The Deployment Zone's - Tamurkhan, Throne of Chaos Campaign

Tamurkhan, Throne of Chaos Campaign Outline:

I will be running the Deployment Zone’s – Tamurkhan, Throne of Chaos Campaign starting February 22nd and ending on May 9th. There will be no “home” location since this is a multi-site and multi-region campaign event. Details below as well as some questions I’ve answered prior to this post already:

Storyline and Introduction: (summarized and taken from the book Tamurkhan, Throne of Chaos)
There was a great gathering of the exalted champions and warlords of the armies of chaos upon the plateau of K’Datha in the ruins of Zanbaijin the Fallen City. Followers of three of the four Gods of Chaos were present and soon joined in battle to fight for supremacy over the ruined city and win the favor of the Gods. The brazen-armored warriors of Hakka the Aesling, champion of the Blood God, fought the horse-mounted reavers and marauders of the Yurtsak under the leadership of Sargath the Vain, paramour of Slaanesh. This battle was joined by the witch-cabal of Urak Soulbane, Arch Sorcerer of Tzeentch. The three armies fought for days as the bodies piled high and the stink of death hung heavy over the ruined city of Zanbaijin.

As the grand melee had reached its zenith, a fourth army crested the edge of the plateau and looked down upon the battle below. A monstrous horde filled with nightmare things, dripping rot and decay, carried an aura of miasma and pestilence about it. Bile Trolls, worm-men and hideous, nameless things dripping rot and slime roared in unison as the leader of this rotting host stepped forth. Like the other chaos warlords, the newest champion to arrive had heard the call to K’Datha and the whispered promises of power as well.

A great storm sent by Father Nurgle himself wreathed the fallen city, plunging the battling armies into darkness and obscuring the sun. With a roar that seemed torn from the very throats of hell, the fourth army descended upon the city to join in battle and win glories for their patron, the Lord of Decay. Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord, his form bloated and distorted with disease and mutation, was at the head of his nightmare host as they smashed into the followers of Khorne and Slaanesh embattled below. The witch-cabal fled the battle sending flashes of arcane flame in their wake as the rotting host descended, their general Urak seeing portents of doom for his army.

At the height of the battle, the clouds were rent asunder and caustic rain fell in sheets that putrefied the flesh of the fallen and created rancid sloughs of liquid that mired the forces of Khorne and Slaanesh as Tamurkhan’s horde slammed into their flank. Tamurkhan’s horde broke the back of the Khornites and dispersed the forces of the Blood God quickly. The horsemen of Slaanesh fought their way through the rotting host till their leader, Sargath the Vain stood before the champion of Nurgle. Sargath looked upon the withered, rotted figure slumped unceremoniously upon the vast, hulking bulk of Bubebolos the Toad Dragon. The rotted figure spewed out his own vile insults as Sargath roared out his challenge. The toad dragon opened its gaping maw and spewed a blast of unspeakable foulness at Sargath. Sargath immediately leapt into the air while his mount was reduced to a screaming pile of ooze, his miraculous jump clearing the vile ooze but the fumes instantly corroded his pristine white armor, and landed upon the back of the massive toad dragon and stood before Tamurkhan seated upon his saddle. The champion of Slaanesh speared Tamurkhan’s heart with his rune blade. Sargath’s roar of triumph was cut short as Tamurkhan began to laugh and his form bulged and finally burst asunder like rotted fruit. A large, grey child-sized maggot with rows of twisted teeth and black multi-faced eyes leapt forth and buried itself into the neck of the champion of Slaanesh. Within seconds the maggot had disappeared and Sargath’s body began to jerk spasmodically as the champion of Nurgle had found a new host. The toad dragon bellowed a roar of triumph as its master climbed upon his back once again and took his seat.

The marauders and horsemen, seeing their general defeated broke and ran and the forces of Tamurkhan swept through the remaining forces of Hakka the Aesling and claimed the city of Zanbijin for Nurgle. By right of conquest, the remaining forces swore fealty to the rotting lord as long as he promised them glory and riches in the name of Chaos.
And so began the tale of the Chosen of Nurgle, Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord, and his quest to sit upon the Throne of Chaos…
Tamurkhan and his lieutenant, Kazyk the Befouled, organized the rotting host and marched northward. As the rotting host crossed the Altayan Hills, the Dolgan warlord Sayl the Faithless, a malformed yet powerful sorcerer-lord, made a play and swore fealty to Tamurkhan and swelled the rotting host by tens of thousands of Dolgan warriors. Instead of plunging west into the lands of Kislev and the rich prizes of the Empire, Tamurkhan took his forces even further North and East towards a place of nightmares in the Chaos Wastes, the Gallows Tree.

The Gallows Tree was a twisted, nightmarish mass of limbs that served as a living gateway to the horrors beyond in the Realm of Chaos. It was said that within the nightmarish space lived an unclean hag-daemon who would bestow blessings and secrets to those that pleased her and death to those who did not. Tamurkhan brought his massive army to the foot of the gallows tree and left his horde encamped at its base as he walked into the bowels of the tree and into the realm beyond. Tamurkhan spent many days within the tree and while he was gone, his army swelled even larger every day.

Tamurkhan finally emerged from the depths of the Gallows Tree several days later and much to the rejoicing of his followers. All could see that the Maggot Lord had been marked by the Chaos Gods. The once white armor of Sargath was now rusted and befouled, swarming with bloated parasites. The new body that Tamurkhan inhabited had been ravaged during his journey but it was clear that the Lords of Chaos had chosen their new champion. In his hand, Tamurkhan bore several scrolls and he gathered around him a score of the most powerful champions and sorcerers in the horde into a war council and shared with them the revelations he received while in the Gallows Tree.

Tamurkhan declared a war upon the lands of Men; he referenced the legendary Throne of Chaos that would yield dominion over the world and untold glories to be heaped at the feet of the Chaos Gods. Tamurkhan shared the visions bestowed upon him, the forges of Zharr, the Mountains of the Mourn, the Blasted Lands and finally the ripe underbelly of the Empire. As he spoke, the gathered warlords grew enticed by his promises of power and as Tamurkhan’s raspy voice filled the chamber, the fate of the horde was sealed. And with a final, guttural roar, Tamurkhan declared war upon the lands of Sigmar and the Empire and the deafening cry of war from the gathered masses caused the very ground to shake as a new storm of chaos had begun…

Campaign Guidelines, Rules and Structure:
The Tamurkhan, Throne of Chaos Campaign is a six part point based narrative campaign setting which will be using the rules from the Warhammer Forge book Tamurkhan, Throne of Chaos. The entire campaign is set to take place over the course of 12 weeks with each phase of the campaign being two weeks long. The difference between a narrative campaign and your standard campaign is that at the end of every phase, the side that has the greater amount of campaign points will directly impact the next phase. There will also be special scenarios and abilities unlocked as each side wins a phase and finally at the end there will be a drawing for prizes via a raffle for all those who participated.

The Sides:
There are two sides to the Throne of Chaos campaign. One represents Tamurkhan and his horde, and the other represents his opposition he encounters and various armies and enemies that oppose him.

Chaos Horde
The armies played by the Chaos Horde should be drawn from the Chaos Army books (Beastmen, Daemons of Chaos, Warriors of Chaos and the Legion of Azgorh – i.e. Chaos Dwarves) or one of the Forces of Destruction which were outlined in the Warhammer Basic Rule Book. (Orcs and Goblins, Vampire Counts, Skaven, and Dark Elves)

Opposition
The armies played by the Opposition to the Chaos Horde should be drawn from the Empire and the rest of the Forces of Order (Bretonnia, High Elves, Wood Elves, Dwarves, and Lizardmen).

The armies of Ogre Kingdoms, Dogs of War and Tomb Kings will have the option of choosing a side when they join the campaign. Once chosen however, the player must stay with the chosen side through out the campaign.

The Points Cost:
Games should be played to a mutually agreed points cost, with a minimum value of 2,500 points recommended per side for games in phases one through five, with Grand Battles of 3,500 points a side recommended for games played as part of the sixth phase.

Army Restrictions:
Please try to make the armies friendly and fun. However there are no restrictions on what you may bring. Special characters are allowed but with the following caveat: Special characters are worth double their victory points to your opponent and will provide 1 Campaign point to the opposition’s side if slain. It is a time of heroes and the most renowned would show up to fight, however legends do die…

The Phases:
The campaign is separated into six phases; each phase will be narrated and will roughly correspond to the story told in the Tamurkhan, Throne of Chaos book. Each phase will last two weeks with each battle earning points for each battle won per side. The side that earns the most points per phase will win that phase and have a direct impact upon the storyline and the final conflict at the end of the campaign. Each phase will have a special scenario outlined which will be worth more campaign points as well as a Storm of Magic scenario too.

The Grand Finale:
Phase six of the Throne of Chaos campaign will represent the cataclysmic final conflict fought in the shadow of the great city of Nuln. The results of the previous phases will determine what bonuses are attributed to either the Chaos Horde or the Opposition.

The Scenarios:
Each phase will be dedicated to a specific section of the Throne of Chaos storyline and there will be special rules per phase for each side as well as special scenarios and rules for choosing the scenario. Each phase will have its own unique scenario which shall be designated as the narrative scenario.

Scenario Options and Scoring:
Every phase there will be a choice between three normal scenarios, one Storm of Magic scenario and one Narrative scenario to play. The three normal scenarios will vary per phase as far as availability. Each scenario provides campaign points to the victor and their side. The campaign point value is determined by the type of scenario and at the end of the phase the side with the most campaign points wins that phase. Some scenarios will be worth more campaign points than others and the value will change from phase to phase.

Reporting Wins and Ending a Phase:
Every phase will last two weeks beginning on a Wednesday and ending on a Tuesday two weeks later. Players will have three options on reporting their side’s campaign points.

1. Private Message on the Ordo Fanaticus Forums to me (Sylvos) or email me at john@thedeploymentzone.com with you Ordo name or real name.
2. Have your game club/store designate one person to report it to me via The Deployment Zone email address (john@thedeploymentzone.com)
3. Inform me in person when I am at your game store/area/club.

The Wrap Up:
At the end of this campaign, Tamurkhan and his horde of chaos will either win and ravage the Empire of Man and a new age of Death and Decay shall reign over the land…or the good guys win and the world stays the same only lots of stuff to bury. Everyone who participates will have their name entered into a raffle and every game that you play also earns you an entry into the raffle. One person will win a Battalion of their choice and two others will win a $50.00 and a $25.00 gift certificate. You must play a game during the campaign to qualify for winning a prize.

Questions and Possible Issues:
1. How many games do I have to play a phase? - You only need to play one game per phase and if you happen to miss out on a phase it’s ok just try to play in the next phase.

2. If I play multiple games in a phase do I get to use all my totals? – No, only one won game will be recorded as far as campaign points in a phase. You could technically play 2 games where you win one and lose one and still would be able to report the game that you won in.

3. What if I don’t have someone from the opposite team to play against? - That happens sometimes, If you and your opponent are on the same side (Chaos or Order) and play each other, then you both earn half the amount of campaign points you would have normally earned. (i.e. if the two of you both report a win with the points then it equals out to the same as one person reporting a win).

4. Aw man, I just signed up for another guys campaign but I want to play in yours too but I don’t have the time, what do you recommend? – Why thank you for such a thoughtful question. No one likes to have to choose between two neat ideas or friends. If you are currently in an existing campaign or one is starting up at the same time as this one, you may still participate in both. All you have to do is report if you won a battle for your side and the same rules apply if you end up playing someone on the same side as you.

5. Yeah but in this other guys campaign our scenarios aren’t the same as the Tamurkhan ones, what do we do about that? – That’s also just fine, non-Tamurkhan scenarios (each phase will have the approved scenarios listed) will be worth 1 CP (Campaign Point) to the victor. The goal is to foster participation and gaming without diminishing from the efforts of other people’s campaigns and enjoyment.

6. Do my armies have to be painted? - No, the entire point of this campaign is to get members of the Ordo Fanaticus ready and prepared for OFCC by having them play games and enjoy themselves. I full expect people to have half-assembled units and proxies in some of their games as they try to figure out what works best for them.

7. Wait, you said this is to get folks ready for OFCC? Does this mean I can use my OFCC list with monsters and stuff? – Yes. Dogs of War are also totally viable to use.

8. How are you going to report the wins? - I will be providing a summary every two weeks on the Ordo Forums, my blog (http://www.companyofthedamned.blogspot.com)and also on the Deployment Zone podcast (http://www.thedeploymentzone.com/).

9. You mentioned prize support, is there an entry fee for this campaign? - Nope, the only cost is your time involved.

10. Where do you sign up for it? - I will have a list on the Ordo Forums of those who have signed up for it and what side they have chosen to be on.

11. Where will we find the special scenarios? – I will be posting the current phase’s scenarios and explanations the day of the new phase on the Ordo Fanaticus forums and my blog (http://www.companyofthedamned.blogspot.com/)

12. Lastly, do I need to have a copy of Tamurkhan to play? – Absolutely not, I will be providing all the information you need to play via blog and forum posts. I still recommend getting the book however, it’s awesome.

I'll be providing updates via this blog, the podcast and the Ordo Fanaticus forums.