was dead-set on the campaign, and didn’t give my suggestions much play. These conversations went on over some time, without an end. At some point Sean just started building terrain. Sean: Perhaps strangely, I never totally shunned the idea of a few points match games. That section, hidden away in the back of the rules-manual, always struck me as a curiosity - however it just doesn’t “feel” like Mordheim. Mordheim, for me at least, was always a vessel for telling a story. A collection of narrative games, or a loose campaign, of which all added up to something greater than the sum of its parts. Needless to say, I was extremely impressed (and perhaps equally surprised) when Ben presented me with a narrative campaign he’d written as though he plucked it from The Pit. Ben: Not long afterward Sean began his terrain building and had assembled a whole bunch of buildings, I got inspired to put some campaign material together. Sean has an old Carnival of Chaos warband he’d done up for Armies on Parade, and won, so I think that was fresh in my mind and ultimately could be where the spark of inspiration came from. I thought about what happens when the carnival comes to town; how the people feel about it, what they’ve heard about from rumours, and how they react. I didn’t really tell him though, I just started quietly outlining a story. This was about the carnival coming to town, and the ‘good folk’ who’d heard the stories of horror rallying against it. On the other side would be those who were aligned with the chaos powers, and those who either didn’t care or enjoyed the anarchy, they’d be all for the carnival’s arrival. I liked the concept, and over the next couple of weeks I went through all the different scenarios gathered from various sources, and fitted them into a loose story. I also thought about small benefits that could be earned down the line for each win. A little while later I showed my working draft to Sean, and he was keen for it, so then I wrote it all up nicely in campaign document. We discussed and agreed on several key points: 1. 100% painted. No half-measures here. Paint all your models, and all the terrain. Make every game gorgeous. 2. All-new warbands. Nothing you’ve already painted. 3. All-human warbands. We previously ran and enjoyed a Human- League for Bloodbowl and loved it. So we outlined a select list of Human warbands that we’d use for this campaign Sean: The main intention regarding the enforcement of human warbands was for the purpose of longevity. We’d invested so much time in building terrain and planning the campaign that we felt we needed to make it last more than a dozen games. I suggested that by limiting which warbands available for use we’d almost have ready-made ideas for the future (and hopefully be itching to convert/paint/run the warbands we REALLY wanted to do also!). Pirates warbands in Sartosa, Witch-hunters sent to investigate Slyvannian border-towns and competing Cults of Possessed are all plot-points which have been thrown around to ensure we get the most of hobby investment without Mordheim going stale... But before all that, it was time to get hyped up. The circus is coming to town... Ben: With our criteria sorted, we made a list of both available resources for the scenarios and resources to be made/painted, and then started to recruit additional players for our campaign. We still know plenty of gamers, and so the call went out. We started the campaign with four of us committing to regular gaming, and another few who would play occasionally. We added everyone to a Google Drive, and a Facebook Group so we could share resources, updates, pics and such. We then set a date... and that date passed. We revised, and missed, a second date. Eventually, nearly six months later, we had finished our warbands, enough terrain, and were able to get together for our first games! The point here, is never give up because it’s hard to coordinate dates. Keep throwing them at each other until something sticks. So join us over the next few issues as we share with you some of the warbands involved, the battles we fought, the scenery we’ve built, and the players behind the madness. Come follow us on Instagram @rad_heim and Tumblr: radheim.tumblr.com.
“Eventually nearly six months later, we had finished our warbands, enough terrain, and were able to get together for our first games!” ONLINE: www.instagram.com/rad_heim www.radheim.tumblr.com