it collides with my thugs. Note the girly pink cup, that's Dan's drink. Don't worry though, true to all Khornate followers it contains the fresh blood of virgins- that's all Dan drinks these days...

Here Ironcron crosses the boundary of the hedgeline, stepping over the body of the toppled minotaur. Things were certainly dangerous for me at this point as I had no idea which of the two units Dan intended to attack!

The subsequent combat phase saw my beastmen once again hold their ground but things were not so successful on the right flank. Defeating my thugs in combat (after felling another model), the unit was pushed back which allowed the orc regiment to cross the hedgeline for the first time. Things were certainly critical, with three units now secure inside my territory. Desperate not to appal his foul master, the Nurgle Champion fought on with renewed vigour but couldn't wound or kill a single orc, on the other hand, the orcs started singing that classic war ballad 'We woz o'nee followin' orderz', certain that victory (and piles of rather sticky, stained loot) would shortly be theirs.

Sated on blood, Dan takes time out to consult the mighty tome that is the third edition Warhammer rule book. Looks like the psychology section to me!

With my movement turn I opted to charge Mange with my remaining minotaur, stopping the orange, snapping canine in its blood stained tracks. Ironcron stood impassively for a moment, his goresoaken  morningstar limp at his feet, before deciding to engage the thug regiment. Dan thought it seemly that a champion of Khorne would seek to cut his way through to a rival's minion and engage them in single combat.

Thankfully, we forgot the panic rules connected to side charges and so my thugs had no concerns about remaining where they were. A deep melee soon developed between the orcs, humans and chaos champions.

Finally, the two champions met face to face over the torn corpses of the followers of Nurgle. Initially, I held the upper hand, wounding Ironcron, but the dark lord of poor dice rolls was soon once more at my back, influencing my wrist into rolling ones. Gradually, the Khornate Champion grasped the upper hand and beat my champion down into the bloodsoaked mud.

With an almighty strike, Ironcron slew my Nurgle Champion and cast his body to the ground. Stepping forwards over the rusted armour and writhing maggots, Ironcron called loudly to his patron and offered up a prayer of blood, a sermon of violence and a psalm of death. Morningstar whirling over his head, he charged into the remaining thugs, terrifying them and scattering them to the four winds...

To be concluded...

The Walls of Contagion Battle Report Part One

Time. 

There never seems to be enough of it. 

Paper. 

There always seems to be too much of it. 

These two combine in myriad ways to prevent leadheads and gamers from meeting up and playing games of any sort, and this is especially true of retro Warhammer 3rd Edition games in my household. Dan and I hadn't met up for a couple of months (due to the foilables of modern technology, largely) and out of the blue we had the opportunity for a game. Sadly, I had had a heavy week and couldn't manage to set up much of a scenario. Secondly, I had managed to lose all the paper work and record keeping from our previous games (paper causing problems again!) so had to scramble around to get the game started. Luckily, Warhammer Armies contains full lists for all miniature types so we used that, with Dan flicking through his paperback copy of the 3rd edition rulebook for anything else. 

We threw together an idea for a battle. I wanted to test out my recently completed Nurgle Warband and Dan was keen to explore that backstory of Ironcron - as I haven't finished the next figure for him yet! Oh dear! We summarised that Ironcron's patron, Khorne, had ordered the destruction of his rivals minions from an abandoned watchtower on the edge of the forest. Grandfather Nurgle was unlikely to give ground willingly so ordered his champion to hold the tower and repulse (if not infect) the Khornate interlopers. 

As discussed previously, I chose to play with the Nurgle Warband. Here are my forces at the beginning of the battle, centrally placed in the watchtower's precinct. From left to right we have; A unit of five thugs lead by my champion of Nurgle, the minotaur, a unit of ten beastmen, a chaos sorcerer and a second minotaur. No special weapons were involved as I had lost the character sheets over the last couple of months and we didn't have the time for a protracted, detailed game with lots of roleplay elements.

Here we have Dan's starting position. Obviously, he was attacking, as is appropriate when playing with a Khorne force. He was impressed with the recently completed orc unit and was keen to field them. Dan suggested that the greenskins were hired (or lured) by Ironcron with the promise of loot and were probably too stupid to realise that fighting Nurgle is a filthy and unhealthy business. So, from left to right, Dan fielded Mange, the chaos hound, a unit of ten beastmen, Ironcron himself and the orc regiment of ten orcs with leader, champion, musician and standard bearer.

Unusually, I got to move first and advanced my units towards the hedge, intending to use this as a defensive position. The beastmen held the breech as they were the most numerical while the minotaurs added strength on either side. The Nurgle champion and his thugs held the right flank. Dan responded in suitably Khornate fashion, and advanced his forces in a cacophony of shield bashing and savage, warlike cries. The beastmen of Khorne moved to engage their Nurglesque bretheren at the gap in the hedgeline while the orcs advanced more carefully to attack the thugs over the bushes. Mange, the chaos hound, by far the most fleet footed model on the table scampered towards the undefended hedgerow, his drooling jaws snapping in violent anticipation of the feast of flesh to come.

Ironcron moved alongside his goblinoid allies, though deferred the option of joining the unit or forming an association. My Nurgle Sorcerer moved to enter the watchtower and slowly climbed the rickerty steps. Casting the windows open with a scaborous hand, he peered his deformed head out of the window, eagerly awaiting the chance to unleash fireballs onto the advancing enemy.

The sorcerer's magic was not as successful as I hoped. Magic points were spent and the fireballs were easily absorbed by the thick skins and chainmail armour of the orc regiment. Unperturbed by the firery assault, the greenskins advanced into charge positions and began to beat their savage swords against their shields in anticipation of 'bashin' a foo 'eadz' while the beastmen, their milk white eyes glaring maniacally at their foes, positioned themselves to engage my battleline. 

With an astounding crash, the forces of the Blood God collided with my putrid followers of the Lord of Pestilence. The beastmen exercised their violent tendencies in a frenzy of chopping, hacking and braying. as the orcs engaged the thugs over the withered, sickly hedge. Further fireballs of fizzing, green flame smashed into the orcs but the filthy creatures easily absorbed the damage with no wounds inflicted. Thankfully, the Khornate charge was contained by my forces and some pretty poor rolling from Dan (despite a few dice modifiers) only aided the Dark Lord of Plagues, with a single wound being sustained by one of my beastmen.

My third turn began with a series of hand to hand combats. The orcs battled with the thugs, Ironcron with one of the minotaurs, the beastmen slugged it out across the break in the hedge while Mange, that fleet-footed nightmare and Dan's trump card in more than one game, avoided conflict with the second minotaur and slipped through the hedgeline. Wounds were inflicted on the beastmen and an orc fell. Sadly, I lost the combat, and my beastmen were pushed back 2 inches, opening my defences rather dangerously. My sorcerer, his magic points depleted through fruitless magical bombardment decided to rest and observe the ebb and flow of the battle for his watchtower.

In Dan's next movement phase, Mange slipped past my minotaur and began to snake his way around the abandoned barrackhouse. Combat did not favour Khorne, with weak dice rolls predominating which allowed me to follow up on his beastmen and preserve my right flank, recapturing the lost ground.

Despite felling two of my thugs in brutal combat, Dan found that he couldn't break the foul followers of Nurgle in the dance of blades. Passing a leadership test (thanks to the bonuses granted by his musician and standard bearer), the orc commander opted to disengage and march backwards in an attempt to charge once more in a desperate ploy to break the will of my troops. Wet, coughing jeers were quick from the lips of the Nurgle thugs as they watched the goblinoids organise a 'tactikal reetreet' back across the clearing.

Meanwhile, Mange continued his circling of the old barrack building in an attempt to strike the forces of the Plague Lord in the rear. Thankfully, my minotaur smelt his bloodcrazed breath and moved to intercept his canine wiles. After another round of static combat (thanks to truly atrocious dice rolls on both sides) we took a break from the game for refreshments.