Warmachine: What has Holden Done Thus Far?
What path has your Holden the Last story taken in Warmachine and Hordes?
Chalkboard here from Chalkboard War, and now that we’re past September I thought I would pose a quick inquiry for the groups that have been playing their way through the first season of the Crossroads of Courage Warmachine and Hordes campaign path: what path has your Holden story taken? Three things have been up for grabs as a result of this event: the Courage versus Cowardice outcomes each week, the player-written submissions, and (potentially) the hints that the new Hordes faction may be linked to this endeavor. Each poses some questions that I think are worth posing to you, the players.
Courage versus Cowardice Results
I got Cowardice. All four weeks.
As a big part of the event, players go to the Crossroads of Courage page and take a poll for each week to determine which version of Holden the Last they field each week. After a few questions, a result of Courage or Cowardice is given. I know our group shared their results each week, and for the most part it seemed to fit what we answered–though not always (more on this later). The questions themselves were interesting, but seemed indirect at best for Holden’s adventure. I was expecting a more “choose your own adventure” kind of thing with these: determine whether Holden goes left or right, whether he charges the foe or retreats to safety, etc. Instead, they were much more metaphysical and dream-like in their approach: what to do with a knock at a mirror or a field of men planted like saplings. It was neat, and I like the way it ultimately effected our league, but I couldn’t help wondering what the narrative meant.
What results have you been getting? Do they make sense given the questions? Did you get all the same, or different results each week? What did you think about the question-answering process itself?
Submission Writing
Some people have crafted their Holden the Last novella by now
The second part that seems to have been a fair amount of fun for everyone is writing up the stories of Holden the Last and what he accomplished in their games. Privateer Press campaign maestro Will Hungerford said that the response was tremendous, and that his inbox has been flooded with stories about Holden the Last. What I’m wondering is how widespread it really is. Taking the time to write out a narrative and “put flesh” on a story about a tabletop miniatures game is not easy–so kudos to anyone that’s taken the time to write one out. I’m interested to see what they do with all of them. It’s tough to get a sense of the story yet: just how will all this feedback “affect” the progress of the story? And what comes back to people when they submit their narratives?
Did you write a Holden story? Did you submit it? What response did you receive?
Hordes Faction Hints?
More Grymkin to come?
Building on the prior point, I have only heard people reporting one type of responses to their Holden the Last stories: a strange message response from Will Hungerford using cryptic fonts that decodes into strange, ominous warnings of sorts. “Don’t believe the dream” and “The game is a trap. RUN” were reported from a friend in our meta as the response received. It could be that his story had an element of humor to it, and that resulted in a less story-driven response. Yet others reported similar cryptic sayings and coded words.
One explanation (not original to me but is rather something others have suggested on the forums) is that Crossroads of Courage is a Warmachine and Hordes event that leads up to Lock and Load 2017–where the new Hordes faction is supposed to be revealed. The idea is that all of the strange nightmare imagery, odd stories, and ominous messages are a sign that strange nightmarish fey are the root of the next faction we’ll see. Some have said it points at Grymkin, as the Gremlin Swarm received that descriptor in their Mark III card release. If so, then the results people are getting for the submissions become all the more interesting to share.
Do you think the strange, dream-like fey questions and answers and “fear vs. bravery” theme to the campaign is a signal that a nightmare-linked faction will indeed be the new Hordes faction? Did you get a strange response back? Have you decoded it?
~ Please consider sharing your thoughts on these three questions or the Crossroads of Courage campaign in general in the comments section below. What are you liking? What’s captured your imagination, and what needs work? How has the campaign enhanced your Warmachine and Hordes games?
To watch Chalkboard’s Holden the Last struggle against fate’s cruel designs, check out Chalkboard’s Warmachine and Hordes blog at:
www.chalkboardwar.com
