'The Manncunnian Candidate'
A Panzerfäuste Scenario by Matthew Hartley
Branzhûm's occult experts, S.O.(P). Investigators Ohms and Wisden take on an Orc Vampire in the ruins of Manncunn Abbey.
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Following investigation of the horrific murder and disembowelment of the other three candidates in the parliamentary election to the borough of Manncunn ( a district in the fettered mass of Mudcesster - Branzhûm’s industrial "Dark and Profane Land" ), the lightening deductive powers of S.O.(P) agents Ohms & Wisden has cast suspicion on the remaining candidate, Jorcathan Horker, an otherwise unknown recently returned from an extended stay in the East.
Horker has indeed had his soul irredeemably corrupted whilst abroad and is now a rather fresh and hungry vampire. Convinced that a parliamentary stool will allow him access to the king whom he hopes to infect and control, Horker has taken the unusual step of standing for public office. Unaccustomed as he is to public speaking, Horker has indulged in the most direct means of campaigning by eliminating the opposition. To ensure a comfortable majority, Horker has resorted to raising some deceased ex-voters, turning Mancunnia into a truly rotten borough.
Alerted to Horker's dastardly scheme, Ohms & Wisden have raised the local Home Guard to lay low his scheme on the eve of the election.
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Ohms, Wisden and the Home Guard
Agents Ohms and Wisden are, at this stage in their careers, both Experienced. Ohms & Wisden form a Partisan unit of two models. Both have a GUTS value of 10. Wisden’s famous bat is a close combat weapon; used to “launch” granades it works as an Orc Anti-tank weapon (SS (A)). Ohms is armed with a violin, which due to his legendary improficiency, acts in exactly the same manner as a Light Elf Madhatter machine. Both are Orcs.
The Home Guard are nine in number. The unit is of Militia status. They have a Normal Orc Lieutenant armed with a pistol, and three normal and five green Orc privates armed with old rifles (-1 GUTS to shoot) and bayonets.
The figures enter the table from the northern table edge. Their aim is to kill Horker and his Zombie allies.
Horker and the Zombies
Horker is a raw Orc Vampire, armed with a pistol. He has a GUTS value of 10. He has 5 Orc Zombie assistants with him. All have GUTS of 9. The Zombies are armed with assorted close combat weapons.
Orc Vampires and Zombies function exactly like normal living Orc soldiers. Their resistance to pain and “death wish” is reflected in their GUTS score
The figures can set up anywhere in the ruin area. Their aim is to rout the Home Guard and kill the S.O. (P) agents.
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The Ruin
Horker and his forces are based in an ruin which bears a remarkable resemblance to the ruined London Abbey in Francis Ford Coppola's film "Bram Stocker's Dracula". The entire area should be regarded as scrubland, with the gravestones and the remaining walls providing cover.
Editor’s Note
I recommend using one of Heroic Maps excellent map layouts for this adventure, The Ruins of Meverrin Monastery, It is available to buy from Wargame Vault. It can be printed out or used in your favourite virtual tabletop software.
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Webmaster's Notes
The scenario was first published on Orcs in the Webbe on the 22nd February 2008. It was absent for several years due to a prior regeneration of the website not transferring everything over correctly. That wrong has now been righted and it returned in it's original form on the 19th December 2023 as the fourteenth entry in that year's Advent Calendar and, of course, as part of Orcs in the Webbe's ongoing Panzerfäuste Archive Project.
Any comments in maroon in the article above have been added by me either to provide additional information or clarity. I may also have made small changes to grammar and layout but may not have marked those.
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