There has been a great deal of attention of late on the Matched Play systems of the General's Handbook. However, that is, of course only one of the three styles of play that it supports, and we decided to start delving into the Narrative Play area. There are lots of ways to approach this style, but the General's Handbook provides a ready-to-go tree campaign in the form of Clash of Wills, so we decided to have a swing at that.
The basic premise of the campaign is that there are two Realmgates relatively close to one another, each controlled by a different force. However, each force covets the other Realmgate and, one day, a fight breaks out.
James opted for a Skaven army, specifically a Verminus/Pestilens cross. I did initially think about also doing Skaven, for a bit of rat-on-rat action, going for a Skryre/Moulder force, then I debated doing Beastmen… but in the end, went with a nice Death-led force. I figured these were the minions of the great Vampire Lord Helmut von Drakenspyre…
We have been doing a lot of fighting in the Realm of Metal, so I figured that with all the disruption going on between the Stormcasts and Tzeentch Arcanites, some of the little guys might take the opportunity to increase their own territory – which seems right for a Skaven vs. Vampire furball!
This should work out well in the campaign, as we are planning to start small at 1,000 points (using Matched Play forces in Narrative Play!), and gradually build up to 2,000 points by the last battle. James will have the entire Skaven horde to pick and choose from, whereas I can supplement my Undead with some interesting dead things.
James will have the Blackblood Weald, a Realmgate in the middle of a black forest that leads to the Realm of Fire, while I will plump for the Rusted Steps, a Realmgate that joins the Realm of Metal to, suitably enough, the Realm of Death.
And that is about all you need to kick this campaign off – choose two forces, pick a Realmgate for each, and dive into the first Battleplan, The Verdigris Plains.
For the full report, and lots of piccies: link
will finish this project in time for the release of the next edition!
