The Doom of Lonkelo

So, there was a second game and this time we took no pictures of that. So no half-arsed battlereport this time. Just nothing. Terrible, right?

What I can tell you is that this time the conflict was Ambush, which meant that my warband started in the middle of board, while my opponent got to set up along any board edge he wanted. To make matters worse, the middle of the battle field had three Warped Hunters as a horror, which to me felt like Predators (you know, from Alien VS Predator and the like). The upside was that with me in the middle of it, I had all the more time and opportunity to take down the horrors, while my opponent struggled with difficult terrain. By the time I finished off the last hunter, however, my friend took a few well-aimed potshots at my warband, taking out enough of my guys to win him the conflict. I won the horror this time though. Hah!

One of my guys didn’t survive the post-game roll: the zealot with a big hammer. I therefore decided I was going to hire a replacement zealot, who would also be carrying a shield for protection. Also, I decided to add a Herald for next game and to kitbash a few replacements for other more-or-less old standins.

This is the aforementioned herald. His quality is only a 5+, which also makes him a cheap addition. However, he can insprire a comrade in arms to make a free move or fight action at the end of his turn. Bits used: an arm from the Stargrave crew set, body and head from the empire militia, and finally a standard bearer’s arm from a later GW Empire state troop set (I think…).

My freelancer, who also has a 5+ (which I’ve upgraded to 4+), and who can use an action type he didn’t use that turn for free at the end of his turn (wuuuuuut). He has a Stargrave crew body, a head and sword from a WG landsknecht pikemen set (I think…), and the arms from the old GW Empire militia. Also, I sculpted him a pelt to keep him warm when he’s out freelancing :3

Next up is my Legionnaire. I felt I needed a new mini in part to better fit the theme of my medievalesque warband, but mostly because I gave him a bigger gun: the Thunder Gun! I absolutely loved making this one. The right arm and blunderbus are again from the ever so versatile Empire militia set. HOWEVER, I put the GW IG grenade launcher in the middle to give it the oomph it needed. The legs are from the WA Grognard heavy weapons set and the head from the WG landsknecht pikemen. He also has a 5+ quality, but can shoot at a 3+ as long as he can see my commander.

Finally (for now) there is the new Zealot. Like the Legionnaire he is 5+, but 3+ as long as he can see my commander. However, only when fighting in close combat. The legs, right arm and head are from the GW Empire militia set. The body and left arms are from an old Brettonian knights set… I think. I got it from someone elses bitbox aaaaages ago. The body didn’t fit well with the rest, so needed quite some green stuff. The shield is from the old GW Vampire Counts skeletons.

So, a while ago we played our first game of The Doomed. My friend picked the high-tech Martyr Retinues warband, which left me with the noble Inheritor Courts. For our first mission we were facing the Devourer as a horror: an acid spewing monstrosity with nasty claws, backed up by hungry scavangers. For the mission we had Breakthrough, which meant that to win we needed to have two of our warriors touching the opposite board edge.

So, as I said: the game was a while ago, so it’ll be a short reconstruction from memory and photos and not а battle report: apologies! Then again, it will probably be less wordy, which might be a good thing from me.

The Devourer set up in the middle of the battlefield. Our two warbands entered the battliefield from opposite table edges.

The three nexuses were divided more-or-less along the centre of the battlefield. In fact, here is an image below, showing with red arrows where the nexuses are situated. As well as the obvious monstrosity in the middle, of course.

My opponent raced for the nexus on the way left with his leader, a Sage and took it out, whereas I went for the nexus to the right and the middle. While we were attempting to destroy these, we were also battling scavangers that kept popping up. Here’s my mate’s Errant slicing one up with his Electro Sword.

Unfortunately, attacking the middle nexus also meant that I was directly up against the Horror, which was unkillable as long as a nexus was still standing. My leader and one of his followers (can’t remember him. Spoiler.) didn’t fare to well against the beast. My hero tried to defend his fallen comrade in arms, but was knocked down himself after a barrage of enemy attacks (and good rolls by my opponent…).

In the next round the nexuses were down, however, and my leader was able to get back up. Below you can see how my leader proceeded to heroically take the higher ground to lure the beast away from his fallen ally. All the while my troops to the right – having faith in their noble commander – made a break for the opposing warband’s table edge, to try and win the Conflict. The yellow arrow on the right shows one of my opponent’s warriors making a break for my own table edge. His other forces mainly waited for the Horror to finish me off, I remember.

My leader’s plan worked and he was putting up an epic fight at the top of the building. Neither he or the horror were able to wound each other due to our excellent defence rolls.

But then!

Battle couldn’t be more thrilling, when a piercingly loud bang cracked through the air. My commander felt an explosion of blood splatter over his armour, as the beast he was confronting toppled and keeled over the edge by a well-aimed shot from friend’s Technolyte. All the way from the corner of the battle field!

This ended the battle. I had won the conflict by reaching the opposing table edge, while my mate had snatched the Horror’s vanquishing from my hands…. Funnily, his Technolyte had tried to do so at least twice before, as he has an ability that allows him to hit on a 2+, if he uses all his actions for the attack. He’d failed each time until that last shot!

All in all, it was a fantastic first game. The Doomed proved to be the game it promised to be: quick cinematic action without much browsing the rules. Definitely some good water cooler moments in there!

We couldn’t wait until the next game!

In The Doomed both players take control of a warband of techno-medieval warriors and lead them through a post-apocalyptic world scarred by the sudden departure of some (benevolent?) alien-like beings. Rifts are forming all over the world, through which horrors manifest, anchoring themselves to nexuses that you need to destroy before the beasts can be beaten back.

The game is described as one of ‘competitive collaboration’: for each mission you select both a Horror and a Conflict from the a large list that takes up most of the book. The idea is that both players try to take down the horror (and its minions), while at the same time trying to resolve their conflict. This makes for some fun and chaotic gameplay!

To get us started I decided to create two warbands: one from the Inheritor Courts, a more medieval themed faction, and the other from the Martyr Retinues, who have access to some more technology. The idea was that my friend could then pick whichever one he’d like.

As a side note. Whereas some of these seem to fit the theme of one of the warbands better than the other, I left it open to a degree, just assembling what seemed fun to begin with.

Note that in the second picture below, the 1st, 2nd and 4th mini from the left are respectively from Anima Tactics, Hordes (?) and an FDM print. They are place holders for now, but will probably be replaced at some point.

A fun part of the game is selcting the Horror you’re about to face. The game invites you to kitbash one, so below you find my interpretation of the Devourer: the first Horror in the book. It’s made of a big oozy lump of green stuff in which I’ve put various bits of poor victims.

Below are the first layers of paint on the miniatures. Some are more-or-less done, like the Witch with the gasmask and here loyal soldiers. Others, like the Marshall (the obviously not-stormcast with the purple armour), I will paint more later.

please remove