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The Wargaming Gamemaster's Narrative Scenario Reviews

This page will serve as a living document where I (Matthew) will put my quick reviews of narrative scenarios that I have played, as well as suggested changes to them.

Remember however, that no matter how well written a scenario is written, a player (or players) who try to break the balance of that scenario will ruin it.  Narrative scenarios require both players to understand what is trying to be accomplished, and to play to that.

Having said that, certain scenarios work better "as is."  I rank those scenarios higher, while those that require more house rules are ranked lower.

Warhammer 40k

Vigilus Defiant

Crucible of War:  Convoy (p. 130) - 

This scenario is lots of fun, but as is doesn't make for much of an "escape" scenario.  I would suggest the following changes:

  • Defender goes first OR
  • Change deployment zone of Defender to within 12" of centre of table, and up to 24" up the table
  • Allow attacking forces that are placed in reserve to instead be placed in any special types of reserve that they have (most rules say that instead of placing a unit on the table during deployment you can place them in Cult Ambush, or in a Teleportarium, etc.)

Crucible of War:  Data Recovery (p. 140) - 

I love the wacky concept of this scenario, but it needs lots of work to really shine.  Here is what I would change:

  • Have the six drop locations not along the centre be located 9" from the centre instead of 12"
  • When reserves arrive have them deploy within 12" of their table edge rather than 6"
  • Allow reserves to be placed in special reserves (e.g. Cult Ambush, Deep Strike, Teleportarium)

Age of Sigmar

Forbidden Power

Lying in Wait (p. 82) - 

This scenario was a lot of fun, but it definitely doesn't work as intended.  Because the attacker deploys so close and gets first turn, it quickly turns into a fight in the middle with little to no chance of the defender getting off the table.  This doesn't mean it is unbalanced as the defender can still win the fight and then move off, but it doesn't accomplish what it sets out to do.

Suggested changes:

  • Widen the defender's deployment zone to 12"
  • Give Defender first turn (remember Age of Sigmar has random turns, so this can be a disadvantage too, which I think helps create a better narrative)
  • Defenders that arrive from reserve are placed within 12" of the table edge, not 6"
  • Add a Command Ability that allows nearby units to move faster (e.g. reroll runs, or +2 movement)

Grand Stormvault (p. 86) -  with 2 players, probably  with 4 players

Disclaimer:  We only played this with two players.  If I played it with four players it would probably play a lot better.

The main issue I have with this one is that the main objective of destroying the Penumbral Engines is too easy.  I feel like there should be more objectives (maybe 4?) that need to be destroyed.  Having one centre objective to hold at the end is fine though, given that it is meant to be a 4 player FFA, and that you are supposed to measure from the entire piece of terrain, allowing for more models to get close to it.

Suggested changes:

  • Remove "wild" Endless Spells as between those and Endless Spells / Judgements / Invocations / etc. that the players throw out they block a lot of the table
  • Add 2 more objectives to be destroyed
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