AoS House Campaign Rules Design.

So, at my house, 4 of us play Warhammer. I've convinced 2 others to get into AoS. So, we're going to run a house campaign.

We've been spit balling ideas for how to make it feel immersive, and so I'm going to post what we've been talking about here, because I'm confident that you guys will have some ideas we totally didn't have.

So, here's the elevator pitch:

Campaign: artifact ascention.

Overview: Each player gets a home territory. This home territory shares a border with a neutral center. Each territory uses realm rules, but the neutral territory in the center does not. Each player chooses one artifact from thier chosen realm, or from thier battle tome. This artifact counts as a 'relic' in any game in which it is used (cannot be destroyed), and can be taken in addition to standard list building requirements. This artifact can be dropped and becomes a relic (counts for VP in any scenario where it can be captured by the enemy.) if it's bearer dies. If one player is able to collect the artifacts from the other players, and survive the journey through the no-man's-land to the realm gate at its center, then to the ritual site in Shyish on the other side, the general in question ascends to local godhood, and general campaign winnery.

Thoughts:
I wanted to have options for mercenaries. I know the ghb just did that, but... I want a system with which each player gains currency in response to lands heald, and the currency could be used to hire ogres (my gutbusters/bcr) or reinforce existing units. But I'm not entirely sure how to make it work.

Also, as for the scoring artifact. It would be up to the general as to whether or not they wish to bring it out of thier stronghold and risk its capture.

Supplies: I should be able to raid the supplies of other players to give them a disadvantage later. How should this work?

Positions of troops:
Should we keep a map? Use actual points? Or keep in nebulous? Idk, anyone have ideas here?

 

Give losers a reward too, it helps considerably

Also, allow for catch-up mechanics. Give losers extra ways of generating money if they're fighting with a weaker army in later matches.

 

Good thoughts. Perhaps, once one is loosing, you can conscript your people into the military!

So, a loosing player can take an extra battleline choice for half the points cost. But the unit must take a -1 either to hit, to wound, or save. To reflect the untrained nature of conscripts.

So, if he more you loose by, then the more conscripts you can have, but eventually you will run out of citizens. So, maybe we have 4000 points of regular people. So over the campaign we can spend up to that many points on half price conscripts.

 

I'd avoid taking handicapped units for the loser. Unless you get to swamp your opponent that won't help much.

Better would probably be to dynamically determine the objectives.

A couple of nice ones:

- Place bounties on units from succesfull players. E.g. get 10 gold for killing one of his heroes regardless of the battle outcome. Representing the fact that to a minor faction fighting a losing war such a minor achievement would be considered a significant victory.
- Assymatrical objectives, with the player who's ahead having a far more difficult objective (e.g. slay the general vs wipe out the entire army, or requiring a massive lead of VP before it counts)
- Allow losing players to team up on a winning player if he gets sufficiently ahead (always fun )

 

About mercenaries:
In the center of the board is an army of ogors. This army will hire out to anyone who can promise them the corpses of the dead on the battlefield.

As this is a campaign where we're all starting new armies to play. (Grey plastic allowed but frowned upon #paintyourshit) so, in order to balance the speed we can all build armies (money and commitment levels) ogor mercenaries can be recruited. If say, a player has 240 points of Idoneth Deepkin (my wife) but we want to play a 500 point game, she could take 260 points of orges.

Butcher's Bill:
Ogres charge for thier services in meat, and so when using ogre mercenaries, total up the number of ogre units in your army, x2 to be your target number for the Butcher's Bill. For each enemy unit slain by the hiring army, score one Feast Point. For each enemy unit slain by a friendly unit with the ogor keyword gain 2 feast points. If at the end of the battle, you have fewer Feast Points than your Butcher's Bill, the ogors are upset, as they did not receive proper payment. The next time you hire ogre units, they are +10% more expensive in points, but can reroll charge rolls of 1, as they are hungry, and some of the most frustrated among them ate each other, thus reducing thier effective numbers for a short time. The cost debuff can stack up to a maximum of 50%. At which point the ogors will attack you themselves, outraged at the amount of meat that they can see you have, why not just give us your people?

(if I had free people, I'd add an element where you could give the people, but an uprising of citizens comes back to slaughter you....)

 

How much are you expecting losing players to depend on the mercenaries? A 50% increase is rather massive if oyu're already behind.

 

It is, though it would require them to fail to meet the butcher's bill 5 times. At 10% each time. Whichould would reduce the number of ogor units, thus lowering the butcher's bill and making it easier to pay. Paying the bill resets the tab completely.

Also, these aren't necessarily to supplement a failing player. Just a player with low points. Or who likes ogors.

There's no reason a player failing hard enough couldn't conscript the ogors living in his realm. And take ogors with a -1 somewhere for half points. But they'd still have a butcher's bill. So, 2 squads of 6 ogor conscripts who failed to pay the bill twice, half the points, then add 20% of the half back on. Butcher's bill of 4. Pretty easy to hit. Deepkin get a kill =1 feast point. Ogors get a kill= 2 feast points.
Easy to hit a 4. I'd think, if you get 2 squads on a discount.

However, that being said, if you have another idea, lay it on me I'm just thinking on a smoke break. Long time before I put it into practice.

 

I was thinking about campaign turns, and what actions can be taken.

The concept in floating here is this: each player would have a list of actions. Each player then locks in an action without telling the other players what the action was. Then we reveal our actions and play out the games needed to describe them. Then based on the outcome, populate a new list of actions.

However, I'm stuck thinking about the list. Each list has to be conditional to the status of the warlord in question, the status of supplies, the location of enemy forces, and so on. So, what I'm wondering, is for each turn should I create a "tree" of options? Or, should the players all get together to decide what actions are possible each turn, then write the list at the end of each set of battles?

If anyone has any ideas about this?...that'd be cool, I need to take my lunch break and think about it here soon so....

 

4 units doesn't seem too bad, but at 500 points you're barely going to be having 5-6 units in an army. Especially if your opponent happens to have an expensive army with a couple of behemoths it can get difficult to kill many units.

Better might be to kill X wounds worth of models. It'l Ensure decimated, but not destroyed, squads will still help pay the bill & it makes expensive armies a bit less of a pain.

I'd stick with generic actions that are available if you've met certain conditions.
e.g.:

- scout (Always available)
- consolidate forces (only available if you have >X supplies)
- Resupply (only available if you have < X supplies)
- Raid (only available if unprotected lands are nearby)

You get the idea.

 

I really like the idea of switching to wounds rather than slain units. You make a good point about behemoths or expensive units being an issue. I'm curious about setting the Butcher's Bill regarding wounds. Because if I have the bill equal to the wounds the ogres have, each footsoldier has to make back 4 wounds. Meaning 1 squad of 12 orges needs to cause 48 wounds to make the butcher's bill if the ratio is 1-1.

I could go the route of a chart:
Orges-1 per model
Frostlord-6 per model
Butcher-3 per model


But, then this needs balancing. Is a unit over costed, or under costed? I'd much prefer a rule that is generic.

Is half the number of wounds too many still? Can 12 ogres do 24 wounds? If it's done on slain models, then 12 ogres can easily slay 12 grots, not so easily 12 liberators all castled up.

 

I played in a Warhammer League that used resource cards once upon a Time.

The various cards gave all kinds of minor bonuses to 2250 point armies.

Maybe something similar could work for this?

The mechanics of the Old campaign went something like:

• Each army could employ the effects of two of its resources during a battle
• Each battle is a contest for a new resource
• The army that wins can either claim the newfound resource or steal one of the two resources the losing army employed

Winner leaves with three; loser leaves with the remaining two.

Resources could be things like Gold Mines.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For this application most resources could generate the food needed to hire the Mercenary Ogres. (Hog Farms? Elk Herds...)

But you could add other resources that did other things into the mix.

Starting all six armies, with six resources each, so that it would take a long series of losses before one of them would be at a serious disadvantage is a thought.

 

What happens if both sides want to supplement with mercenaries and the Ogre collection isn’t big enough to provide sufficient models?

 

I'd count the wounds on the slain models, so 12 grots would count as 6 liberators. There'd still be units that are more difficult to slay, but it shouldn't be too difficult to pay the bills.

As for the cost; I'd say use a chart like the one you mentioned.

Resources like @pendrake mentioned can also be used to keep lower players in the game by including a raiding action in between turns & "rich" players are going to be easier (and more attractive) to raid. This ensures that players who get ahead will get raided more and this'l keep them in check (to a certain degree).

 

Good ideas y'all. I'm going to have to talk your thoughts out with the players, but I like the 'wounds on slain models' idea.

Also, if there are too many requests for ogrors on the shelf, then players roll off for control of that unit. But I have like 2k beastclaw, and 1k gutbusters with a side of firebelly and a standard bearer. So, that's hard to run me out when it can play 1500 points against itself.



Interference from Nagash:
In the center of the neutral realm, there is a realm gate to shyish. And the ritual site to ascend using the three great artifacts is there on a broken plateau of bones. Nagash sends scouting parties of nighthaunts out through the realm gate to discover the pulsing power of the great artifacts he can feel just on the other side of the veil.

If any game is taking place in neutral territory, or has more than one great artifact, Nagash sened his scouts to interfere. On turn 3 before solving endless spells, 1 nighthaunt unit with accompanying hero spawn into the battle anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" away from both sides. The player who would control the first spell places the nighthaunts, they cannot move when placed, but can shoot and charge.

From then on those nighthaunt units operate in the same manner as an endless spell. When selected the unit may move (unless it was placed onto the battlefield this turn), shoot, and charge normally. Solve these actions one after another untill the end of the charge phase.

 

Interference from Nurgle:

The plague father smiles down on this tiny war between fledgling nations on this enclosed isle floating in the void. With its latrine trenches and hospitals placed so deliciously close together in the encampments of the fleshlings. Nurgle's rot can descend upon a force who has remained encamped and fortified for too long. On each battle round, before controlling endless spells each player rolls a d6 and add them together. On a roll of 7+ place a nurgle unit with accompanying hero onto the board 7" or more from either players models.

From then on those Nurgle units operate in the same manner as an endless spell. When selected the unit may move (unless it was placed onto the battlefield this turn), shoot, and charge normally. Solve these actions one after another untill the end of the charge phase.

 

As a general remark for interference from non playable factions:
- Make em spawn either at the start of the game, or randomly. Always in the middle like Nagash does is a bit weird.
- Do they get to use command abilities/spells etc?
- Add in some limitations to prevent players from just moving them back and forth in a corner of the map. The following five seem most important:

- They Always use their full movement
- They need to end their movement closer to a player unit than they started
- They need to close the distance with player units as much as possible (no running in weird zig-zags or some such nonsense, just taking the shortest path to their (current) target)
- They can never retreat out of combat
- They will Always attack/cast spells/whatever if a viable target is in range, if multiple targets are available the controlling player can choose which one he'd rather hit.
​

Also ,you should probably give them their own turn so they can actually cast spells/move/shoot/charge in a sensible manner.

​

 

I do like the restrictions, though they mostly seem like common sense, and as everyone playing is all sensible, we wouldn't have to worry about that. (I assume) but, considering how much sense they make, I'll adopt them. (save one. The controlling player can retreat with the unit, but only if they are retreating from units hostile to the controlling player.)

I didn't want to give them a whole turn, because that will draw out the game considerably. I had wanted to just fast cycle move shoot and charge all at once, then they are solved in the fight phase by the player that controlled them. But this allows them to be a part of the combat interplay, without giving the two players a chance to butcher each other on the enemy turn. (but does allow nighthaunt's 'fight immediately before piling in on a charge roll of 10 or more' to happen once in the endless spell phase.)

I'll admit the "rules" for this are klunky and awkward. But I'm not sure how else to run a "cpu" faction neutral to all parties.

 

I loved @pendrake 's idea of the resource wars. So I'd like to create a list of buffs to be gained from resources. But I'm not sure how powerful to make them.

Blacksmith--choose one unit. That unit gains +1 to hit, to wound, OR to save.

Goldmine -- mercenaries are 20% less expensive. Army battle line are 10% less expensive

Dragon Pits -- Behemoths gain +2 wounds OR +1 damage to one weapon (cannot be the riders weapon)

Fortification -- nominate a piece of terrain, units behind it subtract 1 from the rend value of incoming shooting. OR enemy units charging through this terrain take a -2 to charge rolls, and on a successful charge roll a d6 for each model passing through terrain, for each 6 rolled, that unit suffers a mortal wound.

Wizard tower -- one wizard in your army has studied the tomes in the tower, and may cast and unbind an additional spell, and may attempt to cast arcane bolt a second time.



I need more resource ideas, because I'm going to populate a map by making a chart and rolling to fill it.

If you guys have ideas, or think mine are unbalanced, please suggest changes

 

@Wytchphyre77 I will try to consult the dusty Olde tome of Remembery.

I think there were 36 resources. 16 to 66 (generated by 2 D6s, six groups of six) but you could have fewer or more (I have heard tell there is such things as dice with more than six sides...)

The four you already have duplicated four of the names I remember.

Some more names:
Bridge, Mountain Pass, Silver Mine, Copper Mine, Armory, Well, Brewery, Hogfarm, Elk Herd, Watchtower, Fishery, Spring, Stronghold, Treasure Vault, Stone Circle, Trilithon, Standing Stone, Causeway, Cromlech, River, Harbor, Arcane Library, Magic Sanctum, Cattle Pens, Fire Node, Water Node, Earth Node, Air Node, Life Node, Dragon Lair, Swamp, Scrying Pool.


I don’t necessarily remember what all of them did.


These are new inventions:
Angry Giant, Sigil **Stones, Artillery Tower

Sigil Stone — requires a small terrain piece. It is a flat slab of stone buried flush with the ground. An arcane Sigil carved into the top of this generates the magic needed to power one of the Endless Spells. A spellcaster located off-board controls it for your Army. If the enemy can capture it like an objective, the spell is negated.

**Have one for each Endless Spell model available, perhaps leaving out the super powerful ones.

Angry Giant — just off-board there is a massive (like 200mm tall !!) Giant. Your army has tricked him into thinking your foes woke him up. He will hurl one enormous boulder in their general direction in each of your shooting phases.

Artillery Tower — there is an unassailable Stone Tower (too big to take out by assault or magic) which will lob D3 cannon rounds at your enemies in each of your shooting phases. Mark it’s location by placing a stone wall somewhere on a table edge to represent its outermost footing.

Hogfarm, Cattlepens, Fishery, Elk Herd, Brewery — all of these generate Ogre Chow (varying levels of food points to appease merc Ogres). I would suggest giving each one a different point value or dice roll to determine the amounts of food.

Dragon Lair — your army knows a friendly dragon. It will make three firing passes on three different turns from On High using its breath weapon during the game.