Introduction

HEED THE CALL TO WAR
The year is 2515 by the Imperial Calendar. The winter was long and harsh, but is now begrudgingly giving way to spring. Even as the snowline recedes, the northern provinces of the Empire are plunged into sudden and merciless war. The northmen have marched south, bringing flame and ruin in their wake.

Such border strife is not uncommon in Ostland, a grim province well used to brutal raids from Norsca and the northern wastes. What is unusual, however, is Ostland's fierce Elector Count, Valmir von Raukov, requesting aid from the Emperor Karl Franz. All know Raukov is a proud man with a martial disposition like his father of old. Indeed, many have accused Ostland's Elector Count of provoking the enemy, staging his own raids to destroy the camps and fell idols of the barbarians deep in their own lands. And yet, provoked or not, who could leave Ostland to be plundered by the worshippers of the Dark Gods?

The timing for Count Raukov's only request for aid to the Imperial Throne could hardly have been worse. The Emperor Karl Franz and his strong-arm Champion Ludwig Schwarzhelm have ridden, with a large contingent of fellow Elector Counts, to Bretonnia to discuss the latest border troubles. Several towns and forts along both sides of the Grey Mountains have mysteriously disappeared, either sinking wholesale into the earth or razed so completely as to be nothing more than burnt embers and scorch marks on the ground. As a supreme show of strength, Karl Franz marched with many armies and a sizable portion of Reiksguard Knights led by Grand Master Kurt Helborg.

So when the news of troubles in the north began to travel rapidly across the lands, the remaining nobles looked to their already depleted garrisons. In small villages and sprawling cities, the drums of war beat loudly - the muster was on. Quickly a coalition was assembled to march north to the succour of Ostland. In Nuln, the call to arms was delivered by dispatch
rider, and within hours a relief force was being assembled under Grand Marshal Ludwig Gutman. When the clockwork bird of prey delivered the message to Elector Count Marius Leitdorf, he sprang from his buttermilk and rosemary bath and called for his armour. He had felt snubbed about not being asked to join the diplomatic mission to the high court of King Leoncouer. He had planned to sulk away the entire planting season, but now the growing catastrophe of the northern provinces gave him a singular and burning desire to distinguish himself through might of arms. Already individual units and
whole armies were on the roads and riverways - for Ostland, for the Empire!

THE CAMPAIGN
The idea for the Drums of War campaign, as featured in the June 2009 issue of White Dwarf, was the brainchild of insane-genius and battle-hardened games developer Jeremy Vetock. The premise for his campaign was simple: play a series of linked games, with each game influencing the end result, which would be determined in a climactic battle.

The campaign worked like this: six battles were fought, each with a specific army designated to it. Survivors of each battle were brought into play once again in the massive final battle.

The six battles for the campaign were:

1) Ambush in the Forest of Shadows
On their northwards march a Talabheim army is ambushed by Beastmen

2) Along Came a Traitor
Bewitched by a sorcerer who is not all he seems, two armies of the Empire clash. Will the uncover the real enemy before it's too late?

3) Help Unlooked For
A relief force from Middenland arrives upon the flanks of a large Marauder army.

4) The Ostland Frontier
A Steam Tank spearheads an army from Reikland, but is met on the borders of Ostland by a monster-filled force out of the northern wastes.

5) The Ruins of the Ostfort
Stout Ostlanders bolstered by newly arrived troops from throughout the Empire make a stand in the still-smoking ruins of their frontier fort.

6) Battle for the Temple of Skulls
The desperate coalition from the Empire meets the Warriors of Chaos head-on.

If you want to print all six scenarios out, you can do so by downloading the PDF's below: