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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 8, 2020 22:36:19 GMT
(20 days later in campaign time)
Prince Lahkashaz was both infuriated and terrified. He had faced the same rag tag assemblage of Dwarfs again (and again) and had tasted the bitterness of defeat once more. He was not used to this taste.
The Prince had most certainly risked the terrifying wrath of his father, King Lakhashar, when he made the decision to pack up the companies, tents, weapons, regiments, ladders, mounts, and monsters onto the mighty War Barges of Lybaras. These great ships had remained beached from the seaborne invasion of almost two years ago – or so it had seemed. The travels, trials, and tribulations of a life of mobile warfare had worn down his troops. Although they were free from death and free from Mortal Corrosion, they were worn down psychologically.
He was infuriated because his best crack troops had never once brought defeat to the grave robbing bearded thieves. Bothersome Dwarfs! Yet, he knew the correct maneuver was a calculated retreat. The damage had not been great…. Minimal in fact. A change in scenery and a change in tactical options was what they needed right now.
Prince Lahkashaz shook his boney fist one last time in the general direction of the Dwarven Throng. He stepped onto the last Great War Barge and so ended the South-East Expansionist Province of Lybaras.
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 8, 2020 22:45:50 GMT
(20 days later in campaign time)
King Lakhashar sat on his throne again. He was momentously pleased. As content as a centuries-old embittered monarch could ever be. His own Personal Tomb Guard and the Mighty Thaqil of Lybaras had captured the Ogre Stronghold in a calculated assault. Losses had been minimal.
King Lakhashar reflected on his discussions with the beaten Ogres. The immense beasts had not seen truly upset to be thusly evicted. One might think that they preferred to be trotting across open plains of the plateau than to be cooped up in a stone tower. Interesting, indeed.
Nonetheless, this was a great success. As Ka-Lakmil brought him nothing but failure, this stood as a testament to Undying Conquest.
Even as Lahkashaz suffered setback after setback, it inspired the King to speak, regally: “Even as my own son fails and flails in the far-flung provinces, I must show him how it is done, I must show all of you; I, Lakhashar the Everliving and the Magnificent. I can still swing my sword and I can still march to combat and I must still vanquish our enemies!”
HAIL Hail the Victorious King
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 8, 2020 22:51:03 GMT
(20 days later in campaign time)
Vizier Ka-Lakmil studied the newly received scroll once more. Lakhashar had summoned Ka-Lakmil and his armies back to the Capital. Failure was not tolerated. Every word was read and re-read. Analyzed and over analyzed. What could this mean? “A new plan”
What? “Our King summons us Northwards. We shall go now” spoke Ka-Lakmil to his lieutenant. Away from these men and their cannons. Away from the smoking bellows and forges of the Chaos Dwarves. North, we shall return to our homeland.
This scroll could not be good news. And at the very bottom, there it was. A hieroglyphic. The black pyramid. Broken, and shattered into a thousand shards.
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 8, 2020 22:57:14 GMT
(20 days later in campaign time)
High Princess Lahzlerrin smiled. Her incredible desperate defense of the outpost castle was most certainly the reason she was being summoned to sit with her father. And what a struggle it had been. She had brought together warriors, swordsmen, and horsemen --- along with recruiting random trolls and toads and other beasts of the plagued regions. Rarely had any Noble of Lybaras seen a more rag tag Legion. Motley and forlorn, but triumphant in the end. By the narrowest of margins.
The walls had held. They had faced a flaming Doom Bull of Death. They had faced a Towering Tyrant. Lahzlerrin thought back on the concerted effort to sally forth and fight outside of the protection of the walls. It had worked. On the fields and on the walls, Ogres had died. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t the tried and true ways. But here she was, being escorted to the Grand Throne Room to discuss the next steps of expanding the Empire.
To Be Continued
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 9, 2020 0:29:20 GMT
Siege Game versus Ogres 11/8/20. The final END OF GAME split of Contested versus Held versus Taken
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 9, 2020 0:30:31 GMT
Siege Game versus Ogres 11/8/20. Turn 1 and 2. Early forays into trying to divert, distract, and redirect outside the walls.
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 9, 2020 0:30:52 GMT
Siege Game versus Ogres 11/8/20. Turns 2 and 3. "Speed Bump" units to delay the ladder assault up and over the Main Walls.
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 9, 2020 0:31:12 GMT
Siege Game versus Ogres 11/8/20. From the Ogres Point Of View, POV. Speed Bumps all over.
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 9, 2020 0:31:31 GMT
Siege Game versus Ogres 11/8/20. About 8 minutes before the flying Fiery Doom Bull bork'ed up my trolls.
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 9, 2020 0:31:48 GMT
Siege Game versus Ogres 11/8/20. Raise your hand if you've ever seen Mournfangs inside a courtyard? Never have I ever.
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 25, 2020 20:58:12 GMT
Campaign Game: Wizards Tower
** *** ** Overview The Awful Brawl at the Wizards Tower Uses “Watchtower Scenario” Tomb Kings; Attackers Versus Empire; Defenders IRL 11/25/2020
** *** ** Armies Tomb Kings; Attackers – Key Units --Block of 24 Ushabti w. Ul-Rem --Block of 40 Tomb Guard w. Tomb King --Block of 20 Archers --Block of 20 Warriors w. Lvl4 Mage (Light) w. Lvl4 Mage (Neherkhara) --NecroSphinx
Empire; Defenders – Key Units --Block of ~10 Reiksguard w. Valten w. Arno w. BSB --Block of ~10 Knights of the Blazing Sun --Unit of 4 DemiGryphs --BloodThirster {Demon Allies} Big Guy! --BloodLetters {Demon Allies} About 20? --Khorne Hounds {Demon Allies} About 5? --Khorne Demon Cannon {Demon Allies} Hellcannon? --A Cannon --A Cannon (rental) --Bus of 30’ish infantry; Swordsmen w. Light Mage --10 Crossbowmen --10 Crossbowmen --Bus of 30’ish infantry; Halberdiers --20 Free Company ~Holding the watchtower to start the game --Balthzar Gelt (sp?) Gelt Incarnate on a Pegasus
** *** ** Game Play Tu1TK. Tomb Kings are the attacker. They get the first turn. I get the first turn. All of the units shift to the right, slightly. Some actually move sideways to reposition for better matchups. No charges. Magic Phase is a burner, 11 on the dice. I got off a few spells, he nixed a few spells. Notable, I got off Time Warp on the Ushabti block. Movement 5 doubles to M10. Notable, I got off the Desert Wind movement spell so I continued my pivot and shift reposition dance. Shooting, the weedy skelly archers do a wound to the Demon Prince (wait, I mean BloodThirster). No combat.
Tu1EMP. Bottom 1. Knights move out to encircle on both sides. Demon Prince (wait, I mean BloodThirster) flies over, Hounds. Crickey, he has a lot of units compared to my side. Some cannon shots at the Ushabti, kills a few. Some magic at the Ushabti, kills a few more. He goes for Final Transmutation! Dispel scroll. That is why we have one. No combat.
Tu2TK. Tomb Kings on the charge like whoa. Big Charge #1, the NecroSphinx flies and gets a 16 to engage the DemiGryphs. Since I am taking away their lances on their charge, I hope my T8 can hold up this key unit indefinitely. Big Charge #2, the Tomb Guard assault the Wizards Tower. Big Charge #3, the Ushabti charge the Arno/Valten block of Reiksguard needing an 18. Remember, M10 + 2d6. They got there with a 5, 5. 10, for a 20” charge range. I am 6 Ushabti wide, Horde. They have 5 files in combat, and the front Ushabti has 5, + 3 support from rank 2 + 3 support from rank 3. 11 x 5 = 55 attacks, give or take. They have hatred, re-rolling misses. S6 gives 2+s to wound. Even after S6, Reiksguard still save on 4+ armor. I kill Valten, but not Arno. Valten DOES NOT stand up to live and fight again this time. I win combat, and they are no longer steadfast. They break, I pursue, I catch them and pursue into the Bus of Swordsmen.
Tu2EMP. Bottom 2. Demon Prince (wait, I mean BloodThirster) needs a 14 to get in on the NecroSphinx/DemiGryph combat. He charges and rolls 1, 1, 1. Oooof. Magic Phase is a stinker, 4 on the dice (2, 2). The Ushabti are engaged against the Swordsmen so can’t be blasted with Cannonballs. The NecroSphinx/DemiGryph is a slog with little damage to either side. My Tomb Guard assaulted the Wizards Tower, but left 3 Free Company alive in the tower. The Free Company didn’t break, so the Tomb Guard bounced back 1”. That left the Tomb Guard unit in a prime position to be charged in the side by the Knights of the Blazing Sun. Tu3TK. Pretty much everything for the Tomb Kings side is engaged or actively doesn’t want to be engaged. The small unit of skeleton archers repositions. The small unit of skeleton warriors (Mage Bunker) hides to the side of the tower. The NecroSphinx is still fighting the DemiGryphs. The Tomb Guards got whacked a good one by the Knights of the Blazing Sun, but repositioned and fought much better this time. Magic Phase is a burner, 10 on the dice plus a channel. I got the Killing Blow buff spell off on the Tomb Guards so they kill Knights on a 5+ to wound this round. Honestly, that is the best method my army has to kill 1+Armor troops reliably. The Ushabti crush the Swordsmen, but have been pulled dangerously far away from the Wizards Tower.
Tu3EMP. Need I remind you, loyal reader, that the only way to win this game is to control the Tower at the end. And since this game has random turn length, I need to send the Ushabti back towards the tower. The Ushabti could have pursued into a unit of crossbowmen, smashed them, and overrun into a cannon. Instead, they were in the middle and sitting ducks. Triangulated between 3 cannons (1 Empire, 1 Rental, and 1 Demon). I think I had 14 Ushabti left at this point. Anyway, he has charges first. Ye Olde BloodThirster connects with the NecroSphinx. The Flesh Hounds of Khorne connect with the skeleton archers. He shoots, he kills a few more Ushabti. Magic for him was a stinker, but, Gelt gets +7 to cast anything and everything. So, Gelt makes my Tomb Guard less good (Plague of Rust). Gelt gets Enchanted Blades on the unit of Knights. Notably, I dodge a Final Transmutation against the Ushabti. Combats continue, but no big breaks. His Thirster does a few wounds to my NecroSphinx, and it’s left with 1W at the end of combat. Soon to be dispatched fully. The battle between Tomb Guard and Knights of the Blazing Sun tips a bit to my favor, but neither side is down and out. His Hounds kill some archers, but skeletons don’t flee, dude.
Tu4TK. The Ushabti assault the tower. The “Raiding Party” of 3 finishes off the Free Company. I now hold the tower. His Hounds kill some more archers, but skeletons still don’t flee. The BloodThirster finishes off my NecroSphinx. My Tomb Guard break his Knights of the Blazing Sun and pursue into the BloodThirster. That combat ends up being combined with the DemiGryphs as well. More on that soon.
Tu4EMP. Gelt joins into the combat against skeleton archers and the +1 for a charge and +2 for rear is enough to crumble that unit to nothingness. The BloodThirster lines up against the Tomb King in combat. Senor Bloody Sword puts a lick on the Mummy, 5 wounds. But, the Mummy has Armor of Destiny and makes all five of his 4+ Ward saves like a pro. Like a baller. For shooting, the Empire gets to unload the 2 remaining cannons into the Wizards Tower. That makes it very easy to hit, with guessing and dice. And he does, he hits it twice. Each shot does d6 s10 hits that do d6 wounds each. That kills off 3 or 4 or 5 more Ushabti. He doesn’t charge into the building. If the Ushabti aren’t in combat, he can just wreck them with shooting.
Tu5TK. The Ushabti hold the tower and can’t do anything much. The Tomb Guard charge into the exposed flank of the BloodLetter unit. Skeleton archers are dead, dead. NecroSphinx is dead, dead. The warriors are about to be charged by Hounds and Gelt, which is not a big deal, except, I can’t safely hide my two Lvl4 Mages anywhere good. If they leave the unit, they risk being sniped by crossbows, and maybe even by cannons. They’re not very good in combat. My Ace Unit holds the tower, but the battlefield does not look too good for the dusty buddies. My Tomb Guard with Tomb King continues to fight against the DemiGryphs and the Thirster, but my spells and banner have continued to bring back fallen halberdiers. They eventually win the combat with rank bonus and the Chickens run.
Tu5/6/TK/EMP. Spoiler alert, we rolled a 5 at the end of Turn 6 to end the game, so I won. The Ushabti still held the Tower, although they were greatly depleted. The Tomb Guard finished off the Thirster with combat, and then charge into the exposed flank of the BloodLetter unit. His cannons pelt the tower and kill Ushabti, but never enough. His Hounds and Gelt kill off the Mage Bunker warriors and then my two Mages. They are soooooo bad at combat. For the third time in four games, my Hierophant dies and units have to test. The Ushabti pass with Ld8. The Tomb King is still kicking and he has Ld10, so I suffer no (NONE, not one) crumble. When the Hierophant dies, it’s bad news. The game ending here was god for me. I think I could have held the tower for one more turn, simply based on the amount of Ushabti wounds still in play. But, maybe not two more turns.
The dusty bones snuck a win, cause the tide was turning.
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 25, 2020 21:00:59 GMT
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 25, 2020 21:02:47 GMT
The Empire army, arrayed in all of its Glory.
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 25, 2020 21:03:15 GMT
Tomb Kings only had 5 Units. But... when one of them is 24 Ushabti. Maybe we only needed 5??
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Post by wilsonthenarc on Nov 25, 2020 21:03:39 GMT
Turn 1. The Tomb Kings spent most of the time and energy shuffling to the right.
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