Jaegerbomb must die - Badlands fluff, and a few of my friends...

So, this post is dediacated to Dean_AKI - who said joking "He's a blogger! Everything that happens will end up on the internet!". Which is of course true, and he proves it on his website.  You can see it by following this link to his fantastic, and frankly better than mine, blog here:

http://toomuchlead.blogspot.com/

Seriously, the mans a painting machine.

And while I'm on the topic, if you want to follow this campaign from other points of view (which I suggest strongly!) then have a look a the GM's own blog Soulshade mini's here:

http://soulshadesminis.blogspot.com/

He's a Tomb King player who is a faaaaaaaaaar better painter than me. He also dabbles in battle report vids, which you can access on his site too, you lucky lucky people

Also, if Trolls and orgies is your bag of tea, check out Wintertooth's Throgg roll here:

http://rusty-warriors.blogspot.com/

So with all that plugging out of the way - the post! The other day I played my arch-nemesis Rob's empire (his delightfully named Jagerbombadiers) in a warm - up game with two of our badlands lists. I wont give away what our lists had (as others are watching...) but he soundly beat what I admit is my third best attempt at an army. What did occur was a challenge between his commander, General Jagerbomb, and my own nurgling Wargor Grosque Manculler.

Anyway, after this warm up, I wrote up a bit of background fluff basically telling Rob Grosque's intention for the next six months - to kill his general. To kill his general's wife. To kill his general's mistrss. To kill his general's best friend, and to kill his general's dog. All in reverse order.

Anyway, here's the fluff.

Grosque's story - Chapter One

Grosque Manculler, The Journey Beast, That Fat Bastard

Grosque Manculler whetted his blade with a stone he’d found lying round the campsite. His considerable bulk was squatted by the camp fire, its heat doing little to warm his swollen flesh and malting hair. He gazed into the flame through his armoured helm, chewing cud. His current army sat waiting for the greenskins to arrive, hoping the seer’s visions were correct, intending to ambush them before they made too much leeway into the badlands. Grosque didn’t really care for the plan, or for slaying orcs. His mind was still dwelling on the reason he was in this forsaken country, hundreds of miles from where his quest started...

One year ago...

Grosque howled and barged past one of his pestigors. His blood was up, the human wizard’s trickeries had prevented him from reaching his quarry. But now he had him in his sights.
The one the humans called Jaegerbomb stood ahead of him, his spear stained with the blood of ungor. With him was near a dozen heavily armoured human warriors astride their iron shod destriers. Here was the only warrior worth fighting on this field. The only one Grosque cared for. The only one that slaying would get him his payment.
Jagerbomb brought the tip of his lance up, his stallion rearing on its hind legs. A challenge? He made this too easy! Grosque brought his defiled blade up above his head with both hands, his grotesque bulk bouncing as he roared his response. Jagerbomb brought his mount down and galloped towards him, and in return Grosque powered his enormous bulk into a run as well.
Grosque shifted his bulk to his left, and the speartip whistled past his right flank. He swung his axe at the knight, who clattered it away with his own shield. Jaegerbomb thrust his lance holding fist into Grosque’s bovine jaw, knocking the pestigor back into one of his comrades. Grosque rallied quickly and bit into the gauntlet, trying to wretch the man down from his mount. His steed bucked, its metal lined hoof making a sizeable dint in the Manculler’s thigh armour plating. Grosque staggered back but his jaws were clentched, Jaegerbomb tumbled to the ground, twisted in his stirrups.
All that happened next was a blur. A huge cloud of darkness opened up and tore into the bestial hoards lines. The empire wizard had summoned a vortex of unimaginable power and devastated the ranks of the beastmen advance. Dirt and flesh showered the fighters, sowing confusion and disarray.
Grosque turned away, knowing his time now was short. He swung his blade at the prone human general, who somehow deflected the blow with his spear haft. The man desperately kicked his leg up and caught Grosque a glancing blow on his chin, again exacerbating the injury caused by the punch earlier. Grosque was spun away with blood drooling down his dislocated chin, which was when he saw the advancing spearmen on his left flank. His pestigors were against it already with the knights, and the devastation wrought by the human wizard on his right flank meant the beastman army was running out of troops to withstand another assault. The pestigors around him were coming to the same conclusion as Grosque, and were beginning to flee.
Grosque turned back, only to see Jaegerbomb crawling behind some pitiful holyman, who was chanting prayers and hefting a huge war hammer.  His quarry had fled, the hunt was a failure. He would have to claim the bounty on this man another day.
Grosque howled one final bestial insult and an obscene gesture, before taking flight as fast as his plagued hulk could take him.

... sharp pain brought Grosque back from his thoughts, his whetstone had slipped and he’d cut his hand on his blade. It howled gently, grateful of the viscera it had shed as it drunk it up through tiny pores in the blade. Grosque smiled, a grotesque mockery of an expression. Grosque Manculler, The Journey Beast, would not be leaving the Badlands without the head of Jagerbomb.

Also, here's a bit more fluff, expanding on the concept of The Liber Chaotica. The background for the books of Nagash are hazy, and in discussion on warseer there are several different views. Here's my own take on it - I'm far from saying "I am correct!" on this matter - I still regard myself as a warhammer n00b -  but I have attempted to research the topic and come up with no concrete answer, so I've pitched my theory on the nine books.

The Nine books of Nagash

A realm of mystery surrounds these ancient works from The First Necromancer. Since his fall and subsequent rises, the works known as “The Nine Books of Nagash” have been known to be separated and subsequently lost through the passings of time. Knowledge of their contents were highly secret at the time of their creation, and now hundreds upon hundreds of years later no one knows exactly where the tomes are.
There are many theories of the nature of the books. Some theorise The Nine Books was one single tome with nine chapters. Some say it was physically nine separate books, each a compendium of arcane knowledge far beyond the understanding of any mortal living today.
There is one belief that many hold though, which has alot of credence. It says that each book was a separate volume written on the each of the eight dominant lores of magic. Two of these works – The one regarding life and the one regarding death, are the most sought after, as these hold the secret of the dark magicks used to resurrect the soul and the key to eternal life – both the culmination of Nagash’s infamous works, and suspected to be in the possession of the von Carsteins.
This leaves, however, one book of the nine unaccounted for. Many reason that this volume must chronicle the source of all these magicks, and potentially one of the most powerful – and name it the Liber Chaotica – The Book of Chaos.
However, this is all theorem, for none save the Vampire lords of Sylvania and potentially the decrepid Tomb Kings of Nehkehara know the true nature of these books. And not even these know the exact whereabouts of the text themselves.
But, should one guess the whereabouts of one or more of these books would do worse than to guess the Badlands - the realm of the outcast vampires and the once home to the Great Necromancer. Fozzorick’s floating fastness is full of arcane texts and relics, and some think it is no coincidence it returns to the Badlands. And where best to hide a tome of unimaginable power than on a fortress whose foundations only touch the ground once every hundred years?

 So, tune in next week for my campaign action after I'll have played my first game!