The seasonal Arena - Summer

[King Ulrik Flamebeard]

A warm summer breeze wafted lazily across the bright green field – the blades of grass swept in one direction at its passing. Nothing marred the perfect grassy field, no tree, no animal nothing. High above it stood a squat figure, a dwarf. The dwarfs beard was long and turning white, but there still remained a strong presence of its previous fiery shade of red-orange – the colour of flames. This was in fact his family name; the dwarf in question was King Ulrik Flamebeard. He was young, by dwarven standards, and most of his race considered him mad and avoided him. The reason for this reaction was the field below him. It was in fact surrounded on all sides by a high sided wall and five tiers of stands. It was an arena. There had been one before, held by the same king, many decades ago now, when he was in his young – he spend most of his wealth developing these new arenas. He now had not only one but four. They were special, each different in their own way.

The four arenas were enchanted, and such was their enchantments that they would only be used in a specific season. The current one open was the summer arena, the others – spring, autumn and winter – remained sealed by their own powerful magic, only Ulrik could release them; should he so desire. He didn’t though. Looking down upon the soft green grass he smiled to himself and nodded his approval. Turning he looked at the three long robed figures behind him. Even though he was three feet off the ground, stood on a stone parapet, he still only came up to their chest. Reaching into his inside pocket he extricated a pipe and some pipe weed. Stuffing it full he returned the weed to the pocket, one of the robed figures blinked and a small flame licked at his pipe – lighting it instantly.

“Thanks” grunted Ulrik gruffly. “Nice job ya done here. I’m impressed. The other four the same?” he asked. The middle figure merely nodded, then spoke;

“Yes. Each one will open when the season reaches its zenith and will represent the arena in such a way the combatants would swear they would be fighting in those conditions.” Replied the elf, his right hand swept back a loose lock of long golden hair back behind his pointed ear. Ulrik merely puffed on his pipe as he surveyed the three mages – magic users of the elves.

“Good, good. I think it’s about time the invitations were sent.” He said, more to himself than to the robed elves. “I hope you stay for the tournament! I think it’ll be a mighty fine one, you have can have the pick of the seats.” The dwarven king told them. They bowed their heads and uttered that they would be honoured to stay. The king turned his back on them, once more looking down onto the soft, green grass below puffing on his pipe lost in thought. “This, will be a tournament to remember.” He muttered to the empty, thin air.


******************

The call was sent, runners left King Ulrik’s home, taking with them bundles of leaflets and posters proclaiming the tournament. Every village, every town and every city they passed were left with the posters nailed in a highly public place.

King Ulrik Flamebeard is proud to present the

Seasonal Arena!!

Four arenas each one bound with powerful magic, meaning only one may be open for a brief period according to the season. The current one is the summer arena.

Places numbering a total of sixteen are open to anyone brave enough to test their abilities in the summer arena. Just follow the directions below.

The winner gains the title of Seasonal Champion, gaining an automatic placement to defend their title the next time the arena is eligible. In addition, five thousand gold coins and a gold trophy await the winner.

You have until the next full moon.

Note – King Ulrik takes not responsibility for death within the arena, enter at your own peril.

***************

I am looking for sixteen characters maximum, places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If there is an odd number then I will enter one to make up the numbers.

How to enter

You are allowed to use any Lord or Hero character from any of the current army books, this includes any official and legal supplements (ie SOC or Lustria). Below you will find a list of rules on how things work, however there are a few limits on your characters.

• Each character must be named
• They must be legal and cost no more than 250pts in total
• They cannot ride monstrous mounts (mounts with more than one wound)
• No special characters

In addition, each one much be accompanied by a background and a description of them for my write ups. Failure to do so will result in myself taking liberties with your entrée – such as an ugly, hunchbacked elf for example. -__^

To enter you reply in this thread, along with:

• Name [of character]
• Background
• Equipment
• Total cost

[NB: DO NOT post rules for items. I have all current army books and can easily find out what each does myself. If I am unsure, then I will PM you]

Rules

Equalizers

• Tomb Kings: Tomb Kings and Princes get 25pts extra – they may not exceed their magic item limit.
• Strigoi and Blood Dragon Vampires get 25pts extra – they may not exceed their magic item limit.
• Von Carstein and Lahmian Vampires get 35pts extra – they may not exceed their magic item limit.
• Skaven Warlords may go up to 20pts over their magic item limit providing that they do not exceed 250pts in total. The Appendix Plague Lord is no longer permitted: he is replaced by the Plague Lord from the Lustria book. Those who want to use a Plague Lord but only have the Skaven book can PM me for the stats.
• Empire characters who do not take a Runefang may go up to 20pts over the magic item limit providing that they do not exceed 250pts in total.
• Wood Elf characters get 20pts extra – they may not exceed their magic item limit.
• Exalted Daemons get 40pts extra – they may not exceed their magic item limit. For the purposes of the Daemonic Aura, Daemonic Legion Exalted Daemons (with non-cancellable auras) are allowed.
• Chaos characters can take the marks of Tzeentch and Slaanesh for free.
• Bretonnians must pray to gain the Blessing, allowing their opponent to charge them and gain all the benefits thereof in the first round of each combat. A Bretonnian player who does not wish to pray should specify this before the match is rolled.

Against Incantations/Bound Items, you get 1 dispel dice (2 if you’re a dwarf or have the Mark of Khorne or an Empire Warrior Priest/Arch-Lector) Only bound spells allowed are those that are combat orientated, all others are banned.

Additional Rules

Gaze of the Gods - Same points cost, before the battle roll a D6 - 1 = you get a 6+ ward, 2-3 = you get a 5+ ward, 4-6 = you get a 4+ ward. Such is the fickle nature of chaos.

Warpstone amulet - Same points cost, but roll to see if you die BEFORE the fight instead of afterwards.

Killing Blow - If a character scores a KB hit then this is how damaged will be worked out: D2+n

(n stands for the number of original wounds the character had minus two. This gives a 50% chance of killing a character off.)

Empire Prayers - All prayers work as normal, but Unbending Righteousness is not available and the Soulfire pray does D3 hits, not D6.

Dwarfs – Any dwarf lord entered may be mounted upon shieldbearers, all rules and restrictions apply as per usual.

BANNED ITEMS

The following items are banned, they are found to be too powerful or have an unfair advantage in an Arena of Death game.

• Tress of Isolde
• Sword of Fate
• Van Horstmann's Speculum
• The Daemon Sword
• The Fellblade
• The Bane Head
• The Grudge Rune
• The Talisman of Saphery
• Kurbog's Curmudgeonly Klobbera
• Virtue of Confidence
• Annoyance of Netlings

Also, any item that includes in its rules "nominate one enemy character" is illegal.

How it works

If you have never fought in one of these, the point is to pit two characters against one another, one on one. In all essence it is a duel [challenge] in a normal game but with a few differences. Namely, they’re trapped in an arena with the only way out is to kill or be killed.

There is no magic phase or shooting phase, but bound spells are allowed if they are combat orientated. I [KU] will roll a match up between two characters until one perishes. The one who remains standing will be the victor and progress to the next round.

The battles will be represented by a ‘story’ format written by myself and following that will be a note of how many wounds were caused by each other in each round. For example:

[ (i) CA: # CB: # (ii) CA: # CB: # ] etc

[CA = Character A, CB = Character B, (x) = Round number (#) = Number of wounds caused]

Combat

- Strike First

- First round of combat
In the first round of combat, both warriors count as charging for the purposes of lances and other special rules. If neither warrior has a 'strike first' ability (or a 'strike last' ability), the person with the highest Initiative will strike first. If both warriors are equally entitled to strike first (usually because they have equal initiative), striking order will be determined randomly.

- Later rounds
In later rounds of combat, neither warrior gets charging bonuses (pretty obvious ). Strike order will be determined using the same system as in the first round of combat - however, in cases of equal initiative, the die to determine strike order is not rolled. Instead, the person who struck first last time will strike first again, combat alternating between each warrior.

- After the Fight
After the fight, the victor advances to the next round. Any wounds they suffer are healed, as well as any other effects (such as the manbane poison: or anything else that permanently reduces statistics). It is as if the last fight never happened!

Psychology

- Break tests
Break tests are ignored in the Arena (where are they going to run in a ring of death?). Other psychology that may force an opponent to flee from combat is also ignored. THERE IS NO WAY TO FLEE IN AN AOD. For this reason, panic, unbreakable and Stubborn also have no effect.

In addition, undead warriors ignore the rule that causes them to take wounds from combat resolution. In a similar manner, daemonic characters do not suffer from instability.

- Fear
Fear is handled similarly to normal. In the first round of combat, a warrior facing a fearsome foe will take a Ld test. If he fails, he will hit on 6+ for that round of combat.

- Hatred
Hatred is also handled as normal. The warrior will re-roll failed 'to hit' rolls against hated foes.

- Stupidity
Each turn the warrior will take a Ld test. If failed, a further die will be rolled. On a 1-3, the warrior will not strike, on a 4+ they will strike as normal.

- Frenzy
While there's nowhere to run, you can still have the confidence and fighting frenzy knocked out of you, and therefore models do lose frenzy as normal.

***** Organiser's Note *****

This is a event that I shall hold four times a year; once each season. There may be others in between but this, I hope, is to be the big one – I my well create (or ask for someone to do so) a sig image bearing the title of which season winner you are. So you can show off. -__^

I personally will not enter, unless it is required to make the numbers up to sixteen but I thoroughly encourage you all to take part. I must point out, this is basically a "who can make the best and hardest character" event and is all in the name of fun. I will try to do all the rolling and write ups quickly, as not to keep you all stuck waiting.

I hope to see you there!

If there are any problems, then please use PMs to enquire and I shall try my hardest to answer them fully.

Most of these rules are taken from a great AOD based website: http://z13.invision free.com/Rezephua/index.php (remove the space to finish the URL) And so all are referenced in order not to confuse and make out they’re mine.


KU

[mpdscott]

Etrigan the Whirling Hammer

A veritable war engine of muscle, bone and sinew, Etrigan is a Minotaur of massive proportions. In his right hand, Etrigan swings a blood-blackened hammer so large, that for any other mortal creature would require two; and carries what can only be descibed as "the side of an Empire Steam Tank" as a shield in his left. Attached by a web of leather straps an assortment of shields provide Etrigan with a "scaled" skin of steel protecting his tough and scarred hide; while re-shaped breastplates provide the same function as would greaves on a smaller mortal.
It isn't entirely clear why Etrigan has left his Shrine to travel to the Dwarven Arena, but brutal, shattering violence is assured when he steps onto the field.

Doombull
Mark of Chaos Undivided; Hand Weapon; Heavy Armor; Shield; The Black Maul

Total Roster Cost: 249

* I have been waiting since the last arena to bring this guy out for testing :shifty: :ninja:

[throkkenn]

Tomb King Khaldun Runihura

Khaldun was a great king of Ka-Sabar who was poisened by his brother at the age of 36. He was awakened by a loyal slave and reacked horrible revenge on his brother and his followers. Now he is entering the arena to complete a prophersy to regain his control of Ka-Sabar and sit again on the throne. Khaldun was a tall strong man who always led from the front in his chariot.

Armour of the ages
Golden Ankhra
Vambraces of the sun
Great weapon
271pts

[Krzysio]

Asajhi, the lonely warrior

Asajhi was born in the darker regions of Athel Lorean. shortly after his birth, his parents were killed by a Ungor hunting party. He has spent his entire life honing his skills so that he may vanquish the foul beasts from the forest. He is a fighter without equal, his speed is like the wind, and his strength is that of a bull.

Wood Elf Highhorn
Alter kindred
Great weapon
sheild
Amber pendant
Oaken armor

total- around 268 . dont have my book handy, and wont for a long time, but it doesnt go over the limit.

[E-M]

Retched* Ill Oms, Exalted Daemon of Slaanesh.

A former Captain of the Empire, the man who was to become Retched Ill Oms gained his position not through strength at arms, but by intrigue, double-dealing, and backstabbing. As such he constantly feared losing it to another individual, more insidious than himself. And so, he came to worship Slaanesh, selling his soul for worldly gains. He was honored and admired by the men he commanded, but Slaanesh had other plans for him, and soon visited him with his first mutation, a claw protruding from his forearm. The captain fled the empire for his life, to the northern wastes, but Slaanesh was not done with him. There he was tortured, more and more blessings of chaos were visited upon him, to his terror and Slaanesh's delight who reveled in the mortal's pain, anger, and fear. This continued until the day that a marauding warband happened across him. Amazed at the man's apparent favor with the gods, they bowed before him, pledging to serve him and Slaanesh. Retched Ill Oms headed the warband, desperate for any semblance of his former life back, his newfound mutations serving him well on the battlefield, his exploits bringing glory to Slaanesh. His days as Slaanesh's whipping boy gone, his last shred of humanity mutated into the demonic, Retched Ill Oms, favored of Slaanesh, now aims to make mortals feel the excruciating pain of Slaanesh's attention.

Exalted daemon
mark of Slaanesh
Soporific Musk
Diabolic splendour

280 points

*I realize that's not how you spell "wretched", but the whole name is an anagram for something. Gold star for who ever finds out what it is!:w00t:

EDIT: Forgot to mention, from the daemonic legions list :yes:

[Killswitch]

Ghrazz, Beastlord of Slaanesh

A scream in the night awakens the town Sargeant, then silence. Outside, a band of Beasts roam through the streets, entering homes and killing all occupents. As the Sarge calls his militia together, Ghrazz is surveying the work of his men. Houses burnt, bodies laying in akward positions, almost as if tortured to the pleasure of the captors, and animals slaughtered, he catched wind of a new threat. * As the militia makes it's way up the main road, they stop and look at the bodies, in their positions, wanting evermore to tear the creatures who did this limb from limb. They stop in the middle of town, facing Ghrazz and his band of 12 Gors and 7 Ungors. * Ghrazz surveys this new opposition, thinking of ways to tortue them in his own pleasure, and wondering how far these pitiful creatures could go before dieing before his eyes. Yes, he will love this fight...for it shall be a good one. * As the militia charges into the beasts, they are instantaniously taking heavy losses, being torn apart by these savage beasts, and being tortured to the brink of death, before the beasts stop, only to start minutes later. * Ghrazz surveys the work of his fellow beasts, grunts with satisfaction, and walks forward to continue torturing the leader. As he twists his arms into unnatural positions, grunting in pleasure at the mans tortured screams, he catches eye of a flier, pausing to desipher it. He finds there is a tournament, and feeling the need to face more worthy opponents, grunts in approval as his sign of joining, then goes back to torturing the poor poor soul, as the tournament should be a good, yes a very good, challenge, a good time to bring new methods of torture, and overall, please his patron god, Slaanesh.

Beastlord-223
Mark of Slaanesh
Black Maul
Shield
Chaos Armour
Gaze of the Gods

[Arklite]

Dwarf lord
-Shield bearers
-Rune of stone
-Great weapon
-Master rune of kragg the grimm
-Rune of cleaving
-Rune of fury
246 points

Vengeance in Karak bir
From the kazzad Dolvir book of grudges 1398

In this year Glorel Delsten and his kin avenged the loss of the karak bir outpost to the foul minions of chaos. Leading an expedition of warriors from his hammerer bodyguard Glorel smashed his way through the lines of the corrupt manlings in a bid to bring the enemy warlord to settle his debt. Wielding the mighty rune axe Fiendbane Glorel brought the wrath of dawi upon the vile warriors of chaos its mighty blade cleaving his foes apart with every assault. Victory finally came when Glorel Bested the chaos lord in trial by combat. The battle went on long and fierce with Glorel suffering a wound across his eye but through grim dwarven determination the fell lord of chaos was defeated and the chaos host scattered.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glorel Delsten, leader of the longbeard council of Kazzad Dolvir is a typical dwarf lord. Excelling in combat and hard as stone Glorel has the respect and trust of all his peers. Returning from a campaign to remove an army of chaos lingering after the last great incursion. With the blessings of his brother Drokki Delsten, the king of kazzadf dolvir, Glorel has decided to put his skills to the test in flamebeard’s tourney. Sporting the mighty rune axe Fiendbane and the grim determination of a dwarf going to war Glorel shall be settling some grudges and grievances given the chance.

[King Ulrik Flamebeard]

Thanks for entering all! We have six contestants so far! This leaves ten places open!

Roll up! Roll up! Come and prove yourself in the Summer Arena of death!

KU

[Scion of Chemos]

This really sounds fun.

Waaghsnot da snooty snotling

Waaghsnot is a Night goblin warboss that has taken the controll over a small Bad moon tribe, located near the badlands. His takeover was not as much "smashing an stomping!", but more like cowardice and tons and tons of luck. I guess that tame squig hound wasn't as tame as waaghsnot promised it would be...

Night Goblin warboss
Ulags akrit axe
Amulet of protectyness
Warboss imbads Iron gnashas

-141p

Now da Night goblin wants some action! Gimm'e stunty beard for dinn'a!!!

[Killswitch]

Originally Posted by King Ulrik Flamebeard

Roll up! Roll up! Come and prove yourself in the Summer Arena of death!

Well put Kuff. Don't forget torture comes before death as well. :yes:

-J