The Reaping of Caen Campaign Log

by | Jul 8, 2013

The Reaping of Caen

2013 Season 2

Warmachine Campaign


Black River Settlements Near Sul, 608 A.R.

Cygnar and the Protectorate have been at each other's throat, as the two major cities on the Black River alternately laid siege to one another.  Of course the close proximity of the two cities directly across the river from each other exacerbated the bitter nature of the siege, yet the religious fervor and dogged determination of the Menites repulsed the Cygnarans from Sul and set their cannons on Caspia. The savage battle recently ended in a tenuous truce - but peace is in short supply in the Iron Kingdoms.

High Exemplar Kreoss has moved troops into the area north of the walled cities, and has been forcibly converting the populace.  His Cinerators move from town to town, and the judgement of the Creator passed upon the folk who live there.  It has become a place of fire and dread, where starving refugees hide amidst shuttered homes while they are burned down around them.  Into this battleground our Warcasters find themselves thrust.  Though they all come for different reasons, they all know this battlefield could very well be their last.

Welcome to the Black River.


Campaign Rules

The campaign will follow a three month round-robin format, where each player will play each other player at least once per month in a sanctioned campaign game.  This gives each player twelve campaign scored games to play, so roughly once per week per player.  Any games set a date for and missed by either or both parties, that game will be scored as a Loss for the missing party and a Draw if both parties accede as standard.

Each game will grant a number of Campaign Points.  
  • Wins are worth 3 points.
  • Draws are worth 2 points.
  • Losses are worth 1 point.
In addition, Battlefield Influence will be calculated as percentage of winning games for each Warcaster.  The Influence total is the amount of earned Campaign Points that count for each Warcaster's Total Score.  Each player will contribute to their faction's narrative according to the ranked Total Scores at the end of the campaign. The player with the highest score will be the Wargate's Steampunk General for 2013!


Faction Narratives

For the Protectorate of Menoth, High Exemplar Kreoss scourges the lands closest to Sul to ensure there are no Cygnaran spies or Morrowan unbelievers standing between the walled city and the supply lines to the Northern Crusade.  Now is a time of action, and he dares the Cygnarans to respond - which they promptly do once they hear of the Wracks being left up and down the river, left in the middle of desolated villages.  Kreoss will pass Judgement on the unbelievers, and reap Caen of the rest of the rabble.

For Cygnar, Lt. Caine's recon patrol is tasked with investigating disturbing reports across the Black River.  Once the Cygnarans see the torn bodies nailed to steel torture devices, they are certain of what has happened.  For Caine, it's a little different.  It had been a while, but now he crossed the path of High Exemplar Kreoss once more.  Caine vowed Revenge upon the Menite and his cultists for the humiliations he received during the skirmishes leading up to the siege, and at the Castle Du Vantaine.

Yet this battle isn't interesting because of the friction between Cygnar and the Protectorate.  The East Bank is about the get a lot more crowded.  In fact, it's lousy with Warcasters.

For Cryx, War Witch Deneghra has seized the confusion to move a small force up the river to reap the souls of the unprotected masses there.  In fact, she has been doing this for quite a while pursuing her own ends.  The initial reports that Lt. Caine was to investigate were in fact Cryxian movements, but the Menites got to the sites first and burned everything.  Above all else, Deneghra desires the Power she can gain in this fertile and confused area.

However, Ios has made itself known.  Chasing Deneghra south and intent on destroying her and every other spellcaster he finds, Lord Arcanist Ossyan of House Vyre desires Redemption most of all.  His myrmidons are mysterious and powerful.  His followers are skilled Iosan Mage Hunters.  Every other Warcaster on the East Bank is his prey.

Like all Mercenaries, Drake MacBain is all about the Money.  As for the man who hired him, MacBain is pretty sure he was investing on the behalf of Khador...but he didn't seem to talk like a Khadoran.  Either way, there weren't very many questions asked.  The contract is to engage and destroy any warjack movements on the East Bank of the Black River for a few square miles north of Sul.  MacBain means to fulfill this potentially very lucrative contract.


Campaign Updates



  1. (4.7.13) - Lt. Caine's Long Range Recon intercepted the Word of Menoth just north of Dustville, a tiny burg Kreoss had just put to the sword.  The Menites fight fiercely, but Kreoss is forced to withdraw north after a particularly close encounter with Caine's twin Spellstorm pistols.
  2. (4.14.13) - Lt. Caine continues to rally forces around the Black River, and encountered the Cryxian Warwitch Deneghra!  Though her 'jacks inflicted grievous damage on Caine's, she was lost in a puff of smoke after being subjected to a torrent of spellstorm pistol blasts.  Drake MacBain encountered a small section of Kreoss' Cinerators and was pushed to the West Bank in flight.
  3. (4.16.13) - Kreoss is surprised by Lord Ossyan's strange powers when they encounter each other in a narrow canyon.  The High Exemplar breaks off the combat to assess the situation - there are many more warcasters here than the Menites originally thought.  Lt. Caine arrives and chases Ossyan through the canyon, confounding Ossyan's manipulation of time by manipulating where he's at himself within that time stream...
  4. (4.17.13) - Drake MacBain returns to the East Bank and pushes into Ossyan's hiding place, where battle is joined and the Lord Arcanist retreated to the forest for cover.  The steelheads moved toward the nearest town, rather than pursuing the Iosans into the forest where they would be at a disadvantage.
  5. (4.28.13) - MacBain continues his push along the river, and finds the hiding spot of Warwitch Deneghra.  After a short battle, the Cryxian witch decides discretion is the better part of valor after running afoul of one of MacBain's Nomads.
  6. (5.5.13) - Lt. Caine pursues Warwitch Deneghra to the West Bank, where she is found by Exemplar Kreoss and chased even further away from the center of the action.  Doubling back, Lt. Caine engages the column of Drake MacBain as it moves south, and forces MacBain's forces back north towards the East villages.
  7. (5.12.13) - Drake MacBain's professional "ethics" drive him on towards the largest formation he can find - the Exemplar host.  Kreoss is not amused, and divides MacBain's forces.  MacBain decides to withdraw rather than risk losing more money on repairs.
  8. (5.26.13) - Exemplar Kreoss roundly bests Warwitch Deneghra as she attempts to terrorrize riverside villages closer to Sul.  He chases her right into MacBain's battlegroup, who destroy many of her assets and force her back onto the West Bank.
  9. (6.2.13) - Exemplar Kreoss, fed up with Caine's shenanigans in harrying the flanks of his battlegroup, attempts to lure the Cygnaran into a trap.  Very nearly succeeding in capturing the elusive warcaster, Kreoss forces Caine to back off from the hotzone and captures more territory along the West Bank.  Caine then encounters MacBain's group, and seething with vengeance makes quick work of the mercenary infantry accompanying.  MacBain withdraws to the forest ridge to avoid contact with stronger Cygnar forces.
  10. (6.9.13) - Exemplar Kreoss, keen to get the better of his Cygnaran nemesis, arrives in force at an extraction site for the Blood of Menoth.  The area had recently been shelled by the Cygnaran batteries a few miles away, but Kreoss quickly seized the vital areas and forced Lt. Caine to back off.  After loading all the barrels they could onto their wagons, the Menites absconded with a large load of the valuable Blood.  Lt. Caine returned to the extraction site when the Protectorate's battlegroup withdrew, and found the Cryxian Warwitch Deneghra picking among the ruins.  After holing up near the building, the witch made a terrifying attack on the Cygnaran gun mages...but disappeared in a puff of oily black smoke.
Campaign Results

Cygnar wins the campaign!

Dave Bone is 2013's Steampunk General!
The win was narrow, but my Gun Mages pulled out the campaign win!  Cygnar has done well by me, and I really like the faction story and look.  Now that I've figured out how Caine is supposed to fight (very sneaky) my game really picked up.  Once I had the upper hand in most fights, our canny opposition had to invent new ways to beat me.  Namely, by sticking to the objectives - which for some reason I have a hard time locking down.  I like Cygnar so much now that I have a large stockpile of Revenge I think I'll break from my normal routine.  My next Warmachine army will also be Cygnar!

Coming in close on my heels is the resident champion that I managed to dethrone this year - Skim's Exemplar Kreoss didn't get to mete out as much Judgement as he wanted to, but he did get close.  I'm sure next year he'll be keen to burn and mutilate some more unbelievers.  Honorable Mention goes to Joe Kool's Drake MacBain, who I'm told made enough Money while pillaging the Black River to have more Steelheads when he takes the field next time...and probably repair all his 'jacks as well!

Thanks to everyone who played, it was great fun.  Yet now I have to tell you that Dave Bone is the Wargate's 2013 Steampunk General!


It was night when the Cygnarans crept back along the bank headed towards the extraction site.  When they arrived, Lt. Caine took an extra long time with the recon maneuvers before he ordered his troops into the area proper.  With a glance, he could tell the Menites had been working hard to get all the "blood" back to where ever they were going...probably Sul.

In any case, they were all gone now.  The Menites, the Iosans and even the Cryxians had all backed off.  He was sure MacBain was lurking somewhere nearby, but since the last time he'd gotten reports from further up the east bank, Caine had decided that MacBain's contract must be up.  They were partying way too hard to be "on the job".

Caine smiled.  He remembered the last time he'd seen Kreoss up close, and the look of surprise and pain on his eyes behind that damned armored mask.  Revenge...well it's ok cold.  He cast his gaze south, along the trail on the other side of the river that the Menites must have followed.  It was easy to tell - those oil-laden wagons made heavy ruts in the sandy banks of the river.  Yeah, revenge is ok cold, Caine thought to himself...but he decided at that moment he liked it much better hot.  Specifically, as hot as the rune-graven lead bullets that burst from the muzzle of his Spellstorm pistols.

"Let's get a move on, men." he called to his officers.  The Gun Mages formed up and waited for the next order.  "I think we can catch them if we leg it towards Sul."