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The canon leader of the Iron Wolves circa the 2520s is one of the greatest of Tzeench's Chaos Lords, and one of Archaeon's lieutenants. But he might still be a kid, so it will likely be a roll, so I agree that we should be careful here.
Or he might be old even now.
Chaos Champion after all.
I would be careful assuming that age is an issue for one of them. It certainly doesnt seem to be an issue for their 40k cousins.
 
the arguments for Scouting have convinced me.

[x] Ranging far ahead of the convoy
[x] Scouting near the convoy
[x] Use Rite of Way to ease the ascent
[x] Scout the lands of the Iron Wolves
 
I don't see how Mathilde scouting and finding something helps us at all, so I don't see a reason to do it. We can't avoid- the roads are too steep/slow. We can't win, not against most possible attacks.
The same way she spread confusion among the Orks during the retaking of K8P.

Exacerbating internal tensions can blow up the cohesion of a raiding party long enough for us to put distance between Iron Wolf territory and our caravan. Assassinating a leader in the guise of another nomad can aim them in another direction for the duration, or give them the impression they lost the favor of Chaos. Panicking their horses at night could leave a raiding party without transportation.

Psychological warfare is Mathilde's bailiwick. We dont need to micromanage her; if there's information, she can turn it to our advantage.
But there needs to BE information, early enough that she can act on it.
Knights on kittybirds and good bois are not equipped to gather that sort of information; she is.
 
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You know, this has re-contextualized a good enough portion of this quest that I feel like I have a greater understanding of Mattie's character then I did before hand.

Thanks.
Warning: personal headcanon below! :)

In my mental model of Mathilde, as applied to the votes and quest events as an interpretive/explanatory lens, much derives from her early exclusion and erasure by her parents and whole village. (Not just her bravery). I've posted about it once or twice before, but for me her- yes- tongue-in-cheek (thread-meme and in-universe) but also plainly self-aggrandising naming schemes fit the picture of someone determined that they can't be overlooked or erased, ever again. A determination to Make Her Mark. The disappointment at the understated Magisterial promotion, and delight at the secret Lord Magisters Club/pocket universe. Then you've got the related impulse to search for approval from (multiple) father figures.... Anyway.

Mathilde was so pleased when word of her early deeds spread- remember her delight at hearing of the Dämmerlichtreiter title first time, how people were noticing. So I tend to interpret a lot with this... lens amongst my viewing array. It's by no means everything- she is gaining the natural confidence that years of success and rank and approval brings- but I feel it's an important part of Mathilde's makeup.
 
The same way she spread confusion among the Orks during the retaking of K8P.

Exacerbating internal tensions can blow up the cohesion of a raiding party long enough for us to put distance between Iron Wolf territory and our caravan. Assassinating a leader in the guise of another nomad can aim them in another direction for the duration, or give them the impression they lost the favor of Chaos. Panicking their horses at night could leave a raiding party without transportation.

Psychological warfare is Mathilde's bailiwick. We dont need to micromanage her; if there's information, she can turn it to our advantage.
But there needs to BE information, early enough that she can act on it.
Knights on kittybirds and good bois are not equipped to gather that sort of information; she is.
The Zorn Uzkul turning into an active warzone has a bunch of possible scenarios that would hinder the Expedition and very few that could help.

That quote was in response to pointing the skaven and chaos dwarfs at each other. I don't think the logic is all that different here. We do not want to stir up active fighting in the area, because when mobilized, we are outnumbered by every enemy faction.

Even if we successfully turn them against each other in the short term, we still have to deal with the return trip.

Scouting is good, but Mathilde's favoured style of scouting tends to be a bit more conspicuous than what we want right now.
 
Exacerbating internal tensions can blow up the cohesion of a raiding party long enough for us to put distance between Iron Wolf territory and our caravan. Assassinating a leader in the guise of another nomad can aim them in another direction for the duration, or give them the impression they lost the favor of Chaos. Panicking their horses at night could leave a raiding party without transportation.

Cool. Tactically sound. Strategically suicidal. We do need to come back this way after all, stirring up stuff now is not only going to make it really hard to get to Dum (I'm personally really not a fan of weeks of cavalry raids and grinding attrition) but ensures we have aware, organized enemies to run into on our way back.

Fighting, at all, is something that is a pure loss for us. To the point I'd strongly prefer to bribe off any ambushers rather than kill them this time around: it would convince them that we don't need special measures to deal with.

I know WHF is a tabletop battle game first and foremost. But that is a poor attitude to take into situations like this.



[x] Journeyman Cyrston von Danling.
[x] Preceptor Joerg von Zavstra
[x] Sir Ruprecht Wulfhart the Younger
[x] Journeywoman Alexandra Kohler
[x] Use Rite of Way to ease the ascent
 
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Like, this is the issue I keep getting hung up on. How does Mathilde scouting Iron Wolf territory improve the situation over the Knights of Taal's Fury scouting the expedition's path?

Pickle, friend, chum, compadre, comrade, salt of the earth, usually I largely agree with you, but this seems like an uncharacteristically poor argument to me.

Mathilde has a whole host of abilities that make her able to scout in a qualitatively more effective way than normal scouts. She's able to cover far more distance, over rougher terrain, faster. She's able to discern even small traces of magic being used at great distances. And if she does spot enemies, she'll be far more able to get close and examine them in detail without being spotted in turn.

Mathilde isn't "just" a +10 to Borek's scouting rolls for the turn, there's a wide variety of possible scenarios that will only be spotted in advance if Mathilde is actively on the lookout for them.
 
Pickle, friend, chum, compadre, comrade, salt of the earth, usually I largely agree with you, but this seems like an uncharacteristically poor argument to me.

Mathilde has a whole host of abilities that make her able to scout in a qualitatively more effective way than normal scouts. She's able to cover far more distance, over rougher terrain, faster. She's able to discern even small traces of magic being used at great distances. And if she does spot enemies, she'll be far more able to get close and examine them in detail without being spotted in turn.

Mathilde isn't "just" a +10 to Borek's scouting rolls for the turn, there's a wide variety of possible scenarios that will only be spotted in advance if Mathilde is actively on the lookout for them.
Okay, but... can you give me examples of scenarios in which "Mathilde scouting the Iron Wolf territory directly" yields significantly better outcomes than "Knights of Taal's Fury scouting the expedition's path"? Because, as I mentioned, the only one I've seen where the Knights wouldn't catch it and Mathilde would be able to do something about it was "they're doing a big spooky ritual and Mathilde fucks shit up Karag Nar style." Which, granted, but my prior probability on that happening is pretty low. "They're preparing an attack," the most reasonable thing to hedge against, is something we can't pick up on by means other than troop movements, since we don't speak the language, and the Knights can catch that too. It's the whole reason to have a vanguard.

I acknowledge and accept an argument of redundancy being a desirable thing to have. I just don't see an argument for Mathilde likely doing anything special and irreplaceable here.
 
Okay, but... can you give me examples of scenarios in which "Mathilde scouting the Iron Wolf territory directly" yields significantly better outcomes than "Knights of Taal's Fury scouting the expedition's path"? Because, as I mentioned, the only one I've seen where the Knights wouldn't catch it and Mathilde would be able to do something about it was "they're doing a big spooky ritual and Mathilde fucks shit up Karag Nar style." Which, granted, but my prior probability on that happening is pretty low. "They're preparing an attack," the most reasonable thing to hedge against, is something we can't pick up on by means other than troop movements, since we don't speak the language, and the Knights can catch that too. It's the whole reason to have a vanguard.

I acknowledge and accept an argument of redundancy being a desirable thing to have. I just don't see an argument for Mathilde likely doing anything special and irreplaceable here.
I can see two scenarios where Mathilde would provide a better outcome if she were scouting - first, if there were something faintly spoopy which her superior Magesight could pick up but the Ambers couldn't, or if there's some gathering that needs infiltration, rather than just scouting... but I don't see how that would be all that useful.

Edit, for clarity: I don't think either of those are likely.
 
Mathilde isn't "just" a +10 to Borek's scouting rolls for the turn, there's a wide variety of possible scenarios that will only be spotted in advance if Mathilde is actively on the lookout for them.

My problem is that *doing* anything about those scenarios blows our primary goals. That's really what I want to avoid: another thing we find where the thread decides we HAVE to intervene, and fail as an expedition because of it. We've taken all three opportunities to look thus far and almost failed already once because of it.

Again, I'm of the strong opinion that if we fight, we've already lost, and mathilde scouting does the opposite of helping us avoid a fight.
 
"They're preparing an attack," the most reasonable thing to hedge against, is something we can't pick up on by means other than troop movements, since we don't speak the language, and the Knights can catch that too. It's the whole reason to have a vanguard.

I think this is the most likely unique advantage Mathilde could bring. It's not that the other scouts couldn't bring forewarning of a massed attack. It's that Mathilde could potentially bring it a day or two earlier, due to being able to range much deeper and return much faster. Which potentially could be the difference between being able to turn around/make a sustained sprint out of range while worrying about the axles later/whatever seems appropriate and not being able to.

That said I do think this is one of the scouting options where Mathilde has much less marginal advantage in comparison. Yes she can go further in faster, yes she can use her windsight to catch clues from greater distances, but she's still functionally searching a huge area basically blind. Whether she can even find anything of use to see is rather in doubt. In comparison to options where there was an obvious location to hit which she knew the coordinates of that no one else could she's not nearly as valuable here I feel.

I still favor doing it because I really do not think Wulfhart needs our attention and will be fine without getting picked, but it's not such a standout difference in value this time around.
 
Okay, but... can you give me examples of scenarios in which "Mathilde scouting the Iron Wolf territory directly" yields significantly better outcomes than "Knights of Taal's Fury scouting the expedition's path"?

• They're amassing forces, but far enough out that the Taalites won't catch it.
• They're talking to one of the other neighbouring tribes about something, and only Mathilde can get close and monitor their emotions during the talk.
• Some of the Plotter's daemons made their way in this direction and Mathilde picks up the trail.
• There's an enemy scouting party moving vaguely in the expeditions direction that can be misdirected to go elsewhere.
• The enemy is doing a ritual of some kind, has a magical trap along the route, is using magic to gather intelligence, or just generally has a magic user doing things.

Again, I'm of the strong opinion that if we fight, we've already lost, and mathilde scouting does the opposite of helping us avoid a fight.

You're... gonna have to clarify that position, because it seems nonsensical to me. Mathilde's scouting in K8P has reduced the need for allied forces to fight on many, many occasions during the taking of K8P. The Hall of the Moon? Assassinating warbosses? The attack on the Skaven-held watchtower?

If the enemy really is preparing a major attack, Mathilde pre-emptively assassinating the leader and pinning it on a subordinate would be a massive boost to the expeditions chances.
 
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The last few days, I've been kicking around a silly little idea for a plotline.

Quite simply, Lady Magister Grey is actually Mathilde after she gets tossed back in time after getting separated from the expedition. On her way back home she raids the hellcannon factory, and then gets back in touch with the Grey College. I assume that the college has plans for how to deal with time traveling Magisters.
 
[X] Thane Borek Forkbeard
[X] Ice Crone Ljiljana
[X] Journeyman Cyrston von Danling
[X] Journeywoman Alexandra Kohler
[X] Use Rite of Way to ease the ascent
[X] Investigate the 'Windfall' with the Light Wizards
 
• They're amassing forces, but far enough out that the Taalites won't catch it.
• They're talking to one of the other neighbouring tribes about something, and only Mathilde can get close and monitor their emotions during the talk.
• Some of the Plotter's daemons made their way in this direction and Mathilde picks up the trail.
• There's an enemy scouting party moving vaguely in the expeditions direction that can be misdirected to go elsewhere.
• The enemy is doing a ritual of some kind, has a magical trap along the route, is using magic to gather intelligence, or just generally has a magic user doing things.
  • In order for this to be a problem, they have to come closer, at which point the Taalites will catch it.
  • This isn't a problem. In order for it to become a problem, several more steps must be taken, which the Taalites can catch.
  • What if the plotters have been telepathically talking to the expedition-goers while we go? Guarding against daemons who went hundreds of miles in the wrong direction is so paranoid it's practically an offering to Tzeentch in and of itself.
  • ...How would you misdirect a scouting party in their home terrain?
  • The Taalites can see this, unless it's specifically an illusion-based problem, in which case the wizards will catch it as we draw closer anyway. More to the point, it's pretty damn unlikely.
 
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You're... gonna have to clarify that position, because it seems nonsensical to me. Mathilde's scouting in K8P has reduced the need for allied forces to fight on many, many occasions during the taking of K8P. The Hall of the Moon? Assassinating warbosses? The attack on the Skaven-held watchtower?

If the enemy really is preparing a major attack, Mathilde pre-emptively assassinating the leader and pinning it on a subordinate would be a massive boost to the expeditions chances.
The Expedition to Eight Peaks was an army numbering tens of thousands, approaching 100k. We could afford to take engagements. The Expedition to Karag Dum is about half of one thousand. If the enemy is mobilizing, no amount of sabotage makes our force competitive with theirs on an open field. Even if sabotage successfully cripples their initial response, the return trip goes through the same route, and by that point you're looking to defeat the equivalent of an Imperial Province's worth of forces. It's the same reason why we passed by Uzkulak instead of laying siege.

She's able to cover far more distance, over rougher terrain, faster.
The range of a demigryph knight is 80 miles per day. Mathilde is significantly better than a demigryph knight at scouting, covering 250 miles per day. She is not significantly better than 100 demigryph knights at scouting unless you mean for them all to be grouped up in a single pack.
 
[X] Use Rite of Way to ease the ascent
[X] Investigate the 'Windfall' with the Light Wizards
[X] Sir Ruprecht Wulfhart the Younger
[X] Journeyman Cyrston von Danling
 
[X] Use Rite of Way to ease the ascent
[X] Investigate the 'Windfall' with the Light Wizards
[X] Journeyman Cyrston von Danling
[X] Sir Ruprecht Wulfhart the Younger
 
Yes, and they're with the Knights of Taal's fury. We're voting to scout with the Winter Wolves.
Wait, what?

The Winter Wolves scout the general vicinity of the Expedition, while the Knights of Taal's Fury scout further afield. The territory we are going to scout is that of the Iron Wolves tribe, which implies we are scouting further away from the Expedition, not around it.
 
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