Highlights from dark tidings campaign

Love the old 4th ed Wyvern. That still has pride of place in my collection

This looks a ton of fun, so jealous you guys are close enough to get together for a campaign, much less so many of you. Was super sad when I had to move and prematurely end the campaign I was doing with two of my friends.

This is all legend but upon the completion of the end times and the loss of official GW support for 8th edition our group made a pact to each other. The 8 of us were already involved in this campaign that had been ongoing since 2011. Most of us felt this campaign was the coolest gaming event we had ever been involved with. We read the AoS rules and KoW rules and knew that those games were not a replacement for WFB for us. We had a good thing going so all agreed we would keep it going regardless of official GW support. We also decided to try and help others keep it going and that is how this forum was born. EEFL! Long live 8th edition!

Dark Tidings Warhammer Campaign
Narrative from the Perspective of the
Dwarven Grudge Erasers Clan
By
dannytee

Campaign Year 4 – Spring (Played November 2018)

In early spring the chaos forces controlled by Archaeon continued to press into dwarven lands. Rodin had long ago grown weary of this but the dwarven armies were somewhat depleted and the goblin threat was more pressing. However, over the winter the dwarven armies were well rested and many new recruits joined the dwarven forces. Rodin himself decided to lead his banner against the chaos forces with the intention to eventually push Archaeon’s forces back to Crom’s Keep (the southern most castle separating the chaos controlled lands from dwarven lands). As Archaeon and his band of chaos warriors passed through a mountainous region south of The Sea Fortress of Barak Varr Rodin moved his banner to intercept the chaos path and a massive battle followed. The dwarves were in for a surprise and would find themselves outnumbered as it was not only mortals who fought for Archaeon but a new contingent of daemons had joined the chaos warriors over the winter months. However, the dwarves knew this territory best and had taken up a key defensive position. The dwarven warmachines were stationed on high ground with all of the dwarven combat units forming up around to protect the warmachines.

The daemon faction was led by the massive and disgusting monstrosity known as Ku'gath Plaguefather. The dwarves knew this diseased bloat could not be allowed to reach the dwarven lines. From the beginning of the battle Ku’gath was the target of many cannon and stone thrower shots but time and again his massive frame would continue toward the dwarven line. Finally a shot rang true from the dwarf cannon Old Faithful and Ku’gath’s form slumped low and would not move again. A great cheer was let out by the dwarf lines. The rocky terrain aided the dwarves in that the forces of chaos advance was greatly slowed which bought the dwarf artillery more time to dwindle down the forces of chaos. One after another foul daemons and northmen were blasted apart with cannon fire and stone thrower shots. Eventually the forces of chaos crashed into the dwarven lines but the dwarves were fresh and at full strength and the chaos forces were not. The dwarves made short work of their enemy this day. The forces of chaos were massacred. The body of Ku’gath was burnt in a massive fire lasting for three days to ensure this physical form would not return to fight another day (Ku’gath rolled poorly on the character recovery table and is permanently dead).

Simultaneously in early spring a massive goblin force was amassing at Grom’s Paunch (the goblin controlled moot) deep in the heart of the lands of man and dwarf. For years the armies of man and dwarf had been badly outnumbered by Grom’s forces so the fact that an even larger goblin force was amassing was of great concern to Rodin and Arno. Over the winter months Loki Magik-Dimmer took control as general of the minor dwarf banner as Erik Wildstrider having taken the slayer oath was no longer fit to command a force of dwarves. Loki in a hopeless but tactically considered move was ordered to lay siege to Grom’s Paunch. Holding the goblin forces in place would buy time for the alliance of man and dwarf. Unknown to Grom the empire had struck a deal with the ogres, paying the mercenaries richly to launch an all-out assault on Grom’s Paunch. However the Ogre forces needed time to march their forces across the lands. Further the dwarves hoped to gain some information as to the true size of the goblin forces. The siege progressed as expected with the dwarves having no chance at victory but victory was not the goal. In general Loki held his forces back and in reserve to minimize the chance of taking casualties. After a time the dwarf forces withdrew from the field.

After Loki’s delaying assault on Grom’s Paunch the dwarf banner was forced to withdraw to dwarf held lands to the southeast of Grom’s Paunch. Grom in retaliation promptly dispatched his forces from Grom’s Paunch and order an attack on Loki’s banner. The dwarves found themselves again severely outnumbered and not wanting to fully engage the enemy. Loki ordered his forces to take up defensive positions with the intent of a tactical withdrawal. The goblin forces advanced slowly due to some squabbling within the goblin ranks. This bought the dwarf cannon Barak Varr’s Retribution some time to blast away at the enemy. However the goblin numbers were simply too great for a few casualties to make a difference. Two deranged mangler squigs found themselves tearing through the ranks of The Iron Hammer (a unit of dwarf hammerers) which caused a great number of casualties before the dwarfs could kill the foul beasts. In the end the battle ended as expected with the dwarves withdrawing from the field and no significant casualties were suffered on either side.

King Rodin continued to press on the eastern front of the dwarf empire with the goal of driving the forces of chaos back. This time Rodin ordered an attack on a different chaos banner holding lands which rightful belong to the Grudge Erasers Clan. To the surprise of the dwarves this chaos army was composed totally of foul daemons. However, what dark deal Archaeon had struck was not Rodin’s main concern but rather pushing the enemy back out of dwarf lands. The dwarves had the upper hand as they had their enemy well outnumbered. The daemons were hungry for blood and rushed across the battle field at full speed in a reckless manner considering their lack of numbers. The dwarven artillery made short work of a massive daemonic construction part machine and part flesh (Soul Grinder) the likes of which had never before been seen by any members of the Grudge Erasers Clan. The battle ended almost as quickly as the daemons could rush across the field of battle. Daemons hungry for dwarf flesh found themselves annihilated by dwarven axe and hammer. The daemons crashed against a solid dwarf line and many found themselves instantly banished back to the dark realm from which they came. With this victory the chaos forces had successfully been repealed back to Crom’s Keep, a good start to a new year of war campaigning. Rodin was pleased with this, for now…

I'm in the bottom right, in the shadows