Barrels and blasts
"So uncivilised!" Xal'ar'ap scoffed, its green tongue darting out between every word. "Staging a heavy cavarly charge during an underground siege..."
"Typical of Khornates and Pantheonites", quipped Vyzorak watching as Umbra, Ghargon and Shërbëtor took their places at the head of the column and disappeared down the largest tunnel leading to the Aetheric Bastion.
"And what are we to do in order to show them Tzeentch's superiority?" asked the Changecaster.
"They'll provide the distraction we need. While they get all the attention, we'll use the blastpowder bombs we recovered from the Wolfram Industries at the grot camp you mentioned."
"Did I tell you they fight for the Boltbreakers?"
"Then we'll make sure nobody sees us as we really are, and plant some of the Wolfram corpses on the battlefield."
"Blaming another enemy for your actions, Lorehoarder?"
"You're not the only schemer, Plotgibber", came Vyzorak's reply amidst a growling laughter.
The grots were camped around one of the outer structures of the old Stormfort, a massive rockgut troggoth shambling around, idly kicking up black ash.
Vyzorak had tasked the Tzaangors to act as sappers and assigned a small escort each to Kleok and R'tefcar. They were waiting, at the end of opposite corridors, for the rest of the Coven to provide a diversion.
It was up to Vyzorak, Xal'ar'ap and Inklineilis to provide that, and hidden under layers of glamours that made them look like Wolfram Industries' mercenaries, they launched themselves at the grots.
As the grot camp descended into a bedlam of high pitched screams and multihued fire blasts, the sapper teams advanced carefully, least a sudden movement triggered the volatile charges ahead of time.
Xal'ar'ap and Inklineilis had despatched half of the grot and pinned the rest in combat, though Zirithinion had fallen under their spears.
Vyzorak channeled all the sorcerous power he could into his staff and managed to smash aside the troggoth while Thalamyr took care of a grot and their squig snuffler. The way was open for the sappers.
But as the sappers prepared to close the distance to the Stormfort walls, the rest of the grot showed up, dangerously close.
Iridios and the Blue Horror Vyzorak had bound to his service leapt forward, blocking the mouth of the tunnel the grots were coming from while Kleok reached the first steps of the Stormfort.
But R'tecfar was held back. Though he and Ocladius dispatched a grot fanatic, the Loonboss stopped the Tzaangor from advancing.
Daemons and Acolytes continued to trade blows with the grots, their line holding firm.
Vyzorak and Talamyr rushed forward, pushing the Loonboss away from R'tecfar.
The two Tzaangors reached the battlements almost at the same time, lit the fuses and jumped away squawking for the others to run for cover.
Then the charges detonated, debris and oily smoke mixing with the Howling Abyss' ashes.
As the grots dispersed, the Coven of the Purple Flame moved onto the breach, tossing a couple of the Wolfram militia corpses into still burning fires.
As they entered the Aetheric Bastion, Vyzorak prayed to Tzeentch for the rest of the March forces to have been equally succesful. If not, they'd soon be inside an abandoned Sigmarite stronghold surrounded by enemies.
***
This time, I played The Fall of Snagglewart challenge battle from the Tome of Champions 2020. I have to admit the dice rolling I did for the grots was terrible, turning what should have been a difficult scenario into a rather easy one. I guess Tzeentch was smiling upon the Coven of the Purple Flame.
The coming of the Plotgibber
Again Vyzorak sat at the centre of a summoning circle, the four globes stolen from Wolfram Industries melting inside a small crucible. Thick crimson smoke laced with aetheric energies rose from it and the ogroid gestured to shape it into Tzeentch's sigil. The rune formed into the air, its All-seeing Eye shut.
"Plotgibber! I summon thee, Xal'ar'ap of the Grand Cabal!", once again the ogroid called to the Great Beyond.
The All-seeing Eye's lids slowly opened. As its pupil stared deep into Vyzorak's soul, the air around it started to crack. Then, with a wet rip it opened and out of the rent stepped Xal'ar'ap.
"Well done, Thaumaturge!" cackled the Changecaster as it capered around the chamber deep within Eklysium's citadel, its blue robes swirling madly.
"9 times 9 Hyshian cycles I'm at your service, Lorehoarder. And as a first token of my respect, I'll tell you there is a gaggle of grots camped close to the Aetheric Bastion's devices. Strike fast, strike hard, destroy their camp and seize the devices!"
"So that they can be bent to Eklysium's conquest"
"Indeed! And to the greater glory of Tzeentch..."
An here is Xal'ar'ap Plotgibber, fully painted and ready to fight with the Coven of the Purple Flame.
I obviously kept the palette consistent with all my other Tzeentch models, using exactly the same techiniques I used on the Silver Tower Pink and Blue Horrors.
The base, however, looks more like a swamp than the Silver Tower tiles, and matches that of my Dark Emissary, as I have plans for a Chaos Warband to go with him. Xal'ar'ap will feature in that warband as an ally, but I'm waiting for the end of summer to see if we'll get a new Warcry edition before starting building the other models.
Knowledge and theft
Plotgibber had been true. The human wizard was accompanied just by two scores of militiamen. Vyzorak had observed them for three days, the wizard supervising the operation, some of the militia operating the air pumps provided by Wolfram Industries, the rest diving into the clear waters of the Vitrian Well. Seven of them never made it back. The others emerged encased in their metal suits, carrying four glowing orbs. Inside them, even from the distance, images could be seen forming in an endless repetition of what the divers saw.
The wizard was now studying them, surrounded by guards.
It was time to strike, before he could learn anything useful.
Two pickets of militia stood at the edges of the Wolfram camp.
Vyzorak split the Coven of the Purple Flame so that every militia group could be engaged at the same time.
Bellowing a challenge to the wizard, Vyzorak stampeded toward him, the militia quickly jumping to intercept his advance.
The rest of the Coven sprang forth too, rasing surprised shouts of alarm, warning squawks from the gryph-terriers and a few pistol shots.
While on the left flank the fight stalled, on the right, supervised by their captain, the Wolfram militia quickly recovered their with and got the upper hand.
In the centre, Vyzorak and Kleok opened a bloddy path for R'tecfar and Zirithinion to launch themselves upon the orbs, the wizard's arcane bolts washing over R'tecfar's armour.
Vyzorak was charged from the right and pinned in place, but many a militiamen fell under his staff and horns.
Inklineilis was brought down, marking the collapse of the Coven's left flank.
And yet, even if Kleok was mauled by a gryph-terrier, R'tecfar and Zirithinion ganged up on the wizard creating an opening for Iridios to come forward and grab another orb.
Bleeding from countless wounds, Vyzorak struggled not to give into a furious rage. He instead lowered his head and pushed trought the militia, headed for the last orb. As he grabbed it, the Coven run for the cover of the Snarl undergrowth.
Though this time all members of the Coven had survived, the number of seriously injured fighters was growing. Still, it had been a well worth effort. During their retreat, Zirithinion had fallen into an abandoned scorpid nest which the Coven could put to good use to move quickly around the Snarl. While crawling away from the battlefield, Kleok had been able to snatch an explosive devices carrying the Wolfram Industires mark. And Vyzorak could sense the mixture of arcane and technological power within the orbs as he studied the images contained within them.
Soon, that power would help him bring forth the Plotgibber into Azyr.
***
I continued to play the Rat Hunters campaign, this time using the Ironweld Armoury scenario. Again, it was a tense solo game with half of the Coven taken down and the rest badly wounded, so I've definitely found a better way to play solo games.
Xal'ar'ap Plotgibber
Vyzorak Lorehoarder sat crosslegged on the floor, at the centre of a complex network of symbols, his staff resting on his knees. A stream of arcane syllables flowed from his lips, the tattoos on his body glimmering faintly. The sick light intensified as the symbols on the floor ignited.
"Plotgibber! I summon thee, Xal'ar'ap of the Grand Cabal!" boomed the ogroid voice.
In front of him the air coalesced into a swirling vortex of impossible hues. It buckled and became translucent, a silver asp visible behind it. The snake moved, as if alive, testing the boundary between Realms. It suddenly retreated to reveal a malevolent pair of eyes and four hands tracing runes around them.
"Azyr is still shut to us, Lorehoarder!"
"Then grant me the means to break the veil for you!"
"Aaaah! Know, Thaumaturge, there is a human wizard in service to Wolfram. We fanned the flames of his paranoia and avarice, convincing him to work alone with a small escort of untrained militia. Right now, they are diving deep down the Vitrian Well, bringing him stolen images on arcane devices. In those devices, there is the knowledge the Thunderhide seeks and the power to break the veil..."
"They'll be mine and your services too, Plotgibber!"
"Indeed, Vyzorak, indeed..."
Among the few bits I brought with me from Manchester, there was a fully assembled Pink Horror picked up as a free Miniature of the Month. I've had the idea to convert it into a Changecaster and for that I had kept a pair of Battlemage arms and few other random bits, promising myself to actually convert it when the moment was right. It looks like now is the right time!
I carefully cut the three arms that were on the Pink Horror and then glued the Battlemage arms at the very back of the cut on the body. Finally, I placed two of the original arms back, slightly more foward and lower than they were.
For the staff top I used the asp, and for the hand the one holding a sacrificial dagger, both seeming the best fitting for a Tzeentchian daemon.
I could have used green stuff to join the two sides of the mantle, but the area was so small I was afraid I couldn't make the sculpted cloth look realistic. Instead, I glued two bird skulls there, as if they were clasps holding two stoles together.
The final touch was the Necromancer collar, slightly reduced in size and glued on top of the head like a frill.
The ambusher ambushed
Vyzorak had been right. A massive Gutlord was bullying over the gnoblars. Even worse, whatever they had pilfered from the Gilded Manor was nowhere to be seen. Now, the only course of action left was to force an entrance into the Manor. But to do that, they had to get rid of the Gutlord. They were approaching with the cover of darkness, preparing to spring an attack from multiple directions. And then, the damn gnoblars spotted the forward members of the Coven. As their screeches filled the night, the Thaumaturge felt an ominous stirring in the strands of fate...
The members of the Coven froze around the orrery marking the centre of the square leading to the Gilded Manor. In the pitch darkness of night, they could not see the gnoblars, but they could hear them approaching from both ahead and behind them.
Zyrtx quickly dispatched the first gnoblar that launched itself at the Arcanites, but as his fellow Acolytes were unable to target the approaching enemy with their arcane bolts, they drew back toward the street where reinforcement would come from. Behind the screaming gnoblars, they could hear the deep rumble of the Gutlord's voice taunting them.
Vyzorak and his party came up the road, the screaming more than the half-glimpsed figures telling them where to head.
Pinned against a wall by three gnoblars, Zyrtx flailed wildly with his blades, until the Gutlord stepped forward and lopped off the Tzaangor's head.
Enraged by the loss of one of his followers, Vyzorak lowered his head and charged forward, pushing gnoblars aside and slamming into the Gutlord.
Behind him, the rest of the Coven pressed forwards, but the sheer number of gnoblars prevented them from reaching the Gutlord.
Another party of gnoblars emerged from the darkness behind the Coven. Whispering its true name, Vyzorak ordered his bound Blue Horror to move and slow them down.
Inklineilis' party arrived on the scene, emerging on the square just behind the Gutlord.
The ogor hacked and slashed with his massive weapon, concentrating all of his blows on Vyzorak. The Ogroid fell and only R'tecfar's sudden rampage saved him, the Tzaangor's greatblade tracing deep burrows onto the ogor's armour and flesh.
Although still bogged down by the gnoblars, the rest of the Coven pressed forward, managing to land a couple more blows on the Gutlord.
In the press of bodies, Kleok and Zirithinion were hacked down before they could strike again.
But then, squawking words of arcane power, R'tecfar lunged forward, the incantation landing strength and precision to his greatblade.
As the Gutlord crashed to the ground, the remaining Acolytes raged pitilessly on him, sending the gnoblars in a horrified rout.
Vyzorak woke up inside the Gilded Manor. He could tell by Inklineilis' furrowed brow, as the Adept studied the tiny inscriptions covering every inch of the walls. A sudden fit of pain reminded the Thaumaturge of how they got there. He looked around, and saw Zirithinion breathing painfully, his chest wrapped in bandages. The rest of the Coven nursed only marginally lighter wounds. Entering the Manor had been a costly endeavour. He prayed to Tzeentch for it to be worthy as he approached Inklineilis and started to study the inscriptions.
***
This was another solo game, but rather than generating a battleplan as normal and using the rules for Adversaries from the Tome of Champion 2020 to control the gnoblars and ogor, I've decided to play The Northern Sewer Entrance battleplan from The Rat Hunters solo campaign from the Tome of Champions 2021. I simply swapped the Skaven for a faction better fitting the Animosity VII narrative.
I have to say, it was a really challenging and rewarding game. So I'll continue to use that campaign, as long as I can make the battleplans fit with the Animosity paths.
