Sunhold: The First Triumvirate: AoS28 Event Gallery & Report



Photo Credit: Ana Polanšćak

Photo Credit: Ana Polanšćak


    A couple of years ago, I was invited by Ana Polanšćak of Gardens of Hecate to take part in her Dark Age of Sigmar event, Sunhold, in Zargreb, Croatia. After working on a 4 model warband for a while, plus a number of NPCs and one pandemic later, we finally got to play the game on the 4th of July, 2022. It was set in Ana's Sunhold setting, a sprawling Chaos-held city in Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow. Each player controlled a warband of four models which entered the city with their own agendas and plans, either trying to reclaim lost glory, rebuild civilisation, or spread an infectious cult. 

    My warband (above) consists of a group of religious zealots led by a questing Stormcast Eternal named Khida who have come to Sunhold to assist in its recapture and rebuilding. However, chasing Khida is a malevolent spirit tied to his past transgressions--Amyi, Leave Her To Dream. Throughout the games, the various miniatures would explore the boards and form alliances, all while I did my best to play them in character, making narrative-driven decisions.




The warbands, while exploring Sunhold, would come across groups of enemies, such as goblins, mutated civilians, skeletons and vampires, while helping NPCs like priests and monks and even an imprisoned Stormcast.


This article will act more as a gallery for the photos I took during the game, as well as a place for the thoughts of some of the other attendees; for a full rundown of the games, warbands and story, check out Ana's article here


After so much build-up, Sunhold did not disappoint. The time I spent in Croatia was incredibly special, as the group explored the city of Zargreb in the surrounding days too, so when the game came on the Saturday, we were all already well-acquainted and excited to show off our miniatures. We played for about ten hours with breaks for food, but the time went by quickly, in part due to the simple and effective Fabula ruleset, and in part due to my fellow attendees and the DMs, who I reached out to afterwards for their thoughts on the event:


Ana: After two years of postponement, plagues, and earthquakes, Sunhold: The First Triumvirate was put on the table at UMS “Agram” club in Zagreb. It was a great time, and was well worth all the work that went into it. I’d like to thank all participants who made warbands and sent their minis to us; and especially those who joined us in person for the game: Goran, James, Séraphim, Vladimir and Witold. Big thanks to my brother Ivan for co-writing the Fabula system we used for the event and for handling most of the GM-ing on the day.  I was happy to see my old friends Vlad and Witold, and to meet Séraphim and James for the first time. Hanging out with like-minded hobbyists in person is always my favourite part of these events.  I hope I’ll find the time and energy to attempt something like this again in the future. 



Ivan: As Sunhold’s Game Master, my role was to prepare the scenario, including the rules for all the enemies and non-player characters, encounters, and treasure. I was also to control the monsters and moderate the game, with Ana’s assistance. It was a lot of work, but it pales in comparison with the effort Ana put into the event, as she secured the venue, gathered participants, painted the terrain and miniatures, dealt with logistics, and so, so much more.

The game itself went smoothly – encounters were pretty balanced difficulty-wise and character deaths were pretty rare. Players cooperated well, which allowed them to advance through the ruins with few issues. That is, until one of them decided to betray the rest during the final boss battle, which was extremely dramatic and put the whole expedition into jeopardy. It all turned out well in the end, as The Triumvirate was taken out after a difficult battle, a fitting end to the quest.

Looking back, I was overly ambitious when designing the scenario as I have prepared too many encounters, monsters, and objects of interest. As the game progressed at a much slower pace than I anticipated, I became aware of the fact that I would have to refrain from using many of them in the interest of finishing the game in a reasonable time (it still took ten hours). I’m still glad I prepared too much rather than too little.

The best part about these events is meeting hobbyists from all over and just hanging out with them. There were some returning players from Legen, but also a couple of newcomers. Every moment spent in their company was enjoyable and I can’t thank them enough for taking the time and effort to attend Sunhold. Hopefully, we will meet again on similar events in the future.



Séraphim: The event was incredible. I had the chance to meet irl a lot of talented hobbyists. The game was a lot of fun and the rules made by Ivan and Ana created a lot of opportunities for narrative. I couldn't be more happy with how the adventure went, my warband fulfilled its destiny by betraying everyone at the end of the game, so it was enjoyable to become the bad guy for the last few rounds.


Thank you guys for contributing to the post, and thank you everyone--Ana, Ivan, Vladimir, Witold, Goran and Séraphim--for such a wonderful event!

Upon entering Sunhold through the graveyards, ghouls are quick to attack the questing warbands.


Once the warbands pass through the gates, Amyi appears and begins hunting Khida.

Strange forest creatures sprout from the trees in the city's courtyard, not yet daring to attack


The Church advance into the city, allied with Vladimir's Draghanward Duardin

Some of the NPCs waiting in the wings

Amyi respawns in the courtyard, one step closer to her Stormcast nemesis
Witold's Cult of Spring comes across a Chaos ceremony

Silent wardens of days gone by, skeleton warriors appear to defend the inner city

Ogor mercenaries appear, their muscle ultimately persuaded to join the questing warbands for the final fight


Bat swarms circle around the empty bell-tower

The church is directed deeper into the city

The skeletons attack the Princeling's court (models by Matt Ross, played by Goran)

A ghostly procession continues their march in death as they had in life


The warbands are led to the heart of the city where they find the mutated West Ledict Township (model by Cody Taylor)

Amyi reappears at just the wrong time!

The fight against the West Ledict Township begins

Meanwhile, the Cult of Spring and the Draghanwards fight off an enormous vampiric beast

Finally slain!

After gaining access to deeper into the city, the warbands prepare for the fight ahead (statues by Simon Shießl)

The Screaming Many by Matt Ross

Led by the resurrected Guardian of Sunhold Stormcast, the warbands advance--only to be betrayed by the Apocryphal Sigmarite Church of Abundance, Seraphim's warband.

Amidst the betrayal, the Triumvirate of Sunhold appears, the final boss of the event! (miniature bySimon Shießl) 

The Triumvirate terrorises the warbands, laying many of their members low

A trio of unlikely fighters


As all seems lost, the Guardian of Sunhold strikes a finishing blow to the Triumvirate, dispelling the apocalyptic monster...

Thanks for reading!

Follow everyone here:

Ana--DM and terrain--@gardensofhecate

Séraphim--the Apocryphal Sigmarite Church of Abundance--@lazaraie

Vladimir--the Draghanwards--@vmkuriljov

Witold--the Cult of Spring--His blog

Goran--player of the Princeling's Court--@goran.krunic.85

Matt--the Princeling's Court & NPCs--@totally_not_panicking

Cody--NPCS and bosses--@magos_buer

Simon--NPCs and bosses--@ingrimmson

Comments

  1. Incredible! Ive been a big fan of Ana's material for a while so this is quite a treat. Obviously a number of talented modellers involved here, those large monsters are really striking. Well done all around - awesome to see such creative minds collide.

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  2. Thanks again for joining us and bringing your wonderful miniatures!

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