Battleplan

Battle for the Onyx

On the continent of Penultima, within the Prime Innerlands, lies a city of inky beauty.

Carved out of pure onyx, spires reach for the magic-imbued skies, black tourmaline streets wind around parks dotted with night lilies, and the city shines under the glow of stars so bright that there isn’t a street lamp in the whole city. At its very center, a palace stretches high and powerful, and in front of it, a Realmgate sits as a swirling lake of liquid crystal.

The Orruk clans are on the move again, carving our territory, moving north from their lands among the Gloomtribe Haunts. Except this time, something seems to be driving them, and greenskins and other creatures of all shapes and sizes travel with the grand hosts feeling some unknown threat.

Will the city fall? Or will they survive yet another threat to it's sactuary?

Age of Sigmar

Battle for the Onyx is played using standard Age of Sigmar rules, as well as Realm Rules and the Siege Warfare rules found on pages 294-295 of the 2019 Core Rules book, and listed below for reference. If you follow along below, you should not need to break out the Siege Warfare, or Realm, rules from the book, you'll just need the standard rules etc.

When paired with the Black Onyx storyline, an NEO is needed for this match.

Set-up

The players roll-off, and the winner decides who will be the attacker and who the defender. The territories
for the attacking and defending armies are shown on the map below.

Set up the scenery in the attacker’s territory and any neutral areas of the battlefield as normal, and then the defender can set up the scenery representing their stronghold in their territory.

The defender must set up at least five terrain features, and can set up any number more as long as all of the terrain features they set up fit fully inside their territory. You can choose any terrain features you like in your own games, or use the examples shown on these pages as inspiration.

When playing as part of the Black Onyx storyline, the NEO will set up scenery, and tell you who the defender and attacker is.

The armies can now be set up. The defender must set up their army first. The defending army is split into two contingents: the garrison and reinforcements. There must be at least one reinforcement unit for each unit that is included in the garrison (the army general can be in either contingent). The defending player can only set up units from their garrison at the start of the battle – reinforcements will arrive during the battle as described below. Defending units can be set up anywhere wholly within their territory.

The attacking army sets up second. Attacking units must be set up wholly within their territory, more than 6" from the defender’s territory.

Following the scenery set-up and armies are on the field, you will move onto The Siege Phase described below. Do not start your first turn.

The Siege Phase

The following siege phase takes place after the stronghold has been built and the armies set up, but before the first battle round begins. It represents the siege tactics that the attackers have used before the assault to wear down the defenders, and the counter-tactics the defenders have used to ensure they can hold out as long as possible.

There are three main methods a besieging army can use to wear down the defenders before the battle starts, each of which has a corresponding counter-tactic the defender can use against it:

Starve/Gather Supplies: The attackers isolate the stronghold, so that the defenders starve to death once their supplies begin to run out. The defender can counter this by gathering as many supplies as possible either before or during the siege.

Batter/Re-build: The attacker batters away at the defender’s stronghold. With luck, one or more sections of the stronghold will be breached, making it easier to attack. The defender can counter this by organising working parties to repair as much of the damage as possible.

Tunnel/Counter-tunnel: The attacker builds underground
tunnels that will allow at least part of their army to emerge inside the defender’s stronghold. The defender can counter by building tunnels that intercept the attackers while they are still underground.

To determine what effect these tactics have, the players must each pick a siege tactic and then determine any siege effects, as described next.

Siege Tactics

Both the attacker and defender must secretly pick one of the three siege tactics to concentrate their efforts on.
To decide what the attacker’s main siege method will be, and the counter-tactic used by the defender, each player secretly picks a number by hiding a dice behind their hand. The attacker must pick a number from 1 to 3, and the defender a number from 4 to 6.

Once both players have chosen their numbers, the dice are revealed, and the numbers cross-referenced on the siege table opposite, which will tell you what modifiers (if any) apply to the effects of the siege.

For example, the attacker chooses to concentrate upon starving the defenders, while the defender chooses to counter-tunnel. This means that 1 is added to the dice rolls the attacker makes to see if any of the defending units starve, and that 2 is subtracted from
the attacker’s roll to see if they successfully dig a tunnel.

Siege Effects

Next, the attacker makes rolls to determine the effect of their siege methods on the defenders. Make all of the Starve rolls first, then the Batter rolls, and finally the Tunnel rolls.

Starve: The attacker rolls a dice for each defending unit, subtracting 1 from the roll if the unit is a HERO, and applying any of the relevant modifiers from the siege table. On a 5+ the unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.

Batter: The attacker rolls a dice for each terrain feature in the defender’s territory, applying any of the relevant modifiers from the siege table. On a 5+ the terrain feature has been breached, and none of its abilities can be used in the battle (it can still provide cover).

Tunnel: The attacker and the defender each roll a dice, the attacker applying any of the relevant modifiers from the siege table (the defender’s dice roll is never modified). If the attacker’s roll is higher, they have successfully completed their tunnel, and can pick one HERO and two other units (none of the units can contain models with the MONSTER or WAR MACHINE keyword that have a Wounds characteristic of 8 or more).

Any units sent into the tunnels are removed from the battlefield, and can emerge from the tunnels at
the start of any of their movement phases. The attacker must first pick a point in the defender’s territory where the tunnel emerges. The units using the tunnel must then be set up wholly within 6" of the tunnel exit, and more than 3" from any enemy units. This counts as their move for that movement phase.

The Assault

Once all of the siege effects have been rolled for, the attacker’s assault begins. Start the first battle round of the game.

Siege Command Abilities

You can use the following command abilities in games that use the Siege rules. The attacker’s command abilities can only be used by the attacking army, and the defender’s command abilities can only be used by the defending army.

Attacker's Command Abilities

Cry Havoc!: Explosives are used to shatter enemy fortifications.

You can use this command ability
in your hero phase. If you do so, pick a terrain feature that is within 3" of a friendly unit, and within 6" of a friendly HERO or 12" of your general. Roll a dice for each enemy unit garrisoning that terrain feature. On a 4+ that enemy unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.

Demolition Charges: Explosives are used to shatter enemy fortifications.

Reinforcements: Fresh troops arrive to join the battle.

You can use this command ability
in your hero phase. If you do so, roll a dice. On a 4+, pick a friendly unit from which all the models have been slain. You can set up the unit again, wholly within 6" of the edge of the battlefield and more than 9" from any enemy models. This counts as the unit’s move for the following movement phase.

Defender's Command Abilities

Boiling Oil: Sizzling hot oil is poured upon attacking troops.

You can use this command ability in your hero phase. If you do so, pick a terrain feature that is garrisoned by a friendly HERO and at least five other friendly models. Roll a dice for each enemy unit within 3" of that terrain feature. On a 4+, that enemy unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.

Sally Forth: A hidden gateway is opened, allowing the defenders to mount a counter-attack.

You can use this command ability in your hero phase. If you do so, pick
a terrain feature that is garrisoned by a friendly HERO. You can re-roll charge rolls in the following charge phase for any units that exit that terrain feature this turn.

Take Cover: Troops are ordered to make the maximum use of any cover.

You can use this command ability in the combat phase. If you do so, pick a friendly unit within 6" of a friendly HERO or 12" of your general. For
the rest of that combat phase, add 1 to save rolls and subtract 1 from hit rolls for that unit.

Reinforcements

Starting from the second battle round, the defender must roll a dice for each of their reinforcement units at the start of their movement phase. On a roll of 5 or 6, the unit arrives on the battlefield.

All of the models in a reinforcement unit that arrives must be set up within 6" of the table edge, wholly within the defender’s reinforcement area as shown on the map, and more than 9" from any enemy units. This counts as their move for that movement phase. Set the unit up before rolling to see if the next reinforcement unit arrives.

Realm Rules

The Black Onyx is played with the following Realm Rules.

Realmsphere Magic

WIZARDS in the DEFENDING army know the following spell in battles fought in this realm, in addition to any other spells that they know.

Pall of Doom
A cloud of terrifying darkness pours forth and engulfs the wizard’s foes.

Pall of Doom has a casting value of 6. If successfully cast, pick an enemy unit within 18" of the caster that is visible to them. Subtract 2 from the Bravery characteristic of the unit you picked until your next hero phase.

Realm Commands

You can use the following command abilities in battles fought in this realm, in addition to the command abilities that you are normally allowed to use.

Honour the Dead

The dead are honoured by the living ending the lives of their remaining foes.

You can use this command ability at the start of any combat phase. If you do so, pick a friendly unit that is within 3" of a friendly HERO or 12" of your general, and roll a dice. If the dice roll is less than the number of models that have been slain from the unit you picked, you can add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of weapons used by that unit in that combat phase.

Soul-force Sacrifice

Your general can siphon soul-force from their minions to extend their life.

You can use this command ability at the start of your hero phase. If you do so, pick a friendly unit that is within 3" of your general. Allocate any number of wounds to that unit that you wish – you can heal 1 wound that has been allocated to your general for each wound that you allocate.

Realmscape Features

Haunted Realm

The buildings and features of these lands are haunted by the restless spirits of those that have died here.

All scenery in the Attackers Territory has the Sinister Scenery rules:

Subtract 1 from the Bravery characteristic of units while they are within 1" of any Sinister terrain features.

Glorious Victory

This battle is fought to control two objectives. One objective is located in the centre of the defender’s territory, and the second in the centre of the defender’s reinforcements area, as shown on the map below.

The battle ends at the end of the fifth battle round. The attacker wins a major victory if they control both objectives. The defender wins a minor victory if they control one of the objectives, and a major victory if they control both. Any other result is a draw.