The Drawbridge Mega-Battle Team has set Extra Life in our sights for another big event. We’ve done two prior Bug Hunts, where different teams have hunted Tyranid creatures big and small, and the nice thing about Extra Life is that we can do some special silly because of the rules of that event (e.g. don’t like a dice roll result? Donate a dollar to re-roll!). So we’re announcing our third Bug Hunt, which will actually be a “Mug” hunt, as your units will be hunting the most (least) dangerous game: man, and making mugs out of the best of the skulls. Yes, we’re working on some skull mugs as part of the prize pool.

Background: The Hunt-Master continues to curate his pocket dimensions to stage his little games. Much blood will be spilled, and many skulls taken–literally. This time when units have been kidnapped to participate through time and space, hearing a mysterious voice saying “take their skulls, all their skulls, and the best and hardest-won will be fashioned into a mug for your prize”. The forces of the best-of-the-best hunters found themselves appearing on battlefields where various Imperial forces are on live-fire maneuvers. The same scroll as years past has arrived, written bafflingly in their own native tongue: “Hunt as many as you can. The winners will be returned with a prize in hand, the rest kept for eternity. Kill your trophies and compete for the greatest haul… but at least one of your number needs to return to your transport to keep them.”

What: This will be a staged event that runs all morning through afternoon on the day of Extra Life (currently TBD, watch for date to be finalized). Players can contribute in two ways. First, by painting Astra Militarium, Adeptus Sororitas, and non-space marine Imperial Agents models to populate the terrain. Or you can join the hunting crew by bringing a single squad of most other forces (including loyalist space marines) and a transport that can hold them (see more info below) and seeing just what all they can hunt before escaping the various “islands” with their haul. There will be multiple GM’s on hand so people can compete starting at different points on the 12 foot island board we’ll have, and we’ll keep a “leader board” through the night detailing which players have the most points killed on their safari expeditions… while still managing to get a single model back and free. If there’s room, players can even give a try multiple times during the event with their squads. As always, prizes at Drawbridge will be based upon a random draw amongst participants where additional draws will be entered for not only the winner, but for each unit newly painted for the event that participants bring (as we ask all models in these events be a minimum of three colors and based), and for “best painted” Imperial humans and hunting squads alike.

Hunting Squads: Players participating in the bug hunt will bring one infantry squad of their choosing, attach one character (non-epic, so no “named” characters), and a vehicle that can transport that squad and character. Note that while the temptation may be the most expensive transport, note that the Imperials will have a set of “Artificial Intelligence” rules for when they notice something and organize a counter-attack–so a Land Raider firing off lascannons 48″ away might just alert the entire half of the island. That means no jump infantry or other “doesn’t fit in a transport” types, and that some armies will have different limitations (e.g. Necrons can only transport Warriors in their Ghost Arks, but they can bring a Night Scythe if they want a different sort of unit). Also, no Drop Pods… as the point is needing to “get away to safety” in the transport. There will be entries into the prize draw for fielding a newly-painted squad, a newly-painted character to lead them, and a newly-painted transport. There will also be extra draws awarded for the best painted combo squad+transport, and the best “Hunters” themed squad (aimed at those who want to convert up a squad of specialized hunters or even specifically human hunters). And sorry: no Knights armies, no Daemons, and no Tyranids, given the nature of this event being about a squad striking out from and returning to a transport.

Skulls for the Cause: The goal is to cover the table in groups of regular human Imperium models, from large to small, the biggest tanks to the smallest infantry. The more the merrier. So to encourage people to paint up those units, each squad of Imperial models that are painted up for specifically the event give the person bringing them a bonus two draws in the prize pool. And we’d love if the established regular Imperial players bring along their already-painted masses as well, just to crowd the board with all sorts of regular human skulls for the taking.

How Will it Run? The Imperials are on maneuvers when these hunting squads emerge–so they have live weaponry but confusion can mean that they take time and orders to feel confident engaging. The more OBVIOUS the hunters are, the more likely the Imperials will respond in force. See below for the “if/then” set of reactions that will guide when and where Imperial units respond to the attacks of the hunter squads. The sound of battle, the sight of long range gunfire, and the rustle of nearby bushes will all have a chance to draw other squads into the fray. This is specially dangerous when the last stragglers are trying to get back to their transport with a haul of human skulls to make into mugs. As always with our big events, the goal is simple, silly, and thematic rules to get us throwing dice together and laughing at the fortunes (and misfortunes) of squads as they compete for glory in the “Mug” Hunt!

Leaders: As mentioned above, players can choose to have one character attached to the squad as well. Ideally we are thinking of them as “medic” support characters, particularly apothecary/hospitaller/painboy type models, but you can bring any model that isn’t an “epic” hero.

To reward those who were taking the time to do up their dedicated medic-type models, those fielding a medic will get a bonus in the game. That list includes models like: Apothecary, Sanguinary Priest, Hospitaller, Painboy, Plague Surgeon, Biophagus, Spirit Seer, and so on. Anyone fielding those models will get one “emergency patch-up”, where they can once during their mission. When they do, at the end of any phase, roll a d6 and restore that many models to their unit. That’s in addition to their other rules for bringing back models.

Imperial “Organized Reaction” Rules:

Every player turn their units will be doing things, and those things generate chances for the Imperials to hear, feel, smell, or sense them and attack back. Each player will have a d20 placed near their forces to represent the “alert level” for their turn. The list below has the various things that increase alarm amongst the Imperial models. They are additive (cumulative?). At the end of the player’s turn (move, shoot, charge, assault), note the number that the alert level has risen to that turn and then the player must roll ABOVE that number to remain undetected.

The player then checks for Alert at the very end of their turn by rolling a d20 and comparing to their Alert Level for the turn they just completed. If they roll ABOVE their Alert level, no problem, their hunt has remained undetected. Any Imperials that are in engagement range, have been shot but not killed by them, or have noticed them in a prior term but not reached them, get to respond with movement, shooting, charge, fight as normal, but no other Imperial units realize what is going on and remain dormant. Imperial units in melee also get to fight back in the player turn as normal. 

If the player rolls BELOW their Alert level, then the GM rolls a d3. That many units beyond any shot/hit respond to the attack. What units respond depend on the modifier descriptions (they indicate which model responds first). After that first unit is designated, the next that respond (up to the d3 result) are nearest to the “noticed” unit units (GM discretion for what makes sense given the situation). 

Sight: If this modifier was involved, the first unit to respond is the vehicle unit.

Smell: If this modifier was involved, the first unit to respond is the nearest infantry unit.

Sound: No special choices, just nearest models.

Vibration: If this modifier was involved, the first unit to respond is the closest infantry unit.

Vibes: If this modifier was involved, if there is an Imperial model with psychic abilities they and their unit respond. If not, go with the closest units.

If multiples of these are involved, the GM can use their discretion about what units compose the d3 responding and why.

Prizes: We’ll have a door prize draw that we do at the end of the event, that will include both 40k model kits as well as skull mugs. Everyone who participates gets one draw in the door prize drawing for attending, and the extra points for painting for the event as listed above. The top three points-getters for successful hunter expeditions will also be tracked, and they’ll get a tiered number of additional draws.

Yes, it’s time for yet another Knight Night Fight Night, our SEVENTH of the event at Drawbridge games. We’ve had Deathmatch. We’ve had Tag Teams, both big and minis. And we’ve had six great nights of silly titanic fun together. So it’s time for our seventh. And this time, it’s Battle Bots (or Robot Wars for those of you with refined UK-media tastes). Prepare for arenas of death with moving conveyor belts, pushing and throwing opponents, and other fun surprises.

The event will be Thursday, September 24th. Setup at 6:30pm, dice start at 7:00pm.

Event Rules

Each player brings one titanic walker model–and this time it’s robots only (sorry Gargantuan Squiggoth). Generally that means either an Imperial or Chaos Knight (see the list at the bottom for other allowable models from other forces). We’ll have two arenas of death, indicated by the wooden rails around the tables. The last standing two models from each arena are then placed into a final four-way.

Every round of combat all participant Knights in the ring are dealt a playing card, and play turns will run in that order: lowest numbers first, with suit order high-to-low in reverse-alpha to break numerical ties, so Spades > Hearts > Diamonds > Clubs, with Aces low. The active Knight will move, shoot, can charge and fight. Note that models attacked won’t swing back (there’s no ordinary combat phase).

Note that there will also be arena hazards in this version of Knight Night, which will get their own turn order card for when they run. In particular there will be conveyor belts that will move models around the table, as well as other hazards.

The goal is to incapacitate opposing Knight models by taking all of their wounds–resulting in them being destroyed. Being Battle Bots, there’s no spot to hide and heal up in this arena, so our usual “Recover in the Corner” action will not be used.

“Re-roll Chip”: Every Knight gets one re-roll chip. Every Tag Team who put up a promo (posted on the Drawbridge Events Facebook page and/or Discord) gets a second re-roll chip per player participating in that promo. The player with the best promo (judged by Enrico) gets a third re-roll chip. Re-roll chips can be exchanged or traded as you wish during the game with other players. They can be spent to re-roll any one d6 roll (including the check to see if a model comes out of recovery state–see below). That also applies to opponents’ d6 rolls, so you can save it to use for yourself or use it to antagonize an opponent who rolls that lucky 6 to recover. Note that no one will have command points to keep things simple, this is a sort of replacement for that. And no one will have their Detachment or Army Rule abilities, again in the interest of keeping things simple.

“Disposal Zones”: In Battle Bots, the goal is often to move an enemy model into one of the “crusher’ or “disposal” zones. Whenever a model is reduced to 0 wounds, they go into “recovery state”. Ideally lay them on their side (or indicate with a die if the model doesn’t lay down easily). Models in recovery state can be moved by other models–you move recovery state models by pushing their latent hulks across the arena floor. Every inch you move them counts as double. For instance, if you have a move of 12″, and you walk 4″ to reach the recovery state model, your remaining 8″ of movement means you can push it 4″. Models with an open power fist or claw on the model can “throw” a recovery state model instead by charging it. They automatically throw it 3d6 inches in any direction away from the throwing model (the throwing player chooses the direction, roll for distance after choosing direction). Charge movement itself cannot push recovery state models. If at the end of a round (before cards are dealt), a recovery state model is in a disposal zone on one of the boards, it is destroyed.

However, sometimes a bot just needed a push to get it going again–the damage just knocked something a bit loose and good hard “bonk” makes them right as rain, if a little dented. Any time that your model in recovery state is pushed or thrown by an opponent’s model, there’s a chance that you might snap out of it and start moving again. Roll a d6 after the opponent that pushed you finishes their turn (move and shoot). If you roll a 6 on that roll, you get up with half your wounds remaining. If you (or another player) spends their re-roll chip in advance of the roll, you get a +3 bonus (returning to the game on a 3 or better). You then get to immediately take your turn in the round if you didn’t already get a turn that round (as if you had the card right after the model whose push jostled you awake). If you were thrown by an opponent you get a +1 on the d6 roll as well (as that landing is a hard bump).

Painting Requirements: All models participating in Knight Night must be painted to a tabletop standard and based. Part of this hobby is, well, the hobby, so I want to encourage people to paint and get models finished for events. There will be additional chances at prizes for those who paint up a new Knight or larger model for the event.

Knight Options and Choices

Knight Options: Players can choose any non-character Knight from the Imperial Knights or Chaos Knights codex with gear allowable from the data sheet (no relics or warlord traits). No army rules, detachment rules, or upgrades that aren’t part of the basic datasheet entry for the Knight will be used. These are vanilla versions of the data sheets, folks.

When is a Knight not a Knight: We’re not able to allow in every Xenos and Chaos faction, but applications to field other types are allowable if they’re comparable in stature to a Knight (note they may not be comparable in points).

• Stormsurge
• Wraithknight
• Gorkanaut
• Morkanaut
• Stompa
• Lord of Skulls

Go Big: The following is a list of allowed “go big” options. The drawback of a “go big” choice is that you’ll be much more likely to be standing on a conveyor belt.

• Warhound Titan
• Reaver Titan
• Warlord Titan
• Revenant Titan
• Phantom Titan
• Ta’unar Supremacy Armor

Huge thanks to Topher and Rico for helping with the ideas and execution for this event!

[GM Note: This game summary will be a bit more choppy as I wrote most of it right after the game, but we had our bit of a gap in play, thankfully to result in better health again now this summer. So I’m finishing it now before Session Five, so it might have some gaps! -Andrew]

It was a dusty three days journey to Kled, retracing sands that the party had walked before. Corin, Finnja, Thrak-Chul, and Marquis had a rough chuckle when passing the silt basin that they had searched so fruitlessly on their way to the Dwarven minehead. Bez, their Dwarven companion, was talkative, discussing how the thin vein of metal they found in the mine would be the new lifeblood for the town of Kled and their families.

Unfortunately, smoke on the horizon was ominous tidings at Kled. The entire town had been attacked and razed. The few Dwarves who had remained despite the poisoned well now lay as bodies in the street, with homes raided and dwelling shattered by a sizeable, coordinated, and seemingly ruthless force. Whether the elf raiding army in the area, or a band ranging out from Tyr amidst the rumored crisis there, the heroes were unsure. The most stunning losses were finding grandmother’s body lying dead in the middle of the street, and the town elder’s clearly tortured form in the town longhall.

The one thing that gave Corin, Finnja, Thrak-Chul, and Marquis hope was that they didn’t see Cleodis’ body (the youth they had met when they first approached the town in dire need of water). There were tracks everywhere, and Finnja’s trained eyes had a tough time discerning what had happened–other than the attackers had strange clawed and webbed feet. Marquis picked up a thistle-husk doll that was laying forgotten in the street and had a sharp and stunning vision: four Dwarven children, hiding in the rocks north of town. He tried to explain to the group what he saw, and they rushed out north of town to the rocky warrens, carefully calling out in hopes of finding them.

A tearful reunion happened when four Dwarven children, led by Cleodis, came out of hiding to meet them, hugging the adventurers and Bez with tears–the most precious thing in the desert–welling in everyone’s eyes. They told the story of what they had seen, and it proved to be ill omens indeed. They said that the things that attacked walked like men but looked like lizards. They had marched into town, and the one that spoke–which looked different and smaller than the others–had a “face in its tummy” that did the talking. He pronounced the town and its contents the property of “The Saltback” and when the town elder defied them the small one ordered the attack. The kids fled to their hiding place north of town, and didn’t dare go back–not knowing where the army of The Saltback were from.

Surmising that this was some sort of mercenary band headed toward Tyr, the adventurers weighed checking out what was happening in the city versus getting to relative safety elsewhere. They loaded up Bez, Cleodis, and the other kids, and planned to journey back to the spot of the brothers’ mine–at least hopeful that they could be safe there and use the revenue of that thin trace of metal that they found to barter for food and water to survive.

The adventurers decided to avoid Tyr, knowing that the elven army had sacked Fort Iron and unsure of this new force serving “The Saltback”. They instead cut northeast, headed right back to the mine. When they reached the road they had to cross south of Silver Spring, they were disheartened to see two huge armies on the march. Neither seemed to be the elves nor lizards that walked like men–even more forces afield it seemed, both headed toward Tyr. One was very heavily armored in almost chitinous glass armor, marching slowly with a clear rearguard watching the force that moved far behind them. The trailing force were lightly armored but more numerous, runners on foot with loads of spear-bearers in the main column. The two forces were clearly both wary of each other, trying to move and not engage but ready should the others start anything.

The adventurers decided to chance their luck, and dash from their hiding spot on the dunes to the west of the road to the dunes eastward where the mine was hidden. For a tense moment after the mad dash they waited, hoping neither group would send pursuers after them. Relieved, they pushed on to the mine, reuniting Bez, Cleodis, and the other children with Boaz. The two Dwarven brothers swore an oath to start a new clan with the children, adopting them and using the mine as their new home.

Traveling cautiously along the road, the group decided that perhaps south–toward Abarath–made sense as a next move, hoping the armies are all turning toward Tyr at the crossroads. As they traveled, they come upon a lone man riding an a crodlu. Hailing him, the group met and talked with him.

He introduced himself as Timoth, a House Vordon outrider. Corin thanks him “You sir are a spring found under sand”. Hi indicates that he’s working with a merchant caravan that chanced a cut due east to Abarath from Fort Skonz over the sands rather than stick with the road. The adventurers inquired about joining the caravan, and Timoth offers to introduce them. He travels with them for a stretch, when soon a massive rumbling caravan wagon’s dust was spotted. Timoth hailed the guards as he approached, and the adventurers could see the wagon had more than a few guards both outriding alongside it and stationed around the defense-works of the massive wagon.

It took a bit of a trick to duck under the wheels then climb through a defense port into the wagon, but Corin, Finnja, and Marquis eventually managed it, but Thrak-Chul chose to remain outside and travel alongisde the walking guards. Timoth introduced the three boarders to Merchant Mistress Hilleth of House Vordon, the head of the caravan. They learned that House Vordon is a house tied to Tyr. Mistress Hilleth told them the recent news from Tyr: the Dragon King slain by a gladiator throwing a spear through his heart atop his massive, nearly-finished ziggurat. The Dragon King’s death thru the region into chaos. Her own House is in financial ruin due to unpaid contracts for slaves and building supplies, as the Dragon King of Tyr had been near-fanatically pouring all of his City-State’s wealth into the construction of the ceremonial ziggurat. This has prompted almost every other major ruler in the lands of Arthas, along with freestanding House armies and loads of mercenary companies, to all send their forces in the direction of Tyr: half to try and take it over, and half to loot it.

Trak-Chul on the outside makes passing aqcuaintance with a guard named Sliff, who tells him much the same information as Mistress Hilleth relayed to the others. He does reveal that House Vordon is near-bankrupt… and that Mistress Hilleth has some sort of magical powers–she melted a guy who was caught stealing a few days back.

The adventurers get told of the others who are traveling with the caravan, and they’re offered the standard deal for mercenary protection: a ceramic piece now, and twenty more when they reach the caravan’s destination of Nibenay–a City-State well away from the unruly situation in Tyr. Others on the caravan that are not direct members of House Vordon include a group of riders on kanks that call themselves the “Lost Chatkcha”, a group of Mul gladiators that escaped Tyr together, and a few other random sellswords who are traveling with the same deal: passage and water for joining in protection when needed.

Marquis and Corin ask about whether there is a commissary or shop on the massive wagon, and they’re told to see the Quartermaster: Cupboard. They walk into the room, and see a counter top with some items, and behind it standing a cupboard. Which starts to talk to them. After a bit of confusion, the group figures out how to buy and sell basic items with said Cupboard.

As the merchant caravan rumbled onward the heroes are given a room to sleep and store their things, and instructed on timings for food and water, and when their shifts amongst the guards will be scheduled. They take a break out of the sun to get a bit of rest, excited about what the future will hold as the caravan rumbles northward–surely leaving the woes of Tyr and the clashing armies of the lands of Arthas behind.

For the past three months war has raged at Drawbridge Games, over our 500 Worlds Vespator campaign. Updates were made on the Discord, so this is the summary of the events and the rules for the finale.

Phase Two: Conflict expanded

Battles were roughly even at the beginning, with change in power levels but not much more.

Phase Three: Void Whale Migration

A random event of a Void Whale migration pushed all the fleets to the galactic north of the system, condensing the battles–and doing some damage to some of the southern planets. The Despoiler forces started a slight pull ahead.

Phase Four: Planets begin to take damage

Forces began to more seriously target infrastructure at this point, and while the Reclaimers and the Terraformers began pulling up to match the Despoilers, damage to planets was starting to add up.

Final Phase: Tarkad Vindix destroyed, Feloris Secundas besieged

The Reclaimers finally got a decisive set of victories on Tarkad Vindix, a site with fading Imperial presence and rising Chaos and Ork enclaves (and increasing attention from the Tyranid fleet–where goes food, there they go). The destructive weaponry directed at the planet triggered a mass exodus, which largely pathed to nearby Feloris Secundus. With all sorts of supplies, populaces, technology, and scrap landed on that contested planet, it became clear that the final clash will be at Feloris Secundus.

Campaign Finale

The final campaign battle will be fought over massed landings of supplies that were rapidly removed from the collapsing Tarkad Vindix, hastily transported onto the surface of Feloris Secundus. Massed refugees, tech repositories, and sacred relics all present too tempting a target, so all the forces in the sector converge onto that one battlefield. Alliances that once held will be tested, as each force tries to grab on to enough materials to evacuate them more permanently.

Rules: the battle will be generally split by factions, but there may be some variances based around who shows up. There will be six key locations of supplies set up on the board, and the Imperial forces (who were most triumphant through the campaign) and any allied forces assigned to them will be occupying them at first–trying to hold them long enough to extract them safely. The attacking forces (likely to be Terraformers and Despoilers) will be endeavoring to access and loot/consume them/despoil these sites. These will be tight deployment zones as is appropriate for a mega battle (to get things stuck in, they will not be far apart), and units an do a “support move” to relocate up to 48″ as long as that movement does not 1) move within 12″ of an enemy position, and 2) does not end within 12″ of an enemy position, and 3) they sacrifice their shooting that turn.

Victory will be determined at the end of the time period (noon to 6pm), ideally four rounds of game play. If attacking forces hold any of the objective locations for a full round that location is destroyed, replaced with a ruin, and considered looted. All models that held that spot are removed from the board as if entering strategic reserve, eligible to return their next movement phase. Also any locations held by attackers at the end of the game are considered destroyed and looted.

Factions win by having a majority of objectives either under their control (Reclaimers plus new allies seeking to control a piece) or destroyed (Terraformers and looters). Individual army commanders count as winning if their models control at least two objectives at the end of the game (Reclaimers/allies) or consumed two objectives (Terraformers and looters). Players will get a draw in the prize draw for being on the winning overall faction, for being an individual command winner, or for fielding at least 500 newly painted points for the battle (500 points for 500 worlds).