The Aqshy Season

When fighting battles using the General’s Handbook 2026-27 battlepack, both players can use the following abilities:

Sometimes you might want to link together multiple battles in order to play a tournament or start a campaign. With the General’s Handbook 2026-27 battlepack, you can do this by launching an Aqshian Crusade.

An Aqshian Crusade is a set of battleplans that, when played in order, give your Matched Play experience a narrative spin. Whether you intend to play a single-day or weekend tournament or embark on a long-term campaign, there is a crusade for you! In an Aqshian Crusade, the same types of terrain are used for all games that would typically be played on the same day, and, in the case of two-day crusades, the battles that would usually be fought at the end of the first day have simpler twists (because even renowned tacticians need some downtime!).

To launch an Aqshian Crusade, pick 1 of the following crusade types:

Ash Road Foray - 3 - 1 day
Firestorm Offensive - 5 - 2 days
Domination March - 12 - Ongoing campaign

Next, pick 1 of the pre-made Aqshian Crusades from the table below. Alternatively, if you’re feeling adventurous, you can mix and match battleplans to forge your own narrative.

Each pre-made crusade tells a different story, as summarised in the ‘Synopsis’ column. The ‘Battleplans’ column tells you which battleplans from the General’s Handbook 2026-27 battlepack each crusade uses and the order in which to play them. A battleplan’s number can be found at the top of its card.

The Heartblood Offensive - Ash Road Foray - Raiders from afar descend upon the frontier strongpoints of the Heartblood Sea. - 2,5, 11

The Long March - Ash Road Foray - An army is forced to traverse the hostile and fire-blasted wilds of the Parch to reach a safe haven. - 3, 4, 10

Seizure of the Everblaze Pass - Ash Road Foray - Forces battle for control of a vital realmgate in order to secure a route to the heart of the Great Parch - 1, 6, 12

The Scorched Coast Landings - Firestorm Offensive - A fleet lands on the coast of the Gnaw and heads deep inland to seize a realmgate and destroy their foes. - 2,5, 7, 6, 12

Godsworn Delve - Firestorm Offensive - An army pillages a long-buried Stormvault before fleeing to the coast with their cargo of precious treasures. - 3, 4, 9, 5, 11

Shield of Aqshy - Firestorm Offensive - Reinforcements rush into Agshy to help secure the front lines and prevent disaster. - 1, 6, 8, 4, 10

The Harrying of the Parch - Domination March - A great army rampages across the Great Parch, subduing its rivals and seizing control of the lands. - 1-12

Occasionally, crusading armies with a common cause might form temporary alliances or fractious coalitions. Joint Crusades are events for teams with an equal number of players whose armies are fighting alongside one another on an Aqshian Crusade.

Before starting a Joint Crusade, the event organiser picks a number of Aqshian Crusades of the same type equal to the number of players in a team divided by 2, rounding up. For instance, if there were 5 players in each team, they would pick 3 crusades. The same crusade can be picked more than once. The event organiser then numbers the crusades they picked (see ‘Preparing for Battle’). Battles will be fought using the battleplans in those Aqshian Crusades.

A Joint Crusade comprises a number of rounds. We recommend 3 rounds for a 1-day event and 5 rounds for a 2-day event.

In each round, the teams are drawn against each other (either randomly or by using a format such as the Swiss system) and each player in a team is paired with a player in the team they are drawn against. The ‘Pairing Armies’ section contains an example method for pairing players.

In the first round, the first two players from each team to be paired play the first battleplan in Aqshian Crusade 1, the next two play the first battleplan in Aqshian Crusade 2, and so on.

In the second round, the first two players from each team to be paired play the second battleplan in Aqshian Crusade 1, the next two play the second battleplan in Aqshian Crusade 2, and so on.

Repeat this sequence for each round. If there are more rounds than battleplans in an Aqshian Crusade, cycle through the battleplans in that crusade again from the beginning.

During a Joint Crusade, you will find that some players’ armies are better suited to certain battleplans than others. Your team must work together to ensure the right armies are fighting the right battles. To decide which armies will be fighting on which battleplan, follow these steps at the start of each round. We recommend writing the names of each army on your team on separate cards to create a hand of cards to use in this process.

1.  Each team secretly picks 1 of the armies in their hand to be the guarding army for that battleplan. The guarding armies are then revealed simultaneously.

2.  Each team presents 2 of their non-guarding armies to be prospective invading armies against the opposing team’s guarding army.

3.  Each team picks 1 of the opposing team’s invading armies to be paired with their guarding army, revealing their choices simultaneously. The army that was not picked is returned to their team’s hand.

4.  Repeat steps 1-3 until each team is left with either 1 or 2 unpaired armies in their hand.

• If each team has 2 unpaired armies left, follow step 1, then each team’s guarding army is automatically paired with the opposing team’s remaining army.
• If each team has 1 unpaired army left, those armies are automatically paired.

At the end of each round, add up the victory points earned by all players on your team. The team with the highest total wins the round!

Each player picks an army using the rules in Army Composition 2026-27 (Advanced Rules).

One player rolls a dice to determine which battleplan table to use. On a 1-3, use battleplan table 1. On a 4-6, use battleplan table 2. The other player then rolls a dice to determine the battleplan. Alternatively, feel free to pick the battleplan you wish to play.

D6 - Battleplan

1 - Into the Fire 
2 - Bloodstained Coasts 
3 - Avalanche of Ash 
4 - Caverns of Slaughter 
5 - What’s Yours is Ours 
6 - Hidden Under Ash-clouds

D6 - Battleplan

1 Warped Ruins
2 Curse of the Gnaw
3 Seize the Embers
4 Treacherous Ground
5 Escape From the Coast
6 Power of the Realms

The players roll off. The winner chooses which player is the attacker and which is the defender.

This battlepack contains 6 special objectives called Aqshian objectives: 2 Sun Seekers objectives, 2 Golden Lions objectives, 1 Heldenhain objective and 1 Scions of the Comet objective. The objective itself is the 40mm- diameter circle located in the centre, while the surrounding area extending 3" from the objective is the control zone. To contest an Aqshian objective, a unit must be within the control zone of that objective.

Some battleplans will use more than 1 of the same type of Aqshian objective. For example, they could include 2 Sun Seekers objectives and/or 2 Golden Lions objectives. In these battleplans, the rules refer to 2 of the same type of objective as a pair or paired. When a rule requires a player to control a pair of objectives, the player has to control both objectives in that pair. When a player has to pick ‘a pair of objectives’, they can only pick a single pair of Aqshian objectives of the same type.

The defender sets up Aqshian objectives in the locations indicated on the battlefield map. The objectives must be those indicated on the battlefield map; for example, if the map shows a Heldenhain objective, the Heldenhain objective must be set up in that location.

Then, the defender sets up terrain features. We recommend 4 small and 4 medium terrain features. Each terrain feature must be set up more than 3" from the battlefield edge, more than 3" from all objectives and more than 6" from all other terrain features. Alternatively, the battlefield can be set up as shown on the corresponding battlefield terrain layout map while maintaining the distance restrictions between the battlefield edge, objectives and other terrain features as detailed above.

After objectives and terrain features have been set up, the attacker picks which territory is their territory. The other territory is the defender’s territory. The players then resolve the deployment phase. The attacker begins deployment (Core Rules, 10.0).

Battles that use this battlepack last for 5 battle rounds.

Each battleplan will describe how to score victory points. At the end of the battle, if one player has at least 5 victory points more than their opponent, they win a major victory. If one player has fewer than 5 victory points more than their opponent, they win a minor victory. If the players are tied on victory points, the player who completed the most battle tactics wins a minor victory. If the players are tied on victory points and completed the same number of battle tactics, the battle is a draw.

If you are using this battlepack, you must pick battle tactics cards from this battlepack to add to your army roster during army composition.

At the start of the battle, you must reveal your choice of battle tactics cards to your opponent. If the battle tactics cards instruct you to pick something, you must tell your opponent what you have picked and vice versa.

The battleplan maps show the player territories and the locations where terrain and objectives should be placed on the battlefield.

Each battleplan map shows two territories: one red (Attacker’s Territory) and one blue (Defender’s Territory).

The locations of Aqshian objectives are indicated on the battleplan maps by the following icons.

Each icon represents the Aqshian objective including its control zone. Where an objective icon is shown on the map, you must place the corresponding objective marker on the battlefield centred on the location of the objective icon shown on the map. For example, where the map shows a Heldenhain objective icon, place a Heldenhain objective on the battlefield in that location.

The terrain location icons show where terrain features should be set up and what type of terrain should be placed in each terrain location. The following key shows which terrain features correspond to which icons:

1. Cleansing Aqualith (M Place of Power)
2. Domicile Shell (S Obstacle)
3. Nexus Syphon (S Place of Power)
4. Wyldwood (M Obscuring Terrain)
5. Guardian Idol (S Obstacle)
6. Sun Seekers Objective (Aqshian Objective)