From the diary of Phineas Storch (prodigal genius) – 1st day of Nachgeheim
The spectral figure from my dream is now fully manifest. Beneath the grinning skull, his robe conceals a locked box weighed down with heavy chains. The ghostly vision he shows me…standing alone above the graves of all those who failed to recognise my genius…the future is foggy, but the spectre beckons and I follow.
After 3 nights in this sodden and savage land, I might consider myself a fool for believing there was knowledge to be found here…were that not an impossibility. Recalling the miserable words uttered by the wretch in Marienburg: “the Emissaries of the Shadowlord…seek them at the stone circles of Albion…when Ghyranek fixes his gaze upon them” – it seems I have 20 days until my next opportunity. As any halfwit knows, Ghyranek is the name the Northmen give to the beloved moon of Morr, whose wise face I have seen through the instruments of the Azure College.
Until then I shall seek cover in the farmstead my pets have located for me – it is rife with mold and has nice shallow earth. There are some green-skinned vermin (goblinus crepusculus) scurrying around. Their feeble intellects should prove no hindrance for my creations.
The stage is set for the first Battle Report of the Tasmanian Blood in Albion campaign of 2023. My first opponent ‘C’ has presented the forces of Night Goblin Warlord “Giznit” – with a suspiciously low number of goblin models. My list was as follows:
++ Standard (Vampire Counts) [1,005pts] ++ + Heroes + The Ghost of Geheimnistag Future - Cairn Wraith [85pts] . Magic Items: The Casket of Ages Phineas Storch - Necromancer [150pts]: General . Magic Items: Forbidden Rod, The Cursed Book . Wizard Level 2 . . Lore of Necromancy VC 2: 3. Gaze of Nagash, 4. Raise Dead + Core + Conjoined Creations - Fell Bats [42pts]: 3x Fell Bat Skeleton Warriors [160pts]: Musician, Skeleton Champion, Standard Bearer . 27x Skeleton Warrior: 27x Hand Weapon, 27x Light Armour, 27x Shield Skeleton Warriors [150pts]: Musician, Skeleton Champion, Standard Bearer . 25x Skeleton Warrior: 25x Hand Weapon, 25x Light Armour, 25x Shield Re-animated - Zombies [118pts]: Musician, Standard Bearer, 36x Zombie Spare Parts - Zombies [90pts]: 30x Zombie + Special + Corpse Cart [120pts]: Unholy Lodestone Former Alumni - Spirit Hosts [90pts]: 2x Spirit Host
N.B. the extra 5 points is to make up for the reduced cost of Fell Bats – at time of writing, Battlescribe had not yet been updated.
Giznit’s horde consisted of two large units of Night Goblins, two Doom Diver Catapults, four Stone Trolls and a Warlord on (in?) a Squig. The game was played on a slightly reduced 4’x4′ table size to accommodate the small points allotment.
Turn 1:
Phineas surveyed his skeletal servants. “Summon surplus” he surmised: seven skeletons scrambled from the sod.
The trolls, who don’t know much but they do know several uses for bones, slunk forward and crunched the newly risen minions into powder.
Seeing a batlike silhouette fly past the moon like some kind of signal, the Doom Diver cracked his knuckles…they had been practicing bat. Once airborne, he clicked and chittered and badly flapped, echolocating his way into one of the flying fiends.
Turn 2:
Floating through the wall of the farmhouse, the Ghost of Geheimnisnacht Future beckoned to the Warlord Giznit before charging towards him. Blue lights flared in his eye-sockets as he opened the lid of the Casket of Ages but found out the hard way that goblins (and squigs) don’t have souls to be captured. Giznit’s magic wotzit swung through the dark robe and dispersed it into a fading mist.
After settling a dispute over who was Bat-goblin, the prevailing Doom Diver clipped his wing on a tree and spun like a boomerang, taking out both remaining Fell Bats in an arcing trajectory. Buoyed by their success in obtaining calcium, the trolls continued forward into the main unit but stopped after one skeleton each to pick their teeth.
The ghostly host, revenants of Phineas’ former classmates who he brought back over and over to prolong his revenge, moaned and wailed towards the Night Goblins, whose flailing Fanatics failed to impact the ghostly figures.
Turn 3:
Sneering at the simpletons who spun and sputtered, Phineas commanded a troop of Zombies to shuffle on top of a Fanatic, only needing nine of their rotting bodies to bog up the chain.
Chuckling, he opened the Cursed Book, flipping to the page for Doom and Darkness. The already-dim Trolls felt their vision and thoughts become even dimmer, fleeing in disarray as one of their number received a slice from the sword of a Skeleton.
As Giznit boinged around the farmhouse toward the rear of the line, Phineas felt about in the aether for an aura of restless souls. The farmer, it seemed, had been a serial murderer of his neighbours and the fresh earth in the farmstead strewn with their skeletons. A dozen rose to block the Squig’s path and held fast against Giznit’s prods.
Further failure followed from the other Fanatics as they fell short of their mark.
Turn 4:
The Trolls continued legging it to the safety of their cave – their hide might be stone but their hearts and brains were mush.
The Spirit Host of Former Alumni failed to frighten the goblinoid foe, who frankly didn’t understand. Their haunting unsuccessful, they faded back into limbo.
The remaining Fanatics took on the form of a savage Southern Wastes Devil and tornadoed through a copse of trees before being crushed by the trunks.
Owing to the success of the earlier tactic, the Doom Divers were now pretending as skeletons instead of bats. This faired poorly for aerodynamics, although they did end up being realistically dead.
Turn 5:
Muttering curses, Phineas turned to another page in the Cursed Book – unleashing the Curse of the Midnight Wind on the Night Goblin horde. Bolstered by this success, he turned the Baleful Gaze of Nagash onto the fleeing Trolls, dissolving one’s flesh and reclaiming the looted calcium. The others found this perplexing enough that they needed all of their silicon brain cells to concentrate and forgot that they were fleeing – however instead of fighting, they were paralysed by their Stupidity and took no further part in the battle.
Turn 6:
In a fluster, Phineas flung himself into the fray. All but one of the Skeletons had their bones cracked by the clubs of the greenskins.
It looked as though the curtains might be closing on this quest before it had barely begun but with moments to spare before daybreak, the Night Goblins got the creeping willies and fled from the Zombie masses. Giznit flailed at the Corpse Cart but couldn’t quite get the hang of how to kill it.
Both adventurers survived the clash and the dead will rise again.
From the diary of Phineas Storch (prodigal genius) – 2nd day of Nachgeheim
Fie! The foul fungoids fell upon my forces from out of the fir forest. Were it not for the former farmer’s fancies we would have faced failure! For now they have fallen back but I fear further forays against me. And the greatest gall: my ghostly guide is gone at the hands of the Great Goblin. Perhaps my dreams will return…
The conclusion was a minor victory for the Night Goblins as neither side managed to break through the line.
My foe earned a Relic (think of these like Stars in Mario Party – a way of keeping an overall score) and rolled a 6 on the Spoils of War chart, earning ‘The Glitter of Gold’ – a free magic item next game worth 20 points.
As the loser, I rolled a 1 on the Ignominious Defeats table for the result: ‘A Sound Beating!’ – I now feared Night Goblins for the next game.
With both Leaders surviving, no wounds or grudges were taken.