Mercenary Mage Quest: Asur Dogs of War in Warhammer Fantasy
- Thread starter Blackout
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- Fantasy
Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
The term for regular grunt Ogres is Ogre Bulls.
Name: Adriana's Dragoons
Description: The stories say Adriana was a noblewoman who ran away with a mercenary in Tilea, and that upon discovering her talent for the life, she trained herself into a fearsome warrior. The truth of it is uncertain, but childhood lessons might go some way to explain her skill at horsemanship. Today, she takes her lovers freely from men and women, and leads a group of highly-paid light cavalry wielding blade and light handguns, with horses trained to ignore gunpowder going off above them.
Numbers: 20-30 lightly armored cavalry, armed with gunpowder and hand weapons.
Description: The stories say Adriana was a noblewoman who ran away with a mercenary in Tilea, and that upon discovering her talent for the life, she trained herself into a fearsome warrior. The truth of it is uncertain, but childhood lessons might go some way to explain her skill at horsemanship. Today, she takes her lovers freely from men and women, and leads a group of highly-paid light cavalry wielding blade and light handguns, with horses trained to ignore gunpowder going off above them.
Numbers: 20-30 lightly armored cavalry, armed with gunpowder and hand weapons.
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K von Carstein
Likes to go for a walk
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He
Or you could simply write that they took a liking to human flesh and still call them « Maneaters » if you like.
Blackout
Fed By Comments
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- Who knows?
I've honestly considered just making up an excuse as to why Maneaters exist pre-Golgfag, because it as a term so succinctly communicates that you are talking about veteran Ogre mercenaries who've traveled the world, not just regular Bulls, but also not Ironguts because those are their own thing. And it feels weird to me that they become so ubiquituous in Ogre society in canon, but also this shift only happens in 2518, which is like 6 years before the End Times/Storm of Chaos. But I dunno if that would cheapen Golgfag as a character and feel weird, so maybe I should come up with something else.
Darik29
Verified Delicious
Eh. could just have it that your average Ogre Mercenary was referred to as Ogre Mercenaries, and they've always been a thing, then Golgfag shows up and is such an absolute chad of an Ogre merc the rest all get labelled with his name by mere association. They change from just being called Mercenaries to being called Maneaters, and roll with it because they love the name. And likely hear about how awesome Golgfag is and want to imitate him.
Name: The Sanguadors
Description: The Sanguadors a group of fierce warriors from Estalia who train to fight alongside large war-dogs. They bond fiercely with their dogs and consider them to be as much members of their "pack" as the human mercenaries, and there are rumors they worship some kind of lesser hunter god or spirit, although they keep their traditions close to the chest. General doctrine involves one human per war-hound, both well-armored, the human using a spear or pole-arm to attack an enemy's face while the dog tries to bite from below.
Numbers: 100 humans, 100 hounds.
Description: The Sanguadors a group of fierce warriors from Estalia who train to fight alongside large war-dogs. They bond fiercely with their dogs and consider them to be as much members of their "pack" as the human mercenaries, and there are rumors they worship some kind of lesser hunter god or spirit, although they keep their traditions close to the chest. General doctrine involves one human per war-hound, both well-armored, the human using a spear or pole-arm to attack an enemy's face while the dog tries to bite from below.
Numbers: 100 humans, 100 hounds.
- Location
- Bretonnia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
From what I know of the Strigany, some of them can use magic, but can that magic be feasibly used in combat? Was thinking of making a Dogs of War made up of Strigany.
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Darik29
Verified Delicious
Further detailing Magog's Bull's.
Magog's unit consists of a 26 unit Maneater squad, or two separate 13 man squads that can further split as needed. Every single member has several weapons, from sabers to clubs to warhammers and more. In addition, given i can't recall if we are far enough along for pistols and guns to be widespread, most of the bulls ranged weaponry consists of hand carved javelins, ogre slings they picked up during a delightful stay in the Moot this one time, some Ogre sized crossbows while in Tilea, and of course Magog's own monstrous pistol built as a result of drinking the entire Engineer's college under the table in Nuln.
So his Bulls always have an option to put the hurt on at range, wether on a charging enemy, or when hunting for food. Or running enemies who they want to knock down for the cook pot.
In addition to the Ogre's, Magog has a single unit of Gnoblar trappers, averaging out to somewhere around 80 to 90 small big nosed goblinoids. This is something of a small miracle considering how closely they resemble goblins, and how incredibly pathetic/cruel they can be when given the chance.
They make up for this by being Excellent foragers, scavengers, and general menace's when given the chance to build traps to both gather food and defend the Ogre's camp.
They also have an odd specialty in actually cooking, Magog not having a Butcher in his party nor any of his ogres having any real skill at cooking, though not for lack of effort.
Magog's unit consists of a 26 unit Maneater squad, or two separate 13 man squads that can further split as needed. Every single member has several weapons, from sabers to clubs to warhammers and more. In addition, given i can't recall if we are far enough along for pistols and guns to be widespread, most of the bulls ranged weaponry consists of hand carved javelins, ogre slings they picked up during a delightful stay in the Moot this one time, some Ogre sized crossbows while in Tilea, and of course Magog's own monstrous pistol built as a result of drinking the entire Engineer's college under the table in Nuln.
So his Bulls always have an option to put the hurt on at range, wether on a charging enemy, or when hunting for food. Or running enemies who they want to knock down for the cook pot.
In addition to the Ogre's, Magog has a single unit of Gnoblar trappers, averaging out to somewhere around 80 to 90 small big nosed goblinoids. This is something of a small miracle considering how closely they resemble goblins, and how incredibly pathetic/cruel they can be when given the chance.
They make up for this by being Excellent foragers, scavengers, and general menace's when given the chance to build traps to both gather food and defend the Ogre's camp.
They also have an odd specialty in actually cooking, Magog not having a Butcher in his party nor any of his ogres having any real skill at cooking, though not for lack of effort.
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K von Carstein
Likes to go for a walk
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He
That would be cool. And Strigany are associated with the Strigoï Bloodline, it would maybe be possible to do something with that.
Blackout
Fed By Comments
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- Who knows?
Something like that is already the case, it's just that Maneaters are a neat term that with specific meaning, whereas Ogre Mercenaries is broader and generic. Maneaters are generally better-equipped and more skilled than just the average grunt Bull.
Quibbles about naming conventions aside, these guys look good. Approved.
Easy Approval, these guys are very reasonable and fit well.
Some Strigany can use Witchcraft, which is Dhar-based diet Dark Magic, while the greatest of their Mystics can use Celestial Magic, albeit mainly to read the future. Both of those could potentially be used in combat.
- Location
- Bretonnia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeesh... wielding Dhar means that the user would inevitably go insane, right? I can probably do something with a Mystic that can see the future, though.
- Location
- Seattle
Azziz the Wolf and the Al-Haikk Accipiters: These huntsman from Araby are excellent harassers with pistol, scimitar, falcon and hound. Azziz was huntmaster for a Prince of Al-Haikk and during a conflict with another prince of Araby his master fell from grace. He escaped the palace with his menagerie and the princes youngest son, who acts as the units paymaster.
*Anti-Air
*Anti-Monster
-poor unit cohesion
-expensive for what they do
*Anti-Air
*Anti-Monster
-poor unit cohesion
-expensive for what they do
- Location
- Bretonnia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Name: The Orphans of Strigos
Description: A motley crowd of grim, unsmiling Strigany, the Sons of Strigany are the shattered remnants of a once-larger community of Strigany in the Empire. Battered and broken by the ceaseless warring plaguing the Empire, and tired of awaiting the return of their Vampiric gods, these hardened men and women have fled to the cold lands of Kislev - turning their backs on their Undead deities in favour of eking out a new life dissociated from their reputation as ne'er-do-wells and necromancers. Where once they were woodsmen and vagabonds, they sell their services as scouts and saboteurs to gain favour.
Numbers: 1 Strigany Mystic, 89 Strigany Guerillas
-Experienced trackers and scouts
-Capable of guerilla warfare
-Able to see into the future to a certain extent
-Versatile in melee and ranged
-Low numbers
-Poor at formation fighting
-Not as good as specialised units
A bunch of Strigany guerillas seemed cool. I don't believe the Strigany are all that big on horses - at least, not like the Ungols are, so hopefully their Mystic can make up for their low numbers. Not well-versed in Strigany lore, either, so corrections to anything I got wrong would be appreciated.
My idea was that they rely on the aid of their Mystic to enhance their tracking/scouting skills, and on top of that their Mystic would help them ambush the enemy through use of her future sight, whereas the guerillas would lay traps and what-not after getting advice from her.
Description: A motley crowd of grim, unsmiling Strigany, the Sons of Strigany are the shattered remnants of a once-larger community of Strigany in the Empire. Battered and broken by the ceaseless warring plaguing the Empire, and tired of awaiting the return of their Vampiric gods, these hardened men and women have fled to the cold lands of Kislev - turning their backs on their Undead deities in favour of eking out a new life dissociated from their reputation as ne'er-do-wells and necromancers. Where once they were woodsmen and vagabonds, they sell their services as scouts and saboteurs to gain favour.
Numbers: 1 Strigany Mystic, 89 Strigany Guerillas
-Experienced trackers and scouts
-Capable of guerilla warfare
-Able to see into the future to a certain extent
-Versatile in melee and ranged
-Low numbers
-Poor at formation fighting
-Not as good as specialised units
A bunch of Strigany guerillas seemed cool. I don't believe the Strigany are all that big on horses - at least, not like the Ungols are, so hopefully their Mystic can make up for their low numbers. Not well-versed in Strigany lore, either, so corrections to anything I got wrong would be appreciated.
My idea was that they rely on the aid of their Mystic to enhance their tracking/scouting skills, and on top of that their Mystic would help them ambush the enemy through use of her future sight, whereas the guerillas would lay traps and what-not after getting advice from her.
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- Location
- A Pit Of My Own Making
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm pretty sure it's traditional at this point to have a mercenary unit of Slayers in a Warhammer quest that has Dogs of War, so here's my take on the subject. Not sure about the numbers though, so feel free to ignore them. All that matters is that it's a relatively small group of Rangers lead by a Longbeard supporting a much larger group of Slayers.
Name: The Doomseekers
Description: Vidur Sharpeye is an old and well-respected Ranger from a hold situated on the path between Karak Kadrin and Kislev. As a result of this, on his rangings he all too frequently discovered Slayers who had their quest for their Dooms prematurely ended by the elements.
Suffice it to say, this greatly wore on him, and he was known to drink especially heavily after bringing said corpses to the priests of Gazul. However, things came to a head after he discovered one such Slayer who was the son of Edrin Bronzeburner, an old friend. The poor Dawi had died in a mudslide, a truly meaningless death without a worthy enemy in sight.
Vidur fell into a deep melancholy after this, and many feared that he would take the Oath himself. However, he took a different path. With the financial and moral support of Edrin, who led a mercenary company in his youth, he gathered a force of Slayers, focusing on those who lacked survival skills.
The Rangers help guide the Slayers through the dangerous wilderness that all but inevitably lies between them and their Doom. In battle, the Slayers fight and die, with the Rangers serving as witnesses and fire support, as necessary. Vidur only accepts contracts which will end with the demise of proven foes of the Dawi. Thankfully, in a place like Kislev, that doesn't limit the potential clients by much. All proceeds, minus expenses and (quite discounted compared to what a fair market would provide) wages for himself and his retinue, go to the families of those who have fallen.
If the Doomseekers prove to be successful in ensuring that Slayers meet worthy Dooms, then Vidur and Edrin have high hopes for expansion. More Slayers, perhaps some artillery support, although that might be Edrin's experiences with Bronzeburner's Bellowers talking.
Numbers: Vidur Sharpeye, Longbeard Ranger with his retinue of 19 Rangers, 40 Slayers.
And since I've already mentioned them, here's the Bellowers. Again, feel free to adjust the numbers.
Name: Bronzeburner's Bellowers
Description: Edrin Bronzeburner, Engineer, founded the Bellowers decades ago in order to raise funds for the eventual retaking of his Clan's lost home. His career as a mercenary was quite successful until he was forced to leave that life after he lost his leg courtesy of an exploding cannon.
He landed on his feet, getting a plum position in Karak Kadrin's Engineers' Guild, but his son, who was in charge of the cannon in question, took the Slayer's Oath out of guilt. Edrin's second in command and brother, Krelar Bronzeburner took command of the company, and has been quite successful. He's even been considering purchasing the latest and greatest in Dawi military hardware, an Organ Gun.
Numbers: 6 Dwarf Cannons, Master Engineer (Krelar Bronzeburner)
Name: The Doomseekers
Description: Vidur Sharpeye is an old and well-respected Ranger from a hold situated on the path between Karak Kadrin and Kislev. As a result of this, on his rangings he all too frequently discovered Slayers who had their quest for their Dooms prematurely ended by the elements.
Suffice it to say, this greatly wore on him, and he was known to drink especially heavily after bringing said corpses to the priests of Gazul. However, things came to a head after he discovered one such Slayer who was the son of Edrin Bronzeburner, an old friend. The poor Dawi had died in a mudslide, a truly meaningless death without a worthy enemy in sight.
Vidur fell into a deep melancholy after this, and many feared that he would take the Oath himself. However, he took a different path. With the financial and moral support of Edrin, who led a mercenary company in his youth, he gathered a force of Slayers, focusing on those who lacked survival skills.
The Rangers help guide the Slayers through the dangerous wilderness that all but inevitably lies between them and their Doom. In battle, the Slayers fight and die, with the Rangers serving as witnesses and fire support, as necessary. Vidur only accepts contracts which will end with the demise of proven foes of the Dawi. Thankfully, in a place like Kislev, that doesn't limit the potential clients by much. All proceeds, minus expenses and (quite discounted compared to what a fair market would provide) wages for himself and his retinue, go to the families of those who have fallen.
If the Doomseekers prove to be successful in ensuring that Slayers meet worthy Dooms, then Vidur and Edrin have high hopes for expansion. More Slayers, perhaps some artillery support, although that might be Edrin's experiences with Bronzeburner's Bellowers talking.
Numbers: Vidur Sharpeye, Longbeard Ranger with his retinue of 19 Rangers, 40 Slayers.
And since I've already mentioned them, here's the Bellowers. Again, feel free to adjust the numbers.
Name: Bronzeburner's Bellowers
Description: Edrin Bronzeburner, Engineer, founded the Bellowers decades ago in order to raise funds for the eventual retaking of his Clan's lost home. His career as a mercenary was quite successful until he was forced to leave that life after he lost his leg courtesy of an exploding cannon.
He landed on his feet, getting a plum position in Karak Kadrin's Engineers' Guild, but his son, who was in charge of the cannon in question, took the Slayer's Oath out of guilt. Edrin's second in command and brother, Krelar Bronzeburner took command of the company, and has been quite successful. He's even been considering purchasing the latest and greatest in Dawi military hardware, an Organ Gun.
Numbers: 6 Dwarf Cannons, Master Engineer (Krelar Bronzeburner)
- Location
- A Pit Of My Own Making
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Name: The Dockland Lads
Description: The gangs of Altdorf's docklands are renowned for their viciousness and savagery, and Ludlow Haft was among the worst. He and his handpicked men acted as bruisers, but after one too many back alley stabbings things they had to flee the city. Now they're simply wasting time until things cool down, and they can return.
Numbers: 49 career criminals with equipped with varying swords and pistols, Ludlow Haft with double pistols
Description: The gangs of Altdorf's docklands are renowned for their viciousness and savagery, and Ludlow Haft was among the worst. He and his handpicked men acted as bruisers, but after one too many back alley stabbings things they had to flee the city. Now they're simply wasting time until things cool down, and they can return.
Numbers: 49 career criminals with equipped with varying swords and pistols, Ludlow Haft with double pistols
Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
Now, important question, are they Hooks or Fish?
Xexilf
Oblivion Sempiternum Daemonis
The "inevitable" can be debatable with some edge cases and a lot of care, but in general Dhar is really bad stuff, and the way humans are more malleable trough magic compared to elves makes it worse. Its not impossible for an occasional witch to exist who trough the right combination of talent and care wielded dhar-adjanctant stuff for a long time without serious corruption, but it would be rare, and most will end up at least somewhat twisted, if not always fatally.
Blackout
Fed By Comments
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- Who knows?
More or less. Some can hold out for longer, but generally Dhar is bad news, and especially so for humans. Going insane is hardly the worst thing that could happen to you.
Looks good to me, approved. Don't see anything overly incorrect.
They're on the larger side, especially for this early into the game, and 200 mounted knights is a pretty massive force. However, as mentioned I will adjust the numbers if it becomes an issue, with the in-universe justification of casualties or new recruitment. The main point of the numbers is to give an idea of their unit composition, like the Shamed being a mix of mounted and foot knights.
I like the idea, approved.
The only Dwarfhold between Kadrin and Kislev is Karak Raziak, so I suppose Vidur would be from there?
I, too, am interested in where they fall in the Hooks vs Fish split.
But otherwise approved.
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- Location
- Bretonnia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Thanks! Although I did change their numbers to simply '89 Strigany Guerillas', as I believed it made more sense for them being able to use both bows and axes - if not to the same level of skill as those that would specialise in them.
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- Location
- A Pit Of My Own Making
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I have decided, after much deliberation...
Fish
Fish
Blackout
Fed By Comments
- Location
- Who knows?
Approved. While I won't say you can't add bullet points to the mercenary entries to give me a better idea of the unit's intended role, I'll generally speaking supply them myself, since they are meant to be the manifestations of Fanriel's Martial score, how she personally assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each unit.
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Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
The Shipwrecked
Formerly pirates out of Sartosa, the Shipwrecked had luck both great-and-terrible when they surprised a trading ship crewed by Dwarfs in the Sea of Claws, and were able to seize the chest of gold the ship had accrued from spice trading through Araby and Tilea. While still entangled with the trading ship, a sudden storm came on them that separated the ships and smashed the pirates on the shore. With no ship and no way to return to Sartosa, the pirates reasoned that they already had a pay-chest, so becoming Dogs of War seemed a natural next step.
They'd taken a few jobs before they discovered that they had pursuers they've needed to keep a step ahead of ever since- the Dwarfs they'd stolen from had rallied the whole Clan in pursuit.
Led by Capitana Montoya, wielding the 3-barreled handgun 'Perrito'
50 ex-pirates wielding cutlass-and-pistols.
Clan Grim-Beard
Clan Grim-Beard had fallen on hard times when they made their way to Marienburg centuries ago with little more than the gear on their backs. Dedicated service as ship guards and in the Black Caps had seen the family get together enough funds to purchase their own trading ship, after a few loans, and go into business for themselves. Their misfortunes continued when their ship's maiden voyage saw them robbed and wrecked.
Narrowly escaping debtors prison in Marienburg, the Clan has rallied in pursuit of the pirates. Elder Gormli has vowed to restore the Clan's fortunes by taking the paychest of the Shipwrecked, and he'll do it by hook, crook, or offering the Clan's services to whomever the Shipwrecked have been hired to fight and taking it on the field of battle, though the Clan is not opposed to a few other contracts on the way if the pay is good.
Led by Elder Gormli, wielding the Clan runed az Duz-Ghal.
50 Dwarf Warriors
20 'Camp Followers', with assorted ranged weaponry
5 light cannons, pulled by donkeys (recovered from the wrecked ship)
Formerly pirates out of Sartosa, the Shipwrecked had luck both great-and-terrible when they surprised a trading ship crewed by Dwarfs in the Sea of Claws, and were able to seize the chest of gold the ship had accrued from spice trading through Araby and Tilea. While still entangled with the trading ship, a sudden storm came on them that separated the ships and smashed the pirates on the shore. With no ship and no way to return to Sartosa, the pirates reasoned that they already had a pay-chest, so becoming Dogs of War seemed a natural next step.
They'd taken a few jobs before they discovered that they had pursuers they've needed to keep a step ahead of ever since- the Dwarfs they'd stolen from had rallied the whole Clan in pursuit.
Led by Capitana Montoya, wielding the 3-barreled handgun 'Perrito'
50 ex-pirates wielding cutlass-and-pistols.
Clan Grim-Beard
Clan Grim-Beard had fallen on hard times when they made their way to Marienburg centuries ago with little more than the gear on their backs. Dedicated service as ship guards and in the Black Caps had seen the family get together enough funds to purchase their own trading ship, after a few loans, and go into business for themselves. Their misfortunes continued when their ship's maiden voyage saw them robbed and wrecked.
Narrowly escaping debtors prison in Marienburg, the Clan has rallied in pursuit of the pirates. Elder Gormli has vowed to restore the Clan's fortunes by taking the paychest of the Shipwrecked, and he'll do it by hook, crook, or offering the Clan's services to whomever the Shipwrecked have been hired to fight and taking it on the field of battle, though the Clan is not opposed to a few other contracts on the way if the pay is good.
Led by Elder Gormli, wielding the Clan runed az Duz-Ghal.
50 Dwarf Warriors
20 'Camp Followers', with assorted ranged weaponry
5 light cannons, pulled by donkeys (recovered from the wrecked ship)