Scenario 3: The Warmachine

Word reaches the warbands of a ruined fort once occupied by a regiment of the Empire’s finest. Repeated raids from the nefarious creatures of the forest decimated both their numbers and their morale, causing these hard-pressed men to abandon their post. They took with them all they could carry but left behind a fully-functional mortar, too large to transport in their haste.

The warbands have heard rumours of this mighty warmachine and are putting into action plans to salvage it. It would no doubt be useful for their kinsmen in the Nemesis War.

terrain

Set the table for a wilderness battle, including hills, tors, trees, streams, and anything else the players wish.

In the centre of the board should be placed a building to represent the ruined keep. A model to represent the mortar should be placed within.

deployment

The warband with the lower warband rating may choose to be the Attacker or the Defender.

The Defender sets up first inside, or within 2" of, the ruined keep.

The Attackers may deploy up to 8" of any table edge. They may spread themselves around as many table edges as they wish.

starting the game

Both players roll D6, the player with the higher result taking the first turn.

special rules

A Lucky Find: Creeping through the undergrowth, the Attackers discover a Hochland Long Rifle, presumably dropped by the garrison soldiers in their haste to leave. It has all the normal rules of such a device (page 49 of the rulebook). However, having been left exposed to the elements, the rifle is filled with worms and corrosion – apply the optional Blackpowder Misfire rules (page 164).

The rifle is of elegant design and is surprisingly easy to use. Any model capable of using missile weapons may fire the rifle. However, if the rifle is not on the model's weapons list, subtract 1 from their BS value.

The Mortar: The Defenders have full use of the mortar. Its rules are as for a Warhammer mortar, summarised below.

One model capable of gaining experience must be standing in base contact with the mortar in order for it to be fired.

At the start of the Shooting Phase, the Defender must nominate a direction that the mortar will fire. Before measuring, he must state how many inches it will fire, between 12" and 48". Measure the distance, placing a large 5" Warhammer template at the appropriate point.

To see where the shell lands, roll both a Warhammer scatter dice and a Warhammer artillery dice. Unfortunately, the mortar is rusted and long overdue a maintenance service. It will always scatter, even if the scatter dice indicates a HIT.

The scatter dice indicates the direction that the shell veers off in. Move the template the distance indicated by the artillery dice.

Models under the template receive one Strength 3 hit with a -1 armour save modifier. Models partially covered by the template must roll D6. On a 4+ they too are hit as previously described.

Models directly under the template's central hole receive a Strength 6 hit causing D3 wounds, with no armour save allowed.

If a MISFIRE is indicated on the artillery dice, roll a D6 and consult the table below:

D6 Result	Effect
1	Boom! The mortar shell explodes before it is fired. The mortar is destroyed and the crewman taken Out Of Action.
2-3	Dud. The fuse fizzles and the gun fails to fire. It takes a complete turn to replace the shell, so the mortar cannot fire this turn or next.
4-6	Short fuse. The shell explodes in mid-air, so the shot has no effect this turn.

winning the game

The winner is the last warband to rout.

rewards

Both warbands may explore the area as normal.

If the warband carrying the Hochland Long Rifle fled, then roll D6: on 1-3 they dropped it in their haste to escape. Otherwise, they may keep it. However, months of neglect have left it somewhat defective. Roll on the Blackpowder Misfire Chart (page 164 of the rulebook) every time a “1” is rolled to hit.

The winning warband may keep the mortar. The simplest option is to sell it for 40gc. On the other hand, the campaign moderator may prefer to build this into his story. Maybe the warband wishes to make use of the fort as a base camp, with the mortar for extra security. Maybe a scenario could be devised with the warband attempting to drag the mortar across open countryside to be sold at the nearest black market. Maybe the Empire will eventually dispatch some long-awaited reinforcements to the fort, and they want their gun back.

We leave it up to you.

experience

• +1 Survives: If a Hero or Henchman group survives, they gain +1 Experience.
• +1 Winning Leader: The leader of the winning warband gains +1 Experience.
• +1 Per Enemy Out of Action: Any Hero earns +1 Experience for each enemy (including Zombies) he puts out of action.