A Year of Command

The Raven’s Road is a historical play-by-post Kriegsspiel set in 10th-century England. You can take the role of a Viking leader during a raid, where success depends not just on what you can take, but on getting your men back to the ships alive. Or become an Anglo-Saxon lesser noble duty-bound to protect the earl’s property in a double-blind historical Kriegsspiel. Neither side knows exactly where the enemy is, what they intend, or whether their own messages will arrive in time.

This is not a conventional roleplaying game with character builds, hit points and balanced encounters. You will know only what your character can see, hear and reasonably understand. Messages take time to travel, reports may be wrong, enemies may appear unexpectedly and every decision has consequences.

The game is played asynchronously by post through Discord over approximately four weeks, with around 20 turns in total. You do not need to be online at a particular time. Read your situation, communicate with those close enough to speak with you, and submit your orders before the next turn is resolved.

The umpire handles the hidden mechanics, enemy movement, morale, combat and fog of war. Your job is simply to decide what your character intends to do.

No previous knowledge of Kriegsspiel or Viking history is required. Expect tactical decision-making, incomplete information, dangerous combat and a story created entirely by the choices of the players.

Blood on the Quayside is an umpire-led Warhammer Fantasy skirmish played by post over Discord.

A mercenary company has been sent on a secret mission into a dangerous quayside district of Mordheim. Before they can achieve anything, they must first find a way inside, move through unfamiliar streets and avoid attracting too much attention.

Below them, the Skaven control tunnels, cellars and hidden routes beneath the district. As signs of intrusion begin to appear, the ratmen must investigate, identify the threat and defend their territory.

Players command individual mercenary captains or Skaven leaders together with their small groups of followers. You will decide where to move, what to investigate, when to hide, when to fight and whether the information reaching you can be trusted.

There is no shared battlefield view and no perfect knowledge. You know only what your character can see, hear or learn through others. Orders are sent privately to the umpire, who resolves movement, encounters and combat before returning an individual report describing what your character experiences.

The two sides begin with very different information and objectives. The mercenaries know why they have come but not what awaits them inside. The Skaven know their territory but must discover who is approaching and what they intend to do.

The campaign lasts for a maximum of 20 turns or 4 weeks, allowing the situation to develop from cautious infiltration and investigation into pursuit, ambushes, desperate fighting and, potentially, a bloody struggle for control of the quayside.

Mordheim is burning. Twelve rival warbands have entered the ruined city in search of survival, glory and whatever advantage they can seize before their enemies do. Reiklanders, Dwarfs, Orcs, Skaven, Wood Elves, Lizardmen, Beastmen, Goblins, Halflings and the Possessed stalk the streets alongside a Vampire and an Ogre. Sixty-four fighters begin the battle — only one warband can be the last standing.

This is a competitive, umpire-led play-by-post Kriegsspiel campaign, played through hidden information and individual player decisions. You will command one complete warband and experience the battlefield only through what your warriors can actually see, hear and discover. Rival movements may be hidden from you. Encounters can happen without warning. Temporary alliances are possible, but there can ultimately be only one winner.

As the battle develops, fire spreads inward from the edges of the city, consuming streets and ruins and steadily reducing the ground available to the survivors. Hiding forever is not an option. Eventually the remaining warbands will be forced together and every decision about movement, combat, risk and survival will matter.

The event runs for up to 20 turns, with approximately five turns processed each week, and may end earlier if only one warband remains. No previous experience of Kriegsspiel, Mordheim or Warhammer is required. Your warband, rules briefing and everything needed to command it will be provided.