Warmachine Vengeance: Tales from the Front
Let’s take a quick trip to the Iron Kingdoms, and see what major events have unfolded in Warmachine: Vengeance.
When Privateer Press releases a new supplement for Warmachine or Hordes, we get more than just rules for new models. The storyline for the setting unfolds with each new book as the war engulfing Immoren rages on, and major characters grow and change. I’ll be going over the latest events with as few spoilers as possible, but first a few words on the book itself.
The Book Itself
Anyone who owns one of Privateer’s books knows that their level of quality is as high as any manufacturer in the industry. They’re loaded with great illustrations, and each page is lush full color. I caught very few typos, with the only two I found being slightly amusing. The Mecenary fiction section finds Magnus directing a pair of Revengers. For the uninitiated, those are Protectorate warjacks. Magnus’ custom warjacks are called Renegades.
The 29 different model entries in this volume represent a substantial investment in development and playtesting. The new light cavalry units and the new Journeyman Warcasters show that Privateer is always looking for new ways to shake up the game and keep Warmachine from becoming stale without having to reset to a new edition every couple of years.
If you’re interested in my opinion, I think Retribution “won” this book. All their new offerings seem very strong, with Imperatus quite possibly being the best new model in the book. I’d follow that up in descending order with Cryx, Cygnar, Khador, Mercs, and finally Protectorate. While I’m not completely confident of the order of the four factions in the middle, I do feel strongly that the Protectorate’s new toys are the least shiny of the bunch. I will add the grain of salt that it’s probably a little premature to judge, but I’m a gamer and we just can’t help ourselves. With that out of the way, let’s get back to what brought us here in the first place: the stories from Vengeance.
The Plot Thickens
The last time we saw most of these characters was in Colossals. Cygnar and Khador had entered into an unprecedented alliance as Cryx had finally shown just how strong a presence they really had on the mainland. Nonetheless, Cryx managed to give the mortals a sound spanking and sent them packing from the Thornwood.
The story opens with Stryker and Blaize clearing the last of Cryx out of Point Bourne. Just when Stryker thinks he can finally catch a bit of rest, a ranking Ordic spy arrives with news of a massive Cryxian force advancing through the Wythmoor: Ordic territiory. Led by Venethrax, Terminus, and Malathrax, it’s the same army that’s been dragging an Athanc back to the Scharde Isles through Immoren and multiple books.
After king Leto arrives unexpectedly to promote Stryker to general, the warcaster convenes a military council to decide what must be done. Kara Sloan is sent to intercept a different Cryx force that has taken over a small port town, while Stryker and Blaize head to intercept the main Cryxian column. Meanwhile, despite everything these heroes are doing to protect their country, a group of Cygnaran nobles are still scheming to oust King Leto and return Vinter to power.
Kara Sloan and a contingent of allied Widowmakers encounter Cryxian resistance before they’ve even reached their final destination. Fortunately they suffer few casualties and rescue some beleagured civilians. When they finally catch up with their quarry, they realize that this army of Satyxis and other Cryxian pirates led by Skarre is larger than they expected. Seeing that their adversaries appear to be waiting for something, Sloan and her force hunker down in wait without revealing their position.
Deep below the Thornwood, a very courageous Kommander Strakhov is alone and searching for a lost hero of the Motherland: Karchev. In order to survive the many days underground, the proud Khadoran has been forced to eat the foul nutrient paste the Cephalyx feed their drudges. The Kommander isn’t too proud to use one of the oldest tricks in the book for staying hidden: kill one of the bad guys and steal his clothes. Of course when one of the bad guys is a Drudge, the results are a little grosser than usual. Between that and his arcane abilities to conceal himself, Strakhov is eventually able to locate Karchev. But ominous approaching footsteps quickly cut short the reunion.
Act II
Far to the North, Vlad accomplishes what is perhaps the single most impressive feat in the book: convincing Hierarch Severius to cease his attack and parley about the Cryxian threat. Despite the Hierarch’s belief that one of Vlad’s closest allies, The Old Witch, is a servant of Orboros, the old man is eventually convinced to retask the Northern Crusade against the undead menace. Unknown to both warcasters, the Harbinger has had a vision in Sul Leryn. With the help of Reznik, she raises an army to march on Fedorgrad. The Khadoran garrison in the city refuses to allow the army entry, and the resulting battle may threaten the newly forged alliance.
After delivering a badly injured Siege to proper medical care, Orsus Zoktavir: The Butcher, reunites with Irusk’s forces as they plan another assault on the Cryxians in the Thornwood. Showing what makes him the “Supreme” Kommandant, Irusk lays an unprecedented verbal smack down on this incredibly dangerous individual, berating him for his lengthy absence and uncontrolled behavior. In the end the Butcher aquiesces, confirming that his first duty is as a soldier. The moment he leaves Irusk’s tent, Sorscha has her way as well, furious with the man for not dying in the ditch where she left him. Irusk interrupts her tirade calling her into his tent, leaving the Butcher to follow the sounds of Argus in distress.
Goreshade makes his way into Ios unnoticed, using all the arcane means at his disposal to bypass the nation’s supernatural defensive perimeter. With only a small cadre of Banes and Stalkers, the warcaster makes his way to the damned city of Eversael. Here he seeks out the aid of the city’s Eldritch masters to implement his final plans for Ios and the Elven Gods. But these ancient undead elves will be unlikely to simply aquiesce to his demands.
Things aren’t going any better elsewhere in Ios as a substantial army of Skorne led by Hexeris and Rasheth makes it’s way unhindered through the elven nation. Vyros rashly chooses to lead his army of Dawnguard against this new threat. With only Issyria’s forces to aid him, the warcaster eschews the aid of house Rhyslyrr who refuse to take the offensive. Victory will already be difficult without their reinforcements, but these Skorne only represent a fraction of the threat to Ios. If you’ve read Gargantuans, you’ll remember that Morghoul and Makeda are leading a larger force in through the Gate of Mists, while Xerxis has plans to assault Aeryth Dawnguard.
Ordic Commander Caralo Allesari has hired Mercenary Warcasters Magnus and Montador to defend the Cygnaran city of Fellig. With the Cygnaran Garrison there decimated by the Butcher, the concern is that the Khadoran army arriving to “defend” their ally’s city will refuse to leave once the alliance has ended. The Mercenaries are outnumbered, but the Khadorans have no warcasters. Even if the Khadorans are stopped, there’s no guarantee that the city will be saved. Magnus has his own agenda. Will he abandon a Cygnaran city once he has it all to himself? Especially when he’s clearly grooming Julius, Vinter’s bastard, for some greater purpose.
The Climax!
It all culminates with Stryker and Blaize’s assault on the Cryxian column. The Cygnaran forces stave off an assault from a Vanguard of Soulhunters led by a mounted Pistol Wraith (future model perhaps?). But when Stryker sees the real size of the Cryxian army for the first time, he feels he must retreat. Fortunately he correctly guesses that this force is on it’s way to rendevous with the Satyxis Sloan is observing. Stryker redeploys his army to meet them there on a battlefield of their choosing. This ends up working out even better than he could have hoped, as part of the Cryxian army is sent to stop a Legion force that had been harrowing it. The two armies throw themselves at one another with the fury of desperation while Malathrax slinks off like a coward. The Cryxians know that if they fail to deliver their prize to Toruk, the consequences may be their own annihilation. The Cygnarans are desperate to prevent what they see as some super weapon from reaching the Scharde Isles. Of course they have no idea of the real consequences of failure. Even if they knew what cargo the Cryxians were guarding, who among them could estimate the gravity of Toruk consuming one of his children’s athanc? With so much to lose on both sides, it’s no surprise that a major warcaster falls in this battle.
~ Make sure you grab a copy of Warmachine Vengeance to see what happens.
