Return to Nerdicus -- Scenario 3

 Ooof, schedule slip.  Well not really, I don't keep a schedule.  Tabletop conquering is a thing that takes it own time (and money, and shelf space).

Now this is where the real gimmick of the scenario set comes into to play.  The basic idea is instead of one or two domain cards in play the whole game, things start going a little crazy.  What could make your army's day this turn could become their downfall the next.  There are some ground rules in place to keep things from getting completely wrecked while a game is in progress.

Nerdicus Campaign Special Rule:  Wild Magic!  --  Each player creates a small deck of domain cards of certain types.  For example, five (5) domain cards of the Weather type and two (2) domain cards of the Catastrophe type.  These need to be shuffled and somehow opaque and unmarked from the reverse (the side that doesn't have the rules text) so I suggest card sleeves with an opaque backing, like the 'standard' ones for MTG.  At the beginning of the first player's command phase, each player shuffled their deck and draws a domain.  Any domains that are cancelled are returned to the owner's deck, the deck is shuffled again and a new card is drawn.  These domains are active until both players have had two complete turns.  After these turns, the domains are cancelled.  At the beginning of the next command phase, each player draws a new domain card from their deck, and both players return the cancelled domains to their deck and shuffle (e.g. both players have had two full turns, so the Darkness domain you put into play is cancelled, you draw a new card, put it into play, and then the Darkness domain card is returned to your deck and the deck is shuffled).  This process repeats once every player has two full turns until the end of the game.

So there you have it, the central conceit of the Nerdicus campaign:  Everything is a state of flux, and both sides have to adapt in the fly.  I admit that this can be somewhat clunky the first few goarounds, but play nice and bull through it and you may have a new favorite homebrew rule.  And don't do what I did back in the mists of time and play decks of 30+ domain cards without trying things out first.  It was a complete mess.

And now for the scenario itself.  Things are getting bigger...

Return to Nerdicus Scenario 3 -- Wild in the Streets

Well, this is just going so well.  Got out of that crazy fire zone by the baked skin of out teeth.  The other bunch wasn't quite as lucky, but now they're more pissed than anything.  That idiot wizard is still hassling us both, yelling about "welcome to warp zone," or some nonsense like that.  The boss is getting twitchy, but so's the rest of us.  Strange stuff is going on all around us.  Snow dropped out of nowhere, lightning blasting at random, nice noontide sun...in the dead of night!   I don't know what we expecting, but this madness wasn't it.  And now the other poor sods have showed up for another dance, and there's more of them this time...

Rule Set:  Mage Knight, Vintage, Conquest

Army Size:  1200 points

Special Rules:  Wild Magic!  5 Weather domains and 2 Catastrophe domains  

Setting the Scene:  Place terrain as per the standard rules, players may use Faith and Location Domains if desired.

Victory:  Per the standard Conquest rules.

Return to Nerdicus -- Scenario 2

 Here we go again!

Return to Nerdicus Scenario 2  -- Through The Fire and Flames

Just when we thought this was going alright.  We managed to see off those other poor fools during that nighttime ruckus, but that damned loony wizard showed up the next days, going on about "burninating the countryside."  The boss was already pretty pissed and told the crackpot to go slurp down a chamberpot.  The wizard started cackling like it was all a big joke, then yelled "I will smite thee with great vengeance!" and took off.  We thought play time with gramps was over.  It wasn't.  Now half of damned everything is smoldering, and the only way out is forward, and those idiots from last night have appeared in front of us...

Rules:  Mage Knight Consolidated "Vintage"

Army Size 400 points, four actions per turn.  

Special Objective: The goal of each army is to punch through the opposition.  Instead of normal objectives, figures score victory points equal to double their points value if they exit the table edge opposite of their deployment zone (see Exiting the Battlefield in the Conquest rules).  If one side has had a figure successfully exit and the other has not, that player is the winner.  If neither side has had any figures exit the battlefield, score victory points for eliminated and surviving figures as per the normal rules.

Special Rules:  The Smoke and Fog Domain is in play and cannot be cancelled except as follows:  After both players have had four turns, roll a six-sided die on the next command phase.  On a result of 5 or 6, replace the Smoke and Fog Domain with the Inferno Domain.  This Domain cannot be cancelled.  If the replacement is not triggered, repeat the roll once per subsequent command phase until the replacement is triggered or the game ends.  Both players may use Faith domains.

Setting the Scene:  Each player must contribute one hindering and/or one concealing terrain piece to the terrain pool.  At least two hindering and/or concealing terrain pieces must be played on the battlefield.

Return to Nerdicus -- Scenario 1

 Here we go!

This is the first scenario of my long-promised Return to Nerdicus Mage Knight Campaign.  The two central gimmicks are the titular fort itself (featured in the later scenarios) and tinkering with Domains.  The campaign itself is a 'classic' set of four successive scenarios; they start off tame enough, but the penultimate scenario sees domains go bonkers, and the final sees a clash among the old fort itself while the world itself goes out of control!

Two big things to keep in mind:  This campaign is very reliant on domains for its special rules.  If you don't have any domain cards, its ok to use proxies via Battle Planner or even ol' Google Images as long as the rules text is visible and readable.  The other part is that this campaign uses the 'Vintage' ruleset.  This is my homebrew version that is exactly the same as Mage Knight final ruleset (via the Consolidated Rules document and last FAQ) with two important distinctions:

1) Successor States:  Any and all 1.0 figures' factions and faction symbols count as their 2.0 counterparts for all purposes, including formations, item/relic/spell/domain requirements, etc.

Atlantis Guild - Atlantean Empire
Black Powder Rebels - Black Powder Revolutionaries
Elemental League - Elemental Freeholders
Knights Immortal - Elven Lords
Necropolis Sect - Dark Crusaders
Orc Raiders - Orc Khans

Mage Spawn, Heroes, Draconum, Solonavi, Shyft, and Apocalypse Edgelords use the same symbols, so no real trouble there.

2)  Share the Goodies:  1.0 Uniques (including LEs and Heroes) may use items and relics, as long as they meet the requirements (The faction 'update' does qualify for any item/relic that has a faction requirement).

The idea behind these two rules is simple:  Bring out the pre-2.0 figures to play and let the awesome flow!

With that out of the way, on to the first scenario!

Return to Nerdicus Scenario 1 -- Dancing in the Dark

Still not sure what's going on.  Some nutcase of a wizard at the alehouse kept hassling the boss, going on about this fort where "magic has gone mad" and that "we are on the way to destruction" yadda yadda.  The boss laughed him off at first, but then somehow decided that it might be a good idea to take a look; maybe a decent stronghold with a fearsome reputation might help things come around for us.  But apparently that lunatic has been ranting at more than just us.   Somebody else is out here, looking, and our night patrol walked right into them...

Two opposing warlords have been put on the trail to find Fort Nerdicus, a lost stronghold where 'magic itself is going wild.'  A small group from both has stumbled across each other at night.

Rules:  Mage Knight Consolidated 'Vintage'
Army Size:  300 points, 3 actions per turn

Special Rules:  The Darkness domain is in play, and may not be canceled.  Players may use Faith and Location domains if desired.

Setting the Scene:  Place objectives and terrain as per the standard rules.

Victory:  Victory is determined as per the standard rules.