BOYL 2017- A Tale of Two Cities...

Fimm McCool

Member
Over the last few months I've been watching the Helsreach thread with great interest. It sounds like an amazing setting and concept for small games to share one fantastic narrative. Erny's epic WFRP idea has also grabbed me with great enthusiasm. I had thought I'd be tied up with another project, but since I suspect that has fallen by the wayside I now have a grand vision...

Imagine the marquee in the middle of the stable courtyard. Stretched across it are two enormous tables, one groaning under the weight of the mining town of Helsreach, the other piled high with the dens and watering holes of Heldenhofen, the port of heroes. Two cities; one fantasy, one science fiction. In amongst the streets and squares of these settlements small bands of adventurers go about their daily business whilst in the woods and wastelands surrounding them pitched battles are fought over the spoils that flow into and out of their walls.

My thought is... how about taking the suggestions for the fantasy games and bringing them onto one table as the Helsreach setup offers for sci-fi games? The city can have a large area of woods/fields on one side for the Jabberwock hunt and Bretonnian campaigns (and potentially a siege game?) whilst inside the walls is an arena for Giant slaying contests and chariot racing, numerous locations for WFRPing and Age of Oldhammering. These games played separately can tie in to a developing narrative of the port and characters (and players) can wander from one to the other at will.

I don't want to step on anyone's toes, and there are plenty of other tables if people prefer to fight their games as stand-alones, but it did occur that this might be a fun thing to try as an alternative to one massive day-long battle whilst still providing an amazing centrepiece to the event (and opportunities for great photographs). I would be very happy to coordinate scenery for Heldenhofen (name provisional) and contribute to writing background for the city. I can't provide everything, but liaising with others to ensure the appropriate elements are present and the table is sufficiently filled is something I would gladly undertake. I have just over 4x4 of cobbles for a start, a lot of tavern furniture, plus Oakbound are about to embark on a range of scenery and this would be a great opportunity to showcase some of it.

If it's something that grabs anyone's interest I'd be glad to hear your thoughts. :)
 

Snickit

Member
Be a good idea to wave this under Erny's nose. Had I seen this earlier I would of done as I went to see brother dearest. I'll prod him to take a look.
 
Maybe we could butt the tables up together, fantasy & Helsreach, then we could wander across each other's realms and have a good old fashioned mixed slugfest :grin:

Just kidding, but wouldn't it be fun, seeing a walker smash it's war through a fantasy village and/or a giant kicking the townsfolk of Helsreach about the place :grin:

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Fimm McCool

Member
Mr Papafakis":3iklijre said:
Just kidding, but wouldn't it be fun, seeing a walker smash it's war through a fantasy village and/or a giant kicking the townsfolk of Helsreach about the place :grin:

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Isn't there a Metal Magic diorama showing just that?
 

Fimm McCool

Member
Here's a quick sketch map of the city as it lies in my mind. To the left of the table is a 6x4 area where 'out of town' scenarios (including the jabberwocky hunt) can take place. This area also includes the town cemetery since the inhabitants are always wary about the dead returning to life. Then there's the city wall (handy for a siege) and immediately behind it the Halfling quarter (in which the secret recipe is prepared). Over the other side of the board is the dwarf quarter and around this are areas of human habitation, bounded by a road network which includes a 6x4 section which is where illicit chariot races are held. An arena lies to the south east of the city and is usually used for the local Blood Bowl league and giant fighting. The warehouse district borders the arena (got to keep the giants someplace) and the docklands stretch away from this with jetties, small craft and the typical assortment of taverns, markets, merchants' guilds etc. In the centre of the city is the large central park (because trying to reach into the middle of a 12x6 table crammed with narrow streets is going to be tricky!), a regular meeting place for all kinds of shady deals. Apart from the park and the greener Halfling part of the city the rest of the settlement is overcrowded and consists of narrow streets, walkways, makeshift structures and buildings which have been added to over the centuries (perfect for warband skirmishing).

What do you guys think? As the board develops and the games taking place on it firm up a little we can add any necessary features. Naturally I won't be able to supply all this scenery, so finding the quantity of buildings we need will need a good joint effort, but I'm sure we can manage that. :)
 

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Norse

Member
Great idea Geoff! I guess it depends on how many players are doing things at once - there is perhaps the potential for it to get too crowded if more than 2 or 3 games are being played at a time. But it would certainly look fantastic and be an excellent counterpart to Helsreach.

Fitting a blood bowl pitch into the arena might be optimistic, but perhaps a Blood Bowl 7's or 5-a-a-side pitch might fit. And getting some gladiator bouts going would be good.
 

Fimm McCool

Member
Or some beer-bowl? Yes, I think a full-size BB pitch might be a bit too large. That's not drawn too scale BTW. Now, I will be asking if anyone has a Mighty Fortress or two they can bring... I know from 2014 there are some lurking out there!

I reckon if they are contained games (and we have laser pointers for line-of-sight) we could have 4 going on within the city walls without tripping over each other, plus the giant/gladiator fights and jabberwocky hunts. I'm kinda hoping two or more of the small games will merge into each other as warbands try to escape and flee across the path of others.
 

Norse

Member
Yeah, I can print out/upload the rules for Bier Bowl and have them about if people want to play it. 5 figure teams on a 7x13 board should fit easily in there. I have an idea for some gladiatorial rules that would work on a squared board too.

Edit - Thinking about it there is also the pit fighting rules in Town Cryer #14 that might work. I think they were for a hex board though. Will dig it out and see if it can be made all squarey.
 
We need 2 "rips in the warp" scenery pieces where adventurers can travel across the boundtries of time and space...well, plop your models from one board to the other. All are welcome in Helsreach, although tradable good are kind of the passport.
 

dadde

Member
Ehy Fimm,
i talked to the other GM of "Lupthofen Secret Recepie campaign" : you can put a road sign "to Lupthofen" ;) .
We join with our table!

As for the story, the secret recepie is going to be hidden in the Halfing quarter :)
 
This is getting crazy and exciting all at the same time. I so want to blast and/or squash some yokul's in their realm :)

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Fimm McCool

Member
dadde":1w2rj3av said:
Ehy Fimm,
i talked to the other GM of "Lupthofen Secret Recepie campaign" : you can put a road sign "to Lupthofen" ;) .
We join with our table!

As for the story, the secret recepie is going to be hidden in the Halfing quarter :)

Excellent stuff! Anything you need on the 'out of town' board or for the Halfling quarter let me know and I will try and coordinate it. As soon as I hear from others that this is a runner I will begin to try and coordinate getting all the scenery we need in.

Mr Papafakis":1w2rj3av said:
This is getting crazy and exciting all at the same time. I so want to blast and/or squash some yokul's in their realm :)

I reckon there's a rift somewhere in the warehouse district...
 

dadde

Member
Fimm McCool":2299aanu said:
Excellent stuff! Anything you need on the 'out of town' board or for the Halfling quarter let me know and I will try and coordinate it. As soon as I hear from others that this is a runner I will begin to try and coordinate getting all the scenery we need in.

We didnt discuss this in details..even because its like merging a campaign in another campaign..messy but gorgeous! :lol:
Our plot is composed by 4-5 small skirmish games ( like jousting for example) into a big 3-armies battle.
how to combine this with the two cities in the same day....its a mistery :grin: :grin:
 

Fimm McCool

Member
Jousting could take place in the arena (depending on space needed) or on a green sward before the city gates. Perhaps as part of a fayre that's being held there? A carnival of a chaotic sort?...

I'm thinking the area outside town has a wooded hill, river and graveyard on it for starters but if your skirmishes call for particular features we can make sure they are catered for.
 

Fimm McCool

Member
Has anyone got dimensions for the directors' tables? Looking at the boards last year I'm guessing 12'x6'. The tables themselves are narrower at the ends than in the middle, but I think we had boards to put on top for the Morcar game last year which evened them out?
 

weazil

Moderator
Hi all

This sounds like a great idea (the whole merging of games into a visual spectacular) - it also goes a long way to resolving demand for the big tables. I think the key thing is you'll all need to agree who the 'booker' is and have that person book the table (or just send me that persons email address).

If there are lots of games being 'mashed' up, I'll still need a write up that I can put on the site - something that will tell people what that aspect of the game is (like the jabberwock thing). I'll also need pictures! You can send write-ups and pictures to admin@bringoutyourlead.co.uk.

The big tables are about 6' at the end and about 7' in the middle, so not pure 12' x 6' rectangles. The point is that it's the narrow end that's 6' - not the centre breadth.
 

Fimm McCool

Member
Cheers Gaj. Once we've firmed up what the games on the table will be and when they will be happening I can do a write-up. So game-holders, if you have an idea let me know so I can build it into the timetable. Norse, Harry and I were discussing this Friday night and thought having a short Heldenhofen 'chronicle' that gives some background, advertises the games going on and has a timetable for when things are being run would be a good thing. I have booked the table from Friday afternoon through to Sunday morning.

In the meantime I have been working on some background regarding the geography of the city, feel free to pitch in your ideas. In terms of where Heldenhofen lies in the Old World, I think it's best to leave that unstated so people can interpret how they like. Somewhere in the vicinity of the Empire/Bretonnia is as much as we need to know.

The city lies between a dense forest on the West and a large river port on the East. A range of craggy mountains sprouts from the forest to the North and the curve of the river around the South side of Heldenhofen creates a marshy flood plain which spreads a couple of miles from the walls. A small tributary cuts across the fertile plains before the city's main gate and the principal road out of town veers Southwards shortly beyond the gates and heads across the marshland on a boardwalk supported by wooden posts sunk into the soft ground. Ever since the terrible Night of the Corpses the city's cemetery has been located outside the walls and on the far side of the stream. The dead are buried in lead coffins to try and prevent them from returning to plague the townsfolk. The perpetrators of the Night of the Corpses were never adequately identified although the blame was laid upon a couple of strange soothsayers who were visiting the town. They were both killed by a lynch-mob in the aftermath of the calamity and no official trial was ever held. Tulpugly Wood to the North West of Heldenhofen is home to a fearsome Jabberwocky which has been terrorising locals and making off with no small quantity of livestock, trampling crops etc. A reward has been posted for the beast's destruction and the reward has drawn several small bands of adventurers to the region.

Heldenhofen itself is divided into nine districts, each with a distinct cultural flavour. The Halfling Quarter lies actually outside the main city wall, surrounded by its own stockade. Gates into the quarter are generally kept open and the Halflings are recognised in almost every respect as being citizens, they just prefer to live on the rural side of the city wall. Buildings here are a collection of thatched cottages and hole-dwellings. They include farmhouses, a cookhouse, bakeries, taverns, a pipeweed-curing barn and the Sherriff's office and Militia house for the Halflings maintain their own standing guard and enforce their own laws. Inside the city proper the first area beyond the gate is the Gatehouse District. This is where most visitors to the city are quartered in lodging houses, inns and coach houses. There are stables and facilities for wagons and errand riders. Here is also to be found the large city market where most of Heldenhofen's vendors have their stalls. The central market house contains the city watch house and cells, making sure a beady eye is kept on the throng of commerce below and any wrongdoers are made an example of. North of the bustling Gatehouse District is the secluded and quiet Academic Quarter. Here are to be found the august institutions such as the College of Magic, the School of Anatomy where young physicians are tutored, the library, museum and the shrine of Verena which offers respite and healing for the mentally distressed. The more privileged of these institutions can be discerned by their proximity to the city wall, for on the Eastern side of the Academic Quarter is the Industrial District. The tanneries and abattoirs can be smelt across the city when the wind blows from the North, but the rest of the time it is only this district and the neighbouring streets of the Academic Quarter that are plagued by the stench. Other industries practiced in this noxious part of town are weaving, saddlery, joinery and silversmithy. Many of the silversmiths come from the Dwarven Quarter which adjoins the Industrial District to the East. The dwarves also maintain their own laws and although they are governed by the mayor of the city and under the jurisdiction of the watch they keep their own affairs private and prefer to handle dwarfish affairs in-house at their courthouse. This suits the mayor of Heldenhofen, who has had bad experiences trying to meddle in the affairs of dwarves. Naturally, the Dwarven Quarter is stone-built and contains taverns, breweries and forges but it also hosts the Mechanists' Guild, the Alchemists' Guild and the Dwarf Bank of Heldenhofen from which loans and sureties cab be acquired, at interest of course.

The centre of the city is dominated by a large, tree-lined lawn. The central park is a place where many deals are struck and liaisons of various kinds conducted. It is also the garden of the mayor's residence. South of the park is the city's Grand Arena, home to the local Bier Bowl team and a regular series of gladiatorial events. Being a port city, Heldenhofen can boast contests against creatures and individuals from across the known world, including the popular Giant Fights which pit dwarven heroes against mighty brutes captured far to the North. Surrounding the arena itself are a bewildering array of souvenir stands, fast food stalls selling all sorts of cultural delicacies, shady pedlars and the essential services of the Barber-Surgeon. The various beasts used in gladiatorial bouts are kept in the adjoining Warehouse District which also stores cargos from the ships which dock in Heldenhofen, ready to be distributed by land around the surrounding region. North of the Warehouse District are the docks themselves. The dockside buildings are a motley array of taverns, chandleries, brothels, merchants' houses and the Merchants and Shipwrights Guilds. At the centre of the quayside lies the Harbour Master's office and Customs House where pilots and excise men survey the ships which come and go up and down the river. The docks are large enough for sloops and moderate sized cutters to moor, brigs are too large to pass upriver of Heldenhofen or enter the port but they frequently moor South of the city and use rowboats to convey their cargos to the port. Inhabitants of the docks can make a decent living rowing shipments back and forth, however it is always wise to do so in groups sufficiently armed for smuggling and banditry are rife, especially in the Southern stretch of the river away from the eyes of the city watch and excise men.

I'll draw a revised map sometime this week. I can provide some scenery, but will be limited by car space, so my idea would be to ask for a volunteer to bring scenery to populate each district. It doesn't matter if we don't have complete coherency since this is a diverse settlement. Each district works out about 2' square, so it shouldn't take too many buildings to fill them. Like I said at the start, if anyone has other ideas or something they'd like to change please do pitch in!
 
Hello Fimm,
Are you alright to bring the forest terrain or do you want me to bring some along as well? I have a fair amount of trees from 4ground and I was also going to make a cave to be the Jabberwock's den.
The background for Heldenhofen sounds interesting, well done on merging all of those separate games into one huge spectacle.
 
I will be making a portal/waygate scenery piece to go on the helsreach board. Any model coming onto the Helsreach board will abide by the board rules, ie Necromunda/Inquisimunda but with 3rd/4th/5th edition combate rules, (4+ to hit on equal WS)
 
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