Friday, May 25, 2012

Legends of war:Battle of Vail Valley

The Dwarfs are a proud race of exploring mountain dwellers, who venerate their ancestors, worship their gods, and  praise skill in the arts above all. The Gnomes are a proud race of seafaring forest people, who sleep when they die, never wasted time on the whole god thing, and praise quantity above all. The two races are also such fierce rivals that, even in a peaceful small farming village with no history of violence, their anger towards each other will result in full blown war. The only reason their two nations are in full blown war, is because the Dominion stands between them, and the Stygians and Elves simply won't let them. However, this was not always the case, and their hostilities can be traced back to one single event:The Battle of Vail Valley.

Vail Valley is an odd part of the Dominion, situated near the heart of it on a long destroyed mountain, it still retains the air of treacherous passages, and is also home to a several prosperous villages and cities. Every year on Tailu the 5th, all the doors and windows are barred, as the elders tell the stories of what happened long ago, over the din of rekindled battle. In the year 510 b.d.c, what was once part of the Stygian empire was now a barren land, still ringing to the sounds of battle as what was left of the invading Trolls fought with fleeing Goblins, vengeful survivors, and hunting Centaurs. The Dwarfs, recognizing a chance to expand their empire, went into this area and tried to forge new cities while the Gnomes, recently freed from the Orcs, were looking for a land to settle on. For a while the colonists from both sides excepted the others existence, and set up colonies within earshot of the others, until one day in 500b.d.c the cities of Herdwe and Livgngard, about thirty miles south of Vail Valley and only five-hundred yards apart, both spotted a Goblin tribe.

The militias form both cities followed the tribe, unaware of the other existence, and even gathered up more militias until they came Vail Valley. A sudden rain storm prevented the two armies from seeing far, but they went forward anyway. Details of the actual battle are vague at best, but both mention that the other army was allied with the Goblins(indicating that they fought with both side in an attempt to blend in, or that they are both lying) and ambushed the other army. News of the battle ignited a full blown war between the two powers which, if it weren't for a Goblin army destroying all the towns and villages , may have lead to one of the powers being destroyed. As it stands, both the Gnomes and the Dwarfs never forgave the other for the "injustices" they had done, and will fling themselves into any battle, from a pub brawl to a city siege, with the battle cry, "REMEMBER VAIL VALLEY!"

Friday, May 18, 2012

Legends of War:Battle of the Trolls

After the Trolls had crashed into the Southern Continent, the Stygian Empire perceived that the Trolls could pose a direct threat to their lands north of them, which had already suffered numerous attacks from the Goblins. King Helieus, head of the largest city-state in Voreia Edafi, was already upset by the loss of Hellspout and decided that his best option lay in attacking these barbarous creatures before they did him. In 514 b.d.c. Kin Helieus, aided in no small part by his charisma, managed to gather more then four hundred thousand hoplites, toxoties, perioikoi, and warmachines and marched them south to the Imperial Ford. They had planned on attacking the Trolls while they were still preoccupied with the Reptilions, but were shocked when they received the news that, in less then one month, the Trolls had already destroyed almost all of the Reptilions and were already on the other side of the Imperial Ford.

King Helieus was faced with a major problem: was the Trolls speed due to great strength in their part, or did the Reptilions pay them off and make a story so that they could invade Voreia Edafi after them. In addition, their were rumors of strange and magnificent weapons that belched fire, flew through the air like birds, and also destroyed whole cities with a single strike. Helieus, and a large number of the other kings, decided that these were all just fanciful rumors, and actually decided to fight the Trolls as you would fight an army of Goblins. They selected a narrow valley, known as Loomers Craig, and arrayed their army in a purely defensive formation. To explain this, they had chosen the worst possible situation to face a Troll army in.

Less then a day after their scouts had spotted the Troll horde, some fifty miles away, they were almost upon the Stygians. King Helieus thought that they would fight like savages, and told his men to stand firm against their primitive weapons. When the Trolls came close enough to pick out their general features, the Stygians realized why they had beaten the Reptilions so fast: they were built for it. Before the Toxotes could fire their arrows, Trollish weapons opened fire and began scything down whole ranks of Stygians, while their Terrpeda's began smashing into the Stygian blocks. In addition, behind the whole Trollish army was a metal effigy, which spewed forth molten metal, strolled over any obstacle, and sent out enough trollish ammo to kill a hundred men in a minuet.

Unaccustomed to such a painful, yet short lived, barrage they assumed that it meant that the Trolls would be horrible fighters. The Trolls were horrible fighters in the sense that they forgot to give the enemy a chance of winning. The powerful arms of Trolls literal sliced whole hoplites in a single blow and their skulls were thick enough to break a spear. Even if they managed to kill one Troll, there was still an army of them numbering well into the millions. Faced with no alternatives, the perioikoi and toxoties tried to run, but found their path cut off by an army of Goblins, which had wanted to destroy the Stygians and test out the Troll's metal.

In the span of only 6 hours, all of the Stygians were killed, as well as almost a million Goblins, but barley a thousand Trolls. News of the battle spread like wildfire, and Goblin tribes and Stygian cities alike tried to surrender to the Trolls to avoid their wrath. It was all for naught. In less then a year, all of Voreia Edafi was reduced to burning cities and fields of corpses as the Trolls destroyed every threat in their way. Only the brave armies of the Plain Riders, who had been annoyed by the sudden influx of Goblins and the instability they brought, saved the entire world from being destroyed. While numerous names for the battle has been suggested (such as the Massacre on the Craig, The Battle of Loomers Craig, Dat furst time we fout da Trolls, Da time eva un' woud't get out o' da way, so we killd dem al) the Battle of the Trolls is the most enduring, as they are the only ones who survived that day.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

General proclomation: Tides of War

In an effort to expand our ship based combat, we are going to compile a rule book with new units and rules known as the Tides of War. Any rule or unit suggestions will be considered, and these rules will be compatible with the main rule book, If you would like to help at all, please post on the Facebook group(link provided), comment on this post, or send us an e-mail or pm. Thank you for your time and consideration.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/129692473774243/

Boarding
Tide
Wind
 

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Legends of War:The Grand Line, The ring no man shall pass

Since time immortal, any race has seen the sea, they have always dreamed of sailing the world and controlling any land they happen to come across. They have always come across obstacles to their goals, such as distances, lack of food, great storms, and the general unwillingness of natives to give them their land, but they have always triumphed. Their is not a single island which has not been visited by at least one ship, and the continents are a hub through which countless thousands of ships navigate with and through. But their is one area which is so deadly, so unpredictable, and so huge that, while hundreds of ships have entered it, none have ever been seen again. This area is known and feared by all sailors as the Grand Line.

The Grand line is a stretch of ocean to the far south of all the continents, and is thought to be the edge of the world. It is a wild and unpredictable place, with a dense dark fog covering it at all times, and freak storms of all types are known to burst out without warning. While the Grand Line itself is cold, the islands which happen to lay within close proximity to it, have numerous different climates, so diverse that no two islands of the same type or conditions can be found within a thousand miles of another island of the same climate. Also near the Grand Line, are several perpetual storms known by such names as the crackling Eye of Thead, the frozen Hand of Beation, and Da Fut o' da Groove o' Tings (best not to esquire as to what its nature is). These storms are so constant, that their positions can actually be used for navigating ships, and are often better navigation aids then stars or the sun.

While large numbers of people believe it is the edge of the world, there is a growing school of thought (mainly in Garmaria), that the Grand Line is actually just some sort of ring on the world to divide it spheres. Such a idea does have credit, as on oddly calm days, sailors have reported seeing ocean on the other side of the Grand Line, and Dwarven Tradition maintains that the the world is square and they have sent numerous aero-clads to prove just that. However, time and time again, the age old wisdom that it is best to leave the Grand Line alone has proven itself an infinite number of times. Recently some fishermen did report seeing black ships leaving the Grand Line, creating even more interest in the Grand Line then ever before. Perhaps one day some lucky ship will actually make it through the Grand Line and survive to tell what happened.

rules of war:boarding

These are experimental rules concerning ship to ship combat. If you do not intend to use ships(or do not enjoy these rules) you may ignore them. If you have any comments or suggestions please don't hesitate to tell us. In order to use these rules, you need two areas 11.5" x 7"(29.5cm x 18cm) (the size of a shoebox lid) called decks:

Boarding Action
3 command points for the whole ship
-Boarding is an action that a ship's crew or passengers may do if their ships are locked together or are within 3" of each other. In order to keep the attacking ship running, you must have at least one crew member per ranged weapon, one to steer it, and one to keep the masts(or engines... or organs) in working order. A boarder is any model that is not engaged one one of the aforementioned activities or a model being transported by a ship. For all practical terms, each model counts as their own unit, with the loner special rule and has one command point (unless otherwise stated in their rules). All unit type benefits(i.e. banners, warhorns, etc.) affect all friendly models regardless of the distances

First, both sides nominate the number and type of models that they will be using. Next you set up the two decks with the same facings as the ship, but with twice the in game distance of the actual ships( for example, if the two ships were side by side and 1" apart, then you would set up the decks side by side and 2" apart). Set up all of the models in any way you like on your deck. The boarding action is fought with the same rules as a normal games but with the following changes:

Charging
-only 1 command point, but you can only go up to the model's max movement
Shooting
- -1 to all shooting rolls when shooting at models on an opposing ship
Jumping 1 command point
-for use when getting from ship to ship. Roll a D6 for the model and subtract 1 for every 2" in between ships. If the roll is under their Armor, then the fall into the water, and must be placed halfway between the two ships. If passed, then they are placed on the opposing ship's deck within 1" of exactly opposite of where they were jumping from. If there is not enough space for them to jump to, then they count as failing the jumping test. A Jump also can count as a charge
Climbing 1 command point
-for use when getting back on a ship. Roll a D6. If it is below their armor then the model is stuck in the water. If it is above their Armor, then they may climb up. If the model is stuck in the water for three consecutive turns, then they are removed from the board and count as a casualty.
Marching
-a model may not march when boarding.
Courage
-If over half of all your starting models are lost, then you must take a courage check with the highest courage of any model currently boarding. 
 Drifting(test at the beginning of your turn)
-the two ships will Drift closer to each other, D6"-the Power of whatever model is currently steering, if their is no model attending the masts(or engine)

The Boarding action is fought like a normal game until any of the following conditions are met:
1)all the attacking or defending models are destroyed
2) The attacker(or defender) have at least twice as many models as the defender(or attacker) does
3) If either side fails their Courage check when they lose over half their models

If either side loses the fight then the ship counts as fleeing if their are models left. If their are no models left, then the ship counts as destroyed and is removed from the board.

Please note that, a boarding action is fought until either side loses, and does not affect the current turn count in the main part of the game.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Legends of War:Luciena, the peaceful nation

As most of the nations engages in war as the only means of politics, it is hard to imagine that a country would every try to be peaceful and last for several thousand years, but there is. Situated in the Niybrem mountain ranges (just south of the Goblin Plains) and the Kije lowlands, Luciena is one of the most peace loving nations in history. Luciens is a place of peace, where wisdom and knowledge are held in higher esteem then strength and anger. The country also has a very sizable and stable population of casters of various strengths and schools, making it the leading nation in terms of magic. And the country is blessed with the divine protection of its patron god: Verbode Kennis.

 The story of Luciena's founding, and the choice of patron god, goes all the way back to 930b.d.c and all the way to World's End. After the defeat of Chaos' forces, the gods who had stuck by him had to flee to escape the wrath of the victorious armies. Many of them tried to hide back at their palaces or kingdoms, but were hunted down and destroyed by the other gods or, if they had ran, by the Kost. Verbode Kennis was in just just predicament and he was running away from a Goblin army lead by Lezy Az who had been given a god killing sword by Sesome simply so he would kill Verbode Kennis. As he only had fifty body guards, and the goblin horde was well into the hundreds of thousands if not millions, Verbode Kennis had no choice but to outrun them, and he eventually came across a small farming city called Luciena, which had been harassed by Goblins for as long as it had existed. In an attempt to save his skin, he promised that he would grant each of the villagers access to his power, if the would help him defeat the goblin horde. They accepted without question, for they had no choice.

Immediately, all one thousand of the villagers became powerful necromancers and, with no instruction, they went with Verbode Kennis to face Lezy Az. In the span of five days and 5 nights, the entire goblin army was battered nonstop by the necromancers, who were protected by Verbode Kennis' bodyguards, and slew over half of the Goblins, including Lezy Az. Leaderless and broken, the Goblins fled the battle field and immediately began heading west, where they pillaged the Stygian Empire. When the battle was over Verbode Kennis laid down the Sixoeb Ges Owde Que(Doctrines of a Perfect World), and lead the village to its empire. Upon its completion, less then five years later, Verbode Kennis left them promising that, so long as they followed his teaching (which they did, up to the formation of a militia known as the Imperial Guard) that he would protect them from harm and allow them to prosper in a violent world. Since then, they have only one major battle, The First Battle, and only one war, The Xuvio(One-eyed one) War.