Right, time for some crunching battles in the Olde Worlde far away...
First, let's have a look at the current situation in Tilea by this map
Battle of the river Tarano, 2507 IC
It was a critical time for Tilea, as almost all important cities and communities had surrendered to the might and splendour of the Asurs, except the northernmost Miragliano and the Morrite center Remas, which was under heavy siege. Karl Franz' Imperial reinforcement was beaten to a pulp, the Emperor himself suffered the ignominy of being captured and ransomed at steep indemnity. By the peace treaty, he had to leave Tilea immediately, never to interfere again to the affairs of the peninsular. But a cunning politician and strategist as he was, Karl Franz ordered the remnant of his army to leave all the guns and other advanced weaponry as well as several great Empire artifacts to the Miraglianese before they departed.
Borgio, now standing as the last independent prince of Tilea (other than the besieged Patriarch of Morrite Church at Remas), had exerted every ounce of his ability and prowess to the defense of his hard-earned homeland. Every male citizen had been called forth to the army and drilled from dawn till dusk. Hundreds of light riders were sent to every part of the Olde Worlde to recall in-contract Regiments of Renown for the protection of Tilea, appealing to their 'patriotism' and promising lavish bounties at the same time. The Prince even ordered his son, Cesare Borgio, to come back from his lenghthy tour of Bretonnia and the Empire to aid him in this herculean war for survival.
Whenever these father and son walked close together, courtiers always chuckled at the audacity of the Princess consort. Borgio senior was a giant of a man, burly, hairy and thunderous. Whereas the Junior was lithe, nay small, beardless and extremely graceful (or one might say too 'elfin'). Nevertheless, the Prince absolutely loved his only son and this young man also reciprocated his trust by growing to be some of the best swordsmen Bretonnia and the Empire had ever witnessed at tournaments and jousts. Cesare, unfortunately, also carried some bad habits from the land of the obtuse chivalry, which a few years in the Empire could not even dampen. That was he had utterly zero tactical nous and loved nothing but to charge headlong into the fight, no matter the odds.
As keen an observer of men as he was, Prince Borgio instantly recognized his son's fatal flaw, which would surely lessen his life expectancy significantly in the cutthroat Tilea. Thus seizing the report of the High Elves' attempt to secure a crossing at river Tarano, he instantly sent forth a strong army composed of his most illustrious captains and companies, two of whom, Luka Braganza and Maximilian Damark, all native Miraglianese, were tasked to rein in the impetuosity of Prince Cesare, who was granted the overall command of the army as a typical Borgian baptism of fire...Army of Miragliano (based on the DoW Elliasson army book that was allowed in many US and UK 8th edition tournaments)
Generalissimo:
Cesare Borgio M:4 WS:5 BS:5 S:4 T:4 W:3 I:5 A:3 Ld:9
217 pts(Merchant Prince, i.e. the same stat as Empire general but can have 125 pts of Magic Items and Traits)
- Equipment: Full plate, Shield, Crown of Command, Dragonhelm, Sword of Anti-Heroes, Talisman of Endurance.
- Trait: Weaponmaster (+1 WS, can reroll 1 miss/combat round)
Hireling Wizard lord: Level 4, Lore of Life
295 pts
- Equipment: Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Preservation, The Terrifying Mask of Eee!
Leonardo da Miragliano: M:4 WS:3 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:2 I:5 A:2 Ld:8
100 pts
- Special Rule –
Genius: (only choose 1 of the below)
+ As long as Leonardo is within 3” of a war machine, it can reroll one Artillery Dice or Scatter Dice per turn.
+ As long as Leonardo is with a unit armed with Crossbow, the unit can reroll all failed rolls of 1 in the shooting phase.
+ One core unit in the Dow army may have Ambushers special rule.
- Scientific Items:
Sphere of Alchemy: Can be thrown into enemy units, range 6”, Strength 3, Quick to Fire, Armor Piercing (-2)
Prism of Power: Once per game, Leo may remove D3 power dices from the opponent's pool after rolling for the wind of magic and channeling.
Paymaster: M:4 WS:4 BS:4 S:4 T:4 W:2 I:5 A:2 Ld:8
154 ptsEquipment: Hand weapon, Heavy armor, Enchanted Shield, Dawn Stone, Potion of Toughness
Paychest: Extending “Hold your Ground” to 18”, add 2 Str 5 attacks, and +1 Armor Save. However, if the the Paymaster flees for any reason, he dies. If the Paymaster is slain, all friendly units within 18” take a leadership test at the start of Dogs of war's next turn. If a unit fails the test, it will squabble and do nothing. If it rolls double 6, they will flee toward the nearest table edge. Units in Combat, Fleeing or Immune to psychology don't need to take the test. Also, all friendly units will hate the unit/model that killed the Paymaster henchforth.
Core:
14 Braganza's Besiegers including Luka and command
238 ptsLuka M:4 WS:5 BS:5 S:4 T:4 W:2 I:5 A:3 Ld:8
Besiegers M:4 WS:4 BS:3 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:1 Ld:7
Equipment: Handweapon, Fullplate, Pavise (grant +2 AS in shooting and close combat in the front), Siege crossbow (Str 4, Armor Piercing, Range 32''). Luka is equiped with Fullplate, Pavise, Siege crossbow, Hand weapon and a Pistol.
16 Marksmen of Miragliano including Maximilian and command
246 pts
Maximilian M:4 WS:5 BS:5 S:4 T:4 W:2 I:5 A:3 Ld:8
Marksmen M:4 WS:3 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:4 A:1 Ld:7
Equipment: Light armor, crossbow. Maximilian is equiped with heavy armor, crossbow and 2 hand weapons.
Trait:
Ignore long range penalty.
6 Voland's Venators 225 ptsVoland M:4 WS:5 BS:5 S:4 T:4 W:2 I:5 A:3 Ld:8
Venators M:4 WS:4 BS:3 S:4 T:3 W:1 I:4 A:1 Ld:8
Equipment: Fullplate, shield, hand weapon, lance
Trait: Drunken Cavalry (reroll all Psychology tests and all successful restraints from pursue and overrun)
7 Vespero's Vendetta 148 pts
Vespero M:4 WS:6 BS:5 S:4 T:4 W:2 I:6 A:3 Ld:8
Duelists M:4 WS:5 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:5 A:1 Ld:7
Equipment: 2 hand weapons, throwing knives
Special Rule: Cloak and Dagger (5+ parry save)
Vespero has two hand weapons with Killing Blow, throwing knives and Grimacing Death Mask (models in base contact with Vespero lose 1 attack in the first round of Combat)
34 Pikemen Full command
234 pts
Equipment: Pike, heavy armor.
5 Light Cav with Musician and spear 70 pts
5 Light Cav with Musician and spear 70 pts
Special:
19 Paymaster's Bodyguards Full command with Banner of Discipline
254 ptsBodyguards M:4 WS:4 BS:3 S:4 T:3 W:1 I:4 A:1 Ld:8
Equipment: Heavy Armor, Halberd
Special Rule: Stubborn (as long the Paymaster is with the unit)
Rare:
Bronzino's Galloper Gun 160 pts
- Special Rule: Cannon Range 36'', Str 7 D3 wounds, Move And Fire, Can March.
Bronzino can act as Master engineer or independent character.
Halfling Hot Pot 75 pts
- Special Rule: Small Template Str2 (6), D3 wounds, Ignore Armor save
Mercenary Cannon:
110 pts
- Special Rule: Cannon Range 48'', Str 10 D6 wounds.
Total Points:
2590The High Elven Vanguard
General Loremaster Carandhros 330 pts- Equipment: Heavy Armor, Sword of Anti-Heroes, Shield of the Merwyrm, Book of Hoeth.
Mage Level 2 High Magic
170 pts
- Equipment: Khaine's Ring of Fury, Dispel Scroll
Noble Battle Standard Bearer 155 pts
Equipment: Dragon Armor, Enchanted Shield, Dawn Stone, Sword of Might
Noble on Great Eagle:
146 pts
Equipment: Heavy Armor, Lion Cloak, Lance, Shield, Golden Crown of Atraza.
Core:
27 Archers with Musician
280 pts
5 Ellyrian Reavers with Musician (Bow and Spear)
105 pts
26 Lothern Seaguards with Full command
316 pts
6 Silver Helms with Full command
168 pts
Special:
6 Dragon Princes with Full command
204 pts
23 Phoenix Guards with Full command
375 pts3*1 Tiranoc Chariot 3*70 ptsRare:2*1 Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower 2*70 pts
Total points:
2599
The Miraglianese army got to the great river of Tarano in 2 days, just right in the moment the High Elves were about to cross the river themselves. As was the norm in 'theoretically' democratic Tilea, Cesare made a quick gathering of his captains, everyone was supposed to speak his mind before the generalissimo made the final decision.
Maximilian, as befitting the keenest man in the army, spoke first: “It's so simple really, we just pepper them with bolts while they cross. And butcher the few who get to our side. Piss easy job.”
Luka Braganza, his fierce rival, detested the fact that he fully agreed with Max, so he kept a glaring silence.
Bronzino nodded: “Absolutely spot on.”
Leonardo the genius chimed in: “Great, boys, I have just made several modifications for the trigger mechanism and reflector sight on the crossbows of Maxi's regiment during the last several days. They would be unerringly accurate on the soaking Elves now.”
Luka exploded: “Why always him”?
Max laughed: “Because if he helped yours instead, you guys still missed 50% of the time instead of 60%. While our accuracy rate jumps from 66% to 83%. Learn the math, dude!”
“HICCUP! Vere ist mein darling cockerel?” This rather incoherent uttering heralded the awakening of Voland, who had been slumbering for the whole time atop an almost as inebriated destrier, sending both crossbow captains to a fit of laughter and arguably stopped them from a nasty ruckus.
“Right, how about you, Vespero?” Cesare asked. “I'm here only to watch your back as instructed from your father”. The man in the Death Mask stared at the Princeling coldly.
“Alright, it's frankly desperately boring when you are all in full agreement to proceed with the most tedious and unchivalric strategy as possible. I will send a herald to the High Elves asking them to move back a mile from the river so we can move in, or in case they fancy some swimming, we will gladly move back a mile from the river on our side and let all their army cross. Then we do battle as due gentlemen, m'lords. Also, before the battle commence, we should all knee and pray to some ladies according to the chivalric code...”
“pluck NO!” All the captains screamed in unison, even the half-conscious Voland.
“Sire, with all due respect, we are so sorely pressed to lose even a tiny advantage.” Maximilian stammered.
“Also I'm not going to knee to some tarts so that the rapid High Elves can run over us in the first opening. 'Tis so criminally unTilean!” Luka snorted.
After a long pause, Bronzino enunciated gravely: “Your father had insisted that you listened to us veterans of Tilean warfare, and our tacticians are world renowned for their adaptability according to the situations. We can make a compromise here by allowing the Elves to cross all of their army then we attack immediately. That's all the army can give in to your code at the moment, Sire.”
Looking around at all seasoned faces, winced at various degree of displeasure, the young Prince wisely gave in to the advice of the Master Engineer. Well, he would love to give the Elves some advantage as chivalry dictated, but at least now they had a fair fight...
So the battle of Tarano was a simple river crossing battle where the High elves couldn't deploy more than 8'' from their table Edge while the Miraglianese could deploy 24'' away from the Elves and got the first turn.
The Hireling Jade wizard lord rolled a good selection: Earthblood, Throne of Vines, Flesh to Stones and the Dweller Below.
The Loremaster got his usual spells, that were the 8 signatures whereas the Mageling got Soulquench and Arcane Unforging.
Here is the deployment: