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The Varanite Harvest

Of the many deadly prizes to be found in the Bloodwind Spoil, varanite ­- also known as bloodrock, octarite and Archaon's Gift - is amongst the most infamous. This volatile realm stone seethes with the power of mutation, and even the merest contact with it can twist the body into hideous new form. Though it is undeniably perilous, it is highly sort after by certain champions, particularly arcane weaponsmiths and the Master Moulders of the skaven.

You have been hired by an interested party to obtain a haul of varanite, and granted several millstone canisters to transport the molten realmstone. There is, however, a problem. Traveling to the deep caves of Varanthax's Maw, you find them infested with mewling Chaos Spawn - no doubt those who fell victim to the varanite's power. You must fight through the Spawn and other beasts that lurk within, collecting the varanite before you are overwhelmed.

Set-up​

Prerequisite: 2 dominated territories

Stake: 1 dominated territory

The Warbands​

The Challenger and the Adversary each muster a warband with the following amendments:

  1. The Challenger must muster a Chaos warband, and all fighters in the warband must be chosen from the Challenger's warband roster.
  2. All fighters in the Adversary player's warband must have the Chaos faction runemark (Chaos) and the Thrall runemark (Thrall).
  3. The Adversary player's warband does not need to include a leader.
  4. The combined points value of the fighters in each warband cannot exceed 1 ,250.

Special Rules​

Battle Groups: The Challenger warband must be split into battle groups as normal.

The Adversary player's warband is split into 2 battle groups: the Dagger and the Shield. Neither battle group can have more than 1 additional fighter than the other.

The Swarm Descends: Each time a fighter in the Adversary player's warband is taken down, an identical fighter is added to that warband and placed in reserve. In the reserve phase of the next battle round, that fighter can be set up as a reserve fighter (Warcry: Catacombs, pg 27).

Hideous Mutation: If the Challenger warband is embarked on a campaign in champion mode (see the Tome of Champions 2019), each time a fighter from the Challenger's warband that does not have the Hero runemark (Thrall) is taken down due to the 'Cursed Relics' victory condition, roll a dice before the fighter is removed. On a 1, that fighter has mutated into a hideous Chaos Spawn! The fighter is slain (as if they had rolled the 'Slain' result on the Critical Injuries table), and 1 Chaos Spawn is added to the Adversary player's warband. The Adversary player sets up the Chaos Spawn within 1" of the slain fighter, who is then removed.

Battleplan​

Terrain: See map.

Deployment: Into the Breach

Victory: Cursed Relics

Twist: Rumoured Riches

The Spoils​

If the Challenger wins the battle, they can choose 1 of the following spoils:

Treasure Hoard: See page 105.

Artefact of Power: The Challenger can give 1 fighter in their warband the following artefact of power:

Axe of Unmaking: Blessed with the power of rampant mutation, this bizarre axe hungrily devours steel, flesh and bone with equal relish.
Roll a dice each time an enemy fighter is taken down by an attack action made by the bearer that has a Range characteristic of 3 or less. On a 6, the bearer can immediately make a bonus move action or a bonus attack action.

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