Unseen Lerker Issue X

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ISSUE X Free, frivolous, and frighteningly entertaining

First ever ONLINE issue!

BATTLE REPORT: Tomb Kings vs Chaos ARMY SHOWCASE: Chris Bell’s uber-funky Lizards NEW! Lergy the Lerker miniatures unveiled

We’ll knock your socks off – and then launder them

AD

CREDITS Editor: Isaac Alexander Graphic Design: Heath Moritz

Editorial Holy technology, Batman! We’re online!

The Artsy Army Cover: Max Karpsten Comic: Zach Kin-Wilde i10 preview: John Blake Incidentals: Wojtek Flis

This has been a long time coming, let me tell you. When I first started putting together the groundwork for Unseen Lerker in 2009, I had always envisaged it as an online publication.

But every single person I spoke to about it said, “Yeah, that’s cool...but can you print it too?”. As it turns out we ended up doing it in the other order, but at last we have arrived!

Pressganged Contributors: Lergy feature: Max Karpsten, Wojtek Flis, Rob Ing Event Coverage: Rob Henson Army Showcase: Christopher Bell Battle Report: Chris Taylor & Matt Howley Test Dummies: Greg Dann & Dan Comeau

Super Special Thanks To: Essential Dogsbody: Sidhe Kin-Wilde

editor@unseenlerker.com www.unseenlerker.com

If you’re just joining us, welcome, traveller.

Take off your mink coat, brush the rain off your lizard skin hat, pull up a stuffed walrus and join us by the heat of this roaring candle. I hope you enjoy your stay.

I think there’s a whole plethora of possibilities to be explored with our venture into the online world; already my head is reeling with ideas. The upcoming months should be pretty exciting for all of us if my master plans come to fruition – which, with my dedicated support group helpfully whacking me with big sticks to guide me, they should!

Anyway, I’ll shut up now before I blabber on too much. I hope you enjoy the latest issue.

-Isaac ‘Bobo’ Alexander, Editor

CONTENTS

The Graveyard Shift

Unseen Lerker

the 3 Lergy Lerker A complete history of the magazine’s furry mascot, including his recent transformation onto the 28mm scale!

6 Army Showcase All the way from the USA, Christopher Bell’s yellow Lizardmen hop and frolic on our pages with amphibious glee.

10 Event Spotlight Never been to an Unseen Lerker event? You’re missing it out – we’ve got penguins, beer wenches, and tankards and swords as trophies. Rob ‘Igor’ Henson gives us the low-down on the latest event.

13 Battle Report

It’s a race for the desert treasure in this Tomb Kings vs Warriors of Chaos encounter. Will generals Chris Taylor and Matt Howley be able to see through the mist and keep their eye on the prize?

Test 24 The Dummies As part of their enforced community service, Dan Comeau and Greg Dann have to review the latest games for our ‘alternatives’ column. This issue, a board game: Warrior Knights!

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WHAT DO YOU MEAN “FREE?” Yes, that’s right, folks! What you’re reading now is the first ever online-only completely free version of Unseen Lerker. Why? Well, because we love you really.

A little known fact about Unseen Lerker is that it was originally intended to be a web magazine. However during the inception of the project popular demand decreed that it be printed. Now though we want to bring it to the masses (both washed and unwashed) in a much bigger way – by doing both!

Not a subscriber yet?

Here’s how it’s gonna work.

There’s going to be the printed version …

• Released bi-monthly • Released 2 weeks before the digi-version • You can read it in bed, in the garden, on a train, on a plane, or even on the loo …

• Delivered to your doorstep, by our highly trained flying monkeys • You get the digi-version for FREE • You get the EXCLUSIVE Lergy the Lerker annual subscription miniature • Subscribe at www.unseenlerker.com

And there’s going to be the online version …

• Released bi-monthly • You can read it from the comfort of your computer (possibly at work if the boss isn’t watching) • You can read it on your iPhone, iPad, Kindle, and all them other things like that • Not sure which issue you want? Check out the free previews on our website • You can purchase either a single issue or a yearly subscription • Subscribe at www.unseenlerker.com

Already subscribed? Don’t worry.

In case you hadn’t noticed yet, this is a bit of a different issue from our standard fare. So much so that we’ve decided to call it: “Issue X”.

Service will resume as normal from next issue (see below), and all existing subscriptions will continue without fail – Issue X is just a bit of a special bonus for everyone to enjoy. ™

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ISSUE X

YOUR SUBSCRIPTION (will continue as normal!)

A magazine for gamers, hobbyists and collectors A magazine for gamers,

hobbyists and collect ors

ISSUE 10

Unseen Lerker

Lergy the Lerker An insight into the life and times of the magazine’s official mascot

Part 1: Creating the Creature Max Karpsten (illustrator) I love creating characters. That’s what got me into drawing in the first place. Being able to come up with a character’s visual features, style and personality is a great pleasure for me. So when Bobo contacted me to create some concepts for his magazine’s mascot, I jumped at the opportunity.

It was early in October 2009 (three months before the release of Unseen Lerker Issue 1), and it was up to me to give Lergy (back then only known as the ‘Lerker’) a face. Bobo filled me in on what he wanted: a cute creature that would be used as a staple for the magazine, and would be hidden throughout for the readers to find. With these points in mind, I drew up seven or so designs – some cheeky, some sneaky – for Bobo to select one or to mix and match with any of the various characteristics that he liked.

And with that, Lergy the Lerker was brought into the world on an A4 sheet of sketching stationery..

The next step was giving him colour. Bobo gave me his preferences, which I played with until I found something that matched both the sketch and the feel of the magazine.

Poses came after that. Wanting to show off Lergy’s cheeky, playful personality, I drew up some images of him in action. To incorporate him fully into the magazine, I also created poses of him interacting with elements on the page.

As the magazine evolved, so did Lergy. New drawings were made to support special articles and Lergy heads became the official rating system (also thumbs up and thumbs down).

The following phase of his immortalisation came with the creation of Lergy dice, where an imprint of his head appears in place of ‘6’.

Along with creating each issue’s cover art, drawing Lergy was a blast. It was fun and simple and didn’t get in the way of my other projects. Then Bobo came up with the… *ahem*…great idea to introduce a Lergy comic into the mix. This, unfortunately, was a little too much of a workload for me along with the covers and outside responsibilities. However, Zach was available to take care of the comics, and is doing a bang-up job of it, I’ve gotta say.

Over time, I’ve seen Lergy wrestle an orc to the ground, announce tournaments to the world, decorate the chests of T-shirt enthusiasts (with their special Lergy screenprint), and become irresistibly cute, devious and undoubtedly inspiring. Some fans have written up his stats, dressed him in their team’s shirt, and even made a plushie.

And now, we’ve got Lergy models! Bobo got me to draw up a couple of new poses (and also brought back some classics) to be remade in the physical world. Even though you’ll see them here in this article, I must tell ya - they look amazing. I’ve been working with this character for over a year now, and couldn’t be more satisfied with seeing him in hard copy three-dimensional format. Waiting eagerly to get mine in the mail.

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Unseen Lerker

Part 2: From Munchkin to Miniature Wojtek Flis (sculptor) Hello! I must admit I was not too confident writing this article when asked; English is not my native language (I am from Poland), but I will give it a try!

I have been sculpting for many years, but only the last 6 professionally. I freelanced for a while, including moving to England and working for Black Tree Design, but for the last year I have been the lead sculptor in the design studio of Warlord Games, one of the largest historical miniature companies in the world. Pretty exciting stuff! At work I get to work on Napoleonic Prussians, Ancient Roman Medicaes, Celt Linebreakers and Harquebusiers (don’t tell the boss, but in my downtime I have secretly been sculpting my own ‘fantasy rugby’ teams!).

I met Isaac (‘Bobo’) through working out of the same business centre. I was putting together my Island of Blood set at the time, and realising very quickly that painting all the figures in the box was going to be a problem. It might seem strange but I have only painted 8 models in my life … ever. Seeing as Bobo runs a painting studio, and was looking for someone to sculpt his mascot at the time, we came to a little arrangement – I would sculpt Lergy the Lerker, and Bobo would paint my Island of Blood armies!

Describing sculpting can be a bit tricky – especially if I can’t use Polish! – but the process is quite similar regardless of the model involved. For me at least. I started by examining the concept art of Lergy to get an idea in my mind of how to make him. I then made an armature out of wire of the rough shape of his limbs.

Over this skeleton I then added layer over layer of green stuff, adding thicker bits where Lergy is … well, thicker … On the final layer I just had to make sure to add the details of the fur, which was easy. I am better at sculpting than writing, but I am going to try to write up some tutorials for the Warlord Games website (www.warlordgames.co.uk) soon, so maybe have a look for those.

With no offence to Lergy, this minis were quite easy to sculpt.

The main trick was switching from sculpting human faces, which I do all the time, to a broad cartoony one! I guess the hardest thing was staying true to the concept art and making sure that all four models were the same size despite the different poses! We also had to talk a bit about the scale we wanted for Lergy. After all, no one knew how big a Lerker really is!

Some of you might think how clever I was, deliberately sculpting a command group: a musician, standard bearer and champion with a big sword (plus a lazy trooper). Of course this was a total accident and I didn’t realise until after they were all finished! Still, it’s nice I think, and it means that someone crazy out there could try to make a whole army of Lerkers if they want.

As I write this, I look across to my shelf where my Skaven and High Elves are staring over at me. Bobo has done a nice job on them, but I think I am missing some pieces – a Hellpit Abomination and some Bolt Throwers would be nice, I think.

Maybe I will suggest making a new Lergy mini for Christmas …

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Unseen Lerker

Part 3: Beautifying the Beast Rob Ing (painter) So, how did I paint Lergy the Lerker? I won’t lie to you. I used a brush.

When Bobo approached me, at one of the Warhammer tournaments he runs, and asked me to paint Lergy I was both flattered and a little scared. Even scarier though was the prospect of having to explain how I did it, by writing this article!

When the sculpts arrived in the post I was super impressed with them; they really capture a lot of character without being crammed full of extraneous embuggerances. The facial expressions carry a lot of mischief which I’m sure was part of the brief.

Being single part models (except the drum kit, which is separate and attached via … teehee … a little knob) there was no strenuous assembly required. A quick dab with a needle file took care of the minimal flash, and we were away. Joy.

I decided to go with a white undercoat for these as I’m dabbling with it a bit at the moment, and thought it’d help bring out some seriously orange hair! I pretty much use entirely Vallejo paints for my acrylics, so unless specified all colours are by them. They do two ranges: Model Color and Game Color. I prefer them over the Citadel paint range that Games Workshop makes. Many pros include the fact that the pots are bigger, £0.70 cheaper, and that the ‘dropper’ style bottles are super useful if you’re a clumsy muppet like me!

Basecoating was nice & easy; Game Colour ‘Sick Blue’ is actually purple, and pretty much bang on for Lergy’s fur so I didn’t need to mix anything up for the first tone. Bonus! Highlighting was a simple matter of adding a touch of Foundation White to the blue and then several successively brighter drybrushes to pick up the fur texture. This can (and did) look a bit ‘chalky’ so a few glazes of very thinned Sick Blue sorted that. I always use Vallejo’s acrylic thinner too, probably because I’m a sucker for gimmicks but I find it helps paint ‘work’ better when really thinned down; it’s easier to control.

Once I was happy with the highlighted fur, the shadows were worked in with successive glazes of Sick Blue mixed with GW Badab Black. The orange mohawk & his tufty bits (‘tufty bit’?!!

How dare you. –Ed.) were basecoated in Game Color Fiery Orange, shaded with Red Wash, and highlighted by adding progressively more Game Color Bald Moon Yellow (no prizes for guessing what that’s an equivalent of.)

Lergy’s eyes were neatened up with Foundation White, irises painted in Fiery Orange and pupils in black. Tiny little white ‘reflective’ spots on the pupils is a simple way to help give the impression of realistic eyes. Combined with two thin coats of Gloss Varnish I think this really helps accentuate the ‘animé’ look of Mr Lerker.

The drum kit was first airbrushed with Tamiya Flat Orange. I always use Tamiya paints and thinners through my airbrush. Quite simply, they’re the best. Once the orange was dry the whole kit was given about 6 coats of Tamiya Clear Red to give that high gloss lacquered look. I got the idea from the Forgeworld Painting Masterclass book which I’d recommend to anyone thinking about airbrushing – it’s definitely the best source of unorthodox painting techniques I’ve come across.

Aaaand, that was about it! There were some subsidiary details to pick out; the ears, paws, tongues and banner namely, but part of Lergy’s appeal is the limited palette so obviously it was important not to go overboard! The models were a real pleasure to paint, something very different and definitely unique. I hope you like the job I did on them!

If anyone has any questions about them (or anything else, really) feel free to drop me a line at twogamerradio@gmail.com

“Yes, but how do I get one?!”

It’s quite simple, old boy. This little chappy to the right is going to be a subscription-only miniature that everyone subscribing to the printed version of the magazine will get for free. The command set of 3 models will be available for general sale from our website (www.unseenlerker. com) and the people producing it for us (www.warlordgames.co.uk). We’re actually being a bit cheeky giving you the preview this early - the moulds are still hot off the press! - but we’ll let you know regarding their availability as soon as we can!

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Unseen Lerker

The Rise of Xaxlachaq Christopher Bell sounds like the name of someone who might have invented the unicycle or cordless telephone, but he is in fact a completely different breed of mad genius – one who deigns to call himself an ‘artist’.

Based in the USA, Chris’s armies have been wowing the Indy GT circuit for years, harkening back to his Night of the Living Waaagh! in 2005 when we first came across him.

Recently Chris developed a rare form of dermitalogical disease known as Aquartism, meaning that unless 90% of his body is constantly submerged in water his wafer-thin skin will simply burst into flames. Thus it was no surprise that his latest army was composed largely of creatures which could keep him company in his new pond-like habitat. And so the Rise of Xaxlachaq was born – a bright, unique Lizardmen army containing some Skinks, some more Skinks, and then a few more Skinks – you know, just to really spice things up!

Unseen Lerker: So, Chris, I suppose the first question has got to be...why? What was the inspiration behind this very funky army?

Chris Bell: So here’s the honest truth: when I walk into a room to play Warhammer, whether it’s the local game store, a small RTT, or a big Indy GT, the first thing I do is walk around and look at everyone’s armies. I take stock of what’s there and what kind of armies other people are playing, and then I try really, really hard to figure out how to play ‘not that.’ It sort of bums me out when other people in the room have an army that’s really similar to mine.

So every army I ever build is born from that incessant need for uniqueness. I really love the idea of Lizardmen, but everyone plays basically the same thing: Slann, Temple Guard, lots of Saurus, Scar Vets, skirmishing Skinks ... yawn. On the other hand, everyone hates to paint yellow, and nobody believes in the power of Skink Cohorts as mainline units.Voila. An army is born.

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Unseen Lerker

As mentioned you’ve done a few themed armies now. Tell us about the process; what do you find more enjoyable, more challenging and more rewarding about creating a themed army compared to a ‘normal’ one?

Did your resolve ever falter during the project – i.e. did you get sick of painting Skinks? You weren’t tempted to compromise your original idea and throw in a cheeky Saurus Scar Veteran or two along the way?

All I really do are themed armies. Part of it, as I said before, the quest for uniqueness, but part of it too is a chance to explore the things about an army book that I really dig without having to take the big, shiny SUPERAWESOMESAUCE ™ unit just because that’s what GW wanted me to take. Sometimes, it forces me to hamstring my army a bit, but I’m okay with that as long as it looks really spectacular and I can still be relatively competitive.

Really, it didn’t. I really dig the Skink models. I think they’re gorgeous and they paint up easily. On the other hand, I don’t particularly like the Saurus models, so I didn’t want to take them. I found a way to cut them out of my list entirely. The only cheeky part I conceded was the taking of a Slann ... which I don’t always do. When I play with friends, and I know they’re not bringing three cannons, I shelve the Slann and bring out my Engine of the Gods. In a tournament, though, not taking a Slann is suicidal to the point of making for a not-very-fun experience. When everyone else stops bringing Tac Nukes to a knife fight, I’ll stop bringing my cheeky Slann.

For example, I am currently building a Skaven army. To me, the part of the Skaven army that I really dig is Clan Eshin. So, if I can justify the unit under my understanding of Clan Eshin, I’ll take it. If I can’t, I won’t. I can have a single Abomination because I’m building it as an Eshin Sorcerer conjuring up a giant Chinese dragon. I can’t have a Doomwheel because it just doesn’t seem Eshinesque to me. Out goes the Warp Lightning Cannon, Warpfire Throwers, and Engineers that can cast spells (because also, out goes the entire Lore of Ruin Eshin will poison you with Plague, but fry you with electricity?

Too inelegant).

In go multiple units of Gutter Runners, multiple Assassins, and Clanrats/Slaves. I think I’d like to try them with little coolie hats, to make them more Eshinesque. If I decide to do Stormvermin, I’ll probably model them as samurai rats - maybe with a unit filler of a Rat Ogre or two modeled as big temple guardians. Ooh, and If I do that, I can use Irongut bodies, green stuff the gut plate hole and shoulders with fur, use a Rat Ogre head and tail and feet and cover the join between the pants and foot with green stuff. Add a few plasticard plates, and I’ve got a giant armored temple guard rat.

That’s the process for me: what do I think it should look like, and what units should I take that will present that visual theme the best?

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Unseen Lerker

So by now we kind of get the idea that the army looks really nice, blah blah, have a cookie, well done... But no doubt our readers have begun to wonder if this force actually works on the tabletop? Tell us a bit about how it operates in-game.

Conceptually, it’s pretty simple: KEEP STUFF TOGETHER. The three big bricks hang out and advance very slowly in front of Xtapl, who pitches Pha’s Illumination to keep them safe. On the wings, Salamanders try to roast what they can, softening up large blocks until I’m reasonably sure they won’t be steadfast. Terradons go for war machines, and in the process, try to rock drop onto support units with low wounds/armour, like skirmishers, fast cav, or chariots.

Chameleons scout as best I can and try to march into range quickly to take out war machines and monsters with high toughness but low armor, like Giants and Khemri Sphinxes. Once the enemy is softened, Skink Cohorts are actually quite good in combat. The high initiative coupled with WS10/I10 buffs and/or Birona’s Timewarp makes them unpleasant...mostly because the three Kroxigor in each unit can’t really be touched under most circumstances, and nobody likes 9 ASF WS10/I10/S6 attacks coming at their faces. Nobody at all.

What’s in the works next then? A Bretonnian Peasant force?

An Ungor Horde?

Clan Eshin Skaven, as I mentioned earlier. Although those new Ogres are looking mighty tempting … I’m full of ideas. At any one time, I have about a dozen full army ideas rolling around: Witch Hunter Empire with no wizards at all, Wood Elves with an Ancient, Branchwraith, two Treemen, Treekin, and all the Dryads in the world, Barbarian horde using almost nothing but Marauders, Chariots, and Marauder Horsemen … I have a lot rolling around in my head.

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BNB-007 THE TERROR OF FORTRIU Chimaera £89.99

BNL-004 ULRIC THE DEFILER Autonomor £9.99

BNL-008 aLassaR Bearer of the Dragon Standard £9.99

both models released October 1st, 2011

BNL-012 NaGaUsITH Black Ælf Augurer £9.99

BNB-013 ULMONs Tarask of Var £49.99

BNL-014 MELODa Warrior-Queen of Mercia £8.99

BNL-006 CYNUIsE OF OLD Barrow Knight Banner Bearer £9.99

BNB-014 FLINT-FaNG Kill-Thing of the Infernal Pits £49.99

BNL-013 QUICk-bLaDE Under-Vermin Kin-Caller £9.99

BNB-012 kERMORaNNaC Savage Oghurüc £49.99

BNB-010 EURYaLIa Queen of Ker-Ys £49.99

BNL-011 ORNUNG Bone Orc Shaman £9.99

BNL-010 MaaGaaN Warlock of Baalor £9.99

BNL-009 VöRTUN Troll Jarl £24.99

BNL-003 GUILLaUME LE PÈLERIN Vagrant Knight £19.99 Foot and Mounted Vagrant Knight

BNB-016 CONJUNCT XIII Vivicoct £49.99

BNL-007 kaasTaRUk Skull-Bearer of the Tarvax £19.99

BNB-015 OPHIUs Gorgon Lord £39.99

BNB-008 OÁCYNING Lord of the Oak-Enta £49.99

BNL-015 VIkTOR CEL Ra˘ U Vojvod of Ardeal £9.99

Two new models coming in November 2011

BNL-005 EREC ONE-aRM Dwarf of Càrn Corm £9.99

see our full range of miniatures at banelegions.maelstromgames.co.uk miniatures not shown to scale

Matlock Mill | Hamilton Way | Mansfield | Nottinghamshire | NG18 5BU 01623 238 919 | contact@banelegions.maelstromgames.co.uk

BNL-016 DaaCHUCH THE bROkEN Skull-Bearer of the Gabrax £9.99

BNB-009 GaLaGaak Ox-Gore of the Darkwald £49.99 BNB-006 sCaR-sCaTH Fiend of Vermin £29.99

BNB-017 kEIRIOC-CRó The Sea Devil £49.99

www.maelstromgames.co.uk

coming in November 2011

Unseen Lerker

Event Coverage

Tempest IV: Redemption

By Rob ‘Igor’ Henson

Rob: Welcome, sports fans, to the Tempest IV event coverage.

The latest in a series of tournaments run in association with Unseen Lerker magazine (www.unseenlerker.com) Tempest IV proved to be a great success with 90 veteran gamers in attendance. Having previously aided the organiser, Warhammer celebrity Isaac ‘Bobo’ Alexander, with the 2010 Unseen Lerker GT at Warhammer World I was quite excited to jump on the Tempest events team and get the chance to run an event in sunny Stockport.

We rocked up at 9pm on the Friday to do as much event setup as possible. Bobo spent most of the evening “delegating” (that is to say, running around and saying hello to his regular tournament buddies). This left myself and our loyal butler Bernard with the task of carrying a car load of stuff up the fire escape. In the dark.

Warhammer: may be dangerous to your health. (For the record, Darran has promised to fit a light for next time – Yay!) I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out our new spreadsheet database and scoring system (which I had been informed was crafted by pixies – or George King, in this case, who isn’t too far off...). Writing this in retrospect, the spreadsheet is fantastically complicated and really does work, when you figure it out. At the time however there was a risk of me catching fire while trying to decipher it.

DAY 1 Despite Bobo having gone and booked a room which included a buffet breakfast, I decided to instead to break my fast with last night’s pizza. For the record, cold pizza is GLORIOUS and I recommend it to everyone! We did see a few bleary-eyed gamers in the restaurant area though, building pyramids of hash browns and baked beans and such. Player registration for the tournament opened at 8:30am so we scurried across to the venue nice and early to beat the frenzied hordes of players.

Registration went very smoothly. Bobo noted to me at least once over the weekend that the Tempest tournaments have such a high number of returning players now that everyone pretty much knows the drill. Come up to the desk, tick your name off the draw, hand in your army list and take your Goodie Bag*, before heading off to find your table. *At all his events Bobo insists on giving away Goodie Bags, containing sweets, chocolates, stickers & party poppers, and of course the much sought after custom Unseen Lerker dice only available at these events.

As we checked through the army lists during the first round we were pleased to see a wide variety of armies, with every race in attendance. The Indy GT Dwarfs of Chaos book (which was being allowed for the first time) outnumbered Daemons of Chaos 2:1 and we were surprised to find that one of the players was using Games Workshops newest army, Warhammer Armies: Ellyrian Reavers.

The first round passed without incident, and then it was onto the phase that I think we were all most interested in: lunch! This time Bobo had gotten in contact with some new caterers, and for the Saturday they had put on a buffet of various sandwiches, crisps, pasta and other assorted cold foods.

As the day went on Bobo could be found peddling his wares at the Middle Earth Games market stall – fully painted armies, bits bags, and of course Unseen Lerker magazines. As well as this there was a big raffle on offer of all of the new Ogre Kingdoms releases (about 15 prizes all in all).

We stayed at the Britannia hotel just down the road, and left the venue at 1am or so to go and check in. Much to our surprise, the hotel staff there managed to lose our reservation and we were left waiting for 20 minutes while they rummaged through the waste paper basket (no-joke) to find us. Not impressed with their professionalism, I decided that I would steal all of the towels to make up for it.

The early birds arrive and start warming up, setting up their armies and flexing their dice wrists. There was even a star jump or two executed.

Aaaaand they’re off! Round 1 gets underway.

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Unseen Lerker

Event Coverage – Tempest IV: Redemption During the event your hydration needs will be catered to by our, uh, attractive young barmaids. Be gentle with them.

The remainder of the day passed in a bit of a blur as the men were separated from the boys, the boys from the crustaceans, and the crustaceans from the Geordies. The friendly atmosphere of the event was quite evident, and something which I hadn’t seen even at the Unseen Lerker GT last November. The final round was allowed to play on into the night as people took their time and had fun with their opponents, the last game finishing at 8pm or so.

The lovely beer wenches (sorry, bar staff) went around from table to table using their, er, persuasive talents to sell off some tickets.

Even Bobo Myself and Bobo were relieved of £4 and were given 4 tickets in return. I’m just hoping that the ticket we are splitting 70/30 does not win the joke prize – the last edition Ogre Kingdoms army book!

Friendly neighbourhood spider? Perhaps not.

By this stage we were all outside, watching King Pash preparing his event scale BBQ. While this was going on the rest of players tried their hand at the Arena of Death, which Bobo ran upstairs, to great amusement. Almost 30 players took part, and the rules were simple: you could use any combat character from your Tempest IV army, including mounts. There were many heroic clashes, but slowly the knockout competition boiled down to the central table so everyone could watch. The clear favourite to win was the Heroic Killing Blow Bretonnian Lord, who had battered his way to the final through 2 Dwarf Lords, another Bretonnian, a Saurus Scar Veteran, a Chaos Lord, and a Balesword Great Unclean One. And opposing him was....a Wood Elf on a Dragon! 10 rounds of combat passed and still no one could land the decisive blow.

At last the Green Dragon failed its 3+ ward and was slain, but as the elf toppled from its back he lashed out with his simple great weapon, cutting the Bretonnian in twain!

After the titanic battles there were burgers, and much rejoicing.

Bobo and I then played our very own Warhammer variant; Cardhammer. Many spectators experienced this exciting and varied take on the game, Jon Pugh was particularly impressed and cheered us on with almost nonstop cries of ‘Fire the Cannon!’

The cannon fired 5 times and did f*all, thanks Jon. With a drinking game of ‘I have never...’ starting up over by the bar, and the infamous plumbing duo of Mark and Gareth running around trying to put things in people’s pockets, we decided to retire to the Britannia. The details of anything that took place at the venue afterwards are, blissfully, unknown to me.

The Bretonnian Lord takes down opponent after opponent during Saturday’s Arena of Death, only to fall short at the last hurdle and be killed by a Wood Elf!

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Unseen Lerker

Event Coverage – Tempest IV: Redemption It’s not required that tournament entrants dress up as penguins, but some people like to anyway.

DAY 2

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Overall Champion: Martyn Cooper (Lizardmen)

To our surprise all of the players managed to make it to Day 2, the Cardiff Big Macs were a tad tardy (shame on them) but all proceeded as planned.

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Best General: Martyn Cooper (Lizardmen)

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2nd Best General: Mark Wildman (Empire)

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3rd Best General: Andy Robinson (Warriors of Chaos)

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Best Sports: Daniel Bailey (Wood Elves)

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Players’ Choice Best Army: Dave Sweeting (Orcs & Goblins)

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Judges’ Choice Best Army: James “Bolle” Bolsover (Tomb Kings)

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Liste Artiste: Paul Brown (Ellyrian Reaver Army)

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Master of the Meat: Pasha Korniyenko

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Best In Race Generals –– Beastmen: Hugh Allen –– Bretonnia: Neil Peckett –– Chaos Dwarfs: Dave Crabtree –– Daemons of Chaos: “The One And Only” Chris Stokes –– Dark Elves: Craig Namvar –– Dwarfs: Andy Spiers –– High Elves: Pasha Korniyenko –– Lizardmen: Martyn Cooper –– Ogre Kingdoms: Ross O’Brien –– Orcs & Goblins: Anthony Jackson –– Skaven: Andy Russell –– The Empire: Mark Wildman –– Tomb Kings: Stu Lidbetter –– Vampire Counts: Oliver Carrdus –– Warriors of Chaos: Andy Robinson –– Wood Elves: Tris Buckroyd

At the end of the fourth game the event suffered its first casualty.

Matt Dodgon suffered a miscast was removed as a casualty, this caused the database to catch fire and we had to call King George to put out the blaze.

Day 2 provided us with hot food. Thank you, master! Bobo had gone around on the Saturday and taken lunch orders for all the players: you were offered the choice of a lamb hotpot, beef chilli and wedges or toasted Panini with chips. While they devoured the tasty treats the players were given the chance to vote for the Best Army award. The players nominated were David Crabtree with Chaos Dwarfs, James ‘Bolle’ Bolsover with Tomb Kings, Ben DeBosdari with Skaven, Dave Sweeting with Orcs & Goblins and Dave Pyle with Dark Elves. Even Bobo and I couldn’t agree which one we liked the most.

The final rounds took place without too many surprises, though we saw some very tough games going on on the top tables! Paul Scott and Martyn Cooper played off for the overall win on table 1, round 6.

As a final aside, I should apologise to the players for the last minute hiccup regarding the results. It was the end of a long weekend and I simply sorted the results by the wrong column, leading to a few people wondering what the heck was going on! As mentioned the spreadsheet’s complexity had caused a few issues over the weekend, and despite trialling it in the weeks before the event there’s no test that can compare to running a 90 person event on the software! King George has promised a newer, shinier, fire resistant version for future events.

That about wraps it up from this little data-minion. Thanks to everyone who came along and made for a very enjoyable weekend, and look forward to seeing you all again next!

Martyn Cooper claims the Overall Champion’s sword as his trophy - his look of shock, we presume, was due to the weight of it.

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BATTLE REPORT

Greed Is Good

Tomb Kings (Chris Taylor) vs Warriors of Chaos (Matt Howley) As scribed by (yep, you guessed it) Isaac ‘Bobo’ Alexander

The stars really did align when it came to putting this report together. We knew that we wanted to do a Tomb Kings battle report to showcase the new army book, and we thought the dust had settled enough by now that we could give them a fair trial.

Of course, no one at Unseen Lerker actually plays Warhammer any more (we’re all addicted to Angry Birds and barely have time to change our colostomy bags, let alone play wargames) so we needed to outsource in order for the report to actually feature any, well, players. Fortunately this did not prove too difficult a task; being based in Nottingham means that every man and his dog play a wargame of some sort and it wasn’t long before we drummed up two eager (if unwashed) volunteers.

Chris Taylor has been playing Tomb Kings as long as anyone can remember (like the desert sands, he’s kind of always been there).

Of late he has been mysteriously absent from the UK tournament scene, not making the UK Masters for the first time in three years (something to do with having a life, apparently), but we ventured forth into the bleak wasteland of West Bridgford and dragged him out of his pyramid.

Matt Howley has followed the opposite trajectory, bursting onto the UK tournament scene in late 2009 and never really going away, despite the occasional attempt to push him in front of a rampaging Lamassu. Formerly ranked the #1 Warriors of Chaos player in the world (according the www.rankingshq.com) Matt was affectionately known as ‘The Gateway King’ due to his love for making people take off their most expensive unit while cackling like a lunatic.

When setting the stage for the battle report, we wanted to do something a little bit special. As fate would have it, a wargaming friend of ours, Mr Nick Eyre of North Star Figures (www. northstarfigures.com) happened to have a fantastic desert-themed scenic gaming board that we were able to borrow for the game.

All that was left was to get our hands on the most deserty terrain we could (including building a pyramid – which was surprisingly easy, not like the Egyptians make out, the wusses) and come up with a fun scenario for the lads to play. Enter Rob Henson, organiser of one of the most established multi-system wargaming events in the UK, Open War. For their most recent doubles tournament they utilised a fun ‘Treasure Hunt’ scenario, which we’ve recreated here for your viewing pleasure.

Scenario: Treasure Hunt!

The Battlefield Set up the table as per the Battleline scenario, including a good mix of terrain scattered throughout.

Treasure Counters Starting with the player who has the fewest number of characters (roll of in the case of a tie) players take turns placing 4 treasure counters on the table. The counters cannot be placed within 12” of another counter or any table edge.

Deployment & First Turn As per the Battleline scenario.

Game Length The battle will last for six turns, or until one side is wiped out!

Victory Conditions Calculate Victory Points as per normal. Treasure Counters are worth +125VPs each (see below). A difference of at least 300VPs is required for a winner to be declared, otherwise the game is a draw.

Scenario Special Rules Claiming yer booty: A Treasure Counter not carried by a character can be claimed by a unit within 3” of it when the game ends, provided that unit has a command model or character in it. (note: a unit may only lay claim to one Treasure Counter) Oi, dat’s my shiny!: Treasure Counters can be picked up by characters during the game, by simply moving over them. While carrying treasure the character and any unit he joins may not march, and the character must always accept any challenges that are issued. If the character is killed or flees then the treasure is dropped immediately; if killed in a challenge the enemy character may seize the treasure for himself! (Note: unless he has really, really big hands, a character can only carry one Treasure Counter at a time.)

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MATT INTRO Matt: So… Being asked to play in a battle report against Tomb Kings has me a little confused, as I’ve had mixed results against them since the book came out. I still don’t have a strategy ’set in stone’ for when I play against them. I was playing Warriors of Chaos, which is the army I know best, and an army that has several different ways to play. I decided to bring a close combat orientated force which I felt would put the Tomb Kings army under pressure as I have found that if you fight the game on their terms you will often come up short. This being the case I wanted a force that was quite hard hitting, could soak up a lot of damage and was really fast.

I decided to go with a Chaos Lord to lead my force, and quite a character-heavy army in general. The Chaos Lord with his ability to fly on his disc, 3+ ward save and good combat abilities is a very flexible character who gives me options to deal with a variety of threats. Also with his Glaive of Putrification he can fly into combats and reduce high Toughness enemy targets to Strength and Toughness 2, which could come in handy against the Toughness 8 monsters that are a staple of every Tomb Kings list!

I backed the Chaos Lord up with a Sorcerer Lord with spells from the Lore of Shadow. Shadow is a fantastic lore, probably the best going around at the moment; if anything its one flaw is a

lack of things to do to pass the time until you get into combat (at least with a Chaos army). To this end I included two additional Sorcerers with Fire magic to give me some long range threats, and a rock-hard Battle Standard Bearer on a chaos steed as another fast combat character. As my frontline units I selected 80 frenzied Marauders with great weapons, a ‘bunker’ of Chaos Warriors and two units of Knights. Unfortunately that was all my points used up! However I felt I was good to go, with an army that was fast and very good at killing things when it got there.

With my subtle battle plan (“smash their faces in”) in mind I decided to leave my Hellcannon out of the list as it didn’t fit with the play style of the rest of the army. I felt quite happy with my army’s ability to fight combats and also to capture the objectives.

I know from experience that some armies struggle to handle two units of Chaos Knights; I had a feeling that this would be the case with Tomb Kings as the combination of the Knights’ speed, combat prowess and 1+ armour save makes them a cause of headaches for opposing generals.

The only issue with my army that I could see is the fact that most of it is frenzied. This is good on the one hand as it is all immune to psychology and better in combat for being frenzied, but I was a little concerned that my army would be pulled out of place by the Tomb Kings forces (and then promptly killed by Sphinxes) I was looking forward to the battle as I was interested to see how my army would match up with Chris’s. I’ve played Chris twice previously and it’s been a hard fought battle each time, so I’ll need to make sure I stay on my toes to avoid getting mummified!

Matt’s Warriors of Chaos – 2395pts Chaos Lord

Mark of Tzeentch, Disc of Tzeentch, Shield, Dragonhelm, Glaive of Putrification, Talisman of Preservation, Bloodcurdling Roar (350)

Chaos Sorcerer Lord

Lore of Shadow, Charmed Shield, Necrotic Phylactery (250)

Chaos Sorcerer

Lore of Fire, Infernal Puppet (120)

Chaos Sorcerer

Lore of Fire, Silverjirs Hex Scroll (135)

Exalted Hero

Mark of Tzeentch, Chaos Steed, Shield, Armour of Destiny, Stream of Corruption (236)

40 Chaos Marauders

Mark of Khorne, Full Command, Great Weapons (250)

40 Chaos Marauders

Mark of Khorne, Full Command, Great Weapons (250)

12 Chaos Warriors

Full Command, War Banner (289)

5 Chaos Knights

Mark of Khorne, Standard, Musician (260)

5 Chaos Knights

Standard, Banner of Rage (255)

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CHRIS INTRO Chris: When Bobo got in contact and asked if I would like to take part in a battle report with my Tomb Kings I readily agreed. It wasn’t until afterwards that I found out I would be facing one of the harder opponents for the undying legion – Chaos Warriors. Garr, I’ve been tricked!

Still, I always enjoy a challenge, so taking this on board I set about designing a list for the upcoming battle.

With the coming of the new army book I’ve trialled a number of different ideas, but the list I have been having most success with has included a level 4 High Liche Priest to act as my Hierophant.

To ensure that he could survive any miscasts (I hear the Infernal Puppet is quite popular among Chaos players …) I gave him the Earthing Rod. In addition I decided to take two level 2 Liche Priests with Light magic; a staple of my lists. I normally don’t bother with the level upgrades on these, but for this battle I wanted to have access to both the magic missiles and spells that may allow my units to strike before the high Initiative enemy.

The good thing about going into a battle report game is you usually know what you’ll be facing, so can tailor your list a bit to face. With Warriors this meant I would be expecting Warriors, Chosen, flail-toting Marauders, Hellcannon/s, Chaos Knights and potentially multiple flying characters. Therefore I wanted

some hard hitting troops of my own, and they don’t come much harder than two units of Necropolis Knights, backed up with two Warsphinxes with fiery breath. My theory being that either of these units would deter the enemy characters due to killing blow, and have the survivability to stand for a few rounds of combat vs Knights/Marauders.

The Core I wanted was mainly made up of Skeletal Archers.

These always form the basis of my army and I took two units of 10 and one of 17. Their role was not the lucky shooting of a Knight here or there, but to whittle down any Marauders that came to the battle. 37 shots a turn meant 6 kills on average dice, rising to 12 if I cast the boosted Smiting spell, hopefully leaving manageable units if they reached my lines. A small unit of Light Horsemen could also prove an irritance, or a last-minute speedbump if need be – plus, they shot too!

These were backed up by a unit of four chariots to act as a throwaway unit against Marauders. The theory being 4D6 impact hits and a decent amount of attacks, combined with a little luck would reduce the already diminished blocks to make them ineffective (or dead, which also works). Another benefit was that if Matt was to take any great weapons on his units instead of flails they should do 14 kills prior to being struck back; usually enough to win the combat and break a block on the charge.

Since I had taken casters as my character choices it seemed prudent to use my Rares to back this up, in the form of a Hierotitan and Casket of Souls. Both the extra casting bonus and additional power dice would prove very useful in what I suspect could very turn into a magical duel. The lack of Screaming Skull Catapults may already have some veteran Tomb King generals shaking their heads in wonder.You’re right, of course; they are very good and usually form the backbone of any Tomb Kings

army. Which is exactly why I didn’t take them – I’ve used them in almost every game now and was interested to see how the army would perform without them.

Finally, I did actually remember to read the scenario description before writing my list, and this encouraged me to include command models in a number of my units to ensure I had ample opportunity for capturing the treasure at the end.

Which pretty much sums up my gameplan: shoot Matt’s blocks down to manageable size, countercharge, mop up, then grab the treasure when no one’s watching!

Chris’s Tomb Kings – 2400pts High Liche Priest

Level 4, Lore of Nehekhara, Earthing Rod (235)

Liche Priest

Level 2, Lore of Light (105)

Liche Priest

Level 2, Lore of Light, Dispel Scroll (130)

7 Skeleton Light Horsemen (98) 17 Skeleton Archers Full command (132)

10 Skeleton Archers Musician (70)

10 Skeleton Archers Musician (70)

4 Skeleton Chariots Standard (230)

4 Necropolis Knights Standard, musician (280)

4 Necropolis Knights Standard, musician (280)

Warsphinx

With Fiery Breath (230)

Warsphinx

With Fiery Breath (230)

Casket of Souls (135) Hierotitan (175)

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Unseen Lerker

The Setup Bobo: Our brave combatants arrived at the Unseen Lerker HQ on an unnecessarily bright Saturday morning, and upon presentation of their armies I must say I was quite impressed.

Both forces looked formidable while not being over the top, and I immediately began wondering which army I’d rather be in command of given the choice. But then someone handed me a biscuit and my mind went elsewhere.

As the scenario didn’t do anything particularly radical to the deployment phase, the players could actually implement their cunning strategies right from the get go. As the armies unfurled it was evident that both players had set up with a similar plan in mind, having their hard-hitting units interspersed throughout their lines to support the weaker infantry, with one or two rock-hard combat units on the flanks to apply some pressure. Chris’s trio of Liche Priests (joined at the hip, apparently) decided to bunker up in their Skeleton unit behind some Necro Knights and the Casket hid behind the pyramid, while Matt’s

Sorcerer Lord led the advance from the Marauders in the centre and both Fire Sorcerers joined the western Chaos Warriors.

Finally, the Skeleton Light Horse brigade scouted up the far east flank. What their plan was only Chris could know …

The treasure tokens were placed fairly evenly across the board; two very central and one each a tad closer to the deployment zones. We lowly spectators discussed in hush tones who would made a bid for which objective marker, and when. They weren’t worth an awful lot of victory points, but in a tight matchup like this they might prove to be the telling difference between victory and defeat.

With all that boring stuff out of the way, the players shook hands and rolled for the first turn!

Magic Chris’s Liche Priests Level 4 (Nehekhara): Incantations of Protection, Smiting,Vengeance & the Skullstorm Level 2 (Light): Shem’s Burning Gaze, Net of Amyntok Level 2 (Light): Shem’s Burning Gaze, Banishment

Matt’s Sorcerers Level 3 (Shadow): Okkam’s Mindrazor, Enfeebling Foe, Pit of Shades Level 1 (Fire): Fireball Level 1 (Fire): Fireball

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Turn 1 – Amnesia & Shell Games Wasting no time, the Warriors of Chaos leapt into action. The disc-mounted Chaos Lord zoomed the full 20” up the right flank, landing safely behind the desert shacks there but still threatening the unit nearby thanks to his elevated line of sight. The rest of the advance was more cautious, aware of the reach on the Necro Knights – with no Catapults to contend with, Matt seemed happy to play a patient game and wait for his magic to show him the way forward. The way seemed well hidden though, as his first spell, a Fireball, bounced off the tough hide of the western Warsphinx. Pit of Shades targeted its eastern counterpart, but brought no joy as it scattered wide. The Chaos Lord let out a fearsome Bloodcurdling Roar at the adjacent Necropolis Knights, inflicting a wound. To round out the first Chaos turn, there was

a moment of great amusement as Matt realised he had forgotten to deploy a Sorcerer. Here at Unseen Lerker, we hire only the best! Chris benevolently allowed him to place it in the Chaos Warriors – us photographers and notetakers were less forgiving, commenting that the only model suffering from Stupidity in Matt’s army was in fact Matt himself. Ho ho ho, chortle etc.

In response Chris performed a typical Tomb Kings movement phase. That is to say he moved his units in a shell-game style fashion that befuddled the onlookers to such an extent that we immediately felt confused, impressed, and a little afraid. Tomb Kings players are such devious sods.

Magic rolled around, and with the Casket in support Chris generated an impressive 12 power dice to Matt’s measly 5 dispel dice. This allowed him to Net the Marauders traversing the oasis, inflict the Incantation of Vengeance on the central Chaos Knights with Battle Standard in tow, effectively leaving them stranded in dangerous terrain next turn. A Burning Gaze also shot out at the same unit, but the single wound bounced off their armour.

Lastly the withered bloke manning the Casket tried to pry open the lid and fry the Chaos Lord, but Matt enthusiastically quashed the effort with all of his dice. Shooting picked away here and there, killing some Marauders from each unit and even plucking a Chaos Knight from the saddle as he opened his visor for a very poorly timed sneeze.

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Turn 2 – The (Burial) Plot Thickens First on the agenda were some Frenzy tests; both Chaos Knight units could reach the unit of Necro Knights in front of each of them. Matt successfully restrained with both units – and then charged with them anyway! The Battle Standard’s Knight unit passed their dangerous terrain tests and slammed into the snake riders, while the Chaos Knights on the eastern hill rolled terribly for their distance and fell well short, leaving the Chaos Lord to charge into the other Necro Knights alone!

A seven power dice magic phase began with a Fireball singing the Hierotitan’s turban, but inflicting no discernable damage. An Irresistible Force Pit of Shades was a possible cause for concern, and we all expected the east-flank Warsphinx to tumble into oblivion, but thanks to the combined profile it used the Tomb Guard’s higher Initiative of 3, and passed. The miscast result did nought but fry a couple Marauders thanks to the Infernal (Inevitable) Puppet.

Combat was much more exciting, with the Chaos Lord ripping into the first unit of Necro Knights, but not quite managing

to finish one of the beasts off. In return the single wound they scored on him was a Killing Blow! A very tense 3+ ward save followed, which drew an ‘ooooh’ from the crowd as Matt rolled a ‘3’. The Necro Knights took a further wound from combat resolution. Across the battlefield, their brethren were faring less well against the Chaos Knights with attached BSB. The combination of the BSB’s normal and breath attacks, plus the Knights plus the horses, crippled the unit and left only Tomb Kings construct standing after the combat, for the decapitation of a single Knight.

In response Chris committed his Chariots to the flank of the BSB’s Knight unit, hoping to either rout them or at least cripple them so they could be finished off later on. The Warsphinx that had just dodged the Pit also fancied a bit of fisticuffs action, but sadly couldn’t draw an arc on the other Chaos Knight unit. The other Warsphinx went into commando mode and snuck around the side of the monument on the far hill, threatening the Chaos Warriors’ advance, while everyone else reloaded their bows and prepared to, erm, fight in the shade?

Magic was mightily impressive this turn; the extra power dice from the Casket meant that the ratio of power to dispel dice was always heavily in favour of the Tomb Kings. Things started promisingly, with 5 Chaos Warriors being obliterated by a Banishment spell. Chris then tried to cast the Incantation of Protection on his Chariot unit to help them weather the BSB’s attacks, but Matt managed to dispel it on a double ‘6’. Finally he granted the unit extra attacks through Smiting.

The effects of this were quite impressive – even with only three Chariots in contact the crew mustered a mighty 18 attacks!

Unfortunately they were up against the very tough Chaos Battle Standard Bearer, whose 3+ armour save and 3+ ward save easily saw him through. One Chaos Knight was scythed down from the impact hits, leaving just three Chaos models remaining, but they still managed to beat the last Necro Knight to a pulp before reforming to face the Chariots. Meanwhile the Chaos Lord and other Necro Knights fought each other to a standstill, with neither making any real headway.

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Turn 3 – Asphinxiation BOOM! The unengaged Chaos Knights levelled their … horses … and charged into the Necro Knights currently ‘entertaining’ the Chaos Lord. Nearby, despite the protests of the Sorcerer Lord, the frenzied Marauders surged towards the Warsphinx in front of them! Their charge roll was not high enough however, simply leaving them standing in front of it instead! The Sorcerer Lord tried to bail himself out of a tight situation using another Pit, but the Liche Priests were expecting such a ploy and produced a Dispel Scroll to foil his efforts.

Combat was pretty brutal this turn, with the Chariots being wiped out to a man and the Necro Knights being decimated by the Lord and charging Chaos Knights, with only one model left standing when the dust had cleared. The fact that the dust had, up until recently, been Necro Knights was somewhat poignant.

Accepting the inevitable, Chris committed the Warsphinx into the Sorcerer Lord’s Marauder unit. The main advantage of charging them before they charged him was that he could choose the alignment, namely getting into contact with the Sorcerer Lord to try and Killing Blow his ass! On the far west flank the sneaky Warsphinx continued its sneaky ways, darting around behind the monument and eyeing up the rear of the Chaos Warrior unit.

With so much in combat now, the Casket’s bound spell was abandoned in favour of the Liches’ magic. Banishment was the only spell of note this turn, targeting the Chaos BSB and his two Knight buddies. A snap, a crackle and a pop later and the unit was reduced to just the Exalted Hero and his now crispy banner – not a bad result!

Combat too proved quite fruitful: although the last Necro Knight was eviscerated, the Warpshinx fighting the Marauders went absolutely mental. The Tomb Guard put a wound on the Sorcerer Lord, then the fiery breath killed eight Marauders, the Thundercrush Attack killed a further eight, then the Thunderstomp killed three. 20 wounds in one phase – yowzer!

The Marauders were so shocked that they didn’t inflict any wounds in return, and only just managed to pass their Steadfast test.

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Turn 4 – Crunch Time This is usually the crucial stage of the battle: the climax which eliminates major contenders on the battlefield and effectively shapes how the endgame will play out.

We were not disappointed, and the turn began with the Chaos Lord charging the Casket of Souls behind the pyramid (Chris laments forgetting to move it), while the Chaos Knights, thanks to their combat reform last turn, piled into the Warsphinx’s flank in a bid to rescue to the dwindling Marauders. On the west flank the Sorcerers suddenly noticed the looming commando Warsphinx and jumped ship out of their Chaos Warrior unit, leaving their bodyguards to, er, ‘take care of it’ (yes, dear reader, it was very much going to be a case of Operation: Speedbump). Also worth mentioning is that a powerful desert wind blew across the table, knocking down all of the trees in the oasis. They definitely weren’t knocked over deliberately by Matt with the justification that they were ‘messing with his feng shui’.

Combat was more or less as expected, with the Chaos Lord butchering the Casket guards and promptly having the ancient relic explode in his face. Still, the 3+ ward held strong and he shrugged off the blast. Closer to the centre, the engaged Warpshinx was overwhelmed by the additional attacks now provided by the Chaos Knights. Even the horses managed two wounds – giddy up! Before toppling though the Sphinx did manage to finish off the Sorcerer Lord; definitely a fair trade as far as the Tomb Kings were concerned.

Now it was Chris’s turn to return the favour. The commando Sphinx thundered into the Chaos Warriors, happy to take the sacrifice offered. Matt had positioned his largely untouched unit of Marauders to counter this attack, but Chris had a cunning plan in mind for them. Like filling them with arrows. Everyone in the army moved into ideal bowfire positions to aid this goal. Magic heralded an area-of-effect Smiting spell, which Matt let through,

perhaps not realising it also gave the 2x multiple shot rule to everyone within 24”! Chris followed this up with the often overlooked Skullstorm spell; a Strength 4 Vortex. Matt also let this through, and used his Hex Scroll against the High Liche Priest – who promptly turned into a frog! We didn’t have an appropriate amphibian with which to displace him. We did, however, have a Lergy the Lerker miniature!

Hilarity aside, the Skullstorm ripped through the ranks of Marauders, killing 16. The bowfire then piled in and cut down a swathe more – what had at the start of the turn been a Ferocious Horde had now been reduced to The Three Amigos. So much for the counterattack!

The Sphinx expectedly annihilated the Chaos Warriors. Hard as a rock, he is. The Sphinx overran a few inches, trying not to chuckle at my awesome puns.

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Turn 5 – Adding Injury to Insult The Chaos Lord swooped into the rear of the 10 Skeleton Archers loitering nearby – after all, he couldn’t allow them to run off and grab his treasure in the last turn, could he! On the opposite side of the battlefield the last three Marauders had an amusing Frenzy test to pass, in order to avoid charging into the ravenous Warsphinx nearby! They did pass (much to our disappointment), and instead made a beeline for the Skeleton Archers on the hill sheltering the level 2 Liches.

The two Fire wizards had made a run for it, splitting up and trying to put as much distance between themselves and the Warsphinx as possible. Six power dice were generated and one of the wizards, with not much else to do, unleashed a Super Mega Fireball at the Warpshinx, succeeding Irresistibly. A single wound was not enough to see off the construct however, and only thanks to his little Puppet friend was the Sorcerer able to dodge a messy death.

While the Chaos Knights and Marauders turned around and tried to spook the Skeleton Light Horsemen (who had been forgotten in all the action) with an eye for grabbing some treasure in turn 6, the Chaos Lord bludgeoned his way through the Skeleton Archers, leaving the traditional one standing after combat res.

The Tomb Kings struck back – albeit from a distance. The Warsphinx did its best to try and pen in the errant Sorcerers prancing about, one of which was neatly taken care of by an Irresistible 48” Banishment spell. Only a smoking pair of boots was left after the five wounds it inflicted. The Puppet-aided miscast did see the Liche Priest narrowly avoid a cranium explosion, although 11 of his less fortunate Skeleton buddies were obliterated in the magical backlash.

Shooting was fairly elementary, dear Watson; although the remaining Chaos Sorcerer was too far away to be shot, the three Marauders running screaming at the archer line were prime targets and quickly reduced to just a single Norseman with an axe. The Light Horsemen thought better of using their measly Strength 3 arrows against the Chaos Knights bearing down on them, and darted behind the hill to avoid having the Knights grind their bones to make their bread. Because, as we all know, Chaos Knights love a wee spot of baking.

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Turn 6 – ‘Oh, right, the objectives!’

This was it then, the closing manoeuvres of the game. Where tactics and carefully measured decisions are cruci–– oh, that lone Marauder seems to have Frenzied into a full unit of bowmen.

And been beaten to death before he could even swing his great weapon. Never mind, ey?

The Chaos Lord and Exalted Battle Standard Bearer couldn’t reach any more undead from their current positions, and being rather tired by this stage decided to take the easy victory points by gliding and galloping (respectively) over to a pile of treasure.

What remained of the Sorcerer Lord’s Marauder unit did the same, setting up a small campfire near the stash of sapphires, and breaking out the marshmellows to celebrate a job well done. They didn’t seem particularly upset that their former leader was lying nearby in several meaty chunks, but perhaps they were just sick of him always winning at the monthly Scrabble meet.

The Scores on the Doors Tomb Kings: 1329VPs + 1 objective = 1454VPs Warriors of Chaos: 1300VPs + 3 objectives = 1675VPs

Result: DRAW!

The deceased big-wizard’s surviving protégé, Little Mr Fire Mage, had well and truly had enough of bloody Warsphinxes by now, and made a beeline for the back board edge to put as much distance between himself and the looming rock-monster as possible. A final desperate attempt at Fireball was all he could muster, but despite the High Liche Priest still being quite convinced that he was a frog and hopping around looking for flies to eat he still managed to find time to dispel the feeble magic.

With that, the Chaos had done their last, and it was over to Chris to see what naughtiness he could wreak in the final turn of the game.

Not a great lot, as it turned out. The Warsphinx fell 1” short of its intended Sorcerer prey, leaving the magic to try and finish him off. The Hierotitan, having played a very auxiliary role in the game thus far, moved forward and attempted to Spirit Leech the Chaos Lord. A bit of a long shot, but what the hey. Unfortunately for Chris he could not roll high enough to even get Matt to

take any ward saves, and we moved swiftly on. Next though the Hierotitan DID have a big impact. Throughout the game the +D3 to cast effect had proved very useful for the Liche Priests, allowing them to cast at least one extra spell per turn. This time it meant that Chris had a great advantage in the dice-off to see whether he could break through Matt’s defences and blast the final Sorcerer with a super-powered Shem’s Burning Gaze, and thanks to the Hierotitan’s augmentative* presence the spell got through, eradicating the magicker and clearing the western half of the table of all Chaos models.

The game ended just as the central Skeleton Archer unit stumbled across a large pile of emeralds. Upon admiring them though, they were surprised to discover that one of them was a frog – which suddenly transformed back into the High Liche Priest!

‘Uhmm, hi guys …What did I miss?’ * Note: this may not be a word.

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Chris: There’s something very satisfying about having a plan come together, and I think it did here. Mostly.

The very early loss of both Necro Knight units – my main heavy hitters – made me very concerned about my army’s ability to fight in the late half of the game, but somehow it worked out okay. Matt’s Marauder blocks, that I was the most concerned about, never made it to my lines thanks to a combination of standoffishness, bowfire, diversionary tactics, delaying them by sacrificing a Sphinx (and by pushing the units backwards when no one was looking).

Matt: Damn, so close – if my Fire mage had survived that last Shem’s spell I would have won!

My units were pretty average and were really outshined by my characters. The Chaos Lord proved to be a real thorn in Chris’s army as he smashed everything he touched! The Exalted BSB was also amazing in that he took all those chariots in the flank and then crushed them; had it been a regular knight that took the hit I think he would have been in trouble.

Even though we had an even number of wizards I found that the Casket and bone genie really swung things in Chris’s favour.

I underestimated the Lore of Nehekhara as Chris did a lot of

I’ve got to say I was really pleased with the Hierotitan and Casket combo. This pair have proved absolutely outstanding in all my games with the new Tomb Kings; all it takes is a couple of extra dice and casting bonuses and the magic phase suddenly rockets onto a whole new level. The Lore of Nehekhara too I think is really underrated. Tomb Kings get the option of Death & Light as well, which both seem more ‘obvious’ choices, especially since you’re ‘forced’ to take your Hierophant on Nehekhara, but I have actually found it to be vital to the army operating. The Smiting spell in particular is outstanding, but the ward save is useful too and my personal favourite, which I never hear anyone talking about, is the Skullstorm vortex.

Overall I was pretty happy with how the game went – though I was kicking myself over forgetting to move the Casket when the Chaos Lord could charge it – and thought everything went more or less as intended. At the end of day though Matt played well with a very solid list and gave as good as he got, so I think a draw was a pretty fair result. Thanks to Matt for the game and to the Lerker guys for a fun day out; hope to come back for another go soon!

damage when he put the Skullstorm through my big Marauder block. Despite the magical disadvantage I was able to hold my own thanks to the (amphibious) ace up my sleeve. The look on Chris’s face was priceless when Bobo replaced his High Liche Priest with an Unseen Lerker model!

All in all the game was really close and I was surprised that Chris had a slight lead on me when we were working out the final results. Being able to claim three of the treasure tokens with my faster units was a big boost to my score. I purposefully left these until the late game as I needed the speed of my hard hitters to catch Chris’s army.

I look forward to our next game and already have some ideas on how to claim victory next time we meet. Thanks to the Lerker crew for setting the game up and to Chris for being an excellent opponent. Will definitely be back for another Unseen Lerker battle report!

Did you enjoy that little rollick, and perhaps want to give the scenario a go yourself?

We made our objectives very easily using coloured modelling crystals and bases from Arcane Scenery and Models, our local hobby retailer.

You can either go to their website to grab some for yourself

www.arcanesceneryandmodels.co.uk or, if you subscribe to Unseen Lerker before November 1st, we’ll GIVE them to you!

www.unseenlerker.com/subscribe

23

Unseen Lerker

24

THE TEST DUMMIES: Warrior Knights “Warrior Knights is a game of medieval diplomacy, politics, and war. It is playable by 2-6 players in 2-4 hours. A re-design of the 1985 classic, this edition features modernized, streamlined mechanics and gorgeous, high quality components. Dozens of detailed plastic figures are complemented by a linen finished gameboard and cardboard components.”

– OG Games, official sponsor of the Test Dummies

Producer: Fantasy Flight Games Type of game: Board game No. of players: 2-6

Dummy #1: Dan Comeau Dan: Political Intrigue … Divided rulers … Mass sieges and battles … All we need now is some nudity and incest and we could have a certain game about certain thrones. Luckily we don’t though, so please put your clothes back on. Warrior Knights is exactly as described above – each player takes on the role of a baron, leading armies to try and control as many cities as possible and become ultimate ruler of the land.

Let’s start with the unboxing – regular readers probably already expect a glowing review about the aesthetic quality of the game as it is another Fantasy Flight product – and this is definitely no different. The board itself is very good quality with some nice simple artwork which conveys the atmosphere of the game. There are a lot of cards – and small ones at that. I have to admit, I’m not really a fan of the smaller size but I understand the concession needed as there would be no room in the box for all the cards and tokens needed (and it’s already a big box!).

My one gripe is the playing pieces represent the armies and generals – due to the small nature and weakness of the plastic, I suspect the tiny appendages and weapons on the pieces won’t last very long before breaking off.

The rulebook is nicely laid out, it is very clear and easy to follow with illustrations and, thanks to the simple mechanics of the game, it is very quick to pick up with the majority of the action being handled via the cards.

Each player has a hand of action cards and each player chooses two of his cards to play in each phase, which are then shuffled together with the other players’ chosen cards. Generally these actions mean moving your pieces across the board, attacking cities or enemies or gaining some resource such as gold, faith or votes.

I really like the select & shuffle system as it means you know roughly how soon your action is going to take place in the turn,

but not in relation to the other players’ actions. This means you’ve got to think quite tactically and form back-up plans depending on which order the actions take place.

As I said before, the rules are really straight forward but I think this is a game which requires quite a few plays before people really start to master the game.You are required to plan several turns ahead to get the most out of your turns, and are constantly second-guessing the actions your opponents will take so you need to bear all that in mind when choosing your own actions.

One of my major concerns of the game is that it seems quite obvious about halfway through the game who is going to win; the main victory condition is possessing more influence tokens than your opponents once the pool of said tokens has run out – these are earned at the end of each turn for each city you control. Once all the neutral cities have been captured it becomes increasingly more difficult to capture a city that another player controls. Because of this, there is a big rush to capture as many of the neutrals as possible, after which a bit of a stand-off ensues.

Then it’s often a case of one person suddenly getting ahead in the resource race and winning before anyone has had much of a chance to build up and attack their neighbours.

I like the look of the game, and enjoyed the way it played, but I found it was lacking the total immersion you get from other conquest/resource games such as Civilization (reviewed in Issue 7) and found that it tended to end with a bit of an anti-climax.

Having said that – if you really enjoy this style of resource race game then I would recommend it. The sheer amount of stuff you get in the box is worth the bargain price tag alone (£29.99 from OG Games). I also liked the assembly/voting system as it’s something a bit different and does make the game stand out from parallel products.

Warrior Knights contents: • 1 Rulebook • 1 Game Board • 48 Plastic Pieces • Over 280 Cards • More than 380 Tokens

Unseen Lerker

25

STRONGHOLD CARDS GAME BOARD OVERVIEW

Dummy #2: Greg Dann Greg: Another issue and another game, this time Warrior Knights - a game originally created in 1985 and given the wonder touch by Fantasy Flight games, one of the many companies delving into ‘classic’ game re-visitations.

Each player takes on the role of a baron trying to stake his claim over the land through military might but who cannot ignore the Church or the voting of the Assembly. The action phases (as described by my colleague) are quite interesting; you have control over what your actions are, but not when they take place, meaning, for example, that you can hire more forces before you choose to attack your foes...unless your opponent hires them first! After the action cards have been played they’re moved to one of three sections – which then leads to either taxes being raised, troops being bought, or the Assembly being called to vote. These sub-phases are not just important for the immediate bonus they can provide but if you play it correctly you can cycle through the action cards fairly quickly (they’re returned to your hand after they’ve done their sub-phase bit), giving you a much wider scope of options turn by turn, and helps alleviate analysis paralysis since you can usually get back the cards you need to complete your evil masterplan.

The Assembly is a very interesting facet of the game, probably my favourite if I’m honest. It’s a bit of a subtle side-game that has the potential to provide some real bonuses. It gets more interesting the more players are involved, since they are the ones actually voting and you never know who is going to change their agenda just to mess with you. A game within the game, you might say.

The results of the vote have yet to make or break a game for us, but it’s good fun and can really help out in a tight spot.

As a quick side note I must make a note of the brilliant use of the Fate Cards. The game uses these in place of dice to resolve random events and happenings. There’s a variety of relevant

Each Baron receives a stronghold card that bears his name, his color, and his unique crest on it. The stronghold’s strength is also shown in the lower right of the card. A stronghold card represents the home location of a Baron.

STRONGHOLD MARKERS

symbols and colours printed on the cards, each relating to a player, city, hero character on the map, battle results and so forth. It feels a bit weird at first; as seasoned wargamers we instinctively started looking around for dice, but once you’re in the swing of things reaching for the Deck of Fate becomes quite exciting.

My big issue with the game is definitely the way combat (doesn’t) work.You spend an age mustering your forces, prepping your heroes, moving into position and then waiting for the perfect moment to launch your attach.You and your opponent then draw a certain number of combat cards from a(nother) new deck, dependent on how powerful your forces are. These cards stack up and either provide you with bonuses to destroy the enemy or to protect your own force (boiled down to a fairly simple +1/-1 per card combat result system). The winner of the battle is whoever achieves the most +1 victory cards, and although there is some damage results as well they’re not applied straight away unless you wipe out the enemy force. Unfortunately the nature of the draw means that even a vastly superior army can get screwed by picking up lots of damage prevention while your opponent gets a few cheeky +1 victory cards and beats you back. I said at the start of this paragraph that combat was anti-climactic – since then I’ve changed my mind. It sucks. Even in victory there’s no real joy to be had; when I assault an enemy stronghold and tear it down I don’t want my presiding after-battle emotion to be “meh”.

There are six stronghold markers, one for each Baron.

These markers are placed on the board during setup to show the home location of each Baron.

PLASTIC NOBLES (IN SIX COLORS )

S

INFLUENCE TOKEN MERCENARY TROOP

CARDS

EVENT CARDS

n back. Each cards have a commo Mercenary Troop and may hire Mercenary Troops, nationality Baron starts with two A Mercenary Troop’s ary others during the game. left of the card. Mercen is listed in at the bottom may desert when a Noble dies and loyal less are Troops or loses a battle.

FATE CARDS

, ARRIOR KNIGHTS important role in W Fate cards play an other important to resolve battles and since they are used page 5 for a comng Fate Cards” on them. events. See “Drawi cards and how to use Fate the of w plete overvie

BARON ACTION

Each Baron controls four Nobles, which are represented by plastic pieces of his color. During the game, these plastic Noble pieces are moved around the board to the ce over influen show the location of nt a Baron’s a Baron’s armies. Each of a Baron’s is able ce tokens represe Influen If no player four Noble pieces to the throne. a different claim pose, and each and hishas m a by cities m has Kingdo Kingdo base with a different half the shapethan (square, circle, triangle, control of more mostor to take star).

This shape corresponds the Baron with the end of the game, then to the icon in the upper left the Noble of the cards. neuand l, Influence wins. nt beneficial, harmfu S The Event cards represe place throughout the game.

OKEN N T OBLE CARDS CASUALTY take tral events that may placed on an army Casualty tokens are ies in battle.

AGENDA CARDS when it takes casualt

1. The six overseas areas, each of which has a city.

2. Three Agenda cards are placed in the “Current Agendas” space at the beginning of the game. These Agendas will be voted on during the first Assembly.

3. The three expedition tracks.

4. The three Action card areas.

12. An impassable mountainous border.

13. The road.

5. The Event deck is placed here.

6. The Influence pool area.

7. The Fate deck is placed here.

14. A unrazed city. The city’s name, strength (left), and income (right) are listed underneath the plastic city piece.

15. A port icon.

BREACH TOKENS

placed next to a city Breach tokens are ies in battle.

REGULAR TROOP CARDS when it takes casualt Each Baron receives four Noble cards, each of which corresponds to one of his plastic Noble pieces. Regular by are voted onand Mercenary Troop cards are placed beneath nt various laws that 11). (page a Noble Agenda cards represe ly card to show which Noble is leading RS gather for the Assemb ARKE ARON Mwhich troops. A B Barons when they Noble together with the troops he leads in Barontomarkers referred as Each Baron has iseight an army.

CROWN TOKENS markers also bear his color. Each Baron’s markers are used his unique crest. Baron order on the to keep track of draft well as to mark who Page 3 Mercenary Track as expeditions. is funding particular

CARDS

8. The three Special Phase areas.

9. The Mercenary Track.

10. An impassable river border.

11. A bridge across the river.

Each Baron starts the game with the four Regular Troop cards, the backs of which match his color.

A troop’s strength is listed in the lower right of its card, and the number of crowns it must be paid is listed within a gold coin.

Regular Troops represent the Baron’s loyal troops, which are less likely to be lost during the course of the game.

S

1 crown

EXPEDITION TOKEN

5 crowns

y of WARRIOR KNIGHTS Crowns are the currenc

are used to mark Expedition tokens ion is at on one of what point an expedit tracks. the three expedition

.

VOTE TOKENS SIEGE MARKERS

a used to mark when Siege markers are is under siege. city or stronghold

cards, which are s 12 Baron Action aries, and Each Baron receive start battles, hire Mercen n back used to move armies, a commo Action cards have which Baron so forth. All Baron on the front to indicate but are color-coded they belong to.

NEUTRAL ACTION

CARDS

are Votes (in 1s and 3s)

GAME SETUP

ly. used during the Assemb

OVERVIEW

Shuffle the Agend a deck and place it near the top Place the top 3 of the board.

Agendas faceup in the “Current Agendas” area.

FAITH TOKENS Place the siege markers, breach markers, casual ty tokens, Faith tokens, crowns, Vote tokens, and extra Influence tokens to the side to andboard, events l of the to avoid harmfu within easy reach Barons can use Faith of all players. ions.

Place a plastic city over each “razed city” icon on the board.

With fewer than 6 players, some cities are razed and no plastic city is placed over them (see page 19).

bless expedit

not belong Action cards that do There are eight Neutral represent certain actions that cards to any Baron. These any Baron may take.

Shuffle the 8 Neutra l Action cards and place them to the side of the board.

Page 4 After assigning starting Merce naries to each Baron (see below and step 8 on page 5), shuffle the Mercenary deck and place it off the board, near the Mercenary Track. Draw a number of Mercenary cards equal to the number of player s and place them faceup, as shown here.

Use the Fate deck (see “Drawing Fate Cards,” page 5) to determine who will start the game as Chairman of the Assembly and Head of the Church , and give the relevant player s these tokens.

Shuffle the Event deck, place the top card of the the bottom of the deck on deck, then place the deck here.

Place 10 Influen ce tokens per player

here.

Each player take following com s the ponents: Four plastic Noble A stronghold card and 4 Noble cards (unexhausted side up).

Give each player 3 50-strength Regula Troop cards and r 1 100-Strength Regular Troop card. Then take 1 100-strength Mercenary card per player from the Mercenary deck, shuffle them, and deal 1 to each player. Then take 1 50-strength Mercenary card per player from the deck, shuffle them, and deal 1 to each player.

Shuffle the Fate deck and place it here. It will mine which cities be used to deterare razed in a game and to determine with less than 6 players, who will start the game as Chairm Assembly and an of the Head of the Church . The deck should fled once again be reshufbefore the game actually begins .

pieces.

15 crowns.

12 Baron Action

cards.

A stronghold marke r, 12 control markers, and 8 Baron markers.

As always we’ll be giving away a copy of the game we’re reviewing (all our subscribers are automatically entered into the draw, so subscribe today for your chance to win!), but if you can’t wait and want to pick up a copy of the game for yourself head over to the Test Dummies’ official sponsor: www.oggames.co.uk Page 6

Unseen Lerker

™

ISSUE 10

cake n a p g n u l f a u like Coming at yo

Don’t forget to come back for Unseen Lerker Issue 10,which will include all your favourite regular columns like …

The Army Doctor The Saga of the Quartet, part 3 Special Characters: interview with a ‘Warhammer Pro’ PLUS! Mega Storm of Magic battle report Brand new hobby column!

Got feedback on the mag? Well we’re listening.

A magazine f

or ga

ctors ts and colle is y b b o h , s r e m

Email your suggestions to editor@ unseenlerker.com We promise not to send the flying monkeys after you. www.unseenlerker.com

26

visit the Eye of the Storm the UK’s premier wargaming venue, open 10am-6pm all week!

Maelstrom Games stock all the usual suspects – from Games Workshop to Privateer Press – with a growing range of independents, hobby products such as Vallejo and The Army Painter as well as historical games and miniatures, including Warlord Games, Perry Miniatures, Victrix, Great War Miniatures, Rules of Engagement, Artizan Designs and much more!

With the same discounts available in-store as online at maelstromgames.co.uk – from 10-15% off RRP – and free postage worldwide, there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t visit the Eye of the Storm for your own version of wargaming heaven!

We have our own range of fantasy miniatures – BaneLegions – in stock to order now.

Have a look elsewhere in this magazine for more information!

banelegions.maelstromgames.co.uk

events at the Eye of the Storm for more information visit events.maelstromgames.co.uk

UK Team Challenge II

Sat 1st October – Sun 2nd October Maelstrom Warhammer 40,000 tournament

Scrap Metal IV

Sat 8th October – Sun 9th October Maelstrom Hordes and Warmachine tournament

The War in Golconda

Sat 15th October – Sun 16th October Independent Warhammer 40,000 Campaign Weekend

Sat 22nd October – Sun 23rd October Independent Warhammer Fantasy Battle / Warhammer 40,000 / Epic: Armageddon / Blood Bowl tournament

Iron Wrath II

Sat 23rd October Maelstrom Hordes and Warmachine tournament

Sat 29th October – Sun 30th October Maelstrom Warhammer Fantasy Battle tournament

Sat 5th November – Sun 6th November Independent Malifaux tournament

Sat 5th November – Sun 6th November Independent Flames of War tournament

Open War XVI

Mansfield Maul V Official UK Malifaux GT 2011 Sturm über Deutschland

every Tuesday & Thursday night, 6-11pm is wargames night! All wargaming systems welcome.

www.maelstromgames.co.uk

Matlock Mill | Hamilton Way | Mansfield | Nottinghamshire | NG18 5BU 01623 629 425 | contact@maelstromgames.co.uk