Last weekend was a celebration (or commiseration) of my 40th and Mr Matthew Streety's 50th birthdays. It was also the culmination of a decade of army painting and featured a board I've wanted to make since I was 11 and which has been four months in the planning and making. A group of very excellent Oldhammerers came together for two days of playing semi-linked battles, getting all my armies onto the table.
Here's a brief rundown of what happened on day 1 along with some pretty pictures.
GAME 1- BRAINBITER
On the tip of a peninsula out in the Sea of Chaos the High Elves have built a temple to guard a fearsome Chaos blade. Unable to destroy it, they have buried it deep, surrounded it with fortifications and stand guard over it day and night. Two forces have heard the rumour of the blade. From Norsca the tribe of the Horny King have set sail to claim it for their lord. From the west the Fimir are mustering, hoping that by claiming the blade as their own they can restore their standing with the Chaos powers.
The High Elves position to defend the temple against marauders.
A thick mist rolls in as a horde of Fimir approach the temple.
Barbarians swarm in from the other flank...
...with a mammoth!
I didn't play in this game and only got fleeting glimpses of it so can't give a blow by blow account. But as I understand it the High Elves began by seeing they were vastly outnumbered and deciding to try and gain an advantage... wielding the chaos blade themselves!
The elf lord appeared from the temple, raising the blade high, mounting his steed and taking to the sky.
Meanwhile the reavers rode out to engage the foe, breaking and rallying several times whilst harassing the flanks.
The Fimir swiftly engage the bulk of the high elf infantry. With all that mist around nobody's quite sure where the wizards are, even Paul (commanding the Fimir)!
Proving to be more than a match for even the wardancers, the Fimir make short work of the elven blocks. It's the old 25mm vs 40mm base question, and I'm not sure it got any closer to an answer here. They seem to be well worth the high price tag with multiple wounds and attacks for rank and file.
On the left flank the barbarians press back the rest of the even defenders, deciding not to pick a fight with their fragile allies until the blade is out of the elves' hands.
Ultimately the elves were decimated, but the game ended before either side could acquire their chaos blade, forcing a draw.
GAME 2- GUNS ON THE RUN
The dwarves of Karak a Kapow have pledged their fearsome armoury to the Empire emissaries riding to overthrow the Lichemaster. Unfortunately their arch-nemesis, the night goblins of the Leering Lune Cult and their neighbours the Clan of the Grinning Visage, have chosen just this moment to launch their all-out attack on the hated stunties.
This was a long but narrow board, representing a fortified dwarven valley and (hopefully) giving enough space for 5000 points of night goblins to line up whilst not making the far board edge too far for short dwarf legs to run.
Defenders prepare to meet the first wave of the goblin assault.
Boar Knights crest the hill, ready to roll up the goblin flank.
The night goblins in all their glory.
A goblin-eye-view of the enemy.
A mixture of limbered guns, ready to roll, and guns ready to fire spread through the dwarf line.
A mass of squigs charge out front. The hoppers were to destroy most of the dwarven artillery whilst amok squigs caused havoc in the lines.
Goblins broken from missile fire turn and flee, but not before a handful of fanatics have broken out and headed for the foe. Meanwhile the chariot ploughs straight for the main gate and the wyvern drops inside the fortress from above.
Cannon pound the goblin line. The destruction of the chariot sends more units scurrying back to the mountains.
With ranks thinning on both sides the squigs continue their relentless advance.
The remnants of the defence in front of the gate.
The dwarves valiantly defended their home, slaying the mighty wyvern and even eventually driving off the squig menace. However they had been pinned not far from their starting positions and hadn't managed to get a single gun out to support the Empire contingent.
GAME 3- FOOD FOR FOUGHT
Nobody knows better than the halflings of the Moot that an army marches on its stomach, and the one set for La Maisontaal has a lot of stomachs! The grain harvest is underway to prepare for the siege, but a host of ogres and trolls have been flushed out of the mountains by the goings-on there and are also looking for their next meal…
Ogres and trolls espy their next meal, whilst the halflings hurry to herd their livestock to safety.
Ogres rapidly single out the juiciest-looking cows, whilst the trolls chase after sheep, chickens and the hafling peasants.
Halfling villagers abandon the fields, withdrawing behind the hailstorm of slingshots from the brave militia.
Whilst most of the stones bounce off, there are casualties among the trollish ranks. Up from the rear stomps the bulk of Dowser, the faithful wartoise!
The halflings aren't going down without a fight, and the trolls start paying the price.
Dowser the wartoise tramples his way through the trollish throng, which fails regeneration checks left, right and centre.
The ogres finally catch up to the cows, but the halfling knights fight a furious hit and run battle to protect their herd.
Even beset by four huge trolls beating on his shell, Dowser holds firm. The trolls break and run for the hills.
The halflings form up into a mob for one last stand. The ogre chief pursues the mayor, figuring his pony will make a nice snack. The rest of the ogres grab a cow each and beat their retreat.
The wartoise gives chase, but its short legs can't keep up with the ogre lead.
The halflings lost several cows to the ogre band, but kept the majority of their crops and livestock (and citizens!) safe from capture. The trolls suffered a somewhat embarrassing loss of 60% of their force and came away with a pitiful haul. Just as well they're feeding much fewer mouths now!
GAME 4- FLIGHT FROM LOREN FOREST
Scouts reported the approach of a great Empire host, riding hard towards the Grey Mountains. Fearing they were about to face an Imperial crusade the orcs of the mountains have fled eastwards into Bretonnia… through Loren Forest! The elves of the forest will not tolerate such foulness in the heart of their woodland realm and have surrounded the camp in the night. No orc may be allowed to leave!
Waking up to find themselves surrounded, the orcs spread out and scatter in all directions.
Glade riders patrol with bows at the ready.
A sneaky dragon and some wardancers lurk and wait for the prey to get close enough.
Savage orc Snortas try to make a break for it...
...and run into a forest guardian.
As the army spreads out the wolfriders break clear and make their getaway. Meanwhile the black orcs sit resolutely and wait for trouble to come to them.
Despite outnumbering the wood elves 2:1 a combination of treemen, dragon and narrow escape routes dooms the orcs to never make it beyond the edge of Loren Forest again.
GAME 5- VALLEY OF DOOM
Ever since his embarrassment at the battle of La Maisontaal, Gnawdoom has sworn to have his revenge. He has spent his time gathering what forces will still follow him and plans a covert raid into the monastery from below, hoping to steal the Arca Chaotica and the Mechanical Warrior, thereby robbing Kemler of his power. As they make their way through the mountain pass towards a secret tunnel they encounter a rival force coming the other way. The Bourgeoias have also felt the draw of the Black Ark and want it for themselves!
The skaven advance towards a secret tunnel leading below La Maisontaal.
At the far end of the valley the Slaaneshi host of the Bourgeoise is also on its way to the abbey.
As they funnel between the hills the skaven launch their attack. Warpfire Throwers, Jezzails and Poison Wind Globes make short work of the leading units of Marauders whilst a cunningly placed magical quicksand divides the force and prevents them charging.
As a unit of clanrats swarms into the tunnel to retrieve the Arca Chaotis the screaming bell tolls out... and promptly shakes itself apart. Maybe the valley sides rebounded the sound too much? The bell collapses on top of the unfortunate slaves pulling it. The skaven artillery fares little better, wiping out more rats with explosions from their own contraptions than chaos managed all game. The storm vermin and skavenslaves push the chaos thugs back towards the quicksand, but only manage to further doom their own troops and the skavenslaves pursue into the magical bog.
The dragon ogre chases off one of the warpfire teams, whilst the beastmen attempt to run down another. Only for the shaman (who had recently discovered he was the best fighter in the unit) to charge screaming into the quicksand and perform his final disappearing trick. The skaven retrieved the Arca Chaotis and fled, leaving the chaos band stuck in the mud and licking their wounds.
THE OUTCOME
All these games would have an impact on the second day of gaming.
Since the daemon blade had not been captured by either the Fimir or barbarians it did not pass into the lineage of either an Empire or Undead champion and so was unavailable for the battle.
With the dwarves trapped in their mountain hold their artillery would also be unavailable for the Empire's use in the coming battle. At least the halflings managed to save enough food that stomachs would not be empty on the march, so no morale penalty for the state troops.
The wood elves having dealt with the orcs the border of Bretonnia was kept free from the greenskin menace. This gave the border patrols enough freedom to stop Kristoffe Erlee in his attempt to recruit vampires and raise an undead dragon, so these would not be present on the Undead side.
Lastly the skaven having reclaimed the Arc meant that Kemler's magic would be less powerful than otherwise and the dead monks of La Maisontaal would be unable to power the Mechanical Warrior. Since the Bourgeoise had failed to meet up with the Estalian Inquisition the fanatics would remain obedient to the witch hunters and not change sides mid-battle.
So... much that could have been was not and the battle began as a pretty straight fight between the forces of the Empire and Undeath. More on that next!
