The Curse of the Dertflinghans: Chapter Nine

excerpt from DR. RICHARD ALCOCK'S JOURNAL

25 April. The Old Graveyard of Dertflinghan - We set out from Dertflinghan yesterday on the East road towards the Old Graveyard. In hindsight, it would have been wiser to wait until today and leave at first light, but as soon as the the scrap of the nun's journal was found, Mannleigh insisted on heading out straight away. After seeing his dogged determination I saw that argument would be futile, so we packed up and headed down the road as fast as we were able. We were accompanied by Sister Benedicta's bodyguard Hugo Forst. Although a little on the boastful side for my tastes, he does seem able to handle himself in a tight spot and will hopefully be an asset to our cause.

By the time we reached the graveyard the sun was already beginning its descent. The darkness replaces the light so quickly in this land. It is most unnatural.

The Austrians moved along the perimeter.


Ms. Poundwood caught sight of a crumbling statue and the ground at its base showed signs of recent excavation. Upon closer examination she discovered the grisly remains of a body in the fresh earth. I noticed that it showed signs of being recently defiled with bite and claw marks all over. Weapons were readied.


Just as we were making this discovery, I was startled from my examination by Rutter's bark. He and his master were running down the main path towards some advancing figure in the gathering darkness. Within seconds I heard the resonating sound of Mannleigh's battle cry. Any chance at a stealthy approach was lost. Mannleigh is a great friend for whom I hold the greatest respect, but in truth, his impulsiveness can be most vexing.


It was then that Ms. Poundwood, Hugo, and myself became aware of more figures in the advancing darkness. It seemed that we would have to fight our way to the mausoleums then.


Judging by the shouts and sounds of rifle fire coming from the other end of the graveyard, it was obvious that our Austrian allies were not without their own problems.


As the others were becoming embroiled in a bitter conflict with the creatures of the night, I decided to take a different kind of action. Seeing that Mannleigh had gained the upperhand against the demonkin with whom he was engaged, I ran to the mausoleum entrance behind him and, finding the doors locked, used as much force as I could muster to gain access. The doors fell open and a blast of musty foul air shot out of the dark chamber. In a moment, Mannleigh was beside me with sword drawn and out of breadth. A thin ray of moonlight shone into the interior and revealed a staircase going down into the earth. This was to be no easy search then.


We headed down into the catacombs with nothing but a flickering torch and the brave Rutter to guide our feet.


Then, without warning, a foul creature shot out of the darkness and I can honestly say that it took all three of us to send the thing scampering away with its tail between its legs (so to speak).


At the far end of the gallery I could just make out a dark shape hovering over a sarcophagus, pulling its contents out in a most horrifying fashion. If I ever survive this expedition, I can say with some certainty that the images of these vampiric children shall haunt my dreams and I fear that I shall never again know a peaceful night.


As I stood for a moment in my reverie, transfixed by the colossal grandeur of the mighty tomb, Mannleigh had charged into the darkness, aware of some hidden figure that I could not detect. I heard a clashing of swords and, judging by the bloodcurdling scream that followed, Mannleigh must have dealt the creature a crippling blow. (He told me later that, after impaling it on his sword, the foul thing dissipated into a damp mist right before his eyes)


With the head vampire defeated, the rest of the creatures seemed to disappear into the night. We found our companions on the surface no worse for wear and wasted no time in getting to the task at hand. We descended back into the earth, and after a thorough search, found that the various mausoleums provided access to the same sprawling catacombs beneath. It was a hellish job, searching through the remains of those sarcophagi, even more so thanks to the work of generations of vampires and ghouls, but our horror reached its height when we opened the eastern-most sarcophagus.

As the lid fell away, it was obvious that the corpse was relatively fresh and certainly couldn't be the original occupant of the sarcophagus. Furthermore, his horrible posture and extended arms showed that he had been sealed in while still alive. Upon closer examination I noticed a few lines of text scratched in the underside of the sarcophagus lid. It read:

MY HAND WAS FORCED

LEAVE THIS LAND

TRUST NO ONE

KASTOR VON DERTFLINGHAN

The weight of those few lines hit the party with the force of a tidal wave. If the letter that brought us to this land was written under false pretenses, who could have been behind it and what could their purpose have been in leading Mannleigh to this cursed place? The dead man's warning causes my thoughts to go out to Sister Benedicta. Mannleigh agrees and we have decided to head back to Dertflinghan at first light - RA.

<< Chapter Eight | Chapter Ten >>

Game Talk:

It's been a while since the last installment, mostly because I had mentioned in The Hand of the Almighty that Mannleigh and his companions were heading to the Old Graveyard and I had to finish (i.e. start) making the catacombs. As you can see from the picture below, I painted a tile for each mausoleum and then a collection of random dungeon tiles. These will match the cellar tiles from my buildings as well, so underground networks below towns will be possible as well.


The skull token marks a secret door (which nobody found).


The entrance to the catacombs from the largest of the mausoleums. The statues are made from wood blocks, cardboard, and a couple of old Warmaster models I had lying around.


The columns are the easiest (and the most effective in my opinion). They are wine corks glued to round plastic bases and painted to match the floors.


The sarcophagi were made from card and styrofoam. The "ornamental" pieces on the top are cheap hinges from wooden boxes (the ones I made Grunberg's Asylum out of, in fact). I knew I saved them for a reason.


The game was a modified Seek & Find scenario. Using my new furniture house rules, characters could search the four sarcophagi, statue in the graveyard, pool, and the chest for a total of seven possible objective finds. At the end of the scenario, 1 VP was awarded to the warband that found the most objectives and 1 VP to the warband that ended with the most objectives. Ms. Poundwood found one in the pool.


Lyleth escaping with her objective at the end of the game.


During the last round of the game, we were tied for VP's since we each had found and held two objectives and the head vampire was alive. However, when Mannleigh delivered the killing blow to the Count he took one of the objectives AND killed a Master of Evil, all in one move. Bastard.

Found most objectives (1 VP) - 2 each, neither player
Held most objectives at game's end (1 VP) - Monster Hunters
Capture Female Victim (1 VP) - n/a
Kill Master of Evil (1 VP) - Monster Hunters

Result:
2 VP Monster Hunters
0 VP Romanian Vampires
= major victory for Monster Hunters

In other news, Jordin has ordered the models for his Nosferatu warband so we now officially have four players for Chaos in Carpathia in our group. Can you say "tournament?"

Thanks for reading,
JET

Chaos In Carpathia Battle Report - Jordin's First Game

So there's Marc (Mad Doctor & Creations), Chris (British Monster Hunters) and Yours Truly (Hungarians Hunters, Werewolves, Romanian Vampires). However, in the fairly near future there will be a fourth player in our CinC group.

Jordin came to the group earlier this year from a WH40k background to join in on our Warmachine gaming. After some exposure to CinC, he asked for a learning game (which I was only too happy to provide) and walked away an instant fan of the game, ready to procure models for a warband.

Scenario: Seek & Find

The center of the table was dominated by a church

on one side of the road and a graveyard on the other.

Warbands: Romanian Vampires (Jordin) vs. Hungarian Monster Hunters (me)

Special Events: None, but we tried out my new Indoor House Rules (see below)

Synopsis:

With five objectives at-large (four in buildings, one in the graveyard), the race was on to (a) find and (b) retain the majority of the objectives. There were also VP's to be awarded for killing a Master of Evil (the head vampire) and protecting/capturing the Female Victim (Ms. Grunberg). After it was all said and done, there were many casualities, but only a minor victory to the Monster Hunters (Which didn't actually count since Jordin wasn't clear on one of the victory conditions... my fault)

The Hunt:

Some members of the vampire warband advanced towards the church with the hopes of thwarting the hunters while their companions were in the two buildings on their half of the table searching for objectives.


The Vampire Lucretia (blue dress, previous photo) used Shape of the Beast to transform and then charged towards the terrified Ernst Holdt. Unfortunately, after rolling an AGILITY goal roll, Jordin didn't roll any successes (he only needed one) so the charge ended at the fence. You can also see Hester in the background (green dress), a Vampire Acolyte who is shown here after successfully finding one of the objectives in the building behind her.


This series of photos shows the altercation that took place behind the church. After failing her charge, Lucretia turned back into her vampire form and charged into the Slayer Helmut Von Krumm. After an exchange of blows, Helmut (with the help of the Hungarian hounds) defeated the diminutive vampire and moved up to the fence where he dispatched the Vampire Acolyte Bella as well. Things were clearly going well for the monster hunters on this flank.


The fight on the other side of the road was another story. Bjorn charged into Count Brechtenstein and Hester. His chopped down Hester but the Count retaliated with a fatal counter-attack.


After defeating Bjorn, the Count charged into combat with Hungarian Slayer Lazlo the Wanderer (who had just failed to find the objective in the sarcophagus). The fight ended poorly for Lazlo, leaving the Count free to search the sarcophagus for himself.



The Objectives:

While the battle raged in the center of the table, members of both warbands were busily scouring the table for the hidden objectives necessary for victory. Lyleth flew towards the sarcophagus early in the game and transformed into a vampire. Unfortunately, she failed to locate the objective and doubled back in search of another one.


The vampire's despicable human servant, Dolf, moved back to hide from Ernst and his crossbow. Thanks to the Pack Mule ability, Dolf is able to carry items that exceed his STRENGTH limitation without incurring a movement penalty. Jordin put this to good use by having Hestor "pass" her objective to Dolf for safe-keeping before she headed into the fray.


Lyleth (it was clearly not her day) also failed to find this objective. In a surprise attempt, Dolf (with a feeble MIND score of 2) rolled two successes and found the second objective for the vampires. He was now carrying both of the vampires' objectives. As a human, he was also allowed to search the cupboard. He did so but, with a D6 roll of 1, found nothing.


The good Dr. Grunberg spent the entire game inside this tiny cottage. After making it to the door in the cellar, he was unlucky enough to roll a "6" for the door's condition (meaning it was locked). It took a little doing for the old fella to kick the door in (and a couple of FATE Points as well). Of course, with MIND:4 and Scholar x3, he found the hidden objective easily.


Protecting Emmalina Grunberg:

My Expedition Leader, Count Konrad Von Krumm, was the guardian of my Female Victim, Emmalina Grunberg. He had to keep her within six inches at all time and as far away from monsters as possible. The Count also has MIND:3 and Scholar x1 so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone by sending him off to find an objective in the undercroft of the church and then using the enclosed space to keep Ms. Grunberg out of harm's way.


The Count and Ms. Grunberg descended the staircase after which the Count had no problem finding the objective behind the door.


Since he was down here anyway the Count searched the bookcase and rolled four successes. He learned something of value about his enemy. In game terms, he could re-roll one ATTACK or DEFENSE goal roll against the vampires this game.


While rummaging about below the church, the Count was unaware of Lyleth sniffing around outside. As a vampire, she had to pass a TN:3 RESOLVE roll to enter the church (which she did).


Lyleth made it to the bottom of the stairs and, later that turn, Helmut Von Krumm successfully detected her and charged from the main floor down the stairs. Lyleth suffered a savage blow from Helmut's sword.


The Count, after ordering Ms. Grunberg to stay hidden, charged in to help his son. His knife found its mark and the child vampire went down.


At this point in the game (the last turn) it was up to the Count Brechtenstein. To recap, the Hungarians had two objectives, the Vampires had two objectives, the Master of Evil had not been killed, and Ms. Grunberg was still safe. The final unclaimed objective was in the sarcophagus. The Count rolled four dice (i.e. MIND:4) and needed two successes to find the objective. He only rolled one, however, and the game ended then and there in a bitter draw.


Result: Draw

First of all, what great fun we had trying out my new Indoor/Furniture rules. They were especially helpful in dealing with doors, windows, stairs, and trapdoors/ladders. We also did a little searching, and it was neat to see how less combat-oriented characters could still be quite useful in a game where fighting is typically the focus.

After re-reading the scenario victory conditions, I noticed that 1 VP goes to the warband who "holds the Female Victim" at the end of the scenario. We never realized this when we were playing, so I discounted that VP, hence the draw. Outcomes aside, the real winner here was our Gothic Horror group. With Jordin jumping on board we shall be four-strong. That means two games running consecutively or perhaps a larger team game in the near-ish future.

In any event, I will have the interiors and furnishings for my crypts painted in time for the next game night so, with any luck, we'll be able to pick up the Curse of the Dertflinghans campaign where we left off, with the Mannleigh expedition heading towards the Old Graveyard.

Thanks for reading,
JET

Outline of Chaos In Carpathia House Rules

I've been spending my spare time picking away at a set of Chaos In Carpathia house rules to better simulate the interaction of models when inside buildings and in the crypts and basements beneath them.

Chaos In Carpathia is one of my favourite games (as you've likely noticed) and our group is also quite fond of Tom Weiss's add-on featuring expanded warbands and scenarios. After recently fashioning some off-table interiors for my Horror buildings I started pondering how the buildings, and particularly the furnishings within them, might give less combat-oriented character types extra game value, and frankly, more options during play. Here's a couple of sample entries:

2. ALTAR

Both the human and immortal inhabitants of Europe, whether they recognize the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible, the mysterious teachings of the Eastern masters, or even the abhorrent practises of the Nameless One, all make use of altars - simple or elaborate structures on which to conduct their sacred rites and to direct their prayers.

2.1. ALTARS DEDICATED TO CHRIST OR RELIGIOUS FIGURES FROM OTHER CULTURES
Human characters of Monster Hunter or Bruderschaft warbands may use a special action to kneel at the altar and pray. Make a TN# roll where # is equal to the character's RESOLVE. Every two full successes grants the character 1 free FATE POINT. Characters with the TRUE FAITH ability automatically gain one bonus Fate Point in addition to the result of their Goal roll.

2.2. ALTARS DEDICATED TO THE NAMELESS ONE
Members of Vampire and Werewolf warbands may use a special action to conduct a dark rite or make a blood sacrifice. Make a TN# roll where # is equal to the character's RESOLVE. Every two full successes grants the character 1 free FATE POINT.

2.3. DIVINE DISPLEASURE
Any character who attempts to pray and rolls zero goals on his RESOLVE roll has clearly annoyed his deity with his ostentatious show of hypocrisy. Lose one FATE POINT. If the character has no remaining FATE POINTS, any one enemy character may re-roll an ATTACK or DEFENSE roll against the hypocrit.

2.4. DESECRATING AN ALTAR
A character may use a special action to desecrate an altar of an opposed religion so that followers (generally, the character's enemies) cannot use the altar to gain FATE POINTS. There is no goal roll required but there is an automatic loss of one FATE POINT for doing so - interfering in the business of the gods has negative effects on blasphemers, regardless of whether or not the desecrater is a follower of the god in question.

Note: Both players (or all members of a campaign group) will have to decide in advance which altars are considered as "enemy" altars. Most monsters can desecrate Christian altars while most humans can desecrate altars to the Nameless One, but what of humans who serve monsters or a pack of monk-turned-werewolves who still maintain some remnant of their Christian faith? Each gaming group will have to draw their own lines on these matters of theological morality.

2.5. CHARACTERS PROHIBITED FROM USING ALTARS
None of the following characters or groups may make use of altars for prayer: Professors, Adventurous Scholars, Mad Doctor (Dr. Frankenstein) nor any member of his warband, The Old Woodsman, Ghouls, Escaped Asylum Inmates, any member of a Gypsy warband, any model with the animal special rule, units of henchmen.


10. FONT

To the untrained eye it is merely a basin filled with water mounted on a short pedestal, but to the faithful a font is an important piece of liturgical furniture. Holy water is central to the sacrament of baptism. Of course, it also comes in handy as a weapon against those infected with vampirism.

10.1. COLLECTING HOLY WATER
Any human character may use a special action to collect a vial of holy water from a baptismal font, no dice roll required. The holy water may be used for one attack against a vampire during that scenario. Holy water can only be collected from a font once per scenario.

Note: A human vampire henchman could choose to collect the holy water and then proceed to use a free action to dump the water on the ground.

* * * * * *

As you can see, the rules, although fairly detailed, are simple and, rather than presenting any new rules, I've really just used the existing rules to make furniture a little more exciting than when it is treated as nothing more than cover and a visual backdrop. Furthermore, in the interest of keeping the game moving at a swift pace, the rules are laid out alphabetically by furniture type. Here's what I'm working on at the moment. I would estimate that I'm over 80% done.

1. GENERAL RULES
2. ALTAR
3. BED
4. BOOKCASE
5. CABINETS, CRATES, & CUPBOARDS
6. CHEST
7. CHURCH
8. DOOR
9. FIREPLACE
10. FONT
11. LADDER/TRAPDOOR
12. SARCOPHAGUS
13. STAIRS
14. STATUE OR COLUMN
15. TABLE
16. THRONE
17. WEAPON RACK
18. WINDOW

There will be more CinC action this weekend so, with any luck, we'll have the chance to try out them out.

Thanks for reading,

JET

Chaos In Carpathia - First Game Using Building Interiors

After working (kind of) hard on my building interiors, I was very excited to try them out and to get some feedback. So, when geek night rolled around this weekend, Chris and I hauled out the warbands and got down to business. I should point out that (as usual) I set up my Gothic Horror tables with more of an eye towards aesthetics than to tactics and, if I may be so bold, I really created a shooting-friendly table. As you'll see, I'm making excuses in advance.

Scenario: Seek & Find

Notice the nice open fields right in the
middle of the table? I'm just sayin.

The off-table building interiors set-up
(as you would guess) just off the main table.

Warbands: British Monster Hunters vs. Romanian Vampires

Special Event: None

Synopsis:

The opposing warbands started across from each other on either end of a small settlement and competed with each other by trying to discover hidden objectives in each of the four buildings. Austrian rifles found their mark and seriously limbed the vampires, in spite of their supposed resilience to firearms. In the end, by sticking together and working together, the human hunters swarmed and defeated their undead adversaries.

The Game:

The Mannleigh Expedition started at the T-junction leading into the village. As an Adventurous Scholar, Ms. Poundwood headed straight for the nearest building so that she could put her scholarly abilities to use hunting for the objective.


Bella, one of my Vampire Acolytes, tried to gain any available cover as she made her advance up the table.


Lyleth, one of my two lesser vampires, went to work seeking out objectives. Lucretia, my other lesser vampire, was shot down by Hans Klapp during the humans' first turn. Disgraceful!


Dr. Alcock moved into the other building at the north end of town and proceeded towards the cellar.


Mannleigh and the loyal Rutter stood guard between the two buildings while Alcock and Poundwood went to work searching the buildings.


Bella used the stone wall as cover as she moved towards the cottage.


Meanwhile, the Count Aldolphus and one his Vampire Acolytes made their way to the other side of the Long House where Ms. Poundwood was making her way towards the basement.


Hugo Forst, Mannleigh, and Rutter took up positions in the Long House while the Count and Hestor skulked outside the window.


The Count crashed through the window and engaged Mannleigh in a fierce melee. Sadly, prior to the duel Ms. Poundwood used her Gypsy's Luck skill to give Sir Thrustam extra Fate Points. He put them to good use and survived the Count's attack. Hestor (the Vampire Acolyte) jumped in behind the Count but Hugo (who had a held action) shot his pistol as she came through the window and put her down.


The Count and Sir Thrustam continued their duel. The Count seemed ready to use his action to finish off the British Hunter when Austrian hunter Hans Klapp burst through the door and fired two shots into the melee. His first took out Mannleigh's unfortunate hound Rutter, but his second proved to be fatal for the Count. It was a cinematic moment to be sure.

While all of this fighting was going on in the Long House, Lyleth had moved to her second building and found another objective. Frankly, she was the only member of my warband who seemed to be accomplishing anything.


Bella finally made it up to the hunters and charged into combat. Unfortunately, she had spent all of her Fate Points trying to survive rifle shots so she wasn't as potent in combat as she might have been. The good Johan put her out of her misery later in the turn.


After various misadventures inside the buildings the human hunters regrouped back on the road.


As the only surviving member of my Vampire warband, Lyleth charged into combat to try and cause some damage and hopefully to salvage some of my pride. The game ended after that turn. Lyleth managed to survive the scenario.


Result: Minor Victory for the British Monster Hunters

What a great game and, as hoped, the off-table building interiors worked very well. As to the game outcome, we each discovered and finished the scenario in possession of two objectives, so no victory points were scored. The hunter Hans Klapp did manage to kill a Master of Evil (the Count) so Chris earned one victory point. Chris really has to paint up some helpless female miniature to act as a Female Victim.

The MVP awards took little consideration to award this time round. Chris's hunter Hans took out two of my three vampires with his rifle. I can only assume that the bullets were laced with holy water. Lyleth was the star of the vampires as she discovered both of the objectives and of all her companions was the only survivor.

The next time we get together to play I should have finished the remaining fireplaces and the church furniture (and if I'm really lucky, some beds). In the meantime, I'm working away on tightening up my beta rules for using building interiors in Chaos in Carpathia. I certainly look forward to playing lots more games

Thanks for reading,
JET