Glory in the Badlands (Narrative Campaign)

A good bunch of wargamers are starting a narrative campaign and escalation league. We'll be starting from a 500pt basic build and with a view to collecting a much bigger force. With games documenting how your army and Heroic leader impacts on the Old World with every game that's palyed. So let the Warhammer Gods decide the fate of Heroes and warriors as they carve themselves a epic tale into the history of my current wargaming.

I wrote a bit of fluff to get going with my current Wood Elves I'm working on. It'll be good inspiration to get the army finished with a rich back ground to the models as well.

It had been decades since the last bright sail of High Elven patrol boat had graced the shores of The tower of the Stars in distant Cathay. Barely just in his prime the Noble Darrian led his rag tag force of archers amongst what had remained of the raided once serene settlement of the River of stars. It's population routed and scattered by dark clothed cultists. The ruins of the settlement could still be seen a hollow haunting façade of once proud monumental buildings but now ruined husks melting in the molten darkening gloom of the evenings sunset.


Darrian's mind raced back to the night when strange boats but distinctively Elven had been seen on the horizon and the Old Lord Protector had prepared to welcome our visiting cousins to our arms. Our welcoming faces soon quickly turned to shock as these mad antagonists yelled ritualistic taunts behind a hail of barbed poisoned bolts to slay the peaceful citizens of the River of Stars. Driven by the surprise attack and divided from the Protectors Seaguard defensive force Darrian could only reform with his Hunter Archers. They had taken well to the forested expanse of the new colony and it's every tree and rock for miles around were know to them. So began the rearguard action to save what few of the populace that had narrowly found themselves on the edge of the invasion. Darrians Bow sang a vicious song of revenge as his few comrades fought to save their people. Out numbered but not daunted his arrows found a vital mark more often than not and the invaders paid a large toll when they pursued the Eagle eyed band. Even in the evening night amongst the glow of still rutted burning buildings the clear song of Elven long bow reaped a toll on the Dark Elf ravagers.


Separated from his people, his trusted spear and shield, Darrian stood amongst his few left archer cadre. The garb had subtly changed from the Ulthuan formal to a more utilitarian skirmish. Everyone of his bowmen now carried their great hunting bows that they had escaped that first night of slaughter with and powerful were these in comparison to the standard bow of the Seaguard. The years that they had fought to rid themselves of their invaders had toughened the Warband and only the strongest and most skilled had lasted the long campaign. Tonight Darrian thought, as he plucked his finely crafted well used arrow from his defeated foe, 'We have rid us of the last of the vermin from our shores'. For some reason the main force of ravagers had left and the score or two of the remaining Dark Elves left as a garrison were easily humbled by the Shining Eagles, Darrians archer warband.


The victory was accomplished without the help of the force of nature of the surrounding forest which had rallied around the Elven archers from the wood. The powers of branch and thorn were granted to the fledgling lord from his innate mystical matriarchal line descended directly from Caledor himself. Although he displayed no abilities with spell or scroll he could communicate with the forest in times of dire need and the spirits of the wood would aid him at his desperate call. From graceful Dryads to titanic manifestations of forest spirits of brooding gnarled Oaks his allies were swift to ally vengeance and were not easily quelled. The forest spirits help had established the Shiny Eagles a home within the wood for these past decades and provided for their small community. As the years past the symbiotic relationship could be seen subtly overlapping between the two entities of Elf and Wood. Surely they gained strength from each other as Dryads gained the gracefulness of Elf and Elf gained the hardness of bearing of Oak.


With the last of the Invaders on shore laid low by Elven bow his thoughts went to his people. The settlement had slowly started to rebuild within the forest. The remnants of the Tower of stars eventually finding the scattered bands from the night of the invasion. Although small it was beginning to slowly rebuild and the more commonly used of the communities name had changed from the Tower of Stars to the Stary Wood. Named after the favourite mystic weapons favoured by it's warrior scion sons the 'Starfire arrow' . Forever changed but strengthened by the experiences that affected them. His people were precious to him and their new home was precious to him. Darrians mind traced it's tract to the remaining long boats beached nearby. No longer will we be the hunted we will take the fight to these invaders and they shall know the fear of vengeance...


The Shining Eagles:


Darrian Starfire (Noble, Starfire arrows, /lt Armour, Shield)
11 Glade Guard (Muso, Lords Bowman)
11 Dryads
5 Waywatchers


I've left my background during the time of Tethlis the Slayer where most of the Elven colonies had started to head back to Ulthuan. The distant Settlements slowly lost touch with the homeland and the regular Seaguard patrol boats visited less and less the far reached settlements of the once proud Elven nation. My Army is essentially a High elf army that had to develop its own military tactics as it was cruelly separated from it's main body of arms. This is why most of my Gladeguard are a meld of High Elven archers and Wood Elf bows and cloaks. I think as further along we go on the escalation ladder I will be using my fluff to either continue to explore finding more Wood elf allies (GW models) in Darrians search for revenge or with his High Elf roots and possible scattered settlements that he might stumble on in his voyage. He could enlist aid from a number of sources and I can have a huge variety of models from different ranges factored into my new army.

This is the link to the official link of the league here.