Storm of Chaos Online Campaign
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The Storm of Chaos was a massive narrative campaign created by Games Workshop for their Warhammer Fantasy setting, played in the northern hemisphere summer of 2004. Like its predecessor (the Eye of Terror Campaign) and its successor (The War of the Ring Online Campaign), it was extremely popular, and attracted several thousand players.
The basic premise was that players of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Mordheim, and Warmaster were invited to register the results of their games at the Storm of Chaos Website, where a tactical map of the north of the Empire existed. Upon registering a battle, one army would be counted attacker, the other defender. Depending on which side the results favoured, either the attackers or the defenders would get a little more of the map, and occasionally some side benefits.
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[edit] Background
The background story of the Storm of Chaos centres on Archaon the Everchosen, the mightiest of all Chaos Warlords, for he holds the blessing of all the four gods of Chaos. Archaon can best be described as a religious fanatic; He believes that only the Chaos gods are true Gods. He is also totally absorbed with prophecies, and bases all his plans on these.
For several centuries, Archaon quested for the "Six treasures of Chaos". According to the myths of Chaos worshippers, the one who manages to gain all of them will bring about the final triumph of Chaos. He finally managed to gain the six treasures in the year 2521 IC. At the same time, the Chaos Warlord Surta Lenk attacked Kislev and managed to get through it and down to the Empire. He finally managed to sack the city of Wolfenburg, but was then driven out of the Empire.
At the same time, "Luthor Huss", a self-styled prophet of Sigmar, had started to challenge the hierarchy of the church of Sigmar. Huss claimed that the priesthood had become corrupt and that a new, strong leader was needed. He also believed that Sigmar had been reborn.
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At about this time, the hordes of Archaon attacked Kislev.
The Grand Theogonist of Sigmar, Volkmar the Grim, raised an army and went to Kislev to meet Archaon. The two armies met, and Archaon won, slaying Volkmar and destroying the sacred war altar of Sigmar. The new theogonist, Johann Esmer, was the epitome of everything that Luthor Huss was against.
Trapped in the Kislevite city of Praag, the Tzarina Katarin asked for aid from her old Dwarven ally Ungrim Ironfist the Slayer King of Karak Kadrin who responded by sending his armies led by his son Garagrim Ironfist on towards Praag.
As the horde of Archaon closed in, Emperor Karl Franz invited envoys from the neighbouring kingdoms, as well as representatives of the High Elves and from the Dwarfs to what he called the "Conclave of Light", where he successfully gained the support of Bretonnia, the Dwarfs and the High Elves. Huss had in the meantime found a young man named Valten who bore striking physical resemblance to Sigmar as he is described in the legends, except for a birthmark shaped like a twin-tailed comet, the main symbol of the Sigmarite church. Valten was also highly skilled in battle, and had a will-power that meant he could go on despite wounds that would be lethal in most others. Together, they had assembled an army of flagellants and were heading towards Altdorf, the capital city of The Empire, where they would demand that Valten would be recognised as the reincarnation of Sigmar, ignoring the political and religious results this would have. By now, it was late spring, and Karl Franz could neither ignore nor accept Huss's demands. In the end, he proclaimed that Valten was the "spiritual heir" of Sigmar, which meant that he recognised that Valten was blessed to some degree, but that he himself remained Emperor.
In the summer of the year IC (Imperial Calendar) 2522 Archaon attacked The Empire with the specific goal of desecrating the city of Middenheim, a holy site to the followers of Ulric, a warrior god who is second in popularity only to Sigmar.
[edit] Army lists introduced during the campaign
The following alternative army lists and special characters were created for the Storm of Chaos campaign. The rules to play with them were given in the Storm of Chaos campaign book.
- Archaon's Horde - A variant of the Hordes of Chaos army list that shifts the focus towards more powerful units, this is supposed to reflect the regiments that Archaon brought with him on his crusade against Middenland
- The Daemonic Legions - An army list that make it possible to make an entire army by only using daemons.
- The Army of Middenland - This variant Empire army list focus on the state troops of the province of Middenland.
- Grimgor's 'Ardboyz - A variant of the Orcs and Goblins army list that only includes Orcs. It is meant to represent the personal retinue of the Orc Warlord Grimgor Ironhide.
- The Slayer Army of Karak Kadrin - A variant of the Dwarf army list, this is the most criticized of the variant army lists (see below). The entire Slayer army consists of Slayers - dishonoured dwarves who seek redemption by glorious death in combat.
- The Cult of Slaanesh - A variant of the Dark Elves army list, this represents an underground chaos cult of the god Slaanesh who is led by Morathi, the mother of Malekith, and who tries to seize power by exploring for magical artifacts in Lustria
- The Army of Sylvania - This is meant as a replacement for the Vampire Counts army lists when using vampires of the Von Carstein Bloodline.
- Errantry War - A variant of the Bretonnia army list, which differs from the main army list in its focus on young, enthusiastic knights who want to prove their valour.
- Skaven Clan Eshin - This army list variant represents the "special forces" of the Skaven under-empire.
- High Elf Sea Patrol(also called Lothern Sea Guard) - A variant of High Elves, this represents the ship companies of the High Elven fleet. They are subservient to the Elven Lord Aislinn.
[edit] Characters active during the campaign
(unfinished)
- Archaon
- Ar-Ulric Emil Valgeir, High priest of Ulric
- Be'lakor, The Dark Master, a demonic power that had been punished by the chaos gods for his hatred of mankind. Forced to aid mankind for eternity, Be'lakor was finally released from his prison to perform the Dark Coronation.
- Borgut Facebeater - Grimgor Ironhide's second in command.
- Boris Todbringer, Count of Middenland.
- Deathmaster Sniktch - the most skillful Skaven assassin in the world. Thought to have been Valten's assassin.
- Crom the Conqueror – Second in command to Archaon. Defeated Orc Warlord Grimgor Ironhide in single combat, leading to the Orc’s shaming. At the end of the campaign, he is presumed to be leading an army of Kurgan through Sylvania, Mannfred Von Carstein’s homeland.
- Emperor Karl Franz - or more properly: 'His most Imperial Highness, Emperor Karl-Franz Holswig-Schliestein, Grand Prince of Altdorf, Count of the Reikland, Protector of the Empire'.
- Feytor the Tainted - Did not have his own rules. Players were asked to use a Chaos Lord character with the mark of Nurgle. Feytor was one of Archaon's four lieutenants.
- Garagrim Ironfist - The son of Ungrim Ironfist, Garagrim had devised a plan to rid his family line of its dishonour. By dying in combat as his father's champion, Garagrim believed he would prove the worthiness of the bloodline. He was killed when a chaos giant fell on him as it died, thus fulfilling his slayer vow.
- Grimgor Ironhide - The greatest living Orc warlord suffered defeat at the hands of Crom the Conqueror a couple of months before Archaon's horde attacked the Empire. Shamed and now in a risky position, Grimgor kept control by claiming that the Orc god Gork had given him a religious vision. Guided by this vision he ordered the massacre of all the goblins in his army. He later managed to defeat Archaon in single combat combat. Thus satisfied, the Orc quit the field.
- Haargroth the Blooded One - Did not have his own rules. Players were asked to use a Chaos Lord character with the mark of Khorne. Haargroth was a peasant boy who proved his mettle in combat, and he was one of Archaon's four lieutenants. He was slain by Ar-Ulric Valgeir.
- Johan Esmer - Johan Esmer, at that time the Grand Theogonist of Sigmar, did not have a special character available, and did not get much attention throughout the campaign, although he was central in the opening phases. He may have been exercising his political power.
- Mannfred von Carstein - The ruler of Sylvania and a powerful vampire lord, Mannfred von Carstein
- Melekh the Changer - Did not have his own rules. Players were asked to use a Chaos Lord character with the mark of Tzeentch. Melekh was one of Archaon's four lieutenants until he was executed by the lord of the end times.
- Morathi - sensing the change in power, Morathi once more swore loyalty to the cult of Slaanesh.
- Luthor Huss - The self-styled "prophet of Sigmar" who spoke up against corruption and complacency among the priesthood.
- Styrkaar - Did not have his own rules. Players were asked to use a Chaos Lord character with the mark of Slaanesh. Styrkaar was a Norse prince, and one of Archaons four lieutenants.
- Teclis - The Elven High Mage. Teclis has always been worried about the place of mankind in the struggle between chaos and the world, and was therefore eager to once again help them in battle. It was Teclis who presented Valten with the magical steed Althandir, and banished Be'lakor's daemonic legion.
- Valten, exalted of Sigmar - existed before the campaign, but was given his final form in the campaign book. Valten was the young man who Luthor Huss claimed was the reincarnation of Sigmar. He suffered defeat at the hands of Archaon and was later assassinated. The Skaven assassin, Deathmaster Sniktch, is confirmed in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay book, Children of the Horned Rat. While apparently anachronistic (the obvious Skaven involvement violates their clause of secrecy), the implication is that the ratmen had a reason to protect the Cult of Sigmar from internal strife and wished the leadership of the Empire to know this.
- Vardek Crom, Herald of Archaon - Archaon's second in command. During the Storm of Chaos, Vardek Crom was supposed to maneuvre his troops so that they could attack the Empire from the east.
- Volkmar the Grim - The ressurrected former grand theogonist of Sigmar. (Since reinstated.)
- Ungrim Ironfist - The "Slayer King", or more properly, The dwarven king of Karak Kadrin.
- Sea Lord Aislinn - Did not have his own rules. Players were asked to use an Elven High Lord and ignore the 'Intrigue at court' rule.
- Orion, King of the Woods - This campaign was active before the release of the Wood elf sixth/seventh edition army book, so Orion never had any rules, and wasn't used on the battlefields by players. But just like Johan Esmerr he was active in the background leading the forces of the Wood Elves against their hated foes the beastmen. Orion's warriors effectivly stopped the beastmen from reaching Middenheim.
[edit] Aftermath of the campaign
(unfinished) According to Games Workshop, the Storm of Chaos affected the whole world. Still, at the end of the campaign, the world seems to have regained its Status quo ante. Gav Thorpe, the games designer who wrote the campaign, has stated that this was intentional and that the consequences of the Storm of Chaos will be up to the individual players.
[edit] Controversy regarding the campaign
There has been controversy about the campaign. Some feel that Games Workshop was not clear enough about the fact that the outcome was fixed from the beginning; others feel that the outcome, as well as the entire campaign, was badly written and too high fantasy to fit the Warhammer Fantasy setting as it was presented in the sixth edition. These attacks were mainly made by older players, who felt that the campaign was dumbing down the setting.
The main complaints, however, are that the army lists created for the campaign are too powerful and unbalanced the game, with the slayer army taking the lion's share of these claims, and that they are a throwback to the "herohammer" focus of the fifth edition. Another claim which is often heard is that the Hordes of Chaos were made out to be more successful than they really were leading to pejorative nicknames for the campaign such as 'afternoon drizzle of Chaos'. These are as a result of the the Chaos horde's general lack of success, and the stream of background material stating Middenheim was left largely in ruins by their efforts. During the campaign the forces of Chaos seldom won battles and often progressed only due to scripted events and campaign manager intervention. After the final battle at Middenheim the Chaos players were "pushed off the map". Yet afterwards their leader Archaon lived, while the more successful Valten died an ignoble death. In the fluff it is common and expected for chaos generals who fail to be killed, enslaved or reduced to "spawn". Archaon's faliure and defeat resulted only in his retreat, a highly unusual and undramatic ending.
Other complaints center around the characters' actions. Valten in particular is criticised for being ineffective and doing little to stop the Chaos advance, only to die "off-panel" in the book chronicling the campaign's conclusion. Grimgor Ironhide has been portrayed as the most vicious and martially capable orc warlord of recent times, and yet spared the life of the main antagonist; Mannfred von Carstein is mocked for retreating with his entire army after being challenged by Volkmar; and Teclis' defeat of Be'lakor's Daemonic Legion is seen as being a needless deus ex machina.
Additional controversy has arisen over the fact that player related plots (aside from the "Skaven Doom Hemisphere") have been ignored or forgotten by the games writers. Examples include the efforts of in character “clans” such as the “Dogs of War” "Mercenary alliance" and the “Kislevite” "NKA Pulk". However, NKA Pulk did receive a tiny mention as "ragged horsemen" in the official campaign book "Darkness rising", by Black Library.
Many players old and young are also frustrated with the fact that the plot has by and large 'stopped', with many threads related to the fate of Kislev itself left unresolved.
Also the side campaigns concerning the Lizardmen, Wood Elves and Tomb Kings versus the Dark Elves, Beastmen and Vampire Counts were mostly neglected during the campain, despite the Wood Elves lopsided rout of the Beastmen. Players quickly found that it was better to focus on the overall campain then engage in these side battles.
[edit] References
- Thorpe, Gav. 2004. Warhammer: Storm of Chaos. Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-84154-460-4
- Kelly, Phil. 2004. Warhammer: Darkness Rising. Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN
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| Major Games: | Warhammer Fantasy Battle • Warmaster • Mordheim • Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay • Man O' War • Warhammer Ancient Battles |
| Nations and races: | Bretonnia • Chaos • Chaos Dwarfs • Dark Elves • Dogs of War • Dwarfs • The Empire • High Elves • Kislev • Lizardmen • Ogres • Orcs & Goblins • Skaven • Undead (Tomb Kings & Vampire Counts) • Wood Elves |
| Places: | The Old World • Araby • Cathay • Lustria • Ulthuan • Southlands • Naggaroth • Dark Lands • Albion • |
| People: | List of major characters |
| More: | List of creatures in Warhammer Fantasy • Warhammer Fantasy deities • Lores of Magic |
| Games Workshop Worlwide Campaigns |
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Eye of Terror | Storm of Chaos | War of the Ring | |
