The Doom of Gazarkhame

Gorri Slatebreak set his heavy pack down and mopped his sweating brow with a blood-stained gauntlet. Behind him, the rest of the Ironbreakers moved into position, their grim faces crowded with determination. They were close now. Too close to give in to failure. 

They were exhausted, whittled down to a few survivors. The eerie stands of stone trees that sprouted everywhere in the dim caverns of Gazarkhame had taken their toll. Gorri had seen Dwarves turn into prancing, poetry-spouting lunatics, hugging the granite boles of the carvings as they capered. Those who'd managed to keep their brains from melting had been ambushed by Skaven, set upon by orc savages and stalked by lurking horrors from beyond. 

Those who were left were a vicious elite, determined to see their job done. And now they were here, finally, in the very deepest foundations of the hold. He glanced over across the the final cavern, a stony expanse of shadowy, tree-lined rock that could hide any number of foes. The two great foundation pillars stood proud in the centre, both carved with heart-sickening root and leaf emblems that spiralled upwards to the basements of the hold above. At least the stones at the base gave them a bit of cover, even if they'd been carved to look like roots and ferns.

The other engineer team was in position. What was left of their other forces were scattered through the cavern, hurriedly finding ambush positions or setting traps. There wasn't much time. 

Gorri knelt by his pack, adjusting the straps and quickly checking the contents. Fifteen sealed packets of the finest black powder, linked by fuses and primed with blasting caps. It was good to go, he just hoped he had enough time to set the packets into position. If they could destroy even one pillar, Gazarkhame would perish.

They would be too, of course. It was a suicide mission. But they'd all known that before they came. Gazarkhame had to be destroyed at any cost.

"Here they come!" hissed Duthri, grabbing his crossbow pointing out into the darkness. Gorri looked up - sure enough, shadowy forms were flitting from tree to tree in the outer limits of the cavern. "Gods, they're all round us! They're in the trees!"

Gorri narrowed his eyes, ground his teeth and then hefted the pack. Trees. Drong damn them, he'd see them all shattered or die trying. 

"Bring 'em all down!" he yelled, and scrambled into the thicket of stone roots.

The Doom of Gazarkhame is a Warhammer Narrative Battle Scenario for 2 or more players. 

New! 

Exciting! 

Completely Unplaytested!

The Armies

In this scenario, one player must be the attacker, one the defender. Use your pre-declared Woffboot list, unless both players would rather use new lists.

The defender has fought through to the deepest heart of Gazarkhame, taking great losses in the process, and must now hold the foundation pillars long enough to destroy them. To represent this attrition, your units have a mere 75% of their usual troops (round up), and any characters or monsters with multiple wounds will have lost one on a d6 roll of 4+ before the game.

[The attacker doesn't have to be Dwarven - a rival army might well try and sabotage the hold rather than let the Woffboot victors take and loot it, for example. Consult your local fluff monkey for further alternatives!]


The Battlefield

Set up a 4' by 4' table. The defender must place two woods within 6" of the centre, at least 12" apart. These two woods are special terrain, the Foundation Pillars (see below).

The attacker then places up to one terrain piece per 2'x2' area of the board, as long as it's at least 12' away from either Pillar. This should include at least one mysterious stone wood.


Deployment

The defender deploys first. He must select two units to act as engineers. They each deploy inside one of the Pillars. All remaining units are placed anywhere within 6" of a Pillar.

The attacker then deploys his army with all units touching any table edge they wish.


First Turn

The Defender goes first.


Game Length

The battle lasts for a mere four turns.


Victory Conditions

If the defender has troops in both Pillars at the end of their fourth turn, their explosives destroy Gazarkhame and the defenders win a heroic victory.

If the defenders only have troops in one Pillar, Gazarkhame is crippled and still doomed, but not immediately. Tree-based foulness can still leak out, or the attacking hoardes can pilfer the riches of the lost hold before it collapses. This is a close victory for the attackers, as the defenders won't have stopped their plans in time (whatever those plans actually are).

If the attackers hold both Pillars, they win gloriously and outright.


Special Rules

Foundation Pillars

These count as buildings for the purposes of movement, line of sight and combat with the following changes. As they aren't really buildings, but thick carvings of root systems, they're much more open than an actual building. As such, up to ten models can shoot out and, if assaulted, up to fifteen models on each side can fight. Defenders can also always stand and fire, regardless of charge distance.

Neither side can target the Pillars themselves in any way; the defenders won't risk spoiling the charges even if the engineers are driven out, whilst the attackers aren't so stupid as to damage what they seek to preserve. Hopefully. As such, the attacker won't risk firing siege weaponry into a Pillar - decide between you what counts for this before the game begins.

Engineers

The engineer units are setting the charges as well as fighting. They can't voluntarily leave the Pillar they deploy in, and always count as Stubborn. It only takes the presence of a single engineer after turn four to detonate the charges, even if they haven't been in there the whole time. If another friendly units ends up inside a Pillar (retaking it after the first Engineers were driven out, for example), they know what to do and effectively become engineers themselves.

Hissing Fuse

The attacker is determined to keep Gazarkhame for their own purposes, and is hurling everything they've got in a desperate attempt to stop this happening. Because they know they're against a deadly ticking clock, the attackers can always roll an extra dice for charge distances (normally 3, 4 for nippier units).