I was thinking back on our club and what we’ve done over the last year, and one of the coolest things was our first campaign finale, back in August. Three tables, each with a different theme.
To the south, the invasion is going poorly and a new shipment of supplies is desperately needed. Supply ships have gathered in the harbors of Senfrenco the Grey and are being loaded up to relieve the army. To prevent this from happening, stealthy elite warbands have infiltrated the city to wreak havoc and sabotage the war effort. But an equally elite force has been stationed in the city to prevent just such an occurrence.
Table One – the Main Harbor
The main harbor with the supply fleet. Half of this table should be densely covered in large docks and boats, the other half should have waterfront structures like warehouses and market stalls. The attacker is trying to set fire to the supply ships and destroy the supplies in a daring raid on the harbor, while the defenders attempt to drive them off and douse the flames.
All of the tables were two scenarios in one. There was a main scenario worth 2 Tournament VPs, and a tie-break scenario worth 1. The Main Harbor was a mash-up of Baggage Train (secondary) and a slightly modified Burn the Stores (primary). While on ships models could Swashbuckle and gain Crushing Strength (1), Fly, and Smash as they swung from the ropes – at the risk of falling flat on their back!
All the club mates scrounged up all the ships, buildings, and scatter terrain we had to assemble these tables, and I scratchbuilt some additional bits.
I made the docks out of scored hobby foam and basswood. I thought this would be much faster than it was, but I couldn’t find 3rd-party docks for the size and layout I had in mind. I then spent hours carefully adding birdshit everywhere. I don’t know why that detail was so important, but I was convinced it needed more birdshit.
The netting, ropes, and pylons followed Vee’s tutorial on The Crafting Muse channel.
Table 2 – Armory Harbor & Lighthouse
A secondary harbor where gunpowder and cannonshot are stored. These are currently being loaded onto skiffs and other smaller boats to be ferried to the warships offshore. The attackers have snuck into the lighthouse and doused the flame to prevent reinforcements from coming ashore. The defenders need to drive them out and relight the beacon. Preventing the munitions from falling into enemy hands is also critical. 1/3rd table is harbor with small boats, and 2/3rds loosely filled with buildings, scrub, etc.
This table was a combination of Light the Beacon (primary) and Supply Grab (secondary). In addition, there were gunpowder kegs scattered about that could be detonated with incendiary attacks.
I didn’t get many good pics of this table, but the catalyst for the whole finale theme was this guy:
One of our players had started scratchbuilding their own boats and casting them! (You can buy them here on Etsy.) He actually made several of the boats on our tables, including this brown one, too:
On both tables 1 and 2, there were rules for knocking models into the water, but this only happened on Table 2. Guess what showed up?
Table 3 – Street Fight!
During the raid, a spy was supposed to make their escape from the city with some precious secret plans, but he never made it out. Why? Among many other valuable things, the spy had discovered a secret weapon had been constructed in Senfrenco – an arcane battery that could unleash destructive power. Two opposing warbands pick through the city looking for the spy’s last known whereabouts near the arcane weapon, in a dense, populous section of town. This battle is 100% inland, and should feature dense, multi-level urban structures, barricades, fires, etc. plus some sort of sinister magic portal/weapon/macguffin.
This table had, by far, the best special rule: Mobs of panicked civilians. Inspired by the Gangs of Rome skirmish game, these large-base roving packs moved about randomly every turn, but if you Engaged them they would run directly 1d8″ away from you. And if a model should happen to be in their path, they got trampled by the fleeing crowd and took an automatic hit.
So of course a game of “panicked people ping-pong” ensued!
Note the (ultimately victorious) dwarfs in the back-right cowering behind a building, hiding from the hordes being herded their way!
Wrap-up
It took a lot of people coming together to pull off a finale like that, but it’s a wonderful change of pace from the usual pick-up games at the FLGS. Really grateful to the club for making it happen!
