The end was in sight. The ultimate goal—at least for the moment—lay in Lyle and his Circle force’s hands. With only one round left, each player scrambled in his own way to make the most out of the last turn before the climatic finale in Round 12.

Every faction was bruised and bloody following the intense battles of previous rounds.

(For those of you just joining us or in need of a refresher, make sure to check out the Setup and rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7/8, 9, and 10)

The map going into the eleventh round

Many still lacked a single base from which to conduct their final operations. What follows is the email I sent out to our intrepid players as we entered the final normal round of our campaign.

At long last, the wagon has been discovered! After besting the Cygnaran guards who sought to ferry their prize to safety, the Circle Orboros finds itself in a tricky situation. Beset on all sides, the Circle commanders have no safe refuge to run to following the near utter annihilation of their base of operations by the Retribution and the rampaging forces of Minions. Determined to hold onto the wagon no matter the cost, the Circle has bought itself some safety through doing what it always does during critical times: sacrificing a limb to save the body.

Foreseeing the advance of both the Cryxians and the Minions from the north, the Circle commander has sent a delaying force, his last remaining asset, to hold the line against not one but two inhuman, powerful foes.

After enacted vengeance upon the Retribution, the Khadoran commander turns his sights upon his former allies and orders an all-out assault on one of the Convergence’s underground lairs. Though he knows the war may be lost, as a true son of the Motherland, he has vowed to draw as much blood from his enemies as possible in these waning days of the campaign.

Elsewhere, the commander of the Retribution, emboldened by recent successes, strikes out at the infernal lair of Cryx, hoping to eliminate the last real threat to Iosan domination of the region. The agents of the Nightmare Empire have predicted this assault, however, and stand more than ready to make the Iosans pay for their hubris and in so doing swell their undead ranks even further for their final gambit to claim the wagon for their draconic master.

Meanwhile, smaller battles continue to rage as every commander seeks any chance to improve his position in these, the final days of the long and bitterly fought campaign.

Round 11 once again saw another epic three-way battle royale as Lyle cleverly managed to cut off both Hungerford and Ed’s armies as they sought to strike against his banner currently escorting the Athanc Wagon.

Elsewhere, Plummer continued to apply pressure from the fringes, attacking both the Trollbloods holding the Royal Cygnaran Observatory and Ed’s Command and Control Center.

By the end of the round, Plummer had succeeded in ousting J.R. from the R.C.O. but had been outplayed by Ed in the battle for the Cryxian base. Simon pulled off a shocking victory against Charles and his Convergence defense force, a moment that I think even Charles was forced to admit made for a great highlight in the evolving narrative of our campaign. The bloody and beaten Khadorans had valiantly come back to prove that no true sons or daughters of the Motherland are ever beaten until they are buried six feet underground.

But by far the biggest fight of the round was the three-way clash to the north between Lyle, Hungerford, and Ed. Venting their frustration at having been foiled in their attempts to claim the wagon for themselves, Hungerford and Ed formed a temporary alliance and utterly annihilated Lyle’s banner to a man before begrudgingly withdrawing from the field in mutual retreat.

With the conclusion of Round 11, it was time to do a final tally and see which five of our players would be moving on to the big finale.

Of course, as the current controller of the Athanc Wagon, Lyle automatically took the first spot in the final scenario table.

Thanks to a great late game push and steady work on his objectives throughout the campaign, Michael Plummer was sitting in first place at the end of Round 11 and so would take the second player spot on the final table. Not far behind him was Ed, who had masterfully commanded the Nightmare Empire throughout the campaign to take the third player spot. In fourth and fifth were J.R. and Hungerford respectively, the latter having barely eked out Simon for the fifth place spot.

The map at the end of the eleventh round

With the field set, it was finally time to unveil the dramatic all-out dragon apocalyptic final scenario. You can read all about the results in the upcoming No Quarter #65, which will also contain all the campaign rules and scenarios for the entire “Battle for the Athanc” campaign in a perfect print compendium.

And after you read about the final battle, be sure to check back here for the final campaign wrap up to see just how everyone did!

’Til Next Time