by The Chosen of Sigmar
(Read Ride Against Evil Tides to know what occurred previously...)
Story:
The Chaos Giant had no need for continuing his way into the Empire. In destroying a Steam Tank and not being under the influence of the Daemonic General he had regained his Giant honor (does something like that actually exist?).
Falco's concern was rather directed towards the army of Gargaroth advancing towards Talabheim. Two possible way could be followed. The Western road - where they needed to overtake several towns and cities including a garrison city as Averheim - or the Eastern road - passing only two towns but with a slow advancement for such a large force due to the Great Forest. Falco knew Gargaroth would take the easy way out and take the Eastern road. He commanded Brother Clavicula to take a horse and ride as hell to Waldenhof and Krugenheim in order to warn the citizens to take their belongings and make way towards Talabheim. Falco himself would ride towards Talabheim via the Western Road (a much faster way if you don't have to do battle) and send troops towards Krugenheim so Clavicula could hold up the undead at the Barren Hills, a suitable place for holding up a ravening horde.
As Clavicula rode into the town of Waldenhof he needed a lot of persuasion to get the town people to leave. They had much more ears up to a local alchemist who declared he would save the townsmen from being killed by the Vampire Lord. Blechbecher, as he was called, was convinced he would keep the beautiful town from being assaulted. Clavicula eventually left with half of the people. As he looked backwards when he had reached a hill nearby he saw that Gargaroth and his minions were about to lay siege on the town. 'Poor devils, may Sigmar be with you', he uttered turning his back to Waldenhof and heading for Krugenheim.
In Krugenheim, it was the time of the yearly Town's Fair. A suspicious looking guy was entertaining the kids with all kinds of magic tricks and fireworks. Clavicula and the stranger looked each other in the eye as Clavicula passed him. 'Strange, I sense no evil in this man', he thought. The Warrior Priest needed much lesser time to convince the Burgomeister of this town as the smoke of Waldenhof under siege was visible for miles and miles. The people gathered their belongings and set off for Talabheim. The great city and its well trained soldiers would keep them from harm.
While they were passing the Barren Hills the people of the caravan suddenly started to cheer. Brother Clavicula, who guarded the rear, rode forward witnessing the arrival of Imperial troops of Talabheim. Falco had reached Talabheim and sent these men to him with the request to halt the progress of Gargaroth... Sending a small company of knights with the refugees to protect them on the way to Talabheim he started to organize the defenses. None would pass while he was alive...
When he saw smoke coming from Krugenheim he knew that Gargaroth was approaching. From the hills he saw the Undead horde approaching. In the front were Gargaroth, Azraroth and... Blechbecher? Carrying a white banner Clavicula rode towards the non-believers. He did not even know if the sign of negotiation would be respected. Blechbecher stepped forward at the side of Gargaroth and spoke: 'You Sigmarite fool, did you really think I was going to save those peasants? It is I who has ordained Gargaroth to step out his grave. It is I who is going to lead the legions of Undead into the Empire. My magic is far more powerful than yours. None of your men will stop me and when I reach Talabheim I will destroy it and all of its citizens will be subjects in my host! Whahahaha... huh?' Blechbecher suddenly stopped his laughter as a bolt exploded near the two generals. Blechbecher and Clavicula looked up the mountain and saw... the stranger of Krugenheim. 'Fear not, Warrior of Sigmar', he yelled 'I will be on your side in the coming battle!'. Blechbecher turned towards his legions cursing the stranger... Clavicula rode towards the stranger and thanked him. 'No need to thank me. I'm Otto von Zeppel. I'm here because I don't want my younger brother to overtake Talabheim. Quickly, if we act now, we can stop them before their host becomes too big...'
The Armies:
The Empire went for an army bringing lots of fire power. The first 2 or 3 rounds were going to be crucial for them. The Strigoï host featured several hard hitting units like the Grave Guard and the Black Knights.
Deployment:
By deploying my Hellblaster in an early stage I hoped that Stefano would choose for a refused flank deployment. In this manner I could place my huntsmen behind the hill at 10" of the Vampire Counts. The Handgunners were placed in front of Stefano's army to deliver a maximum of damage. Now all I had to hope for was first turn...
The deployment of the hellblaster indeed forced me (Stefano) to choose a refused flank, placing my least valuable unit to cover the flank closest to the hellblaster to minimise damage taken, and my faster units to the opposite flank to maximise my punch. The flying strigoï was deployed in the graveguard unit in the middle, to be protected by the "look out sir", and to be able to fly-charge out of the unit if opportunities permits.
The battle:
The Empire plans were seriously disturbed because Stefano got first turn moving all his units towards the Empire battle line. The Dire Wolfs and the Black Knights had even put themselves in fast forward using their full march move. The Banshee was ordered to deal with the Huntsmen, something she did with style singing 3 of them to their doom and sending the others running. Blechbecher summoned some Zombies in support of the Dire wolves.
Brother Clavicula saw a chance of getting his fast cavalry behind enemy lines and destroying some of his hated foes in the process and ordered the Pistoliers to charge the Dire Wolves. They passed their fear test and rode to their destiny. At the other end the fleeing huntsmen rallied. Because of the movement of the Hellblaster only the Handgunners, the Mortar and the Great Canon were able to fire. It resulted in some grave guards being killed but not as I hoped. Missing such a large number of shots could cost me dearly.
The black Knights charge the Handgunners which aren't able to kill one single knight in their Stand and Shoot-reaction. In return 2 Handgunners are killed and the Black Knights overrun in both the badly placed Spearmen and their detachment of Free Companies. Auch!!! Otto von Zeppel is able to neutralize all attempted spells by his evil brother, clearing the flank of the Pistoliers in the process. These are able to kill a couple of the Zombies but can't overrun as I hoped. The Banshee eliminates the remaining Huntsmen with a swinging song.
The one thing that may not go wrong now is the shooting phase... but it did. Both the Mortar and the Great Canon misfire but aren't destroyed, the Handgunners were shooting at the birds in stead of the Grave Guard but lucky for me the Hellblaster hit something and killed 8 skeletons. The Pistoliers now deal with the Zombies but too late. The Black Knights again screwed their charge by killing only 3 Free Companies but lost one of their own (Stefano better equips his knights with lances instead of cardboard tubes). Taking the rank bonus in account this battle resulted in a draw.
Azraroth charged the Pistoliers in their flank. Running was useless, the flyer would easily catch up with them. He kills 3 of them but isn't able to catch them when they break from combat. Both the Skeleton Spearmen and the Grave Guards turn to see the knights. Stefano immediately made it clear that he only wanted to do one thing: magically charge these units into the Reiksguard. The book of Arkan was dispelled with one of the four dispel dice available to von Zeppel. Then Stefano used his power stones and threw 4 dice for "von Hell's Dance Macabre'': 20! Seeing only 3 dice in my hand and knowing I had no more dispel scrolls a smile occurred on the face of Stefano. Keeping my faith in Sigmar (and my dice) I threw the 3 dice: a four, a six and one spinning dice falling on... another six! Only 16 (as I wasn't able to throw more than his 20) but an irresistible dispel. Stefano stared in disbelief but von Zeppel did what he had promised: neutralizing Blechbecher... The Black Knights strike hard at the Spearmen and the Free Companies (very unsportive of Stefano to hide real lances INSIDE the cardboard tubes!). The imperial forces loose the combat by 4 but only the Free Companies run away in despair. The spearmen hold their ground...
Fearless and for the glory of Sigmar, the Reiksguard charges the Grave Guards. They kill 3 of them but suffer one casualty in return. Nevertheless 3 more grave guards die from combat result. Blechbecher is able to dispel forked lightning casted on Azraroth but can't prevent von Zeppel from gaining a re-roll. Having no more dispel dice, the Necromancer watches Clavicula praying for Soulfire, killing a Black Knight. In the following combat the Black Knights loose another 2 knights, of which one in Combat Result. The Empire artillery fires away on the Skeletons and kills 13 of them, transforming Stefano's face into a nice worry. This was a good round...
The remaining Skeletons are lead by Gargaroth in a charge into the flank of the Reiksguard. The combined attacks of them result only in 1 wound which is saved by the powerful armour save of the Knights. Don't you just love Full Plate Armour :-). Only having to fear the attacks of the Grave Guard the Reiksguard direct their attacks on these elite 'human remains'. They kill 3 of them and although they were charged in the flank and facing fear in its most monstrous form they win the combat by 2. Bye bye Grave Guard... Azraroth lands near the Mortar while a magically moved Banshee performs a heavy metal version of 'Hear my song...' on the Hellblaster crew. All 3 crew members are sent to meet Sigmar... [Note : one mistake was made here, since this kind shooting attack also needs randomisation between crew and warmachine]. Clavicula finally starts doing something in combat as he kills a Black Knight. After exchanging blows between the remaining Knights and the Spearmen the combat ends in a draw.
von Zeppel tries to take the advantage in the magical duel with his brother summoning 3 dice re-rolls. Forked Lightning is dispelled. The Reiksguard kill 2 skeletons and in return save all the returned attacks. Two more skeletons are turned to dust. In the other combat only the Warrior Priest is able to deliver a wound. The rest of the Black Knights crumble from the combat result... This was really becoming an ugly fight for Stefano, seeing a lot of his units crumble due to combat result...
Still having a lust for blood Azraroth charges the Handgunners in the rear. Not able to stand and shoot, these are massacred by the ferocious beast. Stefano's Banshee is answering Blechbecher's request for an encore and sings a bloody ballad on the Reiksguard. She must have had a very high note because 4 Knights are killed. Where a unit of Grave Guards, a unit of Skeletons and a Thrall only can kill a single knight in 3 close combat phases, she does 4 times the damage with her sing-along-songs. On top of that the knights fail their panic test (wouldn't you if someone was singing "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious") and run away. Who said women weren't usefull in combat ...
Luckily the Reiksguard rallies. Clavicula leaves his unit to give some kind of support and prays for a ward save of the first knight who's certainly going to be charged. Leaving his unit would be a fatal error as you'll see later. While the Mortar misfires the Great Canon just comes short from killing the last rank of the skeletons containing Gargaroth. Damn!!
Both Gargaroth and Azraroth charge the Reiksguard who pass their Fear test. They directed all their attacks on the First Knight who was able to save 6 of the 7 wounds. The remaining knights did one wound which resulted in a draw, only to be killed by the 2 Strigoï in the last round. As she had given one encore already, the Banshee decided to dedicate her last song to Brother Clavicula. Carrying sword and shield he wasn't fast enough to cover his ears. He fell out of the saddle and was killed instantly. The undead had a solid victory...
End:
von Zeppel stepped out of the ruin he had used for cover. He had witnessed a blood bath as none had ever taken place in these hills. Clavicula and most of his men had been killed but not without taking out the forces in numbers of the Undead. Blechbecher cursed his brother as he returned on his steps accompanied by his 2 monstrous vampires... Although not victorious, Talabheim was not in danger. It would take time for Blechbecher to reassemble a host large enough to take the great city. Brother Clavicula was buried on the highest hill. On top of his grave a large cross was placed that could be seen from miles away. On the cross a text was written. It read:
Here lies Clavicula,
Warrior Priest of Sigmar.
He gave is life in battle
To save mankind.
We are forever grateful.
The citizens of
Krugenheim, Waldenhof and Talabheim
Lessons:
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Never go on lone adventures with your general.
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Remind me to enlist your Banshee for Idol 2004, Stefano!!!
