II · Star Charts of the Old Ones

The jungles of Lustria are vast, hostile, and deeply unfamiliar to most outsiders. Even with guides and rumor to aid them, the rival expeditions soon realize that simply wandering inland in search of the fallen comet would waste precious weeks and all but guarantee failure.

Fortunately, the servants of the Old Ones have long studied the heavens. Across the jungle lie hidden villages and encampments where Skink astrologers keep celestial records, tracing the movement of stars, comets, and geomantic currents through the land.

Somewhere among these records lie the clues needed to follow the comet's descent. Yet the star charts are not stored in towering observatories alone. Even humble jungle settlements may preserve such knowledge in shrines, storehouses, or the personal collections of Skink priests.

Before long, rival expeditions descend upon one such village. Some come as looters, some as scholars, and some simply because they know their enemies seek something valuable within.

The settlement is not wholly deserted. Scattered defenders remain, and the intruders quickly discover that ransacking a village building by building is slow, dangerous work. Huts must be stormed, defenders driven out, and the interiors searched while enemies close in from all sides.

By nightfall, the jungle village has become a battlefield of burning thatch, broken idols, and desperate looting.

Victory Condition

The player who successfully recovers the most Treasure tokens wins the battle.

The expedition that wins this scenario automatically discovers a Star Chart of the Old Ones among the plunder recovered after the battle.

Battlefield Setup

The battle takes place within a small Lizardmen village or encampment.

Place 4 buildings on the battlefield, with one building in each of four divisions in the space between deployment zones. These represent huts, shrines, storehouses, or other village structures.

Each building contains a hidden Treasure token.

In addition to the buildings, players should place terrain to represent the surrounding jungle and settlement. A good battlefield for this scenario typically includes 1-2 Mysterious Jungles, 1-3 walls or fences, and a small amount of scatter terrain such as crates, campfires, supply piles, carved idols, or broken relics.

The village should also contain a small jungle shrine or sacred idol. This terrain piece's effects may be treated as one of the following:

D6	Treat As
1	Elven Waystone
2	Wizard's Tower
3	Sigmarite Shrine
4	Altar of Khaine
5	Idol of Gork
6	Magic Circle

Players may choose the shrine effect freely if preferred rather than rolling.

Deployment

Armies deploy using standard Battleline deployment rules.

First Turn

Roll off as normal. The player that finished deploying first receives +1 to this roll.

Game Length

The battle lasts until all Treasure tokens have been recovered, or until all units of one player have been removed from the battlefield.

Hidden Defenders

The first time a building is assaulted or entered, reveal its defenders.

Roll D6 to determine how many defenders occupy the building.

In a normal battle, these defenders are Skinks.

Searching the Buildings

At the beginning of each player's turn, any unit garrisoning a building may search it for treasure.

Roll a D6 and add the result to that building's running search total. When the total reaches 8 or more, a Treasure token is discovered.

Remove the building's treasure marker and place a Treasure token next to the unit that found it.

The search total belongs to the building, not the unit. If another unit captures the building later, it continues searching from the current total.

Occupied by Searching

A unit that searches a building that turn is considered fully occupied ransacking the structure and may not shoot or cast spells.

Characters garrisoning the building alongside a unit that is doing the searching may still act normally. Their followers perform the menial labor while they focus on the battle.

If a unit that is searching (chose to search at the start of their last turn) is engaged in close combat, it suffers -1 Initiative as the fighters scramble to drop their loot and arm themselves.

Transporting the Treasure

Treasure tokens move with the units carrying them.

If the unit carrying a Treasure token makes a Flee move, it drops the token at the start of its movement.

A dropped token may be picked up by any unit that comes into contact with it, but that unit must immediately end its movement.

If a unit carrying a token is destroyed in close combat, the victorious unit automatically takes control of the token.

Recovering the Treasure

A unit carrying a Treasure token that reaches any table edge may leave the battlefield. Any tokens it was carrying are considered successfully recovered.

Rewards

Result	Reward
Victory	1 Glory + (1 Loot for each Treasure recovered) + Star Chart of The Old Ones
Draw / Defeat	(1 Loot for each Treasure recovered)

Star Chart of the Old Ones

Enchanted Item - 25 points

These ancient charts record celestial movements and geomantic alignments observed by the servants of the Old Ones. Those who study them too closely may briefly glimpse the hidden patterns of the heavens.

At the start of each battle, the expedition possessing the chart must decide how it will be used.

The chart may either be carried into battle as an Enchanted Item, in which case the bearer rolls a D6 at the start of the battle to randomly determine a spell from the Lore of Heavens. Once per battle, the bearer may cast that spell as a Bound Spell (Power Level 5).

Alternatively, the expedition may consult the chart before battle instead of bringing it onto the field. If they do so, they may add or subtract 1 from their roll to determine who goes first. A chart used in this way confers no magical benefit during the battle itself.

Lizardmen Variant

If a Lizardmen player takes part in this scenario, they are not raiding for knowledge, but reclaiming sacred records stolen or disturbed by earlier intruders.

In such battles, the buildings are occupied not by Skinks, but by the remnants of previous raiders and treasure-hunters, represented by Dogs of War.