Trolls on parade

Games Workshop host their grand annual event at Birmingham NEC. It's called Games Day. It is the stage where the Golden Demon Awards and Slayer Sword for best miniature painting in the United Kingdom takes place each year. For most enthusiasts it is the chance to buy cool new releases and admire cabinets loaded with finely detailed Citadel miniatures painted by some of the most talented painters in the hobby.

Once every twenty years, a playwright, street performer and suspected werecreature is unleashed upon UK Games Day...

This year I managed to attend Games Day for the first time since I was teenager. I accompanied Chris 'Frogprince' Kneller and Michelle 'Geekgirl' Steele who go along every year! Mr Flibble came with us too because there aren't enough penguins in the Warhammer universes. "Too busy killing Batman", offered one of our coach-going companions. We travelled from the GW store in Poole. The coach ride wasn't unpleasant. There were only a handful of youngbloods among the local warband of Warhammer nerds. I can tell you a lot more wild youths went in 1992! What are kids doing these days for Sigmar's sake?

[Left to Right] Werekin, Mr Flibble, Geekgirl, the Frogprince

Tickets are priced at £30 which covers entry and a free programme. I found the handout to be fairly pointless on the day because the excellent layout explains itself. There is way too much to look at and do in a mere 6 hours of open time. I can't stress how short the day is! The ambitious schedule is suffocating. Once you deduct rest breaks you're left with too little time to pack everything in. A couple of additional hours opening would relieve retail congestion considerably. There is a lot more going on than a single report can hope to divulge. Read on if you care to hear of random activity nobody else would think to write about!

Upon arrival we hunted for tickets to attend the Forge World and Black Library seminars. Attendance is restricted to 150 places on each of 2 seminars for both. Being as the slots are 11am-12pm and 2pm-3pm there isn't much scope for flexibility. There were less than half-a-dozen places left for each seminar by the time patrons from our store's coach were being admitted. Oddly a lot of folks didn't turn up for the Black Library seminar at 11am. And why that might be? *drum roll* FORGE WORLD

After we grabbed seminar tickets we wandered through the main exhibition hall and gaming hall littered with battlefields into the trade hall. There was an enormous queue of hobbyists lined up to get to the Forge World trade stand. I've seen a scrum of punters before at the Salute trade fair last year in London. That was carnage. Nothing like this! The queue was sheer madness. Snaking all over the trade hall like some giant serpent out of a mythological legend! Suffice to say we did not join this nerdcade. Depending on whose version of events you have listened to the wait was anywhere between 1-3 hours. Nobody seems to care because the miniatures are just that damn good! One far-fetched account being relayed was that a disabled woman had waited 3 hours to be served her Forge fix. The smell of freshly forged resin warriors, vehicles and monsters is intoxicating.

I had a nose around the bazaar of books and made a couple of choice literary purchases. I was hoping to get a copy of new Time of Legends novel Neferata but the rumour it was going onsale in advance was a falsehood! It took the aged clerk some ponderous amount of effort to get Bill King's new hardback release for Sword of Caledor to ring through the till. I had exact cash in my hand by that point.

At this exact moment I could spy authors across the trading post wall signing their books for Black Library but it was time to make way to the first seminar. On the way we bumped into my old buddy Anton who manages a Games Workshop hobby store in Maidenhead! As I write this today it is Anton's birthday. Many happy returns squire.

Fantasy Flight Games were demonstrating their full crop of associated cards and board games in the main hall. Nobody appeared to be playing Blood Bowl this year yet there were fantasy football computer games demonstrations aplenty. What caught our interest was a display of Warhammer Quest and Talisman apps under development for iPhone and iPad being demonstrated by Rodeo Games and Nomad Games. According to the representative these games are being produced exclusively for Apple platforms. If it can now be wielded like Ghal-Maraz then perhaps this makes my otherwise hopeless iPhone useful for something, at last... Suck on my gromril warhammer Samsung Galaxy users! The release date on the App Store for Warhammer Quest is being advertised as Spring 2013.

Observing volunteers playing the demo quest game, we recognised vintage rooms tiles being trodden. Visually the game looks great. Politely declining an offer to face the dungeon as interpreted by Rodeo Games, Chris & I queried why there was a River Troll facing off against one young fellow (beating his warrior to death as it goes!) in the game. The demonstrator explained that in keeping with the greenskins army theme they had substituted the original large monster (it was Minotaur) with the aquatic foe. While it makes perfect sense to employ a Troll we weren't in agreement with the rationale behind this particular breed of troll, even if the well-rendered graphics are based on one of the latest funky Citadel miniature releases. The developers stated that the adventures will include unfamiliar new room tiles alongside classic favourites from the original game. According to the rep we can also look forward to new artwork for Rodeo's quest-room boards becoming available next year to download, for use with original Warhammer Quest board gaming. This means tabletop games of Mordheim-Quest can be further expanded too.

Note: Next month Frogprince & Geekgirl are hosting a multi-player Mordheim-Quest battle in the sewers beneath Marienburg. 'Burrow Town Collapsing' is our new underground campaign scenario and a Halloween battle report will follow.

Burrow Town Collapsing: Strigany River Pirates converted and painted by Michelle Steele penetrate the Marienburg Grand Sewer Network using a Warhammer Quest junction tile

Armies on Parade is a recent feature at Games Day events around the world. The competition is scored based on attendees votes. There were a couple of fantastic ogre armies entered into the contest. One was an Ogre stronghold...

Another entry was a beach party...

...with stunning Ogre pirate crew and trollish new breed of fish-dog! (or dogfish?)

Competition is stiff when there's great attention to detail for so many entries. One particular detail which tickled me was the rider of a Thundertusk wearing a diving helmet! While the idea of an ogre wearing a diving bell might have come from elsewhere in the market place it was a neat touch which I mentioned in passing to the sculptor of this miniature Seb Perbet when I passed by the designers display stand later in the day.

The winning army will be announced on the GW web site at some point. We wandered the gaming hall to check out what battles were being fought. Tilean paparazzi agent Chris 'Frogprince' Kneller grabbed pictures of unusual sights to his liking. Following the coastal theme our treasure trove led us to a cliff-top stronghold populated by ratmen (from Clan Skurvey we presumed)...

And a gigantic magical construct dominating one of the many battlefields...

Plus two ships (Nurgle Man O'War & Imperial Barge) that were sighted by me from the crow's nest...

The afternoon seminar was hosted by guru Tony Cottrell who runs Forge World and lead writer Alan Bligh who conjures most of the new gaming material. Both staff were present to explain all the latest developments. This session was packed out. Tony has a dry wit to say the least, making this presentation a joy to behold. His sense of humour provided me with plenty of laughs. Alan is lead author of those perfectly profane tomes for the Warhammer Forge. Most of the fantasy battle talk was geared towards Monstrous Arcanum up until the guys started spilling beans about Blackfire Pass which is their next lavish campaign book. We saw previews on the projector screen for more new monsters, a Dwarf command group sculpted by Steve Whitehead (more on him shortly) followed by talk of new Orc and Empire army releases. The seminar is unmissable! If you ever get the chance to hang out with the Forge World team you have to take it.

Towards the end of the day I conversed with some of the hired swords who help breathe new life into modern day Warhammer. Seb Perbet from the Citadel design team was my first victim. He is the sculptor of latest editions to the Ogre Kingdoms range including the mighty Thundertusk/Stornhorn kit which I keep calling the 'Stonehoof' in error. When I explained to Seb that I purchased this kit just to use the heads of the crew in my Mordheim warband conversions his response was indescribable.

Forge World sculptors Edgar Skomorowski and Steve Whitehead were available to discuss their work. Both gentlemen have provided Chaos Dwarf fanboys with plenty of reasons to rejoice in the past 12 months. Edgar's impressive Bull Centaurs were among the recent releases on display. He'd also brought along WiP versions of one of the centauroids. Whoops I forgot to take pictures of the concept sketches Steve had on display for his new Empire sculpts. They were characterful and very much in the vein of art from the source book Blood On The Reik (A Journey Through The Old World). Steve was responsible for producing the new Fimir warriors featured in Monstrous Arcanum, freely admitting to being a big fan of the one-eyed fiends since olden days! It's uncertain whether there will be more Fimir releases in the future. Any fellow Fimir enthusiasts will be disappointed to hear it would seem unlikely based on the political response my question prompted from Tony Cotrell (yes I posed a question using the F word!) in his Q&A session. As a consolation, Tony was admiring my hat in a very vocal way! Steve himself is blissfully unaware of what quantities of which of his miniature designs are selling like hot halfling hot-pots.

The creative imaginings of Edgar Skomorowski are well known to my friends and fellow hobbyists Joao and Cianty. Make sure you check out this link to Edgar's personal web site. It contains some stunning quality sculpting. Both of the miniatures designers were friendly gentlemen.

Which leads me onto my final port of call. The Black Library authors stand. I failed miserably to greet novelist (and self-proclaimed hack!) Joshua Reynolds at the Black Library Live 2012 due to overindulgence (mine not his). The sands of time were running out but I located Josh before departing the event for a brief exchange. He is one of the few authors right now who is writing about subject material which really peeks my interest! Josh has launched a new blog on Wordpress which you can check out here.

With the day drawing to a close there was no sign of storyteller and guitar-hero Darius Hinks. I've finished reading his book Orion: The Vaults Of Winter, detailing the exploits of Athel Loren's god-king alongside elves, faeries and polecats! It's part one of an unwritten trilogy meaning I had to find something else of its equal to read last week. Warrior-Priest, also by Herr Hinks, staring at me from my bookshelf seemed like the best story to consume next. With any luck I may catch up with Josh at a future Black Library event and eventually meet Darius along with my guitar-buddy Ed 'Skarloc' Morgan. For reasons known to the likes of us we wanna bug Darius about his academic skills in rock power and elven lore! Because the two things that matter most are talismanic tattoo ink and decibels.

Coming Up Next: The next adventure sequence in Marienburg happens below the city. A team of daring Mordheimers have been hard at work playesting an underground scenario for the MiM campaign. A copy of the detailed scenario and a battle report will be published on Liber Malefic in the coming weeks.

[Left] Witch Hunter Capt. Dave play-tests 'Burrow Town' with Webby's Criminal Cartel [Right] Canada Steve's Cathayan Monks fight a turf war verses Skyre Warp-Engineers led by Frogprince

Best fight scene

The Mutiny in Marienburg campaign uses new core scenarios written for this setting. Each scenario treats players to a taste of what life if like in the city-port for their warriors. While not every scenario is combat-centric, the waterfront adventure features violent turf wars! The best fight scenes ever.

Mutiny in Marienburg follows the same structure developed for the Border Town Burning supplement. This is different than in the Mordheim Rulebook.

For players using the standard campaign rules these Core Scenarios replace the scenarios found in the Mordheim Rulebook. Refer to Border Town Burning supplement for scenario rules to 'Last Orders!'

2D6 Result
2 ....Scenario 1: Rolling Fog*
3 ....Scenario 2: Black Market Lagoon
4 ....Scenario 3: Powder Bridge
5 ....Scenario 4: Pit Of Blood*
6 ....Scenario 5: Stockade
7 ....Scenario: Last Orders!*
8 ....Scenario 6: Silk Market
9 ....Scenario 7: Illegal Salvage Operation*
10 ...Scenario 8: Burrow Town Collapsing*
11 ...Scenario 9: Dead Freight**
12 ...Scenario 10: The Sting

Scenario 13: Midnight At The Mausoleum*
Scenario 15: All Hands On Deck!
Scenario 16: Swap Meat*
Scenario 17: Colony of Plenty*

*optional multiplayer scenario
**multiplayer scenario

All core scenarios are now illustrated. Scenarios are accompanied by Marienburg campaign charts. Also included are two of the special scenarios which found their way into the Marienburg campaign story. These will be updated periodically to include more new campaign scenes. Any downloads found elsewhere outside of the Liber Malefic blog do exist and they have at this time not been completed to my full satisfaction.

An additional player aid for enhancing your campaigns can now be downloaded. Epic Campaigns Rules features a selection of important guidelines to help your maritime city adventures.

All published resources from the Marienburg manifest can be downloaded here.

Fell cargo

Dealers in strange unknowable goods bring business to Marienburg.

Representatives of every nation and race can be found there, and it is rumoured that if something exists, no matter how rare, a trader with money will find it in Marienburg, find someone who knows where it is, or be swindled into buying something that looks just like it.

Running a Mordheim campaign set in the trade capital of the world means there is wider scope for deals to be struck. Smugglers are interested in opportunities for moving more than just shards of wyrdstone. Click on the image below to expand detail for the two main charts being used when determining physical objectives in Marienburg campaign scenarios.

The tender is gold guilders which are Marienburg's equivalent to gold crowns. Gold is not the only currency and wyrdstone-hunting is not the only source of revenue available to warbands. Mercantile gangs featuring a trader and vehicle can flaunt their illicit wares on the black market. Violent gangs operating in a slaver ring could be set on taking hostages and capturing rival warriors. Ghoulish warbands collect corpses for vile purposes. All different types of commodities are being shipped down the River Reik.

The Cargo Chart can be used for determining objective markers when playing scenarios. Value for each cargo marker is decided in the post battle sequence to maintain the flow during games. Whilst a Hero might realise he is moving a barrel rather than a crate, he won't expect to lever the lid off to inspect its contents until the shipment is safely secured.

The Booty Chart expands the themes for piratical rewards when warbands are committing 'wet' or 'dry' crimes. Specialist charts such as the Profane Books Chart add a further level of detail allowing players to capitalise on an archive of existing merchandise or discover strange unknowable goods from the Marienburg manifest.

"In collections and museums in Marienburg and Brionne, you may see such things, scavenged from the field of battle and carefully preserved."
— Ehrhard Stoecker, Exiled Imperial Novelist

There are all sorts of useful charts to roll on in Marienburg, especially when it comes to Heroes escapades in the post battle sequence. Nothing has been included for the sake of it and anything can start the next big conspiracy between warbands!

Lots of vital material has been carried over from Mordheim articles and one priceless chart comes courtesy of the Warhammer General's Compendium. Click on the chart below, it may look familiar. These rules need to be referenced when gaming some of the forthcoming maritime scenarios which will be appearing on Liber Malefic in the coming days.

Perks of skirmish

Producing a concise set of rules for a skirmish game is a noble quest if ever there was one. Legends of the High Seas/Old West are popular amongst a lot of Mordheim's old guard. Chris 'Cianty' Templin and I discussed the cherry-picking of desirable elements from each others systems that games developers go through. A project like designing a game might be a labour of love or it might seem on the surface like all the concepts have been filched from an older game. For arguments sake let's call them homages not thefts! Combining existing principles with fresh devious imaginings in the process of conjuring new skirmish games and settings is only evolution.

Andy Hoare is putting touches to Get The Girl, Kill The Baddies. The godfather of grim and perilous adventure Rick Priestley has got himself mixed up in a wacky faerie tale universe where centaurs dressed as David Bowie brawl with flying monkeys wearing fez hats. In Fanticide, they use their faeces as missile weapons. Co-incidentally the fighting monkeys in my Marienburg campaign do the same! Apes may not fly in the Warhammer World but they can 'Scale Sheer Surfaces'. Chris Templin has meanwhile long brooded over his Gierburg skirmish game.

Cianty became temporarily obsessed with exploring nuances of non-combat themed tabletop activity. Worryingly it all sounded a bit like Chris was locked away at home playing with dolls as opposed to fighting battles with warriors! Ultimately his principles are correct. Not all skirmish battles should to be a pitched street fight or a raid. I'm a massive fan of narrative campaigning, particularly scenario-driven skirmishing adventure. Black Library novels tempt me for this exact reason! The stories are what give a system and setting gravity. Quality terrain and a heavily themed table help bring the stories to life. Some of the best scenarios I've had the benefit of playing were written to revolve around particular pieces of terrain. Kudos to Matt Ward for his themed terrain chapter in the latest tome of rules for Warhammer. He even mentioned the F word.

When tabletop adventure beckons, I find military battle themes less and less desirable. There are still aspects of grandiose warfare (and there's no escaping the war in Warhammer!) which strike a chord. In terms of a gripping story, the Warhammer Heroes novels by Chris Wraight homed in on conspiratorial angles which I found stirring and inspiring. The level of intrigue took me by surprise! Being unexpectedly sucked in my his adventurous hooks evokes all kinds of tabletop yearnings. With the importance of strong narrative, it feels tough to move away from the rich tapestry of the Warhammer setting. Countless materials are available to the keen researcher. You can really lose yourself in its depth. There's a realness to its application in gaming that I've found sorely lacking in Middle Earth re-enactments. As with anything I suppose its warhorses for courses.

In the Marienburg scenarios, we exploit comparably domestic themes; Fishwives, winkle-pickers or goose-girls being taken hostage, cargo shipments being moved or sabotaged, graves being looted for trinkets or fresh corpses. I had the recent pleasure of meeting fellow forum-goer Joao who is an avid collector of miniatures and he owns a lot of civilian themed characters. Plus he has modelled some marvellous marketplace buildings to game around. We will be getting together to play some games and I hope to bring pictures of our combined efforts on here later in the year. Joao has a interesting warband to add to our campaign story.

Critical tables are another personal favourite of mine. Charts add extra special moments to the story in Mordheim battles. Playing for the purpose of telling a story on the table is where lies the strength of a memorable skirmish. You strip away the juicy roleplay aspects and you might as well be playing another pitched battle. Not that there's anything fundamentally wrong with that. Attention to detail is what provides unforgettable moments. Unlike in Warhammer battles where the battlefield resets after each game, when you play Mordheim your heroes can die for real! If they survive (for long enough in the Free City of Marienburg) your heroes can prove what real men they are by visiting gambling halls, drinking dens, bordellos, drug parlours, or crypts in the Garden of Morr.

I've laboured the point before. Having to produce (what can claim to be brand) new rules is the most tedious and tiresome task in the hobby. Change is sometimes a necessary evil (ask a Champion of Tchar) if you want things to progress. There are already a zillion different rules in the Warhammer pantheon of games. If you look in the right place then you can find an existing guideline to apply to any situation. The fun in research can be what surprise gems turn up along the paper trail!

Why even write another supplement? Border Town Burning is immense. It is Cianty's brainchild and a wilderness supplement that won't be beat. Games developers have praised (and we now suspect cloned!?) its campaign objectives system. The city of Mordheim itself is great as an urban setting, motivating me to continue gaming when I ought to be doing real life stuff.

While Mordheim is fantastic, dark, gothic, grim and perilous, it doesn't have any pirates in it, it hasn't got enough elves in it, and it was based on an underdeveloped selection of campaign rules governed by a limited pool of scenarios. Mordheim only got better later on when the system was fleshed out by freelancers!

I don't play Necromunda. I'm not excited by the background of the game but what I do identify with is the notion of gangs. Gangs of thieves, assassins, drug smugglers, mercenaries, bounty hunters, renegades and a multitude of other desperado characters. Motivational ideals from Necromunda do not ring true in Mordheim. They will in Marienburg, the City of Secret Deals.

Massacre on Candle Wharf

Heated battle at my annual birthday bash raged on into the twilight hours.
This year eight of us played a smuggling scenario called 'Candle Wharf' set
on a dilapidated waterfront from the South Dock district in Marienburg.

Left to right above: Steve 'Canada' Hume (Battle Monks of Cathay), Ross 'Aggro' Evans (Dwarf Treasure Hunters)
and Stu 'Werekin' Cresswell (Sea Elf Rangers)

Ratmen collided with Strigany River Gypsies in explosive fashion during the opening turn. Sea Elf Rangers blew their scrimshaw whistles and began denting a skaven advance. The elves stabilised the situation by applying some semblance of order to the dockside in turn two. As an unnatural mist creeping off the riverside dispersed, Lords of the Marsh burst from the canal. Amphibious warriors drove the Indic Smugglers hard but the lascars fought back giving little ground as their boat's cargo came under attack.

Monstrous marsh daemons surround the smuggler's riverboat. Fimir Warriors and Daemon-Fimm, led by a Draich supported by Young Nobles carrying wyrstone shards close in to contaminate a cargo of grain and take hostages.

Two teams of privateers stormed down the quay from a fortified warehouse. Dwarf Treasure Hunters and Ogre Maneaters moved to defend riverboat crew on both sides. Meanwhile the mastermind orchestrating the sabotage attempt who had remained hidden until our third turn fired a volley of flaming arrows onto one of the boats belonging to the Indic cartel. The guns runners return fire knocked a Cathayan sniper off from his perch in a run-down merchant tradehouse.

Resulting from the contentious theft of the Battle Monks magic carpet, the Strigany Petru mounted this coveted rug from distant Araby and sped towards the drop-off point with a full load of cargo. Her mystical smuggling run was short-lived as a crack shot from the mobsters sent the witch plummeting to the wharf! A ricochet caught the prone caravan-master adding insult to injury for the river pirates.

Left to right above: Chris 'Frogprince' Kneller (Skaven Warp Engineers), Stu 'Werekin' Cresswell (Sea Elf Rangers)
and Steve 'Canada' Hume(Battle Monks of Cathay)

Skaven warp engineers were the first to flee after a promising start. The damage they had done meant river gypsy crew routed shortly after. The aquatic daemon-possessed raiders who had targeted the Indic cartel were sent back to their boggy habitat in the marsh, with spike-clubbed tails between their legs. Following the withdrawal of one of their ancestral foes the dwarfs sought to settle another old grudge with elf-kind. Treasure hunters spent three turns trading blows with elven watch officers. The Moon Guardians from Elf Town may have had jurisdiction but failed to make a single arrest! After witnessing the Dwarf Noble fell their frenzied 'consultant' Feast-Master Redrin Foxglove, Sea Ranger captain Mal (aka the 'Albatross') was next to call a retreat. Their failed police operation was a blow softened only by impounding a blood-stained carpet back to take back to the station for forensic examination.

This left the dwarf privateer in charge of one shipment of illicit goods in a race he could not win against ogre dockworkers teamed with the Indic mob survivors. The straggling Monks from the Cathayan house guard held yet failed to dispatch the lascar captaincy. Drug-baron Salaman Singh and his turban-wearing henchmen refused to yield to the Cathayan onslaught. With a shipment delivered to the fortified supply centre the hard-earned winners of the battle were finally declared.

Candle Wharf on the morning before the Massacre

Victory went to the Indic Mobsmen and their Ogre Maneater business partners! Post battle sequence clean up in going to be messy. No less than ten casualties were sustained by Salaman Singh's crime syndicate while countless warband rout checks were passed, scenario objectives were fulfilled, warriors enslaved, and numerous magazines of ammunition were unloaded into the whiskered faces, pointed ears and scaly hides of all who had opposed the 'Salamander' crime-boss.

Thanks to 'Robert Whetton - Photographer' for the phone camera pictures.

Returning series

Anyone following Liber Malefic will hopefully be pleased to hear that 'Mutiny in Marienburg' has returned for its 2nd season. The narrative campaign continues with a colourful selection of new scenarios.

After a rousing speech from their Emissary, the battle monks of Cathay momentarily mistook a Merchant Prince for one of the wharf dregs. Congratulations to the Merchant's House Guard for they braved the sewer network in darkness! Fighting their way clear in a bloody turf war with the underfolk, their robes stained with stinking effluence from the sewer, the Celestials smuggled wares through its slurry-filled catacombs back to the Silk Market ghetto.

One of the Dragon Monks even demonstrated how to dismantle a machine-beast with his bare hands! With the robotic rat-ogre permanently destroyed the skaven retreated deeper into the warren. This is a tragic blow to the ratkin. Warlord Riskin Tatter-ear will be ticked off when he hears of this! Yet the skaven still thrive in numbers. In desperation, they have turned to the infamous Nipponese banking house of Lang Fu for a high risk low interest handout! The armada's favourite Rear-Admiral Tick-lick may be looking to form new partnerships in the coming weeks whilst plotting revenge against the Cathayans.

The Swamp Snake and the Salamander went head to head with all three pirate crews salvaging treasure on a canal stretch of the Bruynwater! Domnu Dola's river gypsy crew fled the shallows in despair at the site of their caravan-master taking a tumble in a boarding action. After ramming the Strigany water-caravan and surviving the following counter-charge Salaman Singh's lascars fought on against the wreckers. Broekwater's fish-faced pirates found themselves outmanned and outgunned by the Indic smugglers! Outmatched by his competitor Sal Singh, that slippery serpent 'Scurvy' Rikkar withdrew.

When the Indic mobsmen claimed salvage they were rewarded with one greatly coveted arcane device, a Power Stone!

Salaman's mobsters celebrate their first victory by scouting the woodlands of Laurelorn Forest for anything useful. But how will the wood elves respond to being paid a surprise visit. Prince Belmondo's latest edict is that his Cathayan house guard escorts him on a fishing trip to the pirate haven of Broekwater, a small town on the edge of the Cursed Marsh.

The final game in round 7 is set to be a 4 player bar brawl in the tap-room beneath Three-Of-A-Kind casino featuring; Stromfels Reavers, Witch Hunters, Ogre Maneaters and Sea Elf Rangers.

Note: Most of the battles we fight are to test out new scenarios, new rules, new warbands. Hence there were only 6 'Live' rounds played in total last season. The Cult of Stromfels played 5 battles in the first series.

Daemon drink

The night before Black Library Live 2012, we were drinking at the Star tavern in Woking. Eddy 'Skarloc' Morgan turned up nearly 3 hours late. I was holed-up reading Bill King's Tyrion & Teclis novel, 'Blood of Aenarion'. Ed was leathered on arrival. Turns out he'd left the Star 20 minutes before my arrival as he'd taken the afternoon off to drink tequila with the pub landlord's son.

An account of Black Library Live 2012 by playwright, street performer, and suspected werecreature Stuart Cresswell.

My report dispels any illusions of behaving responsibly. Anyone who has met Ed won't be surprised in the slightest. He likes to rock the party.

In the morning Ed drove us to Nottingham. I played him WiP recordings from the Skinny Skulls album. There was talk of booking a hotel for the overnight stay.

We pressed the button this year. The start and the end are clear enough. It's taken this long to piece together the rest of the events that make up the adventure in between. In contrast last years report on BL Live 2011 was far more sensible.

Library Pass: Access all areas with one of these.

We parked to discover the event has just begun. Sun wasn't over the yard arm but Bugman's bar was open. We attended the 'Writing for Black Library' seminar last year so that held little interest upon realising William King had started signing! We grabbed ourselves a pint of liquid courage and shopped for inspiration on the tradestands. I held our place in the queue to chat with Bill. Ed went for a refill.

Bill King greeted us warmly. "What's this?" he enquired as I passed him my copy of 'Blood of Aenarion' with the dust cover removed. "Your latest story book" was my casual response.

The author was equally surprised by the page of his novel which I asked him to sign for me... A foretelling by the Lady Malene that (a young) Teclis; "You are either a wonderful liar or the greatest natural mage who has ever lived" is hardly an epiphany when everyone knows the prediction is a given (this is an origins story) yet reading the carefully chosen words on the eve of meeting the man behind the elf mage had tingled my spine!

Without wishing to spoil too much of what was to come, Bill went on to describe some pivotal events in the tale of the elf twins, and how he managed these to factor in the Slaaneshi daemon N'Kari. There are so many stand-out moments in the story we could have pulled up a pew to Bill (one of the forefathers of Warhammer fantasy fiction) listen all day and night. Fat chance, Bill's voice was already going croaky and his seminars had yet to begin! I know that feeling myself from performing gigs so we took leave when an official gave us our marching orders... But not before giving Bill props for the short story which appeared in Sea of Blood (Man O'War game expansion) involving a crew of lost Norse sailors who find land and take shelter in a haunted monastery. There was a severe lack of this type of Warhammer fiction for many years, until the advent of the Chaos Wastes novels.

At this point I recall that we gatecrashed our first seminar on the Time of Legends series. This was a highlight at last years event. Eddy ticked-off Graham McNeill last time in the medieval gaming hall for failing to bring his axe-shaped Gemmell award trophy. Whispering to me he would need to berate Sigmar's storyteller again, Ed gasped in awe as Graham whipped out Snaegar from amongst the sofa cushions! I think the moment made his day.

At some stage there a big greasey burger meal prepared for us by the halfling chefs in Bugman's kitchen. The last couple of seminars are hazier. One was a Warhammer panel with Bill King and Gav Thorpe doing most of the speaking which was superb as they rambled on about elves to my hearts content. Also chiming in were newcomers Sarah Cawkwell and Josh Reynolds. Both of these authors have written outstanding shorts. With important releases on the horizon both authors works are sure to be worth following.

In the stupor of revelry (we drank all afternoon) I fired a few questions but totally neglected to go pester any of the other authors. New guy Josh Reynolds was signing. I had intended to visit him if only to praise the colourful short story 'Dead Calm' which appeared in Hammer & Bolter. I checked it out for research purposes when someone mentioned it was set in Marienburg. The story was especially evocative because it features a number of the factions featuring in 'Mutiny in Marienburg'. There was a stack of inspiring content in the tale which I'd wanted to thank Josh for delivering. I finally got around to consuming one of the Lovecraft compilations this past year. Realising that Herr Reynolds is 'well into' the works of the Cthulu creator this would've been a keen talking point for him and I'm sure his thoughts on the heretical ramblings of one Herr Werner are worth hearing. He's also clocked up some miles as a roadie for a touring band.

After snatching the exceptional 'Dead Winter' (latest Time of Legends release - buy it!) I picked up a copy of 'Knight of the Blazing Sun' from the Bazaar of Books because it features pirates and Norse savages (my kind of people). This is the novel I'm currently devouing! Low and behold the setting as of chapter three is destined to be Marienburg! With any luck I'm on the trail of the latest intrigue surrounding conspiratorial parties at large in the City of Secret Deals. Another grand fact-finding mission for our tabletop campaign so thank you again Mr Reynolds.

Bazaar of Books: Out of shot was a pre-release copy of Nathan Long's third Ulrika Vampire tale 'Bloodsworn' as my little sister has purloined it!

Something else I've just remembered was that a group of university students from far Cathay or the island of Nippon approached me for an interview. They asked questions about Black Library and the event. I cannot recall the particulars, only that we were having a great time so heaping praise on the success of the enterprise and quality of the releases seemed fitting.

After the event ended logic decreed we retire to the dwarfen taproom. Happily we were playing some fantasy card game whilst draining more tankards. Until a member of Warhammer World's staff requested we cease our gaming activity. Warlocks it would seem are not welcome in these parts.

Andy Hoare was kind enough to offer an explanation, "he was probably trying to save you". We've already saved ourselves. The cards we use are proxies because we've spent all the spare gold crowns we earn on buying Black Library novels and Citadel miniatures! :)

Even though we were at the point of being belligerent drunk patrons, the Warhammer World staffer was nice enough to us earlier in the day so we packed the spells away and resolved to bring a more appropriate game in the future. Suppose I should mention Ed had been winning. It seemed clear we'd need to play a round of 'Chaos Marauders' instead! Of course we didn't have the infamous cards on our persons. Instead we warmed up for next years bar battle by yelling 'Chaos Marauders!!' Ed pointed out that BL editor Christian Dunn and author Sarah Cawkwell were sat couple of tables behind us... I'd like to think these guys know the game intimately rather than thinking "who are these two soused reprobates!?" but Eddy was not so sure.

By this point we determined it wise to check into our hotel, less than a mile out. With the car safely parked I was inclined to walk it. An idea the barmaid found questionable in our current state what with there being a canal running in-between. Still I was determined, with a satchel of Google maps and satellite navigation to fall back on we couldn't get lost. Emptying the car of laptops, books and a mandolin we hiked off, crossing the canal on a bridge before hitting a dead-end with a ten foot wall blocking our route. Ed is an ex-paratrooper and I scaled the Glastonbury fence a couple times. We crossed the wall. Not before astride the barrier with mandolin in hand I ripped my corduroys wide open! With the ginger beast exposed to the elements we continued our trek.

At this point we were lost. The map wasn't working. Stood blank-faced in the drizzle beside a Landrover garage on an industrial estate Ed was resigned to ring a cab, when one rolled by. We flagged it and got in. As luck would have it the driver was looking for our hotel. We arrived after turning the next corner.

Checking in, we hit the bar restaurant next door. Upon close leaving with bottles of cider and red wine we retired to the hotel where I sang and played the mandolin followed by more magical duels until passing out. Morning was scary, horrific even. Ed blagging a cigarette outside from a chap who initially refused on principal provided comic relief in the horror of daylight. Within moments they were like two pigs in shit. Some minutes later I tactfully vomitted out the door of our cab... After my fantastic troll impression the Indic driver was really pleasant about it even offering me a tissue. We returned to Warhammer World... Whereby I passed out in the car while Ed had another greasey spoon in Bugman's. He felt gradually worse on the drive south, while I came back to life by the afternoon.

My friend Chris Kneller once described me as a; Norseman in the body of a weakling. After a resurrection style recovery, the drive from Woking to Bournemouth was refreshing. Meanwhile the text message from Eddy said everything about how he felt. It was three words; "I have died"

Practitioners of hedge magic and menaces to sobriety. I am resigned to the fact we should bring minders next time; Michelle Steele and Chris Kneller. Perhaps we ought to dress smartly for the occasion for it is time to book tickets for BL Live 2013.

Favoured of Loec: Red Wolf and Skarloc