Fah-Ruhk Bullzharra’s Path to Glory (AoS campaign thread)


“The daemon is a resource you must learn to harness.

The daemon is a fuel you must learn to spend.

The daemon is a weapon you must learn to wield.

Ask not what you can do for the daemon. Ask only what the daemon can do for you.”

Thus spoke Xarathustra.

For time immemorial we have used daemonkin in this way. A resource. A thing plucked from the void, and burnt in our engines of war. But I, Fah-Ruhk Bullzharra, shall be the first to rise above all of those prophets who came before me.

Too long have I used the primitive tools that the daemon provides us. I seek true power. The

Kind of power that only derives from a god…

The tentacles of the underworld know our desires. In their hubris, they draw us in. We must cross the borders of life and death and enslave the one who invites us.

As some of you know I have recently been creating base converters to use my warhammer fantasy chaos dwarf army, the Dwerrow Zharr, in games of AoS. This has been because I have got involved in a “path to glory” campaign. This is an interesting system where armies grow and gain glory, generals build fortresses and heroes die inglorious deaths.

A rather boring explanation of how I reconcile my fantasy army going off to fight in the mortal realms is explained in full here:

Summary

I’m a sucker for keeping my lore in continuity so I have decided not to make my Chaos Dwarf Lord the focus of this campaign, rather one of his lieutenants, a scheming sorcerer named Fah-Ruhk Bullzharra. He is crossing the boundaries of life, death and reality in a crazed attempt to find and capture a minor chaos god so that he can enslave it within a machine. Little does he know that this god, a god of death, has lured him here.

The “going through a portal somewhere in the chaos wastes to fight magical beings and monsters” angle helps my brain reconcile the fact that my WHFB army will be played in a much more high fantasy way and against much more high fantasy enemies. It puts them in a place where anything goes, but allows them to return when I see fit!

This Path to Glory follows a chaos dwarf sorcerer, Bullzharra, whose ambitions outweigh his ability, on a mad and no doubt I’ll fated expedition to a magical realm of death where he hopes to find and enslave a mysterious god being within one of his demented machines.

The armies start at 800pts and can grow as ones fortress is developed and glory points are gained and spent.

Here is my starting force:

We have an Iron Daemom, some gunners and warriors, a death shrieker and Fah-Ruhk himself.

Our starting stronghold is built upon a starting territory, a “forgotten mine”. This allows us to take one more war machine than normal. Later on we can gain additional territory for further bonuses.
Our Stronghold, New Xarathustria, allows us to have 3 territories, 3 barracks and a single outpost. If I want to improve this later I must spend glory to expand the fortress.

I will use this thread to record victories and losses , my evolving narrative in this campaign, as well as my thoughts and feelings about the system as I learn it.

My first game is tomorrow, against the Daughter’s of Khaine. Wish me luck!

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Battle One

Introduction:
From beneath the waters of Lethis slithered a loathesome creature. Part elf-hag, part serpent. She was known as the First Medusa, a great gorgon born in the service of Morathi millennia ago. Alongside her came her cadre of followers. Cruel elves, similarly serpentine beings and a host of wicked creatures that flew in the air, held aloft by the wings of bats…

Bullzhara had arrived in this new land some months before. He had finished erecting a simple, yet imposing monument, and had begun enacting his ritual to capture the attention of the tentacled one who called him here. Arranging the crystals just so upon the altar, he carefully inserted the gravesand within through magical means. It was perfect. The ceremony could begin.

Battle Report:

It was then that the horns of war echoed across the blasted plain and the daughters of Khaine descended upon the Dawi Zharr. The ritual would have to wait. He would have to defend the site.

It was a hard fought battle. The dwarfs were ordered to hold the line and protect the cannon that they had dragged through the portal with them. Such things are not easy to replace. However, a daemon engine, filled with bloodlust refused to obey and stomped towards the enemy on great robotic legs.

Cannons wailed and blunderbusses fired, but the daughters of Khaine moved with rapid speed. Through magical means, many of the fallen were healed and fought on again.

The chaos construct met the enemy, a group of nimble elves armed with daggers that deftly dodged his every strike, but were able to climb upon him and sever the pipes that fed steam from the engine to the weapons and limbs. With a demonic hiss, the spirit within the being escaped and it fell to the ground, bereft of life.

The Medusa, upon a great wheeled machine, hurtled into the line of dwarfs, who opened fire as she crashed into their lines. A lucky shot knocked her from her pedestal and removed her from the battle but the chariot careered onwards crashing into the lines of the Dawi Zharr, crushing some below its wheels.

They had no time to celebrate as no sooner had their leader fallen, the slithering servants of Morathi were upon them, armed with cruel spears and worked into a frenzy by the words of a wicked elven priestess behind them. The priestess, known only as “Doris”, locked eyes with Bullzhara as he hastily rushed between maintaining the cannon and continuing his ritual.

Then from behind, descending from the skies came the winged beings that crashed into the rear of the Dawi Zharr lines. They were surrounded.

The fighting was vicious. Neither side gave any quarter. Slowly but surely dwarf killed elf and elf killed dwarf until the ground was slick with blood.

All that still drew breath by the altar were Doris and Bullzharra . She smiled a cruel smile and whirled towards him like a tornado of blades. She was a greater martial artist than any the sorcerer had faced before. His armour bore the brunt of most of her attacks, and he defended himself as best he could with his staff but this was a battle that he would not win.
image

That was when a “click” was heard. The cannon crew, the last of Bullzharra’s troops still alive, had reconfigured the great rocket launcher to turn, lower, and face the priestess. Her eyes widened as she realised what was about to happen. Before she could act, in an explosion of demonic energy she was catapulted sky high.

Bullzharra collapsed to his knees. The ritual had been completed. Would he ever receive an answer? Was it worth the cost in Dawi life? He smiled behind his face mask. It was worth every last drop blood his men had spent.

Result:

Chaos dwarf major victory (on VPs)
Injuries : Daemon Engine damaged (-2 wounds next game.) Both units of gunners now -1 warrior.
Level Ups: Death shrieker rocket launcher (game winning roll at the end to be fair!) gains special rule. Can, once per game, add 1 to hit rolls when firing.

Thoughts on AoS (this is a long long incoherent ramble)

Summary

The game is good. Really good. I think comparing it to warhammer fantasy battles is like comparing Rugby to Football. Both are completely different games with dedicated followings and some fans of one will never be fans of the other. However it doesn’t make one “good” and one “bad”.

AoS feels like a skirmish game. I play a lot of Warlords of Erewhon and it feels more like that game than it does WHFB. The difference is that compared to WoE this is a much more high fantasy game with special abilities and magic spells galore whereas WoE is a much more low fantasy game.

If I wanted to tell a story of 100s and 100s of soldiers clashing like a great battle of antiquity, then WHFB does a better job of it. The individual is only marginally important. The big movements of troops and flanks and stuff like that is king. If I wanted to tell a more character driven story, id use WoE or AoS. WoE is perfect for a gritty, realistic, dudes scrabbling and stabbing in the mud kinda game and this is perfect for a Superheroes and mages using weird and wonderful powers to clash kinda story. The individual matters here. Very rarely in WHFB has a single dwarf done much for me but in this game today, one of them scored an objective on his own and beat up a multi wound unit leader with the butt of his blunderbuss.

My criticisms of AoS are well documented (see podcast haha) but I think it’s safe to say that perhaps some of my views were based upon assumptions or what I’d read on the Internet and were maybe exaggerations of the truth. (The exaggerations go both ways. Ever heard someone say 2nd 40k: when one turn takes two hours…it definitely doesn’t. Or WHFB 8th Ed: you can’t even play unless you’ve got at least 400 models. Absolutely untrue.)

My criticism of nosenibbling boneberks stands. Those things are stupid.

I think the heartache of losing the old world to a new game meant many people start with a “AoS is bad, prove me otherwise” mindset. And I get it. The Company fucked it bad 6 years ago and we (and they) know it. But AoS has grown up. It’s a really tactical game. The command and heroic actions are amazing. You get to do a lot on your opponents turn. And the double turn thing wasn’t as horrific as I thought it would be.

I think now that WHFB is coming back I can also be much more forgiving of AoS existence. It’s now not the game that replaced the other game. It’s now just another game, a third game alongside 40k and Fantasy that can be enjoyed for what it is.

My final comment is this: Living games are hard for me to be invested in. Codex creep and new release=filth is always gonna be a thing. Pick up games against socially maladjusted overly competitive nerds is gonna be a thing. But in a narrative campaign that limits what you can take and encourages players to avoid named characters and stuff. Telling a good story is coming first and this Path to Glory system seems to be a good vehicle for doing it.

And at the end of the day. It’s not always about WHAT you play. It’s about WHO you play with, and HOW you play it that can make any system amazing or unbearable to play .

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This is already my favourite thread in this site, great way to do a battle report very very enjoyable (even more so than some videos I’ve seen :grin:)

I think your spot on the your final words too, it’s a very different game to play and ultimately, as with most things, how much enjoy it completely depends what you want to get out of it.

Inspiring stuff

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Thank you for the battle report! Seems like a cool system, i like the idea of army progression.
Also well written, White Dwarf quality easily!

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Great read, this will be one of the threads in 2022 I think. Thanks for this!

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Hah! Like I can stay focussed on one thing for more than a month haha

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I’m counting on the other people in this campaign to keep the focus up :wink:

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Battle Two

Introduction

There was a time when life had been abundant in the forest. Even in Shyish, the living had coexisted peacefully with the souls of those who had passed. But in the aftermath of the Necroquake, the temples here fell into ruins, the forests became petrified mockeries of life and the air grew thick with a strange purple mist. The only one who still dwelt here was an old scholar, keeping the memories of the inhabitants of the old temple complex alive. But he too soon turned to dust, his soul claimed by Nagash. Now that all remained was his tower, with powerful lore and grimoires within. Perhaps Bullzharra could find an answer to his question. How would he summon and bind the great tentacles of his dreams?

Battle Report

Fah-Ruhk Bullzharra spat on the ground. Greenskins. A few trolls too. The savages had got here first. He watched them milling about and talking from afar. Did they know what it was they were defending? Most likely not. The tower seemed like a strong fortified position and nothing else to the mind of those without second sight. Fah-Ruhk knew what was held within. He outnumbered the brutes and knew, with little effort, he could blast them away with gunfire and claim the prize for himself.

The great guns of the Dawi Zharr sent forth cannonballs, lead musketballs and blasts of demonic energy. Many greenskins were cut down. The trolls, reacting out of pure instinct, came hurtling across a ruined bridge towards the dwarven line while the orcs donned great suits of armour and took up arms, in a surprisingly well drilled fashion. These were no simple greenskins. These were Black
orcs…

The battlelines clashed, orcs and trolls shedding the lion’s share of blood. However, out from within the tower poured rank after rank of black armoured greenskins which began marching forth. The odds were not in Bullzharra’s favour. These were organised and well armed. They’d be a tougher obstacle than he had imagined.

On a hill in the distance Gitfang the Beastmaster peered through the violet clouds. It was all
Going to plan. A powerful spell caster and master of beasts and monsters, he knew full well the power of the knowledge hidden within the tower and he knew that he had once again been underestimated.

Gitfang looked over his shoulder and gave a quick nod. Three enormous orcs mounted on giant boar like monstrosities began hurtling towards the tower at horrific speed.

Behind him another beast stirred. A strange, bouncing shape, crimson in hue, with a maniacal giggling rider. Gitfang put his hand out.

“Not yet.”

By the time Bullzharra had realised what was happening, it was too late. The larger force of orcs swarmed his left flank and the heavy cavalry smashed into his right.

Valiantly, he and his soldiers fought on, perhaps for their lives. The last troll burst into flames as Bullzharra himself threw a potion at the creature’s face as an incendiary. A great deal of the orcs fell to the axes and spears for the Dawi Zharr, but they were encircled and the warmachines ruined.

After a long struggle, The pig beasts were slain, the Dawi warriors too, and a handful of orcs stepped towards the sorcerer for the kill. He braved himself for a fight.

“Violent night. Holy night. All is dead. Now we fight!” Came an eerie voice.

Bullzharra looked up to see what he was sure was a hallucination.

A goblin upon a squig, dressed for Yuletide merriment, singing a demented carol in a bastardised approximation of the tongues of men bounced forwards. The sorcerer cocked his head to one side, confused and appalled forgetting entirely the battle around him.

A large candy cane was swung and smashed into his left temple. It was the last thing he remembered…

Result

Major victory for the Orruk Warclans.
Some minor injuries and losses amongst battle line troops. One unit fired and rehired at full health. Another unit of gunners levelled up, gaining the same special rule as the cannon. Bullzharra and the Deamon Engine to start next game on -1 wound.

Thoughts

My next stream consciousness ramble about the system and how I’m getting on with learning it below:

Summary

First and most import at thought: Those big piggies are fast. The warchanter gives them a buff and lets them move in hero phase. They were in my face the same turn they turned up. Really really fast! Haha.

The objective of the game was to take the tower off the orcs. My army is slow and was always gonna struggle to get up the board to them so plan was to
Shoot them up and take it back. But I just didn’t get the shooting I wanted. Combination of a daring and brilliant 11 inch charge from some black orks and the long bomb charge from the pigs meant I spent much more of the game in combat than I’d have liked.

My opponent is very experienced at AoS and afterwards kindly spoke through a few suggestions for how my positioning may be improved to create more effective screens and stop my gunners getting dragged into to many fights.

I’ve naturally been putting gunners out first because I find it hard to shake line of sight rules from fantasy but in this game , a screen of warriors, a screen of gunners behind and a cannon behind that is very doable. All can draw LoS and all can shoot.

By making sure these lines are over 3” apart I can stop things being dragged into fights too.

He also reminded that cannons can move. I know they can move! But do I ever move them? No! Haha. Old habits die hard. You can keep pulling those cannons back as things come closer.

So today was a major loss but a major win in the “learning stuff” department. Also, it was a good laugh. My opponent, Jon’s, armies are always a feast for the eyes and it’s nice to get them on a table against my dwarfs. Also, even though we lost, we definitely gave the orcs a bloody nose on the way down haha!

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Excellent battle reports, looking forward to seeing your warband grow and develop.

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Knocked unconcious by a demented goblin armed with a candy cane?
A slayer oath would be expected after such a defeat!

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C’mon mate, it’s happened to all of us at some point! At least, it was fairly commonplace where I grew up.

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Gonna be an Xmas break in battles because I’m flying (Covid allowing) to Canada on the 20th and my last game on Saturday is Necromunda.

Next entry will be a purely narrative one, explaining how Fah-Ruhk lived to see another day after being held captive by orcs.

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Jac if you want I could do an AoS special tactics tutoring class for you. First course is 2.5hours and costs about 13 hashuts. The dawi-zharr will not lose another game on my watch!!

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Lovely battle reports, as usual!

Great writeup, well-handled pictures and nice thoughts.

When the End Times rolled around, I quickly concluded that headcanon rules supreme so doomsday be ignored and whatever replaces WHFB will be given the benefit of the doubt. AoS as a setting is not close to my inherent core interests, but I still enjoy parts of what wild high fantasy and weird magitech I’ve seen. In a similar way to how classic pirates are a lifelong core interest of mine, but Treasure Planet was still a nice setting on its own terms. I came to think of Age of Sigmar when I saw that movie, in a good way.

The game seems fun, and sounds like it from descriptions I’ve heard on tournaments.

Best of luck on the battlefield! And beware of piggies.

Cheers

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Brilliant battle reports so far! The eyeball on that cannon… just awesome.

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