Year 2, Turn 2 Battles

There was only a single battle this turn.  The salamander empire had elected to take to the sea to take the fortress that was razed by a tornado in the winter phase.  Without reliable scouting information they set claw to beach and ran into a force of ratkin!

After two months the once 800 point Ratkin force had been starved and cannibalized into only 720 points.  Regardless without a navy to escape the island they were forced to defend what homeland they had and scurried to the squeaked warning from the watchtower!  The force consisted of:

Regiment of Blight
Deathmachine with Vile Sorcerery
Horde of Warriors with Brew of Strength
Troop of Clawshots
Regiment of Brutes

After a hurried disembarking the lizards arrived on the beach (don't ask how they transport fire elementals).  This will be a coastal invasion scenario so they will need to flip control of objectives as they move inland or wipe out the ratkin in full.  The Wave Trompers as they are called consisted of:

Regiment of Kaisenor Lancers with the Potion of the Catipillar
Troop of Unblooded
Clan lord Xo Thunder on Fire Drake with Pipes of Terror and the veteran ability Very Inspiring
Regiment of Ancients with Healing brew
Mage Priest Tal Vak on Raptor with Soul Drain and Veteran ability Fireball(4)
Ankylodon Battle Platform
Battle Captain Ska Iktar on Rhinosaur with Inspiring talisman
Mage Priest Sol Tandur with Heal 3 and Weakness
Horde of Fire Elementals with Brew of Haste
Horde of Salamander Primes with Brew of Sharpness
Lekelidon

The salamanders quickly advance past the beach toward the ratkin line.

The eager brutes maneuver forward while the clawshots do minimal damage firing into the Ancients.  The rest of the line holds but refuses to advance closer...

On turn two the Clan Lord positions his mighty fire drake to wreak havoc on the Rats flank while the rest of the army advances into a more threatening position forcing the rats to move.

The Lekadon manages to do a single wound on the blight and the Fire Drake roasts the clawshots forcing a waver.

In a bout of return fire the Death Engine zaps the Lekadon and wavers it as well hoping to eliminate it later.

The warriors and brutes bravely charge the Ankylodon and despite some fantastic rolls fail to do much other than enrage the beast!

It was then that the overwhelming force of the Salamanders ran into the Rats frontline and more than clawed their way to victory!  The brutes took a heavy side charge and fell while the warriors were triple charged and likewise eliminated.

Not to be left out the Clan Lord made short work of the clawshots and set his sights on the death engine...

Even with a single heal spell the Lekadon was well within range to be eliminated gaining the Rats a small victory.  However after generating 11 shots only 3 hit and a waver was had once more.

The Blight attempted to win glory and caused a surprising 7 damage against the Fire elementals but in the end it was not enough and the Salamanders won a victory without taking casualties.


After a relaxing sunning on the beach several of the Salamnder units gained veteran level ups and skills:

Prime Horde gained Headstrong
Ancients gained +1 Nerve
Fire elementals gained vicious
Kaisenor Lancers gained Nimble
Ankylodon Battle Platform gained Vicious

Year 1, Turn 6 Battles

The lone battle in the first years final month is a battle between the Rhordians and a Mercenary banner from the Forces of Nature.

Since it takes place near a mountain we decided that as the Mercenary banner came in to take over the fortress they were intercepted via an underground abandoned mine.  Thus an underground battle will take place rendering all impassable terrain of height 4 or more impassable even to flyers.

The Nature force consists of:

1x Regiment of Naiad Wyrm Riders with Healing Brew
1x Regiment of Naiad Wyrm Riders with Brew of Strength
1x Regiment of Salamanders with Brew of Haste

The Rhordians have brought:

1x Regiment of Household Knights with Potion of Caterpillar (green knights)
1x Regiment of Household Knights with Brew of Haste ( Red and white knights)
2x Troops of Halfling Ranger Cavalry (he swears he'll get them painted this year!)
Siegried, Duke on Winged Aralez with diadem of dragon kind
Fin Urland the Wizard (on horse), with Bane Chant (2), and inspiring Talisman

  The nature army was hoping for a favorable scenario unfortunately field battle ended up being the table rolled on resulting in a simple control scenario.  Since this battle is balanced for equal points this put them at a grave disadvantage.  After deployment the slaughter commenced...

The Rhordians advanced cautiously at first using the superior movement of their cavalry.  The Forces of nature setup a rather irresistible trap along the center line hoping to cause at least some damage.

In the second turn the Rhordians took the bait and quickly killed one regiment of Naiad wyrmriders while the other only wavered and regenerated a few points of damage next turn.

With the trap sprung the salamanders proceeded to roll horribly on their to hits and really well on damage sadly bringing only 4 points of damage on the knights.  Of the knights held and the salamanders were wiped out by the green knights next turn...

Of course they were not the only thing wiped out on the final turn either.

Nature had trespassed onto the lands of man and paid the price horribly...

Year 1, Turn 5 Battles

  This would appear to be a turn of battles indeed!  The first of which is the Salamanders attack on an independent village...

Ghekkotah Revolt

The mostly peaceful Salamanders have run up against a village that refuses to get in line and join the cause.  This unruly village of Ghekkotah have decided to stand in the way of cold blooded progress.

The Salamander army consists of

1 Ankylodon Battle Platform
Clan Lord on Fire drake (Xo Thunder) with Pipes of Terror
Battle Captain on Rhinosaur (Ska Iktar) with Inspiring Talisman
1 Regiment of fire elementals with Brew of Haste
1 Horde of Salamander Primes with Brew of Sharpness
1 Regiment of Kaisenor Lancers with Potion of Caterpillar
Mage priest (Sol Tandur) with Heal 3 and Weakness
Mage Priest on Raptor (Tal Vak) with Soul Drain
1 Regiment of Ancients with Healing Brew

The Ghekkotah's short lived rebellion consists of:

1 Regiment of Warriors
2 Troops of Hunters

The Ghekkotah got a Last Stand Scenario and purchased a Hill and three obstacles to defend.  The grand army of the salamanders charged in from the sides in a pincer move.

Tal vak and Xo Thunder rained fire down upon the hunter troop destroying them utterly.

The warriors foolishly charged into battle against Kaisenor Lancers who were left so dumbfounded by their bravery that they were wavered!

The last troop of hunters managed to do a single point of damage to Ska Iktar enraging both him and the beast.  The little Ghekkotah that could were allowed to feel good about their moral victories for but a brief moment...

Xo Thunder came to the aid of his dumb struck cavalry immediately destroying the warriors.  Finally Ska Iktar charged into the hunters bringing them to their knees and wavering them effectively ending the battle.

Rhordian 'Civil' War

  Second in line of battle are the Rhordians quelling a knightly revolt on their southern border.  Yes it would appear that a contingent of knights have decided to foolishly rebel!

  The rebelling knights consists of a 'historical' list of"

1 Regiment of War elephants (represented by the gryph riders)

1 Regiment of Heavy Cavalry with the Ambushers upgrade

1 Troop of Heavy Cavalry with the Yew Longbow upgrade

  The Rhordian banner consists of

1 Horde of Halfling archers
Von Boos the Headtaker (duke on ancient winged aralez)
1 Regiment of Household Knights with the potion of the Caterpillar
1 Regiment of Dogs of War with Blood of the Old King
Lars the Army Standard bearer with the Lute of Darkness
1 Organ Gun (which we forgot was destroyed earlier in the campaign!)
Gunther the Strange (wizard with bane chant and bloodboil)
1 Horde of Honour Guard with brew of haste
and 1 horde of City Militia

The scenario was morning assault which is a custom scenario for this campaign.  this particular one represents the horrible luck of the knights being awoken at dawn to find that their camp is partially surrounded by the rhordian army forcing a hasty and woefully inadequate defense.

  The knights took up arms and bravely advanced over two turns getting into position.  The Rhordian line continued to advance in an attempt to route the rebellion quickly.

Von Boos rode his griphon into the knight troop single handedly taking the flank and gaining a rather nasty shot at the war elephants rear!  Meanwhile the cavalry regiment ran into the dogs of war causing minimal damage after being repelled.

The war elephants were destroyed quickly by a rear and flank charge while the rest of the knights fell to the double charge of knights and pikemen.

The village was re-claimed for the league and the peasants taught a swift lesson.  As a reward for this epic beatdown the experience gained leveled several units gaining Veteran abilities.

The City Militia and Halfling Archers gained Elite

Dogs of War - Vicious

Household Knights - Headstrong

Honour Guard - +1 Nerve

Lars - Stealthy

and Gunther, the strange - +4 to his Fireball to a Fireball(10)

Siege of the Goblin City

   Last but possibly not least is the combined might of the Abyssal Dwarves and Rhordians against a very stalwart and sneaky pack of Goblin bowmen:

The Abyssal Dwarf force consisted of:

3x hordes of lesser obsidian golems (one of which is proxied as 2 lessers and a greater I did run out...)

1 Horde of Slave Orcs

1 Regiment of Berserkers

1 Regiment of Slave Orcs

2 Katsuchan Rocket Launchers

1 Horde of Deimators with the Chant of Hate

1 Heavy Mortar

2 Regiments of Immortals (1 with brew of strength)

1 Regiment of Halfbreeds

1 Horde of Blacksouls

Overmaster McScrewb leader of the dwarf line with the Banner of the Griffon

Slavedriver Zar'Gozamoth with the Lute of Darkness

Iron Caster Argoth with Surge 8

and Iron Caster Steve of Accounting with surge 8 as well

The Rhordian's came to the battle with:

1 Battle Shrine
2x Hordes of City Militia
1 Regiment of House Guard (still proxied as the dude on the giant base!)
1 Regiment of  dogs of War
2 Troops of Household Knights
2x Volley Guns
Billy the Army Standard Bearer
and Hans the Wizard leaving the battle line.

The Goblins had gathered every last bow, arrow, stick and rock to defend their city to the last with:

2x Hordes of Bowmen
2x Regiments of Bowmen
2x sharp stick throwers

Sadly my goblin army is in major disarray and some proxies were required of course...

The attackers deployed with ladders and a battering ram in an impressive if not will breaking display of power.  The goblins being heavily outnumbered are at -2 to their waver value but would put up an impressive display of murderous prowess during the ensuing battle.  Despite this it was obvious that the final outcome could not result in a true victory...

The combined might of Abyssals and Rhordians charged forward with reckless abandon but before the Goblins started their hail of arrows against the dwarves.  The decimators took 5 damage and the slave orc horde took a further 6!

In retaliation the dwarven artillery fired on the left tower and destroyed a  war machine.

Undaunted by the loss of their artillery the goblins fired another volley in turn two! The damage on both the decimators and orcs pilled up but the decimators stayed true to their dwarven heritage and stayed.  The slaves on the other hand fled the battlefield and would later fail to rally giving the goblins somewhat of a moral victory.

The victory was fleeting however as the artillery again pounded another tower and blew up the goblin artillery.  The blacksouls easily took the center wall slaying the goblins to the last. The city militia likewise takes the gate abandoning their battering ram and slaughtering more goblins.

The immortal guard and the berserkers charged up the ladders causing plenty of damage but failing to route the archers from the walls.  Further on the right the dogs of war attempted to take the wall as well but only managed to waver the goblins.

The goblins were good and dead at this point but unwilling to surrender they poured boiling oil down upon the rhordians and dwarves.  The battle line held however and came back to take the wall in its entirety.

After the battle the orcs were no where to be seen and left the banner for good.  The Immortals, though bloodied, recouped enough to maintain their full strength.  The remaining Abyssal Dwarves gained an experience and all leveled up to Veteran level 1.  The units now gain:

blacksouls horde - elite
Abyssal Berserkers - +1 Defense
Slave Orc regiment - iron resolve
Lesser obsidians - brutal
lesser obsidian - fury (yep sad but true a non wavering unit has fury now)
Katsuchan rockets - +1 nerve
Katsuchan rockets - tough (can't tripple attacks against it)
Steve of Accounting - Heal(4)
Argoth - elite

Year 1, Turn 4 Battles

Turn 4 sees the battle between the Salamanders and an independent Rhordian Fortress in the south.  The Independent army consists of 800 points:

Two Halfling (giant halflings) Volley Guns
A regiment of City Spear Militia
A Troop of City Militia
A regiment of (again giant) halfling archers
Two Regiments of Dogs of War (one with a helm of confidence)

For their siege preparations they have Reinforced all but one wall section, gained 2D3 units worth of fire pots, and equipped the walls with boiling oil.

 The Salamanders have come with a full 1500 points led by Khal Sargo with an additional 100 points of deserters from the fortress forces:

a traitorous regiment of city militia
a horde of salamander primes with brew of sharpness
a horde of acients on rhinosaurs with potion of the caterpillar
a regiment of ancients with blood of the old king
a clan lord on fire drake named Khal Sargo (clipped wings so no flying!) with pipes of terror
a battle captain named Red Ripper with inspiring talisman
a mage priest named Sidewinder on mount with soul drain and myrddin's amulet of the fire heart
and an ankylodon battle platform.

For their siege preparations they have opted for the usual ladders, a siege tower and two siege artillery.

 The Salamanders took the first turn and pressed aggressively forward.  The catapults more than earned the two months of building by each hitting the volley guns that were once in the tower destroying them utterly and severely tipping the odds in the lizards favor.

The defenders could only attempt to put fire a few shots from the halflings as the rest of the force braced for the invasion at the walls.

The Salamanders pressed forward quickly in the next turn bringing the Anklyodon into the gatehouse nearly shattering it in one charge while the traitors set their siege ladders and began their attempt at assaulting the ramparts. The only blessing the defenders would receive is the continued bombardment of the artillery falling short of hitting anything the rest of the battle.

The spearmen were able to easily repel the traitor militia shouting insults and hurling boiling oil down into their ranks but to no avail.

The Heavy cavalry and clan lord began to tear down the walls brick by brick surviving both fire pots and boiling oil with ease.

By turn three the horde of primes invade via siege tower and waver the dogs of war pushing them off the wall and breaching the defenses.

To make matters worse the anklyodon crashes through the gate house to take a short rest inside the gate while the battle captain Red Ripper climbs the ladders and wavers the spearmen all by himself showing the humans how a real warrior does it!

 The battle continues with the anklyodon smashing the wavered spearmen one turn only to rampage through the dogs of war in a subsequent turn.  The primes in turn wiped out the militia to secure the left flank of the castle.

The defenses had failed spectacularly so far and the right flank was no better...

Khal Sargo and the rhino cavalry had smashed the wall down after three turns of continued battering sending the dogs of war into disarray and plummeting along with the wall to the ground.   Facing the combined might of the most elite units of the army the humans surrendered the fortress after a four month long siege.

 The Salamander army had taken the castle and surprisingly without permanent casualties to the army!