Valten Champion of Sigmar

Valten Champion of Sigmar

Chronicles 2004

 Valten is a Hero choice but will take up one extra Hero slot as well. He must be fielded exactly as presented here and no extra equipment or magic items can be bought for him.

Valten was born in a Reikland village called Lachenbad, where he had an uneventful childhood, growing up as the son of a blacksmith and learning his father's craft as all boys did. Although he was blessed with strength and intelligence, the only truly unusual thing about the young Valten was a strange birthmark on his chest, shaped like the twin-tailed comet of Sigmar.
This caused a great stir at his birth, for the comet is a powerful omen – but whether for good or ill depends on the whim of the gods. Many villagers felt that either way Valten would surely bring momentous events to Lachenbad, and that this was something it could well do without. They insisted that leaving the boy to die in the forest or drowning him in the stream was the only way to avoid disaster. Nevertheless, his parents declared that no one should lay a hand on the child, and Valten's father Kurt was respected and fearsome enough that none argued.
It soon became apparent that the young Valten was a gifted child. Even before he had uttered his first words many people commented that his eyes seemed to show a strange understanding of whatever they fell upon. He was bigger and stronger by far than other boys his age, able to best them in wrestling and other physical games with ease. At first people muttered that this remarkable strength was simply proof of the boy's abnormality and that he should have been strangled at birth, but Valten was a happy child with an infectious enthusiasm, and became so well-liked that thoughts of his portentous birth were soon forgotten.
It was on the eve of Valten's 18th birthday, though, that the superstitious doomsaying of his birth was proved well-founded. From the depths of the Reikwald, the Beastmen came. Led by a powerful Beastlord named Rargarth, Lachenbad had not seen a horde even a tenth of the size in living memory. Bent on pillage and plunder, the Beastmen seemed unstoppable and the few men of Lachenbad that could wield weapons had no hope of standing against them. With primal howls and brays they descended on the village, and the terrified people scattered before them, fleeing for their lives. The Beastmen gave no quarter, and cut down anyone they found, man, woman or child, and gleefully hurled flaming torches onto the thatched roofs.
But Valten refused to run. He made his way to his father's smithy, and smashed aside the Beastmen who tried to bar his way with great blows from his fists. Taking up two hammers from the forge he set about the horde like a hurricane with cries of anger and vengeance. Beast after beast was crushed by Valten's hammers, and all who came near him died. The panicking villagers saw this, and were heartened by this incredible display of bravery. They took up their swords, pitchforks and scythes, and ran to join the blacksmith's son. Following the boy, they cut through the warband until Valten stood before Rargarth himself.
Valten launched himself at the Beastlord. He swung a hammer in a massive arc but Rargarth raised his giant scimitar and parried the strike. Such was the force of the blow that the blade was broken in two, and the hammer torn from Valten's grasp. Unfazed, Rargarth snarled and struck out with the remnants of the weapon. Valten ducked back, fast but not fast enough; the rusted metal slashed across his chest, opening a horrible wound and sending him reeling. Rargarth gave a triumphant grin, exposing yellow and rotted fangs, and brought down the half-blade for the killing blow. But Valten raised his remaining hammer at the last second. There was an almighty clash as the blade slammed into the metal hammer, and the titanic strength of the Beastlord forced Valten to one knee. Incredibly his guard held. Amazement appeared on Rargarth's bestial features as he strained against the wounded boy, but to no avail. Impossibly, Valten began to rise, shaking with effort as he pushed upwards against Rargarth's blade, until finally he was on his feet. Valten kicked out, sending the Beastlord stumbling backwards, and before the creature could recover, he hurled his remaining hammer with awesome force straight at the monster's head. It struck Rargarth between the eyes like a meteor, shattering his skull and killing him instantly.
With their leader dead, the Beastmen turned to panicked flight, and the exultant villagers chanted Valten's name. Though Lachenbad had been half-razed, it was saved from total destruction by the amazing prowess and courage of a single boy. The stories of Valten's deed spread like wildfire around the surrounding villages and towns, and before long all manner of parties were showing an interest in the boy who had become a hero.

	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
Valten	4	5	5	4	4	2	5	4	9

Points: 215
Weapons: Valten carries two blacksmith's hammers. These count as two hand weapons, and so give Valten +1 Attack, for a total of five Attacks.

SPECIAL RULES

AGAINST THE ODDS: Valten's courage knows no limits, and even impossible odds do not faze him. Enemy units can never gain the combat resolution bonus points for flank or rear attacks, or for outnumbering, in a combat involving Valten. In addition, Valten and any unit he leads is Immune to Psychology. The only exception is that they always count as being stubborn.

AWESOME PRESENCE: Valten is not a military officer. He does not give rousing speeches or offer rewards to fighters around him, nor does he yell orders or threats in battle. Instead, others are inspired by his awesome presence, and fight even harder as they see Valten strike down foe after foe. Wounds inflicted by Valten in close combat are counted towards the Empire combat resolution score of any combat within 12" of him, not just the one he is taking part in.

Valten may not be your army General unless he has the highest Leadership value in the army; if there are characters in the army with the same Leadership as Valten, one of those characters will always be the General instead. Even if Valten is the General, units within 12" of him may not use his Leadership as they would normally be able to – the Awesome Presence rule replaces this.

IRON RESOLVE: Valten has steel sinews and a will of iron, and is able to grit his teeth and fight on despite wounds that would kill lesser men ten times over. To represent this he has a 5+ Ward save. In addition, if Valten is killed, take a Leadership test for him at the end of that phase. If he passes, his astounding strength of will allows him to ignore the wound and continue fighting. He remains alive on 1 Wound, and the wounds that killed him are discounted. Note that the effects of combat resolution, panic and so on are worked out after determining whether Valten recovers. This rule does not apply if he is fleeing and is run down by chargers or pursuers, or hit with a Killing Blow.