Last time out the Corvus Cabal got off to a good start. John and I are using the Chaos Branching Quest in the current Tome of Champions as the loose basis for a campaign. We’re changing things up when we get an interesting narrative idea (or when I choose the wrong Convergence… as I did with the next game).

Corone had been duped. Kholek Heart-Eater had been the target of the Murder’s ambush, but he wasn’t here. Only the beast stood in the midst of his warband. Her crows wove through and above the enemy, seeking their prey. A screeching caw summoned them. Their quarry was in the far off ruins. As the Hooded Crows flocked away, they were chased by the enemy, harrying their advance, attempting to prevent their pursuit. It worked. Crow, by crow they fell. Corone found herself caught between two of the enemy. She struck them down and scanned for fresh prey. The beast mistress and her cat were nearby. If the crows couldn’t take down the Untamed Beasts’ leader, then maybe the whip-wielding hag and her oversized pet would have to suffice…

Game 3: The Hunted

Corone swooped below the arcing whip, her war-pick slicing across the beast mistress’ stomach. She fell in a gout of blood. The Rocktusk Prowler released a terrifying growl as it pounced on the exposed crow leader. It tore and shredded relentlessly, until Corone was no more. Feathers, trophies and gore were all that identified where she fell. The leaderless Hooded Crows, began to fall back, but most were cut down systematically. Only Tibicen escaped unscathed. It would fall to her to reform and rebuild the warband…

I really should know the difference between Order and Chaos in the AoS setting, but I somehow read the first convergence from the Order Branching Campaign, rather than from the Chaos one! It didn’t really matter, it’s generally easy to justify why two warbands might be fighting. To my mind, John had two models that could be the focus of the hunt, his Leader and the Ogroid Myrmidon. I bet on it being the latter, but I was wrong and ended up badly out of position to make an attempt on the leader. My Shrike Talon fell early to the Myrmidon, removing my most mobile and dangerous asset. From then on I decided to focus on killing what I could, but the crows were in trouble. That went as well as expected, but the unexpected occurred in the game’s aftermath. Corone, my leader, succumbed to her wounds. A solid win and grievous wound dealt to their enemies for the Untamed Beasts.

Game 4: Blunt

Kholek cast bones idly, as the desire for revenge turned into a plan. Revenge was the way in these desolate wastes. Kholek Heart-Eater could not allow the Hooded Crows to continue to exist. Their ‘flock’ had been dealt a harsh blow, but he meant to utterly obliterate them. A blood hunt was the answer. It usually was the answer to most of the questions presented in this place.

Thanks to some dominated Territory, I had a few more points to play with in my warband and I opted to add another Shrike Talon. This was very useful given John’s warband was tasked with wiping out my Shield, which I loaded with my toughest models (which aren’t really that tough!). This was a tense game of cat and mouse. I tried to balance taking out the enemy, slowing them and avoiding them. I narrowly won, with a single Shrike Talon surviving the game.

Aftermath

John and I have both gained territories and an Artefact of Power, along with some lesser artefacts. He’s picked up a few Destiny Levels too, but I haven’t yet.

Warcry continues to deliver fun and challenging games, that play pretty quickly. It really is an excellent game.

Until next time,

Owen