Optimate ~ Border Prince HDPS

“What a beautiful sight it was to see the ranks of the optimates in action. A bloody melee as the orc boar boy cavalry crashed into their defensive line, only to be slaughtered. One could not help but wonder if under those stern face masks they smiled as the orcs and their boars squealed in pain as they were impaled in their fool-hearty attack. These masks made them look all the more imposing, and less human, almost as if the taking of life had no emotional impact on them. The orcs don’t seem to mind the emotional emptiness of their foes, but I suspect more civilized races would find it unsettling to face a foe who looks upon their death with apathy and indifference.”

~ Rahim Suffeyad, Arabyan Poet and Merchant of El Mansura

Optimate

Archetype – Heavy DPS

Armor – Heavy Splint

Weapon – Polearm

Mechanic – Megale Optimatoi

• You are a member of a great and powerful brotherhood. Your fame on the battlefield against heavily armored foes has earned your brotherhood prestige among the courts of the Old World. You have a pool of Megale Optimatoi points which ranges from 0 to 100, and regenerates at 5 per second. These Megale Optimatoi (MO) points are used when attacking heavily armored targets, as you have been trained. Attacking targets with armor classes other than heavy uses action points as normal.

Mastery Trees

• Purifier – Your blows are definitive and focus on direct damage.
• Unifier – Your attacks are meant to weaken the enemy in preparation for their fall.
• Pacifier – You focus on attacks which give you a chance to survive the fight against your foe.

Hikanatos ~ Border Prince MDPS

“I’ve made a strange observation recently. Ogres typically fight with greater vigor when they hunger, which is often the case, and their appetite is whetted by the sight of flesh and smell of blood. That upstart Brazen Cat, or whatever they call him, has in his employ a company of soldiers who pose a problem for my ogre mercenaries. I pay them to fight but they seem unenthused by the prospect of fighting these so called Hikanatoi. With almost not a shred of flesh visible the ogres seem tend to ignore them and go for more meaty targets, which has put my battle plans in jeopardy on more than one occasion. Who are these renegades to cover themselves from head to toe in chainmail and appear specter-like on the battlefield?”
~ Garlan Lemarc , Questing Knight and ‘Prince’ of Philany

Hikanatos

Archetype – Melee DPS

Armor – Medium

Weapon – Dual-Wield Axe & Mace

Mechanic – Able Defender

• The years of war have taught you the skills you need to live and survive that you may fight another day. There is no other way to make it in the Borderlands for these are not lands where chivalry and honor have any value on the battlefield. You have a pool of 100 Able Defender (AD) points which you can use for certain abilities to help you survive to see another day. This pool will replenish at a rate of 1/second while in combat, or 10/second while out of combat.

Mastery Trees

• Kharnos – A focus on dealing direct damage and quickly subduing your foes.
• Hvargir – A focus on fighting drawing out the fight and bleeding your opponents dry.
• Gloom – A focus on increasing your chances of surviving the fight.

Akrites ~ Border Prince RDPS

“While Hochland may be known for its long rifle, a true marksman knows the way of the bow. Any man, or even a boy, can fire a rifle with a day’s worth of training, but it takes years to master the bow. When my son was convicted of poaching, the elector count would hear nothing of his skill with the bow and chance at redemption in the name of the Emperor, so my son fled. The Borderlands offers men facing death another chance at life. I heard he joined the elite company of bowmen known as the Akritai, a band of men patrolling the most treacherous frontiers and forest facing the darkest of foes including beastmen and strigoi. I pray that Taal bless him and his companions, and give them courage to face the darkness before them.” – Erich Kaitel, Hochland Huntsmaster

Akrites

Archetype – Range DPS

Armor – Light

Weapon – Bow and Javelins

Mechanic – Frontier Watch

• The only way to survive on the fringes of the Borderlands is to have an ever-alert eye, capable of noticing the slightest movement on the horizon and felling it as if your life depends on it – for it may be your dinner, or what intended to have you for dinner. In the Borderlands there is no in-between. Your keen gaze tracks every movement making it harder for them to elude you. You mark your targets and every second you accrue an additional point applying to this mark, for a maximum of 30 points. You may only have one mark active at a time.

Mastery Trees

• Varenka Hills – A focus on bringing down heavily armored targets, with an emphasis on your javelins.
• Mad Dog Pass – A focus on mobility and anti-melee attacks with a mix of bow and javelin attacks.
• Howling River – A focus on anti-range attacks with an emphasis on your bowman-ship.

Scholari ~ Border Prince Healer

“Oh those feeble minds, how they strain to grasp at the power of the Winds of Magic. And here I had thought that we established the Imperial Colleges for the humans to learn in a safe environment how to harness the power of a single wind, yet these hedgefolk go off on their own. They are as much a danger to themselves as they are to others. One cannot hope to be successful without proper training, for there is a fine balance of the mind that must be achieved when casting every spell. They think that by pouring over the texts of greater men that they can achieve greatness too. They shall learn the price of hubris.” ~ Aethellan Moonsong, Archmage of Saphery

Scholari

Archetype – Healer

Armor – Light Robe

Weapon – Staff & Tome

Mechanic – Academic Nascence

• The untrained, yet ambitious, minds of the scholai have unharnessed potential. A single scholari is a danger mostly to himself, but a company of scholai are a danger to the entire regiment. You must focus your mind to seek balance between the destructive and restorative nature of the winds of magic. Your Academic Nascence meter will shift from your restorative end to the destructive end depending on your use of healing and offensive magic spells, respectively. The more you focus on one aspect, the stronger you become in this aspect, but the more vulnerable you become and take damage as the winds of magic tear your mind apart. If your Academic Nascence meter is focused on the Restorative end, your healing abilities will become stronger, but you will take more damage; if your meter is focused conversely on the Destructive end, your damage abilities will become stronger, but you will receive less healing. This power manifests itself as healing or magic power. The further you stray from the center the higher the chance that your spells will cause a backlash and damage you.

Mastery Trees

• Cleric – A focus on the ancient texts based on healing properties and medical rituals.
• Geomancer – A focus on the ancient texts based on the study of the earth and it’s dangerous shifts.
• Sage – A focus on ancient texts which bring weakness to your foes, that you may prevail.

Exkubitor ~ Border Prince Tank

“One does not expect such professionalism among the ranks of a Border Prince army. With shields held high and spears at the ready, the line of Exkubitores is an impressive sight, as impressive as one could find from the realms of men in such an inhospitable landscape. Their armor is somewhat curious, not like that of the Empire or Bretonnia. Though I’m sure if they cross a dwarf our axe will have no trouble cutting through it.” ~ Gundrin Thoreksson, Karak Azgal Ranger

Exkubitor

Archetype – Tank

Armor – Heavy

Weapon – Spear/Sword and Shield; Greataxe

Mechanic – Princep’s Aegis

• You have mastered the art of defense and build up on your defenses for powerful executions. You have a pool of 10 points of Princep’s Aegis. You gain 1 point for every parry and 2 points for every block. The longer you defend, the more powerful your executions become.

Mastery Trees

• Winter’s Teeth – You have travelled down the harshest of passes and faced all manners of foes. An offensive tree focused on damage.
• Khyperian – You have escorted valuable convoys down the length of the Borderlands. A defensive tree focused on survivability.
• Black Fire – You root yourself in ancient traditions of brotherhood between races. A support tree focused on weakening foes and bolstering allies.

Coins to Crowns ~ Border Princes

Today I would like to write a little bit about this rather unorthodox new army for the Warhammer world. The clever minds at Games Workshop have never really provided us with any solid army for the Borderlands region, or any rich set of lore that would form the story of this region. As someone who loves to delve into the lore and unique nature of all the armies, sometimes I encounter gaps in content which I am tempted to fill, albeit in an entirely unofficial capacity so please don’t take my vision of my Border Prince army as something that is canon.

Most people know the Warhammer fantasy universe through the medium of the table-top game and the associated army books. Granted that this medium offers the players with very visually striking elements that come in the form of the table-top models and vast armies, there is another corner of the Warhammer fantasy universe which I find more suitable for my creative side. The Border Princes are not officially represented with an army book (though you could theoretically make any array of armies you wanted to by using units from any other kingdom), however they are redeemed somewhat with the roleplaying books. The Warhammer Fantasy roleplaying books offer a rich in-depth view of the Warhammer world, which the army books are lacking, and it is from these books that I have drawn some inspiration for my Border Prince army.

Coins to Crowns

v 1.9.3b

While the World’s Edge Mountains bear a lofty name and carry much fame as the eastern frontier of the civilized lands of the Old World, another lesser chain shelters the Empire from the lawlessness and savagery of the south. The Black Mountains, where the famed Black Fire Pass is located, branch off of the World’s Edge Mountains and form the southern border of the Empire and of Bretonnia. South of the Empire are the Borderlands ruled by petty self-made nobles collectively called the Border Princes. In the grand scheme of Old World politics, the Border Princes are a squabbling lot fighting for crumbs among the dirt. Fractured, plagued by in-fighting, and weak to external threats, the Border Princes long had little value to the great powers who command armies of tens of thousands. However, recent events have shifted the scales of war and the Borderlands has found a moment to rise from its squalor. For the Border Princes there is nothing more tempting than a bit of gold, silver, or even bronze.

Coins to Crowns Intro

“Count it three times if you have to, but make sure every last coin is in that chest. The soldiers won’t march on promises of glory alone,” Enzo Digenes called out to the paymaster.

“Yes yes, even four times if I must. This I know. You nag me like the wife I never had,” the paymaster replied.

“You never had her because you let her slip through your fingers. Do the same with my coin and it’ll cost you your head,” the young Digenes replied.

Enzo Digenes kept a watchful eye on his paymaster Vittore Maziani. One did not rise to power in these lands without keeping a tight fist around his coin purse, and for Enzo Digenes every coin was earned the hard way. The bards of the Empire sing of the richly dressed Tileans, with their taste for all the fine things of life, but Enzo Digenes did not enjoy the wealth and status of his people, or rather his mother’s people.