Got a bunch of my game club into this game. We kicked off a 4 month league based on the scenenario from this year’s GenCon event.
We have 9 guys so far, and a couple fence-sitters (but I think we’ll get them).
3 Empyreans
3 Marchers
2 ISA
1 AC
We had 6 players for the 1st month (such is life) and looking forward to an action-packed December.
Here’s a few table shots, and the campaign map at the end of the first meet.
War has come to A2. In the last standard month, Marcher void ships have swarmed into orbit, while their Iron Clad battle cruisers have dotted the skies. Linking up with sympathizers on the ground, the Coalition forces have swept through equatorial cities, seizing key points.
Surprisingly, no ISA forces are in evidence. Where are the paladin corps and their Venger battle carriers?
In the north, worker strikes have coalesced into an insurrection under AC control. They have seized control of a small mining city and nearby rail lines. An AC Leviathan has been seen operating in the skies above.
However, unexpected to all, an Empyrean force has emerged from seemingly nowhere, pushing back against the equatorial Marcher forces, and seizing the polar north to threaten the AC. These robotic aggressors are a threat to all humanity. Mirage carriers can be seen everywhere.
With hostiles swarming everywhere, will the ISA strike back? Or simply cede control as the Marcher lord did a few generations ago?
And what of the reports from troops on all sides that something….strange….lurks in the void as they gate to the surface?
Great stuff.
The workers will rise from the poles and sweep injustice away!
Arise
Meanwhile, the mysterious Empyrean forces have reinforced their hold of the equatorial regions, and establish a foothold in a remote region of the southern wastelands. They may be attempting to strategically contain the Marcher forces.
In the north, the AC have exapanded control, seizing a manufacturing city and several key nodes around their holdings, although some strong opposition has arisen in the cities the insurrection has swept into.
Finally, the ISA sent a token expeditionary force, establisting a small foothold in thr remote regions of the north. Might there be a major offensive in the works? Or have the ISA abandoned the planet?
Aurorum Secundus is engulfed in war. But behind the lines of battle, the scientists and theurges have worked out how a warcaster can gain limited control over the void wraiths. This knowledge is weaponized immediately, and void wraith in unprecedented number are emerging all over the planet. And still this knowledge is not enough. Each of the factions greatest minds now peer deeper into the void, seeking to discover what further secrets it may hold….
Meanwhile, on the surface, the ISA has extended a thin line of defense southward from its foothold in the northeast.
The Marcher enclaves have penetrated deep into the southern polar regions, uncovering the extensive and ancient bases from which the Empyrean assault was disgorged.
And in the northern cities, the AC revolt has all but seized the means of production, securing nearly all of the manufacturing centers in the north. An interim government has been established, and tribunals are being set up to try political dissenters.
Finally, the Empyreans have continued encircling all of the human forces, completely dominating the northern polar regions, western reaches, and significant cities in the equatorial belt.
Whatever the outcome of this one thing appears clear - ISA control of A2 has been thoroughly broken, and barring wild swings of fortune, the near future of A2 appears to be a divided planet, broken into armed camps and constant warfare.
Campaign results!
Overall score for all categories: Units acquired and assembled, units painted, and map points.
Scott (Empyreans) 9.5 pts for new units, 8 painting points, 4 map points. Total 21.5
Kurt (Marcher Worlds) 11.5 new unit pts, 3.5 painting, zero map. Total 15
Larry (Empyreans) 5.5 new unit points, 3 painting, 2 map. Total 10.5
Brian (Marcher Worlds) 1.5 new unit, 2 painted, 5 map. Total 8.5
Shawn (Empyreans) 4 new units, 4 painting, zero map. Total 8
Jacob (Ironstar Alliance) 3 new unit, 2 painting, zero map. Total 5
Chris (Aeternus Continuum) zero new unit, zero painting, 4 map. Total 4
Matt (Marcher Worlds) 1 new unit, 1.5 painting, zero map. Total 2.5
Rob (Ironstar Alliance) zero points.
Breakdown on categories: new units acquired and assembled:
Breakdown on categories: units fully painted and based
Breakdown on Categories: map points
As quickly as they appeared, the void wraiths have vanished. Whether due to the conjunctional effects of A Prime or some other reason, the wraiths have faded with the winter, as told of in Marcher fables.
And with the passing of the void wraiths, hostilities have have fallen off, each faction solidifying its gains and taking a measure of the new balance of power.
Perhaps most surprising is the utter collapse of ISA control. It appears that the iron grip of control was illusion, as paladin defense forces where no where to be found, until the ISA secured a minimal foothold in the eastern reaches. But for how long? All know that a massed ISA response is just one gate cycle away. But will the ISA strike back? What has it learned of A2 that might have caused a withdrawl from the planet?
The AC have established a secure hold in the industrialized cities of the north. And further proof of its probing tendrils are the emergence of a nacent following among the wastelanders in the south. This cult has no real control, but deems itself strong enough to operate openly. Whether they will hold out or collapse remains to be seen, but its a sure sign that the temple must be seeking something in the south, or perhaps has found something and needs to eatablish control.
The Empyrean incursion took all of humanity by surprise, rapidly gaining control in the eastern reaches, western wastes, and northern polar regions. From there, it pushed rapidly across the equatorial region, attempting to encircle humanity and cut the factions off into islands. However, the Empyrean grasp has fallen short of control. Still, the Empyreans remain a potent threat, and their aims are still mostly mysterious.
Meanwhile, the MWs have seized a tenuous control of A2. The Marcher remnants in the southern wastes were more numerous than anyone realized. But for how long can they hold?
But bigger questions remain. What has humanity wakened in the void? And what in the void terrifies the Empyreans so?
It’s great to see you all rocking WNM. I think I will run that league next.
