Padre's Friday Valley of Death Game
- Thread starter Padre
- Start date
Padre
Lord
A possible date for The Tilea's Troubles BOYL replacement game is Saturday 15th August. Location, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Before I pursue any further, is this any good to the guys who were going to attend the original game? Damian? Thomas? Brother Meredith? Taliesin Kinkaid?
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Dwarven Moustache
Serf
Yes, I'd like to come. That sounds like a good time and place.
Brother Meredith
Lord
Have put the date in the family calendar! (and will go cap in hand to beg another day out).
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Padre
Lord
Huzzah! We have Mr Moustache, Brother Meredith, an almost certain from Damo, a yes from my Tom, and I bet a couple of the local Tilea's Troubles players will join us. So, with 5-7 likely, I am going to go ahead (after checking out the room and the tables) with booking the place at some point early next week.
More details to follow.
Saturday 15th August
Timings very likely to be room 9 - 6, game 10 - 5.
Venue = Ackworth Parish Council Community Centre, Bell Lane, Ackworth, Pontefract, WF7 7JH.
Parking available.
Scenario rules to be detailed and finalised.
I have to pick one of three rooms, all of which would probably work. Must remember to take my tape measure to the centre - those tables won't measure themselves.
More details to follow.
Saturday 15th August
Timings very likely to be room 9 - 6, game 10 - 5.
Venue = Ackworth Parish Council Community Centre, Bell Lane, Ackworth, Pontefract, WF7 7JH.
Parking available.
Scenario rules to be detailed and finalised.
I have to pick one of three rooms, all of which would probably work. Must remember to take my tape measure to the centre - those tables won't measure themselves.
Padre
Lord
The room is booked. We can use four 2x6 foot tables, to make a 4x12 table for the Necropolis Valley of Norochia.
Saturday 15th August 2026
Timings = Room booked, including set up and tidy up, 9 - 6. The game will run from 10 - 5.
Venue = Ackworth Parish Council Community Centre, Bell Lane, Ackworth, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF7 7JH.
Parking available - a dozen(ish) parking spaces immediately behind the venue.
Scenario rules to be detailed and finalised, and being discussed in the thread. WFB 8th ed, with scenario rules.
...
Summary of my thinking re: the scenario so far:
The undead are a loose confederation of vampires who have joined together in a dastardly plan to raise a bony horde from the valley of death. Presumably, later, they intend to conquer the world! The living will be the local(ish) force racing to the valley to prevent the evil vampires' naughty tomb raiding and grave robbery.
The undead forces will each be 600 - 900 pts, maybe more or less, and take the form of one or two vampires (using necromantic magic) and their freshly raised zombies and ghouls. All the dry bones stuff is to be raised in the valley, each vampire thus increasing the strength of their force.
The living armies, being Tileans (men, dwarves, halflings, ogre mercenaries, etc), will be 1400 – 1600 pts (possibly more or less). We have some players signed up already (see above).
I will GM, and the players will either be using their own, painted force or one of the forces I provide. I'll also provide a bunch of the undead stuff, including entry forces for those who want to use them, and umpteen skeleton and other undead units to be the newly raised stuff. Damian may provide stuff too (Damian, I need to comm' with you re: what undead you could add to the list of options, so that I can make little charts of what might be raised for each 'site' in the valley.)
We will deploy on the 12 foot edge (maybe only 10 foot if we want a bit of space for tape measures, lists, dice etc). For initial deployments and later reinforcement arrivals, units will deploy touching the table edge (or, if in column, arrive behind the front unit as the first one makes its move and creates some space). This gives more space for manoeuvres and time for the races.
The 'sites' include churches (ruined or not), a graveyard, and several crypts and tombs, 7 or 8 in number. There will also be several copses of 'spooky trees’. There will be different rules for each ‘type’ of site, favouring different kinds of summonings ...
The spooky trees might be a source of dire wolves, bat swarms or fells bats or undead monsters.
Graveyards could be a source of skeleton regiments
Crypts could favour heroes, wights and wraiths, and crypt horrors
Churches could bring forth ethereal units
(Not sure where the bony riders could come from - unless one or two of the vampires arrive with a wholly mounted force raised due to a 'need for speed'?)
Possible summoning bonuses, advantages or extra options provided by the sites:
Maybe the spell Raise Dead creates double the number of skeletons (so, 4D6 +6 instead of 2D6 +3, or more, for the first successful summoning, then perhaps reduces to 3D6 for the second, then to normal from then on.
When a vampire captures a site, maybe successful summonings get them a fully formed unit, with command, rolled from a chart? Which chart used, as mentioned above, would depend on the nature of the particular site. If whatever is rolled is already in play, and there are no such models left in the boxes, then we could either re-roll or revert to a ‘normal’ raising of skeletons. I could even make the chart for 2D6 rolls, so that the more common or likely units, are in the 5-9 range? With the weirder, rarer stuff on the extremes.
Control of the central church might give a more widespread bonus to undead magic, like +D3 magic dice to each spell cast? Maybe control of the lesser churches has a lesser, but similar, effect, like +D3 bonus to spell casting results? This would be because the churches’ capture weakens the wards and protections in the valley these blessed places of worship offer.
There could be a rolled chance (or a card drawing system) to determine if any particular undead commander ‘has a problem’ with another undead commander. Vampires are viciously proud creatures!
I will update with more solid thinking soon. But, in the meantime, please discuss if you like.
Saturday 15th August 2026
Timings = Room booked, including set up and tidy up, 9 - 6. The game will run from 10 - 5.
Venue = Ackworth Parish Council Community Centre, Bell Lane, Ackworth, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF7 7JH.
Parking available - a dozen(ish) parking spaces immediately behind the venue.
Scenario rules to be detailed and finalised, and being discussed in the thread. WFB 8th ed, with scenario rules.
...
Summary of my thinking re: the scenario so far:
The undead are a loose confederation of vampires who have joined together in a dastardly plan to raise a bony horde from the valley of death. Presumably, later, they intend to conquer the world! The living will be the local(ish) force racing to the valley to prevent the evil vampires' naughty tomb raiding and grave robbery.
The undead forces will each be 600 - 900 pts, maybe more or less, and take the form of one or two vampires (using necromantic magic) and their freshly raised zombies and ghouls. All the dry bones stuff is to be raised in the valley, each vampire thus increasing the strength of their force.
The living armies, being Tileans (men, dwarves, halflings, ogre mercenaries, etc), will be 1400 – 1600 pts (possibly more or less). We have some players signed up already (see above).
I will GM, and the players will either be using their own, painted force or one of the forces I provide. I'll also provide a bunch of the undead stuff, including entry forces for those who want to use them, and umpteen skeleton and other undead units to be the newly raised stuff. Damian may provide stuff too (Damian, I need to comm' with you re: what undead you could add to the list of options, so that I can make little charts of what might be raised for each 'site' in the valley.)
We will deploy on the 12 foot edge (maybe only 10 foot if we want a bit of space for tape measures, lists, dice etc). For initial deployments and later reinforcement arrivals, units will deploy touching the table edge (or, if in column, arrive behind the front unit as the first one makes its move and creates some space). This gives more space for manoeuvres and time for the races.
The 'sites' include churches (ruined or not), a graveyard, and several crypts and tombs, 7 or 8 in number. There will also be several copses of 'spooky trees’. There will be different rules for each ‘type’ of site, favouring different kinds of summonings ...
The spooky trees might be a source of dire wolves, bat swarms or fells bats or undead monsters.
Graveyards could be a source of skeleton regiments
Crypts could favour heroes, wights and wraiths, and crypt horrors
Churches could bring forth ethereal units
(Not sure where the bony riders could come from - unless one or two of the vampires arrive with a wholly mounted force raised due to a 'need for speed'?)
Possible summoning bonuses, advantages or extra options provided by the sites:
Maybe the spell Raise Dead creates double the number of skeletons (so, 4D6 +6 instead of 2D6 +3, or more, for the first successful summoning, then perhaps reduces to 3D6 for the second, then to normal from then on.
When a vampire captures a site, maybe successful summonings get them a fully formed unit, with command, rolled from a chart? Which chart used, as mentioned above, would depend on the nature of the particular site. If whatever is rolled is already in play, and there are no such models left in the boxes, then we could either re-roll or revert to a ‘normal’ raising of skeletons. I could even make the chart for 2D6 rolls, so that the more common or likely units, are in the 5-9 range? With the weirder, rarer stuff on the extremes.
Control of the central church might give a more widespread bonus to undead magic, like +D3 magic dice to each spell cast? Maybe control of the lesser churches has a lesser, but similar, effect, like +D3 bonus to spell casting results? This would be because the churches’ capture weakens the wards and protections in the valley these blessed places of worship offer.
There could be a rolled chance (or a card drawing system) to determine if any particular undead commander ‘has a problem’ with another undead commander. Vampires are viciously proud creatures!
I will update with more solid thinking soon. But, in the meantime, please discuss if you like.
Dwarven Moustache
Serf
That all sounds great. I managed to book my hotel in Wakefield a little earlier today.
Dwarven Moustache
Serf
Both nights. I'm coming up on the Friday and leaving on the Sunday.