The Path of Ven Talax
Source: Warcry Core Book (Heart of Ghur)
Every adventurer who has set foot in the Gnarlwood has heard tales of Anorio ven Talax, the human explorer to first find the Seraphon wreck at the forest's centre, and after whom it is named. Upon returning to the Gnarlwood a second time at the head of an army of prospectors set to strip Talaxis of its wealth, Ven Talax found the lie of the land had changed beyond recognition. He was driven insane searching for Talaxis a second time. Yet, in the process he established many encampments deep within the Gnarlwood. Most of these have long since been looted, but some are rumoured to hold treasures to this day.
One group of aspiring plunderers has procured a Ven Talax map at great cost and now searches the Gnarlwood to find one of his encampments. A rival warband is hot on their tail, however, and they intend to steal the camp's wealth for themselves.
Introduction
The Path of Ven Talax is a campaign arc for 2 players and consists of 3 battles. The warbands of both players are vying to discover the Ven Talax encampment and take any treasure stashed within.
Getting Ready
In this campaign arc, each warband has a pool of resources they can bid in order to gain an advantage in battle. This is represented by a resource score that starts at 3. Each player makes a note of this on their warband roster.
Playing Through The Campaign Arc
The campaign arc lasts for 3 battles. There are 3 unique battleplans that are played in the following sequence:
- Raid in the Dark
- Deadly Race
- Battle at the Encampment
After each battle, the players increase their resource score by 1.
Possession Of The Ven Talax Map
At the start of this campaign arc, it has not yet been determined which of the warbands has the Ven Talax map and which is the rival warband. Instead, this is determined by the players bidding a number of resources. To do so, each player writes down their bid in secret, and then they reveal the bids at the same time. The players cannot bid a number greater than their resource score. The player who bids the higher amount can choose who is the map-bearer and who is the rival. If the players bid the same amount, they roll off and the winner decides which player is which. In both cases, the amount bid by each player is deducted from their resource score.
Planning Ahead
In this campaign arc, each of the battles has a set battleplan. This means the players will know where their battle groups will deploy before they choose which fighters are in which battle group. We recommend the players take advantage of this and plan accordingly.
Ending The Campaign Arc
The player who wins the third battle, 'Battle at the Encampment', is the victor of the campaign arc.
Rewards
At the end of the third battle, the victor of the campaign arc receives 5 glory. In addition, each player rolls once on the table below for each fighter from their warband carrying treasure at the end of that battle to determine which additional lesser artefact they receive:
| D6 | Reward |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Excelsian Glimmering |
| 3 | Idol of the Slann |
| 4 | Stone Serpent Glyphs |
| 5 | Celestite Dial |
| 6 | Mechanism of the Old Ones |
Resources
During each battle in this campaign arc, players can use their resources as follows:
Called Favours: In the initiative phase, when it is a player's turn to use their wild dice, they can choose to reduce their resource score by 1 to gain 1 additional wild dice. They can only do this once in each initiative phase.
Hidden Scouts: In the reserve phase, when it is a player's turn to set up reserve battle groups in that battle round, they can choose to reduce their resource score by 1 to allow them to set up 1 fighter that is in any of their reserve battle groups anywhere on the battlefield more than 5" from all enemy fighters. Note that players may wish to spend resources in this manner on a fighter that is already due to arrive in that battle round to allow them to set up that fighter somewhere other than within 3" of their deployment point. They can only do this once in each reserve phase.
Campaign Arc Battleplan: Raid in the Dark
In possession of a valuable Ven Talax map, one warband has set out hoping to uncover one of the mad explorer's many treasure hoards rumoured to lie hidden in the depths of the Gnarlwood. As they set up camp for the night, little do they know that their rivals lurk in the darkness beyond and plan to sieze the map for themselves as soon as night falls.
Attacker and Defender
In this battle, the map-bearer is the defender and the rival is the attacker.
Terrain
Set up terrain as normal.
Deployment
Use the deployment map below. The defender is blue and the attacker is red.
Victory
Before the battle, the defender takes 5 treasure tokens with different runemarks and secretly notes down which is the Ven Talax map. Then, the players alternate placing those treasure tokens on the battlefield one at a time, starting with the attacker.
Each treasure token must be placed more then 6" from all other treasure tokens and more than 3" from the battlefield edge.
During the battle, at the start of each combat phase, the defender picks 1 treasure token on the battlefield or 1 piece of treasure being carried and removes it from play. The Ven Talax map cannot be picked.
The battle ends after 4 battle rounds. When the battle ends, if one of the attacker's fighters is carrying the Ven Talax map, the attacker wins the battle. Otherwise, the defender wins the battle.
Twist
Dead of Night: Fighters 4" or more from each other are not visible to each other.
Campaign Arc Battleplan: Deadly Race
After the raid, a bitter race between the two warvands ensues as the one in possession of the map tried to escape. The other warband, intent on not letting their rivals elude them, have sent some of their warriors forward to block any avenues of retreat.
Attacker and Defender
In this battle, the player who won the 'Raid in the Dark' battleplan is the defender and the other is the attacker.
Terrain
Set up terrain as normal.
Deployment
Use the deployment map below. The defender is blue and the attacker is red.
Victory
The northern battlefield edge is the escape route. If any of the defender's fighters finish a move action within 1" of the escape route and are more than 3" from all enemy fighters, they escape. Remove those fighters from play but do not count them as being taken down.
The defender wins the battle as soon as half or more of their fighters have escaped. Otherwise, the attacker wins the battle as soon as half or more of the defender's fighters have been taken down.
Twist
Generate a twist as normal.
Campaign Arc Battleplan: Battle at the Encampment
The location of the old Ven Talax encampment has at last been discovered. However, while one of the warbands arrives at the encampment first, the other is in hot persuit. Across the camp can be spied many treasures; each warband must now scramble to secure as much of the loot for themselves as possible!
Attacker and Defender
In this battle, the player who won the 'Deadly Race' battleplan is the defender and the other is the attacker.
Terrain
Set up terrain as normal.
Deployment
Use the deployment map below. The defender is blue and the attacker is red.
Victory
Before the battle, 5 treasure tokens are placed on the battlefield floor. Players alternate placing treasure tokens one at a time, starting with the defender. Each treasure token must be placed more than 6" from all other treasure tokens and the battlefield edge.
The battle ends after 4 battle rounds When the battle ends, the player who was the most fighters carrying treasure wins.
Twist
Generate a twist as normal.