THE LAIR OF SNYDER GELDWYCK (an Undead scenario)

According to legend, Snyder Geldwyck once strode at the fore of the most horrific legions of Undead, favoured as one of the dreaded Nine Dark Lords of Nagash. In Geldwyck’s day the mere mention of his name caused kings to wet themselves and put entire armies to route. Such was Snyder’s command of Necromancy that his power soon began to rival that of Nagash himself! With the defeat of his master, though, Geldwyck was eventually hunted down by his enemies and burned at the stake!

In recent times rumours have surfaced that the Dark Lord Geldwyck has somehow returned, roaming about the Old World shrouded with death and bristling with unholy power. In truth, however, Geldwyck is little more than a broken, feeble thing. His incorporeal form waxes and wanes by the fickle light of the moons, and he barely can manifest the simplest of spells. From the darkest chamber of his decrepit lair, Geldwyck has at last attained enough strength to summon minions from the aether to aid him.

Using these Undead servants to stalk the lands in search of ancient and evil artifacts, word has reached other creatures of the night of a vast collection of unholy and potent relics within Geldwyck’s ruined tower. Thus, drawing much unwanted attention to the lair of Snyder Geldwyck…

THE ARMIES
Each player chooses his force using an army list from either Warhammer: Vampire Counts or Warhammer: Tomb Kings, to an equal points value agreed before the game. Although this scenario may be played with only 2 players, it is designed as a multi-player game – best played with 4-6 players.

THE BATTLEFIELD
The Lair of Snyder Geldwyck is a 3-story building (the Citadel Watchtower or Deathknell Watch is perfect for this) that must be set up in the center of the table. Then set up any remaining terrain using the method described on page 142 of the Warhammer rulebook.

After all terrain is placed, players take turns placing 4 Unholy Artifact tokens (small coins will suffice). Each Unholy Artifact must be placed at least 8” apart from another Unholy Artifact token and each token must be placed within 16” of the Lair of Snyder Geldwyck. Alternatively, if the table being played on is exceptionally long and involves 5 or more players, Unholy Artifact tokens should be spaced out along the centerline of the table, at least 8” apart. This will allow armies deployed further from the tower to have an equal opportunity of obtaining artifacts.

DEPLOYMENT
Divide the table into deployment zones for the appropriate number of players. Units must deploy at least 18” from enemy units. No units may deploy with 16” of the Lair of Snyder Geldwyck.

FIRST TURN
Roll off after deployment to see which player receives the first turn. At the start of each new turn, players roll off again to see who goes first for that turn. Play always proceeds ‘clockwise’ from the player who went first.

GAME LENGTH
At the end of the sixth game turn (and every game turn thereafter, if any) roll a D6. On the result of a 4+ play another turn. On the result of a 1, 2 or 3 the game ends.

VICTORY CONDITIONS
The army that controls the most Unholy Artifacts at the end of the game is the winner. If two or more players have an equal and highest amount of Unholy Artifacts at the end of the game, determine the winner among these players using victory points, as described on page 143 of the Warhammer rulebook. The player that controls the Lair of Snyder Geldwyck (by occupying the building with one of his units) earns a bonus of +300 victory points.

SCENARIO SPECIAL RULES
Turn Sequence
The Lair of Snyder Geldwyck has been designed as a multi-player game. The turn sequence is altered for this purpose as described on page 407 of the Warhammer rulebook.

Alternatively, the scenario may be played in conjunction with the Warhammer: Triumph & Treachery supplement.

The Lair of Snyder Geldwyck
The Lair of Snyder Geldwyck is a 3-story building. A single unit of 20 Skeleton Warriors equipped with hand weapons, light armour and shields garrison Geldwyck’s lair. This unit will never leave the tower for any reason. All players involved in the game treat this unit as an enemy unit and may attack the unit as normal (i.e. shoot at the unit, charge the unit, etc). Note that although Snyder Geldwyck lurks within the tower, he is not represented by a tangible model, and so does not, on his own, count as occupying the building for game purposes, nor may he be targeted in any manner during the game.

At the start of each magic phase, after the Winds of Magic dice have been rolled but before any player can cast a spell, a D6 must be rolled.

On the roll of a 1-5, Geldwyck casts Invocation of Nehek on the Skeleton Warrior garrison with an automatic casting result of 21. If the spell is successful (i.e. not dispelled) the unit gains 2D6 Wounds as described in the spell, but ignoring the Lore Attribute. If the tower is unoccupied, Geldwyck will cast the Raise Dead spell instead, summoning 2D6+3 Skeletons Warriors (armed as above) within the building with an automatic casting result of 25, ignoring the Lore Attribute. Note that Geldwyck counts as having the Master of the Dead special rule.

On the roll of a 6, Geldwyck casts The Army of Doom Keep (see page 43 of Warhammer: Storm of Magic) with an automatic casting result of 25, but ignoring the Lore Attribute. If the spell is successful (i.e. not dispelled) the created unit replaces the Skeleton Warrior garrison in the tower, which is immediately destroyed. The Wight King and Grave Guard are equipped with great weapons and heavy armour. This unit will never leave the tower for any reason. In following turns, as long as at least one model from this unit still occupies the tower, Geldwyck will cast Invocation of Nehek as described above on the Grave Guard/Wight King.

If a player unit occupies the building do not roll a D6. Instead, Geldwyck will cast the Curse of Years spell with an automatic casting result of 21 (ignoring the Lore Attribute) upon the unit occupying the building. Geldwyck will cast no spells if his Curse of Years spell remains in play at the start of the Magic Phase.

The first player unit to enter the tower gains D3 Unholy Artifacts. The first of these magic items will always be Snyder’s Witch-Shriek Cloak (see below), roll on the Unholy Artifacts table for any additional magic items generated.

Unholy Artifacts
The assemble armies are not the first interlopers to attempt to cheat Geldwyck of his collection of potent artifacts, though few have come pillaging and escaped alive…

As a result, several Unholy Artifacts have been scattered around the grounds of Geldwyck’s lair. Only characters and unit champions may pick up and hold Unholy Artifacts. When a character, or unit that includes a character/champion, moves into contact with an Unholy Artifact token they may pick it up at the end of their Movement Phase, as long as the unit is not engaged in close combat or fleeing. The character/champion model in the unit is assumed to automatically take possession of the item, if there is more than one character/champion in the unit, the controlling player my choose which character/champion will hold the item and must announce this to his opponent(s). At the beginning of their own turn, a character/champion with an Unholy Artifact may pass the artifact to any friendly character/champion within 3”. Units that are not characters or that do not include at least one character/champion will count Unholy Artifact tokens as impassable terrain.

When a unit picks up an Unholy Artifact token, roll a D6 and consult the Unholy Artifacts table below. The result gives a magic item, which may be used by a character/champion in the unit.

Characters, or units that include characters/champions, can seize Unholy Artifacts from enemy units by slaying the actual character/champion who holds the artifact in close combat, or causing the unit to flee from close combat. When an enemy is slain (or flees) in this way, a character/champion in the unit that was responsible for causing the final wound (or causing the unit to flee) automatically takes possession of the artifact as described earlier. If a unit slays a character/champion holding an artifact in combat and has no character/champion in their own unit to seize the artifact, the item is considered lost and may no longer be held by any model for the rest of the game.

If a model carrying an Unholy Artifact is destroyed from other than close combat (i.e. shooting, magic, etc) then the Unholy Artifact token is placed 1” from where the, center, front edge of the character’s base is before removing the model. If there is not enough room for the token to be placed, place the token as close as possible to the location described above. If a new unit picks of this token, do not roll on the Unholy Artifacts table again, it remains the same magic item as was originally rolled.

UNHOLY ARTIFACTS TABLE
All items are unique and so duplicate results must be rerolled. Note that character models and unit champions may carry and use these items even if they already carry a magic item of the same type. If a model has two magic weapons, they may choose which to use at the start of each combat phase. There is no limit to the number of Unholy Artifacts a model may possess.

1 *The Carstein Ring (see page 54 of Warhammer: Vampire Counts)

2 Diadem of Arkhan (see below)

3 Chaos Runesword (see below)

4 Vambraces of the Red Duke (see below)

5 The Blood Fangs of Vorag (see below)

6 Walach’s Battle Armour (see below)

*If Vlad von Carstein is present on the battlefield and the Carstein Ring result is rolled on the Unholy Artifacts table, this newly discovered ring will only be a mere imitation of the real Carstein Ring worn by Vlad. As a result, the ring only grants its bearer a 4+ ward save.


SNYDER’S WITCH-SHRIEK CLOAK
Bound with the flayed essence of a Tomb Banshee, the Witch-Shriek Cloak shrouds its wearer with the ghastly wails of the damned.

Enchanted Item. The wearer of the cloak gains the Ethereal and Magic Resistant (3) special rules.

Additionally, the wearer gains the Ghostly Howl special rule as described on page 31 of Warhammer: Vampire Counts.

DIADEM OF ARKHAN
Forged before his first death at the hands of the Priest-Kings of ancient Nehekhara, Arkhan’s iron crown possesses, seemingly, unlimited magical power and it is whispered that Arkhan still searches for his diadem to this very day!

Arcane Item. Each magic phase the wearer of the diadem may call upon the power of the crown by adding D3+1 dice to his magic pool. The bearer may choose these dice to be either Power dice or Dispel dice, though only he may use them.

If a natural 1 is rolled on the dice, then no dice may be generated. The curse imbued within Arkhan’s diadem instead causes D3 wounds upon the wearer with no save of any kind allowed! If Arkhan the Black himself has possession of the diadem, he never suffers wounds as a result of rolling a natural 1, though he will still not generated any extra dice.

CHAOS RUNESWORD
Forged by the Chaos Dwarf Daemonsmith, Grungni Ironheart, the blade belonged to various Chaos Lords of the North for centuries, before falling into the hands of the dread Necromancer, Dieter Helsnicht.

Magic Weapon. The bearer of the blade gains +1 WS, +1 Strength and +1 Attack.

VAMBRACES OF THE RED DUKE
Ensorcelled by the infamous Red Duke himself, the vambraces blaze with potent dark magic that can deflect enchanted blades and empower their wearer to extraordinary feats of martial prowess.

Enchanted Item. The vambraces provide the wearer with a +1 armour save bonus and a parry save of 5+. The wearer also has the Heroic Killing Blow special rule.

THE BLOOD FANGS OF VORAG
These six-inch fangs were plucked from the skull of the first Ghoul King, Vorag Bloodytooth, and coated in an alloy of raw Warpstone and the ichor of an undead Jabberslythe. Those that bear the fangs for too long gain the vampiric-like traits of a Strigoi.

Enchanted Item. The bearer of the Blood Fangs gains the Regeneration special rule and also the following Vampiric Powers: Curse of the Revenant, Flying Horror and Supernatural Horror.

WALACH’S BATTLE ARMOUR
This suit of blood-red plate armour is engraved with a myriad of unholy runes and evil symbols, said to have once belonged to Walach Harkon, Grand Master of the Order of the Blood Dragon and Lord of Blood Keep.

Magic Armour. The armour provides the wearer with a 1+ armour save and a 2+ ward save against Flaming Attacks. Additionally, the wearer is immune to the Killing Blow (and Heroic Killing Blow) special rule.

A Vampire wearing the armour will recover wounds on the roll of a 5 or 6, when rolling for The Hunger special rule.


Designer’s Notes
To win this scenario, you must play extremely aggressive and get your characters stuck in the thick of the action! Those use to lurking in reserve and staying far from danger will fail in this scenario. Arm your Vampires and Mummies for brutal combat and send them in to collect artifact tokens and take Geldwyck’s lair!

Download a PDF of the scenario here: THE LAIR OF SNYDER GELDWYCK.pdf (124.84 KB)