Wednesday 30 October 2013

Mum-Ho-Thep and the Floating Ziggurat of Doom. The WFB3e scenario for Blog-Con 2013.

Below is the narrative and scenario details for the Warhammer 3rd edition table at Blog-Con 2013. Not only that, this is my 100th post! Woot!

Mum-Ho-Thep and the Floating Ziggurat of Doom. Blog-Con 2013 (9th of November).

The Ziggurat glided silently onward to the next locus point of Mum-Ho-Thep’s scattered realm. It looked as though beams of pure magic had carved it away from a more natural resting place. The living rock, from which the main temple itself had been carved in a distant era, was tortured and twisted. A lone Skeleton sentry stood, immobile, staring out towards the horizon. It would easily be mistaken for a statue, were it not for the tattered rags flapping about the shoulders. The skull turned very slightly, almost imperceptibly. It looked out to the north where a smudge had appeared at the edge of perception. Was it a cloud bank? Fog? What was that rising from it, a wisp of smoke? No. It was a banner. The smudge was an army and it was closing fast! As soon as the mindless automaton had seen the forces of Chaos the image was transmitted to the Liche, Korvun. He had been poring over an ancient map that depicted this place as it would have been 4000 years ago but now he looked up from his chart table and sent out an urgent thought to his minions. “Prepare the ritual, activate the Array, summon the Guardians! We must awaken the Master and crush these interlopers!”

Inside his sarcophagus, Mum-Ho-Thep began to stir for the first time in centuries…

The Floating Ziggurat of Mum-Ho-Thep is an ancient Slann device, an engine of great power that resides atop a prehistoric temple. Nobody remembers now what the device was intended for but at some point it was captured from the Old Ones by the immeasurably old and powerful human sorcerer, Mum-Ho-Thep. Those rare books that mention him at all say that he was born into an age of stone with the ability to see and manipulate the winds of magic when most of his peers had little more than fire, flint and spear to wield. He was able to command mighty spells many centuries before the Elves deigned to teach magic to mankind leading some scholars to compare him to the terrible Drachenfels himself. He is said to have led a rebellion against the Slann and wrested control of the temple in a bitter struggle, magic flashing in the sky and men and Slann alike falling dead without a mark on them. Once inside and in control of the temple, Mum-Ho-Thep activated the Array which caused the earth itself to buck and heave as the temple was torn from the land and the Floating Ziggurat was created. At first, Mum-Ho-Thep was able to guide his new fortress anywhere he wished, as well as gliding sedately across the face of the world the Array allowed the entire structure to disappear and reappear anywhere on the planet, but as the millennia passed he took to spending more and more time in his regenerating sarcophagus while the operation of the Array became a lost art to his servants. As his living army dwindled to be replaced by skeletal warriors by necromantic means the Ziggurat settled into a pattern of visiting a set number of previous destinations, the loci. Now, the Ziggurat wanders along this route over and over. It floats for miles before winking out of existence and reappearing at the next locus point to continue the journey. This route is the realm of Mum-Ho-Thep, those who live along it see him as a benevolent God-King and offer up tribute at his passing. There are always those who try to expand their borders into this realm but eventually, the Ziggurat returns and the Undead armies of Mum-Ho-Thep take a cruel revenge on the usurpers, often with the aid of local forces who have worshiped their God-King for generations.

Mum-Ho-Thep, the Undying! (wip)


Read Part One of the Battle Report.

What you need to bring if you're joining in on Saturday the 9th of November.

First off, let me distinguish between the two groups of people taking part. Many people have expressed an interest in stopping by the Warhammer 3rd edition table to say hi and roll a few dice, you will be made very welcome and as casual participants none of the following need apply to you.

For those hardcore retro-gamers out there who are bringing miniatures along and will be staying to play the entire game on the Saturday (and coming out for a post game beer afterwards hopefully!), listen in. I have based the scenario around Orlygg's Chaos army clashing against a mish-mash force of Mum-Ho-Thep's servants and allies. I know several of those attending will be bringing some Undead, and these will form the core of Mum-Ho-Thep's army while any Chaos stuff you guys bring can ally with either side as appropriate. Extras like Lenihan/Robotforaday's Fimir will be added to Mum-Ho-Thep's force too. I will have a mixture of metal and plastic Undead as well as a few Chaos units to help balance out either side if necessary. Whatever minis you want to bring can be fitted in and will be very welcome indeed.

To speed things up on the day it would be a very good idea indeed to have an aide memoire sheet with all your stats/rules on one page, a number of movement trays, a tape measure and don't forget to bring a handful of dice! Orlygg and I provided all this for the RoC game at the BOYL weekend but with so many people sharing it all the game was slowed down quite a bit.

If there are any questions at all, just contact me in your preferred way and I will get back to you asap.

Thanks for stopping by!


18 comments:

  1. Sounds like it's going to be a blast!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paul, there are 3 things I want to say to you :

    1) This story and the whole event really rock

    2) this mummy is looking so much like Michael Jackson I'm actually seeing it moonwalk

    3) congrats on the milestone

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1) Thank you very much! I'm hoping to turn a few heads on the day.

      2) He is also shouting and all the glass is shattering in nearby cars, houses etc.

      3) Many thanks, blogging has been a wonderful experience and I've 'met' lots of great people doing it, such as yourself!

      Delete
    2. And you manage to both overfun me with your answer to #2 and make me blush with your answer to #3... ;)

      Delete
    3. What can I say, it has been my absolute pleasure to meet so many excellent new people, also, I can't resist a good joke!

      Delete
  3. Congrats on your 100th and for having the jam to run such an auspicious game.
    Best of luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They don't call me Pope Paul the Evangelist for nothing! Bringing retro-gaming to the masses is only the beginning! Thanks for the kind words.

      Delete
  4. You'll be most welcome, and thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like a blast, wish I wasn't so far away ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it's a pity there aren't more ancient Slann teleportation devices lying around. Maybe one day!

      Delete
  6. Holy Ancient Tombs Warlord Paul! Lush mini and a great scenario. Muchos glad tidings on your milestone. Going strong and always a good read - Blogger be they Name!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm pleased you like the background, and my Mum-Ho-Thep conversion. Thanks for the kind regards too. You're a good read yourself!

      Delete
  7. Hi Paul, I'm planning to introduce myself and spend a day with you guys. I have a bunch of old skeletons to bring, some I've painted more recently, others...well I painted when oldhammer was young and so was I....

    Oh, and I'm still sulking that my skeletons were lifted from 2.5 to 10 points each! damn new edition...mumble...grumble....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's fantastic! I'll be very pleased to have you involved, looking forward to meeting you.

      I've had many conversations about how the Undead are the only troops to suffer an 'x-factor' penalty to their points cost while everything else follows a formula, just let me say that a good GM will recognise when to tweak the points cost down and when not too!

      Delete
    2. Points cost? Just stick the minis on the table and get on with it! This is a fantastic sounding scenario and should be the starting shot of other great narrative games. Do you have a ziggerut scenery piece up your sleeves for us?

      Delete
    3. Do I have a Floating Ziggurat? Oh yes indeed I do! I want to keep it under wraps until the big day though!

      Delete
  8. Congratulations on the milestone!

    Lot of painting still to do, but getting excited about this, so I've posted my own narrative response to the scenario on my blog: http://wheretheseapoursout.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/blog-con-at-foundry-clan-sleas-fealty.html

    ReplyDelete