Empire Campaign Thread

[grumbaki]

Argalis Burning

Welcome to my new battle report thread! I hear (some) of you ask, why make a new one Grumbaki? Well, I’ve decided, after reading Malorian’s great one-man campaigns, to emulate him. What will happen here is that my Empire army will no longer be an Empire army. They are now Tileans, and they are going to try and retake the city of Argalis.

To locate Argalis, it is on the lower left hand corner of this map: http://www.madalfred.darcore.net/maps/BORDER2a.GIF

To retake the city, they are going to have to take physical possession of each part of it. To take a part of the city they will need to take each section. To take a section of the city, they will need to win a game of warhammer against an army that is located in that part of town. If I lose the country side then I lose the campaign. If I take over every part of the city, then I win the campaign.

The Sections of the City

The Country Side
* Start off with this territory.

The Gate House and Market Square
* Any human army.
* Greenskins.

The Barracks
* Any human army
* Greenskins

Executioner’s Square
* Any undead army
* Any elf army

Prince Cecilio’s Palace
* Any chaos army
* Any tree spirit heavy wood elf army

Quayside
* Any elf army

The Dwarf Quarter
* Any army-but I must beat them using my dwarfs. If I lose a game playing with dwarfs, then this is the only territory that can be lost.

Example: After taking control of executioner’s square, I play a game against an army of dark elves. I win, so I take control of the quayside. Following this, I fight against an army of high elves and I lose. I now must either lose the quayside or executioner’s square.

A note on the battlefields

As I will be playing at my local GW, the table the terrain will not change. It will still be mainly trees and hills. For the purpose of this report though, they will simply be referenced to as ruined buildings. Trees, as they are difficult terrain, are the buildings that have completely collapsed, while hills are those that have been damaged to the point where they no longer provide any defensive value. Actual buildings will be those ones that have escaped the destruction which have ravished the city.

Also the battlefields take place in parts of the city which naturally have the broadest areas. The rest of the city will only be referenced in the fluff, as the crowded housing areas are no places for pitched battles.

The Fluff

The city of Argalis has a long and checkered history. It first built by the high elves as Tor Ancor in -3419 during their golden age. It fell during the war of vengeance in -1974 when a dwarf army marched on it following the death of Prince Snorri Halfhand in his duel with Caledor the II. As a small colony, the elves abandoned the city to its fate and it was burnt to the ground by the vengeful dawi. It lay in ruins until human settlers, who in -1125 gladly built on the ruins of the elder race. Unfortunately for all involved, these humans fell into the worship of a vampire, whose bloodline would later be called the Von Carsteins. The depravity of this cult was enough that the other human tribes in the area came together to destroy Argalis and their vampire masters. The city lay in ruins until it was rebuilt for a third time in 537, as the people saw the legends of its history as just that, legends.

To the north Vardanos prospered along the banks of the river Salara. During the Crusades against Araby the town was conquered by the Bretonnian Duke Guillaume the conqueror. He had attempted to take the southern route to Araby, and finding the going too long he instead conquered Vardanos and claimed it for himself and his descendents. Despite it being far from Bretonnia, Guillaume’s descendents still hold to the traditions of Bretonnia and have even managed to (mostly) force the local populace to worship the lady of the lake. However all attempts at changing the name of the town led to bloody riots that the conquering Bretonnians had to put down violently, so in the end Guillaume decided to just leave it be. Since Guillaume’s conquest of the town it has been a bitter rival of Argalis. On the open field the forces of Argalis were not a match for the mounted forces of Vardanos, so instead Argalis became a haven for outcast engineers and forward thinkers of all kinds, under the theory that the more gun powder and innovative tactics they possess, the safer they would be against the knights of Vardanos. As it was also located on the mouth of the river Salara, it could effectively cut Vardanos off from trade, which it would do when faced with open war from their more powerful neighbor.

This state of affairs lasted until 2510 when the undead returned to Argalis. Leading the undead was the vampire lord Sibbechai, whose sire was the get of one of the original vampire lords of the city. Sibbechai has returned to the city following his sire’s tales of caches of necromantic tomes hidden before the city fell. When the undead hordes attacked the city’s defenses were quickly overwhelmed and the survivors fled across the Aegos bay to the town of Myrmidens. Since then Argalis has become a warzone. Following the fall of Argalis, their historic rivals, the knights of Vardanos, have invaded the city. Brought up on tales of Bretonnian heroism, they have been quick to ride out to battle. Their goal is to take over the ruined city and to make it into a vassal state of Vardanos. If they can succeed then they will no longer be subject to Argalisians cutting them off from all sea trade. Along with them come two more principle players in the fight, the elves.

First there is the Slave-Master Tullaris Redfist, a dark elf who has decided that the harbor would be the perfect staging ground for his raids. Unfortunately for him the high elf admiral Caranath Bladewind has learned of these plans and has tracked the dark elf to the harbor. He has since sworn to turn it into a base of operations for his fleet, so he can use it to protect the shipping lanes for the interest of Ulthuan. Both sides are fighting a cat and mouse game on the open seas while at the same time sending in their marines to take control of the harbor.

Argalis has been torn apart by the fighting taken place within it. Fires have raged throughout it since its fall, leaving much of it as burned out ruins. Few places within it have remained untouched by the damage, but the combatants don’t seem to care that their fighting it ruining the very place that they seek to rule. The only part of the city that has remained untouched by the destruction of war is Prince Cecilio’s palace. Following the fall of the city strange lights could be seen from the palace at night and none who have entered have yet returned. Rumors abound about what has given the palace its invulnerability to the purging fires that have gutted the rest of the city.

It is into this that the men of Argalis have marched into. With the backing of the merchant prince of Myrmidens, Prince Cecilio has led an army of mercenaries to clear the city so it can be resettled and rebuilt. Only time will tell though on whether or not the prince can take back his city, however even if he succeeds he will have to face the harsh truth that there is little left to save.

Dramatis Personae

*Thanks to DJ for sending me this*

The Soulreaper's Own

Dreadlord Rakarth Hauclir Soulreaper(Dreadlord)
Supreme Sorceress Lharuana
Master Malrea Darkheart(hunter master)
Slave-Master Tullaris Redfist(cold one master)
Zhar Shadowborn(assassin)

[grumbaki]

The first battle will take place on Friday, 2000 points of Empire vs. Bretonnians. Naturally the gatehouse will be what they are fighting over.

Before then, I would appreciate any advice on the rules that I have set forth. The rules of the campaign can change until then and I would appreciate any input on how to make things as simple and interesting as possible.

[Malorian]

Wow, that city is totally overrun eh? Orcs, elves, wood elves, dwarfs, brets...

Sounds like an interesting campaign although things are pretty specific as to the armies you have to face so hopefully it works out for you (I assume those are the armies your gaming buddies play).

What will your list be for facing the Brets?

[Keller]

Sounds interesting, and a great way to motivate one to play their army. A few questions, though:

1. Is your list fixed? Or can you take whatever you want for each game?
2. Is there any order in which you have to take the sectors? Or is ist just dependent on who you happen to fight that week? (I assume you have just assigned each typical opponent a sector of the city)
3. How do you decide whether you are attacking or defending a territory from a counter-attack? That is, if you lose game 1, is it considered the Brets have overrun the camp and you lose, or do you just fail to advance into the Gatehouse?

I'll be looking forward to it!

[grumbaki]

Keller

1. Is your list fixed? Or can you take whatever you want for each game?

No fixed list. My opponents won't be stuck with anything, so neither am I. However, I probably won't be going knight heavy for awhile.

2. Is there any order in which you have to take the sectors? Or is ist just dependent on who you happen to fight that week?

No order. I almost never know who I'll be facing each week (or even if I can get a game). This is just my attempt to add something of value of each battle.

3. How do you decide whether you are attacking or defending a territory from a counter-attack? That is, if you lose game 1, is it considered the Brets have overrun the camp and you lose, or do you just fail to advance into the Gatehouse?

If there is a sector that I haven't taken yet then I will be assaulting a sector of the city that I don't yet control. If I have all of the sectors of the city that a given race is in, then I will be on the offensive.

However, if I lose this game then I will simply be repulsed. If I fail twice in a row to enter the city, then the effort to retake the city has completely failed and I have lost the countryside as well.

Malorian

"Wow, that city is totally overrun eh? Orcs, elves, wood elves, dwarfs, brets... "

* Well, wood elves will either count as either high or dark elves, or failing that (if there are enough tree spirits) then they will count as chaos beasts/cultists.
* Dwarfs are actually on my side, they represent the dwarven population of the city who are only concerned about taking back their home. Other than that, they really don't give a fook about the rest of the city and will let the humans fight for it.
* Orcs don't play much of a role in this, as I haven't seen the local orc player inawhile. If he does show up and I get a game in against them, then his army will represent the local greenskin tribes taking advantage of the fighting.

* The main players are undead (tomb kings count as VC), Asur, Druchii and the Bretonnian descendents. But as you said, this really is alot of enemies to fit into a small border city. But as they are the armies that I'll probably be playing against, they all need a place.


"Sounds like an interesting campaign although things are pretty specific as to the armies you have to face so hopefully it works out for you (I assume those are the armies your gaming buddies play).

What will your list be for facing the Brets?"

I'm still in the process of making it. It's actually kind of hard, because I feel like I can't count on my knights and with a limited amount of state soldiers (the most I can fit in is 1 unit of spearmen and 1 unit of swordsmen), I have an unhappy feeling that the Bretonnians can simply run over them. And as I will never buy or use a war altar or steam tank, I'm still in the drawing board.

My spies report that my opponent likes damsels and grail knights. I've faced him once and he took an army with absolutely no peasants in it, and in the other game that I saw him play he again took an all knight army. So truth be told I'm kind of worried about the upcoming battle, so any advice on fighting the Brets with my Empire would be appreciated.

[Toshiro]

sounds like an interesting campaign, will be very nice to follow, good luck and fight for the glory of the empire!

[Malorian]

In the Bret game you will get first turn 99.9% of the time (who knows, he could be crazy and not pray or take the Fey...), first thing you should do is move up your knights (3 units of 5 would work nice) 7 inches.

This means the Brets will be 17 inches away and can't charge.

Then blast him with cannons (4 would be nice).

In his turn he will either be foolish and fail a charge or move up slightly to put you in charge range.

On your turn either charge him if he was foolish or move back just enough to be out of charge range again (should be 2 inches) and fire the cannons again.

After a while there will be no helping it and you'll have to take the charge. Set up the knights so that when they take it they will be showing their flanks to the infantry blocks allowing for a counter charge.


If he has pegasus knights blast them with a hellblaster. Remember they don't get the -1 to shoot at for skirmishers since they aren't US1.


Good luck

[Keller]

My spies report that my opponent likes damsels and grail knights. I've faced him once and he took an army with absolutely no peasants in it, and in the other game that I saw him play he again took an all knight army. So truth be told I'm kind of worried about the upcoming battle, so any advice on fighting the Brets with my Empire would be appreciated.

As an Empire player who rarely fields knights, Brets have always given me a bit of trouble. I've found a few tricks to dealing with them, though.

Black Powder. While not a super-powerful solution, they can make his lances of knights much more managable for when they do reach your lines. Handguns leave the knights with a 4+/6+ save, which can allow some wounds to sneak through. A unit of handgunners, or some harassing pistoliers, should be able to fell a few knights quickly enough to make the charge a little less painful when they reach the line. Cannons, if you personally are good with guessing, can shave off 2-4 knights a turn, really helping to reduce his effectiveness.

Detachments. The best answer, though better used in conjunction with the above to recude numbers.
There is no reason not to counter charge when you receive a charge with the parent unit, since the brets gain no more attacks than they already get, plus you gain +1 flank and negate any rank bonus he has. Brets are one of the few units which one doesn't have to decide whether or not it is worth committing the extra men to risk extra CR against them.
More importantly, though, are to send the detachments ahead to dry to divert his lances away from where you don't want them. Move far ahead of your main lines, forcing him to engage the detachments, which will be angled to direct over-runs into areas which will drastically slow him down from getting back on track. Just be sure you don't take archers, since you need non-skirmishers to change his facing.

Magic: Lots of good options, either to do damage, protect your troops, or weaken his. If he has a lot of damsals, it may be a bit tricky, though.

Characters:
Put captains in units that are likely to be charged. They can boost the Ld slightly if away from the general, but provide an opperunity to have return attacks if he doesn't think to try to kill them off.
Magic items, such as the Sword of Sigismund and Rod of Command, can really help out, too.

[grumbaki]

Thanks for the advice! This has given me something to think about...

How well does the sword of Sigismund work for you? 3 attacks, wounding on 2's, but he gets a 4+ AS and 5+ WSv.

I'm thinking that the hammer of judgment is a good idea. But does he get a ward save against it? If he fails his toughness test when hit, he takes a wound with no armor save allowed. If he passes, then he takes a str 4 hit. So for the toughness test, would he still get his 6+ ward save?

[selone]

You really know how to build up a good background, matey.

[mythic77]

Well i may not know the empire very well, but i can tell you about his list when i played him 2K pts. He doesn't like to use peasants or Fast calv, so pistoliers are a great option against him. He does like his peg knights but I would still say expect the same big units of knights to be his main force.

and so ends the report from your tilean spies.

[RaZeR]

Nice fluff grum
Really looking forward to the battles, I'm afraid I cant help you with the planning though, sorry

[grumbaki]

Thank you Selone and Razer, I appreciate it. And DJ, news from my spies is always welcome.

Now, for the game...

Argalis had fallen, and now it was in flames. This was literally true as even from across the bay in Myrmidens, the survivors of Argalis could see the smoke. Obviously a fire had started and there had been nobody around who cared enough to put it out. Prince Cecilio had spent the month since the fall of his city raising an army to retake the Argalis by force, and it had not been easy. It had started out rocky enough, with harsh words and threats made between the humans and dwarfs of Argalis. When the undead attacked and the walls fell, the dwarfs had fled the city via secret underground tunnels, tunnels which the human inhabitants did not know of. Open war almost ensued between the two races following the sacking of Argalis, and it was only the efforts of Cecilio which had stopped blood from being shed. The dwarfs had agreed to march into the city, but they now held a grudge against the humans for the insults that were thrown at them and they refused to do anything but take back their homes. Cecilio had to threaten his soldiers with holding back their pay to keep them from attacking the dwarfs, for he needed all of the help he could get.

The city was in sight and the Merchant Prince led his force from his beloved Gryphon. He had to smile at that, for he truly did make a regal sight. His sword, a heirloom from his family that was found in the ancient catacombs beneath the city, glinted in the sun light. This force was simply his spearhead. They would enter the city and fortify the gate house. The cannons would be put into the towers while his handgunners would hold the walls. He even brought with him a helblaster, made for him by the renegade engineer Frederick ‘The Mad’, who had been drummed out of Nuln for his wild experiments. Even a number of citizens marched with him; they had lost their homes and were determined to win them back. Along with the artillery train came the mercenary commander Guido Lupo. Cecilio knew that he would need the man’s mercenary soldiers, for his own army had been badly mauled when the city first fell, and like the city states of Tilea, Argalis relied heavily on dogs of war to supplement its forces.

The walls of Argalis came into view. Hewn from stone, they rose up to the sky in a show of might. The walls themselves looked untouched, as when the undead came the defenders had no time to prepare. By the time that the militia had been called the walls were already overrun and the mercenary defenders were half way to the docks. It had been a wild rush to the sea with the people of Argalis cramming themselves onto every available ship. It had been a nightmare as hordes of zombies spilled into the city, feasting on those who were too slow or unlucky. While dozens were killed by the slow moving foe, hundreds died as they when they were literally crushed under foot by the panicking mobs. All told the casualties had been light, as eventually the city evacuated itself, with the citizenry abandoning the city en masse. But the material loss had been great. Few had thought to take anything but their most cherished possessions with them, so when the city went up in flames so too did its wealth. Cecilio had tried to retain order and put up a defense, but when his own advisors and guards deserted him to make it to safety, he was forced to mount his gryphon and go into exile. When mounting it he couldn’t help but notice a half dozen corpses laying at its feet, evidence of his retainers who had attempted to mount the temperamental beast. When the ad hoc navy sailed into the harbor of Myrmidens, the merchant prince of the city thought he was under attack and called up his dogs of war. They were even more surprised when the terrified survivors spilled out of the berths of the ships, carrying with them tales of doom. Panic soon spread through Myrmidens. Cecilio would have been doomed if he had not landed his gryphon on his personal galleon, which he soon found was filled with his retainers. While he had tried to marshal his forces to save the city his underlings had looted the coffers and moved all of Argalis’ wealth to the ship. Cecilio quickly took back the city’s funds from the would be looters, after his gryphon had eaten several, of course. When the galleon entered Myrmidens they found the city to be in a state of panic. News had spread of the hordes of undead and the Merchant Prince of Myrmidens, Prince Luigi ‘The Fat’, came in person to the docks to greet his fellow Merchant Prince. The two struck up a deal. Prince Cecilio emptied his coffers, and with the aid of Myrmidens he raised up an army of mercenaries to take back Argalis. Prince Luigi offered his aid, giving the people of Argalis a safe haven and providing the army of Argalis with supplies, food and shelter…for a reasonable prince, of course.

But when the army got in sight of the city itself they found something unpleasant waiting for them. Cecilio scowled, it was the knights of Vardanos. Cecilio had expected to find the gates overrun by the living dead. The knights had arrived first, and having dispatched the rear of the undead horde, the rest were driven deeper into the city. This meant that they meant to take Argalis from him. Vardanos had always been the military power of the region and it had only been Argalis’ harbor which kept the city safe from them. While Argalis had become a haven of engineers, and possessed enough gun powder weapons to humble most of its other neighbors, the knights of Vardanos often seemed impervious to harm, and it was hinted by many that they had even made pacts with dark gods for such a protection, as no other explanation made sense. Now Cecilio would have to fight them in open battle, something which his father had often warned him against before the old man passed away. The Merchant Prince kissed his blade and took off into the sky, trusting his commanders to lead the army for him. As he looked at the ranks of enemy cavalry he offered a quiet prayer to Myrmidia for the strength to drive the ‘barbarians’ back from his city so that his conquest could begin.




Argalis invasion force Empire, 2000 points
http://www.phmc.gc.ca/cmh/book_image...07_ss00_01.jpg

Prince Cecilio Rossi, Lord of Argalis
Empire General: Runefang (auto wounds, no armor save allowed), Full Plate, Shield, Griffon (395)

Doriano Gallo, court advisor
Mage: lvl 1 (lore of heaven-Uranon’s Thunderbolt), dispel scroll, wizard staff (100)

Guido Lupo, Mercenary Commander
Captain: BSB, Rod of Command (1 use only, automatically roll insane courage), Full Plate, Barded Warhorse (147)

Adriano Moretti, Warrior Priest of Myrmidia
Warrior Priest: Hammer of Judgment (take toughness tests or take an automatic wound with no armor save allowed), Heavy Armor, Shield, Barded Warhorse (135)

Templars of Myrmidia (with Warrior Priest)
5 Inner Circle Knights: Full Command, with the Steel Standard (+d3’’ to charge) (190)

Citizens of Argalis
17 Flagellants: Prophet of Doom (180)

Argalis City Guard (with Mage)
10 Handgunners: Marksman with a long rifle (105)

Soldiers of Fortune (With BSB)
21 Swordsmen: Full Command (151)
-10 Halberdiers: Detachment (50)

Freelancers
5 Knights: Musician (123)

Highwaymen
5 Pistoliers: Musician, Outrider with repeater pistol (114)

Argalis Artillery Train
2x Cannons (100 each)
Helblaster Volley Gun (110)

Total: 2000 points

Power Dice: 3
Bound Spells: 1
Dispel Dice: 4
Dispel Scrolls: 1

Thoughts

This is an unusual army for me. I’ve never taken a gryphon, the rod of command or a scroll caddy. I’ve also never left my huntsmen behind! I must thank Malorian and Keller for the advice that they have offered me, now I can only hope that I don’t let them down. Origionally I had a third cannot, but as I cannot seem to find it, the pistoliers were added instead. But if I do lose, well…Vardanos has always been the power of the region, so I can hardly be blamed!

Vardanos Vanguard 2000 points, Bretonnia
http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_...ightatrest.jpg

• Bretonnian Lord: Auto hits, Grail Vow
• Paladin: BSB, warbanner, virtue (+1 CR as long as general is alive), grail vow
• Damsel: lvl 2, Lore of Beasts (Wolf Hunts, Hunter’s Spear)
• Damsel: lvl 2, Lore of Beasts (Wolf Hunts, The Oxen Stands)

• 9 Grail Knights: FC, MR3 (Lord, BSB and Damsel-2 went with them!)
• 9 Knights of the Realm: FC
• 9 Knights of the Realm: FC
• 8 Questing Knights: FC, Warbanner (with Damsel-1)
• 14 Archers: Marksman

Terrain and deployment
See map
http://www.warseer.com/gallery/data/...1_Vardanos.jpg

Turn 1

The Bretonnians got the first turn and elected not to pray!! He really wanted that first turn charge. The entire army shot forward. The only spell that got off was Wolf Hunts on a unit of KOTR, which went straight for my swordsmen. They were 10’’ away, so I really wasn’t too worried. They went forward 2’’. Shooting went towards my helblaster, and did nothing.

During my turn, the swordsmen charged his KOTR and were just in range. The halberdiers moved up to redirect the questing knights away from their flank should the KOTR hold, and the vanilla knights moved up to flank the questing knights next turn. On the other flank my inner circle were staring at the grail knights, so my flagellants moved up to block line of sight and the inner circle got ready to charge their flank next turn. My general flew to the flank of the second KOTR unit.

Magic saw Uranon’s Thunderbolt go off on the Grail Knights, and I learned that they have MR3! The spell still went off and 3 knights died. Then my warrior priest made himself unbreakable. Following this both my cannons shot at the grail knights. One overshot and killed three normal KOTR, and the other got stuck in the ground. The normal KOTR failed their panic test and fled. My handgunners then fired at the grail knights, doing nothing, and the helblaster fired at the questing knights. It misfired and thus couldn’t shoot this turn. In hand to hand combat no knights died, and they killed one swordsmen. The knights fled 9’’ and the swordsmen pursued 8’’. The questing knights would have panicked if its wasn’t for their re-roll.

Turn 2

Things were looking up for me in turn 2, but he was ready to charge. First his questing knights charged my helblaster. The crew fled, stranding the questing knights between my knights and halberdiers. Then his grail knights charged my inner circle, which surprised me. He barely managed to get around the flagellants and clip the knights. Then both of his KOTR units rallied. Magic did nothing, but shooting saw the archers put a wound on my gryphon. In hand to hand combat this grail knights (the 3 who could fight) killed 4 of my knights! Fortunately I was unbreakable, so I held.

In my turn it was time for some more charges. The vanilla knights and halberdiers flanked his questing knights and my swordsmen charged his KOTR. The helblaster crew rallied, my general flew up behind his other KOTR and the pistoliers went up to their flank. Finally the flagellants turned to face the grail knights and the right hand cannon moved away from the fight so the grail knights wouldn’t overrun into it. Magic saw him stop Uranon’s Thunderbolt and scroll my unbreakable spell, with him stopping me from casting Soulfire. Shooting did nothing, as the cannon that fired at his rallied KOTR misfired on the bounce. Close combat! My swordsmen/captain killed 2 knights for 2 wounds back, broke the knights and again failed to catch them. His lord and the rest of his unit attacked the warrior priest and the unit champion, and only managed to kill the champion. In return the warrior priest wounded the BSB. Sadly he was no longer unbreakable, so he was run down. Finally my halberdiers and charging knights killed 2 questing knights for 2 dead halberdiers in return. The questing knights held.

Turn 3

No charges. His grail knights turned to face my cannon, his KOTR unit rallied and his other KOTR unit moved forward. Magic saw me failing to stop his grail knights from being Wolf Hunted into my cannon and then his KOTR unit was Wolf Hunted into my swordsmen! In hand to hand combat the grail knights ripped apart the cannon crew, but did not overrun. In the other combat I took down a further 2 questing knights for 1 halberdier back, but the questing knights again held. Finally, the KOTR killed 2 swordsmen, took 1 casualty back, were broken and were run down.

In my turn my general charged the rear of the last KOTR unit, but they fled and got away. The pistoliers moved up to the flank of the grail knights and the flagellants again turned around. The swordsmen turned towards the archers and the rallied helblaster crew ran back up to their machine. Magic saw Uranon’s Thunderbolt be dispelled and shooting took the fleeing KOTR down to 2 knights, and as they were under 25% so they couldn’t rally. In hand to hand combat I killed 1 questing knight for 1 more dead halberdier. They broke and were destroyed.

Turn 4

At this point he was down to his grail knights and archers, as everything else had been destroyed. His grail knights turned to face my pistoliers, and got Wolf Hunted into them (with irresistible force). They were predictably destroyed. His archers also killed 1 helblaster crewman.

My vanilla knights, flagellants and general all moved up to surround his grail knights. Magic did nothing, but shooting…the cannon fired, killed his BSB and one grail knight. Then the helblaster unloaded. It fired 22 shots, killed the last grail knight and wounded the damsel.

Turn 5

His lord and damsel turned to face my lord and he again cast Wolf Hunts. I barely dispelled it. Shooting saw some swordsmen die.

Everything I had charged. The swordsmen charged into his archers, and lost 5 of their number to stand and shoot! I used the rod of command to pass their panic test. Then the vanilla knights, flagellants and my general hit his general and damsel. In hand to hand combat my prophet of doom issued a challenge, which his damsel accepted. After martyring 3 flagellants, the prophet of doom killed her. Then my general, gryphon and knights attacked his lord and did 1 wound between all of their attacks. In return he wounded my lord, but lost combat, fled and was run down by my general. The final fight of the game was between my swordsmen and his archers. After killing 5 of them, my soldiers broke the archers and ran them down.

Empire VP: 2800 (2000 for the army, 4 table quarters, general, bsb, 2 standards)
Bretonnia VP: 614.5 (1/2 swordsmen, inner cirlce knights, pistoliers, cannon, warrior priest)

Victory for Argalis!

Thoughts

1. He had a load of knights with him on the table, and looking at them really scared me. Overall, I think that I played things right by using my mobile elements to get around him while my static troops did their best to get in his way.
2. I won this game due to 3 things.
a. His turn 1 wolf hunts put his KOTR unit in charge range of my swordsmen. It was a big gamble on his part, and it worked out in my favor. I guess he really wanted the turn 1 charge.
b. His questing knights went for my helblaster which let me charge him in both flanks. With their great weapons they can do some damage but with a unit on both flanks it was only a matter of time until they were destroyed.
c. His grail knights got bogged down for a turn fighting my inner circle. This did give me the time to really pull my army together to take them out. After the game my opponent told me that I am the first person to destroy that unit and congratulated me for it. He also challenged me to another game next Friday. Unfortunately I don’t have enough models to take up the challenge of 3k points, so we'll probably do 2k again.
3. I think that I might have misused my general. I had planned for him to charge the flank/rear of the KOTR unit on turn 2, but their panicking threw that plan out the window. After that he flew around looking for a target, but he was successful in making the KOTR unit flee, and my shooting did whittle them down to under 25%. In the end though, his total kills=0, he only did 1 wound to the Bretonnian lord. Worth 395 points? I’m not sure.
4. So all in all it was a great game that worked out as well as I could have hoped for. Sure, the constant use of Wolf Hunts really did swing things in his favor a few times, but the combined arms approach of the Empire prevailed. I’m sure that both of us have learned a few things from this game, so next week should be interesting. So perhaps I should do something really unexpected to throw him off, such as 4 master engineers with pigeons!

[grumbaki]

The army of Argalis marched through the open gates of their city. The mercenary swordsmen were still in the process of rooting the last of the Vardanosian archers out of the gate house. The soldiers had taken awful casualties assaulting the fortification after the knights had been defeated, so no quarter was given (though in some cases it was asked for!). Prince Cecilio winced from his wounds, but even so he was elated. The only other time in the history of Argalis that they had managed to defeat the Vardonsian knights on the open field happened two generations ago when a torrential downpour turned the field of battle into a marsh. The knights of Vardanos had charged towards them in a mad dash, only to be met by a wall of lead. Casualties had been taken though. The warrior priest and his templars of Myrmidia had fallen to the so-called Grail knights of Vardanos, who had gone on to slaughter a cannon crew and the band of highwaymen that Cecilio had hired. The highwaymen Cecilio cared nothing for, as he was afraid that after the campaign they would return to plaguing the trade routes, but the templars were a different matter. He would have to send to the church for more, which they would certainly agree to when the learned that the last men they sent had fallen fighting the champions of a heathen goddess.

As Cecilio landed his mount in the courtyard he was struck by the scene before him. The area was carpeted with corpses. Some wore the livery of his city guard, others were his civilians, and many, many of them were skeletons that had long ago lost all of their flesh. The once bustling market place looked like a charnel house. Cecilio could only imagine the carnage when the knights of Vardanos had charged, riding down the zombie hordes from atop their barded steeds. Cecilio turned back and gave a smile to a man who was tied up and who was scowling at him. It was the Vardanosian general Lord Louen. The man had been a warmonger for as long as Cecilio could remember and who had, if his spies were to be believed, often urged his lord to wage open warfare against Argalis.

“I must thank you and your men for clearing the gate way for us. Fighting our way through the zombie hordes would have proved most onerous if it were not for you and your men. I would thank them as well, but as you might remember, I killed them.”

The jibe was too much for the general from Vardanos. “Knave! I challenge thee to a duel! Get off of your blasted beast and fight me like a man!”

Cecilio’s smile turned into a grin. “You forget your situation. I was thinking of ransoming you back, as my coffers could use the funds. But perhaps that wouldn’t be wise. Perhaps you would just go back to being a thorn in my side, so that would be very short sighted.” The two stared into each other’s eyes. All around them the men of Argalis went to work, either lifting the guns onto the walls or continuing the work of the Vardanosians of pulling the corpses into the mound that were already being burnt. It was Louen who broke the silence. “If you harm me, then my lord will hunt you down. He will have your head on a pike.” The defeated general didn’t shout, he just said this as if though it were a fact. Cecilio’s grin fell from his face, replaced by a scowl. “I don’t like your tongue. You are a fool and deserve your fate. Men! Hang this wretch from the gate house as a warning to the others.” Cecilio then started to bark out orders to his men. Before long the gate house had been fortified. The Vardanosians had already started to turn some of the buildings which had survived the fires into barracks for their men, so the Argalisians quickly moved in. All the while Cecilio looked on as more and more of his men came in through the gates, and as they did so they marched under the dangling body of Louen ‘The Bold’ of Vardanos.


The Gatehouse

The gate house is currently in the possession of Argalis. The area has been fortified and the piles of the dead have been dragged into huge funeral pyres. The smoke from the burning corpses can be seen for miles around.

The Harbor

Battle raged recently in the harbor, as the druchii and asur battled it out in the ruins. The most recent fighting came to an end when Sytril Waverunner, captain of The Seasplitter was assassinated by Zhar Shadowborn. The docks currently reside in the hands of the dark elves.

(A 2000 point game was played between the high and dark elves. The dark elves won the game when Tyrion was killed by a dark elf assassin!)

A fleet from Argalis witnessed this fighting, and the marines onboard refused to land when they ship came under fire from dark elf shades hidden in the ruin. The marines returned to Myrmidens with tales of elves in the ruins. The men of Argalis are now aware of the elves and will have to deal with them if they wish to take back their city.

(I was getting ready to play a 1k game against dark elves for the docks when I was called away due to family matters. We agreed to both go with all infantry lists, and looking at the two I think that he probably held the advantage.)

There has been no sight of the vampire lord Sibbechai, but the men of Argalis have already started fighting skirmishes in the streets with the walking death. The moans of zombies fill the night and wandering groups of them have been known to attack the sentries. But these groups show no purpose or strategies, which leads many to wonder what the vampire’s plans are, and whether or not he has already found what he is looking for.

While the gates have been taken, the city is far from conquered. The knights of Vardanos have been pushed deep into the city, and now defend their enclave around the barracks fiercely. Prince Cecilio has sent his armies to destroy this pocket of resistance, for should he allow too much time to pass then a relief force will be sent from the city and his men at the gates will be attacked on two fronts. It is imperative that the Vardanosians be killed before then. The streets continue to be washed with blood as the fighting continues. Come back next week to learn more of the fate of Argalis!

[Seabo]

Excellent Report!
Have to say that some of the Bretonnians choices for charges were rather odd but they worked out in your favor so kudos lol.
Look forward to reading more

[mythic77]

Good write up. Too bad we couldn't get our game in. But hey, Khaine has been satisfied by the blood of the asur so i figure i can wait a week.

[grumbaki]

Seabo: Thanks, and I look forward to writing more.

DJ: From our lists I narroly avoided a thrashing...still I look forward to our next fight!

[SevenSins]

nice rep, well played battle, and really well written background. remember to model the hung lord for your next anti-brettonia fight, to demoralize the opposition.

[mythic77]

Seabo: Thanks, and I look forward to writing more.

DJ: From our lists I narroly avoided a thrashing...still I look forward to our next fight!

Seeing as i am not used to running infantry only i cant tell you how the game would have ended up...

It would have come down to the dice... like always.

[Keller]

Cheers for the win, and a great report!

Excellent job with the battle, and an even better job on the fluff! I'll definately contunue to follow this thread!