A Historic Retelling of the 2012 Campaign Preseason

Preseason was a time to practice with the armies and get used to the league rules coming in. The first set of preseason matches took place on Memorial Day weekend.

The Rock and the Tomb Kings vs Blood, Steel, and Faith of the Empire
It has been nine years since the Rock strode a Warhammer battlefield. The last time he did so, it was a successful campaign which he culminated with a victory over a chaos warband in the league finals, securing the overall prize before going back to his tomb to slumber. Much has changed since his last foray out into the world, and as his armies marched north into the Badlands to seek out the floating palace that was said to contain mysteries and secrets that would help secure the Old Kingdoms. Atop a bluff overlooking the fractured land below, the Rock encountered an Imperial army marching south with the same intentions. Led by a pious warrior priest, the imperial lines formed up quickly to react to the slow but steady approach of the long dead warriors and the tomb king that had recently stepped back out into the world of the living.

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The Rock held forth his ornate gold sheathed sword forward as his long dead warriors trudged across the broken plain. Cannon fire began to greet them as the imperials opened fire. Pistoliers came charging in from the left flank, but were quickly repelled by a volley of arrows from ancient bows. Gunners fired from atop a broken watchtower, but were swept off of it with a roar from the Rocks pet necrosphinx.

To the front of the lines, a brave group of steel clad men riding destiers came thundering forward, sweeping across the battlelines in an attempt to engage the Rocks royal guard, but were intercepted by a chariot charge in the flank. The knights fought hard, but the incantations of the hierophant coupled with a flank charge by Akhul the Thrice Cursed and the Royal Guard put an end to their heroics. The Imperial lines crumbled as the Rock and his spear and the Cursed and the Royal Guard put the imperial lines to the test, breaking them and running them through. The battle had been but a skirmish though, and the imperial vanguard was but a piece of what the Rock knew was a much larger force gathering nearby. He would be ready

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High Elves engage Zombie Pirates in a Fetid Swamp

The elves had more than they bargained for, facing off against the grisly remnants of an Imperial fleet brought down to Davey Jones Locker, and now led by the insane vampire Commodor Harkon. The swamps would prove to be many elven final resting place as the undead claimed a victory and added to their ranks those that had fallen

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The Troll King Feasts
The Badlands are host to a multitude of unsavory characters, but none more nasty than the Troll King. Michaels tomb kings met up with this fellow and a warband of chaos led by a tzeentch sorcerer, and it ended up turning sour for the ancient dead. The deadites tangled up the hellcannon with a unit of carrion and were able to run off the dread chaos knights, but were unable to defeat the Troll King or the chaos warriors that held the center of the field. This proved to be the keystone of the battle, and after the tzeentch sorcerer bellowed and destroyed the casket, the tomb princes elite guard fell to the combined forces of the chaos warriors and troll kings warriors. Retreating, they have time to contemplate their battle plan and bring pain back to their foes next round

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The Rise of the Damned and the Fall of the Vermin Lord
Seeking to prove himself in his first match ever, Mitch led his chaos warband south to the Badlands and fought a matchup against Nicks vile ratmen. Nick had a special treat for Mitch this day in the form of the Vermin Lord. The skaven deployed in a battle line behind a necrotic river; perfect to slow the chaos forces down and enable them the much needed time to mow them down with their artillery and guns. The scenario was a dawn assault, and the random deployment elements of the scenario would test both players and their abilities to adapt. As it so happened, most of Mitchs forces deployed in the center with the exception of his hell cannon and a unit of hounds, which lined up opposite Nicks jezzails. The Vermin Lord came onto the field on the far flank, far away from his men and his important leadership bubble along with it. The skaven did a good job in the beginning, as the chaos forces lost men to the necrotic sludge dividing the table. However, the hellcannon misfired and caused all wizards on the table to miscast. This caused a dimensional cascade on the Vermin Lord. He escaped that fate only to miscast on his next turn and have a dimensional cascade go off again and suck him off to the warp. Things went downhill from there, with Mitchs forces crossing the river. The knights plowed full steam ahead, destroying globadiers, giant rats, and finally engaging head on with the storm vermin and the army standard bearer and breaking their back in the late part of the game. Mitchs chaos warriors earned their stripes by not killing the abomination once, but twice as after it died the first time, it was too horrible to die and came back to life again with *5* wounds. However, the chaos warriors weathered the nasty creature piling on to it (it suffered from stupidity after a well placed death spell hit it) and combined with the warriors new poisoned attacks (courtesy of the river), they were able to see the thing off again.

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Dwarven Ale and Imperial Steel Make a Great Combination
The last battle of Memorial Day took place Monday evening and was a team battle featuring 1000 points of Jasons ogres teamed up with 1000 points of Mitchs chaos and taking on the legendary General Li led empire army of Kurt and Brads dwarves. Brad was anxious to find out just how assholish his dwarves could be, and the scenario rolled was perfect one of the most hated scenarios of them all The Watchtower. Brad deployed his unit of iron breakers led by his dwarven thane and runesmith in the watch tower and then beckoned the enemy to come get some. To Jason and Mitchs credit they really did try but these dwarves were not going to be evicted from their tower. Jason threw two units of ogres at the tower, which were summarily rebuked, and Mitchs chaos forces were trampled by the General Li, Kurts hideous steam tank that took quite a licking in this game but just would not die (it finished the game with just three wounds remaining after taking a direct hell cannon blast and then some marauder flails) With that, each participating player received a relic that would carry over into the regular season (Mitch played in two battles and earned himself two). Battle rosters are being adjusted and plans being hatched as the preseason continues

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June 9, 2012 Preseason The Rock Faces the Arch-Lector
After having faced the imperial army once, the Rock led his undead army out through several mountain passes until he came across what was rumoured to be the ruined hamlet of Rist, where one of Nagashs lieutenants had died. They were greeted by a faction of another imperial army, this one led by a pious and ornery arch-lector. Whoever wanted to garner any clues from this site would have to first win the field of battle. The king tried a new tactic in this battle, foregoing a skull catapult for a legendary Lost Ark of Indy. Deploying it atop a ruined tower, it began channeling the necromantic energies of the hamlet as the undead battle line formed up. The imperials were whipping themselves up into a religious fervor speaking in tongues and handling snakes, shouting curses at the dead and bolstering their lines with taunts. The Rock was unimpressed. Expecting the living to bunker up across the field and rely on their shooting, the king lowered his ornate sword and pointed it at the Arch-Lector as his undead legion marched. The battle was quickly joined. The center clashed early on, with the Rock and his skeletal spearmen charging into a unit of swordsmen while Avkul the Thrice Cursed charged the royal guard into a small unit of halberds. The chariots made quick work of the imperial back line, removing artillery fire. The undead folded the imperial center, withstanding a flank charge by knights as the necrosphinx turned to face them and ran them off. All that remained at that point was the removal of the hellrocket battery, which was accomplished by the emergence of the Tomb Scorpion defying internetz wizdomz with its presence, and the defeat of the Arch Lector himself. That honour came to Avkul. The Arch-Lector drove the chariots into bone dust and then turned to face the incoming tomb guard. The ensuing battle was titanic. The greatswords and tomb guard battle swung back and forth, with Avkul challenging the Arch Lector to single combat. The Arch-Lector was only too happy to do so, his hatred of the undead building into a seething roil of tongues and self Badlands Preseason Review Page 7

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flaggelation. It was not to be Avkuls day. His flail spun out and cracked against the priests armored back, caving some of the silvered steel in. On his knees where Avkul felt he belonged, the arch lector began praying. Avkul prepared for the killing blow, and at that moment was engulfed in holy flame. Being flammable, Avkul was quickly reduced to cinders. The greatswords fought to the last man, and as the battle ended, the Arch-Lector stood alone against the Tomb Guard. The battle was lost, but he swore hed return with another force. The Rock worried.

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The Arch-Lector Returns to Face the Nom Nom of the Ogres
Still covered in mummy goo, the Arch-Lector took the table against a small force of ogres. The greatswords again fought valiantly, though were cut down by the ogres. The Arch-Lector was defeated but again escaped death.

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The Tomb Kings Return Versus Orcs & Goblins
Matthew and Michael engaged that afternoon in a dawn assault mission that saw the Tomb Kings army take the field after last battles defeat against the Troll King. Sadly there were no artisans on hand to record the carnage. The spring season is about to begin with only one more preseason day remaining relics are still up for grabs

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