To Forge A Kingdom
"The Battle of Blackpowder Hill"
The overcast sky masked the rising sun, casting everything in shades of gray. Bronislav's steed stomped its hoof and snorted a cloud of mist into the cold morning air. It tossed its head to shake the new fallen dew from its long black mane. Bronislav patted the stallion's neck, drawing his fur cloak tighter about him. In the Wastes the temperature often dropped well below freezing, but this damp cold would freeze your very bones!
Nearby, his personal retinue, the Magma Guard, adjusted their armor, tightened girth straps, and spoke with each other in hushed tones. The time before a battle was always tense, even for seasoned knights. Off to the right, nearly obscured by the early half-light were the Infernal Legion, accompanied by a massive unit of Firewalkers. Their mounted brothers the Hellfire Raiders provided a lightning fast attack. Lastly, they had recruited a few ogres who were eager for battle and blood. Bronislav felt sure that if they tasted victory today they would be able to convince even more of the monstrous creatures to join.
The Aq'Kharneth surveyed the terrain. It was mainly flat farmland, with the occasional copse of straggly trees and a few rolling hills. The war council had decided that Orin Greysone and his dwarf settlers were the best target for a strike. They had expanded nearly as fast as the Vor'Ir Aq'Kharneth had, and they had superior numbers. Dwarves were worthy opponents, and defeating the strongest force in the region would send a clear message to the others.
The sound of distant hoofbeats woke Bronislav from his reverie. He stepped into his stirrup and pulled himself up momentarily to get a better vantage. It was the two scouts they had sent earlier. As they approached Vladimir drew near to hear the news they had to tell. The scouts, horsemen of the Hellfire Raiders, leapt down from their mounts and saluted.
"Report," Bronislav commanded, returning their salute.
"The are alerted, Aq'Kharneth. The rangers who bespied us yesterday during the march eluded our pursuit, and have alerted the whole Dwarven garrison. They are making for some high ground about two miles north of this position. They move slowly, my Lord, we might be able to get there first."
Bronislav nodded. He had a feeling that the army's presence had not gone undetected. All of the empty farmhouses they had passed gave testament to that. He was not displeased either. Clearly taking one's enemy by surprise was a superior tactical advantage, but there was great satisfaction to defeating that enemy even when fully prepared.
"Composition?" he asked.
"At least a hundred warriors…and guns. Many guns, cannon and crossbows," the scout replied grimly.
Bronislav grimaced. Outnumbered and out-ranged. Speed and sheer ferocity would be their best weapons this day. They could not let those guns get to high ground. He turned to the high priest.
"Vladimir, what news?"
"The signs are muddled today, Aq'Kharneth. I was unable to descry the portents of the day's battle. I have summoned the Cinderspawn, as was your wish. They are your willing servants."
"Excellent," he replied. He turned back to the scouts. "Alert the army, we move immediately."
* * *
Bronislav galloped ahead of the main body of the army along with the Magma Guard and the Hellfire Raiders. Guided by the scout, they reached the large, flat-topped hill mere moments before the dwarves. Seeing that their enemy already held the high ground, the dwarves diverted their course to a smaller hill off to the northeast. Bronislav and his cavalry withdrew beyond the range of their guns and waited for the infantry to arrive.
The Battle:
The Vor'Ir Aq'Kharneth will wait no longer for the bloodshed they crave. They have invaded the Dwarves' territory. Displaying typical Dwarven grit and stubbornness they get set and wait for the battle to come to them.
The scenario is "pitched battle", the game will last six turns.
The Forces:
CHAOS: (1800 pts.)
The Vor'Ir Aq'Kharneth
Vladimir (using fire magic, naturally) rolls "Conflagration of Doom" for his spell.
DWARVES: (1900 pts.)
Dwarf Lord: Orin Greystone
Thane: Durin Stonehammer
(20) Dwarf Warriors (Lord)
(20) Dwarf Warriors
(20) Dwarf Warriors w/Great Weapons (Thane)
(16) Hammerers
(12) Rangers
(10) Thunderers
(10) Crossbows (x2)
(2) Cannon
(1) Organ Gun
The Battlefield:
The table is 4' X 6'. There is a large hill in the middle of the field and a smaller one in the northeast corner. There are a few buildings of no consequence off to the west.
NOTE: The strategy for this game started even before any unit was placed or die was rolled. I had to play my skirmish game before the battle. By the time we got around to playing, several other games had started (we got the last table). More importantly most of the terrain was being used. All that was left were two hills and a few buildings. We rolled to see who would place terrain first and I won. I immediately grabbed the big hill and put it in the middle of the battlefield. This served two purposes. First it denied it to him. Second it gave me some respite from the bullets, bolts, and cannonballs (which can't bounce uphill). My opponent placed the smaller hill in the corner of his deployment zone. This meant that all of his shooters had to cram onto that hill, a fact that would both help me and hinder me later.
View the terrain and deployment
Chaos finishes deploying first and subsequently wins the first turn.
Turn 1: Chaos
The Chaos line surges forward. All units move their full march move except the Ogres, who slow down so as not to outrun the Marauders and Chaos Warriors. The Furies only fly about half way across the table. This puts several juicy targets well within their charge range next turn, but still outside half range of Crossbows, Thunderers, and thankfully out of range of the Organ Gun. The Chaos Knights and the inner unit of Marauder Horsemen are poised to double charge the Rangers, who find themselves in a very bad position.
Vladimir attempts to cast "Conflagration of Doom" on the Thunderers, but fails to cast.
The Marauder Horsemen hurl their throwing axes at the Rangers in an attempt to soften them up, but they fall short.
Turn 1: Dwarves
The Hammerers move up even with the Thunderers to protect their flank from the Furies. The Organ Gun crew push their machine forward a bit to open up its field of view. Everyone else holds (wait for it...wait for it!). The rangers hunker down and pray to their ancestors.
With the sound of thunder and gray clouds of smoke the Dwarves open fire. Both cannon take aim at the Chaos Warriors and let fly. When the smoke clears six are dead, but the stalwart warriors of chaos march on without missing a step (thank goodness for that psychology re-roll!). Feeling rather vulnerable the Thunderers open fire at the Furies, taking one down. One unit of Crossbows take aim at the Ogres, but at that range are unable to do any damage. The other Crossbow unit fires at the Chaos Knights. They are able to hit quite a few times, but the shots just glance off of the mighty chaos armor. The Organ Gun crew waits patiently.
Turn 2: Chaos
With a mighty warcry the Marauder Horsemen and Chaos Knights charge the beleaguered Rangers who, in vain, attempt to flee. They manage to get a whole 2" before the Marauder Horsemen run them down. The Furies charge the leftmost cannon. The doughty crew stands firm and show no fear of the flying menace. In their zeal to get into battle the Ogres go their full march move, outpacing the Marauders and Chaos Warriors who struggle to keep up.
Vladimir attempts to cast "Conflagration of Doom" on the Hammerers, but again fails to cast.
In combat, the Furies' slashing claws bring down one of the cannon crew, who cannot deal any damage in return. It becomes too much and they flee in terror, only to be shredded from above by the pursuing Furies.
Turn 2: Dwarves
The Dwarf line stands firm again, save for the Hammerers who move up slightly and angle for the flank of the Ogres.
The remaining cannon levels at the Chaos Warriors and lets fly. The cannon ball lands squarely in the middle of the unit, but by the grace of Aq'Chamoneth, if flies harmlessly through (my opponent rolled double 1's). Judging the Ogres to be a suitable threat, the Organ Gun crew swivels and fires. The Ogres weather the lead storm and keep coming (2 wounds). The Thunderers follow their lead and pepper the Ogres as well. At this range they can hardly miss (10 shots, 6 hits, 5 wounds). Two of the Ogres go down under hail of gunfire. The left unit of Crossbowmen, not wishing to fight even one Ogre, launches a volley at him and finish him off. The other unit of Crossbows fire at the Knights again, but no joy.
Turn 3: Chaos
Things look pretty good for the forces of the Fire Lord, but they are about to turn for the worst. Both units of Marauder Horsemen charge into the Thane and his unit of Dwarf Warriors. They try to execute a pincer move but do not coordinate well and get tangled up together (in game terms, I thought I had the flank with the outside unit of Horsemen, but when the straight edge was brought out, I did not, so both units ended up on the Dwarf Warriors' front). The Furies charge the second cannon, who also hold and take the charge. Then disaster struck! Just as the Furies fly over the first cannon, the wily dwarves set off the Rune of Immolation, destroying the warmachine and taking out 3 Furies in the process (apparently you can set this rune off at ANY time, not just your own turn). Two of the Thunderers are also in the blast radius and are killed as well.
The Marauders, Chaos Warriors, and Chaos Knights all surge forward, the last push before the charge.
Vladimir attempts to cast "Conflagration of Doom" on the Hammerers, but again fails to cast.
The depleted Furies fight on against the cannon crew. They manage to take one down, but the Dwarfs kill one of the daemons in return. The Marauder Horsemen, who could not get all their troops in to attack, still manage to inflict more damage to the Dwarfs than they take, but the press of the stout warriors turns the combat in their favor. Despite losing the combat the Marauder Horsemen stick it out and fight on.
Turn 3: Dwarves
Seeing their brethren embroiled in combat, the second unit of Dwarf Warriors enters the fray with the Marauder Horsemen. The Hammerers maneuver again to threaten the flank of the Marauder unit, which is bearing down on the Crossbowmen with evil intent.
This turn the Organ Gun unleashes its fury on the Chaos Warriors, dropping 5 of them. The Thunderers and left unit of Crossbowmen fire a salvo at the Marauders, dropping 7(!) of them. The carnage and confusion of the sustained fire forces the undisciplined marauders to flee, despite their leader's urgings. The remaining crossbow unit fires at the Knights again, but this time one of the bolts flies true and takes one down (probably hit the horse).
The Furies and Cannon Crew are down to two each, and they deal one casualty each...the combat is tied again! Once again the Marauder Horsemen outfight their opponents, dealing two casualties and taking none in return, but the sheer numbers win it for the Dwarves. Realizing that the fight would never go their way, both units sound the retreat and high-tail it out of there. The horribly slow Dwarves give chase but don't even come close.
Turn 4: Chaos
FOR AQ'CHAMONETH!!! The Chaos Warriors charge the left unit of Crossbowmen, who stand and shoot but do no damage. The Chaos Knights, for lack of a better target, charge the right unit of Crossbowmen, who similarly stand and shoot but to no effect. The Marauders rally in the backfield. The left unit of Marauder Horsemen cannot bring themselves to order and continue to flee. The right unit, by the call of their musician, manages to turn around.
Vladimir finally manages to cast "Conflagration of Doom" on the Hammerers, but the Dwarves' innate resistance to magic squelches the attempt.
The hopelessly overmatched Crossbowmen are slain to a man by Bronislav the Aq'Kharneth and his Magma Guard (Chaos Knights), who overrun into the Dwarf Lord's unit of warriors. The Chaos Warriors also win the combat handily, but because their unit was depleted and they were fighting uphill, it gave the Crossbowmen the courage to press on (they needed to roll a 6 to stay and got a 3). The last Fury and Cannoneer continue to scrap.
Turn 4: Dwarves
The dwarfs who are not destroyed or in combat maneuver for position. The Dwarf Warriors (without Thane) reform to draw a bead on the Knights' flank. The Hammerers (who it turned out COULD have charged) maneuvered again to menace the flank of the Chaos Warriors who were slugging it out with the surprisingly tough Crossbowmen.
The Thunderers unload on the only remaining target, the hapless Marauders. The Organ Gun does the same dealing an astonishing 10(!) casualties. The depleted Marauders stand firm, despite being decimated.
The Chaos Warriors press their attack and chase off the Crossbowmen who flee. In a truly embarrassing display, the Warriors pursue only 2". Things did not go so well for the Knights (this is where my dice really deserted me). Out of an impressive 19 attacks (5 from the Lord, 3 from the Champ, 6 from the Knights, 5 from the Horses) I only managed 3 wounds. Even though the Dwarves could only do 1 in return (his Lord in a challenge with my Champion) they still carried the day (by 2 because of ranks and outnumber) and forced the Knights to flee. The Fury and the Cannoneer fight on.
Turn 5: Chaos
The Chaos Warriors, wanting to exact some revenge for fallen comrades, charge the Organ Gun. The crew, who know they are no match for the Warriors of Chaos flee but are immediately run down. This allows the Chaos Warriors to redirect into the fleeing Crossbowmen who run off the battlefield. Both the Knights and still fleeing Marauder Horsemen recover and turn about. The Knights fled so far that they would never again be a factor in the battle. The other unit of Marauder Horsemen swings around to menace the Thane's unit's flank. The Marauders move up to support the Chaos Warriors who are badly out of position.
Vladimir attempts to cast "Conflagration of Doom" on the Hammerers, but again fails to cast.
The Marauder Horsemen hurl their axes into the flank of the Thane's unit, but only one Dwarf goes down.
The Fury FINALLY slays the last Cannoneer, which for some reason spooks the Thunderers who nearly flee off the table (one more inch and they would have been gone!).
Turn 5: Dwarves
The Thunderers rally. The Dwarf Lord's unit of warriors reforms to face the Chaos Warriors who are alone in the backfield. The Thane's unit reforms to face the Marauder Horsemen.
The Thunderers cannot fire and there is no combat.
Turn 6: Chaos
Marauder Horsemen position themselves on either side of the Thane's unit (I didn't think the second unit had quite enough for the charge...and I was right). The Marauders, just hoping to stay alive for one more turn, back up two inches in hopes of avoiding the Hammerers' charge. The Chaos Warriors reform to face the Dwarf Lord's unit, and in an unparalleled display of bravery and self sacrifice (tongue firmly in cheek) the last remaining Fury flies between the Dwarfs and Chaos Warriors, protecting them from the inevitable charge.
Vladimir attempts to cast "Conflagration of Doom" on the Hammerers, but again fails to cast.
In a last ditch effort, both units of Marauder Horsemen hurl their throwing axes into the Thane's unit, felling four of them. The Dwarves uncharacteristically are panicked and flee.
Turn 6: Dwarves
The Dwarf Lord's unit charges the lone Fury but, clearly impressed by its valor, are gripped with fear and frozen in their tracks. The Hammerers charge the decimated Marauders, who could have fled but decided to fight. The Thane's unit rallies. The Thunderers turn in place to fire at the Chaos Warriors.
The Thunderers let fly at the Chaos Warriors, felling one.
The Marauders are horribly outnumbered and lose the combat by a lot. They flee.
The Aftermath
After all is said and done it is a draw, with the Dwarves coming out slightly ahead (97 points). Things really went badly for me in turn three. If I had gotten the flank charge on the Thane's unit I would have rolled his flank BIG TIME. Another bad thing for me was that exploding cannon. If the Furies hadn't been so depleted I would have beaten that cannon crew in the third turn and been on the Organ Gun in the fourth. Which would have prevented the MASSIVE casualties it did in the fourth turn (10 Marauders). If I had those Marauders back I would have had all my ranks against the Hammerers and would have charged them in my turn six, possibly beating them. Lots of ifs, but pretty strong ones I would say. Also, if I had fled with the Marauders in turn six they would not have captured my standard and I would actually have been UP three points...lessons learned.
All of that aside, this was a GREAT game. It was back and forth the whole time, and by the end we had a crowd gathered around our table to see who would prevail. I have always said my favorite type of battle is a draw, and this game proves why.
This battle report was a lot more work than I had ever imagined. Including the backstory, the write-up, and especially the map I spent roughly 12 hours on the thing! I hope that in the future it will go faster. Let me know what you think. Did you like it? Do you have any suggestions for improvement? Please let me know by email.
Evika threw another log into the pit in the center of the bedchamber, then darted away to avoid the flying sparks. Varna used a long iron rod to poke and stoke the fire until the flames rose above their heads. A thick column of smoke rose through the chimney hole in the roof.
When the fire was ready, Bronislav waved the women away. He stepped naked up onto the hearth and into the roaring pyre. The flames did not burn him. He heaved a sigh of relief and sank slowly to his knees.
Forgive me, Father, I have failed you. I did not bring you glorious victory today. There are no vanquished foes to burn for you.
Moments passed with no movement or sound save the crackling tongues of the flame.
Peace, child. You fought well and bravely and strong. I am pleased, Aq'Kharneth. I am pleased.
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