Example of a Campaign Turn

In order to give players and GMs alike a taste of the ebb and flow of the campaign, let us follow the actions of one player, Jim, an Empire player, through a turn of the campaign. Jim currently controls five banners: two Regular Banners, two Skirmish Banners, and one Cavalry Banner. Jim controlled two additional banners at the start of the campaign. One was a Skirmish Banner, and the other was a Cavalry Banner. However, due to heavy casualties after a series of battles and unfortunate Random Events, these banners lost a lot of troops. Jim decided to incorporate these depleted banners into other forces under his control. Note that, to preserve the sense of mystery of the Estragon’s Island campaign, the following descriptions may include Points of Interest and other landmarks and enemies that play no part the actual campaign. However, these false areas and enemies will give players and GMs the general idea of how the campaign functions. We join Jim at the start of Turn 8.

To start the turn, Jim submitted orders to the GM via e-mail a day before the due date. Jim’s gaming club plays 1 Campaign Turn a week, and orders are due every Monday at 2 p.m. Jim’s Orders were as follows.

  • Regular Banner 1 moves south its full movement distance.
  • Regular Banner 2 will move into the mountains to the north and will move its full distance.
  • Skirmish Banner 3 will continue to follow the river north and will move its full distance.
  • Skirmish Banner 4 will move southeast toward the red monolith we spotted from Virgil’s Peak and explore the area.
  • Cavalry Banner 5 will continue to pursue the Dwarf Banner and, if possible, bring it to battle.

Soon after the deadline for submitting orders, the GM contacts Jim and gives him the following information.

  • Regular Banner 1 moves only a fraction of an inch and experiences a landslide. The banner loses 35 points of troops in the accident and can move no further this turn as the troops regroup. The banner’s scouts report no enemy banners and no Points of Interest. Please deduct at least 35 points worth of troops from the banner and send me an updated army list for the banner.
  • Regular Banner 2 moves into the mountains, and its scouts report a High Elven force of indeterminate size heading south toward your banner’s position. Do you choose to Parley?
  • Skirmish Banner 3 follows the river north through an area of particularly dense jungle terrain. The scouts report nothing of interest save for a wide variety of exotic animals.
  • Skirmish Banner 4 moves into the area of the red monolith, but apparently, your scouts missed the fact that a herd of Beastmen approximately 1,500 points strong are worshipping at this apparent altar of Khorne. Do you choose to Parley?
  • Cavalry Banner 5 has caught the Dwarf banner which was heading east toward the shore. Your scouts tell you that the force is approximately 750 points strong and that it has baggage. Do you choose to Parley?

Jim then must make decisions based on whether or not he will Parley with the banners and what he will say. He decides to Parley with High Elves, but not with the Beastmen or the Dwarfs. Joe, the High Elf player, and Jim live on opposite sides of town and decide to conduct their Parley via telephone. Joe, unbeknownst to Jim, decides to give his opponent some misinformation and tells him there is nothing of interest in the mountains (in fact, Joe found an abandoned Dwarfen mine there). Jim has no useful information to give Joe but thanks him for the tip. Later, both will inform the GM of their Parley Reactions. Both decide to Pass, and thus, no battle is fought.

Though Jim decided not to Parley with the Beastmen, he must still make a Parley Reaction. As the 1,500-point Beastman banner is much larger than Jim’s tiny Skirmish Banner, Jim decides to Retreat. The GM later informs Jim that his retreat was successful but that the Beastmen did try to bring him to battle.

Jim has been trying desperately to bring the Dwarfen banner to battle for several turns now. He suspects that the Dwarfs have one of the Items of Power in their baggage and wants his larger Cavalry Banner to take it from them. As Jim’s actions have all but made these intentions plain, he decided not to Parley with the Dwarfs and informs the GM that his Parley Reaction will be to Attack. The GM tells Jim that he has successfully brought the Dwarf banner to battle and gives Jim and Ken, the Dwarf player, the scenario to be played. The two will deploy in a heavily wooded area per the Meeting Engagement scenario in the Warhammer rulebook (a deployment method that makes sense given the pursuit of the last turn). Since the goal of both banners is the Item of Power in the baggage, the GM makes it the objective for the scenario. Whoever ends the game with the Item of Power wins. Jim and Ken schedule a time to play the game.

Jim’s Cavalry Banner outnumbers the Dwarfen banner and, by weight of numbers, manages to win the game as well as the Cursed Chest. Jim must roll for recovery. One of his character models fell in battle, as did several members of three of his cavalry units. His character develops a Nervous Condition and thus will have –1 Initiative for the remainder of the campaign. In total, Jim loses eight horsemen of the Knightly Orders. He reports these losses to the GM and asks whether he can consolidate a unit of four Knights with a unit of three Knights to make a single unit of seven Knights. The GM approves the reorganization and makes note of the changes to Jim’s Cavalry Banner. Ken makes similar rolls for his Dwarfen banner and also reports his results to the GM.

In the next phase of the Campaign Turn, Jim’s banners complete their movement and scouting. The Cavalry Banner can move no further this turn because it fought a battle. Jim realizes that the Dwarf banner that he just defeated will have to retreat 1/4" and makes a note of the Dwarfs’ likely position on the map. This information might prove useful later. Jim tells the GM that he intends not to change any of his banners’ orders as a result of the information he learned this turn, but he could have done so had he wished to. As the rest of Jim’s banners complete their moves, the GM informs Jim that the scouts of Banner 2 have discovered what looks to be the entrance to an old Dwarfen mine. Did the High Elves lie to him, or did they miss this key Point of Interest? Jim will have to wonder about that for the time being.

Next turn, Jim intends to send his banner to explore the Dwarfen mine and to send his Cavalry Banner with the Cursed Chest as far away from the defeated Dwarfen banners as possible. Jim ends the turn with a vow not to trust the treacherous High Elves in the future.

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