Amanda noticed the Grombrindal card in the box after our last game on Wednesday and wondered what that was about.
The Grombrindal miniature was released in 2024 in conjunction with the 500th issue of White Dwarf.... and in that issue there were rules and cards for including Grombrindal in games of Warhammer Underworlds, Warcry, Age of Sigmar, and Warhammer Quest!
And so, the very next evening, while Finnegan was out playing D&D at a friends and Amanda wasn't teaching yoga (which she normally does on Thursdays with one of the Community Associations) we played through ANOTHER game of Warhammer Quest Cursed City... With Amanda playing Grombrindal, the White Dwarf!
Grombrindal is a BEAST in melee and can throw his axe around. As a 6+ action he can throw his axe at EVERY VISIBLE HOSTILE!? (it bounces around the room, destroying eveything in sight!?). Also, whenever a hostile attacks and does zero damage (because it missed or Grombrindal successfully saved) Grombrindal gets either a free weapon action or a free recuperate action!?
While Grombrindal got his bearings, Watch Captain Halgrim stalked closer on his left...
... and on his right a swarm of bats swooped towards him.
He threw his axe at the bats and knocked enough of them out of the sky that the rest departed.
He moved against Watch Captain Halgrim, and was attacked by a zombie that just kind of showed up!? The Zombie missed and Grombrindal stove it's head in...
The Halgrim and one of the Ulfenwatch that had arrived attacked Grombrindal. And... these were successful... and Grombrindal ended up with TWO Grievous Wounds!
And that was when he gained his first point of inspiration!
Amanda wondered if Grombrindal was about to just die on the second turn...
The it was Grombrindals turn and he just destroyed Watch Captain Halgrim with two swings of his axe and then swung around and clobbered the Ulfenwatch!
And still had some activation dice to try and recover... and with a Vitality of 2d12... he recovers from just about anything VERY QUICKLY!!
By the end of this round, it was clear, there wasn't much that was going to stop Grombrindal...
Next Grombrindal made his way to the other end of the neighbourhood to take on Gorslave the Gravekeeper! He threw his axe at Gorslav a few times and that was it for him...
Then Grombrindal went on to try and clear away a Corpse Rat infestation. I think Amanda was hoping one or two bites might get through... because one of Grombrindals special rules is that he cannot be given Conditions (like Disease!) and when he would be given a Condition, he instead gains a bonus Inspiration Point?!
Amanda tried out the 6+ action where he got to throw his axe at every thing in sight - taking out Corpse Rats and Skeletons at the entryways at either end of the square he was in!?
Finishing off the Corpse Rats, Grombrindal decided to hand out in this corner and let the hostiles come to him.
A Vyrkos Blood-Born Vampire shot past the approaching Ulfenwatch.
Grombrindal cut him down with two mighty swings of his axe...
and that gave him a third Inspiration Point... and Grombrindal flipped over to the inspired side...
If you think any of the special rules I've described already seem a bit OP... his ispired side was just GROSS... His weapon actions became 2d12+2d6... his Viality became 3d12 and the Throw-the-Axe-and-Hit-Everyone-in-the-Room action became a 5+ action!? Oh, AND he reduced all damage by one... AND he got the free weapon action or free recuperate action any time a Hostile attacked and dealt one or less damage...
I mean, keep in mind it's ONE DUDE instead of FOUR that normally go on these missions... they kind of NEEDED to make him kind of BAD-ASS!!!
Chopping dowm more Ulftenwatch...
Throwing Axes at bats...
On one round he was first in the initiative sequence and ALL THE HOSTILES were dead and he would have to wait for new encounters to arrive on the far side of the neighbourhood... so he went out searching for treasure and explored one Mysterious Object...
And then another...
And then some Zombies appeared... which he smashed apart...
Then more appeared and he smashed THEM apart...
SO MANY ZOMBIES...
He made for the final Mysterious Object... and the undead just kept coming...
At this point I think Night had fallen... and Grombrindal had maybe killed the ten Champions he needed to succeed in the mission... and then he just started getting cocky...
Instead of searching the Mysterious Object, he stepped out of the room to throw his axe at the three Skeletons aproaching in the next square...
But a lot of undead move quicker after dark... and when he stepped into the room again to search the Mysterious Object... He was suddenly overwhelmed by undead... and a few actually landed some hits and dealt damage (because they also deal MORE DAMAGE after nightfall!)
and then a Kosargi Nightguard showed up...
the chaff were quickly cleared away...
But undead Ogors after nightfall have a d12+d6 attack and deal SIX damage...
And for a brief moment, again, Grombrindal looked like he might be in a spot of bother! (look at the card in the background - yeah, that's three Grievous Wounds!)
But Grombrindal gets to use ALL the Destiny Dice and those wounds were quickly cleared away and with a 2d12+2d6 attack dealing 6 or 7 damage when rolling critical successes... it takes two swings of the axe to take down a Kosargi Nightguard!
MORE swarms of rats and bats!
Most were killed simply by free weapon actions after the attacking rats and bats failed to deal damage!
Having cleared off the bats, Grombindal turns to search the last Mysterious Object and finds a TRAP... and then ANOTHER TRAP... and then some Realmstone!
One more trio of Zombies was cleared away by throwing his axe and ricocheting it off of walls and zombies to kill everything in the square..
This time instead of screwing around and showing off, Grombrindal made his way to the Extraction point and escaped, frustrating a Vyrkos Blood-Born that was hot on his tail and oh so very hungry!
Normally the "Army of One" type scenarios are meant to be one-offs that don't count towards any campaigns... (there are other heroes you can take on similar missions... Gotrek Gurnisson - another Duardin of Legend, the Light of Eltharion - the avenging spirit- ancestor of the Lumineth , Gardus Steelsoul - Lord-Celestant of the Hallowed Knights Stormcast Eternals)... but I thought narratively it would be fun to say that while the rest of the heroes were still celebrating their success, that Grombrindal could slip into the city and deal a blow against the cities tyrranical regime for them...
Also, the "Army of One" rules generally don't allow for spending realmstone or gaining experience or anything... which is weird, because there are places on their Fighter Cards FOR Traits and Upgrades!? So I said he got dressed up in his red hat and cloak and stole aboard The Adamant to deliver a Grombrindalmas Day present to one of the Heroes on his "nice list"...
It was a fun little game to play through. Very reminiscent of that time Keiran and I ran their Harlequin Solitaire through a mission in Blackstone Fortress! Very over-the-top cinematic action!
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