Posted in: Games, Games Workshop, Miniatures, Tabletop | Tagged: Age of Sigmar, AOS, GW, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Nurgle, Path To Glory, Stormcast Eternals, wargame, warhammer

Age Of Sigmar Path To Glory Report 1: Maggotkin Vs. Stormcast

Hello, players and fans of Games Workshop's fantasy wargame and one of its biggest tabletop games to date, Age of Sigmar! As you may be aware, in Age of Sigmar there are many different ways to play, including a campaign system for the wargame called "Path to Glory". Therein, players can start out with fairly small forces, and gradually grow them to fit an ever-escalating battlefield through the help of fortifications and annexed territories. We got the chance to begin down our own trail on the Path to Glory on Sunday, January 16th, where we with our filthy friends, the Maggotkin of Nurgle, faced off against a band of Stormcast Eternals at Just Games Rochester. How did we do? Read on and see!

Our opponent for this matchup, Frank Femia, took a very cool narrative approach to this campaign since the environment was casual and inclined towards good storyline opportunities. His army forces were as such:

Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals
Stormhost: Order of the Green Knights
Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Lord Matthias Bramble-Born (175)
Lord-Imperatant – General
Command Trait: Heroic Stature
Artefact: Mirrorshield

Battleline
5 x Vindictors (130)*

Units 3 x Aetherwings (65)*
3 x Annihilators (200)*

Core Battalions
*Redemption Brotherhood

Additional Enhancements
Holy Command: Steadfast March

Total: 570/600
Wounds: 32
Drops: 2

Meanwhile, we had the following loadout:

Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle
Subfaction: Befouling Host
Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leaders
"Felch" (150)
Lord of Blights
Command Trait: Overwhelming Stench
Artefact: Splithorn Helm

Battleline
5 x Putrid Blightkings (250)*

Units
3 x Plague Drones (200)*

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 600/600
Wounds: 43
Drops: 1

Our battleplan for this game was one from the Maggotkin of Nurgle battletome, Encroaching Corruption, in which the Maggotkin would need to defend their terrain feature, the Feculent Gnarlmaw, from the Stormcast Eternals, who had the capability to remove the terrain through a special command ability. If the Maggotkin defended and planted more through summoning, we would secure a Major Victory, and if they planted a Gnarlmaw in the opposing territory but lost their tree in their own, it would mean a Minor Victory. The Stormcast destroying all Gnarlmaws meant they'd get a Mjaor Victory and keeping them off of their own territory would yield them a Minor Victory. With this knowledge in tow, we began our game.

Right off the bat, I will admit that I hadn't previously gotten a chance to face off against the Stormcast Eternals allegiance. There was a lot to do with Frank's units, which were half held in reserve for the perfect opportunity to provide a pincer assault. The Annihilators came first into the fray directly behind the Plague Drones and began to handily pick them off, one by one. These fell by the bottom of the second turn, but soon enough a Beast of Nurgle, represented by a Plague Toad, entered the fray, summoned by the fertile flow of Chaotic magicks, and boy howdy, was it hungry.

That being said, it also went down fairly quickly to the Stormcast, but not before the Plague Toad destroyed all but one remaining Annihilator and Frank's unit of Vindictors came out of reserve to assist them. It's nice to see how notably hardy Beasts of Nurgle really are.

Given this approach's apparent failings, however, a new plan had to be concocted amid the Feculent Gnarlmaws being removed by an unrelenting Stormcast force: In order to secure some semblance of victory, Major or Minor indiscriminate, the Lord of Blights, nicknamed "Felch", took an approach to retreat back towards Frank's edge of the table along with some of the Putrid Blightkings, who by then had taken down the unit of Aetherwings between five wounds and a mortal wound of diseased origin.

By the top of Turn 5, Frank was certain that he could not reach Felch with his general or the Vindictors, and decided to withdraw his forces. In Path to Glory, this meant that the Maggotkin of Nurgle would be able to go about the rest of the game unobstructed by combat. This meant that I could summon additional Feculent Gnarlmaw terrain features to replace the ones that were removed by the Stormcast Eternals earlier in the game. One was summoned at Turn 4 in the Stormcast territory, and a final rush allowed the Maggotkin to summon one more at the bottom of Turn 5 in their own. As you'll recall, this meant that a Major Victory for the Maggotkin of Nurgle was in their grasp!

In the aftermath phase of the game, where the campaign takes its effect, no casualties were suffered by either Frank nor myself, but in making an exploration roll I got a Wellspring, which I immediately annexed and seeded into a Feculent Forest, as per the battletome's Encroaching Corruption rules for Nurgle winning. My quest, Defend Your Realm, was the only thing I didn't actively achieve anything major for, but I had glory points to spare and so I bought my way to quest completion. With eleven glory points to spare, I am at a bit of a loss for what I want to spend them on. However, we have 3 weeks left until points limits increase, so there's time for me to figure this out.

Finally, ever the sportsman, Frank was so engaged with this first leg of the campaign that he wrote up a bit of fluff for the correspondence between his Lord-Imperatant, Lord Matthias Bramble-Born, and the character's Lord-Commander. I am sure this won't be the last we see of Frank in this campaign. Here is what he wrote up for your reading pleasure:

Lord-Commander,

It is with a heavy heart that I must report that Garwood and its wellspring have fallen to the corruption of Chaos. We fought for every inch of territory that we could, burning multiple plague ridden trees to prevent the taint from spreading. Ultimately it was a war of attrition we could not win, as the disease was starting to overcome us and we were forced to withdraw.

I am making a formal request for reinforcements. Things will only get worse as they currently stand.

I would like to commend Jarwen and his Annihilators for the destruction of the vile Plague Drones and a Feculent Gnarlmaw. We will also be memorializing 3 more of our Aetherwings. They held steadfast in the line of duty, being devoured by ravenous Blightkings to the last.

Your Humble Servant,
Lord-Imperatant Matthias Bramble-Born

What do you think? Is this Age of Sigmar campaign format a fun one to read about? It was certainly a fun one to play out and to write about. Let us know your thoughts on this Games Worskhop game in the comments below!

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