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Hi all! This month in Karak Norn Wargaming Club we launch the "Call to Arms" for a global summer campaign! (TOW players are welcome!)

This project is a tribute to the original 1997 campaign written by Jervis Johnson. We have restored and polished the semi-official 6th Edition rules for Amazons, alongside a system for Stolen Relics that lets any army use Lizardmen artifacts.

- Amazon Mercenaries: Rules for fielding the contingent as Dogs of War or a standalone force.
- Stolen Relics: A system where any faction can field ancient Lizardmen magic items.
- Lustrian Scenarios: Two prologue scenarios for replaying the historical looting of Huatl.
- Playtested: We ran a 12-player tournament in Zürich to ensure the rules are balanced and ready for the tabletop.


The Two Sides

For this campaign, every army is categorized into one of two fronts for the purpose of the global scoreboard:

- Agents of the Slann (Reclaimers): Your goal is the absolute recovery of every sacred plaque. This front includes: Lizardmen, Chaos Dwarfs, Vampire Counts, Dark Elves, Dogs of War, Forces of Chaos, Ogre Kingdoms, and Orcs & Goblins.
- Defenders of the Relics: You currently hold the artifacts of Huatl and refuse to surrender them. This front includes: Bretonnia, High Elves, Dwarfs, The Empire, Kislev, Wood Elves, Skaven, and Tomb Kings.

Note: Internal conflicts (Attacker vs. Attacker or Defender vs. Defender) are valid and critical for the scoreboard.


The Stakes: The Siege of the Jade Staff

Winning the summer phase is only the beginning of the nightmare.

- The Prize: The side (Agents or Defenders) with the most points on July 31st successfully secures the Jade Staff of the Old Ones.
- The Consequence: Possession is a death sentence. In August 2026, the winners must hold a final, desperate Siege Scenario.
- The Wrath of the Slann: Lord Mazdamundi has felt the staff’s resonance. He and his agents are coming to reclaim it by any means necessary. The winner of the summer campaign must survive the "Great Reclaiming" to claim the ultimate victory.


How to Participate

- Play Your Games: The campaign runs from May 1st to July 31st, 2026.
- Use the Supplement: You can use the restored Amazon Mercenary list or give your heroes Stolen Relics (Lizardman magic items). PDF: HERE!
- Build Your List: Use our NewRecruit configuration (guide on p.10) to build campaign-legal lists on your phone. This include all the Special Characters and alternative lists from 6th edition.
- Report Results: Submit your battle outcomes (any edition/house rules) via our online form or email to influence the global scoreboard.


PD: I will update this thread with the reports that come from the battle front.

WEEK 1 - REPORTS FROM THE BATTLE FRONT

The first week of the Summer Campaign is now complete. We have logged 42 engagements across the local club and internet-submitted reports.

Formats & Systems:
• 6th Edition was used in 83% of recorded games.
• The 500pt Border Patrol format saw a massive surge in popularity, making up the vast majority of matches. The dataset has been updated to fully support these smaller engagements.


Faction Performance:

• Skaven: 100% win rate across 5 games. High unit counts and magic phases are currently overwhelming opponents in the 500pt format.
• Chaos Dwarfs & Tomb Kings: Both sitting at an 87.5% win rate, utilizing static, defensive lines to secure objectives.
• Empire & Kislev: 0% win rates in the Border zones. Human infantry blocks are struggling to survive early turns against magic-heavy or swarm lists.

Game Outcomes: Games are currently highly lethal. Elite armies are either breaking the enemy early or collapsing completely under attrition. This may be due to the specific campaign rules (Amazon mercenaries, Stolen Lustrian relics and) and the unrestricted army composition (even Special Characters are allowed if your opponent agrees).

Technical updates: we have updated the WHFB 6th edition dataset and now it supports Border Patrols. This was a feature requested by many and it's been developed under the clock, so please feel free to report any issue HERE.

The campaign has only just begun and the global map is still shifting. Remember, you can join the Summer Campaign at any time (until the 31th of July) and add your own battles and fights to the ledger! All the details on how to participate and log your battles can be found [HERE]

WEEK 2 - REPORTS FROM THE BATTLE FRONT

The second week of the Summer Campaign is now complete. We have logged 36 engagements across the local club and internet-submitted reports.

Faction Performance:

• Skaven: Got another victory but also a draw. Still at the top, but lost their perfect break. Top of the Defenders as well.
• Chaos Dwarfs: Firmly in the second place, but close to the pole, with the same W/D/L than the Skaven, but they got no Massacres yet!
• Demons of Chaos: A raising star, with 5 victories, 1 draw and just 1 loss.
• Vampire Counts: 12 matches, 8 victories, 2 draws and 2 losses. One of the most popular factions so far.
• Tomb Kings: 11 matches, 7 victories, 3 draws and a defeat. The second best performance for a Defender.

Technical updates: we have updated the WHFB 6th edition dataset and now it also contains the Magic Items of the Dogs of War published by GW Italy in 2005. You can read more about them HERE.

The campaign has only just begun and the global map is still shifting. Remember, you can join the Summer Campaign at any time (until the 31th of July) and add your own battles and fights to the ledger! All the details on how to participate and log your battles can be found [HERE]

WEEK 3 - CAMPAIGN UPDATE

The summer heat has intensified across the Old World, and the escalating border tensions have erupted into outright war. This week, the archives have recorded a staggering 44 engagements, ranging from brutal 250-point border patrol skirmishes to a massive 4000-point pitched battle!

We also had an odd a 2vs2 where Wood Elves fought side by side with Daemons against Beastmen and Tomb Kings. Yes, it was weird. But it worked. And it was awesome.

While the Skaven and Chaos Dwarfs successfully defended their absolute dominance at the top of the ladder, the middle tiers saw violent tectonic shifts compared to Week 2:
- The Undead legions faltered under the pressure; the Vampire Counts slipped from #4 down to #6, and the Tomb Kings were pushed from #5 down to #7.
- Filling the power vacuum, the Dark Elves surged rapidly to the #3 position, and the Hordes of Chaos climbed aggressively from #6 to #4.
- At the bottom of the ladder, the Dogs of War made a miraculous recovery, driven by massive paychests, jumping past Kislev and Beastmen to seize the #16 spot, while Bretonnia rode down the Beastmen to climb back to #11.
- The Dwarfs made an awesome progress this week, but they still have too many grudges accumulated.


For those who wish to read the detailed tactical breakdowns of all 44 engagements, the full ledger is available in the Karak Norn Archives [HERE]

WEEK 4 - CAMPAIGN UPDATE

The summer storms have broken across the Old World, and the fourth week of the campaign has delivered its most dramatic upheaval yet. Fifty-seven recorded engagements (from desperate 250-point border patrol skirmishes to thunderous 4000-point pitched battles) have been recorded in the archives. But the volume of blood spilled is not the defining story. The defining story is the emergence of six coalition engagements across the campaign: three in the Karak Norn heartland, three on the satellite fronts. Commanders broke from their individual campaigns to forge alliances, and in one local coalition, the alliance forged has a name that the campaign's chroniclers have been hesitant to write plainly: a dark conspiracy.



The summit of the ladder was shaken to its foundations. For the first time in the campaign, the Skaven have been unseated:

• The Dark Elves completed their ascension, surging from #3 to #1 with a perfect campaign ledger - twelve victories, five draws, and not a single defeat.

• The Skaven slipped to #2, their grip on the top broken not by catastrophe, but by the relentless arithmetic of the Druchii's flawless campaign.

• The Chaos Dwarfs hold at #3, the forge-wars contested from above for the first time.

• The Lizardmen made the week's most dramatic climb, surging from #12 to #7 as Tzunki_Tom's cold-blooded Southlands defenders methodically dismantled the Vampire Counts' Clan Necrarch host in back-to-back Rear Guards.

• The Dwarfs advanced sharply from #8 to #5 - driven by Bugmans_Father's merciless hat-trick over the Empire's Crusader Army border patrols.

• Falling back: Hordes of Chaos slipped from #4 to #6, ground down in a vicious feud with Be'lakor's Daemons. Vampire Counts plummeted from #6 to #8, broken on the jungle shields of Tzunki_Tom. Orcs & Goblins continue their descent, now at #15 and bleeding on every front.



Among the six coalition engagements, one stands above all others. In the Karak Norn heartland, Clan_Pestilens_Flo led a Clan Skryre Skaven force (with Doomwheel and Engineers) into a 2000-point Pitched Battle alongside an ally no sane scholar would have predicted: WhiteTower_HP and the High Elf Sea Patrol (Storm of Chaos, full of Mist Mages). Standing against them were Nehekhara_Pete at the head of Quatar's Army and Le_Duc_85 commanding the knights of Bretonnia. The conspiracy's thirteen combined casting dice against the defenders' four dispel dice was not an advantage: it was dominance. The Tomb King and Bretonnian position was shattered for a thunderous Solid Victory, 766 VPs each for the conspiracy against 306 each for those who dared oppose them. The name of this campaign is not merely a title. It is a warning.

For a full description of the 57 battles for each faction, check HERE.

WEEK 5 - CAMPAIGN UPDATE

The fifth week of the campaign has delivered its most sweeping reshuffle. Seventy-five recorded engagements (from 250-point border patrols to 3,000-point grand hosts) have been entered into the campaign archives.

The Dark Elves remain at the summit, their overall ledger the envy of every rival, but the week's honours belonged emphatically elsewhere. The dead rose in terrible order: the Vampire Counts swept through five engagements without conceding a single draw or defeat. The hosts of Ulthuan came surging back into the upper reaches of contention: the High Elves executed the most spectacular single-week ascent in the campaign's history, leaping eight places in a single accounting. And the ancient legions of Nehekhara advanced with the patient inevitability of the grave. Against them, the sons of Hashut collapsed from the top three despite two local massacres of the Empire, the northern warbands were ground down in objective engagements against their oldest enemies, and the armies of the Empire endured twelve defeats in a single week from which the standings will not quickly recover.

• The Vampire Counts surged from #7 to #3 on the back of the campaign's only perfect major performance: five victories from five engagements, not a draw or defeat to sully the record.
• The High Elves executed the most spectacular single-week leap in the campaign's history, rising from #14 to #6 behind an unbeaten run of eight victories and a draw against Daemons, Dark Elves, Orcs & Goblins and Ogre Kingdoms alike.
• The Tomb Kings advanced from #9 to #7, their legions grinding through Bretonnian, Imperial and Mercenary opposition with the patience that only eternity can teach.
• The Dogs of War bought themselves breathing room, climbing from #16 to #13 on the strength of three local massacres delivered against Orcs & Goblins and Chaos Dwarfs alike.
• Falling back: the Chaos Dwarfs collapsed from #3 to #8 - broken in three consecutive Night Raids by Strigoi_Marco's Vampire Counts and massacred twice by Tilean_Paymaster's mercenaries, despite delivering two dominant local massacres of their own. The Hordes of Chaos slipped from #6 to #10, blunted by High Elf spear and Dark Elf objective play. The Empire tumbled from #12 to #15 after twelve defeats in a single week. Bretonnia fell from #13 to #16, their lances shattered across five consecutive local engagements.

To see the briefing of the 75 battles check HERE

Regarding the rules, the Norn Consensus has determined the most balanced way to adapt 6th Edition mechanics to the Border Patrol scale, enabling historically Lord-mandatory army lists to deploy a tailored Hero-version to lead their forces. More info HERE.

These rules have been added to the WHFB Definitive 6th edition dataset.

WEEK 6 – Reports from the Battlefront

78 clashes reached the campaign desk this week, and with them came a sharp reshuffling of the war.
Week 6 belonged, in spirit, to the High Elves, whose clean run gave them the best weekly return. In the wider campaign, however, the loudest headline is verminous: Skaven clawed past the Dark Elves and took the global crown. Behind them, the Hordes of Chaos made the week’s most dramatic charge, thundering up from the middle ranks into the top three.

Best performers this week:
[ul][/ul]: 2.60 PPG over 5 games; W6 rank #1 ↑ (from #2).
• Hordes of Chaos: 2.56 PPG over 9 games; W6 rank #2 ↑ (from #9).
• Skaven: 2.14 PPG over 7 games; W6 rank #3 ↑ (from #6).
• Lizardmen: 2.00 PPG over 7 games; W6 rank #4 ↑ (from #5).
• Chaos Dwarfs: 2.00 PPG over 7 games; W6 rank #5 ↑ (from #15).
• Dwarfs: 1.92 PPG over 12 games; W6 rank #6 ↑ (from #7).
• Kislev: 1.83 PPG over 6 games; W6 rank #7 ↑ (from #12).
• Bretonnia: 1.80 PPG over 15 games; W6 rank #8 ↑ (from #17).
• Tomb Kings: 1.78 PPG over 9 games; W6 rank #9 ↓ (from #4).
• Daemons: 1.70 PPG over 10 games; W6 rank #10 ↔ (stable).
• Wood Elves: 1.67 PPG over 6 games; W6 rank #11 ↓ (from #3).
• Vampire Counts: 1.50 PPG over 6 games; W6 rank #12 ↓ (from #1).
• Dark Elves: 1.50 PPG over 6 games; W6 rank #13 ↓ (from #11).
• Dogs of War: 1.14 PPG over 7 games; W6 rank #14 ↓ (from #8).
• Beastmen: 0.62 PPG over 8 games; W6 rank #15 ↓ (from #14).
• The Empire: 0.62 PPG over 13 games; W6 rank #16 ↔ (stable).
• Ogre Kingdoms: 0.57 PPG over 7 games; W6 rank #17 ↑ (from #18).
• Orcs & Goblins: 0.19 PPG over 16 games; W6 rank #18 ↓ (from #13).




On the global board, Skaven remain at #1 under the cumulative PPG table, with Dark Elves still close behind at #2 and Hordes of Chaos making the week’s most spectacular jump into #3. Daemons, Vampire Counts and High Elves now crowd the upper pack, while Tomb Kings slip sharply despite a respectable weekly return. Lower down, Bretonnia and Kislev both climb, while Orcs & Goblins and Beastmen endure the hardest falls.



Battles of note:

• High Elf Sea Patrol vs Quatar’s Army: WhiteTower_HP's High Elves fielding High Elf Sea Patrol broke Nehekhara_Pete’s Tomb Kings fielding Quatar's Army (WebGW) in a 3,000-point Last Stand. With SCs on both sides, this was the week’s grand set-piece clash.

• Archaon’s Horde at the centre: Everchosen_ZH’s Hordes of Chaos fielding Archaon's Horde defeated Strigoi_Marco’s Vampire Counts three times in 500-point Capture the Centre fighting, including one Massacre. That brutal run explains much of Chaos’ leap up the standings.

• Bretonnia’s thunderous breakthrough: Grail_Seeker led a 3,000-point Bretonnian host through Grimgor_Nick’s Orcs & Goblins in Breakthrough, scoring a Massacre and helping Bretonnia climb out of the lower reaches.

• The alliance-marked satellite clash: In a 750-point The Old World Meeting Engagement, an Ogre warband fought beside Orcs & Goblins allies against a Dwarf throng supported by Bretonnia. The Dawi side secured a Solid Victory, making it the clearest alliance entry of the week.

[a href="https://karaknornwargaming.blogspot.com/2026/06/war-room-dark-conspiracy-week-6-field.html"]Here[/a] is the master ledger of this week’s tabletop advances.